Daily Reminder: Everything is Possible

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This tidbit about authors now signing their e-books with a stylus on the Nook Color somehow instantly renewed my faith in all things publishing.

Why?

Because there was a need (a small one, but a real one), and the people who get things done (thank you B&N tech wizards) made it happen. Less than a year ago, Scott Westerfeld had to sign my Nook cover - now that will be anachronistic before it's a year old (I think Westerfeld would enjoy the irony).

Maybe, just maybe ... there is hope for us all.

Happy Weekend!

Adding Buttons to Your Blog

I'm ridiculously impressed with myself that I added some buttons to my blog.

Now, this may not be the greatest of tech challenges, but for some reason Blogger and I had a big throw-down over it. But I came out the winner with these lovely buttons to show for it (see them on the sidebar as well):

If you'd like to do this, without the throw-down (if Blogger's in a good mood), do this:

1) Get some cool buttons (there's zillions of these, if you look for them)

2) Load them up on flicker

3) Use this code in an HTML gadget on your sidebar (these guys have detailed instructions):

And you're good!

Unless Blogger's looking for another fight. In which case, never mind.

p.s. That "Subscribe to my Newsletter" button? Yeah, it works, so feel free! More on the newsletter coming next week.

Winner of The Reinvention of Edison Thomas

Today, I’m finishing up my interview with Jacqueline Houtman and announcing the winner of a copy of her book The Reinvention of Edison Thomas. 

Great Review for EDDY:

A middle grader with a high-function spectrum disorder finds some real friends in this wry debut...The author has a particularly engaging way of tracking Eddie's thought processes as he struggles to wrest order from a seemingly chaotic world...By the end readers will understand why Justin and Terry find Eddie worth knowing, but the way the central characters talk and think about science creates another theme that's just as strong and satisfying. --Kirkus Reviews

Me: You published EDDY through Front Street, an imprint that specializes in “issue” books. What’s been your experience with this small publisher? Are you reaching the readers you want this book to find? Are you finding the print or e-books to be more popular?

Jacqueline:  Front Street is an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, which is itself a small publisher. Like most houses, large and small, Front Street struggled in the economic downturn of 2008, and my editor, Joy Neaves was a casualty of that shortly after she acquired EDDY. I’m pleased that Joy was ultimately able to edit the book, and she did a wonderful job.

I’ve never worked with a big publisher, but my impression is that their books get more attention from the public. But big publishers are, well, bigger. What may be called a “department” in a big house might be just one person in a small house. That makes things a little more personal. I have gotten to know quite a few Front Street authors, like Monica Roe, Zu Vincent, Clay Carmichael, Emily Smith Pearce, Mark Hardy, and Nancy Bo Flood, and their amazing books. There is a sort of bond, I think, that comes from our association with Front Street.

I’m reaching some of my target audience, but I’d love EDDY to get into the hands of more kids who would love it—kids on the spectrum, kids who know kids on the spectrum, kids who love science, kids who don’t usually enjoy fiction. And grown-ups, too. Part of the problem could be my small publisher, but I think it may also be because I never use “the A word” in the book or flap copy, as I explain in your previous post.

Authors seldom get to see sales data, but my impression is that the e-book is selling, although not as well as the print book. It’s a growing market, but less so I think with middle grade, since younger kids don’t tend to have e-readers. Yet.


Me: Yet, is definitely the key word there. I think the time is coming, and fast! I love your bio, where you say you enjoy writing “sciency fiction” for kids. You have a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Immunology (science doctors unite!) and write for medical journals (my favorite is the one with the nude mice, but this is a PG blog, so we’ll leave that for the reader to explore). How different is science writing from fiction writing? Do you find yourself slipping active verbs into your science journal articles?

Jacqueline: Good science writing and middle grade fiction aren’t really that different (except the part of fiction where you make things up). Both require a strong narrative line and economy of words with a minimum of rambling. I sometimes work as a writing “coach” for scientists. Most scientists haven’t taken many writing courses and some fall into the trap of trying to demonstrate how much they know rather than communicating  the important parts effectively. Some are even under the impression that only the passive voice is acceptable. They think it gives an air of authority or something, but the active voice is more common in scientific writing than it was in the past.

