WriteOnCon was such a hit, the talented ladies behind the kidlit convention are moving forward with it in a big way. Check out the awesome announcement regarding future con events here, and enter for a chance to win one of five truly incredible YA books here!
Epic epicness abounds! So what are you waiting for? Get in on it now!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The Everyday Divinities Project - The Cell Phones
The Cell Phones - by R. B. LeMoyne
© September 9, 2010 * robertlemoyne@gmail.com
“Are you kidding me? There’s no way I’ll be her cell phone again!”
Sal blinked as B.B. Tana threw the new assignment folder back onto his desk, shocked at the conviction behind her retort when he told her which mortal was to rejoin her divine client list. For a tense moment, the two gods of the cell phone domain stared at each other, Sal sitting behind his office desk in a crisp dark suit and the lithe goddess Tana standing with her arms folded across her sporty attire, until Sal finally gave in.
“Uh, come again?” he asked.
Tana shook her head, pointing at the discarded folder. “I’m not going to be her cell phone again. No way, no how. Not now, not ever.”
Sal gathered up the file, replacing the papers that had spilled out of the manila folder. “You’ve served hundreds of thousands of mortals since joining us here in the Division of Cellular Communication. Why the flat refusal to serve this one?” He held up the photo of the mortal in question, a young girl of exotic beauty pictured laughing with her friends.
“Why? Because she’s a cruel, heartless, careless witch with a vendetta against cell phones. I’d sooner walk into the heart of the Great Void than go back to serving her.”
“Wow.” Sal looked at the picture before putting it back into the folder. “That’s… extreme. You’d rather be unmade than serve this one mortal?”
“It’s the difference between years of abuse and a single catastrophic moment,” Tana answered with a shrug.
Sal’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Abuse? Now you’re the one kidding me.”
“Do you even read these files before you hand them out? Give it here.” Tana snatched the assignment folder out of her boss’ hands to read off her crimes. “Okay, let’s start with her first phone, Flip. He sure lived up to his name – she flipped his top half clean off.”
“So you have one incident that-“
Tana shushed him and continued. “Her next phone was Talnax, who got infected by a fatal virus. Kablooey, another one bites the dust.”
“It was completely unintentional, a stroke of bad luck,” Sal countered. “And as I recall, he was more than a little absent-minded. I always got complaints that he failed to put calls through.”
“Yeah, so that makes it okay.” Tana gave him a withering look as she forged ahead. “And I guess it’s okay that she tossed her next phone, Vernon, into a pool? Seriously, Sal. SHE THREW HIM INTO A POOL!”
Sal squirmed in his seat, at a loss to offer an explanation.
Tana glowered at the file as she reached the end of the document. “Here we go: my cousin, B.B. Monique. Your mortal didn’t staff Monique with a memory card so she could serve her properly – totally not my cousin’s fault – but it didn’t matter. She ditched her for my sister, Alicia. Not six months into serving as her cell phone, she broke Alicia’s ability to take a charge. She dumped her and went for her twin, Amelia, and the same thing happened. The same thing! So what did she do? She ditched Amelia for me, and ended up abandoning me in a cab in Santa Monica. And then, if that wasn’t enough, my twin sister Tamara picked up where I left off, and…”
“…And her domain was destroyed, too. No one’s sure where the pressure cracks came from, or how they spread so fast. It’s likely we’ll never know.”
“Yeah, well, maybe now you understand why I want nothing to do with this mortal.”
“I do,” Sal nodded, rising to circle around his desk. “And believe me, if it were my call, I’d reassign her to someone else. It’s not up to me, though. You know how these things work, Tana.”
“The system is broken,” Tana shot back, closing the folder with a sharp snap. “Everyone’s so concerned about pleasing the precious mortals. What about us? Who looks after us? The Animates? The Ephemerals? I doubt it. So answer me, Sal, who cares about us?”
He wanted to comfort her. He really did. And years ago, when the mortal champions of the inanimate gods were still active, he could. But those days were long gone, and there was no one left in the world to look out for them. Rather than expose that painful truth, Sal changed the subject. “I can try to pass it back upstairs and get it reassigned to another divinity. It might take some time, though, and someone will need to-”
“Oh, shut up,” Tana grumbled. “I’ll do it. I’m not going to like it, but I’ll do it.”
Sal touched her arm and smiled. “You’re one in a million, Tana.”
“Yeah, well, she’s damn lucky I like you so much,” Tana quipped, poking him in the chest with the assignment folder. “And if she so much as tosses me onto a table, I will curse her so hard, her great-grandchildren will have problems with phones.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Sal laughed. “Now go on, do what you have to do. If you need me for anything at all, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks, boss.” Tana gave Sal a brief hug before leaving his office. She opened up the folder on the way out of the building, chuckling. O little mortal, it’s time for some payback…
© September 9, 2010 * robertlemoyne@gmail.com
“Are you kidding me? There’s no way I’ll be her cell phone again!”
