Today, my writer friend and amazing cover artist, Laura Morrigan and I did two writing sprints. Basically we are in a private chat room and wrote for twenty minutes, and rest for ten--this was how I finished TROLL in nineteen days. During our break we either chat, do stuff around the house or refill our coffee, etc. I also try to envision the next 500 words of the story. When the time's up, we sprint again. I tried to write in 30 minute sprints, but I found myself getting side-tracked too easily.
Anyhoo, I'm writing GA #4 and I realized that I had forgotten many of the minor character's names. ACK!! So I simply put Mrs. XXXX as the newspaper lady and ZXXXX for my dragon-dog.
So--I WILL GIVE AWAY ALL THREE OF MY STORIES TO ANYONE WHO VOLUNTEERS TO LIST MY CHARACTERS AND WHO THEY ARE.
It doesn't have to be much:
Kyte Webber--main character
Bryn Webber--Kyte's mom
XXX--leprechaun in John Deere hat. . . . See? I can't even remember their names! Oh, the leprechauns would actually have two names, 1) their real one, 2) the leprechaun one . . . I think they start with GN---
I'm serious about this offer, but you have to do your part, please . . . pretty please.
If you don't want to read them, maybe you know of someone who does.
Email me if you're interested: magolla@cox.net
PLEASE AND THANK YOU!
Showing posts with label middle grade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label middle grade. Show all posts
6/23/11
6/16/11
From Romance to Middle Grade
In case you weren't interested in hopping over to the Twisted Sisters blog the other day, here is my blog--for those of you who wondered about the how and why I started writing about goblins, gnomes, faeries and trolls.
Actually, it was less of a jump than a gradual merge into the slow lane. Yanno, like when the white-top old person has his signal on for ½ mile before he slowly merges into you because you thought he just forgot to turn it off. Yeah, like that.
Actually, it was less of a jump than a gradual merge into the slow lane. Yanno, like when the white-top old person has his signal on for ½ mile before he slowly merges into you because you thought he just forgot to turn it off. Yeah, like that.
The how and why I switched was part logical and part serendipity.
I had been writing for eight years, completing four manuscripts of every sub-genre around, including mixing a few of them together. I loved reading romance, but I couldn’t write one if my life depended on it. My last story was a 110,000 word romantic fantasy with a dash of high fantasy (elves and their realm), otherworldly (actually a new world), a missing child heir to the throne and the evil one who wants to control it all titled, THE LEPRECHAUN CONNECTION.
Yep, all that was missing was the kitchen sink . . . ‘cause I added that to ANOTHER story.
Believe it or not, I did get a request by the great Deb Dixon who ultimately refused it. But her input and request a different story spurred me on—to write another convoluted and confusing mess I titled, THE DEMON CONNECTION—uhm, I never finished this one. There’s some good stuff in there, but I’m not ready to write it yet.
Anyhoo, fast forward to May 2008, as I walked my kidlet to school, we made up a story about Peter the fly called, PETER’S MESSY ROOM. I wrote 580 words in 15 minutes after I got home. And then I started writing short picture book type stories. I really, really loved writing these stories. They were short. They had a beginning, middle and end. They were fun. And most important of all, they made me happy.
During this time, I discovered my writing voice.
Then I started thinking. *scary, huh?* My writing voice didn’t lend itself well to romance. It was too snarky for most ‘normal’ romances, but not snarky enough for many paranormal, chick-lit (I know the term is a no-no, but it’s a TONE that conveys the style) type of story.
So what to do?
I really, really loved the main character in THE LEPRECHAUN CONNECTION, what if I wrote her backstory? Yep, you heard correctly—BACKSTORY. How did this character become who she ended up being?
The first story I wrote was called, MISSING: ONE GARDEN GNOME, which explained how Kyte Webber became the kid who saw Mythicals. During this time, I received over 100 rejections, changed the title, changed the character’s name five or six times, and cut over 10,000 words—twice. No, this was NOT an easy book to write. The title soon became TO GNOME ME IS TO LOVE ME, and my character became Kyte—an old friend allowed me to use her old Dungeons and Dragons persona. Eerie part is they have similar personalities.
