So Much in September

August has gone by so quickly! And, as seems to always be the case, I have a lot on my plate for September.

Most months I have multiple things I focus on, if I'm not working on one of my novels. This month, even though I won't have a big writing project, I'm only going to focus on preparing for Banned Books Week (the last week of the month). I just have too much non-writing stuff going on - things that will eat into my writing time - to focus on a big project, too.

But, with that said, if you have ideas for themes or topics you like to see me discuss for Banned Books Week, let me know!

Feedback Needed!

Hi everyone!

As those of you who follow my personal Facebook page will know, I'm looking at revamping my social media presence as an author. As such, I'd like some feedback from you - yes, you, dear reader!

Some of you will read this blog on my personal Facebook, others on my author's Facebook page. Still others may read it directly from my website. I'd like to ask you take a couple extra minutes to read the below, and respond in the comments (on Facebook or Iveyink.com).

Please at a look at my website as a whole, but particularly focusing on visuals* and on the My Works page: https://www.iveyink.com/myworks (*The photo currently on the About Me page is a place holder and will be replaced sometime in the next couple months, but what colors I'm wearing will likely remain the same.)

1. What are your initial impressions?

2. Do you think the color scheme suits what you know of my personality?

3. Do you think the color scheme suits the stories on the My Works page?

4. Having read the stories, please suggest a couple adjectives or genres to describe my style.

5. Any other thoughts and feedback you'd like to offer!

Thanks, everyone! Hopefully this will provide some much-needed thought as I "tell the story of my story" online.

Better Late Than Never

If you follow my Facebook page, you might have seen a post I made a few days ago about how I had finally written down a story that I've had in my head since high school.

It's not very long - in fact I was surprised to find that it's just over 1,000 words, even with a few fleshed-out details that weren't part of the original idea.  I think that I had thought it would be long because I see it so cinematically - it's so richly visual in my head - that I thought it would take forever to describe everything.  But the written version doesn't have that much description, as it turns out.  

I decided to write quick, clipped sentences when possible; a telegram figures prominently in the story, and I wanted to give the story that feel of a short, urgent document that just has the most vital information you need to know.  I think that I actually did really well at achieving that while not sacrificing the emotion.  

You won't be seeing the story on here any time soon.  It's a holiday piece and I want to see if I can get it accepted for publication this Thanksgiving/Christmas.  As I've mentioned on here a few times before, most publications won't accepted a story that has already been published elsewhere, and many of them consider sharing a story on your website to be publication.

But I do have a favor to ask of you all: if you know of somewhere that accepts short holiday stories - magazines, websites, radio shows, whatever - please let me know.

How NOT to Blog About Banned Books Week

Once again, Banned Books Week is here, and once again I have exactly 0 plans for blogging.  In 2015, I made a blog for every day of banned books week.  Last year, I had way too much on my plate, and this year... well, I got married a week and half ago, and that's an excuse I'm gonna milk for at least another month ; )

Seriously, though, Banned Books week really crept up on me this year.  It's the first year since I've had this blog that I haven't also worked in a library.  If you work in a library or school, you're working on BBW in, like, July, so there's no way it's gonna surprise you.

So, in interest of doing SOMETHING, I'm going to fall back on what I did last year, which is repost my daily blogs from BBW 2015.  Yeah, kind of a cop out, but at least this year it's a different website, so it actually kind of serves a little bit more of a purpose to get the information and opinions back out there on the web.

So, without further ado, I give you...

Banned Books Week - Day 1

So today is the opening day of Banned Books Week, and I think I'll open with a little background.

For those of you who may not know, Banned Books Week is a national observation headed by the American Library Association in which libraries celebrate banned and challenged books. "What's a banned book?" you might ask. "What's the difference between a banned and challenged book? Who's banning these books, anyway?" Good questions.

A book is considered "challenged" when someone files a complaint that they hope will result in making the book available to fewer people. This can range anywhere from asking a library or school to move the book to a different section so that children under a certain age can't access it, to completely removing it from a library's collection. When someone succeeds in removing a book from a school or library, or prevents it from being sold in a certain area, that book is considered banned.

