Kind of Over It

I’m not a trendy gal. In fact, I have been known to run the opposite direction in order to avoid a trend. As a reader and a writer, I don’t pay much attention to trends either. I read for the stories and the characters, and if the main character is a ghost or a wizard or an alien, I go with it. Sometimes, publishing trends coincide with things I like, and for a while I’m happy.

For example, I love dystopian novels—which I describe as utopian gone awry. Somebody had an idea for a society that seemed perfect at the time, only in practice it has turned out horribly wrong. Hunger Games. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Matched. Fahrenheit 451. All dystopian. I love a really good dystopian. However, in recent years, the market, especially the Young Adult (YA) market, has been saturated with this genre, and it’s grown a bit tiresome. Especially dystopian trilogies. Now, in order to catch my attention, a new dystopian has to be highly recommended by friends or other authors. Otherwise, I’m kind of over it.

Also trilogies in general. Sadly, the market is run by the need to make money, and I think what happens is publishers get a little greedy. They launch the first book with huge acclaim and publicity budgets, and often the first book is really, really wonderful. Here’s where the greed enters in: I think that the publishers push the author to write the second and third books quickly in order to get them out while demand is hot. Often resulting in rather lackluster books. Several trilogies I’ve started in the last few years kicked off with a bang, but the second book was so uninspired that I didn’t even open the cover of the third. (If you’re a publisher and you’re reading this, please feel free to dispute my claim.) Possibly the subsequent books in a trilogy aren’t as good because the author put in ten years writing the first, and only six months writing the second. I don’t know. But I’m kind of over trilogies.

I’m also over YA “issue” books. You know the ones. This is a sex abuse book. This is a cancer book. This is a runaway book. I just want a story, not a sermon, not a cause. I can say this with a grain of salt, because some of my books might be categorized as issue books, but I didn’t set them up that way, so I hope they are just good stories.

I never really got into the zombie/vampire/paranormal trend in the first place, so I can’t even say I’m over that. But I am. Over it. Same with teen romance. I think you know the one (with vampires).

Which begs the question: what am I NOT over? I’m not over historical fiction—although I am definitely over the ruthless monarch who wants to marry daughter off to gain world power. But other kinds of historical fiction, along the lines of Between Shades of Gray (never to be confused with—UGH—50 Shades of Gray) or The Diviners (which has a paranormal aspect, sorry). I’m not over good stories about teens who are trying to figure out life. I’m not over funny stories.

In writing, the tendency to buck a trend is a good thing. Because usually by the time a trend in publishing hits the bookstore shelves, publishers really aren’t buying any more manuscripts in that genre or subject. So it’s usually too late to jump on the bandwagon. Yay for ignoring the trend. I just keep on writing what I write, and hope other people want to read a good story without any vampires or magic or romance that oozes disgustingly out of the pages.

 

BONUS NOTICE: the Utah/southern Idaho region of SCBWI is holding The Great Critique event. It’s free, but there is an opportunity to sign up for a paid critique by a publishing professional (editor/agent).  Basically, if you sign up, you’ll get to critique and be critiqued by other authors in your geographical area. This is a fabulous opportunity if you don’t have regular critique group or partner, or even if you just want your manuscript read by a fresh set of eyes. See  
http://thegreatcritique.eventzilla.net
for details.

 

Message to Graduates (and everyone else)

It’s that time of year when people of all ages walk across the stage in cap and gown, ready to take the next step in their lives, whether it’s graduating up to first grade or getting a doctorate. My oldest daughter is graduating with a BA in History from Boise State in just a few weeks, so my mind is hyper focused on this transitional time.

There are some pieces of advice I’d like to pass on to graduates, but they really apply to everyone. They’re just kind of basic rules for living. I feel compelled to share these because so often, people don’t live by these rules and they are not the kind of people I want to be around. So here we go:

Rule #1:

Be nice to others. It’s pretty simple, but lost of many of us. Believe me, I have trouble with this one myself. People can be really irritating a lot of the time, so it’s tempting to want to lash out at them. But don’t. You never know what sort of position you’re going to be in during some future encounter with that person, and chances are they’ll remember if you weren’t nice. Even without such a self-serving reason, it’s just better for everyone if we could all abide by this simple rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated. This applies to small children, animals, coworkers, cashiers in training, and critique group partners.