Three of the books are available on Amazon:
TO GNOME ME IS TO LOVE ME, book one of The Goblin’s Apprentice series
THE FAST AND THE FAERIEOUS, book two of The Goblin’s Apprentice series
LOST LEPRECHAUN LOOT, a Kyte Webber short adventure story, honoring St. Patrick’s Day
I plan to publish three more stories this year:
A MAZE OF MONSTER MIX-UPS, a Halloween prequel to book three of The Goblin’s Apprentice, featuring Kyte Webber
FOR WHOM THE BELL TROLLS, book three of The Goblin’s Apprentice series
SUGAR PLUM DISASTER, a Christmas inspired short story, featuring Kyte Webber
1/14/11
Character Too Old for Middle Grade?
I had an inkling of suspicion about this topic in December, but I have since had it confirmed by a generous agent who actually rejected my story and gave me a little feedback.
A RARITY, I MIGHT ADD, WHICH MAKES THIS AGENT A GEM IN MY BOOKS!
I've mentioned it before but I'll repeat myself just this once. Agents tend to get HUNDREDS of queries on any given week. Many agents close their doors to queries for months at a time. Other agents will only accept snail mail queries to keep their piles at a minimum. While the majority of agents have gone along with the mantra that 'NO RESPONSE MEANS NO'.
--for the most part, I've realized that this is becoming the norm, though I wish the agents who do this would have an auto response letting the author know this information, otherwise, the author might keep querying the agent because they suspect their query got lost in spam-land. *spam, spam, spam* *sing along with me* *spam, spam, spam, spam*
When I received this rejection--a one day turnaround, I might add. Trust me, this is better than no response!--the agent actually liked the premise the story, but couldn't connect with my character because she sounded too old.
Okay, I get this. In fact, this was my very fear with my middle grade stories.
When I switched to writing MG I had a few people read my stories, but those critters were romance writers or essayists, they weren't children's writers or even readers of MG. I belonged to SCBWI, but never connected with the local group, so for the most part I've been on my own.
No, even my own kid doesn't really read my stories. She's read my short stories, but has never read my novel length ones. She's not really into the same fantasy stuff that I am.
So I turned to my kidlet's teacher last month. Mrs. E teaches 4th grade and deals with 9 and 10 year olds on a daily basis. My character is 11, almost 12. When I gave SUGAR PLUM DISASTER to Mrs. E to read, I knew some 4th graders were reading way above the norm {(as in TWILIGHT) and no, I don't think it's an appropriate story for that age, but that's the parent's responsibility to deal with not mine.}while others are still working their way through the Magic Treehouse stories.
This is a vast range of reading abilities for this age group. Mrs. E hasn't had a chance to get back to me yet--the life of a teacher, especially a teacher with her own kids, is never quiet--but I suspect her response will be similar to the agents.
As for characters in MG stories, well, they run the gamut, too. The reader grows up with Harry Potter, and I love how JKR dealt with the teenage angst without it overpowering the story. We grow up with Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice, but there are older protagonists in MG. THE FIRE WITHIN (The Last Dragon Chronicles) by Chris D'Lacey involves a college age protagonist. Many of the classics are sold as middle grade novels whether or not the protagonist is 9-12. Or you have the animal protagonists, GUARDIANS of GA'HOOLE.
But the real question remains, will I still write my character the same way? Or will I try to present her as older?
Actually, I think I'll keep my character like she is. Oh, I might tweak her words and thoughts some, but I like the idea of my character growing up within a series. I don't want her to be much older since I'm not ready to deal with the teenage angst issues.
I'll just wait a few years when I have to deal with them for real with my own child, and then I'll slip it into the books.
Later, Peeps!
A RARITY, I MIGHT ADD, WHICH MAKES THIS AGENT A GEM IN MY BOOKS!
I've mentioned it before but I'll repeat myself just this once. Agents tend to get HUNDREDS of queries on any given week. Many agents close their doors to queries for months at a time. Other agents will only accept snail mail queries to keep their piles at a minimum. While the majority of agents have gone along with the mantra that 'NO RESPONSE MEANS NO'.
--for the most part, I've realized that this is becoming the norm, though I wish the agents who do this would have an auto response letting the author know this information, otherwise, the author might keep querying the agent because they suspect their query got lost in spam-land. *spam, spam, spam* *sing along with me* *spam, spam, spam, spam*
When I received this rejection--a one day turnaround, I might add. Trust me, this is better than no response!--the agent actually liked the premise the story, but couldn't connect with my character because she sounded too old.
Okay, I get this. In fact, this was my very fear with my middle grade stories.
When I switched to writing MG I had a few people read my stories, but those critters were romance writers or essayists, they weren't children's writers or even readers of MG. I belonged to SCBWI, but never connected with the local group, so for the most part I've been on my own.
No, even my own kid doesn't really read my stories. She's read my short stories, but has never read my novel length ones. She's not really into the same fantasy stuff that I am.
So I turned to my kidlet's teacher last month. Mrs. E teaches 4th grade and deals with 9 and 10 year olds on a daily basis. My character is 11, almost 12. When I gave SUGAR PLUM DISASTER to Mrs. E to read, I knew some 4th graders were reading way above the norm {(as in TWILIGHT) and no, I don't think it's an appropriate story for that age, but that's the parent's responsibility to deal with not mine.}while others are still working their way through the Magic Treehouse stories.
This is a vast range of reading abilities for this age group. Mrs. E hasn't had a chance to get back to me yet--the life of a teacher, especially a teacher with her own kids, is never quiet--but I suspect her response will be similar to the agents.
As for characters in MG stories, well, they run the gamut, too. The reader grows up with Harry Potter, and I love how JKR dealt with the teenage angst without it overpowering the story. We grow up with Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice, but there are older protagonists in MG. THE FIRE WITHIN (The Last Dragon Chronicles) by Chris D'Lacey involves a college age protagonist. Many of the classics are sold as middle grade novels whether or not the protagonist is 9-12. Or you have the animal protagonists, GUARDIANS of GA'HOOLE.
But the real question remains, will I still write my character the same way? Or will I try to present her as older?
Actually, I think I'll keep my character like she is. Oh, I might tweak her words and thoughts some, but I like the idea of my character growing up within a series. I don't want her to be much older since I'm not ready to deal with the teenage angst issues.
I'll just wait a few years when I have to deal with them for real with my own child, and then I'll slip it into the books.
Later, Peeps!
11/19/10
Playing to your Strengths
This next week will be busy with birthdays, family visiting, cooking and the overall Thanksgiving cheerfulness. I'll try to post on my usual days, but don't hold your breath--you'll only pass out.
I LOVE having my family staying with us. My SIL Margie and I have a great relationship, but one thing that makes our relationship work is that we know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Over the past--gosh, I don't know HOW many years we've been doing this, let's just say--20+ years, we've been cooking desserts and appetizers for Thanksgiving. Once Marge reacquaints herself with my kitchen, then we go to town, picking recipes, writing up lists and cooking. . . and drinking wine . . . lots and lots of wine.
We tend to work together on many recipes. I'll start one, but she'll finish it, and vice versa. But if there is any sort of crust to be rolled out--I make her do it. I suck at rolling out pie dough. I know it. I embrace the fact. So Margie does the dough. She's not too fond of making caramel. Watching and swirling sugar is paramount to watching paint dry on the wall, but I enjoy it. It takes forever for sugar to get to the caramel stage, but once it starts browning you have to keep a close eye on it, otherwise it will burn.
In other words, we play to our strengths.
The same goes for writing. If you excel at sensual love scenes, then you need to gear your writing in that direction. If you are mentally (*raises hand* I am!) at the sixth grade level, then write middle grade stories. If you like goofy, write goofy. Write to your strengths.
I've heard numerous times that writers need to write outside the box, or push past your comfort zone.
Why?
Why set yourself up for failure? You know you aren't comfortable with X, Y, or Z, why force yourself to write something that you don't like? Especially if you are just starting down the writing path. That's insane.