Sal blinked as B.B. Tana threw the new assignment folder back onto his desk, shocked at the conviction behind her retort when he told her which mortal was to rejoin her divine client list. For a tense moment, the two gods of the cell phone domain stared at each other, Sal sitting behind his office desk in a crisp dark suit and the lithe goddess Tana standing with her arms folded across her sporty attire, until Sal finally gave in.
“Uh, come again?” he asked.
Tana shook her head, pointing at the discarded folder. “I’m not going to be her cell phone again. No way, no how. Not now, not ever.”
Sal gathered up the file, replacing the papers that had spilled out of the manila folder. “You’ve served hundreds of thousands of mortals since joining us here in the Division of Cellular Communication. Why the flat refusal to serve this one?” He held up the photo of the mortal in question, a young girl of exotic beauty pictured laughing with her friends.
“Why? Because she’s a cruel, heartless, careless witch with a vendetta against cell phones. I’d sooner walk into the heart of the Great Void than go back to serving her.”
“Wow.” Sal looked at the picture before putting it back into the folder. “That’s… extreme. You’d rather be unmade than serve this one mortal?”
“It’s the difference between years of abuse and a single catastrophic moment,” Tana answered with a shrug.
Sal’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Abuse? Now you’re the one kidding me.”
“Do you even read these files before you hand them out? Give it here.” Tana snatched the assignment folder out of her boss’ hands to read off her crimes. “Okay, let’s start with her first phone, Flip. He sure lived up to his name – she flipped his top half clean off.”
“So you have one incident that-“
Tana shushed him and continued. “Her next phone was Talnax, who got infected by a fatal virus. Kablooey, another one bites the dust.”
“It was completely unintentional, a stroke of bad luck,” Sal countered. “And as I recall, he was more than a little absent-minded. I always got complaints that he failed to put calls through.”
“Yeah, so that makes it okay.” Tana gave him a withering look as she forged ahead. “And I guess it’s okay that she tossed her next phone, Vernon, into a pool? Seriously, Sal. SHE THREW HIM INTO A POOL!”
Sal squirmed in his seat, at a loss to offer an explanation.
Tana glowered at the file as she reached the end of the document. “Here we go: my cousin, B.B. Monique. Your mortal didn’t staff Monique with a memory card so she could serve her properly – totally not my cousin’s fault – but it didn’t matter. She ditched her for my sister, Alicia. Not six months into serving as her cell phone, she broke Alicia’s ability to take a charge. She dumped her and went for her twin, Amelia, and the same thing happened. The same thing! So what did she do? She ditched Amelia for me, and ended up abandoning me in a cab in Santa Monica. And then, if that wasn’t enough, my twin sister Tamara picked up where I left off, and…”
“…And her domain was destroyed, too. No one’s sure where the pressure cracks came from, or how they spread so fast. It’s likely we’ll never know.”
“Yeah, well, maybe now you understand why I want nothing to do with this mortal.”
“I do,” Sal nodded, rising to circle around his desk. “And believe me, if it were my call, I’d reassign her to someone else. It’s not up to me, though. You know how these things work, Tana.”
“The system is broken,” Tana shot back, closing the folder with a sharp snap. “Everyone’s so concerned about pleasing the precious mortals. What about us? Who looks after us? The Animates? The Ephemerals? I doubt it. So answer me, Sal, who cares about us?”
He wanted to comfort her. He really did. And years ago, when the mortal champions of the inanimate gods were still active, he could. But those days were long gone, and there was no one left in the world to look out for them. Rather than expose that painful truth, Sal changed the subject. “I can try to pass it back upstairs and get it reassigned to another divinity. It might take some time, though, and someone will need to-”
“Oh, shut up,” Tana grumbled. “I’ll do it. I’m not going to like it, but I’ll do it.”
Sal touched her arm and smiled. “You’re one in a million, Tana.”
“Yeah, well, she’s damn lucky I like you so much,” Tana quipped, poking him in the chest with the assignment folder. “And if she so much as tosses me onto a table, I will curse her so hard, her great-grandchildren will have problems with phones.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Sal laughed. “Now go on, do what you have to do. If you need me for anything at all, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks, boss.” Tana gave Sal a brief hug before leaving his office. She opened up the folder on the way out of the building, chuckling. O little mortal, it’s time for some payback…
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Status Update
Greetings, my loyal followers! I hope you've been enjoying The Everyday Divinities Project shorts, because I've got another cooking for the ol' blogosphere. The inspiration has been running rampant over here, and short story ideas are flowing from my writing left and right.
