Tag Archives: Young adult fiction

2009 Debutante Author Interview Series: Jackson Pearce

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Seven months ago, Viola’s boyfriend told her he was gay—moments before she was going to lose her virginity to him. Heartbroken, Viola has resigned herself to near invisibility, until she inadvertently summons a young jinn out of his world, Caliban, and into her own. Here he will remain until she makes three wishes.

Jinn is anxious to get back to Caliban, but Viola is terrified of wishing, afraid her wishes will be manipulated into curses. Jinn knows that should she wait too long, the Ifrit, guardians of earthbound jinn, will press her to wish by hurting those around her.As they spend time together, Jinn can’t deny that he’s slowly falling in love with Viola, blurring the lines between master and servant. It’s only after Viola makes her first wish—for a popular boy to love her—that she realizes the feelings are mutual.

With every wish Jinn’s time with her diminishes, but the longer she waits to wish the greater danger she’s in from the Ifrit. Together, Viola, Jinn, and Viola’s ex-boyfriend try to outwit the Ifrit while dealing with their own romantic complexities and the alcohol-laced high school social scene.

 

It’s that time. The first Deb of the New Year! Today I’m sharing my interview with Jackson Pearce, author of the forthcoming AS YOU WISH, which will be published by HarperCollins and hit shelves in the fall of this year. Her second  book, SISTERS RED will be released by Little, Brown in the Fall of 2010.

Before we get into the interview, I think you’ll appreciate Jackson better if you watch this youtube video she created titled, “The Imaginary Writing Process.” It’s hilarious, trust me.

 

Hi, Jackson! As You Wish is your debut novel, so a big congrats on that. But can you give us a little statistical rundown on how long it took you to get to this point? How many books? How many rejections? How many days, months, or years?

Let’s see…
Books: 2– AS YOU WISH is my second completed novel. The first one is eternally shelved, and there were several bits and pieces of novels that never became full-fledged books.
Rejections: A zillion. I sent my very first book, KEYBEARER, to EVERY agent in the business– I was so desperate that I actually sent it to a few agents who had terrible reputations! AS YOU WISH fared a little better, but I still had to do two major revisions while querying. By the time it got to my current agent, it was all revised up, and she offered to represent me.
Days/Months/Years: This is a tough one; being a writer is all I’ve ever really wanted to do, so in a way I’ve been working toward it for ages. I didn’t start seriously looking into the business side of writing until my junior year of college– mainly because I started to worry about having to get a “real job” when I graduated, an idea that I wasn’t a fan of (but, for the record, ended up having to do anyway). I sent my first query out in early 2005. I sold AS YOU WISH in mid-2007.
 
 

Which “Call” thrilled you more? The call in which you landed an agent or the call in which you landed your book deal? Can you describe to us what it felt like?

Believe it or not, I think the call when I landed my agent was a bigger deal to me. It was totally out of the blue– I was spying on my neighbors (they were talking about me right outside my front door, I swear) and suddenly a call from a 212 area code appeared. I answered and tried to speak coherently but mostly just babbled. When the call about the book deal came in, I was already anticipating it; we’d had enough interest that I’d already accepted and gotten excited about the fact that the book would likely sell, so it was a little more relaxed. I still had to pull off to the side of the interstate though.

 
Throughout your journey as a writer, what resources have you found most valuable to your success? Websites? Books? Conferences?

I didn’t go to any conferences and only read a handful of books– most of which I wasn’t a big fan of. There are, however, some REALLY helpful websites that I adore: The Blue Boards (http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php), Agentquery.com, and the livejournal community. I think that personal interaction with other writers is the key to success. On the more tangible side– a laser printer. Oh man, I would wither away to nothing without my laser printer. I bought my first one off Craigslist– met the guy in a parking lot and paid cash in a very shady deal– and it saved my life. Other tangible valuable writer resources include caffeine, candy, and a DVR so you stop missing Deadliest Catch because you’re revising.

 
A laser printer? Never heard that one before, but I have to say, I’ve had my eye on one for awhile. Craigslist is a great idea to start out.

You’re a young author! Did you write As You Wish in college? Do you think your age has affected your journey to publication at all?

