I Was My Own Mystery (Or, NaNoWriMo's Coming Up!)

I'm gearing up for National Novel Writing Month, which I highly suggest you give a shot if you haven't yet. The goal is to write 50,000 words - a short novel - between November 1st and November 30th. It really helps you practice getting a complete draft out without freaking out about how good or painfully terrible it is (because you really don't have time to edit). I've done NaNoWrimo 4 times, and every time, I've had a premise in mind, a jumping-off point that I got really excited to write about beforehand:

2007- A middle grade-ish mystery based on a question: if a whole town revolves around one person, what would happen if that person were removed? What if the removal was either because of suicide or murder?

2008- A sequel to my main WIP. I've found that the best way to stay excited about my WIP is to keep writing the same characters.

2009- In the form of a diary, one New Adult's (well, the genre wasn't really a thing I knew about yet) journey to uncover the mystery of why five promising teenage actors started disappearing off the face of the earth when they reached adulthood.

2010- A la CSI, an investigation team looks into the murder of legendary characters such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. (Don't worry, they came back to life easily.) Kind of like the show Grimm, but more holiday-based.

The 2010 novel was the only time I "lost" NaNoWriMo, probably because in November:
-I was in a play
-I sprained my wrist during said play
-My laptop fan broke, rendering my laptop out of commission

Even with that against me, I churned out over 30,000 words. But it wasn't finished. So although the other 3 NaNo Novels have gone through many edits and reworkings, I haven't really revisited the 2010 one in the two years since. *dramatic pause* Until tonight.

And man... it's weird.


I had a lot of "Oh YEAH!" moments while perusing the manuscript - i.e, I totally forgot I named the MC "Phil Morane" - which might have been a reference to Phillip Glass and Robert Moran who wrote the opera "The Juniper Tree." And I came across a scene involving music and wine that I remembered was really significant to me at one point - and I described the music as "almost folksy but had a dark edge to it. When the singer entered, his voice was low and pretty gravely." Which seems a lot like this song, which I recall being obsessed with, probably around that time.

But mostly? I don't remember the novel. Which weirds me out. I usually stay very close to my characters in my WIPs, even the NaNos. So was this just more stream-of-consciousness than usual due to lack of sleep? How much of the characters' rants are things I was actually thinking and feeling at the time? Were their wants my own?

To some degree...yeah, looks like it. It's so bizarre.

My point of this whole thing? I'm really excited for NaNoWriMo 2012, especially because I opted out of doing it last year. Even if the new premise in mind is really weird (it's sort of a semi-surrealist speculative look at my generation in ten years) and even if nothing else comes of it past November, the frantic writing will say things about Tome in November 2012 in ways far better than a diary could. So even if you don't think you can "win" NaNoWriMo, I really think you should do it. You'll surprise yourself.

Have you done NaNoWriMo before? If yes, what do you think of your MSs now? If not, do you think you'll try it?

Tome

New Template. How's it Working for Ya?

My old template here on TWILS was being buggy about links so I decided it was about time I revamped it, also addressing a reader's concern that the white text on black background was difficult to read.

Therefore, I changed a few things. I apologize for aspects of past posts that don't jive with the adjustments, and hopefully I'll amend all those at some point so they stay readable.

It's not that difficult to change blog settings, I've found, despite clicking the word "Advanced" to change colors of individual pieces. So if something looks weird to you, anything from "this is really jacked up on my mobile device" to "that color is just gross," let me know and I'll look into it.

Thanks everyone!
Tome

Bad Advertising?

A popular theory among advertisers seems to be that if you make your product as visible as possible, people will try it out, and you'll get to sit at the popular kids table. So in the thick of Fall TV, every show wants people to tune in and give 'em a shot, which means lots and lots of advertising.

I've been spending a lot of time in a big city, one with billboards stacked on billboards, so every day I see ads for new TV shows. Perhaps the most prevalent ad is for 666 Park Avenue. They even have devoted a method of public transportation to this by decorating the seats and interior to look, I dunno, classier, I guess, in honor of this show.

The tagline for 666 Park Avenue is "New York's most seductive address."

Like I said, I see ads for this every day. But do these ads tell me about? Not even remotely. Here are the things I've gleaned from such ads:

-It has that dude who played Locke in Lost
-It has fancy beautiful people, so they must be wealthy
-There will probably be kissing.

And, oh yes- there will be stairs.

Also, I'm not sure how their tagline ties into their show. "Seduction" seems like a really huge understatement after "666." You can't tie The Devil's Number, Sign of Vicious Evil into mere seduction and tell me it's not a stretch.

I caught the last few seconds of a commercial for this show once. It looked like something supernatural was going on. Uh...what?

Finally, I read a blurb about the show. Here it is, from  TV.com:

Combine the eeriness of Lost with the ruthlessness of Desperate Housewives and you get this adaptation of Gabrielle Pierce's book series. A melting pot of ABC alums, the supernatural drama stars Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters) and Rachael Taylor (Charlie's Angels) as an innocent Midwestern couple who get hired as resident managers of The Drake, a tony Upper East Side apartment building owned by Lost's Terry O'Quinn and his wife, Housewives's Vanessa Williams. The catch: The residents have all made deals with The Devil to have their deepest desires fulfilled.

