Marcia Hoehne

Genius and the Writer

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

My 5-year-old granddaughter wants to be a princess in the worst way. She adores pink, fluffy dresses and sparkly shoes, and I'm sure owns a tiara for every day of the week. (My personal belief is that the princess-longing, which seems stronger today than ever before, though it's not new, mirrors the heart's desire to be daughters of God.)

Did I ever want to be a princess? Sure. But I was always taller and bigger than my friends, my mom wouldn't buy me a pink, fluffy dress, and she always kept my hair cut short for her own convenience, so I had a hard time feeling like one. But what I wanted to be even more than a princess? A genius.

With this, I had somewhat better luck. :) Especially in the early grades, I was always the top of the class and scored, way, way beyond grade level on standardized tests. When my father, an educator, revealed my IQ to his boss (by way of discussing the success of a teaching technique) the man about dropped his teeth, and when going for an advanced degree my dad even wrote a seminar paper on gifted children, centered on, ahem, me (by name). My dad has passed on, and I have his papers in my possession now. And yes, it's really interesting for me to read what he had to say about me. :)

So when I was reading a bit about writing and genius lately, and simultaneously recalling what the main character in John Green's An Abundance of Katherines said about himself: that he wasn't a genius, but a prodigy (a prodigy being one who shows great brilliance early, but whom others eventually catch up with and even surpass, which is also a much better label for me), I became more curious about the nature of genius, and specifically, what a "writing genius" is.

I learned that in ancient Rome, a genius was a guiding spirit. Because people who achieved great things were then thought to have a very powerful angel (to me, it's an angel) assisting them, the word genius eventually also came to mean talent, intelligence, or extraordinary inspiration. Whether the guidance, and what was produced, seemed extraordinary or not, each person had that guiding spirit, guiding him or her straight into the center of their divine calling.

So it isn't so much whether we are a genius, but that we have a genius. So I'm not a genius, but I have one. We all do; whatever our calling is, we have divine help ready to lead and guide us to it and in it, into the originality that is ours to produce.

How will you tap into your genius today? :)

February Book Pick -- Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck

2012-02-02T06:00:00.121-06:00

Richard Peck is one of my favorite authors, and animal fantasy perhaps my favorite kind of fantasy. So I was eager to pick up Peck's newest MG novel, Secrets at Sea, and I was not disappointed. It's been remarked that some readers might have been looking for more of a Pirates of the Caribbean experience than a Jane Austen experience, but I thoroughly enjoyed both the Victorian setting and husband-hunting plot.

Secrets at Sea tells the story of the Upstairs Cranstons -- the parents, their awkward older daughter, and their pretty younger daughter -- and their counterparts belowstairs, the Mouse Cranstons, whom, the narrator Helena will remind you, are the older family by generations. The mouse story centers on three sisters: Helena, the oldest who must hold things together; Louise, the nosey one who gathers all the Upstairs Cranston gossip; and Beatrice, the boy-crazy night-wanderer. They also have a ne'er-do-well brother named Lamont, who loses his tail and must have it sewn back on by Helena, and gets into far too many scrapes involving not only cats, but copperheads. One evening Louise races back to the mouse abode inside the walls with a fantastic tale: The Cranstons are going to sail for England to, as they say, give Olive Her Chance. Meaning they have despaired of marrying their older daughter off unless they take extreme measures. Louise considers the younger daughter "her human," and can't bear the idea of being separated, and after one thing and another the mice decide there's no help for it but to stow away in Camilla's luggage and go to England too. Despite the fact that "Water is not a happy subject with us mice," two older sisters and their mother having drowned in the rain barrel some time before.

Many shipboard adventures ensue, especially after the Cranston mice discover that the ship has just as many rodent passengers as human. There's a one-eyed cat, a five-year-old lord who won't lay off the sweets, and mouse royalty capped off by Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cheddar Gorge. A delightful, dead-on 1880s voice and plenty of humor add to the fun. And yes, there's enough of both human and rodent romance to go around, all with the utmost of Victorian propriety.

What's interesting is that, though this is a historical novel (I heard Richard Peck speak several years ago and he stated he'd be writing historical for the rest of his career), it appeals to the princess phenomenon that is very today. I love the implication that there is an entire hidden mouse world analogous to the human one; the life we see is not the only life there is. Children who have felt the burden of being the oldest will also relate to these appealing, well-developed characters.

A few minor glitches (the occasional line of telling that diluted the showing, the occasional question of POV) are just that -- minor. Definitely recommended!

January Critique Giveaway Winners!

2012-01-30T12:00:00.000-06:00

Random.org says the winners of the January critique giveaway are: MaDonna Maurer and Terry Lynn Johnson!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "Critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is February 15.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to MaDonna and Terry Lynn, and thank you all so much for stopping by and entering. Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

Quoth the Writer

2012-01-26T06:00:00.001-06:00

January critique contest still open! Scroll down one post.

I love good quotes, especially from writers. Here are more favorites:

I think it's bad to talk about one's present work, for it spoils something at the root of the creative act. It discharges the tension. -- Norman Mailer

Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass. -- Anton Chekov

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. -- Henry David Thoreau

Plumbers don't get plumber's block, and doctors don't get doctor's block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it? -- Philip Pullman

Most people do not believe in anything very much and our greatest poetry is given to us by those who do. -- Cyril Connolly

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. -- William Wordsworth

I don't know much about creative writing programs. But they're not telling the truth if they don't teach, one, that writing is hard work, and, two, that you have to give up a great deal of life, your personal life, to be a writer. -- Doris Lessing

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. -- CS Lewis

...reading is the creative center of a writer's life...you cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you. -- Stephen King

Do any of these speak to you? Have you run across any good quotes lately?

January Critique Giveaway

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

It's critique time. Enter to win!

I will critique TWO manuscripts. "Manuscript" means the first 1000 words of your children's magazine story, chapter book, MG novel, or YA novel.
No picture books, easy readers, poetry, or nonfiction.
Just comment on this post and state that you wish to enter.
Extra entries for following, Facebooking, tweeting, blogging, etc.
Include your email, OR check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday, January 29.
Please, no stories that you intend to enter in an ICL Children's Writer contest.
Winners announced Monday, January 30.

Let the entering begin!

Cause, Effect, and Process

2012-01-12T06:00:00.164-06:00

I recently read about a writer who started her novel in January 2011, was querying agents for that same novel by September, and signed with someone in November. Wow, I thought. That is fast. It made me think about my process. Which is s-l-o-w, and also doesn't include much in the way of advance plotting. Oh, I may have Point A and Point B, but the specifics of getting from one to another are sketchy at best.

Why is this? What is it about my approach to writing a story that determines I will feel my way along at snail-speed? I believe it's this: concentration on cause and effect.

Every step of the way, I want my character to do next that which is believable for this person in these circumstances. That means staying deeply in character at all times, and staying aware of all the little mental and emotional changes and increments that drive her to say this, or do that. It means I let the character build the plot as I go, and most of what happens is a surprise to me. Not a surprise at the moment it happens -- because cause and effect has led up to it -- but a surprise in that I couldn't have predicted it before I started the book. Now, I'm not saying that writers who write fast aren't paying attention to cause and effect. I'm just saying that this concentration results in pretty slow writing for me. Writing with cause and effect as a foundation also prompts me to revise as I go, because cause and effect will lead me astray if a link in the chain is faulty. Revising while drafting is another recipe for slow writing, although I have the advantage that by the time I finish a first draft, it's the equivalent of about eight.

Concentrating on cause and effect improves storytelling by keeping readers continously in the character's emotions. If Nelly picks up her doll, screams "I'm going home," and stomps out of the tea party, but we don't know already know why -- in other words, if the effect precedes the cause -- it means we were at least momentarily detached from Nelly's POV, and we feel more distant from her than we should. That can be enough to disengage readers from the story.

Example: Nelly picked up her doll, screamed, "I'm going home!" and stomped out of the tea party. If Mabel was going to keep wiping her nose on her sleeve, Nelly wasn't going to play with her anymore.

Better: Mabel lifted her arm and wiped a long stripe of snot down her sleeve. Nelly's stomach lurched. She picked up her doll, screamed, "I'm going home!" and stomped out of the tea party.

The second version keeps cause and effect in their proper order. We're never asking ourselves why Nelly stomped out, because we experience the cause of that action right along with Nelly. Cause and effect, I've found, doesn't only improve storytelling. It improves the prose itself.

Concentrating on cause and effect is just plain interesting, too. You never know where you might end up. Or where thinking about a writer who started a book in January and signed with her agent only ten months later can lead. :)

January Book Pick -- The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, by Meg Wolitzer

2012-01-05T06:00:00.186-06:00

Duncan Dorfman, age twelve, has a superpower: He can read with the fingertips of his left hand. But not much else in his life is going right. His mom has lost her job, so they've moved back to her home town of Drilling Falls, PA. Fortunately, Great-aunt Djuna took them in and got Mom a job at Thriftee Mike's Warehouse. Unfortunately for Duncan, Aunt Djuna is a vegan cook and her house smells permanently of yams. Mom begs him to keep his power secret, because "If you don't, I'm afraid something bad will happen." He's always felt protective of his mom, who lost Duncan's father before his birth and is plagued by migraines. So he really means to keep the secret, except he sort of tells/shows the one boy in school who doesn't pick on him. Since he does so in the lunchroom, he is overheard by Carl, the class mean boy, who is also the class rich boy, who is also a national Scrabble tournament competitor. Instantly realizing what a help Duncan can be in drawing Scrabble tiles, Carl dumps his prior Scrabble partner and tells Duncan he wants him to be his partner at the tournament in FL in December. Duncan, lured by the idea of prize money for his mom and decent social status for himself, agrees.

But on the opposite coast, in Portland, Oregon, April Blunt and her friend Lucy are planning to win the Youth Scrabble Tournament. April is the only non-athlete in a family of jocks, and she wants more than anything to prove to them that Scrabble is a sport. Besides that, several years ago she met a boy she can't forget. She taught him enough Scrabble to play one game, and was fascinated by the way they seemed to connect, yet she had never learned his name or where he lived. Knowing it's probably silly, April still loves to fantasize that the boy kept up with Scrabble and that she might meet him at the tournament.

Nate Saviano lives with his father in a sumptuous New York apartment. It not only has a recording booth; it has an indoor skate park! Nate's mom, her new doctor husband, and their new baby live nearby, and everybody gets along quite well. Unfortunately for Nate, his father cannot get over the fact that, as a twelve-year-old himself, he and his partner came in second at the YST. He's been forever grooming Nate to avenge his loss, even homeschooling him as an excuse to drill him on nothing but Scrabble. All Nate wants is to return to school with his friends and ride his skateboard. He figures the only way to get his dad off his back is to win the tournament. But what he really wants is for his dad to get over his own childhood loss, get his life unstuck, and move on.

When these three meet at the tournament, they become friends. Wolitzer does an outstanding job of using the game of Scrabble to show the characters' lives intersecting and their views of themselves changing. There are plenty of layers, surprises, suspense (we know one, and only one of the three and his or her partner will win), humor, and moral choices here; likable characters; and a well-paced, intriguing plot. The POV is split among the three kids, but we also get snatches of adult POVs plus omniscient narration. This book contains delights much too numerous to mention--evangelical characters who aren't teased, for one--and a good overview of Scrabble in a way that's fully integrated with the story and not at all boring. Definitely recommended!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T06:00:00.012-06:00

I'll be taking a short break from posting and visiting, but I'll see you all again on January 5, 2012. Enjoy your holidays!

Of File Cabinets and POV

2011-12-15T06:00:00.114-06:00

I've been thinking about POV lately, and how I've used it thus far in my writing career. Curious, I turned to my dead manuscript file. (Yes, ordinarily the folders are put away and the drawer is closed. Or the cats would live on it permanently. And I'd trip over it. Fortunately, now that I print out much less, this poor drawer is getting a break.) Recently I tried to count how many novels I've ever completed, meaning how many reached "The End" of at least one draft. (There's no counting how many I've started in my life.)

As best I can tell, the stats look like this:

15 written
8 published
5 in first person (1 present tense, 2 published)
10 in third person (10 in 3rd close, 2 in multiple POVs, 6 published)

Really, it's not as narrow as I thought. And though I'm glad I haven't really written in 3rd close, with one POV character, All The Time, which is the way it feels, I still want to branch out, sharpen, explore, develop, my use of POV. My shiny, new WIP idea, which I really, really hope I can start in January after I get the current revisions off my desk/mind/screen, calls for 3 third-person POVs, some omniscient "in-between" sections, and a less close feel overall. It's not enough to merely want to experiment with POV, of course. The choice has to be the best one for the story. I believe it is, and I'm eager to dig in.

How about you? Are you drafting, revising, researching, outlining, or "filling the well" these days? Challenging yourself in any particular skill?

The Big Four (Five?) Elements of Fiction

2011-12-08T06:00:00.092-06:00

I read something recently that gave me pause, and it was this: That the four main elements of fiction are character, voice, plot, and theme.

I didn't agree with it. On further reflection, I still don't. For one thing, where is setting? Without a sense of place, you're missing a necessary element, the means of creating mental pictures, that allows the reader to enter into your story.

I could add it to the list and have the Big Five: character, voice, plot, theme, and setting. But I'm still not satisfied, and I know why. For me, voice comes under the umbrella of character. It's not separable from it, and is subject to it.

Voice is important, of course. Gotta have it. But I've never been on the "voice, voice, voice, voice, it's ALL voice" bandwagon. Recently, I've learned more about voice than ever, through the most thorough critique I've ever had, from the fabulous Kathleen Duey. But the very experience underscored even more, for me, that voice, whether you're in first person or third, is about character (as is POV). Realizing and increasing the close tie between my character and the voice, even in third person, helped me boost my WIP to a higher level.

And proved false to me another notion: That you can receive/give help in fixing plot, but not voice. "The voice is either there or it's not." Well, no. It can be strong in places and falter in places. It can slip up in individual word choice. And you can both receive and give help in fixing it. As a writer and teacher, I've been on both sides of that coin. :)

But here's a fifth element that I would argue could be added to the list: quality of prose. A way with words. An ear. The way one's talent comes through in the writing itself. Which is related to voice, but different from it. It's necessary, and it's the only one of the elements, I'd argue, that has to be somewhat inborn. Because you can't just fit good character, setting, plot, and theme together and out comes a great story. The writing itself, the vehicle, has to be there, and though a writer learns to hone this through reading and writing, it is hard-to-nigh-impossible for someone else to help you with it.

Here's my stab at a list of the basic elements of fiction: character, setting, plot, theme, and prose. (Who, When/Where, What, Why, and How?)

What do you think? Am I nitpicking semantics? Have any "rules" you'd like to smash today? :)

Do You Write During the Holidays?

2011-12-01T06:00:00.127-06:00

I didn't used to keep a calendar or weekly schedule as regularly as I do now, except for the period between Thanksgiving and December 24th. When my kids were young, cleaning up after the Thanksgiving turkey feast was always accompanied by digging out a calendar on which I'd plot out the entire forthcoming four weeks. Those weeks of course contained the kids' school concerts and Christmas pageants and accompanying prep. (One of the more interesting projects involved scribbling on a wicker basket with markers for a costume accessory. Well, at least I didn't have to figure out how to clothe a shepherd.) Those weeks contained what I considered the requisite number of cookie- and candy-making sessions, each assigned a time slot to be sure they'd all fit. And need I mention tree-buying and trimming, decorating, and shopping, none of which could be done in my jammies in front of a screen in those days? And the parties and gatherings held in the workplace, the church, at family members' homes. By the time my calendar was completed, every morning, afternoon, and evening was filled. But were any of them filled with writing? Not so much.

I'm not much for a packed schedule; never have been. I am a writer, a reader, a contemplator, and a pray-er, and you can't do any of that when every minute, or even just every half-day, is jammed with activity. So, one year, I said to myself, "I am no longer willing to give up writing for the month of December. I mean, actual employed people actually work during December, don't they? So shall I."

But I had to make room in the schedule, and I actually found that pretty easy. What went out the window? The cookie-baking! I'm still good for a couple of batches of fudge and some chocolate-covered caramels, but I love making those, and I do it when a desire to putz quietly in the kitchen comes over me. I've also streamlined the shopping and simplified the decorating, but the big difference came with dumping the cookie-baking, which was more a chore than anything else. I guess the bottom line is that I do only the prep I enjoy doing for itself.

And I write during December. Yeah, it probably helped that I was on deadline when I made the "I will write in December" vow. But my new, good habits lasted, and I enjoy the entire holiday season more now.

Of course, it's not only Thanksgiving through New Year's that can derail one's writing. Summer is another time that can speed by with little to show for it, literarily speaking. Do you have periods during the year when your writing gets crowded out? Have you found a solution? Care to share?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T06:00:00.014-06:00

May your life overflow with fruit.
May the blessings you receive,
the blessings you bestow,
and your gratitude for both,
be without end.

November Book Pick -- Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, by Julie Sternberg

2011-11-17T06:00:00.107-06:00

Eleanor had such a bad August, it was as bad as pickle juice on a cookie. But when she said it was as bad as the black parts of a banana, I laughed and was hooked.

The reason August was so bad was that her beloved babysitter, Bibi, had to move away to take care of an ill family member. So close and loving was their relationship that Bibi knew which of Eleanor's teeth were the loose ones. How would another babysitter ever compare?

Told in verse that makes it a fast read, the story still conveys Eleanor's adjustment to loving a new sitter while fondly remembering the old at a believable, gradual pace. What I love about this book is that no one is a disappointment; no one lets anyone down. Eleanor's parents are understanding, her new third-grade teacher is a gem, her new sitter Natalie is understanding plus just as competent as Bibi, and when Eleanor writes a letter to Bibi, she gets a warm response. This story is a wonderful example of how loss and change, which no one involved may really want, can not only be survived, but, in an atmosphere of love and support, can lead to growth and a greater wealth of life experiences. Even when the child needs to act out, such as when Eleanor grabs any book at random to read to herself rather than let Natalie read to her, and ends up with a book much too hard for her. (The illustration shows Moby Dick on the cover.)

And, I think, the book gives us at least one gentle caveat. We need to remember that continuity in a child's caregivers is important. Eleanor has had that continuity, and she's starting third grade, but even so, the change is hard for her. But with humor, patience, and love, these challenges can be overcome, even though life will manage to drizzle pickle juice on our cookies every once in a while. Highly recommended.

Puzzler: Is it MG? Is it YA?

