April 29, 2009
caster girls swag
Caster Girl 18 is at it again and this time she's outdone herself…
Check out the CG bumper stickers. Don't you want one?
April 28, 2009
vania stoyanova – looking between the cracks
As a former professional artist, I am always on the lookout for thought provoking art and photography. Many of you know I'm a huge fan of photographer and artist, Margi Geerlinks (in this post).
While tweeting on Twitter, I discovered another talented photographer. (Proving to all naysayers that tweeting it is not a waste of time.
Her name is Vania Stoyanova. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. (A Southern photographer – even better.)
Here are some of my personal favorites:
I think one of the most important things about art is what it means to the individual. How we react to it – the emotions (positive or negative), the images, the self-reflection it elicits. With this is mind, I asked Vania to send me her thoughts on the series. But before reading them, I wrote down my own interpretation/reactions. Before you read mine, stop and think about yours. (I have intentionally left off the titles so you won't be influenced.)
…………………………
My Thoughts: This series speaks volumes to me about the frightening effects of the social/emotional pressures teens feel today, and the self-destructive outlets some find for these frustrations. When I look at these pictures, I can feel their pain. And although some of the pictures may make you uncomfortable, that's the point. Isn't it? To feel what the girls in these photos are feeling?
Vania's Motivation: The photos are part of her Psychological Disorder Series. She based some of the images on characters that she feels have had a significant impact on literature. Wouldn't you love to know which ones? She also thinks teens need to be aware of issues, such as sedative dependency, which is closely tied to depression and eating disorders. Vania feels the teenage years are a tumultuous time, and without "proper guidance some [teens] fall through the cracks or even get stuck between the cracks, and very few get out."
The last piece, Wired, was a stand alone piece Vania did as a reaction to the beauty ads bombarding young girls with cheerful, carefree images of beauty. Wired depicts the dark side: ideals that constrict a faceless girl. She could be anyone, couldn't she?
In addition to photography, Vania has a YA Book Blog, Reverie Media, where she reviews and shares her ideas on YA literature.
April 27, 2009
publishing virgin
<whatapic>
Dazed and confused -that's what it's like when the publication of your first book is imminent. (at least for me)
For those of you who love Letterman, here's the:
Top Ten Stupidest Questions You Ask Your Agent, Editors, Writing Partner (Margie), or Blog Girls (at least if you're me):
10. They want to buy the book? Are you sure? (to agent)
9. Can they change their minds? (to agent and M after offer was accepted)
8. How long could to edit the book? A Month? (to M)
7. What's this? (in reference to the 5 page, single-spaced editorial letter for the draft) Do we have to do all this? (both to M)
6. What's an ARC? (to M & agent)
5. There's another edit???? (to M)
4. What are the first pass pages? (to editors)
3. Can we ask to go to DC, so I can get my friends from elementary school to show up for the signing? (This was to avoid a signing, at which M & me would be the only ones in attendance.) (to M)
2. What is a TweetDeck? Do I need this? (to M, who always knows these thing before me)
1. Melissa Marr & Michelle Zink are reading OUR book??? (to all of the above)
At this point, you may be thinking that if I'm this stupid, I shouldn't be allowed to have my book published. I prefer to consider myself a publishing virgin. In my defense, I've spent the last 13 years holed up in classrooms teaching. (These things didn't come up in there.)
I've decided that when your first book is being published, you should be assigned a mentor whose sole responsibility is to remediate – you know, help you catch up to the rest of the class. In addition to Sarah, Courtney, Jen, Julie & Margie – Pseudonymous Bosh, Melissa Marr, Michelle Zink & Vania have been helping out. (I have LOTS of questions.)
So far today, Michelle had to explain what an RSS feed was and how to link my blog to Amazon, and Vania had to help me find our mention in PW.
I think I might be a lot of work. (Marg, you don't get to weigh-in on that.)
April 24, 2009
this week
<Tokyo, Japan>
Even with all my procrastinating, I accomplished a lot this week. Here's the short list:
1. Finally set up my author page on Good Reads. You would think this wouldn't be a particularly challenging activity, but it's been a long week. You can become my fan, so I won't be fan-less. (How obnoxiously did that sound?)
2. Wrecked & re-recut the draft for Book 2. (This should actually be #1, but I'm trying to block it out.)
3. Candied walnuts (don't ask).
4. Set up my TweetDeck. (Which is actually responsible for all the procrastinating.)
5. Found a spot for my new painting, which I haven't painted yet. (But I can see it in my mind.)
6. Thanked God that I have Margie for a writing partner. (Who could do all this wrecking alone?)
7. Ate six Toll House chocolate chip cookie sandwiches. (You need sustenance to do all that wrecking.)
** I'm going to stick to 7 because it's such a lucky number. (And you all know how superstitious I am.)
April 23, 2009
cutting: a.k.a. wrecking the draft
<www.losangeles.af.mil>
So here's how it goes with us…
We have 439 pages of Book 2 finished, and our draft is due next week (in other scenarios with BC an edit due). It's done, right? That's what sane people would assume, but Margie and I operate a little differently. One of us calls the other (usually M calls me) and the conversation goes something like this.
M: I've been reading the draft and something keeps bothering (at this point, I know what's coming, or she does). There's a problem with _________ (the arc, the end, an event that defies everything pure and true about the universe).