Get comfortable with WHO you are as a writer FIRST, then push your boundaries. It may take you one book or ten to get to that point, or you may not even care to push through.
In MG and YA, dystopian, end-of-the-world is big. So many debut writers are selling this stuff right now. Will I write it? NO. I don't like reading that stuff and I'm sure as shooting not going to write it!
Readers aren't stupid. They sense within the words when you don't write your passion. The story is flat, lifeless. If you don't love it, so why should they?
Write to your strengths, then branch out after you know who you are as a writer.
Write on!
I LOVE having my family staying with us. My SIL Margie and I have a great relationship, but one thing that makes our relationship work is that we know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Over the past--gosh, I don't know HOW many years we've been doing this, let's just say--20+ years, we've been cooking desserts and appetizers for Thanksgiving. Once Marge reacquaints herself with my kitchen, then we go to town, picking recipes, writing up lists and cooking. . . and drinking wine . . . lots and lots of wine.
We tend to work together on many recipes. I'll start one, but she'll finish it, and vice versa. But if there is any sort of crust to be rolled out--I make her do it. I suck at rolling out pie dough. I know it. I embrace the fact. So Margie does the dough. She's not too fond of making caramel. Watching and swirling sugar is paramount to watching paint dry on the wall, but I enjoy it. It takes forever for sugar to get to the caramel stage, but once it starts browning you have to keep a close eye on it, otherwise it will burn.
In other words, we play to our strengths.
The same goes for writing. If you excel at sensual love scenes, then you need to gear your writing in that direction. If you are mentally (*raises hand* I am!) at the sixth grade level, then write middle grade stories. If you like goofy, write goofy. Write to your strengths.
I've heard numerous times that writers need to write outside the box, or push past your comfort zone.
Why?
Why set yourself up for failure? You know you aren't comfortable with X, Y, or Z, why force yourself to write something that you don't like? Especially if you are just starting down the writing path. That's insane.
Get comfortable with WHO you are as a writer FIRST, then push your boundaries. It may take you one book or ten to get to that point, or you may not even care to push through.
In MG and YA, dystopian, end-of-the-world is big. So many debut writers are selling this stuff right now. Will I write it? NO. I don't like reading that stuff and I'm sure as shooting not going to write it!
Readers aren't stupid. They sense within the words when you don't write your passion. The story is flat, lifeless. If you don't love it, so why should they?
Write to your strengths, then branch out after you know who you are as a writer.
Write on!
8/14/09
Beating a Dead Horse (Sorry, Jody!)
not a real dead horse, of course. I would never forgive myself, though I do remember a time when I threatened Abe (psycho horse from hell) with the glue factory.
Two days ago, my daughter and I went to the local B & N bookstore. I have no qualms at spending $$ on books. I love books. My daughter likes books--specific authors only at this point in her life--third grade, yanno. She wanted a Judy Moody book. Did they have any in stock? NO. But they did have about twenty to twenty-five copies of Stink books (Judy's brother).
Minor rant to follow. This is just my opinion as I do not have any data to back up my stance on this topic.
insert rant: I KNOW publishers/parents/agents/editors want to encourage boys at this age to read. I'm all over that. I totally agree and loved it when J.K. Rowling did what no one had been able to do--she got a whole generation of children to take an interest in reading. More to the point, boys started reading. And this was prior to my personal interest in middle grade (pre-child and pre-writing of middle grade novels).
But while the interest is focused on encouraging boys to read, they are forgetting about girls--girls who already read and want more. My daughter doesn't want to read about Stink. But I understand why boys wouldn't want to be caught dead carrying around a book labelled Judy Moody or Junie B. Jones. It isn't because the protagonist is female, it's because of the 'girl' title.
I conducted an unofficial survey of third grade boy's reading material. It covers a wide range of topics, and many of the books feature a female protagonist. Boys at this age don't care who the main character of the story is, they just want a good story. The key is not to use a 'girl' name in the title of the book, or series title. The Magic Treehouse books feature Annie and Jack, sister and brother. Both of the characters have roles in each story. Inkheart is one other example. Female protag. Excellent adventure.
I think this topic irritates me because I'm trying to generate agent interest in my story, MISSING: One Garden Gnome. Generic title, but female protag. I just got a rejection on one of the partials. Though the agent was interested, he couldn't think of any editor who would enjoy this novel. Okay. I get it. It isn't about me, but about the story.
But it does make me wonder if it is because I have a female protag and not a male one.
When I started collecting names of agents to query, there were quite a few of them who wanted middle-grade novels with a strong male protagonist. Yeah, I subbed to those agents--but will probably get an auto rejection. Trends change. I'll still write my female protag, but I would like to think this story would be a good read for a boy just as much as a girl.
Do you have an opinion on the topic?
Do you have a boy who won't read a book because the protag is a girl? If so, what age is he?
What type of books does he read?
Two days ago, my daughter and I went to the local B & N bookstore. I have no qualms at spending $$ on books. I love books. My daughter likes books--specific authors only at this point in her life--third grade, yanno. She wanted a Judy Moody book. Did they have any in stock? NO. But they did have about twenty to twenty-five copies of Stink books (Judy's brother).
Minor rant to follow. This is just my opinion as I do not have any data to back up my stance on this topic.
insert rant: I KNOW publishers/parents/agents/editors want to encourage boys at this age to read. I'm all over that. I totally agree and loved it when J.K. Rowling did what no one had been able to do--she got a whole generation of children to take an interest in reading. More to the point, boys started reading. And this was prior to my personal interest in middle grade (pre-child and pre-writing of middle grade novels).
But while the interest is focused on encouraging boys to read, they are forgetting about girls--girls who already read and want more. My daughter doesn't want to read about Stink. But I understand why boys wouldn't want to be caught dead carrying around a book labelled Judy Moody or Junie B. Jones. It isn't because the protagonist is female, it's because of the 'girl' title.
I conducted an unofficial survey of third grade boy's reading material. It covers a wide range of topics, and many of the books feature a female protagonist. Boys at this age don't care who the main character of the story is, they just want a good story. The key is not to use a 'girl' name in the title of the book, or series title. The Magic Treehouse books feature Annie and Jack, sister and brother. Both of the characters have roles in each story. Inkheart is one other example. Female protag. Excellent adventure.
I think this topic irritates me because I'm trying to generate agent interest in my story, MISSING: One Garden Gnome. Generic title, but female protag. I just got a rejection on one of the partials. Though the agent was interested, he couldn't think of any editor who would enjoy this novel. Okay. I get it. It isn't about me, but about the story.
But it does make me wonder if it is because I have a female protag and not a male one.
When I started collecting names of agents to query, there were quite a few of them who wanted middle-grade novels with a strong male protagonist. Yeah, I subbed to those agents--but will probably get an auto rejection. Trends change. I'll still write my female protag, but I would like to think this story would be a good read for a boy just as much as a girl.
Do you have an opinion on the topic?
Do you have a boy who won't read a book because the protag is a girl? If so, what age is he?
What type of books does he read?
5/29/09
Changing genres
Warning: Random bouncing thoughts.
Ugh! I'm mentally drained. I have been writing my butt off--figuratively--though it would be really cool if I did in real time. I've been writing roughly 3000 words a day for eight days which ends up to about eighty or so pages. With one big push I should finish my MG novel today, though it might be Monday before I can wrap up all the loose ends--the happy crap. Then it needs to sit and ferment before I dive in to fix all the major problems. Trust me, there are A LOT of problems: POV shifts (3rd person to 1st, etc), tense shifts, general crappy sentences/structure. You know, the normal stuff to fix.
Anger is becoming an issue with me, probably from sitting in a damn kitchen chair for eight days straight. I really want to kill something right now. I NEED to kill something. Killing bad guys doesn't have the intense emotional jerk that killing a character's friend does. But it's a middle grade story, can I really kill someone? You bet your sweet bupkiss I can. I wanted to kill my main character's mom, but it really didn't work for this story. Maybe later. So it's either her new friend or his dad. His dad is too far removed, so friend it is, 'cause I can't kill the gnome, can I?Oh, no, Rory has a role to play way down the road. He lives, though I could do some damage to him.