2011-11-10T06:00:00.003-06:00

For some time I've been puzzled by libraries' inability to agree on whether a novel is middle grade (MG) or young adult (YA). Maybe I shouldn't be. It does seem sensible that there'd be a flow from one age group to another when one of them is defined as ages 8-12 and the other as 12+. At least, those are the usual definitions. The 10-14 category, sometimes called tween or upper MG, is aimed mainly at middle school and overlaps both traditional MG and YA. Surely, then, assigning a novel to an age group can't always be cut and dried. In fact, Gary Schmidt's novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy was both a Newbery Honor (books intended for readers no older than 14) AND a Printz Honor (equivalent YA/teen award) in 2005.
Yet...some observations. Writers can and do get rejected by agents and editors because their novels fall between the age cracks. (I haven't, but it happens.) It seems MG in some respects and YA in others, they're told, which is going to make reader identification and marketing difficult. I can understand this. BUT I could argue that a number of published books already do seem MG in some respects and YA in others, or some librarians -- professionally trained book people -- wouldn't shelve them as child, juvenile, or elementary fiction, while other librarians put them in their YA collections.

Another thing I observe is that YA is hot today. Does this mean YA stickers get applied to the spines of books more liberally these days? Sometimes it seems the general public considers any book that's younger than adult, and prominent enough that they've heard of it, "YA." John Grisham's Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer might be a case in point. It's been termed YA, and the main character is 13. But really, how "YA" is 13? In plenty of cases, not YA at all. Theodore Boone is MG -- especially since he pretty much announces early on that he's not into romance, thank you very much. Meanwhile, within the industry a romantic angle is considered all but compulsory for most YA fare.

I recently did my own highly unscientific survey of a few random titles in my public library system. Here's what I found:

Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanen. Six libraries call it YA and three MG. It's a light romance, but begins when the kids are 7 and takes them to 8th grade. In maturity and content, this is light-years from a HS romance. BUT it has a YA-ish cover, and my guess is that's what determined the placement. My verdict: Upper MG.

Shakespeare's Secret, by Elise Broach. Six libraries call it MG and only one YA. This is a mystery starring 6th graders, and like most MG fare is concerned with outward plot and the wider community more than "Who am I?" questions. My verdict: MG. I know there's only the one YA designation here. But...why?

Masterpiece, also by Elise Broach. Here MG wins by a score of 10-0. It's not much different than the above title as far as type of book, BUT one of the main characters is a beetle. And he's on the cover. My guess is that this is why Masterpiece is labeled MG all the way, which it should be.

The Visconti House, by Elsbeth Edgar. MG: 2, YA: 2. Yup, a tie. In this one, a boy and a girl explore the mysterious old house her family just moved into. Does this one fall through the cracks into no-age land? In the end, I don't really think so. My verdict: Upper MG.

Makeovers by Marcia, by Claudia Mills. This is a light story about an 8th grade girl whose concern with appearance seems shallow until she gets into doing makeovers at a nursing home. Here, YA beats MG by a score of 3 to 2. My verdict: MG.

What do you think? How subjective is the MG/YA designation? Does it bug you when MGs are labeled as YA? Have you found any examples of YAs labeled as MG?

Genres on My Mind

2011-11-03T06:00:00.103-05:00

I'm not a trendy person. Got to Twitter a few years late. Never did get on Facebook. Yet, anyway. My computer is still a desktop. This behind-the-times goes all the way back to days of yore, in which I never owned a Barbie (though my grandparents bought me a hula hoop), grew my hair long and center-parted two years after everybody else did, and didn't dream of ironing it because we lived in a small house, my mother's eyes were everywhere, and she'd've had a major cow.

I don't write or read to trends, either. (Digression: Studies show, or so I've read, that people resist jumping on a bandwagon that has been going for a while. Mostly, they either get in at the beginning or pooh-pooh it. I can see truth in that.) Trends in literature, though, seem to have more power now than they used to, and this makes so many of us worry that we are writing The Wrong Thing For the Market.

Let's pretend for a minute that you are the market. What genres, for you as a reader, are over with? What genres will never be over with as far as you're concerned, because you love them? What genres do you want to see make a comeback? What genres (MG or YA) wouldn't you read if they were the last genres on Earth?

My answers:

I've just realized, which is really the whole genesis of this post, that I am done with fantasy, animal fantasy excepted. Not for-the-rest-of-my-life done, but done for now. And I'm really, really done with witches. I don't do vampires or zombies, so those don't count for me.
What genres will never be over with as far as I'm concerned? Realistic historical and mystery. I don't care who says historical doesn't sell. I'll read it. But alas, I, the trendless, am not market enough. Funny that historicals are the award winners, isn't it? Also, I can read fresh, new dystopian for a good while yet, although I fear it's a genre quite susceptible to trends and could dry up.
Realistic historical and mystery are precisely the genres I'd like to see make a comeback.

But, regardless of genre, what I really want is a good story with relatable characters, important themes, and a plot that's got some get-up-and-go to it. Too much of what I'm picking up now seems overly weird and...dare I say it? Possibly over-crafted.

Comments?

Processing a Conference -- Or, Unspinning Your Head, Part 2

2011-10-27T06:00:00.118-05:00

In which we continue some random thoughts from the SCBWI-WI fall retreat, with the goal of both sharing and organizing them. :) Scroll down one for Part 1 of this post.

One of the excellent parts of a conference is traveling back and forth with a friend and talking about writing plus whatever, all the way there and back.
Three ways to strengthen a character, according to Cheryl Klein, are by giving her an unusual desire, giving her some sort of expertise, and making that character liked by other people in the story. Make the people who dislike your character people the reader will also dislike.
Writers aren't necessarily as quiet as we might think, based on the buzz of conversation during the late-night socials.
One of my favorite quotes from the weekend, by Marsha Wilson Chall, is this: "Editors raise questions. Writers answer them." This is why I raise a lot of questions when I edit my ICL book course students' work. :)
Another tidbit from Marsha: In a picture book, text is nouns and verbs, pictures are adjectives, and page turns are transitions.
When presenting at a conference, and probably anywhere else, speakers must use Power Point. We've reached that, ahem, Point. Audiences expect visuals. And when you find funny pictures to use with your points, you have a great way to build humor into your talk without having to say funny things.
Every single one of our speakers was animated, entertaining, and organized-yet-off-the-cuff, along with having an excellent visual presentation. They were great! Frankly, I've been to conferences where people read their presentations. That didn't happen here.
Beach Lane Books wants to publish books that are truly for kids, not their parents. Refreshing, much?
According to Andrea Welch, along with having a strong narrative arc, lovely language, and memorable characters, a story will do well to address an emotional or cognitive developmental need in the child.
As an agent, Tracey Adams values communication with clients. This is great to hear, as we have all heard stories of communication breakdowns. What a writer needs to be able to do when signing with an agent is to trust that agent to submit to the right editors, negotiate the best possible deal, be knowledgable, and be accessible, and Tracey nailed it -- to me she came across as, above all, trustworthy.
While reading craft books is necessary and helpful, studying published books for technique is just as important. Whether you're going to try a POV you haven't used before (first person, multiple, omniscient), explore using an unreliable narrator, or give wacky humor a shot, you can probably find a published book that has done it. Study it. How does it succeed? Is there any respect in which it could be better?
Conferences are a shot in the arm!
Conferences couldn't happen without all the dedicated folk who head statewide SCBWI chapters and do all the work of helping us meet, network with, and learn from industry professionals. We are so blessed to have these people, and in Wisconsin they abound. Thank you!

Processing a Conference -- Or, Unspinning Your Head, Part 1

2011-10-20T06:00:00.104-05:00

I spent last weekend at the SCBWI-WI fall retreat, and what an excellent three days! Thank you to the wonderful, dedicated SCBWI leaders and the top-notch faculty, which included agent Tracey Adams of Adams Literary, editors Cheryl Klein of Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic) and Andrea Welch of Beach Lane Books (Simon and Schuster), illustrator LeUyen Pham, and authors Laura Ruby and Marsha Wilson Chall. For reasons that I hope will become apparent, I'm going to dive right into some thoughts that I took away from the weekend:

Illustration is cool, but I only halfway get it. LeUyen Pham gave a wonderful visual presentation about how images affect us and how we "read" them -- where the eye goes first, where it goes second, and so on, and how the artist controls the path of viewers' eyes through a picture. But I only agreed with the majority audience opinion of where the gaze falls first, second, third, etc., maybe half to two-thirds of the time. The rest of the time, I saw something else first.
Photos don't turn out so hot when the lectern is right in front of a light. :( Of course, I knew this, but the result is still no photos. Oh well.
There are three kinds of plots, says Cheryl Klein, but they aren't simply the "man vs. man," "man vs. self," and "man vs. nature" plots we may have learned in HS English. These, she groups into a broader category called the Conflict plot. The other two plots are Mystery, in which the character must gain information or answer a question, and Lack, in which the character feels something is missing and must be gained or attained in order to achieve happiness.
The content of a speaker's talks belongs to the speaker; it is her or his intellectual property. Speakers, frankly, plan to give their talks multiple times, and if they want to write and publish that content, that right belongs to them, as Cheryl Klein has done with her book on revision, Second Sight. Therefore, I will not be blogging extensively about any one person's presentation.
Conference food is generally awesome, and this weekend was no exception. My jeans are feeling a mite snug, to tell the truth.
I got the opportunity to be part of the critique faculty for the conference, and loved it.
Doing your research works! By that I mean that though conferences are wonderful (am I using that word too much?) informative and networking events, for the writer who immerses herself in learning the craft and the industry they are a supplement to and an affirmation of many things she has already learned. Though she will pick up new tidbits, no question, and her head may spin with the best of them trying to contain it all, if she's done her homework she's not drowning in new information. It's more like she's watered by it.
I'm going to stop here and post more about the conference next week, and even into a third week if the content -- or my random processing process -- warrants.

Have you been to any good conferences lately? How did you process them?

October Book Pick -- The Trouble With May Amelia by Jennifer Holm

2011-10-13T06:00:00.164-05:00

Twelve-year-old May Amelia Jackson is the daughter of Finnish immigrants and lives on a farm in Washington State in 1900. This makes her only two years younger than my paternal grandmother, who told me stories of growing up on a Wisconsin farm during that time. Though the details are different, the tone of the times in the book matches what Grandma told me, so I was primed to enjoy this book and connect with May Amelia, whom I met earlier in Jennifer Holm's Newbery Honor prequel Our Only May Amelia.

My grandmother's family had been in America for a generation or two more than I suspect May Amelia's has, yet the emphasis on the mother country (in May Amelia's case, Finland) rings true. So does the emphasis on hard, unrelenting farm work. So, I have to add, does the parents' sternness; in that era, that a child might need self-esteem wasn't even on the radar. MA's pappa proclaims, often, that girls are useless. Truth to tell, he has little regard for the passel of brothers that precede her, either, except for the oldest.

Not all of my book discussions contain spoilers, but this one does.

The book has plenty of funny moments, such as when Friendly the bull knocks over the school outhouse when MA is using it. A subplot in which every eligible bachelor for miles around courts the pretty teacher is sweet and amusing. Yet the author paints a clear picture of how hard life was. A baby sister has died. One brother is nearly deaf from an illness, and apparently cannot be helped. A second brother loses a hand working as a logger. MA shares not only a room but a bed with one of her brothers. All of this is routine, but life changes for MA when a businessman-type visits area farmers selling stock in the development of a new town. Suddenly Pappa finds MA not quite so useless after all. He uses her as his English/Finn translator, and on that basis buys into the project. But the man is a charlatan and fleeces the Jacksons and several of their neighbors, and Pappa flies into a rage and tells MA that losing their farm is all her fault. "You're the one who read the papers! You are the reason we have lost everything. You useless girl!" He even says that she is not his daughter anymore.

This part of the story angered me on MA's behalf. Her mother says nothing. Not one of her brothers intervenes or will even look her in the eye. No one says a word to the effect that Pappa himself was the one hoodwinked by a scam. And I understand that this fits the era and the supremacy of the husband and father. But I still hate that this could happen, and hate it worse because I believe it. What happens next is that Pappa's brother, a kind man who somehow made the decision not to live like his and Pappa's own mean mother, takes MA into his home. And not a single one of her family members even says goodbye when she leaves.

After several months, one of her brothers shows up and tells her she has to come home. The farm is lost, and Pappa and the able-bodied brothers are all working at the logging camp, which now includes room and board, he says, and Mamma's working in a cannery. MA agrees. I didn't want her to go. I wanted her to stay with her uncle and never return. I started thinking about how she, how anyone, could do this while making sure they weren't falling into the trap of unforgiveness and bitterness. But, really, the bottom line is that MA had to go back. In 1900, you went back. I was pleased that she asked them whether they just needed a cook, and the answer was no: the brother who lost his hand was doing the cooking with a spoon tied to his stump. You're like a flea, is what they tell her. Annoying, but it wouldn't be home without you.

Based on quite a bit of Holm's family history, The Trouble with May Amelia is hard to forget. Definitely recommended.

What? Fiction Requires Research?

2011-10-06T06:00:00.146-05:00

When I was a child and a teen, I did all my writing at white heat. (I can almost never do this anymore; however, I still create plots on the fly.) I didn't stop to labor over much of anything, such as revision. Or research. I didn't know research was needed. Oh, when I set one of my teenage-era novels in Chicago, it niggled at me that maybe I needed to know something about Chicago. But I figured, Nah. It's a big city. I can make it up. Because with fiction, the belief goes, "you can make it all up." I hear this from students fairly often. Research and facts are important for nonfiction, but fiction sets you free in that you can write whatever you want and nobody can say it's wrong.

Well, no.

Fiction requires research. Big time. Historical fiction may spring to mind as the most obvious example. Here, research is required not only to portray the historical period and events accurately, but to help you with character motivations (what events shaped these people?), the zeitgeist of the time (were people optimistic? pessimistic? religious? freethinkers? altruistic? looking out for #1?), and finding exciting plot events. If you begin your research by reading two or three good general histories of the period, that may be where you find your real story. And fascinating primary sources such as diaries, newspapers, and letters can give you the voices, everyday details, and priceless anecdotes that breathe life and veracity into your story.

But historical fiction is far from the only genre that requires research. Really, all genres do. From police procedurals to legal thrillers to multicultural books to books set in foreign countries, to stories featuring figure skating, lacrosse, coin collecting, wilderness survival -- any specific pursuit or setting, they all require research if you're to make your story honest, plausible, and worthwhile to those readers who know more about these topics than you do. Writing, even fiction writing, is actually a wonderful way for the writer to remain a lifelong learner.

So...does loving research (call it loving LEARNING) give one a serious leg up in becoming a good writer? Yes, I believe it does.

What about high fantasy? Suppose your story is set in a world wildly different from Earth, and your characters aren't of any recognizable earthly species? Can you make "everything" up in that case? I have two thoughts. One is that even if your characters aren't human, your readers must be able to relate to them. Fiction is an emotional/soulish/spiritual experience, and your protagonist's emotional progression must be comprehensible to your audience. Which means, if your characters are experiencing conflict and loss of certain types, and you need help in understanding the stages people go through in these situations, yes, you need research. Research into humans will help you with your not-human-but-relatable characters. My second thought is yes, you can make up your entire fictional world -- BUT, if you want readers to understand and feel grounded in your story, you have to create a world that has its own facts, organization, society, and ways of life. A world that makes sense and is consistent on its own terms. You may be the creator of the facts in this world. But facts there will be, and you'll need your own record of them so YOU can look them up when necessary!

I'm glad that if I ever need to research contemporary fifth grade, there's an elementary school right down the block. :)

Do you like research? What's the biggest or most unusual thing you've ever researched? The smallest?

Choosing What to Read

2011-09-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

Remember when, to choose a book, you had to browse a library or bookstore? We still can, of course, and we can browse places like Kindle and Smashwords, too. Review magazines, such as The Horn Book, are yet another source of titles.

But in the last couple of years or so, I, like many of you, have been getting my book recommendations online. Really, "online" is not as accurate as "by word of mouth." People are out there talking about books, on Goodreads, on blogs, on message boards, on sites dedicated to MG or YA novels.

You know what? I'm not so sure it's working for me.

There was a time when I had read a large majority of the MG novels in my small-town library. But seldom do I pick up the physical books and thumb them anymore. I hear about books online. I even add to the online recommendations with my own blog. And at the same time, something's been happening: I now actually like/read/can finish less than 50% of what I'm picking up.

Is there a connection? Is researching books online not enough of a predictor of whether I'll really like a certain story? I'd be interested in hearing opinions/experiences.

September Critique Giveaway Winners!

2011-09-26T12:00:00.002-05:00

Random.org says the winners of the September critique giveaway are: Joyce Moyer Hostetter and Jessica Leake!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) Critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is October 19.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Joyce and Jessica, and thank you all so much for stopping by and entering. Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

September Book Pick -- Masterpiece by Elise Broach

2011-09-22T06:00:00.115-05:00

Critique giveaway open through Sunday the 25th! Scroll down one post.

I've been a little cranky about books lately, and while casting about for an absorbing middle-grade novel I was delighted to find Masterpiece by Elise Broach. (An earlier book by her, Shakespeare's Secret, is also excellent.) I do not have much of a nose for trends; I tend to like things the crowd doesn't; but if I had to hazard a guess about "the next big thing" in MG/YA, my guess would be mysteries. They're due, are they not? Both books mentioned here are mysteries with an intellectual bent (the identity of Shakespeare figures in one, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the other). And while Shakespeare's Secret is a bit more traditional in that it features all human characters, Masterpiece is about the friendship between James, a boy, and Marvin -- a beetle, and what happens when it turns out the beetle is an art genius but his drawings are attributed to the boy. I guess you could call the genre a cross between mystery and magical realism.

I love books that hook me from the start, and this did. Marvin and his family live in a damp corner of the cupboard under the Pompadays' kitchen sink. His bed is a cottonball, he swims in a bottlecap filled with water, and his family plays a beetle version of horseshoes by tossing staples at a broken toothpick stuck in a crack in the floor. Mrs. Pompaday, a shrill social climber more interested in her new husband and baby than in eleven-year-old James, the son of her first marriage, is humorously rather than seriously awful. James is mostly unnoticed on his birthday until he receives a visit from his dad, a gentle artist whom one can see right away is completely different from Mrs. P. But even Dad disappoints; he gives James a pen and ink set as a gift. James tries it out, gets bored, goes to bed, and the curious Marvin dips his front legs into the ink pooled in the cap, starts drawing, and finds his passion. The next morning, of course, the incredibly good drawing of the scene outside James's window is attributed to James, and what is he supposed to say? That his new beetle friend drew it? The complications grow when, through his dad's connections, James is approached by a museum curator to duplicate a painting by Albrecht Durer in a scheme to foil an art theft.

The book succeeds as a mystery, as a story about friendship and agape transcending even huge differences, and in its exploration of what to do and where to turn when there are things you just cannot possibly tell people. In both Masterpiece and Shakespeare's Secret, author's notes explain what is factual and what is invented, and I did find a few of these distinctions surprising and in one case, mildly disappointing. But I highly recommend both books.

September Critique Giveaway

2011-09-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

It's critique time. Enter to win!

