Just finished The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork. The exploration of depression is honest and may give words as well as hope to those within the condition. Learning to exist in the midst of the trial is displayed with a tender compassion.
Watch for Vicky's story of crisis and recovery. It may help you find your own memory of light or assist another along the path beside you.
The Memory of Light
by Francisco X. Stork
Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, 2016
Edited by Cheryl Klein
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By: Lorie Ann Grover,
on 5/25/2016
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Lorie Ann Grover, Scholastic, Cheryl Klein, francisco x. stork, Arthur A. Levine, Memory of Light, Add a tag
By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 4/12/2016
Blog: Miss Marple's Musings (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: editor, author, Interview, editing, Scholastic, SECOND SIGHT, Arthur Levine, Cheryl Klein, Marcelo in the Real World, THE MAGIC WORDS, A FRIEND FOR FRANCIS, chidlren;s literature, kidl iit, Add a tag
By: Maryann Yin,
on 12/14/2015
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Preeti Chhibber, Publishing, Digital, Cheryl Klein, David Allender, Pam Allyn, Add a tag
By: Olga Garcia Echeverria,
on 11/29/2014
Blog: La Bloga (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry, Prose, queer lit, Olga Garcia Echeverria, Cheryl Klein, Anti-gun literature, Bronwyn Mauldin, Pat Alderete, Subcomandante Marcos, The LA Word: Exploding Gun, Wendy Oleson, Add a tag
This morning I can’t stop thinking of Brisenia Flores, that little girl murdered in Arizona. Minutemen vigilantes broke into her family’s home. A woman and two men plagued by hate, stealing, shooting, killing because they could. In America people love their guns. The weight, the steel, the metal extracted from the earth. The lever of power. The trigger. The trigger happy. He shot her in the face. The little girl who pleaded, "please don’t…"
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 12/17/2012
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: what I am reading, GONE GIRL, creativity, voice, craft, recommended reading, Donald Maass, reading and writing, Cheryl Klein, reading update, Add a tag
One of the things I think has made Gillian Flynn's GONE GIRL so successful is voice.
Voice is always one of those tricky things. Scholastic editor Cheryl Klein defines it "by using the formula VOICE = PERSON + TENSE + PROSODY + (Diction + Syntax + Tone + Imagination + Details). Defining the imagination of Voice, Cheryl says, '[t]he imagination of a voice sets the range of subjects, images, diction, kinds of and examples of figurative language, and references that the voice can include.'”
Agent and author Donald Maass says voice is "the thing...every novelist already has... . It may be comic, deadpan, dry, pulpy, shrill, objective, distant, intimate, arty or a thousand other things. It comes through in the story that an author chooses to tell and the way in which they choose to tell it."
Here are some quotes I highlighted while reading GONE GIRL. You'll notice they're not big statements on the plot (except for the last one, which sums up the entire story in all its twisted wonder), but tiny observations -- metaphors used to paint a picture of characters, of setting, small things that were fresh and interesting and right. In other words, great examples of voice.
characterization and metaphor:
"They have no hard edges with each other, no spiny conflicts, they ride through life like conjoined jellyfish -- expanding and contracting instinctively, filling each other's spaces liquidly. Making it look easy, the soul-mate thing." (p 27)
setting and metaphor:
"It was the best time of day, the July sky cloudless, the slowly setting sun a spotlight on the east, turning everything golden and lush, a Flemish painting." (p 31)
characterization:
"His shirt wasn't wrinkled, but he wore it like it was; he looked like he should stink of cigarettes and sour coffee, even though he didn't. He smelled like Dial soap." (p 33)
characterization and metaphor:
"He spoke in a soft, soothing voice, a voice wearing a cardigan." (p 199)
and the quote that sums up the entire crazy ride:
"Our kind of love can go into remission, but it's always waiting to return. Like the world's sweetest cancer." (p 392)
Have you read GONE GIRL? What were your impressions? Any other authors or books that get voice just right?
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 10/3/2012
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: verse novel, Cheryl Klein, shrunken manuscript, novel-in-verse, book mapping, visual representation of a story, quilts, revision, Darcy Pattison, Add a tag
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 3/24/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: pen and ink, children's illustration, ink, Harold Underdown, cheryl klein, Hazel Mitchell, grayscale, dipping pen, profile pic facebook, creating a profile picture for facebook, nib pen, Add a tag
It was too realistic and therefore wouldn't look well on the small profile on Facebook.
So I tried another technique, much freer with ink dipping pen.
I gave the last image grayscale washes in photoshop.
If you hadn't guessed the subject is Harold Underdown. You can see which image he finally used on his Facebook page at this link .... https://www.facebook.com/harold.underdown
Toodles!
