Huh.

Oh, my goodness, Terry Pratchett has been knighted.

And so has Robert Plant.

What a strange world.

The View from my Window

Yeah, yeah, still with the infection-sweating-fever thing, but THIS is the view I have from my window. This bird is a woodpecker, and I'd have to have a better view of him to identify him, since he wasn't very cooperative. But isn't his "hair" great?

Books like The Knife of Never Letting Go, according to the UK rag (and believe me, it's considered inflamnatory Enquirer-like trash by most people with whom I've spoken) The Daily Mail are "so violent they need a health warning", according to Dr Rona Tutt. Author snipes back, in The Guardian, and the fun continues.

The most fun is that I just got this in the mail (THANK YOU Colleen!!) and am going to sit down and read it. Sans health warnings. So there.

Ooh -- THIS JUST IN!!! Are you a fan of Alan Gratz and the Something Rotten / Something Wicked Horatio books? Ally Carter (she of awesome spy book fame) is having a live chat with Mr. Gratz tonight at eight p.m., Eastern time and everyone is invited to come along and chat with.

Here's the dirt: Ally Chat
Tuesday, December 30th
8:00 eastern/ 7:00 central

The chat room will be located here.

The password will be ROTTEN, and won't work until a quarter 'til -- and after the chat, the password is expired.

The glorious weather continues to taunt me. Robin's going camping for New Year's. I'm. So. Jealous. Hope everyone else has fun plans. *sob* I'll just be here... coughing... on my bed of sickness...

Winter YA Roundup, Part II: Ellen Emerson White Extravaganza

Earlier this year, I returned from the 2008 Kidlitosphere conference with a copy of Ellen Emerson White's Long May She Reign--which I promptly read and reviewed, thus starting on that annoying road of having read the last book in a series first. Instead of going backward--which, I admit, was tempting--I was a good little reader and started from the beginning. Overall, I found the idea for this series to be rather topical, what with a brand-new president preparing to take office. However, it's not just the fly-on-the-wall glimpse into life as a White House Resident that I enjoyed--though admittedly, I ate that up--it was the fact that this is a story of a regular family faced with a succession of extraordinary circumstances.

The first book in the series is The President's Daughter, and, where the final book dealt with both the aftermath of trauma and the possibility of new beginnings, this one starts before all the dramatic events take place. The challenge to Meg Powers in this book is dealing with her mother's family-shaking decision to run for President--and her surprising, whirlwind victory. Going from the daughter of a senator--privileged, successful, and content--to being the daughter of the President of the United States, under the spotlight of the paparazzi, followed everywhere by the Secret Service--is an enormous change for Meg and her brothers. This book will really make readers think about what it would be like to be in that kind of limelight.

The vicarious thrill of reading about it, though, is balanced by the realistic portrayal of the stresses and difficulties, and the effects on a family of having a political figure as a parent. And when something happens to that parent--as in the second book, White House Autumn--the family's trauma is shared by that of an entire nation. Although the second book was a good follow-up to the first in terms of character development and interpersonal relationships, it was in some ways the least "active" in terms of the main character--the traumatic event in question happens to Meg's mother, the President, and although it definitely affects Meg, the story isn't quite as focused on her this time.

Not so in the third volume, Long Live the Queen. This time, we truly get to know Meg under the most harrowing of circumstances [WARNING: tiny spoilers, but nothing you won't find in the jacket blurb]--her frighteningly well-planned-out kidnapping by a terrorist group. This book is half a survival story, in which Meg's wit and resourcefulness as a character, and her stubborn spirit, enable her to survive her ordeal; and half a story of recovery and healing. I liked that the author doesn't confine the wrap-up to a mere chapter or two--it's very clear that this is NOT about giving readers a vicarious sensationalistic chill. However, it's definitely the climactic volume in the story arc of this series.

