Writing Daze – Page 5 – {fiction, instead of lies}

Tellin’ Tall Tales

July 20, 2007

6:05 am

This is a rare opportunity for those of you who are natural born storytellers. Tall Tales Audio Books is looking for …storytellers. The real, old-fashoined, spinnin’ a yarn kind of storytellers. You’ll know what I mean if you go to the website and take a listen to a story.

This is what those seeking storytellers have to say: TallTales Audio publishes original told stories for children ages five and up. Our emphasis is on exciting, kid-centered tales of almost all genres—ones that will hold a whole family’s attention during a long car trip. …mysteries, old west adventures, and stories about not-too-scary ghosts, talking animals, princesses, kids with super powers, and more.

The format is CD-ROM (no print version), with each one-hour CD containing a series of three, approximately 20-minute long stories. This comes out to roughly 2,500-3,000 words per story. All three stories meant for a single CD involve the same characters.

The ideal TallTales stories have the following elements:
* strong characters that kids will relate to, with the action centered around children or animals
* a story line, setting, or relationship that kids can identify with and care about
* in addition to story narrative, at least several characters who have distinctive voices (this is audio, after all), and
* drama, humor, adventure, or suspense that truly holds the listener’s attention.
TallTales does not publish folk tales and traditional stories from cultures around the world. As much as we admire folk tales, this is not our publishing focus. In addition, TallTales does not publish stories with these elements:
* Death and misery. Although characters may have to overcome adversity such as a death or an illness in the family, we prefer to keep these themes in the background of upbeat adventures that entertain and build self esteem.
* Religion. There are plenty of religious publishers, but we are not one of them.
* Preachy tone. We are interested in wholesome characters and themes, but not stories whose primary goal is to attempt to instill “proper values” or “good behavior.”
* Violence. Our stories keep violence to a minimum and absolutely avoid torture or killing.
* Foul language. No. There are lots of other ways to express strong emotions.

If you wish to create a children’s audiobook for TallTales, please send us the following:
• brief (less than a page) description of three proposed (related) stories
• overview of the market (including age) you envision and why you believe kids will love your stories, and
• summary of your background and experience telling or writing stories for children.
Email this material to info_at_talltalesaudio_dot_com, noting in the subject line “TallTales Submission.”

We will review your proposal and get back to you within approximately 30 days. If we’re interested, we will ask for additional material, such as writing samples. We may also ask for a brief audio sample of your proposed stories. We sometimes prefer to line up actors to voice our stories–but this is always a second choice to working with storytellers who have the skill to do it themselves. If we sign a contract for your stories, we will pay you an advance plus royalties depending on sales.

The website is bright and happy looking, and it’s local to the Bay Area, so you know it’s good people. So, storytellers (and Alkelda, we’re looking at you), start your engines!

Tellin' Tall Tales

by Tanita S. Davis

July 20, 2007

6:05 am

And On A Personal Note: Muchas Gracias!

by Tanita S. Davis

June 19, 2007

12:00 am

1 Comment on And On A Personal Note: Muchas Gracias!

On Writing, Writing Daze

OH. My. WORD.
People donated some SERIOUSLY nice stuff for the 48 Hour Reading Challenge gifts.
I am totally not worthy.

Thanks to THREADLESS, we kind of have a sort of corporate sponsor thing going on with the Book Challenge – how cool is that? (I have dark plans to create my own shirt … in my copious spare time, of course.)

My sincere thanks to authors Celise Downs, Sara Lewis Holmes and the invincible Mo Willems. I look forward to reading and will hang my Pigeon picture in my office.

For those of you who donated little gifts of things special to you, THANK YOU. You are all so amazingly talented! The home made jewelry from Indiana Beth, and the coffee sleeve and journal from, Beth of Just Books (Look at the picture! That’s not just books!), the prayer flag from Tricia – just back from China!!, the coffee card from Nancy at Journey Woman, and the gorgeous framed iris photograph and quote from A Wrung Sponge just made my day. My paper bracelets from MotherReader, my amphibious cell phone holder, the stickers and tea and pencils and bookmark and purse charms — all a little like finding an unexpected gift from a secret pal you didn’t know you had. Seriously: if you knew what kind of day today has been, you would understand why I’m going on and on like this is the Academy Awards.

My forty-five seconds are up. But you know I’d do a Sally Fields and weep all over you if you were here. I really appreciate the spot of fun today. Thanks.

