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A List of Life Changing Books for Various Authors

3/27/2012

4 Comments

 
Mette Ivie Harrison wrote a blog post about how Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold changed her life, and sent out an invitation for others to do the same.  I don't know who else will or will not follow suit, so this list might end up being pretty short, but I thought I'd add my contribution.  (You might read Mette's post first, as it is the progenitor of what follows.)  I'll try to list others who blog about this issue with links to their posts.

*****

In theory, I was once a child.  In practice, I sometimes doubt it. 

I don't remember a great deal of my childhood, and whole years of my adolescence have melted into a blunt white fog.  Years of chronic insomnia can do that to a person.  So there's a lot about my early literacy experiences I don't remember.  I know my mother read picture books to me often as a boy, though I don't remember many other than "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," a conglomeration of Seussness, and some strange Sesame Street book with write-your-own text and staring my cousin and me, which my parents bought for my birthday (I think).  Later on, I dimly recall either being read or reading or both the Hardy Boys books, The Indian in the Cupboard series by Lynn Reid Banks, and Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.  This gives me a nebulous sense of being a reader earlier than I can clearly remember being anything.

I don't know if it's the fogginess or some reflection of how things really were, but I don't recall any story ever Changing Things as an early child.  I assume I liked books because I know I read them, but honestly, nothing changed the way I viewed the world--changed me--enough for the metamorphosis to linger until today.  Not until I reached fourth grade when two books Changed Things.

This Change happened in two phases.  The first, subtle, like the cracking open of a newly found door to someplace Elsewhere and Unknown, came thanks to another book by Banks, The Farthest Away Mountain.  This book introduced me to a new story that felt very old and classic, written in the style and with the substance of a fairy tale.  That tenor of fantasy that runs through much high or epic fantasy as well as through fables and fairy tales still resonates with me, and before this book I suspect I was unaware that new stories could feel like the great old classic stories.  Perhaps of greater importance, however, this book made me care more about a story before and behind the story than the book itself.  To this day my favorite part of The Farthest Away Mountain is a story told inside the story, about a good magician and his evil apprentice, and how the magician tried to save the apprentice by taking him to a blessed mountain, yet the apprentice's evil overpowered all the good, damning the mountain and all near it.  That story is told in dialogue and not shown, and covers maybe a page and a half of text--but it Changed Things.  Something about that scrap of the past within a book created a real world not only to read about but to imagine, to explore, even to recreate in my own mind.  That story become much bigger than others because of what I did not know and what was not said, and created a voracious appetite to fill in these gaps.

The first Change was an expansion of my world, a swelling, sweeping growth of horizon.  The second Change was far more potent.  Like moving from a black and white world, both shallow and neatly beautiful in its simplicity, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle washed the world in which I lived in color, raw and vibrant and thrilling and terrifying.  It made life frighteningly real.

It is one of my childhood memories I remember best.  Not turning pages or the cover of the book or telling my parents or friends about the story.  The feeling.  That book Changed Things, and I knew it the moment I closed the cover and never stopped knowing it.  For days afterward, I thought about that story.  It possessed me.  It made me care, made me feel things, some that I wished afterward I could stop feeling.  The story was exciting, and funny, and unique, and fantastic, but it was also tragic, and sad, and haunting, and refused to offer even an immortal unicorn a simple happy ending.  It made me ache for the people--not characters, but people--in that story.  Physically hurt for them.  At night that story sang to me instead of letting me sleep.  The Last Unicorn combined the resonance of truth I always have and still do feel about a perfect fable with an emotional and moral complexity that defied an absolute answer.  The story was beautiful in its joy and in its sadness, and impossibly real for being beautiful for both.  I wasn't the same after reading that story, and I couldn't go back--even though I sometimes wanted to.

After several days the disturbance faded and the Changed world settled into its new form and place.  I suppose the reality is I settled into the newly enlightened me.  It's hard for me to splice together words to communicate anything at all of this great shift, but the best way I can say it is this: I was a little less a child after having read The Last Unicorn, but the portion of that child-like me that remained was so empowered by the experience it has never left.  That book cost me a few beliefs and instilled many more with adamantine strength. 

To this day there is no book I love more than The Last Unicorn.  My own writing--completely unforeseen and unaspired to by that forth grade boy--has only deepened my admiration for Peter Beagle and his story.  It is a masterpiece of composition, from the sentence level to its greatest themes.  Yet it is one of the only books I can read today and be so caught up in I do not notice the masterful skill of the hands leading me on.  I can just ride along.  It probably played a greater role in my writing than any other book, not because it shaped how I write, or even what I read.  It Changed the way I see life, and I will always be thankful for it.              

