Jennifer R. Hubbard

Vital details

2012-03-08T20:18:00.002-05:00

One of the pleasures of reading, and especially of rereading, is seeing the significance of little clues sprinkled early in a story. And watching the natural development of character and plot in unexpected, and yet somehow inevitable, directions.

I'll use The Hunger Games as an example because it's been so widely read (but I'll include my SEMI-SPOILER warning here, even though I suspect I was the last person to read this book). Anyway, here we go:

From the 2nd sentence: "My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth ..." The main character's attachment to her sister, Prim, is one of the driving forces of the trilogy. It sets Katniss's participation in the Hunger Games in motion, and it is the reason for Katniss's actions at the end of the series. So it is fitting that we learn about Prim immediately.

Two paragraphs later, we meet Buttercup, Prim's cat. We will see Buttercup rarely in the series, but always at critical moments, where he will symbolize something precious. (Ironically so, since Buttercup himself is a pretty rough customer.)

Early on in this fictional world, we discover that Katniss and her friend Gale are both good hunters. Katniss is especially skilled with bow and arrow, Gale with traps and snares. At first, we think these details are shown to us just to give the characters depth, to make us feel that we know them. But Katniss's skill plays a critical part in the Hunger Games and in several subsequent events in the trilogy. And Gale's skill turns out to be far more important than we could ever imagine, playing a critical part in the climax of the entire series. Things could not have happened the way they happened in book 3 without that crucial detail.

I love the way Collins used these character traits in the plot. Stories are not collections of random events and details--in that way, they differ from life. We choose only those details that have meaning. It's like constructing a building: the foundation, beams, bricks, windows, and stairs all have purpose. We won't usually have a random piece of wood sticking way out of the building at an angle, serving no function. We won't lug bags full of stones up to the roof and dump them there and do nothing with them. We may have decorative elements, but we choose them to fit the atmosphere of the building.

Everything in a story belongs. And ideally, each detail is brought in early enough so that it is a natural part of the world, and doesn't look like a bad retrofit.

Books of our youth: Spirited heroines, then and now

2012-03-06T19:17:00.004-05:00

Last year, I asked several writers to share their tales of writing and publishing their second books. This year, I'm interested in the books we read in our youth that stick with us. I hope to feature a series of guest posts on this topic. First up is Judith Graves, author of UNDER MY SKIN and SECOND SKIN, for an interesting connection between a classic favorite and today's paranormal stories:

As a teen I read a lot of classics, as well as fantasy, sci-fi, and horror fiction, still the genres I prefer today. However, in my tweens I enjoyed the writings of one Canadian author, Lucy Maud Montgomery. Perhaps it’s because I lived in Summerside, Prince Edward Island as a young girl – Anne mania has a solid hold on island residents and it left a lasting impression on me - from my enduring love of the sea, to my love of Anne of Green Gables.

I’ve re-read Anne’s story many times. While I occasionally take on the entire series (there are around ten books in total), I usually pick up my dog-eared copy of the first title to be enthralled with Anne’s adventurers once more (the slate scene – priceless!). This is a character that stands the test of time. Anne is smart, independent, imaginative, stubborn, impulsive, wild and cautious all at once. She has the perfect love interest in Gilbert Blythe, who pushes her to excel. Her best friend, Diana acts as an excellent foil – girly, popular, and yet willing to join Anne on her escapades. As with much of our current MG / YA fiction, Anne is an orphan, yet manages to forge an extended family with Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, her loyal friends, and a few key teachers / adults along the way.

When I compare Anne’s story to my own SKINNED series, I see a lot of the young, fiery redhead in my main character, Eryn. Eryn’s an orphan sent to live in a small town after big city life in Vancouver (sea connection!), she’s outspoken – a real smartass – and that often gets her in trouble, she doesn’t like asking for help, and she’s fiercely loyal to those she considers “pack”. Swap cow pastures and potato fields with werewolf dens and a whole crop of paranormal creatures, and, yeah – Anne’s influence is there – it’s just wrapped up in a cloak of secrets, magic, myth and impending doom.

Now that I’ve branched into writing steampunk and have a new series in the works, I see Anne’s influence even more so in the pseudo-Victorian world I’m creating for Amelia Strangeways and the STRANGEWAYS novels. The formality, the restrictions upon women. It’s so much fun writing a character who can challenge the social norms to benefit others.

So, I thank you Maud, for providing such a brilliant example of a great female lead character – and for doing so in 1908, when women didn’t even have the right to vote.

Cheers!

A firm believer that Canadian teen fiction can be sexy, action packed and snarky as hell – Judith Graves writes paranormal stories with attitude.

This is my brain on revisions

2012-03-05T20:07:00.002-05:00

I was doing some internet research on mosquitoes, including their lifespan, and one of the search terms the search engine suggested to me was, "mosquito lifestyle."

It doesn't take a huge joke to amuse me, or to keep amusing me. Especially now, at the end of a big revision that has sucked up quite a few brain cells. I have had several chuckles out of "mosquito lifestyle" in the past 24 hours. Heck, I don't think the existence I've cobbled together for myself, beautiful as it is, qualifies as a "lifestyle." But insects get to have a lifestyle? Does it involve sports cars, I wonder? Sunglasses? Ascots? I'll bet it involves ascots.

You can see that the once-upon-a-time TV show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" has forever influenced my perception of the word "lifestyle." Not that I ever really watched the show. The title told me enough: rich and famous people don't just have lives, they have lifestyles.

Such is the way a writer's brain works. I started with wanting to know how long mosquitoes live (they tend to die off when the temperature drops consistently below 50 degrees, just in case you've been waiting since my first paragraph for that big reveal). And I ended up thinking about ascots.

My point today is that, as much as writers complain about the downsides of writing--the energy required, the uncertainty, the self-doubt--sometimes an imagination is just a fun thing to have.

Who is the real audience?

2012-03-02T21:34:00.002-05:00

The tension between art and commerce is often expressed as a clash between the spiritual and material. At its bluntest and most oversimplified, it's expressed as: Do I write from my heart and tell my True Stories, or do I sell out and make a lot of money?

And of course, it's not nearly that simple. First of all, neither of those things--writing from the heart or writing big-selling books--is easy. It's not a matter of snapping one's fingers and deciding to do it. Coming up with original ideas and polishing one's craft to a shine require tremendous commitment, and effort doesn't guarantee achievement; a writer can still miss the mark. Writing a bestseller does not mean stringing together a bunch of trendy cliches and watching the money roll in.

Obviously, what most writers want to do is write what they love and sell a bajillion copies, but that's the hardest trick of all. And so there's a more subtle version of this conflict that plays out in the lives of many writers: Do I write this story that's calling to me, but that my agent doesn't think he can sell? Do I try to write in the genre that's selling big right now?

There is no single right answer to those questions. A writer may pursue the story that sings to her, but find no readers for it. But there's no guarantee she'll find readers when she tries a popular genre, either. On the other hand, she may try a new genre because it's currently hot and find that she loves it and feels at home in it. That balance of risks and rewards is an individual decision.

Ultimately, it's natural for a writer to want to please herself and to please readers. It's an interesting task we take on: to express something meaningful or entertaining, and to have it relevant to someone outside our own rooms.

I know writers who say they never worry about the audience. And I know writers who say the reader is their foremost concern, that the reader is what it's all about. From reading their work, I know that either approach can produce good books.

Goodies

2012-03-01T20:12:00.000-05:00

Sheela Chari has a great post today in which she talks about how writers "should be careful not to interpret everything for our reader, and to tell them how to think about our characters." I happen to agree (as both a reader and a writer, my preference is having more room for reader imagination and interpretation), although I've noticed that readers vary in how much they want explained, described, and interpreted. I don't think there is any one style that suits all readers, but rather that readers gravitate toward writers who use the style they prefer. But it's something to think about, because the writer always has to leave some room for the reader. And filling in too much can really slow a story down.

I'm the guest blogger at Carmen Ferreiro Esteban's today, talking about "my road to publication. Since Carmen discusses both traditional and self-publishing, I tried to raise some points worth considering for writers who are wondering which road might be right for them.

And I want to give a congratulatory shout-out to my friend Kelly Fineman on the release of her debut picture book today: At the Boardwalk! Illustrated by Monica Armino with a depth and a glowing beauty that set off Kelly's poetry, this is a true treasure:

Today may be a chilly March day, but you can breathe in the sea air and soak up the sun through Kelly's lyrical words, which bring alive a day at the shore.

And since nobody throws an online launch party like Jama Rattigan, I urge you to head to Jama's for glimpses inside Kelly's book, and (of course) celebratory virtual treats!

Getting out and about

2012-02-28T20:15:00.004-05:00

Today I'm visiting another blog: Laurel's Leaves, where I discuss writing male characters. Samples: "I thought of myself as a person and my characters as people, without dwelling much on which of us were male or female. ..." and "...not all guys are alike, so don’t assume that any one person can speak for a whole gender ..." Feel free to stop by there and check it out!

In other news, March 26 - April 1 will be chock full of events for YA readers in New York. Check out the NYC Teen Author Festival Facebook page. I'd be happy to see you at either of my events (the panel at the library on March 31 at 2:50, or the Books of Wonder signing on April 1 at 1:45), but there are dozens of great authors doing events all week, culminating in a "No-Foolin' Mega-Signing" on April Fool's Day!

Beyond happily ever after

2012-02-26T20:19:00.003-05:00

A typical way to handle romantic storylines is to make the couple's getting together the goal, and the obstacles throughout the story are designed to frustrate that goal. When the couple gets together, the story's over. Many fairy tales work this way, complete with the line, "And they lived happily ever after."

But real-life romances don't work that way. And it can be nice to find stories where characters discover that just getting together doesn't magically solve all their problems, where they work through the issues of couplehood. This is more often seen as a storyline for adult books rather than YA, and certainly adults are more likely to be dealing with long-term romances.

However, romances in the teen years are no less real and no less emotional. During these years, people are learning how to be in relationships, how to balance their own needs and the other person's, how much common ground is enough to sustain a relationship, what the deal-breakers are, etc. And there's plenty of story material in all of that.

Walk in the woods

2012-02-24T20:25:00.003-05:00

Today, I woke up with one goal: get out into the woods.

While I take a walk every day, I haven't hiked in the woods for a while. And this was the perfect day to do so: cool and cloudy gray. My husband and I met only a couple of other people on the trail.

I had no writing epiphanies. I wasn't mulling over a plotline or how to further develop a character. Often, I do those things while I walk, but today was more about refilling the well. Exercising the body and resting the mind.

Hope your weekend is beginning well also!

Plague books

2012-02-23T20:01:00.003-05:00

There's something fascinating, in a scary way, about plagues and epidemics--perhaps because we know how vulnerable we are. A plague is the kind of disaster that can't be fought off with guns and explosions, but with brains and research, with vision and commitment.

If you have any interest in nonfiction on this topic, I highly recommend Randy Shilts's And the Band Played On. It's the story of AIDS and HIV: of the people who lived and died and lost, of communities that were devastated, of researchers who struggled to understand this mysterious new disease and then to try to cure it, of public health professionals who tried to prevent it, of politicians who controlled funding and government response. It starts with individual cases, then grows to cover a web of interconnected cases, and ultimately deals with the machinery of a global society.

I've been thinking about this because I just finished reading Megan Crewe's novel about a mysterious plague, The Way We Fall.

Teenager Kaelyn starts out the novel trying to improve herself and cope with the loss of a friendship, but it isn't long before she and her town are dealing with a bigger, more urgent matter: a strange new illness that turns out to be fatal in almost all cases. The diary format and the character's change from personal interests to the sacrifices triggered by a life-or-death situation, along with the slow but steady increase in tension and the inexorable raising of the stakes, reminded me of Susan Beth Pfeffer's riveting Life As We Knew It.

The Way We Fall has the benefit of being both plot- and character-driven. It was a pleasure and a relief to encounter protagonists who are smart, who don't do inexplicably stupid things just to force a plot twist (a peeve of mine). Which isn't to say they always do the right thing, but that their behavior makes sense. Despite the inevitable sadness (you know some characters are going to die in a plague novel), there are bright spots and triumph as well. Although this is the first book of a trilogy and certain questions remain at the end of the book, the story ends at a satisfying place.

source of recommended reads: bought

Why Suicide?

2012-02-21T19:54:00.003-05:00

My latest novel, Try Not to Breathe, is about a boy recovering from a suicide attempt. The main character also befriends a girl who is seeking answers about her father’s suicide. While I certainly tried to make the book as realistic as possible, it is still a novel, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to discuss a nonfiction resource about the topic of suicide.

Upon hearing about my novel, Eric Marcus kindly offered me a copy of his nonfiction book Why Suicide?: Questions & Answers About Suicide, Suicide Prevention, and Coping with the Suicide of Someone You Know. The book’s approach is described by the author in the introduction: “I don’t pretend to be an expert on the subject of suicide. And I’m not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or social worker. I’m a journalist by training.” True to that journalistic method, the book provides facts and statistics, mixed with a wealth of interview quotes from individuals who have experienced the suicide of a loved one. Eric Marcus is also candid about the incident in his own life that sparked his original interest in this topic: the suicide of his father.

Why Suicide? opens with chapters that cover a wide range of basic data. These are followed by chapters that focus on topics such as teen and youth suicide; suicide among the elderly; and suicide prevention. The appendix contains suicide-prevention resources.

The book, formatted in Q&A fashion, was initially intended to be, in the author’s words, “the kind of book that would have enabled my family to help me cope with the circumstances of my father’s death” and “a broad resource for anyone whose life has been touched by suicide.” I find that, in addition, it can serve as a general resource for writers or readers who seek both hard numbers and personal stories. The book honors the fact that there is no single true story of suicide, no one way to deal with it. It also offers hope.

One additional resource: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 1-800-273-TALK.

Can this character be saved?

2012-02-19T21:36:00.003-05:00

So Karen Healey posted about writer-hate as it is found on the internet, especially with respect to the gender of the authors in question, which led to all kinds of interesting discussion. But what I want to post about today is not really continuing that conversation, so much as it is looking at one interesting nugget Karen's research turned up, and taking that off on a tangent.

She found several instances of people hating on writers for killing off or punishing their favorite characters (including having their favorite characters not chosen in a love triangle), or for just generally making them cry. And while I think "hate" is a strong word, and Heaven knows I don't advocate hating writers, that subset of comments made me think a lot about what I believe they're really saying, and about what happens between writer and reader.

As writers, we ask readers to make an emotional investment. And when they do, sometimes they get hurt, because the story doesn't always turn out the way they would have wished. The underlying message of so many of those comments was, Why did you hurt the character I loved so much? Why did that character not get the nice ending I thought he deserved? Why did you make me cry, Author? Why did you make me feel sad?

I'm a reader as well as a writer, and I know where those readers are coming from. My two favorite characters got killed, quite brutally, in Lord of the Flies. I have a prize-winning record of choosing the loser in love triangles. The ending of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Below the Root trilogy devastated me. I still cannot read the end of Charlotte's Web without choking up. And we will not even speak of Old Yeller. Sometimes I read certain books with my breath held, thinking, "Please don't kill that character."

But I'm a writer. And one of the things writers are taught to do--taught because, you see, it often doesn't come naturally--is hurt their characters. Without pain, there is nothing at stake. Without conflict, there is no story. And every character cannot get a happy ending for a few reasons: it doesn't happen that way in real life; and if the main character always triumphed, there would be no suspense to any story, because they would all end the same way. And finally, most importantly, the bottom line for a writer is to serve the story, to convey a theme. If a character has to die to fit that theme, then that character has to die. I attended a panel discussion today that was part of the Breathless Reads tour, and Beth Revis warned the audience that none of her characters are safe. In other words, she will sacrifice any character for the good of the story.

Certain stories are more powerful when you like the character who's going to get the short end of the stick, when you see the attractiveness of the villain, when you care about whatever is lost in the story. And that is why a writer may work to form an attachment between the reader and the doomed character.

Plus, you want to know a secret? Sometimes the writer cries about killing off that character, too.

Quality, not quantity

2012-02-17T20:57:00.002-05:00

Today's recommended reading is at the blog of Megan Crewe. As part of Megan's series on "The Ways We Struggle," Deva Fagan guest posted about letting numbers define us. There are many numbers writers can use as surrogates for our worth as human beings: Advance money. Sales figures. Book ratings. We can't help but focus on these numbers even when we know they are not really the ratings of our very souls. Hop on over to Megan's site to see how Mikhail Baryshnikov helped Deva with her struggle!

One reason I'm glad I didn't publish a book when I was a little younger is that I used to get much more caught up in the anxiety around such external measures. Which isn't to say that other people can't handle success at a younger age; I know of several young novelists who are handling publication with great poise. And which isn't to say that I am serenely sitting under the Bodhi tree just oozing enlightenment and the joys of detachment. I only mean that even though I check my Bookscan numbers, I don't live or die by them, and I'm generally happier when focusing on the quality of my writing.

As long as I'm including links, I'll also mention two of my interviews that posted this week: an interview at iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books in which I divulge backstage secrets on how Colt in The Secret Year got his name; and an interview at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer (including a giveaway of Try Not to Breathe) that discusses, among other things, how the REM song "Try Not to Breathe" does (and doesn't) relate to my book.

Fiction and reality

2012-02-15T21:44:00.001-05:00

The movie version of being a writer:
Pounding away at keyboard. Writing one draft. Instantly selling a manuscript and having it come out a couple of weeks later. Going to cocktail parties and TV interviews to promote it.

The real-life version of being a writer:
Fighting with the cat over who gets "the good chair." Wondering why, for quarterly taxes, the quarters are not divided evenly. Sending a whiny email to a fellow writer. Checking email. Checking Twitter. Checking Goodreads to see if that giveaway posted. Updating calendar. Wondering if you should do anything about the fact that your typing has just about worn the letter "V" off your keyboard. Marveling because you didn't think you used the letter "V" all that much.

Sometimes, you stare at the wall for an hour and come up with one sentence. Sometimes, it's even a good sentence.

Worry

2012-02-13T20:21:00.003-05:00

There's been plenty said about the uselessness and negativity of worry. But when a champion worrier tries to give it up, the mental conversation can go this way:

Self: All right, I'm going to let go of that anxiety. I can't control that event anyway.
Self: But if you stop worrying about it, how will you handle it if things go wrong? You have to be prepared!
Self: I am prepared. I know what I will do if things go wrong.
Self: But if you just go merrily living your life, this thing can come out of nowhere and blindside you. Misfortune loves to do that. It waits until you're all happy and looking in the other direction, and then--pow!
Self: Wait a minute. You think that if you sit here worrying about this thing and focusing on it, you can control how it goes, don't you?
Self: I also believe that if I stop concentrating for a minute on keeping aloft a plane in which I am a passenger, it will crash. Or at least hit bad turbulence. The kind where the plane falls a thousand feet in a couple of seconds and your stomach tries to jump out through the top of your skull?

