Happy Release Day to Beth Revis

No, this blog isn't turning into a bulletin board.  But Beth has been a huge part of my journey, as you already know.  And today has got to be the COOLEST release date ever.  1-11-11!

So here's to an amazing release day for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Razorbill/Penguin), and huge hugs and huzzahs to BETH REVIS!

(One of my, yanno, heroes!)

Drink It Up

You've no doubt heard many versions of "never give up" along the way.

Well, I've got another one for you. A really good one.

Read THIS BLOG POST by author Jodi Meadows. You may even want to print it out and hang it somewhere.

Special, Exciting Announcement!

I'm delighted to announce Jodi Meadows's AMAZING BOOK DEAL!

READ ABOUT IT HERE!

Jodi has profoundly affected my writing and continues to offer undying support and encouragement to me and to other writers. Her success is near and dear to my heart, and I'm SO PROUD of her.

She has worked so hard. SO hard. She deserves this. And the wonderful Lauren MacLeod, agent extraordinaire, deserves huge kudos, too.

Please join me in wishing them both the very best!

Two Good Things

Good Thing Number One:

I'd like to direct you all to Jodi Meadows' post on LINE EDITS. Her reactions and responses to her (fabulous) agent's notes and suggestions will resonate with many of you.

Good Thing Number Two:

We're going to do some 1000-word critiques this week, starting today! If your critter fingers are itchy, be sure to carve out a little crit time today. The 1000-word excerpts give us a chance to go a little more in-depth with critique.

For those of you wondering how to submit 1000 words: At this point, I'm not taking any more submissions. The 1000-word critique queue is almost a year old, with 30-40 entries waiting in the wings. I draw from the queue as time permits, always asking the author for a revised version if one exists (it almost always does). Adding names to that list right now wouldn't feel right.

As we work our way through the current list, I'll eventually start taking new submissions. For now, we'll concentrate on what we've got.

So get your red (or blue) pens ready! It's time to jump into a few of our fellow writers' worlds.

Fabulous Announcement: Book Publication!

It's official: the first Real Book Deal in which this blog played the teeniest part is happening!!

Here are the authors' own words, used with their permission:

Dear Authoress,

I'm not sure if you remember us or not, but we participated in one of your Secret Agent contests back in February 2009. We didn't win, but we did get a ton of amazing feedback from Kristin Nelson and your fantastic readers. We used all of that great feedback to revise our manuscript and ended up scoring an amazing agent in March 2009. And now we've hit another huge milestone. Our debut novel, A Kate Lowry Mystery: The Haunting of Pemberly Brown, will be published by Sourcebooks in Spring 2011. We are beyond excited and we can't help but think that we have you and the community of writers at your blog to thank.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work! We can't imagine all the time and effort that goes into maintaining your blog, but we sure do appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Lisa and Laura

Woot woot and triple woot! It's a measureless honor to have been part of this book's exciting journey.

Read their blog post announcing the deal.

They're even giving away a Kindle to celebrate!

Throw confetti along with me. When two of our "own" make it, we're all part of the happy that happens. You could be next!

Authors Revealed -- Let's Talk!

The results of this small critique experiment have exceeded my expectations. Really, I don't know why things around here keep exceeding my expectations. I need an expectation adjustment.

At any rate, here's what you've been reading and critiquing since yesterday morning:

Critique #1: from from Airman by Eoin Colfer
Hyperion, 2008

Highlights from the comment box:

• I am not hooked at all.
• I like the last paragraph, but the rest is just telling.
• I'm not interested in the character yet.
• I read all three paragraphs, and I have no idea what’s going on here.
• With the right back-of-book blurb or query I could keep reading for a few more pages just to see where this is going.
• This is all telling.
• Not quite my genre of choice...but it is very well written for sure.
• I'm also not hooked and bored.
• Connor may be remarkable, but unfortunately, this writing isn't.
• Didn't like this much at all.
• All tell and no show, and by the third paragraph I'm bored.
• There is a simplicity in this writing that I like, that takes me to another time, another place. I would read on.