The little unremembered acts of kindness and love are the best parts of a person’s life.

William Wordsworth 1770-1850, Poet

Rule #2:

Be generous. This is sort of an addendum to rule #1. Most of us have life pretty good. No, we’re probably not rich. I know I don’t drive fancy cars, but at least I have a car. And a home. And the things I need. There are so, so many people in this world, probably in our own neighborhoods, who don’t have a loving family, a warm home, a job, or a friend. Being generous doesn’t have to be monetary, although it certainly can be. It can also mean generous with one’s time and gifts.

Rule #3:

Be persistent. Nothing worth having comes easy, unless you won the lottery or something. Getting a book published requires persistence. So does getting a job. Finishing school. Making a relationship last. So many times in life, we feel like giving up. But you never know how close you might be to success, however you define that.

Don’t give up–you’re so close

Rule #4:

Learn to listen. Most of us think we listen, but we don’t. And that’s to our detriment. Listen to the life around you. Nature. Thunder. City sounds. The soft breathing of others. A puppy padding across the floor. But also listen when others talk. I read somewhere recently that studies show most people plan what they will say in response when someone else is talking, rather than truly listening. Imagine how much better we’d be at communicating if we didn’t do that.

Rule #5:

Be yourself. This is a message I proclaim over and over to the young people of today. I feel like they are brainwashed to fit into some societal mold. My Baby Boomer generation was conditioned to break the rules and live in the moment. I think you could do worse. The best, most successful, and happiest people (and I’m not talking about the likes of Oprah, Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, or President Obama, although they may well fit into this category, but not because they’re rich or famous) are living their lives by their own standards and following their own hearts. This may not apply to their job, but it applies somewhere. Which brings me to. . .

Rule #6:

There is more to life than your job. Hopefully most of us find work in a field that fulfills us and makes us smile when we wake up in the morning. Even if that is you, there is still more out there in this world than your paid employment. And this means we’re all on equal footing in our non-job hours. So don’t waste them, you know, sitting in your parents’ basement playing video games. Get out in the world and DO something. Talk to people. Hear their stories. Go outside of yourself. Pay attention. Find a place that needs your gifts, and give them. Volunteer. Mentor. Play. Seek.

Rule #7:

Never stop learning. It’s tempting after graduating to act like you’ve learned what you need. But I’ve got news for you–you haven’t even started yet. And that’s a good thing. Just remember that you don’t know it all, and you’ll be okay. Sure, maybe you studied leper colonies in India for a semester, but don’t pretend you’re some sort of expert. About that or anything else. You’re not. Keep learning. About the lepers, but also about everything else. Life is one giant learning lab, full of things that you never knew you didn’t know. Hunger for it. And be humble about what you may or may not know. Nobody likes a smug, arrogant, know-it-all.

Rule #8:

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

George Eliot (1819 – 1880) English Novelist

Life doesn’t end at graduation or [insert age here]. It’s not like now that you’ve graduated you have to be some boring version of yourself who works 9-5 and settles down with a mortgage and a car loan. If you want those things, great. If not, then do something else. Which leads me to. . .

Rule #9:

Don’t be afraid. To try new things. To laugh at yourself. To do things other people say can’t be done. To make a fool out of yourself. To have to work harder than you ever have before. To be creative. To be daring. Stop worrying and start doing.

And finally. . .

Rule #10:

Be honest. Live with integrity. No matter what you do, this will make your life better in every way. You can make up for lack of learned skills, making mistakes, and inexperience by being a person others can rely on and trust. If you make a mistake and own up to it, you can learn from it and become a better person. If you don’t know something and honestly seek to learn it, you will. If, instead, you are not honest with others or yourself, you live in the dark. Your life becomes dark. Honesty brings you into the light, where you can see what you need to see.

 

Create Writing Connections

One of the best investments you can make in your own writing career to to attend conferences. Sure, they cost money, and I’m often the first to use no money as an excuse. But it’s money well spent. What business can prosper and survive without investing in it? If you are ready to take your writing seriously enough to invest in yourself, congratulations.

