Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Retreating

08
June
2011

Sometimes the hardest part of writing is the not-writing.

Right now I am still on an enforced vacation from my recently-completed draft, both to allow myself to gain some objectivity about the project and to let my revision thoughts brew and stew. And it feels weird. I’m a shameless wordcount addict. I love the external validation of seeing my daily wordage accumulate.

It’s hard to remember that these between-times, these thinking-times, are just as important to the process as the active work periods: that it can be just as much “work” to synthesize critique feedback into a revision plan as it is to actually carry OUT that revision. But I know my revision will be better and more successful if I wait and give my backbrain time to mull and ponder and work things out.

One of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot is something one of my beta readers (the very wise Megan Crewe) said: “You have to know that the character as they are at the beginning of the story could not at that point have done what they need to do to succeed at the end of the story. It’s only because of the growth they go through on the way there that they can.” (Edited to add: R. J. Anderson has some interesting comments about places where this rule might not apply, over on the LJ xpost. And indeed, I don’t think any writing rule is universal, though in this case this “rule” has been helping me focus on how to (I hope!) strengthen a particular character arc. Also, Megan says she picked this wisdom up somewhere else, but I will still give her the credit for introducing it to me!)

Right now, this is true (I think!) for one of my two POV characters. But for the other, not so much… Part of the problem is that I haven’t quite nailed down her character arc. I know her backstory and emotional damage, but I need to dig deeper into what she truly needs to grow, and what scares her, and how the events of the book can force that growth and change. The other issue is determining exactly what that “they need to do to succeed” moment is — I am not entirely sure it’s the obvious one. So perhaps I need to focus more on the true moment of success.

These are all things that need thought and reflection. And time. So it’s a good time to retreat and think, to read craft books (most recently Cheryl B. Klein’s fantastic SECOND SIGHT and Donald Maass’s THE FIRE IN FICTION, both highly recommended).

Conveniently, I’m actually going off on my first official writing retreat next week! I am SO looking forward to some dedicated time to consider my revision plans, new book ideas, and more general writing-life stuff! And to visit with some fantastic fellow writers!

Those of you who have gone on informal writing retreats: what do you work on while retreating? First drafts? Revisions? Play & exploration of new ideas? Do you find retreats are especially good for any particular part of the process?

Where are you going?

21
May
2011

There’s a weird stage after finishing the first real draft of a book where my mind is just… empty. I may want to dream and scheme about a new book, or a sequel, or the plot writeups I need to submit for the next LARP event I’m staffing.

But there’s nothing. I even find it hard to read fiction. It’s as if the feelers of my brain have all been worn away, and my thoughts just slide around unable to latch onto anything. I can’t even come up with a better metaphor than worn-out brain-tentacles (ew).

Fortunately I know from experience that it goes away. The trickle of creative juice will eventually fill me back up. And in the meantime I just poke around at stuff, collecting the shiny bits, trying to tempt my brain back into action.

One of the recent shiny bits was an episode of the fabulous podcast Radiolab called Lost & Found. The whole episode is excellent, but the part I’m going to talk about here is a short segment that starts at around 32:25

In it, there’s a discussion of the language of the Pormpuraaw, an indigenous Australian people, which relies on cardinal directions (north/south/east/west) rather than left/right. Even the standard greeting is affected by this, such that you don’t say “How are you?” but rather “Where are you going?”

And if you’re local you can answer that, because you’ve been trained all your life to think in those terms. You can answer that you’re going south-southwest. Or that the salt is in the northwest corner of the cupboard. The academic being interviewed in the podcast describes that she herself began to develop a sort of new “console” in her mind that gave her a birds-eye view of her own position, after spending significant time in the community.

Neat, huh?

But there’s more. Googling for more information on the Pormpuraaw led me to this article in the Wall Street Journal.

The entire article is full of really interesting stuff. But here’s a bit I found particularly fascinating:

Differences in how people think about space don’t end there. People rely on their spatial knowledge to build many other more complex or abstract representations including time, number, musical pitch, kinship relations, morality and emotions. So if Pormpuraawans think differently about space, do they also think differently about other things, like time?

To find out, my colleague Alice Gaby and I traveled to Australia and gave Pormpuraawans sets of pictures that showed temporal progressions (for example, pictures of a man at different ages, or a crocodile growing, or a banana being eaten). Their job was to arrange the shuffled photos on the ground to show the correct temporal order. We tested each person in two separate sittings, each time facing in a different cardinal direction. When asked to do this, English speakers arrange time from left to right. Hebrew speakers do it from right to left (because Hebrew is written from right to left).

