So, what's your book about?

I really dread that question. It's not because I don't like to talk about my WIPs, or writing in general. It's not because I'm shy or particularly insecure. It's just that I am really bad at summarizing my own stuff when speaking. Whether we're talking a true verbal pitch to an industry acquaintance or just describing it to my internist, I suck at distilling my projects into a sentence or several. I either go way too short ("It's, um, the story of a girl whose best friend dumps her, and stuff.") or way too long and scattershot ("Well, it's YA and it's called Fumped, which is this term I made up. Basically Jocelyn is this sophomore and she's kind of shy and insecure and her best friend is kind of a brat and over the summer she starts to realize that this other girl, Lacey, who is really vapid and. . . ." I will continue rambling until I get to the end of 262 pages or the person I am talking to walks away to "go get another drink" or because she "thinks she hears her phone vibrating in her purse over at the coat check.") Thank God for querying, because I actually liked my query letter and it served me damn well. If I had had to rely on verbal pitches, it would not have been pretty. The thing is, though, even after you sign with an agent, you still need to be able to pitch in person. Not just to drum up interest for your work, although that is important, but because talking about your book helps you figure out what it's about at the core. Having a good pitch is valuable for the same reason that Reading textbooks constantly ask children to summarize what the passage is about. It makes you focus on the takeaway. A verbal pitch combines what your book is about with why the particular person you are talking to should care. The pitch you write in your query letter is where your talking points can start, but (as I've learned) you can't totally rely on that in conversation. The verbal pitch will vary, depending on who you are talking to and the circumstances of your conversation, much more than a written one. My doctor isn't going to care about how it fits in the marketplace, and an industry person is going to need a little more than "it's about friends breaking up." It's also a lot easier to edit yourself when you're not in the midst of a conversation. Writer friends, do you struggle with the verbal pitch, too? Do you get all flustered when you put down your pens/close your MacBook and have to actually talk about what you write? Or does it come easily to you? (And if so--what is your secret?)

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God is in the Pancakes

From the back cover:
Fifteen-year-old Grace Manning is a candy striper in a nursing home, and Mr. Sands is the one patient who makes the job bearable. He keeps up with her sarcasm, teaches her to play poker . . . and one day cheerfully asks her to help him die. At first Grace says no way, but as Mr. Sands’s disease progresses, she’s not so sure. Grace tries to avoid the wrenching decision by praying for a miracle, stuffing herself with pancakes, and running away from all feelings, including the new ones she has for her best friend Eric. But Mr. Sands is getting worse, and she can’t avoid him forever.
Robin Epstein has delivered an incredibly engaging, thought-provoking debut YA novel, with all the snappy dialogue and attitude of the movie Juno.

I got this book from a friend at Penguin who thought I'd like it. I kind of knew I would love it from reading the back-cover description, and I was right. God is in the Pancakes gets you to think about *big* questions while staying realistic and really quite funny. Grace has a wonderful, authentic voice, and her story manages to cover the mundane or universal aspects of teen life(confusing feelings toward her best friend, Eric; getting her first kiss; fighting with her big sister and mom) with some serious issues (terminal illness; assisted suicide; divorce; questioning faith/religion) without seeming contrived. An added bonus are the well-rounded, realistic, engaging adult and elderly characters. Grace's friends at the nursing home she works at, Frank Sands and his wife Isabelle, are fantastic, full characters and stay pretty much geezer-cliche-free.

I also loved how the author, Robin Epstein, used Grace's love of the titular pancakes and other crap-food items throughout to help explore her emotional state. As someone who relied on Snickers bars stashed throughout her closet to get through adolescence--what can I say, it resonated with me.

I wholeheartedly recommend it. And I'm also making pancakes for dinner.

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An Unconventional Way to Get Buzz

The NYT has a nifty video of author Jennifer Belle's creative (and stealth) publicity campaign for her latest book: Reading in Public and Hoping They'll Notice Think it'll work?

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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

After posting about how much I love bacon, I'm going to sound completely bipolar by admitting that the past week all I've wanted to eat were these suckers:

Mmm, morels. I can credit Barbara Kingsolver with luring my attention away from salty cured meats and back to kale and chard and mushrooms and rhubarb (I could go on).

I've been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle during my commute for the past few weeks. The book follows the Kingsolver family as they try to only eat food from their home county (in Appalachia) for a year, with one exception per family member (fair-trade coffee, chocolate, dried fruit, and the like). They shop at farmer's markets, make their own cheese, raise chickens and Bourbon Red turkeys on their small farm.

