I plan to be a diva someday . . .

My book group meets Tuesday to choose next year's books.  We're each supposed to bring suggestions, but since the vast majority of what I read is YA (and the group's current selections), I don't have that many ideas.  Anyone read anything good lately?  One of the criteria is that it should be something that is widely available in paperback.  Our group's been in existence for a while, so we've read a lot of the obvious choices, former Oprah books, etc.  We like to read a variety, some fiction, some non.  Any suggestions would be appreciated! 

On the YALSA-BK listserv, they are discussing teachers making students write letters to authors.  I get my fair share of teacher-generated letters because Breathing Underwater and, more recently, Fade to Black are assigned in a lot of English classes.  I love getting letters from kids who want to tell me that my book changed their life, or that they've never read a whole book before mine.  I am less enamored of letters from kids who have not, in fact, read my book.  

The discussion was timely because I had just gotten such a letter Sunday night.  The subject line was Breathing Underwater.  It was not teacher generated, as you will see.  Here it is:

Hello ms.Flinn
my name is ___________ it is the fourth marking period at my high school in vineland new jersey where i am a senior in need of your help
i am not doing so well in my English class because our teacher only has given us two grades for your book and both were surprising pop quizzes that i was unprepared for now she usually doesn't take extra credit but i have taken the liberty of doing a big poster board project anyway but in case it doesn't help i figured if the author of the book we were reading was just to say hello to my class and thank my teacher for choosing this book then it would help a great deal no one in my family has graduated from high school or went to college i hope to be the first one and for me to i just need a C in her class which i currently have a D in i would greatly appreciate it feel free to Google my name some football,track, and basketball articles may pop up but it is to assure you i am seriously who i say i am please call my cell ___________ so we can arrange a time for you to call in thank you

Current Mood: hopeful

Was on the phone with Movie Agent Guy yesterday on another matter, and he casually (!) asked if the producer-to-be had contacted me about Beastly.  Apparently, they have hired a writer (!).  Ever the pessimist, I said, "But that doesn't necessarily mean they're making it, right?" because, frankly, I have a friend who spent about 5 years announcing the movie version of his book on his website, and it never got made, and I have another friend who got flown to Hollywood and wrote a script and discussed actors (Judge Reinhold -- it was a while ago), and her book didn't get made (though getting flown to Hollywood would be cool).  He said, no, it didn't necessarily mean they were making it, but it was one step closer.  I guess kind of like if you have a lease-option on a house, and then you put in new carpeting, but not a new roof.

I will believe it will be a movie when I see the first ad for it.  Or a check.

Anyway, so there's a writer.  I have no idea what writer, except that it isn't me.  And the producer apparently told Movie Agent Guy that she might call me on the phone (which it is a good thing she didn't because I have a sore throat that makes me sound like Harvey Fierstein . . . do you think his voice gets tired from talking and singing like that all the time?).  And it's one step closer.  Cautious squee!

Current Mood: optimistic

David Archuleta's dad has been banished from the Idol set for influencing his son to change the lyrics of his song, against the express wishes of the producers.   With his dad gone, do you think the kid will be less annoyingly robotic?  Honestly, he reminds me of the episode of The Simpsons where Lisa enters the Li'l Starmakers contest (American Idol parody) and Homer becomes the manager for this kid, Cameron, who has soulful eyes and sings all these songs about America and apple pie so everyone votes for him.  Which would make Archuleta's dad Homer.  Maybe not everyone will remember the Simpsons I'm talking about, but I know debbierfischer
will, so in her honor, since I couldn't find an image of Cameron, I'm including this one of the character played by Fantasia Barrino on the same episode.  She's the one who isn't Krusty.

. . . and, apparently, they do have functioning ears:)

. . . that I cannot believe this is the American Idol Top 4.  If Jason Castro fails to be voted off this week, I'm not watching anymore.  The kid is a good high school talent show entrant, no more.  I barely feel passionate enough about any of the other entrants to really comment.  I mean, yes, I think David Cook is the best, but I certainly don't think he's a star (and I think his song choices last night were horrific . . . did it escape his attention that Baba O'Reilly, like many of The Who's songs was more of a vehicle for Pete Townshend's incredible guitar-playing than for Roger Dalrey's vocals?).  I've liked Syesha well enough from the beginning, but I've also been surprised every week she stayed.  I think she did very well on Andrew Lloyd Webber night, and I honestly believe I will be seeing her in a Broadway show someday, but I don't think she has the star quality for a solo act.