Dang. Now that told me more than any of their advertisements did. And hey, deepest desires? Maybe some reference to The 7 Deadly Sins? I'm interested. But I would not have gotten that from seeing the same people on all the billboards try to stare into my soul.



So yeah, I know the name of the show from all the advertisers' efforts. But did that make me want to watch it more than the shows that had fewer, but clearer, advertisements? Not really. It might be an unpopular opinion, but I personally don't think that if you slam people with the same thing over and over that will automatically make them like it.

Have you seen the show? What are you watching this Fall? (It seems like everything I watch is in its Farewell Season...)

Let me know!
Tome

Book Review: BROKEN by A.E. Rought

WHY I PICKED IT UP: I was sold on the concept the second I read it on NetGalley. This tale is described as a modern Frankenstein, a romantic science fiction novel for Young Adults that ties Gothic literature into contemporary times. Truthfully, I'm a huge fan of Shelley's Frankenstein and tales about science and experimentation anyway. But even readers for whom Sci-Fi YA is outside their comfort zone can appreciate the personable protagonist's juggling of high school, family, and new love.
 
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Emma Gentry is having trouble getting over the tragic death of her boyfriend, Daniel. When she isn't at school, she's probably wandering around the graveyard, wishing Daniel had a grave (instead of an urn) where she could honor him. She can't imagine loving again; that is, until Alex Franks shows up. This loner, designer-clad transfer student attracts gossip and glances the second he steps into Shelley High- and from day one, he has eyes only for Emma. The more Emma gets to know him, the more bizarre similarities she notices between him and Daniel, both in appearance and mannerisms. Is her broken heart just reading coincidences into this new boy, or is Daniel haunting her in a very real way?

THE POSITIVE: 
*The novel starts with a very appropriate quote from Paradise Lost. I'm a fan of quotes at the beginning of books- it sets up the theme in a poetic, universal way- but I do think it has to be done right. This one was fitting, and launched me right into the mindset necessary to tackle this tale from the best angle.

*References to Gothic literature. I'm a big fan of Gothic literature, but you don't have to be to pick up on some of the references (which, tastefully, aren't always pointed out in glaring lights, but left to wink at the reader). I found a handful, but you might spot some I didn't.

*Rought's language... I'm really in awe of it. She pulls off metaphors and imagery in such an artful, beautiful way- and it's done so casually. Here are some examples:

[When Emma is calling her friend Bree and Bree picks up right away:] "The first ring dies a fast death."

"The siren call of Daniel's old comfort is too strong to resist."

"Late afternoon light sits on the curves of [the stone angel's] cheekbones like tears."

This really shows her skill as a writer. Young Adult romance books tend to focus on plot and character more than the turn of language to draw readers in, but Rought proves that you can have that cake and eat it, too.

*Characters you root for. I wanted Emma to find love after Daniel. I wanted good things for Alex. This is crucial in a YA romance novel, especially one in first person. Rought successfully built round characters, along with a cast of quirky or (appropriately) vile secondary characters.

*Self-referencing. Rought brings in phrases and images that repeat in both obvious and subtle ways throughout the novel, which ties it together. One of the more striking ones? "It doesn't beat for me." -You'll have to read the book to find out what that means- and all of its meanings- because I don't want to spoil it.

THE NOT-SO-POSITIVE:

*Redundancy. I know that's an ugly word, and I don't mean there was a lot of it. But Emma had similar thoughts over and over, similar situations happened multiple times, and some twists were obvious enough through reiteration of clues that I found myself just waiting until they occurred to Emma, too. The novel was also peppered with descriptions of Emma's clothes, coffee, and breakfast. At first it's great because it humanizes her. But by the time I got toward the more serious, climactic moments, I could have done without knowing what she was eating- there were some more important elements I wanted to get back into.

*Pacing felt off sometimes. Mostly because Emma has a lot of dream sequences. Not a lot, but enough that it slows down the story. The dreams are full of vivid, delightfully-horrifying imagery, but I felt like they would have been more powerful if trimmed to some of the more significant ones. Kind of related to the last point, but she mulls over the same sorts of thoughts. The situation is a lot for this poor girl to take in, but readers will pick up pretty quickly on what she's feeling.

*The characters, as complex and full of voice as they were, didn't always react how I thought real human beings would. I won't give away anything here, but sometimes an awful thing would happen and someone would either not respond or take far too long to, which pulled me out of the story a little. However, I can only think of two significant times where this threw me, so it's not hard to get over.

*This title is not available until January! Which is not a criticism, just a shame- it would make a great Halloween read. But who says you can't have a little Halloween in January?

OVERALL RATING: Recommendable on multiple levels. If you're a fan of Young Adult novels, creepy tales, and romance, read this. Even if you're not, give it a shot anyway, because Rought gives a good lesson on how to incorporate artful language into a character's voice, even when you're dealing with a first-person perspective. Was it an earth-shattering, changes-the-way-I-read-books-forever kind of novel? I can't say that it was, but it's not really supposed to be that kind of book. It does a great job with the Romeo and Juliet meets Frankenstein vibe- internal and external forbidden love in the midst of a firestorm of moral quandaries. It makes Gothic sci-fi relevant to modern readers, and this take makes the novel different than anything else I've read in the YA genre. That alone makes me applaud BROKEN, and I'm really glad I read it.

