Semester Wrap Up!

Portfolios have been submitted. Workshops have been critiqued. So many books have been read, and so many new pieces written. But I still can't believe that my first semester in grad school is nearly over. Just one day left! One third of the way through the year.

I have learned a ridiculous amount in a very short span of time. I've settled on a manuscript for the rest of the year. I've experimented with voice and point of view and age range. I've learned how to question my writing, how to go back and make it the best it can be. I've read so many great books that have helped to further my writing and given me something to aim for in my own writing as well.

Many people say that you don't need to study writing to be a good writer, and that's fine. But writing is like any other profession or talent or skill. To get better at it, you have to be surrounded by it. You have to practice it. You have to breathe it. That's what this year is for. Living and breathing writing, specifically, the writing that I want to do. I can't wait to see what these next two semester's bring!

Here's a recap of the semester!

Favorite Books:
       From my set reading list:
               Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo (a beautiful World War 1 story with a clear voice, an            amazing sense of tension thanks to Timelock, and nostalgic characters)
   
               Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell (a charming middle grade novel that makes the normal world seem magical and has the most adorable, unique voice!)

               Skellig by David Almond (a magical realism novel showing kids how to deal with mourning and their emotions. Absolutely lovely imagery and symbolism with a simple story)

       From my personal reading:
                The Bear and the Nightengale by Katherine Arden (magical realism with a russian setting and playing with russian mythology. Huge and atmospheric with bold characters--so lovely!)
         
                Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon (realistic fiction following a main character with down syndrome who goes to London in search of her boyfriend who's been taken away. Poignant, strong voice, and an absolutely necessary read!)

                Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone (middle grade fantasy. Complex plot with a girl who's voice is being stolen, a boy set in his ways, a fallen goddess trying to take over the world. Beautiful nature imagery and strong friendship).

My Writing Takeaways:

• Write the book that you want to write, that you don't see on the shelves. Don't think about the industry as you're writing it. 
• Character questionnaires are extremely helpful. They can be downloaded online and just make you probe your subconscious and figure out things about your character. 
• The opening of your book must give a preview of what's inside your book. 
• Influences make you into the writer you're meant to be. So be alert, relaxed, and allow yourself to be surprised by life and how it affects your writing. 
• TIMELOCK keeps the pace moving forward and adds to the tension of a story. 
• Endings in all sense of the word are important. Make sure you leave the ends of chapters with a bang, making the reader read on. Don't rush your big ending. What do you want to leave the readers with? 
• Justifying the rule Show don't Tell: Because showing allows the reader to be active in book and bring their own experiences to the story. 
• Reading poetry makes your mind think differently and can help spark ideas in your work. Play with words and language. Keep a bag of pretty words (and minuscule words).
• **End sentences with strong images, not unnecessary words. 
• Kids and young readers are a lot more sophisticated than we give them credit for, but also know what kids of your age group can handle. 
• Realistic relationships are created through light and shade in a novel. 
• Take character temperature at the beginning and end of the scene. If they are the same, the scene is too static. 
• Antagonists need to be worthy and have reasons, even if they are terrible reasons. 
• Need some tension? Throw a bomb under the bed
• Reticular Activating System: as soon as you put a value on something, you'll make connections. 
• Think about what you're really trying to say, and try your hardest not to say it. 
• The Story Questions: What readers want answered, drives the story forward, questions are replaced throughout the book. 
• First draft is telling the story to yourself. You have to do that first. 

It's been a long crazy semester. I've learned a lot. For once in my life, I know that I am a good writer--a good writer with mountains of space to improve. Because isn't that what we're always doing? I've learned that I'm good at voice, at balance of action and dialogue. But I often overwrite because I don't think I'm getting my story across. Sometimes I need to amp up the twists. 

And I'm so excited to start my manuscript, to create the atmosphere that I envision in my head. Stay tuned for what the next semester has in store! 

Happy Holidays, 

      HER 

Book Review: Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

Okay, so no, this blog is noT turning into a book review site. It's just that heavy reading has been half of my workload for grad school this first semester, and I have read some truly wonderful books! I will do a wrap up of my first semester's learning because my last class is next week. NEXT WEEK! But first, I want to talk to you about Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell because it is just utterly lovely.

Sophie, the girl with hair the color of lightning, was found as a baby floating through the English Channel in a cello case by Charles Maxim, the most charming British academic you will ever have the pleasure of reading. Charles, with the permission of the State, raises Sophie as his charge, but loves her as his daughter. But Sophie's upbringing is unusual, not exactly what a young woman in England "should" be studying--and she most certainly should be not be wearing trousers.

