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1. My new column went up last week at Bookslut and included several titles of the "coming-of-age" variety. In particular please note Tales From the Madman Underground by John Barnes, a recent Printz honor recipient that I have not heard nearly enough about around the blogosphere. Go. Read. You will fall so hard and fast for this one that you really will not believe it.
2. Other titles in the column (all of them fabulous) are: Age 14 (gritty WWI drama); Stunt (spec fic/family drama mashup from one of my favorite small presses all about missing parents, bad parents and a discovered grandparent who is a trapeze artist); Shine, Coconut Moon (or what I like to think of as an Indian twist on the Gilmore Girls, including post-9/11 drama); A Very Fine Line (manages to be about clairvoyance, home schooling, cross dressing and family secrets all at once - plus BONUS crushing on the teacher); and the Colors gn trilogy from First/Second which is as pretty as it gets and very funny and also all about growing up in Korea. Nicely done, each and every one.
3. In the midst of January chaos there was also a new issue of Eclectica. (Read here to see how my editor is still waiting on one of his adopted children to arrive from Haiti - they have been in the process for Evans for about two years now). I had three review pieces for kids up in the issue, including one on Myths, one on learning books (that you don't realize are teaching you things and thus are supposed to be boring) and one on biographies of many people I did not know much of anything about. Amazing what you can learn reviewing picture books!
4. Oh - and bonus, another review of Shine, Coconut Moon from Eclectica contributor Niranjana Iyer.
5. I just finished reading Raina Telgemeier's delightful MG graphic novel Smile. I didn't intend to do more than give it a quick glance (it showed up unrequested) but after turning just a few pages I was completely sucked into this one. It follows the real story of the author's trials and tribulations after falling and severely damaging her two front teeth at the age of 12. All through middle school she is alternately tortured and healed by a variety of dentists, orthodontists, etc. and must deal with the physical discomfort and all too familiar emotional dramarama. Nothing truly exceptional happens in this book except growing up but it's told so well that you can't resist it. In terms of plot it is a perfect MG vacation book - add a sandwich, some chips and lemonade and this the 2010 winging in the hammock version of The Penderwicks. The bonus here is the fantastic multicultural cast - Telgemeier has truly drawn Raina's school in about the most realistic manner I've ever seen with all shades of brown and beige portrayed with great fun and aplomb.
Smile is a true winner - could very well be a dark horse award winner later this year (I'm thinking the Cybils are doing to love this one.)
6. Bonus - See much more about Smile at Raina's website.
7. Cory Doctorow YA SF alert! F
What book can you give a boy to get them to read!?!?!? Anything dinosaurs of course! SO when Chronicle Books sent me this new book, Dinosaurs
by Dennis Schatz - I knew it would be a hit here at our library! Oh man! Give a boy stereo speakers, pictures of dinosaurs fighting and sounds to accompany - I'm thinking that's about all you need - oh, maybe batteries that NEVER run out!! This one will never be on our shelves!
One of the single most charming things I've ever seen is this video, in which actor Brian Cox teaches a bit of Shakespeare to toddler Theo, w...
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At a recent plot workshop, one of the writers stopped me on the way to lunch to ask for help. I asked her to tell me a bit about her project.
As soon as she starts in, I'm hooked. She has a truly novel idea with an even more novel format in which to tell her story.
As with most highly creative writers, she has trouble bringing the story into focus. She wanders to one plot point and then flits to another unrelated point. I hold each of these fragments and slowly begin to put them into position in my mind for the overall structure. (I've been weird like that since I was a kid, and a non-verbal one at that. I remember stories about how I could put together jigsaw puzzles of any piece count with the pieces upside-down and only the grey backs as reference. Hey, I warned you I was weird that way.)
With lunch plates chiming and my stomach grumbling, I wait as she retrieves yet another element of her story. The deeper she goes, the more self-defeating talk pops up.
"This doesn't make any sense."
"You're doing fine," I say. "Keep going."
"It's probably not any good."
"You're doing fine," I say... over and over again.
Finally she blurts out enough for me to help her locate the key scenes
After she rushes back to our workshop room to jot the scenes onto her newly created Plot Planner for her individual project, I shake my head in despair. If she has so many doubts in her head in just recounting ideas, how is she ever going to overcome the demons long enough to write the story?
Sure, she's outside the box and that can be challenging in this time of high conformity and deep suspicion of anything different. However, I firmly believe those of us lucky enough to call ourselves writers are being called to create. When we and our flaws sabotage ourselves from showing up to write and from reaching our goals of completion, yet one more idea the universe looks to us to manifest disappears and who knows how much longer the evolution of our planet will take because we doubt ourselves before we ever even try???
