I apologize for the lapse in blog posts. It has been a rough and busy couple of weeks and not only has my writing suffered, but so has my reading. Besides the political upheaval of the past week, my last remaining grandparent also passed away last week. On the way to my Grandma's funeral I began to feel ill and by that evening was in full-blown illness.Within 24 hours my voice was completely gone. Although, I think it is just a cold, it has left me feeling utterly drained. Add to that our annual trip to the Renaissance Festival and adoption stuff and there just isn't enough time or energy to do anything.
Now, I love to read and have used it as an escape for a long time, but when life gets super hairy, it is usually the first thing to go. Not because I don't enjoy it, but because I want to actually enjoy it without distractions. Nothing makes me happier than to sit on my porch in the fall with some hot tea, a blanket, and a good book. But if I don't have the time to do that, if all I can steal is a few minutes on the toilet or during lunch, I find myself shying away from it. I don't want to read with snatches of time.
Also, I am not sure what the future holds for this blog. Not that I want to quit writing here, but we are anywhere between weeks and months from getting a teenager in our home with the endgame being adoption. Additionally, I am planning on doing a bit more volunteering, hopefully with refugees. It's my answer to this insanity. My life is about to get a whole lot busier and I will be reevaluating things as they change.
Showing posts with label essays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label essays. Show all posts
The Careful Art of Writing Book Reviews
Of course, not every book I read is one that I like or love. I try to be as objective and fair as I can be. If I cannot be objective I try to let the reader know this. If the book is truly horrid, I don't usually review it. (with a few notable exceptions) I will never link a review on Twitter unless the review is glowing because I don't think it is fair to the author to link them to a review that isn't raving. Particularly if they are the kind of author who doesn't normally read reviews. I am aware that these books are an author's (and editor's) baby. They think it is awesome, as they should.
The problem, one that becomes more apparent as I make more and more friends and connections with authors, editors, and other KidLit people, is the idea that if you can't give a book a good review, you shouldn't give one. If you don't have something nice to say, in essence. I get it. Really I do. No one wants to read a bad review. And some can be downright nasty, as if the reviewer has some kind of personal vendetta. The review reads more like an epic bully rant than an honest review of a piece of art. I still wish there was a rule that stated that if you didn't finish a book you are not allowed to review it or give it stars on Goodreads and Amazon. It brings down the average for the book and isn't fair since you didn't actually read the book in its entirety.
When I read a post from a friend complaining about reviews and reviewers, I admit that it hurts my feelings momentarily. Because I am writing reviews with good intentions too, just like the writers who wrote the book. I genuinely enjoy the act of reading and writing and just like they feel when a book gets a bad review, I don't enjoy it when people thumbs down the reviewer. I have not always written glowing reviews. There are times where I have written a review and rewrote it because I felt like I was being too harsh. But I am not going to stop writing reviews for books that weren't completely fabulous either. Most books have redeeming qualities even if I felt like there were some issues. Some books are great for a very specific audience. Others are just mediocre or more-of-the-same and I don't think it is okay to just pretend like those books don't exist or act like they are great in order to pander to the author or other people involved with the book.
It is hard, because some of the people who do the complaining are publishing books that I am going to review. What if this book of theirs isn't good? I ask myself. Do I dare post a bad or mediocre review? Do I just pretend like I didn't read it? In the end, I try to be fair and kind, while still being professional and informative. In the end, the goal is to get people reading and since everyone's tastes are so different, I am going to assume that some of my readers will actually love some of the books I am lukewarm on.
It's a balance. I could simply write reviews only for the books I like, but I also think it is important to talk about the books I didn't enjoy too. It is intellectually stimulating to look at a book critically, see the plot holes, to wonder about character choices, or meander over the theme and meaning. Children are taught to do this in school from a young age. We review poems by Keats and discuss their hidden meanings. We make students write reports on The Outsiders and Pride & Prejudice. Why would we not think any less critically of books coming out now? I get that these books mean a lot to the people who wrote them and I try to honor that. But once you have released your art out into the world, it is up to the reader to disiminate information, find meaning, and take away what they will. And sometimes, your book just doesn't connect with your reader. The Great Gatsby is considered one of the greats of American literature...and I hated it. I found it a slog to get through. Verbose prose that masked a boring plot and intellectual snobbery. My opinion isn't going to change this book's status in literary history. Others who also suffered thought it will find solace that someone else didn't love the book and others will shake their head in confusion, seeing the work as a masterpiece. I haven't seen a book yet where everyone loved it.
If you are in the book business, or any kind of business where you are creating some kind of art, one must grow used to criticism. To rejection. That was the primary thing I came away with in Grad School. Rejection is par for the course. You will be rejected by agents, editors, gatekeepers, and readers. If you have a hard time handling a bad or mediocre review, then I recommend not reading them. If you can't avoid them, then one must learn to let it roll off their backs. I have had people email me with complaints about books, usually kids and teens who are upset that I didn't give a glowing review to one of their favorite books. I too must learn to shrug my shoulders and understand that some people really can't take criticism. And in a perfect world, every book would be perfect and everyone loves it. As it stands we have such a wonderful variety of people and readers that it should be accepted that someone won't like. And if someone is lukewarm on it and is reviewing it, at least it is being reviewed. I get thousands of blog views in a month, which means that, even if I didn't like the book, thousands of people have read the book and if I did my job well, you have a couple more readers who are intrigued.
