Sophomore Undercover

Lucky you. You get a break from my random ramblings for one blog post and one blog post only. Why? Because Ben Esch's debut YA novel Sophomore Undercover was released yesterday. He's a cool cat and a brand spanking new YA author.  

Though I have not read Sophomore Undercover yet (my copy should be here any day, any minute, any second), I have a feeling this novel will wrap teen readers around its fingers with its humor and genuine honesty about growing up teen. 

I'll have more to come about Sophomore Undercover but until then.... 

Visit Paul Michael Murphy over at Murphblog and check out his v-logs. Funny guy. And likable. Or just go directly to Ben Esch's white-hot web site (I'm digging alliteration today) and read more about it (and play a fun Frogger-type video game, only better).

Congrats, Ben Esch!

Don't Be That Guy!

Just got back from a 2 year-old's birthday party (my daughter's facebook friend). They write on walls, that's about it. There was a big backyard, random kid music, pizza, and a moon bounce. Birthday girl was all clammed up and acting shy in her highchair. The other kids, mostly cousins of said birthday girl, were a little older. So that left me, my wife, and daughter to play. She (my daughter) begged to "Jump" so we took her shoes off and threw her inside the Sesame Street-themed, air-filled bouncy jungle thing.

Everything is going well. Happy smiles. Laughs. Big jumps and padded falls and bouncing, bouncing, bouncing, like Tigger.

Then the older kids join the fun. More bouncing, a few screams, some trepidation on my daughter's part, but she gets over it, holds her own like a champ in there, and everything is still fine.

And then......

Drum roll please......

That Guy (That Forty Year-Old Guy) decides it would be a good idea to join the moon bounce party. Don't act like you don't know That Guy because you do. Uncle Jack-fart gets the bright idea that bouncing with all the kids will be the perfect time for him to get some favorite-uncle-face-time with the nieces and nephews.

Bad idea Uncle Jack-flip (showing restraint here).

He climbs in to screams and hollers from the older kids, which totally freaks out my 2 YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER. He jumps a few times. Harder. Higher. And then more high-pitched screams and higher jumping and bouncing from everyone.

Meanwhile - my daughter is tucked in the corner somewhere between petrified and frozen-faced from Uncle Jack-rod's size and impulsive fun time jumping games. Moments later, the screams come and the panicked shortened breaths and my daughter is in PMM (pure meltdown mode). My wife quickly pulls her out of Sesame Street funhouse turned Godzilla crushes hopes and dreams land and you know what....

Uncle Jack-jerk keeps on jumping. Even the older kids stopped to help my daughter out of nightmareville.

***Bulletin Announcement: Open your eyes Uncle Jack-dung... you're an adult, so act like one when one is needed (at the very minimum).

Character type: Uncle Roy - never marries but always brings a girl. Sucks down a couple Hard Lemonades and then joins the kiddie table where he cracks inappropriate jokes which later gets back to kids' parents but no one has the ummphhh to say something to him until Uncle Roy takes it too far one day and does something stupid like crash the moon bounce party. Finally someone speaks up and Uncle Roy plays dumb and says, "What? Me? Come on, I was just havin a little fun."

Four Words for all of you: DON'T BE THAT GUY!

Study Hall & AirHeads

Having a middle school study hall makes me think back to my days in adolescent hormonal limbo. During study hall, I signaled across the wide open cafeteria (yes, study hall was in the cafeteria; one student sitting every 20 feet or so) and sold AirHeads out of a wadded up brown lunch sack for 25 cents each. Quite a profit if you do the math. I mean a box or pack must've cost no more than a couple bucks. I don't remember how many AirHeads were in a pack but I know we (me and my fellow pimple-faced entrepreneurs) wouldn't have sold them if it weren't turning a big profit.

Teaching, or simply being around youngsters, gives you so much material for middle grade/YA characters. If you don't have direct connections with kids this age, then reflect on your own adolescent vaccuum from 12 - 15 years-old.

What sly things did you do in middle school?

Random thoughts on EGGS

Random thoughts on EGGS, by Jerry Spinelli:

Finished EGGS the other night. A great character study. Though I felt that nothing really drove the story hard enough, needed more plot, more happenings, more scenes with drive and purpose. David and Primrose (loved their quirkiness), the main characters, basically argued and acted like brother/sister the entire way through until the end. I get that both of them come from tough situations but the only thing driving the story is their fickle friendship and David not wanting to see a sunset and wanting his Mom to come back....

Sorry, David, it ain’t happening.

I wanted Primrose’s mom to become meaningful in David's life but she was, according to both David and Primrose, nothing but a fortune-telling “crackpot.”

And where is David’s dad throughout the story? Working in Connecticut. So David's grandma, who David hates, watches him throughout the week.