But what about my trilogy? Well, we're in the final stages of the rewrite for Book One. By October 13, the rewrite should be done, and then the Inanimate Gods will live and thrive in a story far beyond what was in the original draft. It's pretty exciting to see where my manuscript is now compared to what it looked like when I first put it down in words. So much has changed in it, and all for the better. I can't wait to be able to share it with you all!
Alright, back to the writing. Keep watching for that new short story!
But what about my trilogy? Well, we're in the final stages of the rewrite for Book One. By October 13, the rewrite should be done, and then the Inanimate Gods will live and thrive in a story far beyond what was in the original draft. It's pretty exciting to see where my manuscript is now compared to what it looked like when I first put it down in words. So much has changed in it, and all for the better. I can't wait to be able to share it with you all!
Alright, back to the writing. Keep watching for that new short story!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The Everyday Divinities Project - The Desktop and Laptop Computers
The Desktop and Laptop Computers - by R. B. LeMoyne
© September 1, 2010 * robertlemoyne@gmail.com
“It’s about time you got here, old friend! Let me guess, another MMO?”
Holland Parcell, dressed in his usual divine business attire, heaved a sigh and joined his counterpart at the outdoor café table . “Of course,” he replied. “You’d be surprised how many people let themselves get absorbed into those time sinks, Dall. They look like good fun, but one hour becomes five, and the mortals could care less that they haven’t eaten or showered or even stepped outside. Not that I mind – more business for me if they’re using my domain instead of, say, playing sports – but I’m constantly amazed by the mortal capacity to ignore all other concerns when it comes to playing a simple computer game.” He smiled half-heartedly, adding, “Many apologies for my tardiness.”
“Bah, think nothing of it,” Dall countered, waving his hand in the air to dismiss the apology. “Believe me, enough mortals use my domain for online gaming, so I can sympathize. I swear, it’s amazing how much time a mortal will sink into a game that has no tangible reward or gain. As if they were actually making money at it!”
Holland raised a finger. “Ah, but it is entertaining. Sometimes there doesn’t need to be a concrete gain, only a good time.”
Dall rolled his eyes and muttered something about mortals and the other good time they search for online. “Anyway, can I get you a cup o’ joe?”
“Ugh, no, thank you,” Holland answered, face twisting in disgust. “I’ve had enough of Java for the time being. I’ll take a green tea, if you’d please.”
“Suit yourself.” With a slow wave of his hand, Dall conjured up two mugs, one filled with coffee, the other brimming with tea. “Me? I’ve been craving coffee all day. I blame that damnable college kid earlier today. I thought he’d be taking up residence in a coffee shop to write that paper, but he went to that accursed Penara place.”
Holland inhaled his fragrant cup of tea as he cocked an eyebrow at Dall. “Penara? I don’t believe I’ve been there.”
Dall shook his head. “No, you wouldn’t have, and truth be told, you’re better off for it. I hate – HATE – having to go there, and wouldn’t you know that every laptop owner with an inflated opinion of themselves just loves to take me to Penara,” he drawls, the last few words drawn out with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
“I take it there’s more to this loathing than meets the eye?”
“Okay, it’s like this,” Dall began, ignoring his steaming mug of coffee. “You know how coffeehouses used to be the place to go to sit down with a laptop, have some coffee, and check your email or write a school paper or whatever?”
Holland nodded, replying, “Of course. Has that changed?”
“Oh, plenty of people still take their laptop to a coffee shop, sure. That’s fine. But Penara…” Dall frowned, struggling for just the right words. “Let’s put it this way. If you were a snob who liked to pay far too much for far too little food, and you wanted to check your email in the most elite and trendy way possible, you’d go to Penara.”
“I don’t understand. The food is overpriced, so you don’t like mortals taking you there?”
“It’s not necessarily the food. Okay, it’s not just the food. No, it’s the type of people the place attracts. They’re the same stuck-up, prissy rejects that the mortals who created our domain back in the day loathed. Now they’re using me as some sort of elite status symbol, checking their social networks in an eatery that isn’t even all that good, and doing web chats right there at the tables. Web chats!” Dall shouted. “In Penara! It’s disgusting!”
“You know that the mortals you call ‘rejects’ are the very same mortals who give you power through their devotion to your domain, yes?” Dall scowled at Holland, who sat there smugly sipping his tea, before finally taking a drink of his coffee mug. His silent retort sent Holland chuckling. “All the same, I do believe you need to come to terms with the evolution of mortal gathering holes. Before our time, it was the tavern. Now that we’re leading the mortal information age, it’s all about who can best supply our needs, regardless of the environment’s image, yes?”
“Well, something better than Penara needs to come along, and quick, before I stage a protest,” Dall grumbled into his mug. “It’d serve those stuck-up mortals right if all their precious laptops blinked out all at once, right in the middle of their all-important and totally inane web chats.”
Holland laughed, sipped his tea, then rose from his chair. “Well, as entertaining as it is to listen to your rants and would-be plots to rebel against your sacred duties, I really should get back to work.”
“What? You just got here, and you’re already headed back? Honestly, H.P., the online gamers can do without you for another few moments!”
“Ah, but the gamers are only a minority of the mortals I serve,” Holland countered with a sigh. “The others who use my domain for business and other noble pursuits are why I must depart. As ever, it was a pleasure to see you, dear friend.”
Dall nodded, a smile sneaking across his lips. “Yeah, same here. Don’t be a stranger, now. Your domain may be stationary, but it’s good for you to get out now and then, you know?”
“But of course.” Holland bowed, smiling warmly and, in a brilliant bolt of light, returned to his domain in the Bureau of Computational Processing.
© September 1, 2010 * robertlemoyne@gmail.com
“It’s about time you got here, old friend! Let me guess, another MMO?”
Holland Parcell, dressed in his usual divine business attire, heaved a sigh and joined his counterpart at the outdoor café table . “Of course,” he replied. “You’d be surprised how many people let themselves get absorbed into those time sinks, Dall. They look like good fun, but one hour becomes five, and the mortals could care less that they haven’t eaten or showered or even stepped outside. Not that I mind – more business for me if they’re using my domain instead of, say, playing sports – but I’m constantly amazed by the mortal capacity to ignore all other concerns when it comes to playing a simple computer game.” He smiled half-heartedly, adding, “Many apologies for my tardiness.”
“Bah, think nothing of it,” Dall countered, waving his hand in the air to dismiss the apology. “Believe me, enough mortals use my domain for online gaming, so I can sympathize. I swear, it’s amazing how much time a mortal will sink into a game that has no tangible reward or gain. As if they were actually making money at it!”
Holland raised a finger. “Ah, but it is entertaining. Sometimes there doesn’t need to be a concrete gain, only a good time.”
Dall rolled his eyes and muttered something about mortals and the other good time they search for online. “Anyway, can I get you a cup o’ joe?”
“Ugh, no, thank you,” Holland answered, face twisting in disgust. “I’ve had enough of Java for the time being. I’ll take a green tea, if you’d please.”
“Suit yourself.” With a slow wave of his hand, Dall conjured up two mugs, one filled with coffee, the other brimming with tea. “Me? I’ve been craving coffee all day. I blame that damnable college kid earlier today. I thought he’d be taking up residence in a coffee shop to write that paper, but he went to that accursed Penara place.”
Holland inhaled his fragrant cup of tea as he cocked an eyebrow at Dall. “Penara? I don’t believe I’ve been there.”
Dall shook his head. “No, you wouldn’t have, and truth be told, you’re better off for it. I hate – HATE – having to go there, and wouldn’t you know that every laptop owner with an inflated opinion of themselves just loves to take me to Penara,” he drawls, the last few words drawn out with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
“I take it there’s more to this loathing than meets the eye?”
“Okay, it’s like this,” Dall began, ignoring his steaming mug of coffee. “You know how coffeehouses used to be the place to go to sit down with a laptop, have some coffee, and check your email or write a school paper or whatever?”
Holland nodded, replying, “Of course. Has that changed?”
“Oh, plenty of people still take their laptop to a coffee shop, sure. That’s fine. But Penara…” Dall frowned, struggling for just the right words. “Let’s put it this way. If you were a snob who liked to pay far too much for far too little food, and you wanted to check your email in the most elite and trendy way possible, you’d go to Penara.”
“I don’t understand. The food is overpriced, so you don’t like mortals taking you there?”
“It’s not necessarily the food. Okay, it’s not just the food. No, it’s the type of people the place attracts. They’re the same stuck-up, prissy rejects that the mortals who created our domain back in the day loathed. Now they’re using me as some sort of elite status symbol, checking their social networks in an eatery that isn’t even all that good, and doing web chats right there at the tables. Web chats!” Dall shouted. “In Penara! It’s disgusting!”
“You know that the mortals you call ‘rejects’ are the very same mortals who give you power through their devotion to your domain, yes?” Dall scowled at Holland, who sat there smugly sipping his tea, before finally taking a drink of his coffee mug. His silent retort sent Holland chuckling. “All the same, I do believe you need to come to terms with the evolution of mortal gathering holes. Before our time, it was the tavern. Now that we’re leading the mortal information age, it’s all about who can best supply our needs, regardless of the environment’s image, yes?”
