Category Archives: Writing

Weekend adventures

1 Reply

I think our Saturday was best summarized by my daughter:

“We went to the beach, we dug up a clam, then a big hovercraft came right up on shore, then we got invited inside, then we had a delicious lunch. How much better could a day be?”

In between digging for clams and hoping the enormous hovercraft wasn’t going to actually run over our beach blanket (which seemed entirely possible for a while), I was attempting to read Jane Vandenburgh’s Architecture of the Novel. I wasn’t too successful (did I mention the hovercraft?), but I did come across this wonderful line about narrative:

“…it wants to be believed in, as story — that is, taken up as reality in the listener’s mind. It doesn’t want to dress up and go flouncing around as art.”

B is for “Be careful, that microphone’s on…”

2 Replies

Wow. There are crazy things going on in Toronto this week. Who ever heard of a mayor calling a children’s author the B word?

Coincidentally, I just finished reading Vikki VanSickle’s Words That Start With B, which I loved. Funny and unexpected and poignant. And one of those books that contains much more than promised in the back cover copy.

I read it partly because the author and I have some mutual friends. I also received a manuscript critique recently which read: “Some of the themes you are tackling have been dealt with in other books — a recently passed away mother in Words That Start With B…”

No one likes to hear her book has been done elsewhere, better. Fortunately, Words that Start with B does not actually deal with a recently deceased mother. Nope, no dead mothers to be found. My editor must have been thinking of some other title, which frees me to like this book without restrictions. Yay B Words!

You also have to like anyone who would speak in public at 4:30 a.m., and tweet this: “Rob Ford thinks I’m a bitch, but I think he’s a bully.”

Undie Extras

1 Reply

Always (always!), the moment one of my books is published, I come across information that I wish I’d included.

Case in point: 50 Underwear Questions is printed and shipped. And check this out — the first spacesuits were sewn by Playtex seamstresses. They needed women who could sew 1/64-inch seam allowances, without pins.

An interesting space tidbit that is in the book: NASA scientists are working to find a practical way to use cotton-eating bacteria. Then, when astronauts’ underwear gets dirty, they can feed it to the bugs.

The summer of new things

1 Reply

Min looked around the dinner table tonight and said, “Wow, this is the summer of learning new things.” And it’s true. He’s been taking computer courses, and working on some big projects. My son learned to bike without training wheels, and is now bombing around the neighbourhood. My daughter’s learning to play tennis. And I’ve…

Oh my. I’ve learned nothing! I have six billion projects in the midst of massive revisions and I’m not learning anything new! Not only that, but I may be stuck in endless revisions forever and ever and never figure out a decent plotline and never accomplish anything and it’ll be the year of learning nothing…

Except laksa. I did learn to make laksa this week.

And it was good. Thank God.

The editing antidote

Leave a reply

I’ve decided to take a short break from revisions and focus on non-writing accomplishments for the week. Such as:

1. The new dresser! Bought from a nice man in Dunbar. It smells slightly like musty basement, but it’s (so far) flea and bedbug-free. My son is under strict instructions to stop using his dresser drawers as a stepladder to the window.

2. Blueberries! I realize this tiny little bunch doesn’t look to impressive, but between the three bushes we have at least a couple dozen berries ripening and this is the first time since I planted them three years (!!) ago that we’ve gotten fruit. This may have something to do with the new location, and the regular sprinklings of pine needles we’ve given them.

Editing changes, on the other hand, will not be accomplished until Wednesday. If you don’t hear from me by Thursday, please send search and rescue.

It’s all about the space metaphors today

2 Replies

Things are a little busy around Chateau Kyi this week, because the first edit of my manuscript arrived Monday morning like a molten meteor of doom, and landed blazing on my desk.

Okay, that might be slightly melodramatic. Waiting for the edit was worse than the edit itself. The comments seem very reasonable, and they all appear in a lovely shade of lavender. Lavender makes everything more friendly, no?

Plus, I feel better about edits in general ever since watching this John Green video about the editorial letter for an early draft of The Fault in Our Stars. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, start about 1:50. He reads this cosmically long sentence about missed opportunities to discuss the meaning of martyrdom. I haven’t gotten that note on a manuscript yet, nor have I ever received a sentence that long from an editor. And for these things, I’m thankful.

Embracing my inner flake

Leave a reply

I am usually an organized and reliable person. (Honest.) I never miss a deadline. I turn up five to ten minutes early for meetings. I even floss. All of which makes my recent flakiness completely out of character.

First, I told Min I wouldn’t be working on non-fiction projects next year. Tight non-fiction deadlines tend to create a wee bit o’ chaos around our household, in the form of unwashed laundry, haphazard dinners, and a garden-turned-jungle. There’s a limited amount of writing time in my life. When the balance tips, it’s not pretty. Plus, I have several fiction manuscripts in need of revision. So, as I explained to Min, I would be working on fiction for the next year. Once both kids were in school full time, I would consider working on both fiction and non-fiction once again.

Then, my publisher called. With a really great idea. It would be SO much fun to write! And I could incorporate many of my interests into one (non-fiction) project. Yes! I would love to work on a proposal. And a brainstorming meeting? Why not Tuesday?

About six hours later, I began to panic. Min made non-commital sounds while I muttered about arranging for a far-off deadline, and working more evenings, and the distinct possibility that our children would be just as happy at boarding school.

And, finally, I wrote to my publisher and backed out of both project and brainstorming meeting, which I’m sure was slightly surprising, as I was completely enthusiastic 24 hours before.

Flake of the Week. I have now been crowned.

The art of proposal

Leave a reply

There’s a great post at Kidlit about how to write a non-fiction query.

You’ve probably heard my thoughts on this before. Recently, I’ve found that my children’s non-fiction queries also need a unique concept or treatment to go along with the subject matter. For example, a book about how human nerves work… too boring. But a book about the nervous system featuring graphic-novel style illustrations and the Marquis de Sade as a narrator… that will sell.

Obviously, that’s not a practical example for children’s non-fiction, but you get the idea. Concept is key!

The stork arrives again…

4 Replies

Yes, the stork arrived twice in one season. I’ve had twins!

The latest advance copy arrival is The Lowdown on Denim. It’s quite different than any of my previous books — a little younger in tone, a little more imaginative, and a little more hip in its illustration style. (The illustrator goes by the name CTON and signs off his e-mails ‘word’. I think that explains the entire graphic style, no?)

The book also has one of my favourite covers ever.