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Chapter 17

Though the river is milk

It stops dead in my throat

Like a stone, stone, stone

pg 199, "Surely there was some other place for her": Miri needs something to make her special, something (being a princess perhaps?) that gives her a place, a reason, something to contribute. I think we all do. Even young children. It's interesting in large families to see how children will claim a certain role--the funny one, the smart one, the good one, the baby, etc.--even though those labels can be limiting and sometimes just wrong. I wonder how we can allow ourselves and each other to be someone special, and also to be more than one thing. (more on that in Palace of Stone)

Pg 201, Miri waves: Even though we know a main character pretty well 200 pages in, it's important to keep learning new things. This is a simple act yet I think it's revealing of Miri's character. Would you have guessed she'd wave cheekily at the prince's carriage? Would you have done it?

"The prince had suddenly become a real person with a height and an age and hair color": For so long he was just "the prince." Slowly his character is revealed. At this point, what kind of a person are you expecting he will be?

Britta's sickness, pg 204: When I was in high school, I participated in the Homecoming queen pageant. At my school, each club and organization nominated a girl, and then we did an interview with the judges and then performed a talent at an evening assembly. (I wrote and read a poem--I was very dramatic...) The first night I did well and made the final ten. Then the next day we did it all over again. I got a little sick and nerves brought it on so fast, by the evening I was barely conscious. The interview was a nightmare, I couldn't remember the questions after they'd asked them. I remember lying on the floor backstage when someone told me I was supposed to be on stage. I stumbled on, forgetting all my props. Of course I didn't make the top royalty. Now it seems strange to me that I was a part of the competition at all. But I thought about this experience when I was writing about Britta's illness.

Esa's arm: Whenever I have a newborn (or two) I think often what it would be like to only have use of one arm. It's hard, very limiting. I was writing Princess Academy when I had my first child. Trying to open jars and make meals while holding a newborn was tricky. Those thoughts led to Esa's disability. And not just Esa. In my current novel, my main character was born with one arm. (still rewriting that one but hoping to make Fall '13 release.)

Sorry I'm out of time again! Tomorrow I promise to get to your questions. Feel free to ask more.

Chapter 16

Pg 184: "Her mind and heart tangled." What Miri believes she knows and what she years for at sometimes not the same. How often I've felt this way about so many things.

Miri cheats: This part of the story is one I've been criticized for. Miri can pass the test on her own, but she helps the other girls cheat. There are no negative outcomes in the story for her actions here. Does it seem as if I'm promoting dishonesty? Were Miri's actions wrong? Is it okay to have a main character do something wrong and not be punished for it? Why did Miri do what she did? Given Olana's actions, could you justify Miri's?

I have some personal opinions in this matter that may not be relevant. But I'll say this much: the ability to memorize the years of a certain war are not the best criteria for selecting a princess.

Katar: A character is what they do and say. When writing, if a character is feeling weak, examine their relationships with the other characters. Relationships are the key to character strengthening. My characters feel quite flat to me in a first draft. I have to see them act, hear them speak, allow them to form relationships in order to understand them. Katar is one who grew. Miri had never wondered why Katar was the way she was before. Perhaps that's a failing on her part. This scene was not in the first draft, but now it feels essential.

"All her life she had seen herself as the only lonesome thing in the world": I love Miri, I identify with her, and I can say I think her personal doubts and sadness made her self-centered in many ways. She looked inward so often, she missed noticing the struggles of those around her. I think this encounter with Katar will change how she sees other people forever. I think we all need these encounters to give us more empathy. What a gift it can be with others entrust to us their vulnerabilities.

Weekend. Family time. I'll get to questions tomorrow. Thanks for staying on this journey with me!

Chapter 16

Pg 184: "Her mind and heart tangled." What Miri believes she knows and what she years for at sometimes not the same. How often I've felt this way about so many things.

