The Magic and The Price of Virtual … Reality?

Two weeks away from the Magic Mirror!

I am so sorry! Inexcusable! Unacceptable!

Here is my excuse, anyway: my manuscript. I’ve been re-writing. Re-thinking. Re-plotting. The different possibilities of my emerging story have been driving me wild.

Even with all that, though, I couldn’t stay away from the web — that sticky virtual web of Facebook-twitter-blogs-gossip. Even in the midst of working out a thorny plot problem (especially in the midst of working out a thorny plot problem?) I just had to stop all and go take a peek.

What’s everyone doing? What will J.K. Rowling’s new novel be about? What’s this twitter story about a boy? How did this author make it? What’s my agent up to, lately?

Etc., etc., etc.

I think the Internet is a wonder, its own kind of magic. Oh the connections. The new friendships. The opportunities. The information. The motivation. The gossip. The powerful writing. The occasional laughs.

Oh, the incessant blah-blah-blah of it. Oh the hours down the drain. Oh.

Yeah. Every wonder has its price.

I guess I am trying to make some decisions, even as I write this. Should I post here more often? Maybe even daily? Something about the idea of such discipline appeals to me. (Or would you get sick of me if I do?) Or — or, or, or — should I do the total opposite and limit my check-ins with the virtual world to, like once, a week, say Sundays, and be really really strict about that? (I’ve tried that before and failed miserably, but hey, I could always try again!)

Oh, the choices. Always the choices. It’s just like revising, those twisty pathways keep beckoning me in a zillion directions. At least in real life I have been getting better with making big decisions, lately. And here I am, trying to make one more.

What do you guys think? How do you do it? How do you keep that balance between what is precious to you in your so-called real life, and what’s exciting, useful, necessary, lovely in this crazy new world we have created?

And who is to say which world is more real anymore?

15 Versatile Blogs

Oh, man, this is overwhelming. There are so many awesome blogs out there. But as part of receiving my own sweet award, I had to pick 15.

Ah, just the research has my head spinning. Seriously, the web is just buzzing with a gazillion conversations going on at once. Which mostly I think is wonderful. (And maybe just a little bit insane).

But here we go, in no particular order, I hereby bestow the Versatile Award on the following blogs. When you receive it the award, the rules are – a) you blog about it and you include this lovely badge:

 b) you share some cool tidbits about your life with your readers and c) you nominate another 15 blogs for versatile awesomeness.

In picking out the versatile blogs, I chose only the ones that post frequently enough — at least once a month. And, none of the winning blogs are brand new (as in, less than a month old). These last two are my own rules, dear winners, feel free to adopt or discard them when passing the honors along.

1. Christi The Teen Librarian

A book review blog, where a teen librarian from my area reviews all sorts of YA literature. I picked this blog not only for the nice quality of the reviews, but for the diversity of the genres.

2. The Magic Attic

Reviews, again, but this time they come from a passionate teen reader with a very different point of view. Having developed a nice following, she gets plenty of ARCs from authors and editors. So if you want to keep an eye on the new stuff, hang out in Bree’s Magic Attic. Some of my readers may remember I did an interview with Bree here last year.

3. Cresta McGowan

Here is a blog that is super-versatile, from a writer, a mom with quite traditional values and a high school English teacher with a passion for her subject. Each time you open this blog you are just never going to know what you’ll get. Ballet, Russia, Hamlet, her family — those are just some of the many subjects she covered. I “met” Cresta through a Writers Digest contest in which we both were finalists. I thought my story was pretty good, but hers rocked, and I told her so!

4. Shevi Arnold

A “self-proclaimed Geek goddess,” and self-published writer of YA and children’s e-books, Shevi blogs about writing from a unique point of view. And in this age of change and versatility, unique perspectives should be celebrated!

5. Empty White Pages

If you haven’t yet won this award, Sarah Pearson, you totally should, because your blog so deserves it. It’s something new every time: from music, to fiction excerpts you’re brave enough to share, I always look forward to what you have to say.

6. Medeia Sharif

This author of a contemporary YA book, “The Bestest. Ramadan. Ever.” keeps a blog where she reviews books, hosts awesome giveaways and talks about her writing progress, among many other things.

