Music Monday My Thank You Speech

Do you know how hard it is to find a music video by a band that existed before music videos? Darn hard, that's how. Still, when I started writing my Music Monday Thank You post, I knew the perfect song to go with the post. So, here's your music video thing.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

• Thank you, Robyn, for helping me develop the story as I wrote it. I know I had an easier time of revisions because I wrote the first draft with your comments and critiques to guide me.
• Thank you, Tricia, for being one of the very first people to read this blog, and for always, without fail, saying the things that gave me confidence as well as pushed me to be better.
• Thank you, Heather, for offering to be my crit buddy, giving me the chance to read your work, and for giving me meticulous, spot-on critiques that made me want to bang my head into the wall because you were always right (and I mean that in a good way).
• Thank you, Christy, for being willing to drop everything to help a friend, for reading my work even though I was always slower with yours and I always seemed to dump it on you at the most inconvenient times!
• Thank you, Chris, for helping me to cut my excessive words and focus on the story. I cannot see the forest for the trees without you!
• Thank you, Erin, for never letting me think negatively, and for being brutally honest. I enjoy being a masochist in your presence.
• Thank you, Elana, for letting me spill my crazy on you all last week!
• Thank you, Mom and Poppa, even though you probably won't read this because you think blogs are weird and have no idea why I would ever write anything personal on the web we didn't raise you like that you be careful now are you still eating all your vegetables it wouldn't kill you to wash those dishes with hotter water i don't think that car is safe you better go pump some more air in those tires and put on a sweater it's cold, oh, and we love you. I love you, too.
• Thank you, husband, for buying me flowers when the writing goes bad, and buying me more when I sign with an agent.
• ...and thank you, dear blog readers, for making me smile every time I see your comments. A writer just wants her words read, after all.
  

Writing is a solitary act. It has to be. But that doesn't mean the writer is solitary, and I know I, personally, am better when I get by with a little (a lot of) help from my friends.


So, who would you like to thank for all the support? Go show 'em you care--either here, or on your own blog! Bet you make someone smile.

Guest Post: Rebecca Carlson on Getting Past Level One

This is blog vacation week! And to celebrate, I've got a series of guest posts for this week...and a chance to win tons of free books! Today we're welcoming Rebecca Carlson, a long-time friend and critique partner. Thank you for posting, Rebecca!

Getting Past Level One

I teach my music students that there are four levels of performance:

1. Technical Accuracy - hit every note on the page, don't make any mistakes.

2. Interpretation - understand what the music means. Think about the emotions or images the music should create.

3. Expression - communicate your interpretation to the listener. The listener sees what you see, feels what you feel.

4. Power - something deep and true comes out of the music. Hearts are touched. Lives are changed. Spiritual communion through sound.

This is adapted from Clayne W. Robison's book, Beautiful Singing. It helps me get my students past banging out notes on the piano and on to making music. It brings wonderful moments, like my son finishing a Strauss waltz and calling out, "Could you see the roses, mom?"

Level one is a good foundation. No one wants to listen to a performance full of mistakes. But that's only the beginning. The performer should know what the music means, what it is trying to say. That’s level two. And then the performer needs to communicate that meaning to the audience, which is a different skill from both understanding the music and playing the notes correctly. Level three is being a good actor.

Level four? No one can make that happen. If it comes, it comes. It is like a gift. Get the first three levels going, and sometimes the fourth comes pouring in, leaving everyone in tears.

Thinking about these levels of performance can help me as a writer too. How often do I write at level one and never get beyond that? Oh, these sentences are all clear and easy to read, but am I feeling anything? Am I really seeing it in my own head?

And do those emotions and images come across to the reader?

And is there any power in it?

Technical accuracy is absolutely essential for a writer. Mistakes in the prose can kick a reader right out of the story. But even if the prose is perfect, if the writer has nothing to say then the reader won’t want to keep reading.

Interpretation is a matter of imagination. Get in deep. Touch it, taste it, feel it. Become your characters, see through their eyes. Know what it was like to be there.

Then turn it into words—communicate! This is the hard part, and you won’t know if you’ve done it until you talk to someone else who read what you wrote. It takes lots of hard work, plus some trial and error, to learn to take what’s in your head and put it down on the page so that someone else can understand it.

But keep trying, because if you can do it, then somewhere, someday, someone will be sitting there with your book in their lap, dripping tears onto the page, because they feel how you felt when you wrote those words, and the power is coming through.