"Oh, no, that's awful!" you might say. "Who is doing this?" The answer is - you. Or me. Or anybody. Any time anyone attempts to prevent someone from accessing a book, that's part of what is going on. Now, there's a difference between, say, giving your 7-year-old a book with explicit sex and violence and trying to prevent ANYONE from reading said explicit book. The latter is what we're really talking about here. (And the former is a topic for a different blog post.)*

So to kick off Banned Books Week, I offer up a list of books I have read that can be found on the various banned and challenged lists on the ALA website. If you are up for sharing, please type the titles you've read in the comments. No comments along the lines of "You read that book? You have no soul!" You might look at my list and say, "Ugh, your reading choice is terrible," as long as you agree that I have a right to my terrible reading choice. This week is not about whether or not a book is well-written, offensive, or both, and neither is this post. This is meant to show how much these "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" books people are actually reading. (And yes, you can count it even if your English teacher made you read it.)

Banned and challenged books I have read (In no particular order):

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Beloved by Toni Morrison

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Twilight Series (all 4) by Stephenie Meyer

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Harry Potter Series (all 7) by J. K. Rowling

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

The Giver by Lois Lowry

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) (Well... I still haven't finished the 3rd one. All that spanking gets really old after a while...)

Carrie by Stephen King

The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss

1984 by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The Lord of the Rings (all 3 ) by J. R. R. Tolkien

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

The Bible (no I haven't read the whole thing)

And probably more - I'm sure there are regional lists, books that caused a stir at your high school, or books and authors that were removed quietly enough from a library or school here or there that no one noticed.

For more information, lists, statistics and all kinds of fun things, you can check out the ALA's banned books pages: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/

One of the things you can find on the ALA website is a graph of who is challenging books by group - parents make up the largest percentage by far.

Come back each day this week - I'm challenging myself to blog about a book or series from this list all week long.

Am I Too Picky?

Sometimes I read a book and I get really into it and issues with minor details don't bother me.

And sometimes... not.

I recently finished reading a book about a group of scientists discovering a megalodon shark alive in the Pacific.  Cool premise - giant, prehistoric shark is made aware of small, tasty humans and wreaks havoc.  In practice, though, the story was less than satisfying.  Most of the characters were unlikable - like, seriously, the loathsome wife existed ONLY so that you would kinda cheer when she got eaten by the shark.  The protagonist was bland.  The "mentor" figure who was set up to be a wise environmentalist made stupid decisions and put everyone at risk.  The whole story would have been avoided if people followed basic safety protocol - not rushing a risky submarine dive when there was a storm coming,* not choosing a submarine pilot who has a known history of claustrophobia-induced panic attacks, and not choosing afore-mentioned submarine pilot who hadn't dove in 7 years and who was unfamiliar with the new vessel over an active pilot who had worked extensively with the new model and the lead pilot because she was "too emotional."  

*Said storm** never actually occurred.
**I was hoping this would be like Jurassic Park and Sphere, where the action is set off by a storm that locks the characters into an area for the duration, as opposed to just being a flimsy excuse to ignore procedure.

The only character who was interesting (or, rather, could have been) was way under-utilized.  A young scientist and submarine pilot, she was overshadowed by her older brother (also a submarine pilot) and her school-girl crush on the protagonist from when her father trained him years earlier.  We were told she was too emotional to pilot a submarine into the Mariana Trench, but never actually saw her be more than just slightly aggravated (and this aggravation was always justified).  Her one problem was that to begin with she was antagonistic and kept calling the main character misogynistic without provocation, but after about the first 30 pages that went away.

(Though I guess maybe these aren't minor details.)

Despite the fact that every few pages, something (the complaints above, logic bombs, etc.) would take me out of the story, I kept reading - mainly because I wanted to see what happened with the shark. 

Maybe I'm being too picky.  Maybe I should have given the book a chance to redeem itself, even though just 10 pages in I had already had so many issues with the characters that I kind of felt like I was looking for problems.

As I mentioned above, there have been other books where I notice issues - historical inaccuracies, characterization problems - that don't necessarily prevent me from enjoying the book.  For example, a few months ago, I read a historical fiction piece about the Romanov sisters.  The girls all came down with the measles right around the time their father abdicated, and someone mentioned antibiotics at one point.  While I remember thinking, "I don't think antibiotics were around during WWI," the rest of the story was compelling enough that I let the slip go and kept reading.

Likewise, there's a series I'm currently reading that, while it is not historical, is heavily based on medieval England.  It always throws me for a loop when they mention drinking coffee, but I remind myself that this is fantasy, not history.

So I guess maybe the question is not "am I being too picky?" but rather, "at what point do the problems become so overwhelming that you can't fully immerse yourself in the story anymore?"  As a writer, I'd be curious to know what your reading turn-offs are: poor characterization?  Historical or technical inaccuracies?  Logistical problems?  

Please comment - I often ask about things you enjoy as readers, but it's important to know what can ruin a story, too.

What's in (the Spelling of) a Name?

Let's talk about a character in my next big project*.

The main character in the novel I have decided to work on next in named Reala.  For the purposes of this post, that's really all you need to know about her.

As some of you who have followed this blog for a while know, one of the things I consider strongly both when reading and writing is spelling vs. pronunciation of a character name.  In fact, it's kind of been in my head a lot recently because I'm reading Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King and, as you might expect of a book set in 11th century Scotland, there are a lot of old Celtic names that are most definitely not pronounced the way they are spelled.

I personally find it kind of annoying to pick up a book, begin reading, and have an idea in my head of how to pronounce the names, only to find out several chapters in that what I had in my head has been wrong for dozens or even hundreds of pages.  (And in this particular book, the character list, glossary, and pronunciation guide is in the back of the book, and it has spoilers: "Dudgdhe - pronounced Dude - son of Gusgeheh - pronounced Guy.  Killed by Brugheheh - pronounced Bro.")

So, because I think that at least the main characters need to have names that are very clear right off the bat, I'd like to know from you, my readers, when you see the name "Reala," what is your immediate thought as to how it is pronounced?
A. Ray-all-a
B. Reel-a
C. Something else

Please comment! (Yes, you may be the one to determine the spelling of a character's name in a future novel!)

*No, I'm not working on Wolf and Sheath just yet.  At least, I'm not doing any major work on it until after the wedding, but I am thinking about it a lot, and may start working on small things like name research as I have a little free time here and there.

In a World Where Writers Write Stuff...

OK.  Let’s try this a different way. 

I recently tried an exercise that had you write the synopsis of your story as if it were the narration of a movie teaser trailer.  (“In a world where stuff happens, your main character must do things before bad stuff happens!”) 

So, because my previous post may have been too long and wordy, let’s try this instead:  Read the brief “teasers” below and tell me which one sounds the most interesting.  (Imagine Morgan Freeman narrating, and crank up some dramatic music while you’re at it ; )

1. The Wolf and the Sheath: In a world where women inherit, where peasants can rise to the ruler’s advising council, and where wolves can be trusted more than those you counted as allies, a young noblewoman must find her place and lead her people before her new realm loses everything all over again.

2. Bright Fire: In a world where suspicion and hunger can overpower sense and family ties, a girl with a frightening power must decide whether to risk her life to save her village – the very people who cast her out.

3. Brinyor: In a world where the old knowledge is hidden, where invaders can become allies, and where your own family can hide secrets, a young priestess and the descendant of her people’s oppressors must work together to protect their land from a new threat.

4. Juliet, Asher, and Ellen: In a world where scholars fight evil and students are capable of unimaginable power, a centuries-old evil awakens to terrorize a university – and only a part-time librarian, a B-rated movie star, and an unexpected guest stand in its way.

5. The Lost Heir: In a world where kings die without heirs and prophecies are a valid means of succession, a royal steward and the palace cook must team up to find the truth – before those who would rather bury the truth have their way.

