Author Lena Prodan

Tiny Bit of Self Indulgence

2011-06-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm getting the idea that publishers don't understand how much influence manga has on YA readers and how the narrative flow differs between traditional western novels and Asian storytelling. I'm not the one who will teach them, but they should be aware of it, because it will be a bigger issue in the future.

I'm also wondering if I should find an artist to work with.

I need to start writing again. I'm beginning to fret. It isn't pretty.

Saints and Sinners

2011-05-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

Today, I head to the Saints and Sinners Literary Conference in New Orleans.
Most writer's conferences are about promotion or offer only beginner level panels. Saints and Sinners has something for every level.

Hanging out with dear friends such as D.L. King, Michael Thomas Ford, Greg Herren, and Rob Byrnes (and a host of others) is a big plus. I lvoe spending time with other writers. They speak my language.

It's strange to be in a city that isn't my home, but every time I turn a corner in the French Quarter, I see someone I know, but it also gives it that "old home week" feel that I love. We'll keep one eye on the river this year. Last year, it was the oil spill. Five, four, and even three years ago, it was the still visible signs of Katrina's passing. Does New Orleans ever catch a break? And yet, it endures.

Every year, I come back re-energized and ready to write. The ideas spill out of my brain, and I'm recommitted to improving my craft. I look forward to this all year.

While I Wait

2011-04-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

With Wind Voyagers out on submission there's little to do but wait for word from the publisher. Rather than fretting - which I do very well - I'm trying to look forward.

What do I want to do with the next story in the series? Where do I want it to go?

I've figured out personal goals for Elek and Jutin. Tehan is a bit of an issue since she was along for the ride in the first book but had no personal stake in anything. She deserves and needs her own story. She's too strong to push off into that "helpful gal pal" role. So I've spent a great deal of time thinking about her and what she might want.

The other issue I'm mulling over is: How do you follow up the destruction of an entire city? Bigger explosions? More carnage? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of Mythbusters TV show because they blow things up real good almost every episode.

The Swarm was front loaded with a lot of action. I don't want Tehan, Elek,and Jutin to sit around talking at the beginning of their next story, but there has to be a reason for them to take off on another adventure, so unless I can think of a way to force it onto them right away, I'm afraid that I'm looking at a slower pace in the opening chapters of book two. So I'm thinking, plotting, and planning all sorts of misfortune for the trio. One of those ideas will be the right one. It might seem cruel, but it beats fretting over my submission.

More on Wind Voyagers

2011-03-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

The role of the main heroic main character seems simple enough. S/He has a duty or a goal and s/he suffers trials until s/he finally reaches her/his goal. S/He's usually single-minded. But s/he's also usually competent. Would you want to be on Lisabet Salander's bad side? Sure, you could hurt her, but she'd come back at you with a vengeance. Harry Potter was incredibly competent in his role. If he lacked a skill or information, he found someone who had it and made them an ally, or he went to the library and looked it up.

Unfortunately, Elek, my main character, wasn't competent. I only have myself to blame for this, but I put him into a situation that was way over his head. He had no skills to fall back on. It's was like teaching someone to swim by dropping them into the deep end of the pool without floaties. It turns out that naive but not stupid is a fine line for a writer to walk with a character. Last year at Saints and Sinners I asked Jim Grimsley in a master class if he had any tips for writing a character like that. All he said was, "It's going to be difficult." He was right.

So my huge thanks to Nan and Diane, and especially Kelley, for challenging me every time I made poor Elek look stupid rather than naive. For such a simple seeming character, he sure was hard to write - harder than almost any other character I've created.

Busy Year

2010-12-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

So, it's been forever since I've posted, but it's not because I dropped off the face of the earth. The novel is finally done. Really done. Reworked, polished to perfection, and slaved over unlike anything I've ever done before. This is what happens when you work with a fantastic editor. You can chose to get overwhelmed, pout, or you put your butt in the seat and get to work. I chose work. The upside to all this work is that by February, I expect to submit it.

