Plotting

Here's the deal with plotting a book series - there's a TON of it.

1. I have to plot out the overall arc of the series. That is, what big 'ol story will my main character go through over six or seven books?

2. I have to plot the first book, which has many suspense elements and is thus, to use a technical term - "plotty".

3. For the series proposal I have to give synopses of at least two more books, possibly more. So, even though I don't have to plot them out completely, I need a strong idea of their plots.

S'all making me plotz.

Book Series

One spot to make real money in kids books is in book series. You've probably heard of the Goosebumps books, although you probably haven't read them. These days big sales come from Young Adult series focused on upper crust girls and their sex lives -- series like The A-List and Gossip Girl. Also big - vampires and werewolves with a twist in books like Twilight, and faeries in books by Holly Black. Chapter book series kick ass too - the Katie Kazoo series has nearly 5 million books in print.

I'd like write something good, don't get me wrong. But I'd also like to make money writing.

So I'm thinking about a book series. I think I have a kick ass idea (not to be shared on the interent, thanks anyway!) and am forging ahead.

The other good thing about books series? You don't have to write the whole first book to get it bought - just a fabulous proposal and the first three chapter. I'm gonna churn that out in a couple of months, if my insane schedule permits. Wish me luck!

Kaena Point

Have I mentioned lately that my home state of Hawaii is beautiful? On my last trip there I went to a beach I've never visited before - Kaena Point, at the far Western tip of Oahu.

Makaha used to be the last beach park to hang out at that end of the island. But they've added a lifeguard stand, parking lot, and bathrooms to the crystal clear waters and white, sinking sand at Kaena. A soft wind blew as white clouds scudded by, and the turquoise water deepened to purple where the reef began.

On a Saturday afternoon in July Mom and I were two out of maybe ten people there. Ssh! Don't tell. Just visit and keep the sacred beauty of it as pristine as you can.

Found a great quote on writing from George Orwell. The last couple of sentences strike me as, well, amazing.

All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.

One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. For all one knows that demon is simply the same instinct that makes a baby squall for attention. And yet it is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one's own personality. Good prose is like a windowpane.

SCBWI Conference Mania

So I just spent four days at the big ol' Los Angeles conference for the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Four fat days of lectures, workshops, parties, networking, lunching, schmoozing, clapping, laughing, fighting off drowsiness, excitement, nervousness, and hard work. On the fourth night I went out for pie with my best friend and was totally hyper. I giggled and made faces and in general just acted very silly. After all the focus demanded by the conference, I guess I let my inner doof loose.

Highlights for me included:

The Keynote by Walter Dean Meyers, in which he talked about how it's a passion for detail that lead him to become a writer. He really made me think about why I write and what makes writing good versus bad. And he's right - finding the RIGHT details to include about your character and what she's doing and how she does it - that's key.

Emma Dryden's passionate Keynote about the adventure of writing.

Agents Kate Schafer and Tracey Adams talking about their different styles of agenting. Later I attended Kate's "Advice from an Agent" workshop and was blown away when she mentioned an obscure book as one of her favorites - Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden. "Any John Marsden fans out there?" she asked. "Yes!" I said, though I don't think she heard me.

These are fabulous teen novels about a group of young people in Australia who go camping without their parents. While they are off in the bush, the rest of their country gets taken over by a foreign power, and they must first struggle to survive before they begin an underground resistance movement.

I loved this series so much that I pitched it to a producer I was working with at the time. She loved them too and went into a bidding war with another producer for the TV rights. Alas, she lost. But I immediately loved Kate for loving that book. Amazing - the power of a great novel.

Tamora Pierce, who wrote some of my favorite fantasy novels, talked about all the many sources she uses for inspiration. Her quote from another writer: "The immature artist imitates. The mature artist steals."

