writermorphosis

Finalists for the Cybils Announced!

2012-01-03T07:27:00.000-08:00

The Finalists have been announced!

Now we wait with baited breath to see who will win this year! Because...

It's that time of year again! Time for the Cybils (The Children's and Young Adults Bloggers' Literary Awards). The judges (Children's writers who also blog about YA and Children's books) have deliberated for months, read thousands of pages of picture books, YA novels, Middle grade Fantasies, you name it, and they've finally selected their choices for the "finalists" for the best children's/YA books and book related products published in 2011 in the following categories:

1.) Book Apps

2.) Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books

3.) Fantasy and Science Fiction (Middle Grade).

4.) Fantasy and Science Fiction (YA).

5.) Picture Books

6.) Graphic Novels

7.) Middle Grade Fiction

8.) Middle Grade and Young Adult Non-fiction

9.) Young Adult Fiction

10.) Picture Books

11.) Poetry.

The Cybils are great because they get the word out about the books, and the book selection process, by having each judge blog about their experiences in the judging process, what they liked about the books chosen, etc. And the judges are writers so they understand what good writing and good story-telling really are. But they also understand what teens and kids these days like to read - unlike some literary awards that have gotten the reputation, alas, of choosing books that even adults find boring.... The Cybils judges live and breathe children's books and they know how to find stellar books among the stacks mailed to them -- books that kids (and what the hey, adults too...) will truly want to read and that will stand the test of time.

The books that become finalists and "win" get a lot of internet press as a part of the Cybils' author-blogging. And it looks like they've found some great finalists so far this year!

So was your book published in 2011 up for consideration for the Cybils this year? It could have been. Anyone in the populaton (except for yourself, of course) can nominate a book for consideration in the Cybils. That's why the poor judges have to read so, so many books! But that also allows books that perhaps are not yet as famous right-out-of-the-gate to be considered, and to perhaps win, and to definitely get some great interet press in the process. So I'm a huge fan of the Cybils! (Granted, I'm biased, b/c I served as a judge once before myself, and was super honored and thrilled to read all those great books!) But also, as a writer of YA literature, I can tell you that in any year that I have a new book out, I'll be encouraging someone I know to submit it to the Cybils for consideration. Having a lot of YA/Childrens writer/bloggers reading your book and possibly blogging about it is NEVER a bad thing. God Bless the Cybils!

So some of the books they've listed as finalists this year have definitely caught my eye and are making my 2012 reading list! These include: YA Novel "Stupid Fast" by Geoff Herbach http://www.cybils.com/2011-finalists-young-adult-fiction.html, YA Fantasy Red Glove (Curseworkers 2) by Holly Black (ah...Holly Black. No wonder the creative plot synopsis caught my eye!)http://www.cybils.com/2011-finalists-fantasy-science-fiction-young-adult.html, The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle (Nonfiction PB)http://www.cybils.com/2011-finalists-nonfiction-picture-books.html, and The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty (MG Fantasy)http://www.cybils.com/2011-finalists-fantasy-science-fiction-middle-grade.html. The synopsis on that one is my favorite of the four! But there are many other great books also listed on the site!

So check out the CYBILS lists of finalists this year, and start your reading list a-growing too at http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/

And next year, put a bug in someone's ear to nominate your 2012 book for the Cybils as well!

Get YOUR great 2012 Children's/YA book out there where the world can see it!

Happy Holidays from the Dominican Republic!

2011-12-20T06:44:00.000-08:00

Since it's Christmas week, here's a little video card from me in the Dominincan Republic, to you! As you can see, Christmas in the Dominican Republic is not all that different from Christmas in the States - but here's are a few photos of my non-writing life here (working for Health Horizons International), to give you at least a little Dominican flavor this December! If the music doesn't play, please click the photo and "unmute" the sound. : ) Happy Holidays to all!
- Janelle

The Gift that Gives in Two Directions

2011-12-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

As the holiday season jumps into full swing this December many of us are considering sharing gifts with needy children and families. This is a wonderful opportunity to share books with kids and teens, and I highly recommend it!
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Also, as authors/illustrators, and friends of authors/illustrators, we should consider that when we share books with kids at Christmas (which is the most important part of the giving - getting the books into the hands of kids,) that in addition to giving copies of the most popular books of the year like "Across the Universe" - Congrats to SCBWI Carolinas' own Beth Revis!," and The Hunger Games Trilogy, and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Cabin Fever," we can also help get books by authors we know into the hands of kids as well! When one child reads a book and loves it, that child generally talks about the book to other children, and word about the book spreads. More kids get their hands on the book - a book that may not yet have made the New York Times Best Seller list, but that may show that child or teen a beautiful fantasy world that they can escape to, or a wonderful `true to life' story that they can see themselves in, or a picture book that gets their imagination soaring. Not all of the great books published over the past few years have yet made the New York Times Best Seller list. So giving books by authors you know is both a gift to the kids and a gift to that author.
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So I'd strongly encourage all the authors and illustrators out there to share a currently popular book from 2011 with kids and teens in need, and also to wrap that book up in red ribbon with a wonderfully written, possibly not-yet-as-famous book by an author or illustrator you know, as well!
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Let's spread the best-selling YA/MG/Children's books, and also the wonderful other books that we all know exist out there, to kids and teens in need! If you know of a great book you've read, by an author you know, that you'd like to recommend this Christmas, please post a comment with the name of the book, author, and a brief plot summary, below : ).
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Here are some great nonprofits and government agencies that desperately need your book donations for kids in the U.S. this holiday season:
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1.) Toys for Tots: (Click the link to find a drop box near you.)
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2.) Your local children's hospital: (Check the phone book. Many kids' hospital units have a bookshelf and would love new books for teens and younger kids this year.)
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3.) Your local Department of Social Services Foster Care Department: (Check the government listings in your phone book. Many Foster Care programs have Angel Trees with specific toys and clothes requested by the kids in foster care each year, but many of these kids only get 1 or 2 gifts. So often these programs also accept extra donations, like books, to suppliment those gifts. Change the world a little bit by putting books into the hands of kids who are not able to live with their parents this year!
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4.) Your local Domestic Violence Shelter or Women and Children's Homeless Shelter: Domestic Violence Shelters and Family Homeless Shelters offer temporary housing to kids, teens, and parents in distressing life situations. Most of these programs have a bookshelf sparsely populated with old, falling-apart books. They need more! They need new ones! Check out your local phone listings to contact the shelter near you.
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I hope we'll all share at least two books with kids and teens in need this year. Share one that's famous. Share one that's not - yet. And wrap them up together with a big red ribbon.
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Happy Holidays to all the writers, illustrators, kids, and teen readers out there. May it be a wonderful December for everyone!

Writing in the Time of Cholera

2011-11-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

The lights in my little apartment in the Dominican Republic went off with a click. Black night from the street outside flooded the house and I scrambled for candles and matches like I always do. The power had gone out again, leaving my entire section of the city in darkness -- except for the pale blue light radiating from my tiny laptop screen where I had been working on the second revision of my current YA manuscript.

"Thank God!" I thought, as I lit the candles and set them next to the outline for my manuscript on the darkened table. "Thank God I had the good sense to charge the computer before the power went off! Now I can pump out another chapter here in the candle light before the battery dies. Then I'll charge the computer again when the power comes back on tomorrow. A lack of electricity can't get in my way, not today!"
It's a true tale, and the beginning of my answer to the question many fellow YA writers have been asking me since I let this blog go inexplicably quiet in September of last year. (Sorry about that.) I'm here now, to restart the blog. But here's the story that many of you know and many of you don't know: I took a brief hiaitus from blogging to start a two year stint of humanitarian work on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. That's where I am currently living and writing.

In September, 2010, right after attending the wonderful, annual, 2010 SCBWI Carolinas Fall
Conference, I began a transition from my (day) job in the United States to my current 2 year
committment doing health care work in the countryside of the Dominican Republic.
Realizing that I didn't have time to make this transition, and write my manuscript, and blog all
at the same time, I put the blog on a break. For several months, in Spring 2011, I also had to put my fiction and non-fiction writing on a break, so I could move here in June 2011, learn a new language, get used to a new culture, and orient to a new job. I got a writer-friend to cover my column in the SCBWI Pen and Palette for the summer, (thanks Jenny Murray,) stuck my computer in my suitcase and brought it to theD.R. with me, and put some things in my writing life very temporarily on hold.

But I'm now back with my `butt in the chair,' noveling -- in a different country temporarily, surrounded by a different culture and language - but still attending my critique group meetings in Raleigh via skype, (God bless the Goalies,) writing my SCBWI column and other non-fiction work, and now back to blogging as well. I'm thrilled to be living the good life - doing humanitarian work, which has always been dear to my heart, while working seriously on my writing at the same time!

All of that to say,while I spend my days riding up and down a mountain on a motorcycle,
checking blood pressures, hugging children, and going house to house educating people
on how to stop a minor cholera outbreak that is causing problems here on
the North Coast of the Dominican Republic, I'm also re-awakening writermorphosis.

Stop by here for tips on how to keep your writing career going, no matter where you're living,
as well as various ruminations and tips on YA fiction and nonfiction writing and publishing; details and interviews with fellow SCBWIers who have new agents, new adventures, and new books coming out; and info. on YA events and contests --- all the usual Writermorphosis stuff!

Thanks to all my many writer friends who've kept in touch and kept me on task with
my noveling during this transition. I've missed you guys too! I'm glad to be back on-line with
the blog, and I hope to see many of you at the SCBWI Conference in Charlotte in September!
I'll be here on Writermorphosis, posting at least every 2 weeks -- whenever the electricity is on! : )

SCBWI Carolinas Event a Huge Success!

2010-09-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I attended the SCBWI Carolinas Annual Fall Conference, 2010.

It was great to catch up with many old friends and meet some great up-and-coming new children's and YA book authors. Here are a few photos from Friday through Sunday's, action-packed, info-filled event:

Janet and Jo demonstrated the essential items to bring to a conference.

Dial Editor Liz Waniewski signed my old galley copy of Incarceron, a book she brought to the U.S., and a book I highly recommend for those who like steam-punkish YA novels. Thanks Liz! It's brilliantly plotted and written by Catherine Fisher, a multi-published author out of Great Britain.

Liz also taught a great writing intensive on pitching your book to an editor. It was helpful to all and got rave reviews. A job well done!

My friend Alan Gratz (top photo, in suit), author of great books like "Samurai Shortstop," "Something Rotten," "The Brooklyn Nine," and the soon to be released "Fantasy Baseball," gave a great presentation on plotting. I'm sitting at my desk right now Alan, trying to figure out where the "tent pole" is in "Act 2" of my current manuscript. Thanks for all the great tips and examples!

There were great presentations by Nonfiction writer Heather L Montgomery, Agent Chris Richman of Upstart Crow Literary, and many more.

Little Brown Editor Alvina Ling spoke to the Large group about the differences between literary and commercial fiction.

Five members of my critique group, the Goalies, chatted over wine and diet coke at the Gala on Saturday night.

Many Carolina Children's Authors from our region signed their books and chatted at the book tables Sunday morning.

Then, in an effort to make the conference last just one hour longer, a random group of writer friends met up for lunch at Chilis, Sunday afternoon, after the conference ended and it was time to go home. The chips and salsa were great. The company and conversation even better! We even had a few minutes between ordering and eating to check out Maggie's Kindle -- a very educational moment after the waiter took our photo and brought the chips.

Huge thanks to Teresa, Jo, and the entire Conference Committee for planning an amazing event again this year! I thought the presenters were even better than usual. And now... it's back to our manuscripts. Keep in touch, ya'll!

A 12-Year Old's Wisdom for Writers

2010-07-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

The other week I took a road trip from Raleigh to D.C. with a bunch of teens and middle schoolers. I'll share more about the trip over the next few weeks here on Writermorphosis. It was a long-planned-for trip, and one of the reasons why this blog has been idle for a month or more. I apologize! But I'm back now, and I've learned some wisdom for writers from my teen and pre-teen friends.

The first thing I learned was from my 12 year old friend David who sat behind my driver's seat reading the 5th book in the Percy Jackson series, while his 11 year old friend Sam sat beside him immersed in Eldest, the second book in the Eragon Trilogy. They passed the time reading as the tree-lined miles of I-95 rolled by outside our car. Impressed by how interested in the stories they were, I asked David if he'd seen the recent Percy Jackson and the Olympians movie, and whether he thought it was better or worse than the book. He marked his page with his finger and glanced up thoughtfully, meeting my eyes in the rear-view mirror. "Um...the movie wasn't bad," he said. "I don't think either one was better or worse than the other. The book is really good. But the movie was good too. They were just really different from each other, but they were both good."

And there you have it, folks. David has noticed something I've noticed too. There are many brilliantly-written books, and many brilliantly written movie scripts that tell the same story in a slightly different way. One is not necessarily more well-plotted or put together than the other. They're just different; different ways of telling the same story.

Movies about books we love can teach us writers many things. But most importantly they teach us about revision.

You see, your book -- the one you love and have slaved over -- and you're world and characters that you have created...they may not have to be just exactly the way that they are right now for your story to be a success.

WHAT?

Yes, it's true. We get attached to our creations. So, when an editor, agent, or writing colleague says "hey, you know, I'm just not sure that such and such particular aspect of your story is working as well as it could be..." we get frustrated. We want to stand our ground and say "you don't understand. If she doesn't wear the gingham shorts to camp, then when the boys later steal her shorts and fly them from the flagpole, it won't make any sense that I've titled the book `Gingham! It's integral to the plot!"

But really, ladies and gents, sometimes changing your character's ethnicity, or hair color, or hobbies, or choices can strengthen your story. Sometimes `gingham' maybe shouldn't even be the name of your book. Change isn't always bad. And our first instinct isn't always right. The beauty of fiction -- whether in screenwriting or novel writing, is that we authors control it, we build it -- and we can change it. Because changing our stories is painful, but it's also powerful. One story can be tweaked to go in various directions, like a chameleon that remains always the same animal, but that fits beautifully into different places depending on the color it chooses to be at that time. So don't be afraid to re-write that chapter or character or scene several different ways to see which one you like the best. Don't be afraid to change your chameleon.

As 12 year old David might say, none of your plot twists, character sketches, or theme ideas are necessarily better or worse than the others. It could be that "they're all good. They're just different."

Let's not be afraid to look at all of our options. Even it that means turning our stories a bit sideways.

The Writer's Tree (A place for us in the writing profession)

2010-05-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

The other day a critique buddy of mine shared her excitement about her plans to attend her first SCBWI Summer Conference in LA this year. She's got a completed novel manuscript that's caught positive attention from editors at regional conferences. She has an active blog that's frequented by writers from across the nation. And she's known and loved by many people in her local SCBWI region. But after saying how glad she is to be going to the big conference filled with "actual, really famous authors," she added, "my plan is to just listen and learn and try to look like I fit in."

Why is it that it is so hard for us writers to ever feel that we've done enough and achieved enough, to "belong" in this profession?

Is it the fact that you can go into any coffee shop, in any town, in almost any country, and find at least 3 or 4 people who purport to be `writers,' there?

Is it because there's not necessarily a degree that's required for this profession? (Although we know that more and more writers are getting MFA's -- still many are not).

Is it because most everyone in the world has toyed with the idea of writing their own autobiography, or perhaps a few stories for their grandchildren, and therefore people don't belive you're "a real writer" until you've published at leaste a couple of books and been able to quit your day job and move away from civilization into a log cabin in the woods to write. (An unlikely scenario for most of us).

Probably it's partly the fault of all of these things. But perhaps it's also caused by our own lack of believing.

At any SCBWI event we attend we find experienced authors who have published multiple books, but who still stand there welcoming the newer ones of us with open arms. It is not that we "can't" belong, but rather that we think we're not qualified YET....

But, I think, that writing is like any other profession. We start out on the bottom rung of the ladder, or the bottom branch of the tree, and we work our way up, one educational achievement, or "failure," or "success" at a time."

So, it's not so much that "we're in," or "we're out," but rather that we're all on different branches of the tree -- we're all at different spots in the journey. And just because we haven't reached the big nest of best selling authors at the top of the tree, it doesnt' mean we're not in the tree. We're climbing upwards, towards the nest, bit by bit.

So look at those wonderful multi-published authors waving down at you from the top of that tree. And then look below you at the branches you've already passed in your climb.

Check out the branches. Some you've climbed past already. Some are the ones you're reaching for now. But if you're serious about your writing, wherever you are in the tree, you belong here. Happy climbing! Don't let the sap and the tree ants get in your way.

Branches:

Can you say I have...

become an active member of a critique group
been writing, revising, and submitting my work to agents and/or editors
gotten at least 5 rejections, and I'm still climbing, dude...
attended one or more children's writing conferences
placed high in a writing or illustrating contest.
gotten published in magazines with short fiction, non-fiction, or illustrations
gotten positive feedback from editors/agents/or more experienced authors at conferences
gotten a positive rejection from an editor or agent
had an editor or agent request my full manuscript -- whether they decided to buy it or not.
started a writing blog or website and maintained it
established a regular schedule for my writing time
"got" an agent or an editor
sold a book!!!
did a public reading or book signing
spoke at a conference or taught classes for newer writers
published more books!!!
tried writing in a new genre and found success there.
Add your own other branches here.... There are many.

Did you find you've climbed more branches in your journey than you thought you had?

Wherever you and I are on this journey, we do belong here. We doubt ourselves and we have questions. That's normal, they say. But don't lose track of the branch above you.

Let's you and I enjoy the view as we keep climing rung to rung up the Writer's Tree.

2010 Raleigh Schmooze a Huge Success

2010-04-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

The 5th Annual Raleigh SCBWI Schmooze (hosted, as usual, by my critique group, the Goalies,) was a huge success again this year!

Speaker John Claude Bemis shared his creative process and helped us think seriously about our own.

John's Clockwork Dark Steam Punk middle grade series began with the book "The Nine Pound Hammer," and the second book of three "The Wolf Tree" will be released in summer 2010, followed by the 3rd book, "The White City," coming out in 2011. Another book of his, not from the Clockwork Dark Series, called "The Prince who fell from the sky," will be released in 2012. Go John!

We mingled and munched and made plans for the future.

Writers shared tips with each other after John's presentation.

Networking and signing up for critique groups.

We spent time brainstorming titles and ideas, chatting over cheese and wine, and checking out the books of several published SCBWI members who were present. It was a great time of networking and learning -- and John even got us out of our seats to get our creative juices flowing with a little bit of theatre. Check it out!

Who says writers can't act? They didn't even practice ahead of time!

It was a great Schmooze! Thanks to all who came to join us. Kudos to those who came all the way from Fayetteville, Durham, Goldsboro -- and the Raleighites. And huge thanks to John Claude Bemis for sharing his creative process with us, and leading us in great activities to stimulate our own creative brains!

Come Schmooze With Us!

2010-04-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

Come join us for the Annual Raleigh SCBWI Schmooze hosted by the Goalies (my wonderful critique group). It's a wine and cheese, networking, learning, all around fun event.

Our guest speaker this year is Middle Grade Author John Claude Bemis, a prior elementary school teacher who now writes middle grade novels for a living, and who also plays a mean guitar! His debut novel, The Nine Pound Hammer, is the first in the Clockwork Dark series, published by Random House. His next book in the series, The Prince Who Fell from the Sky, will come out in 2012.

Come fellowship with other children's/YA writers, learn some new tricks of the trade, brainstorm about your current or future book through the activities John Claude will be presenting... and if you're new to children's/teen writing, come on in and get to know us.

FREE.

April 18th, 3-6pm.

Quail Ridge Books and Music, Raleigh, NC.

* For anyone coming from a distance, or for those coming directly after the Carolina Spring Retreat in Chapel Hill, there are two restaurants in the Quail Ridge parking lot for lunch and fellowship before the event.

See you there!

A Great NEW Resource for Writers

2010-04-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

There is so much great info. for YA writers out there on various blogs.

Some agents and editors share what types of submissions they're looking for.
Some folks interview other professionals about their individual writing techniques, and tips.
Some people give away fun stuff or hold writing contests!

But honestly -- how many of us have the time to sort through them all for the good stuff? We've got to really focus on putting most of our time into our own writing.

Luckily, my friend, YA writer Beverley BevenFlorez, has come to our rescue! In her weekly Friday post called "The Writer's Well," Beverly compiles a short summary of some of the most helpful blog posts out there in YA/Kid Lit Blog Land for that week. All the rest of us have to do is skim down, find the ones that look the most interesting to us, and click on the links, and EUREKA! -- the info. is at our finger tips. And it only took half a second!

Check it out a Beverley's blog today!

Thanks Beverley. Great idea!

No Longer Afraid of the Red Pen

2010-03-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

We all remember them. Those moments in fourth grade when our teachers would hand back our papers and exams marked up with red pen.
It was horrible.
To our minds -- and to our peers -- the red markings meant: "This isn't good enough. You screwed up," or perhaps even, "Can't you get this right, yet? What are you, stupid?"

But now, I'm all grown up. And five years into this task of joining the writing profession, I always hand my manuscripts to my critique buddies accompanied by a RED PEN. It's true!
You see, when we start in this profession, and join our first critique group, all our fears from fourth grade still stick with us, I think. We hand our manuscripts to our new crit buddies with trembling hands, and a bit of nervous nausea. We stash a first-aid kid of band-aid's and emotional salve (chocolate) in our book bags -- just in case these critters say something negative about our work and it makes us want to jump off a bridge in dispair. We look for gentle comments like: "You know, I think this chapter is really wonderful, and probably ready for publication right now...except that perhaps just one or two of your sentences, if even that, out of the whole book, are a bit convoluted and long. That's all. Easy to fix. And really - I could be wrong about that. I love it!"

Awesome! We can handle that critique. It sounds like it means our work is basically perfect.
Of course, we know they're lying...ehem. They're being nice to us so we don't run off crying.

But now, two and a half novel manuscripts into this business of writing fiction, my heart is stronger; my determination is more profound.

I don't want to publish "reasonably good" books. I want to publish "REALLY good" ones.

So, now I hand out the red pens with all of my manuscripts.

Why? Well, for one thing, it's easier to find the comments of my crit buddies among the black and white type, if they're written in red ink. But more than that. It's because I really want those comments to be honest -- perhaps even more honest than my fourth grade teacher was.
If the plot is shabby, or the sentences are too long, or my grammar is off, or my dialogue is `too adult,' I want to know it. And truthfully, we don't always notice these things in our own writing the way that we notice them in other people's. So mark it up, my friends. I can take it!

Sure, I still keep my little package of band-aids and chocolate -- just in case the "truth" means I'll have to go do some frustratingly in depth revision, right when I thought the manuscript was ready for submission to editors and the like. But these days I leave my first aid kit farther away, in the car, rather than keeping it in my bag. That's because now I really want to make the hard corrections if I need to -- even though it's heart-wrenching. (gulp). Better to change our manuscripts before they go to editors, than to skip that step, and send them something "good but not great," which they won't have the time or motivation to read.

So hooray for the red pens -- and for the critique buddies who aren't afraid to use them!
(Of course, handing out cookies when you hand us back our manuscripts with those red markings is never a bad idea either. Remember that great old red-coolaid and all those cookies we enjoyed in elementary school? There was a reason for that.)

As all fourth grade teachers know...

A combination of Red Truth and Chocolate just may be the best way to create GREAT writing.

