Wonderings, Wanderings and Writing

Cover Reveal! Corrine Jackson's IF I LIE

2011-12-22T08:59:00.001-05:00

Squee! I'm super excited about Corrine Jackson's upcoming book, IF I LIE. Even moreso now that she's revealed the cover. Isn't it pretty?

Here's the summary of IF I LIE:

A powerful debut novel about the gray space between truth and perception.

Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.

Author Interview: Dawn Rae Miller, Young Adult author

2011-12-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

Dawn Rae Miller

Today I have the pleasure of talking to Dawn Rae Miller, author of Larkstorm, a book I’m really excited about. Larkstorm is an amazing un-putdownable book, with an incredibly romantic and tense love story, edge of your seat action and high stakes fantasy. Ooh, and did I mention the awesome magic – and witches? Truly amazing, pick up your copy asap!

But before you do, read below for Dawn’s insights on writing, publishing and Larkstorm. Also, Dawn was kind enough to offer to answer any reader questions, so if you have anything to ask her, leave it in the comments and she'll stop by later to answer!

Here’s a brief synopsis of Larkstorm:

In the years following the destructive Long Winter, when half the world’s population perished, the State remains locked in battle against the Sensitives: humans born with extra abilities.

As one of the last descendants of the State’s Founders, seventeen-year-old Lark Greene knows her place: study hard and be a model citizen so she can follow in her family’s footsteps. Her life’s been set since birth, and she’s looking forward to graduating and settling down with Beck, the boy she’s loved longer than she can remember.

However, after Beck is accused of being Sensitive and organizing an attack against Lark, he disappears. Heartbroken and convinced the State made a mistake, Lark sets out to find him and clear his name.

But what she discovers is more dangerous and frightening than Sensitives:

She must kill the boy she loves, unless he kills her first.

Hi Dawn! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut novel, Larkstorm. What was your inspiration for the story of Larkstorm?

My inspiration was boredom. My husband travels frequently and one evening I decided to try to write a book. From the beginning I knew I wanted to write an anti-instalove love story. I wanted to take two people who meant everything to each other and rip them apart. And I wanted to write about witches because my son believes he’s going to grow up to be a wizard.

You have an incredibly strong and intense narrator who slowly but surely learns tons about her own strengths as the book progresses. Tell us a bit about how Lark came to be. Do you share any of her qualities?

Lark came to me quickly. But what’s strange – to me, at least – is that Beck took shape simultaneously. I couldn’t write Lark without writing Beck and vice versa. I needed to know how they’d both react to situations.

As for similar qualities? I’m short. And very determined.

Larkstorm has such a wonderful setting. Being in dystopian, snowy SF is fun to read, but it really came alive for me when they get to Summer Hill? What made you choose these two settings? Are they based anywhere real? I’d personally love to visit Summer Hill, well, maybe when Lark and Beck aren’t there together…

I live in San Francisco near the Presidio which is where Lark’s home is located. I love hiking through the eucalyptus, and the views of the Bay are breathtaking. The area is ringed with San Francisco mansions. It seemed like the perfect place to set a school and The State’s headquarters.

As for Summer Hill, I spend a large chunk of my summer in Northern Michigan. My house is at the top of a hill with a forest of trees at the rear and rolling farmland at the front. I love it there – you can come visit anytime :D

I don’t want to be spoilery, but some of the Sensitives have some pretty cool powers. If you could have one power, what would it be?

Transportation. I’d love to be able to travel any place in the world in seconds.

Also, if you were a witch in the Larkstorm society, would you be light or dark?

I’d absolutely be Dark.

And, I just had to comment on the unbelievable sexual tension between Lark and Beck. How did you keep them from jumping each other’s bones? Tee hee. My heart raced in more than one scene, waiting for them to kiss.

Lark likes rules, and the rules say no physical contact between minors. But if it were up to Beck, they’d kiss all the time. But he respects her, even if it means he doesn’t get what he wants.

What was your favorite part of writing Larkstorm?

Revising. I loved getting deeper into the story, finding a new idea and weaving it in.

Most challenging?

Figuring out the history of the Channing family and what caused the two sides to split.

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I toyed with writing when I was a kid, but never thought much about it. I wrote for my school newspaper in high school and college, and took a writing for publication course in college. But after graduation I set that part of me away and focused on having a career and raising kids.

Larkstorm is the first book I wrote (I’ve written three more since, and two rough drafts that will be complete novels shortly). I don’t think I’m a good example because I started writing Larkstorm at the end of January 2010. I had multiple offers on that manuscript by April 6^th and signed with Kathleen shortly after.

We spent two months revising and went out on sub. I think everyone, myself included, thought it would sell quickly because of how fast I found an agent and how much interest there was at that level. But we did three rounds over 9 months and all I had were R&R’s and failed editorial and acquisition boards. After a particularly hard month where we thought the book was going to sell and didn’t, I wanted to put it away.

At the end of August, Kathleen and I discussed trying hybrid publishing. The agency was behind me and I had nothing to loose, so I decided to go for it. I worked with an editor on macro edits as well as line edits to get the book ready for the real world.

Tell me how you felt when you first saw your cover? So many aspiring writers dream of their first book cover. That must have been a great moment.

To be honest, I’d seen several versions of the cover so there was no one moment of “THERE IT IS!” It was a quieter, “Ahhh…I like how she changed this to this,” kind of thing.

That said, I LOVE my cover. Sarah Marino, the cover designer took an idea I had and transformed it into a stunning visual.

What is the best part of the publishing process?

Getting to know other writers. I love how social and supportive the YA community is – which is why I waste hours on twitter.

Can you give us any hints about what happens in book 2? Also, when can I read it?:D

Lark is a very different girl in book 2. And keep an eye on Ryker in book 1 – he’s a major player in the next book.

Thanks Dawn! I’m looking forward to reading more exciting books from you in the future!

Click the Larkstorm cover below to purchase your copy. Hurry, you won’t regret it, and clear a lot of hours to stay up reading.:)

The Truly Creative Mind

2011-10-07T09:37:00.004-04:00

Found this quote yesterday. I absolutely love it.:)

"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this:

A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.

To him...

a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.

Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - - - so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating." -Pearl Buck-

My Revision Playlist: Whispers

2011-09-21T10:58:00.006-04:00

So, I love music. In general it’s one of my favoritest things in the whole world. But I cannot write with it. Like ever. I need total silence. But for revisions, I HAVE to have music. And, eventually, by book’s end, my characters have to have “a song.” With the WIP in particular the playlist was super important as music plays a big role in the novel.

On the cusp of finishing another round of revisions, here is the playlist for Whispers, followed by Lange and Vaughn’s song.:)

I Could Die for You – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Awake My Soul – Mumford & Sons
Hard to Concentrate – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Smashing Pumpkins – Mayonnaise
Soul to Squeeze – Red Hot Chili Peppers
God Street Wine – Feather
Dire Straits – Romeo and Juliet
I Could Have Lied – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Venice Queen – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
Blue Sky - Allman Brothers
Brendan’s Death Song – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Righteous and the Wicked – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
Look Around – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Castles made of Sand - Jimi Hendrix
Factory of Faith – Red Hot Chili Peppers

And, Lange and Vaughn’s Song (swoon): I Could Die for You, Red Hot Chili Peppers

So how about you? Do you write with music? Revise? What type of music fuels your muse?

Author Interview, Liz Michalski

2011-07-11T07:00:00.004-04:00

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Liz Michalski, author of Evenfall. Read below for Liz’s insights on writing, publishing and Evenfall. Also, Liz was kind enough to offer to answer any reader questions, so if you have anything to ask her, leave it in the comments and she'll stop by later to answer them!

Cross a Murphy woman and she'll haunt you the rest of your days.

That's what they say in Hartman, Connecticut, where the Murphy women are known for their beauty, willfulness, and disastrous luck with men. No one knows the truth of this saying better than Frank Wildermuth. Fifty years ago, he fell in love with Gert Murphy, but through fate and bad timing wound up married to her sister. He spent the rest of his life quietly regretting his mistake. Now Frank's dead --dead, that is, but not quite gone.

All Andie Murphy ever wanted was to get out of town. But she’s back to settle Evenfall, her Uncle Frank’s estate, where some things never change -- and some things have changed a lot. Aunt Gert, for example, still drives her crazy. On the other hand, Cort, the wide-eyed farmboy she used to babysit, is all grown up -- with a whole new definition for the word sleepover.

But if you're a Murphy woman, love never goes smoothly. As Andie struggles with her feelings, Frank sees a chance for redemption -- one that could cost his niece dearly. They'll both need to decide --

Is true love really everlasting? Is home a physical location, or a place you carry in your heart? And if you truly regret your mistakes, can your deepest dreams come true?

Hi Liz! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut novel, Evenfall. What was your inspiration for the story of Evenfall?

I woke up with the first few lines of the novel in my head one morning. I didn't have any plans for them, but I wrote them down. A few weeks later I was touring a home much like Evenfall, and realized the ghost from those lines would be perfectly at home there.

Finally, I was living in a beautiful rural area, and I could see it start to change as developers came along. Evenfall, which is set in Connecticut farmland, was a way to hold onto that.

You have three incredible narrators. What came into your decision to write this from multiple point of views. How difficult was that?

I knew, from those first lines that started the book, that Frank would be first person. Gert is such a strong character that I decided to keep her in third person, so as not to overpower him. Andie's voice evolved as I went along. Having three different narrators was hard to balance sometimes, but it was useful in that they each had information the others didn't, which allowed me to tell the story more completely.

I loved all your narrators, but I will admit I had a soft spot for Gert and thought her character was just wonderful. Which narrator is your favorite, if you had to choose? Also, which is the most like you?

Oh, I have a hard time choosing! I do like Gert, though -- she reminds me of those New England Yankee women you see in movies like Adam's Rib. And Andie is so lost, it's hard not to root for her.

Speaking of characters, you had a few animal characters in this book. I know you’re an animal lover. Any of your own pets represented in these pages?

I've had a fascination with goats since one tried to eat my dress when I was five, so it was fun to find a way to put them into the book. Unfortunately, livestock isn't allowed where I live now, much to my husband's relief.

And I've always loved big brown dogs like Nina - she's based on several dogs I actually owned. (Actually, I put together a whole 'secret page' on my website about Nina for readers who like the book. If they e-mail me at info@lizmichalski.com, I'll send them the link!)

Oh, and… the love interest, Cort. Yummy. He was a very swoony love interest. Not really a question, but just felt it was worth mentioning. Watching Andy reconnect with him was quite fun!

Evenfall has one, er, steamy bit with Cort and Andie, and I can always tell when friends have read it -- they're like "Ummm, about that scene..." Or they just say the page number and smile. My lovely kindergarten teacher came to one of my readings, and when she bought the book, all I could think was "Oh, no!" :)

Evenfall has such a wonderful and unique setting. Is it based anywhere real?

It is, actually. I spent about 10 years in rural Connecticut, and Evenfall is based on that area of the country. It's quite beautiful -- I drove through there last summer with my daughter and she kept saying "Mom, it's so green!" Just fields and fields in some places.

What was your favorite part of writing Evenfall?

I think creating characters I can care about, who wind up haunting my dreams a bit, is the best part about writing.

Most challenging?

Creating enough tension to move the reader from page to page, chapter to chapter.

Reading Evenfall, I often felt myself often wanting the things she writes about on her farm, particularly with the canned peaches and the homemade tart she made to share with Cort. What are some of your favorite goodies/snacks?

Kettle-popped popcorn with real butter and salt. Pizza. Anything with tomato sauce, actually. And on the beach, at least twice a year, I have to have a frozen Snickers bar and a cold Coke.

What can we expect from you in the future. Any projects underway?

I'm just under 100 pages into my next book. It's a little more magical than Evenfall. It's about a family where, in every generation, one daughter develops the ability to make things disappear -- to wish things away. It makes adolescence and all those mother-daughter fights particularly interesting. : )

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I've always written -- I was a reporter, then an editor, then a freelancer for a long time. As a reporter, I always liked the character-driven pieces best -- the interviews with people who were a little different, a little exciting. I think writing my own story was just a natural outgrowth from that.

Tell us about your journey to getting an agent.

I was extremely fortunate. When I was about halfway through my manuscript, I attended a writing conference (Grub Street's Muse and the Marketplace in Boston). I'd signed up for a critique of my first 20 pages with an agent. I wanted to make the most of my chances, so I researched all the agents who were attending, and found one that I thought would be a great fit. He liked what I'd written and agreed to see the rest when I'd finished. I sent it to him, and he signed me a few months later.

And how about finding your publisher?

My agent worked with me for about a year on revisions -- he has a wonderful ear for nuance. He sent it out, and he had an offer within a few days. I've been really, really lucky. BUT -- and it's a big but -- I feel like I need to tell aspiring authors not to get discouraged -- I spent years working on this story. A lot of them! So although it looks like it all happened very quickly, a lot of hard work went into getting to that point.

Tell me how you felt when you first saw your cover? I have to say yours is one of the prettiest I’ve seen in a while and captures both the general feel/theme of your book as well as the story. That must have been a great moment.

The cover was one of the most exciting moments for me -- I actually screamed when I opened the e-mail. I absolutely love it. Which is kind of funny, because it was the exact opposite of what I'd envisioned. I'd thought it would be kind of pale and ghostly, but the saturated color pops so well and the image totally captures the story, so it shows what I know. : )

What is the best part of the publishing process?

Besides being lucky enough to have my book published? I'd have to say it's the people I've met. To connect with other writers and book lovers has been pretty amazing. (Present company included, Jenn!) Aw, thanks, Liz.:)

The worst?

Hmmm. As a debut author, the challenge of getting my name out there has been daunting at times, particularly since I tend to be a little shy. I'm lucky, though - my family, especially my mother, has no qualms about telling people to check out my book! : )

Thanks Liz! I’m looking forward to reading more exciting books from you in the future!

Jenn, Thank you so much!

Click the cover below to order Evenfall, and be sure to check out Liz's website or find her on Facebook.

Can a Book be as Big as the World Out There?

2011-06-02T10:13:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, at my son’s kindergarten orientation he was floored by how “absolutely huge” the classroom and school was. Emotions aside about stepping into the next stage of life, the comment made me smile and think about life and writing (naturally).

The idea of the next stage always being bigger, more exciting is ever evolving no matter what age we are. The next big thing is always bigger and life is full of one stage after another where the world is always further opening and expanding. Yesterday it was s kindergarten classroom, but isn’t that how we all, even us adults, live day to day? Isn’t that how we take steps into the future?

In writing YA this is even more prevalent than perhaps other genres. It’s the coming of age we hear about or those characters that are changing, evolving, finding themselves and their place in the world, and finding out what the world means beyond the four walls they’ve grown up in and the family they’ve always known.

Some of my favorite YA books (I’m a sucker for a good, solid, beautifully written contemp.) do this in the best possible way. They are the quieter books that make me feel something big about what it means to step into a world that’s just opening and being molded by and to a character, especially when I’m reading it one tiny slice of life at a time.

Anyway, just an observational post today that I felt like sharing with my wonderful reading, writing, blogger friends.

So what do your favorite books make you think and feel? Or does it vary between genres as it often does for me?

Meadowland Review - Spring Issue Now Live

2011-05-23T06:00:00.001-04:00

The spring issue of The Meadowland Review is now live. Check it out for a great selection of fiction, poetry and original art and photography.

For Writers, An Impossible Choice

2011-05-17T20:51:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, at an author event/panel I had the pleasure of going to, someone in the audience asked a question that got me thinking and that I’ve since discussed with other writers, so I figured I’d throw it out here and see what my blogger friends have to say. And, for the record, most of the authors on the panel seemed to feel the impossibility of the choice as much us in the audience. Anyway, here goes:

If you could either never write or never read again, which would you choose?

Wow. I know, right? Nearly impossible.

I just can’t pick. I keep going back and forth.

The year after my first son was born I did very little reading and didn’t write at all. Once I got used to balancing things a bit more, I started doing both again. It was then that I realized when I’m writing/creating, is when I most feel like me. It’s my escape and my true love and where my heart and soul are. It’s everything I am, I think. And well, it fulfills me in a way that hardly anything else does. I don’t think I could stop writing.

But reading – wow. There is nothing like reading either. And well, as great as writing is, it is work and reading is nothing but pleasure and enjoyment and well, if I could never, ever get lost in a book again – where would I be? No. There’s no way I could give up reading. Ever.

So, basically, I have no idea. As one of the authors on the panel said, can I choose death?

It’s nearly impossible, at least for me.

So what would you choose?

Writers, What Helps You Most?

2011-05-10T20:47:00.007-04:00

Thanks everyone for sharing your fears with me last week. Working on a follow up post on writing about fears, which will be coming soon! But for today, I want to share a few resources I've found helpful recently...

Backing up files, emailing, whatever you do (I’m personally a fan of e-mailing myself files), I’ve recently discovered Dropbox, which provides free online back up. It’s really simple to use (no really, I’m totally lame with this stuff and if I say it’s simple, it’s probably beyond simple for normal people). You simply open a window like a windows explorer file managaer type thing and drag your files in. Super easy and an added layer of comfort that files won’t be lost.

Text to Speech Software. I recently started using the very awesome Natural Reader text to speech software. It’s amazing to listen to your ms being read you. It’s awesome because it takes out the way I know the story, and reads it to me in a voice totally unlike mine. Most authors read their work out loud, which helps a lot, but this, IMO, helps even more. The free version isn’t very good, but with the paid version (around $50, so not too bad), you can change between male and female voice and also can control the speed.

Even though I’m not typically a reader of how-to-write books, there are a few I’ve found immensely helpful. Stephen King’s On Writing has always been one of my favorites and I’ve read it a few times. I’ve also recently discovered Self-Editing for Fiction Writers which I think is amazing. It has tons of great advice and is really useful, whether for new or seasoned writers. Someone suggested this to me ages ago and I only very recently got around to picking up a copy. It’s one I’ll def flip through every single time I’m editing a new project.

So, how about you? Have any writing resources that have helped you tremendously? I’m always looking for new stuff to try.

What Are You Afraid Of?

2011-05-04T07:47:00.006-04:00

Everyone is scared of something. Whether it's your typical claustrophobia/death/heights,etc. or something more specific or uncommon, we all have something that churns our fears. Maybe something that gives us nightmares.

Call this post part curiosity and part research. As a writer who likes to write the scary, creepy stuff, I love to tap into what makes people squirm - and scream. Stephen King's IT would never have been so popular if so many people didn't find clowns terrifying. In my current WIP I have a scene with a picture that moves and more than one beta commented that this is something that has always really creeped them out. Which got me thinking about what other little nuances make people scared.

So you tell me - what are you afraid of?

A Writer’s Guide to Surviving the Emocoaster. Plus, How Reading Helps and Hinders Us.

2011-04-12T21:19:00.005-04:00

Writing and self doubt go together like Nutella and a spoon.

Writers, naturally full of doubt, introspection, and self-criticisms, are often strapped in tightly to the emocoaster (emotional roller coaster). The range of emotions over the course of a writing project, or a period of querying or editor submission, or even a single week or day can vary wildly. One minute you’re in love with a project, it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever written no seriously I love this story, and the next, you’re ready to tear out your hair, gouge your eyeballs and drink a drano cocktail to rid the world of another hack writer (okay, a bit dramatic, but you get my point.).

The highs are high, the lows are low, the little self-doubt monster continues surfing on the swell of emotions that comes in droves, driven by the constant back-burner wrangling of fears: will I make it? Will I ever be good enough?

On a good writing day, you’re riding high, and it’s easy to banish the thoughts, but one little slip up: a bad writing day, a batch of particularly negative beta comments, an agent/editor rejection, a bad review, whatever, can send the emocoaster plummeting once again.

And then there’s those times where you’re stuck in one pattern or another, either sailing on the whoo hoo my writing rocks breeze or sloshing through the I suck sewers and just trying to get through the fricken first draft, when you happen to read a great book, one that grabs you and pulls on every emotion, has you rereading lines and whole passages because the language is that beautiful, but you’re flying through it anyway because the plot and tension are amazing too and you finish and put it down and are so smitten with the book that you broodingly stare at it and want to break down in tears because:

Damn it will I ever write like that?

Here’s the thing about reading. For a writer, there is nothing as useful as reading, and reading a heck of a lot. It keeps ideas fresh, keeps us current on what’s happening in the reading world, and, duh – writers are readers – it’s fun, too. Plus, there are things you really can’t just know or learn any other way. It’s one of those you’ll know it when you see it things. Things like story flow, plotting, pacing, dialogue, tension, action, emotion, relationships, climax, characterizations, sentence structure, plot structure, mythology, and gosh, the list could go on forever. These things soak in when you read, whether you're consciously looking for them or not.

But reading can hinder us too. I tear through books pretty quickly but I find that when I read too much, too fast, my head starts getting too crowded with ideas. If I’m really taken by one author’s metaphors, but the next book amazed by another’s tone, and the following week swimming in awesome voice and dialogue and next floored by descriptions… etc., I start looking at my ms like I need to fix everything at once. It’s overwhelming.

