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Continuing our week of looking at some of the artists behind Blue Skey’s Epic, we focus on storyboard artist Tom LaBaff.
“Print illustration is one of Tom’s passions,” according to the bio on his website. Tom creates editorial and book illustration work in addition to working on animated features.
Tom extends the energetic, rough line often used during the animation process to his illustration work. He works with ink and watercolor washes and sometimes with a digital/analog hybrid technique demonstrated in this time-lapse video:
Tom also has a blog here where you can see large versions of his illustrations.
0 Comments on “Epic” Artist of the Day: Tom LaBaff as of 5/22/2013 12:59:00 PM
Keep your students reading all summer! The lists for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, include 10 recommended fiction titles and 10 recommended nonfiction titles. Printed double-sided, these one-page flyers are perfect to hand out to students, teachers, or parents. Great for PTA meetings, have on hand in the library, or to send home with students for the summer. FREE Pdf or infographic jpeg.
See the Summer Lists Now!
Children’s Picture Book Award: New Voices Award
While the population of the United States is skewing toward more and more “persons of color,” the publishing world has yet to catch up. In a press release, Lee & Low publishers say that less than 7% of children’s books published are by persons of color. To help encourage writers, Lee and Low has opened submissions for its 14th Annual New Voices Award. The Award is given for a picture book manuscript by an unpublished writer of color.
The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1000 and Lee & Low’s standard publication contract, including their basic advance and royalties for a first time author. The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a children’s picture book published.
Past New Voices Award-winning books have gone on to win major awards such as the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent.
TU BOOKS, the fantasy, science fiction, and mystery imprint of LEE & LOW BOOKS, award-winning publisher of children’s books, has just announced the first annual NEW VISIONS AWARD. The NEW VISIONS AWARD will be given for a middle grade or young adult fantasy, science fiction, or mystery novel by a writer of color. The Award winner receives a cash grant of $1000 and their standard publication contract, including our basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash grant of $500.
TU BOOKS was launched in 2010, dedicated to diversity in the beloved genre fiction market for young people. Titles include Wolf Mark, Tankborn, and Cat Girl’s Day Off.
Here are three examples of recent winners; I was surprised that the most recent I could find was 2007, which means that some of the award winning titles are waiting more than five years to be published. When I asked, a Lee & Low representative said, “This depends on a lot of factors including the amount of editing the manuscript needs upon acquisition and the schedules of the illustrators. Several of our New Voices authors have been paired with established illustrators who are often working on several books at once, which lengthens the process – but their illustrations are well worth the wait. New Voices Award winning-books have gone on to win major awards such as the Ezra Jack Keats Award, the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, and a spot on the Texas Bluebonnet Masterlist.”
Last night I went to Cabelas with some of my critique group friends, and drew animals! It was lots of fun. I wish we had more time to draw even more animals. I guess I'll have to go back soon!
0 Comments on Animal Sketches from a trip to Cabelas as of 5/22/2013 12:27:00 PM
As of November 20, 2012 (that is, Midnight Eastern Time tonight) I am closed to queries. I will reopen to queries January 7, 2013.
If I already have your work, you should hear from me by January 7. (That's the point of taking the break, I have to catch up!)
I'm sorry to say that I cannot respond to new queries sent during this time.
The exceptions will be: work that I've requested -- conference material -- client or editor referrals -- and people I actually know in real life. If this is you, please be sure you've said so, along with the word Query, IN THE SUBJECT LINE of your email. Otherwise, your query will be deleted.
For all other regular queries, please feel free to try any of my colleagues at Andrea Brown Lit, or else try me again in January.
Thanks again for thinking of me in regard to your work.
Wishing you all the best, and Happy Holidays,
Jennifer Laughran Andrea Brown Literary Agency
7 Comments on Query Hiatus FYI, last added: 12/31/2012
This is actually nice for me, because it gives me a deadline to send my work in to you. I wasn't sure what editors did over the holidays -- if they kept reading or shut up shop until Jan. Thanks for letting us know! =)
Or we could go with books in which Doyle appears/is mentioned, like Jenny Davidson's The Explosionist* or the one where he teams up with Oscar Wilde to solve a mystery (I haven't read it, but have been meaning to for ages), or the series where he works with Charles Dodgson to solve mysteries. (<--I have no idea if those are any good, but I totally just ordered the first one, because HELLO, HOW COULD I BE EXPECTED TO RESIST THAT TEAM?)
