Age & Nightshade

Recently I read Nightshade by Andrea Cramer. It was pretty good. The mythos was fascinating and not something I had read before. The characters were real and I could relate with them. And I was excited because the language was nice and clean.

However, this book did bring up something that I've noticed in YA books. If I had read this when I was actually a teen I would've been very, Very, VERY uncomfortable. There were at least three scenes that were heavy on the sensual and I had to question myself: Is this appropriate? I mean, the one bathroom scene was so disconcerting. Is this really happening in schools?? And if it is, why is this okay? When did the physical boundaries between guys and girls get chucked out the window?

Now, I understand that in the books situation the girl was preparing to get married and was being treated as an adult and all that. But still. This is not the only book that pushes the physical boundaries. My friend read the Halo books and said there was a scene in them where she was going "Holy Crow! She should not be doing that!"

I also am reminded of one of the panels I sat in on at Polaris where one of the YA authors said their agent was telling them to make their book Sexier. Omgoodness... WHY!? There is a large demographic out there that does NOT want it to be sexier, who are Tired of Sex permeating Everything, especially our used-to-be safe books. And they're pushing it younger and younger. Independent Readers/Middle Grade books are starting to get a little scary when it comes to the relationship aspects to life.

My question is: When did it become okay for teens to have sex with random people before they're married? When did it become okay for authors to TELL teens that this is okay behavior? Yes, yes. I understand that you want a world to be believable. Diana Peterfreund in her Killer Unicorn books has to deal with that temptation because if the girl's aren't virgins they ain't going to be Unicorn Hunters. But I think she does a pretty darn good job of not making it Way Too Awkward for me to read.

At first I thought one of the reasons for the Sultriness was because it seems like a whole lot of Romance novelists are writing for YA now, but that's not fair. Karen Armstrong wrote for YA and her books were very well written and tastefully done when it came to the romance. It was *gasp* Age Appropriate.

So I'm curious what you think? Are Teen books becoming Too Much Sexy? Are you okay with the sexified state of books? Also: On a slightly unrelated note, do you think it would help if a twenty-something age group of books were developed so you could have slightly sexier books without them being for teens?

Random Video Fun

Oh wowsies. I can't believe I haven't posted this thing up yet. For some reason my brain has been everywhere but in bloggy land. I miss you guys. *hugs GLOM* Hopefully that hug transfers through to your computers.

WELL... In case you have yet to hear of it: I am obsessed with Spakes. They are mythologically real creatures and I talk about them pretty much incessantly.

People throw things at me.

It can be bad.

SO in order to attempt to get my Facebook friends to become fans of Spakes on Facebook (which you can totally do here if you happen to have a Facebook page. I keep meaning to make a linky-do-da but I am lame and so have not done that.) I made this video, and I thought I would share it with you, if I can get it to load. It takes a day to load to youtube, so I haven't done that yet (I now hate youtube). We'll see if this works...

Woah! I think that worked :D So exciting. Anywaydles... Hope you enjoy. I'm going to try and pop around tomorrow, unless I have to do an emergency stand-in for my sister at work. Her thumb's still a bit of an owie. Have fun! :D

And Then the World Exploded...

My friend 'Rosie' and I write stories together.

It is because of her that Spakes exist and I have a series of novels based on mythologically real creatures.

ALSO... We and another friend 'Stasi' are writing a book together about Elves, and Fairies, and Pixies.

ALSO... Rosie and I are writing a story about Twins.

AND... The more we spend time together the more we realize we have REALLY WEIRD connections between our stories.

Like... My character being the mother of one of her characters.

Like... Her character being the daughter of one of my mythological creatures.

Like... The fact that our stories are becoming more and more complex and connected.

There is a part of my brain that says YOU CAN'T DO THAT because - normally - authors aren't allowed to write worlds together with a second author while still keeping both authors autonomous. BUT... Then there is another part of my brain, the rebellious part, that says I can do whatever I want as long as I write stories that other people (preferably LOTS of people because that would be totes cool) will want to read.

Do you want to be CONFUSED? I will attempt to draw a diagram...

YOU SEE... There is a reality sideways from ours and there are three worlds, Earth (also known as Jezkana), Gorsonian, and Galsha (which is Rosie's and I'm probably spelling it wrong). They look like this:

The Universe is Purple...

And They are all connected in a way that is hard to explain. It looks like this:

Underneath all of these worlds is a second world known as the Land of Faerie.

