Annie Cardi's Blog, page 34

Friday Fifteen

It’s the last Friday Fifteen of 2013! Let’s end the year right with some book reviews in fifteen words or fewer.

1. Write Source 2000: A Guide to Writing, Thinking and Learning by Great Source

Our eighth grade source for all things essay-related. It was fine.

2. The Animal Tale Treasury by Caroline Royds

Mostly I remember the “Just So” stories and the illustrations.

3. Glass Town by Lisa Russ Spaar

Don’t remember many particular poems, but sharp, elegant writing works well as a collection.

4. A Hand Full of Stars by Rafik Schami

Read randomly in middle school; ended up being a first introduction to Syria. Very touching.

5. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Didn’t expect much based on the pants conceit, but the girls’ friendships and personalities shine.

My Teen Years in the Handbell Choir: a Christmas Eve Story

When I was a teen, I was part of my church’s handbell choir. (Try to out-nerd me, please.) I’m not that musical (or musical at all really), but I learned to read music so I could join the handbell choir because, at 12 or 13, it sounded like the most awesome thing to do. I ended up sticking with it until I went to college, so it was a relatively big part of my teen experience.

Being part of handbell choir meant performing at the Christmas midnight mass. My mom would drop me off about an hour before mass started and I’d run up to the choir loft, which was filled with people from the handbell choir and the vocal choir. While the vocalists practiced, I’d admire the decorations around the church and watch people take their seats.

We’d usually play a couple of songs during mass, but my favorite was the ”Silent Night,” which we’d play after Communion. They’d turn the lights down in the church so everything glowed with candlelight. Up in the choir loft, we began “Silent Night” on the bells, then were joined by the piano, then the choir. Every year it felt intimate and special and Christmas-y.

This isn’t my handbell choir, but the arrangement of the bells is pretty similar:

I don’t play handbells or any musical instrument now, but Christmas Eve always reminds me of playing “Silent Night.” It brings me back to being a teen, hidden up in the choir loft, and feeling a part of something special for that moment.

Happy Christmas Eve to everyone celebrating!

Links Galore

Starting the week off right with link-y goodness:

Candlewick introduces E-Volt, a Tumblr to promote new e-books and discount. My reaction.
What word originated in your birth year?
I’ve been guilty of #2, #3, and #4 on this list of workshop stories we don’t need to see again.
Interview with Morris Award finalist and general awesome person Carrie Mesrobian.
“After we parted ways I thought to myself, ‘What do Black girls do when they’re watching The Hunger Games? Do they identify with Katniss more than Rue?’” A must-read post about race in YA.


Elizabeth Wein on sympathetic magic, aka my new favorite literary term.
And if you need more Elizabeth Wein goodness, check out EWein Special Ops.
Bookish gift guides for your very-last-minute Christmas shopping.
Where does YA end and NA begin?
I tend to agree about the  Fault in Our Stars movie tagline and the use of humor in the face of tough situations.
Love this winter YA reading list.
“Past You may not be as awesome as Present You, but Past You worked really hard to get to Present You, too.” I think we all need this post about being kind to Past You at this time of year.

Friday Fifteen

Today is a very special Friday Fifteen, because it’s the 100th Friday Fifteen. That’s right, for the last 100 Fridays I’ve been reviewing books in fifteen words or under. The stats:

100 Friday Fifteens
650 books reviewed
8 Shakespeare plays reviewed
5 Harry Potter books reviewed
4 Virginia Woolf novels reviewed
3 Hunger Games books reviewed
2 Care Bears books reviewed
Most views on a Friday Fifteen: 3,621 (Thanks, Freshly Pressed!)

So in honor of the 100th Friday Fifteen, how about we take a look back at some of my favorite fifteen-word (or less) reviews. Onto the reviews!

1. Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business by Esphyr Slobodkina

We read this a lot when I was little. Still love hats, don’t trust monkeys.

Originally reviewed January 6, 2012

2. Ballistics by Billy Collins

Worth it if only for the poem Hippos on Holiday. On holiday from what indeed?

Originally reviewed January 27, 2012

3. Succulent Wild Woman by SARK

I was 18 and liked journaling with colorful pens.

Originally reviewed March 16, 2012

4. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Combines my love of ducklings and my love of the Boston Public Gardens.

Originally reviewed April 20, 2012

5. About Me (Childcraft: the How and Why Library #14) by World Book-Childcraft International

I liked learning about diseases I could contract. Measles, anyone?