I wrote AS YOU WISH my junior and senior years of college, and found my agent just after I graduated. I think my age has had a profound affect on my journey to publication. On the purely business side, I realized about midway through college that I didn’t really WANT to work (shocking, isn’t it?). I wanted to write, all the time. I began seriously looking at getting my work published because I wanted it to be my career. I think that if I were a little older and had a more established career path, I wouldn’t have been quite as eager to get published.
The downside to being a young author is a lot of older authors– even those still “young” by most standards– give you a bit of a brush off. There are times where I would be incredibly frustrated about queries or rejections and someone would say “oh, you’re so young! Don’t worry about it! You have time!” It always felt a bit like a cold shoulder; yes, I’m young, but I still know what I want and aim to succeed. That said, those people were the minority of the writing community, and the support I found in other venues was priceless.
Thanks for sharing. I’m always interested in the subject of young authors–I’d love to follow a similar path! (I signed with my agent a few months after graduating college, too.)  During the time that you’ve been a client, your agent started her own literary agency, I believe. Was that a difficult transition? Is it normal to stay with the agent or the agency?

Soon after AS YOU WISH sold, my agent formed Bliss Literary, her own agency. To be honest, it wasn’t a difficult transition at all– nothing much changed, and staying with her was an easy decision since I hadn’t had too much contact with the rest of her previous agency. Bliss has been very successful, and I have no regrets at all about moving with my agent.
Agents tend to move around, it seems; I think that’s why it’s so important to find an agent you really click with, one you’ll stick with wherever she goes.
 

Always nice to hear about solid agent-author relationships.

This is Fumbling with Fiction, so I have to ask, in your writing career have you ever had a big “Oops!” moment?

 I’ve done a few careless things– misspelling agents names, using the wrong form of “there” by mistake, but I’ve actually been lucky so far and had no major disasters.
 

Lucky you! You’re now at the beginning of your writing career. Can you believe it? Where would you like that sure-to-be illustrious career to take you?

No, I can’t believe it! I actually remember thinking while in college how great it would be to just write books and coach colorguard (something I’ve done for a while). Now that I’m actually doing it, I’m in a bit of shock. I’m not sure where I want to go from here though; I’ve spent so long focusing on getting to this point that thinking beyond it just seems crazy.

 
It’s nice that you are appreciating it as you go through it, though.

Now that you are a soon-to-be-published author, seeing the view from the other side, what has been your favorite moment in the publishing process so far? What part of the process has most surprised you?

My favorite part was finishing up the last round of revisions, actually. I think I was so interested in the industry from the start that I didn’t have any serious OMG surprise moments.
Tell us a little about receiving your first editorial letter. What was yours like? How did you feel when you received it?

I actually loved my first editorial letter because it was very, very clear. XYZ are the problem, here are some examples, go to it! I wasn’t left overwhelmed by vague advice, so it was easy to know exactly where to start. I also have grown to somewhat enjoy the revising process, because it’s fun seeing the book improve as you go along. I think the key is not allowing yourself to stress over it– to remember that it’s JUST WORDS, and it’s okay to move/rearrange/delete them. You aren’t murdering the story :)

 
Finally, if you could have written one book previously published by another author, which book would it be?

I would love to have written any of John Green’s books for the quality, J.K. Rowling’s for the way they revolutionized the industry, or Little Women because….well, it’s Little Women. It’s awesome.

I’m Back.

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With finals over for the semester, I’m back to my regularly scheduled blogging. Hooray!

Looking forward to posting about all sorts of topics and I also have some great books to review.

I went to the Austin Public Library yesterday and picked up Melissa Marr’s Ink Exchange, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Twisted, and Scott Westerfield’s Uglies. I’m certain I’ll get through more than just these books this winter break, so any other suggestions would be much appreciated. Ten points to anyone that can suggest a non-YA book that I’d love.

You may be wondering why I didn’t start writing yesterday, the first second I got.  After all, I was so excited last week to begin. Still am. Well, I don’t know about how y’all work, but I need creative nourishment. I hadn’t read something for pleasure all semester! That’s a long time for me.

