.: Amy K. Nichols :.

YA Science Fiction Author of NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE (Knopf, 2014) and WHILE YOU WERE GONE (Knopf, 2015) Whovian. Sherlockian. Benedict Cumberbatch likes my handbag.

[john-watson]

[amyknichols]

How Levaquin Tried to Kill Me, but I Fought Back

I have a very serious story to share. I’ve put off writing it for a number of reasons: fear that writing it down gives it more power or permanence in my life, fear that the story isn’t actually over, shame that I allowed this to happen at all, especially given what happened to my dog Holly. That’s probably the biggest reason I’ve put off sharing this on the blog and on social media: I should know…

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[whenisayrunrun]

[cumberbuddy]

whenisayrunrun:

Benedict doing an impression of Beyonce

[studyquill]

Word Counter - Not only does it count the number of words you’ve written, it tells you which words are used most often and how many times they appear.

Tip Of My Tongue - Have you ever had a word on the tip of your tongue, but you just can’t figure out what it is? This site searches words by letters, length, definition, and more to alleviate that.

Readability Score - This calculates a multitude of text statistics, including character, syllable, word, and sentence count, characters and syllables per word, words per sentence, and average grade level.

Writer’s Block (Desktop Application) - This free application for your computer will block out everything on your computer until you meet a certain word count or spend a certain amount of time writing.

Cliche Finder - It does what the name says.

Write Rhymes - It’ll find rhymes for words as you write.

Verbix - This site conjugates verbs, because English is a weird language.

Graviax - This grammar checker is much more comprehensive than Microsoft Word, again, because English is a weird language.

Sorry for how short this is! I wanted to only include things I genuinely find useful.

[misscecil]

How to Panel Like a Lit Champ!

I’ve been moderating and paneling for a long time and been doing a lot of panels these past few months and have a few thoughts about what makes a great panel.  I thought I would follow up Mette’s excellent A Good Moderator post from a month ago with a How to Panel like a Lit Champ! post.  These are just some things that I’ve learned along the years and try to strive for when I’m on a panel or when I’m moderating one and I thought I would pass these tips on to you.  Enjoy! 

1.If you are moderating, read the books of all the authors on the panel. This means their newest book / the one they are promoting.

2. Come up with questions. Do not wing it. Do not make them general questions. i.e. avoid things like, What’s your process? What’s your research? What are you working on next? Although of course, when peppered in with your thoughtful questions those could be great.

3.When you are moderating, have a pen and piece of paper to jot down anything interesting that you can turn into a question. Meaning, be flexible to how the panel is flowing.

4. Come up with at least one thoughtful question for each panelist that pertains to their specific book.

5. Moderators, try to contact your authors before the panel to let the panelists know what you are going to be covering / how you are going to run the panel. Sometimes you only get the publicists email. Ask the publicist to forward your email to the author. If you cannot email, make sure to get to the room early to greet your authors and let them know how you are going to run the panel.

6. Moderators, have a bio of each of the authors on your panel to introduce them.

7.Authors, do your moderator a favor and have a short bio readily available on your website. One that actually talks about the highlights of your career (and not about your dog or how much you like pie.)

8.Avoid having every single author go down the line and answer every single question. It is long and tedious and oftentimes boring for the audience. This is especially bad on panels with more than five people.

9. People like a conversation! If you are moderating, encourage cross talk! If you are on a panel, ask the other panelists a question when you are talking!

10. If you are on a panel that is being moderated by someone else, be classy and at least have googled the other authors and be aware of exactly what their new book is about. Read the flap copy or the first chapter. I know it’s hard to read. Trust me, everyone on the panel is busy and on deadline! But it makes the conversation on the panel so much nicer when people at least know each others literary flavor! 11. Bonus points if you read or have read at least one book by each author on the panel even if it’s not the one they are currently promoting. It means you can at least talk to that authors style or themes. 12. Also authors, google your moderator! They could be an author as well and it shows respect to at least know who they are / why they were selected to moderate the panel. It often also makes for a better conversation.

13. If you are an author and you are moderating a panel you should of course mention that and on occasion weigh in with your own thoughts, but your job is to moderate the panel so keep the self tooting to a minimum.

14. If it is just you and another author in conversation with no moderator, read the other authors book. Seriously. This is non negotiable.

15. If you are asked to read a short passage on a panel, read no more than three to four pages. And probably keep it on the shorter side. Remember that people look forward to the conversation and that’s the fun part of a panel and if everyone reads for a full five to seven minutes than half your panel is gone and the audience Q&A is truncated.

16. If your moderator asks you to read just one page. Really read just one page. 17. Do not be a mic hog as a panelist. This is not the “look at only me show.” Even if you are the most famous author and everyone in the room is there for you, you are on a panel. Let everyone talk.

