Oh, man, is it ONLY Tuesday!? I need a vacation already. Actually, I've just read that the U. of Hawai'i at Manoa is having their Thirteenth Biennial Conference on Literature: Imagining Other Lives, Other Times, Other Places, and I'm wishing I was going. Put on by Children's Literature Hawai'i, the conference features one of my favorite middle grade writers, Karen Hesse, and I just realized that if the PhD plans I had only a few years ago had panned out, I'd already be there. Sigh.
(Actually, I'm not sure what the sigh was for... I have enough to do this week without homework!)
Well, I feel slightly vindicated for my little grip last week on how so much of YA fiction is turning into a long commercial to a particular brand of something or other, since Monday's New York Times carried a piece on the same thing. Though there is still no money changing hands (and that's really intriguing to me - would you, as a writer, do free advertising?) CoverGirl cosmetics is well mentioned in Cathy's Book, and the company is launching a website in August to help tie the two.
Despite the buzz, this pat-my-back, I'll-pat-yours routine isn't anything new, really. I guess it's simply the first time there's been a formalized arrangement of you change that eyeliner to a color we make, we list your novel on our website, but there are some issues that bear deeper thought. How long is your publisher going to be your publisher if they're taking funds from someone else to create your book? How long until that touches you as the writer?, On one hand, it's a nifty idea to have websites and addresses where readers can get more information on the book, and from what I hear of the novel, it's kind of an updated, choose-your-own-adventure which uses technology to go even further with the storyline. That's excellent! On the other hand... further ad space for makeup products? Even a tiny bit of marketing to teen readers seems in bad taste. Mmm, gonna have to think about that one...
The Chron did a great piece this morning on Frank Portman and his new novel that's already generated so much excitement (in its FIFTH printing after only two months on the shelves - wow!) King Dork. I had to laugh at Portman's assumption that someday he'd be a literati, smoking a pipe and teaching school somewhere like Maine. Yeah, that's how all humanities majors start out, isn't it? And then you interact with both academia and reality for a bit, and realize you might need to think again. This novel wasn't necessarily on top of my must-read list (okay, I admit it - I've grown out of my punk band phase), but the enthused folks at 'not your mother's bookclub' have talked it up so much that it's rapidly moving to the top of my pile.
Happy Writing...!
June 13, 2006
June 09, 2006
Once upon a time, in Vermont...
Witness, but Karen Hesse, is a gripping story, told in blank verse form, of a Vermont town in 1924 who suffered an incursion of the Klan on their small town. 'Family Values' and American purity was stressed then, as it sometimes is now, and few saw through it, until things begin to happen. Good people questioned themselves. And some did not.
I loved the sepia-toned photographs, which, like a list of actors in a playbill, I kept flipping back to look at repeatedly. The story really came alive.
A quick and insightful piece, encouraging me to read more Karen Hesse!
Writing Emotionally
Though A.Fortis talked about this one before, I wanted to definitely encourage anyone who hasn't yet had a chance to read Joyce Maynard's The Usual Rules. Sometimes writers struggle to write about emotion, and in the wake of the East Coast terrorist attacks in 2001, we were a nation awash in so many emotions that we couldn't separate them out. Maynard uses a number of ways to convey emotion, including sometimes showing emotional conversations, interactions and present tense action without using quotation marks, almost as if it's a film happening without sound. Although the novel is of a serious and heavy nature, it has the required 'kernel of hope' that YA writers hardly ever do without. There are some unexpected pains and arguably there is some convenience in the resolution in the storyline, but the idea that spring comes after winter is always a good theme. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this.
Randomly
I've been whinging about the dearth of multicultural children's lit. Aside from Mitali Perkins, whom we've gushed about before on this site, I am cheered to find a South Asian children's site that is an annotated bibliography that keeps track of what's new, what's out there, etc., for the young reader. Yay!
You know I have gnashed and wept and griped before about the lack of centrally featured strong and impervious girls in literature... (I mean, it's a bit of a shame that the Potter epics aren't called Hermione and the Sorcerers Sword, isn't it? Okay, okay, I know that may be pushing it, but...) I was pleased to find that East Bay maven Jen Robinson has started an official Cool Girls List, and at one point, it was going to be highlighting the top twenty coolest girls in literature. Hah! It's much longer than that now, and I can think of many more!
Awhile ago, Texas illustrator Don Tate blogged about the lack of stories of black males who just ... do stuff, like normal people. I let that thought percolate around in my head in view of the conversations I've had with The Agent, and remembering a very nice rejection I received which said that they appreciated that my character's race wasn't a subject of angst for her, that it was a "refreshing change." I am encouraged by his comments and the number of people who have linked to the post, discussed it, etc., and I know I have my work cut out for me... maybe we all do.
You know I have gnashed and wept and griped before about the lack of centrally featured strong and impervious girls in literature... (I mean, it's a bit of a shame that the Potter epics aren't called Hermione and the Sorcerers Sword, isn't it? Okay, okay, I know that may be pushing it, but...) I was pleased to find that East Bay maven Jen Robinson has started an official Cool Girls List, and at one point, it was going to be highlighting the top twenty coolest girls in literature. Hah! It's much longer than that now, and I can think of many more!
Awhile ago, Texas illustrator Don Tate blogged about the lack of stories of black males who just ... do stuff, like normal people. I let that thought percolate around in my head in view of the conversations I've had with The Agent, and remembering a very nice rejection I received which said that they appreciated that my character's race wasn't a subject of angst for her, that it was a "refreshing change." I am encouraged by his comments and the number of people who have linked to the post, discussed it, etc., and I know I have my work cut out for me... maybe we all do.
It's the Mother of All Reading Weekends!
Every once in awhile I find new bloggers on my favorite topic, YA and Children's Books, and I get a warm fuzzy. I've got more than a warm fuzzy now, I've got The Mother of All Challenges for a book reading/reviewing extravaganza. (Yes, I, too, am prone to hyperbole. I even like spelling the word. Wheee!) How many books can you read and review in 48 hours?! Game to find out? Some of the participants are professional reviewers, ALA types, junior librarians, etc., and your honor as a complete weekend slacker and constant-reader-of-YA-novels-while-eating-in-bed is at stake. The person who started this thinks she can read/review, count 'em, 40. Four-Oh. Are you in?
Final rules and information will be available on Thursday, June 15th, and then it's on. And here's a review of the rules so far:
The weekend is June 16–18th, 2006. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the 15th and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row.
The books should be about fourth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play.
It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it (but don’t stand next to me). If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.
The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review.
For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. When you write your final summary on Monday, let that be the last thing you write that day, so for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.
Your final summary should be posted online after 8:00 on Monday morning, even if you finished your 48 hours on Sunday. Include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading, and any other comments you want to make on the experience.
Hit the link here to sign up, and start stockpiling food in your bedroom. Good luck!
Final rules and information will be available on Thursday, June 15th, and then it's on. And here's a review of the rules so far:
The weekend is June 16–18th, 2006. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the 15th and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row.
The books should be about fourth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play.
It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it (but don’t stand next to me). If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.
The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review.
For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. When you write your final summary on Monday, let that be the last thing you write that day, so for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.
Your final summary should be posted online after 8:00 on Monday morning, even if you finished your 48 hours on Sunday. Include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading, and any other comments you want to make on the experience.
Hit the link here to sign up, and start stockpiling food in your bedroom. Good luck!
The One You've Been Waiting For!
I've actually read two other books recently which I'm not going to even dignify with links. One was a really OBVIOUS mystery, the other a really tacky commercial for just about every product you can think of, written with such a blush-inducing materialistic slant that the writer should be ashamed. So you can imagine my relief when I discovered that the second novel in the Sangreal Trilogy, the one we've been waiting for was waiting for me at the library. Whee!
At first, I was a little confused at the title; depending on which printing, the novel can be called The Traitor's Sword, or The Sword of Straw, but once you get past the first chapter, the title doesn't matter anyway. Nathan's not in bed again. He's dematerializing as he dream-travels, and before you know it, he's knee-deep in... elsewhere. It's a futuristic city, this time, and he sees the Grandir. But he also finds another kingdom, where there is an ailing king and a princess whose kingdom is falling apart. Headstrong as usual, Nathan rushes in -- but the monsters are bigger and the betrayals are heavier this time around. Annie is frantic as her son outgrows her. She knows she should tell him about his father, but... Someone angry has burgledThornyhill, trying to find the Grail - again. And this time, they've been sent - and they know what they're looking for. Inspector Pobjoy returns, cynical and confused as ever; he knows somewhere these people are lying to him. Even Hazel, Nathan's always-faithful friend, isn't what she used to be. Fortunately, Bartlemy is just the same, whipping up treats in the kitchen, and Hoover takes care of the crumbs. Some things have to stay the same. At least they are on the surface...
As usual, getting what you want makes you want more. Can't wait for the end of the trilogy, and an explanation of how it will all wrap up. I'm beginning to suspect a connection between the Grandir and Nathan... but why? And who is Bartlemy really?
At first, I was a little confused at the title; depending on which printing, the novel can be called The Traitor's Sword, or The Sword of Straw, but once you get past the first chapter, the title doesn't matter anyway. Nathan's not in bed again. He's dematerializing as he dream-travels, and before you know it, he's knee-deep in... elsewhere. It's a futuristic city, this time, and he sees the Grandir. But he also finds another kingdom, where there is an ailing king and a princess whose kingdom is falling apart. Headstrong as usual, Nathan rushes in -- but the monsters are bigger and the betrayals are heavier this time around. Annie is frantic as her son outgrows her. She knows she should tell him about his father, but... Someone angry has burgledThornyhill, trying to find the Grail - again. And this time, they've been sent - and they know what they're looking for. Inspector Pobjoy returns, cynical and confused as ever; he knows somewhere these people are lying to him. Even Hazel, Nathan's always-faithful friend, isn't what she used to be. Fortunately, Bartlemy is just the same, whipping up treats in the kitchen, and Hoover takes care of the crumbs. Some things have to stay the same. At least they are on the surface...
As usual, getting what you want makes you want more. Can't wait for the end of the trilogy, and an explanation of how it will all wrap up. I'm beginning to suspect a connection between the Grandir and Nathan... but why? And who is Bartlemy really?
June 08, 2006
Marketing the YA Reader
(I should warn you that this is the Web equivalent of drunk-dialing: blogging about writing while in depressing Edit Hell. I apologize in advance for the negative tone.)
I have been thinking I should get a real job.
There's got to be millions to be made in marketing, but I've never been interested in creating consumerism and pandering to corporations. I want to be a writer, and do boring things like connect with people and help YA readers and middle grade kids know that, whatever their home life or school situation is, they're not alone.
How silly of me.
Today I read Kate Brian's Lucky T and realize that a 'real' job is just inches away. I can now engage in my chosen profession AND siphon some of the cash to be had in marketing jobs. Product placement is the key! Kate Brian is living the dream: she's a marketing guru disguised as a YA writer.
I knew it by the time I got to the third chapter of her novel. I stopped, picked up pen and paper, and went back to the beginning of her novel, so I could take notes on her awesome huckster technique. This is what I found:
In the first chapter of her novel, Brian mentioned:
Victoria's Secret, Miss Sixty low-riders, Red Bull, Diet Coke, (Anne of Green Gables, Tolkien, Beauty & the Beast) Hubba Bubba, Hello Kitty & "Micky-D's." Chapter 2 listed the Escape Hybrid, Pizza Hut Express, and McDonalds. Chapter 3: American Eagle, FCUK, BBQ Lays, Proactiv, The Matrix, NBA Blazers, (Pier 39 - a place, so that's iffy) Advil, Cosmo Magazine. Chapter 4 gave me Fudge-Covered Oreos, Snapple, Febreze, Travel Network, DKNY Jeans, Hilton, Discman; Ch. 5 inserted Avon's Skin-So-Soft, Mack trucks, Kill Bill, and Wes Craven, the movie-maker, and led to Chapter 6 with Oral B Brush-ups, J-Crew, Collin Farrell, NCAA College Basketball 2K3 on Xbox and SportCenter. It goes on. By Chapter 9, I had to get another pad of paper. It included: 49ers, BCBG, Abercrombie, (Captain Underpants) Shape Magazine, Power Rangers, Maxim Magazine, Lindsay Lohan, iPod, WNBA, Tom Hanks,( the movie, Castaway) Ch. 12: Kodak, FedEx, Barbie, Pacific Sunwear, Hollister Co., Haagen-Dazs, The Gap, Yoo-Hoo, Birkenstocks, InStyle Magazine, BlackBerry, Starbucks, Polo Sport Cologne.
It's so simple it's blinding. Character-driven fiction isn't what 13-18's want to read, anyway. They simply want to be told what to wear and where to get it. And then they can get on with the rest of their fairytales lives and live happily ever after.
Right?
Okay. I know that publishers these days publish some novels to be commercials, books not destined for bookshelves longer than a season, thus okay to be filled with soon-to-be-dated pop culture references and this week's fashion trends. I realize that in many ways publishing is no longer about the book, or, heck, the reader and it's all about the money and how best to make it fastest. That's part of being in a capitalistic culture. And I want to state that I don't think that eliminating all brand names and popular culture references from a novel is necessary. I know that there are some things that are sort of American icons like Disneyland or well-known landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the names of movies and actors, bands and singers, etc., that can bring a little anchoring to your story, and I'm CERTAINLY all for mentioning the titles of books that the characters are reading or have read. But enough is enough. Am I hoping to sell Proactiv to my acne-scarred reader? Maybe entice them to whine for more allowance to try the newest Starbucks drink or scarf down the flavor of the month at Haagen-Dazs or the newest double cheese burger at Burger King and pack on a few more pounds? If I am... why?
