A Fresh Start

Since I'm in a place where I'm planning on seeking publication, but not knee-deep in queries and rejections, I figured that it was a good time to start blogging seriously, and keep it up during the semester.

Semester. Yes, I'm a student. I'm pursuing my MA/MFA in Writing and Literature for Children at Simmons College in Boston, MA. There has been a lot of talk of MFAs in the writing blogosphere lately, particularly the NYC vs MFA article last month. They go on about MFAs not giving you practical ability to become published, and I saw a lot of that when I was applying for programs last year.

But my program is different. We take Writing I and Writing II our first year, and then the next year we have two mentorships, each to work on a different project, and each to produce works worthy of publication. In theory, if you're doing the dual-degree, you then have another semester to a year of academic classes-- cushioning in my opinion-- to give you the chance to get your legs under you. With luck, it'll work out for me. We'll see. But until then I'm writing, and blogging. What will this blog be?

-Book Reviews

-Writing musings

-Some things about me

-Book Reviews (specifically about books dealing with disabilities)

-Disability issues.

Should be fun!

Book Musings: Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss

You guys. I've had it on my too-read list for at least six months, since KT Literary is Stephanie Perkins's agent, and she talked about it over the summer. Then I started following Stephanie on Twitter, read her website and knew I would totally love her book.

I tracked it down in NYC, and read it yesterday. I was almost afraid to, because I have such a friends crush on the author, and what if I didn't like the book! But how could that be when it has such a pretty cover? And is about France! And has a British-American love interest.

Well obviously it couldn't. I LOVED the book. They talked about the "Jingle bells, Batman smells", song for the love of Mike. But this blog is about learning about craft from books. So I'mma try and do that.

The one issue I had at first was understanding that the romance was the plot of this book. I'm not used to that. Obviously, books have romance, but I had to internalize the fact that Anna's journey WAS her relationship with Etienne, and other things were side-plot, including her adjustment to her French boarding school.

I literally opened this book, read two pages, and decided to rewrite my WIP in the first person. Something about Anna's voice, the way we get into her head immediately, made me see that that would work best for my characters too. She's very different from them, but I think they'd get along, actually. Strong opinions, strong voice, and a disdain for Nicholas-Sparksesque people? My MC would LOVE that. Along with Anna's love of Paris, in the end. Right.... side track.

I truly felt for her when she left school for Christmas. That feeling of alienation when things have changed, your little brother has sort-of forgotten you, your family explodes....? I've been there. The whole period was very raw, and I liked the way Anna realized her love for Etienne through it.

The plot definitely kept me turning pages, and most of the characters had depth. There were people I would have lied to have seen fleshed-out, and obvious nod to the coming-up companion novel, but in general it was fabulous! The setting has been gushed about in blogs from here to everywhere, so I won't go into that. I will go into how real it all felt. It's dialogue driven, but in a good way.

Good, good, good, good.


I'm sure I learned more, but I can't concentrate on that. Too busy trying to figure out how best to get to Paris in the near future.

Book Musings: Going Bovine

Going Bovine

My first Book Musing on a book I read for class. It's cheating a little, because I wasn't reading it for craft, but I was so aware with every page, and so desperate to share my thoughts that you guys are the lucky recipients.

In the book SPOILERS teenage Cameron is dying of Mad Cow Disease. In a hospital bed, he is also on a quest to save the world. Little elements from his life pre-MCD appear in his delusions, creating a powerful story about what it means to live.

I think that at any other time in my life I would not have liked this book. There are parts where it is in INCREDIBLY cracky, and it ends as a dream-- of sorts-- both things I hate. But maybe it's my current resolve to embrace my nerdiness, dude guys she invented a version of Star Wars to allude to. The social satire is so biting and well imagined. I'm a sucker for sense in the random, and the little details connect so well in this book. Cameron's fantasy world works with what we see of his real world.

Reviews on Goodreads say Cameron is unlikeable. That this is a case of making us empathise with a difficult character. It wasn't for me. I liked Cameron. Hell, I dated a Cameron for a hot second in 2005. I get the sarcastic, overlooked kid who doesn't like Don Quixote. His opinions are presented with every thought, but you can also see his vulnerability. In the beginning, when he comes over to speak to his sister's group of popular friends, there's a tiny bit of longing in the conversation, an attempt to belong that he hides even from himself. Who hasn't been there?

The fact that his fantasy is a fantasy didn't make me hate the book, because the reader can tell. Cameron's floating in and out of his hospital bed, and while he thinks that that is the dream, the reader can know otherwise. Then they can lie to themselves, as he's doing. You root for him, even though you know mad cow is fatal. With each page turn I hoped Libba Bray had found a cure that medical science hadn't to give this smart-ass kid a chance to live outside of his own head.

There are unanswered questions. Did any of Cameron's "living" have basis in fact? Did Gonzo even exist? If he did, was he aware that in some way he was Cam's best and last friend? No knowing. That should kill me. I hate loose ends, guys. But in Going Bovine there aren't answers. There's only an incentive to live, because it could be over for you at any turn, even if you're a kid living in the shadows.