So now I’m gorging myself on work that I respect in the genres I write, not because I want to mimick another author’s voice or get plot ideas from another book, but because I need to feed my creative energy and inspire myself to write better. To remind myself what an amazing book looks and feels like. And to remember why it is I write in the first place.

Status: Thankful I no longer have to query agents, but still struggling to write a pretend query letter to myself. More on that tomorrow.

Whipped Into Shape

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I’m feeling a bit out of shape.

Each word plops onto the page only after much huffing and puffing.

And I’d be lying if I told you my paragraphs weren’t a bit flabby.

And the adverbs? I need to shed those fast!

Yep, it’s sad, but true. I’ve fallen out of writing shape and I’m embarrassed.

In mid-November I wrapped up my writing projects and decided I would devote myself to school entirely. Well, my last final is on Tuesday and I can already just imagine how painful it’s going to be to get those creative muscles back in working order. When you get into the groove of writing every day you can feel yourself getting better and better. But getting started and getting in that groove…well that’s tough.

I watched Jay Leno last night and Michael Phelps was a guest star. He said that for every day you took off swimming you lost two days of training. Well, I hope its not that steep a loss with writing, but I’m not sure I’d equate knowing how to write with riding a bike or anything.

Luckily, even though gluing my butt to the chair and making myself eek out words the first few days might be painful, I am so looking forward to it! I’ve missed writing and I can’t wait to get back into it. I’ll also be back to doing prose. I’m doing a couple chapters as per the request of my agent with the characters of SCOUT. I can’t wait until Tuesday–ok, well I might not be writing Tuesday riiiiight after the exam, but Wednesday for sure!

Despite the fact that I’m a bit rusty, I have written much more intensively since my first novel (not SCOUT). I’ve landed a great agent. Lots has happened. I do feel like I’ve grown as a writer. I think that’s going to make things much more difficult because I’ll expect more from myself, but I’m also thrilled to be flexing my new writing muscles a bit in another full-length project. I’m pumped to see what I can do, but I’ve also gotten to know a bunch of great writers in the recent months and am hoping to use some of their input to bring my work to the next level. (That is, if they love me that much when I ask ‘em!)

 

Anyway, to start slowly getting my behind in gear, I was wondering if y’all knew of any good websites with daily writing prompts or character exercises or maybe you just have some that you enjoy doing before really digging into a project. Let me know!

 

Upcoming Topics:

Falling Back in Love: I’m so NOT over you…

Starting with a sense of Direction

What’s OK in YA?

The Left-Brained Artist

Playing off the Pressure

 

 

Status: And…Back to studying.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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Sooooo tempting to write thirteen reasons why I loved Thirteen Reasons Why, but I’ve seen that everywhere, so I’ll resist…I promise.

First of all, SPOILER ALERT. Not a big one. I’m not going to reveal the “reasons why” or anything but if, like my boyfriend Nate, you freak out when anyone discusses the smallest detail of a book prior to your reading it…well then, go get yourself a copy, read it tonight, and get back to me.

For those that don’t know, here’s the jacket flap blurb:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a package with no return address lying on his porch. Inside he discovers seven cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

With Hannah’s voice as his guide, Clay spends the rest of the night wandering through town, visiting places mentioned on the tapes, unearthing the thirteen reasons why Hannah chose to end her life.

And one reason belongs to him.

 

Onward…

After reading so much buzz about this book I could hardly wait to use my spankin’ new Austin library card to check out Thirteen Reasons Why.

Immediately, I thought the format was awesome. Each chapter is a side of the cassette tape and, within the chapter, there are symbols for when Clay pushes stop and play. I also knew right away that I would finish the book within 24 hours–which I did. It’s not as if the book is action-packed. In fact, it’s a pretty slow build. But, I had to keep going. I had to know who the next reason would be and how each person would come into the story. Fantastic…really.

However, I have to be honest. There were points when the book annoyed the heck out of me. I had a hard time finding Hannah Baker to be a sympathetic character. I mean her last act was to send people tapes telling them that their actions made her kill herself? Who would want to be remembered that way?

