Victoria Hanley's Blog, page 3

Seer and the Sword in print for 10 years today

Okay, it's pretty obvious that I've been neglecting my blog. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. It only means I've been busy with life. Not that a blog isn't life . . . well, maybe a blog isn't life.

Is it really important to stay current with reports about my life and musings?Aren't there already plenty of blogs in the world? And I'm such a restless person, I'd rather be out gathering new experiences than sitting at my computer. Know what I mean?

But I can't let today go by without ...

Where have I been?

I've been getting some feedback: Where are you? Why don't you write more posts?
So where have I been? I've been, you know, running down a dream. That is to say, chasing a deadline. Working like a fiend so that by a particular date in December, another book will be written. "Written" is a little misleading because a book isn't truly finished until all the revisions and edits and revisions and edits and revisions are done. But I'll have a draft to submit, a draft of the sequel to Violet Wings. S...

New book out today!

It's such thrill when a new book comes out! To all you hopeful aspiring writers out there, let me tell you, it's worth it to persevere through months and years of writing!

My author copy of VIOLET WINGS arrived several days ago. I looked at its dazzling cover art and hefted its 300+ pages, humming with joy.

Once finished, a book can be read in a few hours. The story flows, seemingly without effort. That's as it should be!

But of course, I know how many many hours went into it--not just from me, ...

The time question

A comment from my previous post asks a question:
"Um, as a fellow writer i was wondering When do you find the time to write? i know i should plonk my butt in the chair and keep writing but I get so frustrated and worried about what happens next. I hate any ideas I come up with and haven't made progress in months and..."

Here's how I see the time question, and I know I could be wrong. . .

The thing about time is that it often disguises other issues. We say we don't have time, but is that really s...

Do you feel sorry for your characters?

Do you feel sorry for your characters?
You should. If you don't, something's wrong with your story.
I feel sorry for mine.
Oh, how they suffer! And yet, I lie awake nights thinking of fresh ways to disturb them and make their lives horrendously hard.
Why?
Because without conflict, a story is about as exciting as a stale marshmallow, a dead toothbrush, or a cracked porcelain bell without a clapper.
We love our characters, so it's tough to make them suffer. If only their lives could be smooth as iron...

teen writers' boot camp

Last week I led the "fiction track" of the Explorati teen writers' boot camp. Twenty young writers and I gathered together every day for four days to focus on writing. Whooee! (Meanwhile, other groups concentrated on writing nonfiction, screenplays, or poetry.)

The camp turned out to be just what I needed to feel happy, alive, and inspired. Is that hard to believe? It shouldn't be, but it's kind of boggling how many cultural messages are out there about how "difficult" it is to be around teena...

My mom has passed away

Yes, it's been a long time since I blogged.

My mom got really ill in March, and left this world on the last day of April. I was able to go to Florida for just about three weeks and be with her, and I'll always be grateful that my "job" allowed room for that.

Mom was happy with her terminal diagnosis, and refused treatment that she believed would be ineffective anyway. She felt she had lived her life; she wanted to join my dad and see what was next. She thought I should write about people like h...

productive writer?

Today I've been remarkably productive. I got through a whole heap of things that I've been procrastinating about. Everything seemed to work out well and go easily.

Is all this productivity today related to the fact that yesterday I was almost completely UNproductive? I would start one thing and then move to another. Nothing I did seemed to go easily at all. By the end of the day I was ready to cry.

So today I'm thinking, maybe it takes both kinds of days. Maybe the days when we're feeling frus...

How to begin a book?

I'm often asked "How do I begin a book?" or "When I start a new story, I feel really inspired, but somewhere along the way I lose inspiration or the story fizzles--what do I do?"
Getting past chapter three is a challenge for many people, including me. To keep going without getting permanently derailed, I always remind myself that IT'S OKAY TO WRITE BADLY. During a first draft, we're not trying for deathless prose; we're just trying to stay alive. When it comes to the first draft, perfectio...

video link to bookends interview

Here's a link to an interview I did with some teen writers last month.

http://www.psdschools.org/services/ch...


Guess I need to look up how to make the link light up. Well, meanwhile, try copying it into your browser. . .