“Well, something better than Penara needs to come along, and quick, before I stage a protest,” Dall grumbled into his mug. “It’d serve those stuck-up mortals right if all their precious laptops blinked out all at once, right in the middle of their all-important and totally inane web chats.”
Holland laughed, sipped his tea, then rose from his chair. “Well, as entertaining as it is to listen to your rants and would-be plots to rebel against your sacred duties, I really should get back to work.”
“What? You just got here, and you’re already headed back? Honestly, H.P., the online gamers can do without you for another few moments!”
“Ah, but the gamers are only a minority of the mortals I serve,” Holland countered with a sigh. “The others who use my domain for business and other noble pursuits are why I must depart. As ever, it was a pleasure to see you, dear friend.”
Dall nodded, a smile sneaking across his lips. “Yeah, same here. Don’t be a stranger, now. Your domain may be stationary, but it’s good for you to get out now and then, you know?”
“But of course.” Holland bowed, smiling warmly and, in a brilliant bolt of light, returned to his domain in the Bureau of Computational Processing.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Quotables
"There's no 'magic secret'; writing is like everything else; ten percent inspiration or talent, and ninety percent hard work. Persistence; keeping at it till you get there. As Agnes de Mille said, it means working every day — bored, tired, weary, or with a fever of a hundred and two."
—Marion Zimmer Bradley, author, The Mists of Avalon
—Marion Zimmer Bradley, author, The Mists of Avalon
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Hero's Journey - Ordeal
The ultimate showdown. The final battle. The central crisis. The Hero is delving deep within the Inmost Cave to do battle with the villain at its heart. There are many names for this stage of the Journey. Joseph Campbell calls it The Ordeal.
Contrary to what you might think, the Ordeal is not the climax of the story. No, the Ordeal is toward the end, but not the end itself. If you check your Road Map, you’ll see that there are four stages of the Hero’s Journey still to go. “But you just built this up to be the big fight!” Well, yes, because it is. The Ordeal is where the main battle is, the title match between good guy and bad guy. All the trials and tribulations earlier in the story have led to this moment of truth, when swords (or pistols, for you gun fanatics) are drawn and everything goes plunging straight toward the big fiery pit of doom. The Hero needs to show that those lessons earlier in the Journey were not in vain as he puts them to the test in a high-stakes battle against a superior foe. To continue that learning curve metaphor, think of the story as school and the Ordeal is your mid-term (and just as tension-filled, if done properly). Suddenly the label “Ordeal” is more than just a clever name, isn’t it?
This is probably as good a time as any to talk about the Shadow. No, not the pulp hero of the same name, we’re talking about the story archetype. The Shadow is everything the Hero is not. He’s an evil twin, a dark reflection, the figurative shadow to the Hero’s light. In fact, the Shadow often serves the function of showing us, the audience, what the Hero could become if he doesn’t learn the lessons of the story. A good example of this is Harry Potter’s Shadow, Voldemort. The Dark Lord is everything Harry could be if he had ended up in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, and Harry finds himself wondering a few times in the course of that book series if he isn’t starting to walk the same path as that ultimate evil. The Shadow doesn’t need to be an external force, though. It could be the Hero’s own impulses and desires, warring within him for dominance in the story. It could be an old state of being that he’s trying to change, or a love that continues to burn him from the inside out. Any way you slice it, the Shadow is the archetypal villain for the Hero to thwart in the Ordeal.
Let’s see this phase at work in Rob’s Journey. When last we left him, he was gearing up to tackle his own Ordeal – writing his first novel. The novel isn’t the villain, of course. No, the Shadow he needs to fight is his own fear, self-doubt and old habits. His Inmost Cave is the room where he writes, and his Ordeal is thwarting temptation so he can focus on writing 50,000 words in one month. It’s not an easy task, not when he still has work occupying the majority of the week, friends who want him to sit down and game with them, and family to visit in the holiday toward the end of the month. The deck is stacked against him from the start, but our Hero perseveres and fights to meet his word count day after day. Back and forth he goes, the days ticking by as he sits at his desk (or coffeehouse, sometimes, with his trusty PDA) and lays out word after word. Finally, the clock strikes midnight on November 31, signaling the start of December and the end of NaNoWriMo. Rob sits back and looks at his final word count: 50,007. He did it. He wrote his first novel.
We’re not through with our story yet, though. To the contrary, the true climax of our Hero’s Journey is still to come. The stress of the Ordeal has been overcome, now it’s time to kick back, relax and enjoy our victory as we savor the Reward!