Bio: Rebecca writes science fiction and fantasy, reviews books for young readers every Monday at rebeccasrecommendedreads.blogspot.com, and posts on Tuesdays at mormonmommywriters.blogspot.com.

Music Monday: Stone Sour, "Through Glass" & Panic! At the Disco's "I Write Sins"

It's been awhile since I've done a Music Monday, hasn't it? Here is Stone Sour, and their song "Through  Glass."




You can read the lyrics here, but I highly recommend watching the video--both for the sound, and for the super-cool special effect where people turn into cardboard cut-outs.

In the song, the verses say: "So while you're outside looking in / Describing what you see / Remember what you're staring at is me."

Those lines really struck me. As writers, we must always strive to describe our characters not as characters but as real people with real identity. Even background characters need to have their own story, just one that's not necessarily told in the current work.

Maybe it's because I'm working on edits and writing and all that good stuff, but this song totally reminded me that I need to make my characters real. In the video, the band is the grungy, nasty gate-crashers at a high-class Hollywood party. But...these people are real, and the clean-cut nice looking Hollywood type are nothing more than card-board cut-outs.

One of the things I love about the really good spat of recent YAs is realistic characters. In, for example, Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely, the main good guy, Seth, has the appearance of an angry punk kid with piercings and an intimidating presence...but he's really a sweet, wonderful guy. (Thanks for Kiersten White for reminding me about Seth at the perfect time.) And what's more important: he's more realistic because of that.

I see this a lot now as a teacher. I'm not one of the teachers who cares about what kids look like, and so, very often, the Goth/scene/emo/fill-in-your-stereotype-here kind of kids tend to flock to me. While some of the (older and--let's be honest--more prejudiced) teachers are shocked by some of "the kids these days," they're really not that different from anyone else.

Just because the kid wears black doesn't mean he's a bad guy, no more than the cheerleader has to be a slut just because she's pretty.

Personally, I'm glad that in the past decade or so, YA has been breaking through the stereotypes surrounding kids. Let the hardcore punk be a softie, let the cheerleader be brilliant, let the "perfect" child be the bad kid and the wimpy kid be the hero.

And since this topic really inspires at me, let's celebrate with another video along the same lines. Here's Panic! At the Disco's song, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies." The lyrics (which do involve cussing, fair warning) are about not judging people and jumping to conclusions, but the video shows a wedding between "perfect" people and circus people...with an interesting twist at the end.

Music Monday Wednesday: The Spark of Creation

OK, so, since the husband gave me a kick-a super-long weekend at the Red Rocker Inn (a wonderful B&B in nearby Black Mountain) and because I was so busy a) getting together the winners of the last contest and b) getting together prizes for the NEXT contest, I missed Music Monday.

Which is fortunate, because I only found out about this song TODAY. From CP and awesome person Rebecca, who blogs at Mormon Mommy Writers. I think Rebecca sums it up best:

Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the musical Wicked, is one of my favorite composers and lyricists. This song "The Spark of Creation" from his musical Children of Eden captures exactly how I feel about WRITING!

So, without further ado, here's an awesome (and awesomely sung) song that pretty much sums up what it means to be any sort of artist:

Of Glitter & Nudity

Now if THAT blog post title doesn't get you to read this post, I just don't know what I'm doing. ;)

First things first: You HAVE TO watch this video. I mean, you could just not, but everything I'm talking about today relates to it, AND it has a great song on it, AND Pink is mostly naked for over half of it. (You can also read the lyrics here.)



Originally, I was just going to post this song as a Music Monday selection, and leave it at that. There's not an official music video of the song, though, but there is this live version of Pink singing at the Grammy's.

And while I was watching, I was...shocked. Surprised. At first because Pink basically took off her dress and sang on national TV wearing nothing but some ribbon and some glitter. Then she got on that swing thing, and I thought "cool." And she kept pushing it and pushing it to the next level. After just being on the swing, she started spinning faster--then dunked herself in water and spun out from the pool--then she slipped the swing off and up, and hung upside down with nothing keeping her in the air except for luck (as far as I could see).

The song's beautiful. She could have worn a pretty dress and sat on top a piano and sung, and everyone would have stood up and clapped.

But she pushed it. She literally got naked in front of the world and did something that--if it failed--would have failed EPICALLY.

But it didn't fail. It became something beautiful and elegant and breathtaking because she risked it all.

In a way, there were two levels of danger to Pink's performance. First, the internal danger to one's self by exposure--by getting (mostly) naked, Pink opened herself up to criticism. Writers do that with their art, too--just by sharing our work with others, we're opening ourselves up to criticism that has the potential to do us harm. There is danger in revealing our work to others.