Nude mice are cute, in a freaky sort of way. They have a defective immune system because of a naturally occurring mutation, so they were useful in studying the role of the immune system in diseases and transplants. Now that we have engineered mice with more specifically defined defects, nude mice aren’t used as much. (I slipped the passive voice in there. Did you notice?) (Ed note: I did. And you sound so scholarly!)

I enjoy writing for a variety of audiences. I especially like taking scholarly works and making them accessible to non-scientists. An example would be the articles I did for FASEB’s Breakthroughs in Bioscience series.

Me: You've certainly done a lot of cool writing (reader friends, check out Jacqueline's website for all the deets)! I imagine you’ll be keeping your day job as a biomedical researcher, but are you planning on future children’s books? What do you have in the works right now?

Jacqueline: Actually, I left the lab in 1996, although I suppose you could say I’m on a very long maternity leave. I continue to write about science for grown-ups and kids, though. I don’t think I could ever give up on children’s books, especially middle grade fiction. Reading them or writing them. Right now I’m working on another novel that’s full of science. It features rockets. You wouldn’t happen to know of a rocket scientist I could consult, would you, Susan?

Me: I might know a thing or two about rockets! :) And I'd be happy to consult on any sciency writing. Bringing kids and science and fun stories together is like a perfect storm of cool. (p.s. I know what you mean about the long maternity leave-I think of it as the next evolutionary step, as I'm now raising the next generation of scientists). Thank you so much for sharing your writing and science insights, and especially for sharing EDDY with the world. And with one lucky person in particular...

And the winner of Jacqueline's charming, award-winning book, The Reinvention of Edison Thomas is ... Stina Lindenblatt!


Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway!

Week 2- All About Voice

FIRST: Make sure you leave a comment to enter to win a copy of The Reinvention of Edison Thomas!

SECOND: Week 2 check-in of my ROW80 challenge to finish the rough draft of Sekrit Middle Grade Fantasy project by June 14th

The friends list keeps growing:

Check out Sheri's Progress Here

Check out Margo's Progress Here
Check out C. Lee's Progress Here

This week was all about Voice. 

Sekrit Project has two alternating MC voices that are very distinctive. I was tempted to use alternating 1st-person POV, ala Rick Riordan's Red Pyramid, but decided against it. The first person narrative wouldn't have added that much to my already-close-third-person POV, and while the novel has substantial internal story, it's still middle grade, which is largely external-story-driven.

My true struggle this week was mastering (or rather apprenticing) one of the MC's voices. It has an Irish flavor, but not necessarily modern Irish. I researched a lot: reading Yeats, listening to storytellers on YouTube, parsing the phraseology of the language.

Finally, I simply had to write it. 

Like any other character trait, my character's voice had to be revealed by the story itself. What would he say in this particular situation? What would his thoughts be in response to that scene? Only as I wrote (and re-wrote, and re-wrote again) could I finally get a handle on how his voice worked, and by what process (namely, lots of revision), that I could bring it out in the story.

Here's the weekly Word-o-Meter for Sekrit Project (increments are 5k):

Check back next Tuesday for our progress updates!

p.s. For those of you whose browsers dislike my Word-o-Meter, I've logged 6661 words toward my 50-60k goal. I stopped 5 words short. I have enough bedeviling this MS, I don't need any help.

Ink Spells Talks with Jacqueline Houtman, Author of The Reinvention of Edison Thomas

Today, I’m interviewing Jacqueline Houtman and giving away a copy of her book The Reinvention of Edison Thomas. Jacqueline stopped by Ink Spells back in January, when we were discussing Point of View in Kidlit, and shared her insights on using big words in middle grade books:

Excellent post. Middle grade is not about vocabulary (and EDDY is a perfect example: diagenesis? monotreme? prescient?). I never thought about it the way you said it, but it's true. MG is all about possibilities, discovery, opening the door to adulthood. Boundless! Love it!