18. Keep your answers short. You personally do not need to answer every question. Other people have things to say, too. Some people are shy and will not jump on in. Be mindful of that. 19. If you are a moderator and someone is hogging up all the time, jump in and guide the conversation to another author.

20. If you are a moderator and notice that a panelist is shy and not speaking much, try to help them to come out of their shell. They usually have great things to say when coaxed.

21. If you are a moderator and an audience member rambles on or does not ask a question, at the Q&A quickly (and kindly) move it along.

22. If you are the moderator and open it up to the audience for questions and they are a shy audience and do not have questions, make sure that you have spare questions for your panel. This is a good time to use those questions / further points that you jotted down.

23. You don’t have to be everyone’s best friend, but you do have to be friendly, polite and inclusive. If you are on a panel with your good friends, great! But avoid inside jokes. It alienates the other authors and the audience.

24. When on the panel and in the social parts / green rooms of a festival/ conference, remember that you are all peers and that the career wheels are always turning. Some are just starting out. Some are grizzled vets. Some are on the up and up.  Some are having a hard time of it. It doesn’t matter if you are the most famous or the least famous in the room / on the panel, be nice. Stay classy. 25. Have fun!

[amyknichols]

The Spring 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt is ON!

Like hunting for new reads? Join the @YAScavengerHunt to find 160 #YA books! http://bit.ly/yashunt

Spring 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt Welcome to Spring 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt! My name is Amy Nichols and I’m your host this leg of the hunt. A little about me: – I’m the author of YA science fiction Duplexity novels, Now That You’re Here and While You Were Gone, published by Knopf. – The Duplexity books are available now in a cool, two-in-one flip book! – I have a ukulele named Gertie. She makes me…

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[archatlas]

Calvin and Hobbes: The Force Awakens #2 Brian Kesinger

Story artist at Walt Disney animation studios / Artist for Marvel Comics. Check out his etsy store for books and prints www.etsy.com/shop/BrianKesinger

This is the photoset #2, check out photoset #1 here!

[tchelamet]

doctor who rewatch ≡ 3.10 blink

“fascinating race, the weeping angels. the only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely. no mess, no fuss, they just zap you into the past and let you live to death. the rest of your life used up and blown away in the blink of an eye. you die in the past, and in the present they consume the energy of all the days you might have had, all your stolen moments. they’re creatures of the abstract. they live off potential energy.”

[profeminist]

Persistent Sexual Harassment Is a Primary Reason Women Leave STEM

““The absence of women within STEM programs is not only progressive, it is persistent,” Hope Jahren writes in a recent essay in the New York Times.

“Indeed, despite programs designed to interest girls in STEM, GoldieBlox, and supermodels celebrating the virtues of coding, the fields are still overwhelmingly male and seem virtually resistant to change. Jahren, a geochemist and geobiologist, argues that the problem is hardly one of enthusiasm, but rather widespread sexual harassment in the fields that, unsurprisingly, goes unpunished.

The kind of sexual harassment Jahren describes is hardly that of a Mad Men episode: groping and outright dickishness are easier to label and condemn as sexual harassment (and it’s worth noting that STEM has a problem with that too).

Rather, it’s the kind that prioritizes men’s feelings, and their expression of them, over the simple act of treating a woman as a professional colleague. Jahren persuasively argues that the persistence of this kind of behavior—the constant demand from both male colleagues and academic advisors that their feelings be acknowledged and legitimized—is one of the reasons women leave STEM fields.

An email forwarded to Jahren by a former student asking her advice typifies the problem:

[The student] forwarded an email she had received from a senior colleague that opened, “Can I share something deeply personal with you?” Within the email, he detonates what he described as a “truth bomb”: “All I know is that from the first day I talked to you, there hadn’t been a single day or hour when you weren’t on my mind.” He tells her she is “incredibly attractive” and “adorably dorky.” He reminds her, in detail, of how he has helped her professionally: “I couldn’t believe the things I was compelled to do for you.” He describes being near her as “exhilarating and frustrating at the same time” and himself as “utterly unable to get a grip” as a result. He closes by assuring her, “That’s just the way things are and you’re gonna have to deal with me until one of us leaves.”

It’s hard to imagine that the sender of the email thought that it would earn him the romantic admiration of his female colleague, coupled as it is with a vague threat likely meant to convey the authentic intensity of his attraction. And yet, as Jahren writes, this behavior has “been encountered by every single woman I know.”

Read the full piece here

[amyknichols]

Writer in Residence - Glendale Library

From March to May, I'll be the #Writer in Residence for the Glendale #Library! #books #writing

Beginning March 1 and running through May, I will be the Writer in Residence for the Glendale Library. This means I’ll be doing a portion of my writing work at the library (main branch), be available to anyone with questions about writing, and be giving workshops on writing and publishing. How cool is that? Other authors, including Bill Konigsberg, Tom Leveen, Janni Lee Simner, Betty Webb, and…

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[amyknichols]

The Duplexity series paperback is the coolest book EVER.