Book Musing: Five Flavors of Dumb (disability)

Five Flavors of Dumb

For the first few chapters I though this book was going to be yet another one that spends too much time talking about the MC's disability. Not only is she Deaf, but her name is Piper, and her little sister Grace has just received a Cohclear implant which her parents paid for out of her college fund. The college of choice is Gallaudet, the all-Deaf college on the east coast. Essentially, it was let's play the how many-deaf-issues-we-can-put-in-one-book-game. She becomes the manager of a local band, in a way that is somewhat contrived, and her father doesn't understand her. I found the language to be unbelievable and overly-sophisticated.

It was not winning the "would this book be interesting if Piper was not disabled?" award. And then...

Somewhere about halfway through the book I fell in love with it. Piper became a real character instead of a mouthpiece. Her brother was endearing, her friends could have been fleshed out more, but I liked them. Sure the IM conversations between her and her friend who moved away were still needless rehashings of what has already happened, but otherwise the novel was very much improved. I loved her sweet romance with Ed, and her parents gradual understanding of her. Also she dyed her hair pink. What's not to love?

Definitely a good book. Initially disability-heavy, but after a while it holds its own

Book Musings: Jane

Jane

I loved this book. Loved it more than any book since Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. I devoured it and was sad when it was over. But why?

Well, it is a revision of Jane Eyre, which I adore, and it does a better job with the portion of Jane Eyre I hate (her time after leaving Rochester) but there was something more to it.

The characters are incredibly compelling. Jane makes sense. Her reasons for staying in the shadows and for falling so quickly in love with Rothburn make sense-- a child who had so little attention would be thrilled by it when she got it. Maddy, the book's version of Adele, is a cute, realistic child. The secondary characters are pretty well painted.

Also the world of the rock star is well-conveyed. Of course, having read Jane Eyre, when Jane is pulled into it I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Still, I thought it was wonderfully well done. I liked that Jane stayed true to character, and was very focused on keeping the family together after she married Rothburn. This is why I was a tad disappointed in the ending. I understood while the epilogue feeling of Jane Eyre's ending was cut, but I would have liked to see Maddy again.

Do you need to have read Jane Eyre to appreciate this book? The voice is much closer to that book than to your typical YA-- and so well painted. I would have loved it before I read Jane Eyre and there must be teenagers like me out there. In a literary theory POV, you miss a layer having not read it. Still, I'd recommend the book either way.

Book Musings: 13 Little Blue Envelopes

13 Little Blue Envelopes

All I can think about when I hear this author's name is RENT. The fact that there is a (deceased) character in the book who is an artist living in New York does not help. At all.

Anyway. This is a pretty good book. The main character is sent on a quest by her late aunt to follow a series of instructions in envelopes around Europe. The idea is unique, and her adventures seemed real to me, a traveler. But the main character, Ginny, was not a character who could stand on her own. She was incredibly passive, and her voice in her (useless) letters to her best friend felt incredibly faked.

She's also a very whiny traveller, and I don't think she saw the beauty at all which infuriated me. Yes, cities begin to look a like after a while. But they're also beautifully different. This book wouldn't encourage anyone to travel, and that makes me sad. Not to mention there are a few (but applaudably not many) stereotypes: such as the lusty Italian.

Most of the secondary characters were well drawn.

What could have made it better? I think first-person. The third person was unnecessary since the book is told only through Ginny's point-of-view. Getting more into her head. Also giving her another motivation, except for following the aunt and A Boy. She has no personality, no interests. We need more about her. Plot AND character.

Book Musings: The Nature of Jade

The Nature of Jade

The back of this book asserts that it will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen and I can't argue with that. There are many similar qualities to the book. Well-rounded protagonist, love interest, unique situations, dealing with family issues. However, I don't feel that the author is as adept as Sarah Dessen.

My problem with the book lies in one sentence: show don't tell. It's the bane of every writer's existence, and I understand being a little verbose, but it got to the point in the first hundred pages where I longed for the author to SHOW me something. Someone on Goodreads argued that in actuality the first hundred pages could be cut and woven in elsewhere, and I think I agree.

Also, there's a number of characters that serve no point. Jade's friends exist to just be Jade's friends, with little point in the narrative. They could have been consolidated to make a few really great secondary characters. Additionally, the author uses what I am coming to see as a trope in YA literature. Jade has a psychologist to whom she tells things, just as Valerie did in The Hate List. Except, with Jade it's unnecessary for the plot, because she tells the reader everything (and I mean everything) anyway. I think there are too many agendas that the author is pushing, too much that Jade observes about people said outright.

I did like the character of her little brother, and found their relationship pretty believable. The story and subplots were all pretty unique, and the ending was mostly satisfying-- if a little drawn out. I do feel that the thread of Jade's panic disorder could have made it much more interesting. Jade just telling Sebastian (the boy) about it could have been done so much better if he'd encountered her having an attack, or something. Up the stakes, as annastan tells us.