Jacqueline doesn’t shy away from Big Words in her book (bless her!), and she also tackles the issue of kids on the autism spectrum. Here’s an excerpt from Jacqueline’s many glowing reviews:

“The Reinvention of Edison Thomas accurately portrays one way in which Asperger Syndrome can play out in an individual, in this case in a middle schooler as he navigates the social environment that is the fabric of his life.  Without ever naming or even alluding to Eddy's diagnosis, Houtman weaves the story of a unique young man struggling with and outsmarting the challenges his differences visit upon him while at the same time using the blessings of who he is to challenge the status quo, to develop some true friendships and to ultimately become comfortable enough in his own skin to begin making his mark in the world in his own unique way.” –Judy Endow, Autism Consultant

Me: This is Autism Awareness Month. I know a couple of friends with kids on the spectrum, and I’ve watched Adam (charming, heartbreaking), but it would take a lot of research for me to begin to write a book from the POV of someone on the spectrum. What inspired you to take that leap?


Jacqueline: There were a couple of things that converged in my life at that time. 

1. I was working as a freelance science writer and got a chance to write for middle school kids. First WORLD BOOK, and then some short fiction with science content. I was hooked. I could write dialogue and humor, and I could make stuff up (well, not the science, but the characters and situations).
2. My son brought HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE home and asked me to read it to him. I did. Then I had to read the rest of them. To see if it was OK for my son ;-). I rediscovered middle grade fiction. I had stopped reading fiction in high school, because grown-up fiction was tedious. Not so middle grade. Hooked again.
3. I read THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon.  The protagonist is a 15-year-old boy who is evidently on the autism spectrum. I thought a character like that would be interesting to write about, but there were things I would do differently. I wanted a younger protagonist, in middle school, who had to deal with his peers. I also decided to write EDDY in third person.

I did a lot of research, both scholarly and observational, on how someone on the autism spectrum experiences the world. The autism spectrum is wide, and there are a lot of different ways to “be autistic.” The spectrum also has very fuzzy edges. I identify very closely with a lot of Eddy’s personality traits, and I hang around with a bunch of people who are, officially or not, on or near the spectrum.

Me: I know what you mean about being hooked on middle grade fiction! And I love that you found a book that inspired you to take that leap! Tell us a little about EDDY and how the book came to be.

Jacqueline: I started by writing scenes while I was in between freelance assignments. I would think of situations that would be difficult for Eddy, situations in which he might act in an unexpected way for reasons that are perfectly appropriate for him. It took a couple of years to turn this disconnected series of scenes into a story with a satisfying narrative arc. I started submitting the manuscript, and got a lot of rejections.

Then I attended an SCBWI event where Joy Neaves, editor for Front Street Books, gave a talk that filled in the missing pieces. I did a major revision and then submitted it to Joy. I was especially pleased that she acquired it because she had already had such important editorial input into the manuscript. 

Me: Yay, for SCBWI! Anyone serious about children's writing should find their way to an SCBWI-sponsored event. I love your post about using labels to identify ourselves and others. Can you tell us why you decided not to label EDDY as having Asperger’s, and what the impact of that has been?

Jacqueline: I think a lot of people have a preconceived notion of what autism and Asperger’s “look like,” whether it’s the Rain Man stereotype, or one of the Aspergian characters on TV. I wanted readers to get to know Eddy as an individual character, to be able to relate to him based on shared characteristics. When you give someone a label (especially a label you don’t share), it can make that person seem more “other,” and maybe prevent you from seeing your similarities.

I’m hoping readers are able to empathize with Eddy, and maybe even empathize with real-life kids who are a little “different,” whether they are diagnosed or not.  On the down side, I think the lack of a label has made it harder for people to find EDDY when they are looking for books with Aspergian protagonists. That’s one reason I’m doing a marketing push during Autism Awareness Month.  


Besides the book giveaway on your blog (and a couple of other blogs), I’m doing a Twitter experiment.  The more followers I get (@jjhoutman), the more books I will add to the prize, a classroom set of EDDY advance reader copies. My goal is to bring autism awareness to the classroom.

Me: I hope you'll get a few more followers from this post, but I'm planning on telling all my teacher-friends about EDDY as well. I think it's fantastic what you've done, with the book and the promotion! Thanks so much for sharing EDDY and joining us on Ink Spells today!

Jacqueline has agreed to give away a signed copy of her charming, award-winning book, The Reinvention of Edison Thomas! Just leave a comment to enter, either today or tomorrow (Tuesday). Stop back on Wednesday for more Q&A with Jacqueline about her small publisher Front Street and the difference between science and fiction writing. And the winner announcement!

Writing to Trends

Laura's post about How to Choose the Best Story and a comment at my writer's group last night about the genre of my WiP being (maybe) saturated, got me thinking again about trends, that nasty word that will either thrill or chill you (or possibly both) depending on whether you're writing a trendy book or not.

