Jen K. Blom's Blog, page 2
November 8, 2012
New Book! New Book! New Book!
And it's a German National!
I contacted Ernst Klett Verlag some time back, and heard back from my (now) editor some
months later. They wanted some Western-tinged ideas for their readers,
and I was happy to oblige! We worked out all the details, including the
title, and I'm thrilled to say that
OUT OF THE WILD: Billy and the Red Horse Challenge
will
be released by ERNST KLETT VERLAG in June 2013 here in Germany! I love this book - it
focuses on a brilliant aspect of the horse world! I'm so
excited!
August 28, 2012
Timeline of a Love
1. Had initial idea right after finishing Possum Summer's first ever draft. The boy's eyes, man! They spoke to me.
SIX years ago.
2. Started rough draft immediately. Wrote in the train and at home. Only bother-er was my shadow cat, who insisted on sitting on my lap.
3. Halfway thru and hit a brick wall. This was before plotting had occurred to me. Too stubborn to stop writing it, so I blundered thru it and wrote the end. Decided I wasn't good enough yet to do it justice. Set it aside.
4. Let's be clear: I wanted to read this book. I loved the subject material and it was an alternate history/ fantasy, which wasn't in my field (contemporary animal/human relationships)
5. Let it sit for the next five years, where a kid, a huge move, new jobs and oh yeah, Possum Summers publication had me working on other things.
6. With the sale of my second book, I began to think about it again. I had done everything everyone wanted, I didn't have a new book out (my choice, I won't do another book on synop again!) I wanted to write something for me, purely for my pleasure.
7. So in January of this year I started brainstorming.
8. Today, I think I finally finished what I need to have before I start this rewrite: a strong chapter layout, extensive worldbuilding notes, and the will to see it properly finished.
I start the rewrite tomorrow night and I am so excited.
Have you ever had a book like this?
July 4, 2012
Crazy. two times in a week!
Let me back up.
I am a super impatient person. Like, IMPATIENT. I always want things to be done yesterday, and it's never worked out for me in writing even though I try to MAKE it. Oh, and -
I also really like to control things. ALSO another place where me and writing don't mix.
So I've had to learn some things. And I think, I really do think, that I have learned them with the last revision of this book, SCAR-FIN. (I've talked about it before).
I'd like to take a moment and write down a couple things for myself to read when I'm agonizing over the next revision (of this book or any other) (because there's always a new revision coming up).
Dear Jen:
1. Good job, man. It wasn't easy, but you got it done.
2. Have patience. No one is going to publish this book, because it is YOUR book. You wrote it.
3. Do not despair. There is light at the end of the tunnel, even if you can't see it now.
4. You think it's done? Read it like a really mean reader. THEN see if you're happy with it.
5. Let it sit. Get great readers, and have them read it mean.
6. MEAN IS KEY.
7. It needs to be flipping AWESOME, yo. Good ain't good enough.
8. When in doubt, use the Dr Pepper as your carrot. *hee-haw!*
Patience, grasshopper.
You made it.
July 2, 2012
I'M BACK!
*Clears throat*
This thing on?
*waves*
HI!!!!!!
How have you guys BEEN?
I know it's been a long time no hear on this blog, and for that, I'm sorry. But we've recently made some changes in our lives that allow yours truly to have two hours in between work and kid duty purely to write and revise and be well, a writer, so I decided I would put this baby blog back to work!
I would ask you, though, to click on over to FB and "like" my author page if you want! Or not want!
My Facebook page
I'll be here much more regularly, now.
Vivia la writing, yo! And I'm glad to be back!
April 11, 2012
So yeah, me and Bankstreet?
LIKE THIS:
THE CHILDREN'S BOOK COMMITTEE at the Bank Street College of Education strives to guide librarians, educators, parents, grandparents and other interested adults to the best books for children published each year. The all-volunteer committee includes educators, librarians, authors, parents and psychologists who share a passion for and expertise in the world of children's literature. Young reviewers from all over the country, ages 2–18, read and evaluate many of our books as well.
In choosing books for the annual list, reviewers consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes. Nonfiction titles are further evaluated for accuracy and clarity. Each book accepted for the list is read and reviewed by at least two committee members and then discussed by the committee as a whole.
Holy crap on a STICK, people!
POSSUM SUMMER MADE THE BEST OF 2012 BANKSTREET LIST! OMGsOMGsOMGsOMGsMGsOMGs!
Looks like it's pizza tonight!
