You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Writing' category.
I started reading a book with my 6&1/2 year old son a couple of weeks ago. The characters were supposed to be around his age, but it didn’t ring true for me. They were just really snarky and sarcastic in a way that isn’t typical for that age group. I didn’t say anything about it because we like him to develop his own opinions about books, but after a couple chapters he didn’t want to read anymore either. He said the kids were mean. Maybe he and his friends will develop the ability for cutting remarks in short time, but we’re reprieved for now. Right now he still tries to (mostly) be sweet and gets taken aback when people are rude. I know the tide is likely to shift soon, so I’m trying to soak it all in while I can.
It’s not all sunshine and fluff, though. Take Halloween, for example. We had a few years there when he wanted to be nothing more vicious than the cutest of cats. This year he wanted to be a stormtrooper, but his school allowed neither blasters nor masks (or anything “scary”). So, he decided he wanted to be a zombie ”With lots of leaking blood! Leaking everywhere! Smeared and dripping!” he said. This from the boy who had nightmares about the chickens in the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movie.
He’s afraid of CGI chickens, but this summer during one weird afternoon in the desert he did this-
He’s standing on a big box feeding a big tiger while the other one growled and snarled.
He also did this-
and this-
His dad was nearby, ready to wrestle any attacking reptiles away from curious fingers while yours truly watched from far, far away and tried to work out the distance to the closest margarita. Scared of cartoon chickens, not of giant snakes. Check. It’s an age of fascinating contradictions.
The blood-leaking zombie probably qualified as too scary for the delicate nerves of his school administrators, so we compromised with a last minute X-wing flying weapon-less Luke Skywalker costume. Everyone was happy.
Use the force, Luke.
Last year I would not have predicted a request for a zombie ensemble, so maybe next year he’ll be spouting sarcastic retorts like a fourteen year old. I hope not, but who knows? Sometimes it helps to have your very own live-in case study kids, but you have to take it with a grain of salt, too. My kids are pretty typical, I guess, but there’s a big wide gamut, even between the two of them. His little sister is three years his junior, but she could be requesting a bloody zombie costume next year. It wouldn’t surprise us at all.
My current WIP is early-ish middle grade, so I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit. My point is that even when you live with kids it can be difficult to write realistic characters that appeal to a broad range of readers, when there’s such a wide spectrum of personalities and development. Wannabe zombies may be polite (for now), but they don’t suffer fools.
How old is your protagonist? Do you ever struggle with age authenticity? How often do you stray from the “typical” X-year-old?
I’m waiting for the rain and wind to let up and my little one to go down for a nap. Then I can go clean up the many chicken feathers that the raccoon left behind when he decreased our chicken population from 3 to 2 last night. I’m still getting used to the idea of our chickens being pets/food-producers, and now they’re pets/food-producers/food. Gah!
That’s right! All glamour, all the time.
Let’s just focus on the future, ok?
Tomorrow and Sunday I will be on the Children’s Stage at Seattle Bookfest at 3 for wacky Mad Libs. With prizes! It’s a whole weekend of books and local authors and fun. Say hi if you’re there!
While we’re talking about where I’ll be when… I’ll be at the 2010 SCBWI Winter Conference January 29th-31st in New York City. I was there last year, and had a great time (here’s the recap). Registration starts on October 28th!
If you have a something that is submission-ready, you might want to seriously consider signing up for the intensives on the 29th. I’m not sure how the illustrator intensive works, but for writers it’s like a group critique led by a mystery editor or agent. It’s not cheap, but if you have the scratch, it’s probably worth it. You won’t find out who you’re with until you pick up your badge at the registration table. Last year I was fortunate to have Michael Stearns and Liz Szabla lead my tables (!). They each gave fantastic, useful, different feedback. There are many, many publishing success stories that sprung from these intensives (Just ask Jill Alexander or Holly Cupala.)
I eventually scrapped that particular manuscript in June, but I started something new in July and I should be wrapping up my rough draft this week (Wheeee!). Just in time for the revision retreat the first weekend of November and maybe the intensive, too.
Did you nominate books for the Cybils? Nominations are closed now, but there are plenty of recommendations. First round panelists are super busy narrowing the long lists down to short lists. In the middle grade category, that’s where I come in! I’m a second round judge, and in great company. Look!