Winter YA Fiction Roundup, Part I

I've been reading a lot lately--really--but I've not had time to sit down and write reviews like I'd normally do. So, first of all, I thought I'd deal with some of the backlog by doing a quick set of one (or two or three) line writeups. So, here goes:

Siobhan Dowd's Bog Child, a 2008 Cybils nominee, is an unconventional mystery set in 1980s Ireland during the heart of the "Troubles." I was surprisingly touched by the story of Fergus, who is trying to resist being drawn into the conflict, hoping to get good exam grades so he can get the heck out of there and study to become a doctor. When he and his uncle discover a body in a local bog while digging for peat, Fergus finds himself strangely intrigued by the mummified girl--who appears to have been murdered. There's just a hint of the supernatural to this story, with threads of the past interwoven with the present, and it's also a wrenching story of family and loyalty. I was truly sad to hear that the author recently died, and I look forward to reading the rest of her work.

At a library book exchange, I randomly picked up a copy of Leftovers by Laura Wiess. This is the story of Blair and Ardith, two best friends and troubled teens with indescribably horrible parents and sometimes almost unbelievably hurtful classmates. It's a gripping and rather sordid story--and sounds a bit like it would make a good TV drama, with its somewhat hyperbolic portrayal of evil selfish mothers and icky fathers. However, there's definitely enough realism in there that I was able to suspend my disbelief and get caught up in the building tension--and the appalling unintended consequences. I wasn't a fan of the second-person viewpoint--its relentless recurrence was distracting--but the writing is suspenseful and dramatic. A good quick read, if a bit dark.

Coming Up for Air

While TadMack's been lost in the throes of a sinus infection, I've been buried in a vast and deep slough of my own making: a major revision of one of my novel manuscripts, which I'd really like to get done in the next few weeks and send back out. I might even send the first chapter in during Firebrand Literary Agency's query holiday, if I really get off my duff.

In doing a quick and frantic online search for revision help, how-to's, hints, etc., I came across a page on author Holly Lisle's website with an interesting method for what she calls "one-pass revision"--doing it all in one fell swoop. Although it's far too late for me to be calling it "one-pass", since this is the third or fourth actual draft, it's never too late to make use of some of the ideas she brings up. So far, so good--I'll let you know how it goes!

Sniffle! Hack!

Oh, don't mind me and my sinus infection, and my fuzzy brain. I'll just lie here and cough. I WOULD be outside enjoying the sunshine, but NO, my body rebelled about sitting in a plane for ten hours.

dramatic sigh.

One of the things I learned during my MFA program -- almost incidentally -- is that YA and children's literature rarely has "ripped from the headlines" books. Almost any garishly spotlighted, sensational murder trial has an immediate companion novel from the point of view of the lawyer, the jury, the victim's sister -- but blessedly, that trend hasn't yet blighted children's lit. We tend to stay, on average, ten years behind the curve. Think about the fuss over the penguin picture book. Alternative families are nothing new, by far, but perhaps they became more commonplace during the nineties? I find the whole thing intriguing, from a sociological standpoint.

Thus, it is with real interest that I find that the first Katrina books -- which started to come out in 2005 -- are gaining momentum. Nonfiction seems always to be the first treatment in children's books about factual events -- Katrina was a meteorological event, after all, and it's always helpful to talk about weather and storms. The next explorations tend to be about animals -- the tsunami animals come to mind as a story that spread and spread and eventually became a book.

What I'm not seeing much of yet are the books about the human side of the equation, about the fact that a city in one of our fifty states was allowed to treat its people like refuse washed up after a storm, allowed them to starve or drown or be abandoned to die. There are a couple of MG titles I've run across -- 2007 was a good year for those -- but YA seems to be silent.

Are there few or no books for young adults because the adults still aren't sure how it could have happened?

Has anyone else noticed this trend -- the lag behind actual events, and the lack of reading material for older readers? This is just something random that jumped into my mind.

---

Has anyone else seen Valentine's decorations up in stores already? Anyone else moved to violence over it? Just me? Sigh. Blame the sinus infection...

---

PSST! Farida, the people have spoken, and the people want flower fairies. I can't hide your identity for much longer...

It's A...n Onion?

...and my favorite Christmas gift this year.

Who says all flower fairies are from sweet-smelling flowers?

A Very Merry Un-Holiday to You

It really is sort of an un-holiday, when I think about it. I spent the last few days frantically trying to get the house clean, vacuuming up every stray cat hair and dust mote (my mother is very allergy-prone), tidying up the stray socks that my husband leaves on the living-room floor after throwing them at the naughty little cat when she scratches on the chair, doing the last of the shopping, and stocking up on groceries until the fridge threatens to overflow every time I open the door. (What do you call an avalanche of Fuji apples? An apple-lanche?)