The response to this excerpt was overwhelmingly negative. Most of you would not want to continue reading. Yet this novel was written by the bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series. He's a prolific, well-known author with lots of sales.

To be sure, the novel has a Prologue that tells us more of Conor's unusual start in life (he was born in a hot air balloon -- in the air). Reading the prologue may or may not have had an impact on whether or not the above paragraphs drew you in.



Critique #2: from Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye
Aladdin, 2005

Highlights from the comment box:

• I liked it.
• Get to the point already!
• I really really liked the first sentence, but I think everything after it is redundant.
• This didn’t hold my attention.
• This excerpt didn't have a classic hook, but I liked the writing and the voice!
• I'm not inclined to read further.
• Sorry, but I couldn't find a hook and probably wouldn't read any more.
• Nice imagery. Interesting start, but there's no protagonist and no hook.
• I wouldn't say it's very hook-y per se, but it doesn't turn me off, either.
• I like the literary feel of it! I would definitely read on.
• I would read on.
• I didn't mind the writing. I also like the first line - but I'm not hooked.
• This is the kind of writing I love, so I'm already hooked.
• No way. This is drowning in useless description and information.
• I love the voice, but I got a little bored after a while.
• Not a fan, sorry.
• The voice is fantastic, and would carry me on for a while longer.

The response to this excerpt was more mixed -- some hooked, some not. Many of you complained about the inordinate amount of description on the weather (to be honest, this novel's first paragraph is what inspired me to post the excerpts for critique). Yet this book, published in 2005, is the first in a series of five -- and I suspect there are more on the way. (And when you think about it, less than four years to crank out five novels is astonishingly quick.)


Critique #3: from Current Work In Progress by Authoress
Miss Snark's First Victim, 2009

Highlights from the comment box:

• I'm interested in the content, but not in the style or voice.
• I would read on.
• It's close, but not quite.
• I want to read this. I love dystopian fiction.
• I wouldn't read further, because I haven't been given a reason to care about Eric...yet.
• I found this excerpt to be confusing.
• Yes. I love this. I was snagged right at the first line.
• I think the writing is good, but not special.
• I do like this, and I would definitely read on.
• The writer projects good imagery, but the voice wavers a bit here and there.
• I'm absolutely hooked. I love the premise, the narrative voice, and the internal narrative.
• In the end, not hooked, sorry.
• See, this I like. This grabs me.
• I really like this. The writer has created an atmosphere which requires enormous skill to do.

I threw this excerpt in as an afterthought. Why not make the discussion more lively, thought I, by placing an unfinished work alongside the published ones?

It was terrifying. Believe me, I had no delusions of grandeur. I knew I was setting myself up for some potentially crushing blows.

But it was worth the terror. And much to my delight, many of you were hooked and want to read more! (I'm sorry, there isn't any more. I mean, not much. I'm still in the middle of the first chapter.)

So my rough, barely begun WIP grabbed as much -- or more -- attention than two already-on-the-shelves books.

It's not because my excerpt is stellar. It isn't. It's a first pass with a minor tweak or two before I posted it yesterday morning. I didn't knock you all over with my Amazing Writing Abilities. (Well, maybe I knocked over Joe Novella. I'm nominating him for the president of my fan club, I swear.)

In fact, some of you were quick to point out the weaknesses in my writing. I can't argue with you. I mean, it's a first draft. First, with a capital "F". Yes, there's some awkward writing. Yes, there's a cliche or two. The refining process hasn't even begun.

Despite all that, some of you were drawn into the story.

What's my point?

My point is this: The utter subjectivity of Readers At Large is alive and well. As we struggle to perfect our craft, to tighten our prose, to create the Perfect Hook to grab an agent's attention, we must continually bear in mind the fact that there is no such thing as the perfect formula.

I'll say it again.

There is no such thing as the perfect formula!

There is something about effective writing that goes beyond the well-known "HOOK ME!" that we almost always look for in the first page or two of a novel. Then, too, there is something to be said for already-published novels that don't do anything for us -- and may even cause us to wonder how in the world they ever did anything for an agent, let alone a publisher.

