Story picked for anthology/Author visit

I had some good news yesterday. My story "The Store Detective" was selected for a "Best of 2007" anthology by Stories for Children magazine. My critique partner, Rachel, also had a story chosen. Yay for us!

My daughter's school had an absolutely wonderful visit yesterday from Stacia Deutsch, co-author of the Blast to the Past series. I'd worked on arrangements for this visit since October, so was thrilled to find that she was such an energetic, engaged speaker. The older kids learned more about the writing/publishing/editing process. The younger kids played "Fact or Fiction Detectives" to try to figure out which was which in certain parts of her book about Abraham Lincoln. A smart kid figured out that Lincoln wouldn't actually have said, "Awesome!" when he received good news about the Civil War, as was originally written. The word was changed to "bully" in the book. The kids were interested to hear that "bully" had a completely different meaning many years ago. And they loved hearing facts about Lincoln that they didn't know (and neither did the adults). For example, Lincoln had a pet turkey and his son loved puppets so much that one room of the White House was made into a puppet theater. The White House, by the way, used to be called the Presidential Palace.

Media missteps

Viewed today on KNBC's morning show (Los Angeles, market #2): "arriagnment." Seen today on CNN: "apolgized." This type of sloppiness, though common and often the fault of the production department, lessens the credibility of a news department. I think it's fair to raise this issue -- if a station is careless about spelling, what else is it careless about? Facts? (As a former member of the media, I believe these types of mistakes are avoidable with a good set of checks and balances, and that's why they're worrisome when they happen.)

Writing tip of the week

Super Tuesday! And for once, California's votes count -- a lot! It was thrilling to vote this morning. I can't remember the last time I felt so inspired and energized by a presidential election.

On my website, www.secondsetofeyes.com,
I've added a "Writing Tip of the Month." Sometimes it will be common grammar or spelling errors that people make. Other times I'll feature simple ways for people to improve their writing. When I worked in television news, I used to love to work with young producers and help teach them how to write tighter, more clearly, and more effectively. My website will give me a chance to do this in a different way.

Done!

19 chapters, 13,600 words, and my first draft is complete. I feel drained, but good.

One more chapter ...

Chapter 17 is now done with one final chapter to go. The book is turning out longer than I expected (it will probably be about 12,000 words) but I feel good about it. My first reader (AKA my husband) accused me of "jumping the shark" in chapter 16 and I went back and he was absolutely right... I toned down some of the purple prose.

I continue to fight exhaustion and a stubborn cough. I felt silly going to the doctor a week after I'd had the flu, but I couldn't deal with the feeling in my chest anymore. It's apparently just short of pneumonia so I came home with an inhaler, antibiotics, and heavy duty cough syrup with codeine that's making me feel quite loopy right now.

Agent Nathan Bransford's First Pages' contest has been fascinating. I've enjoyed reading some of the 675 entries, but my eyes quickly glaze over if I read for long. It gives you an appreciation of what agents must go through. The entries that start with extreme violence or action that comes with no context are a huge turnoff to me, partly, I suppose, because my taste normally runs to literary fiction. I definitely find myself drawn to many of the MG and YA entries. It will be interesting to see who winds up winning!

Meantime, I have a new copyediting client that promises some very interesting work. It's scheduled to start later next week, so I'm certainly hoping I'll be feeling better by then.

Writing

Chapter 11 is done, but every word was a struggle. All this week I've been fighting fever and flu, all the while trying to sandwich in tons of work for various Girl Scout and PTA projects.
This afternoon I finally felt well enough and had enough time to write. But I almost quit because I questioned every word I put down. I'm usually such a fast writer that this was a new and painful experience for me.

I also discovered I have to write a one-page synopsis for a conference I'm attending in March. The deadline is tomorrow. I've never written a synopsis before because one was never required for picture books. I thought it would be hard to come up with enough material for a full page, but boy was I wrong! I'm a few lines over and wondering if it's cheating to make it single space.

Argh! Too much going on right now... and too few coherent, not flu-ish moments to deal with them. I'm looking forward to a quiet, feeling-better, and time-to-write weekend.

Wonderful chapter books

I've been reading a lot of different chapter books lately since I've started one of my own (or perhaps mine would be more accurately called a younger middle grade book). I was at the hairdresser on Friday and started to cry as I finished a lovely book called "Ark in the Park." My hairdresser is Iranian and didn't understand that it was the book, not the chemicals all over my head, causing it. I've also absolutely loved "Clementine," "The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World," "Ivy and Bean," and "Marvin Redpost, Super Fast." Each has a distinct voice that rings completely true.
I also just finished "13 Reasons Why," a YA book by Jay Asher. It's not a genre I normally read, though I was completely blown away by "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian" recently. It deserves every bit of recognition it's received. I felt much more mixed about "13 Reasons Why." Though I literally couldn't put it down until I finished and thought it was fascinating how the various characters connected, I felt as if I never fully knew the central Hannah character (despite her dictating the tapes). The blame aspect was bothersome too. But I did love the ending with its message of hope and second chances.
I've finished chapter nine of my book -- about 7,000 words -- but have reached the part that's going to be the most difficult to write. I haven't completely worked out in my own mind how to resolve a central problem. I've never been a good outline writer, whether it's for an academic paper, journalism, or children's writing. I tend to have a broad idea of where I'm going and work out (and change) details as I write. But I get nervous when I'm this fuzzy about some central issues!