Snippets

by Tanita S. Davis

May 31, 2007

10:42 pm

5 Comments on Snippets

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata, Writing Daze

“She has a duty as a writer, she added, to make the world more accessible to children by explaining it to them.” Britain’s former children’s laureate, Anne Fine has written a book about a Russian boy sent to a Siberean labor camp in order to open a discussion with young readers about politics and the ‘slippery slope’ that war, denial of freedoms and lies can lead to. The Guardian has a short piece on it this week, and will follow up with a longer one later on.

I am really intrigued by this – I’m not sure that my writing makes anything accessible to young adults except to validate their own findings about the world… and to prove that it’s survivable. I’m intrigued by the idea of bringing politics to that table.

Jenna Bush’s ARC of Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope has the traditional ‘decapitated girl’s head’ cover that many YA books seem to sport, and an optimistic first print run of 500,000. Wowza. Coming October 2 to a bookstore near you. AND, I’m ecstatic to discover that the UK Amazon has listed Terry Pratchett’s next Ankh-Morpork book Making Money as being released on 24th September 2007. Another zany little something to look forward to in the fall.

I may be making a mistake.
Well, here goes.
I asked about the Class of 2k8 and the lovely people who run it say, “Oh, sorry, no room, only fourteen spaces and fifteen minutes after we said we were doing it, it was full.” I thought, Okay, no problem, and starting thinking about other things I could do – with people I know (a little, from blogging) whose books are also coming out in 2008, or whose books are maybe at least close in topic or audience to my own… or something. I forgot all about the whole thing.

This week, they said they had an opening.

This week, I turned them down.

It may have been one of the most colossally stupid things I have ever done. It has a low buy-in amount, the 2k7 people have all apparently had a great time and great results, people are lining up to get into the group, AND my editor suggested I run, not walk, to get involved. And I am completely doing something else.

(If my book only sells four copies, you’ll know why.)

Seriously, though ~ as I’ve been working through things like covers (and big props to Mitali on her cool cover choices! – go help her choose the one that goes to print!) and a concept for a website, and thinking about overseas PR visits (my agent came back from Bologna with some “nibbles” for next year from five or six countries, congratulations Jay on the cool languages in which his book will be published), I’ve been realizing that it might be the best thing for me to just figure out what I’m doing on my own, as I really do have my own ideas. (Okay, so nobody is surprised. I’m opinionated. Why else do I have a blog?) I wish The Class of 2k8 the very best — but stand or fall, I think I gotta do this on my own.

Or have I just messed up?

Winding Up for the Pitch

by Tanita S. Davis

May 22, 2007

3:10 am

5 Comments on Winding Up for the Pitch

On Writing, Web Wanderings, Writing Daze

Well, my mother always said it took 21 days to start a good habit (Truthfully, the number was kind of random, I think, but since my mother said it, we shall pretend that it Proceedeth from the Mouth of God like all good girls should), so HipWriterMama‘s 7 Day or 30 Day Challenge inspiration is right on the mark. I wish I could be counted upon to actually DO something for thirty days – but I know I’d better not commit to anything at the moment. I will, however, take a minute to celebrate that I am halfway finished with the last page of my work-in-progress! I am completely relieved.

And also completely in shock.

You know, you read all of these author interviews and stuff, and you hear them say that it sometimes takes them a year to write a novel. (And then you read those other ones that say the author dumped the whole thing out in six months. And then you’re tempted to injure someone.) You think, “A YEAR!?” and you sort of — panic. A year. Twelve months. Fifty-two weeks. Three hundred and sixty five days. Gosh, that seems like such a long time. But truthfully, it’s not. Especially given that most of us don’t do one thing for a whole year, it can be a very short time indeed.

Since June 28th of last year, when I started this current work-in-progress, I have a.) finished a second draft of one novel, b.) the first draft of another, and c.) with constant editing, am now just finishing the FirstSecond draft of this one. (Sometimes I write in FirstSecond, that is, I am unable to write in a straight line, and am constantly course-correcting along the way. You’d think this would mean my agent had less to make red marks on in my manuscripts. It does mean that — I mean, I guess the manuscript is better than it would have been if I hadn’t made any changes, but he still has comments to make. Many, many comments. He has to get paid for something, and he wouldn’t have a job if I were perfect. Right? Oh, just nod your head.) I’ve also submitted a short story every week for our Flickr Fiction project, I’ve entered three contests, one of which is for a Mustard… romance novel (oh, you MUST visit this contest – it’s so awful it’s funny), interviewed seven authors ( The Summer Blog Blast Tour, Coming Soon to a Blogosphere Near You – countdown to June 18!), not to mention written thousands of emails and hundreds of personal journal entries.