The Beauty Within: Reclaiming the Fantasy Genre From Those Who Reject, Mock, and Abuse It
As a writer and passionate reader of both fantasy and sci-fi, I find the interview with Mal Peet to be rather offensive, inflammatory, and rude. Even more of an offense is the eye roll you get if you take issue with it. "Oh, you fantasy people. Always getting your knickers in a twist if someone doesn't love your beloved Tolkein." Never mind that they will (and have been) greatly upset when someone dares make fun of adult urban fiction, children's literature as a whole, or whatever genre they are into.
This attitude toward fantasy is nothing new. When I was in grad school they had visiting editors and agents come and do lectures. "Send me anything," the agent/editor would declare as we scribbled down their contact info, "except fantasy:" The shoulders of all the fantasy writers would droop just a bit and our hands would stop writing. While searching for an agent I ran again and again into phrases like, "no high fantasy" or "looking for urban fantasy only". Urban fantasy seems to be a catch-all phrase for fantasy that is barely fantasy. After all, we can agree that, to a certain extent, all fiction is fantasy, but in the case of "urban fantasy" we only want a tiny bit of magic in our real world scenarios. If I found an agent who looked interesting (a.k.a. said they liked fantasy) I would then search through their interviews for hints as to whether they truly liked the genre or were just looking for the next Harry Potter. More interesting still is that fantasy is nothing new. Some of our oldest written stories are fantasies. Beowulf and Grendel, The Odyssey and The Iliad. Myths and fairy tales are staples in our literary curricula and can found in some form or another in many homes. Parents teach fantasy to their children with Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny. It's part of our nightmares and our dreams. Some of the most dedicated fandoms exist because of fantasy. My co-workers can't stop talking about Game of Thrones and Once Upon a Time.
For those who aren't so gung ho about my favorite genres, they think comments like Mal Peet's are brilliant, adding sidebars concerning their own dislike. Here is the thing, disliking a particular genre or kind of book is fine. We all have our things. For example: I dislike books with talking animals or animals as a main character. Even as a child, I did not enjoy things like Black Beauty or Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH or Fantastic Mr. Fox. I was a vivacious reader so I did, in fact read all of those books, but I didn't like them. However, I also understand why people might like these types of books. If you were a child obsessed with horses, it makes perfect sense to me that you would gobble up every horse book you could find. Black Beauty is a wonderful book that has earned its classic status. As someone who doesn't like surprises, mysteries can be insufferable, but I don't dislike the entire genre and I definitely wouldn't poke fun or show disgust for something that I know many people read and love. It isn't for me, but thank goodness there are plenty of books that are. I have been known to turn my nose up to romance, particularly love triangles, but I wouldn't dream of making fun of someone or their reading/writing choices if they do like it.
For me, fantasy and sci-fi have always been a part of my life. My engineering minded dad used to read us Lord of the Rings when he tucked us in at night. I have fond memories of sitting in the doorway of my brothers' bedroom while my dad told us stories. Typical conversations over dinner would include discussions over the symbolism of spice in Dune or trying to remember all the names of the dwarves in The Hobbit. Watching Star Wars for the first time awoke a fire in me that would never be quenched for the entire Star Wars universe and all the books within. My mom read the entire Dragonsong series by Anne McCaffrey to me when I was ten. Things like The Chronicles of Narnia had me looking in every closet and cupboard for a hidden world. I used to dream that Peter Pan would one day come and take me away so I wouldn't have to grow up. I bonded with my dad over Lost in Space, The Muensters, Addams Family, Doctor Who and Star Trek. My favorite heroine existed in the form of Alanna, Tamora Pierce's plucky girl who would do anything to become a knight. When I grew older, I also fell in love with the idea that fantasy and sc-fi both ask the question, 'What If?' and then seek to answer that question.
What if...our obsession with safety went too far? (Rash by Pete Hautman)
What if...a nanny arrived on the wind who was rather unexpected? (Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers)
What if...there was kingdom that was so regimented that to escape was nigh impossible? (Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake)
What if...there was a strange little boy who lived on a tiny planet? (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
What if...a queen with blue hair pretends to be a god and she is found out? (The Blue-haired Gods by ME)
And what about the science fiction books that have become a part of our cultural lexicon or have even predicted the future. In Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift accurately forecasted that Mars had two moons. Jules Verne envisioned the future space travel including a launch site in Florida. Genetic engineering, the atomic bomb, television, solar power, video phones, computer tablets. The list could go on.
There is an enormous beauty in that. I can't get enough of it. Dragons, swords, hyperspeed, sonic screwdrivers, time travel, knights...even a talking animal or two. The incredible imaginations that people have leaves me in awe. It makes me sad that other people can't see that beauty. Worse still are those who hold books such as The Murdstone Trilogy aloft and declare that this, finally, is good fantasy novel. As if all the stuff before was terrible and only this book, because the author hates the genre so much, can be good. A fantasy novel for fantasy haters sounds like a rather terrible book for one who is a fantasy lover. Part of me wants to read the book, to decide for myself whether it is actually a good fantasy novel or just another load of trite and part of me wants to write it off completely based off the comments of its author and the book's fans.
