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Picking a point of view and how you learnt to work with the different types would be something I’d be interested to hear about. As a reader, I kind of know when the point of view works for the story and when it doesn’t, but I don’t really know how consciously writers make the choice or how you do it.
Hmmm, a tricky one first up. Curses!
I think I may have mentioned that for most of my writing life i.e since I was five and first started, I wrote short stories, not novels. I’d start many but not finish them. But I finished hundreds of short stories. None of them were much good as stories, but they were excellent for learning stuff like how to use the different points of view.
And, wow, did I. I even have a few stories written in second person. Those were on purpose experiments, but in my early days I did lots of experimenting without knowing what I was doing. I would change points of view willy nilly. One minute a story would be in first, and then in limited third, and them in omniscient. I’d write from Jack’s pov, then Chan’s, then Jill’s, then Kara’s. Sometimes all in the one paragraph. Those stories were mostly unreadable, but slowly I started to learn my way around the four basic povs.
In those early bouncing-around-all-over-the-place stories I had no control over what I was doing with pov. I didn’t notice the constant changing. That was something I learnt by writing all those bad stories and discovering.
How does that translate to what I write now?
The first draft of Magic or Madness was written in third person. I also thought the book was going to be entirely from Reason’s pov. I wound up with Reason’s voice being in first and the two other pov characters, Tom and Jay-Tee, being in third. I’m not sure how that happened. Reason just wasn’t working in third. Her voice seemed flat. As soon as I tried shifting it to first, the book took off. I’d found the right voice.
I think my struggle to find the right voice for Reason stems from the trilogy beginning life as a set of ideas, rather than with a specific character. Both How To Ditch Your Fairy and the Liar book began with the strong voice of the protag. Both are in first person. It never occurred to me to change. Didn’t need to.
Scott says he uses first person when the book is more digressive—So Yesterday, Peeps—it allows him to stop the narrative and say, “Hey, let me tell you this cool thing.” He uses third when the narrative has more of a straight drive, like the Midnighters and Uglies books.
My current novel is (at least partly) in omniscient. It’s big with a large cast of characters. I believe that omniscient is the point of view best suited to epics. I think Dunnett’s and Pullman’s1 deployment of it is a large part of what gives those books their distinctive epic feel. If I can make it work even half as well as they do I’ll be home and hosed.
I’m loving writing in omni. I love being able to move from a close in view of a character’s thoughts all the way out to a sweeping view of the city and that character’s place in it. Omniscient feels like the most metaphysical point of view. The most flexible too. It allows for straight driving narrative, digressions, whatever I want to do with it. Right now I am deeply in love and feel that it is perfectly suited to the huge story I am attempting to tell. Bless you, omni!
Hope that answers your question, Malcolm.
in His Dark Materials
1 Comments on JWAM reader request no. 1: Choosing povs, last added: 1/5/2009
Yup, it’s my annual what-I-did-this-year skiting post. I write these mostly for myself so I can easily keep track. Hence the last day of the year category. Thus you are absolutely free to skip it.1
This year was exceptional. I’m still pinching myself. My first Bloomsbury USA book, How To Ditch Your Fairy, was published and seems to be doing well. I was sent on my first book tour, which was fabulous. It’s insane how much fun I had and how many fabulous schools, book shops and libraries I visited in California, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Thank you to everyone who came to see me while I was on the road. It was a blast getting to meet you all! I loved hearing what fairies you all have!
Now this is going to sound like the acknowledgments page but bear with me cause I thanked my fabulous editor, Melanie Cecka in print, but not the wonderful publicity and sales and marketing folks because, well, I didn’t know them back then. Deb Shapiro is the best and funniest publicist I’ve ever worked with, Beth Eller is a genius of marketing, and all the sales reps who’ve been flogging the fairy book mercilessly across the USA are too fabulous for words. Extra special thanks to Anne Hellman, Kevin Peters, and Melissa Weisberg.
HTDYF also sold (along with the liar book) to Allen & Unwin in Australia. This is a huge deal because it’s the first time I’ve had a multi-book deal in Australia and A&U publishes many of the best writers in Australia, including Margo Lanagan, Garth Nix, Penni Russon and Lili Wilkinson. My editor and publisher, Jodie Webster, is a joy to work with. So’s Sarah Tran and Erica Wagner and Hilary Reynolds and everyone else on the Alien Onion team. Bless!
Both Bloomsbury and A&U seem even more excited about the liar book than they were about HTDYF. Which is a huge relief to me because, um, it is not the most obvious follow-up to the fairy book. Older, darker, scarier, completely different. Stuff like that. Here’s hoping that not too long into the new year I’ll be sharing the title, the cover, a sneak preview, and other such fabulous things.
The fairy book also sold in Germany to Bertelsmann, who published the Magic or Madness trilogy there and gave it the best covers ever. It was awesome getting to meet the two Suzannes: Krebs and Stark in Bologna. Thank you for believing in my book so strongly that you bought it when it was still in manuscript. I still can’t quite believe it.
Speaking of the trilogy it sold in Korea to Chungeorahm Publishing, which means it’s now published in ten different countries and eight different languages. All of it Whitney Lee’s doing. It’s astonishing to me how well the trilogy is doing more than three years after first publication. Fingers crossed that will continue.
I also had two short stories published. A rarity for me. My last short story was published back in 2004. These two were the first I’d written since then. Short stories are not my thing. They’re so much harder to write than a novel. ““Pashin’ or The Worst Kiss Ever” appeared in First Kiss (Then Tell): A Collection of True Lip-Locked Moments edited by Cylin Busby and was universally declared to be the grossest story ever. “Thinner Than Water” is in Love is Hell edited by Farrin Jacobs. I’m proud of them both for very different reasons. But don’t expect any more. Writing short stories hurt my brain.
Last year I was wise and only aimed to write one novel in 2008. Just as well because that’s all I did this year no stories, no articles, nothing else. I wrote the liar book and began the 1930s book. It’s very clear that I’m a one-book-a-year girl.
I also mentioned in that one-year-ago post that I had three sekrit projects. The first is no longer a secret: the Zombie Versus Unicorn anthology that I’m editing with Holly Black, which marks the first time I’ve edited original fiction. Am I excited? Why, yes, I am. It will be out from Simon & Schuster in 2010 and we’ll be announcing our insanely excellent line up of authors in the new year. Truly, you will die at how great our writers are.
One of the other sekrit projects morphed into a solo project (the 1930s book) and I’m still hoping that the last of the sekrit projects will go ahead some time next year. Here’s looking at you co-conspirator of my last remaining sekrit project! You know who you are.
Next year will be taken up with writing the 1930s book and editing the Zombie v Unicorn antho. The 1930s book is the biggest most ambitious book I’ve tried to write since my very first novel set in ancient Cambodia. I’m loving the researching and writing. Immersing myself in another era is the most fun ever! I think my next ten books will all be set in the 1930s.
My 2009 publications. This is a WAY shorter list than last year:
September: the liar novel for Bloomsbury USA.
October: the liar novel for Allen & Unwin.
Yup, just the one novel from me. Sorry! You should also get hold of Cassandra Clare’s City of Glass when it comes out. It’s the final book of the City of Bones trilogy and the best of the three. I read it in one sitting on my computer.2 Then later in the year there’s Robin Wasserman’s sequel to Skinned. You know you want it! Yet another book I read in one go. Also on my computer. Think how much better it will be between actual covers.
Then there’s the three YA debuts I’ve been talking about by Peterfreund, Rees Brennan and Ryan. If you read no other books in 2009 make sure you read those three. I’m also dying to read the sequel to Kathleen Duey’s Skin Hunger, which was my favourite book of 2007.
Last, but not least, the old man has his first novel in two years, Leviathan. Fully illustrated by the fabulous artist Keith Thompson and better than anything else Scott’s ever written. I’m so proud of him and of this book. You’ll all love it. Seriously, it’s worth the price just for the endpapers!
I travelled way too much this year. Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the UK, France, Canada, all over the USA, and home to Australia. Again. Looks like the same for next year. I have no idea what to do about that. I guess when you try to live in two different countries at the same time that’s the price. Oh, and lots and lots of offsets. We try to be good.
This is where I usually say that I think the coming year’s going to be fabulous. But this year I’m not sure. The economic news back in the United States has been dire. Friends have lost their jobs, their editor, their imprint. It’s scary in publishing right now and it’s even scarier in many other industries. I really hope good governance in the USA will make a difference world wide. But I just don’t know. I had great hopes for the Rudd government and here he is botching the fight against climate change and trying to put up a filter for the internet in Australia. Ridiculous. Surely Obama’s government will not be so stupid.
Here’s hoping 2009 will see a return to sanity all around the world, but especially here in Australia.
Happy new year!
I would if I were you.
Actually I was lying in bed. Whatever.
0 Comments on Last day of 2008 as of 12/31/2008 1:24:00 AM
Fayard and Harold Nicholas have never been surpassed. Just astonishing. Even Fred Astaire admitted the fabulousness you have just watched was the best dance sequence he’d ever seen. He was correct.
On the research front: Yes, that sequence is from Stormy Weather and yes it was released in 1943. But they were the top act at the Cotton Club from 1932. As you all know the Cotton Club was the top entertainment venue in New York City in the 1930s, which co-incidentally is when and where my next book is set. So rewatching the fabulous Stormy Weather totally counts as research cause it recreates many 1930s era Cotton Club numbers.
Next stop Emperor Jones from 1933, which I don’t even have to justify. Yay!
For those suggesting 1930s films: I much appreciate it. Just keep in mind I’ve been doing this research for well over a year and have been obsessed by Hollywood films of the 1930s since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Thus if it’s readily available on DVD odds are I’ve already seen it. But if it’s relatively obscure, or only just released on DVD, then suggest away!
0 Comments on Fred Astaire versus Gene Kelly as of 12/24/2008 1:17:00 AM
Eleanor Powell and Buddy Rich rocking out (starts at about 1:25 via Emma Bull):
Okay, I admit that this comes from 1942. However, part of my 1930s novel takes place on a cruise ship just like Ship Ahoy. Well, except for not being a sound stage. And, um, one of my characters adores the Tommy Dorsey band. So even though this is a future Tommy Dorsey band appearance that she will never see it totally counts as research. And also another of my characters can see into the future and uses that ability to follow Eleanor Powell’s career.1 Thus watching this clip is TOTALLY research.
Lord, how I adore Eleanor Powell. Broadway Melody of 1940 is one of my favourite movies of all time. I know everyone squees over her “Begin the Beguine” routine with Fred Astaire, which to be sure is deeply squee-worthy, but I also love this one (gets going around 2:15):
Eleanor Powell + boats = joy!