Even though she loves her life with Charles, Sophie is utterly convinced that her mother is still alive, and though she was a baby when she was found, she swears that she has memories of her mother wearing trousers and playing the cello. So when the state decides that Charles is an unfit guardian and plan to take Sophie to an orphanage, Sophie discovers a clue about her mother--a Paris address on the cello case that she was found in twelve years ago. So instead of complying with the law and heartbreak, Charles and Sophie pack a bag and jump a ship across the English Chanel for Paris, on a Mother-hunt.

Instantly, Sophie is convinced that Paris is the right place for her, that it feels like home. However, answers are not coming as easily as she might hope. The Parisians are not as polite as the English, and no one wants to help her find her mother, who most likely died in the shipwreck.

Just when all seems lost, Sophie meets Matteo, a rooftopper--aka an orphan who's made his home out of living on the rooftops of Paris, a magical and dangerous life. Sophie's eyes are opened to this hard, new way of life, but in it, she finds a group of loyal, brave friends and answers to all her prayers. Because from the rooftops, one can hear everything--including the cello music of a woman with lightning colored hair, the same as Sophie's.

I think I can honestly say that, apart from Skellig by David Almond, Rooftoppers is my favorite read of the semester. Sophie is the most unique, odd, charming, utterly herself character
with beautiful ways of seeing the world. I was underlining her thoughts like crazy. I think Charles might be one of my favorite adult characters in a middle grade book, an adult character who both believes in the agency of children and the agency of women. He's a true feminist. The voice of the story is witty and exciting, with unusual, exciting descriptions. I finished this book in two days, and I was sad to finish it.

My favorite quote: "Mothers were a place to put down your heart. They were a resting stop to recover your breath."

This is an absolutely must-read. I'm not kidding. Read it!

Happy Reading,
    HER 

Book Review: Utterly Me, Clarice Bean by Lauren Child

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is the 4th book in my set reading for the MA, and it was such a joy! Really, I've enjoyed everything I've read so far (Charlotte's Web, Where the Wild Things Are, Skellig). But I chose to specifically write about the Clarice Bean series (aka the British equivalent of Junie B. Jones) because, as I was reading and presenting on it, I realized how beneficial of a book this would be for children with disabilities that make reading challenging and therefore just don't read.

Clarice Bean is an average girl with one too many siblings and who has a deep love of the Ruby Redfort mystery books. She wishes she had an exciting life like Ruby's spy life, but instead she must deal with a sneaky grandpa, coats being rearranged at school, her siblings, and her best friend Betty Moody.
Clarice is actually quite excited for a school project when the class is assigned to pick their own book to do a book report table on. They must have a display and show what they have learned from the books. The winners will get a secret prize and their names on a gold trophy. Naturally Clarice and Betty choose the Ruby Redfort book to do their report on. But then several mysteries throw their way into Clarice's way to victory.
First of all, there's a mysterious barking coming from her grandpa's room. Then Betty goes missing. And THEN the golden cup that the winners are supposed to get their names on goes missing! It's all just going to the dogs. And Clarice is left on her own to solve all these mysteries, discover what she's learned from the Ruby Redfort books, and deal with everyday problems.

Clarice Bean's voice is established immediately, and this little girl is hilarious and sassy. I love her. I actually wrote "lol" on nearly every page. But Lauren Child is very witty in the way she sets this book up, which I think is just perfect for children with attention struggles. She plays with the size of text to pull kids' attention back in and forms some of the story's words into shapes. She also has installments of the Ruby Redfort books sprinkled throughout Clarice's own story, so it's almost like breaking up the book, keeping it fresh, and holding your child's attention.
Anyone will enjoy this book because the writing is charming and Clarice Bean is hilarious. But if you have a/know of a child who doesn't like reading just because books can't keep their attention, hand them this Utterly Me, Clarice Bean. They might just get sucked in.

**Plus, this book promotes kids reading what they enjoy, rather than what they are required to read, and I think that's incredibly important. Clarice shows that she's able to learn something from a popular fiction book. So all the power! But I'm off my soapbox now.

Happy Reading,
         HER 

Review: The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler

I started reading the Emily Windsnap series when I was about 10 years old, right when they came into publication. And they were my absolute favorites! So much my favorites that I wrote a letter to the British author, Liz Kessler, a couple years later about how much I loved her books and how I was a writer too and wrote all the time and wanted to be published.
Well, to my 12 year old astonishment, I received a letter back from this amazing author encouraging me to keep writing. I've saved that letter for 10 years now, displaying it proudly on my wall. Never did I think I'd get to the day when I would meet Liz and be able to show her the letter that she sent me all those years ago.
Well, that day did come this past weekend. I finally got to meet Liz at the Bath Children's Literature Festival, listen to her speak, and finally show her the letter she sent me. She was so touched that she nearly cried, came all the way around the table to hug me and take a picture with ME on HER phone, which never happens. I'm so blessed that I was able to share with her how much her letter touched my courage and influenced my writing career. It is one of the highlights of my life, thus far.