Or books his brother, Mycroft, appears in, like the Thursday Next books (LOVE the new cover on The Eyre Affair), or the Quinn Fawcett ones that I haven't tried. Or Nancy Springer's series about their pretend sister, Enola.
BUT. As is probably evident by the image to the right, I'm going with Neil Gaiman's story 'A Study in Emerald', which appears in Fragile Things:
A Sherlock Holmes story set in the world of H. P. Lovecraft. Loved it so much I've been babbling about it to everyone who will listen regardless of whether they A) are interested or B) know who H. P. Lovecraft is. Loved it so much I immediately ILLed Shadows over Baker Street, the collection it originally appeared in. I'm waiting with bated breath. (Or I would be, if I wasn't busy obsessively playing Okami.)
WHEW.
So, I'm sure I missed your favorite: tell me all about it in the comments!
_____________________________________
*OH MY GOD I LOVE THAT BOOK SO MUCH HAVE YOU READ IT WHY NOT GO READ IT I'LL WAIT RIGHT HERE OH MY GOD DIDN'T YOU JUST LOVE IT SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
Now you –
and/or - your students - can write a Success
Story, thanks to the Revision Tips our Monday Student Success Story
Interviewee, children’s book author Nancy J. Cavanaugh, shares in today’s
Wednesday Writing Workout!
Thanks, Nancy, for introducing our readers to ThePlot Whisperer, Martha Alderson.
My main character Ratchet knows a lot about engines,
and I know just a little bit too.The
way I learned about engines was by taking them apart.Taking something apart is a really great way
to learn how it works.It’s also a great
way to figure out what’s wrong with something when it doesn’t work.When you bring your car to a mechanic, you
don’t expect him to open the hood and just stare at the engine.You expect him to get out his tools and start
taking things apart.It’s really the
same way with writing.It’s called
revision, and it gets messy.When you
finish a draft, your first inclination is to love it and to think it’s
perfect.It feels so rewarding to have
that clean copy in your hands, and it looks so good!But, the reality is, if you want to make it
better and take it to the next level, it’s got to get messy all over
again.
Martha Alderson’s Blockbuster Plotsand The Plot Whisperer provide me a lot of direction when I am taking apart
a manuscript.In her books and DVDs,
Martha uses a plot planner and a scene tracker.Very simply put, it’s a method of taking apart your story by listing
each scene.Putting your story into this
format allows you to get your head around the whole thing at one time.Listing your scenes this way enables you to
determine whether each scene works within itself and to determine whether each
scene works within the overall plot.Taking
apart your manuscript his way also helps you clarify which parts of the overall
plot are not working or what parts are missing altogether.(Martha’s books and DVDs give detailed
instructions on how to create the scene tracker and plot planner.Check out Martha’s website to learn more.
At first, Martha’s method seemed much too tedious
and time consuming.I didn’t want to take
apart my manuscript piece by piece after I had worked so hard to write it, but
when I finally got tired of my story not working, I decided to give it a
try.I did my own version of Martha’s
scene tracker and plot planner, but I used her basic format to find what was
missing in my plot and make my story stronger.It took a lot of work, a lot of time, and made a big mess of my
manuscript; but if I hadn’t taken things apart in this way, I never would’ve
been able to see what was really wrong with my story and why it wasn’t
working.
My advice? Find
a revision method that works for you, and take the time to do it because when
it comes to revision there really are no shortcuts.Taking apart your story is necessary, and
that takes time and gets messy, but when you put in the time and clean up the
mess, your story will run like a race car.
# # #
3 Comments on Wednesday Writing Workout: Ratchet Up Your Writing with Revision, last added: 5/22/2013
Thanks for this, Nancy. Part of the reason I recently purchased Scrivener was to make it easier to create my own version of a "scene tracker." Still in the learning stage, but I think it will help.
Ok you list each scene with each chapter and the you do what? Apply what criteria? i AM ASSUMING YOU go to what your character wants and/or what your character needs and assess each scene to see if it forwards on or the other of these two things. That would be part of it. I hate to buy another book, Maybe I can get the scene analyzer another way. (Sigh) I'll reread Save the Cat and try Googling plot/scene analyser.