One aspect of worry is this illusion that we can control things. And in the writing world, there's plenty to worry about. There are the craft issues (Will I ever finish this thing? Does it work? Will anyone else care?) and the market issues (Will someone else write the same idea, only better and sooner? Will this find an agent/editor/readership? Will it sell?) and the career issues (Will anyone read my next book? How many different kinds of tax forms are there, anyway? Will I earn out? Can I get those rights back?).

Worrying is sometimes like bargaining: If I put myself through this pain and anxiety, I will have paid my dues, and the way will be clear for good things to come. It can be weirdly comforting and familiar; it can be scary to let go of.

One of the most effective tools I've ever found for dropping worry is chasing it away with a laugh. (Hm, now I feel like I should close with a joke.) Do you have a good strategy for letting go of worry?

Authors on the town

2012-02-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

The other night I got to be on a panel with the authors of these books:

I thoroughly enjoyed the readings: mystery from Kate Ellison (The Butterfly Clues), dramatic humor (with an ostrich) from Maryrose Wood (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest), humor and romance from Madeleine George (The Difference Between You and Me), a soldier's struggle from Peter Lerangis (Somebody Please Tell Me Who I Am, written with Harry Mazer), humor and delusions of grandeur from Barnabas Miller (Rock God: The Legend of BJ Levine), and a peek inside an obsessive character from Carley Moore (The Stalker Chronicles).

During the Q&A session, a couple of questions came up, to which I've since thought up flippant answers:

Q (from a soon-to-be-published author): What can an author do to promote her book?

Actual, thoughtful answer given by panel: Do everything you can to get your name out there (signings, social networking, etc.), but accept that results are not guaranteed.

Flip, unhelpful answer I've thought up since: Be a celebrity to begin with. Like, if your name is Oprah Winfrey or Brad Pitt? That would be a very good start.

Q: So many of you on tonight's panel have contemporary realistic books. Does this signal a resurgence in contemporary YA lit?

Answer I wish I had given: YES! This is the hot new trend. Tell all your friends.

But in all seriousness, the evening reminded me what fun it is just to hang out in a room of readers and writers who share a common taste in books. So I encourage you to go to author and book events--not even necessarily my events, though I'd certainly be glad to see you! The other night, I got to see Kate Ellison's amazing hand-made earrings and hear some great new writing and share some laughs with other readers and writers. And we all enjoyed the able emceeing of Barry Lyga, who will be reading from his own work in an upcoming session at the NY Public Library this spring (Jefferson Market branch).

Hope to see you ... somewhere.

Carpe diem

2012-02-09T20:05:00.001-05:00

E Shakespear posted about seizing the day: "I need to look at my time and choose the best uses for it. I've been afraid to throw myself completely into this role. ... It's been easier to hide in a limbo world where I tell myself that I'm working on the book. ... I'm still working on it and it's a safe place to be. But I'm also not finishing the book and learning how to make it better. Years have gone by and I'm still just working on it."

And I flashed instantly to a pair of posts over on Wastepaper Prose (here and here) where S.F. Robertson asked several authors what they would change about their writing journey, if they could. The most common answer? I wish I had started earlier. Over and over, these writers said they wished they had let go of the fear, or made more time, or given themselves permission, sooner than they did.

Now, it's possible that we just don't start things until we're ready. Maybe it takes time for us to be ready. But there's an old song that has a line about how sometimes we live in chains without realizing that we already hold the key (Eagles, "Already Gone"). Sometimes we find ourselves waiting for permission when we don't need permission.

Life passes more quickly than we expect. And it seems to accelerate as we get older. So if there's something we've always wanted to do, it's okay to stop waiting and start doing ... now.

Inspiring words about not feeling inspired

2012-02-06T20:10:00.001-05:00

Laurel Garver has a fascinating post up about the less glamorous aspects of writing, about showing up even when it's not easy:
"According to Steven Pressfield in The War of Art, my best preparation for a writing career was having a string of really crappy jobs to put myself through school. Why? It's essential to learn to do what it takes to get to a larger goal."
(Do read her post at least long enough to get to the part about the giant Strawberry Shortcake foam head!)

And that reminded me of Kate Messner's recent post about writing even when we're not inspired:
"But if you want writing to be your job, you can’t really just wait around for those rare and sparkling moments."
"It’s okay if you don’t feel inspired to write. If you want to be a writer, just write anyway. It will work out."

And, in a similar vein, Nathan Bransford posted about returning to writing after a break:
"Remember, the first day back is just about getting back into it. It's not going to be your best day. It might not be fun. But you did it."

What these posts share is an acknowledgment of the work side of writing, the sheer perseverance necessary to get us through page after page, through all the setbacks and detours. The common message is: Show up. Even if your muse is sacked out elsewhere, snoring away, show up. Put something down on the page. It doesn't matter if it isn't great--you can fix it later.

I have to say, my worst day writing still beats my best day at my high-school-era job. Writing is fun, but it's also work. I don't sit down at my computer and have golden-winged faeries deliver my words gift-wrapped in glitter paper. It's true that writing is more like digging words out of the earth: it's uncertain, sweaty work, and the words need a lot of polishing before they're fit to be seen.

Reading silently, reading aloud

2012-02-05T20:22:00.002-05:00

I've heard it said that the real test of writing is reading it aloud, that writing (especially poetry) is meant to be read aloud, and that reading aloud is a good step during revision. And while I agree that sound can be an important part of the words we choose, I'm finally admitting that I don't fully agree with these oft-repeated pronouncements.

Writing may have evolved from oral story-telling traditions, but at the moment, the way most of us interact with text is by viewing it on a page or a screen. There is something about that silence, about the shape of the letters, about the white space, that is special to the visual sense. There are forms of wordplay involving words that sound alike but are spelled differently, which only work when you see them instead of hear them. And for all that poetry is said to be an oral form, concrete poetry and acrostics make the most sense when viewed.

As a reader, I also like being able to go at my own pace, to stop and think about certain sentences, to reread a line. I like being able to choose the inflections and decide how a character's voice sounds. This is all more difficult to do when listening to someone else read a text aloud.

I won't argue that picture books, plays, and screenplays are meant to be read aloud. And I won't argue that reading aloud any piece of writing can bring something extra to the table (an example that springs instantly to mind: David Sedaris reading his own essays). But I think visual silent reading is its own experience and no less valuable, and that some writing can actually cater to that experience.

I've been thinking about all this as I prepare to give a reading at the New York Public Library this week. I've decided on a scene with dialogue in it, because when I practiced the two scenes I was considering, this one just seemed a better choice for reading to an audience. (The other one I was considering was quieter, more descriptive.) It's like my experience as a concertgoer: for listening to something alone in my room, I may like a quiet, dark, or slow piece of music, but if I'm out there in a room full of people, I want something louder, faster, more upbeat.

A special day

2012-02-04T20:37:00.002-05:00

Publishing is a rough roller-coaster of a business. The external rewards are uncertain and capricious, and the best rewards are internal: the joy of writing a sentence that sings, for example. But every now and then, we get those rare days when everything comes together, outward and inward success. Days of celebration.

Thanks to the wonderful staff at Children's Book World, and the friends and readers who showed up or ordered books by phone, today was such a day. Try Not to Breathe was officially welcomed to the shelves, complete with an enthusiastic crowd and a cake with the book cover on it. This is my second published novel and the twenty-somethingth piece of writing I've published, but that thrill never gets old. I never take this for granted or get blase about seeing my book in a store.

Even more special to me is the fact that this book is about recovery from a suicide attempt. It's about putting one's life back together, about finding hope.

May your own dreams come true. And thanks for sharing this journey with me.

UnExpectations and News

2012-02-01T21:45:00.001-05:00

I've noticed that unhappiness often springs from the difference between what we have and what we think we are "supposed" to have. In recent years, I've gotten better at letting go of those expectations, especially when they're externally driven. If a dream is truly something we want, if it's internally driven, that's one thing ... but the other kind, the ones other people tell me I "should" want or "have to" have, are just so much useless baggage. And it's hard to fly when you're weighed down with baggage.

I am never going to care all that much about clothes and hair and makeup. It's a relief to admit that. I can admire other people who really know how to put together an outfit, but that isn't where I'm going to put my own energy. I'm "supposed" to want my own car, this being the automobile-centric US ... but my husband and I are the only single-car family on our block, and mostly I take the train and leave driving to him.

I think dandelions are beautiful. I like cheesy '70s pop songs. My maternal "biological clock" never kicked in. I don't drink alcohol or coffee. All these are things I used to feel weird about, as if I should apologize for being atypical. But the nice thing about getting older is that you no longer give a rat's kneecap about having different customs and preferences from those around you.

Yet the "shoulds" are insidious, and most writers know them. Your book should have more romance in it ... you should've gotten that award ... you should brand yourself ... you should write something more mainstream ... you should be writing one book a year ... you should be writing two books a year ... Here, too, we can cast off the expectations dictated by others. We can work toward what we truly want, and let go of the goals that represent only someone else's idea of what we should want.

I'll close with some links and news:

Shaun David Hutchinson, author of The Deathday Letter, launched an online book project today. At thedarkdays.com, he's doing a serial novel project, posting regular installments, which he describes as being like a TV show in that "once it’s out there, it’s out there. So if a character in an episode of your favorite TV show does or says something, the writers of the show have to honor that. Instead of being able to delete any inconsistencies or mistakes, writing this way will force me to work through any issues."

I'm the guest poster at Writers Read, talking about the books I've been reading, whose voice would not interfere with my own work in progress. Among the books discussed: Babbitt, The Dharma Bums, and Wendy and the Lost Boys.

On Wednesday, February 8, from 6 - 7:30 PM, I'll be part of a Teen Author Reading Night at the Jefferson Market Branch of the NY Public Library, corner of 6th Ave and 10th St. I'm excited to appear with Kate Ellison, Madeleine George, Peter Lerangis, Barnabus Miller, Carley Moore, and Maryrose Wood, on a panel hosted by Barry Lyga. If you're in NYC then and you're a YA fan, come check it out.

Finally, I've had some giveaways on this blog recently, and I wanted to formally announce the winners. My launch party giveaway ($150 to a library) was won by Tiff, and I ended up buying a nice pile o' books of her choice for the Pennsylvania school library where she works. The YA Hop giveaway was won by FireStar Books, whose book is in the mail. Thank you all for the lovely comments that were left on those posts--giveaways are the only time I don't respond individually to all comments. But I did read and enjoy them. :-)

You're invited

2012-01-30T19:38:00.003-05:00

You’re all invited to the launch party for Try Not to Breathe, this Saturday (Feb. 4) at Children’s Book World, Haverford, PA, from 1 to 3 PM. (For directions, go here.)

If you’d like a signed book but don’t live nearby, you can call the store at 610-642-6274 to order one.

There will be refreshments, and there will be a few other local authors in the house, who may be persuaded to sign their own books!

This book is about recovering from pain, about putting a life back together. It would mean a lot if you could celebrate with me. :-)

In case of snowy or icy weather, I’ll post alternate instructions here on my blog, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, all righty? Especially since it snowed during the launch party for my first book. I’ve paid my weather dues!

What editing is

2012-01-28T17:32:00.002-05:00

I often see misconceptions about what editing is. There's a tendency to associate it with proofreading or copy editing, which is the phase of editing that focuses on grammar, punctuation, spelling, basic consistency problems, word repetition, and the like. Copy editors know the difference between faze and phase. They know that you can't have two Saturdays in a row (unless that is one of the quirks of your invented world).

But this is not the whole world of editing--far from it. Applying only this layer of editing to a manuscript is like frosting a bowl of cake batter, instead of waiting for the cake to come out of the oven.

Editing is about looking at the manuscript on a global level as well. Does the pacing work, or does it drag in some places and race in others? Is there a central conflict, and is it resolved? Are there subplots, and do they relate to the central plot in a meaningful way, or are they just kind of stuck on as extras? Will readers become invested in these characters? Does the plot make sense; is it believable? Is there a theme or some answer to the "so what?" question? Is every scene necessary? Are we missing part of the story? And so on. This is the kind of editing that may result in adding or subtracting characters, moving scenes or chapters around, rewriting whole sections, chopping out other sections, adding scenes, introducing new events or deleting old ones. Yet a good editor doesn't impose a vision on a story, but rather suggests approaches that could enhance the author's vision. A good editor is open to the multiple approaches that an author can use in fixing a story.

I never hand in a manuscript until I'm confident in it, until it has no flaws that I can see. And then the editorial letter opens doors in my mind. What I thought was a smoothly painted surface turns out, on closer inspection, to have chips and scratches and uneven spots. And sometimes I realize that the whole wall would look better if painted a different shade.

YA Giveaway Hop

2012-01-26T19:47:00.001-05:00

This giveaway will run from now until January 31 (midnight EDT), as part of the Young Adult Giveaway Hop.

If you'd like a signed copy of Try Not to Breathe, just leave a comment below including a way to reach you. One entry per person.

Synopsis: In the summer after his suicide attempt, sixteen-year-old Ryan struggles with guilty secrets and befriends a girl who’s visiting psychics to try to reach her dead father. Young adult, contemporary.

Rules:
You must be at least 13 years old and able to receive mail in the US.
I reserve the right to pick another winner if the original winner does not claim the book, and to cancel the contest if backup winner fails to claim the prize.
One comment per person. Winner will be selected randomly from the entries received on or before midnight EDT on January 31 (i.e., the minute February 1 starts).
I reserve the right to cancel the contest if technical difficulties (e.g., caused by internet or software failures) interfere with my ability to receive and track the entries.
Other blogs giving away free stuff this weekend:

Bookish bits

2012-01-26T19:31:00.002-05:00

I have many nuggets to share with you today:

In a must-read for any introverted writer who does public appearances, Jim Hines discusses the disorienting second-guessing and fatigue that can follow. Judging by the comment thread (which is also a must-read), a LOT of us do this: blurt, feel awkward, wonder how we come across. My take-home conclusion is that most people will never notice your awkward statement because they're too busy cringing over their own awkward statements.

When I recently recommended David Levithan's The Lover's Dictionary, I forgot to include this quote from the book, which I suspect will resonate with many writers:

But no matter how I try, I still can't write in my journal when you're in the room. It's not even that I'm writing about you ... I just need to know that nobody's reading over my shoulder, about to ask me what I'm writing. I want to sequester this one part of me from everyone else.

Speaking of quotes, I also liked this one from Matt Norman in an interview at Three Guys One Book:

I think the difficulty [of writing a second book] comes from being reminded ... of how horrible and agonizing first drafts are. By the time your first novel comes out, it exists in your mind as this completed, fully polished thing, and so you fool yourself into thinking that the next one should come out like that, too. Artistic amnesia somehow makes you forget that before your first novel was sitting on the NEW FICTION shelf at a bookstore, it was an aimless train wreck of a Microsoft Word document that kept you up at night wishing you’d gotten a degree in accounting.

And now for some comic relief: My books tend to be on the serious side (although not without some humor and hope). So just to change things up, I thought it would be fun to write a silly guest post for Jon Gibbs. The topic is "You may be a writer if ..." and includes such symptoms as, "You find yourself correcting the grammar and punctuation on signs, in song lyrics, and in advertisements." If you click over there, enjoy!

Now, for your chance at some free stuff:

The charming Tracy D. is giving away a finished copy of Try Not to Breathe. I don't know whether to be more flattered by the fact that she purchased a copy to give away, or by the comparison to Ordinary People, but I'm thankful for both.

In other giveaway news, Fire and Ice is giving away an advance copy of Try Not to Breathe (with the earlier cover).

I'll also be giving away a copy of my latest book on this blog this weekend.

The Truth

2012-01-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

Jo Knowles just blogged at engchat about a topic that's been on my mind since Try Not to Breathe came out--since before it came out, actually. Even though people know that novelists are writing fiction, i.e., stories that are not literally true, we seem to have a great hunger to know how much of a novel is based on true-life experience. As a reader, I know that hunger; I've felt it myself. We ask questions such as, This person who writes about the Gobi desert so evocatively ... has she ever really been there? And Jo points out another reason readers may be curious: because if the book tells the story of a problem they've lived through, they feel a connection with the teller of that story and want to know, Can I trust this connection? Is it real?

Try Not to Breathe is the story of a boy's recovery from a suicide attempt, and his friendship with a girl who is seeking answers about her father's suicide. It is not my--or anyone's--literal life story. But the book was informed by my experiences living in this world, as well as by research. I made every word of the book as true and authentic as I could. Not at the surface level, with biographical facts about real people. But true on a deeper level. I used imaginary characters and an invented plotline to convey things I know and feel to be true, emotionally true, about life.

I suspect that some people who find this book may read it because they are thinking about, or have thought about, suicide. And I urge anyone thinking that way to reach out for help, at once. (One source of help: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK).)

For me, Try Not to Breathe is more about life and hope than anything else. That's the reality.

The Lover's Dictionary

2012-01-22T19:49:00.002-05:00

My friend Kelly Fineman recommended this book to me first, and then I heard good things about it from a few other sources. Now that I've finally read it, I can officially say, Good call, Kelly.

The Lover's Dictionary, by David Levithan, is a novel written in the form of dictionary entries. The dictionary entries are like little prose poems or pieces of connected flash fiction, all of which relate to the main characters' love story. They capture the full sweep of a romantic relationship, from the good:

"It was welcome, so welcome, and in my rush to say that I loved you, too, I left the television on, I let that light bathe us for a little longer, as I returned to the couch, to you. We held there for awhile, not really sure what would happen next."

to the bad:

"I would be standing right there, and you would walk out of the bathroom without putting the cap back on the toothpaste."

to the really ugly:

"It was the way you said, 'I have something to tell you.' I could feel the magic drain from the room."

I love the way the entries cover the full spectrum of a relationship's big and small moments: the giddiness of new love; the uncertainty of wondering whether it will last; the awkwardness of meeting each other's families; the quiet times throughout a relationship when love renews itself; the picky little idiosyncrasies through which lovers annoy each other; the joy of sharing inside jokes; the devastating times when the whole relationship is at risk of collapsing.

For writers, it's also a good example of an unusual format, and an effective use of second person.