I know many of us do this comparison thing, so here’s what I’ve learned to remember:

When I am first drafting, I have to slow down my reading DRASTICALLY. Too many different voices interfere with mine, and if it’s anything even close to my genre/story, my muse is off balance, stumbling along like she sucked down way too many books at last call.

Also, when reading a published novel, it’s good to always keep in mind: it’s been written, rewritten, revised like hell (most likely) and edited by many industry professionals. Your book? The one you’re crying and thinking sucks? Most likely it’s a draft – go easy on yourself. Just finish the thing, then freak out.:D

Relax. Ride the emocoaster when you have to, allow yourself to feel whatever you need to feel before letting it go. Like I tell my kids, we can’t control the outside forces that make us feel what we feel, we can only control our reactions to them. A rejection, beta comments that bring us down, or a beautifully written book we feel we can never aspire to. Whatever it is, let it soak in, accept it, have some chocolate/wine/cheese doodles/etc. and then move on. We all have our down days and rejection and writing can beat us up, but just keep pounding away at the keyboard and finish that draft so that someday, it’s your book people are sighing over and underlining in and putting on the shelf for a second, third or fourth read someday.

So up up up we climb again, until the emocoaster takes another dive.

But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

I Am A Writer. A Writer, I Am.

2011-04-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

At some point in their writing careers, most writers find it hard to say the three, simple words: “I’m a writer.”

Sure, we write, but, at what point do we feel qualified and validated to claim it? Well, I’m sure there are as many answers for that as there are novels, but for me, it took a pretty long time.

I’ve been writing for more years than I care to count, but a handful of years ago, as it progressively became more ingrained in my lifestyle, daily routine, and basic thought process, and as it braided itself into the threads of who I am, I began to think of myself as A Writer, as opposed to simply, someone who writes.

But still, when people asked what I did, I often answered with the technical, safer, truths: I worked in marketing, did some editing. But always, in the back of my mind was that nagging, tugging voice, whispering. “Pssst. You’re a writer.”

But I didn't say it. Other than on Twitter, and the writer boards and here in blogland, I never outright claimed Writer. Sure, I’ve often told people I write, but it was more of an aside. It was those other labels that so often filled in the gaps and questions in casual conversations, and other than the mommy label, which I also wear with pride, those others have always felt kind of false. Just because you do something doesn’t mean it’s who you are.

Well, a few months ago, when someone asked what I did, I somehow answered without thinking. “I’m a writer,” I said.

Nothing happened. No lightening storms. No earth opening and swallowing me whole. No strange stares or comments or raised brows. No miniature elves jumping from the sky yelling, “Poser! Faker!” and demanding credentials.

Not at all. The woman simply smiled, asked what I wrote and we chatted for a while about books and reading and writing and such.

And it felt liberating, honest and good, finally stepping into my writer shoes in public instead of just pounding away at my keyboard in my free time, trying to be a real writer. There’ s no trying. I am a real writer.

Own it. Be it.

So what’s so hard about saying it? Nothing. It’s just one of those hurdles to jump.

How about you? Are YOU a writer?

Reading Your Novel Backwards

2011-03-30T08:13:00.002-04:00

Hello lovely blogger friends -

I’ve been a horrible blogger, I know. It’s just that I’m still in the revising cave – it seems I’ve got a permanent residence here now. But since moving into my new revision digs, I’ve had many revising revelations. It seems with each project, and even each round of revisions, I seem to discover something new.

So my topic this week is REVISING BACKWARDS! I know – it sounds crazy. And honestly? It very well could be.

But here’s the thing. I’ve always had a pretty good time with revising the Big Stuff. You know, plot, continuity, consistency, pacing. But what was lacking, round after round of revisions was the mechanical stuff I was trying to iron out: sentence structures, crutch words I didn’t see, character voice inconsistencies, etc.

And that’s when I realized I was getting lost in the woods of my drafts. Because I knew the story so well and because I was so focused on the “read-through” and trying to see everything at once, I was missing some of the little stuff, which let’s face it, if that stuff doesn’t work in the end, it can very much become the big stuff and make or break your ms.

So now I’m reading backwards! Not really backwards, exactly, but yeah, backwards.

I started at the last chapter and am going chapter by chapter, from end to start.

Yes, I am aware this means I am adding a step and will have to do another read-through the right way when I’m done. And yes, it is slow-going, because I’m seeing so much more this way and rewriting much.

But doing this is helping me forget about the story and focus on the words, to concentrate on the structure of individual sentences and character voices and throw plot development, pacing and flow out the window (for now).

Looking at each chapter/scene alone, instead of part of the whole really helps to isolate the scene and to find what works and doesn’t within that confined space. Once each is polished, I’ll string them all together again and get back to looking at the whole and focusing on the big picture.

How about you? Have you ever read your ms backwards?

What Makes a Good Opening?

2011-03-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

First lines, first paragraphs, first chapters. Hooking the reader is not an easy feat. Making them want to read on – sometimes it feels impossible. We know a good opening when we see it. When we pick up a book in the store or library, or browse the first lines online – we know what it feels like to be hooked, to have that, oooh, I want to read this, feeling.

But creating that? Not always so easy. Even less so, I think, for those of us writing YA. We have less wordcount to work with and the pace is so quick that we’re often off and running.

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of being one of the judges for the NT RWA Great Expectations contest. I only had the first 20 pages or so of the manuscripts (as well as the query letter) and it was eye opening to me to see how difficult it is to hook a reader off the bat.

The most common problem I’ve seen in judging contests, beta reading and my own early drafts is either too much backstory or wayyyy too little character development. It's a tight spot to be in. We want to throw the reader right into the action, sure, but we also have to give them a sense of who the characters are, all while keeping the story moving with as little prose-clogging backstory as possible. When reading, I often find a good sense of the voice is often an awesome way many authors accomplish this.

But I've tried a few other things too. Here are a few examples of some of the openings I’ve used from some of my novel drafts.

Sometimes I’ve tried to use voice and emotion to draw the reader in:

Eight days before my seventeenth birthday, I lay crying on a cold table in a ratty old abortion clinic downtown. I cursed the baby inside, but I cursed myself too. I was better than that. Smarter.
I had this thing about following through, but I wasn’t sure I could do it this time.
I thought about Trent’s smooth head while I lay there, waiting. Would the baby have looked like him? Well, like he looked before now? I pictured the tiny little features, sharp nose like Trent’s, full lips like mine.
I closed my eyes tight, rocked with sobs and trying not to listen to the sounds of preparation around me.
I’m so sorry.
“Ms. Brown?”
Please, forgive me.
But I had no choice.
A flash of Cali’s face, Trent’s older brother, his mentor. His tattooed arm that time in the cafeteria, when his pale hand had wrapped around my neck. And to think he didn’t even know about me and Trent. He couldn’t. Our plan was simple: just to make it through this year, undetected.

Other times mystery and intrigue, and a bit of horror were my goal for an opening hook:

“I’m putting my money on an ax murder downtown. Somewhere totally public. Lots of blood.” Stace props her feet on an empty chair, her frayed jeans hanging over black Converse.
“Man, woman or child?” Gunnar’s eyes flash with excitement.
“What do you mean? For the victim or killer?” Leaning back in his chair, Vaughn alternates drumming the edge of the table with his fingers and picking at his lunch.
Even though this kind of talk has been buzzing around St. Mark’s all month, it still makes me uneasy. More than uneasy, really. I’ve always been squeamish when it comes to bloody violence.
“No way, an ax murder is lame. I’m betting on some type of serial killer situation.” Kell twirls the spoon in her yogurt and yawns. Her fire-red hair is piled on her head in a messy bun, tied with a navy and white polka dotted ribbon that hangs halfway down her back. A leftover prop from her Costumes class, no doubt.
“Hasn’t that been done? I’m going with a hanging. Or possibly a slit throat.” Vaughn picks up his sandwich again, shrugging. “The messier the scene, the more popular it is. Remember that year with the decapitation? That was awesome.”
I honestly feel like I’m going to be sick. I drop my sandwich on its plastic bag and try to tune out the conversation.

And still other times, just using voice and a sense of setting and scene opened the novel.

The girl straddling me wore barely more than underwear, really. To go out dancing no less. Leaning back against the overstuffed velvet, I shifted under her. Eased her to the side.
“Girl, chill.” I shook my head as she slid onto the couch, puppy dog eyes and all.
“Please, JT?” She crossed her arms over barely there breasts. Blond ringlets brushed her shoulders when she moved. Puckered out her lips like she was either mad or offering to kiss me.
I didn’t care which it was when I flipped my hand in her general direction. The signal sent her scampering to the huddled group of her underage friends.
Because I may have been there with a fake ID too, but I wasn’t about to sell to any high school chicks. Even dealers had their standards. Even small time high school guys like me.
It was hard core tonight, the music like life itself. Like it was planted in the floor, in all the moving bodies, growing, flowing. Becoming part of us. Dead sober like always, I basked in it. The thump of the bass in time with my pulse, red lights glowing fierce against everyone, bodies lit like fireside.

So, to wrap up, as I've already babbled on a bit too much as it is, what tools do you use on your openings? Do you try and hook readers by raising questions, or with voice, emotion, or something else? What are some of your favorite books or authors that have great openings/hooks? And as a reader, what type of opening pulls you in?

Author Interview: Alice Loweecey, Mystery Author

2011-03-08T18:56:00.008-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Alice Loweecey, Mystery Author of Force of Habit (A Falcone and Driscoll investigation). Read below for her insights on writing and publishing! If you have any comments or questions for her, leave your info in the comments and she’ll stop by later.

Before we get started with the interview, here’s a bit about Force of Habit:

Giulia Falcone is convinced she's going to Hell. First, because she left the convent. Second, her new job with a private investigator has her sneaking around and lying. Adjusting to life in the outside world isn't easy. Makeup, dating, and sex are all new to her. And despite a crush on her boss Frank Driscoll—a foul-mouthed, soft-hearted ex-cop—Giulia is sure he'd never fall for an ex-nun.

Her first case involves drop-dead handsome Blake Parker, a man with immense wealth and an ego to match. He and his fiancée are getting disturbing "gifts" with messages based on biblical verses. When Giulia is drawn into the stalker's twisted game, salacious photos of her appear, threatening her job and her friendship with Frank. No one imagines—least of all naïve Giulia—the danger ahead, when following the clues turns into a fight for her life.

Hi Alice! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut novel, Force of Habit. What was your inspiration for this novel?

Thanks for having me!

I queried a well known agent with my first book, a religious horror, mentioning in my query that I was an ex-nun and thus knew religion. He passed, but suggested that he’d like to see a mystery starring an ex-nun who solves crimes. I dismissed that suggestion initially, because “I wrote horror.”

However, the idea percolated in my head, and wouldn’t leave me alone. Eight months later I had Force of Habit. I queried the same agent with it, he asked for the first three chapters—and passed. In the politest way possible, too. Ya gotta laugh.

Guila is such an awesome character. When reading FoH, I found myself really routing for her, both in her personal quest for identity resolution, her attempts at romance, and of course in her debut as a detective in training. Authors often pull character traits from themselves or someone they know. How many of Guila’s attributes were inspired by you or someone you know?

Very few. The similarities to me are: She was a Franciscan nun, and so was I. Giulia is much more uptight and repressed than I ever was. However, some nun traits are universal and enduring. For instance, about fifteen years after I left the convent, a priest told me I still “stood” like a nun. Force of Habit is fiction—my characters come out of my bizarre and dark brain and nowhere else.

FoH is a fun, fast-paced story and we get to follow Guila through many unexpected events that lead to both the discovery of the stalker she investigates and finding out things about herself. These two sides of her are woven seamlessly together, appealing to both types of readers. I really enjoyed that juxtaposition of emotional growth and mystery/action. Are these the same types of books you’re also drawn to as a reader? What are your favorite books/authors?

Absolutely. I always prefer books that blend genres. One of my favorite writers was Patricia Wentworth. She wrote dozens of light mysteries with a touch of romance. However, my real writing inspiration is HP Lovecraft. He wrote the creepiest psychological horror. You can’t really overlook the fact that he was a snob and a bigot, but some of his stories still give me a shiver in broad daylight.

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

High school, I think. That was when I started writing a bit of everything: Poetry, plays, short stories, the beginnings of novels. I searched for my voice and imitated my favorites (HP Lovecraft, Lloyd Alexander). Writing was something I did every free moment because I loved it. Perhaps my lightbulb moment came when one of my poems won first place in a local women’s organization contest. Earning money for writing was a new experience for me. I realized if I could get to this point once, I could get to it again. That was a very good day.

What was your favorite part of writing FoH?

Surprisingly, the gamer parts. I’m not a gamer and don’t know the first thing about them. Fortunately, I work with some hardcore gamers. I did a bunch of online research and sat at the feet (figuratively) of one to learn the basics. It’s a whole ‘nother culture.

Most challenging?

The attempted rape scene and its aftermath. I had to get into my MC’s head for that and it was a scary place for a chapter or two.

Tell us about your journey to getting an agent.

Fast-forward past the convent and theater and marriage and kids. In 2006, I had a finished novel that I thought was All That. A thorough critique by a published writer cured me of that. (She and I are friends to this day, despite the fact that she writes sweet Christian fiction and that particular novel was my religious horror, which one critiquer refused to read while alone in the house.)

In 2007, after 2 complete rewrites and invaluable help from the regulars on the Absolute Write Water Cooler, I began querying. I found a new agent who loved the book. A year later, that agent quit the business and I was back to square one. However, I had three complete novels by this time and several layers of rhino hide. I was ready to hit the query trail again.

That was in September of 2008. I researched every agency that represented one of the genres of my books (mystery, paranormal, and horror). I sent out queries in batches of six, ready to send a new query out for every rejection or non-response. I gave each query three months. If I heard nothing by that time, I assumed it was a pass and crossed them off my list. This turned into roller-coaster time. I got requests for partials and fulls. I also got form rejections on requested fulls (ouch!). I got two offers to revise and resubmit on two different books. I had one agent love my characters and another say they were bland. It truly is a subjective business.

Then in spring of 2009, I sent a "Why not?" query to Kent D. Wolf, an agent whose list of sales and genres he was seeking looked interesting. The next day, he called to request the full of the mystery. (Agents don't normally call for that. I was a bit startled.) Two days later, he called to discuss the book, the characters, the convent, and how I felt about revising. (Is the sky blue? Of course I was willing to revise!) Two days after that, he called to offer representation.

Six days. Okay, to be technical, a total of four years, 185 rejections, and six days.

And how about finding your publisher?

My submission story went faster. We went on sub in June. 6 months and something like 8 passes later, we sold to Midnight Ink. An agent who knew and loved my genre, had sales in it, and knew the people involved in it was my goal, and it paid off. I have to plug Absolute Write again, because the pros and amateurs there gave advice, critiqued, held my hand during the rejections, and did it freely because we're all fellow writers and we're all in this together. Without them, my journey would've been much longer.

What is the best part of the publishing process?

All the great people I’m working with. My editor is so much fun and full of great ideas for making my book read even better. My production/copyeditor, who’s just as intensely picky as I am. The thrill of seeing my first page proofs. Holding a real ARC. Holding a real, final version. Walking into a Barnes & Noble and seeing my book—mine!—on the shelf.

The worst?

Those gremlins of self-doubt. They pop up out of nowhere and you’re never really prepared for them. They whisper in your ear that you’re not really a good writer, that it’s a fluke, that no one will ever buy your book, that you should’ve stayed home in obscurity reading books, because you don’t have the talent to write anything more than a grocery list. It takes tenacity and determination and much gritting of teeth. This is where fellow writers are invaluable. They understand the gremlins and are there for those times as well as the celebratory moments.

Can you give us a hint of what we can expect from book two in the series? And when is it coming out?

In book 2, Giulia’s going undercover—in the convent. It’s nothing like Sister Act! There will be catfights, oppression, clashing personalities, and gratuitous pawing of lacy underwear. Stay tuned!

Any last advice for any writers out there?

Never give up! Never surrender! (With thanks to the movie Galaxy Quest.) I had some brain-melting setbacks in my drive to see my name on a shelf in a brick-and-mortar bookstore. But if it had been easy, then seeing my book on those shelves wouldn’t be as sweet.

Also, find some fellow writers, online or in meatspace. This business is like the roller coaster from Hell sometimes, and fellow screaming coaster passengers make it easier.

Thanks Alice! Looking forward to reading more from you in the future!

Revising Awesomeness. What I’ve Noticed, Plus, an Amazing Tip.

2011-03-03T21:27:00.003-05:00

I’ve only got time for a quick post as the revising cave is calling…

I’ve discovered a few things during this round of revisions. No, it’s not my first draft penchant for run on sentences or my awkward sentence constructions and wow-who-cares-delete-those-too-much-info phrases. No really, I already knew about those things. What I discovered on this, my third draft of my WIP is how I don’t think one single line or paragraph from draft one belongs in my finished product. When I re-read this draft, those lines are exactly the ones that stick out for immediate removal and end up on the cutting room floor.

But, I also discovered an amazingly awesome tip that has helped me see the ms in a new light . I know plenty of people already know the old print the ms in a different font/color to show the words differently to your brain. But this time, I tried something else.

*cue angel music*

Print in landscape, two columns, single space.

Your print outs will have the layout of a “real” book and your brain will be tricked into thinking it’s reading one, rather than your own same-old, same-old ms. Subjectivity in revisions is one of my biggest struggles, but this has helped me substantially and I've found a ridiculous amount of things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

Anyway, just wanted to pass on the tip.

Happy writing, revising and a good weekend ahead to all!

Are Your Love Interests LAME?

2011-02-21T07:00:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I recently watched Cinderella and Snow White. Those aren’t typical movie-fare in our house and my kids are more into action-y, superhero-ish type flicks, but we’ve been slowly working our way through the old Disney movies.

Now, I have nothing against Cinderella. Actually, as a kid, it was my all-time fave and I still have a soft spot for it. Snow White is pretty meh, but that’s not the point. Here’s what I noticed while re-watching these movies as an adult – the princes are completely lame. In the case of Snow White, other than singing by the wishing well during opening scene and then arriving at her deathbed (aboveground casket – um, ew, why did this never creep me out as much as a kid), what does this guy really do? I mean, she knows nothing about him. In Cinderella’s case, all they share is some gleaming-white teeth, frozen-face smiles in a waltz around the ballroom and patio before breaking away at midnight. They may hum and murmur a bit while they’re dancing, but they definitely don’t have much conversation.

And the viewer definitely doesn’t get to know either prince at all. They are, in fact, rather cardboard characters. Now I know these are fairy tales, and I know they are children’s movies, but many modern kid’s movies develop their characters a hell of a lot more, so I’m not sure that argument carries.

Don’t get me wrong, I know these girls were in dire straits. I mean, Snow White was dead (but too pretty to be buried – shiver, ew), and Cinderella working herself to the bone for her stepmother and stepsisters, but, still, does that mean they should jump into being saved by the first lameface prince that comes along? Where's the connection? I'm all about a good love story, even a damsel in distress one, but come on, you gotta prove it. Why that guy? He's basically a few drawn lines and nothing more. Literally.

Hmmm.

So… what does this have to do with writing? Well, to me, it has a lot to do with it. Writing the love interest and romance part of my stories is always something that takes many, many revisions for me to get right. I start out with a draft that has very basic character sketches and that doesn’t show nearly as much of why my characters should fall for each other, let alone how. Deepening characters and romance is almost always my first, second, and umpteenth order of business when revising. It’s hard work – bringing characters not only to life, but also together in a way that is believable and swoonable (yes, it is too a word) for readers.

So when I’m watching the old Disney films and I see this prince who’s barely in the movie and doesn’t really say much, I’m wondering how do so many viewers fall in love with him when he’s so lame? And how can I make sure my characters are a lot less lame than that?

How about you? Is creating a good love interest something you have to work at too? Or am I the only one who spends much of revisions de-lame-ifying my characters?:)

Publishing is Not Ending. Books Are Not Dying. The World, in fact, Still Spins

2011-02-17T09:02:00.011-05:00

Oh the doom and gloom of the publishing biz community.

I am not talking about writer angst – I fully support that.:D After all, what is a writer without her angst?

What I’m talking about today is something else completely. I’m talking about the apparent rise of the doom and gloom movement: the apocalypse of publishing is upon us attitude that seems to be seeping out of every corner of the (at least online) publishing community.

But it’s not true.

Sure, it’s hard. Writing is hard. Revising is hard. Publishing is a bear and the commitment, hope and work it takes to get anywhere feel damn near impossible, sometimes.

BUT, publishing is not on death’s doorstep. A few things I’ve heard recently, repeatedly, in tweets and blogs and message boards, that have driven me a bit bonkers:

1. Ebooks are not killing the world. Seriously, I am the biggest Luddite around. I probably won't ever read books on an ereader. I don’t even have an iPod! I buy books and CDs and even have prints of every digital photo I take. But am I anti-ebooks? Of course not! Why should I be? They are books, people. Readers are buying books! Ebooks are the way it’s going. Why all the fight? Just embrace it, and be happy, when you’re book is published, that people are reading it – in whatever format! And if it’s not your style, buy the hardcover/paperback. No one is stopping you. But the ebook people are also not torching our bookstores and libraries. So chill.