There are fantastic exchanges between David and Primrose and scene descriptions in Spinelli-like fashion. He creates so much with so few words. A master at work.

However, I wanted more from this story. More resolution. I didn't feel fully satisfied after reading the last page. Felt like when the credits rolled to Revolutionary Road, a movie that I really liked. The ending left my insides in turmoil. EGGS didn't quite leave me in turmoil but it didn't leave me with any character change. I envisioned the characters keeping on like they are. They didn't grow enough. I know it's hard to change that much when you're 9 and 13 years-old, but isn't that what characters do? They change on the page right in front of our shifting eyes.

Hate to critique Spinelli, a Newbery winner and writer who has had his finger on the pulse of middle grade readers for years, but everyone needs a good rib shot every once in a while. It's what keeps our fingers tapping and stories flowing in a better, more efficient way.

Jerry, if you're reading (which I'm 100% sure you're not), don't take this random thought compilation to heart, I've had plenty of rib shots. But I've recovered from them all.

I think...

And the Winner is.... ME!

Though I've never put much stock into writing contests, I must say it feels good to finally win one. Yes, that's right, I won something and it had to do with writing. Okay, okay, it wasn't the Delacorte Press middle grade novel contest that comes with a nice publishing contract. It was better than that. It was the FIRST ANNUAL CAPTION CONTEST over at Ben Esch's piping hot blog kingdom. 

Although this contest may not propel my writing career or make me famous (although I'm starting to wonder....hmmm... are there people who write captions for a living?), I'd like to give thanks to everyone who made my victory possible. 

First, I'd like to thank my agent. Wait, I don't have one of those.

Second, I'd like to think my editor who... wait, I don't have one of those either.

Third, I'd like to thank my beautiful wife and daughter.... wait, they didn't have anything to do with this (though I love them dearly).

Okay, I guess I'd like to thank only myself... for so eloquently captionizing (is that a word?) a cat/dog picture and making it come to life. I mean, it only took me like a few 30 minute sessions to perfect that darn caption. But it all paid off in the end. 

Winning. 

Did I mention I love contests?

 

President's Day Rain

It's cold and rainy again here in SoCal. Yuck! This is getting old. It's been raining on and off for about two weeks now. I usually welcome rainy days and don't mind them. Allows me to get some reading/writing done, chores around the house, catching up on DVR stuff. But now that I have an almost 2 year-old daughter, it's much harder to keep her entertained when it's wet outside. Not that I'm complaining. I finally get to spend time/play with her, since she's at playcare all week long while mommy and daddy go to school (we both work at schools).

Speaking of -- my daughter does love to read or try to read. She even licks her finger before she flips pages.  Her favorites right now are No, David! (she loves the naked picture of David running down the street) by David Shannon and The Hello, Good-bye Window by Chris Raschka and Norton Juster, who I've had the pleasure of meeting. 

Another good thing about all this rain is that it's made me reflect on using "weather reports" in my own writing. Sid Fleischman, who I've raved about here before, is a genius at this. A good example is By the Great Horn Spoon, about two stowaways, a boy and his butler from Boston, bound for California via ship around Cape Horn. Throughout this novel, Fleischman consistently uses weather as a supporting character in his prose while constantly giving the reader detailed descriptions in so few words. Clearly a master at work. 

That's the key, isn't it? Give a weather report, let your reader feel part of the scene, part of the region, while using as few words as possible.  That way you don't veer off track and lose pacing.

Hope the sun is shining where you are. Or maybe not. Depending on what you want to accomplish today. If it's writing, start your scene with a weather report. And remember, shorter is sweeter. 

What I'm Reading & Who I Learn From

I've been catching up on Neil Gaiman's journal lately. He's an interesting and multi-talented guy. I just picked up The Graveyard Book (Newbery winner) and can't wait to get into the second chapter. I've already read the first chapter using B&N.com's preview feature. Who am I kidding? I'll read the first chapter again. 

I've also been getting into Carl Hiassen's work. Man, that guy is prolific. He just keeps turning out book after book and he writes a column in the paper. Can you say carpal tunnel? 

Jerry Spinelli's EGGS is also on my nightstand. Quick read, quirky story, quirkier characters. Love his voice, it's so much different than anyone else's. 

It's got me thinking about what sets published writers apart from each other besides the kinds of stories they tell (genre). It has to be style and voice. The more I read and reread, the more I realize how many different styles can work. Gary Schmidt uses dynamic, poetic prose to weave intricate plots. Spinelli utilizes his unique voice to parallel what's happening in the story. Hiassen has monopolized the Florida environmental issues, and boy has he done it well. Will the conservation well ever run dry? Probably not. Sherman Alexie. Wow, does he nail the main character's voice in True Diary or what? And he does it while spinning a hilarious tale. 