The book blends recipes, essays on sustainable agriculture and food politics, and instruction with a welcoming narrative. It's not the most exciting read, but it's enlightening and enjoyable. Reading it to and from work every morning felt meditative. More than once it inspired me to pull out the skillet and some veggies once I got home from work, instead of speed-dialing for some Indian food.

Considering I live in a urban apartment with zero outdoor space and limited storage space, I won't be adopting a local-eating-only project anytime soon. I love fruit and salads year round, and the thought of having to give up fresh greens and citrus fruits all winter is too horrifying. I have, however, resolved to buy only local meats (feedlots = hideous) and local produce, when available. Once the farmer's market on my block starts up again in June, I'll be there every Saturday through December to stock up for the week.

I might try to make some cheese, though. I mean, I'm from America's Dairyland! Cheese is in my blood (figuratively, but probably literally too).

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Proof of my bacon bona fides

Remember when I said I would provide proof that I am categorically opposed to diets? My appreciation of bacon is the proof. I like bacon so much that I would put a ring on it. And here is proof that I really, really love bacon

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On a Diet

Um, not the food kind. I am categorically opposed to those.* *Proof TK I'm doing another read through/edit of Fumped, and it's going really well! Is it egotistical to say that I had enough distance from my characters that I sorta, kinda missed them? Revising is always humbling though, and I'm noticing some of my little bad habits as a writer. Which makes me think that going forward, I am going on a writing diet, and I am cutting the following crap: 1. Exclamation points: I'm not a super-user, but I throw them in a little too often! I really need to work on that! So from now on, unless they are essential--they're banished! 2. Passive voice/Gerunds/To Be Verb Phrases: Wow. I really love me some passive voice. I mean, the passive voice was loved by me. Or, I was loving forms of "to be." Running wild with gerunds. From now on, whenever an "-ed" can be used in place of a "was -ing"--"-ed" rules. 3. Bad descriptions of facial expressions: This is just something I really suck at, for unknown reasons. I have, like, four stock phrases I use to describe peoples faces and they mostly involve shiny eyes and curled lips. Gross, right? From now on, during my commute I have an assignment--check out everyone else's facial expressions and think of accurate, non-grating ways to describe them. 4. That: I think this stems for all the time I have spent doing academic and technical writing, in which you are encouraged to use that like that's going out of style. Hahahaha! Seriously, though--I use it way too much in dialogue and in interior monologues/narration. 5. Repetition: This is tricky because the voice in Fumped is a little neurotic, and as the protagonist narrates her feelings and experiences she definitely obsesses over everything. Repetition becomes a problem because it's not necessarily enjoyable for the reader to read the same thought pattern again and again, even if the narrator is having it. I'm working on finding a fine balance in this project for repeated feelings/ideas, and in future projects I'm going to stay aware of it. 6. Pronouns: This is actually a specific, not systemic problem. Every now and then, perhaps when I am tired, I stop paying attention to pronouns. A her becomes a my, etc. etc. This normally isn't such a huge problem. It did make things in Fumped take a weird, unintended sapphic turn when I screwed up her/my when describing someone adjusting a bikini bottom. Whoops. To avoid weird things like this, which I can assure you spellchecker did not catch (Megan actually did), I will stop proofreading half-assedly. So there you go. Of course, there are other elements of bad/sloppy writing that I am perpetually fighting against, but these are the ones I am eliminating right now. Crash diets never work, right?

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Balancing Act

Try substituting "after you sell your first book?" Or, "after you sell your fourth?" Or, "while you write the Great American Novel?" Or, "While you write the sequel to the GAN?" It's funny, maybe a little sad, but true. Writing is a balancing act in so many ways, only one of which is balancing your writing career with the rest of your life, including your "other" jobs. Whether you are a 9-5er, a mother (or father), a student, a freelancer, a teacher, a spouse, an exercise fanatic, etc.--you are a combination of those things and a writer at the same time. Some times are easier than others to balance the writing life with *real* life. I'm struggling a bit to balance both right now, mainly because preparation (research, outlining, character development) for my WIP is coinciding with a busy time at work. At the beginning of a project, I need a lot of time to think and plan. Once I get going and have a few thousand words down, it's easy to come home after full work day and/or the gym, sit down and write my allotted # of words, and then call it a night. I get into a routine and I like, no, love it. The same goes for squeezing in time to revise. The pre-work I am trying to do right now is not exactly conducive to a routine, and it's a tad frustrating. So I find myself daydreaming about people for whom writing is their primary source of income. This KidLit post was a good reality check. It's important to be happy with your present place in life. It's important to learn how to balance your writing schedule with the rest of your life. Maybe it's even beneficial to have to do that. If I'm honest with myself, I would say that my day job is fulfilling in many ways and as an added bonus, it really does force me to commit to protecting my writing time. I am a champion procrastinator and also a very lazy person. I like a lot of naps. I am inclined to think that without some structure, I might just spend free days reading blogs, watching old episodes of 30 Rock, snoozing, and eating doughnuts. (That actually is a pretty accurate description of a weekend day for me.) I feel like I need some sort of conclusion to this post, even though I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, so: I'm realizing that balancing acts are good! Even if from time to time they get you down. There will always be something(s) to keep you busy and pull you away from your writing desk, so learn to make time. If nothing else--all the other stuff you do/have-to-do is good material, no?