And David Archuleta . . . sorry, just don't get it.  The boy has a nice voice and one facial expression.   This one:




 And he sings everything like it's inspirational song week.

I miss Carlie and Michael.  But even they were no Carrie Underwood or Chris Daughtry.

Current Mood: disappointed

I turned in the final (at least until the copy-editor gets her hands on it) version of A Kiss in Time (Sleeping Beauty adaptation -- the title is growing on me).  I'm very excited not only because I am done with it, but because it does finally seem like a cohesive book.  This is a book where I wrote the first 100 or so pages on a huge burst of inspiration and, indeed, when I read them over, they seemed WONDERFUL.  Then, I slogged through the last 200 pages (Yes, it is a 300 page fantasy novel -- something I never thought I'd write), trying to join a bunch of disparate elements into a nice conclusion.  It didn't work, and my editor was kind enough to tell me -- as gently as possible -- that it didn't work while also reassuring me that it was wonderful.  My friends, too, nicely hinted that I hadn't given the hero enough of a challenge, enough of a dragon to fight in the end.  

And so I rewrote.  And rewrote.

I should say that I don't really have a critique group, and I sort of envy people who do have one, a great group of local writers with similar interests.  I recently picked up Donna Gephart's As if Being 12 3/4 Isn't Enough, My Mother is Running for President at a bookstore.  Donna talked about the book at an SCBWI conference I attended, and in the acknowledgments, she thanks several people from her crit group who have also participated in crit groups with me over the years -- all of whom live 2 hours away from me.  I have a great group of friends from SCBWI, who write what I write, but we are a far-flung bunch, with most of the people with whom I feel most sympatico being the far from my home (which is on the end of the earth in Miami).  For a long time, I was commuting to Ft. Lauderdale for weekly meetings, but a combination of gas prices and a general concern for the environment that those gas prices forced me to acknowledge (Do I really need to commute 2 hours a week to talk about my book?  Do I need to spend $40.00?) put that to an end.  So now, I am a bit at people's mercy when I ask them to read my manuscripts.  At least, I have to ASK.  So I am pleased that people say yes and give me good advice.  I miss being able to give the advice, though (although, of course, I do read some friends' manuscripts, including a couple of people who have books coming out in the near future, that I will post about now that I'm done).

And now, it is done.  It will be out in 2009.

2008 is only the second year in the last 8 in which I have not had a book published.  This is not because I am a particularly fast writer.  Indeed, the only reason I had a 2005 book is because I happened to write that one particularly quickly (It was one of those "It came to me in a dream" books).  I tell kids at school visits that it takes me 18 months to write a book, and for the most part, it does.  In 2003, the other year I didn't have a new book, I felt left out, not asked to the prom when people were talking about the other new books.  This year, I don't so much, partly I suppose, because I've been doing a lot of speaking (I just returned from a great book festival in Appleton Wisconsin, and before that, I was in New York for NYLA.  In February, I visited a school district where four high schools had read Breathing Underwater, which is the height of cool).  Also, since Beastly was a fall book, I feel like it's just gaining momentum now.  The paperback will be out in October, and by the time I've finished being excited about that, A Kiss in Time will be coming out too.  It will be a spring book, which I'm also pleased about because I like having spring books for various reasons.  I feel like fall is for Christmas books and potential Newbery winners, neither of which I write.

And now, I am thinking about what to write next, another realistic book or another fairy tale.  When I go to schools, the kids are all about the realistic books.  But lately, when I open my e-mail, it's all about Beastly.  I've met some Beastly readers on the road too, and they're completely different readers than the kids who read my realistic stuff.  The Beastly readers are kids like my kids, kids who always liked to read.  The readers who read my realistic stuff are kids who had to be talked into it.  In a way, I feel like the latter group needs me more.  But I like writing fantasy too.

