Writers! Lookie here!

I credit much of my growth as a writer to my grad program, the Children's Literature MFA track at Hollins University. I had a bunch of fantastic professors there, and every one of them taught me something new about writing, helped me to see my work a different way and motivated me to keep going.

But my last summer there, I took a class with Scott O'Dell Award winner Alexandria LaFaye (who I interviewed here). Her no-nonsense approach to critique, as well as her spot-on insights into how to make my story more effective, truly helped me take my craft to the next level*.

Alexandria is the voice in my head pushing me to be a better writer from draft one. And with some help from you, she can help you & other writers as well. She's written a book on writing titled THE PRIMED MIND. Unfortunately, the independent press that's willing to publish it cannot afford to do so at this time without some financial assistance from Alexandria. And she can't finance it all herself, so she's going back to the days of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman and asking for subscriptions:



Click on the widget above to go to "Priming 'The Primed Mind'" to see what Alexandria has to say. I promise this isn't a scam, this is someone I know, trust and wholly respect. And she isn't asking you to help out for nothing- donations of varying amounts are eligible for 'rewards' ranging from sample chapters of the book to a 30 page manuscript critique.

Every little bit helps, so please check out the site and help bring THE PRIMED MIND to writers everywhere.



*Please do not take this as commentary on any of my other professors' teaching abilities! They were all wonderful, but something about the timing of Alexandria's class & her approach just clicked with me.

August Reading List!

I didn't get nearly enough read this month... I have at least three other (really good!) books started, so those should appear on next month's list.

But for now, here's August!

1) The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
First in a trilogy
YA, Ages 12+
Two brothers, Nick and Alan, are on the run with their crazy mother, trying to avoid the evil magicians who barter people to get power from demons. When a boy turns up at their house with a demon's mark, Nick wants nothing to do with him or his sister, but Alan has a crush on the sister, and agrees to try and help.

I loved this one. The point of view is third-close on Nick, and while it seems he should come across an unsympathetic character, he doesn't. I frequently found myself nodding along in agreement, even when I knew what Nick was saying or doing was a mistake. I can't wait to read the next one, The Demon's Covenant.


2) Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
First in a two-book series*(?)
YA, Ages 12+
Every year Sam's time as a human gets shorter. Every year Grace waits for winter to see her wolf. When a student at Grace's school is killed and a hunt chases the wolves down, a potential tragedy throws Sam and Grace together. But the days are getting colder again, and every shiver could be Sam's last as a human.

Beautiful story, and such a fascinating take on werewolves. It's got a lot of romance, so if you're not into that, this might not be the book for you, but I absolutely adored it, and it totally made me tear up.


3) Things Are Gonna Get Ugly by Hillary Homzie
Full Disclosure: Hillary was my thesis adviser at Hollins
Middle Grade/Tween, Ages 9-13
Taffeta Smith, Taf to her friends, is pretty, popular, and in control... of everything except the fact that she didn't study for her social studies test. When she gets caught cheating, she's given a choice- she can go through with the school's punishment, or get a fresh start. Taf chooses the fresh start, and suddenly she's back to being Ernestine, the dorky girl she was when she moved to California a few years ago, before she reinvented herself as Taffeta. Now she has to make things right, or she might be stuck way below the D-List forever.

Such a fun book! I loved how the characters all had interesting back-stories that evolved throughout, and how perfectly she evoked the emotions and drama of middle school without making it a heavy-handed cautionary tale like some other books for this age group do. The 'chapters' are more like titled scenes, short and sweet, making this a really fast read, and the twists on the transformation story were great. No spoilers here, but she really nailed the ending :)


4) Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard
YA, 12+, but could possibly go a bit younger, too
Callie's best friend moved away a year ago, and she's really felt it. Wanting to make friends with a group of popular girls on her abroad trip to London, she buys a pair of Prada heels, hoping the leader of the group will be more willing to accept her. But just a few steps outside the store and clumsy Callie falls and hits her head. When she comes to, she's in 1815. A case of mistaken identity gets her a place to stay, and suddenly she's Rebecca, friend to Emily and guest of Alexander, the young Duke of Harksbury. But how is she ever going to get back home?

This was such a cute revisioning of Pride and Prejudice. I've always been a sucker for a good time-slip, and pairing that element with Regency England and a Jane Austen-inspired plot is like candy for me, I couldn't resist! I'll actually be interviewing Mandy for the blog soon, so if anyone has any questions, leave them in the comments and I'll try to fit them in!


Books read this month: 4
Books read this year: 50


Has anyone else read some of these? C'mon, you know you want to discuss Nick vs. Alan with me, or sigh over Sam & Grace...


ETA: I also read Tiffany Schmidt's fabulous manuscript! I'm looking forward to the day when I can walk into a store and pick up Mia's story! :)


*Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I have so many series' stats floating in my head, I get them mixed up occasionally.

Interview with Amie Rose Rotruck!

Oops, apparently forgot to cross-post this when I posted it yesterday. Sorry!

Amie Rose Rotruck is the assistant to R. D. Henham who penned Bronze Dragon Codex. She's a graduate of University of Pittsburgh and a double-graduate of the Hollins University Children's Literature program.


KF: Are you a musically-inspired writer or do you need silence? If you write to music, care to share any of your fave writing songs/singers/groups?

ARR: Scarily, I often watch TV while I write or I have nothing on at all. I enjoy music a lot, but for some reason I only ever listen when I'm in the car; when I'm home I usually have the TV on (much to my shame; I'm very much a couch potato!). I find that if I'm listening to music on my computer I end up fiddling with it too much and don't get writing done! So most of the time the TV's on as background noise and I don't pay attention, or I watch movies I love and have a similar atmosphere to what I like to write. I'll list those instead:

Brotherhood of the Wolf
Sleepy Hollow
The Illusionist
The Village
The Dark Crystal
Kingdom of Heaven
The 13th Warrior
Stardust
The Last Unicorn

As you can see, these are all historical fantasy, or historical, or fantasy. If I want the TV on just for background noise, I love horror movies and usually watch whatever's available on-demand from Fear.net. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been watching "Pet Semetary," "Bram Stoker’s Dracula," and some true gems in the bad horror movie genre. I use "watch" as a loose term, though, because if it isn't something I've seen before, I won't be able to tell you a plot point other than "stupid people get killed in ridiculous ways."


KF: Is there any writing advice you wish you’d never heard?

ARR: No prologues. We just talked about this on your blog and quite honestly I find it the most puzzling pieces of advice I've ever heard! I've NEVER skipped a prologue in my entire life and I am confounded by people who don't read them. Why wouldn't you read them, it's part of the story!

Two of the best pieces of advice I ever heard came from a recent interviewee of yours, Alexandria LaFaye. (ETA: Interview here.) First is that "writing every day" doesn't give your brain a chance to rest and the subconscious to work. Second best was "don't compare your writing to other people's work. Compare your writing now to your writing a year, two years, a decade ago."


KF: Come clean: Out of all your characters, which one is your favorite? No fair saying all of them, but if you'd rather turn it around and say your least favorite, I suppose I'll forgive you.

ARR: After thinking about this question, I realized I like my animals more than the people! I really enjoyed writing Simle from Bronze Dragon Codex, she was probably the most fun to write. I also really like White Rose, the greyhound in Tapestry Threads, and also Nocte from The Stone Chain (she’s a large cat). White Rose is the only one who doesn't talk, but my critique group has said that they find her more realistic and likable than some of the humans (hm, that's probably not a good thing!).


KF: What was the most fun thing about writing your book, Bronze Dragon Codex?

ARR: Having a chance to play in the Dragonlance world and throw little Easter Eggs in for people who know the books. I loved being able to reference favorite characters and even have a brief scene with one of them. It was also neat to realize that all the books I bought years ago just for fun came in handy. I was told by Stacy Whitman to hang on to my Dragonlance atlas, as it's a hard to find item, and I remembered one wonderful story about how the evil dragons were created by metal dragons tarnishing that I found in a general D&D guide to the Dragonlance world. It was also somewhat fun (and sometimes downright scary) to realize how much I already KNEW about the world and didn't have to look up. I'd read and re-read many of the books since 8th grade, so there was a lot of trivia rattling around in my brain. I think that proves that eventually you do find a use for every useless talent.


KF: You've written in shared worlds and you write your own worlds- is research easier for one over the other?

ARR: I'm going to say shared worlds just because there's always someone else I can ask if I can't find an answer to a question. I had pretty much every book available for research on Bronze Dragon Codex, but I could not find anywhere what color a bronze dragon's eyes were! I asked Stacy Whitman [editor], and she couldn't find it either, so I was able to invent that. You do have to make sure that what you're doing gels with the rest of the world's history and geography, but I didn't find that too difficult; more of a fun challenge.

Creating your own world, though, is much harder. The creating in and of itself isn't that hard, it's making sure there aren't any inconsistencies! My critique group is always finding them. Also, now that I'm working more in historical fantasy there's the question of just how accurate to make things. Tapestry Threads was set in a generic medieval world so that wasn't so bad, but I'm currently battling the setting for the sequel, The White Doe. That may be set in Roanoke colony, or may be set in a fictitious colony similar to Roanoke. Not sure yet.