100 Dresses and a Few Greek Gods

2010-02-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

Those of us writing for children and teens hold a secret underlying hope. Even if we're writing
fantasies about elves and fauns, sci-fi's about robots and aliens, or humorous middle grade boy books about disgusting things people rarely discuss, we secretly hope that our stories will reach children, teens, (and even the adults who often read YA,) at the deepest places of their minds and hearts. We want our books to strike emotional chords that will cause our stories to live within our readers forever. Mwa Ha ha!
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That's why I'm always so thrilled to see the many children's and teen books that are moving forward into the wider world of pop culture these days. In the past two years alone we've seen hugely successful movies based on the Twilight books, the Narnia books, Harry Potter #6, and many others. What excites me about this continuing trend is that these stories did not come straight from screenwriters, or other people on the cutting edge of the fast-paced new technology loved by teens. Nope -- these tales were first published in paperback books -- novels and middle grades typed by authors at coffee shops while their own kids were off at school. The books have been so well loved by so many kids, teens and adults that they've found their place in popular culture through film, and music, t-shirts, and toys..

This trend seems to affirm the idea that books aren't on their way out. They're on their way up. And so of course we all want our books to be wonderful enough for Barnes and Noble and Amazon, but equally so for Paramount, Dreamworks, Disney, and Mattel...
And just as we support our fellow writers by attending their book signings and speaking engagements in book-stores around the area, it seems to me we should applaud this pop-culture trend, and celebrate our fellow writers' success in film, song, and theatre as well.

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Four current opportunities to attend showings of Kid's and YA lit in Pop Culture in NC include (click the blue links):

The Hundred Dresses: A play, at the Raleigh Little Theatre (March 12-28, 2010)
1st written in 1944 by Eleanor Estes, this book for 9-12 year olds was one of my top 10 favorites in elementary school. It's the story of an impoverished little girl from Poland who lives in the U.S. and gets picked on at school b/c of her poverty -- also because she tells all her classmates that she has "100 dresses" in her closet at home, though she wears the same one to school every day. "The Hundred Dresses" is a story of bullying, poverty, and creativity in which two girls
who have picked on poor Wanda Petronski learn the hard way that their words really hurt a creative little girl who really did have 100 dresses in her closet -- colorful dresses, on paper, that she'd drawn. Sweet Wanda leaves them for the girls when she moves.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Movie -- In Theaters now.
This YA novel by Rick Riordan features Percy Jackson, the confused son of a single mother,
who doesn't know the father who abandoned his family when Percy was a baby is actually the Greek God Perseus. But when an argument between the Ancient Greek gods puts the world at risk, Percy finds out quickly who he is, where is power lies, and how much trouble he's about to get into on his mission to prevent a war between his powerful, immortal "aunts and uncles."

Alice in Wonderland: The Updated Movie - In Theaters soon.
Alice and the Red Queen face off in a war that has all of Wonderland up in arms.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, In Theaters soon.
In this, the first of Jeff Kinney's comic novel series, a Middle school student, Greg Heffley, takes readers through an academic year's worth of drama.

Have fun checking out these great children's stories that are making it big in theaters and on stage this Spring!

Seeking Submissions: 2 Anthologies and a Contest

2010-02-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

In this edition of Writermorphosis we have a Guest Blogger: George Anthony Kulz.

George is a friend of mine and an expert on where to find -- and how to submit to -writing contests and literary compilations. He’ll be stopping by Writermorphosis every few months to post upcoming contests and opportunities, and today is his first guest post. Welcome George!

George suavely knows about writing contests before the rest of us, somehow. And he wins them too. He’s won the Gotham Writers' Workshop 100 Word Writing Contest, the readers' choice contests in knowonder!, (twice,) and the 2010 NYC Midnight Tweet Me a Story contest. His published short stories have appeared in Wee Ones Children’s Magazine, Spider, Happiness, The Nautilus Engine, Characters, Spaceports and Spidersilk, Stories for Children, Stories That Lift, The Drabbler, and knowonder!. George lives in Rhode Island with his wife and four kids. He currently spends his non-writing time working as a software engineer in a hospital.

Without further adoo, here's George's post:

“Most of you have probably set some writing goals for this year, and I hope that some of the contests and market ideas that I mention here will help you achieve those goals. Here are three markets that might be of interest. The first two are related to the same publisher.

1. Rebel Books, LLP is putting together an anthology of faerie stories for young adults, to be published in mid 2010. They are seeking modern, original stories about or including faeries, with an edgy teen focus. The closing date for submissions is 2/28/10. You can find info here: http://rebelbookspublishing.co.uk/submissions.aspx. They are a paying market, and it costs nothing to send them stories.

2. Rebel Books, LLP is also putting together an anthology of magical themed stories for kids ages 7+. Stories should have a magical, fantastical theme to capture and hold the reader's attention but should still be original and modern. The closing date for submissions is 5/31/10. Again, the website is: http://rebelbookspublishing.co.uk/submissions.aspx.

3. Finally, the Cassell Network of Writers is putting on a writing contest with a children's writing category, called the 2010 Writers-Editors Network 27th Annual International Writing Competition. There is an entry fee, but if you are a member you can get 50% off the entry fee. The contest deadline is 3/15/10. Find information by clicking the link above.

That's all for this time. Stay tuned for more markets & contests - George.

Join other Writers in Supporting "Room to Read"

2010-01-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Every year it seems bloggers across the globe use their first “post” after New Years to encourage their readers to make personal goals for the coming year. Many writing websites are encouraging us to make goals for what we hope to accomplish professionally in 2010. I like this strategy, somewhat. Afterall, as writers we sometimes do need to make goals for ourselves at the beginning of the year to keep ourselves on track so we will keep writing during the slump days, or when rejections roll in. It’s helpful to have a goal like “I’m going to finish my current novel by July,“ or “I’m going to write 6 pages a day until next Christmas.“ This keeps us accountable and keeps us moving forward. But what about the big world that’s out there, outside of our houses and outside of our books. Can the writing that we’re doing make an impact there as well?
.

I think so. The other week I received in the mail the sponsorship magazine for Heifer International. Heifer uses donations from folks in the industrial world (us) to help families in third world countries develop farms of chickens, cows, ducks, rabbits, bees, or other animals that can provide them with ways to make a living, grow crops, and feed their families. In the center of the magazine I found an article called “A Novel Approach.” It told how two adult fiction writers (Pat Rothfuss, and Laurie R. King) used the publications of their recent books to raise more than $150,000 in donations for Heifer’s international relief work.

And that got me thinking. Why can’t those of us writers who are out here slugging away typing word after word each day use helping others as the motivation for keeping our writing moving along in 2010? I think we can.

So here is my idea. There’s a non-profit organization based in the U.S. called “Room to Read.” Room to Read believes that putting books in the hands of children in developing countries can change the world by increasing educational levels and thus improving communities‘ abilities make a more sustainable living. Room to Read uses donations from people like you and me to build and stock children’s libraries and classrooms in third world countries, to promote elementary school programs for girls in countries where females often have to stay home from school to run their households, and to publish children’s books in languages that don’t have many available.

This year I want to support Room to Read, and I’m hoping some of you will join me. I’d love to see us children’s writers build a library in a part of the world that needs one.
So this is my plan. From February until April I plan to donate 1 cent to Room to Read for every 2 words I write on my current novel. This won’t amount to a lot of money, because frankly, it’s a tough economy right now and I’m not J.K. Rowling. : ) But it only takes $2,500 for Room to Read to build a children’s library in Africa or South East Asia. Every penny adds up.

So...if FIFTY of you and your writing friends join me, even if each of us only writes 10,000 words from February-April 2010 (which it‘s likely we could write much more), at 1 cent per 2 words written, we could build a whole library through Room to Read.

Yes, 50 of us, at 10,000 words, at 1 cent for every 2 words, could build a library!

Of course, we will have to actually raise money and pay it in to Room to Read, (1 cent for every 2 words written) or it won’t help children in another country get books at all. But we can do it.

If you think this sounds like an expensive endeavor, it's not. Ask people who want to support and encourage you as a writer to sponsor you. That will make this a community event and we‘ll raise even more cash for Room to Read! Get your mom, dad, your husband or wife, your great aunt Sue, your son’s youth group if they like your writing, (and for those who have books published, invite the fans who are awaiting your next book,) to each sponsor you for a penny for every 2, 5, 10, or 15 words you write. Your editor might even think it's a great marketing campaign! Either way, it will help you get a lot of writing done, and it will help kids who don't have enough books to read get a library.

So here’s the math:
10,000 words@ 1 cent per every 2 words = $50.00
10,000 words @ 1 cent per every 5 words = $20.00
Get 5 friends to sponsor you and that turn into $250.00 or $100.00 And you’re off to a great start!
Get 10 friends to sponsor you, and you’re off and running!

20,000 words@ 1 cent per every 2 words = 100.00
20,000 words @1 cent per every 5 words = $40.00
With 5 friends to sponsor you that turns into $500.00 or $200.00. Not too shabby, even in a bad economy!
Can’t think of five friends to sponsor you? That's not a barrier. Sponsor yourself. You’ll be getting lots of writing done, while changing the world one children’s book at a time.
And hey, if you write 500 word picture books, : ), get your friends to sponsor you for 5 or 10 cents a word. We can all play at this game, to help build kids a library. : )

DO YOU WANT TO JOIN ME? It’s easy: I’ve given us a name through Room to Read (“Children’s Writers United”) and we have a webpage on the Room to Read site already set up (click on our name, above).

You can download the widget THERMOMETER that will track the money as it comes in. You can place a "thermometer" on your website or blog (like the one on mine,) so that your blog readers can see our progress and join up as well. (If you have trouble downloading the thermometer, let me know). And remember, the thermometer will probably remain low until the end of April, when hopefully all your sponsors will pay you, and then it should shoot up. I’ve started us off with $25.00. Let’s see where we can take it from here!
Please let me know if you’re taking this challenge. And please make a note about it on your blog to spread the word.
Let's make all our words, whether beautiful or "really first-drafty," be worth at least a half-penny!

A Holiday Look Back at a Year of Writing

2009-12-15T11:25:00.001-08:00

To the members of SCBWI Carolinas
To the Goalies :)
To the attenders of the Oregon Coast Children's Book Writer's Workshop
And to the many other authors, editors and agents of the worldwide writing community who I've had the pleasure of spending time with and learning from this year...

Here's a glimpse back at the 2009 we've had together.

Happy Holidays to all as we write our way into a new year!

- Janelle

Writing Historical Fiction

2009-12-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

I arrived on this earth after Martin Luther King was shot, after most “flower children” stopped protesting Vietnam, quite a few years after the Holocaust, and many, many, MANY years after the American Revolutionary War. The same can be said for many of you.

And yet we know about those people and events listed above. How? We learned about many of them from reading “historical fiction” books like Johnny Tremain, Number the Stars, For Freedom, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Ok, so it's a fantasy, but the first few chaps are about WWII :)), Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, Al Capone Does my Shirts, Healing Water, Samarai Shortstop, The Brooklyn Nine, The Scarlet Letter, and One Million Men and Me.

So today let’s talk about historical fiction: books set in the past, with characters from the past, that resonate with kids and teens today.

At the SCBWI Carolinas Annual Fall Conference not long ago, our own NC Historical Fiction guru Joyce Moyer Hostetter, (author of “Blue,” and other great books of historical fiction books for teens,) shared the following tips for “Writing Historical Fiction for Young People.”

She said:

In writing historical fiction, the author should:

1.) “Find the story” --- It might be a historic event, person, or theme in your own back yard, neighborhood, or your own family’s history.
2.) “Tell the time” --- Along with your plot, include in your story things that give the reader a sense of the era the story happens in. This can be done by including dates, having your characters speak in phrases and words common at that time, and grounding your story among political events and the cultural backdrop of the era.
3.) “Ask the Experts” --- People love to be interviewed about their own life experiences. “You validate their story by (incorporating their knowledge of the time and their experiences into your story and) telling it well.” Joyce says “People want to share with you. So be really brave about calling total strangers.”
4.) “SHOW the place” --- Include in your story local landmarks, vivid nouns and adjectives detailing the food, plants, and local features of your setting. “Readers love to read about places in their own home town, and speech patterns they recognize.”
5.) “Cite your sources” -- Editors want to publish your book with confidence, knowing that those little tidbits of place, time, dialogue, and event are historically accurate. So cite all those sources you used!

But where does a person come up with a story for historical fiction? And how do we find out more about those historical facts, events, and people that we‘re thinking of writing about?

Joyce suggested some great resources:
Ÿ Historical photos of people and buildings
Ÿ Old newspapers
Ÿ Old letters and diaries
Ÿ Memoir’s related to your topic
Ÿ Museums
Ÿ Songs/Music from the time you are researching
Ÿ Dictionaries
Ÿ History books
Ÿ “Writer’s digest books on historic time periods”
Ÿ And websites like http://www.si.edu/ (The Smithsonian Institute,) and http://www.loc.gov/loc/infopub/ (The Library of Congress).

So, if you feel like you’re ready for a new writing project perhaps you should flip through your great aunt’s old photo albums, reminisce through your old high school year books, or start wandering around the old buildings in your city or state. You never know what you might find… and the story that comes out of it could be brilliant!

YA Goes All The Way

2009-11-14T22:18:00.000-08:00

The other day one of my co-workers remarked to a couple of our friends that
“Janelle writes children’s books.” The customary “Ooh, isn’t that wonderful…”comments were exchanged – the ones that mean they think I write stuff like Winnie the Pooh and Babar the Elephant -- stories for elementary school kids.
Trying to explain that I generally write for “young adults (YA),” would have made the conversation too long. So I listened and nodded, and smiled a little when someone said “it’s so great that you can still write (upbeat) stuff like that in this day and age when there are so many people who are so jaded.”
At that point in the conversation I figured it would probably shake things up too much to mention that the manuscript I have out circulating involves a lot of family conflict and a 300 year old `murder’ mystery, and that the story I’m currently writing has a narrator who’s a homeless teen. : ) But YA literature can show the reality of life with a little less sunshine than what the younger kids read.
So what can we write about in YA, anyway?

David Gill, author of the YA book Soul Enchilada, answered this question at the recent SCBWI Carolinas Annual Fall Conference. Here is his list of what can be found in a YA book:

“YA,” he said, “is not a genre, it’s a marketing category.”
YA books have a teen story-problem and a teen main character.
They are written for a teen audience.
They are told in a `here and now’ (teen) perspective, rather than with a narrator who is an adult looking back.
In YA the story “starts with the action and story, and ends with the action and story.”
YA is “reaching for college readers, becoming more truly young adult, and allowing more complex and darker themes, lately. Some YA books are also getting longer, and the themes and writing more complex.
David also quoted Scholastic Editor Cheryl Klein as noting that YA stories are “centrally interested in the experiences and growth of the book’s teen protagonist.”

So what is the difference between Middle Grade books (written for kids between approximately the ages of 9 and 14 years of age,) and YA? In a word, David said, it’s "intensity.”

He gave the following examples:

MG book = a character may sneak a kiss
YA book = a character might have sex or even get pregnant

MG book = bullies may push, pull or perhaps call names
YA book = Bullies can beat you up

You get the idea. And whatever age you’re writing for, remember: “your main character should be roughly 2 years older than your target reader’s age.”

Now go forth. And if you’re writing YA it’s ok to let that little jaded sarcastic teen in you write about tough issues. It’s ok to Go All The Way.

How to be an Author that Editors Love

2009-10-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

At the SCBWI Carolina's Fall Conference last month Atheneum Executive Editor Namrata Tripathi shared ways for finding a good editor. But she also shared the following list of tips for how to be the kind of author that an editor will love working with.

Here are Namrata's tips:

1.) Keep the lines of communication open between you and the editor. (If you don't communicate they can't read your mind. But also don't freak out and call or email them 27 times/day. One call or email should be sufficient. Give them at the least a couple of days to get back to you. They have a lot of meetings every day, and Namrata says "keep in mind that your editor does have other clients too.")

2.) Let the editor know if due dates that are set are unrealistic, early on. Namrata says when editors set publication schedules "there's money attached to that project for that season. If it's not ready in time, there's a big money hole that the editor has to answer for and take the brunt for."

3.) "If you feel like your vision is being derailed, please speak up."

4) Tell the editor what works for you -- what type of editorial feedback is helpful, what type of technology you are and are not comfortable using...

5.) A dream author is their own self promoter, working hard to promote their book. Dream authors try to build support on their own and then have the publishing house suppliment it.

6.) Tell your editor about your special skills/knowledge (contacts, blog skills or other internet presence, authors you know who can write blurbs in your book, etc.)

7.) SAY THANK YOU. (A good editor loves your book as much as you do, but their name won't show up on the cover -- yours will. Thank them for the work they do to get your baby out into the world. Many authors do this by thanking their editor in the front of the book. But thank you's during the publishing process go a long way too.)

And every good list of "Do's" needs at least one "Don't" So, here is one from Namrata. Please...

8.) Don't send rude emails. If you wouldn't want your mother to read it, don't send it. (Act like the professional that you are, and treat the editor like the professional that he/she is too.)

And my favorite quote from Namrata's presentation sums up the editors' loving role as they help authors bring new books into the world. She said:

"We (editors) are midwives to many, many babies. And we have to think that (each one) is as cute as yours."

Finding an Editor - Tips from Editor Namrata Tripathi

2009-10-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

At the SCBWI fall conference last weekend I was pleased to meet Atheneum Books for Young Readers' Executive Editor Namrata Tripathi, who not only gave helpful tips about the publishing industry, but who also demonstrated that editors are cool people both behind the desk and away from it. : )

During one of the break-out sessions she spoke about how to find the "right" editor for you.

Yes, yes, I know that most of us authors out here are just hoping to find AN EDITOR, ANY editor, forget about whether it's the RIGHT editor to match our personality, our book, and our career goals.

But I think the tips Namrata shared about finding the "Right" editor deserve strong consideration. Check them out.

Namrata said:

1.) Try to find (submit to and accept a contract with,) someone who shares your personality. This should also be someone who publishes the kind of books you like to read and the kind of books you like to write.

2.) "See which editor and which (publishing) house is interested in developing your career over the long term."

3.) If an editor, or more than one, becomes interested in your work, figure out what it is that YOU will need from your editor (compatible personality style for working together on revisions, similar communication style, etc), and consider whether the editor expressing interest in your book can meet those needs.

4.) If an editor offers to buy your book and thus take you and your book forward in the publishing process consider the revision process that editor is requiring. Ask yourself "How much work/revision am I going to have to do" based on this editor's vision for the book? And "am I going to have to go in a direction that I do or don't agree with?"

Great suggestions, Namrata. It's good for us as authors to remember that we don't have to put our "babies" in just anybody's hands. We can carefully submit our work to editors who we like, who like and can work professionally with us, and who love our babies as much as we do.

SCBWI Carolinas Fall Conference DAY TWO

2009-09-26T19:57:00.001-07:00

Ok guys. Don't get used to me posting something every day. : ) After the conference ends tomorrow I'll bop back down to the normal `1 post every two weeks' that I usually try to maintain here on writermorphosis. But since the fall conference only comes once a year here are:

Janelle's Favorite Things about this year's fall conference DAY TWO:

1.) Networking, Networking, Networking! (Which for me meant CHATTING, eating and CHATTING, talking about manuscripts and CHATTING, and standing CHATTING squashed in those long zig-zaggy lines in the women's bathroom.

2.) Seeing author/illustrator Ian Sands' Critters show up at the conference, even though Ian wasn't able to be with us this year. Go Critters! (In the photo above, Linda is snagging one to take home.)

3.) Hearing the school representative from Efland Creek Elementary School in Orange County North Carolina say "My God! I can't believe you've done this!" when informed that this year's conference participants had donated 3 laundry baskets full of books for her school. She'd apparently been expecting to drive all the way from Chapel Hill to pick up a small picnic basket of books. : )

4.) Almost passing out with shock when several more folks who I didn't know were reading this blog came up to me between sessions and told me that they're `following' writermorphosis! I was flabergasted. Hey amigos, if you're reading this blog - say "Hi" in the "comments" section from time to time. That way I can check out your blogs too! (And plus, that will keep me from constantly thinking I'm just talking to myself.) : )

And my favorite thing...

5.) Hearing Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth say:

"All my characters were happy together in a tree. So I thought, what's the worst thing that could happen? And then I set fire to the tree."

Love that! Go Carrie!

SCBWI Carolinas Fall Conference DAY ONE

2009-09-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post here to celebrate that the Carolinas Fall Conference began this afternoon and is now in full swing. I'll post helpful tidbits that the speakers shared throughout the conference -- later. For tonight, just a short list:

Janelle's favorite things about this year's Fall Conference on day one...

1.) Picked up 4 friendly speakers at the airport. Welcome to NC, ya'll.

2.) Smiled when I noticed how often the speakers from New York checked their blackberries and phones whenever they had a second of down time. Way to multi-task, guys!

3.) Caught up with writer friends from last year.

4.) Caught up with writer friends from last week too. : ) (8 members of my critique group, The Goalies, are at the conference again this year. Hooray).

5.) Listened to Carol Boston Weatherford and Jan Broadfoot talk about marketing.

6.) Chatted with a number of new attenders at the conference, and heard about their works-in- progress, their hopes and dreams, and their questions about children's publishing.

7.) Actually had a stranger say she'd been informed by another writer that I have a blog (this one) and that it was worth reading. Wow! Thanks Melissa for making my day! I think there are days when all bloggers wonder if the stuff they write is helpful or interesting to anyone at all.

8.) Sat at the conference center restaurant and watched two of my crit group buddies laugh so hard that they nearly snorted wine out of their noses when they both read the term "benchy-thing" as a descriptor in my most recent novel-draft. Apparently "benchy-thing" is not an appropriate word to use in a novel. (Awe...gorsh, guys. I use that term all the time in my regular speech! As in, "Could you please bring that benchy-thing over here? I want to set this parakeet cage down on it before this cute litte bird bites my finger tips off." Ah well...) :)

9.) Stood in the dark parking lot with new and old friends at the end of the night, with misty rain swirling around the street lights, as we discussed ways to shorten our verbal pitches and talked about the kissing scene in my book that the wine snorting friends were still critiquing for me. What a great way to end the night!

10.) Heading to bed happy that I'll be doing stuff like this again all day tomorrow! This is the life.

First Pages: Examples from Recent Greats

2009-09-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

As those of us in the Carolinas Region prepare for our annual SCBWI fall conference, one topic is on everybody’s mind. “First Pages.” Every year, at conferences all across the U.S. and around the world, editors, agents, and authors critique the first pages of attenders’ current manuscripts. The idea is – editors, agents, readers for that matter, might not turn to the second page of your manuscript or book if page ONE doesn’t hold their attention.

So here are bits of several “first pages” of recently published middle grade and YA novels off of my bookshelf. They are good first pages. Strong ones. They either tell us so much about the character that we can’t help wanting to learn more about that character. Or they throw us right into a plot so intriguing that we want to keep right on reading!

So, as we’re deciding whether our own first pages are up to snuff, let’s consider these great examples: (I hope their authors and publishers won’t mind me sharing a few sentences of each one here).

Here are some greats:

Frindle: By Andrew Clements (Aladdin. 1996) (Chapter Book).