But this is a book review. Since my MA Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University starts tomorrow, I thought I'd reread the first The Tail of Emily Windsnap to prepare and also just to reread. Cause why not? I wanted to look at it with the critical eye of an adult and a writing student. I was just as extraordinarily pleased with it as I was when I was a child.
The book instantly hooks readers and really pulls us into the story by having Emily, the first person narrator, address the audience by sharing a secret with us. And we, of course, are the only ones to know. But she doesn't just come right out and say what her secret is; she reveals the secret through scene--the secret that she's a mermaid! But how is this possible? Her mother's afraid of water, and she's never known anything about her dad.
It's not until she meets her first real life mermaid, her new bff Shona, that answers start to fall into place. After a day at mermaid school with Shona, Emily discovers who her father might be--a siren who broke the rules and fell in love with a human. But what's happened to him? Where is he? And how does she get to him?
With the help of her new fin and her loyal, brave best friend, Emily is determined to find the truth and bring her family back together.

Kessler's writing is simple yet beautiful. The dialogue is fast paced and skips through unnecessary bits of the story, that might be important to an older mind but a younger mind would just blitz over anyway. But my favorite part of Kessler's writing is her use of verbs. She utilizes the absolute perfect, imagery-inducing verbs, and I LOVE it. I'm quite jealous in fact. I enjoyed the charming details to create a mermaid culture like siren classes and the word "swishy," which just really makes the book come to life. I might even start using "swishy" again to describe the coolest of cool things.

But as I was reading this, I was trying to remember why I was so in love with it as a kid. I was never really taken to the beach yearly, and I'd never had an obsession with mermaids, even though I did love Ariel. Reading it now, I remember. A--I felt a slight connection to Emily, feeling outside of her school, not really having a place among friends, but just needing one good friend. And B--we'd just moved into a house with a pool, and literally the only thing I wanted to do was play mermaids. I was a mermaid literally every day of the summer. And that was my a-ha moment. Thanks to my pool, Emily Windsnap and I became bffs.

After listening to Liz speak at the Bath Children's Literature festival, I loved hearing her take on how stories come to her. First of all, she advised all young writers to carry a notebook with them everywhere, which I 100% support. Second of all, she said that she doesn't make up characters or put pieces of people together. For her, the story already exists and choose the writers. And again, I have to whole-heartedly agree with this.
I've never had to sit down and think through Cheyenne's character or her story. It's always just come to me, and I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only author who thinks this way.

Apart from this being a review, this is also an encouragement to young readers/writers--write authors! We may not always respond, though some still do (obviously). But we can't tell you how much it touches our hearts that the stories we manage to pen make a difference in our readers' lives the way that Liz Kessler made a difference in mine.

So go read Emily Windsnap! She's on her 9th journey (and still going).

Happy Reading,
      HER 

Happy Banned Book Week!

It's almost the end of banned book week, one of my favorite weeks of the year because it celebrates all the most amazing books that have been put out into the world and challenged for the truth and reality that they share. Because that does seem to be the recurring similarities in most banned books, right? That they show the truth of our world, even if those books aren't based in our world? It's very hard to face the truth when it's staring us in the face, and the people who challenge books seem to have trouble allowing young readers access to truth.
I have just finished reading Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult by Bruce Hardy, which was a great introductory book for my MA course. While the book gave a great analysis of some of the most beloved children's books, going all the way back to Little Women, it also shared why they are still beloved today. And the books that are still the most popular, still displayed, in their umpteenth reprinting, are the ones that display truth of what life is really like, deal with topics that children all deal with.
Adults often belittle what a child can handle and understand, but most kids can handle a lot more than we believe. They have their own way of dealing with the hard facts of life. We are doing them no favors by sugarcoating life, avoiding hard topics, and throwing out books that address those hard topics.
The Books that are on the banned book list are the most memorable, the most truthful, and often, the most beloved by their designated readers who appreciate the respect that they are shown.

Here are some of my favorite banned books:
Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone
To Kill a Mockingbird
Forever by Judy Blume
Black Beauty
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson

Prep for England

The day is here! Tomorrow, I leave for Bath (!!!!!!!!!). Unsuprisingly, I've never done anything like this before. I've never packed up my whole life to take it to a whole new life. It's really kind of surreal--that's really the only word I can use to describe that encompasses all the feelings.

