Fear and Loathing

Okay, maybe not loathing, except that I hate packing. I always forget something.

I'm trying to figure out how to pack for 10 days of Vermont College residency plus a short family visit plus another week in Manhattan partially at the NY SCBWI conference. Yikes! And it's winter so I need boots and overcoats and all that other stuff...

I'm so excited to be heading back to the residency, though. I know that by this time next week I'll be in the bliss of exhaustion with my head crammed with ideas and inspiration and challenges. And surrounded by some of the best writers in the children's book world. Whee!

New Year and VCFA!

As the new year rolls in, I'm beginning to get ready for the next residency at VCFA. I've gotten my booklet of fellow student workshop works and read about half of them, and - wow - I continue to be impressed with the quality of the writing here. The workshops are, for me, one of the highlights of the residency: nerve-wracking at times, when you are being critiqued (you have to remain silent the entire time); and challenging as you look for ways to say what you really mean about someone else's work.

Just like last time, I'm a little nervous about the residency. Why? Who knows? I love the people; I love the place; I love the intensity. Maybe it's the feeling of being surrounded by such talent. I ask myself all the time - why didn't I do this earlier?

Well, it was impossible earlier. My son is just now of an age that he can manage entirely on his own. I'm really proud of him - he had some challenges and he's risen above them.

Happy New Year everyone - may you be as blessed as I feel!

Ah, Montana

We've arrived at our cabin in the woods in Montana for the holidays - and it's snowing like crazy (perfect) - and cold - like living inside a snow globe. The sled will be out tomorrow, then the snowshoes. In years past we've seen wolves and elk and mountain lions. In a couple of years we should be here year-round. I can't wait.

Starting in the new year I'll be trying to interview authors who are launching books, to bring attention to some great new children's lit. And I'll try and fill you in on what's happening at VCFA, too, when I'm back there for the January residency. I just got my workshop book of ten submissions, and I'm looking forward to reading them!

My novel edits are really humming! And my last packet return from Sarah was wonderful - it made me smile big time. She loves my middle grade, which I finished this semester. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

Happy Holidays to all - and I wish everyone a joyous New Year.

Announcing...!

And now I can announce the launch of the 2k9 website!

Here it is: http://www.classof2k9.com/

As I said, I've read a few of these ARCs and they are exceptional. More on that later!

And Now, the Good News

So the publishing industry is suffering, as we all are, from our economic crunch. But here's the good news:
children's publishing is still strong! And, frankly, the books being published are better than ever.

Two cases in point: I've been participating in the group of debut novel authors called "2k", after the original 2k7 group founded in 2007. I began with the 2k9 crowd, although my book is now slated for 2010, so I've slipped away into 2k10. But I've had the chance to read some ARCs and I am really, really impressed. I'll blog on specific titles right before they launch, but keep eyes out because there are some hot new books emerging.

And many of these same authors are part of the group called AuthorsNow! I'm one of these, too, and their website is up and running as you can check out at right.

Great books, folks, so reading is so not dead. Hooray!

Publishing Nightmare?

I have to pass this along, because I think it conveys two important messages:

1. The publishing industry is a complex machine, and we (writers and book lovers) need to understand how it works.
2. Buy books, if you want to keep books alive!

I'm buying books for everyone on my Christmas list this year, unless I'm donating to a charity in their name.

We only have recourse to the Big Box Booksellers here in our town, but that's okay. They'll order just about anything that's in print. I buy a lot of fiction, because I love the feel of a book in my hands, and because I re-read all the time. So while I love the library, I plan to buy books this holiday.

Here's the link to a great blog:
http://editorialass.blogspot.com:80/2008/11/crash-flow-or-what-went-wrong-in.html

Creative Breakthroughs

So I was working on my novel revision (the one for Puffin), and in a conversation with my agent, Alyssa, I had what my middle grade character Barty (from the other novel in progress) would call a "lightbulb moment". Yes, yes, I know all about show, don't tell, but I still hadn't managed to control my urge to talk, talk, talk. She pointed out that I tended to begin all my chapters with internal musings.

Hah! She was right. I felt stupid and elated at the same time. Now, this is something I can fix, and by doing it, I've begun discovering all the other places where my narrative tends to bog down and move too slowly.

Now, another issue altogether. I want to brag about my critique partner, Kathy Whitehead. Her new picture book from Penguin, Art From Her Heart, is getting lots of press and rave reviews. I'm so proud of her! You can find her book by checking her website from my list at right...

