Taking Writing Seriously

Now that Life, Liberty, and Pursuit is launched, I feel that vertigo that comes at the end of an all-consuming project (the marketing continues, natch). What now? It's not that I don't have plans - I have all kinds of MS in the queue, begging for attention. The question is really: What to work on first?

So I made a plan.

I printed out four months worth of blank calendars and filled them in. Am I wildly ambitious in what I expect to get done during that time? Well, I usually am, so I'm going to say "yes." But still, having a direction organizes my thoughts and efforts and helps me prioritize my time.

I also cracked open Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel, a book I've been meaning to study for tips on improving my storytelling. I think writers at all levels do well to focus on craft, and doing an intensive study of Williams' Style book helped me to elevate my craft. Jody Hedlund is leading by example in this regard, hiring an editor to improve her writing in spite of the fact that she's already under contract to write three novels. I say Brava! to her.

All of this is my way of taking my writing seriously. I have every intention of making a career as a novelist. So, time to get down to business.

How do you take your writing seriously?

Picture and other coolness found here.

Guest Post: Conservation of Awesomeness

We have another Guest Post from Rebecca Carlson today! She is a MG writer and blogger, a tremendous critique partner, and a fellow advocate for putting more science in kidlit science fiction.

Conservation of Awesomeness

by Rebecca J. Carlson

Anyone seen the movie "Dead Poets Society?" Do you remember that scene of a poetry lesson where they tear a page out of the textbook?

That was my high school's AP English textbook.

Besides having an unenlightened view of poetry, the textbook preached that there were two types of fiction: escapist commercial fluff on the one hand, and serious valuable literature on the other. Commercial fiction and literature were mutually exclusive. Like broccoli and chocolate sauce, they didn't go together. It was as if there was a law of Conservation of Awesomeness, so that the more fun a book was, the less it could have something valuable to say.

I didn't buy it.

That textbook sent me on a life-long quest to find books that were not only fun to read, but were well-written and honest about the human experience. It sent me on a quest to write such books myself. As I got deeper in to the craft of writing I learned how difficult it could be. Why not lie to the reader, pull a few gimmicks, and then cheerfully collect their money? Definitely the easier road.

But the great classics, the books with true staying power, are those that defy the law of Conservation of Awesomeness.

This past week I went to a writer's workshop. My teacher, who has published dozens of books and worked in the film industry for many years, taught us what goes into creating a delicious read. Books don't become bestsellers by accident. There's a science to it, a method that can be learned. And that method is, as I suspected, mostly independent of the soul of the book. I could write a thrilling roller-coaster ride of a book that doesn't have anything valuable to say, or I could write a thrilling roller-coaster ride of a book that shares something important I've learned about life. Sure, the entertainment industry is full of pirates and gangsters that only care about separating people from their money, but there are a few who really care about what they're saying, who know that communication in all its forms can change the world for the better.

Words give us the power to share experience. The more satisfying and fun to read my book is, the more people will want to read it, and the more readers will share what's inside of me that's aching to be said.

And that would be truly awesome.

Thank you, Rebecca! ALSO: I am still looking for guest posters, all summer long, so if you're interested email me at susankayequinn@comcast.net

Suggested Reads for Young Adults

Life, Liberty, and Pursuit has a couple reviews up (here and here), which makes me all kinds of happy.

But you can't beat this ROUSING five second review from MY NIECE, Jenny (aka Mikuru):




She obviously has inherited her father's sense of humor. Other humorous videos by Jenny *cough* Mikuru *cough* can be found here.

AND I did a very fun interview with the ever-delightful Ink (Bryan Russell) on his blog, The Alchemy of Writing.

Returning to our regularly scheduled program ...

Today I wanted to share all the awesome YA recommendations that came out of last week's contest! Like most people, I take personal recommendations more seriously than hype, so thanks for taking the time to share your most-favored-status books.

These haven't been reviewed by Ink Spells, but I've put reading levels and Common Sense Media ratings on them, when available. Also, I've linked to CSM reviews and other reviews, especially from Reading Teen (which has content guidelines). This list is an amalgamation of last week's recommendations, Reading Teen's Top Picks, and previous recommendations here at Ink Spells.

Enjoy!!
p.s. You can print the list!


Suggested Reads YA

Adventures in Publishing: Marketing

**************************************CONTEST*******************************************

Make sure you enter the contest (free books!) in celebration of the release of my first novel, Life, Liberty, and Pursuit! Contest open until noon EST today!

UPDATE: The Kindle version of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit is now available at Amazon.com! 

*********************************************************************************************

You hear a lot of talk about how authors have to market their own books, whether they have small or large publishers. And even then, unless they're one of the "blockbuster" books that are destined for best-seller status, they aren't accorded a large marketing budget. Some say authors must blog, facebook, twitter, and goodread (I'm not really sure those are all verbs, but go with me on this). Others say that social networking is a huge waste of time and doesn't net out any book sales.

I'm not sure how much of this is true.

Here is what I do know:

Blogging I love it. I started back in October 2009, and I can't believe how many positives it has netted me: friends I would have never met; ditto critique partners; finding my Voice through blogging; learning about the craft and the business through blogger friends; feeling the community of writers in a real and present way. I'm a writer, and blogging is writing. It just makes sense to me.

Facebook I love learning the tiny tidbits of life that make me feel connected to people. I have RL friends I know better through FB, and FB friends I've never met in RL, yet would welcome them into my home (not that creepy stalker guy who friended me once, but some others, yes). I dragged my mom onto FB, and now she's connecting with friends and relatives in a way she never had before.

