Secret Worlds

Can you tell that instead of doing the work I should be doing, I'm looking at xkcd comics?

Massive Linkspam

It's been awhile since I've done a Linkspam, but I've been starring all sorts of things on my Google Reader (love it!) to share with you. Try not to get lost in the Linkspam Jungle. The natives are restless.

First things first: If you haven't yet, go enter my contest for a free signed book and swag!

Contests and Free Books

• Can you sum up your book in a nutshell? Then the Knight Agency might rep you...
• Brooklyn Arden posted a link to a free copy of e-book The Bee-Keeper's Apprentice, as well as a glowing review.
• Robyn's giving away a copy of The Hunger Games here. If you've not read it yet, GO GET THIS BOOK!!!
• Robyn's also giving away a free e-book on critiquing.
• Via HipWriterMama: Info on the Fairy Godsister's scholarship to the national SCBWI contest
• It's not too late to sign up for 11 free books: but the deadline is April 5!
• A crapload of books available from Reader Rabbit. Deadline April 29.
  

Writers

• Via Hello Ello and PJ Hoover: The Enchanted Inkpot, a fantasy writer's blog.
• Via Christy: MiG Writing Blog
• Miss Snark's First Victim: Writing is a career, not a hobby.
• Carrie Harris is a genius: Haiku Book Reviews
• Lois and Michelle discuss the powers and pitfalls of blogging...
• T. Anne: Tension on Every Page
• Flights of Fantasy on the Overuse of Princesses in Fantasy Lit
• Laini Taylor on Surviving First Drafts

Publishing Industry Stuff

• Things overheard at a SCBWI Conference.
• Stacy Nikos on the OK SCBWI Conference.
• Steph Su Reads on the Bias against YA Lit.
• Interviews with agents Ginger Clark and Tina Wexler.

Books I Want

• Gentlemen: Look closely at the cover. Yes, that is a body bag.
• Via {Insert Book Title Here}: Princess of the Midnight Ball
• Via My Favorite Author: Radiant Darkness (Persephone's side of Hades' "kidnapping"...so hooked.)

Zombies & Cake & T-shirts & Sleeping Bags & Also Chicken

• This really is the best solution to America's economic situation.
• The new proper way esteemed agents are sending rejections. I approve.
• Heather spotted these AMAZING t-shirts. Refrigerator.
• Alan Gratz posted what is, quite possibly, the best Star Wars product EVAR.
• This recipe combines chicken and beer and I want to eat it.
  

New WIP
Wanna know what I've been researching re: my new WIP? Here are some clues:

• Clue the First
• Clue the Second

Did I leave anything out? Tell me to update my linky love and linkspam in the comments below!

Today in Class (part 2)

"Look, Mrs. Revis, I am gullible. I don't know how to spell gullible, but at least I know I am gullible."

Today In Class...

...I finally finished making report cards. So, nothing funny, but at least things are calming back down! And Spring Break is only a week and a day away!!!

More coming soon, including a blog tour, an author interview, and a ton of book reviews.

Writer's Book Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

We're on a roll, y'all. See, I've been reading a lot lately. Reading...not writing reviews. So expect a lot of that coming up soon. Hope you don't mind! But this post isn't about a book. I'm doing one of my super-rare movie-instead-of-book reviews. I've actually only ever done this before with Eagle Eye, which seems odd because these two movies are very difference.

But, even as I was watching Slumdog Millionaire, I was thinking about how perfectly written it was, and, actually, composing a writer's review of it.

Five Sentence Summary: Jamal and his brother live in the slums of Mumbai, India. So how did Jamal rise up to win the top prize on the top quiz show in India? Framed by the game show questions, the movie explores just how Jamal knew each of the questions through flashbacks of his experiences as one of the poorest of the poor. But Jamal's not doing the show for money...he's doing it to find his long-lost love, fellow slumdog Latika, whose history is tied inextricably with his and his brother's.

So what can we, as writer's, learn from this book movie?

[As always, highlight the blank spots for spoilers. I left the not too shocking ones black, but the hidden ones are a bit extra-spoilery.]