And my favorite - the Writing the Series Workshop with Bonnie Bader and Judy Goldschmidt from Grosset and Dunlap and Price Sterns Sloan. This was two mornings spent learning how to put together a proposal for a book series. After the first day we had homework, and I worked late into Sunday night, determined to make my proposal kick ass. I figured that it ain't often you get to pitch directly to an editor and get feedback. So what the hell. In the second session, as it came near my turn to read my series concept, I could feel my heart start to beat very loudly and very fast. I'd written it in the voice of the protagonist. Would that work? I thought it was pretty damn good. Was I wrong?

Turns out, I was right. Bonnie and Judy said that my proposal was a good example for the others to follow. They liked it! They really did! I just need to really hone the voice. I was shaking by the time I was done. I couldn't really hold my pen to take notes on what they said, so thank goodness most of what they said was positive. After they moved on to other people, I finally calmed down. Whew! So now here I go - I'm gonna rewrite this proposal, come up with three slick, fabulous chapters to submit, and go from there. Very exciting.

I also really enjoyed the Golden Kite Awards luncheon, which included a singing contest and great speeches from Sarah Pennypacker, Larry Day, Walter Dean Meyers again, and Tony Abbott. I'm forgetting someone else very cool, but they all rocked, and our table bonded over the shared fear of singing, and over the ridiculous and fabulous singers from other tables.

Overall grade for the conference: A.

But I'm exhausted and exhilarated. You've got to work, baby, work! And even in college I didn't sit listening to speakers for eight hours at a stretch. Work is less intense, and my job is pretty damned demanding.

I'll be there next year. Wish I could afford the upcoming NYC conference!

Crazy Life, Peaceful Life

I got back from spending a peaceful July 4 in Hawaii to madness! The fun sort of madness that is my life.

Before I Hawaii I had a karaoke birthday party (for me) and much drunken singing, presents and cards and good wishes from friends took over a weekend. I actually got up and sang - twice. The first time, seriously, I must've sucked. I couldn't hear myself at all, so we all know what that means. The great thing about karaoke is that you're pretty much guaranteed that someone out there is worse than you are.

Then off to stay with my parents (a few nights with Mom, a few with Dad) in Hawaii. Have I mentioned lately how wonderful Hawaii is? Too bad it's so dang hard to make a living there. And my busy, social, fun life in LA reminds me that I'm lucky to live there. But still - even with the beach covered with stinging portuguese men-of war (blue bubbles of death! Well, not death literally, but it hurts like hell if they sting you) at Bellows (best beach ever!) it was paradise.

My Dad snoozed under the ironwood trees, hat over his face. A sunburned haole guy talked to a tow-truck driver as they dug his SUV out of the powdery white sand. A woman in a flowered one-piece threw sticks for her black lab to chase while her two little girls ran around digging men-o-war out of the sand and throwing them in a bright red plastic bucket. The sun beat down, but a soft breeze ruffled the waves. A continuous roar/hiss of the turqoise ocean pulsated pleasantly. Peace. Bliss.

The next day - malasadas! (Slightly crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside Portuguese donuts deep fried and rolled in sugar. Seriously ono. That's Hawaiian for delicious.)

After a few days of this - back to LA. A quick clean up of my apartment, large hellos to the cats, and then a delightful visitor (one of my oldest and best friends). Then - another crazy weekend! Wine on a good friend's patio in the candlelight on a warm summer night, trading jokes and confidences with a group of close buddies. Brunch with more friends the next day, a movie with another huge group of friends (the new Harry Potter, which was pretty good). Then work the next day.

Whew!

What is it about summer that brings out the need to convene and confide? The heat brings out sweat and the urge to reveal oneself, to hang with your community, to sip wine, listen to the crickets chirp, and ponder the meaning of life. And then to crack a rude joke and laugh like a hyena.

Crazy life, rich life!

Ay, Mami!

The New York Post has a great article online about catcalls to women from construction workers and the like.