2. People are still getting agents through queries. I have seen a few posts lately about querying system dying, writers not being able to find an agent through any means except personally knowing someone or basically stepping in shit. Not true! Every single agented writer I know was found through slush. Don’t despair, ye in the query trenches – keep on keeping on. It happens all the time. More than all the time. Not to mention these kinds of posts are really detrimental to writers and their determination, newbies in particular. Shush, naysayers!

3. Agents are still selling novels – both debut and subsequent works. If you’re active in the community at all, I’m sure you can think of at least a dozen, off the top of your heads, debut novels that recently sold or came out. Come on, naysayers, it happens every day! I’ve had books trunked that didn’t sell. And it sucks, it really sucks. It hurts and it's frustrating and it's hard, but it doesn’t mean NO books are selling just because mine (or yours) didn’t. And if I get down about trunking a novel and turn that into a rant about the state of publishing, how far will it get any of us? So down with the "no books are selling" camp. The argument really doesn't make sense.

4. And, now this is a big one, but no, every single book on the shelves in the bookstore is NOT crap. It’s just not. So stop it. We all have different tastes in reading and we all get frustrated when books we don’t like end up in the limelight (and no, I am not talking about Snooki-type crap here, I’m talking about good old fashioned fiction on the shelves). It sucks when we don’t agree with the trends in publishing and it’s hard to read a book that we don’t think has any merit or talent when readers are falling all over themselves to get a copy. But you know what, it’s selling, that’s life. Move on. And really, there are tons of great books published every year. Sour grapes about what’s on the shelves sounds like exactly that – sour grapes. So just read something else and write something better. Or at least try.

That’s my plan anyway. And as an eternal optimist, I have to say I do believe it’s possible. And, I think you do to. If you don't, why do you bother to keep trying?

So curse about your writing, or querying, or how slow the industry works. Curse about how hard it is, or how much work or about how it’s nearly impossible to move forward. But don’t say books are dying or publishing is falling apart, because it’s not. And honestly? It just brings everyone down.

Change is not evil. And sour grapes are just sour. Pour yourself a glass of wine, instead.

Top 20 Ways Writing is like Motherhood

2011-02-15T20:14:00.009-05:00

For those who follow my blog regularly, you know the two roles I hold most dear. Mommy and writer. Both are wonderful and such an ingrained part of who I am. But, both drive me bonkers too. Here are the top twenty ways I find the roles to be the same.:) So when you’re in between hugging your little ones and writing your masterpiece, check these out.

Balancing the two most important WIPs in your life (children and books).

20. Let’s start with the obvious. To do either well, you have to be at least a little crazy. Once you make either decision, there’s no turning back. And if you’re really, truly, committed to either, you may, in fact, end up committed.

19. It hurts! Both are incredibly painful to birth. Both come with their set of painkillers, however.

18. Creativity is paramount. Just as you can’t recycle plots, characters, or played out storylines, neither can you (in my case anyway), expect your kids to be satisfied with the same old same old. I’m always trying to come up with new games, new creative ways to have fun. Exhausting in either case, but really fun, too!

17. Critics. There will always be critics! Judging every choice you make. Every single thing you do in raising your kids. Every word you write. You can’t please them all, so work your hardest and don’t listen to the chatter when you’ve finished.

16. Crap everywhere. Bad grammar, dirty diapers, run on sentences, repeated words, flat characters, potty training, adverbs, having to find a restroom within a moment’s notice and overused dialogue tags. There is crap everywhere. So. Much. Crap. Clean it up. Move on.

15. Rejection Hurts. Writers get rejected. A lot. It’s kinda what we do when we’re not writing. And it hurts like hell when someone puts our work down. Our creation, our “baby.” But when someone puts our real kids down, it hurts even more. Boo to rejection.

14. Dichotomy of emotions. You never realized you could love something so much yet inexplicably want to mutter curses under your breath half the time you’re around it.

13. Multitasking. Get used to it. You will NEVER think straight again.

12. Hello wall, how are you today! No one listens. Rules are basically out the window. They are in control. Or at least, you are definitely not in control. Characters, outlines, plots, children. Everyone runs amuck.

11. Guilt. Going away without your kids for the weekend? Closing your word doc to start on an SNI? Bad Mommy! Bad Writer! Self guilt in effect.

10. You feel incredibly proud at the smallest accomplishment either makes and feel the inane need to share every little thing about your kids/manuscript with strangers (hint: no one cares.)

9. They both make you fat. No, no, it’s true. Whether it’s nibbling the cut off crusts off gooey grilled cheese sandwiches or soothing your writer soul with chocolate, those calories add up! Good thing the mom/writer uniform (sweats) is forgiving.

8. Discipline. Oh God I suck at this one. Getting your writer butt in the chair is hard! But not as hard as sticking to the rules set for your kids. Both, however, are unforgivingly necessary if you want to get anywhere with either. No backing down on this one.

7. Unlike regular day jobs, neither writing nor children leave you alone. Ever. The thing is, you secretly don’t want them to. You secretly revel in every second you spend together. You wouldn’t change either for the world. But seriously, I mean ever.

6. They tantrum, they whine, they don’t play nice. And guess who’s left to figure it out? Yes, mother. Yes, writer – you are!

5. Every single little choice matters. Every word, every metaphor, every period and semicolon. Every limit you place on your kids, every lesson, every moment you spend together, every bit of attention you give them. You can’t cut corners with either. People will notice and the end result if you do? Nowhere near as good as you could have done.

4. Your work is NEVER done. Ever. Ever. There is always a revision. There is always something breaking, or a fight to get in the middle of, or homework or snacks or an accident. A plot hole, a character that needs more depth. Roll up your sleeves and get back to work.

3. You work damn hard. As hard as you can. Some of it’s instinct, some of it’s skill. Some of it is merely from the heart. But you give it your all and when you put your product out into the real world, all you can do is hope you did your very best.

2. Coffee is the answer.

And the number one reason being a writer is like being a mom: If you’re good at either, really good, you’ll end up with a finished product that looks seamless, effortless, and like you hardly had to work for it at all.

So enjoy your children and your writing too. Give them both, time, love and attention and grow together.:)

Author Interview: K.A. Stewart, Urban Fantasy Author

2011-02-09T10:34:00.007-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing K.A. Stewart, Urban Fantasy Author of A Devil in the Details (From the Jesse James Dawson Series). Read below for her insights on writing and publishing! If you have any comments or questions for her, leave your info in the comments and she’ll stop by later.

Before we get started with the interview, here’s a bit about A Devil in the Details:

Jesse James Dawson was an ordinary guy (well, an ordinary guy with a black belt in karate) – until the day he learned his brother had made a bargain with a demon. Jesse discovered there was only one way to save his brother: Put up his own soul as collateral and fight the demon to the death.

Jesse lives to free his brother and becomes part of a loose organization of champions who put their own souls on the line to help those who get in over their heads with demons. But now experienced champions are losing battles at a much higher rate than usual. Someone has changed the game. And if Jesse can’t figure out the new rules, his next battle may be his last.

Hi Kari! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut novel, A Devil in the Details. What was your inspiration for this novel?

Jesse and his world were actually my hubby’s idea in the beginning. He’d been complaining about not being able to find the kind of UF books that he wanted to read, so I finally asked him, “Okay, what kind of hero DO you want to see?” Several hours later, Jesse was wandering around inside my head, telling me all kinds of neat stories.

Jesse is such an awesomely real character. When reading Devil, I found myself really liking him, both as a person and a hero. Plus, he’s sweet in an unconventional way, not to mention a total badass with some fun geeky hobbies. Authors often pull character traits from themselves or someone they know. How many of Jesse’s attributes were inspired by you or someone you know?

If you ask my friends, they’ll get into arguments over which Jesse traits are me, and which are my hubby. Seriously. Flat out brawls over the subject, I swear.

I will fully admit though, that Jesse’s zombie phobia is totally mine. Hate hate hate zombies. They freak me out in the worst possible way.

Most characters I come up with are at least a little bit like someone I know. Usually, a combination of several different people. The Dr. Bridget character, for example, is based around two of my friends, both of whom happen to be doctors.

People always come to me saying, “I know you based Character X on so-and-so” but it’s rarely ever true.

The setting(s) in the book also felt very real–What inspired your settings?

The first book is set in Kansas City, Jesse’s “home base” so to speak. It’s where I live at the moment, and the city itself is so huge and diverse that it offers a great range of possibilities. Pretty much any setting I need is available without too much stretching.

Most of the places I describe are based on real locations, though I’ve altered names and appearances to suit my own purposes. Any Kansas City native could probably figure out the real-life correlations if they put their minds to it.

In subsequent books, Jesse will be travelling quite a bit, so I hope that allows me to expand more, and imagine other places.

Devil is a fun, fast-paced story that goes in unexpected places. Are these the same types of books you’re also drawn to as a reader? What were your favorite books/authors?

Oh yeah. I think most writers write the things they love to read.

I’m pretty firmly entrenched in the fantasy/urban fantasy realm with my reading. I rarely stray out of my comfort genre, I fully admit.

Right now, my favorites include Stacia Kane’s Downside series, both of Jim Butcher’s series (Dresden Files and the Codex Alera), Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series, Harry Connolly’s Twenty Palaces series, John Levitt’s Dog Days series.

I seem to have a series fetish.

And I’m always on the lookout for new stuff! There are amazing authors debuting every week, it seems, and I can hardly keep up with my reading wish list.

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I don’t remember ever NOT wanting to be a writer. I know that I started reading fantasy at a very early age (I read The Hobbit in 1st grade), and I think that’s what set my feet on the path. I wrote my first “book”, a self-illustrated story about a family of rabbits surviving a flood, for a school project when I was about seven or eight.

I remember teaching myself to type on my mother’s old Brother typewriter, and hammering away at those keys for hours every night on this giant (truly horrible) epic fantasy/romance thing. I was…twelve? Maybe?

I always knew that I wanted to be published, but I also knew that my early stuff just wasn’t good enough. Didn’t stop me from writing it, of course, because sometimes those words just have to come out. But I didn’t seriously try to get published until Devil. Something just told me it was “the one”.

What was your favorite part of writing Devil?

All of it?

No, really, writing Devil was a joy right from the beginning, partly because I had it planned so well from the start. Devil was my first attempt at outlining a book before I wrote it, and now that I’ve done that, I’ve done it on every book written since and I don’t think I’ll ever do it another way again. It went so smoothly.

Most challenging?

The humor, I think. People don’t often have the same sense of humor I do, so I spent a lot of time checking with other people. “Is this really as funny as I think it is?”

Tell us about your journey to getting an agent.

I started querying Devil on the first of March, ’08. Over the next six months, I sent out 28 queries. I got rejections on about a third of those, no response on a third, and about a third asked to see more.

I actually sent a query to my now-agent toward the end of that period, in late August. He asked for the full within a couple days, which I sent. And because I was friends with another client of his, I knew he was going on vacation. So imagine my surprise when I got an email from him, FROM his vacation, saying how much he liked reading it and that he’d be in touch soon. There was a phone call, and on September 5, 2008, I signed with him.

And how about finding your publisher?

Well first, I did a couple rounds of revision for my agent. The first one was what I’ll call “medium” level, as in I added several major scenes, reworked one sub-plot completely, things like that. The second was more of a polish round, just tightening and tweaking.

We went out on sub late January/early February of ’09 (I think). I say “I think” because my agent didn’t keep me in the loop. It was a deliberate choice, because I’m a neurotic mess on my best days, so I figured it was easier for everyone involved if I just stayed out of it. On March 16th, he called to say we had an offer. So I think I was on sub for about 6 weeks.

In publishing time, that’s the equivalent of light speed. It actually went very fast.

What is the best part of the publishing process?

Oh, all of it! I love edit letters, ‘cause then I get to take what was a pretty good story to begin with and truly make it as awesome as I always knew it could be. Opening the email with my new cover art is like Christmas every time (and since they’ve both come shortly before my birthday, it’s extra awesome). I love how excited people are to read my little stories, and all the comments people make on Twitter and Facebook, anticipating the next one.

And the absolute best part of the process, from writing all the way through publishing, is all the friends I’ve made that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. In my experience, writers are one of the most generous, supportive groups around.

The worst?

The waiting. Oh gawd, the waiting. Things happen all at once, and then nothing for months. And then suddenly whoosh again!

And I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Very few people in the world get to do what they dream about, and I’m one of the lucky ones.

Can you give us a hint of what we can expect from book two in the series? And when is it coming out?

The second book in the series, A SHOT IN THE DARK, comes out on July 5, 2011, and the back cover reads like this:

Jesse James Dawson is a Champion, putting his life on the line for those foolish enough to bargain with demons and fighting to save their souls. But even a Champion needs some downtime, so Jesse takes his annual camping trip to Colorado for some male bonding over friendly games of paintball.

Unfortunately, the fun and war games are interrupted by a pack of creatures summoned up from the very depths of hell by an entity Jesse prayed he’d never see again. With the lives of his friends and a teenager’s soul on the line, Jesse’s only hope may like with an even more dangerous enemy – his personal demon, Axel.

Thanks Kari! Looking forward to reading more from you in the future!

Winter 2011 Issue of Meadowland Review Now Live!

2011-02-01T22:41:00.003-05:00

The winter 2011 issue of The Meadowland Review is now live. Check out a great selection of poetry, fiction and artwork.

*P.S. Hope all my blogger friends are well. I'm deep in a writing/revising rush, but hope to catch up with you all on my blog and yours very soon.:)*

Confessions of a Reformed Pantser (AKA The Post I Never Thought I’d Write)

2011-01-24T00:00:00.002-05:00

I have ALWAYS been a pantser. Never have I been able to plan ahead, not a chapter, not an act, and certainly not a whole novel! How the heck do people write like that, right? It makes no sense. How does the creativity flow? I’ve tried numerous times to outline and failed and failed again.

Well.

I’ve been working on the WIP on and off for months. I keep stopping, rewriting, stopping. Throwing it out. Starting it over. Again and again. My plot is a bit more complex than others I’ve attempted. It’s a mystery and covers two different storylines, timelines and casts of characters, chock full of subplots and clues. I couldn’t, as I usual do, write it as I go along. I just could not make it work. But, I really liked the premise, so I kept coming back to it, and decided to give outlining another try.

So.

I reached out to some of my outliner friends. I was scared. I was terrified. I didn’t think I could do it. But a few of the sent me their outlines. Surprisingly, they weren’t that scary. I could see exactly how it made sense. Outlining wasn’t a foreign language after all! So, I decided to give it a try. And it wasn’t bad. Actually, I have quite a bit of Type A in my personality and while it’s typically at war with my creative side, they seemed to meet nicely on this middle road. I spent a weekend deep in the outline trenches nurturing my analytical nature and introducing her to the left side of my brain.*

I am a changed writer.

Me and outlining? Love. True love.

Here’s what I learned about the benefits of outlining:

It is so easy to find potential plot holes, motivation blunders, and other general inconsistencies when you’re looking at five pages as opposed to 300.

It is much easier to delete a plot line or event when it’s a matter of getting rid of two sentences, rather than pulling out the threads from chapters and chapters of manuscript.

When you get stuck, well, actually… you really don’t. You’ve already plotted it out. You just push forward and fill in the rest later.

There is no creativity lost. This was my biggest fear. I didn’t think this would jive with my creative flow. But it did! It was fine. The creative planning was compressed into outlining the plot, and is still happening as I fill in the details while drafting.

It is very easy to read through entire plot multiple times when it’s a handful of pages, rather than a whole novel. I read it repeatedly over the course of two days rather than taking weeks and weeks to pour over the finished manuscript.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE:

Say you are pantsing, as I’ve always done. You may have X happen in chapter 1. By chapter 3, X is null and void, because Y and Z were in chapter two and if you want A to happen in four, well, then you have to get rid of X. Which means rewriting chapter 1. Which means, changing chapters 2 and 3, which damn it, now that I’ve done it means Y and Z will have to move too. Especially if I’ve planted clues that no one answered until chapter 8, at which point the event is too close for the clue to matter. Damn it.

But, if you outline, and look at the story as a whole before writing, you can rearrange and line up the events as you need to. You may deal with the same dilemma as above, but it’s a lot easier to figure it out and move it around when it’s written as a list/chart/outline, rather than a novel.

Hint, I threw out about ten plot ideas – which were basically all my starting ideas – once I started outlining. Had I pantsed this novel, that would have meant trashing at least half, if not more, of the first draft.

My outline isn’t extremely detailed, like some of the ones shared by my friends.** It’s not perfect and it doesn’t cover everything it could. I had to leave myself some wiggle room for pantsing the details.;) But still, it’s an outline… I’m shocked! And stoked.

I’m not even saying I won’t have the same first draft problems I always do. I’m sure I will have some of them. But so far, it’s making my first drafting faster and easier and (hopefully), I’ve worked out a lot of potential problems before I even wrote the first word of chapter one. I’ll still have tons of revisions to do, but I hope I caught at least some of the big stuff early.

I’m not sure if it will improve the novel, but it sure has improved the process.

I know, I know. All you pantsers are shaking your heads and thinking I’m crazy. I know! I used to think that way too! And all your outliners are snickering and saying, “Welcome to the Dark side.” (Actually three of my outlining friends said exactly that.) But seriously, it works.

For now, I have to say, I may have official switched sides:

Team Outline.

*gulp*

How about you? Are you an outliner or a pantser?

* I do have to say I did not use excel. That still scares me. A chart in word works well enough.

** I’m actually pretty sure my version would probably shame the real outliners I know.:)

Author Interview: Timothy Power, Middle Grade Author

2011-01-16T22:54:00.008-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Timothy Power, middle grade author of The Boy Who Howled. Read below for Tim’s insights on writing and publishing! If you have any comments or questions for him, leave your info in the comments and he’ll stop by later.

Before we get started with the interview, here’s a bit about The Boy Who Howled: As far back as Callum can really remember, he's been living in the Wild as the furless mascot of a wolf pack. But when his pack sends him back to live with his own kind—humans—fitting in is quite a challenge. He doesn't remember English very well, so he accidentally says his name is "Clam." He's spent most of his life eating fresh-killed elk, so dining with vegetarians is tricky. And when he tries to impress the Alpha student in the school cafeteria by stealing food, people seem offended! A mix of wildness and humor, Timothy Power's inventive writing makes him a debut author to watch. And Callum's quest to find his place in a strange world will have readers rooting for him—when they're not howling with laughter.

Hi Tim! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut novel, The Boy Who Howled. What was your inspiration for this novel?

Hi, Jennifer! Thanks for inviting me over for an interview.

The Boy Who Howled started out as a kind of writing exercise. Something got me thinking about the feeling we’ve all had as kids when we’re with our parents somewhere outside the home and suddenly find ourselves lost and alone, wondering where on earth Mom and Dad might be. I decided to begin with a boy who was someplace far from home, and then try to figure out how to get him back to his family safe and sound. I imagined his family lived in the city, and the farthest place from that were the woods, so that’s where I put him at the beginning of the story. The rest came together from there.

Callum is such a funny and real character. When reading TBWH, I found myself not only laughing along, but really rooting for him. He made me smile and giggle often. Authors often pull character traits from themselves or someone they know. How many of Callum’s attributes were inspired by you as a child or someone you know?

Naturally, Callum’s incredible intelligence was inspired directly by me. J The other attributes of his personality rose from his situation. In order for me as the author to get him safely home, I figured he had to be curious, and good at making connections, and had learned to be bold from his education in the ways of wolves.

Mrs. T-G is very bossy, and can be curt in a kind-hearted way. I would say there is something a little “Mary Poppins” about her. And she wears a long, sweeping coat of faux animal skin. I think that probably came from Cruella DeVille. But Mrs. T-G is a hero, not a villain!

World-famous wildlife wrangler Buzz Optigon is definitely a kooky version of the late, great Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin.

The setting(s) in the book also felt very real. What inspired your settings? I assume you’ve never lived with wolves in the woods.:) Tell us a bit about creating Callum’s world, both in the woods and out.

I basically wrote the story of Callum’s life in the Wild as if he were living at home with a human family, and then just changed the physical surroundings. Instead of a chair, for example, there was a rock, and instead of a nice meatloaf being served up for dinner, it was freshly killed elk.

What was your favorite part of writing TBWH?

I loved it whenever the opportunity arose to insert a joke or some kind of silliness. It was never my intention to obscure the serious underpinnings to Callum’s story, but I like a funny story more than anything.

Most challenging?

I found it really challenging to maintain the kind of suspended disbelief that allows the reader to accept Callum’s adventures as they happen, without stopping dead in their tracks with a frustrated “What the hey?”

TBWH is a wonderful story for middle grade readers. It’s so much fun to read and watch Callum on his adventure in what many readers undoubtedly laugh along with as everyday life for them/not so much for Callum. What type of young reader were you? What were your favorite books/authors?