I don't appreciate it when people stomp and sully the things that I love. None of us do. It is why we get so upset when someone loudly declares that people who read children's books are immature and not truly desiring an adult experience. It's why people complain when all romance novels are lumped into the "trashy" category without a thought. It is why those who write "chick-lit" get upset when their novels are considered less than within the literary world. No one likes to be told that the thing they love to write and read is crap and their favorite authors are "humanist old trouser coff writers". If you don't like the genre or certain author's within, that is fine, but for an individual or group to denounce the entire thing, scoffing at the people who create it, is just plain rude and close-minded.
Ordinary People In Extraordinary Times: Writing Characters in Historical Fiction
This bit of advice should be thought about when creating narrators and characters as well though, especially in regards to historical fiction. Why this family? Why this girl or boy, man or woman? Why should we be interested in this person over the millions and billions of people living in that time period? What makes them special?
It is estimated that almost 108 billion people have lived on this earth throughout all of human history. 99% of which lived ordinary lives, even while living through extraordinary times. Most of these people, despite the events going on in the world, would have rather boring stories. Their lives mattered to those they loved or hated, but who they are has been lost to the ravages of time. When I read a book, specifically historical fiction, I do not want to read about those ordinary people. We all lived through 9/11, which was terrible, but if you tried to write the story from my perspective it would be from 500 miles away and rather brief. I can think of a dozen people who would have a far more interesting viewpoint. This is not to say that our perspective's are bad or insignificant for they are important to us, only that they would not make an interesting read in a novel.
When you set an ordinary main character into an extraordinary setting, it is very easy for these great events to overshadow the characters. In a book I am currently reading, the story is set during the civil rights era. The main character, is rather ordinary. Extremely ordinary. So ordinary that her view of this time period feels overly naive and didactic. The main character acts as if prejudice, racism, segregation, are completely new things to her, despite being surrounded and confronted with it on a daily basis. By far the more interesting character is the secondary character, a black boy who has Freedom Riders living in his house. There is danger in him, defiance, a drive to understand, the need for more. I want his story.
Yes, we should have characters that the reader can relate to, but the result needn't be the everyday commoner. Why would I read a story about the ordinary? I see that everyday, living my life. If you are going to write historical fiction then I expect interesting things to happen to interesting people. Historical fiction is hard to write, it requires hours upon hours of careful research, the least we can do is make sure that the characters don't get so bogged down with history that they themselves become boring caricatures.
5 Reason Why I Will Put A Book Down
 |
| Photo by David Whittle |
5 Reasons Why I Will Put Down a Book
I read a lot of books. However, for every ten or so books I read, there is at least one book that I either couldn't finish or thought was terrible. Those are, as it should be, not reviewed. The guilt of giving up on a book remains though. Would it have gotten better if I had finished it? Did I really give it a chance? As it inevitably does with book people, this topic comes up often. How long do you give a book? Do you go by page count? Would you stop reading after the first chapter? What about the first page? For me, there is no set standard for when I "give up", but there are some definable reasons.
1. Not as Advertised
Nothing is worse than picking up a book that says one thing in the blurb or jacket flap and then feeling like you were lied to. Yes, perhaps I should have read some reviews online or looked at who the publisher was, but I didn't and now I am thirty pages in and I want to stop. Case in point, a few months ago I started reading a book that proclaimed itself as young adult dystopian sci-fi. Great! Any kind of sci-fi is right up my alley...or so I thought. What this book actually was, is a diatribe against science & scientists who are portrayed as godless, feckless, power hungry barbarians. This wasn't science, this was anti-science. I have no idea what the author has against science or scientists, but if you are going to write a novel in the sci-fi genre, perhaps you shouldn't alienate the fan base. Just saying. I stopped somewhere around page fifty.
2. Slow Pacing
There is no set rule for pacing. Sometimes a book needs a hundred pages to get going, although this tends to happen more in adult books than in kids. Perhaps the author has to do a lot of crazy world building that requires fifty pages before the story starts rolling. Maybe the book is character driven rather than plot driven. Whatever the case may be, nothing will lose my interest faster than a story that meanders in the beginning. Starting a book with a long journey or promising to reveal something that doesn't happen until page 75 is a problem. It's okay to world build, in many cases completely necessary, but you better have some awesome characters to hold my interest until you finally get around to a plot.3. Don't Care About the Character
The previous reason leads me to this one. Nothing kills a book, television show, or movie faster than when I simply dislike the characters, particularly the protagonist. Oftentimes the reason why I cannot get into a particular show, like Lost, Walking Dead or Once Upon a Time is because I just don't like anyone in the cast. For the die hard fans, I know this is hard to believe, but I am sure we can all name shows, books, and movies that we didn't like because we just couldn't connect with the main characters. For example, I am not an anthropomorphized animal person. I have always disliked books in which the main character is furry. I loathe the ones where they talk. There are rarely exceptions, but if I like the story it is despite the talking animals and I am prone to not pick up books in which there are animals with the power of speech. The insertion of talking animals in the middle of a book may cause me to put it down. I also don't like rooting for the bad guy. He/She can be mysterious, jealous, passive, frustrating, and altogether too human, but I really don't enjoy being in the head of a serial killer or a sadist. I don't like to be torn about whether or not to like a character. I want to love them. That's why I am reading. If you create a really good character I am willing to read book after book about them.
