days off

Okay. I don't really consider myself a Type-A personality (not that it matters, because considering and being probably have no actual connection in the overall scheme of things), but when I write books, I do have a tendency to never want to take days off.

Maybe that accounts for why I can finish a book so quickly.

In fact, when I was writing Ghost Medicine, I had to force myself to take some days off. I did it by going on a vacation, out of state, and leaving my computer and internet behind. It was challenging, and the experiment was effective, too. When I came back, I had a kind of renewed energy in my writing.

But I didn't like doing it, so I abandoned the practice with all my subsequent work.

Which brings me to where I am now, sitting in the dark, in a hotel room with two major projects running on the screen in the background: something for my editor, and an entirely new novel that has taken over my time.

Hmmm...

big scary weekend

This weekend, I am going to be hanging with my good friend, author Lewis Buzbee (who wrote Steinbeck's Ghost and The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop).

I swore to my editor, since we both have some work deadlines to meet, that of all my author friends, Lewis is probably the LEAST likely to get arrested with me. There shall be photographs, but I cannot vouch for their authenticity. We'll have to see what happens later today and tomorrow.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. It comes with no baggage, no obligations or roles that must be convincingly performed. It's all about having fun, which is what I plan on doing.

Jail or no.

pardon my distraction

I'm a bit distracted. I slept later than usual, as you might notice from the timestamp on this post.

November is NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. If you don't know anything about it, you should check it out at nanowrimo.org. I am trying to get as many kids as I can to participate in it.

It isn't as difficult as some people want you to think it is.

I am writing a novel during November, too, but it isn't an official NaNo project. It is, however, why I am distracted. We are just about finished with the work on next year's The Marbury Lens, and the manuscript has gone to copyediting (I may explain those steps some time in the future).

My threadpulling editor wants me to add four small things to the script, though. No big deal for me to do it, especially since they are easy fixes and great ideas (that will also make more pages, which, for some reason, is always something that I like). But it is making me a bit schizo right now.

Because I am writing -- really writing -- another novel. So, it's like having half my head in daytime and half my head in night (which is also probably a good thing, now that I think about it, all things considered). A week ago, I had no idea this novel was trying to get written.

Now it's about 1/4 finished, and I plan on completing it -- you guessed it -- in November.

Over the last week, I had the privilege of going out and chatting with a couple top-notch agents.

[Don't worry -- I am not "looking around." I just happen to know these people]

Two interesting comments from them:

Agent one expressed frustration at the number of query submissions from people who claim publishing credits via self-publishers; as well as the predictability and lack of originality in the majority of submissions received.

Agent two remarked about a frequently asked question regarding dealmaking and the state of the economy, saying that just as many deals are being made, but the deals are different and agents now have expanded job descriptions.

Just thought I'd share those observations for all those people out there poised at the edge of one world and thinking about jumping into the NaNosphere.

writing (for) teens

Recently, due to the fact that I've been making so many appearances all over the country, I've found myself faced with a few very frequently asked questions.

First of all, when I talk to teens, without a doubt the number one question I am asked is: How much money do you get paid for writing a book?

It's a fair enough question, I suppose, and it's justifiable for teens to ask such a thing, especially if any of them potentially sees himself as a writer at some point in the future. But I don't really answer it, either. I am a master of changing the subject to make it appear as though I've answered the question. You know... like politicians do. But, believe me, I could never withstand the scrutiny of the public should I endeavor to pursue a career in politics.

While I may have a birth certificate, my closet has no remaining available space for fancy outfits due to all the skeletons I've crammed in there.

Now, a question that I am most frequently asked by adults (assuming they're not aspiring authors, in which case, they either ask the same exact question listed above, or they'll ask me to recommend them to my agent) is: Why did you choose to write books for teens?

And that's a question I can really sink my teeth into.

First of all, I do not write books for teens. I write books for me. I write the kinds of books that I have to write, the stories I need to tell. Now, it just so happens that most of the stories I feel the need to tell come from my younger years and they have main characters who are teenagers, but I always start out and finish up assuming my novels will be read by adults as well as "young adults."

Furthermore, I like to employ young characters as protagonists because a reader can be far more forgiving toward them. In many cases, teens have to grapple with making poor choices for the first time in their lives. And that's okay... we expect them to make mistakes when they're first starting out and faced with some tough decisions that require experience and maturity. Sometimes, telling a lie to a friend or a family member seems the best thing to do, for example, and often teens will learn from the poor choices they make. We can easily forgive that in our younger protagonists. We like to see them grow through their trial-and-error misjudgments. On the other hand, as a reader, I am not going to "hang in there" through the length of a novel for an adult character who lies to his wife or best friend.

So, since it's easy to be more forgiving toward younger protagonists, it's also easier to come up with engaging stories that take readers places they never imagined they'd go in an effort to "hang in there" for the hero of a story.

jai guru deva om

You know, I have often said, publicly and privately, that there is nothing in the world that comes close -- not by a million miles -- to making a connection with readers.