But the preparation for this move has been crazy. Extracting myself from my life in Maryville is not an easy thing--mainly because I have a lot of mementos and knick knacks and pictures and BOOKS and clothes and just stuff that I love. It was easy when I went to UTC because I was just two hours down the road and could drive to get whatever I had forgotten. Not exactly feasible with this move. So here's how I'm making this move work:

1. Space Bags: And not the space bags that you roll up, but the space bags that vacuum seal because those things are just plain magic. They decrease to half their size...maybe even more than that. It makes packing so much easier and saves so much space, literally. I wouldn't have been able to make all my luggage work without it.

2. A Good Carry On: I got a lovely carry on bag for Christmas in preparation for my upcoming travels, and let me tell you, I love this bag. It has a nice spacious upper section that will fit several days worth of clothes, and then below it is a section that fits shoes, chargers, all the extra things that wouldn't fit in the top part. For this move, I have clothes that'll last me, some medications, and my cameras.

3. A Backpack: The backpack has your essentials--the things you couldn't live without in the case that something happens to your luggage. A change of clothes, comfy sweater for the airplane, socks for the airplane, travel toiletries, laptop, chargers, book, wallet, whatever else you think you'll need to survive.

4. Charging converters: These are essential to the life of your technology, so I suggest taking them. On any other trip, not a move, I wouldn't recommend bringing laptops. Instead, I would get this awesome Nulaxy keyboard that bluetooth connects to your phone, so you can type on your phone easily. Evernote is a great app if you need to type larger documents.

5. Portable charger: I've never used one before, but on my last trip to DC, I really wished I'd had one of these things. When you take too many pictures or are instagramming a lot or forgot to charger your phone the night before, this little device is a lifesaver.

6. Lists: When that packing anxiety hits and you can't figure out if you have everything that you need, make lists. My friend recommended this when packing three suitcases got overwhelming, and I can't even tell you how much it helped me calm down and keep everything organize. Now, when I go to unpack, I have exactly where everything is.

7. Comfy but cute: For long flights like this, I try to be cute, but comfort comes first. Leggings, fuzzy socks for "sleeping" hours, a cozy sweater are all essentials to me.

What are your travel essentials?

See you across the pond,
      HER 

The Announcement

Hello All! So I mentioned some time ago that I had some new ideas in the works (yes, there is book stuff in the works, but that's not what this is, sorry). As some of you may know, I am moving to Bath, UK to pursue to Master's degree at Bath Spa University. I'll be attending their Master's in Creative Writing for Young People program for the next year, studying the craft of writing great children's and young adult literature. I honestly can't say how very excited I am about this, to be able to study exactly what I want to write.

This is not to say that I don't appreciate my general creative writing education from UT Chattanooga. It's been a great starting base, a wonderful way to grow my writing as a whole, and just a fantastic education. However, general fiction is not what I aspire to write. It's not my niche.

I always knew that I wanted to pursue my masters in writing, and at the time, I understood that that would mean studying more literary fiction and writing literary fiction. Most graduate creative writing programs are geared toward literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. There are only a few schools in the world that teach the craft of young adult and children's creative writing. The New School in New York City and Vermont College of Fine Arts, which is only a part time program, are the two schools that I could find that taught creative writing of young adult literature. Bath Spa University is actually one of the leading universities in this new type of program, and I'm so excited that it's coming to be.

That being said, I have decided to start a video series focusing on what I learn in my master's program--highlights on how to craft young adult literature--as well as the travels I take during my time in the UK. I will be posting these videos twice a month. Some will focus more on writing while others will focus more on travel.

When I started writing Ascension, I had no basis to go on other than the books I had read. They were my teachers, as they should be. Reading should always be the basis for how we learn to write. But at the time, there were no tools to help me advance my writing, to develop young characters and shape plot. We talked a lot in my undergraduate studies about how literary fiction is human pain. That is what drives these stories forward. It all starts with some kind of human suffering. My mission for the next year is to answer the question: What is young adult fiction?

**Also to tell you about all the best places I visit and where to eat and drink while in them**

My first post will be purely travel based, as it will be posted right after I settle down in Bath in a few weeks. I'll give you my insiders sneak preview as an American Wanderer.

I hope you'll all be excited about this project. I'm definitely excited about it; it's something that I wished I'd had as a resource when I was a young(er) writer. Here we go, y'all!

Stay tuned,
    HER