Anyway, for me--as any fellow Shrinking Violets will know--just having houseguests, family or otherwise, is not particularly restful, except for the occasional very rare individuals. But thoughts of family and friends do remind me how very lucky I am, and I really wanted to just post a brief note to let all of my friends and colleagues, extended family and outlying acquaintances, out here in the Kidlitosphere, know that I appreciate you all very much.

I may not always comment on blogs (yeah, yeah, I know, I know), or even have time to stay current with all my blog reading (ARGH--now there's a Festivus grievance for the ages), but I'm really glad to feel like part of the community. Over the past year, I've marveled repeatedly at how much closer together the Kidlitosphere has brought like-minded writers and readers. As a not-yet-published writer (see, I'm trying to be optimistic--not an easy thing for a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist), it's heartening, educational, and comforting to feel that connection. As an introvert who sometimes feels too introverted even to blog, maintaining that connection is extra important, and often it keeps me moving forward when nothing else does.

So, thank you, and a very merry Festivus, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid (a little late), Diwali, etc. to you.

Cease and Desist... Kick Back. Eat Popcorn. Hollydaze.

Whether it means aloneness or togetherness to you, I wish you joy.

On, Dizzy, On, Dumpy! On, Groggy and Grumpy!

Did I just hear the Grinch's reindeer?

The Festival of Festivus wheezes and moans its way into the world 'o' blogs today. Billed as the "holiday for the rest of us" it's apparently a Seinfeld-esque day in which people tell each other how much they've disappointed each other throughout the year. And then they have contests of ...strength?

Well, I can't say I really ever "got" Seinfeld, but I do know this telling-family-members-how-disappointing-they-are sounds like a bad outing with certain family members, so while I'm visiting them, I'm going to have to suck up my Grinch-ing, and pass on talking about mi familia loca, or doing any gratuitous arm-wrestling. If *you,* however, have any gripes about your family or life or the season, (or if you live in Portland and aren't Nordic) definitely get over there and join in the merriment. Misery loves company, after all, and maybe after you complain, you'll be able to go back and be civil in company. Unless you work in retail...

Just one more day, and you'll be able to kick back and relax. By doing what? Sara wants to know. I'd like to add to that question -- how do you celebrate personal accomplishment? Do you invite over friends, or have a solo celebration on your own? Many people neither know how to relax or to celebrate... Something to ponder.

Publishers kind of hibernate this week 'til the second week of January, and writers ...well, we're spending our time realizing how much seventeen year old boys and a family of nine eat (how, how did I end up doing so much cooking? Was it the recipes in the novel???), and feel like they're sitting around in a jet-lag induced haze, or feeding the five thousand, who seem to need snacks in between hands of canasta and to eat 'round the clock. More coherent posts will be on tap after the weekend, I'm sure, once I've shrugged off the KP duties and hidden in a back room with my laptop! (Happy Hols to all my fellow Violets who are hanging in along with. Courage!...)

Great gift ideas and book suggestions are still pouring in, for those of you who, like me, aren't done shopping, and won't be until the 12th Day of Christmas (which is after The Epiphany, which is the realization that Dec. 25 is an artificial deadline, and including post-Christmas shopping makes the fun last longer). Check out the usual suspects -- Chasing Ray and Mother Reader. More anon!

Back Where I Left My Heart

On a personal note:
Home is where there are mugs that hold three quarters of liter of tea... Where there's football on the TV all day Sunday (fortunately confined to a back bedroom), and you realize that you're tuning everything out but the sound of the penalty whistles and your brother's occasional shouts of "Nooo!" (The Niners are playing. Sigh.) Home is where you arrive, disheveled and lugging suitcases and no one comments that you probably need a bath. Your Mom hugs you anyway. Whether you want her to or not.

Home is where you're really glad the Shrinking Violets are sending you ear plugs.

So far, holiday shopping is actually not bad, much better than expected. The parking lot was a little crazy at the bookstore today, but people were handing out cookies, and no one was throwing elbows or screeching. That's the benefit of buying people books for Christmas -- no toy aisles.