Based on the picture I saw in the jigsaw puzzle of her story, I saw greatness.
Hope you show up for your jigsaw puzzle today. I see greatness there, too...
The title of this post comes from a very worthwhile audio interview with Samuel R. Delany at The Dragon Page (you'll have to listen to find out what it means! The interview is about a third of the way into the podcast). It was the first time I'd publicly heard the release date of Chip's new novel, Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders, which is scheduled to be releaed in November from Alyson Books, where the great Don Weise, who was the editor for Dark Reflections, is now the publisher. A version of part of the new novel appeared in Black Clock 7 a few years ago, and Chip read some of it aloud at Readercon this past summer. It tells the story of the relationship of two men, starting in 2007 and continuing for about seventy years into the future.
The interview also contains interesting discussions of The Jewel-Hinged Jaw, of why Chip writes what he does, of his work at Temple University, and of the growing acceptance of some forms of genre writing among the country's MFA writing programs.
SocMo is getting psyched up for the Winter Olympics!
This evening, another snow storm is coming our way here in New Jersey. We appear to be located on the border between "major" and "crippling" snowfall, if our local forecast is to be believed. It will be a classic Nor'easter, with the snowstorm that's currently in Chicago joining forces with the storm tracking across the south, so that we'll end up with a very strong snowstorm that includes some blizzard conditions (which requires visibility of 1/4 mile or less and winds in excess of 30 m.p.h. for a period of 3 hours or more, as it turns out).
What is more appropriate on a day like today than a poem about a blizzard by one of New Jersey's native sons?
Blizzard
by William Carlos Williams
Snow:
years of anger following
hours that float idly down —
the blizzard
drifts its weight
deeper and deeper for three days
or sixty years, eh? Then
the sun! a clutter of
yellow and blue flakes —
Hairy looking trees stand out
in long alleys
over a wild solitude.
The man turns and there —
his solitary track stretched out
upon the world.
The poem is written in free verse. Given his use of the word "anger" and his time period extending to 60 years, I have to note that Williams was not restricting himself to writing about a snowstorm, but is also speaking about the accumulation of a life, and he compares looking back at his footsteps in the snow to looking back at the course of his life.
No introduction today, just right into...
The Letter M
Book: The Grumpy Morning, by Pamela Duncan Edwards, or
Good Morning Sam, by Marie-Louise Gay
Song: “Good Morning Song”Book: Five Little Monkeys with Nothing to Do, by Eileen Christelow
Rhyme: “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed.
(Continue with four, three, two, one monkeys.)
Book: Jeremy Draws a Monster, by Peter McCarty
Song: “Horns, Fangs” (sung to "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes")Horns, fangs,
knees and claws,
knees and claws.
Horns, fangs,
knees and claws
knees and claws.
Eyes and ears and tail and paws.
Horns, fangs
knees and claws
knees and claws.
Book: The Magical Mystical Marvelous Coat, by Catherine Ann Cullen
Alternate Books: Today is Monday, by Eric Carle, or
Meow Monday, by Phyllis Root
Links to material on Amazon.com contained within this post may be affiliate links for the Amazon Associates program, for which this site may receive a referral fee.
Cartoonist Diana Tamblyn has scanned in some illustrations from the 1938 book French Canada: Pictures and Stories illustrated by Hazel Boswell. Diana writes:
My Grandmother had many of these illustrations framed and had them hanging up in her home as they depict scene from Quebec where she grew up.
I grew up seeing them and when she passed away, I inherited them, and they now hang in our home.
I realized I knew nothing about the artist, and so many years later I still found them enchanting. Thanks to some sleuthing and trusty Google, I found they were illustrations from a book written and illustrated by Hazel Boswell called “French Canada: Pictures and Stories”, and was printed in 1938.
It was very popular in its day. I tracked a copy down on Abebooks and thought I would share the wealth with scans of all the illustrations. Enjoy!
Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog |
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Tags: canada, Canadian, folk art
asuen1: "Could book publishers suddenly be in the position of telling Google what to do?" http://ow.ly/15tDU #books
Dark Scribe magazine has announced the winners of the Third Annual Black Quill Awards, celebrating the best work in dark horror, suspense, and thrillers.
Two awards were handed out in each category, one for editors' choice and one for readers' choice. The editors' choice for Dark Genre Novel of the Year award went to Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. The readers' choice went to Drood by by Dan Simmons. Editors' choice for Best Small Press Chill went to Kelland by Paul G. Bens Jr. and the readers' choice went to As Fate Would Have It by Michael Louis Calvillo.
See all the award winners at this link. Here's more from the release: "Nominations for the Black Quills are editorial-based, with both the editors and active contributing writers submitting nominations in each of the (8) categories. Once nominations are announced, readers of DSM cast their votes for their picks in each category. For this year's outing, more than 3,300 votes were cast by the magazine's readers."