Twitter I would never have tried Twitter if my marketing guru/lady/person hadn't insisted, but I'm glad she did. Twitter during Glee? Honestly, I though we'd broke the internet there for a while. Twitter for sharing #amwriting madness? So nice to know I'm not alone, even when I'm writing alone on my couch. And if nothing else, I have Twitter to thank for finding the #yalitchat crew. And that is pure awesome.

Goodreads Another one I would never have tried. I'm not on it that much, but having a place to keep track of my endless TBR list is a blessing all to itself. And it calls to me: read more, read more. I get rather excited when I update my "read status."

I also know that my marketing lady/guru/person is sending out ARCs of my book and actively doing whatever she/Omnific can to promote the book. Because they want it to be successful, just like I do.

Will all or any of this translate into more book sales? I don't know. But, as I said on a guest post on Author's Echo, social networking makes writing in the new millennium a different creature than writing before Web 2.0.

My brother is a talented writer, who never published. He gave up in his early 20's, back in the pre-internet days, when writers toiled in isolation. He is in awe of my blog, my crit group, my author facebook page, and my knowledge of agents and the publishing industry.

"This is nothing like when I was writing," he told me once.

Just so. Do you have to blog, twitter, and facebook (one of those is a verb, I'm just sure of it) in order to be a successful writer? No. But you'll miss out on the experience that is writing today.

My brother called me on Tuesday, the morning my book was released.

"Hello?" I said.

"I just bought your book," he deadpans.

"Yes!"

"There's just one thing. Where are the vampires?"

Le Sigh.

This is my brother's version of funny. He's terribly, wonderfully funny. Because he's a writer. And someday, just maybe, I'll drag him into the Brave New World of writing for another try.

LAST CHANCE to enter the contest!! It ends today, at noon EST, at which point I will use randomizer.org to select a winner. For clarity, anyone who's left a comment Tues-Friday on the blog gets an entry.

I'll be back at noon EST for an update!
UPDATE: We have a WINNER!! Using the very scientific randomizer.org  ...

... the WINNER is ....


Teachergirlbooks!!

Who is a teacher, a reader, and a book blogger - which is a trifecta of awesome!

Teachergirl: Email me at susankayequinn@comcast.net to arrange for your books!

Thank you to everyone for the well-wishes and for spreading the word! This has been an exhilarating week, and having a writer/reader/blogger community to share it with has been an amazing experience.

Next Week: Back to the usual antics, including book reviews, book recommendations, and MORE GUEST POSTING AWESOME! (also: I'm still seeking guest posters throughout the summer, so if you're interested, please email me at susankayequinn@comcast.net)

Happy Weekend!!

Adventures in Publishing: Edits, Covers, and Websites

**************************************CONTEST*******************************************

Make sure you enter the contest (free books!) in celebration of the release of my first novel, Life, Liberty, and Pursuit! Contest open until Friday/tomorrow!

UPDATE: The print version of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit is now available at Amazon.com! The Kindle version should be up by the end of the week. It was all kinds of awesome to type in my name in that little Amazon search box and have it bring up the cover of my book. Still gives me the shivers every time!

*********************************************************************************************

Once I had a contract in hand with Omnific Publishing, I had approximately 1,034 questions for my editor and marketing person (associate? lady? guru? I'm never sure quite what to call her). I tried to reel in my enthusiasm, but really? This was my first book! Fortunately, they took my overeagerness in stride and guided me through the publishing process.

Edits, Edits, and more Edits
First there were edits. Lots of edits. If you think that wonderful MS that just won you a contract is perfect, fabulous, doesn't need to be touched, you are very, very wrong. My acquisitions editor had a few comments, but mostly handed my novel off to my developmental editor. We went through several rounds of edits, both substantive and grammatical, and the book improved through every step. I'm forever grateful for having an editor that I know loved my story and at the same time was a consummate, pulling-no-punches professional. Then it was on to the managing editor and more edits, including an extended discussion about the verisimilitude of "chow hall" vs. "mess deck." We brought in experts (I'm serious). It was fabulous.

Finally, the book was off to the typesetter, and my attention was turned to the presentation of the book, including the cover and future website.

Choosing a Cover

You may hear that authors have little control over their covers. And I think this is generally true - certainly the publisher has the last word, and this is probably a good thing. Since my art skills are limited to hangman, I was very glad someone much more artistically inclined would be designing the cover.

What I didn't expect was how involved I would be in the process of developing the idea of the cover. My marketing person/lady/guru asked what I wanted the cover to look like. I had no idea - instead I told her how the book made me feel and what the general themes were. She read the book (yay!). Then one morning she told me she had a dream about my book, and the image that eventually became the cover came to her. That she was dreaming about my book delighted me, but then the cover was even more awesome: it showed the theme of choices while still capturing the nautical flavor of David's Navy boot camp experience. I simply adored it.


Creating a Website
I had given a lot of thought to websites well before creating Life, Liberty, and Pursuit's website. Query Tracker has a great post about key elements in a book/author website, and Beth Revis has a great post about author websites vs. book websites. I ultimately decided to stick with a book website to launch LLP, and create a separate author website when/if my other books are published. Because I write both MG and YA books, my brand as an author will need to be distinct from each of my books, which will have their own flavor/brand.

