The Beauty of the Book

Borders Bookstore chain is closing.  Over ten thousand people are losing their jobs, publishers are taking a huge hit as Borders fails to pay them money it owes, authors' print runs are shrinking (see a great NPR article here with the deets), but for me it's another sign of the death of the beauty of the book.

Reading will survive, of course. Books will continue to be written and read, perhaps even in greater numbers, as ebooks take over and almost all sales eventually shift to one electronic form or another.  That's the most important thing, I suppose.  (Well, the lives the Borders employees affected by this are probably the most important thing, really. But you see where I'm going.)

But I can remember going into Tower Records and holding my first Beatles LP in my hands. It sent a visceral thrill through me that downloading an mp3 on ITunes simply cannot duplicate.  The music was tangible, real, in my hands. The cover (it was Live at the Hollywood Bowl) had what looked like actual tickets to the concert on it.  I could imagine holding those tickets in my sweaty little hand as I joined my screams with the other girls at the concert.

Getting a page to print up with an electronic ticket in my email for concerts today does not generate that excitement.  Burning my own cds or watching files download from MySpace sites after I buy a file does not make my toes vibrate with love and passion the way holding this album cover did.

So it goes with books.  I still have some of my first books - the Oxford Book of Nursery Rhymes, Now We are Six by A.A. Milne.  I wrote in those books. I circled words I liked and tried to spell out my name on the inside cover. I can still see my four year old scrawl and my five year old comments in these books.  When I hold them now I remember with sudden swift vividness how it felt to recite "Bad King John" with my Dad as he held the book in front of me.

Kids can't circle words on their iPads today. Or if they do, the circles don't stay.  When they get older they won't see the wear and tear of the years on the "pages" of their Kindle editions, or remember how they smeared chocolate on the blank back pages of their Nook while they read House at Pooh Corner. 

And the smell of a new book!  The ivory gleam of pages ruffling through your fingers as you estimated how much further till Nancy Drew unraveled the Mystery of the Old Clock.  To enter a bookstore was to enter a cathedral of story.  To touch the spines of those books was to come into contact with a hundred new ideas, a thousand new adventures.  If you saw another kid eagerly reading a pink book with an octopus on the cover, you could hunt for that book yourself by spotting that distinctive shade of magenta on the shelf.  You can't do that by looking at the back of an iPad.

But Borders is closing.  And printed books are a dying breed.  A few afficionados will remain, and a few bookstores will live on by catering to collectors, the same way vinyl records still sell a few copies to those who want a multi-level experience when buying music.

This to me is a tragedy.  Reading will  live on, thank goodness.  But the visceral connection to the word will die.  Maybe it means more people will read books, and that is something to celebrate.  But I'm in mourning for the "real" book.  And for all those people who lost their jobs.

Updated to add: Just to be clear - I'm pro-ebook, pro-Kindle, Nook, e-reader, etc. Reading is fabulous, regardless of the means.  I just wish the rise of one method didn't have to mean the death of the other. 

Maybe It Once Kissed A Pomegranate

Life has been a bit nutty lately in ways that I can't blog about because it all involves other people whose privacy I will not violate.

But I am sorry I haven't blogged much lately.  I feel like my writing is finally starting to go somewhere, then I don't have enough time, or sometimes, enough energy to blog/tweet/Facebook to share stuff with people and move forward on it.  Oh well.  Plenty of time ahead left for self marketing, right?  Sometimes you just have to deal with what's right in front of you.

Then a story like this one on Yahoo News catches my eye, and my imagination runs riot.  That's how it works for me. An archaeologist finds a tiny golden bell that once adorned someone's robe in a sewer in Old Jerusalem, and my imagination takes over.

Whose robe once tinkled with this bell?  A priest in a holy procession?  A wealthy woman on her way to see her lover?  Did the owner of this bell realize the moment when it was lost, when it fell from the robe and bounced into the sewer? Did Jewish rebels, using those sewers to flee Roman legions while their beloved city and temple were razed back in 70 AD sneak past where that golden bell lay in the muck?  Did a rat once mistake it for food down there?  The Bible describes priestly garments being adorned with such bells, hanging between decorative pomegranates. Does this bell remember the pomegranate it once kissed? If it could speak, could we hear the ancient sermons it listened to?

This is why I love archaeology and history.  It makes me think about the people of those times - about their losses and loves, their tragedies and transcendent moments.  It's been a rough week or year or decade for the world. Madmen take the lives of innocents, children starve while politicians create unnecessary roadblocks to progress, temperatures rise, polar bears can't swim far enough, self hatred leads to self destruction, illness strikes, and frightened people hurt others because they know no other way.

In the past this all happened too. They were people like us (okay, maybe with worse teeth and shorter lifespans), and their stories are now gone, except for hints like this little golden bell. It's left to us to imagine and remember.

The Book I've Waited For

It's not often I go to the bookstore the day a book is released especially to get it. But I did it today for George R.R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons.  Ohohoho! You betcha.

I don't think I've done that since the previous book in this series, A Feast For Crows, came out. That was November 8, 2005.  I waited nearly six years for Dragons.  People asked me if I'd wait to buy it so I could get it when George R.R. Martin (the author) is in town at the end of the month, signing books.

Wait two more weeks?  Hell, no.  I might go see Martin at the signing, but no way I'm waiting till then to read his book.

People asked me if I'd wait to get it in paperback.

Wait MONTHS???  Eff that and eff you. You don't get it.

It's not very often I get all passionate and crazy about anything.  I did it more often as a teenager, of course.  But I was never the sort to stand in long lines for things or to get autographs or to collect stuff.

So when I stand in line, when I rush to buy, when I go the extra mile to get/read/watch/meet/listen to something or someone, you know I love it with every fiber of my little soul.

Which is why I didn't buy this on Kindle, despite its enormous size.  Reading a book this fat on a Kindle would be much easier on the hands and arms.  But some books you need to be able to touch, to pour over the maps, to sniff the paper and the glue and feel the embossing on the caver.  All that, plus the amazingly good writing, pull me completely into another world.

And this way I can lend it out when I'm done.  That's what I did with the earlier books in the series. And I converted a bunch of folks in the process. 

Don't get me wrong - read this on a Kindle or Nook or whatever you like.  I don't care.  I prefer the hard copy.  But if you like fantasy at all, just read it.  Well, read the first one Game of Thrones first.

And if that's not your cup of tea, then find something you love and run your hands over its embossing.  A little passion is good for the little soul.

I love movies. I love travel. In fact, I'm a total geek about such things.

Now there's an app called Augmented Reality Cinema that pleases the movie/travel geek in me very very much. I haven't downloaded it yet, but I shall! You need to see it to believe it, but it allows you to view clips from movies that had scenes shot right where you're standing.

Sheesh, in LA I could walk out my door and spend hours watching clips shot in my neighborhood, I bets ya.

A demonstration, below.



And yes, I now have a smartphone, my first. That in itself is a hint to you of the big things to come...

Obscure Hints Galore

Verbal hint: my website will soon have a new look.

Obscure visual hint:

Sort of a Hint

The mood in this one isn't quite right for it to be a true hint. But I just love the artist Michael Sowa.

Want to see more of his work?  Check out the video below:



His animals have such rich inner lives. Everything he does hints at a larger story. I can't even begin to pick a favorite.

Another Hint: Big News on the Horizon

Yep.  Until I can spill it.  Here's another relevant image:

The Biggest Hint of All

Tiger on the Watch, by Jean-Leon Gerome, 1888.