“If you asked the kids and the teachers at Lincoln Elementary School to make three lists – all the really bad kids, all the really smart kids, and all the really good kids – Nick Allen would not be on any of them. Nick deserved a list all his own, and everybody knew it…

Skulduggery Pleasant: By Derek Landy (Harper Collins, 2007) Middle Grade

“Gordon Edgley’s sudden death came as a shock to everyone – not least himself. One moment he was in his study, seven words into the twenty-fifth sentence of the final chapter of his book` And the darkness rained upon them,’ and the next he was dead. `A tragic loss’ his mind echoed numbly as he slipped away…

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp: By Rick Yancey (Bloomsbury 2005) YA.

“I never thought I would save the world – or die saving it. I never believed in angels or miracles either, and I sure didn’t think of myself as a hero. Nobody would have, including you, if you had known me before I took the world’s most powerful weapon and let it fall into the hands of a lunatic. Maybe after you hear my story you won’t think I’m much of a hero anyway, since most of my heroics (if you want to call them that), resulted from my being a screw up. A lot of people died because of me – including me – but I guess I’m getting ahead of myself and I’d better start from the beginning.”

(Note the great “voice” in this one as well.)

Incarceron: By Catherine Fisher (Hodder Children’s Books in Great Britain, 2007) YA.

“Who can chart the vastness of Incarceron?
Its halls and viaducts, its chasms?
Only the man who has known freedom
Can define his prison. – Songs of Sapphique

Finn had been flung on his face and chained to the stone slabs of the transitway. His arms, spread wide, were weighted with links so heavy he could barely drag his wrists off the ground. His ankles were tangled in a slithering mass of metal, bolted through a ring in the pavement. He couldn’t raise his chest to get enough air. He lay exhausted, the stone icy against his cheek…”

Something Rotten, A Horatio Wilkes Mystery: By Alan Gratz (Dial Books, 2007) YA.

“Denmark, Tennessee, Stank. Bad. Like dead fish fricasseed in sewer water. I said as much to my friend Hamilton Prince as we rode in his 4X4.
“You get used to it” he told me. “Just think of it as the smell of money.”
And here I had always thought money would smell better.
The Elsinore Paper Plant was the source of the stink, and the money behind the Prince family fortune. Elsinore makes the paper that you use in your printer, the paper you read the sports scores on, and the paper you wipe yourself with. They make just about every kind of paper there is except the kind money is printed on, but enough of that comes rolling back in that they don’t have to bother…

WOW!
First pages like these great ones – with their well-thought out characters, their settings detailed via all the five senses, and their action-filled (and sometimes even danger filled) plots make me look at my own first pages again. Do mine stand up to this type of competition? And do yours? Hmmm… they had better.

Because as agents and editors will tell us at every conference we attend: If they don’t stand out from the beginning, our books are not going to get noticed.

Do your first pages measure up?
As for me, today I sat down with mine and did a little re-working.

The Spiders are Sailing!

2009-09-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

This isn't a tip I learned at the Oregon Coast Children's Writer's Worshop, but rather a story from my recent life that I feel I must share.

The other evening I arrived home from work at around midnight -- it was a late one -- and I flipped the light on in the kitchen to douse my innerds with a glass of water before bed.

It was then, glass in hand, that I observed a phenomenon I have only ever heard about in literature. And quite frankly, it is a situation I did not know was based in natural science.

I have a plant sitting atop one of my cupboards. Graceful leafy vines hang about 3 feet down from it, decorating the front of my white cabinets. When I turned on the light, I initially thought that my eyes were tricking me. Tiny little puffs of what I could only imagine were grey brown dust bunnies seemed to be swinging from several of the leaves on the plant. Swinging, I'm telling you. Tossing themselves a few centimeters out from the cupboard and dropping from one leaf to the next one below it. At first I only saw three, or four, perhaps five. When I looked closer there must have been at least twenty. They were all at different heights on the plant, as if they'd been sleeping under one leaf or another and had suddenly decided to wake up and drop to the ground, leaf by leaf. And by now you've probably guessed what they were. Teeny, tiny, almost impossibly miniscule, baby spiders taking flight. They were sailing out to get their first view of life. Setting off to make their way in the world. It was a miraculous moment.

My first thought was -- Charlotte's Web! That little tidbit in that book was based on real science!

And though I never have listed this book, where the beloved mamma spider (yes, Charlotte,) dies and her young ones survive, as one of my favorite childhood books, I suddenly was crushed by an impossible ethical dilema. Do I squish these multitudes of baby spiders -- because that's what I do with spiders when they venture into my house, I'm afraid. Or, (my heart smote me...) was it just possible that some sweet, hardworking mamma Charlotte type of spider had laid these little babies on my plant? Was there a pig and other farm animals standing outside my window cheering the spiders on as they set out into the world? Did these spiders aspire to live fruitful, happy, possibly even college-educated lives as their wonderful web-weaving mother had probably done?

For several seconds I watched the flying babies -- caught up in the miracle of birth, the glorious spectacle of someone stepping off into new territory, taking the big leap into the giant, enormous world...

And I pondered how amazing it was that a story -- a kids' book -- that my mother had read to me when I was probably eight years old, and the plot of which I thought I'd long since forgotten, was suddenly wrenching my heart out with all these painful and yet hopeful emotions. Go spiders!

If anyone says literature isn't powerful... they've never read Charlotte's Web!

But this was my house, afterall, and I do have a dreadful fear of a spider crawling up on my pillow to sleep with me. So, in opposition to every ethical bone in my body, I grabbed a piece of paper-towel and began squishing the baby spiders as they dropped from leaf to leaf. It was a sad day for Charlotte, and I must also admit, a bit for me, and certainly for the baby spiders.

But here's a note to all of us children's writers. Let us remember that when we write about love and loss, and bravery, and hope, and sacrifice (which is what most great books are about in one way or another it seems to me...) When we write about these things, what we write has the power to change the world. Or at least a little piece of it. Even for spiders...

sometimes.

`Keeping it Lite' in Dark YA

2009-08-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

At the OCCWW (Oregon Coast Children's Writer's Workshop,) each author had the opportunity to submit the first 5 pages of one of their current manuscripts to be read and critiqued by each of the 9 instructors. The instructors were 6 well-published authors, 2 children's/YA editors, and 1 agent. This opportunity, alone, made the whole conference worth the price!

Out of curiosity I submitted the first five pages of a novel that's been stewing in my mind for over a year. It's a YA tale of two teen girls who find themselves separately homeless on the city streets of Europe, in winter. It covers the very different hard choices they make in order to survive.

It's a dark, issue-laden YA story.

And yes, unlike my other novels, there's a curse word on the first page! I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not, so I submitted it to the OCCWW for review.

I chose this manuscript to submit because I wanted to know whether this type of darker, issues-laden writing still has a place in the current YA market.
Would the editors, the agent, and the more experienced writers at the OCCWW
consider such a book too hard core for the current children's/YA market?
Would it be a downer?
Are there readers out there who would seek it?
Would it be marketable if I finish it?
Would it get published? Would it sell?

The answer I got? Yes.

Yes. It's marketable.
Dark YA is still hot with teens today.
Publishers are still looking for this type of book -- if it's well written, they said.
And YES, novels about real-life struggles and issues have a following among teens
-- certain teens that is, but not all.

What I was told agreed with what I already believed. Dark, issue-laden novels are not as mainstream as the gossip-girl style of books, or the darkish fantasies like Twilight.

But there are still teens who look for them.

Both editors at the conference said they would have read more, beyond the first 5 pages. I was elated. Hooray! (Now I guess I'll have to write page six and so on... : )).
------------------------------------------------------------------

One bit of very wise advice that I got from one of the editors was something to the
effect of " always keep some things lite in your dark YA."

The editor indicated that stories like this one, about difficult issues like poverty, war, violence,
drug use, homelessness, death/dying, divorce, mental health, or medical issues can
be overwhelmingly sad if there isn't something upbeat in your story too.

Real life has both sadness and happiness in it. Realistic fiction should reflect real life.

Therefore, she suggested that the best way -- in life, and in fiction -- to get through the darkness, is to laugh or have some sort of positive experience from time to time.
She said it's important to make sure there is humor or something upbeat in all books of dark fiction. That makes sense to me. Even if it's irony or sarcasm, humor lightens the mood.

Just like with life, in fiction things can't be terrible all the time, or none of us will ever get through it.

Retreat!

2009-08-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Hello world. I'm now back from the Oregon Coast Children's Writer's Workshop (OCCWW)-- and I have a number of tips that I learned there to share, and some stories to tell. These details will show up every two weeks, (approximately,) on writermorphosis, for the next few months. After that, I'll be off to the SCBWI Carolina's conference in September, and there will be even more to tell.

But firstly I want to talk about the most important thing I learned at the Oregon Coast Children's Writer's Workshop. It wasn't about markets, or first pages, or brilliant dialogue -- although information on all of those things will come out on writermorphosis soon. No, what stuck with me the most was how much literary work can get done where there is no internet or cell phone service to distract you!

The OCCWW is held in Oceanside Oregon, a tiny town that spills down from evergreen forested hills to the edge of a windy pacific beach. It's a twenty minute drive to the next town to get cell phone service on most plans, and the only place with internet access for visitors is the local coffee shop, where the adoreable sweatshirts suggest "make coffee, not war."

As a converted city-girl I was worried about having no contact with the outside world for a whole five and a half days. But I have been converted to the no-cell-phone life. It was wonderful!

For five and a half days we participated in workshops. In the afternoons and evenings, when not in the workshops, I and the two other writer's I shared a house with, wrote, and discussed plots, and helped each other modify troublesome sentences. I resolved more plot problems in my projects in those five days than I have been able to do back here in the real world over several months!

So I, the girls who is always busy in my home-town, running here and there, have finally learned the beauty of the word RETREAT.

RETREAT: an act or process of withdrawing, especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable; a place of privacy; (or) a period of group withdrawal...for instruction under a director.

Just being away from the distractions and requirements of work, regular household responsibilities, the phone, and the internet, was a wonderful way to give my writing a boost.

I recommend it for anyone, and I hope to do it again, in some form, at least once a year.

For now, I'm vowing to only check my internet once in the morning and once at night on my writing days. There are some distractions that can't get to you unless you go to them. : )

Off to the Oregon Coast Children's Writer's Workshop

2009-07-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

(A diagonal ocean view?)

From Sunday through Friday of this coming week I'll be in Oceanside Oregon at the Oregon Coast Children's Writer's Workshop. I'm looking forward to
comiserating with other writers and learning from more experienced folks in the field! And the fact that the conference center is within sight of the pacific ocean -- well, it doesn't get any better than that! I grew up here -- on the Oregon Coast. And it seems like a perfect place to come back to in order to get in touch with my children's writing Muse!

I've come a week early to visit my old childhood haunts. Here are a few of them.

These are the very same yellow, hardback Nancy Drew mysteries that my friends and I all read as kids! We found them today on the shelf in the library of the little town where we spent our elementary school days. Though the old library building has been torn down and a new bigger one built in it's place, our old favorites are still on the shelves! It reminds me that a good book can inspire the imagination of children for generations!

And so can the Beautiful Pacific Ocean, seen here along Hwy 101 on the Oregon Coast.

I'll be sans internet access during the workshop. My cell phone doesn't work where I am now either. : )But I'll post tips I've learned at the workshops once I leave the beach, next week!

A Home on the Field

2009-06-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a post about a GREAT NEW BOOK.

The other week I was privileged to be asked to speak at a large conference about Latino issues in North Carolina. Though I speak Spanish at my `day job,' and work with many Latinos, I’m not of Latino background myself. Thus it was great to be immersed in an environment where each of the presenters was bi-lingual and had personal experience growing up Latino.

Though I went there as a presenter, I was still a writer underneath. So I sat at the Latino conference with my writers’ notebook, writing down phrases, cultural notes, and brainstorm ideas that I picked up from the other speakers’ presentations. You see – I’ve been plotting-out a YA novel about a teen girl from Latin America for the past few months, and here I was surrounded by people who are experts on what it is like to be a girl (or boy) from Latin America. So I came home with lots of notes to buoy my own experiences and to strengthen my plot (which truthfully needs a lot of strengthening).

The Keynote speaker at the event was Paul Cuadros, a journalism professor from the University of North Carolina (UNC,) who also coaches soccer at a North Carolina high school. He shared some great stories about the hardships that Latino teens face trying to balance and combine the culture of their home countries with the culture of the U.S. These teens walk the line between their parents’ strong feelings that family needs are the most important things in life, and the conflicting expectations of the teens’ U.S-raised peers who believe that individuality and reaching for your own dreams are the most important things, even if your parents don’t always approve.

For those of us who spend time with Latino teens, or who write for them, it's important to understand their struggles.

So, I want to recommend a book.

Paul Cuadros has written "A Home on the Field." It's the true story of the teens on his soccer team, their families, and their struggles. It’s a great example of nonfiction writing about teens and their community – a community that during the time of this book’s writing was in conflict with itself.

Here is the back cover blurb: For more than ten years, the small town of Siler City, North Carolina, has been at the front lines of immigration, drawing workers from Latin America as well as from traditional Latino enclaves across the United States. When reporter Paul Cuadros moved south to study the impact of the burgeoning Latino community, he encountered a volatile culture clash between longtime residents and the newcomers, one that eventually boiled over into an anti-immigrant rally featuring ex-Klansman David Duke. The bitter struggle imbued Cuadros with a new purpose: to show the growing numbers of Latino youth that their lives could be more than menial work at the local poultry plant. Soccer could be the key to helping these boys find a better place in this world.

`A Home on the Field’ is Paul Cuadros’ unforgettable account of his three seasons coaching `Los Jets’ of Jordan-Matthews High School, a team of underappreciated young Latino soccer players in an all-football town who overcame prejudice, poverty, and the odds to become champions.

Sometimes a book about real teens comes along that is a must read. I recommend
A Home on the Field” as just such a book.

Raleigh Schmooze a Wet Success!

2009-05-18T12:29:00.001-07:00

At starting time it was pouring down rain and only a few children's writers were milling around the food tables at Quail Ridge Books and Music. The chairs, set in semi-circular rows amidst the bookshelves, were basically empty. The book table, ignored.

My stomach cramped with the beginning of nerves. Had the rain drenched the spirits of Raleigh's children's writers enough to keep them home today? Would the wet and muck make this annual event a complete wash? The whole downpour thing was beginning to dampen my spirits...

But then the question came. "Can I join you? Is this the children's writer event?"

I said. "Of course, please sit anywhere! Do you write for children or teens?" The answer, "No, but I would like to."

And then everyone started paddling in, shaking off umbrellas as they hurried through the door. We were wet, but we were ready. Nothing could drown our enthusiasm -- afterall!

We ended up with approximately 30 attendees, exactly what we had hoped for. And with snacks and pens in hand we settled enthusiastically into our seats to listen as our speaker Kelly Starling Lyons shared about her books, her childhood, and how the two are intertwined.

It was another great paring of Raleigh's children's writers and the helpful staff at Quail Ridge Books.

Quite a few new people came, including one who sadly arrived after the event was over and wanted more info. about the SCBWI and how she could join. We look forward to seeing you at the Fall Conference in September, Jill!
.

Today, Kelly reminded us to "tell the story only you can tell." She encouraged us to remember the emotions that we had during important experiences in our own lives, and to "give those emotions to your main characters."

She shared the following tips to help us find emotion-laden experiences in our childhoods that can provide story ideas:

Write down the following:

1.) Your best family memory

2.) Your worst school memory

3.) Your biggest struggle or fear

4.) An experience or relationship that changed you.

Then - write down the emotions you felt next to each one.

Then - "create a child character that's centered around a situation you've faced," or "invent a new story that's informed by your feelings, thoughts, beliefs, experiences -- your life."

We had an excellent discussion. Hooraah for those brave souls who shared their Junior High experiences with the group!

Thanks to Kelly and everyone who braved the weather to come and talk about their writing, their dreams, and the emotions and stories they experienced during childhood! It was great to meet several new folks and to chat with writer and illustrator friends who we don't see often enough between conferences.

Now we look forward to seeing you all again at the September 2009 Fall event! I dare each of you to submit something before then, and to tell me about it there.

Remember, as Kelly said, "write from the heart" and "trust that the story you're writing matters."

Writers/Illustrators: Come SCHMOOZE with us!

2009-05-03T14:07:00.001-07:00

We're breaking out the wine, cheese, and chocolate. It's that time of year again!

Time for my writing critique group (the Goalies) to host Raleigh's annual SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators) networking event at Quail Ridge books!

All local childrens'/YA authors and Illustrators are encouraged to attend. So are new people interested in learning more about the writing craft.

We'd love to see YOU there!

Wake County's own Kelly Starling Lyons will be this year's guest speaker. She's written several childrens/middle grade books, including "One Million Men and Me," a wonderful picture book about a little girl attending the 1990s' "Million Men March" on Washington -- an event that Kelly covered, as a reporter.

Kelly will share how she pulls her stories from actual life, and will give guidance on how other writers can do the same.

Come meet your fellow Triangle North Carolina authors/illustrators -- those with multiple works on bookstore shelves, and those who are just beginning to fall in love with our craft!

2pm, Sunday, May 17th, 2009. Quail Ridge Books and Music. Raleigh, NC.

See you there! Bring a friend and come early. Seats go fast.

Falling in Love with Edward Cullen... What Writers can learn from Twilight.

2009-04-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

It’s taken me awhile to get around to reading Twilight. Jealousy? Aw – probably. Plus, I’ve never been super big on vampire books. But love for Twilight seems to keep growing and growing among the females of our species (females of all ages, mind you, not just teenaged girls). So finally I decided I should read it and see what all the fuss is about.

And you guessed it. Now I am a fan too. I borrowed the first book from a 9th grader friend of mine, and sat down to read it one evening before bed. Bad decision. I should have waited until the house didn’t need cleaning, no laundry needed doing, and there was no job to go to… Because by two days later, (thanks to staying up until 4am, reading in bed on the night before a workday,) I had finished that first book and run to the bookstore after work to buy the next one, and the next one. Of course I knew that a number of my friends owned the books, and would gladly lend them to me. I just didn’t want to wait a couple of days to see what became of Bella and Edward’s prohibited and dangerous love…

Now, several weeks later, I own all 4 of the books and have read some of them twice – trying to figure out what’s so addictive about them. (And nope, ya’ll, I’m not in high school anymore!) I’ve also gotten several of my friends to read them – friends in their teens, in their 30s, in their 40s… mothers and teen daughters who are now eagerly sharing the books… And, what the hey, I bought the movie too…

Clearly, this is a book for females, as author Stephen King (who apparently is not so infatuated with Twilight,) has pointed out. But what can writers learn? What is it that draws women to this book? Is it the plot? I don’t think so. Sure, there’s some drama – a near assault, a lot of secrets that people are keeping, a mystery to be sorted through – I mean, who are these Cullens, anyway? And why are they so different?

But no… I think the thing that draws readers most to twilight is the emotionality of the story. The most important scenes in these books are not the action scenes. Nope – they are the scenes where Bella and Edward, the Cullens, Jacob, or some other character is feeling strong emotion – and quite often these characters are just sitting around talking about it.

Usually, it seems, many of us writers want to describe physical movements to show emotion (“She fiddled with her hair…” to show boredom or nervousness. “He sighed…” to show sorrow, frustration, or longing…) And of course we’ve heard writer after writer (excellent, well-published ones,) indicate that this is the best way to show emotion. (Show don’t tell… remember?) : )

But sometimes I struggle to describe the emotions I’m trying to portray clearly enough through showing. Sometimes I feel that I’m saying “he sighed, she giggled, I raised an eyebrow in shock…” over and over again. Yuck! God help me! How can I describe these people’s actions in a way that more clearly shows that what I am really describing is emotional re-actions?

And now along comes Stephanie Meyer, with books whose primary strength is emotion -- (the longing for something that the characters cannot have and cannot live without, and the passion and fear and confusion that goes along with that).

So I looked at how she described their emotion so convincingly to my heart, and the hearts of all these women -- she did it so effectively that we cannot put the books down. We’re right there in the story too. And so, what did I see? Lots and lots of lines like these:

Telling and Adverbs?
1.) He gave a sarcastic smile that matched his tone.
2.) It was a self-congratulatory smile
3.) “It’s all right,” he answered, unimpressed
4.) He chuckled. Even his laugh sounded exhausted.
5.) “You’re early,” I said, elated
6.) “You were listening again?” I was horror-struck. All traces of my sudden good humor vanished.
7.) I kept my expression polite as I waited.
8.) “How’s your head?” he asked, innocently.

Of course there are examples of “showing” too.

Showing?
1.) “It’s a BMW,” he rolled his eyes.
2.) “You’re unbelievable,” I turned, stomping away in the general direction of the parking lot.
3.) He sighed. “Will you forgive me if I apologize?”
4.) “Bella, I think you should go inside now.” His low voice was rough, his eyes on the clouds again.

The combination of the two?
1. “Really?” He was unconvinced. His eyes shifted their focus slightly, looking over my shoulder and narrowing.
2. “That was the plan.” I grimaced, wishing he hadn’t brought it up so I wouldn’t have to compose careful half-truths…

Hmmm...
.
So, whether this is helpful to anyone else, or just to me, I am not sure. But Twilight has been a good reminder to me. “Everything in moderation” seems to be the best rule when writing descriptions of emotion. Thanks to Stephanie Meyer for creating a book full of emotions to give me that reminder.

A Street Called Hope: Writing Can Change the World.

2009-03-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

Writing can change the world. So, I've entered a contest. It's the Lenovo Computer Group's "Dream Assignment" competition. And I need your vote. The winner of the contest will be sent by Lenovo computers on a trip outlined in their contest proposal.

I want to use my writing to help change the world. (No pressure, I know!)

Some of my favorite writers (Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Dr. Suess, and many more,) have used their writing to teach us important things, and their lives to change the world. I think they've got the right idea.
.

So I've proposed to Lenovo that they send me to India, Russia, and several places in the U.S. to interview street children and teens (homeless kids); And to interview the people who are working with them. I'll then post their stories (about their lives, their struggles, their hopes and dreams,) with photos of where they live, on the blog arranged by Lenovo. It will be a blogumentary to raise awareness, and to get the rest of us involved.
.

I hope to sit down with some of the homeless teens to help them write their own stories too --

to give them the opportunity to share their OWN writing, about their own lives, on the blog.

I happen to really like teens, you see. That's why I write for them.

But to win the contest, (so I can do this stuff,) I need hundreds of people to vote for my idea between now and April 2nd! And if you're reading this blog I'd love your vote (and the votes of your friends, as well)!

So, if you catch my vision, PLEASE VOTE! at http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/jbiti/a-street-called-hope-homeless-kids-in-3-countries-finding-a-future/

Stories really can change the world.

Mystery Books that Stand the Test of Time

2009-02-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry All. I fell into a time-warped alternate universe at the end of December, and have only now been able to escape. Darn time-travel machine! Luckily I had my P.O.C.L novel revisions with me, so I have been working on those and making great progress. But now I’m back in real time here at Writermorphosis. Sorry for my absence during January.

While I was away I went used-bookstore shopping to feed my addiction for antique books. And in one used clothing store I came upon a treasure! For $2.00 I acquired a 1939 first edition hardback of “The Clue of the Tapping Heals” (A Nancy Drew Mystery, written by a ghost writer – most likely Mildred A. Wirt Benson, the first writer of the Nancy Drews). As a collector of old books, and a huge childhood fan of Nancy Drew, I snagged it immediately. Even though the back cover is splotched with water marks from where someone clearly left it in a puddle or a flood, I'm so thrilled to have it.