Now I had designed several websites before, and I pride myself on my tech-geek-capabilities. But knowing your limits is important, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to produce the kind of professional looking website that I wanted for LLP. So, I decided to invest (a flat fee) for web designer (Sam) to create a website for LLP.  This was the best money I've ever spent, and I could not be more pleased with the gorgeous website that Sam designed. Because I supplied all the content, and I'm familiar with the technology, I have the best of all worlds: I can update and freely change the website, but the basic structure and beautiful design was all set up for me.

Now, we are all ready to market the book, right? Not quite...

Tomorrow: Adventures in Publishing: Marketing ... and we pick a winner for the CONTEST! Don't forget to enter!

Adventures in Publishing: Choosing a Small Press

**************************************CONTEST*******************************************
Make sure you enter the contest (free books!) in celebration of the release of my first novel, Life, Liberty, and Pursuit! Contest open until Friday!
*********************************************************************************************

When I first got serious about my writing, I decided to write a middle grade science fiction novel for publication. Sure, I had written a couple novels before, but this time I was serious. I was writing with the intent of publication.

Some things don't work out the way you plan.

I was well into revisions on my middle grade novel and had even drafted half of another novel (young adult), when life threw me a half-gainer twist: I received an invitation to submit to a publisher I had never heard of.

Of course, I was immediately suspicious. The writing world is filled with scammers - I had read the blogs and joined SCBWI and read Writer's Beware. I knew as much as I could know about the publishing industry from the outside, as an unpublished writer. I knew enough to be wary.

But when I checked out Omnific Publishing, I found a brand-new company that had been launched by people that I knew and respected. People that were professionals and - more importantly for running a small business - entrepreneurs with a proven track record of success. The kind of forward-thinking, seize-the-moment people I respected. And wanted to be associated with.

And they were inviting me to submit to them, because they had seen my writing before (online).

A quick perusal of their submissions policy (romance) and my WIPs (MG and YA), and there was one story that was a perfect fit: Life, Liberty, Pursuit, a young adult love story. But, see, I had never intended to publish that story. It didn't fit with The Plan. And yet opportunity was knocking, and LLP was the right MS at the right time.

Just one problem: it was nowhere near publishable.

I loved (LOVED!) the story, but it would take massive revisions to get LLP in shape for submitting. Did I want to take time away from my WIPs to spend a lot of time revising a story I had never intended to publish? Did I want to take my chances with a brand-spanking-new publishing company, in a world where publishing was a tricky business under the best of circumstances?

Luckily, I had just written a Mission Statement for my writing. This Mission Statement helped me define why I was in the business of writing. It was meant to serve as a guide for navigating the tricky waters of the publishing world when I was hip deep in rejections and feeling the despair. I had no idea how quickly I would need it. There was one essential line that jumped out at me:


To create a body of work ... that reaches a large number of young readers, to provide the greatest impact on young lives.

In writing the Mission Statement, I had solidified something I'd known all along: I'm not in this to make money, or become a famous best-seller, or win a literary award. I'm in this to change lives.

For the record, I consider this a very ambitious goal.

Looking at that sentence, it became clear to me: taking a risk with a small publisher was no risk at all. It was an opportunity to get my story out - quickly - to readers who otherwise would never see it. Readers that might love it as I did. And I have to admit to the allure of riding the wave of e-publishing as the world was changing under our feet.

So I went into a hole and set about madly revising. Sleep? Optional. Caffeine? Necessary. Children? Would it really hurt them to subsist on mac-n-cheese and Apple Jacks for a month? Um, hope not. I revised, rewrote, shaped up and slimmed down (the MS, not me, sadly). When the first three chapters were presentable, I sent the partial off to my acquisitions editor, thinking this would buy me some time.

Lesson #1: Never submit a MS unless it is polished and ready.

If you think this rule is in place because agents/editors are persnickety, or just demanding, you are wrong. This is for your own good. My editor quickly turned around and asked for the full MS. I didn't have the full MS ready! More caffeine. More madness. An endless loop of The All American Rejects on my iPod and a blessedly helpful critique partner who took my chapters at every hour of the day and night ... and I was done. I sent the full MS off. And waited.

Lesson #2: ALWAYS have another project to work on.

They would rip right through that full MS and let me know, right? RIGHT? Um, no. Weeks went by. I waited some more. Thankfully, I was behind on my other WIPs, so I busied myself with those and tried not to be too obsessive about checking my inbox.

Finally ... an email saying my MS was "engaging and captivating" and Omnific wanted to offer me a contract. I was beyond excited, as you might imagine. I still have this email taped to the side of my workstation. A contract soon followed.

Lesson #3: Know your contract language, or consult an attorney.

I was lucky: I know how to read contracts and am often mistaken for an attorney by people that have to deal with me and contracts (I'm not sure that's a flattering thing). Still, I was shaking in my booties while negotiating this contract. (This is, IMHO, where agents earn their keep.) In the end, I was happy with the contract, and we all signed. Wine was drunk by all (well, at least by me).

And then the real work began.

With the release yesterday of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit, I have to say I couldn't be happier with my decision to take a chance and publish with a new small press. Contract-to-release was a lightning-quick four months. Small presses are nimble and at the forefront of e-publishing and e-marketing. They have to be - they are small, entreprenurial operations, willing, ready and able to try new things. And you get personal attention: I felt like an integral part of the process, every step of the way (see this great post about another author's positive experience with a small press).

I'm proud to be riding the wave of the future with Omnific publishing! 

Here's where I open the floor to questions, and I'll do my best to answer, within the limits of the non-disclosure agreement in my contract.

Tomorrow: Adventures in Publishing: Edits, Covers, and Websites

Ink Spells talks Life, Liberty, and Pursuit ... and A CONTEST!

Ink Spells doesn't normally review young adult (teen) books ...

... BUT ...

I wrote this one. :)

I am so excited to announce that my first novel, Life, Liberty, and Pursuit, has been released by Omnific Publishing!

*jumps around spastically* 
*hopes the blinds are closed*

Life, Liberty, and Pursuit is a teen love story about a college bound girl who falls in a pool, the navy recruit that saves her, and their struggle to choose between following their dreams and daring to love.

This obviously isn't a review. However, Ink Spells is all about content ratings, and if I were reviewing Life, Liberty, and Pursuit, it would earn a PG-13 rating for lots of kissing (no sex). This is a book written for teens - in fact, I wrote it originally for my niece, who was 14 at the time. I never expected to publish this book, but life has a funny way of taking turns when you least expect it.

In celebration of the release of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit, I will be posting every day this week to talk about my adventures through the publishing process. AND I'm hosting Ink Spells' very first CONTEST!

*balloons* *streamers*

Prizes: Books!

First, a copy of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit - for you, or to give away to your favorite teen (if you're not so much into the romance). Second, a book of your choice. It's that simple.

To Enter: Just leave a comment below. You can double your chances by recommending another YA book in the comments. Because I'm all about support for writers and finding good books here on Ink Spells.

That's all that's required. Of course, if you'd like to Tweet, Facebook, blog or shout out the window about the contest (and the book!) I would appreciate it. Extra karma points for any teen readers you reach, or moms who love romance, or anyone who enjoys a love story.

Contest is open until Friday June 25th, 12:00 pm EST, at which point I will select (randomly, with my eyes closed, in some mathematically complicated fashion) a winner.

Life, Liberty, and Pursuit is available now for purchase on at the Omnific site, in both e-book and print. It will be available on Kindle and print at Amazon.com in a few days.
Find out more at the book website: http://www.LifeLibertyandPursuit.com/

Tomorrow: Adventures in Publishing: Choosing a Small Press - Part One of a series where I will talk about the road to getting published and take questions for future blog posts!

Character Choices

My link yesterday to the Top 10 Dads in Science Fiction and Fantasy got me thinking about the choices characters make in children's books, both kidlit and young adult.

Often parents are removed from a story, through death, kidnapping, or incompetence, leaving room for the child characters to have the epic adventures and magical journeys that provide the meat of the story. This sort of story-starter is so common that we can be hard pressed to find a child character that has an intact family. I don't think this is as dire as it sounds, but I would like to see more strong Dad characters.

With the general lack of parental oversight, child characters sometimes make bad choices. In fact, the main adventure of a story may be caused, or at least exacerbated, by our characters making the wrong choice in a situation. After all, if they didn't venture into that dark cavern, when all good sense not to mention the camp rules, dictate that they should go home and stay snug in their beds ... well, we wouldn't have much of a story, would we?

So making some bad choices, or simply less-than-prudent ones, may be necessary for a story. But what about writing the kinds of characters that we want children (both kids and teens) to emulate? Do kidlit writers have an obligation to write stories that show children the right choices to make? Or do kidlit writers need to provide stories that reflect the (sometimes) harsh realities of life, where not everything has a happy ending, and where bad things happen to good people?

In some senses, stories have always been the way that we explain the world - to ourselves, to our children, to each other. The best of these stories hold lessons about life that have meaning in the real world - even if they are high entertainment along the way. I believe kidlit writers have an obligation to tell these kinds of powerful stories, even more than adult writers. Simply because the impact of a story on a child can be so far reaching.

Do you think kidlit writers have an obligation to have their child characters make good choices?

ALSO: This week I will be posting EVERY DAY. This is because I have a VERY SPECIAL announcement to make ... AND A CONTEST! So please check back tomorrow! (Hint: the announcement will have something to do with character choices ...)

Hooray for Dads!

Happy Father's Day to all the great Dads in the world!

I'm lucky to have an embarrassment of riches in wonderful Dad-examples in my life: my own father, retired engineer and ex-soccer coach, who took us camping every summer and taught me how to change the oil in my car; my father-in-law, retired math and computer whiz, who attends all my boys' games and recitals, and seems to be always teaching them something new; and my brother, whose loving devotion to my niece has helped make her the strong, confident young woman she is today.

And then there's my husband, Dad-extraordinaire. Yesterday, our three boys helped their dad pick out a new grill for his Father's Day present. We decided Dad needed to be involved in the process, but I was surprised at the fervent opinions that came from the boys. Apparently, this was a momenteous decision! After lessons in rational decision-making, and bringing home a box half the size you might imagine, Dad proved his dad-prowess by helping Worm Burner assemble the grill. You might think that Worm Burner was helping Dad, but Dad insists he didn't do much of the work, and I believe him. Dad has been training Worm Burner on use of the tools and following instructions since he was a Wee One. And a great Dad knows when to let the little guy take the lead and prove his mettle.

Which brings me to fictional Dads, and how they are often absent or outright evil in children's fiction. I stumbled across this great article about the Top 10 Dads in Science Fiction from wired.com's Geek Dad (um, how great is that?). I can't decide if my favorite is Bill Adama or Arthur Weasley, but I would love to see more of these strong-dad characters in my boys' reading. As a writer, I understand the difficulty - a child character is more likely to encounter adventure and danger if his/her parents are absent. But the older/wiser guide is a staple of heroic fiction as well. Wouldn't it be great if that character could be Dad as well?