But there was external, physical danger involved in Pink's performance. No safety nets. One swath of cloth to hold her over the heads of all her peers. One slip--and I'm sure it was a bit slippery, given how it was wet--and she could come tumbling down. This reminded me of writers in the process of publication--be it querying agents or debuting a novel or writing their tenth book for pub.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into this song. Still, don't these lines remind you of writing and waiting to be published?

Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?
You're whole life waiting on the ring to prove you're not alone

And, I'll be honest--lately I've been feeling a lot like this:

Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself will it ever get better than tonight?

But I think the most important thing to take away from this song is simply this:

Have you ever looked fear in the face and said, "I just don't care"?

...and can I have a round of applause for turning a post about glitter and nudity into a writing lesson? ;)

Music Monday: Broken Bell's The Ghost Inside

I have AWESOME Twitter peeps--one of them, Charissa, clued me in to this AMAZING music video that is poignantly beautiful.

I'll admit, there's a bit of a slow start, but it's got an awesome ending and a very cool premise. I don't want to ruin it for you. Just watch!

Music Monday

Between my notes on Michael Franti how he expresses mood through song and WriterGirl's suggestion of Still Alive as the theme for my current on-submission work, I'm starting to think I need to start a music video meme. Whatcha think? Something of interest to y'all?


Anyway, here's my latest musical find. The singer's name is Mads Langer (YES. His name is MADS. Aren't you already thinking how much cooler he is than you?). I first heard this song at the end of the latest episode of Castle, and I loved it so much that I sought it out.


I'm glad I did. When I first heard the lyrics, I thought that I might find the perfect song for my current WIP, about berserkers and golems and lots of killing and such. It's a comedy. (kidding) I could do without the wailing bit he does towards the end--I've never been a fan of the look-how-much-I-can-do-with-my-voice wail, but the actual song itself is beautiful, even moreso with the words.





And here's the lyrics here, for those of you who can't/won't open the video. It's the lyrics I love, although I must admit that Mads has a haunting voice to go along with them.


[deleted lyrics to avoid copyright infringement]



What I love about this song is that it portrays a story--but in such a vague way that the singer is Everyman, that you can fit it in any genre. This could be the beginning of a romantic comedy, the end of a tragedy. It could be the theme of a fantasy, or could just be a passing thought in a character's mind.


Either way, I like it.

Music Monday: Boom-de-yada

I know it's a commercial.

I know.

But I still love it.

To me, this song epitomizes joy and happiness. I watch it and think, Hey. I love the whole world, too. And since I'm feeling particularly joyful today, I thought I'd share this little bit of sunshine.



Now, you know I have to link everything back to writing, right? Well, one thing that I noticed when I was trying to analyze this and link it back to writing was this: this was not necessarily a matter of everyone loving everything--it was a lot of little loves linking up to equal loving the whole world.

We're all like that. We all have little loves that we filter our love of the whole world through. It's our own personal "thing" that we love that helps us to translate a love of the whole world.

That applies to characters in writing, too. What makes your characters love the world? For some, it may be another person (think Twilight.)) For others, perhaps that love is for an intangible thing, like knowledge (Encyclopedia Brown...c'mon, I hope I'm not the only one that remembers him). Or how about a love for a goal--and the achievement (or at least effort of striving towards) that goal is the filter that enables the world to be loved for that character (Harry Potter, anyone?).

When we write, we have to remember that for everyone, there's one thing--be it a person, idea, or goal--that we all love, and that enables us to see the world differently. Defining that one thing for our characters will make us better writers by making our characters more real, more human, and more likable. Even for characters who want unlikable things (Hannibal Lector, Dexter from the recent books and TV show on Showtime), the fact that they have something they like is the key to our liking the character.

OK, if I'm going to mention Hannibal Lector and Dexter, I better end on a positive note. The first vid I've got up there is about a year old, but the Discovery Channel recently released another version. Here's a little more pep for your morning!




So, what make YOUR character love the world? Or, what makes YOU love the world?
For me, it's (honestly) writing. Writing makes me think of the world in a different way, a way I love. You?

Music Monday: Feeling Wicked

Recently saw WICKED. LOVE IT SO HARD. Great story, surprisingly funny bits, and totally worth sitting waaaaay up high to get to him.

Not the best link to the song--but it at least looks like an official link. The British Galinda seems out of place, but this version gives the set-up...so it's a give and take... :)

Music Monday: Across the Universe

This is a big day for me. And this is a good song for that day. "Across the Universe" is my favorite Beatles song, and NASA agrees with me.

