So, I finished the third book in a brilliant (imo) series on Tuesday night. I was expecting that. What I wasn’t expecting was that it wasn’t Mockingjay. It was Ptolemy’s Gate, the third of the Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud.

I fully intended to start Mockingjay as soon as I got home with my copy after work that night, but I was also almost done with Ptolemy’s Gate. And I discovered I really really wanted to finish it. So I did. And the ending was so overwhelming emotionally, that when I did finally pick up Mockingjay, I only could read the first bit of it. Because what I really wanted to do was just sit there thinking about the end of Ptolemy’s Gate.

I did end up waking very early and reading most of Mockingjay, then finishing it at lunch Wednesday. And I was satisfied. It was a wild ride. I probably read it too fast. There were moments and characters I loved. But still, it was Ptolemy’s Gate that stayed in my heart.

Which, again, is a surprise to me because although I enjoyed The Amulet of Samarkand (the first of the Bartimaeus books), it didn’t blow me away like The Hunger Games did. But a series is more than a single book, and it’s been interesting to me to look at my own reactions to entire series I have read. And to those I have enjoyed early books in, but haven’t actually completed– which is where I thought the Bartimaeus books were going to end up.

But then I happened to pick up the audio book of The Golem’s Eye a few weeks ago because I had no other audio book and the reader is excellent, and I figured “Why not try it?”

I’m so glad I did. I had, to put it bluntly, simply not liked one of the two main characters in Amulet. Nathaniel, the orphan boy wizard, was just not someone I was particularly driven to read more about (although I did love Bartimaeus, the djinn who Nathanial enslaves to assist him). But in the second (and third) book, the real complexities of Nathaniel’s character emmerged, and I realized that in fact perhaps I wasn’t meant to like him. He wasn’t the Luke Skywalker of the story. He was the Anakin Skywalker. (Making Bartimaeus Han Solo, I suppose!). Plus, a third main character, Kitty, was introduced, and I was immediately invested in her story.

In the end, these three character arcs provide a fascinating web of inter-relations. I loved seeing the impact each had on the other two, and to begin to perceive how they might come together in the end. As in the Hunger Games series, I expected that there would be a bittersweetness to the ending. But the exact way that Bartimaeus, Nathaniel and Kitty’s stories ended (which I won’t go into here for fear of spoilers) blew me away. I know some readers probably don’t like it, but to me it was the perfect ending for the story. And I keep thinking about it, turning it over in my head, asking whether I would have liked it better if different things had happened. But the answer so far as always been no. It ended the way it had to end.

By contrast, my reading of the Hunger Games series was such a breathless race to the ending that I think I didn’t actually allow myself time to appreciate the interactions of the character arcs or the more subtle developments. Perhaps if I had, the ending might have struck me more deeply. Perhaps I should read the entire series again (or listen to the audio books, to force myself to slow down) and see if it changes my perceptions. There were things in Mockingjay that I felt should have affected me more deeply than they did, and I wonder if that was because the driving pulse of the plot superceded them.

So now that both are done, I have one trilogy that I love for how it ended, and one I love for how it started.

What about you? What are your favorite series endings and beginnings? Are there series that you loved more for how they start than how they end? Or vice versa?

Addendum: I was going to talk about Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series here too, since I found City of Glass to be one of the best conclusions to a three-book story arc (and at the time, what I thought was a trilogy) I’ve read. There are several scenes near the end that continue to stay in my mind (as with Bartimaeus) and to resonate emotionally with me. But since it turns out there are going to be three more books on the way, I’ll hold off on that. I am so pleased with the ending of CoG I admit I’m almost sad there will be more books, but then, I’m also very excited to see more of Simon, Clary, Jace, and (of course!) Magnus Bane.

And since I missed National Dog Day yesterday, here is a belated picture of my dog Charlie, demonstrating his good nature by letting me do silly things to him:

~Staying at Ballynahinch Castle when my husband and I visit Ireland this fall. I was a goner as soon as I read this article that included the phrase “Ballynahinch feels like the bustling center of a mysterious forest straight out of Tolkien.”

~Spending long luxurious days reading all the books in my to-read pile. I just started A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee and I just want to curl up in my comfy chair with a cup of tea and READ IT ALL RIGHT NOW. I’m aslo listening to The Golem’s Eye, book 2 in the Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud, and enjoying it even more than the first. Less Nathanial, more Bartimaeus and Kitty, and Prague!