Math Nerds Unite!

If you're still here, you're a math nerd. And I love you for it. :)

Now the above equation isn't simply some geek-fun. It is math coolness incarnate: the transformation of words into math. In this case, these words:

Thanks go to irascignavojo for the tip on this math-nerd-coolness. Go make your own math!

E-books for Kids?

<--- That extremely cool decoder ring ...

... has no relevance to this post.

I simply love it and had to share (thanks to Cynthia Reese).


I've talked before about the impending e-pocalypse, which some publishers and writers seem to think is the end-of-publishing, and have stated my hearty opinion that young people will lead the way with this e-revolution in books.

But it appears that even my rabid optimism wasn't fast enough to keep up with the changing world. I was recently approached by a representative of Sesame Street's e-bookstore, wanting to place advertising on Ink Spells, and have Ink Spells become an affilliate promoting their e-books. While I have nothing against advertising, it didn't fit with Ink Spells mission and so I declined. I was fascinated, however, by this innovation in children's books. With the tag-line "Elmo loves his e-books!" here is Sesame Street leveraging their brand to get children to read on the computer. While some might object to more screen time for wee ones, I think any time children are reading, it's a good thing. For those who think that e-books are a passing fad, I give you the future: children raised on e-picture-books.

Then, along comes Random House with what I consider to be the true opening salvo in the children's e-book revolution: Magic Tree House e-books. For those of you who don't know about the Magic Tree House series, it's a beloved children's chapter book series (70 million copies sold). We own all 43 titles and have read them multiple times through all three of my boys. That these books - the quintessential children's paper book - have been released in e-book format says that someone at Random House believes that children will soon be taking their first steps into chapter books on nooks, iPads, Kindles or computers.

The argument I've heard against children's e-books has primarily been that parents won't buy e-readers for their children - they are too expensive, or too delicate, and parents will be too afraid that children will damage them. This argument doesn't carry much water for me: kids handle all kinds of electronic devices every day.

If they can handle this:

then they can handle this:

While parents may not be willing to buy e-readers for their kids (although I wouldn't be surprised if they would), they may well be willing to let the kids borrow their e-readers. My kids have all handled my nook, not least because I uploaded my own book onto it. The older two (ages 9 and 11) have read on it - now Mighty Mite (age 7) can read his favorite books (Magic Tree House) on it too. So far, the limitations have been more about available titles, than any hesitancy on their part, or mine.

And that looks like it's about to change.

Would you share you e-reader device with your kids?

Guest Post: Boy Books

Adam Heine writes, draws, blogs, and fosters children in Thailand. AND he speaks Air Pirate. As if that wasn't enough awesome, he was once a boy who read books. For which we have a special fondness here at Ink Spells.

Boy Books
by Adam Heine

What makes a good boy book? I have no doubt you've read articles on this by people more qualified than me. I'm not an expert on the market or the publishing industry. But I was a boy once, and I know what I liked. That ought to count for something. There were two things, in particular, that I really understood when it came to fiction: quests and struggles.

QUESTS Boys like adventure. I did anyway. My Star Wars and Transformers action figures were always searching for something, rescuing someone, or thwarting a villain's evil plot. The quest touched something in my core; my world was a quest, or at least I wanted it to be.

So I glommed onto books like The Hobbit and Dark is Rising, or even the lesser quests of The Rats of NIMH and The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I loved The Fellowship of the Ring, but started losing interest in the parts of the later books that didn't follow Frodo. The Ring was the quest.

Why did all that other stuff matter?

STRUGGLES Boys like to fight. I don't know why, but even at a young age -- even with no fighting role models to learn from -- boys chase each other, shoot each other, box, wrestle...all for fun.

But struggles don't have to be physical. Prison escapes, bank heists, or elaborate pranks on a bully were every bit as riveting to me as a space battle or a fight between kung-fu masters. Ender's Game is one of my favorite books in this regard. Ender struggled against bullies and aliens, against enemy teams in the Battle Room, and against the teachers themselves. Sometimes it was physical, but often it was a mind game, and those are just as good.

Not surprisingly, one thing I didn't get was ROMANCE. I was totally into girls, had a crush on one since the third grade, but romance in a story was totally lost on me. "Guy gets girl" was fine for a sub-plot (that could be ignored), but it had no place being the Quest. In fact I was so good at ignoring romance that, when I reread Lord of the Rings for the first time in years, I said, "Elrond has a daughter?!"

Not that romance can't be in a boy's book. I read books with girls in them all the time. But I cared less about love, and so missed a lot of the subtleties ("Elrond's daughter is hot for ARAGORN?!!"). Honestly, I think boy books should have romance, and everything else -- gotta stretch those boys' imaginations, right? -- but my favorite books were the ones where kissing stayed behind the scenes.

But that's just what I was like. What do you think makes a good boy book? If you were a boy (or if you raise boys, teach boys, etc.), what were your/their favorite books? Why, do you think?

Thank you Adam!

Blogger Love and Odes to the Kittehs

I'm way behind on my Blogger Awards, so here's a little catch-up:

Thanks to Lisa Gail Green for the Mommy Blogger award. I love it! This is likely the only Mommy-related award I will receive this summer, as I'm perfecting the art of yelling at my kids ("Stop fighting or the computer's off for a week! I swear I mean it this time!").

Thanks also to Margo Berendsen for the ten favorite things award. This one requires I divulge 10 things that make me happy. Now, of course my family and friends and good health and all that. But what are the top ten things that bring an instant smile to my face on the bleakest August afternoon?

