What if...? I Twisted a Fairy Tale?

This post was technically supposed to go up tomorrow, but Mondays are always crazy for me (and I don't trust blogger's post scheduling utility.) That means that I may, possibly, be the first person in this blogfest to post. :)

While stalking reading Morgan Shamy's blog, I came upon her announcement for the "What If? Fairytale Madness Blogfest," hosted by Morgan, Leigh Covington, Mark Koopmans, and Cassie Mae, and automatically had to sign up. I LOVE fairy tales, and love playing with these familiar characters.

WHAT IF?
Fairytale Madness BlogFest!
AUGUST 13th – 17th

Have you noticed that by changing one detail; one event, one character trait, one thought...you can completely alter the rest of the story?

Check out the links above for the rules.

Of course, thanks to hanging with so many romance writers, I just HAD to pick:

I was going to work with one of the obscure fairy tales, but then an idea popped into my head and I'm changing a tiny detail in one of my favorite fairy tales of all time, Beauty and the Beast. Note that I didn't use the Disneyfied version!

As the Beast raged on outside, I collapsed to the floor of my new prison and cried for the first time that night. I was trapped here. Forever.

I cried and felt the gentle arms of the wind wrap around me, pushing back the loose strands of my hair and drying my tears.

***

Time had no meaning here except when it came to him. It passed in breaths, not hours. He began to speak to me, now and again breaking the rules and his silence. First, a whisper in my sleep.  A word of support as homesickness took hold. When the Beast was in a particular mood, my wind would be at my side, offering tendrils of supportive words.

As my friendship grew with the Beast, different feelings began to form in me for my wind, my silent footman.

I knew he felt the same. In the dark of the night when he must have thought I was sleeping, I could have sworn I heard the faintest of whispers—nothing more than a breath—say, “I love you” as it lingered across my cheek and over my brow. I smiled. Perhaps he guessed. But we didn’t speak of it.

Until I learned about the curse.

“But we can’t be together. You need to break the spell.” His voice barely made it to my ears but I could still hear the anguish tangled in it.

I slid my hands up invisible arms to his neck and pulled his head down toward mine. “Right now, I don’t care about breaking spells. All I care about is you.” Even though I couldn’t see him, I could feel the brush of his breath on my lips, the electric tingle of proximity. “I love you,” I whispered, and then there was no more distance between us.

Want to read more? Go here and click on some more of the participants' links!

Another SCBWIPA Poconos Post- Revision

"Because revision is actually the best part."

 

Finally another SCBWIPA Poconos post! I think I have one or two more after this one (I have to break down my notes and see how they fall as individual post-age.) I just have to keep reminding myself that posting my memories and notes from a conference back in April(!) helps to refresh my memories of all that I learned that weekend. It's so easy to go to a conference, learn so much, get fired up... and then, a few weeks later, go back to status quo. These posts are my occasional reminders that I really need to put these tips into practice.

 

Also, a quick update! Remember that writing prompt exercise from my recap of this workshop? 12K in and it's been the anchor for the MC in the contemporary I'm working on right now. I discovered an aspect of my MC's voice that I hadn't known. Even better, I still smile while working on passages for this character. So, try goofy writing prompts. You never know what you might get.

 

Back to today's post. If you haven't guessed from my title or my picture (SQUEE!!), I'm recapping Laurie Halse Anderson's workshop on Revision.

 "Revision is taking the earlier explosion of inspiration and crafting it so that the reader can see the same world."

 

I not only signed up for this workshop because L.H.A. is a wealth of writing knowledge, but because *whispers the next part* revision makes me cringe. Especially the first of three truths about revision that she presented to us:

• (first): Everything is on the table for potential change. Everything is on the table for a potential cut- even the main character.
• Uhm, whoa. LHA was kidding, right? My beloved MC? You should have seen the looks we gave her on that one. But if the story is better suited for a different narrator, well... we need to be open to that change.
• It doesn't matter if it really happened. All that matters is that you write the story that serves the purposes of the story you're trying to tell.

and, finally:

• You can always make it better.