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Inner-City Arts, widely regarded as one of the nation's most effective arts education providers, is an oasis of learning, achievement and creativity in the heart of Skid Row, and a vital partner in the work of creating a safer, healthier Los Angeles.
Inner-City Arts offers opportunities for children to build artistic self-expression, enhancing their ability to perform both creatively and academically in challenging environments. Their children learn to communicate feelings and ideas in the universal language of art, and are empowered to apply the skills they have learned to their regular academic programs. Most importantly, children are able to see themselves as valuable, worthy and capable of reaching goals.
Painter Glennray Tutor is a photorealist. I particularly like his series of marbles and romance comics.
Photorealism always seems to get a bad rap in our comments from those who dismiss the practice as having no artistic value other than precision. But I like this quote from Tutor’s site:
“It’s easy to dismiss photo-realist work as an exercise in surface obsession, but Glennray Tutor, a Jedi warrior of the style, has to be admired for his dedication to what Yeats called ‘the fascination with what’s difficult.’”
The marbles, comics, canned goods, candies, and toys — all rendered in bright, saturated colours — evoke a sense of childhood wonder, especially when you look at his body of work, and not just individual pieces.
Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog |
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Tags: Art, Glennray Tutor, photorealism
By: Maud Newton,
on 2/9/2010
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Would Shakespeare have eased off the puns to succeed in the new global literary marketplace?
The first way is simple. I don’t have a theme song for my WIP. For a while there, I didn’t have time to ponder a musical mascot and one didn’t magically fly into my ears, either. Now that I’ve edited the first hundred pages for my critique group retreat (more on that another day), the ms is resting comfortably in the drawer (who am I kidding ... it’s on the computer), and would be resting more comfortably with a designated tune. No. It’s not a requirement, but I’ve used songs to help remind me of essential themes or character traits for my books. So UFHL is songless for now.
Also songless is The Seventh Level. Now this one’s had a theme song for a long time ... Bigger Than My Body by John Mayer. Here’s where the songless part comes into play: I made the big mistake of writing in a line of lyrics from a show tune. It’s not like I hadn’t been warned about the cost of permissions. It’s not like I was unwilling to pay for the use. Copyrights are vital to all of us. It’s just that Big-Name Permissions holder was going to charge me so much for using a line from a song that it would take me royalties from nearly 250 books for every 15,000 copies printed. I took 15 minutes and wrote around the lyrics without affecting the story or the voice.
The moral of this post: Theme songs, good; lyric use, costly.
(The following is an excerpt from an upcoming eBook that will be available here at EFII in March.)
One of your most valuable resources is time.
Unfortunately, time is also one of the first things to run out on you, which can affect your quality of work, your ability to meet deadlines, and your peace of mind. Time management can be one of the most difficult parts of freelance business to master, so it’s important to set up a time management strategy as early as possible. That way, you’ll have a better chance of staying on top of the demands of running a business, as well as a schedule to return to when things inevitably get out of control.
Here are some tips on setting up a time management strategy that works for you:
1. Know your personal clock.
Figure out what times of the day you are best able to perform specific tasks. For example, you may be more creative in the early morning hours and better at taking care of mundane business tasks later in the day. If you pay attention to the way you work, you can plan accordingly and make the most of the time you have.
2. Make lists.
Document your goals for the day, the week, the month, and so on. While this may not sound like the most exciting activity, it can help to clear your mind and keep you on task. In addition, the feeling of accomplishment each time you cross off an item on your list can be a great reward. Consider keeping your daily list short (3 or 4 tasks) so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. Often, this is more than enough to keep you busy for one day.
3. Assign daily duties.
Consider allocating specific tasks to each day of the week, so that you don’t feel the need to address everything at once. Here’s an example of how you might organize your time:
Monday – Marketing
Tuesday – Business Duties
Wednesday – Website and Blog
Thursday – Networking
Friday – Research
4. Promise low, deliver high.
Often, Illustrators are tempted to promise the world in order to secure a client, but it’s important to give yourself more than enough time to complete a project. You never know what distractions might arise. Another benefit of this approach is that if you complete a project ahead of schedule, it always impresses your client more than if you were to merely meet the deadline.
5. Set up an efficient workspace.
Try to keep your office free from distraction and clutter, so that you can get more accomplished in less time. In addition, using the right tools for the job and to fine tuning your workflow can also help you to increase your efficiency.
6. Break down your projects.
One trick to help you work your way through a project without feeling overwhelmed is to break things down into smaller pieces. In other words, focus on just the first stage of a project, rather than trying to wrap your brain around the entire concept. Just like making lists, this can also help to motivate you by showing you a pattern of forward momentum.