1: Tea, black, no sugar, and don't even think about milk
2: Green Day
3: Sunshine without humidity
4: Glee
5: Kitten toe warmers
6: Praise for my writing
7: Star Trek in any form
8: Chocolate in any form
9: Jude Law
10: Clockwork anything <-- a recent addition

And finally thanks to Joanne Brothwell for the Versatile Blogger award! Just to show how versatile I am, I've converted all my lovely blogger awards to a slide show on the side bar ---> It's rather awesome, if I say so myself.

This one requires that I share seven things about myself, and since you already know what makes me happy, I'll share seven things I've done that maybe seemed crazy at the time, but that I don't regret:

1) Drive across the country by myself - twice
2) Take a helicopter ride over a volcano
3) Have 3 boys
4) Leave California when I graduated from college, never to return (except to visit)
5) Apply to the astronaut training program
6) Fly to Ely and canoe and portage the Minnesota Boundary Waters - all in 48 hours
7) Write a novel

What crazy thing have you done and not regretted?

And I have TWO BONUS selections from the Summer Journals. Poetry has rated highly in journal entries thus far, probably because of the low word count. The endless fascination with the cats is a little harder to explain.

Cats
by Mighty Mite (7 years old)

Cats are crazy, cats are fun.
Cats are cooler than a ton.
Cats can climb up trees we can't.
It's the cats.

The Ballad of Techy Flycatcher
by Dark Omen (11 years old)

Techy started out like all normal cats
She ate some crunchies and stole some hats
She slept on this, she tore up that
She drank some milk and clawed up Pat*
Soon to be the greatest of all the cats.

Have you ever seen a greater cat?
Have you ever seen a greater cat?
Have you ever seen a greater cat?
Than Techy Flycatcher?

But then she cornered that big old fly
Had him there, wouldn't let him by
Though Daddy struck the final blow
It's Techy who'll be revered so.

You've never seen a greater cat!
You've never seen a greater cat!
You've never seen a greater cat!
Than Techy Flycatcher!

*RL friend who was once greeted unkindly by Techy

p.s. Come back tomorrow for a Guest Post by Adam Heine: Boy Books!

Guest Post: Science Fiction for Breakfast

Rebecca Carlson is a MG writer and blogger, a tremendous critique partner, and a fellow advocate for putting more science in kidlit science fiction. She is on her way to Hawaii (to live!), but promises she will soon write more of that story I want to read (hint, hint).

AND she is my first guest poster this summer!

Science Fiction for Breakfast

by Rebecca J. Carlson

My family loves science fiction. Right now my husband is reading "Ender's Game" aloud to the children every night (editing some of the language of course), and we've enjoyed several other science fiction stories together in the past. But this happy habit can have a peculiar effect on our meal-time conversations:

This morning at breakfast I randomly burst into song, "Oh have you heard tell of sweet Betsy of Pike, who crossed the wide prairies with her husband Ike..."

My husband choked on his pancake, then came up laughing. "Sounds like an evil geneticist's plot."

"What?" I was confused.

"She crossed the wide prairies with her husband Ike!"

The kids burst out in a round of wild giggles.

"You wait, it gets better!" I said, then kept singing, "With two yoke of oxen, an old yeller dog, a crate full of chickens and an old spotted hog!"

My twelve-year-old son could barely breathe, he was laughing so hard. "What would THAT look like?"

"It would be the Prairie Monster!" I said, envisioning a grass-covered behemoth with chicken wings, cow horns, a curly tail, a human face, and a dog's nose.

"I'm so sorry," my husband chuckled, "I've ruined that song forever."

"You're not sorry. You're proud of yourself," I told him.

So maybe that'll be the story for my next science fiction novel. Steam-punk geneticist Betsy of Pike creates the Prairie Monster.

Thank you, Rebecca! Aloha!

Do Online Book Reviews Matter?

My recent post about helping fellow authors by leaving Amazon (and B&N) reviews, prompted a great question from commenter Margo: Does the number of reviews on Amazon actually help an author's sales or boost his/her rating? 


Boosting sales and boosting ratings are related but not the same thing. First, a primer on how Amazon operates (much of this was a revelation to me):

• Amazon is an upward spiral model: the more your book sells, the higher it climbs on the Amazon search results, and in category lists and recommendations (like "also bought" lists)
• Amazon sales rank gives you some idea of how well a book is selling, in its category. Note: this can be wildly different for e-books vs. print, because of the different pools of books it is being compared to. Also, these vary day-to-day, depending on sales for that day (or even that hour). Here are some old (2008) data, to give you a rough idea of what those numbers* mean:

   Rank           Weekly Sales

   1,000            90 copies
  10,000           60 copies
 100,000           16 copies
 300,000           12 copies
 500,000           1 copy
1,000,000           1 copy per month

Presumably, a book's sales rank is related to how much it has sold, and drives the highly desired upward spiral in Amazon-land (i.e. you sell some books, your book rises in the search listings, your book gets more exposure, you sell more books, etc.).

Now, what is the effect of reviews on all of this? Some think even revered print reviews have less relevance today, but others think book reviews still matter. While print reviews (and blog reviews) may be helpful simply because they are free publicity for your book, getting your title in front of more eyeballs, I think it is impossible to know exactly how online reviews such as Amazon affect a book's sales. Surely lots of positive reviews could help sales, and possibly a devastating negative review could hurt sales, but I think in the world of fiction, most people take the reviews not too seriously. After all, the adventure novel you hate might be just the story for me. I think people take personal recommendations, from friends or like-minded people much more seriously than online book reviews from strangers.