And Broadway Melody of 1940 totally counts as research because it was shot in 1939 and last time I looked that was in the 1930s.2
Just in case some of you have never seen “Begin the Beguine” here you go:
You’re welcome!
Some of these things may not be true.
Even though my book is more set in the early 1930s. But never mind that!
1 Comments on Yes, this is research too, last added: 12/25/2008
I love Boxing day.1 It is the most excellently lazy day ever. Right now I have my feet up, watching the beginning of the Boxing day test, while eating my brekkie of mango, banana, sheep’s milk yogurt and granola. (We ran out of passionfruit. Get some more tomorrow.) Is there anything better than this? I don’t think so.
I have high hopes for this series between Australia and South Africa. The first test was splendid. Every day (except the last) was full of reversals and much excitement. I didn’t see the series in India so this is the first time I’ve seen the Aussies up against a team that can beat them in ages. It’s most excellent. If only we had a better captain. Ponting’s a great cricketer but I’m deeply unimpressed by his captaincy skills.
Mmmm. Boxing day, cricket, mangoes, laziness. I’m home, aren’t I? If it were up to me I’d never leave.
Hope you’re all having a marvellous day wherever you are and whatever day it is. Hope you are having as much relaxing fun as I am!
I know the date stamp for this post says xmas day, but it’s not. I was too lazy to change to east coat aussie time from east coast usian time.
Our BookPeople event was run like the Actor’s Studio. There was a moderator, Emily, who asked us questions written down earlier by the audience. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and couldn’t answer them all. So here are our answers to the ones we didn’t get to that night.
Be warned: there are some spoilers for Scott’s Uglies books.
Questions for Justine:
Q: Will there be any more books about New Avalon?
A: I don’t plan to write any. Of the next two books I will publish, one is already written—the Liar book—and the other one—set in NYC in the 1930s is under way. If I did get an idea for another book set in New Avalon (where How To Ditch Your Fairy is set) it wouldn’t come out until 2011 at the earliest.
Q: Do schools like New Avalon Sports High really exist?
There are all sports high schools around the world. But I hope they’re not quite as strict as NA Sports High. I didn’t base it on any particular high school. Though I was influence by a doco I saw about girls training to be gymnasts at the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport). I was shocked at the long hours these young girls were training and at how strict their coaches were. Yet they seemed to love it. I remember one girl being asked how she could love such a tough training regime. She looked at the journo asking her the question as if they were crazy: “Are you kidding? I get to go to the Olympics!”
A: Is all the slang a mix of US & Australian or is some of it made up?
I made up the majority the slang, mostly by playing with my thesaurus. Thesauruses are fun! My favourite is “pulchy” for cute or good-looking. I’ve always thought “pulchritudinous” was the most hilarious word ever because it sounds so ugly yet it mean beautiful.
Questions for Scott:
Q: Did Tally and David get together at the end of Extras?
A: It is up to you, the reader, to decide.
Q: Why did you k*** Z***?
A: One of the dumb things Hollywood does is show us wars in which only extras and minor characters get killed. But in real life, everyone is the star of their own movie. So in real wars, everyone who’s killed is someone important—not just an extra or a bit player.
So once I realized that Specials was about a war, I felt it would be dishonest for only minor characters to get killed. Someone important to Tally had to die, and Zane was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Q: How did you find all the thirteen-letter words to use?
A: At first I found them “by hand.” Whenever I ran into a long word I counted the letters, writing it down if it had thirteen letters. But after a while I developed a strange superpower, the ability to spot
tridecalogisms by sight. Then my sister-in-law bought me a crossword dictionary that listed words by length, which was cool. Then finally I found a website that was designed to find words you didn’t know who to spell. I typed in thirteen question marks, and it generated a giant list! (I can’t remember the site name now . . . )
Questions for both Justine and Scott:
Q: Are you friends with any other authors?
Justine: Yes. Loads and loads of them. It’s fabulous. We read each other’s mss. critique them bounce ideas off one another. I’m very lucky.
Scott: We also write at least once a week with several authors: Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman, E. Lockhart, Cassandra Clare, Lauren McLaughlin, are the ones who most often show up.
Q: Is there any news on a movie?
Justine: While there’s been some interest in turning How To Ditch Your Fairy into a movie nothing has come of it so far. Trust me, if there’s any news on this front I will sing it from the rooftops. Though I think the Fairy book would make a better TV series than a movie.
Scott: The Uglies movie is still waiting for a script, as far as I know. I think Hollywood doesn’t know how to make a movie about, you know, ugly people.
Peeps is with an independent producer and screenwriter, and So Yesterday is being looked at. More news on that soon (probably).
But no auditions yet!
Q: When brainstorming ideas for your next book do you come up with multiple ideas? How do you choose the one to push forward with?
Justine: I pretty much always have a number of novel ideas to play with. I tend to talk about them with Scott and my agent, Jill, as well as my editor, Melanie, and a few writer friends. I’ve been talking about writing a book about a compulsive liar for ages. Whenever I mentioned it people would get very enthusiastic. I was too afraid to start though cause it seemed like it would be really hard to write (I was right) so I delayed until Scott and Jill and Melanie all ganged up on me.
I guess I let people bully me!
Though honestly all the bullying in the world wouldn’t have gotten me going if I hadn’t finally figured out a way to write the Liar book. So I guess my real answer is that the book that begins to grow and make sense is the one I wind up writing.
Scott: I usually have one idea that I really want to do most. I don’t come to that conclusion by any conscious way; it simply bubbles up in the back of my head as the most interesting idea. I think this ability comes from having written, like, 18 books—I’ve tried lots of ideas, and so am getting better at telling the more productive ones from the boring ones.
Q: Do you have any advice for young writers?
Justine: Loads! You can find some here, here and here. Though all my advice applies to beginning writers of all ages. In a nutshell my advice boils down to:
Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get published. Learning to write well is the main thing. If you try to publish before you’re ready you can wind up very discouraged. While you’re learning o write you should have fun with it. Try different styles, different genres, mess about, get your hands dirty!
Read A LOT. Read and read and read and read! Think about what books you like best and try to figure out what it is about the writing that works for you. Then give it a go. Think about what books you hated and try to figure out why the writing was such a disaster. Don’t write like that.
Write a lot.
Learn how to critique other people’s work.
Learn how to take criticism. If you want to be a professional writer you’re going to have to learn to take criticism and the sooner you start practicing the better!
Scott: Here’s the “writing advice” category from my blog, including some advice from guest blogger Robin Wasserman: Writing Advice.
Q: Which is your favourite cover?
Justine: I’m assuming you mean of one of my books. I’ve been very lucky I like every single one of my covers. But I think my absolute favourite is the one Cat Sparks did for Daughters of Earth.
Scott: Probably Extras. The fun part was that I got to work on it from the beginning, from choosing the model to picking the final shot.
Justine: Er, um. I don’t actually know. It was not by design. The first novel I wrote has multiple viewpoint characters many of whom are boys. My second novel is first person from the point of view of a boy. However, neither of those books sold. My first published novels (the Magic or Madness trilogy) has three view point characters two of whom are girls. And then How To Ditch Your Fairy is first person from the viewpoint of a girl. So far the books I’ve written with more girl characters are the ones my publishers have wanted. We’ll see if that pattern continues.
I don’t really consciously decide to make my main characters girls or boys. Nor do I consciously make them black or white. That’s just the way they are. Once I start getting a sense of their voice I’m learning at the exact same time all those other things about them: their race, gender, ethnicity, opinion of Elvis etc. Hope that makes sense!
Scott: I’ve had a mix of male and female protagonists. So Yesterday and Peeps were both from the point of view of boys, and The Last Days and Midnighters were from both male and female POVs. But I guess more people have read Uglies so Tally has left the strongest impression. Since that series is about the pressures of beauty and looks, I figured that a female protag would make more sense. Certainly, boys do worry about the way they look. But overall, girls are under a lot more pressure to freak out over every zit and extra pound.
Though, as I say in Bogus to Bubbly, I actually did try to write Extras from Hiro’s point of view. But the interesting stuff kept happening to Aya, so I moved her to center stage. I still don’t know exactly how it worked out that way.
0 Comments on BookPeople questions we ran out of time to answer as of 11/21/2008 2:24:00 PM
I’m sure you all know about it, but I am having a ball going through shorpy’s historical photos. Though there aren’t nearly enough from the early 1930s. Still. Dead fascinating.
Beef jerky on it’s own is not enough to keep a girl going all day.
Also never diss a hometown boy just before visiting his state. I don’t take a word of that back, but let’s just focus on Deanna Nolan’s awesomeness instead, eh? Plus, really? It’s news to the folks of Michigan that some do not appreciate Bill Laimbeer? I find that very difficult to believe.
I am not yet ready to talk in detail about the new book (the one set in the 1930s). At the appearance tonight I started to, but then I got a weird feeling all over, and my mouth closed. How weird is that?
I am now an expert on what clothes travel well and what don’t. I have enough outfits with me for a thousand appearances and it all fit into one teeny tiny suitcase. I am now a packing genius!
If you’re in the Grand Rapids, MI area here’s where I’ll be tomorrow, or, er today:
Wednesday, 1 October 2008, 4:00PM
Pooh’s Corner
Breton Village
1886 1/2 Breton Rd. S.E.
Grand Rapids, MI
Hope to see some of you there!
3 Comments on On the road again, last added: 10/28/2008
You (what live where it is showing) should all go see it too. Who knows? If Nick and Norah does well there might be even more adaptations of YA novels. Wouldn’t that be fabulous?
Justine said, on 10/15/2008 11:00:00 PM
Pixelfish had this to say in comments. I could not let it languish there:
At what point did publishers start getting anal about the usage variations between the US and all other English speaking countries? Because my original copies of the Chronicles of Narnia had English spellings, but my new ones don’t and are in the wrong order. My Canadian copies of Harry Potter have the Britishisms intact, even though they don’t use all the slang, but the US ones don’t. I liked it better when US YA publishers let me find out MORE about the world instead of LESS. Part of the reason I read was to get away from my perfectly safe little Utah neighbourhood. But I digress . . . oh boy, howdy, do I digress.
I have no idea when that started. But it is a Very. Bad. Thing. I disapprove. HEARTILY.
Back at home I grew up with books with Commonwealth spelling and also with USian spellings. So Enid Blyton & Patricia Wrightson = colour. Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys = color. Though sometimes the punctuation would be changed.
I really hate the way many US publishers USianise things. I was just reading the US edition of an Australian book set in Oz with Oz characters. Except that the characters compared things to the size of a dime. (We don’t have dimes in Australia.) They discussed each others height in feet and inches. (Australia is metric.) The distances they drove were in miles. (Ditto. We have kilometres.) They used no Aussie slang. Everything that could be even a tiny bit confusing to a US reader was changed.
