THE STONE GIRL BLOG TOUR AND BOOK GIVEAWAY

Today I'm excited to participate in Alyssa Sheinmel's blog tour for her new book THE STONE GIRL that will be released August 28, 2012. Alyssa is the author of two other books, THE BEAUTIFUL BETWEEN and THE LUCKY KIND. 


I'm excited to share this book with you because it deals with eating disorders. This is an issue that sadly some teenage girls struggle with. I have a cousin my daughter's age who struggled with this last year and you may know a teen who does too.


Here's a description from Goodreads:

She feels like a creature out of a fairy tale; a girl who discovers that her bones are really made out of stone, that her skin is really as thin as glass, that her hair is brittle as straw, that her tears have dried up so that she cries only salt. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t hurt when she presses hard enough to begin bleeding: it doesn’t hurt, because she’s not real anymore.

Sethie Weiss is hungry, a mean, angry kind of hunger that feels like a piece of glass in her belly. She’s managed to get down to 111 pounds and knows that with a little more hard work—a few more meals skipped, a few more snacks vomited away—she can force the number on the scale even lower. She will work on her body the same way she worked to get her perfect grades, to finish her college applications early, to get her first kiss from Shaw, the boy she loves, the boy who isn’t quite her boyfriend.

Sethie will not allow herself one slip, not one bad day, not one break in concentration. Her body is there for her to work on when everything and everyone else—her best friend, her schoolwork, and Shaw—are gone.

Doesn't this sound good?  


Alyssa's going to share some fabulous advice on what to do when you have writer's block. Here's Alyssa:

I stopped writing The Stone Girl when I was about halfway through the novel.  I told myself that the story wasn’t going anywhere.  That no one would ever want to read another book about a girl with an eating disorder.  That I didn’t have anything new to say about eating disorders that hadn’t been said before, and by people much smarter than I.  It was a kind of writer’s block – the kind you talk yourself into – and it made me walk away from the story.  I stayed away from it for months.  Still, I went back to it eventually, until Sethie’s story found its way onto paper.

            Luckily, when I’m faced with writer’s block, there are a few things that always seem to help me find my way back to the computer, back to my story.  They’re not really cures – there probably isn’t really a cure for writer’s block – but these steps always help, at least a little.

1. Walk away.  This is a tough one, because I have to first overcome the overwhelming guilt that comes with walking away from a story.  I always think that if I keep at it, just force myself to keep going, I’ll manage to get a few pages down on paper.  But the truth is, when I force myself to write like that, my writing usually stinks and I end up deleting it anyway.  But when I walk away, take a few hours, or a few days, off from a story, I find myself itching to get back to it eventually.

2. Take Hemingway’s advice.  I’m stealing this one from Ernest Hemingway.  He wrote that you should make yourself stop writing when it’s going really well, because then when you go back to it the next day, you’ll be excited and ready to pick it back up – call it writer’s block prevention.  It’s very good advice, if really hard to follow.

3. Read.  This is my favorite one, and the most effective.  For me, there are a few writers I can always turn to when I’m feeling stumped, a few authors whose work never fails to make me want to write.  It’s probably someone different for every author, but for me it’s Joan Didion, Alice Hoffman, and Mary Gordon.  They’re not the only three authors who work, but I know I can always count on them.  I just feel like they’re always teaching me something about writing.  Or maybe it’s just that they inspire me so much. 

4. Let the story take the lead.  I talked myself out of telling Sethie’s story; for a few months, I didn’t think I would ever finish writing it, and I certainly didn’t think it was publishable.  But Sethie kept coming back to me: sitting on the subway, a line that I knew belonged in The Stone Girl would pop into my head, out of nowhere, and I’d have to go home and write a whole scene around it.  Sometimes I’d simply get restless, trying to watch TV or read a book, and soon I would find myself back in front of the compter, typing a new chapter.  I let the story take on a life of its own, and it found its way to being told.

Thanks Alyssa for sharing your advice. You can find Alyssa at her website.

 Alyssa's publisher, Random House, generously offered a copy of THE STONE GIRL for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment by August 25th. I’ll announce the winner on August 27th. If your e-mail is not on Blogger, please list it in your comment. International entries are welcome.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry.


Here's Alyssa's complete blog tour:

8/1—AlyssaSheinmel.com Introduction

8/2—Emily’s Crammed Bookshelf Interview & review

8/3—Literary Rambles Guest post & giveaway

8/6—YA Romantics Review

8/7—The Book Addict’s Guide Interview

8/8—Book Club Chic Review

8/9—A Tale of Two Bookies Guest post

8/12—The Teen Book Guru Interview

8/13—The Teen Book Guru Review

8/14—Itching for Books Guest post

8/15—Random Acts of Reading Guest post

8/16—The Children’s Book Review Guest post & giveaway

8/17—Isabel Bandeira Mini-interview & guest post

8/20—YA Romantics Interview

8/21—Taking It One Book at a Time Interview

8/22—Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers Review & giveaway

8/23—Confessions of a Bookaholic Guest post & giveaway

8/24—The Compulsive Reader Guest post & giveaway

8/27—Almost Grown Up Interview

8/27—A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy Interview

8/28— A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy Review

8/29—Letter Blocks Interview

9/1—Distraction No. 99 Guest post

9/2—Literary Escapism Guest post (for School’s In)

9/3—Dear Teen Me Guest post

Here's what's coming up next:

On Monday I'm super excited to interview C.J. Redwine and give away an ARC of her debut book DEFIANCE, a fantasy/dystopian book I loved. I'm only giving away my ARC because I plan to buy a copy for myself.


The following Monday, I'll be taking off. My mom, uncle, and aunt will be visiting and I need to be a good hostess and enjoy being together. I'll be back Friday that week with a big Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop. I've got an awesome selection of books for you to choose from.


And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.


Hope to see you on Monday!