But, thankfully, by the end, I felt that Asher wanted me to question Hannah. Certainly one of the messages was that we need to consider how our actions can affect others because, after all, it’s impossible to know what is going on in someone else’s life. Certainly Asher wanted us to be more proactive, to reach out and rescue a person we think may be at risk. However, it became equally clear that Hannah bore the ultimate responsibility. She made up her mind. She refused to let those willing rescue her.

I won’t lie, when I closed the book, I felt unsettled. Why was Clay so hard on himself? Why did he keep apologizing to Hannah? I mean, Hannah’s final act hurt people. That was unfair. There was little mention of her parents and how their daughter’s suicide had affected them. And did Hannah’s “reasons” really warrant killing herself?

Then I realized the magic of Asher’s book–I was still thinking about it. And, though on the surface, Hannah’s reasons might have seemed to pile up, creating what she called  a “domino effect,” in reality, they did not justify suicide. She was in high school. With a few more years of experience, she might have had more perspective.

Am I saying the things that she went through weren’t awful in their own way? Of course not. But I think that the bubble that is high school can magnify problems for teens and, hopefully, in reading this book, teens facing similar issues might be able to gain the perspective that Hannah lacked.

Whatever you think about the book, its ability to get folks to discuss the issue of teen suicide is invaluable.

For me, it’s a must read. I continue to be amazed by the current YA market. Asher’s novel serves as further evidence of the rich literature that finds its way into the teen section these days.

 

What did y’all think of Thirteen Reasons Why?

 

Status: Article finished. I have a few edits to do on it, but otherwise taken care of. School work next.

2009 Debutante Author Interview Series: Lauren Bjorkman

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Roz and Eva are sisters, close friends, and fierce rivals. Roz fantasizes about snagging the lead in the school play and landing sexy skate god Bryan as her boyfriend. Sadly, a few obstacles stand between her and her dreams. For one, Eva is the more talented actress. And Bryan happens to be Eva’s boyfriend. But is Eva having a secret love affair with a girl? Enquiring minds need to know.

Roz prides herself on random acts of insanity. In one such act, she invents a girlfriend of her own to encourage Eva to open up. The plan backfires, and Roz finds herself neck deep in her invented life. When Roz meets a mercurial boy with a big problem, she begins to understand the complex feelings beneath the labels. And she gets a second chance to earn Eva’s trust.

MY INVENTED LIFE is set in small California high school during the rehearsals for a Shakespeare comedy.

 

Lauren Bjorkman grew up on a sailboat, sharing the tiny forecastle with her sister and the sail bags. They are still friends, and she still likes to travel to exotic corners of the world. She now live in Taos, New Mexico with her husband, two sons, a cat that thinks he’s a dog, and another cat that thinks he’s a rabbit. Thankfully, she’s settled down long enough to answer a few questions about her debut novel, My Invented Life, coming out in 2009.

Hi, Lauren. Congrats on your debut novel, My Invented Life. I can’t wait to see it on shelves! But can you give us a little statistical rundown on how long it took you to get to this point? How many books? How many rejections? How many days, months, or years?

Too long. When I had my first kid, I quit my job and started writing novels. Now he’s in the fifth grade! Thankfully I had no idea how long it would take me, nor how many rejection letters would accumulate in my file (40, maybe?) I began as a novice with a crazy belief in myself and a passion for reading, minus a degree in English. Now I’ve written three and a third novels. MY INVENTED LIFE is my second. It’s been a long, long road. But worth every mile.

Which “Call” thrilled you more? The call in which you landed an agent or the call in which you landed your book deal? Can you describe to us what it felt like?

Speaking of which…congrats on YOUR call!!! What a thrill when I read about it in your blog.

For me, the first call excited and disoriented me the most. I’d queried a few agents and received matching rejections. Then my instructor at a novel writing workshop recommended me to his agent. After two months passed, my hopes deflated. One day, though, he emailed me to say his agent had tried to reach me. I emailed her immediately, and less than 30 seconds after hitting the send button, my phone rang! And it was her!! And she offered to represent me!!!

