Deva Fagan's Blog

There are times when I forget why I write, times when I doubt myself and wonder if I'm just writing because of some misguided fantasy about "being an author". And to be honest, there's a part of me that does fantasize about it: the little writing cottage, the awards, the fan mail, meeting other authors and being one of the cool kids. But that's not why I write. And I don't do it for the money either (though money is nice!).

This is why I write:

Because my mind is a net collecting weird, sparkly,

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I was tagged by some of my Facebook friends with this meme and couldn't resist…

Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. List 15 books you've read that will always stick with you. They should be the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. Watership Down – Richard Adams
2. Heaven to Betsy – Maud Hart Lovelace
3. Anne of Green Gables – L. M. Montgomery
4. Dragonsinger – Anne McCaffrey
5. The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley
6. Dogsbody – Diana Wynne Jones
7. The Dark is Rising – Susan Coop

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Today I'm happy to welcome Megan Frazer to my blog, to answer a few questions about her second novel Secrets of Truth & Beauty. Megan is a fellow Mainer, and I have been fortunate to have had several chances to meet her in person, including attending her book launch party. I am right in the middle of reading Secrets of Truth & Beauty and enjoying it. While the book does confront important issues related to identity, perceptions of weight, family, etc. it also presents an appealing and engaging m

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A while back I presented a talk about writing, and to prepare myself I sat down and tried to come up with a list of writing advice that has worked for me. I thought it might be of interest to other folks so here it is:

Five things I recommend most highly:

READ: This is, in my opinion, THE most important thing to do if you want to write. Read books. And I mean all kind of books, not just the type or genre you like best. When you read, think about your reactions. What is it about your favorite books

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I am currently immersed in a revision of CIRCUS GALACTICUS, almost to the point of obsession. I can see the shape of the book I want in my mind so clearly all I want to do is workworkwork until I can make it reality. Fun, but kind of exhausting! And not conducive to coherent blog entries. So instead, here are some tidbits:

I received an email from my lovely editor with a sketch by the cover artist for THE MAGICAL MISADVENTURES OF PRUNELLA BOGTHISTLE and I love it! It has a giant alligator on it!

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I am about to start revising the current draft of CIRCUS, based on the excellent feedback from beta readers and my in-person writing group. So of course rather than actually revising, I am here talking about revising. You can call it "pre-revision preparation", or you can just call it procrastination.

What's already happened: I wrote the first draft, which involved several restarts (this meant tossing out about 30K total) as I searched around for the character's voice, the right POV and tense, a

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There's a lot of talk going on right now in the online writing and reading community about the issue of diversity in fiction, specifically related to book covers. The trigger point for the current discussion is the US cover of Justine Larbalestier's LIAR. The protagonist of LIAR describes herself as black, with hair short enough she can pass for a boy. The cover shows a white girl with long straight hair. Justine writes eloquently about the situation in her own blog here (The short version: She

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Today I'm happy to welcome Cynthea Liu to my blog, to answer a few questions about her second novel Paris Pan Takes the Dare. Cynthea stopped by a few months ago to talk about her first debut novel, The Great Call of China. Yes, that's right, she has two novels out this year! And that's in addition to helping hundreds of other aspiring writers through her website, managing a family, AND running a hugely successful fundraiser (involving dozens of authors, agents and editors) for a school in finan

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Today I'm happy to welcome Cyn Balog to my blog, to answer a few questions about her recently released debut novel Fairy Tale. I haven't gotten my hands on a copy of this yet, but it is on my list, both because it involves fairies, and because the main character tells fortunes. And check out the cover! Sparkly!

Q: Tell us about a scene or character from your novel that was especially easy (or especially difficult) to write.

A: Cam was really easy to write because he covers all his difficult emoti

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There are certain things that will automatically make me want to at least pick up a book. Kind of the same way I will always order creme brulee if it's on the menu. Here are a few:

It has to do with the geeky things I love: comics, LARP, fandom (see: Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern and the recent Geektastic collection)
It appears to make math cool in some way (bonus points if it involves geometry!) (see: The Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld)
It involves whales or dolphins (see

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