Note: this is the first chapter of part two of the first novel I ever finished. It was 1998 and I was a senior in high school. I read a LOT of high fantasy. Which is no excuse. The novel was called SHADOW KIN and after revising a little, I actually inflicted it upon some editors. Two of whom were unbelievably kind enough to write back personal rejections. Now, I suspect it's because I gave them something awesome to pass around the office and giggle about.

My annotations are in bold. I seriously restrained myself, too. There's just so much wrong here, if I pointed out all the horrendously purple prose, everything would be marked. *shame*



She sat hunched over the worktable, staring intently at the book in front of her. (because usually staring isn't intent.)The woman was lithe, with rose-gold hair that was chopped off at her chin and pushed behind her ears. Voluptuous gray robes enveloped her slight form and she bit her lip in concentration, making her seem younger than she was. The eyes that stared so intensely at the bizarre pictographs on the cracked pages of the ancient book were dark golden, with tiny flecks of red. (How many adjectives was that in ONE SENTENCE?)

Her brows creased with irritation and she muttered soft curses under her breath, then abruptly slammed the book shut, blowing dust into her face. She sneezed violently and shook her head in disgust, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. She looked grim as she stalked to the far wall where row upon row of shelves sat. They were covered with all kinds of arcane items, from bags of powder and colored stones, dried flowers and parchment paper, to ink and quills, daggers, sheaths, leather workings… and jars of preserved eyes. The eyes were of every shape, size, and color; green, yellow, slit-pupil and round, giant horse eyes and tiny squirrel eyes, human and elvish eyes. (But not any marmoset eyes.)

The woman took an empty glass jar and went to the window where a small tin plate held a round object that glowed muddy red.

“Disgusting, Me’Riah!”

Me’Riah jumped back and just barely stopped herself from impaling the red gargoyle-like creature who popped his head into the window. (Too bad, that would put us out of our misery, too.) She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Slowly, she put the dagger back in its hidden sheath beneath her sleeve. “Haven’t you learned not to startle me like that, you silly imp?” He crawled in the window and sat next to the plate, swinging his legs playfully. He grinned up at her, revealing a full set of sharp, white teeth.

She tried to stay angry, but the picture of the bright red devil poking at the eye on the sill with childlike curiosity was too much even for her. And it had been so long since she’d had a visit by this particular fiend. She shook her finger at him and said mock sternly, “I would have thought that after being ground-bound for three months when I sent a blade through your wing membrane, you would not sneak up on me anymore.”

( He stuck his bottom lip out. )



One last note before I chicken out and post something that isn't so embarrassing. I took my LJ username from this book. Eriel Everflame is a character in it, and I named myself after him for these reasons: I wanted to remember my first completed novel forever, I wanted to keep myself honest about my fantasy background, and Eriel was strong, brave, and passionate, which are things I also want to be.


picture by tylluan, via flickr creative commons

Okay, fellow NaNo'ers, what terrible things are you learning about yourself this month? (For those who just friended me and don't know any better, NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month, where tens of thousands of crazy people all attempt to write an entire 50,000 word novel during the month of November).

This is just about what I'm learning:

This is my first year doing it and I have to say, I'm finding out some things about myself.

1) I have been tending to skip scenes when I get stuck, replacing them with bracketed text like [REMEMBER TO GO BACK AND ESTABLISH THAT GABE WAS A GOOD BROTHER AT ONE POINT EVEN IF HE IS A TOTAL DOUCHE NOW] This is problematic. I have learned I cannot skip that many scenes without ending up with fanfiction of my own characters. Who are you people and why are you in my book?

2) Maggie, do you remember how you always said that you hated the first 10K words of whatever novel you're working on? Well, that's still true. Actually, it was the first 9,644 this time. And you know, because sure as he%& you were counting. At 9,644, the following IM was sent to everflame :

me: oh yay yay YAY finally I found my damn novel, Tess!!!!!
Yes, I was so excited that I swore. I thought I would hate this novel forever.

3) It was hard for me to write every day before NaNo. And it still is. I really need that downtime inbetween to lay on my living room floor playing my brainstorming music so loud that my butt cheeks wiggle. I'm still adapting, by trying to intersperse my writing with butt cheek time all on the same day.