You may have noticed that all of these writers are males. I know, I know.  Lois Lowry, Linda Sue Park, and Gail Carson Levine, they all get props from me too. But you have to understand that I'm a guy who writes middle grade with boy protagonists, so I'm going to naturally lean toward authors who do the same. Considering what I write, they are the ones I can learn the most from. Perhaps you should do the same. 

Who are some of your favorites? Who have you read and reread and learned from?  

Richard Peck?  Shel Silverstein? Beverly Cleary? Katherine Paterson? 

Edgar Allen Poe?  

BIRDS are CHARACTERS

My class is exploring birds for the next month or two. We use birds for our learn-how-to-research project. I split the class into several groups then each group is assigned a group of birds according to habitat(waterbirds/shorebirds, woodlands/forests, urban/open areas, deserts).

Students can pick and choose the birds they research, as long as those birds are found in their assigned habitats. This approach gives students some control over learning. What? Students control what they learn? Yes, in fact most of them really get into their research because they're learning about birds that interest them. How's that for educational philosophy!

Probably asking yourself, what's this have to do with writing?

The answer...

Character.

That's right... Character.

The further you delve into characteristics of bird species, you start to realize birds have personalities and traits, just like humans. Surprisingly, most of their behavioral traits parallel us (you and me). Maybe I'm more aware of this because I write fiction and spend a lot of time making up characters with admirable and not-so-admirable qualities. But it's not rocket science (unless you're referring to the peregrine falcon that can travel over 200 mph... like a rocket). It's behavior science (okay smart pants, it's actually called sociology).

Look at the common behavioral characteristics of these birds and I bet you'll find some similarities to many, or all, of your fictional characters. You know the ones, those characters you create that keep you up at night because they're so quirky and likable or evil and detestable that you can't stop thinking about them. You might even find that a bird closely resembles one of your relatives (especially your in-laws) or a dear friend (like the one who laughs annoyingly but you can't bring yourself to say anything about it). Is it really worth saying anything?

Here are the birds and their fictional counterparts:

1. BLUE JAY - harsh, annoying voice; often mimics other birds (picks fights)

CHARACTER - that pesky little runt-of-a-kid who only talks in annoying voices and won't leave your main character alone

2. GREAT GRAY OWL - perches during the day, always looks like its thinking; hunts all night

CHARACTER - can't sleep, suffers from insomnia or something close to it; walks around in a daze and looks bored, but really there's a lot going on up there

3. BLACK VULTURE - flies high overhead, looks for carcasses of any kind for food

CHARACTER - boy who waits for best friend (girl) to get dumped and then makes his move

4. CRANE - eats whatever comes along, changes its diet according to surroundings, dance about to impress would-be mates

CHARACTER - follows the crowd, opinion changes depending on what's popular or what everyone else is doing or saying, overly-happy and jumpy-dancy (made that up) to be part of the "in" crowd 

5. HOUSE WREN - overconfident; daring; bold; likable

CHARACTER - boy out to impress girl that is way out of his league, buys her candy, writes her notes, carries her books, asks her to amusement park, holds her hand, ferris wheel reaches its peak, BAM -- FIRST KISS!

DING-DING-DING-WINNER!

Great Day for Writing & Cool People

Cold and dreary here in southern California. It's rained on and off pretty hard for about 24 hours now. Great day to get some writing done, but this darn work thing gets in the way sometimes. Only kidding. I love my job. And after watching Sam Mendes's new film Revolutionary Road the other night, I am more thankful than ever about loving my job. Yikes!!!

On to writing stuff: I've put my completed middle grade novel CROSSING CHALK aside for a while. Why?

1. Because I'm happy with the state it's in...
2. which means in reality it probably stinks like hot garbage,
3. and I need some major time away from it.
4. I'm waiting on 4 agents' responses, 3 of them have fulls, 1 has 3 chapters.
5. I've started 2 other middle-grade novels (titles are on the right hand column of this blog under Working On) and I can't wait to really get into them or at least one of them.

I think there's no easy way to approach a new story that's been evolving in your mind and needs to be released. Maybe the best thing to do is dive in, head first. So I'm going to do that and hope I don't drown.

Here's a couple other things I want to mention:

1. Ben Esch is cool. Check out his website and forthcoming debut YA novel Sophomore Undercover. Also, play the video game on his website. It's fun and not easy. Still wondering where those three hours went yesterday.

2. Paul Michael Murphy is also cool. He teaches, he writes, he's funny. Reminds me of someone else I know.

Lastly: If you like this blog, you can follow it. Check out the follow option on the right-hand column.

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With Alice Pope, editor of CWIM...

2009 SCBWI Winter Conference -- New York