Beth Kephart: Words in Motion

Perhaps because I was one of those perpetually active kids—ice skating during winter days, playing kickball through the summer, racing my brother around the block, forever honing my tennis—I grew attached to the idea, rather early on, that writing and motion are true blood sisters: one cannot exist without the other. I can't find new ideas or next scenes sitting down; it just doesn't work. I've got to go out and take a walk, or stand up and start dancing, or climb aboard my very miniature exerciser.

It's as if the movement floats my thinking forward. I hear rhythms, I feel stretch and pause, or rush and clamor; I get pointed north or east. It's a beautiful thing, really, a privilege to climb inside that fluid space, look around, and see what I see.

I wonder if any of you have discovered this link between the body and the mind, the heart beat and the story?

Beth Kephart
Author of Undercover
www.beth-kephart.blogspot.com/
Beth Kephart on Red Room
An interview with Beth

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Hilari Bell: Rules for Writing

As I write this it's about 9:30 at night. I'm sitting at my kitchen table using the laptop, because my niece is doing homework on my computer. I've spent all of today, and most of the previous month, writing my brain into mush reworking the second book of the Goblin Wood trilogy. I'm tired, slightly, and really need a few days off... And I'm still incredibly grateful that I can make a living as a writer.

It's got to be the best job in the world--particularly when you're not writing your brain to mush--but it's weird in a lot of ways. There are no rules. A few things, sure, but even the most repeated truisms, like "show don't tell" are more like guidelines. ;) Still, every now and then some writer comes up with "unbreakable" rules for writing--and every time they do, I know of someone who successfully breaks them. So it's pretty stupid of me to put forward rules of my own, but I think I've got three that really are almost unbreakable--at least for writers who want to be published--so I may as well pass them on. This is:


Bell's Modification of Heinlein's Three Rules:
(Yes, I stole the first two.)

1: You must write.

2: You must finish what you write.

3: You must submit what you've finished to editors who are likely to buy it until one of them does.

It sounds obvious, but you'd be amazed how many writers miss one of those steps. And Heinlein's third rule was not to rewrite except for an editor, but I think he was wrong about that.

So are there any of my rules you think are wrong? And what are some writing rules that work for you, even if they might not work for everyone?

Hilari

Hilari Bell
Author of The Last Knight, The Prophecy, The Wizard Test, and The Goblin Wood
www.sfwa.org/members/bell

E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle!

E: My blog readers told me they want me to post more about the writing life, and I thought: since Sarah, Lauren and I wrote HOW TO BE BAD together, even though we all three live in different places, it might be kinda fun to compare how we work. I've been up since 6:30. There is a stack of laundry on top of my printer, proofs and magazines and lists of things to do on my desk, plus a glow-in-the-dark skeleton pirate, a hat that has the ears and nose of a panda bear on it, my watch, and two cups of cold tea. It is 10:23 AM and I have written nothing because I spent a chunk of the morning on the phone with Sarah discussing minor changes to the proofs of our book.
Sarah is meticulous.
I am not.
I would not have caught any of the errors she's found.
It is still too early to call Lauren, because she's in Colorado while we're in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Maybe I will skip writing this morning and do some yoga. Or make guacamole and then eat it.

S: Meticulous! I love it! Can I still be meticulous even if I am the messiest person in the entire universe?
Unlike E., I've been up since eight. Fine, eight-thirty. Okay, okay, nine-fifteen. The snooze button is the devil.
Like E., I should be at my desk, but instead I (along with HOW TO BE BAD page proofs, revision notes, a blue pen that has run out of ink, a black pen that is about to run out of ink, two cordless phones, a yellow pad of Post-It's, my laptop and possibly some miniature Reese's peanut butter cup wrappers) are sprawled all over my couch. A Law & Order rerun is playing on my television. I am not actually watching TV, but I am convinced the show's "Dah-Dah!"s help me think.

Lauren? Laaaaaaaauren. Are you up yet??? I just sent you an e-mail instructing you to call me ASAP. No, it's not about the book. We urgently need to discuss last night's American Idol!

Lauren here. Oh, wait, let me rephase. "L" here, tee-hee. And yes! I'm up! Yay! And I have to say, I have grown a little fond of Ryan Seacrest, despite major cheese-factor reservations..

OH. I'm supposed to be talking about my writing life. At this very moment, I am at Starbucks enjoying a delish maple scone and a venti mocha. I'm supposed to be writing the ending of a novel, but instead I'm... enjoying a delish maple scone and a venti mocha. But here's what will happen in just a minute: I'll put on my super high-tech noise-blocking headphones, shoo away the real world, and delve into my private world of characters, plot, silliness, and occasionally setting. Though I hate setting and find it boring. Except in HOW TO BE BAD, since in HOW TO BE BAD the girls are ROAD-TRIPPING through Florida, and how could that setting possibly be boring? Especially as there are alligators! And boys! And house parties with scuzzy guys and gum-popping girls, at which Mel (one of the girls in the novel) doesn't want to use the nasty hand towel in the nasty bathroom, so she wipes her hands on her hair. Which led to a big discussion between S, E, and myself (that's me, L!) about whether girls really do that.

