Fandom Confessional With Natalie Whipple

I'm back! With my usual antics in hand—no crying like last time, I promise, even if this is another truth.

Natalie Whipple & The Big Fat Ninja Secret

I've been keeping a big secret for awhile now, but today I'm gonna tell you. You know, if you can get through my blubbering in the video. Even when I'm doing a truth I can't help but embarrass myself, it seems.

Alexandra Duncan Takes the Truth

"How do you do it?"

Every writer gets this question at some point, and every writer's answer is going to be different. I thought this week might be a good time to take this truth, since my life is particularly hectic right now. Between relatives visiting, the height of the summer reading season at the library where I work, and car trouble, it hasn't been easy to squeeze in enough writing time lately. Want to know my deep, dark, dysfunctional secrets about time management, pets, and laundry? Watch on. . .






Check in again this coming Tuesday for guest post by Crissa-Jean Chappell. If you want to leave a truth or dare for her, click here.

______________________________________

Alexandra Duncan is a Young Adult writer and librarian. Her first novel, Salvage, is due to be released by Greenwillow Books/Harper Collins in Fall 2013. You can find her online at Twitter, Goodreads, and her personal blog.

Alexandra Duncan Takes the Dare + Short Story Winners

I promise to get around to embarrassing myself in a minute, but first, some important business: the winners of our short story contest. (Drumroll, please!)

The grand prize goes to. . . Leigh!

And our runners-up are. . . Silverpool and Christina.

Congratulations, guys! Thank you so much for playing. E-mail us at fridaythethirteeners[at]gmail[dot]com to claim your prizes.

And now, on to the humiliation. . .

The last time I played Truth or Dare was at my friend Nicole's birthday party during my senior year of high school. Most of our truths involved boys, and I don't think there was a single dare in the mix. What had happened to the halcyon days of mixing together weird things from the fridge and then making each other eat them? Or sneaking out of the house to jump on the trampoline at midnight? So, when I heard about the idea of the Thirteeners, I knew immediately I had to play, and I knew I wanted to start with a really good dare.


Amy Conroy sent in a perfect one:


Read a bit of a story from when you were younger (child to teenager, the youngest piece that you can find).

I'm not sure about the wisdom of letting my 11 year-old self's writing out into the world when I'm trying to have a career convincing people to read the things I write now, but it wouldn't be a dare if it didn't hurt a little, right?

Thanks for the awesome dare, Amy. Since this is my first time playing, you get to choose a prize - a $13 gift certificate or a copy of Booklife, by Jeff Vandermeer (my favorite guide to the writing life). E-mail me at fridaythethirteeners[at]gmail[dot]come and let me know which you'd like.


Thanks again for playing! Check back with us this coming Friday, May 4th, for a post by the lovely and talented Mindy McGinnis.
______________________________________

Alexandra Duncan is a writer and librarian. Her first novel, Salvage, is due to be released by Greenwillow Books/Harper Collins in Fall 2013. You can find her online at Twitter, Goodreads, and her personal blog.

Megan Shepherd Takes the Dare

I am thrilled to be the second Mystery Author revealed here on the blog! When the Friday the Thirteeners first contacted me I thought, what better way to combine my tolerance for humiliating myself with my love of young adult literature? Clearly, it’s a match made in heaven, and getting to know these talented ladies has been a pleasure.

What HASN’T been a pleasure is picking a truth or dare from all the submissions! You guys are apparently a highly creative and slightly sadistic bunch, which makes me encouraged about the future of the YA literary community. So, inspired by Erin’s post last week about her publisher’s cover design process, I chose a dare submitted by Jessica Ball:

Design an original cover for your book.

Let me clarify, in case it's somehow not clear, that this is NOT THE REAL COVER. The real cover won't be designed for a few more months and will be totally awesome, aka, nothing at all like these. Even though, you know, I took a four-hour Photoshop class about two years ago, so clearly I’m totally qualified for this kind of thing.

Get ready. You might need blinders. Ta-da!

Thanks for the great dare, Jessica! Because this was my first truth or dare, and inspired by our Thirteener name, I’m giving you either a $13 Barnes and Noble gift card or (if you are a writer) a 13-page critique. Email me at fridaythethirteeners[at]gmail[dot]com and let me know which you would prefer.

Keep submitting those great truths & dares, everyone! You can submit them here.
_________________________________________________________________

Megan Shepherd is a young adult writer living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Her debut novel, THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER, comes out in early 2013 from Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins, and is the first in a Gothic thriller trilogy. She’d love to hear from you at her blog, Twitter, Facebook, or on Goodreads.

Erin Bowman Takes the Truth

I was all set to tackle an embarrassing dare, but then this fabulous truth came in from Alyssa regarding book covers and the design process and I had to shift gears. This topic is very timely for me -- TAKEN is undergoing the cover design phase as we speak -- so let's get to it, shall we?

A hat tip to Alyssa, for prompting such a great discussion. As a thank you, I'm giving you a $13 amazon or B&N giftcard (your choice). Just email me via our Thirteeners account -- fridaythethirteeners[at]gmail[dot]com -- so I know where to send your prize.

And to everyone else: Perhaps you would like to submit some more truth and dares for us? We really do love them, even if some are cringe-worthingly embrassing.

That's all from me for now, but make sure you stop by on Tuesday when we announce our newest mystery author!

___________________________________________________________________

Erin Bowman is a YA writer, letterpress lover, and Harry Potter enthusiast living in New Hampshire. Her debut novel, TAKEN, comes out from HarperTeen in Winter of 2013. You can visit her blog (updated occasionally) or find her on twitter (updated obsessively).

Guest Dare: Kiersten White

We are so excited to welcome our very first guest author to Friday The Thirteeners! Kiersten White, author of the PARANORMALCY trilogy, has bravely agreed to do a dare for us, and she chose Amy Garvey's. I hope you find the results as hilarious as we did.

If you didn't know, on top of asking for truths and dares from you, we welcome authors to take up a challenge with us. This blog is all about participation, so keep sending in your ideas, and don't be afraid to sign up to play. We'll be nice. We promise.





Thanks for participating, Amy! As the author of today's chosen dare, you win a copy of one of Kiersten White's favorite kissy books: ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins (if you already own this book, we'll work out a different prize). Our lovely April Tucholke is on the chopping block next so send in more dares! Check back Friday for another post.

Natalie Whipple Takes The Dare

Before we get to my impending humiliation, first we need to announce the winners of our very first Friday The Thirteeners contest! Here they are, in no particular order:

Erica and Christy

Claire Dawn

Riv Re

Myrna Foster

Amanda Oliveri

SM Blooding

Jenny S Morris

Tristain

Tiana Smith

Lexie

Hayley Lovell

Chantele Sedgwick

Little Miss Bookworm

If you're on the list, please contact us at fridaythethirteeners@gmail.com with your choice of prize. We'll work things out from there!

Now, on to the dare. I chose Leigh Smith's, and since I did I'm offering her a 30-page manuscript critique (If you're not a writer, Leigh, we'll work something else out.)! Thanks so much for joining in the fun and giving me such a great challenge. Please email me at natalie@nataliewhipple.com to work out the details. I hope you all enjoy the results!



Have a truth or dare you'd like to see us answer next Friday? Submit one now!