It drove me crazy. I stopped reading the book. I’ll read the Australian edition when I go home.
How stupid do publishers think readers are? We can figure stuff out from context. If we don’t know stuff we can look it up. Part of the fun of reading a book set in a different country is learning about the differences. Changing the spelling, adding “dimes” and “quarters”, removing all the local slang, wrecks the flavour and rhythm of the book. I think it’s a dreadful editorial decision and I wish they’d stop doing it.
Er, what you said, Pixelfish.
Justine said, on 10/28/2008 11:00:00 PM
If you want a signed copy of HTDYF and you live in Toronto you should go to Bakka Phoenix Books, a lovely sf bookshop located at 697 Queen Street West. I believe you’ll also find books signed by John Scalzi and Scott Westerfeld.
My history with Bakka Books (as it used to be known) goes back to the 1990s when I was in Toronto doing research for my Phd at the Judith Merril Collection. I spent many hours at Bakka, gossiping with the staff, and feeding my book habit. So it was quite the thrill to be back there and signing my own books. Who’da thunk it?
I was also reminded me of how much I like Toronto. It’s not the prettiest city in the world but who cares when there’s so much cool inventive stuff going on? It totally reminds me of Melbourne. Queen St and Brunswick street bare a very close resemblance. I stumbled into Magpie Designs1 and may have accidentally wound up with some clothes. Can’t be sure.
It was lovely to be reminded even briefly of another of my favourite cities. I could totally live in Toronto.2
Sadly, none of the images on the site are as fabulous as the clothes they have in their shop right now.
For those asking why I haven’t been blogging the US election:
It’s because I cannot believe what I’m seeing and hearing. Seriously if I had made up a tenth of what’s been going on and put it in a novel no one would credit it. They’d be all, “The characters keep changing! They don’t make any sense. And one of them seems to be a malfunctioning robot! Also there’s a zombie! I thought this was meant to be realism. What the hell?”
Not to mention that I cannot talk about wolf killers dispassionately. I love wolves. Almost as much as I love quokkas.
Plus I’ve been in a really great mood lately. I don’t want to bugger that up.
So that’s why I’m not blogging the election.
But if you want to know what some other YA authors think check out Maureen Johnson’s YA for Obama social site.
And just so you don’t think I’m being partisan, which I’m not on account of I’m not USian and have no vote in the US of A, here is the YA for McCain site.
Enjoy!
Me, I’m retreating back to the simpler and happier times of the 1930s—researching my next book—when there were no earth-shattering world-wide financial crises, no wars, and no environmental disasters. Oh, wait . . .
Never mind.
2 Comments on For those asking, last added: 9/27/2008
The New York Liberty won the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals. It was an ugly win. An ugly game. The only grace notes were Deanna Nolan’s gorgeous shooting—I swear she stays up in the air for seconds at a time, she looks great even when she misses—the great turnout, and the fact that we won.
I didn’t think it was possible for me to hate Bill Laimbeer more than I do. But his performance tonight pushed my hate a few notches upward. How he managed not to get a delay of game call or a technical I will never understand. Sit down, Bill!
Later today I will be in Larchmont, which is a mere twenty minutes from Grand Central:
Saturday, 27 September 2008, 1:00PM Voracious Reader
1997 Palmer Ave
Larchmont, NY
I am wondering if this is the Larchmont that the term Larchmont lockjaw comes from. I hope I get to meet some of you there.
Justine said, on 9/27/2008 11:16:00 PM
Thanks to the lovely folks at Voracious Reader for uniting me with my new fairy!
And thanks to everyone who showed up to my appearance. You were all wonderful!
Because I am nearing the end of my next novel, and fast approaching my deadline, naturally my mind has turned to the novel I’ll be writing after this one. It will be set in New York City in the 1930s. Yup, I’ll be trying my hand at some historical fiction. Why not, eh? Afterall, it’s on my list.
And like, Cassie, who’s preparing for her next novel by only reading books about or set in Victorian England, I’m going to only read Depression era New York City books. Though because I am cunning I also get to watch many of my fave movies from the 1930s. An astonishing number of which are set in NYC. Damn I’m good.
I need no help with movie recs but I’d love to get recommendations for books, especially non-fiction such as histories and journals and collections of letters from that era. Novels would be fab as well. Preferably written and published then, but if a book is particularly good just set then should be fine.
Thanks!
0 Comments on The next next novel as of 8/4/2008 4:19:00 AM
Just when you’re approaching the end of one book and you really must give that book all your time and all your brain, another one comes along and starts insisting you write it instead.
This is WRONG and must stop. IMMEDIATELY.
Bugger off, stupid new book. GO AWAY!
9 Comments on Another reason books are teh devil, last added: 7/18/2008
That is exactly where I’m at right now. I love/hate those pesky new books. *growls at it* Go away.
emily said, on 7/17/2008 12:34:00 PM
and what really sucks is that when you have time to write the pesky new book it gives you trouble.
fail.
Iris Messenger said, on 7/17/2008 1:52:00 PM
i -hate- it when that happens, whenever I’m trying to actually finish something for once …
Serafina Zane said, on 7/17/2008 8:49:00 PM
Ah, the lack of focus. My fatal flaw. And the reason I’ve been saying “Yeah, I’m nearly at the end of my vampire punks who have one werewolf friend story” for about three months.
In my defense, it’s hard to write. *whingey five year-old*
But new project! So shiny!
Also, i use the evil excuse that “You know, I’m nearly done with that other story, and I finished my primary project a month ago and am slowly revising, so I can start some of those new ideas I’ve been suppressing, to keep up my current level of projects.”
Which ends with me never finishing and 20x as much to do as before. *sigh*
Patrick said, on 7/18/2008 6:59:00 AM
So, what’s teh NEW book about? Does it have a title that we can guess at?
Julia Rios said, on 7/18/2008 8:38:00 AM
::offers virtual mangosteen::
Kelly McCullough said, on 7/18/2008 9:15:00 AM
lol for a pointed truth. And you can’t even drive them off with a pointed stick. What if they didn’t come back?
beth said, on 7/18/2008 9:32:00 AM
Heh…I just finished a manuscript a few weeks ago and am editing it. Now I’m begging my mind to come up with a new idea because I HATE editing!!
If you would like me to name a character (or something) after you in my next novel you’d better hurry up and bid. I mean, if you can afford it. The bidding is now at—I swear I am not making this up—US$150.
You have until one minute past midnight on 15 July USA Pacific time to place your bids.
There are also many other amazing things up for auction. Including a map that Tamora Pierce put together for her book Trickster’s Queen. The bidding for it is currently at US$175. Personally, I think it’s worth more.
There are also all sorts of fabulous goodies over there: care packages from all over, baked goods, an astonishing array of most excellent things and services. Some haven’t been bid on! Some are going for silly cheap! You should get over there and bid!
All money goes to fight those who are against love and want to stop gay and lesbian marriage in California.
2 Comments on Time is running out, last added: 7/14/2008
A bunch of questions are being asked about the next novel both here and in emails. Here are some answers:
When is it due?
August
When will it be published?
September 2009
Who is publishing it?
Bloomsbury USA
What is it about?
Lies
What’s it called?
Asmentioned the working (and I hope permanent) title is the same as a song from the 1990s by an all-girl band. Feel free to guess. No one has gotten close so far.
Is it a sequel to How To Ditch Your Fairy?
No
Why isn’t it a sequel to HTDYF?
Because
Will there be a sequel to HTDYF?
Maybe
How long do you think it will be?
75,00-85,000
How long is it now?
54,013
Wow, you have quite a few words to go and August isn’t very far away—are you panicking?
Aaargh!! Damn you!! Leave me alone!! STOP asking questions!!
You seem a bit tightly wound—have you thought of maybe getting a massage or something?
I kill you. I kill you with my bare hands.
22 Comments on The next novel, last added: 7/11/2008
Wow. Umm. So, you don’t live anywhere near me, right? Just because, like, I think I’ll do my best to avoid seeing you until August, you know? No offense. I just don’t want you to have to go to jail or something.
Also, you can totally reach 80,000 by August. Wait, you mean the end of August, right?
Lizabelle said, on 7/10/2008 12:34:00 AM
Probably really obvious guesses but I’m going with “What I Want” or “Never Ever”.
*creeps away to avoid tightly-wound author*
Lindsay N said, on 7/10/2008 2:07:00 AM
case of the fake people?
chrisbarnes said, on 7/10/2008 2:09:00 AM
My guess would have been ‘Eternal Flame’ by The Bangles - it has an Elvis connection, after all - but I think it’s from the eighties, not nineties.
Godspeed with the novel!
Penni said, on 7/10/2008 3:01:00 AM
Why WOULDN’T you all it Spice Up Your Life?
Well, I personally think that your word count sounds very manageable. You’ll rock it in and have time for dancin’. Everyone knows the first 54000 words are the hardest.
Patrick said, on 7/10/2008 5:32:00 AM
We could all help. If each commentor contributed just a few words, you could reach your goal of 75,000.
I contribute these words.
“The fat man exploded.”
There. Now you are at 54,017!!!
Amber said, on 7/10/2008 7:11:00 AM
I guess: Nothing On But the Radio by The Alice Band.
My authorial contribution:
“So the last thing I said to him, I said, ‘well, they weren’t _my_ sherry glasses anyway!!!’ And I just keep thinking, if only he hadn’t exploded just then, we could have really got along.”
54,052. We’ll have this one knocked off in no time.
capt. cockatiel said, on 7/10/2008 11:57:00 AM
With all this killing going on, I’m glad I’m back home from New York. Ah, the safety of the West Coast. XP
Julia Rios said, on 7/10/2008 12:01:00 PM
“Daughters of the Kaos” by Luscious Jackson. (A good title, anway)
“Waterfalls” by TLC. (In which your DNA to stay near the Hudson after an ill-fated trip to Niagra Falls…)
“Cookie Day” by Shonen Knife. (In which your characters visit a cookie shop, and it is truly a beautiful cookie day!)
Julia Rios said, on 7/10/2008 12:02:00 PM
*In which your DNA profilers… oops.
joe said, on 7/10/2008 12:18:00 PM
You know, decaf tastes every bit as good as the real thing these days…
Julia Rios said, on 7/10/2008 12:30:00 PM
**In which your DNA prolifers decide to… Double oops. I think maybe I should go back to bed.
benni said, on 7/10/2008 12:37:00 PM
Has anyone guessed PRETEND THAT WE’RE DEAD yet?
Mahek said, on 7/10/2008 1:46:00 PM
Is it Viva Forever by Spice Girls???
