A to Z Challenge: L is for Language

(I totally fell to pieces during April's A to Z Challenge... but I promised to follow through no matter how long it took to get to the end. So here's an installment, for your reading pleasure. Thanks for sticking with me!)

When drafting your piece, be it short fiction or long, it's important to remember that the words you choose carry weight and that consistency of voice will add depth to your characters just as much as the actions and thoughts and feelings that those words convey.

When I'm writing a first draft, basically I'm grabbing at whatever words will do to get my point across. They're like place holders. The first draft is a marathon and LANGUAGE doesn't matter as much as getting the ideas down on paper.

When I'm editing, word choice becomes much more significant. The language I choose to describe a scene will greatly enhance the experience of the reader. Words hold powerful influence over how we perceive a character or setting.

Consider the following three examples taken from the first pages of three incredible books. (By the by, I'm moving in a few weeks, so all my Harry Potter books are already packed. These three books were chosen from what has not been packed yet.)

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The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.

I prop myself up on one elbow. There's enough light in the bedroom to see them. My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother's body, their cheeks pressed together. In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down. Prim's face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named. My mother was very beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me.

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
The family of Dashwood had been long settled in Sussex. Their estate was large and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner, as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance. The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration in his hoe; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he intended to bequeath it. In the society of his nephew and niece, and their children, the old Gentleman's days were comfortably spent. His attachment to them all increased. The constant attention of r. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood to his wishes, which proceeded not merely from interest, but from goodness of hear, gave him every degree of solid comfort which his age could receive; and the cheerfulness of the children added a relish to his existence.

The Book of Flying - Keith Miller
I am dreaming. I'm dreaming of a city, a white city in the sun by the sea, a city of bells and birdcages, boatswains and ballyhoo, where heart-faced wenches lean bare-breasted from balconies to dry their hair among geraniums and the air is salt and soft and in the harbor sailors swagger from ships that bear cargos of spices. In this city a thousand doves live in the hundred towers of a hundred bells and in the mornings when the bell ringers toll a summons to the sun the doves scatter like blown ash across the tile roofs and light under eaves whispering lulling words to sleepers, bidding them stay in bed a little longer. And on the silver sky other wings rise.
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In each case above, the language employed by the author paints a distinct picture. The narrative voice and the setting are solidified through the words chosen to describe the action. Imagine the picture you would get if the opening passage of the Hunger Games was written in the style that Keith Miller uses for the Book of Flying. You might not feel Katniss's discontent or sense of urgency at all. Miller is painting us a picture of a beautiful land of enchantment. We couldn't imagine otherwise after reading those opening words.

Jane Austen's prose, far from being just a portrait of the times in which she lived, is calculated to give you an idyllic impression of the situation of the social class she is writing about, just before she smashes it all to pieces (ever so subtly and wittily, of course).

When they say a picture paints a thousand words... remember that a word, that LANGUAGE paints pictures as well. Choose your images with care.

Conquering intimidation

Confession: "Ulysses" (James Joyce) intimidates me. I've started it I don't know how many times.

So I decided to read 3 pages a day. Conquer a little bit at a time, you know?

I just made it to page 12, which is further than I've ever gotten before. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Thus far I'm utterly bewildered.

Image from Wikibooks Annotations to James Joyce

No Cicadas Here

It's weird to be disappointed about something like dodging the bullet of a cicada swarm outbreak, but Noah and I were really looking forward to the Brood II emergence this year.

Unfortunately, it never happened. In fact, we have yet to hear the whir of a cicada here at all. I think I remember that last year it was around this time in the summer before the cicadas made an appearance.

I'm from the South, so cicadas are a mark of summer, and to have to wait for them so late in an already short season  makes me feel like something is missing.

So instead we'll have to content ourselves with some images I captured over the past few months and haven't yet posted.

Oh, and tell me what you're reading now! I'm reading Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (thanks Margo, luv, for the recommendation of Shadow and Bone).

Buddha head-stand at Storm King Art Center

Noah contemplating Andy Goldsworthy's wall

Not quite spring when I took this

Lichtenstein's Mermaid

A turtle laying eggs in our back yard

Blue heron fishing on our pond

Reading with intention

Not my house

Hey! It's been a while, I know. Well, here I am, back again. Did you miss me?