Pormpuraawans, we found, arranged time from east to west. That is, seated facing south, time went left to right. When facing north, right to left. When facing east, toward the body, and so on. Of course, we never told any of our participants which direction they faced. The Pormpuraawans not only knew that already, but they also spontaneously used this spatial orientation to construct their representations of time. And many other ways to organize time exist in the world’s languages. In Mandarin, the future can be below and the past above. In Aymara, spoken in South America, the future is behind and the past in front.

Especially as a writer, I think it is utterly fascinating that language can so profoundly affect the way we see things in the world around us. And it makes me wish I were fluent in another language (I have only a halting familiarity with Spanish that I use now days only to try to puzzle out the lyrics of the songs from my Zumba class). It would be very cool to be able to read a beloved book in another language. I have even more respect for translators now!

Have any of you read a book in two different languages? What was it like?

Diverse Links

12
May
2011

Tonight I will be at the Cambridge Public Library at 7PM along with Cindy Pon, Malinda Lo, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan and Francisco X. Stork as part of the Diversity in YA Tour!

I’ve been making up lists of articles and links that I’ve bookmarked over the years, and so as a reference, in case I mention any of them tonight, here they are:

Straight Talk on Race: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids’ Books by Mitali Perkins

Teens do judge a book by the cover by Mitali Perkins

Reflected Faces by Tanita Davis

The Elephant in the Room by Elizabeth Bluemle

Is My Character Black Enough by Stacy Whitman

Parenthetic Comma Phrases, Anyone? by Uma Krishnaswami

An Open Letter to Bloomsbury by Ari from Reading in Color

Mary Anne Mohanraj Gets You Up To Speed Pt 1

Mary Anne Mohanraj Gets You Up To Speed Pt 2

Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray: Representing all the girls

The White Mind

I Didn’t Dream of Dragons and a followup

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh

BOOK LISTS

African-American Speculative Fiction for Kids

2011 YA and MG POC Releases

Stacy Whitman’s List of Multicultural SFF Books

Charlotte’s Library Reviews of Multicultural Fantasy and SF

Deva’s List of Diverse Books at the Story Siren

Books that made me cry

11
May
2011

Books that have made me cry:

The Time-Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones
Abhorsen by Garth Nix
Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud

…and the draft of the new novel I just finished last night.

As I said on twitter, I suspect I was slightly off balance emotionally because because I had just written 20K in 7 days in the rush to the finish. But one of my goals with this book was to push for more, and deeper, emotion. This is the first thing I’ve written that I consider a love story. I set two characters in motion, not quite knowing them yet, but eager to see them work from mistrust to trust to friendship to love. I wasn’t sure I could pull it off, but I wanted to try.

Now I’m in that post-drafting crazybrain space right now, and feeling kind of sappy and goofy, so take this with a grain of salt. But I’m so happy I pushed myself to write this book. I feel like I accomplished something new, bigger and deeper than my previous stories. Whether it sells or not (though I hope it sells! I want other folks to meet these people!) I am glad I did it. I cared about it. I loved telling it. And that is a gift.

What books have made you guys cry? I cry all the time over tv and movies, but rarely over books, myself…

Weekend in Pictures

08
May
2011

There were hikes in the woods (with Charlie)

And there was writing (with copious tea)

And there was some weeding

And a visit with gaming friends. But I have no picture for that, so instead, watch this video. It’s actually remarkably good at capturing the geeky joy of both tabletop and live RPG. And if the video doesn’t embed in any of the xposts, here’s a direct link.

(I’ve totally had conversations like the one that starts the video. And I love that there are some gamer girls here. Also, this song has been stuck in my head for three days.)

And there was a lot of this:

(That book is DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth. And it is amazing. I loved it. Possibly more than I loved THE HUNGER GAMES. Fantastic pacing, plot twists, characters, and wow, the romance. So refreshing to see a much-buzzed book that totally and completely deserves it)

And I got a little spring color of my own! I love it! Even more fun than when I went blue last year…

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Multimedia

01
May
2011

The good news is, I’ve fallen deep into my current writing project and I love it to bits and I am just about to get to the really good part (Good for me. Not the characters. Heh.) where everything falls apart and there’s betrayal and broken hearts and epic deeds and a first kiss.

The bad news is, I’m at the stage where all my words are going there, and I can only sit and stare blankly at twitter/Facebook/this blog. So here’s a miscellany of nifty stuff in the meantime:

SEE: These paper doll sets are whimsical, creepy, and fascinating. My favorite is A Walk into the Night, for the owls, of course!