7. The three R’s — Reading, Ritin’ and Research

Isn’t this title cute — and very appropriate for the blog of my good friend and talented author of historical fiction Joyce Moyer Hostetter. When Joyce does an interview, it is incredibly in-depth and shows a perspective you won’t see anywhere. She blogs about things deep and unexpected, and fills her posts with great information.

8. My Brain On Books

My friend and bookseller Joanne Fritz might not appreciate this award right now, as she is spending time on her revision beach (she doesn’t like caves). And accepting this award takes a bit of time. But no worries Joanne, just take care of this when you get to it. Your in-depth book reviews are fun and thorough, your perspective as a bookseller is invaluable and your occasional more personal posts on your own writing journey are always a wonderful surprise.

9. The Sirenz

Here is a cool idea from a unique author team: Natalie Zaman and Charlotte Bennardo, two YA authors who teamed up to write a crazy romp of a fantasy, “Sirenz,” in which Hades, the Greek God of the underworld grants two bickering frenemies a wish in exchange for their service. This blog is told from the point of view of the story’s characters: the two girls, Shar and Meg, and sometimes even Hades himself!

10. Write Up My Life

Writer Julie Hedlund’s blog was one of the first ones I have discovered when I first started my blogging adventure. The thing I love the most about her posts is her positive and adventurous spirit as she talks about writing and life.

11. Quill Takes Flight

A totally unpredictable array of posts from a talented young just-out-of-college writer with an awesome voice and unexpected insights. I just have one wish: that she would post more often :) As it is, the posts arrive roughly once a month.

12. Terribleminds

Novelist, screenwriter, game designer and author of e-books for writers Chuck Wendig gives butt-kicking advice on how best to live this crazy life we have chosen. One word of warning: this is for adults only. The dude curses. A lot. Still, I find his posts brilliant. In a terrible sort of way.

13. Project Mayhem

Okay, usually I am a YA girl. But for these guys, I make an exception. I read them pretty regularly — this bunch of awesome middle-grade authors who blog about publishing, writing and you know, this fabulous writing life.

14. That Wee Bit Heap

This very versatile blog is run by one of my favorite authors: Gae Polisner, who wrote “The Pull of Gravity,” one of those YA books that turn me into a gushing, stuttering fan. Gae is fun and honest when she talks about her various moods, her publishing ups and downs, her strange habit of swimming in the cold ocean off of Long Island, her love of board games and many other fun things.

15. Write To Done

Do you have an urge to run to Facebook in the middle of a writing session? Go to this blog instead, where you’ll find posts that are helpful and inspiring – and short enough for you to read quickly and get right back to your writing.

Living A Versatile Life: 5+ Random Tidbits

I think being a versatile blogger can spring from living a “versatile” life — one full of change and adventure. I also think most people lead versatile lives — we can’t help it: growing up is change, life itself has so many facets.

Here are 5 random tidbits from mine:

1. Before I turned four years old and my parents divorced, I remember spending a lot of time in the backstage of a theater in Siberia where both my parents worked. I remember painted faces of actors and the glitter on their costumes. I remember the tobacco smoke so thick it hung over their dressing rooms like a curtain. I watched the same performances over and over, and like reading a good book, took pleasure in them every single time. I also loved being the actors’ adored little baby doll and as a teenager dreamed of becoming an actress myself.

2. At age fourteen, I sang and played on the piano an interpretation of Gershwin’s “Summertime” on Russian television.

3. Graduating from a New Jersey high school, my good grades were marred by one “C:” in creative writing! (The teacher couldn’t stand me. To be fair, I was probably quite a pain the butt.)

4. I married my husband at the age of 18 (almost 19) and had my first child at the age of 21. Many people made snide remarks, thought we got married because of a baby, told me point-blank they were sure it wouldn’t last. One woman confessed to me she was surprised to see me take such a great care of my baby son — it wasn’t what she expected. My husband and I have been married for almost 15 years now.

5. When my husband first took me to France as a young wife to meet his family, I was frustrated with having to sit at a dinner table with my new relatives, often not understanding a single word. When I returned home, I enrolled in French classes in college. When we came back to France a year later, I surprised everyone by speaking French!

These were more like memories than tidbits — sorry about their length! If you were looking for truly random, bite-sized stuff, here are a few more: I am afraid of moths, I still dream of flying many nights the way kids often do, I wake up every morning at 5:30 a.m., except on Saturdays to work on my writing, I love forces of nature, such as the mountains and the sea, I sometimes forget words in Russian — or I might remember individual words, but not how to string them together gracefully, but that’s okay, because English is my true language love.