Kweku Sai is dead. A renowned surgeon and failed husband, he succumbs suddenly at dawn outside his home in suburban Accra. The news of Kweku’s death sends a ripple around the world, bringing together the family he abandoned years before. Ghana Must Gois their story. Electric, exhilarating, beautifully crafted, Ghana Must Go is a testament to the transformative power of unconditional love, from a debut novelist of extraordinary talent.
Moving with great elegance through time and place, Ghana Must Gocharts the Sais’ circuitous journey to one another. In the wake of Kweku’s death, his children gather in Ghana at their enigmatic mother’s new home. The eldest son and his wife; the mysterious, beautiful twins; the baby sister, now a young woman: each carries secrets of his own. What is revealed in their coming together is the story of how they came apart: the hearts broken, the lies told, the crimes committed in the name of love. Splintered, alone, each navigates his pain, believing that what has been lost can never be recovered—until, in Ghana, a new way forward, a new family, begins to emerge.
Ghana Must Go is at once a portrait of a modern family, and an exploration of the importance of where we come from to who we are. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from Accra to Lagos to London to New York, Ghana Must Go teaches that the truths we speak can heal the wounds we hide. Review: Ghana Must Gois an unusual read. Taiye Selasi tells the complicated story of a family from the perspective of each of the members. Beginning with the father, Kweku Sai, a brilliant surgeon who left Ghana to train in Johns Hopkins and Harvard. We learn about Kweku's life as an impoverished student in Africa, as a displaced, brilliant, and hardworking student and doctor, as a devoted husband and adoring father, and as a gifted doctor in one of the top hospitals in the world. When Kweku's brilliant career is somehow implodes through no fault of his own, he is devastated devastated by the change and the damage impacts his family deeply.
As Taiye Selasi introduces Fola, the wife and mother, and the children (Olu, the eldest and surgeon, the gifted and beautiful twins Taiwo and Kehinde, and Sadie, the baby of the family) we discover more about the family, about each person's struggle for acceptance and love, and about the worlds that they inhabit in Brookline, in New York, in New Haven, and in Africa. There is Fola, a legendary beauty whose mother died in childbirth and whose father was tragically murdered during a violent attack when she was still a young girl. Fola escapes to Ghana and then to the West to study. When she meets Kweku in the US, she has locked her story deep inside. Her eldest child, Olu, has followed in his father's footsteps and has established himself as a brilliant surgeon. Olu has not remained unscathed by the troubles in his life despite the fact that he appears to lead a "charmed life" and learning more about Olu makes him complicated and deeply sympathetic. Olu's twin siblings have inherited the strikingly gorgeous looks of his mother's family. For as long as anyone can remember, the twins have drawn people to them with their unusual looks and their independence - they seem to live in a world of their own. Kehinde doesn't have the tension, the drive, that characterizes Olu's life but Kehinde has become a world renowned artist. Taiwo is brilliant and gorgeous, but her gifts and successes haven't brought her the contentment that we'd expect but Taiwo carries a dark secret that explains her isolation. Ghana Must Go is an amazing read. It's a story about Africa, about immigration, about building a life and the sacrifices and joys that this entails. ISBN-10: 1594204497 - Hardcover $25.95 Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The (March 5, 2013), 336 pages. Review copy courtesy of the publisher and the Amazon Vine Reviewers program. About the Author: TAIYE SELASI was born in London and raised in Massachusetts. She holds a B.A. in American studies from Yale and an M.Phil. in international relations from Oxford. “The Sex Lives of African Girls” (Granta, 2011), Selasi’s fiction debut, will appear in Best American Short Stories 2012. She lives in Rome.
0 Comments on Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi as of 5/22/2013 10:47:00 AM
I'm excited to share this interview with Ben Kane, the author of the Spartacus series. I'd previously read and reviewed the first three books in the series. The latest book, Spartacus Rebellion, has just come out.
Publication Date: May 14, 2013 St. Martin's Press Hardcover; 464p ISBN-10: 1250012775
Spartacus has already done the impossible—not only has he escaped from slavery, he and his seconds have created a mighty slave army that has challenged Rome and defeated the armies of three praetors, two consuls, and one proconsul. On the plain of the River Po, in modern Northern Italy, Spartacus has defeated Gaius Cassius Longinus, proconsul and general of an army of two legions. Now the road home lies before them—to Thrace for Spartacus, and to Gaul for his seconds-in-command, Castus and Gannicus.
But storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. One of Spartacus's most powerful generals has defected, taking his men with him. Back in Rome, the immensely rich Marcus Licinius Crassus is gathering an unheard-of Army. The Senate has given Crassus an army made up of ten legions and the authority to do whatever it takes to end the slave rebellion once and for all.
Meanwhile, Spartacus wants to lead his men over the Alps and home, but his two seconds have a different plan. They want to march on Rome itself and bring the Republic to its knees. Rebellion has become war. War to the death. I thought that it would be a great time to touch base with the author. He's been kind enough to spend time to talk about his writing. Please welcome Ben Kane!
(1) Your first Spartacus novel developed into a whole second book. Was this something that you'd planned when you wrote the first book?
(Please can the question be rephrased as above or similar? Otherwise it implies that there are more than two books. Thank you.)
Initially, I sold the idea of one Spartacus novel to my UK publishers. Once I had begun it, I found that the story itself was bigger than I had imagined. I realised at about 100,000 words of the first book that there was no way on this earth that I could finish Spartacus’ story within 30-40,000 (the amount that was left if my novel was to come in at normal length) – without having to cut loads of wonderful detail about what he’d done. I rang my editor and asked her if I could write a second book, to finish the story. I’m happy to say that she gave me the green light, which freed me up to pen the second volume. I wrote both books in a frenzied twelve month period.
(2) How have you adjusted to expand the adventures and keep the main characters and relationships throughout?
It was easy, I am glad to say. Spartacus did so many amazing things in the two years of his rebellion that I had no trouble keeping him and his fellow characters very busy indeed. Having two novels to write also meant that I had more time to develop the character of Ariadne, his wife, which I really enjoyed doing. It’s unusual for ancient texts even to tell that he had a wife, let alone that she was a priestess of Dionysus, the god of wine and ritual mania. he moment that I read those details, I knew that Ariadne also had a great story to tell.
(3) What are you currently working on? Would you like to tell us a bit about projects that you have brewing?
Currently, I am writing Clouds of War, the third in my Hannibal series. Enemy of Rome, the first book in this series will be published in the USA next year. It’s a series that opened a year before the outbreak of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), which details the stories of characters from both sides of the conflict. Originally, I just planned to write a trilogy, but the sheer scale of the war and my publishers’ backing means that I’ll write at least five if not more books about it. Before I write the fourth one, however, I plan to start a new series, set during the Hundred Years’ War, which took place between England and France from 1337 – 1453. After that, I have plans to return to Spartacus’ boyhood, as well as to write about other time periods that I won’t mention just yet. About the Author
BenKane was born in Kenya and raised there and in Ireland. He qualified as a veterinary surgeon from University College Dublin, and worked in Ireland and the UK for several years. After that he travelled the world extensively, indulging his passion for seeing the world and learning more about ancient history. Seven continents and more than 65 countries later, he decided to settle down, for a while at least.
While working in Northumberland in 2001/2, his love of ancient history was fuelled by visits to Hadrian's Wall. He naïvely decided to write bestselling Roman novels, a plan which came to fruition after several years of working full time at two jobs - being a vet and writing. Retrospectively, this was an unsurprising development, because since his childhood, Ben has been fascinated by Rome, and particularly, its armies. He now lives in North Somerset with his wife and family, where he has sensibly given up veterinary medicine to write full time.
To find out more about Ben and his books visit www.benkane.net. To celebrate Spartacus Rebellion's release, the publisher and Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours have sponsored this giveaway of 1 copy of Spartacus Rebellion. Enter the giveaway below - the giveaway ends on June 15, 2013. GIVEAWAY: To enter the giveaway, please comment below and share what book you're looking forward to reading this summer. For an extra entry, tell us about a book that you loved recently and why. Contest ends on June 15, 2013. (1) You must be a follower of the blog to enter. (2) Limited to U.S. residents only. (3) Maximum of two entries per household. Want to learn more about Ben Kane, Spartacus and the latest book in the series? Want more chances to win your personal copy of Spartacus Rebellion? Check out the tour schedule and/or follow #SpartacusRebellionTour Link to Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/spartacusrebellionvirtualtour/ Twitter Hashtag: #SpartacusRebellionTour
0 Comments on Interview with Author Ben Kane & Giveaway of Spartacus Rebellion as of 5/22/2013 3:31:00 PM
The Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt complained at Stormont that the teaching guide for Bog Child was evidence of bias and the worst kind of “politicisation of the classroom” under Sinn Féin’s direction.