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Getting Back on Track

I miss writing. I know it's only been, like, 2 weeks since I finished my revisions, but still. I realize now that when I'm not in the midst of the WIP, I'm at loose ends. This week has been kind of crazy and exhausting at my day job, and as a result I have a freelance article that has become the poster child for procrastination. Is it still procrastination if half the reason you aren't working is because you're really swamped with other stuff? Anyway, I'm going to finish it tonight, I swear, if I have to tie myself to my desk chair to do it. But then, this weekend--I'm going to start my new project in earnest! The books I need for research are trickling in to my NYPL branch. I've been thinking about my characters nonstop. I am so beyond ready to start this WIP for real. Goal: complete, detailed outline by next Friday. Kick my butt if none of my tweets this weekend include #amwriting

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Myopic Solidarity

I went to the eye doctor last week. And if you are nodding your own bespectacled (or be-contactsed) head in understanding, then you will appreciate this book:

I was kind of amazed when I read the jacket copy. Being a Girl with Glasses isn't just a style choice; it's a way of life. If you've ever had your specs steam up when walking into a bar [Yep], squinted into the sun on the soccer field [or while jogging with specs on a sunny day?], or laid eyes on a new haircut only after your locks are strewn across the floor [Yes! Haircuts terrify me when I forget to wear contacts to the appointment. It's like driving blind.], you know what it's like to be a GWG. Marissa Walsh has worn glasses since third grade. Now -- ten pairs of glasses, one pair of prescription sunglasses [Yeah, I really should get some of those], and endless pairs of contacts later -- she has fully embraced her four-eyed fate. As she recounts her optic history through the lenses of each pair of glasses -- from the Sergio Valentes and the Sally Jessy Raphaels to the pseudo John Lennons and the dreaded health plan specs -- at last she found them . . . the perfect pair. Marissa's comic look at a life behind glass is at once a poignant personal journey and a wry, canny exploration of just what it means to be a glasses-wearing kind of girl. [We are a unique type, eh?] Peppered with pop culture references and complete with appendixes of resources, classic GWG moments, and helpful tips on finding the right frames for your face, Girl with Glasses will give you reason to commiserate with your shortsighted sisters and celebrate your less-than-perfect vision. [I would like a reason to celebrate my crap vision, so this sounds good.] Whether or not author Marissa Walsh and I really have much in common aside from both being glasses-wearers, it was striking how constantly while reading I thought, OMG! Yes! That happens to me all the time! or That was my experience at summer jobs! or That's how I feel about my childhood! I started to wonder--is there really some overarching bond between girls with glasses, one that crosses age, ethnicity, location, class, height, weight, any other categorization? I found so much of this lovely book true to my legally-blind-without-corrective-lenses experience that I am inclined to think: Yes. I read this months ago, but last week was the first time since reading that I've gone in for an eye exam, and while sitting in the chair in that darkened room, waiting for my eyes to dilate, I remembered Walsh's perfect description of the singular sensory experience of an eye exam in GWG. And that inspired me to post, so all you other myopic ladies can pick up a copy and commiserate/celebrate.

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Don't Close the Book on Libraries

Quick post for a manic Monday:

As you might recall, I recently ended my stint as a library miscreant. To prove that I'm reformed, I'm asking you to check out this campaign by the NYPL to save it from some staggering budget cuts. ($37 million in cuts! 10 branches closed! 4 days of service instead of 6! Cuts to kids/adults programs! Cuts to job-search services!)

Don't Close the Book on Libraries

The best part is that the NYPL isn't just asking for donations but more importantly for you to take two minutes to send a form letter to your representative, letting him/her know that libraries are an essential part of a healthy, thriving community. This is an NYC-centric plea, but I'm guessing libraries across the country are facing similar problems. Spread the word that libraries need book-lovers' help!

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The Penderwicks

This was a dual-purpose book for me--I was reading it for a project at work, but I would have wanted to read it for my own enjoyment anyway. The subtitle does a good job of summarizing what this NBA winner is all about: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy.

I really adored it. The writing was beautiful while still very accessible to a middle-grade reader. The characterization was fantastic. The story was charming and very old-fashioned--and I mean that in the best possible way. I felt this weird sense of deja vu while reading The Penderwicks--like, Haven't I read this before? Didn't I read this along with Nancy Drew, The Boxcar Children, etc. when I was young? I kept flipping back to the copyright page to see "2005" stamped there.

I love that this sort of timeless, classic literature for young readers is still being written. The action largely takes place outside, with the kids getting into mischief such as an encounter with an angry bull in a field, a dog named Hound who tends to barf when he gets too excited, and archery used as an anger management technique. There are no cell phones, no Nintendo Wii, no DVD players, no summer test-prep classes. Just kids being creative and playing. Even the names are from another era: Churchie, Dexter, Hound. Whenever a reference to a computer or some other distinctly post-2000 piece of technology is thrown in, it feels very anachronistic. Wait, this is set today?

I might be perplexed about how such a modern "classic" finds its place in the current marketplace, but I'm thankful that nostalgic-but-fresh books like The Penderwicks are still a part of kid lit.

Side note: It was one of the two titles the first family included in the backpacks they helped prepare for children of military personnel last summer. Cool!

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Because it's Friday

I'm posting this at the risk of alienating any male (heterosexual, I guess) readers I might have:

Hot Guys Reading Books

(Or alienating readers who aren't into reading; although, if you aren't into reading--why are you reading this blog anyway? No, seriously--I'm curious.)

Link should be SFW, FYI

[Link courtesy of Annabel's Facebook]

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Revisions Update: Weeks 5/6

A short and sweet update: I'm done!
With a caveat: For now!

After reading through version 2.0, getting some great feedback from my friend Megan, and making a few more line edits, my revisions are done. I emailed Fumped back to my wonderful agent, Suzie, this week. Hurray!


So what am I going to do with all this free time? 1) Catch up on freelance assignments 2) Plunge into my WIP 3) Read more books

TGIF, everybody

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100 Declarative Sentences

Right now I'm trying a writing exercise I found on the KidLit blog (a really excellent resource for writers in general and YA writers in particular). The idea is that you pick a character who is giving you grief, or who you think is a little flat, or who your readers/agent/editor/etc. have said needs some fleshing out. Then you sit your butt down and write 100 declarative sentences about that character. You don't stop when you get to #35 and you think, That's all I can say about Gretchen. Instead, you start making sh!t up and riffing and it's still annoying but kind of fun and creative. After you hit 100, you know that character better than before:

1. Gretchen's favorite book is Watership Down.
2. Gretchen has a small scar shaped like a sickle on her knee.
3. Gretchen loathes goat cheese.
4. Gretchen sometimes spies on her next-door neighbor at night.

Some of the sentences you might chuck later on (No, Gretchen doesn't loathe goat cheese after all) but even rejecting an idea tells you more about the character (It's bleu cheese that grosses her out). It's harder work than I expected, but kind of fun and already I like how real the protagonist of my WIP is becoming. It'll be nice to have this to refer to whenever I actually start writing. (KidLit link here)

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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

After waking up late and eating Kona-coffee waffles on Sunday morning, I realized, "Oh, crap. I have a ton of stuff to do today." Surmising that the odds were pretty high that I might ignore all of it to spend the day in the park, or later sit down at my computer and get sucked in by Hulu only to emerge at bedtime--I did something new and made an extremely detailed to-do list. I am generally anti-structured time on the weekends, mainly because I get so busy during the week that just doing whatever I feel like on the weekends isn't just enjoyable but kind of necessary for my sanity. However, because I actually wanted to get stuff done yesterday, I felt like I needed a plan. Or at least goals. I read somewhere that you should put even the most mundane tasks on a to-do list--like Take a shower or Put stamps on all the bill envelopes or Check when So-and-So's birthday is on Facebook because it motivates you to do the larger items on a list, like Finally start the freelance article that is due soon or Finish inputting all of my Fumped edits. You know what? It worked! By 10 p.m. I'd checked off everything on my list, from going for a long run to making my mom a Mother's Day card to my Fumped edits to starting to work on my freelance assignment. And even though today is going to be a busy/stressful day at my day-job, I feel so much better about going in to the week knowing that I took care of all that crap.

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