1. Motivation: Throughout the movie, the characters consistently acted according to their motivations. There was no random surprise, no shocking twist. That's not to say shocking things didn't happen--they just happened according to the character's motivation. For example, Jamal's brother Salim's strongest motivation was possession of his brother. Every interaction between the two brothers subtley stressed this motivation. Early on, when Jamal is obsessed with the Bollywood actor, his brother's spiteful reaction is due (at least in part) from jealousy that his brother is obsessed with someone else. Later, when Salim and Jamal are on their own, Salim does not want Latika to become their third musketeer--because he wants Jamal to himself. And then again, when Salim rapes Latika and kicks Jamal out of the hotel room, he does this because he wants to take away the one thing that could lead his brother away from him. None of this is explicitly stated--in fact, my friend and I had to talk a lot over dinner to discuss what the motivations actually were--but once we'd figured out what the one driving force behind each of the three main characters was, we saw how well each motivation defined each character's action. For those interested, my theories on the main motivations are: Salim: possession of Jamal. Jamal: finding and being with his love, Latika. Latika: survival.

2. Non-stupid Romance: Look, I like a chick-flick as much as the next chick. But let's be honest. Most American romances are STUPID. You see one, you see 'em all. Girl likes boy, boy likes girl, and a comedy of errors then continues until they finally just freaking disclose their mutual liking in the end. Argh. These romances aren't a story--they're a joke. And while that's fine if you want fluff, I don't equate that with love. THIS story had love--real love--and a real underlying romance. There's nothing in here of the too-common comedy of errors. Jamal loves Latika. That's clear from the time they're children. He never hides it. Everyone--Latika, Jamal, everyone--knows his love for Latika. The romance isn't about will-they-or-won't-they...it's about can-they-or-can't-they, given their poor status in a unforgiving society.

And for me, that's the key to a good romance story. Not whether they will be together--because that just comes down to whether they have the courage to say they're in love, doesn't it? No, the real romance is whether they can be together, whether the world will conspire to let their love be realized. That's a story.

3. Speaking without words: Look, I know this is a movie, not a book. And those powerful visual shots are something that can only be expressed with sight: the camera rising over the vast slums of India, the scenes of silence between the characters. But we can emulate that in writing. When Jamal wants to invite Latika into the train car with Salim, and Salim doesn't want her, the camera shows Latika in the background, sitting in the rain, Jamal in the midground, staring at her, and Salim in the foreground, lying down with his eyes open. Nothing is said--but it's clear that Latika is alone, trying to survive; that Jamal has already started falling for her; and that Salim, with his eyes wide open, is begining to realize that his obsession with his brother may lead him to do bad thing, such as leave an innocent girl alone in the rain. Not a word is spoken, but so much is said.

We may not be able to show a picture of the characters, but we can show their motivations/feelings/desires without having the characters state them. If Salim had said, "I don't want that girl on the train with us, she'll take you away from me," his statement would have been true to the character--but don't hand-feed your readers. Show their actions and let their actions show their character.

PS: A word to the wise: Don't show this one to kids, not the very young. The outside story, a poor kid getting riches from a quiz show, sounds like it'd be kosher for the young ones, but there are some very disturbing situations. Realistic, not gratuitious--but not for the young. I don't say this lightly--I could care less if you show a kid a movie where cars get blown up or bad guys die--but this movie shows a real, no-holds-barred slice of life, with all the nitty gritty, and it's not something I'd show to kids less than high-school age. It's not the violence or sex (it's pretty clean in those areas); it's the realism.

In Honor of Eating My Brains...

clicky love: xkcd

Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I first noticed this book because of the cover. Look at it. Click the link--I made sure to get an extra big cover for this review. That cover is just brilliant.

And then I noticed the title. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Also brilliant. If you want to know the value of a title, just look at that one. How many questions did you have when you saw it?

And then I found out that the author, Carrie Ryan, is in my state's SCBWI chapter. And she lives a few hours away from me. And she's about the nicest person on Earth.

My husband accused me of stalking her.