Okay, that was way more than 5 tidbits. I hope that’s okay!

Next week comes the best part: presenting the versatile blogger award to others. Get ready to discover some awesome new blogs!

Versatile Blogger: Moi?

I am sorry I’ve been away — too long — and the worst part is — due to my crazy superstitions (see my previous post), I can’t even blog about it! Argh!

In the meantime, while I was running around doing stuff,  a few marvelous things occurred in the blogosphere.

Marvelous thing number one: I won my very first book giveaway ever, an ARC of a historical fantasy I cannot wait to lay my hands on! Just received it last week, Joanne, thank you so much! I will read it as soon as I can and blog about it here, of course. (As soon as I can). As soon as I can, that seems to be my mantra these days. (Clears throat).

Anyway.

Now for the marvelous thing number two: would you believe it? I received my first EVER blogging award: The Versatile Blogger from Ben over at “Story Multiverse,” a blog about all things IF (imaginative fiction). And if you aren’t sure what exactly that means, then stop over and visit Ben to find out.

Here is the shiny badge:

Ta-da!!!

Thank you, Ben. I am flattered. So flattered, I had to re-write this post a few dozen times to cut out all the some of the babbling. Glad I don’t have to accept this via Skype!

ANYway, here is how my pocket Webster’s dictionary defines “ver-sa-tile:” “having many abilities or uses.”

(They’re nice and laconic those small paperback dictionaries, aren’t they?)

I take “versatile” as a great compliment. It means someone out there thinks I have a lot of different things to say. Someone out there thinks I am multi-faceted. Which I take to mean, “not too boring, most of the time.” Maybe even unpredictable? Maybe a little different.

Next week I will be passing the compliment along. I will be passing this award along to 15 bloggers whose blogs tell many-sided stories and reveal either depths of an interesting life, or show unique ways of looking at the same old subject. Stay tuned!

And later on this week – as part of accepting the award — I will blog about random tidbits from my life – just stuff most people never knew about me. I thought I had to wait until I am, like, a famous author with a following — or at the least a nice shiny book deal — to do that, but now, thanks to this whole wonderful versatile blogger enterprise, I don’t have to wait for that at least. He-he!

I’ve thought of a few bits to reveal, but if you guys have things you’d like to see, or things you’re curious about, feel free to throw out some ideas to me as well.

And by the way, thank you guys, for being there for me. You’re priceless to me in this sometimes-lonely and sometimes too-quiet writing journey. You guys make it possible for me to have a versatile blog, for goodness sake, and to reveal TMI bits about myself, and have all kinds of other virtual writerly fun.

When I started this blog, I hoped to one day build a small writing community, and now I feel like yes, I have.

I would like to thank my fabulous fans… Okay, seriously, must stop now. This award is really getting to my head.

Keeping a Secret

As a writer, how much do you talk about your work — and how much do you keep secret?

I definitely err on the secret side. A very select few know about what story I am working on right now. Fewer still know what I am planning next.

I sometimes wish this was different. Sometimes my work delights me so much with its promise that I want to blog it, scream it, gush about it on the phone with my mom, share with the world my every little victory. Writing a novel is a long journey fraught with peril, so why not celebrate each milestone we reach?

But here is the problem. The stories we write, they are so fragile. I feel like, one word too many to my friends, and the novel will run away from me. One boastful post here about my progress — and the next thing I know, my WIP, that magic graceful unicorn with wings, will land hard on its bottom and turn into a mule on me.

It is so so hard to keep such secrets, especially in this age of tweeting-posting-sharing. It is so hard to keep quiet on the heels of an inspiring weekend.

And yet, it is a matter of survival for me as a writer, I am afraid. I hate being chained by superstition, but yes, there is a lot of it – this feeling that inevitably, if I share some good writing progress news, the Universe shall punish me with writing-related torture in the weeks and months to come. I am like that just-pregnant woman who is afraid to tell the world of the joy she hopes to hold in her arms less than nine months from now. She can’t wait to tell — but she keeps quiet, because what if after all the celebration she turns out to be wrong?

