My new site is up

I've been busy building myself a new site which includes a wordpress blog and website rolled into one.  I'm gradually transferring content.  This is where all new posts will be located.

New site coming soon...

I'm in the midst of a blog/website move...will keep you posted.

The Why We Broke Up Project

I stumbled across The Why We Broke Up project which is based on the book Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket.  According to Handler, "This website allows you to share your stories of heartbreak with us, just as we shared ours with you. Our hope is that the Why We Broke Up project will enable all of our heartbreak to reach critical mass, so that, unlike [name redacted], it will never bother us again." 

As soon as I saw Handler's name attached, I knew the book and the project would be as quirky as it is awesome.  The illustrations are also awesome, so you just lose.  You can read the book, visit the website and share with the world why you broke up with someone... or why they broke up with you!  Maybe you broke up with them because they didn't like ketchup on their mac and cheese.  Maybe they were a cheating dirtbag, or maybe they were addicted to romantic comedies which you couldn't stand.  Maybe they were shallow, or maybe they didn't like books!  It doesn't matter, you can commiserate with Handler and Kalman, as well as complete strangers to get all out of your system and move on.

Another writer weighs in on YA books

More on the YA question.  Just finished reading a short essay by Sherman Alexie on "Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood".  If you haven't figured out why young people need all sorts of literature, you'll want to check out this poignant essay.  And, if you haven't read Alexie, it's not too late!  His The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is both dark and funny.  It's also brilliant, just like most of his other books.

Dark YA Literature

There has been such an uproar over teen books these days since the WallStreet Journal article that accused YA novels of being "rife with depravity" and "so dark that kidnapping and pederasy and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run of things."  Everyone has been weighing in, including well known authors like Judy Bloome, Neil Gaiman, and Laurie Halse Anderson.  Bloggers have been frenzied in their rebuttals and facebook has been awash with links.  Even National Public Radio has weighed in on the subject.  Still, some continue to wave the "teen protectionists" flag, which is usually synonymous with book banning.  For a balance overview of the controversy, check out Publisher Weekly's "Are Teen Novels Dark and Depraved — or Saving Lives?" by Karen Springen yesterday.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that YA literature gives a voice to what is sometimes to painful to share.  Books about difficult subjects such as: suicide, self-harm, teen prostitution, rape, and addiction are all examples.  Authors like Laurie Halse Anderson, Ellen Hopkins, Cheryl Rainfield and others can show you dozens of emails and letters they receive from young people who confirm that reading has saved their lives. Books about real life challenges young people face lets them know that they are not alone; that others have had similar experiences, and that they can survive similar terrible experiences.








Books can also be pre-emptive.  They can also show a reader the eventual result of taking a certain path without actually having to do so themselves. A realistic book for young people with believable characters about about self-harm, such as Scars by Cheryl Rainfield, or Crank by Ellen Hopkins, may be  enough to get a teen to seek help before heading down that path. A book like Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, may prevent a teen from blaming themselves in the terrible event that they are raped. A book like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, may move young people to think about ways to prevent wars down the road.

There are so many positives about realistic teen fiction these days that it's hard to believe this even needs to be discussed.  Of course dark books are not for every teen.  But they should always be available to those who need or want to read them, especially for those kids whose lives have literally been saved by knowing that they are not alone, and that they have options.

Michael Hauge's 6 stage plot structure

Today I'm trying to apply Michael Hauge's "6 stage plot structure" to the young adult novel I've been working on.  He also has a wonderful "Story Concept Template" that I find useful. If you don't know who Michael Hauge is and you have writerly aspirations, you may want to spend a little time on his website. You may even want to order a book or two. This guy is amazing.  I took a two day workshop with him, and I would love to do more.  He gets right the heart of your writing, doesn't mince words, and he's good.  His credentials speak for themselves.

2011 The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Book Awards

The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Book Awards have been announced.

Here are this year's winner in the young adult / middle reader category.

YOUNG ADULT / MIDDLE READER AWARD Half Brother By Kenneth Oppel (Toronto, ON) Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

To find out more about this Ontario Arts Council Award, check out their site.