Hazel
On the Bedside Table:
'Second Sight' by Cheryl Klein
By: Anna Boll,
on 1/30/2012
Blog: Creative Chaos II (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: cheryl klein, agent, scbwi, new york, editors, conference, Add a tag
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By: Cuppa Jolie,
on 1/28/2012
Blog: The Official SCBWI 10th Annual New York Conference Blog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: revision, SCBWI New York, Cheryl Klein, Add a tag
By: Kathy Temean,
on 10/30/2011
Blog: Writing and Illustrating (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: opportunity, Second Sight, Leeza Hernandez, Cheryl Klein, children writing, Daniel Nayeri, Illustrator Adam Gustavson, News, Events, Editors, Add a tag
Filed under: children writing, Editors, Events, News, opportunity Tagged: Cheryl Klein, Daniel Nayeri, Illustrator Adam Gustavson, Leeza Hernandez, Second Sight
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By: Lorie Ann Grover,
on 5/25/2016
Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Lorie Ann Grover, Scholastic, Cheryl Klein, francisco x. stork, Arthur A. Levine, Memory of Light, Add a tag
By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 4/12/2016
Blog: Miss Marple's Musings (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: editor, author, Interview, editing, Scholastic, SECOND SIGHT, Arthur Levine, Cheryl Klein, Marcelo in the Real World, THE MAGIC WORDS, A FRIEND FOR FRANCIS, chidlren;s literature, kidl iit, Add a tag
I have been interviewing members of our kid lit community for about four years now, chalking up well over a hundred interviews, and I never tire of them. It has given me a wonderful opportunity to connect with people I … Continue reading
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By: Maryann Yin,
on 12/14/2015
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Preeti Chhibber, Publishing, Digital, Cheryl Klein, David Allender, Pam Allyn, Add a tag
Scholastic has launched a new biweekly podcast on children’s books and literacy. Suzanne McCabe, an editor-at-large, has signed on to serve as the host. The first episode of “Scholastic Reads” contains a discussion on “The Magic of Harry Potter.”
Here’s more from the press release: “What sets the Harry Potter series apart from other popular children’s series?…Cheryl Klein talks about her work as continuity editor on the series and shares harrowing stories about keeping the final manuscripts secret. Literacy expert Pam Allyn, Founding Director of LitWorld, weighs in on how Hogwarts and the lessons Harry Potter teaches us can be valuable for educators.”
The second episode focuses on holiday book buying. The third episode will present advice and tips on how to mold children into “super readers.” The fourth episode will feature predictions on the trends of 2016 from children’s literature experts David Allender and Preeti Chhibber. Click here to listen to the premiere episode.
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By: Olga Garcia Echeverria,
on 11/29/2014
Blog: La Bloga (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry, Prose, queer lit, Olga Garcia Echeverria, Cheryl Klein, Anti-gun literature, Bronwyn Mauldin, Pat Alderete, Subcomandante Marcos, The LA Word: Exploding Gun, Wendy Oleson, Add a tag
Olga García Echeverría
This past October, Wendy Oleson, Pat Alderete, Cheryl Klein, Bronwyn Mauldin, and I gathered in the lobby of the North Hollywood Laemmle's. It was a Wednesday night, and we had come to participate in the NoHo Lit Crawl. From the onset, the allocated space for our reading seemed awkward. A narrow strip of carpeted hallway had been reserved and bordered off by retractable belt barriers. Yet despite feeling a bit corralled, we (both the readers and our audience) managed to successfully squeeze in and do what we had come to do—participate in a literary event, The LA Word: Exploded Guns.
No real guns exploded that night in the lobby of the movie theater, but around the world bullets were blasting, thundering, ricocheting through time and space.
Guns are not the source of all evil, we know. There are other evils. Greed. Racism. Misogyny. Classism. Homophobia. The quest for domination and power. But the gun (fueled by these other evils) has been and continues to be a tool used for some of the most heinous crimes committed against humanity. The legacy of gun violence in the Americas can be traced directly back to colonization. When the Europeans first conquered and “settled” the Americas, they brought with them the mighty gunpowder. The West was “won” with the help of guns. What would Manifest Destiny be without guns? Entire peoples and nations have been subjugated and enslaved at gun point.
Despite the common misconception that the passage of time = progress, gun-culture today is alive and thriving, interweaved into every aspect of American society, transcending race and class (one has only to examine the numerous suburban school shootings perpetrated by White males to realize this). We are a culture that glories guns on TV, in movies, in music, in video games, in toy manufacturing, in our weapon industries, and, of course in our legislation. The sale of high-powered weapons to other countries, even when illegal, goes mostly unnoticed and unchallenged. And despite the growing number of people who support gun control, the powers-that-be in this country, seem to remind us all: Don't mess with “our” Right to Bear Arms or we'll shoot you!
In the midst of all the gunpowder, The LA Word: Exploded Guns was merely a moment to pause and reflect. These short excerpts from our reading in October are literary snapshots of the casualties of the American gun culture. We share them with you today.