National Book Awards

We all know by now that our beloved Kathi Appelt may not have won the NBA top award, but she has won our hearts! The Underneath is a masterpiece of fiction, completely transporting and compelling. I found it as rich as any fantasy - like the books that I loved as a child. Publisher's Weekly interviewer John Sellers asked about one tiny image (only one of many rich images) in the novel:

"Appelt was asked about the significance of the crescent moon on the forehead of the kitten, Puck. “I used it to endow Puck with the magic of the moon,” she said, in keeping with the magical realism in The Underneath. “I think of the moon as a kind of watcher, watching over him and his sister.” "

Kathi's is the kind of writing I aspire to. Complex, layered, nuanced, rhythmic. The Underneath will resonate for years.

Yes, I Know...

Once again, the all-consuming life has taken over. But...I submitted packet 4 today to Sarah, so I have no excuse now but to post.

SCBWI Brazos Valley held its annual conference this weekend, and we had the best faculty possible. Cynthia Leitich Smith (author most recently of the hilarious and gruesomely intriguing Tantalize) and her husband Greg were there, along with Kathi Appelt (National Book Award finalist for The Underneath) and her agent Emily Van Beek, and Kim Griswell, Editor from Highlights. All of our presenters were outstanding. It was especially exciting to have Kathi, as the NBA announcement is this Wednesday, and we are crossing fingers!

You can see photos of our event at Cynthia's blog http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com (just ignore the awful one of me...)

I do have a piece here that will also appear in our little newsletter, but I think might be helpful at large:

At our conference this past weekend, we ended with a “first pages” analysis. Randomly chosen first pages were read aloud to the audience and panel members (our invited speakers and critiquers), and each speaker gave a flash reaction. That is, was the first page compelling enough to entice an editor to read on?

This analysis went hand-in-hand with Sherry Garland’s great presentation on “Grand Openings”, in which Sherry outlined some of the best ways to open a story.

At the end of the conference, some in the audience expressed concern that the responses to the first pages were overwhelmingly negative, to which Kim Griswell answered, “Yes, the market is tough, and what you’re hearing is that your opening must be terrific.”

I reflected later that I heard a slightly different message. I heard lots of “Yes, I would be intrigued enough to read on”. I also heard that different aspects of the openings were handled well – some had great characters, some excellent description, others intriguing plot ideas or good voice.

What does this mean for us writers? First, I think we tend to hear negative comments before we hear positives. Maybe that harks back to our childhoods, when we tended to hear “no” before “yes”! But more importantly, I think the market is tough, and it pays for all of us to recognize that the first pages of our novels or picture books need to be honed and polished.

Personally, I spend more time on my first page than I do on any other aspect of my writing. I’ve rewritten my first pages dozens of times, and shared them with my critique partners until they get a “wow”. We live in an era of snap judgements. Hooking your reader on the first page is the equivalent of grabbing the TV viewer with remote control in hand: you’ve got seconds, if you’re lucky.

I’m headed back to my work in progress, to rethink my first page. It won’t be the last time I rewrite it, but the attention I place there will be well worth the outcome – an opening that promises more great stuff to come.

A Long, Long Time

No excuses. Just busy. In the middle of trying to finish up my 3rd packet for Vermont College, my editor finally sent the first revisions of Faithful. It was exciting to see them, and have this step in place, but for a while I felt pretty overwhelmed.

On my Vermont work: Sarah continues to really like my middle grade novel, so my goal is to finish it this semester. The main character is hilarious. I'm not sure where he comes from. I don't think of myself as a comic, but Barty comes from somewhere inside me, and yet he makes me laugh. I know that sounds a little weird, but it's true.

On my novel: Jen didn't have much to say past the first five chapters, and the comments she did send were to dig deeper into my character and add more of what Maggie's thinking about in the beginning. This was not too hard, since I, too, felt those chapters were racing along, and I felt they needed a bit more. That's now done, but I'm revising the entire novel once more.

Which brings me to another discovery - Darcy Pattison's Novel Metamorphosis. I highly recommend it for revision. If you have the chance to take one of her workshops, I'd jump at it.

And now I have to put on my mom hat and steer my teen son in the right direction - he's doing well, but, gosh, I'm glad I'm no longer in high school. He said yesterday that he'd just like to fall asleep and wake up at 25. Sadly, as I told him, he'd still have to go through the dreck to come out the other side.