REMAKE BOOK TRAILER and a Gift Card Giveaway!

Recently I blogged about Ilima Todd's new book, REMAKE. Speaking of Ilima, she just revealed her new book trailer. Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9loevy-pQI

Who likes gift cards? How about a $25 Amazon gift card? (I can always use more books!) If so, here's the link to a REMAKE trailer Rafflecopter giveaway.

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ceb416fe2/https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ceb416fe2/

On Rick Walton, REMAKE, and a Supportive Writing Family

Recently Alison Randall and I had the chance to visit with Rick Walton. I took my favorite of his picture books (PIG, PIGGER, PIGGEST) for him to sign. More important, I wanted Rick to know he’s a major reason I keep writing. At WIFYR a while back, Rick talked about how writers sometimes give up too soon, and said if we’d just keep trying, eventually things would work out.

Rick has also influenced the other reason I keep writing: He and Carol were a major force in making the local writing community what it is: a group of talented writers who encourage and support each other. Alison told Rick that it’s like being part of a big family.

I agree. So when I see my writing “siblings's” success, I feel like cheering. Last month, for example, I took Ilima Todd’s book, REMAKE, on vacation. Sitting on a beach, reading about an ocean, was wonderful. And REMAKE was fabulous. I hated to leave the characters when the book ended, and can’t wait for the sequel. The bonus: I’d read the first fifty pages of Ilima’s earlier draft in Ann Dee Ellis’s WIFYR boot camp. It was excellent then, and I loved seeing the changes that made her final story even better.

I look forward to writing conferences, especially WIFYR, not just to learn, but to see all of you, my writing family. My real family, wonderful as they are, don't always get my writing compulsion, but I know you understand. Your support buoys me as I go back to finish that next edit, write that next book, and continue to hope that someday we’ll all be on the bookstore shelf together. Maybe we’ll even claim our own section!

250 words for PitchSlam -- Comments Appreciated

I had my entry ready to go by 3 p.m. Monday, but stuck in it my drafts folder for that "just in case" panic edit later on. Oh, how I wish I'd just sent it then. But I had places to be and didn't get home until close to deadline. I sent on time, but to the wrong address!! Aagh!

I'm sure I'm not the only one, so I'd really love feedback on LAWNMOWER, LEAVING.

Leaving Reason, One. Mom thinks I’m stupid enough to run over my best friend. 
My invention goes like this: First, the rope tied to the chassis pulls Brock across the lawn. Second, the wheels hit the pressure switch hidden in the grass. Third, one sprinkler goes off just as Brock rides over it.
He runs out of the spurting water. “You planned that.” 
“Perfect timing.” I check the video and smile. Inventing's one thing I can do.
“What’s with the weird grin?” Brock drops the sled and runs over to see the replay. “It looks like I peed my pants. Delete that part, okay?”
“Fine. But it’s your turn to drive.” I reach for the foot sled I made from welded cookie sheets. 
But then Mom walks onto the front porch. And that's when all the sprinklers go off, soaking the steps and Mom. I forgot to unplug the watering timer.
Mom wipes her wet glasses, then points her pen at me. It’s the one Mom chews when she pays bills. “Mowers have blades, Cole. What if you ran over Brock’s foot?”
The riding mower’s off, but her words buzz louder than engine noise. Going barefoot always felt good. Safe. Until now. 
Mom taps her pen, probably adding stuff to her “Fix Cole Plan.” 
But maybe I can make her smile. “We’re recording a video.” I hold up the camera. “It’s called, ‘Don’t Try this at Home.’” 
Brock laughs. Mom doesn’t. “You can’t try it at our home either. Sorry.” 

A Writing/Publishing Cinderella Story--They Still Happen!

Last night Courtney Alameda had her book launch in the ballroom of the Provo Library. In her presentation, Courtney talked of how her agent discovered her at the WIFYR Conference. Not long after, she had a great book contract for SHUTTER. 

Courtney then showed a photo of her cute, but apparently bullied, 15-year-old self. She commented on how many teen writers say they're adults who still feel like adolescents inside. Courtney then said she stood on that stage because of those bullies. 

And I get it. 

When we write, it's to connect with the world. It's to make sense of it. But for me, at least, there's more. My inner nerd has something to prove. She wants that moment of saying, "See? Look at me now."

And what better for Courtney's "Look how far she's come" moment than a crowd filling last night's ballroom and line for book signing that stretched the length of it for so long I finally had to leave (I'll have to grab you at WIFYR, Courtney). But I did manage to snag a photo of Courtney and WIFYR's founder/director Carol Lynch Williams.

Looking like a princess herself in the latest-style retro 50’s swing skirt (with a zombie print, of course), Courtney Alameda is a Cinderella story complete with ballroom success.

Highlights Full Novel Workshop--Trimming Your Word Count

I'm here in Boyd's Mill, PA, staying in a little rustic cabin, eating in a barn (actually a really nice facility just called that) and working hard to revise one of my MG novels.

We're getting great advice from Sarah Aaronson, Nancy Werlin, Amanda Jenkins, Nicole Valentine and Rob Jenkins.

Here are three great tips from Nancy's fabulous class on artful cutting (trimming and tightening your manuscript):

 Find a great image that can multitask. This is my term for the kind of details Nancy directed us to use, Instead of using the first simile or metaphor that comes to mind, make them count. Is there one great detail that can tell several things about your character or setting?

Combine. You don't need three scenes to illustrate one point. Cherry pick the great details from each and combine these into one good scene.

Make each scene, and each paragraph within the scene, count. Nancy quoted David Mamet: "Any scene...which does not both advance the plot, and stand alone (that is dramatically, but itself, and on its own merits) is either superfluous or incorrectly written."

By looking carefully at each scene, paragraph, and detail, Nancy said she got a 60,000 word manuscript down to 45,000 words.

Pitch Wars Consolation Prize

I found out about Pitch Wars toward the very end, so as you can guess, I entered last minute too. [New Goal: Look at Twitter more than once a month.]  I thought I'd done my research thoroughly, but I clearly didn't, as you can see by the bonus award I got from these kind pitch mentors, Stacey Lee and Stephanie Garber:

http://www.staceyhlee.com/our-pitch-wars-picks-bonus-awards/

I also got a nice, personalized rejection from the other mentor I submitted to. The mentors were so kind that it really makes me want to try again next year.

And to do a better job keeping up on contest dates!

Do You Have to Become a Writing Brand to Be A Good Author?

It's been way too long since I updated this blog. Last spring I did a weekly post for the WIFYR blog. At first I re-posted here, then I got busy and didn't even do that. Now it's time to re-post some of those blogs, and also to report on SCBWI/LA 2014.

 The word brand got a fair amount of attention during the SCBWI/LA 2014 agent panel. What is a literary brand? How you represent yourself to the public, including maintaining a respectful and professional online presence.

The agents spoke of looking past one project to the person behind it, considering his/her potential for longer career. Some said brand is best developed when a writer sticks to one genre.

 One great illustration is the way Laura Rennert describes a favorite client, YA author Maggie Stiefvater. This bestselling author had a strong online community even before she published SHIVER. She relates to teens because she’s young enough to think like one, and is a talented artist and musician as well. Stiefvater composed and produced her own music for the audio of THE SCORPIO RACES, one of my new favorite books.

 Laura Rennert called Stievater an author who’s managed to find the “sweet spot between literary and commercial fiction.”  If you read Stiefvater's writing, you'll understand why her agent raves about her.

 And then there’s me, a middle-aged mom who can’t even name Celtic instruments, let alone play them. By the end of my second day at SCBWI, I felt tempted to go home, give up, and learn to knit.  But not only would I be hopeless at knitting, I can’t quit. It’s too big a part of who I am. And just as every story is unique, so is each author. Even me.

An agent told fantasy writer Lloyd Alexander, “You have no future in fantasy, young man. Stick to nonfiction.”   And Judy Blume was told, “You’re a nice girl, but you can’t write.”  What would have happened if Lloyd Alexander and Judy Blume had given up?

These examples prove the words of another conference guest, Editor Justin Chanda: “Taste and talent are different things.” Not everyone is going to love your work, or even love you. I found further encouragement during Judy Blume’s closing remarks at the conference. “Don’t let anyone make you discouraged. And if they try, don’t get depressed, get angry.”

For me, determined is a better word than anger. The whine-to-husband, cry-to-writer-friends, then keep going kind of determination. Maybe I’ll make that part of my brand.