I think my mother kind of created a monster when she used to rip the brand tags off my (secondhand, name brand) jeans and tell me that Mr. Levi-Strauss didn't pay rent to be advertised on my body. (Too bad I didn't appreciate this point of view at the time.) I can't do this pop culture thing. I'm too disbelieving and too cynical and frankly, too slow to keep up with the mercurial ebbs and flows of what's hot and what's not. Trying makes me feel like a junior high geek (that ill-concealed persona which lurks beneath my urbane adult self) and also seems to make me Least Likely To Succeed as a writer. And, finally, it makes me feel dishonest to think of putting so many products in a story, as if I've cheapened the act of creation it is to write a story. I'd feel like a total sell-out. What does Abercrombie & Fitch or Bayer or Tide or Jenny Craig or NyQuil or NoDoze or any other pharmaceutical, cleaning product, food brand or clothing line have to do with telling a good story? And it always begs the question, to me: what's the benefit for the writer? Are these people paying her somehow?
Every teen I know is already so self-conscious that what they have isn't the best thing, the right thing, the things that the leaders of the pack have had for weeks and are about to throw away for the next big thing that they're halfway insane. If you're writing for kids because you love that age group, why would you help make them crazier by writing them ad copy in lieu of a story that can take them out of the noise in their heads, for just a blessed minute?
I have been thinking I should get a real job.
There's got to be millions to be made in marketing, but I've never been interested in creating consumerism and pandering to corporations. I want to be a writer, and do boring things like connect with people and help YA readers and middle grade kids know that, whatever their home life or school situation is, they're not alone.
How silly of me.
Today I read Kate Brian's Lucky T and realize that a 'real' job is just inches away. I can now engage in my chosen profession AND siphon some of the cash to be had in marketing jobs. Product placement is the key! Kate Brian is living the dream: she's a marketing guru disguised as a YA writer.
I knew it by the time I got to the third chapter of her novel. I stopped, picked up pen and paper, and went back to the beginning of her novel, so I could take notes on her awesome huckster technique. This is what I found:
In the first chapter of her novel, Brian mentioned:
Victoria's Secret, Miss Sixty low-riders, Red Bull, Diet Coke, (Anne of Green Gables, Tolkien, Beauty & the Beast) Hubba Bubba, Hello Kitty & "Micky-D's." Chapter 2 listed the Escape Hybrid, Pizza Hut Express, and McDonalds. Chapter 3: American Eagle, FCUK, BBQ Lays, Proactiv, The Matrix, NBA Blazers, (Pier 39 - a place, so that's iffy) Advil, Cosmo Magazine. Chapter 4 gave me Fudge-Covered Oreos, Snapple, Febreze, Travel Network, DKNY Jeans, Hilton, Discman; Ch. 5 inserted Avon's Skin-So-Soft, Mack trucks, Kill Bill, and Wes Craven, the movie-maker, and led to Chapter 6 with Oral B Brush-ups, J-Crew, Collin Farrell, NCAA College Basketball 2K3 on Xbox and SportCenter. It goes on. By Chapter 9, I had to get another pad of paper. It included: 49ers, BCBG, Abercrombie, (Captain Underpants) Shape Magazine, Power Rangers, Maxim Magazine, Lindsay Lohan, iPod, WNBA, Tom Hanks,( the movie, Castaway) Ch. 12: Kodak, FedEx, Barbie, Pacific Sunwear, Hollister Co., Haagen-Dazs, The Gap, Yoo-Hoo, Birkenstocks, InStyle Magazine, BlackBerry, Starbucks, Polo Sport Cologne.
It's so simple it's blinding. Character-driven fiction isn't what 13-18's want to read, anyway. They simply want to be told what to wear and where to get it. And then they can get on with the rest of their fairytales lives and live happily ever after.
Right?
Okay. I know that publishers these days publish some novels to be commercials, books not destined for bookshelves longer than a season, thus okay to be filled with soon-to-be-dated pop culture references and this week's fashion trends. I realize that in many ways publishing is no longer about the book, or, heck, the reader and it's all about the money and how best to make it fastest. That's part of being in a capitalistic culture. And I want to state that I don't think that eliminating all brand names and popular culture references from a novel is necessary. I know that there are some things that are sort of American icons like Disneyland or well-known landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the names of movies and actors, bands and singers, etc., that can bring a little anchoring to your story, and I'm CERTAINLY all for mentioning the titles of books that the characters are reading or have read. But enough is enough. Am I hoping to sell Proactiv to my acne-scarred reader? Maybe entice them to whine for more allowance to try the newest Starbucks drink or scarf down the flavor of the month at Haagen-Dazs or the newest double cheese burger at Burger King and pack on a few more pounds? If I am... why?
I think my mother kind of created a monster when she used to rip the brand tags off my (secondhand, name brand) jeans and tell me that Mr. Levi-Strauss didn't pay rent to be advertised on my body. (Too bad I didn't appreciate this point of view at the time.) I can't do this pop culture thing. I'm too disbelieving and too cynical and frankly, too slow to keep up with the mercurial ebbs and flows of what's hot and what's not. Trying makes me feel like a junior high geek (that ill-concealed persona which lurks beneath my urbane adult self) and also seems to make me Least Likely To Succeed as a writer. And, finally, it makes me feel dishonest to think of putting so many products in a story, as if I've cheapened the act of creation it is to write a story. I'd feel like a total sell-out. What does Abercrombie & Fitch or Bayer or Tide or Jenny Craig or NyQuil or NoDoze or any other pharmaceutical, cleaning product, food brand or clothing line have to do with telling a good story? And it always begs the question, to me: what's the benefit for the writer? Are these people paying her somehow?
Every teen I know is already so self-conscious that what they have isn't the best thing, the right thing, the things that the leaders of the pack have had for weeks and are about to throw away for the next big thing that they're halfway insane. If you're writing for kids because you love that age group, why would you help make them crazier by writing them ad copy in lieu of a story that can take them out of the noise in their heads, for just a blessed minute?
June 07, 2006
Go Kirkus! Go Kirkus! It's Your Birthday!
From the Kirkus website (and thanks to the SCBWI e-newsletter for the tip):
Kirkus Reviews, the leading pre-publication book-review journal, has officially launched its second year of the annual search for the Next Big Literary Star. "For this project, Kirkus has turned its well-known abilities in the area of literary criticism and analysis to finding a brand-new voice," said Jerome Kramer, Kirkus Reviews Editor-in-Chief. "You might call it American Idol for the book world."
Kirkus is now accepting submissions for the 2006-2007 literary award, with the winning manuscript to be published by a major New York publisher. To enter your completed yet unpublished, full-length (45,000+ words) novel or short-story collection, please follow the submission guidelines for a chance to win a publishing contract.
The early-bird deadline is October 31, and the fee until then is $135. So get cracking! The contest is open to anyone who has NOT yet published a novel or short-story collection. More details here.
Hmmm...I sense a late-October personal deadline for my novel revision...
Kirkus Reviews, the leading pre-publication book-review journal, has officially launched its second year of the annual search for the Next Big Literary Star. "For this project, Kirkus has turned its well-known abilities in the area of literary criticism and analysis to finding a brand-new voice," said Jerome Kramer, Kirkus Reviews Editor-in-Chief. "You might call it American Idol for the book world."
Kirkus is now accepting submissions for the 2006-2007 literary award, with the winning manuscript to be published by a major New York publisher. To enter your completed yet unpublished, full-length (45,000+ words) novel or short-story collection, please follow the submission guidelines for a chance to win a publishing contract.
The early-bird deadline is October 31, and the fee until then is $135. So get cracking! The contest is open to anyone who has NOT yet published a novel or short-story collection. More details here.
Hmmm...I sense a late-October personal deadline for my novel revision...
June 06, 2006
Odds & Ends
There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. -- W. Somerset Maugham
I don't know what they are, either. After another round of edits (and a truly horrendous conversation with *S.A.M., resulting in him actually feeling the need to explain emigrate vs. immigrate, and saying the words "show, don't tell" -- the horror!!) I now officially feel that I know nothing about novels, nothing about writing, nothing about my characters, and all too much about the nature of certain people on the East Coast. That's okay - I know someone else on that side of the world, and she remarked once that she was glad to be back East where she can be rude. This North Bay girl might need to take some lessons from a Jersey Girl and be a little rude...
The Detroit Free Press is following one of their writers through the process of writing and selling a book. Her first installment is a funny piece on readers and writers and that frightening statistic of 80% of Americans who believe they have a book within them (That number comes from Brian Hill and Dee Power, the authors of "The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents and Booksellers Behind Them" (Kaplan, $19.95).). Well, we have that in common, I suppose, but it'll be interesting to see if the author perseveres to get it written and actually sold. Anyway, statistics (those lying, twisted things) are always being collected to reveal that there are far more novelists than readers, and writers often have to take a deep breath before committing themselves to the act of creation that is writing. But once you're in for the lunacy of writing, why stop there? Why not believe that you can win tickets to the Dublin Writing Festival, too? It's just one more impossible thing to believe before breakfast.
A really annoying trip to the bookstore with the Littles (younger sibs) proved to me something I'd long suspected: that there really are very few good chapter books for the transitional group from early readers to longer fiction. There aren't as many multicultural books as there should be. There aren't as many great books for middle grade readers as they should be, and there really aren't as many books for reluctant readers as there could be. This is NOT to say that there aren't some marvelous books out, but in the huge chain bookstore where I was (yuck, and I usually patronize independents, but I wasn't near one), I saw huge, thick books that beckoned middle grade readers who were already competent, not interesting books for struggling kids. I saw a lot I didn't like, and it made me want to go home. Funnily enough, an article I ran across in the School Library Journal website came to the same conclusions! I feel vindicated... but now I'm worried, too. What are we writers going to do about this? I hope publishers are listening, too...
*secret agent man, in case you'd forgotten.
I don't know what they are, either. After another round of edits (and a truly horrendous conversation with *S.A.M., resulting in him actually feeling the need to explain emigrate vs. immigrate, and saying the words "show, don't tell" -- the horror!!) I now officially feel that I know nothing about novels, nothing about writing, nothing about my characters, and all too much about the nature of certain people on the East Coast. That's okay - I know someone else on that side of the world, and she remarked once that she was glad to be back East where she can be rude. This North Bay girl might need to take some lessons from a Jersey Girl and be a little rude...
The Detroit Free Press is following one of their writers through the process of writing and selling a book. Her first installment is a funny piece on readers and writers and that frightening statistic of 80% of Americans who believe they have a book within them (That number comes from Brian Hill and Dee Power, the authors of "The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents and Booksellers Behind Them" (Kaplan, $19.95).). Well, we have that in common, I suppose, but it'll be interesting to see if the author perseveres to get it written and actually sold. Anyway, statistics (those lying, twisted things) are always being collected to reveal that there are far more novelists than readers, and writers often have to take a deep breath before committing themselves to the act of creation that is writing. But once you're in for the lunacy of writing, why stop there? Why not believe that you can win tickets to the Dublin Writing Festival, too? It's just one more impossible thing to believe before breakfast.
A really annoying trip to the bookstore with the Littles (younger sibs) proved to me something I'd long suspected: that there really are very few good chapter books for the transitional group from early readers to longer fiction. There aren't as many multicultural books as there should be. There aren't as many great books for middle grade readers as they should be, and there really aren't as many books for reluctant readers as there could be. This is NOT to say that there aren't some marvelous books out, but in the huge chain bookstore where I was (yuck, and I usually patronize independents, but I wasn't near one), I saw huge, thick books that beckoned middle grade readers who were already competent, not interesting books for struggling kids. I saw a lot I didn't like, and it made me want to go home. Funnily enough, an article I ran across in the School Library Journal website came to the same conclusions! I feel vindicated... but now I'm worried, too. What are we writers going to do about this? I hope publishers are listening, too...
*secret agent man, in case you'd forgotten.
A SUMMER READ: Sheep Girl Makes Good
There's nothing like getting into a good fantasy, and since Giannine's cruddy father at least has the decency to have his secretary ask her what she wants for her birthday, she can choose what she wants: a pricey half hour of the Rasmussen Gaming Center's virtual reality game Heir Apparent. It's cloaks, it's daggers, it's castles and wizards; it's dungeons and dragons and strange tastes and weird smells and velvets and brocade more. And, best of all, it's fantasy. It's not thinking about her life - or her horrible parents - for what feels like a three whole days.
When Giannine gets to the gaming center, there's a protest in progress. Citizens to Protect Our Children (CPOC) is up in arms and waving signs, but Giannine doesn't care - she just wants to play. It's a good place to forget that her dad hardly ever sees her, and doesn't seem to care much about her. After all, he chucked her with her grandma, and made her mother get a paternity test to prove she was his when they got divorced. It's better to just ignore reality for awhile, and Heir Apparent seems like a tricky enough game for Giannine to get her wish.
But that's before something goes wrong with a game! There's only one way out -- winning. And Giannine can't figure it out. She's just supposed to get the magic ring, find a treasure, answer a riddle, make up a poem, escape from some ghosts and steal something from a man-eating dragon. I mean, how hard could it be? It's only a game!
