Good writing, good story

So, I've been editing one of my novels again, and reading a ton.

I've been thinking a lot as a result, about good writing, and good storytelling.

They're so personal, to a certain extent, of what I like, or you like. Especially good storytelling. Though I think an author with a strong sense of plotting can pull a reader through a story, even if it's not of particular interest.

It's amazing when you run across a book that has both strong writing and story. I'm primarily a reader for plot. With a good plot, I can forgive weak writing. But a terrible story isn't something enjoy wading through, even if the writing is strong.

Can you think of any examples of stories that have both strong writing and a great story? Here are a few examples that came to mind:

--Pretty much everything by Margaret Atwood. That's what makes her so amazing to me. Her writing is stunning and awe-inspiring, and her stories are always right up my alley. I'm her perfect audience.

--Pretty much everything by Kurt Vonnegut. His word choice is impeccable, and his humor is, well, what my humor would be if I was funnier.

--Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. A lot of his other work is okay writing with a strong story, or good writing with an okay story, or not-so-good writing with a not-so-good story. But Ender's Game is an amazing story with well-structured, well-plotted writing.

--The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Writing so amazing it almost made me cry. It did make me go out and read everything else he'd ever written, none of which quite lived up, though much of it was quite good.

--The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Excellent writing (though gotta give props to the translator there, too!), amazing story.

That's all I can think of, though I'm sure there are plenty more I've read that just aren't jumping to mind. But it is just so rare, that it's wondrous when it happens.

It's much more frequent that I read books that I really enjoy, maybe even love, that aren't written all that well. These are the books that give me hope. I know I should be aiming to write a novel that is both well written and interesting. But let's be honest: sometimes, when I'm editing, I have to admit that "well-written" might be beyond my abilities. So instead of throwing in the towel, I just think of these books and realize that I don't have to be perfect.

--The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. A few of my more discerning friends, who perhaps are slightly more snobbish with their reading selections than me (who will read just about any darn thing), have complained that The Hunger Games isn't well written. DUH! Who cares? Yes, it's a bit cringe-inducing at times, but the story! The story! Love, love, love!

--The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowlings. I'm hardly the first person to point out there are flaws, but again, who cares?

--Early entries in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. They've become so formulaic that I'd be hard-pressed to even say the more recent ones are redeemed by an engaging plot.

--A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Okay, I'm stretching a little with this one. There are certainly weaknesses, but it wasn't until book 5 that I felt like I wasn't getting believable character voices. He's writing a true epic, capturing the voices of an amazingly large cast of characters, balancing myriad plot lines. Perhaps I should move this into the good writing/good story category!

As I said, I read for plot, so it's not that frequent I pick up a book where I suspect I won't find the story interesting. But I do occasionally make it through a novel that when I finish, I realize that while I can't say I really enjoyed the story, the writing made it all worthwhile. So here's my list of a few great writing/not-to-my-taste story:

--Everything I've read by Richard Russo. I mean, his stories are all boring slice-of-life old people in New England doing things I'm not that interested in. But I can't put his books down.

Hmm, Richard Russo books are the only ones I can think of. I really do tend to put down books if I'm not enjoying the plot.

And then, every once in a while, I come across a book that is so devoid of redeeming values that I'm hard pressed to understand why anyone buys it. And here I'm talking about popular novels...not those found-in-a-discount-bin-or-used-book-store that I've never heard of and really shouldn't be that surprised when it's not that good. I'm talking about those books that people actually like--and I just don't get why.

--The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Okay, I'll be honest. Twilight was a quick enough read, and not too annoying, soI read the second book. Which was also a quick read, though more annoying. By book three, I was pretty disgusted, but still hoping for redemption. So I read book 4. Oh geez, that was time, and money, I can never get back. For the love of all that's good in the world, I would like to publicly warn everyone to steer clear of these. Don't let the lure of book one pull you down the rabbit hole!

--My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I think this holds the record for worst book I've ever read. Yes, even worse than the Twilight series. Even worse that any boiler-plate paranormal romance I'm too embarrassed to admit I've read. Who knows, maybe other books by her are better, but this was so bad, I'd never risk it.

--The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. What was all the hullabaloo over this book? Not very good, IMO.

What do you think? What would you add to the list? These clearly aren't exhaustive lists, just what popped in mind at the mo'.

Another Awesome Kids' Book

I'm not sure where we picked it up--I'm sure at a used book sale somewhere, but we have a Thomas the Tank Engine Book titled "The Sad Story of Henry".

It's unbelievable, and I think will hold the record for absolute most odd book. The story is about Henry, a train who gets a beautiful new paint job. So he hides in a tunnel so it won't get wet or dirty. They all try to coax him out to do his job, but he's having none of it. Passengers pushed and pulled, but couldn't move Henry. How do you think the book ends? You won't believe it. Seriously, just guess.

Okay, here's the actual text from the last page of the story:

"They took up the old rails, built a wall in front of him, and cut a new tunnel.

Now Henry can't get out, and he watches the trains rushing through the new tunnel. He is very sad because no one will ever see his lovely green paint with red stripes again.

But I think he deserved it, don't you?"

Really. I'm not making that up. Have you ever heard a worse story for children? I think the author needs to work on some serious anger management issues.

NaNoWriMo, I miss you!

Do you see how I'm not apologizing for my lackluster posting schedule? Come on, 1 post a month? Geez, even if I don't post again in November, I've now officially doubled my monthly posting. You're welcome.

Anyway, it's November. It's National Novel Writing Month. I love NaNoWriMo. I've done it twice now, and loved both experiences.