Contrary to what you might think, the Ordeal is not the climax of the story. No, the Ordeal is toward the end, but not the end itself. If you check your Road Map, you’ll see that there are four stages of the Hero’s Journey still to go. “But you just built this up to be the big fight!” Well, yes, because it is. The Ordeal is where the main battle is, the title match between good guy and bad guy. All the trials and tribulations earlier in the story have led to this moment of truth, when swords (or pistols, for you gun fanatics) are drawn and everything goes plunging straight toward the big fiery pit of doom. The Hero needs to show that those lessons earlier in the Journey were not in vain as he puts them to the test in a high-stakes battle against a superior foe. To continue that learning curve metaphor, think of the story as school and the Ordeal is your mid-term (and just as tension-filled, if done properly). Suddenly the label “Ordeal” is more than just a clever name, isn’t it?
This is probably as good a time as any to talk about the Shadow. No, not the pulp hero of the same name, we’re talking about the story archetype. The Shadow is everything the Hero is not. He’s an evil twin, a dark reflection, the figurative shadow to the Hero’s light. In fact, the Shadow often serves the function of showing us, the audience, what the Hero could become if he doesn’t learn the lessons of the story. A good example of this is Harry Potter’s Shadow, Voldemort. The Dark Lord is everything Harry could be if he had ended up in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, and Harry finds himself wondering a few times in the course of that book series if he isn’t starting to walk the same path as that ultimate evil. The Shadow doesn’t need to be an external force, though. It could be the Hero’s own impulses and desires, warring within him for dominance in the story. It could be an old state of being that he’s trying to change, or a love that continues to burn him from the inside out. Any way you slice it, the Shadow is the archetypal villain for the Hero to thwart in the Ordeal.
Let’s see this phase at work in Rob’s Journey. When last we left him, he was gearing up to tackle his own Ordeal – writing his first novel. The novel isn’t the villain, of course. No, the Shadow he needs to fight is his own fear, self-doubt and old habits. His Inmost Cave is the room where he writes, and his Ordeal is thwarting temptation so he can focus on writing 50,000 words in one month. It’s not an easy task, not when he still has work occupying the majority of the week, friends who want him to sit down and game with them, and family to visit in the holiday toward the end of the month. The deck is stacked against him from the start, but our Hero perseveres and fights to meet his word count day after day. Back and forth he goes, the days ticking by as he sits at his desk (or coffeehouse, sometimes, with his trusty PDA) and lays out word after word. Finally, the clock strikes midnight on November 31, signaling the start of December and the end of NaNoWriMo. Rob sits back and looks at his final word count: 50,007. He did it. He wrote his first novel.
We’re not through with our story yet, though. To the contrary, the true climax of our Hero’s Journey is still to come. The stress of the Ordeal has been overcome, now it’s time to kick back, relax and enjoy our victory as we savor the Reward!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day Two and Three of WriteOnCon
Okay, to make up for yesterday's lack of a Day Two review of WriteOnCon, I'll fold it into today's review of Day Three to make it an uber-post.
First of all, major kudos to the convention's founders/administrators/organizers - Jamie Harrington, Elana Johnson, Casey McCormick, Shannon Messenger, Jennifer Stayrook, and Lisa and Laura Roecker - for getting such a huge number of writers, agents and editors to take part in the first online convention for writers I've ever heard of. Blog posts, vlog posts, and live chats (both text and video) were presented in rapid fire and so smoothly to the eager writer aspirants in attendance. You ladies made it all look so easy!
Now to the meat of it. As a writer of YA (AKA young adult) fiction, it's always a good idea to know more about your community in the publishing world. WriteOnCon gives you the red carpet treatment as it welcomes you in, hands you your beverage of choice, and proceeds to roll out advice, tips and secrets of the kidlit world all from the comfort of your own softly humming computer. As much fun as it can be to go to a convention center and interact with people, getting caught in the press of the unwashed masses is something you'll never have to contend with here, nor will you have to leave one room to find another panel you want to sit in on at a different room. It's the ultimate in convenience - the convention quite literally comes to you at the click of a mouse button!
And what a convention! So much information is imparted from so many different sources in so many different ways, I'm still catching up on some of the posts from Day Two. Fortunately, the convention isn't going anywhere, even when it's over. For those of us who had to work throughout the bulk of the convention, all the information posted over the past three days will remain online for easy reference. As for the live segments, transcripts will be made available on the web site and video chats will be uploaded to YouTube. It sure beats having to scribble down notes in an overly air-conditioned hotel room, that's for sure.
I can't even begin to tell you how helpful the information imparted through this convention has been to me. There are questions I didn't even know I had that got answered, in addition to my own curious musings. I have to admit, I'm looking forward to seeing my name pop up in the transcripts as my questions were posed to the professionals. (Even got a few of my humorous comments past the moderators and into public view - score!)
What were my favorite topics? I'm so glad you asked! Er, you didn't? But you were thinking it, right? Right? Right. Anyway...