But, this time it's more. And Giannine is running out of time...
Remember choose your own adventure novels? This is even cooler!
When Giannine gets to the gaming center, there's a protest in progress. Citizens to Protect Our Children (CPOC) is up in arms and waving signs, but Giannine doesn't care - she just wants to play. It's a good place to forget that her dad hardly ever sees her, and doesn't seem to care much about her. After all, he chucked her with her grandma, and made her mother get a paternity test to prove she was his when they got divorced. It's better to just ignore reality for awhile, and Heir Apparent seems like a tricky enough game for Giannine to get her wish.
But that's before something goes wrong with a game! There's only one way out -- winning. And Giannine can't figure it out. She's just supposed to get the magic ring, find a treasure, answer a riddle, make up a poem, escape from some ghosts and steal something from a man-eating dragon. I mean, how hard could it be? It's only a game!
But, this time it's more. And Giannine is running out of time...
Remember choose your own adventure novels? This is even cooler!
A SUMMER READ: Phoenix
Phoenix Rising definitely counts as a Summer Read, but not for the usual reasons. It is neither lighthearted fare nor funny (in fact, you may need a tissue), but it is a short novel that stays with you. Karen Hesse wrote this book after seeing a documentary on the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl, and was unable to shake the scenes of devastation from her memory. This book contains the same ache, adding to it the poignance of a friendship coupled with the losses a disaster brings -- mostly a loss of innocence.
Nyle lives with her grandmother on her Vermont sheep ranch. Nyle didn't always live there; once she had both a mother and a father, but her mother was dying, and her father abandoned them both. Once she had a grandfather, too, but illness carried him away, leaving Nyle a terror of the back bedroom where both of them died, and a deep ache. Older now, Nyle is used to living with losses, has gotten used to the rhythm and routine of life with sheep. She loves her best friend, tries hard in school, and isn't interested in learning any other way of life. Nyle is home.
But then 'home' changes. A nuclear accident at a nearby plant plunges the community into dark basements, masks on their faces. Roads are blocked, cattle are slaughtered and fear looms throughout the village. When her grandmother quietly takes in a refugee family, Nyle is afraid that the darkness in that back bedroom will take another life. She is afraid to meet death again, afraid to even look at the faces of the people who have suffered so much, and probably would die. But because it's the right thing to do, she pushes down her fears and looks. What the room holds instead of fear is hope.
Nyle lives with her grandmother on her Vermont sheep ranch. Nyle didn't always live there; once she had both a mother and a father, but her mother was dying, and her father abandoned them both. Once she had a grandfather, too, but illness carried him away, leaving Nyle a terror of the back bedroom where both of them died, and a deep ache. Older now, Nyle is used to living with losses, has gotten used to the rhythm and routine of life with sheep. She loves her best friend, tries hard in school, and isn't interested in learning any other way of life. Nyle is home.
But then 'home' changes. A nuclear accident at a nearby plant plunges the community into dark basements, masks on their faces. Roads are blocked, cattle are slaughtered and fear looms throughout the village. When her grandmother quietly takes in a refugee family, Nyle is afraid that the darkness in that back bedroom will take another life. She is afraid to meet death again, afraid to even look at the faces of the people who have suffered so much, and probably would die. But because it's the right thing to do, she pushes down her fears and looks. What the room holds instead of fear is hope.
June 05, 2006
A SUMMER READ: The Undead Have Class!
It's just not every day that you run across a truly funny vampire book. I thought I wouldn't like Vampire High, by Douglas Rees, but it has an awful lot going for it. For one thing, it's not trying to pretend it's a Certain High School on a Hellmouth. It's in New Sodom, Massachusetts and it's remarkably low on musicals, nights of horror and drained bodies. It's kind of normal. Kind of. There are three high schools - a Catholic school called Our Lady of Perpetual Homework, Cotton Mather High, and ...Vlad Dracul Magnet School.
The locals don't talk about that one, much.
Cody Elliot is determined to flunk every class at Cotton Mather in an attempt to force his father to let him go home. His mother is unhappy, and he hates Massachusetts. He's longing for California something awful. His father, a lawyer finally getting a chance to work his way into partnership at an excellent law firm, is adamant -- they're not going back. Instead, Cody's changing schools.
Vlad Dracul is...weird. Everyone is tall. Mr. Horvath, the principal, must be at least seven feet. And he's got a pet wolf, which seems like it can almost talk. The school is posh - there's marble and gold everywhere. There are kids with chauffeurs and everyone looks rich -- and smart. So many of Cody's classmates sport sunglasses that you'd think their parents had stock in Ray Ban. There's no pushing in the halls, no note passing, no chewing gum -- no, those aren't the rules, the kids just don't do that. Cody wonders what's up with everyone, but he takes it all in stride.
And then one of the pales kids shows Cody his fangs.
Once Cody gets over the obvious, he tries to figure it out -- how does he fit in at Vlad Dracul? Why are there humans around at all? He's making straight A's by doing absolutely nothing? He's got a free ride? Cody's dad is a lawyer... so Cody knows nothing is really for free. He figures there's a catch. So, what is it?
It'll surprise you. And what Cody chooses to do about it will surprise you even more.
Another quick, fun satire that manages to be slyly funny while looking past the surface of human nature and ambition, and what motivates us. It's all about high school -- really.
The locals don't talk about that one, much.
Cody Elliot is determined to flunk every class at Cotton Mather in an attempt to force his father to let him go home. His mother is unhappy, and he hates Massachusetts. He's longing for California something awful. His father, a lawyer finally getting a chance to work his way into partnership at an excellent law firm, is adamant -- they're not going back. Instead, Cody's changing schools.
Vlad Dracul is...weird. Everyone is tall. Mr. Horvath, the principal, must be at least seven feet. And he's got a pet wolf, which seems like it can almost talk. The school is posh - there's marble and gold everywhere. There are kids with chauffeurs and everyone looks rich -- and smart. So many of Cody's classmates sport sunglasses that you'd think their parents had stock in Ray Ban. There's no pushing in the halls, no note passing, no chewing gum -- no, those aren't the rules, the kids just don't do that. Cody wonders what's up with everyone, but he takes it all in stride.
And then one of the pales kids shows Cody his fangs.
Once Cody gets over the obvious, he tries to figure it out -- how does he fit in at Vlad Dracul? Why are there humans around at all? He's making straight A's by doing absolutely nothing? He's got a free ride? Cody's dad is a lawyer... so Cody knows nothing is really for free. He figures there's a catch. So, what is it?
It'll surprise you. And what Cody chooses to do about it will surprise you even more.
Another quick, fun satire that manages to be slyly funny while looking past the surface of human nature and ambition, and what motivates us. It's all about high school -- really.
SUMMER READ - Magic: Use it or lose it
It's time to talk about Summer Reads again!
I know - it's not officially summertime until well into the middle of this month, but I don't care. I'm already giving in to the sapping sunshine, wanting to stretch out, catlike, with a book and let the world roll on without me.
If you're ready to dive into summer in another world, Justine Larbalestier's Magic Or Madness is a book that reaches out and pulls you in. Australia isn't where many fantasy novels are set, but the choice is perfect as the antithesis of the East Village, New York -- it might as well be another universe.
Reason Cansino is trying to escape from her grandmother - a crazy woman who is convinced she's a witch. Her mother has told her stories about The Witch for years - that she killed her cat, that she kidnapped kids -- and Reason knows enough to be wary and scared. Her mother, Sarafina, has taught her all sorts of things in case of emergency: the layout of her grandmother's house, things to do to drive her crazy, since she really believes she's magical -- and things to make her safe. Reason's name as good as locks her into believing in logic and rationality. But when her mother loses it and ends up institutionalized, there's no one left to live with but her grandmother - the witch. And then Reason starts to lose her grip -- the day she steps out of a locked door in her grandmother's house, she finds herself in New York.
Suddenly magic is real.
Why has her mother been lying to her all these years?
Who's the chick who gives her a coat and a hot fire to thaw her out, after she steps into an East Coast snowstorm?
What's going on?
This arresting novel comes with a sequel, which I'm hoping to jump into soon. It's a quick afternoon read, and has that page-turning intensity which would probably make is smarter to read the first one with the sequel right next to you!
I know - it's not officially summertime until well into the middle of this month, but I don't care. I'm already giving in to the sapping sunshine, wanting to stretch out, catlike, with a book and let the world roll on without me.
If you're ready to dive into summer in another world, Justine Larbalestier's Magic Or Madness is a book that reaches out and pulls you in. Australia isn't where many fantasy novels are set, but the choice is perfect as the antithesis of the East Village, New York -- it might as well be another universe.
Reason Cansino is trying to escape from her grandmother - a crazy woman who is convinced she's a witch. Her mother has told her stories about The Witch for years - that she killed her cat, that she kidnapped kids -- and Reason knows enough to be wary and scared. Her mother, Sarafina, has taught her all sorts of things in case of emergency: the layout of her grandmother's house, things to do to drive her crazy, since she really believes she's magical -- and things to make her safe. Reason's name as good as locks her into believing in logic and rationality. But when her mother loses it and ends up institutionalized, there's no one left to live with but her grandmother - the witch. And then Reason starts to lose her grip -- the day she steps out of a locked door in her grandmother's house, she finds herself in New York.
Suddenly magic is real.
Why has her mother been lying to her all these years?
Who's the chick who gives her a coat and a hot fire to thaw her out, after she steps into an East Coast snowstorm?
What's going on?
This arresting novel comes with a sequel, which I'm hoping to jump into soon. It's a quick afternoon read, and has that page-turning intensity which would probably make is smarter to read the first one with the sequel right next to you!
June 04, 2006
Summer Fantasy Extravaganza
I've always liked the hyperbole of the word "extravaganza." What is a "vaganza" anyway, that having an extra is a good idea? Anyway. I've been reading up on a lot of fantasy lately, in thinking about writing some fantasy or sci-fi myself, and have caught up with some classic series as well as a few more recent releases—all of them new to me, though—and they're all included here. And, let me tell you, it's been a fun way to stay inside in the air-conditioning now that it's June and north central California is becoming an oven.
What started me on my latest fantasy binge was seeing a new release by Tamora Pierce in a bookstore (in blessedly cool Seattle), reading the dust jacket, and realizing that I had two whole series of her books left to read before I ought to tackle this, the latest in the Circle of Magic and Circle Opens world. So I did. I went to the library and first checked out the Circle of Magic quartet. These series are set in a world similar in feel to the Lioness and related series, though there's a new world map to get to know and a new set of cultures and social structures. All of these are drawn with Pierce's usual attention to detail and knowledge of our own world's history.
In the first of these books, Sandry's Book, we are introduced to all four main characters: Sandry, Tris, and Daja, all girls, and Briar, one boy. All are about ten years old, each is from a very different walk of life, but all have strange, untested, yet powerful forms of magic. Brought together by the respected mage Niko to the temple of Winding Circle, they must get to know one another at the same time that they learn to control their magic. In the process, they form bonds with one another that, while they are magically strong, will be tested in various ways as each one encounters his or her own set of trials. In the first four books, the four learn how to control their magic together at Winding Circle, as pupils of the temple dedicates: Sandry with thread magic, Tris with weather magic, Daja her fire magic, and Briar with green magic.
The story picks up a few years later in the Circle Opens quartet, in which the four travel separately to various reaches of their world with their teachers. Each one must now become a mage-teacher themselves, and learn to help others without the added magical support and friendship of the other members of the quartet. Daja, for instance, must help a community deal with an insidious arsonist while teaching two wayward sisters how to control their burgeoning magical talents. In this quartet, the stories grow increasingly exciting, and the world is drawn in more and more detail, but at the same time, there's a bittersweet feeling, as each of the students must learn to face life without one another.
Here's where the newest book, The Will of the Empress, picks up. Sandry, Briar, Daja, and Tris are brought together once again, as older teenagers, but they've been apart for so long that the bonds of both magic and friendship have suffered. Can they learn to re-forge that bond in time to deal with a scheming Empress's harmful plotting? Yet another exciting tale.
Of course, I read all this a little while ago, in the late spring, actually, before going on vacation for a while. Upon coming back, I started thinking about revising a novel manuscript I've been trying to get published and TadMack recommended a book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series entitled The Wee Free Men. I hadn't read a Discworld novel in years—since I was in high school, probably. What I remembered about Discworld—or so I thought—was its rampant silliness and satire, so I wasn't sure how that would apply to my particular project, which is decidedly not a satire. But I thought I'd give it a read, because TadMack has excellent taste, and also because it would make a nice break from thinking heavy revision-related thoughts.
It turned out that I was in for a nice surprise. Though Wee Free Men and its sequel, A Hat Full of Sky, are loosely set in Discworld, the heavy satire I remember is largely absent. Although there is a lot of humor, and occasional references to recurring characters, this story could have been set in the bucolic past of our own world. Imagine an England-like countryside where witches exist, but are mistrusted; where the world of faerie pops up to those who have eyes to see.
Now insert young Tiffany Aching, heir to her grandmother's witchy heritage. Instead of happy little fairies with golden wings, insert a tribe of miniature cussing Scottish hooligans. Though this is in many ways a funny story, it's also suspenseful, dealing with the dark side of faerie, and the general stupidity of human nature. I'm still reading the sequel, and, happily, I hear that there's a third book in the works. I can hardly wait, and I'm even thinking about re-reading the other Discworld books. After all, I have a friend who owns all of them, and an entire hot summer ahead of me.