Yes, I want to be realistic about the market.
Yes, I want to sell to traditional/indie/whoever will publish my book.
Yes, I want to write something that people are interested in reading.

But what if my great story idea is passé before I start? What if by the time I finish it, the trend will be so sizzling hot that no one will be buying those books anymore?

We're not supposed to write to trends because by the time your book gets published, the trend of today is long gone.

But what if that's all wrong?

There, I said it.

Amanda Hocking got rich off writing to a trend. Yes, the e-book phenomenon hit at just the right time, along with a bunch of other factors, but let's face it: she wrote what was popular, published it herself, and zoom people ate it up. Because that's what people want to read.


The key here was that she was able to get her book quickly to market, to benefit from the trend.


This is not rocket science, people (and I would know). Any business knows they have to get their product to market quickly, or risk being beaten by the competition, or just left behind by the public as hopelessly out of touch with the consumer desires of the day.


There's no shame in writing what people want to read. The mere fact that I have to state that as some kind of defensive argument is indicative of how strange things are in this business.

Which of these statements makes the most sense?

Vampires are hot? Well, for heaven's sake, don't write about that!
Touch screen phones are hot? Well, for heaven's sake, don't make any of those!

Answer: neither one.

Maybe I'm just stubborn (it's been known to happen). Maybe I'm just contrarian (that happens a lot too). Throwing down a gauntlet and saying "You can't do that!" is just about a guarantee that I will try.

So, I'll keep writing my Sekrit project even if it's in the too hot genre right now. Mostly because my kids really want to read it. And, after all, isn't that what this is all about?

Emotional Structure

Peter Dunne's book Emotional Structure has given form to something I've always thought was simply intuitive: the character arc in a novel.

Dunne emphasizes that emotional structure has to come before plot, because the plot is used to reveal the emotional structure. If you haven't thought about emotional structure before plotting out your novel, fret not. You can apply Dunne's ideas to revise your novel as well.

Dunne sees the emotional arc of a character as having an evolution where one step follows another in a structured way, no matter what the particulars of your story or plot. It goes something like this:

Our hero has survived so far by developing habits to avoid pain. Without these habits, or crutches, her life is too risky. Now some kind of PLOT EVENT happens and her habitual defenses no longer work. She's forced onto a new path, for the moment, in order to get back to "normal" where her habits will work again. Then more PLOT happens, and now her tools for survival aren't working anymore. Her emotional walls start to crack, her weaknesses are exposed, maybe weaknesses she wasn't even aware of. Her old habits are useless. She must be brave, take a risk or leap of faith. This is a huge moment of vulnerability. But she learns something: that she can change. Here she learns something about the thing that caused her to build those defensive habits in the first place. She has to face this past to free herself, and the PLOT connects this moment to her physical survival. In that moment, she grows. She may be clumsy and frustrated in using her new emotional tools at first, but she has to use them in order to survive.

You can see how this emotional structure is pretty generic, but also how the plot is (in Dunne's view) existing solely to force the hero's fears to the surface. The life threatening plot isn't there to kill your hero, but reveal her (and the co-protagonist is there to help things along).

I encourage you to read the book to fully understand how this can play out for your novel. The book rambles along - oddly not as structured as you might expect! - but there are several insights throughout Emotional Structure that make it worth the time to read.

Do you plot out your protagonist's emotional arc, or do you intuitively pants your way through?

Week 1 - Open the Floodgates

When I joined ROW80 a couple weeks ago, I thought I'd be writing with a bunch of people I didn't know.

Silly me.

My blogger-friends Sheri Larsen and Margo Berendsen have joined me, and we'll be linking our posts on Tuesdays as a way to stay accountable for our progress (here's the official linky for check-in #2 for ROW80).

I've been plotting and researching like crazy, and finally sat down to write the rough draft of Sekrit Project yesterday. Did I mention I love first drafts?

I LOVE FIRST DRAFTS!

Ahem.

Apparently, the heady rush of drafting is even more intense when I've already plotted my way through the book. I've always been a pantser (irony, given my background), but I'm finding the up-front work on the story structure has made my appetite for telling the story even stronger, not less. Your mileage may vary on this, and I know lots of writers for whom plotting kills their creativity. Not so for me.