As someone who has been honked at, woo-hooed, and even followed when I run around my neighborhood, I find real joy in the stories where the woman turns around and calls the dude (or dudes) on their silly behavior. Truth is, most of the time this stuff is harmless. But in a world where women must constantly be on the lookout against assault, it's also kind of insensitive. So what else is new? At least we can laugh at it.

Screenwriting vs. Novel Writing

So now that I'm scribbling away at my novel, I realize just how different it is from screenwriting. I knew intellectually how different the two endeavors were, but am now getting it at a visceral level.

There are, of course, similarities. The three-act structure works well, generally, in both. But it's not required in a novel. Good dialogue is a must in both, etc.

But thereafter - geez. Things diverge. Screenplays are essentially a blueprint. After it's written, other folks come along and interpret it - the director, actors, producers, editors, etc. Movies and TV are the product of many different people. Because of this, the screenwriter must trust that people read a bit between the lines. You write prose to describe the actions taking place on screen, and then dialogue. That's it! There's very little description. You can nudge the dialogue into an emotional direction with an occasional parenthetical, but after that, it's all up to how the director and editor deal with the actor's performance. The only way to really get into a character's head is with a telling close up or voiceover, which I often find annoying.

In a novel, if you just leave the bare dialogue hanging out there with the equivelent of an occasional parenthetical, readers get confused. There's no actor interpreting things for them. They can't see facial expressions. They get no reaction shots. So you have to give the reader more. A lot more. I'm writing in the first person, and at first I resisted giving too many of my character's thought to the reader. Having been trained in screenwriting, I figure folks will read into the dialogue and get the subtext.

But it doesn't work that way in a novel. As I've added more inner thoughts from my protagonist and shown his inner turmoil, the meaning behind the dialogue becomes clearer for my readers. They like the hero more. They hate the antogonist more. They are far more invested.

There are more ways the types of writing differ, but I need to go off and do some more of that writing. So perhaps more later.

Writing is a constant learning experience. That's one more reason why I like it!

Top Ten Horror Films

I wrote a post for Wyrdstuff about my top ten horror films, which you can read here.

It's gotten a bit of response, I think, because everyone has an opinion about the top ten of anything. Horror fans tend to like the gore, which is not my thing. I like films that are, well, good, first and foremost.

One dude posted, "This is the weakest top ten horror film list I've ever seen." So I checked out his posts. Heavily featured on his blog was a drinking game he'd invented to play while watching Revenge of the Nerds III. I didn't respond, but was tempted to comment: "Dude, does your Mom let you play that in her basement?"

Critiquenic

That's a combo of Critique and picnic - which I just attended last weekend thanks to the SCBWI, which is the international Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Dozens of writers and illustrators met at Roxbury Park in Beverly Hills to hang out in big patches of shade, dodging balls thrown by families, watching handsome, sweaty young men on the basketball court -- and to critique and encourage each other in our writing.

And... there were cupcakes!

They divided us up according to type of book we are writing, set each group up with a moderator who had been published, and then off we went, reading and commenting on each other's work. A fellow redhead named Meena and I bonded a bit over working in film and TV, and we launched with Meena's piece, which was hilarious and delightfully written. Then came my piece. It's amazing what you can learn about your writing by having someone else (not just yourself) read it out loud. Places that trip them up as they read are an indication of hotspots to consider revising. It takes you outside the version you have in your head and makes it REAL. All good.

Lots of helpful and encouraging comments followed. As writers, we slave away alone for days and weeks, so it's great to see other people laugh and respond to your work. Everyone wanted to know what happened after my first five pages, which is a good sign. When nearly everyone else agreed that I need to add more of something, I realized they were right.

(As someone who's written tv and movie scripts, I find I tend to write other things a bit too sparingly. In script writing, you keep the prose to a minimum and try to convey as much as you can through action and dialogue, relying on your director and actors to fill in subtext and emotion. Novels are a whole other thingummy. You want to respect your reader and not spell out everything, but you've got to be clear, for crying out loud. And sometimes what's in you head doesn't quite make it to the page.)