I'm not doing NaNo this month.

I'm kind of sad about that, though truthfully, with little Z-man still not sleeping through the night, and still not quite up to entertaining himself, I don't think it would be much fun to try to force in time to write a novel.

Plus, I have two novels from past years that I could work on.

What is it about writing novels that the goal, the expectation seems to be that you're writing for others, to publish and to share? If I spent a month writing a journal, I don't think I'd feel the same pressure to rewrite and let others read. Though oddly, here I am, sitting on two novels I'm not sure I want to share, but I write on a blog, essentially self-publishing a journal for all to see. Is it weird that I consider my fiction writing more personal than my blogging???

Anyway, anyone else doing NaNoWriMo? If so, what are you doing reading my blog? Get back to work!

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Green tip for the day: Use both sides of paper, including things like shopping lists. Just cross out the stuff you already bought and start a new list underneath it or on the other side.

Great Books

There are also books full of great writing that don't have very good stories. Read sometimes for the story, Bobby. Don't be like the book-snobs who won't do that. Read sometimes for the words--the language. Don't be like the play-it-safers who won't do that. But when you find a book that has both a good story and good words, treasure that book.

That quote is from Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King. I'm not sure why I stopped reading Stephen King. Sometime in college, I just kind of moved on. Recently, though, I've picked up a few of his books at library book sales, and I'm having a bit of a Stephen King renaissance. Anyway, I stumbled across that quote and it got me thinking. I try to read broadly, but I tend to fall in the "read for the story" group. I can forgive, or ignore, bad writing for the most part, but bad story--forget it!

It's so personal, what makes that combination of great story and great writing. Here's my (I'm sure partial) list of some of the books I've read that were really a combination of outstanding prose and terrific storytelling:

Margaret Atwood is a wonderful writer...I'd say pretty much all her books are examples of great writing. But her stories that really resonate with me, that I truly love, are The Blind Assassin and The Handmaid's Tale.

Kurt Vonnegut is the only other writer I've read who was so consistently strong in his writing. Cat's Cradle is outstanding, and Blue Beard is my other favorite by Vonnegut.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon was another perfect book for me--great writing, great story. After I read that, I got every other book by Chabon. While I enjoyed many of the others, unfortunately none resonated with me the way Kavalier and Clay did. Oddly, I was just reading I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron, which contains an essay titled "On Rapture". It opens with the lines:

I've just surfaced from spending several days in a state of rapture--with a book. I loved this book. I loved every second of it. I was transported into its world. I was reminded of all sorts of things in my own life. I was in anguish over the fate of its characters. I felt alive, and engaged, and positively brilliant, bursting with ideas, brimming with memories of other books I've loved.

She's talking about The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and it was like she had peeked into my brain to write that.

Since it was a Stephen King quote that got me thinking of this, I'll throw in a Stephen King novel. When I read King, it's really usually a case where I'm reading for story. But, I think he is an author who is not given his due--he's not just a hack. Some of his books also have incredible writing (if you like a long drawn out, overly descriptive type of writing. Which I happen to. Drives TK crazy, though.) I'll put The Stand on my list. Really great story, great plotting, great writing.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Geez, I love that book. Perfect combination of good writing and great story. I've been pretty disappointed with Card's more recently published works, but I'll always love him for writing Ender's Game.

Well, I've run out of time and want to get this posted. The list could never really be done...I can always keep thinking of more, so here it is in its unfinished glory.

What are your examples of those amazing books that pair up wonderful writing and wonderful story?

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Green tip of the day: Use your library! Buy used books, and donate your books you don't want to keep. I like to donate books to my library, because I know they'll sell them to raise money that goes right back into the library.

That said, I still buy a number of new books--hey, I also think it's important to support authors :)

The Hunger Games

About a month ago, I finally got around to reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I don't know what I was waiting for. YA book? Check. Dystopian novel? Check. You've just described my two very favorite classifications for books. I think I was just so disgusted by the Twilight series that I lost all faith that any other popular YA books would be any good.

But I'd heard so much about The Hunger Games, and then there I was, walking through Target one day when I'd just finished my last new book in the house, and happened to see The Hunger Games on an endcap. So I picked it up. And I'm glad I did.

The writing in the book is okay...a bit rocky at times, but it's really the story that grabs hold and pulls you along.

I was a little annoyed. A few times, I've read books and said "I could have written this." This was one of those books. Both novels I've written have been near-future dystopians. Both could have been YA novels. So as I'm reading, I kept kicking myself, saying "this could have been *my* book". But here's the thing: even if I had had this idea, I would have dismissed it as too derivative. The idea of the book kind of riffs off Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, with a healthy dose of Stephen King's The Long Walk and The Running Man and throws in a touch of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. I would have tossed out the idea in a minute.

So as an aspiring writer, I learned some very important lessons: 1) write a good story, and it really doesn't matter if it's derivative. I enjoyed all the stories I mentioned above. It should be no surprise that I liked this so much. 2) At least for readers like me, a strong engaging story is more important than perfect prose. That's very heartening as I struggle with writing "perfectly", though I find that I enjoy writing much more when I just let go and let the story flow rather than worrying about how well it's actually written.

Also, this trilogy has reignited my hope for YA fiction. I mean, so many people being in love with the Twilight series made me seriously worry for the future ;)

So if you haven't read it yet, get out there and get a copy of The Hunger Games. I really enjoyed the story--it's dark, bleak, and just the right hint of hope without being cloying or fake.

If you have read it, leave a comment and let me know what you thought.