4) I am less in love with the principle of it than I thought I would be. I can see how it really would make non-finishers finally finish. But I have a hard time believing that this wreck of a draft, this un-nuanced piece of crappola, this totally unsubtle plot-explosion, will in the end take less time than a traditional four month draft of mine. Because revisions, oi! This baby is going to need so much work in the aftermath that the fact that the first draft was quick will be a pyrrhic victory. Oh don't you tell me with the squiggly red lines that PYRRHIC is spelt wrong, you crazy spell checker you. I'm classically educated and you're just a wikipedia jockey.

5) Terribly, I still felt that rush of satisfaction at reaching the first 10K words. And I'm at 12,024 words. I am, despite knowing better, still a word count ho.

6) Also, I was very inspired by getting copies of my Italian SHIVER in the mail -- this happened right before my brainstorm that made me like my book. See the pretty? See the real slashes in the cover? (note to Italian fans: I find it amusing and terrifying that you have been emailing actors who look like Sam. They have been emailing me and telling me about it.)

So, how about you guys? What have you learned?

In honor of Veterans Day/Remembrance Day, I came up with a new topic (last year we discussed weaponry).  How do we portray the military (and other large governmental units) in urban fantasy?

In traditional/epic fantasy, fighting wars is usually considered a noble deed. Oftentimes, the alternative is annihilation of the heroes' people, their home, and All Things Good.

But as in other matters of morality, war is more ambiguous in urban fantasy than it is in traditional fantasy.  Good and evil aren't always clearly delineated in our contemporary times, right?

With its emphasis on the individual, does urban fantasy often portray large units such as the military and government agencies as the Big Bad?  Are they more likely to be the thing to escape than the thing to join?

The shadowy super secret agency is, let's admit it, a staple of urban fantasy. Even when the hero or heroine allies with it, he or she is often frustrated by bureaucracy and incompetence. And then there are those conspiracies...

Or am I wrong?  Are there examples in urban fantasy of the military and/or other government agencies doing good?  Are there veteran characters who aren't bitter about their time in uniform?  What about career servicemen and -women or lifelong bureaucrats? Are they automatically portrayed as brainwashed, or can we see them as serving something larger than themselves?

Feel free to broaden the topic as you share your thoughts in the comments. As always, Members and Watchers alike are encouraged to participate.

Have a great week!

Old tome taken home,
Eyes burning with mites,
Would I could read you whilst in bed
But then bedbugs will bite.

I'm no fan of the e-readers, the Almighty Kindle, at least for myself because I really like the feel of a good book in my hand and what Brain Selznick referred to as the unconscious, physical act of turning a page, willingly lifting a curtain for the show to go on. I can certainly understand why agents and editors love them, preventing lugging around countless manuscripts/partials/contracts, saving back strain as well as trees (at least in the short run), and I could totally see how schools and businesses could use them to replace textbooks, reference material, store news, reports, assignments, etc. and offer all sorts of practical applications to a huge amount of reading and storage (not the least of which would be portable libraries while on vacation — take THAT egregious airline charges!); but for me there's nothing quite like curling up with an old paperback or perusing the musty shelves of a favorite used book store.

I take pride in our "developing" home library with favorite books on wooden shelves that I dream will one day blossom into built-ins with cornices, windowed in rich-fabriced curtains and artistic pull-backs, brass-and-glass sconces illuminating a huge collection of faves hidden behind a secret bookcase door...

And when I sit down to read one of my old favorites, my eyes well up with tears — not from any sentimentality, but the fact that they're being ravaged by allergens.

This kills me. While I like to talk about solid characterization and staying true to your own world-building rules, I'll admit that nothing can take me out of a book faster than, say, scrubbing my eyeballs with sandpaper and blowing dust on them! How can I enjoy my favorite characters cavorting across the page (or, more likely, being chased by some slavering creature or another) if I can't see straight?!? My eyes are gooey and watered-over, my face needs wiping, my nose runs. I have to wonder if romance-readers have this problem and maybe I should write to them for advice. All in all, it's very distracting. I can see where the Kindle may not have this particular setback; nothing that a quick wipe with a cloth couldn't cure.

So now I've been admiring my room full of collected friends, from Aspirin and Asimov to Gibson and Gaiman to Yee and Zelazny, and wonder whether I am going to be able to admire anything but their cover art again without wanting to claw my face off. I can *see* the dust particles winking in the light of the huge picture window...it's as if they're laughing at me.