More soon.

Another Hint

From artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi:

A Hint of Things to Come...

Not exactly this. But this very cool old illustration puts one in the proper mood...

Happy Summer!

Summer solstice today, and in LA the temperature's in the 80's and sunny.

As it should be.

This is the longest day of the year, and as a person who grew up in a state (Hawaii) where the days stayed pretty much the same length all year ('cause Hawaii's close to the equator) I have a strong love for this day. I still find it very odd to have daylight around 8pm. When I visited Ireland in August a few years back, I took photos without a flash at ISO 100 at 10pm at night. To me, this is miraculous!

In ancient Egypt, the summer solstice marked not only the day the sun was at its highest, but the beginning of the all-important inundation of the Nile.  In their mythology, it was at this time that the sun god Horus defeated his uncle Set, Lord of Darkness.

Which reminds me, lots brewing right now, writing-wise. Can't share, but it feels good to percolate. I am coffee! A strong, slightly bitter brew no doubt.

In Which My Tweet is Quoted at Ew.com

Did you see episode nine of Game of Thrones yet? If you have, you can see that I'm quoted in a (SPOILERIFIC) article at ew.com here.

If you haven't, don't waste time reading this. Go and watch, little grasshopper! Go now, I say!

I read the books by George R.R. Martin first, loved them, and was thrilled when HBO announced they were adapting them for cable TV.

And here's the thing. The series isn't perfect. But in some places it's actually better than the books. This is coming from a book lover, from one who has read all the books several times.

They proved it big time last night in episode nine, entitled "Baelor." Again, it wasn't perfect. Some of the exposition in the middle dragged a bit, although the acting and character work was as always fabulous.

Then they got to the final scene of the episode, a scene which, in the books, is infamous and celebrated amongst fantasy readers. I won't spoil it for you here, just in case you haven't seen the show or read the books. (Go do both! Now, fucking now!) But after I first read the scene, I literally sat there dumbfounded, mouth agape, for five minutes. It's bold, it's harsh, it's completely wonderful.

So I knew what to expect with this ep of the show. I knew it was coming. I was thrilled to see what they'd do with it, braced for the emotional impact.

It was far better than I ever could have dreamed.

How often does that happen? So I tweeted about it. Fifteen minutes after the east coast feed of the show ended, I tweeted. "I read the books. I knew it was coming. Still, it was shocking, horrific, and fantastic. #gameofthrones #baelor."

And ew.com used it in their article.

I'm too famous now to bother telling you more. *sniff*

Actually, I didn't gain a single twitter follower from it. But it was pretty cool just the same.

More Food For Thought on Blogging

A veddy interestink post by writer Kristen Lamb here about why you shouldn't blog just about writing if you're a writer.

The main reason? It limits your audience.

I've struggled along with what to blog about on this blog a bit. How focused on a topic should I be? How often to post?

So this sort of article from an expert is helpful.

1. Post three times a week. (Gulp.)

2. Write about stuff you like and that the general public likes. Throw promos for your book in there somewhere and make it feel organic, by gum.

Of course, I don't have a book to promote (yet!). And I do post about stuff I like - movies, Ancient Egypt, writing, travel. I haven't gotten up to three times a week. That's partly because I don't have anything to promote! Why bug people when you have little to offer?

Perhaps I shouldn't view my blog as "bugging" people, ey? Step #1.

One of the issues is that I work in an industry that makes things I love - TV and film. This is a good and lucky thing for me. But it means I can't really blog too freely about the product it produces. I can't rave about my fave TV shows too much or rant about ones that suck. I work with these people! That's not cool.

But I do love and can discuss things like: old movies, language, bodysurfing, travel, history, poetry, art, animals, RPGs, underdogs.

So I'll ponder how to make a blog identity out of some amalgalm of that.

My Favorite Movie in On

It's The Searchers and it's on AMC right now and I can't tear myself away except during the annoying commercials. I already own the dvd, which comes from an amazing print, but this is one of those movies, like Jaws or Casablanca, that when I catch a glimpse of it on TV, it ensnares me for hours.

I know folks have issues with it. They think it's racist. And indeed, John Wayne plays a racist bastard in the film. But the film thinks he's wrong. In fact, one of its major themes is that our entire country is based on racism. What else could've made us think we had the right to take it from the people who were here before us?

The movie's about other things too - vengeance, love, and how an old love can turn vengeance into forgiveness. But ultimately, the racist old blackguard played by Wayne can never be forgiven, can never be part of civilization. He made America possible, but he's too awful to ever be let inside. We wouldn't have to live with our terrible past, now would we?

The ending is justly famous. Wayne brings home the girl (young Natalie Wood) who had been kidnapped by Indians (I'll call them that here, not Native Americans, since that's how the movie refers to them), whom he had sworn to kill himself. He couldn't kill the daughter of the woman he loved, no matter how much he despised the fact that she's now "tainted" by living with Indian chief Scar. He saved her, redeemed himself, in a way. But it's not enough. It'll never be enough. As he said of the dead Indian who's eyes he shot out, he's doomed forever to wander between the winds.

Blogger won't let me post this widescreen (it's shot in 1.85), so it's best viewed here. Or see the slightly cropped version, below.

It used to be cool to be adult. To be sophisticated, witty, worldy, intelligent, insightful.  Nowadays the movies are full of people who all desperately want to be younger and dumber.  I don't get it.  This is the world I'd like to live in:

Why You Should Use Obvious Blog Post Titles for Search Optimization

... Because people rely on technology to find things for them on the internet, and tech doesn't "get" the cool, ironic, poetry-referencing title you used for your post.

I've been reading up on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and I still have much to learn, but seriously, I'm considering retitling my blog. (Well, not really, but you get the idea.) If this blog were titled "How to Become a Successful Writer" it would be misleading as hell, but it would get me lots of hits.

Of course, you want folks to linger on your web page too. So don't mislead them, tempting as it may be! You need to offer up the goods you promised in the title, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because you need to get them to click on something, to go to the next page of your blogpost.

Which is why I need to figure out how to make you click on a link to read the rest of this post.

The Nape of Your Neck

I've been out of town for the past couple of weeks to help out with some family stuff. It's left me a bit drained and tired, a combo of jetlag and the dazed sort of "hunh?" feeling that comes from seeing people you love having difficult times.

So I haven't blogged or written much at all. I can feel the psychic hole that leaves somewhere near the base of my neck. That's the spot where the chills start, where the hair on your nape stands up when you spot a knee-meltingly hot man or you experience a mind-blowing moment in a story. So that's where I feel the absence, the lack, the void, when I don't write for awhile.

But things and people in my life are on the mend, and I'm back in my Hollywood homeland. My head is fuzzy with fatigue in the afternoons, despite the sunshine, but it can't stop buzzing about the idea for a TV Pilot burbling around in there, as well as three or four different ideas for the next novel.

Sometimes I like to draw out this anticipatory time before I plunge into the actual writing. Much of the writing process doesn't actually involve putting words on paper. Daydreaming is essential. Imagining scenes between your characters can spark plot ideas, inspiration, thematic insights, and on and on.

Jogging last night down Hollywood Boulevard, admiring the silhouettes of the palm trees against the darkening sky, I realized that in one of my ideas I was giving way too much plot to a minor character. I could easily give that activity to the main character. In fact, that activity made the main character much more interesting to me. It fleshed her out. Action = Character as we writers all know. What she does shows you who she is. So give her the cool stuff, for crying out loud, Nina!