As you know, you’re supposed to interview an agent before accepting. But I was too busy hyperventilating, pacing the house, and babbling like an idiot. I had finally stepped into a parallel universe, one that respects writers. Besides, I’d already Googled the heck out of her, and knew she’d be perfect for me. So I accepted on the spot. Luckily, she didn’t change her mind after my lame conversation over the phone.

Awww, thanks, Lauren!!

Throughout your journey as a writer, what resources have you found most valuable to your success? Websites? Books? Conferences?

Excellent critique from other writers has helped me the most. A few of my critique partners are published, but most are not. When it comes to critique, I’ve learned to listen to my head and my heart to separate the gems from the rot.

Books on writing such as The Writer’s Journey, Bird by Bird, and Writing Down the Bones have helped, too. So have writing workshops. Conferences are a good way to meet other writers.

I’ve always envied writers with fabulous critique groups. That’s a real gift to have and I know they must be so proud of you! We all know that writers go through hard times on their way to success. How have you handled rejection in the past?

You mean what do I do after I’ve finished crying, fuming, and stewing? I eat a lot of chocolate. If it’s really bad, I read over one of my “love letters.” Yes, I keep a file of letters and emails from people who rave about my writing. After that, I pick myself up and keep going. More writing is always the best antidote.

This is Fumbling with Fiction, so I have to ask, in your writing career have you ever had a big “Oops!” moment?
 

*blushes and cringes simultaneously*  I’ve had a few. When I sent a rewrite of MY INVENTED LIFE to an interested agent, he took forever to look at it. After waiting longer than I could stand, I wrote him an email with “patience is a…” in the subject line. I got the mss back in two days with a terse rejection letter.

One time at an SCBWI conference, I had a consultation with an editor from a small local press. She LOVED my book, but didn’t publish YA. Afterwards, I told a friend (rather loudly) what an “ego boost” that had been. The editor was sitting right behind me!

Oh dear. Well, at least you’re the wiser for it! Now that you are a soon-to-be-published author, seeing the view from the other side, what has been your favorite moment in the publishing process so far? What part of the process has most surprised you?

For pure bliss–my agent saying, “You’re book is very funny. I forced myself to slow down when I was reading it to savor the humor.” That pretty much balanced out the editor at an SCBWI conference who told me I had NO VOICE.

What an awesome compliment from your agent! She must have been a fantastic advocate for your work! Tell us a little about receiving your first editorial letter. What was yours like? How did you feel when you received it?

My editor told me, “This is your book. You get to decide which changes to make.” Still, I obsessed about it. So when it came in at three paragraphs, I was hugely relieved.

I have a funny story about my editorial letter. I desperately wanted to get it before I left on a backpack-style trip to Malaysia with my family. But my editor didn’t finish writing it in time. She ended up mailing it with my marked-up mss to an airport hotel in LA where we spent the first night of our trip. After I read her comments, I couldn’t mail the mss home from the airport hotel nor the airport. So I lugged the thing on my back for five weeks. It’s a very well traveled manuscript.

Maybe that bodes well for foreign rights sales!!??? Finally, if you could have written one book previously published by another author, which book would it be?

The current crop of YA books blow my mind. I wish I’d written ALL of them. Since I have to choose one book, I’ll say Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It’s funny, romantic, serious, and political all rolled into one.

Thanks so much for interviewing me, Chandler. And good luck with YOUR book!

Thank you, Lauren! And readers, just to leave you hangin’, I’ll send you off with a tantalizing snippet of My Invented Life…

The first thing I see is Eva’s journal. I’m not tempted. It rests seductively at the center of her night table, and the latch appears to be broken. Still I won’t touch it. Even though I know she’ll never find out. And even if it might reveal why she deleted me from her life.
OK then, one little peek.

Book Review: Breaking Dawn

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Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

So, yeah, spoiler alert. I usually don’t talk about the content of a book when I review it. That way people can read the review and decide whether or not the book is for them, but with Breaking Dawn, I don’t think there is another way to effectively discuss it. So, Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all, this book is a saga all in itself. Therefore, it’s easy, I think, to have several different opinions of it. Because with the scope of the thing, I’m fairly sure it could have been broken into two or more good sized books.

There has been a ton of talk about what people hated about this book. Some legitimate, some a bit petty, i think. So I’m going to start with popular criticism and give my take on them then move onto my own Likes And Gripes. 