4. Slogging Through the Book
Sometimes a book is neither good nor bad. It is just taking me forever to get through. I am not excited about reading it. Nothing about the book is beckoning me to return. It comes with me to work and then I end up reading news articles on my phone rather than reading the book I brought with me. Eventually, I end up stopping or skipping. Yes, you read that right, something akin to a fast-forward button for a book. I'll skip ahead and see if anything really interesting happens and go from there. I have been known to read the end of a book just to see how it ends and then be done with it, having skipped most of the middle. I will reiterate that I never review these books because this would be entirely unfair to the author. I am reading a book now that I am 2/3 of the way through and nothing about it makes me want to keep reading, so I am at the point where I am tempted to just skip to the end and be done with it.
5. Badly Written
I know people who say that they get free e-books from Amazon or wherever and even though some of them are terribly written, they read it anyway. I cannot do this. This could be the result of having a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing as well as an MFA in Children's Writing, but I just can't read a badly written book. That's like sitting for hours while someone runs their nails on a chalkboard. I cannot read an entire novel where the author doesn't know the difference between passive and active voice, or the tense keeps shifting, or all the characters sound exactly the same, to the point where you wouldn't actually know who is speaking if there weren't dialogue tags. How some of you do it, I don't know. What I do know is this, there are so many extraordinary books out there, by authors who are both talented and have honed their craft, that anything less is a waste of my very precious time. There are so many books out there that I want to read, so many that I will never get to. Those are the ones that are worth my time.
The National Book Festival 2014 in Review
The National Book Festival was awesome. As usual. Held indoors this year and limited to only one (very long) day, I felt like I was surrounded by my people.
If you were following me on Twitter, you would have seen my little adventure, but I thought I would give a quick recap with a few thoughts.
This was my first visit to the Library of Congress. Although I regularly have to deal with them for my job, I have never actually been inside the building. I imagine that when some of these buildings in DC were built, they determined that the best way to build a building was to impress the pants off anyone who walked in the door. They succeeded.
Can I tell you that I was a bit disappointed that I was not able to actually be in the same room with the books. Obviously, I will just have to plan some sort of research visit next time because staring at them from behind glass from the mezzanine is not going to cut it.
We hoofed it over the Smithsonian Museum of Art, but due to my feet absolutely killing me, I don't think I really got to enjoy it. Plantar fascitis is a beast.
According to my sources, the reason the National Book Festival had to move indoors is because some rules regarding the National Mall changed and the cost of having the convention outside was just going to be too much. After spending one year outside in the rain, soaked despite my umbrella, I am very glad to see the Festival indoors. At the main desk on the first floor, volunteers handed out posters, schedules, and big green bags. Signage was fairly good, although I did get a little confused as to where certain rooms were at one point. It was easy to get turned around, especially if you are unfamiliar with the layout.
In line for Jeffrey Brown. The best part about standing in lines is that you are surrounded by other people, and specifically kids, who love that author too. Since some of the kids didn't get to go to the talk, I was able to share some of Jeffrey Brown's pearls of wisdom with his little fans.
I also met up with a friend and former classmate and her daughter. I think the National Book Festival is one of the few places where you can just plop down on the ground and start reading and absolutely no one will be bothered by it.
Anne Ursu is one of my former advisers at Hamline University and I would like to consider her a friend. There was an awkward moment during the taking of this photo because apparently me coming around the table, even though we know each other well, was against the rules. As was her writing my name in my book. I get it. I really do. If everyone did this, the poor author's would feel accosted. But dammit, I haven't seen Anne in almost 4 years and I sure as hell wanted to at least give her a quick hug.
Lines. They are synonymous with the National Book Festival. At one point I had to hold this A and direct people into my line for Gene Luen Yang's book signing. It was a bit awkward because people did try to skip in line (often out of confusion). However, the volunteers were very good at noticing when people were in the wrong place or bypassing the line, and they quickly showed them where to go.
The final bit of the evening, we went to a Book Into Film panel. We left after listening to two authors talk about how much they hated the movies that were made from their books. Although I don't think an author has to love an adaptation, the sheer arrogance and rudeness on display made me viscerally angry. One author admitted to walking out of his film's premier after only 10 minutes. All I could think about was the poor film director along with the rest of the cast and crew, and how they felt as they watched that author leave. Comparing a book to a movie is like comparing a watercolor to an acrylic and expecting them to look the same. Sure, there are some book adaptations that are done badly, however it seems that other authors have found gracious ways not to crap all over someone else's art form. I once asked Jane Yolen about how she liked the adaptation of Devil's Arithmetic. Although she was not shy about how she thought the filmmakers had missed the meaning and depth that was in her book, she at no point complained about the filmmakers nor did she announce that obviously film is inferior to books. Neither of which were things that I heard from that panel. Note to the Library of Congress, perhaps next time you should find some authors who actually like the movies that were made from their books. Or at least show some appreciation for them. I nominate John Green, Johnathan Safron Foer, Susan Orlean, and Anne Rice. Lois Lowry and Dennis Lehane could come too.
If you were following me on Twitter, you would have seen my little adventure, but I thought I would give a quick recap with a few thoughts.
This was my first visit to the Library of Congress. Although I regularly have to deal with them for my job, I have never actually been inside the building. I imagine that when some of these buildings in DC were built, they determined that the best way to build a building was to impress the pants off anyone who walked in the door. They succeeded.
Can I tell you that I was a bit disappointed that I was not able to actually be in the same room with the books. Obviously, I will just have to plan some sort of research visit next time because staring at them from behind glass from the mezzanine is not going to cut it.