*****
Mette's Life Changing Book




 
 
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The Gruff Variations

3/26/2012

1 Comment

 
I am under the weather and buried in submissions I'm in the process of sending out, so please excuse the silence on the blog.  I did want to mention that the anthology published in conjunction with Writing for Charity is now available on Amazon and Smashwords.  It's called The Gruff Variations: Writing for Charity Anthology, Vol. 1.  Inside you'll find short works by New York Times best-seller Shannon Hale, award-winning picture book author Rick Walton, Hugo Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal, and many others.  Including me.  All the proceeds go to charity, so you might check it out.
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A Teaching Tip and Final Reminder about WFC

3/16/2012

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This is a last reminder that the Writing for Charity conference (tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Provo Library) does not require pre-registration (I don't believe).  So anyone interested in coming, please do.  The more people the merrier, and the more good we do for charity.  If you want more information see my last blog post or, even better, visit the event website.

*****

Does anyone else out there suspect that kids are onto something when they say school can be boring?  Please, if you're an educator, don't shoot the messenger here.  Consider the question honestly.  It reminds me of what a fabulous third grade teacher said immediately following a fun lesson on the 12 Labors of Hercules I taught at a school: "I'm sorry guys [about taking them away from the fun of slain Hydras and holding the sky on one's shoulders], but I promise to make math as much fun as I can."

I don't know how to make math fun, though I assume it is possible.  The fact that the teacher even thought in terms of fun = furthered learning I took as a fantastic sign.  Because I believe that is one of the most overlooked elements of pedagogy: people learn better what they enjoy.  Which to me means whether or not the subject matter is inherently interesting to someone, the method of learning can be made fun. 

Fun is a sadly rare art of fine teaching.

I mention this because a student of mine showed me this website, FunTheory.com, which is clearly the Cool Thing of This Week.  While I do not necessarily endorse Volkswagen as a brand, I think this initiative of theirs is awesome.  I hope it's somehow used to restructure the US Department of Education and all state Boards of Education from the ground up. 

So to all parents, teachers, and other educators: if you want your students to learn, please, for the sake of all that is holy, make learning fun!  Future generations of geniuses will thank us. 
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Writing for Charity Schedule

3/9/2012

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I've posted before about the Writing for Charity event on Saturday the 17th at the Provo Library, but here are all the details.  This should make clear beyond any argument why every single serious writer, reader, and educator within, say, two million miles should attend this event.  You get all of the below for $45, plus it's one of those rare changes to spend real pennies for treasure in heaven, as every mite goes to charity. 

And just to put that cost in perspective, I charge $40 for an hour's worth of critique when I work with people.  Many of the other authors who will give feedback on your work don't do that for any price.  So you simply will not get this type of return on your money at any other conference.  Period.

Here's the schedule:

Saturday, March 17, 2012 -  Historic Provo Library

9:30 - 10:30               Welcome, Author Panel
10:30 - 12:30            *Critiques,  lunch
12:30 - 1:15               Session One
1:20 - 2:05                 Session Two
2:10 - 2:55                 Session Three
3:00 - 3:45                 Session Four
3:45 - 5:45 (This time may change) Author Signing , Book Sale, Last Chance to Bid in our Silent Auction!
5:45 (This time may change) Silent Auction Winners Announced

We must all be out of the library by 6:00 p.m. sharp!

*Guidelines for Critiques:

1.  Determine the number of persons in your group and time available.
2. Divide up the time evenly.  Choose a time-keeper to watch the clock.
3. Select someone to read your manuscript aloud.  (If you don't have a manuscript, you may use your time to ask the author any questions pertaining to writing.)
4. Wait for the author(s) to ponder a moment after the reading.  Don't apologize or explain.
5. Listen during the author critique and take notes.  Do not argue.  It is also beneficial to pay attention to the other critiques.
6. If there is time, ask questions after the author has given feedback.  Remember feedback is offered to help you improve your work.
7.  Slip away in between critiques to get some lunch, or take a group break. Be courteous to others who are having a critique.

