Who Reads YA?

I'm over at From the Write Angle today discussing the YA market.

Around the bloggy-verse lately I've heard some people say they worry about writing YA because they think the market is too narrow.

Pop on over & let me know what you think. I'll give my opinion too!

I've turned off comments here in the hopes you'll visit me there! Hope to see you :)

Testing!

It's provincial testing week in our province, so my students are working hard to show off what they've learned so far. They're not too happy though!

I don't know too many people who love tests, do you?

In our stories, our characters are facing tests of some kind all the time. Sometimes it's a physical test they have to complete. Other times, it's a test of trust. Still others it might be a mystery or puzzle to be solved.


I'm working on that rewrite (yes, still!) and I'm finding although I do test my characters a lot, I let them find the answers too easily. That's why the rewrite is taking so long. I'm having to rip apart and build up my story on every single page. Make it tougher on them, make them really have to work for those answers.

What's your favourite kind of test to throw at your characters: physical, mystery or a matter of trust? Or maybe something completely different?

Fun & Games - Jemi Style

Ninja Blogfest Master Alex J Cavanaugh is at it again!! This time it's all about fun & games! We're to talk about our 3 favourite games of all time. Easy-peasy!


#3 - Trivial Pursuit

I love this game! I'm usually pretty good at general knowledge stuff. I have one of those memories that does NOT work like a filing cabinet. No organized retrieval system here. I prefer to think of my memory as one of those interconnected knots - like Cobble's Knot in Maniac Magee or the one you create when you put a bunch of people in a circle and have them toss around a really big ball of yarn. I do this when I'm teaching food webs to show kids how life is interconnected.

My memory works like this - makes those quick connections with teeny bits of memory - zipping along connections that don't look connected. About 3/4 of the time, my answers are guesses - things that sound right. Lucky for me, they quite often are. Can I explain it? Absolutely not. I just know my family won't play with me any more...

#2 - Scrabble

As a writer, I obviously love words. Scrabble is a lot of fun for us! I ADORE the iPod version. I usually have 15 or 20 games going at all times. I like the teacher function - I love finding out all these new words that don't look like words at all!

#1 - Jeopardy
(C'mon - sing the Think Music - you know you want to!) I've always loved Jeopardy! Probably for the same reasons I love Trivial Pursuit. Before I had kids, I watched it every night. When my daughter was born, she was an extremely colicky baby. She cried for hours and hours and hours. One of the few things that would settle her was when Jeopardy came on. She'd stop instantly and listen.

And, yes, you better believe we taped it and wore out the tape!!

And, nope, my family won't play this one with me either! I'm not allowed to say the answer until the contestants have buzzed in or someone else has answered it. :)

Check out Alex's site for the list of the other players.

So, what is your favourite all-time game?

If You Need a Boost...

... you only need to go as far as blog buddy Lenny Lee's place -- Lenny's World. He is full of joy and sunshine.

I do believe his avatar is the most appropriate in the entire bloggy-verse! :)

June is crazy busy for me - in our district we have school right until the end of June, & there's provincial testing, track & field, report cards, the usual wrap up stuff, and it's HOT, so it's nuts! When I feel overwhelmed, I head over to Lenny's site for a boost. His posts are not just inspirational, but they're wise too. Always makes me feel better. Scroll through his posts & you'll see what I mean.

Did I mention he's only 11?

So, need a boost? Head on over for some Lenny love - you'll feel better instantly. Thanks for being you, Lenny! You make this world a better place! :)

Have you met Lenny yet? Who do you turn to for that boost?

Familiar Strangers

You know who I mean - those people you see all the time, but never really know.

The man in the red truck you pass at the light every morning.
The lady with the bright pink running shoes you pass on your weekend walk.
The family who shops at the grocery store at the same time you do every week.

In our family, we make up stories about some of them. Our favourite was Herb. He was an elderly gentleman who sat at the picnic table outside his apartment building when I drove the kids to the babysitter's before work. We never spoke to him, but we looked for him every morning. I don't remember which of us came up with the name Herb.

It got to the point where the kids would wave. Herb never waved back. Not sure if he ever saw them wave. One day Herb was joined by a lady friend. Then she started showing up regularly. When it became a daily thing, we dubbed her Herbette.

Then one day, Herb wasn't there. Ever again. We looked every morning. We decided not to stop and ask. Herb and Herbette had obviously taken off to enjoy a vacation somewhere and liked it so much they stayed... That's our story and we're sticking to it. The alternative is too hard.

I discovered another familiar stranger in my life passed away over the weekend. We'd dubbed her Granny on the Go because she could make her wheelchair MOVE! We saw her at Tim Horton's on a regular basis. We saw her whizzing across the parking lot to the local grocery store almost every week.

