just keep telling yourself it's real

I realized today, after two more Drew, this book scared the shit out of me comments from (sorry, Kel) women, that I really do enjoy creeping people out.

That, and there was the life-size Barbie doll climbing up the stairway with a knife in her hand to greet my wife incident that one morning when she woke up (it's been a really quiet household since then... wondering when the hell she's ever going to get over it and just learn to forgive).

And then I thought, crap, if in the path of falling objects scares you, then the book I'm working on right now will deeply disturb you.

Seriously.

It's bothering me, and I'm the one who's making it up... or, I think I'm the one doing it. I can't be sure.

I realized something else about how I write, and it pertains to something I wrote down in a journal when I was a kid... traveling around Europe by train by myself one year. I used to do that a lot, but it wasn't such a big deal for me because I had all kinds of family and friends over there with places to stay... England, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and France, among other home bases.

But I wrote that I preferred moving on a train to stopping, because when the train would stop and I'd have to get out, there would always be unexpected things I'd have to deal with... arrangements to be made.

My writing process is kind of like that, too. Things move along and everything is steady and predictable. But when a major turn happens, it's kind of like everybody getting off the train all at once, and all of these new weird things start happening.

That's where I am right now. Major shit happening. Again.

If that makes any sense.

And what I'm writing is kind of a fantasy, but I really do not like fantasy, so it's also not a fantasy at the same time... which is why I have to keep telling myself it's real, which, in turn, creeps me out even more.

Because it really is creepy.

But there's no magic, wizards, dragons, elves, vampires, or any goddamned character or place with a name you can only pronounce if you speak Icelandic.

Which is why it's real. But a fantasy. And really, really creepy.

the good weekend

It was a good weekend. The weather's been nice enough that I could clear a couple gardens where we plant summer crops. It's still too early to plant, because we sometimes get snow in winter, but it felt good to get blisters on my hands (I could have used machines, but chose not to).

It's amazing how soft and useless hands can get over the course of a winter.

Usually in March the snakes start coming out. I haven't seen any yet, though, but I think it's because we'd had so much snow this year and they haven't thawed out fully.

We have some California King Snakes that live down by our greenhouse. They're supposedly good because they eat rattlesnakes. I don't know about that, though, because most of the rattlesnakes I see around here are bigger than King Snakes.

I once caught a rattlesnake in my yard and kept it overnight for the kids to see. It was a small one, so the next day we drove the truck up into the hills on the other side of the lake and set it free. If I get big, mean rattlesnakes in my yard, which I usually do a couple times per year, I don't hesitate to kill them.

It was also a good weekend because I was able to get a lot of work done on my current project, despite the distractions of other writing-related things that are going on.

We'll see how this week goes.

the southwest road trip

Over the years, I've taken dozens of road trips across New Mexico and Arizona. There's something about the countryside of those states that is more than just visual. It's why I chose to put the journey from in the path of falling objects there.

Some of the places in the novel are entirely made up, but some of them are real. I do remember, as a kid, on those long, hot, stretches of highway, the curio shops and signs advertising "Friendly Indians," businesses that don't exist any more -- like Stuckey's or Whiting Bros. Gas -- or places where you could simultaneously see Hitler's personal car and purchase pecan rolls.

I always wondered what made pecan rolls so attractive to interstate travelers... and where they grew pecans in the desert, too.

Anyway, I'm planning on recreating Jonah and Simon's road trip with my own kids this summer (less the terrible violence, that is), to give them an opportunity to see some of the most visually and spiritually striking scenery in America.

off to see the wizard...

Yesterday, I had a most excellent conversation with a college student who got to read an advance copy of in the path of falling objects. Two things that struck me about our talk (well... you know, there may end up being more than two):

First, he said that he was entirely convinced that the only way I could think up such a story, and create a character like Mitch, was that I had to be completely insane.

I like that comment.

Okay, I just realized there are going to be more than two things here. Then he said he was lying awake at night (a recurring theme among comments from readers), and there was a particular line from the novel that convinced him that I was a genius. He read the line to me (and I won't quote it here)-- and asked, how do you think up things like that?

Okay. I like that, too.

Then, our conversation turned to The Wizard of Oz, which is a recurring allusion in in the path of falling objects. We talked about how the novel is kind of a demonically-possessed bastardization of The Wizard of Oz on so many levels... the travelers following a road, hoping for some kind of deliverance to a perfect world, the tin man who tags along for the ride, the character "Chief" (I can't say more about this guy), among so many other references to the Oz story.