So I put it to you, lovely blog readers: have you ever dried your hands off on YOUR OWN HAIR? I have completely strayed from the dignified topic of My Writing Life, and that, my sweeties, is just as it should be. Because that is my writing life—typing away and letting my brain go wherever and, best of all, having dear friends with whom to process it. But hey, if y'all want to ask us questions about writing or books or whatever, that's okay, too.

Here's to dear friends!!!!

E, S, and L

E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle
Authors of How to Be Bad (in stores May 6th!!)

Sign up for HOW TO BE BAD updates and enter to win the Ultimate Road Trip Kit!

www.myspace.com/laurenmyracle
www.myspace.com/theboyfriendlist
www.myspace.com/sarahmlynowski

www.laurenmyracle.com
www.theboyfriendlist.com
www.sarahm.com

Anna Godbersen: Open Book

I'd heard of this phenomenon from other writers I know, how the experience of having a book come out can be somewhat anticlimactic. A book's actual publication, after all, is separated from its completion by months at least. There is so much copy-editing and typesetting and marketing preparation between when an author stops living her novel and when she has to talk about it. I felt a little bit of this: By the time I was asked to talk about The Luxe, it did feel slightly remote to me, and I occasionally wished that I had bottled up some of my thought process during the writing of it to share with interviewers. But at the same time I experienced something else far more rewarding, which is the joy of writing in serial form. Many authors, high and low, have revisited their characters in multiple books, and I knew from the beginning that The Luxe would be a series. But I hadn't anticipated how exciting it would be to come back to these characters in Rumors, the second installment of The Luxe series, and find that I had more to learn about them, that there were all these other aspects of their personalities that I had left unexplored in the first book. It was so wonderful to find that they weren't set in stone, that they were still open and that they could have new memories and new desires.

I'd love to know what characters from literature you wish had a sequel and why?

Anna Godbersen
Author of The Luxe

www.myspace.com/annagodbersen

Mark Crilley -- The Readers: Know Them, or Die!

Okay, the title's a bit extreme. But I really do believe that I'm in trouble as an author if I don't make serious efforts to get to know my readers. Especially now that I'm trying to reach manga readers, a group that until a few years ago was slightly mysterious to me.

I do narrated "how to draw" videos on Youtube. The other day I got a comment on one of my videos from an Australian reader named Dimitri who had read Miki Falls. The comment was: "You're drawing the chins too big." Well, some of the other Youtube watchers gave that comment so many thumbs down it ended up becoming hidden, but to me it was like gold. "Note to self: Reduce size of chins!"

And yes, I messaged Dimitri, saying how grateful I was for the honest feedback.

So now, thanks to Myspace and Deviantart and, yes, Youtube, I really am getting to know my readers and what they want. Does that mean I make characters jump off bridges if they tell me to? Definitely not. But I do take note of everything they say and keep all of it in mind as I shape my next project. No author is an island, and if I stay in my ivory tower saying, "My job is to write, your job is to read"… well, I probably won't have any readers before very long.

So how about you? Do you show your writing to others and ask for their thoughts? Have you made use of their feedback, even the negative stuff? Please reply and let me know. I'd really love--as you've probably figured out by now--to hear from you.

Until next time, keep writing—or blogging!

Mark Crilley
Author of Miki Falls: Winter, Miki Falls:Autumn, Miki Falls: Summer, and Miki Falls: Spring

www.youtube.com/markcrilley
www.markcrilley.deviantart.com 
www.myspace.com/markcrilley
www.markcrilley.com

Bennett Madison: The Blonde Myth

What's the thing about blondes? According to popular idiom, they have so much FUN, right? So why they are always dying of mysterious circumstances, going to rehab, having outrageous FREAKOUTS, getting pigs' blood dumped all over them at the prom, going to jail, (maybe) falling under Satanic curses and (sort of) being decapitated, et cetera? There's more to blondness than having fun and being preferred by gentlemen, that's for sure.

In high school and college, many of my best friends included: kooky blondes, bitchy blondes, bombshell blondes, troubled blondes, good-time blondes, tragic blondes, and wild blondes. There was not a dumb blonde among them. Instead, what they all seemed to have in common--besides a distinctive SCORCHED EARTH strategy when it came to bleaching--was a certain (sometimes misguided) joie de vivre that tended to result in dramatic situations of both the disastrous and the awesome variety. What I am saying is that they were never boring.