Miri cheats: This part of the story is one I've been criticized for. Miri can pass the test on her own, but she helps the other girls cheat. There are no negative outcomes in the story for her actions here. Does it seem as if I'm promoting dishonesty? Were Miri's actions wrong? Is it okay to have a main character do something wrong and not be punished for it? Why did Miri do what she did? Given Olana's actions, could you justify Miri's?

I have some personal opinions in this matter that may not be relevant. But I'll say this much: the ability to memorize the years of a certain war are not the best criteria for selecting a princess.

Katar: A character is what they do and say. When writing, if a character is feeling weak, examine their relationships with the other characters. Relationships are the key to character strengthening. My characters feel quite flat to me in a first draft. I have to see them act, hear them speak, allow them to form relationships in order to understand them. Katar is one who grew. Miri had never wondered why Katar was the way she was before. Perhaps that's a failing on her part. This scene was not in the first draft, but now it feels essential.

"All her life she had seen herself as the only lonesome thing in the world": I love Miri, I identify with her, and I can say I think her personal doubts and sadness made her self-centered in many ways. She looked inward so often, she missed noticing the struggles of those around her. I think this encounter with Katar will change how she sees other people forever. I think we all need these encounters to give us more empathy. What a gift it can be with others entrust to us their vulnerabilities.

Weekend. Family time. I'll get to questions tomorrow. Thanks for staying on this journey with me!

Last night I spent an hour reading parts of Palace of Stone before bed. (Is that silly?) That made me so excited to share it! The book releases one month from tomorrow. I'll have that section of my site up soon. And now back to Princess Academy...

Chapter 15

Weather: Again we start with a description of the outside world, as it reflects the mood and thoughts of Miri and the girls. This may be surprising considering how often I pause to describe setting, but as a reader I often get bored in long passages about what someone/something/someplace looked like. Descriptive passages better do two things for me: show me something visual (without rambling) as well as tell me something about the character/s. If descriptive passages don't also move the plot along, I get antsy and skim them. (I LOVE Tolkein, but I do some major skimming in LOTR.)

Boots, pg 180: Oh beautiful footwear. Can you imagine what it was like to lack good footwear? I lived in Paraguay for a year and a half. The streets were either dirt or empedrado--lined with stones. The stones were not smooth, they were rough and jagged. I literally wore through the soles of my shoes, straight to gaping holes. I could feel those sharp rocks on my feet as I walked, and I was luckier than many to have shoes at all. I can imagine how grateful Miri was to get those new boots.

"She would find her own place": Where will that place be? I feel like the essence of growing up is finding that personal place, and often re-finding it. It's easier to be kind and forgiving of others, I think, when I remember that they, too, are on a quest to find their own place.

Short chapter! Let me get to some questions.

Some of you asked about Danland's religion. I hesitate to give story details that aren't in the text. We know they attend chapel every rest day, once a week, and worship the creator god. There are priests of the creator god in the lowlands who divined Mount Eskel as the home of the future princess. I wrote more details about what they did at chapel in earlier drafts, but I always cut a lot out of my drafts and that was a section that went under the knife because it wasn't essential to the story. The same thing happened in Palace of Stone. I find the priests and their religion interesting. Maybe someday the story will require more details.

Alysa asks, "do you keep a journal?" I do though not daily. I also have a writing journal, something I started doing 3 or 4 years ago. At the beginning of each writing day, I record the current word count/page number and what my goal is for that day, as well as kind of talk to myself about any problems I see. Not sure it would prove interesting reading for anyone else, but it's helpful to me as motivation and to record progress. I also keep a journal for my kids. Every month I write an entry in it, like a letter to them, talking about what they're doing this month, recording stories. That's a real treasure for me and I hope for them one day.

Rebekah asks, "I was browsing your website and you mention in a couple of places that there are other professions you can do from home besides writing...could you explain what these other professions are?" I think there are lots, but I'm not a very good career counselor. I just know of people who work from home. In college I did some contract tech writing from home.