On February 4, 2008, NASA beamed a transmission of "Across the Universe" into space. From the NASA website:

The transmission was aimed at the North Star, Polaris, which is located 431 light years away from Earth. The song will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney expressed excitement that the tune, which was principally written by fellow Beatle John Lennon, was being beamed into the cosmos.

"Amazing! Well done, NASA!" McCartney said in a message to the space agency. "Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."

Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, characterized the song's transmission as a significant event.

"I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe," she said.

Music Monday: Colbie Caillat's "Begin Again"

First: Be sure to check out the League blog to see if you won the signed swag prize pack and to see my thoughts on dystopian settings!

Today, I want to feature a single by Colbie Caillat, who's most famous for her song "Bubbly." This sound, "Begin Again" has the same bright feeling, but the song's lyrics aren't as light and fun--it's a song about the end (or perhaps the beginning) of a relationship.



I'm currently working on something with my own characters. Something bad happened, and they're trying to figure out how to move on after.

But it also reminded me to two things that I like when reading about characters. First, the opening lyrics say, "I can't get you out of the sunlight / I can't get you out of the rain." What I love about this is that it's basically saying you can't make a person's thoughts and feelings change. No matter how much you love someone, if they're in a dark place, you can't make them quit being depressed. If they're in love, you can't make them love someone else instead. A weaker aspect of some romance, in my opinion, is making love solve all the problems. Love isn't love because it solves all the problems simply by its existence. Love is love because it enables you to find the strength and courage to solve your problems.

Another thing I like about this song is found in the chorus: "Oh this is not the way it should end / This is the way it should begin."

This one's not just about love, although it can be. Which is the better romance--the one where the main characters fall instantly in love at first sight, or the one where the main characters have to fight to be together--and just when you think the story's going to end, they find happily ever after? The chorus represents that to me--that after the fighting and troubles, it shouldn't end, but go on.

But in looking at stories, the chorus has another meaning. My book is a dystopia--the world's a bit grim. So I start the story not at the beginning of the good stuff--but after, after everything's gone wrong, after all the problems have started, after everything looks like nothing can be good again.

And really--most good stories start that way. Start with the problem that should end the character's world--make that the beginning of the story, so the story focuses on the character's struggle toward making good again. Start with the bad, and make it good.


Lyrics found online here (here's a sample of the opening):

[deleted to avoid copyright infringement]

Music Monday: It's all about the Wordplay

I <3 Jason Mraz. Hardcore. He's one of those singers who plays with language, and any man that can twist words is awesome in my book.

Here's his most word-twisty song for you:


(PS: Did you catch his nickname? Mr. A to Z...Jason MRAZ....*sigh*)

Music Monday: Almost There

I love Disney. There. I said it. I love Disney. I watched The Lion King 13 times in a row when it came out on DVD when I was in junior high. I can quote random scenes from Aladdin on command.

So, of course I planned on seeing the latest return to classic animation, Disney's The Princess and the Frog. ESPECIALLY after WriterGirl posted about her awesome adventure!

And. I. LOVED. It.

Seriously, guys, this is the best Disney flick I've seen in years. Go watch it, if it's still playing in a theater near you. Plan on purchasing the DVD.

But let me rein in my Disney fangirl. Because there's something I want to show you that is actually relevant to writing and this blog.

In The Princess and the Frog, Tiana is a working class girl with a dream--a dream to own a restaurant that she's so single-mindedly determined to see come true that she dedicates her life to success. Sound familiar to anyone? Heckyeah. How many of us are holding as fast to our writing dreams? While the lesson Tiana learns in the movie--to work hard towards your dreams but not give up your joy in life may be a lesson we could all learn from--there's a certain joy in seeing someone reaching for a dream, too.

So, here you have it--my favorite song from The Princess and the Frog, "Almost There." As a Disney film recently released, there's not many good quality links out there. I'd go here to see a better truncated version, but the full song is below.

Operation Joy 2 the World: Ghana, Love, and Prizes

Candy of The Misadventures in Candyland is well known for being super cool and having great taste in music. She's combined those two attribute for something very important: supporting New Medicine bassist Matt Brady in his Joy 2 the World mission to provide microloans to needy women in Ghana.

I'm all in favor of the microloan charity, a popular feature in my favorite charity, World Vision. Basically, what a microloan does is provide a needy woman with the funds she requires to held make herself independent. For example, if the woman's a seamstress, the microloan will help her buy a sewing machine so she can then work, pay off the loan, and become an independent business owner. It's the epitome of the old saying, "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime."