So the daydreaming, mulling, fantasizing, all that is vital. If you sidestep it and plung into writing too soon, it can rob you of not only some of the fun of writing, but of some really good ideas.

Just keep in mind - this is the exhilarating part. Many people burble over with ideas. They offer them up to me like precious jewels, telling me I can turn them into books or scripts if I want.

I have to tell them then: ideas are the easy part. It's the writing that's hard. So don't put off the tough stuff of putting words on paper too long, or an idea is all you'll ever have.

So this weekend - writing will happen.

42 Third Act Plot Twists

I can't fit the entire image on my blog and still make it big enough to read. (Plus I don't want to steal something and make it look like my own.) So go to Desden Codak's website here and see his genius table of 42 Third Act Plot Twists.

I can't pick a favorite out of all of them, but I'm particularly fond of "Food Starts Eating People" and "Ancient Druids Lose Interest."

I'm tempted to write 42 stories and incorporate each one. Which one will you write?

Rock the Drop!

It's Teen Lit Day!

To celebrate and promote reading to teens, Readergirlz is promoting Rock the Drop - where folks attach the above bookplate to a YA book and leave it somewhere random for a lucky teen (or adult!) to find and read.

On twitter, authors and readers are tweeting photos of themselves leaving books everywhere from Panera to bus stops.  I'm printing up a bookplate and will let you know where my own contribution lands.

Interested in Rocking the Drop?  Check out Readergirlz, get a fave YA book, and do it!

Never Satisfied

I hope soon to post about how I got my agent, so that others will not despair in their own quests.

However, am a bit slammed - working the day job, family stuff, sleep, and trying to write a TV pilot.

I've got ideas for another YA book, but scripts are faster to write, and I think I've got an interesting pilot idea.  I hope to get a first draft down in another six weeks, depending on how crazy my already crazy life gets.

So, as is my usual wont, I'm taking a class to help along in this writing endeavor.  I favor mediabistro.com's classes - so far all three have been very much worth my while.  They feature professionals as teachers, who can pass on their real life experience as well as their more academic insights to their students.

My teacher in the TV Pilot writing class gave me a great insight I thought I'd share to any readers who either watch or write TV.  It's very simple, and maybe I'm simple for never quite seeing this before but...

In TV, the protagonist wants something they can never have.

Lightbulb!  I'm always thinking about my protag's desires and how active she is, and inner and outer goals and so on.  In books and films, usually the inner desire is fulfilled (in an unexpected way, hopefully) by the end.

But TV doesn't really end, does it?  You want an idea that a network will see possibly going five years, if not more.  So you must give your lead character a driving inner goal that can never be fulfilled. 

I just watched the ending of Big Love, and even before (spoiler alert!) Bill was killed, I kept thinking - he'll never get what he wants most, which is to live openly as a polygamist, in peace and harmony with his wives and society.  "How the heck can they end this?" I pondered.  They can't give him what he wants.  It just wouldn't be believable.  Sure enough, instead they got rid of Bill at the end.  That provided us with a conclusion without violating verisimilitude.

And think about it - all the most successful TV protagonists will never be satisfied.  Even the cops on shows like Law and Order and CSI have a driving desire for justice.  This can never be completely fulfilled because there will always be another murder to solve, another killer to find.

So I gave my protagonist an impossible goal that I think will work for the TV idea I have.  That's just one little step, but I think it helped me keep moving forward.

Do you have a desire that can never be fulfilled?  Atter all, life doesn't come to a conclusion either.

The Good News is... I have an Agent!

Hee hee!  I'm so tickled!  Now that I've officially signed I can tell you...

I HAVE A FABULOUS LITERARY AGENT!

Her name is Tamar Rydzinski and she's part of The Laura Dail Literary Agency.  She loved my YA fantasy novel, gave me some amazing notes, and now we're working together.  I'm so lucky to have her in my corner.

I could blab on about how this all came about and how great she is all day, but will keep it short for now.  Not only does she love my writing, but she GETS it.  She gets it so well that at points she understands what I need to change more than I understand it myself.

This is key.  Because no novel is perfect.  But as a writer you can get entrenched in your own flawed thinking You will need to rewrite to make it better, even after you think it can't get any better.  You need someone to come along and point out where it can get better, and maybe hint as to how.  Sure, a good editor will do that, but in order to impress an editor, an agent with this ability is a huge help.  And now I have that help!  Huzzah!

Plus, Tamar really knows the business.  This is also TOTALLY KEY.  Because I only know it a little, and I need help in that arena.  A good agent will target editors, write a pitch letter, help you get the best contract for publication, and are respected by their peers.  Again, color me very fortunate in snagging Tamar in this department.

Basically, agents rule!

Okay. I'm off to add her agency link to my Links thingie on this blog and to hug myself some more.  It's been a long road full of hard work to get here.  And there are still many steps on the road to publication, but this is a biggie, and I'm thrilled! 

Woo hoo!

Good News is coming... along with Spring

I have to wait just a little while longer, then I can share my good news with you.  It concerns writing. And waiting, and the rewards that come with persistence and luck.

And it's great!

Meanwhile, the rain pours down here in SoCal as I eat chocolate and spend lots of time playing with my cat Lucy.  She misses Max and isn't eating much, but we're getting by.  My boss had her adorable baby girl, also named Lucy.  I told her I loved the name, but not that I my cat's name is Lucy.  Plenty of time for that later - people don't want to think about your cat when they look at their gorgeous new baby.

My cat Lucy is named for the youngest, bravest of the Pevensie children in the Narnia books, and a character I loved from an early age.  The cat Lucy is not particularly brave, as it turns out.  Once, she escaped from my apartment through a screen, and I found her just a few feet away, flattened out like a fluffy black pancake, terrified.  Yes, Lucy is rather plump.  Now that I don't have to leave food out for too-skinny Max, I'm limiting her food intake in an effort to get her lose weight.  Meanwhile, she still likes to sit on my pillow, looking like a flluffy black pyramid with big yellow eyes:

Yes, my bedroom walls are grassy green.  Green's my favorite color, and not just because it looks good on redheads.

I didn't set out to get two black cats. It just happened. But it turns out that both black cats and dogs get adopted less often than animals of other colors.  I don't know it it's superstition or that other colors are cuter or stand out more, but let me tell you - black cats rule!  Max was the friendliest thing on four legs, and Lucy is really quite gorgeous, with brown highlights and a fluff-tacular curly tail. 

I looked after my friend Natalie's all-black chow chow Frances for four months a few years back, and she was the smartest, sweetest dog you could ever hope to meet.  If you're adopting a pet, consider a black one.  They only look mysterious and cool.  Really, they are darlings.

Cheshire Cat Moon over Hollywood Boulevard

I had to let an old friend go yesterday.  My beloved furry feline friend Max.  It's been over a week now since I lost him, and only now can I bear to post about it.

He has gone on to the big Catnip Fields in the sky after gracing me with his presence for 19 of his 20 years. His dementia was becoming too difficult for him, so I had a vet come to the home to ease him out of his distress. My other cat Lucy even got to say goodbye.

Max was a very special cat. He was charming, friendly, whimsical, and sweet - a spirit with fur, as my friend Brian described him. There was a lot of eye contact with Max. You can see it in the photo below. He wanted to get to know you. Pick him up and he'd shove his nose in your mouth to say hello and see what you had for lunch. Kittens followed him around worshipfully. He presuaded dog-people to say, "I'd get a cat, if I knew it would be like Max." Dogs themselves would beg to groom him, and he'd deign to allow them to nibble his fluffy black fur.