What To Do Next?

Hello, readers!  I would like your input.

For those of you who are new to this site, this is something I do every so often.  Sometimes I will make a post requesting feedback or opinions on something I’m working on.  This is the first I’ve done of this type of post in a while, and the first ever on the new website format.

I am debating which project to start working on long-term in April, now that I’ve gotten used to my new writing schedule.  I am debating between the 5 projects listed below.  Take a look at the descriptions for each and let me know your thoughts.

These are the projects I’m currently the most interested and/or invested in.  They are in order by how long I’ve been working on them.  Keep in mind that these are just working titles, and basic descriptions; the title, character names, and/or synopses listed below are by no means the final versions.

Click on the working title for a more detailed description of plot, pros, and cons:

1. The Wolf and the Sheath

A young noblewoman inherits the reign of another nation from a distant relative. This rural land is very different from the urban court where she was raised, and she finds she has room to grow and learn. As she learns more about the land and people she now rules, she also begins to learn more about herself, outside forces at work, and surprising new capabilities.

Genre: Young adult quasi-history or magical realism. (You’ll see me use the terms “quasi-history” and “artificial history,” sometimes interchangeably. What I mean by this is that it’s a piece that reads like history - as in, not modern, and not all-out fantasy - but is not set in an actual historical time period or place, though it will be heavily influenced by one or more historical time periods.)

Basic info: This is the first piece I wrote for NaNoWriMo and is incomplete at approximately 50K words/81 pages. This is my oldest project at about 7 ½ years since I first started working on it.

Pros:

-I have reread this the most recently, which means it is probably the freshest in my mind.

-I have a list of parts that need to be written and or/reworked.

-It is good – some of the scenes and dialogue themselves are clunky, but the over-all plot and characterization are strong.

Cons:

-Because it is my oldest piece, it probably also contains my least-mature/weakest writing.

-Partly because of the above, it needs the most rewriting.

-Of my three partial novels, this one probably still needs the most research, and also still needs to have most (if not all) of the placeholder names for characters and places redone.

As one of three novels that I already have a sizeable portion written for, it may be better to work on this than one of my unstarted pieces (see 4 and 5 for more detail on those).

2. Bright Fire

In an insular village, a girl discovers that she has a strange power. As her power grows, tragedies and hardships become more common and the village begins to turn against her. Yet, even as some begin to fear her, others realize she may have an important role to play to save their village.

Genre: Young adult fantasy

Basic info: My second attempt at NaNoWriMo, this story is incomplete at approximately 63K words/95 pages. I started this piece one year after Wolf and Sheath, but have added more to it more recently.

Pros:

-This is probably the closest piece to being done (but that does not mean that finishing it would be quick or easy).

-I have shared small sections (probably a couple chapters’-worth) with fellow writers and a published author at workshops and received overwhelmingly positive feedback.

-This is possibly the easiest piece to slap a genre label on, and because of that, possibly the easiest to market (which doesn’t necessarily matter now, but is something I need to consider for the future).

Cons:

-For some reason, I feel the most intimidated by this one. I don’t know if it would be the sort of thing where working on it would make me feel accomplished, or if I would drag my feet about it.

-It definitely needs the most structural rearranging, and, being the longest, also proportionally the most editing.

-It has a glaring plot-hole that I’m not really sure what to do with.

As one of three novels that I already have a sizeable portion written for, it may be better to work on this than one of my unstarted pieces.

3. Brinyor

As an enemy gathers to invade, a young priestess trades her freedom so her family will have safe shelter. The fortress prepares for battle as an unlikely alliance begins to develop between her and a young lord descended from a previous group of invaders.

Genre: Possibly New Adult, quasi-history. (For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, this is the one that is based on late-ancient/early medieval Britain.)

General info: Written as a modified NaNoWriMo challenge (I only attempted 30K words that year instead of 50K), this incomplete novel stands at about 40K words. While it is the shortest of my partial novels, it is also the most recently begun (5 ½ years ago), and the most recently worked on (1 year ago).

