A Writer's Rants and Raves

I"VE MOVED!!

2011-08-03T09:25:00.001-04:00

My blog has moved!!

My website has launched and I've moved my blog:
www.lauraellenbooks.com

If you are a faithful follower of this old blog PLEASE come by and click the RSS feed on the site so you don't miss anything!

See you over there :)
Laura Ellen.

MY BLOG HAS MOVED!!!

2011-07-19T14:38:00.000-04:00

I have now integrated my blog into my BRAND NEW WEBSITE :) :) -
Please find my posts now at: www.lauraellenbooks.com

Thank you!
Laura Ellen

The Lyrical Long and Short of How I Found My Agent

2011-07-11T06:39:00.002-04:00

Today on The Nightstand I am blogging about how I found my agent, but I get asked the question so often, I thought I'd post the blog simultaneosly here too.

I am represented by the awesomely brilliant agent-extraordinaire, Jill Corcoran of Herman Agency. My friend and fellow critique group member, author Jacqui Robbins, introduced me to Jill at the SCBWI LA conference in August 2009. At the time, BLIND SPOT was a chaotic mess; I was rewriting it in first person and destroying plot lines (see my post 'Oh The Places I had To Go') and it was nowhere near ready for submission. So I tucked Jill's name away in a list of agents I'd like to query and continued working.

Eight months later, when I felt BLIND SPOT was ready to be seen again by people other than my critique group, I queried two agents who had read all or part of my previous version and had asked to see it again. The first was no longer taking new clients. Bummer. The second, who I'd had a manuscript consultation with at the 2009 SCBWI LA conference, not only requested the full - she asked for an exclusive.

I was oober excited. I'd never been asked for an exclusive and thought this was a sign that I was on the right track. I tried to focus on a new project while I waited to hear from her. Six weeks later, she sent me a short and sweet email that basically said she loved my writing, enjoyed my novel, but just didn't feel 'connected' enough to the manuscript.

I won't lie. I was disappointed, but I knew from the bizillion agent talks I'd attended over the years, that not feeling a connection didn't mean she thought it was crap. She just wasn't in love with it. I pulled out my agent list and picked the three I wanted to query the most, one of which was Jill. As I prepared my queries, however, I hesitated with Jill's. In her 'what I look for' description she said she liked lyrical writing and I was afraid that wasn't me. Ellen Hopkins and Tracie Vaughn Zimmer - they were lyrical. Me? Not so much. So . . . I shelved Jill's query.

I queried three other agents instead. All three requested partials. All three responded back, again with the 'you are a talented writer but I am just not compelled enough to offer representation.'

That nay-sayer who sits on my shoulder began whispering that maybe my novel sucked, maybe it wasn't ready after all. I had sent in the first chapter for a manuscript consultation at the 2010 SCBWI LA conference - so I told myself I wouldn't query anyone else until after my consultation. I also decided that if I saw Jill again while in LA, I would talk to her, kind of do a mini-pitch, to see if BLIND SPOT might interest her despite its non-lyrical-ness.

I didn't see Jill. However, I did have an awesome consultation. The agent I met with only talked about the positives in BLIND SPOT; she asked me about its history, who had seen it, etc. She asked me what else I wrote; she basically interviewed me, and then asked me to send her the full. I was ecstatic. THIS WAS IT! Woo-hoo! I went home, frantically went over my novel one last time, and then, pressed send.

A few weeks later, I got the very long, very disappointing rejection. She and her assistant had read it, and although there was a lot they loved about it, there were things they just didn't feel worked (which she went into detail about) and, therefore, it was a no. Not a 'fix this and send it back'. Just a no.

I was devastated. I had been so sure that this was it. I felt crushed and deflated. I popped off an email to my critique buds. They all responded with sympathy and support - then helped me wade through what I thought were all negatives, to discover the truth in that long rejection. They helped me see what I needed to fix.

Then Jacqui said, "have you queried Jill yet? I really think she would like this."
No, I hadn't, I thought. But . . what the heck? Forget lyrical! I was going to query Jill right now! Well, as soon as I fixed the manuscript.

I powered through the stuff that the other agent had questioned, pulled up the query I had written Jill before but had shelved, and sent it off with my first ten pages. It was September 16th, 2010 at 2:00 pm.
27 minutes later I received an email from Jill requesting the full.

Woo-hoo, I said. Then stopped. I wasn't getting my hopes up this time. And even though she said she didn't want an exclusive because the industry is tough enough for writers these days, I gave her one. Because, who was I kidding? She was going to hate it anyway and then I'd know this novel was just drivel.

October 25th, I found an email from Jill in my inbox, sent at 3:04 am (she's west coast, so that was only midnight for her!): "I am loving BLIND SPOT. 100 pages to go . . ."

Again, I said "woo-hoo!" And again I stopped myself; I'd heard that before.

Same day, 3:21 pm, Jill emailed me: "It is a bit long.....hopefully, you haven't read it for awhile. perhaps you can see if there are any places to cut. I'll be back to you soon."
3:31 pm, she added: "Man, I'm loving this!"

Hmmm. What was going on here? Did I dare allow myself to hope? I thought about what she said and wanted her to know that I was willing to work at it.
4:07 pm, I responded, saying I had no problem cutting.

4:11 pm, she emailed back: "but there is so much I love, I can't find a thing i want out." Then she listed specifics on a few things maybe I could change . . .

I admit it. I was over-the-top excited now.
4:44 pm: I told her I was going over the specific pages she mentioned, looking at what she had pointed out, seeing what I could cut . . .

4:46 pm she responded: "do that thru the whole ms....and by the way, I MUST REP THIS! Okay, 24 more pages to go...."

LOVE the way she just slipped that "I must rep this" between 'go through your novel' and 'I am still reading it', don't you? :)

I signed with her the beginning of November, and did two revisions for her before she started submitting BLIND SPOT in mid-January. By mid-March she'd found the right editor for me - the equally brilliant and awesome editor-extraordinaire, Karen Grove of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Oh and that whole thing about lyrical writing? Turns out, I am a lyrical writer. Jill was referring to writing with rhythm and assonance, simile and metaphor; writing that is poetic but not necessarily poetry. :)

I'm Blogging on The Nightstand Again!

2011-07-06T06:23:00.000-04:00

Today I am blogging on The Nightsand! Come over and read: Oh the Places I had To Go: My Rocky Road Writing BLIND SPOT.

I'm Blogging on The Nightstand Today

2011-06-29T08:39:00.001-04:00

Today I am blogging on The Nightstand about Jane Austen and Phyllis A. Whitney - authors that have influenced my writing.
Pop over and read me!

Su-Su-Summertime!

2011-06-24T10:11:00.000-04:00

I love summer. So many memories as a kid are tied up with summertime. There are specific events I remember - like the time the Bureau of Land Management helicopter landed in front of our house to tell us a forest fire burning miles away had turned and we needed to evacuate. Or the time my sister and I went to horse camp in Matanuska Valley and took the train there by ourselves. We brought an entire pan of rice krispie treats to 'fortify' us on the journey. Or the time we convinced a neighborhood friend that we'd walked through a time warp while in the woods (my sisters and I set our watches ahead as proof.)

Then there are the everyday memories of things that happened all the time like the endless sunshine evenings (Alaska never gets dark in the summer); drinking lemonade in the sun; running through the sprinklers; walking in the woods; going to baseball games; eating vegis fresh from the garden . . . and making lots of trips to the library. Summer always meant tons of reading to me growing up, and I went to the library two or three times a week.

For my kids now, summers aren't exactly the same as mine. We live in Michigan where it gets dark at night so we don't have the endless summer daylight, but we have fireflies we watch from our deck, and we love sitting out there in the dark on humid evenings. And although we do live in a wooded area, they can't go off on their own like my sisters and I used to for hours on end. But they still have lemonade and sprinklers and fresh vegis and . . . the library.

Tuesday my 12 year old son begged me to take him and his sister to the library. I had to smile. Even though our summers are different that part isn't, and I'm glad for it. They still equate summer with going to the library. and reading lots of books. I'm glad I've passed that part of my childhood on to them.

So no matter what your summer plans are, I hope you take the time to head to the library.
Happy reading!

How I am Learning to 'Pimp Myself'

2011-06-15T08:52:00.000-04:00

Since I accepted my book offer from Karen Grove at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in mid-March, I have discovered there is volumes to be learned about marketing a book. Most of my education on this topic has come by way of The Apocalypsies, all 2012 debut authors who have banded together to help promote and support one another. What a great group of authors! Everyone has so much knowledge on so many topics - from tweeting and facebook pages to websites and blogs to business cards and giveaways - I am in awe. So I wanted to give them all a shout out to say 'Thank You' as I begin my journey towards pimping myself!

I have hired the awesome website extraordinaire Stefanie Gilmour of S.G!lmour Design here in Michigan to design my website. I can't wait to show it off! When I launch the site August 1, I will be doing lots of giveaways to promote it, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I have also joined forces with some debut authors on a joint blog: The Nightstand: for Books Both Sinister and Strange, showcasing 2012 debut Paranormals and Thrillers.My book isn't paranormal, but it is definitely a mystery/thriller!

We launched the site yesterday and to promote it we are giving away a signed copy of two recent releases:
HUNTRESS by Malinda Lo and SLICE OF CHERRY by Dia Reeves. So go check out the new blog and get an entry each for following, for tweeting, and for blogging about it!

Five Tips for the Apocalypse

2011-04-21T13:07:00.000-04:00

As a 2012 debut YA author, I belong to the Apocalypsies - a group of YA and MG authors whose books are all coming out in 2012. As part of our bio on the website, we are all listing five things in relation to the Apocalypse such as the five books we'd want with us, five things to do before the End of Days, etc.

I thought I'd share my list with you all here. When you're finished, please stop by the site and check out our bios and upcoming book descriptions!