The conference I want to tell you about is our regional SCBWI (that stands for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) conference in Boise, Idaho, April 27. You can register for it here. And even if you don’t write or illustrate for children, that’s okay. It will be an awesome conference. Here are a few highlights.

Sara Megibow, an agent with Nelson Literary in Denver, will be speaking on a number of topics, including Connecting with Ourselves as well as Choices in Publishing. These will cover flip sides of the coin: turning inward to connect with yourself as a writer, and turning outward to seek out the best route to publish your book.

Karl Jones, an assistant editor and jack of all trades with Grosset and Dunlap (a division of Penguin), will wow us with his techniques in how to pitch your story. Karl tells me he does this on a web channel, and it’s very popular, so I asked him to recreate the experience with us. He’s also got some other magic under wraps for the day.

In addition, we have Miriam Forster, whose debut novel, City of a Thousand Dolls, came out this past May. I’ve been in critique groups with Miriam, and she is a talented author and delightfully fun person. She will share two of her favorite topics. First, she’s going to wow us with the wonder of How to Connect to Your Reader with Social Media. Miriam is well acquainted with all kinds of social media, and you should be too. Her other talk will be about World Building. In Miriam’s book, she creates an amazing and realistic fantasy world with such subtle skill you hardly even realize it. Learn how to do this in your own writing.

Author Anne Osterland will be on hand to help us focus on creating awesome characters, plus she will be talking about the small stuff, the details that bring a story to life.

Sherry Meidell, a picture book book illustrator, will offer her insights about what makes a good picture book. Beginners in the children’s lit world often set their sights on picture books, so we have asked Sherry to help answer all the usual questions about how picture books are made and how you write one. Since she’s an illustrator, she’ll have loads of slides to show. I love going to illustrator talks, because I am not a visual artist, and it always amazes me how they think of story in pictures.

So you have the opportunity, in one day, to learn about:

• creating intriguing characters
• building a fantasy world
• how to use details to bring your writing alive
• using social media to your advantage to connect with your readers
• connecting with yourself
• pitching your ideas
• making picture books
• multiple platforms for publishing

And, you’ll meet people with whom you might bounce around ideas or become critique partners. You might talk with Sara at lunch and realize she’s the agent for you. Or you might find out from Karl Jones that his company has work for hire gigs you might like.

For me, one of the best things I get out of conferences, and I’ve been going to them for more than 12 years, is the inspiration. Always, I come away with new ideas, new perspectives, and even new friends. Whether you are a beginning author or and old pro, you never stop needing inspiration and growth. I hope you’ll join us in April.

 

Grammar Lesson

I edit manuscripts for other authors as part of my freelance business. And while I focus more on the big picture stuff, there are also times when little things like punctuation just annoy me to tears. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling do matter. You should never, ever submit a manuscript with errors of this kind that can be easily fixed.

By now, you’ve probably seen the popular meme that shows two versions of the same sentence:

Let’s eat Grandma!

and

Let’s eat, Grandma!

One little comma changes the meaning of the sentence entirely. In the first, we’re going to actually eat Grandma. Now this might be what you mean if you are writing about the Donner Party or a horror story involving cannibalism. But if you mean to be telling Grandma you are ready to eat, you better have a comma.

There are also very important reason to use commas correctly to separate items in a series. Such as: I ate grapes, mangoes, and bacon. If you leave off the final comma, it connects mangoes and bacon–which might be what you meant. Mangoes wrapped in bacon. Hmmmm. But if you meant each item separately, then you need the comma.

Most people can manage those commas pretty well. It gets tricky when you start using them in dialogue.

Simple dialogue doesn’t seem to trouble most people. Something like: “I want to go to the grocery store,” said Mom. That’s pretty normal.

But what if your dialogue is more obtuse and complicated? I’ve had clients do any of the following:

“I don’t know,” He said, “can you tell me the answer?”

“Please don’t go,” he scratched his lip.

“Whatever,” she asked… “do you mean?”

And much, much worse. I’ll give you a minute to fix the mistakes in the above sentences and see how you do. I’ll wait.

Done? Okay, let’s check our work. The first sentence should read:

“I don’t know,” he said. “Can you tell me the answer?”

If you are using a comma before the dialogue tag, you don’t capitalize “he.” You do put a period after “said.” And you cap the next bit of dialogue.