Now that I've finally opened the floodgate, we'll see how long the momentum lasts. But for now, it's all gleeful story creation. And I'm excited to have Sheri and Margo along for the ride.

Check out Sheri's Progress Here
Check out Margo's Progress Here

Goal: Finish the rough draft of my Sekrit Middle Grade Fantasy novel by June 14th.


Here's my Word-o-Meter for Sekrit Project (increments are 5k):

Check back next Tuesday for our progress updates!

p.s. For those of you who can't see through the Cloak of Invisibility that my Word-o-Meter has on, I've logged 2442 words toward my 50-60k goal.

Dear Twitter

I feel like I've been neglecting you lately. Sure, I tweet my blog posts, and occasionally whine about the weather, but what have I done for you lately? An occasional dalliance with #yalitchat just reinforces how much I've neglected our relationship.

#Imsorry

From now on, I promise to faithfully post something every day, throwing my thoughts into the electronic maw to be chomped, swallowed, and occasionally retweeted. I vow to visit you more than just my lunch hour and when there are no good updates on Facebook. I won't neglect you in favor of my shiny new WiP, making dinner, or doing the laundry.

#really #Imeanitthistime

#PleaseDontGiveMetheFailWhale

Best,
Sue

Slang: Parlez-vous Interwebs?

I've always been a linguistic chameleon.

By which I do not mean that I am good at languages. After four years of mangling my rolled-r's in Spanish class, I admitted defeat. However, I am fluent in many English-dialects, and I pick up slang like a bad habit. If I visit Texas, I come back with a drawl. If I watch too much Harry Potter, I start sounding British.

Brilliant!

It all started as a young girl, when I had to camouflage my embarassingly large vocabulary - acquired from crazy amounts of reading - in order to fit into the Southern California scene. I can like totally rock a Valley Girl accent.

It took years of engineering school to start to undo that tragedy, but Val Gal and tech speak is a strange hybrid. My friends joked that my vocabulary got bigger the more beers I had. That was because the verbal filter was loosened and the natural base language - wordnerd - came out. By the time I reached graduate school, I realized that suppressing my inner nerd wasn't in my best interest. In the wilds of academia, you were expected to talk like that.

It was a liberating experience.

I was reminded of all this by my recent post on FB:

Dude! Like, what's the latest lingo in Southern California? I want to totally nail it for this character I'm writing, but, like, it's been a long time, yanno? Bring it, Facebook Friends! K? Sweet.

My California friends came out and helpfully suggested terms like random and awkward, but then words like fail started showing up and my non-California friends chimed in that fail was spoken there too, and suddenly it was Happy Llama, Sad Llama all over again.

Internet slang was everywhere.

It made me pause. What if all those quaint regional dialects were being overwritten by a universal slang? There are no geographic boundaries to language anymore, and anyone (English-speaking at least) could be affected. Was the world-leveling of the internet seeping into our language, destroying the eccentricities that make humanity, well, cool?

ZOMG!

I think it's less dire than that, and the Internet is just one of many influences. Regional real-life (RL!) speech patterns will probably still drive local slang for a long time.

That is, until we all get the brain implants. Then it's game-over, people.

Do you speak interwebs in RL?

Showing Emotion: Boys vs. Girls

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On Monday, I talked about Thinking vs. Feeling, and Sherrie brought up an excellent point: boy characters think/feel differently than girl characters.

First, let's not stereotype: boys certainly have feelings just as much as girls do, and your character should be true to who THEY are more than what their gender is. But, in general, what boys do with feelings can be quite different from girls, and accurately portraying that in words on a page is the key to a realistic character.

Here's a girl thinking (Ever in Evermore, contemplating a small lie to her friends): They're making such a big deal I'm thinking it's my only way out. Only I can't. Not to them. Haven and Miles are my best friends. My only friends. And I feel like I'm keeping enough secrets already.

Here's a boy thinking (Cassel in White Cat, having just nearly fallen off the roof): I laugh with relief, even though I am shaking so badly that climbing is out of the question. Cold makes my fingers numb. The adrenaline rush makes my brain sing.

Here's a girl thinking like a boy (Katniss in Hunger Games, ruminating about how she didn't kill Buttercup the cat, because of her beloved sister Prim): But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay...Sometimes when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me. Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.