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Green tip for the day: If you have kids and like to go out to eat, carry some crayons in your purse. Then turn down the crayons they give your kids--if you leave them, they just get thrown away! We only take new crayons when our old crayons get too broken or lost and we need new ones to replenish my purse-supply.

Finished for Friday--my novel (first draft)

Oh boy, oh boy! Three Under Two over at Lit and Laundry hosts this one, and I'm so excited to play along this week.

What did I finish this week? The first draft of my novel! Yes, I know, those few of you who stuck with me through November got endless updates about NaNoWriMo, and know that I hit 50k words before Thanksgiving. That was enough to win NaNo, but not enough to finish my novel. I've been plugging away, and on Wednesday of this week, I reached the end.

So I'm celebrating this week. Maybe this weekend I'll do my first read-through, fix up all the glaring grammar/spelling errors (I have a wicked bad habit to never add ends of words. I get the main word, but forget about any -s or -ed or -ing that's supposed to be at the end. Weird, huh?) I'm curious to see how it turned out.

I'll include here a brief back-cover-type blurb about my novel:

In an alternate Earth, chaos reigns. Civilization as we know it has collapsed, fueled in part by a drug called Frantic. In our world, Kara, a single mother, and Erik, her teenaged son, are given a cure for Frantic. Will Kara and Erik be able to face the dangers before them, and will their efforts to spread the cure be enough to save a dying world?

I'm not sure yet what the title is going to be. I've considered Frantic or Hope for Frantic. But I don't love either.

Well, that's it. Now the hard work begins.

One of the great things about NaNoWriMo is that throughout the month, they send out emails from published authors to cheer you on. Some are really helpful, and we were sent an especially great one a few days ago from Kelley Armstrong. In it, she talks about how what you get out of NaNo might be the realization that your story isn't novel-worthy. And that it's okay if that's the result, that you still got a month of writing practice, a month of trying out a new idea. This was important for me to hear, because last year, my NaNo novel crashed and burned. Oh yeah, I have 50k words from 2007 (actually a lot more than 50k). It's a novel. A stinky novel, SOOO not worth editing or rewriting. But I've felt like it was a cheat, that I did the easy, fun part of creating the novel, and then wimped out on the less fun, more difficult editing.

But I really needed to read that pep talk from Kelley Armstrong. Because this year's novel has left me with such a different feeling than 2007. Sure, my novel this year is still rough. Really rough. But it's worth revisiting. And I'm glad someone has said that the piece of crap I wrote last year wasn't a complete waste of time, even if I never look at it again. So thank you, Kelley Armstrong. I'll have to look for one of her books. If her advice is so helpful, it's worth trying one of her novels.

And 2007 wasn't a total waste. In the process of researching a fairly minor plot point, I stumbled upon all the "eat local" stuff in a big way. I had already been on the CSA bandwagon, but researching more fully about the eat local movement really changed the way I think about food: what we eat, how we buy it, how it is produced. So maybe I didn't get a good novel out of 2007, but I did get a revamped outlook on eating.

But I hope what I get out of 2008 will be a novel. Even if it's never published, even if it's never worthy of sending out, I hope it's still a novel. We'll see. For now, I'm FINISHED FOR FRIDAY!

The Wrap Up

Here we are, already at the end of November. It went fast, didn't it? I was just commenting to TK that from Halloween to New Year is just one long blur...the fastest time of year. Weren't the Halloween decorations just going up? Now it's Christmas everywhere. I'm not complaining. My boys are so excited to see lights and those huge inflatable holiday decorations (awesome) people put on their front yards. The gaudier the better!

I thought I'd finish out the month with a wrap up of what I've learned from NaNoWriMo, and NaBloPoMo.

• It's certainly possible to write a rough draft of a novel in a month. In fact, it's not really that difficult. It just takes an hour or two a day.
• Said novel may be complete crap, but it's still a novel.
• Wednesday nights at Borders are apparently pick-up night, as there was always a group of guys cruising for chicks. At a book store. It was awesome to listen in on.
• People conduct a frightening amount of business in Panera. Other breakfast places, like Au Bon Pain, were no where near as filled with interviews and sales people on cell phones and business presentations. I have no idea how Panera has become the place to work for a vast number of people, but it was pretty annoying when one is trying to write in relative peace. It's a lot harder to ignore three different guys on competing sales calls all trying to push their products than it is to ignore more normal conversations. Of course, on the flip side, the cantankerous old man conversation happened at an Au Bon Pain. So perhaps the sales guys are preferable.
  
• Writing is one of those things that is truly 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Perhaps good writing is more like 95/5, but it really is HARD WORK. Fun much of the time, but it's still a lot more effort than I thought.
• Having won NaNo last year, it was easier this year. I knew I was capable, and that knowledge took a lot of fear out of the equation. I knew to expect slow downs, and blocks, and moments (days) of thinking it was a big waste of time and effort for something so terrible. But I also knew I could push past those things.
  
• I don't have 30 continuous days of interesting blog posts in me. Look forward to my average of 4 to 5 posts a week in the future. And I'm sorry to those of you who suffered along through some of the less stellar moments :)
  
• I don't know if I'd do NaBloPoMo again, though I love having a record of NaNoWriMo. That's just for myself, though...perhaps a less public forum would be more appropriate.
• It's very fun to have "writing buddies". The write-ins I went to were great motivation. I really need to find a writing group. I wish I could have talked some of my real life friends into writing. Maybe next year!
  
