First Novels Club

Hi! :)

I'm from NC, and I write spec fic for teens and tweens. I've just signed with an agent (exciting!) and couldn't be more thrilled. My book is a sci fi for teens who don't like sci fi--it's a murder mystery in space and it's awesome (if I do say so myself).

:)

Hey, you're right - the book blogging community is awesome! :D

I blog about vampires over at www.yavampirebooks.blogspot.com and since I know how much you love vampires (especially the Vampire Diaries) you should go check it out! Lol! Btw does anyone know any Swedish book bloggers? Send the my way! I haven't met any myself.

Sara

I'm from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. I write YA, chick lit, and currently historical fiction about a boy who grows up in Hitler Youth. At the last conference I attended we were encouraged to start a blog if we hadn't already, so I went home and started one. I'm glad I did. I'm having a blast getting to know the community here.

Hello

I'm from Sunny Southern California. I'm a 4th year college student majoring in Psychology and hopefully Creative Writing. I write mostly fantasy for upper YA. My current work in progress is Infinite Alice, a bizarre steampunk adventure loosely based on Alice in Wonderland.

I blog at nlcobb.blogspot.com. Right now, I'm working on blogging on a schedule, so not everything is going to be about writing.

I'd definitely like to add some new blog reads to my blogroll. Hopefully you'll want to add me too. ^_^

You all are brilliant. I guaratee record numbers of comments because nearly everyone loves to talk about him or herself. Right?

I'm in NW Philadelphia and write YA literary fiction with religious themes. I don't like the term "religious," though; it sounds uptight and preachy, which I make every effort to avoid. I like to mix humor with edgy, dark plots. I'm revising one novel, drafting another and poking away at some short stories also.

Like Elle, I got back into blogging because some publicist chick at a conference said it was important for "building platform." Frankly, the whole platform thing bores me. I'm really in the blogosphere for the relationships with other writers and readers.

I'm from the north Georgia mountains. I write literary fiction, science fiction, urban fantasy, and PNR. My current book is a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy remix.

I have a degree in English, I read voraciously, and I love to stalk people's blogs!

I'm from Brooklyn, NY. Currently revising my first novel, which is for adults. I'm almost done with the first edit and will begin the overwhelming process of trying to find an agent! I recently had an idea for a new novel that featured a 15 year old girl, so now I am trying to learn more about writing for Young Adults, which I'm very excited about.
I started blogging because Gary Vaynerchuk said I should build a 'personal brand'. If people are going to tag incrimnating photos of me on facebook, I might as well have a space that truly defines who I am! JK, there are no incriminating photos... well... maybe...

I'm from MA. My debut young adult novel comes out next year. I don't blog too often, yet (once or twice a month). But I really enjoy reading others' blogs! :)

Hello, FNC!

I'm going to college in NC to earn a degree in journalism. I started blogging last year so I would be doing something journalistic-y, but it ended up being my forum to talk about my book once I discovered the writing community.

I have one finished MS and another is being finished right now (and I hopefully query this summer!). Here's the synopsis:

When Jane Hawkes, seventeen, runs away from her morally corrupt and abusive family, she ends up running towards the dangers and deadly secrets the west holds. Set in the wild west, this YA fiction features gun fights, Native Americans, wild horses, saloons, a doctor's apprentice, romance, and a girl trying to live her life on her own terms.

I love the wonderful community you've all created with this blog; keep it up!

Hi! I'm Jessica. I found your blog through Heather.

I'm a high school English teacher in CA, I have a YA book review blog, and I'm writing a YA novel.

I don't know which came first...me reading a ton of YA or writing my YA novel. But I started blogging about my books and growing my blog because it's just so much fun.

My novel is a realistic YA romance about a girl who realizes that she isn't nice. My goal is to finish it in the first half of the year. We'll see how that goes. :-)

I'm from NY and currently I'm a freshman at college. :) I started blogging March of '09 and it's been a blast ever since! I used to write poetry but stopped because life caught up with me and I didn't have all the time in the world like I used to. Now I'm trying to get back to writing :) As for a favorite book? I have too many! But one that really pops into my mind is The Host by Stephenie Meyer. It's beyond amazing and I highly recommend it to ANYBODY if they haven't already read it. ;D

I'm from Kansas but I live in Germany. I blog about books, and I have way too many favorites to name, but my favorite of 2009 was LIPS TOUCH by Laini Taylor and my favorite of 2010 so far is BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver.