I guess I'll have to wrestle with either a gorgeous tribute to books and Kleenex or a Victorian library with a single white-and-gray wireless reading device.

Denise Stutzman of the San Diego County Library – La Mesa Branch in La Mesa, CA is definitely signaling you in to read MUDVILLE by Kurtis Scaletta! And if you enjoyed Kurtis' debut novel, you're going to love his sophomore book, MAMBA POINT, coming in 2010!

Are you a library professional? You can enter to win 46 brand new YA & MG novels for YOUR collection! See this entry for details.

Carol Doerges, Teacher Librarian for Winterset High School Library in Winterset, IA sent this photo of herself with Jennifer Brown's haunting HATE LIST. Is there more coming from Jennifer Brown? Oh yes, much more, but right now it's a secret. Keep watching this space!

Are you a library professional? You can enter to win 46 brand new YA & MG novels for YOUR collection! See this entry for details.

Zena Gibson, Media Specialist for Dalton High School in Dalton, GA sent this for their entry into the Debut Library Prize. This is their library dog, Silvie- an Italian greyhound, and a big fan of Jackson Pearce's AS YOU WISH. Next year, Silvie can heed the call of the wild when Jackson's next book, SISTERS RED (full of big bad werewolves!) hits the shelves! (If you embiggen the picture, you can also see Silvie's graphic-novel themed collar!) 

Are you a library professional? You can enter to win 46 brand new YA & MG novels for YOUR collection! See this entry for details.

I know it's usually Thursdays that get the "thankful" posts, but what the hey, I'm jumping ahead ;-). First, thanks to everyone who responded to my call out for music recommendations. I'm punching in the songs/bands on iTunes and coming up with a playlist for Cat and Bones, book five. I don't listen to the radio, which means I miss out on a lot of new bands/songs, plus I'm terrible at keeping up with knowing when bands I do like have new albums coming out. So, your recs are much appreciated!

Getting everything off in the mail from the contests I ran for Halloween. Yes, I'm a little slow, so please forgive me. The total prizes ended up being 45 books and 10 cover flats given away. Thanks so much to everyone who participated! I feel sad when I get emails that say, "I never win in any of your contests!" but there are far more entrants than prizes available, so all I can do is continue to run contests and hope people's luck changes. Speaking of that, I'll have another contest in December for ARC's of FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, which is Night Huntress World book one. Hey, maybe some of you have been saving up your luck for this one ;-).

And speaking of thankful, I received an email from my editor that really made my day. She wrote to give me an update on reprints for my series. As it stands, HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE is in its 10th printing, ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE is in its 8th printing, AT GRAVE'S END is in its 6th printing, and DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE is in its 4th printing (considering DESTINED has only been out for four months, I'm kinda speechless by that). Initial print runs reflect what a publisher expects to sell combined with what book stores preorder, but to me, reprints are all about reader word-of-mouth, which makes them extra awesome. So thank you SO MUCH, readers! Without you spreading the word about my series, none of these reprints would have happened. Please consider yourselves smooched! :D

Q: "What do you most enjoy about teaching literature?

Everything :) I love teaching. It's a kick in a way that nothing else ever is.   A good book signing or panel has a few such moments, but teaching gave me that rush regularly. That doesn't mean every day was a traipsing thru fields of flowers thing: there were bad classes.  There were students I failed to reach.  There were plagiarism cases that caused me ridiculous amounts of angsting. There was one athlete I wanted to thwack on the head, & there was one addict I wanted to adopt & fix. Teaching is not always fun.  Parts of it are frustrating. 

Faculty meetings & dealing with faculty politics are my suggestions for adding to the circles of hell. (Really? Some of these folks have lived in their ivory towers too long.  They aren't there to teach, but as a place to hang their hats while the apply for research grants or to subsidize their writing income.  It's a systemic problem that I don't know how we should fix, but I DO know that it needs fixing.)

Still . . . put me in a classroom & tell me to talk lit . . . *sighs* there's nothing like it.

Q: "Do you read literature or nonfiction exclusively when you write or do you read both?"

I'm always writing so I don't limit my reading bc of it . . . except that I don't read books w potentially similar sounding premises to what I'm writing. 