• My blog stats took a hit in November. I lost about 20 readers per day by the end of last week, and this week has been in the toilet, though I assume (hope) it's from the holiday. Or maybe I just bored you all so badly you ran screaming from your computers. Aaaaahhhhh! :)
• I've missed checking in on blogs as often as I did previously. I "found" a lot of my writing time by cutting out blog reading time. That's especially true of "new" blogs, such as through The Secret is in the Sauce. I tried to stick by my favorite blogs, but I've missed stumbling upon new-to-me blogs.
• I had an awesomely great time with NaNoWriMo, and am already considering it again next year. There's just such a fun energy to it!

That's it! My wrap-up of the month. As my niece would say, peace out!

If you have any questions about NaNoWriMo, feel free to ask them. If not, well, I'll probably spare you from the endless writing updates, or at least keep them to a more reasonable level :)

Good Books, Terrible Writing

At the last write-in I attended, we got to talking about good books that overcome their less-than-stellar writing. You know they're out there: a book you like even though you know that it's not particularly well-written. I'm actually pretty forgiving of writing so long as there's an engaging plot.

My examples: Eragon by Christophen Paolini. Not well-written, still loved it. I'd also argue that the entire Harry Potter series isn't particularly well-written, though it's not as glaringly bad as Eragon. And then poor Stephanie Meyers, whose writing abilities appear to be inversely related to how interesting the book is. Twilight? Not a shining example of perfected prose, and yet the story captured me from start to finish. But by the time Breaking Dawn rolled around, the writing had at least marginally improved, yet I hate the book with such vehemence that I'm actually angry with Stephanie Meyers for ruining the series.

So what are your examples of books that overcome weak writing?

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Current NaNo word count: 48,024. I can almost taste 50k!

Current NaNo attitude: I can't wait to hit 50k. Now I just need to stay motivated to finish the novel.

Just wait until they're 16!

Conversation that took place today:

B-man: I hugged N-man at circle time [at preschool].

Me: Aw, that was nice! N-man, did you hug B-man back?

N-man: No!

Me: B-man, were you hugging to be nice, or to drive N-man crazy? [B-man has a tendency to use tons of unwanted hugs and kisses to annoy N-man, so it's not like that would be without precedent.]

B-man, confused: N-man doesn't know how to drive.

Oh, you crazy idioms!

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Current NaNo word count: 34,641. I've already done a good chunk of writing today while TK did errands with the boys. Isn't he the best??

Current NaNo attitude: Thinking my novel is horrible, and noticing I've made some huge mistakes, such as failing to describe what any of my main characters look like, having one character have a completely unexplained personality switch, and leaving an important secondary character out of the story for vast swaths of time (hmmm, to be written out? She may be on the chopping board!)

I realize that every novelist goes through this, and that it's completely normal for a first draft to have weaknesses, and being tuned in to these weaknesses already (which for the most part should be easy to fix with a little editing and rewriting) is a pretty good sign. But then when I'm feeling more pessimistic, I realize that every novelist goes through this thinking their novel is crap...not just successful novelists. Most novelists are right. Their novel is crap.

But as I've said before, I'd rather have a finished piece of crap at the end of November than an unfinished "am I SURE it would have been crap if I'd just made the effort" half-novel.

Do You Suffer from cold palms?

I bought a pair of fingerless gloves today. I just had to admit it.

I've always considered fingerless gloves, for most people, to be an odd, Madonna-of-the-80's-esque affectation. Sure there are always the people who need them for medical reasons, or the people who have to be outside/somewhere cold yet still retain dexterity that is lacking with gloves. But for most people: trend-victim! Get some real gloves, since the tips of your fingers are generally even colder than your palms!

But then I was outside typing the other day. It was beautiful and sunny out. I brought the laptop outside and let the kids play in the sandbox while I wrote for a half hour. But no matter how beautiful it was, it was still November. It was cold (okay, technically it's November today, too, and it's not cold, but it was cold last week when I was out there!)

My hands were cold. I couldn't wear gloves since it would interfere with my typing ability. What did I need? Fingerless gloves. All those years of judging people for their fingerless gloves, and now here I was, seeing the usefulness of them.

I put it out of my head. How often am I going to be sitting outside with my laptop in 40 degree weather? Not that often!

But then today I was at the store, and I saw fingerless gloves. Fine. Then I saw the sign above it: 60% off. Which makes sense, since it's really only 40% of a glove. I looked at the price: $3.50. Sold!

So I'm now the proud owner of fingerless gloves. I can't wait until the next 40 degree sunny day, so I can head out to the backyard to type in comfort!

And I apologize to all those fingerless glove wearers I've unfairly judged in the past.

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Current NaNo Word Count: 31,695. I hope to get in another 1k or so tonight. We'll see.

Current NaNo Attitude: Wanting to take a day off. Yo, that's what December's for!

I complained yesterday about my typing skills. Then I tried out this awesome thing called Write or Die on DrWicked.com. You enter your word goal and time, and then it brings up a window for you to type in. If you stop typing for too long, the screen turns colors, and eventually sings you annoying music. So you have to keep typing constantly.

It's so fun.

I wrote 928 (crappy) words in 20 minutes yesterday, right after I'd complained that about 750 was my max typing speed. Yeah, it turns out it wasn't. I guess it's not my typing skills slowing me down regularly, but rather my thinking skills.

I don't know how often I'll use this. It was great yesterday when I was on a roll. I think it would be really good for when I'm stuck as well as it would force me to barrel through the block. But today I've been writing a hard part. I have the idea, it's just a complicated, emotionally rough section. It's been SLOW, but I've needed the time to think. So I've resisted the urge to speed things up, even though today I wrote a paltry 1,000 words in nearly two hours. See, yesterday I did about that in twenty minutes. I would hope the writing today was more gooder*, but I'm not sure the slower pace really helped all that much :)

Back to banging my head against this part of the novel!