March 27, 2012
I'm interviewed at the OWL!
You don't want to miss this.
Go check it out!
March 11, 2012
January 24, 2012
Favorite lines from books - the Alex Bledsoe edition
I'm starting a small little blog subject every once in awhile with the most awesome topic of "favorite lines". Because everyone has a favorite line, right? Somewhere?
My particular problem is that I have no clear-running favorite. But ... but ... others do!
And I have the lovely and talented Mr. Alex Bledsoe on my blog today to discuss his. And it's TOTALLY AWESOME.
Take it away, sir.
----
Recently on Facebook, novelist Jacquelyn Mitchard asked for people's favorite lines from books. At first I was tempted to go with my favorite joke, a line from Elmore Leonard's novel Get Shorty:
The guy who sung the national anthem was doing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Which wasn't exactly true, Chili thought, standing at the edge of the deck looking down.
Or my favorite snappy comeback, from Robert B. Parker's Ceremony, in which private detective Spenser tells some thugs he's already disarmed twice before:
"Next time it might be easier if you just mail me your guns."
But I realized she wasn't asking for funniest lines, but best. And there's only one contender for that . It's from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. And no, it's not, "The horror...the horror!" It's actually an earlier line from Mr. Kurtz, when he's delirious:
"I had such plans!"
In the context of Conrad's novella, this line encompasses everything evil, base and primitive, hiding in plain sight in the form of the "enlightened" European, Mr. Kurtz. It also stands in for the whole colonial impulse that drove the European Caucasians into Africa, convinced they were so superior they'd be seen as gods by a grateful populace and, when that didn't happen, still convinced they were right to embark on programs (pograms?) of genocide. After all, this is the same Kurtz who wrote a lengthy treatise on how to enlighten the native tribes, then scrawled over these fine typed lines, "Exterminate all the brutes!"
To be fair, I always hear the line in my head the way Anthony Quayle reads it on the audiobook. His Kurtz voice sounds a lot like Patrick Stewart (not deliberately, since this was recorded in 1969). But while that may be the first reason I noticed it (much like "noticing" Hamlet's soliloquy the first time you hear it performed), it's stuck with me because of the richness it conveys about the character, the story and humankind in general.
We all have regrets ("such plans!"), and we all have secret atrocities scrawled across the enlightened thoughts of our lives that we'd love to carry out in a world devoid of meaning, purpose and conscience. Luckily, we haven't quite reached that world yet, and like Kurtz, our plans will never see the light of day. But in fiction we can call them up, examine them, and see them for what they truly are: "the horror."
January 10, 2012
DONE! DONE! DONE!
Well. It's a different thing writing something that your editor wants and you know will be good, and not the "horsie!!" lust drivel you have had in your head for ages. Frankly, this revision was like pulling teeth. But I showed up every day, and I put my hours in, and I do believe it's better than it was before.
I'm DONE with the revision, baby!!
Done!
What a nice thing to write. Now I just have to adjust the first couple chapters some, add some bits and pieces, read thru it and then deliver to my betas. I'm going to have it done ON TIME!
The relief, it burns!
So now I'm off to pick up the kid and a Dr Pepper and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.
Because I DESERVE IT.
YAHOOOO!!!!
January 2, 2012
RESOLUTIONS 2012
Here are mine. What are yours?
Resolutions
Author-related
1. Finish 2 stories (Operation Hitchcock AND Feathers). This includes: . First draft . Long and short synopsis . Completely revised and ready to submit
2. Revise ScarFin. This is a book worthy of being sold and it's just sitting there collecting dust.
3. 1 blog post a week. That can't be that hard, right?
4. Promote and prepare for BLUE APPALOOSA (Holiday House, 2012) HEY YOU know any good horse review blogs? *ha ha*
5. Have implemented my "JKB takes Germany" workshops plan (more on this later)
Personal-related
1. By end of 2012 be pain-free and walking without ANY CRUTCHES!
2. Actively work on being more realistic in my expectations - aka "Denial-be-gone"
3. Mop my kitchen floor every other night (I know this is weird, but I have a SUPER HUGE hangup about the floor being clean and I am not so consistent always)
4. Pet the cats more.
5. Start Loki with horses. (Find a stable which will allow me to rent-a-pony, in which time I shall start to prepare Loki for her life as an Olympic gold medalist. No pressure. :) )
6. Actively make date nights (including babysitter!). Because my darling husband deserves a relaxing night every month or so. :-)