Mr Nesbitt called for the book by the late London-Irish author Siobhan Dowd and the teaching notes supplied by the North’s Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) to be removed.
In response, the CCEA did not directly criticise Mr Nesbitt but said the book was not on the curriculum. It said it was one of a list of suggested books that teachers could use in the classroom for 14-year-old students.
...
“Let me be clear, this is not an attack on the book,” said Mr Nesbitt. “I have not read Bog Child, so have no opinion on its value as a piece of literature. But I have read the teaching notes, as endorsed by the Department of Education and I am stunned by what I read,” he added.
This class covers all the topics necessary to give a beginning student the tools needed to understand and apply biblical truth in everyday life. The class is a family collaboration of John Schoenheit and his sister, Sue Carlson. The blend of their two voices, manners, and teaching styles is an extremely logical and winning presentation that you can give to your friends and acquaintances who want to know why you are so jazzed about life and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This class is available online for free or for purchase on cassette tape or CD through the Truth or Tradition online store.
To view the PDF syllabus that comes with this audio class, click here.
If what you have just listened to has been a blessing to you, please consider sowing into our continued outreach of the Gospel, all over the globe.
To donate online via PayPal or any major credit card, click here. For the Truth or Tradition mailing address / phone number, click here.
We trust you have enjoyed this free online class. God bless you!
The School Library Journal has nice things to say about my next book, Oliver and His Alligator. Here are some highlights:
As the first day of school approaches, Oliver, a timid boy dressed in an oversize woolly sweater, isn’t feeling very brave. He takes an alligator to school with him “in case things get rough.” ... The gentle pastel illustrations are infused with appealing school-related details and add humor to the story. ... Young readers who are about to begin school will identify with the hero of this quirky story.
0 Comments on Oliver review as of 5/22/2013 10:47:00 AM
As I always get a giggle out of Travis Jonker's One Star Review Guess Who posts, I figured I'd swipe the idea and post the occasional one-star Amazon review of a much-lauded YA title.
So, can you guess what book this disappointed reader is reviewing?:
Even though this book is written for a young adult audience, I would not recommend it to all teenagers. First of all, the book is quite wordy. The language is pretty sophisticated and the dialogue sounds more intellectual than an average teenager would use. Second, the students at the prep school use marijuana, drink beer, and smoke cigarettes, although [HEROINE], the main character does not. Third, the book's "humor" may not appeal to everyone. While some people may find [HEROINE]'s pranks "good clean fun," this would not be universally true. Personally, I didn't think it was funny when [HEROINE] spied on people, stole keys, snuck into places she wasn't allowed to go and pulled pranks against the school authorities. She may have been showing her rebellious side, which is a common teenage trait, but I think [HEROINE] went a little too far. The consequences for her actions, in my opinion, were not equal to the severity of the crime.
Our intrepid leader, CEO, and co-founder of First Book, Kyle Zimmer, shared some of the wit and wisdom that motivates the First Book Team on a daily basis with a crowd of graduates of St Mary’s College in Notre Dame this Saturday.
Adults Are Not Really Certain of Anything.
“In my own life, it took me far too long to figure this out. When I was young, I got distracted by adults who would swagger or bluster. I assumed that anyone who was that forceful MUST know what they were talking about.”
You Are Going to Fail.
“The truth is that, although you can fail without ever succeeding, it is impossible to succeed without failing. Every famous person who has ever succeeded has failed –- and usually significantly -– before contributing their success to the world.”
Grit Trumps IQ.
“Researchers have been confounded by the fact that having a high IQ does not correlate to success. Finally one woman, Angela Lee Duckworth, started performing wide-ranging analysis and she has discovered that, while it is certainly handy to have a high IQ -– grit is by far the better indicator of potential. She defines grit as ‘perseverance and passion for long-term goals.’ You are all blessed elevated IQs –- which will give you a leg up -– but your task now is to find your passion – and get gritty – and no one will be able to stop you.”
Community Is Everything. Build It and Be A Part of It.
“The institutions you will encounter will likely not have communities that are as strong and supportive as St. Mary’s. They will need you to build them up: at work, at home, with people who are kind and smart and have a great sense of humor. Wait — let me reorder that -– build with people who have a great sense of humor and who also are smart and kind. For heaven’s sake, prioritize the sense of humor. It sustains everyone.”