Readers and writers

2012-01-20T21:22:00.003-05:00

When I came across this post at Three Guys One Book, the other day, these things especially struck me:

Wow, The Lights in the Tunnel has one freaky mesmerizing cover.

Interesting thesis about technology and employment. Does technology just change work, or does it actually reduce the amount of available work?

But my favorite part of the blog post is the third section, where Dennis Haritou gets into the concept of the intimate connection that happens between writer and reader. And these quotations ring especially true to me:

"I think that every writer is two persons. The writer creates a second identity for themselves when they create novels."
"Readers and writers need each other. They need to share the creative force that is the act of writing."

It's what I love about being a writer, and being a reader.

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-18T21:06:00.000-05:00

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thursday.

I'm thankful for the support of readers and fellow writers, who do stuff like this:

That's Michelle Davidson Argyle, a Utah writer who took the time to get this photo of my first book in the wild and send it to me. It knocks me out that people do stuff like this. I'm thankful for every email and tweet and blog comment.

I'm thankful for the support of family, friends, and fellow writers who have listened to me whine about how hard it is to write a book, and who celebrate with me when things go well. I'm thankful for the writers whose work inspires me.

I'm thankful for the hard work done by my publisher and agency and booksellers and librarians to bring my stories to readers.

I'm thankful for my husband, who is the chief enabler of my writing habit.

I'm thankful that stories come to my brain, whether or not they ever get published or even finished. I'm thankful for the joy of writing.

I'm thankful that this January 19, a story that haunted me for months will finally be out in the world:

(And for your chance to win a copy, along with money for your local library, see my earlier blog post.)

I'm thankful for every one of you reading this.

Online launch party: Library love for you

2012-01-16T19:30:00.001-05:00

I have something to celebrate this week, and I like to celebrate by giving stuff away. In the past, I've often marked writerly milestones by donating money to my local library (e.g., in comment challenges). This time around, I thought: I'd like to help your local library. (No offense to my library, which is lovely and will be getting some support from me later this year, as usual.)

To celebrate the launch of my second novel this Thursday, January 19, I'll be accepting comments on both of my blogs (LiveJournal and Blogger) all week on this post. Just leave a comment with a way to contact you by Friday night at 9 PM EST. I'll select a commenter at random to receive a $150 donation to your local library (or Friends of the Library, or literacy-related charity such as RIF). Also, the commenter will receive a signed copy of my book. More detailed rules are below. Also to celebrate: bookmarks for all! Just send an email to jennifer[at]jenniferhubbard[dot]com if you'd like a bookmark (rules on that below, too).

About Try Not to Breathe, a YA novel published by Viking (Penguin): In the summer after his suicide attempt, sixteen-year-old Ryan struggles with guilty secrets and befriends a girl who’s visiting psychics to try to reach her dead father.

I wrote this book because I wanted to focus on recovery from a suicide attempt. What happens when someone steps back from that brink? How does he put his life back together? And so, while I certainly explore the darkness my character has walked through that brought him to that point, I see this book mostly as a story of learning how to live.

If you'd like a more detailed discussion of it, see this analysis by Susan Carpenter of the Los Angeles Times.

Giveaway rules behind the cut:
Bookmark requesters and giveaway entrants must be at least 13 years old. Giveaway entrants must be able to receive mail in the US or Canada.
Winner will be randomly selected from the entries on both blogs, from comments left by 9 PM EST on Friday, January 20. If the winner does not claim the prize within a week, I reserve the right to select another winner or to cancel the giveaway. I reserve the right to cancel the giveaway in the event of computer or software glitches that interfere with it, or for any reason.
One entry per person.
Spam comments will not be eligible; I am the final arbiter of what constitutes spam.
The winning library or charity must be able to receive a donation of $150 US dollars by credit card or check. If the winner's library cannot do this, winner will be able to select another library or charity, unless and until a satisfactory recipient cannot be found.
I will be the final arbiter of what constitutes an eligible library or charity.

A writer goes to the bookstore

2012-01-14T21:01:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, I went book shopping, to use a gift card I'd gotten over the holidays. Browsing the shelves made me so happy, as did carrying home my selections.

I had heard that becoming a published author can ruin the bookstore experience. That authors can get upset if their books aren't stocked, and upset if they're stocked but are buried spine-out on a bottom shelf. The first few weeks after my book came out, I did have the weird sensation of blushing every time I crossed a bookstore threshold, as if spotlights were going to follow me while a loudspeaker blared: "THAT WOMAN IN AISLE 3 IS AN AUTHOR! SHE IS GOING TO CHECK AND SEE IF HER BOOK IS HERE! ISN'T THAT PATHETIC? AND CAN YOU BELIEVE SHE LEFT THE HOUSE IN THOSE PANTS?!"

I'll be honest: I still do get a little blush-y if my book is there, and a little stomach-drop if it's not. But mostly, bookstores are still the places they always were: some of my favorite places on earth. I am, first and foremost, a reader. I'm still in love with the written word, and with other people's books.

Encouragement

2012-01-12T18:57:00.001-05:00

In reading Julie Salamon's biography of Wendy Wasserstein, Wendy and the Lost Boys, I came across this:

"[Joseph] Heller gave Wendy something more important, perhaps, than any single lesson he might have imparted in class or perceptive comment he might have scribbled on a paper. He made her feel that she had something special to offer. This endorsement was a powerful antidote to the sense of failure that weighed on her ..."

I've seen this idea expressed over and over in writer's-journey stories, and I imagine it's common in the wider range of success stories as well. So many of us have gotten a boost to our spirits from someone who said, "I believe in you. You have what it takes."

Constructive criticism is valuable. But we also need our mentors, our cheerleaders, the people who stick by us when the going gets tough and we don't know if we can keep going.

Some days, a well-timed compliment works wonders.

Choices

2012-01-10T20:59:00.003-05:00

Stories are rich in choices. Here I'm referring to characters' choices, although certainly writers face many choices as they construct a story.

Choices carry natural suspense and tension--they should create uncertainty, and yet their outcome should feel "right" and believable. Here are some examples of central choices in YA books:

Braless in Wonderland, by Debbie Reed Fischer: Should Allee go to college right away as she has always planned, or take a detour to pursue modeling offers, which will allow her to travel?

Bunheads, by Sophie Flack: Is Hannah satisfied with focusing single-mindedly on her dance career just when she is starting to see success, or does she want to have time and energy to explore other interests?

The Day Before, by Lisa Schroeder: Should Cade and Amber follow through with life-changing obligations, or escape and keep their current lives intact?

The love triangle is a classic example of a choice often found in books. Then there are, in the most extreme examples of choice, the life-or-death decisions such as those in Unwind (Neal Shusterman), Crash Into Me (Albert Borris), and The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins).

I've been thinking about choices because I have a two-part short story in the January and February issues of Cricket Magazine. (You can read a summary of the January issue here--my story is the one about Everest.) Central to that story is the main character's choice of whether to pursue his dreams, even if it means defying his mother and taking risks--and his mother's choice of how much to allow him to do. I struggled with the ending to the story and initially left it much more open-ended, but the editor encouraged me to take the next step, to follow through, to document the characters' decisions. And so I made a choice that was, for me, almost as scary as the characters'.

As a writer, choice can be scary because we risk disappointing some readers. If the two possibilities are equally compelling, then the road not taken will have fans (notice how the participants in love triangles even have "teams" rooting for each of them?). But that can be positive, too. I think there's value in allowing readers to ask, "What would have happened if the character had chosen the other option?"

The Second Book

2012-01-08T13:54:00.001-05:00

Throughout 2011, I posted a series of authors' "second book" stories on this blog. I was fascinated by the process of writing a second book, partly because I had just written mine, partly because sophomore books tend to be written under a very different set of circumstances from debut books. I would like to thank, once more, those authors who shared their stories: Caragh M. O'Brien, Saundra Mitchell, Rosanne Parry, Leah Cypess, Marie Lamba, E.F. (Eileen) Watkins, Ellen Jensen Abbott, Greg Fishbone, Lauren Bjorkman, and M. Flagg. Every author had unique challenges, joys, and perspectives, just as every author seemed to feel both the pressures and the opportunities present in the sophomore novel.

And here, with my second book launching in less than two weeks, I thought I would share my own second-book story.

I alternated writing The Secret Year with another manuscript, which I'll refer to here as "Problem Child," because if our books are like children, that manuscript was certainly my problem child. Problem Child had a narrator I loved and a central conflict that I thought was very important. It also had a setting based on a place in which I lived for eight years, a setting I knew very well and haven't seen much of in YA literature. Anyway, when I got stuck with The Secret Year I would work on Problem Child for a while, and vice versa. There were times during this period that I thought Problem Child would be finished first, and it might be my first novel. But it was The Secret Year that took wing, found me an agent, and got me a book deal.

I thought I had the second-book problem covered: I had a manuscript that was very far along, after all. Problem Child had already been through countless drafts and revisions. I sent it to my agent, who had comments--comments I agreed with, by and large, because something about the book still didn't feel exactly right. In revising the book, I decided I had overwritten it during all those rewritings, and I pared it down to what I thought were the most interesting parts. I did wonder if that made the book too thin, even skeletal, but by this time I had lost all perspective on it. My agent thought that hacking the novel to the bone did indeed make it too thin. I was bored with the book because I knew every word in it by heart, but readers would need more meat.

I tackled Problem Child once again. At the same time, a New Idea came to me, and I wrote a draft of New Idea very quickly, in between toiling on drafts of Problem Child. At about this time, when my agent and I were discussing when we might want to submit Problem Child (assuming I could ever get it in good enough shape), I told him about New Idea. I had been wondering how Problem Child would be received by readers of The Secret Year; New Idea seemed a much more natural follow-up. I did not tell my agent this, just summarized New Idea for him, and he asked how I would feel about working on New Idea to get into submittable shape, and put Problem Child third in the rotation. In other words, he independently came to the same conclusion I had.

I was relieved, then excited. I loved New Idea, and the thought of working on Problem Child any more made we want to puke. New Idea had its own momentum; it was a story I'd had in the back of my head for years, and it came roaring out as if it knew it needed to be the next book. New Idea became a book called Try Not to Breathe, and it comes out this month.

And what of Problem Child? One reason I didn't give up on it sooner was that something about it kept nagging at me, kept wanting to be told. After I finished Try Not to Breathe, I worked on it a bit more, to see what was there, and I reached the point where I've finally written it out of my system. It's a decent book, but it's not in the same league as The Secret Year or Try Not to Breathe, and I don't want it out there with my name on it. I've tried to figure out why it doesn't quite work. One of my critiquers says the setting doesn't feel believable, which is funny because, as I said, I lived in that setting. But since I didn't live there as a high schooler, maybe that's the trouble. There's one character in particular, the main antagonist, who I worry about "othering" on one hand, or making too sympathetic on the other. I also think I may have married this setting to the wrong plot; perhaps I will use this setting in a different work, and I will use this plot with different characters. I've come to recognize that the character of Nicki in Try Not to Breathe is very much like a character in Problem Child, so you could say I've already started mining Problem Child for its best aspects, to use in other stories. Our story ideas aren't really dead until we're dead, so there's also a chance I will someday have the Eureka moment on how to fix Problem Child, and will return to it and revise it one last time. For now it's on the shelf, along with other manuscripts I attempted before The Secret Year, and I am quite happy to leave it there.

So in some ways, my second book was impossibly difficult (Problem Child). In other ways, it was incredibly smooth and quick (Try Not to Breathe). Try Not to Breathe is the book that almost wrote itself. I put in plenty of hours on it, and in the early drafts I wandered around for a while in some early chapters that ended up getting cut, and I had to make a couple of big changes during revision. But overall, the story and the characters had a strength and a life that made them impossible for me to ignore. This is the book I can stand behind.

Time management

2012-01-06T21:28:00.003-05:00

Recently, there was a month called December. I'm pretty sure it lasted 31 whole days, but to me it was an eye-blink.

I had a few things going on: major work on a current manuscript, preparation for an upcoming book launch (featured on Eve's Fan Garden this week, including a giveaway), and celebrating holidays with my family. Also, I have a day job.

There came a point where I had to say no to anything new. There were opportunities I would've liked to take, things I would have liked to do, people I would have liked to get to know better, but I literally didn't have the time or energy. I had reached my limit, and rather than exceed that limit, I said no.

It's hard not to feel guilty about this, but in December, I really didn't have a choice. It was a matter of survival.

I bring this up because I've heard Laurie Halse Anderson speak about the need to say no, to understand that we can't do everything all the time. I have called her speech to mind many times as I juggled my workload--and as I took necessary breaks, such as watching a movie with my husband on New Year's Eve. I remember that as I plan out my nearly-as-busy January.

So for anyone out there who feels as if they're struggling with too many tasks, too many obligations, I pass along the message: It's okay to say no. It's okay to take the phone off the hook (or send the calls straight to Voice Mail, to update that saying a bit!). It's not too much to ask that you get to sleep, to shower, to see your children before they grow up. And to write that story that's been sitting in your brain all this time, waiting.

Challenge

2012-01-04T21:46:00.005-05:00

The Golden Eagle posted an excerpt from Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange the other day, and it got me thinking. I love A Clockwork Orange, but Burgess plays with language in a way that takes a while to get. I always find that after a couple of pages, I get into the language as if it's my native tongue, but there is that discomfort and confusion at the beginning: "Rassoodocks?" "Mesto?" "Moloko?" What language is this? What is this guy talking about? (Spellcheck doesn't like those words either, I notice as I type them!)

Books like this require a reader to do some work, make an investment, trust the author. Not every reader is willing to do that.There are readers who hunger for experimental works, who love that challenge, but they will always be a subset of the audience. And so, as a writer, it's safer to write a very accessible, traditional text.

And yet, as a reader, I find that experimental works often give me the biggest payoff. A Clockwork Orange, for instance.

I wrote short stories for years, and I didn't distort the traditional story-telling style at first. There were so many stories I wanted to tell, and so much to learn about telling them! It took a few years before I wanted to fool around with form. First I nibbled a bit: Very short stories. Very long stories. Stories in the second person. Then I grew a bit more daring: Cut-line prose. Stories that mimicked other forms of writing. Repetitive lines. A vague narrator whose identity was open to reader interpretation. Invented language.

I've been taking the same journey in novels. I'm still writing traditionally, but I'm toying with the idea of playing with form a bit more in some future project. The digital world will probably open up all sorts of possibilities: ways to integrate words with pictures, sound, video; ways to change the linear flow of a story; etc., etc. But I don't want to be gimmicky about it. I want the form to mean something to the story; I want that form to be the best way to tell that story.

In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess didn't invent a lot of words just to try to be cute, or clever, or obscure. He skewed the language for a reason, and he chose to base his language on Russian for a reason.

As a reader or a writer, sometimes a challenge can be fun.

Source of recommended read: one copy bought, one received as a gift

The role of work, and some recommended reads

2012-01-02T15:53:00.003-05:00

It's a day to be chock full of linky goodness. And riboflavin. (Assuming I can find some riboflavin hanging around here.)

My first link is to Natalie Whipple's post on the role work plays in our writing life. Sometimes we get so caught up in thinking about talent and luck and the actions of others--all the things we can't control--that we forget the part we can control: the work. The practice, the trial and error, the sheer hours and sweat we can put in. As Natalie writes: "Lots of people tell me I'm talented at certain things now, but I know the truth and am mostly proud of that truth. There was very little talent involved ... If I want to be good at something, the only way for me to get it is through hard work and endurance."

Interestingly, I encountered that same idea in another place just this past week, when I finally got around to reading the highly recommended MG novel A Crooked Kind of Perfect (Linda Urban). The main character, Zoe, wants to be a musical prodigy. But music doesn't come easy to her, and she decides she might as well quit. Then she hears a radio interview of a young musician who plays beautifully ... as a result of practicing four hours a day. Zoe says, "Who knew you'd have to work four hours a day to make something sound so easy?"

Switching gears here ... I was thrilled to be able to blog for NPR about one of my all-time favorite YA novels. I love NPR, and I love Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (as longtime readers of this blog already know). I blogged for the feature called "My Guilty Pleasure," but honestly, I don't feel all that guilty about loving that book. ;-)

Finally, I'll note that the "Eve's Fan Garden" site is featuring my upcoming novel, Try Not to Breathe, as the book of the week. There are several features, including a giveaway, so check that out if you're interested.

My kind of celebration

2011-12-31T20:37:00.001-05:00

I've been leaving New Year's wishes in the comments section on various blogs, but by now I can't remember which ones, so to all of you: Happy New Year!!!

I never really enjoyed going out on New Year's Eve. It always seemed like we were supposed to be having a better time than we actually had, I never felt different at 12:01 from the way I felt at 11:59, and I was always scared to be out on the roads with drunk drivers. And so, years ago, I began the tradition of allowing myself to do what I really like to do, which is: stay in, enjoy the final days of the Christmas tree, maybe watch some TV, maybe write.

May you enjoy your celebration, whether it's quiet like mine, or flashier and full of confetti!

I'm sorry that I can't remember where I initially saw the link to this, but I'm bringing it up because it amuses me to comment on Lake Superior State University's 2012 List of Banished Words, i.e.,words that people think are overused, misused, or otherwise abused. And opinions, I do have them:

"Amazing?" I get why people chose this one, but I don't agree. I realize its overuse has changed its meaning somewhat, but that doesn't bother me. It's a handy all-purpose sign of approval.

"Baby bump:" I do agree with this one. There is something so cutesy-wootsie about the phrase that I get a little sick whenever I hear it.

"Shared sacrifice" and "Win the future:" Oh yes, a thousand times yes. In fact, it would be a safe bet to just put every phrase uttered by politicians on this list.

"Trickeration?" I've never heard this word used by anyone.

"Ginormous:" Sorry, Lake Superior State U., but I LOVE this word. It's the perfect portmanteau.

And so I end 2011 as I began it: full of word geekery. Of which we can never have too much, IMHO.

The dance of avoidance

2011-12-28T19:26:00.002-05:00

People often skirt around issues, protect themselves or others, sugarcoat things, fool themselves. Therefore, this is realistic when done by fictional characters, but avoidance can become a bit of a well-worn path. Writers have to be careful about not making characters dance this dance for too long, just for the sake of filling up pages.

Sometimes it's fun to let the characters go ahead and make that declaration, step off that cliff, say the thing we all know they're thinking--but thought they wouldn't dare to say. It can set up subplots and interim conflicts, give us something to do on the way to the main event.

Such moments have to fit the character, of course. There should be a motivation and a reason. But this is one way to break a pattern if the writing begins to feel predictable or formulaic: don't let the character wriggle out of this scene without taking a risk.