That doesn't sound like that bad of an idea :)

Five Sentence Summary:Mary lives in a fenced-off village in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. The zombie plague has come and gone, but the few surviving humans--such as Mary and her village--must protect themselves from the living dead. After both her parents become "Unconsecrated," Mary thinks that her biggest problem is going to be finding a place for herself as either a member of the Sisterhood or married to one of the few single men of her village (although not the one she loves, who is engaged to her best friend). But her real problem comes later...when the fence can't contain the Unconsecrated any more...

(Hot dang! Did that one in four sentences! OK, since I've got an extra sentence...) PS: THIS BOOK IS MADE OF AWESOME.

So, what can we, as writers, learn from this book?

[PS: As always, highlight for spoilers.]

1. Make it worse: The zombie plague has hit. Things can't get worse than that, right? WRONG. Carrie Ryan does an amazing job of consistently making things worse and worse for the characters. Mary's dad gets infected? Bad. Mary's mom follows him into the Forest of Hands and Teeth? Worse. Mary's brother sends her to the Sisterhood? Bad. Mary's one true love ends up in the same building after getting engaged to her best friend? Worse. ...and the list goes on and on. Carrie TORTURES her characters--and the book is so much better for it. Anything that happens, it can always be worse. And when something good happens, like when Travis finally confesses his love for Mary, something worse happens, like when Travis then becomes zombie lunch.

2. Internal and External plots: I am starting to think that this might just be the key to writing an un-put-downable book. Obviously, the external plot of The Forest of Hands and Teeth is surviving the zombies. But there's an internal plot that's strong, too: Mary wants to fulfill her lifelong dream of leaving home and seeing the ocean--a feat which will require her to go through the Forest of Hands and Teeth. And that's before even mentioning the love triangle (or is that quadrangle?). Here's the point: you read the book to see if they survive the zombie invasion...but also to see if Mary's dream comes true. When one plot narrows (i.e. the find a safe hide-out from the zombies) the other one widens (i.e. Mary's longing for the ocean grows).

3. Don't listen to Kurt Vonnegut: I have blogged before about Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Simple Writing Rules. The oft-forgotten last line of his rules is this:

The greatest American short story writer of my generation was Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964). She broke practically every one of my rules but the first. Great writers tend to do that.

Carrie Ryan is one of those great writers who ignored Kurt's rules. Take, for example, Rule 8:

Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

I did not know what would happen to Mary until the last line of the last page...and even then, there's room for a sequel. (Which--whew!--there will be one, called The Dead-Tossed Waves.) I did expect some things in the novel (such as Travis's death) but the rest...wow. I am still not sure if Jed made it, I was never sure if Harry or Cass would follow Mary. And I really want to know about Argos! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DOG?! Anyway, point is, if cockroaches ate my last few pages, I'd call the exterminator and order a new copy of the book.



4. Feminism: I don't write much about this. But I will say this: people have often said that Graceling is a modern feminist approach to literature (in that she refuses traditional bonds of marriage, etc.). Look, I liked Graceling as much as the next person, but I never saw Katsa as very feminist, just a rebel in general (besides, she wasn't doing it for herself so much as for others--in other words, if it weren't for her grace, she'd have gotten married). Mary's a feminist. She is perfectly aware of society's expectations of her, and she's aware of her own power (and lack thereof) as a woman. When she realizes that her dreams lie not in marriage but in finding the ocean--and she acts on that truthfully and whole-heartedly--that, to me, is real feminism.

5. Lyrical Writing: There are a few books that I love more than any other, merely for the beauty of the language. I'm a story girl, not a language girl, but these make me sit up and take notice of the style and beauty of the written word. Marcus Zusak was, for nearly a year, the only YA writer I could cite for this for The Book Thief. Then came Mary Pearson and The Adoration of Jenna Fox. I can safely add The Forest of Hands and Teeth to that list.

Quibbles: I have very few. In fact, the only thing that I wish I could have seen that I didn't was the resolution to Mary's problems with faith. Her losing her faith seemed like such a big deal in the book, but she doesn't find anything else to fill that void except, perhaps, her obsession with the ocean. However, I expect the future books to explore Mary's internal struggle with faith and belief, and cannot wait for the ride!

STATS: This book is part of my 50 in 2009 Challenge.

If You and I Were in the Zombie Outbreak

I don't like to think I'd leave you behind on Z-day, but this comic totally made me think of who I would...