*"More gooder" perfectly describes the incremental improvement from complete and total junk to total junk.

Favorite Books, A to Z

I've shamelessly borrowed this from Ronnica at Tale of a Kansas Girl, who borrowed it herself from someone who borrowed it from someone, etc. You get the idea. It's like a tag-free meme, with no rules at all. Well, besides the obvious of you know, using the alphabet. And picking book titles instead of movies or games or people. I guess there are some rules, but I'm not going to list them here. I trust you to figure them out.

Anyway, I've had this as an unposted entry for a few days, and I'd head back to it to whenever I thought of a new book. It was very fun. At first, I didn't think I'd be able to come up with books for each letter, and I'm still not pleased with all my choices...if you can only think of one title that starts with Z, well, that makes it your favorite even if it wasn't that good. And I'm *sure* I've left great books off here, picking an inferior selection just because I didn't think of it. But who cares? This was fun!

Anyone want to play along?

Without further ado, my list of books, from A to Z:

A - American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I know, can you believe I didn't pick The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon? It was a toss up!

B - The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. Runners up: Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut and Brave New World by Aldus Huxley. I know, I'm not going to get anywhere with this list if I don't start limiting my choices!

C - Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

D - Dead Until Dark (Book 1 in the Southern Vampire series) by Charlaine Harris. This series is light fun. It's my favorite of the vampire/romance books.

E - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. This is the one book on this list that I wish EVERYONE would read!

F - Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

G - A Game of You (The Sandman, Volume 5) by Neil Gaiman. A stand-in for the whole Sandman series, though this does happen to be my favorite story line.

H - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I - Imajica by Clive Barker

J - John Adams by David McCullough

K - Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

L - Lost in a Good Book (Book 2 of the Thursday Next series) by Jasper Fforde. This book is standing in for the whole series. The first book, The Eyre Affair, just couldn't compete with my favorite book of all-time for the "E" slot!

M - Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

N - Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

O - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

P - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Q - Queen of Sorcery (Book 2 in The Belgariad series) by David Eddings. Pickin's were slim for Q, though I do honestly like this series.

R - The Road to Wellville by T. C. Boyle

S - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

T - The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

U - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. The whole series is good, though I liked this, the first book, best.

V - Violent Cases by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Good, though not my favorite of their work. But special for being the first time they worked together, and it wasn't like there was a lot of competition for the letter V. What was I going to pick? Visions of Sugar Plums?

W - The Watchmen by Alan Moore. Or perhaps The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami. They're so different, it's hard to pick. I swear, I'm trying to limit myself to one choice per letter!

X - Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. Another book in the Ender series. Outstanding, and I would have picked this even if it didn't happen to be the only book I can think of that starts with the letter X.

Y - The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Z - Zodiac by Neal Stephenson. This book was just okay, but there wasn't really any competition for book titles starting with Z! At least not that I could think of!

That was fun! Though I was thinking what an easy job of it any Sue Grafton super-fans would have!

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Current NaNo Word Count: 28,446

Current NaNo Attitude: Had a fun write-in last night, and hit my highest single day word count of the year (3,324 words yesterday...I know, that's not huge, but I've been trying not to burn out this year). I'm not going to have much writing time today, though, but I'll deal. Hopefully I'll still be able to hit my goal of 2k words today so I don't eat into the cushion I built up yesterday. But if I don't quite make it, well, I do have that cushion from yesterday :)

We did some 20 minute word sprints yesterday at the write-in. The idea is that you write full-out for 20 minutes, then see who "won". I'm in a class by myself, and it's right in the middle of the pack. Two of the women are far better typists than I...they both hit over 1,000 words in twenty minutes. I just can't type that fast. I've been doing my own 20 minute word sprints, and my very best are in the mid-seven hundreds. That's if I type full-out and never have to stop for word choice, or to think about what is going to happen next. Most of my word sprints end up in the 550-650 range. But there's no one at the write-in who writes at that pace...I'm stuck right between the people who write between 350-450, then the people who write 800-1,000. I sure wish there was someone there in my general typing skill range! And I think perhaps I better work on my speed typing skills sometime after November. Sometimes my mind is working faster than my fingers, and I wish my fingers could keep up! Though perhaps it's best that my fingers force me to slow down. I think quality might take an even bigger hit than it's already taken if I could type more quickly!

More Celebrity Crushing

It's a Friday, I'm not proud. Today's post is going to be all about those good ol' celebrity crushes.

How fun it was to see the near universal appeal of Matt Damon among my blog readers. I always suspected my readers had exceedingly good taste.

There were some great mentions in the comments. John Cusack, James Marsden, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Julia Stiles. I don't get the whole George Clooney thing, nor the appeal of Jake Gyllenhaal. I suspect I am in the minority on that, though.

So here goes, my not at all vapid post for the day. (Hey, remember when my blog earned a reading level of Junior High? And today, we all know I deserved it!)

I think I was going too broad on Wednesday with my post. I mean, even for celebrities, it's hard to be perfect. So I've created some categories of hotness. Please, leave a comment and give me your vote in whatever categories you'd like. Or make up your own categories.

Overall Hottest: I'm still voting Matt Damon. I'll give Johnny Depp a runner-up vote, though.

Hottest Politician: I know, a bunch of you said Obama. But I have to go with Jens Stoltenberg, the prime minister of Norway. Thanks to American in Norway for bringing the Norway!