Perri asks, "If you had the choice of marrying the prince or staying on the mountain, which one would you choose?" In Miri's cirucmstance, I would have chosen as she did, but at the beginning I didn't know that's what I would have done. It took exp

Chapter 13

Katar: She's a prickly one. What is your opinion of Katar at this point? There's always so much more going on with minor characters than I can tell. The narrator only knows as much as Miri does. Unless Katar opens up to Miri, she can seem flat.

The rules of diplomacy: 1. State the problem, 2. Admit your own error, 3. State the error of the other party, 4. Propose specific compromises, 5. Invite mutual acceptance, 6. Illustrate the negative outcome of refusal and the positive of acceptance, 7. Assert a deadline for acceptance

pg. 156: Do you think Olana really was impressed and pleased with the girls? Or was she bested and pretended to be pleased to maintain her pride?

Peder's hawk: It's a 3 hour walk to the academy and a 3 hour walk back again through the night, arriving in the morning with quarry work is waiting for him. It's about the most romantic thing ever. It's funny--I know that I made it up, but I don't feel that way. I feel like it was something that Peder did and I observed it. Is being a novelist a form of mental illness?

Chris asks, "After "honing your inner reader" with works by other authors, do you every consciously emulate or avoid elements of their style? If so, do you find either approach (emulation or avoidance) to ultimately help or hinder your writing?" That's hard for me to answer. The honing process never ends. Writers keep reading--observing, taking note, absorbing. Sometimes I do consciously emulate or avoid elements I note in other books, though at the moment I can't think of a single example! The problem with reading as a writer is it's hard to turn off my brain and get lost in the story--I'm always noticing the writing, analyzing, editing. But it's a critical skill for being a writer.

Heather asks, "Where did you come up with the name Asland for part of the kingdom? That question actually comes from my mom because it kind of bothered her because it sounds so much like Aslan (she's a big Narnia fan)." I took Scandinavian names as the root (Dan and As) and added +land to them, reminiscent of Finland. The similiarity to Aslan was a bonus for me, as I too am a Narnia fan!

Ashley R asks: "My little brother (12) read The Goose Girl, and he loved...How many boys have you heard of who have read The Goose Girl and liked it? :)" Lots, actually! My experience is boys over the age of 9 rarely pick up books that seem "girly" on their own. But many older sisters and mothers let me know that their boys enjoy my books (and other "girly" books) on the sly. A shame there is any shame.

Two and a half more weeks of this. Are you guys still game?

I love this poll on my publisher-run Facebook fan page: What did you/do you think will happen at the end of the book?

Chapter 11

Oh Chapter 11, I love chapter 11. From the opening song on. It's a long one. Let me see what little nuggets I can find to share with you.

The empty barrel dance: Kind of sad and brave that their largest celebration, spring holiday, celebrates not harvest or times of feast but the end of supplies, the empty barrels. They survived the winter, and that's cause enough to celebrate.

"tattered red strips of cloth": We live in such abundance. I was often reminded, while writing this book, how precious something like a red ribbon would be in a place like Mount Eskel.

"the girl with no hair": The story shouts came out of my own memories of camping with my family. There were songs like "No you can't get to heaven" where each verse was different and you could make up your own rhyming verses on the fly. I remember being quite young and making up a verse that made others laugh, and how good that made me feel.

Miri & Peder's conversation: When I first published this book, someone asked me what my favorite part was, and I remember saying the action in chapters 20-23. But when I listened to this book on audio, this conversation between Miri & Peder became my favorite.

"A smile tugged at one corner of her mouth like a brook trout on a fishing line." and "Jans trailed Britta around like a thistleweed stuck to her bootlace." and "Being near him made her insides feel like twisted vines, choking and blooming at the same time": I love similies. I always overwrite and then delete the extras, keeping the best. If you don't like similies, you may not like my books. I tend to celebrate them.

