Agency in the Hunger Games BOOK GIVEAWAY! ($40 Value)

Have you read Suzanne Collins famous trilogy The Hunger Games? Have you perhaps only seen the movies? Have you rooted for Katniss, argued over Peeta vs. Gales, fallen in love with Finnick? Have you often drawn parallels between the society of Panem and our own in which you feel unable to exercise your own sense of agency?

If you answered, “yes!” to any of the above questions, then you will enjoy reading my newly released book, Agency in The Hunger Games: Desire, Intent, and Action in the Novels.

You can win your very own free copy by participating today in my Book Giveaway!

Read the rules below:

1. First, like this blog post and leave a comment telling me your favorite Hunger Games character and why!

2. Second, reblog and share this Giveaway opportunity with your own readers. Maybe they like The Hunger Games too!

3. You can share this post on various social medias (WordPress, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.) to earn more entries!

4. That’s it, so simple! May the odds be ever in your favor!

WINNER will be announced on a LIVE Feed the day of my Book Release Party (February 23rd)

For 21st-century young adults struggling for personal autonomy in a society that often demands compliance, the bestselling trilogy, The Hunger Games remains palpably relevant despite its futuristic setting. For Suzanne Collins’ characters, personal agency involves not only the physical battle of controlling one’s body but also one’s response to such influences as morality, trauma, power and hope.
The author explores personal agency through in-depth examinations of the lives of Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Cinna, Primrose, and others, and through an analysis of themes like the overabundance of bodily imagery, social expectations in the Capitol, and problem parental figures.
Readers will discover their own “dandelion of hope” through the examples set out by Collins’ characters, who prove over and over that human agency is always attainable.

 

 

Hunger Games Friday: Cinna – Friend or Foe?

Sweet Cinna, beloved by so many in both the Capitol and the Districts, is a character of mystery. After all, very little is known about his past. Various scholars and fans have hypothesized that Cinna originates from one of the various districts instead of the Capitol. Some have even gone so far as to say that perhaps he is Mr. Everdeen after severe plastic surgery. While that may be a bit far-fetched, these various attempts to understand Cinna’s backstory betray readers’ immense interest in his character.

Scholars too are fascinated by Cinna, some proclaiming him to be Katniss’s closest confidant while others claim that Cinna manipulates Katniss for the rebellion similar to how other stylists manipulates tributes for the Games.

After all, he constantly pushes the Mockingjay aspect of her wardrobe, without her previous consent; he creates the rebel image through her image.

And yet . . .

He seems so supportive of Katniss, often protecting her and strengthening her through his design choices. Also, Katniss truly loves him and sees him as one of her only true friends. Is it enough?

In my book, The Agency Games, I will explore the relationship between Cinna and Katniss, investigating the strength of their individual and combined agencies, perhaps answering the question of Cinna’s loyalties for once and all.

What do you think about Cinna? Was he helping Katniss or was he simply using her as the face of the rebellion? Leave your comments below!

If you are interested in receiving updates when the book is released, please leave a comment on the post: “The Agency Games — Sign Up!”

 

©KaylaAnnAuthor

© KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Curiously Short Life & Death of Primrose Everdeen

Primrose Everdeen (Prim) is the younger sister to Katniss Everdeen and the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen. She is only twelve years old when the series begins and she is only fourteen when she is killed in a bombing.

Because of her youth and her feminine appearance of a young, naive, helpful, little girl, many scholars skirt over her importance to The Hunger Games trilogy. However, Prim is the key element to the entire series. If Prim had never been reaped, Katniss would never have volunteered. If Katniss had not gone into the Games with Peeta and defied the Capitol, the revolution would never have ignited. If the revolution had never begun, the Games would continue on with President Snow in charge of Panem. In one of my last chapters, I discuss how every action that Katniss takes is in protection of her sister Prim, primarily because Prim represents hope.

Read more about Prim and Katniss, and the rest of the amazing characters from The Hunger Games in my upcoming book The Agency Games! If you are interested in receiving updates when the book is released, please leave a comment on the post: “The Agency Games — Sign Up!”

©KaylaAnnAuthor

© KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Gale: Powerless or Powerful

Gale Hawthorne – a Seam-born resident of the poorest district and also a famous and brutal soldier for District 13 during the Mockingjay Rebellion.

Gale Hawthorne, from Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy, is one of those characters that readers cannot help but to love. Even after Gale’s actions become questionable, readers still defend him. Gale’s physical and mental capabilities are often unmatched. He is brave enough to hunt in the woods, strong enough to endure work in the mines, and  smart enough to design and create snares and traps. Gale is powerful in many ways and yet, in others he is extremely powerless. He cannot stop Katniss from volunteering, he cannot provide for his family without his brother taking out tesserae, he cannot even start a revolution until Katniss clears the way.