Suicide Year review

2010-06-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Amos Larson for reviewing The Suicide Year on Amazon. And an even bigger thanks for his kind words.

I'm about to get back to writing. I've taken a leave of absence from my work in progress to think about it. Forcing myself to stay away makes me want to work on it more. I told Amie Evans that I may retype the entire thing. The idea wears me out, but it may be the best way to get a fresh perspective. After weeks of meditating on what I need to do, I came away with a single word: conflict.

Break Tme is Over

2010-05-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

I opened my story for the first time in many weeks and finally got back to work on it. I meant to wait until I returned from Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, but I had nothing else to work on, and I've put a lot of thought into the characters since the last time I worked on it. The new insight helps. But oh, I'm getting a bit tired of this story. That's usually the sign that it's ready for submission, but I don't think so in this case. There's still a lot of work to do. Ugh.

Break Time

2010-04-21T19:15:00.001-07:00

I had to step away from this project to think about it. I've had some great insights, but I won't have time to work on them for another week or so.

This is what I'm thinking about: A white board, or something like that, to draft out where each character is emotionally in each scene.

Working on pieces is making me lose sight of the work as a whole. One of my characters is shades of gray slippery, and I let the good far overshadow the bad in the latter half, because I like this character. But that's not right. So the moral ambiguity has to continue.

I can't wait to get my hands, and head, back on this. But first, other projects.

This is Nice

2010-03-11T17:11:00.001-08:00

Sheela Lambert mentioned The Suicide Year in her bisexual books of 2009 list.

Still Working On the Rewrite

2010-03-09T21:05:00.001-08:00

I got my new first chapter back from Kelley at Sterling Editing.

Everything I feared was wrong with it was true. But this is good. I cleaned it up, fixed the time line, and got rid of a bunch of crap I didn't need.

The only thing that bothers me about this is that I know there are problems. I know what the problems are. But somehow, I can't see them until someone points them out. You'd think I'd know by now. Apparently not.

Yet, I still love this process. If you write, and you're serious about it, treat yourself to a good editor. One caveat - you have to be able to listen and never take it personally. If honest critique about your story makes you defensive and angry, don't dump your diva meltdown on some poor editor.

Back to the Beginning

2010-02-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

I won't say that I love my words, but I'll admit that I have a deeper affinity for some stories, passages, and chapters than others.

It shouldn't be so hard to move the previous first chapter of my WIP to the second chapter. It's not as if I deleted it. But I'm having a hard time warming up to the new first chapter, and I'm afraid it will show in my writing.

I sent the new first chapter to Kelley at Sterling editing. She knows the story, so she'll be in a good place to view it in the context of the whole story as well as how it works as the opening sequence. Can you tell how much I value this outside advice? She has no ego tied up in the work as I do, so she can be objective about it where I'm obviously having problems letting go.

Maybe it isn't love of my words. Maybe it's obsession. I need to get over it.

Finally Done

2010-01-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

I almost titled this Free At Last, but I have too much respect for Dr. King to attach his words to my work.

The rewrite is finally done. It still needs work. Oh man, does it ever, but I finally got everything to fit in the right sequence. The happiest news is that I'm well over 50,000 words now, which was the minimum I needed. The original was only 47,000 words. And well over 50,000 means I can cut if I need to.

I have no problem with the new material I wrote for most of the story, but the new first chapter can't seem to please me. I'm still too attached to my old first chapter. It's silly, but I feel sorry for it. It tries so hard. I don't think any chapter in a book carries a heavier burden.

The first chapter has to:
Set the tone
Set the stage/show the world
Introduce the main character
Put the story into motion
Introduce or at least hint at the main conflict (hmmm. not sure if I hit that one)

oh, and be riveting so that the reader is drawn into the story.

The funny thing is that if it were a short story, all that plus conflict and resolution would be no problem, but for some reason, for a novel, it seems harder.