Candy explains Matt Brady's personal mission on her blog, and also adds:

To read the story of his month-long, life-changing journey, go HERE. To read more about Joy 2 The World and who/why you're help is needed, go HERE. If you're still not sure, read more about founder, Kathleen Gibbs HERE.

Of course, I wanted to help Candy out in her goal to raise money for the microloan project! Who wouldn't? Fortunately, Candy has come up with several ways to help: GIVE a donation, BUY a t-shirt, CREATE graphics to spread the word, or LISTEN to the New World music (each download of which supports the project).

And the best part? Do any of these things, tell Candy, and you could win AWESOME prizes:

• 30 minute phone call with superagent Michelle Wolfson
• 3 chapter tandem critique by authors Tawna Fenske & Cynthia Reese
• "Lost Dog," "Chasing Smoke" and "Day One" autographed book set donated by author Bill Cameron
• A copy of "NUMB" and a 50 page critique by author Sean Ferrell
• A copy edit of your ms by supereditor Gretchen Stelter
• "We Hear the Dead" tee and ms critique by author Dianne Salerni
• Query letter + 3 chapter critique + special pre-order of "Across the Universe" by author Beth Revis
• One of (4) signed prints, (1) signed original, and (2) query critiques donated by author Rose Cooper
• 10 Page critique + one of (3) $25 Amazon Gift Cards donated by author T.H. Mafi
• Query critique by author Matthew Rush
• ARC of "Dead Beautiful" by Yvonne Woon donated by Candyland
• MORE PRIZES TO COME!

The contest will run today through July 31st and winners will be announced on Monday, August 2nd.

Why, yes--that IS a prize up there by yours truly--a query letter and 3 chapter critique, plus the VERY FIRST preorder of my book, coming out next year!!

I think we can all agree that this contest is awesome, but what the money's going for--to help needy Ghana women help themselves--is even more important. And what we need now, beyond donations and aid for these women--is to get the word out.

So I'm going to match Candy's contest! If you post about Candy's contest and/or about the mission to provide microloans to Ghana women, post a link in the comments below, and when Candy's contest ends, I'll draw a name...and the winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card!

That's all you have to do--tell someone else about this amazing mission. Spread the word, spread the love, and win prizes!

Personal Demons!

I told you to come back on Sunday!!

I am happy to be a part of Lisa Desrochers's blog tour for PERSONAL DEMONS, her debut from Tor MacMillan, which comes out SEPTEMBER 14th!!!

PERSONAL DEMONS is...well, why don't I let Lisa tell you what it's about?

Frannie Cavanaugh has always been a bit of a loner. She's spent years keeping everyone at a distance, even her closest friends. That is, until Luc Cain enrolls in her school. He's hot, sarcastic, and dangerous—and Frannie can't seem to stay away.

What she doesn't know is that Luc is on a mission. Because Frannie isn't exactly ordinary. She possesses a skill so unique that the king of Hell himself has taken notice, and he's sent Luc to claim Frannie's soul. It should be easy: All he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come.

Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has other plans, and he's just started making progress when the angel Gabriel shows up. Gabe will do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for, and his angelic charm might just be enough to keep Frannie on the right path.

It isn't long before Luc and Gabe find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie's soul. But if Luc fails to win her over, there will be Hell to pay . . . for all of them.

Sound awesome? You know it! So...wanna a chance to WIN stuff? TWO grand prize winners are going to win a signed copy of PERSONAL DEMONS, an iPod shuffle pre-loaded with awesome music, swag, and other items. To win a grand prize, write down the red, bolded words in this post, then check out the posts on the other stops of the blog tour for more bolded words...put the words together, and you'll find the hidden sentence that's the key to winning the grand prize at Lisa's blog on TUESDAY.

BUT...someone's winning prizes TODAY. All you have to do is comment on THIS POST today, SUNDAY, and you're entered for a random drawing of the swag pictured below--including a Personal Demons tank top and...yes...some ACROSS THE UNIVERSE swag!

Here's the rest of the schedule, so make sure you visit these blogs throughout the tour.

Thursday: Carrie Harris
Friday: Myra McEntire
Saturday: Lisa and Laura Roecker
Sunday: Beth Revis
Monday: Andrea Cremer
Tuesday: go home to the author of Personal Demons herself, Lisa Desrochers

An Analysis of the Writer Online: Maria Snyder's Online Presence

Have I convinced you to buy Maria Snyder's INSIDE OUT yet? And have you clicked on my contest on Monday for a chance to win a signed copy, or signed Maria Snyder bookmarks? DO IT!