It happened this week, several times, too -- so I must be accumulating good karma. Or maybe the cosmic scorekeepers haven't been watching me too closely.

But you know how last week or so, I mentioned something about the rush of hearing from kids who'd never read a book before in their lives, but read -- and loved -- my first book, Ghost Medicine?

Well, one of those very kids I was talking about was able to get a copy of in the path of falling objects at his bookstore, and he tore through it -- then sent me the following:

"I just finished in the path of falling objects. All I can say is it was the best book I ever read. I could not put it down."

Then, today, I get an email from a professional reviewer who told me that she'd never had a response on her reviews from an author until mine. Heck... I try to thank everyone who says something about my work... [gulps] even if it's not that good [haven't gotten a bad one yet].

And... this is ultra-cool: I was able to send some goodies to Fond du lac High School in Fond du lac, Wisconsin, to help them celebrate Teen Read Week. I did it because I'd met the librarian (I think...) at ALA in Chicago, so I arranged to have an ARC of in the path of falling objects sent to her, at her request. Well, she and her school really like the book... so how could I not offer to send some goodies to them for Teen Read Week?

Also, the terrific team at Feiwel and Friends helped out by sending them a bunch of my books for the kids.

Yeah... we do things like that.

It's all about the kids.

So, without further comment, here are some pictures of how I was able to play along with Fond du lac High School's celebration of Teen Read Week, 2009 (I LOVE stuff like this)...

obsessions and nano

Ever since I started writing, I've been obsessed with a couple (well... honestly, that is a ridiculous underestimation) things about what I do.

First of all, one of my things is that I am perhaps a bit overly concerned about not just what I write, but how it's written. What I mean is, I look at white space, the actual physical shape of my paragraphs and sentences. I look at the words and consider their structures and components in the way a musician might study sheet music.

I know, that's crazy. But I have been getting more and more obsessed with that idea.

So what I'm working on at the moment is a novel about how the world sounds, and the words on the pages are supposed to create a sound in the mind of the reader. It's supposed to be sound without actually being audible, but it's not like it shouldn't be read aloud... you'd just have to do it differently, and I'm sure that makes no sense at all. So you'll have to wait until I finish it, which will be, like....

Anyway, with NaNoWriMo coming up, I've been working on this little beast pretty much, and although I will not enter the NaNoWriMo thing, I am planning on finishing this novel by the end of November.

We'll see.

I recently bought a new computer. I transferred all my old files from my last computer over onto it -- you know, things like all the original versions of everything I've written in the last few years, as well as stuff I am working on at the moment. My intent was to give my old computer to my son to use, but, me being me, I had to hold onto it until I was certain that all of my old files actually are here on this new computer.

I finally broke down and reformatted the old computer's hard drive. To me, that was kind of like watching a funeral pyre. Or I feel like one of those monks who makes a sand mandala and immediately wipes it out.

I'll get over it.

Back to work.

late post late

I stayed up entirely too late last night.

The SCIBA Authors Feast and Book Awards was a pretty awesome night, with so many highlights, I don't know where to start.

But I will anyway. First, I'd like to congratulate my friend Michael Grant for winning the award in the kids' novel category. [The actual category was Children's Novel, but I kind of bristle at that word -- Children -- when you lump in YA with it, and Michael's stuff is definitely NOT for "Children"]

And he gave a real zinger of an acceptance speech, too, parts of which, I am certain, are already being quoted in the press and on the blogs (but I can't clearly remember).

Afterward, the SCIBA people gave every author this ENORMOUSLY HEAVY box filled with books. Or maybe they contain the chopped-up remains of the book buyers for Wal-Mart... I don't know because I haven't opened my box yet.

Something, however, is apparently dripping from it.

Best thing: At the end of the night, I hung out until after midnight with the three nominees in the SCIBA Children's Novel category: Michael Grant, D.J. McHale (the Pendragon series), Kathryn Fitzmaurice (The Year the Swallows Came Early), and Kathryn's agent, the incredible Jen Rofe.

First off, let me tell you how much I love these guys. No, there was a distinct absence of "Man Hugs" when the tab was closed. To begin with, Michael and D.J. are both scary. But I marveled at how Kathryn actually made her agent carry around her gigantic book box for her -- all night long.

Jen Rofe: agent and Sherpa.

That was awesome. I mean, who'd have thought that the thing to do at events such as this is bring your "people" to act as expedition carriers.

Anyway, it was a great hang-out session where we all got to talk about books, and Michael and Jen, especially, dizzied me with their knowledge of movers and shakers in publishing and agenting, and wowed me with their use of jargon and acronyms.

I realized that I truly do know absolutely nothing and am a complete idiot... Oh, and I also totally suck at the "Guess how old Kathryn's Sherpa is" game.