A writer's path

2011-12-26T17:30:00.004-05:00

One of my former poetry teachers, Deborah Fries, was interviewed at Kelcey Parker's blog, "PhD in Creative Writing & Other Stories," as part of a "How to become a writer" series. It's worth reading if you, like me, enjoy reading about the different paths writers take, or if you're looking for writerly advice.

A sampling:

On finding the right mentor at the right time: " ... if it had not been for Dave [Smith]’s sincere interest in my manuscript at that moment in my life, I might have given up."

On the unflappability of Grace Paley: " ... in the middle of her reading, a tooth – a removable one – came out, and she looked at it, put it aside on the podium and continued reading."

On becoming a writer: "I’d tell [an aspiring writer] rejection is meaningless, and that if you write something you wouldn’t want your mother to read, it will probably get published."

'Tis the season

2011-12-22T18:46:00.002-05:00

Thank you to everyone who commented on my LJ or Blogger posts for the Heifer International challenge. Your comments spurred my donation of $55; I chose the category "give where most needed."

Wishing you joy and comfort this holiday season, whatever you most need. I'll be back to blogging again in a few days.

Practical dreams

2011-12-21T16:39:00.006-05:00

I've seen a couple of blog posts lately that talk--brilliantly, sensibly, and with feeling--about some of the issues writers deal with post-publication.

First there's Jody Hedlund on the post-publication "identity crisis." A sample: "But I’ve also realized that the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the published author side. ... The hoopla never lasts very long. And I’m still just an ordinary person."

In her post, Jody refers to one by Elana Johnson on the post-publication reality check. A sample: "POSSESSION is not an important novel that is nominated for multiple--or any--awards, and it is not a Best Book of Anything.
I feel foolish for hoping for such things, or worse, expecting them.
And I feel foolish for allowing any of the above to make me feel anything but grateful and satisfied.
Because ... I wrote and published a novel."

Then there's Michelle Davidson Argyle's approach to handling reviews. "... I have to constantly remind myself that my writing is not up for negotiation from me. I've put it out into the world because I want to share it - and at that point, I have no control over that piece of art anymore."

I don't know about you, but for me, reality checks like these tend to be comforting. The bottom line is that publishing a book is like anything else--it brings new sources of pain along with new sources of joy. The reality is that most of us will write midlist books, and most of us will not win the Nobel Prize for literature, and most of us will not follow in Shakespeare's footsteps and still have people reading our work 400 years after we wrote it. Knowing all that ... would I encourage writers to dream smaller?

No, I would not.

I would encourage writers not to get their identity and self-esteem all bound up in the external success of a book. But I suspect everyone dreams big things for a book--even if only for a teeny tiny moment--and why not? We do our best and put our words out there, and then we have no control over what happens. Some of it will be disappointing. Some of it will be wonderful. Both are true, and even accepting the bitter with the sweet, I would not trade this life for any other.

On a different note of both inspiration and practicality, once again I'm joining the blog challenge to raise money for Heifer International, started by Nathan Bransford. Because of my schedule, my challenge will only run for about a day, so I'll donate $5 to Heifer Intl. for every commenter on this blog post (at either LiveJournal or Blogger) by 6 PM EST on Thursday, December 22. If you want even more money to go to Heifer, you can then hop over to Nathan's blog and comment there.
ETA: My challenge now closed: 11 comments total on these posts = $55 for Heifer!

When the villain outshines the hero

2011-12-19T19:19:00.002-05:00

Ideally, readers will prefer our protagonists to our villains. But I would bet we've all found a book or two where the opposite was true, where we ended up rooting for the villain to beat the hero.

By thinking about the characteristics of books where I prefer the antagonist, I've come up with some possible fixes for this problem:

--Don't let the antagonist have all the best lines, especially the funny ones. If anyone in the book has a sense of humor, let the main character have one.

--Make the protagonist earn his status. Things shouldn't come too easily or seem unmerited. If he's had to sweat or sacrifice to get where he is, we'll usually have more sympathy for him.

--Let the main character be vulnerable. If she's always on top of things, if she always knows what to do, we won't worry much about whether she can succeed, and we won't be nearly as invested in her struggle. It's also good if the main character is nice to others, or nice to at least one other person (or even a pet!). I recall one book where the supposed hero was cold to everyone, and by the end of the book I really didn't care whether he survived.

--Similarly, let the protagonist have flaws. If she's too perfect, too good to be true, she loses believability. Who can relate to a character who never makes a mistake?

--This one may seem counterintuitive, but don't make the villain too bad. When I feel that the author has stacked the deck too unfairly against the villain, piling one negative on top of another, I start to feel some sympathy for the antagonist. "Gee, he's really getting a raw deal--he hasn't had a single break! No wonder he acts the way he does," I end up thinking. People have an inherent sense of fairness, and if an author seems to violate that by over-punishing the villain, it can backfire.

You'll notice that most of these suggestions revolve around shoring up the protagonist rather than tearing down the villain. That's because I believe that a strong, even sympathetic, antagonist is actually a plus. I would rather see a weak protagonist strengthened, so that there are two strong characters.

11 Reasons to Give Books as Gifts

2011-12-18T16:01:00.000-05:00

1. They are easy to wrap!
2. They aren't that expensive. Especially compared to all the diamonds and cars and flat-screen TVs you see advertised as gift ideas.
3. They are awesome!
4. With their purchase you are supporting authors, editors, booksellers, illustrators and designers.
5. If it's that kind of relationship, you can write a treasured handwritten note on the flyleaf, which people who find the book generations from now will wonder about.
6a. You know that wonderful book you love and want the whole world to read? Now you can force it on people!
OR
6b. You can give the person a book you know s/he's always wanted but hasn't gotten around to buying yet.
7. Books are a way to travel without going anywhere, a chance to live many lives in one.
8. There are no commercial breaks.
9. They often have sentimental value.
10. If it's a book you've read, and the recipient reads it, then you get to have a conversation about it.
11. Parents will appreciate this: They require no assembly or batteries, and they don't beep or squawk or whistle.

(I realize some of these items apply only to paper books, but most apply to e-books as well!)

And if you're really stuck for book gift ideas, or you want to pair a book with another gift or give a book-themed gift, check out MotherReader's 150 Ways to Give a Book.

That elusive something special

2011-12-16T15:47:00.000-05:00

Shameless plug of the day: The Secret Year is finally available on Kindle. And now for the writing:

I love this post by Cheryl Renee Herbsman (on YA Outside the Lines) about goals. She writes, "After my debut, Breathing, became a book, I got lost in trying to understand which elements led to its publication and in trying to figure out how to reproduce them." And I know that temptation. The interesting thing is, the reason for a book's success can be almost impossible to identify; even the readers who love it may not be able to articulate exactly why. And readers disagree: for example, two readers may adore a book while one of them hates the main character's love interest and the other thinks the love interest is perfectly wonderful.

I don't mean that we can't work on our craft, or address obvious problems in our work (chances are, if we're bored with chapter three, readers will be too). I just mean that formulas for success are elusive, and writing by formula can take the soul out of a project. Sometimes it's a quirk of voice or character development, or it's the unexpected, or the deeply honest vein in a book, that make it soar and sing and resonate with readers. Sometimes what we need to chase is not the hook that we think will bring external validation, but a deeper truth in need of expression. (And incidentally and ironically, those deeper truths often prove to have universal appeal with readers.)

As Cheryl writes: "It's about trusting life more, not fighting windmills, not pushing through closed doors. It's about moving forward in my own way, at my own pace. ... It's about writing what my soul needs to write."

What she said.

Holiday sparks

2011-12-14T19:51:00.002-05:00

Holiday times are usually rich in memories, each of which could be the jumping-off point for a story. A thousand remembered details tumble around in the attic of my mind:

The Advent season when I was an acolyte at church and had to light all four candles on the Advent wreath, which was suspended from a chain well above my head (it's not easy to light candles when you can't even see the wicks, and what would possess a church with child acolytes to suspend the Advent wreath eight feet in the air?).
The Christmas morning we woke to a last-minute snowstorm that granted our "white Christmas" wishes.
The Christmas I had scarlet fever.
The heart-shaped tree ornament I embroidered in 4-H.
The year I got a handmade wooden dollhouse (since handed down to my niece).
The year we had a sleetstorm and I played Trivial Pursuit with my mother and grandmother, and we all ended up laughing hysterically at our wild guesses for the answers we didn't know.
The rich spread my great-grandmother always put out on Christmas Eve, and her squeeze-the-life-out-of-you-but-in-a-goo

d-way hugs.
The look of blue light strings reflecting off snow.
The year I had an operation, and my then-boyfriend drove me from Philadelphia to my parents' house in New England in a car with a dead heater, and then drove back to Philadelphia to celebrate the holiday with his son, and then back up to New England again so I wouldn't pop my stitches trying to lug a suitcase home on the train. (Yeah, I ended up marrying him!)

Do you have memories that could serve as writing prompts?

Giving and learning

2011-12-12T19:52:00.005-05:00

I'm so glad I asked people to share a holiday wish on my last giveaway. There was something really heartening about reading all those good wishes. People are hoping for a whole host of things, from good books to good times with families. They're looking for acceptance, success, kindness, tolerance, respect. They're wishing for cures for diseases like cancer and mental illness. They wish food, shelter, and safety for all. And, as Kare said, "for people to be able to see the amazing inside them." I wish all that and more for everyone!

And by the way, Chey won that giveaway. But if you still want a copy, there is another giveaway of Try Not to Breathe going on right now at Nathan Bransford's blog. Nathan, who was my agent at the time I wrote the book, describes a bit of the behind-the-scenes process for this book. And he should know: he had a significant role as the alpha reader and primary critiquer for the project. Try Not to Breathe was not the book that I originally intended to be my second published novel. It was, instead, the project that muscled aside a work-in-progress and told me, "I'm your next book, like it or not."

And as long as I'm doing links, here's a link to the announcement that one of my favorite literary magazines (One Story) is launching a version to feature one of my favorite genres (YA). It's the birth of One Teen Story!

Finally, a writing-craft link: Jeannine Atkins gets all brilliant about how writers can't act like mother hens toward characters: "Our characters should get in trouble. They should stumble all over themselves, collide into bad decisions and traps."

Good guys and bad guys

2011-12-11T16:56:00.001-05:00

In an interview with Meg Storey recorded in Tin House No. 44 (Volume 11, Number 4), Etgar Keret says (p. 41):

"And when there is a system in which there are good guys and bad guys, and the good guys win, this is something that has no moral message at all. Because we all identify with the good guys, we all see ourselves as good guys, which means that when the good guys kill the bad guy we say, 'That's okay because it was a bad guy.' And when we kill our next-door neighbor we say, 'It's okay because he's the bad guy.' .... Nothing moral exists in a simple environment; a moral dilemma can only exist in a place where there is ambiguity."

He was actually using the TV show The Wire as an example of art that successfully uses this ambiguity to make a point. But this quote struck me because I've always preferred to write about characters who are not purely good or purely evil, but a mixture of both. Most people are heroes in their own minds, and even a villainous character will have some redeeming qualities. To me, the most interesting protagonist is not a good guy who must vanquish a bad guy, but someone whose inner good guy is battling with his inner bad guy, and he must decide which to be at every important moment in life. As Keret points out, someone who's good from start to finish never has to make that choice.

The good character/bad character setup has been used in many successful stories for generations, so I'm not going to say that it can't work. But as Keret points out, there's another way to deal with conflict and character.

Yes, Computer, I really want to spell it that way

2011-12-09T20:54:00.001-05:00

I'm at an age where I've been able to see great changes in the technology of writing. I wrote first in longhand on paper, and typed my finished manuscripts on a manual typewriter. Then, briefly, I used an electric typewriter. Then a word processor. Then a computer. Then I went from just revising on the computer to composing on it as well. And all this change didn't occur over a huge span of time. We're talking two-three decades, max.

For most of the time, I could put what I wanted on the page wherever I wanted it. I could add things, cut and paste, rearrange, insert, delete. I could write things just as they occurred to me, sticking them wherever I thought they belonged.

But something has happened in recent years. Word-processing software has gotten "smarter." I put "smarter" in quotes because to me it's code for "annoyingly aggressive and overbearing." It drives me crazy when I want to type "(c)" and my computer changes it to a copyright symbol, and I have to spend 20 minutes hunting for a way to undo that. Or when I type "pH" and the computer changes it to "Ph." Or when I put the word "coulda" in a character's mouth, and the computer flags it as not a word. Most of all, I hate it when I'm making a list and the computer puts the bullets or the numbers where it wants instead of where I want. And don't get me started on the crazy changes that happen when I cut and paste from one file to another.

Many of these features can be turned off, but I'm also annoyed that I have to do that, that they're all turned on by default and I have to click through menus and help pages for hours to figure out how to give me the sweet blank canvas that I really want. All of those changes interfere with my writing; they don't enhance it.

My understanding is that for e-publishing, you have to use certain features of word-processing programs in certain ways, or the formatting gets messed up. It makes me wonder if writers will (or maybe if they already do) change the way they write. When you can't write anything you want anywhere on a page any way you want, what does that do to the way you create? With writing, I always put the content on the page first, and format it at the end. But word-processing programs want us to format everything up front, and know exactly where we want to make paragraph breaks in advance, and so forth.

Don't get me wrong--word processing has made revision, especially cutting and pasting, a million times easier than it was when the typewriter was my main tool. But then I think the software hit a peak of maximum usefulness and started sliding down the other side.

What do you think? Does the technology you use affect the way you write?

On debut author groups

2011-12-07T22:44:00.001-05:00

"Should I join a debut author group?"

Authors gearing up for their first book launch often ask this question, and as an alumnus (alumna?) of four such groups, I sometimes get consulted personally.

And yes, you read that right--four groups, though I didn't intend for that to happen. The situation evolved! When my first book was scheduled for publication in 2009, I joined both the Class of 2k9 and the Debut2009 groups. I bonded with the members, participated in the planning, and then, right before Christmas 2008 ... my book was moved to 2010.

It happens. A lot. In fact, each Class of 2k__ is usually built around a nucleus of people whose books got moved back from the previous year. So I ended up being a member of the Class of 2k10 and The Tenners also.

There are some differences among the groups. The 2k classes generally charge dues, have officers, and are more formally organized with more explicit promotional goals. Debut2009 and the Tenners did some promotional things for fun, but there were no dues and less of a formal structure.

All of the groups, to some degree, functioned as debut author support groups. I found it incredibly valuable to know a group of writers who were going through the same experiences at the same time I was. Yes, some of us got more money or attention, some of us lost our agents or editors suddenly, some of us had personal crises going on while others had smoother sailing, but we had certain things in common. The excitement of getting that first copy ... the sting of the first bad review ... the questions about what kind of information you can expect from your publisher ... the mix of excitement and fear in approaching a second book. Publishing is a world with its own (sometimes crazy) set of rules, and it really helped to have people with whom to compare notes, and share the ups and downs.

As far as promotion: I know that I got certain signings and found out about conference panels and anthology opportunities that I never would have known about otherwise. My fellow class members inspired me to come up with a reader guide for my first book. I joined in on a group book trailer when I never would've attempted a trailer on my own. Although I don't think of my interaction with my fellow authors as "networking," exactly, because the camaraderie is genuine.

If I were a debut author all over again, knowing what I know now, I would definitely join a debut author group. Whether anyone else should depends on that person's inclinations, goals, expectations, and needs. But I thought people might be helped by hearing a bit about my experience, FWIW.

Who are these people?

2011-12-05T20:05:00.001-05:00

Note: Those following the Giveaway Hop, click here.

I don't invent characters so much as discover them. Yes, I know they're fictional and live inside my head--and yet, they seem to have lives of their own: independent existences that resist too much forceful, deliberate shaping. I do make conscious, cerebral choices when I write, but much of the material seems to be handed up from somewhere in the dark sea of the subconscious.

I generally don't sit around saying, "This character will have red hair, that one has two brothers, this one likes music." It's more like: "What does she look like? What kind of family does he have? What are her hobbies?" Later, the conscious decisions come into play: "He can't have eight brothers in this scene; there isn't enough for them to do. We haven't heard from that character in a while; time to check on her. This one just cried in the last scene; I can't have her crying here again."

It's a balancing act. But the writing goes best when the characters seem to take on a life of their own, and I'm just recording what they do.

The right road

2011-12-04T16:59:00.001-05:00

Note: Those following the Holiday Giveaway Hop, click here.

If I'm on the right road, it doesn't matter how rocky it is; I know I'll get there. All I have to do is deal with each pothole and hairpin turn as it comes.

But if I'm on the wrong road, it doesn't matter how fast I go; I won't end up in the right place. In fact, I usually can't go very fast at all, because the wrong road feels wrong. It's not interesting. It doesn't seem to be heading where I need to go.

The trick is in telling the difference, following that inner compass.

Holiday Giveaway Hop

2011-12-01T22:02:00.001-05:00

This giveaway will run from now until December 6 (midnight EDT), as part of the Book Lovers' Holiday Hop.

If you'd like an advance reader copy of Try Not to Breathe, just leave a comment below stating a simple holiday wish for the world (peace? an end to hunger? books for everyone? happy puppies?), plus a way to reach you. One entry per person.

(The cover as it will appear on the final book is on the left; the cover on the ARC the winner will receive is on the right.)

Synopsis: In the summer after his suicide attempt, sixteen-year-old Ryan struggles with guilty secrets and befriends a girl who’s visiting psychics to try to reach her dead father. Young adult, contemporary.

Rules:

You must be at least 13 years old and able to receive mail in the US or Canada.

I reserve the right to pick another winner if the original winner does not claim the book, and to cancel the contest if backup winner fails to claim the prize.

One comment per person. Winner will be selected randomly from the entries received on or before midnight EDT on December 6 (i.e., the minute December 7 starts).

I reserve the right to cancel the contest if technical difficulties (e.g., caused by internet or software failures) interfere with my ability to receive and track the entries.

Other blogs giving away free stuff this week:
*

Inspiring words from other people

2011-11-30T20:02:00.001-05:00

First, a quote:

"Sometimes I think song-writing is about tightening the heartstrings as much as possible without bringing on a heart attack."--Life, by Keith Richards with James Fox

(Not just song-writing, methinks.)

And now, a link to the bestest blog post I've read in a while, from Janni Lee Simner. A sample:

"And yes, I know that there are writers who manage both fast and awesome. I'm happy for them. But those writers are not all writers, and their way of building a career is not everyone's way of building a career."