“Please don’t go.” He scratched his lip.

OR

“Please, don’t go.” He scratched his lip.

I think the comma after “please” is optional, depending on the inflection you want. The first way, without the comma, is more urgent. The second way is more pleading.

The most important part of the fix is to put a period after “go.” Why? Because the comma between what is said and the dialogue tag is meant to allow for the tag to indicate who and how it is being said. But we have an action following this dialogue that is completely a separate thing from what is being said. Therefore, you put a period. “He scratched his lip” is not a dialogue tag. It is an action unto itself.

People have been known to get into screaming matches over this kind of thing. Please don’t do that. But do please remember that a dialogue tag has to do with the statement or question said. Therefore, the dialogue tag must be words like:

said

asked

whispered

hollered

whined

A frequent mistake of beginning writers, and something that will scream to an editor that you are a beginner, is using words that cannot possibly describe how something is being said as if they are dialogue tags.

For example, “I have to kill you now,” he held up his gun. Holding up the gun is an action, but it does not describe how the words are spoken. I don’t even like things like “he threatened” in this case. Mostly because the words are already threatening, so it’s redundant to say that.

Often, writers will have a character laugh their line. Have you ever tried laughing words? It can’t be done. Yes, you can laugh while you’re speaking, but you’re still speaking. The laughter is separate from the words. I’ve seen dialogue where a character is snorting his lines, sneezing them, hiccuping them. None of these is speech.

The easiest way to fix this is to make the dialogue and the action two separate sentences: “I have to kill you now.” He held up the gun.

Our last test sample was this: ”Whatever,” she asked… “do you mean?”

This isn’t wrong, per se, but it is more complicated than necessary. It would flow more smoothly like this:

“Whatever do you mean?” she asked.

Whenever possible, simple is better. The main goal in writing dialogue is for the tags to disappear from consciousness. The less obtrusive they are, they better.

However, perhaps the author is trying to convey a pause, a hesitation on the speaker’s part. Then this would work:

“Whatever. . .” She paused. “Whatever do you mean?”

(Side note: Ellipses are typed with spaces between the periods. Just FYI.)

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of comma usage. There are whole books on this topic. My favorite book with the clearest examples of correct usage is Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. It’s a classic.

If you can accomplish correct usage in your punctuation, your copyeditor will love you.

 

Books I read in 2012

You know those end-of-the-year lists you see on every site? The ones that list Top Ten Best Teen Books? Top Ten Best Travel Spots? Top Ten New Restaurants to Try? I hate those. Especially the book lists. Because almost never have I read anything on those lists. Which makes me anxious, because it just creates this need in me to read every book on every list, an impossible task for me. However, I decided to ignore those lists at the end of 2012 and just make my own list of the book I HAVE read. So here is my list for the past year.

Grave Mercy, by Robin LeFevers

I LOVED this book. It’s set in an historical era of conflict and political intrigue in 14^th century Brittany, but it includes some fictional elements, like nuns who train assassins. There’s a little romance, too. I really liked the adventure and intrigue of trying to determine who could be trusted.

Every day, by David Levithan

As an author, I appreciate books that take risk. The risk here is the premise, which is that the main character, known simply as A, wakes up in someone else’s body every day. A different someone every day. A has learned to cope with this reality, but then one day, A inhabits the body of a boy and falls in love with his girlfriend. A knows that the next day, he/she will inhabit another body, but attempts to try to see the girl in other people’s bodies. Fascinating.

Breaking Stalin’s Nose, by Eugene Velchin

I met Eugene at the SCBWI international conference in LA in 2012. He is a really interesting, passionate person. In this story, a young boy lives in Stalinist Russia, in fear of everyone at every moment. He breaks the nose off a statue of Stalin at his school and fears the repercussions.  This middle grade book grabbed my attention and held it throughout, which is not easy for MG and me. It had just the right amount of history and MG issues.

Period 8, by Chris Crutcher (not officially out yet)

Chris Crutcher is one of my favorite authors, because he tells it like it is. His style is sparse and direct, which has a raw power to it. This book has multiple characters, none of whom seem to be the main character, so I had a bit of trouble figuring out just whose story this is. There were also a few plot points that smacked of deus ex machina. But it’s still Chris Crutcher, and I still liked it.

Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys

Ruta spoke at SCBWI in LA last summer upon winning a Golden Kite award for this book. Her talk was emotional and brought tears to the many an eye in the audience. Her book tells the tale of a young girl in Stalinist Russia whose family is sent to a work camp. They struggle for every bite they eat, every day they live. They are cold and crowded and hopeless. But one glimpse of humanity by a Russian soldier gives her hope.

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

I’m not the only one loving this book. John Green just posted a video on Publishers Weekly thanking the librarians and readers out there for loving the book, since he didn’t think anyone would ever want to read it. It won’t spoil anything for me to say that the main character is a girl with cancer. But the book is not about cancer. The book is about friendship, love, self determination. It’s his best book yet, which is saying something, because all of his books are fabulous.

13 Reasons Why, by Jay Asher

I’m late to the party reading this one. Actually, I listened to it in audio form, and the audio was really well done. Again, this book takes a bit of a risk as its premise. A girl has committed suicide and sends out cassette tapes to people in her life, explaining the events that led to her death. There are 13. The main character is one of those people who received the tapes, and the book follows his journey as he listens to them, so a lot of the book is her voice talking on the tapes. I liked this premise and the writing, but I confess I found the girl to be excessively whiny and sensitive to every little thing. I thought the ending particularly touching, though.

The Soul of Yosemite,  by Barbara J. Moritsch

The author and I have something in common: we’ve both lived in Yosemite National Park. I was born there. She was a ranger there in the 1990s. Barbara now lives in Idaho. Her book is a personal and environmental look at the impact large numbers of park visitors have on the delicate balance of Yosemite’s ecosystem. She clearly cares a lot about this incredibly special place, but there were times when I found the book really depressing, especially because I was planning a big trip there and I felt that I was going to do more damage. Still, it’s well worth reading and makes for great discussions.

A Passion for Nature: the Life of John Muir, by Donald Worster

John Muir and I are kindred spirits. He loved nature, found the divine there, and worked hard to protect it for the future—for people like me. But apart from an occasional quote, I really knew very little about him. When a friend recommended this biography of him, I took her lead. To me one of the most fascinating things about books like this is that it fills in pieces of a historical time table in my head. This isn’t just about John Muir, it’s also about the late 19^th/early 20^th centuries.

Part of Drift, by Rachel Maddow

Listened to this on audio, and I haven’t finished it yet, but I will. Rachel Maddow is an MSNBC commentator, whom I respect and find incredibly brilliant and analytical. This book is about the modern practice of war, which kind of sounds like a boring topic, especially for someone like me who hates reading about war. But Rachel’s usual analysis and viewpoint bring it into perspective with the time in history and the political climate. Another piece in another puzzle in my head.

Freakling, by Lana Krumweide

Lana is a friend of mine, and I read the beginning of this book when she started writing it. I loved it then, and I couldn’t wait for it to come out. It finally did last fall. In this MG fantasy, everyone has a power called psi which allows them to move things with their thoughts. But our main character loses his. He tries to hide this fact, and after he is discovered and sent to exile, he begins to figure out what’s really going on.

Five Days in Philadelphia, by Charles Peters

Charles Peters is a well-known Washington journalist. This non-fiction account of the 1940 democratic convention is an insightful view into the political ramifications of the political game. I read this during the 2012 presidential campaign, and I found it eerie how many things are still true today. The subtitle of this book sums it up well: 1940, Wendell Willkie, FDR, and the Political Convention that Freed FDR to Win World War II.

Harbinger, by Sara Wilson Etienne

I bought this book at the SCBWI LA conference because I saw the author and she looked really eccentric and intriguing, so I thought I’d get the book. I think it is her debut. At first glance, the book is set in a boarding school for troubled youth, but we soon find out there’s a lot more to it than that. There are otherworldly things afoot, and they are not benign.

Alchemy and Meggy Swann, by Karen Cushman

I love Karen Cushman. I love historical fiction, and that is what she does. She’s proof that the genre is not dead. In this story, Meggy is sent to London by her mother to live with her father, a very odd man who barely acknowledges her and lives only to do his experiments. Meggy has a physical disability, which in those Elizabethan times was seen as the mark of the devil, so very few people want anything to do with her. She manages to make a few friends and uncovers a murderous plot as well.