Panelists (Round I Judges):
Sherry Early, Semicolon
Melissa Fox, Book Nut
Abby Johnson, Abby the Librarian
Kyle Kimmal, The Boy Reader
Becky Laney, Becky’s Book Reviews
Sarah Mulhern, The Reading Zone
Sandra Stiles, Musings of a Book Addict
Round II Judges:
Kimberly Baker, Wagging Tales
Stacy Dillon, Welcome to my Tweendom
Monica Edinger, Educating Alice
David Elzey, Excelsior File
Kerry Millar Shelf Elf
Any predictions for the short lists? Share ‘em in the comments!
Lots of good news:
Martha Brockenbrough sold a picture book (This news is a couple weeks old, but still awesome.)!
Author/Illustrator Kjersten Anna Hayes got an honorable mention in the Writer’s Digest Writing Competition for Children’s/Young Adult fiction. Congratulations, Kjersten!
And this morning it was announced that Grace Lin’s wonderful Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was chosen for Al Roker’s Today Show Kid’s Book Club! Yay, Grace! You can see my interview with Grace about her process making Where the Mountain meets the Moon here.
I’ll have more interviews featuring fab middle grade authors soon, when things slow down a little bit.
And in the random news category: Ground Control to Major Tom You? Scientists are looking for a few good people to spend 520 days on a simulated trip to Mars. You get a real trip to Moscow, and after a few days you won’t know if you’re on a real space ship or not.
Ok, it’s time for me to go outside, but first I’m going to watch one of my favorite videos ever. Happy weekend, everybody!
It’s time to nominate your favorite books for the Cybils!
Then, go pick up a copy of Laini Taylor and Jim DiBartolo’s Lips Touch Three Times, available today. Why should you pick it up? Because I read the ARC, and it’s wonderful. Because their editor, Arthur Levine, spontaneously cheered when reading an excerpt at the YA Buzz panel at BEA. Because Laini and Jim are made out of awesome. I’ll post a little interview with Laini in the next few days.
Yay! SCBWI’s own Aaron Hartzler has sold his YA memoir, Rapture Practice, to Little Brown to be published in 2011 (via PW Children’s Bookshelf).
If you’re in Seattle, mark your calendar for October 24-25 for the newly resurrected Bookfest. I’ll be on the Secret Garden KidsStage hosting some crazy MadLibs on Saturday and Sunday, because Penguin is celebrating 50 years of filling in the blanks with silliness. So, stop by- but leave the rotten tomatoes at home. I hear Martha Brockenbrough is hosting a Grammar Bee as well. Fun stuff!
I have a little bet going with that very same Martha B. to finish my rough draft by the end of the month, so I’ll be going now.
I’m so excited to present the first in a new series of author interviews. Kathryn Fitzmaurice agreed to answer a few questions, AND she’s graciously offered a signed copy of The Year the Swallows Came Early! Just leave a comment below by September 14 and I’ll pick someone at random to win!
WT: Tell us about your novel, The Year the Swallows Came Early. 
KF: The book is about an eleven year old girl named Eleanor “Groovy” Robinson who dreams of attending cooking school one day. Only she discovers that someone close to her has taken away something very important that may keep her from ever going. She has to decide if she can forgive the failings of someone she loves, and accept him for who he is, rather than who she wants him to be. But it’s also about how she keeps working to achieve her dreams despite the obstacles that are put in her way.
WT: How did you get the idea, and how long was it between your first spark and publication?
KF: It took almost exactly three years from when I wrote my first sentence to receiving the offer from HarperCollins. Then it took another 16 months after the offer for the book to be on bookshelves.
The idea for the book had been stirring since the summer I turned 13, when my mother sent me to New York City to visit my grandmother, who was a science fiction author. My grandmother led a very eclectic lifestyle. I remember we never did anything until late afternoon, and then we stayed up until 2 or 3am. Sometimes, we went to dinner as late as 11pm. When we returned, she’d sit down to write until very early in the morning. She told me she did this because the middle of the night was when people said and did things they normally wouldn’t. She had a collection of porcelain owls, because they were creatures of the night. She studied paranormal events. She discussed things like inner motivations and secret desires. She helped me to write my very first story that summer, and stayed up all night typing it so I could have a real story like she had. At thirteen, it was my first real writing lesson.