~Visiting Boston at the end of the month to see Cirque du Soleil’s OVO, visit friends, and hopefully eat lots of tasty food. The Cirque du Soleil has been a big visual influence on Circus Galacticus and it has been at least 15 years since I saw one of their shows live. The costumes! The music! The acrobatics! Can’t. Wait.

~Fresh tomato bruschetta. I really need to get to the farmer’s market and pick up some tasty heirloom tomatoes and good bread. Mmmmm….

What are you daydreaming of?

I think Trix (the main char from my CIRCUS books) would be a fan of La Roux. Especially that green eyeshadow! This video in particular is getting me excited to plunge into revisions on book 2 next week! (And thanks to both Megan Frazer and Malindo Lo for making me aware of La Roux)

In the meantime, here are two things that I have tacked at the top of my virtual corkboard as inspiration for the new project (THE BROKEN SKY) that I’m brainstorming:

First Fig

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends–
It gives a lovely light!

~Edna St. Vincent Millay

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

~Mae West

The lovely Shveta has an interview with me up on her blog here where you can read about why I like the fiddle and what recent multicultural MG books I’ve enjoyed. Thank you Shveta!

And lastly, one quick reminder that I’ll be at the Toadstool Bookshop in Milford NH this Sunday, July 25, from 2-4 along with a bunch of other YA and MG fantasy writers for this. I’d love to see folks there if you’re in the area!

The thing is, I nearly always start my books with a premise. A “wouldn’t it be cool” idea, like “what if someone had to make a fake fortune come true?”

But one thing I’ve learned (painfully, in a manner involving lots of dead books and trunked novels) is that a cool premise is not enough. If I charge forward with my premise, spin out a plot, and just start writing, I almost always have to toss it. Because characters drive the plot. I can’t just dance my characters through the plot like puppets performing for my amusement (though that would be a whole lot easier!).

That’s not to say that I must know my characters inside and out the moment I set finger to keyboard and start on Chapter One. I can learn a lot about the characters during the first draft — especially during the first few chapters (which is part of the reason those chapters are the hardest for me to write, and the ones I most often toss and rewrite).

For this new book idea (current working title: THE BROKEN SKY) I’ve been trying to do more work up front getting to really know my characters. Not only their quirks and emotional damage and favorite movies, but getting a sense of how they will ACT in different situations, and playing around with the lines of tension that might connect them to one another.

Endless possibilities! Sometimes it feels an awful lot like I’m trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle, but I can’t see the pieces until I pull them out of the pile. And I just have to keep playing around with them until they fit.

And when they do fit, I know it. It’s like reaching out in the dark and finding my husband’s hand reaching back. It just fits. It’s right.

So that’s what I’m doing now, playing around with a new project, seeing what pieces I can fit together.

How do you start a new project? How well do you know your characters when you start?

And so is my brain. I refer to this as the “Fire Bad, Tree Pretty” phase of writing. Like Buffy, I feel triumphant but also completely drained. So I spent the rest of the day eating nachos and ice cream and painting my nails sparkly blue and watching Project Runway. I took it as a good omen that the final pre-Bryant Park challenge involved designing an outfit inspired by… the CIRCUS! Hah!

I’ve been thinking how Project Runway (the reality show where a bunch of designers compete for a chance to show a collection at NY Fashion Week and to launch their own line) really has a lot of interesting and potentially useful lessons for any kind of creative work. And since my brain has nothing else to fixate on right now, here’s what it came up with:

FIVE THINGS PROJECT RUNWAY TAUGHT ME ABOUT WRITING:

1) Better to strive for greatness, even if you don’t pull it off completely.

There’s one word that is (almost always) the kiss of death during the judging on PR. That word is BORING. People want to see something new, something unexpected, something that dares to be great. And as long as it’s not a complete trainwreck, they generally are going to be forgiving of its faults. On the other hand, you can make the most exquisitely tailored dress in the world, but if it’s boring, no one will remember it. No one will care.

2) But don’t get so wrapped up in your concept that you can’t edit it.

Another thing I notice a lot on PR is designers who have a particular concept for their design, or some element that they LOVE. This is a variation on the “murder your darlings” advice. Maybe it’s a particular fabric, or a beloved technique. Whatever it is, if it is compromising the success of the final result, you have to let it go.