Despite the sharpness of his claws and his ability to kick the butts of cats twice his size, he eventually earned the nickname The Cat of Peace. Max was proof that you can live a small, quiet life and still make the world a better place. He did that for me every day.

The night after he died, I went for a run, sniffing and trying to just listen to my breathing rather than to the grief whispering in my ear.

As I turned right down Hollywood Boulevard, I got an eyeful of a luminous crescent moon in the perfect "smile" position above the palm trees.  Of course I thought of one my favorite fictional characters, the Cheshire Cat.  And I thought of Max.  And for a moment my heart swelled with happiness as I thought perhaps the Big Cat in the Sky was grinning down at me.

The Mysterious Giant Cow

(Currently listening to insanely catchy new tune by The Strokes called "Under Cover of Darkness," which you can stream from their MySpace page here, or download for FREE for the next two days here.)

So I'm outlining a new story, and I'm currently in that nebulous zone where my unconscious and conscious mind need to work together and I can't quite tell if they're doing it or not because, hey, half of it involves my subconscious.

By which I mean that I'm busy trying to think of how the story should go - how the central theme should be reflected in the plot and characters, what cool twists the story could have, who should do what to whom, and so on. I'm scribbling in notebooks and typing random things in between tasks at work.  I ponder and juggle scenes in my head while I'm driving, sometimes so intently that I realize I missed my favorite song on the radio just as it's ending.

All of this is work.  And that's the conscious bit.

I've learned over the years that my subconscious is busy working on things at the same time.  Only it doesn't inform me of its progress until something burbles up from the depths and presents itself to my conscious mind as JUST. SO. INCREDIBLY. OBVIOUS.

And that's the trust part.  I have to trust that my subconscious is going to step up and point out the obvious to the rest of my brain.  Over the years it's seemed to work, mostly.  There have been projects I abandoned because the ol' subconscious burped up an answer.  I hammered away for awhile, then realized it just wasn't going to work, and moved on.

But usually I have a sense that the answer will come.  I don't know where or when or how or what the hell it'll be.  But it will come.  I have to make a leap of faith about my own brain.  I trust it to step up to the plate  if I just keep hammering away.

So writing is major work.  And that work is necessary. The conscious work provides the raw data (I think) that the subconscious masticates and savors and digests through various stomachs, finally pooping out a more cohesive strategy for the book.

And yes, I just used a metaphor that makes my subconscious out to be some sort of mysterious giant cow.  Not the most flattering, given that it also turns my story into manure.  But it's fertile all right, so I suppose it all works out in the end.

Write the Book You Want to Read and Give the Speech...

I didn't attend SCBWI's New York conference this year, but I wish I'd been able to listen to keynote speaker Sara Zarr. The kidlit internet has been alive with admiration for what they heard her say, and after reading more about it here, I just had to post the link.

It's the speech she wanted to hear when she attended conferences, before she was published, while she was filled with frustration.  It's about leading a creative life, and how that's the point of it all.

An agent at a conference told her: "The time between when you are no longer a beginner but you are not yet in the business is the hardest and no one can tell you how long this phase will last."

So what do you do during that phase?

You lead a creative life.

How?

Read more about what Sara Zarr said here.

Walk Like an Egyptian

I'm currently riveted to Al Jazeera English, a live stream of the best coverage on the revolution going on in Egypt.  Al Jazeera may have its own flaws and agenda at times, but right now it's the best place to find out what's going on, putting US cable news to shame.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I can't help hoping that the Egyptian people will soon be enjoying a freer, a more democratic government. Meanwhile, though, it's tough to hear about the deaths, the injuries, the oppression, and the destruction of antiquities.

It's astonishing how fast a country can go from a stable but corrupt and tyrannical dictatorship to who-knows-what when the people are sufficiently galvanized.  Egypt is not the same country it was a mere five days ago.  I'm dumbfounded by the bravery I've seen.  I'm having trouble pasting the photos here, but you can see amazing shots like a protester kissing the police here, and of protesters praying as they are blasted with water cannons here.

I was in Egypt a few years ago, and along with the amazing antiquities, friendly people, and beautiful scenes along the river, I was struck by the grinding poverty suffered by so many of the people there.   I've heard that nearly half of the 18 million people living in megalopolis Cairo live on just a couple dollars a day.  Meanwhile, those in power have lived in ridiculous luxury, separated by an enormous gulf from the people they were supposed to be serving.

That gulf is narrowing as I write this, and it's fascinating, horrifying, and inspiring to watch.  The internet and social media of all kinds makes this possible.  It connects us to those who are marching on the streets of Alexandria, Suez, and Cairo, to their family and friends demonstrating in Washington DC, Britain, and New York.  It's one world, whether we like it or not.  And I find it a constant source of wonder and astonishment.

Top Picks of 2010

Book Pick: Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff.
Okay, I haven't even finished this yet and it's my pick. That's how much I love reading about Cleopatra, and how good the book is.  I first discovered the brainy Egyptian queen when I was seven and a grad student my parents had asked to babysit me while we were in Paris gave me a copy (in French) of Asterix and Cleopatra.  One look at her nifty falcon throne and uraeus-bedecked crowns and I was in love.

That was my gateway drug to a lifetime of obsession with both Cleopatra (who was of Greek descent) and then all of ancient Egyptian history.  So my book pick comes loaded with a backstory of personal obsession that leaves all other candidates in the dust.

Movie Pick: Winter's Bone.
This movie showed me a world I hadn't seen before (backwoods crystal meth-land, USA) and featured a teenage heroine stronger, more complex, and (in her own way) more badass than any who came before.  She willingly takes on a burden strong men would (and have) run from.



Sports Pick: Zenyatta
If you've even glanced at this blog this year, you've notes my obsession with this amazing race horse.  You can read my Goodbye Zenyatta post here to get an idea of the type of overwhelming emotion she evokes. But since she's a sports pick, I'll post the video of the race I watched in person at Hollywood Park in October.  It was her 19th consecutive win.  Just listen to the crowd noise rise as she rounds the far turn.  One of the other horses here, Switch, is a top filly herself.  Every time I watch it, I get worried, thinking Zenyatta might lose. And I know the outcome! But that's the Queen of Racing for you.  She provides drama, excitement, unmatched athleticism, and inspiration wherever she goes.



Pop Music Pick: F$%& You by Cee Lo Green.
Warning: contains multiple uses of the F word and this summer's catchiest hook.

Lucky Christmas Me

So it's nearly the end of the year and I'm thinking about possibly doing one of those end of the year-end "best of" post thingies, alternately thinking about stuff from 2010 - "Oh, that was brilliant" and "Frick, I can't remember what the hell that was."

But it's also Christmas Eve, and I'm in Hawaii visiting my parents.  And today I went to my favorite place in the world, ate my favorite cookies in the world, helped my mother make terrible cinnamon buns (for serious, the things were like lead paperweights covered in brown sugar), and had a delicious meal with my two beloved parents, who both gave me great advice and a few laughs.

OH, and did I mention that my favorite place in the world is a beach called Bellows here on Oahu where at the age of nine I learned to bodysurf?

(Insert unbelievably gorgeous shot of Bellows here.  No really, it's just spectacular.  You'll have to just take my word for it for now.)

