R.L. LaFevers's Blog, page 29

Busy Week!

So this is my To Do List for this week:

1. Write blog entry for Shrinking Violets

2. Write blog entry for Enchanted Inkpot

3. Finalize queries on Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus galleys

4. Review the Beastologist II, The Basilisk's Lair galleys.

5. Revise Beastologist III, The Wyverns' Treasure based on my editorial letter.

6. Review Teacher's Guide for Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, so I can post it on my website.

7. Continue to work on YA so I don't lose the groove

8. Get my son moved up to Santa C...

Writing YA

I was explaining some of the delineations in writing YA versus MG versus adult books on a list I'm on and thought it might be helpful to post here as well.

Middle grade are emphatically kids books, ones written for kids about kid-like experiences. They can touch on tough things and sad things, but once it touches on anything very dark, it automatically becomes YA. There is a very strong protective bubble around middle grade stories.

Because middle grade books are short 20,000-45,000 words...

Dinner in Twenty: Grilled Bread Salad

I haven't done one of these in a while and I just discovered this recipe and fell in love with it, so I thought I'd share. It's a perfect summer dish, especially if you grow tomatoes or have access to vine ripened ones through a local farmer's market. It makes a nice (if very light) dinner on hot nights or lunch. I served it with grilled chicken and that was all we needed for dinner.

Grilled Bread Salad

3 cups chopped ripe red tomatoes
1 1/2 cups cucumber (peeled and diced)
1/4 c plus 3 Tbs olive...

It's All About Relationships...

One of the benefits of having worked on this manuscript for so %$@#$ long is that I really know what needs to happen in terms of events and the physical movement of the story; they need to journey to Guerande, they need to stop for dinner at Baron Geffoy's chateaux, they run into so and so at the tavern. I've finally got all that stuff firmly nailed down.

So now with all that out of the way, in this draft I am able to really focus on the relationships between these characters. Their interactio...

Obsessed Now

I'm sorry I've been so quiet the last two days. Did I mention that I am consumed with this new Present Tense Situation?:-)

In other compulsive/obsessive news, I have found the perfect music for this manuscript! I recently discovered DEAD CAN DANCE, and some of their music feels like it was written just for this mss. (The parts where Lisa Gardner sings--the other guy singer not so much.)

Here is the song I've been listening to all morning, fingers flying.

Present Tense? Really?

So, in the shriek heard round the world, this weekend I learned that my YA story is better served by first person present tense. The problem is, I have already written 350 pages in first person PAST tense. Can you spell f-r-u-s-t-r-a-t-i-n-g?

I was doing a journaling exercise to try to get to the emotional core of a scene I needed to rewrite, and lo and behold, using first person present caused the whole thing to LEAP into focus, sharp and bright. I was stunned. For many reasons. Not the least of

Beastologist News and Updates

I had planned to get back to some more writing stuff for the blog, but the weather hit 100 degrees and frankly, my brain shuts down at 82 degrees, so I had no luck with that. As soon as it cools off, though, I'll have some stuff to say.

In the meantime, I thought I'd include some updates and news about Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist.


I just found out from my publisher it's already gone into its second printing! Not bad for not even being technically out yet.

However, it does appear the book is shipp

Notes From the Conference-Wendy Loggia, Delacorte

This is the last of my recaps of the sessions I attended at the conference. Wendy Loggia's talk was on I Wanted To Love This: Seven reasons she might turn down your manuscript. I loved this particular talk because it showed how many variables there are in decision making, things we might not even be aware of.

1. Think about WHY someone will want to buy your book. Why will they be willing to shell out $18 for it.

2. The mss is too similar to other novels she's worked on, or too similar to others o

Juggling a Cast of Characters

So I think I've mentioned that I'm juggling a cast of thousands in the Medieval France YA. I need a sense of a full royal court worth of nobles, but I also need for the reader not to get overwhelmed by all the players.

*I* also need to not get overwhelmed by all the players.

These are more than simply walk ons, but not true secondary characters. And there are a couple of traitors hidden in there, so they need to be on-screen enough that the readers don't feel cheated when their identities are reve

Notes From the Conference-Karen Cushman

Karen Cushman was another speaker who really blew my socks off. She was so generous and wise, so truthful about her own process and self doubts. From her keynote address:

By sharing our convictions, it is like offering a piece of ourselves to our readers

Part of the joy of reaching our dreams is helping others reach theirs.

She writes because she cannot dance.

The difference between an editor and a critic:
An editor is not judgmental,
Critic probably is.
Separate the writer from the editor, and the edi