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby

Matthew Kirby is a rising star in the kid lit world. His debut novel, Clockwork Three, was a combination of fantasy and historical fiction. Icefall is total fantasy, and totally unlike Matt’s first book. (I can call him Matt, because I know him.) Set in an icy winter world, it’s the story of a young princess sent away to protect her from her father’s enemies. She learns of her own powers and skills, and figures out who to trust or not.

Shine, by Lauren Myracle

Sometimes I read books so fast because they are SO good, but then I can’t remember them six months later. That’s how Shine was for me. I think I read it in less than 24 hours, it was just that good and I couldn’t put it down. (Fortunately, I have a lifestyle that allows me to do things like that.) I had to go back and remind myself what it was about. This comment should not be construed to mean that it’s a forgettable book. Not by any means. It haunted me for days. I couldn’t even think of picking up another book. Basically the book deals with a hate crime against a gay boy in the south. That’s where the book starts. Suffice it to say, it gets more intense from there.

The Fourth Stall, by Chris Rylander

There are several of this series out now. I’ve only read the first one, but it bodes well for the others. Chris won the Sid Fleischman award for humor at the SCBWI LA conference last summer for this book. A young boy basically runs a mob business in his elementary school out of an abandoned bathroom, from the fourth stall. A mole almost leads to his downfall, but he figures out who it was and returns to his former glory. It’s way funnier than I make it sound.

The Gemma Doyle trilogy, books 2 and 3, Rebel Angels and A Sweet and Far Thing, by Libba Bray

I am a huge Libba Bray fan. I read A Great and Terrible Beauty when it first came out and never read the other two in this trilogy. I liked the first book, but the second and third, not as much. Maybe that’s because I like everything else by Libba so much more that these paled in comparison. Or maybe I just got supremely tired of the girls going to the underworld just for fun and frolic. Yawn.

Kathleen Duey’s fabulous first two books of a trilogy: Sacred Scars and Skin Hunger

I met Kathleen about 15 years ago or so, when she came to Boise and spoke. At the time, my oldest daughter, Melissa, was really into those historical diaries series, and Kathleen wrote several.I loved her stories. So when I was selected to be in the Nevada SCBWI mentor program with Kathleen as my mentor, I figured I should read some of her more current stuff. These books are fabulous. They are historical fantasy and so intense. She just finished writing the third and I can’t wait for it to come out.

Crossed, by Ally Condie

I waited for this book with great anticipation, because I so loved Matched, the first of this trilogy. This book picks up with the main character leaving her home for a desert wilderness. It was an interesting book, and I appreciated that it wasn’t just more of the same from book one. But it wasn’t as stunning to me, either. The third book, Reached, is out, and I have no desire to read it based on this one. Just no interest.

Paper Towns, by John Green

As mentioned before, I love John Green, and I’ve now read everything of his. This was another audio book I listened to, which by the way is a great way to enjoy a book if you have to drive on a long car trip. In this book Margo is the object of Quentin’s fantasies, so when she decides to go on a prank spree with him, he cannot resist. When she disappears, Q tries to figure out why, goes on a road trip to find her, and figures out a lot more than that before the end. I love road trip books and mysteries, so this had both for a double like.

Divergent and Insurgent, by Veronica Roth

I love dystopia. I loved dystopia before it was cool. I love ALL the dystopia. And I loved these two books as much as any other dystopia. In this world, people belong to one of five factions that each live by a core value, such as always speaking the honest truth or being fearless or thinking of others. Tris, the main character, goes through a ceremony to choose which faction she will belong to now that she is 16.  She chooses one different from the one in which she grew up. She eventually discovers she is one of a special group of people who are not just one faction, but several, known as Divergent. There is a lot of dark, brooding violence and pain in the first book. In the second book, the faction system begins to breakdown as certain people try to gain control over society. Tris struggles to sort out the information coming at her and tries to decide where to place her allegiance.

So there you have it. Even though my first choice of reading material is usually contemporary YA, because that’s what I write, you’ll see I also loved several middle grade, several fantasy, and some non-fiction adult. I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading.