Month: December 2007

A Hogmanay Hootenany

by

December 31, 2007

11:47 am

5 Comments on A Hogmanay Hootenany

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata, World o' Blogs

Wow, it seems like only yesterday, the Cybils were still in the nomination stage, and we anxiously kept checking the list to see what else we could track down at the library. And now I can report that Saturday night at …um, midnight in the UK, anyway, our list was pushed screaming into the world.

Oh, it was not an easy birth by any means.
There were those books which each of us were clutching and sobbing over and writhing on the floor and drumming our heels to force everyone else into voting for them because they were our PRECIOUS LOVELY BABIES, but… *sigh* There’s just a limit to the number of books we can foist off on the judges without giving them hives, and that’s all there is to it. We’ve got to stop somewhere, but people, the books of 2007 — are amazing. Thank-you to everyone who took part in the Cybils, by nominating or reading or talking up your favorite books. It’s all about the books, isn’t it? Look for the Science Fiction/Fantasy shortlist on January 1 to ring in the new year.

So much fun stuff going on! British station ITV has an interview with JK Rowling tonight which the British SCBWI is buzzing about (here’s a clip). The documentary follows her through the last year of writing the Harry Potter series. So many people on our Cybils team really responded strongly to the book, so here’s hoping this shows up on American TV for the HP7 fanbase sometime soon.

Quite an honor has been bestowed upon children’s author Jacqueline Wilson. She’s now Dame Jacqueline, having been made a peer of the British Empire. I’ve only read one Jackie Wilson book, but The Illustrated Mum, about a mother with tons of tats who isn’t always able to take care of her kids, due to her bi-polar disorder, left me in tears. She’s an amazing writer, is our Dame Jacqueline, and I look forward to reading more of her books now that I’m in the UK (and the Cybils are over).

Hey – want to learn a little Latin? A little learning isn’t always a dangerous thing.

Once a graphic novel about an Islamic childhood, told from the point of view of a young girl, Persepolis is now a short film. Has anyone else seen this? I’m very interested, and the graphic looks really interesting. Hmm! Something else to look forward to on the TBR list.

Bottom Shelf Books leaves us laughing this year with the best list of book resolutions — from book characters themselves. The Giving Tree vows this year to stop letting that wretched little boy walk all over her. Stop by to see who else is making resolutions. And don’t forget to leave one of yours!

It’s bad luck to wish you a Happy Hogmanay, according to Scottish tradition, so I’m not — until tomorrow, anyway. Enjoy your burning sticks (which is what a Hogmanay is, literally), fireworks, bubbly drinks, and animal-skin wrapped processions. (Also part of historic Hogmanay celebrations, strangely enough. And don’t get me started on the decorated herring in Dundee). Find a good looking dark-haired man to be the first over your door step after midnight, visit friends and bring them the traditional gifts of coal, shortbread, salt, black bun (a kind of fruitcake) and whiskey — and play safely, kids.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Poetry Friday: Thoughts for a New Year

by

December 29, 2007

7:59 am

2 Comments on Poetry Friday: Thoughts for a New Year

On Writing, Poetry Friday

Ah Poverties, Wincings, and Sulky Retreats
by Walt Whitman

Ah poverties, wincings, and sulky retreats,
Ah you foes that in conflict have overcome me,
(For what is my life or any man’s life but a conflict with foes,
the old, the incessant war?)
You degredations, you tussle with passions and appetites,
You smarts from dissatisfied friendships, (ah wounds the
sharpest of all!)
You toil of painful and choked articulations, you meannesses,
You shallow tongue-talks at tables, (my tongue the shallowest of
any;)
You broken resolutions, you racking angers, you smother’d
ennuis!
Ah think not you finally triumph, my real self has yet to come
forth,
It shall yet march forth o’ermastering, till all lies beneath me,
It shall yet stand up the soldier of ultimate victory.

This one says it all. Here’s to the real self in the new year.
Ms. Mac is hosting (bravely wrapped in blankets) at Check It Out.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Moving Forward, Expanding Horizons (Finishing Books…)

by

December 28, 2007

8:40 pm

3 Comments on Moving Forward, Expanding Horizons (Finishing Books…)

Book News, On Writing

Whenever I imagine that I will never manage to finish a novel, I think of what Libba Bray went through to finish her trilogy, and then I feel a little stronger. Even the best and highest profile writers have really bad days sometimes.

Via Squeetus Blog, Shannon Hale announces that she’s going on a book tour with Libba Bray. What a fabulous idea! Though from two different houses (Bloomsbury and Random House), the authors’ books are apparently targeted at basically the same crowd, so it made sense for them to tour together, in order to get the kind of audience they both deserve.

If nothing else, it means they won’t sit at a book signing table all alone if no one comes!

Awhile back,via Mitali’s Fire Escape, I learned of a “Expand Your Horizons” challenge started by Melissa at Book Nut. After realizing some of her own reading limitations, Melissa challenged readers to either read four books by authors in one of six categories (you can read more than one category, but you must read four books; not two books in one category and two in another) OR read six books, one from each of the six categories below. The categories are:

1. African/African-American.
2. Asian/Asian-American (This is not just East Asian — Chinese, Korean and Japanese — but also Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, and the Central Asian -Stans.)
3. Hispanic/Latin American
4. Indian/Indian-American (Again, books by Indian authors; not books by white authors set in India.)
5. Middle Eastern (Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Turkey…)
6. Native Peoples (Can include Native American, Inuit, Polynesian –Maori, Samoan, etc — Siberian natives and Australian Aborigines.)


The Expanding Horizons Challenge will run January through April of 2008, and while I’m not entirely sure I’ll have the time to jump into the whole thing with both feet — revisions are calling — I’m pleased to have completed my first book in the series. I’ve read Miyuki Miyabe’s Brave Story — all eight hundred sixteen pages which make up the two volumes. Stay tuned for my (post Cybils) review, and I hope that when the new year is over, you consider joining the challenge, too.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Ypulse and Teen Pregnancy

by

December 28, 2007

11:52 am

2 Comments on Ypulse and Teen Pregnancy

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata

What are the novels which you feel accurately portray teen pregnancy? Ali at Ypulse, citing a recent string of popular films such as “Knocked Up” and “Waitress” in which an unplanned pregnancy occurs, is a little miffed that the “cool factor” seems to come into play.

The cool factor is that ineffable movie-shtick which crops us in blockbuster films which makes everything okay. As in, Ooh, I had everything going for me, and I was a hockey player, but an injury meant I had to go out for pairs ice dancing and meet an annoying but beautiful girl who piqued me into vicious fights with her — until we inexplicably fell in love. It was The Cool Factor!” Or, as Ali amusingly puts it, “I had everything going for me, and oops I accidentally slept with an annoying stoner. Hey, with a good soundtrack anything can work.”

Yes? No? Is dealing with teen pregnancy too “after-school special” to matter anymore? Especially those of you reading YA for Cybils — wha’ts out there? Is it all neatly and easily dealt with? What titles accurately reflect reality? Or is the reality that bad? Join the conversation at Ypulse.

Meanwhile, Bloomsbury publishing is concentrating on international book rights to find life after Harry Potter for their company. At least they’re not going around saying they’re looking for the next J.K. Rowling. How sick I am of that.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

On Comebacks and Carrying On

by

December 28, 2007

9:48 am

3 Comments on On Comebacks and Carrying On

Literary Life Observations, On Writing

I don’t write resolutions.
I am horrible. horrible, horrible at consistency. The only routine I have is randomness, so there’s really no point in resolutions for me.
What I do like to do is create opportunities to start over again. The end of a season, the beginning of a new year — these are reasonable times to start over.

I was replying to AF’s thoughts on the new year, and my comments got long enough to be their own post! So, no goals to share, just a few thoughts that can be applied to anything:

“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.” – Sir Winston Churchill

Need a bit more? “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” – also a Churchill quote.

I think of salmon swimming upstream, when I think of writing. Yeah, it’s about that hard sometimes, but every year, salmon get the job done. Bears, shallow water, eagles and losing their way don’t stop that homing instinct from operating. They make the effort regardless of the difficulty.