KF: Can you tell us anything about the book you’re querying now, Tapestry Threads?

ARR: It was my MFA thesis for Hollins and I think is probably my best work to date. I’ve wanted to write something about the unicorn tapestries for years and started writing "The Unicorn Diaries" in 2002. It's evolved a lot since then; no longer in diary form, plus I changed my protagonist from a lady to a commoner who became a lady's maid; mainly because it offered her more freedom of movement both physically and socially.

In the story, Elaine goes to live with her aunt and serve Lady Catherine following Elaine's mother's death. When they journey to Lady Catherine's fiancé's homeland, Elaine falls ill and is healed by a unicorn. She becomes obsessed with finding it again, and later must figure out a way to save it from the hunt that must take place as part of Lady Catherine's marriage ceremony.

I wanted to show unicorns as a darker fantasy force, an object of obsession. Most of the books about unicorns tend to be cute and fuzzy. Kathleen Duey has an amazing series out, but it's for younger readers. I also wanted to delve a bit into the Christian myths surrounding unicorns; I ended up blending some true mythology with some stories of my own invention. I kept the setting generic Medieval because I was looking for general atmosphere. I did a lot of Medieval research though, as well as visiting the Cloisters in New York City (combined that with a trip to see Melissa Joy Adams) to see the Unicorn Tapestries there.


KF: Since I take any and every opportunity to gush about Hollins, I'm asking any Hollins-affiliated interviewees to do the same. So what's your favorite thing about the Hollins Children's Literature program?

ARR: Oh boy, where do I start? I guess it's mainly the people and the general attitude towards each other and their writing. It's a very nurturing program and I love how wonderful the professors are. I also adore the campus and the general student environment. It's been my vacation from 2001 on and I'm at a bit of a loss this year not being there! At least I live close enough to drive down for a visit; just got back, actually, and had a WONDERFUL time!

For me personally, it was SUCH a change from my undergraduate experience: I went from a city campus at University of Pittsburgh majoring in Engineering with mostly male classmates (I also have an undergrad self-designed degree in Writing for Children, but as I only took 1 or 2 classes for that per term, I didn't get to know many of my classmates there) to a rural campus with mostly females. Talk about culture shock!

Hollins opened so many doors for me. Through Hollins, I found out about the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts (www.iafa.org), which is where I first met Stacy Whitman (she wasn't an editor at the time, but we stayed in touch via Livejournal) who became my editor on Bronze Dragon Codex. I've had a chance to work with some amazing scholars such as C.W. Sullivan, Brian Attebery, and J.D. Stahl, as well as some amazing writers like Alexandria LaFaye, Han Nolan, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and Hillary Homzie. They all have contributed so much to my writing and I'm honored to have had the chance to study with them, as well as my fellow students. Like you. :)


KF: Here's a question from Travis M.: "How do you schedule your writing time? Do you have any specific techniques for motivating yourself to write?"

ARR: If I'm involved in a project of my own, I try to get a page a day out. If I'm working on a deadline, I actually make up a spreadsheet schedule with a page or word count and figure out what I need to do on each day to get it done in time. Whenever I'm stuck for words, I do a word or page count and enter it on my spreadsheet. So, can you tell I like math and organization?

I tend to write later in the day. The thought of getting up at 5AM to write (which so many writers seem to do) makes me ill to my stomach. I've always been a night owl and it takes me a while to get going in the morning. If I have an entire day to write, I usually start around 11AM. If it's a work day, I usually quit work (I work from home for my day job) around 5, step away from the computer for half an hour or so, then come back and write for an hour or two in the evening.

I wish I had a specific motivation technique. If I'm stuck, usually the only thing that works is staring at the screen and making myself not get up until I've written at least something. I try to go by Stephen King’s advice "never a day without a line." As long as I have at least one sentence put down, I feel like I've accomplished something. Also, I try to end my writing in the middle of a sentence. That way I am either thinking about what comes next when I return to the writing, or if I'm still stumped, I have a good place to start when I resume.


KF: And two from Megan: When did you start writing seriously?

ARR: I've been writing for a very long time. I think the first story I wrote and finished was a sequel to the movie "The Dark Crystal" which I worked on with my friend Meghan in the second grade. I started The Stone Chain around fifth grade, based on games that I'd play with my friend Amy (it was finally completed in 2005, so it literally was almost 20 years to complete!).

I never thought about writing as an actual profession, though, until I went to the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts in 1992 (between Junior and Senior year of high school). I literally ended up there because I couldn't find the right door; I'd gone to an information session about the different Governor's Schools; went to the one about sciences and then wanted to check out health care but couldn't find the right room. Time for the next session to start was getting close and I noticed the sign for the arts. I was very involved in music, so I thought I'd check it out. I was very surprised to find out that writing was included; I just never thought of it as an art for some reason. My English teacher that year, Lawrence Connolly, was VERY encouraging of my writing, so I was feeling confident. I applied, got in, and had an amazing 6 weeks of writing and discussing literature with like-minded people (sound like another place you know???). I came home from that summer and changed my plans from going to medical school to becoming an engineer (because I thought that would offer more free time) and writer. So I'd say my serious writing and thinking of myself as a writer started summer of 1992.

KF:...and- Where do you find inspiration for your stories? (KF: In particular, I want to know about Tapestry Threads!)

ARR: I mostly find inspiration in history. I love making connections; I love the little click my brain does when something falls into place (such as tying unicorns to the legend of the White Doe in Roanoke). I read and watch a lot of historical fiction and non-fiction. I dabbled in creating an entirely new world in The Stone Chain and I've found that I prefer to find the fantasy in this world, just in the past. I enjoy exploring the "what might have been" aspects and seeing history through different lenses.

I also adore fantasy artwork. The walls of my office are covered with artwork (mostly purchased at Renaissance faires) and my desk has a glass sheet covering a map of the Dragonlance world as well as many postcards of fantasy artwork. I don't often come up with stories directly relating to the art, but I do find it keeps me in the fantasy world (not that I need any help with that usually!).


Thank you, Amie!

Interview with Carrie Jones!

Today's interview comes to your courtesy of the ever-lovable Carrie Jones! Carrie is the author of Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend, Love (and other uses for duct tape), Girl, Hero, and Need. She's also super-cool, super-supportive and just plain grand :)


KF: Are you a musically-inspired writer or do you need silence? If you write to music, care to share any of your fave writing songs/singers/groups?

CJ: Oh, I am difficult.
Sometimes I need silence.
Sometimes I need music.

Sometimes I worry that if I'm playing something really sad (like the Soundtrack from The End of the Affair) or something really happy (like funk) it will fool me into thinking that I am writing something brilliantly sad or funny, but it's really the music that's moving me, not my writing. I learn this when I reread it a couple days later expecting to sob over my laptop and instead I am all, "Crud. This stinks. This stinks so badly. Ackkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!"

So, I get worried about that trap.

However, if I am having a hard time writing and feeling depressed I go over to Pandora Radio and put on a mix inspired by Prince's Sexy M.F. This always gets me writing. It is my new writing trick.


KF: Is there any writing advice you wish you’d never heard?

CJ: Short sentences are good.


KF: Come clean: Out of all your characters, which one is your favorite? No fair saying all of them, but if you’d rather turn it around and say your least favorite, I suppose I’ll forgive you. (Note: Carrie, if this causes panic, you may say all of them. But this exception is only for authors named Carrie Jones!)

CJ: Whine. I want to say them all! You are a harsh mistress of an interviewer.

Okay... Okay...Um...

As of right this moment my favorite character is Muffin the cat in Tips on Having a Gay Ex Boyfriend.

Why?

She's furry.
She doesn't talk back. She only meows.


KF: You often discuss how Grover is your writing cheerleader and how John Wayne is your internal critic/task master. Why do you think it's important for writers to have both?

Yes. I think that writers have tendencies to go to extremes especially when it comes to self-criticism. They become such perfectionists about their writing that:

1. They can't write anything
2. They hate anything they write
3. They loathe themselves for not being J.K. Rowling or Toni Morrison or Stephen King (insert name here) or Sherman Alexie.

It starts to limit us. Healthy criticism is fine, but there's a line into destructive self criticism that can be an easy line for writers to cross. That's why it's important for me to personify my critic as John Wayne. He's tough. He's hard. He doesn't let me slack off, but he's pretty fair.

To balance things out I have Grover, who is the best Muppet ever. He had his tonsils out with me. He loves me unconditionally. He's a little self absorbed, but you can't have everything, right?

Seriously, as authors (and as humans) I think it's important for us to find a balance between confidence and criticism, between optimism and pessimism, between taking it easy and taking it too hard. That's what Grover and John Wayne represent for me.

ETA from KF: By the way, Carrie doesn't know this, but she's totally my Grover-like cheerleader. For realz. I have a quote from her on my binder o' scary agent stuff & everything. Ask Tiffany, she's seen it!:-)


KF: Richard Peck once said, "We have to be all our characters but none of our characters should ever be us." Your books truly seem to take this to heart and you put a lot of yourself into your stories- has this always been your style or is it something you came to gradually?

