Contests!

Some really great things happening on November 1st!

Literary agent Suzie Townsend has moved to Nancy Coffey Literary and is offering a fantastic deal to celebrate. Send her a query between 9-10 am EST (USA) on Tuesday with the title "QUERY CONTEST - Yes I can handle the truth", and she'll send you completely honest feedback on your query. What doesn't interest her, where she was turned off, etc. It's confidential and nothing gets posted on her blog, so it's just like a regular query process with actual feedback! Check here for details.

And for the big news: Baker's Dozen is back again!

This is the biggest thing since Write on Con. Perfect your loglines, have your first 250 words ready, and make sure your manuscript is polished, because you could have not only LOTS of agents reading your work, but bidding on pages too! Go to the site, check out the work of previous winners, and read about the success stories.

Seeing I'm half a world away, I'll be waiting up late to enter these contests. I hope to see you there, even while I'm in my drowsy state! Make sure you read all the rules carefully, and good luck!

Creating a Fully-Developed City

My current WiP is set in a Gotham-esque city, where a few days ago I had a rough idea of four districts – shopping, business, industrial, and suburban. I scribbled out a map. I made notes of descriptions, what the bustling shopping district would be like against the ghostly industrial district. I was pretty proud of myself. The city was dark and eerie and a whole character in itself.

But.

I got notes back from a beta, who commented on the less-than-adequate world-building. What? But – but – the districts! And the flashing lights! And the darkened alleys! How could anyone not love that?

…

Apparently, plenty of people.

A few more hours of research, I figured out what I was doing wrong, and it was a lot. (I’ll take this moment to bow down multiple times to my beta reader.)

I’m going to take you through the steps I used to design a city from scratch. Hopefully you’ll come out of the world-building process looking much better than I did the first time around!

Step One: Google images

Yep, I’ve mentioned it before in other posts, but I’m going to do it again. Designing a city in your head is all very well and good, but it’s those little details you won't come up with on your own that makes your setting real to the reader. This time, I’m going to give you a search phrase:

big city district map

You can change big to small, or city to village or town, or district to districts or get rid of the word altogether, whatever. Vary your searches and see if you can come up with a map that looks roughly how you pictured the city in your head.

Step Two: Alteration time!

Use Gimp, Photoshop, hell, even Paint, and make any changes you want, adding in coastlines or parks or mountains etc. It might not look great, but trust me, the visual makes a difference. Next, mark out the different districts you want in black or red. Use a key, because this part will be coupled with –

Step Three: Create your city districts

After much internet browsing (which wasn’t procrastination, I swear!), I discovered a few important elements to consider when creating districts.

Residents – includes wealth and ideologies, and will have an impact on infrastructure
History of the city
History of the district
Geography (whether it’s near ocean or river or mountains, etc)
Materials of buildings
Nature – parks/hedges/lakes/fountains
Tourists/traders
Arts/Entertainment
Pubs/taverns/inns
Relationship with other districts
Best-known places, run by people with history and personalities of their own
Religious buildings
Law buildings
Monuments

Okay, that was more than a few.

But you don’t have to use all of these for every district. It’s just good to keep them in mind.

Let’s go with an example:

The Docks district is on the shoreline between the Vista and Noda districts. Colloquially known as the ‘Salt-Licker’ district, it’s packed with traders, fishermen, and travellers. There are plenty of storefronts and pubs, honeycombed with erosion and exotic enough to be suited to the many sea-faring visitors. The most popular tavern is Maychips, owned by Hardy, a retired fisherman who has hung plasters of his many spectacular catches over the years on the paint-peeled walls.

This is only a simple description, loosely based on one of my own districts. The reason it’s so simple is because it’ll never even show up in my story. But for my sake, I’m glad to have such a solid idea in mind. I have twelve districts now, each distinct, each adding their own flavour to the imagery of my city as a whole.

Isn’t that better than just “shopping, business, suburban, and industry districts”?

I can’t stress enough how important it is to research district descriptions if you’re creating your own city. Try generating some ideas from role-playing games, where world-building is essential.

Do you have any world-building tricks? Can you suggest anything I might have missed?

Write on Con

Thanks to the lovely Jo Hart, I was lucky enough to discover Write on Con, and I'm here to pay it forward.