The first selection is from a ghazal poem written by Bronwyn Mauldin. Every title included in her poem is a gun model taken from an actual gun catalog. The names of these guns speak volumes:
The first selection is from a ghazal poem written by Bronwyn Mauldin. Every title included in her poem is a gun model taken from an actual gun catalog. The names of these guns speak volumes:
Rodeo cowboy action, colt mustang, wild bunch,
Saddle shorty, Indian bureau rifle.
Lady derringer, ladysmith, Baronesse Stutzen,
Brittany side-by-side, lightweight stalking rifle.
Multipurpose weapon, executive carry,
Professional success, business rifle.
Predator, super X pump marine defender,
Versa max zombie, counter-terrorist rifle.
Dissipator, downsizer, decocker,
Persuader, enforcer, traveler takedown rifle.
Saddle shorty, Indian bureau rifle.
Lady derringer, ladysmith, Baronesse Stutzen,
Brittany side-by-side, lightweight stalking rifle.
Multipurpose weapon, executive carry,
Professional success, business rifle.
Predator, super X pump marine defender,
Versa max zombie, counter-terrorist rifle.
Dissipator, downsizer, decocker,
Persuader, enforcer, traveler takedown rifle.
The following selection is from a prose piece written by Pat Alderete.
Ronnie lay on the ground, blood pouring from the gunshot wound in his 15 year old forehead. The blood was pooling around his head with big red clots mixed in. He moved slightly, as though his body was very heavy, and started vomiting. His eyes opened weakly but he didn’t say anything.
The paramedics got there at the same time that Ronnie’s mother, Rita, arrived. She inched her way carefully through the crowd, growing more nervous as people dropped their eyes as she came into sight. Spotting her son laying on the dirty pavement, she threw back her head and wailed, kneeling by his feet. The paramedics grabbed their cases and started wrapping gauze around Ronnie’s head but I could see the utter hopelessness on their faces. You didn’t have to be a doctor to know Ronnie was bad off.
Princess, who was 8 years old and had a crush on Ronnie, was sobbing uncontrollably, snot running into her mouth, her tears washing clean spots on her face.
“Some car drove by,” Princess cried, “and when I heard the bang I looked up and saw the blood spurting outta his head!”
The paramedics lifted Ronnie onto a gurney and put him in the ambulance, Rita climbing in with him. Princess pounded on the door but they pulled away. We stared as the ambulance turned up the street, its tires and siren screeching. Dumbly I turned towards the sound of water and realized that the man in whose yard this had happened had a water hose and was washing the blood and vomit off his lawn. I watched it drain into the sewer like so much trash and I felt my stomach get tight and my head get light. I wanted to cry but I bit my lip and forced myself not to, even though it would of been okay since I was only a girl.
The next piece is an excerpt from, “Hey, Little Man,” written by Cheryl Klein.
There are five of them in the car, four heavy black weapons, a few dozen tattoos. Jordan feels like a weapon. There is a spring coiled in his chest. There are devil horns tattooed on his shaved head, and a word like a brand across the back of his skull.
“Move, you crowding me,” grouches Tiny Ninja, who has the middle seat. He is the newest and youngest. Last summer, Jordan had the middle seat. He’d felt like a kid stuffed into a parent’s car on the way to the movies, and he’d secretly been fine with that. Now he is bigger. When he doesn’t feel like dealing with the streets, he stays in his room eating chicharrones. He has a belly pressing against the waistband of his boxers.
“You move,” Jordan says. “Stop trying to touch me where my bathing suit covers.”
The other guys in the car laugh. “Fuck you,” Tiny Ninja says.
They turn onto the street where their enemies hang off porches and take girls down alleys. It looks like their own street. Government brick and metal window frames from the 1950s, sidewalks veined with weeds, tsking grandmas pinching clothes onto clotheslines, smug in their own quiet violence. It looks the same, but it feels different. A parallel universe where everything is just a little lopsided, or brighter, where alleys hang left instead of right.
Who will make himself a target first? Who will step away from his kid or his mama or his six homies? Jordan holds his gun just below the rolled-down window. On the street, people look without looking. Everyone knows why they’re here.
A guy Jordan knows as Painter offers himself to them. He’s on Jordan’s side of the car, between the pistol’s bloodhound nose and an open garage.
Painter is his. He is glad. And also, he is sinking. It’s not as if anyone really gets away with it. You go to jail or your enemies find you. He doesn’t mean to pause before squeezing his index finger, but his homies are yelling and grumbling. They’re following a script, but maybe they’re glad, too. For the pause. Because prison is one thing and murder is another.
The bullet skims that line. Past one parked car, through the windshield of another, so close behind Painter’s head that it would make ripples in his hair if he had any.
Jordan is as surprised as anyone. In the gap of time between the rise of his arm and the embedding of the bullet in old Señora Castillo’s flower box, his devil horns sprout. They push against his skull and then his skin, emerging sharp and bloody. There is no turning back. There is a box he will have to check on job applications for the rest of his life, and no nice girl will ever love him again, but technically, no one dies.
