The Writer’s Voice Update

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

This is it! Today, the entries for The Writer’s Voice contest are up!

When The Writer’s Voice Contest was launched two weeks ago, 200 entries were admitted. Entries consisted of the query letter and first 250 words of our manuscripts. The four coaches (Cupid, Brenda, Monica, and Krista) each picked 11 people to be on their team. I was very excited when Krista Van Dolzer chose me to be on Team Krista! For a week, she worked with her team to help us revise our queries and first pages until they sparkled. It was like having a personal writing coach! 

All the revised entries for Team Krista, including mine for my YA fantasy romance, The Fallen Princess, can now be found on Krista’s blog, Mother. Write. (Repeat.) The other entries are on these blogs: Cupid’s Literary Connection, Love YA, and Brenda Drake Writes. You can also follow the excitement via Twitter on the hashtag #TheWritersVoice.

There is some fantastic writing on display, so please check out the entries. Agents will be leaving their comments on Monday, but until then, the public is welcome to comment and cheer on the contestants (at least until Sunday). No critiques or messages to agents allowed.

To add to the excitement, on May 24 there will be a Writer’s Voice Twitter Pitch party. This part of the contest is open to all 200 entrants of the Writers Voice, regardless of whether they were picked for a team. Agents Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management and John M. Cusick of Scott Treimel NY will be reading twitter pitches under the hashtag #WVTP from 12 pm – 6 pm EDT.

Come take a look!

 

Posted in Writing | Leave a comment

The Writer’s Voice Contest – #152

Posted on May 3, 2012 by

Entry # 152

Title: The Fallen Princess
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Word count: 85,000

Query:
Sent away at age sixteen to serve as an artist in a foreign ruler’s court, Princess Delfina is eager to leave her uncle’s palace. Not only will she get to use her training as a painter of illuminated manuscripts, but she will delay the looming threat of an arranged marriage. The price to be paid for such an opportunity? She must gather information for her uncle, the ruling Khan of Karavai. No easy task, since she is expected to charm Prince Darclor—one of the Khan’s worst enemies—into sharing his secrets.

When Delfina meets the handsome young prince, she is surprised at the powerful attraction she feels for him. But as long as he poses a threat to her homeland, she cannot risk falling in love with him.

Upon learning she must return home, to marry an aging, half-crazed monarch, Delfina runs away in desperation. Only too late does she learn that her uncle offered her up to Darclor instead, to secure an alliance between their kingdoms. And when Darclor captures her, seeking revenge for the humiliation she caused him, Delfina must find a way to win back his heart, or risk losing her freedom forever.

First 250:

The door to the palace workshop burst open, disrupting the silence of the afternoon. I looked up to see one of the younger apprentices standing there.

“The Khan is coming! He’s coming for his inspection!” The boy leaned forward, hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

My stomach twisted in knots. My uncle was coming. Now. And I was in no state to greet him. “I thought he wasn’t due to visit until next week.”

“No, he’s on his way. He’ll be here soon. Within minutes!”

Master Giordani strode to the center of the room and clapped his hands together. “On your feet! Put everything away except the pages for the Khan’s book. Fetch them from the shelves and place them on the center table. Hurry!”

Without hesitation, all of us—the apprentices, calligraphers, and senior artisans—were up and moving. To the untrained eye, the studio appeared a chaotic mess, the wooden tables crowded with paper, reed pens, brushes, and oyster shells filled with oil paints. Every bit of it was essential for our work, but the Khan would regard it as clutter.

Giordani reviewed the pages, nodded in approval, and then ordered everyone to stand in line. When he saw me lingering by the shelves, he came over to me.

“Delfina, you need to join the others,” he said.

“I don’t think I should. If I leave now, you won’t be blamed for my appearance.” I wound my finger around a stray curl—one of many that had escaped from under my headscarf.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 24 Comments

More Fun with Research

Posted on April 27, 2012 by

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I really enjoy doing research for my novels. On-site research is best, but that’s just not possible right now (unless I plan to infiltrate a lab where scientists are studying forms of biological warfare!). I’m at a point in my new WIP where I need more background information to see if some of my plot points are even feasible. So yesterday was a research day and I took lots of notes. Here are a few of my observations:

  • There is absolutely no way I could ever survive High School Biology. I tried to read a book called Genetics Demystified (a “For Dummies” version) and I was completely lost. I understood Mendel and the whole fruit fly thing, but once I got to the chapter on DNA, it was game over.
  • I read three books about animal rights, because my story involves rats being used for animal testing. After I was done, I felt massive guilt because I’m not a vegetarian. It’s not like I didn’t know about slaughterhouses before, but reading all the gruesome details gave me the creeps.
  • From a journal called Laboratory Animal Science, I found links to supply stores where you can buy nifty mobile computer workstations, giant shelves to house your lab rats, and various batches of rats. Not that I plan to make any purchases, but the images I downloaded from the sites are a great source of visual inspiration.
  • After I read The Little Book of Pandemics, I started feeling really paranoid. I’m so glad I didn’t read it before I went to India in 2009!
  • Did you know you can buy a Hazmat suit from Amazon? Not just a Halloween costume, but a real one.