3) Pay attention to feedback.

I love Tim Gunn, the design guru who serves as mentor to the contestants. He’s dapper, he’s funny, and he uses all sorts of lovely words like “flabbergasted” and “Sturm und Drang”. In fact, here, see for yourself:

Anyways, when Tim comes around to give his critiques during each challenge, there are always some contestants who listen to him, and some who don’t. And fairly often, the comments Tim has that get ignored are the ones that come back to bite the contestants during the judging.

4) But don’t let critical comments make you doubt yourself.

On the other hand, there are times when a contestant flips out after Tim’s comments, and loses focus, and then spends hours doing catch up for lost time. Or they get scared and disheartened, and play it safe.

The thing about criticism is that you have to allow it to help you, but not let it break you. Feedback is important. But so is remaining true to your own vision and enthusiastic about your work.

5) Be professional.

Every season on PR there are challenges that require the contestants to work in teams. And it always makes them groan and grumble, because they know (as we the audience know) that it’s going to present a whole new challenge. Almost always, the teams that end up on the bottom are the ones that didn’t work well together, regardless of how talented the team members may be independently.

You can have all the talent in the world, but if you act like an jerk and people hate you, it is going to hurt you. If you are a creative genius you can get away with it for a while, maybe, but fashion and publishing are businesses that require you to work with other people. Which means treating your business partners respectfully and understanding your own responsibilities.

~

What about you guys? Any other Project Runway fans? And if so, what do you think? Have you gotten anything out of it that you can apply to writing?

I am, however, wondering if maybe things are changing. Lately I have been hearing about lots of recently published or upcoming scifi. But I don’t know if it’s just the fact that I’m paying more attention (since I have my own scifi novel on the way in 2011). Thus it is time to gather data. Here’s the YA/MG scifi(*) I know of that’s out recently (2009 or later) or on the way:

Anderson, R. J. – TOUCHING INDIGO (2011)
Anthony, Joëlle – RESTORING HARMONY
Baciagalupi, Paolo – SHIP BREAKER (2010) and a sequel!
Bodeen, S. A. – THE GARDENER (2010)
Boyce, Frank Cottrell – COSMIC (2010)
Bransford, Nathan – JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW (2011)
Clayton, Emma – THE ROAR (2009)
Collins, Suzanne – CATCHING FIRE (2010)
Condie, Allie – MATCHED (2010)
Duane, Diane – A WIZARD OF MARS (2010)
Fagan, Deva – CIRCUS GALACTICUS (2011)
Gill, David Macinnis – BLACK HOLE SUN (2010)
Haddon, Mark – BOOM (2009)
Haarsma, P. J – the SOFTWIRE series, most recently WORMHOLE PIRATES ON ORBIS 3 (2009) and AWAKENING ON ORBIS 4 (2010)
Hall, Teri – THE LINE (2010), AWAY (2011)
Hirsch, Jeff – THE LONG WALK HOME (2011)
Holt, K. A. – MIKE STELLAR: NERVES OF STEEL (2009)
Hopcus, Anastasia – SHADOW HILLS (2010)
Johnson, Elana – CONTROL ISSUES (2011)
Karr, Julia – XVI (2011)
Klass, David – STUCK ON EARTH (2010)
Lore, Pitticus – I AM NUMBER FOUR (2010)
McEntire, Myra – HOURGLASS
Ness, Patrick – MONSTERS OF MEN (2010)
O’Brien, Caragh M. – BIRTHMARKED (2010)
Osterlund, Anne – ACADEMY 7 (2009)
Pfeffer, Susan Beth – THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN (2010)
Reese, Jenn – ABOVE WORLD (2012)
Reisman, Michael – SIMON BLOOM: THE OCTOPUS EFFECT (2009)
Revis, Beth – ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2011)
Smibert, Angie – MEMENTO NORA (2011)
Strickland, Brad – FLIGHT OF THE OUTCAST (2010)
Teague, Mark – THE DOOM MACHINE (2009)
Testa, Dom – THE COMET’S CURSE (2009) (re-release)
van Eekhout, Greg – LAST (2011)
Wallenfels, Stephen – POD (2009), and a sequel!
Westerfeld, Scott – LEVIATHAN (2009), BEHEMOTH (2010)

And there’s many more (see comments for some) from 2008, 2007 and earlier…

What else is there I’m missing? Or have I gotten any of the above wrong? Let me know! I will update this list (and the one xposted on livejournal). And feel free to spread the word if there are other folks who might be able to contribute to the list…

Thanks!