Thus Far: ~I've gotten Diary of a Wimpy Kid and its sequel, Roderick Rules and Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! already in the bag from ten minutes just ghosting through a nearby bookstore. Tomorrow I'm going to do The Serious Shopping first thing in the morning, and see how far I get. Still a seventeen year old sports nut to find a book for, an almost-two year old (and thanks to everyone for the great suggestions for him) and a twelve year old girl. Plus the older sibs, and the 'rents, but I think they'll probably be pretty easy.

Since I've only been in the U.S. since Friday afternoon and I've a.) been to the symphony b.) been to a choir show, c.) been to a Christmas brunch, d.) been shopping and e.) helped my Mom crash a wedding, I think I need a nap. Now.

---

According to NPR, James Thurbers' Thirteen Clocks is back in print. I've never had the pleasure of reading, but it's apparently pure, classic Thurber, in a The Princess Bride meets Fractured Fairy Tales type of way. Sounds like fun. Meanwhile, a special Christmas treat comes from Gregory MacGuire, of Wicked fame; on Christmas Day, he'll be reading an original Christmas story on All Things Considered. That's worth sitting quietly for!

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Yep - this picture is of the SF City Hall. Nope, I don't live in SF, but this building has my birth certificate on file.

Toon Thursday: Revision Revisited

'K, I'm done harping on revision now. Maybe. For the time being.

---

NE ways (jeez, it felt wrong just typing that), I wanted to give props to Mother Reader today for her even-handed take on the latest installment of the annually recurring Newbery debate, and her excellent hat tip to the Cybils. The article prompting all the hoo-hah originally appeared in the School Library Journal, but some fresh hoo-hah has been stirred up (do you stir up hoo-hah? perhaps fling it?) by the Washington Post, and it's even made it all the way into the UK's Guardian Books Blog (thanks to Nicola for the link).

But what I found most interesting about the Guardian article was a little aside at the very end about one of the books shortlisted for WH Smith Children's Book of the Year. All I can say is, yikes. Then again, perhaps this is where I'm going wrong. Perhaps the path to publication lies in the inclusion of ponies, and my as-yet-unpublished status is entirely due to my failure to include enough ponies in my books.

...Or not.

A Few More Odds and Ends

Q:What do introverts get for Christmas?
A:Violets!

Check out the Shrinking Violets "Twelve Days of Christmas, Introvert-Style." Twelve days of fun giveaways, and reminders that it's okay to take time outs, breathers, disappear and do what you need to, to save your sanity!

There's all kinds of fun distracting stuff online today - but the most distracting thing for me is trying to finish a WIP while another story idea is edging around in my brain, waving its hand and asking to be written. WHY is it that every time the WIP gets tough, there's another idea trying to flirt with me, waving its arms, winking, and leering at me from around the corner??? WHY!??!

Sigh.
My muse is occasionally a faithless pain in the behind.

Onward!

Via Buzz, Balls & Hype, NBC Nightly News reports that library usage is up 46%! Who knew -- in tough times, there's still a place you can get books for free! The report is a little cloying; a librarian says that sometimes things are a little wild with so many patrons. Says the voiceover: "'Wild' is not a word you normally associate with the library." Um, obviously this person hasn't been to a library lately. Try going over when school's out, and there's a bunch of kids needing homework help, or trying to find something halfway interesting for a book report. And the shallowness just keeps on coming. "There's Wi-Fi, and movies!" Really? Duh. NBC News: you should get out more.

Congratulations to Lorie Ann Grover on her new board books! SO very cute! I knew Lorie Ann was a YA writer... how did I totally miss the artist thing?!

I had the most fun this weekend going through all of our blog posts for the last year! We chose one of our best (after much waffling) for the Blog Carnival at Jen's place. Please go over and check out our favorite, as well as the favorites of a whole bunch of others, and definitely wish Jen a happy blogversary! We had so much fun interviewing Sherri L. Smith that we're doing it again in February -- more talk about race and writing YA literature. Definitely stay tuned for that, we had a great, engaging conversation last time.

Speaking of engaging conversations, there are some really great suggestions on revision going on -- I'm taking notes, too!

Much to my shock, the word is that Ursula LeGuin is going to allow someone to film another one of her books!! After the SciFi Channel basically firebombed Earthsea and then spat on its remains, I'd be a bit wary, but ...she's apparently going to try again. And good luck to her. (Hat tip, Galleycat.)

