Good Links: December Edition

Was Santa Claus good to you this year? He was very good to me. I must have been a very good girl. Okay, this is sounding a bit off to me.

<clears throat>

Moving on… I haven’t spent as much time on the Internet this month as I have in the past, but I still managed to find some great writing sites and links to pass on for December.

Writing:

Details make the character. Good details make a character memorable and bad details that don’t fit… well, yikes! Read the full article over on Behler Blog.

From Roz Morris’ Nail Your Novel blog the post on making the reader care about the message from December 9th is quite good. It has great tips on how to make the reader care about the message your scene is trying to convey.

Are you blocked? Stumped? Frozen with indecision? Don’t know what to write next? Mind blank? Try Women On Writing’s Beating Writer’s Block tips.

Querying:

Ulysses shares a most excellent query critique from The Rejectionist.

J. Martin weighs in on how to write a perfect(ly dreadful) query. Funny. You’ll actually find yourself picking up some good how-not-to tips.

Networking:

7 Ways to Create a Professional Twitter Presence. Good tips for the beginner. I’m not down with posting your phone number though. Unless, of course, your Twitter account is for a separate business. (What I’m saying: Don’t post your home number, but do post a business number if appropriate.)

Tips on how not to commit social networking suicide from PR guru Sasha Muradali. This should be a must-read for anyone thinking about using online social networking.

Fun:

Liana Brooks reposted my quiz on whether you are a book slut. As it turns out, I am also a plot whore as per Liana’s quiz. Cool beans. Are you?

Ten Gifts to Give a Writer by Margaret Atwood as well as commenters suggestions as well. Who knew she had a blog? It’s for her new book. Cool.

Book Review: Girls of Riyadh

Book Review: Girls of Riyadh
By Rajaa Alsanea

The Girls of Riyadh caused waves in the Middle East when Alsanea released this revealing look into four young women and their quest for love and marriage. The book tells the stories of four girls through a series of emails. From the outgoing to the passive, these four girls band together to try and find love, play by the rules and laws of their society while figuring out men, love and most importantly, what they will settle for and what they won’t.

Basically, the book is chick lit set in the Muslim/Islam world, so if you like chick lit as well as learning about women in other parts of the world, you’ll enjoy this book.

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Merry Christmas!

Poached from IndieBound.org

If you are a bit geeky and looking for some holiday cheer, click here.

Book Review: The Wisdom of Crowds

Book Review: The Wisdom of Crowds
By James Surowiecki

Good quote: “It may be, in the end, that a good society is defined more by how people treat strangers than by how they treat those they know.” (Page 118)

An interesting read from a sociological perspective. Basically, Surowiecki proposes that often crowds are smarter than individuals. Maybe not smarter an expert, but crowds are made up of everyone (experts included) and that often a crowd can predict the correct outcome or the correct weight of an ox–better than any one individual. Isn’t that something? And the thing is, it’s true. After reading this book, I tried it. I used the wisdom of crowds and found myself out of a large maze in record time. His theory, in my books, is now considered tried, tested and true.

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Book Review: How To Stop Backing Down and Start Talking Back

Book Review: How To Stop Backing Down and Start Talking Back
By Lisa Frankfort and Patrick Fanning

This is a short, easy-to-read book with 50 tips on how to be assertive in almost any situation.

Do authority figures automatically make you back down and take a passive stance? Do you get pinned down for hours by the office gabber? Do you have trouble standing up for what you want? This book has not only simple, effective answers, but lots of humour to put the laughs in self-help.

This book is great for anyone seeking the words, body language, or simple tools and methods to help them become a more assertive person. It’s a great, must-read guide for any teen girl.

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Jean Oram: Profiled

Hey, I got profiled!–in a good way. There were no hunky men at a police station trying to figure out the motivations and psychological rumblings behind the woman makes up the enigma Jean Oram. Nope, not this time.

Aspiring author and blogger, J. Lea Lopez of the blog Jello World asked me to fill out her writer’s questionnaire. Every month she shows off an aspiring darling, and as it happens, December is my month. Yes, you heard right. I am sharing words of wisdom, insider trading tips (okay, not really), what makes me tick (or write), as well as spilling the beans on my library boyfriend over on J. Lea’s blog. So pop on over, there’s free hot chocolate with marshmallows and maybe a little light entertainment.

P.S. Here’s a strange fact, speaking of Jello, I really suck at making Jello. Yes, it’s true. I don’t know why. I can make layered cakes and brownies and nanaimo bars (For my American readers, these are a three layer bar with chocolate, coconut and graham wafer crumbs for the bottom layer, thick pudding for middle, and chocolate for the top.) from scratch, but don’t ask me to make Jello (or Rice Krispie squares). There’s some weird force field around me and simple treats that most 5-year-olds can master.

See this? Yeah, I can’t do that. Now you know my deepest, darkest secrets and must share yours.

Like Phone Tag, Only More Fun

There’s something going around the Internet tubes. And no, it’s not a virus… it’s a game called (wait for it) Blog Tag! Yes! You can now play tag while sitting, and you won’t even spill your coffee. Does it get any better? (The correct answer is ‘no.’)

I have to admit, I was blindsided. Calista Taylor snuck up on me while I was drinking a chai latte with friends and tagged me. I just about spilled my chai, I was so surprised. I didn’t even know I was playing! (Aren’t those the best kind of games?)

So, having been tagged, I get to answer some writing questions that you didn’t even realize you wanted answers to. There are a lot of them, you might want to take a bathroom break first.

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1)What’s the last thing you wrote? What’s the first thing you wrote that you still have?