In my opinion, the Nancy Drew books have stood the test of time. And as a writer, currently slogging through my own mystery manuscript for young people, I had to wonder how they did it. What do these books have that is still relevant to readers today.

A quick peek within the thick, yellowed pages, answered my questions.

1.) A great first line, dialogue no less, that throws us right into the action: “Land sakes, Nancy, there’s so much commotion in this house a body can’t even think!”

2.) Action in every chapter that moves the plot forward. For example, in the “middle” of the book, where many stories tend to slow and sag, the chapter titles are these:
Ch 14. A mysterious disappearance
Ch 15. Hidden Money
Ch 16. A threatening message
Ch 17. Travelers
Ch 18. The Unpleasant Interview…

3.) Great last lines in every chapter with a “hook” that makes you want to keep reading.
Ch 3. “Someone was watching us from behind the foliage,” she said tensely. “As we came up the walk I distinctly saw a dark figure slip around behind the house!”
Ch 5. “Before Nancy could stop him he had pushed open the screen door and walked boldly into the living room.”

Ch 25. The girl gazed steadily at the woman. “That’s exactly what I mean to do—“ Nancy began, and then her voice trailed off.
In the doorway of the cabin stood Chief Officer Murray.

4.) Surprises and “red herrings.”
Ch 9 Hurriedly the girls moved into a nearby bedroom, but did not have time
to close the door. A man, whose face they could not see, crept noiselessly down
the hallway. Warned by some slight sound which Nancy and her chums were
unaware that they had made, he whirled toward them, whipping out a revolver.
“Hands up!” he ordered sharply.
The chums obeyed, then Nancy began to laugh. “Detective Keely!” She
exclaimed. “My, but you frightened us.”
.

Big thanks to Mildred A. Wirt Benson who, being a ghost writer, got little credit for her work. Thank you! Thanks for writing mysteries that writers today can still learn from. And thanks to Russell H. Tandy for great illustrations, and to Grosset and Dunlap for publishing it.

For those who want to know more about the unofficial history of the Nancy Drew Mysteries, check out the Nancy Drew pages at wikipedia.(http://en.wikipedia.org/–NancyDrew).

Don't Miss the Ian Sands Art Exhibits this December and January!

2008-12-30T07:22:00.001-08:00

My good friend, local Triangle NC Children's Author/Illustrator Ian Sands has his Pop Expressionist art on display (and for sale for collectors too!!) all over the inside of the Wake Forest Coffee Company this December.

It’ll be there until the end of 2008. So if you haven’t gotten there yet, there are just two more days left for you! Location: Wake Forest Coffee Company, 156 South White Street, Wake Forest, NC. 27587.

But don't worry. If your next 2 days are too jam packed, there's another Raleigh Exhibition in January 2009!

Ian’s paint brush and pen see the world a little differently than the rest of us. And it's great! Here are a few more samples of his colorful, lively, and sometimes lifesize ART!

Take your family and friends and pop on by.

It all starts with a random piece of white paper...

The next Ian Sands Pop Expressionist exhibit is scheduled for January 2009 at Vintage 21, 117 S. West St, Raleigh, NC.

Go Ian, Go! So proud to know you.

Merry Christmas to All...

2008-12-20T20:36:00.001-08:00

...and to all
a GOOD WRITE!

See you in January! Happy Holidays!

- Janelle

AND THE WINNER IS...

2008-12-05T17:34:00.001-08:00

I've gotten a number of emails from folks AFTER our 40,000 WORD CONTEST closed, stating "Oh no, I missed it!"

Apparently December is a bad time for a contest with all of the Christmas business beginning!
Lesson learned. : ) I'll do our future contests in Spring, Fall or Summer.

But for the two of you who did get your names and info in on time I've put the names in a hat and pulled out a winner.

JOAN - WRITER'S BLOCK, YOU ARE THE WINNER!

I will be sending Chris Baty's tiny bedtime story book, and a borders gift certificate your way! Enjoy them this Christmas!

And thanks to all of you who got your names in on time -- and also to all those who emailed after the fact. Keep you eyes open for future contests here on Writermorphosis!

See you in a week for another post (on Mondays). - Janelle

LAST DAY TO ENTER the 40,000 WORD CONTEST!

2008-12-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

Nano is over! Thousands of us wrote more in November than usual, as a result of it, including me. Hooray! I finished my 50, 000 yesteday afternoon in the nick of time.

But here at Writermorphosis we're celebrating EVERYONE who completed 40,000 WORDS OR MORE in November 2008, with a CONTEST!

Though 50,000 is the required amount to "win" Nano, 40,000 is enough for a novel too (at least if you're writing for Middle Graders).

So, whether you participated in Nano or not, if you wrote 40,000 words or more in November 2008:

POST YOUR NAME AND YOUR WORD COUNT HERE -- TOMORROW, DECEMBER 2nd!

I'll draw a name out of the hat and will mail the winner a copy of Chris Baty's little book of "bedtime stories for wrimos," and another writerly surprise gift! Check back on 12/5/05 to see if you won!

CONGRATS TO ALL WHO WORKED SO HARD DURING NANOWRIMO!

ENDING WELL : Inspiration Station # 4 (and Contest!)

2008-11-24T20:03:00.000-08:00

Today I sat at the library and finished the draft of my current novel -- by hand!

Yes, I know my word count on the Nano site doesn’t show that I’ve been making progress, but I’ll update it as soon as I type a few more words into the computer. Hooray!

Finishing this novel was my goal for the month. So I was exhuberant today to put that final sentence down on paper.

For those who haven’t yet had that “finishing” experience, it is really hard to describe!
Suffice to say, I had a great desire to go dancing around the library stacks. But that sort of behavior is just not appropriate in a library, alas! So, I took myself out for a Cinnabon cinnamon roll with a friend. It was glorious!

The whole “wrapping up the novel”process that so many nano-ers have already completed, and many others will be completing over this last week of November, involves a lot of tying things together. Here are some questions that I tried to keep in mind when wrapping up my novel. Perhaps they will be helpful to you as well.

Novel Wrap-Up Questions:

1.) Are all of the major characters who I started with at the beginning (and who are still alive now) accounted for in the end of the book? And has each of their individual stories come to a close?

2.) Have the sub-plots and the main plot all melded together in the final pages, in a way that makes sense and creates a high-interest climax, then resolution?

3.) Have I answered all of the questions that readers will ask at the end of the book? Like: What happened to the bad guys? What does the hero feel in the ending of this book? Was the hero successful? What will come after the final page of this book, for these characters who we love and hate – ie. Is there a future life for the hero, the other main characters, the nemesis…and do they have plans for how they hope that life will go?

I tried to make sure I answered the first two questions for myself, and the final one for the readers, in the last chapter of my book. Did I do it well? The critiquers that I am sending it to will have to answer that one for me, I’m sure. :)

But how are things going with your ending? Is everything pulling together like it should?
________________________________________________________________

And whether you win Nano this year or not,

REMEMBER TO ENTER THE 40,000 WORD CONTEST HERE ON WRITERMORPHOSIS!

Submit your 40,000 word count or higher, along with your name, here on the site on December 1st, and you’ll be entered in the contest for Chris Baty’s new book, and another very helpful writerly surprise! You don’t have to win at Nano to win in this competition. Here, 40,000 words worth of sweat and sleeplessness IS enough. See you on the 1st!

Think Outside the Book: Inspiration Station # 3

2008-11-17T12:52:00.000-08:00

Is your plot getting boring; your character unispired?

Sometimes a great way to spice up a story is by sticking in something unexpected or unplanned.

Here are some photos to get you thinking. What would happen if you threw one of these types of places into your story right now?

Or how about an item that can have unexpected great meaning to someone in your story? Here are a few to get you thinking:

1.) A ringing phone

2.) A necklace

3.) A dagger

4.) Mushrooms (whether it's the 60s or a fantasy novel in the woods!)

5.) A map

6.) A cake for a special occassion

7.) A bag full of...

Or situations

1.) An unexpected gift

2.) A fall

3.) An unplanned or unwanted meeting

4.) A death

5.) A gathering

6.) A landslide

7.) A hunt or chase

I love the adventure of an airport...

Sometimes it's the random stuff that gets us thinking.

Let your muse take you...

Write on!"

"Hurt the Bunnies"- Inspiration Station 2

2008-11-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

So here we are, almost half-way through Nano! And some of us are half-way through our nano novels too! Hooray!

But one thing that happens around this half-way point in any novel is that the author hits that nebulous place called "the middle."

The middle is what happens between the beginning and the end of a book.

And the middle is where we authors often get stuck. Our characters begin to flounder. They may start having lots of unimportant conversations, or wandering around doing lots of activities that may seem important when we write them, but that aren't always moving our characters forward toward where we want them to be in the end. It can be very frustrating!

So, for inspiration this week, here are some suggestions shared by speaker Pam Zollman at the recent SCBWI Carolina's Conference.

Pam said:

1.) When you get stuck in the middle, it may be because you have used up all of the information you know about your character. It's important to know what makes them tick.

2.) Readers don't want to read about cute little bunnies that are doing just fine. We want to read about bunnies that have problems. "So, hurt the bunnies."

3.) Know what your character is afraid of, and throw it at him.

4.) Don't make the ending simple. Make it hard for your characters to get there. Make them struggle hard throughout the middle.

5.) Getting bored? Something not working? Try a change of scenery - time, location or character attributes.

And last but not least...

6. Just keep writing. The only reason you're stuck is because you stopped writing.

Thanks Pam!

Best of luck to all as we press on throughout the second half of Nano 2008!

See you next Monday for another "Inspiration Station" post.

Competition and Cameraderie: Inspiration Station # 1

2008-11-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Last night I sent an e-mail. It’s an email I’ve sent repeatedly to a certain group of people every month, and in November, every week, for the past 4 years. It says something to the effect of “Hey guys, are we all still planning to meet for our regular gathering tomorrow – same bat time, same bat cave?”

And the responses came in this morning. “I’ll be there…. I’ll be there… Yep, count me in…”

It's my nano crit group – now in it’s approximately 37th month -- assembling again.

You see, many of us out here in blogland have taken on the challenge of Nanowrimo this year. We’ve signed on to write 50,000 words in 30 days. We know that Nano will get our inspiration flowing, our novels written, those words in our heads onto paper… and we’re excited. But nano success (and success in writing in general) hinges greatly on perseverance and not quitting half-way through.

Writing a novel is a daunting task.

So where do we find the courage to keep going? We find it in each other.

The writing community provides the encouragement to make progress in our novels.
Other writers offer the two things that prevent us from giving up: Cameraderie AND Competition.

For all novelers, and especially for those writing a novel draft in 30 days, it’s important to have other writers egging you on and providing encouragement. This is why critique groups are so essential to every author. And why I am now encouraging YOU to set up your own little group to provide Cameraderie and Competition this nano season.

This is now my 4th year participating in NANO, and I have a group of friends who I met the first year at Nano, who formed a little group. During November we meet every Monday online (for ½-1 hour), and send e-mails thoughout the week providing:

Cameraderie: “You know, my children have forgotten that they have a mother because I’ve been noveling so much.” “Aw, they still know you love them… but I personally love that clip from chapter 6 that you posted. I really want to hear what happens next!”

Competition: “Woo Hoo! I’m 2000 words ahead of you! You’ll NEVER catch me! I dare you to try…”

My little group also meets monthly throughout the year, discussing our progress on revisions, submissions to editors and agents, conferences we’ve attended (because we live all over the country), and even critiquing each other’s writing via e-mail and mail. And so I suggest a similar strategy to you.

Find people who will provide both Cameraderie and Competition for you this Nano season and all year round. And let that competition and cameraderie work its magic!

How to do it?
1.) Groups can meet online at Meepo.com or Skype.com -- for those who don’t live near each other. Or, you can reply to each other here on writermorphosis.
2.) Crit groups that already exist and live near each other (like my Goalies’ crit group, where at least 5 of us are nanoing,) can communicate more locally.
3.) You can also attend the local nano write-ins, or find 5 or 6 “friends” on the nano site itself, link to them as your “buddies” on the site, and try to beat each other’s word counts. That’s really the best place to start.

Cameraderie and Competition are essential for all novelers, I think.

So for my crit group buddies out there, and for all others reading this blog. Let’s get a move on; let’s win this nano! I DARE YOU!

THREE...TWO...ONE...NANO!

2008-11-01T05:12:00.000-07:00

Happy November 1st to all!
Good luck to all on our NANO Novels!

New "Inspiration Station" posts will go up every Monday night here during NANOWRIMO
to keep us all motivated and writing large quantities of great fiction.
See you Monday. Until then...happy typing!

It's Writing Time: Nano Tip # 3

2008-10-28T06:51:00.001-07:00

So, last night I had planned to write a blog post on ways to set aside writing time for your novel during NANO. I had the time allotted in my schedule (9-10pm) – Then I got unexpectedly called in to work.

(Yep – the day job triumphs again!)

It’s an excellent example of how “real life” can affect our writing plans on any given day.

So, how do we write our way through a novel – especially one being written in the span of 30 days?

1.) Consistency
2.) Creativity
3.) Caffeine : )

Consistency
In order to complete 50,000 words in 30 days some people just divide up 50,000 by 30 days. They write 1670 words daily, no matter what happens in their lives that day, and they get to 50,000 words – tired, but happy. (For those interested in how full-time writers do this, Steven King shares in his “non-autobiography” that he gets up in the morning and writes 10 pages every day. He stays at his desk until those 10 pages are done, whether that’s 11am or 2pm on that particular day.)

Creativity
For others of us, some days allow for lots of writing and other days of our week just don’t. For me, last year, I did 3000 words/day on my 2 “days off” per week, and tried to sneak just 500 in on my work days. This is where the creativity comes in. Can you jot notes, planning out your next chapter’s plot in a notebook, when you’re ten minutes early to work, or on your lunch break, or at your son’s after school soccer game? Of course you can! Nano-novelers need to use any scrap of time available if we want to get to 50,000 by November 30th!

Caffeine
It’s important to know what is your best writing time too, and to try to use that to your advantage. I do best late at night (10pm-1am) or early in the morning when I first get up. Afternoons make me want to take a nap. SO, it’s important to write when your energy and creativity are at their peak if possible. And if your peak hours are after the kids are tucked in and the last of the dishes are done, then a tall latte can really come in handy to keep you typing!

Whatever your system is, stick to it. Setting aside time for writing is important to every writer. The more consistency AND creativity you can use, the more likely you are to get through your novel writing endeavor successfully.

So, what time is your best time for writing? And do you have a system worked out that you believe will get you through 50,000 words in one month? If so, you’re way ahead of the game already!

Raleigh Book Signing This Saturday!

2008-10-26T15:44:00.001-07:00

This week's NANO-Noveling Post will go up on Monday evening (as it will every week in November) here on Writermorphosis.

But first I wanted to take a moment today to give a quick shout-out to a very creative Middle Grade & Picture Book Author/Illustrator coming to Raleigh this Saturday, NOV 1st, 2008, for a book signing at Quail Ridge Books.

ADAM REX is coming to Raleigh! We celebrated Adam’s GREAT 2007 Cybils Award Winning middle grade novel The True Meaning of Smekday here on Writermorphosis earlier this year. Adam very sweetly stopped by this blog to say hello. Now he’ll be at Quail Ridge, at 3pm, Saturday, November 1st, to sign his newest picture book: Frankenstein Takes the Cake.

If his book signings are as fun as his cool and wacky books (ack – no pressure, Adam!) than this will be an event you’re sure to want to bring your children to! Barring interference from the "day job" I hope to be there myself. Come on out to support and meet this great children’s author.

Also, check out the Quail Ridge Website for two other children’s book signings: November 2nd, 2008 (Tomie De Paola) and November 3rd (Jan Brett). Like the Quail Ridge Website says, this weekend may just be a great time for those who love children’s books to camp out at Quail Ridge!

Back to Adam Rex again: if you are trying to figure out how to create an interactive website for the fans of the children’s books that YOU write – or if you just want to see a great sample of how cool such websites can be -- check out Adam's website. It's an example we can all drool over!

And hey, while you’re at it, check out the interactive children’s website orchestrated by my friend and fellow SCBWI NC writer Ian Sands - Also VERY cool.

Know Your Characters: Nano Tip # 2

2008-10-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

There are many famous characters in the world: There's the red-haired orphan girl who'd rather take a foolish dare than look like a wimp -- even if it means walking the ridgepole of a barn in dress shoes; The boy with the lightening-shaped scar on his forhead who often feels alone in the world even though his two best friends are standing firmly right beside him; the thin, pathetic shell of a creature who stole a magic ring from a sorcerer and had it eat up his soul and now has no hope, no care, no motivation in the world other than getting that ring back from the poor little hobbit who took it from him...

Yes, these are characters we all know. Whether it's Anne of Green Gables (or Pipi Longstocking -- she had similar character traits,) Harry Potter, or Gollum from the Lord of the Rings... A strong character will act like him or herself at all times. That character will lead the author like a guide, through the pages of a book.

If the author throws a problem at that character, both the author and the reader know how that character will most likley react.

But great characters don't create themselves. First the author must invent them-- in basic form. Then he or she must sit with the characters awhile, and ask them some questions to really get to know them. What are their likes and dislikes? Who are their best friends (and why)? What are they most afraid of? What is their biggest goal in life? Do they have hobbies?

If you want to avoid the problem that I had with my first novel-- a problem of having one of my characters fall completely flat -- it's important to get to know your characters (main and secondary) in some approximation BEFORE you begin writing your novel. : )

That task may seem daunting -- but there are lots of fun ways to do this.

Here are some tips.

1.) Know the answers to the questions (listed 2 paragraphs above) about each of your main /secondary characters.

2.) Know enough about Your characters' appearances so that you can picture them in your head. Some authors actually peruse magazine photos to find their characters.

3.) Know the basics about your characters' socio-economic and educational status, their favorite type of clothing (personal style), and what type of people drive them crazy.

4.) If you have time, fill out a meme for your main characters. This will show you how well you actually know them! Meme's are also great exercises for getting your right-brain working again if you run out of steam in the middle of your novel!

5.) Here are some other great Character Building resources on the web:

a.) "Inspiration For Writers" has a GREAT, very detailed Character Traits form you can fill in. It's the perfect place to start!

b.) "Personality Page for Writers" allows you to find your character's myers-briggs type and all kinds of other fun ways to peg who your character really is.

c.) Montgomery Schools' provides a helpful List of character traits

d.) Fiction Factor has a moderately helpful article on Characters' Physical Traits: What to include in your story and what to, maybe, leave out.

Now, of course, you may not have time to do all of these "character building" activities. Pick and choose what works for you.

The main thing when writing a character is to know enough about their inner wants and needs, and their outer appearance, actions, and relationships, to make them appear real on the page.

We want our characters to be so real that readers around the world will know exactly who others are talking about when they say "what's that kid's name? You know, not that wizard kid with the scar whose parents were murdered, but his friend, the blonde girl who they all thought was stuck up, and who is almost too smart for her own good?"

Yep -- the whole world knows Hermione... and Ron, Harry, Anne, Pippi, Gollum, Gandalf, Hamlet, Clark Kent, Charlotte the Spider -- and many of us also know silly little Clover sitting on Levin Thump's shoulder, above.

So let's all have fun learning about our own characters and making them similarly unique and engaging!

The Basics of Plotting: Nano Tip # 1

2008-10-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, despite Nano-Creator Chris Baty’s delightful book, “No Plot, No Problem,” the facts of novel-writing outweigh the "no plot needed" philosophy. (Of course, I'm still a huge fan of Chris Baty - he's witty, and I've just ordered his newest book!)

But nevertheless, creating at least a brief plot outline in October is essential for any successful Nano noveler! (Trust me -- I’ve done this 3 times!) With no plot, you’ll get stuck in the middle of your novel around November 12th, and flounder, losing valuable forward-motion on your word-count. Any successful noveler must be able to answer these three questions from day one:

1.) Where are your character(s) starting from?
2.) Where are they are going to end up (at least in some approximation)
3.) What types of problems are they going to have to get themselves through in order to arrive at the end in one piece?

For some people, that’s all they need: A 3-STEP PLOT

Here's one for the Lord of the Rings:

1.) Hobbit Frodo Baggins has just inherited a magic ring that will destroy the world if not destroyed itself. The ring’s evil creator is looking for the ring.
2.) Frodo will, in the end, destroy the ring in a volcano where it was created, destroying the evil ring-creator, and thus saving the world.
3.) But to get there he must travel across many lands with a group of international folks (elves, dwarves, human sons of kings,) who don’t get along with each other due to long-term ethnic enmity; He must avoid the evil ring-creator’s minions who are trying to capture him and the ring, and must also avoid various wars that are taking place in the lands through which he travels. Above all, he must have the courage to continue on the journey despite the fact that the ring’s power over him grows continuously, causing him to have low energy, emotional problems, and difficulty trusting friends who are trying to help him.

SO – there you go. A nano plot! (Or a plot for any novel at any time of the year). You know where you’re coming from, where you’re going, and what the character has to get through and survive in order to get to the end of the book successfully.

YOUR PLOT IS YOUR MAP.

Now, if you’re as bad at plotting as I am, you might want to also do a ‘chapter outline.” This helps you, (the writer) know exactly where you (and your characters) are going, every step of the way.

Ex: Chapter Outline

1.) Bilbo’s Birthday party. Bilbo disappears. Frodo inherits dangerous ring.
2.) At Wizard Gandalf’s direction Frodo and Sam leave home to begin the journey to keep the ring away from the enemy. They encounter Pippin and Merry and flee the black riders.
3.) At the Inn at Bree the hobbits meet Aragorn. The inn is attacked by the evil black riders who attempt, but fail, to kill Frodo.
4.) Chapter 4...ETC.

This is the option I usually use. I need a lot of direction, you see...

But brief or intricate, as long as you have a plot ready to go before November 1st, your Nano (or your noveling experience during any other time of year, for that matter,) will go much more smoothly!

So how do you do your plotting?

And have you already sketched out your basic plot for Nano 2008?

WIN "THE 40,000 WORD AWARD!"

2008-10-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

The leaves are changing, the weather's getting cooler, and thousands of people around the world are gearing up to write 50,000 word novels during National Novel Writing Month this November.

I've participated in Nanowrimo for the past 3 years and I highly recommend it to both professional and first time writers. I'm thrilled to report that quite a few nano books have been published, and at least one has become a New York Times Best Seller! Two of my own nano novels -- even -- were awarded "honorable mentions" in the 2007 Writer's Digest Annual Fiction Awards. So Nano is for serious writers. Check out http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and sign up today!
I'm "tolk" on the nano site, so feel free to let me know who you are at nano too!

Over the next 2 months THIS BLOG will discuss HOW TO PREPARE FOR AND SURVIVE NANOWRIMO.

We'll discuss NANO PLOTTING on 10/14/2008
PREPARING YOUR CHARACTERS on 10/20/08
and we'll continue with the pep rallies and tips after that!

But first...

WIN THE "40,000 WORD AWARD"

We're having a Nano give-away here at writermorphosis!

When people write 50,000 words during Nanowrimo they WIN a cool certificate from the Nano site. It's an amazing and exhilarating feeling -- you've accomplished the impossible! But it took me 3 years of trying before I finally reached that all important 50,000 in the 30 days of November. So sad...

