Jenn Reese's Blog, page 11

Portland Achieved

The three adventurers arrive in Oregon!

To Oregon!

I’m in the airport, about to leave for Oregon where I’ll be hiking, eating, and goofing around with my friends.I might do some writing, too, but only if I feel like it. This is the first non-writing-related vacation I’ve taken in years, and I want to enjoy every minute of it!

WeHo Book Fair Recap

On Sunday I attended the West Hollywood Book Fair and had the opportunity to participate in the middle-grade panel. Evidence:

My illustrious author buddies were (from left to right):

Aaron Hartzler, our fearless moderator and author of the forthcoming young adult memoir, Rapture Practice, inspired by his experience getting kicked out of Catholic school just two weeks before graduating.

Lin Oliver, executive director of SCBWI and co-author of music/sci-fi adventure Sound Bender, with her son Theo Baker.

Tim Federle, former dancer *on Broadway* and author of the forthcoming humorous contemporary, Better Nate Than Ever. He’s also got an adult book coming out: Tequila Mockingbird & Other Literary Libations, with wry commentary on classic books that features some 70 cocktail recipes.

After the panel, a mom and her daughter approached me for a picture. Apparently 10-year-old Annice had already read Above World and had loved it! The feeling I got when I heard that… it’s indescribable. I love writing and telling stories, but this was a great reminder of why I write for publication — to share those stories others. I’ll be on a high for days.

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung

I have no interest in reviewing books, but I love sharing the joy when I find a great one. Today I want to talk about Mike Jung‘s debut middle-grade novel, Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities [Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon], recommended for ages 8-12, but easily enjoyed by everyone.

Excerpted from the official blurb (with spoilers extracted):

Vincent Wu is Captain Stupendous’s No. 1 Fan, but even he has to admit that Captain Stupendous has been a little off lately. During Professor Mayhem’s latest attack, Captain Stupendous barely made it out alive – although he did manage to save Vincent from a giant monster robot. It’s Vincent’s dream come true… until he finds out Captain Stupendous’s secret identity.

Things to love about this book:

The fast-paced dialogue between Vincent and his two best friends.
The way the book plays with the tropes of superhero stories, comic books, and movies.
The author’s clear passion and joy for this story that shines through on every page.
The great diverse cast and the diversity of working family units.
The wonderful plot twists.

When I looked at the (amazing) cover, which features Vincent, his two male friends, and a GIANT EVIL ROBOT, I couldn’t help thinking, “Where are the girls?” Well, let me tell you right now that there is a wonderful girl in this story who plays a pivotal role in saving the day. She has her own character arc and really comes into her own by the end. She was one of my favorite parts of the book.

The Advanced Reader Copy contained only sketches of the amazing artwork by Mike Maihack that is sprinkled throughout the book, and I can’t wait to buy a brand-new hard cover so I can ogle the final art. There’s one particular picture near the end that I would love to have on my wall.

Not convinced? Here’s what I said in my (first ever!) blurb for this book:

GEEKS, GIRLS, AND SECRET IDENTITIES by Mike Jung is a joyful, action-packed ode to comic books, friendship, and the many faces of heroism. Spandex and super-villains have never been this funny. Captain Stupendous and Mike Jung have themselves a new fan.

Go forth and read!

Above World updates

I’m still riding high after turning in Book 3 to my editor a few weeks ago. This feeling will probably last until the revision letter hits in October or November. In the meantime, other fun things have been happening.

This week I saw the cover the UK edition of Above World. The book will be available in the UK in paperback next spring, around the same time that the US paperback is released. I’m excited to be in a new market, and I love seeing variant covers for the book — that’s a whole new level of exciting!

I also got to see the entire book cover (front, back, spine, and flaps!) for Above World book 2: Mirage. This one is all oranges and reds and yellows, and it took my breath away! The artist and the design team at Candlewick did a truly fantastic job. I can’t wait until I can share it with you! The release date for Mirage is March 12, 2013, but I should be getting some ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) fairly soon.

In terms of appearances, I’ll be at the West Hollywood Book Fair on Sunday, September 30th, for a middle-grade panel at 11am. After that, I’ll be hiking in Oregon and attending the Sirens Conference from October 11-14th.

And when I’m not reveling in the whole author thing, I’m working on my next book, a YA adventure chock full of martial arts and magic. It’s the (happy writer’s) circle of life.

Fan art from Shelby!

More awesome fan art for Above World! I am clearly the luckiest author ever. This time the artist is Shelby, a 15-year-old writer who’s working on a truly epic novel. I have no doubt that we’ll all be reading her books some day!

But for now, here is Shelby’s rendition of Aluna. I particularly love her hair and her clothes and her weapon — okay, I pretty much love the whole thing. Thank you so much, Shelby! I’m going to be grinning for weeks.

“The End”

Today I finished the first draft of the third and final book in my Above World series. I’ve written my fifth book and my first-ever trilogy!

Although my feelings are mixed — I’ve been with these characters for over five years now — I feel good. Epically good. I hear birds chirping and see unicorns dancing on rainbows everywhere I look.

This last week was my “make-it-or-break-it” week for the novel. I wrote about five hours a day (more during the last few chapters), and here’s how the word counts played out:

2700 Sunday

2600 Monday

1400 Tuesday

1500 Wednesday

1900 Thursday

2000 Friday

2500 Saturday

1500 Sunday

That’s over 16,000 words from Sunday to Sunday. I want to cry from exhaustion, cry with joy, and then sleep for a hundred hours. I want to heap gifts and praise on Chris East and Stephanie Burgis, who selflessly read each messy chapter as I went and encouraged me to keep going.

