New Project: Yay! October 25, 2008
Posted by melissalobianco in Uncatagorized.Tags: brainstorming, guide book, non-fiction, Writing
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Alright, now. I know it’s been FOREVER since I’ve last posted. I mistakenly thought that once the kids went to school I’d have more time to spend blogging and working and otherwise writing. NOT TRUE, says I. I was WAAAAAAAYYYY off on that assumption. I’ve worked, but more of it has been 1) of the research kind - the smoke and mirrors of writing that no one sees – and 2) of the brainstorming kind – the kind that no one cares about. I’ve always been prone to this sort of verbally loose kind of thinking, you know, where something comes in to your head and you have to get it out before it spends too much time bouncing around. If I’d spend more time writing it down and less time discussing it, analyzing it: maybe I’d be published by now!
But alas, I’ve come up with a new project and I’m going in headlong. I don’t want to journalize too much about the actual meat and potatoes of it for obvious reasons, but I would like to take time to work out my approach to it here, on this blog. Going through it one step at a time here, cliche though it may be, would probably serve me well. If nothing else, I will be able to see at any given point where this idea/plan I have will have succeeded or where it will have taken a turn for the doomed.
For now, I’m off to research my new idea. It will be a guide of sorts, a bit niche-y, an idiot-proof tool for a certain brand of consumers underserved to the particular area I will be approaching. I have a professional and educational background useful in this endeavor, and a unique understanding of the line at which the layman and the experienced professional part ways on the subject matter: beaurocracy seems to preclude the layman from crossing it. My job will be to smooth out the translation for the layman, and to make him confident enough to cross the line.
I’m working out the format and the full scope of the information that needs to be covered. I’ve begun my research, begun to gather relevent website references for inclusion in the ms, and begun visualizing my first signing.
A girl can dream.
So, off I go to work. Wish me luck!
Tina Wexler chat over at Agent Query Connect June 26, 2008
Posted by melissalobianco in Uncatagorized.Tags: Agent Query, agent seeking, chat, ICM, submission advice, Tina Wexler, Writing
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Tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, ICM Agent Tina Dubois Wexler will be Chatting it up for all comers at AgentQuery.com. You must be a member to join or view the chat. Fortunately, I have a link for those wishing to sign up here.
Don’t say I never gave you anything.
Out of the Mouths of Babes June 16, 2008
Posted by melissalobianco in Uncatagorized.Tags: Book Reviews, memoir, Novel, Writing, YA
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I recently joined a critique group through the SCBWI which, it needs to be said, kicks ass. From my first meeting, I could tell these were my people. My group has a book discussion as part of each meeting; they dissect different genres, children’s, to analyze the effectiveness of such-and-such technique or clever device or character development, what have you. My first book assignment was Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why.
Now, I didn’t particularly like this book. Short version: I found the female protagonists motivations petty; I found she was unsympathetic enough to possibly be considered the antagonist; cliches a-plenty, too. Basically, if I weren’t asked to read it for a discussion, if I were a teenager reading this book (it is a YA novel), I would have put it down before the second chapter.
BUT…
The technique is the thing. The author chose to reveal to us the tragic end result in the beginning of the story. He chose to drive us around, looking at landmarks - literal and metaphorical – along the way until we get around to the final destination. And while I didn’t enjoy the story, I feel he was genius in his use of this technique. With this, he’s saying, “Alright, this girl dies in the end. I’ll give you that. But wait, let me explain.” And in that way, he’s telling a story – and not a primer on writing an effective suicide note. If he’d have waited until the end to reveal her suicide, I feel that is what would have come across. I would’ve felt alienated entirely.
Now,
I spoke with my niece, 16 – the target audience for this story – who agreed with me that this appeared to be a very detached and naive look at what teens think and feel. Essentially, what a “grown-up” might imagine a given scenario to be. And she suggested I take a look into another YA book, a memoir, entitled The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon; this was a more realistic voice of a teen boy.
I couldn’t be more pleased that my niece is so damn savvy. The day after our conversation, I went to the library to pick up a copy of The Burn Journals which was, I should have suspected, already checked out. It is summer reading for the YA demographic in these parts. I placed a hold, picked it up last Tuesday, and finished it this morning. And, let me say, wow. WOW!
Erin, thank you for suggesting this book. It was what you said it would be, throughout. There wasn’t a boring bit in the whole book; it was casual and real and honest. Couldn’t wait to read more. In his account of his descent into and recovery from his suicidal tendencies, Runyon is dead-on (poor choice of words?)with his recall, his every word serving the story he has to tell. The honesty comes from his not placing blame on any specific outside sources (in contrast to Thirteen Reasons Why), his openness to the idea that he’s neither in control of himself nor completely out of control. I feel more related to this book, as a person who does remember what it was like to think like a teenager, than I did to Thirteen. I have four children of my own: When the time comes that they’re reading YA, I will recommend The Burn Journals.
Thanks again, Erin. You rock!
