What I'm Waiting For

It’s been a good year for me and new books. THE OFF SEASON and WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW both came out and were even better than I’d hoped (and my expectations were sky high.) Debuts like WICKED LOVELY impressed me and favorite authors Cecil Castellucci and Lisa Yee came out with the awesome reads BEIGE and SO TOTALLY EMILY EBERS. Then there was the most awaited DEATHLY HALLOWS which I found to be a deeply gratifying read (though I’m still having a hard time with it all being over.)

So now I look to the future and all the books I’m eagerly awaiting in the next few months. Top on that list is of course Ellen Emerson White’s LONG MAY SHE REIGN and a very close second is ECLIPSE- I can’t wait to see what happens next to Bella and Edward. (By the way, does anyone know if that story will end with that book or if it will continue?) I’m also excited for Carolyn Mackler’s new one, GUYAHOLIC, about V from VEGAN VIRGIN VALENTINE. That should be excellent. If I hadn’t lucked into an ARC of it (thanks Siobhan!) I’d also be eagerly awaiting Jay Asher’s THIRTEEN REASONS WHY (it was terrific.)

So that’s my short list of books I’m waiting for- what are you waiting for?

#daphne

Harry Editors

(Get it? Harry editors? Hairy editors? Ha!)

I was watching the Dateline interview with JK Rowling last night and one of the kids in the audience asked her if there was anything she would go back and change about her books. She said yes, she would go back and edit Order of the Phoenix more, as it was very long. I found this really interesting, since I've often heard that that volume is the least popular. It made me wonder if she had ever requested more time for editing, and been denied it because of strict deadlines/sales projections?

Then on HP7's Amazon page I saw that Publishers Weekly threw a dart at Rowling's editors, saying:

We’re also seizing the occasion to wish out loud that her editors had done their jobs more actively. It’s hard to escape the notion that the first three volumes were more carefully edited than the last four. Hallows doesn’t contain the extraneous scenes found in, say, Goblet of Fire, but the momentum is uneven. Rowling is much better at comedy than at fight scenes, and no reader of the sixth book will be startled to hear that Hallows has little humor or that its characters engage in more than a few fights. Surely her editors could have helped her find other methods of building suspense besides the use of ellipses and dashes? And craft fight dialogue that sounds a bit less like it belongs in a comic book? Okay, we’re quibbling. We know these minor nuisances won’t dent readers’ enjoyment, at least not this generation of readers; we couldn’t put Hallows down ourselves. But we believe Rowling, and future readers, deserved even better.

Obviously Rowling was rushed to get these books out quickly (she said in her interview she wished she hadn't commited to a book a year), and therefore had little time to self-edit. And I'm sure her editors weren't given enough time to do their jobs as thoroughly as they would have liked because they, too, were hamstrung by deadlines.

There's a lesson in here somewhere -- perhaps edit in haste, repent at leisure? I adore all of the HP books, but I wonder what they would have been like on a slower publishing schedule?


*caroline hickey

You've put a spell on me

Remember when Cho Chang and Hermione Granger (aka Jenny and Caroline) went to Diagon Alley for All Potters Eve? And remember how Cho informed us that they'd been interviewed for Binside TV? Well, I have found the video and it is, I can assure you, pure magic.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

(Or, if that doesn't load, check out the direct link here.)

Three cheers for Cho and Hermione!

~lisa graff~

I love you, Natalie Goldberg

I'm starting a new type of post called Snippet from a Book on Writing. There are so many great ones and you may not have the time to read them all right now. So that's where I come in. And then you should go buy the book.

Our first one comes from Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.

This is from a chapter called "Doubt is Torture"

Every other month I am ready to quit writing. The inner dialogue goes something like this: "This is stupid. I am making no money, there's no career in poetry, no one cares about it, it's lonely, I hate it, it's dumb, I want a regular life." These thoughts are torture. Doubt is torture. If we give ourselves fully to something, it will be clearer when it might be appropriate to quit. It is a constant test of perseverance. Sometimes I listen to the doubting voice and get sidetracked for a while. "I think I'll go into sales, open up a cafe so other writers can go there, sip cappuccino and write, or get married, have babies, be a homemaker and make wonderful chicken dinners."

Don't listen to doubt. It leads no place but to pain and negativity. It is the same with your critic who picks at you while you are trying to write: "That's stupid. Don't say that. Who do you think you are anyway, trying to be a writer?" Don't pay attention to those voices. There is nothing helpful there. Instead, have a tenderness and determination toward your writing, a sense of humor ad a deep patience that you are doing the right thing. Avoid getting caught by that small gnawing mouse of doubt. See beyond it to the vastness of life and the belief in time and practice.




Lisa GW

QoW: Mixin' it up

Question of the Week: What are some of your favorite writing spots?

I have lots of writing "moods," so it makes sense that I'd have lots of favorite writing spots. I've been working like a mad woman on Book #3 (which is due to my editor sooner than I'd like to think about), so for the past couple weeks I've been lugging my computer to work every single day. And when I get out, it's like the world is my oyster: "Which of my many writing spots will I visit today?" I ask myself (but silently, of course, 'cause I don't want to look like a nutter). My choice all depends on what I (and my story) need at that particular moment in time.