Girl-Crush: Nancy had a good vote for Julia Stiles. I could see that. But I'm sorry, Kristen Bell gets my vote.

Hottest Fake News Guy: Jon Stewart.

Hottest Member of the Crew of Firefly: Sorry to the guys on board, but none of them can keep up with Zoe (Gina Torres). Jayne and Simon put up a little resistance, but come on. She's ridiculous.

Hottest 80's Hair Band Dude: Sebastian Bach, formerly of Skid Row fame. Did anyone catch him on Gilmore Girls? Genius!

Hottest and Most Awesome Spouse a Girl Could Ever Want: TK. Awww. I'm a lucky gal, I tell ya!

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Current NaNo Word Count: It was 13,060 last night. I got in a good chunk of writing already today, though, so I'm currently at 14,681. I'll probably get another 500 or 1,000 in tonight, if all goes well. At the very least, I'd like to break 15k.

Current NaNo attitude: Kind of pissed at Michael Chabon. See, I'm struggling in my novel to capture the voice of a character who is just a little pompous, slightly arrogant and know-it-all-y, without being over the top. It's not easy!

Then I pick up our book group selection for the month, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. And in the first chapter, he kind of does it. I mean, I'm not far into the novel. Maybe the character isn't supposed to be a pompous, and I'm just projecting, but I think, I suspect, he's perfectly captured the voice I've been stumbling around. Jerk.

Seriously, he's an awesome writer. Reading him while I'm trying to write is an odd combination of encouraging and discouraging. Encouraging because it's always exciting to read great writing, and hoping to be able to do something half as great yourself. Discouraging, well, I'm sure you get that piece...the danger of "I'll never be as good as...". Which is true, though I keep reminding myself that there are plenty of authors who aren't as good as...whomever you want to compare them to with a more enjoyable novel.

I will say there's an over-abundance of description in this first chapter of his novel. Whenever I'm stuck, I start describing stuff, so this, to me, read like someone who was having trouble getting started. Still good, though. Oh heck, I should read more than 20 pages of a book before I start critiquing it.

Facebook Etiquette

So, am I allowed to friend an ex-boyfriend on Facebook and be all "What the heck?"

Hee! I love facebook.

Don't worry, I haven't been sitting around for the past twenty years pining over this boy. I was pretty much past that within a month of our breakup. Anyone who knew me in high school knows I didn't waste much time pining about the ones who got away when there were always the ones to still get on the horizon.

It was just a weird relationship. I'm curious about it, in a "I'd forgotten pretty much about it until I saw he was on facebook" kind of way. He was far more popular than I was in the lovely stratified social world of high school...the first person I dated where random girls would come up to me in the hallway or cafeteria and threaten me.

Didn't you just love high school, I ask sarcastically?

Anyway, he was really nice to me, right up to the day he broke up with me.

It was pretty confusing, but as I said, I got over it. But I've always felt like there was a story there that I missed. I feel like I was very much a bit character in a larger story that I didn't get to read.

Maybe I'll write my own story about it. I'm sure it'd be far more interesting than the reality. Maybe he could have been visited by a future version of himself telling him he needed to break up with me so that I could go on and meet TK and have twin boys who one day would save the universe. Or maybe he was some kind of Jekyll/Hyde monster, and the evil half took over. Or maybe he just really liked the girl he broke up with me for. Hmm, that sounds the most reasonable but least intersting. I think I'll go with the "the universe fated me to end up with TK version". Yo, thanks, universe! You got that one right!

Any budding YA authors have an alternate explanation they'd like to write? I think this is far more fun and less stalker-y than finding him in Facebook and demanding an explanation nearly 20 years later.

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You're all awesome. You're all so sweet! Comment burnout hadn't occurred to me. I could see I still had as many readers as normal, but instead of 10% leaving comments, only like 2% were leaving comments. I was feeling a little low. I promise to be a little less needy from now on ;)

But we can all come together to discuss hotties, right?

I have to do a follow up post about that one. I have more opinions about all your comments. I'll probably write it tomorrow, so it's your last chance to leave your vote for your celebrity crush.

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Current NaNo Word Count: 10,830.

Current NaNo attitude: Much improved! I went to a write-in last night. I was in a bad place, struggling for every word of my novel, really hitting a brick wall. The change of venue was just what I needed, though. We spent too much time talking when we first got there, though it was good to get to know everyone and I certainly wasn't complaining as I was in a spot where it was NOT fun to be writing.

Then we got to work. I put a 500 word challenge out there (race to 500 words), and got trounced. Not surprising as I was still very much TRAPPED in my novel. Who said "No plot, no problem"? Because no plot....PROBLEM!

Did a 20 minute sprint, and I churned out a little over 500 words. Most of it random description that will probably be cut in the first edit I hate to say. Writing just to be writing, hoping that something would shake loose. And you know what? It did. It was amazing. The next part of my novel opened right up.

Some people had to leave, but the three of us left did another 20 minute sprint. And I hit nearly 750 words. That's almost 40 words a minute. I didn't even know I was capable of typing that fast.

It was amazing. There was a different energy about writing with a group, and it was just what I needed. This morning a huge plot point finally coalesced for me. I'm back on track, idea-wise. Which probably means I should stop blogging and start writing. Though the Backyardigans my kids are watching is almost over so I guess I'll be playing, which'll be fun, too.

Oh, and I crossed the 10k mark. 1/5 of the way to the goal of 50k words, though I'm starting to notice that once again, just like last year, my novel is going to be more like 75k words. No way will I get 75k words done this month. Ah well, still aiming for 50k this month, and the other 25k will be a problem for December.