She worked very hard that summer revising a novel entitled Chrysalis of Death. And one day, we met her literary agent for lunch, and after listening to them discuss how my grandmother could make her characters into whomever she wanted, I decided that someday, I’d like to be a writer, too. So after I told her this, my grandmother proceeded to send me books about writing techniques, books by classic authors, and literary essays for every birthday and Christmas holiday after. In most of these books, she would write inside the cover, “K: Write what you know. “ One of my favorite books she sent to me when I was deep into a teenage poetry writing stage was a volume of poetry by Emily Dickinson. Inside this book she wrote: “Emily Dickinson is a revered poet. Perhaps the same can be said of K.H. someday. Love, Grandma Eleanor. “
When she passed away, she left me a big box with all of her unfinished manuscripts in it, which have been a tremendous inspiration to me.
So because of all of the encouragement she gave me and to honor her, I decided that when I sat down to write my own novel many years later, that I would name my main character after her and give her a grandmother very much like my own. In fact, because I remember her revising Chrysalis of Death the summer I visited, I decided to include it in The Year the Swallows Came Early. So on page 148, my main character and her best friend find this manuscript along with a few of her others stories. I included her book inside my book.
She never got to read even the first draft of my novel. But I did send it to her agent, Phyllis Westberg, four years ago, who is still alive and working in NYC. After reading it, my Ms. Westberg made the comment that she thought my grandmother would have been very happy.
WT: How different was your final draft from your first draft? Were the themes consistent? Any surprises?
KF: As far as themes go, the final draft was very similar to the first draft. But the format, the chapter orders, the way things were laid out; those all changed quite a bit over the course of three years. There was one good surprise. I had changed the title of the book probably twenty times while I was writing it, but Brenda Bowen, who was the editor who bought it, asked if we could change the title to The Year the Swallows Came Early, which was the exact working title I had used while writing it. So even though I had used many different tiles over three years, (mostly because I couldn’t decide on what I wanted) we went back to my first one. I suppose some things are meant to be.
WT: I noticed you were at the SCBWI Summer Conference. What was the highlight for you?
KF: It was either Richard Peck’s speech, or Sherman Alexie’s speech. Both made me tear up and want to be a better writer. And actually, while I was listening to Richard Peck, I was so inspired by him that the idea for my newest title came to me about half way through his talk.
WT: I read that you’re working on a companion book for The Year the Swallows Came Early. Anything you can tell us about it?
KF: Yes, thank you for asking. The companion book is about one of the other characters in Swallows, named Frankie. It’s written from his point of view, which took some getting used to. I had to separate from Eleanor, which was where I’d been for three years, and get into Frankie’s head. I think it took me a good six months before I was able to think about him without thinking of how Eleanor saw the world.
WT: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
KF: I enjoy walking my dog, Holly, and I spend a lot of time on the pool deck watching my two boys play water polo, or at swim meets. I also like to think up first lines as I see things happen around me. And, I’m kind of a neat freak. I like to clean out things. Give me an unorganized pantry or garage, and a trash can, and I’m happy.
WT: How has your teaching experience impacted your writing?
KF: Every day we had twenty minutes of uninterrupted silent reading right after lunch. I think back a lot to the books my students chose to read over and over. They are the same books I love today. Honestly, I hope someday I can write one of those books that kids wait in line to check out from the school library, or use their lunch money to buy at book fairs. That is a well written book.
WT: How do you stay in touch with the writing community (e.g. critique group, SCBWI, social media, etc.)?
KF: I attend many writing conferences each year and am part of a terrific critique group which meets once or twice a month. I also twitter and facebook, like many other writers do. I am also a part of two fantastic author’s networks. The Class of 2k9, and AuthorsNow.
WT: What have you enjoyed reading recently?
KF: I just finished two great books: Kate DiCamillo’s new one, The Magician’s Elephant, and The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, I also just re-read Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana.
WT: Any writing/revision tips you’d like to share?
KF: I am no expert; I have a lot to learn myself. But I suppose I would encourage writers to join a critique group because it’s a very good way to get honest feedback that helps you see what you’re missing. Sometimes I learn more about my writing by critiquing their writing because I can be objective with someone else’s work, and so it helps me to be more open to receive criticism from others. Like everyone else, I enjoy hearing positive comments about my work, but it’s the criticism that helps me grow while I’m writing my first drafts. I can open my book to most any page and see a line that one of my critique group members wrote or revised. I can see whole paragraphs and chapters that were inspired by a question one of them asked. I’m so thankful they cared enough to push me.
Thanks, Kathryn! Pick up a copy of The Year the Swallows Came Early at your local bookseller, and find more of Kathryn on her blog or website.
Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a free, signed copy!
Thanks for reading!
I just got home from the conference.