Justine said, on 7/10/2008 2:44:00 PM
No one has guessed the song. And some of you are confused about when the 1990s were.
Carrie R. said, on 7/10/2008 4:01:00 PM
just change the margins and font on your manuscript. Editor will never know the difference…..
caitlin said, on 7/10/2008 7:43:00 PM
The Gits (though started in 1986), Ani DiFranco or perhaps PJ Harvey? Because I know I’ll be thonking myself in the head when I find out what band/song has escaped my brain.
Justine said, on 7/10/2008 7:52:00 PM
Carrie R.: Do you want me to kill you?
caitlin: Ani DiFranco & PJ Harvey are not all-girl groups, they are just girls.
Plus you’re all guessing the name of a song—not the name of the band.
Mahek said, on 7/11/2008 6:40:00 AM
Is the song by En Vogue??
Justine said, on 7/11/2008 7:16:00 AM
Mahek: I am only going to say if someone guesses the right song. A band name is not enough.
I will say though that the group I’m talking about was not put together by a production company.
caitlin said, on 7/11/2008 2:07:00 PM
Just a guess …”Removal” by Spitboy
Justine said, on 7/11/2008 2:15:00 PM
caitlin: Excellently non-obvious guess! I wish I was cool enough to have heard of Spitboy . . . I am ashamed.
That I haven’t answered emails in ages and ages or done many many other things I’m supposed to do. Like respond to comments here. But you may have noticed from some of my posts of late that I has book.
I has unfinished book.
Which must be finished before not too long.
Thus I am only capable of two things:
Writing said book.
Complaining about writing said book.
All else—communicating with other peoples, washing clothes and dishes and floors and self etc, paying bills, following the Tour de France, functioning like normal human being—all is on hiatus till book be done.
Keep on trucking, Madame Authoress! I’m sure whoever’s e-mailing you will be far more ecstatic to get a new book from you than they would be to get a response more quickly instead.
Brent said, on 7/9/2008 1:47:00 AM
I don’t expect responses from my email(s) to you. Mostly they’re just telling you how great your books are, or perhaps something neat I saw that was related to said books.
You blogs are enough to let me know you’re still around, which eases the mind. So please don’t devote any worry to missing an email answer.
Besides, when you haz DOZENS of books out, and BAZILLIONS of fans, you won’t possibly be able to answer all the mail.
Justine said, on 7/9/2008 6:23:00 AM
Thanks!
Brent: I have no idea how the popular writers cope. Absolutely no idea.
I don’t get that much fan mail. This post was really so my friends and family won’t be mad at me for not answering . . .
Steve Nagy said, on 7/9/2008 6:40:00 AM
Crap days are a problem, but I’m sure you’ll be fine. That you’re plugging away shows you’re still dancing.
Karen said, on 7/9/2008 8:46:00 AM
BOOK! Yay for finishing book, which will (must) happen soon! Write like the wind, noble Larbalestier.
hillary! said, on 7/9/2008 9:51:00 AM
What about blogging about homesickness?
emily said, on 7/9/2008 10:47:00 AM
how long til book is done?
C.B. James said, on 7/9/2008 11:41:00 AM
Writing the book is the better choice.
Steve Buchheit said, on 7/9/2008 11:59:00 AM
Those two bullet points aren’t in order of action, are they? Hmm, that must be the difference between published authors and those of us struggling in the weeds.
ebear said, on 7/9/2008 12:15:00 PM
seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Brent said, on 7/9/2008 7:44:00 PM
“I don’t get that much fan mail.”
Heh. Okies everyone, send Justine a short email describing your favorite character or scene from her books and how dull and pointless your life would be without it. =)
Yes, again! What of it? I promise this will be the last whingeing-about-writing post. Truly.1
I think I’m still in shock that my job is not always a doddle. You see, I fully expected that it would be.
Let me explain:
A full-time novelist is all I’ve ever wanted to be. Obviously the main reason I wanted to do it is because I’ve always loved telling and writing stories and I’ve done it since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. But I also kind of figured that it would be easier than any other job. Writing stories was fun. Something I did when I wanted to take a break from the onerous crap that I had to do. Surely doing it most of the time would be even more fun?
I imagined my life as a full-time novelist would involve never having to get up before noon, writing only when I felt like it, never being stressed, six-figure advances for every book, mangosteens for every meal, and walking on rose petals while fairy dust fell from the sky.
None of this has happened! NONE of it.2
I’ll admit that my job is not as hard as some people’s. I’m not down a coal mine. I’m not in a war zone. I don’t run the risk of death or injury very often—though paper cuts can be nasty.3 Many people work way harder than I do. Like my sister, who does 3,000 hour a week in dark rooms, making everyone in Hollywood’s hair look real, and the monsters look super scary.4
What was I saying?
Oh, yes, I thought writing would be the easiest job on the planet and I’d never have to work hard. So every time I do have to work hard it’s a horrible shock. Thus my whingeing.
Though it probably is the easiest job on the planet, which leads me to the depressing thought that no job is without hard bits. How unfair is that?
Though I am writing a novel about a compulsive liar so I could be practicing. Plus all I’m doing right now is writing. What the hell else do I have to blog about?
Though I do occasionally get to eat mangosteens.
Not to mention RSI and back pain.
Or something. I’m never entirely clear on what exactly Niki does.
9 Comments on The writing-not-easy thing, part the millionth, last added: 7/15/2008
Yes. I became a writer because I like writing. And then, when I’m in the midst of edits and deadlines and EVERY. WORD. HURTS… then I think…
I like other things, too, apart from writing.
Like shoes.
Why don’t I just give up the writing and have a nice, simple job selling shoes?
Shoes are nice. Shoes don’t make me want to hide under the kitchen table and cry.
Jenny Davidson said, on 7/8/2008 7:18:00 AM
What, it’s not all mangosteens and fairy dust? NOOOOOooooooooo…..
(I have been enjoying these posts, I am trying to get properly dug in with the new book and it has NOT quite happened yet, must buckle down!)
Patrick said, on 7/8/2008 7:29:00 AM
Niki is a compositor. Clearly, she composts.
Do you have a book due or something? Have you considered learning to use photoshop?
John Cash said, on 7/8/2008 12:07:00 PM
Dear Justine,
Great postings! My reply on Muses:http://nitesongofafish.livejournal.com/
-John
PS ADORE your books.
Julia Rios said, on 7/8/2008 2:37:00 PM
Writing is definitely not the easiest job on the planet. Having an easy job can be dissatisfying, though, and dissatisfying is worse than hard in my opinion. Also, surely a brief stint of walking on rose petals while fairy dust falls from the sky could be arranged. I refuse to believe that it couldn’t.
jess b said, on 7/8/2008 6:17:00 PM
Boo for jobs with hard bits.
I started work at a new job about 4 months ago and it was all hard. Now it is just hard sometimes.
Think of the fantabulous pay off you get for all the hard work though Justine - people love your work!
PS Yay for your sister who worked on a Harry Potter movie and on a Pirates of the Caribbean movie - how very cool!
It has come to my attention that many readers of my post on how to write a novel are under the misapprehension that it is a description of how I write novels.
It is not.
It wasn’t even an accurate description of how I wrote them back when I wrote it. Lo, those many years ago.1
The novel I’m writing now makes no use of a spreadsheet,2 I did not borrow the plot for it,3 and the first sentence does not begin with “the” or “once upon a time”.4
I wrote the how-to-write-a-novel post for two reasons:
I thought it would be funny. Maureen Johnson had just written a very amusing how-to-write-a-book post and I wanted to try my hand at the genre.
I was also responding to the beginning writers who’d written asking questions about novel writing. Thus I was thinking about what might work for them. A common complaint was that they could never think of a plot. Hence the borrow-a-plot advice. Also they worried about the length and how to organise such a big amount of words. Hence the spreadsheet advice.
Personally, pretty much every novel I’ve written has been produced differently from the previous one. I have no set methods. Though I have lots of madness.
The novel I’m writing right now is the first one I’ve written with Scrivener and that’s making a huge difference to how I’m writing it. I’ve certainly never written a book completely out of order before. The last scene is already written though many from the middle are not. For me that is very strange.
I’m sure there are people who write each novel in the exact same way5 but most of the writers I know say they find each one different and have to figure out how to write it as they go.
I am the same.
Well, okay, almost two years ago.
Scrivener renders spreadsheets unnecessary.
I’ve never written a novel that way, though I have written a number of short stories that retell ballads. One you can find here and another one will be published as part of Love is Hell later in the year.
None of my novels do. Though Magic Lessons begins with “once”.
There are some who write the exact same novel over and over again.
7 Comments on How to Write a Novel Redux, last added: 7/7/2008
Yay! Scrivener love. I love Scrivener so much I want to hug it every time I open the application. Seriously? It has completely organized me, because I always write everything all out of order, but Scrivener makes it magically possible to do this without losing your mind. I want to bow down and worship that lovely program.
Now I need to go read your fake advice on how to write a novel, though I’m no longer writing one. I’ve switched! To non-fiction! And I’m writing it in two weeks, I swear to all that is holy.
(Thankfully, I have material from other projects that works perfectly in this one, which will reach the 75,000 word mark easily.)
Gina said, on 7/6/2008 9:22:00 PM
How do rite then now?
Gina said, on 7/6/2008 9:23:00 PM
Write!
Gina said, on 7/6/2008 9:25:00 PM
How do you Write theM now?
might and magic 7 said, on 7/7/2008 3:02:00 AM
[...] novels. It is not. It wasn??t even an accurate description of how I wrote them back when I wrote ithttp://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/?p=1248Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor - Wikipedia, the free …Might and magic VII: For Blood and [...]
Claudia said, on 7/7/2008 9:50:00 AM
What is your madness like? I am trying my hand at writing a shortish novel so I am interested in finding out about different processes.
rebecca said, on 7/7/2008 7:34:00 PM
i agree that scrivener is the best thing ever invented in the history of humankind. with the possible exception of tacos.
The hardest part of writing a novel isn’t the beginning, or the middle, or the end. It’s not getting characters right, world building, keeping your sentences gorgeous, it’s none of those things. The hardest part is having to write when you don’t have the heart for it.
When you’re sad, or distracted, or in a bad mood, or bored. It’s writing when you can’t think straight, when the words are arranging themselves in dreadful “sentences” that hurt your brain. It’s writing when writing is the last thing you want to do, and every word, phrase, sentence is a struggle.
Writing through a crap day is the very hardest part of being a writer. Then getting up the next morning and doing it again. And the next. And repeat until the bloody book is finally finished.
