I'm getting ready to catch the 8:40 train to Grand Central, then off to the Holiday Market at Union Square, 14th and Broadway.
I'll be at the Shenanigan Books Booth today signing Star of the Show from 10:30 to 3:00. Can't wait to meet Mary Watson, Creative Director of Shenanigan Books. If you're up for some cool shopping, and don't mind braving the wind, stop by Union Square, and say hi!

Here's a sneak peek at Shenanigan Books stall:



~Della

Two canvases, work in progress...........



Friday five---
1. family
2. friends
3. art
4. writing.
5 jewelry.

: )

Hola, lovely fellow authors and blog followers! We wanted to quickly let you know about the 2009 Stupid Prada Summer Van Tour! We know you're asking yourself, "What the heck is a Stupid Prada Summer Van Tour?" Well, three of the 2009 debut authors--Saundra Mitchell (author of Shadowed Summer), Mandy Hubbard (author of Prada and Prejudice), and Rhonda Stapleton (author of Stupid Cupid), decided to ban together for a super-awesome 9-day United States van tour to hit some rather high-falutin important sites, as well as lesser-known locales.

See the map below to find out where we're gonna be each day starting Monday, November 30, and drop by all of our blogs daily to get the scoop on how the tour progresses! We'll be offering prizes throughout the tour, so make sure you follow us each day for your chance to win copies of our books, gift certificates, and other fun gifts!

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Saundra Mitchell ~ http://www.saundramitchell.com
Mandy Hubbard ~ http://www.mandyhubbard.com
Rhonda Stapleton ~ http://www.rhondastapleton.com

For today's Poetry Friday post, here is a post about a pair of epicureans, which seemed fitting to me for the day after Thanksgiving with so many people feasting (and, perhaps, overeating; also, it's possible that some of you had oysters in your stuffing). Today's pick is The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll, from Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, which I have posted once before:

The Walrus and the Carpenter
by Lewis Carroll

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be grand!"

"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."

The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head--
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat--
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more--
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."

"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"
"The night is fine," the Walrus said.
"Do you admire the view?

"It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf--
I've had to ask you twice!"

"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"

"I weep for you," the Walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.

This is one of those poems that I don't know in its entirety, but I have parts of it committed to memory. My particular favorite lines are the following stanza, which I most often quote by saying only the first two lines, and frequently quote using the first four - only seldom do I add the final pairing, but I will point out that the "whether pigs have wings" line is related to the term "when pigs fly", used to indicate an opinion that something is impossible or at least highly improbable. This is not the first time in his writing that Carroll referred to winged or flying pigs, since the Duchess in his earlier book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland tells Alice in chapter nine that she has "Just about as much right [to think about something] as pigs have to fly...." Carroll appears to have drawn the images or ideas from a Scottish proverb, "If a pig had wings, it could fly", which predates Carroll's lines by a few centuries in usage, and at least a few years in print. But I digress. Here's my favorite stanza:

The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

Form: The entire poem is written using the same metre, which is very song-based (and was likely sung or set to music even when it was conceived and written). The lines alternate - a line of iambic tetrameter followed by a line of iambic trimeter (a classic song form - 868686 if you're a church-music aficionado), with a rhyme scheme of xAxAxA in each stanza, meaning that the even-numbered lines all rhyme, but the odd-numbered ones (designated by an "x") do not. As there are 18 stanzas, it would run xAxAxA through xRxRxR.

1. Thanksgiving may not be a moveable feast, but it is a fluid concept. When I was a child, Grammy Field's table included turkey, sage stuffing and dressing (we distinguish between what's cooked in the bird and what's baked alongside it), riced potatoes, gravy, squash, big boiled onions (not on my plate, though), mixed sweet pickles (loved those pickled onions and the pickled cauliflower), a gelatin salad that often featured raspberries and walnuts, coleslaw, celery sticks, rolls, and, for dessert, a variety of pies. My mother and her four sisters all contributed. Grammy was WCTU, so the men went out for a nip in the barn.

Now, at my parents' house, we have turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, green beans for my brother-in-law, canned pearl onions in Campbell's cream of mushroom soup for my husband (on my plate, too), cranberry jelly, a gelatin salad that includes cottage cheese and horseradish and is much tastier than it sounds, coleslaw, black olives, rolls, and apple and pumpkin pie. HH and I brought wine. Because my mother, sister and I are the only three cooks, the menu is more a matter of who likes what and who can eat what than it is of who brings what. But it's still Thanksgiving.

2. What jeannineatkins described as "a day between" is working out well. No shopping for me, but a quiet house and a chance to work with deliberation. Also, to do a bit of pure pleasure reading (remember what that was?).

