Posts Tagged ‘circus galacticus’

Why I Write

24
August
2009

There are times when I forget why I write, times when I doubt myself and wonder if I’m just writing because of some misguided fantasy about “being an author”. And to be honest, there’s a part of me that does fantasize about it: the little writing cottage, the awards, the fan mail, meeting other authors and being one of the cool kids. But that’s not why I write. And I don’t do it for the money either (though money is nice!).

This is why I write:

  • Because my mind is a net collecting weird, sparkly, magical stuff, and I need to do something with all of it.
  • Because I woke up this morning with a twist for the end of the CIRCUS books that fit so perfectly I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before this. It’s those moments when the story suddenly feels real. It’s not just a spattering of words flung out of your fingertips. It’s alive. It knows what it wants to be.
  • Because when I finished my newest revision of CIRCUS last night, I still loved the book. I loved writing it, I loved meeting those characters and exploring their world. Sure, I hope readers will get to see it someday and that they will love it too. But right at this moment, when it’s still (mostly) my book alone, I am content. Whatever else happens, I am so glad I had the chance to write this book. For me.

Of course, part of the reason I am posting this is so I can look back at it later if I fall into the depths of despair and remind myself of what is really important. Because it is SO easy to get lost in the sea of amazon rankings and sales and reviews and web presence. But none of that is worth anything without a story you love, a story you have to tell.

On a tangential but important note, anyone interested in promoting a love of reading might be interested in this posting at The Reading Zone, which in turn is about this post at Musings of a Book Addict. I am grateful to all the teachers and librarians out there who are working so hard to try to help kids see reading as something that can be fun and rewarding, not just rote, unpleasant busywork.

Tidbits

06
August
2009

I am currently immersed in a revision of CIRCUS GALACTICUS, almost to the point of obsession. I can see the shape of the book I want in my mind so clearly all I want to do is workworkwork until I can make it reality. Fun, but kind of exhausting! And not conducive to coherent blog entries. So instead, here are some tidbits:

I received an email from my lovely editor with a sketch by the cover artist for THE MAGICAL MISADVENTURES OF PRUNELLA BOGTHISTLE and I love it! It has a giant alligator on it! And the swamp looks deliciously swampy already! And the little details are there, like Prunella’s braids and Barnaby’s frilly cuffs. I can’t wait to see the final result!

I just posted an interview with Indie Bookseller Melissa Posten of Pudd’nHead Books on The Enchanted Inkpot. Go read about why Independent Bookstores matter, hear about some of Melissa’s recent favorites, and much more!

And FORTUNE’S FOLLY is featured in Grand Magazine this month. Thank you Grand Magazine!

Revision

30
July
2009

I am about to start revising the current draft of CIRCUS, based on the excellent feedback from beta readers and my in-person writing group. So of course rather than actually revising, I am here talking about revising. You can call it “pre-revision preparation”, or you can just call it procrastination.

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State of the Writer

17
July
2009

I’m currently enjoying a “refilling the well” episode, while the folks who volunteered to read my CIRCUS GALACTICUS draft do so. I’ve been reading, mostly, and puttering around with several different ideas for new projects.

I also received the page proofs for PRUNELLA, which I’ve now gone over. This was one of those times when it was a bit hard for me to re-read the book for the umpteenth time. It wasn’t that I disliked it, but I really wanted to be working on something new (aka CIRCUS). Thankfully I made myself do it, though, as I found a handful of typos that would have embarrassed me if they made it to the final book! So I am calling that a victory!

My reward is that I’ve printed out the draft of CIRCUS and will be diving back into that soon. I’m really (unusually) excited! It may just be a weirdly long-lasting writer’s high, but I feel like I reached a different sort of level with CIRCUS than I have with my previous books. With FF, the action centered very much around a single driving plot and small set of characters. With PRUNELLA, the world got richer, but the story still focuses very much on the two main characters.

Then in CIRCUS the world kind of exploded with details and for the first time I found myself tempted to write little vignettes about what the side characters are doing when they are “off screen”. I want to keep exploring the lives of my characters and their world. In some way, the book just feels “bigger” in my brain. Sometimes it can be easy to get so wrapped up in worrying about marketability and second-guessing yourself that you lose the part of writing that is fun. But CIRCUS was really, really fun for me to work on. Hopefully that means it will be fun for other people too.

Oh, and last but not least, I spent an excellent evening earlier this week talking with some of the students in the Upward Bound program at the University of Maine at Farmington. It seems like an excellent program (to assist promising kids in preparing for college) and both the students and the staff were great. I mostly talked about my “journey to publication”, complete with props. But then during BOTH question and answer sessions, I got a question I hadn’t expected: a request to read a little of the book. OUT LOUD. Yes, in front of real people.

I had (somewhat stupidly) never thought to practice for such an occasion, but I think it went reasonably well. I didn’t fall over or cluck like a chicken, and I tried to keep it lively. Thankfully there were no recordings so I can happily imagine it was a stunning performance without proof to the contrary. But I guess I had better start practicing!