It's been a few months now since my reading schedule got a mind of its own. I'm a freelance editor, you see. What that means is that sometimes for months at a time people hurl manuscripts at me and my job is to read them and assess them or correct them or provide suggestions on their improvement... as fast as possible.

Now don't get me wrong. I love this job. It's the most inspiring and exhilarating thing I can think to do with my time and I get paid to do it!

But somewhere along the way a line has to be drawn in the sand. Somehow, amid all the not-yet-published-works-of-amazingness (or not-so-amazingness), I need to be filling my brain with something that reinforces what makes a book a work of amazingness... because otherwise the image of the ideal starts to liquefy.

And so I start flailing about for something to read that is either a classic or current market favorite. It's a good thing my house is stacked full of books. I'm  never far from something to read.

Susan Sontag says, "Reading, the love of reading, is what makes you dream of becoming a writer." For anyone who desires to improve in the craft of writing (or editing), a conscientiously built reading list is a must. I struggle at maintaining this kind of discipline in my own reading life, largely because I am an emotional reader. I think that explains why I keep re-reading Harry Potter. I am attached to those characters at a deeply emotional level, and so returning to them and the world that J.K. Rowling created is a comfort that I cannot resist.

Still, I recognize the need to branch out, and so while flailing for books, I'm also casting about for inspiration. One of my favorite places to turn for reading list fodder is Margo Berendsen. She never fails to have a recommendation that tantalizes. The most recent recommendation of hers that I read and loved was The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson.

I also snagged a copy of the Indie Book Awards list from BEA (Book Expo America) this year, and I'm eager to try out a few of those authors as well.

Currently I'm reading a biography of Zelda Fitzgerald by Nancy Milford (from my flailing about)... and next in my queue is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (a Twitter inspired choice).

But what about you, dear reader? Where do you find your own inspiration? What books have left you bursting with emotion? I'd like to add them to my list!

Lists in the new year

Hi January. Nice to see you here. You sort of crept up on me.

Here's the eloquent Neil Gaiman's New Year's wish to start things off:

It's a New Year and with it comes a fresh opportunity to shape our world. 
So this is my wish, a wish for me as much as it is a wish for you: in the world to come, let us be brave – let us walk into the dark without fear, and step into the unknown with smiles on our faces, even if we're faking them. 
And whatever happens to us, whatever we make, whatever we learn, let us take joy in it. We can find joy in the world if it's joy we're looking for, we can take joy in the act of creation. 
So that is my wish for you, and for me. Bravery and joy.

It's time for making lists. Time to catalog the things I've done and the things I want to do. Last year was full of things I did not expect... like two publishing industry internships... and launching my freelance editing career. I really didn't expect those things to happen, but they made perfect sense and the timing was absolutely right.

Here are this years goals:

• Yoga, at least twice a week... (one day at class, one day at home)
• New clients (three, to be exact... and hopefully more)
• Journal every day. (I hope that this will help boost my writing and blogging, as well)
• Finish a draft of either Lilith or the Red Riding Hood novel. And by finish, I mean SHOW it to someone.
• Take a dance lesson or two.
• Enter a painting (probably the raven) into an art show.
• Read... LOTS... good things... including non-fiction.

There you have it. A list of goals. What are your 2013 goals?

I read more books in 2012 than in 2011. I hope I read more in 2013 than either of the years before. Here are the books I read in 2012. I'll keep a list again this year on the blog so you can see what I read as I read. (FYI, the titles with * by them are/were unpublished manuscripts. Yep... I'm that cool.)

47 - Second Chance Summer - Morgan Matson
46 - Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper
45 - Immoveable Feast - John Baxter
44 - Under Wildwood - Colin Meloy
43 - Ruins - Orson Scott Card
42 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Steven Chbosky
41 - Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold
40 - If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It - Ben Yagoda
39 - Beauty Queens - Libba Bray
38 - Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
37- Seraphina - Rachel Hartman
36 - Iron Daughter - Julie Kagawa
35 - Unleashed - Sara Humphreys
34 - Creatura - Nely Cab*
33 - Pathfinder - Orson Scott Card
32 - Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James
31 - The Sweet Far Thing - Libba Bray
30 - Rebel Angels - Libba Bray
29 - How to Be the Leader of the Pack (and have your dog love you for it) - Patricia McConnell
28 - A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
27 - For the Love of A Dog: Understanding Emotions in You and Your Best Friend - Patricial McConnell
26 - A Lady Can Never Be Too Curious - Mary Wine
25 - The Fastidious Feline - Patricia McConnell
24 - The Talisman Ring - Georgette Heyer
23 - Lost Voices - Sara Porter
22 - Trespassing - Patty Griffin*
21 - Heart of a Highland Wolf - Terry Spear
20 - Self-editing for Fiction Writers - Renni Brown and Dave King
19 - Venetia - Georgette Heyer
18 - Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
17 - Let's Pretend This Never Happened - Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess)
16 - In Celestine's House - _. Gernes *
15 - Crank - Ellen Hopkins
14 - A Dance With Dragons - George R.R. Martin
13 - Divergent - Veronica Roth
12 - The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
11 - Unspeakable Things - Kathleen Spivack *
10 - Of Wolves and Men - Barry Lopez
9 - Pearl - John French *
8 - The Artist's Way - Julia Cameron
7 - American Gods - Neil Gaiman
6 - Shift - Kate Thurmond *
5 - Tyme Benders - Thomas Suprenant *
4 - Twenty Mile Bottom - Joe...? *
3 - Butterfly - Gloria Montero *
2 - Legend - Marie Lu
1 - The Iron King - Julie Kagawa

I hope this new year brings strength, wisdom, and prosperity to you in unexpected ways.

Merry Solstice

It's the longest night of the year. The darkness has been creeping in, rising to it's fullest height. But tonight marks the turning point. The days will begin to be longer, fuller, brighter. Spring has rung the bell from far away. We'll wait for her return.

I have news for you

(9th century Irish)

I have news for you:

The stag bells, winter snows, summer has gone

Wind high and cold, the sun low, short its course

The sea running high.

Deep red the bracken; its shape is lost;

The wild goose has raised its accustomed cry,

cold has seized the birds' wings;

                                                      season of ice, this is my news

In honor of the solstice and the midwinter, I'm going to pick up Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" series again. They're perfect for acknowledging the long dark of winter while looking ahead to the coming of the spring.

In face of the oncoming storm

Reading material. I have Margo Berendsen to thank for a
couple of these suggestions.

We have all our preparations down to a science now. This will be the third heavy, power-loss-inducing storm to have hit us in two years, and the one with the most warning. Our list of supplies: coffee, pre-ground with no-refrigeration-necessary creamer; water, to drink and in the bathtub for flushing purposes; alternative light sources, matches/candles and battery powered lanterns; emergency radio for, you know, emergencies; blankets and reading material (see photo).

We decided to try to act normal while waiting for this newest weather threat to pummel us within an inch of our lives. I keep hoping the predictions are all worst-case-scenarios and that we're actually going to be completely fine. Denial much? Sigh...

Normal for us is pretty subdued anyhow. But with Halloween right around the corner, it was pumpkin carving time. We broke out the unconventional tools (a wood carving set and a seam-ripper were the most useful implements) and spent the evening whittling away.

If you've read this blog much over the past year, you might have picked up on the fact that I'm a Doctor Who fan. So this year's pumpkins have a theme from one of my favorite episodes: Blink (season 3, ep. 11).**

Doctor #10... my second favorite Doctor, but there are a
lacking of #9 stencils out there, sadly.

Noah's completely terrifying rendition of a weeping angel

The two together on the porch.

I would have taken a better picture of the two of them but it was late, it was chilly, and there may or may not have been a horrifyingly huge spider sighted in that general vicinity earlier in the evening. I was nervous!

I hope you all have a happy Halloween! And here's hoping that the storm decides to be kind. Please no prolonged power outages!

**Every minute spent carving was one LESS minute spent obsessing over the weather channel and the path of this ridiculously slow and threatening behemoth of a storm.

Something Else Important About Beats in Dialogue

A few months ago I wrote this post about dialogue tags. I have heard (and read) so many different opinions since then re: dialogue beats and tags, their usage, and what makes a good scene. I felt like it was time to ponder the subject again.

The general feeling is that if dialogue in a scene needs the tags, it's poorly written; that writers should aim for conveying emotion through the characters' words instead of spoon-feeding it to the readers in the narration. It is the mark of an insecure writer that he feels the need to give you information that should have been conveyed in the dialogue, to make sure the reader understands that his characters are emoting or what the scene is supposed to reveal. Trust the reader to figure out what the dialogue "means". And after having a couple of critique partners review it, if they point out that a run of dialogue really is too obscure, then take the time to re-write. Beats are easy to add where they are needed. It's harder to extract them, I find.

In the book "Self-editing for Fiction Writers" by Renni Browne and David King, the authors suggest:

"It's best to replace only a few of your speaker attributions with beats. A beat after every line of dialogue is even more distracting than too many speaker attributions. What you want is a comfortable balance."

I tend to agree with that sentiment. Too many tags or beats in a run of dialogue can throw off the momentum of the scene so much that the readers forget what the characters are talking about by the end of the page!

I don't think that all beats and tags are bad. I do think a writer needs to choose her beats wisely and make the most of them. First she needs to understand the anatomy of the scene she is writing: What are the key emotions at play here? How fast is the exchange between characters supposed to feel? What else is going on in the scene? and Which actions are important to the development of the scene?

And now, because examples in real life are always fun, I'm going to borrow from J.K. Rowling to illustrate my point. What I love about Rowling is that she's not perfect. But her characters emotions are perfectly conveyed.

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Excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban":
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione screamed.
Lupin let go of Black and turned to her. She raised herself off the floor and was pointing at Lupin, wild-eyed. "You-- you--"
"Hermione--"
"--you and him!"
"Hermione, calm down--"
"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked. "I've been covering up for you--"
"Hermione, listen to me, please!" Lupin shouted. "I can explain--"
Harry could feel himself shaking, not with fear, but with a fresh wave of fury.
"I trusted you," he shouted at Lupin, his voice wavering out of control, "and all the time you've been his friend!"
"You're wrong," said Lupin. "I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now--Let me explain..."
"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too--he's a werewolf!"

Excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix":
"There is no shame in what you are feeling, Harry," said Dumbledore's voice. "On the contrary... the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength."
Harry felt the white-hot anger lick his insides, blazing in the terrible emptiness, filling him with the desire to hurt Dumbledore for his calmness and his empty words.
"My greatest strength, is it?" said Harry, his voice shaking as he stared out at the Quidditch stadium, no longer seeing it. "You haven't got a clue... You don't know..."
"What don't I know?" asked Dumbledore calmly.
It was too much. Harry turned around, shaking with rage.
"I don't want to talk about how I feel, all right?"
"Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human--"
"THEN--I--DON'T--WANT--TO--BE--HUMAN!" Harry roared, and he seized one of the delicate silver instruments from the spindle-legged table beside him and flung it across the room. It shattered into a hundred tiny pieces against the wall. Several of the pictures let out yells of anger and fright, and the portrait of Armando Dippet said, "Really!"
"I DON'T CARE!" Harry yelled at them, snatching up a lunascope and throwing it into the fireplace. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE--"
He seized the table on which the silver instrument had stood and threw that too. It broke apart on the floor and the legs rolled in different directions.
"You do care," said Dumbledore. He had not flinched or made a single move to stop Harry demolishing his office. His expression was calm, almost detached. "You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it."
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These two scenes illustrate very different emotions. Characters in both scenes do a lot of yelling, but the timing of the dialogue is the key to the emotions in each scene. In the Prisoner of Azkaban scene, the urgency of the scene is conveyed by quick back-and-forth dialogue. If you remember the same scene in the movie, there are a lot of actions that the characters take (i.e. looking to and from one another; Hermione steps in front of Harry to shield him from Sirius and Lupin; Lupin reaches out to implore Hermione to listen). None of those actions are portrayed in the dialogue, because to add them, while giving you a physically more accurate description, would take away from the momentum of the scene. The readers can just as easily imagine the action as they read the dialogue.

In the second scene, from the Order of the Phoenix, the dialogue progresses much more slowly. The emotion  in this scene does not come from a rapid-fire exchange (although Harry does do a fair bit of shouting), but from Dumbledore's slow and calculated responses. The deep feelings of regret and care for Harry that Dumbledore expresses come to light through his patience in allowing Harry the space to explore his own emotions. The pace of the dialogue allows much more room for beats of character action (all taken by Harry, a detail that is also telling...). But more than that, each beat has a purpose, shows the emotion rather than telling it (more often than not).

As a writer, understanding what your characters are going through and how they would respond to one another in a scene can mean the difference between capturing the readers' hearts and getting lost in the details. The right beats in the right places give meaning to the words spoken and emotions felt by your characters, allowing the reader to peek through the windows in their souls.

Thoughts?

Top Ten Books That Make Me Think (About The World, People, Life, etc.)

I'm jumping on the bandwagon this morning and participating in Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish blog with a different top ten, book related list theme every Tuesday (see the full list here).

This week's theme: Top Ten Books that made me THINK. Here they are, in no particular order...

1. Of Mice and Men - I can remember reading this book... I was in middle school. I cried. If I tell you why, though, it'll give away the ending. John Steinbeck really made me think about innocence (and the loss of...) and  responsibility. Haunting.

2. Everything is Illuminated - Profoundly beautiful and devastating, all at once. Jonathan Safran Foer... I am humbled to think that he is the same age as me... his writing, his storytelling, blows me away. The second World War features large in this book, as does the theme of forgiveness.

3. The Wicked Day - This is the 4th book in Mary Stewart's Arthurian series... and she once again worked her magic. Mordred, a classic villain, became a sympathetic character to me. So much so that I had to ask myself questions about fate, unavoidable destiny, and evil.

4. The Longings of Women - I know what you're thinking, but it's not like that. Marge Piercy (my absolute favorite poet) has written a zillion novels too... and this one's affecting characters will make you reconsider the assumptions you make about strangers and near strangers (like the girl who works at the coffee shop, or your housekeeper...).

5. My Year of Meats - I wrote a post about this a couple of years ago here. This book, by Ruth Ozeki, isn't designed to convert people to vegetarianism... but that's just what it did for me. A thought provoking look at American culture (as marketed to the rest of the world), the media culture (as part of that marketing machine), the meat industry (doing the marketing), and marketing (as a vehicle for telling the story you want, whether it's true, or applicable, or none of the above)... all wrapped up in an ironic novel full of sarcasm and humor.

6. Wicked - Another book that made me reconsider a classic villain... and how the face of evil, and the face of beauty, sometimes changes with knowledge and perspective. Gregory Maguire... you really know how to mess with the establishment. Thank you.

7. The Other End of the Leash - This is a non-fiction entry by Patricial McConnell. Yes, I'm one of those people that spends an inordinate amount of time staring at my dog wondering if he's content, what he's thinking, how to make him understand what I am thinking... and this book really lays it out in detail. It's a beautiful way to open the door of understanding between you and your canine companion.

8. Of Wolves and Men - Another non-fiction entry by Barry Lopez. This comprehensive look at wolves (biological, historical, mythological, political) really shed some light on the world of wolves... the people who demonize them and the people who romanticize them.

9. More Ready Than You Realize - Back in 2003, this book by Brian Mclaren pushed me outside of my comfortable little conservative Christian bubble... my life has not been the same since. Non-fiction entry.

10. Little House in the Big Woods - yeah, sure, we all read Little House by Laura Ingalls Wilder when we were kids... and we joke about the "purity" and the "simplicity" of it now... but you want a picture of how daily life went for the pioneers? You want to take the time to really think about how harsh that simple life really was? Read it again as an adult... and think about how few generations removed we are from that reality. I tell you, it boggles the mind.

So that's all from this kid for today. I hope you'll share some of your own significant reads with me, too. I'm eager to read books that make me THINK.