Ever wanted to attend a writing conference, but didn't have the time/money/availability?

Enter:

It's a FREE conference for kidlit writers, and it happens ONLINE between August 16th and August 18th. I haven't been this excited about something since NaNoWriMo.

Things to do:

Post queries/first 250 words/synopsis for critique
See others' works, as well as what other people have to say about it
Chat to other writers
Participate in forum discussions
Enter contests
And more, which I'm still discovering....

And, because I know the real reason you'd want to "attend" this conference, a taste of some of the amazing agents (and assistants) involved:

Jenny Bent
Michael Bourret
Ginger Clark
Sarah Crowe
Catherine Drayton
Natalie M. Fischer
Weronika Janczuk
Jennifer Laughran
Jim McCarthy
Sara Megibow
Kathleen Ortiz
Kelly Sonnack
Jennifer Rofe
Joanna Stampfel-Volpe
Kate Schafer Testerman
Suzie Townsend

Even just typing out their names had me gushing. Who needs celebrities when you have agents like THESE?

Best of all, this year Write on Con has a new program: NINJA AGENTS! Several agents will be sneaking around the forums looking at query letters and offering critiques... and maybe representation.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? SIGN UP FOR WRITE ON CON RIGHT NOW HERE AT THE FORUMS!

(And if you want to friend me, I'm just under "Tamara".)

Interview with Marissa Meyer

Marissa Meyer, author of the highly-anticipated CINDER, was kind enough to drop by and answer some questions on her past stint as a popular fanfiction writer, overcoming writing obstacles, and fictional love interests.

1. You started out as a fanfiction writer under the name Alicia Blade. Tell us about the first fanfic you ever made public.
I think I was 13 when I posted my first fanfic. It was called “Remembering Love,” it was about 5 pages long, and it consisted of major angst. It was pretty awful.

2. You’re still one of the most popular Sailor Moon fanfiction writers online, which certainly helps with spreading the word on CINDER. How did you go about building that following?
I’ve made a ton of friends and met so many amazing people through the online community! I’m very lucky to have so many people supporting CINDER right off the bat. I don’t know that it was a conscious effort to build “a following”—I enjoyed writing fanfics, so I wrote a bunch of them (more than 40). I also tended to stick with one genre (we’ll call it romantic comedy) within the Sailor Moon storyline, so readers knew what to expect when they read one of my fics. If it was the type of story that pleased them, they kept coming back, and I kept writing them!

3. CINDER is due out in January and we’re all so excited for it – I’ll bet you are too. What are you going to do on the release date?
Ooh, that’s an excellent question! I haven’t the faintest idea! There will be a release party a week or two after the book comes out, which I’m really excited for. But I’ll have to start planning my day-of celebration soon. I’m sure it will involve champagne and a trip to my local bookstore. And probably squealing.

4. What was the hardest writing obstacle you had to overcome with CINDER?
This might be on my brain because you and I were just talking about it, but it was really difficult to be patient with CINDER and not settle for the “it’s good enough” mentality. This was the first novel I’d ever queried and I knew I would only have one chance at that first impression with agents, so I forced myself to take my time and make the book as strong as I could, through two rewrites and numerous revisions. It wasn’t until one of my beta readers emailed me and said, “This is done, send it out now,” did I let myself think it could be ready.

5. You’re brilliant at creating sexy, desirable men. Tell us more about Prince Kai, the love interest in CINDER. What are his best and worst traits? What makes him different from the normal fairy tale princes?
Why thank you! I’m glad that I’m not the only one who thinks they’re sexy! Prince Kai is probably the closest thing to “Prince Charming” you’ll find in the series. He’s smart and gentlemanly and even chivalrous at moments, but he also has a bit of rebelliousness in him that comes out more and more as he’s forced into a position of political power. Sometimes I think poor Kai has the hardest role in the books, being constantly forced to choose between what he wants or what’s best for his country.

6. Finally, CINDER is the first of a series of four, with the following books also based on fairy tales – Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. What made you choose these particular fairy tales?
When I first started brainstorming the series, I made a list of some of my favorite tales, then started thinking up ways they could be futurized. Something about the four tales I chose just started falling into place. The glass coffin became a suspended animation tank, the tower became a satellite orbiting Earth, the wolf became a genetically engineered mutant. Initially I’d thought they would each be a stand-alone story, but the more I thought about them, the more one overarching story started to fall into place. Writing this series has been kind of like putting together a huge puzzle, which has been both fun and challenging.