 

Popular Criticism:

 

1. “Jacob imprinting on Bella’s daughter is creepy”: Yanno, I didn’t really think so. Stephenie Meyer went to great pains to explain to us why wolves imprinting on babies is not as yucky as it sounds. She prepared us in Eclipse with Quil and Claire. There wasn’t quite the outcry then. Imprinting for Jacob and Renesmee does not equal a romantic attachment. I see no ick factor as of yet. In fact, I thought his attachment to a baby was sort of sweet. I’ll admit that maybe we could term it “edgy” but “perverted”? I don’t think so.

2. “The book dragged”: Yes, it dragged and was long. There were a lot of story lines going on. To think that at the beginning of the book Bella was human and unmarried and then look back from where we finished? Yes, readers traveled too long a distance.

3. “The ending was too ‘pat’”: She was going for a fairytale feel. It’s a romance, people. We needed our Happily Ever After. That said, I can’t believe there was no fight between the Volturi and the Cullens’ forces. Are you kidding me? She’s already received criticism about dodging action sequences. I’d just finished praising Eclipse for finally including a fight scene. And then what does she do? She drags me through 600 pages just to tell me that there would be no climax? Goodness!

And because she avoided the fight scene, I had no sense of loss afterward. Sometimes a sense of loss can go a long way in making a series feel complete and satisfying. Is that morbid? No, I don’t think so. There is a price the hero and heroine should pay for their happiness. Usually that price should be the cost of friends. The last Harry Potter did that well. I was glad to see that Ron, Hermione, and Harry survived, but we lost some important players and that gave the series weight.

BUT, even if you don’t want to kill off good guys, my gosh Stephenie, could we kill off a bad guy? Please?

4. “Renesmee is a ridiculous name”: Yep. It is. It did grow on me though. But Renesmee Carlie? Wow.

5. “Edward faded into the background”: I like to think of it as Bella coming to the foreground. She finally had a character arc. She changed. She was his equal. Isn’t that what people had wanted all along? Guess not. As it turns out, women really do seem to like the feeling of being rescued, being vulnerable, and having a hunky boyfriend be all protective of them.

 

Ok, now here are my own personal gripes. It’s actually a short list:

 

1. Bella’s super self-control seemed a bit convenient. I kinda wish she could have gone through the awfulness that should have been becoming a newborn.

2. Why’s she such a martyr?

3. Getting the papers for Renesmee to get on a plane seemed like a pretty minor worry. I can’t believe that’s what Alice wanted to hide from everybody. I thought J. Jenks would be way cooler.

4. I felt a little misled that Edward could get Bella pregnant. I thought vampires had no bodily fluids? Why do they have semen and not blood?

5. Adding “Jazz” as a nickname for Jasper like it’s always been his nickname. That’s probably my biggest gripe.

 

 

Finally, reasons why I’d like to give Stephenie Meyer a high five:

 

1. Bella pregnant!? Didn’t see that coming.

2. Bella a vampire? Ok, I guess other people didn’t see this as a question after Eclipse, but I sure did. I thought surely the message wouldn’t be to throw your life away and potentially your soul. Granted, I don’t think she ended up having to do that in the end, but still. I at least thought that the entire storyline would revolve around whether or not she became a vampire and if she did I figured it would be the climax of the book. As it happened, it was pretty early on.

 

3. Jacob finally stepping up, becoming an Alpha, and finding happiness. I was always on Team Jacob, so that made me happy.

 

4. No sex before marriage. I’m not saying this because this is necessarily what I believe. I’m not going to say either way on the blog, so don’t speculate. But, a lot of people have been on her case about the fact that she’s pushing her opinions through her book and that we shouldn’t make it “wrong” for girls to have premarital sex. Um, guys, if you can’t push your views in your own novel then where can you? It’s her story! Plus, there are already sooooo many YA books with rampant premarital sex. One postmarital sex book is not gonna kill us.

 

5. I enjoyed reading this book. Despite everything. I wanted to keep reading. I wanted to know what happened. And I had fun doing it.

