Why I Can't Give Up Caffeine: A Day in the Life of My TAG Class

Here's a condensed version of a conversation in my math class today. The topic was area and perimeter.

(4th grader with hand wildly waving in the air)
"Mrs. Mac! Mrs. Mac! If Spongebob Squarepants is already squared, when you multiply him by himself is he cubed?"

(6th grader rolling his eyes) "No. If you multiply Spongebob Squarepants by himself, you add the exponents. Therefore, Spongebob Squarepants squared is Spongebob to the 4th power."

I ran this past one of my writer friends. Her thoughts:
"Spongebob Squarepants already gives the appearance of being Spongebob Cubepants, but since he is from a 2-dimensional medium, perhaps the question is moot."

Please know this: I NEVER enter the classroom unless I am FULLY caffeinated!

Surfacing for Air... Again

I apologize for not posting regularly. I am working hard to meet a self-imposed deadline for revision. I plan to have revisions and synopsis complete before February so I can start sending out my manuscript. I'm ready to start another project!

Stephen King said, "The road to Hell is paved with adverbs."

Lord help me. If that's the case I'm well on my way...

Keep writing!

Surfacing for Air...

Wow. It's Thursday. What happened to the week?

I've had my eyes glued to the computer screen for days as I revise, revise, revise. A task, I might add, I'm finding I enjoy. It's very different from the creative process. Delete an adverb, fix a transition, strengthen a plot point, delete another adverb... all spit-n-polish.

My family has been great. They've left me to work in peace, mostly. The question asked most often? "We ARE having dinner - right, Mom?" I'm on a revision roll so dinner tonight is pizza - delivered, of course. At least I remembered...

Satire: Gotta Love This

The New York Times published this article by Julian Gough yesterday: THE PLOT CURDLES

Enjoy!

A Newbie's Thoughts on Revision

I'm almost through with the first round of revisions of my MG novel. It's amazing how the manuscript can provoke such extreme emotions from me as I read.

This is so cool! I wrote that?!! (grin, giggle, pat self on back)

Or,

What a load of garbage, bunk, drivel... and other words I may think but not write because I know my mother reads my blog.

And so I edit. I edit out the hundreds of "as she" that connect the dialog tags to a subsequent action. I delete unnecessary words that seem to creep into the manuscript uninvited. Words like "just" and "really." I send a long raspberry to the multitude of adverbs and redundant adjectives now missing from my chapters. I look at the new word count, and I'm amazed to see I've cut nearly 3000 words.

My husband says, "Be careful, you'll edit the life right out of it."

A whole new set of worries begin to form in my head. What if he's right? What if it was better before I tampered with it? What if I'm delusional to believe I could possibly write anything worthy of publication? "What if" land is rarely a good place to go.

I realize that I'm too close to my project to see it objectively, so along the way I've enlisted the help of two, trusted critique partners. One who critiqued each chapter as it was finished (thanks KW!), and one who is looking at the whole novel before I send it out (thanks DR!). The goal is to begin submitting this month (ooh, were those butterflies?).

I have to admit, I'm excited - but not stupid. I know the odds are tremendous against publication. I surf the forums and read the hopeful and sometimes frustrated posts of those in the trenches. I'm joining them soon, but my hope is I won't be there long. I delight in the "Good News" posts at Verla Kay. Maybe someday I can post there too!

Booklist 2008

There's never enough time in the day to read as much as I would like. Work, children, home and church keep me quite busy. I tend to marathon read in scheduled spurts - spring break, summer, Christmas holidays, but I always have a book in my bag. These are the books I managed to squeeze in this past year:

2008
Babbit, Natalie, Tuck Everlasting
Bell, James Scott, Plot and Structure
Bray, Libba, A Great and Terrible Beauty
Bray, Libba, Rebel Angels
Bray, Libba, A Sweet Far Thing
Bunce, Elizabeth C., A Curse Dark as Gold
Collins, Suzanne, The Hunger Games
Collins, Suzanne, Gregor the Overlander
Collins, Suzanne, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
Collins, Suzanne, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
Collins, Suzanne, Gregor and the Marks of Secret
Donnelly, Jennifer, A Northern Light
Gaiman, Neil, Coraline
Gordon, Roderick; Williams, Brian, Tunnels
Haddix, Margaret Peterson, FOUND
Juster, Norton, The Phantom Tollbooth
Le Guin, Ursula K., A Wizard of Earthsea
Lord, Cynthia, RULES
Maar, Melissa, Wicked Lovely
Maar, Melissa, Ink Exchange
Maas, Donald, Writing the Breakout Novel
McMann, Lisa, WAKE
Meyer, Stephanie, Breaking Dawn
Meyer, Stephanie, The Host
Mull, Brandon, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague
Prineas, Sarah, The Magic Thief
Riordan, Rick, The Battle of the Labyrinth
Shan, Darren, Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare...
Schmidt, Gary, Wednesday Wars
Weisner, Karen, First Draft in 30 Days
Williams Chima, Cinda, The Dragon Heir

I usually find an author I like and devour everything they've written. If I really like them I reread them immediately. Many of the books on this list have already been read twice - A Curse Dark as Gold, The Phantom Tollbooth, Melissa Marr's books, Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull's books. Cinda Williams Chima's Warrior Heir series is fabulous. I read all but one of the Suzanne Collins' Underland series in the last two weeks. I'm anxiously waiting for the last book to come. I've got it on order. It should be here today or tomorrow!

Any recommendations? I'm always looking for a good book!

It's Resolution Time

As I begin writing this entry, 2009 is one hour old. I really should to go to bed, but I decided I need to make my writer's resolutions official. Here goes:

1) I will write six days a week - no excuses.
2) I will continually seek to improve my writing skills by writing, attending a monthly critique group, attending at least one writer's conference, reading lots of MG and YA literature, and reading books on the craft of writing.
3) I will actively seek agent representation
4) I will write a synopsis for a sequel to the book I just finished writing.
5) I will finish writing the MG novel I began during NaNoWriMo.

That should keep me busy...

Happy New Year to All! Keep Writing!