Saved by the Urban Dictionary

Gandalf is in this post!
and Jane Eyre!
Weird combo, right?

I might be getting too old to write YA.

This doubt insinuated itself after reading a review about Across the Universe (by Beth Revis, great book by the way) in which the (near)teen reviewer remarked:

"Because I like shipping characters and investing myself in relationships as much as the next girl."

Huh? I like shipping characters? Um, yes the characters were together on a space ship, is that what she means? But I thought maybe I was wrong.

So the Urban Dictionary saved me. I typed in "ship" and discovered it's short for "romantic relationSHIP".

But of course.

I love discovering tidbits like this. I'm also prone to reading my teenage stepdaughter's texts, not because I want to police her, but just because I love to soak up the slang of the teenage world. But I still sometimes wonder if having a teenager in the house and enjoyment of said unique species is enough qualification to write from a teenager's perspective.

What thinks you?

So my purpose in this Friday's post is to ponder deep questions about getting too old, but on the brighter side, to also let y'all know about two neat things I discovered on the internet yesterday.

1) Have you read Elana Johnson's books, either Possession or Surrender? If you haven't, here's a great motivation to read them (besides the fact they are great mindbenders), and if you already have, bonus: she is having an amazing giveaway open to anyone willing to post a review either of her books. She has a dozen (maybe more) newly released YA books and ARCs. Like Shadow and Bone, which is AMAZING, seriously, you want to win this book.

2) Jess Keating has the coolest way to get unstuck from writer's block. She gets together with J.K Rowling,  Neil Gaiman, Gandalf, and Jane Eyre (as a wild card) and gets their feedback on what to do about a certain scene or plot situation or what the perfect mix of conflict might be to totally mess up a main character's life. It's such a brilliant idea. Brillig! I am so trying this; check out her guest post at Janice Hardy's blog for more detail.

If you just skimmed over that to get to the bottom of the page, STOP. Let those beautiful names - Gandalf! Jane Eyre! catch your attention and drag you off to that link.

After entering to win delicious books and seeing how Gandalf and Jane Eyre end up together on a discussion panel, let me know if I'm totally too old (as the parent of teenager) to be writing YA. I can take it. I might still write it anyway (it's sort of an addiction) but I will acknowledge the truth if needed.