3. I've been giving a lot of thought to my writing life lately, perhaps because it has felt like there wasn't much of one. Over the next few weeks, I'll be making some changes. Stay tuned.

4. Registration opens soon for the next Novel Writing Retreat at Vermont College of Fine Arts. This is Sarah Aronson and Cindy Faughnan's sixth such event and they are The Best! This year, E. Lockhart and Uma Krishnaswami are the featured novelists and Nancy Mercado of Roaring Brook is the featured editor. This is a terrific opportunity to meet other writers, hear from professionals, and spend some time working on your own. The date is March 19-21. For more information you can email sarah.n.aronson at gmail dot com.

5. Snow is in the forecast. I'm no downhill skier, but I welcome it all the same. As the dark days descend, I am reminded of the Native American tradition of telling stories in the dark of winter. It's time for me to do the same.

Hey, it's "black Friday" and is everyone shopping, or avoiding shopping, or sleeping or eating or visiting or reading or basically enjoying a day off? Maybe you're at work??? In any case, thanks for dropping in. Today is our last section about "balance," and it's about finding balance in critique groups.

On a side note, allow me to explain that for whatever reason, the TB blog this week won't let me do my nice big sized fonts, my different colored fonts, nothing. This explains the rather basic look of my posts the last few days. Can I figure out what happened? Nope. But I will.

Enjoy your weekend and come back Monday!








"To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."
---Elbert Hubbard


"One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood. The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide."
---Charles Horton Cooley





CRITIQUE GROUPS



When you first began writing, I'm going to guess that at some point, someone, or some book, or some conference, encouraged you to find a critique group. Right?


And let's say you found one. And you've had a few visits. And your head is reeling.

If your "starting out" experience with critique groups is like mine, you will find tons of advice not just from the members of the group, but from people telling you HOW to utilize your group.

And once again we find conflicting advice, and we find ourselves struggling. It's not supposed to be a 'struggle,' we tell ourselves. According to the writing world at large, it's supposed to be as easy as:

RULES FOR A GROUP

1. Invite members of all genres, to gain as many varied perspectives as possible.

2. Invite members that only write the same kind of stuff you do, because they will be more in tune with the sensibilities behind your work, and give better advice.

3. Listen to everyone with an open mind and do not be afraid to act on a piece of advice, even if it seems radical. This is how you find solutions you would never find alone. This is the point of the group.

4. Listen to everyone with an open mind but for heaven's sake, hang on to your vision and maintain your focus. Take the advice that makes sense and reject all else (with a smile.) Don't let someone lead you astray.

5. When you are critiquing someone else, be honest. They are here because they WANT to improve and they are not afraid of criticism. (If they are, they do not belong in the group.) Be honest, be kind, but be direct. Don't be afraid to say it all, including that perfect scene you have dreamed up that will solve his/her dry third act. If necessary, jot down a rough outline for them.

6. When critiquing someone else, edit yourself. Do not, repeat, DO NOT, TELL someone else HOW they should rewrite their story. You can offer an opinion like, "The climax is a bit understated, can you oomph it?" But you must never tell them the WAY to oomph the climax is to have Bruce discover Jennifer with the chauffeur, reach for a gun, then in the ensuing frenzy, shots break out and there is an unexpected murder. That is far too specific and dishonors the writer. Just give them a general nudge.

7. Use the time to also socialize and eat!

8. Don't eat. Don't socialize. Stay focused and keep it about writing.


There. Now you have all the rules of being part of a critique group.

Wait!

Hold on. Some of those items kind of.....clash....don't they? Do you see a few contradictions???

Well, I have heard all of the above, and I have had to sort out for myself how to participate in a critique group, and how to get the most from my peers. And I'm guessing you are too.

1. For me, I want to mix writing and socializing. And cookies. Lots of cookies.

2. I want to help someone make their book the best it can be, but I do NOT want to tell them exactly how to write it. I keep my extremely detailed scenarios to myself. UNLESS they are asked for.

3. I want everyone to be brutally honest with my work. (But at first, I couldn't handle it.) I do not mind if someone tells me how exactly I should structure the first act or rewrite that critical scene. I am able to take what I want and ignore the rest (with a smile.) (But at first, I was not able to.)

4. I prefer a group of children's writers. I have nothing against adult fiction, non-fiction, mysteries, sci-fi, whatever. But I want peers who have read all the same books I have, who are in tune with the same readers I am, and who are struggling with many of the same specific genre-related issues I am. And besides, how can I, with a straight face, offer criticism to someone creating a sci-fi book? Or adult non-fiction? I don't read those kind of books. And it seems to me a critique group should be about surrounding yourself with people who are knowledgeable in YOUR field. It would be a discredit to them and to me.

