31 Monday Oct 2011
an appropriate post for hallowe’en. are you being watched by steve? most of the pics from this tumbler blog are in a bookstore setting, so it’s writing related, too!
i’m being watched. got my copy today! will be reading (when i’m not writing) while handing out pixie sticks.
27 Thursday Oct 2011
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16,000 words in three days. that’s what i managed.
my husband should always go on business trips when i’m hashing out a first draft. the kids should always be in school. they should never want more than leftovers for dinner.
but tomorrow’s friday. son’s complaining about a sore throat aka no school. and hubby’s back.
it’s over.
18 Tuesday Oct 2011
Posted in Publishing, Random, Writing, YA
i’ve joined the coolest blog. it’s the lucky 13s, and it features new YA authors making their most excellent debut in 2013. it really will be one super lucky year. and 2013 is year of the snake in the chinese zodiac. snakes are methodical, hard-workers, and plot moves wisely. makes sense, right?
the authors i’ve already been in touch with are amazing. and lots of new members will be joining as time goes by. so come check it out. bookmark it, visit regularly, discover some great books-to-be.
14 Friday Oct 2011
Tags
chrismartin, firstdrafts, novel, roughdrafts, writing, youngadult
kind of like how coldplay’s chris martin dances. slight warm up, getting into it, then really just going for it.
that’s one way how first drafts can be written. no holds barred, joints all disconnected, muscles working like there’s no tomorrow. dancing like no one’s looking and you couldn’t even care less if someone was.
it’s a romantic idea. the writer who does with no food and even less sleep, driven only by inspiration and the mad need to get words on paper. they can make sense, they can be stream of consciousness as its worst, but they are wrung of blood and sweat and tears and they are a thing of beauty, dammit!
well, not so much over here. i’ve been eating lots of crap while writing this first draft. i love sugar and caffeine. i try not to drool on the computer keyboard when i fall asleep while writing because i stayed up too late the night before to clear out space on the pvr (while writing). some sentences come easily, some…not at all. i get cranky from trying to fit in chores between paragraphs. i get giddy when it gets flowing. i tend to edit as i go, too. back and forth, jerks and twitches.
but in the end, it all comes out. words on the screen=getting the work done. the dance might not be pretty or poetic or as free and exuberant as martin’s heartfelt flailings, but it’s a dance all the same.
06 Thursday Oct 2011
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steve jobs was a genius within the tech industry. but he had a wonderful way with words, too. his 2005 stanford commencement speech can be applied in so many ways. don’t be afraid of screwing up. don’t be afraid of trying to write, of submitting, of rejection letters, of bad reviews.
i do all my writing on my macbook pro. i love my macbook pro. i would never have started writing without a laptop. i write while listening to music from my itunes library. i work out plot knots while running while listening to my ipod nano. so, thank you, steve.
for me, one of my favourite iconic steve job moments was when he introduced the first ipod nano. when he pulls it out from that little pocket, and you hear the audience’s reaction, you can’t help but be sucked in by the guy’s enthusiasm, the sheer scope of his vision.
i can’t wait to read his autobiography. it’s called steve jobs, but i love what my husband came up with: isteve.
03 Monday Oct 2011
Tags
50cent, boybooks, eminem, jayz, playground, rap, youngadult
an excerpt from 50 cent‘s new YA novel, playground. artists express themselves in so many ways. neat to see him try his hand at writing (even though rapping itself is very lyrical, very much a form of poetry).
personally, i loved jay-z‘s decoded and eminem‘s the way i am. one difference is that playground is YA, while decoded and the way i am are definitely not, though all three are written with an autobiographical slant (playground is supposed to be only partially so).
there’s film, too. 8 mile was only partially autobiographical as well, though eminem has stated it’s very close to his own experiences. loved him in this, wish he would do more movies. and this is not 50 cent’s first time experimenting beyond rap. crazy weight loss for art, anyone?
interested in how playground will do. i hope it does great. and i do think it’ll get more boys of a certain age group to read more. which gives publishers more money to sign even more authors, especially debut authors who want to write more YA books from a boy’s point of view. win win!
