Book Notes and Writing News from Around the Web

Here are some notes and news I thought you all might be interested in....

*****

Khaled Hosseini's new novel, And the Mountains Echoed, comes out May 21st. I have no idea how he's going to top The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, but if anyone can do it, he can.

I absolutely loved Beth Hoffman's Saving CeeCee Honeycutt so I am counting the days until May 28th when her second novel, Looking for Me, comes out.

And June brings both the heat and the chills with two creepy novels  - Joyland by Stephen King and Always Watching by Chevy Stevens (whose novel, Still Missing, continues to haunt me years later!)

*****

Want a hilarious look at the writing and/or cleaning process? Check out Nathan Bransford's post, "How to Do Your Chores in 12 Easy Steps."       

*****

Two great posts on Writer UnBoxed - 

"Clawing Our Way Back to the Creative Center" by Robin LaFevers talks about having to disconnect from the real world in order to connect to her writing.

"The New Era of Self-Publishing" by Allison Winn Scotch is a great post about how she, a traditionally published author, is considering self publishing her next novel. The discussion that follows  in the comments of her post is civil and thoughtful.

*****

This actually has nothing to do with writing but since it's on author Joshilyn Jackson's blog, I'm counting it. Besides, it totally cracked me up - "The Third Piece of Unsolicited Advice Drops." 

*****

Looking forward to any - or all - of those novels? Going to check out any of the links? Is there anything you've come across lately that you'd like to share in the comments? 

Writing News and High Wire Walking

Here are a few writing notes and two fun videos I thought you all might enjoy... 

*****

Author and former literary agent, Nathan Bransford, is planning to self publish a guide to writing a novel. He's going to blog about the self publishing process along the way. I can't wait to read both the guide and the posts!

*****

Here's another wonderful Robin LaFevers post, The Play's the Thing, from over at Writer UnBoxed. It's all about the need for play in our writing. She includes some excellent examples of what she does, like making collages and writing travel journals in a character's voice.

*****

About a month ago, Nik Wallenda did a high wire walk over downtown Sarasota. He was about 200 feet up, walking on a wire the width of a nickel , with wind gusts of about 25-30 MPH. No net. No tether. My husband went to watch - along with about 10,000 other people! 

But, for all of us who weren't there, check out the following two videos.The first one shows what the walk looked like from the audience. The second one shows what it looked like from Nik's point of view! He had cameras on the pole he carried. Plus, you can hear the conversation between Nik and his father and team as Nik walks.

Motivational Monday!

Here it is, the last week of September.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready for October - cooler weather (fingers crossed!) and a crispness to the air.  I'm also looking forward to November - whoo-hoo, NaNoWriMo!  But before we get to those things, let's get this week off to a good start...

Literary agent Nathan Bransford wrote his 1000th post and had a fun contest to celebrate it. 

Over on Rachelle Gardner's blog, she wrote "10 Ways to Annoy a Literary Agent" BUT she titled the comments "Ways to Annoy a Writer."  I laughed out loud at some of them and nodded wholeheartedly at others.  Good stuff all around.

I'm going to toot my own horn here and remind everyone the Hint Fiction Anthology comes out this November.  Hmm, maybe I'll do a little giveaway here in November...but then again, maybe I won't.  Don't take that chance!  Pre-order it now. :)

Have a great day and a wonderful week!

Motivational Monday!

Usually, September gives me some extra oomph.  Maybe it's all the back-to-school hoopla...although the kids here are back to school in August.  Maybe it's the leaves starting to go gold and red and the crispness in the air and...oh, wait.  The palm fronds are still green and the temps are in the 90s.  Hmm.  Maybe this explains why I don't have much oomph after all.

At least I'm not alone.  Apparently, a lot of writers suffer burnout.  Just check out Nathan Bransford's post, "You Tell Me: Have You Faced Writer Burnout? How Do You Escape It?"  The comment section is full of good ideas and suggestions.  And step right up to the Creativity Carnival for Writers in the newest issue of WOW! Women on Writing.  Good timing!  

Congratulations go out to pal Stacy Post!  Her story, "Sister Calamity," was nominated for Best of the Net by the fine folks over at Referential Magazine! 

Also at Referential Magazine, poet Laura McCullough referenced my story, "If This is Crazy," in her poem, "When Wonder."  Love when that happens!

Have a great week!

Motivational Monday!