Today’s going to be a writing day, but all my notes are went into my research binder, tucked away for whenever I need them.

 

Posted in Writing | Leave a comment

On the Road

Posted on April 17, 2012 by

Following up on my last post about Read Aloud Day (which I’m embarrassed to admit, was over a month ago!), I wanted to talk about the road trip I just took with my family. Or, more specifically, about the audiobook we listened to during the 17-hour drive (which is 34 hours roundtrip!). I felt the need to talk about this book because, for me, it illustrates the power of great storytelling.

Picking a road trip audiobook that our family will like is always a challenge for me, since I have an 11-year old son, a 15-year old daughter, and a husband who prefers authors like Steinbeck and Salinger. However, we’ve been lucky these past few years with young adult fare–the last three Harry Potter books and the first two Hunger Games books went over very well.

The book I chose was Ready Player One, a science fiction novel set in 2044, about an impoverished 18-year old kid, Wade, and his quest to solve an elaborate videogame contest, which takes place in a virtual world called the OASIS. Even though the book is marketed for adults (probably because of the language – I winced when the narrator dropped the first f-bomb), it easily crosses over into young adult territory. My son loved it because it was all about multi-player videogames, which he plays with his friends. I really enjoyed all the 1980’s references, since I’m a huge 80s trivia buff.

As we started listening to the book, I realized it broke some of the ‘rules’ I’ve been trying so hard to follow as a writer. The lengthy prologue is an enormous info dump (with footnotes!) that goes on for 8 pages. There are huge chunks of exposition and backstory layered throughout the book. But it doesn’t matter because the story is so great and the main character has such a compelling voice. As the stakes kept rising for the characters, we couldn’t stop listening.

I mean, we literally couldn’t stop. On the last day of the road trip, we listened to the final 8 hours of the audiobook without a single break! All through Tennessee and Kentucky, we followed the antics of Wade and his friends as they competed to win the contest. A few times, I’d ask the kids: “Do you want to take a break, maybe watch a DVD or listen to music?” “Nope. We want to keep listening.” Thanks to the book, the drive just flew by, and before we knew it, we were in Indiana, only 5 hours from home.

Now I just have to find something equally compelling for our 24-hour road trip to Utah this summer. . . 

Posted in Reading, Writing | 1 Comment

World Read Aloud Day

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

Through one of the websites I follow, Novel Novice, I learned that today, March 7, is World Read Aloud Day. It’s being organized by LitWorld, a global literacy organization based in New York City.

Although I’m glad my kids (ages 14 and 11) are such avid readers, sometimes I miss reading out loud to them. When they were younger, my husband and I took turns reading stories to them before bedtime. Most of the time, I enjoyed it as much as the kids did – snuggling beside them on the bed, getting into a story, acting out the various voices. Sure, I’ll admit that the endless Berenstein Bears books wore a little thin. Given the chance, I’d usually suggest one of Marc Brown’s Arthur books, with their cast of humorous characters: Arthur, DW, Binky Barnes, Buster Baxter, Muffy, and so on.

As my kids got older, I had even more fun reading to them from chapter books. Although they never enjoyed the Oz or the Narnia series the way I did, they both loved the MG series Gregor the Overlander (written by Suzanne Collins, pre-Hunger Games). Other favorites were Road Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Fantastic Mr. Fox) and the Harry Potter books. Sometimes I found it hard to stop, especially if the chapter ended on a cliff-hanger, and I’d keep reading, long after I should have turned out the lights. (And sometimes, after the kids went to sleep, I’d sneak peeks ahead in the books, because I couldn’t stand to wait until the following night to find out how they turned out!).

Although it’s not the same as reading out loud, our family has discovered that books on CD are great for road trips. Last summer, when we undertook a daunting 20-hour drive to Montana, we listened to The Hunger Games on CD. My husband and son, both of whom hadn’t read the book, were riveted. And even though I’d read it twice, I was so caught up in the great narration that the miles just flew by. We’re already planning ahead for this summer’s road trip (a 24 hour drive to Utah) by thinking of what books we might want to listen to.

In the meantime, in honor of Read Aloud day, I’m going to dredge up some of our favorite picture books from the box in the basement and share a few Arthur stories with the kids tonight. The hard part is deciding which ones to pick!