Please check out this title when it becomes available January 1, 2013 in the US (January 3 in the UK). Let me know what you think of it!

Tome


~Special thanks to NetGalley, Angry Robot, and A.E. Rought for providing the materials for this review.~

September 15- Celebrate a debut author, just in time for Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays - probably the one I get most into - so I always try to find a good read for around that time.

Well, what good timing! September 15, My Heart Be Damned by Chanelle Gray comes out.

Here's why it's cool: not only does the book sound interesting on Goodreads (full of creepy escaped souls that need to be tracked down), but this is Chanelle's first published book- and she totally deserves it. For example, one of my favorite writing blogs ever is YATopia, which she contributes to. YATopia showed me the power of social media in the world of Young Adult literature. So many doors opened up after that. And their advice is great.

Chanelle's own blog is fascinating as well - in fact, right now she's running this fantastic, prize-filled contest. Is is too late to do simple tasks that gain points to go toward the larger prizes being raffled off, you ask? (Though you probably did not ask it like that, I believe I asked that rather awkwardly.) Well the answer is: NOPE! Head on over to her blog and you can still participate in everything.

Don't forget to look for this exciting new novel when it comes out, and send Chanelle your support!

~Tome~

WriteOnCon is Underway!

If you don't know what WriteOnCon is, then head on over (just click the image below). It's a 2-day event (8/14 and 8/15) where agents, publishers, and authors give great advice and hold contest for writerly hopefuls. And because it's all online, you can attend this conference in your pajamas!

But I'll argue that the best part is actually the community of hopefuls itself. For example, you can get your queries, synopses, first 250 words, and first 5 pages critiques by category (like YA or MG). And chances are, you will get some really great advice. Here's why: not only are people really curious and helpful, but anyone who posts something must critique five works in return.

Although the "Ninja Agents" and interactive workshops only last a couple of days, it's open beyond that for anyone who wants advice on their work. Last year, I JUST missed the conference, but I was still able to get helpful advice and find awesome critique partners.

Do you attend WriteOnCon? What have your experiences been? Or are you new to this?

And hey, if you're an attendee, feel free to stop by and friend me or say hey on my page! I'm Tome on there as well. :]

Book Review: WHY WE BROKE UP by Daniel Handler, Illustrated by Maira Kalman

 It's good to be back! Sorry I've been gone from the blogosphere for so long. I had family reunions to attend, moving plans to make, and lots of books to read before the summer was up- which means there will be a lot of reviews appearing soon!

WHY I PICKED IT UP: It was on a recommended list at my local library. Also, it's basically a picture book for teens. Definitely was excited to check out this unique format.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Min Green has decided it's time. Her recent breakup with basketball star Ed Slaterton still hurts, but she needs to take one crucial step in order to get over him: give him all his stuff back. Not just his possessions, but things that she's picked up along the way in their relationship (ticket stubs, notes, books, a rubber band, all of which are illustrated by Kalman). Using the various objects as landmarks in their relationship, Min writes a letter to Ed recounting their relationship from beginning to end, explaining to him in great detail all the little reasons - and the big ones - why they broke up.

THE POSITIVE: Because the entire book is a letter written to Ed, it is told in a combination of first and second person. That means nearly the entire thing is her voice, which Handler pulls off well. Guys can't always write girls well (especially from such an intimate POV), but he does it.

Also, can I just point out something mindblowing? This is Daniel Handler. This is the dude who wrote a long series (of Unfortunate Events) under the name Lemony Snicket. I am a huge fan of that series, but I didn't realize it was the same author until halfway through when I read the author's jacket blurb. It feels like a completely different author. COMPLETELY. (Except for one point where he wrote a fake newspaper article... I got a lot of Snicket vibes from that.) Really shows his talent as writer.

Note: Min Green does this thing a lot where she'll reference something (like the two things Ed pulls out of his pocket) and then it'll look like she's forgotten to explain it. Nope- just be patient. Some things sound weird at first, but she does explain everything.

THE NOT-SO-POSITIVE: OK. So, I mentioned it's a totally different style from many of Handler's other works. But before I realized it was him, I wondered if this was this author's debut novel. While a lot of the style is realistic and conversational, it's sometimes hard to follow because of the intensely long run-on sentences and the lack of commas. Many times, I had to reread a sentence in order to understand it. Making your readers jump through hoops is something you typically want to avoid unless there's a really great thing on the other side of that hoop, and my patience was tested a bit.

OVERALL RATING: Fun, charming, and worth a read. If nothing else, then for the style and cool artwork. It goes by pretty quickly, and Min is quirky enough that she stands out boldly among YA heroines. It's artfully woven together in terms of plot points, and this novel will not leave you dissatisfied upon its conclusion.

Agree? Disagree? Have you read other works by Handler? I'd love to hear what you thought of them- this is the first non-Snicket one I've picked up.