Amigas

1) Work for an hour on current project. Just write out scenes and don't worry whether or not it's perfect. My goal is to finish the story, print up a hard copy, and place it in a binder. Then I can go back and make notes and comments.

2) Books I got to review:



This one looks fun! Cute cover!

And some non-fiction YA






3)Visit with mother-in-law. Son's having a blast and learning to play some card games. He's really enjoying having all the attention.

4)This is from PW:



TELEVISION RIGHTS
NYT bestselling authors PC Cast and Kristin Cast's HOUSE OF NIGHT
series, set in the school where young "marked" students train to
become adult vampires, to Michael Birnbaum at Empire Pictures
(JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE, BANDITS), by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and
Associates, on behalf of Meredith Bernstein at the Meredith Bernstein
Literary Agency.


5) Guilty pleasure today. Well, not for me, but for both my son and mother-in-law, who so deserves a treat.

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail

I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream
I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination
Makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness
Still another mile

I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream
I have a dream
I'll cross the stream
I have a dream

- I Have a Dream by ABBA

View all posts tagged as Poetry Friday at Bildungsroman.

Consult the Poetry Friday roundup schedule at Big A little a.

Learn more about Poetry Friday.

http://misserinmarie.blogspot.com/2008/07/fablehaven-grip-of-shadow-plague.html

by Brandon Mull

Grip of the Shadow Plague is the third book in the Fablehaven series, and at this point I don't feel I can give much of a summary without giving away what happens in the first two books. Read my reviews of book one and book two if you'd like more on what the series is about.

I liked this, the third book in the series, a whole lot better than the second. The characters are developing nicely and some new characters were introduced that I look forward to reading more of as the series progresses. The writing felt much more smooth and the pacing was spot-on: the action seamed the book together rather than overtook the story. My only real complaint was that some of the dialogue felt clunky and unnatural.

Lately I've noticed that I don't read nearly as much fantasy as I used to. I tend to pick up realistic fiction far more often. But honestly, there's something about a story filled with fairies and centaurs and adventures and magic that can't be beat. I enjoyed this book immensely, and really look forward to the next in the series.

If you love discussing good books with other readers, please join the readergirlz! In addition to the monthly issues posted at the website, we also offer a discussion forum where teens and adults chat about books, writing, and ways to be active in their real-life communities.

This month, we've put Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher in the spotlight. Jay will be chatting at the readergirlz forum live TONIGHT, starting at 6 PM PST / 9 PM EST. The chat will last for about an hour.

To learn more about this month's book, please read this month's issue of readergirlz.

Bookmark www.readergirlz.com

So there might be one reader here (Hi, Mom!) who reads my blog but does not read Cynsations.

Thusly (thusly?), I feel like I should point something out: My interview is up over there today, and I'm so amazed by all of the pretty links to the people and places that helped make me a published writer! Vermont College is there, and so is the Denver Publishing Institute, and my agent Rosemary Stimola, and my friend Lara Zeises. Awww.

In contrast to last week, there were a TON of great numbers last night.

I received a very nice e-mail from mroctober with an apology and reassurance that the spelling of my name will be fixed on the cover of the Spicy Slipstream Stories anthology, which was nice to hear, even though I was wholly unaware that my name was even ON the cover...

But here 'tis. And it's available for pre-order already!



(Just a side-note, our internet is down and I'm on sporadic dial-up, so apologies for any delay in getting back on e-mails and comments.)
 

If you've read TRACKING TRASH, then you know Curt Ebbesmeyer is an oceanographer with a passion for floating garbage and the things he can learn from it. What you may not know--and what I am thrilled to tell you today--is that Curt has written a book of his own:





FLOTSAMETRICS AND THE FLOATING WORLD will be published by HarperColliins in March 2009, but
amazon is taking pre-orders now.

Congratulations, Curt!

Bruce Black posted this interview at Wordswimmer today: Me Describing My Best and Worst Writing Days

I liked reading this interview, which Bruce initially conducted when I was at a slightly better writing place than I am now. Remembering those highs is good medicine.

Run to the bookstore!

Oliver Nocturne is here!

The first three books in a thrilling new series by Seattleite (and all around nice and talented guy) Kevin Emerson are OUT NOW! (Early!)

OK, fine, if you're not going to the bookstore, at least check 'em out. The books' web siteeven has extra content in blog form!