(Can you tell I finished The Forest of Hands and Teeth yesterday? Oh, yeah. Totally.)

Gone fishin'

Actually, I'm just going to a teaching conference. Be back Monday!

Writing Constantly in the Technological Age

Not too long ago, I made myself a writing mantra: write constantly. Because writing does not always imply actual physical writing, but also the thought process that goes behind writing, this works particularly well for me. Take this week: I'm getting ready for a teacher's conference, pulling together several new author interviews for this blog, and preparing report cards for my students. The best writing I've done is thinking about the plot of the next few chapters while driving my car or taking my shower. I figured out a way to show the world building, and a way to develop a plot twist that I'd been struggling over.

But, for obvious reasons, writing down these writing thoughts while driving or in the shower are somewhat difficult tasks to do. The paper gets wet. Or I crash the car and take out a chunk of rural NC in a fiery inferno of not-awesome. You get the picture.

This is where I love technology.

I want to be the writer that always has pen and paper handy, but the truth of the matter is, I'm just not that organized. At least once a day, I have to run through the house, trying to find my glasses. So keeping up with my glasses, a pad of paper, and a pen? Way too stressful. My life can't take that kind of complication.

You know what I do keep up with? My iTouch.

It's like my Apple laptop, but palm-sized. And it has a very well organized application called simply: Notes. And guess what? You can type notes on it. Quicker than I could click open a Bic, I've got all my ideas right there on the screen. ALL OF THEM. When I use paper, I grab whatever scraps I have--receipts, grocery lists, even tissues (not used. You know, unless it's an emergency). And, typically, I'd lose the paper. Now all my notes are RIGHT THERE. Electronically organized. WITH DATES.

It's so simple. It makes writing constantly a bit more doable.

Today in Class...

A kid is showing me all the books she's just checked out from the library.

Kid starts talking about a book that had a lot of different settings, where the protagonist travels through different countries.

Kid: I love this one! This book took me around the world!

Awesome.

Book Give-away! The Forest of Hands and Teeth

So, you didn't get a chance to go to the launch party for The Forest of Hands and Teeth? Don't feel bad! I've got you covered!

I have prepared for you--yes, YOU--a goody bag of all the stuff from the launch party--a little zombie man, a tin of gummy brains, a bookmark, a postcard of the launch party, and, best of all, a signed copy of Carrie's book!

Here's all the swag you'll be getting.

The Book. Signed. On the inside. Obviously.


The Swag. OK, so you might not be interested in the book mark. But how about...


Brains and a Zombie! AHHH!

One of the things I loved about Carrie's book launch was the little goodies. She had the little plastic zombie men in a fishbowl, and stacks of gummy brains in tins. I thought that was so clever! So, if you'd like to win all the swag I stashed from her party, all you have to do is leave me a comment, telling me what swag you'd like to give for your book launch (if you're an aspiring writer), what swag you did give away at your book launch (if you're a published author), or what swag you think would be cool to get if you went to a book launch for your favorite book (if you're a reader).

As always, there are many ways to win:

1. Comment with your dreams of swag: = 1 entry
2. Become a follower of the blog = 1 entry
3. If you were already a follower of my blog before this contest = 2 entries (this only counts for people in the "readers" section in my sidebar--these are the only people I can see to verify this)
   
4. Link to this contest on your website = 1 entry
5. Link to my blog/this contest in the sidebar of your website = 1 entry
6. Get a direct referral = 1 entry (if someone comments in the blog that they found the contest from you, then you get the extra entry)
7. ETA: You don't have to do multiple entries in the comments section :) You can just bunch it all up and I'll sort through it :)
   

Here's the mumbo-jumbo of the rules:

• Sorry, but I can only ship to the US--but if you're outside the US, I'd still love to know your swag story (and if you win, you could have it shipped to a USian friend!)
  
• Contest ends April 5th. I will stop taking comments at 11:59PM on April 4th, EST.
• If you are a writer and would like some linky-love to your blog from this website, please leave that in the comments and I'll make a special effort to check out your blog.