I'd never heard of the Unesco Artists for Peace project, but UK author Lauren Child has traveled the world on their behalf in the last eighteen months, meeting kids everywhere, and basically doing school visits with them -- in homeless shelters and orphanages. It's a pretty neat project, really, to travel the world and tell stories.

Two more days 'til I get on a plane and go back to Sunny California -- hah, hah! It's now colder in my home state than it is in Glasgow!! What's wrong with this picture!?!?

Back to work.

Revision Blues

I have a nifty story
I wrote it yesterday
The problem now, I can't see how
To rework it today--
Oh, I've got the revision blues (it happens every time)
Oh yes, the revision blues (it really is a crime)
I've got the revision blues
And I think I need some downtime.

Yes, I admit to owning (and abusing) a rhyming dictionary. I promise, no further verses of doggerel for at least another week.

---

They--the all-knowing they who proclaim great truths from on high--they say that if you manage to actually finish that first draft of a novel, then you've taken a significant, and, indeed, entirely necessary and critical step towards publication.

They, in this case, are correct. However, what "they" have failed to take into account is that I don't seem to have a problem with the first draft part. I have no fewer than four separate manuscripts of YA novels in various stages of draft-dom. Where I have my issues is in revision.

Namely, when I sit down to revise, I often feel like I have no idea what I'm doing--that fancy three-letter graduate degree just sits there on my filing cabinet like an inanimate and unhelpful sheet of meaningless paper. Sometimes I revise--and revise, and revise again--only to feel completely uncertain if I've even made my work any better. In fact, sometimes I'm terrified that I've actually made it worse, and that I won't be able to tell the difference. How do other writers cope with this? How can you tell when you should keep plugging away at a story, or if it's time to put it aside, either temporarily or permanently?

I'm sure there's no way to just magically know. (Though if there is, and you're all keeping it from me...why I oughta....) But if you have any revision hints, or great links you've run across, strategies that work for you, I'd love to hear them!

Thoughts on *&#$%! language

Over the weekend, the Poetry Princesses launched back into the fray with work on the sestina project we started six months ago (oy!) and were talking about a certain excellent poem, which is rich in imagery and feeds the senses. We discussed the uses of language in poetry -- specifically, some language which could be described as evocative and "salty," which might raise brows and produce blushes. It was a good conversation, as we spoke of our strengths and limitations in terms of language. I didn't add much, but it was good to be a part of the circle.

I'm always in awe of the Princesses, because they're so very real -- in ways that I am not, and fear that I can never be. It seems that I am not yet grown up enough to get past the way I was raised, the voices in my head are still ones belonging to my parents and other adults -- and I don't yet see myself as tall enough to escape from their shadows. My writing struggles -- like a worm on a hook -- to escape. I feel sometimes that I'm standing in the stirrups, cranking back the reins on a runaway horse, which is pawing the air and doing its level best to throw me off and pulverize me. I hold back, I hold on, I censor and edit myself, and I fear that not only can I not do that, but that I can never be a great writer because of it.

A conundrum, in a way. But a necessity in another way.

Our talk about language got me thinking again about the conversation I had with my S.A.M. about a year ago, in which he exclaimed in frustration, "#$%&%! Let the character's swear!" It was actually a pretty hilarious moment, as far as that goes, but I could not take his otherwise good advice. It wasn't how I was raised (oh, that again), and it also seems in many ways as big a linguistic shortcut as dropping brand names in a manuscript.

(Now, I'm blogging about this because I'm thinking it through -- please don't jump down my throat and criticize what I'm saying. I really don't care if or by what you swear or not. I'm just thinking "out loud," here.)

I remember reading a very popular book a couple of years ago that got a lot of Cybils kudos, but we discussed it in terms of, "Wow, great story -- wow, that's a lot of language." We went round and round about whether or not it was realistic to the setting (it was), or the ages of the characters (it was), but even having drawn those conclusions, a few in the group had some serious qualms.

Some print reviewers drew some of the same conclusions, and actually alluded to the idea that language and setting together were just iconic earmarks, a kind of hipster in-speak that meant less than nothing. The book received very mixed praise -- which probably didn't mean that teens didn't read it -- and we went on to the next book...