I read like crazy when I was young. I loved Edward Eager’s books, and Louise Fitzhugh is a personal hero. I still read as much middle grade as I can. I love fantasy, and also serious adventures, but my favorites are stories that are scary and funny at the same time. One of my recent faves is Chris Priestley’s Tales of Terror from the Black Ship. And I love Dr. Cuthbert Soup’s A Whole Nother Story.

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I have always written, from a very young age. I wrote my first novel when I was 12. An excerpt can be found on my blog. Sadly, it was not received favorably by my family members. My sister’s opinion of it was especially damning. But I was undaunted, and remained so for the nearly half a century it took me to get any professional interest in my writing.

Tell us about your journey to getting an agent.

I queried far and wide, according to Miss Snark’s advice. And the MS was far and widely rejected. A few agents reacted positively, but felt it wasn’t right for them. A few didn’t understand the book, or failed to connect with the voice. One agent memorably explained to me that she didn’t understand how the wolves were talking, since wolves don’t speak English. And she repped children’s books! Of course, in TBWH Callum imagines what the wolves are saying after interpreting their body language. He uses the voice in his head. Jennifer DeChiara called me out of the blue one day, and right away I could tell that she totally “got” it. I was honored to accept her offer of representation.

And how about finding your publisher?

It took some time for the MS to find a home. A few houses already had “wolf” books on their lists and passed. The wise and wonderful Margaret Miller at Bloomsbury connected immediately to the voice and story and the rest is children’s lit history!

What is the best part of the publishing process?

The best part is hearing someone say they laughed out loud while reading the book. I’ve heard from a few people who say they NEVER laugh out loud while reading a book but DID when reading TBWH. That’s great!

The worst?

That entire civilizations can come and go while waiting for THE SLIGHTEST LITTLE THING to happen in the publishing process.

Can you give us a hint of what you’re working on now? What can we expect to read from you next?

I have a second book currently under consideration at Bloomsbury, but I don’t want to jinx it by saying anything! Fingers crossed, though.

Thanks Tim! Looking forward to reading more from you in the future!

What do you DO all day? A Day in the Life of a Writer Mom

2011-01-13T07:47:00.003-05:00

There is no such thing as typical day for a mom or a writer, but here’s my attempt to capture a typical day in mine and how the two roles overlap and interact… For all those who ask moms and/or writers: what do you DO all day?

7:00 Kids wake. I’m pulled from the depths of sleep where I’ve been (finally!) near my plot epiphany.

7:02 Break up fight #1 between kids.

7:10 Make out way downstairs, pace in front of coffee maker. HURRY UP KRUPS. Who is Krups anyway? Someone who didn’t know how to make coffee quick enough, that’s who!

7:10-7:40 Cartoons with kids and as much coffee as I can possibly ingest in half an hour. Keep notebook and pen at side. Manage a few plot notes while Mickey does the Hot Dog dance.

7:42 – Break up tenth fight of day while making breakfast. Distract kids with game of freeze dance while they wait for food. Wash last night’s dishes (don’t judge) while they eat. Sweep floor.

8:00 - Check email. Get rejection. Ask kids if they want to bake cookies. It will fill the time. Plus, what is better for rejection than baked goods? CHOCOLATE.

9:00 - Break up fight #217 – sparring with spatulas. Maybe baking cookies wasn’t the best idea.

9:01 - Look at batter. Consider eating it all myself.

10:00 - Attempt grocery store. Catches various things kids throw at each other in the cart. After palming a pint of blueberries and five pound bag of flour, I look at them and reconsider my character’s motivations. Perhaps there should be demons in this novel. Make note to ask agent about the plausibility of demons in today’s market.

11:00 - Make it to gym after a near fatal argument in car between boys over whose side of the car the sun was on. Walking in gym is a miracle, but a necessity after the cookie dough. Drop kids off at gym childcare and hop on elliptical. Have a great workout until my rescued plot epiphany makes me scribble furiously in my notebook, while trying to maintain a 6 mph speed. Lose balance and almost fall off the machine. Mortified, straighten up and keep going. Ignore temptation to say, “It’s okay, I’m a writer.”

12:00 - Go home. Attempt to shower while listening to world war three in the hallway. Rinse hair as quickly as possible and hope no one is bleeding.

12:00 and 30 seconds - Get dressed after finding kids strangely getting along. Set up basement tee ball and curse winter. Wish for spring. Make mental note to browse summer vacations online.

12:15 – Realize tee ball bats are too much of a weapon. Set up matchbox car ramps instead. That, at least, is quiet(er). While playing with boys, examine cars and consider what type of car love interest in novel should drive.

12:30 - Make lunch. Clean kitchen while they eat. Sweep floor.

1:00 -Make fort, read books together. Cuddle with boys and love life. Feel incredibly lucky until a fight breaks out and the corner of Giraffe and a Half lands in my eyeball. Curse Silverstein for writing it. Watch helplessly as fight progress to bookcase. Get there too late. Realize just how many books we have as they are in a mountain on the floor. Resist urge to scream at the sudden camaraderie between them at my frustration.

2:00 - Toddler naps. There is a God. Read books/do homework/play games/crafts/color with older boy, who turns into an angel of perfection when his brother is not around. Have lots of aw, isn’t life grand moments. Make second pot of coffee.

3:00 – Older boy watches tv show or movie while I do housework. ***By housework I mean sit and stare into space and brainstorm the next chapter in my WIP. The dishes can wait. Shakespeare didn’t do dishes, damnit!

3:30 - Toddler wakes, magically transforming older boy into devil once again. They fight all the way down the stairs.

3:45 - Breaks up fight 1027 over an imaginary object by promising clementines to everyone, including imaginary friend who supplied said object. Realize there are only 2 clementines. Fine for boys but not for imaginary friend. Upset boils, tantrum is eminent. Think fast. Allergies! Yes! Tell kids imaginary friend is allergic to clementines. Met with disbelieving looks. Yeah, um, the clementines make him lose his superhero powers. It’s like kryptonite. Yeah, that’s it! Whoo, thank god we didn’t give him one. Become hero rather than villain.

4:00 - Perform puppet show with kids. Break up 1,642 fights over puppets while I secretly make certain puppets into my characters and have them perform the next act in my book. No one notices because they are now fighting over a paper napkin that is apparently worth more than all the toys in the world.

4:30 – Curse the person who bought them “marching band in a box.” And the microphone, complete with children’s music and no volume button. And anything related to Elmo and his wretched laugh. Curse Duracell and everyone else who makes batteries. Take Tylenol. Imagine a world without electronic toys and batteries. Hmmm. No electronics and batteries? Consider writing a dystopian.

4:40 - Check Twitter. Feel jealous of everyone #amwriting. Wonder if there is a #amgoingcrazy hashtag.

4:45 – Start daily clean up. Put toys away and realize the dress up clothes are missing. Find dog wearing Robinhood mask and clown shoes, looking embarrassed. Consider a picture book but know it’s overdone.

5:00 - Look at the clock and realize I have no idea WTF to make for dinner. Since no one eats the same thing, I need to plan at least three things and fast. Call hubby and find out he’s stuck at work again. Scream silently.

Consider killing off all the characters in my novel.

Look at the vodka bottle and shake my head. Too early.

5:15 - Start cooking. Hear screams, run upstairs. Find boys running a bath and shoving dog into it. Rescue dog. Herd everyone downstairs. Continue cooking slightly burned dinner. Hear loud thuds. Run into living room to discover a superhero obstacle course gone wrong and toddler rubbing his head. Gather everyone in kitchen, attempt freeze dance again while trying to salvage dinner. One last attempt: Spiderman Says while transferring charred dinner to plates.

5:30 - Feed children, dog, fish in tank, fish in the bowl, set food aside for hubby. Sweep floor. Mentally compose haiku about sweeping. Worry for my sanity.
Realize I never ate. Fold laundry first and make tomorrow’s grocery list since I missed half of it in my Olympic rush to get out of the store before we were officially thrown out and banned.

6:00 - Run bath for kids. Mental note: buy tilex. Watch water fill. Consider a water scene in novel. Consider cheesy symbolism that a writer in their right mind would never consider. Mental note to think about it later.

6:05 - Carry laundry up while kids play in tub.

6:06 - Clean up flood in bathroom.

6:45 - Bedtime stories and cuddling. Feel like luckiest mom in the world. Revel in each hug, kiss and snuggle. Read extra stories and sing extra songs and smile.

7:00 – BEDTIME

7:01 – Life. Is. Good. House is silent.

7:02 - Clears head and tries to get into writing mode.

7:02 – Open WIP. Sigh in a good way over what I wrote the night before. This will be the book that sells. This WIP is pretty amazing. Tries to remember plot epiphany from last night’s dream. Tries to decipher elliptical plot scribbles.

8:00 - Wow this book sucks. I mean, really sucks. How did I ever get an agent, anyway?

8:05 - Realize I didn’t eat lunch or dinner, but there is still cookie dough. Hmmm…

8:15 - Twitter/Email/AW/GChat/Write/Twitter/email/AW/GChat/write

12:00 – sleep

TOMORROW: Rinse. Repeat.

The Scene of the Crime

2011-01-09T22:47:00.009-05:00

I’ve been writing this sorta haunting, creeptastic story on and off for a few months now. I keep coming back to it, but I was missing something, some central component that was making it feel off, unbalanced. I’ve tweaked the character backgrounds, played with plot a bunch of times, changed the premise around a bit, but something was missing and I didn’t know what.

Fast forward to recent past. Hubby and I house hunt on and off from time to time. We check out new areas we’d consider living, research school systems, dream about a new place. You know, the normal. (I mean, is this normal? We can’t be the only people who do this, right?)

So, on a search for homes out near my mom’s house in eastern PA, we came across this lovely, centuries-old farmhouse. It’s on a huge property and has all kinds of extra structures, barn, stables, outbuildings, etc. The listing details these with pictures and descriptions and it’s enough to make my hubby want to see the house, pronto. But for me, something else happens. I enlarge the pictures and nod along while reading.

I say, Call the realtor.

My book finally has what it’s been missing. The perfect setting.

All I’d seen is the listing, of course, but it grew and became real in my mind as I painted the perfect picture of my character’s new world. With the right setting in mind, I began revamping my story. It felt right. The missing piece of the tale had been found.

So we went to see the place.

Wow wow wow. On one hand, it was truly a breathtakingly gorgeous house. I stood in the kitchen and fell in love. I could see myself living in that house.

But it was creepy.

And I mean that in a good way. My hubs did not agree and thinks it was eerie to me only because I’d written it into my novel, along with some intensely disturbing plot points. But for me, it was the perfect balance of creep factor and romantic, old charm flair. I will admit, in my book there is a bit more fantastical horror conjured only in my mind. But in this place, there were things I wouldn’t have dreamed to make up, rooms and hallways appearing out of nowhere (seriously, practically hidden doors in walls!), staircases that led to nothing and rooms accessed only from outside doors, connected in no way to the main house. Not to mention the stuff I haven’t even fully processed yet (I took notes. On my phone. In the form of text messages. Lame, I know. How could I have forgotten paper and pen?)

And that’s only the beginning, because after some embellishment and sinister plotting, I will probably seriously scare myself with this place.

Who am I kidding? I've scared myself already, tiptoeing through the rooms in a euphoric fog of discovery, taking more than a few imagintive liberties that I can't wait to get into the manuscript. And oh yeah, there was a cat who followed us from room to room, even into the attic and basement. I told hubby it was a ghost visiting from my novel. He was not amused.

It was the first time I’ve ever felt I’d visited one of my settings, or some form of it, anyway, even if it's just the place that inspired it.

Usually, setting doesn’t play a huge role in my books. Sure, it’s the place my characters live, and the place I spend a significant amount of time while writing and revising. But it’s not, as it is in this book, as central to the plot and characters.

How do you choose setting? Have you visited one of your settings before? Have you ever been inspired by something as oddly as this? (please, don’t make me feel like the only weirdo out there!)J

Author Interview: Kim Michele Richardson, Non Fiction Author

2011-01-05T07:00:00.008-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Kim Michele Richardson, non fiction author of The Unbreakable Child. Read below for Kim’s insights! If you have any comments or questions for her, leave your info in the comments and she’ll stop by later to answer them.:)

Before we get started with the interview, here’s a bit about The Unbreakable Child. (There's also an excerpt after the interview):

During the 1960’s, and as early as the 1930’s, Saint Thomas Saint Vincent Orphan Asylum and the Roman Catholic Church abandoned true Christian values and subjected the children entrusted into its care to unspeakable horrors. Its location in the back roads of Kentucky enabled the nuns and priest to commit their sins far from polite society and prying eyes. For decades vulnerable children without families were grossly abused. What happened next was the 2004 nationally recognized lawsuit against the Sisters of Charity and the Roman Catholic Church and a historic legal decision. The horrors were relived by all, but in the end justice prevailed.

Hi Kim! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut work, The Unbreakable Child. Can you tell us a bit about what made you decide to share your story with the world?

During the lawsuit, I kept a journal for catharsis. Upon conclusion of the lawsuit it was given to lawyer, William F. McMurry, my real life protagonist in The Unbreakable Child, as gratitude for his hard work and to show him his own self worth. More importantly, to learn from past history, stamping history, so that history does not repeat itself to ensure the safety of vulnerable children.

Throughout The Unbreakable Child, I found myself often gripping the book, unable to stop reading. You have an undeniable gift for relating such a heartbreaking tale, while managing to shift into a message of hope in the end. Although you make it look flawless, I imagine that balance was not easy to strike.

Tell us a bit about who you were aiming to reach with this book as I’m certain this story will be a comfort and inspiration to other victims of abuse, but also spread your message and hope to anyone who happens to pick it up.

One of my most cherished goals is that my story will kindle the hearts of people who have been victimized. And many write to inform me you don’t need to have lived my life to relate. Anyone looking for a story of hope, justice and redemption, can find inspiration in The Unbreakable Child.

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

A roller coaster. Over four years ago, I begin researching and learning about agents and traditional publishers, spending thousands of hours doing such. Then, The Unbreakable Child was placed with what appeared to the traditional publishing world as an up and coming, prize-winning publisher.

What was the best part of writing TUC?

The End!

Most challenging?

Separating myself from the pack of memoirists around the world, and going up against the celebrities who had their own memoirs to share.

Tell us about your journey to getting an agent.

In 2007, and after thousands and thousands of hours of hard work and many, many drafts later, several agents offered representation.

And how about finding your publisher?

A month after signing with a literary agent (2007), The Unbreakable Child was put up for auction. Still, The Unbreakable Child, the first-book of its kind in mainstream publishing, simply wasn’t ready, nor was the publishing world ready for it. It would take more drafts and more hours to finally land a publishing home.

Upon release of publication, The Unbreakable Child earned a rare Starred Review from Booklist and quickly gained a wide readership, picking up great momentum. I found myself working 24/7 on promotions. I was rewarded. TUC went into a second printing after only 1 month out.

Then unbeknownst to me and my literary agency at the time of The Unbreakable Child’s sale, the former publisher took on my book when its house was experiencing financial difficulty. The Unbreakable Child did extremely well in its short, three-months-out, but in August 2009, the former publisher and his group of private investors closed shop, taking with them every cent of large earnings due, which was earmarked to help others.

What is the best part of the publishing process?

So many to choose from!

The generous support of writers and the literary world.

I immediately gained great emotional reward by having my then- agent donate the proceeds of the sale (advance) of The Unbreakable Child to two advocate groups. Even greater; the day I received my first thank you from a stranger whom I had touched with my work. And a still greater reward and catharsis comes from having the privilege to work with survivors—victims of all types of abuse.

And one of the best humbling and gratifying gifts came from landing an amazing and wonderful literary agent in 2010, who was passionate about my work and who placed The Unbreakable Child with an equally passionate mainstream publisher, who is reputable and honest. There, it has found its “forever home.”

The worst?

To find my work had been abandoned in its short time out.

Are you working on anything new? What can we expect to read from you next?

Yes, I have three works in progress I’m very excited about. Two fictions and one non-fiction, which I hope to finish in the New Year. And I currently contribute to the Huffington Post, writing about many social issues I’m passionate about.

Thanks Kim! Looking forward to reading more from you in the future!

Thank you, Jenn!

Read and excerpt of The Unbreakable Child, or contact Kim at the links below:

Excerpt, The Unbreakable Child:

"I looked at the two photographs and the bracelet I'd plunked down on the conference table. It had been decades since I'd pulled them out. These three objects were the only tangible remains of my youth. The realization punched me in the gut. One of the photos depicted me standing in front of a large, weatherworn statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Another showed my First Holy Communion day. And Mrs. Lindauer, a State social worker, gave me the prize scarab bracelet when I turned eight years old.

I picked up the bracelet and rubbed a colored bead. My hand trembled. I curled my fingers around it to stop the shake.

Over thirty years ago I'd walked out of Saint Thomas Orphan Asylum-Saint Vincent Orphanage, and on that day, I took with me only the clothes on my back and my treasured scarab bracelet, hidden in my sock.

'This is all I have from my childhood,' I said softly.

I looked away, bit hard on my lip. To demand justice meant reliving the horrors. The beatings. The starvation. The force-fed drugs meant to keep us compliant.

I was afraid to speak, because speaking brings back voice. William F. McMurray, attorney-at-law, waited, exhibited quiet compassion, interrupting only when necessary.

A forgotten childhood meant a lifetime of evasiveness with acquaintances: friends new and old, avoiding eye contact, and dancing around the subject of youth that others so freely shared.

I'd been running a long time not knowing where I was going, but I knew I had to come home. Someone had to bring me back, and destiny chose William McMurry. By the time I finished recounting, and revealing, I was drenched in sweat, sitting on a pile of memories." - Kim Michele Richardson, 2010

Contact Kim:

Official website

Blog

To purchase from Amazon

Revising: Cutting Passive Voice and other Weak Writing Crutches

2010-12-01T08:58:00.002-05:00

Something drove me crazy in revisions. Passive voice and weak writing. I’d already been through a few drafts and caught a lot of problems, but still it’d snuck in in a few places. Getting rid of passive voice really shines up the story and makes it much more alive – active, moving quickly. I’ve gotten rid of most of it now and I’ve already noticed it’s not as prevalent in the new novel I’m working on, so I guess something is sinking in, I hope! – ha!

Anyway, in an attempt to possibly help others during their revisions, I’m compiled a list from various sources that helped me pinpoint problem areas/searches to do in a later draft to look for passive words and other instances of plain old weak writing.

Enjoy!

Definition of passive voice: A verb form or voice in which the grammatical subject receives the verb's action. Contrast with active voice.

Some searches to do:

Search for all forms of “to be” verb. (are, were, been, being, be, am, is, etc.)

Change the noun to a verb. The sentence, "I am a dancer," uses the passive verb "am." Change the noun "dancer" to an active verb: “I dance." Four words became two.

Look for "by." In, "The paper was written by the girl." uses the passive verb "was." A simple change to “The girl wrote the paper.” solves the sentence structure and makes it more active.

Search for sentences or phrases beginning with "there" or "it" plus a form of the verb "to be." Instead of using the passive verb "are" in a sentence such as "There are things we can do to change her mind," say, "We can change her mind." Again, the change is clear, concise and active.

Look for "ing." Example: "I am climbing," uses the passive verb "are." A stronger and more active sentence is: "I climb." Three words became two, and it moves better, stronger, more alive.

Search for "been." I found a lot of passive phrases hiding behind it. “Your work has been reviewed.” is better as, “We have reviewed your work.”

Search for "felt," "heard," etc. These aren’t as obvious, but a few snuck into my prose. “I felt my heartbeat quicken.” can simply be, “My heartbeat quickened.” OR “I heard his voice change; he was scared.” Can be, “His voice changed; he was scared.”

Search for other problem words
Sentences like: "She began walking" should be changed to "She walked." Or, "The crowd started to part." to, "The crowd parted." I guess in this case you could search for things like began, started or any other problem words/phrases like those, that you find as recurring problems in your manuscript.

These are minor examples but hopefully this compilation will prove useful to someone else during revisions. Or, at the very least it will be a good reference for me whenever I finish the current WIP!

If you have any other advice on the topic, post in the comments and I'll add to the post. Thanks!:)

*reposted from early 2010*

How Do You Power Through First Draft Problems? (AKA My Narrative Structure is Trying to Kill Me)

2010-11-17T08:15:00.003-05:00

Recently, I feel like I’ve been a bit absent a bit from my blog (and especially from all of yours – sorry!) First reason is pain as I’m nursing some pretty awful carpal tunnel, but the second reason is one of my all-time favorites: I’ve been busy writing!

Or not.

Actually, I’ve been busy trying to write. Yes, it’s the same novel that’s been lodged in my head since I started it this summer. *inserts whiny voice* It never takes me this long to first draft.

And, as it seems with every new project, a new challenge arises. This time, it’s narrative structure. My novel’s structure isn’t completely complicated, but it’s definitely more challenging than any of the other books I’ve written. It takes place in three parts, covers three different time periods and has events that happen BEFORE and AFTER a major plot point. And all of this is interwoven from page one to the end.

And honestly? I’m stumped.

I’ve always shunned the idea of writer’s block – honestly, I don’t believe in it, if you write, words will come. But with this novel – I’m totally stuck.