Edited to add, from www.kevinemerson.net:
For a vampire, Oliver Nocturne's existence is fairly normal. He wakes each evening and heads off to school, where he and his classmates learn the long history of their kind, and the skills they will need when they receive their demons and become adults.

But Oliver is different than those around him- his gore-loving schoolmates, his loving vampire parents, and his obnoxious older brother, Bane. That's because, unbeknownst to Oliver, he's a little more human than the rest of them. When Emalie, an artistic and defiant human girl with a troubled past, unknowingly takes a picture of him, its sets them both off on a quest to uncover his true origins and the special purpose the vampire world has in store for him.

Read more about each book in the series at:

www.olivernocturne.com

*****
Kevin's stand-alone middle grade novel from Arthur A. Levine, CARLOS IS GONNA GET IT, is coming this fall. More woo!

Finalists for the Wicked Lovely Art Contest are up here [link].  They are divided into 3 age groups.  I'm astounded by the talent out there.  Thanks, all, for indulging my art cravings & letting me shop for art supplies to give away.  Doing this is such a treat.

The judges are now weighing in, so I'll be able to pass out prizes soon.

DUE TO THE DELAY (a couple judges were very swamped & we had more last minute entries), I'll be passing out a couple extra prizes.

OTHER:
Yes, artist interviews are still forthcoming.

Yes, there will be another contest.

So apparently on my birthday, a little over a week ago, the Kidlitosphere exploded with people having identity crises and struggling to keep up with their blogs.  Jen Robinson summed it up nicely in this post, and then added her own thoughts on the matter here. 

It's heavy stuff.  I have a personal, friends only LiveJournal, a craft/design blog, this blog, and I recently added a new blog to chronicle my own personal Happiness Project.  I have tried in the past to give myself schedules, so that I will post more regularly, because I'd like to really develop an audience.  I want to keep people coming back to my blogs, and when I have a month-long hiatus like I just did, that doesn't really happen.  At the same time, there's almost always a lot going on in my life.  I have a very demanding job in terms of energy if not always time.  (I work rather efficiently, so I often leave school before other teachers do.  I feel guilty, leaving only half an hour after our official off-the-clock time.)  Writing is a creative task.  Other blogs are updated frequently, and I like to read them, but I get overwhelmed.  And so with each of the blogs I write, I have to keep my mission for that particular blog in mind.

Here, the mission is to record my reactions to books, and book-related things.  When I started the blog, I reviewed every book I read, and focused on YA.  Now, I'm realizing that no one is asking me to do that except myself.  So I will post reviews here only of particularly noteworthy books, or publish reviews over at The Edge of the Forest when I've agreed to do that.  I'll keep any commitments I make to things like the blog tours, and I'll post responses to interesting things I see in my reading.  And anything else book-related that comes to my attention.

And that's it.  That will be all.  And that way, this will stay fun for me.

Here's the thing that keeps me from worrying I'll lose readers: aggregators.  Things like Google Reader, or the LJ friends page with a feed on it.  If people want to read me, they can subscribe.  Then, when I have a month-long gap, they won't miss a thing.

That NYT review of Mamma Mia was dead-on. Lighten up, people! Who cares if it's hokey, over-the-top, or Pierce Brosnan can't sing? Not me. I LOVED IT. Sat there with a big old grin on my face for two whole hours. Life is too short, too dark, too fraught with potential disaster to not just adore a production that is so life-affirming. I loved watching Meryl Streep let loose and just have fun. And the credits at the end were a riot! The only question I had was why not switch Colin Firth (who actually can sing) and Pierce Brosnan--it didn't really matter which one played which, did it?

If you need a smile, go park your fanny in some theater seats and sing along.

Fangs, Fur, & Fey minicon is this week in Tulsa, OK. (http://www.sftulsa.org/conestoga/)  We have a dedicated program track, as well as joining the main tracks for some events. 

[Note: for those new to the blog, FFF is a writers comm I started Sept 06 with crit partner, J Frost, and author Caitlin Kittredge. It's grown into a largish group with over 100 UF & Paranormal Romance authors.]

For those not attending, please note that many of the panels (but not the social hour at the bar) will be recorded for posting here later.