Seriously, if you've ever felt as if you can never do enough or be enough in the writing and promotion of your books, read Janni's post.

The Map of My Dead Pilots

2011-11-28T19:51:00.001-05:00

The Map of My Dead Pilots is about aviation in Alaska, and it cuts through myths and misconceptions in a most refreshing manner. The pilots in this book are, for the most part, not movie-style heroes defying dangerous weather to rush people to hospitals. They are human beings who come to Alaska for a variety of reasons. They compare themselves to bus drivers; their cargo often consists of potato chips and sodapop and kids' sports teams. Which isn't to say that their work isn't dangerous. Some of them make amazing landings, and some of them make stupid mistakes. The biggest risks they take are often for the money, or because they want to keep their jobs. The author, Colleen Mondor, acknowledges the glamorous myths even as she dispels them; she knows the stories would sound better if the pilots were always rescuing sick babies, rather than delivering the mail or flying passengers who simply could not stand spending one more night where they were.

But a lack of glamor actually makes the book more interesting. It's about how people really work, and why they really go where they go and take the chances they take. It's a series of true stories about flying in Alaska--some funny, some tragic, some incredible. They're the stories these pilots lived through and told and retold among themselves, their own oral tradition: the crashes, the strange cargo, the unbelievable cold.

If you want to be high-brow, you could say that Mondor acts here in the role of an anthropologist, collecting the folk histories of a subculture that most people never get to see firsthand. Or you could just say she's collected a set of stories that show people doing a job in difficult conditions: how they cope with it and how they rationalize it, and how they live and how they (sometimes) die.

The Map of My Dead Pilots, by Colleen Mondor, is nonfiction (adult, but I see no reason why young adults couldn't read it also).

source of recommended read: bought

Local library use

2011-11-27T13:54:00.001-05:00

My local library recently released some interesting statistics for our area:

Our library receives more than 100,000 visits per year.
Our highest population group is school-aged children.
For most of 2011, circulation was 50% higher than in 2010, even though the population was unchanged.
Movie nights and children's activities are the most popular library programs.

Town libraries are still a vital part of our communities. I keep hearing, anecdotally, from librarians around the country, that library use has increased in recent years. Teleworkers, job seekers, and researchers visit regularly to use the resources, in addition to the readers, audiophiles, and movie buffs who take advantage of the lending library's holdings of books, magazines, audiobooks, music, and movies.

Happy reading (or listening, or watching)!

The Willing Reviser

2011-11-24T21:08:00.001-05:00

Most people in the writing world seem to have a story about someone they've known who was unwilling to revise, to be edited, to change a single word. The unwillingness to revise springs from a belief that one's words are precious and valuable, that the writer should not knuckle under to pressure from anyone else, and that an artist must be true to his or her inner vision.

I've always been a willing reviser, and it has nothing to do with selling out, knuckling under, or betraying the inner vision. It's because I think of my words as less precious than the story itself. I start out with something I want to say, a point, and that's the precious part. If I can move a scene around, or cut out a symbol that isn't working, or combine two characters who are doing the job than one could do, it's all going to make the story better. The part I won't change is the heart. If I were writing a story about how it's possible to recover from a break-up and live happily alone, then I would have a problem with a critique suggestion to have the main characters get back together, because that negates the whole story I want to tell. It's not that I have anything against a romantic ending. It's just that that ending for that story would rip the whole rug out from under what I'm trying to do.

That heart is the only part of the story I protect. Everything else is up for grabs, because all of it is designed to serve the heart of the story, and other people may be better than I am at pointing out where some of that other stuff isn't working. And since revision is reversible--anything that doesn't work can be changed back--why not try it?

On another note: If you're anywhere near Haverford, PA this Saturday (Nov. 26), please consider dropping by Children's Book World, where I'll be appearing with Ellen Jensen Abbott, Jacqueline Jules, Alissa Grosso, Amy Holder, Ann Bonwill, Irene Breznak, Nancy Viau, and Alison Formento for a party and book signing (1-3 PM). It's Small Business Saturday, and Children's Book World is a small independent bookstore that's been incredibly supportive of local authors and local readers. Also, I will have an advance review copy of Try Not to Breathe with me for one final live giveaway, and if you're the first person to ask for it, you can have it.

A holiday list

2011-11-24T15:09:00.001-05:00

1000 new words
10 hours of sleep
2 hours without power
1 long hike in the woods
boundless gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving

Back to the center

2011-11-22T21:10:00.001-05:00

There's so much to remember and keep track of in writing--and then, if one publishes, there's so much to learn about bringing a book out into the world.

It's gratifying to get positive responses to our work, and it's stimulating to get thoughtful critiques. But amid all the mental checklists, the reflections from others, the details and the concerns, the trends and the pitches, the rules and the exceptions, there's just this:

A story.

If I find myself wandering around and feeling a bit lost, if the latest PublishApocalypse story throws me, if I hear one more time that you can't do this and you must do that, if I worry too much about what so-and-so might think of what I write--

then I come back to the center. To the voice inside that drives everything I write. To the place that's somehow fun, even when the subject matter is difficult and the characters are in trouble.

This is the part that matters most.

These should go to eleven

2011-11-21T19:24:00.001-05:00

The content in today's post is ganked from Guys Lit Wire.

Guys Lit Wire is sponsoring a Holiday Book Fair for Ballou High School in Washington DC. We hope everyone counting down the days to Black Friday or Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday will please consider spending some $$ on our Powells wish list so we can get the fine students at Ballou closer to the ALA minimum standard of eleven books per student. (Right now they are up to four books each.)

One thing we want to stress is that this list is put together with [school librarian] Melissa's input and is comprised of books that Ballou wants and needs. Here is the direct link to the wish list at Powells. (And if you want to share it: http://bit.ly/GLWBookFair.) As you all know, we work with Powells because it is a bricks and mortar independent store ... This means there are a few more hoops to jump through when it comes to ordering books but we hope you understand how worthy our cause is both for the school and the store.

Once you have made your selections head to “checkout” and you will be prompted to inform Powells if the books were indeed bought from the wishlist. This lets the store know to mark them as “purchased” on the list. After that you need to provide your credit card info and also fill in the shipping address. Here is where the books are going to:

Melissa Jackson, LIBRARIAN
Ballou Senior High School
3401 Fourth Street SE
Washington DC 20032
(202) 645-3400

It’s very important that you get Melissa’s name and title in there - she is not the only Jackson (or Melissa) at the school and we want to make sure the books get to the library.

After all that you buy the books and you’re done! Please head back over here when you get a chance though and leave a comment letting us know who you are, where you’re from and what you bought. The book fair will run through cyber Monday on November 28th and we'll keep you updated on things even after it shuts down. (Hopefully as a sellout.)

New directions

2011-11-19T20:53:00.001-05:00

Have you tried something new with your writing lately--or with your reading? A new genre, a new audience, a new style, a new point of view? Jennifer K. Oliver blogged about a writing exercise that seems like fun, and for me it's new. I've done the "draw random words from a box" exercise before, but I used them in a coherent story, instead of stringing them together randomly.

If I go random:

help struggle could
creamness question
another hurry field thisful
precious figure
glass them
sense mark back
when speed gentle
knew that fright jam

I have a mental picture of one character writing the above poem very earnestly, and another character struggling to understand it. Also, there are fragments in there that spark ideas.

I'm not just doing random word exercises, though; I have a couple of assignments where I will be arranging words very much in the traditional order. Are you trying anything new?

Redemption

2011-11-17T20:19:00.001-05:00

One of the most powerful kinds of stories to write is a redemption story, where a villainous or selfish or cowardly character makes good, makes amends, changes for the better.

A Tale of Two Cities is a well-known example of this, with Sydney Carton delivering the ultimate lines for such a character: "'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done ...'" Which sums up the redemption story in a nutshell. But it can be even more powerful when the character doesn't die, but sustains that character growth for the remainder of his life (a la Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Hm, more Dickens!)

The challenge in a redemption storyline is to make the transformation believable. Either the character has always shown seeds of salvageability, or the transformative event is sufficiently powerful, that we can buy into the kind of fundamental shift that we rarely see in real life. When it works, this can be a compelling, hard-hitting story. But it's tricky to pull off, because it means aiming very high.

Have you ever wanted to write such a story, or have you read a good redemption story?

Writing Book Two

2011-11-16T19:27:00.001-05:00

The latest guest post in my second-book series is by M. Flagg, who discusses growth and challenge in the sophomore-book process:

Writing Book Two
by M. Flagg

I write paranormal romance, which gets a bit spicy at times. But when I started my first novel, I didn’t know what genre it would fall into. I also didn’t know it’d be the beginning of a trilogy, which meant these characters would have to grow, change, and then grow again. Each book would stand alone, yet the arc of the story had to be told with the same dark tone. Author voice had to be distinct, yet remain cohesive for over a thousand pages.

Every book ever written comes from someplace deep within the author. Although you nourish the creative process, your characters will speak to you. They often have lots to say. Sometimes, like unwrapping a gift, you have no idea what’s really inside each of them, but nevertheless, you can’t help but peel away the layers. For me, writing the second novel was easier than writing the first. It’s also true that when doing something a second time, one tends to avoid many of the pitfalls you muddled through the first time. By the time I started the second novel, I knew much more about fiction writing and storytelling. Formatting, point of view, character development and writing style made more sense— after having been a stubborn novice about all these things when I started Retribution! And although I queried my first novel like a madwoman, it was rejected. Many times. By many big houses.

Those rejections played a huge part in writing Consequences, the follow-up to Retribution! My author voice had grown stronger. I knew, more or less, where I wanted to take my characters, what challenges would string out my hero and force my heroine to fall deeper in love with him. I had already complicated the mystically enhanced vampire’s path with a human teenage son. The troubled child had issues, which in turn gave the main character more reason to seek redemption, but it wouldn’t be easy.

For six months, I wrote furiously. After two months of editing, I sent Consequences out to four small pub houses that offered e-book and print publication. I had a better understanding of the paranormal romance genre, and targeted four reputable houses. Then, I waited for four rejections. I received only two, along with two offers to publish Consequences. I signed with The Wild Rose Press, and then my editor requested Retribution! I signed another contract and promised her a third novel. She gave the series a name: The Champion Chronicles. Book Three, His Soul to Keep, released in July.

The reason to write book two is this: Never give up; never give in. Believe in yourself. Write the second book and then a third! Learn everything you can about writing, your genre, and the publishing industry itself. Join a supportive critique group with published and unpublished authors. Share your work and listen for ways to make it better. Above all, polish that catchy query letter and locate the right market for your work. The way you approach writing a second book is important. Keep your author voice strong and imbed the mood in every sentence. If you write a series, make each book flow like a seamless ribbon. Write as passionately as when you wrote the first book and you’ll achieve success.

M. Flagg’s back-story about how she came to write three paranormal novels is quite possibly more compelling than any fantasy she has written. For more info on her and her books, please visit www.mflagg-author.com

Switching projects

2011-11-15T21:28:00.001-05:00

I once heard that Mark Twain worked on multiple projects at once, which comforted me because until then, I thought I'd been doing it wrong. I thought the proper way to write was to work on one project at a time, completing each before moving on to another. Instead, I would work on one for a while, get stuck and switch to something else, get bored and return to the first, submit to the advances of a shiny new project, become disenchanted and go back to the second ... etc.

I wasn't simply a serial abandoner of projects. I was actually getting them written--just not one at a time. And I still work that way. I can focus on one project for long stretches, especially when I'm on deadline. But I always like to have something on the back burner.

It doesn't work for everyone, but it can work.

Angst and pizza: a blast from the past

2011-11-13T16:51:00.001-05:00

I just reread some of a diary I kept one summer in my late adolescence. It charted every aspect of my then-romance in excruciating detail. And it's full of names of my fellow students, many of whom I don't remember. (Paul who?) Also, it proves I ate a LOT of pizza back then. It's practically the only food I mention.

But there are a few interesting little details about the chemistry course I was taking at the time: "My fingers are stained orange from the stuff we worked with [in lab]." "Today [our teacher] laughed quite horribly at the comment, 'Boiling NaOH would dissolve your entire body, except for the cholesterol.'" "[A fellow student] went around asking everyone their exam scores so he could figure out the class average."

I tried several times to write a short story about that summer, but it never worked. Part of the reason was that it was such a difficult summer, it was hard to get the kind of distance and perspective that would have helped me. Now I have so much distance that I've forgotten many of the details. I do remember that we only had about two fume hoods for the entire class. And that I loved working with the light-bulb-shaped* separatory funnels, even though our instructor told us how he'd once seen a student get sprayed with acid from an improperly vented sep funnel. And that there was one day where badly-written lab instructions caused all of our experiments to go up in (literal) flames. Little did I know that adult me would be far more interested in remembering these classroom details than in the minute dissection of my romance, but I wrote my diary out of my needs at the time. This journal is further proof--as if I needed any--that the child and teen years are not necessarily the best of our lives.**

There are also a few lines that make me chuckle, like the one where I wondered if I could ever make it as a writer. I don't know what I would have considered "making it," but it's one of the few constants from that time in my life to this: I'm still writing.

*shaped like the light bulbs of the time, of course; not like the curly compact fluorescents we have now
**although I wouldn't mind being able to eat that much pizza again

The glamor, the excitement, the toilets

2011-11-11T18:27:00.001-05:00

I recommend this blog post by Victoria Patterson over at Three Guys, One Book. It captures the ups and downs of writing for publication so well. I've never been nominated for a prize as big as the one she's discussing, but most writers have these ups and downs whether they're on a big or small scale. Some of my favorite lines:

"I’d hustled for [my book], never turning down a single promotional opportunity, seeking out more, and I’d finally reconciled myself to my limited power and the book’s small trajectory."

"The good reviews are far more pleasurable than the bad reviews, but both provide a strange emotional kick that has no bearing on the actual lonely years-long production."

"Sometimes (with a little luck) a book can get a new life, and an author can get a much-needed morale boost."

"In retrospect, I probably hugged people too freely, like an overeager Gomer Pyle."

"I remember knowing that the excitement was over when I was asked by my nine-year old son to please unplug our toilet."

Go, read and enjoy!

Role models?

2011-11-10T20:13:00.001-05:00

I was looking back at some of my short stories and realized that, with short forms, I'm more willing to experiment with unlikable main characters. I guess it's because I view an unlikable character as more tolerable over a 5- to 10-page story than s/he would be over the course of a 200-page novel. And I'm not just thinking of the reader's time; I don't necessarily want to spend a year or two (the time it takes to write and edit a book) living with an unlikable main character!

Which isn't to say all the characters in my novels are likable. Even the ones that I like, the ones who are pretty decent overall, do obnoxious or mean or cowardly things from time to time. I'm not trying to create role models here; I'm trying to make these characters real.

It's an oft-discussed issue in children's and YA literature, the extent to which characters are, or should be, role models. I prefer to let readers sort out the heroes and villains--ideally, to recognize the heroic and villainous parts within every character, and the heroic and villainous parts within us all.

Finding the way

2011-11-08T21:10:00.002-05:00

There isn't just one path.
There are many paths. Many ways to tell a story, many ways to revise it, many ways to publish it.
Someone else's path may not work for you.

It can be frustrating to follow exactly the same steps used by someone else, and yet fail to produce that killer novel, or get snapped up by an agent, or rake in self-publishing millions, or nab a slot on the evening talk shows.

Writing and publishing aren't recipes or scientific formulas. There are certain basic guidelines that are helpful (be professional, care about your work, do your homework, keep an open mind), but there's no guarantee that following steps A + B will produce outcome C.

There's more than one way to handle this gig we call writing. Your path doesn't have to look like anyone else's--and chances are, it won't.

Cover makeover

2011-11-07T19:33:00.002-05:00

The cover image for Try Not to Breathe (my novel coming out in January) that appears in the publisher's catalog and on the advance review copies is this:

It's a beautiful image that captures much of the symbolism of the book (rain, glass, etc.), and I was certainly happy with it. In fact, assured by the catalog copy and the ARC covers that this was the final cover, I had some bookmarks and postcards made.

But publishers are no different from authors in tweaking their work until they achieve the desired effect. In fact, the cover of my previous book changed from the hardcover edition to the paperback. And Try Not to Breathe now has a new cover, which will (I believe) be on the finished copies:

This new cover is bolder, edgier, more modern-looking, I think. And so I will have new bookmarks made, and those of you who have the earlier version can cherish them as "limited edition rare original versions!" ;-)

I'm endlessly fascinated by book covers. Seeing a cover is just about my favorite part of the publishing process--my cover, other authors' covers, it doesn't matter. I love seeing official covers and fans' reimaginings of covers and comparing covers on different editions. I would be both thrilled and scared by the opportunity to design my own cover. As it is, I love seeing how my publisher's designer envisions the book. It's a visual response to a text work, and it acts as both a translation of and an advertisement for the work.

I always hope you like the cover. But at the end of the day, I really hope you like the words inside!

Trying flash fiction

2011-11-06T21:42:00.002-05:00

If you're not one of those hardy souls who is trying to write a novel in November as part of National Novel Writing Month (affectionately known as NaNoWriMo), why not try your hand at a shorter work? More specifically, flash fiction?

Flash fiction is another term for short-short stories. Sources differ on the acceptable maximum length, but I typically think of these stories as 1500 words or less. I've written flash fiction pieces that came in at under 100 words.

Before I got serious about novels, I spent years writing short stories, and I believe they taught me a lot about word choice, economy of language, imagery, symbolism, starting where the action starts, and getting to the story's crisis as soon as possible. Even now that I spend more time on novels, I still write the occasional short story as a breather.

If you need a break from longer work, consider these advantages of short stories: They (usually) don't take as long to write or edit as a novel does. You can focus on one plotline and not worry so much about subplots, although you can have layers and hint at multiple motivations for characters. And you can hold the whole story in your head as you edit, which is my favorite aspect!

A light, life-charged

2011-11-04T14:53:00.002-04:00

I love this book I'm reading right now. (I'm hardly alone in that, since it won a National Book Award.) Anyway, here are a few lines for inspiration:

In my low periods, I wondered what was the point of creating art. For whom? Are we animating God? Are we talking to ourselves? And what was the ultimate goal? ...
Why commit to art? For self-realization, or for itself? It seemed indulgent to add to the glut unless one offered illumination. ...
I wondered if anything I did mattered. ...
... I understood that what matters is the work ... To achieve within the work a perfect balance of faith and execution. From this state of mind comes a light, life-charged.