So for those of you who, like me during my first 2 years, write strenuously, get no sleep, drink much coffee, leave your children standing at the the bus stop because you're noveling...but due to unexpected circumstances don't QUITE make it to 50,000 this year, DON'T BE SAD!

If you reach 40,000 words in November that's still enough for a MG novel, and you deserve an award too!

So, I'll enter your name in our "40,000 word" give-away for Chris Baty's fun book: The Nanoland Chronicles: Bedtime Stories for Wrimos!

Anyone who writes 40,000 words or more in November can stop by here and post your name and your w0rd-count over 40,000, on 12/1/08, to be entered in the random drawing. The book (and another writerly surprise) will be awarded here and mailed to the winner on 12/5/08. Hooray! Let me know if you're jumping in!

The Writing Life: Solitary or Solidarity?

2008-10-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

There were many great presentations at the SCBWI Carolinas 15th Annual Fall Conference, on Sept 19-21st. But the thing that struck me most during the conference was the way that being a part of the writing and illustrating community strengthens each individual writer/illustrator.

Many people perceive literary artisans as solitary types who write alone for hours at coffee shops, (which of course, is what I’m doing right now). And certainly the quiet, working time is an important part of the writing life. (Ah, it’s a labor-intensive, and yet wonderful life!) But, without the writing community I doubt that many writers would succeed. We need each other. This was clear from the small groups of writers chatting earnestly about plot, structure, queries, and characters during every down-time moment at our great September event. And when we filed into workshops with notebooks and pens in hand, we stopped to hug friends who we hadn’t seen since last year's conference, but who had read our blogs, and critiqued our work via the internet, and called to say “I wish I could take you out for coffee” when we reached a writing or personal slump.

There are so many things that the writing community gives to writers, and I’ll list a few that I observed at this year’s conference. (If you noticed others, I’d love to hear about them!)

1.) Encouragement and Support:

2.) Kindred Spirits and Camaraderie:

Here, no one thinks writing a novel is “crazy,” and everyone will tell you “you can do it!

Martha Mihalick signs Ian Sands' Goal Stick.

If there had been a prize for the most creative way to remember the many writer/illustrator-friends, editors and speakers joining him on this publishing journey, it would go to Ian!

3.) Education, Feedback and Resources:
Our speakers were great! What wonderful tips!

Thanks: Anita Silvey, Alyssa Henkin, Martha Mihalick, Karen Lee, Leslie Staub, Pam Zollman, Mark Johnson, Carol Baldwin, Bonnie Adamson, Samantha Bell, Stephanie Greene, John Claude Bemis, Eleanora Tate, Alan Gratz, Teresa Fannin and Jo Hackl!

So, here's a salute to a great conference of networking, support, education, revision and affirmation. And here are kudos to all the writers and illustrators of SCBWI Carolinas. I’m so thrilled to be part of such great group of writers/illustrators – such a great group of Friends! May our solidarity keep us writing, resourced and refreshed. Onward and Upward. We will lift each other over the publishing hump! Many hands, hearts and minds make the work an inspiration.

He Said What?? (A Characterization Exercise)

2008-09-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Here in NC I've just come home from the weekend-long SCBWI NC/SC Annual Fall Conference. It was a great time of learning, networking, and practicing (pitches and first pages, among other things)!

Many people from this region will be sharing news and insights gained at the conference on their blogs over the next few weeks. Hooray!

I will too. But not today.

Today I'm posting an exercise to help us keep the momentum and enthusiasm that we gained at the conference, by doing something hands-on to move our stories forward at home.

Here's how it works.

I received a "meme" from my friend and fellow blogger Chrisy Evers last week. It was a list of questions that I was supposed to answer about myself. I was to post the answers on my blog. It was a fun idea. (Thanks Christy!) But I decided to do it a bit differently than asked. I let one of my characters answer the questions in my place. This allowed me to see how well I really knew him, and let me get a better feel for his thoughts, his voice, and the way that he might feel about internet quizes such as this. : )

I typed the questions, then filled them out from my character's mindset. It was great fun -- and I recommend it to all of you as a characterization exercise to try! Don't think too hard while doing it. Just let the answers flow. BE your character.

And you'll be reminded of the answers to many questions...

What words does your character use to form his/her responses (speech style/writing patterns/vocab); Which of these questions does he appreciate, and which ones, if any, does he think are stupid? Does she fill this out grudgingly and sparsely, or does she go on and on until someone has to tell her to shut up? What is her favorite fruit, anyway? And if it's cherries, doesn't it make you wonder why?

It's a fun exercise. And I'd love to hear if you learned anything about your character by doing it!

What would that girl do if she found $100.00, anyway? Do tell!

Meanwhile, without further adoo, here is the `meme' quiz as filled out by my teen protagonist, Nate. (Questions are in bold and answers not bolded.)

WHO ARE YOU? (A Character Meme -- By Nate)

.
1.) What are your nicknames? “Wings Jr;” “Einstein;” “Sherlock;” Whatever Rufus decides to call me today…
2.) What game show and/or reality show would you like to be on? None. My life is crazy enough, thanks. The last thing I need is more press.
3.) What was the first movie you bought on VHS or DVD? DVD…? Do they even make those anymore?
4.) What is your favorite scent? Jet oil and metal. Ok, yeah -- it reminds me of Dad.
5.) If you had a million dollars that you could only spend on yourself, what would you do with it? Let me get through this current crisis first, and then I’ll get back to you.
6.) What one place have you visited that you can’t forget, and want to go back to? Well I haven’t been there yet -- and I’m not sure that I want to go anymore, honestly -- but I always believed we’d have a summer home on the moon.

(The school psychologist isn't getting a copy of this, is he?)
7.) Do you trust easily? I used to.
8.) Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think? I always think before I act. The only time I didn’t do that, I ended up sleeping in a graveyard.
9.) Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days? Seriously? Do you have to ask that question?
10.) Do you have a good body image? Uh…?
11.) What is your favorite fruit? Well, some days I like apples and some days I don’t. It depends how my girlfriend is acting.
12.) What websites do you visit daily? The only one I care about right now is restricted – so, none, really. Unless you count the FAA.
13.) What have you been seriously addicted to lately? Trissa.
14.) What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is? Well, I don’t really know her. (She’s Janelle’s friend, and we’ve never met.) But Janelle says she’s brilliant, and very funny, and she’s blonde. Rufus would want to go out with her.
15.) What’s the last song that got stuck in your head? Dust in the wind. Yeah, I know it’s ancient. But do I really have to explain this?
16.) What’s your favorite item of clothing? My last-year’s sweatshirt.
17.) Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy? Unless they're served in the school cafeteria.

18.) What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground? These days I’d think it was a trap laid down by Anderson to try to arrest me… but if it wasn’t, I guess I’m pretty pathetic, so I’d probably just turn it in to the school.
19.) What items could you not go without during the day? Plato. Plus access to my robotics supplies.
20.) What should you be doing right now? Stalking Reilly. But have you seen him? Yeah, crap… Neither have I.

Hurricane Preparedness (for Writers)

2008-09-14T19:13:00.001-07:00

We are now at the peak of hurricane season, as evidenced by Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike...

I appreciated the 4 or 5 inches of rain that Hanna sent Raleigh's way a few weeks ago. But, we all know that with the bigger storms, manuscripts that are lying around the house can be damaged. Water and paper are not exactly friends. Therefore, we writer's must be prepared! And so, I suggest this Hurricane Preparedness List:

Prior to any hurricane -- once the children, spouse, pets, and family photos have been wisely ferried to appropriate, steel-lined, cement buildings (preferably somewhere in Central Canada...or perhaps Kansas), gather these supplies:

Preparedness Packet for Writers:

1.) Large Inner Tube (with something in the middle to cover up the hole. I leave this to your own creativity).

2.) Large plastic trash bag (super hefty -- all the following items will go inside of it...)

3.) The key (to your bank lock-box in Kansas, or Central Canada, where you have already wisely stowed both digital and printed copies of all of your manuscripts in their most current possible state.) Note* If you have not done this and a hurricane is on your doorstep, email the manuscripts to the most responsible person you know who lives in Kansas or Central Canada, my friend, and hope that they recieve them and can save them to disk for you before a tornado comes through and knocks out their power. Yes, silly, DO IT RIGHT NOW!

4.) Your laptop (batteries fully charged, so that you will have at least 2.5 hours worth of writing that you can get done while you are waiting for the power to come back on at your inlaw's house -- or worst case scenario -- at the nearest shelter.)

5.) Six of the YA or children's books you've been most wanting to read. (Yes, go to the library to get these the day before the hurricane arrives. Libraries tend to close during hurricanes and you don't want to be without them!) You'll be a hero at the shelter, reading to all of those kids! And you'll be able to count the hours as "work time" when you file your taxes, because a writer MUST read other samples in their genre, afterall!

6.) A print- out of the most recent copy of your current work, in a 3-ring binder, triple-wrapped in plastic, with a pack of pens and a highlighter tightly attached. This will be invaluable for getting some revising done during all of the down-time you might experience if the governor announces: "We know you are anxious to get back to your homes, but PLEASE wait until we get the drinking water cleaned up, and the power back on -- we expect that this will take about a week..."

7.) Lantern-style Flashlight with extra batteries. You want to be able to SEE your manuscript, no matter where you are. So it's important to think of these details.

8.) Cell phone. Fully charged. If that editor from New York (where there is no hurricane, most likely,) calls to ask you to write a personal memoir on this current (actual) life crisis, do you want to miss that call? I THINK NOT!

9.) Rope. To attach all of this stuff to the inner tube, of course, silly! Make sure that everything's well encased in the plastic bag and secured to the tube before you head out of your front door with it. But also make sure that the bag has no air pockets causing it to stick UP in places. You don't want to increase the aerodynamic-potential of the tube, for God's sake! It will be windy out there, and this is a tricky endeaver.

10.) Second to last, but not least. Drug of Choice - chocolate, caffeinated beverage, herbal tea -- whatever most brings your muse to life. I recommend at least 3 days' worth. But remember, this has all got to fit on your inner tube, (looking, I suspect something like Yertle on top of his precarious stack of turtles.) So pack wisely. Twelve 40-oz cokes may be a bad idea in this case. They are heavy. Then again, those might keep the inner tube from lifting off, so, hmmm...

11.) Sense of humor. Without that, we'd all be lost. Best of luck to those drying their pens after Ike and Gustav.

May our writing continue -- whatever the weather.

Because of the Stories...

2008-08-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is the week. Now is the time. Millions of us, the world over, are glued to our TV sets as the athletes of the world unite for the Olympics in Beijing.

And as I sit here watching the women’s gymnastics final with baited breath (Go Nastia! Go Alicia!) I am reminded that it’s not so much the sports we are watching, but rather the people – yep, it’ s the stories.

Oh sure, we say we watch the Olympics because of the sportsmanship; because we love diving, or gymnastics, or beach volleyball, or track and field. And probably we do. But it’s the stories behind the games that bring us to the edge of our seats.

We writer’s can learn a lot about characterization and plot conflicts from our own emotional experiences during the games!

So, who do we remember from the Olympics so far? And why?

We’ll of course there’s Michael Phelps, the swimmer from the U.S.A who has now succeeded in winning more Olympic medals than anyone else in history. But for many of the millions of people cheering him on, it was not just his swimming prowess that had us rooting for him – it was his story. Raised by a single mother, taken under the wing of a caring father-figure coach, and now here at the Olympics giving each bouquet of flowers he won at his gold medal ceremonies to his sisters or his mother who sat crying in the stands. Yep folks – we fell in love with Phelps because we’d learned a bit of his story.

Then there were those female swimmers with the soap opera lives – two girls from two countries who both fell in love with the same, dashing man. The second one stole the first one’s boyfriend after the first one left her country and her swim team to move closer to the boyfriend in a foreign land, no less. And here they were racing each other for gold in the grand Olympic pool. The story -- the rivalry -- had conflicts on so many fronts that in our hearts we all took sides. That’s what happens when there’s a powerful story.

Of course there were hundreds of these stories: There was the world champion beach volleyball star that lost her wedding ring on the court; The male and female U.S. gymnasts who trained all their lives, got hurt right before the competition, and had to cheer on their teammates while wrapped in bandages at home or on the sidelines. There was the white water kayaker who braved the rapids to win his country their first ever Olympic medal; the Chinese coach who told his country he’d jump off the tallest building in Beijing if his team didn’t win the gold (thank God, they did!) but … the list goes on and on.

Even people who weren’t athletes pulled at the hearts of the world: A little boy who survived the recent earthquake, smiling in the arms of a hero, as they carried the Chinese flag in the opening ceremony; A little girl who sang the anthem, but whose face her nation thought was too unattractive to put on TV. (There’s a sad story for you). And there were so many more.

So, hooray for the Olympics (both the inspiring and the sad stories)! Though we writers may sometimes fear that reading is a dying hobby, these games have shown again and again that stories still make the world go ‘round.

If there’s a heart-touching tale out there for the telling, the whole world will tune in to listen.

The Print Icon

2008-07-16T21:19:00.001-07:00

The other day I finally got to click the print icon!

I sat entranced as page after page of my manuscript (182 pages in all) flowed out of the printer in beautiful, crisp succession.

I am one of those writers who never prints the story until it’s complete. It stays on the computer until the first, and often even the second draft is completed. So for me, printing is a sign of progress; of having written the words “the end.”

I finished the draft of my current novel (POCL). So, I printed it. And I sent part of it off to my critique group for review.

I must say that there’s nothing as great as that feeling of making progress; of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel; of getting to the next stage in the work.

And so, today, on Writermorphosis, we’re celebrating “progress.”

Sometimes progress is just getting to the end of your current chapter. Sometimes it’s sending out that manuscript that’s been loitering in your bottom drawer for years – wrapping it in a manila envelope, writing a publisher’s address on it, and lovingly scooting it into the mail slot, fingers crossed, nervous ball in your stomach…

I’m part of a wonderful, and talented critique group called the Goalies, and we’ve been enjoying a lot of progress too. We meet monthly to critique each other’s work, boost each other out of those occassional writing doldrums, and celebrate book sales and other good news with home-made cookies and fun.

And lately, we’ve all been making great progress! The beautiful thing about a critique group is that each member benefits from the success of the others. When one or two people achieve success in the group, it gives the whole group new energy and enthusiasm and a new desire to finish our current works. We stop lolly-gagging around and actually submit our manuscripts to the world.

Lately, I’m so thrilled to report, that the Goalies have had cookies coming out of our ears. We’ve each been lifted forward by the enthusiasm of the group. We’ve have at least 2 members with recent books out, and four or more of us who’ve, this month, clicked the print icon for our current YA and MG manuscripts as well. Over the past year we’ve had members win writing and illustrating awards and members receive positive feedback from publishers. Some of the most joyous days of all are the ones where we get an email from one of our groupies (like we did the other day) saying “I got a positive note from (such and such) editor and they’re wanting to see more of my manuscript!”

So congrats to everyone in my critique group as we move forward together. Let’s spread the cookies all around and maintain our enthusiasm for the future! And for those out there in the rest of the world, I hope you’ll keep your eyes peeled for the Goalies . This group of writers is on the move. (Hooray!) And I hope that your critique group is making progress too.

A Bookstore Toast: Quail Ridge Books & Music

2008-06-27T07:03:00.000-07:00

It's time for another Bookstore Toast here on Writermorphosis.

And the Bookstore we're celebrating today is a very writer-friendly, lively place that some of you may already know and love. It's Quail Ridge Books and Music right here in Raleigh.

Quail Ridge is a very community oriented shop where many Raleighites find great books and more besides...

Here are some of the reasons why Quail Ridge has earned this toast:

They're friendly. Yesterday I walked into the store and I was greeted with a pleasant “hello” by not one, but rather FOUR friendly and knowledgeable staff members who were busily working at various spots throughout the store. A few moments later I received a smile and a “you look familiar” from Carol in the children’s section (something that rarely happens at Barnes and Nobles, alas). And not long after that I watched a staff member stop her work at the cash register to go find a band-aid for a screaming preschooler who’d sustained a “book related injury” (A.K.A knee scuff) in his mad dash to get to the children’s section ahead of his elementary aged big-sis. Suffice to say that the staff at Quail Ridge are knowledgeable, caring, and friendly.

The teen section of the store is also great, with some quite recently published selections. And it’s not unusual to stop by the children’s section and find tables listing “such and such book” as a Newbery or Horn Book award winner, or to find novels and picture books hand picked as “recommended” by the staff.

Of course, I must admit that my favorite room at Quail Ridge is not the children’s section, the travel section, the music section, or the southern writers’ section (all excellent spots). But no, it’s the bathroom. This writerly little room is decorated wall to wall with autographed, note-bearing photos from the many, many authors who have visited Quail Ridge to speak, share their wisdom with other writers and readers, and sign their books over the years. It’s a testament to my favorite thing about this bookstore. Quail Ridge supports authors, writer’s groups, book clubs, and other literary folks in a way that few other book stores do.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting various “big” names in the writing field at Quail Ridge - Margaret Maron, Jeffrey Deaver, and various other writers who have come to share their wisdom with us newer folks in the field. We've then hopped across the parking lot to Tripps restaurant, to eat together and chat.

Quail Ridge also welcomes SCBWI events (we've had a scmooze there each Spring for at least the past 3 years). And they encourage new writers by allowing the Raleigh Write to Publish group (an adult writing group) to bring in regular speakers (like Maron and Deaver) on the writing craft, so that they can teach and encourage the rest of us.

You’d be impressed to see the way that the staff at Quail Ridge enthusiastically arrange sound and video equipment, book signing tables, and circles of chairs for one group at 3pm, then break it all down and set it up completely differently for another group at 7 the same night.

Then there are the many, many authors -- some local, many internationally known, who Quail Ridge schedules to come read and sign their books for the readers. I'm personally looking forward to shaking Adam Rex's hand in November, getting his signature on my copy of his great book "The True Meaning of Smekday," (one of his many books), and thanking him for stopping by writermorphosis in the recent past.

Check out the Quail Ridge Website for upcoming author events, and opportunities to improve your own writing and book selling skills!

The reading, writing, and Raleigh communities all come together at Quail Ridge Books and Music. And thus we are celebrating Quail Ridge Books today as a bookstore that respects writers and receives our respect in return. Here's a TOAST to Quail Ridge Books and Music!

Writermorphosis Turns "One"

2008-06-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

I just realized that it's been a year since I first set up this blog.

Being a techno-illiterate I had no clue what I was doing! And I was afraid that after the first 3 or 4 posts I'd have run out of things to say about the writing life. But now I realize that this was an irrational fear.
.

The more I hang out with all of you -- (my literary friends) at conferences, crit groups, and writerly events -- the more I learn from each of you, and the more experiences I've had. I've enjoyed getting to know some new folks through this blog and reading the comments of old friends.

I have been honored to have a number of writers who I've known only through their books stop by the blog - great writers like Kathleen Duey, Rick Yancey, Adam Rex, Jeffrey Deaver...

I've been delighted by my fellow writers who've shared their own work and thoughts here on the blog -- especially those brave souls who shared your page 123's a few weeks back.

And we've celebrated special events here - like the SCBWI conferences and schmoozes, the winning of awards, and the publication of books by various of my writing friends. We've had a contest - (The Harry Potter Dunk 21 Challenge). We've also highlighted special places like Powell's Books at the Portland airport, and discussed great YA/MG books - like the 2007 Cybils winners, and the "writermorphosis books of the month."

I also submitted my first novel to an agent over a year ago - celebrated that on this blog too. Alas, now I must celebrate that I got a form letter rejection from her 2 days ago -- just when I thought she'd forgotten all about me (and probably she had)! Ah well - one novel rejection down -- onward and upward. It's time to resubmit.

So thanks to all of you who continue to stop by from time to time to read this blog. It's been a fun ride, and I've been thrilled to have you all along on the journey with me.

Here's a toast to the upcoming year -- year number two on writermorphosis.

A Girl's Best Friend is Her Hand-Held Voice Recorder

2008-05-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Nope, I'm not on the payroll with Olympus or Panasonic. But I still want to take a moment here to sing the praises of one of my favorite writer's contraptions.

Afterall - if one writer finds something helpful, why not share it. Perhaps the info. will help other writers too.

So, I wanted to take just 5 minutes to say HOORAY for my hand-held voice recorder. I'm one of those writers (-- as so many of us are,) who finds that most good plot and characterization ideas hit me when I'm driving home from my day job, or out walking, or off at an event somewhere. So, I used to be one of those poepl who kept a tiny notebook and pencil in my glove compartment. But you know what? It's hard to drive and write at the same time. Plus, it's probably quite hazardous. So one day I decided to take a chance on an electronic voice recorder, and it has revolutionized my life. My little voice recorder (-- certainly not the only one of it's kind on the market, and probably not even the best,) cost me less than $45.00, and it records and categorizes my random writing ideas with just the touch of a button. And as a person who is not technologically brilliant, I was thrilled that it was easy to learn how to use.

My little electronic buddy can store multiple files -- I currently have verbal notes to myself in up to 6 separate, searchable, audio files related to several writing projects that I currently have in the works -- and there's plenty of memory space left for more.

So when I've been struggling about how to word something, and the answer suddenly comes to me while driving down Glenwood Avenue... I just pull the tiny recorder out of my bag, save the thought, and transfer it into my manuscript three hours later when I get home. For a distractable and busy person like me this device keeps me from losing brilliant ideas in the hecticness of the day.

Of course, since it is smaller than a cell phone, the recorder could also come in handy for undercover spywork in Paris, learning what your kids say about you when you're not around, or recording silly things that your boss says in your next meeting, but, uh.... Well, I guess what you do with yours is really up to you.

Suffice to say my little recorder has been a great addition to my writing life, and I suspect that this type of contraption might also be helpful for you.

(Birthday coming up, anyone?)

Writing a Novel is like Growing Perennials

2008-05-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

It's Spring again...time for me to use flower planting as an excuse to avoid working on the revisions of my current novel, P.O.C.L!

You see, now that I'm plodding through the second draft of my second novel manuscript I have learned (as every writer does,) that there are parts of the writing journey that are just not any fun. There are the middles, the revisions, and those times when we - the authors - just get bored with our stories, or truly begin to believe (for the 257th time) that our novel is more ready for the trash bin than for an editor to see...

I've been in one of those funks lately (as those of you who read this blog already know). And thus I have closed down my computer and have taken my writerly butt out to my herb and flower garden to try to relocate my creative juices in the clay. And so there I was, unpacking my leafy beauties on my 3rd trip home from Lowes, when I realized this:

Writing a novel is like growing Perennials.

To grow perennials you get the excitement first -- the big idea, the planning stage (as in`I've got this great idea, it's going to be beautiful with the reds over here, and the yellows cascading down the side just to add interest -- everyone will love it); Similarly in a novel (`I've got this great idea, it's going to be brilliant, with the main character's lover getting kidnapped by pirates and then the main character coming in with her ivory sword to save him... everyone will love it...')

So we plan (us gardeners and novelers,) deciding what goes where and how to make it all perfect. Just like with flowers, we writers plant those brilliant words and ideas on the paper with the figurative sun shining down from the cloudless sky... oh the ecstacy!

Ah, but perennials are a lot of work, my friends.
And sometimes they're just not pretty.