Pros:

-Because it is the most recently worked on, it may be my strongest/most mature writing.

-Also because it is the most recently worked on, it may also be the easiest to jump back into working on.

-I’ve done the most research for this piece and have finalized most of the placeholder names.

Cons:

-But, with the above said, it still needs a lot of research.

-As the shortest of the partial novels, it probably also still needs to have the most written.

-Of both the partial novels and the unstarted pieces (see 4 and 5, below), this one may be the hardest to label with a genre (and therefore possibly the most difficult to market once I finish it).

As one of three novels that I already have a sizeable portion written for, it may be better to work on this than one of my unstarted pieces.

4. Juliet, Asher, and Ellen

Over 150 years ago, a great evil nearly escaped, but was contained with great losses from a small group of scholars. In the present, a university stands on the site. As the school prepares for a major anniversary event, two recent alumni and one current student realize that the evil has been reawakened.

Genre: Horror? I mean, it’s technically Horror, because they’re battling an evil that may or may not be able to be defeated, but it’s really not that scary : )

General info: This is a piece I’ve been kicking around in my mind for a few years; I even made an outline a couple years ago. But recently I realized it’s going to need either a lot of flashbacks, or two different stories in two different time periods that weave together. I have not actually started writing this, in the sense that I have no solid scenes typed.

Pros:

-I have a very solid grasp of the present-day time-line – to the point that I have events nailed down to within hours and any tweaking of these would be easy and minimal.

-Being my only modern piece of the 5 options, it could potentially require the least amount of research, depending on how much of the story ends up being either flashback or alternating past events.

-Recently, I’ve been very excited and enthusiastic about both this piece and option 5, below.

Cons:

-I would still need research for the past period, especially if I do decide to go with two storylines, rather than just flashbacks.

-Modern/contemporary pieces are a little bit out of my comfort zone.

-The conclusion as I currently have it envisioned may be too “easy” and/or happy.

Is it a bad idea to start yet another novel-length project when I already have three that are unfinished? Is it better to work on something I feel excited or enthusiastic about than to work on something that I feel is cumbersome (see 2, above)?

5. The Lost Heir

100 years ago, the king died without an heir but left a prophecy regarding when his “true heir” would be found. As the time limit specified in the prophecy comes to an end, the steward of the kingdom thinks he has found the promised heir. There’s just one problem: she works in the kitchen and is perfectly happy where she is.

Genre: Quasi-history

General info: This is another piece that I have not yet started formally writing, but I have a pretty solid outline. I’ve only been kicking this one around for about a year.

Pros:

-It’s probably the best/most complete outline of all the story ideas I have that I haven’t started writing (taking into account the fact that I haven’t decided on the 2nd storyline for 4, above).

-It’s a different take on the “lost heir” idea.

-Recently, I’ve been very excited and enthusiastic about both this piece and option 4.

Cons:

-I have a lot of questions to answer about character motivations and logistics.

-I have to write a poem/nursery rhyme for the prophecy, and my poetry is stupid : )

-Like 4, I’m concerned the climax/ending I have in mind may be too “easy.”

Is it a bad idea to start yet another novel-length project when I already have three that are unfinished? Is it better to work on something I feel excited or enthusiastic about than to work on something that I feel is cumbersome (see #2)?

Now, I’m not saying that I’m going to decide what I’m working on next based solely on one or two comments here (so don’t get too excited, Tina ; ) but I do like knowing what you all think.  I also feel like sometimes a writer can get so wrapped up in what they thought was a great idea that they can’t see the potential issues with that “baby,” or they overlook what might be better potential in another piece.

Which story sounds the most interesting (vague though some of those descriptions may be)?  Which one sounds like the most exciting to work on?  The most challenging?  If it were you trying to decide between the 5 options above, which would you pick and why?

Any and all feedback is welcome!

Regardless of what you all say and what I decide, I will post next weekend to update you all on which project I have chosen, and some goals for it.