Alisa M. Libby's Blog, page 16

balancing or maybe just walking at a slant

As soon as I wrote that post about balancing writing with all other things in life, my work deadlines imploded and I've been crazily busy for the past two weeks. Plus, the people I work with are doing all kinds of exciting things – leaving for new adventures and whatnot (sad for me but still exciting) – so I've been baking lots of cookies. Apparently that's what I do now. Last week: peanut butter kiss cookies. Last night: snickerdoodles. Yum.

So, you might ask, you managed to bake cookies…but ...

balancing act

I finally sat down with my draft on Saturday. This is the magical real YA novel that I've been working on for a few years now (yikes) and the character recently grew from age 13 to age 15, and got a whole lot more interesting back story. Anyhow, I had been taking a break and was feeling a bit daunted by my crazily-highlighted outline, complete with notes to add, fix, move, etc. But once I got over the dread of "ugh, page 1, again!" I got into the swing of things, and it was sort of exciting.

T...

i see you, new idea, so shiny and proud of yourself

Here is what writing is like for me: I come up with an idea that I really like – yes, the story starts in Salem, on Halloween weekend! And the main character has a weird run-in with a creepy old witch lady…yeah, yeah, this sounds good. So I write and write and then when I go back and revise, Salem and that witch lady prove unnecessary. And the character's past isn't quite right. And her friends, who I like a lot, also aren't quite right. And her secrets are interesting but need to be...

stuff for young writers

Thanks to all who commented on my recent good/bad/guilty pleasure literature rant! I'm sure the subject will come up again – I enjoy the debate about what makes something good quality vs. a guilty pleasure, though I think there is a big gray area between the two.

Following up on my recent "ten things I would tell my teen self" post, I thought I would offer up some more resources for teen writers. One thing that really helped me was to send my stuff out to contests and publications. First...

What makes a book GOOD or BAD?

I finally listened to the "Summer Reads for Kids" episode of On Point that aired earlier this month. Visit the website to listen to the interview: http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/07/summer-reads-for-kids. It's a great discussion which raised a lot of questions for me.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins came up in discussion. Interviewee Pete Cowdin felt that, though he enjoyed it, he considered it a "guilty pleasure" but not necessarily a good book. Theoretically I can see his point (though ...

showing up late to the party and getting all excited

At the risk of informing you of something you already know, I read Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret this week (finally) and it was amazing. I know, it's not like this is news to anyone – the book has already been awarded the Caldecott – but I still wanted to share it with you.

The story is engaging but for me the drawings took center stage – I found myself actually petting some of the pages, as if the pencil marks left a texture on the page. Also, it's just a beautifully designed ...

stuff I would tell myself as a high school student/teen writer

1. I know, it stinks that he doesn't like you. Let's write some bitter love poems and move on.

2. Keep writing, even if you think it's no good. Start that dream project, even if you're afraid you'll screw it up. It doesn't matter. Indulge in the muse.

3. Don't apologize for your obsession with mythology and fairy tales. You will cherish these influences someday, and they will lead to your first published novel.

4. Don't be ashamed of your love of using long vocabulary words – verisimilitude...

PEN New England; steak & lobster

Earlier this week I attended a fundraiser for PEN New England (many thanks to my wonderful literary agent; if not for him I would never get invites to such fancy events). There was cocktail hour toasting the special guest writers: Alice Hoffman, Marianne Leone, Sue Miller, Richard Russo, Tom Perrotta, Stephen McCauley, Andre Dubus III, Susan Orlean – and even a famous actor, the Academy Award-winning Chris Cooper.

I am not a very fancy person, but I donned a dress and did my best. The crowd...

surprise: medieval swordfighting!

My friend Kimberly has embarked on a worthwhile endeavor: a year of 52 adventures. To add a little extra spice, she's signed up for some surprise adventures, courtesy of Surprise Industries. You sign up, pay a fee, and they set up an adventure for you – sending you clues and telling you when and where to be, what to wear, etc. Surprise! So I joined in this past Saturday and, lo and behold: medieval swordfighting!

I'm not usually much for surprises. Seriously. Adventures, maybe, but surprise...

Guest blogger: Robin Brande

I'm thrilled today to welcome Robin Brande as my illustrious guest blogger. I've had the opportunity to gush to Robin about how much I love her book Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. She is a lovely writer, and a lovely person as well. Here are her responses to my questions:

Writing rituals: It's all about the dog walk and the oatmeal and the Starbucks. Until I have all of those handled, I can't write a word. And then even though I might start writing in the morning and not finish until ...