Today, I'm going to focus on the internet presence of an author. I've been thinking a lot about this lately, including what kinds of things I want to do to change up my own website. So today, let's check out what Maria's doing online.

First things first: Maria's author page. An author page is important--I honestly don't know why any writer whose works is published or will be published doesn't already have a web page. Readers want to know what you write--and YOUR link should be the first thing that pops up on Google. If not, you risk losing a potential reader. It's that simple.

It's even more important if you're a multi-book author, like Maria. Now you need a webpage that gathers together all your work in one place--so if someone reads and loves INSIDE OUT, you now have a convenient way to find the author. Let's face it--as an author, it's your name that's the brand people look for.

Maria's got a great online presence already. Her personal homepage is easy to find and well laid out.

Now, I know some of you are going to look at that and go, "eh." It's not flashy. There's no graphics jumping out at you, no background music, there's not even a Flash intro.

Which is GREAT.

For an author page, information is key. Which means: don't hide your information with lots of bells and whistles! I see this all the time when I look for an author's email. Let's say I read and loved a book. You guys know this isn't a book blogger site, but if there's a book I truly love, then I want to feature it with a review and an interview. So, I've read Awesome Book, and look for Awesome Author's webpage. I click on Awesome Author's webpage...and can't find her contact info. Sometimes I'll click around, try a few of the randomly named pages ("musings" is common, as are other cutesy phrases that don't really tell you what the page actually is). If I can't find the email address in a matter of seconds, or if the page itself has so many bells and whistles that it doesn't load almost immediately...I don't feature that book on this blog. Period. There are too many other books out there that have what I need instantly. I don't want to have to dig through fancy graphics, cute-but-meaningless fluff, and Flash intros just to find what I'm looking for.

Take a look, also, at the kind of information Maria has. She's got the typical--contact info, reviews, etc., but she also very cleverly grouped all her book covers into one place, has a separate sections for writers (which I appreciate), and has a pretty unique contest page. Seriously. Go check that out. She includes a very clever idea for a referral program...and a way to get more readers to her website and her series.

So--all of that was what an AUTHOR webpage should look like. But what about a BOOK webpage? Recently, Harlequin Teen developed and launched a webpage specifically for INSIDE OUT. 

And it's loaded with bells and whistles. There's sound, jumping text, Flash, moving pictures, video. Everything.

Which is GREAT.

Look, a BOOK website is different from an AUTHOR website. A book website should be where all the cool effects are. It should have the fancy stuff, the eye-grabbing details that make you curious. 

It should be fun--there's games on the INSIDE OUT website that are just pure fluff, but fun. It should be interactive. I can click here, there, find new stuff, make discoveries. It should grab my attention: the sounds and video that automatically play when the page loads does just that.

It should also have the basic info readily available--which this page does.

The bar at the bottom of the page is easy to find, but doesn't obscure the fancy stuff. If all I want to do is order the book, the first link is right there at my fingertips. If I want to do more--follow on Facebook or Twitter, or anything like that--it's also easily findable and located.

And there you have it. Two examples of what an author should be doing online in her own webpage--easy to read, simple layout, obvious information--and in her book webpage--fun, exciting, and intriguing.

Basically, an AUTHOR website should answer all your questions, but a BOOK website should make you ask questions...questions that get answered when you buy the book.

Interview Week: Angie Smibert, Author of the Forgetting Curve

Welcome to Interview Week!

All this week, I'm interviewing awesome authors--and giving away a copy of their book! Come back each day this week for another author and another chance to win an awesome book.

Quick Stats on Today's Author:

• Angie Smibert's debut, MEMENTO NORA released last year to critical acclaim, and she's following it with the sequel, THE FORGETTING CURVE
• She is also a fellow writer in The League of Extraordinary Writers
• Her books' website is chock-full of fun stuff, including inspiring art, lesson plans, and more!
• Angie has links to NASA that I'm quite envious of...

YOU

We can read all about your life from your bio in the jacket flap of your book. So, what's a completely random fact about you that most people don't know?

I have a gray cat named Brick, which most people think is really strange. Even when I mention that the other cat is Maggie. (Bonus points if anyone can name the literary reference. Hint: think Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor.)

As a kid, what was your favorite book? Have your tastes changed since growing up?