Yes, about 1pm Hawaii time today I was lounging in 75 degree water of a color that falls somewhere between Paul Newman's eyes (when he was alive - duh) and the world's largest emerald I saw in Istanbul when I was seven.

I like to enter slowly, allowing the waves to wet me as I go, waiting for a swell that's just so so I can race up to it as it crests, then turn and leap forward, one stroke, two, then angling down and forward, dolphin-like (well, I hope so anyway) as the swell pitches me forward and the roar fills my ears and the white foam bubbles up and over and consumes me.

Today the waves were tiny, and the dozen people on the glowing golden beach with me were bobbing and waiting and not catching anything.  The sand there's like powder, sprinkled in spots with broken up bits of blue plastic something-or-others that the waves have beat on until they're almost beautiful and almost belong.  My mom has these bright pink beach towels that I borrow to sit on and dry myself off with.  They clash with my hair, but Bellows is the sort of place where you can't be bothered to care about things like that.  You don't care that the Christmas cookies have added an extra pound or two to your waist or that you haven't gotten very far on your latest writing project, or that your ancient cat is probably dreaming about killing you back in LA, or about anything, really, except the clear water fanning out over the smoothed beach like a caressing hand that withdraws just soon enough.

So it didn't matter that the waves were less than optimal, or that a large black cloud loomed over the mountains signalling it was all temporary.  In the water I lounged on my back and poked my toes with their silly purple nail polish up into the air.  I eyed the waves for any sort of surfing prospect and felt the full weight of the tropical sun on my right shoulder and cheekbone. (Thank Neptune for SPF.)

A woman in a baseball cap walked her daughter into the water behind me and encouraged her to try to catch a wave, holding her hands out, talking about when to jump, when to wait.  My father had done the same for me, umpteen gajillion years ago.  So I got fancy and caught a wave so I could zoom past them.  "See?" said the Mom.  Even redheaded, freckle-faced girls whose ancestors stole horses in the mists of Ireland can ride the waves at Bellows.

All of which is to say that instead of naming things that were the best this year, all I can think about tonight is how lucky I am to be here on Christmas, with the people I love, with a chance to be in a place that makes my soul burn bright.

Aloha and Merry Christmas, everyone.  I hope you're spending this time in whatever place and with whatever people do the same for you.

Writing - The Information Drip

To get myself going on a major rewrite, I tried to write a scene that wasn't at the beginning.  I wanted to plunge in at an interesting point and get to know the love interest right away rather than waiting.

But a problem emerged - how much information should I give out on the protag's backstory and current mission?  Part of what I'm trying to achieve is a bit of mystery at the beginning.  Who is this girl and what is she really up to?  I want to create a question in the reader's mind, then slowly answer it.

So in writing this scene near but not at the beginning, I let a bit of info trickle out, hoping to intrigue and begin answering, but not to reveal all.

It didn't work very well.  Sure, I was raising questions, but there were mostly of the WTF? variety.  Not the "oooh, cool, now I want to know more" type I was going for.

So I have to go back and start at the beginning.  This way I can better control the information.  (By information I mean character backstory, the protag's current state of mind, who's who and what's what, and what her goal is.)  I'll know what's been told and what hasn't and hopefully why.

And there's always rewriting if I make a mess of it this time too.  Thank you, universe, for rewriting.  This initial writing stuff is fricking hard!

Da Governor - of Hawaii

Hawaii is a small state, and my parents have lived there many years.  So they know a lot of people. 

So it's not boasting really when I say that we're friends with Hawaii's new governor, Neil Abercrombie.  The state may technically have a million residents, but in reality it's like a small town.  So Neil's friends with a lot of people.  But I went to the official site for Hawaii's state government today and saw his smiling face and just had to post - hurray!

This isn't a political blog, so I'm not going to go into details as to why Neil was definitely the best choice for governor in the recent election. (Although I will say that, unlike the other candidates, he's pro marriage equality, which warms my heart.)  But I happen to know Neil a little as a person, and so I think I'm entitled to a brief Huzzah! to celebrate his recent inauguration.

He's a good man.  One summer, when my mother, her then boyfriend, and I were between houses and unable to find something quickly that fit our limited budget, Neil and his wife Nancy offered to let us stay in their home for a few months. It was a typically generous move. 

The place wasn't huge, but we fit in just fine.  It was, however, a trifle eccentric.  The floors were uneven enough to give you an "I'm at sea" sensation as you crossed the living room, and on certain summer nights, the termites would swarm, letting you know they'd found themselves a home.  Termite swarms are not uncommmmon in Hawaii, so that's no reflection on Neil.  At another of our residences we were treated occasionally to cockroach swarms, so it could've been worse.  Termites are manini compared to that. 

Then there was the time that the phone rang.  I picked it up and said in my fourteen-year-old girl voice: "Hello?" 

A man on the other end said, "Neil??"

Well, no.  Sorry to disappoint.  He's letting us live in his home until we find our feet.  He's a man of integrity and compassion.  I'll be sure to let him know you called.

So congratulations, Neil, on your governorship.  And congrats too, to Hawaii, for making a fine choice.  Huzzah!

Getting Back in the Writing Groove

...is damned hard.  I took a semi-writing-vacation for most of November thanks to a two-week trip to Italy followed by a bad cold followed by Thanksgiving.  I'm not one of those people who can write when their sinuses are on fire.

So I'm out of practice.  And before me lies a vast rewrite that should be fun.  Instead it's, well, it's tough.  I'm changing POV.  I'm changing plot.  I'm making up new characters...

I've got an outline, halleluya.  And I know my main character very well.  These things help. But many factors lie like massive walls and mud pits in an obstacle course before me.

The only way forward is to... write.  Isn't it always the way?  Write write write until you get your groove back.  Write scenes that intrigue you rather than starting at the beginning if you like.  Write character sketches and character interviews and rework your outline and then just fricking write some damned prose, for crying out loud.

Don't procrastinate by writing blog posts.

Ahem.

Goodbye, Zenyatta

Clouds threatened rain all afternoon, but they didn't dare let loose until the Queen of Horse Racing, Zenyatta, said goodbye to Hollywood Park and to her life as a race horse today. Tomorrow she flies off to Kentucky to begin her next phase, as a mother.

Hollywood Park is a strange place these days.  Once the site of huge crowds and visits from movie stars, it's now ninety percent empty, melancholy, and downtrodden.  Birds still fly over the infield pond, and the track announcer still lends urgency as the horses pound down the stretch at forty miles per hour.  But even on a big day like today, the stands were over half empty.  I visited the enormous, echoing ladies' room and found myself utterly alone amongst the broken soap dispensers and peeling paint.

What a contrast then to see Zenyatta striding into the paddock to say goodbye to the thousands gathered there today.  She is larger than most other horses by an order of magnitude, but graceful as a gazelle, with endless, delicate legs that move with an athlete's ease, and a shiny, dappled bay coat that glows with health.  She is the picture of strength and spirit, calm, yet vibrant with energy.  She is the greatest mare in horse racing history, one of the greatest race horses of all time.  She's magnificent, an LA lady, a dancer, an inspiration, a friend.  And she's here to say goodbye.

Airplanes roar toward LAX a few hundred feet overhead as her beloved groom, Mario Espinoza, guides her around the paddock.  The fans, ten deep in some places, ignore the growling engines and the call for the sixth race as she circles past them, stopping to pose, to eye them, to lift her head, then to lower it against Mario's arm and side, as if to say, "We are here, together," and "Let's play."