This has been a weirdly busy writing year. Granted, the last two weeks of writing have felt like where most of the time from the whole year has settled, but I believe I will be done tomorrow! And when I get there, I will enjoy it. I will sit down and savor the newest Carnival. I will check out Sparrow’s Blog, and read her book, I will read some of the hilarious sounding book recommendations that have come my way. I’ll take a hard look at the big picture (and groan) and enjoy catching up on all I’ve missed.

For a day.

Then, I’ll join the Hip People and get on with the next challenge. Maybe it’ll take me 365 instead of 30, but I’m sure I’ll get there. Eventually.

Passing Through

by Tanita S. Davis

May 8, 2007

11:57 pm

5 Comments on Passing Through

On Writing, Web Wanderings, Writing Daze

Some great things going on ’round the blogosphere, and I want to give you a quick heads up to check them out. First up, don’t miss Colleen at Chasing Ray’s first-Monday-of-the-month Wicked Cool Overlooked Books. She’s started the ball rolling to talk about books some of us have really loved, but haven’t heard much buzz about. I think its definitely a worthy topic, and eventually I plan to join in the fun… someday… when I get my life back from my novel.

Since high school I have cherished the work of Sylvia Plath, and 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast highlights a new poetry collection about her — through her childhood, through her years at Smith, and her marriage. The prose poems are fictionalized, and told from the point of view of the people in her lives. It looks amazing, and the review is excellent. I especially love that this is a YA novel, and I can imagine many teens going to seek out her poetry after. Bravo! Here are the other Wicked Cool Overlooked Books that others are highlighting — Jen Robinson reviews Behind the Eyes by Francisco X. Stork, and Kelly mentions The Unresolved by TK Welsh, which was a Cybils pick. Kelly Fineman also reviews Your Own, Sylvia, and now I really can’t wait to pick it up!

A Chair, A(n empty) Fireplace (because it’s too bloody hot), & A Tea Cozy is reporting on the third book in the well-loved Greenstone Grail trilogy, hurrah! From what she says, I almost want to read the series from the beginning for a refresher before I tackle the end. It is yet another book I am putting on my private list for the 48 Hour Reading Challenge, coming soon to a blog near you…

A Wrung Sponge tackles the Uncle Remus tales, and I feel pleased that a.) someone else struggled with the language in the originals, and b.) that someone else recognized the folktale aspect, and cherished it enough to make it readable.

There are some children’s and YA books I never read because I was worried that they were racist – Uncle Remus was one of those, for a time. If there are others for you, Mitali reminds us of a great way to check our uneasy feelings about racism or sexism in children’s lit. This list is a great resource.

Colleen has a new column for the May Bookslut, and I am really excited that two of the Murder in the Faerie Realm books are right next to my bed. I MUST find time to read — and write reviews. I am woefully behind in everything, it seems.

I am blog-hopping, just not posting much myself these days as I am trying to talk a novel narrative roughly the size of The Queen Mary 2 into turning gracefully toward a conclusion.

Writing novel endings… bites. I’m hanging onto my sanity by my fingernails, here. Crafting a solid, satisfying conclusion is probably one of the hardest disciplines of writing overall. (For me, anyway. For some people, the weariness comes earlier. Like, in beginning a novel. AF seems to relish middles. Writers: we are all so weird.) I don’t want to bore anyone with my lying around on the floor in my nuddy pants, plugging my ears and singing while I try to make all the loose ends tie together nicely without hanging me, but I shall return to the world of the living shortly.

Meanwhile, happy Spring…

Is It Only Wednesday?

by Tanita S. Davis

April 12, 2007

4:57 am

1 Comment on Is It Only Wednesday?

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata, Writing Daze

Round-up ‘Round the Blogosphere

Satirical, thought-provoking and often ‘banned-and-burned’ novelist Kurt Vonnegut died today. I imagine him living to 84, just to aggravate those who hated his books…

YA Author’s Cafe asks an intriguing questions of YA authors and readers — what do you think about the sexual content of YA literature? Head over and log your opinion.

The ALAN Online Book Club’s April read is A Room on Lorelei Street, which is a fantastic book, so the discussion should be equally good.

Did you know that Readergirlz has over 1000 friends on MySpace? How cool are they? The discussion this month on On Point, by Lorie Ann Grover is ongoing, but read ahead, and get ready for The Phoenix Dance next month. Everyone is welcome to chat and join the gang! (The Readergirlz website always has the best soundtrack… and if you find yourself humming The Rainbow Connection for the rest of the month, you’ll know why…)

Fans of the graphic arts will be amused to see the School Library Journal’s graphic humor. It’s actually… both cute and informative. Huh. Go Librarians. (Via Fuse#8

I feel very much like a mole… or a roach. Working these weird hours makes me feel like I’m sleepwalking. It’s been a productive working time, however, so I won’t complain about my odd hours.