ETA: So, what would I give away? My WIP is a MG fantasy that takes place inside a school...I think I'd give away little zippered pencil cases with some school supplies...and a print-out of the class schedule, including the magical teacher's class :)

Things I Did on Z-Day

Carrie Ryan's booklaunch was today! And it was a ton of fun!

First thing I learned on Z-day: The husband does not like being woken up on Z-Day by me trying to eat his brains. Good to know.

Hey, look! I took pictures!


That's me and Carrie just before she signed my book. Look, I know someone famous and cool!


See, I told you she is famous and cool! Now, in addition to getting my book signed, Carrie also had great freebies! Little tins of gummy brains and little zombies for the takin'. Here they are. You can see how the little zombie man is reaching for the gummy brains. He is, of course, foiled by the simple plastic top. Silly zombie, brains are for kids!


And here I am, consuming tasty, tasty brains. Mmmmmm.....brainssssss.....


All in all, quite a successful day! After the booklaunch, the husband, my friend Laura, and I strolled around downtown Greenville. We ate ice cream (almost as tasty as brains) during which time I noticed that the husband's pants had an unusual bulge in them...the little round tin of gummy brains. "Hey," I said, "you've got zombie brains in your pants. Bet you never thought you'd hear me say that sentence."

It was quite amusing.

And here's a charming fact about Greenville: hidden all along Main Street are tiny bronze mice. You can totally make a day of finding the mice--something I totally plan on doing. We only found one today (them suckers are really hard to find!). Here he is. I think he's probably a mouse zombie. Don't let the cuteness fool you.


Hey, you know what? That mouse totally told me a secret. And the secret is...if you're not a follower of my blog, then you should totally become a follower really soon. Like, before Monday. Cause something pretty awesome is coming, and followers of the blog get a li'l extra-extra if ya know what I mean...

What are you doing?!

Why are you checking this blog? You should be driving to Greenville, for Carrie Ryan's book launch!

Well, what are you waiting for. Go get in the car! I'll see you there!

Characters and Settings

So I'm working on the new WIP, a YA SF (how's that for some abbreviations?). Part of Chapter One drug a little bit...I wanted to describe the setting in my narrator's first person voice, but it came out false. After all, if we're really getting inside his head, then it doesn't make sense for him to describe the intricacies of his world--he already knows them.

Then I had the idea of him showing and explaining his world to another character--but that's so been done before.

But here's the idea I think just might work: tying the setting to his motivations. If he just pops up to Character B and says "Hey, let's go for a ride, I want to show you my world!" Well...that's cheesy. But if he has a crush on Character B (he does) and wants to get her away from Character C, who also has a crush on her, and he wants to show off a bit...well, he'd take her out on a date. And while he's showing her his world, he's also hitting on her. Now, the scene isn't about explaining the world, but about him struggling to get Character B to recognize him and fall in love with him...and in the process showing the world.

By tying my character's motivation to the setting, I think I'll be able to show the setting without being boring or to inf-dumpy. The chapter isn't just about the setting--it actually progresses the plot, too.

Now, off to write it!

Today in Class...

Discussion veers to zombie attacks. Don't ask.

Kid: I have a zombie plan. See, after you figure out it's Z-Day...

Me: Figure it out?

Kid: Yeah, that's the key. You've got to figure out that they're here.

Me: Yeah, of course, it's not like you wake up knowing that today's the day zombie's will attack.

Kid: Obviously. That's key. Anyway, after you figure out it's Z-Day...

*start of a 30 minute conversation of What To Do After Z-Day: Week One, Scenario A*

PS: The plan is actually pretty cool. It does involve a church, a mason, and a welding gun. But if those are given, this kid might make it...

Going Indie

I have this dream, see? I wanna be rich enough to buy this old plantation house down the road and open up a writer's retreat/bed and breakfast/bookstore...but I wanna be so rich that I can get people to do all the work AND so rich that I can just give away the books and don't have to worry about sales. So, basically, I want to live on a plantation house with servants and surround myself with books, readers, and writers. Is that so wrong?

The point (yes, I have one) is that I am going Indie around here.