The Most Powerful Force in the World is Empathy.
“Empathy is powerful because it demands action. This world is a needy place and we cannot afford the luxury of inaction. Pledge yourself to empathy. It will require you — when you can — to take on monumental action on behalf of others, but it also requires you to take smaller actions every single day. Hold the door for the person behind you, smile at somebody who never gets a smile. Just do it. Our world needs you desperately.”
Book Description:
Twenty years ago the Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. He created the Hole where sinners are branded according to their sins and might survive a few years. At best.
Now LUST wraps around my neck like blue fingers strangling me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit and now the Hole is my new home.
Darkness. Death. Violence. Pain.
Now every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t die. I won’t let them win.
The Hole can’t keep me. The Hole can’t break me.
I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter.
My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.
Author Bios:
Abi Ketner Is a registered nurse with a passion for novels, the beaches of St. John, and her Philadelphia Phillies. A talented singer, Abi loves to go running and spend lots of time with her family. She currently resides in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her husband, triplet daughters and two very spoiled dogs.
Melissa Kalicicki received her bachelor’s degree from Millersville University in 2003. She married, had two boys and currently lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Aside from reading and writing, her interests include running and mixed martial arts. She also remains an avid Cleveland sports fan.
Abi and Missy met in the summer of 1999 at college orientation and have been best friends ever since. After college, they added jobs, husbands and kids to their lives, but they still found time for their friendship. Instead of hanging out on weekends, they went to dinner once a month and reviewed books. What started out as an enjoyable hobby has now become an incredible adventure.
On Thursday, May 30, the Filmpodium Zurich in Switzerland will present a screening of nine Warner Bros. shorts directed by the legendary Bob Clampett. The show is being presented in honor of his centennial, which was earlier this month. Clampett’s work isn’t well known in Switzerland and the film lineup is a solid primer to his work:
Hello again blog readers! This is a midweek update as to what I – Victoria the Intern – have been up to here at Thurber House.
Three days into my internship and I have learned a lot of things – the life and writings of James Thurber, the importance of organization, and the superiority of Nickles Donut Fair (absolutely true). I’ve also managed to start up my own collection of pens, become an Excel spreadsheet master (which is harder than it looks, let me tell you), test out every single marker/pen/glue stick within a five-mile radius, and do a lot of inventory.
But, mostly I’ve just been helping Thurber prepare for their Summer Camp, which looks like so much fun that I’m contemplating building a time machine and going back in time to when I was a 2nd - 8th grader just to join! Seriously – awesome games, interesting writing prompts, and stories galore – what better way to spend your summer?
For my summer, I plan on reading all the books I’ve been assigned to read for school next year. This should take about the entire summer since I decided to take four different English classes (I know, I’m crazy). Here are a few books not for school that I plan on reading:
On my Want to Read List: In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust), Nine Stories (J.D. Salinger), and The Fault in Our Stars (John Green).
On my Currently Reading List (AKA the books that are collecting dust in my room): Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut) and a truck full of my guilty pleasure – Sarah Dessen novels.
And that was your midweek update! Check in on Friday for the final entry!
Submissions invited: If you’d like a fresh look at your opening chapter or
prologue, please email your submission to me re the directions at the bottom of
this post.
The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn to the next page? Caveat: Please keep in mind that this is entirely subjective.
What's a first page in publishingland? In a properly formatted novel manuscript (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point type, etc.) there should be about 16 or 17 lines on the first page (first pages of chapters/prologues start about 1/3 of the way down the page). Directions for submissions are below.
A word about the line-editing in these posts: it’s “one-pass” editing, and I don’t try to address everything, which is why I appreciate the comments from the FtQ tribe. In a paid edit, I go through each manuscript three times.
Storytelling Checklist
Before you rip into today’s submission, consider this list of 6 vital storytelling ingredients from my book, Flogging the Quill, Crafting a Novel that Sells. While it's not a requirement that all of these elements must be on the first page, they can be, and I think you have the best chance of hooking a reader if they are.
Evaluate the submission—and your own first page—in terms of whether or not it includes each of these ingredients, and how well it executes them. The one vital ingredient not listed is professional-caliber writing because that is a must for every page, a given.
Story questions
Tension (in the reader, not just the characters)
Voice
Clarity
Scene-setting
Character
Rebecca sends the first chapter for These Two Seas, a YA
romance. Please vote—the feedback helps the writer.
