Guest Post With Miranda Kenneally + Giveaway

The Art of Making Mistakes: Why messing up is one of the most important things you can do.

I love reading reviews of my books. I always listen to what people have to say in hopes I can make my writing better. However, there’s one thing I’ll never change about my books, no matter what: I’ve seen some readers get upset when my characters make mistakes.

My characters make big mistakes and small mistakes. Some decisions have serious repercussions on the life of not only my main character, but sometimes on the lives of others.

When I was a teenager, I did some very dumb things. Like, one time my parents told me I couldn’t go to the Aerosmith concert, but I took their car and went anyway. My parents got really upset. Sure, I loved the concert, but afterwards I had to live with the guilt of hurting my parents and doing something I knew was wrong. They grounded me for a month!

Another time, I told a friend a serious lie because I thought it would impress her. She was always doing things that were “cool” and I wanted to feel cool too. I wanted her to think I was worthy of our friendship. Instead of thinking I was cool, she told a bunch of people what I said and spread the gossip about me all over school. What made it especially bad was that some people knew it wasn’t true. I was so embarrassed and ashamed. And I was sad that my “friend” wasn’t a true friend. But I learned from the mistake. I learned not to lie anymore, and I learned that true friends will love me for who I am, not what I’ve done.

When I’m writing a book, I’m not scared to have my characters screw up. If we don’t screw up, we can’t learn, and then we can’t become better people.


GIVEAWAY:

Thanks to Sourcebooks, I am giving away a copy of STEALING PARKER. If you didn't notice, I reviewed STEALING PARKER yesterday and thought it was the shiznit. It's a must read, and here's your chance to win a copy.

All you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below. As per usual, extra entries will be rewarded to people who follow Miranda on twitter, "like" CATCHING JORDAN on Facebook, etc. This giveaway is only open to US and CA participants and will end November 17th.

Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.



a Rafflecopter giveaway