Alisa M. Libby's Blog, page 14

happy book birthday, Lauren!!

I am excited to announce the release of Lauren Strasnick's second novel, Her and Me and You. Lauren is a dear friend of mine – you'll be meeting her on this blog in the near future – and she writes absolutely beautiful books. I've been excited about this one for a while, so I'm thrilled to share it with all of you!

how to revise (sort of)

This Sunday I'll be attending an "Author Fest" at the Mass School Library Association Conference. I've never been, but I'm looking forward to chatting with librarians about my books, and meeting other authors.

Of course, a busy weekend means no time to work on my revision. This makes me feel a bit twitchy and restless – there is so much work to be done! At least I've begun the arduous process, which looks a bit like this:

* Read current draft. Take notes.

* Type up notes.

* Create an outline of the current draft. (This is where I am right now.)

* Add notes to the current outline. Rearrange and revise as needed.

* Rewrite the book, according to the updated outline.

I know this seems a crazy, control-freakish way of doing things, but it's how I've operated thus far. I also find it useful to segment the entire book and think of the emotional arc that takes place in each segment – what the character learns, how she changes, etc. I'll figure out what these segments are as I revise the outline. Which I haven't started yet.

I suppose I ought to enjoy my weekend away from this book, seeing as we'll be spending A LOT of time together when I return!

don't mess with Sinestra bear

What could be better for an author than hearing from her readers? Um, nothing. That's what.

Here is the beautiful Caitlin in her limited-edition The Blood Confession t-shirt:

The shirt reads "she bathes in the blood of virgins." Sweet.

As if that wasn't enough, Caitlin sent me a photo of her teddy bear. His name is Sinestra. He is, as stated above, not to be messed with. (Same goes for Caitlin).

This does a writer's heart good. Seriously, it fills me with bravery as I stare at the pile of notes I've scrawled that I need to turn into a novel. THANK YOU, CAITLIN!!

literary lights at the Boston Public Library

Yesterday I attended Literary Lights for Children at the Boston Public Library. Fantastically wonderful authors were honored this year for their considerable contributions to children's and young adult literature. To make it even better, each author was introduced by a teenager chosen from the local public schools. The students did a fantastic job. Here's a run-down of the honorees:

Jerry Spinelli, author of Stargirl and Maniac Magee, told us how books are nothing but "a pile of pages" until s...

fearless friday.

It's Friday, kids. Let's put it all out there, Bjork-style.

harvest time

This year, I narrowed my writing-focus down to three novels in various stages of progress. Three may seem like a lot, but before narrowing it down to these specific projects I was zinging off willy-nilly from one brand new idea to the next, writing handfuls of pages here and there and not focusing on anything. So in that sense, choosing ONLY three to work on has proved successful, thus far.

I know it's confusing when I blog about them because I'm too chicken to divulge details, so here's a...

books and pie. and censorship.

Books and pie are among my favorite things in this world, so I was thrilled to attend a Kid Lit Pie Night last night, organized by members of the New England Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Such a great group of people: librarians, book sellers, writers, illustrators. It was great to talk with people equally enthusiastic about writing and reading. Truth be told, I was feeling a little cranky about the whole publishing biz on my way over, feeling down on myself for still...

borderland mansion, a rant on art

Yesterday: a walk through the woods at Borderlands, a park nearby. And as an extra treat, we got to visit the manor itself and peek into princess rooms with embroidered bedspreads (on tiny beds) and carved wooden chairs and a chandelier in one dining room that included a replica of the Santa Maria to hover upon an invisible current over the diner's heads. I wonder what they ate.

There was also an art exhibit at the mansion, which made me hungry for more. I find art museums inspiring; it's...

pandas. music, too.

First, I want to (belatedly) introduce you to a new website, First Page Panda. Fellow author Anna Staniszewski and I will be posting first pages of new and soon to be released children's and young adult novels for all of you pandas out there! Because we know how much you love books.

Second, the other day I was reading about how music can raise your seratonin levels and reduce stress. This song did the trick for me. So let us listen, smile, and be kind to each other. That's what George would...

crazy head

I've had three projects in the works this year, and lately it seems that I'm working on all three of them at the same time – specifically, writing one while getting critique of the other two. This feedback is fantastically helpful, but on Friday, crazy head was setting in: I can finish this outline on Saturday, sure I can. And then revise one novel in September (three weeks) and then revise the next one in October and then be ready for National Novel Writing Month in November. Right, right...