I will critique TWO manuscripts. "Manuscript" means the first 1000 words of your children's magazine story, chapter book, MG novel, or YA novel.
No picture books, easy readers, poetry, or nonfiction.
Just comment on this post and state that you wish to enter.
Extra entries for following, Facebooking, tweeting, blogging, etc.
Include your email, OR check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday, September 25.
Please, no stories that you intend to enter in an ICL Children's Writer contest.
Winners announced Monday, September 26.

Let the entering begin!

Soapbox Series #5 (or Reading, 'Riting, Ranting) -- "Writing Can/Can't be Taught"

2011-09-08T06:00:00.100-05:00

Many of us have heard the argument that you can't teach someone to write -- or that of course you CAN teach someone to write. One thing I've learned is that, no matter the subject, if there are extensive, reasoned arguments plus a lot of people on each side, it's usual (not universal, but usual) that each side has at least a piece of the truth and neither is completely wrong or right. Some kind of harmonizing of the views is in order to get the full picture.

I've long been on the side that says, "Of course you can teach writing. If you couldn't, why attempt to do so in schools? Writing may be art in a sense, but it is also craft, with specific skills in composition, grammar, and story, that can be learned and practiced. Raw talent, in any field, must be trained. If I didn't believe writing could be taught, why on Earth would I be teaching it?"

You know there's a "but" coming, right? BUT...when people say writing can't be taught, I do understand what they mean.

Editors and agents touch on it when they say, "I can help a writer with plot, but I can't help with voice." Teachers can help writers learn to plot, to use POV correctly, to show rather than tell, to use sensory detail, to flesh out characters, and to identify theme. We can teach grammar and sentence structure. But we can't teach a facility with language. Or a lyrical style. We can't help much with a constant tendency to choose almost the right word. There is such a thing as basically competent yet tone-deaf writers. That there comes a time when we can't bring them beyond their innate language talent level is what writers -- it's usually writers -- mean when they say writing can't be taught.

In this way, writing is like any of the arts. To teach any sort of artist, you take a person with a measure of inborn talent and set them a program in which they explore and practice different forms, media, and techniques, helping them improve weaknesses and identify strengths. You can teach writing, because having raw talent is no excuse for eschewing a proper course of training. But, you can't teach the talent, and no matter what we say about desire, hard work, and perseverance going a long way, and they do, the talent's got to be there.

Interview With Author Chris Eboch

2011-09-01T06:00:00.133-05:00

Today, I get to interview Chris Eboch, who has written a variety of fiction and nonfiction for middle-graders, including a humorous ghost-story series called Haunted, and a new historical mystery called The Eyes of Pharaoh (are we sensing a mystery theme here? :)) A versatile writer, Chris has also done biographies, adult fiction under the name Kris Bock, and the subject of today's interview, a new writing book titled Advanced Plotting.

Advanced Plotting is designed for the intermediate and advanced writer: you've finished a few manuscripts, read books and articles on writing, taken some classes, attended conferences. But you still struggle with plot, or suspect that your plotting needs work.

This book can help.

Learn to identify and fix plot weaknesses, flesh out an outline, get off to a fast start, prop up a sagging middle, build to a climax, improve pacing, and more. Read the book straight through or dip in and out at random -- however you use this book, you'll find fascinating insights and detailed tips to help you build a stronger plot and become a better writer.

MH: Thanks so much for joining me, Chris. Why did you decide to write Advance Plotting?

CE: Well, like you, Marcia, I'm a writing teacher as well as a writer. I teach through the Institute of Children's Literature and also edit private clients and trade critiques with professional writer friends. I see how even experienced, published writers can struggle with plot, especially when it comes to novel-length work. It's just too hard to keep the entire big picture in mind while you edit page by page. And although I've seen plenty of books and articles covering the basics of plot -- beginning/middle/end structure and so forth -- I didn't see anything that covered many of the techniques I was learning through trial and error.

I developed an exercise called the Plot Arc Exercise to help myself take a step back from the work and see it as a whole, in order to identify flaws such as missing pieces, weak spots, and repetition. I tested this exercise with other people in a novel revision class. I felt it was successful enough that I wanted to make these techniques available to a larger audience.

The book also includes expanded versions of a dozen articles I've written about plotting techniques, covering everything from the promise of the first chapter to cliffhanger chapter endings. I teach a popular workshop called "What I Learned From Nancy Drew," and turned that into a couple of articles for the book as well.

To make the book even more valuable, I invited other authors to share essays on plotting topics. I even have a long essay from my brother, a professional scriptwriter who wrote Sweet Home Alabama, on plotting like a screenwriter. Sharing these other voices gives readers a broader perspective.

MH: Where can people get the book?

CE: It's available on Amazon in paperback for $9.99, or as an e-book for $2.99 on Amazon or Smashwords. People can also check out excerpts this month on my blog.

MH: Chris, what else have you been up to lately?

CE: My latest book for young people is The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery set in ancient Egypt. A temple dancer and an apprentice toymaker get drawn into a world of intrigue when their friend, a young soldier, disappears. I loved ancient Egypt when I was a kid, and still do. My first historical novel, The Well of Sacrifice, is set in 9th-century Mayan Guatemala and is still in print and used in many schools. I can only hope The Eyes of Pharaoh has a similarly long life.

I've also started writing romantic suspense for adults under the name Kris Bock. Rattled is my first book, a treasure-hunting adventure set in the wilds of New Mexico.

MH: How do you build a career when you're writing in different genres under different names?

CE: It's a challenge. I have two websites, one for Chris Eboch and one for Kris Bock. I have to promote the work separately, targeting different audiences. But I have an agent who is supportive of my decision to start writing for adults, and I'm starting to network with people in the romance and mystery fields. The decision was really a personal one. I wanted to try something different. If I'm always learning, I don't get bored. And if I'm having fun and making discoveries along the way, I think that fun infuses the work and reaches the reader.

Thanks, Chris, for sharing your time with us. Best wishes in all your endeavors! And thanks for sharing what you've learned about plot with writers everywhere.

Wedding Pictures!

2011-08-25T06:00:00.100-05:00

Today is the second wedding month-iversary for our son and his lovely bride, so what better day to post some photos? The entire wedding day couldn't have been more perfect. Blessings abound...

Is he happy or what?

He's happy, and here's why.

Rings

Smooch

Married!

Family

A bit of creative (small town) photography

The happy couple

Revision Spreadsheet

2011-08-18T06:00:00.007-05:00

Recently, I was blessed to have seven people read my MG novel and give feedback. (You are all awesome!) Then I discovered something. I'd never had more than three betas read a manuscript before. Organizing and managing feedback from seven people is more challenging than processing feedback from just three. Most of the readers agreed on the main points, but each also made comments unique to him- or herself. I knew that going through the ms. seven times from start to finish wouldn't be efficient, and could result in doing rewrites that would only be canceled out later when a suggestion I liked better came along. After a moment's thought, I turned to my spreadsheet program.

I highlighted the points from each beta reader's letter (did I mention these people are awesome?) that were major, that were important-minor, and anything else I agreed with. Then I listed the points in rows on the spreadsheet. This way, everything was mentioned, but mentioned once only. I assigned each reader a column, and put her or his name in the intersecting cell if they had brought up that point. When the spreadsheet was done, I could see at a glance, on one sheet, what needed to be addressed and which points were the most important, i.e., the ones with the most mentions.

I'm sure I'm hardly the first to try this method. Have you used it? Have you discovered/invented any other writing tips lately?

Interview with Author Bobbie Pyron

2011-08-11T06:00:00.184-05:00

Two weeks ago, I talked about Bobbie Pyron's wonderful middle-grade novel, A Dog's Way Home. Today, I have the privilege of interviewing Bobbie on this blog! Read on to hear what she has to say about authors she admires, the freedom to write what you want, the need for research in fiction, and, that big question: Plotter or Pantser?

MH: Bobbie, it's pretty much a given that writers are readers. What kinds of books do you most like to read?

BP: I've always been a voracious reader. I most like to read books that are character-driven and have characters that are complex yet very believable. I also love beautiful writing. I don't tend to read what's popular with everyone else.

MH: Who are some authors you admire, especially MG/YA, and why?

BP: Being a librarian and a writer, I admit to having very strong opinions about books and writers! Alice Hoffman, Anne Patchett, Kate DiCamillo, Cynthia Rylant, Sharon Creech, Sonya Hartnett, and Julia Glass, just to name a few. I have such admiration for writers who are willing to take a risk, whether that's writing something completely different from what they're "known" for, or choosing a particular subject matter, or not following the latest trend. For instance, I have tremendous respect for Libba Bray because she doesn't allow herself to get pigeonholed. I also greatly respect authors like Chris Crutcher, Sherman Alexie, Cheryl Rainfield, Ellen Hopkins, and Laurie Halse Anderson for writing about tough subjects with grace and humor, and Gary Schmidt, Kate DiCamillo, Barbara O'Connor and many more who write heartfelt, compassionate books that actually show the best in people.

MH: Sometimes new writers are surprised to learn that fiction (other than historical) requires research. What kind of research did you do for A Dog's Way Home?

BP: I did a TON of research! Even though I know dogs, and shelties in particular, it was important to me to check facts such as what colors they can actually see. I also wanted to make sure that, if a coyote kills a porcupine in a particular way, that's actually the way it would happen. I read books about the flora and fauna of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have a horror of some kid reading my book who lives in that particular place and being disappointed because I "got it wrong." For Tam's route home, I had a map of the Blue Ridge Parkway in front of me at all times. I respect my readers too much to let the facts slide just because it's fiction, and especially because they're "just kids."

MH: Plotter or pantser? Have you ever tried the opposite method?

BP: Oh, totally a pantser! I usually have a pretty good idea of the beginning, middle, end, and core conflict when I start. But I like to leave myself lots of room to be surprised and to see where the characters take me. I don't outline before I start. What my agent taught me to do, however, is outline AFTER the first draft is done. I go through chapter by chapter and write down the main things that happen in each. Outlining that way allows me to see "dead zones" -- places where nothing happens to advance the plot or characterization. I also get a bird's eye view of story arc. I highly recommend this technique to even the most hardcore pantser.

MH: Your "Fido and Friends in Five" blog series is cool! Would you say a few words about it?

BP: I'd love to! My editor for A Dog's Way Home, Molly O' Neill, really wanted me to blog after the release of the book in March. I, however, am not a natural blogger. We were brainstorming ideas on how to focus the blog so I didn't feel like I was just saying "Yay me" in every post. We came up with the idea of interviewing other authors about their dogs. I've been amazed by the authors who've been happy to talk about their dogs on my blog -- folks like Kathi Appelt, Gary Schmidt, Patricia MacLachlan, Lisa Yee, Katherine Erskine, Pete Hautman, Marilyn Singer, just to name a few.

MH: It sounds like you've provided them a great outlet to talk about their dogs, Bobbie! Your first novel, The Ring, is a YA about boxing, and A Dog's Way Home targets a different audience. You've mentioned that you admire authors who don't let themselves become pigeonholed. But so many authors have heard they should be concerned about branding. Can you comment a bit on career strategy?

BP: Ha! You assume I have a career strategy! I think for me (maybe because I'm an old hippie), I have a real fear of being "branded" as a certain kind of writer. I write the stories that insist on being told. My trick has been to find an agent and editor who will let me write these stories and trust me. I have a quote pinned on my bulletin board in my room where I write from Sonya Hartnett, an author I greatly admire. It reads in part, "I write whatever comes to me, and I write whatever the book requires. My first responsibility is to the work."

MH: You have a new book coming in the fall of 2012. What can you tell us about it?

BP: The working title is Mercy's Bone, and my sense is that it's for grades 6 and up. It's a fictionalized account of a true story: After the fall of the Soviet Union, there were tens of thousands of homeless children living on the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg. This is the story of one of those children. Talk about research! I researched for years before I felt ready to write it. I'm very excited that the book will be published by Arthur A. Levine Books, and edited by Arthur himself!

MH: Can you give us any hints on WIPs?

BP: Oh, I have lots of voices banging around in my head. I have written about half a MG novel set in Florida, about a boy who gets struck by lightning and lives. I was born and raised in the Florida panhandle, so it's been fun to write about a place I know so intimately and fondly. It was really nice to go from writing about the bitter cold of Russia to the warmth of the Gulf of Mexico!

Thanks so much, Bobbie, for allowing us this peek into your life as a writer. You've really shown us how stories can be found in many different aspects of one person's life! Your breadth as a writer, too, is admirable. :)

E-books: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

2011-08-04T06:00:00.098-05:00

I don't have an e-reader, and I should probably qualify that with the word "yet." I do have several e-books on my PC. I read one of them promptly and quickly because I had agreed to write a review. The others? Haven't read Word One, even though I'm a voracious reader and am interested in these books' topics. Why haven't I even started reading them? Because they're on my computer rather than toppling off my nightstand. Were the latter the case, I'd have finished them months ago. On my computer, they're not calling, "Read me." On my computer, I've got too many other priorities that come first. But the "read me" thing is really the bottom line: Because the books are on my computer, I keep forgetting I have them.

It seems an e-reader would solve this. An e-reader is dedicated for reading, and the device is as much a visual prompt as a physical book is. But here's my question: Can't individual books get lost in this vast e-library? When you pick up an e-reader, you're picking up hundreds or someday thousands of books all at once, if you've owned it awhile and are an avid reader. Surely you can just plain forget some of them, even though they're as present and available as all the others. Yes, physical libraries also contain forgotten or unread books. But a physical book has a chance to call, "Read me!" in a way that an e-book doesn't. For me, so far at least, e-books are "out of sight, out of mind."

As an aside, a couple of weeks ago I read a column by a college-age young man in our local paper. To my surprise, he listed e-books as one of "life's little annoyances." He said he already spends plenty of time with his computer, TV, and smartphone, and doesn't want another screen, thank you very much. Most people's reply to this objection is that an e-reader isn't the same because you can choose a model that doesn't have a backlit screen. But I'm not so sure this is answering people's concerns. Or that we should assume the young won't want physical books. None of my young adult kids or their spouses, five out of six of them readers, are interested in e-books. Not one.

What has your experience been? Do you think e-books are easier to forget or ignore than print books?

July Critique Giveaway Winners!

2011-08-01T12:00:00.013-05:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: Erin Liles and Cat!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is August 17.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Erin and Cat, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

July Book Pick -- A Dog's Way Home by Bobbie Pyron

2011-07-28T06:00:00.124-05:00

I love books that are contemporary yet have the feel of "timeless classic," and A Dog's Way Home certainly fills that bill. I also like "Incredible Journey" stories (blubbered over the 3-part, I think, "Lassie's Odyssey" episode on Lassie when I was 10 or 12), and though not a dog-lover per se, think shelties are very cute.

Abby, 11, and her sheltie, Tam, are Dog Agility champions. After another contest win in Virginia, her family is in a serious accident on the way home to small-town North Carolina. Abby ends up in the hospital, and Tam's cage, which was in the back of the truck, flies out and lands in a stream. By the time Tam escapes the cage, he's many miles from the accident scene. Abby, released from the hospital, is determined to find Tam again, and Tam is every bit as single-minded about getting home to "his girl," although he has 400 miles to go. The chapters alternate between Abby, in first person, and Tam, in third.

As I said, I'm not a dog lover. But I found the sheer loyalty of Tam powerful, and, humbling -- there's really no other word. Yet Tam is an animal, and during his months-long odyssey, through the companionship of a small coyote, he learns to live wild. He forgets his name. He meets people and animals he both can and can't trust. He ends up in a shelter and is almost adopted. Somehow, though, he always remembers himself and resumes his journey, whether it's because his potential new owner names him "Sam" and that rings a bell, or because he's driven off, assumed, in his emaciated state, to be rabid. Reading, I had the distinct feeling that dogs are created for loyalty, and I found that wonderful.

Abby, too, never gives up hope that Tam will return. Of course, everyone in her life tries to help her face that her dog is gone, but she will not give in to such thinking. It's a great compliment to the writing that Tam's story, with its inherent adventure component, doesn't take over the book. Abby's chapters are absorbing, too. Besides efforts to locate Tam, there's an unexpected move to Nashville when her dad's band gets its shot at a recording contract, and a surprise friendship with the weird girl in her new school, who turns out to be the daughter of Nashville's hottest new country star, and whose brother's mapping expertise helps push the search for Tam to a new level. In other words, Abby doesn't waste away pining for her dog, which adds weight and respect to the "never give up" message.

Because some kids will not want to read a story in which the dog dies, a recommendation of a book like this almost requires a spoiler: The dog doesn't die; the pair IS reunited. And the dog doesn't just fight to return to a girl who passively waits; both girl and dog are instrumental in finding each other.

This is a just plain good read. Highly recommended.

July Critique Giveaway

2011-07-21T06:00:00.037-05:00

It's critique time. Enter to win!

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. "Manuscript" means the first 1000 words of your children's magazine story, chapter book, MG novel, or YA novel.
No picture books, easy readers, poetry, or nonfiction.
Just comment on this post and state that you wish to enter.
Extra entries for following, Facebooking, tweeting, blogging, etc.
Include your email, OR check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday, July 31.
Please, no stories that you intend to enter in an ICL Children's Writer contest.
Winners announced Monday, August 1.

Let the entering begin!

Not as Broad as it Sounds: First Person, Chronology, and Theme :)

2011-07-14T06:00:00.121-05:00

I usually write in third person rather than first, although two of my published novels are in first. Here are some things I think/thought I knew about first person that make it different from third:

A story in first person must maintain that narrator's voice 100% of the time.
The first-person narrator must have a clear, plausible reason for telling the story; we have to believe he'd do it, and telling the story is going to "solve" something for him, which means...
The first-person narrator is the MC even if he appears not to be (yes, I'd argue Nick Carraway is the MC in The Great Gatsby). He has a stake in this story's telling that nobody else has, or they'd be telling it.
Using a first-person narrator is no excuse for skimping on action and dialogue in order to let the narrator yak, yak, yak. In other words, a weakness of first person is that it tempts one to tell secondhand instead of show firsthand.
A striking advantage of first-person narration is ability to maintain POV.
Your MC's personality plays a large role in whether you use first or third person. Some characters wouldn't tell their own story to save their lives; others insist on having the floor.

But here are a couple of newer thoughts I'm chewing on, arguments I've come across in my study of the subject:

First person can, and should, open up lots of structural possibilities besides straight chronology.

It's that should that snags me. John Truby, in The Anatomy of Story, argues that the storyteller device (of which first-person narration is probably the most popular form) is superfluous, just a frame, if used for a simple chronological story. That kind can be dramatized without the narrator. But in a first-person tale, you have the narrator's entire memory and agenda to play around with. What does she want you to know first? What does she forget and have to tell you later? Both of my first-person novels are chronological. They are mysteries, which also figures in, but yeah--if and when I tackle another first-person book, I'll definitely think about how that might lead into a more creative structure.