Still nervous about the upcoming time constraints, but once again enjoying the challenge!

The great vegan followup, AKA college reflections

Last week, I was happy to have a college friend and his girlfriend come to visit. Only problem is, he's a vegan! Gasp! Let's be honest, I cook vegetarian meals quite often, but they are almost always drowning in cheese. Or eggs. Or cheese. Mmm, cheese.

So, I had to come up with some cheese-free dishes, as I'm not big into cheese-replacements (I mean, I love soy and I love cheese, but soy cheese is one unholy union. And nutritional yeast? Doesn't taste like parmesan cheese, no matter what you try to tell me.)

I made a ratatouille and a delightful corn and black bean salsa and a salad. I thought it all turned out pretty well, although the ratatouille could have used some Parmesan and the salad desperately needed some crumbled bleu cheese.

Then, after dinner, do you know what my friend told me? That he doesn't eat vegetables very often. Oh dear. Did I just out-vegetable a vegan?

It was a very fun visit although it's so hard to believe it's been over ten years since we graduated from college. He hasn't changed a bit, and I highly approve of his girlfriend, who would have fit right in to our college group.

I don't know if you're reading, Vegan Dude, but it was great to see you and Effectively Vegan Girlfriend. Do you like the nickname I gave you? It could be abbreviated as VD. Hee, I said VD.

Totally related random thought: Another of my college friends has started a blog, Writer Dad. He's a writer. And a new dad. And he's blogging about writing. And being a dad. Good blog name choice, huh? Anyway, he's one of the best writers I know, far better than I am, so check him out. Just don't bother reporting back that I'm right, he is a better writer. I know. I took a creative writing class with him in college where he turned in vast quantities of highly polished prose while I churned out a bunch of shlocky garbage. Although in my defense, I wasn't the worst writer in the class. That distinction was won by Cliche Girl, who wrote completely autobiographical pieces and then tried to pass it off as fiction. "Oh, it wasn't Cliche Girl. I meant to say it was PLEESHAY Girl." That's what her readings were like. My favorite cliche she used:

I, oops, I mean SHE, was happier than a pig in shit.*

I'm not sure if Writer Dad (or Vegan Dude, who was also in the class) even noticed, though, as Cliche Girl was actually Extremely Good Looking Cliche Girl. I'm not sure the boys ever made it past the "extremely good looking" part.

*Note: she didn't actually write in the first person corrected to the third person. That actually would have been funny and kind of interesting if she had.

Gearing up for November!

Some of you know that last November, I wrote a novel during National Novel Writing Month. It was a great experience and I'm so glad I did it.

You haven't heard much about my novel since then. That's because it was terrible. I say that with a lot of love. I learned so much while writing the novel, and I think the only way I could learn it was by doing, and doing badly. I got more than I could have ever hoped from the experience, even if I didn't end up with the "Great American Novel".

I'm planning to do another round of NaNoWriMo this coming November, and have continued writing on a smaller, less insanely epic scale. I don't blog much about it, because in my opinion, reading about writing is one of the most boring activities on earth. There are some rules that are immutable: any books where the main character is writing a book will be unreadable, and movies about someone making a movie will be unwatchable. Seriously. I just dare you to give me an example that disproves this. Oh, you're going to pull out The Dark Half, aren't you? Please, one of Stephen King's weakest showings. Or Adaptation, the pallid followup to the genius that was Being John Malkovich. Now a movie about writing a book, maybe. Or a book about making a movie, well I haven't read one by perhaps it wouldn't be entirely tiresome.

I'm digressing again, aren't I? There's a perfectly good reason why I don't find it overwhelming to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It's because words flow out of me. They're not always coherent, or to the point, but they certainly don't get clogged up in there! Perhaps I should install a bit of a filter...

Back on topic, starting now. I promise.

So I'm currently finishing up reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. First, this book is incredibly awesome. Amazing. All of you who have read it are in deep, deep trouble for not giving me this book and demanding I read it immediately. And for anyone of you who haven't read it yet, I demand you get it and read it immediately. There, now you can't blame me for not informing you of its awesomeness. Second, I have to get everything else by Michael Chabon and read that immediately. I hope it's just as good. Or even half as good. Because then I'm in for some awesome reading material.

How does this tie into my novel writing? Well, one of my biggest difficulties in writing a novel was in transitions. I got so mired down in minutia. I never knew how to jump over time. I didn't want to write the boring stuff, and I'm sure no one would want to read the boring stuff, but I had so much trouble skipping from Activity A to Consequence B without explaining all the blah blah that happened to get them from A to B. Kavalier and Clay is like a guide book for me in how to jump between points. It is so interestingly structured. Not only does he skip over the boring parts, he skips over the exciting parts, taking you to a point in the future where stuff has already happened, and then you as a reader piece it together in bits and pieces.

I don't think I will be structuring my future novels this way, but it's just so amazing to see the facility with which he handles movement in time. It's not particularly loud; not an attention grabbing structure. Not like how, for example, Vonnegut's structure choices sometime pop right out at you (I love Vonnegut, by the way...that's not a complaint at all about his writing, in fact, that's something I love about his writing, how he takes chances and plays with structure). If I hadn't struggled so much with my novel about how to get from place to place within my own story I'm not sure I would have even noticed Chabon's choices. But I'm just finding it so incredibly well done and such a joy to read. I have to shout it from the rooftops, or from the random bits that make up my blog.

