A.C. Gaughen's Blog, page 14

girl heroes: x ladies

so i've been thinking a lot about both girl heroes and the ladies of x men, whom i will refer to as x ladies.  first, let me talk more about girl heroes, because it's something i want to start blogging a lot more about.  i don't like the idea of calling girls heroines.  it's pretty much just because i don't like the similarity to the drug, but i'm always a fan of gender-neutralizing anyone who could be an inspiration for a young person. or an old person.  or someone in the middle.

so back to the x ladies.  disclaimer: i am not an x-phile.  I do not know the canon inside and out; most of these musings are based on cross clicking wikipedia articles. but as someone who is approaching it from an outside perspective, i think it's pretty damn cool.

emma frost

emma kind of rocks it.  first off, the girl kind of defines tough femininity–she veers into porn territory with some of her outfits, but her skin is as tough as diamonds–literally.  And she's a bad ass telepath, which means that she very literally knows her own mind.  She may be smokin' hot, but her greatest power is, and always will be, her mind.  HOLLA.  In addition to which, I love the fact that she's smokin' hot, somewhat porny, and still wears white, capturing what I think will always be an issue for women, how to address both our innocence and our sexuality.  Rock on, Emma.

Polaris

Polaris is actually super-baddy Magneto's daughter, which means that not only is her super power her natural magnetism, but she battles with daddy issues.

storm

While I don't really understand everything i'm reading about Storm (she's the queen of T Pain?  huh?) Storm kicks ass because she takes the traditional paradigm of "mother nature" and turns it on its ear. She kicks its ass.  She kicks its ass all over town.  She doesn't just chill in a green dress with long flowy hair, she manipulates the weather, the atmosphere, she flies, and apparently she's empathetic to the ecology, which i'm not sure what that means.  And have you seen what she wears?  She's fine with turning up the heat, too.  That's the awesome thing–for these ladies, sexuality is an EMPOWERMENT, not something to be denied.

mystique

This woman uses her physical appearance as her power.  she embodies the contradiction that appearance is both irrelevant–it is transitory, she can change into whoever she wants–and the ultimate power–because of her ability to completely change appearance, she's one of the most powerful X Ladies.  She defies age, she heals quickly, and she's actually a consummate fighter and strategist–all because she understands the tenuous and essential balance between appearance versus reality.  AND, when she's in her natural form, she walks around stark naked.  talk about positive body image!

I think these ladies are pretty inspirational and cool, and i love that none of them shy away from the fact that sexuality will always be an issue with powerful women.  Hell, maybe sexuality will be an issue for all women.  But if I had a daughter, i think i'd want her reading these positive, cool, kick ass women who embrace their sexual powers as much as their mutant powers.

anyone else have any favorites?

xx

Does YA Save Lives?

There's a debate raging in the young adult world.  It was all sparked by this article by Meghan Cox Gurdon in the Wall Street Journal.  I can't restate it better than those who have already discussed it, so i'll just recap:

From Ms. Gurdon's article:

No family is obliged to acquiesce when publishers use the vehicle of fundamental free-expression principles to try to bulldoze coarseness or misery into their children's lives.

From Sherman Alexie's gorgeous response:

I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.

From Libba Bray's twitter storm response:

Books are, at their heart, dangerous.  Yes, dangerous.  Because they challenge us: our prejudices, our blind spots.  They open us up to new ideas, new ways of seeing.  They make us hurt in all the right ways.  They can push down the barriers of "them" and open the circle of "us".

And, for a funnier note, a little glimpse at #yakills, the real dangers of YA, courtesy of Kate Hart:

My Imaginary Cast

Alright so in one of the author groups I'm in, we've been talking about this entertaining game of "If my book ever gets made into a movie, who would play in it?"

Rob

Rob has wheatish hair, blue eyes, fairly tall, and not particularly brawny.  I always imagine him as drop dead hot, obviously.  So this is who I would pick:

Lucas Till, of X Men First Class and the Hannah Montana Movie fame:

BUT he can compete with Chace Crawford of Gossip Girl fame:

John Little:

Chris Pine.  In a heartbeat.  He is so hot and he could pull off the charm as a defense mechanism gambit.  Very hot.

Okay, I'm starting to think I just like dudes in gray suits.

Much Miller

Much is a tougher one to cast.  I generally picture him as like a young Dominic Monaghan, but I don't really know of an actor that fits that description.  Any thoughts?  He's the youngest of the group and the most overlooked, but also the brainiac.