Three times around the paddock then, as fans, some with signs that say "Thank You" and children climb the rails between her and them to chant, "Zen-yat-ta."  A woman in a wheelchair stares at her, weeping silently.

Even here she emanates a power that makes you believe her record is 19-1.  As she walks from the paddock and out onto the track, the giant video screen behind her plays her great victory and one of the most exciting races ever seen - the Breeder's Cup Classic 2009.  As Mario circles her and the crowd roars, her virtual image hits the top of the stretch, weaving between her competitors with sylph-like grace, moves to the outside and takes off.  Her long legs reach out further than any other horse on record, eating the ground, swallowing the distance between herself and the leaders.  The announcer's voice rises to a disbelieving crescendo as she shoots forward, past the best male horses of her time, past those who thought she was overrated, past all doubt, to cross the finish line.

The crowd erupts in applause.  Watching that race, even today when I know that she wins, I worry for her. I think "there's no way she's going to make it... come on, girl!  Please."  And when she wins, I feel vindicated, relieved, almost tearful.  Why am I so invested in her, why do her victories, her prancing pre-race steps, her proud stance after the race - why do they touch me?  I want to race that way myself, past my self-doubt, to strive, to put it all out there, to invest every last ounce, and to win.  Just once.  If she can do it 19 out of 20 times, maybe I can too.

I'm taking pictures, and climbing onto seats, and listening to the crowd sigh with disappointment as they show her last race, a great race, the Breeders Cup Classic 2010, where she came in second by a nose after perhaps the greatest stretch run in history.  The connection between her and the crowd is something I get at a primal level.  We don't often get close to such perfection, such grace, strength, and spirit.  If we get close enough, maybe some of it will rub off on us.

Her jockey, Mike Smith, leads her one last time around the track, and I have to turn away and disconnect.  I have to be done saying goodbye now.  I can't take any more.  My friend Mike and I watch the next few races and talk about our lives, and Zenyatta.

The lights come on as the sun heads west, and suddenly the old track is beautiful.  Clouds part to show off rosy sunset hues, and twilight birds wing over the green and grassy infield.  A filly named Cocktails at Seven parading before the ninth throws her rider, dodges a steward on horseback, and gallops the wrong way around the track, free for a few moments.  She is scratched from the race, but we make a note - the girl's got heart and nice moves.  Maybe we'll see more of her next year.

As we leave the empty track now, the rain finally begins to fall.

Bellissima Italia

I just got back from Italy.

Lucky me!

I didn't advertise it in advance since they say not to announce to the internet at large when you venture away from home, for fear enterprising robbers will break into your apartment and steal your cats.

Can't be having that. 

I'll post some pics once I get myself together and report in more detail, but some highlights include:

• Bernini statues at the Galleria Borghese. Oh! That Apollo and Daphne statue just gives me chills.
• Comparing gelato at Giolitti and San Crispino. For me, it's a fabulous tie.
• Literal layers of history at San Clemente, where you can see a medieval church above a 4th century church above an ancient Roman street and house.
• Meeting old friends with their adorable new baby in Rome. Walking behind the baby was like being in a celebrity entourage. That golden haired cherub really turned heads.
• Walking the strangely modern-seeming streets of old Pompeii.
• Men who appreciate a tall redhead, at least when she's walking by.
• Wine w/dinner, then some more wine with dinner.
• Ridiculously fresh, tasty fruits and vegetables
• Carbonara, prosciutto, bolognese, amatriciana, you name it!
• Positano. We splurged on an amazing hotel room with a great view that was 100% worth it. I could totally live there.
• Friendly Italian cats and dogs.
• Italian tile and pottery. I don't need to be rich, but this gorgeous stuff makes me wish I could afford it.
• Bonding with old friend and travel co-conspirator, Wendy.

YA Writers! Enter the "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest

Here's a contest you shouldn't pass up if you're writing a young adult novel and are looking for help from a pro.  The Guide to Literary Agents Blog is having one of its fabulous contests called "Dear Lucky Agent" where you submit the first 15 - 200 words of your YA novel and get the chance to win:

1) A critique of the first 10 pages of your work, by your agent judge (the fabulous Tamar Rydzinksi of Laura Dail Literary Agency). 2) A free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com.

Check out all the juicy details here.

Work Work Work

Sorry that it's been awhile since I've posted.  The infrequency will likely continue for a month or so because:

1. The day job is fricking BUSY.  Which is good, don't get me wrong.  We have four pilots picked up and the networks want most of them yesterday, so we're deep into finding directors, actors, line producers, blah blah blah.  It's fascinating to watch people match themselves up to work on a big creative endeavor like a TV pilot.  Chemistry is almost as important as talent, seems to me, given how closely these folks have to work together.

2.  I'm writing out a plan for a major rewrite.  It's not quite the same thing as doing the actual rewrite, it's more like a map of it.

Okay, I guess that's really the first step of a rewrite, is the map.  Some people don't map things out at all and they just plunge in, but I'm a planner.  I need to know where I'm going.  It gives the character's concrete goals and attitudes, so that once I start the actual writing, it flows much faster and I'm less likely to get stuck.  If you get stuck a lot, I recommend a writing or rewriting map.  Or even if you rewrite a lot - a map can save you some of that time. 

Of course, making the map is taking longer than I'd hoped because of #1, above.

3. I'm going to Italy soon.  I'm not going to say exactly when because I keep seeing news pieces on people who were robbed because they broadcast online that they were out of town.  And the cool part isn't when, it's that I'M GOING TO ITALY!!  We'll spend a big chunk of time in Rome, then down to explore Sorrento, Naples, Pompeii, then a few days on the Amalfi Coast.  Perhaps we'll toss in a day trip to Capri in there.  We'll see how the weather goes and what the boat schedules are. 

Mostly I just want to eat the food there.  Bringing the stretchy jeans, baby.

I've got my route from airport to hotel all mapped out, day tours of the Vatican and Underground Rome planned (I have a thing for catacombs, laybrinths, tunnels, and the like.)  I've printed out articles praising various trattorias, osterias, and gelaterias.  I've purchased a lined anorak to combat both cold and wet, and I have the comfy rainproof walking boots I purchased in Prague.  Planning's part of the fun.

On, and don't forget the Italian refresher.  I bought lessons on cd for Italian 2 (I took a year of Italian in college and got pretty fluent while living in Bologna for a semester).  It's weird to wrap my lips around the language again, a kinetic exercise that brings memories of friendly bakers, bus riders, waiters, and passersby flooding back.  I haven't been to Rome since college, and then it was only for one day.  One day in Rome??  What was I thinking?

I'll post some photos when I return. 

Oh, and 4.  I'm trying to have some semblance of a life.  You know, that whole social/working out/going out/having fun thing.  Am in particular looking forward to the Gourd Mutiliation Festival, wherein pumpkins are carved and prizes awarded.

Also, Zenyatta is running in the Breeder's Cup Classic November 6.  Set your Tivos!

I'll try to post again before I leave, but meanwhile you can find me on twitter and facebook.

Happy Halloween!

Zenyatta, Horse Racing Legend

I went to Hollywood Park yesterday to see Zenyatta run.  She's the six year old mare who's taken the racing world by storm after winning an unbelievable 19 out of 19 races.

