Contest Alert!!!

 The Bright Literary Agency, and one of my lovely friends Gemma Cooper, is launching a blog as part of their agency website and you know what that means....

CONTEST TIME!!!

They're offering critiques for children's fiction and picture books. The more people who enter, the bigger the prize becomes so GET OVER THERE! ENTER!! 

Competition ends February 21st so get cracking!

It's YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday!

 This week's topic: 

 Your favorite read in January.

I know a lot of people are probably going to name The Fault in Our Stars by John Green as their favorite read, and you know what? I'm going to do it too. I finished the book a few days after it arrived on my doorstep and it has not left my brain. I keep thinking about the characters, all vastly different and incredibly real, the philosophical questions the book raised, and just the relationship between Hazel and Augustus. The book is raw, powerful, and incredibly beautiful.

But! Because I'm sure so many people will list TIFOS as their favorite read, I'm going to do a second.

The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell. My sister after winning an ARC of The Springsweet  (the second in the series releases April 17th) raved about this series to me and I finally picked it up. While it took me a bit to get into it, once I was in, I was hooked. It takes place in 19th century Baltimore and Saundra paints this amazingly detailed world down to the proper buttons. The supernatural element in it is very subtle through most of the story, which makes it feel more real. It's not the main component of their lives, but an unexpected addition that twists it a little and after reading so many POWERS CHANGE EVERYTHING stories, it was really refreshing.

What about yours? Any books I should be adding to my already massive TBR pile?

C'est La Vie

Some days are no good. The morning is a bust, couldn't find doritos at the store, then the notebook with my revisions seems to keep moving out of my reach every time I try to do some work, which means one thing - Youtube cheer up playlist.

I'm posting some of the videos so you really understand what kind of blog you're reading.

Remember when pop artists wore jean jackets and the boys in their video had high wasted pants? GOOD OL DAYS. This reminds me of "10 Things 90s Kids Will Have To Explain To Their Children."

If you watch this whole interview, it looks like Collin Ferrel has a massive crush on Dan. I mean, who wouldn't?

What? I like Graham Norton. He makes his guests do Shakespeare. And you know, David Tenant.

And you can't go wrong with a little Boy Meets World

Space Cadate

The Husband and I are apartment hunting, which is one of those things that sounds really fun until you get started and then you realize what a massive stress ball it is. As I hunt through Craig's List looking at crooked pictures of the back of a closet or the corner of the fridge, I start to wonder how our things would fit into that particular apartment. And then I pick out which room would serve as the guest room/my office. Right now I work on the same Ikea desk I purchased to go in my studio apartment when I was in college. It's about this big:

I----I

I would like a desk that's at least eight dashes wide in the future. 

These daydreams about furniture location, especially my work location, often spur little fantasies about what I'd like my writing space to look like. And then I google.

Have you seen Laurie Halse Anderson's writing cottage? I would NEVER LEAVE.

I'd really like something like this (you can see the desk just in the corner there)

 

This view is only okay

I want a desk where it feels like I'm doing something really important, but in reality I'm writing a kissing scene.

After these google adventures, I realize no matter how beautiful or small a writing space is, if you don't have a place to live you won't have one at all.

Back to the Craig's-List-mobile!

In which my brain goes on strike

My brain is melting.

There's a lot going on in the life of Kim right now, including honing the novel of doom (as I currently call it), packing up the apartment to move next month to a new city, the deadline of massive proportions coming up at day-job, training for the color run and critiquing a 400 page book. All in the next 20 days or so. 

And my brain has had enough.

Yesterday I went to my day-job office for a meeting and to turn in my time sheet. I was also hoping to jack a cubicle and work sans home distractions.  I got to the office and realized I left said time sheet at home. So I went home, got the mail (why not?), went inside to get food for the stray cat and then left for the office. Half way there I realized I forgot my time sheet again. I went back home, got the time sheet and returned to the office, where I started to search for my office laptop. After getting everyone in a tizzy that we might have been robbed (again) I realized I was storing my work computer at home until I was able to find a place to lock it up at the office to keep it from being taken. So I went home. FAIL.

I know. I'm special.

Then today I decided I was going to have a super crunch (incidentally the name of my favorite sushi roll) day. I was going to hole up in a coffee shop, shut off my internet, and KILL novel of doom. It was going to be a day of epic workness. I got to said coffee shop, ordered something yummy, sat down, took out my notebook and plugged in my charger only to realize I had left my computer at home. FAIL x2.

What is wrong with me? I feel like my brain after 24 years of mediocre work was like, "Yeah, that's enough. I feel like we're done here."

I can't afford to take a few days off and convince my brain to restart. I suppose my only hope is to  turn it off and on again.**

I suppose I should go back to revising Novel of Doom (where I hole punched the wrong side of the paper. I can't even use a hole puncher guys. Although that's kind of been a life long problem).


**

In which I angst about Critique Partners

Critique partners. Can't live with them, can't write a decent book without them.

Last night, after having a brain melting episode of revisions, I decided to take a break and look through a book I've been working on sporadically. Unfortunately, stapled to the top of the pages were the critique notes I got when I last sent them out. 

Now, I have several critique partners and they all have a different set of skills, which creates a really well rounded set of revisions. One is really great at prose, another at character motivation, another at how well scenes work. Most of the time I come back feeling okay about their critiques. There are things to work on, but for the most part I feel like I've become a good self-editor.

But then. Then is my critique partner from hell. I get as anxious when I send something new to her, as I did when I sent out a brand new query letter. I chew my nails, I make baked goods. Hell, I even exercise for a distraction. That's right people. Exercise. She has the ability to point out plot holes that others have missed, sloppy writing, lazy characterization, and all in a few gut wrenching paragraphs. 

I walk away from those emails with seething hatred.

This often spurs the following conversation

Husband: "If you don't like her notes, why do you keep sending her stuff?" 

Me "It's because I don't like it that I like it."

Husband: "What?"

Me: "Exactly."

If you get a critique back and you hate that person, find them stupid, write epic poetry about how gross they are - chances are you've got yourself a pretty solid partner. Remember, you didn't ask this person to tell you how good you are, how great that scene worked (though it's nice when that happens) you asked them to help you make your book better. Not make your ego bigger.

Which is why when I feel like my critique partners eyes are bleeding with my prose, I send pages to twitter strangers. Why? Because a stranger doesn't care about your feelings (although your regular CPs shouldn't care so much either). So often, while their critiques can seem the most harsh, they're also the most truthful. And you know who really doesn't care about your feelings? Agents. Editors. Readers. 

So if you're out there, like I am, feeling a little teeth-gnashy over you latest notes, know that you're not alone. And be strong. After reading a grueling set of margin edits, take some time off. Think about what that person said, and why they said it. It's not there to hurt your feelings, or to make you feel bad about yourself, it's there because that person wants to help you make the book better. And remember, that's why you asked them to read it in the first place.

It's toooo laaaaate