This is an excerpt from my prose-poem, “Flores for Brisenia”
The morning radio speaks of wars, “over there,” far away. And here? The roosters started crowing at the break of dawn. I’m in the kitchen imagining the falling of a bomb. Ceiling blasted into smithereens. Sparrows murdered in their trees. It’s the radio making me imagine the silencing of songs, the crumpling of walls. There are the walls of people’s homes being knocked down. And the walls of nation-empires being built. Everywhere. Apartheid walls. Border walls. Prison walls. Memorial walls. Which remind me of how we like to make monuments of things we kill. Soldiers. Children running down the streets with angry stones, fighting tanks. Who’s there behind the gunner, behind the missile, behind the barrel, behind the bullet?
This morning I can’t stop thinking of Brisenia Flores, that little girl murdered in Arizona. Minutemen vigilantes broke into her family’s home. A woman and two men plagued by hate, stealing, shooting, killing because they could. In America people love their guns. The weight, the steel, the metal extracted from the earth. The lever of power. The trigger. The trigger happy. He shot her in the face. The little girl who pleaded, "please don’t…"
And although Subcomandante Marcos was not physically present at our poetry reading in October, he was there in spirit. I leave you with these words that I am sure will resonate with all of you out there, who like us, are grappling with the current horrific violence in the world. Violence that, although complex and full of intricate layers, transcends geographical borders and nationalities, asking all of us to take a stand, break silence, and fight for a more just and peaceful world.
I have a dead brother. Is there someone here who doesn’t have a dead brother? I have a dead brother. He was killed by a bullet to his head...Way before dawn the bullet that was shot. Way before dawn the death that kissed the forehead of my brother. My brother used to laugh a lot but now he doesn't laugh any more. I couldn't keep my brother in my pocket, but I kept the bullet that killed him. On another day before dawn I asked the bullet where it came from. It said: From the rifle of a soldier of the government of a powerful person who serves another powerful person who serves another powerful person who serves another in the whole world. The bullet that killed my brother has no nationality. The fight that must be fought to keep our brothers with us, rather than the bullets that have killed them, has no nationality either. For this purpose we Zapatistas have many big pockets in our uniforms. Not for keeping bullets. For keeping brothers.
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By: Bruce Luck,
on 2/16/2013
Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: SCBWI, Kathleen Duey, Cheryl Klein, Ann Dee Ellis, Martine Leavitt, John Truby, The Anatomy of Story, WiFYR, Alane Ferguson, Mathew Kirby, Add a tag
Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: SCBWI, Kathleen Duey, Cheryl Klein, Ann Dee Ellis, Martine Leavitt, John Truby, The Anatomy of Story, WiFYR, Alane Ferguson, Mathew Kirby, Add a tag
I think I’m studying this thing too much. When I first began writing, I wrote carefree, jotting down events as they came to mind. Then I was introduced to WIFYR and became aware that there are formats and procedures and formulae to follow. More and more, I began to research what the experts were saying on writing. Now I’ve got so many “do this, don’t do that” things going on in my head, I’m bound to go against some expert’s opinion with every sentence I write.
Cheryl Klein, Martine Leavitt, Alane Ferguson, Ann Dee Ellis, Mathew Kirby, Kathleen Duey; these are some of the gurus to whose savvy advice I try to adhere. The latest is John Truby. I recently caught up on some back copies of the SCBWI journal when I ran across an article in the November/December issue. It talked about Truby’s book, The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. Silly me. I went out and purchased it.
I’m not sure which of the 22 steps I’m on, as they are not readily laid out in the table of contents. Truby addresses story anatomy from a screenwriter’s perspective but his concepts can be adapted to any fiction writing. I’m on the chapter about story structure. Truby says story structure is how a story develops over time.
He says your MC must have a weakness and a need. The weakness could be the character is arrogant or selfish or a liar and the need is to overcome the weakness. Then there must be desire, which is not the same as need. Desire is what the character wants. It is the driving force in the story and something the reader hopes he attains. Need has to do with a weakness within the character and desire is a goal outside of the character. The hero must, of course meet an opponent. Truby says the opponent does not try to prevent the MC from accomplishing their goal as much as they are in competition for the same thing. In a mystery story, it would seem the protagonist is opposed to the perpetrator of the crime. Under the surface, however, they are both competing for their version of the truth to be believed.
This is where the conflict is with my work-in-progress (my incredibly slow work-in-progress). It’s a middle grade book, so the story is not as intricate. Do kid characters need the complexity of adult characters? I get it that you can’t make them too sterile, too one-sided. Should a middle grade MC be arrogant or a liar?
Likewise, I’m having trouble with the opponent aspect. In my story, there is no real antagonist. There is a mystery the MC is trying to solve, but no person is preventing him.
The experts say do this or do that. My gut tells me different. What’s a poor writer to do?