What started me on my latest fantasy binge was seeing a new release by Tamora Pierce in a bookstore (in blessedly cool Seattle), reading the dust jacket, and realizing that I had two whole series of her books left to read before I ought to tackle this, the latest in the Circle of Magic and Circle Opens world. So I did. I went to the library and first checked out the Circle of Magic quartet. These series are set in a world similar in feel to the Lioness and related series, though there's a new world map to get to know and a new set of cultures and social structures. All of these are drawn with Pierce's usual attention to detail and knowledge of our own world's history.
In the first of these books, Sandry's Book, we are introduced to all four main characters: Sandry, Tris, and Daja, all girls, and Briar, one boy. All are about ten years old, each is from a very different walk of life, but all have strange, untested, yet powerful forms of magic. Brought together by the respected mage Niko to the temple of Winding Circle, they must get to know one another at the same time that they learn to control their magic. In the process, they form bonds with one another that, while they are magically strong, will be tested in various ways as each one encounters his or her own set of trials. In the first four books, the four learn how to control their magic together at Winding Circle, as pupils of the temple dedicates: Sandry with thread magic, Tris with weather magic, Daja her fire magic, and Briar with green magic.
The story picks up a few years later in the Circle Opens quartet, in which the four travel separately to various reaches of their world with their teachers. Each one must now become a mage-teacher themselves, and learn to help others without the added magical support and friendship of the other members of the quartet. Daja, for instance, must help a community deal with an insidious arsonist while teaching two wayward sisters how to control their burgeoning magical talents. In this quartet, the stories grow increasingly exciting, and the world is drawn in more and more detail, but at the same time, there's a bittersweet feeling, as each of the students must learn to face life without one another.
Here's where the newest book, The Will of the Empress, picks up. Sandry, Briar, Daja, and Tris are brought together once again, as older teenagers, but they've been apart for so long that the bonds of both magic and friendship have suffered. Can they learn to re-forge that bond in time to deal with a scheming Empress's harmful plotting? Yet another exciting tale.
Of course, I read all this a little while ago, in the late spring, actually, before going on vacation for a while. Upon coming back, I started thinking about revising a novel manuscript I've been trying to get published and TadMack recommended a book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series entitled The Wee Free Men. I hadn't read a Discworld novel in years—since I was in high school, probably. What I remembered about Discworld—or so I thought—was its rampant silliness and satire, so I wasn't sure how that would apply to my particular project, which is decidedly not a satire. But I thought I'd give it a read, because TadMack has excellent taste, and also because it would make a nice break from thinking heavy revision-related thoughts.
It turned out that I was in for a nice surprise. Though Wee Free Men and its sequel, A Hat Full of Sky, are loosely set in Discworld, the heavy satire I remember is largely absent. Although there is a lot of humor, and occasional references to recurring characters, this story could have been set in the bucolic past of our own world. Imagine an England-like countryside where witches exist, but are mistrusted; where the world of faerie pops up to those who have eyes to see.
Now insert young Tiffany Aching, heir to her grandmother's witchy heritage. Instead of happy little fairies with golden wings, insert a tribe of miniature cussing Scottish hooligans. Though this is in many ways a funny story, it's also suspenseful, dealing with the dark side of faerie, and the general stupidity of human nature. I'm still reading the sequel, and, happily, I hear that there's a third book in the works. I can hardly wait, and I'm even thinking about re-reading the other Discworld books. After all, I have a friend who owns all of them, and an entire hot summer ahead of me.
June 03, 2006
I am NOT a slacker, I'm NOT...okay, maybe a little.
I just wanted to chime in with a post so that a) I don't look like I'm a complete and utter slacker, just a minimal one; and b) so that I can just tell you how aggravatingly difficult it is to finish the novel you're supposed to be working on when you have a gargantuan revision in mind for a totally separate novel project. That's where I am right now, mentally, in addition to about a gazillion other things (including excessive hyperbole).
June 01, 2006
Secrets and Lies
You know, whatever else happens with my relationship with Knopf, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for one of their editors - because she sent me free books! And people, there are few things that so earnestly warm a writer's heart. And, she introduced me to fabulous writers I'd never heard of - Tom & Laura McNeal, a husband and wife YA writing team who have collaborated on three novels that are garnering critical attention. How could have I missed them? They're amazing! A San Diego paper carried a short piece on the couple, and related one of the true stories of Laura's experiences in high school, which nominally shaped the novel. She talked of being shunned for no real reason in school, and I thought, 'This is what I like best about writing YA. It's that chipping away of the detritus of memories and parleying them into something useful - something someone will pay you for someday. The novel I read today was entitled Crushed. It's messy, far flung, full of secrets and lies and some scary people. Of course, it's set in a high school. Where else do all the liars and secret-keepers - and secret spillers -- hang out?
Three nerdettes, C.C., Lea and Audrey have come from a small, private school into the wilds of public school their junior year in high school. They know the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. When the teacher's out of the room, they open their textbooks instead of the latest copy of People. They're smart. They're funny... but they're like pet bunnies that have been released into the woods. High school kids are crazy mean. A few of the girls are words that rhyme with 'witch,' and one guy is even stalking Audrey, telling her she's on his "To Do" list. Ugh! It's a scary world out there, so the three girls stick together, checking in with each other daily, and promise themselves that one day, those 4.3 GPA's that they're carrying will make it all worthwhile.
It's a good plan, until the cutest boy any of them have ever seen takes a shine to Audrey. Suddenly, school's not that important. And, okay, he's got secrets, but Audrey's got secrets too. She used to be rich, but her Dad lost their big house. Now everything's going down the tubes.
Of course, that's nothing compared to his secrets.
And the secrets of others.
Who knew people were so awful, deep down?
An absolutely absorbing, sprawling, messy novel that somehow ties up neatly in the end -- not too neatly, but with the sense that mostly justice has been served. Secrets surely tell you a lot about a person... sometimes things you'd rather you didn't know. I look forward to checking out the rest of the McNeal works, one of which is set in the same town, and the same high school.
Three nerdettes, C.C., Lea and Audrey have come from a small, private school into the wilds of public school their junior year in high school. They know the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. When the teacher's out of the room, they open their textbooks instead of the latest copy of People. They're smart. They're funny... but they're like pet bunnies that have been released into the woods. High school kids are crazy mean. A few of the girls are words that rhyme with 'witch,' and one guy is even stalking Audrey, telling her she's on his "To Do" list. Ugh! It's a scary world out there, so the three girls stick together, checking in with each other daily, and promise themselves that one day, those 4.3 GPA's that they're carrying will make it all worthwhile.
It's a good plan, until the cutest boy any of them have ever seen takes a shine to Audrey. Suddenly, school's not that important. And, okay, he's got secrets, but Audrey's got secrets too. She used to be rich, but her Dad lost their big house. Now everything's going down the tubes.
Of course, that's nothing compared to his secrets.
And the secrets of others.
Who knew people were so awful, deep down?
An absolutely absorbing, sprawling, messy novel that somehow ties up neatly in the end -- not too neatly, but with the sense that mostly justice has been served. Secrets surely tell you a lot about a person... sometimes things you'd rather you didn't know. I look forward to checking out the rest of the McNeal works, one of which is set in the same town, and the same high school.
An Unsettling Constellation
Every time I read Jerry Spinelli's famous novel, Stargirl, I can't help but feel a little... uncomfortable. I like the novel, in many ways it's a classic tale of keeping identity in high school and being an original, and how people tend to attack things and people who are different, and how there was once this girl who didn't hide, who didn't try to blend in, and ...And every time I read it, I think, "Man. Couldn't she have tried to blend in a little? I mean, a ukulele. In high school. My gosh. Of course she was going to be ripped to shreds!"
But, part of me always thinks, "It shouldn't be like that."
Well, of course it shouldn't. But, this is high school we're talking about. No 'shoulds' allowed.
Spinelli's novel asks some important questions about popularity and conformity: Would you turn your back on your essential self just to be accepted by the community around you, bent on blending in to the point of wearing protective coloring in the form of the 'right' clothes, listening to the 'right' music, and steering your star by what the most popular kid in the school is doing? How often does that popularity change? How do you know whom to follow?
Is it safer to be your own star?
The Genius of Terry Pratchett: Bromeliad Trilogy
This book was a fun find - I thought I'd read all of Pratchett's stuff, and then I realized that there was life outside of the Discworld - surprise, surprise!
The Bromeliad Trilogy which is comprised of the three short books (Truckers, Diggers and Wings) is a story aimed at younger audiences than many of Pratchett's books. It tells the tale of a group of nomes who were living at the end of an era. Their small group is dying out, and the younger ones are having to take care of the older ones. Food is scarce, things are dangerous, and the younger ones realize that there has to be more to life than this. Macklin, a strange young nome, wants to set out to find his way in the world, but he has too many older nomes depending on him. So... he takes them with him. They leave their home, and began an odyssey that takes them away from all they have known into new territories, into the homes and communities of new nomes with strange ideas, and leads them to... the stars. Because they had forgotten, you see, that that's where they had come from in the first place.
A simple metaphor extends into a fable in these books; other small and earthbound thinkers will both revel in these stories as an adventure and as a parallel story of human existence. Once again Pratchett's prose is agile enough to contain both myth and merriment, making this a journey of the imagination worth reading more than once.
The Bromeliad Trilogy which is comprised of the three short books (Truckers, Diggers and Wings) is a story aimed at younger audiences than many of Pratchett's books. It tells the tale of a group of nomes who were living at the end of an era. Their small group is dying out, and the younger ones are having to take care of the older ones. Food is scarce, things are dangerous, and the younger ones realize that there has to be more to life than this. Macklin, a strange young nome, wants to set out to find his way in the world, but he has too many older nomes depending on him. So... he takes them with him. They leave their home, and began an odyssey that takes them away from all they have known into new territories, into the homes and communities of new nomes with strange ideas, and leads them to... the stars. Because they had forgotten, you see, that that's where they had come from in the first place.
A simple metaphor extends into a fable in these books; other small and earthbound thinkers will both revel in these stories as an adventure and as a parallel story of human existence. Once again Pratchett's prose is agile enough to contain both myth and merriment, making this a journey of the imagination worth reading more than once.
Thursday already?
You can always tell when I'm avoiding work... I come back to ye olde blog like iron filings to magnets. It's been quiet enough lately so you know I have been working, however; I've been in Edit Hell, and it looks like I'm in for a good long stay. Since I'm currently stuck, you lucky thing, you benefit from my misery! Yay!
One of my favorite teachers and writers, Esme Raji Codell has just started a blog in hopes of encouraging kids and their adults to read a book every day. Just one book... and she thinks it might change the world. I agree. If people read ANYTHING it would change the world. I get so tired of hearing people talk about what books are "appropriate" or not for high school students or Christian children, or kids in general, and then hear them admit that they have only read the objectional parts, and they've never actually read the book. Um. Would we accept it from lawmakers if they just skimmed bills and amendments? (Don't answer that - I'm afraid we'll find out we do that already.) Why are people accepting anything from non-literate adults trying to make rules for students? Also, I am appalled when I realize just how much I got from reading as a kid, and just how many kids are getting by and raising themselves without having books read aloud to them, and without gaining an interest in books as a key to expanding their worldview. At any rate, check out Esme's website, and I hope to read a couple of her middle grade books and talk about them on our sister site soon...
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I'm a bit late in doing so, but I wanted to point out the fact that Locus magazine did a YA edition in May! I'm pretty sure that back copies of the print magazine can still be found, but there are a couple of interviews online. One of them is an interview with Scott Westerfeld, whose books I find amazing and thoughtful and scary. (Check out Peeps or Pretties... or Uglies) Another interview is with the blindingly fabulous Holly Black, whose novel, Tithe won beaucoup awards and was also deeply spooky and thoughtful. The thing I like best about Holly Black is that she didn't expect to be successful... so there's still hope for the rest of us!
One of my favorite teachers and writers, Esme Raji Codell has just started a blog in hopes of encouraging kids and their adults to read a book every day. Just one book... and she thinks it might change the world. I agree. If people read ANYTHING it would change the world. I get so tired of hearing people talk about what books are "appropriate" or not for high school students or Christian children, or kids in general, and then hear them admit that they have only read the objectional parts, and they've never actually read the book. Um. Would we accept it from lawmakers if they just skimmed bills and amendments? (Don't answer that - I'm afraid we'll find out we do that already.) Why are people accepting anything from non-literate adults trying to make rules for students? Also, I am appalled when I realize just how much I got from reading as a kid, and just how many kids are getting by and raising themselves without having books read aloud to them, and without gaining an interest in books as a key to expanding their worldview. At any rate, check out Esme's website, and I hope to read a couple of her middle grade books and talk about them on our sister site soon...
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I'm a bit late in doing so, but I wanted to point out the fact that Locus magazine did a YA edition in May! I'm pretty sure that back copies of the print magazine can still be found, but there are a couple of interviews online. One of them is an interview with Scott Westerfeld, whose books I find amazing and thoughtful and scary. (Check out Peeps or Pretties... or Uglies) Another interview is with the blindingly fabulous Holly Black, whose novel, Tithe won beaucoup awards and was also deeply spooky and thoughtful. The thing I like best about Holly Black is that she didn't expect to be successful... so there's still hope for the rest of us!