This is kind of what happened last year with me continually keeping you posted on my progress with my second manuscript, The Refuge. I kept blogging about each revision — it felt so good to share the triumphs and the difficulties alike. Then, the story that I once loved, that my writing friends reviewed a thousand times, that my agent read twice now, in a very different incarnation each time, that supposed “masterpiece” just sunk out of my sight. It was horrible. It felt like the earth caving in under my feet.

This year, I am trying to be wiser. Stronger. Quieter.

So now you know. You know why I have been blogging just a bit less frequently, lately. You know why I post book reviews. Compile lists, etc. I am acting like Kathryn Sockett who, legend has it, kept her work on “The Help” secret from friends and family. I am that little Soviet child in the picture below who is forced to keep her mouth shut. She won’t share her dreams and her secrets, not until her time comes.

Sh-sh-sh…

What about you? How much do you share? Do you blog to celebrate your completed first drafts, eureka moments, ambitious hopes, revisions, submissions — and make out okay?

2012

I hesitated and debated with myself on whether to do this, and finally decided that the Magic Mirror just wouldn’t be the same without a traditional — if belated – New Year post

I’ve been thinking: why does the New Year excite us so much — why does it inspire and scare us so?

A poem a friend of mine wrote a few days ago led me to an answer. I think the key to the New Year’s is in the word “new.” A new relationship. A new child. A new house. A new draft. A new story. A new year. Newness means hope. Another chance.

Last year — the old year – was good for me in so many ways, great even. It brought countless moments of happiness and love. It brought new revelations, achievements, new lessons learned. And yet, if I said the year brought me everything I wanted I would be lying.

I didn’t sign that contract I’ve been dreaming about.

But it’s not even that — what was worse — way worse — was that I didn’t finish the story I thought would surely be making the rounds by now.

That was my heaviest disappointment of the year.

But that’s the way it is, isn’t it?

At the start of each year, we are nervous and hopeful. As the ball drops, our hearts lift with desire. We hope that maybe this year we will get it right. This year we will re-invent ourselves.

But what I realize now, is that there is no need (at least for me) to keep trying to be this new person every year. This shiny idea of the perfect me is just that — an idea.

Here is what I am beginning to understand: every year will bring joy –and disappointment.

And the two are interwoven together tightly as the strands of hair in a braid.

My not completing the novel I hoped to finish led me to re-evaluate my revision methods. It pushed me to try new things.

Saying “hello” to 2012, I am going easy on hopes and wishes this time around, while continuing to focus on my goals. The things I can do. Revisions. Completions. Submissions.

I don’t care about a book contract in 2012.

Okay, maybe that’s a lie. I care. But I don’t wish for it. Nope. I am hereby striking it from my list of hopes and wishes for this year. In fact, I am keeping that list very short, and here it goes:

To reach my own goals. Hit my own deadlines.

That’s all I want for this year.

Happy 2012, everyone!

May your joys this year outweigh your disappointments. May you have the strength, committment and wisdom to keep your resolutions, and may those bring you closer to your dreams.

Happy Holidays!

credit: Flickr by skpy

So today is the first night of Hanukkah (and a few days before Christmas). I got out our ever-growing collection of dreidels. Wrapped the Hanukkah presents and put them under our Christmas tree. (Yes, our family is that shamelessly interfaith). Put the menorah in a prominent place, candles by its side, ready to be lit. Waiting now for my son and husband to come back home from Karate and work to celebrate.

And — after all the wrapping and the running around – for a moment there I suddenly find my excitement waning.

This year I think I am a little more impatient with the holidays than usual. Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year, all of them. They feel like too much of a chore — last-minute shopping, all the crazy cooking, etc.

Holidays pull me away from my writing, when all I want to do is fly ahead into my current project — fly, fly, fly! And then write the next story! And then that other one that has been waiting its turn for years now!

But then I look down under the sturdy floor underneath my feet and remind myself that sometimes it’s okay to fold your wings and breathe in that smell of cooking. Holidays are there for a reason. I remind myself that work — even if it’s beautiful, magical, dream-work — can take you only so far.

Writers like Isaac Asimov and Jane Yolen famously contended that if they knew they had only minutes to live they would just write faster. Me? When I take a moment to consider it, I realize that if these were my last moments on earth, I’d let those untold stories go. I’d gather around with my kids and husband, just sit with them on the floor of our living room maybe, and just hold them, all quiet and breathing with my family.