No one is ever going to persuade me that writing a book is anything short of a heroic feat.
sara z. said, on 7/3/2008 3:28:00 PM
Amen to that, sister. I have been in that place for SO MUCH of this effing book. I am trying to cultivate what monastic tradition calls fortitude. The art of courageous continuing. godspeed.
the dragonfly said, on 7/3/2008 3:54:00 PM
i’m with cuileann…writing a novel is amazing to me. i’m always in awe of authors.
thanks for writing through the tough days. we appreciate it!!
hillary! said, on 7/3/2008 4:58:00 PM
I’ll never be able to understand how you people do it. Maybe that’s why I fing you people more heroic than anyone in the history of ever.
Brent said, on 7/3/2008 8:32:00 PM
I agree completely. The fact that 95% of my days are “bad writing” days is one reason why I’m an amateur writer and not an acclaimed author/novelist like you. Of course even my best stuff might suck, but I can’t get enough of it WRITTEN to submit.
Thanks for trudging through the hard bits. It means I’ll always have a good book of yours to read when *I* hit a hard bit and don’t feel like working.
Lizabelle said, on 7/3/2008 9:05:00 PM
Keep trudging on! I hope it gets easier for you again soon.
(And, you know, thanks for the post, because it helps to know that real, actual, proper published writers go through this, too.)
lauren said, on 7/4/2008 7:33:00 AM
I’m intrigued by the 80/20 rule which says that 80% of productivity comes from 20% of effort. I’m trying to identify what that 20% is so I can goof off 80% of the time. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Kelly McCullough said, on 7/4/2008 9:51:00 AM
Oh yeah. Head-wall, head-wall, head-wall. Repeat as long as necessary.
Carrie said, on 7/4/2008 11:52:00 AM
yes yes yes and yes again. Ugh. Thank goodness for revisions!
claudia said, on 7/4/2008 3:49:00 PM
Aw well I hope this doesn’t last too long!
being only a student myself I have had only mild versions of this, but it sucks all the same.
AliceB said, on 7/4/2008 7:06:00 PM
And yet you’re doing it! Bravo.
[Three cheerleading cartwheels.]
Pamela Freeman said, on 7/5/2008 10:53:00 PM
I think the worst is when you trudge through the bad writing day and know at the end of it that you’re going to have to throw away everything you’ve just slogged over, because it just isn’t working… that was my day, today! (Blurbs are much easier!)
Kristine said, on 7/6/2008 3:49:00 PM
Having one of those weekends, as a matter of fact. Helps to know you’re not the only one.
Justine said, on 7/6/2008 5:31:00 PM
Kristine: Here’s hoping it gets better for you!
Melissa said, on 7/6/2008 9:46:00 PM
Having one of those bad weeks with a book due 8/15. I’ll curse my way through at least 1200 words tomorrow, knowing that you’ve been there too! Thanks!
Eric Luper said, on 7/7/2008 4:29:00 PM
My foulest moods are when I get my best writing done. Very close to the bone stuff. It’s also when I get the most speeding tickets.
Justine said, on 7/7/2008 4:38:00 PM
Eric: Maybe if you weren’t typing while driving . . .
Justine Larbalestier » I is sorry said, on 7/8/2008 11:06:00 PM
[...] other things I’m supposed to do. Like respond to comments here. But you may have noticed from some of my posts of late that I has [...]
In the last few weeks there’s been quite a bit of delurkification as well as some new commenters. Ordinarily I would respond in the comments and welcome you personally but, well, I has deadline. And book for deadline is scary and complicated and not genre and I may be out of my depth and um,
PANIC!!!
But I hate to be rude and I love to see new folks here. So,
WELCOME!!!
To everyone else: sorry for not responding as much even though I read all your comments,1 also for being months and months behind with email, for not having done that thing I promised I’d do for you, and for generally being as slack as, um, a very slack person.
Book comes first! Before hygiene, friends, nutrition, changing polls, health, admin and pleasure. Is just how it is.
Except for the ones about USian gridiron. Boring.
10 Comments on Brief note to the lurkers and newbies as well as general excuses, last added: 6/25/2008
You probably prefer Backgammon to Chess, too… Pfaugh!
Tina Lee said, on 6/19/2008 1:30:00 PM
I am a lurker–now commenting. I am thoroughly enjoying your blog. I look forward to reading your books when I finally have time in MY novel-writing process. Right now I just spend time procrastinating with your products of procrastination. Thanks for your wisdom, levity, and letting me lurk. Best of luck with your deadline.
Patrick said, on 6/19/2008 5:00:00 PM
It just dawned on me that I am in Manhattan which puts my proximity to my proposed fight too close for comfort.
I hear by rescind my challenge in order to protect myself from getting forked up.
Iris said, on 6/19/2008 7:51:00 PM
hee hee, i’m one of them lurkers … i think i’ve been following this blog for six months … hmmm …
hillary! said, on 6/19/2008 8:45:00 PM
I am so not a lurker. I love Justine and must let her know by commenting whenever possible, letting her know that I am her faithful follower to the end.
Nicholas Waller said, on 6/20/2008 1:16:00 AM
Apropos of nothing in particular, I arrived in San Francisco a few days ago and this evening passed by a restaurant in Larkin by the name of Mangosteen, but I know nothing else of it in particular and indeed mangosteens in general; the very little I do know (and I originally thought they were made up) comes from this blog.
cuileann said, on 6/20/2008 2:13:00 AM
Oh, delurkification! What a great word!
I offer my WELCOME and HELLO to current and former lurkers as well!
Penelope Gray said, on 6/20/2008 2:41:00 PM
*lurk lurk lurk*
I love you Justine!
Joe said, on 6/20/2008 10:00:00 PM
As a longtime lurker and infrequent commenter, gotta say, you have nothing to fret over.
You roll out the welcome mat every time you drop a quip or share your aussie angst over being a long way from home.
You are honest and forthright and noble and kind and you make us laugh and think. I should hope that’s quite enough.
And don’t wring your hands too violently over a pending deadline / non-genre book. In over your head?!? Not so.
The simple fact that you’re spooked will probably lend a bit more fire and shadow to the places and people in your story. You may be stitchin’ them together a bit differently this time, but the words and people, the thread and fabric of your story–haven’t changed.
Still mortar and bricks. The house just shaped a bit different, that be it.
Go get ‘em. We’ll all have a big chat when you’ve finished.
*retiring back to the shadows of lurkerdom…which in this case would be the kitchen for a bowl of Capt’n Crunch…*
Amy said, on 6/25/2008 8:55:00 AM
Hey Justine,
I’m a longtime lurker, second time poster (the first was on mosquito lore).
I’ve been playing with wordle, which is a lovely app by Jonathan Freiberg that a bunch of writers have been playing with on account of it is irresistible. You plug in your novel (or whatever text you want) and the app makes it all pretty. You can futz with the layout, the colours, the fonts etc. Procrastination heaven!1
I fed in a bunch of my novels. And oohed and ahed. And then I fed in my novel what I is currently writing and lo and behold not just pretty but useful. I could see at a glance what words I’m overusing and which characters and threads are getting the most attention. Interesting . . .
Notice that I have made it small enough that there are no real spoilers. I am so good to you people.
And did I mention pretty?
What do writers on a deadline live for but to procrastinate?
thank you for letting me find a way to make my wip look cool and not seem crappy! xo
JS Bangs said, on 6/19/2008 10:29:00 AM
The “I’m Zach” in the middle of yours is especially striking. I like it!
Patrick said, on 6/19/2008 10:58:00 AM
I like ‘DAD things’
emily said, on 6/19/2008 12:50:00 PM
OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.uhm. i have a guess on the title. is it ok to post here or should i email it to you justine?
Justine said, on 6/19/2008 2:49:00 PM
Emily: Guess away. Here’s fine.
Patrick said, on 6/19/2008 3:13:00 PM
Cranberries?
emily said, on 6/19/2008 6:13:00 PM
is it liar? or liar, liar? or something like that?
because the file name is liarbook….
just a thought………
hillary! said, on 6/19/2008 8:39:00 PM
Wow, Emily, you are awsome. And it just further confirms my suspicions.
Mary Elizabeth S. said, on 6/19/2008 8:46:00 PM
I suspect “liar book” is a working title, sort of like “fairy book” was.
Katerate said, on 6/19/2008 9:27:00 PM
Are you writing the book about a pathological liar? You mentioned it sometime ago…
Justine said, on 6/19/2008 10:52:00 PM
No, sad to say, but Emily is not awesome. (Well not for spotting the file name.) And Mary Elizabeth S. and Katerate are correct. I has mentioned several times that the protag of the book is a compulsive liar. I even asked you guys to talk about your experiences lying.
The title of the book—as I have mentioned—is also the title of a song by a 90s all girl group. No one has yet guessed that song. Or the group for that matter.
emily said, on 6/20/2008 7:36:00 AM
aw :(…ok.
good luck with the book!
elodie said, on 6/20/2008 11:13:00 AM
the amount of don’t, didn’t, doesn’t and wasn’t amuses me XD the book about things not being what you think!
No, not really. I just wanted to type “wombat excrement”.
I’ve had some complaints about not changing the poll. The reasons for that are that:
I’ve been really busy. This book ain’t writing itself!
I’m waiting for a clear winner. Seriously, ugg boots, lingerie as outer wear, formal shorts, pregnancy dresses and tops on the non-pregnant, and low riders are pretty much neck and neck.
It’s my favourite poll. I would miss it if it were gone.
I’ve also been cooking. The farmer’s market at Union Square has gotten good again after its hideous nothing-but-gourds winter doldrums.1 The spring garlic especially is making me really happy. Also I have discovered garlic scapes. Yum. I’ve been frying them with tomatoes and serving on bread with soft boiled eggs and whatever greens looked best at the markets. Yummiest breakfast ever.
Anyone else a farmer’s market addict? What’s best where you are? And what have you been doing with it? I mean other than just plain eating like I am with the strawberries that are just coming in. Delicious!
Yet another reason not to be in NYC in winter.
14 Comments on And so does wombat excrement!, last added: 6/15/2008
I’m not much of a cook, but up in the Inwood area of the city, we’ve got a tiny but awesome Saturday morning farmer’s market as well. My weekly shopping usually includes an excellent goat cheese and olive spread, fresh bread upon which to spread it, a veggie of some sort, a jug of cider, and either strawberries or one of the mini-pies that are often for sale. Saturday is the most delicious day of the week.
Caryn said, on 6/14/2008 11:57:00 AM
All right, you guilted me into finally voting. It’s a hard one, though. As for veggies, I’m still waiting for our own tomatoes to ripen on their vines. Yum.
sherwood said, on 6/14/2008 12:42:00 PM
Totally snarfed me tay.
I think I’d better go up to the poll and vote 345,829 times against shrugs.