If the Puzzle Pieces Don't Fit

2009-12-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

If the puzzle pieces don't fit, can I hammer them into place?

This rewrite is like putting trying to open a Chinese puzzle box. Or 3-D Tetris. I'm moving the timeline around, which changes who knows what when. Cause and effect are thrown out of sync.

Getting back to thinking about this as a play with acts, I have to figure out how to show the gun - so to speak - in act 2, which is late, but I can't mention it any earlier than that for other plot reasons. In the original version, the characters were getting along when the gun is shown, but now they aren't. It's easy to force them to be together. The hard part is figuring out why they'd be on speaking terms for that scene when they need to be at odds later.

And none of this probably makes sense to you.

*writer mumbling incoherently to herself as she walks down the street*

Hanging Back Again

2009-12-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

I started to work on the rewrite of the rewrite, but realized I'd made a wrong turn further back than I'd originally thought, so now I'm hanging back and thinking. Thinking about characters. Not what it would be cool to have them do, but what they would do in a situation. Which brought my thoughts back to the core of the character: what is important to him? That's when I realized that his definition of himself has been challenged every step, and failing to live up to that personal code is going to hurt more than anything another character can do.

Some people call it a muse, I call it a change of focus. Either way, it's inspiration.

Backtracking isn't so bad when I think I'm finally on the right track. I need to hang back and focus on this type of thing more often.

Frack

2009-12-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

While typing merrily away...

Okay, not merrily, but with purpose, I've finally reached the point where the current path of my characters meets the old path and I can salvage a lot of Act III. Except that I rushed the last chapter and I know it's wrong. It moves events and relationships froward, but it's lazy and the pace is wrong. Ugh. Back track, once again. At least it's only a couple thousand words. And if I get it right, I'll be in a good place. My characters, not so much. Every day dawning is fresh hell for them.

Putting Away the Whine

2009-12-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

So I'm working on the rewrite now. Finally got past my ego struggle and wrote a new first chapter. I'm on my way.

Kelley referred to parts of this story as Acts. I love plays, musicals, and opera, so the term has meaning to me. Act 1 is where the characters and the conflict are introduced. It has to suck in the audience. Act 2 is the tricky part. If it's not interesting, the audience squirms and their thoughts go to intermission. Intermission in a book is where they set it down and never pick it up again. Yikes! So the stakes have to keep cranking up to keep them interested, but they also have to be drawn deeper into the characters. Act 2 is where the emotional commitment is made. Act 3 is where everything that was set in motion plays out. That's the audience's reward for coming back from intermission. My Act 3 needs work, but Act 2 was the weakest part, so that's where I'm focused. Unfortunately, a lot of the existing story has to go. Figuring out what to salvage is almost harder than writing from scratch. I can't just plunk something into a scene. It has to be seamless flow. Right now, reading the new and old together feels like a beginner trying to drive a car with a manual transmission.

Now I'm glad I wrote that synopsis. As I'm working through the MS, scenes are moving. I'm adding here and deleting there. It's easy to get lost in the shuffle. That's where the synopsis come in. It's a map to remind me where I'm headed.

I'm not whimpering or groaning yet. Sure, this rewrite is a lot of work, but it's writing work.

The Hardest Part

2009-11-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

It's been hard to sit out this week of writing. Ideas are zinging through my brain and I'm itching to dive into my story again, but a little self-discipline is a good idea. I know my writing habits too well by now.

One of the biggest problems I have is an ego problem Yes, I said I'm fine with suggestions, but this is a different kind of ego problem. My first vision of this story was the current opening scene. The problem is that it focuses on the wrong character. I know that. I've known it for a while. So when Kelley pointed it out, I had to nod in agreement, but still, I couldn't let it go. It HAD to be the opening scene.

Another thing I know about myself is that most of of my problems in life are caused by barriers I throw into my path. I over-complicate things, and most of the agonizing is knowing the answer but rejecting it for stupid reasons.