The theme in a first-person story is more concerned with artistry, truth, beauty, creativity, and so forth, than with heroic action.

Whoa. I never thought of it that way. But with a bit of thought I can see it: The storyteller, even if relating a story of war, fights, explosions, and heroism, is primarily creating art in telling the story. He's more concerned at that moment with relating what happened than with even the happenings themselves. The theme lies in what the act of storytelling does for the MC, not in what the story itself did for him. But when the story's in third person, with the MC doing exploits but not himself interested in recounting the events, the theme will relate directly to that action and heroism.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? What would you add?

Soapbox Series #4 (or Reading, 'Riting, Ranting) -- "Nonfiction is True, Fiction is False.""

2011-07-07T06:00:00.190-05:00

In days of yore, I worked at the public library. One day, an odd young man came in (he had, on a previous visit, used the library phone [small town, long time ago] to cold-call a dude ranch and blurt, "Can I get a job there?" which had caused me to flee the circulation desk and hide in the stacks to laugh), pointed to the A-Z shelves and asked, "Um, fiction...that's fake, right?"

I don't remember exactly what I said. I do remember that laughter, unless maniacal, was not one of the responses I considered. I also remember that, being in my place of employment here, I kept my mouth shut for several beats. No Mount Vesuvius of righteous indignation. I suppose it's possible I said "WHAT?" although not that loudly. Eventually, I did manage to burble that yes, nonfiction was the factual stuff with the Dewey decimal numbers on the spines, and fiction was imaginative story, invented by the writer.

I don't really want to segue into discussing the worth of fiction, as suggested by questions and comments we've all probably heard: "How am I supposed to get anything out of stuff that isn't real?" "Fiction is all lies." (For the record, I can't stand when writers say fiction is lies.) "Fiction is just made up, it's indulgence, not worth my time." I want to stick to the definitions. IS fiction lies, fake, false, untrue? IS nonfiction anything that's 100% factual, or "happened just that way"?

It ain't that simple.

I've seen stories that use characters, conflict, plot, and dialogue, accompanied by a note saying the whole incident happened "just like this," so it's nonfiction. Nope. To any editor or reader seeing it, it's fiction based on a real event, and could probably use some changes (fictionalizing) to make it an even better story. Unless you have clearly signaled that this is a personal experience essay, say, or an anecdote meant to illustrate a point you're going to discuss, this "true story" material wants to be, and is, fiction.

I've seen articles that use characters, conflict, plot, and dialogue to teach history or nature lessons, in which kids ask questions like "So why is the sky blue, Mr. Jones?" and Mr. Jones answers, "Why, Billy, the sky is blue because of the way Earth's atmosphere scatters sunlight," accompanied by a note saying this is fiction. Nope. There's no dramatic or emotional arc. This is a presentation of factual material about how the Earth's atmosphere interacts with light. The goal is to inform. Though it's not written in a style likely to sell today, it's nonfiction.

Is fiction false? Never -- not so long as it puts its finger on the way life and relationships work, the way actions have consequences, the way emotional journeys and character growth come about. Is fiction "made up"? Not all of it. Plenty of events and places occur in fiction that were drawn from real life.

Is nonfiction true? Not if it contains errors. Not if it's simply the best understanding of the day, liable to be proved wrong 10 or 100 years from now. Not if it's solely the opinion of an op-ed writer. Like fiction, nonfiction is filtered through writers who have a particular world view, and that makes a difference. Is nonfiction factual? Yes -- to the best of our knowledge and belief. But if it's found not to be factual, does that make it fiction? No. It makes it bad nonfiction.

One of my favorite quotes on this subject goes like this: "Nonfiction is facts; fiction is truth." But fiction not only has truth in it; fiction has facts in it. Often lots of them. Historical fiction may spring first to mind. But plenty of contemporary fiction, from legal thrillers to police procedurals to books that delve heavily into any pursuit (horse racing, the space program, zookeeping, fashion, whatever) are filled with facts that make the story plausible. Just as you can learn a lot, often painlessly, by simply living and being exposed to this or that, you can learn a lot, often painlessly, by entering a good piece of fiction and being exposed to this or that.

Fiction presents a character with a weakness, a need, and a conflict, and takes him or her through struggles to a decisive battle and an outcome, saying something about life in the process. Nonfiction is (usually) direct writer-to-reader attempt to teach, inform, express, inspire, or persuade.

Good nonfiction, and good fiction, are both true.

It's Goof-Off Day!

2011-06-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Aim your arrow to shoot each colored ball at groups of at least two of that same color. Shoot all the balls before they reach the bottom! Click here.

Quoth the Writer

2011-06-23T06:00:00.070-05:00

There's nothing like a good quote for eliciting those lightbulb moments, or assuring you that somebody gets you, or provoking you to say "I never thought about that," or, "Yes, this exactly!" or maybe even "Nahhh." Here's what two writers have to say about writing.

Katherine Paterson:

And what am I doing while the world is falling apart? I am sitting in my little study in front of my typewriter trying to find words and put them together.
I have no more right to tell readers how they should respond to what I have written than they had to tell me how to write it.
The best people to talk about a book...are not writers, but readers.
To me, writing and reading are both gifts, neither of which has meaning without the other.
'Don't you feel constricted writing for children?' they ask. William, don't you find fourteen tightly rhymed lines an absolute prison? Form is not a bar to free expression...
I will not write a book that closes in despair.
There are few things, apparently, more helpful to a writer than having once been a weird little kid.
The only problem with writing as a job is that it interferes with my reading.
Though truth is seldom comfortable, it is, finally, the strongest comfort.
Those of us who write for children are called, not to do something to a child, but to be someone for a child.

Annie Dillard:

It is the beginning of a work that the writer throws away.
The line of words is a fiber optic, flexible as wire; it illumines the path just before its fragile tip.
When you...know what comes next, and yet cannot go on...either the logic has developed a hairline fracture that will shortly split it up the middle, or you are approaching a fatal mistake.
It takes years to write a book -- between two and ten years. Less is so rare as to be statistically insignificant.
Novels written with film contracts in mind have a faint but unmistakable, and ruinous, odor.
I cannot imagine a sorrier pursuit than struggling for years to write a book that attempts to appeal to people who do not read in the first place.
Appealing workplaces are to be avoided. One wants a room with no view, so imagination can meet memory in the dark.
I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as with a dying friend.
Writing every book, the writer must solve two problems: Can it be done? and, "Can I do it?
Write as if you were dying....That is, after all, the case.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Here Comes the Groom!

2011-06-16T06:00:00.100-05:00

I must suspend the critique giveaway this month, as our family is, ahem, "otherwise engaged." Our son's June 25 wedding is almost here! He couldn't be marrying a sweeter girl. We're so proud of both of them.

June Book Giveaway Winner!

2011-06-13T12:00:00.006-05:00

Random.org says the winner of Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt is: Jeff King!

You have 30 days to claim your prize, Jeff. No later than July 13, email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com, giving me your postal address, and I'll acknowledge receipt and get that right out to you!

Critiquing: Questions vs. Comments

2011-06-09T06:00:00.153-05:00

Win OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt! Enter through June 12. Scroll down one post.

I went to an excellent revision workshop by author Pat Schmatz a couple weekends ago, and one thing the attendees did was exchange manuscripts for critique -- sort of. In the type of critiquing I'm used to, we jot comments and suggestions in the margins as we read, pointing out spots where we got confused ("Is Lizzie outside the house looking in, or inside the house looking out?"); POV trouble ("You've entered the thoughts and feelings of three people in the space of two paragraphs"); passages that drag; places where dialogue predominates too much over action or setting, giving a "talking heads" effect; emotional reactions that aren't quite convincing; character motivation that seems lacking -- in short, anything we can find that needs a second look. But when we exchanged mss. at the workshop, Pat gave very specific instructions: "ASK QUESTIONS ONLY, about things that pique your curiosity." It's not that I've never asked questions in a critique, or in a student manuscript, because I have and do. But the overall approach in this workshop exercise was to be one of asking questions, not making comments, and the idea of sticking to questions only was new. It made me realize a few things:

Asking questions means I can't enter "automatic critique mode" and make any of the comments I would normally make, such as "POV slip" or "His hair was short two pages ago; now it's long." I have to get out of the box, change my mindset. It means I'm primed to see in a fresh way before I even start reading.
Asking questions makes me focus on the bigger picture. First, with this method, line edits are out. A comment like "POV slip" becomes a related but more macro question: "Whose story is this?" Next to a passage that I suspect goes into too much detail about a minor character, I might jot, "Will this character be important later?" Or, to use the above example of long/short hair, the question might become, "Do you have a clear mental picture of Wilbert's appearance?"
Asking questions leaves ownership of the story with the author. This way, the critiquer isn't suggesting fixes. Instead, she's raising questions and leaving the answers to the writer.
Asking questions is freeing for the critiquer when revision is at the macro, big-picture stage. It prevents the critiquer from getting bogged down in trying to point out "everything," and keeps the early revision focus on larger aspects such as voice, conflict, character development, motivation, plot points, and sense of place.

It occurred to me that if I'm on the receiving end of a question critique, I think I'd like to know this: Does this question mean you're confused at this spot and need the question answered now in order to understand or stick with the story? Or is it something to consider for the chapter or book as a whole, i.e., globally, not locally? As long as I have that distinction, I feel like I've gotten a glimpse into a reader's reaction to the story and can begin to work out answers to any answer-less questions. I'm reminded of John Gardner's statement something to the effect that the really good novelist anticipates and answers any questions the reader can reasonably ask. So this question approach to critiquing, if we've only heretofore dabbled around the edges of it, can raise us to new levels as both writers and critiquers. Thanks, Pat. :)

June Book Giveaway

2011-06-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

In last Thursday's post, here, or scroll down two posts, I blogged about this fantastic book. Well, I can't think of a better book to give away.

To be entered in the drawing:

Comment on this post anytime from now through Sunday, June 12.
For an additional entry, become or be a follower, and mention that in the comment.
For additional entries, link to this contest and give the URLs.

Winner will be announced Monday, June 13.

So, come one, come all--and meanwhile have a great day in the world of books.

May Critique Giveaway Winners!

2011-05-30T12:00:00.001-05:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: morgan and PatEsden!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is June 15.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Morgan and Pat, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

May Book Pick -- Okay for Now, by Gary D. Schmidt.

2011-05-26T06:00:00.133-05:00

Read this! It's fantastic!

I almost don't know how to start talking about this book, but I'll try. Newbery buzz there is, and plenty, and if anything else comes out in 2011 that's going to top this book -- well, then it'll be an amazing year.

If you've read The Wednesday Wars, you'll remember the protagonist of that book, Holling Hoodhood. (With a name like that, how could you forget him?) Holling makes a cameo appearance in this book, just as Doug Swieteck, the main character in Okay for Now, does in WW.

Doug's life in 1968-69 is darker than Holling's. After his belligerent, abusive father loses yet another job, his family moves to a small town in New York and rents a house Doug calls The Dump. Doug's mom is loving but powerless, his older brother a bully, and his eldest brother, also a bully, gone to Vietnam. It doesn't take you long to realize that the boys are becoming like the father. Your heart goes out to them, but you feel like the mother: powerless to stop it. And yet, by this book's end, almost all of it stops, and you believe it. This is a book is about redemption.

There are plenty of villains: a librarian, Principal Peattie (who refers to himself in third person so that you'd like to sock him), Dad's best friend, Doug's gym teacher. Yet, almost without exception, you get glimpses into what each of them is going through, and, slowly, Doug comes to an understanding with them. There are also lots of people who aren't villains: a few of the guys at school; a teacher or two; a special girl; Mr. Powell, the other librarian, who teaches Doug to draw; Mr. Ballard, Dad's new boss, who understands everything better than Doug realizes; and more. Almost too many to believe, yet we want to believe it, and love them all.

And there are so many plot threads, involving John James Audobon and his Birds of America book of drawings, the eldest brother's anticipated return from Vietnam, Doug's relationship with the girl Lil, a series of burglaries for which Doug's middle brother is blamed--and, by association, Doug. Other issues include illiteracy, serious illness, baseball, and Broadway. Yes, this is a BIG book (though only 360 pages). And it's a book that flirts with trouble when it draws so heavily on something like Audobon and his bird portraits (oh, and did I mention Jane Eyre, too?) in a book for a MG audience. There may be a couple of points where one could quibble about plausibility, but overall, the ambition, the emotional impact, the voice -- it all works. That alone makes this book great.

It's not an easy book. Parts of it are excruciating, while not beyond a MG audience. In Doug's world, there are decent and not-so-decent people, and we learn that if we look into the not-so-decent, they have reasons for the way they are. Hurt people hurt people, as the saying goes. Yet they can have redemption if only they will.

Read this. It's fantastic.

May Critique Giveaway

2011-05-19T06:00:00.007-05:00

It's critique time. Enter to win! Here are the rules and caveats:

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. By "manuscript" I mean the first 1000 words of a children's magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel. Please, fiction only. No picture books or easy readers. No poetry.
Enter the drawing by commenting on this post AND stating that you wish to enter.
For an additional entry, become a follower, and tell me so (or that you already are one).
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.
No one person can win both critiques in a single month.
Include your email in the comment. But if not, be sure to check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday, May 29.
Any story that you plan to enter in an ICL contest is ineligible. Since I am an ICL instructor, I cannot edit stories that you intend to enter in an Institute contest.
Winners will be announced Monday, May 30.

So if the above sounds good to you, let the entering begin!

Quoth the Writer

2011-05-12T06:00:00.045-05:00

I thought it might be a good day for a quote collection. Here's what a couple of writers have to say--about (mostly) writing, naturally.

Richard Peck:

Writing is the art of listening.
All fiction is a search for family.
All American stories are about journey and change.
When adult authority fails, kids will set up a peer over themselves.
The only way you can write is in the light of the burning bridges behind you.
You learn the most from the experience you would have avoided if you could.
Nobody ever grows up in a group.
Every character you create has a lesson to teach you.
I am a writer because I did not come from a child-centered home.
Anybody who thinks a small town is friendly lives in a big city.
The first chapter is the last chapter in disguise.

John Gardner:

All writing requires at least some measure of trancelike state.
Good grades in English may or may not go with verbal sensitivity, that is, with the writer's gift for, and interest in, understanding how language works.
...every good writer knows that getting down one's exact meaning helps one to discover what one means.
The unpromising writer sees derivatively.
The beginning novelist who has the gift for inhabiting other lives has perhaps the best chance for success.
If he takes enough English literature courses, the young would-be writer can learn to block every true instinct he has.
The true novelist must be at once driven and indifferent.
Born writers [are] people who value other human activities but have no wish to do anything but write.
The true young novelist has the stamina, patience, and single-mindedness of a draft horse.
What keeps the young writer with the potential for success from turning aside to some more generally approved, perhaps easier path is the writing community.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Compassion and the Writer

2011-05-05T06:00:00.090-05:00

It was something I sensed when I first started writing at age eight or nine, but wasn't sure how to put into words. Something I knew when I read Nancy Drew, The Happy Hollisters, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Anne of Green Gables, Caddie Woodlawn, Little Women, and on and on. Something I got cranky about as a teenager, going on inner rants like: "How can these people [my classmates] raise their hands and tell an English teacher all about the motives and feelings of characters in books, and not understand or care a thing about kids right next to them?" When I began to take writing seriously, I studied the aspects of craft -- character, plotting, POV, structure, setting, dialogue, revision, how to cut, how to market. But what writing program teaches you to grow the compassion you need to understand many types of people, the compassion you need to be a really good, even great, writer?

We have to be able to imagine where our characters are coming from and what they're going through. How they think and what they feel. Instead of just dismissing someone as snotty, dim-witted, wacko, evil, or whatever, we have to understand who they are on the inside and why they appear as they do on the outside. We need to develop compassion, which is to say that to be good fiction writers we have to become better people. Think of it : better people writing better fiction in better service to readers. Give me plot, absolutely. But please, please, give me compassion for characters. Walk in their shoes. Sit in their chairs. Don't just entertain me, but encourage me that there are compassionate people in the world like you who love and know their creations deeply. And I won't soon forget the world you've created.

Brenda Ueland, in If You Want to Write, speaks of the Third Dimension in writing, which is the writer's character. "It will shine through the writing," she says, "and make it noble or great, or touching or cold or niggardly or supercilious or whatever the writer is." And she adds, "I have come to think that the only way to become a better writer is to become a better person....now we are apt to say of a man, 'Oh, you must not pay any attention to his personality; it is his ideas that are the important thing.' But I think -- and so did Socrates and Michelangelo and many others -- that the ideas of a meager and dishonest personality are no good."

April Critique Giveaway Winners!

2011-05-02T12:00:00.006-05:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: Christine Sarmel and Amy C!
Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is May 18.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Christine and Amy, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

April Book Pick -- Poppy and Ereth, by Avi

2011-04-28T06:00:00.104-05:00

April critique giveaway open through May 1! Scroll down one post.

Poppy and Ereth is the fifth and final MG novel in The Dimwood Forest series by prolific author Avi. The hardcover was published in 2009, but the paperback has only been out a month. One thing I really admire about Avi is his range. Contemporary, historical, animal fantasy--he does them all well.

Eons ago when I first read Watership Down, I realized I enjoy animal fantasy. Upbeat Poppy the mouse and irascible Ereth the porcupine (with a heart of gold, of course) are truly a duo. Though Poppy may be the main main character, Ereth would steal the show if Poppy weren't as well portrayed as she is. My favorite aspect of this book is Ereth's alliterative, humorous expletives. But here's what I really love: How the humor of Ereth's expressions crescendos and climaxes in partnership with the plot tension. When Ereth was awakened from a deep sleep and muttered, "Growling gingersnaps," it was cute. When he learned the grieving Poppy didn't want to see him and moaned, "Dancing doorknobs," I giggled. When he tried to eat a leafless, dry twig for breakfast and grumbled, "Octopus ink ice cream! It needs salt, too," I laughed. When he despaired over the need for rain and bleated, "Spider snot soup!" I was chortling again. But when he ran to the creek, leaped before he looked, began to drown, and screamed "Barbecued buzzard barf!" my husband had to come see what all the hilarity was about.

Despite all this humor, the book is about grief. Poppy is grieving a loss, and Ereth grieves her withdrawal from him. When she hears his cries and comes to saves him from the creek, Ereth is glad to have her back, only to fear he's lost her for good when a funny mishap makes him think she has died and he's seeing her ghost. Poppy died rescuing him, he believes, and now he's grieving a death, too. Adventures, surprises, and reconciliation abound, along with wonderful illustrations by Brian Floca, especially of Ereth. You may want to start the series at the beginning, but this book can be read on its own. Recommended!