Thank you so much for the interview, Tamara!

And thank you for answering my questions, Marissa!

CINDER is due out January 3rd, 2012. You can preorder it here. Make sure you check it out!

The Benefits of Harry Potter

I've done a guest post for The Book Lantern on the benefits of the Harry Potter series. I've steered past the usual discussion topics for the books and tried for something a little different.

You can find the post here.

Please have a read and add to the discussion!

Marissa Meyer Cover Reveal!

Marissa Meyer is lucky enough to have written one of the most highly anticipated books of 2012.

CINDER is the retelling of Cinderella... as a cyborg. It's an amazing concept, and if you want to jump ahead of the line and get to know this wonderful author before she becomes swamped with fans, here are some links to her social networking sites:

Facebook
LiveJournal
Twitter

Macmillan Kids Books had a big countdown on Twitter for CINDER's cover, and at last it's been revealed:

Doesn't it look fantastic? Go to the website and find out all about it now!

The Kiss

You’ve reached that long-awaited kiss scene. There’s been suspense, yearning, and unbelievable tension. Now it's finally happening.

But how do you write a kiss scene that lives up to the expectations of the reader? What do you need to ensure both the readers and your characters are satisfied after what was an almost painful build up?

Like all scenes, you need to include the senses. However, when it comes to THE kiss, there are a few changes to the balance.

Touch

Unlike most other scenes, this is the most important sense, as it is heightened during passion. Touch will be the focus of a kiss scene. Hot breath, caressing lips, roaming hands – bring it all in, but don’t go overboard with tongue descriptions. Sure, there might be a tongue flickering in somewhere. Just don’t spend too much time on it. I don’t know about you, but that was the kind of stuff I wrote about in high school. And when I read it now, it makes me squirmy.

Phrases to think about:

Hot breath against skin/mouth
Fingers trailing against skin
Fingers threading through hair
Lips against lips/jaw/cheek/neck
Hands around waist
Arms around neck

Taste

Unless it’s important to the story, I wouldn’t suggest putting in tastes that aren’t universally enjoyed. Beans, seafood, morning breath, cigarettes (yes, I know, but not all your readers will be smokers) can probably be left out unless you want the kiss scene etched in your readers’ minds for all the wrong reasons. And if you’re going to mention a less common taste, it’s a good idea to have your other character know how it got there, either by seeing them eat it beforehand, or ask about it afterwards.

Some suggestions for pleasant tastes:

Beer (as a masculine choice)
Chocolate
Peppermint
Spearmint
Caramel
Coffee
Liquorice
Cinnamon
Honey
Wine
Whiskey
Butterscotch

Any to add?

Smell

Like taste, your characters’ scents should be universally pleasant. If you want some ideas for different flavours, do a google search on perfumes and colognes and see how creators describe their products. For something a little more unusual, try candle scents. There are dozens of smells to choose from. Just make sure that the smell matches the character – don’t go giving them an ocean spray perfume if they hate the sea.

Examples of candle scents (extensive list found here):

Almond
Apple blossom
Bay breeze
Cherry vanilla
Coffee
French vanilla
Gardenia
Lavender
Peach
Raspberry
Rose
Wisteria

Sound

Stick with soft moans, sighs, murmurs, and groans from the characters involved, and that’s it. This is one of the few times in the story where background detail and grounding won’t be needed. A character in the middle of a passionate kiss isn’t going to notice a stove bubbling away in the kitchen, or a pigeon cooing on the terrace, or even people around them in a marketplace. Not if they’ve been waiting for this kiss for a long time.

Sight

This is probably the least important sense to a kiss scene. Hopefully your characters aren't going to see much for the majority of the moment - it'd be a bit awkward if they’re standing there with their eyes open. Describing the love interest’s dishevelled look between kisses is a treat for the reader. Loose collars, messy hair, flushed cheeks, and unfocussed eyes make for saucy reading.

Any other sensory details you could add?