So if I know that it's not the right place to start the story, and can see the obvious way to fix it, why am I hanging onto the idea that my first vision of the story has to be the first scene? Ego. Maybe the stupid and stubborn phase is just something I have to go through. When I'm thoroughly tired of this useless internal struggle, I'll be ready to start the story in the right place. Until I get to that point though, I refuse to write anything.

Critique

2009-11-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

Kelley from Sterling Editing sent back the edits on my MS, and I'm thrilled. I got exactly what I was looking for - honest critique and good suggestions to improve the novel. Now I'm fired up and ready to get back to work on it. It's not my style to jump into anything without considering it for a while, so I'm letting her observations sink in for a week before I start. Sort of. I couldn't help whipping through a rough synopsis.

Now - I hate writing a synopsis. Truly hate it. And I hate outlining. But this time it was a good way to channel my writing energy without touching the MS before I'm ready to. I'm imagining new scenes. One of the most meaningful things Kelley mentioned was that every character had to have skin in the game. I've heard it before, but when it was directed at my story, I finally got it. I have to be - scratch that - get to be much bolder with emotions and stakes for my characters. So I'm looking forward to the rewrite. No whining this time.

The Editing Saga Begins

2009-11-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

It's early in the process to talk about the job Kelley from Sterling Editing is doing on my MS, since we've only exchanged a few emails, but so far, I'm so happy I decided to do this.

If I were to join a gym, no one would be surprised if I hired a personal trainer to help me figure out the machines and get into a good routine, so I wonder why it feels so decadent to hire a good editor. I'm past feeling guilty though. This matters to me, so I deserve to invest time and money into getting it right.

My beta readers are great but they don't have the time to discuss the story in detail. That's what I'm paying the editor to do, so all our conversations can focus on my story. It's all about meeee! Ha! We can discuss every little detail, and question everything. Three of my beta readers don't write, so they don't understand when a story is put in front of them that isn't the only way it can be told. Things can change. Events, characters, the time line - everything is negotiable. I can tell them that, but they truly don't get it. An editor does.

Remind me how disgustingly perky I was about this when I groan about the rewrite later.

Not Another One!

2009-11-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

Some writers have writer's block. I have too many ideas. I don't know which one is worse.

I've written the first of what I hope will be a four or five book series. While it's being edited, I'm reading through my teetering stacks of books and working a little on some short stories. It's good to have the time away from writing to recharge my brain. So imagine my horror (okay, not horror. how about eye-rolling exasperation with myself?) when on my drive home from work today the idea for another series popped into my head. Another five books or so.

I like to be fully immersed in a world while I'm writing it, which means not getting distracted by other stories, but this one is pushing everything else aside and sitting in the forefront of my imagination. Instead of doing something useful with my evening, I mused about characters. Specifically, how many major characters is too much? I know I can do three. But what about five? Maybe I'll have to compromise and whittle it down to four.

I have to stop this. First I'm thinking about cast, and the next thing you know, I'll be doing character sketches and thinking about plots. This has to stop. I'm not writing. I'm not. I won't.

Crud. I think I just visualized two of them.

I'm doomed.

Aha!

2009-10-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled (and terrified) now that my manuscript is in the hands of my editor.

People talk about great opening lines, but I have a feeling that many great opening lines only seem like that after they've read the book. A strong opening paragraph is more important in my opinion, and it has to be followed by some fairly intriguing reading to keep the reader's interest. So the first chapter usually gets most of the writer's attention.

I was lucky with this book that the first chapter came to me in a full vision. That's not how it usually works for me, but this time, it was like watching a great anime film full of action and sound and chaos. Lovely. It's not as if I could simply transcribe what I saw onto paper though, because in film the initial characterization is purely visual, taken in by the audience in seconds, but in a book, it has to be written out, which slows down the action. And this book is pure action.