Long live scifi!

(*) – Of course this depends on your definition of “science fiction”. I’m not going to try to provide a definition. So this list may include things that one person or another may not consider “science fiction.” That’s okay. If you want a discussion on what scifi is, check out this post over on The League of Extraordinary Writers.

RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund
The first few pages hooked me in on the basis of concept alone (an order of girls who fight killer unicorns!), and I continued to read because I had to know what would happen, and because the book kept raising questions and mysteries I had to know the answer to. I didn’t actually get all my answers, but I got enough to feel satisfied. Plus, there’s a sequel coming! My favorite character would be a spoiler to name, but I loved every scene featuring that character and look forward to more. I was very interested to see how the various issues related to feminism and the fact that the girls’ powers are tied to their virginity played out. I appreciated that it was very much a dialog and discussion, allowing the reader to consider the issue (rather than a vehicle for a specific “message”).

CITY OF ASHES by Cassandra Clare
I’m hooked. I love the characters and at this point I am very invested in finding out the rest of their story. I can see why there are so many die-hard fans. On to book 3!

ILLYRIA by Elizabeth Hand
A lovely little book with some absolutely gorgeous language. I still can’t decide if I think it was a depressing or an uplifting ending, although I am leaning toward depressing (which doesn’t mean it was a bad book). This did feel like more of an “adult” book to me in terms of some of the themes (and there’s mature content throughout). It also struck me as an emotion-driven book. It has a very specific feel in my head: not entirely comfortable, but compelling. It reminds me, in some ways, of Pamela Dean’s TAM LIN.

CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG by Mo Williams and Jon J Muth
I don’t necessarily think other readers will love this like I do. Because honestly I think the main reason I both sought it out in the first place (I hardly ever read picture books but from the first time this showed up in my google reader I had to know more) was that City Dog looks very much like a brown-and-white version of my dog Charlie. But I did love it, especially the illustrations (which looked oddly familiar to me in style — I finally realized the artist was one of my favorites from the Sandman comics). It also made me sniffle, and think about friendship, and change, and (hokey as it sounds) the cycle of life. I add very few picture books to my personal library but this will be one of them.

And for your potential amusement and interest, here are the last five links I starred in my Google Reader:

Shannon Hale’s post on the danger of excusing bullying boy behavior as “that’s how boys show they like you.” Very thought-provoking!

A gorgeous new Hubble shot of a star formation region.

New video from Zooborns of a playful baby elephant!

A post from Discover about a recent study on how America sees the future. 53% envision ordinary people traveling in space. But 58% expect another World War.

Liz B at A Chair, A Fireplace & a Tea Cozy directs us all to a new READ poster featuring Nathan Fillion. Woohoo! I have recently been watching and really enjoying his new show Castle (and I was a big Firefly fan already). I was even more excited to see that the book he’s holding is YA scifi: The Softwire: Awakening on Orbis 4, by PJ Haarsma. Go scifi!

And in one last bit of starry news, I was delighted to find out that TeensReadToo posted a lovely review of The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle, and gave it a Gold Star Award for Excellence. Thank you TeensReadToo!

So! Here’s the Q&A:

DF: One of the things I love about Shadowed Summer is the strong sense place and the overall atmosphere, both in terms of the southern setting and the spookiness of the supernatural elements. Did you draw on real world places and experiences when you were writing this book? If so, how?

SM: Ondine, Louisiana doesn’t exist, but Ascension Parish and all the other towns I mention in the book *do*. I read extensively about Ascension Parish; I read the newspapers for Donaldsonville and Gonzales to get a feel for the region and the people, the weather and local concerns.

As for the rest of the book- there are personal truths hidden in SHADOWED SUMMER. My grandmother really did see her late parents in a turned off television. I really did live near a couple of boys who liked to throw firecrackers and M-80s into the creek. But most of the book is like the town- made up, but hopefully real anyway.

DF: I’m always interested to see how books end up categorized, since it often seems to me that the dividing line between middle grade and young adult can get blurry. For example, I could imagine a wide range of readers enjoying Shadowed Summer. Did you write it with a particular age range in mind? Do you have any thoughts on age-branding, either specifically with respect to your book(s), or in general?