--from Just Kids, by Patti Smith

Adult and child perspectives

2011-11-02T20:25:00.002-04:00

I read some reviews on a children's book that got me thinking about the different ways that adults and kids react to books. The book in question has consistently glowing reviews from professional sources (by which I mean sources such as the Horn Book, SLJ, Kirkus, etc.), but younger readers' reactions were decidedly more mixed. Their comments reminded me of what I hear about some children's books, which can be summed up as: This is not really youth here; it's more like youth seen through adult eyes. The adult filter, the adult writer speaking to the child reader, is palpable.

The reality is that most children's and YA books are written by adults. Yet many of these books manage to channel a young voice, a voice authentic to the age of the main character. And it's not a question of limiting vocabulary or "dumbing down" anything--"dumbing down" being a deadly mistake for just about any audience. It's not about vocabulary at all, so much as it is about perspective and point of view.

To me, the beauty of reading is the disappearance of the barrier between one mind and another. It's the reason I think that text has survived in the era of movies and TV; even in the most gripping and introspective films, I never feel as if I'm inside the character's mind the same way I do when I read. And in books where the adult filter disappears, the narrative distance is quite close, and reading can be an even more intense, relatable, and "in-the-moment" experience.

It's not necessarily wrong to write a book where the adult filter is apparent. The adult filter is present in some children's classics that have lasted generations. To me, the real question is: What purpose is the adult filter serving? Is it to lend experience and dimension to the story? Or is it for the adult to assert how the child, or childhood itself, should be? Does this narrative distance work for the story or against it? Writers can think about which kind of book they want to write, and how the different segments of the audience may respond to the choices they make.

Embracing editing

2011-10-31T20:23:00.000-04:00

Last call for the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop (click here)!

I've heard some conversations about the writing and publication process where the discussion of editing revolved around punctuation.

The fact is, I regard punctuation corrections as the least important part of editing. If there's one thing the copy-editing process taught me, it's that nobody seems to understand the proper use of commas except other copy editors. And although I thank my copy editors for correcting the 90% of the cases where I misused and abused Our Friend the Noble Comma*, I'm especially grateful for the times they caught me saying the same thing twice, or contradicting myself.

But there's another whole facet to editing, and it precedes copy editing. It's the kind of editing where someone questions uneven pacing, extraneous characters, pointless subplots, drawn-out endings, abrupt endings, missing character motivations, and so many other aspects of macro-level story-telling. This is the kind of editing that beginning writers may dread, or may think they don't need. But in my experience, this kind of editing is what brings a story to the next level, and it can be an actual pleasure. Because it's all about making the book better in fundamental ways.

I firmly believe that readers will forgive misplaced commas sooner than they will forgive a plot thread that doesn't go anywhere, or a character who has no reason for being in the story, or an inciting event that takes too long to arrive. And it is very difficult for writers to identify these kinds of flaws in our own stories, because we inhabit our imaginary worlds so fully. Editors bring fresh eyes and objectivity to the process. They do much, much more than rearrange punctuation.

*Don't even ask about the carnage I inflicted upon Our Friend the Noble Hyphen.

A few announcements:

I'll be on an authors' panel on Tuesday, November 1, at 7 PM. The topic is "GETTING PUBLISHED." It's at the Cherry Hill (NJ) Library (1100 Kings Highway North, Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08034-1911 ). My fellow panelists will be Jon Gibbs, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Kristin Battestella, Mike McPhail and Jonathan Maberry of the New Jersey Authors Network.

Children's Book World, Haverford, PA is having its annual author/illustrator night on Friday, November 4, 8-9 PM. It's a great chance to meet and talk with authors and illustrators, have some snacks, get some books signed. The atmosphere is always festive and casual.

A YA e-anthology, The First Time, appeared today. It contains stories by several writers I know and love: Cyn Balog, Lauren Bjorkman, Leigh Brescia, Jennifer Brown, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Janet Gurtler, Teri Hall, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Stacey Jay, Heidi R. Kling, C. Lee McKenzie, Saundra Mitchell, Jenny Moss, Jackson Pearce, Shani Petroff, Carrie Ryan, Sydney Salter, Kurtis Scaletta, Jon Skovron, Kristina Springer, Rhonda Stapleton, Charity Tahmaseb, Jessica Verday, J. A. Yang, and Lara Zielin. Check it out! Only $2.99 on Amazon.

Write a new formula

2011-10-30T17:25:00.003-04:00

Note: Participants in the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop, click here.

I’m tired of watching people get “voted off.”

Every competition show seems to use this format: at the end of every week’s episode, one of the contestants has to leave. It keeps the stakes high and gives people a reason to watch to the end of the show, of course. But it has drawbacks.

On the first episode or two of the season, you’re still just trying to learn the names and keep everyone straight. You don’t really care about the first person or two who leave, because you never really get to know them.

Then when you do sort out the contestants and find a rooting interest, your favorite may not be around for long. One slip, and the person you most like watching ends up leaving—which doesn’t give you much incentive to watch the remaining episodes.

The other drawback is that this one-per-week elimination system is no longer fresh. Every show does it. At this point, I’m just pining for some creativity. For example, instead of weekly eliminations, a competition show could award points for each week’s challenges, and the highest point-scorers at the end of the season would proceed to the finale. If they started with fewer contestants and kept them around longer, there would be more incentive for people to identify with those on the show, and less risk of losing favorites too early.

Similarly, writers can push the boundaries of their own genres and tropes. Reimagine the love triangle; reinvent the murder mystery. Bring a twist to the romantic comedy. Turn the paranormal romance on its head.

Experiments don’t always succeed, but they get us out of our ruts. Sometimes they set whole new trends. Often, as writers, we’re following: following rules, following examples, following precedents. And readers find a certain comfort in knowing what they’re going to get. But every now and then, it’s fun to try leading instead of following, fun to play with the unexpected.

Second books and the unexpected

2011-10-27T19:30:00.004-04:00

Note: The Spooktacular Giveaway Hop for an advance copy of my second book, Try Not to Breathe, is still going on here.

And speaking of second books, the latest guest post in my "second-books" series is from Lauren Bjorkman. I described Lauren's debut, My Invented Life, earlier on this blog as "funny and quirky and unexpected; it isn't quite like anything else I've read." Now Lauren talks about navigating the differences between first and second books, and coping with expectations while keeping the love of writing.

The Sophomore Book
by Lauren Bjorkman

When Henry Holt offered on my debut YA novel, they gave me a two-book deal. The changes requested by my editor for book 1 took me five weeks to complete.

When My Invented Life went to copy edits, I had a contract for unnamed book 2. Book 2 existed before my editor knew the premise, characters, plot, or themes. Before I did. This didn’t worry me. I had a ton of ideas.

At the time my debut sold, I had written most of a second YA novel, dark and edgy, very different from my first. Some months later, I finished it, and showed it to my agent and editor. I also sent a proposal for a more light-hearted story called Miss Fortune Cookie. They both felt that book 2 should be closer in style to My Invented Life, so chose the proposal.

Thrilled to have a new project, I wrote at hyper-speed (for me), finishing a draft one year later. My agent loved it, and sent it to my editor right away. My editor didn’t connect with it as much. Thus started the editorial letter and revision phase. Fast-forward another year. We still have not finished book 2.

Why is this time so different?

I took my time on My Invented Life—about two and a half years. Many different writers critiqued it during that period. I could accept the feedback that resonated with me, and ignore the rest. This changed with book 2. No matter what my crit partners thought, or even my agent, my editor had to be enthusiastic. When I revised Miss Fortune Cookie for her the first time, I didn’t understand her point of view. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, I called her when her second letter came. We talked on the phone for hours. The next revision took me six months.

On the plus side, I have not suffered from post-debut writer’s block. And, despite the setbacks, my love of writing remains undiminished.

While I wait for the next editorial round to begin, I chip away on my third novel—a funny, hopeful, “dystopian” YA—and could not be happier.

Lauren Bjorkman grew up on a sailboat, sharing the tiny forecastle with her sister and the sail bags. Luckily she likes tiny spaces. She and her sister have remained close friends. She lives in New Mexico with her husband, two sons, and two ridiculous felines.

My favorite costume

2011-10-25T21:24:00.004-04:00

Note: There's an ongoing giveaway of an advance copy of my next book at the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop.

Halloween is approaching. It's a holiday that always makes me feel like a bit of an outsider. My parents didn't let me trick-or-treat when I was growing up; the idea of collecting candy from strangers didn't sit well with them. (I certainly helped myself to the bowl we kept for those who visited our house, though!) As for costumes--I never could stand to wear a mask over my face, due to mild claustrophobia. Also, I never seemed to have anything around the house that would make a good costume.

I know what you're thinking. "Come on over to my Halloween fiesta, girl! You sound like the life of the party!" ;-)

But this gets me thinking about my favorite costume-party story ever, which comes from the old Bob Newhart show. There was some kind of costume party on the show--I think it was for the Fourth of July, not Halloween, since everyone came dressed as Uncle Sam. All except for Mr. Carlin, who wore, as I recall, a basic trench coat. After getting over their disappointment that they were not the only ones to think of the Uncle Sam idea, everyone asked Mr. Carlin why he didn't dress up. "I am dressed up. I'm a Revolutionary spy," he said.

So that's always been my "costume:" I'm dressed in everyday clothes because I'm a spy. Yes, I totally stole that from Mr. Carlin.

Is it any wonder I'm a writer--where I can produce any costume, no matter how elaborate, merely with some creative typing--rather than an actress, where the costumes and makeup exist in three dimensions?

Do you like costumes--if so, what's your favorite? Or do you, like Mr. Carlin and me, dress "like a spy?"

Giveaway

2011-10-23T20:32:00.001-04:00

This giveaway will run from now until October 31 (midnight EDT), as part of the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop.

If you'd like an advance reader copy of Try Not to Breathe, just leave a comment below with a way to reach you. One entry per person.

Rules and links to other stops on the Giveaway Hop are behind the cut.

Rules:

You must be at least 13 years old and able to receive mail in the US or Canada.

I reserve the right to pick another winner if the original winner does not claim the book, and to cancel the contest if backup winner fails to claim the prize.

One comment per person. Winner will be selected randomly from the entries received on or before midnight EDT on October 31 (i.e., the minute before November 1 starts).

I reserve the right to cancel the contest if technical difficulties (e.g., caused by internet or software failures) interfere with my ability to receive and track the entries.

Other blogs giving away free stuff this week! (many contests may not be active until October 24):

Trying something new

2011-10-23T20:07:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I spent time with some other writers and we got to talking about creative stretching, the kind you have to do in writing classes. One friend who's going for her MFA has to write in third person instead of her usual, and favored, first person. It reminded me of a short-story class I once took where the teacher gave each of us an assignment specific to our own difficulties; for example, the person who liked to start stories and then keep them going on and on and on without an ending was told to write a very short story and finish it.

We don't have to take classes to do these kinds of exercises. During the years when I wrote mostly short stories, I experimented a lot as a way to teach myself new things. I wrote in first person, third person, second person. I wrote in present tense and past tense. I wrote in typical prose style and in experimental forms. I wrote contemporary, dystopian, and magical realism. I wrote about very young characters and very old ones, about male and female characters. I wrote stories in the form of letters, biographical notes, emails, research notes. When I thought I could use help on making each word do more work, on incorporating better imagery and wordplay, I studied poetry. At writers' conferences, I usually took sessions on plot and pacing, because I knew I was weaker there than in character and dialogue. And then, one year, I sought out classes on character and dialogue just to remind myself I didn't know it all.

Whether in the classroom or out of it, we can keep learning this way, keep growing as writers. There's no need to fall into, or stay in, a rut. We can take classes, work with other writers, or give ourselves assignments. What new skill are you learning or trying with your writing?

Are you having any fun?

2011-10-21T12:00:00.004-04:00

Writers can measure success by the numbers: words written, books sold, money earned, awards won. But there's a qualitative aspect to success that's just as important:

Are you feeling the joy?

It may seem strange for the writer of dark contemporary YA to speak of joy. But there's a satisfaction in expressing something that feels true, in finding the vein of hope that runs through our darkest human experiences. Writing can be frustrating and sad and puzzling on occasion, and it's a huge amount of work, but it can also be fun. It isn't fun every minute, but some wellspring has to feed the incredible drive it takes to get from the first page of a book to the last. How do you stay in touch with that joy?

A couple of notes, for those interested:

My short story, "The Stage Manager," appears in the latest version of Hunger Mountain.

I'll be appearing at the Neshaminy Mall (PA) Barnes & Noble this Saturday, Oct. 22, from 1 to 4 PM. I'll be there with several other authors: Ellen Jensen Abbott, Cyn Balog, Alison Formento, Alissa Grosso, Amy Holder, Keri Mikulski, Nancy Viau, and Cynthia Chapman Willis. Once again, I'll have an advance copy of Try Not to Breathe with me, and the first person who asks me for it can have it.

Playtime

2011-10-19T21:16:00.000-04:00

Writers on the internet spend a lot of time complaining about how much time they waste on the internet, and while the symmetrical irony of this affords me no end of amusement, that's not why I'm bringing it up right now.

Often the internet is seen as a time suck, an evil force that takes us away from our real writing. Discussions of this often end with, "Unplug it and write."

Which is excellent advice if one has a story burning to be told, waiting there in the brain for the opportunity to pour out onto the screen. If that is the case, by all means, have at it. Write that story and don't let email or blogs or Twitter or Facebook get in the way.

But I've noticed that time I spend online (or in offline non-writing activities) includes an element of essential play. Yes, I use the internet for story-related research, but that is not the only legitimate writerly use for it. There's a value in the socializing I do online, just as there's a value to the face-to-face socializing I do. It's not a value that can be measured in word count. There's a value in my following strange links to bizarre stories I never would have heard of otherwise. The writer part of me picks up on stories everywhere--including the internet. There's not an immediate reward in measurable output; I'm not a computer program. I may see a phrase or item somewhere that doesn't spark a specific story until two years later. But the point is that in roaming through the world, whether IRL or virtual, I'm picking up bits and pieces of future stories.

Something happens in the brain during playtime. Play is messy and unstructured and creative. It cultivates the unexpected. It simultaneously feeds and stimulates our curiosity.

Staring at the empty screen of a word-processing file isn't always the best way for me to unlock a story. Sometimes the best way is through doing anything other than chasing the muse. The muse often acts like the characters in Lewis Carroll's looking-glass, where the way to approach them is to walk in the opposite direction. Part of writing is listening and waiting, giving our neurons time to make connections, getting to know characters, fooling with different plots, trying on voices.

Play doesn't always have to be seen as procrastination. Especially for a creative person, a certain amount of it is necessary.

LGBTQ characters in YA literature: Continuing the conversation

2011-10-17T19:52:00.005-04:00

On September 14 and 15, 2011, Malinda Lo blogged about a set of data on LGBTQ characters in recent YA literature in the US. The data confirmed my own anecdotal observations from reading YA:

There are far fewer gay than straight characters; those who are gay tend to be secondary rather than main characters; and they tend to be male rather than female. Bisexual and transgendered characters are the rarest.

As Ms. Lo acknowledges, the data were obtained from multiple sources. The total number of titles for year 2010 was obtained from a different source than the list of titles containing LGBTQ characters, and the compilers of the latter list did not read all 4000 titles published in 2010. In addition, the total of 4000, which affects the percentages, is itself an estimate arrived at by Harold Underdown, who had to use several sources to arrive at this figure. (The website yalit.com lists about 500 YA titles published in 2010, which is roughly a tenth of Mr. Underdown’s estimate, and points up the uncertainty as to the total number of YA books published overall.) Ms. Lo says, “I can guarantee you that this list of probably not complete,” but adds, “sadly I should note that even if I double the number of titles on the list, the total percentage of LGBTQ YA will still only be approximately 1% of all YA books.”

I suspect that under-reporting will most significantly affect the numbers of books with LGBTQ secondary characters (rather than main characters). From my own observations reading the genre, I was able to think of several additional titles that were not included on these lists, but all featured secondary rather than main characters. LGBTQ characters appear more often in YA literature than they used to, and I believe that this growth has been exponential in the industry, given that I could only name about three YA books from my own youth that featured LGBTQ characters. However, these characters are still far more often members of the supporting cast rather than center stage.

I would love to quantify all of this more exactly. The part of my brain that sat through all those science courses in college and read countless articles in scientific journals could not resist outlining a study, a way to systematically examine the literature. Alas, given the realities of the time-juggling act known as my life, I cannot conduct this study myself. But if anyone is interested in carrying it out, or is already conducting such a study, please let me know.

For this study, the researcher would select a universe of publishers and publication years, and would define what qualifies for a “young adult” title. This would create a master list of the “population” of books under study.

Ideally, the researcher would read every book on that master list. Less ideally and more realistically, the researcher could randomly sample the master list and read a selection (the larger this sample, the better).

For each book read, the researcher would record the book title, publisher, year of publication, and whether the book contained LGBTQ characters, and whether they were main, secondary, or minor. Malinda Lo looked also at whether the characters were girl, boy, transgendered/genderqueer, adult, multiple, or undetermined, and our prospective researcher could collect similar data. If several publication years were studied, the researcher could explore trends over time. In addition, data on subgenre (whether YA contemporary, fantasy, historical, etc.) could be collected. Based on anecdotal observation, I suspect that most LGBTQ characters appear in contemporary novels, but that in recent years the numbers in paranormal/fantasy have grown; it would be interesting to see if the data support that theory.

The master list could be made available so that the universe of titles included in the study would be clear, and the decisions made by the researcher in categorizing books would be identified. The master list would also be helpful in any case where subjectivity enters in: for example, in determining whether a character is secondary (that is, playing an important role but not the main character) or minor (essentially a background or walk-on character).

For a less systematic collection of data, book bloggers could be another source of information. They read a huge number of YA titles, although I don’t know anyone who reads 4000 in a year. Any blogger could begin to compile a list categorized as described above (on a shared database perhaps. GoogleDocs?). If several bloggers would share their lists, that would further increase the pool of available data. A master list that contained data from several bloggers would also need to indicate the blogger who served as the source of each data point.

My own grad-school days are over, but I would have loved to tackle such a study, and I hope someone does.

Grateful acknowledgment to Malinda Lo for her post and for reading an advance version of this post.

The future of text

2011-10-16T20:48:00.002-04:00

As digital media become more a part of our lives, I wonder how technology will affect the standard written-text story. We have the capacity to tell stories through video and audio, and we've had that for decades, and yet text has persisted. Ebooks will give us the ability to interact with narrative (to choose different endings, perhaps?) and to incorporate multimedia (e.g., click on a song title mentioned in the text and hear the song). But I wonder if that will really enhance the reading experience. It's easy to pile bells and whistles onto a text without really adding anything to the meat of the story. It's like decorating a cake with a zillion icing squiggles just because you have a cool icing tool. Does it make the cake taste better?