Perennials need to be weeded and pruned. If you don't chop half of the plant off and toss it into the compost at the end of the season it's going to look like a scraggly mess.

Likewise, Novelers must snip, yank, snip, yank...we compost that stuff we thought was so beautiful before. The trimming makes it stonger.

And my favorite part of the analogy? Perennials tend to look dead, feel dead, seem ready for the trash bin (like my novel sometimes) during that long, dark, cold of winter. But, after being left alone for awhile, and perhaps even given up on or forgotten, they re-emerge in Spring, bigger and more beautiful than before; stronger after all that trimming in the fall, the time in the dark (desk drawer perhaps?), and that little bit of fertilizer offered again by the gardener in the spring.

When the perennials look dead in winter it of course does not mean that the gardener has failed or should give up on gardening all together. I does not even mean that those particular flowers were a waste of the gardener's time.

Nope.

Some beautiful things just take trimming, and a period of being set aside, before they are ready for the gardener to find their true beauty and to shape them into something glorious to show off to the world. What a great reminder!

For
Perennials;
Novels...
Spring is coming.

For
Gardeners;
Writers...
It's good to know.

The Closest Book

2008-04-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

The GREAT Karen Lee has tagged me with another Meme. This one states that I am to find the closest book to me, open it to page 123, jump to sentence #5, and post the next 3 sentences here.

What a fun idea! It gives all of us the chance to spy on what our friends are reading. And more importantly, we get a glance into what writers are including at around pg 123 in the progress of their plots.

But before I lay my closest book out here, you must know that several friends and I just spent this past weekend at the beach where we discussed our Myers-Briggs Types extensively. I am classified as a "J" not a "P." This means (among other things) that spontaneity isn't exactly my thing.

But -- I'm trying to learn.

So, when I got this meme from Karen I looked around on my desk. The first book I saw was the Writer's Market -- but Karen already used that for her meme. So I prepared to look a little farther. Then it occurred to me...

The closest book to me at my desk is MINE. MY BOOK. It's on my computer; my own, not yet published (and no-where near ready yet either,) novel manuscript.

And though it's not yet on bookstore shelves, it IS a book to me. (I guess that's a good sign related to my psychological growth as a writer, eh? I believe my manuscript to be a book! But, don't worry. I'm sure that tomorrow will be another one of those days when I become convinced that I have no talent, realize that I have no motivation, and become once again certain that the little things I have gotten published so far have been only because editors saw how pathetic I was and took pity on me...)

But, nevertheless, today is a day for taking risks. So without further adoo -- (ok, well, and bearing in mind that this is definitely a first draft and that it will likely be totally different when finally sent to an editor... and, um, uh, erg... Ah- whatever!) Here is my moment of spontaneity:

Sliced from my own page 123

"Jolie stepped off the tram at the University, and glanced down at the pencilled map Sasha had sketched of the grounds. The Orchestral building was to her left, as expected, and Jolie was amazed again that in two seconds, on a napkin, at a bus stop Sash had still managed to capture the campus in perfect scale.

She slid in through the archway that he had starred on the map and the sound of a violin trilling behind a closed door greeted her."

And, from a book sitting near my desk which actually HAS been published...

Pg 123 Line 5-8 of The Clue in the Crumbling Wall (Nancy Drew) By Carolyn Keene

"Hey, come quick!' he shouted. `I've got something to show you!'

Cob was irritated..."

And now I tag my fellow writer-friend, Bish Debnam. And I recommend that all writers scroll to p 123 in our manuscripts and ask ourselves: Is this paragraph, this plot arc, this little drop of action, this brief dialogue good enough to send to an editor? Or would I be embarrassed to post it online? Eh hem...

May all of our page 123's get more and more glorious with every draft!

Words in the Woods: The YA Writers' Retreat

2008-04-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

Cameraderie! At the SCBWI Carolinas Spring YA Retreat 24 YA writers and 3 editors enjoyed a weekend in the woods.

We spent two and a half days writing, reading, discussing, and critiquing our novels for teens and middle graders. It was great to be around people with the same passion and purpose. And I was impressed with the number of published book authors among us.

We stayed up ‘til midnight writing, and got up early for critiques with the editors. We read manuscripts in front of each other. (I, for one, was petrified). We chatted about literary awards over breakfast and lunch, and shared the ins and outs of publishing over chocolate and wine.

It was a relaxing yet busy time, and one of the best parts for me was the networking.

Comments like `Oh, I know someone you should talk to about that, I'll give you their email'...and `what I do when that happens to me is'... and `hey, you really ought to read this book - it will help with your plot and structure'... were common and extremely helpful throughout the weekend.

The editors and published writers shared their knowledge with us. (Some of these tips are paraphrased, and I hope that they won't mind me sharing them here).

Associate Editor Martha Mahalik gave us the much sought after definition of “voice” in novel writing: “Voice is the way you tell the story.” It’s the author’s style which stays the same from book to book (sentence structure, etc), combined with the way each of that author's books’ specific narrators tell their stories (including the narrator’s way of speaking, their impression of the main character, their world view…)

She said that “(Narrative) voice is the narrator’s layer of engaging opinion about the story they are telling.” Authors should 1. know who is telling your story (even if told in 3rd person or omnicient), and 2. know what they are trying to say.

Editor Krista Marino talked about “Point of View,” describing the different POV options and giving example books for many, including: First-person present (Book: Skin Deep) and first-person past (King Dork), third-person limited (The Giver) and Omnicient POV (The Penderlakes). She said she believes the author doesn’t choose the point of view for a particular story, but that a particular book's point of view "chooses you.”

The editors who joined us were Krista Marino (Editor, Delacorte), Martha Mahalik (Assoc. Editor Greenwillow Books), and Sarah Shumway, (Editor, Dutton)

Sarah Shumway outlined the business-side of writing in her presentation on “Pitch and Purpose.” She reminded us that we authors should not try to specifically create a book just because we think it will sell (--just because books about purple spiders, for example, might be popular right now). But that authors should instead write books that they feel a special internal need to write. Still, authors should also be able to explain to an editor why they are the best person in the world to write their current story, and why readers are likely to be interested in this book. There needs to be a selling point, so that one by one the author can convince the editor, the editor can convince the marketing people and publisher, the marketing people can convince the bookstore owners, and the bookstore owners can convince the reading public, that out of all the books on the shelves this is the one that they want to buy and read.

All three presentations were excellent and the retreat as a whole was great! Thanks planners! I learned a lot – and I even got some revising and researching done! Now we look forward to the SCBWI Fall Conference in Durham, NC, September 19th-21st. Hmmm. Can we all get our current drafts complete by then?

RALEIGH SCBWI SPRING SCHMOOZE

2008-04-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

At the Raleigh SCBWI Schmooze this past weekend Author Francis O'Roark Dowell shared with us on the topic "what I didn't know I didn't know." She detailed what she's learned from writing seven MG novels and working through the process with a publisher. Her tips to "write every day" and to remember that "even with an hour a day you can write a novel," were encouraging to those of us whose writing time is often squelched by the busyness of daily living.

Francis suggested that "whenever you make a plot or characterization choice -- make sure you also imagine what it would be like if you did the opposite." And that had us all thinking.

Hmmm. Are my characters complex enough? What if my shy character was outgoing, or my snobby character always looked out for the underdog?..

And I, being in the middle of the second draft of my current novel (P.O.C.L,) desperately appreciated Francis' reminder that novel revisions are extremely important, but that they are not always going to be fun. "Sometimes it just really feels like walking through mud."

It's helpful to hear that from an award winning author. It gives the rest of us courage to know that when we find mud and yuck in our own manuscripts we just need to plow right on through it, and we'll come out all right in the end!

As always, the surroundings at Quail Ridge books were inspiring. Thanks Carol, Rosemary, Rene, and all! Many of us perused the book store, picking up Fancis' very popular books like Dovey Coe, Chicken Boy, Phineas L. Macguire...Erupts!, and the Secret Language of Girls -- and getting them signed.

And there was comaraderie, as members of at least 3 local children's writing critique groups came together, along with several new writers and poets who want to get more involved in the children's writing scene. We were even lucky enough to have several people under the age of 14 on hand!

So, we ate, drank (wine, Chick Fil-a, and cheesecake, of course,) conversed, and were merry. Overall it was a very helpful event -- thank you, Francis! And it was great to greet some new faces and to catch up on the writing lives of old friends!

Now I look forward to the Chapel Hill YA Editors' Retreat this coming weekend. Onward and upward, novelists!

The Mysterious Experts

2008-03-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Last evening I was delighted to have the opportunity to hear three well-published Mystery/Crime (Adult) Fiction writers share their tips on writing and publishing, at Quail Ridge Books, in Raleigh.

Of the three, Margaret Maron is the author of over 25 books. She's the past President of Mystery Writer's of America and Sisters in Crime, and a winner of the Edgar, the Anthony, the Macavity and the Christy Awards. Jeffery Deaver is the world- traveling author of The Bone Collector and many other mystery/crime books and series.' John Hart is the NYT best-selling author of The King of Lies and Down River.

I attended the event to hear their suggestions on mystery writing and publishing. I suspected that though I write my fiction for teens, the basics of mysteries are the same for any age group.

It was a full house, and a very informative night. Good show, Quail Ridge! And even though many of the tips that they shared are things that I've heard before, they were great reminders.

Here are my favorite tidbits (and I hope that Margaret, Jeffery and John won't mind me sharing them here with you):

ON WRITING MYSTERIES that keep readers engaged, Jeffery recommended:

Draw your readers through the book by providing "unresolved anticipation. Tell 'em that you're going to tell 'em something, and then don't tell 'em" (until later, or until the end.)

He reminded us that writers are entertainers who first and foremost should "want to tell a good story."

And he shared a quote reportedly coined by mystery writer Mickey Spillane: "People don't read books to get to the middle. They read books to get to the end."

ON CHARACTERIZATION, John shared that:

(Mystery characters) must have "credible, convincing motives."

Also, it's important to know "what drives your character (hero or villain)," to do the things that he or she does.

For example, John described the emotional force behind one of his characters as: "this guy is angry and feels a deep sense of loss..."

ON GETTING PUBLISHED, Margaret shared the ultimate good advice for those of us who come up with lots of great ideas, get started with a flourish, but then flounder in the middle:

"If you just wrote one page a day, in a year you'd have a book."

and

"The main thing is to finish the book. Even if it's terrible, finish it, because you will learn so much in the process."

Thanks Margaret, Jeffery and John (3 well-published NC authors) for the great advice. And a toast to "Raleigh Write 2 Publish" for organizing the event.

Don't forget the Raleigh SCBWI Schmooze at Quail Ridge Books, on April 13th. Hope to see you there! (See info. below)

Now I'm off to take Margaret's advice. I'm gluing my butt to the chair to keep moving forward with my second novel. After all, "the main thing is to finish the book!"

Join us: Raleigh SCBWI Schmooze April 13th!

2008-03-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

One great way to improve our craft and increase our publishability is by attending writers' events where we learn from and network with other writers.

So, come to the Raleigh, NC. SCBWI Schmooze, organized again this year by the `Rowdy Raleigh' Goalies' critique group.

Author Francis O'Roark Dowell will share tips about publishing that can help all of us.

Big thanks to author/illustrator Jennifer Clifton for the wonderful artwork on our flyer!

I'd recommend coming a few minutes early to this Schmooze, as last year we nearly ran out of seating. Plus, the location is a great bookstore that will inspire your inner author.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

KEEP

2008-03-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Keep reading
Keep writing
Keep revising
Keep critiquing
Keep collaborating
Keep submitting
Keep believing

And you will…

Keep growing
Keep learning
Keep creating
Keep succeeding
Keep publishing
Keep loving

… being a writer.

(Thirty-three words that fell out of my pen at midnight. Hmmm. – Janelle)

Weaving History & Culture into Fiction - Lessons for Writers

2008-02-28T07:59:00.000-08:00

For anyone who is new to Writermorphosis, this is not a book review website. It’s a site by and for Children’s/YA writers, where we can learn tips and techniques from each other, and encourage each other in our writing.

So, during the month of February, and for a week or two in March, we are doing what may look like book reviews. We’re critiquing “from a writer’s perspective,” some of the 10 books that were short-listed for this year’s CYBILS Awards in the category of fantasy/science fiction. We’re looking for techniques that we can use in our own fiction writing.

Last week, we looked at two books from the CYBILS list that are good examples of how to weave two different stories or plot lines together into one book.

This week, for those interested in writing about history and culture, we’re looking at two books that would NOT be considered historical fiction. One is Sci-Fi. One is Fantasy. But both of these books clearly incorporate (and sneakily even teach) history to the kids and adult who read them.

This week’s books: The Land of the Silver Apples, and the True Meaning of Smekday.

THE LAND OF THE SILVER APPLES, written by well-known fantasy author Nancy Farmer, and published by Atheneum, is a MG high-fantasy book all the way around. There are elves, magic, humans with special powers, wizard-types, evil kings, and, of course, a long journey. But this book also weaves the early history of the British Isles into almost every page and character.

The author pulls in a true ancient people group, the marauding Picts, making several of the characters pictish pirates and allowing them to openly share their beliefs and world view through the fantasy story. She also brings the reader in on a personal level to the time in the history of Britain, Ireland and Scotland when Christianity came to those islands, and the older, more magic-believing religions began to compete and/or co-exist with them. This book shows each character choosing a religion, and it shows how that religion affects their daily life. So we read about the Christian Monks – the good and the not so good things that they believed and did in their early years in the isles. And we read about the druid types, who wear robes and heal the villagers with magic that they feel comes from the earth. Even the main character finds himself struggling, questioning his beliefs throughout the book while his family converts to Christianity and his mentor, a bard, trains him in magic.

In the back of the book, an appendix teaches readers (kids – who LOVE codes and secret languages,) pictish symbols and what they mean, as well as details about the early religions of the British Isles. That appendix allows readers to understand that this book is not only a fantasy, but also about real historic themes too. So, for those wishing to incorporate old languages and facts into fiction, this book is a good example to follow.

THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY, written by Adam Rex and published by Hyperion, was the MG Sci-fi/Fantasy winner for the CYBILS this year. Congrats Adam! And it too, brings real history into its pages.

SMEKDAY is the story, told by an 11 year old girl, about an alien invasion, in which the inhabitants of the United States are all corralled into one state against their will by an invading alien nation. They are forced to adapt to the new race’s rules and eventually, led by the 11 year main character, to fight back with the invading alien nation, against an even more dangerous foe. There are all kinds of cool sci-fi contraptions – UFOs that don’t look like UFO’s, theme parks with secret communities beneath them, flying cars – everything you would expect in a sci-fi. And the plot really does make you want to read to the end to make sure that all of the important characters survive the book.

But, can you already sense the underlying historical themes? This is a book about colonialism, war, immigration -- world and U.S. history – a history in which Native Americans (represented by one main character in the book, and indeed by aspects of the whole story in general) were herded onto reservations, forced to adapt to a new, unfair life …

This is the story of our history. And it is presented in such an off the wall, alien invasion format, that the history aspect doesn’t hit you in the face immediately. Instead, it hits you in the gut. You feel the emotions of the oppressed in the emotions of the main character, 11 year old, bi-racial Gratuity Tucci, as her mom is abducted, her neighbors are forced onto a reservation-like place, people become afraid, and discrimination and hostilities feed on a lack of understanding between the attacking, well-intentioned colonializing alien nation, and the current human citizens of earth…

You won’t see the words Columbus, or Britain, or Cherokee, or Reservation, or Africa, or WWII or Katrina even… But it all feels like it's right there... hidden behind aliens with names like JLo, teleport machines and flying cars.

What’s the true meaning of “Smekday?” Read it and decide. And if you’re looking for a book that helps us understand history without proposing to teach us history, put Smekday in your library for sure!

Both of these books are great examples for writers of ways to bring true facts into fantasy and sci-fi, or any other kind of fiction for that matter. They do it the sneaky way.
Take a look.

Blending Two Stories – Lessons for Writers (Skin Hunger & Incarceron)

2008-02-21T08:11:00.000-08:00

SKIN HUNGER and INCARCERON were at the top of my personal “favorites” list among the 10 CYBILS fantasy/sci-fi short-listed books this year. Skin Hunger is a fantasy. Incarceron has a lot of technology in it and is considered by some to be a sci-fi. But it has the depth and breadth of a fantasy when you read it. Excellent! Both are YA’s written with a rather dark bent.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you’ll want to go jump off a bridge after reading them, or be so depressed that you can’t get out of bed for a week. But it does mean that a number of the main characters are rather jaded, and the evil guys are truly, humanly, evil. These characters are dealing with very difficult life (and death) situations. And though I tend to enjoy happy endings, I was enthralled by these two books.

I am linking them together here because they both use two of the same techniques.

1.) Neither author was afraid to make the reader nervous, or to kill off or terrify truly important characters in the book. That is something that a lot of authors hate to do (because we love our characters, darn it! And we just don’t want to hurt them!) These books aren't scary thrillers, mind you, but they are good examples of taking that risk and having it work.

2.) Secondly, and most notably, both authors have written two stories that blend together into one story within one book.

INCARCERON

In Incarceron (published by Hodder Children’s Books of the UK), author Catherine Fisher weaves together the life and death tales of two people seeking an escape.
Finn is a teen with no memory, stuck in an enormous prison called Incarceron that is run by a giant computer which is alive, thinking, and malicious toward those, like Finn, within its grasp. And Claudia is a rich teenaged girl; the daughter of the only man who can control Incarceron – but won’t. She is living in a fake 18th century world when it’s really the future, and is being forced to marry a prince who she has no respect for, following the murder of the prince who would have been heir to the throne ahead of him, who she did like. And in this book, both characters risk their lives and their reputations to get out of their respective prisons and to try to put the world back right again.

INCARCERON is an excellent example of a very complex plot that falls together well and makes logical sense. The characters are complicated and sneaky. And the author, Catherine Fisher, weaves the two stories together – moving Claudia forward in one chapter, and Finn and his side of the story forward in the next. An excellent read. And an excellent example of a book that melds two stories into one.

SKIN HUNGER

In Skin Hunger, (published by Atheneum under Simon and Schuster) – a book that is going straight onto my bookshelf and onto my “top 20 list of Great YA books” – Author Kathleen Duey brings “dark” fantasy to a whole new level. This is not your grandmother’s fairy tale.

The author weaves together two stories that are 400 years apart. But they’re so inter-related that the one story – told in every other chapter – clearly gives the background for the other tale. And as the chapters build, the old story mixing with the new helps the reader realize what an awful situation the characters 400 years later are really in.

This is a life and death story in which the teen characters make wise and unwise decisions while learning about magic and hunger and how to truly “cheat” death simply to stay alive. The characters are real and believable. Each is motivated by their own personality to such an extent that some put their lives on the line for others daily while others seek to take over the world, and the weaker ones, just try to survive. Skin Hunger (though being a first book in a series that doesn’t yet have an ending) is an excellent example of great characterization, great interweaving of two stories, painfully clear and palpable descriptive sentences, and a complex, heart-wrenching plot. If you're looking for a sample of great writing. Don't be afraid. Just read it.

And the CYBILS Fantasy/SciFi winners are...

2008-02-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

After reading ten great books, the Fantasy/SciFi judging panel for this year's CYBILS awards, (including yours truly,) has come up with two winners -- one for Middle Grade and one for YA.

We read 10 amazing books:

YA:

Book of a Thousand Days (by Shannon Hale)

Incarceron (By Catherine Fisher)

Northlander - Tales of the Borderlands (by Meg Burden)

Skin Hunger (by Kathleen Duey)

Repossessed (by A.M. Jenkins)

Elementary/MG:

The Choas King (by Laura Ruby)

Into the Wild (by Sarah Beth Durst)

The Land of the Silver Apples (by Nancy Farmer)

Skulduggery Pleasant (by Derek Landy)

The True Meaning of Smekday (by Adam Rex)

And WOW - each book had it's own strengths and it's own bits of brilliance. It was a TOUGH choice for the judges, and we went round and round on a couple of books before coming to the conclusion that the best of the best for Fantasy/Science Fiction for 2007 are...(drumroll please)...

YA: Book of a Thousand days (by Shannon Hale)

Elem/MG: The True Meaning of Smekday (by Adam Rex)

CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH AUTHORS, THEIR EDITORS, THEIR AGENTS, AND THEIR PUBLISHING HOUSES!

Here's what the judges had to say about Book of a Thousand Days:

On her first day as a Lady’s Maid, Dashti finds herself locked in a tower for seven years with her Lady, who is being punished for refusing to marry the Lord of a neighboring land. Thus begins a life-and-death battle against evil and time. Lyrically written and set in ancient central Asia, this novel retells a little-known Brother’s Grimm fairy tale with desperate, heart-wrenching emotion. Readers will be drawn in by the beautiful language and fighting spirit of Dashti, whose faith, spunk and ingenuity affect not only the darkness of her tower, but also the hearts and futures of kings.

What the Judges said about Smekday:

"Nothing has been the same since the Boov invaded Earth and re- named it Smekland. But things get even weirder when twelve-year- old Gratuity Tucci embarks on a journey to find her missing mother--accompanied by her cat (named Pig), a fugitive Boov (named J.Lo) and a slightly illegal hovercar--and realizes that there's more at stake than just her mother's whereabouts. A terrific satire with a touching ending and spot-on illustrations by the author, the novel is heartwarming and hilarious at the same time. Gratuity's narrative voice as she struggles to define "the true meaning of Smekday" will draw readers in."

So, both of these books should certainly go on everyone's reading list, and we'll be discussing them and the other 8 SciFi/Fantasy finalists here in coming weeks.

We'll be looking at the writing techniques and styles that their authors used which brought them to the top of this year's CYBILS stack. Great books are made to be loved -- and for those writers among us, they're made to be learned from. Even those of us who aren't writing Fantasy/SciFi can learn from these books.

So, pick up these two, and also the other eight finalists, at your local bookstore or library and peruse them. Then come on by and add your insight to the February and March writer's technique discussions and reviews of these books here on writermorphosis.

Also, to find out who won CYBILS awards in the categories of fiction and nonfiction picture books, graphic, middle grade (mainstream) and YA (mainstream) novels, and poetry, click to the CYBILS website winners' page(http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/2008/02/the-2007-cybils.html). And check out the blogs of the other CYBILS Fantasy/SciFi judges (noted on the left of this page) to see what they are saying about the winners, the contest, and this year's judging process.

BIG Congratulations to all of the 2007 CYBILS winners!

God Bless the Editors

2008-02-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

Judging for the CYBILS awards this year has taught me many things.

One thing I've learned is how HARD it truly must be for editors to read manuscripts day after day, evening after evening, subway ride after subway ride -- God bless them!

Over the last few weeks as I've been staying up late and getting up early, reading the 10 wonderful novels that are finalists for the CYBILS (in Fantasy/SciFi,) and preparing for the judging meeting where we'll choose the best YA and MG fantasy books of 2007 -- I learned the following:

Great books, when you read them in quick succession, are still great books. But they can lose some of the luster that they might have had if you had had time to read them in leisurely fashion while lying in a hammock in the sunshine. Beautiful prose, strong characters and great plots need to stand out in a writing competition or they will begin to blur a bit together. And the same is, of course, true for the piles of paper on an editor's desk. This is why they tell us to submit a manuscript whose first pages will grab their attention, their heart, and their soul.