 

 

Posted in Reading | Leave a comment

Research

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

After my last post about brainstorming, I’m pleased to say that my most recent session worked. After a lengthy discussion with my daughter (involving large amounts of Valentine’s Day chocolate), I not only broke through my writer’s block, but came up with a new concept and setting for my young adult fantasy novel. I starting writing immediately, getting the ideas onto paper, until I hit page 20, when I realized that I needed to do a little research. To start with, I needed to research circus performances. While the circus isn’t the setting for my novel, it’s an important part of the backstory.

 Don’t get me wrong—I love doing research. I was in grad school for four years and I still have shelves filled with books in my field (Islamic art history and archaeology). But research involves hours of reading and note-taking. And I’ve learned that very little of that knowledge ever makes it onto the page. I may reveal a few tidbits of information when I bring up a character’s backstory or when I write a descriptive passage, but most of it is just a huge pile of notes, compiled for my own reference.

On-site research is my favorite kind, although the opportunities don’t always arise (or I can’t afford them!). As luck would have it, I just found out that the Shrine Circus is coming to town this week. I’m not a big fan of traditional circuses; I probably haven’t been to one in over thirty years and I recall it being crowded, noisy and smelly. I don’t like circuses with animal acts, either, because I’ve heard some unpleasant accounts of animal cruelty. But it’s important that I go to a circus with animals, because it ties in with my story. And I know if I just watch a circus movie or a DVD of a circus performance, it won’t have the same sensory impact.

I’ll also have to convince one of my kids to go with me, even though neither of them likes circuses. I can’t go on my own—how weird would that be, for a middle-aged mom to go to a circus by herself?? When I brought the subject up with my 11-year old son this morning, he gave me a skeptical look (“A circus, Mom? Really?”). But I think I can convince him, especially if there’s cotton candy involved. He’s a gymnast, so he’s bound to like the acrobatic acts and the trapeze artists. Who knows, maybe we’ll both be pleasantly surprised, and at the very least, I’ll be inspired.

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | 3 Comments

Brainstorming

Posted on February 8, 2012 by

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I’m in the midst of sending out queries for my novel, The Fallen Princess. To distract myself from obsessing over my inbox, I’ve been focusing on my current work-in-progress, a young adult fantasy set in medieval Germany. Lately, though, I’ve been a little . . . stuck.

Sometimes when I’m writing, I don’t want or need input, because the words and ideas come so quickly. I know exactly where I’m going and how I’m going to get there. This is not one of those times. For over a week, I’ve been mired in plot issues. Usually I can unstick myself by going for a long walk or running a few mindless errands. But when the ideas just don’t come, I need a good brainstorming session.

By brainstorming, I mean talking through various ideas and being receptive to whatever is thrown back at me. It’s a great way to test out the possible paths my story might take. Some concepts may seem great in my head, but sound hopelessly jumbled when I try to describe them. Over the past year, I’ve learned that if something is too hard to explain, then it’s probably too convoluted.

My critique group, my writing friends, and even my husband have helped me muddle through a lot of my ideas. My favorite brainstorming buddy, however, is my daughter. Not only is she well read, but she has an amazing imagination. Oh, to have the imagination of a teenager—no holds barred, anything is possible, the world is wide open!

We do some of our best talking when I’m in the kitchen, baking or preparing dinner. Once we start riffing on ideas, coming up with plot twists, and creating character motivations and elaborate backstories, my mind opens up. I can see possibilities where there weren’t any before. Usually, at the end of our sessions, I’m ready to jump back into my writing. So I think we need to schedule a little time together, and maybe bake some brownies while we’re at it.

Posted in Writing | 1 Comment

Query Fever

Posted on January 31, 2012 by

This is it. The second round. It’s been almost a year since I queried literary agents in the hopes finding representation for “The Fallen Princess” and I’m going to start the process again. Although it won’t be any easier this time, at least now my novel has a logline, a more marketable word count (85K words, down from 120K) and a definite genre. But I’m still really nervous.

It’s kind of like going on an audition or applying for a job. You know the competition is intense, but you still have to take your shot. And as my husband often reminds me, “If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.”

The first time I sent out queries for “The Fallen Princess” (Valentine’s Day, 2011), I knew it would be a crapshoot, but I still wasn’t prepared for the sting of the rejections. Especially since all I got was form rejections. No requests for pages, no personal responses. After ten rejections, I wised up and realized I needed to revise the query a little more.

I ended up not only revising the query, but the whole book. Two entire rewrites, in fact. I’d like to think it improved in the process.