So I guess what I'm saying, once again, is.....it's about balance. And finding what works for you. And staying true to it. With no apologies.

Good luck.

And I'd love to hear what works for YOU in critique groups, and what doesn't. Please feel free to send in your comments!

I'm doing an outline of my current project. I just finished the second draft, and it's now time for me to corral the free, wandering, rambling manuscript. To look at the plot threads and pacing, to watch where each character appears. This is a macro edit. Once the scenes and the plot threads are all in the right place, I can return to micro-editing, the scene-by-scene and line-by-line wordsmithing. Right now, it's all about the big picture.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I'm so grateful for so many BIG things -- I love spending the day reflecting on them:
God, Family, Friends, Freedom, Home, Food, Clothing, Hope, Church, Health, Neighbors, Faith, 5 Senses, Love!

AND SO MANY little THINGS:
Books, Chocolate, Flannel PJ's, Fireplace, Hot Cocoa, Snowy Nights, Sunsets, Hugs, Memories, Snow Angels, Fall Leaves, Tulips, Sunshine, Rainy Afternoons, Fuzzy Slippers, Christmas Eve, Prayers, Children's wishes, Smiles, Fresh Baked Bread, Lazy Mornings --

And then I know that there are no small things -- I feel so blessed!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Normally by this time on Thanksgiving Day, I would have pies coming out of the oven, cranberry/orange relish chilling, bread ready to bake, etc. But, not this Thanksgiving.

My older daughter is with her family & in-laws and my younger daughter is at her house hanging out with her roommate. For the first time in years, I am not hosting dinner, because yesterday YD texted me that she'd rather just go out to eat - maybe Chinese - and not bother with the whole Thanksgiving dinner.

Well - uh - I have to admit to feeling a little lost, a tad bit at loose ends (staying away from pity party though!) I have spent the morning surfing the web, playing a few online games, petting the cats and dogs and contemplating baking a pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving celebrations throughout my life have usually been small - with the exception in the past few years of large numbers of YD's friends coming over. I grew up in a very small family - my Gram, my older sis and me. On Christmas my mother would come to visit (so there would be four of us) - but most holidays have been people-sparse. This one even more so...

I have some things around the house I want to get done - I might even put out a few Christmas decorations - I will go get Chinese later with YD and a couple of her friends - and most important I think... I am going to start a running list of things for which I am thankful. And, I have a whole year-full of amazing things to include on that list - not the least of which is my book deal!

But, I do believe I'll start the list with being thankful for all my friends - both virtual and those I've actually met. I am indeed blest to have such kind, loving, talented, thoughtful friends - I do believe I'm the luckiest girl ever!

Heres to a happy, joy-filled and blessed day for all my LJ friends! *hugs*

We at the Booth would like to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Enjoy today and all the wonderful things it holds!

And come back soon!

Have a great day!

Today's Thanksgiving, and there are many, many things this incredible and insane year that I am grateful for, but I'm going to keep it short.

I'm thankful:

1) that I am still wildly in love with my best friend, who happens to be my husband. We met when I was 19 and when he asked me to go out with him, I told him "give me a good reason." He's been giving me good reasons to love him for nine years now.

2) that some people love my books. I don't need the whole world to love them. I don't even need a lot of people to love them. But as long as there are some people out there who love them, I'm pretty darn happy.

3) that my kids shout "MAMA!" and hug my knees when I come home from book conferences.

4) that I have found a really wonderful publishing home. I love Scholastic and I'm beyond thrilled to be writing for them for the foreseeable future. Thanks, guys.

5) that I still love writing. That after a year of insanity, of bestsellers lists and face out in bookstores, of foreign rights sales and auctions, of movies and madcap dashes towards revision -- I still love to write. I was really afraid that somewhere along the way, that would change and it would become a business or I'd get burnt out or . . . anything. But no. Whether I have everything or nothing, it turns out that it's still the same: I'm still a writer.

As many of you are touching bare-skinned birds, rinsing their innards, pulling fat from flabby turkey underarms, I wanted to share some cooking advice from kindergartners, who, of course, are the supreme authorities on meal preparation.

You may want to grab your recipe box and some extra note cards. Or, that's right, you could just click 'print.'

What's even better--most of the "recipes" (yes, I'm going to use quotes here and you'll see why in just a moment) offer cooking times of less than one hour.

Hope it's a joyous and warm one for all those celebrating same.

Been thinking about Buy Nothing Day -- which if this Friday in North America, Saturday in the rest of the world -- and why I plan to consciously celebrate it again this year.