There are two schools of thought on the End of Days. Some think the whole world’s rotation will go off-kilter and cause mass destruction. Others think a virus will sweep across the land, creating a Zombie Apocalypse. How do you prepare when you don’t know what's coming?

Five Tips to Prepare for Any Apocalyptic Event:

1) Find a spaceship – A spaceship will get you off Earth no matter what. There are many eccentric people who have looked into this option; find one and start sucking up now!

2) Start Hoarding – Whichever way it goes, you’ll need food. Skip the rice (no one on Survivor ever fantasizes about rice). Get vats of peanut butter instead. It has lots of protein and can curb that sugar craving – it can probably be used as a glue in an emergency too, though you may want to consult some old MacGyver reruns to verify that.

3) Take a Wilderness Survival class (or watch the box set of Survivorman) – Even if you have hit Costco, at some point you’ll find yourself in a situation. Survivorman can show you which berries and fungi are poisonous (you don’t want to end up like Foxface in the Hunger Games). Plus, you’ll learn how to drink your own urine. Bonus!

4) Start Working Out – Not just running and lifting weights. Learn the fine art of shovel-wielding. You never know who you may need to fend off. A good guide for this is the movie Zombieland.

5) Master the art of Zombie make-up – If you find yourself suddenly posing as a Living Dead Girl, you’ll want to look the part. Suggestion? Consult Rob Zombie. He’s the master!

Music, Writing, and Me

2011-04-20T08:56:00.003-04:00

I just added a really cool feature to my blog - a playlist link! Previously I listed out (painstakingly I might add!) all my songs, but thanks to the folks at http://www.playlist.com/ I can now compile them into one playlist, put the link on my site, and voila! You can not only see them all, but you can PLAY them :)

For those of you who know me, you understand my excitement. For those who don't, let me explain:

Music is a huge part of who I am. It is how I wake up in the morning, how I destress after a long day, how I cope when the kids are especially grumpy, how I work out (CANNOT work out without music!) - but most of all it is how I connect myself to my stories when I am writing. By the time I am sitting down to begin a new novel, I have a completed playlist. I play it prior to writing each day. If I get stuck, I listen to the playlist. If I have things to do and can't get to writing right away, like when I have to actually clean my house or my kids are home, I listen to it to keep my head in my book.

Music connects me to my characters, the setting, the tone. This was especially true while writing BLIND SPOT because my character, Roswell Hart, had a very similar relationship to music. Thus, in the book you will actually see a lot of references to music.

Now http://www.playlist.com/ is not perfect - I was disappointed to find that a few of my playlist selections (This Is Hell by Elvis Costello; Scars in the Making by Feul; Paradise by Tesla; Mother Maria by Beth Hart and Slash; All Falls Down by Adeliras Way, and Coming Undone by Korn) were not listed, so I could not include them :(
But still - it is an awesome tool!

So click on the link on the sidebar and check it out - it will bring you to my profile page so just scroll down to the bottom where it says 'Laura Ellen's Blind Spot Playlist' - and take a listen.

Oh, and for those of you who find yourselves saying "WTF?" when you hear Barry Manilow's Copacabana on there (which obviously does not fit in) I say to you with a twinkle in my eye - "Oh but it does!"
You'll just have to read the book to find out how!

My Good News!

2011-04-14T07:43:00.002-04:00

I am so excited to announce my pending publication!
Here's my agent, Jill Corcoran's post:
http://jillcorcoran.blogspot.com/2011/04/laura-ellens-debut-blind-spot-to.html

Finding the Magic

2011-04-10T12:03:00.001-04:00

I just returned from a truly inspiring vacation in Disney World. It wasn't the first time I'd been - in fact I think it was about the fourth time we had visited the park as a family - and since all three of my children (18, 12, and 9) have long outgrown the "magic" stage where seeing princesses and cartoon characters come to life brings stars to their eyes and a giddiness to their step, I was rather shocked when all three actually requested that the theme park be our vacation destination. I'm really glad we obliged!

Now I have heard many a critic bash Disney for the commercialization of fairy tales, the capitalistic pursuits at the child's expense, etc. etc. (all you need to mention is Jack Zipes in a children's literary criticism course and you'll get an ear full!) - and I get that, I do. Any parent does who has tried to escape the park without purchasing something, from fairy wands to mickey-shaped ice cream bars, they get a hold of that wallet. But despite all that, I have to hand it to Disney. They know how to bring the magic to everyone who visits.

Before we arrived, my 12 year old son was in a bit of a depressed funk. He has been struggling this year with school despite the fact that he is one of the most intelligent kids I know; he'll blow you away with his historical and scientific knowledge and if ever you are lost, you'll want him navigating you. He's like a human compass. But he struggles with getting the work turned in and gets overwhelmed with the amount expected of him sometimes, and he just shuts down rather than push his way through. He's one of the youngest in his class; his classmates are all turning 13, while he only just turned twelve - and he is painfully conscious of his heighth or lack thereof. Rolled all together, you get a kid who rarely smiles. By the end of out first day in the sunshine, not only was he smiling, he was laughing. Disney broke through the glum and found my son again.

My 18 year old too. About to graduate and head to college, she's usually off doing her own thing. It was fun to see her goofing around with her siblings, spinning in the Tea Cups, flying above Neverland, waving at Belle and the Beast, her and her 9 year old sister oohing-and-ahhing at every little girl dressed head to toe in their princess dresses and tiaras.

My husband and I had worried at first when we decided to go because as frequent visitors to Cedar Point, a roller coaster park in Ohio, we knew that the rides at Disney would not compete in thrill-value to those the kids were used to. But they actually had more fun because as my son pointed out, "it's the experience more than the ride." He was right. At Disney, it is about the stories behind each ride; and just like a really good book, the rides let you become a part of that story. You become a part of the magic.

So thank you Disney for helping my family return to those parts of themselves that make them children, for helping them find the magic and the fun, and for reminding me that as I sit down to get back to writing - it is the experience, the magic, the story that makes a reader love a book. It is what keeps them coming back to it again and again and again no matter how old they are.

The Story Behind the Story

2011-02-01T07:43:00.010-05:00

I attended the SCBWI NY conference this past weekend and was inspired, as usual, by the awesome speakers. While everyone I heard left something with me, it was Lois Lowry and Linda Sue Park that really resonated with me the most.

Lois Lowry talked about the question so many people ask: Where do you get your ideas? To answer, she shared the "stories" - some funny, some very sad - behind several of her books. It got me thinking about my own writing and the stories that have shaped each one.

Linda Sue Park talked about how sometimes you must take yourself out of your writing, to make it about the work and not about yourself. This too got me thinking about my own writing, specifically my novel Blind Spot, which my agent, Jill Corcoran has begun submitting to publishers. I decided to blog about the story behind Blind Spot, and how I had to take myself out of the equation, to write it.

I'd always been a shy, introverted girl. I had glasses since the first grade but despite yearly upgrades in my prescription, I never really could see with them on. I kind of bumbled around a lot, and always felt stupid and out of it, even though I wasn't stupid. Most of the time I was at the top of my class.

When I was in eighth grade, I had an infection in my eye. Nothing serious. I'd started wearing contacts the year before and due to improper cleaning or eyestrain or whatever, my eye got infected. While sitting in the waiting room, I overheard my mom and the doctor talking about my dad's vision. I knew he didn't see very well either, but I'd never heard any talk of him having an eye disease. As they described how he saw - how he couldn't see things straight on and had to use his peripheral vision instead - I started to get scared.

That's how I saw. Little colored dots moved around in front of my eyes blocking my central vision. I'd had them so long, I'd learned to accommodate by focusing them on something and then using my peripheral to see. I assumed everyone did; I thought that was how everyone saw.

Well it wasn't. I had macular degeneration. They explained my eyes would continue to get worse (like they'd been doing since I was in first grade). They explained I would struggle with reading regular print (which I already did). They explained I probably would never drive a car (which would've been a big deal, except I knew my Dad drove so obviously that wasn't going to happen to me. I didn't realize he'd been driving illegally for years). Basically, from my viewpoint, they were telling me things I'd already been dealing with for years, so besides having a reason now for always bumbling about like an idiot, nothing had changed.

To my private Catholic school, however, things had changed. It was the early eighties. Special education, IEPs, 504 plans, etc. didn't exist - not in Fairbanks, Alaska. We had resource classes. A teacher would come during class and pull out those kids who had trouble reading or doing math to give them extra help. My school hadn't had to deal with a girl who was considered 'legally blind' and in their attempt to accommodate me, they decided I too should be pulled out of class for extra help. Suddenly I was separated from the rest of the class and pooled in with the kids I once upon a time had helped with their reading. I know, looking back, the school was trying to help. But as a freshman in high school who had always been the one excelling in reading, I took it to mean something was wrong with me.

This sudden change, tilt, in my world didn't fair so well with the already insecure, self-conscious introvert that I was. And because of it I made poor choices. Did stupid things. Got myself into trouble. A lot. I wasn't trying to rebel. I was just battling that image of who I thought I was versus who everyone else seemed to want to think I was.

When I decided to write Blind Spot, I wanted to write something that wasn't an issue book. I didn't want to write about a visually impaired girl with macular degeneration and what people with that eye disease go through.

No.

The book I needed to write was about a girl who happened to have a visual impairment. A book about the reality of being a teen coping with something that shapes who you are and who others think you are. I wanted to make what my character went through real, make her pissed off, hurt, ashamed, so wrapped up in her anger that she couldn't see everyone around her, losing friends because she couldn't see the forest through the trees.

I needed to write about the girl who was self-destructive because she thought she was not normal, not worthy, not able. The girl that wanted to love herself but couldn't. The girl that was me.

I found as I began writing, however, that my own story was too close to the one I was writing, and I was struggling. I had a critique with author Jay Asher, 13 Reasons Why, who said he had a similar problem when writing his book. His story, stemming from a suicide in his own family, was very personal and he found it hard to separate himself sometimes too. But separate was what I needed to do because I was limiting my main character, Roz, to my own characteristics; my plot to my own story.