April Critique Giveaway

2011-04-21T06:00:00.004-05:00

It's critique time. Enter to win! Here are the rules and caveats:

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. By "manuscript" I mean the first 1000 words of a children's magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel. Please, fiction only. No picture books or easy readers. No poetry.
Enter the drawing by commenting on this post AND stating that you wish to enter. This frees you up to comment, ask a question, or just say hey WITHOUT throwing your name in the hat.
For an additional entry, become a follower, and tell me so (or that you already are one).
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.
You may enter one ms. per month. No one person can win both critiques in a single month.
Include your email in the comment. But if not, be sure to check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday, May 1.
Any story that you plan to enter in an ICL contest is ineligible. Since I am an ICL instructor, I cannot edit stories that you intend to enter in an Institute contest.
My critique is only one opinion. This business is SO subjective. Any suggestions I make that resonate with you are yours for the taking. Compare mine with those from other beta readers, critique partners, writing teachers, etc. Even if specific suggestions vary, when two or more critiquers pinpoint a certain passage or aspect, there's probably a need for revision there. Yet don't feel you must take advice you don't agree with. In the end, it's your story.
Winners will be announced Monday, May 2.

So if the above sounds good to you, let the entering begin!

April Book Giveaway Winner!

2011-04-18T12:00:00.006-05:00

Random.org says the winner of the autographed, personalized copy of Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banerjee is: Nora MacFarlane!

You have 30 days to claim your prize, Nora. No later than May 18, email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com, giving me your postal address, and I'll acknowledge receipt and get that right out to you!

Premise vs. Theme

2011-04-14T06:00:00.163-05:00

I've been thinking about premise and theme lately, and found that I need to think deeper. One of the most rewarding things about writing is that it's never boring and you never learn it all, even after you've learned it. I mean, I know what "premise" is, right? It's a story's central idea, a setup or "what if" that snags the reader and makes her say, "Yeah, I want to read this and see how it plays out." The premise of, say, Romeo and Juliet might go like this: "What if a son and daughter from two enemy families fall in love?

But is that really a premise? By some definitions, maybe not. Another definition, more steeped in the study of logic, goes like this: Premise is a statement assumed to be true and used to draw a conclusion. It's a presupposition, assumption, or postulate. More specifically applied to story, it's a statement of what happens to your characters as a result of the plot, which your story sets out to illustrate.

Which is an interesting point of view. Math major though I may have been, my definition of story premise has always been more in the first camp, the what-if question. So what is premise? A question, or a statement? Does a premise include the ending, or doesn't it? By the statement definition, the premise of Romeo and Juliet might be "Stubborn feuds or prejudices lead to tragedy." The statement contains "what happens to your characters"--tragedy--and the what-if question does not. If it's correct to say that the statement is the story's premise, then we can't know a story's premise when we first pick it up to read it. We can only know the premise when we know the end. I'm going to have to chew on that a little more before I buy it. If I buy it. Perhaps both kinds of premise are useful: the question as the public one, the hook; and the statement as a private one, a guide for the writer.

Both viewpoints agree that a story has one premise. But it can have multiple themes. Speaking of which: doesn't that second view of premise, in the preceding paragraph, sound an awful lot like theme? "Stubborn feuds or prejudices lead to tragedy"? If that's not theme, then what's a theme? We often hear statements such as "This book explores themes of love and loss, friendship and courage, sacrifice and honor..." and I say No. These aren't themes. These are subjects. Themes say something about a novel's subjects, and we don't have control of our work if we don't know what that "about" is. Let's go back to Romeo and Juliet. Does it explore themes of passion, labeling or stereotyping, friends and enemies, and communication? I think it explores those subjects, and makes theme statements about them.

Subject: Passion
Theme: Quick passions lead to hasty decisions.

Subject: Friends/enemies
Theme: Our enemies may not be our enemies.

Subject: Communication
Theme: Miscommunication leads to disaster.

What do you think? What's a subject? Theme? Premise? Does your brain hurt as much as mine does? :)

April Book Giveaway

2011-04-07T06:00:00.066-05:00

Author Anjali Banerjee will autograph a personalized bookplate to the winner!

Eleven-year-old Poppy, the protagonist of Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banerjee, wants to be a veterinarian like her Uncle Sanjay. Too bad her mother is allergic to anything with fur and Poppy has never had a pet. So this summer, instead of accompanying her parents to visit relatives in India, Poppy travels from LA to an island off the coast of Washington State, armed with her Deluxe Veterinarian First-Aid Kit, to be Uncle Sanjay's helper at his Furry Friends Animal Clinic.

The episodic chapters serve this type of story well. The book is sweet without sugar-coating the sometimes gross and sad realities of pet health care, and without skirting issues such as disagreement by Uncle Sanjay's father with Sanjay's career choice. Multicultural without making multiculturalism the issue, enriched with lovely setting details, the novel will greatly interest animal lovers. Poppy is a conscientious, appealing girl who learns that growing up isn't instantaneous, that dreams don't always match reality, but that she can do more than she thought, too.

To be entered in the drawing:

Comment on this post anytime from now through Sunday, April 17.
For an additional entry, become a follower of this blog and mention that in the comment. Ditto if you already are a follower.
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.

Winner will be announced Monday, April 18.

So, come one, come all--and meanwhile have a great day in the world of books.

It's Goof-Off Day!

2011-03-31T06:00:00.102-05:00

Fellow writer Tabitha Olson gave me this award. Thanks, Tabitha! The idea seems to be to post with it a list of pet peeves, which strikes me funny in conjunction with a "beautiful blogger" award, and I really don't feel I'm one for pet peeves in general...except maybe in language usage. So here are some language bugaboos that bug me. May we all not commit them today. :)

1. "It's not that big OF a deal." I don't mean the sentiment, I mean that OF in there. I see this construction in print all the time now. I suppose requesting to lose the "of" is futile, but, well, it is "that big a deal" to me.
2. "Orientated," unless you're British or Canadian. We U.S. of A-ers should be saying "oriented."
3. "Jew-ler-y," same disclaimer (British/Canadian spelling is jewellery). It's JEW-el-ry.
4. "New-kew-ler" as a pronunciation for "nuclear." Please, say "new-KLEE-er."
5. "REE-lit-ter" as a pronunciation for "Realtor" (which is also, unless things have changed, supposed to be capitalized). Say "REE-ul-ter."
6. Should of, would of, could of. Nope, it's should have, would have, could have. Despite what the pronunciation of contractions such as should've and shoulda would lead us to believe.
7. "In so." Strictly a regionalism (I think), this phrase occurs in remarks such as "Great weather we're having, in so?" or "Please turn out the lights when you leave, in so?" It's an expression asking for agreement and I suspect it's a short form of "isn't that so?" During my childhood, my dad pointed it out to me as a local expression that wasn't standard English ("It's not for educated people," is what he meant, but he was very kind about getting this across) and I dropped it from my vocabulary like a hot potato. Thanks, Dad. :)

What did I miss? If you're longing for a chance to play "language police," go to it. :D

March Critique Giveaway Winners!

2011-03-28T12:00:00.004-05:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: Mary Witzl and Amie Kaufman!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is April 20.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Mary and Amie, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

March Book Pick -- Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner

2011-03-24T06:00:00.184-05:00

READ THIS. IT'S FANTASTIC.

Claire Boucher loves three things: her family's maple syrup farm, math, and figure skating. And something happens to her that so many kids, in their heart of hearts, dream about -- she gets Discovered. A world-class coach originally from Russia is looking for his next star, and suddenly Claire is training at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Facility on full scholarship.

And do her parents say, as she fears they might, "Nope, the commute is outrageous, you'll have no time for homework, and what about chores?" They don't. Not for a moment. They say to both Claire and each other, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we'll make it work if it's what YOU/SHE want(s)." Whereas Claire had been prepared to say, "No thanks, it won't work for our family," and walk away. Do I LOVE the integrity and emotional health of these people or what?

Commitment of course involves sacrifice. Claire soon learns that when you train at this level, you live the sport. Practice times, and the days per week she's expected to show up in Lake Placid, increase. Homework -- including her math project on Fibonacci numbers--is a catch-as-catch-can proposition. And some thing simply change. She's far less available to her best friend. She doesn't have time to just skate on the frozen cow pond anymore. She can't join the school MATHCOUNTS team. She misses many aspects of the maple farm, and misses coaching the tiny beginning skaters she loves. Yet she loves Lake Placid, too, and despite normal nerves and uncertainty, proves that she belongs there. She finds a support system in the way that the other skaters handle studying. She makes wonderful new friends, including cute Luke who shares her enthusiasm for Fibonacci and helps her explore the theory that a skater's approach to a jump is a Golden Spiral.

And she makes the Mean Girls mad. Because she's the best. And Luke likes her. And Coach likes her. And they get Very Mad Indeed.

Claire is just a delightful character, as are her parents, her skating cousin Charlotte, and her friends Tasanee, Luke and Abby at Lake Placid. The skating coach is tough but human. Even the mean girls are more than one-dimensional, as we get to see inside the family problems of one and the family figure skating legacy of another. SPOILERS: And in the end, the one who challenges Claire most directly for top spot is also the one to show the most decency.

Claire learns a lot about whom to trust and that "the kisses of an enemy may be profuse," as Proverbs says. She also learns specific, helpful things about mental challenges that readers can apply to most any pursuit. But the issue that lingers long after the story ends, is this: Just what IS our responsibility to our talent? Though she must struggle and work hard, Claire clearly has what it takes to reach national and perhaps Olympic level. Does this obligate her? She has left a full, rich, and varied life behind to pursue skating with her whole being -- is that what one must do when the talent level is there? Should we be frustrated with people who have abundant talent yet walk away? (I think of so many parents and teachers who bemoan "gifted kids" who won't "apply themselves.") I don't think there are easy answers to these questions, and that makes this story excellent for any kind of discussion group.

And that's not the end of the fun. Tasanee, Claire's good skating friend, loves to read (and finds time for it!). Her genre of choice is popular paranormal YA. If you know that genre, you'll have fun figuring out which titles and authors she's reading.

Enough talk -- If you like excellent contemporary MG, get a copy of Sugar and Ice and, like Tasanee, start reading. :)

March Critique Giveaway

2011-03-17T06:00:00.005-05:00

It's critique time. Enter to win! Here are the rules and caveats:

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. By "manuscript" I mean the first 1000 words of a children's magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel. Please, fiction only. No picture books or easy readers. No poetry.
Enter the drawing by commenting on this post AND stating that you wish to enter. This frees you up to comment, ask a question, or just say hey WITHOUT throwing your name in the hat.
For an additional entry, become a follower, and tell me so (or that you already are one).
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.
You may enter one ms. per month. No one person can win both critiques in a single month.
Include your email in the comment. But if not, be sure to check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday March 27.
Any story that you plan to enter in an ICL contest is ineligible. Since I am an ICL instructor, I cannot edit stories that you intend to enter in an Institute contest.
My critique is only one opinion. This business is SO subjective. Any suggestions I make that resonate with you are yours for the taking. Compare mine with those from other beta readers, critique partners, writing teachers, etc. Even if specific suggestions vary, when two or more critiquers pinpoint a certain passage or aspect, there's probably a need for revision there. Yet don't feel you must take advice you don't agree with. In the end, it's your story.
Winners will be announced Monday, March 28.

So if the above sounds good to you, let the entering begin!

Soapbox Series #3 (or Reading, 'Riting, Ranting) -- "I Don't Have Time to Write"

2011-03-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

You know those pet topics? The ones people raise over and over again, the oft-voiced misconceptions, the FAQs, the "if I had a nickel..." comments, the remarks that make you want to wax eloquent? Most any human endeavor offers them, certainly every profession, and writing is no different. This irregular column covers such topics that I find commonly raised by aspiring writers, acquaintances, those closer than acquaintances, or people who are simply fascinated by what writers do, and allows me to rant -- er, expound -- on them. Today's "if I had a nickel" comment is: "I don't have time to write," its variation, "I'll write as soon as life settles down," and its question form: "How do you find time to write?"

I got this question once in the supermarket cereal aisle. I was a little surprised at the source. She'd been a high school classmate; extra-curricular list as long as your arm; took every college-prep class offered; played two musical instruments; and went on to become a teacher, wife, mom, and volunteer. I expected somebody this savvy, and with this much energy to burn, to know better, I guess. I opened my mouth, and this is what came out: "How do you find time to work?" I was gratified by the understanding that lit her face. She got it. She made time for her profession, and all the commitment and dedication that implies, and I made time for mine.

But she's rare, plus we were comparing career time-slots in each of our lives head-to-head. The question seems more of a quandary when you already have a day job, when a crisis hits, or when you're an at-home mom wondering how to fit in even a bathroom break. It's tempting, in these cases, to feel that the only difference between you and a writer is that the writer has hours of empty time to fill and you don't. Or, in a slightly less arrogant vein, the writer lives in a book-lined study with a cup of tea, a cat, a view, the scent of lilacs wafting in on the breeze, enchanting tales spilling from her tranquil brain, and nothing but the soft clack of keys to punctuate the idyllic silence. While you live in kid-screaming, traffic-honking, clock-watching, boss-yelling, errand-running, TV-chattering, phone-ringing, head-pounding, meeting-cluttered, double-booked chaos.

Which uncovers one huge misconception: That writers live in a bubble, and until we can become Bubble Boy/Girl, we're stuck. You'll write when the kids get older, you say? What -- you think it gets easier then? When they need you to take them to the mall, help choose their high school classes, practice driving, talk late at night, apply to colleges, visit colleges, apply for financial aid, plan weddings -- and then it's "Hello Grandma" and there you are with little kids again? Now what -- do you wait for those kids to get older too? And the foregoing represents only the parental curriculum; what about the parental extra-curriculars? What if you can't say no to the barrage of requests to coach sports, chaperon field trips, teach Sunday School, direct the choir, be the team mom? What if (gasp) you homeschool? Why would the kids getting older magically uncover any writing time? Especially when your parents are now older, too? As are you.

Writers write, publish, and smile through their promo events with life in all its messy glory seething behind the scenes. They do it with cancer and other serious illnesses or conditions--their own or a family member's. They do it with crumbling marriages, wayward kids, threatened foreclosures, and ongoing legal hassles. I'll be honest: Some of them do it through situations that would knock the pegs out from under me. They do it through neutral or happy times, too: moves, weddings, births, remodeling projects, job changes. We can't predict whether or when many of these things will happen. Every time one of them occurs, will it be a roadblock that makes you say, "I'll write as soon as life settles down"? If so, you won't sustain enough forward momentum to really, in the end, be a writer.

We all find time for what we really want to do. Making time to write (or do anything else) is about choices, and it's about plugging time leaks. I've long believed in scheduling my time on a week-by-week basis, and I strongly recommend the book 168 Hours: You Have More Time than You Think by Laura Vanderkam. She advises this: Every time you say the words "I don't have time," substitute "It's not a priority." Then examine how you feel about that. If it's not a priority, then indeed, don't make time for it. But if it is a priority, there's no sensible next step but to do just that. Yes, if you are a writer, you do have time to work, nurture a family, exercise, eat right, sleep enough -- and write.

More Writer's First Aid: Getting the Writing Done--Book Two, by Kristi Holl

2011-03-03T06:00:00.240-06:00

Quickie Question: What's THE MOST important factor in a would-be writer's success?

Talent level? High-concept story ideas? Those matter, no doubt, but publication doesn't always go to the most talented or most commercial. Mastery of craft? Well, yes, but what enables us to stay the course long enough to even begin to achieve it? Having time to write? Nope, you're getting colder. :) If you're thinking along the lines of perseverance, you're getting warmer, but I'd like to state it this way: The single greatest aid to your success as a writer is creating a writing life that works for you. In her latest book, More Writer's First Aid, Kristi Holl, the author of almost 40 books and a writing instructor for over 25 years, helps you do just that.

If there's one thing Kristi knows, it's that dreams, broad goals, and well-laid plans are one matter; but working through the daily grind, interruptions, fears, procrastination, illnesses, vacations, disapproving family members, computer crashes, Facebook addictions, job demands, and too-frequent trips to the fridge are quite another. Too many days of the latter, and we won't accomplish the former. Too many days of the latter...and that becomes our life. The writing doesn't happen. But it doesn't have to be this way. For those bugaboos that are usually our first snares--no matter how long we've been writing--there is first aid.

In a conversational, writer-to-writer style and short-chapter format, Kristi discusses many aspects of enjoying the writing life, good work habits, a writer's emotions, and home and family concerns. For example: Did you know that procrastination is a cycle? I never thought of it that way, but the good news is that cycles can be broken! Kristi shows how. And though it may be no surprise that lots of time gets eaten up online, if we can control even one aspect, such as compulsive email checking, we'll gain not only time but sustained concentration. “If the average e-mail checker takes 64 seconds to recover her train of thought," Kristi writes, "I'm guessing that the average creative writer takes longer than that. For fiction especially, you have to take time to re-enter your pretend world. You have to re-immerse yourself in your characters, the setting, the problem, and the emotional place in the current scene.” Italics mine, as I couldn't agree more!

Do you need "permission" to write what you love, what you're passionate about, instead of what you think will sell and bring in an income to "justify" your writing? You'll receive that encouragement here. Do you need to make time to write with preschoolers underfoot--or college kids home on break? There's a whole chapter on writing during the various stages of parenthood. And, sometimes, we all need to weather things much tougher than mountains of laundry, phone calls bugging us to chair this or that committee, or friends who don't get why we don't just quit already. For those hard times, there are chapters titled "Writing Through the Storms of Life" and "Writing After Major Losses."

More Writer's First Aid: Getting the Writing Done, Book Two is available NOW in e-book format through Kristi's website (a more colorful .pdf version) and on Amazon Kindle (black and white version for Kindle, iPad, Blackberry, etc.). Having this book at hand is like having a good writer friend right in your own office.

February Critique Giveaway Winners!

2011-02-28T12:00:00.006-06:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: Bish Denham and Anne Spollen!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is March 16.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Bish and Anne, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

February Book Pick: After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

2011-02-24T06:00:00.147-06:00

Critique giveaway still open! Enter through February 27. Scroll down one post.

This winner of the 2011 Schneider Family award at the middle-grade level is a fantastic read. Jeffrey, age thirteen, is a leukemia survivor. As tough as things have been, his parents and his brother eight years his senior have always been there for him. But Jeffrey has a way of eavesdropping on conversations that tell him more than he'd like to know. Such as the reason his brother Steven has quit college to go to Africa and play the drums: he needs a break from Jeff's dependence, and from the family who made everything all about Jeff during his illness.

This book is about how Jeffrey copes with the fact that "cancer survivor" is a label that follows him everywhere. To the extent that his best friend is also a cancer survivor, having had TWO forms of cancer. To the extent that he suffers lasting effects from chemo and radiation in the form of a limp and near-complete hopelessness with math. Jeff's darkly humorous friend Tad uses a wheelchair most of the time, and both boys have special permission to take notes on a laptop in class due to motor skill problems.