It was great to hear other people's work as well as get comments on my own. You can learn a lot from the questions that form over their pages.

Joining the SCBWI has so far been well worth the small dues. In August comes the big ol' conference - four days of networking, seminars, and support. In the meantime, I've started up a second class to get me going on a full outline of my book, fashion query letters, set up a writing routine, and so on. In the midst of it I'll be going to Hawaii to see my parents (hurray!) so I may even have to bring my laptop with me.

Just like a real writer. That's what I am. Finally really starting to believe it!

On a Roll...

Yes, I'm on a roll, writing my little brains out. I'm on a self-imposed deadling to get 15 decent pages of my latest project in a good enough state to mail out for a critique session I'm paying for in August. I'm attending a major writers conference here in LA, and one thing they offer is a professional in the field giving you a critique. I've been told it's a great experience. So here I go!

Thing is - critiques help. You've got to be open minded. You've got take it with a grain of salt. You've got to still the fast-beating of your heart, breathe, and let go of your baby so that someone else can criticize it.

I know this from previous experience and because I've joined a critique group (just this week!) of writers with similar ambitions. I was a tad nervous. Fortunately, everyone said something complimentary as well as something, er, constructive. The critique group at least is free. Well, except that we meet at a Border's bookstore that requires a $5 purchase to validate parking if you stay more than an hour. But $5 is more than worth it to get five pairs of eyes assessing your work and give you a reality check. Sometimes people give contradictory advice. Sometimes it clashes with your own instincts. But sometimes they give a note that makes your baby even better than it was before.

Hostility

I just posted over at Wyrdstuff about how horror movies degrade women in their marketing.

Yes, more feminist, inflammatory stuff that the hordes of young men who go see these movies won't give a hoot about. Ah well. Gotta rant sometimes, ey?

"What is Wrong with Women?"

That's the angry question that writer/director/all around genius Joss Whedon asks in his brilliant rant about the stoning of a young woman in Iraq.

I posted about it on Wyrdstuff, so go there to read my full post. You can link to Joss's website, Whedonesque, from there.

Whedon mulls how this stoning reflects not only on attitudes in Iraq, but how women are seen in general in all societies. He's pessimistic, but determined to try and make a difference. You can go here, if you feel the same kind of determination.

Best. News. Ever.

A very dear friend of mine just left a message on my voicemail that has me over the moon...

As of today she has hit the five-years free of cancer mark!

She got the full body scan, yada yada. And not a spot of cancer. Not a spot for five years, which means she can stop with the scanning and the worrying. The odds of her getting cancer again at this point are so small, she's now once again just like the rest of us.

HURRAY!

It's difficult to describe the swell of relief and happiness this news brings. I'm not only delighted for her, I'm thrilled for those of us who are her family -- thrilled that we're gonna have her around for a good long time.

By the way - the photo above is of the sunset at the north pole. A suitably beautiful, moving image to celebrate with.

"Once"

Saw a terrific little movie this weekend called Once. It's a low budget musical of sorts, shot in Dublin. It stars two wonderful actors you've never heard of, and is romantic in a way you don't often see in more Hollywood films.

Our hero, an unnamed Irishman in his thirties, works by day in his father's "Hoover Repair" shop. But whenever he's able, he plays for the crowds in the center of Dublin on the streets, singing passionately personal songs on his guitar. One day, a cute immigrant from the Czech Republic stops by and asks some perceptive questions about his songs. Soon they are harmonizing like old friends on his songs. Both are in difficult places in their romantic life, and they struggle with their feelings for each other in heartfelt song and amusing, sweet exchanges.

This is the sort of musical where the music doesn't feel imposed or unreal at any moment. Both actors are relatively untrained and unknown, but they have a lovely instinctive style that works beautifully. The movie doesn't go quite where you'd expect, but once you get there, it feels completely right. I'm not much of a sucker for romantic films - most Hollywood stuff is too sappy for me. But this little gem works on every level. It's out only in selected cities, but keep your eyes peeled...