CJ: That's such a tough question! For me it's hard to not be genuine. Honestly, that's the compliment in life that I get most often and I'm always standing there in the grocery store with a bunch of peaches in my hand and my mouth wide open going, '????' Because what can you say to that? I don't know how not to be genuine as a person, which is probably a horrific drawback and a reason I lost by 500 votes when I ran for office. I just am who I am.

When I write I think that's what happens. I just write. The issues I care about, the people I care about shimmy their way into my stories like slinky tango dancers and I have no idea how to keep them out. So, my characters tend to have random pieces of me in them. Belle has caffeine-induced seizures. Liliana is full of childhood pain and wants so badly to be a hero. Zara is a nutcase (in a good way – a better way than me). I think all my characters are much better than me. Well, except maybe Ian. And Megan. Gosh, I hope I’m not that bad. (ETA from KF: No, you are very much not!)

KF: What's the most fun/interesting/weird thing you've discovered when researching a book?

CJ: It's so naughty that I totally can't write it here. My mom might google me and find it. But it was so bad that I got worried the FBI would be tracking my web use after.


KF: You're organizing the Bar Harbor Book Festival- care to give it a shout-out here?

Yes! A cute local police officer and I have started this book festival in Bar Harbor, Maine. It's September 12-13 and this is its first year. There's going to be about 25 authors there, signing, talking, hanging out, reading, hopefully eating strudel and debating zombies versus unicorns.

The money we raise (if we raise any and it doesn't turn into one big party) is going to support local law enforcement literacy initiatives. Literacy rates are really linked heavily to crime rates. It's kind of a win-win situation: Books. Cute cops. Helping kids. Yay!

Please come! There's more info here

You can email me if you want to donate too: carriejonesbooks at gmail dot com
(ETA: In an attempt to help Carrie thwart spambots, if you want to email her take out spaces and replace at with @ and dot with . )


You've been hard at work on the sequel to Need, Captivate, so this particular question comes from Travis M.: What is your most successful revision technique?

CJ: The problem I've found is that every revision is different. Sometimes I find it super helpful to go back each pass and look for one thing to improve. Sometimes I find it helpful to outline and look for issues. Sometimes I find it helpful to think about structure and beats. Sometimes I find it helpful to cry and clutch onto the hem of my editor's skirt and beg her to put me out of my misery.

I think the only advice I could possible give is to be brave when you revise. Be unafraid. If you have to throw it all away, you have to throw it all away. The goal is to make the best book you can make. Do whatever it takes to do that and DO NOT GIVE UP!


KF: And, from Megan: What/who inspired you to become a writer?

CJ: My high school creative writing teacher, Joseph Sullivan, is the best human in the universe and when I took his class he would write in huge red marker: YOU ARE A WRITER! Or things like: YOU ARE TALENT! Or things like I SEE BESTSELLER LIST.
Since I am the sort of person who responds to massive amount of praise it made me want to be a writer. He made me a much better writer too, but I didn't really try until about three years ago. We live in rural Maine and it takes forever to drive anywhere. My daughter gets incredibly bored in the car so she would demand stories. I started making one up while I drove. It got longer and longer. Eventually, I started writing it down because I thought that it would be easier. Then Em would be like, "More pages! MORE PAGES!" (You can imagine a ghoulish monster waiting in bed for her story if you'd like). So I started writing 10 pages a day just to appease her. Then I realized it was fun. It was actually way more fun than being a newspaper editor, which is what I was.

So I foolishly quit my job, applied to graduate school and somehow got accepted to Vermont College of Fine Arts. A year after I started Andrew Karre bought my first book, TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (Ex) BOYFRIEND.

So, I guess Em and Mr. Sullivan inspired me.


A giant, Muppet-filled Thank You! to Carrie for the interview!

July Reading List

My reading has been a little scattered this past month. I finished up my last packet of reviews for CLCD and have temporarily resigned from reviewing. Or maybe not so temporarily. Either way, I needed to concentrate on my writing and querying so no more official reviewing for now, though I'll continue to do my monthly updates on what I've been reading.

And so... Here's what I read in July!

1)World's End by Mark Chadbourn
Age of Misrule, Book 1
Adult, Ages 14+
I'm apparently in a minority about this book. A number of reviewers on various sites found it thrilling and interesting. I... didn't. The plot is a fantastic premise, with all the old Celtic myths returning to the world, and most of the major plot points are exciting. But it just... took... forever... Every time things began to happen everyone had to *stop* and talk about their beliefs. I'm fairly interested in knowing how the series resolves, but I don't know that I care to read more. Again, a lot of people really seem to like this book; maybe I'm just used to a different kind of story arc now.

2) My Name is Jason. Mine too. by Jason Reynolds; Jason Griffin
YA, Ages 12+
A book of art and poetry isn't exactly what I first reach for when I'm looking for reading material, but this book was fantastic. Two college roommates move to NYC together, one to be a poet, one to be an artist. Sounds like a lot of books/stories/movies, right? Well, this one's real and fabulous. It doesn't sugar-coat their experiences, but it isn't depressing. It's realistic and hopeful and lovely. I highly recommend this book, especially for older teens.

3) Maya Angelou: A Creative and Courageous Voice by Jill Egan
Middle Grade, Ages 8-12
A great introduction to Maya Angelou's life and a perfect book for the late Elementary school or early Middle school student who needs to do a report on a famous person. :)

4) Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Theatre Illuminata, Act I
YA, Ages 12+
Excuse me while I *squee* :) This is such a fantastic, fun book. I came to it cold, trying not to read any spoilers, descriptions, etc. beforehand, and so was momentarily puzzled when I started reading: "Wait, they're *really*... Oh, her room *is*.... OMG, WOW!" was my first reaction. Followed by gleeful page-turning for the rest of the book. This is such a fun, fresh, irresistible confection. I'm already contemplating a re-read. :-) If you haven't gotten yourself a copy yet, why not??? Go, buy, read. It's the most fun you'll have without diving into the cupcake yourself. ;-)

5) Fire by Kristin Cashore
Prequel to 'Graceling'
YA, Ages 14+
First of all, a great, big, giant Thank You!!! to Tiffany Schmidt for lending me her ARC, since this book technically isn't out until October 5. I owe her big time, because I've found one of my new favorite books. I was a little hesitant, since sometimes I don't like companion books as much as the original- and I was very fond of Katsa & Po- so I wasn't sure I wanted to know about this Fire person. Oh, but I was so very wrong. I loved Fire's story on such a different level than Katsa's. And Kristin Cashore is now on my auto-buy list- the day I finished Fire, I pre-ordered my own copy. *love* It's hard to describe the plot aside from "a country on the brink of civil war, with monsters" which, honestly, doesn't much appeal to me when stated that way, but she's fantastic. I think Graceling fans will love this, and that even those who weren't enamored with the Katsa will fall in love with Fire (and not just because she's a monster).

Books read this month: 5
Books read this year: 46

Anyone else read any of these? Thoughts? Opinions?

Interview with Karen Mahoney!

In her varied career Karen Mahoney has been a professional Tarot reader, a college counsellor, a dating agency consultant and a bookseller. Ever since she was six years old what she really wanted to be was Wonder Woman, but has instead settled for being a writer which she thinks is the most fun you can have without bulletproof bracelets.

Her YA contemporary fantasy, THE IRON WITCH (Book 1 of The Ironbridge Chronicles), is currently on submission in the US. Among other work she has recently completed a companion novel, BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS, which is set in the same world but completely stands alone.

You can visit Karen online at her regularly updated blog or on twitter. She is also a proud member of the Deadline Dames

And now, on to the interview!

KF: Are you a musically-inspired writer or do you need silence? If you write to music, care to share any of your fave writing songs/singers/groups?

KM: At the risk of sounding very boring, I don't usually listen to music when I write. I can't seem to get into my writing and tend to work better in silence. I think I need to be able to 'hear' the characters' voices, and I find it easier to lose myself in the atmosphere of the story if I don't have too much outside disturbance. Having said that, I can work okay in cafes so the general background noises you get there don't seem to bother me too much… (I never said I was consistent! *g*) And of course, there are always exceptions. I remember once writing a particularly violent fight scene when I was sitting in the same room as a friend who was watching the film PAN'S LABYRINTH. There was an intense blast of music from the movie's soundtrack and, although I didn't look up at the screen, for some reason in that moment it helped me get into what I was writing. I think it helped that the fight took place in a nightclub, and in that case the music must've helped!


KF: Is there any writing advice you wish you'd never heard?

KM: Haha… Good question! I don't know if this qualifies as advice, but I'm lucky enough to be friends with my favourite author – Jonathan Carroll. Once, when I was complaining to him in an email about how long the submissions process takes, and how slow things are in publishing right now, he responded with (and I quote): "Get used to it, pal." I wish I hadn't heard that, but at the same time I probably needed to hear it. ;)


KF: Come clean: Out of all your characters, which one is your favorite? No fair saying all of them, but if you'd rather turn it around and say your least favorite, I suppose I'll forgive you.

KM: Well, I am fond of several of my characters, but I think I'll have to say Moth (from my story in The Eternal Kiss). Not just saying that because it's current - I really do have a soft spot for her, ever since she turned up in my head stomping around in her steel toe-capped boots and grinning madly at me. Makes me smile just thinking about it.