I remember reading all the Walter Farley horse books—Black Stallion, Black Stallion Returns, etc. That may have been where I developed a love of a good series—or just a good author with a lot of books. My tastes may have changed in terms of what I read, but I still like to inhale a good series. (btw, right now, I’m reading Charlaine Harris’ latest Sookie Stackhouse book, Deadlocked. I think it’s the 12^th in the series.)

Your most recent title, THE FORGETTING CURVE, is a sequel to your debut, MEMENTO NORA. How was writing a sequel different from writing the first book?

You’d think it would be easier. NOT.  First of all, the timeline was compressed. (See below.) Second, what I originally thought was going to happen (plot-wise) changed—for the better—but it was painful to let that initial idea go. It just didn’t move the series forward. Important lesson in sequels: you need to cover new ground.

YOUR BOOK

It's the inevitable question: what inspired THE FORGETTING CURVE?

Originally, I’d envisioned Memento Nora as a stand-alone. The initial inspiration for the Forgetting Curve was something my editor asked when we were working on the first one. At the end, Nora’s mom spits out her pill and tells her what happened. Would Nora believe her? I realized then that the old Nora wouldn’t.  So I wrote a draft where Nora, Micah, and Winter try to rediscover some of what they learned in book 1. Like I said above, that didn’t work, but rethinking the premise of this book led me a new, better direction. Which is why I brought in Aiden.

One of the things that stood out to me in THE FORGETTING CURVE was the way the kids used art as aform of rebellion. Was there any specific artist or work of art that inspired this inclusion? 

In the first book, MEMENTO NORA, the kids create an underground comic. In the second one, someone in the community (no spoilers) has created an underground low-power FM station (MemeCast) to circulate news that isn’t otherwise available and to give people (kids mostly) a venue for self-expression. Velvet and the boys write and play music inspired by the MemeCast, and they (little spoiler) do get their music played on the ‘cast. 

One of the inspirations for the ‘cast was a low power FM station set up by hackers on the Gulf Coast after Katrina.  (I have a little more info and links on my book site: http://www.mementonora.com/inspirations/low-power-fm-2)  Since all forms of communication—phones, radio, tv, cellphones-- were wiped out during the storm and for a long time afterwards, the station provided the community with information it needed. And the transmitter did fit in a lunchbox.

Can you tell us a little bit about the process--particularly the timeline--of writing & publishing THE FORGETTING CURVE?

I wrote a full draft of FC the summer before Memento Nora came out. However, that version was off the mark. (In other words, the publisher didn’t buy it—and rightly so.) Then I rethought it and wrote a proposal (outline and three chapters) for the new version, which they did buy early in Spring 2011. But, the kicker was that they wanted it for Spring 2012. That meant finishing it by Memorial Day so we could do edits and have it to copyediting by the end of the summer. So I was finishing the draft on the train to BEA that year.

If your reader could only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from THE FORGETTING CURVE, what would you want it to be?

Good question. Mike Mullin did a great review of the book (for theLeague) where he touched on some key underlying concepts. But, I think basically the idea is to not take anything on face value. Question authority, whoever that may be.

 

YOUR WRITING

Beyond the typical--never give up, believe in yourself--what would be the single best advice you'd like to give another writer?

Buy a good chair. Seriously. My back is paying the price.

What do you think are your strongest and weakest points in writing?

Strongest: voice, conciseness, creative settings

Weakest: plot, underwriting

 And now for a giveaway! Leave a comment with your email address below to be entered to win a ARC copy of THE FORGETTING CURVE! One winner will be picked next Monday; sorry, but this needs to be North America only. 

Interview Week: Marrissa Meyer, author of CINDER

Welcome to Interview Week!

All this week, I'm interviewing awesome authors--and giving away a copy of their book! Come back each day this week for another author and another chance to win an awesome book.

Quick Stats on Today's Author:

• Marissa Meyer is the debut author of CINDER
• Marissa recently posted about her Spanish book cover, which is, frankly, stunning.
• Marissa is, like me, a total Sailor Moon fan! Hurrah!
• Cinder, the eponymous heroine, reminded me of greasemonkey Kaylee from Firefly, which you all know is a epic thing.  

YOU

We can read all about your life from your bio in the jacket flap of your book. So, what's a completely random fact about you that most people don't know?

When I was in 4th grade, my class performed Shakespeare’s Macbeth (I was Hecate, the head witch). This began a period of a few years in which I thought I wanted to be a playwright and would force my cousin to act out skits with me in front of our parents. Good times.     