Part of me knows that the only way through it is to just write it and let the rest sort itself out later on. I think I know, deep down, that's the only way it's going to fall into place for me. But my logical side (albeit, a small part of my brain), wants to figure the structure out NOW, before I do the writing, saving myself pain - and word carnage - later.

But in the meantime, I’m not getting it done, which is a lose-lose. Spending night after night contemplating isn’t nearly as fun (or productive!) as writing it, so I need to get on it.

This is new territory for me. I’ve never had a structure that wasn’t either simple or at the very least, clear to me from the start.

So what do you do when you run into this or any other problems? Do you stop and iron it out or just power through and figure it all out down the road?

Authors: Do You Ever Wonder What People Will Think of You?

2010-11-10T07:37:00.002-05:00

Ever wonder what people will think of your writing? Of course we all do, but I mean something a bit different. Not the writing itself – if you’re like me, there’s plenty of angst about that - but about your stories, your subject choice, your book.

For the most part, I write edgy, contemporary, YA fiction. It’s not terribly controversial or anything but there is plenty of gritty subject choice. Gang members, racism, sexism, drug dealers and teen pregnancy - to name just a few. I’ve always known I write edgy stuff, but never quite realized how it collides with people’s impressions of me until a few new beta readers joked about it.

But since I write contemporary, I seem to wonder if the old “write what you know” adage would ever be assumed by readers. *yikes* I hope not. It’s sort of a double standard, because if I was writing about killer vampires or two headed dragon slayers, no one would assume that was a part of my life or history.

It doesn’t really matter, anyway, just something to ponder. I think what gets me most isn’t potential readers out there in the real world, but family, friends and even people who know me in passing through my kids, neighbors, etc. I have some ultra conservative family members who I imagine reading my books and never looking at me quite the same way again. The language alone. I hang my head in shame at the thought of my use of the F bomb. Tee hee. But hey, I keep it authentic. Besides, I write for my intended audience, not to please people I know. But still, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it.

Of course, I should be working on writing said books instead of posting about potential reactions to them. Until one hits the shelves, I needent worry about any of this.

How about you – do these thoughts/fears cross your mind?

Author Interview: Elysabeth Williams, Romance Author

2010-11-07T13:11:00.006-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Elysabeth Williams, Romance author of Devil in a Red Kilt. Read below for Elysabeth’s insights on writing and publishing! If you have any comments or questions for her, leave your info in the comments and she’ll stop by later.

Before we get started with the interview, here’s a bit about Devil in a Red Kilt: Their Happily Ever After Deserved a Second Chance ... For more than twenty years, Evan and Evie MacDonald were the couple "meant to be." Their marriage now in tatters, they throw one final family Halloween party to honor Evie's recently deceased mother. But, as Evan's hand hovers over divorce papers, the ancient Celtic secrets Evie's mother always spoke of spring to life. Transported in flames to thirteenth-century Scotland, Evie and Evan land on opposite sides of the feud raging between Clans MacDonald and McLeod. Dubbed the Red Devil, Evan's skills as a leader and warrior bring him into the enemy camp-and back to Evie. Now, faced with an ancient evil they never imagined, the two must rekindle the "forever and ever" kind of love they once felt, and bargain for a bit of Fae magic to flip the hourglass right side up again-before time runs out.

Hi Elysabeth! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut novel, Devil in a Red Kilt. What was your inspiration for this novel?

Thanks for having me! I’m glad to be here! I thought of this story in bits – I’m a die-hard pantser, in which I don’t outline. I may write down things to write down later, but as for outlines, they make me feel locked in. Devil was done totally off the cuff and pulled from many places. Movies, other books I’ve read, and even World of Warcraft. (Yes, I’m a total geek.) It honestly just “happened” this way.

Evan and Evie are very heartfelt characters. They felt like people I knew and I was rooting for them all along. Authors often pull character traits from real life. How many of their attributes were inspired by yourself or someone you know?

I’d say the mother of this story was similar to my own mother. She was very outspoken and told outlandish stories that people would sometimes look at her weird for. Nothing to do with fairies, but still way-out-there stories about her past. Evie and Evan were just two people doing their daily thing. I think that’s taken from most people nowadays. Too busy to and too stressed out to cope.

I loved your setting in the book – both the present day and historical aspects. What inspired your settings?

I grew up and still live in the South. I’m always in love with the way things are in the fall here. The colors are always so rich and everybody seems to move at a slower pace down here. Scotland is kind of the same to me. I’ve only visited for a short time, but it always seemed to move at a slower pace than the rest of the world. Add the great history in both places and it really does make for a great story base.

The historical aspects of the novel felt very well researched, down to the tiny details. Has this time period always interested you? Was the research fun? Challenging?

The research was fun! I love researching how people lived, what they wore and ate, and how they interacted with each other. It was very educational. The time period has always fascinated me and of course it was the best time to find Highlanders kicking around in their kilts.:)

What was your favorite part of writing Devil in a Red Kilt?

Writing “THE END.” Honestly. It was a great ride but to be able to finish the project after a year was just so satisfying.

Most challenging?

Getting just enough dialect without annoying readers. I wanted to have the flavor of the speech, but not be overwhelming. I hope I got it right.

Devil in a Red Kilt is such a fun story – full of twists and turns, suspense and love. What type of reader are you? What are your favorite books/authors?

I love witty banter, wild accusations and a little fantasy. I love out of place history and pure historical romances. My favorite authors are hard to pin down because I love so many! There are so many wonderfully talented authors.

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I don’t think I ever officially decided to be a writer. I just wrote. Then one day I owned the title. I’m a writer. I write.

Tell us about your journey to getting published.

As per the last question. I believe that’s one of the very first steps to publication. Owning it. Then I started to do my homework on what I wanted to do. Where I wanted to see myself in 6 months, a year, etc. Then I just sat on it and wrote. Re-wrote, queried, cried, drank coffee, twittered, facebooked, and waited. And waited. And waited.

What is the best part of the publishing process?

What’s commonly known as, “The Call,” most definitely. The offer of a contract is just so much validation in one tiny email or package. “Yes your story doesn’t suck monkey butt, we’d like to see it on paper or in ebook.”

The worst?

The Waiting. Everything moves at a snail’s pace and you have to build patience or else you’ll go crazy. I would rather get a quick rejection just to know that someone looked at it than wait forever. The longest time I waited for a response was 18 months – for Devil in a Red Kilt, actually! I received the rejection three weeks after it hit shelves. Woops.

Can you give us a hint of what you’re working on now? What can we expect to read from you next?

I’m working on another Victorian Steampunk Romance that will tie in with The Electrifying Exploits of the English Three, which releases with Lyrical Press in January of 2011! It’s not necessarily a sequel, but in the same ‘world’ so to speak. I can’t wait to share more!

Thanks Elysabeth! Looking forward to reading more from you in the future!

Writers, Stop Being Mean to Each Other!

2010-11-05T07:44:00.007-04:00

For the most part, writers make up one of the strongest, most supportive communities out there. I can’t speak for everyone, but I personally could not survive without my online writing buddies and groups. We lean on each other, we commiserate, we teach and we learn. We lend a hand, and ear and a critical eye.

But that’s not what this post is about. It’s about something else I’ve been noticing. A lot.

In the past few months, I’ve been witness to a few cyber discussions that have saddened me. Between that, and some of the NaNo drama this week, I’m disappointed in a lot of writers.

This is about writers picking on writers. There are a variety of things I’ve seen under recent attack. First, newbies. In the now-infamous NaNo bashing posts, along with a few other bashing discussions I’ve seen around the internet, I see a constant referral to people who aren’t “real” writers or who “want to try to write.”

It’s rude.

It’s not nice.

And pssst… news flash… we were all, at one time, writing for the first time.

Whether it was a short story in middle school, a dissertation in grad school, or yeah, a crappy first novel written during NaNo or any other time, all of us, at some point, were new. We were “wanna be” writers, writers just trying it out, getting our feet wet and learning. Giving it a shot. And sure, maybe there are a ton more people trying it out during times like NaNo, but you know what? They could be honing awesome skills they’ll use in the future. This could be the month they finally tackle their dream and adopt a writing lifestyle. And who is anyone to say who can or can’t write? Or who may or may not develop their skills into something incredible? Remember, we’ve all been there.

Repeat: We’ve all been there.

I don’t care if you’ve published fifty books or none, you don’t have a right to put other people down. Having an agent doesn’t make you better than an unagented writer, nor does being published give you a right to be mean. What genre you write or age group you write for doesn’t either (this needs to be a post of its own, eventually).

No matter where you are – writing your first word, ten novels into your career, agented, non-agented, published, querying, submitting, bestselling author, you name it – it’s just the stage of the game you’re in. It doesn’t make you better or worse. It doesn't mean you're more or less serious about your craft than the next writer. And it doesn’t make you more or less worthy of being a part of the writing community.

Stop the judgment. It’s unfair. And it’s mean. And sometimes, it crushes the spirits of people trying their hardest to break into an already challenging arena.

Just be nice.

One of the most amazing things about writers is that we get better and better with time and practice. We learn as we go. So even if someone is “new,” “green,” “ rough around the edges,” “clueless,” “idiot newbie” – all things I’ve heard recently, btw – so what? Who hasn’t been in those shoes? Instead of pointing fingers and putting people down, we should stop snubbing our noses at them and remember that most of us were at some point - and some of us very recently - filling those same green newbie shoes.

So hold out your hand and help them across the unknown waters. Show them the very way that someone showed YOU (because if you’re anything like me, you’ve had tons of help from writers more seasoned than yourself along the way).

Who knows, they may be beside you on the best seller list someday.

Or they may be there first.

Who’s Doing NaNo?

2010-10-27T07:57:00.001-04:00

I’m on the fence

I am officially signed up for NaNo but am unsure if I’m going to go through with it. I’m basically trying to use it to jump start the novel I need to get written, but I’m feeling so ambivilant about the whole thing. When I’m in serious first draft mode, I write about NaNo speed anyway, but I’m not sure I’ll be in that mode by next week. We shall see.

How about you? Are you NaNo-ing?

Don’t Assume Your Reader Isn’t Literally Taking You Literally

2010-10-25T01:00:00.000-04:00

Last week, I was reading a book to my 4.5 year old about a kid who writes a letter and mails it to his grandma. After finishing the book, my son became obsessed by and excited with the idea of writing his Grammy a letter and mailing it to her. He talked about it all day, planning how he’d write the letter, put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it, and take it to the post office. After much waiting and anticipation, after dinner, we finally sat down to write the letter. I held the pen, poised above the paper, ready for his dictation of said letter. He looked at me, wide eyed and excited and said, “W.”

Me: ?

Him: “That’s the letter I want to send her. W.”

Me, trying not to laugh, “No, not a letter of the alphabet, a letter is like a note, etc.”

So after I finally transcribed the “note” and sealed it up and tucked son into bed, I started thinking about how, as writers, we often take for granted that our readers will understand us and not take things literally.

Obviously, I’m not suggesting to spell everything out, as most of our readers will be less literal than a four year old (hopefully, anyway). It’s a fine line as over-explaining in fiction is one of the most annoying things, even if for the sake of clarity.

But sometimes, as writers, we use slang or colloquialisms that, if taken literally, may say something different than we mean. The key is choosing when the literal meaning matters, when it’s a matter of voice and will work itself out for the reader, and when you should change the words to appeal to more readers/keep from driving readers in the completely wrong direction. I have one beta reader who has found a few instances in my novels and it always makes me laugh when I’ve written something that’s obvious to me but unknown to someone else. It really is an eye opener to what readers may think.

In my (admittedly limited) experience, I think it can happen in a few different ways.

One is when it’s a matter of voice. In that case, I’d probably always choose to leave it alone. Example: In one of my novels, my MC speaks in a lot of slang. I think his voice takes some getting used to, but it’s invariably him and changing his voice/language/slang or explaining what any of it means would not only slow the story down, but lessen him in many ways too. A few examples of slang used, that one of my betas flagged with a “huh?” on first read:

“I've got mad mouths to feed.” In this case, mad means many, but my reader was all, “Huh, are they angry mouths? WTF does this mean, exactly?”

Or when the mc meets the love interest. He can’t get enough of her. At one point he refers to her:

“Crazy beautiful eyes.” In this case, crazy means good - kinda like bad meant good in the 80s - but my reader was all, “WTF, why is he hitting on some girl who looks insane/crazy?”

"The music is sick in here." Sick means awesome, good. Not ill.

In my opinion, these kinds of discrepancies are fine. Even though it may raise a few brows or confusion, because it’s not really misleading and not too important, I left them in. My feeling is, it’s just his voice and by a few chapters in, the reader will get him and how he speaks. They'll be part of his world.

Another time, however, the terminology may have been a bit too misleading. The following scene takes place after a poker game turns violent and abruptly ends. The line read:

“Cards still spread face down, the various seats pushed out by the guys that left before the real action started, the kitty still piled in the middle of the table.

By kitty, I was referring to the pot, the pile of money, the, well, the kitty. But one of my readers commented with smiles and laughter, having never heard the term before. I had to laugh at the vision of the poker game gone wrong and a big old fat cat sitting on the table. My assumption that the term was known was something I definitely should not have taken for granted. In these types of cases, I would most likely choose to change it. Something misleading like that could probably pull the reader too far out of the scene.

I’m sure there are millions of other situations where misinterpretations happen. What do you think? Do you always think about your slang and terminology and assume the reader will know what you know? Do you simplify for their sake? I think, going forward, I’ll be a bit more conscious of my assumptions. Unless, of course, it’s for the sake of voice. My usual rule will always apply for that – voice trumps all.

What do you guys think?

Feed the Writer Friday: Everyone Loves a Happy Ending!

2010-10-22T07:54:00.007-04:00

After a near-week blog hiatus due to illness, I’m back with an oh-so-sweet recipe for Feed the Writer Friday. It’s yet another dessert, but we’re writers, we love chocolate. And who doesn’t love a happy ending, anyway?

Enjoy!

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (10.5-oz.) bag miniature marshmallows

Preparation
1. Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet.
2. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted.
3. Microwave 1 cup butter and semisweet chocolate in a large microwave-safe glass bowl at HIGH 1 minute or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.
4. Whisk sugar and next 5 ingredients into chocolate mixture. Spoon batter evenly into 24 paper-lined muffin cups.
5. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until puffed. Sprinkle evenly with 2 cups miniature marshmallows, and bake 5 more minutes or until golden. Remove from oven, and cool cupcakes in muffin pans 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans, and place on wire rack. Drizzle warm cakes evenly with 1 1/4 cups Chocolate Frosting (recipe below), and sprinkle with toasted pecans. Reserve remaining 3/4 cup frosting for another use.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa1/3 cup milk1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
1. Stir together first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until slightly thickened; remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

Show vs. Tell Part II: Small Ways to Show, and When to Tell

2010-10-13T08:15:00.015-04:00

After Monday’s post, Part I of Show vs. Tell, I received a handful of comments and emails insisting, doesn’t Tell also have a place? You can’t possibly always show, right?

I totally agree.

And honestly, perhaps I was too hard on Telling. Telling has feelings too.

Because this is such an important, ongoing conversation, I want to clarify a few things about Showing before I talk about the merits of Telling. Apologies in advance for rambling and tons of examples.:)

First and foremost, while my last post gave examples and focused on how important Showing was, I forgot to stress the most important thing.

Showing isn’t always the answer. It is the preferred solution, yes, but only when it has a purpose.

Like when developing important characters, world building or moving the plot forward. Those are the times you can hold the delete key down on the telling and pump up the showing. But no, there is certainly no need to show every nuance, thought, action, character, setting and idea in your novel in show-worthy detail.

It’s only for the stuff that truly matters to the central story, plot and characters that we need to see and feel and be a part of it. For the rest, a bit of telling is okay. *more on that below.*

Secondly, Showing doesn’t always mean saying more.

My last post covered many ways of showing that flesh out a scene, make it longer, and add tons of story in order to show, but that isn't the only way it can work. Sure there is a huge place in our stories for that type of showing, but it isn't the only way.

This seems to be a big misconception I see and hear all over the place. Showing over telling does not mean you are going to end up with a 200,000 word novel. On the contrary, sometimes it just means saying it in a different way, or by omitting or rearranging.

I gave some big examples in the last post that may have scared readers into thinking every three line paragraph had to become an illustrative pages-long scene. No, no, no. Not the case at all. Sometimes showing is much simpler than that.

For example, in dialogue.

Before:

“Why can’t you just drop it?” She said angrily. (telling)

After:

“Why can’t you just drop it?” She slammed her notebook on the table. (showing)

“Why can’t you just drop it?” She scowled. (showing)

“Why can’t you just drop it?” She huffed. (showing)

How simple it is to show the girl being angry rather than saying “said angrily.” (besides which, “said angrily” is just so ugly.) *Also, disclaimer, although the above dialogue tags show better than tell, those types of tags should be used in moderation. A manuscript full of any type of dialogue tags, showing or not, will drive any reader crazy*

Saying it another way

Sometimes just changing the words used shows instead of tells.

Before:

They came down the stairs wearing their angriest expressions, the ones tinged with emotion. (telling)

After:

When she came downstairs, Mom’s face was red, her cheeks tear-stained. Dad stomped behind her, obviously in the same foul mood. (showing)

Omitting

Such as striking big blocks of backstory. Small example below:

I was so upset about breaking up with Frank, I knew I had to talk to my brother. Eric was two years older than me but we were super close. I always told him everything and he’d always done so much for me. He stood up for me when I got picked on at school and he always sided with me when I had fights with mom and dad. He was mom’s favorite and he always got her to give in when I wanted to do something I wasn’t normally allowed to, like go to the movies with my friends. When Grandpa died, it was Eric that held me while I cried.

Okay, that’s obviously long, boring and full of info the reader doesn’t need. It may be good info for the writer to have for character profiles, etc., but it’s the kind of backstory that clogs up a draft. I’d kill the whole thing. Some of the memories/examples are good, so one or two can be worked in at a later time if needed. For now, say it was changed to something like:

I walked into Eric’s room without knocking. He was hunched over his desk doing homework.

“Got a minute?” My voice still trembled with the hurt of Frank dumping me.

“For you? Of course.” Eric smiled and patted the chair next to his. I felt a million times better, like always with my big brother.

See, it's no longer than the original, but keeps the reader engaged and in the moment, rather than the laundry list with no action.

Sometimes, if you just tell the story, slow down and show what’s happening, it will be organic, natural. Let it just… happen, in a realistic way. People don’t walk around thinking about things like that paragraph above. If you’re close to your brother, you interact with him and feel good, you don’t walk around thinking of all the reasons you love him and everything he's ever done for you.

Rearranging/Omitting

In my last post, I used the example of the boy and girl in class. Apologies for using it again in this post, but to illustrate the point of rearranging, it works.

This first paragraph was omitted:

While waiting for Spanish to start, I turned to Dana. She looked good, sitting there in her black jeans and tee shirt and I thought about that first day we’d hooked up last winter. Six months later, our relationship was still going strong.

The rearranged version:

I shrugged. “You know, I don’t know why she’s agreed to let Leon take the majority of the year book pictures. He’s not even good.”

Dana rolled her eyes. “He is good. And you know it.”
“Give me a break, D.” I shook my head and held back what I really wanted to say.

She raised her eyebrows. “Jealous much?”

“Jealous? Are you even serious? Of that loser?”

“Sounds like jealousy to me.” With that flip of her hair and the sarcastic lilt in her voice, I could have screamed.

“Besides,” she whispered with a sly smile. “You take good pictures, too.”

I laughed louder than I meant to, remembering that winter day in Central Park, how it had started with photos of snowy landmarks and ended with us kissing in Strawberry Fields, the snow practically melting around us. Things hadn’t cooled off much between us since.

Through omitting the first paragraph, and rearranging, by moving his memory of the first kiss to the end of the conversation and giving it a bit more detail, it showed more of what was happening between them. Letting the reader see them interact and react to the memory carries more weight than just being told about the memory upfront in the omitted paragraph.

Those small examples are ways that show how you can use small changes in a big way to Show rather than Tell. Dialogue, omitting, rearranging and simply saying it another way can all work to the story’s advantage without adding tons of words.

Maybe if it was called Show, don’t Explain, it would be easier to understand. Over explaining seems an easier concept than telling, no?

But okay, this was supposed to be a post in Defense of Telling and I’ve spent all this time talking about showing (again).

Anyway, here we go, when Telling is the way to go.

Telling is okay!

The caveat here is that, like showing – and anything else in writing – there are a million possibilities that can and will work. I am merely outlining a very few that come to mind to illustrate the point.

When characters aren’t important.

Telling is fine when you are referring to or mentioning a character that doesn’t play into the central story of plot. Minor characters don’t need development. If they’re going to show up often and/or matter to the mc and plot, we need to see them at least somewhat in action. But for throwaway characters, etc., why not tell?

Example:

Justin leaned against the cafeteria doorway, talking to Tina. I swallowed around my turkey sandwich, which had lodged itself in my throat. Tina was the known class slut, and she was mean to all the girls in our grade. She had no friends, except those she’d slept with. My boyfriend, ex or not, had no place talking to her.