KF: You have a short story in The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood & Desire, (available now- go buy it!) along with Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Libba Bray, Sarah Rees Brennan and Kelley Armstrong, just to name a few! Can you tell us a little about your story and how it feels to be in such a cool anthology?

KM: I am seriously telling you, I still cannot believe I'm in that anthology! I almost died when the editor – Trisha Telep – told me that Holly Black had agreed to be in it… Holly is one of my favourite writers and, as I expected, her story in the book is AMAZING. My own story is called 'Falling to Ash' and is about an 18-year-old vampire called Moth. She was Turned into a vamp over a decade ago, so she's really a 28-year-old woman stuck in the body of a teenager. I love thinking about all the questions and issues that raises: imagine being trapped as a teenager for eternity… How would you change and grow? Would you develop as a regular human being should do, or would you always be just a little immature? (Moth can be quite immature and impetuous, but at the same time the wisdom of her years shows through when she needs it.) How would it feel to see 'real' teenagers enjoying life, while you just continue on the way you've always been? Imagine how it would affect your family and friends. What would you tell them? Would you tell them? And what if they don't believe you? All these things I've explored with Moth, and packing it into 32 pages wasn't easy!

The thing with Moth is that she actually started out as a supporting character in my YA manuscript THE IRON WITCH, which is currently on submission with my fabulous agent. So she's in that book, but she has such a big personality and so much potential I knew she would grow into her own stories. When I was invited to participate in the anthology I saw this as the ideal opportunity to let Moth have the limelight. And then I loved writing her so much, I have since written the first draft of a novel all about her which I'm now revising. That girl won't leave me alone! :)


KF: You write both YA and Adult. What's the hardest thing about going back and forth between the two, if any? What's your favorite thing about writing YA? What's your favorite thing about writing Adult?

KM: Okay, well this is a tough question for me as I keep trying to write adult stuff, but always end up going back to YA. My favourite thing about YA is the opportunity to delve into a time of life that is so full of possibilities. Emotions run high, and I love to write scenes with lots of emotional resonance (and a good sprinkling of angst!). However, my next project is very definitely an adult book, and I like that it will allow me a bit more scope to delve into subplots. I'll have more room to expand on themes and ideas (like, literally another 30,000+), and the story I want to tell is particularly dark. Not that YA fiction can't be dark – obviously it can be and often is, and a lot of the books I love are dark. But with an adult book I won't have to be quite so aware of things like language and sexual content, violence, etc. Um…I'm making myself sound kinda psychotic, but I'm honestly not! ;) I'm just saying that there are certain lines you have to be careful of crossing with YA, just in terms of content, especially as you don't know when a 12-year-old might be picking up your book and not all parents of 12-year-olds would be happy to have their children read adult urban fantasy.


KF: Can you share anything with us about your current WIP?

KM: As I said earlier, I'm currently revising Moth's novel (BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS) with a view to sending it out on submission later this year. It's set six months after 'Falling to Ash', and we see what happens when Moth returns to Ironbridge for good. She gets involved with the thriving Otherkin subculture in the city, and has to investigate a series of teenage deaths that threaten to uncover the presence of the real vampires!


KF: This question comes from Travis M.: How do you schedule your writing time? Also, do you have any specific techniques for motivating yourself to write?

KM: In terms of schedule, I have a day job that takes up four days per week. On the three days I have off, I make sure to spend at least two of those writing – usually all day (with breaks for food and other things!) – and I also do some writing in the evenings after work. I admit that I'm not the best when it comes to time management, though, and tend to work better with longer blocks of time. I can throw myself into an intense period of work for a few weeks or months, and am then happy to take some time off in between projects. I love to read, so I always make time for that even if it's just while I'm commuting. I am also active online and find it very difficult to switch off from things like LJ and Twitter…

I think the best motivation for writing is to really, really love it. If you love what you do then, even when it is really tough (which it very often is), then you will still sit down to write. Telling stories is something that you must need to do otherwise it is just too difficult, I think. If you're writing with publication in mind – which is fine, as long as you really love to tell stories - that can be another motivating force. Just reading about all the publishing deals that happen every week helps me to say: "I want that too!" It makes me work harder than ever.


KF: This question is from Megan: What/who inspired you to become a writer?

KM: I know everyone says this, but I've wanted to write since I was a child. When I was twelve years old I was at school and we were all asked what we wanted to be when we "grew up'. When it came to my turn I replied, "A writer." My teacher said: "You mean, a journalist?" And I replied: "No, I mean writing books." And the whole class laughed, including the teacher. I think ever since then I've had a bit of an "I'll show them!" attitude, although there have been long periods of time in my life when I didn't write. In terms of who inspires me to write, too many to name! But, in terms of contemporary stuff, Jonathan Carroll, Neil Gaiman, Melissa Marr, Holly Black and Vicki Pettersson are a good starting point.


KF: And this question came from Kitty: Where do you find the names for your characters?

KM: Everywhere! Seriously, I'm always on the lookout for good character names and have lists of them in my notebook. One of the best places is coffee shops – the servers in the ones I go to all have to wear name tags, and because they come to London from all over the world, I have a great stock of multicultural names. I usually ask people where their names come from and then do some research on a particular name if I really like it. I also take note of names on signs, shop names, other character in books that I might be able to 'mix and match', as well as using great websites like: http://www.behindthename.com/


Thanks very much for having me here, Kathleen! :)

And a big thanks to you for agreeing to be interviewed!

Interview with A. LaFaye!

In the midst of the Hollins Children's Literature summer semester, not only has Hollins professor Alexandria LaFaye paused in the midst of her teaching to answer some questions for me, but she's also found the time to do this with a brand new baby!

A. LaFaye is the author Worth (winner of the Scott O'Dell award for Historical Fiction), The Year of the Sawdust Man, the recently released Water Steps and many more titles. She's also a fantastic person & loves helping her students make their books the best they can possibly be!


KF: Are you a musically-inspired writer or do you need silence? If you write to music, care to share any of your fave writing songs/singers/groups?

AL: I use music about half the time and it’s always thematic—with Worth, I used a prairie cd complete with a thunder storm and cows, for instance.


KF: Is there any writing advice you wish you’d never heard?

AL: Anything that begins with the premise—"to be a real writer you …." I hate that line—mostly because it's a culturally restrictive misconception about being a writer 99% of the time. And I'm sure it also has to do with the fact that it usually excluded me with whatever came next because I didn't do it. I.e. I don't write every day like most writers advise that "real writers" do.


KF: Come clean: Out of all your characters, which one is your favorite? No fair saying all of them, but if you’d rather turn it around and say your least favorite, I suppose I’ll forgive you.

AL: My least favorite main character would have to be Raleia Pendle (ETA: From Strawberry Hill) because she is narrow minded and selfish in a world with a myriad of opportunities for her to expand herself. That changes over the course of the novel, but the girl she is at the beginning is quite the brat, in my opinion. Ironically, my Aunt Teresa is convinced she's based on me. Yikes. Actually, the character in that book that is based on me, is Raleia's little brother Ticton.


KF: How did you start writing historical fiction? What draws you to particular times & their stories?

AL: I love history, I have an undergraduate degree in history, and I’m also trying to get people to see the every day people of history and understand that 98% of history is about understand how everyday people live—so writing historical fiction just seemed like a natural extension of all of that. I'm always looking for the untold tale—the plantation owners who decided to follow through with the "40 Acre and a Mule" idea after the Civil War (Stella Stands Alone) or the kids whose lives where changed by the arrival of the orphans on the Orphan Train vs. the orphan train riders themselves (Worth).


KF: Writing historical fiction and fantasy are often compared as similar kinds of writing, where you have to place the reader in a totally different world and help them find their way. But what do you think is the biggest difference when writing historical vs. fantasy? Do you find one trickier than the other?

AL: They both require carrying "the fourth glass" as it were— I take this image from a restaurant in Mankato, MN where the waitresses would have balance four glasses in one hand – the first three are setting, character, and plot and the fourth glass is adding the "other worldly" aspect of history or fantasy. History is based on an actual world that existed and must be researched until you internalize the facts and zeitgeist where as fantasy is a world you create and have to make vicarious for your readers. I would say fantasy is therefore "trickier" because it's more about sharing an internal world than a past world.


KF: You seem to know a lot of (what many people would call) random facts! How much of your vast store of knowledge comes from research for your books or, conversely, how much does information you encounter inform what you work on? This might be a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg question, so any examples are welcome!

AL: I collect them all over – TV, museums, reading, conversations with folks, newspapers, magazines, etc. I would say my knowledge comes from research for books, teaching, and studying – I learned a lot of taking courses from a broad range of subjects in school. I would have to say that my random facts don't inspire a lot of my books until they start to gather momentum by connecting with other facts.

Take WATER STEPS as an example. That started because a student of mine at SUNY Plattsburgh wrote a picture book about Champy— Nessie’s (as in Loch Ness) immigrant cousin in Lake Champlain and I thought – fantasy is best served with 50% realism and 50% fantasy—or even more on the realism side if you’re doing reality based fantasy, so I started searching for a scenario where that would fit and came up with the idea of Silkies in the lake and my knowledge of them came from random collection of facts from references to Molly Hunter novels and THE SECRET OF ROAN INNISH, plus Irish folklore research in response to the film HARVEY. After seeing that, I had to learn more about Pookah's and was woefully disappointed to find out that they're evil and homicidal. Yikes.