A friend of mine tells me that you can't consider audience, that it is a trap and she only writes for herself.  This friend has been extremely successful only writing for herself, so perhaps she has a point.  But the thing is, I always considered audience, even in the early days of writing when I should have been writing only for myself.  I always pictured the reader.  And now, I still do, but it is two readers -- a reader who loves to read and another one who only likes to read books like mine (a "selective" reader as

halseanderson

Current Mood: relieved

Here's an interesting article about the Harry Potter case which describes the doctrine of "Fair Use."  I worked for an intellectual property firm for several months shortly after graduating law school, and I always thought that copyright and trademark were good things for writers to know (trademark, so they would understand why companies have fits when writers say that a character "xeroxed" something rather than saying that the character made a copy of it or copied it on a Xerox machine).  Many people know little of copyright, which results in either assuming that any use of copyrighted material is okay (and I note that Rowling and Time Warner do little to police a large amount of fanfiction and even slash on the Internet) or, conversely, assuming that any use of copyrighted material is infringing.  For example, I was once told by the school principal that I could not make a Xerox copy (See?  That's the right use of that -- note the capital X in Xerox) of a few pages of my daughter's math book for her to write homework assignments on, when the school had purchased a full set of the hardcover books.  The sole purpose of Xerox-copying would be to keep from having to hand-copy.  This is not the same as, say, making Xerox copies of 30 sets of music for the school chorus (something I've definitely seen them do in our school system) and is most certainly a fair use, as it is for an educational purpose and does not take away from the sales of the actual books.   So a little knowledge, as they say, is a dangerous thing.

Anyway, it's a good article and I think people should keep it as a reference because it is also helpful when one is trying to decide whether to quote, say, song lyrics in one's book.  I note that the court is encouraging the parties to settle, but it will be a bit of a shame if they do because I'm sure this will be a law-making case for us writers.  I happen to think Rowling is entirely right, judging from the content quoted in the article.  I mean, just because she's rich doesn't mean people should be able to steal from her.  What they're taking may not be that much compared to her seven books, but it sounds like the entire book in question is stolen material.

I am off to New York, to speak at NYLA, meet with my esteemed editor, and also, take my daughter, Meredith, to American Girl Place and to see Legally Blonde, as previously discussed at length on this blog.  After that, I am off to Wisconsin for school visits as part of the Fox Cities Book Festival.  I won't be posting for a while (I haven't been good lately anyway), so I'm going to leave you all with a question posed to me by  a teen in California, who is doing a report on Beauty and the Beast.

Discuss:

"In your opinion, do you think a woman has greater capacity than a man to love a beast?"  In other words, if the roles were reversed, would the female beast ever find redemption?"

This is what I told her.

Short answer:  No.  I am hardly an expert on the subject, but generally, I think men expect more from women's looks than women expect from men.  It seems to me that even the homeliest man hopes to marry someone more attractive than himself.  This knowledge was brought graphically home to me when I was in college and set up an average-looking guy friend with a female friend who was very pretty but maybe needed to lose 10 pounds.  The guy came back to gripe that the lady had fat thighs.  Conversely, when I set a pretty female friend up with a less-attractive guy friend, no one complained.  There is a saying that women fall in love with their ears, men with their eyes, meaning that women persuade themselves to be attracted to men they like, while men persuade themselves to like women to whom they feel attracted.  I believe this is true.  Because of the use of cosmetics by women, it is often possible for women to be, on average, more attractive than men.

That said, there are a couple of versions of the Beauty and the Beast tale in reverse.  These include the story of Sir Gawain and the Old Woman.   In that story, however, that Gawain agrees to marry the Old Woman but does not love her until she becomes beautiful.  A book published last year was The Princess and the Hound by metteharrison, which contains a sort of twist on Beauty and the Beast.  Of course, a woman wrote that.

What do you think?

Current Mood: curious

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/41301/heather-mills-to-write-
childrens-books

Uck.

Current Mood: crappy

About two years ago, the Sunshine State list was pulled off the Florida Department of Education website because of complaints in Hillsborough County (Tampa), Florida about certain books, including a ghost story and another book that contained very mild profanity.  These books were also removed from the Battle of the Books program.  (See an interview with Laura Ruby, author of one of the challenged books). 