In an Instagram survey with 23 participants, 15 said that Gale was Powerless as opposed to Powerful by the end of the trilogy.

Throughout The Hunger Games, Gale struggles between enacting power and having power exercised over him. While he starts as a strong protagonist, he eventually fades away at the end of the trilogy, working in District 2.

What do you think about Gale’s character?

Love him? Hate him? Let me know your thoughts! Is he powerful or powerless? Why?

Read more about Gale, and the rest of the amazing characters from The Hunger Games in my upcoming book The Agency Games! If you are interested in receiving updates when the book is released, please leave a comment on the post: “The Agency Games — Sign Up!”

©KaylaAnnAuthor

© KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Agency Games: An Update (4)

Well it’s that time of the month again, time for my monthly update on my work in progress:

The Agency Games

(a working title)

The Agency Games is a nonfiction book which analyzes human agency within the popular Hunger Games trilogy. I will be doing in-depth character analyses of individuals such as: Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, Haymitch Abernathy, Cinna, Primrose Everdeen, and more in trying to understand how human agency is discovered, maintained, tested, lost, and regained in a dystopian society and how that relates to us as readers.

The goal is to write approximately 500 words per day so that I can meet my goal of 75,000 wordsby May 31st to send to the publishers.

• On January 22nd, 2018, I posted by first update. I was at a total of 22,000 words.
• On February 22nd (after a VERY productive month having written 19,000 words), I was at a total of 41,000 words having written 3,500 words more than my original goal.
• On March 22nd, I surprised even myself at being able to meet by quota and had a total of 55,200 words.

In sticking with my original plan to write 500 words a day, I needed to write 15,500 words by April 22nd (meaning I should be at a total of 70,700).

Well, let’s see how I did . . .

On April 4th, 2018, I finished the last chapter of my book and I was at only 62,000 words. Not quite my goal.

So, I decided to take my own advice. Remember when I encouraged you to NOT edit, but to RE-WRITE instead?

Well, that is exactly what I did and am still doing. I pulled up a blank word document, set it next to my current manuscript, and I started over, re-writing every single line. And along the way, I found places that naturally needed expansion. Sometimes, it was a single word or a single sentence. But sometimes, it was a whole paragraph. So after two weeks of rewriting, I have re-written the introduction, the first six chapters and started working on my appendixes.

I have a total word count of . . .

70,000 words!

I didn’t quite hit my goal of 70,700 words, but I’m pretty proud of what I have accomplished! Plus, it’s a little slow going with re-writing everything.

I still need to finish re-writing the last six chapters and the appendixes which should push me to the 75,000 goal!

I’m getting closer to completing the fourth draft of this manuscript and then I plan to print it out and double check errors before sending it out. I won’t lie, some days I really feel like this . . .

But I am going to push forward and I really hope to get this manuscript sent out within the next three weeks!

Thank you to everyone for your continued support! I can’t believe this is almost over!

Meanwhile, I’ll just be over here like . . .

The Agency Games: An Update (3)

Well it’s that time of the month again, time for my monthly update on my work in progress:

The Agency Games

(a working title)

The Agency Games is a nonfiction book which analyzes human agency within the popular Hunger Games trilogy. I will be doing in-depth character analyses of individuals such as: Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, Haymitch Abernathy, Cinna, Primrose Everdeen, and more in trying to understand how human agency is discovered, maintained, tested, lost, and regained in a dystopian society and how that relates to us as readers.

The goal is to write approximately 500 words per day so that I can meet my goal of 75,000 words by May 31st to send to the publishers.

• On January 22nd, 2018, I posted by first update. I was at a total of 22,000 words.
• On February 22nd (after a VERY productive month having written 19,000 words), I was at a total of 41,000 words having written 3,500 words more than my original goal.

There were 28 days between February 22nd and March 22nd, and at 500 words per day, my goal was to write 14,000 words. Meaning, that I should be at 55,000 words.

Let’s see how I did . . .

(Drum roll Please)

55,200 words!

Okay, I won’t lie, I am totally surprised by that number! There have been some days this past month where I have been unable to write at all because I was so busy with work and wedding planning.

I knew that I was behind so these past few days I have been cranking out 1,000 words a day in an effort to catch up and man, am I happy to know that I was able to catch up!

While my most productive month was the time between January 22nd and February 22nd, I am pretty dang happy that I was able to meet my quota for this month!