We hoofed it over the Smithsonian Museum of Art, but due to my feet absolutely killing me, I don't think I really got to enjoy it. Plantar fascitis is a beast.
According to my sources, the reason the National Book Festival had to move indoors is because some rules regarding the National Mall changed and the cost of having the convention outside was just going to be too much. After spending one year outside in the rain, soaked despite my umbrella, I am very glad to see the Festival indoors. At the main desk on the first floor, volunteers handed out posters, schedules, and big green bags. Signage was fairly good, although I did get a little confused as to where certain rooms were at one point. It was easy to get turned around, especially if you are unfamiliar with the layout.
We started our day with Jeffrey Brown, author of Star Wars: Darth Vader & Son, Star Wars: Jedi Academy, and Sulk. The kids were fully engaged and when it came to the Q&A halfway through, there was quite a cue at the microphones as kids requested that Mr. Brown draw their favorite Star Wars character. One little girl in particular walked up and shouted, "R2D2!" That's it. Just R2D2. She had to shout it again before Mr. Brown realized she was asking him to draw the beloved droid. As a fellow Star Wars fan, this was perhaps my favorite talk of the day.
In line for Jeffrey Brown. The best part about standing in lines is that you are surrounded by other people, and specifically kids, who love that author too. Since some of the kids didn't get to go to the talk, I was able to share some of Jeffrey Brown's pearls of wisdom with his little fans.
I also met up with a friend and former classmate and her daughter. I think the National Book Festival is one of the few places where you can just plop down on the ground and start reading and absolutely no one will be bothered by it.
Anne Ursu is one of my former advisers at Hamline University and I would like to consider her a friend. There was an awkward moment during the taking of this photo because apparently me coming around the table, even though we know each other well, was against the rules. As was her writing my name in my book. I get it. I really do. If everyone did this, the poor author's would feel accosted. But dammit, I haven't seen Anne in almost 4 years and I sure as hell wanted to at least give her a quick hug.
One of the best things about the National Book Festival being inside was that there was a ton of great comfortable seating. Admittedly, I usually chose to sit in the back. Gene Luen Yang's talk was great, but as you can see, I wasn't keen to be on the front row. Another introvert tendency perhaps?
Lines. They are synonymous with the National Book Festival. At one point I had to hold this A and direct people into my line for Gene Luen Yang's book signing. It was a bit awkward because people did try to skip in line (often out of confusion). However, the volunteers were very good at noticing when people were in the wrong place or bypassing the line, and they quickly showed them where to go.
The final bit of the evening, we went to a Book Into Film panel. We left after listening to two authors talk about how much they hated the movies that were made from their books. Although I don't think an author has to love an adaptation, the sheer arrogance and rudeness on display made me viscerally angry. One author admitted to walking out of his film's premier after only 10 minutes. All I could think about was the poor film director along with the rest of the cast and crew, and how they felt as they watched that author leave. Comparing a book to a movie is like comparing a watercolor to an acrylic and expecting them to look the same. Sure, there are some book adaptations that are done badly, however it seems that other authors have found gracious ways not to crap all over someone else's art form. I once asked Jane Yolen about how she liked the adaptation of Devil's Arithmetic. Although she was not shy about how she thought the filmmakers had missed the meaning and depth that was in her book, she at no point complained about the filmmakers nor did she announce that obviously film is inferior to books. Neither of which were things that I heard from that panel. Note to the Library of Congress, perhaps next time you should find some authors who actually like the movies that were made from their books. Or at least show some appreciation for them. I nominate John Green, Johnathan Safron Foer, Susan Orlean, and Anne Rice. Lois Lowry and Dennis Lehane could come too.
National Book Festival 2014
Follow @KidsAtheneum
The Problem With Dystopian: Defying Logic
Like with any world building, it is imperative that your world, whether it be fantasy or reality, have consistent rules and logic. In almost every fantasy book I have read, magic has rules and boundaries that allow the reader to understand the world and the limits of the people within. I have read very few fantasy books where I felt like the author wasn't following a consistent internal logic. However, that is not the case with Dystopian. I have pinpointed this problem down to something very simple that it is almost ridiculous. What is the one thing that all dystopian books have in common?
They are supposed to be our future, a dark and twisted one, but our future nonetheless.
The breakdown appears to happen when authors forget about all the things we currently have in our world that would not disappear easily and would not result in humanity returning to some kind of stone age. Although I understand there are extenuating circumstances, let me point out a couple of "modern" inventions that would not simply disappear should the gas prices start soaring, or the moon gets closer to the earth, or the government moved most of the population into bubble cities.
1. Solar Powered Anything In the book Empty the teen characters spend a good portion of the book running around trying to charge their cellphones due to rolling blackouts. Let me first point out that there are people all around the world, living in areas without electricity 90% of the time, who manage to have and keep their cellphones charged. It is absolutely ridiculous that none of these teens would have a single solar-powered charger of some sort. Here's the thing though, we have a ton of solar powered things. Solar powered lights, phone chargers, backpacks, houses, fans, birdbaths, wind turbines, watches, calculators, and even airplanes. Sure, these things have to be manufactured, but I still have my solar powered calculator from twenty years ago, so at the very least, I don't think bankers are going to have to go back to using abacuses.