Good lighting
Some days I feel like I need to look at the BIG PICTURE in my book, and these are the days when I know I need stark overhead lighting, white walls, and big clean tables. That's when I head to the Dean & Deluca by my office. Their food is ridiculously expensive and the servers are kinda mean, but boy is it a good spot when what you need to do is concentrate.

Good coffee
Other days my book just really needs a kick of energy, and when I need that extra jolt, I don't mind cramming myself in to the smallest space immaginable on all of Earth. I just head to Joe's where the coffee is yum and the people are friendly (they have to be, because there's seriously no space to be surly).

Good food
And then there are times when I am frustrated, and my plotting is feeling a little sparse. That's when I know I need sustinence, and so I go to Tisserie, which has the yummiest assortments of pastries and quiches this side of ol' Paris. They may play their music a little too loudly at times, but you leave with a happy belly and lots of words on the page.

Good 'n' cheap
And lastly there are those days after I've just balanced my checkbook and I realize that my bank account can't handle the load of even one more cup of coffee. Those days I head on over to the tried and true New School cafeteria, wipe the crud off the table with a napkin, and whip out my bag of pretzels from home. Ah, the glamorous life of a writer...

~lisa graff~

Fake Harry Potter Shirts, Rated PG-13

i thought these saucy harry potter shirts were pretty funny. but since they are a bit fresh (and not actually for sale), i'll link to them instead of posting a picture. so if you are like me, and have the "dirty" humor of a thirteen-year-old, click here and have a good snicker.

-=siobhan=-

yay treats

Question of the Week: What are some of your favorite writing spots?

Now, this place ain't perfect, but it's pretty great. First of all, it's in Brooklyn. Yay! Proximity is important. Naidre's is a cute little nook of a cafe with really good lemon cake. It has wireless Internet. Also key. You can get a bagel with cream cheese and tomato for like, nothing. Now for the downsides: It can get really crowded and you have to wait for a table like an eager vulture. Also, it's the kind of place where people sneer at people with lap tops, and yet everybody there has a lap top. Except for one group of people-- the mommies and loud babies. Yeah, it can get a little or a lot bit noisy on a Tuesday afternoon. But wait, don't forget about the creamy balsamic dressing and the Earl Grey brownies! See, food is crucial for me when it comes to successful writing. I need little treats as guide posts, to keep me going and also happy. So, treats and Internet cross out loud children and sneering table-neighbors. Because, there aren't always babies or pretentious folk there, but there's ALWAYS Internet and chocolatey goods.

jenny

QoW: Elegy for a coffee shop

Question of the Week: What are some of your favorite writing spots?

I've answered this question at length in the past, so I'd like to ignore this week's question and spend a moment mourning the passing of my very favorite reading spot.

DT-UT wasn't a great place to write. The wireless was free, so I'd end up checking e-mail or the news every time I got momentarily stumped. It was always crowded, so a person couldn't always get an outlet (sometimes not even a chair). The soundtrack could be distracting, as could the conversations around me, which were almost always more interesting than whatever I was writing.

But it was a great place for all the parts of writing that aren't about sitting with your computer and making stuff up. When I was in grad school I'd take my journal there to do Sarah Weeks' people-watching assignments. The entire neighborhood used it as our living room: all the neighborhood teenagers showed up there, and in the evenings it was packed with people meeting up before going on to the next thing.

Best of all, it was my favorite place in the world to take a book and chill out for a while. Since I almost always had writing to do, it was a huge luxury to actually have a couple hours and a few extra bucks to sit around in a coffee shop and just read, for fun.

DT-UT closed on June 24 -- rumor has it their lease came up, and the landlord doubled the rent. The last book I sat and read there was Sarah Beth Durst's Into the Wild, the day before it closed.

Today is the first day I've really felt the loss. My copy of Deathly Hallows finally arrived. I'm finishing up one or two things around the house, and then I'm headed out to sit and read--somewhere. I don't know where! It's the perfect DT-UT day, and I don't have DT-UT anymore.

Any suggestions? Where are your favorite places to sit and read?

--Kathryne

Wicked Good

There are certain books that start to build buzz early- you hear about them months before their release, about how great they are, about how unique and special and fantastic they are. Sometimes after all the build up, the book itself falls flat. And other times it’s even better than promised.

I started hearing about Melissa Marr’s WICKED LOVELY a few months ago. So when I picked up a copy the other day I was curious whether it would live up to the hype. And boy did it and then some- I could not put this story down! The characters rock, the story rocks, the writing tells the story beautifully but doesn’t hit you over the head saying ‘look at me, I’m beautiful writing’. It’s a modern day fairy tale with all the elements of a classic fairy tale. The quest, risk and evil are archetypal, but the twists of Marr’s plot are unique. The ending is perfect and highly satisfying. And did I mention how much I love Aislynn, the main character?

This is most definitely a case where the buzz was spot on. I’m already looking forward to Marr’s next novel!

#daphne

Cho and Hermione Go to Diagon Alley

From here on out, Caroline and I (Jenny) will only be referred to as Hermione and Cho.


Hermione and Cho at Kiddie Lit Drinks, alas there was no butterbeer. But they made do with fine meads of Coke and tonic. If you look closely, you will see Hermie's SPEW badge and Cho's Harry Potter tie.