But the world has a weird attitude when it comes to blondes. I spent a lot of time researching blonde jokes for my new book, THE BLONDE OF THE JOKE (natch), and discovered that not only are most blonde jokes totally unfunny--did you hear about the blonde who thought day rates were cheaper than nitrates?! LOL!-- but also that a lot of them are straight-up misogynist and sometimes actually violent. You don't even want to know the one about the blonde who tried to blow up her husband's car.  Trust me, it's a joke only John Wayne Gacy should find funny, but there it is on 101 Best Blonde Jokes! (Or wherever; I forget.) Clearly, our fascination with blondes is pretty, um, COMPLICATED. We--meaning, you know, SOCIETY--love to obsess about them, fantasize about them, worship them, make fun of them, torment them, judge them, and then feel sad and sorry when they run into trouble.

What is it about blondes? Or maybe I should ask: what is it about the obsession with blondes? It's possible it has nothing to do with how blondes actually ARE. Maybe we're just projecting all our own mommy issues, all our insane virgin/whore complexes, all our jealousies and pettinesses, onto these women who, other than their choice (and it IS a choice) in hair color, are just regular people. Poor Britney. How could anyone handle the weight of all that?

I don't know. I've thought about all of this a lot, and I still don't have a conclusion. So I wrote a book about it.  In preparation for THE BLONDE OF THE JOKE, I'll be also be writing a weekly essay on my blog about my favorite blondes in history. Who should I include? Nominate subjects here in the comments.

Bennett Madison
Author of Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls, Lulu Dark & the Summer of the Fox, I Hate Valentine's Day, and The Blonde of the Joke (coming September 08)

www.bennettmadison.net

Francesca Lia Block

A few months ago, Moira, a friend from MySpace sent me a photograph of herself standing in a field surrounded by streaks of rainbow light. I sent the image to my editor and we decided to use it as the cover of my upcoming book of poems, HOW TO (UN)CAGE A GIRL. We got permission from the model and her friends, the photographers, and are looking forward to one of my loveliest, most intriguing covers ever. Although I have never met Moira before, I now feel as if I know her quite well based on her almost daily communications with me through MySpace.

Over the years I have become increasingly disconnected from my readers, except when I do an occasional book signing. As a single mom with young children and books to write, I often don't have time to be in touch.

MySpace has provided me with the opportunity to bond with my readers in a very personal way. I post my most intimate poetry and photos on a regular basis, as well as adding songs that inspire me and updates about my newest books. I have also used it as a way to advertise upcoming writing workshops that I have started to lead. Although I don't always have time to respond to my messages and comments, I always read them.

They are comforting and inspiring and because of the attached profiles, I feel as if I am really getting to know my MySpace contacts. I want to thank everyone who has already visited me and to encourage others to do so. Come read the poetry, listen to the music, see the photos and find some new friends. Who knows? Maybe we'll use your picture on one of my next books or include your poetry in an anthology.

What ideas do you have for my upcoming book covers:
THE WATERS AND THE WILD (a book about a changeling) PRETTY DEAD (a very scary vampire love story)?

Much Love to all of you in the New Year.

Francesca
myspace/francescalia
francescaliablock.com
francesca lia block shrine

Francesca Lia Block
Author of Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books (collection), Ruby, Psyche in a Dress, Weetzie Bat, Goat Girls, Wasteland, Echo, The Rose and The Beast, Violet & Claire, I Was a Teenage Fairy, The Hanged Man, Girl Goddess 9, Missing Angel Juan, Guarding the Moon: A Mother's First Year, Ecstasia, and Primavera

Allan Stratton: TRAVELLING THE WORLD!

Do you like to travel? I do.

When I was teenager, I was lucky to win a year's scholarship to a small high school in Switzerland. After graduation, I trekked around Europe with a couple of friends. I was hooked.

My favorite memories come from Egypt, Botswana, Turkey, Cuba, Thailand and China. (I went to China with my mom when she turned eighty. Mom's the most amazing person I know. She's absolute, unconditional love. And a divorced, single mother with a career in the 1950s! That didn't happen back then. I think Mom's why I write such strong female characters.)

Anyway, what I love most about travel is meeting new people. The thing I discover over and over is that no matter how different the surface of things, under the skin we're all alike. It's the key to what, and how, I write. With each character I ask: if I was this person, what would I want most? What would I do to get it? How would I think and feel at each moment of my struggle?

Chanda's Wars is set in a world of child soldiers. But at its heart, it's a story about love, friendship, and a courageous young woman who refuses to give up hope.

In writing the book, I met with former child soldiers, their rehabilitators and victims, a village headman, spirit doctors, farmers, and many others from various African countries, both in SubSahara and in the Diaspora. I visited villages and cattle posts, and went into the bush with guides and trackers, who taught me some of the skills Chanda would need to rescue her young brother and sister from the warlord, General Mandiki. It's an experience that changed me.

Travel does that. It opens us up. It lets us see life with new eyes.