Bits and Pieces

30
June
2009

Here are a few bits and pieces of news:

FORTUNE’S FOLLY has gotten a couple more nice reviews…

“Mixing romance, adventure, and unpredictable plot twists, this heartwarming story is a must for every collection.”
~School Library Journal

“Practical, determined, and immensely likable, Fortunata is a compelling heroine.”
~The Horn Book Guide

I’ve received the proof pages for THE MAGICAL MISADVENTURES OF PRUNELLA BOGTHISTLE. As it was with FF, this is definitely one of my favorite parts of the process: seeing the manuscript looking like a real book! The fonts and such may be changing because the cover is still in the works, but it already looks wonderful. I also heard some very exciting (to me, at least) stuff about the cover, but I don’t want to say anything more until I actually see it!

And lastly, I just this morning finished my first revision pass on the circus book. I am still buzzing about it because I had one of those nifty experiences where you realize that you’ve set up something that clicks into place perfectly, without actually meaning to. Yay, subconscious plotting!

Draft Done

15
June
2009

Whew! The first draft of Circus Galacticus is DONE. I love the mad rush to the end of the book, when all I want to do is just writewritewrite until I have it out, but it sure is tiring. I normally shoot for 1000 words a day when I am drafting, but in the three days on CG I added over 10K. No wonder my brain still feels like mush.

I think the universe must be paying attention, though, because it has been raining and raining and raining, giving me excellent opportunities to try out my cool new boots, which were my reward-aka-bribe for finishing the draft. I love them! Not only are they keeping my toes dry, they’re also inspiration for my hopefully-next writing project, which involves ghosts, pirates, Maine, fiddles, mermaids, and tragic, star-crossed romance.

But first, there’s still plenty to be done on Circus Galacticus: I have two characters to rip out (one forever, since the role I thought he would fill was taken over by someone cooler. The other character will show up if I get to write a sequel) plus several events that need better setup. And there’s the usual cleanup where I realize I’ve said “He grinned” a bazillion times and every character is raising her eyebrows and flashing his smile constantly. But now I have something solid to work with. And I am already really eager to dive back in. I hope that’s a good sign, since often I have the opposite feeling: I finish the draft and just want to walk away for a few weeks (or even years). My plan is to not touch it for two weeks or so, then go back and get it fit to be seen by beta readers.

In the meantime, I have a ton of reading to catch up on, and brainstorming to do for the new Ghost Pirate book. I’m also giving my very first “talk” at Lithgow Library in Augusta ME this Wednesday (the 17th) at 6:30 PM. I’ll be talking about writing Fortune’s Folly, and about fairy tale and myth-based fantasy novels in general. I’m making a handout with a list of other MG and YA novels that include fairy tale or mythic elements so if you all have any favorites please comment to share them. I’d love some more suggestions!

Character Strengths and Weaknesses

03
June
2009

I had a writing epiphany yesterday, and like most of my writing epiphanies, it’s something relatively basic I just never took the time to think about until now.

It started as I was struggling over a new chapter in my circus book. The MC has (almost) hit rock-bottom, having recently screwed a number of things up in her life and learned some things about her past that she didn’t like. Now she needs to go obtain a piece of information that will progress the external plot to the next stage. The information is in the spaceship recycling system, which happens to be inhabited by Something Alien. My initial thought was “Oh, she can fight it”, because this MC’s primary strengths are her bravery and physical abilities. To reduce things to gaming terminology, if Fortunata was a bard (strong in words and wits) and Prunella was a mage (strong in magic and knowledge), then Trix is a warrior (hit it! hit it again!).

The problem is, I myself find just hitting/shooting things boring most of the time. There needs to be something critical and meaningful at stake, or there needs to be witty banter, or it needs to be spectacularly beautiful (which generally means it has to be a movie/tv show – I do love a good kung fu movie!). Otherwise, the story takes on a certain video-game quality: Fight X, get Y, Fight Z, Advance to level Q.

Looking back to my last two writing projects, I realized how fun it was to set challenges in front of the main characters, because they couldn’t just fight their way through them. They had to be clever and think outside the box, and sometimes they failed, but they kept trying. Their limitations were as inspiring as their strengths.

And that’s when I had my epiphany: I need to throw some things at Trix that don’t play to her strengths. Giving her something to beat up is too easy. I need to confront her with something that targets her weaknesses. As soon as I thought that, the whole scene started outlining itself in my brain.

What about you guys? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your favorite characters? And if you’re a writer, how do you balance strengths and weaknesses of your characters?

Miscellany

20
May
2009

Those of you who have an interest in Victorian Fantasy and Steampunk might be interested in this recent post by author R. L. LaFevers on The Enchanted Inkpot. I personally am really looking forward to Scott Westerfeld’s forthcoming Leviathan. Here’s the description from Goodreads: In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.

And today on the Inkpot I invite people to post about unwritten and imaginary books they most want to read. Please stop by and share your answers!