Amber: I cannot believe you linked to one of those from my blog! You are in SUCH trouble.
Lauren said, on 6/14/2008 3:23:00 PM
dayboat flounder batter fried with garlic mayonaise made with this season’s new garlic. Oh and mint. Yummy mint with mushy peas.
Pt Sefton said, on 6/14/2008 3:24:00 PM
It’s winter here but the old Italian lady at our local market has a kind of Lima bean called Madagascar that you have to shell. Great on their own but better in a tomato sauce with rack of lamb. Saving some to grow.
G said, on 6/14/2008 3:39:00 PM
We have even fewer fruits and vegetables in Berlin markets in winter (think cabbage) and what I’ve been going crazy with for the last 4 weeks is rhubarb. Then rhubarb and strawberry. And greenbeans, cherry tomatoes and more rhubarb and strawberries.
janet said, on 6/14/2008 3:52:00 PM
In the San Francisco area we’re getting early tomatoes, summer squash (zucchini, yellow crookneck, and other varieties), green beans, and stone fruits. Lots of basil and other fresh herbs. Asparagus is past its peak at this point, but we’re still getting some. Strawberries still going strong, too. I’ve seen local corn and grapes at the supermarket, but not yet at the farmer’s market. We get greens, root vegetables, and cruciform vegetables pretty much year round, so I tend to take them for granted.
This year we’ve had a very hot, dry May and early June (fire season starts early this year), so for most of the last 6 weeks it’s been too hot to cook. Luckily my favorite summer dinner involves no cooking: Greek salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, basil, olives, olive oil, vinegar, pepper, feta cheese optional); a good loaf of bread; cheese, pate, and/or hummus; and a cold bottle of good, crisp rose. (Yes, pink wine. There are some good ones.)
marrije said, on 6/14/2008 4:26:00 PM
you’ve been cooking? i thought you didn’t cook? or was it just no *baking* on account of no oven in nyc?
my boyfriend cooked lasagne from scratch today, plus crema catalana, yum. all with ingredients from the supermarket, since we don’t really have a farmer’s market. or do we? mmm, must investigate.
do you have time for the footie? the dutch are quite on fire, the whole country is full of happy middle-aged guys with slightly too much drink in them.
Nicky said, on 6/14/2008 6:52:00 PM
I love cooking & hunting out fresh f&v at markets.
I love the concept of farmer’s markets. I’m not so in love with the concept of arising early & being somewhere on one of the few days I don’t have to (joys of doing school runs). Doesn’t help I live with a total night owl.
Brisbane winter markets are a little sparse but not as severe as some places.
Gillian said, on 6/14/2008 8:22:00 PM
I’m in Sydney for a few days and went to Paddy’s on Friday. Not a Farmers’ Market, true, but they had mangosteens. My friends and I are eating them this weekend. (is this where the ‘mwa ha ha’ goes?)
claudia said, on 6/14/2008 8:27:00 PM
I am in NYC and I am like an addict of the Union Square farmers market. My whole family goes together as a big like bonding thing all the time.
the family the cooks and eats together stays together!
Jacqui said, on 6/15/2008 7:24:00 PM
Yum. Garlic scapes are a new discovery for me, too. Must make pesto with garlic scapes and spinach. Delicious.
The rest of the publishing industry may be in the doldrums but according to The New York Times we are riding high:
Juvenile books overall, including paperbacks, were up 3.1 percent, to 900.9 million copies. Net revenue in the juvenile segment, the largest of all categories in terms of copies sold, increased to $3.66 billion, from $3.4 billion.
Perhaps surprisingly, sales of children’s books, which includes the rapidly growing young adult segment, are not expected to rise strongly over the next few years. “If it weren’t for Y. A., this sector would be in worse shape than it is,” Mr. Greco said.
Given that picture books and middle grade are doing crap,1 the article leaves me wondering how fast Young Adult sales have been growing? I suspect the answer may be google related or I could just, you know, ask the people in the biz I know, but, well, I’m lazy and there’s this book to be writ.
So I’ll settle for going YAY! And hoping those sales remain strong for the next forty years.
In that recent Newsweek piece, the state was 25% growth for YA over the last few years.
Justine said, on 6/2/2008 11:33:00 AM
Thank you, Gwenda! I knew my laziness would be rewarded.
Nichole said, on 6/2/2008 11:48:00 AM
Actual research is SO overrated. Sometimes it’s just easier to make up random statistics that sound truel And frankly, I NEED you to keep writing the new book! Now that I’ve finished How To Ditch Your Fairy, I need to have the warm fuzzy feeling that there’s more wonderfulness to come.
caitlin said, on 6/2/2008 11:56:00 AM
I work as a kids/YA bookseller and so many adults (including my Dad) are reading mostly YA. The genre is brillaint and I wish so many great YA books existed when I was a teen. Thanks to you and the other members of the YA Mansion for reading such great books.
Hillary! said, on 6/2/2008 12:08:00 PM
I MET KELLY LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!
She told me to read Gwenda Bond’s blog.
I met her at BEA. Twas very fexcellent!
David Gill said, on 6/2/2008 2:04:00 PM
I don’t know about sales, but the explosion of galleys littering my office floor tells me that there are almost twice as many YAs on the market than two years ago.
Lori Devoti said, on 6/2/2008 3:48:00 PM
I saw Sharyn November on a panel at WisCon last weekend. She said the growth in YA was no surprise, that 15 years ago it was picture books, then early readers, etc. That it was like watching the lump in a snake’s throat after it swallowed a rat–that you could just see it moving along down the line, natural progression and all that.
Lori
caitlin said, on 6/2/2008 5:36:00 PM
whoops! I meant writing — sorry brain a bit wonky since I moved this weekend.
Suzanne said, on 6/2/2008 6:52:00 PM
The worrying part is whether the fact that picture books and middle grades are down means that we’ll see the reverse of Lori’s snake-digesting-a-rat phenomenon (…eww) — if younger kids now aren’t buying books (or having books bought for them), does that make it likely they won’t be book-buyers when they’re teens?
The other possibility, as Caitlin pointed out, is that the growth isn’t teen-driven at all, but adult. Which is a good thing. Break down those ghetto walls!
Justine said, on 6/2/2008 6:56:00 PM
Suzanne: I think November’s argument is more one about demographics. There was a mini baby boom and when those kids were little their parents bought them pictures books and as they grew a little older middle grade books and now they’re teenagers and gobbling up YA.
It’s not that the littlies now aren’t into picture books; it’s that there aren’t as many of them as there were.
This still could spell bad news for us YA writers as these teens become adults. The good news is anecdotally the current YA boom has brought in many adult readers and quite a few of the teen readers seem to keep reading YA even as they hit their 20s.
capt. cockatiel said, on 6/2/2008 7:54:00 PM
Poor kids with not as many picture books… Maybe their parents should just read them Shakespeare? To, I don’t know, ensure a love of reading at a very young age?
Hahaha.
Justine Larbalestier » One of the theories said, on 6/3/2008 10:02:00 AM
[...] kids who made Harry Potter huge and are now making YA huge. Suzanne mentions this theory in the comments to this [...]
I have been noticing much skiting on the internets of late. “Oh look,” says a blogger, “look what amazing Advanced Readers Copy I has been sent! Is mine, not yours. Hahahahahah!”
Well, now it’s my turn. I has an ARC of Margo Lanagan’s first novel in years and years, Tender Morsels. I hugs it to my chest and will share with no one! Well, okay, I’ll share what I thinks of it with you but not the actual ARC cause that’s mine!
But before I get to actually, you know, read the delicious bookie which is calling to me—seriously, everything about it screams, READ ME!, from the gorgeous cover to the jacket copy to the fact that Margo Lanagan wrote it—I must work. Back down into the word mines to excavate sentences and paragraphs of the next book. It’s back-breaking work but someone must do it.
Okay, I write now buoyed by the fact that I have Tender Morsels and you don’t!
Hehehehehehe.
Ahem.
8 Comments on A Tender Morsel, last added: 5/31/2008
I’ve never read anything by Margo Lanagan, but I am remembering how I first heard of Scott Westerfeld. The best librarian I have ever encountered asked me what type of books I liked to read, and then gave me an ARC she had, which was the first of the Midnighters trilogy. Then the second- the arc of which I still have- and so on, to more books and your blog. I like ARCs. You must have fun being an author and getting to see them more often than most people.
Justine said, on 5/30/2008 12:31:00 PM
Leahr: That’s exactly how ARCs are supposed to work—getting you excited about a new author. Yay for ARCs!
Actually, I think librarians and booksellers see way more ARCs than I do. I am jealous of them!
You must read Lanagan. She’s amazing!
Carlie said, on 5/30/2008 1:45:00 PM
I has a Tender Morsels, too! And I think I shall be ignoring everything I’m supposed to get done for ALA in favor of reading it.
capt. cockatiel said, on 5/30/2008 1:55:00 PM
I was in Portland last Monday and saw an ARC of Looking for Alaska for sale (which was weird…) and really wanted to get it… but I didn’t have any money. So then I was back there yesterday and it was gone! I was pretty down, even though I already own the book.
I think the only ARC I’ve gotten before a book actually came out was Spud by John van de Ruit (which is fantastic). I got an ARC of So Yesterday, um, three or four years after it was already out. Haha.
ARCs are the best things ever.
Justine said, on 5/30/2008 2:07:00 PM
Carlie: You’ve just proved my point about how librarians get all the good ARCs! Which is a good thing for the promoting and buzzing of our books. I do not begrudge you. Just don’t tell me about any more cool ARCs you have that I don’t. The next person to mention the M. T. Anderson is on the naughty mat.
Capt. Cockatiel: I don’t know that you shoudl be paying for ARCs. I’m not saying that for legal reasons but because from the writer’s point of view they’re really crappy. Seriously, they usually have all the typoes and mistakes that will be cleaned up for the real book. They’re the dud early version of the book just to get booksellers and librarians and reviewers excited before the real mostly-typo free version comes out.
The whole magic of ARCs is that there a sneak preview, but when there years old and the real book has long since been published they’re just kind of sad and forlorn and with no real interest except to crazy collectors.
You’re not a crazy collector, are you?
I should at this point confess that I have ARCs of Angela Carter’s first two books. But there are hardly any of them in existence! They is rare and precious. There are thousands and thousands of ARCs of Looking for Alaska and Peeps. They are not even remotely hen’s teeth.
Okay, I might be a crazy collector.
Never mind. Talk amongst yourselves.