[At this point, we agree because when the wrecking ball is about to strike, we pull it back together.]
M: I know you're not going to want to hear this (which, at this point I know I don't), but I think we have to cut ____________ (chapter x, the flying monkey, the 18 original song samples we wrote for Link's band). Whatever it is, it is undoubtedly my FAVORITE chapter or flying monkey.
K: We're not cutting that. The problem is bigger than that.
M: I agree, but I think it starts with the flying monkey. Think about it.
We hang up. 20 minutes go by (it's only takes 20 minutes because usually we both knew this was coming. I call back.
K (or M, depending on who initiated the wrecking ball sequence – which CANNOT be stopped once set in motion): Okay, we'll cut the the flying monkey (or chapter x). But that means we have to restructure the entire ________ (beginning, middle, or end).
M: Can we do that?
K: *sigh* Yes.
M: Okay, I'll start on Y, while you re-cut.
[ It doesn't matter who starts the sequence, it's like the button in Lost. You have to keep pushing it. ]
So M is hard at work on Y, and I'm supposed to be re-cutting. If you're not a writer, re-cutting is the equivalent of deciding you want to renovate the second floor of your house without touching the first or third floors. AND you want to live in the house during the remodel.
Generally, I am not a procrastinator. EXCEPT when it comes to re-cutting. Today, while I was supposed to be working, I swapped Tweets with Michelle Zink (yes, Prophecy of the Sisters Michelle Zink), and bloggers: Kristi a.k.a. the Story Siren, Tizah, the Compulsive Reader, Vania of Reverie Media & Adele of Persnickety Snark & hung out the Caster Girls.
(Of course, M knows I'm not working because she is getting the Tweets at fencing.)
So, now I have to do it. Wish me Luck.
April 21, 2009
libba bray meets midnight in the garden of good and evil
If you read the latest post on the BC blog, you know Little, Brown presented its 2009 fall/winter librarian preview and BC was one of the books presented. Read the post here.
But this was my favorite quote from the article by Elizabeth Byrd, although it doesn't mention who said it:
"Best Meets: 'Libba Bray meets Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.' – Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Hmm… It sounds like a compliment to me. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is one of my favorite books, and one that made Savannah, GA so famous that they give MGGE tours. Not to mention the writing. And Libba Bray – what's not to love about her books?
Also two of my favorite covers.
April 20, 2009
melissa marr
[ Author Melissa Marr, Photo Credit: John Marr ]
When you read the comments on your blog, you don't expect to see a comment from one of your favorite authors. Not if you're a first time author, waiting for your debut novel to be released. Not if one of your favorite authors is Melissa Marr, who wrote the wildly original and popular novels Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange.
And you definitely don't expect her to tell you how much she enjoyed your novel, which she considered "beautifully crafted."
That would make a great tattoo- Beautiful Creatures is Beautifully Crafted – or maybe just one of those rubber bracelets Margie wants.
You can read her comment on my post, "the end," here.
Melissa Marr's upcoming novel, Fragile Eternity will be released TOMORROW! I already ordered mine.
Thanks, Melissa.
April 18, 2009
how to get through the last 2 weeks
The last two weeks of a draft or an edit are rough. This is how my day goes:
Up at 6:30 to teach in the morning.
Preschool pick up at 12:30.
Bribe my son into taking a nap. My daughter is younger, translation: more compliant for now.
Remind my son 8-10 times to take a nap.
Write while my kids nap (2 hours if I'm lucky).
Think of a moderately creative (emphasis on moderately) activity that usually results in a huge mess and requires 2 Diet Cokes.
Make dinner = How often can you eat tacos, spaghetti, and stir fry? In two weeks, that would be 4.3 times each.
A comes home & takes over, because it is the last two weeks.
Write until 12 or 1 in the morning.
Get up at 6:30 in the morning the next day.
So clearly, I have a secret. Because I actually require a lot of sleep, so this is a nightmarish schedule.
Here it is…
The Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich.
It has more calories than an entire meal, and I won't tell you how many I've eaten in the last 2 weeks.
But I will tell you that they sell them at 7-11 & Long's drugstore.
Find your car keys now.
April 15, 2009
the end
< Larry West – www.botropolis.com >
The end of the book is hardest and the easiest part to write. It's a sprint.
Once I get to a certain point, I could write the whole thing in a day, in one sitting. If I didn't teach in the mornings. If I didn't have kids.
But even though I can't write for a day straight, it's a compulsion and I just can't stop until we get there. To the end. Because I want it to end in a specific way. To create a specific feeling.
There's a moment at the end. Maybe it's the last page, or the last paragraph, or the last line.
But it's a beat. And for me, a book is nothing without that beat.
It's what makes you cry, or hold your breath, or reread it over and over again.
It's the end you can't forget.
April 13, 2009
badass
I just finished a truly badass chapter. It's a had feeling to describe when you just write for four hours straight & it works. Margie and I write everything together, so it isn't done. But the bones are good, hopefully no hip replacement needed.
Since I can't share the chapter, I thought I'd share some other badass things with you.
[ Bruce Lee - The Original Badass ] [ Badass Storm ]
[ Badass Cemetery - St. Louis Cemetery #1, New Orleans ]
[ Badass Show - Buffy the Vampire Slayer ] [Badass Movie - Taken]
[ Badass Cat ] [ Badass Album - Best of Black Sabbath ]