Not the Jones sort of Indie (mmmm), but the buy-from-local-bookstores sort of Indie. Since I can't have my Plantation-B&B-Writer'sRetreat-Bookstore-of-Joy, I like to dream that someone out there does have it...and in order to ensure they keep it, then we've got to support the locals. So I've added a little blue IndieBound logo to the sidebar. And books on this blog are gonna be linked to IndieBound, no where else. Not that I don't like Amazon--I do. But, see, I get like I dunno 2 pennies or something for every book you buy from my links, and, well, that's 2 pennies closer to my Awesome-SuperAmazing!-Plantation-B&B-Writer'sRetreat-Bookstore-of-Joy-and-Awesomeness.

Love & Hate

I've got a love-hate relationship with writing. And boy am I glad I do!

Let me start off with two examples. Aside from my practice novels, the first decent novel I wrote, I loved. The writing was so good it charmed the socks off me, if I do say so myself. I adored it. I'd gone in with the intention of writing a book that I'd want to read, and I succeeded! I loved, loved, loved that book. Still do, actually.

Problem is, I love it so much that I can't imagine changing a single word. Not one. And my unwillingness to revise that novel has led to a couple missed opportunities that I now regret...but even if I regret them, I'm still not sure that I'll ever be able to change a word of that original manuscript.

After that one, I wrote another book. I hate this one. It was very personal to me--although it was a story about a girl falling into a parallel world, I wrote it after my brother's death, and all the emotion I was feeling at that time seeped onto the pages. I can't stand to read over this one, because it reminds me of the feelings I felt as I was writing it, and I don't want to relive that. Also: I'm very aware of the weak writing, plot holes, and poor characterization in this one--I know it has problems, but it has SO MANY problems that there's simply no way that I can revise it without immersing myself in it. I know the writing's weak, I even know how to make it better, but I hate that manuscript so much that I know I will never go back to it.

So, instead of trying to revise that one, I decided instead to write a new manuscript, which ended up being The Amnesia Door, which is currently out on submission. As I wrote that one, I was very conscious of what I'd learned by writing my love book and my hate book: revisions would need to happen, so I'd have to maintain an attitude open to them. I had to find a balance between loving my words and having confidence in their worth, but also hating them to a certain extent so that I'd be able to change them. While writing The Amnesia Door, I loved it. Loved, loved, loved it. But during revisions, I was ready to set it on fire and chant voodoo at it. By shifting my perception and feeling towards that manuscript between the writing and revision process, I was able to develop my strongest book yet.

Through trial and error, what works for me is this: love the writing in the first draft, hate it during revisions. This makes me eager to write more, develop the plot, and get the words on paper...but ready to cut them by the time I have to do revisions.

What works for you? Do you have a love-hate relationship with you work?

Ah.

It was easy for me to say my new mantra would be "write constantly" after a very productive writing weekend. It's only Tuesday, and I've already felt the swarm of work descend upon me like a swarm of hornets, buzzing in my ears to run away from what I want to do and drown myself in what "needs to be done."

I didn't write a word yesterday. But I didn't forget my new mantra. I may not have a new scene written, but I have figured out how to kill a character.

And you know, that's a delicious part of writing: we're considered industrious, productive workers when we plot murder!

Crackin' Jokes

Let this be a lesson to all children's writers: kids love jokes. Seriously. Complicated jokes, stupid jokes, puns--all kids of all ages love 'em.

Recently I took my class to the library, and instead of researching their essay, some of the kids were cracking jokes. Those same old stupid ones that I used to tell in high school.

Kid: Come on, Mrs. Revis, tell us a joke!

Me: No, you should be working on your essay.

Kid: Just one, we'll promise to work after that!

Me: Well...it's just...I'm not in a joking mood.

All the kids: Why?

Me: Well, you know how warm it's been lately? Well, my husband got the lawnmower out to work on it, and drained all the gas, and put the gas in a bucket by the garage. And...well...my dog--remember, the big black Lab?--he went over there and drank the gas!

All the kids: Oh, no! What happened?!

Me: He jumped up and ran around the house like three times! As fast as he ever ran before! And...and then he just fell over.

All the kids: *silence*

One Kid: *whispers* Did he...die?

Me: Nah, he just ran out of gas.









Lemme tell you, all kids love jokes! And if you can nail 'em with a good new one, you win!