Then they moved on to Diagon Alley, where oh my gosh, there was the Whomping Willow! What was the Whomping Willow doing in Diagon Alley? Cho and Hermione weren't asking questions, they were just goin with the flow. Incidentally, this is where our two heroines were interviewed by Binside TV! Hermione impressed the newspeople with a spell.

Last stop: McNally Robinson's book party. There was a huge line that wrapped around the store, and Cho couldn't believe that two such VIPs would have to wait in line-- Hermione reminded her that even witches shouldn't be given special treatment, that Muggles, house-elves, and witches are all alike and should be treated as such.

This is Hermione posing with Caroline Hickey's book, "Cassie Was Here." Ooh la la! Hermione knows a good book when she sees it!

QoW: Sunshine is a plus

Question of the Week: What are some of your favorite writing spots?

I have to say, ever since I got my new computer, my beautiful MacBook, I totally take advantage of the long battery life. And that means that I take every opportunity to write outside, wireless and free.

One of my favorite outdoor writing spots is French Roast on the Upper West Side. There are tables outside, and the waitresses and waiters are really nice and writing-friendly. I usually just order scrambled eggs, toast and iced coffee, and I stay for a few hours. But, don't worry, I do leave a big tip.

It's a great place to write because I have the murmur of conversations going on around me, some traffic noises and other street commotion. However, it's the perfect amount of noise for me, and I've gotten some great writing done there.

What are some of your favorite writing spots?


Lisa GW

It is finally finished...

So I started the book around 12:30am, thinking I'd read a chapter or two before I went to sleep. And now here it is nearly 7 in the morning and the book is done and I'm tired but elated. Don't worry, no spoilers here-- I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow I will post the Adventures of Cho and Hermione at Scholastic yesterday!

tra la la
Jenny

SVH Lives Too!

I just read some news that totally made my day: the Sweet Valley High books are being re-launched! Publisher’s Weekly says:

Also well known to former series readers is Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High, which Laurel Leaf is relaunching next April with Double Love and Secrets, due out with new covers and 65,000-copy first printings, and the inclusion of cell phoning, e-mailing and the like. Horowitz explains that there was enormous in-house nostalgia for this series, as many staffers recall growing up with the books, which have what she terms a universal appeal: "Sweet Valley High is about high school and adolescence, which everyone has to go through. These books tap into kids' need to know that their experiences and fears are normal and that they are not alone." SVH, which launched in 1983, has sold 150 million copies worldwide.

I’m a little concerned with the new covers, since I love the eighties drawings. But I can’t believe I’m going to get to tool around Sweet Valley in the Fiat (which was always driven deftly), laugh at class clown Winston Egbert and read the 'Oracle' again- hooray!

Is anyone else as excited as I am about this?

#daphne

Coram Boy LIVES!!!

According to Publishers Weekly, CORAM BOY, is on its way to becoming a feature film! It will be directed by Alan Parker who directed THE COMMITMENTS!

CORAM BOY was originally a book and was then made into a stage play in London. When the play came to Broadway, three of us Longstockings went to see it and two of us (Jenny and myself!) were positively traumatized. Here's our roundtable discussion of the play.

When the movie comes out I will definitely check it out. My only fear is that all the gruesomeness will be even MORE realistic in the movie.

I mean, the story and characters are captivating -- really. But dead babies... I don't know how much more I can take!

~Coe~

Escaping My Problems (By Reading About Theirs)

I’ve been in a bit of a slump with my writing, stuck in the outline stage of a new piece. While I am making a progress each time I fire up my laptop, the emphasis is much more on the slow than it is on the steady.

When I get into these jams, I have to admit... I become a self-loathing, self-punishing mess. I really hate myself for not being able to solve my narrative problems easy-peasy. If there were a cane nearby, I’d use it on my knuckles. Down, down, down into the dumps I go. And while this goes on and on, I find it impossible to be social, to smile, to be any kind of fun. (apologies in advance to the friends I’m meeting at Sing Sing karaoke bar tonight)

But I can also recognize how stupid all that is, and I am well aware that I’m being a big whinny baby. I know there are much worse problems to have, much more terrible things to suffer from. And I also know what I need—someone to crash my pity party and tell me to sack up already!

I don't want that someone to be from my real life, though. That would be harsh.

So I recently read galleys of GRIEF GIRL by Erin Vincent and TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER by Crissa-Jean Chappell. Both of these books are fantastic, and both of them tackle problems faaaar more difficult than me slogging through my Swiss Cheese outline.
GRIEF GIRL is a non-fiction book, detailing how Erin Vincent’s life changed when her parents died unexpectedly. It’s such a powerful, honest book about the many things that happen to a person during the grieving process. I mean, this baby is gritty and honest and unflinching. And it’s full of delicious self-loathing moments like when Erin feels guilty for thinking she looks pretty hot on the way to her mom’s funeral. It doesn’t get more real, more unflattering, more gut-wrenchingly candid than that.

TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER is another wonderful book, about a girl named Fin who suffers from OCD. The OCD stuff is written soooo beautifully in this novel. I mean, you really sense Fin’s compulsive tendencies, feel her fighting them as best she can, until she ultimately succumbs. She wants to get better, and she even tries out Paxil, but it only makes things worse. Waaaay worse.