Eighth grade starts on a positive note, though. He instantly bonds with a friendly, funny new girl named Lindsey, who happens to be gorgeous on top of it. He makes a pact with Tad: He will help his friend get in shape to walk across the stage at eighth-grade graduation if Tad will help him try to pass math. Soon, though, he finds out how crucial passing math will be: if he cannot pass the state-mandated achievement tests, he will be held back in eighth grade. And when your father is an accountant and you're not even that sure he likes you these days, the pressure is even greater.

This is one of those books that tempts me to gush. The voice, the character growth, the portrayal of two different experiences of cancer survival -- the more upbeat Jeff's and the less confident Tad's -- make for a very absorbing read. I love the sudden insights into a cancer survivor's experience that you know in your gut are wholly accurate even if you've never had cancer, such as Tad's realization that his parents had his younger sister in case he didn't survive, and figuring out how to have "the talk" with people when they become important to you. This book is serious, yet fun; heavy, yet normal middle school stuff; and Jeff is hugely likable. Books and movies don't make me cry much. This one made me tear up.

SPOILER: Strictly from a writer's POV here, I knew something at the start of the story: Tad had to die. Both of these boys would not be able to survive; Tad had to portray the other experience, the sadder outcome. Before he ever reaches eighth grade graduation and that walk across the stage, Tad relapses and deteriorates quickly, his death all the sadder because it's a shock, and it happens the day Jeff triumphs in a bike ride to raise funds for cancer research. When Jeff accepts Tad's diploma at graduation along with his own, and visits Tad's grave in the last chapter, there's no artificial tear-jerking. If reading fiction is about an emotional experience, this book delivers in spades.

I picked it up not knowing it's a sequel to an earlier title, Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, told from Steven's POV after Jeff, age five, is diagnosed. Though you may want to read the books in order, After Ever After completely stands alone. HIGHLY recommended.

February Critique Giveaway

2011-02-17T06:00:00.003-06:00

It's critique time. Enter to win! Here are the rules and caveats:

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. By "manuscript" I mean the first 1000 words of a children's magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel. Please, fiction only. No picture books or easy readers. No poetry.
Enter the drawing by commenting on this post AND stating that you wish to enter. This frees you up to comment, ask a question, or just say hey WITHOUT throwing your name in the hat.
For an additional entry, become a follower, and tell me so (or that you already are one).
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.
You may enter one ms. per month. No one person can win both critiques in a single month.
Include your email in the comment. But if not, be sure to check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday February 27.
Any story that you plan to enter in an ICL contest is ineligible. Since I am an ICL instructor, I cannot edit stories that you intend to enter in an Institute contest.
My critique is only one opinion. This business is SO subjective. Any suggestions I make that resonate with you are yours for the taking. Compare mine with those from other beta readers, critique partners, writing teachers, etc. Even if specific suggestions vary, when two or more critiquers pinpoint a certain passage or aspect, there's probably a need for revision there. Yet don't feel you must take advice you don't agree with. In the end, it's your story.
Winners will be announced Monday, February 28.

So if the above sounds good to you, let the entering begin!

February Book Giveaway Winner!

2011-02-14T12:00:00.005-06:00

Random.org says the winner of Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool is: Vijaya!

You have 30 days to claim your prize, Vijaya. No later than March 14, email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com, giving me your postal address, and I'll acknowledge receipt and get that right out to you!

Writers as Warriors

2011-02-10T06:00:00.151-06:00

Newbery book giveaway still open! Win Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, now through February 13! Scroll down one post.

Okay, so I'm not sure where this post is going. I'll start out by saying that I'm not a military type. At all. I greatly respect those who are, because I could never cut it, physically or emotionally. I was raised by a father who was part of the WWII Marine landing on Tarawa. He survived, though injured and at one point given six months to live. I learned early to ask no questions. I had to get my answers from books. (And it was fictional accounts that brought the horror of Tarawa to life. Nonfiction may be facts, but fiction is truth.) I'm sure my father suffered from what would now be called PTSD. I grew up giving thanks every day that I was a girl, because everybody knew boys went to war. It was inevitable. And yet my dad not only went, but rushed to enlist after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Incomprehensible.

But I've learned a few things, and come to believe a few things:

When you have an enemy, you fight. Appeasement doesn't lead to peace. It invites more aggression, because an enemy that's truly an enemy doesn't want peace with you. He wants to destroy you. When someone engages you in war, you're in one, whether you face it or not.
As a Christian, I take the "bad news" seriously: We have an enemy, a real one, and he wants to destroy us. "Us" meaning everybody.
Persecution makes you stronger. For example, every time the early church suffered a blow and was scattered, it served to spread the church, not squelch it. When the Apostle Paul was chained for preaching the gospel, the reason for his chains was repeated far and wide.

Attack came. Attack that I knew was spiritual but manifested in the natural. I warred. In prayer. Hours a day. Quiet. Loud. Confident. Scared. Strong. Broken. In every way I could learn about and every way I already knew. And. Did. Not. Give. Up.

And won. Intercessory prayer is, primarily, war. Who knew?

And then came the books on writing. The Art of War for Writers, by James Scott Bell. And next, so help me, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, the latter of which names our enemy "Resistance" and exposes its many guises and deceptions. How can I help but conclude that the concept of writer as warrior is something I need to understand, and understand now?

Pressfield says this to those who let Resistance keep them from their craft: "You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite the Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God. Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got."

If that weren't enough, St. Bernard of Claireaux said, "Every word you write is a blow that smites the devil."

Well, then I'll try to get in as many licks as I can.

February Book Giveaway

2011-02-03T06:00:00.036-06:00

The ALA awards loved historical fiction this year! I find it delightful and amazing that historical novels swept the Newbery category, and interestingly enough, more than one of the books feature kids leaving home to live with others during the tough times of the Depression and WWII.

The gold-medal winner, Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, is a debut novel about twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker. She's a rough-and-tumble Depression child, used to hopping trains, growing up without a mother. When her dad gets a job in a place he deems too rough for young ladies, he sends her to spend the summer with an old friend. She jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, her father's hometown, hoping to learn more about him by investigating his earlier life. The book features a full cast of colorful characters and a dual storyline that alternates between Manifest in the years 1939 and 1918 -- America's entry into WWI. An ambitious overview of US history in the early 1900s, and a lot of story, all in one package.

To be entered in the drawing:

Comment on this post anytime from now through Sunday, February 13.
For an additional entry, become a follower of this blog and mention that in the comment. Ditto if you already are a follower.
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.

Winner will be announced Monday, February 14.

So, come one, come all--and meanwhile have a great day in the world of books.

January Critique Winners!

2011-01-31T12:00:00.011-06:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: Emy Shin and Andrea Mack!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is February 16.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Emy and Andrea, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

Forge, by Laurie Halse Anderson

2011-01-27T06:00:00.139-06:00

Enter to win critique giveaway through January 30! Scroll down one post.

This book for ages 10 and up, like its predecessor Chains, is set during the American Revolution. We leave Isabel, the protagonist of the first book, to follow her friend Curzon as he accidentally ends up in the battle of Saratoga, makes friends and enemies with other soldiers, spends the winter at Valley Forge, and through it all, wonders if Isabel is still alive--and if he, a runaway slave who'd been a Patriot soldier a year prior, can manage to avoid recapture by his master, Bellingham.

Despite a prologue that reminds us how Isabel and Curzon escaped slavery, the book gets off to a fast start. The shooting begins by the third page of chapter 1, and Curzon is drawn inexorably back into the war when he throws a rock at a Redcoat that gives a Patriot soldier a chance to kill him. We see all the horror of the winter at Valley Forge, including months spent in the snow with no shoes or socks, men clad in nothing but literal rags--such soldiers were classified in roll call as "present but unfit for duty"--and no food except "firecake"--flour mixed with water and fried black in the fire.

This book feels a little more like a history lesson than Chains does, and I think that's because Curzon's story follows the war events so closely, whereas Isabel's relationship with her learning-disabled sister Ruth is central to Chains. I loved Chains and wasn't quite as swept away by Forge--but I liked it a lot. A real lot. The history comes alive in the story, the book is painstakingly researched, and in these times of diluted teaching of history, this is history we need to not lose.

Yet it's not all an American history lesson. For instance, when he thinks about Isabel, fifteen-year-old Curzon realizes his thoughts have gone beyond friendship. SPOILERS AHEAD: When he was younger, he'd been taught he shouldn't kiss anyone to whom he couldn't tell the story of how he'd got his name. In a lovely scene, after he's met up with Isabel again (because you know he will, right?) Curzon tells her how his mother, a Brazilian slave, had always whispered to his father in Portuguese, "You are my heart," and that the word for "heart" had been fashioned into his name. And then, Curzon tells us, "Before I could kiss her, Isabel kissed me."

Though the way in which Curzon and Isabel are reunited is a bit of a stretch, I found that only a minor distraction. The story of Isabel and Curzon will be concluded in a third volume, Ashes, which I'll certainly be picking up. Appendix, glossary and acknowledgments included. Forge is definitely recommended.

January Critique Giveaway

2011-01-20T06:00:00.014-06:00

It's 2011, and it's critique time again! Here are the rules and caveats:

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. By "manuscript" I mean the first 1000 words of a children's magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel. Please, fiction only. No picture books or easy readers. No poetry.
Enter the drawing by commenting on this post AND stating that you wish to enter. This frees you up to comment, ask a question, or just say hey WITHOUT throwing your name in the hat.
For an additional entry, become a follower, and tell me so (or that you already are one).
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.
You may enter one ms. per month. No one person can win both critiques in a single month.
Include your email in the comment. But if not, be sure to check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday January 30.
Any story that you plan to enter in an ICL contest is ineligible. Since I am an ICL instructor, I cannot edit stories that you intend to enter in an Institute contest.
My critique is only one opinion. This business is SO subjective. Any suggestions I make that resonate with you are yours for the taking. Compare mine with those from other beta readers, critique partners, writing teachers, etc. Even if specific suggestions vary, when two or more critiquers pinpoint a certain passage or aspect, there's probably a need for revision there. Yet don't feel you must take advice you don't agree with. In the end, it's your story.
Winners will be announced Monday, January 31.

So if the above sounds good to you, let the entering begin!

Blocks, Anyone? Part 2

2011-01-17T06:00:00.126-06:00

Scroll down one post for Part 1.

Last time, I talked about whether writer's block is real and how it might be defined. Sometimes blocks have to do with certain fears we hold. But sometimes it's more about feeling stymied on our WIP (work in progress). Here are possible definitions of writer's block that I listed in the first post but have yet to discuss. Is writer's block:

Inability to come up with a story idea?
Inability to figure out what happens next in your story?
Inability to concentrate because life pulls you in a million directions?
Inability to get your protagonist out of the predicament you got her into?

Story ideas are funny. Lots of writers have way more than they'll ever use. Others feel they've come up with something original, even ground-breaking--yet it's like a million other books. Still others are like Toad, of Frog and Toad fame, who stands on his head, pours water on himself, bangs his head against the wall, and still can't think of a story. Sometimes inability to think of a story happens when we've been giving, giving, giving out, whether in writing or just life, and haven't let the creative well fill. Try doing something you love. Start a new hobby or resurrect an old one. Visit a museum or go outdoors. Walk. Drink tea and let your mind wander. Pray. Get a decent night's sleep for once. Read or look at pictures on any subject that piques your fancy. Remember that ideas can come from the least likely places, at the least likely times. WRITE THEM DOWN. NOW. Don't think the idea is so great you can't possibly forget. You will, and you'll kick yourself. It'll take 30-60 seconds, and unless the house is burning down there's nothing more significant or lasting you can do with those seconds. If you're behind the wheel, pull over if possible. If you often get ideas while driving, keep a voice recorder handy to record them, or consider dictating them to a passenger.

A lot of the same techniques can help you get past tough spots in the story itself. The two I hear over and over again are WALK and TAKE A SHOWER. In my experience, walking helps both idea generation and stuck plots, and showering helps the latter. BIG TIME. Who knows why it works? It only matters that it does. The only thing you really have to do is be thinking about your story when you turn the water on. One final thought: Studying craft is an obvious help in dealing with plot or other story problems. Studying craft may not get you through a block; but then again it may, if the block has happened because you've hit the wall at your present level of craft.

As for those million directions--in some seasons of life they truly cannot be helped. But it's our job to figure out if we're in one of those seasons or if we're allowing ourselves to be victims in our own lives, not taking charge, not prioritizing, not saying no to the wasteful, or even to the good that's the enemy of the best. A million directions don't only block time to write, but they block our sense of ourselves as writers, to the point where we can feel blocked simply because we haven't picked up the WIP in so long that inertia has set in. It's easier to just not write, because we can no longer tap into the contentment, sense of well-being, or excitement that writing brings. Two or three days of discipline in sitting down and just "pulling teeth" to get back into the story can restart the flow -- and the fun -- again. Most of the time we're in a place where the choice is ours: We can write, or we can let things we imagine we "have" to do crowd it out. But that's a whole other rant--er, post.

What's your experience with writer's block? Is it real? What do you see as the causes and cures?

Blocks, Anyone?

2011-01-13T06:00:00.135-06:00

Writer's block is something I've never thought much about. I don't really consider myself as having had it. Writers as celebrated as Katherine Paterson have said they don't believe in it. When I was a teen, my rough drafts just spilled out. When I was writing MG novel series on deadline, there was no time to indulge myself with a "block." I guess my attitude toward writer's block has mostly been that it's mythical, a tad self-important, and something many newly serious writers fear they must encounter as a rite of passage. And if one hasn't had it, why bother dissecting it?

Yet others believe it's real, and I've had students ask about it, especially recently. The first thing to do, it seems, is define what we're talking about. What is writer's block?

The fear that anything you write will be horrible?
Inability to come up with a story idea?
Inability to figure out what happens next in your story?
Inability to concentrate because life pulls you in a million directions?
Inability to get your protagonist out of the predicament you got her into?
Self-protection: If your dream remains a dream, it can't crash and burn?
The fear of showing your work to people?

It seems writer's block(s) may come in many shapes and colors, and be called different things by different people. Of the above definitions, the first one and the last two seem to be a struggle in getting your writing from inside yourself to outside yourself, a struggle driven mainly by fear. In other words, the block is us!?!? For one thing, in the beginning we can keep our work private. Let your writing come out onto the screen or page and be what it is. If it's horrible, you are normal. Really. Any professional writer has written a first draft worthy to be taken with the Sears catalog out to what my father used to call "the little house out back." A book I recommend often, Writing it Right, by Sandy Asher, shows the progress of a number of short stories, picture books, and novel beginnings from first draft to published version. Some of the first drafts are cringe-worthy, but the authors didn't let that stop them. They persevered through many rewrites until the results were excellent and publishable. In fact, I'd go so far as to say whether or not a first draft is icky is beside the point. It's meant merely to get the story idea down and serve as a foundation for rewrites. If it does that, it's not horrible at all.

Of course, if you hope to write as something other than just a private outlet, you must show your work to someone eventually. Now this may come across as a shameless plug, but it's one I believe in: One of the best ways for a beginning writer to find compassionate, knowledgeable, individualized, private help is to take an ICL course. (If writing for adults, you want Long Ridge.) This way, you only have to show your work to your instructor, you don't have to do it face to face, and your instructor balances kindness with knowing what he or she is doing. Hey, I have an acronym of sorts here: P(rivate), I(ndividualized), C(ompassionate), K(knowledeable) -- PICK! Uh -- well, okay, it is a word, though. :)

This is getting lengthy, so come back on Monday the 17th for discussion of writer's block definitions 2 through 5.

What do you think? Is writer's block real? What would you add to or subtract from my list?

Blessings of the New Year

2011-01-06T06:00:00.055-06:00

Book giveaways will resume the first Thursday of next month, February 3!

Until then, though, it gives me great pleasure to present:

Paige Olivia was born December 15, making four generations of women in our family. As if it weren't obvious, we are, left to right, me, my mom, my granddaughter, and my daughter. And here, a shot of the oldest and youngest at our Christmas Eve gathering.

While we're on women, here's a picture of my sister and me, with the reality of kitchen prep behind us (in one sense, at least):

Grandpa, though is a REAL multitasker:

Okay, I know everybody's kids/grandkids are cute, but you gotta love this:

And who has her arms wide open to the possibilities of 2011?

And my favorites among the wonderful pro shots, by a close and talented friend of my daughter --

And if I weren't humbled enough by my blessings -- these are the priceless little people for whom we write. The privilege, the responsibility...God entrusts it to us... Words fail.

It's Goof-Off Day!

2010-12-30T06:00:00.063-06:00

...During which we goof off by reliving last summer's goofing off, since this is obviously not a winter picture. This is my critique group at a surprise birthday party for the lady in the baseball hat, whose family managed to keep the sizable bash a complete surprise, and who probably wouldn't have worn the hat if she'd guessed what was going down.

This group of writers has been together for 15+ years, during which we've celebrated books, awards, children's weddings, births of grandchildren, a retirement, a college graduation, and did I mention books? And unlike many groups that meet for a two-hour time slot and stick to business, we need our full, non-clock-watching measure of food and conversation -- call it goofing off if you like -- before we ever get down to the business we purportedly got together for.

There's a certain level of ease and familiarity that develops before people can goof off together. Today, why not take a few moments to give thanks for those with whom you can goof off?

Dream of Night, by Heather Henson

2010-12-23T06:00:00.096-06:00

Twelve-year-old Shiloh, abused by a stepfather, has been in and out of so many foster homes (she refers to the foster parents as "Foster Freaks") that the next step is an institution. Dream of Night, a thoroughbred horse abused by his owner after he stopped winning races, is so damaged that his next step is the glue factory. Elderly Jessalyn DiLima, whose own past holds pain and loss, has been both a foster parent and horse rescuer for many years. But when Shiloh and Night need help at the same time, she's not too sure she isn't too old for all this. Shiloh isn't willing to cut "Mrs. Lima Bean" much slack, and Night screams whenever he sees the woman, but slowly, Night and Shiloh begin to win each other over. Then, just as all three are admitting in their deepest selves that this threesome arrangement holds out hope, logical -- but not predictable -- things hit the fan and threaten to break it all apart for them -- again.

The story is told in short chapters, during which each of the three POVs appear in about equal length. Thus, Shiloh is the protagonist of this MG novel really only by virtue of the fact that she's the MG-aged human. The horse and the elderly adult get their POV, too, making this book a rule-breaker, and a highly successful one. What I love is the lyrical, spare language. This is a poetic novel without being a novel in verse. The emotions are so believably rendered that I have no trouble imagining I can see inside an old lady, an extremely troubled girl, and a horse. Give me beautiful writing, emotional depth, a "quiet" book, yet an actual plot, and I'm hooked.