For this week's motivating mojo, I present a giveaway, a question for all the book lovers out there, and some laughs:

Mystery author Blaize Clement is giving away her signature catnip bookmarks to everyone who pre-orders her newest book, Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons.  All the information can be found here.

I don't know many people who can write a post called "Make it Work:  Tim Gunn as First Reader."  But Gay Degani did just that.  Not only did I laugh, but I learned something.  (Of course, if Tim Gunn stopped by my desk, he would probably run away screaming at the grungy t-shirt and baggy shorts I usually wear.  I'd have to dress up.  Maybe a less grungy t-shirt?  Or nice pajamas?) 

I cracked myself up over at Arlene's Warped Wednesday post this week.  Not only was the photo a riot, but I thought my caption was pretty good (in an oh-that's-so-bad-it's-actually-kind-of-good way.)

And literary agent Nathan Bransford asks, "Which Writer Would You Most Like to Meet?"  You can choose one living and one dead.  I would choose Betty Smith and J.K. Rowling.  (I've already met Stephen King but I acted like such a geek...oh, let's be real.  I'd act like a big geek no matter how many times I met him.)

Happy Monday!  Hope it's a great week of reading and writing!

Motivational Monday!

The older I get, the more I find myself quoting "Seinfeld."  I used to worry about this until I read agent Nathan Bransford's post, "Writers, Authority, and The Keith Hernandez Rule."  Not only did it make me feel better to see someone cool and hip and groovy reference "Seinfeld," but the post also made me laugh out loud.  Oh, and it taught me something about writing, too.  

Congratulations go out to Stacy Post, whose story will be up at Smories this September.  This is the site where cute kids read the stories out loud.  I can't wait to hear it!

Editor Robert Swartwood announced that the Gotham Writers Workshop has a Hint Fiction writing contest going this fall - check it out if you're interested in trying your hand at some hint.  Oh, and the special Hint Fiction issue of Wigleaf  is out - Swartwood called it "a literary appetizer of sorts."  (I can't wait for the Hint Fiction anthology - and not just because I'm in it.  I mean it.  Really.)   

Now go forth and write!  And read!  And laugh!  And eat some chocolate!  And write some more!  And...

Motivational Monday!

August feels like it's creeping by but I'm not buying it.  I'm racing to write, revise, and polish a project before a September 1st deadline.  August 31st is looming!  I can see it and it's already making me nervous...wait, stop.  This is Motivational Monday, not Moaning Monday.  Okay, so here goes -   

Agent Rachelle Gardner's post, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, is about how she decided not to "record" her family vacation but to "experience" it instead.  A good read for all of us considering "unplugging" for a bit.  

I loved the post, "Lost" and The High Narrative Price of WTF, by agent Nathan Bransford.  This is for readers, writers, die hard "Lost" fans and those of us who gave up somewhere in the first few seasons.  It's about what happens when you tease the reader/viewer with a WTF moment borrowed from the end of a story but then don't deliver on it.  Really good stuff here.  (In case you didn't know, WTF means "What the F***?" or, according to Phil, from the TV show "Modern Family" - you're a fan of the show, right?  If not, you should be! - it can also mean "Why The Face?")

And I just want to say thanks again for everyone who emailed or commented about my interview over at WOW! Women on Writing.  I really appreciate it.

And now, back to work...

Crying Over a Character - Favorite Teen Read

Literary agent Nathan Bransford posed the question "What was your favorite book as a teenager?" on his blog the other day, and my first thought was THE STAND by Stephen King. And, according to the comments on that post, I wasn't the only one.

I was a voracious reader (then and now!) and loved a lot of what I read, but I think the reason THE STAND stands (ha ha) out for me - besides the fact it's a great story with amazing characters - is because it's the one book I remember clearly where I cried when a main character died. Now, obviously, I had read CHARLOTTE'S WEB and THE OUTSIDERS and others where characters died and I have to believe I cried for them, too, but for some reason it's THE STAND where I clearly remember sobbing when one of the main characters dies. (I don't want to say who, don't want to ruin anything for anyone who hasn't read it!) I thought, "no, he can't be dead, he's a main guy" and flipping back a few pages to see if I missed something. Then, I flipped forward, thought "it's a trick, a dream, it was faked." But no.

To be able to do that to a reader? For a reader?

It's one of the reasons why I write. So I can - hopefully! - do that to, for, another reader, out there, somewhere...

Anyone else want to share a favorite teen read? Or one that struck a chord for you in some way?