And then, when she was done, we all went up to her and sobbed all over her. Even those of us who said we'd never cry. And Laurie wrote that wonderful note in my copy of Wintergirls.  I'm still wary about the "best part" thing, but I have to admit I enjoyed this workshop and loved my last round of revisions on "D." It wasn't like the painful, plodding first fourish passes through the MS. Instead, it felt like I was infusing magic into the story.

Maybe Laurie Halse Anderson is right. Maybe ;)

A Little Love Note

I didn't realize how many people would see the Wintergirls post and I am so, so touched by all of the comments and reactions that I've received as a result of that vlog. I didn't cry when I was making the video, but I cried when I read your comments. I love all of you.

I was telling a friend the other day all about the post and my surprise at its reception in the blogosphere, about how I loved it, but how I didn't want to be labeled as "that blogger who had the eating disorder." She then confessed to me that she had been a wintergirl, too, back in college, and how our stories need to get out. "If that helped one girl, it was worth it." I sort-of, kind-of cried again. It wasn't pretty. But it was wonderful, too.

I blame all of you. ALL of you.

A little over a year ago, I made the decision that I was going to put all of my fears aside and try to write this story that had been in my head for ages. I stepped into this world of tweeting, blogging, #1k1hrs, and conferences with no idea about what I was getting into.  I now giggle about then-me. She was soooooo cute with her wide-eyes and giant expectations! But, though I haven't achieved the totally unrealistic dreams that 1-year-ago-me had expected to achieve by this date, I've gained so much more than I'd ever anticipated.

I'm a Philly-area girl. Of COURSE I'd have these coasters!

Whether or not I ever publish, I'm so thankful for what this journey has given me. Without writing, I wouldn't have joined SCBWI and met some of the most wonderful people on the planet. Without this journey, I wouldn't have:

1. Twitter. I joined twitter for three reasons:

• To fangirl my favorite authors
• To follow book bloggers I liked and to get their recommendations on what to read/not to read
• To learn more about the publishing industry
• And I can't forget that I also made sure to follow my knitting friends! Yarn forever.

I kept telling myself that, but my list of "following" grew and grew until it became something more than any of the three above. Through twitter, I met new friends (both online and now off, too... including a twittertwin who makes me grin on my toughest days *hug*), Team Kilt!!!!, my new CP/fellow Team Kilter/real life SCBWI friend, and all of the amazing authors and editors and agents who tweet some of the best stuff ever. Honestly, I'd still follow everyone I follow (well, except maybe GoslingLitAgent, but that's because he'd just break my heart) even if I wasn't trying to write anymore, because the YA/kidlit community is just so, so awesome.

2. SCBWI and all of my friends *BIG SMOOSHY HUG*

I'm a nerdy, geeky, bookish girl. I never really felt like I fit in anywhere... and believe me, I tried.(uhm, Star Trek meetups, anyone? Not the conventions or the online RPG forums, just meeting with Star Trek fans monthly at the local diner. It was... interesting. I lasted about two meetups) We shall not speak about my awkward forays into "just getting out there and meeting people." But SCBWI automatically felt like home. And the Poconos conference? I'm still so thankful that Kim talked me into going. Because I fell into a family of awesomeness and found my "tribe."

3. An enormous TBR pile. And a smaller bank account.

Uh, yeah, that might be a downside.

4. All of you who follow this blog and whose blogs I follow.

Your comments make me grin (and made me cry.) Your posts give me something to read when I'm procrastinating on my WIP. I love hearing about your journeys and can't wait to hold some of your books in my hands when you do get published. I fangirl so hard over all of you.

Miss Phoebe-cat (a bit blurry! Sorry, she kept moving!) says she loves you, too!

Up next: I might try a post with content and not just gushing. *blows kisses at everyone*

Bits and Pieces

Years ago, when I had been skating for about a year and a half, I decided to enter an adult only figure skating competition (competing at the "Pre Bronze" level) I had my waltz jump, toe loop, salchow (all incredibly tiny, but recognizable) and one foot spins, so, of course I was ready.