To fix this, I rewrote the novel in third person. Took a while, but the result was worth it. It enabled me to put some distance between myself and Roz. I was able to add to her and to the plot things that needed to be there but I hadn't myself experienced. By the time I was ready to rewrite again in first person, I'd completely severed myself. I had done as Linda Sue Park suggested in her talk. I took myself out of it and focused on the book.

The result?

Blind Spot. The story of sixteen year old Roswell Hart who, because of her macular degeneration, is too wrapped up in her own messed up life to notice what's going on around her. When her classmate Tricia Farni is found dead and Roz was the last person to see her alive, however, Roz needs to know what she missed that awful night by Birch River. Problem is, she doesn't remember, and she must piece together what has happened to find the truth.

So, that's what is behind my novel, and I hope, with any luck, some of you will get to read it someday :)

To the Love of Story

2011-01-16T16:10:00.009-05:00

One of my most favorite things about being a writer and reader of children's books is being able to share and discuss books with my children. I love when they come to my 'library' - the wall-to-wall bookshelves in my home office - looking for a book to read. I love when one of them discovers a book I haven't read yet and tells me I should read it. I love when one of them has a book report to do or simply is looking for a book and asks for my help in finding one - and love even more when they, in turn, recommend that book to a friend. I love that, when I see one of them reading something I know has some issues they may struggle with, that I can facilitate a discussion because I have read the book. But most of all, I love that all three of my children love reading; they love the story that a book promises.

Of all three of my children, my youngest is the most voracious reader. She is also quite a talented writer and I have no doubt she will be a published author someday. The love of story that she and I share is something I cherish. We can spend hours coming up with plots and characters and settings. This past summer we took a family vacation to Boyne Mountain in Northern Michigan. My husband and other two children did a three-hour zip line hike while my youngest and I spent those three hours sitting deep in the woods, writing. My husband thought I was crazy when I suggested it. He suggested swimming at the water park instead because writing in the woods, in his mind, did not rival a three-hour zip line event. When he asked her though, she was adamant about going on our 'retreat'. And I am so glad we did. We both wrote pages and pages of stuff and had an amazing, imaginative time that I will never forget.

At age 9, she amazes me with her perceptive insight into books. She was reading The Witch of Black Bird Pond the other day and commented that "instead of starting in the action like most books" the author took the time to "introduce the main character first." My daughter liked that about the book. Another time she complained that the book she was reading "didn't really have a plot, just random stuff happened." My favorite though was the day she came to breakfast in tears because "Blue Fur said she'd never leave her kittens and then she just took them into the forest and left them!" (from one of the Warriors books.)

She recently told me that she is glad that she has a Mom that is a writer because it helps her be a good writer. :) I love that she said that, but I know I am only a small part of the equation. It is her absolute love of story and the bazillions of authors out there that also share that love of story that has made her and will continue to make her an awesome, perceptive, insightful writer and reader. The love of story is a cyclical thing that has been around for ages. Authors inspire authors who in turn, inspire authors.

So a toast and a thank you to all the authors out there who have inspired us through their love of story!

On the Value of a Critique Group

2010-10-12T10:46:00.013-04:00

You've heard it before. To be a better writer, you need to share your work with others IN THE FIELD i.e. a writing group. But so many people don't. They try it, personalities clash, things fall apart. Yes, critique groups, like any other social situation, can be work - but oh so worth it. I was reminded of this fact this past weekend at the weekend-long SCBWI-MI Fall conference , and I returned with a whole new appreciation for my critique group.

Four of us, including myself, attended the conference together. They all had a critique with an editor and - as critiques often do - felt less than ecstatic about the feedback. We sat around and listened to the feedback, gave each other much needed ego boosts by pointing out the positive in the feedback, and then attacked the negative head-on. We knew each other's characters and plots so well, we were able to point out ways to fix things, and we knew each other so well, we felt comfortable doing it and safe receiving it.

I couldn't ask for a better group. There are six of us total. We've had members come and members go over the years, but for the most part, have been the same group for years. We are an eclectic bunch - writing poetry, picture books, middle-grade, and YA; romance, boy books, and fantasy; humorous, edgy, and dark - we run the gambit. We all have our strengths; we all have our hang-ups, our pitfalls, our overly used words, our crutches. Best of all? We all know it and aren't afraid to point it out.

It is a safe environment where we can be ourselves, which is so important when you are a writer - the world doesn't always get us but we get each other.

Our critique clique clicks - and I am such a better writer now than I was seven years ago when I found you all!

To those of you who do not have a critique group - get one! To those who do and it doesn't work - find another one! For those who do one and it does work - you know what I am talking about.!And to those in my group - cheers! I love you guys!

Of course, none of it helps if you aren't writing, so ................ butt-in-chair mates!

What I've Learned About Writing from Watching Project Runway

2010-08-14T07:46:00.009-04:00

I'm guilty. I watch reality television. Not all of it; some shows are simply a flimsy platform created for idiots in search of quick fame. I do have my favorites though, like Survivor, Amazing Race, and Project Runway. My husband rolls his eyes when I say one of those shows is about to come on. I tell him I have to watch - I am doing research. "Research? Really?" He says. "Survivor?"

Yep, a wealth of character sketches and dialogue and human dynamics on that show. Amazing Race? All the places they go and challenges they must complete are interesting details to enrich plots and settings. Project Runway? Hands down, the best place to learn about the craft of writing.

What? I hear you saying - my husband too. How can a bunch of wannabe fashion designers making dresses for models teach you anything about writing?

Let me show you what I've learned from watching the show:

1) In the fashion world, everything has been done before - pants, skirts, shirts, etc. The designer's job is to make what has been done, new and fresh by mixing materials, colors, styles, etc. It is the same in the writing world. You'll find similar themes and premises in all literature - your job is to morph what's been done into something innovative and new through plot, setting, characters, etc.

2) The ideal in fashion is to create something clean, fresh, and sophisticated while still being wearable, new and fun. The same is true in writing. Publishers want well-written, 'literary' stories that will stand the test of time, but have a commercial hook that will appeal to the masses.

3) In writing like in fashion design, when we begin executing our ideas, sometimes something doesn't work. You have to be willing to change it up, alter it, or scratch it and start over , even if it means losing something you really liked. How many fashion designers have we seen fall out of the competition because they got too attached to their idea and lost sight of the big picture? Don't lose sight of what your goal is - if it isn't working, take it out and save it for another project.

4) Learn to listen to yourself and others. All artists have a little voice that tells them when something isn't right. Listen to it - don't get lazy and ignore it. Same with professionals in your field. If people are telling you the same thing about your work, listen. Sometimes that means a major overhaul - and we tend to ignore the comments if that means the work will be hard - but don't. Listen, listen, listen.

5) And ignore, ignore, ignore! You also have to learn to ignore yourself and others! We all doubt ourselves. Learn to recognize which voice is talking to you - your professional voice or that insecure child. Ignore the child. Same with people who mean well. You are the person who understands your vision the best. If what people are saying to you doesn't make sense for your vision, ignore their advice. Learn to identify what is good advice and what is not.

6) Never get too cocky. Everyone has talent, but no one starts a project perfectly. When you get complacent, so does your work. Push yourself every time.

7) Even the best ideas can fall apart with the wrong choices You've seen it happen on Project Runway before - a safe dress costs a designer the competition because she/he chose the wrong accessories. Make sure all the pieces of your story work together.

8) Stay current, but don't get trapped into creating yesterday's trends. Nothing worse than writing with shoulder pads and big belts, i.e. outdated devices and dialogue. Try to stay classic while being fresh and thinking out of the box.

9) Don't be afraid to try new things. If you think all you can make are dresses and you never try to make pants, you may be missing out on a talent you never knew you had. Don't let the fear of using chocolate or paper napkins scare you out of the race. BE OPEN AND INNOVATIVE!

10) The most important thing I have learned from Project Runway: Don't give up. You may be at the bottom on one project, but at the top the next. Don't let rejection cut you out of the pack. Learn from it and move on.

And that's what I've learned from Project Runway!

Happy creating!

A Blog Entry At Last!

2010-06-08T06:59:00.003-04:00

Today marks the last full day of writing time before my kids are home for summer break, and I thought I would use it to update my sorely neglected blog.

It has been nearly eight months since my last post - which is embarrassing, considering so many of my writer friends post every day. I haven't quite figured out how to juggle the household, the kids, and the millions of extra stuff that comes up, with my writing, my research, my agent/editor queries, and my blog. How do you all manage it?

During my blog silence, I finished a major overhaul of my novel. It was a huge undertaking. I switched the POV from third to first, cut 18,000 words, and pulled a few plot threads, which meant some tedious re-plotting of things. The actual overhaul took about three months of thinking about the changes, and six months of actually making those changes. Once the hardcore writing began, I couldn't focus on a blog or anything else beyond my household. In fact, every day, I fought hard to come out of the catatonic, zombie-state I found myself in after writing before the kids came home. (Is that normal? Anyone else get that way? I forced myself to walk - it helps!)

How DO you all do it? I thought my 7 am to 2 pm, five days a week schedule devoted to writing was pretty good - so many of my writer friends work outside of the home and complain they never have time to write - but I see people writing books and blogging, doing author visits, etc. and I wonder - HOW?

I stressed about not blogging for a while. Every time I would go to my critique meetings with my AWESOME writer's group and saw Jacqui and Diane, the champion bloggers in my group, I'd feel inadequate in my ability to juggle stuff. But I have realized that I have a sort of writing cycle that works for me. I blog when I am in the thinking stages of a work - when I am doing research, or plotting, or trying on character voices - this is usually during the summer months and early fall when the kids are home or just getting settled into the new school year and so much 'stuff' is going on. Then, right about October/November, I hit my hardcore writing groove, and nothing but that novel gets written because I have a goal - to finish in May before the insanity that is the end of the school year begins. With summer comes a new project, more thinking than writing, and, therefore, more blogging.