I think if I had to stretch I'd go for Milo Ventimiglia.  He's gotten a little too hot lately, but he's always how I pictured Eugenides from Megan Whalen Turner's series, and Much is a much different personality but of the same general build.  Plus, they both lose their hands…

Let's not forget the villian….

Guy of Gisbourne

This guy is the main villian.  He's crazy.  He's a psychopath.  He's meant to be a few years older than Rob, so in his mid to late twenties, and honestly, I would flipping love to see Jim Sturgess get his badass on.  Come on, right? Look at this picture and tell me he couldn't play totally evil:

And then there's Scarlet

It would definitely be fun to cast Lucy Griffiths in the role (she plays Maid Marian in the BBC tv series, and MM and Scarlet have a lot in common) but she's not really the way I ever pictured Scarlet.  Body type wise, I think Carey Mulligan is how I pictured Scar, but the face isn't quite right.  I mean, she has to be pretty small and diminutive and be able to pass for a boy, but still have really captivating eyes.  Like Zooey Deschanel eyes.  Can I like hybrid all those actresses together?

And make her British and scrappy?

No?  Why not? 

And, I'm just sayin'….

IF in the event that I get to write more Scarlet books (which I have planned but haven't, er, sold), Prince John becomes a major factor.

so if THEN these unsold, unwritten books get made into a movie, I would die for Jonathan Rhys Meyers to play Prince John.  Like chills up my spine die. Obviously he can play a temperamental royal ala The Tudors, but MAN he would be perfect….

I'll leave you with that.

xx

Why Is Robin Hood Always Old?

Um, actually, I don't know.  This title was inspired by this "Yahoo Answers!" question that I stumbled across, and it's actually an interesting thought (obviously, I kind wrote a book about this one).

Robin Hood is seen as this young, lively, fun bad boy with a heart of gold, but often he's shown as old, at the end of his rope.  Even in my fave-ever Kevin Costner Prince of Thieves incarnation, dude is supposed to be a young man returning from war, but he was 36 when he played that character.  And PLEASE, Robin is a bit of heartthrob when you think about it.  He's got skillz and he's running through the forest all the time, saving people and stealing from the rich to give to the poor.

Rock out.

Anyway, my Robin Hood is young and hot and kind of angsty and broody–just how I like 'em.  So yes, clearly, Yahoo Answers, there will be a new (young) Robin Hood in town, but while we're at it, I'd like to look at some other "young" reboots of popular characters.

Because really, what's more exciting than looking at the formative years of a legend?

X Men: First Class

Ok, I just saw the movie, and I'm not one of those people who knows the X-Universe inside and out.  I got the opportunity to be delighted by this story and the depth of imagination that goes into all of the origin stories of all the X Men, Brotherhood, and various other mutant leagues.  I LOVED the movie.  James McAvoy totally kicked ass as Professor X, and his whole role felt so wise and compassionate.  Lucas Till should be in everything, ever, and if, say, SCARLET gets made into a movie in like five years, he is SO Rob if he can learn a British accent.

The Young Sherlock Holmes

I just saw that a new series of books is out (DEATH CLOUD is the first) by Andrew Lane (interestingly and quite literally unrelated, I actually have TWO cousins named Andrew Lane) that is about a young Sherlock Holmes.  Ummm…AWESOME, especially since the relationship between Sherlock and Watson always seems to speak to a teen boy's friendship.  HOWEVER I'm a little miffed that at the moment because apparently it won't be available on the Kindle until Dec 31st, 2012.  What the hell?

I know there are other "young" reboots out there–what's your fave?

xx

Covers!

No, not SCARLET.  Not yet!  Hopefully soon.  But I do have other covers to reveal:

First up, CATCHING JORDAN, which I want to read based on this cover alone:

And then there's KATANA, with a badass girl with swords on the cover (hmm, sounds like something I might like, right?)

I can't WAIT until I can reveal SCARLET's cover (yes, I've seen it, and it's AWESOME!!)

xx

Robin Hood Flag for Nottingham

How cool is this?

If I had any doubt over what a cultural icon Robin Hood is, this thoroughly refutes that: Nottinghamshire, UK, has a new county flag, chosen by it's residents but internationally recognizable:

Hey look!  There's Robin Hood, in the (off) center of the flag, representing his home shire.

It's pretty incredible that this symbol lives on for people so consistently.  Yes, obviously I have felt the way it continues on for posterity–I wrote a retelling of the Robin Hood legend because it still feels fresh, and relevant, and still at least partially unexplored.  Robin Hood has always provided strong, positive messages, along with a lot of drama and entertainment.

What could be more fun?