Couple all that with my background in psychology which is drawn from a fascination that goes all the way back to high school and carries through a false start in psychology in college to currently research into the field and you have Kyna coping with a crippling fear of water. Probably more info than you want to know, but then again, you were asking for about my pedantic tendencies now weren’t you?


KF: Since this is my blog and I love Hollins, I'm going to take any chance to talk it up- including asking you to! What’s your favorite part about the Children's Literature program at Hollins University, from either a student perspective or a teaching one?

AL: COMMUNITY— Hollins is about being with people who understand and love the field from a critical and creative perspective and they love being with folks who share that love and it's evident in every aspect of the program, the classes, the public events, the program parties. I loved it as a student and continue to enjoy it as a faculty member.


KF: Knowing how much of a help you are when it comes to critique/revision, here’s a question from Travis M.: What is your most successful revision technique?

AL: Recursive Revision—revise as you write—hit a roadblock in a chapter, go back to the beginning of that chapter or the chapter before it—reread—revise-and re-immerse yourself in your fictional world. This also works when returning to a piece after a hiatus of any length. Reread-revise-re-immerse each time you return to a piece and you’ll have a much more polished and homogenous manuscript when you’re done.

Oh, and it looks like I’m done. Thanks for the great questions. I hope my answers have been helpful.


KF: Thank you, for taking the time to do this & providing such fascinating answers!

Interview with Stephanie Burgis!

And now for another author interview! I hope you enjoy this discussion with Stephanie Burgis, author of the upcoming Regency fantasy trilogy, The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson starting with A Most Improper Magick.




KF: Are you a musically-inspired writer or do you need silence? If you write to music, care to share any of your fave writing songs/singers/groups?

SB: I don’t need music, but I definitely prefer it, and I make a different playlist for every novel and short story. My first novel, A Most Improper Magick, has a definite theme song: "Stand and Deliver!" by Adam & the Ants. For me, it totally captures the sense of high-spirited fun (and highwaymen!) that I wanted in my novel.


KF: Is there any writing advice you wish you’d never heard?

SB: "Real writers outline". Ouch ouch ouch! I REALLY wish I’d never heard that one. I know that outlining works for a lot of great writers, but for me, it completely kills the spark of inspiration I need to write a book or story. In the old days, I used to ruin a lot of potential pieces that way. Nowadays, whenever I get stuck, I sit down and freewrite about the story until I figure out what should happen next (or, more generally, where the characters need to go by the end of the story to complete their personal arcs), but I never, ever try to sit down and map out exactly what happens from points A to Z, and there are never any Roman numerals involved. ;p


KF: Come clean: Out of all your characters, which one is your favorite? No fair saying all of them, but if you’d rather turn it around and say your least favorite, I suppose I’ll forgive you.

SB: My absolute favorite character is Kat Stephenson, the heroine of my trilogy (The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson). She’s recklessly brave, 100% loyal to the people she loves, and she dares to say all the things I wish I could let myself say in real life!


KF: Your first book, A Most Improper Magick will be out in 2010. Can you tell us a little bit about it, or about the series in general?

SB: A Most Improper Magick is the first book in The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson. Here’s how I described it in my original query letter:

Her mother was a scandalous witch, her brother has gambled the whole family into debt, and her Step-Mama is determined to sell her oldest sister into a positively Gothic marriage to pay it off--so what can twelve-year-old Kat Stephenson do but take matters directly into her own hands? If only her older sisters hadn’t thwarted her plan to run away to London dressed as a boy and earn a fortune! When Kat makes a midnight foray into her mother’s cabinet of secrets, though, she finds out something she never expected. Her mother wasn’t just a witch, she was a Guardian, a member of a secret Order with staggering magical powers--and Kat is her heir.

Of course, there’s no chance of Kat choosing to join the Order that forbade her parents’ marriage...but Mama’s magical mirror doesn’t seem to understand that. It keeps following her wherever she goes, even when the family travels to Grantham Abbey to meet the sinister Sir Neville, her oldest sister’s chosen fiancé. And what with Sir Neville showing a dangerous interest in Kat’s untapped powers, her mother’s old tutor insisting that she take up her mother’s position as a Guardian, and her sister Angeline refusing to listen to her about anything, as usual...well, it’s a good thing Kat kept her boy’s clothing, because she may well have to use it--especially if the rumors of a highwayman are true.

ETA: Thanks so much for this, Stephanie! Not only is it a great introduction to the book, I'm sure some currently-querying writers are grateful for the example! (Including myself!)

KF: This is one author-specific question I also asked Tiffany Trent: You write a lot of historically-based fantasy- how do you balance the need to have relate-able characters with social constraints of any particular time period that we might not really understand now?

SB: It really is a balancing act. One of the things I always try to do is read a bunch of letters and diaries from the time period, as well as biographies of real people who lived back then, to try to capture the voice of the period and understand the social rules. Then I try to convey those social rules as a natural part of my story, so that readers can understand, for instance, why it would be so outrageous for a twelve-year-old girl to wear boy’s clothing. (Nowadays, of course, girls wear jeans and T-shirts just like boys, so what’s the big deal?) But it can’t ever lapse into info-dumping, because my main goal, trumping everything else, is always to tell a great story!


KF: Are you a plotter, a pantser, or somewhere in between? Note: I hadn't expected the answer to this to be part of your "evil writing advice" answer!

A definite pantser! :) (See above.)


KF: A question from Travis M.: How do you schedule your writing time?

SB: This has become a lot more complicated since I had a baby! ;) In the old days, I used to write first thing after breakfast, while I was still drinking my morning coffee. That’s my natural time of day, when I most easily think creatively. Nowadays, though, I have to cram my writing into whatever free time I can steal out of the day, whether that’s after breakfast, after lunch, or for 20 minutes in the middle of the night! I’ve also had to dispense with all the little rituals I used to have to ease myself into the right frame of mind. (For instance, when I was writing A Most Improper Magick, I would always read a few of Jane Austen’s letters before I got started every day.) I don’t have time anymore to do anything but fling myself into the novel straight away, whenever I get any time to myself...and luckily, that’s working out pretty well so far. I enjoyed those old writing rituals, but it turns out they aren’t nearly as necessary as I used to think.


KF: A question from Kitty: Where do you find the names for your characters?

Kat was always Kat, from the first moment I "heard" her speaking the first paragraph of the novel in my head. (I was in the middle of chopping onions at the time, but I dropped them to run and grab a notebook to write the paragraph down!) At one point, I wondered whether I should change her name, because there had been a few other recent novels whose heroines were also called Kat, and I was worried that it might be too common, but I just couldn’t do it. Her name is too much a part of her identity. With other characters, the names have just come from daydreaming and brainstorming until I end up with something that feels subjectively right.


KF: And a question from Megan: Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

SB: The best way to find inspiration, for me, is by reading historical nonfiction, especially good biographies, or by watching good historical documentaries made for television. For instance, my story "The Five Days of Justice Merriwell", which is set in an alternate-history, fantasy version of the English Civil War, was inspired by watching the two episodes about Oliver Cromwell and the Civil War in Simon Schama’s "A History of Britain" documentary. Finding out about all the incredible things that real people have done - some of them SO much crazier and more unlikely than anything we’d ever put into fiction! - is a great way to start thinking about what my fictional characters might do in similar situations or settings, and what kinds of complicating relationships they could have.



Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions, Stephanie! Now, everyone go pre-order A Most Improper Magick!

Character Interview Poll

Back when I was trying to figure out what to do with this blog over the summer, a number of people expressed interest in not only real-person interviews, but character interviews. This also interested me, because I think I've exhausted my brain trying to come up with questions to get to know my characters better.

So, characters available for interrogation include pretty much anyone* in the Arion books or Wings & Fangs. Please tell me what you want to know, and who you want to hear from. Questions can range from "What's your favorite color" to "What's your favorite song?" to "How did you feel when..." but please note if I've sent you partial/full MS of anything, don't ask anything too spoiler-y; I might answer that kind of question in a private email, but probably not on the blog. Sorry.

So pretty, pretty please leave questions & who they're for in the comments. If I don't get any questions, I probably won't bother with the character interviews, so if you're interested at all, gimme something to work with! ;-)



*If I don't know enough about the character, I'll say so, but I doubt you'll be asking questions of Maid #2 or Random Clerk, so feel free to ask anybody.

Interview with Tiffany Trent!

Today is my first interview on this blog, and I'm very excited to say it is with the fabulous Tiffany Trent!

Tiffany is the author of the Hallowmere series, and currently has a few other projects in the works! She's graciously come out of her current Internet Hiatus to answer some questions for me. Enjoy!


KF: Are you a musically-inspired writer or do you need silence? If you write to music, care to share any of your fave writing songs/singers/groups?