2. Tools It is believed that the axe was used as early as the Neolithic period ending in 4,0000 to 2,0000 BC. In ancient Egypt, unframed saws were documented as early as the Early Dynastic Period around 3,100 to 2,686 BC. Blacksmithing is just as old a profession. Yet, I am constantly reading books in which the characters are living in shacks or dilapidated towns after the fall of civilization. Suddenly people can't figure out how to build proper houses or fix the ones they have. Our American ancestors marched across American and built places like San Francisco and Seattle and Denver in just a few decades. Sure San Francisco's streets were unbelievably muddy as it took a bit to figure out how to fix that mess, but if you keep things up, a house can last a good century or more. The people who can't figure out how build themselves a proper shelter, those are the people who would die off. The survivors in your dystopian world are going to be tough and smart and will actually know how to use an axe.
 |
| In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead in what is now San Francisco. Sixteen years later in 1851, this is what San Francisco looked like. |
3. Windmills When William Kamkwamba was a teenager, he created a functioning windmill that powered some electrical appliances in his family's home using materials from a local scrapyard. Since then, he has also built a solar-powered water pump that supplies drinking water in his village and two other windmills that have given his entire village power. He did all this with one book and ingenuity. As long as we have an atmosphere there will always be wind and wind can be harnessed to create electricity. So what if the government shut off the power? This doesn't mean that your characters suddenly go back to being cavemen with no way to take care of themselves beyond scavenging. I get that there is a certain period of anarchy that may happen after the decline of civilization, but we have seen civilizations fall throughout history and those people eventually settled down, rebuilt, and started a new world for themselves.
4. Science Okay, so it isn't exactly an invention, but it counts because thanks to modern science we understand and can create things like medicine, anesthesia, telephones, electricity, light, airplanes, surgery, photography, cars, trains. Not to mention all the other countless things that we have learned over the past 150 years. Now, unless every single book was burned or destroyed and all the scientists, doctors, and inventors died at once, there is no way that all this knowledge would suddenly disappear. Sure, it may resemble more of a third-world country when it comes to medicine, but we wouldn't go back to an era when we think mercury can cure people, that bloodletting works, or using dirty tools to operate on people is in any way safe.
And what if the book you are writing doesn't have one or all of these things? Fine. That's okay. But it better make sense. Tell me why? Why is that banker using an abacus instead of a calculator? Is it so far in the future that all those solar powered calculators broke and no one knows how to make one anymore? If medicine isn't available it needs to make sense. That is the bottom line here. If this is our world, only in the future, then it is important for the reader to know why these things that already exist aren't being used or at the very least, why they have been forgotten
Reading Rainbow Kickstarter
If you haven't seen or helped fund this Kickstarter project then I highly recommend jumping on board. I have read about why they cancelled Reading Rainbow in 2009 and honestly, I find the reasoning to be very flawed. Let's bring Reading Rainbow back to kids and instill in the next generation a love of books, reading, and learning.
Big Ideas for Little Minds: Why Children's Literature Deserves Respect
 |
| The Curious Garden by Peter Brown |
The original articles:
Out-of-Body Experience by A.J. Jacobs
John Green and His Nerdfighters Are Upending the Summer Blockbuster Model
MFA vs POC
Adults Should Read Adult Books
The rebuttles:
Teen Librarian Toolbox: Dear Media, Let me help you write that article on YA literature
Anne Ursu: On 'The John Green Effect,' Contemporary Realism, and Form as a Political Act
Beyond Relevance to Literary Merit: Young Adult Literature as "Literature"
Personally, I think Phillip Pullman put it best when he said, "One mistake that adults used to make about children's books, is to think that children's book deal with trivial things. Little things that please little minds, and little concerns about little people. And, so, nothing could be further from the truth. Quite the contrary, it's been my observation that a lot of highly praised adult books, or highly successful adult books, in recent years have dealt with the trivial things. Such as, "Does my bum look big in this?" or "Will my favorite football team win the cup?" and "Oh dear, my girlfriend's left me, whatever am I going to do?". Whereas the children's books have dealt with ultimate questions: "Where do we come from?," "What's the nature of being a human being?," "What must I do to be good?" These are profound questions, very deeply important questions. And they are being dealt with. Largely, not in the books that adults read, but in the books that children read."
More Storytelling Tropes That Drive Me Bananas
About a year and a half ago I wrote a post concerning common tropes used in children's books that make me want to chuck a book across the room or at the very least, put down and never pick up again. Most are still true, but I have a list of a few more:
1. Countdowns I get it. You need a plot device in order to keep the pacing moving along at a good clip. This is doubly important for action books apparently. Here's the thing though...the number is completely arbitrary. We are closing the gate in five days. You have five days to somehow get to Chicago and back or else. The disease takes 48 hours to run its course and kill you, so you have 48 hours to find the cure. Don't get me started with the moment coming down to minutes and seconds. You have 48 hours to find a cure for a deadly disease? Why in the world would you stop to take a nap? You can take a rest afterward and figure out which guy/gal from the love triangle you are going to go with. Two days without sleep isn't a big deal, not with the end of the world at stake. I'm pretty sure adrenaline would keep you going.