So what, then, should we be striving for as we spin our tales? How do we know where to find that "perfect" beginning for our novels? How do we achieve tension, voice, world-building...all within the first couple of pages?

Let's talk.

What are your thoughts, now that I've disclosed the authors? What have you learned? What insight can you share?

Methinks this comment box is going to give us a lot on which to chew.

For Those Who Have Already Critiqued:

I've added one more.

I'm finished now. Promise. *smile*

Okay, critters! Tear into the three excerpts below...

You're not going to hurt anyone's feelings.

Both excerpts are from a novel's first few paragraphs; a classic "Are You Hooked?", as it were. Read them, decide whether they "work" for you and why.

Is the writing good enough to pull you in? Is there a "hook"? If so, what is it? If not, do you want to read on anyway? Why or why not?

Each one is written by a different author. I'll give credit later.

Okay, go for it! I'm ever so eager to read your critiques.

Those Who Go Before Us: Critique #3

The warm rain spattered Eric’s face and dripped from his eyebrows and newly-shaven chin. It was the last time he’d ever feel it.

Unless, of course, they would let him outside the City once in a while. That wasn’t likely, though. He’d read enough, heard enough, to understand that life in the City was completely self-contained, sealed for everyone’s safety and happiness. Eric failed to see how anyone could be happy in a place without rain or wind or rich, dark soil.

Not that anyone had a choice.

Eric twisted another golden tomato from the vine and placed it gently in the bucket. He hated the thought of leaving behind the still-green ones that were growing fat beneath his fingers. It had crossed his mind more than once to leave before the transports arrived in the morning – to blend into the wilderness with the Pariahs, living off the land and the belongings of those who were unfortunate enough to find themselves at the sharp end of a blade in the dark of night.

But no. Eric wasn’t made of that stuff, and he knew it. He’d board the transport with his scanned, pre-approved luggage and settle into utopia with his family. If he was lucky, it would only be for a while. He had no intention of spending his life in a preprogrammed bubble.

Those Who Go Before Us: Critique #2

It was at least forty degrees above warm. The day felt like a windowless kitchen where the oven had been left on high for an entire afternoon. Heat beat down from above and sizzled up from the dirt as the earth let off some much-needed steam. The sky had decided it had had quite enough, thank you, and had vacated the scene, leaving the air empty except for heat. No matter how wide a person opened his mouth that afternoon or how deep a breath was taken, there just wasn't enough oxygen in the air to breathe. The few remaining plants in people's gardens didn't droop, they passed out. And the flags that only days before had hung majestically on the top of local flagpoles no longer looked majestic, they looked like multicolored pieces of cloth that had climbed up and tragically hung themselves.

All this in and of itself was not too terribly unusual, but as the heavy sun started to melt away an odd, wild, uncoordinated wind began to pick up. Not a northerly wind or an easterly breeze, it was a wind with no direction or balance. It was as if the four corners of earth and heaven all decided to simultaneously blow, creating what the local weather personalities in Tin Culvert, Oklahoma, called "beyond frightening." Sure, people could breathe, but now they were getting blown away.

Those Who Go Before Us: Critique #1

Conor Broekhart was a remarkable boy, a fact that became evident very early in his idyllic childhood. Nature is usually grudging with her gifts, dispensing them sparingly, but she favored Conor with all she had to offer. It seemed as though all the talents of his ancestors had been bestowed upon him: intelligence, strong features, and grace.

Conor was fortunate in his situation, too. He was born into an affluent community where the values of equality and justice were actually being applied -- on the surface, at least. He grew up with a strong belief in right and wrong that was not muddied by poverty or violence. It was straightforward for the young boy. Right was Great Saltee, wrong was Little Saltee.

It is an easy matter now to pluck some events from Conor's early years and say, There it is. The boy who became the man. We should have seen it. But hindsight is an unreliable science, and in truth, there was perhaps a single incident during Conor's early days at the palace that hinted at his potential.