TT: VERY musically oriented. I practically need music to write. It just sets the perfect mood. I love soundtracks especially because they usually have a dramatic arc that helps with the action of the stories. But I do also have a few bands I'm partial to—early Duran Duran is practically on repeat including rarer tracks like "Secret Oktober," "The Seventh Stranger," and "Night Boat." I also love Snow Patrol—"Run," "Chasing Cars," and "Set the Fire to the Third Bar." Mute Math is my most newfound love—"Noticed" and "Control" are among faves there. And then there are old standbys like Sia, Massive Attack, Fiona Apple, Rachael Yamagata, and Imogen Heap. I could go on, but probably should stop now, eh?


KF: Is there any writing advice you wish you’d never heard?

TT: I was strongly dissuaded from writing genre early on because it was creepy, fantastic, and…*genre*. I wish I'd never listened to that, though in truth working in literary nonfiction circles for a while probably did strengthen many aspects of my fiction.


KF:Come clean: Out of all your characters, which one is your favorite? No fair saying all of them, but if you’d rather turn it around and say your least favorite, I suppose I'll forgive you.

TT: My favorite character is one very few people have met, so I'll just talk about published characters. I admit that probably my favorite character thus far is Euan, the Fey Prince in Hallowmere. I still kind of want to write a book from his PoV. ETA KF: Ha! Yes! *want*


KF: You write a lot of historically-based fantasy- how do you balance the need to have relate-able characters with social constraints of any particular time period that we might not really understand now?

TT: That's really, really hard. I'm a bit of a stickler for historical accuracy. I worried endlessly over whether I'd gotten all those details right with Hallowmere, thinking everyone would call me on them and never dreaming that people would take issue with the books because I was being *too* accurate. I found myself often having to defend the main character's choices and actions because she really was acting as a sheltered girl of the 1860s would have. Some people saw her as weak because she didn't forge straight ahead and take control, but I knew for a fact that a girl of her situation would not have been equipped to take charge like that. She had to learn how, and that was meant to be a big part of her arc throughout the books.


KF: I know you have a martial arts background- do you think you'll ever write any books based around those experiences?

TT: I already have, actually, with my first (unpublished) novel. I'd like to someday return to those books and re-tool them for YA. They're adult right now and fraught with problems, but I think a YA version would be really fun. Also, I suspect that my next contemporary novel will feature a teen martial artist. And of course I can't help wishing I could get some martial arts novels in graphic novel form, as homage to my wuxia novel predecessors.


KF: Can you tell us anything about what you're working on now? According to your Twitter, your word count keeps going up, up, up!

TT: I'm working on a contemporary paranormal that I’m calling MARKED, for now, though I'd guess that title will change. Through a series of chance encounters with a hell-bent Muse, a young violinist could be the salvation or destruction of the world's greatest band. This is one of those novels that you just write for the love, because it won't stop beating at your backbrain. When this one is out my system, I will go back to my book about Darwin and the secret history of his voyage on the Beagle.

KF: You've done a lot of revision lately, so this question comes from Travis M.: What is your most successful revision technique?

TT: As I'm writing, I realize and accept that I'm most likely leaving holes. Of late, I've had more success getting through the first draft and on to revision if I just give myself permission to note what needs to happen in a subsequent draft and move forward. This may make for a real mess later, but it keeps me moving. Just getting to the revision seems to be the big hurdle for me. Once I'm there, I'm fine. So giving myself permission to wait until revision to work out a kink is a very good way to tilt me toward the process.


KF: And, because I've wondered this about some of your characters, this question from Kitty: Where do you find the names for your characters?

TT: Etymology. If you want to see what my characters are going to do, look up what their names mean. Corrine, for example, means "Light Bearer." One of the names I chose for Euan actually means "Son of the Dark Fairy." I don't do this with all of them, but the majority of them I do. And sometimes the name just comes to me. Lately, all names seem to be courtesy of the Letter V—Vespa from my most recent novel and Velvet in the current novel. I'm hoping to explore more of the alphabet soon. :-)



Thanks for the great answers, Tiffany!

June Reading List

Other than the first and last books, this month was, apparently, Vampire Month!

1) Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery
The Emily Trilogy, Book 1
Middle Grade, 10+
This is one of my forever-favorite books. I was a little afraid to re-read it, since I hadn't since beginning at Hollins, but nope, it held up, and I realized I'd even forgotten a few of the minor subplots. I never read Anne until I was in college, thinking it somehow a betrayal of Emily, since everyone always seemed to like Anne better- but not me. I still love Emily best. And, of course, Teddy Kent.

2) & 3) The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L. J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries, Books 1 & 2
YA, 12+
I won this volume a while back from Kazdreamer, and when I received the 5th book to review, I figured it was the perfect excuse time to read the series. I enjoyed these, but feel like I was missing out, since I didn't read them when back when (granted, they came out when I was still reading Boxcar Children). I know if I'd found them when I was 13 I'd have loved them. Either way, I thought they were lots of fun, though at first I was ambivalent about Elena. I did grow to like her. She definitely had a lot more... gumption... than certain other heroines of vampire romances. And I found myself liking that about her later on, but at first I could not understand why I wanted the girl who always got what she wanted to get what she wanted. *shrug* Whatever. So I dove right into the next volume...

4) and 5) The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion by L. J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries, Books 3 & 4
YA, 12+
I enjoyed this one, too, though the plot arc from books 1 through 3 made much more sense to me than the plot of the fourth book. I think it was originally a trilogy that was added on to, but someone correct me if I'm wrong there. Anyway, up until the very end of the fourth one, which made absolutely no sense and had no explanation, I was still thinking they moved along decently well & were pretty fun, light reads. So I headed into book 5 with a certain set of expectations...

6) The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall by L. J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries, Book 5 also The Vampire Diaries: The Return, Book 1 (apparently this is a 'new trilogy' but the same characters?)
YA, 12+
And then I got to this... well, there's no real nice way to say it. I just thought it was a mess. Supposedly set a week after the end of Dark Reunion, where the "Class of '92" graduates, suddenly everyone had a cell phone, shopped online, and had a lot of technical capabilities. And none of the characters acted like they had before- any development they'd had from the end of the previous book was gone. And, apparently, vampires cannot have sex, though all the blood-sharing scenes were overtly sexual (I can give examples if asked). And for me, the biggest disappointment was that it was just kind-of dull. The characters run around for 500-some pages doing next-to-nothing, but discussing it over and over and over. *sigh* I really, really wanted to like it! But I just couldn't. I have seen some reviewers who loved it, so maybe it was just me... but I couldn't get into it.

7) Operation Storm City by Joshua Mowll
The Guild Trilogy, Book 3
MG, 10+
This one was fun. I wish I'd read the other two first, because a number of references weren't fully explained (which I think is fine, especially in the concluding book in an on-going trilogy), but all-in-all, this was an exciting adventure, set in India and China in, I believe, 1920 or so, and features a brother and sister pair on a mission to find and rescue their parents, a female straight-talking pilot, a maharajah and his butler, a tiger and a host of other interesting characters. While I recommend reading the earlier books in the series first, this is definitely one I'll be seeking out to read the first two. Also, the books are formatted kind-of like a textbook in that there are charts and pictures and explanations of side-characters throughout- great for kids who like more to their books than just pages of endless words (like my hubby, who flipped through all the technical drawings!)

Books read this month: 7
Books read this year: 41


Anyone read any of these? I welcome discussion, especially of The Vampire Diaries books! Maybe someone can talk me into liking Nightfall?

Adventures in Querying...

"All right, I'm ready!" ~ Anastasia
in the song "Learn to Do It" from Anastasia

Yesterday I had the oh-so-fun moment of "Oh crap, how do I calculate my word count? And format my manuscript? And... and... and...?"

So I went to Google and started searching. Word count came in pretty simply with only two methods dominating the search: Whatever Word tells you OR 250 x # of pages (either way rounding to nearest 1000). Right now I'm going with Word, but I might switch if I'm told to do otherwise (until then, I almost feel like I'd be lying!). They're somewhat close, but not exactly the same.

Formatting, however, was so much more fun to research because everyone seems to have a different formatting pet peeve that someone else says is how you're supposed to do it. Ah, how exciting. Underline vs. italicize? # vs * * * vs white space for breaks? Bold anything ever? How to indent paragraphs? Where to put the word count? How much white space starts a chapter? *twitch*

Now, before any of you swoop in with "Oh, no, calm down! It's okay!" and other such comments... I'm not freaking out (at least, about that stuff!). Actually, some sick part of me finds all these contradictions highly amusing.

After reading about a zillion "articles" and random blog posts on every topic, I think I've got the basics. And I know when something doesn't look professional. So I'm not particularly worried on those fronts. I'd love to do everything "right" the first time, but that doesn't necessarily look possible. So I'm going to do the best I can, using as much information as I can find.

Next up, the query letters! I've got three at the point where I'm going to have to call them done or drive myself crazy rearranging commas. I'm planning on always having five out at a time (we'll see how that goes...), so that means two more!

Except... I'm having some trouble "personalizing" some of the queries. I really want to show people how I have done my research (seriously, chime in if you've seen my querying research binder- my thesis adviser said it could be a book itself!), and that I'm not just querying them because they're an agent. I'm querying people who I genuinely feel I would work with well. Who rep what I write. Who seem to have similar tastes to my own. I want an agent, yes, but not just so I can say I have one- I want a professional, working relationship with someone who can sell my book.

