Kill Your Heroes

TELL ME THAT AS A WRITER THIS DOESN'T MAKE YOU SMIRK.

Pimp This Novel

Righto. I haven't read this yet, but that's only because I *just* saw it on a V-cart yesterday at work. I was on my way out to go clock out and go home, and walked past in the back room, glanced down because the vivid colors in the cover caught my eye, and literally let out a gasp that would leave other people to think (if anyone else had been in the room) that I'd seen a mouse or something. But how can one not get excited when seeing a book by someone they know? That's right, I know the author. Remember that place I keep talking about? Seton Hill University? The author was in her second year there. She wasn't Sabrina Benulis then (so I supposed she'd gotten herself hitched in the meantime), but I'd been stalking certain writers from the program and she's the first one to land herself on the shelves where I can get all stupid and grab it the day it comes out and skip home with it.

I went to her reading (we all had to do a reading from our book as a part of our graduation assignment - and I've got to add that my reading was SO much freaking fun to do) and had a great time. That's how I know this book should be a good time too. The part I remember the most (as this was back in 2007 I think) was the battle. The violent battle. With some mean metal weapons. I remember making a mental note of certain things - "Be sure to use words like 'gristle' and 'sinew' in the future."

So yes, to get back on point, I'm totally pimping her book. Go check it out. If you like the whole angels battling, humanity's souls hanging in the balance, wtf happened to God? kind of stuff, then it's time you jumped on the Archon wagon. I, for one, look forward to where it takes me.

OH! And P.S. - Tell me that cover isn't absolutely gorgeous. Some authors get the shaft when it comes to covers, but it looks to me like Sabrina got to have her cake and eat it too. Awesome.

Join the Mount TBR Reading Challenge!

Do you own a lot of books? As in, over 25 at least? How many of them have you read? Do you like to stroll into a bookstore and sample all their goodies and then end up walking out with a nice fat bag full of 'em? Or do you get a bunch of them at gifts because, hey, that's what you asked for, right?

So many books, so little time. So My Reader's Block is hosting a cool challenge. It's the Mount TBR Reading Challenge! Time to tackle that To Be Read pile like nobody's business! So skip the library, leave out the ARCs, and focus solely on your massive stack of books for the year 2012. (After all, you bought them for a reason, right? And besides, might as well read them since the world is going to end next year. Don't want to be sitting in the afterlife thinking, "Dang it! I never got to read Jurassic Park like I planned! Now I'll never know if it was better than the movie.")

Head on over to the blog to see about signing up. Will I? I would love to - except my actual reading pile is about 9 books high. So instead, because I like this idea so much, I'm applying it to my TBR list. I have about 50 books on that list. I don't buy a ton of books because I just don't have the money to blow on them. But it seems to take me forever to go back and tackle a book I wrote down - even though I wrote it down because I obviously wanted to read it at some point. So while the rest of you read through your pile of books, I'll be crossing off titles from my list. So, Mt. Kilimanjaro, here I come!

Just Because October is Over...

...that doesn't mean you can't still have some thrills and chills! If you're in the New York area this upcoming July and love to read thrillers, write them, or just think some of the following authors kick ass, you might want to consider checking out ThrillerFest!

At the Grand Hyatt you'll stroll in and encounter all things thrilling. That includes an amazing panel of authors such as:

Jack Higgins
R.L. Stine
Lee Child
John Sandford
Catherine Coulter
Ann Rule
Richard North Patterson
Karin Slaughter

You can't tell me you haven't heard of at least one of those names! Cripes, I'm not even a thriller writer but if I had the money, I'd go! (I read sooooo many Fear Street books as a teen, it's ridiculous - so I'd head to R.L. Stine first!)

*gasp!* But there's more.

Agents, awards, and all sorts of goodies are ready to entertain, educate, and perhaps even get you published!

So if that sounds just as awesome to you as it does to me, head on over to the site and sign up for some thrilling good times!




THRILLERFEST 2011 Promo:

Attention Spans - Ooh, Sparkly...

I managed to click the "Send" button in my email at the right time to be entered into Miss Snark's Secret Agent contest. Amidst all the YA and MG work, I'm one of the few adult pieces in the mix (is everyone writing for YA/MG these days, or is it just me?).

Naturally, my entry is being commented on. The comments are mixed, most of them leaning towards not too jazzed. But there are two things I've made note of:

1.) The 250 words I submitted are actually different from my original 250 words. I thought I was making an improvement, but looking back, perhaps not. Hard to say because overall, it's the same scene, just different words.

2.) Along that same vein, the thing people take issue with the most is the hook and the slow start.

Now, no doubt, hooking a reader from the first sentence is important. After all, there's nothing more frustrating than having a tug on the line only to discover the fish is long gone (and with your bait too, dangit). Some people talked about how there was no action, no fantasy element, no conflict. I'm fine with the criticism - that's not what this post is about. Rather, it got me thinking about our attention spans these days.

Did you know the average time we get of one camera angle in a movie is about 30 seconds? Sure, we may be in the same scene for 15 minutes, but we'll see that scene a bunch of different ways, cut back and forth, and however else they want to splice it up. In 250 words, people expect action. They expect...I don't know. 30 second cuts of actionadventuresexcarcrashesblahblahblahoohshiny! The book has just begun, but some shit needs to go down.

I'm not saying I don't like when wild and crazy stuff happens on page one. I'm all for jumping in feet first and seeing where the current takes me. Plenty of books do that, and they do it well. But there are many others out there that need just a few extra seconds to set the stage. To prep readers for what is to come. Are we too impatient to allow for these extra seconds? A second paragraph instead of just one? Is it safe to assume you know where the author intends to go right on page one? I also don't intend to imply that you should force yourself to read a book that doesn't work for you. No one should wade through something that they don't like.