NOTE: For those attending, this serves as your reminder that we are filming.  :) 

After Conestoga, a few FFF members are attending RWA.  (http://www.rwanational.org/cs/conferences_and_events)

Current mood: focused
Category: Writing and Poetry




POISED AT THE EDGE AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Cynthia Leitich Smith


It's my understanding that we are going to be seeing more from the TANTALIZE (Candlewick, 2007, 2008)(Listening Library, 2008) universe. aCan please tell us about some of your current and upcoming projects?

Let's see… The next book will be ETERNAL (Candlewick, March 2008). That story goes to the heart of the universe's vampire hierarchy, further develops my "conversation" with Abraham "Bram" Stoker, and is told in alternating male and female points of view. It also features different main characters (though careful readers should watch for cameo appearances).

A sneak peek of ETERNAL is available in the about-to-be-released TANTALIZE paperback (July 22). Big picture, though, ETERNAL is somehow more horrific and more romantic than book one—set briefly in Austin and Dallas, but mostly in the Chicago area.

A global storyline is building, and members of the TANTALIZE and ETERNAL casts will crossover for a soon-to-be-announced, climatic third book.

What I'm writing isn't a traditional linear series, but rather "books in a universe," which are interconnected. Book three will end what I'm informally thinking of as the "Dracula's Legacy" storyline.

I have ideas for more novel-length books in that larger fictional construct, but right now, I'm focusing on one (or two) at a time.

Speaking of which, I'm currently in the midst of adapting TANTALIZE as a graphic novel, which will tell the same story (with many new scenes) from the point of view of Kieren, the hybrid werewolf hero, as opposed to Quincie, who narrated the prose version.

Beyond that, I've written two upcoming short stories set in the universe. "Haunted Love," a small-town Texas ghost-vampire story, will appear in IMMORTAL: LOVE STORIES WITH BITE edited by P.C. Cast (BenBella, August 2008)(exclusive to Borders), and "Cat Calls," set at a spooky carnival in rural Oklahoma, will appear in CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2009).

Do you think you will continue to mainly write horror? Do you have any projects that are not in that genre?

I do plan to continue writing horror, and I'm long-term committed to YA fantasy readers. But I also write realistic fiction and books for young kids.

My next realistic YA piece will be "The Wrath of Dawn," a short story, co-authored by Greg Leitich Smith, that will appear in GEEKTASTIC: GEEKY STORIES, edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (Little, Brown, 2009). I'm honored to have been considered geeky enough to merit an invitation to contribute to the anthology.

My next title for young kids will be an original tall tale picture book to be published by Dutton, HOLLER: A VERY LOUD BOY.

For those who are not familiar with TANTALIZE can you give a brief description? Also one of the most unique aspects of Tantalize is Sanguini's, the only gourmet, vampire-themed restaurant in Austin, Texas. What was the inspiration?

TANTALIZE is the story of Quincie P. Morris, a 17-year-old struggling to save her family's Italian restaurant by re-launching it with a "vampire" theme. When the long-time chef is murdered, she's left wondering whether her hybrid werewolf best friend (and first love) or a vampire in wolf form is the killer.

The vampire restaurant grew out of a juxtaposition of two of my long-term desires, to write a story set in a restaurant and to write a horror novel.

I worked a couple of summers in restaurants—before my freshman and sophomore years of college—in Overland Park, Kansas; to make money for tuition.

Restaurants are perfect stages for drama. Think about it: you have thematic décor and menu, mood music, servers in "costume," and, occasionally, people bursting into song. Moreover, with the sights, smells, tastes, and textures, they're characterized by deep sensory and sensual detail. And of course the shifter and vampire traditions are nothing, if not sensory and sensual.

Coming from another direction, I began my career by writing what I knew—contemporary stories of Native-interracial families from the mid-to-southwest. But after finishing INDIAN SHOES (HarperCollins, 2002), I knew it was time to try something else. I'd always enjoyed horror novels as a reader and was a huge fan of Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," so it was a natural direction to take.

We tend to think of vampires in particular as drinkers, not diners, but that opened up the possibility for a fresh twist on the tradition. Why would a vampire want to feed humanity, as opposed to just feed on it? The story expanded from there.

You're fond of recommending books by other authors. What new voices in horror would you recommend to your readers?

Wow, the field is just bursting with great talent and titles! I'll highlight a few…

I just finished an advance copy of LAMENT: THE FAERIE QUEEN'S DECEPTION by debut author Maggie Stiefvater (Flux, October 2008), which is smart, musical, romantic, and reinvents the faerie tradition.