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By: Bruce Luck,
on 1/26/2013
Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Scott Rhoades, Rachelle Gardner, Cheryl Klein, Add a tag
Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Scott Rhoades, Rachelle Gardner, Cheryl Klein, Add a tag
Last week Scott Rhoades mentioned its importance. Cheryl Klein calls it the soul of the novel. Agents and publishers are looking for fresh ones. But what is this nebulous thing called voice?
Simply put, voice is the individual style of the author. It is what makes her writing unique. It conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character.
Author’s voice is different than finding the voice of your character. Some talk of sitting in a school cafeteria or eavesdropping at the mall in order to discern the voice of a teen. This discussion concerns author’s unique style.
Rachelle Gardner, agent for Books & Such Literary Agency, says voice is “about your originality and having the courage to express it.” Gardner says “your writer’s voice is the expression of YOU on the page.” She goes on to say that, as consumers of stories in books and on screen, we may unwittingly regurgitate characters or stories we’ve heard. Writers must strive to be original.Voice is somehow allowing the uniqueness of ourselves come out on the page. It is that simple. It is that complex.
How does one do that? Voice is not something you can study or learn. It is something you have to find, that develops. It grows and matures with your writing. Most agree that to develop you voice you have to write. And write and write.
I wanted to understand it so I set out to examine voice. It seems the more I examined it, the less I know.
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By: Bruce Luck,
on 12/29/2012
Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: NaNoWriMo, Cheryl Klein, WYFIR, Add a tag
Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: NaNoWriMo, Cheryl Klein, WYFIR, Add a tag
In his post yesterday, Scott asked who does resolutions.
Maybe I’m an old fashioned kind of guy, but I like making New Year’s resolutions. The start of a new year is a time to reflect on what has been accomplished the last twelve months and how things could be improved. It’s a new beginning on the same old life. A fresh start is a chance to break old habits and establish new ones.
Not that I stick to them. Sometimes they are out of here as fast as the Christmas tree waiting on the pick-up curb. A stroke of genius on December 31 can become a hazy memory on New Year’s Day. Some may make it a few weeks out. That new gym membership gets used for a couple of weeks but by March is a waste of money. Good intentions. Lousy follow-through.
After failing consistently for the last umpteen New Years, I’m becoming an expert at making resolutions. General, overall goals seem better than specific, time-dated ones. For example, if I resolve to exercise daily, then I give up on it after the first day I miss, usually around Jan. 3rd or 5th. When I tell myself to walk three or four times a week and fit in a yoga class here and there, I am more successful.
A few years back I took stock of things and resolved to write that book that had been on the brain for twenty years. Look where I am now. I thought I had talent and could write and made a rough draft. A friend suggested WYFIR. I learned there’s a difference between talent and writing skill. Six years later and I’m still learning the craft.
So, be it resolved:
-of course the usual: end to world hunger, lose twenty pounds, fast car, etc., etc.
-and the more doable goals: garage cleaned by 2018, think about what I'm eating once in a while, and what-not.
My Writing Resolutions for 2013
-of course the usual: end to world hunger, lose twenty pounds, fast car, etc., etc.
-and the more doable goals: garage cleaned by 2018, think about what I'm eating once in a while, and what-not.
My Writing Resolutions for 2013
1. Finish revising project A by the end January.
2. Research agents and editors, find the best fit for my manuscript, create a killer query, and turn off writer mode and switch to salesperson.
3. Get Project A signed on with an agent or publisher. (Out of my hands. I know. Had to throw it in.)
4. Figure out project B. That is my new NaNoWriMo story and it is far from finished.
5. Attend a writing conference. I’m going to WIFYR again this year; that is a given. I’ll make it two conferences then. I did Cheryl Klein’s plot class in November. Nothing better to inspire writing than a workshop on the craft.
6. Stay connected with my critiquers. You guys are great.
7. Write daily. I do best with a 60-minute a day goal. Some days it doesn’t happen, but the goal itself keeps me there even on those days when you can’t squeeze in an hour.
7. Write daily. I do best with a 60-minute a day goal. Some days it doesn’t happen, but the goal itself keeps me there even on those days when you can’t squeeze in an hour.
8. Read daily. Someone once said that reading counts as writing time. Though most people my age read adult fiction, we children’s writers tend to go for something aimed at younger audiences. There are a lot of excellent children’s stories out there and reading them makes your own better.
9. Establish an online presence. Publishers want to know the writer is doing what they can to promote their book.
All this and yet balance it out with the rest of my life. Oh, and one more. I resolve to have my Saturday posts finished by Friday evenings.
1 Comments on Writig resolutions, last added: 12/31/2012
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 12/17/2012
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: what I am reading, GONE GIRL, creativity, voice, craft, recommended reading, Donald Maass, reading and writing, Cheryl Klein, reading update, Add a tag
Voice is always one of those tricky things. Scholastic editor Cheryl Klein defines it "by using the formula VOICE = PERSON + TENSE + PROSODY + (Diction + Syntax + Tone + Imagination + Details). Defining the imagination of Voice, Cheryl says, '[t]he imagination of a voice sets the range of subjects, images, diction, kinds of and examples of figurative language, and references that the voice can include.'”