Did I do a whole lot of telling about Tina? Sure. Does it matter? No. She’s unimportant. I don’t need to see her sleeping around and being mean. Sometimes, it’s best to leave well enough alone.

Passage of time

This is a big one where telling is more than okay. No one wants to know every second of every day. If the guy and girl have an important conversation before school, and she’s waiting to finish it during lunch, the reader does not need the rest of the morning spelled out.

Something telling like:

My morning classes flew and I didn’t register a thing my teachers said.

I was so distracted all morning. Every class was a blur. My friends looked at me funny and my teachers seemed unhappy, but I couldn’t pay attention. I couldn’t wait for lunch.

These things are telling, but it’s okay, it’s fine. I don’t need to go through each class and see her zoned out and ignoring people. Who cares? Telling is fine.

Bigger passages of time/recap of events/time passed

It’s always awkward to write those in between scenes that cover a lot of ground, time-wise, but telling usually does the trick nicely.

Example:

By the time Friday rolled around, I was a wreck. I’d gotten through the entire week without anyone else finding out about me and Trent or the pregnancy. In the week that had passed since we decided to have the baby, the idea had started to settle into me, burrowing in somewhere, making itself at home. I still felt sick when I smelled anything other than bread or popcorn, but I hadn’t thrown up since that one time in Nadine’s car. Thank God.

Trent had hardly spoken to me, our group work and presentation in English the only time we were physically close enough to give me hope, or at least the satisfaction of having my sleeve brush up against his. I hadn’t contacted him once though. I was giving him his space, but it was hard. I wondered how long he would take to come around, and I ignored the part of me that said it might never happen.

I do a lot of telling here. A whole lot. I cover a week’s time, I talk about how the MC has accepted her pregnancy, how she feels, how she and love interest don’t talk. I even recap/gloss over their class together and the little contact they have. But it works, partly because spelling those things out would slow the story down and not add anything additional in terms of character development or moving the plot forward.

Memories

This one can go either way. I’ve read many novels lately where authors are amazingly deft at working in memories to build great characters and emotions through them. It can be a really successful tool to bring in the past and show the reader a lot. That said, I think a bit of telling in memories can be okay too. To use the same example from my first post (yes, the same one I reused above, I know, you’re sick of it by now), some telling is okay.

When their conversation ends with this:

I laughed louder than I meant to, remembering that winter day in Central Park, how it had started with photos of snowy landmarks and ended with us kissing in Strawberry Fields, the snow practically melting around us. Things hadn’t cooled off much between us since.

When he has the memory that tells about their relationship, it does just that – it tells. And that’s okay. Their reaction to the memory showed enough about them, that spelling it out wouldn’t have done any more for their development or the plot. Actually, it would have most likely slowed the scene down considerably considering it was a just a momentary memory.

Wrapping it up, finally!

Bottom line: There are times telling works and times it doesn’t. I know, I know, that’s not exactly helpful advice, but as with everything in this business, it is so subjective and so individualized on a case by case basis. It truly is one of those, "you know it when you see it" things, which I know is so damn aggravating, but true, nonetheless!

It’s one more reason how practice makes perfect. Writing, critiquing and reading trump everything when it comes to understanding these concepts. Beta reading/critiquing is probably the single most effective way I’ve been able to identify my own weaknesses. Having others point them out, of course, shows me, but reading others’ work with a critical eye has also trained me how to read my own manuscripts critically.

And writing. Write, write, write, a million times write. It will only get easier and you will only get better. Only through practice can we grasp the idea of what can stay and what can go, where it’s okay to tell and where you need to show. It’s a never-ending lesson that we’re all undertaking, but hopefully, someday, we’ll graduate with some type of knowledge and understanding.

*If anyone has anything to add, circumstances I’m missing, further examples, etc., please post in the comments and I’ll add to the post. Thanks.:)

Link to Part I of the Show vs. Tell discussion.

The Great Unsaid (A Study of Show vs. Tell)

2010-10-10T20:52:00.035-04:00

*All examples in this post are my own and purely made up for the sake of the blog.*

Link to Part II of the Show vs. Tell Discussion

Everyone’s heard the old adage: Actions speak louder than words. But we’re writers, and words are what we’ve got. So the key is to make those words count and act.

Show vs. Tell.

Sigh.

*insert collective groans of frustration from writers around the world*

Agents complain about it, beta readers point it out, industry blogs cite is as one of the single, biggest problems with new writer submissions. But damn, can it be a hard concept to grasp. It’s not quite as mystifying as the answers of the universe, but doesn’t it often feel that way? I remember after writing my first novel, a beta reader pointing out that it was too much tell and not enough show in a particular chapter, at which point I stared blankly at the document and thought, “Huh? Where?”

The aim of Showing, one of the Ultimate Important Things in good writing, is to bring the reader along with the characters, to take them through the story, make them feel, see, and experience what the characters are experiencing, to feel like they are right in the middle of the action and a part of the story, watching it all unfold and happen. How else can a reader connect with characters? How else can characters become real to the reader?

But enough of my babble. Let’s get to the good stuff.

The Great Unsaid

“The Great Unsaid” is the way I like to think about Show vs. Tell. The Great Unsaid is more than just not telling. And it’s more than just showing.

It’s taking the roof off your characters’ world and dropping the reader into the middle of it, without a clue of what’s going on.

It’s making the reader look around, listen, watch and figure out what the story is. It’s much more interesting that way. What creates more tension or keeps the pages turning than a reader trying to figure out what’s happening?

It's through what's not said that the reader learns all they need to know.

This applies in great measure to novel openings. Nothing is better than being dropped right in the middle of the scene and having to race to catch up to the characters. No need for lots of telling in the form of backstory, too much information, or just plain boring details (Many of which are on my own list of first draft grievances).

Anyway… You be the judge with the following examples, which show how The Great Unsaid is effective. I’ll start with a teeny, minor example, and work my way up.:

In the following scene, a guy and girl are waiting for class to start. They are in a discussion about their after school yearbook meeting. This is told from the guy’s POV. For argument’s sake, this is the first time the reader is meeting these characters.

I shrugged. “You know, I don’t know why she’s agreed to let Leon take the majority of the year book pictures. He’s not even good.”

Dana rolled her eyes. “He is good. And you know it.”

“Give me a break, D.” I shook my head and held back what I really wanted to say.

She raised her eyebrows. “Jealous much?”

“Jealous? Are you even serious? Of that loser?”

“Sounds like jealousy to me.” With that flip of her hair and the sarcastic lilt in her voice, I could have screamed.

“Besides,” she whispered with a sly smile. “You take good pictures, too.”

I laughed louder than I meant to, remembering that winter day in Central Park, how it had started with photos of snowy landmarks and ended with us kissing in Strawberry Fields, the snow practically melting around us. Things hadn’t cooled off much between us since.

See, a scene like this grabs me more as a reader because when it starts I have no idea these two ever even hooked up. I think they are just a guy and a girl who work on yearbook together and are having an argument. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure they get along, which makes the reveal of their relationship that much more of a punch. There is no sexual tension, no clue to their history until she makes a flirty comment and he has the memory. Isn’t this much more effective than giving the info before the scene? Let’s say before their conversation I had said something like:

While waiting for Spanish to start, I turned to Dana. She looked good, sitting there in her black jeans and tee shirt and I thought about that first day we’d hooked up last winter. Six months later, our relationship was still going strong.

If I launched into the conversation at that point, wouldn’t it be more blah, knowing exactly where the characters stood with each other? Isn’t it more fun to try and figure out where it’s going and learn something new about the characters? Doesn’t the NOT saying it upfront make it more powerful when it is revealed?

Another example of show vs. tell via The Great Unsaid:

Told from the POV of a girl on her way to school:

Glancing at the clock on my dashboard, I pulled into the same spot I always parked in. I realized I had to hurry. I was meeting my boyfriend before homeroom, like I had every morning for the past year. He didn’t like when I was late and we’d had one too many fights over it already. I hated disappointing him.

I took the turn into the parking lot faster than I should have. With barely a glance at myself in the mirror, I hopped out of the car and hurried across the parking lot. A chill cut through the air, but I was sweating.

Josh waited at my locker, his jaw clenched. “You’re late.”

“Sorry, babe.” I stretched on my toes to kiss him but he turned away.

“Seriously, can’t you ever be on time?” When he crossed his arms over his chest, I felt something tighten in mine.

“I said I was sorry.” My voice was barely a whisper.

The first example is not only straight up boring, but it tells us too much off the bat. It tells everything, actually, and doesn't show a thing. In the second example, we read along to find out where she is going and what’s going on. Watching her rush from her car makes me ask, what’s the rush, where is she going, why is she in a hurry? It makes me want to know what happens next. I don’t need her to tell us this guy is her boyfriend. By showing her kissing him, I see they are in some type of relationship. I don’t need her to tell how she hates disappointing him, I can feel it in the tightening of her chest, in her barely whispered response. I don’t need to be told how angry he gets, I can see it in his clenched jaw, in the turning of his head, his crossed arms.

An example of a little more traditional show vs. tell is below. This is a typical case of where a tell-y scene can sneak into a story and how it can be fleshed out for more character development and action.

This scene is from the point of view of a guy observing Jeffrey, his best friend, making conversation with a couple from their high school that they don’t know during a basketball game.

She leaned over, shook Jeffrey’s hand. “I’m Teresa, this is my boyfriend Phil.” Phil nodded another hello, looking Jeffrey up and down.

Jeffrey stuck out his hand with a big smile. “What’s up, man?”

Phil smiled. “Hey. How’s it going?” He nodded to the court and said something about our team I didn’t quite hear, his posture relaxed. Jeffrey nodded and grinned.

The conversation rolled into something about the game and the team we were playing. Phil glanced over Jeffrey’s shoulder a few times, toward a group of girls huddled by the gym’s back doors. Teresa didn’t seem to notice, or didn’t care if she did. I tried to follow the conversation, but I was lost.

She leaned over, shook Jeffrey’s hand. “I’m Teresa, this is my boyfriend Phil.” Phil nodded another hello, looking Jeffrey up and down.

Jeffrey stuck out his hand with a big smile. “What’s up, man?”

Phil smiled. “Hey. How’s it going?” He nodded to the court and said something about our team I didn’t quite hear, his posture relaxed. Jeffrey nodded and grinned.

“So what’s up with these clowns?” Jeffrey chin nodded to the visiting team.

Phil snorted. “They don’t have a prayer. They’ve only won one game the whole season and it was against Southtown.

Jeffrey grimaced and laughed. “Southtown? I didn’t even know they were allowed to play anymore. After awhile it just gets embarrassing for a team like that, you know?”

I stared at him, amazed. How did he know about this shit? And who was Southtown?

“Yeah, right?” Phil laughed too, looking over Jeffrey’s shoulder. I followed his glance to a group of freshman girls. He stared for a long moment, his eyes roaming the whole group of them, almost drinking their bodies in with his eyes. Teresa, still hanging on his arm, didn’t seem to notice.

“We’re only up by ten though.” Jeffrey looked up at the scoreboard. “You’d think if they were that bad, we’d be killing.”

Phil nodded, and as much as I tried to follow along, I was lost.

Again, not much commentary needed. Same as the other examples. Don’t we learn more about the two guys’ personalities by seeing their conversation rather than the first example that just tells the reader they had a conversation? And don’t we get a creeptastic impression of Phil as he’s ogling the freshman girls? And a clue about the girlfriend who doesn't notice or care? And something about the MC too, in his reactions to what he sees and hears?

Even if it is just a boring conversation about a basketball game, glossing over it, as I did in the first example, makes the reader feel rushed and like they’re missing something. It pulls them right out of the story and makes those characters feel flat and unreal.

Show vs. Tell, The Great Unsaid, whatever you want to call it, is nearly impossible to put your finger on, yet one of the simplest things in the world. It’s difficult to learn, but once you get it, you get it, and it becomes part of your "writing toolbox," to borrow a term from Stephen King.

The bad thing is, getting it seems to only come through tons of practice. The more we write and the more we read, the better we get at showing vs. telling, but I do think it’s something all writers probably struggle with throughout their careers, especially in first drafts when we are trying to just get the story out. I’ve written a handful of novels and even though I feel I’m able to see it easier than I used to, it still sneaks in all over my drafts. I’m sure it always will.

Link to Part II of the Show vs. Tell Discussion

Author Interview: Dee Garretson, Middle Grade Author

2010-10-04T07:00:00.005-04:00

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Dee Garretson, Middle Grade author of Wildfire Run. Read below for Dee’s insights on writing and publishing! Also, Dee was kind enough to offer a free giveaway of Wildfire run, so if you’d like to enter, or if you have any comments or questions for her, leave your info in the comments and she’ll stop by later. Thanks, Dee!

Before we get started with the interview, here’s a bit about Wildfire Run: The president's retreat, Camp David, is one of the safest places in the United States. So why can't the President's son, Luke, and his friends Theo and Callie stay there without Secret Service agents constantly hovering over them, watching their every move? And yet, when an earthquake sets off a raging wildfire, causing a chain reaction that wreaks havoc at Camp David, they are suddenly on their own.

Now Luke needs a plan:

• To override the security systems

• To save those who were supposed to save him

• To get through an impassable gate

• To escape Camp David

Hi Dee! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut novel, Wildfire Run. What was your inspiration for this novel?

Way back when Jimmie Carter was president, I remember hearing all the criticism of his daughter, Amy, for reading a book during a state dinner. All I could think of at the time was that would have been me. It made me aware of the strange lives presidential children lead. I didn’t think much about it again until the presidential primary races in 2008. There were several candidates with younger children or grandchildren, and it led me to again wonder what life would be like for children in that situation.

Luke and his friends are pretty cool characters. Authors often pull character traits from themselves or someone they know. How many of Luke, Theo or Callie’s attributes were inspired by your own family?

Luke’s inventiveness is pulled directly from my father. I had a fascinating but odd childhood, because my father was an inventor with his own small company. It was his hobby as well, so we were always using things he made. We used to canoe down rivers for fun, and he didn’t like the fact that once we were done canoeing, going back to get our car was a real problem. His solution was to cut a canoe in half, weld a panel on the cut part of the half to make it waterproof, then tow it behind us with a very small motorcycle in it, so he could ride the motorcycle back to the car. The motorcycle was very tiny. It looked like it belonged in a circus and my father wasn’t a small man. You can get the picture. Anyway, it was easy to write Luke’s quirkiness using my father as inspiration.

Other than that, all the characters are melded from non-family people I’ve observed over time. As one of the moms who are always chauffeuring kids and friends, I’ve listened in on many conversations and that’s been a great help.

I know Wildfire Run is the first of a series. Can you give us at least a little hint about the sequel? What can we expect more of? Less?

Wildfire Run is part of a non-traditional series. The second book, Wolf Storm, is an outdoor adventure as well, but it has different characters in it. It’s about kid actors on location filming a blockbuster sci fi movie. They get trapped in a blizzard and have to figure out how to survive all the things I throw at them. It was great fun to write. I’m a big movie fan, so I watched quite a few behind-the-scenes DVDs about popular movies, to get an accurate feel for the setting and the characters. That book will be released 09/01/2011.

Camp David is such a fun setting for a middle grade book. I’m sure most Americans have at one time or another wondered about the Presidential Retreat. Your setting felt very real to me. How much of it was learned through research versus how much is purely fictional?

Researching Camp David and the Secret Service was extremely difficult because I wanted an accurate feel to the book, yet for security reasons there is not much factual information available, particularly since 9/11. I read every nonfiction book I could find that had mentions of the place and of the Secret Service. I purposely stayed away from any fiction, because I didn’t want to be influenced by other writers’ imaginations. The rest of it just came from me thinking about what would make sense in a place like that, and then I let my imagination really go on the defense weapons. Interestingly, the part about the pool being built over the old bomb shelter is true, according to one of the nonfiction books I read. Richard Nixon really wanted the pool in a particular site, and it cost quite a bit of money to reinforce the roof of the old bomb shelter so the weight of the water wouldn’t collapse it.

Are there any particular themes you write to/readers you want to reach?

Basically, I wanted this to be a very fun book for readers. I did use aspects of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to map out how the plot would progress, because I knew that would strengthen Luke’s character arc. All of that is cleverly hidden, I hope, within the story, so that when kids are actually reading the book, the themes are there without kids feeling like they are being taught a lesson.

What was your favorite part of writing Wildfire Run?

The best part of writing it was the research, and you can probably see why from my answer above. I also liked figuring out how the kids would interact with each other, and trying to get the dialogue to sound like kidspeak.

Most challenging?

The most challenging was trying to find the right balance between action and character development. Writing this type of middle grade book was an exercise in seeing just how lean I could go in my writing. It’s supposed to be a real page turner, so I couldn’t let the action slow down much.

Luke and Theo love to get techy with their robotics. What are some of your favorite hobbies?

My hobbies right now mostly involve things I can do with my family. I’m very conscious of time passing, and of my children growing up, so I want to take advantage of spending as much time with them as possible. We like to see movies, work on art and craft projects, cook together, things like that. We also love to travel. For myself, I love to read, of course, and so that’s what I do when I need some escape time.

Wildfire Run is a great adventure story for middle grade readers. It’s so much fun to read and figure out! What type of young reader were you? What were your favorite books/authors?

I read anything adventure, history or mystery-oriented. I loved books like Little House on the Prairie, Nancy Drew, and A Wrinkle in Time. I also loved animal stories, but only if no animals died. I didn’t like sad books, and I still don’t. I don’t want to cry when I read something. When I got older, I was very into science fiction and fantasy. I loved the Lord of the Rings, and Dune, particularly.

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I wrote as a child and as a teenager, but then I made the mistake of giving it up after I got discouraged by the criticism from a college English teacher. Now looking back on it, I understand he was just doing his job, but I was ridiculously oversensitive. I started writing again when my now fifteen year old son was a baby. Since then, I wrote sporadically over the years, even stopped for a couple of years when we adopted our daughter from China, and then really started again when she started kindergarten. I’m always amazed at writers who manage to get anything written with toddlers. My brain is too fried by the end of a day of keeping up with a toddler, that it turns to mush.

Tell us about your journey to getting an agent.

I tried for several years to get an agent for a historical mystery I had written and rewritten. I had a great query, but I couldn’t get much interest at all, and I think it was because at the time, the cozy mystery market had really dropped off. It’s coming back now, but I heard an agent speak at a conference then who said even her current clients were struggling to find new types of books to write, because she couldn’t sell their mysteries.

I almost gave up, and then my son starting begging me to read some of his middle grade books. He loved books by Anthony Horowitz and Eoin Colfer. I read several, and thought, why not? There was no harm in trying. I also went to an extensive writer’s workshop that really stressed picking a concept to make an agent take notice. The overriding message was ‘Don’t be too quiet.’ I wrote the book, then called Escape from Camp David, and sent out two trial queries. I had one request for a full, but that agent rejected the book because he said it was too improbable. I tweaked the manuscript a bit, sent out four more queries and got two more requests for fulls. After all the years I struggled, that was an amazing feeling. One of those led to me signing with an agent.

And how about finding your publisher?

My agent has a strategy of only submitting to only a few publishers at a time, so if there is something in the manuscript that needs to be fixed, you don’t burn through all your possibilities without the opportunity for revising. We were lucky enough to get a revise and resubmit offer from one of the first three she submitted to. One other turned us down, and the remaining one offered a revise and resubmit after we already had a firm offer from the original R&R. There’s no way I was going to turn down a sure thing, so that’s how the book ended up with HarperCollins.

What is the best part of the publishing process?

Finally seeing the book on the shelf in a bookstore. I know that’s kind of a lame, boring thing to say, but it’s true.

The worst?

The worst part is the lack of control writers have over most elements in the process, from the title to the cover to the marketing. Suddenly, your work is in the hands of other people, who may have a completely different vision for it than you do.

Thanks Dee! Looking forward to reading more exciting middle grade adventures from you in the future!

Make sure to check out the trailer for Wildfire Run!

Speak Loudly

2010-09-27T07:00:00.013-04:00

So in light of Book Banning Week, as well as all the recent controversy, I decided to read Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak last week. It’s been on my TBR shelf anyway, so it was just a matter of moving it up in the queue.

After reading it, I’m confused.

It’s a fantastic book. It’s an important book. I understand why it won a host of awards and why it was a bestseller. I understand why it was considered an “instant classic” when it was first published 10 years ago. I understand why so many teens have been touched by it. I understand why some schools choose to teach it and why it needs to be read.

What I don’t understand is why it was ever brought into a conversation about banning.

Color me stupid, but I just don’t get it.

In general, I’m not quite sure I understand book banning. When I hear some of the music on the radio and see certain video games that are out there, I can’t imagine why a book, especially a book like this, is what comes under fire and is considered harmful.

I knew the premise of the book before reading it, of course, but when I read the extremist opinion, calling the book “soft porn,” and “not what our teens should be reading,” or whatever such garbage the guy was spouting, I expected something totally different.