In faery* books, Holly Black is tops (IMNSHO), but she hasn't had a new faery book while I've been writing since Ironside (ergo I haven't had to suffer delays in reading her.). I adore her YA faery books, & I have pondered begging her to turn one of her short stories into a book (from her POISON EATERS collection).  It's not faery, but it's freaking gorgeous.  Back to faery though . . .  I've had a few LOVE it moments in faery fiction since I started writing.  In particular Janni Lee Simner's Bones of Faerie & RJ Anderson's Faery Rebels (AKA Knife).  They were read when I wasn't writing, but they're also pretty far outside what I write in terms of plot.  They are VERY fab & lore-based. 

Obviously, I veer towards folklore based fiction (species is immaterial), but I read across the board.  Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box was one of the best books I've read in years. I crush on Eloisa James' Duchess series (historical romance=yay!). 

As to fic and non-fic, I'm mostly a fiction reader.  I dip into very specific nonfiction (folklore, criticism, or research for a text I'm pondering). I read a lot of romance.  I tend to default to historical romance, but I enjoy contemporary, time travel, & paranormal too.  I'm not a fan of SciFi Romance, not bc there's anything wrong with it. Aliens simply don't appeal to me.  I like mainstream fiction (T Chevalier is an auto-buy for me).  I get on poetry kicks, but I don't do novels in verse or much contemporary poetry.  In poetry, I default to mostly dead folk. And, of course, I get on classics kicks.  Nothing tops Faulkner. I'm not a huge Jane Austen fan, but I enjoy her. I think Flaubert's Madame Bovary, most of Hardy's novels, & some Bronte . . . really I'm an 1800s-mid-1900s novel fan.  My two eras in grad school were the British Victorians & Faulkner, so a lot of my reading tastes derive from the same tastes that lead to my picking them.

I still read some criticism on Faulkner, the Victorians, the PRB, & narrative structure. I subscribe to some academic journals specifically to do so. That tends to sate a lot of my nonfic needs.  Well, that & kidlit theory/paranormal theory . . . and lately, mortuary science.

I have a problem with books. Fortunately, it's a healthy thing to be addicted to. 

Q: "When doing research on Faerie lore and stuff, how would you recommend going about it? Is the Internet a decent source of information, or are books and stuff more reliant? Are there any books/sites that you'd recommend?"

First, *sends adoring thoughts for asking a research question*

Sacred-texts.com has a lot of old texts scanned in. If you're going Celtic faery, go here. Start reading.  The Secret Commonwealth (Kirk) is essential. If you're going Welsh, read the Mabinogion.  Evans-Wentz Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries is a great text.  Thomas Crofton Croker, T Keightly

If you're looking for hard copy (newer but still awesome), Eddie Lenihan is a master (http://www.eddielenihan.com/). Meeting the Other Crowd is one of my favourite books. 

Honestly, there's a lot of great stuff there. I like hard copy (and yes, I am anti-ebook/ebook readers as a personal choice).  Free text is a goodthing when budget is a concern though.  Read the old texts.

Do NOT read other novels with faeries until after you do your research. (Yes, I realize that I am suggesting that you don't read my books, too.) It's the sourcetexts that matter most.  Read those. Then you can read contemp fiction--but be aware that you may get grumbly when you do so bc few things we write in fiction are as captivating as the research is. 

----
* That part has been easy so far bc I'm a picky picky bitch when it comes to faery books.  My family roots are in Ireland, Scotland, & a tendril in Germany.  So these are my heritage. I'm particular.

- I was up at dawn and outside, walking Grendel and brainstorming. Nobody else was awake in the whole town, and I had the sky to myself.

- I read an ARC of THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard because I'm interviewing her when the book officially comes out in Janurary. I am still thrilled with getting ARCs in the mail.

- I wrote in the morning with coffee, and again in the evening with tea.

- Saw a creepy, neat movie: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, which although I'm not sure I need to see again, was one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I've ever seen. It was exactly the book; they just extended the metaphor deeper into Max's imagination.

- Ate the BEST STEAK OF MY LIFE. Srsly. Filet of Bison at Ted's Montana Grill. (*vegetarians stop reading*) It was medium rare, bright red, tender, juicy, and just a tad bit sweet. YUH-UM. chernobylred, it was worth EVERY PENNY. I ordered a bottle of wine for the table, an Oberon Cab Sav 2003, and it was perfect. Dry, thick. *happy sigh*

- nataliesee gave me beautiful earrings in exactly the color I've been looking for.