LISTEN (and WATCH): Not only are Terje Sorgjerd’s videos utterly amazing to watch (See? And that’s all nature’s special effects!), but they also feature some fantastic music. I had never heard anything by Ludovico Einaudi before, but after watching The Mountain I had to download “Nuvole bianche”.

READ: Lavanya and Deepika, a beautifully rich and magical fairytale by Shveta Thakrar up online now at Demeter’s Spicebox in the Cabinet des Fées. This is a lovely variation on the Tatterhood story of twin daughters, one “ugly”, one “beautiful”, who go on adventures together and love each other (a refreshing change from the ugly/evil stepsisters, yes?). The language is rich and layered and gorgeous. Though you may, as I did, find yourself craving the scent of roses and dying to sample saffron cream when you’re done!

EAT: We had outstanding weather this weekend, which meant that after my morning writing, I spent much of my time outside, running, walking Charlie-the-dog, and battling my nemesis, the Grape Vine of Doom. So it was a good thing I’d just made a batch of these 5 Minute No Bake bars to keep me going. I used almonds instead of sunflower seeds, no flax, millet puffs rather than rice, and sunflower butter in place of peanut, but they were still delicious and so easy.

DO: Last but not least, the Diversity in YA (and MG!) tour starts off next week, as Malinda Lo and Cindy Pon travel the US to promote conversation about books for young readers featuring diverse characters. The full schedule is here. I am thrilled and honored to be participating in the Cambridge/Boston event, Thursday May 12 at 7PM, at the Cambridge Public Library, along with Cindy, Malinda, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Francisco X. Stork, and moderated by Roger Sutton. I’d love to see friendly faces in the crowd! If you attend, say hi!

Musical Interlude

07
April
2011

I love my little city of Hallowell, ME. It’s tiny, and yes, sometimes I wish it were closer to Boston or even Portland (and that it wasn’t quite so cold and icy). But it’s got excellent restaurants, a generous community, lots of green space, and a thriving local art and music scene. Which meant that on Monday my husband and I could head down the street to Slates to have an excellent dinner (oh my goodness, the homemade vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce!) and see one of the best live music performances I’ve experienced.

The performers were Peter Mulvey and the band Po’ Girl, touring together this season. The music itself was fabulous- ranging from folksy to bluesy to jazzy.

Here’s one of my favorites from the night, by Peter Mulvey, called “Kids in the Square”:

And here’s one from Po’Girl that I loved: “Maudite guerre” (I think I pretty much love any piece of music with an accordian or concertina in it…)

And here are links to some other Po’Girl songs, because I can’t resist: “Gandy Dancer” (such great energy!) and “Old Mountain Line” (to demonstrate their fantastic range).

So anyway, fantastic music, lovely setting… but the thing that really made the performance something special was the sense of joy in music the performers shared. It was pretty clear that they were having a blast playing together, making jokes, bouncing musical inspiration around and creating something bigger than the sum of its parts, right there in stage (so to speak — it was really more of a clearing at one end of the dining room).

In some ways it reminded me of how listening to the commentary on certain movies/television shows makes me love those stories even more, because I see how much joy went into the making of them.

It also makes me wonder how that affects other creative endeavors… does knowing that a certain book gave its author particular joy (or pain) in writing it change my reading of the book? I’m not sure I can even judge that, but it is something I’ll be thinking about…

What about you guys? Does learning what went into creating a particular piece of art/music/entertainment affect your experience of it?

And have you heard any great live music lately?

The value of humor

27
March
2011

I originally thought we were going to see SUCKER PUNCH this weekend. I mean, the trailer was pretty nifty. Dragons! Airships! Girls kicking butt! But both the critical reviews and the informal feedback led me to believe that I would be better served just watching the Disney mash-up trailer again instead. At this point I have too many suspicions that the people behind SUCKER PUNCH are of the belief that girls in sexy outfits kicking butt = female empowerment. Not that there aren’t plenty of great movies with girls in sexy outfits kicking but who are also empowered and have agency in their worlds.

So anyways, instead we say RED RIDING HOOD. And I really enjoyed it. It helped that I had just rewatched Veronica Mars Season 1, so I was predisposed to associate Amanda Seyfried with excellence. But I also loved the visuals (especially the village and Grandmother’s house), the band of multi-ethnic werewolf-hunters, and the fact that the love “triangle” wasn’t particularly sordid or annoying. But when it was over and Bob and I were walking out of the theater I kept feeling like there was something that had been missing. I finally figured out what it was.