Since adult-only competitions are about as common as unicorns (okay, not counting regionals and nationals-- yes, those do exist!,) I decided to take advantage of its diversity and signed up for three events-- my freestyle, an artistic interpretive (where you're judged about how your program and "emoting" fit the music. Aka: I got to skate to music with lyrics,) and an improv.

My freestyle dress and program at another competition for my "Harry in Winter" program

Freestyle and Artistic were both choreographed by my coach and I had practiced them enough that I could skate them in my sleep. In fact, I loved my "Harry in Winter*" program so much that people commented on the joy they saw on my face when I skated it (rather than the terror, determination, focus, or pasted-on smiles that many skaters usually show during competition.)

But Improv was a completely different animal. I actually had to improvise. And when put under pressure...

I did three-turns (a basic footwork component) and a jump or two in a circle for the entire, excruciating rap song they had presented to me. Because, while I had bits and pieces in my mental repetoire, I lacked the three things I really needed to make them work-- Experience, phrases, and music that fit me:

1. Experience-- this one is self-explanatory.

2. Phrases-- Over time, you collect more of these bits and pieces of dialogue until you can build an entire conversation. The phrases build in your muscles so that you only need to pull them out of your mental library and go.

3. The right music-- Rap just wasn't something that resonated with me. If I had been given symphonic metal, a pop ballad, or, heck, broadway, I might have been slightly better off, despite my lack of experience and tiny library of phrases. But, instead, I was trying to create in a genre that didn't fit me.

Fast forward to now. I'm slowly growing. I've had six years of experience on the ice. My coach and I have built a collection of footwork and jump combinations that I can start pulling out as needed. And, while I'm not a great improv choreographer, I love playing around on the ice when some of my favorite songs come over the speakers. I'm (mostly) ready for another shot at improv.

I think conferences, critique partners, and just writing practice are the writing equivalent of learning how to choreograph. All three help to build my toolbox of skills so that, when combined with the right inspiration, my fingers get to fly.

There are days when I still wonder if I'm doing the writing equivalent of three turns. At least, they're better three turns than where I was a year, two years, ten years ago, and I know that they'll be even better six years from now. And when I'm in the moment and writing something that makes me smile, it feels just as wonderful as when I'm hopping around the ice surface to "Call Me Maybe."

*Yes, THAT Harry. The song is on the Goblet of Fire soundtrack and is gorgeous. You can hear the first love in it as Harry trudges through the snow and I thought of first loves when I skated to it.

So... do you have non-writing "improv prep" moments?

On Being a Wintergirl

I've been bouncing this topic around for a while now. I owe you posts from the SCBWIPA Poconos retreat-- next up are Laurie Halse Anderson's wonderful Revision and Keynote speeches. But, before I go into those posts, I really, really wanted to share this with you.

I cried when I met Laurie Halse Anderson. I thought I wouldn't, but I did, as I told her how she got into my head when writing Wintergirls and how much I wished younger me had read that book. Since this is a really tough (and physical) topic, I felt that a video would be the best way to get my story across:

I talk for approximately nine-ish minutes about disordered eating and body image, and read aloud from a few passages in Wintergirls that really fit exactly how I thought through the "over 800 calories a day are bad" time in my life. You definitely don't have to watch the video! And I'll be back with sparkles and happiness in my next post.

But in a world where teenage girls have to fight and petition magazines not to photoshop models and where unrealistic expectations about appearance are placed on both genders by a media machine churning out "perfect" image after "perfect" image, our stories need to come out.

Wintergirls is a good start.

Team Fictional Dead Boy

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably already know that I'm the co-advocate for Vincent (Die For Me, Until I Die) in the YASisterhood Crush Tourney. Which means I get to spend WAAY too much time looking through old pictures for cute boys, taking videos of myself being extremely goofy, and harassing my twitter followers for votes (sorry!)

Why should you care?

