Sarah Skilton's Blog, page 9

What Makes a Good Editorial Letter?

My first editorial letter arrived last Friday from the fantastic Maggie Lehrman.

I was nervous to open it, but once I did, I found myself nodding my head like a madwoman and feeling a rush of excitement as I realized how much stronger Maggie's changes will make the story, and how well she knows the characters.

What makes the letter so good?

1. Praise goes a long way. Maggie started out by telling me her favorite parts, which immediately set me at ease and reminded me it's all going to be okay...

Dear Teen Me, and My First Online Interview

Have you checked out Dear Teen Me yet? It's a place for authors to address their teen selves and offer advice, comfort, warnings, and occasional pleas (my favorite remains: "Don't perm your hair").

Earlier this week I contributed a post about vague teenage dysthymia and the heartbreak of cat allergies, complete with photos of my hairsprayed '80s bangs and "why did these exist" striped jean shorts. Even more exciting, the creators of Dear Teen Me announced their anthology book deal! Wish them w...

What I'm Watching on TV This Fall

This is normally the time of year when I recap new episodes of Mad Men and rate them between 1 and 5 razor blades, but the show's not airing again till next February (!) so I instead I'll I'd devote this post to the fall TV season.

I'm choosing what programs to watch based solely on whether they have ties to the late, great Lost.

Just kidding. Or am I? With help from IMDB, here's my probable DVR schedule of new shows:

Best Potential Epic:

Once Upon a Time (Modern-day fairy tale from Consulting Pr...

Three Things I Did Wrong to End up Where I am Today

1. Worked for free.

What a chump, right? Let me explain. When I graduated college in 1999 and moved to L.A. to work in entertainment, I applied for dozens of entry-level jobs. All of them required experience, and the only way to get experience was to intern. It's an inherently unfair system that stacks the deck against people who can't afford to work for free, so I felt a bit guilty about going that route, but I was lucky to have parents who were willing and able to support me for three month...

Night Writer

The other week, my friend and agency-mate Natalie blogged about writing something every day, regardless of how much time you have, and not worrying whether you write a sentence, a paragraph, a page or multiple pages.

I took her words to heart because I realized I've been throwing in the towel way too easily on days that aren't "perfect" for writing. I've gotten it into my head that I AM A MORNING WRITER AND CANNOT WRITE AT NIGHT. IT MUST EVER BE THUS.

I'm fine with doing research at night, or b...

Weekend of YA Events

Wow hey this weekend is jam-packed with YA and MG writing events.

If I'm feeling ambitious, here's what I'll be up to*:

Friday Night, Century City - Crash the SCBWI Summer Conference and meet up with some fellow Apocalypsies

Saturday, 9am PST / Noon EST, at the computer - Marbury Lens book chat with author Andrew Smith (read the book a few weeks ago and can't get it out of my mind. Plus I have questions. I think). Follow along at Evil Editor's blog.

Saturday, 2 pm, Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena ...

"The Magicians" Redux

(The following pseudo-essay contains spoilers for Lev Grossman's 2009 novel, The Magicians. It does not contain spoilers for the sequel, The Magician King, which is due out August 9th.)

I had a love/hate relationship with The Magicians a few years ago.

I loved the writing, but the ending of the book (literally the last page) infuriated me. Also, I felt like the inside jacket flap gave away absolutely everything about the plot. See me rail about that here.

When I found out there'd be a sequel to...

How the Storytelling in Documentaries Helps My Writing

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." - Robert Burns

I watched two documentaries last week that were vastly different but shared a common storytelling thread: the protagonists' plans went heartbreakingly wrong. One was darkly comedic, the other tragic-yet-inevitable.

The first, Catfish, concerned a series of online relationships, including a romance, that turned out to be false or at least deeply misleading. The slow reveal was filled with tension, dread, and even an awful kind o...

RWA Conference Photo Journal, Part Two

My New York City adventures continues, wheee. Just to back track for a second, here's the hotel where the RWA conference took place:


Which is right smack in the center of Times Square:


However, that's not where I stayed, because the amazing Sarvenaz Tash (author of The Mapmaker and the Ghost , coming out April 2012) allowed me and Miranda to crash at her uber cool pad in Brooklyn. As a result, I got to experience parts of the city I'd never been to before. One of my all-time favorite books is A ...

RWA Conference Photo Journal, Part One

Let me preface this by saying I only got my iPhone two months ago; I'm still learning how to use it; and the photos I take with it lean toward everyone's favorite style: low lighting / slightly-out-of-focus. Still here? Then please enjoy my wacky adventures in the city!

Last week I hit the Romance Writers of America conference in New York. It was beyond cool.

But first I stopped in Virginia to visit a college friend, Robyn, and her son and daughter, ages 5 and 6. Robyn is the only person with ...