Humor.

There was not a single scene or bit of dialog in that movie that made me laugh (intentionally). And it made me realize just how important humor is. Even in a dark romantic story about werewolves. Even in an epic fantasy adventure (hello, Merry and Pippen!). It’s the comedic notes that allow us, in a way, to take the brutal, epic stuff seriously. And without them, I ended up laughing at a number of inappropriate moments, because they just seemed so overblown and over-dramatic.

I really liked the definition that author Laura Amy Schlitz gave of comedy, in her recent write up of her choice in the ongoing Battle of the Books at School Library Journal. She writes:

Comedy is a celebration of human resilience. At its best, it takes the tensions and failures and tragedies of life, and transmutes them. It pulls the threads taut, mending the rift in the cloth. It draws the toxins out. And of course this is tremendously refreshing, because we are surrounded by tensions and failures and tragedies.

It’s fitting that I should be thinking of humor and comedy now. Because one of the writers who taught me the power of humor, how the best books make you cry and laugh, was Diana Wynne Jones. The world lost a huge creative talent when she passed away earlier this week. DOGSBODY was one of the books that made me want to be a writer. When I daydream about the kind of writing career I aspire to, I think of her. What an amazing legacy she has left us. Dozens of books, filled with flights of imagination and dazzling characters. And so many readers– so many authors, including me!– who name her as an inspiration.

Thank you, Diana Wynne Jones, for inspiring me to dream and to create. For making me cry over the ending of DOGSBODY and laugh over Chrestomanci’s quirks and hope for a happy ending for Howl and Sophie.

I will confess that I have not read every book by Diana Wynne Jones. I do that sometimes, with my most beloved and prolific favorite authors. Because I don’t want the day to come when there are no more. So I am, indeed, grateful that I still have copies of HEXWOOD and CONRAD’S FATE and several others sitting on my to-read shelf. I think it’s probably a time to pick one of them up and remind myself of the magic and wit and humor that Diana Wynne Jones gave us.

The hard days

21
March
2011

Sometimes there are easy writing days. Sure, I still have to overcome my basic inertia and the lure of easy entertainment and online dabbling and frittering. But I have a core belief in the project. I want to know what happens next. I want to see how my characters and my world will surprise me. I have faith I am going in generally the right direction.

Then there are the hard days. When the universe seems to shift overnight and suddenly I’ve lost that faith. My characters are distant. I’m fumbling around in the dark and I don’t even know if there’s anything to find. The plot has turned into this many-headed monster that my brain can’t contain. I still have faith in the story, but it’s blind and tenuous and I worry I am going to lose it completely.

I’ve had a stretch of hard days lately. I know, intellectually, that I will get through it. It’s happened before. It will happen again. I tell myself that especially with this book, where I’m trying to push myself, it is even expected. I am striving to do something new, and it isn’t going to be easy. It shouldn’t be easy!

Even when I want it to be easy.

Some days, when it’s hard, I just need to write it down. Then, next time I have a hard day I can look back and remember that it is all part of the process. Or maybe one of you is having a hard day (week, month) too, and we can commiserate, and it will be a tiny bit better for both of us because we will know we aren’t alone.

It’s spring now, and I have seen crocuses blooming down the street. There are short green stubs in my own front yard. I have my window open just a crack even though it is dark and cold, because the birds are in full chaotic symphony. If the birds and the crocuses can make it through winter, I can make it through these hard days (weeks, months), right?

Giveaway winners and cover!

15
March
2011

First up, my handy random number generator picked me some winners for the Faery Book Giveaway:

wandering dreamer will get Small Persons With Wings
DM Domini will get Rebel
Lara will get Arrow

If any of you are reading this, please email me at deva at devafagan dot com with your mailing address! I’ll also attempt to contact you via the info in your entry comments. Thanks to all who participated! I wish I had copies enough for everyone!

The next news isn’t all that new if you follow me on twitter or Facebook, but for anyone who missed it, CIRCUS GALACTICUS now has a cover! Whee!


Click to engalacticize! Hope you all like it!

Circus Galacticus also available now on NetGalley for reviewers, and on various booksellers for pre-order. Wow. It’s starting to become real!

And since you don’t get to see any of the characters on the cover, here’s a sneak peak at some of the art I commissioned for the character glossary that I’m working on for this website. The full art won’t be going up for a few more months, but I’m too excited now not to share a few excerpts…

The art is by the talented Loraine Sammy and I can’t wait to share the full pieces with you! She did amazing work!