2. Love Triangles Am I the only teen girl who wasn't involved in a love triangle? It seems that teen fiction these days is suggesting that every girl and guy has to be in love and not with just one person. No, one must have two love interests, usually polar opposites who the guy/gal spends most of the book pining after. Eventually at the end of the trilogy, he/she will decide on the more adventurous one who is also the one that would make for a horrible long-term boyfriend. The setting doesn't matter. High school, space, the ocean. Love is also basically that butterfly-in-the-stomach infatuation/lust that sounds so wonderful and romantic I am sure, but is also about as long-lasting as the book itself. Characters are trying to choose between the handsome ignorant jerk and their nerdy best-friend or some other strange combination that makes no sense for that particular character. Of course, we cannot forget that the character will agonize over these two at the most inopportune times and even when one is a complete jerk, will still get fluttery feelings whenever they are around which makes it impossible to think logically. Even if the character is extremely logical, all that disappears in the presence of said human.
3. Plot Twist Foreshadowing Again, I get it. If you are writing a mystery you have to lay down some clues otherwise the reader is going to think the murderer came out of left field or something. Everything should make sense in the end. However, you cannot go around announcing that there is a plot twist, which seems to be the particular sin of children's books for younger readers. They will never get that this is a mystery so I am going to just tell them so on page one. "Little did Sammy know, but his life was about to change forever." What? Why would you announce something like that? That's the ultimate in telling rather than showing. Let us see how Sammy's life changes, you don't have to announce it up front. It kind of ruins the surprise you know?
4. The Perfect Superhero Grandparent No one stone me for this one, okay? There are a lot of older people out there trying to write kids books these days. Many of them are grandparents. For some reason, these grandparents find the role of grandparent to be a very important role in all the books they write. The grandparent is, of course, always benevolent and kind offering all kinds of sage advice, usually during extended trips to their awesome house. I am not saying grandparents can't be like this, but the truth is not all are. Some grandparents live very far away. Some are too old to go do "fun" things. Others are in nursing homes and retirement centers (loved how the Wimpy Kid series handled that one, by the way). There are grandparents who are wise and loving and others who are crass and judgmental. Some grandparents' homes are full of toys, while others have homes more like museums in which boredom is inevitable. If you are a grandparent trying to write for children, please remember that the story is about and for the child and the starring role really should go to the kid.
5. Unconsciousness In the world of fiction there is this fantasy place where people can be easily and instantaneously hit on the head and this will lead to immediate unconsciousness. The blow is always aimed perfectly and the character either sees black or white. Rarely, despite receiving a very serious blow to the head, do they suffer from a concussion or any other side effects besides a headache. There may even be a few more head whacks throughout the story as the protagonist or antagonist is beaten. Even in moments, like say a tsunami hitting your cruise ship (The Living by Matt de la Pena), where a character is thrown about and drifts in and out of consciousness for half an hour are there any real lasting side effects. In the real world, a head injury that is serious enough to knock a person out would result in a concussion, brain damage, bleeding on the brain, and possibly death. I know, it would be terrible for a character to get knocked on the head and then die. Solution: Stop knocking your characters out. Find another way for time to pass without your character suffering from irreparable brain damage.
Post #500: Release Dates, Rule Revisions, and Blog Tours
Technically.
There was a time a few years back that blogger lost about 40+ blog posts, so technically this is not 500, but according to the official count on my dashboard we have reached a milestone.
As such, now would be a good time to let my readers know about some general changes that I will be implementing immediately:
1. Publisher & Release Dates
Since I often read Advance Reader Copies, there are times that I review books that won't be released for another month or two. In order to give my reader's all the information they need, I will begin posting the publishing house as well as the official release date of the book, even if the book was published a year ago.
2. Review Rule Revision
In the past, I have made it a general rule not to review books of people I know personally. This has meant my professors at Hamline University, classmates, and author friends. The problem with this is that a) my readers are not hearing about some really fantastic books and b) as I meet more and more authors and my classmates begin publishing, this is becoming more and more difficult. Thus, beginning now, I will be reviewing any and all books that I read, including those written by friends, classmates, teachers, and peers. I promise that I will continue to write these reviews with honesty, integrity, and balance, but will not limit myself to only authors I do not know. For full disclosure, I will inform the reader when it is an author or illustrator that I know.
3. Interviews & Blog Tours
In the history of Children's Atheneum, I have never done an interview or a blog tour. Some of this was due to sheer laziness. A little bit was because I truly didn't think that I would be a very good interviewer. Also, what is a blog tour exactly? That was completely rhetorical, I do actually know the answer now. Over the past year or so, I have been approached by authors in regards to reviews, interviews, and blog tours and I have declined. No more. As of now, I would like to open Children's Atheneum up to authors and illustrators who are looking to expand their readership through reviews, interviews, and blogs tours. I hope to make a link (if I can remember how) letting authors and illustrators know where they can send ARCs for review and how to get in touch with me regarding interviews and blog tours. Just as my End of the Year reviews have some strange and interesting categories, I hope that the questions I ask these authors will not be the usual type, but I am sure it will be a work in progress. All I know is that I have reached nearly 2,000 readers a month and I think it is time to expand this little blog I have created.
Query Letter Woes OR Writing an Honest Query Letter
Now that I have that out of the way let me tell you, writing a Query letter is harder. Definition of Query Letter for the uninitiated: A cover letter that you write to a perspective agent or editor that gives a brief summary of your book, a mini-bio, and the reason why you are sending it to that particular person. There is so much advice out there about how to write the Query letter and what to say and perfect Query letters that got someone that elusive book contract, but the truth is, no one can write your query letter but you. This stinks as I think it would be so much easier to pay someone to just read my book and write my query letter for me, but I think that is considered cheating.