Author Skype visit

Image via CrunchBase

Author school visits are a wonderful way to turn kids onto books.  But, with tight budgets, a lot of schools simply can't afford the expense; unless they get creative.  Author Skype visits are a less expensive alternative, and it's easier than you think.  Most schools already have the equipment necessary and Margriet Ruurs has written an easy "how to" host an author Skype visit in Canadian Teacher Magazine. While you're there, check out a few of the other wonderful articles.

Help Slave Lake, AB rebuild their fire-devestated library

My son-in-law has been up fighting the fire in Slave Lake Alberta.  In a phone conversation to us he spoke about how terrible the destruction was.  What a nightmare for the people of that fire-devestated town. My heart goes out to them. One of their losses has been their new public library.  I'm so happy to see that support from other libraries, publishers and book lovers has been pouring in. Please consider helping with:
1) cash donations which can be made through www.slavelakelibrary.ab.ca on their "Make a Donation" link, or
2) donating new or nearly new books (they are asking for books no older than 2 years, probably to avoid musty cast-offs).  These can be shipped to the Peace Library system headquarters for cataloguing and storage until a temporary library can be opened in Slave Lake.


ATTN: Books for Slave Lake Library
Peace Library System
8301 -- 110 Street
Grande Prairie, AB T8W 6T2

Room by Emma Donoghue

I've been reading a book called Room by Emma Donoghue.  It's an amazingly powerful story about a young woman who is kidnapped from her university, locked in a steel reinforced shed and forced to become a man's sex slave.  She has a child, Jack who is the narrator of the story.  It's a difficult and yet wonderfully told story.  Aside from being a compelling story in it's own right, this is a novel that would be fabulous in terms of studying voice, character and how plot and character are and must be intertwined.  Donahue totally nails both Jack and his mother's voice before they escape, and after.  It's one of those must reads.  Although it's fiction, Donahue has created characters who live and breathe.

Blogging vacation

Life is crazy busy right now, so I've decided to cut myself a little slack.  I'm taking a blogging vacation until things settle down a little.  Feel free to peruse the past few years of  posts.  I'll still be tweeting and facebooking on occasion so I won't be disappearing entirely.  Happy spring.

Rock the Drop! Support Teen Lit Day

Yep, it's Teen Lit Day today, and there is no shortage of ways to celebrate.  For ideas on how to make this day rock, check out YALSA (Young Adult Library Services). 

Meanwhile, readergirlz, one of my favorite blogs, have come up with a pretty cool way to get the word out. It's called Rock the Drop!  Here's what you do.

1. Visit their site (the link is above)

2. Download the same bookplate I've snagged below

3. Print it

4. Paste it into your favorite YA novel

5. Drop the book in a public place (bus stop, coffee shop, etc.

6. Snap a photo 

7. Send it on over to readergirz AT gmail Dot com 

8. check out their site to see the YA love

9. Thank the cool ladies at readergirlz

10. spread the word

Here's my contribution.  I left it in the lobby of my local rec. centre and it was gone when I finished my workout an hour later.  I know that whoever has it will enjoy Miss Smithers by Susan Juby.

JULIAN SMITH - I'm Reading a Book: a great way to support Teen Lit Day

Today is Teen Lit Day.  Yeah.  I discovered this vid by way of a writer Mary McKenna Siddals.  It's pretty cool, and so is Julian.  If you like this, he's got some really cool other clips, music, social commentary and he isn't a bad writer either so have a look at his blog.

Flash Mob Freeze Mob to help Celebrate National Library Week, April 10-1...

Thanks for Leila at Bookshelves of Doom for the heads up on this week being National Library Week as well as National Volunteer Week.  Whew...busy busy week!

http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/

YA Highway: Why are there so many love triangles in paranormal YA?

Image via Wikipedia

Of course love triangles have been around forever!  But, here's a link to an interesting post on why there are so many love triangles in YA paranormal literature . Leila Austin, the author of the post, raises the point that there are other ways of bringing conflict into young adult books. Check it out. YA Highway: Why are there so many love triangles in paranormal YA? 

A word about reviews

A work of art is usually pretty close to the heart of it's creators. Most of us who write, want to make a living, but most of us also want to create something special, something that others will want to read again and again. Unfortunately, not everything we create is wonderful. I don't know a writer out there who hasn't wanted to change something after a book has been published. Nothing is perfect no matter how much we want it to be. it. Sometimes it takes us a while to discover our own imperfections. Not so with reviewers. They can usually spot problems that we writers (and even editors who also end up close to a project) miss. Consequently, authors get bad reviews. It's just the way of the world.