Why did I switch to writing middle grade from writing fantasy and romance?
Because I sucked at writing romance, and I couldn't sell my fantasy if my life depended on it. Trust me, I tried. So I played with picture books for a little while. I liked writing them, but I haven't drunk the secret elixir to figure out the perfect formula. I'll still dabble, but as a sideline.
I returned to square one and thought about my writing strengths. I love writing fantasy. Not the dark urban stuff--trust me, I tried that too--but the lighter fantasy. Okay, I have a snarky voice, but it is definitely one on the level of my eight year old, not other adults. I like stupid jokes and puns, which I tend to write in my stories.
I have the advantage of buying/reading a lot of middle grade stories, since I check them out for my daughter. After reading a few of them, I realized I could write one. Don't get the false opinion that these are easy-peasy, putzy stories to write, they aren't. The have to be just as convoluted and exciting as adult stuff, maybe even more so. Kids do not forgive. Kids stop reading in the middle of a sentence never to pick up the book again. I've seen it first hand. Adults might give an author a second chance after a crappy book, not so kids. Plus, kids are growing and will outgrow the story before you get a chance to write the next one. The window of opportunity is very narrow. In other words, I'm not writing for the current population of third graders, I'm writing for the toddlers of the world.
After this story sits a few days. I intend to hit my second draft pretty hard. I want to finish it by the end of June to enter it in the Delacorte contest. This is a tight deadline, but doable. We'll see how it goes, won't we?
I'll probably work on the third draft during July and August, while thinking about the second story in the series. Plus, I can make my kiddo read it to see if it has staying power.
I think this main character has a lot of potential. Why?
Because I've already written her adult story. These middle grade stories are the background for who she became in The Leprechaun Connection. See? I just might sell that story even though it has about sixty rejections so far. And we have come full circle.
Write on!
Ugh! I'm mentally drained. I have been writing my butt off--figuratively--though it would be really cool if I did in real time. I've been writing roughly 3000 words a day for eight days which ends up to about eighty or so pages. With one big push I should finish my MG novel today, though it might be Monday before I can wrap up all the loose ends--the happy crap. Then it needs to sit and ferment before I dive in to fix all the major problems. Trust me, there are A LOT of problems: POV shifts (3rd person to 1st, etc), tense shifts, general crappy sentences/structure. You know, the normal stuff to fix.
Anger is becoming an issue with me, probably from sitting in a damn kitchen chair for eight days straight. I really want to kill something right now. I NEED to kill something. Killing bad guys doesn't have the intense emotional jerk that killing a character's friend does. But it's a middle grade story, can I really kill someone? You bet your sweet bupkiss I can. I wanted to kill my main character's mom, but it really didn't work for this story. Maybe later. So it's either her new friend or his dad. His dad is too far removed, so friend it is, 'cause I can't kill the gnome, can I?Oh, no, Rory has a role to play way down the road. He lives, though I could do some damage to him.
Why did I switch to writing middle grade from writing fantasy and romance?
Because I sucked at writing romance, and I couldn't sell my fantasy if my life depended on it. Trust me, I tried. So I played with picture books for a little while. I liked writing them, but I haven't drunk the secret elixir to figure out the perfect formula. I'll still dabble, but as a sideline.
I returned to square one and thought about my writing strengths. I love writing fantasy. Not the dark urban stuff--trust me, I tried that too--but the lighter fantasy. Okay, I have a snarky voice, but it is definitely one on the level of my eight year old, not other adults. I like stupid jokes and puns, which I tend to write in my stories.