But it doesn't end there, either. Because Oz also stands as a commentary on the political and economic failures of the Gilded Age (a period in history for which I have a minor obsession... don't even get me started about the election and presidency of James Garfield), and my college-student reader perceived a similar undercurrent to in the path of falling objects as well, especially in light of the "Gilded Age" America has just come out the dark end of, our current involvement in war, and the ubiquitous feeling of being lost all the time.

Then... he said, there's this whole Don Quixote thing going on with Lilly and Jonah, with Matthew's experiences in Vietnam... as well as the parallel disintegration of Mitch and Matthew at the same time.

Parallel disintegration.

Hmph.

College kids.

What, I ask you, do they know?

the boy book that girls will be tricked into reading

Unintentionally, I've been keeping track of the different reactions to in the path of falling objects based on gender. Of course, this isn't something I ever thought about when writing the book, but since it has been narrowly distributed as Advance Reader Copies, I've noticed (not very scientifically) a general trend based on the sexes.

Females are really creeped out and scared by the book, expressing a general opinion that reading it alone at nighttime isn't a good idea. Males think it's a fun ride -- like being stuck on top of a Ferris Wheel -- and especially like the first page.

I think the reactions have been consistently powerful and very positive, though. I surmise the differences are largely due to the fact that most YA fiction is written for girls, with a bias toward that audience. [Comment button below] There is a general, very unscientific, and skewed belief in publishing, writing, and bookselling, that only girls read... that only girls spend money in book stores.

And that's merely because, if you go to a bookstore, most of the books there

are

for

girls.

Go to the YA section and see for yourself. "Most" -- as in, more than half... eh, what the hell, a good 75% on the average, I'd say.

Did I mention the comment button is below? I'm not trying to piss anyone off, and don't presume I am being sexist, either. I am not saying anything that disparages females.

It's easier to market for girls. Females are -- apparently -- mere putty in the hands of advertisers, which is why so much marketing revenue targets them. Don't tell the girls that, though... they don't know it. When advertisers and marketers find out effective strategies for marketing to boys (they haven't really done that yet... probably due to the assumptions that boys don't read, and -- if they did -- they would be more like girls ,therefore no need to design specific marketing geared toward boys), they will soon realize there is an untapped market out there.

it's not me... it's you

Now that that's out of my system.

Sort of.

I think I live a cursed life sometimes, and other times I feel so incredibly average. I don't know what it was about the network connection yesterday, but it seemed to miraculously heal itself. I don't know why... it just did.

Well... it did unless the date on this post is March 25, in which case I am publishing it from my iPhone again and will undoubtedly follow it up with another rant from the good professor.

I will admit that I've been a miser with the Advance Copies of in the path of falling objects... very selective in which people I've been allowing to read it. As reactions have been coming in, I am whelmed over by some of the things people are saying. [ASIDE:"Whelmed over" is perfectly acceptable] Some people have been totally freaked-out by the creepiness of the book, in particular, by the OCD, homicidal Mitch.

I didn't realize that some readers would react this way when I was writing the book... because so much of the story hits close to home for me, too. But that's the case with everything I write... most of the things the characters experience and go through... well, let's just say I have some pretty similar memories.

But this unanticipated reaction makes me realize that if in the path of falling objects really creeps some readers out, then The Marbury Lens, the book I am finishing up right now, might just push some readers off the edge. Again, though, my apologies... been there, done that.

At least sort of.

But I wanted to say that some of the kindest and most generous praise for in the path of falling objects came from my dear friend, author Kelly Milner Halls. I want to preface these quote snippets with the following qualifier, though: although Kelly is one of my best and truest friends, she is known for her hyper-critical eye when it comes to YA fiction, and would never ever falsely praise something.

Ever.

That said, Kelly had these comments about in the path of falling objects:

"I felt like I got to know the characters so much better in this book. And you hit the ground running -- there was action that started from the first page. It reached out to my imagination from the very beginning and gripped it, which is really great. I can't wait to see how it does. This one should do really well for you. Can't wait to see the librarian reactions. Great job!

You have nothing to worry about from the kids who will read it. They'll keep turning the pages as if they're watching a thriller at the movie theater."

Thanks, Kel.

the rant continues

I am not going to cuss. I am not going to cuss.

Okay. So I wake up this morning... embark on the daily routine, go to post up the Professor Bignuts blog rant, and my freekin internet connection doesn't work. I think it's my wireless router, but crap. So I have to post my last night's draft of it (that's how Professor Bignuts rolls -- now you know something TRUE about me), which explains the wrong freekin date on the Prof BN post... and I have to do all this from my iPhone (including this very clarifying post).

All this while my agent is doing some new deals for me... no freekin internet, no Facebook at home... and I am extremely tempted to tweet a 140-character rant via iPhone on Twitter.

Ugh.

So... if the posts are spotty in the next couple days, you know why.