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Meanwhile, a small plug for a YA sci-fi/fantasy and sci-fi nonfiction author whose novel I hope to get into soon - Australian author Justine Larbalestier has written a couple of really complex and intriguing novels about the family...um, genetics of magic. Her first novel, Magic or Madness involves a girl whose mother is institutionalized in a mental asylum. The girl realizes that she has special powers - which makes you wonder about the mother, doesn't it? The second novel is titled Magic Lessons, and apparently it's a heckuva sequel, so reserve it at your library or bookstore asap! (PS - Larbalestier is Scott Westerfeld's wife. Who knew? Okay, they did, but other than them...)
What attracted me to Larbalestier in the first place was her nonfiction work. She delved into a topic I love for a PhD thesis project - she wrote a piece called Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction. Since I love old 40's and 50's sci-fi, with its sternly divided gender roles and High Fantasy action sequences, Larbalestier's reading of the old magazines like Amazing Stories was interesting to me. She's edited a sequel (if nonfiction comes with those) in the form of an anthology of stories entitled Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century which includes both stories and critical essays. Okay, it's nerdish, but I eat up this kind of stuff... I read Jack Zipes essays on fairy tales for fun. Never mind...Let's not talk about it anymore...
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Our high tech world is connected. Advertising works by way of word of mouth, and by way of Internet, and if you try to keep something away from people, they're going to hear about it, and they're not going to be happy. It's sort of an American tradition, as it were. Well, the Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, Minn., may have had to learn this the hard way. During last week's Young Authors Convention, which was geared for fifth thru eighth graders, the Convention banned the newest Sid Fleischman Humor Awarded YA novel Absolutely, Positively Not...(Scholastic/Levine, 2005), by David LaRochelle,which is about a teen coming to terms with his sexuality. (Or, not coming to terms, as it were.) The writer wasn't allowed to display his book, and the Conference keynote speaker, in protest, scrapped his notes and held and open discussion with the students about how they felt about the whole thing. I'm sure that did much more for the kids than even showing the book in a display, eh?
Meanwhile, McDonalds is trying their hand at suppressing another book. The YA version of Fast Food Nation, entitled Chew On This is #4 on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has been there for a month! Publishers Weekly talks about how the publishers are fighting back against McDonald's attempt to discredit the author, the research and the publishers.
Our high tech world is connected. Advertising works by way of word of mouth, and by way of Internet, and if you try to keep something away from people, they're going to hear about it, and they're not going to be happy. It's sort of an American tradition, as it were. Well, the Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, Minn., may have had to learn this the hard way. During last week's Young Authors Convention, which was geared for fifth thru eighth graders, the Convention banned the newest Sid Fleischman Humor Awarded YA novel Absolutely, Positively Not...(Scholastic/Levine, 2005), by David LaRochelle,which is about a teen coming to terms with his sexuality. (Or, not coming to terms, as it were.) The writer wasn't allowed to display his book, and the Conference keynote speaker, in protest, scrapped his notes and held and open discussion with the students about how they felt about the whole thing. I'm sure that did much more for the kids than even showing the book in a display, eh?
Meanwhile, McDonalds is trying their hand at suppressing another book. The YA version of Fast Food Nation, entitled Chew On This is #4 on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has been there for a month! Publishers Weekly talks about how the publishers are fighting back against McDonald's attempt to discredit the author, the research and the publishers.
Keep writing!
May 24, 2006
Coming Back...and Looking Back
Getting away from it all really does give you new perspective sometimes. I took a copy of No More Rejections! by Alice Orr (available from Writer's Digest Book Club) with me on the plane, and reviewing some of the nuts and bolts of writing and editing from the perspective of a literary agent actually sparked some enthusiasm for going back to my beleaguered and once-again-rejected (just before vacation, by Margaret K. McElderry books) first novel and doing some major revisions.
Though a part of me hates the thought of undertaking such a daunting task, and I honestly don't know where to begin, another part of me is a little excited that maybe I can make what I think is a good novel into a great one. I had to let it go for a while, and let go of my over-attachment to it (what my ceramics teacher referred to as "precious pot syndrome," in reference to a student's first thrown piece of pottery that they don't want to let go of). Now, after about a year and a half (!), I think I have enough objectivity to tackle it again and make major changes. I think it took so long to get to this stage because I was working on the novel in dribs and drabs for two years or more, and couldn't see the forest for the trees by the end.
But now I'm ready to enter the trees again. I recommend, if you feel stuck on revisions, taking a look back at your beginning writing texts and other how-to-write books, and just letting yourself get inspired by the different aspects of craft and how they might apply to your own work. It might only happen subconsciously at first, but for me, that subconscious thought process made the all-important leap into the front of my brain. Go for it!
Though a part of me hates the thought of undertaking such a daunting task, and I honestly don't know where to begin, another part of me is a little excited that maybe I can make what I think is a good novel into a great one. I had to let it go for a while, and let go of my over-attachment to it (what my ceramics teacher referred to as "precious pot syndrome," in reference to a student's first thrown piece of pottery that they don't want to let go of). Now, after about a year and a half (!), I think I have enough objectivity to tackle it again and make major changes. I think it took so long to get to this stage because I was working on the novel in dribs and drabs for two years or more, and couldn't see the forest for the trees by the end.
But now I'm ready to enter the trees again. I recommend, if you feel stuck on revisions, taking a look back at your beginning writing texts and other how-to-write books, and just letting yourself get inspired by the different aspects of craft and how they might apply to your own work. It might only happen subconsciously at first, but for me, that subconscious thought process made the all-important leap into the front of my brain. Go for it!
May 22, 2006
Summer in the ...City
The city of Medina, Minnesota, that is. I hadn't thought of going to a conference this year, but You're at the Helm! The Business of Writing of Writing and Illustrating For Children, a conference put on by The Children's Literature Network sounds like it has got some good nuts-and-bolts information about how to manage your writing as a business. The conference is mid-week, Wednesday and Thursday, July 26 and 27, 2006, and if you register before May 31st it's a lot less expensive. There's a huge emphasis on marketing -- which is something that always makes me feel a bit uneasy -- so it might be worth checking out! And somewhere in Minnesota, there's bound to be a hotel with air conditioning for all that humidity...
Statistics Lie?Bowker, which tracks book publishing in the United States says that publishing books for YA and children is down fifteen to twenty percent since 2004. Of course, School Library Journal is quick to point out that it's because 2004 was a banner year in children's books. Sales have increased, despite fewer books published overall.
Speaking of marketing, wouldn't it be great if you could simply market your book by having a treasure hunt? Oh, someday I've got to write a fantasy novel that takes advantage of that! Philanthropist and author Michael Stadther is a man who likes whetting the appetites of his readers. His treasure hunt, which celebrates the completion of his second fantasy novel, is meant for whole families to get involved in -- and the jewels are really hidden. The maps are real. This man has a lot of money, and a lot of fun planning and executing these hunts, and people really love playing. The next worldwide treasure hunt begins this September!
It doesn't seem possible, but the cute little aardvark with the glasses and his bratty little sister, DW, is turning THIRTY this year. Author Marc Brown's character, now with his own PBS series, has been around forever, even though he's still only eight. This all goes to show that if you write a really good series of books that are well loved, even if you're never "famous,' you'll be around to touch the lives of a generation. Or two! And what a 'wonderful kind of day' that makes!
Statistics Lie?Bowker, which tracks book publishing in the United States says that publishing books for YA and children is down fifteen to twenty percent since 2004. Of course, School Library Journal is quick to point out that it's because 2004 was a banner year in children's books. Sales have increased, despite fewer books published overall.
Speaking of marketing, wouldn't it be great if you could simply market your book by having a treasure hunt? Oh, someday I've got to write a fantasy novel that takes advantage of that! Philanthropist and author Michael Stadther is a man who likes whetting the appetites of his readers. His treasure hunt, which celebrates the completion of his second fantasy novel, is meant for whole families to get involved in -- and the jewels are really hidden. The maps are real. This man has a lot of money, and a lot of fun planning and executing these hunts, and people really love playing. The next worldwide treasure hunt begins this September!
It doesn't seem possible, but the cute little aardvark with the glasses and his bratty little sister, DW, is turning THIRTY this year. Author Marc Brown's character, now with his own PBS series, has been around forever, even though he's still only eight. This all goes to show that if you write a really good series of books that are well loved, even if you're never "famous,' you'll be around to touch the lives of a generation. Or two! And what a 'wonderful kind of day' that makes!
Viva la Rogers! Or, El Rogers, anyway...
Not really a writing item: Since I was thinking recently about Mr. Rogers, I thought you might want to know that today in 1967, his show debuted, and started us all on the path to being ...good neighbors and cool people. Of course, there is a tribute album for his songs... but can anything involving Jon Secada and string orchestras be entirely good!?
Anyway. Here's to being good neighbors...
Anyway. Here's to being good neighbors...
May 17, 2006
The Genius of Terry Pratchett: Of Invisible Hats
With a start like the one she had with the little blue men, heroine Tiffany Aching sets out on the road to being a witch thinking that life is going to be a lot of the stern work of Setting Things Right in the World. It is time to leave the Chalk, the highland world where the very bones of the earth are a beloved and familiar history beneath her feet, but where no one can teach her what she needs to know. Or so Tiffany thinks.
In A Hat Full of Sky Tiff is apprenticed to the uniquely twinned Miss Level, befriended (sort of), by the other apprentice witches, there can't help but in spite of herself, she expects excitement around every corner. But, there's not so much to be had. Tiffany ends up kind of being a servant. She beat the Queen of the Fairies. She's a witch in training! She's treated like... a servant, helping take care of stupid people! That can't be right. Where's the respect? And there are so many stupid people in the world who need help...
It's only to be expected that young Tiffany gets sick of her world as it is. Even the Nac Mac Feegle, who are charged with watching over "the young hag" can't stop what's stalking her. When Something Wicked This Way Comes, Tiffany's pride leaves her open to its invasion. And nobody can save her, not Esme Weatherwax, the greatest witch in the Discworld, not Miss Level, not the Wee Free Men. This time, Tiffany has to save herself.
The novels of Terry Pratchett all share one commonality in that they delve into deeper philosophical issues ...stealthily. The heroes and heroines are not perfect by any means, yet the Bad Child Gets Punished motif is not at work here. Pratchett reveals to YA readers the silliness of some of the way things are, but provokes readers to closer examinations about their beliefs on the nature of ethical behavior, popular myths and religious beliefs, and widely-held beliefs about science and the nature of the universe. He injects a strong shot of doubt into the unexamined life, and kicks contempt prior to investigation right out the door. Readers will want to read his work again and again, just to think through the thoughts behind the stories. Getting readers to think of and learn what is really true is of real importance to Pratchett, and it shows in all of his novels.
Pratchett has quite a few reoccuring characters, which endear his readers to him, and we can expect more from Tiffany, I have no doubt.
In A Hat Full of Sky Tiff is apprenticed to the uniquely twinned Miss Level, befriended (sort of), by the other apprentice witches, there can't help but in spite of herself, she expects excitement around every corner. But, there's not so much to be had. Tiffany ends up kind of being a servant. She beat the Queen of the Fairies. She's a witch in training! She's treated like... a servant, helping take care of stupid people! That can't be right. Where's the respect? And there are so many stupid people in the world who need help...
It's only to be expected that young Tiffany gets sick of her world as it is. Even the Nac Mac Feegle, who are charged with watching over "the young hag" can't stop what's stalking her. When Something Wicked This Way Comes, Tiffany's pride leaves her open to its invasion. And nobody can save her, not Esme Weatherwax, the greatest witch in the Discworld, not Miss Level, not the Wee Free Men. This time, Tiffany has to save herself.
The novels of Terry Pratchett all share one commonality in that they delve into deeper philosophical issues ...stealthily. The heroes and heroines are not perfect by any means, yet the Bad Child Gets Punished motif is not at work here. Pratchett reveals to YA readers the silliness of some of the way things are, but provokes readers to closer examinations about their beliefs on the nature of ethical behavior, popular myths and religious beliefs, and widely-held beliefs about science and the nature of the universe. He injects a strong shot of doubt into the unexamined life, and kicks contempt prior to investigation right out the door. Readers will want to read his work again and again, just to think through the thoughts behind the stories. Getting readers to think of and learn what is really true is of real importance to Pratchett, and it shows in all of his novels.
Pratchett has quite a few reoccuring characters, which endear his readers to him, and we can expect more from Tiffany, I have no doubt.
The Genius of Terry Pratchett: Little Blue Men
When you imagine yourself surrounded by monsters in your worst nightmares, are you armed with a frying pan? The Wee Free Men heroine Tiffany Aching is. She's ten years old, and very sure of the world. Mostly, she's very sure that people don't listen, are basically stupid, and that there's not much of a life for girls in the rural village where she lives, unless she wants to be a mother. Oh, and she also knows that her little brother will do anything for candy.
Tiffany has the world pretty well figured out until she sees Something Nasty kidnap her soggy and annoying little brother Wentworth. Trouble is, Mam told her to watch over her brother. Tiffany, a witch-to-be, knows her duty. She sets out to find him.
There's trouble in the Chalk high country where Tiffany lives. There's a hole in the world, into which all the monsters who had been banished by reassuring things like modern times and sanity, are reappearing. The unofficial village witch, Miss Tick, is aging and out of town, so there is no one to stop them... no one, but Tiffany. And on her side, are the little blue men.
