Kathleen Duey's Blog, page 9

Russet: I told my first g...

Russet: 

       I told my first grade teacher about my father’s stories. She smiled at me. “Oh! He has such a great imagination!”              She must have said something about it at the parent-teacher conference. I spent nine days in the basement. My dad cried when he let me out. He used to cry a lot. Punishing me hurt him. But they were watching us, he said. They would know if he wasn't trustworthy. 

      M...

Consultations and critiques

I have added a new level of consultation services this year, aimed specifically at authors who are getting requests for full manuscripts from agents and editors....and then receiving  a pile of  "Interesting premise but not quite ready" responses.  
This is me, after the National Book Award people called me, trying to believe that it happened.  
It is not a detailed, marked up, beginners' critique focused on craft. I read your book, whole, and respond with specific suggestio...

I have added a new level of consultation services this ye...

I have added a new level of consultation services this year, aimed specifically at authors who are getting requests for full manuscripts from agents and editors....and then receiving  a pile of  "Interesting premise but not quite ready" responses.  
This is me, after the National Book Award people called me, trying to believe that it happened.  
It is not a detailed, marked up, beginners' critique focused on craft. I read your book, whole, and respond with specific suggestio...

The STORY Pile

my backyard last spring....

In the years  it took to finish A Resurrection of Magic, (and I am not quite done yet, the editor is reading it) I wrote only a few other things, mostly for younger readers--the polar opposite kind of story.

But I kept a running record of story sparks, writing down the bones of the vaporous ideas that just appear when I am watching people or that come in the night ::: the sharpened and the weird...

I have over 600 files now.


So......yeah. I better get to work.





ww...

Russet is growing up into a real book (I think)

    While I wait for editorial feedback on the last book of the Resurrection of Magic trilogy, I am working on several other projects including Dickens and Fob for 5-8th graders...(See the post below this one.)

    I have decided to finish Russet, too.  It's  a story for YA and adult readers I began writing  two years ago, then had to set aside to focus on the trilogy. It was an experiment, a story written in tweets and published real-time, online, no revisio...

WALLS

     Yesterday I sent a proposal and chapters to my agent. It's a cross-genre work with odd elements that fascinate me. Oh, I hope I get the chance to write this middle school series.

     Dickens and Fob meet on a cold misty morning, waiting on a rotting dock, hoping to be chosen, hired  for day-work. Neither of them want mine-work or stall mucking or ditch digging. Chimney sweeping pays best ......because it is so dangerous....


     ...

Dickens and Fob

     Yesterday I sent a proposal and chapters to my agent. It's a cross-genre work with odd elements that fascinate me. Oh, I hope I get the chance to write this middle school series.

     Dickens and Fob meet on a cold misty morning, waiting on a rotting dock, hoping to be chosen, hired  for day-work. Neither of them want mine-work or stall mucking or ditch digging. Chimney sweeping pays best ......because it is so dangerous....


     ...

Dear biggest fan, THANK YOU for getting in touch with me.

I try to thank everyone who writes to me. I can't keep up now, no matter how hard I try. The letters mean a lot to me--they make me smile and laugh and sometimes cry. The following message did all three. It came to me last night. I have no idea how old the writer is, and have taken out a few references to protect privacy. Here it is:

 

I'm your biggest fan!!
i loved and still love and will continue to love your skin hunger trilogy for a very very long time^^you have no idea how long i've be...

THE DAY HAS ARRIVED!

I think we all know what this means?  

No, I am not finally flipping out. 

Yes.  The last book in the Resurrection of Magic Trilogy is finished!!!!

The editor has it.  The production phase has begun.  


A thousand thanks to everyone who stayed in touch, cheered me on and were so kind and patient. Thanks to the people who were not all that patient, actually extra thanks to all of you. 

I will let everyone who has sent me their emails know the same day that I know when i...

I think we all know what this means? No, I am not f...

I think we all know what this means?  

No, I am not finally flipping out. 

Yes.  The last book in the Resurrection of Magic Trilogy is finished!!!!

The editor has it.  The production phase has begun.  


A thousand thanks to everyone who stayed in touch, cheered me on and were so kind and patient. Thanks to the people who were not all that patient, actually extra thanks to all of you. 

I will let everyone who has sent me their emails know the same day that I know when i...