Nichole said, on 5/30/2008 7:10:00 PM
Lucky! I love ARCs. Getting the good ones is an artform and sometimes requires a little work. And by work, I mean begging.
capt. cockatiel said, on 5/30/2008 7:30:00 PM
I am kind of a crazy collector. I like the typos… >.>
And I have a lot of ARCs that I got after the books came out (years and years before) because in the summer I go to the local bookstore and they give them out. That’s how I got So Yesterday, actually. I couldn’t pass up the free goodness. I should maybe read the real printed version sometime, actually. Ha.
But all they usually have there are old ARCs, so I was lucky to get Spud.
Except then I didn’t actually read it until the real book had come out. Stupid me.
cei cei said, on 5/31/2008 6:15:00 PM
i just got a ARC of the Meg Cabot book AIRHEAD lol i LOVED it
And also—how embarrassing! I have been very remiss of late when it comes to cricket blogging. I mean I haven’t mentioned the blessed sport since March and not written anything proper since January. Largely because (for reasons beyond my control) I have not been home since May of last year.1 Thus I have not been immersed in cricket culture and have not been keeping up with things such as the new Twenty20Indian Premier League. 2
I like the idea of it in theory. But I hate the idea of it as a replacement for Test cricket. That will never happen! Or at least not in my lifetime.
I miss cricket. I must find ways to re-immerse myself. Or, I will, when this book is finished.
Waaaaahhhh!!!!!
The link is to a NYT article explaining the League which will amuse those of us who know about cricket and hopefully be a clear-ish explanation for those who know nothing.
Have you seen any of the coverage of IPL, Justine? Here in Australia the news and television coverage was something akin to a bunch of sports journalist covering the Eurovision Song Contest. Highly entertaining to say the least!
Mary Elizabeth S. said, on 5/12/2008 12:39:00 AM
Ooh, congrats!
But does this mean we won’t be seeing that post on the sport of quokkas? I was really looking forward to that one. Go quokkas!
~Mary
Cheryl said, on 5/12/2008 1:45:00 AM
Hey, congratulations!
If you want a quick way to follow the IPL, I’ve been blogging every game. Of course you will have to put up with my adoration of Warnie, but I’m sure you can cope with that.
jrod said, on 5/12/2008 2:16:00 AM
Regardless of your recent tardy cricket ethic, well done in making the list.
Some are asking what it is that I’m hard at work on. You know the thing that’s impeding my ability to get other stuff done like answer email?
It is a book.
Here is where I explain all about said book. I can also tell you that I estimate it will be about 60 thousand words long or possibly 300 pages. Unless it’s not.
There, hope you’re satisfied! You know so much that there’s hardly any point in reading it now. See what your questions lead to? I hope you’ve learned your lesson.
Update: No, no one has guessed the name of the song by a 90s all-girl band that I took the title from.
10 Comments on My next book (Updated), last added: 5/9/2008
Oh, of course! I know exactly what that one’s about. (Unless I don’t.) I suppose I’ll read it anyway, though, just to pass the time. ;D
~Mary
limeywesty said, on 5/9/2008 5:29:00 AM
I’ll read it, don’t worry Justine.
and once I’m finished reading it, i’ll pass it along to all of my friends.
and after all that, I guess it’ll sit on my book shelf with your other books, until I decide to read it again…
and then, I’m assuming it will learn to fly.
and I will feel sad, because there is a likely chance it will want to see the world outside my room, and realise there are better places to read.
give your book s a stern talking to before they are shipped off around the world.
ariel cooke said, on 5/9/2008 9:02:00 AM
Justine,I’m so glad you are writing at a furious pace because then I get to read it at the end. Lately I am liking non-fantasy better than fantasy–The White Darkness, The Real-Life Adventures of a Part-Time Indian, Touching Snow–but I think it’s because so many people do fantasy because it’s popular, not because they are truly impelled toward it. You are different. You do fantasy so well that I kind of think you are wasted on non-fantasy. But maybe you will convince me otherwise. I can’t wait!!
Hillary! said, on 5/9/2008 10:54:00 AM
Yeah, I really do know far too much about your forthcoming book! Shame! I’ll still read it, though, me being the faithful reader/fan that I am. My eyes hurt.
anon said, on 5/9/2008 10:59:00 AM
Chapel of Love?
julie said, on 5/9/2008 2:02:00 PM
Your book is about liars and DNA and New York police. The title of the book must be a song about lying New York police who have DNA. Right?
caitlin said, on 5/9/2008 3:34:00 PM
L7 perhaps? Though, I’m sure they’re already been guessed. Looking forward to the new book already.
Michael Bush said, on 5/9/2008 5:10:00 PM
Completely unsubstantiated, but did anyone put a good word in for Hole’s ‘Doll Parts’? It fits the nineties all-girl(-and-one-boy-who-everyone-always-forgets-about, as was the nineties trend) band quota, at least, and is crying out to be a book title.
Cheerio, Michael. xxx
Rachel said, on 5/9/2008 6:51:00 PM
I think it’s L7 too, caitlin - Pretend We’re Dead.
‘Cause that’s an awesome title.
Justine said, on 5/9/2008 8:30:00 PM
You’re all still wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.
Ariel: Thank you so much! Your comments made my day. Though I really am enjoying writing realism. It’s a challenge! I promise I will be back to fantasy with the next book.
While we were in Rome we worked and we ate. I wrote four thousand words; Scott about thirteen thousand. I am thoughtful writer, who thinks about her words, okay? Or something. Like Scott had an immediate deadline and I did not. My deadline’s not till August, which is AGES away.
The eating was way more fun than the writing, not that wasn’t fun, mine. I like my four thousand words but not as much as I loved these restaurants:
Osteria dell’Arco
Via G Pagliari 11
06 854 8438
This is a neighbourhood restaurant with a simple but elegant fit out. The owner was a total sweetheart whose good English made up for our non-existent Italian. The food was also simple but elegant. My favourite dish was home-made ricotta with roasted tomato and zucchini and intense wild mint. Though Scott’s artichoke soufflé was also pretty amazing. Way more artichoke than soufflé. Served with dried roasted artichoke. Though all the food was fabulous and the owner was very helpful picking a wine for us as neither Scott nor I know much about Italian wine.
I really loved the pace of this place. I never felt rushed. The long breaks between courses were very welcome. And we were given much help designing our vegie repast. The Waitress was also charming. She didn’t speak English (and why should she?) but did speak Spanish. Was fun getting to use my extremely rusty Spanish.
La Campana
Vicolo della Campana 18
06 6867820
La Campana is very old school, which befits a place that’s supposed to be Rome’s oldest restaurant. The waiters were mostly older blokes and spoke almost no English. We muddled by on my Spanish and guess work, which made everything that much more fun. The place cooks only traditional Italian (mostly) Roman food. Everything we had was wonderful. My favourite dish was (again) a salad. A huge oval of mozzarella di bufala with tomatoes and rocket. The tomatoes were sublime: sweet and firm and probably the best tomatoes I have ever eaten. Their skin was mostly red with some green and yellow striping and the seeds a dark green. I’m desperate to figure out what they were. Yum! The cheese was also sensational and bears no resemblance to the substance of the same name I’ve had in Australia and the US. (We actually had the same tomatoes at lunch at Cantina Cantarini Piazza Sallustio, 12—a very simple mostly fish restaurant that we also enjoyed heaps).
I ordered the wine at every restaurant we went to La Campana was the only one where they had Scott taste it. I did say old school. They also automatically gave him the cheque.
Glass Hostaria
Vicolo Del Cinque, 58 Traselevere, Roma
This was our favourite meal. Prices were very reasonable and the food was adventurous, well-executed, and delicious. Definitely not old school. This time my favourite course was my main: monk fish with almond cous cous and yellowy orangey reduction that I cannot remember what it was but it was wonderful and a sprinkling of chili. The whole thing was amazing. Dessert was sublime. We both had the orange and pavlova dish. Which was several orange segments in a line with salt and paprika sprinkled on them and then a big round kinder-surprise looking meringue filled with orange gelato with a kind of sherberty mixture at the bottom. It resembled an egg and was deeply fabulous. Even the bread was amazing. It came on a long platter with two slices of each kind which ranged from regular sourdough through to black squid ink bread.
The restaurant has a really fun fit out with dangling lights and plenty of glass. Including the tables. The wait staff are young and lovely, though sometimes a wee bit confused. The sommelier was spot on though and we wound up having the best wine we’ve had so far on this trip: a 1999 Gaja Chardonnay “Gaja e Rey”. I want it again!
The chef, Cristina Bowerman, came out to talk to us because there was almost nothing on the menu for vegetarian Scott. She was utterly charming and organised a fabulous meal for Scott that included coffee quinoa and chickory. It turned out she trained in Austin and spoke well of the wonderful restaurant we’d been to there, The Driskill Grill. Her favourite restaurants in NYC are our faves: Per Se and WD-50.
I wish we’d had longer in Rome. We didn’t manage to get in at La Pergola, which some say is the best in Rome. But there were also gazillions of neighbourhood restaurants I wanted to explore. Oh, yeah, and I guess we should have checked out the Colosseum and the Pantheon and that stuff. Did I mention we were working? Novels don’t write themselves you know! And hungry writers cannot work. There mind’s wander and they start typing the same thing over and over again. It was essential for our careers that good food be our priority.
In short: Rome is now on my list of cities I could live in.
For a city to make this list it must be pedestrian friendly, have really good food and wine, and I must have, you know, been there. The other cities on the list are: Sydney, Melbourne, New York, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Paris, Mexico City.
I’m also very fond of Bologna, Salamanca, San Miguel de Allende, and Dunedin, but suspect they are all too small to live in for more than three months or so. Bangkok, on the other hand, is a bit too big, though I’d definitely love to go back and stay for a few months. Such good food there! Yum.
Oh, look at the time. I must away to my next meal.
What are your favourite food cities?
12 Comments on Roman Restaurants, last added: 3/28/2008
o brother, now i am hungry and must raid the pantry. what an excellent post, and what a super chef to whip up that meal for scott. i think i must bookmark this post for when we visit rome again.
justine, you once mentioned in passing that all this traveling you’ve done has taught you how to find the good food in any city. perhaps you could (in a distant future, when you’re between books, and bored) tell us of your food-hunting skillz so we learn from you? i’d love to know any tricks you have!
Dave H said, on 3/26/2008 4:39:00 PM
Justine, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” isn’t from the 1990s *or* from a girl band…
My grandmother died two years ago - during ConFusion, actually - but the Alzheimer’s had taken her away years before. It’s been at least 10 years since she was able to cook her family’s traditional Italian food. Her mother was Neapolitan and her dad was Piedmontese, so the recipes were a mixture of northern and southern Italian.
I miss that. I’ve never been able to find an Italian restaurant to match it.