Nac Mac Feegle, they're called, a sheep-stealing, bare-knuckled, hard-drinking, fierce lot of Highlander Pictsies -- NOT pixies, if you don't want a head butt to the bridge of your nose. Nothing stardusted and spry or milk drinking and cute about this lot. They're bright blue, six inches tall and wear little kilts, but don't let that worry you. They're out to bash some heads and preserve their world. Fortunately, they're part of the Good Guys.
In this fractured fairytale, where myth and folklore collide, fairies aren't sweet bewinged things bringing happiness, the hound of hell with razor teeth and burning eyes is called a grimhound, and the Queen of Elves is an absolute horror. There's nothing good out of a fairytale, and it's up to those with common sense to bring the world back into order.
Tiffany has the world pretty well figured out until she sees Something Nasty kidnap her soggy and annoying little brother Wentworth. Trouble is, Mam told her to watch over her brother. Tiffany, a witch-to-be, knows her duty. She sets out to find him.
There's trouble in the Chalk high country where Tiffany lives. There's a hole in the world, into which all the monsters who had been banished by reassuring things like modern times and sanity, are reappearing. The unofficial village witch, Miss Tick, is aging and out of town, so there is no one to stop them... no one, but Tiffany. And on her side, are the little blue men.Nac Mac Feegle, they're called, a sheep-stealing, bare-knuckled, hard-drinking, fierce lot of Highlander Pictsies -- NOT pixies, if you don't want a head butt to the bridge of your nose. Nothing stardusted and spry or milk drinking and cute about this lot. They're bright blue, six inches tall and wear little kilts, but don't let that worry you. They're out to bash some heads and preserve their world. Fortunately, they're part of the Good Guys.
In this fractured fairytale, where myth and folklore collide, fairies aren't sweet bewinged things bringing happiness, the hound of hell with razor teeth and burning eyes is called a grimhound, and the Queen of Elves is an absolute horror. There's nothing good out of a fairytale, and it's up to those with common sense to bring the world back into order.
The Genius of Terry Pratchett: Oh, RATS!
YA Fiction has rules, and one of them is that the protagonist in the story must be a young person, or the story has to have at least one central character who is between the ages of eleven to, oh, say, eighteen. If this weren't the case, many more of Terry Pratchett's books would be considered YA Fiction. There is a certain wonderful wryness about them, a certain skewed perspective which causes young and old, who 'get' his many sly jokes, to spew their coffee (or milk) right out of their noses most of the time. Funny? You bet. Seriously thought provoking? Entirely.Winner of the 2001 Carnegie Medal, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, 2002, and more, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is a madly tilted story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, only this time distressingly reset in... the Discworld. (A quick run-up to the Discworld would be that it is a world... that is disc-shaped. And riding on the back of four elephants, who are, in turn, riding on the back of a giagantic tortoise, swimming through the stars. Well, you asked.) Strange things happen on the Discworld, including talking cats, which is what the aforementioned Maurice happens to be: a cat. He is accompanied by a rather dim boy, and a host of rats. They also talk... It's the perfect setup for a scam.
Maurice has been running the scam of -- "Ooh, the town is overrun with rats, what shall we do, what shall we do?" and "Call the Piper!" and then the Piper leads the rats out of town with a sort of ceaseless tootling on his little pipe -- for quite some time. And they've run out of towns closer to home where they're not in trouble with the law, so they're moving on. They've found a town called Bad Blintz, and everybody there hates rats. There are traps in every cellar. But something else is going on in Bad Blintz. Something worse than just non-talking rats... There are voices that get into people's heads. There is Big Evil at work. And it's making everyone kind of crazy...
Pratchett is witty, wry and snarky and his prose is quick. The jokes are quicker, so beware the laugh-out-loudness of this novel and don't slip it into someplace you're supposed to be reading quietly - it won't work. There's something weighty and thought-provoking in Pratchett's satire, teaching some big truths quietly; and it won't be hard for YA readers to find and identify with the hypocrisy of humanity and the silliness of the world at large that pretty much leaps off the pages. But don't worry -- not too much of that kind of thing. Mostly, Maurice & Co. are just a lot of fun.
Pieces Highlights for Children would like to see:
Those interested in trying to hone your craft of short stories or try your hand at writing for children's magazines should perk up: you're needed. This was sent in an open post to members of our list serv:
The editors at Highlights have created a wish list of manuscript needs. If you're in need of a little inspiration, maybe this will help. Below you will find our special needs in addition to the regular submissions we always like to receive.
If you know someone who might find this information useful, please feel free to pass it along...
Enjoy,
George Brown, Assistant Editor
Highlights for Children
570-251-4510
The editors at Highlights have created a wish list of manuscript needs. If you're in need of a little inspiration, maybe this will help. Below you will find our special needs in addition to the regular submissions we always like to receive.
If you know someone who might find this information useful, please feel free to pass it along...
Enjoy,
George Brown, Assistant Editor
Highlights for Children
570-251-4510
From Kim Griswell, Coordinating Editor
Travel and Adventure (I imagine stories about CHINA might work here, A.F.!)
Articles that feature adventurous travel. Not the "family vacation" kind of thing, unless your family goes to study turtles in the Galápagos Islands, as does the author of "Stars and Sea Lions" (June 2006). We prefer articles that feature kids in some way. Publishable-quality photos are almost essential for these kinds of articles, since it would be difficult (or impossible) for us to acquire photos if the writer couldn't provide them. Please remember that even travel and adventure articles need a focus—not simply "We went here and did this," but something that reveals the meaning behind the travel or the reason for the adventure, etc. 750 words maximum.
From Marileta Robinson, Senior Editor
Fiction for Young Readers
We need fun, lively stories as well as quiet, thoughtful stories for young readers at first- and second-grade reading levels. I would like to see more stories with boy appeal, like "Training Wheels" in September 2005 and "Fox and His Halloween Tail" in October 2005. 500 words maximum.
From Carolyn Yoder, Senior Editor
World Cultures
· Intimate looks at other peoples and their traditions—particularly in northern and southern Africa, Asia (other than India), Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, and the Pacific (articles on children)
· Holidays—first person
· U.S. History
· Modern history (20th century), particularly the Civil Rights movement
· Holidays, particularly Christmas and Thanksgiving
· Articles that touch on the diversity of people in the United States
· Biographies of U.S. subjects as children
· Anecdotal articles on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln
· Articles on patriotic themes
· HUMOROUS articles on U.S. history (review back issues for articles on Lincoln and humor, Washington and his teeth, Jefferson getting his life mask, and Ben Franklin and his love of exercise)
From Judy Burke, Associate Editor
Sports
We're interested in sports articles that focus either on a known athlete (a squeaky-clean one), on the development of specific skills(for example, fielding a grounder), or on the challenges faced by athletes of any kind (for example, being smaller than your teammates). Successful articles often include quotes gained from personal interviews with athletes or experts and useful tips for readers who play that sport. 800 words maximum.
From Andy Boyles, Science Editor
Science and Nature Articles
Our guidelines state that our word limit is 800, but articles that are even shorter (350–400 words) are especially welcome as possible one-page features. We put a high value on articles that show science as a process—articles that follow a scientist or group of scientists as they try to solve one of nature's mysteries.
We are always looking for science articles about animals that are of high interest to kids. An article might follow researchers who study such animals. The article may tell the adventures of only one day, but information about the animals and the research will arise naturally in the course of the action, so our readers will learn
something about both.
We currently have enough articles about birds, reptiles and amphibians, insects (especially bees), and volcanoes.
From Joëlle Dujardin Kirkland, Associate Editor
Crafts: Crafts with boy-appeal, games, holiday crafts, and crafts from other cultures (with background included)
Younger Nonfiction: First-person accounts of fieldwork; arts stories; biographies with interesting slants; kids living in other cultures; ancient history; animals; details from urban life(workers, transportation, etc.). These stories should have a clear focus and should be written at a first- or second-grade reading level. 450 words or fewer.
Gallant Kids: Leads (or articles) on kids under thirteen years old doing service in their communities. 350 words
From Linda Rose, Assistant Editor
Full-Page Puzzle Activities
On the inside-back cover, we like to take advantage of the cover-stock surface by using a large illustration or incorporating photos in the puzzle. Often, this is the page on which we can do several activities within one (for example, using one illustration for a number of activities). Submissions to this area ideally include
detailed art directions/notes, as well as succinct and easily understood activity directions for the reader. (Artwork or photos do not need to be submitted with the manuscript.)
Careers Articles
We are always in the market for fresh and interesting articles that take an in-depth look at a career. Our hope is that a career profile will provide kids with information that they cannot easily get elsewhere, such as in a typical "careers" book or in an encyclopedia. Instead, we want our career pieces to be intriguing reads that just happen to be about a person's career.
As our guidelines point out, "We prefer biographies that are rich in anecdotes." Substantive and "insider" anecdotes are often critical to the success of these articles; we want kids to feel that they are getting a "behind the scenes" or inside glimpse into the subject.
Focusing on one individual (or, in some cases, a few) often helps to make the manuscript feel more personal. Career pieces that focus on a person within a career tend to be more appealing. We prefer research based on firsthand experience, consultation with experts, or primary sources.
From George Brown, Assistant Editor
Short Activities
We're looking for short puzzles, activities, teasers, and interesting tidbits to go on our mixed pages—those four or five pages per issue with a variety of short activities. These activities, which can be almost anything, have to be powerful to
pull readers into the magazine. However, we do not publish word searches, crossword puzzles, or fill-in-the-blank activities.
Highlights recommends reviewing the magazine's submission guidelines, available at www.highlights.com, found in the About Us section. Back issues can be found at most local libraries.
Please send submissions to the specific editor listed above, or
Manuscript Coordinator
Highlights for Children
803 Church Street
Honesdale, PA 18431
May 15, 2006
The manuscript is away! And now the pacing continues apace...
Because whenever I have to wait more than four minutes for something, I start to unspool mentally, I shall regale you with more news from the publishing world. After all, it's something to do while I'm waiting*, which, I'm assured, is the best way to make the time pass between S.A.M. and the Editor E. hashing out my manuscript for what one hopes is the blessedly last bloody time before it passes inspection...
I came across the story of an amazingly arrogant person who got first an MFA and then a Ph.D in children's literature, and was so angry that he couldn't find a university job that he wrote a book about it. Yes, this is what America wants to read. Strange, but I think anyone observant about collegiate life knows that professors have way too much to do to get much publishing done unless they retire for awhile. I look at my brilliant and favorite ex-Mills professor, Dr. Kahn - she had to leave teaching in order to really research and write, because she gave all of her time to us on a daily basis. While I wish this author the best of luck with his work, I suggest he just teach high school for awhile and write -- and see if he has any better luck with being brilliant and publishing and being an amazing teacher!!
Publishers Weekly reports that 'tween' publisher B*tween Productions is doubling their list this year. B*tween publishes "wholesome" reading for the preteen girls set, and began the popular Beacon Street Girls series in 2004. Admittedly, the word 'wholesome' makes my teeth ache, but what that really means is that these books are girl-positive and made to foster independence and action in girls. Their mission statement says "The mission of the company is to provide the kind of positive role models and empowering messages that help girls believe in themselves whatever their challenges. The BSG brand crosses socio-economic barriers and provides problem-solving tools within an entertaining format that girls can apply to their own lives." Sounds worthwhile to me.
Meanwhile Chronicle Books has expanded their picture book and board book lines into middle grade series. The company expects to move further into older reader categories, and has expressed a desire to expand its list of titles for middle-grade readers to include stand-alone novels and nonfiction as well as series pieces. Their beautifully produced adult books make Chronicle Books a notable local publisher - hopefully one of us will get onto their lists.
Is it just me, or are we seeing more YA books by Australian authors than ever? It's a trend, and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief has helped cement the presence of the Australian voice in the American YA pantheon (and Markus being cute and nice and easy to listen to hasn't hurt, either). I hope this means more books from Jaclyn Moriarty!!
I haven't read many good girl-friendly Westerns, have you? This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, and I can't wait to put it on my Summer Reading List!
Well, I've gotten the flyer in the mail for the 35th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference and found out that Our Lady Jane is speaking!! And now I have to decide between new ceiling fans and new flooring in my house, or a week in LA and getting to hear her. It's 87, and the fans and cool wood floors are winning out at present, but oh! - Lady Jane is the patron saint of Fantasy! It's a tough choice.
*Isn't it scary the places your brain reverts to when you're nervous?!
I came across the story of an amazingly arrogant person who got first an MFA and then a Ph.D in children's literature, and was so angry that he couldn't find a university job that he wrote a book about it. Yes, this is what America wants to read. Strange, but I think anyone observant about collegiate life knows that professors have way too much to do to get much publishing done unless they retire for awhile. I look at my brilliant and favorite ex-Mills professor, Dr. Kahn - she had to leave teaching in order to really research and write, because she gave all of her time to us on a daily basis. While I wish this author the best of luck with his work, I suggest he just teach high school for awhile and write -- and see if he has any better luck with being brilliant and publishing and being an amazing teacher!!