Whew. I'll leave it at that, and hope my brief foray into writing about writing didn't bore you to tears. It was mostly a love letter to Michael Chabon, wasn't it? And isn't it fun to sneak a peek at my insane writer-crushes?

Random related thought: Anyone want to join in and write for NaNoWriMo this November? It really is fun, and doesn't take as much time as you'd think (about 2 hours a day is what I wrote on average, and I finished my 50k words nearly a week early). No using NaBloPoMo as an excuse, either!

My Alumni Update

My husband and I recently got our college alumni newsletter in the mail. Whenever we get them, I'm always tempted to send in an update and see if they publish it. I crack up at all the "so-and-so has just been promoted to the 2nd assistant to the assistant of the head assistant". Is it just me, or does it always seem like they are trying to play up how super great their lives are? Or, maybe their lives are super great and they just need the official recognition of it. Whichever, I've never understood the draw. Perhaps it's because I'm still in contact with all my friends from college, for the most part. Anyone I want to update on my life, I just send them an email and say "here's my update".

However, the temptation is there. I'd love to send in an update about how unsuccessful I am and see if it got published. I'd especially like to send it to the newsletter for the University Honors program I was in, since those newsletters are all about how phenomenally successful their graduates are. Hee, hee, I ruin their image with my lack of success!

It makes me laugh, and makes me a little sad, how much emphasis is placed on traditional success. I did well in school. I got my degree. Three of them, in fact. I had a well-paying job with a nice job title. Did that make me successful? Am I less successful in life now that I'm a stay at home mom?

Maybe it's because I took an odd path to stay-at-home-ness. I hadn't planned to stay home. In fact, I had planned a career change and schooling around being able to work after my child was born. Then we found out we were having twins. Then we looked at daycare costs, and compared it to what I'd make as a first year elementary school teacher. That was a funny day! The day I realized...oh my gosh, I'd make about $1 a day if I went back to work. Forget that, let me give this staying home with the kids thing a try.

I've been lucky that I had that choice. So many people don't. It's been odd and fun and tiring and difficult. And I've been lucky not to have second guessed my decision too much. Yes, I walked away from a career, but I'll have time for that later. Yes, I've probably assured that I will never be labeled as traditionally "successful". Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

I've been thinking of this more, since my boys will be starting preschool in the fall. I have to say it, I'm excited and a little apprehensive at the thought of reentering the working world. I have no idea what I'm going to do. Teaching is out as I'll only have 3 mornings a week. Maybe I'll return to accounting, or maybe I'll think of something entirely different. Or maybe I'll get off my butt and finish that novel. Who knows! But what's the rush, I still have a few months to work it all out.

Well, back to my original point. Here it is, my alumni update:

Ms. Whatacard has recently been promoted to the eliminations expert position at Card, Inc. She has changed a grand total of over 5,500 diapers and is now embarking on potty training adventures with her two and a half year old twins. She also holds advanced degrees in avoiding thrown food and wiping up spilled milk. She has memorized her 150th children's song and can sing all of them off-key. Ms. Whatacard's future goals include going to the bathroom without an audience and developing a superpower to stop tantrums mid-scream.

Random unrelated thought: How big is the Island of Sodor and why do they need such an elaborate rail system?

2008, here I come

Good thing procrastination isn't on my list of things to attack this year. Well, better late than never. Here, in all its glory, preserved so I can't forget it, my goals for this year:

• Write at least 160,000 words. That's 10,000 per month, except 50,000 in November. This means I also have to keep track of my writing, so I'll start an excel spreadsheet to track my word counts.
  • As a subgoal of that, I want to win NaNoWriMo 2008.

• Take one photograph a day that somehow represents the day for me. I know some people do 1 picture a day of themselves, or of something arty. Well, I'm not all that arty, I'm more looking to have a photo-journal of 2008.
  • Pictures of my kids don't count, because I'm going to post the pictures online but I don't like to post pictures of my boys online. Heck, if pics of them counted, I've already taken a picture a day (or more like 20 pictures a day) since they were born two and a half years ago!
  • It's January 2nd, and I have two pictures already (not downloaded yet, but Jan 1 is a couple of ornaments lying on the ground as we un-decorated the tree, and Jan 2 is tissues, a thermometer, and medicine since my son and I are sick).

• Post a minimum of 120 blog entries in 2008. It's kind of fun...a neat way to get some ideas out of my head, or just to have a place to let my random ideas flow. Good escapism, and another good way to keep track of memories.
  • This doesn't count toward my 160k word year goal above!
  • Dare I say, I'm considering NaBloPoMo next November on top of NaNoWriMo? If anyone doesn't know, it's like NaNoWriMo, except you commit to writing 1 blog entry a day during November (so, it's far, far easier than NaNoWriMo :)

• Start planning our great cross-country adventure. In 2010 or 2011, we're planning to spend a month or two driving across the country, seeing all the sites that strike our fancy.
  • Start a savings account!
  • Start a file of places we may like to visit, and research some of those areas.
  • Learn about camping...and try to decide if that's something we want to do on our trip. Try to find some outdoorsy people to befriend who can teach us all about camping.

• Live healthier!
  • Join the Y and take a class. Go to family swim times.
  • Join a CSA or otherwise plan to go to a lot of farms this summer to pick fresh veggies.
  • Stock healthy snacks in the house instead of chips and chocolate.

Random unrelated thought, What I'm Reading edition: I'm currently reading Moth Smoke for book group on Wednesday. I'm really enjoying it so far. My book group is really on a winning streak recently. We've read a ton of books I've been pleased to have had a chance to read.