Friday Book Review

This book was such a pleasant, amazing surprise. As an author who writes issue-driven fiction, I thought that Gail Giles executed RIGHT BEHIND YOU with perfection.


RIGHT BEHIND YOU is the story of Kip--a teen who, when he was nine, murdered a seven-year-old neighbor. I wondered, when I first picked up the book, how Gail Giles could make Kip a protagonist I could root for, but she does, beautifully. The book follows Kip on his road to wholeness--first as an inmate at a teen correctional facility, and then, as he tries to transition beack into society, and living with his dad and new stepmother. The book is written in first-person narration,and I thought that she captured the voice of a teen boy amazingly well.

I thought that all the references to therapy, his time in the mental institution, and his general awareness of his own inner growth, gave the book an air of authenticity (made me wonder if she is a therapist herself or how much research she did.)I loved that she showed the step-mom as such a positive, supportive person, and I loved the romance thrown in--Sam was the perfect counterpart to Kip/Wade's character.

Recommended for the older teen and adults, especially teachers, mental health professionals, and any parent.

Let's face it. Time flies.

Heeeeeey. So I was walking through our art building, and a particular piece caught my eye. I found it sort of endearing. I believe it was made by an Art & Design student, or at least that's the impression I got.

It has almost nothing to do with anything, but it is SPesque so I'm going to run with it. I apologize for not having time to post more. I'm in the middle of LIFE!

Let's face it. Time flies.

Beta Readers

I have to admit, this is kind of a sticky subject for me. When I first started to write, I couldn’t imagine showing my work to anybody else. What if they rejected it? I kept my writing a secret and didn’t share it with anyone.

Then I joined a critique group, and I realized that there is an amazing, supportive group of people out there who are willing to read your work and offer advice and encouragement. It was amazing to see my critique partners grow and improve with each passing week. Instead of being embarrassed, we saw the value of sharing our work in a supportive environment.

BHH says that people commit self-sabotage sometimes, and I think there is something to be said for that. Maybe I was sabotaging myself by holding onto my writing all of that time and refusing to let it go free, to either sink or swim. Maybe I was afraid of failure. Or that I might actually succeed. Whatever the case, I set myself back that much further. Thank God I found the courage to join that group.

But this was supposed to be about beta readers.

Now that I’m in the querying process, I have gotten braver about sharing my work. I’m still extremely careful about who I give it to, trying to select people who I know read a lot and like mysteries, although that isn’t a must. The most important thing to me is that I know they will actually read what I give them and offer constructive feedback. For the most part, the friends I have trusted with my work have been great, and I have no regrets.

So, I’m curious, do you guys use beta readers? If so, what has your experience been like?

Have a great writing week!

For Meredith

I didn't get a chance to blog today, and I am very sorry. My daughter is in a play, and the driving back and forth to practices and such is rocking my world (and my gas bill, but that is a different matter.)

However, I did come across this very adorable little pug that made me laugh a lot on the inside. I want to live in his world, truly, but as a wonderful second best, I get to hear my niece Meredith read during critique group her steampunk YA, so that for me is the very next best thing, don't you think?

So I am going to imagine that I am this little dog, floating away to magical places, and having lots of adventures. And while he is doing that, I will be writing my new WIP on this lovely Friday evening.

May you all have a wonderful weekend!

Carousel.

Carousels can be beautiful, mystical and even a little creepy. The hand-carved wooden sculptures have detail you don't often see in anything nowadays. You can just envision an elderly man with an oversized lense, chiseling away at the curvatures against the neck of the beast. The university I locksmith at had a crisis in their library, where they keep their monthly displays. It just so happened to be featuring pieces from carousels. It struck me that they're very Steampunky, or have the potential to be at least. Pardon the poor photos. They were taken with my outdated Blackberry and in secret because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be taking pictures. I'm paranoid about that sort of thing. To the left, they just had a little bit of information about the influence of carousels and what cultures they came from. Some of the images are almost grotesque and macabre, which to me, makes it more interesting.

I would love to ride a tiger into the sunset, I don't know about you. I also like the sketch of the dragon. To the right, this is probably my favorite because it looks the most SP. I love the colors used as well as the textures. If I was a kid skipping toward a carousel, I'd like to think I'd choose this guy. I think I'll name him Archibald.


One of my favorite aspects to this inspiring display is definitely the variety of animals saddled. There was a rooster, a dragon, lion, and even a greyhound. In fantasy, animals usually play a key part because we love animals and wish we could interact more with them. Horses are wonderful but how magical would it be to ride a greyhound? I love it.
To the left, it showed how a carousel worked. I think if you jazzed it up with some steam and a few more gears, you may have something "futuristic" as viewed by the mild-mannered Victorian. Maybe throw in some bronze-plated horses like Archibald and wallah. You've got yourself a Steampunk scene either macabre or romantic or BOTH. I think a really nice, dark love scene on a carousel would be interesting, especially if there was a lot of angst involved or perhaps some underlying surface tension with a preceding chase so that the characters are in hiding. I absolutely love the use of the carousel in the movie Sting. That eerie song that's meant to be cheerful and playful adds something mysterious and borderline freaky to the goings on in the foreground.
I've been inspired to put one in by book. I think it will add a little flavor.

