And the winner is…
Bethany! (no last name:) The two runners up are: Geoff B and h2ohammer! Thank you to everyone who entered! I will email the winners individually to get your addresses so I can send you your prizes!
Dayna
Getting the Most Out of Getting Feedback
One of the best gifts a person can give you as a writer is constructive, thoughtful feedback on your work. None of my books would be what they are without the insightful comments of a few trusted readers and editors, and my writing would not be what it is today without having grappled with the…
The Slow Accretion of Story
I thought I’d take a blog post to talk about ideas and where they come from. I’m reading On Writing by Stephen King and the passage about how he came up with the idea for Carrie really resonated. King talks about how in college, he had worked as a High School janitor and was fascinated…
I’m BACK! And here’s a GIVEAWAY to prove it!
And I’m back! It’s been a while since my last real blog. But I have a good excuse! Two excuses! A cute excuse, even! First, back in December, I had a baby! He’s a very cute almost four-month-old now. It’s quite a thing having two children (I also have a four-year-old daughter). I’m amazed that…
Thrilling news! NO SAFETY is a Quick Pick!
Go on, No Safety. You deserve that cupcake. I’m thrilled to announce that No Safety in Numbers has been chosen as a 2013 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)! I am so honored to be included on this list! Here is a description of the list from the…
On Boys in YA…
This week, the Los Angeles Review of Books published an essay on the dearth of role models in modern YA literature showing a healthy path from boyhood to manhood. The author points to 19th century literature, such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as providing the kind of role models for this path that we currently lack….
You live by Siri, You’re Gonna Die By Siri…
Today is the start of National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, it is exactly what it sounds like: A group of writers, both professionals and amateurs, who come together to support one another in writing a novel in a month, and that month is this month—November….
Hooray for School Visits!
I had the pleasure of visiting Ms. Bradunas’s class at the Our Lady of Hope/St. Luke School in Baltimore, MD this past Tuesday. We talked about The Storm, the first book in the Dogs of the Drowned City series, the real-world inspiration for the story, and how I created a dog’s eye view of the…
Cage Match: A Tale of Two Cities vs. The Hunger Games
This week, I thought I would take on the YA-is-super-dark-and-isn’t-this-a-sign-teens-and-YA-authors-today-are-evil/morbid/violent/etc. argument. This issue crops up again and again in the media, like here and here. It came up in my FastCompany interview. And yes, there is a lot of heavy stuff in YA literature today. But is this a sign of change, or are YA…
This Month in Hypochondria
I am starting to feel like a normal person (well, as normal as possible for me…) again after a rather hectic period of editing Book 2 of the No Safety in Numbers trilogy, No Easy Way Out. I am so excited about this book. I wish I could give it to you right now! Alas,…
Dayna Lorentz is the author of the DOGS OF THE DROWNED CITY series (Scholastic) and NO SAFETY IN NUMBERS (Dial).
I write because I have to; I write because I love to; I eat cupcakes because they’re there.