Agent and author Donald Maass says voice is "the thing...every novelist already has... . It may be comic, deadpan, dry, pulpy, shrill, objective, distant, intimate, arty or a thousand other things. It comes through in the story that an author chooses to tell and the way in which they choose to tell it."
Here are some quotes I highlighted while reading GONE GIRL. You'll notice they're not big statements on the plot (except for the last one, which sums up the entire story in all its twisted wonder), but tiny observations -- metaphors used to paint a picture of characters, of setting, small things that were fresh and interesting and right. In other words, great examples of voice.
characterization and metaphor:
"They have no hard edges with each other, no spiny conflicts, they ride through life like conjoined jellyfish -- expanding and contracting instinctively, filling each other's spaces liquidly. Making it look easy, the soul-mate thing." (p 27)
setting and metaphor:
"It was the best time of day, the July sky cloudless, the slowly setting sun a spotlight on the east, turning everything golden and lush, a Flemish painting." (p 31)
characterization:
"His shirt wasn't wrinkled, but he wore it like it was; he looked like he should stink of cigarettes and sour coffee, even though he didn't. He smelled like Dial soap." (p 33)
characterization and metaphor:
"He spoke in a soft, soothing voice, a voice wearing a cardigan." (p 199)
and the quote that sums up the entire crazy ride:
"Our kind of love can go into remission, but it's always waiting to return. Like the world's sweetest cancer." (p 392)
Have you read GONE GIRL? What were your impressions? Any other authors or books that get voice just right?
6 Comments on Literary Lessons from GONE GIRL, last added: 12/27/2012
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 10/3/2012
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: verse novel, Cheryl Klein, shrunken manuscript, novel-in-verse, book mapping, visual representation of a story, quilts, revision, Darcy Pattison, Add a tag
My most recent verse novel manuscript is told in two voices. Without giving too much away, I'll say it's a story of friendship forged in the midst of hostile circumstances. For most of the story the friends, Alis and Kimi, aren't together.
Working with author Darcy Pattison's idea of a shrunken manuscript, editor Cheryl Klein's idea of a book map, and my verse novel as quilt metaphor, I created what you see below.
After finishing my initial draft, I "quilted" the division of voices within the story. You've probably noticed the same thing I have: Alis's voice dominated this draft.
With the second draft, I added more opportunities for Kimi to speak, but it's still pretty heavily dominated by Alis.
With the third draft, Alis is still the voice heard most often, but Kimi's poems have increased, and the blending is better. Notice in the first two drafts I ended with a dual voice poem. I figured as it's a story of friendship, things had to end that way. But now I'm not so sure. I start the manuscript with Alis making her way in the world and end in a similar place. I feel like this is the best way to tell her story and Kimi's, too.
Of course, this is all subject to change. I've taken the story as far as I'm able alone. As my critique partners respond to this draft, I'll be curious what they have to say about this aspect of the story. And I plan to quilt the story in terms of sub-plots before it goes to my agent next month.
Are there any visual techniques you use during revision?
3 Comments on A Verse Novel Quilt With Two Points of View, last added: 10/8/2012
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By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 3/24/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: pen and ink, children's illustration, ink, Harold Underdown, cheryl klein, Hazel Mitchell, grayscale, dipping pen, profile pic facebook, creating a profile picture for facebook, nib pen, Add a tag
This week I got to tackle drawing a profile pic for facebook. No, not for me, for a friend.
If you're in the Kidlit world you may guess who it is.
Here's the first one.
It was too realistic and therefore wouldn't look well on the small profile on Facebook.
So I tried another technique, much freer with ink dipping pen.
If you hadn't guessed the subject is Harold Underdown. You can see which image he finally used on his Facebook page at this link .... https://www.facebook.com/harold.underdown
Toodles!
Hazel
On the Bedside Table:
'Second Sight' by Cheryl Klein
6 Comments on Drawing a profile pic for Facebook, last added: 3/26/2012
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By: Anna Boll,
on 1/30/2012
Blog: Creative Chaos II (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: cheryl klein, agent, scbwi, new york, editors, conference, Add a tag
If for some reason you missed the tumblg,tagging and tweeting from the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City, pull on your riding boots for the conference round up.
In this corral over here we’ve got we’ve got the VIP cocktail party Friday night. Agents, editors, and art directors schmoozed and enjoyed “Artisian Cheese Displays,” after their hard day at work. I spoke to some of those but also rubbed elbow with the assistants who told me that things had been pretty quiet. That must mean that they’ve recovered after the December lull, and it is prime time to start subbing again.