Now, another instance of censorship in Tampa.    A parent has complained about the use of a racist term in Mildred Taylor's The Land, a book about racism by an African-American author.  Of course, no one involved seems to have read the book.

I have to say I'm always shocked to hear about the antics in this city to the north.  Florida is a purple state, as everyone knows, and Miami is as purple as they come, but major censorship incidents are rare here (except this one from a couple years ago, involving parents objecting to an  inaccurate book about Cuba).  I've spoken at conferences in Tampa and at several schools in Pinellas County (Clearwater) which is the next county up.  If they're reading my books, I wouldn't expect them to be censoring Lilly's Ghosts or The Land.   I know that the problem with the Sunshine State list came from teachers requiring kids to read the entire list.  That really isn't the point of a state master list (The idea is that the committee comes up with a diverse list so that there will be books to appeal to everyone), and here too, if the parents of the young lady in question were offended by the language in The Land, then she should be very welcome not to read it.  I would think it would be pretty obvious that any book concerning racism, particularly historical books, would contain that term.  This book should not be censored for everyone.  It is only by discussing these issues that kids can learn.

Current Mood: annoyed

My manuscript, that is, the second draft of it.  Is it ready?  Probably not.  I have a tendency never to think anything is ready (I once called my editor in a panic, after the book was in copyediting, and asked her if she'd consider putting it off a season -- she said no, and the book got starred reviews, YALSA lists, etc).  So, therefore, I have to make arbitrary decisions like, I've changed everything I could think of and haven't thought of anything new in two weeks, and send it then.   My legal research professor used to say that you were done with your research when you kept finding the same cases, over and over again.  The writing equivalent of this is when you change stuff, then seriously consider changing it back, and/or, when you are searching specific words.

In this case, I've changed it a great deal from the first draft (which my editor was kind enough to say she liked), cut 32 pages, completely revamped the ending, cut out a major character, had a friend read it and got her advice, and for the past two weeks, I have done nothing but fiddle with it.  I sent it off to my agent yesterday, then fiddled some more.  AND . . . my final act this morning was to search the word, "perhaps" because I suspected my heroine was saying it too often (She wasn't -- just in the one scene I was reading when the thought struck me).

So now, there is nothing to do but wait!

And do my taxes!

And, um, fiddle with it some more.

Current Mood: relieved

I just heard from my fellow critique group member and soon-to-be-published author, Danielle Joseph (Her book, Dead Air, was accepted just this week by MTV books -- yay!) that her younger sister, a student in Boston, is required to read Breathing Underwater . . . for P.E. homework.

I'm torn because, of course, I think it's wonderful that they're teaching the kids about dating violence (It is a self-defense unit).  I honestly do believe that knowledge is power, and have met many girls who said that reading books on this subject has helped them.   But I, nonetheless, feel sorry for the kid who has homework in P.E!

Current Mood: contemplative

In the third grade of my daughter's school, they are required to keep a reading log each month.  Previously (and with my older daughter) the kids were required to record only the book they read and the number of pages and/or minutes, to prove that they had read the required 30 minutes a day.  This year, however, the reading log requires more.  On each weekday, the kids have to write the title and author ot the book they read that day, write a paragraph explaining what happened in the part they read, answer a question about what the section was mainly about, and then state what they believe the author's purpose was in writing the passage.

And then, because all of this summarizing does not furnish sufficient proof that the child has read the book, the parent must sign the reading log.  Each day.  Our school system is big on parents signing things (and I personally live in fear of forgetting and having it be "all my fault" when my child earns an F -- organization isn't my thing).

I am guessing the school system envisions a world where the child returns from school, sits down and does his or her homework (between 30-60 minutes, though I know it takes some kids longer), then reads for half an hour while sitting at a desk, then writes the reading log.

This isn't how we read in my house.  In my house, we bring our books with us everywhere we go.  We read while in the car, while waiting in line, while waiting for piano lessons to begin.  And we read in bed, sometimes more than we ought.  This sort of reading is not conducive to logging (When I yell, "Lights out!" having realized that my daughter has read way past her bedtime, I am not also going to yell, "Oh, but fill out your reading log first!").  It is, however, conducive to enjoyment of reading.