I foresee two possible paths. One is that text will remain durable, that people will still want the experience of reading words and generating the story in their heads, and they won't want a lot of adornments distracting from the text. The other is that people will find meaningful ways to incorporate the multimedia experience into a text; ways that are essential to the story and not just whiz-bang decorations. It's also possible that both of these things will happen. A big question is: have we been using words just because they were all we had, or is there something the written word can do that no other medium can do?

Wordsmithing is a special way of telling a story--a way I love, both as a reader and a writer. It may or may not persist. But story-telling has always been with us in one form or another, and I believe it will always be with us, no matter how we tell those stories.

Appearances this weekend, plus a great question

2011-10-14T21:34:00.003-04:00

I'm appearing live on two writers' panels with members of the New Jersey Authors Network this weekend, and would love to see those of you who are local:

Saturday, October 15:
11 AM: Panel/Q&A, "GETTING PUBLISHED." Moorestown Library (111 W. 2nd St # 1, NJ 08057-2471 ). Appearing with Jon Gibbs, Kristin Battestella, JB DiNizo, and Keith Smith.
2 PM: Panel/Q&A, "THE NUTS & BOLTS OF WRITING A BOOK." Vogelson branch of Camden Library (203 Laurel Road, Voorhees, NJ08043). Appearing with Jon Gibbs and Kristin Battestella.

I'm also appearing in virtual form at the Printsasia blog, where I discuss whether or not The Secret Year is a love story.

But enough about me. In the writerly food-for-thought department, Amy Butler Greenfield asks a great question: "If you were only allowed [to write] one more book, what would it be?"

Mockingjay

2011-10-13T19:56:00.000-04:00

Last week I blogged about The Hunger Games, and this week I finished the trilogy with Mockingjay. As much as I admired The Hunger Games, I thought Mockingjay the best book of the three. If The Hunger Games is a soldier’s-eye view, Mockingjay not only brings us back to the battlefield, but also brings us into the halls of power where presidents and generals make the choices that play out on battlefields.

In this book Collins also sums up the relevance of the series: “Because something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children’s lives to settle its differences.”

The rest of this is SPOILER-filled, so I'll use a cut.

As much as I like this book, there are a few things in the final scenes that I don’t understand. The most important is Katniss’s vote on a new Hunger Games, “for Prim.” As a healer, an almost-tribute and the sister of a tribute, Prim is the last person who would ever want another Hunger Games, so I believe Katniss votes the way she does solely so that Snow will hear of it. I also believe it is this vote, this Hunger-Games proposal, that leads Katniss to assassinate Coin–but I suppose there are other interpretations.

Another mystery is Katniss’s calling for Gale to shoot her after the assassination. Since she has written off Gale seven pages earlier, it’s not clear why she turns to him at this point—although it would be in character for him to oblige, and I’m not sure why he doesn’t. Katniss interprets it as his failing her, but it is also a soldier’s task and Gale never fails as a soldier. It’s possible he foresees a better ending for Katniss than she sees for herself—and if so, he is right, as he always is about her. (Gale’s inability to be what Katniss needs does not preclude his uncanny ability to know what she needs, throughout the book. While Katniss is put off by Gale’s saying she will choose “'whoever she thinks she can’t survive without,'” she even uses that phrasing of his at the book’s end, describing her choice of a mate in terms of “what I need to survive.”)

Overall, the book is so well done, portraying the rebels not as purely noble good guys, but showing that they too mistreat prisoners, and use horrifying weapons, and justify civilian casualties. The rebels have among them the ambitious (Coin, Plutarch) and the vengeful (Gale, Johanna), just as the government of the Capitol does. The realities of war are that good people die in senseless ways, and noncombatants get hurt, and as Katniss says at one point, killing stays with you. Those who have been in combat suffer psychologically—most obviously in the cases of Annie and Finnick and Katniss and Peeta, but there are hints that even Gale suffers sleepless nights.

The arguments that the rebels have when strategizing about the Nut are the same arguments that have been going on in our own country for years now (and, really, have been going on as long as there have been wars): When is killing all right? What is defense, and what is counter-offense, and what is unwarranted aggression? To what lengths should warriors go to protect civilians? What methods, if any, are just too horrible to use? If one accepts war as a necessity, what are the moral differences between one kind of killing and another? If one does not accept war as a necessity, how can it be stopped? I hope this book leads young people to ask these questions, because chances are they will have to confront their positions on these questions in reality before long, whether in the voting booth or at the policy-makers’ desks, or on the battlefield themselves.

For me, nothing shows Katniss’s trauma better than in the epilogue, when she refers to her children, rather chillingly, as “the boy” and “the girl” (rather than by given names, or in more personal terms such as “my son and daughter.”) One of each, the reader can’t help noticing—just like tributes--and I had to remember Plutarch’s words at this point, about how peace is always temporary: “'We’re fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction.'”

But Katniss later switches to the warmer phrasing, “my children,” and their very existence as well as her life with Peeta gives what hope there is at the end of the book (hope truly being the thing she cannot survive without.) And this calls to mind something else that Plutarch says in the book: “'Although who knows? Maybe this will be it ... The time it sticks. Maybe we are witnessing the evolution of the human race. Think about that.'”

source of recommended read: bought

The book I want to write

2011-10-11T20:37:00.002-04:00

Although I don't blog about this, I'm very aware of current events in the political and public-policy arena: these are scary, exciting, gripping times. I've carved out this blog as a place where I can talk about writing, which tends to be a stabilizing influence on me, rather than discussing the news, which acts more like caffeine on my nervous system.

But I do follow the news, and I would love to write a novel in which I make Important Political Points. Some writers are very, very good at doing this. Every time I've tried it, I end up producing the kind of didactic soap-box garbage that nobody wants to read. (Not even me.)

I address social issues in both of my novels and many of my short stories. But they're woven in naturally as part of the plot and character development. And I tend to write about only what is, and leave the reader to decide what should be. Instead of using the characters as puppets to make a point, I mention whatever we need to know about these characters' background, their living situation, because it's part of who they are and part of what motivates them. For me, the character comes first.

Sometimes I wish it were otherwise, that I could start with a Grand Idea and build a book from there. So far, I've always had to start with character.

I can only write the books that are in me. I don't mean that we can't try to stretch creatively. But wishing that I were a different writer with different stories leads nowhere but frustration. I can admire other people's work, but I can only write my own.

On Jo and Professor Bhaer

2011-10-09T21:19:00.003-04:00

One of the most controversial pairings in classic children's literature is that of Jo March and Friedrich Bhaer in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. I often see people lamenting the fact that Jo didn't end up with Laurie, her childhood friend, but instead fell for a much older professor.

I've pondered whether this disappointment on the part of readers is a result of some flaw in the writing, or is it just that women's expectations of marriage have changed over the decades since Little Women was first published? Or was Alcott's idea of a successful marriage just different from that of her readers?

The reasons that Jo accepts Prof. Bhaer and not Laurie are clearly articulated in the text of Little Women. While Jo and Laurie have great fun together, they also fight frequently. Additionally, Laurie is handsome, accomplished and wealthy; he enjoys music and seems to enjoy the social life. Jo is more of an introvert; social obligations bore her and make her feel awkward. When Laurie proposes, Jo answers, "'I'm homely and awkward and odd and old, and you'd be ashamed of me, and we should quarrel,--we can't help it even now, you see,--and I shouldn't like elegant society and you would, and you'd hate my scribbling, and I couldn't get on without it, and we should be unhappy, and wish we hadn't done it, and everything would be horrid!'"

Jo's answer should please the modern reader to this extent: She knows herself. She sees the points of incompatibility between herself and Laurie, how their respective needs would not mesh, and she has no desire to spend her life trying to become what she is not. This view is seconded by her mother, who says, "'You are too much alike and too fond of freedom, not to mention hot tempers and strong wills, to get on happily together, in a relation which needs infinite patience and forbearance, as well as love.'"

This is where I think today's audiences are disappointed: they want passion. "Infinite patience and forbearance" are not nearly as exciting, even if Mrs. March is right about their necessity in a marriage. Jo and Prof. Bhaer have a quiet love. They start as friends; they have a mutual respect and enjoy each other's company. Their affection is more the tender, steady sort. As a reader, I confess that I like the Jo-Bhaer match a lot more than many other Little Women fans do. (In the interests of full disclosure, I'll say that I also married someone several years older than I, but since we both act like teenagers a good deal of the time, it's rather different from Jo's match.) I happen to agree with Jo and Mrs. March that lifetime commitment requires more than just sparks, and I have a hard time seeing Jo and Laurie being happy together beyond the honeymoon.

But one thing this controversy does is to raise an interesting question for readers to ask themselves: Do you like the Jo-Bhaer match? If not, what do you think it lacks? Would Jo-Laurie really have worked? It can lead to fruitful discussions about what we look for in relationships, and what we need in a long-term relationship. And it can lead writers to think about our fictional couples, and what draws them together or breaks them apart.

Writing lessons from The Hunger Games

2011-10-07T21:29:00.000-04:00

I've just finished The Hunger Games (late to the party, I know). Reading as a writer, I noted these techniques by Suzanne Collins that I particularly admired and appreciated:

There were realistic consequences to things. There's violence in this book, but it's not cartoonish. Collins acknowledges that explosions can cause ear damage, wounds can get infected, limbs can't always be saved, and sometimes death is not mercifully quick but painful and lingering. I suspect this is a result of the POV attributed to Collins on the jacket flap: "... she continues to explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age." The truth is, war and violence ain't pretty. Or neat. Or free of sequelae.

The internet was abuzz for months with the Gale-Katniss-Peeta love triangle, but it didn't strike me as a love triangle. In fact, I like the different spin Collins put on Katniss's relationship with the boys; to her, they are mostly friends. Other feelings stir her on occasion, but the deception and play-acting necessitated by the game thwart her ability to know her own truth. I'm especially glad she didn't fall blindly, inexplicably, or suddenly in love with anyone. It'll be interesting to see how these relationships develop. (I already know something of how the series ends--it was difficult to avoid Mockingjay spoilers--but I know very little of what happens in the middle.)

The main character was, thank goodness, smart. When the reader could tell that a certain situation was a trap, Katniss did not go blundering stupidly into obvious trouble. Her actions made sense. She found plenty of trouble, of course, but it always seemed unavoidable. I didn't find myself smacking my head and saying, "Why didn't she just do such-and-such, it would've been so much easier and safer?!"

Collins allowed the supporting cast to shine. In some books, secondary characters only seem to serve the interests of the main character, and having no motivations or talents of their own results in thin cardboard personalities. Katniss openly admires several of her competitors, especially Rue, Foxface, Thresh, and the boy from District 3. I liked that these characters had their own merits, that sometimes they outshone Katniss, that she wasn't always better at everything than everyone else.

The game in the book ends within the book. I was so glad of that. I know it's a trilogy, and I thought the game might drag into the next book, but it didn't. This book has an ending. There are certainly unanswered questions and reasons to read on, but the reader is not dangled off too big a cliff. More and more, I'm coming to appreciate the skill of a series writer who can give a satisfying ending to a single book, who has the confidence that the book's world itself and the bigger problems seeded within that world will be enough to bring readers back. And for this book, they are.

source of recommended read: library

That strange creature, the first draft

2011-10-06T19:49:00.002-04:00

Every time I start a new writing project, I am struck all over again by how different it is from revision. About 90% (give or take) of my writing is revision, so first drafting is rarer. Which is probably why I have this neverending capacity to be surprised by its weirdness.

When I'm revising, it's easier to slip in and out of the book's world. And I can read the same sentence fifty times in a row, tweaking it a bit each time. And I can revise on a very regular schedule: I can pick a number-of-pages- or number-of-scenes-per-day goal and stick to it fairly closely.

When I'm first-drafting, it takes me a long time to get into a writing session, and often a long time to come out of it. (Like my recent "one-hour" planned writing session that turned into more than four hours.) And I don't like to dwell on any one sentence or tweak it for too long; I feel a forward pressure, a momentum. Except for those moments when I stop dead in my tracks because I don't know what happens next.

First drafting takes a lot of mental energy. I feel things bubbling away beneath the surface, and I wait impatiently for them to bubble up into the front of my brain where I can write them down. In the early stages, I may go a couple of days without adding words to the story, and part of me feels frustrated and as if I'm not advancing the work, but deep down I know the story is weaving together somewhere in my mind. I know I'm ready when scenes start popping into my head while I'm walking or making the bed: suddenly, characters are in there jabbering away, acting on their own.

I don't think I'll ever do NaNoWriMo because my first drafts don't like to come out in regular pieces every day. They like to come in bursts: 3000 new words one day, 20 new words the next, 2000 the next, then a day where I do nothing but delete a sentence that was blocking the way to the next scene, then 1000 words ... Like that.

Does your first-draft process differ from your revision process?

Guest post: "Second books rule"

2011-10-04T21:09:00.002-04:00

The latest episode in my series on writing a second book is by an author with a unique perspective. This honest post challenges us to keep getting better with every book--and says it's okay to play favorites!

Second Books Rule, First Books Drool
by Greg R. Fishbone

I wanted to post something in Jenn's "Second Book" series, but from a slightly different slant. As I was gearing up for the release of my second book, I started hearing rumors that the publisher of my first book was having difficulties. The owner had been suffering from health problems for some time and word on the street was that the press would soon be closing for good. These rumors have turned out to be true. While I certainly hope Miriam feels better soon and that all the other authors at Blooming Tree Press can find new homes for their books, I'm a bit conflicted about seeing The Penguins of Doom go out of print. I'm disappointed, but also strangely relieved.

When The Penguins of Doom came out in 2007, it was the most polished writing I'd ever done, after years of honing my craft and developing my own personal style. I've had nothing but positive feedback from readers. But this past spring, I felt a flush of embarrassment to see Penguins on sale at a conference. I wanted to tell people not to buy it because I could do better, and had done better, and they'd know that if only they could just wait for The Challengers to be released in September. I felt bad about thinking that way about my first book and it puzzled me, because I still loved that book, the characters, and the world I had created for them. Just not as much as I loved the new book.

I don't know whether other authors feel this way, but publishing a second book made me reevaluate the first book in a new light. Since one of my personal goals is to constantly increase my skills, it was important to me that my second book be better than the first. It's also natural that I'd want people to judge me on the better book. Therefore, I shouldn't feel guilty, as if I'd written the second book behind the first book's back. Still, at some level, I did.

How much loyalty do we owe our books? The truth is that books are not children--you can love one more than another. You can believe that one is objectively better, funnier, and fresher, and you shouldn't feel afraid to say so.

I'll always be grateful to Miriam and BTP for publishing Penguins and to everyone who stocked it on a shelf, obtained a copy to read, or posted a review. I'm thrilled to hear from readers who enjoyed the book, and maybe some of them won't like The Challengers nearly as much, but that doesn't change how I feel. My second book is better than my first and I hope my third will be better than my second.

I retained the digital rights to Penguins, and I've been toying with releasing an ebook edition to keep the book in print and available, but somehow I'm not feeling any rush.

Greg R. Fishbone is an author of galactic fiction for young readers, including the Galaxy Games series of humorous middle grade sci-fi novels from the Tu Books imprint at Lee & Low Books. In this hilarious middle-grade romp through space, eleven-year-old Tyler Sato leads a team of kids representing all of Earth in a sports tournament against alien kids from across the galaxy.

This post is also part of Greg Fishbone's Galaxy Games blog tour. For those of you participating in the blog tour Puzzle Contest, here is today's puzzle piece:

The Secret Writer Clubhouse

2011-10-03T19:58:00.000-04:00

I'm about to share a big secret with you. I could get in big trouble for doing this, but here goes.

There is this Clubhouse for Writers. That's right, a Secret Clubhouse. Inside, writers have lots of wine and cheese and chocolate truffles. They compare notes on how many awards they've won, dash off brilliant manuscripts with one hand while the other is being manicured, and dab their brows with advance checks that have lots of zeroes on them. Adoring fans who totally get their work and remember all the minor characters' names buzz around, asking brilliant thought-provoking questions. Oh yeah, and there's a Jacuzzi.

But one writer is not invited to the clubhouse. That writer stands barefoot in the snow, seeing the lights and hearing the laughter from afar. Shivering. Batting off attacking adverbs and slogging through a plot that has developed pointless tentacles. Wondering how those other writers seem to have it so easy. They all know each other, they get the buzz, they never cry over a chapter that goes nowhere. They never get rejection slips.

I think most writers suspect they are that lonely writer out in the snow.

And here's the real secret:

There is no clubhouse.

(Or if there is, I don't know about it so I must be the one out in the snow, and you? You're totally fine. :-) Have some truffles.)

"The work needs space around it"

2011-10-01T20:52:00.002-04:00

Two quotations that struck me, from May Sarton's The House by the Sea:

"He is very shy, a sandy-haired, middle-aged man, who is recovering from winning all the prizes last year ... I was quite amused to hear that he feels silenced at this point."

This captures a situation that sometimes happens to people after great worldly success: all that connection with the external world makes the connection with the inner self harder to find. But it doesn't have to be huge success to be distracting. This can even happen with small triumphs, because it's more about a mindset and an inner compass. A person can remain serene and focused while winning the Nobel Prize, or can lose focus over a single good review. It's a paradox of writing that we must strive to communicate with others, while not worrying overly much about attention or approval from those others!

Then there's this:

"It is not that I work all day; it is that the work needs space around it. Hurry and flurry break into the deep still place where I can remember and sort out what I want to say ..."

I find this, too. An hour of good solid writing may be preceded by two hours of what seems like daydreaming, or a solitary walk. Something is working beneath the surface when this happens; I'm reaching deeper layers of concentration. I don't always have or need the luxury of all this time, however. When I'm revising, I can usually slip right into the imaginary world of the story. It's first drafting that requires this mental heavy lifting.

Special live giveaway

2011-09-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow (Saturday, October 1) I'll be at the Collingswood Book Festival in Collingswood, NJ. And I thought I would do a fun little feature for those wonderful people who come out to live book events. I will have with me an advance copy of my next book, Try Not to Breathe. It doesn't come out until January and won't be on display, but if you find me at the festival and you're the first person to ask for it*, you will get the advance copy. The point of such advance copies is for people to write reviews about them and spread the word, and I hope you will do that--review it on Goodreads or on your blog or Facebook or Google+, pass it on to your local librarian, etc.--but I'm not going to put any specific requirement on that. And if nobody claims the book, it will come back home with me for use in a future giveaway.