-- but that incident stuck with me, and I've mulled it over for quite awhile.

Do some words seem to carry with them a kind of cachet, a kind of ...intangible attitude? Does a character using profanity automatically allow us to assume other things about them -- class? Religion or lack, race or ethnicity? I am not sure -- and as long as I'm not sure, I want to use other words to allow readers to come to their conclusions about the characters I write in different ways. I don't want assumptions or to use characterization shortcuts -- unless that's deliberately what I'm after. So many people have written that unless you're disturbing the universe with your work, you're not truly writing... that you're not being real.

This is how it's been explained to me: Using profanity in one's writing is like... not ending a sentence with a preposition (English Major Nerdom Alert). You really avoid going there, if you can, but there are some times -- especially in dialogue -- when this makes the speaker sound overly stiff and clunky -- that you simply have to recalibrate the sentence, or you'll end up using it. What you're talking about must be more important than how you talk about it. Surely if how you talk about it gets in the way, there must be a problem...

Are there times when you absolutely positively have to use vulgarity or profanity? Probably not. BUT...

As I write, the universe remains undisturbed. I cannot yet figure out how to disturb it, and keep true to where I'm at...

Once in a Blue Moon: Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

This book is a 2008 Cybils nominee for Middle Grade Novels.

When your name is Alpha because the Alpha is the brightest star in any constellation, it's a pretty sure bet that your parents are astronomy enthusiasts. That's true of thirteen-year-old Ally, who lives with her parents and younger brother at the Moon Shadow Campground. For most of Ally's life, they've been planning for the big event that's taking place that summer—a full solar eclipse, and the campground is directly in its path. In a matter of a few weeks, the campground they own will be inundated with eclipse chasers.

Two of those eclipse chasers are parents to Bree, who treasures her good looks and popularity and dreams of becoming a model. Bree's a quintessential city girl, so when her parents announce that they'll be spending part of the summer in a remote campsite with only other astronomy nerds for company, she's less than enthused. Try devastated.

Meanwhile, another city kid named Jack finds himself in an awkward situation school-wise. Nobody really wants to make up work in summer school, so when he's offered the chance to accompany his science teacher on an eclipse tour, helping him out with some data collection, he takes it. He just hopes it won't be too boring.

Of course, all three of these narrators—who take turns telling the story, who each have their own individual story to tell—inevitably meet at the Moon Shadow Campground. Their age, though, is just about all they seem to have in common. But, under the dark of the eclipsed sun and the wonder of their shared experience, they just might be able to learn from their differences. This is a sweet, warm novel that handles issues of friendship, family, and self-discovery with a light touch. With its combination of gorgeous, vivid description and fascinating scientific facts, it's also sure to make anybody intrigued at the thought of seeing a full solar eclipse someday--I sure am.

Buy this book from an independent bookstore near you!

The Power of Positive

It's been hard to read Galleycat for the last two weeks -- so many publishing houses are hitting hard times -- but Firebrand Literary Agency still believes in writers. According to agent Michael Stearn's Cynsations interview on Tuesday, Firebrand is accepting first chapters in lieu of query letters from December 15th thru January 15. The details are also on the website, and honestly, it's too good of a deal to pass up, writers. Hat tip toFuse#8).

Also via Fuse earlier in the week, I discovered AuthorsNow!, which is "a collaboration of debut children’s book authors and illustrators who are the fresh and emerging voices in children’s and young adult literature today. Created with the parent, teacher, librarian and bookseller in mind, AuthorsNow! is a one-stop-shop to learn about all of our authors and illustrators." They already link to Readers' Rants, so we'll definitely keep checking back with them. How awesome to find someone willing to celebrate authors and their new books!

Mitali is a friend I've not yet met -- and she has such a good heart. Instead of spending time bemoaning the publishing industry this year, she's turned to a positive mental space -- and turned others with her. "About a week ago, I started thinking: why not show them some author/illustrator love by planning a massive multi-author signing event? Great idea, right?" Just starting with a little Twitter about how she appreciated independent booksellers, Mitali's now opened a floodgate of affection and respect for our industry and who we are and what we do -- and turned it back to sellers and patrons and kids, which is what this is all about. KidsHeartAuthors.com -- is an extraordinary valentine to New England. Which is so very sweet.