Sure, I could have been back on a plane weeks ago. That would have been the easy way to do it, but I took the road less traveled. Directly after the conference I met my family for 2 days at Disneyland, a day visiting family in East L.A., 2 days in Sedona, a day in New Mexico, and a few days in Colorado visiting a large portion of my immediate family.
Then we drove home to Seattle.
We logged over 3000 miles.
Did I mention that in addition to my sweet husband and me we also had our 2 year old, our 6 year old, and 2 dogs?
Our backseat looked like this, but with one more dog and a humongous pile of luggage/books/toys. And a big box of green chile. And noise.
The picture doesn’t capture the noise:
Two words. Violet Beauregarde. Blueberry infused vodka with lemonade and muddled mint. Blissfully refreshing.
The trip was great. I’ve lived in various areas of the mountains and desert most of my life. I love Seattle, but I appreciate the contrast. It was good to get back.
Here’s a little something from the trip: There are no books at Disneyland. After I noticed that the first gift shop was free of reading material, it became a quest. Not even a sparkly, electronic board book to be found anywhere. Really, Disney?
So- the conference….Awesome, awesome, awesome. Thank you to the readers who came to say hi! It’s so nice to know who reads my silly ramblings. My guilt is appeased at not posting knowing you had the official SCBWI Team blog available. I didn’t take any pictures, but I had lots of fun and met many fine folks.
Highlights-
Watching Jolie and Sara co-win the member of the year award. Yay! Their accounts can be found here and here.
Inspirational keynotes. Sherman Alexie and Richard Peck each made me misty.
And the best thing about the conference for me was…
Linda Sue Park’s master class on revision! So much great information. Thanks, Linda Sue! And, uh, I’m not the only one who had an eventful car ride after the conference.
I’m off to write, but here are a few things to check out-
Kirby Larson’s first installment of a very impressive blog panel discussing gender and books.
Cheryl Klein offers an editor’s opinion on speedy manuscript auctions, and Michael Bourret responds with an agent’s view. What do you think?
The Cybils are coming! Nominations start in October, but they’re currently looking for judges and panelists.
Mitali Perkins offers easy steps for getting started on Twitter.
And Jody Feldman is offering a fun contest to celebrate the paperback release of The Gollywhopper Games.
I’m in L.A. for the SCBWI summer conference! I’ve spent the day napping a nasty bugger of a headache away, but it’s mostly gone now and there is fun to be had.
I’ll try blogging while I’m here, but I learned last year that things are pretty busy. I might not get much blogging done. I’ll definitely post a few tweets, and you can follow everybody’s conference tweets here.
That’s not enough for you, though, is it? Of course not. So here’s the official SCBWI team blog. I have no doubt that Alice, Jolie, Jaime, Lee, Paula, and Suzanne will bring you the goods. They already are. Look at those zombie interviews!
If you’re here at the conference, say hi!
Book Nut presents a solid list of picks for the top 100 middle-grade books of all time. I don’t agree with all of them, but it’s a nice mix of new and old.
MotherReader explains why the upcoming KidLitosphere Conference is way cooler than BlogHer09.
Interviews-
Kirby Larson interviewed Karen Cushman.
Adam Rex and Mac Barnett collaborate well (as seen here on 7-imp), and I think The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity is an awesome title.
Lee Wind interviews Ellen Hopkins.
At least three of those people will be at the SCBWI Summer Conference next month.
I LOVE my critique group (Unless they voted to kick me out at the last meeting, which I had to miss. In that case, they’re a bunch of rotten chum buckets.). I’ve had other groups in the past, but I think my current group’s dynamic works really well. We have a mix of illustrators and writers in different genres. Their feedback is fabulous, and I can’t imagine trying to write and revise without the benefit of a group. I’m dense. I need help.
I was at a lovely party a couple of nights ago chatting with a circle of successful authors, and critique groups came up. A couple of the authors mentioned that they don’t have a critique group, nor have they ever had a critique group. They are each published and well-regarded, so that’s what works for them. I find myself constantly curious about the writing process of others, and the various methods people use to reach publication.
What works for you? Do you think critique groups are important? What’s yours like? If you don’t have one, do you do anything else for feedback? Dish!
Carrie wins! Congrats, Carrie! Send me your address and I’ll get those lovely cards out to you Monday.
Here’s a short video of Maurice Sendak on Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, shown at ComicCon.
I finally read The Hunger Games this week. Am I the last one in the world to read it? It feels like it. I’m not generally crazy about futuristic, dystopian settings, so I kept resisting the recommendations. Silly me. I couldn’t put it down. She lost me a little bit with the mutts, but otherwise I was totally engaged in the story.