If you’re interested in hearing about my early prejudice against first person and why I write fantasy, check out this interview with me on Cynsations, which is part of author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s ongoing New Voices series of interviews with debut authors. If you have any interest in YA and kid’s literature, I highly recommend reading Cynsations for news, reviews, and other resources.

In other news, I’m plugging away on my current project, aka The Circus Book. I’ve finally finished revising/rewriting the first 40K so that I can continue on and write the rest of the book. I know some writers can keep going on a draft even when they realize there’s something significant that needs to be fixed in what they’ve already written, but I just cannot make myself work that way. I hate the feeling that I am building a house on a bad foundation. In this case I’ve been struggling with nailing down the voice of the main character. It’s gone from first person past tense to third person and finally settled on first person present tense. It’s also taken me some time to really figure out what the core motivations of my main character are, and to get that feeling that she’s a real person living in my head, so that I instinctively know what she will do when the going gets tough (the answer is ‘hit things’, heh. She’s definitely the most physical character I’ve written so far!).

My hope is that I can now steam through the last 20K or so and have a rough draft before the end of June. To help me stay focused, I’ve told myself that I will get myself these cool rain boots when I finish the rough draft. They’ve got stars and roses on them! And a mermaid! And dice! And daggers! (Though I must say these boots are also tempting). What would I do without bribery?

Doubt

31
March
2009

Doubt is one of my biggest challenges as a writer. I say “challenges” rather than “enemies” because sometimes the doubt is justified, so I can’t just ignore it. If I’ve got a niggling feeling that something isn’t right in the last chapter, it’s because there really is something that needs fixing. When it becomes problematic is when it paralyzes me during a draft (like, say, right now).

I don’t generally doubt my basic plot element (this is the thing that comes to me first — for FORTUNE’S FOLLY this was the question “what if there was a fake prophecy someone needed to make come true?”).

But I doubt a lot of my other choices: Should this be first or third-person? Who should be the point-of-view character? Where should the story start? Should it go this way or that way? I worry that maybe I am making certain choices because they are comfortable and have worked before, and that maybe I am just being a coward for not trying new things. I worry that I’ll spend months writing a book only to look at it when I am done and hate it and need to redo it all.

What I am trying to keep in mind is that for some of those questions, there may not be one “right” answer. If I tell the story one way, I get one book. A different choice might lead to a different book, but not necessarily a better book. But if I don’t make a choice at all, if I sit here at my keyboard paralyzed by the doubt, nothing will get written.

I’ve come to believe that one of the the best things I can do to improve as a writer is to understand my own process (and keep in mind that process can change with each book, just to keep things interesting). For example, I almost always go through a period where I doubt whether my main character is fully-realized and alive. And usually that doubt is a sign that she/he is NOT. When the character is ready, when I’ve found her and she’s alive, I know it. There’s no more doubt. Or rather, there’s a different kind of doubt. At that point I “only” have to worry about whether I am capable of conveying that life to the reader!

So, I am going to keep writing. I may go back and start over a different way, and see if I like it better. I may keep going with what I have now. But eventually I will get to the end. And it won’t be perfect by any means, but it will be a step forward. I just need to keep moving forward, and not get paralyzed by doubt.

Some other stuff:

~The results are up for author Lisa Mantchev’s LOLShakespeare contest, which I was lucky enough to help judge. Check them out over here. It was very very hard to choose favorites! But I do particularly like the pile of white cats in the Band of Brothers picture.

~Copy-edits on THE MAGICAL MISADVENTURES OF PRUNELLA BOGTHISTLE are on the way, and should arrive tomorrow. Woo! My wonderful copy-editor on FORTUNE’S FOLLY found several things I completely overlooked that would have embarrassed me considerably had they made it to print, so I am curious to see what’s been discovered this time. Thank goodness for copy-editors!

State of the Books

16
February
2009

A status report on the books:

Fortune’s Folly: I’m mostly just trying to stay calm and not freak out over the fact that it will be actually out, for real, in less than 2 months. Eeeeeeeee! (As you can see, not entirely succeeding with the calmness). I got a very nice email from my local library, and it sounds like I may be doing some sort of event there after the book is out, which would be a big thrill for me. I love libraries!

Mirable Chalice: My editor has my most recent revision now. I’m not sure if we will do another line-edit level revision before copy-edits or not.

Circus Galacticus: This is where all the action is right now. I just hit 25K on the first draft and I am really enjoying the characters and the world. Not that there aren’t days when I have to drag myself to the keyboard and spend an hour trying to write one sentence, but they are balanced by days when the words just flow out. My mind is currently chock-full of a very odd combination of stuff: the Dr Who soundtrack, random tidbits from Astronomy Cast about magnetars and strong and weak nuclear forces, ideas for alien desserts (the Chocolate Supernova! Eat it before it explodes!), and Cirque du Soleil videos (I just got Midnight Sun from Netflix and it is fabulous).

So that’s where things are at!