So, what to do when you get a bad review?

Suck it up...

In other words, keep your mouth shut! If you must comment, if anything, be gracious. Thank the reviewer for their time, and move on. Bitch about the review to your family & friends if you must, but then move on to your next project. Try to use any constructive criticism to improve your next work. If there's nothing constructive in a review for you, forget it. Your job is to get work out into the world, not to worry about one opinion. Yep, that's right, a reviewer's opinion is just one opinion. We always hope reviewers will love and recommend our work. We hope all of our readers will love our work too. Some might. Some might not. You just have to get used to the fact that public criticism isn't always fair. But, one way or another, you DO have to learn to deal with it, at least if you want to survive in the world of literature, art, theatre, music, or any other art form. It's part of the business, just like rejection is. Media, whether it's internet media or print media has some great advantages and some serious headaches. My first publisher always told me that any review is a good review no matter how bad it is...it gets the word out.

Emily Dickinson's "Wild Nights-Wild Nights!"

Wild Nights! Wild Nights!

    By Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

---

    Wild nights! Wild nights!
    Were I with thee,
    Wild nights should be
    Our luxury!

    Futile the winds
    To a heart in port, --
    Done with the compass,
    Done with the chart.

    Rowing in Eden!
    Ah! the sea!
    Might I but moor
    To-night in thee!


And here's a copy of the original written by Emily.  Pretty cool don't you think!

Image via Wikipedia

Poetry Month and Kidlitosphere Central

Image via Wikipedia

April is an exciting month.  Spring is in the air.  The publishing world is aflutter with fabulous new books, and the entire month is a celebration of poetry. There are poets and poetry out there to inspire pretty much anyone and everyone.  At Kidlitosphere Central, more than a dozen Kid's Lit and YA Lit bloggers have stepped up to share all things poetry;  from a Poetry Potluck to a Poetry Party...from EduHaiku to Teen Poetry, you'll want to check out the links.

Mentoring

I didn't have a mentor when I started out writing more than twenty years ago, but I wish I had.  This morning, I spent an hour or so with a young woman interested in writing for kids.  She was sweet and enthusiastic, but very naive.  Many seem to view the life of a writer in romantic terms when really, it's a lot of hard work.  Being a writer requires commitment and tremendous self-discipline, generally, without much in the way of monetary compensation...Ideas are all well and good.  I have hundreds of story ideas.  But, a book is a whole other matter.  It takes time to plan, time to write, and time to revise, and then revise again. Furthermore, books involve a skill set that can't be learned overnight, and takes a lifetime to master. If it were easy, a whole lot more people would be doing it.

As well, few young people are aware that writing is actually a business.  No one wants to publish your book just because!  It costs publishers money in editorial time, designing time, print costs, advertising costs, and the usual overhead.  Publishers want, and need, to make money from their publishing line.  They won't publish your book unless it can make them money.  

I hope the young woman I spoke to takes the time to learn not only the craft of writing, but the business, since the two go hand in hand.  Maybe one day I'll get an excited phone call telling me that her first book is coming out.  I hope so. 

Diana Wynne Jones

Sad news in the YA world...fantasy writer, Diana Wynne Jones has passed away.  Best known for the Chrestomanci series, she started populating her books with witches, sorcerers, ghosts and goons when J.K. Rowling was still playing in the sandbox.  One of the things that I particularly enjoyed about her books is her wonderful sense of humor.  She could be both funny and scary, which is quite a rare mix.  It's hard to believe that we'll soon be seeing the last of her phenomenal books. What a great loss.  As far as I know, and surprisingly, only one of her books was turned into a movie, Howl's moving Castle, which is probably why a lot of North American readers aren't as familiar with her as they could be.  I've heard that her very last book will be published by Greenwillow Books early next year. Fortunately, she leaves a huge body of work.  I know I'll be downloading a few of my favorite titles on my Kobo to reread. Elizabeth Bluemle posted a great tribute on Shelftalker this morning.

Cover of Howl's Moving Castle