Alas, my Google skills are somewhat failing me. There are a few people who I can't find quite enough information on for me to feel like I'm truly personalizing the letters. This frustrates me. In fact, a few of them I'm thinking of switching who I'm querying in their agencies because of this*.

Well, I've been at this research & query-writing for about four or five hours now, so I think I'm going to take a reading break.

Anyone want to chime in with their current or past querying adventures? No names, no bashing of anyone, please. I'm trying to keep this somewhat light and I'm not locking this post. (If you have anything you'd like to share privately, you can email me at kathleenfoucart at gmail dot com)


*This is only in agencies where I'm so torn btw. 2 or 3 agents that it was sort-of arbitrary which one I decided to go with. Why are so many fantastic agents in the same agencies? So hard to choose!

Yikes, it's been a while!

I just realized I never posted the winner of the contest over here... So sorry about that! The winner was LJ User "Hinode" and her books are on the way!


x-posted from my LJ
Hey all, I'm still alive, just trying to get a lot of random bits of life back in order. Nothing terrible going on, just still playing catch-up from last month- and it's almost July! Ugh!

Anyway, I'm really only popping in to promo a contest I meant to mention (and, uh, enter) when she first posted it... Tiffany Trent is having a "Favorite Strong Female Character" contest on her blog (enter here), and you could win a hardback omnibus edition of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness! So head on over and join in the discussion about your fave strong females. She's picking on July 1, so hurry!

I decided to go with Katsa from Graceling (Tiffany S. I swear I will get to Fire ASAP!), but as I was thinking about it, I realized a lot of my favorite strong women characters actually come from TV, not books- like Sarah from "Chuck" or Fiona from "Burn Notice." I'm pondering pondering over this in a blog post soon, but even if that isn't the topic, I promise there will be more posts coming up! I just need to get a few of these "to-dos" off my plate!

Last Day for Contest Entries!

Today's the last day to enter my Readerly/Writerly Influences Contest. The winner will be chosen tomorrow by The Dane. Still not sure how, exactly, but I'm thinking note cards and a large enough basket for her to get her nose in...

Also, still looking for questions for interviewees. The questions will be going out by the end of this week. I got a few general ones via facebook, but if you want to ask anyone anything specific, now's the time to get your question in!

Contests, Discussions and Questions!

So this week I'm finally starting to feel better, but instead of having time to catch up, I've been swamped planning a friend's bridal shower for this Saturday, and doing a ton of agent research. And I just realized I, uh, have no synopsis to send to said agents. Better get on that...

Anyway, I've got a bunch of things I wanted to mention, so here goes:

- My "Readerly/Writerly Influences" contest is still going on here until midnight (Eastern time) June 15, so get your entries in! Two free books to the winner.

- The wonderful Jen has posted a very interesting question for adult readers of YA . What do you think makes a good book?

- I've got a great list of people lined up to interview this summer! But as I was writing out my interview questions, I realized I was only asking things I was curious about, and well, I'm hoping more people than just me will read the answers! So what do you want to know about these fantastic people? Here's a list of those that have thus far agreed to the interviews:
Tiffany Trent,
author of the Hallowmere series beginning with In the Serpent's Coils
Karen Mahoney,
whose first published short story will be out this summer in The Eternal Kiss
Emily Adamo,
creator of the webcomic "Fun in Jammies"
Sarah Prineas,
author of The Magic Thief and The Magic Thief: Lost
Carrie Jones,
author of Need, Girl, Hero, Tips on Having a Gay (ex)Boyfriend and Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape)
Amie Rose Rotruck,
aka R. D. Henham, author of Bronze Dragon Codex
Hillary Homzie,
author of the Alien Clones series and the upcoming Things Are Gonna Get Ugly
A. LaFaye,
winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical fiction for Worth, her newest novel Water Steps is out now!
Stephanie Burgis,
author of the upcoming YA Regency fantasy trilogy The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, beginning with Book One: An Improper Magic (2010)


So if you have any questions for those listed above, please leave them in the comments! I might not get all of them in the interviews, but I will certainly do my best. (I'm going to try and ask a few more people, but getting sick kinda threw off my groove, so if I get anyone else, there will be a similar post for questions for them.)

I think that's all for now... Don't forget to enter, discuss and question! :)

Musings on Subconscious Writing

"An old racetrack joke reminds you that your program contains all the winners' names. I stare at my typewriter keys with the same thought." ~ Mignon McLaughlin

I've had a few odd experiences with my writing lately, and I've started calling it my "subconscious writing work" for lack of a better term.

One thing I've been doing a lot of lately is side-story (as my friend Tony calls it). I've been writing pieces of Arion from other characters' points of view or scenes that are completely off-camera. I've done this for a while, and while it's fun for me, I've always thought it was... not a waste of time, but not always the best use of my time. Why, exactly, am I playing with a scene from Isis's point of view when it will never be in the book?

The other day I realized exactly why I wrote a particular scene between Isis & Josephine, and it wasn't what I thought. I thought I was writing it to explain to myself what Josephine knew & didn't know about the relationship between Arion & Isis. I didn't realize it actually told me something very important about Isis, something I need to know to write Mordagrin, until a few days later when I re-read it and noticed her reactions.

Another side-story scene I wrote is something that had basically been there from the beginning, but 1) I hadn't wanted to go there and 2) Mordecai wouldn't exactly let me until recently. I think part of it had to do with some comments I got back from Tiffany Schmidt and Melissa Joy Adams about Arion's emotional life, and I knew there was an "answer," I just hadn't figured it out yet. Then I realized what Mordecai had actually done in that library and, well, it just came together. I think I actually smacked myself in the forehead over that one...

But it isn't even just this kind of thing that's been fascinating me lately. My playlists are becoming more and more where I'm finding character motivations. Not so much for Arion, because that was really the first one I made and I'd chosen most of the songs for very specific purposes. But when I listen to the songs on the Mordagrin and Wings & Fangs: Bewitched playlists, where often I just throw songs on a whim, sometimes I get a little freaked out by how well they fit before I've even written the scene.

For example, I started adding songs like "I Just Can't Live a Lie" by Carrie Underwood, "Driftin' Away" by Garth Brooks (Chris Gaines CD) and "Cry" by Kelly Clarkson to Mordagrin before I had any idea about the emotional conflicts I was going to find in certain relationships. And then there's songs in the Wings & Fangs: Bewitched list that have let me actually get to know David, who has to be one of the quietest MCs I've ever had. And these are songs that have been on this list over a year, ones that I thought I added more in relation to D than David, but now David's owning them.

I've posted this quote before, but I wanted to throw it up again, cause it's part of where I got my terminology and oh-so-fitting:
"...I discovered that if I trusted my subconscious, or imagination, whatever you want to call it, and if I made the characters as real and honest as I could, then no matter how complex the pattern being woven, my subconscious would find ways to tie it together -- often doing things far more complicated and sophisticated than I could with brute conscious effort. I would have ideas for 'nodes', as I think of them -- story or character details that have lots of potential connections to other such nodes -- and even though I didn't quite understand, I would plunk them in. Two hundred pages later, everything would back-fit, and I'd say, "Ah, that's why I wrote that." ~ Tad Williams


Anyone care to share anything they've found this way? Just typed something & had it work itself out or in or whatever? I know a lot of people on my friends list are more pantsers than plotters, so I figure some of you have got to have good stories!



Contest Reminder: You have until June 15 to get your entries in for my Readerly/Writerly Influences Contest. Only three entries so far, so the odds of winning two free books are pretty good!

Contest Update!

Since I've done next-to-nothing to promote my contest this week I've decided to extend it another week. So you now have until Monday, June 15 to enter to win free books! And remember, even if you have these already, maybe your bff doesn't? So enter & spread the joy of free books :)

The contest details & comment thread for entries are here.

Readerly/Writerly Influences Contest!

x-posted from my LJ- you can respond here, there or on myspace.

Hi all! To kick off my summer blogging extravaganza*, I decided to have a contest! But what to do and what to give away... I have no book of my own to give away yet. I have no highly-anticipated ARCs lying around at the moment (in fact, I think every ARC I have now has a corresponding 'real book'). So I've been thinking long & hard (as much as possible w/ sinus issues & a head cold) about what to do.

So here's the deal. I want to know about the book(s) that made you a reader or a writer. In return, I'll give away the first two books in the first two published series' by my biggest writerly-influences.

So here's my story...
Between the ages of five and eighteen I moved exactly once, and that was to the other side of town. So let's just say that moving four hours away to go to college was... a bit of a shock. I sorta retreated into myself, but, for company, I brought along a friend named Harry.

Back up a few years- I was often scribbling. I had tons of "storylines" in my head all the time- from mysteries to fantasies to time-slips to slasher films- but I'd never considered writing to be the be-all, end-all of what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a number of things, most music-related, but I'd gone to that particular college thinking I wanted to be an English teacher. Er, English 101 sorta changed that. And so did Harry Potter.