7. Try the Pomodoro Technique
Another effective approach to breaking down your time into manageable bits is called the Pomodoro Technique, which was developed by Francesco Cirillo. Here’s the basic idea:
- Choose a task to be completed.
- Set a timer to 25 minutes.
- Work on the task until the timer stops, then take a 5 minute break.
- Start again from Step 1.
This technique is great for helping you to stay on task and rewarding you for your accomplishments. Find out more h
1. Today I've got a brief review of a book called Quicksand: HIV/AIDS in Our Lives up over at Guys Lit Wire. The book is written by a woman who prefers to remain anonymous, given that she shares some information about her brother-in-law, who was diagnosed with HIV, developed AIDS and, eventually, died from related illnesses. Having lost a dear friend to this illness several years ago, I was eager to read the book, which provides concise, clearly presented factual information about the HIV virus, how it is (and is not) spread, what the treatment is like, and what it feels like to receive word that someone you know has HIV or AIDS. I hope you'll check out my review and, more importantly, that those of you in the library field will be sure to get this one for your libraries. The book says it's suitable for ages 10 and up, and that felt about right to me, given the content.
2. This month, I've got an article up at Kid Magazine Writers about the clerihew: what it is and how to go about writing one. It includes two original poems I wrote to illustrate my point: one about Edmund Clerihew Bentley and another about, well, Derek Zoolander.
Derek Zoolander,
Model grand-stander,
Excellent eugoogolizer
And terrorist neutralizer.
3. Those of you who've written poetry and are interested in free verse, and who happen to be interested in attending the New England SCBWI Conference come May might be interested in the workshop I'll be leading on Sunday, May 16th: "Tactics and Techniques to Fix Up Your Free Verse". Here's the official write-up on it:
Whether you write individual poems or entire novels in free verse, this workshop is for you. It will focus on improving free verse poetry using devices such as alliteration and assonance, refined imagery, improved use of line breaks, fine-tuned similes and metaphors, and more. The workshop is suitable for experienced poets working in free verse who are interested in taking their work to the next level, and will include a folder with handouts and exercises for reference and use at home.
*
Note to self: get those folders and handouts together!And here are three things I hope people will take home from the workshop:
1. Enhanced understanding of the importance of structural components such as line breaks and stress patterns.
2. Knowledge of specific strategies, devices and poetic techniques to improve the quality of free verse poems.
3. Revision pointers and tactics to polish your work, with take-home exercises.
Here's
the link to the conference website, where you can learn more about this terrific event.
By: Christopher Denise,
on 2/9/2010
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This one is from a brief outing last spring.
Some things that make me smile:
My favorite song played in the background while I'm sitting in a restaurant. The thought of cookie dough cupcakes. Flipping through channels and catching a movie I forgot I loved. Long phone calls with good friends about nothing in particular. Getting an email from someone who has read my books. Writing a sentence that says exactly what I meant in my head. New
Twitter followers. An unseasonably warm day in the middle of winter. When my suitcase is one of the first ones out on the carousel at the airport. Finding a couple dollars in a coat I haven't worn since last season. This photo from New Year's Day, when my nephew and nieces attacked me with silly string.
-
Courtney SheinmelWant to know what makes other authors and readers smile?
Follow the series of interviews.Enter the Smile giveaway!Related posts at Bildungsroman:Interview: Courtney Sheinmel (2009)
Interview: Courtney Sheinmel (2008)
Family: Courtney SheinmelHope: Courtney SheinmelBook Review: My So-Called Family by Courtney SheinmelBook Review: Positively by Courtney Sheinmel
If you’re into YA (of course you are), and are looking for a fun day out in April, check out the Colorado Teen Literature Conference in Denver (road trip!) on April 10th. Keynotes are Matt de la Pena (Ball Don’t Lie, Mexican White Boy, We Were Here) and Ellen Hopkins (Crank, Identical, and Tricks, among others), and there are a host of local authors attending as well.
The program looks really interesting, so I’ll be signing up. Last year I was set to go, snacks for the road packed and everything, Abba’s greatest hits in the CD player to sing along, and of course there was a blizzard. So I missed Jordan Sonnenblick and David Lubar—I’m sure you can imagine my pain.
Not this year. I put new tires on my Honda Element last week, I’m strengthening my shovel muscles (plenty of snow for that today), so I’ll be ready, weather be damned. I’m going, Mama Nature, so bring it. I don't care.
If you’re in the Colorado Springs area and you want to hitch a ride April 10th, let me know! I’m always looking for someone who can join me for a good bellowing of Dancing Queen.
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Wow...You're work is getting looser and looser! Go Soc!