Kelley from Sterling Editing did a sample edit of the first five pages, which are the most important pages when it comes to selling the book. She focused right in on the weaknesses. Reading her comments was an Aha! moment for me. Yes, I knew about those problems on some level, but I either didn't want to deal with them or thought I could slide by. Hah! Do I want to slide by? No. Not really. This is why editors are so important. It's also why I'm so excited to be working with her. She can't fix my problems, but she can point them out and suggest changes for the better.

It takes a thick skin to be a writer. You have to be able to take criticism of your work. What good is advice if I'm going to get huffy or defensive? None. And my writing won't improve. So the little diva feelings get tucked away somewhere safe and comfy so they won't get hurt, and I get on with honing my craft. It's weird to be excited about exposing my work to criticism, but I'm looking forward to more Aha! moments. I'll let you know as this progresses.

Taking A Positive Step

2009-10-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

There are writers who have complete faith in their work. I'm not one of them. Okay, I have faith in my work, but not so much in myself. As a result, I often give up before even trying. This is a bad thing. Never be the first person to say no to you.

I told one of my beta readers that I was going to try to find an agent for my current novel and sell to it a New York publisher. But then I started waffling and settling for less before I got started. Ugh. She told it it was my decision, but I could imagine the tone of her voice. I can disappoint myself, but not someone else. So I got a backbone and recommitted to my original plan. I'm taking positive steps.

I'm not a leap first, ask questions later kind of person. I'll study a problem for a while before making a move. Other than a lack of faith, my problem was that I was overwhelmed by the task of finding an agent. The logical solution was to get help. I read a lot of advice but that wasn't enough. So I'm talking to Sterling Editing about a line edit of my novel, and if we work together well, I'll sign up for their other services. Even though we haven't started, committing to this action makes me feel a lot more optimistic. A little faith goes a long way.

Fantasy

2009-09-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

I had a long discussion this week with my beta reader about one of my characters. This character shifts gender. My original plan was that s/he'd change with the phases of the moons on his/her planet, but the more we discussed it, the more problematic that became.

We sketched out orbits of planets with multiple moons (Saturn being my go-to example) and even used our solar system as a potential model. That showed that the moons could work as imagined, but there was still a problem with biology.

So I turned to my favorite biology reference book: Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice for all Creation. If you write alien races, you should pick this up. Almost any weird scenario you can imagine for procreation has a working model on this planet. The strengths and weaknesses of each is discussed in enough detail to work as a writer's prompt for a society that might reproduce that way. She had some good examples of gender-switching fish that opened up the possibilities for my character. A few changes, and now my beta reader and I are convinced my scenario has a solid basis in science.

It seems as if such things shouldn't matter in fantasy, but they do. An author can write him/herself into a corner quickly if details aren't thought through, which means later on they inevitably have to anger their readers by violating their world rules, or they have to go throw god into the machine - which also disgusts readers to no end. Readers are a generous group. They'll accept almost any world for the sake of a good story. Be generous back - respect their intelligence, and do your homework. It doesn't take that much effort to get the details right.

The Beta Readers are Beginning to Comment

2009-09-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

One of my three beta readers got back to me on my new novel. Her final comment: Start writing the next one in the series.

I love feedback. She had some honest criticisms (at one point saying "Is this character really that stupid?") that I need to fix, but overall it was the mental boost I needed. I mean, I know it's good, but it's nice to know that someone else feels the same way.

This past week, I joined the Outer Alliance for GLBT science fiction writers. It's the right group for me at the right time. There are many well-known names on the list who are great to tap into for insight. There's already been a great thread on agents. As I'm looking for an agent, it's timely info.

Now if I could only come up with a title for my novel. Usually, I have no problem, but I'm stumped, and my beta reader (rightly so) hated all my ideas. It's hard to pitch to an agent or a publisher without a title. Urgh.

I'm so behind on posting

2009-08-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

I'm also behind on reviews. Crud. Sorry.

I put my latest novel into the hands of my beta readers and waited. And waited. And am still waiting. Yeah, I know reading it is a huge favor to me, but don't they realize the anticipation is killing me? Ugh.