My writing weekend went very well. My goals were a little lofty, so I didn’t actually finish the draft, but I’m much farther along and the rest is pretty much planned out. What a fantastic gift to have such a big block of time just to focus. It was wonderful. My goal this week is 10,000 rewritten words, and I think I’m getting pretty close.
Publisher’s Weekly has their Fall Children’s Books on stands now.
That clever Martha Brockenbrough made a new blog for SCBWI Western Washington, The Chinook Update.
Sometimes I like to write with a different font in my working draft, just to mix things up and tweak my perspective a little bit. I’ve been playing with the free fonts at Font Squirrel lately.
If you’re marketing some kid kit this year you should probably pick up the 2010 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market guide. Even if you don’t need it for marketing, look at the list of fabulous features and articles.
Do you use iGoogle? They have a new group of comics themes, like American Born Chinese and Robot Dreams. Also, Ziggy. You know, if you’re into that.
Justine Larbalestier addresses the controversial cover choice for her new novel that has everyone upset. Grrr. Whiskey tango foxtrot, Bloomsbury?!?
The Horn Book gets the blue ribbon for speedy printing. I received my copy in the mail on July 20th, complete with acceptance speech transcripts from ALA on July 12. Well done!
I’m going to bed now, so I can kayak tomorrow with both eyes open.
So, I’m going to have a marathon writing session this weekend. Saturday and Sunday I’m holing up to pound out a draft. Away from the distractions and interruptions of home! My sweet husband volunteered to care for the kids and pets, so it will just be me and my new computer in a hotel room. I’ve never done this before. I’m giddy!
Revision might be too weak of a word. It’s somewhere between a revision and starting from scratch. Same characters, big changes in the story. Let’s just call it a rewrite. Anyway, since I’ve never done this before, I have no idea what to expect. How many words can I possibly pump out over two days, if I’m only stopping to eat (or take a quick brain-refreshing swim)? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out!
I’m not even going to watch the new Harry Potter movie, which I’ve been really geeked out about, until I’m done and heading back home on Sunday. I mean business, people! No more distractions.
Alright, maybe a few for you.
Watch the awesome video Betsy Bird made.
Can you spot the Pacific Northwest authors and illustrators making cameos? Name one in the comments, and I’ll pick someone on Wednesday to win a prize made by yet another talented local author & illustrator! I’ll send one lucky commenter a set of recipe cards from Jaime Temairik’s new Kitchenette line on Etsy.
Aren’t they snazzy? I ordered a set for myself, too. Now I can transfer the recipes I’ve jotted down on the back of old envelopes to lovely little cards. If you don’t cook, you can give the cards to the loved one who cooks for you. They deserve a gift, preparing all your meals like that. Or pass ‘em out to friends and relatives to give you instructions for their tastiest dishes!
I thought I knew my way around the kitchen, but it turns out I didn’t even know the easiest way to peel a banana (via SwissMiss).
Good grief, it takes me a long time to get into the flow of writing. I used to blame it on my sporadic writing schedule, but I’ve been writing pretty regularly for a while now and I still can’t just jump into it. I have to warm up for a while and then slooowwwwwlly I get into a flow. Once I get into it I can go as long as time permits, with a few dud days here and there. I was discussing this with a certain ambassador at our regional conference. First, he laughed and made fun of me (in a warm, ambassador-y kind of way). Then he said most of his writing is in spurts of a few minutes, whenever he has time to spare. Parenthood and teaching conditioned him to work this way. I’ve got the teaching and the parenthood, but I don’t have the ability to work in short surges. Oh, well.
How do you work??
I just received a new computer (!!!), so there should be more pictures and video in the near future.
Look what Nathan Bransford just did. Amazing.
I want to go to Peru! Over the next six weeks I’ll be in Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. I might not want to go anywhere after that.
Jen Robinson made a pretty great list of series’ featuring adventurous girls over at Booklights.
The Vermont College of Fine Arts has added a children’s literature section to their Hunger Mountain journal with the likes of Sara Zarr and Susan Patron.
What happens after your book is acquired? Check out the new blog by someone in a publishing house’s sales department- Pimp My Novel.
Everyone is twittering. The Shrinking Violets made a long list of publishing pros last month, and now, even the Pigeon.
I don’t know why I’m blogging. I finally have a copy of When You Reach Me to read!
Let me know about your process!