It’s practically impossible to stay in a funk after reading how these characters cope, and rise and fight against their far-worse situations. Both books are really inspirational! So, thank you, Erin and Crissa, for being just the kick in the whinny a$$ I so desperately needed.

-=siobhan=-

Win a free copy!

If you'd like to win a free, signed copy of my book CASSIE WAS HERE, you're in luck!

MotherReader has just posted an interview avec moi and if you comment with something fun to do in the summer, you'll win a chance at said freebee! Winner to be chosen at random.

Check it out!


*caroline hickey

Harry Potter leak alert!

And this one, it seems, is for real. From today's PW Daily:

As Harry Potter fans go, Will Collier is not particularly passionate. But he said he "got caught up in the hype" and decided to buy a copy of HP 7 from DeepDiscount.com.

"I placed an order a couple of weeks ago," said Collier, a metro Atlanta-based aerospace contractor. "I got home from work yesterday (July 17) and it was on my doorstep." Collier may be one of hundreds of DeepDiscount customers who had a similar experience.

I find this weirdly hilarious. Imagine coming home and finding the most heavily guarded book in existence lying on your doorstep. Hee hee. It gives me the giggles. Scholastic isn't giggling, of course. They're suing DeepDiscount.com.

And what does Mr. Collier think about people who give away spoilers for fun? Well, he has this to say:

"I think that's pretty rotten," he said. "When I was a teen-ager, I wouldn't have wanted anyone coming out of a movie theater telling me, "Darth Vader is Luke's father."

Way to ruin Star Wars for me, dude...

~lisa graff~

QoW: One after another

Question of the Week: What book most inspired you to write?

I'm sitting in my living room scanning the full-wall bookcase for an answer to this question, and the only answer I can come up with is: all of them. Pretty much every book I've ever read has inspired me to write.

What I find interesting is the different ways books inspire me.

I started out writing stories about pretty much whatever happened to me or anyone I knew. I remember writing a "Welcome to the neighborhood" book for the new neighbors. It was about a little girl who had some new people move in next door, oddly enough.

Then in third or fourth grade, I was invited to submit a book to an exhibition of work by students in the G&T program, and I wrote a sequel to Lois Lenski's Strawberry Girl. (I would say more about that, but to be honest I don't remember a thing about either the story I wrote or the book that inspired it.) By that point, my writing was pretty much an extension of my reading: I wrote to stay in the stories longer, to find out what happened after the last page.

Nowadays, the books that inspire me are the ones that feel like part of a conversation I want to join. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is a perfect example of that. (Actually every Chris Crutcher book is; SFfSB is just the first one I read.) A lot of scenes cover very heated discussions in a class the characters take, called "Contermporary American Thought": Every time I read it, I want to be in that classroom, contributing to the conversation. So I had to write my own book.

What amazes me about reading is that I'm never UN-inspired to write by what I read. I started out in theatre, directing, and every now and then I'd see a production that made me think "well, I'm never going to direct Twelfth Night now--I don't have anything to add to what I just saw." By contrast, I've never read a book that made me think its subject was closed. There is always another story to tell, another perspective to explore. There's always room for more people to join the conversation.

--Kathryne

Pretty Exciting

The business of publishing involves lots and lots of waiting. The hardest is waiting for the book to sell of course, but the wait for it to come out is a long one and some days it can feel like forever. But then every once in a while you hit a milestone in the publication journey and it is the biggest thrill. I hit such a milestone last week: the first pass of my book. This is where the manuscript comes not like the word document I sent my editor, but laid out like a real book. Here’s the title page:

And here’s an example of the text:

I love, love, love the detail the brilliant people at Harper put in! I think those leaves are so pretty! There are teeny tiny ones by every page number too and I love them. Those people at Harper are good!

Reading my book in book form was surprisingly weird. Like it actually read differently. Which was nice considering I’ve read the story a million plus times, but also kind of unsettling. I’d be reading and thinking, “wow, we’re here already?” But in the end I was really happy with all the changes we’ve put in. And it was a pretty exciting milestone.

Next stop, ARCS- that will really be something!

#daphne

Harry, Harry, Harry before I go insane...

120 hours to go-o-o... I wanna be satiated...
Harry Harry Harry before I go insane!


It's almost here, yall. I know we Longstockings must seem pretty Potter obsessed, but hello, who isn't? And if you're not, why aren't you?? I've been accused by some (Caroline) of accidentally revealing HP endings. Accidentally, mind you! It's a little tradition of mine to read HP as soon as I get it, after midnight and read straight on through the night and then go to sleep, wake up, and finish it within the first 24 hours. But this year, I've decided to seal these loose lips up and make the pledge. The Harry Potter-Walmart pledge. Why don't you go to to makethepledge.net and too, and pledge to "keep silent on what we discover July 21st". But this pledge is null and void after one month, Hickey! (Because I'm sorry, but if you take longer than a month to get around to reading the FINAL CHAPTER of Harry Potter, something just ain't right! wink wink.)


Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be satiated
Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be satiated
Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be satiated
Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be satiated


love Jenny, who happens to be channeling one Miss Rayanne Graff (no relation to Lisa Graff)

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

*WARNING - POTENTIAL SPOILERS*

I saw the new Harry film yesterday and it was GOOD. On the whole, the movie was darker and more serious than the other films. Harry is definitely maturing as a character (and Daniel Radcliffe as an actor), so there was a lot less of the "good times at Hogwarts" moments and a lot more evil-fighting. All of the adult wizards were absolutely wonderful, from Sirius to Dolores Umbridge (who stole the show) to Snape. The scene where they fly through London was breathtaking, and the wizard battle at the end between Dumbledore and Voldemort was fantastic! However, it seemed like the movie flew from one scary, high-drama situation to the next, with hardly any rest in between. (Though I was with two people who hadn't read the books, and they didn't feel this way -- they enjoyed the fast pace.)

My biggest criticism would be that they cut so much out to take the 800-page book and make it fit two hours and twenty minutes. It's understandable, and I was glad to lose some of the storylines (like Hermione fighting for House Elf rights), but what I felt was missing was the development of the other young wizard characters. We see Harry continuing to grow into an adult, with his character becoming more and more complex, but Hermione and Ron were virtually unchanged, with very little screentime or insight into how they are maturing as wizards.

Luna Lovegood was a terrific addition, and I wish we'd seen more of her. And Sirius, I'm happy to report, was sexier than ever.

My Rating: 2 Wands Up

*caroline hickey

I'm just Mad about Harry: A Rant

The release of Deathly Hallows is less than a week away, and with the parties and stratospheric profits at Scholastic comes my least favorite part of the season: the "How Harry Potter is Ruining Our Culture" article. Today's rant comes courtesy of Ron Charles' Op-Ed in today's Washington Post, which you can read here. Go on, read it for yourself, so I can take it apart point-by point for you.

This article follows the format I've come to know and love since 1998: 1) the Harry Potter books are not well-written; 2) there's tons of fantastic British fantasy out there and Harry doesn't lead enough readers to it; 3) statistics show a consistent decline in the reading of novels by adults, and Harry isn't helping.

(It mercifully skips my favorite complaint, "the Harry Potter books are sexist because Harry is a boy", but adds in "reading Harry Potter is making adults into children who can't think for themselves." The author makes a snide comment about grown-ups "horning in on our kids' favorite books". I've made this point already, but I'll say it again: it is your job as a parent to horn in on your kids' favorite books. It's part of getting to know your kids.)

I'll get point three out of the way first, and I'll ask you to make sure you're sitting down as I do. Ready? Right then, here goes: Who cares if people don't read novels? (*Ducks under desk to avoid flying objects*) Okay, clearly I do, because my friends and I write them and I'd like that to be an economically viable profession. But honestly, no one is suffering a deficit of fiction or stories, thanks to this handy little moving-picture machine we all have in our homes.

The point of fiction, as I see it, is to allow its consumer to think about truth outside of facts: to have a chance to experience events outside of our own lives, and to see ideas through perspectives other than our own, through the imaginative stories of other people. I know, reality programming is taking over the world, too. But despite the lack of new sitcom and drama programming from the networks, most of what they've already made is still available in syndication. Thanks to cable and Netflix, I can, if I wish, keep up my lifelong addiction to stories without ever cracking a book. Not that I would want to. But I could.

Point 2: the author of the piece states that:
"The vast majority of adults who tell me they love Harry Potter never move on to Susanna Clarke's enchanting Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, with its haunting exploration of history and sexual longing, or Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, a dazzling fantasy series that explores philosophical themes (including a scathing assault on organized religion) that make Rowling's little world of good vs. evil look, well, childish. And what about the dozens of other brilliant fantasy authors who could take them places that little Harry never dreamed of?"

Well, it may be true that the majority of Harry readers will stop there. But a minority of Harry readers is still millions upon millions of people, and how many of them did go on to read Clarke or Pullman, or Lewis or Tolkein, or Wynne-Jones or Larbalestier? I've personally hand-sold great books to parents looking for stuff their Harry-reading kids will like next, and I don't even work in a bookstore. And going back to the economics of novel-writing, how much of recent children's and YA fantasy would never even have gotten past acquisitions, if Harry hadn't made the whole genre commercially viable again?

Maybe I'm reading in too much, but somewhere in this complaint I see a wistfullness--that Harry Potter didn't change the world enough. It gets everybody excited about a book the way we're used to getting about a movie opening or TV series finale, it appeals to people who don't usually read at all, and yet the series is considered a failure because it doesn't magically convince reluctant readers to abandon their TV sets for the joys of the written word. Good grief.

I'm not even going to bother disputing Point 1. Think, if you want, that the Harry books are characterized by "the repetitive plots, the static characters, the pedestrian prose, the wit-free tone, the derivative themes", I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. But for pete's sake, nobody's forcing you to read it if you don't want to. Go back to your literature.

And in the name of all I cherish, stop trying to ruin the fun for the rest of us.

--Kathryne

Out In the Middle of Nowhere...