Girl-like characters tend to think and react in terms of relationships: they ponder (sometimes a lot); they agonize; they contemplate feelings: theirs and other people's.

Boy-like characters think more in terms of action, cause and effect, connecting the emotion to the outcome, rather than how they feel about it.

These are generalizations, of course. Your Character May Vary. But here's a back-to-back example of how I would write a scene from a girl POV and a boy POV.

Boy: I sprinted down the street, dodging early morning sprinklers. I was going to be late. Again. Mr. Spencer was sure to give me a tardy and another note with a fake signature wouldn't cut it this time. Spencer would kick me out of Trill Academy for sure. I slowed my pace. No sense in hurrying to my doom. I kicked a hose draped across the sidewalk and imagined it was Spencer.

Girl: I sprinted down the street, narrowly keeping out of the sprinkler. If I was late this time, Mr. Spencer would have my head. He's hated me ever since I pointed out his error that time in Geometry. I clenched my fists. It wasn't fair. I worked so hard to get in, and Spencer would kick me out of Trill with the slightest excuse. I stumbled over a hose draped across the sidewalk and came to a stop. I wouldn't give Spencer the pleasure of seeing me come in all flustered and red faced. I straightened my shirt and leisurely strolled on.

Of course, this scene would play differently for different characters with different backgrounds, and I think the most important thing is to stay true to your character.

Do you write boy or girl POV's? Do you incorporate emotions differently for each?

Thinking vs. Feeling

Picture Credit

One of my favorite CP's sent me a critique with several notes that said, "Don't think so much. Feel." Now, for me, thinking is feeling, so it took me a moment to figure out what she meant. I realized my character was thinking through something that they should be emotionally reacting to, and she (my crit partner) was quite right.


Are you a thinker or a feeler?


I'm heavy on the thinker side, although I think emotional arcs are the structure that holds up any great story. Our main character can lose a brother, go looking for him, find him in held hostage in warehouse, shoot the bad guys, and save the day ... but if we don't know what he's thinking or feeling throughout that journey, the story is just going through the motions.


The whole point of the story is human recovery and reconciliation. -Peter Dunne, Emotional Structure


You may think, wait, my story isn't about human recovery and reconciliation. If you don't think it should be, I suggest you look at the stories you love - most likely, they have an emotional core that beats out fears, losses, recovery, and new life. It may be subtly woven in, a subtext that the characters never explicitly think about or feel, but it's there. 


It should be in your story too, if you want to have a lasting impact on your readers.


Portraying that emotion can be done in a myriad of ways: through action (forgiveness = a gentle touch), through thoughts (anxiety = Something was wrong with this entire situation), through physical reactions (anger = The heat in my face threatened to set my hair on fire). Angela Ackerman's Emotional Thesaurus can count the ways.


But a disjointed series of emotional reactions is no more helpful than a series of mechanical plot steps. They have to be bound together by the emotional journey of a single main character (or two co-protagonists).


Although my character may have been straying into the cerebral-zone with her rationalizations, I know that her emotional arc is strong, because I've consciously laid it out. For my current WiP, where I have two co-protagonists, the first thing I sketched out was their respective emotional arcs. Even the skeleton of the plot must be built on this understructure of the heart.


When I critique, I find myself giving a lot of thought to the emotional arcs of a story. 


I know, irony.


Do your characters have a strong emotional arc that pulls them through the story?

Blogger Love Week - Once More with Nicetude

I'm wrapping up my week of celebrating bloggers high in NICENESS COEFFICENT's by talking about two bloggers whose niceness is somewhat transcendent, in the sense that you really wouldn't believe people like this exist, except they do, and somehow they still want to hang out with you.

Shannon O'Donnell (Book Dreaming): Shannon finds amazing, inspiring quotes. She does the whole Marvelous Middle Grade Monday thing, which would be enough to seal the deal right there. But Shannon's stratospheric NICENESS COEFFICIENT comes from her persistence in being a source of uplift for others. Her determination to bring others up is so successful that a visit to her blog is like dipping into a well of feel-goodness. So, her impact on the world is multiplied by the many people she reaches, and that is like NICENESS SQUARED - a whole different category of Nicetude.