This has been a whirlwind summer, but I promise to get better about posting in the autumn.

Lee Wind put Suicide Year on his website!

2009-06-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

You have to scroll down, but feel free to make comments.

Sheela Lambert of BiWriters.Org loved The Suicide Year, so I hope to see it posted on their website soon.

As I've mentioned, I've been typing away madly on a novel. It's in the hands of my first beta reader. I expect him to be done sometime today. It's a fast read, all action. Then I'll send it out to my other readers and see what they think. But what this means is that I'll have more time to read and review (yay!)

Sorry I've Been So Quiet Lately.

2009-06-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a new novel and I'm so excited by it that it's sucking up all my free time. Sleep? Hah! Work? Well - the day job keeps me in the manner to which I've become accustomed (things like food, clothes, and shelter) so I have to do that. But other than that, the novel comes first.

Review: Without Sin by J Tomas

2009-04-19T18:46:00.001-07:00

Without Sin by J Tomas
Prizm Books

Jacob Smithson has a short temper and uses his fists, a trait that's gotten him kicked out of every public school in the area, so his parents send him to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Boarding School for Boys even though he's not Catholic. His first day at Mass, he falls for altar boy Avery Dendritch. Avery is just as smitten with Jacob. As the boys hang out together, rumors about them run rampant through the school. Avery begs Jacob to stay out of trouble so that they can be together. It's a real test of Jacob's self-control, but for his first boyfriend, he tries. As they get more involved, they aren't terribly discreet. Who is at that age? The whispers grow louder and finally come to head in a confrontation that leaves Jacob's future at the school in question.

Jacob can be an annoying character. He's mean to his roommate and doesn't try to do well in his classes even though he's supposedly smart. He's his own worst enemy, which is pretty realistic for a guy that age with a huge chip on his shoulder. But he cares deeply for Avery, and he's nice to his roommate when a family problem arises, so he does have redeeming qualities.

I only have two complaints, and one may be because I had an advance copy. All the apostrophes and quotation marks were missing from the text, which at times made it difficult to read. I'm sure that will be fixed in the final text. The other complaint is strictly a matter of personal taste. I find it hard to read novels that are written in the present tense. You probably won't notice, or it won't detract from your enjoyment of the novel. These are minor complaints though. Overall, I felt this story depicted realistic characters, with realistic problems and consequences, which was a very nice change from some YA novels and TV shows that depict high schoolers with the lives of overly-dramatic college graduates.

Rainbow Reviews on The Suicide Year

2009-04-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Reviews gives me my first review of the Suicide Year. And it's wonderful! Yay!

REVIEW: Masks Rise of Heroes

2009-03-29T07:54:00.001-07:00

Masks: Rise of Heroes
Hayden Thorne
Prizm Books
available through Prizm and Amazon

Eric is an ordinary gay goth teenager riding the train to downtown Vintage City to hang out with his friends when his life veers into the world of weird. The tracks of the elevated train explode, sending the last car - and Eric with it- teetering, and then falling. Rather than slamming to earth though, he's plucked out of the sky by a flying superhero and brought safely down to earth. Suddenly, Vintage City is a battleground between the forces of good and evil, and Eric seems to always end up in the middle of the fight. After a while, he gets tired of the constant danger, but arch villain The Trill knows that Eric's new boyfriend is one of the superheroes and plans to use Eric as bait. How's a boy supposed to muddle through his first relationship when an arch villain ruins date night?

I enjoyed this enough to buy the next one in the series. The first romance storyline is well done, with problems anyone would have even if his boyfriend wasn't a superhero. The superhero part of it was a bit rougher, but that wasn't really the main plot and it was building a base for further books in the series. The book would have been better if the next villain hadn't been introduced as it diluted the focus of the current story, but that's a minor quibble. I'm looking forward to the next one. Recommended.