But I’m still anxious. The more agents I cross off my list, the smaller the pool gets. I have to remind myself that this is the first book I’ve ever tried to publish (NOT the first book I’ve written, but those two deserve to stay in their respective boxes in the basement!). Even if I fail this time, I have a new novel in progress, which I’m pretty excited about. And then, when I’ve finished it, I can take my shot again.

Posted in Writing | 6 Comments

No Regrets

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

This past weekend, my teenage daughter and I traveled to New York City for a quick girls’ get-away. One of our main goals was to see a couple of shows on Broadway, taking advantage of NYC Broadway Week (half price tickets!) and my daughter’s intense passion for musical theatre. But I also wanted to check out the new wing of Islamic art at the Metropolitan Museum, which re-opened this past fall, after being closed for eight years.

For those of you who don’t know, back in my pre-kids, pre-writing days, I studied Islamic art history and archaeology in grad school. I was ‘this close’ to getting a PhD, but I just couldn’t handle the whole thesis thing (which is kind of funny, considering all the 100’s pages of unpublished fiction I’ve written since then). Anyway, I’m still passionate about this stuff, so getting to see the new wing at the Met was a big thrill for me.

It was truly awesome—ceramics, woodwork, carpets, glass lamps, daggers, amazing miniature paintings—and all so beautifully arranged. But as we were looking through it, my daughter glanced at one of the descriptions (maybe of some vase) and said, “I can’t imagine who has to write all these things. What a boring job.” To which I replied, “Actually, that used to be my dream job. I wanted to be a museum curator.” I think she was kind of surprised. And I was, too, because I can’t imagine wanting to do that any more.

Instead, when I view objects like these, my mind wanders off into various tangents. When I see an enormous Turkish carpet, I imagine it in a palace, perhaps in the throne room. Courtiers are lined up on it, waiting anxiously for their appointment with the Sultan. When I see an intricate miniature painting, I visualize the artist, spending days—weeks, even—working on it, hoping to please his patron, trying to get every detail right. Or what about this chess set—was it used by a young prince, as a way to learn strategy, perhaps from an older, more experienced mentor?

So I have no regrets about leaving academia. I’m glad I don’t have to be the one who catalogues all these treasures and tries to describe them on small notecards. Instead, I get the pleasure of making up stories about them. 

Posted in Biography, Writing | 1 Comment

Things I’ve Learned

Posted on January 10, 2012 by

It’s the New Year! That means I can’t stall any longer or use the holidays as an excuse. It’s time to take action on my 2012 goals. I need to send out queries for my completed novel and start a brand-new project. A new novel, to be exact.

 Why do I find this so daunting? Maybe because it took me over three years, multiple rewrites, and dozens of ‘deleted scenes’ to finish my current novel (a YA fantasy romance called “The Fallen Princess”). Since I can’t afford to take three years to write another book, I’m hoping the process will be a little smoother (and faster!) this time, especially if I apply things I learned in the saga of writing “The Fallen Princess.”

Things I’ve Learned (and if these seem painfully obvious, I apologize!):

1)  Know your genre: When I wrote “The Fallen Princess,” I just told the story that was in my head, without giving any thought to genre. Until an instructor at a writer’s conference asked our group, “Where do you envision seeing your novel when you go into a bookstore?” In my mind, I saw it as a trade paperback on the ‘recent books’ table at Barnes and Noble. I never considered where it might be shelved long-term, or how an on-line seller, like Amazon, might categorize it. But as I started writing pitches, I realized it was hard to define my novel if it didn’t fit into a genre. I went through a lot of angst before I figured out it belonged in the YA section. I’m not saying anyone should force their writing into a specific genre, but knowing what kind of book you’ve written, and who it might appeal to, helps when you try to pitch it.

2)  Think about the pitch: Only after I’d written the entire novel and tried to write the query letter and elevator pitch, did I realize how convoluted the story was. At first I thought, “writing queries is just really hard,” but the more feedback I received, the more I realized that the story itself wasn’t clear. This led to more rewrites. So now, as I start my new WIP, I’m already asking myself, “How would I pitch the basic concept of this story in a couple of sentences?”

3)  Know your word count: The first version of “The Fallen Princess” was 836 pages (836 pages!!). Seriously. And even when I thought I’d cut it down to a reasonable length, it was 180,000 words. Yikes. And when I Googled ‘word count’, I learned that I was way off base (at least 80,000 words off base!). Again, it took considerable rewrites to get my novel down to a manageable 90K words. So right from the start, I’m not going to make the same mistake with this new novel. It just can’t be that long. No exceptions.

 So that’s where I’m starting from. I’m sure I have lots more to learn. What about you? Anything to share that you’ve learned in your writing journey?

 

Posted in Writing | 4 Comments