Above is one my own photos of her just before she ran a breath-taking race, gave us all heart attacks, then won the Lady's Secret Stakes 2010.  Now that she's won it three times, they plan to name the race after her.  She's a huge, elegant, cocky creature, full of personality and uncanny athletic ability.

If you've never heard of her or watched one of her races online, do yourself a favor and watch her run in the video below.  This is the Breeder's Classic from last year, where she beats all the best horses in the country in her usual edge-of-your-seat fashion.

Which idea?

How do you decide which idea you're going to spend months (possibly years) writing?  Novels take a lot of time and effort, well they do for me, given the day job, need for sleep, soul-saving time w/friends, occasional trips to see family or go to Europe, and so on.  And there are so many books in my head that could be written, half-formed premises, ghostly characters, rip-snorting scenes, even the occasional musical number.

I won't know for sure that I'll write the book based on an idea untill I outline it and make sure it works.  But what makes me get to the outlining stage?

1. A protagonist I want to spend time with.  She must be likeable but flawed, with a sense of humor and a sense of purpose.  She's strong, usually a leader of some kind. 

I did this exercise in a writing workshop I took where you do this:
      a. Write down three people (real or fictional) who are heroes to you.
      b.  Now write down three qualities in each person that attracts you to them.
      c.  Those nine qualities are issues you will confront in your life and/or qualities you possess or will work
           on possessing.

Me, I wrote down:
Nelson Mandela - wisdom, leadership, integrity
Robin Hood - compassion for less fortunate, derring-do, willing to risk life to fight injustice
Queen Elizabeth Tudor - ability to overcome misogyny, leadership, cleverness.
(I started off with Cleopatra in this slot but scratched her out - then realized she has the same three qualities as Elizabeth Tudor, so it works out the same.  Plus Cleopatra didn't have to be the "Virgin" Queen.  Bonus points for that!)

And it turns out I like to read about these types of characters and to write about them too.  I get impatient with characters that are slow, humorless, sheep-like, and entitled.  I can bear it if they're clumsy or not amazingly wise as long as they have some of the other qualities in spades. 

2. A plot that provides enough conflict to sustain a novel.  Conflict keeps people turning the pages.  It's the essence of a story.  There have to be big obstacles standing in the way of my protagonist's desires, and the stakes must be big.  I don't have to know the ending or the middle, but I get a feeling in my gut that there's lots of juicy stuff to work with here.

3. An idea or hook that's semi-commercial or better yet, really commercial.  I'm not a writer of literary novels.  I read and write commercial stuff.  I get bored with anything else - sorry!  The writing still has to be wonderful, of course.  But no dreary plot-less disquisitions on the meaninglessness of life for me, thanks.  If I spend ages writing a book, I'd like at least a chance at getting it published some day.

4. A theme or topic that digs just a little deeper.  Okay, so I want it to be commercial and a fun read.  But I also want my story to have some sort of meaning or deal with an issue that could be meaningful to someone other than myself.  It's not enough to have it be "true love conquers all" or something like that.  There must be an issue that folks struggle with that isn't easy.  It may not be front and center, but it lurks in the background.

5. A tone or atmosphere.  Getting this straight in my head can be the clincher.  If I get the tone down pat in my brain, then I feel like I just might know how to write this.  Is it melancholy?  (Not my stuff, usually.)  Creepy? (possible...) Action-packed with a sly sense of humor? (Hopefully!)

If it was a TV series, how would it be shot?  Bright and sunny, with lots of colors?  Or chiaroscuro?  Glamorous?  Or dusty and a bit faded around the edges?  I need to sort of see it in my head.  Then I'm ready to roll.

How do you decide which idea to write?

Five (no, Three!) Sisters

Yes, this is a post about another dream, but it's really about how writer's brains are split between the creative side and the editorial side.

This is what happened in my brain as I slept last night...

Dreaming Brain (DB): Once upon a time there were five sisters.

Editorial Brain (EB): Whoa, FIVE sisters? That's too many. What are you going to do with all of them? Maybe make it three sisters. Are you sure you want to go with third person omniscient POV? If you truly wish to write a fairy tale that POV can work, but it is the most distant and difficult for readers to identify with. Keep that in mind as you write and consider switching to first person. While we're at it -- "once upon a time"? Didn't that become a bit of a cliche about a hundred years ago? And get rid of that passive verb.

DB: They were all strong and beautiful.

EB: Another passive verb, honey. You really can't have two in a row like that. It's boring. And if you make all the sisters beautiful aren't you perpetuating the idea that female protagonists all have to be gorgeous? Why not make one not-so-beautiful? Or handicapped? Or dyslexic or bipolar?

DB: And they always got their way.

EB: You're implying a theme here. I assume you're going to show how always getting your own way isn't a good thing. Will they get their comeuppance at the end? Or perhaps one of them doesn't get her way and she ends up flourishing? Or perhaps she gets her way and ends up unhappy anyway? Either way, don't be didactic.

I can't remember much after that, but you get the idea. Writing involves so many different parts of your brain, it can be difficult to know which part to listen to.

I generally try to give the Dreaming Brain or creative side free rein while brainstorming and writing the first draft. Sometimes the Editorial Brain steps in, regardless, and I go back and rewrite before I continue on. But if you listen too much to the EB at the start, you'll never finish. And if you don't listen to it later on, you'll have a cliched mess filled with passive verbs.

In Which My Subconscious Gets Materialistic

Last night I dreamt I got an offer for $134k for my book.  Ah, Dreamland, you mock me so! 

I won't go into too much detail, because there's nothing quite so boring as the ins and outs of other people's dreams.  But it was all very fragmented and a bit uncertain until I made a video to celebrate.  Two of my friends and I danced around randomly and sang The Money Song from Monty Python.  Here's the original - the song starts about 1:30 in...



First, the song makes me realize how much romance the Euro has taken out of travel in Europe. The lure of the lira indeed!

Second, I can't help wondering what the hell my subconscious is up to. Isn't it supposed to connect me to my deeper self? To find me the answers that elude my conscious mind? Is that answer really: "It's accountancy that makes the world go round"?

SCBWI Insanity

I'm back at work after four incredible days at the International SCBWI LA conference, in lovely downtown Century City at the Hyatt Regency. (If you go I highly recommend having martini under the awning at sunset outside. East Coasters kept looking around in awe, saying, "It's so NICE!")

 

It was nice. And chock full o'info/advice/inspiration. And exhausting. At the end of each day a nice glass of wine with new SCBWI friends was required in order to recover.

 

Here are some of the highlights for me:

 

1. Arthur A. Levine's class in getting Emotions on the Page.
Arthur has his own imprint and is the US publisher of Harry Potter. He's also an editing genius. I took his class in emotion in writing, and sat in awe, watching him pick apart the student's prose - gently, always with humor and sensitivity, but with a laser-like precision that demanded you think long and hard about every word you put on the page. Plus he would occasionally break into song, mime the actions he was talking about, or do a disco move. I can't recreate his brilliant suggestions here, but remember:

 

• The details you pick out should convey emotion. Your reader should know what the main emotion of the scene is.
• That emotion and those details should be very specific.
• Avoid generic phrases like "an exhausted sigh." Think about what a sign is, how it sounds, what it feels like, and convey that with vivid word choices.
• Details should be appropriate to the POV character. As in, if your protagonist is an eleven year old and you're writing in first person, all the details should be something an eleven year old would notice and say. More specifically, they should be details YOUR eleven year old would notice.

And so much more!