So you probably want good reviews, or at least it can't hurt. Here's a cautionary post from Steve Weber (his book Plug your Book! has lots of tips about online book marketing) about who should NOT review your book, namely you or your PR agent. My opinion: if you and your publisher are the only ones reviewing your book, then your book's not going to do well anyway. However, having people who already know and love your book review early on seems a sensible approach to getting your book on its way.

Weber's book was published in 2007, which was before the e-book tsunami hit the industry. However his blog has several up-to-date articles about book marketing, including how the Amazon Spotlight reviews are chosen, how to use giveaways at Goodreads to boost reviews, and how authors can add or edit their books catalog details on Amazon.

All of this doesn't really answer Margo's question (sorry!), but I stand by my earlier encouragement to review books for authors that you love, to support and encourage them, and maybe even bring them more sales.

What about you, lovely readers? Do you read the online reviews before you purchase? Or have you already decided to buy by the time you click through to Amazon or B&N?

*note: please take these numbers with a very LARGE grain of salt. 

p.s. Come back tomorrow for our very first Guest Post by Rebecca Carlson: Science Fiction for Breakfast !

Love for Authors

A great post at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe talks about supporting other authors and got me thinking (always a dangerous thing).

Lately, I've made an effort to retweet reviews and such for authors that I know and love and want to succeed. It's not enough to simply write a good book, people need to know about it, so I'm all on board with spreading the word. This is part of Ink Spells mission, as well, at least for middle grade novels.

One of the things everyone can do to help their favorite authors succeed (and Shannon mentions in her post) is posting Amazon reviews. I cannot believe this never occurred to me! I know Amazon reviews are important in propelling a book on an upward spiral that will get it noticed. I know that a positive review makes a huge difference to an author, personally as well as in terms of book sales. But I've never written a single review for all the books I have read and purchased.

That needs to change!

So I went to Amazon and got busy.

The first book, How to Talk to Girls, had 31 reviews. Thirty-one! That means my lowly review was one-thirtysecond of the total reviews for this lovely little tome. Oh, the power! Also, I was surprised to see the negative reviews - a lot of people had a very different experience of this book than I did. It was nice to add some balance to the mix for this young author.

My second review, Leviathan, had only 92 reviews. I was shocked! I figured a huge author like Westerfeld would have hundreds, if not thousands, of reviews. Being wildly enamored of this book, I was pleased to see many more positive reviews. I still added mine to the pile. Considering I had already written a review, it was pretty easy to do.

In perusing the books I've already reviewed for Ink Spells, I realized two things: not many were for debut novels (and thus new writers that I could support with my Amazon review), and most had already hit the best-seller list.

As I work on transfering my reviews to Amazon, I will also critically examine my TBR pile for authors that have NEW books, recently published, that could be gems for advanced readers, ages 8-12. Finding good books for kids AND helping new authors? Gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies.

UPDATE: Thanks to Vicki below for reminding me that Amazon is not the only review outlet in the world. B&N also sells books online (duh!). Goodreads is also an excellent way to spread the word about books you read, even if it doesn't directly tie into boosting sales for said author.

Call for Guest Posts!

Thanks to blogger friend Bane's suggestion Monday, I'm opening Ink Spells up to guest posts to fill those Tuesday/Thursday slots which will sit vacant and lonely over the summer. If you are interested in guest posting, please email your post to susankayequinn@comcast.net. Ink Spells is all about middle grade (ages 8-12) books - writing them, reading them, getting the little ones interested in them, and finding good ones for advanced readers. Guest posts on any of those topics, or just general summer fun, are welcome! 


Thanks to blog/Twitter friend and fellow MG writer Sheri for pointing out an awesome MG website - The Mixed Up Files...of Middle Grade Authors -  a place for MG writers and readers to connect (the site now has a place of reverence on the side bar-->). They are kicking off with a MG book-giveaway contest, but they have plans, BIG plans. Epic, MG sized plans, which include book lists, interviews with MG authors, and the intention to keep it clean so that it's a safe place for MG kids to visit as well. A-W-E-S-O-M-E. I'm already in love with these people, and seriously, I don't know them (yet). There's stuff for parents, for teacher-librarian-types, and for writers. 


So hop over and check out the awesome.


And while you're hopping, check out this great contest to raise money to help orphan kids in Thailand get to school. Thanks go to Adam, my favorite author-in-residence in Thailand, for pointing out this great way to help kids learn.


BONUS: A haiku from Dark Omen's Summer Journal about our kittehs, Techy and Ninja.

Techy claws the screen

Cats love to look out windows

Ninja can speak Bird

While Dark Omen is penning ballads and haikus, Worm Burner is creating a detailed user guide for one of his computer games, and Mighty Mite is transcribing a poem he memorized in 1st grade. The Summer Journals may be my best idea yet!

Let the Summer Begin!

Summer.

That lazy, sweltering time of chasing butterflies, digging in sandboxes, spraying your brother with the hose, and nearly dying from boredom. That was the summer of my youth, but now it's a hectic shuffling of kids to classes and activities, having little friends drop by, and making excursions to the pool, all while trying to decide whether hot dogs for dinner again is a violation of the Mom Code of Conduct and keeping the children from resorting to fisticuffs.

And having a list of chores at the ready when they decide to spring that first I'm bored on me. Shortest time: about 3 hours after school lets out.