Thanks for restoring a little of our faith in the world, Mitali.

---

I read with amusement the Guardian's live-blogging of Beetle the Bard, which just this week outsold Twilight. Whee! It's tiny and it's not at all HP Book 8, as so many have wished, but it's out there, and the proceeds go to charity, so that's a good thing. However, I'm still more amused that it's bumped Twilight into the ...um, dark. And have you seen the Twilight dolls? (Or, wait -- is the Edward thing an action figure??)

Oh, all right. If you're still jonesing for a vampire story, you can download one by L.J. Smith for free until December 21. Thank-you, L.J. Smith! (Via our buddy at Cynsations.)

Earlier this week, SF Signal talked with R.A. & Geno Salvatore, the father-and-son team who are currently finishing their blog tour. I bookmarked the interview to reread later, then discovered to my happy surprise that both Becky and Charlotte got to take part in the tour.

I've read quite a bit of R.A. Salvatore, so I'm excited to read this YA/MG book, which is also a Cybils nominee! Definitely go back and visit all of their blog tour stops -- some really good comments on SFF and the idea of YA as a marketing target, trying to feed the post-Harry reading gap, writing for kids without dumbing anything down, and the introduction of a strong girl character who will reappear. Boo-yah! Can't wait to get home and read this one.

I'd never heard of Vera Nazarian until I read about her on John Scalzi's blog. People in the children's lit blogosphere are close and supportive, but I love the cohesiveness of the SFF community -- how amazing is it that one writer was able to raise over $3K just with people donating after reading a story of his? Or that the combined efforts of a bunch of writers could raise over $20K, and help save this woman's home and family? I'm not a big fan of holiday sentiment -- The Gift of the Magi actually ticks me off -- but stuff like this makes me think, "Yeah. We aren't all sucky." Which is Very Good Indeed.

---

I love my little icon about being self-centered. Bad times sometimes bring out the whining narcissist in all of us -- but I just love all of these examples of goodwill and balance and reasonableness and positiveness. They help me move forward. I may have to revisit this...

Poetry Friday: Finding My Center

I had so much fun reading Sara's post a few days ago -- because I'm in the process of renewing my visa to stay in the UK another two years and I'm reading the absolutely insane questions that require me to "tick yes or no."

In times of either peace or war have you, ever been involved in, or suspected of involvment in, war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide?
...
Have you engaged in any other activities that might indicate that you may not be considered a person of good character?

Tick yes or no.

No. No. No. No. No.
And a thousand times more.

And yet, the last question is sticky. Have you engaged in any activities that might indicate that you may not be considered a person of good character?

Really?
Who are you, then?

Meg Kearny's whimsical, elegant Creed attempts to establish part of an answer to that -- and even as thorough as this poem is, we still see only an outline of the poet.

Isn't that the way it always is.

Creed
by Meg Kearney

I believe the chicken before the egg
though I believe in the egg. I believe
eating is a form of touch carried
to the bitter end; I believe chocolate
is good for you; I believe I'm a lefty
in a right-handed world, which does not
make me gauche, or abnormal, or sinister.
I believe "normal" is just a cycle on
the washing machine; I believe the touch
of hands has the power to heal, though
nothing will ever fill this immeasurable
hole in the center of my chest. I believe
in kissing; I believe in mail; I believe
in salt over the shoulder, a watched
pot never boils, and if I sit by my
mailbox waiting for the letter I want
it will never arrive—not because of
superstition, but because that's not
how life works. I believe in work:
phone calls, typing, multiplying,
black coffee, write write write, dig
dig dig, sweep sweep.

from An Unkindness of Ravens. © BOA Editions, Rochester, New York, 2001.
---read the rest of this poem right here.

From the Earth, only one side of the moon is visible -- ever. No matter how any of us may appear, we are only the sum total of the moment we are in -- a moving picture of who we have the potential to become. We believe that we see all we are, and judge each other -- and ourselves -- so harshly, despite the fact that few of us are ever fully whomever we could be.

Life is more than yes/no, 0/1, either/or. This I believe.

Find your own creed this Poetry Friday at Wild Rose Reader, who has invited us for brunch. I think I'm late, but there will surely be leftovers.

Students of History, Unite and Write!