Well, I just wrote this. Oh! You mean… Okay, um, the last thing I wrote was part of a work in progress–that was

yesterday. The first thing I wrote that I still have is probably some stories in my grade one notebook.

2) Write poetry?

On occasion, if a poem comes to me.

3) Angsty poetry?

When I was a teenager, but I haven’t been one in awhile, so, no.

4) Favourite genre of writing?

Romance is fun because you get to toy with character’s emotions and bring them down and then ‘wham,’ give them the greastest gift of all–love. Aw. I dapple with other genres, but romance is high-speed fun with the top rolled down.

5) Most annoying character you’ve ever created?

Well, there’s a guy character who always wore his shoes in the house and left mud on his friend’s coffee table. That annoyed the character. I’m not sure about reader’s though. I try not to annoy the reader.

6) Best plot you’ve ever created?

I think I might be creating it in my work in progress, but I’m not sure. It’s too soon to tell.

7) Coolest plot twist you’ve ever created?

Uh… huh. Hmmm… ummmm. I dunno. It’s hard to answer these questions because it’s hard to pull it out of your own writing, because it just is. Either that, or I’ve never written a cool plot twist, in which case, that’s just sad and depressing and I thank you for bringing me down.

8 ) How often do you get writer’s block?

Never. There are times when I have to step back, go for a walk and let the next scene or move come to me.

9) Write fan fiction?

Nope. I’m not avid about a show or series enough to feel the desire to pen myself some fan fiction.

10) Do you type or write by hand?

I can type faster than I can write now, so brainstorming and here-and-there notes are by hand, the rest is a la computer.

11) Do you save everything you write?

Yeah, pretty much. I’m a natural packrat.

12) Do you ever go back to an idea after you’ve abandoned it?

Define abandon. These are my kids, they might get neglected, but never truly abandoned.

13) What’s your favourite thing you’ve ever written?

That would be The 15 Date Rule. Not because it is the best, but because it was the most fun to write.

14) What’s everyone else’s favourite story you’ve written?

What? It isn’t The 15 Date Rule? Come on! Seriously though, people seem to love Caviar and Lemon Drops. It is pretty good, but it wasn’t quite as much fun to write as 15DR. (It came after 15DR and plotting it, etc, wasn’t as ridden with challenges to keep me on my toes.)

15) Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?

Romance, yes. Teen drama, no.

16) What’s your favourite setting for your characters?

Honestly, I forget about setting a lot of the time. I’m more concerned with the mood, emotion, motivations, etc. I have to remind myself to add setting into each scene.

17) How many writing projects are you working on right now?

Of my own–just one. It’s a first draft, so everything else of mine gets to hang back for a bit. I am doing some editing work for other people’s projects. (You can contract me to edit, coach, critique, and more! I do queries, synopses, manuscripts, and proposals.)

18) Have you ever won an award for your writing?

Nope. I placed in a contest, but I’m not much of a contest hound. I won first in a province-wide art contest once, does
that count? No, no it doesn’t. I just wanted to feel special.

19) What are your five favourite words?

Leave me alone, I’m writing.

Not really–I don’t think I’ve ever said that. How about ‘pristine’. That’s a good word. Now, I need four more…

20) What character have you created that is most like yourself?

They all have pieces of me.

21) Where do you get your ideas for your characters?

They just show up, ready to kick a$$ (or whatever they are there to do).

22) Do you ever write based on your dreams?

Nope.

23) Do you favour happy endings?

Sure. If it fits the story. It has to be satisfying for the audience, that’s the number one requirement.

24) Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?

Sorta. I’ll backtrack to fix spelling. Mostly, it’s full steam ahead in the first draft. My first concern is the get the idea down before it disappears. I can make it flow or grammatically correct on the second pass.

25) Does music help you write?

It depends. Sometimes music interrupts, which is really annoying.

26) Quote something you’ve written. Whatever pops in your head.

“Cynthia tossed her wavy hair, leaving it tousled, sexy, and perfect in a way that made Beth think of champagne and movie stars.” I wrote that line in one of my edits of Caviar and Lemon Drops and then forgot about it. I reread it months later and got all pissed off. I thought someone had been messing with my manuscript. But the worst part was that they were better than I was. It was an interesting moment when I figured out I wrote it.

*****

That’s it. You made it to the end. I hope I didn’t bore you too much.

Now… I get to tag another three writers!

I’m going to chase after Yvonne Osborne, snag TK Richardson, and grab J. Lea. Lopez because she posted an interview the other day with moi and some of these questions weren’t covered in her interview with herself back in June.

Hmmm… I’m noticing a trend here… I’ve been a guest on all three of these blogs! It’s tag nepotism at its best. Love it!

A Book Discussion About ‘The Giver’

A few days ago, Yvonne Osborne (aspiring writer) posed a list of questions to Jemi Fraser (aspiring writer and teacher) and me about Lois Lowry’s young adult book The Giver. Yvonne has posted our replies to her thought-provoking questions on her blog, The Organic Writer. I recommend you stop by her blog to read the discussion, say hello, and weigh in on what you think about The Giver. If you haven’t read The Giver, our discussion just might prod you to do so.

A bit of background on The Giver (taken from my book review):

This is a soft science fiction young adult novel that has been challenged and/or banned in schools due to some of its content. Jonas, a 12-year-old living in a Utopian society, is chosen to become a receiver of memories. In the past, Jonas’ community decided to go to ’sameness’ and to remove emotion and emotional memories from their lives in order to live pain-free. Naturally, that comes at a cost. As Jonas learns more about his new job (he accepts the memories of the past that include war, hunger, and much, much more in order to serve as an adviser to the community) the more the illusion of innocence slips from the way he views his world, separating him from his friends.