And the message lives on; just look at the Robin Hood Foundation, which uses musicians (and others, I think) to "take aim" at poverty in NYC.  Very clever, and also indicative of the way that every generation really absorbs this message of helping the people that need help.  Period.  No glory, no medals, just help.

And I LOVE that.

Letter to My Younger Self

so today I read Katy Longshore's awesome post on Dear Teen Me, a site which I've been vaguely aware of for a while now.  It's kind of funny, actually, because one of my favorite publishing credits so far is my story "A Letter to My Younger Self" in Chicken Soup for the Middle School Soul. This was all based off a letter that my thirteen year old self wrote to my 23 year old self; a teacher assigned this to us, kept the letters, and mailed them out ten years later.  Crazy, right?  It was a pretty cool thing.

Anyway, here's that story (also appearing in the Chicken Soup book):

Letter to a Younger Self

Ten years after I was thirteen, one of my old teachers mailed me a letter I had written to my 23 year old self.  The letter was full of silly things like who I had a crush on (much too big of a secret to reveal here) and how much I totally hated my brothers.  I wished I could write back to her and say these thirteen things.

1. Your Beanie Babies will end up in a box in your closet.  (Except for the elephant.  You seem to really like the elephant).  They are not a financial investment, I'm sorry.

2.  Similarly, don't get too attached to your Tamagotchi.  It will get confiscated by a teacher who doesn't understand that without you pressing buttons your digital picture of a turtle will die.

3.  I know this whole changing schools thing is tough, and you're leaving your friends behind, but life has some amazing surprises in store for you in terms of friendship.  One of your friends from your old school will be your best friend ten years from now, and it's definitely not the one you expect.

4.  When everyone's giving you grief because you're holed up in your room writing stories, don't pay attention.  It will work out pretty good for you.  I know you're only doing it because sometimes, your characters are the only ones you can count on to always be there when you need them, and that's perfectly ok.

5.  Both your brothers cease to be so annoying after you all make it through puberty alive.

6.  You aren't going to marry your crush (or even date him), but that doesn't mean you have to stop crushing.

7.  This divorce thing isn't going to get easier for a really long time, and I'm sorry about that.  I wish I could be there with you, but it doesn't work like that unfortunately.  You're going to go through a lot of this feeling completely alone.  You have to keep believing that it will get better.  Its going to get a little worse, and then, little by little, its going to get a lot better.  You'll all figure out how to be a family again.

8.  It's ok that you're hurting.  It doesn't mean that you aren't strong enough.  It doesn't mean that you aren't there for your family.  It just means that you're hurt, and that's ok.  You deserve to feel hurt.  Your family just broke and splintered—it's when you pretend that you're fine that it will hurt the worst, and you will feel the most alone.

9.  You know how you're 99% positive that you know everything there is to know about the world?  You're wrong.  (Now you just know 97%).

10.   Everyone's going to tell you that the blue mascara is stupid, and when you're my age you'll laugh with your best friend about how unfashionable you were, but secretly I love that you wore blue mascara.  I like that you aren't afraid of color.

11.   Just clean up your room already.  It's going to drive Mum nuts for like, ten years.

12.  You've got a lot of incredible adventures coming your way.  You're going to climb up a snow covered mountain, walk through a rainforest, and tiptoe carefully on an active volcano crater.  You're going fall in love and out of love and have crushes and kisses.  You're going to get through almost ten more years of school and when its over, you're going to miss it (shocking, I know).  You'll go to Paris, Florence, Scotland, London, and countless more beautiful, wondrous places, and you'll meet more friends than I can count.  Ten years from now, you'll have a life that you're in love with.

13.  The whole thing with middle school is that you really are in the middle right now.  In the middle of your parents divorce.  You're the middle child.  You're in between childhood and a tentative adulthood.  Grade school was left behind when you had to transfer, and you'll switch again to go to a different high school.  You are right in the thick of pain, and heartbreak, and disappointment, but it was happier in the past and you, my love, will be so happy in the future.  So hold on tight.  There are some more obstacles in your way, some more difficulties ahead.  It sounds unfair, I know, but from where I'm looking, the hardest stuff you go through makes the good stuff even better.

You are so much stronger, and more loved, than you could ever understand right now.  So just trust me.  You'll get through.

xx

Fangirling

So you know yesterday, when I was all, "market yourself" and "look at me, I'm so cool and professional"?  Yeah. 

That wasn't quite how it went down.