Our writing group has a mock “wall of shame” where we report to each other our rejection letters. Even as we admit our failures, we are also admitting our attempts. Failure, in the face of unremitting attempt, is transient. It, too, shall pass…

Another skill salmon possess is the ability to change the direction of their attack. They’re always heading home, but the difference between leaping up between these two rocks on the left, and above this chipped rock on the right is small. I think human beings don’t know how to change direction enough. Sometimes as writers we feel our identity is tied up in a certain kind of writing. It’s worth considering nonfiction if you only write fiction, a female protagonist if you only write males, a story about a mother and daughter if your work is overpopulated with fathers and uncles. And it can go deeper than that. Really looking at your work will show you themes and theories that you constantly espouse. Are they true? Could they use an update? A change might do you good…

Salmon can’t quit. It’s not up to them to decided, “Ah, didn’t want to go back to the spawning ground anyway.” If you have a writing group and friends to keep you honest, you’ll find you have no choice, either. People in your corner are the best gift you can give yourself. A writer is sometimes only as strong as their writing group.

Persist. The only way to make a comeback is to continue onward. Think of all of the entertainers and sports personalities who have made comebacks — repeatedly, in some cases. They simply trained and rehearsed and leaped into the national consciousness again. It’s possible for anyone.

Attitude, they say, is everything. Since it’s not over ’til you say so, don’t.

*Click on the graphic if you can’t see it clearly. The little puzzle says, “What’s the difference between what you think and what you do — and what you’re doing?” Seriously: a point to ponder.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

A Writer's Holiday…

by

December 26, 2007

11:46 am

Leave a comment on A Writer's Holiday…

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata

The great Garrison Keillor has a funny little website called Writer’s Almanac that I very much appreciate. You can get poetry and his little diatribes via email, and I always appreciate what he has to say about writing. When the holidays are over, some of us will be up against deadlines (Robin and Sara and maybe Mitali), and others of us will have to wade into revisions yet again (Me. Sigh). Writing is never just coming up with a great idea and sitting down. It’s reading it out loud, it’s refining and defining and sharpening and tightening. It’s a lot of work… but it’s truly one of the best jobs in the world.

“And when the book is done, which it will be, and it’s in the bookstore, people ask, “How does it feel?” You say, “Great!” but that’s not true. You feel relief, and disbelief, and a sort of sorrow that it’s gone and what will you do with your life now? Also there is that long passage in the sixth chapter that you meant to rewrite and did not and now you know you should have. And there is that typo. The publisher sent you a copy of the book hot off the press and you opened it at random and there it is, the word “releif” – God showing you that no matter how hard you try, you still fall short. Humility comes with the territory.

Writers get obsessed with a project and lock the doors and sit and work at it, like animals in a leg trap trying to chew through the leg, which is not good strategy… “

The best thing to do right now, Mr. Keillor says, is go for a walk.
Okay, fine: walking in the mall counts, too.

Wishing all my writer friends a few more restful moments before the madness begins again.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

A Writer’s Holiday…

by

December 26, 2007

11:46 am

1 Comment on A Writer’s Holiday…

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata

The great Garrison Keillor has a funny little website called Writer’s Almanac that I very much appreciate. You can get poetry and his little diatribes via email, and I always appreciate what he has to say about writing. When the holidays are over, some of us will be up against deadlines (Robin and Sara and maybe Mitali), and others of us will have to wade into revisions yet again (Me. Sigh). Writing is never just coming up with a great idea and sitting down. It’s reading it out loud, it’s refining and defining and sharpening and tightening. It’s a lot of work… but it’s truly one of the best jobs in the world.

“And when the book is done, which it will be, and it’s in the bookstore, people ask, “How does it feel?” You say, “Great!” but that’s not true. You feel relief, and disbelief, and a sort of sorrow that it’s gone and what will you do with your life now? Also there is that long passage in the sixth chapter that you meant to rewrite and did not and now you know you should have. And there is that typo. The publisher sent you a copy of the book hot off the press and you opened it at random and there it is, the word “releif” – God showing you that no matter how hard you try, you still fall short. Humility comes with the territory.