“As it was in the beginning, is now, and
ever shall be, world without end, Amen,” Amelia muttered, as she climbed the
last steps to the top floor of St. Paul Central High School. She shifted the
load of textbooks in her arms and started down the corridor. “Hail Mary, full
of --”
The washroom door opened. Two young women
came out: shop girls, judging by their matching sailor blouses, in night school
to pick up some office skills. They stared at Amelia as they walked by. She
smiled and nodded. They giggled. Fine. They could make themselves popular by
crowing about the teacher who talked to herself.
Praying looked eccentric; she’d admit that.
Back in her student teaching days, nothing short of divine assistance could
have gotten her to stand before a room full of strangers and pretend to know
what she was doing. Two years on, she no longer fought the urge to run every
time she approached a classroom, but the ritual had stuck.
… now and at the hour of our death, Amen. Outside Room 305, she paused again. A middle-aged man in a
gray suit stopped and made a short, stiff bow.
“May I help you?” he said.
“Would you mind getting the door?”
He grabbed the knob and stepped back. As
she went in, he pulled a slip of paper from his jacket pocket and glanced at
it.
Good, crisp writing, a clear voice, an immediate scene—but,
for me, not much in the way of tension. There really aren’t any story questions
of any significance on the first page. The man who opens the door for her doesn’t
figure into the story in the first chapter. I read through it, but found mostly
backstory and a portrayal of her life. Toward the end was backstory on a love
affair, but that didn’t lead to anything happening to Amelia in this chapter
that made her do anything other than go to bed that evening. I think this is
well-written throat-clearing, and you need to start later, at the point where
the story begins. This isn’t it. On the other hand, there wasn’t really
anything to pick in the writing, that’s fine.
As an independent editor of book manuscripts, I feel compelled to say I think Ray Rhamey's "Flogging the Quill" is the best how-to book I've read about writing since I was assigned Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" in freshman journalism class 50 years ago. Especially useful for writers of fiction and memoir. I'm urging all my authors to get it.” Frank Zoretich
Submitting to the Flogometer:
Email the following in an attachment (.doc, .docx, or .rtf preferred, no PDFs):
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When I started thinking about this piece, I thought about it as just a list of my (many!) seemingly arbitrary rules for reading. Once I got started, though, I discovered that those rules actually tell you so much about me that they double as personality traits. In fact, they say so much about me that I’m actually a little uncomfortable sharing them now, but I’m going to anyway because I’m done with the piece; this paragraph is actually, chronologically, the last one I’ve written, and who wants to waste all that effort?
Which (obviously) made me think about my own set of personal reading rules.
1. I'm a note taker. If I don't have pencil and paper at hand—or am too lazy to get up and go find pencil and paper—I will dog ear pages. Yes, that's right, I AM AN UNREPENTANT DOGEAR-ER.
1a. Since I realize that this confession will probably result in you all shunning me forevermore—you're totally going to cross the street to avoid me at BookExpo next week, aren't you?—I'm going to go ahead and ADMIT ALL: Yes, I even dogear library books. (I always un-dogear before I return them, though.)
1b. If it makes you feel any better, I dogear the BOTTOM of the page, not the top.
1c. I don't write in books. Ever. I do use the Note feature on my Kindle a hella lot, though.
2. When Josh gets ready to read a new paperback, he preemptively breaks its spine, and I flinch every single time.
3. Halfway through any given hardback, the book jacket starts driving me bananas and I take it off and throw it behind the couch. I retrieve and replace when I'm done reading.
4. The only genre I seem to be capable of reading without going into Literary Analysis mode? Vaguely smutty historical romances.
5. I've said this before, but it should be included: I'm a really, REALLY visual reader. When I'm wrapped up in a book, it's like I stop seeing the words and have an actual movie playing in my head: therefore, I had to stop listening to audiobooks in the car because I kept running stop signs.
6. I'm a vocal supporter of Putting The Book Down If It Isn't Working For You, but I find that I rarely actively do that myself. More often, I realize months later that I set something down and never returned to it.
7. I'm a one-book-at-a-time girl. And I always have at least two back-ups in my bag, JUST IN CASE.
Ten pages in, I was all, "HEY, COOL! THIS IS SO WICKER MAN-Y! I LIKE."