Workshops

SESSION ONE       12:30 - 1:15 p.m.     CHOOSE FROM FOUR

The Psychology of Characterization   JENNIFER NIELSEN:  (Ballroom)    Okay, you've put your characters together, but do you really understand them? This interactive class will teach you how to get inside your character's heads, discover their fears, worries, and motives (hint: they might not be what you think!), and help you understand why they might not be cooperating with your plot.

Writing with Style     CLINT JOHNSON:  (Brimhall Room, 302)   What is style? Do you have it? How can you get it if you don't? Learn what prose style is, why you DO have your own style, and multiple techniques to enhance and mature your unique feel on the page.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Slush Pile   LISA MANGUM:  (Bullock Room, 309)   Lisa managed the slush pile at Deseret Book for more than a decade. She's seen it all. Learn to embrace the 5 things you can control about the process, and learn to let go the 5 things that you can't control
about the process. This class will give you the information and encouragement you need to submit your work to slush piles everywhere. Because the truth is, you can't get out of the slush pile unless you are in it first!

CRITIQUE GROUPS   BRODI ASHTON, EMILY WING SMITH, BREE DESPAIN:  (Young Special Events Room 201)   The next breakthrough in anti-aging?   These award-winning authors will talk about how to create and use a critique group to achieve your writing goals.


SESSION TWO      1:20 - 2:05 p.m.     CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO

Rewriting the Crap Out of It   DEAN AND SHANNON HALE :   (Ballroom)   For many writers (ourselves included!) the only way to get through a first draft is to write a lot of crap. The real magic of storytelling happens in rewrites. Shannon and Dean Hale will talk about their rewriting process and
do exercises with the audience to help hone everyone's personal crap detector.

Hands-On Query Workshop       J. SCOTT SAVAGE   (Bullock Room, 309)   The query letter is one of the toughest things to get right. In one page, you have to sell your story, show your author voice, connect with an agent or editor, and come off as a professional. That�s the bad news. The good news
is that by following a simple formula you can turn a so-so query letter into an agent magnet. J Scott Savage has helped many authors land their first agent or editor. In this class he will teach you the basic formula and then review and rewrite several queries from class members with help from the audience. So bring your notebook and your query letters.


SESSION THREE       2:10 - 2:55 p.m.   PICK A PANEL

Picture Book Panel    SHARLEE GLENN, KRISTYN CROW, KEN BAKER, JULIE OLSON   (Brimhall
Room, 302)   These picture book creators have tips to help you to expand your thinking when writing a picture book manuscript.

Chapter Book and Middle Grade Panel    BECKY HALL, KRISTEN LANDON, KIM JUSTESEN:   (Young Special Events Room 201)   A whole lot of fabulous information about writing chapter books and middle-grade novels.

Fantasy Panel      METTE IVIE HARRISON, LAURA AND TRACY HICKMAN: (Ballroom)   Here's your chance to ask seasoned fantasy writers anything you wanted to know about the particulars of writing in this genre.

NOVEL Panel    MATT KIRBY, KRISTEN CHANDLER, JENNIFER NEILSEN, SHEILA NEILSON   (Bullock Room, 309)   Ask questions and get great advice from these award-winning novelists.


SESSION FOUR     3:00 - 3:45 p.m.     CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO

Advanced Plot Structure    BRANDON SANDERSON  (Ballroom)   (More Info Coming Soon)

The Do's and Don'ts of Dialogue    JANETTE RALLISON:  (Bullock Room, 309)   Ten rules to make your dialogue shine.
 
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The Three Dimensional Page

3/5/2012

14 Comments

 
Between my work in education and publishing, I've had the opportunity to meet a number of people of a very interesting artistic bent.  Such as Scott, a student I work with periodically in the writing center, who, turns out, is a prominent (or as prominent as one can be in his area) origami artist. 

Origamist?  Origamipod?  Origamizoid?  (I am a big believer that any word becomes cooler with the addition of the suffixes -pod or especially -zoid.)

After sharing my thoughts on the nature of debate and argument and the epistemological tug of war between the human head and heart, he told me about his uncommon medium of expression.  Apparently, he is quite good.  Good enough to make money at it and have shows both locally and across the country, including at least one in New York.  After looking at his website, I would go so far as to say he is exceptional. 

Scott is an interesting guy who describes himself as a big fish in an extremely small pond.  I, on the other hand, am far smaller and in a much bigger body of water.  A lake, maybe, or perhaps even a sea.  Probably not an ocean.  And I am approximately the size of the fish served other fish destined to be appetizers for big fish. 

Maybe I should try origami? 
14 Comments

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