I have to say a few things about readership. The jacket flap gives a suggested age range of 8-12, but I'd be more apt to say 5th grade and up, for two reasons. One is that the emotional nuances are more advanced than the book's reading level; the second is that references to cigarette burns on Shiloh, the "bag of bones" condition of Night, and violence (veiled by Shiloh's confusion, but there) at the climax may be upsetting to some. Still, this is a lovely story of "last chance" redemption, a horse story with appeal to an audience far broader than just horse lovers, and a book with something for adults as well as their kids. An author's note about racehorse abuse is appended. One of my favorites of the "Newbery buzz" books this year.

Thinking and Dreaming and Writing

2010-12-16T06:00:00.001-06:00

A lot of people have just finished NaNoWriMo, aiming at and in many cases achieving the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. Doable? Many have shown that it is, and some even go on to publish novels that began as NaNo projects. And when you consider that's "only" 1,666.66666666... words per day (see, I said there'd be math in this blog), it really doesn't sound that bad, despite the fact that lightning-fast drafting has never really worked for me. Of course, there's Thanksgiving in there, and if you have to put on the dinner we'd better subtract another day, and let's allow one Christmas shopping day too, because if you don't start on Black Friday you'll probably start soon after -- or continue shopping that you've already begun. So subtract at minimum three days, and your daily total is now 1,851.8518, which is another very cool number. It means you have to write close to 2,000 words per day, but it's still cool.

But maybe you, like I, don't do NaNo. When you're writing, you still want to produce words, right? Lately, that's certainly my goal. My WIP is taking longer than I want it to, which is par for the course in my experience. But sometimes, no matter how much you want to get words down, everything slows to a crawl or even a halt. Sometimes, I feel like this guy:

When my writing slows to a crawl, I've learned it means one of two things: (1) I don't know what comes next, or (2) I've recently taken a wrong turn. The solution to either problem is the same -- it's time to get off the word count treadmill and think, dream, listen. While Don Music may listen to a green frog, I listen deep inside. I may reread the last chapter, ask the Holy Spirit, let my imagination run free in my fictional setting, do a spot of research for an upcoming scene and hit on a new plot point better than the one I had planned, or think about my story in the shower, which is a well-nigh foolproof way of coming unstuck. I tap into something that will start the story, and therefore the words, flowing again. It's when the words and the need to cover the page get ahead of the story that the writing grinds to a stop. Which means that on days I think, dream, pray, imagine or douse myself, I may get very few words written but discover the key to the whole book. I also rediscover the most mysterious, spiritual and joyful part of writing. The part I wanted to live when I started this whole business.

Maybe that shower is a literal filling of the well... :)

December Book Giveaway Winner!

2010-12-13T12:00:00.006-06:00

Random.org says the winner of Falling In by Frances O'Roark Dowell AND the bonus MG novel is: sablelexi!

You have 30 days to claim your prize, sablelexi. No later than January 13, email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com, giving me your postal address, and I'll acknowledge receipt and get that right out to you!

Soapbox Series #2 (Reading, 'Riting, Ranting) -- "I Can Write Except for the Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling."

2010-12-09T06:00:00.182-06:00

Enter to win Falling in by Frances O'Roark Dowell through December 12! Scroll down one post.

Yep, and I could be a carpenter if it weren't for that pesky hammering and sawing.

Your tools matter. Your most basic tools really matter.

Because writing a book isn't just about getting a super, wonderful idea. Actually, many would-be writers do realize this, approach a published writer and say, "I've got this great idea. How about you write it and we split the take?" The published writer will *almost always say no, but it's too facile to say this is because he or she is too busy. It's really because the published writer already has the ideas and the writing. Until the would-be also has both, until the would-be is also the complete package, he or she will remain a would-be.

* Tim LaHaye, who is not a novelist, had the idea for the Left Behind series and asked Jerry Jenkins, who is a novelist, to write the books. But they are both writers, and LaHaye's particular expertise was foundational to the series.

Yes, a novelist is a storyteller. But the novelist conveys his or her stories in, well, prose (and occasionally verse). Which has rules. There are other ways to tell stories: orally, in movies, in song, in art, even in video games. If you want to employ those media, you have to gain whatever skills are required in order to do a quality job. If you want to write a story, you do need grammar, punctuation, and spelling to get that story across. Lacking these, your story will be different from, and less than, your vision for it. Lacking these, you won't get an agent's or editor's time of day. Because they can buy from people who are the complete package.

Doesn't an editor "fix all that"? No. An editor pitches to her employer's acquisitions committee the most top-quality work she can possibly find, in both story and writing. The editor will write the author a revision letter, sometimes a long one, as the publication process begins, but those revisions won't be about mechanics. A copyeditor, whose job it is to fix light mechanical errors, will go over the manuscript too, but this is a far cry from fixing the work of writers who don't know how to use their tools.

As writers, we have many skills to learn, about storytelling, about writing, and about the particulars of conveying a story through writing. Writers and teachers argue over whether and which of these skills can be taught or learned. A sense of language and a "way with words," many say, must be innate. But grammar, punctuation and spelling are highly learnable, and they aren't something you either had to master in middle school or the chance is gone forever. Taking a class is always an option, but for self-study there are a number of funny, helpful grammar books. Funny? Yes! Here's a sampling of titles:

Things That Make us (Sic), by Martha Brockenbrough
Lapsing into a Comma, by Bill Walsh
The Elephants of Style, by Bill Walsh
Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, by Mignon Fogarty
The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier, by Bonnie Trenga

This isn't an exhaustive list by far, and many of these authors have websites and blogs, too. And since, no matter our skill level, we all need to sharpen the tools in our box, I'm sure these enticing titles get plenty of workout from all sorts of writers. How about you -- do you have a favorite grammar/punctuation/spelling book? Do tell!

December Book Giveaway + Christmas Bonus!

2010-12-02T06:00:00.052-06:00

Isabelle Bean doesn't fit in, at school or at home. It's not hard for many of us to relate. Isabelle, star of Falling In by Frances O'Roark Dowell, is an imaginative girl who just knows there's "more." So when she falls into an alternate world on the other side of the school nurse's closet door, she's not that surprised -- except the children in that world decide that her red, pointy-toed boots mean she's a witch. After she convinces them she's not, they urge her to take refuge in the children's camp in the woods so she won't get eaten by the real witch, which is just enough incentive for the unconventional girl to go off on a quest to discover if the "real witch" is any more a witch than she is. An introduction to fantasy for 8-12, with a mystery element, this story also uses a "performance" type of voice, complete with author asides. Though that's not everyone's cup of tea, the effects are interesting to study, and the book has good potential as a fun read-aloud.

To be entered in the drawing:

Comment on this post anytime from now through Sunday, December 12.
For an additional entry, become a follower of this blog and mention that in the comment. Ditto if you already are a follower.
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.
Special this month: Winner receives a Merry Christmas bonus book! This is another hardcover MG novel published in 2010!

Winner will be announced Monday, December 13.

So, come one, come all--and meanwhile have a great day in the world of books.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T06:00:00.015-06:00

Wishing all in the US a wonderful, blessed, and safe Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, food -- and thanksgiving.

One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia

2010-11-18T06:00:00.147-06:00

It's the summer of 1968, and eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, fly from NYC to Oakland, CA, to visit the mother who abandoned them shortly after Fern's birth some seven years ago. The trouble is, though the girls visualize themselves surfing, spotting stars in soda shops, and visiting Disneyland, their mother Cecile just says, "I didn't send for y'all in the first place." The most motherly thing Cecile does is show up to collect them at the airport and admit "These are mine" to the stewardess who hands them over to her. Once they reach Cecile's house they are relieved of their money, fed once a day on Chinese take-out, forbidden to even step foot in the kitchen (where Cecile writes poetry and publishes it on her own small printing press) -- and sent to a Black Panther day camp to stay out of Cecile's hair. Though they're certain their father and grandmother, Big Ma, would be appalled at this treatment -- the adults consider Cecile crazy -- they also feel the girls can't be kept from knowing their mother forever. So the trio must stick it out for one month.

All three girls are strong characters. Delphine is conscientious, plain-spoken and humorous; Vonetta is a social-climber prone to the dramatic; and Fern observant and cagey. There are a number of good lines, and the interweaving of historical tidbits is smooth. This book has gotten a lot of love and plenty of Newbery buzz.

One of the most striking aspects of the novel is the portrayal of Black Panthers as more than strident revolutionaries. Particularly convincing is the fact that we don't just see a dramatization of events that made headline news, as we do in many historical novels. This book brings the Black Panthers all the more to life because it shows us the daily minutiae -- the gentleness, the teaching of children to respect themselves and their race, the providing of meals. I couldn't set this book down without concluding there was more range and depth to the Black Panthers than what we saw in newspapers and on TV in 1968. Without respecting them more. To me, this is the book's greatest achievement.

November Book Giveaway Winner!

2010-11-16T12:00:00.007-06:00

Random.org says the winner of Clementine, Friend of the Week by Sara Pennypacker is: Anonymous Amy!

You have 30 days to claim your prize, Amy. No later than December 16, email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com, giving me your postal address, and I'll acknowledge receipt and get that right out to you!

Soapbox Series #1 (or Reading, 'Riting, Ranting) -- "I Want to Quit My Job to Write"

2010-11-11T06:00:00.391-06:00

Enter to win CLEMENTINE, FRIEND OF THE WEEK, through November 15!

You know those pet topics? The ones people raise over and over again, the oft-voiced misconceptions, the FAQs, the "if I had a nickel..." comments, the remarks that make you want to wax eloquent? Most any human endeavor offers them, certainly every profession, and writing is no different. Here, then, commences a new, probably irregular column covering such topics that I find commonly raised by aspiring writers, acquaintances, those closer than acquaintances, or people who are simply fascinated by what writers do, and allowing me to rant -- er, expound -- on them. So without further ado, today's "if I had a nickel" comment is: "I want to quit my job to write."

Well, maybe you do, and maybe you don't.

Writing at home is a subset of working at home, which has wonderful perks and definite drawbacks. Most of these lie on a continuum. Yes, I can work in my jammies (I can also let my appearance go totally to pot). Yes, I don't care if the mother of all blizzards is blizzarding outside (but I can become a big fat weenie about driving in other than perfect weather). Yes, I can set my own hours (but I may end up working more hours than employed people do, or fewer, because people think I'm interruptible, or I may have trouble separating life and work). Yes, I don't have to cope with office politics or prickly co-workers (but I may go nuts all alone -- actually no I won't, but you might). Yes, I don't have to commute (hmm, still trying to come up with a downside to that one). I'll take the pluses -- don't get me wrong -- but we can't have them without risking, and sometimes getting, the minuses.

But that's any working from home, and it's possible someone wanting to ditch the job to write is talking about ditching a work-from-home job. What do we have to consider specifically about full-time writing? Well, it's not like telecommuting for an employer. No salary, no wage, no benefits, no guarantee you'll be adequately paid for the time you put in, and a pretty good chance you'll not be adequately paid, period. Jim Denney, in his breezily titled Quit Your Day Job: How to Sleep Late, Do What You Enjoy, and Make a Ton of Money as a Writer advises this (my words): Realize that you'll start out poor, sock away a year's salary before you make the leap, and plan to squeak by on that money for the first 1-2 years. Hmmm -- save up a year's salary? Let me know how that works out for you. Another point to take into account is that it's awfully hard to know if you can make a go of it after only 1-2 years of full-time effort. Depending on the project, it can take that long to get one submittable-quality book written, the same length of time to sell it, the same length of time to see it between two covers, and another few months to see if it'll succeed or bomb. This could easily add up to 3-6+ years. Even if the book succeeds, that's no predictor that you can sustain a full-time career. Also, Denney has written a number of celebrity autobiographies and memoirs. Celebrities=sales=money, and nonfiction is very often the backbone of a full-time writer's career. Don't misunderstand -- Denney's book gives a lot of good advice. But writing nonfiction book after nonfiction book to tight deadlines is the usual name of the game here, and I'm not at all sure "sleep late" ends up as part of the plan. Because such writing can become another 9-5er (or 9-midnight) in a big hurry.

With fiction writing, the need to rely on your creativity to pay the mortgage or buy food for your kids can put unexpected and unsustainable heavy pressure on something you once found purely enjoyable. Yes, they say do what you love and (1) the money will follow, and (2) you'll never work a day in your life, but there's also truth to the idea that once you have to do what you love, it's work. I know writers who, when given the chance to go full time, chose not to, even though it was what they'd always thought they wanted.They didn't want to think that covering their bills depended on whether their latest project would earn them a contract, and when that might happen. They didn't want to lose the joy.

One big surprise full-time writers often face is that they don't get much more done full-time than they did part-time. Despite all that's been said above about long hours, sometimes 4-5 hours of writing a day is the maximum one can mentally sustain, especially with fiction. Let's say you only manage 3 most days, either because you're not yet as disciplined as you need to be or that's really all you can do. If you previously wrote for three hours most evenings while holding a day job, you're not getting nearly enough extra writing done to justify having dumped the job and its salary and benefits. Another surprise is that "full-time writers" may earn some, or most, of their income from related activities such as teaching, speaking, editing, or writing material much different from their preferred focus. All this drains time and energy from what you really want to be doing.

Quitting your job to write can work well if:

You're married to someone who has a regular paycheck, earns enough to support the family, agrees to be the sole breadwinner, carries the health insurance and 401k, and you consider your income gravy.
You're a stay-at-home parent who would be staying home in any case (there's no job to quit).
You're responsible for only yourself and are willing to live on a shoestring.
You have high risk tolerance.
You're a pretty fast writer.
You write mostly nonfiction, have a solid network of editor contacts, and have a track record of delivering quality work on time.
You're pretty sure that if you ever go back to employment, you want a new job/career.
You sold a book for an advance that wowed you (yeah, it can happen), and/or got a multi-book contract, and now you need to go all out to write the next book to meet your deadline. This may be your big break. Hey, if you can go for it, go for it!

Quitting your job to write isn't impossible. People do it. But the reality is that most writers just don't earn enough.

So -- what do you think? Did I leave anything out? Do you write for a living? How does it work in your case? Would you not want to quit your day job? Why not?

November Book Giveaway

2010-11-04T06:00:00.046-05:00

In Sara Pennypacker's Clementine, Friend of the Week, it's Clementine's turn to be exactly that in her third-grade classroom. As friend of the week, she's line leader, gets to feed the class pets and collect the milk money, and, best of all, will receive a booklet at the end of the week in which all her classmates have expressed why they like her. Attention and positive strokes -- who wouldn't love it! Prompted by her BFF Margaret, a fourth-grader for whom "Friend of the Week" is SO last year, Clementine embarks on a plan to be the coolest friend ever and collect only the awesomest of comments. But when things get rocky with Margaret and her kitten goes missing, Clementine forgets all the helpful promises she's made. Is Clementine going to completely bomb as "Friend of the Week"?

This book has appealing characters and plenty of laugh-out-loud spots. Fans of Judy Moody and Ramona Quimby, not to mention the previous Clementine books, will eat it up.

To be entered in the drawing:

Comment on this post anytime from now through Monday, November 15.
For an additional entry, become a follower of this blog and mention that in the comment. Ditto if you already are a follower.
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.

Winner will be announced Tuesday, November 16.

So, come one, come all--and meanwhile have a great day in the world of books.

October Critique Winners!

2010-11-01T12:00:00.003-05:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: Kelly and lotusgirl!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
Deadline to submit is November 17.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Kelly and lotusgirl, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering -- the response was fabulous -- and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger

2010-10-28T06:00:00.093-05:00

Critique giveaway open through October 31! Scroll down one post.

Neither sixth-grader Tommy nor his friends are very high on the popularity scale, so when his friend Dwight does a typical weirdo-Dwight thing, like come to school with an origami-folded Yoda on his finger, no one is really surprised. What is surprising is that Yoda gives advice--actual Yoda advice on all sorts of sixth-grade subjects that really works, not weirdo-Dwight advice. So that means Dwight can't be doing the talking for Yoda, right? If Dwight were that savvy, he could fix his own life. Wanting an answer of his own about asking pretty Sara to dance at PTA Fun Night, Tommy decides to make a case study of kids' experiences with Yoda: Is he Yoda, or is he Dwight?

Each chapter is written by a different kid, in a different typeface, ending with commentary by Tommy (the objective researcher) and his friend Harvey (the doubter who calls the figure "Paperwad Yoda"). The sixth-grade voices are real and funny, and the margins are decorated with funny sketches in the style of the Wimpy Kid books.

The show-don't-tell in this book is wonderful. Even Tommy thinks he's making his case study to find out if he should risk "making a fool" of himself for Sara, when really the book is about social pecking order and how it's determined. Tommy sees his specific dilemma but not the bigger picture, which is there to be picked up but never forced. Dwight, of course, is anything but dumb; who he really is (clever enough to give the Yoda advice) is there to be seen for those who will see it, yet any who do see it will think it's their own idea that Dwight's okay socially, which will bring Dwight better regard and more self-respect than trying to mimic or run after the cool clique would.

The humor in this book is funny rather than derogatory, and the cultural aspects of the story hit the bull's-eye: the Yoda figure is just the type of thing that can capture all sorts of attention among sixth-graders for a couple of weeks or so. Origami Yoda folding instructions included. A fun book with a subtle, realistic message.

October Critique Giveaway

2010-10-21T06:00:00.026-05:00

It's critique time. This is the final critique opportunity for 2010, so enter now to win! Critique giveaways will resume in January. Here are the rules and caveats:

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. By "manuscript" I mean the first 1000 words of a children's magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel. Please, fiction only. No picture books or easy readers. No poetry.
Enter the drawing by commenting on this post AND stating that you wish to enter. This frees you up to comment, ask a question, or just say hey WITHOUT throwing your name in the hat.
For an additional entry, become a follower, and tell me so (or that you already are one).
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.
You may enter one ms. per month. No one person can win both critiques in a single month.
New: Include your email in the comment. Some of you are already doing this. If you'd rather not, that's fine -- but then be sure to check back to see if you've won!
Enter now through Sunday October 31.
Any story that you plan to enter in an ICL contest is ineligible. Since I am an ICL instructor, I cannot edit stories that you intend to enter in an Institute contest.
My critique is only one opinion. This business is SO subjective. Any suggestions I make that resonate with you are yours for the taking. Compare mine with those from other beta readers, critique partners, writing teachers, etc. Even if specific suggestions vary, when two or more critiquers pinpoint a certain passage or aspect, there's probably a need for revision there. Yet don't feel you must take advice you don't agree with. In the end, it's your story.
Winners will be announced Monday, November 1.

So if the above sounds good to you, let the entering begin!

October Book Giveaway Winner!

2010-10-18T12:00:00.012-05:00

Random.org says the winner of It's Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder is: MaDonna Maurer!

You have 30 days to claim your prize, MaDonna. No later than November 18, email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com, giving me your postal address, and I'll acknowledge receipt and get that right out to you!

