New Year, New Books Day 8 (Part 1): Skylar Dorset + The Girl Who Never Was

Day 8: The Girl Who Never Was

Welcome to Day 8 of New Year, New Books! The first giveaway has just ended, but we've got MANY more to come! So stick around, kids. Part 1 today features a mega cool author, Skylar Dorset.

1) Skylar Dorset

-author of The Girl Who Never Was (June 1st, 2014)

We are this very excited group of people.

Skylar wrote a letter to her younger self, and it is equal parts hilarious and heartwarming. Before you read her letter, check out her upcoming release.

Title: The Girl Who Never Was
Author: Skylar Dorset
Shelves: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Publication Date: June 1st, 2014
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Goodreads|Amazon|B&N

Summary from Goodreads: THE GIRL WHO NEVER WAS is the story of Selkie Stewart, who thinks she’s a totally normal teenager growing up in Boston. Sure, her father is in an insane asylum, her mother left her on his doorstep—literally—when she was a baby, and she’s being raised by two ancient aunts who spend their time hunting gnomes in their Beacon Hill townhouse. But other than that her life is totally normal! She’s got an adventurous best friend who’s always got her back and an unrequited crush on an older boy named Ben. Just like any other teenager, right?

When Selkie goes in search of the mother she’s never known, she gets more than she bargained for. It turns out that her mother is faerie royalty, which would make Selkie a faerie princess—except for the part where her father is an ogre, which makes her only half of anything. Even more confusing, there’s a prophecy that Selkie is going to destroy the tyrannical Seelie Court, which is why her mother actually wants to kill her. Selkie has been kept hidden all her life by her adoring aunts, with the help of a Salem wizard named Will. And Ben. Because the boy she thinks she’s in love with turns out to be a faerie whose enchantment has kept her alive, but also kept her in the dark about her own life.

Now, with enchantments dissolved and prophecies swinging into action, Selkie finds herself on a series of mad quests to save the people she’s always loved and a life she’s learning to love. But in a supernatural world of increasingly complex alliances and distressingly complicated deceptions, it’s so hard to know who to trust. Does her mother really wish to kill her? Would Will sacrifice her for the sake of the prophecy? And does Ben really love her or is it all an elaborate ruse? In order to survive, Selkie realizes that the key is learning—and accepting—who she really is.

Skylar's Letter to Her Younger Self

Skylar's website|Goodreads author page

Dear Young Skylar,

It doesn’t matter what you write. As long as you write. You will spend a lot of time worrying if what you’re writing is good. But you will be missing the point. The point is that the writing is good for you, no matter what it is. And it is all practice, and you will learn from it, and you will become better. So write, whatever it is, whatever you want. And never let anyone make you feel small or unimportant because they devalue what you happen to be writing. Putting words on paper is a terrifying act that should be applauded. Try to remember that.

The other thing to remember is that you can always get better. There will always be room for improvement. Do not let the chasing of that better get in the way of your acknowledgment of what you’ve already accomplished. You will never write something perfect. Learn to love what you do write. Be kind to yourself. Be kind in general. The world needs more of it. And don’t forget to include “yourself” when you talk of kindness to the world.

Stay away from the duck confit on your 31st birthday. It’s not a good idea.

The PowerBall numbers on September 18, 2013 will be 7, 10, 22, 32, 35 and Powerball 19.

The West Wing? Watch it. You will learn how to write dialogue from it. (You should probably also watch Sports Night, too, since I missed it the first time around.)

Trust your characters. Let them take you where they want to go.

Trust yourself, that you know your characters well enough to know where they want to go.

Try to learn how to type properly, because I’m convinced we’re going to have carpal tunnel when we get old.

Remember that you write because you love it. Never lose sight of that. Let it be your favorite hobby. Never lose it as a source of comfort and joy in dark and bright times alike.

Just because you get older doesn’t mean you have to start writing “grown-up” stuff. “Grown-up” stuff can be way overrated.

Nobody knows what they’re doing; everybody’s making it up as they go along.

Travel as much as you can. Don’t be afraid of it. Embrace it. You actually really like it once you give it a chance.

Yoga is awesome. Find it sooner in life.

Time flies. There will be times when you feel like it’s dragging, when you will feel like you will never get through the darkness you’re stuck in. It turns out it won’t be true. I promise. Time will always keep moving, and things will get better, and in the end you will realize that it really does fly, clichéd as it may be.

Talk to your loved ones as much as you can. Even when you’re tired and disgruntled.Especially when you’re tired and disgruntled.

Read, read, read, read, read.

And then write.

Yours,

Older Skylar

P.S. The Red Sox are going to win the World Series multiple times in your lifetime. I swear. 

***Giveaway***

Since the artwork for Skylar's book isn't finalized yet, she's giving away a different totally awesome prize!

You could win one of Skylar's favorite books, along with a note from her! (click on the titles listed below to find out more!)

Johnny Tremain |Watership Down |Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone |Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |To Say Nothing of the Dog |Three Men in A Boat|Charlotte's Web |Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell |The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes |The Daughter of Time |The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe |Bunnicula |Neverwhere |The Graveyard Book

Rules of Entry:

1) OPEN INTERNATIONALLY- therefore, if you are from outer space, sadly, you cannot enter.

2) No cheating with your entries, I always check

3) The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email, or else I will be forced to pick a new winner.

4) The book will be sent out at the author's discretion.
5) Please actually take the time to read this post with Skylar. Authors are crazy busy, and deserve as much love as you can give them.

5) GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

****GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY***

In addition to the individual giveaways each author is hosting, I am also going to have a grand prize giveaway that will run for the entire month. This is because some authors cannot contribute a giveaway, so I figured I'd give something of mine as well.

Grand Prize Giveaway:

2 Surprise 2014 ARCs + swag

Yep, these will be from my own shelf. Yep, this giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. Yep, it is a surprise and I am not telling you what the ARCs will be but here's an idea of what MIGHT be in it:

Any of these books are fair game! But in the end, the winner will only get 2. And I promise that the surprise ARCs will be good:)

Here are the rules of entry:

1) OPEN INTERNATIONALLY
2) The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email. If not, I will have to pick a new winner. 

3) The prize will be sent out at my discretion, so I might take me a little longer than a week to get it to you.

4) In order to earn the maximum amount of entries, you can comment on EVERY SINGLE DAY of New Year, New Books!

5) GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway