The Merry, Merry Month of Mayhem and the Shiny New Idea

“They … set up a May-pole, drinking and dancing about it many days together, inviting the Indian women, for their consorts, dancing and frisking together, (like so many fairies, or furies rather,) and worse practices. As if they had anew revived & celebrated the feasts of ye Roman Goddess Flora, or ye beastly practices of ye mad Bacchanalians.”
– Governor William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation

I wish I could say I'm having as much fun this month as those Maypole dancers. In my case it's more like "Mayday! Mayday! We've hit an iceberg!"

Yes, we have had a nice run of lovely May days here in New York City (well, not today or yesterday--which may (may?) be why I'm a little cranky. Or MAYbe I'm cranky because in about an hour I will be heading in to collect the final projects from my Typography class---and have already received a not-so-promising email from a student who is not finished with the work. Oh--sigh--for most college professors, it's all over by mid-May and the past semester a fading memory as they delve into their scholarly pursuits.

My university seems to start later in the Spring and run later---so finals this week, graduation in two weeks. And there are so many other things going on which I won't bore you with.

Am I complaining? Not at all--don't get me wrong---I LOVE my job--and I am so, so lucky to have a job that I love, pays the rent AND (usually inspires me--except for the month of Mayhem). But May--oh--May---it's the time when all good deputy chairs must do their deputy jobs---which means, writing reports, planning ahead, leading cats to a bath (that would be other faculty members) and get chased by hysterical students as they try to best each other with the most believable excuses for not having their work done.

Yes---so I am still in the throes of this--and as a result have not been able to write a single word of fiction (oh, I AM writing--writing and writing and writing---reporting actually--for the College). Hence, I am PENT up with new ideas--splitting, bursting at the seems with the need to create!

I have a shiny new idea just waiting--screaming, having a tantrum, begging me to pay attention to it---but I can't just yet.

But I wanted to share because--well, at least I can get the chance to talk about it.

For now I am calling the new WIP—EXCEPTIONAL---and it is vaguely autobiographical--lifted from the memory of my senior year in high school when I---dated the bad boy, and cut class (with the help of my dearly departed art teacher who believed in me with such fervor, I'm probably still living on the fumes) to hang out in the art room all day--where I reigned supreme. That was me then--exceptionally good at art and my academics, but exceptionally inept in almost everything else.

EXCEPTIONAL features Lydia Wilson, self-avowed art geek and Queen of the Art room, but a nobody once she enters the busy hallway. There is the torrid romance with the smart-alecky bad boy (yep--true--my parents are still scarred from this), the cool art teacher (very fictionalized--I don't want to sully the memory of the real man, Mr. Baldo, the Owl Prince), the nifty art buddy dude (also true--whose semi-famous identity shall remain a secret). But where the (stretched like salt water taffy) "truth" ends, the story begins--- When Lydia discovers a collection of genius-level artwork stashed away the art class storage room, the enigmatic new girl, Rachel has already begun to turn the school's social hierarchy on its ear. As Lydia grows more and more suspicious of Rachel and her motives, everyone assumes she's just jealous. Until people start to die.

Okay---I have not written a word of this. I just wanted to get it out there into the Universe because it's been whispering sweet nothings in my ear, and until the Mayhem subsides, I can't respond.

Do any of you have times of the year when life overrides your creative flow, and you feel as though you may burst at the seams if you can't write soon? I'd love to hear your stories!

Heidi Ayarbe WANTED release Blog Snog---interview with Stephen Barbara

I'm going to link here to the blog of YA author Cindy Thomas who has an interview with super-agent Stephen Barbara about Heidi and why he signed her. And I have to laugh about his mention of being surprised how nice she was after reading her gritty writing style. I was too! But now that I know her for seven years, I'm kind of used to the snarl of her hard-edged writing as contrasted to the super sweet caring person she actually is. Haha--we are not necessarily what we write, thank goodness!

Okay--you know--I actually met Stephen a number of years ago. Great guy. And I have the distinct honor of being rejected by him four times (in typical flash response Barbara style)! But it's okay--Stephen is the kind of agent you want--someone who only signs people he believes in 300%. And that is how he felt about Heidi. And I know why. I critted that first book he signed her for, FREEZE FRAME. And it blew me away. Back then, Stephen himself was a new agent--but he was a new agent with vision. He recognized a good thing when he saw it. He recognized genius.

So, even though he rejected me umpteen times, I still love the guy. How can you not?

So here is the link to Cindy's blog and Heidi's.

And don't forget to read WANTED.

Heidi's blog
Cindi's blog

The Backstory Buggaboo

Lately I've been working with a few lovely and talented beta readers and I notice they grapple with a common issue. Back story overload. Once I cut away two thirds of what they had written (and my their writing was lovely!) the wonderful stories they were telling emerged, glistening and lovely as morning dew. And, to their credit, each of them accepted the bloodbath and rewrote, to excellent results. I've been calling this bloodbath, "Killing Your Darlings" for years, a phrase I have gleefully borrowed from Stephen King from his book, ON WRITING. (If you haven't read it, get it NOW.) http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Stephen-King/dp/0743455967

I also find that backstory, how little or how much to include, still gives me headaches at the beginning of any new WIP. When I noticed this excellent blog post about back story dos and dont's I had to share it (with Janice Hardy's generous permission). You really should check this out. I think I'm going to look at this website every day. It's a huge treasure trove of writerly information.

http://blog.janicehardy.com/p/contact.html

So how do you deal with the distraction---I mean multi-tasking?

Lately, I've found myself wishing either for an extra five-ten hours in the day or perhaps a pills that would let me do without sleep. And while we're at it, how about a personal chef and a very intelligent robot that can clean my house and buy my groceries. (and maybe do the laundry as well?). Then I'd also like a personal assistant to keep track of my appointments and someone to do---oh never mind. You get the point right?

Between thinking about marketing myself, doing design work, keeping up with my job, the household stuff (which includes paying attention to what my teenage daughter and college boy are up to) and oh yeah--the three WIPs I have going (did I mention critiquing and beta-reading?) I'm kind of on a creativity overload. I'm not complaining---it's all good. But, I've never been known for my cool methodical temperament. When you think of me, think of a cheerful storm, or as my colleague and I call ourselves once we get going--a detonation.

Yeah. It's an exciting time for me. But I am wanting to do everything at once. And I am finding it a little difficult to focus on writing with so many other cool projects begging for my attention (blog design, designing my website, book cover design, illustration---shall I continue?). Plus, my amazing publisher Spencer Hill Press and the incredible Kate Kaynak seems to be just like me--full of ideas and energy (but much more organized about it.) She's got me so excited, I'm about to bust (but I'm not breathing a word of what she's got me excited about--CIA swear as one of my students says.)

So, I want to know--how do you all handle it? I do drag myself to the gym and that helps. But seriously--maybe most of you aren't as kooky as me? If you are, I want to know (not you, Michelle!--I already know all about it, lol). This morning I'm really proud of myself--I ate breakfast before noon, showered and even painted my toenails..but it was a struggle.

How do you spell multi-tasking? D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N?

My Totally Awesome Plot Mess, (I mean map)

Martha, the Totally Awesome Plot Whisperer, asked me to post my map. So here it is! Pretty, huh? On each of those post-its is a "scene" that follows a plot line. The plot is divided into the beginning, middle and end. Plot Whisperer has you do the END FIRST! Then the middle.

The post-it colors are not that systematic. A person with a functioning left brain, might have a color-coded system. The green floating post-its are little things I need to foreshadow, reinforce, etc.


I'm not sure I did it right, but the process helped me incredibly. I've got a road map! Yay!

Let me know what you all think and if you have any cool tips to add, or questions to ask. I strongly suggest you visit Martha's website. (see sidebar. There's a link to her blog and also to the December day by day plot month that lifted me out of the doldrums.

First of Firsts

It's the first post in the first month in the first year of a new decade.

It's a great time to talk about first chapters!

Working with our blog contest winners, Steena and AmyKated (who are unbelievably great sports!) got me to thinking—what makes a great first chapter? What elements do you think it needs?

I'm still pretty nervous about the first chapter of my WIP. I don't know if I'll ever be truly satisfied, but these days I'm too busy trying to complete the endless revision (or re-envisioning to be precise, since it's pretty much a total re-write) to focus. But once I begin polishing, I'm sure I'll be right back to obsessing over my first chapter.

So what about you? What elements do you think will hook a reader? I write YA, so my genre has its own unique conventions. I'm interesting in your opinions.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Plot issues never take a holiday

At least in my head.

My characters don't really care what's going on in my life or the "real world" around them, so lately, wading into the deep waters of the mucky middle of my revise, I'm stressed. I sat for two hours last night listening to my computer read my ms to me, on high alert for tension and sufficient foreshadowing, all the while worrying—Does anyone care? Is there enough romance? Enough spookiness? Or too much? Is my MC proactive enough?

Argghhh. I'm probably due for some intensive crits, but I want to untangle all the threads as best I can first.

Elana Johnson had a fabulous post on the Querytracker blog once about how to approach the daunting revise, which helped me loads.

I just stumbled across another post from Janice Hardy about how to push your characters to make hard choices. Thanks to Deb Salisbury for that cool link! This sparked an idea for me, so let's see how it goes...

Anyway, I'd love to hear from people. Any advice you have for working out plot kinks; either links to other blogs or your own thoughts are welcome. Thanks!

In other news:
Christine Fonseca is holding a comment contest on her blog in honor of the one year anniversary of her blog! (and pssstt...she has another one as well). Christine is an energizer bunny of a woman, writing, working, parenting and I often find myself wondering if she is a cyborg. Anyway, visit her and join the fun!

Contest on Bookshelf Muse

http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2009/11/massive-followers-contest.html

Great prizes, including a full manuscript critique! It's a great blog that I have relied heavily on.

Muse Musings

I am very happy to have published the two previous posts on this blog. For one, I'm happy to share and I hope those of you who visit here have found the information useful, but also, I am continually utilizing the resource myself.

I am following Elana Johnson's prescription for editing my monster WIP and it IS REALLY HELPING. I've divided the beast into chunks which has miraculously allowed me to focus and to stop RE-READING and revising the first three chapters. Like Lady Macbeth washing her hands, I've read, rinsed, repeated way too often.

Thanks to Elana, I've gotten out of my rut and moved onto—woohoo—chapter 6! And, to bolster my confidence as I plow ahead, trying not to balk at the monumental task, and trying not to let doubt cloud my vision, I have been re-reading Kathryn Craft's pronouncements. They have become my EIGHT COMMANDMENTS OF CONFIDENCE. If anyone wants to voluntarily embroidered them on a sampler so I can nail them to my wall, please let me know.

So, hat's off to my Blog Muses and may the force be with us all.

Introducing the Adorable and Brilliant Lindsay Eland

Okay, so I'm a little biased. Linds, as I call her, and I have followed each other across the internet for about five years now. Back in the day when we were both newbie writers, we joined our first critique group which later broke up. But I dragged Lindsay with me on my online quest for editorial feedback. For the past three years, Linds and I have been members of a killer critique group (killer for our editorial savagery) that I moderate. We fondly call it The Cudas (for barracudas). Linds is undeniably the "nice Cuda." But don't let that perky smile fool you. Behind that smile is a mind that churns out original and comic works of middle grade fiction faster than you can say cutie-pie.

Lindsay's middle-grade humorous novel, SCONES AND SENSIBILITY, comes out this December from Egmont. I can tell you, having witnessed it's nearly fully-formed birth—it is a hoot! So I'm going to turn the mike over to Linds and let her speak for herself.

Tell us about yourself.


Let’s see. I’m a thirty-year-old mother of four. I love to laugh, drink iced mochas, and sing really loud in my car. I don’t like brownies with nuts and I’m extremely sentimental and will probably keep this interview just because it’s been given to me by a dear writing friend!

You have a book coming out this December, the middle-grade novel 
Scones and Sensibility. Can you tell us about it?



Sure! Scones and Sensibility is about an overdramatic and overromantic twelve-year-old girl who, using her heroines Elizabeth Bennet and Anne Shirley as her guides, sets to match-making in her small beach town with disastrous and hilarious results.

You have a great sense of humor and a brand of wit all your own. 
What is your inspiration ?



Life! I grew up with laughter all around me. Listening at my Grandparents table to the roaring laughter and the pee-in-your-pants stories my parents, my grandparents, and my aunts and uncles told. And really, life is full of funny mishaps, hilarious witticisms, and knee-slapping adventures.

What advice can you give aspiring authors?


Write and read. And then read and write. A writer is first and foremost a reader…so read! And don’t ever, ever, ever give up! No writer would have gotten to where he or she was if they had given up after the first or even the twentieth rejection.

What books inspired you growing up?


Matilda by Roald Dahl
Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Patterson
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

These were the books that first gave me the deep yearning to want to create stories that were filled with magic.

Tell us something surprising about yourself.


Let’s see…I hate the sound of someone eating a banana or stirring a bowl of macaroni and cheese…it’s extremely gross to me. I’m also probably one of the only women on earth that wishes her hair wouldn’t grow….yes, I like it short and I wish it would just stay like that.

Visit Lindsay at http://lindsayeland.com/