I can only imagine that the person who came up with these reading logs (and it is not only required by my daughter's individual teacher -- who, I suspect, knows better, but rather, for the whole third grade) does not care for reading.   Therefore, it is necessary to shove reading down kids' throats like so much useful medicine.  

My daughter is a good reader.  If an objective standard is necessary, she is in third grade and is currently reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  She loathes the reading logs, and we generally wait until the end of the month and write a summary of the entire book at once (Thankfully, Rowling's books have chapter titles and illustrations, making it easier to remember what happened weeks later).  Although we have time in our everyday lives for reading, we simply do not have time to log it all, so one ruined Sunday per month is the price of two A's for Meredith's reading grade.  Meredith recently stated that she was considering reading less complex books, because it would be easier to summarize in the reading log.  I'm guessing that would be okay with the log gods.  It's not so great to me.

I have discussed this with friends.  One friend has a daughter who doesn't care for reading.  She says her daughter cares even less for it because she has to write about it in the reading log each day, which my friend says takes as long as the half hour allocated to actual reading.  She thinks her daughter would like reading better if she didn't have to do the reading log.  She liked it better last year.

Another friend has a daughter who is behind in reading.  Her daughter doesn't do the reading log at all and takes the two F's.  This friend is a great mom who is really concerned about her kids' education.  But she also realizes that there's no way her daughter can handle having to write a paragraph about every little bit she reads, on top of the reading and other homework.  She devotes the logging time to reading.

My older daughter used to throw the reading logs out.  I wouldn't find out that they existed until I questioned how a kid who read several years above grade level could possibly be getting a C in reading.   And those were the easy logs that only required title, author, and number of pages.

I'm curious whether this kind of logging is common in other school systems and also, does anyone know what purpose it serves?  If the purpose is to make kids enjoy reading, it's definitely not working for us.  If it is to tell whether they understand the book, it seems that there would be other, less time-consuming, ways to do this.  How about a book report?  Also, if kids are reading at or above grade level (as evidenced by the omnipresent STAR tests), it seems like that would be proof unto itself of their comprehension.

Some friends have suggested that perhaps the purpose of the log is to improve writing skills.  To that I say, I'd guess my daughter's writing skills would improve more by writing her own stories, rather than summarizing someone else's.

I generally put gripes on "Friends Only" lest my non-LJ friends see them and think me a bit daft.  But in this case, I happen to know that the majority of my "mommy" friends agree with me.  Also, while I am loath to offend my daughter's teacher, I suspect this wasn't her idea anyway.  She is a reading specialist who attends many trainings and such, and I can't imagine this is what they suggest.  If it is, I'd be interested to hear it.   So I'm putting it on "Everyone" because I really, really do want to know how widespread this kind of guerrilla reading log tactic is, and if anyone (perhaps someone in the teaching profession) can explain to me why it's a better idea than I think.

Discuss.

Current Mood: curious

What fun!  The PBS website has posted "dating profiles" of the men of Jane Austen's novels.  Information includes income, translated into today's money, hobbies and interests, likes and dislikes, and "What my friends would say about me."  You then choose "your" man and can look at a table which ranks them by popularity.  This goes along with the speculation on last night's Celebrating the Complete Jane Austen PBS special, as to what Jane herself would have thought of Internet dating (She would have gotten the hang of it, but probably would have disapproved of the ability to lie about one's income, they said).  Sorry to say, 

selimsa803

Current Mood: amused

(Looking at the sales ranks of the hardcover versions of my already-in-paperback books).

"Wow.  It's amazing how many books are out there!"

Current Mood: complacent

The Denver Post reviewed Donald Gallo's latest anthology, Owning It, in which I have a story.   She says, in part, "The authors include luminaries Chris Crutcher and Alex Flinn, and every story strikes with honesty. Flinn's account of a girl who tries to camouflage her devastating brain injury is especially acute."