I've loved reading the CYBILS books and I'm sure that editors, in general, love reading manuscripts as well. But I want to send out a note of thanks here, nonetheless:

To the Editors,

Thank you

For reading, reading, reading our manuscripts

For looking for the gems among the stacks of paper on your desks

For reading on the subway, on your lunch hour, and during the commercial breaks in your favorite sitcom

For falling in love with some of our manuscripts instead of just throwing them all in the trash

For reading until the words blur together, and you have to struggle to separate the characters in my story from the ones in the manuscript that you read two hours ago

For all of this

Thank you.

I have read only 3,500 pages of other people's (great) writing over the past 3 weeks, but my respect for you has increased with every page.

So, God bless the editors. May you have three extra hours added to each day. And may you be able to eat lunch without a manuscript sitting next to your sandwich.

Shuffle the Deck

2008-02-02T20:32:00.001-08:00

If you, like me, sometimes have trouble with the plot of your novel getting flat and mudane in the middle -- consider shuffling the deck.

That's what I did recently, and it made my novel stronger.

You see, I was writing the second half of my current novel (POP), when I realized that I hadn't really mentioned several of the secondary characters in awhile and was forgetting to weave the secondary plots in with the primary plot action.

So, I began throwing in a paragraph here and there, bringing back the secondary plots and characters. But I soon found that my story was lolling itself into a boring dead end.

Obviously drastic measures were in order.

So, I skimmed through the entire manuscript on the computer and realized that the plot, which had seemed so fabulous when I first outlined it, was really just an uneven batch of little stories that weren't combining to make a very convincing whole. (This is sometimes hard to see when one is zipping along through the middle.) My plot was heavy on action in some spots, heavy on interpersonal interaction in others. Certain characters that were quite important in the beginning disappeared completely for three or more chapters in the middle, then showed back up at the end as if they still belonged there. It was an unorganized circus.

A major change was needed. (And, I must tell you, I HATE changes.)

But, overcoming my fear, I yanked on my overalls, grabbed my printer and a "correction pen" and chose to take control of the circus.

I printed out the entire manuscript, separated each chapter into it's own little paper clipped stack on the floor, and SHUFFLED THE DECK.

Chapters 1, 2 and 3 stayed where they were, but after that everything got shuffled. Chapter 7 became chapter 4, the old 4 became 5, 5 became 6, 8 became 7, 6 became 8, 11 became 9, 9 became 10, and my last 2 chapters got separated into four. The first moment of the change was scary, but after that I felt liberated. It wasn't my words and paragraphs that were bad; not even my plot or characters. It was the order, the clumping, the unevenness that needed to go.

And after the shuffle, my manuscript is stonger. The main and secondary plots flow together like two little streams throughout the book. (Or, so I hope). Characters don't disapper for chapters at a time. And most of the brilliant scenes that I wrote before are still intact. They're just in differente places.

This experience has liberated me. The manuscript was not a lost cause. It was just a deck of characters and scenes in need of shuffling.

So, if you notice plot clumping, disappearing characters, or other uneven fiascos in your current manuscript, don't panic! Don't cut it up and toss it in the trash. It may be that all you need to do is cut the deck -- and shuffle it.

When the writer's away the cats will...uh

2008-01-26T17:48:00.000-08:00

So, it's been reading time more than writing time for me lately. We're at the point in the CYBILS competition where those of us who are judging are reading, reading, reading. We're staying up late reading, getting up early reading, reading in the pharmacy line, during comercial breaks of American Idol, and even at extra long stoplights during rush hour. We have a deadline to meet, afterall. And one can hardly "judge" a book without having first spent quality time falling in and walking through it's pages. So, I've been reading some really great books! Check out my blog post from 1/1/08 to see the list of 10 CYBILS fantasy finalists. Then run out and get one or two of them so that you can be one of the first to read them as well!

Meanwhile, as the reading has increased, I have been learning first hand that judging for a literary contest can take a huge chunk out of one's personal writing time. This type of reading is not wasted time, of course -- judging is an honor, and the reading a great joy.

Still, it has caused me to change my writing rythm for several weeks, and I'm learning a lot about juggling; meeting writing and reading deadlines simultaneously.

So, with hot chocolate in one hand, and a CYBILS book beside me on the table, I'm dividing my time between writing a decreased 2000 words/week on my current YA novel (during CYBILS season,) and reading, reading, reading, reading... except, of course, when I'm at my time consuming day job...

And all of this time crunching makes me contemplate one question. Does reading books for a writing competition improve a writer's own writing?

My answer? Of course it does, silly. These finalists wouldn't be where they are today if they hadn't mastered grammar, characterization and plot. So, join me. Let's read some great fantasy and let these writers' techniques sink into our "craft" toolboxes, making our own stories better.

A Cybils Panelist Shares Her Journey

2008-01-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

So, how are the CYBILS award books chosen? Stacy DeKeyser, one of the initial panelists on this year's "YA novel" Cybils panel shares her experience on her blog post from January 8th, "Diary of a Cybils Committee Member." Check it out.

And for more news on the CYBILS, peruse the CYBILS blog at http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/

The initial panelists (who selected the final books in each category and sent them to the judges) are now free to share their thoughts and views on the nominated books. But I and the other judges are still sworn to secrecy as we read and debate. (Nope! Put away that verita serum. You won't get a WORD out of ME!)

The winners in each Category will be announced on the Cybils web-site in Mid February. And immediately thereafter the "Fantasy Category" winners will be celebrated, drooled over, dissected, critiqued, picked apart (in loving writerly fashion so we can learn from the techniques used by their writers), and generally discussed from all angles here on writermorphosis. Reading great books is like taking a course in great writing!

Writer Montage

2008-01-13T18:06:00.001-08:00

The CYBILS Shortlists are here!

2008-01-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Yes, the waiting is over. The Cybils shortlists are up! The qualifying books for Fantasy, Fiction Picture Books, Poetry, and Middle Grade (MG) Fiction have already been listed on the Cybils site. And the other categories will be up there shortly. Check out http://dadtalk.typepad.%20com/cybils/ for the lists of finalists.

IN THE CATEGORY OF FANTASY (which I'll be judging this year), THE FINALISTS ARE:

(drum roll please....)

YA Section

* Book of a Thousand Days (by Shannon Hale)

* Incarceron (by Catherine Fisher)

* Northlander - Tales of the Borderlands (by Meg Burden)

* Repossessed (by A. M. Jenkins)

* Skin Hunger (by Kathleen Duey)

Elementary/MG Section

* The Chaos King (by Laura Ruby)

* Into the Wild (by Sarah Beth Durst)

* The Land of the Silver Apples (by Nancy Farmer)

* Skulduggery Pleasant (by Derek Landy)

* The True Meaning of Smekday (by Adam Rex)

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE CYBILS FANTASY FINALISTS!

I look forward to reading each of your books (which the panelists are swooning over,) and I'll be blogging about them here as the judges select the winning YA and Elem/MG fantasy books for 2007! Having made it to the shortlist is a huge feather in your fedora! Take yourself out to dinner and live it up! You are one of the celebrated writers of 2007!

And to the rest of you out there in blogland -- please join me in a cup of fair-trade hot chocolate, put your feet up, snuggle down in your softest jammies and lose yourself in one of the 10 books listed above. The count-down to the 2007 Cybils' has begun!

********************

On a side-note that is completely unrelated to the fantasy shortlist for which I'll be judging,

I'd like to send out a celebratory writermorphosis "toast" to Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Kimberly is a fellow SCBWI writer whose book "Leap of Faith" has made the Middle Grade Fiction Cybils "finalist list" this year. I met Kimberly at the SCBWI Carolina's conference two years ago and found her presentations on fiction writing very helpful. So congrats, Kimberly -- my opinion won't help you at all in the judging arena, as I'm on the fantasy panel not the MG panel :) -- but Congratulations on being named a Cybils finalist this year! I lift my cup of hot chocolate in your honor.

Merry Christmas to all...and to all a good write!

2007-12-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

Wherever you are and whatever you do, may you spend your December in your favorite setting with all of your favorite characters.

Happy Holidays, from Janelle

Countdown to the CYBILS

2007-12-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

The time for the public to nominate books for the CYBILS awards has now passed, and the nominating panelists are feverishly reading hundreds of books and narrowing them down for the judges in each category to consider. You can check out the nominated books in each category (from picture books, to MG fantasy to graphic novels and more) at www.theedgeoftheforest.com/cybils

Will the winners be someone in your crit group; someone you've met at a conference? Or will it be one of the tried and true masters of the trade who just happen to have a new book out this year? Looking at the nominated fantasy books this year (there are 94 of them,) the nominating committee is having to measure books written by Ursula Le Guin, Meg Cabot and Lloyd Alexander against new books by lesser known authors who may have just thrust their first fantasy writing into the market. Have no doubt though, at this point it's anybody's award to win!

As noted earlier on this blog, I'll be judging for fantasy this year. And I'm looking forward, with excitement (and trepidation,) to the task of reading so many great novels and working with the others on the fantasy judging panel to pick the WINNER for 2007. Check back here beginning in January for thoughts on the various books as I read them and the judging panel begins to discuss them.

I've chosen the cover of "Powers" by Ursula LeGuin (one of the nominated fantasy books) as the picture for this blog post because of the great job the illustrator did on the cover. Alas, we will not be judging the books in this competition by their illustrations. But to all of you illustrators out there, I still salute you. Afterall, the cover of a book is the very first thing that makes us pick it up off of a bookstore or library shelf. Following that we generally look at the title, and after that if the synopsis on the back is good and the first page seems intriguing, we might just take the book home and give the actual plot and characters inside it a chance to impress us. But it's the Illustrators who get us started. So, kudos to the ILLUSTRATORS who make readers give each book it's first chance!

As to the fantasy nominees: check out the books on the blog at the CYBILS website, and join the judges as we read them. If you don't agree with us in the end, perhaps you'll be inspired to look into becoming a judge next year yourself! :) But we surely will do the best we can to make a good selection! Ack! No pressure!

In other news, there are several new items lining the left hand side of this blog, and I hope you'll check them out. There is 1.) a writer's poll which will have a new topic every month from now on. 2.) a recommended YA/MG book of the month, and 3.) a "Favorite Line" from a YA/MG book that I'm currently reading to provoke each of us to write even greater sentences of our own.

I hope these will be of interest, make you smile, and make your writing life better just like they are making mine.

5 Things I've Learned from NANOWRIMO

2007-11-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

National Novel Writing Month, the annual event in which thousands of writers around the world all attempt to write 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November, has ended once again. And on my third try I finally made it all the way to 50K this year. That's 174 frantically typed pages. Ah, what a feeling!

And over the past 3 years that I have been participating in nanowrimo I have discovered various truths that I think are relevant to all novelists who have deadlines to meet. And so here they are, listed in reverse order of importance:

5 things I've learned from Nanowrimo

5. A novel is LONG, and the middle is super tough, whether you're writing it in 30 days or 3 years. But it can be done. YOU can write a novel.

4. No Plot is a problem -- Despite the great title of brilliantly witty Chris Baty's book, "No plot, No problem." It really is essential to know:
WHO your character is
WHAT is going to happen to him or her (generally,) and
WHY that stuff that's about to happen is a PROBLEM he or she will have to resolve.
Until you've figured that out it's best not to get too far with the writing.

3. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. If I'd stopped doing nano in my first or second year I'd never have reached 50K in 30 days, and missed out on the joy of it. Similarly perseverance is important in any kind of novel writing. Many published authors will tell you they still have one or more of their first novel manuscripts sitting in a desk drawer somewhere, and that no one will buy those even though their other novels are now flying off the shelves. So, keep on keeping on. As Richard Bach once said: "A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit."

2. Peer support is essential in any great writing endeavor - this is why critique groups are so essential. (Thanks to Amy, Bish, George, Joan, Jules, Wendy, Doug, and all of the Goalies for being my crit-supporters during nano and all year round!) Afterall, we writers need cheerleaders -- people to say "This is great, I can't wait to read what happens next," or "Hey only 5,ooo more words to go :); piece of cake!" And we also need them to say things like "Wait, that plot line there makes no sense, might I suggest you get the older sister arrested here?" This is especially helpful when we're drowning in that horrible noveling wasteland called "the middle. " It happens to all of us. So, if you aren't a part of a critique group, you can find both online and local Children's Writer's Crit groups by seaching google or better yet, by becoming a member at http://www.scbwi.org/.

And the number one thing that Nanowrimo teaches me again and again each year is that:

1. Writers Write Regardless. Real writers - writers who meet deadlines, who publish, who succeed at getting books out of their hearts and onto the paper, write every day whether they feel like it or not. They do NOT wait for inspiration to strike them -- if they did, they would never get out of the middle! Yes indeed, inspiration is wonderful, but there are those days when just saying "I'm going to write 500 words today" is enough; perhaps they won't be great words, or inspired words. But that is not the point. We can (and should) revise it all later. But to get to the end, to reach the finale, we must write enough to get over the next hill then stop at a place we find interesting, close the manuscript, and smile. We've made progress today. Hip, Hip, Hooray! And we will do so again tomorrow...

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*Additional info. on nanowrimo: National Novel Writing Month has continued now for 9 years. Participation is free and novelists of all ages are welcome. Items purchased in the nanowrimo online gift shop, like the mug pictured above (thanks nanowrimo,) provide funds to build libraries in third world countries, and also to keep the annual writing event going strong around the world. The "young writers" program, a part of nanowrimo, also encourages kids as young as elementary school to imagine and plot and then write their own stories. For further information about the event or to purchase from the online store and support this excellent adventure, visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/ .

A Book Toast to Kathleen M. Reilly

2007-11-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Big Congrats to my friend, the prolific magazine writer -- and now book author -- Kathleen Reilly, on her new book "Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects you can build yourself." What a fun way to look at a very important topic! The book will be coming out in June '08 from Nomad Press. Go Kathleen Go! Kids and parents will both love it. And so, we toast you!

On Actually Making Money...

2007-11-15T20:52:00.001-08:00

So, the other day I realized it was November. And I started thinking about tax season, which will be coming up in less than 6 months. (It's morbid, I know, especially since we've just entered the Christmas shopping season. But still, it's important to plan ahead.) So, here I was, stuffing a receipt into my "take this off from your taxes" writer's expenses slot, and I had a rather horrible epiphany. I have not made much money on my writing this year.

And yet it isn't that I haven't been writing. I have actually been working very hard...

You see, I've been putting in 10 - 20 hours a week on my literary career -- which isn't too bad since I have a full-time "day job" that I have to go to first. I've been writing, revising, getting critiqued, writing and revising again, (novels, mind you). In addition to that I've been researching publishers, querying agents, attending conferences, networking with other writers, and staying active in two critique groups. I've been preparing my first two YA novel manuscripts for their journeys into the publishing world. And I've been feeling pretty excited about that -- until right now! : )

You see, during tax season the IRS will reportedly let any new business (like the business of being a freelance writer) experience a couple of years of spending more than you make. They'll let you take off some of those writing expenses with the understanding that you, like any other new business, should soon be making some money. You should soon be coming out more often in the black than in the red. (Now, I'm not a tax person, so I'd recommend consulting yours if you have questions about what writing expenses you can take as deductions, what forms to use, and other rules and details). But for me, I realized that my novel-writing is much slower than whipping out an article here and there. And that the novels that have been growning longer and longer on my computer, are not yet at the point of making me any money.

Brilliant, I know.

So, I decided I needed to re-diversify my writing. You see, I did make some money on writing shorter things last year. It's just that this year I put most of my eggs in one basket. And unfortunately that was the novel basket, where the payment comes more slowly because first you have to write the darn thing, then hope to find a publisher, do any revisions they ask for, and then wait awhile more!

And so I've learned this lesson: Unless a writer is planning to keep two day jobs forever, putting all your eggs in the novel basket when first starting off, is a bad idea. And yet, I suspect that I am not the only novelist in this boat.

So, I am posting my change-strategy here for others to consider. And I'll be diversifying my writing again, starting now.

This means that I'll be pausing every so often in my noveling to send some work out to a few places where writers can write shorter things and get paid for them. (Imagine that!)

And, in case there are others out there who need to diversify their writing as well, here is a helpful list of opportunities for us all:

Magazines -- accept fiction and nonfiction pieces for children, teens, and adults, and their
writer's guidelines are usually available on their websites.

Writing Contests -- often have cash prizes (in addition to the fame you'd get for winning). And some of these will take your novel excerpt or a short story.

Compilation Books -- like Chicken Soup for the Soul, Poetry books, Devotional books or Short Story Anthologies accept short writings from various authors and group them together into a larger work. Not only do these pay you, but they get you published in a book.

Curriculum and Standardized Tests -- educators can find opportunities online to write curriculum on almost any general school subject. And there is often a need for writers to pen the questions for the newest version of the SAT's.

So this Thanksgiving, let's be thankful for diversity. Because diversity in our writing will keep us in the black when tax season rolls around next year.

Drowning in Revision? Grab the hand of another writer.

2007-11-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

MARCO.... POLO..... Marco.... Polo....

The waters of the pool are chilly when I stand still and indecisive like this. And my throat hurts from the chlorine. I shout again,
"Marco," then I listen. And the voices whisper back from my right, and straight ahead, and behind.

"Polo....."

I splash toward the closest voice. I'll corral them this time. But when I get there, I find only the swish of moving water and the cold, hard side of the pool. My quary has eluded me, again.

For me, revision is sometimes like this. I know where I'm trying to go, but I just can't seem to get there.

You see, revision is all about making everything in the second, third, or fourth drafts of our novels better than it was in the first. We want to make the story stronger, the action faster, the characterization deeper, the plot more logical and the writing more flawless. We can see the problems in our stories but, for me at least, there are times when I am at a loss about how to fix them.

This is where the help of other writers comes in. You see, the techniques of many exceptional writers are all on display on the shelves of your local library or Barnes and Nobles. The novels that others have written contain techniques that can help you and I catch the elusive brilliant paragraphs in our own revision pools.

There are many stories out there with strong secondary characters, action-filled plots, and great dialogue, for example. And if we read these, it can't help but make our own writing stronger.

So grab the hand (er, the book) of another writer. They are like literary life-jackets for those of us who are drowning in revision. They teach us; inspire us; they move us forward in our own stories...

So here are some of my favorite literary life-jackets. Because we all need need a little outside inspiration sometimes!
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LITERARY LIFE-JACKETS

For Main and Secondary-Characters

The Truth About Forever (YA) - Sarah Dessin
The Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers - JRR Tolkien
Shakespeare's Secret (MG) - Elise Broach
Harry Potter (all 7 books) - JK Rowling (Because Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron, Snape & Malfoy are all secondary characters, and they are well-rounded and alive.)

For Plot, Timing and Action

Alex Rider, Storm-breaker (YA) - Anthony Horowitz
The Black Stallion Returns (MG) - Walter Farley
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (MG/YA) - JK Rowling
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (YA) - Rick Yancey

For Portraying Emotion effectively

The Truth About Forever (YA) - Sarah Dessin
The Black Stallion Returns (MG) - Walter Farley
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (MG/YA) - JK Rowling
High Wizardry (YA) - Diane Duane
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King - JRR Tolkien

For Great Dialogue, and Characters with difinitive voices

Tom Sawyer (YA) - Mark Twain
The Wizard's Dilema (MG) - Diane Duane
And all of the Harry Potters (MG/YA) - JK Rowling

(JK Rowling makes this list because, as you may have noticed, Professor McGonagal, Professor Trelawney, Aunt Petunia and Mrs. Weasley are all middle aged, female, tertiary characters who all manage to sound completely different. That's phenomenal.)

So these are some of my life-jackets. They have recently been an inspiration to me, and I would love to hear which books, in which categories (above) are an inspiration to you as well.

A Book Toast to Three (Ian, Karen, and Me)

2007-10-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry, hee hee. I couldn't pass up the rhyming opportunity! But the good news among the Raleigh writers just keeps pouring in! So, here are three more reasons to celebrate:

First, a toast to the amazing Karen Lee, whose book ABC Safari has just been awarded the Bronze Medal in the category of ABC/counting books by the Independent Publishers Moonbeam Children's Book Awards! Look for the bronze medallion on her covers in bookstores everywhere! And a second big congrats to Karen for having the two newest books she's illustrated, One Odd Day and My Even Day both flying into stores from Silvan Dell. Congrats, Karen! You're on a roll!

And a second Toast, to Ian Sands , for receiving an Illustrators "Award of Excellence" at the SCBWI Carolina's Fall conference for his artwork entitled "Fox Steals a Kite!" Go Ian! Go Ian!

And here's a third toast - erg, to me actually.

I am thrilled to report that the novels I've been working on (Orion's Apprentice, and The Prince of Chains and Letters) have both been awarded Honorable Mentions in the Writer's Digest Annual contest for children's fiction. The award letters tell me that there were 16,000 entries (so firstly I started wondering if that was a typo, since it seems that the sweet judges had to read all of our submissions. God bless them!) But since apparently it wasn't, I'm feeling extremely honored to have had both of my books noticed among such a large crowd of great writers!

(Seriously, I'm still pretty much lying on the floor hypervenalating with joy!)
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So THANKS Writer's Digest, for the vote of confidence! It's amazing what a little encouragement like this can do for the soul, the editors, and the muse.

And now I'm off to do NANO in November. And for those whose lives are not already crazy enough, I would highly recommend that you join me. Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's a fun experience in which thousands of published and not-yet-published novelists each attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November.

And yes, there are "real" writers doing nano. It's a great kick-start to pull you out of writing funks! The cameraderie and weekly deadlines will get you writing that first draft quicker than you ever thought possible. Plus there are fun t-shirts, and comic emails from Nano-leader Chris Baty, that shouldn't be missed! So I'll be nanoing for the third time this year. And, for those who might wonder -- the first two books I started during Nano are the two that were just awarded the Honorable Mentions'. So yes, this is a serious enterprise, as long as you're seriously willing to revise.

So do join me. Come, Nano... And let's get a little book-crazy together.

A Bookstore Toast: Powell's Books of Portland

2007-10-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

Alrighty now, this is a new feature onWritermorphosis.

Bookstore Toasts.

We already have "book toasts" where writers and illustrators get toasted here when their books are published or they win an award. But now, every 3-4 months, I will also toast a bookstore that has gone above and beyond the norm to make the whole book buying experience a wonderful and glorious thing.

You see, it's the book sellers who do a lot of the marketing that gets our books into the hands of our readers. And some just do it better than others.

So today we will toast Powell's Books of Portland, a bookshop you should definitely stop by if you ever have the chance. Now Powell's has several locations in the Portland, Oregon area but the one that really caught my attention was at the Portland airport, Terminal D.

It was late at night -- around 10pm Oregon time, and quite the middle of the night on my watch still set to Eastern Standard Time -- when I disembarked my plane in Portland prepared for a daunting 2 hour wait. It was the time of night when stores tend to be closed at airports, so I was thrilled to see a bookstore that was still open.

Powell's had ambiance, not just books. Its bright yellow lighting glowed against colorfully mixed up books in the children's/YA section -- not a little section, mind you, but a separate room that was equal in size to the adult section. How refreshing! I could see the pirate hats, horse posters and other kid friendly stuff through the large glass doors before I was anywhere near the shop.

And when I lugged my giant suitcase down one row and then the next, knocking books off a shelf or two, James at the counter - in his cool, Oregonian stocking cap -- did not rush forward to quarentine me!

(Thank you, James!)