Even though it’s practically tomorrow, I wanted to post my National Poetry Month poem of the day… and I’ve just discovered that I can’t. Oh well. Until Gran Died is an unusual poem written by an British children’s Wes Magee… The poem is about death, a subject that causes more furor with Well Meaning Protectors Of Children’s Innocence, almost more than sex. I’ll not post it here, to observe copyright, but please go and read it here. It doesn’t mince words about sadness, but it isn’t overly sentimental either. I really liked it.

I’m pretty sure that noise I hear is my bed calling…

Glued Keyboards

by Tanita S. Davis

April 10, 2007

4:54 pm

Poetry, Panic and Procrastination

by Tanita S. Davis

April 9, 2007

2:44 pm

3 Comments on Poetry, Panic and Procrastination

Literary Life Observations, On Writing, Writing Daze

Occasionally (via Bookshelves O’ Doom), things just come along and attack writers, prohibiting them from doing the most basic things… like, um… finishing books.

I, myself, am close to approaching the plane of panic, but not yet cool enough to be Cecil Castellucci and make up a cool dance and song about it. Dang.

Meanwhile, Saints & Spinners has the true story of Children’s Books That Never Were, 2: The MISgiving Tree… hee! I wish I had the brainpower right now to participate in this; for now I only watch and snicker…

Again at Bookshelves of Doom, people in passing were commenting on how difficult it is to read books wherein the protagonist does something so… utterly… eeek, and the reader reads on with one hand over their eyes shrieking, “No! No! Nooooo!” Well. I have since discovered a fun – or not-so-fun fact. In my most recent note from SuperE, my editor (able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, is she), I have discovered that my personal cringing has apparently extended its tentacles right on into my fiction. SuperE has said that I must not resolve uncomfortable situations so easily. “Spend some more time with discomfort,” she says.

Eek.

Doesn’t that sound like something a therapist would say? “Make friends with silence” or, like a spinning coach, “Let the pain be your friend.” Ugh, and no, thank-you very much.

Sometimes I actually take my time getting to books to which everyone else has given great acclaim simply because the subject matter assures me that I am going to squirm, feel ill, both concurrently, or worse. I am not overly sensitized by sad or tragic stories, but I do tend to cringe from being …embarrassed. I guess it comes from really liking a character and investing in them, and identifying with them, and then, if they do stupid things… angsting for them. Bizarre, no?

It is not reassuring that I wish to keep the world in neat lines, packaged securely, wrapped in tidy brown paper packages. There’s no story in neatly wrapped packages… there is no …anything there. Life is messy. Good fiction should also strive to be so, as good fiction reflects life… So. I am now going back to the sea of blue scribbles on my manuscript and will endeavor to …suffer a bit for the sake of my art. The best ink, it is said, comes tinted with our blood, and

I Want to Write…
==================================================
I want to write
I want to write the songs of my people.
I want to hear them singing melodies in the dark.
I want to catch the last floating strains from their sob-torn

throats.

I want to frame their dreams into words; their souls into

notes.

I want to catch their sunshine laughter in a bowl;
fling dark hands to a darker sky
and fill them full of stars
then crush and mix such lights till they become
a mirrored pool of brilliance in the dawn.

–Margaret Walker
(And wasn’t she brilliant? This poem she wrote when she was only nineteen years old…)

Writing is, mainly, as easy as breathing, except when it isn’t… except for the days when it is impossible. I know that I am stubborn, but I guess passive-aggressiveness isn’t going to get it, this time. Farewell… I boldly go seeking angst, anger and conflict.

Oy.

(This concludes the Panic & Hysteria portion of this post.)

Meanwhile, in a vain (but lovely and amazing and quite pleasant!) attempt to forget just how much work I have to do, I sat down and read eleven books during the course of various gatherings and duties this weekend. In one of them, I rediscovered one of my other favorite Our Jane poems,

Why Dragons?
==========================
The smoke still hangs heavily over the meadow,
Circling down from the mouth of the cave,
While kneeling in prayer, full armored and haloed,
The lone knight is feeling uncertainly brave.

The promise of victory sung in the churches,
Is hardly a murmur out here in the air.
All that he hears is the thud of his faint heart

Echoing growls of the beast in its lair.