I read the entire book in a night or two. I was so engrossed in Melinda and her story that I didn’t really think about the banning issue until I’d read the last page and digested the story a bit. Then, I had to wonder what the problem was. Soft porn? Forget for a minute that referring to rape as soft porn is a bit sick and twisted in its own right. Referring to anything in Speak with those words is simply not true. There is not a single explicit scene in the book and although she goes over the memory of the rape in a few various instances, never once is it described in detail. Never once is a sexual act or body part named. Never once is something pornographic said.

So with that part of his argument disarmed, why else would it be banned? Simply because it deals and refers to an issue like rape? Because it addresses a teen who feels hopeless and helpless and shows her journey to survive? Because it teaches teens that they too can overcome something awful in their lives and take control of themselves against all odds? Because it shows truth and real life and a real teen dealing with a real problem?

Banning? I just don’t get it. *scratches head*

Because really, isn’t that the exact opposite of what Melinda Sordino needs? Isn’t being silenced the very thing that could have destroyed her, that almost did destroy her? Not to mention any teen readers who find answers, comfort or familiarity in the pages of this book?

Wouldn’t a ban on this book be silencing them too?

Feed the Writer Friday: Apple Sangria

2010-09-24T07:34:00.004-04:00

Image courtesy of Cooking Light

Even though it feels a bit like summer out there this week, here’s another recipe for those cool fall days. Apple Sangria - Yummy!

But what’s the tie in to writing, you ask? Well, it’s got booze, doesn’t it? What goes together better than writers and booze? Why, nothing, that’s what.

Apple Sangria (from Cooking Light)

Sugary-sweet Honeycrisp apples balance the spiced wine in this festive drink. Pink Lady or Ambrosia apples—which are slow to oxidize—would make good substitutes.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups chopped Honeycrisp apple (about 2 pounds)
1/2 cup apple schnapps
1/4 cup honey
4 whole cloves
2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
2 (1/4-inch) slices peeled fresh ginger
1 large navel orange, quartered
1 (750-milliliter) bottle fruity red wine (such as Beaujolais)
1/4 cup club soda, chilled, divided
4 thin horizontal slices cored Honeycrisp apple

Directions
1. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well. Refrigerate 4 hours or until thoroughly chilled.

2. Strain wine mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Pour about 2/3 cup sangria over ice in each of 4 glasses; top each serving with 1 tablespoon club soda and 1 apple slice.

Yield: 4 servings

Feed the Writer Friday: A Sidekick With Personality

2010-09-17T08:11:00.002-04:00

Picture courtesy of Food Network

As promised in last week’s inaugural Feed the Writer Friday , here’s another Friday recipe with a writerly twist.

Everyone likes baked potatoes. To a point. The classic steak or chicken sidekick cannot be denied. But… don’t they get boring?

Sidekicks, secondary characters, co-stars, whatever you want to call them, should be more than bland. Cardboard, boring characters are really nothing more than a plain old, dry, baked potato, after all. One of the things it’s taken me awhile to learn as a writer, is putting as much creative energy into my seemingly innocuous secondary characters as I do into my MC.

Why go for the tried and true, obvious choice, when your sidedish can bring a little flavor to the main course, or maybe even have a bit of star power of its own?

And the thing is, as you can see from this Butter and Parmesan Squished Potatoes recipe, you don’t have to go all out with crazy ingredients. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of using what you already have in a new way.

Butter and Parmesan Squished Potatoes (courtesy of Food Network/Rachel Ray)

Ingredients
About 2 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes
2 to 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 to 2/3 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano, 2 handfuls

Directions
Put the potatoes in a medium pot in a single layer. Pour in enough stock to come 1/4-inch up the sides of potatoes, and add the extra-virgin olive oil. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, raise the heat and reduce the stock. When the stock evaporates, squish potatoes to flatten them a bit with a masher. Crisp the potatoes a few minutes on each side, then season with black pepper. Stir in the butter and cheese and toss.

Transfer to a serving dish and serve.

What has writing ruined for you?

2010-09-15T07:24:00.002-04:00

Way back when, when I was an undergrad, literary theory was one of my favorite things. As an English major, I ate it up, devoured it, loved every minute of studying it. But, as I eventually realized, looking at everything through the eye of theory was ruining my ability to read for pleasure.

I learned a lesson from that and when I began Seriously Writing, one of the things I worried about was ruining pleasure reading by reading through the writer’s eye. Surprisingly, that has not been the case. Sure, almost every book I read teaches me something about what works and doesn’t work, and reading is definitely 100% the best way to gain so many new skills, etc. with my writing, but, it hasn’t ruined it for me at all. On the contrary, it’s made me appreciate even more the power of a good book.

But, looking at LIFE through a writer’s eye is most definitely a bit tricky. Movies, for example, will never be the same. I can’t tell you the amount of obsession that goes into dissecting character development, plot arcs, motivations and just a general story-telling ability. I think my husband is pretty sick of me talking about the lack of character arc in whatever FX show he’s happens to be watching as I peck away at the netbook.

Even in “real life,” studying the little nuances in those around me that could possibly lend to solid character development down the road, seeing writing metaphors in every single thing (ie cupcake flavors = writing, puzzles, cooking, even The Cat in the Hat. It really is endless.) – well, it drives me a bit batty sometimes. But, I wouldn’t change it for the world!

So, how about you? How has writing changed the way you look at things?

How Many Flavors Do You Use in Your Writing?

2010-09-13T07:00:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago I was watching the cupcake competition on Master Chef (disclaimer: I don’t normally watch this show, so details may be wrong). Anyway, while my mouth was watering over some of the amazing creations the bakers came up with, I thought about what any writer would think about: how this applies to writing.

Sigh. (It has infiltrated every thought, I swear).

Anyway, one of the most INCREDIBLE cupcakes on the episode featured homemade cream cheese frosting while whipping in some crushed hazelnuts and Nutella. Not to mention the crushed nuts put on top of the glorious icing tower. Did I mention the cream cheese frosting? Did I mention the Nutella? Is it possible to swoon for a cupcake? Methinks it is.

Anyway – this particular contestant wasn’t the only one trying out new flavors. There was a chocolate cupcake with fruit mixed in, something lemony with toasted coconut, Irish coffee cupcakes, and plenty more. (Did I mention the cream cheese frosting and Nutella?)

So, writing. Right.

How many flavors do you use in your writing?

Do you mix it up? Or is your plot – worse, are your characters – merely store brand devil’s food mix with on-sale Betty Crocker frosting? Or are you taking chances? Are you pulling out the mixer and rummaging through your writing cabinet to find some interesting ingredients, ingredients that even if not new, when put together in your unique way, will ensure something great?

Because as a reader, standing in front of the bookstore shelf, just as someone standing at that bakery glass mulling over their cupcake choices – what would you go for? The plain, same old same old, or the spectacular new creation that makes your mouth water and makes you say, “Wow, I’ve never heard of that!”

No need to go crazy – no one’s going to buy the bacon-pickle-honey cupcake, but mix it up, be original, and bon appétit.

Feed The Writer Friday: (Humble) Apple Pie

2010-09-10T07:21:00.002-04:00

Feed The Writer Friday combines two of my greatest loves: cooking and writing, and will each week provide you with a yummy recipe with a writerly twist. Hope you enjoy!

My first edition features: Humble Apple Pie

Nothing humbles a writer quite like rejection. And nothing feeds the wounded ego quite like fresh apple pie. Here’s my favorite tried and true for apple crumb.

Ingredients:

Filling (this makes enough filling for two pies):
6 cups of apples, skinned and sliced (Any kind are fine but I like to mix two types. Cortland and Jonagold are one of my favorite combinations.)
½ cup flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
2 tbsp butter - slightly softened

Crumb Topping:
½ cup flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp butter

Directions: Combine apples, sugar and brown sugar – mix well. Add flour, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg, mix well until coated. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, make topping by stirring together flour and packed brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in 3 tbsp butter till the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (if you don’t have a pastry blender, use a regular hand mixer on a low speed. If you’re careful, it’ll work)

Final step: Pour filling into crust*, top with crumb topping and bake at 375 for 50 minutes.

Once it’s finished, let cool, cut a big slice (top with ice cream if you feel like it). Sit back, put your feet up and enjoy while planning your next round of queries, submissions or the plot of your next novel.

Enjoy!

*disclaimer – I don’t have a trusty crust recipe. I usually use whatever recipe I have handy at the time from either FoodNetwork.com, one of my million cookbooks or buy the frozen, pre-made crust.:)

Who is Your Literary BFF?

2010-08-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

I recently finished reading The Book Thief. I don’t talk much here about books I read, but this time, I can’t help it. Wow, Wow and a million Wows. This book definitely moves into one of the spots for one of my all-time favorites. I’m not going to say much more about it, because A.) I’m pretty useless at book reviews and B.) I don’t think I could do it justice. All I’m gonna say is, if you haven’t yet, please read it. Like, now.

Among a bazillion other things, the book made me think a lot about relationships. Liesel and Rudy in particular had such a sweet and unassuming friendship (especially at such a terrible and serious time). Rudy struck me as exactly someone I’d have loved to have as a friend at Liesel’s age.

So if you could choose a best friend from any book, who would it be?

I'm sure I can come up with some others, but for now, I'm going with Rudy. How about you?

Who's your literary BFF?

Getting It Right: Where Your Characters Come From

2010-07-28T09:19:00.004-04:00

I’ve traveled quite a bit this summer. Took a week-long beach vacation and then a few short trips to visit family in varying places. Met some great people. On one such trip, I was talking to a group of women that were friends with some of my cousins. We got to talking about various things and quickly settled into some interesting conversations. About halfway through the evening, one of the girls found out I was from New Jersey and she seemed shocked. Her response? “But, you’re so nice!” At that point, said group started telling stories how they attended colleges all over the U.S. and it was common knowledge that if you met Jersey people, they’d be the rudest.

Well.

It’s kinda like that thing where you can talk about your own family but when someone else does it, it makes you defensive. And I’m not even saying everyone in Jersey is great or even nice. On the contrary, many people here do fit the silly stereotypes that you see on tv and hear in jokes. BUT… not all. Not even close to all. Probably not even the majority.

But, okay, this is a writing blog, so how does it relate to writing? (I’m getting to my point, I swear).

I, along with many other writers, have talked countless times on our blogs and others’ about diversity, creating diverse characters, representing and staying true to people unlike ourselves, and not falling into stereotypes when world building and creating our cast of characters. We constantly ask ourselves: What view of a certain group or person are we giving to the readers?

This can encompass anything. It can be based on gender, religion, race, hell, even hair color (hello, down with the blonds are dumb thing). I mean, everyone knows if you’re writing outside your race, gender or religion you better do your research so you’re not filling the pages with stereotypes and falsities. Right? Right.

But what I hadn’t really considered is it can also be about representing a certain geographic location or people who live there.

All my novels (so far) take place in New Jersey, with native New Jersians as the characters.

After having that slap in the face conversation, I had to ask myself – are people going to expect my characters to be rude? Are they going to think they aren’t realistic if they don’t fit the stereotype of New Jersey? Because, honestly, none of them do. The people I create are just normal people, telling their stories. Like with anything else, I don’t let their geography define them. It’s just part of who they are.

I just never considered that it is one more thing that needs serious consideration when bringing my characters to life.

Why ALL Fiction Writers Should be Reading Poetry (Yes, You!)

2010-07-14T07:24:00.004-04:00

I don’t write poetry. I don’t read a ton of it either, but I do read some and so should you.

I know what you’re thinking. “I don’t get poetry, I don’t write poetry,” maybe you’re even thinking, “I don’t like poetry.” But there are things that a poet does that us fiction writers should take note of. There are things to be learned from poetry that can translate to beautiful prose in fiction.

First, poets make every word count. Every. Single. Word. Unlike us, they aren’t working with a 60-70k word manuscript and adding/cutting thousands of words at a time. No, they’re working with a handful of lines and the weight of each word can be felt, the decision of each and every word having purpose.

Second – Imagery. This is perhaps the absolute best thing about poetry. It’s certainly the thing we can learn the most from for our own fiction writing. Good poetry evokes images that make us stop, think. Feel. See. Good fiction can aim to do this too. Yeah, of course telling a story over the course of a novel is much different than a poem, but who doesn’t stop and appreciate the perfect metaphor in fiction? The perfect arrangement of words that shows how the use of language can take your breath away? I recently read a beautifully written novel that was full of such beautiful metaphors and images that I stopped reading multiple times per chapter to contemplate them.

We’ve all read beautifully written novels and proclaimed them as “poetic,” so why not turn to poetry for a lesson? Poetry can do so well what there is a big place for in our fiction, which is why reading it really helps (at least for me) to learn how to really explore the words to mold perfect images.

A real life example:

Below is a poem full of such images. The first time I read this poem, I was struck with each image and they stayed with me, one by one, as if dropped slowly, fluidly, to form the complete journey of the poem. Images with that type of power can enrich our fiction as well.

When you read this poem, even if you don’t typically read poetry, imagine it from a fiction perspective, imagine such descriptions and metaphors in a body of fiction – particularly in the third stanza. Imagine each word in such instances carrying much weight.

Rooted
By Megan Duffy

You have come home
again.
Again is the word
to be leaned
on here.
This house was
never home until
you left it again
and again.

And again,
you are relegated to
the attic room
with its dormers
and little, west-facing
window that
sits atop the house
like a Cyclopean
peeper.

And, here you are,
34, sleeping in the room
that runs the length
above your parents' bed,
watching the summer evening
run like India ink across
the sky.
Clouds, ash-blue, edged
in blisters of copper:
oblong opals
above the
blackness of
exhausted August trees.

And you think,
this is a primal beauty.
You think,
these oaks have been
swaying endlessly always.
You think,
this sky is rootless and
mutable and
unwilling to be framed.

Giving Em Clues Without Ruining the Reveal

2010-07-12T07:00:00.003-04:00

We all know the dynamics that keep stories moving. Things like good, solid tension keeps the pages turning, great characters and situations that we want to know more about. We want to know the twists. We want to figure out whatever little mysteries the author has planted to string us along to the big finale.

To me, there is almost nothing more annoying than figuring it out too early – or when the clues are just so obvious. This is an arbitrary thing as what’s obvious to one person is lost on another, but still.

As a writer, I struggle with this with each work. Because it’s a huge pet peeve of mine, I tend to give too few clues and leave the reader saying WTF just happened (I think one of my betas may has literally said that, as in where the hell did that come from - and not in a good way). My round of revisions I just completed was reworking a lot of this very thing. Planting more clues along the way for major Big Reveals later in the book, clarifying character motivations that make sense in a non-obvious way.

Like I said, it’s always a struggle to strike that right balance. How to plant the seed in the reader’s mind without sending up smoke signals that scream “Save this info for later, this is obviously important. Wait, did you hear when he said. He obviously was referring to xyz. Or, ooh, save that, it’s obviously something that means something.” I mean, what's worse than reading something like that? Blech.

Anyone else struggle with this?

Any tips/advice that help you with this very thing or am I alone?

Summer Issue of the Meadowland Review Now Live (and more!)

2010-07-05T14:56:00.006-04:00

The Summer 2010 issue of The Meadowland Review is now available. Check it out!

The Meadowland Review is now reading submissions for Fall 2010.

Also, The Unbreakable Child by the very awesome Kim Richardson is now available for pre-order from Amazon. A large percentage of proceeds from sales goes to the residential treatment home Maryhurst.org to help severely abused teens.

2010-06-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Author Interview: Lisa Brackmann, Suspense Author

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Lisa Brackmann, author of Rock Paper Tiger. Read below for Lisa’s insights on writing, publishing and Rock Paper Tiger. Also, Lisa was kind enough to offer to answer any reader questions, so if you have anything to ask her, leave it in the comments and she'll stop by later to answer them!

Before we get started with the interview, here’s a bit about Rock Paper Tiger: Iraq vet Ellie McEnroe is down and out in China, trying to lose herself in the alien worlds of performance artists and online gamers. When a chance encounter with a Uighur fugitive drops her down a rabbit hole of conspiracies, Ellie must decide who to trust among the artists, dealers, collectors and operatives claiming to be on her side – in particular, a mysterious organization operating within a popular online game.

Hi Lisa! Thanks so much for talking with me today. First, I’d like to talk a bit about your debut novel, Rock Paper Tiger. What was your inspiration for RPT?

I had two basic inspirations. The first was that I was interested in setting a novel in today’s China, which I think has been underutilized in Western fiction. If you do see China as a setting, it tends to be period pieces, and while I like to read about China in the past, it’s such a vital, fascinating place today. I’ve been traveling to China for about thirty years, and I wanted to share some of what I’ve experienced.

My second inspiration was the Iraq War and the “War on Terror,” specifically the prisoner abuse scandals and the policy of indefinite detention, both of which in my opinion violate some of our most fundamental Constitutional principles. To me, torture disguised as “enhanced interrogation” and imprisoning people without allowing them their day in court betray the best values of our country.

Ellie is pretty amazing. She’s one of the most honest characters I’ve read in recent fiction. Authors often pull character traits from themselves or someone they know. How much of yourself is in Ellie?

This is a hard question for me to answer, because I didn’t really think that much about her character per se; the voice just more or less popped into my head when I started writing. I knew that she had served in Iraq and had some traumatic experiences there, that she’d been injured, but that was all I knew. I quickly decided that she’d joined the National Guard because of an unstable family situation and economic insecurity, both of which told me something about her as well. I knew that she needed a specialty in the military, and I did give her a skill set that I have – a number of years ago I certified as an EMT, and though it’s been a long time and I don’t remember many details, I felt that I could handle that with more credibility than say, making her a Humvee mechanic. But when I did that I had no idea that her medic background would play so heavily into the story. Mostly I thought about what it would be like to be young, female and thrown into a war that you’d hadn’t planned on fighting.
There’s a lot of betrayal going on with Ellie, by her husband, by her country, and I think in part she’s a reflection of my own anger at the betrayal of our country by our leaders.

Rock Paper Tiger has such a wonderful and unique setting. Set part in China and part in wartime Iraq. What inspired you to write a novel in these settings?

See above. :)

What was your favorite part of writing RPT?

A lot of it was fun to write. I liked thinking of all those little details to make China come alive. I like the humor that’s threaded throughout the book (I totally crack myself up, to be honest!). As I remarked in another interview, writing the really intense, disturbing stuff is fun in a weird way, even if it does lead me to question my own mental health for thinking of it and writing about it.

Most challenging?

Truthfully, it was a hard book to write overall. Weaving the flashback Iraq plot with the “present day” plot was tough, because you have to maintain the tension in both plot threads. I also did a ton of research on the Iraq setting and the war, and after a while reading all of this really disturbing stuff was pretty depressing. Plus, I was concerned about presenting both major settings accurately, especially Iraq, given that I’ve never been there. Some of the most meaningful compliments I’ve gotten on this book came from vets who asked me if I’d been in the Army. That made me feel really good, because I wanted to do a credible job. I am also super-happy about the response I’ve gotten from China-based people – even though I have a lot of experience there and go on average once a year, I haven’t lived in China for a long time. It’s just very important to me to get the little things right.

Reading RPT, I often felt myself wanting a nice cold beer. Ellie’s favorite beer is Yanjing. What’s yours?:)

Well, I am a native San Diegan, and we have a micro-brewing culture down there that can compete with anyplace in the world – awesome handmade beer and ales. I’m a big fan of everything Stone Brewery does, for example. And Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Yum! When I’m in Beijing, I do drink quite a lot of Yanjing, and I really do like it.

Rock Paper Tiger was such a gripping, exciting novel. What can we expect from you in the future. Any projects underway?

Right now I’m working on another novel of “existential suspense” set in Mexico, that deals with the intersection of drug cartels, political power and another woman in over her head (although she’s a very different character than Ellie). I’m through a few drafts and into the heavy revisions right now. After that, I plan on returning to China, and I already have a pretty good start on a story that I’m really enthusiastic about.

Since there are probably some aspiring authors that will read this, can you tell us a bit about your road to publication? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve been writing since I first learned that there were these things called “words” that you could put on paper to tell a story. It’s surprising in a way that it took me so long to seriously pursue publication, because writing is the thing that I have always done, that I’ve always been passionate about, and I think a part of me has always known that it’s the thing I’m meant to be doing. I just circled around it for a number of years! I’ve always written with seriousness, but RPT is the first novel that I set out to write with the intention of getting an agent and selling it.

Tell us about your journey to getting an agent.

It was actually a relatively short journey! Nathan Bransford was about the sixth agent I queried. I was already pretty discouraged about the book and ready to throw it in a metaphoric drawer – as mentioned, I’d set out to write something I could sell, and I still ended up with a pretty weird novel that I wasn’t at all sure was sellable. One of my writing group members (Purgatory’s own Redzilla) suggested I query Nathan: “He likes novels set in foreign countries, and he has a blog.” I figured I might as well give it a shot. I studied up on his blog and tried to get a sense of what he liked. I read some books by one of his clients. Like just about every writer out there, I’d had a lot of trouble coming up with a decent query, so one night after a really large glass of wine, I stayed up late and rewrote mine for the umpteenth time. Then I shrugged and hit “send,” not really expecting anything to come of it.
The next morning I had a request for the partial, and later that day, for the full.

And how about finding your publisher?