I'm pretty pleased because I think the anthology about teens with disabilities is an important one and deserves a lot of attention -- attention anthologies often don't get.  It seems like every kids' show tries to teach compassion to those who are different, but by the time kids get into middle school, they seem to forget all those lessons.  In my school visits, I've run into many kids whose disabilities run the gamut from Asperger's to Tourette's to narcolepsy, just trying to make do.  It's hard enough for regular kids to get through their teen years.  How much harder it must be for these kids.  I really think this anthology should be in every school. 

I've been reflecting on a lot of nice things that have happened in the past several days.  Since I've been known to gripe (Me?  Never!), I thought I'd mention them.

1.  It snowed on my Chicago school visit, and the schools worried that the second day might be cancelled due to a snow day.  But even though it snowed pretty hard all afternoon Monday and into the night, when I woke up, it was just PRETTY out and nothing got cancelled.

2.  While I was in Chicago, I realized that the "second printing" for Beastly last month was actually a third printing.  At least, the books I was signing were third printings.  I never saw the second, but I assume they're all in Texas somewhere due to the Lone Star list.  This, along with some foreign rights sales, means that Beastly will likely earn out its advance in hardcover!

3.  I got to eat at (and not have to pay for) the pricey seafood restaurant in the hotel, and they had coquilles st. jacques -- one of my favorite, extremely fattening things.  Though we have lots of seafood in Miami, I wouldn't know where to get this dish.  Here in beautiful South Florida, where skinny people go to spawn, we tend to disapprove of dishes with things like crusts and butter in favor of a nice grilled snapper with lemon and steamed veggies.  But I figured it was okay to have them, oh, every 10 years or so.

4.  My flight home from Chicago was massively delayed, but I was able to stand by on another flight and actually get home earlier than my original flight.  The guy put me first on the standby list.  Though everyone got on, this meant that I still got an aisle seat in a low-numbered row . . . and an empty seat next to me!  Paradise!

5.  Since I was in Chicago, I got to miss the power outage that paralyzed everyone here!

6.  Yesterday, Target was selling swim shirts!  I have to tell you, I've been looking for a swim shirt for less than $40.00, and I always seem to start looking too late in the season to find them.  Now, I've figured out the secret -- you have to shop for swimwear in February!

7.  They also had Sense and Sensibility on DVD for the bargain price of $5.00!  S&S has never been my favorite Jane Austen, as a novel, but I am extremely attached to the movie.  Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, and Alan Rickman (the only thing I liked about the movie version of Sweeney Todd, btw) in the same film!  It's even better than Love, Actually (which has all but Kate)!

8.   My daughter's language arts teacher is reading Ender's Game and sent home a detailed explanation as to why she thought it was a relevant book despite profanity.  Considering this is the school that, last semester, elected not to perform Romeo and Juliet ((Yes, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) because of the violence, I found this heartening.  I'd like to think that the permission slip was not actually necessary, but what I liked was that she didn't chicken out of reading it.

9.  Today's Miami Herald has a recipe for a healthier tater tot casserole!!!

10.  It's actually cool out here -- 56 degrees.  Miami winter perfection.

Current Mood: happy

I'm off to Chicago, or actually Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where all the high school students are reading Breathing Underwater as part of their "One Book, One Glenbard" project.  It's very exciting to be meeting so many kids who've read my book!  But I have to say . . . 

. . . being from Miami, it is tough to pull myself away from this place in the dead of winter to go to the Windy City.  Yesterday was the warmest February 23 on record here (mid-80's).  Right now, it is 81.  I actually love the cold.  I grew up on Long Island.  But since I live here, I don't always have the world's best clothes for up north.  This is compounded by my recent weight loss.  I'd totally forgotten that the clothes I bought last year might not fit, and now, I've been trying on my few sweaters and courduroy pants, and they look HUGE on me.  Thankfully, I did buy a pair of waterproof fake fur-lined boots last year, and a new coat (My old coat was my mother's from 1978, which I inherited from her).  Also, I haven't gotten too thin for my gloves and hat!

I'm looking forward to meeting the kids, though.  One of the groups wrote essays about "What it is like being a teen in 2008," and they sounded very interesting and poignant.  I really enjoy meeting my readers.  It lets me know why I write.

Current Mood: cold