Once the senses are done, character thoughts can be added. But remember, not a lot of thinking goes on during a kiss scene, and readers don’t want to be bombarded with too much internal monologuing. Select a subtle combination from the list above, add your own twists and preferences, slip in a few stray I can’t believe this is finally happening thoughts, and you have yourself that long-awaited kiss scene.

Keeping up with Technology

You’ve written a book set in the modern day. You get an agent. You get a contract.

But by the time your book comes out, the technology you’ve used is outdated.

It’s happening too fast. Mobiles turn into Blackberrys, which turn into iPhones, which turn into… well… who knows? Give it a few months, and I’ll have an answer.

Ever laughed at a book or a movie that uses a floppy disk, or a VHS, or a discman? Someone’s going to be laughing at the technology in your book in ten years time, I promise you.

So how do you keep up with it? How do you have your characters acting contemporary, without losing your target audience within a few short years?

Unfortunately, we can’t tell the future. We can’t know what’s going to happen next. Here are a few techniques I use to avoid this potential migraine:

Set your story in the near-future
Just near enough to have a few technological extras (fully-automated supermarket checkouts, identification tags, DNA scans, etc), but not so far that it’s unrecognisable.

Use minor technological details
The more you throw in, the easier the book will become outdated. Keep mobiles and music usage to a minimum. Even mentioning CDs and DVDs is risky, because it won’t be long until they'll be commonly available online.

Replace technology with something else
Harry Potter, anyone? Muggle devices couldn’t be used at Hogwarts, but there was certainly enough magic to make up for it.

Ban technology in your setting
Schools don’t allow mobiles in class. If you want, take it a step further. Have your particular institution ban all IT devices (as long as they have a good reason for it!), and save yourself the think-work.

It’s all in the detail
If you’re writing for young adults especially, you can’t take technology out altogether. Did you know most teenagers don’t wear wristwatches? They use their mobiles for the time. (As a teacher, I can tell you, it’s maddening). Mobiles have also replaced alarm clocks. And about a dozen other things.

Don’t even get me started on social networking sites. Look at what happened to MySpace. Be careful what you use, because it won’t be around forever.

What about you? Any other ideas for how to keep up with technology?

GIVEAWAY

The lovely Marissa Meyer, author of CINDER (to be released January 2012) is hosting a giveaway!

Win one of four books:

ASH by Malinda Lo (inspired by Cinderella)
SISTERS RED by Jackson Pearce (inspired by Little Red Riding Hood)
ZEL by Donna Jo Nipoli (inspired by Rapunzel)
FAIREST by Gail Carson Levine (inspired by Snow White)

Go to her livejournal for more details.

Good luck!

Ode to fantasy writers

Something I came up with while waiting around for a friend to pick me up.

Sung to The Little Mermaid's "Part of Your World".

Look at this stuff
Isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my Word doc is complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who writes everything?
Look at this trove
Stories untold
How many wonders can one folder hold?
Looking around here you think
Sure, she dreams everything
I've got fairies and princes a-plenty
I've got gremlins and villains galore
You want cool demi-gods?
I've got twenty!
But who cares?
No big deal
I want more

I wanna be where the characters are
I wanna see, wanna see ‘em dancin'
Walking around in those - what do you call 'em?
Oh - sheets!

Flippin' your pages, you see so far
Magic’s required for flying, chanting
Fightin’ a bunch of those - what's that word again?
Beasts

Down where they walk, down where they run
Down where they slay all day, everyone
Wanderin' free - wish I could be
Part of that world

What would I give if I could live with the goddesses?
What would I pay to spend a day in a fantasy land?
Trident in hands, Olympians
They could be, so much fun to slaughter
Poison apples, marriage chapels
Fairy tale lands

And give me a quest with a trapped princess
Raise the stakes and build the climax
Add an apprentice and let him - what's the word?
Learn

When's it my turn?
Wouldn't I love, love to explore that world I dreamed of?
Pure fantasy
Wish I could be
Part of that world

ETA: I've made a youtube video of this song, with lyrics (oh god!) really bad images and transitions (my eyes!), and MY ACTUAL SINGING, which has never been heard in any capacity except road trips (PLEASE GOD MAKE IT STOP!). If you would like to would like to endure this kind of suffering, skip on over to the site