SHADOWED SUMMER has a mixed-up dog’s breakfast of an age range. When I initially wrote the book, I intended to write a book for adults. It was 76,000 some-odd words long when I handed it to my original beta readers. One of those readers said, “Hey, this is a YA novel!” and looking over it again, I had to agree.

It’s kind of messy and definitely confusing. But I think it’s kind of appropriate for the book. Iris is wobbling between being a girl and a teen, and so is her novel.

DF: Shadowed Summer has beautiful prose, spookiness, and wonderful atmosphere. But it’s also a mystery (and was even nominated for the 2010 Edgar Award for YA Novel!). What do you think makes a successful and satisfying mystery? Did you know the “answer” to your mystery when you began writing, or did you figure it out along the way?

SM: I think the most satisfying mysteries are the ones you COULD have solved, but you didn’t. When all the clues are there, and you look back over the book when you get to the end and go, “Ohhhhhhhhhhh!”

I really hoped that people would get to the end and be more like, “Ohhhhhhhh!” than “Huh?!” That was my main goal.

There was definitely a part of Shadowed Summer where I went “Ohhhhh!”

If you’re interested in reading Shadowed Summer you can find it in lots of libraries (it was a Junior Library Guild selection!) or buy your own copy via your local indie bookstore, the Book Depository, and Powell’s, among others.

Saundra is doing a whole series of guest blogs around the internets: details are here.

And now, as promised, here’s the ACTUAL guest blog that makes me blush. Thank you Saundra!

SAUNDRA MITCHELL on FAIRY TALES FOR MY DAUGHTER
Finding books to read for my daughter can sometimes be a hard task. I don’t really care for princess books- Disney or otherwise- because I like her to experience stories where the protagonist is strong, resourceful and capable. Where she makes the story- not where the story happens around her, and to her.

Which is why we love Deva’s books in our house. FORTUNE’S FOLLY was a bedtime favorite for months. My daughter loved Fortunata- how clever she was, and also how flawed she was.

We had so many great discussions about taking care of ourselves and other people, and whether it’s ever okay to lie. And we also got to gasp at the danger, and cry at the heartbreak, and cheer when (this might be a spoiler!) everything works out all right in the end.

It’s a special book for us- one of the first books without illustrations that my daughter ever attempted to read on her own, and the first book where we took turns reading aloud to each other.

Which means, even though it was just a year, it seemed like an unreasonably long wait to get THE ADVENTURES OF PRUNELLA BOGTHISTLE, which just came out May 25th.

We’re hoping we can stretch it out a ways, so that the wait for CIRCUS GALACTICUS won’t be quite so painful. But one thing is certain- Deva’s books hold a special place on our bookshelves.

They’re beautiful, and full of memories to read, and to make- they are the perfect fairy tales for my daughter.

And isn’t Toadstool Bookshop a great name for a bookstore? Prunella would definitely approve. They’ve got a lovely little logo of a gnome sitting under a toadstool, too!

Why do I bring this up? Because on Sunday July 25th from 2-4PM I’ll be at the Toadstool Bookshop in Milford NH with all these other fine folks:

Ellen Booraem (The Unnameables)
Chris Brodien-Jones (The Owl Keeper)
Leah Cypess (Mistwood)
Marissa Doyle (Betraying Season)
Angie Frazier (Everlasting)
Kate Milford (The Boneshaker)

We’ll be presenting a panel called “Writing Fantasy for Children and Teens: Insights from Seven Authors” and also signing. I would love to see some familiar faces there, so if any of you all can make it please come out and say hi!

In other news, PRUNELLA has a couple new reviews. Here’s my favorite part of the BCCB review:

Hints of Southern folklore echo throughout Fagan’s fictionalized swamplands, making a setting that is at once eerily familiar and disarmingly tricky to navigate, as two-faced villains and creepy creatures jump into the mix at every turn. Fortunately, our plucky set of heroes manages to successfully dodge the more foul elements, albeit just narrowly at times, and their daring escapes will most certainly have young readers turning the pages to uncover their next foolish opponent.

And VOYA also thinks the heroes are plucky:

This is a delightful coming-of-age story about two plucky misfits who elicit readers’ chuckles with their escapades, while gently reminding us not to judge a person by appearances alone.

I’ll take plucky! Thank you BCCB and VOYA!

And now I am wondering: What is the opposite of plucky? Pluckless?