I can’t believe it’s over. Well, except for 3 to 10 rounds of revisions and edits, of course. But those are milestones for another day.

Aluna fan art & more!

My favorite thing about being an author is seeing fan art and getting feedback from kid readers. Nothing puts me in a better mood or makes me want to dig back into my novel file and keep writing. Today I have two items to share: a picture of Aluna and a wee book report.

This picture of Aluna by The Maud (she probably just goes by Maud) captures Aluna perfectly. Look at those muscles! The weapons! The spiky hair! Her clothes are exactly how I pictured them, down to the shark teeth in her tunic. But the best thing is her expression — it captures Aluna’s attitude and love of adventure so well.

Yep, it’s awesome and I absolutely love it! I’m framing it and hanging it next to the incredible Aluna drawn by Samantha Ling.

The next item is a tiny book report. Liam lives next to my brother’s family and they gave him a copy of Above World to read. Here’s what he said:

TELL US A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT BOOK:

This book is the best book I have read. It’s about a girl called Aluna and her friend Huko [sic] saving their underwater world. Loved it.

WRITE ONE NEW VOCABULARY WORLD YOU LEARNED FROM THIS BOOK AND WHAT IT MEANS:

silhouette: a shadow

WRITE ONE SENTENCE FROM THE BOOK THAT MADE YOU LAUGH, OR THAT IMPRESSED OR INSPIRED YOU SOMEHOW:

Grandma Nani nodded and smiled. “Hoku my boy, it’s time you had an adventure.”

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO A FRIEND? WHY OR WHY NOT?

Yes this book is so so so good I read it twice and every time I pick up this book I laugh, smile, and feel like I traveled to the above world.

Thank you to Liam and The Maud for making me happy beyond words!

Herb adventure

I have never grown things, unless you count mold in the refrigerator. But I’ve been wanting to try herb gardening on my wee balcony, and today I finally took the plunge. After being completely overwhelmed at a local nursery, I headed over to Armstrong Garden Center (thanks for the rec, Greg!) where I found a woman willing to walk me through the basics. She helped me pick out herbs and pots, told me how to replant them, talked to me about drainage and fertilizer and pest control.

Here, in their repotted glory, are my new herbs:

(I ran out of soil on the basil. Sorry, basil!)

The bad news is that the pots ended up being too tall for the cheap IKEA gardening shelf I’d acquired, so I will have to find shallower plants for that. I would also like to find an affordable way to raise these herb pots up three or four feet so they help block my view of the street. Suggestions welcome.

So, who wants to guess the plants? I think they’re all pretty obvious except maybe the one on the right.

Thoughts on BRAVE (Spoilers)

I just saw Pixar’s new movie, BRAVE. It’s been at the top of my must-see list for a long time because although Pixar makes excellent movies, they’d never made one starring a girl or woman before. I couldn’t wait to see Merida, an amazing archer with wild red hair, save the day.

First, I must say that the movie is gorgeous — absolutely stunning. It’s the first animated movie I’ve seen that, in my opinion, rivals the work of Miyazaki. I could stare at each frame for days and it would still take my breath away. Truly, the animators outdid themselves and I am still in awe of what they accomplished.

SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT

Here’s what BRAVE is:

The thrilling story of a young girl trapped in a life she doesn’t want by her controlling mother. In an attempt to “change her fate,” she asks a witch to change her mother, hoping that her mother will no longer want her to marry someone she doesn’t love. The spell goes wrong, as these sorts of spells always do, and Merida spends the rest of the movie trying to undo the horrible thing she has done. In the process, she and her mother finally learn to understand each other and begin to compromise. [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER] In fact, it is critical to the story that Merida’s mother becomes more fierce and fights, and that Merida does something ladylike and stitches.

It’s a wonderful story, and it’s filled with humor and danger and many moments where I was holding my breath, worried that something terrible would happen. I love that the two main characters are women and that the story is about their relationship with each other. If this had been one of Pixar’s many movies starring girls and women, I would have enjoyed every last bit of it.

But it’s not. It’s the first one. And as such, it made me sad and kind of angry.

Here’s what BRAVE isn’t:

The thrilling story of a young girl who saves her people or her world, or even her family. Nor is it the story of a girl who uses her amazing skill at archery (which she earned every bit of) to do something useful like kill a bad guy or snap the right rope at just the right moment or to signal the reinforcements. She doesn’t go on an adventure, she doesn’t explore the world, and she doesn’t learn any great truths except that her mother loves her and that she loves her mother, too. The movie’s title led me astray. BRAVE makes me think of adventure, and I didn’t really see one here.

Now, try to picture a Pixar movie where a boy stars in that plot. Where his father is making him marry someone he doesn’t want to marry so he finds a witch and wishes for something horrible, then has to make it right. The whole story is about his relationship with his father. You know what? You’re never going to see that movie. Because to Pixar, boys are heroes and girls — when they exist outside of boys — need to overcome the fact that they’re girls. Compromise, not bravery, is the key.

So yes, I was frustrated and sad during the movie. The story they chose to tell is told extremely well… it’s just not the direction they should have gone in, in my opinion. Not for the first movie with a female lead. Merida is a fantastic character and she deserved a better fate than this one.