Hi FNC! (And Frankie whom I met at a Books of Wonder Event)

I'm Faye, a senior in college hoping to work in the publishing industry, in editorial or marketing, most likely. I have a blog, but it's definitely more of a personal blog--I typically have strong opinions, especially on books, though I'm trying to look at things more professionally. However, one of my goals for 2010 is to spruce it up a bit, so maybe I'll start advertising the URL eventually ;)

I DO, however, have a goodreads account. my username is 'newsboyhat'

The blogging community makes me so happy. Can't imagine being a writer without it!

P.S.
We live in Cleveland, write Contemporary YA and our book debuts in Spring 2011.

Great post!

I'm Julie and I live in New York. I share a YA book blog, Bloggers[heart]Books with a few other girls. I'm in between books right now, trying to find a good project.

My favorite book would probably Pride and Prejudice.

Najela--

Have you ever read Automated Alice by Jeff Noon? If you're into bizarre take-offs from Alice in Wonderland, I think you'd really like it.

Hi, I'm Simon, and I'm an alco... I'm a narco... I'm a klepto... Damn. I mean, I'm a nym... (never mind). Wait, I've got it: I'm a sarcastoholic. Is there such a thing? There should be. I'm saying there is. As of now. You're welcome for the neologism.

Anyway, I'm from Philly too, y'all. (Represent!) I write flash fiction (bam), short stories, and am starting work on a novel that will probably be banned in school libraries.

Like Laurel, I started the blog for platform, then promptly fell off the platform. Now I just hang about and bug people in their comment sections.

Hello! (errr Bonsoir!)

I'm Aly, from NC; currently living in a small medieval town in France (exchange student in high school).
I blog about things related to my stay here, to share my experiences, observations, and thoughts with my family and friends at home. It's also quite a bit for me, a place to shove all the things I have to say and experiences I want to remember in detail.

I am writing a book (oh, and I wrote one during NaNo that I can't look); it's something I started forever ago, and I guess it's a vampire story. I started writing it before Twilight, though-- I was going through a bit of a vampire book phase. (I've read the vampire diaries, though I don't remember them now.)

That's it. I've enjoyed reading your blogs, though it makes me miss BOOKS. (I have one book in English here, and it superduperlight reading.) :(

-Aly ("en France")

I love reading these! Keep them coming.

Beth -- Murder mystery in space for non-sci-fi lovers? I'm there!

YA -- Hopefully someone from Sweden will hop on over!

Elle -- We got blog-inspired from a conference too!

Laurel -- I'm so intrigued by your religious themes! I grew up in NE Phila.

Summer -- "North Georgia mountains"? Sounds gorgeous!

Melissa -- I put way more embarrassing things on this blog than anything anyone else could come up with!

Kim -- Yayyyy elevensies!

Hello, Mariah! -- Wild West YA with a female MC? Love it!

All is one. Hahaha.

I'm from India, but I moved to the U.S. as a baby. I love reading, and I write often, but I haven't published any (except on Goodreads) I'm a sucker for chocolate, any type! I blog because: I like to keep track of the books I read. I like to share info and books with other readers: I like to read responses and connect with other bloggers!

Oh you are soooo right. So RIGHT! A community, indeed. And how lovely of you to open your blog post up to the community. So...

I'm originally from Ecuador...then Floriday...then Indiana...then North Carolina...then England...then Indiana once again. I have two manuscripts: 1. YA paranormal romance and 2. YA magical realism romance. As for blogging, well...it's just an extension of writing I think. And it beats the mass e-mails I used to send out ;)

Hi, I live in Queensland, Australia. Not a writer, I'm a reader and book review blogger. My favourite book, not sure where to start as I have a few but Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskin is one and also I love Jude Deveraux Velvet series. My favourite genres are historical and romance followed by fantasy.

This was fun!