Probably not industry standards, and if I get published, I will probably need to change that because I will need to have a more regular blog - but for now? It works for me.

So, here's to summer days, reading books, writing blogs, and just plain hanging out while characters run rampant in my head (I love that part).

Cheers!

What's Been Stopping You From Writing?

2009-10-21T10:30:00.008-04:00

Every time I send an email out to someone lately, I cringe at my perky little "Check out my blog!" note that automatically attaches to the end of each email. I have even erased it several times to avoid being seen by the recipient because I know if they actually DO check out my blog, they will be sorely disappointed.

Writing has been hard for me lately - not just the blogging, but the actual writing, working on my books. I'm not stuck. I think about my revision all day long; I know exactly what I need to do and how to do it. But when I sit down at the computer to work, I shut down.

Why? What's stopping me?

Things have been busy around here. My daughter started her junior year in high school and a job at McDonald's, so she's juggling work schedules, PSAT/ACT/SAT prep, and AP classes. My son started middle school and is adjusting to the increase in tests and homework plus playing flag football for his school. My youngest started third grade and has an increase in homework too plus basketball. Put that together with my husband's full-time job and his part-time National Guard job that may as well be a full-time job and dentist appointments and doctor appointments and school functions - and well, yes, life has been over-the-top busy.

But while that has contributed to my lack of productivity, that's not totally it. My life is always ridiculously stressed like that. Whose isn't?

I think my productivity problem has more to do with me trying to justify the time I put into writing. It is something I enjoy tremendously, but I don't get paid to do it - and who is to say I ever will be? How do I justify all the time I spend on it when it is not something I 'have' to be doing and there are chores to be done, a household to run, kids to attend to? I look at other stay-at-home moms and all they do at their kids' schools, at home, etc. and I feel like a failure. I volunteer, but not as much as others do, and half of them have REAL jobs. I don't. I have nothing critical going from 7 AM to 3 PM five days a week.

This past June my stepsister lost her battle with cancer. She fought hard for about four years and all the while she was giving her seven kids and husband a hundred and twenty-five percent in addition to helping people in her church and community. She was one of those rare people that makes everyone a better person just by knowing her. I look at Leslie and how much she did for everyone, how she was going all the time, doing for others while fighting her own battle inside, and quite frankly, it makes me think, what the hell am I doing? How is spending hours a day writing a book helping anyone? How is sitting at a computer creating fictitious characters and fictitious worlds doing anything constructive for the rest of the world?

I know that a happy mom makes happy children. And, writing isn't something I am doing to make money anyway - it is a part of me, like breathing, and when I am not writing, I get depressed and stir-crazy. But how do I justify writing instead of say, cleaning house? How do I justify shutting that door to the world outside to immerse myself in a fictitious world when there are real chores and real problems to be dealt with?

This is what has been stopping me from being productive lately, so I thought I'd share. Maybe if I still have a few readers out there who haven't given up on reading my consistently non-existent blog, you'd care to share how you justify the time you spend on writing?

Will Kindle kill the Publishing House?

2009-08-19T09:51:00.006-04:00

Yeah, I know I promised a debrief on the SCBWI LA conference, but this does sort of relate. While at the conference my friend Su brought her kindle and I got to check it out. Pretty cool. I especially liked how one can change the font size - for someone like me who can't read small print without a magnification device, it is awesome.

While she was showing it to me and our friend, Libby, the three of us talked about how the kindle may change publishing forever. You can download a book for less than $10 versus an average of $17 for a new hardcover. It's lightweight - no breaking your back carrying a bunch of books with you.

But what about the illustrations of a picture book? The cover art? The smell of the paper? The feel of that book in your hands? There is something intimate about a book - curling up with it, just you and the characters, falling into the author's world - can you feel that way with the generic look and cold feel of a Kindle? I haven't tried it, so I can't answer that, but I do know that I hate reading books on my computer. I read it differently, more mechanically or something, than I do when I am holding the paper in my hands.

Video didn't kill the radio star; audio didn't kill the book when it became popular- nor did the penny press kill literary works as predicted when it brought literature to the masses. But, yeah, Kindle could kill the profits. Publishers may resort to only printing the classics, the proven sellers. Why spend the money to print a new release in hardcover when you can spend less and wait to see if it will be a seller on Amazon? And perhaps this will cause a re-kindling (pun intended) of the picture book industry when money once spent on hardcovers is freed up. (I mean, I don't care how cheap it is to publish work on the internet, no parent is going to let their baby drool all over a Kindle while reading a picture book, right?)

Let's look into the future for a moment though. Imagine the world of books has been diminished to the 'classics' and mass quantities of books downloaded onto mass quantities of Kindles.

Now imagine a mega virus has wiped out all that is Internet, machines have been trashed and discarded, life as we live it now has been destroyed.

Okay, now fast forward a century or two later, when someone like Tally from Scott Westerfield's Uglies is wandering the abandoned city streets of Old America. What will she find? An abundance of books like Moby Dick, The Odyssey, and The Scarlet Letter, perhaps The Outsiders and Good Night Moon - but none representing our time right now or our tomorrow. Whole generations of books will be gone forever. How sad that Tally won't be able to read the brilliance of today's and tomorrow's authors because their work is trapped inside a broken piece of plastic, accessible no more.

So, will the Kindle kill the publishing house? For the sake of our dystopian future, let's not let it. Let it be an industry tool, an industry advancement, but not an industry end.

Why Attend a Writer's Conference?

2009-08-04T17:53:00.007-04:00

I leave Thursday for the SCBWI National conference in LA. Inevitably when I tell someone I am going to a Writer’s Conference, they ask “So do you bring your manuscript around and give it to agents and editors?” And when I say “No. In fact that is a sure-fire way not to get published,” the response is usually, “So, why go?”

Why? Because:

The first writer’s conference I attended was the 2000 Write on The Sound conference in Edmonds, WA. It wasn’t specifically children’s writing, but it did have sessions on YA and it was in Edmonds, where my sister lives, so it worked for me. Even though several of the sessions I sat in on were about writing I didn't necessarily plan on writing - memoirs, magazines, nonfiction - I learned a wealth of knowledge about the business and even more about the market. But the most significant thing I came away with were contacts - I met so many people, writers like me, that I could stay in touch with via email. This actually shocked me. This networking thing. I had always been (and still am!) the shy one – never speaking to someone until spoken to, afraid of social situations because I didn't know what to say – and yet, there I was talking to people about writing, my writing, and talking to them about their writing. So why go? BUSINESS and MARKET INFORMATION and NETWORKING.

I went the following year to the same conference – this time submitting a manuscript for critique. It was scary. It was one thing to have friends or classmates in workshop read it, but have an actual publishing professional read it and comment on it? YIKES!! The experience was amazing. My writing grew in leaps and bounds just from that one critique. As I started attending more conferences, I made it a point to always submit something; in my opinion, it is a wasted opportunity if you don't. You’ll never make it out there if you don’t let those who work out there read your stuff. So, why attend? CRITIQUES

That next year I also attended my first SCBWI National conference. It was February, 2002. Five months after September 11th; five months after the birth of my third child. I traveled all the way from Alaska, by myself. And it was NEW YORK CITY. It was hard to leave my newborn, hard to go to New York after the terrorists had devastated it, hard to go alone, but I had a completed manuscript I was ready to publish and I wanted to meet editors and agents. So I went. I listened to editors talk about what they liked, what they were looking for, what to do and not to do – and the best part was many of them were handing out “golden tickets” – the opportunity to submit to them as a conference attendee even though they were closed to unagented, and/or unsolicited submissions. So why attend? SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES.

Coming back from that New York conference, however, I also realized that despite those golden tickets I held in my hand, my manuscript wasn’t ready to submit, mot yet. I had listened to what those editors were saying about common mistakes and I had committed most of them in my novel. Time to revise.

We moved to Michigan shortly after that and I found A WRITING COMMUNITY, something I hadn’t had in Alaska. (Alaska has a SCBWI, but in case all you in the lower 48 didn't realize, Alaska is a pretty big place. Very spread out. Hard to get together. Although they do try!) I found in the Michigan SCBWI an awesome group of writers who kept in contact through conferences, a very active list serv, summer schmoozes (thanks to Shutta Crum!), and various author support events like book launches. I attended my first Michigan conference, got hooked up with their list serv, and found a critique group – the same group I am with now, six years later. That again moved my writing up volumes.

So, to recap, why go to a writer’s conference if you can’t chase an editor into the elevator and sling your novel at her? For Business & Market Information, Networking, Critiques, Submission Opportunities, a Writing community, and let's not forget FUN!!

I promise to blog about what I took away from this conference, but it won't be until mid-August. The day after I get back from LA I will be heading on a quick vacation with my husband and kids to Cedar Point and Put-In Bay (okay, not sure if that's how you spell it; I can spell Koyukuk and Matanuska and Ninilchik, but not so sure about those Ohio names!)

Hope to see some of you in LA!!

You Can't Hide Those Writer-eyes

2009-07-29T07:33:00.009-04:00

My 16 (and a half) year old daughter left this week for a ten day CSI:Forensic Science seminar at John Hopkins University. The ten day camp is her first experience with college life - living in a dorm, sharing a bathroom with three roommates she doesn't know, on her own with meal cards and room keys to keep track of, a schedule to keep, etc.

We flew with her to Baltimore to help her settle in to her dorm. I saw her excitement as she unpacked her things into her wardrobe closet and desk. I saw the apprehension when she realized there was only one toilet and shower to share between four girls. I saw the nervous fear as we kissed her good-bye and left her on her own. And, I hear the homesick, lonely edge in her voice when she calls. She's experiencing the social and emotional woes of a college freshman as a high school junior, and I can't do anything but tell her it will all be okay. It breaks my heart to know that I can't be there to help her or give her a hug.