- My parents gave me the Oxfod English Dictionary CD-ROM. I'll be in my bunk.

Back from AASL in Charlotte, NC. There's more to say on this, but I'm about to word-war with Tessa for my neglected NaNo novel. So we'll let some pictures and music say it all.

1. Music from the Ballad video is now up for download for my site. (up for down, did you catch that?)

2. Some sketches from the Sketchbook of Doom. These are from the way to and from AASL.


3. My current musical obsession: "Percussion Gun" by White Rabbits. The whole album rocks. I can't stop listening to it. It's like if Vampire Weekend had babies with The Bravery. (also, if that happened, could I watch?)

Short post today because I said I would update Mondays/Wednesdays and Fridays and I failed last week.  Well done!  I’m also behind on my writing, tired and in need of some serious coffee.  Diet Dr. Pepper is not charging my batteries. Dr. Pepper Fail!

NaNo Updates:

Day 3: I stopped writing story #1 and moved to story #2.  It’s Finn’s fault if we care to lay blame somewhere.  And I care to.  You see, he’s my supporting character in “The Book of Daniel” and he doesn’t like it one bit. He believes his story is more important than Daniel’s. Finn’s been taking over “The Book…” so I decided since he’s an arrogant ass, I would tell his story.

But the problem is: Finn wants to remain a mystery.  He wants you to want to know more about him, but at this stage of the game, he doesn’t want to share.  So, Finn is taking a nap.  Finn and Daniel will be back.  There’s a lot of prep work to do before I can get back into writing these guys. I’m looking forward to learning more about me as a writer during this process.

I’m at 11,669 words for my NaNoWriMo novel.  It’s called “Some Born Singing,” which I’ve used before.  I like that title.  It’s comes from the Tom Maxwell song, “Some Born Singing.” It fits. It makes me smile.

I need to get to my writing today.  I’m a day behind because of the weekend festivities with my favorite person who is shorter than me.  I may need lots of coffee today because the eyes want to close.  Actually, the eyes want to get back to reading the “Pricker Boy” by Reade Scott Whinnem.

Hmm.  This isn’t that short.

~dt~

Hey! I'm a Wapsi Girl!

For those of you who don't know Paul Taylor's amazing online comic, Wapsi Square, imagine a spunky little Latina pixie named Monica who has a noggin' full of brilliance, a wry sense of humor, a destiny embroiled with the 2012 calendar & an impressive 8-ball T-shirt! Add to this a bunch of good friends, a mythical guide, Tepoztecal, ala Aztec Jimminy Cricket, a pack of personal demons, a totally hot guy, and a plot that ranges from the everyday to the epic and you're getting close to Wapsi Square.

Aw, heck, don't imagine – I can't do it justice – go read some right now beginning here and I'll see you in a few!.

[Approximately 3 days later...]

Hi, there! Isn't it *fantastic*?!

I was lured to the comic by a friend (looking at YOU divinebird!) who knew my fascination with all things Mexicana and myth due to SKIN & BONES taking over my life, and she knew my passion for body image and self-esteem. Believe it or not, it's ALL in there! I became enamored not just with the comic itself, as well as the amazing and generous talent of its creator, Paul Taylor, but also something that had grown out of the many body types Paul had used for his characterizations – women from all over the world had come to identify with the "larger than Double-D" Monica or the buff Shelly, the willowy Katherine or any of the frightening-but-humanly otherworldy women, Sphinx, Jin, Tina, Brandi & Bud. Every one of these characters is unique and every one of them have their own perceived problems and advantages living in their own skin. Each lady is treated differently, with their own sets of fears and defense mechanisms and issues around intimacy and acceptance of her own body; hence, it wasn't a big leap to see how the discussions on the chat threads birthed something as awesome as the Wapsi Girl Project.

Essentially, what happens when you ask strong women how they got that way? What did they have to surmount and how? What is it inside us that makes us win our own game called "life"? Paul asked a few. So here are a bunch of women who are all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, etc. who get to define an unidentifiable "something" that each recognizes as indicative of a "Wapsi Girl". The essays are honest and personal and uplifting and real. I was so honored to be asked, I think I worked on several drafts deep into the night before I'd let my husband even see it. I can say that I'm proud to be considered and humbled to be in such esteemed company.