Day Two was a racy day at the con, what with such topics like "Romance in YA," "Sex in YA: The ABC’s of Hooking Up," and "Authentic/Edgy YA" spread throughout the day. In addition, I gravitated instinctively toward the "Writing Genre Fiction," "Creating Memorable Characters," and the live chat where the topic was voice - both author's voice and character voice. For the record, though it's not written exactly as I posted it, the final question of that panel was one that I'd put through at the last minute, and got some good responses and a couple of books named as examples of my particular character voice question.
Day Three attempted to cover everything else that hadn't been said, and I'm still poking through a lot of it. The first topic I read about the moment I got to the site today was "Creating New Mythologies," not surprisingly. Beyond that, I was drawn into such topics as "Writing a Complete Story as Part of a Trilogy," "Writing Realistic, Captivating Dialog," and "The First Five Pages," which gave a sobering peek into how those first few pages of your manuscript will either net you an agent's request for more or a solid pass. The convention wrapped with the final chats, and I snuck in some comments and questions there, too. You'll just have to wait for the transcripts to see what made it and what didn't.
Now that it's over, I have the time to go back and read over every topic and revisit the ones that impacted me and my writing the most. As much research as I've done over the years on writing and publishing, you never really stop learning, and these three days presented me with a lot more ammunition to bring to bear as I get my trilogy up and running. I feel like I'm part of a grand community of writers going through a similar journey with their own manuscripts. More importantly, I feel like a successful writer for having made it this far. I may not be published yet, but I'm farther along than I've ever been, and I call that a win.
First of all, major kudos to the convention's founders/administrators/organizers - Jamie Harrington, Elana Johnson, Casey McCormick, Shannon Messenger, Jennifer Stayrook, and Lisa and Laura Roecker - for getting such a huge number of writers, agents and editors to take part in the first online convention for writers I've ever heard of. Blog posts, vlog posts, and live chats (both text and video) were presented in rapid fire and so smoothly to the eager writer aspirants in attendance. You ladies made it all look so easy!
Now to the meat of it. As a writer of YA (AKA young adult) fiction, it's always a good idea to know more about your community in the publishing world. WriteOnCon gives you the red carpet treatment as it welcomes you in, hands you your beverage of choice, and proceeds to roll out advice, tips and secrets of the kidlit world all from the comfort of your own softly humming computer. As much fun as it can be to go to a convention center and interact with people, getting caught in the press of the unwashed masses is something you'll never have to contend with here, nor will you have to leave one room to find another panel you want to sit in on at a different room. It's the ultimate in convenience - the convention quite literally comes to you at the click of a mouse button!
And what a convention! So much information is imparted from so many different sources in so many different ways, I'm still catching up on some of the posts from Day Two. Fortunately, the convention isn't going anywhere, even when it's over. For those of us who had to work throughout the bulk of the convention, all the information posted over the past three days will remain online for easy reference. As for the live segments, transcripts will be made available on the web site and video chats will be uploaded to YouTube. It sure beats having to scribble down notes in an overly air-conditioned hotel room, that's for sure.
I can't even begin to tell you how helpful the information imparted through this convention has been to me. There are questions I didn't even know I had that got answered, in addition to my own curious musings. I have to admit, I'm looking forward to seeing my name pop up in the transcripts as my questions were posed to the professionals. (Even got a few of my humorous comments past the moderators and into public view - score!)
What were my favorite topics? I'm so glad you asked! Er, you didn't? But you were thinking it, right? Right? Right. Anyway...
Day Two was a racy day at the con, what with such topics like "Romance in YA," "Sex in YA: The ABC’s of Hooking Up," and "Authentic/Edgy YA" spread throughout the day. In addition, I gravitated instinctively toward the "Writing Genre Fiction," "Creating Memorable Characters," and the live chat where the topic was voice - both author's voice and character voice. For the record, though it's not written exactly as I posted it, the final question of that panel was one that I'd put through at the last minute, and got some good responses and a couple of books named as examples of my particular character voice question.
Day Three attempted to cover everything else that hadn't been said, and I'm still poking through a lot of it. The first topic I read about the moment I got to the site today was "Creating New Mythologies," not surprisingly. Beyond that, I was drawn into such topics as "Writing a Complete Story as Part of a Trilogy," "Writing Realistic, Captivating Dialog," and "The First Five Pages," which gave a sobering peek into how those first few pages of your manuscript will either net you an agent's request for more or a solid pass. The convention wrapped with the final chats, and I snuck in some comments and questions there, too. You'll just have to wait for the transcripts to see what made it and what didn't.