The children's room was great! There were chests on the floor containing princess gowns and pirate garb, dinosaurs, trains, horses, you name it, strewn in orderly choas around and under the bookshelves. On the shelves themselves only one of each book was present -- the kind of set-up that makes you think you might be the last person in the world with the opportunity to buy this book, and therefore you want it even more. (Excellent marketing. And quite fun to peruse.)

But Powell's went above and beyond all of this with my favorite little touch. Beneath many books they had handwritten notes with teasers telling the synopsis of the story, or whether this was an ALA notable or a Newbery winner, or whether someone associated with the store really liked the book and why. Some recommendation notes were signed with the recommenders' names. Very personal and creative!

And it worked. I bought one. (Ok, I bought two -- I couldn't pass up Shakespeare's Secret, one of my favorite middle grade books that everyone should read.) But the book I bought that I had never heard of was "The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp" which the handwritten note in red and black marker (above) described as "a white-knuckle page-turner with a deep and meaningful heart."

And so they convinced me. I bought the book. And they are right. If you know a middle grade or teen boy who likes helicopters and high speed car chases combined with knights with swords from king arthur's court, then this book of hood-cloaked noble warriors striving to save Excaliber from destroying the world in the 21st century might just be the book for them! There's lots of action and a loveable, bumbling, teen main character.
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So here's A TOAST to Powell's books at the Airport: For great ambiance, great books, great late night hours, an awesome kids' section, and great reading recommendations! I hope to visit you again (with a slightly smaller suitcase).

The 2007CYBILS awards are coming!

2007-10-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Cybils, the internet's first Children's literary awards, are coming soon for 2007. And I am so honored to have been chosen as a judge. So, there will be a lot of news about the Cybils, the nominated books, finalists and such, on this blog beginning in December. For now, nominations are being accepted -- and YOU can nominate books in 7 categories (from picture books to graphic novels). Check it out and get involved at http://www.theedgeoftheforest.com/cybils/about.shtml

SCBWI Carolinas Fall Writers' Conference 2007

2007-10-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

So what happens when a couple of hundred Children's Writers get together for the weekend?

Ehem...

No, seriously, we had a blast at the 15th Annual SCBWI Carolina's Writer's Conference in Durham, NC. The Crystal Ball was a costume-filled success!

In the spirit of the event several members of my critique group dressed up like our own characters. I was thrilled wtih the opportunity to bring my secondary character "Jade" to life.

But there really was more than just revelry going on! There were 4 children/YA editors and quite a few well-credentialed authors on hand to do critiques, lead workshops, and hob-knob with the rest of us about the current trends in children's publishing.

Caldecott Winner, Carole Boston-Weatherford gave the keynote address

Editors from Atheneum, Dutton, Front Street and HarperCollins critiqued first pages aloud, and gave pointers. Big thanks to Caitlyn, Julie, Joy and Molly!

It was a mad dash for coffee in the morning, and then off to our first breakout session. "Illustration tips, writing dialogue, picture book concepts, and getting out of the slush pile," were some of the many topics on the menu throughout the day.

Editor Caitlyn Dlouhy and Author Francis O'Roarke Dowell (who wrote Dovey Coe) spoke about the author/editor relationship and the importance of working together.

There were red-eye critique sessions, a bookstore to peruse, and much discussion of writing techniques and the market, during breaks between sessions.

And once again, my active little critque group padded our free-time discussions with chick-fil-a chicken!

My favorite workshop involved Editor Julie Strauss-Gabel sharing characterization techniques through the eyes of a therapist.

"Figure out what's really going on for your character, and then help them get through it..."

SCBWI Co-Founder Lin Oliver was also an excellent guest at the event, sporting the red turban our chapter gave her (in honor of being the queen of SCBWI,) and giving out awards and sharing tips.

Her advice to "develop a personal cannon" of children's books that you know well, love, and can reference for plot, grammar, characterization and other writing kick-starts, was taken to heart by many. So, it was not unusual to pass small groups of writers sharing their lists of favorite books (their cannon), with each other in the halls.

For my cannon, I'll definitely start with...

1. The Black Stallion Returns

2. Crime and Punishment

3. The Twin Towers

4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

5. Alex Rider: Stormbreaker

6. And, I admit it -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...)

Anyway, now that the conference is over, it's back to the books, people! Let's strengthen those characters, twist those plots, discuss it all in our local critique groups, and head those manuscripts toward the post office.

And as Lin Oliver suggested "Love your characters. Love your work. And love your vocation."

Travel Writing

2007-09-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

Most successful writers, it has been said, have a system. We schedule writing into our week -- an hour a day; 1000 words a day plus research on Tuesdays; three mag. submissions per week -- or whatever our personal system is. My personal writing time generally coincides with the hours when I'm not at my "day job" - so that means I do a lot of my writing late at night on my "work-days." But it also means I really do most of my literary work on Mondays and Tuesdays when I have "off."

And yet there are times when life just plain interferes with my writing schedule. There are sick days, weddings, children's birthday parties, second honey-moons, family reunions, kids' soccer games and other truly important life priorities.

So, how do we work our writing time around such important events? I think one good way is "travel writing." No. I'm not talking about the type of writing where you take a trip to Tahiti and then sell your musings about great bed and breakfasts there to some travel and tourism magazine. (Although that does sound like fun!) But, nope. I'm talking about taking the writing life with you when you travel.

For example, this past week I had to drop all of my plans t0 hop on a plane and fly 4 states over for an unexpected funeral. Now, of course it was extremely important for me to be at the funeral. I was sad about the person who died, and also glad to be with many people I love in the days before and after the funeral proceedings. And yet there was also another emotion on the fringes as I hurriedly packed for the trip. You see, I was frustrated to have my return flight home taking up my entire Monday -- my writing day -- and one that was particularly important this week because I had planned to spend it preparing for the SCBWI Carolina's writing conference coming up next weekend.

So, in order to live both important lives at the same time, I chose to take my writing life on the road.

I packed the things I'd need for the funeral weekend in my checked suitcase, but stashed my laptop with charger and my newest copy of Writer's Digest magazine in my carry-on. I scheduled a flight that would get me there and home again in plenty of time to be present for all of the important events related to the life tragedy -- yet I also carefully chose a flight with a 2 hour lay-over in Atlanta. Lay-overs are what I call built-in writing time! So, I read my Writer's Digest on the plane on the way there, and finished it up several days later, on the way back. And I came away with a list of new publishers to query, new things to add to this blog, and new ways to market my work. (You really should check out the October edition - it's full of great stuff again this month!).

I also jotted some new story ideas in the magazine margins in between airplane peanuts and turbulence, and I wrote out a 1-sentence synops for my current novel -- in preparations for that up-coming conference. Then, during that lay-over in Atlanta, I gulped down a piece of pizza, stationed myself in the corner with my laptop, and type, type, typed on my novel until it was time again to board. Later, as we prepared to land from the last leg of my journey, I thought about what I would write in this blog entry, and I realized once again that I am a BIG, BIG fan of "travel writing."

Finding time to write can require both flexibility and creativity. And sometimes (dare I say it?)things happen in life that are more pressing than writing. Yet, thanks to the beautiful thing I call "travel writing," I'm still prepared and excited for this weekend's conference!

So, what about you? What techniques are you using to take your writing life with you to those soccer games, anniversary weekends, and other "more pressing than writing" events?

(There will soon be an option for adding comments below each post in this blog in addition to the "friendly notes of hello" section in the lower left that is currently active. For now, feel free to post in the lower left.)

Writers' Conference Tool Kit (What to Bring)

2007-09-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Friends I met at My first Writer's Conference. Washington DC. 2006.

So, first we had the Top 10 Things NOT to do at a Children's Writers' Conference. Now, by popular demand, and based on the last two (AKA - also the first two) writer's conferences I have attended, here is the promised list of Things to bring to a Children's writers' conference.

If I had known these things at my first conference I'd definitely have been a lot less nervous! So, with no funny business this time, here they are in order of importance:

TOP 10 Things to Bring to a Children's Writers' conference

1.) You. Awake, and energetic.

So, for you introverts out there -- Yes, I'm one too -- I'm here to tell you, you will need your people-meeting face on for the conference. Networking is what it is all about - no wall-flowering. You will spend much of the day meeting other cool authors, editors and agents, and I have learned that in the publishing world connections or "who you know" can make all the difference.

2.) Comfortable Professionalish Outfit.

Yes, this means whatever clothing makes you feel like a professional author; like a person that other people will want to do business with -- aka to publish you or to want to be in your critique group, etc. NOTE: If you're not comfortable, you won't look professional. Plus you'll be doing a lot of walking. I wouldn't recommend pajamas or formal evening wear. Many people will dress business casual - for some that's more casual than others - some people wear jeans. Be yourself, and remember to layer - conference centers tend to be cold.

3.) Shoulder Tote Bag (or for the men, the manly equivilant:))

There will be a lot of things to collect at the conference - publishers book lists -- and those are heavy -- business cards & books you buy that were written by the presenters, etc. Trust me, two hands will NOT be enough, especially when you're holding coffee too.

4.) Notebook and pen (You'll want to take notes)

5.) A watch.

You'll be changing classes, er, sessions, just like you did in High School. And you don't want to miss anything good, (like Ian Sands' presentation at the upcoming SCBWI Carolinas Conference) by being too long in line at the bathrooms!

6.) A 1-2 Sentence Summary (in your head only) of what your current book is about.

This is because people may ask you, and you want to be able to rattle it off quickly, like a pitch -- not to editors trapped on the elevator, mind you, just to whoever asks. Make it short and theme related. Here's an example Tolkien could have used: "My book, the Lord of the Rings, tells the story of how a young hobbit, with help from an unusual group of friends, chooses to sacrifice his future to save the world from an evil sorceror." Now, Tolkien's pitch could have included "...who controls others through a magic ring," but generally shorter is better.

7.) Business Cards

These should contain whatever contact info. you want strangers, editors, agents, and fellow

writers to have about you -- email, phone, name, what writing organizations you are a member of, etc. You can get business cards cheap online -- search "business cards," or make your own on the computer. Cards are not a conference requirement, but they do make it easier to market yourself to new folks you meet. Make the card reflect who you are.

8.) Cash + Checkbook or credit card.

Coffee, books, cool writerly stuff -- these all are optional purchases, but very fun, & significantly less fun with no money.

9.) Knowledge of the Presenters

This really should have been earlier on the list! It's a good idea to check the websites of the presenters -- or their publishing houses if it's an editor -- before the conference, so that you know what they're known for, & what genre's they are interested in. This will save you from embarrassing conversations like the one I saw several writers having at my first conference. The writers were griping about an agent-presenter and an editor-presenter who were apparently late. Alas, it was that very agent and editor they were talking to at that moment, but they didn't know it, because they'd never gone to their websites to see their photos! Embarrassing.

10.) Confidence

Really this should be # 1. If you don't believe you're a writer, a sellable writer, with a truly great book -- well then, my dear, no-one else will believe it either. So, be confident. You're great! Act like you know it.

I've been tagged!

2007-09-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

So, Karen Lee (the excellent author/illustrator) tagged me with a meme. This means that I'm supposed to write 8 things people might not know about me, and then tag other friends to do the same. Alas, Karen and I have a number of the same friends so I will have to try not to tag any of them again!

The meme rules: each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names (see below), then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

So, here's my meme list -- 8 things about me:

1.) This is the Siletz Public Library, my childhood haunt. By 4th grade I'd read most of the books in the kids' section and was sifting through the dusty stacks in the adult room for something fun to read. Alas, last year they tore it down to build a new and "better" library. Luckily I got there early enough to capture this memory.

2.) My "Fav" books during that life-stage were the Black Stallion books, the Narnia books, and the hardback Nancy Drews.

3.) I can only tell North, South, East and West when the sun is rising or setting. Therefore, I have been lost in more places than most people have been :) -- and I have photos to prove it!

4.) I almost always drink chocolate milk for breakfast.

5.) As a kid I wanted to be a tight-rope walker. I practiced for months on a thin rope my dad patiently strung several feet off the ground between the wash-line poles. I could run across that thing `like pippi longstocking on a rooftop' -- Arms out...side-step, side-step, side-step... taadaa!

6.) At age 15, a friend and I were chased through a swamp by a black bear at night. Some of our clothes are still in the swamp today.

7.) I spent 6 weeks in Russia separated from my passport in the early 1990s. (Passport, Officer? Er...um, what passport?)

8.) I have flown an airplane, studied braille, babysat pet cockroaches and dyed my hair pink. (Ok - so one of these things isn't true. You decide.)

And though some of my bloggerly friends (listed to the left) have already been tagged, I will add three more:

Joan of the journey

George Kulz

and

Kari(a)n the Librarian

And one friend I'd like to tag, but can't, because she has a GREAT writer's website but no blog...

Jean "Speck" Lauzier (@ Storycrafters)

Check her out.

Meanwhile, here is a final thought for today: Living interesting lives gives writers more fodder for writing interesting books. Therefore, like the old childrens' book title says: Choose your own adventure. (And make it worth re-telling).

Top 10 Things NOT to do at a Children's Writer's Conference

2007-08-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

10. Bring a pet Dalmation. Nope. Don't event think about it.

9. Arrive intoxiated on anything other than caffeine.

8. Arrive either without caffeine or without the financial means to acquire caffeine when necessary.

7. Say, "I prefer to use my pen name on my name-tag, since my real name's on the sex offender registry..."

6. Critique a fellow attendee's manuscript to within an inch of death, and then cry and storm out when they do the same to yours.

5. Forget your pen and ask the editor sitting next to you whether they have one that you can borrow.

4. Hand every agent you meet a pastel, perfumed resume with your lingerie-clad glamour shot attached.

3. Wait until the keynote speaker is about to share the punchline of a joke and then loudly ask those sitting around you: " What the heck is an SASE, and why don't these crazy people realize that the synonym for the word WRITER is spelled SCRIBE not SCBWI?!!!"

2. Insinuate to ANYONE that your novel is better than or even similar to J.K. Rowling's or J.M. Barrie's.

And the #1 thing NOT to do at a children's writer's conference:

1. Bring your entire novel manuscript and attempt to read it aloud to every editor that you can corner in the elevator! ("But wait, Editor Smith, don't leave! It get's even better in chapter 17! And look, I've added my own illustrations...!")

Raleigh SCBWI Schmooze a HUGE Success!

2007-08-13T08:02:00.001-07:00

Before the flood of writers arrived, members of the planning committee assembled our classy plastic wine glasses amongst the shelves at Quail Ridge Books. Cheese and wine, fudge and chicken anyone?

Big thanks to our speaker Stephanie Greene for all of her tips on writing chap books and PB's! Great info! Thanks for taking the time, Stephanie.

Ashley, a teen writer (in more ways than one,) educates three published writers/illustrators on what teens look for in good writing. Kudos to Ashley for being the youngest writer at the schmooze!

Checking out Mike Tyson's award-winning illustrations.

Kathy and Jenny conduct a drive-by crit session:

"Now I really like what you've done with your characterization over here..."

Now we look forward to the SCBWI Carolinas 15th Annual Conference in Durham, on September 28-30, 2007. See you there! Don't forget to bring your children's writing-related costume for Saturday night! And stop by here in early September for a list of essential items to bring to any writing conference. Hint: ""a large, stuffed dalmation" did NOT make the list. :)

It's Away!

2007-08-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Into the mail it goes! I've sent the first few chaps and synops of my novel out to an agent. Now begins the waiting to see whether she wants to look at more of the manuscript, or whether she says that this one's not for her... In the meantime, another one of my crit friends has read over the manuscript and given me some ideas on sections in the middle part of the book that would benefit from some tweaking. So, since I've got some time while waiting to hear back from this agent -- 3 weeks to 6 months, I've been told -- I'll be tweaking and hopefully making the novel better while I wait. What are you working on? Post a note and let me know.

Hey, writers, what d'ya know?

2007-08-06T14:58:00.001-07:00

What do I know?

Off-hand, I know that a vertical vs. horizontal take-off promotes the best trajectory for a space-jet to enter low-Earth orbit; that there are tomato plants about to blast off on the shuttle Endeavor; and that the Karman line separating Earth from space is at an altitude of 327,ooo feet.

Am I an astronaut? A scientist? An over the top Star Trek fan?

Nay, my friends, I'm a children's writer...

I know that the prison fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia is where Alexei Petrovich was imprisoned and probably died; that the Moscow subway-system contains some of the coolest stained-glass windows in the world; and that the traditional colors of a matryoshka doll are red, black and yellow. Am I a historian? An art critique? An ex-KGB spy?

Nay, my friends. Again I say, I'm a children's writer.

Whether we're writing fiction or nonfiction, the story for all writers is the same. We say `write what you know' and research what you don't. And because of this we get the fun experience of becoming slight-experts about a lot of very unusual things. Just like the librarians, who love trivia games with a passion, we writers pore over books, court documents, thesis, disertations and web pages on every topic under (and beyond) the Sun. Whether it's bionic-hands, man-eating plants, or wild cats who love to swim -- were into it.

So, perhaps we writer-researchers ought to challenge the librarians to a dual on the trivial pursuit board - at our local libraries, 7pm. (Granted, our friends, the librarians are very knowledgeable, but I think we could give them a challenge for the trivia grand prize).

And for those in other professions who might suggest that being a children's writer is easy, requires only creativity, and leads more to child-like goofiness than to mensa-like brain-growth, perhaps we should say this ... traverse your posteriors in our direction, compatriots, the battle of wits has begun. : )

Going Postal -- The End is Near.

2007-07-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

Ah, and yet this situation is not so forboding as one might think! I'm talking about the end of my novel, now in it's third and most important revision. As you know, I challenged myself to finish my current work in progress (and you to finish yours) before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows arrived in our mailboxes to distract us! Alas, I did not quite reach my goal - as I still have 3 chapters to go. But 3 chapters out of thirty is a drop in the bucket, and so I am thrilled with my progress and motivated to finish soon. While JK Rowling is bidding a sad farewell to Harry, Hermione and Ron, I on the other hand am thrilled to report that the end is also coming for me. The end of one phase, that is, and the beginning of another.

So Harry must wait in the box he came in until my book is in the mail.
One book coming in, one book going out. It's only fair. (No, no, don't tell me who dies in Deathly Hallows, I want to read it for myself! Stupify!) But unlike Rowling's, my "end" is a happy window on a new beginning. The mailing phase!

The mailing phase is so exciting -- especially with the somewhat-recent glorious invention of media mail! Not long ago I had a life-altering media-mail experience. I took one of my stories to the post office stuffed in it's customary yellow manilla envelope, and addressed to the appropriate literary professional. I stood in line, feeling awkward as I always do -- scrunched between people on all sides carrying packages - birthday presents, business documents, illegal terroristic devices (Yikes, I hope not!)... And of course all of us in the line watched as each one reached the cordoned-off front spot and was called forward by the overworked, and frankly rather gruff postal ladies, the guardian's of packages sent by peasants and princes alike. The college student's package went via the cheapest way to Chile; The business man's went overnight-priority to New York. And the postal ladies enforced the rules for each mailing with absolute, unflinching precision.

Then it was my turn, and certain that the whole world was watching I stumbled forward, placed my package on the desk and half-whispered, half-sqeeked, "I need to send this to California, please. It's...just paper..." She looked at me. "Is it media?" I glanced at the package with uncertainty. Dare I claim to be media? "Well, yes, I guess it is media - you could call it that," I faltered, looking down, unsure. She squinted at me. "Well, what is it?" My knees buckled, and I leaned in closer to her -- not because I felt safer there, but because I hoped desperately that the people behind me in line would not hear me say it, and would therefore not know that I was a"wanna-be" masquerading as something I am not. "It, um, it's a...well, it's just a manuscript," I whispered, in a voice only a mouse could hear.

And suddenly everything changed...soft music began to play... she looked at me, and in her eyes I saw that look of shocked admiration one would give to Shakespeare, or Nora Roberts, or J.K. Rowling if you happened upon them in the mall; that confused but intrigued questioning stare that says "Are you an artist? Should I know you? Should I get your autograph now and hold onto if for later?" But then she remembered we were still in the post office, and with a smile she placed the package in the shipping box with two-handed care. "Why, of course, a manuscript - that's media mail," she said firmly. I nodded at her, feeling 2oo-times braver then before, and suddenly hoping that my glasses were not askew and my hair looked all right. "Great, thank you," I said with a you-ought-to-know-me smile. "I really, truly LOVE media mail."

Not just waiting for Harry Potter...

2007-07-10T07:11:00.000-07:00

The Harry Potter Dunk 21 Writer's Challenge is heating up (see bottom left of this page to join). So I've no time to blog more until after July 21st. I'm thrilled with all of you who have jumped into this challenge with me! We'll inspire each other to meet our goals by the 21st -- no problem! Check out various people's challenges below in the comment bar, and by all means leave one of your own.

The HP Dunk-O-Meter at the bottom of this page will monitor my progress as the deadline to finish draft # 3 of my current novel nears. Then off into the big world it goes -- via my new favorite service, media mail.

Stop by here on the 23rd for an introspective soliloquy on postage.

Until then, I must return to revising! I've still got 10 chapters to go!

Jump the Chasm.

2007-07-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

It happens to all of us.

There comes a time when our current writing project becomes overwhelmingly tedious and boring, our plot seems stale, unimaginative, and we suddenly feel that we've hit a roadblock that we just can't get past. Of course, we know we should revamp the plot, cut some stuff, add some stuff, but we dread going back to it. It's too much work! And suddenly the laundry, the beautiful park outside, the dog we normally hate walking, that old crocheting hobby we used to have 12 years ago...these things call to us, and we leave the computer -- sometimes for days or weeks. What? No silly -- of course we check our email and our blogs! It's just the work in progress that we make sure not to open!

For those not well-versed in psychological verbage this is called avoidance. And I at times have quite a knack for it! It's so easy to cruise along typing brilliant prose when the plot flows nicely, the characters all follow their Myers-Briggs types, and I can visualize the future cover of my book reflecting in the windows of every Barnes and Nobles I walk past. (Oh, how beautiful it is...) But when the going gets tough -- yikes -- it's easy to want to throw the whole thing into the circular file and focus back on "regular life."

That's when I remember Tolkien's characters, Frodo and Sam.

Yes, these short, soft-spoken hobbits can be a great example for us.

In book 3 of the Lord of the Rings these two unlikely heroes arrive at a deep, dark chasm that seems impassible. They have a choice to make. Behind them is home, the easy path, the sorrow-filled relief of giving-up. And on the opposite side of the chasm is the dark unknown, a success they can't yet see, and the final, life-saving end to their quest. Of course, the world will likely come to a horrible, bloody end if they turn back, but oh well...you see they've really begun to wonder why they ever started this trip in the first place.

So, like many of us, Sam and Frodo sit down on a rock, putting off the inevitable, questioning their abilities, and acting really quite pathetic.

But eventually they remember that quitting will be no easier than going on. So, despite Sam's fear of heights, and with a rain storm coming up behind them, they take the plunge. And so must we. Nothing will change until we step over the ledge.

So if you, like me, have hit a chasm recently, remember this -- the fate of our novels - perhaps even a whole civilization of future readers -- is in our hands. Let's not turn back! Jump the chasm. Yes, yes, by all means, watch out for the giant murderous spider on the other side! But nevertheless, jump the chasm. These writing roadbump are no match for us!

Here, I'll give you a push.