Sharon Mayhew (Random Thoughts): Sharon always has some cool sharing activity going on her blog: critique contests with agents, thoughts on her writing space, exotic pictures of places she's visited. Right now she's doing the A-Z blog fest with the theme: The ABC's of a Good Friend. How perfectly her (and high in NICENESS COEFFICENT). But Sharon's first and lasting impression on me was her great love of Lenny Lee, another blogger with sky-high Nicetude. She is a critique partner for this little man and constant supporter through his difficult tests and doctor's visits. And nothing finds its way to my heart faster than someone who loves a child.

Blogger Roll: I've started a Blog Roll on my sidebar to recognize the bloggers I've highlighted this week. Handy for when I need my NICENESS booster shot.

My week of celebrating Nicetude isn't just because I want to flatter my friends (although that works for me as well!). It's not simply a chance to applaud the people who manage to show their grace and humility consistently online. 

It's a declaration of sorts: This is how things should be. 

And also: This is someone we can look up to. 

Everyday heroes like these are people we all need. A friend recently shared an article she wrote about her mission work. She was emphatic that she didn't do anything heroic, that anyone could do what she did. I understand her point: we all have the capacity within ourselves to do great things. And yet, I couldn't help pointing out that the very people who do wonderful things while thinking there is nothing heroic about it are the people who are heroes in my mind.

I could go on and on, pointing out bloggers who have exceptional Nicetude, but there are too many to count. And that's important to remember: the world is filled with NICENESS.

I find joy and a kind of peace in that. 

Happy Weekend Everyone! I will return to my normal sassy mode next week.

Blogger Love Week - Operation NICE

In the spirit of Operation NICE (which seriously? How cool is that?), I have more celebration of bloggers with high Niceness Coefficient's (Trademark Pending). I consider Nathan Bransford's blog the high water mark of blogging nicetude. We can't all be Nate B. (he probably has the niceness gene), but here are some bloggers that are giving it a try:

Lisa Gail Green (Paranormal Point of View): Lisa's unapologetic YA-paranormal-loving isn't why she rates high on the Niceness Coefficient - that's just a bonus. Lisa's blog has a joie de vivire that pulls me in and keeps me coming back. The side of sassy and irreverence just makes me grin, and somehow she does it all with a pure Niceness that makes her blog a warm, inviting place to be. She also spreads the love on Twitter (@lisagailgreen) - I find the coolest posts through her. Follow her - you'll be glad you did.

Leigh T. Moore (That's Write): LT's blog is fun and zany and just when you think we're only going to see the wacky, she gets serious and shares something warm and wonderful or achingly real - well, that's it for me. I'm hooked. LT's natural sweetness puts her way high in Niceness Coefficient, but it's the silly and the serious that makes her blog a wonderful place to be.

Sherrie Petersen (Write About Now): Sherrie's blog is so real, that I felt like I already knew her before I met her for-real-live-in-the-flesh. She talks about writing and life with kids and the crazy publishing world, but the thing that touched me first and most strongly was how generous she was with her blog -she has a killer list of authors she's interviewed (it still shocks me that I'm on it). Considering one of the Nicest things you can do for an author is to share their work, she rocks the Niceness Coefficient. She's also inspiring (you must read her agent story).

I'm realizing that part of what I love about my blogger friends is their honesty, those times when they share their struggles and dreams and sideways look on life. It's what keeps me coming back for more ... which I will have on Friday! Please stop back then for more of the Nice!

Whipping Out That WiP

I interrupt this Week of NICENESS to post about a writing challenge I am joining: Round of Words in 80 days. Margo Berendsen inspired me, and the challenge lines up nicely with writing that I want to do anyway. Here are my measurable goals:

#1 Finish the rough draft of my Sekrit Middle Grade Fantasy novel by June 14th.

And....that's it.

Since ROW80 is all about setting achievable goals and sustainable writing, I'll not be jumping off a bridge if I don't type THE END before June 14th. However, I know I can knock out 50k of words in a month (done that). I know I can finish a middle grade novel in under 60k of words (done that too). So, for me, this is an achievable goal. Plus the rough draft doesn't have to be purty, it just has to be words on a page.

I'm still plotting and researching and am committed to working that thoroughly before drafting. However, at some point the plotting must stop! And drafting must commence! The June 14th deadline is an awesome writerly workshop called Write-by-the-Lake that I will be attending, and I want a complete draft in hand when I walk in the door.