But I am so using this in a future novel. What a great set-up for a mystery or coming-of-age plot, don't you think?

My writer-eyes see potential everywhere I go. I can't help it. So often I hear people say they have nothing to write about, and I can honestly say that is not a problem for me. Everyday life puts us into situations that can become part of a great plot later down the line. These experiences don't make a plot by themselves necessarily, but they can inspire a storyline, enhance a character or drive a plot in a new direction. All you have to do is take the time to observe them - and as an added bonus, observing them through your writer-eyes can also save your sanity - something I realized on my way to Baltimore.

While sitting in the Detroit airport waiting for our flight, I found myself getting very annoyed with my kids. We'd arrived way early, like two hours early (I wasn't sure how many people would be in that security line so I thought early was better) and they were already stir crazy from weeks of being together at home, let alone *TRYING* to behave in an airport terminal. As I sat there getting increasingly irritated by their behavior, I decided to take off that mom-hat and put on my writer-hat. This is how that hat-switch saved my sanity:

When my ten year old shoved three pieces of Hubba Bubba bubble gum into his mouth and then blew a bubble so big that when it popped, it connected his mouth to the food container he was holding with a thick pink string at least six inches long - I laughed rather than yelled.

And when he played the *Random game with me every time I asked him a question, I made random statements too. (*he and his younger sister play this by stating random things either in answer to a question or as an ongoing conversation. The point is to sound the most sincere, as if you actually make sense, while, saying some ludicrous, nonsensical thing, like "The elephant is pink." "Yeah, but I ate the frog." "Run to the hills." "Jack Frost is an amoeba", etc, etc.) As I played along, I started thinking, "I could use this . . . "

When I visited the restroom with my seven year old twenty-two times in 45 minutes (I assure you, that is no exaggeration) I tried to note things about the bathroom and those using it each time I visited. Like the five year old who informed his mother he would not eat any salad today because it gives him gas, or the woman who slid on a wet section of the floor and went careening, head first, into the toilet. That was rather scary, I have to admit, and as we made sure she was okay, I couldn't help thinking, "What if she had hit her head?" Which then led to "What if she'd hit her head and passed out and while she was passed out someone stole her purse and her boarding pass? And when she came to she had no memory of who she was or where she was going?" That scenario actually kept me going for quite a while.

As did the dark hotel we arrived at when we finally got to Baltimore. We arrived around seven that night in the middle of a thunderstorm. After trying to contact the hotel's free airport shuttle by phone for almost an hour while standing outside in the rain with very agitated, restless children, I decided to scratch the shuttle and grab a cab. I was glad I did. The power was out at the hotel. Ever check into a pitch dark hotel? It's a very eerie feeling.

The staff was standing around with glow-sticks and flashlights. Several patrons stood huddled in the lobby. Since it was now almost nine pm, I asked if there was any way we could check in. I was told they could put us in a room, but we would have no keys until the electricity came back on (the van driver let us in with a master key) and would have to take the stairs (very dark, service stairwell, led by the key master aka van driver). So armed only with a glow-stick to light the way, we did just that. I sat in the pitch black hotel room with my three kids and our little glow-stick (my husband was meeting us the next day) for the next hour, waiting for the power to be restored. It was a freaky, scary hour, but the whole time my mind was spinning with ways to make that part of a story.

The point I am hoping to make here is: when you are in need of inspiration or are stuck with an area of your plot and unsure how to proceed - drop your hat, arm yourself with the question, "What if?" and step out of your box. You may be surprised what you find lurking around you when you let yourself view life through your writer-eyes.

Yes, I'm a Pathetic Blogger or Summer Sucks for Mom's Who Write

2009-07-11T15:22:00.005-04:00

Okay, yes. I see that my last post was May 20th. Today is July 11 - what is that, like 52 days ago? I admit it. I suck. I'm pathetic. Whip me now. Throw wet towels and whip cream pies at me. I have no business saying I have a blog when there is no blogging going on.

Can you forgive me?

I have no legit excuse except that life has continued to happen and I have been way behind in everything - writing and blogging included. I am still trying to figure out how people who work outside of their homes get the housework done since I work IN my home and can't seem to find time to get it clean, let alone find the time to write, read and blog!

Summer seems to be when I find the most inspiration for my writing, and yet it is the busiest time of my year with the kids home and I can't seem to find the time to work on those inspirational thoughts.

Anyway, I thought I would write a quick blog-apology and leave you all with a photo of author Jacqui Robbins at her July 7 launch party for TWO OF A KIND. My daughter bought the first copy sold and was all smiles.

I promise to be less of a stranger this summer!

Happy writing!

Musings of Second Graders

2009-05-20T09:47:00.009-04:00

Often at conferences, I hear writers say that if you want to make your characters' dialogue authentic, you should eavesdrop on conversations of kids and teens. I have also heard writers complain that they don't have access to kids and teens and find this hard to do. I guess I am lucky in that regard; I have a constant feed from three distinct age groups: 16, 10, and 7.

So, for those less fortunate than I, I thought I'd share some random things I heard yesterday while traveling to and from Jackson on a field trip with my second grade daughter's class:

**Please note, they were studying colonial times and were all dressed in 1800 garb, so keep that in mind if some does not make sense.

BOY 1: I would not be a girl, that bonnet would mess up my hair.
BOY 2: My hair would be CRAZY! (messes up hair)
BOY 1: (giggles) No, like this. (messes up his hair)
BOY1: If both my arms were cut off, I could get robot arms.
BOY 2: Robot, Robot.
BOY 1: And I would have lollipops come out of my elbows.
BOY 2: I'd have water guns in mine. (Burps then giggles)
BOY 1: (giggles at burp also)
BOY2: I like to burp.
BOY 1: I like to fart.
(giggles from both)
BOY 2: I'd have fart gas come out of my arms.
GIRL 1: Gross! Did you hear what he said? He wants farts to come out of his arms!
GIRL 2: Ewww!
BOY 1: (annoyed, corrective tone) Out of his robot arms!
BOY 2: Yeah, so I could stink you up!
GIRLS: Ewww!

BOY 1: My stomach is eating itself! Are we there? (looks in lunch) Mmm, beef jerky. (to BOY 2) Do you have Dragon Ball-Z? Or Ben 10?
BOY 2: For DS?
BOY 1: PSP is way better than DS. You can download movies, go on the internet, wi-fi.
BOY 2: DS can do wi-fi.
BOY 1: But it can't download movies.
BOY 2: What movies?
BOY 1: Any.
BOY 2: Which ones?
BOY 1: Any I want.
BOY 2: Like what?
BOY 1: I don't know. I'm not allowed. Ugh, my stomach is eating itself again! When will we be there?

GIRL 1: Hey, **(Boy 1 name withheld) are you in love with **(name of girl withheld)?
BOY 1: No! Why do you help her chase me?
GIRL 1 (ignores Boy 1 and says to Girl 2): He is in love with her.

BOY 1: My stomach ate itself five times. I will die! This museum will kill me. Why can't we go fishing?

That concludes my quick peak into the dialogue of second graders for now. This is only a ten minute snip-it of the non-stop conversation that occurred in the 45 minutes it took to drive there. I could write the entire thing, but I won't! And I assure you, Boy 1 did not die, nor was his stomach actually eating itself!

Newberry According to My 10 year old

2009-05-15T07:34:00.008-04:00

My 10 year old son was reading The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin in his Lit Circle at school. As it is one of those books that I hear about all the time, have been meaning to read, but have never actually read (yes, I know, even after getting my MA in Children's Lit I am not fully literate in the 'classics' of children's books!), I was interested to hear what he had to say about it.

After the first few pages, he complained that it was boring. I thought, okay, he's reading it and the fifth Percy Jackson book at the same time. Hard to compete with Rick Riordan, Newberry medal or not. But as he continued reading it, his dislike grew. I have never had to force my son to read anything (well, okay, that's not true. In first grade he wouldn't read any of the fiction stories his teacher gave him - he only read non-fiction - so I did force him to read a Magic Tree House book to get him into some fiction that had non-fiction elements, and I boast, it worked!) but I had to make him sit down and read The Westing Game, even threatened to (gasp!) take away Percy Jackson if he didn't.

When he'd finally finished, I asked him "So, what was it about?"
His answer: "I don't even know. It was so boring, Mom. You would fall asleep. I bet everyone fell asleep reading it. They probably said 'hey this book is boring. It put me to sleep. Let's give it a Newberry. ' They give all the boring books Newberrys."

I quickly pointed out that Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book won it this year, which my son enjoyed. But, I had to laugh at his comment because I'd heard it before. My oldest daughter had said basically the same thing when she was in fifth grade. She was assigned Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins and hated it. In fact, after that book, she wouldn't touch another that had that pretty gold seal on it. To her, Newberry award = boring.

Before I continue, let me say that I am not putting down any Newberry book. I am not saying The Westing Game, Island of the Blue Dolphins, or any other Newberry winner is boring. That being said, I bet if we had children doing the choosing, the winners would be vastly different.

It sort of comes down to that age-old argument of literary versus commercial, reading for education versus reading for pleasure, writing to enlighten versus writing to appease the masses. Children's books, although written for children, are not published, purchased, or awarded prizes by children. As parents, we try to oversee everything that our children put into their bodies and minds, and literature is no exception. Let them have that cookie (Goosebumps), but make sure they balance it out with some vegis (Old Yeller), right?

As an author that tends to write more on the cookie-side than the vegi-side of the spectrum, I would be a hypocrit if I fed my children only vegis. Too many kids HATE reading because they aren't allowed the cookies. Where is the fun in reading if you don't read what you enjoy?

But, the teacher-mom in me also sees the value in reading the vegis. I have a great many vegis I love - my BA is in English after all, which would have been torturous if I hadn't enjoyed reading all those classics. And for that reason, we have well-meaning adults rather than children choosing the Newberry and other literary prizes. Recently, those choices have come to reflect more of what kids are enjoying than what adults think they should be enjoying - which is how it should be - so I truly commend those who sit on the committees and make the tough choices.