I just finished reading DESERT CROSSING by Elise Broach, and all I have to say is WOW. This book is a mystery, thriller, and coming-of-age story all wrapped up in one. There's even some romance… ;-)

DESERT CROSSING is the story of 14-year-old Lucy Martinez who is on a road trip with her older brother Jamie and his waaay hot friend, Kit. They're on their way to Phoenix to visit Lucy and Jamie's father during their spring break. I'm giving nothing away when I tell you that, during a terrible storm, their car hits something on the highway. At first they think it must have been an animal since they're out in the middle of the desert. But when they turn around to check, they discover it's not an animal at all.

It's a girl. And she's dead.

This sets into motion a whirlwind of events, especially when the police enter the picture. And over the course of the next few days, Lucy has a lot to deal with! There are feelings of guilt and fear and, ultimately, self-discovery. And there is determination to find out the identity of the girl and what really happened out there on the highway. This leads to some very exciting moments where I just couldn't seem to turn the pages fast enough!

If you love well-written, exciting mysteries with memorable characters (and who doesn't?), check out DESERT CROSSING. Simply put: It’s great!
☺

~Coe~

T-t-t-t-tension

Who enjoys irony? I do. I even enjoy Alanis Morrisette's "Isn't it Ironic" song. What I'm finding particularly ironic this week is that what's missing from my WIP is the same thing that's currently taking over my life.


Allow me to explain.

My husband and I are moving in just a few weeks, we've bought our first house, and we're relocating to DC (the first Longstocking to leave the nest!). So I'm incredibly tense, worrying about the settlement and moving and leaving my friends and basically starting over in a whole new city. My back and neck are permanently stiff. Why? TENSION.

Then, while working on my WIP on Tuesday, I had a sudden realization about why my final few chapters weren't working. They didn't have enough tension! They didn't have any, in fact. It was all just hunky dory plot plodding along, with some decent emotional moments.

It's too bad there's no way to directly transfer the tension in my neck to chapters twelve and thirteen. But I do think that now I've identified what's nagging me about the ms, I can start fixing it!

Now if only I could get my characters to pack for me...


*caroline hickey

P.S. Little Willow interviewed me this week... read it here!

P.P.S. The picture of the worried baby is so cute I couldn't resist. Who doesn't love a worried baby picture?

All Potter, all the time

So from here on out till next Friday, all you will hear from me is Potter, Potter, Potter. (Okay, maybe you'll hear something else, but not likely.) I believe in doin it up!

So here now, is a recipe for Butterbeer (courtsey of Yumsugar.com, from Elanor Isolda at The Leaky Lounge)

1 litre cream soda
2-3 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp brown sugar
200ml single cream
4 or 5 Werther's Originals

Put the cream soda in a pan to boil.
Melt the butter and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved.
Pour the butter and sugar mixture into the pan of boiling cream soda (make sure the soda is boiling, or the butter and sugar will solidify).
Add the cream.
Add the Werther's Originals and stir continuously until they melt.
Serve hot.
You can also add a couple of shots of Butterscotch Schnapps for that extra kick!

Hooray!

One of the reasons that I think writing books for kids is the coolest thing ever is the memory of how much books meant to me when I was young. I credit certain books with helping me through the roughest of times and making the world a bigger place than just my junior high and high school. And there’s nothing I love more than revisiting those books— it’s like hanging out with an old friend, familiar and comfortable and fun. The difference is of course that with a friend you get new conversation with the same person, whereas the books are pretty much the same.

That is, unless a favorite childhood author gets it into her head to write a new book about a character she created some twenty plus years ago. This is not the sort of thing I generally even waste my time hoping for but I just found out that it’s actually coming true for me. Ellen Emerson White, she who wrote the books about Meg Powers, daughter of the first female president, and also wrote FRIENDS FOR LIFE about Susan McAllister, one of my favorite books and characters ever, is writing a new book about Meg that has Susan in it!!!

Sometimes life is truly good.

#daphne

harry, harry, harry!

In celebration of the final book, I give you...



for part 2, tune in tomorrow! Or, just check out the website yourself. Whatevs.

writing quote 001

"writing is all about trying to overcome procrastination." -- larry gelbart

I don't know who Larry Gelbart is, but the man knows what's up. He's got my number!

Ssshhing forbidden. Coolness required.

Okay, so last year when I told some friends that I had gotten a job as a school librarian, a few of them made fun of me. Seriously. I hate to admit it, but it's true. Well, you may be thinking why do you have friends that make fun of you? and I don't blame you for thinking that. But we're getting off the topic. Here's the deal: librarians should never be made fun of. Librarians are cool; they've always been cool. And maybe it's just taken some people a little while to realize it.

Here. Check this out, and see for yourselves.


Hugs & Kisses,
Lisa (GW) The Librarian

QoW: Extra Whiz, Please.

Question of the Week: How do you get out of a writing slump?

I've been struggling a bit with my WIP as of late. I've got the characters pretty developed in my mind, and after last weekend's retreat and an illuminating chat with Jenny Han, I now have some idea of what they should be doing in the book. I've written about a million never-to-be-seen pages to get me to this point. But now, I got to get serious.

It's time for me to move onto the outline stage. Personally, I can't write an entire book without an outline. And my editor wants me to show him an outline. And I actually ENJOY outlining...you know, when I have ideas.