Let me break this down into why this is so difficult:
1. The Mini-bio
This is probably the easiest part. You don't want to be braggy if you have already published something. (I have not) But you also don't want to be apologetic if you haven't. You want to include anything that will make an agent/editor think you are a marketable author, but not one that would be difficult to work with. You can include some fun fact about yourself here, but be careful about the "tone" of your letter. Respectful yet open.
2. The Summary
Here is where you attempt to explain your 278 page novel in three paragraphs. You want to write it in the same syntax of your book, possibly even in-character if that works. Don't reveal too many characters or you will just confuse the reader. Hard to do when you have three main characters. You need to highlight what makes your book different than all the other books out there. How is my fantasy different than all the other fantasies out there? So you tweek and twist the summary, trying to make it sound different, yet highlighting all the major parts, but not giving away the middle or ending because you really do want them to read the book. Oh, but you can't be too vague either otherwise it will just read like a bunch of keywords. Truth. Love. Betrayal. What makes my book different? Nothing. And Everything. It's high fantasy, there are horses and swords and magic. But there are also aliens and secret passages and warrior maidens who kick ass. Then there is everything in-between like assassination attempts, poisoned arrows, betrayal, kidnapping, magical devices, and ancient mysteries. Yeah, try fitting that into three paragraphs in a way that makes sense.
3. Why you?
And then comes the hard part. Why are you sending this book to this agent? So let's be honest. About half of the agents I have gathered have come from the most recent version of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market. Surely, they know this. I carefully scoured the book before going on-line and doing a bit more research. What am I looking for? An agent who likes sci-fi and fantasy and yet also seems to have an interest in other genres. See, I don't write just one genre, so although I am currently sending out a fantasy, the next one is probably going to be a contemporary YA about adoption and foster care and the one after that is probably going to be either an urban fantasy for middle graders or a YA sci-fi. I want a career like Jane Yolen, who has written everything from historical fiction to fantasy to biographies. When I am sending out the query letter it is apparently smiled upon if you mention their blog or a recent interview or whatnot. And here is the conundrum. I do not have enough time to read or follow everyone's blog. When I discover an agent's blog, it is usually through the query process and no matter how interesting the blog is, I am just looking to see if they will be a good fit for me. Do they talk dispraringly about high fantasy or are they a huge Tolkien fan? Are they going to snub their nose at a story set in space or do they find the genre fascinating? Do they speak of how they like "urban fantasy", but are basically referring to Harry Potter?The other half of my names come from looking up my favorite authors and seeing who their agents are. Beth Revis, Tamora Pierce, L.A. Meyer, Holly Black, Veronica Roth. I check out their agents and see if there may be room for me in their lists. Yet, one must be careful because if your book is too much like an author they already represent, then there probably isn't room. Somehow you have to fit this all into a few sentences, sound respectful and professional and don't stroke their ego too much because you sound like you are brown nosing. (which you are)
Here is what I really want to write:
Dear Agent,
I am writing to you because it looks like you don't have an aversion to two of my favorite genres: sci-fi and fantasy unlike a ton of agents out there. I have been tweeking this Query letter for a couple of months now and since I have received only one response from an agent, I am going to assume that there is something wrong with my summary, which I have tweeked again for your benefit. I hope you are the kind of agent who responds to your queries as I would love to get a rejection at this point. Believe me, direct rejection is so much better than never hearing anything at all. I did look through your blog and you seem like the kind of person I would jive with. Also, you said you like to talk on the phone and I am a huge phone talker so that is another reason why we would get along.
Summary: A bad ass high fantasy book without dwarves and elves that people will love because there are three awesome characters in it who get themselves into some serious life or death trouble. But I am not going to tell you everything that happens in the book because I want you to read it.
My books is complete at blah blah blah. Please please please read the 3 or 10 pages or 3 chapters that I have copy and pasted to the bottom of this email. Please dash my dreams in the kindest way possible. And if you think my book looks kind of awesome (because I certainly do), consider reading the entire thing. I personally love the whole kidnapping business as well as...well, you'll see.
That's it. Not very professional, but a bit more honest. I'm writing to you because I am trying to get a book published and that is your job and you say that you like the kind of things I write. I know the book isn't perfect, but I have revised this thing 9 times and although I think it looks fantastic, I am ready for some professional help. Although my family and some friends think I should self-publish, I really just want to do this the traditional way, despite all this frustration. (aka: paying my dues) In the meantime I will be over here, acting like I am not checking my email every few minutes in hopes that you will respond. Wait...what's that? Oh, another Groupon. Perhaps I shall drown my sorrows in the 2 for 1 deal at my local Indian restaurant.
And if you are an agent reading this: I love your blog/interview/website!
Fiction Featuring Winter Olympic Sports
The Winter Olympics are coming and despite there being massive amounts of non-fiction out there concerning figure skating and hockey, I though some fiction titles may be of interest. Sadly, there are no fiction book that I can find that feature Speed Skating, Luging, Bobsledding, or Curling. I find that interesting considering the Skeleton Luge looks like one of the scariest things a person can do and it would be interesting to read a book from someones perspective who does that particular sport, but you will just have to make due with these titles for now.