As a kid, what was your favorite book? Have your tastes changed since growing up?

I had plenty of favorites, but I probably read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” more than any other. I was enchanted with the idea of an entire chocolate paradise. Of course, I’m still enchanted by that idea! I still love Charlie, but these days my reading list typically leans more into young adult, mostly because I’m a big fan of some romance in my reading material.

Your book, CINDER, is a futuristic take on the old classic fairy tale of Cinderella. Is Cinderella your favorite fairy tale? If not—which one is? Why?

Cinderella is definitely one of my favorite tales – largely because it’s a story that everyone, from every time and place and culture, can associate with. The desire to improve our station in life is definitely a universal one. That said, I don’t think it’s possible for me to choose an all-time favorite fairy tale. It seems to change by the hour!

YOUR BOOK

It's the inevitable question: what inspired CINDER? 

I had the idea to write a series of science-fiction fairy tales after entering a writing contest with a futuristic retelling of Puss in Boots. Months later, as I was falling asleep, I had a vision of Cinderella running down the palace steps… but instead of losing a shoe, her whole foot fell off. Cyborg Cinderella! It was too good to ignore.

One of the great things about CINDER is the threat of the Lunars.  This is such a refreshing tale on the “evil queen” of fairy tales, and you did a great job in making her character both realistic and deliciously bad. Can you tell us how you developed the Lunars and where the idea came from?

Thank you! The Lunars developed over many drafts. In the earliest version, they had super crazy powers – like being able to shoot lightning bolts and fireballs out of their hands (no doubt harking back to my obsession with sword-and-sorcery as a teen… or maybe Sailor Moon). After awhile, though, their powers started to change into the more subtle (yet creepier) powers of mind-control and manipulation. Then at one point I thought that maybe I should have some sort of scientific explanation for the Lunar power, so I did some research on military experimentation for crowd control, which is how I stumbled on the idea of bioelectricity and how it could, potentially, be used to manipulate people’s thoughts. And bam! The Lunars were born.

Can you tell us a little bit about the process--particularly the timeline--of writing & publishing CINDER?

I wrote the first draft of CINDER in just two weeks – it was part of a contest, the prize for which was a walk-on role in Star Trek. (I didn’t win.) After that, it took me about two years to rewrite and revise, during which I also wrote the first drafts of Books 2 and 3. Once it came time to start submitting it, though, everything happened really fast. I signed with the first agent I queried. Two weeks later, she submitted the book on a Friday and we had our first offer the following Monday. It was insane. Fourteen months later, the book was published. So it took a little over three years from idea to bookshelves.

If your reader could only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from CINDER, what would you want it to be?

Anticipation for Book 2!

YOUR WRITING

What's the most surprising thing you've learned since becoming a writer?

How hard it is to write when it’s your job! When I was working full time, I got very good at using up every spare moment to write, even if it was only recording thoughts at a red light or working feverishly during my lunch breaks. Now that I’m a full-time writer, though, I too often feel like I have all the time in the world! Which means I use that time very poorly. It can be quite detrimental, but I’m happy to say that sixteen months after quitting the day job, I think I’m finally starting to get a hang of this full-time writing gig.

What do you think are your strongest and weakest points in writing?

Stongest: I’m neurotically goal-oriented. If I say I’m going to write 150,000 words in a month, I’m darn well going to do it! I’m nothing if not determined.

Weakest: Balance. Which kind of goes hand-in-hand with that neurotically goal-oriented thing. When I have it in my head to do something, all the rest of my life tends to fall by the wayside. It seems that every time I finish up a project (say, the a draft on the novel), I have to spend a couple weeks just trying to get my life back in order. Trying to balance writing and promotion and socializing and healthy habits and upkeeping the house… I’m not so good at that.

Beyond the typical--never give up, believe in yourself--what would be the single best advice you'd like to give another writer?

I don’t believe in writer’s block, but I do believe that there are some days when our brains require extra goading. For that, I think it’s important to have some sort of mental trick that works for you, every time. For me, it’s bringing my laptop into bed with me, lighting a candle, and enjoying a glass of wine. Yes, it’s akin to mental bribery, but it always makes me relax and enjoy the writing process again. For some, it might be playing a mood-music playlist or putting on a special writing sweater or reading the acknowledgments pages of their favorite books. Whatever inspires you to get back to work is a trick worth having in your arsenal!

 And now for a giveaway! Leave a comment with your email address below to be entered to win a copy of CINDER--and it's SIGNED! One winner will be picked next Monday; sorry, but this needs to be North America only.