So go check out me and other Wapsi Girls! Thanks to Paul Taylor who helped give Consuela Bones a special something (on the website, www.dawnmetcalf.com, TBA!) and me the chance to think long and hard about stuff I hadn't considered in a long, long while.

Ever thought of what that "certain something" is that makes folks shine? You probably have it, as well as a lot of cool people you know! Care to share what makes you great? ;-)

Hello all. I had some news I wanted to share in the November newsletter, but due to the timing (we couldn't announce it anywhere 'til 11/2), I couldn't share my news there. If it's okay with everyone, I'd love to share it here, especially for people interested in new ways of publishing and how editors deal with slush.

First, the big news: a comic I created with artist Niki Smith, “In Maps and Legends,” is live on the Zuda Comics site!

Zuda is the online comics line from DC Comics, the same folks who brought us Batman, Superman, the Sandman, Justice League, Wonder Woman, and countless other amazing characters and stories.

Zuda offers an interesting twist on how comics are chosen to be published.

( Read more... )

In keeping with Tess's rundown, this is the first section of what was clearly going to be a Very Awesome Novel. It had everything I liked—precognition, accidental death, morbid, overly-dramatic narrative, and you can't really tell yet, but it was going to feature a Love Story From Beyond the Grave. Except (as with all my projects at that age and for the next four years), I got bored after three more sections, and abandoned it.

Dear Miranda,

Frank is dead. They told me today, with their eyes red, their hands holding twisted handkerchiefs, they told me. Then they cried. I didn't.

Don't you see? I've been expecting this. He told me all about it in the letter. He even told me the date. Well, he was right, Miranda. It doesn't seem fair.

They say he died quickly. When he swerved, he hit the wall, that wall next to the cemetery out on Route 25. The other driver is still alive. It doesn't seem fair at all.

They're crying a lot. I haven't. The only thing that's different is that vase, the one in our living room with the roses on it, it's broken now.

It felt good to smash something, something I've always hated. My mother cried when I did it, but I don't think it was because of the vase, since she's always hated it too.

Frank left me his leather jacket. When my mother told me is when I threw the vase.

She said, “Cheryl, calm down.” And started to cry. Cheryl is her cousin, who she hasn't seen in years. I still haven't cried yet.

Love,
[Character who was apparently not important enough to warrant a name]

Okay, so this excerpt is revealing in a lot of ways, showcasing both my unrepentant pantster plotting style and my love of the run-on sentence. As I recall, when I was writing this, I had absolutely no plan whatsoever. Each line materialized out of thin air, with no forethought, and very little to do with the line before it. Also, it didn't really occur to me that if I knew no fourteen-year-olds named Frank, there probably weren't many sixteen- or seventeen-year-olds named Frank, either.

Despite his evident precognition, I was not actually very interested in Frank. I can't tell if I designated him as uninteresting by giving him the leather jacket, or if the leather jacket is only a symptom of how undeveloped he was in my head.

“Why epistolary,” you might ask? And if you did, I might say, “I have no idea.” Perhaps because I had recently learned that it was, in fact, a novel-writing style.

We are pleased to announce Holidaze With the Debs, a series of author events in the U.S. and Canada this holiday season. At bookstores, libraries and schools in the New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto areas, members of the 2009 Debutantes will talk about their own books and other 2009 favorites. A full list of events is available below.

"Publishers are working with shrinking promotional budgets in this economy," notes Rhonda Stapleton, author of STUPID CUPID (Simon Pulse). "As first-time authors, we know that much of our promotion is going to have to come from us, and over the last year we've also learned how much fun it is to do events together. So we're especially excited to be able to talk to readers directly this holiday season."