Tiffany L asks, "Without the help of an editor or agent, how do you know when a book is DONE, and ready to send off." I think it's really hard to know, and impossible for me to tell someone else because every writer's process is different. I will say that every agent or editor I've talked to says 90% of the manuscripts they receive aren't done yet, were sent off too hastily, were a first or too early of a draft. I personally suffer from chronic Fourth Draftitis. The first draft is okay, the second I realize how much work needs to happen. The third I try to fix it. THe fourth I "polish" the third draft. And then I have this rush of completion, this amazing high, and I immediately want to share it! See! Look! Admire what I've made! And I rush off to show it to someone--often another writer friend or a reader who I think will have some good feedback. Every time, when I'm back into rewriting, I realize how crappy that 4th draft really was and am so ashamed I showed it to anyone. You'd think after 12 books I'd learn, but I did it YET AGAIN early this spring with my current book's 4th draft. Everyone's different, but I'd suggest rewriting a book a few times, let it sit for a month or two, go back again, get some feedback, rewrite again, more feedback, rewrite...about twenty times. And then let it sit again, read it again and see what you think. One of the most valuable skills a writer owns is understanding his/her own process, and that just comes through experience.

I'll get to the other questions tomorrow, and feel free to ask more!

Chapter 7

Flashback!: A flashback is, of course, a scene that takes place earlier than the current story. The narrator takes us back, usually because the main character is remembering something. I do everything I can to avoid flashbacks. They can weaken the narrative. A flashback early in a book is especially dangerous, and in the middle of a chapter can feel cheesy or forced. This scene was important enough that I didn't just want the info relayed through thought or narrator. I wanted to see it. A nice reminder of Peder while he's away. And important info about quarry-speaking. Rereading it now, I'm happy to find I didn't cringe. I like how it feels at the beginning of the chapter.

Quarry-speech: Page 82 has the first real description of how Miri feels using it. Quarry-speaking was not in my first draft. While researching quarries, I learned how deafening the work can be and also how dangerous. The Eskelites were so disadvantaged, I wanted them to have a talent, something unique that lowlanders did not. The ability to communicate warnings in a noisy quarry would be very helpful.

"The sky was achingly blue." pg 83. I like this line. And the ones that follow. They make me feel and see the day.

Holding hands: Someone I know immigrated to the US from Germany when he was 13. The first day of school, speaking little English, he walked with a neighbor boy. As they began to walk, he reached out to take the other boy's hand, as they always did in Germany. The American boy pulled away and looked at him as if he were a freak. It dawned on him that hand-holding was not something boys did in America. I loved this story, and it's the root of Mount Eskel's tradition of hand-holding. Bits of real life and stories I hear often work into books in this way.

Singing: Another Eskelite custom and one, like most of their customs, comes from their work in the quarry. I love Britta's confusion on page 86. Should she sing along? That disconnect, that bewildered loneliness that comes when two cultures meet. I find it both scary and fascinating.

"Thanks for talking to me.": Oh Britta! I want to just hug her! I imagine what the last year of her life has been like. Loneliness is something, I think, everyone has tasted.

The princess house: Miri could never dream about marrying someone she's never met and could never imagine, but the house to give to her family is a tangible goal.

Mount Eskel: The mountain itself naturally became a character in this book. While it's possible that the mountain has some kind of magical sentience--that it's aware of the people--it's also possible that's Miri's imagination. I am very careful to never declare one way or the other. I imagine some readers might believe one way and others another.

Isobel asks, "while working on other books and gathering ideas for Princess Academy, did you ever feel impatient to get on with things, or just happy to let the story build?" I'm often, like a magpie, charmed by the shiny thing off in the distance. It's always a temptation while writing any book to abandon it for a currently-more-interesting idea. I jot down ideas I have, but I'm very firm with myself to finish the book I'm working on. If I didn't, I'd have dozens of books begun and nothing finished.

Alison asks, "How long does it usually take you to plan and write? Once you have an idea, does it just flow out, or do you have to sit down and plan out everything that's going to happen in the plot? Or do you just let things happen?" Every book is different. With PA, I had the idea, wrote it

Chapter 6

Whiskers taut, front teeth bared: I opened up to chapter 6, not remembering what was about to happen until I read the opening song. I worked hard to make sure each song snippet conversed with the events of the chapter in interesting ways. There were many songs I wrote because I liked them but didn't use because they didn't work well enough with any chapter.