Steppin' out

Back in January I read a blog post from Brightened Boy in which he mentioned his internship with a literary agency and it sparked something in me. I thought to myself, "I want to intern with a literary agency." And so I sent out 6 applications.

Within a month I had landed an internship with an agent, and so began my education. By the end of April, I had landed a second internship with an independent publishing company. I have learned a lot in the last 7 months. And all thanks to a blogging buddy who posted about his own journey. That's the magic of our little blogging world.

Now Brightened Boy is joining the ranks of professional agent. I am so excited for him! And to think I knew him when. ;)

I, on the other hand, am taking on the mantle of freelance editor. My internship is up at the end of August. Before the month is out I should have a website to point people to for information. I'm not expecting millions of people to beat down my doors wanting service. But I hope that some people will. I think there are a lot of brilliant manuscripts out there that just need a little bit of refining.

I wanna help them stand out.

Top 10 books I love to read over and over again

Hey ho everyone! It's been a while since my  last post! I need to get back on the wagon for real! So I thought I'd start today with a list of my top 10 favorite books to re-read and why.

Re-reading is not for everyone, I hear. Some people devour a book the first time through, addicted to the rush of not knowing what will happen next (or at least to the illusion of not knowing what will happen next). I call this "plot-angst." When the plot is discovered and the characters all reach their destinations in life (literally and/or figuratively), the non-re-reader's angst dries up. That's all they need from those characters. It's like a one-night stand, really.

Not me! One of my favorite things about reading a book is re-reading. I hurry through the first time to get the "plot-angst" out of the way. Of course we're all drawn in by "what's going to happen" in a good story. But that's why I love to re-read. Without the distractions of "plot-angst", I can focus on the characters... I can really dig in and enjoy who they are. In a good re-read, the characters become like old friends I revisit again and again and again. I want characters I can build a relationship with that will stand the test of time.

Here are my top picks for re-reading (starting at the bottom):

10. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein - Here's a wonderfully told tale by the master of storytellers. Adventures, dragons, battles, treasure, what's not to love? Whenever I pick this book up I feel I'm going home.

9. The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis - I could fill up my entire list with separate books from this series, but that wouldn't be fair. Though some I love more than others (The Last Battle, Voyage of the Dawn Treader) this entire series is a wonderful re-read, and the characters fill me up every time.

8. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte - A tragic love story whose characters and plot always leave me puzzling over how their lives and loves could become so painfully desperate.

7. A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray - I just re-read this book (first in a three book series) the other day and I loved it even more than the first time! The setting and the plot are both so intricate and the characters really stand out to me. I'm hoping the rest of this series will hold up as well.

6. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - God I love this book. Darcy and Elizabeth steal my heart every time I read and I love to mull over the burgeoning feminism that Austen laces her characters with... wit, intelligence, independence. Sigh...

5. The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart - What an amazing story this is. Stewart made King Arthur and Merlin seem real to me... her use of history and mythology woven together to create a world like no other will have me going back to her novels (and England) again and again.

4. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card - The Ender books will always have a special place for me. You'd think this is one series that would lose it's luster once you know the ending, but it's not so. Ender's tortured soul stole my heart from day one. I can't help myself.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling - Epic. If you leave off the 17 years later tag at the end, this is a masterpiece of a work for me, and after following the characters all the way through their journey to defeating Voldemort, the pay-off is worth every bit of ink.

2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling - This book really struck me deeply. Why? Not so much the main characters... Harry, Ron, Hermione all go through a lot of changes in this novel and that's great. But Neville steals my heart in this book... he grows up and becomes more multi-dimensional... and I love him for it.


1. The Book of Flying, Keith Miller - Sheer poetry and whimsy. I will always enjoy re-reading this modern fairy tale. I highly recommend you give it a try as well. Miller's writing is stunning and his story goes straight to the heart. It's something to aspire to.


What are your favorites and do you re-read often? What does it take to get you to crack a book for a second time?

Dialogue Tags, for better or worse

Agra pondered aloud what exactly had made Milicent so effective as she tried again, in vain, to frighten Lilith into making a kill. Was it her commanding presence? Did she use physical threats?

“Maybe it was her eyes…” Lilith’s voice broke into Agra’s reverie.

‘What did you say?’ Agra checked herself, surprised.

‘I didn’t…’ Lilith ducked her head to avoid being cuffed. ‘Nothing…’

‘What about her eyes?’ Agra demanded. ‘Describe these eyes to me.’

‘Deep, fearsome, savagely wild…’ Lilith whispered. ‘So black that they suck you down into their depths and you think you’ll never escape.’ She trembled at the memory.

‘Where did you see these eyes?’ Agra demanded again.

‘Drowning…’ Lilith choked. ‘Can’t breathe! It was her! Her eyes…’ She collapsed into a heap of bitter tears on the sandy ocean floor.

Agra stared at her in stunned silence. Only one mermaid in these waters could produce that effect on others. ‘You’re lying!’ She spouted. ‘But how could you be?’ She picked up Lilith by the hair at the nape of her neck. ‘Where is she, this mermaid who turned you? Where did she go?’

‘I… I don’t know,’ Lilith stammered. ‘We… we traded places and… I don’t know where she went.’

‘You… WHAT?’ Agra shrieked.

‘We traded places,’ Lilith said, squeaking in pain as Agra’s grip tightened on her hair and neck.

‘That’s impossible!’ Agra roared. She let go of Lilith’s hair suddenly and Lilith tumbled to the ocean floor again.

‘I’m…. I’m sorry… I’m sorry…’ Lilith said as she scrambled back out of reach.

‘Don’t you dare… don’t you presume, you little worm,’ Agra snarled. ‘That you could trade places with the ancient one. Ha! Impossible!’

The passage above is from the first draft of my WIP... and is a prime example of trying to "tell" too much through dialogue tagging. My characters roar, squeak, demand, snarl, and oh so much more in an attempt to accurately describe the excitement of the scene. (Aside: I hate the name Agra... but somehow it was what came to me, and it is what I'm stuck with for now... sigh...)

I have been reading recently a book about self-editing for fiction writers. One of the main problems the authors point out with beginning novelists is the temptation to use dialogue tags to explain character emotion. I definitely have this problem. The idea is to convey enough through the actual dialogue that you don't have to explain the emotions or where the emphasis in the sentence belongs. It should come across naturally... the tension should just ... magically be there.

I can count at least 9 instances in this one little scene where I didn't have enough faith in my dialogue (or in my readers ability to infer meaning/emotion in my characters) to leave well enough alone.

I find that a lot of writers are prone to this habit, though. The more I think about it, the more I am interested to delve into some of those award winners that Margo Berendsen was talking about the other day, to see if they are able to dodge the pitfall of tagging dialogue (or explaining through adverbs... the -ly syndrome).

Does anyone else have this problem with their writing? What do you do to combat it?

Internship... you get out of it what you put in **UPDATED**

**Updated at the end.**

Quick post before I have to head in to the City this morning. I have been MIA the past week or so because I started this internship 3 days a week in the City with a literary agency. I would love to report that all is going well and I'm having the time of my life. Truth is, it's a mixed bag.

The thing I keep reminding myself is, I'm not getting paid. I'm volunteering time to learn about an area of the book business. I don't NEED a job. I WANT the experience.

And I am getting experience. I have read over a hundred submissions in the past 2 3 weeks, I would venture, the majority unsolicited. I could tell you right up front what will get through and what won't. Of what gets through, I couldn't tell you what will get picked up, though. This agent is finicky. She says she doesn't want to pass up on a really good manuscript. It's possible that we just have different ideas of what is good. 

However, that's an area for me to learn in, too. What do I know about what sells? I guess in the YA market, I have a bit of an eye. I've read a LOT of YA... but then, not as much as some of YOU. Still, I know what people are reading right now. In other markets not so much.

Sigh... on the other hand... I have had my patience tested over the past 2 3 weeks in ways I did not realize I might. I'm sitting on a hard chair at a kitchen table in a tiny Manhattan apartment, walking someone else's dog, commuting 3 hours a day... all to deal with a personality that I find less than appealing... trying to squeeze information about the business out of her... because it's more than choosing a good manuscript. Of that I am sure.