 

 

So, what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think people should take themselves too seriously while reading this book. We can talk about the editing here. We can talk about how Stephenie may have been rushed trying to write Breaking Dawn and The Host simultaneously. We can discuss all that. I think the main factor is just whether or not you enjoyed reading it. For many fans, I think they truly did not.

A final word: I think trying to return books to the bookstore because the customer didn’t like the story is a bit ridiculous. And I’ve actually heard this practice defended because “books shouldn’t be any different from other products that you aren’t satisfied with.” I beg to differ. Returning a book that you’ve already read is like wearing clothes to a party and then taking them back to the store. It’s not ok. If you want to do that, wait to get the book at the library.

 

Good talk. See you out there.

Status: Gotta get ready for a wedding!

Thursday Pics: Introducing…Scout!

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For today’s picture day I’m going to give you a sneak peek of Scout. This is a cleaned up sketch and flatted version that Scott Forbes, Scout’s artist did. I should be receiving the completed, color version of the first page later today! 

I can’t tell you how cool it is to see my ideas interpreted into a completely different medium. I am in love with the look Scott has come up with. 

This and other drawings from SCOUT will be available on the SCOUT page on the top right. I will continue to add to it, but probably won’t publish a ton of artwork that will actually appear in the book. 

I hope that someday you’ll be able to share my love for this kickass heroine by reading the completed, published graphic novel. But, until then, this will have to count as Scout’s first debut!

 

    

And…in color!

 

 

*** Don’t forget to comment to be entered to win Heather Terrell’s The Map Thief. The more you comment, the better chance you have!

Status: I have so much writing work it’s scaring even me. I have a lot of opportunities coming my way all at once, which is great! But, really, really busy! Later today, I’m meeting Nate’s future roomie and my new classmate at UT law, so that will be fun. I’m getting excited to move, but sad that I will not see Nate for so long. 

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

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I know what you’re thinking and you are right. It is not Saturday. So why am I doing a movie review?

Well, at the rate I’m reading (about 3 novels a week), I have no time to review any movies. So, think of it as bonus material.

Plus, since a lot of people seem to find my site by looking up what books and movies are appropriate for young adults (since I write YA), I wanted to say a little something about the new Batman movie.

IT IS SCARY!!!!

Like wet my pants, cover-my-ears-and-eyes-simultaneously scary. If the Joker put a knife in someone’s mouth one more time I swear I was going to run out of the theater screaming. I just couldn’t watch parts of it!

I say this because I know there are a lot of preteen boys who just *have* to see The Dark Knight, just like they *have* to see the coolest horror flick that’s out at the time. And while it’s fun with their friends, they come back scared out of their minds. Be warned, moms, there may be nightmares following Batman.

Yes, the acting is brilliant. Yes, the movie looks really cool, but it is violent and it is frightening.

It is also long. There were about 3 logical ending points for the movie before we reached the real end. It wasn’t boring or anything, but I was kind of like, “Aren’t we done already?” after each turn. So if you go, be ready to sit for awhile.

 

And don’t bring young kids. You’ll thank me. This isn’t Spiderman or The Hulk or even Batman Returns. This is a whole ‘nother ballgame.

 

For Jay Solomon’s review of the Dark Knight click here.

Status: Just received my review copy of Heather Terrell’s The Map Thief, which will be released July 29 by Ballantine. I’ll be reviewing it August 2 or possibly a little earlier and will be giving away at least one shiny, new hardback edition of The Map Thief to a lucky blog reader!

Point of View’s a Point of Contention

By Posted in Writing: The Process Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments

When writing a novel–or anything for that matter–one of the most pivotal decisions an author makes is choosing the point of view from which the story will be told.

I write Young Adult fiction, but the same holds true for other genres as well. Right now, first person point of view is “hot.” It seems that industry professionals have decided that writing in first person adds voice and spark and a closeness to character unachievable through third person.

I’ll agree that it is easier to find a voice while writing in first person. After all, you’re using your main character’s pattern of speech. This works especially well in YA because the narrator is usually the age of the reader and clear “teenspeak” can add both biting wit and humorous perspective.

But, is it the most natural?