Now, I am a dedicated learner and I will always find something to learn at these conferences, but also, I've been a writer and a reader since i had baby teeth, and going to conferences, getting books signed, and seeing my idols speak is somewhat of a religious experience for me!

besides, it was JANE YOLEN.  so obviously, i fangirled my pants off.  dude–JANE YOLEN.

a friend introduced me to her, and I couldn't help it–there was gushing.  i mean, primarily because she's AMAZING, and secondarily because my life has overlapped hers in the past, and obviously she needed to know all about it.  She lives in St Andrews! my writing tutor in my master's program is her bff!  I mean come on.  She OBVIOUSLY wanted to hear all about this.

And she was super nice and amazing and equally excited until she had to go to the bathroom rather abruptly.

and yes, possibly she may have had to go to the bathroom.  but equally possible, I over-fangirled one of my writing idols.

hazard of the biz.

she really was a good sport and she gave an amazing speech, and she signed my book, so I guess it was a successful fangirling endeavor.

in addition to which, i got to geek out while getting a hasn't-hit-stores-yet copy of BEYOND LUCKY, Sarah Aronson's new book[image error]

Not that this is what I'm trying to emphasize in the photo, but my nail polish totally matches her cover.

Also, I scored a copy of Julie Berry's THE ARAMANTH ENCHANTMENT, which I bought because it looked awesome, and then looked at the spine, saw a dog, and realized she was a fellow Bloomsbury author.  HOLLER!!  She signed my book and wrote me a really sweet note too.

I'm starting to find that the coolest part of this whole "dreams coming true" scenario is rubbing elbows with, at minimum, amazing writers, and at best, iron clad rock legend writers.

Siiigh.  I'm feeling….

BEYOND LUCKY!!

Had to do it.

Much love…xx

All it's CRACKED up to be….

My fellow Apocalypsie, KM Walton, has some big news….her cover is out!

Here's the cover:

Isn't it amazing?  I'm madly in love with it and desperately want to read the book!

Check out more information (AND A CONTEST!!) on her blog.

Whoo!  Go KM!!!

How to Market Yourself

This has nothing to do with marketing, but it came up when I typed in "Self marketing."

Before you get too excited, I absolutely do not have the answer to this.  But I am collecting my thoughts on what I learned about this during the NE SCBWI conference and in the first five months of being post-contract on the road to publishing my own little marketing baby, SCARLET.

Remember the simple stuff.

There's a lot of stuff I've learned about branding, writing, the internet, and various other things through my years as a blogger, a writer, a corporate employee and a general big time dreamer.  There are some obvious simple things you hear over and over.

Pick five words. This is a major tenet of branding.  What five words can define your brand?  I mean this comes up in every store, hotel, or company I've ever worked with.  And it's true with books too.  It doesn't have to be five; it can be three.  It can be one.  But it reminds you what's at the core of what you are trying to market.

Develop tension. Okay, this one I learned from writing.  Anticipation heightens tension.  A lack of something heightens tension.  A teaser–a quick mention before it's gone–heightens tension.  And when there's tension, people get really excited.  For a book release, you want people excited. So whether it's by giveaways, teaser trailers, or developing scheduled releases of content that give people something to look forward to.  I think people want to get excited about things, but you have to give them the chance to.

Get creative. Okay, here's the shocker–creative people sometimes balk at the idea of getting really creative.  Whhhaaaa?  I know.  But some people do it INCREDIBLY well–take, for example, Eric Luper as the king of Awesome in terms of creative promotion.  The guy has a cupcake truck coming to one of his book signings.  And I think that kind of promotion not only makes him noticeable and memorable, but also makes him incredibly FUN!  And just like people want tension, people want fun.

So there are the basics, but lets get a little more concrete.

Take the five words thing.  Say, for instance, SCARLET's words would probably be "historical" "YA" "Robin hood" (I guess we'll call these terms, then) and, I like to think, "Girl power".  Scarlet's a rockin' girl and I think that's part of what makes the book fun and awesome.

So what does that mean?  It means when I'm talking about, blogging about, or connecting to Scarlet, one of these four terms should be involved.  When I'm promoting SCARLET, it should be in relation to one of these aspects.  This means when I'm thinking of places for marketing opportunities, castles, renaissance fairs, archery contests and maybe some sort of cool teen-girl summit should come to mind.  When I'm looking for publications to advertise in, or things to be associated with, the same things apply.

When it comes to developing tension, I need to create a plan–not unlike writing a book–to release information in a way that keeps me from revealing all my secrets at once, and also keeps the reader (or, I guess in this case, the potential buyer) along with me for the ride.  It's all about pacing.  I unders

tand this concept; I can't say whether or not I'll succeed, but I definitely understand this concept.

What about the creativity?  Well…I guess you'll just have to come along and see.