Then, I came to the end of the first part. And my eyes got all big and round and I was all (much more subdued, but no less blown away), "Oh, hey, this is VERY Wicker Man-y."
And then, partway through the second segment, I thought, "Wow. Hello, Cloud Atlas."
After that, I stopped thinking about anything except the story—stories—in front of me, and I read and read and read until there were no more pages to read. And I was crying.
I still feel dazed.
It's not going to be for everyone. I GUARANTEE that some readers are going to want to throw it at the wall. (Perhaps you have already done so?) But something about it resonated with me. It's not just that I'm impressed by the structure—I am—or that I love Sedgwick's writing and skillful atmosphere creation—I do—or that I was blown away by how each segment was so different, but how (even discounting the physical details: the names, the flowers, the hare) each one was also so clearly part of a larger whole.
All of those things are a part of why I loved it, but there was something... BIGGER, yet less tangible beyond that. I think it was that even though the premise doesn't jive with my own personal, in real life worldview—I'm one of those who can't wrap my mind around anything beyond conceived/born/live/die/dead*—that the idea of these two people finding each other over and over again was genuinely, heart-wrenchingly beautiful.
Even though [SPOILER] it was a tragedy almost every time.
But, compared to the love that began—and ultimately ended—their story, the tragedy that followed them felt inconsequential. [/SPOILER]
Or something.
As the footnote below explains, I have a hard time with the metaphysical.
It's just a gorgeous, gorgeous book.
So good that it has apparently made my brain implode.
____________________________
*Which reminds me of a conversation I had years ago:
Family Friend Who Is Way Into Astrology: And so since you have so much Libra in your chart, that means that etc., etc....
Me: I dunno. I just have a hard time buying the idea that I am who I am because of where the planets were when I was born.
FFWIWIA: Oh, that's just because you're a Gemini. You're all about the intellectually concrete.
Me: So I don't believe in astrology because... I'm a Gemini?
Billy is frustrated because everyone picks on him. One day he finds a magic pencil that lets him erase anything that annoys him. Over the course of the day, he erases them all, one by one. But suddenly he discovers he’s lonely and he misses them.
Luckily for Billy, pencils don’t just erase. He has to decide if he wants to draw these people back into his life again. After thinking things over, he makes the right choice and is finally happy.
A Giant Pencil was written when Connor Wilson was nine years old. This heart-warming story will remind kids how much friends and family really mean to them.
Reviewer: Alice Berger
0 Comments on A Giant Pencil as of 5/22/2013 12:55:00 PM
In 25 years of writing Batman stories, including some of the most popular ever, Bill Finger was officially credited as a writer (or co-creator) precisely zero times. (By that I mean in a credit box within the story. In the 1960s, editor Julie Schwartz, bless him, did sneak Bill’s name into the backmatter at least a couple of times.)
One time only, Bill did get to see his name prominently displayed on a first-run story—but it was not in print. Bill was the only writer of Batman comics who (with Charles Sinclair) also wrote an episode of the 1966 TV show that made Batman’s popularity go mainstream.
Small screen was big time on one level, but in the grand scheme, small solace for a marginalized career.
Speaking of TV credits, here is what the credits for the landmark Batman: The Animated Series could’ve looked like if things had played out differently…fairly:
courtesy of @hrguerra
Note the order.
0 Comments on Bill Finger’s sole Batman credit in his lifetime as of 5/22/2013 7:03:00 AM
Keep your students reading all summer! The lists for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, include 10 recommended fiction titles and 10 recommended nonfiction titles. Printed double-sided, these one-page flyers are perfect to hand out to students, teachers, or parents. Great for PTA meetings, have on hand in the library, or to send home with students for the summer. FREE Pdf or infographic jpeg.
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Adults Are Not Really Certain of Anything.
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Enjoy your time off. Happy holidays!
Happy Holidays!
This is actually nice for me, because it gives me a deadline to send my work in to you. I wasn't sure what editors did over the holidays -- if they kept reading or shut up shop until Jan. Thanks for letting us know! =)
To clarify - I'M STILL READING - I'm just reading the hundreds of things I already have to read, not taking NEW things.
Oh I'm not taking time off. I've got hundreds of queries and dozens of fulls to get through! :-)
Hope you'll still find time to update the blog amidst the onslaught of work!
Do you realize the date on this post - 2014. :D
I do indeed. I purposely dated it forward so it would remain on top.