2. Meeting online friends at last! 

3. Getting inspired by great writer/speakers like Marion Dane Bauer and Jon Scieszka. Marion (winner of the Golden Kite for Picture Book text) had us all crying, while Jon had everyone cracking up.  We really ran the emotional gamut every single day of the conference.

4. Reciting poetry with Ashley Bryan and all of the other 1100 attendeees.

And so much more.  I'm worn out, but very happy.  My brain is so full, I've just got to get to writing to exorcise it.

Typealyze Your Blog or Writing

If you have a blog online, there's a cool analyzer here called the Typelyzer that will tell you the "personality type" of your blog.

I ran my blog through this (it took about two seconds) and it came up with this:

ESFP - The Performers
The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

I found this very interesting because it is NOT my personality type, but it is the type of blog I'm trying to achieve - all entertainment, soft fabrics and sweet smells.

My actualy personality type based on Myers-Briggs is INFP. Both types are Feeling and Perceiving, but the blog is more extroverted and fact-based. Makes sense!

SCBWI Conference Time!

Wow, I used this same post title a year ago. That crazy, fabulous, learning-intensive time is upon us again. The big ol' SCBWI LA conference starts this Friday, spread out over four exhausting, exhilarating days in lovely, lonely Century City, aka Los Angeles.

This year I'm doubly excited because my critique partner, sexy, smart-ass, slinky-prose writing Elisa Nader is coming into town for it. It'll be a whirlwind of seminars, schmoozing, and snacking.

How's that for some alliteration, folks?

We're taking famed writer/publisher Arthur Levine's workshop on putting emotion into your writing. Arthur's a legend in the world of writing for children. Check out his list. I know I have much still to learn when it comes to writing and this is an extraordinary opportunity. Thanks, SCBWI!

I'll try to take photos and blog a bit about it, but the final word comes down from the official SCBWI conference blog here. Check it out for all the juiciest dish and greatest insights.

Happy conferencing, fellow attendees!

The Procedural

Yes, I'm busy. Haven't posted, blah blah blah.

But not too busy to read this hilarious, spot-on the beagle's nose post by writer Josh Friedman (yeah, the dude who made that great TV show The Sarah Connor Chronicles, RIP) to help you understand the jabberwocky land of television. His blog is called I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing and if you don't recognize the Star Wars reference, do not go to Comic Con or they will eat you alive.

Read it here.

"Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.

Five Things to Try When the Dryer in Your Building Won't Start

...when it’s filled with wet jeans and you’ve given it your last three quarters and the damn quarter tray is stuck half in/half out:

1. Try to hammer the quarter tray back out while chanting, “Piece of shit, piece of shit, piece of shit."

2. Tilt it, as you would a recalcitrant pinball machine. If a gentle nudge doesn’t work, lift one side of the dryer up high, using your legs and not your back to avoid injury. Then drop it hard, secretly hoping it breaks and the building owner will have to buy a new one.

3. Paint a blue dot on your forehead using Tide with bleach alternative.  Raise your right hand and solemnly swear that you’ll switch to an environmentally friendly laundry soap if the thing will just fricking start.

4. Sit on top of it, then hop on your ass, as it were, pounding the dusty white surface with your butt.

5. After you've successfully dislodged the quarter tray, ask your neighbor for more quarters, trying not to think about how you keyed their car when they blocked your parking space that one time.

Anatomy of a Rejection

Agent Jennifer Laughran of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency has a fascinating post on her blog about various stages of querying and the percentages of queries to requests to offers. See it here.

You might find the percentages discouraging but I don't, actually. If you get a personalized rejection, by Jennifer's accounting, you're in the top 15% of submitters. Not too shabby!

Yes, to only 1% of people who send her a full does she make an offer to rep them. But still - if she kind of likes something, but rejects it, there's a decent chance that another agent might like it even more.

The key, as always with subbing to agents or editors: Do. Your. Research. Check it out: 20% of the folks who sub to Jennifer get deleted without a look because they didn't follow guidelines. And it ain't hard to follow guidelines, people. If you can't follow simple guidelines in submitting your manuscript, how on earth are you going to survive when an editor gives you notes to change your manuscript? How can your judgement be trusted? Research, folks. After all the time and effort you put into your manuscript, a few minutes of agent research is more than worthwhile.

Been rejected and need some soothing? Check out her post On Rejection here.

Read Your Own Book Aloud

...before you show it to agents or publishers.

I heartily recommend this method for catching typos, awkward wording, poor grammar, word repetition, voice adjustment (that is, the "voice" of your manuscript), finding inconsistencies, and much much more.

When I do it sometimes I get all dramatic and pretend I'm auditioning to read my own audiobook. But that takes longer than reading in a monotoned rush, so I usually fall back into that. Either way, it works wonders.

Today's Cuteness

I watched this whole, long thing with a giant grin plastered on my face. My cheeks hurt now, but it was worth it. Maybe it's nostalgia. My Aunt Barbara had shelties when I was a kid.

Writers, Be a Pro When You Get Notes

I got a bunch of great notes from my critique partner on my manuscript, and I'm now implementing them at speed. Most of them. No reader's notes are going to jibe 100% with your thoughts, but if you can get someone like Elisa, where it's pretty damned close to 90%, jump on that person, tie them down and force them to be your critique partner.

No, not literally, you weirdos.

Even with someone as sensitive and smart and in sync as Elisa, I find getting notes can be tough. I had lunch with my friend Ruth the other day, and she helps people write screenplays for a living. She too had the same question - why is it so hard sometimes for the writer to get notes? She gives notes all the time and sees the struggles that ensue.

Ego is the easiest answer. And that's part of it. After spending months writing something, to have someone else come along, read it once, and point out a problem means either that you're an idiot or that they are wrong. Which answer would your ego prefer? And sometimes the note-giver isn't right. But a LOT of the time they are (I'm talking about trusted note-givers here, not your grandma or butcher - DON'T give your book or script to them and expect anything useful to come out of it.) So you feel like an idiot.

But you're not, because writing is hard. It's harder than giving notes. Solving the problems is ten times tougher than pointing it out. So you're not an idiot. But your note-giver is still probably right.

And that's the other reason getting notes can be tough emotionally, because writing can be tough emotionally. Hell, it's tough all over. I find that I get so enmeshed in tying up one thread, I'll forget another. Or (and this happens CONSTANTLY in my writing) I assume I've made something perfectly clear when in fact it's as murky as the Gulf of Mexico. (Don't get started on the oil spill. Just... grrrr!) I resist telling people flat out what's going on. I want them to infer it. And sometimes that works. Sometimes, especially in a book, you just need to fricking spell it out. You don't have actors saying your words to help add emotion or a great director shooting your scenes to imply something with a camera angle or spot of light.

Writers can get too close to the material and lose perspective. You may know your book better than your note-giver. You may know these characters like you know yourself. But just as a good friend can sometimes point out a pattern in your own behavior that you never recognized, a good note-giver can do the same for your manuscript.

So be a pro. Take the notes with a smile even if your heart trembles with pain and rage. Then put the manuscript down, and take a walk, hug your dog, or have a nice glass of Toasted Head chardonnay while watching True Blood. Then go back and realize how the note will help you make your book better and go for it.

Rewriting on Vacation

...can happen. It helps to have a father who is also a writer. And a mother who gets it. And a laptop. And a book you're very motivated to finish.

But I won't be done by the end of the vacay, alas. Perhaps by mid-June. Then - watch out world!

Hope you all had a marvelous Memorial Day.