Merry writing.

Do What Makes You Scared

Always do what you are afraid to do

Confession time: I've been suffering from a little bout of writer's block. It is really very, very annoying. And the funny thing is, I don't really believe in writer's block, I subscribe to the B.I.C. philosophy of writing, i.e. Butt in Chair concept of just get it done. Put the words on the page and no more sniveling about it, you big cry baby.

But anyway, here I am not writing very much. FINDING PONY is being submitted to editors right now, and in the meantime, my agent and I decided that the next project I should begin on is a companion title, tentatively titled AURORA BEGINS. Aurora is an important character in my first novel and her backstory is so interesting that I just knew it should be the next book. I actually even told my agent, "This will be easy--I already know her character. I can whip this book out really quickly."

Ahem.

Aurora is seventeen years old, a tough Latina girl who grew up in East L.A. Her whole family is somewhat involved in the gang lifestyle and her boyfriend Manuel is the head of their gang. Okay, so...I'm white. And yes, I've been a social worker for some time, I've worked with kids in gangs and a little in L.A. even, and I've been doing research---lots of it--to make sure that my MC's voice will be authentic as it can be, to the best of my ability. I also know that there are so many writers out there who have written their MC's who are different races than they are, different genders, even different sexual orientations, and have done it well, very well.

But it's still scary. Really, really scary. Because, more than anything, I don't want to get it wrong. I want to do justice to my character, and to the people who will eventually read my book.

"Always do what you are afraid to do." This quote shows up on Twitter periodically, mostly I think because it resonates with us writers so much. I know that there can be greatness in doing something that terrifies you with the possibility of failure, but still, there's that niggling part of me, sitting on my shoulder this whole time whispering: it's crap, it's garbage. The cognitive side of me knows that every writer (at least I hope) goes through this--it is something we must all endure.

Here's a couple questions for anyone who may be reading: How much research do you do before you are comfortable writing your story? Are you ever, truly comfortable? Would you feel confident writing a MC with a different race than you? Gender? Sexual orientation?

Who put the punk in Steampunk?

“So what is Steampunk?”
I’m asked that quite frequently nowadays. The standard answer is how the past (predominantly Victorian era) views the future. For instance, we can really only wrap our minds around adding futuristic spins to objects we currently have. Back to the Future made the Delorian a time machine and made it able to fly. In the same way, Victorians could only add garnish to concepts they already knew. Clocks, corset fashion, copper, brass, cogs, steam technology and so on.
So why is it punk?
SP is a fusion, as I’ve said in the past. It’s where science, history and art are allowed to converge in one tangle of awesomeness. But in addition to the classy side, there’s the sultry side. Steampunk is sexy. We take Victorian fashion, which is already sensual as it is, and we put our modern edge on it. There’s something hard and fast about SP, from the leather to the chains to the dark lenses worn by rouge-lipped women in lace.
So that’s it? It’s Victorian…only sluttier?
I’m not satisfied.
If you research the word “punk”, you might find a lot of information about nihilism, anti-establishment mentality and theatrical fashion. After all, punks have often “fought the man” by being theatrical and over the top in music, fashion and political view. Punks go against the grain. Likewise, SP utilizes the worldviews expressed by a time era that has already passed to address issues in the present. (Feminism, racism and so on.)
My main protagonist is rather a feminist, though she doesn’t express herself as such. She just acts based on her own personal goals, not really for any set principle. Likewise, the variety of races in my book encounter prejudice and this issue is addressed as well. SP seems to bring that out in it.
So not only does it combine science, history and art, but also philosophy. Punks are often defined as Nihilists (more specifically, existential nihilism, which is defined as the belief that life has no objective meaning.), and SP can dabble in the depth of these dark worldviews.
SP is not, in as of itself, nihilistic or postmodern, as it’s not inherent in the definition that it must be. That’s author’s choice. However, it does tackle these issues quite often because those who write SP are often interested in many different fields of study, which is what I’ve come to find by reading blogs, Tweets and Facebook posts.
In other words, the punk part doesn’t just mean it’s sexy, edgy and fashion-forward. It means that Steampunk can be deep and reflective of relevant mindsets, which is often true of entertainment that seems like fluff and actually isn’t. I mean, what's the whole point of entertainment? To stimulate the MIND, yes? Your body most assuredly plays a part, but the mind is what makes something last. Steampunk, for instance, is here to stay because it will make a lasting impression on individualism.

Whooooaaaaaaaaaaaa.