The steel of his armor would flash in the sunlight,
Except that the smoke has quite hidden the sky.
The red of the cross on his breast should sustain him,
Except — he suspects — it’s a perfect bull’s-eye.

The folk of the village who bet on the outcome
Have somehow all fled from the scene in dismay.
They’ll likely return in a fortnight or longer,
He doubts that they’ll be of much help on this day.

And then — with a scream — that fell best of the cavern
Flings its foul body full out of the cave.
The knight forgets prayers and churches and haloes
And tries to remember just how to be brave.

The webs on the wings of the dragon are reddened,
With blood or with sunlight, the knight is not sure.
The head of the beast is a silver-toothed nightmare,
Its tongue drips a poison for which there’s no cure.

He thrusts with his sword and he pokes with his gauntlets,
He knees with his poleyn, kicks out with his greave.
He’d happily give all the gold in his pocket
If only the dragon would quietly leave.

There’s smoke and there’s fire, there’s wind and there’s growling,
There’s screams from the knight, and his sobs and his cries.
And when the smoke clears, there’s the sound of dry heaving
As one of the two of them messily dies.

Of course it’s the knight who has won this hard battle,
Who wins in a poem beaten out on a forge
Of human devising and human invention.
BUT:
If there’s no dragon — then there’s no Saint George.

The End: Eventually

by Tanita S. Davis

February 27, 2007

7:02 pm

3 Comments on The End: Eventually

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata, Writing Daze

The eclectically -brilliant Yuji Morales spoke this weekend about her way of writing, and of editing. She talked about making choices in her characters and styles as one must make choices about life partners: you just hone in on the one, and find out how to love them, then love them as if they were your only choice.

As I am currently facing the last two (three? Four?) chapters of my current work, and A.F. has just finished a first draft (cheers!) this strikes me strongly. Can I write like that? Can I just … go with what I’ve got, and not be forever going backwards and forwards all at once, fixing, tugging, arranging?

Frankly, I don’t think so.

I wish I were Ms. Morales — no, I mean, aside from wishing for that 0 dress size, fabulous wardrobe and sense of style — I wish I could write and draw and create with that single-mindedness of devotion to my own choices, with that belief that I have chosen rightly all ready, tidied up, and central to my mind. But I tend to question my own questions, even, which makes editing and revising with my agent like pulling leg hairs with rusted tweezers. One. By. One.

Ow.

Apparently, revision neuroses abound: we all do it so oddly, and so much our own way. Cynthia Leitich Smith was recently interviewed about her way of doing things, in the wake of the release of her vampire novel, Tantalize, which I am DYING (no pun intended) to read. Her discussion about editing gave me hives:

Not Your Mother’s Book Club: How much of your early work changes with revision?

Cynthia: Jeepers. Every time I say this out loud, I hear millions of writers screaming in the distance (and a few in front of me in workshop). But it is a regular part of my process to write a full novel draft, print it to read once, and then I throw it away and delete the file. Really. It’s my way of just getting to know the characters and their world. If I were to build on those first, fumbling efforts, my stories would have pretty shaky foundations. I’m not saying this is for everyone. Some folks can fully envision their work right out of the chute. But me, I figure whatever survives when I open the new document deserves a fair shot. Whatever doesn’t…doesn’t.

World: “Aaaargh!”

Even other writers — really, REALLY, really good writers are hyperventilating over this. But now, I am reconsidering… Is there some combination of steering by your one star and then tossing everything into the wind that could… actually … work? Is it indeed trusting, like the swan in the ugly duckling, that what you are meant to be will out, because it is written in your bones, in your head, in your hands, on your heart? Does it matter if you toss it all out? Would it actually make revision easier not to try to dodge the bits and pieces that you are trying to hold on to, but to throw it out wholly, raze it to the earth, release it, and recreate it out of the dust?

Hm. Hmm, hmmmm, hmmmmm…

Yuyi Morales closed her keynote address with the prayers of Señor Tlalocan (know to many as Tlalocan Tecuhtli, Lord Tlalocan), who is one of the gods of creation in Mexican mythology. She told us that he, as many creators do, sometimes has trouble believing in himself and finishing the tasks set before him. He has candles and altars to his hands, to his pencil and eraser, to his impulses, and to his backside. (Perhaps Señor Tlalocan invented the famous Butt In Chair?) I leave you with this thought:

Mighty Impulses of mine, give me the courage to follow you always.
Might I remember that there is no right or wrong decision, but only commitment to what I choose. Help me stick with my favorite option, and work on it with conviction and passion so as to make everyone believe it was the only choice I had.

Now, go and light a candle on your altar, and then… revise, reverse, refresh, repeat.