I tried to tell my son all this, even launching into a history of the penny-press and the whole bad rep novels had when they first were introduced to the masses. I was met with glazed over eyes. I think that must be how The Westing Game felt when he was holding it in his hands. So I ended my lecture with a simple, "Everyone has different tastes. Your sister loves fairy books and you can't stand them, right?"

This was met with a grin and a nod and then he asked, "How many fairy books have won a Newberry? (groan) I hope we don't have to read them next." :)

Ahhh, did you miss me?

2009-05-08T18:39:00.004-04:00

As Staind would say, "It's Been Awhile . . ."

I wish I could say I've been tracking man-eating piranhas in the Amazon or ghost hunting in Gettysburg or even sipping wine while touring the ruins of Pompeii, but I can't. The only thing with teeth I've been tracking are my three children; the only ghosts I've been chasing exist in my plots; and the only ruins I sip wine in these days are the rooms of my sadly unkempt house.

My blog-absence is due in part to the business of life, but also I've been on a bit of a roller coaster with my writing of late. Writing is both exhilarating and depressing for me. I love the creative part of it: getting so involved with my characters that they are chatting with me while I make dinner or do the laundry, bugging me in my dreams, chastising me when I've left them stuck in a scene for too long. I love the revision process too: getting feedback from my peers, ripping apart my plots, adding layers to my characters, hacking away at unnecessary words and events. But the part that comes next - sending my work OUT THERE- can be so scary that sometimes I forget what I love about writing and consider quitting.

Writing is a personal thing. Like a child, even though you know your book is its own thing, you can't help but take its failures and accomplishments personally. For this reason, it is sometimes very difficult to separate yourself from it and see that the person rejecting it is not rejecting you. Through the years, I have mastered that ability. I have a thick skin. I can take criticism and process it, find the value in it and apply it to my writing. Yet still, rejection is rejection, and after enough of it, you can't help but question your abilities.

I have never been very confidant. I guess if you wanted to psycho-analyze me, you could say it stems from my visual impairment and the inability to do things most people take for granted - like driving. I so often feel like a failure as a mom because I can't drive my kids to and from school, to and from practice and games and birthday parties like every other mother. Instead, I have to coordinate cabs or buses or walking routes or rides with other moms. Sure, people in places like New York do that all the time, but here, everyone drives. So when I show up at flag football carrying a car seat in the pouring rain, I get weird looks from the rest of the parents while they sit in their dry cars. I tell you this not for sympathy - I hate the sympathy - but to show you how idiotic my mind is. Who cares if I show up two hours early for a baseball game because of the shortened Sunday bus schedule? I honestly don't mind the walking or the getting there early (well my kids do I guess) but I still feel like a failure because I'm not like everyone else.

This feeling often carries over into my writing. I see so many others successfully making it in the published world and I think: what is wrong with me? Am I kidding myself? Am I that idiotic mom standing in the rain while everyone else looks on and thinks I have no clue?

The answer is no. Or should be no. I should be saying who cares? Who cares what one person thinks about my writing? Writing is subjective; one man's best seller is another man's stinkbomb - look at the varying opinions among friends in a book club. But even though I know this, every once in a while, rejection threatens to bring me down. How can it not? We all need reassurance that we are okay. We all want someone to tell us we're capable. We're social, emotional creatures, right?

So, how does a writer keep that rejection-downer at bay?
Other writers.
Yes family can rub your ego, but only another writer who has been there, felt that, can truly empathize. I have a great group of writer friends who have all pulled me up by my boot straps (well, flip-flops) the past month or so, brushed off the rejection, put the pen in my hand and shoved me back into the game. I thank you all for that.

In fact, since I may not have much brain matter left when I do finally get published, here's a shout out to all of you on my triage team: Jen, Libby, Su, Patty, Jacqui, Todd, Diane, Katena, Sharon, Alicia, Viki, Steph, Kristin, LInda, and Renee. Thanks for being there always!

Okay, enough of the soap opera. I'm back and I promise not to let so long go between blogs!

Ode To My Critique Group

2009-04-02T07:27:00.005-04:00

In honor of Poetry Month, I thought I'd write an ode to my critique group.

(And Diane, our Queen of the Meter, and all you other poem-extraordinaries, I apologize in advance, for I know this only-one-stanza, slightly-stretched-rhyme, a-little-off-in-meter ode probably doesn't pass your poetry litmus tests!)

ODE TO MY CRIT PEEPS

Writing is a lonely craft
Filled with rejection and doubt
But never do I feel daft
With my critique buds about.
Armed with coffee and a smile
You read with respect and poise:
Characters, plot, arcs, pace, style,
Bullies, bombs, and booger-boys.
Even when it's not quite working
You find something worth praising.
So let me raise my glass to thee
Oh awesome peeps of kid-story!

Love you guys! And don't worry - a book of poetry is definitely not on my horizon!

Literary or Commercial? Character or Plot-driven?

2009-03-24T12:32:00.011-04:00

At conferences, I would always hear authors, agents, and editors talk about 'character-driven' versus 'plot-driven' stories. Character-driven are the stories where the character dictates the action, and the reader cares more about what happens to the character than what happens in general. More often than not, they are the stories that get labeled as 'literary'.

Plot-driven, on the other hand, often labeled 'commercial', are fast-moving. The plot, not the characters, dictate the action. Readers tend to care more about what is happening, than what is happening to a specific character.

This whole categorization between literary/commercial, character/plot-driven used to bother me because as I would sit and listen, I'd always come to the same conclusion - I am more of a plot-driven writer, and that seemed to be wrong. Editors were always saying they wanted literary, character-driven stories, not plot-driven, commercial stories. I felt like I was somehow unworthy of publication.

When I paid a published author for a critique of one of my manuscripts several years ago, she drove the point home by saying: "This is too plot-driven and your characters under-developed; if your goal is commercial fiction, this is ready, but if you want to be published in any of the big NY houses, you have a lot of work to do." She went on to separate out her comments, based on whether I wanted to be a commercial or a literary author (the literary suggestions being the more lengthy of the two sections). My reaction was, "ugh, I must really suck if she thinks it's commercial" and I abandoned the story.

As I sit down now to begin revising that novel after some five years, I see what she was saying. I do agree with 99% of what she said (after all back then I was still quite the newbie writer) but I also think she missed the boat on the whole commercial vs literary separation.

First of all, who cares if it's commercial? That stuff sells; being commercial is not a bad thing. We all like to read a light book once in awhile, a quick read, especially after slogging through a heavy literary novel.

But more importantly, who says a book must be one or the other? I think you can have a literary AND commercial book. The suggestions she made based on whether I wanted to go the commercial or literary route, when combined, would make a brilliant book.

Too often people equate 'literary' with 'quiet' and 'internal', downplaying the plot - they think you have to be writing in a first person narrative with lots of internal dialogue for it to be good, worthy stuff .

It doesn't.

Plot is not a dirty word. I love plot. I love having things happen on the sidelines, seemingly unrelated to the story, and then having all the strands meet in one big catastrophic collision. I love planting seeds that sit quietly growing underneath the surface or that tumble gently along between scenes, unnoticed, until BAM! They pop into the picture, sending things stumbling out of control. What better way to orchestrate these sideline events or plant these seeds than through the development of your characters? I love creating characters who make choices that send everything into a tailspin - choices you know as the reader, were wrong, but you also know were the only choice that character could have made.

In my opinion, that's literary AND commercial. That's what I like to read, and that's want I want to strive for in my writing. So the next time I hear someone ask "literary or commercial? Character or plot-driven?" I think I'll just smile and say, "Yes, please."

Deciding What To Write -- Revisited

2009-03-21T15:04:00.005-04:00

Okay, so after my last post I was all gung-ho. I was going to stay with what I was writing, see it through to the end, stick with what I was passionate about, what I was hearing in my heart. And I did - I wrote two more chapters and was really getting back into it.

Then . . . I received the March 2009 issue of HipLit, HarperTeen's e-newsletter featuring new books, series, etc. I read about a new series they are releasing that sounds WAY too similar to my book. UGH! In an already saturated market, I am afraid I don't stand a chance with my plot as is.

Thus, I have decided to shelve my manuscript - at least until I can come up with a way to make my plot drastically different than anything out there right now. In the mean time, I think I will focus on my MG ghost story that has been sitting patiently awaiting revision for about five years!

So, I bid farewell (for now) to Simon and Kat in Wendigo Blood, and say hello to Julia in Nana's Ghost. Please, no tears or dirges, they will return again - I can never leave my stories shelved for too long!

Deciding what to write

2009-03-09T12:40:00.011-04:00

Over the past few weeks I have been a bit stuck. It isn't writer's block exactly because I have several things I could be writing. My problem is which one I should be writing.

I had been revising a novel that I am passionate about - in love with the plot, the characters, the new twists I've built in to the old plot, etc. Problem?

I went to Barnes and Noble and saw how many paranormal/urban fantasy books are out there right now. I think my story is unique, but is it unique enough to stand out from an already saturated market?

I don't know, so . . . now I am stuck. Should I continue writing it and not worry about the market that may not be there when I complete the novel? Or should I instead work on the MG ghost story I also could be revising? Or, how about the two plots I have outlined using the characters of the novel I just finished? But, there again, do I even want to delve into the whole series thing when I don't know if that book will even get published? Nothing like spending time writing a series of books about characters no one cares about.

When I sit down to write everyday, I start asking these questions, and I end up in the same argument with myself:

Inner Me: Write what is calling to you right now; what you are passionate about right now; don't worry about the market.

Me: But with limited writing time, I'd hate to be spending hours and days and months on something that potentially will go nowhere.

Inner Me: So, you're in this just to get published?