I guess I'm telling you all this, not to excuse myself for having been absent from the blogging world, so much as to say it's not all a bed of roses on the other side of the pen and paper... and I'm beginning to understand that actually means.

I hope to make it around and read some blogs this weekend. So write some good posts for me!

**I have to retract a statement. I really DO appreciate her personality... when she's not wearing her boss hat... and when she IS... I just have trouble dealing with her work style.

Today I found got better as I went... I'm sure in part due to the encouraging vibes you all are sending my way :)**

Weekend goals: It's gonna be one hell of a re-write

If you are looking for my campaign entry, go here.

Ugh... don't you hate it when somebody gives you a suggestion and at first you think, "Nah, that'll never happen." But then the more you think about it the more it seems like a good idea? And then you start to think, "Oh my god, what am I thinking? This'll take forever!" But you can't get the idea to go away... and so you eventually resign yourself to the fact that you are going to at least have to attempt it.

Well, my pal Julie over at rosewood pencil box made just such a suggestion. First, there are two things you should know.

1. I LOVE JULIE!

2. I completely respect her opinion. 

So, the other day she so sweetly suggested that I might think about writing my WIP in first person, because she liked the voice I gave Lilith in the character interview.

At first I laughed and said to myself "Yeah, like I haven't thought of that." But I have 50,000 words of copy! Why would I go back and just re-write the whole thing? Only... the more I get to know Lilith, the more I like her voice, too... and now I've had some feedback it's got me thinking... sigh.

So this weekend's goals are to relax and perhaps look at how a few of my scenes sound from Lilith's perspective. It's not a commitment... it's a "What if?". I'm just experimenting. Who knows what will happen, really?

In other news, I read 2 novels this week. Yep, 2... that haven't even been published yet! This new internship is scratching an itch, that's for sure. The work environment is quirky, but then, so am I so... I'll reserve my judgments for a little later after I see how much I'm learning. So far I've been learning lots... including how to, and how NOT to, solicit an agent to review a manuscript. Wow people. All I can say is, the more people that review your 'script, the better.

Also, I just wanna say thanks to Jess, who awarded me two different blog awards this week. If you don't already know Jess, hop on over to her blog Write.Skate.Dream. She's an amazing, inspirational, plucky young writer. I think you'll love her blog, too!

It's cold here right now... and I keep hoping spring is around the bend. Who's with me?

Books I read last year and reading goals for this year

• The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• Anthropology of an American Girl - Hilary Thayer Hamann
• Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
• Bottlenose Dolphins: Biology and Conservation - Reynolds, Wells, Eide
• The Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
• A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
• Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice
• Anansi's Boys - Neil Gaiman
• Not in Kansas Anymore: A curious tale of how magic is transforming America - Christine Wicker
• The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart
• The Hollow Hills - Mary Stewart
• The Tiger in the Well - Phillip Pullman
• Smoke and Mirrors - Neil Gaiman
• The Book of Dead Days - Marcus Sedgewick
• Wicked - Gregory Maguire
• Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - JK Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
• The Dead-Tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan
• The Dark and Hollow Places - Carrie Ryan
• Going Bovine - Libba Bray
• Melting Stones - Tamora Pierce
• The Will of the Empress - Tamora Pierce
• The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
• The Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
• A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin
• A Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin
• A Feast for Crows - George R.R. Martin
• Mountain Spirit: The Sheepeater Indians of Yellowstone - Lawrence L. Loendorf & Nancy Medaris Stone
• Watership Down - Richard Adams
• Wildwood - Colin Meloy
• Feng Shui Step By Step by T. Raphael Simons
• Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynn Jones

I read a lot last year. I have so much more to read, too. This year I'm hoping to read a lot more new books... I have stacks at home and goals... one of them is to read more non-fiction. I have a couple books by feminist authors on tap, a book about the history of Kauai, a book about the politics of the conservation of wolves, and a couple of liberal political books (George Carlin and Michael Moore) that I'm hoping to get through. I also want to read Atlas Shrugged... and Ulysses. We'll see if I can manage those...  I'm planning to keep a running list again, at home on my kitchen cabinet and here on the blog for others to see :)