Well, thankfully — hopefully — my dying moment is far enough away. Far enough, I hope, that I’ll get to write down those poor stories that are waiting their turn. But holidays are — or can be — the times to pull away, as though the world is about to stop turning.

Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, Kwanzaa, Yule, each holiday has its own reason, its own truth, its own story. And yet sometimes I think we are all celebrating the same thing here. We are celebrating love, and life, and warmth despite the cold outside, and the lights flickering in the darkness.

Happy holidays, everyone!

New List!

I am putting together a new “Best” list for you guys, and I need some advice to get me started. This one will include one of my favorite genres — and I think one with a lot of potential — historical fantasy fiction.

I am looking for the AWESOMEST literature for young adults that takes place in a real historical time and place, with all the usual elements of historical fiction, but has magic driving the story, or at least its parts. (Adults’ books are fine too, for a separate list, but I am thinking I won’t find as many…)

I already have a few great titles on my mind.

“Revolution” by Jennifer Donnelly deals with the present age and the French revolution, with the two coming together through scary ghostly magic.

“Book Thief,” by Mark Zusak, set during World War II in Germany, is told from the point of view of Death.

In “Apothecary,” by Maile Meloy, three cold war era-kids use magic and alchemy to stop villains from setting off an atomic bomb.

This is going to be so much fun.

Have you ever come across something amazing that would fit this list? I’ll take recommendations!

“Inside Out and Back Again,” by Thanhha Lai

Harper, 2011       

The winner of this year’s National Book Award for the best YA title of the year just happens to be another great find for my Best Contemporary Historical Novels list, and I couldn’t be more excited!

This aching and spare novel in verse (which totally deserves the honor!), tells a story of a ten-year-old girl, Ha, whose family must escape from Vietnam in the last year of the war, and start over in Alabama.

I think it’s the details that really brought this story to life, and made it great — the taste and look of papaya, Ha’s favorite fruit; her apt descriptions of people in her home country and in the new land; her struggles with English and with being made to feel “dumb.”

That, and the characterization of the tough, spunky heroine who knows what she wants and what she doesn’t. And the voice, at once spare and lyrical.

———————————————————————————————————————————

My new teacher has brown curls

looped tight to her scalp

like circles in a beehive.

She points to her chest:

MiSSS SScott,

saying it three times,

each louder

with ever more spit.

I repeat, MiSSS SScott,

careful to hiss every s.

She doesn’t seem impressed.

I tap my own chest:

Ha.

She must have heard

ha,

as in funny ha-ha-ha.

She fakes a laugh.

I repeat, Ha,

and wish I knew

enough English

to tell her

to listen for

the diacritical mark,

this one directing

the tone

downward.

My new teacher tilts

her head back,

fakes

an even sadder laugh.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Isn’t this beautiful?

I think this is especially perfect for a middle-grade social studies classroom. Kids would learn a lot about that period of time by reading this book. And not just kids — I know I have.

Congratulations, Thanhha!

Happy Birthday, Magic Mirror!

When I was little I lived apart from my mom and I missed her something awful. But she told me she always knew what I was up to, because she had a magic mirror. She knew if I had made my bed that day. Or if I got a good grade. Or made a friend.

I’ll tell you, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that magic mirror. I had so many questions! Imagine, all the things I would learn about the world? All the people I could spy on! All the secrets I would uncover! But each time I’d finally see my mom, I’d ask, “where, where, where is it?” And she’d go, “oh, man, what did I do with it? Where did I put it?” Or she’d say, “Your grandmother has it, because you are with me now, and that way she can keep track of what’s going on with you.”

The magic mirror became my Santa Clause. My tooth fairy.

It became something I held on to even after I grew up and learned that my babushka,  my grandmother who raised me, was the one who shared all the details of my days with my mom. Of course I was really upset when I found out. I’ve been had!

Still. I will never forget this thing my mom did for me – this story she left me with. I am not sure I would have even become a writer, if I didn’t have my magic mirror.

In late November 2009 my agent suggested I start something on blogger or wordpress, or anywhere. A conversation. A virtual calling card. It seemed fitting to name my new blog after this great legend of my childhood.

Now, two years later, I am still amazed each time I read someone’s comment. Each time, it feels like magic. The fact that there are people out there whom I have never met, but whom I can see, can hear, can understand, can know, through a magic mirror.

Cheers, guys! And happy birthday, Magic Mirror