Me: Heck no, but that is a goal, nonetheless, and I'd like to be working on something I am passionate about AND is marketable, you know?

Inner Me: Yeah, I see your point.

Me: ??? !!!

Any suggestions to resolving this uncertainty? Advice? Words of wisdom? Anyone? Anyone?

Waiting

2009-03-04T07:42:00.009-05:00

I think Tom Petty said it best: "The waiting is the hardest part . . ." Of course, he wasn't referring to the publishing industry, but the sentiment is the same no matter what you're waiting on.

I've done my fair share of waiting in my forty-something years of life (yes, I can say forty-something now, can't I?) I've waited for buses, waited for grades, waited for guys to get a clue. The hardest waiting has come as an adult: waiting to hear if I graduated, waiting to hear if I'd been hired, waiting to give birth, waiting to hear if a sick child is okay. The worst always occurs each time my husband gets deployed to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc . . . sitting by the phone, afraid to leave and live my life each day for fear I will miss that coveted phone call from him, or waiting to hear he is okay when I slip up and read the newspaper or hear a news story or don't hear from him in a few days. Thank God I haven't had to deal with THAT kind of waiting this year.

But, waiting to hear from an editor or agent (or both as is my case right now) can be almost as excruciating. My imagination runs wild each time a day goes by without hearing anything. I imagine one of them reading my manuscript and saying "this is awesome" and the next minute, I imagine a less desirable reaction like, "wow, is she serious? She can't write!" - when the reality of it may be, they haven't even read it yet. Perhaps it is the lack of a deadline that sucks so bad. At least when my husband was deployed, I had a date range to focus on most of the time. But, with publishing, they could say three weeks, and three months could go by before hearing anything.

I try to put myself in their shoes. They are busy people with many manuscripts to sort through, projects they are responsible for editing, conferences and meetings and deadlines of their own to attend to - my one manuscript is not on their minds like it is on mine.

It's kind of like the long lines at Disney World. Us riders, like us writers, wait for eighty minutes in a long crowded line for our thirty seconds of thrill, complaining on the wait, the dead time. But those Disney employees running the rides, like the editors and agents, are working their butts off, running each and every one of those thrills for those in line. They are responsible for all of the trips that roller coaster makes around the track, not just the one each of us riders/writers are taking part in.

So, I tell myself these things and I try to be patient while I stand in that line. I try to focus on other things, work on my new book, or re-edit the manuscript I've sent off (cringing as I find new mistakes, cliches, weakly written spots that I now know eventually they will be reading too!) because I know that when us writers do hear from an editor or agent, that thirty seconds of thrill is so worth it. We scream; we cheer; we're exhilarated.

And yes, when we come back to earth again, we do walk back to the end of the same line or search out a new one, because even though that endless waiting is the hardest part, the ride is so worth it!

Writers and Imaginations

2009-02-28T09:32:00.004-05:00

As a writer, I find possible plot ideas in everything from crazy dreams to news articles to childhood memories to things that occur in my own children's lives. It may be a a really cool setting I stumble upon while traveling or some oddball character I run into, even a song on the radio - anything and everything can trigger an idea for me. Something really tragic can have occurred, and my writer's voice is busy weaving it into a plot. I know this is true for most writers, but I thought I was the only one in my immediate family who thought this way until last week:

As I do every day, I met my two youngest kids at the bus stop after school. As soon as my son got off the bus, he launches into a story about the creepy substitute bus driver. My son tells me how this guy kept staring at him and his friends; how, once the driver realized he'd been caught staring, he donned a baseball cap and pulled it down, but the kids still knew he was staring, etc.

Now, the mom in me starts thinking : Should I be concerned? Is this guy a pervert? Does he have a criminal record?

While the writer in me is thinking: Maybe he's an alien come to earth to study humankind? Maybe he's an operative trying to get some govt. secret from one of the kids' parents? Maybe he is an escaped convict planning on taking kids hostage to clear his name . . .

These two different lines of thought are streaming through my mind all while my son is telling me his story. My daughter, who has also been listening to my son's story (and who, BTW, was also on the bus but must have been oblivious to the incident) suddenly stops walking and cries: "That's it! That's how the Bettys' can be murdered! On the bus!" and with that, she takes off flying down the sidewalk, backpack slamming against her little legs, rushing to get in the house to write down her new plot idea in her notebook.

What can I say? She is so like me . . .

The Books of my Childhood

2009-02-17T07:16:00.012-05:00

Today my youngest daughter (sick home from school) snuggled up on the couch to read Ruth McNally Barshaw's Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen Will Travel for about the millionth time. I had the thought that when she is an adult, that book, and its follow-up Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School which she has read just as many times, will definitely be on the list of books she remembers as influencing her life. It made me think about my own long list of influential books - not the books that are toted on listservs and in children's lit classes as the 'classics' (although many of mine may very well be on those lists too) - but the books that I remember so vividly it could have been yesterday that I read them.

Here's my list in a timeline of sorts:

My earliest memories of books include Julius Lester's retelling of the Uncle Remus'/Adventures of Brer Rabbit, Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon, and a book with squirrels in a tree that I can't remember the title of, but can still see the illustrations in my mind.

As I moved into being a reader, I enjoyed books like E. L. Konigsburg's From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (which I also couldn't remember the title of for the longest time, but the images I had created in my mind when reading this were so vivid; when I described to a friend a few years ago how I'd read this book about running away and hiding out in a museum, she knew exactly what book I was referring too!), Betty MacDonald's Miss Piggle Wiggle books, Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Little House Books, Hitchcock's Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Series, Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew Mysteries, Frank Dixon's Hardy Boys Mysteries ( and the TV show too; who couldn't resist Shaun Cassidy as Joe Hardy?) and Eleanor Cameron's Mushroom Planet series. The Mushroom Planet books introduced me to sci-fi fantasy and I remember reading Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time soon afterwards, followed by A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet.

The first 'big' novel I read was Louisa May Alcott's Little Women when I was in fourth grade. My mom had a bookshelf full of classics and I still remember the beautiful binding on this book. It was around this time that I also started pilfering my grandparents' bookshelf when we'd spend summers at their house on Hoods Canal in Union, WA. My grandma read mysteries and gothics and I think I read every single Dorothy Daniels book and Phyllis A Whitney book out there.

As a teen, YA wasn't real marketable like it is now, so I had few teen books to choose from. I read some Judy Blume and stuff like Goodbye Paper Doll by Anne Snyder and Blind Sunday by Jessica Evans, but mostly I was reading 'adult' books by now. I remember Christmas in fifth grade we were at my aunt's house in Arcadia, CA. She gave me a Stephen King box set with Night Shift, The Shining, Salem's Lot and I think Carrie. I of course started with Salem's Lot late one night while sleeping on her couch in the living room. Her radiator hissed like a vampire every time it came on, freaked me out so bad I could not sleep, but I didn't put that book down. I finished it by the next night and started right in on The Shining!

Around seventh grade, I began reading classics like George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. Around the same time I discovered Jane Austen, reading everything she wrote over and over (still do!), and Mark Twain, as well as Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Golding's Lord of the Flies, and Knowles' A Separate Peace.

This list could go on forever - I read non-stop growing up, and there are thousands of authors and probably a million books and short stories I've left out. But what I have listed represents what always comes to mind first when I think about growing up. I can't wait to fast-forward twenty years and hear what my kids list off as their literary repertoire.

In the meantime, what's yours?

Ode to Sisterhood

2009-02-10T17:12:00.013-05:00

I've had one of those weeks - you know the type - when everyone is telling you what to do and what you're doing wrong? Except, I'm an adult, so I'm supposed to be thinking for myself. Anyway, I was about ready to retreat into a hole, when my younger sister Michele emailed me. She'd read my blog bio and was commenting on how she too loves Don McLean's American Pie, and shares that impressive party skill of knowing lyrics and artists of any song that comes on the radio.

It got me thinking about all the things we used to do as kids, and I was lifted from my reality for a while. I decided to share a few of those memories here as a sort of Ode to My Sisters (only without the lyrical poetic format that Keats would write.)

We grew up way out in the rural outskirts of Fairbanks, Alaska in Musk Ox subdivision (seriously, that 's what it was called). Now it is sprawling with houses, but then it was sparsely populated. We had nothing but wilderness and a few neighbors for miles. So, what could three girls possibly do to keep busy out in the boonies?

We:
- took turns being Wonder Woman, pushing down the dead but still standing trees with our awesome super hero strength. We did the same when we played "Oh Mighty Isis" with an old silver Buddha medallion my mom had in her jewelry box.

- searched for fairies and gnomes under the big orange toadstools that grew wild all over our property. One of us always spotted a gnome or pixie, but we could never quite catch it!
- played Little House On The Prairie for hours outside. My sister Marianne was Mary, and I of course with the appropriate name and birth order was always Laura. Michele was Carrie.
- would try to scare each other by making up things we'd seen. We fooled Michele once into believing we'd gone through a time warp while walking along the power line. We actually had just turned our watches ahead, but she believed us and freaked. Another time I soaked a ripped rag in red food coloring and got everyone thinking there was a mass murderer in the woods somewhere. That mystery lasted for weeks!
- played chemist, mixing any liquids we could find. Luckily for us, we never actually mixed anything that caused a chemical reaction!
- played astronauts (well Michele and I did anyway) with our big winter 'moon' boots every morning while waiting for the school bus.
- played radio station. We would record ourselves being the DJ and playing records. We even recorded our own music. My niece Nikki (Michele's daughter) still has a recording of my infamous original "Here Come the Mosquitoes" - one of these days I will confiscate that tape!
- made sno-cones, or I should say, 'snow' cones, with snow and Coke, sometimes maple syrup. It was good.
- dug a pool for our Barbies. It didn't work though. The dolls ended up taking mud baths.
- used to sled using a huge piece of clear plastic from the top of our property where our house was, down the cliff, across the road, and into the deep ditch on the other side. It's a really good thing there were few cars around!
- somersaulted off the top of the kitchen counter onto our bean bag - well until Marianne missed and smacked her head.
- played jail in the unfinished workroom next to Marianne's bedroom. There was a hole at the top of the ceiling where we could fit a pail attached to a rope. We locked Michele in the room and lowered food and dolls and such down to her - the game ended when she had to go to the bathroom and we discovered the lock was broken. We couldn't unlock the door. A friend of my mom's had to come all the way out and take the door off just to get her out. OOOPS! (I think she had to pee in that bucket too while she waited)
- pretended we were Olympic badminton players. That actually carried over to several years later when we sold the house and moved into the city. There was an annoying girl that MIchele tried to avoid, so when we heard her coming down the street, we'd pick up our racquets and say we were practicing for the Olympics.
I could go on and on - but I won't. I just wanted to say that it wasn't just books and radio that kept me occupied and fueled my imagination growing up - my sisters had a huge hand in that as well. And someday, when I do get published, readers will see a lot of these things in the books I write - sorry Michele and Marianne, there's just too much good stuff to let it go to waste!