Before I get to that, I should tell you that I revised the MS for seven months with Nathan before going out on submission. It was actually pretty fun because Nathan is a really good reader/editor, and we worked well together. And I’m really glad that I did all that work on the front end, before going out on submission, because ultimately when Soho did offer on the book, I had very little to do in the way of editorial revisions. I’d much rather work that way than be under contract and under all that pressure to revise. I don’t have any illusions that it will be the same for every book that I write, but I am always going to strive for getting the book as absolutely good as I can get it before subbing.
RPT went out on submission during one of the most challenging periods in publishing since the Depression. My timing could not have worse. There were deals that might have happened in a better economic time that didn’t happen. Ultimately I really feel that it worked out for the best, because I don’t think RPT could have found a better home than Soho. They are a dream to work with – they have a creative vision, they really get behind their books; they support their authors – it’s been a blast.

What is the best part of the publishing process?

Boy, it’s all been so much better than I expected it would be. I’ve gotten to work with some great people at Soho. I ended up with an awesome-looking book – getting that cover felt like winning the lottery. I’ve traveled to bookstores for events and signings – bookstore people are wonderful. The response to the book has been really gratifying overall. The whole gig of being a professional author – I like it, and I love the community around it.

The worst?

There’s definitely increased pressure and the worry that I won’t be able to live up to my first book. I don’t want to repeat myself, but I worry that people will want a second book that’s like the first one. I worry about the quality of what I’m doing, mostly, and now people are paying attention to what I write. Before, I just wrote what I felt like and I could choose to share it or not. Now, I have people who expect things from me. It’s a little daunting!

Thanks Lisa! I’m looking forward to reading more exciting books from you in the future!

Gettin' it On: Sex in YA

2010-05-26T07:26:00.006-04:00

Lately, I’ve read a few YA books that were OMG on some of the explicitness on the sex scenes, and I’m not talking your normal a little too detailed sex scene or anything, I’m talking, let me look at the cover again, is this really a YA book? It really got me thinking.

Even though my books and situations are edgy and sometimes controversial, sex is usually the one thing I’m not too explicit with. It’s kinda funny since I obviously don’t shy away from heavy topics. My books have covered things like gang members, drug dealers, teen pregnancy, addiction issues, violence, racial issues, etc., but when it comes to sex, I’m more of a fade to black kinda writer, if it’s there at all. Don’t get me wrong, I like a heavy dose of sexual tension and some hot and heavy make out scenes, but writing actual detailed sex scenes is not something I really do.

As for reading, it doesn’t really bother me, unless it crosses that line where is starts to feel less like YA/adult fiction and more like erotica.

So what’s your opinion as a writer? How do you write sex scenes or do you not? And how about as a reader? Where do you draw that line of comfort?

%^&$#& For the Sake of Voice: Cursing (in YA)

2010-05-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

I write (mainly) contemporary YA, most a bit edgy. Because of the characters and situations in my novels, sometimes cursing just can’t be avoided to stay true to the voice. In some stories, like Beyond Us, it’s at the minimum I could get away with and only in extreme situations, not to mention not really with the main characters. But in my new book? Watch out. My male MC has such a potty mouth! I’m editing some of it out in revisions, but some of it just can’t go without making him sound, well, not like himself. His character and the situations call for it, even though I’m trying to get him to tone it down. It’s just who he is and how his voice works best.

So, like anything else, if it works for the voice, I say go for it.

What’s your opinion as a writer? And how about as a reader? What is your level of comfort with cursing in YA books?

Casting Your Novel

2010-05-19T07:11:00.015-04:00

I’ve seen this all over the blogosphere and figured I’d join in for fun. If I were to cast Beyond Us, here’s who would play my main characters. Age ranges are probably not perfect, but *shrugs* this is just for fun.:)

Shauna played by Kerry Washington

Wentworth Miller as Trent

Zoe Saldana as Nadine

Shia Lebeouf as Cali

How about you? Have you ever thought about who would “play” your characters?

For the Sake of Voice: Telling Your Inner Grammar Nerd to Take a Hike (or a Jell-O shot)

2010-05-17T07:00:00.001-04:00

Let me preface this by saying I am not, in general, too grammar savvy or conscious (don’t tell my old English teachers). :)

Last night, I was talking with a friend and I suggested a change to her MS that would make it grammatically incorrect but would be more authentic to the voice. So I suggested, in so many – er, exact, actually – words, she give her inner grammar nerd a Jell-O shot and tell it to chill out and relax.

We’ve all reached these points in our writing, where those grammar rules that have been ingrained in us start knocking on our brains and saying “NO, YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” But if we follow what grammar dictates, it’s often too formal, or stilted or just… unnatural. Now, I’m in no way saying we have to slang up every ms until it sounds like a rambling, whiny teen who doesn’t know how to speak, But, IMO, voice is paramount, especially in YA, and in particular in first person where we are right there in the MC’s thoughts, actions and words. People don't think, speak or act with proper grammar, even if those rules are meant for the written word.

Some of my top rule breaking offenses are sentences (dialogue, typically) ending in prepositions (I know, I know, it can drive me crazy too, but people do talk that way), and fragments. Fragments can be really powerful, especially for thoughts or reactions in first person narrative.

So do you break grammar rules in your writing or are you a stickler?

Or maybe I'm just a natural rule breaker? Or maybe I'm just in it for the Jell-O shots? Hmmm…

Forgive me reader, for I have sinned: TMI, Super Cheese and WTF

2010-05-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

Confession time.

First Draft Sins.

First drafts are dirty, icky, stinky places. All first drafts (or at least my first drafts) are crap. Deep crap. And even though the drafts have gotten better, it seems novel after novel, the same old grievances show up.

My most common first draft transgressions:

TMI: Really? Does the reader need to know those stupid details about the MC in the first chapter? Does the reader EVER need that info? Do we need to meet all the characters right there when the story starts? Most likely – the answer is no. The delete key is my friend.

Super Cheese: Some of the language, and especially those love scenes – wow, so cheesy! I mean, gag inducing cheesy, like my dedicated and lovely crit partners are writing snarky comments and calling me out on it cheesy. And the fact that the beta comments are right on and make me crack up, probably a bad sign for my draft, but a good sign for my sense of humor. Me and rewrites quickly become best buddies!

WTF - How many times does my red pen scrawl WTF IS THIS??? across the first draft – A lot. A whole lot. Some stuff doesn’t fit, doesn’t make sense, doesn’t flow and doesn’t even belong. But you know what, it’s OK, because it’s a first draft. Slash and delete my friend, slash and delete.

My first drafts have gotten cleaner with each book I write, but still I run into so many first draft errors that I’m totally cringing when I read through it. And I feel like sending my crit partners on an all expenses paid vacation or at least sending them a case of wine and chocolate for wading through the crap that is the draft.

So, tell me: what are your first draft sins?

Contest Winner!

2010-05-12T07:17:00.002-04:00

Thanks to all who participated in my 100 Followers Contest!

I loved all the answers for the 100 things you'd want - some funny ones in there.:)

Anyway, without further ado, the winner of the bookstore giftcard is:

Amber Tidd Murphy!

Congrats Amber! Please leave your e-mail address in the comments and I'll send your giftcard there.

Thanks everyone for playing along and for following my little blog. Will be back to normal blogging next week.:)

100 Followers Contest!

2010-05-03T07:00:00.005-04:00

I just realized I hit 100 blog followers sometime last week so I’m hosting a contest! Woot!

Contest will run all week since I’m taking the week off blogging due to looming deadlines.:)

All you have to do leave a comment with the following info and your name will be entered in a random generator. Winner will be announced next Monday! Correction: Winner will be announced Wednesday 5/12 due to unexpected few days vacation.:)

PRIZE = $15 bookstore gift card!

+1 entry for being a follower

+1 for tweeting about the contest

+1 for telling me if you could have 100 of anything in the world RIGHT NOW, what would it be? (i.e. dollars, books, chia pets, etc.) Let’s see how creative you guys can get.

And thanks to all for following my blog!:)

Dr. Seuss Started It?

2010-04-28T07:26:00.002-04:00

This weekend, while reading my son The Cat in the Hat, he asked, why did the mom leave them there like that? And I realized he was right, why did the mom leave? Those kids are like five- maybe seven- tops. Maybe it’s a case study of a different time where moms actually did this, or maybe, just maybe it was convenient for the story.

Okay, I’m at least half kidding. I love Seuss and The Cat in the Hat is one of my favorites.

What I’m not a fan of is parents who don’t exist in books because it’s convenient.

This recent New York Times article talks about bad parents in YA. The article explores what a lot of bloggers have been talking about lately – neglectful parents, distracted, inept, workaholics, “have simply checked out” and just generally not around enough, etc. Those ideas of the “bad” parent don’t bother me as much as others, like the ones who are just ignored for the sake of the story. After all, the child of the neglectful, workaholic or “ready-for-rehab” parents may be indicative of the state of our current young adult culture. *shrugs* Who knows. I think having characters with those life situations can be realistic and don’t see anything wrong with it if it’s done right.

But.

What really drives me nuts are parents who are dumb as anything or who just don’t exist at all, or, my personal favorite, ones who disappear halfway through the book – or maybe everyone’s parents disappear halfway through the book, cause yeah, you know, that happens when teens are in trouble and have a big adventure to get into – poof, the parents turn brain dead and head for the hills. Oh, you and your friends are going to skip school for a week to get yourselves out of the mess you’re in? Here, let me get out of your way. I’ll be in the tree house, and I’ll take everyone else’s parents with me.

Do I develop every single parent in my novels? No. Does every single character have a relationship with their parents that is at the forefront of the book? Nope, with secondary characters they aren’t even mentioned sometimes. Are the parents even that important to the book/plot? Not always. Do I have so-called “bad parents” in my novels – neglectful, inattentive, too busy, etc. – sure, because those type of parents do exist, but only if it’s integral to who they are, not for the convenience of the plot.

Do you agree? And what else annoys you about parents in YA?

Have you ever “met” one of your characters in real life?

2010-04-26T07:00:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I took advantage of an unusually gorgeous April day and headed with the family to the beach for lunch. Coming off the boardwalk, I spotted a guy who made me stop dead in my tracks. He was identical to the way I pictured the antagonist in Beyond Us. I mean identical: face, hair, clothes. Anyone who’s read my ms knows Cali is one mean, mean guy. *shudders*

So we walked behind the Cali lookalike and for a second I felt bad, terrified of the guy because he resembled my villainous character.

But then he got into his truck and rumbled up the loud engine and pulled away and on his bumper was the sticker: Don’t Worry, Your Daughter’s Safe and I had to shudder all over again and stop myself from thinking my character had actually come to life, because that is exactly something Cali would say.

Anyway, I’m wondering if this has happened to anyone else? Have you “seen” any of your characters in the real world?

The Writer: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2010-04-21T07:39:00.003-04:00

After reading the responses to Monday’s SNI post , I realized how many of us have scenes, partial novels and developed characters and ideas hanging out on our hard drive, hoping to someday be let out to play. And some of us, myself included, have a few finished novels in the old trunk that will never (thank God) see the light of day.

But do you keep it all locked up forever? Or do you wade through old work like picking through a salvage yard - there’s gotta be something usable there, right?

My WIP has borrowed heavily from the hard drive ideas and I’m currently cannibalizing portions of my first novel to use in the new one. Not just a few scenes/wordage, but a few of the smaller plot lines and a character or two as well.

So do you do this? Do you “recycle” or “borrow” from trunked works that will never make it to the printed page? Why keep the good stuff under wraps forever when it can be successfully resurrected in a new work, one that may actually see the outside of the proverbial trunk.

Do you suffer from SNI Syndro--- “Ooh, look, shiny!”

2010-04-19T07:00:00.006-04:00

I suffer from an affliction that many writers endure every day: Shiny New Idea (SNI) Syndrome.

Known causes: overactive imagination, the ability to find new ideas anywhere you look, and an inability to turn your focus to one or two or even three story ideas at once. So ideas are born and born and born and multiply like crazy.

Side effects: Many barely started, half-finished or near-finished novels, crowded hard drive, and time spent developing ideas that will someday get written, I swear!

Known treatments: None. Just write it. You know you want to.

There is nothing like the light bulb of an SNI, but they’re so damn distracting!

Yesterday, at the garden center, I filled my cart with wayyy too many flowers. They all looked so nice. I wanted to buy them all, plant them all, like, right now. “I can put the marigolds in the front lower bed like I always do, and the gerberas will be in a pot and these ornamental grasses, why not and--- ohh, pretty, shiny, look at those, I’ve never seen those, but the yellow is so vibrant and the pink is… and the… and the…”

But when I looked in my cart before going to the register, I realized something. I don’t enough room for half those flowers. My yard is small. So I had to chose a few of the best ones to plant and tend to, to care for and help blossom as beautifully as I can. Nurture them to their fullest before moving on to find room for more.

Grudgingly, I unloaded half the cart and said goodbye to some of the beauty that could have graced my yard this year. But you better believe I read every label and tag and made a mental note of all the new stuff I’ll plant next time around.

Maybe I’ll make a list of them. It can go right in my red velvet notebook, the one that has the long list of all my future novel ideas that I’ll someday write, because you know, a shortage of ideas is never --- “Oooh, excuse me, how pretty and shiny! Would you look at that.”

Quotes to Write By

2010-04-16T07:41:00.004-04:00

Wanted to post something fun this Friday with a few great writing quotes. Leave your favorite writing quote in the comments!

“Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." - Gloria Steinem

“The first draft of everything is shit.” Ernest Hemingway

“I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out ~ Oscar Wilde.

"Sometimes all that saves me is being willing to make mistakes. There are projects that strike me as so beautiful, important, complicated or just plain big, that they convince me of my own inadequacy. This awful state of reverence leads to paralyzing brain freeze. Times like that the only way out is for me to decide, 'To hell with it. I can't do it right, so I'll do it wrong. I can't do it well, but I can do it badly.' Sometimes, with luck, while I'm sweating to do it wrong, I stumble on a right way." —Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love

“If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison

“Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

“A metaphor is like a simile. ~Author Unknown

The Meadowland Review: Spring Issue

2010-04-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

The Double Inaugural Spring issue of The Meadowland Review is now live:

http://www.themeadowlandreview.com/

What’s Your Revision Mojo?

2010-04-12T07:30:00.002-04:00

I had another blog post planned for today but I have been on a revision high all weekend so I wanted to post about revising and find out how everyone else gets it done.

I finished the new WIP a few weeks ago and sent it off to my betas. *chews fingernails* But, while I’m waiting for their feedback, I can’t just ignore it, right? I should though. Let it sit. Rest. Sigh. Not so easy.

So I decide to just peek at it, just open the file, one look, read a few scenes. Test the waters. And then, ideas explode like fireworks. M80s going off all over my brain. A minefield.

Revisions begin.

First pass of revisions is for voice. This book is told in first person but alternates between three different points of view. Voice, while always important, is key here. Really key. (not to mention driving me a bit crazy.) So first pass is voice only. That’s what I’m in the middle of now.

Once I hear back from betas, I’ll do another round for plot/tension revisions.

After that, I’ll do a round for the writing, to turn all those putty like balls of story into rock solid (hopefully) gleaming, streaming, glowing scenes.

And then I’ll read it through yet again and hope it all makes sense. And then: Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

God, I love revising. Love, love, love. I had forgotten how much fun it is to mold a first draft into a novel.

So how do you revise? What’s your style/attack plan? I’m always curious to see how others work.

Wanna Know Wednesday: What are you reading?

2010-04-07T07:30:00.001-04:00

Although I have an entire TWO massive shelves devoted to books TBR, I am addicted to talking about and buying even more books. So tell me – what are you reading/best thing you’ve read recently? What is your current “can’t miss” book?

P.S. I owe apologies to my blogging buddies. I know I’ve been MIA on the blogger scene in the last week or two. Been super busy with various projects*** and haven’t visited blogs or reposted awards and such. Will get back on track soon, promise.

***speaking of projects – first draft of current WIP is with betas – WOOT – and I have finally, FINALLY had a light bulb moment for what I want to do with my first novel, which has been sitting patiently at rest for some time now.***

Unearthing her Inner Badass: Creating Strong Female Characters in YA

2010-04-02T07:48:00.005-04:00

There’s been lots of talk in the YA blogosphere lately about creating strong female characters. A few of us got together to talk about it today, so make sure to check out the links below to hear what everyone has to say.

On first thought, you might think strong means super aggressive, sword-wielding, boy-crushing, snarky characters that tell people to screw off. And while all those characters can be really cool, that doesn’t have to be the only definition. And, if you aren’t writing those types of stories, it doesn’t mean you’re off the hook in terms of creating strong girl characters. I’m talking about the other type of stories. Sigh, the romantic ones.

I love the swoony stuff. Many of my stories have a significant amount of romance. I like reading them and love writing them. Having characters fall hopelessly, head over heels madly in love is fun, especially at the young adult age when emotions run high and first love is all-consuming. Falling in that type of love does not make a character weak. If a character is so into a guy that her heart aches when he’s away and she’s thinking about him every second, remembering their smoldering first kiss and the hint of muscle under his tee shirt, that doesn’t make her weak either. Strong girls can fall in love and strong girls can be smitten. It’s realistic.

Falling in love doesn’t mean losing yourself and that is where we separate the strong from the weak.

The first element of a strong female character is being someone, a real person. Herself. The character should have things that make her her, things that are important to her before she falls in love, and even after if it doesn’t work out. Something has to matter to her besides the guy. Maybe she’s a kick-ass field hockey player or the head of the math club. Or maybe she has a family or best friend she’d do anything for. Maybe she’s got her sights set on a Harvard law degree or loves playing the cello. Maybe she’s a poet or the biggest Red Hot Chili Peppers fan ever (okay, that last one is me, but still, I digress). Anyway, whatever she’s into should be important to her no matter what, even when she’s swooning over the sexy guy in her algebra class. She can fall all over him and be madly in love, but she needs to stay true to herself and the things that are part of her. She’s strong by not allowing his presence to define her, by being someone whether or not he’s there. Plus, she is herself, even when she is with him.

Second, weak moments do not make a weak character. In fact, sometimes it’s through moments of weakness that she can truly grow and find her strength. A tiny example of this in my current WIP: One of my main character’s biggest pet peeves is when people call her by a certain nickname. She spends the first chapters correcting people and insisting they use her full name. So why, when she starts falling for the guy who takes her breath away, does she let him use the nickname that she always hated? Because she’s falling in love and unsure and overwhelmed and letting herself give into that moment of weakness. But when she realizes it and in a simple moment says, “Hey, call me Abigail, I prefer it,” she (and readers) are reminded of what’s important to her. This return to self, while a minor example, is a small way to demonstrate that girls don’t have to lose themselves or what they want, just because they’re falling in love.

Third, the teen years are tough. Awkward, unsure and with a wavering or sinking confidence for many, girls and guys. So creating characters that reflect those insecurities is okay, too. It’s realistic and doesn’t mean someone’s weak if they haven’t quite figured out who they are yet. It only makes them weak if they leave it to someone else to decide.

Remember that a lot of our audience will be teen girls. They are reading in the years that they are growing into the women they will become. And while reading is often for pleasure and entertainment, we should create characters that are someone to look up to, or at the very least, ones who show that it’s okay – above all else – to be true to themselves.

Sometimes, being badass is on the inside.

And check out what other super YA writers/bloggers have to say on this topic:

Debra Driza

ChristaCarol Jones
Tracey Martin
Gretchen McNeil
Shveta Thakrar

Call for Submissions - The Meadowland Review

2010-03-31T08:40:00.000-04:00

The Meadowland Review is an online literary journal comprised of a small group of writers and editors who share a commitment to providing a public space for thoughtful and original material.

We welcome and encourage both emerging and established writers and seek all genre of short fiction and all forms of poetry.

Call for submissions:
Seeking original poetry, short fiction, and photography for Summer 2010. Deadline June 1, 2010

Website: http://www.themeadowlandreview.com/

What’s Your Theme? Ack!

2010-03-29T08:43:00.003-04:00

So a few weeks ago I posted about how the dreaded question, “What’s your book about?” leaves me tongue tied and blabbering. Well the other day, someone asked me, “What’s the theme of your book?”

What, are they trying to kill me? I can barely articulate what the darn thing’s about without feeling like an idiot and now they want me to explain the theme? ON THE SPOT? HA! I muttered through it, telling them pretty coherently what it’s about (since I’m finally getting comfortable with that part of it!), but the theme thing I couldn’t really answer in that moment. Of course, it’s like anything else, one of those things you know but can’t really put into words on the spot.

Anyway, I found that funny. Has anyone ever asked you that? Is it as difficult/dreaded of a questions as “What’s your book about?” or am I just nuts? Does everyone else have as hard a time talking about their work as I do? Wonder why that is?

Diversity in YA

2010-03-26T06:59:00.001-04:00

The lovely ladies at Old People Writing for Teens were nice enough to have me as a guest blogger this week. I’m cheesing out on a blog post for today by linking to my post over there instead of writing something new here, so check out our discussion on diversity in young adult books!

Have a great weekend, blogging friends!