I have sympathy for those who favor supporting Buy Local Day instead. I have a little less sympathy for those who simply cry out "jobs and the economy require we buy lots," but I'm not completely without sympathy there either. And I can't claim that I'm going to stop buying anything at all from Friday onwards, or even stop buying anything at all I don't need.

But I still think there's value in consciously taking a day off from buying, well, things. Not if one merely puts of a buying binge until the next day -- but if one uses the day to rethink what one buys, what one needs, and what one's consumption patterns are, so that one can buy less and buy more mindfully in the days that follow. I do intend to try to do that.

While businesses need to sell things, an economy based entirely on pressuring too many to buy too much that they have too little need for is already on shaky ground, IMHO. Upping the pressure to do so year after year is not going to fix this.

And the mindless stuff-buying frenzy of Black Friday is disturbing, and is something that we need to take a critical on a regular basis -- along with the ways in which we support it.

Dear Story,

Yes, your worldbuilding is pretty. I'm glad you're proud of it. But that doesn't mean you need to share every last bit of it with your readers.

It's not that I don't love you. It's just ... there's only so much room on the fridge, okay? I can't possibly hang all your pictures there.

Also, we'll talk about chapter 11 later.

Sincerely,

Me

Since I got home from NCTE Saturday night, I've been devouring books. This happens to me when I've just finished a big project (I turned in the final revision for SUGAR ON SNOW after an afternoon of work in a Philly coffee shop!) - I have a sudden need to go on a reading binge before I move on to something else, so that's what I've been doing. I've finished Cynthia Omololu's fast-paced, compelling YA debut, DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, which comes out from Walker in February. Then it was Bonnie Shimko's upcoming MG novel, THE PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF AMELIA E. RYE, which releases from FSG this spring and has a main character with one of the greatest voices of all time. Really. And finally, Elizabeth Partridge's MARCHING FOR FREEDOM, an amazing narrative nonfiction account of the children and young people involved in the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. All of these books are wonderful in wildly different ways, and I'll be blogging about them all soon in more detail. For now, I'm just thankful to have read them.

I'm also thankful for these kids...



...who joined me for an author presentation at Dodge Memorial Library in Rouses Point, NY on their day off today. One boy, who was already waiting on the carpet when I arrived to set up my projector, looked up and asked, "So you write books?" I nodded and handed him copies of my two regional historical novels as well as THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. He started flipping through one of the books, and his eyes got huge. "You wrote ALL THIS?" Sometimes as authors, published or unpublished, we forget what an accomplishment that really is.

And one last thankful moment...that came in my email from a teacher in Kansas. Her school library did a great project where kids got to create pumpkins that looked like their favorite book characters. Guess who this is:


Yep...it's my main character from THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. See the resemblance?



I love the way this reader/pumpkin artist captured Gianna's crazy red curls and her creative spirit, and mostly, I'm honored that she connected with the character enough to turn her into a pumpkin. Moments like this, so wonderfully quirky and unexpected, have been the very best part of this book journey. Much to be thankful for, indeed.

I hope your Thanksgiving is full of wonderful people, good food, and great books!

Tweaks and enhancements

1. In order to improve site security, we've temporarily suspended the ability to change passwords for old email addresses that haven't been used for over six months. For further information and support, please visit our customer care page.
2. We've launched a new mobile site with an enhanced UI at m.livejournal.com. View spotlights, post to your journal, read and post to friends pages, and more, no matter where you roam! Please let us know what you think, since this will eventually replace our existing mobile interface. You can update your mobile preferences on your account page.
3. We've upgraded from Beacon to Facebook Connect to improve dual posting. If you've already signed up for Facebook Beacon, you're good to go. If you wish to update your Facebook Connect setting, visit Account Privacy settings and scroll down to the option labeled: "Send information about my updates to Facebook." You can choose Always or Ask each time. Remember to save (on the bottom left corner of the page). To learn more, check out FAQ 249. While we're on the subject, if you happen to be visiting that side of town, please join our Facebook fan page for a touch of home away from home.
4. You'll now receive the Writer's Block Question of the Day in the body of email notifications. To sign up for Writer's Block notifications, visit writersblock and choose the Watch Community option. Next, update your Writer's Block notification settings by checking the box to the right of "Someone posts a new entry to writersblock."
5. Paid and permanent users can now view, add, and edit Notes of commenters. Notes will appear beside the username of comment posters (instead of stars) on S1-themed comment pages.

Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!

Photos of the week

We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.

Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!

Funny How Things Change is a Kirkus Best YA of 2009!

Honored to see it among so many wonderful books. Congratulations to Mary Pearson, Kerry Madden, Tanita Davis and David MacInnis Gill, who all have books on the list!