If you love YA, the tourney is a great way to meet some fantastic books and passionate fans/bloggers. While paranormal romance trends heavily in this tourney and Cassandra Clare's characters usually blow away any of their competitors (her fans are dedicated and her fanbase is huge. This is the second tourney in a row where the character I'm advocating for has only a tiny chance because he's up against one of her characters in the first round,) some great contemporary "crushes" made their way in this year.

The advocates can be incredibly creative. For example: Team Kilt-- the fan base behind Zachary from the Shade series by Jeri Smith-Ready-- wins, hands down, for funniest, most philanthropic, and most all-around awesome. They embody the spirit of the tournament-- fun and promoting great books-- with videos, donations, pinterest pages and many, many pictures of hot guys in kilts.

I have dubbed myself, "Team Fictional Dead Boy" in addition to "Team Vincent" because there are quite a few wonderful dead boys on the list and you know how much I love my FDBs.



My fictional dead boy t-shirt!

So... check out the tourney and (until midnight tonight), if you love me, you'll vote for Vincent. If you don't, I'll still love you. And hang around for all of the other matches over the next few weeks!

"Most Likely"

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

 

I don't always road trip (heck, y'all have seen my regular blogging record,) but this week's topic sounded like fun:  

 

What yearbook "most" category would your character win?

Full disclosure: I was never voted "Most Likely" anything at my high school. With a 300 student graduating class (with 7! valedictorians) and the fact that I basically managed to fly my geeky self mostly under the radar, I was not surprised, either. If "Most likely to attend a Star Trek convention" or "Most likely to move into the library" were on the list, I'd probably have gotten those. As it is, it's fun to see where this applies to my MCs, in both current and past WIPs.

Sooooo... being "most" deprived and all, I went to a local school's website and pulled the superlatives they used:

Best Smile, Friendliest, Most Likely to Succeed, Most School Spirit, Class Clown, Most Musical, Most Artistic, Most Talkative, Quietest, Most Unique, Most Daring, Classiest, Most Laid-Back, Most Gullible, Most Dependable, Best Laugh, Tallest, Shortest, Most Easily Embarrassed, Most Changed since Freshman Year, Class Flirt, Most Athletic, Best Hair, Best Eyes, Cutest Couple, Should've Been a Couple, Best Fashion Sense, Best Friends, Most Likely to become Famous

Sara, who would likely be a staff photographer on the yearbook and who happens to be one of those driven girls who made me crazy in school because they knew exactly what they wanted out of life (unlike flighty, arty me,) definitely would have earned a superlative or two.  

Since she and Jer spend most of their school year time together, it wouldn't be a stretch to say they would probably get "Should've Been a Couple" from their classmates.

Phoebe (MSB Contemporary WIP,) on the other hand, is more like me. So, unless her status is elevated by dating the hottest guy in the clarinet section, they would have to make up a custom superlative for her. I think "Most Likely to Die in an Avalanche of Books" would fit her perfectly.

My current TBR pile (well, add Obsidian and Before I Wake.)
Much deadlier when you add it to my Read pile (AVALANCHE!!!)

What about your characters? Do any of the "Most Likelys" above fit them?

Bonfires and Visions

(I'm late with my Midsummer post, mostly because mine was spent on a plane to Seattle for work. I still wanted to share a few Midsummer traditions on this blog without having to wait until next year, though, so... let's pretend this was written a week ago, okay?)

There's magic in the simple fountain* in my family's village. According to legend, if a girl drinks its water in the middle of the night on Midsummer's eve, she will dream of the man she is meant to marry.

If you believe in the old traditions, that is.

And if you believe in these traditions, you probably would have already jumped the midsummer bonfires, maybe while holding hands with the boy in town who had stolen your heart. Because, you know, jumping the bonfire means that you will stay together.  And, of course, you would also have devoted a few minutes to setting out a glass filled with water and an egg for another 'bout of pre-sunrise fortune telling.

Anything is possible on Midsummer.

A lot of this folklore is amazingly similar to Midsummer traditions throughout Europe. Generation upon generation of girls dreamed of the boys they would love. Will o' the wisps were chased through forests. Magic and wonder wove into the everyday for just one night a year.