We never learned her name. Only spoke to help her with her coffee or change at the counter. Yet we feel a loss.

Are we more likely to have these familiar strangers because as writers we tend to notice people? Do you have any familiar strangers in your world?

***
On another note ... thanks so much to the adorable Cherie over at Ready. Write. Go and the lovely Layna over at Layna Pimentel for awarding me the Irresistably Sweet Award! If you haven't met Cherie or Layna yet, do yourself a great big favour and pop on over for a visit. You won't regret it!! :)

Build a World with Elana

The always wonderful Elana Johnson is here. Her AMAZING debut novel Possession is coming out June 7th, and you HAVE to pick it up. It's that good!

Elana Johnson’s debut novel, Possession, will be published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster) on June 7, 2011. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for free download. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog and WriteOnCon, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers. Elana is represented by Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.

Here's a link to the Sampler book club website - very cool idea. You should check it out :)

If you haven't been lucky enough to read Possession yet, check out the first 2 chapters, free, on Elana's website. I know you won't be able to stop there, so here's the link to Amazon where you can buy the book!

Elana's here today to talk about world building. I'm in the middle of creating a world of my own so I can't wait to hear what she says. So, here we go...

***
Play God: Why It’s As Fun As It Sounds


Why, yes, as writers we get to play pretend! Especially if you’re writing in the fantasy or science fiction genres.

Because you get to decide what your world is like. You get to decide where the mountains go. If there are two suns or three. If cool tech gadgets exist, or if people can read each other’s minds.

You, in essence, get to play God.

And I think as writers, we like that. We’re control freaks, really. Ha! (Sad, but true.)

So today, I’m going to talk a little bit about world building, particularly the world building that went into my debut novel, POSSESSION.

The basics:

1. When? I knew I wanted the world of POSSESSION to be a futuristic world, but I did not assign a year to it.

When building a world, ask yourself if you need to assign a year. Or at least ask, “Is this near-future?” (25 – 50 years) or “Is this far-future?” (50+ years.) POSSESSION is far future, in my head. That’s all I needed to know.

2. Where? I also knew where in the US I wanted to set most of it, and I tried to stick to the geography that exists in that area.

When building a world, you need to have a starting place, especially for dystopian. It stands to reason that some landmarks and/or cities will still be standing in a few hundred years. In fantasy, I think you can do whatever your heart desires!

So ask yourself: “What will still be around in 100 years that can be a geographical clue for my readers?” You don’t have to name territories or countries or states. But in *your* head, you should know where your story is taking place.

POSSESSION starts out in what is now Utah, and yeah. From there, when you read the book, you’ll know where everything is. IF you’re a geography buff.

3. How? I knew I needed a “how” for my world. All dystopian does. Readers want to know how our world turned into the one they’re reading about. So in your head, as the author, you should know too.

I don’t think we need to know on page 1, though. Or even page 50. But I think the author should know, and the MC should probably know, and can reference it at crucial times.

In POSSESSION, the “how” is actually something paranormal. I just can’t help myself; I’ve never been able to write a complete novel without something paranormal. So POSSESSION possess dystopian characteristics, science fiction elements, and paranormal qualities.

Overall, when building a world, ask: “How did this world evolve out of the one I live in?” Of course, for fantasy, you might not need to do this. For urban fantasy, though, you need to know how your made-up world fits into the real world as we know it.

I think those are the three basic things that authors need to ask themselves to start building a world. In addition, you need a set of “rules” for your world. Things that always are. Laws. Standards. It’s good to make a list of these (do you really think I made a list? Ha! I did not. But some people might), and refer to them as you’re writing. (I had to make my list after and check for consistency.)

Have you written a novel set in a new world? What questions did you ask yourself to get started?

***

Me again! Thanks so much Elana. I'm really looking forward to playing like a deity now!

Obsession with Possession

Wow!!! Elana Johnson's debut novel Possession is stunning. I adored it. The world is awesome - so well drawn, you know you could pack up and visit it - if you're that brave!

Elana's use of language is beautiful - whether the mood is snarky or scary or steaming! Here's one of my favourite passages ...

Conversations passed between us, things we couldn't say out loud but that patched up all the holes in the silence.

The entire book is full of passages that I had to stop and read again - just to enjoy them all over again. Well done, Elana, well done!

There's another section about The End (and no, it's not at the end, but it's past the middle, so I don't want to quote it!) that is powerful.

And the ending? Wow! Just Wow!!!

If you're not on the Elana rocket, grab your luggage and jump on board - she's heading for the stars.

And before she hits those stars, she's going to drop by here on Monday to talk about world building. I know! I'm excited too. (Can you tell by the ridiculous amount of !!!! in this post?) :)

What's the best book you've read lately? I bet you can guess mine!