Publishers Weekly reports that 'tween' publisher B*tween Productions is doubling their list this year. B*tween publishes "wholesome" reading for the preteen girls set, and began the popular Beacon Street Girls series in 2004. Admittedly, the word 'wholesome' makes my teeth ache, but what that really means is that these books are girl-positive and made to foster independence and action in girls. Their mission statement says "The mission of the company is to provide the kind of positive role models and empowering messages that help girls believe in themselves whatever their challenges. The BSG brand crosses socio-economic barriers and provides problem-solving tools within an entertaining format that girls can apply to their own lives." Sounds worthwhile to me.
Meanwhile Chronicle Books has expanded their picture book and board book lines into middle grade series. The company expects to move further into older reader categories, and has expressed a desire to expand its list of titles for middle-grade readers to include stand-alone novels and nonfiction as well as series pieces. Their beautifully produced adult books make Chronicle Books a notable local publisher - hopefully one of us will get onto their lists.
Is it just me, or are we seeing more YA books by Australian authors than ever? It's a trend, and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief has helped cement the presence of the Australian voice in the American YA pantheon (and Markus being cute and nice and easy to listen to hasn't hurt, either). I hope this means more books from Jaclyn Moriarty!!
I haven't read many good girl-friendly Westerns, have you? This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, and I can't wait to put it on my Summer Reading List!
Well, I've gotten the flyer in the mail for the 35th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference and found out that Our Lady Jane is speaking!! And now I have to decide between new ceiling fans and new flooring in my house, or a week in LA and getting to hear her. It's 87, and the fans and cool wood floors are winning out at present, but oh! - Lady Jane is the patron saint of Fantasy! It's a tough choice.
*Isn't it scary the places your brain reverts to when you're nervous?!
Patricia Polacco's Pen
Woe to those who cross a writer, for they shall find that writers have big mouths, fast typing speeds and a long, long reach.
At least, that's what SRA/McGraw-Hill should have realized when they decided to take on children's writer Patricia Polacco. A Bay Area resident, Polacco has a Ph.D in Art History with an Emphasis on Iconography. After years of thinking that her art lay in other directions, she began writing in her early 40's, and got her start with SCBWI. A prolific author, she has opened her heart and home to the writing community and is an avid speaker and teacher about the writing process.
Recently, she was asked by what she assumed was simply a booking group, to take part in the International Reading Association Conference in Chicago on May 2 and 3, 2006. The booking group asked Polacco's staff for a specific outline and information about her talks, and grew more insistent as the date approached.
Polacco wondered why. She was told, "They requested my written outline because their "client" wanted to make sure that I would not discuss my deep concern about the "No Child Left Behind" mandate ... as well as my concern that there is a link between this mandate and the SRA/McGraw Hill Company, which manufactures, prints, and profits from the sale of these tests to school systems all over our country." Polacco, reasonably concerned, did a little deeper digging - and found that the Buchanan Associates are not a booking or advertising firm, they represent... SRA/McGraw-Hill.
Questions as to why SRA/McGraw-Hill would want to invite this woman and pay her to speak... well, they because she is well known, and outspoken and well respected among teachers and writers and librarians. They thought to put her under tremendous pressure to say "upbeat, positive, non-political" things. About them. And then un-invited her when she wouldn't cave in.
She responded in kind, with lawyers.
And then t r u t h o u t got involved, and reported on a link between the current presidential administration, which implemented the No Child Left Behind laws, and the publishing company.
And because the 'pen' is now a mighty fast keyboard, the world passed the word, and now you know, too.
I guess, if fair is fair, these folk had the right to un-invite Polacco because her content disagreed with their requirements, especially since this was a paid gig, but it's pretty tacky to have invited her and then tried to write her speeches. More questionable is that a publishing company is so sold on trying to promote the flawed No Child Left Behind as a good thing, when it has been described at best as 'incomplete' by countless teachers and other educational professionals -- the very people with whom SRA/McGraw-Hill wants to work and support -- that they were unwilling to allow Polacco to speak if she even referred to the legislation. Possibly a Reading Association Conference was the wrong venue for such flashpoint topics... but then, why would a company representing SRA/McGraw-Hill ask the outspoken Polacco in the first place? Strange.
At least, that's what SRA/McGraw-Hill should have realized when they decided to take on children's writer Patricia Polacco. A Bay Area resident, Polacco has a Ph.D in Art History with an Emphasis on Iconography. After years of thinking that her art lay in other directions, she began writing in her early 40's, and got her start with SCBWI. A prolific author, she has opened her heart and home to the writing community and is an avid speaker and teacher about the writing process.
Recently, she was asked by what she assumed was simply a booking group, to take part in the International Reading Association Conference in Chicago on May 2 and 3, 2006. The booking group asked Polacco's staff for a specific outline and information about her talks, and grew more insistent as the date approached.
Polacco wondered why. She was told, "They requested my written outline because their "client" wanted to make sure that I would not discuss my deep concern about the "No Child Left Behind" mandate ... as well as my concern that there is a link between this mandate and the SRA/McGraw Hill Company, which manufactures, prints, and profits from the sale of these tests to school systems all over our country." Polacco, reasonably concerned, did a little deeper digging - and found that the Buchanan Associates are not a booking or advertising firm, they represent... SRA/McGraw-Hill.
Questions as to why SRA/McGraw-Hill would want to invite this woman and pay her to speak... well, they because she is well known, and outspoken and well respected among teachers and writers and librarians. They thought to put her under tremendous pressure to say "upbeat, positive, non-political" things. About them. And then un-invited her when she wouldn't cave in.
She responded in kind, with lawyers.
And then t r u t h o u t got involved, and reported on a link between the current presidential administration, which implemented the No Child Left Behind laws, and the publishing company.
And because the 'pen' is now a mighty fast keyboard, the world passed the word, and now you know, too.
I guess, if fair is fair, these folk had the right to un-invite Polacco because her content disagreed with their requirements, especially since this was a paid gig, but it's pretty tacky to have invited her and then tried to write her speeches. More questionable is that a publishing company is so sold on trying to promote the flawed No Child Left Behind as a good thing, when it has been described at best as 'incomplete' by countless teachers and other educational professionals -- the very people with whom SRA/McGraw-Hill wants to work and support -- that they were unwilling to allow Polacco to speak if she even referred to the legislation. Possibly a Reading Association Conference was the wrong venue for such flashpoint topics... but then, why would a company representing SRA/McGraw-Hill ask the outspoken Polacco in the first place? Strange.
May 11, 2006
More Work Avoidance
Short of pacing and biting my nails, I haven't gotten much done the past hour, so I may as well let you in on something Beverly Cleary said that's been on my mind. Cleary, 90, is facing the option of her very first novel going to celluloid. Her novels have, since 1950 when she published the first, stayed steadily in print. She's never been a millionaire, but she's written good books, steadily. (Oh, how I want someday for someone to say that about me!!)
Moviemakers are now looking at Ramona and Her Father for a film. Instead of being gleeful about a Ramona Quimby movie, Cleary is...thoughtful. She's not sure it's a good thing. She said she understands why people have toys and such as tie-in to children's books, but she's "not interested in making kids into consumers."
Can I get a witness, here?
Mrs. Cleary says she is making sure that this Ramona movie is done properly so she "doesn't turn into a plastic miniature inside a kid's fast-food restaurant meal."
As our friend Seren might say, "Word to Mrs. Cleary." Down with marketing to kids! Up with great books they can get from the library.
And now back to ...work
Moviemakers are now looking at Ramona and Her Father for a film. Instead of being gleeful about a Ramona Quimby movie, Cleary is...thoughtful. She's not sure it's a good thing. She said she understands why people have toys and such as tie-in to children's books, but she's "not interested in making kids into consumers."
Can I get a witness, here?
Mrs. Cleary says she is making sure that this Ramona movie is done properly so she "doesn't turn into a plastic miniature inside a kid's fast-food restaurant meal."
As our friend Seren might say, "Word to Mrs. Cleary." Down with marketing to kids! Up with great books they can get from the library.
And now back to ...work
May 09, 2006
Timing, Timing
Can I just whine to the universe at large that A.Fortis chose the most awful time EVER to go on vacation!? I'm in a final edit! I need someone to hold my hand and bring me adverbs! How could A.F. leave me for some wall!?
Whinging aside, Locus has announced the winner of the first year for SFWA's Andre Norton Award, created to honor young adult SF/F novels and named in honor of the late SFWA Grand Master. While not technically a Nebula Award, it is voted on by members in the same way the Nebula Awards are, and the winner this year was Holly Black, one of the coolest YA SF writers I know. I really enjoyed her previous book Tithe, which I haven't written up for our sister site, and look forward to reading her latest.
Cross fingers for me - I'm hoping to send a mss. back to the editor this week for a final run-through. I'll let you know what happens next...
Whinging aside, Locus has announced the winner of the first year for SFWA's Andre Norton Award, created to honor young adult SF/F novels and named in honor of the late SFWA Grand Master. While not technically a Nebula Award, it is voted on by members in the same way the Nebula Awards are, and the winner this year was Holly Black, one of the coolest YA SF writers I know. I really enjoyed her previous book Tithe, which I haven't written up for our sister site, and look forward to reading her latest.
Cross fingers for me - I'm hoping to send a mss. back to the editor this week for a final run-through. I'll let you know what happens next...
May 07, 2006
Insult to Injury
Not only have I been relatively inactive posting lately, but I will be on hiatus for the next two weeks due to going on vacation...to China.
I hope to find access to the internet while I'm there, and if I do, I'll try to post to my personal blog with news about our adventures.
I also wanted to note that I went back and re-read my post about momentum because, as it turns out, I needed to give myself that pep talk. My novel was finally sent back (after a polite reminder) by Margaret K. McElderry Books with a polite no, thanks. Sometimes, though, you need the rude kick in the pants of a rejection to give you that little extra bit of momentum to, say, think about yet another revision. Which is what I'll be thinking about during the 13-hour plane flight.
Adieu, and more anon.
I hope to find access to the internet while I'm there, and if I do, I'll try to post to my personal blog with news about our adventures.
I also wanted to note that I went back and re-read my post about momentum because, as it turns out, I needed to give myself that pep talk. My novel was finally sent back (after a polite reminder) by Margaret K. McElderry Books with a polite no, thanks. Sometimes, though, you need the rude kick in the pants of a rejection to give you that little extra bit of momentum to, say, think about yet another revision. Which is what I'll be thinking about during the 13-hour plane flight.
Adieu, and more anon.
May 05, 2006
LAST comments on Kaavaya Viswanathan
The SF Chronicle's Mark Morford had some deep and good words on Ms. Viswanathan, and the Incident that got me thinking. Indulge me to underscore one tiny idea of his: my success does not depend on someone else's failure.
Just a tiny thought, world.
I'm done with this story, which has by turns depressed and disgusted me. I wish this girl the best - a new start somewhere else, not having to prove anything to anyone but herself. May the next big Incident in the writing world be a story of someone doing so well that we are inspired to greater heights ourselves.
Just a tiny thought, world.
I'm done with this story, which has by turns depressed and disgusted me. I wish this girl the best - a new start somewhere else, not having to prove anything to anyone but herself. May the next big Incident in the writing world be a story of someone doing so well that we are inspired to greater heights ourselves.
May 04, 2006
An Alloy is a Mixture... in this case one poorly put together
I don't want to add to the breast-beating and blaming going on in the Viswanathan-a-thon. I think we all have our own opinions on the incident - deliberate plagiarism, privileged-girl stupidity, "perfect minority" myth teen manipulated by adults, etc. - Truly, we'll never know what really happened. There's a detail in all of this that is interesting to me, however. I want to explore the idea of "packagers" in YA lit, what they do, and why they exist.
As I'm going through the process of getting published by a major imprint, I find that there are a lot of things behind the scenes that I didn't realize existed. There is a huge machinery of movie tie-ins, product tie-ins, and marketing that stands ready to swoop on anything in your book that looks like it'll help it sell. Publishers are in the business of making money, and they're good at it; so good they're kind of scary. (I honestly do not trust that they have my best interests at heart. This is business.) Some of the editing comments I received early on have to do not so much with the book or strolling, but how it will be perceived, and ideas on how to market it.
The American Book Producers Association explains that book packagers are responsible for some of the best "high profile" book projects and that they exist to make sure that "complicated" projects can go forward. Complicated, in that these books often are compilations among authors and researchers, involve non-print materials (apparently the publishing company has nothing to do with the coffee cup, canvas tote and CD that comes with your new novel) and labor are intensive to the point of involving more hours and work than may be worthwhile to the publishing house. Often packagers are brought in to flesh out in-house projects.
Alloy Entertainment, the self-professed "most successful marketers and merchandisers to the youth market" already had a checkered past before it met with Viswanathan. According to the New York Observer, Jodi Anderson, a member of the editorial staff at Alloy had an idea for a novel. She put together a book proposal, and pitched it to her fellow editors. It was well received and it was group-thinked - but then sent out to writers other than the editor, and when all was said and done, there was a novel - and the originator of the idea had her name appearing in the "special thanks" page of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Ann Brashares was co-editor at that time. Jodi Anderson's departure for her own novel and work in other companies is understandable.
How much is any writer willing to pay for "success?" (What is that, exactly?)
I want my novel to sell. I want it to be read. I want to make enough money to live on, at some point, or else to support my small family. I guess the question comes down to how much of your artistic input you're willing to give up to editors, agents, book packagers and others. Do you want action figures, coffee mugs, tank tops, stickers, and tote bags along with that movie contract? Do you want your readers to be "merchandised" with more stuff? Are you willing to do what it takes to be Harry Potter-huge? Does it any longer have anything to do with how good your story is??
