There’s been lot of discussion lately in the blog and twitter spheres on the subject of boys and YA (young adult) literature. More specifically writers and others are asking why more boys aren’t reading YA. I’ve followed a number of these discussions with interest, but for the most part I’ve been fairly quiet on the subject. However, a recent discussion (Where Have All The Young Men Gone? : Guys In YA) on YA author Dawn Metcalf’s blog has finally motivated me to join the conversation.

Most of us are familiar with the expression, “Never judge a book by its cover”. In other words, don’t assume what something is like based only how it looks. This expression is usually offered as an admonition about people and prejudice, but here I want to consider its literal meaning with regards to actual books. . . . Continue Reading

(I had another post planned for today, but yesterday’s passage of health care reform legislation by the House has trumped that one for another day.)

My wife and I met and married during college in the 1990s.  Our goal was to get her through graduate school at which time she would take a full-time position in her degree field and I would transition to being the stay-home parent once children came along.  We hadn’t been married long and she had already begun graduate school when an newly diagnosed health condition required her to have surgery with a hospital stay.  We were uninsured.  The surgeon worked with us on a sliding-scale to reduce the cost, but it was still many thousands of dollars, much more than either of us could afford so we got on a payment plan.  Now, not only did we have college and graduate school tuition debt, but we had medical debt too.  A lot of it. . . . Continue Reading

My thoughts exactly.



Thanks to @jeffjohansen for sending this to me.

This week’s YA Highway Wednesday Road Trip is celebrating the limerick in honor or St. Patrick’s Day.  Followers were asked to write limericks for their favorite book and/or WIP (work-in-progress).  Several months ago the folks a YA Highway issued a similar invitation to write haiku.  I had fun writing for that one so I thought I’d join in this week too.

As with my haiku, I’ve written one limerick for my current WIP and another limerick for the entire series for which it’s a part.

Raven Academy (Book 1)

Connor thinks it’s a school just the same
as all others with different names,
but it’s part of a plan
in which he’ll have a hand
in revealing what pow’r has it claimed.

The Citadel of Kidrodell (the series)

Kidrodell is a land out of time
and the home for a new kind of crime
when the good at first sought
by its exiles is fraught
will the threads of Earth’s history unwind?

Finally, I’ve taken the easy way out of deciding what other books to “limericize” by simply choosing one I most recently finished and which I thoroughly enjoyed.

BONESHAKER (by Cherie Priest)

Briar Wilkes and her son are estranged
by Leviticus’ deed, unexplained.
Now Seattle’s walled tight,
full of zombies and Blight,
and Steampunk will forever be changed!

“As you know, the concept of the suction pump is centuries old. Really that’s all this is except that instead of sucking water, they’re sucking time. They’ve just sucked one hour of your life away.  They might one day go as high as five, but they really don’t know what that would do to you.  So, let’s just start with what we have.  What did this do to you?  Tell me.  And remember, this is for posterity so be honest.  How do you feel?”

This week’s YA Highway Wednesday Road Trip is about Favorite Helpful Sites for writers.  I’ve decided to play along this week and share a tip I picked up from my day job where part of my time is spent supporting and configuring information search tools.  Three simple words . . .

USE. GOOGLE. READER.

I know many writers already use Google Reader as the portal for their many blog subscriptions.  It’s a great way for the information you want to come to you (Yay RSS!) so you don’t have to go looking for it.  (Of course this works for anyone, not just writers.)

But did you know you can use Google Reader as your own personalized search engine? . . . Continue Reading

In my previous post I suggested ending your book in the same way you would consider ending a party.  Today, I decided to continue the party analogy by looking at how to best begin your book – by being fashionably late.

The expression ‘fashionably late’ is likely familiar to most of us.  It’s is used to refer to someone who shows up at an event, such as a party, after the time the event was scheduled to begin.  This doesn’t, however, apply to those who simply got mixed up and arrived late by accident.  Being fashionably late is something done on purpose.

Okay, so why would anybody want do that?

One possibility is to create the impression you’re too busy and important with other social engagements to be anywhere on time.  However, I’d like to believe most people aren’t so self-important as all that.  The reason I’m sticking with for people to show up late is that it’s more fun.

Anyone who’s ever attended a party knows it takes a little while for the guests to loosen up.  It starts with people clustering into small groups, eyeing the refreshments, and wondering who’s going to be the first to break the ice.  While this might be a nice setting for an intimate chat with a few close friends, it doesn’t sound much like  a party.  Experienced partygoers at this stage might not even stay for the h’orderves.

Being fashionably late then means waiting to show up for the party until after the ice has broken, the music is hot, and the people aren’t just staring at the snack bar – they’re eating and drinking freely out on the dance floor.  Everybody’s already having fun!

So how does this apply to my book?   . . . Continue Reading

(This post was inspired by a recent post on Magical Words about book endings.)

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard when throwing a party is to end it while the guests are still having fun.  This may seem counter-intuitive, but in truth it makes a lot of sense.  If people leave the party feeling good they’ll want to come back again next time. If you milk the party until its all fun is gone, concerned your guests will miss out on something if you don’t, their last experience won’t be of fun at all.  It will be of that awkwardness that comes from trying to figure out how to politely get their coats and slip away when no one’s looking because they’ve had enough. Probably not quite the lasting impression you were hoping for when you planned the party to begin with.

The same can be said with your book. . . . Continue Reading