Page Turners

My YA rewrites have interfered with my page turners! Definitely a challenge to come up with new ones when I was so pleased with what I had, Ugh! Diving back in.

Swimming through Rewrites- SCBWI Conference on the Horizon

I just kicked my backstory out of the front seat in my YA after reading Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole. I've weaved some of it in her journal and through dialogue and wondered if it was still too much for the first chapter. But after reading Julia give the history of her friendship with Amy, in Jan-Phillip Sendker's A Well-Tempered Heart,I think it's okay. 

I wrote the first draft before editing with my MG novel. My magical realism YA, in first person, is not going that route. I keep swimming back for more rewrites. I have to set limits or my first draft will never reach shore. This is what I'll be working on at SCBWI Spring Writer's Retreat in the Wino country ; ) Temecula. I wonder if everyone will have a glass during first pages? I think it's a good idea, don't you?

Preparing to Dive Back In

I'm beached for the moment while I read Mary Kole's Writing Irresistible Kidlit-The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers. I'm halfway through it and so far, it's two pens up. Chapter 3, What's the Big Idea inspired me to rewrite my elevator pitches. Lover of cats and Audrey Hepburn movies, it was fun to learn about the Save the Cat Moment in chapter 5. It was derived from Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's an action that makes you feel for the character. When you have an unlikable character, it's important to have a strong "save the cat moment." In the book I just read, Lost Voices, by Sara Porter, fourteen year old Luce turns into a mermaid. Her adversary, Anais, is horrible. I kept hoping for that solid "save the cat" moment, but it never surfaced and I felt Anais shouldn't have either.

Challenged to dive back into my YA, this beach time is giving me what I need to do so.    

Detachment

Tibetan monks have been coming to my town yearly for the past couple of years. They set up in one of our local churches where they ceremoniously create a sand mandala within a week. The last day the monks chant as they destroy it with a paint brush. The philosophy behind this: Nothing on this earth is forever-detachment is the path to peace. I was there for the last day and each of us got some of the sand and followed the monks to the beach to release into the ocean. This resonates with me now as I detach to outcomes- being published, growth in my business, and all things in the future. I have put energy into my passions and now I choose to simply enjoy the process, overcome the challenges, and live in the moment.

Happy Pugaltine's Day

I hope this made you laugh. I've never been big on Valentine's Day and neither was this Pug, as you can tell! Scratch that, there was a time. It was in grade school when you celebrated V-day eating cupcakes that a fellow middlegrader's mother actually baked, and giving and receiving Valentines (20 in a box) that mom bought from the supermarket. Ah yes, and the giggles over the sayings on those little heart candies. Now, it's a day without cupcakes, but maybe a little dark chocolate, and knowing expessions of love can happen every day.

Wondering the Internet Sea

Last Saturday I decided to take a surfing break in between my edits. As I sailed across the Internet sea, bugs being the topic, I discovered this little treasure: a Green Orchid Bee. Stunning, right? I wondered for hours gazing at exotic, gem-like insects. I eventually got back to my editing.
My rewrites landed, one submission set sail, and a new course has to be mapped for my PB after receiving a wise critique from my children's book librarian friend, Rebecca today. This evening I read the latest newsletter from Children's Book Insider that gave me some great tools to implement when I dive back into my YA tomorrow. And beyond the horizon, an outline for my middle grade novel's sequel awaits.

Calm waters and creative waves

Calm day at the beach at the end of 2013. With the calm waters, comes clarity. After my last meeting with my critique partner, I've made a decision on my middle grade novel. The holidays took me off course into a new "cea"  of creativity. A first draft to an ocean-life inspired picture book and an outline for another. You never know what those tides will bring in. It was a nice break from my endless editing, and I even got out my drawing pad! Now the deadline wave for submissions is about to crash. Gotta kick-out to catch that wave.