I also enjoyed Brian James' ZOMBIE BLONDES (Feiwel and Friends, 2008), which has welcome touches of humor and girl-powered-ness.

Zombies appear to be hot on the scene. For those with strong stomachs and a taste for gorier horror, Christopher Golden's SOULLESS (MTV Books, fall 2008) is fierce and fascinating.

On a lighter note, fans of vampire-werewolf stories may enjoy the upcoming mystery trilogy by Marlene Perez, beginning with DEAD IS THE NEW BLACK (Harcourt, fall 2008). The titles to follow will be DEAD IS A STATE OF MIND and DEAD IS SO LAST YEAR.

Turning to speculative fiction more broadly, Mary E. Pearson's horror-sci fi THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX (Henry Holt) may well be the best novel of 2008. You can see shades of FRANKENSTEIN in it, but the story will still appeal to thinking readers who like a certain elegance to their fantasies.

Another top notch writer is Printz honor author A.M Jenkins. I greatly enjoyed both her ghost story in verse and prose, BEATING HEART (HarperCollins, 2006), and her demon-driven ALA award book, REPOSSESSED (HarperCollins, 2007). I also just finished her take on the "vampire" and road-trip traditions, NIGHT ROAD (HarperCollins, 2008), and it'll be a big hit with fans of M.T. Anderson's THIRSTY (Candlewick 1997).

I also want to send up a cheer for Deborah Lynn Jacobs, whose POWERS (Roaring Brook, 2006) and CHOICES (Roaring Brook, 2007) are among the strongest of science-fantasies for the YA audience.

What tip do you have for those interested in writing horror?

If it's horror-fantasy, make sure you have "earned your ghost" or other monster.

From a literary perspective, it's not enough to take a realistic character and just slap a set of teeth (or claws) on her. Instead, consider how the specific mythology tradition has developed in books over generations. Decide what your contribution will be, and then make your approach to the fantasy element pay off in terms of character, theme, and plot.

According to author Deborah Noyes, Gothics bear the burden of their history. Bear it with a style all your own.


Currently reading :
Tantalize
By Cynthia Leitich Smith
Release date: 2007-02-13

Well, you see, I still don't have my harddrive and I'm kinda going crazy. Though it's a sad crazy, it's depressing. Cause like I'll just sit with my laptop on my lap and stare at it. I don't even have my music to listen to, to jump start my creative juices. I guess I could go track down all my music . . . but I really don't have the energy. So I just sit and stare. And wish I could think of something to say. I haven't hung out with my friends in a long time. (My characters) Because that's what they are! They're my friends and it's like they're on summer vacation in Alaska and they haven't talked to me since they've been gone. . . or maybe it's like I've been in Alaska and I haven't talked to them in months. I wonder if they've been trying to contact me and my brain is so dead I can't even hear them.
What if I never hear them again? O_O. What if . . . I'm done with writing. . . ok that couldn't happen. But. . .but . . . oh I don't know.
I've fallen out of the twilight fandom I think, I'm excited still but I haven't kept up with anything lately, ever since the crash. I'm not really in any fandom right now . . . it's kinda weird. Wow I just realized I wasn't in a fandom! Ah! I'm not an active member in ANYTHING right now! Maybe a break is good, but I just feel hollow, no joke people, in all those books and movies you really can feel hollow lol.
And I really want another kitty, I had no idea my cat was such a HUGE part of my life. I knew he was a big part, but since he's been gone it's crazy! We only have one cat left (my sisters) and he's a total brat, he doesn't like to be held, he bites if you don't give him attention, he doesn't know how to play without scratching and biting you up and he meows about everything!! He's so annoying. I call him bratface lol. But I really need another kitty, I still tear up about it. Especially when I see bratface or hear him. He doesn't even sound cute. Bluck.
What a depressing entry! I didn't mean to do that. And I feel bad because I haven't really kept up with LJ at all since the crash either . . .
Has anyone heard Jacob's Dream by alison krauss? It's so chilling! Just throwing that out there, I'm sure I've mentioned it before to some of you, but it really is worth hearing once. Even if you don't like folk music.
More depressingness . . . oops.
Ok, so good news is, somehow I've reached 41k in the second draft of MDN!
(And a new scene with Ethan, who's about to leave hehe)
( Ethan )