Page 70: Miri physically aches with loneliness. I've felt this way before. Poor gal.

"She fell asleep without resting.": I just did a search in my first draft and found this line: "Cold and miserable, she fell asleep without resting, dreaming that she was locked in a coffin, hearing shovelfuls of dirt thumping the lid." I must have liked that bit buried in the middle and pared off the excess, whittled the sentence down to its best part. I approve of that edit, Seven-Years-Ago-Shannon.

Also, originally the now-non-existent Ingir locked Miri in the closet and Olana rescued her. Better this way.

"The tip of a tail licked her cheek.": Eek! I don't have a rat phobia but this would Freak Me Out. It's the darkness aspect that makes this event so much creepier for me. If there was a rat loose in my house--gross, but okay, I'll grab a broom and wage battle. But I'm locked up in the dark, unsure what I'm facing and how to fight back? Nightmare.

Singing in the closet: Miri needed this scene to jump-start her inquiry into quarry-speech. She could have just wondered about it, but a story is always better when action leads to action.

I'll get to your questions tomorrow, sorry! Weekend is all family time, not much computer time.

Chapter 4

Miri helps Gerti: Miri has this fierce sense of justice, of right and wrong, and here’s an instance when it gets her into trouble. This character trait/flaw is one I’m intimately familiar with.

Page 54: Miri speaks out and gets them all punished. This scene was tricky and took many attempts, partly because it has such lasting consequences. I feel for Miri here! She means well, but the outcome is not what she expects. Was she right to speak out? Better to follow the rules? I don’t think that everything a main character does has to be the right choice, and I don’t want any of my stories insisting that there’s only one right way to do anything. Her actions here were true to her character and moved the story along, but I don’t know if she acted well or not. There are many events like this one in the book. What I hope for my readers is not that they try to model their own behavior after any character, but that the actions of a character help them think through things and decide perhaps what they would do, figure out what they believe about things.

Miri’s character: I feel like I was kind of lazy when I started writing this book and made Miri a lot like myself. As her character was forming on the page through the action, I let her react as it felt natural to me, let her relationships form as I remembered mine from that age. This made her character trickier rather than easier to write. It’s hard to be objective about yourself! Again, figuring her out took many drafts.

“Miri thought she understood how a lost goat would feel on meeting a pack of wolves.”: Everything in the book is pushed through Miri’s own experience. Although it’s a third person narrator (says “she” instead of “I”) and uses words in ways Miri might not, still, every simile, metaphor, analogy, etc., must be one in Miri’s realm of experience, and since she’s spent her life isolated on a mountain top, that experience is narrow. So, a lot of goat metaphors. Writing this book, I grew very fond of goats.

Page 58: Another trait Miri and I share--trying to make people laugh. How many times have I said something I thought was funny and no one agreed! I feel for you, Miri, darling.

Academy princess: Miri has a goal! It’s important for the main character to have something they desire. There were many things she longed for back home--to be useful, to be sure of her pa’s love, Peder--but here’s where she first names something she’ll strive for there at the academy.

Laura asks: "what part of Miri's story came to you first?" The general concept came first, the idea of a village where one girl might be chosen as the next princess. The characters and why the story mattered to them came through the process of writing.

Sally asks: "I've often wondered when reading PA if you did research on stone cutting, working in a quarry and stone in general to write this book?" Yes indeed, I did as much research as I could, and as usual with research, ended up only using a fraction of what I learned. For a while there, I felt like an expert in marble and granite quarrying!

Katie asks: "Did you do very much research in your first draft or did you just write and then research?" I do minimal research before beginning, write the first draft or two, and then do more intensive research, so that I already know what I'm looking for. I like the story to lead the research, not the other way around. I know other writers research in different ways.