Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 107

shades of gray

If you're a fan of YA lit, then you need to know about this new site!  Em and Nora interviewed me a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday they posted Em's review of A Wish After Midnight.  I love that she appreciated the many shades of gray—people are rarely wholly bad or wholly good…

While Genna's mom seems to see people in black and white, Genna is conscious of the gray. She recognizes the difference between Mr. Christiansen, her elderly Danish immigrant friend, and the white woman who yells...

speaking in tongues

What do you do when you're reading a book and the author uses a word or phrase from a language you don't know?  Do you skip it and keep going, relying on context to figure it out?  Or do you flip to the back of the book in search of a glossary?  I've done a lot of writing this weekend, and one short passage includes two Haitian characters speaking Creole:

Peter looks at me now, daring me to tell his uncle the same bizarre story I have told him.  "Judah is…gone.  And I need to find a way to...

dodge

Sometimes I try to get out of things.  And sometimes the universe says, "Quit trying to dodge the work/gift I'm sending your way!"  You can't avoid your destiny.  So yesterday I was talking to a friend who was upset over being left out of the loop; she learned some major news via Facebook, and felt she ought to have been notified personally.  Another friend was upset when she learned someone very close had opted to have a "family only" wedding.  I was full of sage advice, of course, but then ...

art in the garden

I should have taken these photos when this art installation by Patrick Dougherty first went up in the garden, but you can still see how amazing these structures are—and they're meant to last a whole year! They make me think of Tolkien…

what's in a wish?

Really thoughtful reviews always make my day!  I love it when readers want *more* from the novel, and I wish the AmazonEncore edition made it clear that there's a sequel in the works.  Calico Reaction has posted this evaluation (and a longer review here):

Must Have: Despite my brain hopping around demanding certain answers, I understand that my desire for knowledge shouldn't handicap this book in any way, because really, it all depends on the reader, and I can't make a blanket formula that'll...

move on

Mercury is retrograde.  I read my horoscope yesterday and apparently there are great things ahead, but for now I'm stuck in a funk.  I did write a new chapter earlier this week, and hope to finish another before the week ends, but for now I'm just cranky and fed up with this 95-degree weather.  When does autumn begin?  I want rainy days and gray skies and fallen leaves crunching beneath my heel.  I want sweaters and scarves and days spent immersed in a good book…I've got orientation this...

confession

I don't like reading about rich people.  There—I said it.  I've withheld a few reviews lately because I'm aware of this bias and feel it could potentially distort my assessment of books and films that focus on the trials and tribulations of the rich.  Boo hoo; the tiniest violin in the world is playing for you, wealthy white woman who shops all day for designer clothes, throws lavish dinner parties, and somehow winds up bored with her life.  I love Tilda Swinton, but I *knew* I Am Love was...

racebending

There's a lot of discouraging crap in the news these days—namely Glenn Beck's ridiculous rally to "restore honor" in government and "take back the Civil Rights Movement."  Because I guess it's been "hijacked" by black people, right?  And our "racist" black president who hates white folks.  For analysis, check out Jon Stewart's breakdown of "Professor Beck" and his step by step directions on how to be a patriotic, God-fearing, independent thinker…

Many thanks to Tarie for pointing out some...

tune in on Saturday!

NBC Nightly News Date Change

Author Renée Watson & illustrator Shadra Strickland are back from New Orleans!  The segment on A PLACE WHERE HURRICANES HAPPEN has changed and will now air on SATURDAY, August 28th on NBC Nightly News.  Check your local listing for time and channel.

can you read this?

Plays are meant to be staged, but what happens when you turn them into a book?  I started this discussion on Facebook, but thought I'd post an excerpt here so you can see what I'm talking about.  This excerpt from my play Mother Load is done in standard play format–is it readable?

Characters would be described briefly at the very start of the play—from that point on, you'd have to remember who's who:

List of Characters

Cleo:  black woman playwright about to turn 60; she is gregarious, magnetic, ...