TV this Fall - Geek Heaven

My latest post on Wyrdstuff gives a lengthy list of cool sounding new shows that geeks like me will like. You know the stuff - full of sci fi and fantasy elements.

You can read the full post here.

The only one I know will stink is Moonlight, formerly known as Twilight, which I read before it shot. The script was marginal (a handsome good vampire becomes a private eye - Angel and Blood Ties anyone?) and I've since heard it's getting revamped (so to speak) and nobody knows what to do with it. So nevermind on that one.

But do keep Pushing Daisies in mind when you watch TV this fall. The script was brilliant, and I've heard the show itself is fabulous.

Pick Up Time

It's time to pick up pilots in TV Land. The networks are announcing their slates for fall, dropping some old series and picking up some new ones.

I posted on Wyrdstuff about the best pilot script I read this season, Pushing Daisies, written by Bryan Fuller, creator of Dead Like Me, and co-executive producer of Heroes. The actual post is here.

Most folks in the biz are in New York this week, partying and gaping at the stars of the shows as the networks blast the airwaves with publicity about how this fall will be their best season ever. One famous TV series creator was observed by dozens at the Peninsula hotel, yelling at his actress/singer (former?) girlfriend. It's a madhouse of ego, hype, and hysteria. Good times!

What is Your Daemon?

If you loved the book The Golden Compass, you'll enjoy their website at www.goldencompassmovie.com. There you can take a short quiz (click on the image above) to find out what your daemon is - that's the animal representation of your spirit that manifests into one shape after puberty. Daemons talk and are linked via an invisible thread to their human counterpart. They're one of author Philip Pullman's most amazing concepts in his award winning trilogy called His Dark Materials.

My daemon turned out to be Aesop, the ocelot. I'm gonna keep him!

Take the quiz! Better yet, read the book. It's usually in Young Adult or Teen sections of bookstores, but it's got a lot of very grown up things on its mind.

LA Festival of Books

Dude! Life is busy right now. I have had scarcely a moment to vacuum and do laundry, let along post stuff here.

However, I'm not too busy to attend the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which will be on the UCLA campus this Saturday and Sunday. It's a madhouse of books, art, talks, panels, fresh food, and lots of people, all on the lovely UCLA campus in Westwood. This year they've got everyone from Kareen Abdul Jabar to Julie Andrews to Jim Lehrer.... to Joseph Wambaugh, James Ellroy, Ray Bradbury, Lee Iacocca, and Frank McCourt.

The Fest is free, but parking is not, so figure on $8 to park. Last year I ended up spending a lot more when I got a lithograph of an illustration by Garth Williams (one of my childhood faves) from "Cricket in Tims Square.

So LA denizens - go! I'll try to report back. More info here:

http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/

And here:

http://www.calendarlive.com/books/la-wk-festival26apr26,0,267803.story?coll=cl-books-features

Happy reading!

Santa Anita Derby

Ventured off to Santa Anita to watch the ponies run. For $5 general admission, it's hard to beat the spectacle of beautiful horses ripping down a track at 40 mph. As you can see from my fabulous (if I do say so myself) photo above, King of the Roxy was in the lead in the Derby as they neared the finish line. But longshot Tiago came roaring up behind him to win the day.

Santa Anita is a beautiful track. Because it was Derby day, it was packed with all sorts of people, from hardened old-timers to families with babies. My only complaint was that the food was terrible and difficult to find. Long lines just to get a Diet Coke led to thirst problems and interfered with betting.

Had trouble fitting everyone in to this photo because I brought my wonderful telephoto lens (thanks, Randy!) so I could capture the faraway action on the track. Valerie peeks in on the left, then Mike, Kim, and Maria at the top right.

Maria did a better job of getting us all in the frame. Me, Val, Mike, and Kim. Valerie had a great run of picking winners, and this was her first time at the track. Beginner's luck, gosh darn it.