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Isn't that a great cover??

I’ve had an exciting book week. I finally made it out to the Charing Cross Foyle’s (it’s BIG…used to be, apparently, the biggest in the world…not sure what has the honor now). Saundra Mitchell had told me they had a copy of her book The Vespertine there and sure enough, they did!

I was glad to finally find one. The whole YA market here in the UK is different. Even the bigger bookstores have smaller YA sections than they do in the US (though this Foyle’s had a good-sized section). There’s no chance of finding lots of authors I’m used to seeing on the shelves (me included. *sigh*). You can find “US” books, but mostly just the big authors (Stephenie Meyer, Alyson Noel, etc.). Of course, you *can* much more easily find some great UK authors (like Cat Clarke and Karen Mahoney, etc.).

Got to chat with Neil, the guy at Foyle’s too (he happened to be the one who had ordered Saundra’s book in after having emailed with her). Great guy and I love that he described Saundra as a modern-day Edith Wharton.

I talked up Myra’s debut (which is finally out!!) Hourglass to him as well in the hopes that he could get it in and I (and other people) could buy a copy. Of course, if you’re in the US, you can just run out and pick up a copy. Which you should.

I need to check out the Book Depository since I’ve heard they carry lots of books. But I have to admit I’d still much rather go into a physical store and browse around than order something online. There are a few used bookshops around Notting Hill that get me into trouble every time I go in them, but that’s another story…

I’m keeping on with my positive posts thingy. Today I’d like to tell you about Shawn Wickersheim, a guy from the writing group I left behind in the Chicago suburbs when I moved to London.

I kind of collect writing groups since I try to find one every time we move and we seem to move a lot. I haven’t found one here in London yet, though I have met some other writers. London is just a really big place. But there I go digressing again…

Shawn is a really cool guy. He’s not published or agented yet (though he totally should be…if any agents are out there reading this that like dark humor and utter mayhem, go check him out, though he definitely doesn’t write for the YA market…), but he’s one heck of a writer. He’s one of the few writers I know who can take a really intense fighting scene and then insert something in it that would make you shoot soda out of your nose if you happened to take a drink at the wrong time.

He’s also an indie film dude and knows tons about movies. I believe his goal last year was to watch one movie every day. And he’s nice and has, on more than one occasion, taken time out of his very busy life to read stuff for me without asking anything in return. Like now, when he’s reading my Super Sekrit This-Project-Really-Needs-A-Code-Name book for me even though he’s got far better things to do. I’m anxious to see what he says since he does dark so well and this is dark for me. Probably just dusky by his standards, but dark for me.

Peeps. You should keep track of this guy. ‘Cause he’s cool. Seriously cool.

And hey, my challenge still stands. Why don’t YOU go out and say something nice about someone today?

First off: Some other authors on a SCBWI British listserv I’m on had passed around a link this morning from a blogger who was lambasting the current state of YA and one author in particular (no, not me and no, I’m not going to link to it here because a) while I think there were some good points, it was just really vitriolic and kind of nasty and b) I’ve not even read the author in question, so I can’t really comment on the validity of her statements and c) well, just keep on reading…). It was just the latest hugely negative thing I’ve seen lately. There have been, actually, too many to list, from the supposed YA Mafia to authors blasting bloggers to bloggers blasting authors to…you get the idea. I’m kind of sick of it.

I thought it would be nice to talk about something positive instead. Maybe a whole series of “something positive” posts. Who knows.

So, today, lemme tell you about the awesome Kristin Tubb.

She’s a really awesome author who writes mostly middle grade fiction. Her latest, Selling Hope looks incredible and her first, Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different I was lucky enough to read before it hit shelves. She was also nice enough to read and comment on Sucks to Be Me for me back when it was still called This Bites. Or maybe it was To Suck or Not to Suck back then, I can’t remember.

I’ve never met Kristin in person. I’ve never met a lot of writers that I consider friends in person (conversely, I’ve met some in person that I totally idolize but wouldn’t dare to call myself a friend of). But I know from e-mails and Twitter and Facebook and all of those other things that make up our lives today that she’s just plain one of the nicest people out there, bar none. For heaven’s sake, she used to write Holly Hobbie books (I’m not kidding)!

I appreciate people like that. I hope you do too.

And guess what? You’re in luck. Because you can check out a special sneak peek of Kristin’s next book, The 13th Sign at her blog. I can’t wait to read it.

So I recently received a review copy of Stolen by Lucy Christopher. It’s her debut novel that Booklist calls “…a complex psychological study that is also a tribute to the hypnotic beauty of the outback…” Darn them. I was totally going to say that.

In all seriousness, this first novel is a lyrical and stunning work with a quiet intensity that builds throughout the novel until you are left at the end wondering where your day went. It’s the story of Gemma, a 16-year-old British teenager who lives in London, who is kidnapped while on holiday with her parents.

But this isn’t a normal abduction and her captor, Ty, is no normal kidnapper. He spirits her away to the remote reaches of the Australian outback, far away from everything and everyone Gemma has ever known. Unlike many of the other abduction stories out there (including Meg Tilly’s Gemma), there is no sexual or physical abuse. What there is, for Gemma, is always the tension and the wondering — is he going to harm her? Can she trust him? What does he want? Why did he take her?

The answer to that last question takes up much of the book. Gemma was not a random victim. If Ty was going to take anyone, it was her.

All of this is set against the dry, dusty backdrop of the wilds of Australia. A place so foreign to Gemma that it might as well be Mars. Ty sees beauty in the land and we (the reader) and Gemma eventually do as well, but it’s a beauty with danger always lurking beneath the surface.

I liked this one quite a bit. It’s told in Gemma’s voice as a letter to her captor, Ty. She’s both strong and weak; in other words: realistic. She reacts to her situation in ways that I think many of us would react. The book explores her captivity and what it does to her, as well as the influences of Stockholm syndrome (where you come to identify and even look up to or love your captor). And it is, above all, a love letter to the wilds of Australia.

The publication date on this one is May 2010 for the US; it looks to have come out elsewhere in May 2009. Check it out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.