Try Not to Breathe: contemporary, YA. In the summer after his suicide attempt, sixteen-year-old Ryan struggles with guilty secrets and befriends a girl who’s visiting psychics to try to reach her dead father.

Hope to see you there!

*Must be at least 13 years old. My fellow authors of the Kidlit Authors Club, who will be appearing at the festival, will not be eligible, to give the general reader a chance.

Inspiring posts

2011-09-29T20:22:00.007-04:00

I've been saving up all this linky goodness for you. All week people have been saying brilliant things online, and I've been making these notes: "Oooh, I should link to that!"

I love these posts so much that I hope you'll read them in full. But here are a few tastes:

In the motivation department, find your focus with Becky Levine who asks, "What brings you back to your WIP, even when you are tired or doubtful or drifting? What is it about this story that makes you need to write it? What is the call you can’t ignore?"

Tabitha Olson says of soliciting critique: "if you don’t know the heart of your story, you are not ready for feedback." And she explains why.

Susan Taylor Brown gets to the heart of the matter: "I've spent many years measuring my writing worth against too many of the wrong things --- Whether I write like someone else or as often as someone else. Whether I sell to a certain publisher or make a certain amount of money. Whether I get mentioned some place or not. Whether my reviews are good or bad or whether my books are even reviewed. Like I said, all the wrong measurements. ... my writing worth can't be measured by what someone else does or doesn't do ..."
This is one of those posts that's great for printing out and sticking up on the wall of one's writing office.

Victoria Patterson over at ThreeGuysOneBook delves into the line between fact and fiction: "Writers often use real life narratives and personages to build fiction. ... How can we best tell our stories while valuing integrity? What would a writer be without his or her borrowings?" With some fascinating real-life examples of "borrowing," as befits this topic!

Megan Frazer interviews me as part of her "bloggers on blogging" series, and I discuss blog-preparation questions such as, "What has the breadth and depth necessary to sustain a blog?" But the truly great thing about this series is that it includes blogging thoughts and advice from Melissa Walker and Cynthia Leitich Smith!

And in the news department, Bethany Hegedus announces the opening of a "writing barn" for rental as a writing retreat, and issues a call for Hunger Mountain submissions.

How to have fun with denial

2011-09-27T21:58:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I bemoaned the evils of denial, and I am certainly unenthusiastic when denial is embraced by readers or writers. (Which isn't to say I never embrace it myself, on occasion. But I don't view it as a virtue.)

However, denial can be a great feature in a fictional character. It's a defense mechanism that can arouse our sympathy or our contempt, depending on the situation.

Chris Lynch's Keir, the narrator of Inexcusable, is one of my favorite examples of a character in denial. Nabokov's Humbert Humbert, in Lolita, is another.

It takes skill to tip off a reader that a first-person narrator is in denial. Once the reader sees it, she will often become impatient for the character's self-realization, so the pacing of that (and the decision about whether the character ever has that realization) can be tricky. Often we're clued in to denial by a gap between what the character says and what he does, or by a gap between his version of events and the other characters' versions. There's often a period of disorientation, where we wonder which version of the truth to accept, and then there's the point where we become sure of the truth. We break with the narrator's version. (I suppose we don't have to become sure of the truth, though--a book could leave us hanging, wondering which version of events is real.)

If the character comes out of denial, it can be an occasion for growth, but it has to seem natural. In real life, people are able to carry on living with incredible amounts of cognitive dissonance. People don't like to give up their defense mechanisms. And so the motivation for a character to shed denial must be compelling. It could be the result of a long-present vulnerability, or new safety in the character's life, or a consequence of having something very important at stake.

Denial

2011-09-26T22:32:00.000-04:00

In replying to a comment on my last post, I described censorship as "shoring up the walls of denial." And I realize that's it, that's one of the core elements of censorship that offends me and pains me so much.

Because for me, writing is about puncturing denial. It's about acknowledging truths--beautiful truths, ugly truths. Saying yes, this is real. Yes, this thing you know to be true, this feeling or fact or experience--it exists. Now what do you want to do about it?

It's about opening doors, not closing them.

I have seen denial cause incredible pain. The lie we tell ourselves is that denial keeps us safe. In fact, it does the opposite.

I'm always asking myself: What is the truth about the situation I'm writing about? How does it really feel? I want to dig beyond the cliches that build up around common experiences: red as a beet, happy as a clam, tears of joy, cold sweat--forget all that, that's how we're supposed to feel, but how does it really feel?

I want to measure the gap between how things do go and how they ought to go. I want to use all the crayons in the box. I want to show how my characters act when they think nobody else is looking.

Masks don't interest me much. The real story is usually going on behind the mask, as the authors of The Phantom of the Opera and The Wizard of Oz knew.

More than banned books

2011-09-25T20:31:00.001-04:00

An addition to this year's Banned Books Week is Banned Websites Awareness Day, September 28. The American Association of School Librarians is launching the day "to spotlight the problem of excessive filtering of legitimate educational Internet websites in many K-12 schools."

As an author who has spoken with librarians and teachers, I've heard many complaints about the wholesale filtering of many legitimate and useful sites. According to AASL president Carl Harvey, “Many schools filter far beyond the requirements of the Children’s Internet Protection Act, because they wish to protect students ... Relying solely on filters does not teach young citizens how to be savvy searchers or how to evaluate the accuracy of information.”

In addition to the sheer inefficiency of overly broad filtering, there are other problems with filters. The ACLU has launched a "Don't Filter Me" campaign in partnership with Yale Law School to stop censorship of pro-LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered)-rel

ated websites on public school computer systems.

Among the sites the ACLU project uses to test whether illegally targeted filters are in place is this one: the "It Gets Better" project, whose mission is described this way: "In response to a number of students taking their own lives after being bullied in school, they wanted to create a personal way for supporters everywhere to tell LGBT youth that, yes, it does indeed get better."

I post the First Amendment to the US Constitution at this time every year, so here it is:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Authorial intent

2011-09-23T16:41:00.004-04:00

I've been thinking about authorial intent, and I haven't come up with any easy answers or absolutes. (But that won't surprise longtime readers of this blog, who know that I rarely find easy answers and I shy away from absolutes.)

Authors are responsible for what they write, but how responsible are they for what readers find?

In thinking about that question, I conclude: Authorial intent matters, and it doesn't. How's that for a fence-straddle?

On one hand, I've long felt that a good review will look at a book in the light of authorial intent. That is, a reviewer should not blast a light romance for not being a murder mystery, especially if it doesn't bill itself as a murder mystery. A reviewer shouldn't criticize an author for failing to write the book the reviewer would have written. And yet--how is a reviewer supposed to know an author's intent? Sometimes reviewers guess at this and get it drastically wrong; is that the author's fault or the reviewer's? At the end of the day, reviewers can only criticize the texts in front of them, not the books the authors were trying to write.

Then there are issues to which readers take offense. Authorial intent alone is not necessarily a defense against bigotry or cultural appropriation. It's like stepping on someone's foot while walking down the street--even if I didn't mean to step on that person's foot, I still apologize, because I caused the person pain, however accidentally. I don't say to the person, "Oh, your foot can't possibly hurt, because I wasn't trying to step on it." And I try to watch my feet.

But there comes a point where a reader can read way, way too much into a text. "The character is wearing an orange shirt in Chapter 4, which is an obvious alignment with the 1987 Weemblelock Movement, whose followers wore the color orange. The Weemblelock Movement recommends the colonization of Mars for military purposes, and the author obviously sympathizes with that objective." How responsible am I for such an interpretation if I've never even heard of the Weemblelock Movement (which, by the way, is totally invented for the hypothetical purposes of this blog post)? I believe in the ownership a reader takes of a text--and yet I also believe wholeheartedly in the author's right to reject interpretations that are along Weemblelockian lines.

I've been alternately dismayed, amused, puzzled, heartened, and delighted by reader reactions to various things I've written. The fact is that a story doesn't exist in isolation; every reader brings a context to it. The writer can guess at some of that context, but can never know the whole story of every reader's life. Some of what a reader brings to the reading experience is unique to that reader.

The more I look at these issues, the more I think we hammer out the answers between ourselves, negotiating the boundaries between human beings. Nobody ever really knows what anyone else means; we make lots of assumptions, we look for clues and evidence, we go back and forth. We ask questions. We bring our own experience and opinions to the table.

And at the end of the day, a reader can get something from a book that the author never even imagined. That can be wonderful or horrible or anywhere in between. A book released into the world never belongs wholly to the author from the first moment that anyone else lays eyes on it.

One true story

2011-09-21T22:38:00.004-04:00

I vaguely recall a comment exchange I once had with April Henry about generalizing: how people assume their own experience is universal. I don't remember the original topic that sparked the exchange, but I do remember that realization hitting like a bolt of lightning: I generalize, too, even though I know how faulty generalizations can be.

Growing up, the generalizations that bothered me usually had to do with my being a girl. I never seemed to fit the stereotypes. Girls were supposed to be bad at math ... uninterested in science ... afraid of snakes and spiders ... adore makeup ... complain about being fat ... love shoe shopping ... None of which applied to me. It's not surprising, given that there are more than three billion girls and women on this planet, that we're not all alike. And what bothers me even more is when people take a single instance from their lives as proof that these generalizations are true. "My son prefers football to dolls, so it's true that boys are more sports-oriented." That kind of thing.

Here's an example from my own life. I grew up in a heavily Catholic neighborhood, and because of that, I assumed Catholicism was the world's (or at least the country's) dominant religion. Imagine my surprise to hear in history class that some people thought John F. Kennedy might not be able to get elected President because of prejudice against Catholics. I may have been in junior high school before I realized a group I had thought of as a majority was a minority; I'd assumed that because almost everyone around me was Catholic, almost everyone everywhere was. That's just one small example, but I think it makes my point about how we think of our own lives as normal, our own experiences as universal. (But of course, this may be a generalization also! Maybe others are more aware than I was of how specific our lives really are.)

Some experiences are widely shared, of course: I suspect that love and fear and anger and hope feel much the same to people everywhere, although they may come in a variety of packages. For me, part of the joy of reading is discovering that common ground. But when I was reading this post of Brent Hartinger's, I started thinking again about generalizations. He makes a lot of great points in that post, but at the moment I want to focus on the idea that there is no single experience of how it is to be ... [fill in the blank]. There is no single authentic female experience, no single authentic gay experience, etc., etc. Yet every story is individual and tells of an authentic experience.

In my writing, I'm conscious of trying to build a body of work. Although I have overlapping themes and some similar characters from one work to another, I try to cover different worlds and different perspectives in each book. Rich and poor; experienced and innocent; confident and insecure; male and female; etc., etc. And even so, I don't claim to tell the true story of the world I'm writing about; I'm just trying to tell one true story. (And by true I don't mean literally true, since I'm writing fiction, but emotionally true.)

Fear, Loathing and Joy: Writing a Second Book

2011-09-19T19:41:00.002-04:00

The latest guest blogger in my "second book" series is Ellen Jensen Abbott. She discusses the special challenges of writing a sequel.

There’s a lot said about fear and loathing and the Second Book. Writers are notoriously insecure, but the Second Book takes all the normal writerly fears and magnifies them. If your first book did well, you may fear that your next one will be a flop, proving that you are indeed the hack you always secretly believed you were. If your first book didn’t do well, you may fear that the Second Book is your final chance at a writing career.

Or, maybe it’s the reviews that keep you up at night. You’ve been through publication once, and you know that everyone gets a least one bad review. You also know that it’s easy to take all your reviews to heart, especially the bad ones.

Like any author, you fear that no one will read your book. Since I was writing a sequel, readership held special terror for me. My audience for my first book, Watersmeet, was every kid in the English speaking world from the ages of 12 to 99—and some much younger, as kids tend to read up. But what about the Second Book, The Centaur’s Daughter? Is my audience only those who read the first? Does that mean that I am selling to thousands now, whereas before I was selling to millions? I wrote The Centaur’s Daughter so that you didn’t have to read Watersmeet to understand it, but Second Book fears are only vaguely rational, and this has been little comfort.

In writing The Centaur’s Daughter, I found that there are plenty of joys with the Second Book, even if they don’t get the attention the loathing does. If nothing else, you got a second contract. You are not a one-shot wonder! (You can start worrying about being a two-shot wonder when you start the Third Book.) In fact, several acquaintances, on hearing that I was publishing a Second Book, have said to me, “Wow! You’re a real author now.” (Which is funny because they said something very similar when I’d announced that I was publishing my first book.)

I also enjoyed launching myself into the Second Book knowing that I was capable of writing a full-length novel. I’d done it before! With the first book, it took a long time for me to even say out loud that I was writing a novel. Loads and loads of people start them, but was I going to be one of those who finished one? Now I know I can.

With the Second Book, I also had the joys of a deadline. Very, very few people sell their first book without writing the whole thing first. At least in the world of fiction. But I sold The Centaur’s Daughter based on a synopsis, sample chapters, and the success of Watersmeet. It was a different experience to write a book knowing that someone was waiting for it. It was no longer just about disappointing myself—and those people I had confessed myself as a writer to. There was money on the line. Nothing like a little cash to light a fire on those days you just can’t bring yourself to turn on your computer. I enjoyed the sense of purpose this gave me.

Probably more important than cash was the knowledge that someone out there wanted the book. My editor and my publisher, yes. More motivating were the e-mails, facebook posts and blog posts from readers telling me that they enjoyed Watersmeet and they were excited to read The Centaur’s Daughter. On days when neither my own motivation nor the contract could get me going, those readers could.

Even the fact that The Centaur’s Daughter was a sequel brought joy. I struggled with how much back-story to include, but I also got to return to characters and a world I knew and loved. Both surprised me. I found new reserves of strength in my main character, Abisina, as well as new stores of empathy. Her best friend, Haret the dwarf, had to face again a demon I had thought he conquered. Findlay, the love interest from Watersmeet, had much more scope for his sense of humor, and two other characters (who will remain nameless!) fell in love. I hadn’t seen that coming!

I got to go places in the world of Seldara that I hadn’t been in before—even though I had created it. The Motherland, home of the fairies, became a three-dimensional place with strange dwellings and wild ritual. Abisina stumbled upon the Chasm of Couldin, a place she had never heard of. Even Haret (and the author of the book) had only heard rumors about it! There were interesting challenges—such as when I wanted to move the entire Obrun Mountain range. There it was on the map for Watersmeet, so I had to invent a new plot twist to get my characters where they needed to go.

All of these discoveries gave me the chance to marvel at the human brain. I had planted seeds in Watersmeet that I didn’t even know were there. And then, just when I needed something good in The Centaur’s Daughter, I would find them and realize those seeds had grown into just what I needed. It boggles the mind.

So back in June, when The Centaur’s Daughter had already gone to the printer, I took the next step, and started … the Third Book. First chapters and synopsis are with my editor right now. What will I discover in this process? What new characters will walk into my pages? What new qualities will my heroine and hero develop? What new frustrations await me?

I sure hope I get the chance to find out….even if it means once again, facing all those fears.

Ellen Jensen Abbott, author of Watersmeet (Marshall Cavendish, 2009) and The Centaur's Daughter (Marshall Cavendish, September, 2011) can be found online at www.ellenjensenabbott.com

Blog salad

2011-09-18T16:05:00.000-04:00

Today, a random mix. Kind of a "blog salad."

***One of the joys of reading is coming across striking quotable quotes, like these:

           "My point here is that even under ideal circumstances, public-school teaching is one of the hardest jobs a person can do. Most sensible people know that. Anyone who claims not to know that is either a scoundrel or a nincompoop ... "--Garret Keizer, "Getting Schooled," Harper's, September 2011, page 34.

           "Will there never be an end to the cynical misuse of language by those who rule us?"--Aidan Chambers, Postcards from No Man's Land

           "I marvel at how unexciting it is to be famous, how mundane famous people are. They're confused, uncertain, insecure, and often hate what they do. It's something we always hear--like that old adage that money can't buy happiness--but we never believe it until we see it for ourselves."--Andre Agassi, Open: An Authobiography

***I'm currently the guest on Kitty Keswick's blog. What's special about her blog, "Discover Something Wonderful," is that she is working to open a NEW BOOKSTORE (are there more thrilling words than those?), and the blog is a mix of author features and her adventures in getting the store ready.

***My first book, The Secret Year, is up for grabs at Free Book Friday Teens, while an advance copy of my upcoming novel, Try Not to Breathe, is up for grabs at Goodreads

***If you're anywhere near Doylestown, PA, and you like YA, join Ellen Jensen Abbott, Cyn Balog, Alissa Grosso, Amy Holder and me for Teen Night at the Doylestown Bookshop, Friday September 23, 7 to 9 PM. Or if you can't make it but want a signed book by one of us, call the store (215.230.7610) and order one over the phone to be signed that night.

***I read this book last week and quite enjoyed it. It's a boy-meets-girl story that tackles a couple of issues I haven't seen discussed much in YA, and as a verse novel, it reads very quickly (perfect for reluctant readers). I don't want to get spoilery, so I'll just state the starting premise: a girl has set aside a day to herself right before she is expected to undergo a life-changing event. She meets a boy who is facing his own life-changing event. Together they seize this day, but they can't stave off "tomorrow" forever ...

The Day Before, by Lisa Schroeder.

source of recommended read: bought

A scene from the glamorous life of a writer

2011-09-17T13:25:00.000-04:00

Writer: Will you please leave the bubble wrap alone? I want it to sit on top of that box of books, out of the way.

Cat: You do not understand how delicious this bubble wrap is! How much fun! I must rub my face against it repeatedly, mouth the edges, and then drag it artistically onto the floor. See how beautiful it looks, blocking your way to the door.

Writer: Yes, blocking my way. I would like to leave the room without having to pick up the bubble wrap every time.

Cat: The aesthetic balance of the room requires a chunk of bubble wrap lying there, just so.

Writer: I could put the wrap on a high shelf, out of your way.

Cat: You wouldn't dare!

Writer: I might.

Cat: You're just jealous. You are not the only artist in the family, you know. Between my graceful poses and my skill with bubble-wrap-dragging, I am surpassing you! You are Salieri to my Mozart!

Writer: Don't be such a diva.

Cat: It comes with the territory of genius, my friend.

Writer: Oh, go chase down a rubber band, like you did this morning.

Cat: That rubber band was totally going to attack us if I had not leaped upon it and given it a sound thrashing. You're welcome!