Over here, we’ve lassoed some industry professionals. This group: Jean Feiwel, Barbara Marcus, Nancy Paulsen, and Rubin Pfeffer, is chock full of historical knowledge about the publishing industry having built Scholastic to what it is today. Now they are at MacMillan, Penguin, and East West Literary. They discussed their impressions on the present and future children’s book industry and brought us some new vocabulary. “E-tailers” are purveyors of e-books, “Discoverability” is the chance the consumer had to find your book in the millions that are out there. This used to happen through indie bookstores when the awesome retailer hand sold your book. This panel mentioned that with the demise of Borders, indies have actually had their best season in years and that the support of all of us is really helping. (Shop local.) “Transmedia” is the addition or transportability of your content into other media formats.
Throughout the weekend, speakers agreed that publishers are moving towards more commercial, hard-cover best sellers, and that these best sellers allow them to publish the midlist. High concept is definitely on their mind. This idea was repeated by the agent panel on Sunday with the caveat that you have to have a “hook.” This doesn’t mean that you need a paranormal YA to get published. Agents Regina Brooks, of Seredipity, and Ken Wright, of Writer’s House, explained that publishers are always thinking: “Where is this book going to go? How are we going to get it there? How is the author going to get it there?” Certainly this is marketing and Regina Brooks has even added a Social Media strategist to help her authors develop their online presence. Ginger Knowlton spoke about the many web related links that she checks in on each day so that she can be in the loop about publishing developments. Note: you do not have to read all of these and if you do- you will never write/draw again. Here they are:
PW Marketplace
PW Lunch
PW
When we weren’t in the Ballroom, we were moseying into the breakout sessions. My favorite was the revision workshop with Cheryl Klein. If you went to that session, she posted the links that she mentioned at her own roundup. Yee-Haw!
At the Saturday night hoedown aka the Gala Dinner, the tables were arranged by region and I was thrilled to meet some of the Northern New Englanders who showed up. We ambled away from our tables to join the larger group from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Conne
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By: Cuppa Jolie,
on 1/28/2012
Blog: The Official SCBWI 10th Annual New York Conference Blog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: revision, SCBWI New York, Cheryl Klein, Add a tag
Cheryl Klein is the Executive Editor at Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic).
The point of revision is re-visioning, helping it to become the book it wants to be.
Three principles of revision: Reality, Clarity, Transparency
Revision in three parts
1. Vision: the big picture, what is your story. Know what the core of it is.
2. Examination: Look at what the book actually is.
3. Action: Get to work.
Cheryl has oodles of advice and techniques to share for revision, reminding the room that if you try them all, you are likely procrastinating. It makes sense then that her first piece of advice is: Know how you work best.
Write the spine of the story in one sentence. This will be useful in elevator pitches and family picnics.
Some important and useful questions when thinking about character:
What is your character's joy?
What is your character's pain?
What does character want?
What would your character do to get it?
Change the font of your book before you read it. The change will make it feel less familiar.
Use a spreadsheet to track information in a manuscript.
Write a synopsis of your book from another character's point-of-view.
Know that you don't have to solve all the problems in your book at once.
1 Comments on Cheryl Klein: Revision, last added: 1/28/2012
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By: Kathy Temean,
on 10/30/2011
Blog: Writing and Illustrating (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: opportunity, Second Sight, Leeza Hernandez, Cheryl Klein, children writing, Daniel Nayeri, Illustrator Adam Gustavson, News, Events, Editors, Add a tag
Cheryl Klein, Daniel Nayeri, Adam Gustavson, and Leeza Hernandez will be doing a book signing at the Hyatt Regency at 5:30 pm on Nov. 5th. The books available are listed below:
Editor Daniel Nayeri at Clarion Books will be signing his book, STRAW HOUSE.
Editor Cheryl Klein at Arthur A. Levine will be signing her book, SECOND SIGHT: An Editor’s Talk on Writing, Revising and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults.
Author/Illustrator Adam Gustavson will be signing the books below.
Author/Illustrator Leeza Hernandez signing her book, EAT YOUR MATH HOMEWORK.
Great time to buy a book for the holidays and a great way to get a few more minutes with a faculty member.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
Filed under: children writing, Editors, Events, News, opportunity Tagged: Cheryl Klein, Daniel Nayeri, Illustrator Adam Gustavson, Leeza Hernandez, Second Sight
0 Comments on Editor/Author Book Signing as of 10/30/2011 10:30:00 PM
By: Kathy Temean,
on 5/11/2011
Blog: Writing and Illustrating (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: News, Events, Editors, opportunity, Second Sight, Cheryl Klein, children writing, need to know, Conferences and Workshops, one-on-one critique, Mentoring Workshop, Add a tag
On the afternoon of November 5th, we are having a Craft Day and booksigning with editor Cheryl Klein from Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine. Cheryl will conduct a two hour writing class with members, followed by a booksigning of her new book SECOND SIGHT. This will be offered free to any SCBWI member. Space is limited, so you will have to sign up to reserve a spot and at some point we may have to close the doors. Anyone who wants to stay and have dinner with Cheryl after the booksigning can do so, but dinner is not being offered for free.