The Duplexity series paperback is the coolest #book EVER! Check it out! #YAlit #scifi

Maybe I’m biased, but when a box of the Duplexity series paperbacks arrived at my house… …and they did this? I just about died. Because that is THE COOLEST THING EVER!! Two books set in two parallel universes. Read the first book. Flip it over. Read the second. Genius. Want to get your hands on a copy? Well you’re in luck. The Duplexity series paperback goes on sale Tuesday, February 2. Pre-order…

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[amyknichols]

Dear 2015,

You were amazing. In so many ways.

Since this time last year, I’ve gone from unpublished to published author of two books. Now That You’re Here hit the shelves in December 2014. While You Were Gone was published just eight months later, in August 2015. In the lead-up to the first release and straight through to the second, I spent A LOT of time promoting the books online and in person at various events.

Some of the book promo highlights included:

The Holiday Party at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, CA

Tucson Festival of Books

YAllapalooza at Changing Hands, Tempe, AZ

Westercon in San Diego, CA

San Diego Comicon

Phoenix Comicon

The Schrodinger Sessions at the Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland

Tucson Comic-Con

A bunch of library events across Arizona

2015, you not only taught me the ins and outs of being a published author, you brought me a crash course in Quantum Physics. I mean, how cool is that?!

Best of all, you brought an amazing trip to London, which not only had my husband and I reminiscing about our previous adventures in the UK, but also jumpstarted my creativity, dropping new stories into my head.

Here are a few pics:

Being the fangirl I am, I can’t help but think of the fun celeb encounters I had this year: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hiddleston, Guillermo del Toro, Jessica Chasten, Greg Grunberg, Ciaran Hinds, Leo Bill, and of course, Benedict Cumberbatch.

I met The Doctor. And got to see Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet. Fourth row! *gasp*

And don’t even get me started on all the amazing authors I got to meet and hang out with this year.

2015, you were full of love and friendship and laughter. Yes, you had your sad times, your exhausting times, your difficulties. Some of those I’m still processing. Others I’m ready to leave behind and move on from. But I can’t look back on 2015 and not be filled with gratitude.

What will 2016 bring? Here’s what I know so far:

I have new stories to share with the world — stay tuned!

I’m teaching a class at the Piper Writer’s Studio in January

I’ll be on the faculty at the ASU Desert Nights Rising Stars Conference

I’ll be the Writer in Residence for Glendale, AZ from March to May

Hopefully there will be some cons in there. Fingers crossed for San Diego and Phoenix.

I’m also looking to migrate this blog over to my main website (www.amyknichols.com). I’ve avoided doing this for the sake of this post, which has made such a difference in so many people’s lives, and I don’t want it to become difficult to find. So the migration might not be right away. I have to make sure it’ll be seamless and I don’t lose people following that post. But I’ll let you all know when it happens.

Keep your eye out for some new creative ventures here and around the web. Aside from novels, I’m looking to get into some other…media…stuff. Vague, I know…

Now That You’re Here and While You Were Gone

As always, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported me this year by reading my books and telling others about them. So much of this business is word of mouth. I can’t tell you how amazing it has been to hear from those of you who wrote and told me how much you enjoyed the books. Thank you! And a special thanks to the librarians and booksellers out there. You totally rock.

For those who haven’t read the novels yet, I hope you’ll give them a go! You can purchase the hardback versions, of course, and the paperback — which is in a really cool, two-in-one, flip book layout–will hit shelves February 2! Pre-order your copy today!

Wishing you a joyful and blessed 2016! May this be the year your dreams come true.

Love, Amy

  Thank you, 2015! http://bit.ly/1mmJMAY #grateful #newyear Dear 2015, You were amazing. In so many ways. Since this time last year, I've gone from unpublished to published author of two books.

[wilwheaton]

Audrey Hepburn.

[amyknichols]

She makes me catch my breath. Every. Single. Time. <3

[doctorwho]

Mr. Gatiss, do you have any advice for aspiring writers? How does one overcome a particularly bad bout of writers block?

I take long hot baths or go running. It’s also good to have another project on the go so you can turn to that when you’re blocked, and hopefully it’ll unblock your head! That or tea! 

[doctorwho]

Your best writing tip?

Keep going, work through the pain, it may seem like a joyless miserable exercise, but that’s because it is! Until you get the breakthrough moment and everything’s alright again. 

[doctorwho]

In three words, how would you describe the feeling you experience when you sit down to a blank Doctor Who script? What advice would you give for those who wish to be in the same position one day?

Joy, terror, anticipation. Advice: write write write! 

[amyknichols]

Love this answer!

[doctorwho]

What's your favorite Shakespeare play?

Richard II, followed closely by Macbeth- which of course is where Sleep No More comes from. 

[amyknichols]

Could Mark BE any more awesome? This here is just confirmation of his awesomeness.