REVIEW: Changing Jamie by Dakota Chase

2009-03-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

Changing Jamie
by Dakota Chase
Prizm Books
published June 2008

Jamie wishes he could be as open about his sexuality as his friend Billy is, but he's cautious, so he only comes out to Billy. Because he's in awe of Billy, he overlooks the fact that Billy really isn't a very good friend.

For years, Jamie has had a secret crush on Dylan. Jamie is too cautious to ever let Dylan know how he feels. Dylan's English grade is slipping, and he needs tutoring so that he can stay on the track team. That's both a dream come true and a nightmare for Jamie. It turns out though that Dylan doesn't really need help in English. He let his grades slide on purpose as an excuse to spend time with Jamie. Unfortunately for Jamie, the one person he could talk to about all this - Billy - has disappeared.

While Billy isn't a good friend, Jamie is the best friend, ever. He alone seems worried about where Billy has disappeared to. With Dylan's help, they track down the older man Billy was seeing and get him to tell them where he last saw Billy. What they find is confusing and heartbreaking for them. Billy is a bug chaser, intentionally trying to get infected with HIV. Jamie tries to talk sense into Billy and tries to help, but he's too late, and Billy still won't listen.

As all this is going on, Jamie's unemployed, homophobic, drunk step-dad grows more abusive, but his mother is too worn out from her long hours at work to do anything about the jerk. Things get ugly, but she finally stands up to him.

While Changing Jamie is an unflinching look at the uglier side of life, it has enough hope that it isn't depressing. Jamie is affected by the bad choices other people around him make. While he doesn't emerge from it unscathed, he has those everyman hero qualities that promise he'll make better choices and mature into an admirable man. Highly recommended.

REVIEW: Does Snogging Count as Exercise by Helen Salter

2009-03-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

Does Snogging Count as Exercise? by Helen Salter
ISBN 13: 978-1-4169-3801-9
Simon Pulse (Simon and Schuster, NY)

Holly Stockwell is the misfit of her family. Everyone else is sports-obsessed. She'd rather read a book. Her older, perfect sister has gone off the university, but is still clearly the family favorite, as well as obviously being the favorite student of many of Holly's teachers.

Holly is a student at an all-girl's school in England, which makes it awfully difficult to meet boys. Lucky for her, her best friend Poppy has a dreamy older brother, Luke. Unlucky for her, Holly can't put two words together when Luke is around. Even worse, when Poppy shows a picture of Luke to the girls at school, popular, pretty Claudia sets her sights on dating him. Part of that plan is pretending to be Poppy's friend, so Holly gets cut out.

One of the things I liked about this story was that even though Claudia does some questionable things, she's not one of those all-powerful high school movie villain girls. These are the kinds of things a real person could do to really make your life miserable, not because she's evil, but because she never stops to consider other people's feelings.

I think everyone has been through one of those terrible times when a good friend suddenly changes. It's no fun suddenly feeling alone. While Holly is hurt and thinks about saying mean things to Poppy, she doesn't stoop to it. That's a pretty admirable trait in a character. Plus, it makes is easier for them to go back to being friends after Claudia moves on to fresh victims.

This is a fun, breezy read, more comedic than dramatic, and well-paced. There's nothing I hate more than a spoiler, so I won't tell you if Holly ever works up the courage to talk to Luke. Read it and find out for yourself. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

PS. The cover art by Karin Paprocki is wonderful.

I'm Excited!

2009-03-01T19:45:00.000-08:00

I met with my publishers a week ago Sunday and pitched a series to them. They said "write it and send it." Now, that does NOT mean they'll buy it, but at least they're interested.

This one will be very lighthearted. That's a nice change. I already have three of the five titles in mind, although one might not work because I'm not sure how to fit it in with the rest of the series as I currently envision it, but things change. I also just figured out how to get around one of the stickier moral issues in the story. After all, you don't want your main character to do something you'd never forgive a real human for doing, even to make the plot work, even if it seems okay because she's a nice person. So now that the same consequences occur, they come about for purely innocent, and forgivable, reasons.