So I'm heading out this weekend to gorgeous PHILADELPHIA to do some on-site research. I'll spend five days in the City of Brotherly Love soaking up the ambiance, taking long walks, observing and remembering what it was like when I was seventeen and living there for the summer. I've got a list of places I want to visit, food I need to eat, and little cafes to write in.

I hope that being seeped in a place will help me to come up with the locations and details and sparkly magic je ne sais quoi that help to make my outline come alive, help to stick all my random ideas and little story beats together like glue. Or in the case of Philadelphia, cheese whiz.

I guess at the very least, I won't come home hungry.

-=siobhan=-

Theme Songs

Songs can be very helpful in trying to sum up the tone or feeling of a WIP. For you dedicated Longstockings readers, you might be aware that I'm currently revising my second book and it's turning out to be challenging, to say the least. So here I am at my desk today, trying to write, and thinking about theme songs.

First I decided on a theme song for my just-released book, CASSIE WAS HERE. It's about an 11-yr-old girl who moves to a new neighborhood, is desperate for someone to hang out with, and brings her old imaginary friend back to life to keep her company. For this book, the perfect song would be "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama. If you don't remember this song, shame on you, because it's great. Here's a snippet of the lyrics:

It's a cruel, cruel summer
Leaving me here on my own
It's a cruel, cruel summer
Now you're gone

Then I thought about what the right song would be to help me with ISABELLE'S BOYFRIEND, which is about a 15-yr-old who falls head over heels for another girl's guy and tries to steal him. This is just TOO obvious. Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend."

Hey! Hey! You! You!
I don't like your girlfriend!
No way No way!
I think you need a new one
Hey! Hey! You! You!
I could be your girlfriend

You're so fine
I want you mine
You're so delicious
I think about you all the time
You're so addictive

Just so you know how willing I am to procrastinate working on my WIP, I'm downloading these songs right now to listen to while I revise.

Readers - Comment with your song choices for your current WIP or recent book!


*caroline hickey

QoD: If you can't say something nice...

I'm sure I'm one of many who view you all as writing-group role- models. Here's my writing group question: What methods do you use for critiquing one another's work? How do you handle it when things are hard to say and/or hear?

The writing questions are coming fast and thick these days! Thanks for e-mailing this one, which is definitely a tricky issue for any critique group.

In this area, I fear the Longstockings may not be the most helpful role-models: our style just sort of evolved while we were in school together, and hasn't changed that much since our MFA workshops. We read one or two submissions each week. People write down their comments, and we go around in a circle, breaking only occasionally for discussion. Everyone is careful to provide a balance in their comments between things we like and things we think need work. Generally, the author isn't allowed to speak during this part, except maybe to ask for clarification. After everyone's had her say, then the author can ask questions and we'll have a more open discussion, with the author participating.

As for how deal with hard-to-hear critique: we've developed very, very thick skins! There are eight of us, which means any critique is pretty overwhelming just because of sheer volume. It's easy to leave the meeting feeling as if you haven't written anything that works, because with eight people reading--carefully--the group has commented on every. single. paragraph. of your submission.

Did I say paragraph? Hell, every line. And they probably didn't agree on everything, either. Which is, ironically, one of the advantages of a large group: every time you submit, you see how different people are going to react to your work differently. Some people are going to see exactly what you're getting at, and some are going to think you should write a whole different book. It reminds you that you're not writing for every single person on the planet. You can't. Readers are too different.

Now that I've depressed the hell out of you with very un-helpful advice--feel it out! toughen up!--take heart that I do have some thoughts for those of you trying to start your own group, probably with people you haven't been writing with for years. I learned the following approach to criticism in my undergraduate theatre directing classes, and have applied them with great success when I've taught creative writing.

1) Keep the author quiet. The author really shouldn't be allowed to speak during the critique. It's just too tempting to argue with anything negative, and getting defensive defeats the whole purpose of the workshop. You have to be able to hear what people actually read in your work, especially if it's not what you were going for--you're not going to be able to track down your readers and tell them what you really meant, you have to say your piece through your work! Listen to your readers first, and ask questions at the end.

2) Limit comments. At the Longstockings, each of us writes as complete a critique as we can manage. This is fantastic, but, as I mentioned earlier, it gets overwhelming to hear it all out loud in the meeting. If you limit each person to three or five out-loud comments, the person whose work is being critiqued has a much better chance of hearing patterns without getting overwhelmed (and defensive). It also forces those critiquing to choose their most important points, rather than bringing up absolutely everything they noticed. You can still write full critiques with line edits and all, but let the writer read those at home on their own time--after the discussion.

3) Eliminate judging words. When my classes start talking about each others' work, I put a list of "naughty words" on the chalkboard. The list starts with "good", "bad", "liked", "didn't like", "worked", "didn't work", and I add to it as we go along.

Let's face it, we're all looking for approval. If someone tells you they "didn't like" part of your work, it can feel very important to change it, even if you know that the person who said that only reads realistic fiction and your main character is a zombie. Same if someone says they liked something; you start feeling as if you've "got" that part, and it's hard to get rid of it when you need to. Refusing to use value-judgement words also really helps the reader/critic, by forcing you to be incredibly specific about your reactions to the work. For the writer, it guards against the temptation to get defensive--nobody's judging you, they're just telling you how your writing affected them. (For the record, this is really, really hard. The Longstockings don't even try; we use a "two plus, two minus, two questions" format when we need a guide.)