These customs are dying out with my grandparents' generation as young people move overseas or to the city, or push away "silly old superstitions." Sadly, they stretch back centuries, back to before Christianity replaced "Midsummer" with the feast of St. John. I still think the magic is there, waiting. All you need to do is take a sip and believe.


*These aren't the jumping water kind-of fountains, but usually just spigots of continuously running spring water from the mountains or faucets connected to a communal well. Before modern water towers and plumbing, families who didn't have their own wells were dependent on the town fountain for their drinking/cleaning/bathing water. Many towns still test the water to make sure it's drinkable, and many fountains still run to this day.

Waiting on Wed... uhm...Tuesday: Cover Reveal for All the Broken Pieces

Breaking my self-imposed blog hiatus for a moment to help reveal something awesome.

First, read this:

What if your life wasn’t your own?

 Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?

Now, look at this:

All the Broken Pieces: a Gothic mystery, this is the story of Olivia, who wakes up with mysterious voices and urges she’s not used to. Turns out there’s another voice in her head—but where exactly did she come from?
Imprint: Entangled Teen; Publication Date: December, 2012.

Isn't that cover GORGEOUS? And it couldn't belong to a more wonderful person!  I've been following Cindi on twitter for about a year now and (when she's not trying to set me up with the guy in my office who looks like Thor/Chris Hemsworth...) she's fantastic and supportive-- and I couldn't wait to hear the announcement about her book.

Now that I've seen the blurb and cover and read the excerpt, I can't wait!

Find Cindi here:

http://www.facebook.com/CindiMadsenBooks

https://twitter.com/#!/search/cindi%20madsen
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1029223.Cindi_Madsen
http://cindimadsen.com/

And you can pre-order her book here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

(Just in case you need any MORE incentive... I have a little excerpt under the cut):

Sometimes You Catch Wonderful Things...

(First, sending my love to everyone who usually follows this blog and to all of the blogs I follow-- between family, work, physical therapy/doctor's appointments, recital season, a head cold that took over AFTER finishing antibiotics, and writing/book related events... blogging and blog-following have fallen by the wayside. But a few of those are finally winding down and I promise I'll be back to posting and commenting and reading soon. *crosses fingers*)

There will be a BEA post soon, but not today. Today's post is about two wonderful, magical moments I glimpsed while on the ice this weekend for my skating lesson. Both involving teens. And "liking"/"crushing"/"love." They were adorable and wonderful and reminded me why I love writing for and about these amazing not-kids but not-yet-adults:

1. A beautiful and confident teen girl was skating around with some of her friends, one of them a boyfriend (or a boy who wants to be more than friends.) It was easy to see how he felt about this girl from the look in his eyes whenever he looked her way. Her hair was loose to about her waist and practically floated behind her when she skated. At one point, he was skating from behind to catch up with her and reached out to just let his fingers graze the tip of a strand of her hair before picking up speed and coming up beside her to chat. I don't think she was aware of that faint touch and, unless anyone was watching, it all would have gone unnoticed.

2. A different teen boy was skating around with a girl-- I'm not sure if she was his girlfriend or almost-girlfriend, but this was another boy who wore his heart on his sleeve. She was obviously a first time skater, so he skated backwards veeeerrrrrry slowly, holding her arms, talking to her and keeping her eyes on him instead of on the ice. At a few points in the session, he had leaned his head down until their foreheads were almost touching, whispering to her until she smiled these goofy little smiles. He put her at ease and kept her steady on a frighteningly unsteady surface. They were still slowly making rounds of the perimeter of the rink when I finished my lesson and left an hour later. I'm usually not a fan of people skating backwards without looking, but I'm going to give him a pass because they were so cute!

(FYI, I had a skating date once when I wasn't a skater. He complained about propping me up, tried to get me a cone to hold on to while I skated, and then asked me if it was okay if he "skated around by himself for a bit" because "going slow is boring." Uhm... that should have been a hint as to how the rest of our "relationship" was going to fare. Nothing like the adorable couple in #2!)

So, was I right? How could these moments not worm their way into your heart?