Toon Thursday, pie makers, is all about you. And you know your love for nutmeg. Every once in awhile, though, you can take a breather from your deathless prose, and write something a little more immediate -- or encourage the writers in your family to do so. If you're a high school or college student -- undergraduate or graduate -- attending an American high school, college or university, you're in luck.

NLS Publishing is excited to announce the 2008 Students for Change Essay Writing Contest. The contest is open to high school seniors, undergraduate and graduate students who will attend a regionally accredited college or university in the United States in the Fall of 2009.

Students wishing to enter the contest are required to submit a 1000 to 2000 word essay describing "what the election of Barack Obama, the first African-American President, means to you and your family." Students are encouraged to discuss this historic event with their parents and grandparents, and to incorporate these discussions into their essays. Students may submit up to three (3) photos with their essay.

The top three (3) essay contest winners will receive a $1,000 scholarship towards tuition at a regionally accredited college or university for Fall 2009. Essays will be reviewed by a group of judges selected by NLS Publishing. Selection criteria will include:
• Organization
• Content
• Quality of Writing
• Originality
All entries MUST be accompanied by an Official Entry Form (which will come up as a .pdf), including the signature of the student (and parent, if the student is under the age of 18). Only one essay may be submitted per student. Essays must be postmarked / received no later than January 20, 2009, before 12:00 midnight.

Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and in MS Word format. Essays can be submitted via email, file upload OR U.S. Mail. Here you can find:
• the Requirements for essay contest entries via Email ,
• Requirements for essay contest entries via File Upload , and
• Requirements for essay contest entries via U.S. Mail

If you're going to take part, r.s.v.p. so that you can receive updates and additional scholarship information from the company. This sounds like a great little project for Christmas break!

*Essay contest winners will receive notification by April 30, 2009

Toon Thursday: In Praise of the First Draft

Way back in, oh, November, I was trying National Novel Writing Month. It wasn't my most successful attempt at NaNoWriMo--I had to admit this year that I wasn't going to make it to the end. And then I felt a bit guilty, because I'd been getting all of these wonderful and inspiring pep talks in my e-mail box from various authors. There was a lot of great advice in there, and looking back over it has made me feel...not quite so bad about my poor abandoned (temporarily, at least) first draft. I thought I'd share some of that advice here, as a sort of Toon Thursday supplement. Enjoy!

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Alchemists tried for centuries to turn base metals into gold. Every time we sit down and put words on paper, we succeed where they failed. We're conjuring something out of nothing. - Jonathan Stroud

The question authors get asked more than any other is "Where do you get your ideas from?" And we all find a way of answering which we hope isn't arrogant or discouraging. What I usually say is "I don't know where they come from, but I know where they come to: they come to my desk, and if I'm not there, they go away again." That's just another way of emphasising the importance of regular work. - Philip Pullman

If you're stuck for story-launching ideas, consider borrowing from the menu of time-tested plot devices: deaths, firings, loves-at-first-sight, siege ladders quietly appearing against ramparts, disappearances, robberies, accidental wealth, plagues, road trips, illnesses, kidnappings, a shortage of gummi bears when there had appeared to be many gummi bears, mysterious letters, shocking discoveries, betrayal, and wiener dogs. - Chris Baty, NaNoWriMo founder

[P]age 70 is where the misery strikes. All the initial excitement has drained away; you've begun to see all the hideous problems you've set yourself; you are horribly aware of the minute size of your own talent compared to the colossal proportions of the task you've undertaken. - Philip Pullman

I aim always to get to the end of the first draft even though all the time I’m telling myself that I’m writing nothing but garbage that no one on earth would ever want to read, especially me. But I tell myself that this poor little attempt, this garbage, deserves a chance. - Katherine Paterson

Michelangelo's Pieta was once a shapeless block, most of which ended up as dust on his studio floor. As you write, give yourself permission to create that formless block---the necessary first draft from which a wonderful book can spring. - Nancy Etchemendy

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All of the above presumably belongs to either the original authors or to NaNoWriMo, and I hope I'm not violating anything by sharing a few choice tidbits with you. There's also a FABULOUS pep talk from Meg Cabot, but it was so good I couldn't pick just one bit. If you want to read it, let me know and I'll forward it to you.