Now that it's over, I have the time to go back and read over every topic and revisit the ones that impacted me and my writing the most. As much research as I've done over the years on writing and publishing, you never really stop learning, and these three days presented me with a lot more ammunition to bring to bear as I get my trilogy up and running. I feel like I'm part of a grand community of writers going through a similar journey with their own manuscripts. More importantly, I feel like a successful writer for having made it this far. I may not be published yet, but I'm farther along than I've ever been, and I call that a win.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Day One of WriteOnCon
Now that I've finished watching "Working With Agents and Editors: A Live Video Workshop with Literary Agent Mark McVeigh," I can officially declare that I've fallen in love with online conventions. Sure, there's nothing quite like meeting someone in person and shaking their hand, but the next best thing is hosting a free convention that is accessible anywhere there's internet service. That's what WriteOnCon is, a 100% online convention for kidlit writers that is totally free to attend. It's just like a regular convention - you have guest speakers, panels and the like, all geared toward a particular topic, all laid out over a few days - only you don't necessarily need to bring pen and paper to jot down notes, most of it is presented in a convenient text format! (You may want to jot down notes for the live video chats, though. While the questions are presented in text, the answers are given over live video chat!)
Most of the topics are geared specifically toward writing for a younger audience ("Illustrating Children's Books" and "Writing Middle Grade" stand out there), but there's also a lot of material that applies to every writer, such as "Questions to Ask Yourself Before a Revision" or "Give Yourself Permission." If you fancy yourself a writer, you owe it to yourself to check out the convention here and bookmark it for future reference. You'll be glad you did!
Most of the topics are geared specifically toward writing for a younger audience ("Illustrating Children's Books" and "Writing Middle Grade" stand out there), but there's also a lot of material that applies to every writer, such as "Questions to Ask Yourself Before a Revision" or "Give Yourself Permission." If you fancy yourself a writer, you owe it to yourself to check out the convention here and bookmark it for future reference. You'll be glad you did!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Trilogy Update
Among all the other excitement of this weekend, I have new word on the progress of The Inanimate Gods Trilogy - the second act of Book One has been revised!
Yes, technically, Book One has been completed, but I was never entirely satisfied with the middle part of the book. With the new opening and ending, it became the weakest part of the story, failing to measure up to the strength of the rest of the novel. I blame Alex, that spotlight hog, who wanted to be the sole main character of the series.
Well, Elonia had some things to say about that. Not content to remain a secondary or support character, she wanted to be a main character in her own right, to step into the spotlight instead of remaining at the edge of it. We had a long talk about it (because I converse with my characters from time to time to get a measure of their role in the narrative) and I agreed that her Hero(ine)'s Journey was just as important as Alex's Journey. I went back to my chapter outline - the road map of this insane undertaking that has consumed my life for the past few years - and reworked it, changing chapters already in place and adding new ones. Elonia is happy that she has more to do in the book, Alex is happy that he gets to join in on the fun, and I'm happy that my story is all the stronger for it.
So, once I'm done adding in all the new goodies, the second act of Book One will be just as strong as the rest of the narrative. I'll need to change a few of the details in the last part of the book for consistency, but it's a small price to pay for a great story.
More on the progress of my trilogy as it develops!
Yes, technically, Book One has been completed, but I was never entirely satisfied with the middle part of the book. With the new opening and ending, it became the weakest part of the story, failing to measure up to the strength of the rest of the novel. I blame Alex, that spotlight hog, who wanted to be the sole main character of the series.
Well, Elonia had some things to say about that. Not content to remain a secondary or support character, she wanted to be a main character in her own right, to step into the spotlight instead of remaining at the edge of it. We had a long talk about it (because I converse with my characters from time to time to get a measure of their role in the narrative) and I agreed that her Hero(ine)'s Journey was just as important as Alex's Journey. I went back to my chapter outline - the road map of this insane undertaking that has consumed my life for the past few years - and reworked it, changing chapters already in place and adding new ones. Elonia is happy that she has more to do in the book, Alex is happy that he gets to join in on the fun, and I'm happy that my story is all the stronger for it.
So, once I'm done adding in all the new goodies, the second act of Book One will be just as strong as the rest of the narrative. I'll need to change a few of the details in the last part of the book for consistency, but it's a small price to pay for a great story.
More on the progress of my trilogy as it develops!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Quick Take on WriteOnCon
I've never heard of an online convention before. So when I found out that an upcoming writer's convention would be held entirely online instead of at a convention center or hotel (like they usually are), my interest was definitely piqued. WriteOnCon is a convention specifically geared toward kidlit writers, but a quick glance at the first day's schedule reveals quite a few topics that could apply to writers of many genres. Best of all, it's FREE! If you're a children's or young adult fiction writer, or just a writer in general, check it out!
Special thanks go to Karly Kirkpatrick and her blog, without which I would never have stumbled upon this gem.
Special thanks go to Karly Kirkpatrick and her blog, without which I would never have stumbled upon this gem.
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