So there you have it--everything I know about critiquing writing in a group. I'll bet the other Longstockings have points to add, and we'd love to hear from other writing groups! How do you handle critique?

--Kathryne

QoD: Keep your eyes straight ahead, missy

Question of the day: As a writer in a technologically savvy world, it must be tempting to constantly check your ratings on Amazon.com. Do any of you find yourself doing this often? Does it affect your confidence, and if so, how do you battle through feelings of insecurity and jealousy that must arise when comparing your sales to another, perhaps, more "successful" (one that gets more sales) writer. Is it difficult at any point?

Okay, so this is a long and meaty question the ties into the jealousy issue we tackled a little while ago. (Refer back to our jealousy question of the week for a broader analysis.) I am gonna tackle it point by point. Yes, it is tempting to check Amazon rankings, as well as Ingrams book hotline wherein you hear how many books have been ordered, backordered, and sold to bookstores. For me the Amazon rankings don't mean a whole lot because they are always in flux, going way up and down, and I don't consider them very reliable. When my book first came out, I was refreshing all the time, but these days... just once a day. Haha.

So, no, I don't battle through feelings of insecurity or jealousy when I see that ELDEST or GOSSIP GIRL # 53 has a ranking of 3 or something, and I'm at 22,000 (on a good day). Honestly. They're doing what they're doing, and I am doing what I'm doing. It's a whole different thing, that frankly, doesn't have anything to do with me. Our books are not even in the same stratosphere.
I feel like with this business, you can only look at what's right in front of you and not dwell too much on what's behind or to the side, or even way in front. As long as I am selling enough books to be able to continue writing, that sounds pretty good to me. That sounds like a success.

J-Han

QoW: Getting Nothing Done

Question of the Week: How do you get out of a writing slump?

My writing slumps tend to take the form of incredible sloth. I’ll be filled with energy until I get in the vicinity of my computer and then it starts seeping slowly out. As soon as I sit down at my desk, I feel worn out and it takes incredible will power to open my document. At that point I’m so overcome with exhaustion that I need an immediate break and start checking fun things on the internet. Hours later I know all the latest in the kid lit world but my manuscript has not a single new word.

Breaking myself out of it is really hard. The easiest is if something external jump starts me: a note from my editor, a helpful critique, a talk with a writing buddy, etc. It’s like the creative juices have run dry and I need something to stimulate them. If I can’t get anything external, the best thing to do is to force myself to actually read the manuscript. Sometimes I get hooked back in as I re-immerse in the world of the story. Or I hit a scene that makes me cringe and I have to change it ASAP.

Another thing that can help is a deadline, real or manufactured. Like if I convince myself I need to finish half the book before my next critique or I have to have two chapters done before the weekend, that can give me the push I need to get rolling again.

But sometimes I just have to be a sloth for a little while until one day I wake up and the story has appeal again.

#daphne

PHOTO ESSAY: We Work Hard, We Play Hard

Before this past weekend, The Longstockings have been on three official writing retreats. They've always been insanely productive and hardcore events. Last year, I wrote something like 35 pages over two days. Nutty.

But the thing is, we've always and only retreated when it's cold and bleak outside...so that none of us were tempted to leave the warm glow of our laptops. Typically, there's a fire going and slippers are mandatory footwear. Lots of coffee and cocoa are consumed. And usually, we do nothing but write and break for dinner and late night book gossip.

This summer retreat, our very first in warm, beautiful weather, was...ummm...kind of like those other ones.

Let the record show, we did do work.

there's me working

and coe working

and lisa graff revising her next book

and kathryne reading her revision

typey typey typey! etc! etc! etc!

see?! i wasn't lying! we totally did work! a lot!

then...some other stuff happened.

like a splashing contest!

some trips down the slide of writing truth (caroline, i'll never tell!)

a feast of j-han's amazing tequila lime chicken

a little late-night hot tub action

even coe, our retreat's busiest bee, let her hair down...albeit briefly.

i think all the girls agree that this weekend was the best, most fun writing retreat in Longstockings history!

but now, unfortunately, i've got to get back to work. *sigh*

-=siobhan=-

Ode To Our Writing Retreat

Oh, writing retreat, oh writing retreat
why do you go so fast?
I arrived on Thursday
and each day was a blast.

Pool, lounge chair, and laptop: each one was used
Slide, sunburn and hot tub: oh, hilarity ensued.

Pages were typed
Paragraphs written
Jenny's tequila lime chicken
totally left me smitten.

I'll miss you, porch
I'll miss you, little deer
But there will be another writing retreat
so I won't fear.

Writing is hard
a very long road
it's taken too long
just to finish this ode.

By Lisa GW

P.S. This may not be the correct format for an ode.

Kind of Awesome

Little Willow's Best Books of June 2007 list includes two Longstocking books! Pretty neat. We didn't even, like, pay her.

The two books are:

The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff
Cassie Was Here by Caroline Hickey (um, that's me)

So if you haven't checked them out, Little Willow says you should. And she knows of what she speaks!


*caroline hickey