Justine said, on 3/26/2008 5:08:00 PM
Marrije: Thanks. Those were just my faves but we honestly didn’t have a bad meal in Rome.
justine, you once mentioned in passing that all this traveling you’ve done has taught you how to find the good food in any city.
I said that? What hubris. What I prolly meant is that I’ve gotten good at doing research on it. I know who of my widely travelled friends I can trust for food recs and which guide books. Time Out’s suprisingly good. Zagat’s hit and miss. Etc. Etc. And beyond that it’s really obvious stuff like avoiding restaurants in the super touristy areas, or that are full of tourists and not locals, so places that are full to bursting with locals are often worth a shot (if you can get in). When I get chatting with locals I suss out how they talk about food and if we seem to be on the same wavelength. I also keep an eye on the annual top one hundred restaurants list and stuff like that. Cause, you know, if you don’t eat you die.
Dave H: Sorry to hear about your nonna. I don’t think any restaurant—no matter how good—can ever come close to a home cooked meal eaten with the people you love. I’d often rather cook for family and friends or have them cook for me than go to even the best restaurant in the world.
Rachel Brown said, on 3/26/2008 6:28:00 PM
This is skewed by the amount of time I’ve spent in them… but Tokyo and Los Angeles have fantastic food. Tokyo is probably better overall but Los Angeles has more variety of cuisines. And also, in both cities you can spend a reasonable amount of money (full meal under $25 for dinner or $15 for lunch) and get truly delicious food.
New York has great eating too, and I’d probably rate it equal to LA if I’d spent more time there and had more opportunities to ferret out the best restaurants.
In Japan you can even get good food at convenience stores. I miss the packaged egg salad sandwiches from Japanese 7-11s right now. Generally, excellent food seems very easy to find all over Japan.
I didn’t have great luck with restaurants in Italy but the gelato and mozzarella were fantastic everywhere I went.
Dan Goodman said, on 3/26/2008 6:57:00 PM
I was in Bologna for about three days in 1971, and gained about ten pounds. The food was wonderful — and I was eating at the low end.
It was possible to find bad food in Bologna; for example, at the youth hostel. But much easier to find very good food.
Hillary! said, on 3/26/2008 7:21:00 PM
My Poppa is 1/2 Italian, and although my family hasn’t spoken Italian for generations by tongue, our food still speaks fluent Italian. I live in SoCal and I still haven’t found an Italian restuarant that measures up to at least my Poppa’s lasagna. I didn’t even know I was 1/8 Italian until this Easter, I thought I was 1/20, and that I just really liked Italian food much better than most other foods. I mean, really, vegetarian-ise just about any of their dishes.
Gabrielle said, on 3/26/2008 9:45:00 PM
Hm. I think Rome is actually too big for me. *gasp* Well, not big… Small, in a way. What I’ve seen of Europe just seems too crowded for me. However, Australia I could see myself living in.
feign said, on 3/26/2008 11:13:00 PM
Ah, you’re making me hungry. D: It doesn’t help that I’m watching Top Chef, which is showing some yummy looking food, right now either. NEED FOOD.
And I need to go to Rome. It sounds amazingly awesome.
limeywesty said, on 3/27/2008 2:49:00 AM
Like everyone else, I am now starving! I was already hungry, but now, my tummy is sooo grumbly!!!
My favourite food places, are places where they aren’t necessarily restaraunts, but stalls. Like Thailand. they make the world’s best noodles, and chicken and stuff there… this isn’t helping my hunger problem either. only ten more minutes until dinner.
mark c said, on 3/27/2008 7:54:00 AM
we tend to get a Time Out guide whenever we go on holiday to a new city too, they are the best city guides we’ve ever found.
Barcelona is great, as a city and for food, we had all sorts from tapas and local sea food dishes, to fantastic mexican, pizza (nicest I’ve had ever, in a really cool neighbourhood restaurant with v stern head waitress), and excellent modern european (also with cute, friendly but confused young waiting staff).
I was also amazed at the food in Flanders/East Belgium - we visited Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp, and everything we had was lush, however simple or straightforward it looked on the menu. Antwerp is the only one I would want to live in, as the other two are v small. but Ghent is very nice too. Everyone go to Ghent!
hope you had nice food in London, there’s lots to be had - as a yokel I could have given you some recs if only I’d checked your blog earlier…
Caryle said, on 3/27/2008 10:51:00 AM
I’m making a completely wild guess here, but your awesome tomatoes with the striping on them sound like heirloom tomatoes.
I ate like a fiend when I went to Italy. I miss it.
Camille said, on 3/27/2008 1:56:00 PM
Rome is the most romantic city in the WORLD. (And there are awesome drinks in the Piazza Navona.)
I love the food in Florence (smoked salmonnnnnnnnn) and Osaka. (The rivalry between Osaka and Tokyo over okonomiyaki — a sort of Japanese pizzaish bread-based thing — is fun.) The quality of the food in Jerusalem is outstanding. I felt healthy.
I’m quite comfortable with the food in New York (and London for that matter), though.
Enough of you have been emailing to ask why I wants to know about lying and DNA testing and race that I feel I should offer some kind of explanation, or several even:
I am hard at work building a lie-and-DNA-detecting robot.
I was bored.
Maureen Johnson made me ask you cause she’s too lazy to do her own research.
It’s for my new novel.
It’s procrastination to avoid work on my new novel on account of Scott took my IM capability away.
I am distracting myself from certain sad events on The Wire.
None of the above.
I hope that’s cleared everything up to your satisfaction.
18 Comments on Why all the research?, last added: 3/12/2008
Thanks for the mention of Paul Elkman in your last post. I found an article about him from 2002 that is really interesting, and I also put in a request for one of his books at the library. I’m hoping it will help my writing because I have a hard time showing and not telling emotion.
But it makes me wonder . . . how do you read someone’s face in after they’ve had their Botox treatment?
limeywesty said, on 2/21/2008 3:02:00 AM
Poke Scott in the tummy and tell him that he should give you back your IM.
Tell him it’s research.
I don’t know, maybe try out some of your new lying techniques to see if you can come up with a good enough story to convince Scott to do that one thing for you…
I’m not sure, you think of something. You’re the one who tells stories for a living.
dragonfly said, on 2/21/2008 8:18:00 AM
oh yes. that clears everything up!
eek said, on 2/21/2008 9:59:00 AM
The Wire…ah, perfection…but too often, too sad. I still miss some we lost seasons ago…
And I think they should have Omar do Honey Nut Cheerio commercials…
Emily
Gabrielle said, on 2/21/2008 10:16:00 AM
personally, i’m blaming maureen.
Hillary! said, on 2/21/2008 11:32:00 AM
Yeah, I’m more inclined to believe that Maureen is too lazy to do her own research, but, then again, I don’t think you would do research for her so enthusiastically. So I’m just hoping it’s for a new sekrit book that no one know about just yet.
maureen johnson said, on 2/21/2008 1:20:00 PM
What? What? This has nothing to do with me! Though I am enjoying the vote of no-confidence I am getting from all sides.
Margaret C. said, on 2/21/2008 4:01:00 PM
I vote for the robot. But I think it should also know CPR so it can save lives.
Mary Elizabeth S. said, on 2/21/2008 4:05:00 PM
Now, Justine, you can be honest. We all know you’re researching ways to use high-schoolers’ DNA to make zombies, and trying to learn how to lie convincingly so as not to let the zombie out of the bag too soon.
~Mary
Jeanni said, on 2/21/2008 7:08:00 PM
Aw Justine, you can tell us about the zombies, we promise we won’t tell anyone, loyal fans and all that. And you should definitely poke Scott in the tummy, with a cookie, repeatedly, until he gives you back IM.
Patrick said, on 2/21/2008 8:50:00 PM
I know some people who could get you IM’ing without Scott being able to block it. It’ll cost ya, but you know, when you need it, you need it.
doselle said, on 2/22/2008 11:19:00 AM
1. Justine…your post on Imitation of Life has caused me to scurry to the video store where I’ve purchased both. I owe you a response and have not forgotten. But, as you know, WORK must come first.
2. The Wire. I am unhappy. Very unhappy. [redacted for spoilerage-ness]
3. Glad Scott took away IM. I have weaned myself off of it, as well. IM is a time and brain suck that does very little towards making the work go faster.
4. [redacted for spoilerage-ness]
5. Since you’re so VERY good at it, can you talk for a minute about what makes for a good public reading of one’s work? How you decide which sections to read from…whether you feel its appropriate to make editorial revisions on the text you’ve chosen to read, etc. ?
Certainly, it must get easier over time, right?
Right?
Justine said, on 2/22/2008 11:23:00 AM
Doselle: Let us not speak of The Wire right now.
5. Flattery will get you everywhere! I guess I could post about that. I am in hate for reading aloud. It sucketh. But general rule: keep it short. Ideally ten minutes or less. I prefer self-contained pieces. Though it can be fun to leave every on a giant cliff-hanger. Hehehehehe.
doselle said, on 2/22/2008 11:40:00 AM
Why do you think reading aloud sucks so hard then, eh?
I mean, like, what could possibly suck about a performance anxiety-inducing exercise in public speaking before a crowd of stranger OR WORSE respected friends and acquaintances?
I mean, it doesn’t sound THAT bad, does it?
And no–let’s NOT speak of The Wire for the moment! The scene where Bunk puts on a corset and performs a scene from Pride and Prejudice seemed entirely out of context to me, but whatever!
Yowtch!
Justine said, on 2/22/2008 11:45:00 AM
When I first started doing readings I was afraid no one or very few would show up, but now I look forward to that cause it means I don’t have to read and we can just chat casually (if there’s very few) or I can go home.
But mostly I don’t read at my appearances anymore. I tend to tell some anecdotes and then switch to Q & A. Is much more fun for me and the audience.
I really liked that scene with Bunk! I love anything Bunk does.
doselle said, on 2/22/2008 12:37:00 PM
The best part about Bunk was his unexpected reaction to Detective Griggs as ‘Mister Darcy.
Who knew any human could make that kind of sound with a piece of black licorice and a tea cozy.
Justine said, on 2/22/2008 12:39:00 PM
That was a tea cozy?
doselle said, on 2/22/2008 1:00:00 PM
Yes! Yes! I know it looked very much like a miniature anteater, but it was almost certainly a tea cozy. I take my tea cozy collection quite seriously, so I would obviously be in a position to know about such things.
How Bunk was able to to fit it over Kima’s head with the teapot still inside it is another question entirely. Guess its really not just television.
but wow, whoever came up with this idea is a GENIUS.
Tony Greig just said on Channel Nine that “South Africa’s cricket team has had a quota since Nelson Mandela was elected.”
Um, no, Mr Greig. South African cricket has always had a quota system. It’s just that prior to the end of apartheid that quota was 100% white.