It was actually my third time through the HP series (1-4 at that point) and I found myself thinking more and more about writing. I always just wrote to write. Not necessarily to share it with anyone (god forbid!) or for any reason other than if I didn't I'd go crazy. But This was the kind of thing I wanted to write.

Of course, at the time I discovered this I was also 1) seriously depressed and 2) had decided to move back home and 3) desperately wondering where I'd go next.

Flash-forward to the following fall where, once more, I'm four hours away from home and banging my head against those hideous cinder-block walls because why-oh-why was I so stupid as to do this to myself again?

But this time I was a little better, and though I still read to escape (though with my "Medieval English" class, it, uh, wasn't always easy reading!), but also writing. I worked on a few stories I'd started pre-college and the semester before, but wrote new things as well. I wrote a few short-short stories, which a friend of mine said were good, which was encouraging. Anyway... I was still not always in good shape and one day, anxious for the 5th Harry Potter book & tired of waiting for it, I found myself searching fan-fiction sites and happened on one which purported to only link to "the best Harry Potter fan-fiction." Yeah, yeah, don't believe everything you read on the internet, right?

Well, this stuff was good. I enjoyed a story about what shaped Tom Riddle and then went to the link to some novel-length fics about Draco Malfoy. Yup. Cassandra Clare's stuff.

I don't want to get into the kerfuffle about all that, because honestly? I think it's silly. But I will say I adored the Draco trilogy, and found myself drawn into the plot twists and turns as much as I was with the canon.

Around the same time I started to write two stories I knew would be novel-length. The first about a girl named Jora, in a historic-adventure-story. And for the other? A boy named Arion who, originally, drove a black sports car.

Now, technically, there's a lot more to my story. But as far as I'm concerned, Rowling and Clare will always remain two of my biggest writing influences, the ones whose words really caught me and spun me around to face the "writer" direction.

And for that, I'm giving away a hardcover copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and a paperback copy of City of Bones, which is the first book in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy**.

Here are The Rules:
1) You get one entry for commenting here and telling me which book or books really made you think you could be a writer, or, if you're not a writer, what book really turned you into a reader. Or, heck, if you've always been a reader, your favorite book. I'm not picky. :)

2) After following Rule #1 you get one additional entry for each of your blogs/facebook pages/MySpace Accounts/Twitter linking back here. Leave a comment (replying to your original if possible) with your link(s), so I can verify. (If you post on Facebook, you'll need to Friend Me) for verification.
Please do not spam other people's blogs, listservs, whatever- I will not count those entries!

3) For this particular contest, I will ship anywhere, since it's my first. But if shipping winds up astronomical, I'll probably restrict in the future (sorry).

4) I'm leaving this contest open for a week, so please respond by midnight (Eastern time) on Monday, June 8 for a chance to win! Winner will be chosen by The Dane.



*I'm horrible at titles. Seriously. So if anyone can come up with something better than "Summer Blogging Extravaganza" or "Summer Blog-a-thon" I'd be eternally grateful.
**I realize a lot of people already have these books. Especially Harry. But I figured the hardback might be enticing and either way, free books!

May's Reading List!

Posting May's reading list now because I have Sooper Sekrit Planz for tomorrow. ;-) So you might want to check back then... But here's what I read in May

1) Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
YA, Ages 12+
Absolutely loved it. I think this is probably my favorite book in the series so far. Also, I think I might be one of the last people in the world who feel sorry for Keenan, judging by some other reviews I've seen...

2) Desert Tales, Volume I: Sanctuary by Melissa Marr
YA, Ages 12+
I really enjoyed this, following a different storyline in the same world as Wicked Lovely, though I'm not really a manga girl. I'm trying to get used to it, but it didn't really feel long enough to me. Eh, I just like novels more, I guess. *shrug*

3) The Eye of the Forest by P. B. Kerr
Middle Grade, Ages 8+
I, uh, wasn't fond of this one. And unless the rest of the Children of the Lamp series reads totally differently, I doubt I'll be ready any more. It just felt sooooo condescending to me. Not necessarily in an "oh, children, let me tell you about..." way, but condescending to just about any kind of person.

4, 5 and 6) Brian Urlacher, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Ben Roethlisberger all by Michael Sandler
Early Reader, Ages 7-10
I had these for reviews, but if anyone knows a kid in grades 2-5 who need to do a report on a football player, these books were informative and interesting, even to non-football-fan me.

7) Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
YA, Ages 12+
This was a lot of fun and really kicked me back into reading. Plus, uh... it has Sonny Flannery in it- a hot, Irish Janus Guard raised by fey. Need I say more? I'd recommend it to any YA fantasy fan. I can't wait for the next installment, because as exciting as this one was, I'm betting it gets even better!

8) Dull Boy by Sarah Cross
YA, Ages 12+
I absolutely adored this book. I had to special order it, but it was totally worth the wait, and it made being sick a lot more bearable. The main character, Avery, is so great, I wish I'd been friends with him in high school, and not only because he can fly. ;-)

9) Graceling by Kristin Cashore
YA, Ages 12+
WOW. This wasn't a book I'd been planning on reading before it came out. I'd heard some good things, but, eh, the pictures I saw of the cover didn't really appeal to me (I know, I know, you'd think I'd have learned by now...) and I wasn't overly interested in the blurbs I'd read... And then I saw the cover in a store. Katsa's eye reflected in the sword tip caught me. I kept looking back at it, even as I walked away. So finally I wound up buying it and I'm so glad I did. It's fantastic- action, adventure, romance (rather steamy, too!), and a fabulous heroine, who, for some reason, reminded me of Bones. I think it had to do with her social skills... or lack there-of. ;-) Either way, fabulous book, and I think any of my friends who enjoyed Alanna or Sabriel should totally read it.

ETA: 10) Vacations from Hell by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mlynowski
YA, 12+
Okay, so I couldn't sleep last night and wound up finishing off this collection of short stories. I never was much of a short story fan, but a lot of my favorite authors are putting great ones out there now, and this group is no exception. I've been trying to figure out a favorite, but I can't; they're all really good. And is it totally weird that after reading just a few of these, I really wanted to go on vacation??? (Also, Libba, I'm blaming you for any nightmares I may have had last night...)


Books read this month: 10
Books read this year: 34 (yes, I'm behind...)

And that's it for May, unless I finish another book tonight...

About that 'posting' thing...

x-posted from LJ from yesterday... yeah, I'm a day behind, sorry.

I've come down with something. Not sure what. According to the doctor, who I told I have allergies, I, uh, have allergies. Though usually it's not allergies that lay me up in bed for four or so days straight, with a sore throat, coughing & aching, and with a painful-to-the-touch neck and face.

So that explains the recent lack of posts.

I'm still gearing up for summer posting, just slowly and possibly not starting on June 1, as I had originally planned. If I've contacted you RE: interviews, I promise, the questions will be coming just as soon as my body decides it is no longer sick & lets me stand up for more than five minutes. And if I have not contacted you... I might still be contacting you. Just waiting until I'm forming coherent sentences*.

And yes, I did manage to tear myself out of bed yesterday morning for coffee with the fabulous Tiffany Trent, but apparently that's the last thing I'll be able to do for a few days. *sigh* At least it was fun!

And speaking of fun... The one thing I've been managing to actually do is read. Just finished Dull Boy by Sarah Cross & thought it was fantastic. Seriously, you should all go buy it & read it. :)

All right, setting the laptop down now (cause yes, I am just that addicted to this thing & have it in bed with me) & trying to get some rest. But I promise, more soon! Really!



*So far as I can tell, this post was formed of coherent sentences. It also took most of my brain power and, uh, yeah, there's none left for emailing. Sorry.

Housekeeping!

Yes, I've been far away from LJ-land (at least, in terms of my own entries) for a while. Sorry, really. I'd much rather have been posting than running around like a crazy person trying (and failing) to get my house ready for guests.

On the bright side, during that time of "Not Posting" I received my M.F.A. in Children's Literature "with all the honors, rights and privileges thereunto appertaining." Though I'm still not quite sure what these rights and privileges are.... Apparently not the right to graduate inside and not be rained on. My mortarboard is mushy now... Good thing I have another one for all those academic events I attend! ;-)


And in other news... I've had this idea running through my head to do a lot of posting this summer. Call it Post-Hollins-Insanity- I need something to keep me on my toes! Only problem is I'm not sure what people want to see. I know I want to run at least one contest of some sort, and some of my friends on Facebook have suggested character interviews, so I'll probably do that at some point as well. But what else?

I'm going to leave that up to you guys. I'd like to do non-character interviews, so if anyone is interested in being interviewed here, either leave a comment or email me at kathleenfoucart at gmail dot com (with all the obvious replacements to make sure the email actually gets to me). I'm looking to interview authors, but also pre-published writers, artists, musicians and other creative-types. So if you're interested, let me know!

Also options: teasers, photos, more writing quote discussions, book reviews (if there's anything you want to see in particular, gimme titles!), talking about research (for Arion or Wings & Fangs)... Er, yeah. I'm really open to just about anything!

So, in the comments below (or on my LiveJournal- linked in the title) please tell me what you want to see! I'd love to get a discussion going on what you enjoy in a blog, too, so c'mon and chat! :)