I have the advantage of buying/reading a lot of middle grade stories, since I check them out for my daughter. After reading a few of them, I realized I could write one. Don't get the false opinion that these are easy-peasy, putzy stories to write, they aren't. The have to be just as convoluted and exciting as adult stuff, maybe even more so. Kids do not forgive. Kids stop reading in the middle of a sentence never to pick up the book again. I've seen it first hand. Adults might give an author a second chance after a crappy book, not so kids. Plus, kids are growing and will outgrow the story before you get a chance to write the next one. The window of opportunity is very narrow. In other words, I'm not writing for the current population of third graders, I'm writing for the toddlers of the world.
After this story sits a few days. I intend to hit my second draft pretty hard. I want to finish it by the end of June to enter it in the Delacorte contest. This is a tight deadline, but doable. We'll see how it goes, won't we?
I'll probably work on the third draft during July and August, while thinking about the second story in the series. Plus, I can make my kiddo read it to see if it has staying power.
I think this main character has a lot of potential. Why?
Because I've already written her adult story. These middle grade stories are the background for who she became in The Leprechaun Connection. See? I just might sell that story even though it has about sixty rejections so far. And we have come full circle.
Write on!
2/25/09
I Won--
this beautiful necklace on Jennifer Lyon's blog!
Jennifer was having a pre-launch party on her blog for three weeks and her book Blood Magic came out yesterday. She took all the commenter's names and tossed them into a sparkly witches' hat and Ninjaface the cat picked ME!
Weeks ago, she posted Silver Enchantments website of this necklace and I spent much of my writing time trolling around the web pages. I WANT so many things on this site, but since I won something, I just might be able to convince hubster that I need a pair of earrings to go with my new necklace. Scroll down to the fantasy stuff and you'll see what I mean. So many goodies, so little money! *sigh* I'm so happy! And today, I'm going to be getting my hair done near the Barnes and Noble, so guess who plans to be early to her appointment! Just enough time to buy more books! Yay!
Oh, and I sort of came up with a plot for my MG novel! Another YAY! I'm writing a chapter a day (short chapters--1500 words). I'd like to finish the story before we go skiing, so I can hit the edits hard when I get back! Then I'll need to find someone who is willing to crit a middle-grade novel!
Any takers?
I hope all the links work. If they don't let me know.
Write on!
2/23/09
Delacorte Yearling contest
I've been racking my brains for a decent plot for the Delacorte Yearling contest I mentioned last Friday. My kiddo is just starting books that would be considered MG (middle grade, ages 8-12) and I'm fairly familiar with the books available. I've read many of them, BUT the contest stipulates 96-160 typewritten pages, 12-point font. Of course, I can manipulate the font to reach the minimum or maximum requirement by simply changing it from courier to Times. And by my rough calculations that runs around 25K-40K words. Not a problem. If I could come up with a story in the next week or two, I could feasibly write this amount by the deadline of June 30, 2009.
The problem arises because . . . I GOT NOTHING by the way of plot!
This is driving me crazy!! Usually, I have too much plot, but now, I can't think of anything! AARRGGHH!! The really good MG stories have the main plot and a subplot or something that can link it into a series.
...and there are A LOT of good series all ready invented! The Magic Tree house books come to mind, though they are far less than the required word count. I need to come up with a story that is either contemporary or historical. They don't specifically say NO FANTASY, but I'm guessing the fantasy had better be a subplot or not at all if you look at the list of previous winners.
I'll take any, and all suggestions for a story plot. Oh, and my daughter says there has to be a sad part near the end (black moment, anyone?) because all chapter books have them. ;-)
Halp!
And Write On!
The problem arises because . . . I GOT NOTHING by the way of plot!
This is driving me crazy!! Usually, I have too much plot, but now, I can't think of anything! AARRGGHH!! The really good MG stories have the main plot and a subplot or something that can link it into a series.
...and there are A LOT of good series all ready invented! The Magic Tree house books come to mind, though they are far less than the required word count. I need to come up with a story that is either contemporary or historical. They don't specifically say NO FANTASY, but I'm guessing the fantasy had better be a subplot or not at all if you look at the list of previous winners.
I'll take any, and all suggestions for a story plot. Oh, and my daughter says there has to be a sad part near the end (black moment, anyone?) because all chapter books have them. ;-)
Halp!
And Write On!
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