I have long been an advocate of third person (preferably limited) even as it has become increasingly passe. Third person written in the past tense is the natural way to tell a story.

Even when first person is correctly “framed” (I’ll explain that later), the description given by the narrator is still often unrealistic. How someone’s elbow is bent, the narrator’s body position. These are all odd things for a person to tell regarding their own story.

I’m currently writing in first person and I am enjoying it–a lot. It’s fun to write from your character’s perspective. But, I’m constantly plagued by the question of why my character is telling the story. That’s what framing is. I’ll give you two examples. In The Confessions of Nat Turner the story is told by Nat who is in the process of confessing his crimes along with his motives to an attorney prior to his execution. Framing.

In The Immoralist, the main character is telling about how he has changed to his three friends who are, in turn, judging him.

Another common device is using a main character who is a writer and therefore it is natural that he or she would be describing in flowery detail the events that have passed.

However, even in something as fabulous as Nat’s tale, I’m thinking, Why would he relate every snippet of dialogue ever? Really. Why?

I don’t have anything against first person. I promise, I don’t. I’m only pointing out that it is a less natural way of storytelling and conversely, that third person is the most comfortable way to be told a story. Therefore, it’s the most comfortable for the reader.

And there is no reason that third person cannot remain extremely close to the characters. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr provides an excellent example. Wicked Lovely is written in third person limited with alternating perspectives. Melissa does a fabulous job and at many points, the reader forgets that the author has written the book in third person. That’s how close the narrative is. With third person, we can still be tied to the character’s thoughts.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is another example of a recent YA novel written in third.

While I may not always follow this myself, my opinion is that unless there is a compelling reason to write in first, stick to third. 

 

What do y’all think? Feel free to disagree.

 

For other posts on the process of writing read: The Squee and 7 Ways to Beat the Block

 

Status: I just finished Betrayed by P.C. and Kristin Cast. This is my second novel this week. Two books! And it’s Wednesday!! I think something must be wrong with me. No wonder, I’m having trouble getting things done. I’m going to try to snag the next House of Night book, Chosen, asap. But, in the meantime, I plan to read Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr and then Eclipse once Nate is done.

My SCOUT query is 2 for 2! I am incredibly excited about the latest request and the agent seems enthusiastic, too. Keep your fingers crossed, guys!

Thursday Pics: Countdown to Austin

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I can’t believe I’m moving to Texas SO SOON! I’ve boxed up most of my belongings. I’ve thrown away a couple dressers. I’m selling things on craigslist. I’m almost good to go. My official move-in date at my new apartment is August 11th, but I’ll be heading down to Texas a little earlier than that. But I’m moving out of my Philadelphia apartment next weekend, so that I can come to DC to spend some time with Nate.

Nate and I won’t see each other for a month and a half! That’s by far the most time we’ve had apart in three years and I am not happy about it. Nate will be moving down September 15.

The closer the move gets, the happier I am with my decision to attend law school at the University of Texas. I was deciding between UT, Cornell, and Vanderbilt. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been all that happy at Cornell. Vandy would have been fun, but I’m really excited about living in Austin and getting the big football school experience, since I went to Penn for undergrad. I can’t believe I’m going to be a lawyer. Weird.

Anyway, here are some pictures of Austin and UT and Nate and I not looking as excited to be Longhorns as we are on the inside.

 

     

 

 

 

Status: Tomorrow, I’m leaving for Cincinnati with Nate and his family for their family reunion. So last night I went to the Bethesda library to stock up on books for the trip. I got The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart, Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty, and Betrayed by P.C. and Kristin Cast. (Yes, more YA. I write YA, I read YA–I can’t help loving it, so no apologies here.) Then, Nate took me to the bookstore and, though we were just going to look, he surprised me by buying Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. Now, there is only one copy of Eclipse between the two of us, so watch out!

Today, I’ve got to buckle down on SCOUT, so I can sent it out sometime next week or the following Monday by snail mail. Also, I’m feeling like I have ants in my pants. I started thinking about a submission I have out to an independent press that I love, love, love and I was just thinking how much I wanted an acceptance. Plus, I’m still waiting to hear from agents. How much can a girl take?