Think of it as like a parfait, with layers of worlds that go beyond space and time...

And connected to Faerie are three sub-worlds, home of Fairies, Pixies, and Elves...

There is one more thing you should know: Connected to the earth (as well as the other worlds) are hundreds of thousands of realities spreading out like a fan or like ripples in a pond...

The Spake reality is the closest one.

Not that it matters a whole lot...

And if ANY thread of reality should malfunction or get torn apart, because everything is connected, it will all circle out and destroy stinking EVERYTHING...

And that just makes my brain HURT. ALSO... It gives me an Insane number of ideas and makes me want to make giant posters to try and understand it better. Woo. So hard.

NOW... Hopefully I haven't CONFUSED YOU ENTIRELY. But I probably have. ALSO... Hopefully I haven't given too much away. BUT... I trust you guys and needed to tell SOMEONE. And you guys are someones.

SO.... Have you ever had a story idea EXPLODE and give you more story info then you really thought you needed to know?

Whoops... I Was Supposed to Blog About This Months Ago

SOOOOOO... Something exciting happened to me last... November? I think it was. You see, I was at a birthday party talking to a friend when she asked if I could come and talk about Publishing at her Book Club.

I said something along the lines of: "Omgoodness... YES!" And looked something like this:

Only... I look a bit less Asian, because I am not really of that lovely ethnicity.

ANYWAY... So my friend said to bring the first chapter of the book I was telling her about (WhiteWashed) so I did. I showed up at her school and walked in to the Visitor booth thing and...

No one knew what I was talking about. What book club? What person are you talking about? We have no library? (Okay, that last one is a lie...)

AND I WAS FREAKING MY FACE OFF... Very quietly inside. Like a possum.

Possum!

But finally I was able to get where I needed to go and I answered some questions about publishing and writing and stuff and then I got to read the first bit of the first chapter of my book.

And...

It was insane. Because although some people obviously didn't care and were just like, whatever, it's some weird chick in an ugly shirt reading some boring story... BUT... There were others that were leaning forward and were listening and omgoodness... they LAUGHED at my jokes and actually thought I could be humorous. AND, some even looked disappointed when I stopped. It was crazy. The feeling was like DRUGS only worse and better and FREE and not illegal.

And I knew without a doubt that I want to do this FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

And then, apparently, I will grow wings and become a bug.

BUT... I will be reading my stories to people who actually Like them and that is SO exciting it makes me want to go query RIGHT NOW.

Contest and Wombat!

So the lovely Mia Hayson is having a contest and because I am Obsessed with Wombats (they are So Cute!) I decided to do something different to help spread the word about her contest...

WOMBAT!

I wrote on the back of a Wombat. In case you can't read it, it says to Enter Mia's Contest.

Yes. I have been sleep deprived lately, why do you ask?

An Old Love of My Life

I was eight years old. I had recently written my Brave Girl Series (very lame, trust me) and I came across a picture I had drawn. (Thanks to this picture -->)

Inspiration struck (not unlike a hammer) and I started writing a story about two islands, a heroic girl, and one evil man.

Then I stopped. Probably had something to do with the fact that I moved from Virginia up to New York. Stories got boxed up and I moved on. Worked on Brave Girl Series again. Then there was the Underground (with plot inconsistencies that would take your breath away).

Later, when I was about seventeen and had recently finished the Novel of Magnitude (which needs more editing than a raw piece of chicken) I started typing again at that old story. Slashed the beginning. Expanded a scene. Added intrigue and mystery.

Then I hit a massive black wall. You see, I don't have Writer's Block. Sometimes there are pebbles or very small rocks. Sometimes there are caverns I cannot get to the back of, or canyons I cannot jump over quite yet. But this was a giant black wall that I could not climb. Having learned something about the writing process since I was eight I knew what I had to do. I set the story aside.

I even moved the story from my Serious Folder (the books I know I will finish) on my computer to my Idea folder. It felt like giving up, but I knew that one day - - One Day - - I would finish it.

Then a few days ago at dinner I finished eating my taco (so unrelated to my story. They don't have tacos in that world. They don't even have cows.) and quickly descended into Zombie Mode. I went downstairs and had to search desperately until I found it, buried within file folders (I have an obsession with file folders). I opened it up and read some to figure out where I was and I wrote, and I wrote.

The black wall was gone.