I've Been To Jarrett's . . . and other thoughts on the 2009 SCBWI NYC Conference

2009-02-02T08:59:00.001-05:00

Not the jewelry store, but still a gem, I was really inspired (once again) by Jarrett Krosoczka's speech at the SCBWI mid-winter conference in NYC this weekend. He has a way of capturing the peaks and valleys that writers feel, putting them out there for all to see, and then giving us the chance to laugh at ourselves. His film at the SCBWI conference in LA a few years ago was hilarious, and he topped it this weekend. (I think you can see the films on his blogsite http://thejjkblog.blogspot.com/)

I was also really inspired by Bruce Hale's speech. He is an awesome speaker, always getting the laughs, but still cutting through to the heart of what writing for children means. He mapped out 8 ways to make your writing shine: hook, beauty, humor, holding up a mirror, making kids squirm, truth, going the extra yard, and write what you love. I may actually type them up and post them on my desk along with the quote, "Where's the Heart?" (which he quoted from Michael Stearns) as a reminder when I'm stuck.

Besides being inspired by all the speakers, what did I take away from this conference?

I bought four books 13 Reasons Why, Prince of Underwhere, The Teacher's Funeral, and I am Not Joey Pigza (I will read all of them after I have finished The Lightning Thief which my son has been begging me to read - he even checked it out at his school library for me so I'd read it next!)

Also, I came away with a perspective on my writing and how agents and editors fit into that perspective. When I go to conferences and critiques, I often feel like I am on some reality show - a cross between American Idol and the Bachelor, perhaps with a little Survivor thrown into the mix. The editors are the Simons, the Randys, the Karas, and the Paulas, the agents are the Bachelor/Bachelorettes, while myself and a billion other writers just like me are the Idol hopefuls and throng of women screaming "pick me, pick me!" Sometimes I worry that I am one of those poor misled contestants who think they can sing, belting out Muddy Waters in an off-key opera voice while dressed like Mary Poppins. Do people read my stuff and say "what the . ." just as we all do about these poor fools?

Okay, I trust my writing and my critique group and writing friends enough to know that, no, I am not one of those poor misled fools. I am a good writer. So sure, let's say I would be in amongst the lucky lot who are chosen to go to Hollywood or chosen to woo the Bachelor. But then what? Would I stand out amongst all the other good writers?

The truth? I don't know. I get to the point where I am so used to my own writing, it doesn't look fresh and shiny anymore. But, I believe that if I put all I have into it, somebody will notice it . . eventually.

This weekend I watched an agent get moderately mauled as he left the ballroom after his speech. Writers shoved manuscripts and business cards at him while pitching their stories. As he politely untangled himself from them and moved on, I was truly reminded of the Bachelor (okay, yes, sadly I do watch it - I could lie and tell you that it is because he is from Seattle and Seattle is like a second home to me so I feel compelled to watch, or that I am character-gathering for my books, but really I just find it fascinating that women could go on television and compete for a guy like that.)

Anyway, while I watched this agent peel himself away from the masses, I was reminded of the Bachelor because the girls on that show throw themselves on the Bachelor in the same manner, doing anything they can think of to get his attention. But I have to wonder, once the Bachelor has sent the others home and he is dating those girls who pulled out all the gimmicks to get themselves noticed - are they happy with him? Or do they find themselves thinking - "wow, what have I gotten myself into?" Or even, "I don't even like this guy!"

Now I must add a disclaimer here, because this particular agent I am referring to is awesome and I don't want to imply otherwise. My point is that whether the agent or the bachelor, we tend to throw ourselves at the idea rather than the person. I have often heard that finding an agent is kind of like dating. You have to find the right one for you - but in the same breath, it is so hard to get anyone to look at your stuff, so maybe like those girls on the bachelor, any agent who will look will do, right?

I don't think so. Many times while listening to an agent talk I've mentally crossed him or her off my list, saying "no, not for me" - my husband thinks this is the wrong way to go about getting an agent. He feels I should get anyone that is willing to represent me. And yeah, in this day and age, I suppose I shouldn't be picky, but I am.

After attending years of conferences and listening to editors and agents speak, I have realized that:

a) if I can get an editor or agent to critique my work, I want a Simon, not a Paula, because inflated praise won't help me get published

and therefore

b) If I can get an agent to represent my work, I don't want someone just because he/she thinks my work is marketable. I want someone I whole-heartedly trust and respect, who I can share my vision with and he/she will not only understand that vision, but will work with me until it is perfect.

So, where does that leave me? Will I become like Jane Hayes in Shannon Hale's Austenland who keeps turning away relationships because she thinks Mr. Darcy will come through her door? Will I waste away to nothing, turning away agents and editors because they don't fit the bill?

Truthfully? No!

Let's face it, if someone said "hey this is awesome," I'd say "Yes, let's do it!" After all, I would hate to look like Harriet in Emma, turning away a suitable suitor because my sights are set too high, but I can tell you that I will send out my queries with a discerning eye, avoiding those I know just aren't the right fit. And I am an optimist. I know my Mr. Darcy of the agent or editor world is out there. Until then, I have nothing to do but write - oh, and clean. My Mr. Darcy of my romantic world was kind enough to hold the fort down while I was off to NYC for four days, but the fort needs some definite cleaning!

Wow, sorry this is so long! I didn't write for four days - I must be in withdrawals!

Sweet 16 and Gothics

2009-01-12T09:41:00.001-05:00

I spent last week planning my daughter's Sweet Sixteen party while also trying to immerse myself in Gothic horror for the novel I am currently writing. Thinking purple, lace, and roses on the one hand and dark, gloom, and mystery on the other seemed at first to contradict each other. As the week wore on, however, I found that the Gothic novel and the sixteen year old girl are actually very similar.

In the classic Gothic horror book you have the young heroine who after somehow being orphaned goes off to some old, Victorian style manor where she has either been employed at or has been offered residence at by some unknown benefactor. When she arrives, she is usually courted by the nice, clean-cut guy, while being tormented and seemingly stalked by the dark, mysterious stranger. Often, paranormal, frightening things take place while she is alone in the dark, scary manor, and while Mr. Clean Cut seems like the best bet for safety, she cannot help but be intrigued by Mr. Dark and Stormy.

The sixteen year old girl, while not orphaned, would sometimes like to think she is, especially when her family is not as exciting as, say, the Cullen family. She would gladly leave her safe, boring home to hang with Jacob on the reservation or flirt with Edward behind Bella's back. She would trade in her leggings and Converse tennies for a Victorian gown and heels if it meant sitting at a long table with Gargoyles overhead sharing a meal with a brooding, mysterious stranger.

When I came to this conclusion, I realized that giving her that Gothic experience may be my answer to the perfect Sweet Sixteen party- one that would be memorable, yet not cost $100,000 and a Ferrari. I decided to give her a little mystery and intrigue by throwing a Mystery Dinner party for her and her friends.

I found a company called My Mystery Party that sells mysteries for the party attendees to act out and solve as the night wears on. While I won't be making her an orphan or holding the party in a haunted manor, and Edward won't be coming to dinner (although he is more than welcome if Bella can spare him), my daughter will get to dress up in a semi-Victorian gown and pretend for the evening that she and her friends are stuck in the middle of a dark and gloomy mystery they must solve.

I'll let you know how it goes, but it should be fun. Now if I could just find some Gargoyles . . .

The New Year

2009-01-05T13:35:00.000-05:00

I opened this blog space in August of 2008 after attending the SCBWI conference in LA. Everyone was talking about their blogs and Facebook pages, and I thought, "I could do that!" But here it is January 5, 2009 and I haven't once posted a blog!

Why?

Well, there was my novel - after three year's of it being in various stages of undress, I cracked the whip and worked on it, day in and day out, until I finished it. I submitted it to an agent on December 12th. Anytime I sat down at the computer and did something other than work on that novel, I felt like I was cheating on it. It had to get finished, and now that it has . . . well, I'm starting a blog aren't I?

Of course, I have also begun my next novel, and while I am in the beginning musings of this novel, I have the time to sit and play. But once I am off and running, that may not always be the case! For now, though, I will attempt to blog something, sometime.

I may not be the regular blogger like my fellow critique group members Jacqui Robbins and Diane Telgen, but I will try!

Another reason for not starting a blog was that I really wasn't sure what to blog about - I mean who wants to hear about how in love I am with my new Dyson DC117 vacuum cleaner? It is seriously awesome, but not something anyone necessarily wants to read about.

Or how I spent my Christmas break playing 39 Clues on the computer with my son and daughter? We didn't win any money - that would have been something to blog about for sure! But we had fun solving all the puzzles! (I cannot shoot ducks or fly a plane through loops by the way, my son had to get me through those levels.)

I guess most people come up with a theme to blog about . . .I'll try that in the future.

My resolution in the New Year (besides trying to write the best novel ever) : to blog about something, sometime in 2009!