Writers get obsessed with a project and lock the doors and sit and work at it, like animals in a leg trap trying to chew through the leg, which is not good strategy… “

The best thing to do right now, Mr. Keillor says, is go for a walk.
Okay, fine: walking in the mall counts, too.

Wishing all my writer friends a few more restful moments before the madness begins again.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Well, that’s over.

by

December 26, 2007

11:32 am

Leave a comment on Well, that’s over.

Uncategorized

Now that we’ve lied to neighbors and friends about having someone else to eat the Big Dinner with, we can heave a sigh of relief and work on being the tall dark strangers of tradition first-footing over the door sill in time for Hogmanay. The trains aren’t running today, and after spending Christmas with the family (via Skype) all we feel like doing is sitting around sucking down candy canes and self-pity anyway. It was gloriously, blazingly SUNNY on Christmas Day at MY house. We had a brief moment of sun in Glasgow, too, but between the massive building next door and the shallow path of the great orb, we only had light for a couple of hours. Sigh. Such is life.

One friend told us that at least Christmas could still be a holy day, even if we weren’t with our families. I was bewildered by that… do people really think it’s a holy day? Okay, yeah, holi-day, I get that. But all of this “in the bleak midwinter” stuff is ridiculous. A.) It’s not MIDwinter; winter just started, and B.) Since when do shepherds watch their flocks by night “all seated on the ground” in snow? Surely even shepherds have better sense than to sit out in the weather. Jesus was probably born in March or April, when shepherds in Bethlehem actually sit outside with their sheep… during lambing. So it weirded me out to hear someone tell us to have a holy day. I’m voting for March. My birthday is quite a holy time…

All right, enough near-blasphemy. Now that Christmas is over, it’s the time of year for my favorite diet tips. American forefathers gifted us with enough self-righteousness to float any enterprise, and a diet ought to be a snap after that, right? “There is a bony blue-nosed bullet-eyed Puritan inside each one of us and I intend to find mine and put him to work.” And good luck with that…

I suppose I’d better begin channeling my holier-than-thou father, then. You! Put that gingerbread down!

Squee!

by

December 25, 2007

9:49 am

3 Comments on Squee!

On Writing, Random Notes and Errata

Occasionally, during the Cybils, we nominate a book into the wrong category, or publishers send books to the wrong nominating committee. Last year YA had to send an excellent read to SciFi/Fantasy, and this year, after much wrangling, some book swapping has had to happen again.

Since I’m in the UK, I’ve understood that not everybody wants to pay the kind of postage it takes to get a book out to me — small and independent publishers and authors alike. So, imagine how nice it is to receive a book from a Cybils team member — who also stuffs the box full of candy and good wishes and love, and then it arrives on Christmas Eve.

It could make a person get a bit… misty.

Able to leap tall stacks in a single bound, Jackie isn’t just a super YA Cybils person, readergirl and librarian. She’s also just a plain super-person and friend. Thank you, Jackie!

Psst: Did anyone else get bookish gifts? I have handmade book marks!

As a Cybils nominator, I want to express thanks to all of the authors with small press, independent, or self-published books who put in the extra effort to send me a copy of their work. We aren’t really able to acknowledge individual authors, since we want to be sure everyone’s work is looked at equally, but we want you to know, authors, we really appreciate it!

The Cybils clock is winding down. Finalists will be posted on the Cybils blog on January 1!!! We’ve been reading like crazy, and all of us will sneak in a bit of reading even today — (since it’s a holiday after all, and why not spend it doing something you love?). The End Approacheth!

Judges: be getting lots of sleep. Your turn is coming.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Happy Holiday!

by

December 24, 2007

5:20 pm

3 Comments on Happy Holiday!

On Writing

You know The Fat Man is already Busy. This is a good thing.

Christmas Eve already!

We at the Wonderland tree house want to wish you your favorite kind of holiday. May you get what you really want this year — which is probably more books, more quiet time, and a higher wattage lightbulb.

(Okay, so maybe that’s only what WE want.)

We wish you hot chocolate, cool toys, and millions of new stories, as well as keen enjoyment of the very oldest ones of all.

Cheers!

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.