There is re-writing to be done. The Protagonist will probably have to be made younger, as it's more of a middle grade story than a young adult one (though it has some content, like people dying, that makes me uncertain). The beginning needs more work than a hurricaned beach house. My one character (Zing) desperately needs a new name. My eight year old self thought Zing was a great name, but my twenty-one year old self is not impressed.

I hope to finish at least the first draft of the story this year. I've been wanting to write a middle grade novel, and after reading a few dozen this past year I feel more confident in my ability.

It is so strangely peaceful to finally work on this book again. I have been waiting years and I cannot wait to see how it will finish out.

How 'bout you? Ever Re-Fallen in Love with a Story Idea? Ever had to take a break from a story, even if you Absolutely Loved it?

Books I Read in 2010 Part 2

Here is the continuing tale of the books I read in 2010. If you missed it Here is the link to my first post. Enjoy!

Most Decidedly Definitely not a book I would normally pick up and read, because it was a little more feminist then I tend to lean. However, I saw it in the library and decided to give it a go. Very interesting stuff. I love reading about fairy tales and folklore, and this was a fascinating read that showed me some ideas that while I might not agree, it's nice now to know what people are talking about.

Why I Picked This Book: Another non-fiction book that I could actually finish. Also, another book that I read despite thinking I wouldn't like it. And I did. I learned a lot this past year that you can't judge a book by its cover, title, or possible content. Well, sometimes you can. But sometimes you can't. So sometimes you need to just give a book a chance and see what catagory it truly fits in.

I read this along with Sophocles threesome. I love Greek playwrights and historians and essayists. I have no idea why. But either way, I loved Aristophanes. Though the one play was highly inappropriate and might skip upon re-reading this: Aristophanes is hilarious.

Why I Picked This Book: Because most people do not count Aristophanes as one of their favorite writers. I think more people should.

Oh. My Goodness. I loved this book. I consider it Snikette-esque (a category in books that I use quite often, though I'm not sure if others do). I laughed aloud time and again.

Why I Chose This Book: I had never heard of J.T. Petty until I was in The Strand in the City with my friend Rose and she laughed. The book was The Hobgobline Proxy and the said, "Look! Hobgoblins!" because a few nights before my mum made a hobgoblin face and we started calling her that (with all the love in the world, I assure you). I read the entire book and then forgot about it. Months later I remembered I had read some book with hobgoblins and amazoned it. Fortunately, there are not a lot of books with the word hobgoblin in it and I was able to find it. And then I read pretty much everything he wrote. He's a funny guy and this may sound strange, but I liked seeing him grow as a writer. His first book, Clemency Pogue Fairy Killer was not as good as Scrivener Bees. Sometimes I read an author and there first book is insanely good, and then the next one doesn't quite match up. As a writer I hope that each book will be better than the last (well, or at least close to). This was strangely encouraging for me to see in real life.

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison, Dear Anjali by Melissa Glenn Haber, Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson, and all of RL LaFevers books were another group I found through agent hunting. I loved them all in so many different ways. They were all wonderfully told stories, though told in significantly different ways.

Why I Chose Them: Again, by searching agents I found some incredible stories. Once I find an agent I will probably still research them in order to find groups of really good books.

I love Lane Smith. His artwork is so fantastic. I just love looking at his artwork. These two, though not written by him, were probably two of my favorite that were illustrated by

him. He helps write a blog about inappropriate books that's pretty interesting. Feel free to check it out Here. That's where I heard about It's a Book. So good, but yes, it is slightly inappropriate.

This book was one of those books that you read at just the right time in just the right moment. I was laughing my face off the entire time, but when my sister read it she found it just a tad too weird. So if you're a fan of weird: go ahead and read it. If you're not the biggest fan of weird: you can feel free to skip this one.

Why I Chose It: This was another one of those books I hadn't seen around anywhere and want more people to hear about it. Thus I have succeeded.

This book I read because of Blam's post over here: Braids of Glory.

Why I Chose This Book: I love books that introduce me, or draw me into, another culture. Although I was already aware of some Jewish sayings and bits of their culture (as my church has held a Passover meal two years in a row... Or the Seder meal? I'm not remembering exactly), it was fun to read something set in Jewish culture so I could learn a bit more and get more of a taste for their culture. Plus, the story is simply fantastic. A strong heroine, evil beasts, and knitting. What could be better?

Well, that's about all for this year. Eventually I will touch on a couple of the other books I read this year that include discussions that will take up more room and time. Thank you for reading! :) Feel free to let me know about any books you've read this past year!