The closer I get to the end, the harder it gets. I can feel myself burning out just a bit, but I will continue pushing forward. I am really hoping to finish all 75,000 words by April 22nd so that I can spend a couple weeks looking it over one last time before I send it out.

That means that I need to write approximately 20,000 words in 31 days which is approximately 665 words a day. It might not happen but I sure am going to push myself as hard as I can!

Thank you again to everyone who is offering their support and encouragement! I appreciate you guys more than you know!

 

 

 

 

 

Cinna: Friend or Foe?

Sweet Cinna, beloved by so many…

“I’m sorry that this happened to you but I’m here to help you in any way that I can.”

But are you really sorry, Cinna? Do you really want to help Katniss? Or are you simply using her to form a figurehead for the rebellion?

Did you know that several scholars claim that Cinna manipulates Katniss for the rebellion just as much as other stylist manipulate their tributes for the Capitol?

After all, he constantly pushes the Mockingjay aspect of her wardrobe, he creates the rebel image.

And yet . . .

He seems so supportive of Katniss! And Katniss truly loves him and sees him as one of her only true friends. He protects her and strengthens her with his design choices.

In my book, The Agency Games (working title), I will explore the relationship between Cinna and Katniss and decide once and for all if Cinna is friend or foe!

What do you think about Cinna? Was he helping Katniss or was he simply using her as the face of the rebellion? Leave your comments below!

The Agency Games: An Update (2)

Hey Everyone, here is my monthly update on my book: (working title) The Agency Games!

The Agency Games is a nonfiction book which analyzes human agency within the popular Hunger Games trilogy. I will be doing in-depth character analyses of individuals such as: Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, Haymitch Abernathy, Cinna, Primrose Everdeen, and more in trying to understand how human agency is discovered, maintained, tested, lost, and regained in a dystopian society and how that relates to us as readers.

On January 22nd, 2018, I posted by first update. I was at a total of 22,000 words and 88 pages.

The goal was to write approximately 500 words per day so that I can meet my goal of 75,000 words by May 31st to send to the publishers. As you might remember, I had a slight bump in the road when I had to completely re-do my Cinna and Haymitch chapter.

There were 31 days in between January 22nd and February 22nd, meaning that at 500 words per day, I should have written approximately 15,500 words with a grand total of 37,500 words. So, let’s see how I did. . .

 

As of February 22nd, 2018, I have a grand total. . .

41,000 Words!

I knew I was on track, but it turns out I was actually doing more than I thought. Between January 22nd and February 22nd, I wrote 19,000 words!

The red shows my word count for January The blue shows my word count as of February The Green shows my Goal for May 31st

I am over halfway to my goal! And it feels a lot like this:

 

As great as this feels, I cannot slack off now! I still need 34,000 words and that requires the same level of dedication and accountability as before. I would love to finish all the rough drafts early so that I have more time to go over it as a whole before sending it to the editors, but we shall see!

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me, supported me, and reminded me to write.

**A Special Shout-out to TShaw who has been my writing buddy for months and  E. Michael Helms who continuously reminds me to stay on track with my writing goals!

Peeta Mellark

Who is Peeta Mellark?

The Boy with the Bread?

A Tribute?

A Victor?

A Lover?

A Mutt?

A Hufflepuff? (We all know it’s true)

With so many different roles, it may be hard to discern who Peeta Mellark truly is. In Chapter 5 of my book “The Agency Games” I will demonstrate exactly who Peeta is and how his identity relates to agency.

 

Who do you think is Peeta Mellark? 

Writing Tip: Scrap Your Work . . .

Yup, this one kind of sucks.

But before you just start dumping all of your work in the trash can or incinerator, read what I have to say.

“Scrap Your Work When Necessary.”

As you all know, I am typing away furiously each and every day in the attempt to finish my 75,000 word manuscript for The Agency Games by May 31st. That means that every word counts. Just this week however I had to scrap entire chapter… over 4,000 words…

Yea…

Let’s just say, that was not easy, but after giving it to a trusted Beta-reader, I had no choice. The chapter was attempting to discuss both Haymitch and Cinna at the same time and my Beta-reader just ended up more confused than enlightened. Not the response I was looking for. So, it had to go.

And guess what. I’m re-writing those characters into two separate chapters and I’ve already received some positive feedback from the same Beta-reader.

Writing is hard and scrapping your own work can really suck, but it can also be necessary. So don’t be afraid to toss those sentences, paragraphs, pages, and yes, even chapters!

Happy Writing Everyone!

 

©KaylaAnnAuthor

© KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.