Do you have special travel memories? Places you most want to visit? I'd love to hear about them! Or if you've traveled here from someplace else, let me hear about that too. What do you like most? What do you miss most?

Cheers,
Allan

Allan Stratton
Author of Chanda's Wars, Chanda's Secrets, and Leslie's Journal

www.allanstratton.com
www.myspace.com/allanstratton

Alexa Young: WHY DO YOU READ?

For me, diving into a book has almost always been a way to escape—and that's something I needed to do a lot throughout my angst-ridden youth. Back then, when school or family or life in general left me bored out of my mind, I curled up with fantasy novels by C.S. Lewis (I had the entire Chronicles of Narnia collection in a super-cool box set) or twisted sagas by V.C. Andrews (Flowers in the Attic, anyone?). When I was feeling awkward, hideous or otherwise inadequate (especially when it came to certain puberty-related developments that weren't, well, developing), Judy Blume was my absolute favorite author/hero (I think I read Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret at least a hundred times). And when I was obsessing over a guy, a friend (or frenemy!), or anything else on the social stratum, I'd reach for a cheesy romance (at age eleven, I couldn't stop reading a book called Dreams Can Come True by Jane Claypool Miner—see below :-O).

 

Now, as I sit here on the brink of becoming a published YA novelist myself, I'm wondering what people will get out of my little fiction project. I hope it provides at least some of the things my cherished books gave to me back in the day—whether an entertaining, unusual or aspirational break from everyday monotony, or an empathetic reminder that everyone, from the cheerleaders to the honors students to the drama geeks (I was all of the above), struggles with insecurities, relationship crises and manic meltdowns of all sorts.

So how about you? What are some of your favorite books, what have you gotten from them, and how do you hope your writing will affect your readers?

Alexa Young, author of FRENEMIES (May 13, 2008)

www.myspace.com/iamalexayoung

www.alexayoung.com

A CLASSIC!

Scholastic, 1981. Ellynne has dreams of being popular, becoming a cheerleader, and having a great boyfriend. After losing 30 pounds and trying out for the squad, the only thing left is Kip. Should she go for him even though he has a girlfriend? Is it right for Ellynne to want to date him? How close are he and his girlfriend, Merri? All Ellynne knows is that Kip is very, very special…

Robert Lipsyte: Expectations

I've been talking to a lot of football players this year about "Raiders Night" and the big surprise is how many of them have the same issues with their parents that girl violinists have (I talked to them a couple of years ago for a series of newspaper pieces.) Whether you're playing tight end or Mozart, so many kids feel trapped by their parent's expectations, often unrealistically high.

For most kids, I think, having a good time in sports and/or music is reward enough. And you don't have to be a star or a soloist to enjoy the friendships and the sense of belonging. But parents can spoil it, insisting that coaches and teachers push harder, give kids more playing time, prep them for bigger competitions.

Then kids start thinking that if they don't win scholarships to big-time sports schools or famous conservatories they will disappoint their folks and be failures.

This is a tough problem to deal with. Every situation is different, and I don't have a one-size fits all solution. But I think the first question everyone has to ask is this: Am I playing because I love it or because someone else is playing vicariously through me?

Robert Lipsyte
Author of Yellow Flag, Raiders Night, One Fat Summer, Warrior Angel, The Brave, The Chief, and The Contender

www.robertlipsyte.com

Beth Kephart: The Book of Words

Perhaps some of you know that UNDERCOVER, my first book for young adults, has an aspiring teen poet at its heart—a narrator named Elisa who tosses off love notes for boys who have their hearts set on others. Elisa pretends to shrug her shoulders at it all, pretends that her outsiderliness doesn't much matter, but in truth, it's not all that fun hanging on the social margins. I know that because I was a bit like Elisa in high school. I gave advice. I listened. I wrote. But others had the spotlight.

Elisa is saved, in UNDERCOVER, by an honors English teacher named Dr. Charmin, who guesses at what Elisa is going through and begins to help her after school. One of the gifts that Dr. Charmin gives Elisa is a blank journal, to be fleshed out, she explains, as a book of words. Elisa is to collect the words that interest her, keep them in her book. She's to use them to define herself, to grow and to emerge.

Many of those who have read UNDERCOVER write to me about this book of words and ask whether I myself have kept one. The answer is yes. I started mine just after college, and it sits right here, and there's hardly a book I read today that doesn't somehow send me to it with a new word, or a new use of a word. I try the new words out when I can—sometimes in conversation, sometimes in a poem, sometimes in a story—and even if they don't always make a natural fit, even if I edit some of them out later, this book of words is essential to me—contains a partial history of my own development as a writer.

Have any of you ever kept a book of words?

Beth Kephart
Author of Undercover
www.beth-kephart.blogspot.com
Interviews with Beth: Em's Bookshelf and Newsvine