Cool Writing Quotes

2010-10-14T06:00:00.062-05:00

Enter to win It's Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder through October 17! Scroll down one post.

There are lots of cool quotes, but writing quotes are ultra-cool because they're written by, well, writers! Here are some I like:

How many normal people do you know who would work 80 to 100 hours a week, 7 days a week, with no benefits, for 2 paychecks a year, and not know the amount of the checks until the publisher decides to send a statement?----Joe Moore
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.----Apostle John
I hated childhood, and spent it sitting behind a book waiting for adulthood to arrive.----Anne Tyler
When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miner's pick, a woodcarver's gouge, a surgeon's probe. You wield it, and it digs a path you follow....Is it a dead end, or have you located the real subject? You will know tomorrow, or this time next year.----Annie Dillard
My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.----Sons of Korah
One sign of the born writer is his gift for finding or (sometimes) inventing authentically interesting language....He's interested in discovering the secrets words carry--for instance, how "discover" means "to take the cover off of."----John Gardner
There is something in us, as storytellers and as listeners to stories, that demands the redemptive act, that demands that what falls at least be offered the chance to be restored.----Flannery O'Connor
Of making many books there is no end.----King Solomon
Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery.----Jane Austen
A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.----Thomas Mann
If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.----Goethe
Why do writers write? Because it isn't there.----Thomas Berger

I'm not a collector, but I could almost become a quote collector. What are your favorites?

October Book Giveaway

2010-10-07T06:00:00.051-05:00

Everybody today travels -- even kids, right? Well, twelve-year-old Isabel, star of It's Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder, feels like a misfit in this department. She's never left the state of Oregon, and she spends a lot of time in the library, reading and dreaming about eating at restaurants in Athens or visiting the Swiss Alps. So what do her parents do? Buy an old laundromat, move the family into the upstairs apartment, and begin renovating the downstairs into Mom's new bakeshop venture, It's Raining Cupcakes. How can anyone expect to go on a real vacation when they're tied to a cupcake shop?

However, Isabel does like baking; it's the only thing she and her mom enjoy together. Mom has anxiety and pessimism issues -- a possible underlying reason why in this day and age Isabel has never been anywhere. When a baking contest comes up that will send the winner to New York City, Isabel is ecstatic to enter. The trouble is, her best friend Sophie is entering too, and lovable though Sophie is, she's a natural winner at everything. Plus, Mom expects Isabel to enter a cupcake recipe to promote the shop, and she'd rather bake chocolate jam tarts.

The writing flows effortlessly, the cover is hugely attractive to girls, the story capitalizes on the current popularity of cupcakes, and there are recipes in the back. A fun book!

To be entered in the drawing:

Comment on this post anytime from now through Sunday, October 17.
For an additional entry, become a follower of this blog and mention that in the comment. Ditto if you already are a follower.
For additional entries, post links to this contest and give the URLs.

Winner will be announced Monday, October 18.

So, come one, come all--and meanwhile have a great day in the world of books.

It's Goof-Off Day

2010-09-30T06:00:00.024-05:00

And not only is it goof-off day, being the fifth Thursday of the month, but it's time for that occasional part of this blog -- the arithmetic. FUN arithmetic! Looking for any children's math games? Family math games? Not all of these games use numbers; some just exercise your logic and spatial relations. Like this game reminiscent of Mario. Tilt the game back and forth using the arrow keys to get the friendly little round guys into the bubble. But they have to hit any coins that appear, and don't let them get eaten by the mean little spiky guys! Have fun, and happy goof-off day.

http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-rotate-and-roll/index.html

September Critique Winners!

2010-09-27T12:00:00.003-05:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: Sharon K. Mayhew and danceluvr!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
The deadline to submit your ms. for critique will be the DAY BEFORE the next month's critique contest begins. Critique contests always begin on the third Thursday. Therefore I must hear from the September winners by October 20.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Sharon and danceluvr, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

September Critique Giveaway

2010-09-16T06:00:00.005-05:00

It's critique time. Enter to win! Here are the rules and caveats:

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. By "manuscript" I mean the first 1000 words of a children's magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel. Please, fiction only. No picture books or easy readers. No poetry.
Enter the drawing by commenting on this post AND stating that you wish to enter. This frees you up to comment, ask a question, or just say hey WITHOUT throwing your name in the hat.
For an additional entry, become a follower, and tell me so (or that you already are one) in the comment.
For an additional entry, post a link to this contest and give the URL in either the same or a separate comment. In this category, you can enter as many times as you have cyber-places to post the contest.
You may enter one ms. per month. While the above rules allow you to enter multiple times, those entries are for ONE manuscript. If the #2 name drawn is a duplicate of #1, drawing will continue until a new name is drawn. This way, two people are assured of a critique each month.
Enter now through Sunday September 26.
Any story that you plan to enter in an ICL contest is ineligible. Since I am an ICL instructor, I cannot edit stories that you intend to enter in an Institute contest.
The level of detail I offer in a critique will vary based on my impression of the caliber of the writing. Whenever possible, I will make both "big picture" comments and zero in on more specific areas.
My critique is only one opinion. This business is SO subjective. Any suggestions I make that resonate with you are yours for the taking. Compare mine with those from other beta readers, critique partners, writing teachers, etc. Even if specific suggestions vary, when two or more critiquers pinpoint a certain passage or aspect, there's probably a need for revision there. Yet don't feel you must take advice you don't agree with. In the end, it's your story.
Winners will be announced Monday, September 27.

So if the above sounds good to you, let the entering begin!

September Book Giveaway Winner!

2010-09-13T12:00:00.005-05:00

Random.org says the winner of What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb is: cevillely!

You have 30 days to claim your prize, cevillely. No later than October 13, email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com, giving me your postal address, and I'll acknowledge receipt and get that right out to you!

I Knew I Majored in Business for a Reason...

2010-09-09T06:00:00.091-05:00

Drawing for WHAT HAPPENED ON FOX STREET by Tricia Springstubb open till Sunday the 12th! Scroll down one post.

...and at the time, the reason was to become more employable than a math major alone would make me. (Not that this actually worked: the job market was lousy, women were viewed as chancy-to-lousy hires who'd just get PG and quit, and my business goals were lousy-to-nonexistent, but I digress.) I've since learned that my temperament type isn't really cut out for business; however, it IS cut out for writing and teaching, so Marcia has found her niche, if not her fortune. Still, with all this, that business major wasn't a waste, and not just because no education is wasted or because God can make sense of things even when I'm bumbling around. You know where I'm going with this, don't you? Writers are businesspeople! Even if we have agents. Business may not be our favorite aspect of writing, but fortunately it doesn't have to be dull. (Okay, taxes are DULL. But again I digress.)

I took a leadership course through my church recently, stressing casting vision, strategic planning, and goal setting. Now, I like dreaming, the big picture, and the future, so I can get into that. And when I picked up The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell, I was all over it. The section of the book called Strategy begins with Step 1: Cast your Vision! I'd been hearing "cast your vision" for months, and here it was in a writing book! Not that I couldn't have figured out on my own how to apply what I learned to my writing, but I like the affirmation and integration, you know? While people often write a paragraph-long or longer vision/mission statement, I wanted a sentence, and I wanted 25 words or less. Yup, my life in an elevator pitch! And after many drafts, I arrived at the following. Though they meet my criteria there are two of them, one a bit broader and one specifically about my writing. They are:

Broader: To be a scribe -- writing speaking, teaching and singing words born out of worship.
Focused: To write artistically excellent fiction born out of worship.

Bell also covers specific goals (e.g. words per day, target dates to query), plans (e.g. days and hours for writing, a spreadsheet for agent/publisher research), networking (being a giver as well as a receiver), and writing six days a week and taking a Sabbath on the seventh. He also, like my leadership class, talks about the Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule: 80% of your achievements come from 20% of your activities. Once we know that, we can prioritize, schedule, fund, etc., the 20% and ferret out waste in the 80% (80%!!) of our activities that produce no more than 20% of our results.

How about you? How do you view the business end of writing? Do you have a vision statement? Care to share?

September Book Giveaway

2010-09-02T06:00:00.036-05:00

What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb is one of my favorite kinds of books -- character-driven, "quiet," elegantly written, world-creating -- yet plotted. It's all about the characters and their community on Fox Street.

Mo Wren and her little sister, the Wild Child, live with their father after the death of their mother several years before. Mo has always lived on Fox Street, among people who have watched her grow up. But now, everything is changing. Mo's best friend, who spends summers across the street with her grandmother, is now well-off, and Fox Street's relative decline is becoming more noticeable. Mo's dad dreams of leaving the city and running a restaurant, but Mo can't imagine selling their house. It's not just the idea of moving that bothers her, it's that every memory of her mother lives here.

The language is insightful and beautifully crafted. Example: "Every person you pass on the street, or wait behind in line, or see sitting alone on her porch -- every one is summoning up the courage for some battle, whether you can see it or not." A lovely book with good food for thought.

To be entered in the drawing:

Comment on this post anytime from now through Sunday, September 12.
For an additional entry, become a follower of this blog and mention that in the comment. Ditto if you already are a follower.
For an additional entry, post a link to this contest and give the URL in either the same or a separate comment. In this category, you can enter as many times as you have cyber-places to post the contest.

Winner will be announced Monday, September 13.

So, come one, come all--and meanwhile have a great day in the world of books.

August Critique Giveaway Winners!

2010-08-30T12:00:00.003-05:00

Random.org says the winners of this month's critique giveaway are: Rebecca and Melissa!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
The deadline to submit your ms. for critique will be the DAY BEFORE the next month's critique contest begins. Critique contests always begin on the third Thursday. Therefore I must hear from the August winners by September 15.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Rebecca and Melissa, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...

Alchemy and Meggy Swann, by Karen Cushman

2010-08-26T06:00:00.136-05:00

Critique giveaway still open, now through August 29! Scroll down one post!

Meggy Swann, born in 16th-century England with what we now know as congenital hip dysplasia, can only walk with a "stick, swing, drag" gait she calls "wabbling." Many believe she is a witch, or cursed by the devil. Only her maternal grandmother and pet goose Louise have ever loved her, and upon the death of the old woman her mother ships her off to her long-forgotten father, a London alchemist, who has sent for her believing she's a boy who can replace his former apprentice. But to his dismay she isn't a boy, and she's "crippled" on top of it. Obsessed with finding a formula to turn base metals into gold, he disappears back into his "laboratorium," ignoring his daughter completely and caring not a whit whether she even eats -- although neither does he. Pursuing his life's work takes money, and when Meggy fears he's conspiring in a plot to commit murder for financial gain, she's determined to stop him lest his head end up on a pole, like those of other criminals, in the streets of London.

Though I don't go for ill-tempered heroines in general, Meggy didn't put me off. Maybe it was the tears that balance her anger and her love for the goose that captured me. My favorite aspects of this novel are the specific, vivid detail of Elizabethan London and the characters' voices. I love lines like "Cease your bibble-babble, you gleeking goat's bladder!" and "Hellborn goose! In sooth you should be roasted, you clay-brained louse!" Meggy and her new friend, Roger, throw many insults back and forth, and though I suspect this feature was added to their relationship to show off all those marvelous Elizabethan-era insults, and they may be a bit thick for some child readers, they're still hilarious.

Gradually, Meggy and her father reach a sort of truce and she begins to help him in the lab. Though he throws out subtle hints that he cares for her slightly more than at first -- when he declares that ONLY "the work" matters I don't quite believe him -- I found Meggy's fear that his head might end up on a pole not totally plausible. I just wasn't convinced she'd come to care that much. But the cast of characters she meets along the way is fascinating, especially the Grimm family who saves Louise the goose from the butcher's block, and the way Meggy stops the murder from happening is clever and grows logically from the plot.

There's some quibbling over whether this book is YA or MG, but IMO it's upper MG. Some of the challenging language -- the characters speak Elizabethan in both vocabulary and syntax -- probably earned it the YA label (there is no mature content), but in every other way this is mid-grade. Recommended!

August Critique Giveaway

2010-08-19T06:00:00.006-05:00

It's critique time. Enter to win! Here are the rules and caveats:

I will critique TWO manuscripts each month. By "manuscript" I mean the first 1000 words of a children's magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel. Please, fiction only. No picture books or easy readers. No poetry.
Enter the drawing by commenting on this post AND stating that you wish to enter. This frees you up to comment, ask a question, or just say hey WITHOUT throwing your name in the hat.
For an additional entry, become a follower, and tell me so (or that you already are one) in the comment.
For an additional entry, post a link to this contest and give the URL in either the same or a separate comment. In this category, you can enter as many times as you have cyber-places to post the contest.
You may enter one ms. per month. While the above rules allow you to enter multiple times, those entries are for ONE manuscript. If the #2 name drawn is a duplicate of #1, drawing will continue until a new name is drawn. This way, two people are assured of a critique each month.
Enter now through Sunday August 29.
Any story that you plan to enter in an ICL contest is ineligible. Since I am an ICL instructor, I cannot edit stories that you intend to enter in an Institute contest.
The level of detail I offer in a critique will vary based on my impression of the caliber of the writing. Whenever possible, I will make both "big picture" comments and zero in on more specific areas.
My critique is only one opinion. This business is SO subjective. Any suggestions I make that resonate with you are yours for the taking. Compare mine with those from other beta readers, critique partners, writing teachers, etc. Even if specific suggestions vary, when two or more critiquers pinpoint a certain passage or aspect, there's probably a need for revision there. Yet don't feel you must take advice you don't agree with. In the end, it's your story.
Winners will be announced Monday, August 30.

So if the above sounds good to you, let the entering begin!

August Book Giveaway Winner!

2010-08-16T12:00:00.004-05:00

The winner of Star in the Forest by Laura Resau is: Kimberly!

You have 30 days to claim your prize, Kimberly. No later than September 16, email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com, giving me your postal address, and I'll acknowledge receipt and get that right out to you!

Micro-Trends in Fiction?

2010-08-12T06:00:00.124-05:00

Enter the drawing for Star in the Forest by Laura Resau by midnight August 15! Scroll down one. :)

Writers can't help but look at trends in fiction, even though we're often cautioned not to chase trends as we write. The types of trends we usually mean are those of genre and structure: Is dystopian rising? Is YA paranormal about over? Can I hope to sell a historical in this market? Does my YA have to be in first person? Can I use present tense in MG? These might be called macro trends. But I've been noticing small, micro, trends too. Have you ever read a number of books in a row and, different though they may be, they all do an obvious something? Two related examples I've found recently:

First, the "heavily dependent on another book/author" trend, found in When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (A Wrinkle in Time), Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine (To Kill a Mockingbird),Also Known as Harper by Ann Haywood Leal (Harper Lee, Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor), and Bruiser by Neal Shusterman (Tennyson and at least one Bronte). I know some ideas seem to "float out there in the spirit" and more than one writer can "catch" them, but I wonder -- is this an attempt to shore up a type of literacy we're afraid kids are losing? I don't know that it's deliberate didacticism, but authors make their choices for a reason. I'm curious about that reason. And I'm not sure how I feel about this trend. I like all the books I've named above, but, particularly when it's another novel that's featured (or a poorly educated mom who just happens to love major American authors), there's something about the dependence that subtracts. Any thoughts?

Second, a recent penchant for vocabulary building.Reference again Mockingbird, whose MC, ten-year-old Caitlin, is going through bereavement, has Asperger's, and her best friend is the dictionary; Bruiser, in which the parents, both literature professors, have alternated giving one vocabulary-building word a day to their kids all their lives; and also Love Puppies and Corner Kicks, by RW Krech, in which soccer-playing Andrea often has her nose in her favorite book (hmm, not unlike trend #1): Word Power: Enhancing and Extending Your Vocabulary. Using vocabulary words and pronunciations/meanings as chapter titles is a fairly common, though not universal, feature of these books.

Any ideas about what's going on? Have you noticed any other micro-trends in recent books you've read? Have you found any you'd like to continue? :)

August Book Giveaway

2010-08-05T06:00:00.058-05:00

Star in the Forest by Laura Resau: When eleven-year-old Zitlally's father is stopped for speeding, discovered to be illegal and deported to Mexico, life becomes harder than ever for her family. Mama, always worried, must work all the time to support her and her sisters. Zitlally gradually makes friends with neighbor Crystal, a girl who makes up wild stories to cope with problems of her own, and together they adopt Star, a skinny abandoned dog they find chained up in the "forest" surrounding their trailer park -- which is not trees but heaps of rusted car parts. But the dog is more than just a friend and comfort. Zitlally comes to believe he's a special animal like the ones from Papa's stories, an animal whose fate is tied to a human's. In this case, Papa's. When Star disappears, the two girls must find and save him because Zitlally is certain this will mean a favorable outcome for Papa as well. This well-written book would make a good classroom choice and is truly accessible to mid-graders. Includes a note about Mexico-to-US immigration and two glossaries.

To be entered in the drawing:

Comment on this post anytime from now through Sunday, August 15.
For an additional entry, become a follower of this blog and mention that in the comment. Ditto if you already are a follower.
For an additional entry, post a link to this contest and give the URL in either the same or a separate comment. In this category, you can enter as many times as you have cyber-places to post the contest.

Winner will be announced Monday, August 16.

So, come one, come all--and meanwhile have a great day in the world of books.

It's Goof-off Day

2010-07-29T06:00:00.204-05:00

Photo time! This spring was college graduation for both Child 2 and Child 3. 2nd to finish his coursework, but 1st to have his ceremony, was Child 3. (No competition here or anything.)

Family gathers for the big day!

Always posin'

Such proud parents -- but what's that fly on his cap, Dad?

The cute engaged couple :)

But lest we be too serious...

Some things never change

1st to finish her coursework, 2nd to have her ceremony, yet 1st to get her diploma because his was mailed and hers was actually in her folder, was Child 2. (You following these numbers? No competition here or anything.)

Family gathers for the big day!

Let's switch photographers!

The cute young marrieds :)

Proud parents and grad

It's for real!

No bunny ears? He must be the good child :D

July Critique Giveaway Winners!

2010-07-26T12:00:00.003-05:00

The winners of this month's critique giveaway are: karenbschwartz and Angela Ackerman!

Here's the procedure. Email me at marcia at marciahoehne dot com:

The first 1000 words of your magazine story, chapter book, mid-grade novel, or YA novel pasted into the body of the email.
Be sure to tell me the genre of the material (one of the above four).
Put "(Month) critique winner" in the subject line.
The deadline to submit your ms. for critique will be the DAY BEFORE the next month's critique contest begins. Critique contests always begin on the third Thursday. Therefore I must hear from the July winners by August 18.
When I receive your email, I'll acknowledge receipt and let you know when you can expect my response.

Congratulations to Karen and Angela, thank you all so much for stopping by and entering, and by all means enter again next month! Wishing you all a great day in the world of books...