Wish me luck! And here's a whole bunch of other writers in ROW80, if you'd like to join us!

Blogger Love Week - 30 Days of Kayes

Author friend Laura Kaye invited me to participate in a 30 Days of Kay(e)s Blogfest. Being a Kaye, how could I resist? You can find me over there today, doing an interview.

The 30 Days of Kay(e)s has inspired me to do a week of Blogger Love.

I like to celebrate NICENESS. This has been true for some time, and the extremely high Niceness Coefficient (Trademark Pending) of Nathan Bransford's blog sucked me in from the beginning, which is why I recently joined the Cult of Bransford (feel free to steal the corndog!). The recent self-immolation of an author (who I shall not discuss) reminds me that the quest for niceness is never-ending, but also that it's a group phenomenon, something that needs to be positively reinforced.

I passed along blog awards to some well-loved bloggers a few weeks ago, but I want to recognize some more bloggers high in Niceness Coefficient with a week of intentional praise.

Go ahead, blush. I apologize if you feel crushed by the overwhelming expectation of goodness. It comes with the territory.

Lenny Lee (Lenny's World): If there was a Jr. Bransford Niceness Competition, Lenny would win it hands down. This indomitable young man writes, blogs, and comments his way into your heart with the charm that only an 11 year old can possess. And he has great writing tips! If you haven't had a little of his sunshine in your life, you are missing out.

Margo Berendsen (Writing at High Altitude): Margo's blog is a combination of writer tips, community gathering place, and soulful sharing. What draws me in is her openness and honesty and her pure enjoyment in sharing the journey and success of other writers. I feel cozy when I visit her blog, like we've curled up on a worn leather couch with mugs of tea to chat. How does she do this over the internet with dozens of commenters? The magic of Niceness.

Matthew McNish (The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment): Matthew's blog regularly provides a place for people to post their queries for critique, as well as share successful queries, which is niceness all by itself (especially in the awesomely constructive way he goes about it). But the thing I like most about Matthew is his honesty in sharing his struggles while at the same time providing consistently self-deferential and positive feedback through commenting. A person who is humble and finds the goodness in others? Niceness with a side of awesome. (p.s. He's also in The Cult.)

I'll be back on Wednesday to share more nice blogger-friends. Feel free to share bloggers you think have a high Niceness Coefficient in the comments!

Trapeze Babies*: Crafting the Killer Title

My Cover Maker

*not a real book, thank goodness

Titles are tough for me - either they come in a flash of inspiration with the first glimmer of story idea, or I struggle endlessly to come up with just the right words.

The title for my current WiP (Sekrit Middle Grade Fantasy project) was looking like a struggle. My working title, present since the first glimmer, was banal. Like naming a story about a rare pink elephant rescued from the rainforest and brought to the Bronx Zoo, Pink Elephant.

Just...meh.

So what makes for a killer title?

Blake Snyder, in Save the Cat (a fantastic title), comes to the rescue:

• A great title must have irony (Illegally Blonde)
• A great title must tell the tale, nail the concept (Hunger Games)
• A great title is not too "on the nose" 
• A great title has a touch of brilliance, artful and elegant ... and not generic (Ex: For Love or Money)

With Snyder's guide, it was easy to see that my working title was too "on the nose." So I cobbled together a myriad of options and could see that the ironic ones were the best. I dug deeper into my story to ferret out more ironic pieces and crafted more titles. Still nothing good.

In the end, I read my log line (a single sentence that describes your story) to Worm Burner, challenged him to come up with a title, and his first choice was better than any of mine. So Sekrit WiP now has a new working title. Since I can't tell you what it is, I'll test the title of my paranormal YA novel:

Open Minds: ironic (not obviously, but it is ironic in combination with the log line), tells concept (sort of), not on the nose (yes), not generic (yes, and double meaning). So...okay enough to pass for now.

Of course, a title is easy to change, and an agent or publisher may suggest exactly that, depending on how they market your book. Your novel will succeed based on its story, not the title. But the title can entice agents, editors, and readers to take a closer look, which is never a bad thing.

Once you have your killer title, put it to the test with the Lulu Titlescorer.

The title Hunger Games has a 31.7% chance of being a bestselling title!


Just don't take it too seriously.