It's certainly something to think about before the contract gets put on the table in front of you.
As I'm going through the process of getting published by a major imprint, I find that there are a lot of things behind the scenes that I didn't realize existed. There is a huge machinery of movie tie-ins, product tie-ins, and marketing that stands ready to swoop on anything in your book that looks like it'll help it sell. Publishers are in the business of making money, and they're good at it; so good they're kind of scary. (I honestly do not trust that they have my best interests at heart. This is business.) Some of the editing comments I received early on have to do not so much with the book or strolling, but how it will be perceived, and ideas on how to market it.
The American Book Producers Association explains that book packagers are responsible for some of the best "high profile" book projects and that they exist to make sure that "complicated" projects can go forward. Complicated, in that these books often are compilations among authors and researchers, involve non-print materials (apparently the publishing company has nothing to do with the coffee cup, canvas tote and CD that comes with your new novel) and labor are intensive to the point of involving more hours and work than may be worthwhile to the publishing house. Often packagers are brought in to flesh out in-house projects.
Alloy Entertainment, the self-professed "most successful marketers and merchandisers to the youth market" already had a checkered past before it met with Viswanathan. According to the New York Observer, Jodi Anderson, a member of the editorial staff at Alloy had an idea for a novel. She put together a book proposal, and pitched it to her fellow editors. It was well received and it was group-thinked - but then sent out to writers other than the editor, and when all was said and done, there was a novel - and the originator of the idea had her name appearing in the "special thanks" page of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Ann Brashares was co-editor at that time. Jodi Anderson's departure for her own novel and work in other companies is understandable.
How much is any writer willing to pay for "success?" (What is that, exactly?)
I want my novel to sell. I want it to be read. I want to make enough money to live on, at some point, or else to support my small family. I guess the question comes down to how much of your artistic input you're willing to give up to editors, agents, book packagers and others. Do you want action figures, coffee mugs, tank tops, stickers, and tote bags along with that movie contract? Do you want your readers to be "merchandised" with more stuff? Are you willing to do what it takes to be Harry Potter-huge? Does it any longer have anything to do with how good your story is??
It's certainly something to think about before the contract gets put on the table in front of you.
B.utt I.n C.hair -- it's not that hard. Really.
I have many friends who write, and they either swing from one extreme to the other; from those who feel like they have no control over their characters, and that the characters must "speak" to them to move the story along, to those who are leery about that whole metaphysical metaphor, and feel like you just need to stick with your B.I.C. and get things done. Garrison Keillor's little screed in Salon yesterday was both amusing and revealing -- Mostly because I realized that I've never felt comfortable with admitting that writing is easy.
Okay, it's not so very easy every day; some days there are lawn mowers outside, and there are sinus headaches and small children screaming or cats miaowing and climbing on the keyboard. Some days there are spouses and grandkids and classes and deadlines and time clocks, but on the whole, the words are in there, our lives are a great reference, and it's not that hard to pluck out the words.
I whine about finding the right word. I whine about lackluster prose and dull dialogue. I whine about revisions. Everyone whines about revisions, especially when one has a contract so close they can smell it, but there are those last four hoops to jump through, and they're not sure they have any more elasticity in their knees - everyone whines then. Some of us whine because we have to remake the bed every day, it's just a personality quirk, and we refuse to sleep on the floor. But this job truly is not that hard. As Keillor says, "It does nothing for the reader to know you went through 14 drafts of a book, so why mention it?" We are lucky to have this job. We are not breaking rocks. We are not shoveling. We are not flipping burgers and sucking up grease through our very pores.
We are simply chained to our keyboards.
It's a Good thing.
Okay, it's not so very easy every day; some days there are lawn mowers outside, and there are sinus headaches and small children screaming or cats miaowing and climbing on the keyboard. Some days there are spouses and grandkids and classes and deadlines and time clocks, but on the whole, the words are in there, our lives are a great reference, and it's not that hard to pluck out the words.
I whine about finding the right word. I whine about lackluster prose and dull dialogue. I whine about revisions. Everyone whines about revisions, especially when one has a contract so close they can smell it, but there are those last four hoops to jump through, and they're not sure they have any more elasticity in their knees - everyone whines then. Some of us whine because we have to remake the bed every day, it's just a personality quirk, and we refuse to sleep on the floor. But this job truly is not that hard. As Keillor says, "It does nothing for the reader to know you went through 14 drafts of a book, so why mention it?" We are lucky to have this job. We are not breaking rocks. We are not shoveling. We are not flipping burgers and sucking up grease through our very pores.
We are simply chained to our keyboards.
It's a Good thing.
May 03, 2006
Two Stories, One Troubled World
N.M. Browne has given us a taste of our own history in her novels Warriors of Alavna and its sequel Warriors of Camlann. In her latest book, The Story of Stone, Nela lives in a world quite different from the one we're used to—slaves who are part of an ancestrally bonded race; shaven-headed non-women who have sworn themselves to celibacy and therefore are able to enter "men's" professions. Nela herself is a young non-woman—she dreams of becoming a Findsman like her father, locating and researching fragments of past history, despite the seizures she has suffered since childhood.
As in Browne's other books, Nela finds herself abruptly drawn into history; on a research expedition with her father, his creepy colleague, and a slave, Nela touches the surface of a smooth stone artifact they find and sees a vision of the past. But it's not just history in general—it's a specific person's past. She's seeing someone's memories.
Nela's story in the present, dealing with the unexpected problems presented by an unwanted marriage proposal and a surprisingly handsome and knowledgeable bonded slave, alternates with the story of Jerat, a boy from the past, who lives with his clan in a Tier House. In the Tier House live the chieftain—Jerat's father, his four wives, the Brood Trove—all the children of the chieftain, and assorted warrior types. In Jerat's world, there is a race of people known as the Night Hunters, reputed to be dangerous and evil, connected with the moon goddess. But if you keep one captive, legends say, they will wish with their entire being to be free, and in so doing, change the very fabric of the world. In that moment, claim the legends, the captor's deepest wish will also come true.
The two stories are cleverly alternated so that the reader is constantly wondering who the mysterious memories in Nela's stone belong to, and how they are connected to the story of Jerat. As tension builds in the past with Jerat becoming a warrior while taking care of two of his young brothers, tension also builds in the story's present. Nela finds that her non-woman status is invalid and her father has agreed to marry her to his colleague, dashing her dreams of becoming a Findsman. The only person on their expedition who listens, who seems to care, is the increasingly mysterious slave. But how can a slave help her?
As it turns out, both of them help each other—but I don't want to spoil the story. This was such a well-built world, with so many fascinating elements drawn from what seemed to be Celtic or Pictish or otherwise ancient British and European history. I was absorbed right away by the level of detail that was accomplished with relatively few words. Browne's writing has a crispness to it; she builds a fully realized world without bombarding the reader with wordy description, and this amazes me. I enjoyed her Warriors books, but I really fell in love with this one.
As in Browne's other books, Nela finds herself abruptly drawn into history; on a research expedition with her father, his creepy colleague, and a slave, Nela touches the surface of a smooth stone artifact they find and sees a vision of the past. But it's not just history in general—it's a specific person's past. She's seeing someone's memories.
Nela's story in the present, dealing with the unexpected problems presented by an unwanted marriage proposal and a surprisingly handsome and knowledgeable bonded slave, alternates with the story of Jerat, a boy from the past, who lives with his clan in a Tier House. In the Tier House live the chieftain—Jerat's father, his four wives, the Brood Trove—all the children of the chieftain, and assorted warrior types. In Jerat's world, there is a race of people known as the Night Hunters, reputed to be dangerous and evil, connected with the moon goddess. But if you keep one captive, legends say, they will wish with their entire being to be free, and in so doing, change the very fabric of the world. In that moment, claim the legends, the captor's deepest wish will also come true.
The two stories are cleverly alternated so that the reader is constantly wondering who the mysterious memories in Nela's stone belong to, and how they are connected to the story of Jerat. As tension builds in the past with Jerat becoming a warrior while taking care of two of his young brothers, tension also builds in the story's present. Nela finds that her non-woman status is invalid and her father has agreed to marry her to his colleague, dashing her dreams of becoming a Findsman. The only person on their expedition who listens, who seems to care, is the increasingly mysterious slave. But how can a slave help her?
As it turns out, both of them help each other—but I don't want to spoil the story. This was such a well-built world, with so many fascinating elements drawn from what seemed to be Celtic or Pictish or otherwise ancient British and European history. I was absorbed right away by the level of detail that was accomplished with relatively few words. Browne's writing has a crispness to it; she builds a fully realized world without bombarding the reader with wordy description, and this amazes me. I enjoyed her Warriors books, but I really fell in love with this one.
May 02, 2006
Golden Kite Award Update...
We've been waiting and SCBWI has announced the changes to its Golden Kite Award.
The biggest change? Money. And it's about time, too. Books for children and young people have been low on the totem pole of book awards forever, and it's been a two-party system (Newbury and Caldecott) for quite awhile. This isn't to say that there aren't other great book awards, including some regionals and some for specific age groups (like the Michael Printz) but recognition has been slow and limited and YA and children's writers can toil in relative obscurity because the marketing money just hasn't been behind something as mundane as books. And then you get random hyped examples of people who get half a million dollars for a book they haven't even written yet... (well, I would give Ms. Viswanathan a break today, but there is new evidence. Anyway, my point was that nobody gets rich off of writing).
Happily, that looks to be changing. Beginning with the 2006 competition, Golden Kite participants can win $2,500 in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration. And the fun is including the backstage people, too. Editors of winning books will receive $1,000, and for the winning book in the Picture Book Illustration category, an additional $1,000 will be given to the book's art director. That surprises me a lot, and I'll need to think about what that means to the industry... do we get more "superstar" editors who are that much harder to get books to...? No offense intended, but don't we have enough of those!? Hm. Anyway, what may be the best perk is that winners get an expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the award ceremony at the Golden Kite Luncheon at SCBWI's Summer Conference in August. Since we all know that the Summer Conference can be a spendy little venture, that was thoughtful on the SCBWI board's part.
This is all part of a move to get the Golden Kite Award national recognition, and in turn to promote books and quality literature. Cheers!
The biggest change? Money. And it's about time, too. Books for children and young people have been low on the totem pole of book awards forever, and it's been a two-party system (Newbury and Caldecott) for quite awhile. This isn't to say that there aren't other great book awards, including some regionals and some for specific age groups (like the Michael Printz) but recognition has been slow and limited and YA and children's writers can toil in relative obscurity because the marketing money just hasn't been behind something as mundane as books. And then you get random hyped examples of people who get half a million dollars for a book they haven't even written yet... (well, I would give Ms. Viswanathan a break today, but there is new evidence. Anyway, my point was that nobody gets rich off of writing).
Happily, that looks to be changing. Beginning with the 2006 competition, Golden Kite participants can win $2,500 in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration. And the fun is including the backstage people, too. Editors of winning books will receive $1,000, and for the winning book in the Picture Book Illustration category, an additional $1,000 will be given to the book's art director. That surprises me a lot, and I'll need to think about what that means to the industry... do we get more "superstar" editors who are that much harder to get books to...? No offense intended, but don't we have enough of those!? Hm. Anyway, what may be the best perk is that winners get an expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the award ceremony at the Golden Kite Luncheon at SCBWI's Summer Conference in August. Since we all know that the Summer Conference can be a spendy little venture, that was thoughtful on the SCBWI board's part.
This is all part of a move to get the Golden Kite Award national recognition, and in turn to promote books and quality literature. Cheers!
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Meanwhile,the brave YALSA/ALA folks are going to have their annual conference in New Orleans. In June. In hurricane season. They're already looking for volunteer opportunities as well. Good for them.
May 01, 2006
It was FATED...
It had to happen. One of my favorite nonfiction adult books has been made... into a children's book. Publisher's Weekly reports that Eats, Shoots & Leaves is going to make the 4-8 year old set grammar-savvy once again. Toning down her 'zero tolerance approach to grammar,' author Lynne Truss teams up with cartoonist Bonnie Timmons (made famous by NBC's long-ago Caroline in the City and numerous quilting toilet paper commercials) and pairs amusing pictures with funny sentences to help kids understand what they're really saying when they neglect commas, or add them in the wrong place. I can't wait to get this one for my little brother - and a copy for me, too, because my literal mind simply cannot get enough of such silliness as "Becky walked on, her head a little higher than usual" vs. "Becky walked on her head, a little higher than usual." Now, imagine that with pictures! Meanwhile, Fast Food Nation, retitled as Chew On This, is also being turned into a YA book... and here's hoping that stocks in all fast food places plummet! Doubtful, but hope springs eternal...Meanwhile the Random House/WaldenMedia marriage is already bearing fruit; Carl Hiaasen's brilliant book Hoot is opening as what looks to be a brilliant movie on May 5. More children's/YA novels look to be coming into movie form this year include Where the Wild Things Are, a few Nancy Drew mysteries, the His Dark Materials trilogy, the Spiderwick Chronicles, The Tale of Despereaux, A Bridge to Terebithia, The Giver, Charlotte's Web (I'm a bit sad about, because with Dakota Fanning, it looks like a remake of Babe. Again. And Oprah is Gussie the goose!?) How to Eat Fried Worms, and more. Can movies really make readers? We'll find out...
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