The following day, November 6th, Cheryl will participate in our Mentoring Workshop and do one-on-one critiques along with three other agents and editors that attend. At the same time, we will have our semi-annual Illustrators’ Day with two Art Directors.
It is all taking place at the Hyatt Regency in Princeton, NJ. I will be posting more info about Cheryl’s class, the discount price to stay overnight at the hotel, and price of November 6th programs. I will announce other agents and editors as I confirm them and provide all the details after the conference. I just wanted you to know so you could save the date.
Hope you find this exciting. It is a way to reward you for supporting the NJSCBWI.
Thank you!
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
Filed under: children writing, Conferences and Workshops, Editors, Events, need to know, News, opportunity Tagged: Cheryl Klein, Mentoring Workshop, one-on-one critique, Second Sight
10 Comments on Free Event Open to All SCBWI Members, last added: 5/13/2011
By: Karen Strong,
on 4/5/2011
Blog: Musings of a Novelista (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Writing, characters, Second Sight, Cheryl Klein, Carrie Ryan, Dark and Hollow Places, Add a tag
You know that feeling you get when you start reading a book and you just connect to it so well? It’s that same connection and empathy that compels us to revisit our favorites — the book that’s dogeared and has paragraphs that you know by heart.
As I reader, I didn’t think about the reason why I loved a book so much. I just knew that is was a favorite. Now that I’m a writer, I always try to find the strings attached behind the words. The craft behind the connection.
And one thing that makes a good book to me is emotion. It’s that connection with the character. And if a writer can do that then that writer is well on her way to making a good book.
I have tons of new craft books that I just can’t wait to start reading after Operation 50/50. I did read the introduction of one of them, Second Sight by editor Cheryl Klein. I had the pleasure of attending her revision workshop at the 2010 Springmingle Conference and this is what she had to say about what makes a good book:
“I think good fiction books (good art in general) create a deliberate emotion in the person experiencing it [...] The emotion is achieved authentically through immersing us in the character’s lived experience, not through cheap manipulation.”
And although I do loves a good plot, adding the emotion dimension is a bonus. A good example is a book I’m currently reading, The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan. What has kept me coming back to this trilogy is not the awesome zombie apocalypse and the dark world but the emotion. It’s not all blood and gore — it’s also about connecting with the characters and how they are dealing not only with the need to survive against unrelenting zombies but also their inner conflicts, doubts, fears, and desires. Emotions that are universal.
For me, Emotion = Good Book. And this is coming from a plot chick. Ha.
What about you? Are you reading a book right now or have a favorite book that connects with you through emotion? Would love to hear about some of them. :)
5 Comments on Emotion = Good Book, last added: 4/6/2011
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By: Kathy Temean,
on 3/23/2011
Blog: Writing and Illustrating (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: How to Revise, Book, Editors, revisions, Scholastic, How to, Cheryl Klein, children writing, Senior Editor, Add a tag
Cheryl Klein started her editorial career in 2000 when Arthur A Levine at Scholastic hired her. She is still with Arthur today as Senior Editor.
In January 2005, Cheryl started her well-known blog, followed by creating a web site the following November. Both helped her delevelop an online audience.
Once she started running talks online, people began to ask her about when she was going to write a book. With four years of advice behind her, she started seriously thinking about using the material for a book in spring 2009.
On July 1, 2009, Cheryl posted on KickStarter.com, a Web site devoted to raising funds for creative projects. She figured she would need to raise $2000 to print 500 copies of her book and decided KickStarter would be a good way to see if her online support and following would translate into support for a physical book. She then announced her idea on her blog and on Twitter.
KickStarter was newly launched, and mine was the earliest publishing project. She raised the money in nine days, and by September had raised $3200 and I ended up printing 2000 copies of Second Sight. Two years later she has self-published her book, Second Sight: An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults.
Second Sight is largely composed of Klein’s presentations at writers’ conferences and other venues, the self-published paperback (released by her own company, Asterisk Books), discusses such topics as devising terrific first lines, writing a strong picture-book manuscript, finding the emotional heart of a story, building characters, and bolstering plot.
Click here to purchase from Amazon You’ll have to order it, since they are out-of-stock right now.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
Filed under: Book, children writing, Editors, How to, revisions Tagged: Cheryl Klein, How to Revise, Scholastic, Senior Editor
2 Comments on Editor Cheryl Klein Shares Expertise With Writers, last added: 3/27/2011.jpeg?picon=2058)
I found this picture on agent 
The experts are guides. They are experts for a reason, and it's wise to heed their advice. In the end, though, you are writing YOUR story, and need to do what feels best for the story.
Ditto what Scott said. He's a pretty smart guy!