2009 DEBUTANTES' HOLIDAZE TOUR

NEW YORK

Dec. 6, 1-3 p.m.
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th St.
New York, NY
Including: Megan Crewe, Sarah Cross, Deva Fagan, Neesha Meminger, Kate Messner, Shani Petroff, Jon Skovron, Michelle Zink

CHICAGO

Dec. 5, 1-3 p.m.
Borders
161 N. Weber Road
Bolingbrook, IL
Including: Cynthea Liu, Saundra Mitchell, Aprilynne Pike, Kristina Springer, Darcy Vance, Lara Zielin

Dec. 5, 7-9 p.m.
The Book Cellar, Inc.
4736-38 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL
Including: Cynthea Liu, Saundra Mitchell, Aprilynne Pike, Kristina Springer, Darcy Vance, Lara Zielin

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

Dec. 5, 3-4 p.m
Borders
588 Francisco Blvd. West
San Rafael, CA
Including: Lauren Bjorkman, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Malinda Lo, Sarah Quigley, J.A. Yang

Dec. 8, 7 p.m.
Menlo Park Public Library
800 Alma St.
Menlo Park, CA
Including: Lauren Bjorkman, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, C. Lee McKenzie, Sarah Quigley, J.A. Yang

Dec. 9, 12 p.m.
Petaluma High School*
201 Fair St.
Petaluma, CA
Including: Lauren Bjorkman, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Malinda Lo, Sarah Quigley, J.A. Yang
* Open to the public, but visitors should check in at the school office when arriving

Dec. 12, 2-4 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
119 Colma Blvd.
Colma, CA
Including: Lauren Bjorkman, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Malinda Lo, C. Lee McKenzie, Sarah Quigley, J.A. Yang

TORONTO

Jan. 9, 2 p.m.
Indigo
Eaton Centre
220 Yonge St.
Toronto, Ontario
Including: R.J. Anderson, Megan Crewe, Sarah Ockler, Rhonda Stapleton, Lara Zielin

I'm going there tomorrow (!)

I'm going to meet my agent and my editor for the first time, and visit the Penguin offices, and also probably be forced to overcome my phobia of hailing cabs, unless I can coerce the desk attendant at my hotel to do it for me.

Maybe I can walk everywhere. I do have a map . . .

The following FFF titles released in October and were submitted by FFF members for showcasing on the blog sidebar. They're still out there, so it's not too late to pick up copies for yourself or someone else.

To see the November releases (as submitted by the authors), check out the updated FFF sidebar.

Happy Reading!

S. J. Day
( See the pretty covers... )

# of queries read this week: 209
# of partials/manuscripts requested: 1
genre of partials/manuscripts requested: fantasy


Writers who take their approach to seeking traditional publication as seriously as writing the novel itself seem to do an awful lot of research. Not for them the rush to dash off a spurious query lacking in the information it should provide. They do everything possible to give their submission an advantage. But even the most dedicated sometimes misses something.

And then there are those just starting out. They hardly know where to look and are quickly overwhelmed by the myriad suggestions on agentquery.com or the many writer forums, or from their critique groups, etc. --- if they are even lucky enough to find such sources. Sometimes there are those that seem to come across agent contact information in mysterious ways (voodoo?) that give no hint or clue as to the best way to start.

The veterans were all new to it at one time, and eventually the new ones will become more experienced. If you could go back in time and share with yourself information about the query process -- What is the one thing you have learned that you wish someone had told you when you first began?

I just read a review that panned an upcoming movie but reluctantly admitted "it had a couple good jump-cut scares." Because I'm currently working on a monster fight scene, that comment made me wonder about creating -- and experiencing -- terrifying moments in words.

I consider Dean Koontz one of the best at creating on-the-page terror. Whenenver I sit down with one of his books, I block out an entire afternoon so that I can 1.) finish in one sitting, and 2.) finish before the sun goes down. His stories are wonderful examples, I think, of breakneck pacing and high-ratcheted tension.

A Koontz story can amp up my blood pressure and make me dread, but even he has never made me jump out of my blue Snuggie.

On the other hand, fuzzy puppies leaping unexpectedly across a YouTube video will make me shriek.

I'm inclined to think a jump-cut experience can't be created on the page because you can't force the timing on the experience. A reader's eye will move onto the next sentence when she's good and ready, and the mental processes required for reading will undermine the emotional response. Maybe the human imagination -- no matter how rich and varied -- can never quite give us the visceral thrill of even the cheapest visual stimulus which bypasses the frontal lobe of the neocortex and goes straight to the freaked-out monkey limbic system.

Have you ever read a passage that literally made you jump? Please share. If not, what's the next best thing you've read for wordly scares?