Let me just go on the record: God Bless Teachers.

And writing? When was I supposed to do that again?

The boys put together Summer Wish Lists this weekend, which is an annual rite that I take much less seriously than they do. If we actually did all the things they wanted, we'd be well into October. My favorite this year (and nearly every year) comes from Worm Burner's list: Go to the pool 100 times. I love the specificity and the ambition. Considering we only have about 80 days of summer, we better get started! Dark Omen wants to play golf, but not on a blistering hot day (again, love the stage direction!), and Mighty Mite is cool with whatever we do, as long as there's camping involved.

I've armed them with stacks of books to kick off their summer reading, and have a summer journal for them to write in each day, and the older two are taking a math camp. But most of their time will be spent on blissfully non-academic activities. As it should be.

Let the Summer Fun begin!

p.s. In bowing to the nature of summer, Ink Spells will be going to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting format, with a return to every-day posting in the fall, when the munchkins are safely returned to school.

Summer Fun

Ink Spells is taking a brief hiatus while my mom comes to visit. We will be talking about books and writing and Mighty Mite's birthday, and hopefully not sweltering in the Chicago heat.

I leave you with this thought, until Monday, lovely readers:

There are so many different kinds of writing and so many ways to work that the only rule is this: do what works. Almost everything has been tried and found to succeed for somebody. The methods, even the ideas of successful writers contradict each other in a most heartening way, and the only element I find common to all successful writers is persistence-an overwhelming determination to succeed.
Sophy Burnham


I've been writing fiction for exactly 17 mos, 3 days and 10 minutes* (not counting fiction writing from my youth). I think I have a good 20-40 years left in me. 


How long have you been writing? What helps you to persist?

*at the time of this posting. appproximately.

Update: Thanks to Sheri for the linkage - check out her awesome Writer's Ally blog when you have a chance!

Twelve Tips for Reluctant Readers

I have three boys with three different learning styles and paths to reading. If you believe there is only one way to teach a child to love books, I urge you to have more than one child. And then try to teach them to read.

This great post and discussion at Imagination Soup (what a great name!) got me thinking about all the things I've done over the years to encourage my kids to read, from alternating reading pages with them (tip#1), to allowing them to check out ridiculous numbers of books (tip#2), to paying library fines larger than my tax bill (almost) (this is not a tip I would recommend).

Today we made our annual trek to the library to enroll in the library's summer reading program (tip#3), the one where the library hands out t-shirts and coupons for ice-cream to kids (and adults!) that read a certain number of books over the summer. We proudly sport our library t-shirts from years past (tip#4), nodding to our friends with similar shirts in a knowing way, like members of a secret club.

In another recent sojourn to the library ("Mom, I'm out of books!" "Again?" Sigh), I came across a friend whose daughter had resolutely declared her intent to NOT read chapter books just moments before. EVER. Good daddy that he was, he had allowed her to pick out a host of picture books well below her reading level (tip#5), and they were stationed at the window, alternately looking out at geese and reading about the adventures of D.W.

Knowing that other adults can somehow influence my children in ways I never can, I swept in and announced that I knew of some books that she would like. Books with animals. TALKING animals. MAGICAL TALKING animals. Did she like magical talking animals? Yes, she did.

I scooped up a couple Magic Tree House books that Mighty Mite and I had recently consumed, and gave her a pitch (tip#6): "This is a book about magical seals. They don't really talk, but Annie can understand them anyway." She nodded, very slightly, because of course that sounds like an intriguing book, doesn't it? I held up the second one, open to one of the wonderful pencil illustrations inside. "This one has a baby penguin that does something very special to help Annie. But I can't tell you what it is. You have to read it."

She wasn't going to admit that the books were awesome (though she wasn't fooling me), but I do believe they went home from the library with her (tip#7).

Putting the right books in little hands at the right time (tip#8), by whatever means necessary, is a key part of encouraging kids to read. Reluctant readers will be excited by a story, the pictures inside graphic novels (tip#9), or simply that their friends have read it. I've read to my boys, even when they could read it themselves (tip#10), scoured the library shelves with them (tip#11), and made more trips than I can possibly count to the library and bookstore. I have one avid reader, who literally demanded that I teach him to read at age four. Then I have two reluctant readers, who nonetheless read. A lot. One reluctant reader just recently converted to Avid status, once he was able to read Harry Potter on his own. And I'm sure that my final one will come along in time.

Resistance is futile, when Mom is determined.

Another good lesson to learn in life.

What do you do to encourage your reluctant readers?

p.s. In an attempt to model good reading (tip#12), I joined the library reading program this summer, for the first time. I want a t-shirt, too! Plus, maybe this summer I'll whittle down that TBR pile after all.

Query Me This ... Contest Submission

As I mentioned before, Rick Daley over at the Query Slushpile is holding a contest to discern whether it's easier to write a query or the first 5 pages (I'm changing my answer to: the pages), and also to debunk the idea that a novel premise can be "stolen." Writers were supposed to write a query and the first 5 pages of a novel based on the following premise:


Our protagonist has found evidence that the government is being lured into war. If the country engages in the conflict abroad, its military will not be able to deal with an imminent invasion by a rival nation. The problem is that the source of the information is a double-agent, and our protagonist is being set up to cause the war he/she is trying to prevent.

The 10 entries are up, all starting with "Query Me This ..." including mine, titled THIRD DAUGHTER. Hop on over and check out the entries and leave some comments, if you are so inclined. I would love to hear what you think of my latest idea for a new young adult steampunk novel!