Hi!
I'm Joanne. I live in Southeastern PA. But then you already know me, Frankie.

I actually started blogging for two reasons:

1)a way to list, review and remember all the wonderful books I read as a bookseller and

2)a way to keep all the awesome blogs I was reading in one handy place.

I'm also a writer, although the only manuscripts I've finished are all picture books or young readers (currently working on a mystery for 2nd/3rd grades). The novels are still, ahem, a long way from finished.

What a cool idea!! I ditto every remark about how awesome this community is :-)

I'm Sara... I live in Northern Virginia and I write YA fantasy (so far). My first novel, SHATTERED, is out to CPs now and I hope to be querying it by the end of February!!

Awesome post. I'm a 7th grade English teacher that just started blogging in July. I started as a way to share book ideas with my students but it has gone way beyond that. I'm currently working on my first novel. Still on the first draft but its coming along.

I'm Sarah, from MI.

My current blog is "The {geeky} Wife" - I talk about my geeky life and the things that I come across.

I'm editing my first novel and writing my second. The one I'm writing is a light sci-fi about a girl who loses her memory and is given false memories. I hope to have the first novel edited and clean enough to start querying by the end of the year

Hi Jessica, awww yay, we love Heather and good luck with your book. I love stories like that where the main character is sort of a you know what and comes to terms with it...kind of like Emmma in a way.

Pirate Penguin, oh The Host actually is a great book. Im very curious to see how the movie turns out and how they'll show the two characters with one body.

Lenore, ooooh both books are high in my TBR pile. So glad you enjoyed them!

Hi Faye!!!! We must make plans soon since we'll all be in NY the last week of the month for the SCBWI conference!

LiLa, hahahaha as if you need any introduction. We love you ladies!

Hi Julie, cool, we'll all be in NY in a few weekends, look out for us, we're going to be wearing matching totebags!

Simon, BAM! One day soon we must mix our crit groups together, itll be fun and we'll take over Philly!

Aly, oooh cool that sounds like heaven though I hope you can get ahold of more books soon!

Hi Kirthi, awww Im dying to go to India! And those are great reasons for blogging! Thanks for sharing.

Carolina its sooo fun getting to know you at our other blogs and I love how many places you've lived! Wow!

Hi Alaine, wow Australia cool and I also love historical, romance and fantasy books!

Joanne!!!! One of our favorite bloggers, booksellers, followers, writers and friend!!!

Sara, everything with Shattered sounds very exciting now...:-)

Jill, cool, just keep working on it and you'll get there!

The Geeky Wife, Hi Sarah, love it, we're all geeks here too!

Hi! (waves) I'm Lisa-Marie from California. I like to read - a LOT - mostly YA and fantasy, but I'll pick up anything that looks the least bit interesting. Currently I'm not writing much, but I've dug out a trilogy outline and the first few chapters I started writing
in the mid-90s and have decided to see what I can do with it. Cheers!

Wow! What an accomplished and fun crowd!

Originally from Texas, I'm currently about two months from finishing a twelve-month gig here in Bagdhad, Iraq.

I recently returned to writing after a long hiatus. I tend to write mainstream fiction with a slight literary bent and a dash of magical realism thrown in for good measure. A few short stories are in work and I am framing up a novel idea that's been floating around my head for the last year. I hope to commence on that effort this summer.

I am a baby blogger and have a brand new blog up and running since the beginning of the year. I am excited to be back at work in fiction and am anxious to see where this adventure leads!

Hi,

I'm Tammee from Los Angeles and I am finishing up a ya about a girl who decides her future using some unorthodox measures, and a mg about two boys who use modern technology and good common sense to solve mysteries around their town.

I love reading blogs by writers as they inspire me to keep going even when I don't feel like it...lol

I will be in NY at the end of the month and will look for your book bags :)

I'm from North Dakota. I blog at NovelNaut among other places.

I'm currently working on the first edit of my first novel which is a fantasy adventure.

Hi - blogger from ND as well. I love the blogging community as well and have had a lot of fun really getting into the lit blogger community. Started a lit specific blog as a result, so I can be found over at Epic Plains.

Feel free to stop by for a visit!