I've started up a little agreement with myself. I have so many books to read these days that if I don't like a book by the 100th page, I'll put it down. I hate not finishing things I start, but I just don't have time to slug through a book that isn't engaging me in any way. However, I haven't had to do this just yet.

But for some books, are there times when people have been a little too ADD? How about you, reader folk - what books have you read that take their time starting out before they really get rolling? Or are you all about the NOW factor?

Revising...some more

When I was about 14ish, I started writing my first book. I finished it sometime in high school. The story, I think, it still solid and a lot of fun. But when I looked at it (as I'm now 27 and have a Bachelor's in English and MA in Writing Popular Fiction), I realized just how AWFUL the writing is. Hence, it's revising time. Personally, I hate revising, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, ya know?

As I go through the manuscript, I've noticed other things as well. I feel it may be fun to share them with you.

On insults thrown by bad guys and good guys:
Teen self: ...I don't really like these. Oh well.
Current self: ...I don't really like these. *Google*

On battle plans:
Teen self: This is awesome!
Current self: Wtf? This doesn't make any sense!

On numbers:
Teen self: This is will be a big battle.
Current self: Huh. I thought it was smaller than that.

On POV:
Teen self: Now readers can see what everyone is doing!
Current self: What the hell is going on?

On certain descriptions:
Teen self: La la la la....
Current self: I kinda wish I was George R.R. Martin for the clothes. And what the hell side of the planet does the sun rise on?

On genre:
Teen self: This will be adult fantasy, but I'll write it so everyone can read it!
Current self: ...Is this supposed to be teen fantasy? Hmm. This needs more violence.

On names:
Teen self: I'll call that group XX. And I hate that guy's name, but I'll deal with it for now.
Current self: Ohmy...that is so cliche. I'll call that group YY. There. That's more badass. And I still hate that guy's name, but I still don't know what to change it to.

On my dragon:
Teen self: I love my dragon.
Current self: I love my dragon.

On killing your darlings:
Teen self: What's that mean?
Current self: Oh good. I totally do that.

Canon, Classics, and the Love/Hate We Bear Them

There's a fantastic string of comments going on over at Nathan Bransford's blog about classics and canon, and which books should be removed from the invisible list - if any.

Certain books seem to be getting more hate (and I use that term loosely) than others. Moby Dick and The Scarlett Letter seem to be racking up the most points. there's a part of me that actually wants to scroll through that list and tally up the number of people remarking on various books and plays. Some have included the entire work of an author; "anything by James Joyce" or "everything by Hemmingway."

Naturally, there are plenty of people who love what other people hate. Some have mentioned Orwell, and while I've only ever read 1984, I enjoyed it, so there's a chance I'd enjoy a few of his other works. As I continued to read, I started to think about which books were squeaking out of the discussion to remain safe. Like The Great Gatsby. Yet sure enough, eventually someone mentioned how it needed to go.

Then I saw a comment by David Elzey, "[...]perhaps one of the problems with the canon is that we get these books before we're ready for them?" I think he's got an excellent point.

Many of the posters, myself included, wrote about the books we disliked in past tense. Past tense as in "read it in high school." There may be some college references, and perhaps even a few people who finished a classic last month, but I think most of us never would have touched a lot of these books had it not been for high school. The issue is that when you're in high school, you're just not all that interested in what a bunch of dead people wrote. Unless you loved books (like myself) or were one of those good students who were willing to make an effort, you were too busy doing other, more interesting high school things. Jane Eyre isn't interesting until the crazy wife appears in the story. Great Expectations will make you want to hang yourself until Ms. Havisham sets herself on fire. Things like that. I'd like to take a poll and see how many of those posters were in high school when they read the books they claim to have hated.

My book? Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I didn't understand what Ellison was aiming for, and I mildly resented being forced to read it because I was pretty sure my teacher was trying to make some sort of racial statement that I also didn't understand. If anything, I figured if she wanted to do that, why couldn't she pick a book that at least made more sense? But again, as I think back now, I wonder - did I not understand Invisible Man because I was in high school? Would it make more sense now? I don't think I'll ever answer these questions because, to be blunt, I'm not going to attempt reading that book again.

But back to Mr. Elzey's statement. How many of us read more classics now than in school? Or at the very least, are more interested, whether or not we actually act out on our thoughts? I know I am. I read a slew of classics in high school, but not because I wanted to. I read more in college, but even though they were assigned, I was an English major and was already more interested. I read SF classics in graduate school, but I got to choose the books (and that's where Frankenstein and 1984 came into the picture), and I enjoyed them a lot more becuase I was the one making the choices. These were the books I at least wanted to read, even if perhaps I might not enjoy them as I read.

With school over completely, I have an extremely varied reading list, and it includes classics. In fact, when B&N had their Buy 2, Get 1 sale on their classics, I went buck wild. I never used to own any classics or books that fall into the wild canon spectrum. Now I have 18. That includes giant collections of H.G. Wells, William Shakespeare, and Edgar Allen Poe. I still have a few titles in my long list of books to read, and still others that I'm curious about.

People don't like to be forced to do anything, plain and simple. While I'm not for throwing out the classics list, the books considered canon, or no longer making high school students read, I think a lot of these books just aren't meant for that age group, which may play a large part in why people end up hating them. After all, I don't think Melville wrote Moby Dick for a 16-year-old high school student. Most high schoolers are nowhere near the target audience for these books, and other things are not universal like so many others believe (Shakespeare is one of them).

But it is nice to see certain other books are getting onto the required reading list. They're not always going to become favorites with everyone, but hey, that's the world of books for ya!