Yay! Writing again!

My Book Is For Sale Where?

2009-02-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

I set up a Google alert to send me messages every time it sees my name and the title of my book. I was more than a little surprised to see it listed for sale on a Bible bookstore site. Huh? Hasn't the ultra-right Christian community set up GLBT as the ultimate evil now that they can't endorse slavery and wife beating anymore?

Sure, the main character talks about God a lot, but in ways that I think would make most evangelicals froth at the mouth. So I'm interested to see what reaction, if any, comes from the religious community.

Good News From My Publishers

2009-01-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

They aren't back from ALA yet, but my publishers said there was a lot of interest in The Suicide Year. Yay! Great cover art helps. Being in a library would be very cool.

Every writer has his/her own measure of success. For some, it's awards or good reviews. For others, it's the ability to make a living as a writer. Mine is the dream that some day I'll see stranger reading my book.

Librarians

2009-01-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

My publishers are off to the American Library Association conference, so I thought I'd take a moment here to praise librarians.

Books have been a constant source of comfort in my life. I've never been a big fan of TV. Don't get me wrong. Some shows are great and help change attitudes; other make us laugh, which is priceless. I can't watch anyone being humiliated (Mom issues there) so most situation comedies were impossible for me to watch. It seemed to be the primary source of the comedic situation. I found it mortifying and had to leave the room. So I spent a lot of time reading.

Without much money to spend on books, libraries were the source of books for me. Some writers I loved I found on my own, but many times it was a librarian who pointed me in the right direction. I might have never found Dune, A Town Like Alice, or Dorothy L Sayers' mysteries without guidance.

In the Bush years, as so many of our civil liberties were under constant attack, it was librarians who stood up and tried to defend our right to privacy. It's librarians who keep controversial books on the shelves so that we can share ideas that evil people want to keep from us. Unfortunately, it's also librarians who baby sit many kids who have no place to go after school, who watch over the homeless, and who fight the thankless battle against budget cuts and for the freedom of information. So show the librarians of the world some respect. They're soldier in a hidden war, and they fight for you.

It's Here!

2009-01-14T18:10:00.000-08:00

I got the copy of my book in the mail. Atta Vazzy's cover looks wonderful!

Prizm asked me to write some discussion questions for reading groups and librarians. Yikes! I made up some, but it's hard to know what themes will pop out at
readers. Once again, I was reminded why I should never write a book
where I don't name the main character, but there was a reason I did it
that way. She's almost invisible to her family. They call their dog
"The Dog" instead of by name, so it seemed right that her parents
wouldn't ever bother to use her name on the rareoccasions they notice her.

Darn it! Now I realize I should have asked a question about her relationship
with The Dog. It's as if they're siblings instead of pet and owner.
Sadly, it's the most loving relationship she has.

First post

2008-12-25T11:02:00.001-08:00

My biggest Christmas present this year came with the Christmas Eve release of my novel The Suicide Year.

It's a bit funny now that I hemmed and hawed so much about submitting this story to Prizm. Why write it if you don't want it published, right? Well, at the time I wrote it, it was for personal reasons, and it seemed too dark to publish. The truth is that many adults absolutely fail the teens in their lives, and that may be dark, but that's the way it is. Someone needs to stop pretending that if you're obedient and perky that everything will turn out wonderful. But I also wanted to talk about how you can look to yourself for help when the adults around you fail you.

I'm kicking around the idea of another story now, tentatively titled 500 Days. The MC (main character) will be a boy whose father has just returned from serving 500 days of duty in Iraq. Both of them have changed a lot during those 500 days, and they have to figure out how to live with each other now. (You can tell that being a military kid had a huge impact on my life - some good, some bad. But it all adds up to who I am now, and even if I'd grown up in one place, bad stuff would have happened, so I'm kind of at peace with it now. But it took years for me to get to that place.)