Originally reviewed May 18, 2012

6. The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare

Worth a read, if only for the stage direction “exit, pursued by  bear.”

Originally reviewed June 22, 2012

7. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Sara Crewe keeps calm and carries on.

Originally reviewed July 27, 2012

8. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

This gives me unreasonable expectations about writing to and forming relationships with famous writers.

Originally reviewed September 21, 2012

9. Coyote Moon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Book 3) John Vornholt

Say it with me, everyone: “Carnie were-coyotes.”

Originally reviewed October 26, 2012

10. Feed by M.T. Anderson

It’s not all GIFs and kitten videos when your brain’s connected to the internet.

Originally reviewed December 7, 2012

11. As You Like It by William Shakespeare

Let’s all go to the forest, dress in drag, and fall in love!

Originally reviewed January 11, 2013

12. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Everyone in fifth grade cried. Except me. I have a heart of ice.

Originally reviewed February 1, 2013

13. The Baby-Sitters Club: Friends Forever : The Movie by A.L. Singer, Ann M. Martin

A novelization of the movie based on the book series. Of course I read it.

Originally reviewed June 21, 2013

14. All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John

I should read this aloud to houseplants as a warning.

Originally reviewed August 23, 2013

15. I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

As a child who enjoyed retribution and hats, I would have been all over this.

Originally reviewed December 6, 2013

For the regular Friday Fifteen fans, thank you so much for checking in on Fridays and sharing your own thoughts about all kinds of books. Looking forward to 100 more brief conversations about books!

Financial Planning

When I first sold my book to Candlewick, a few people asked me if I would be quitting my job to write full time. My reaction:

Most people I know who are artists–writers, illustrators, actors, musicians, etc.–don’t make a living from their art. Most have day jobs or do temp work or freelance. Recently, I came across a couple of posts that brought this issue to mind.

The first is more from a theatrical perspective, but I think it holds true for writers of any genre. Long talks about how a successful society values its artists and, although I’m not sure that we can recreate the Renaissance, it’s good to remember that people like Michaelanglo weren’t “dangling from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel ‘for the experience.’” Artists, just like anyone, need to eat and have a roof over their heads and maybe wear a sweater when it’s cold out. As much as society loves the image of a tortured, starving artist, I think most of us do our best work when we’re not stressing about if we can afford to go to the doctor.

Similarly, the second article looks at the financial realities for writers and how we talk about these financial realities. Bauer says that we can’t pretend that having a financial safety net (like a successful spouse or family fortune) doesn’t matter for artists, and that it’s detrimental to pretend that all it takes to survive as a writer is a little gumption and selling a magazine article every so often.

I remember talking with a couple of fellow kidlit authors recently, and this exact issue came up–if your only job is writing, you’re either a) wildly successful or b) in a position where you don’t have to worry about where your health benefits are coming from. That’s not to say that this is bad or somehow makes you less of a writer. If your family can do it, that’s fantastic. But we need to acknowledge that this is the reality for writers, and maybe consider what that means for writers and artists who don’t have that kind of safety net.

Last year, Laurie Halse Anderson (a hugely talented YA author and, in my opinion, one of the leaders in the field) had a great post about money and writing. It was a major relief to see that, even after publications and awards, didn’t quit her day job to write full time for years. I like seeing writers be honest about this kind of thing. It’s a hard job and most people don’t get rich from it. (And if you do, more power to you.) The reality of being a writer is far removed from the idea most people have of being a writer.

Right now, I’m really lucky to have a job that is generally fulfilling, enjoyable, and lets me go to the dentist every so often. I also have a very supportive husband and family. If I ever get to be a full time writer, that would be fantastic. But for now I know that I’m a lot better off than many extremely talented writers.

I don’t have any answers for how we can reallocate more money to the arts or how we can help writers who are struggling to make ends meet. But I think the more honest we are about these issues, the better. In the meantime, more power to all of you who keep writing, no matter what your financial realities are.

The Twelve Days of Writer’s Christmas

Things I love: gifs and song parodies. How could I resist putting together a writer-themed version of the classic Christmas carol, with corresponding gifs?

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my writing gave to me:

Twelve cups of coffee

Eleven ARCs from authors

Ten writing playlists

Nine cover reveals

Eight swoony kiss scenes

Seven funny retweets

Six pairs of sweatpants

Five critique partners

Four messy first drafts

Three plot hole fixes

Two days ’till deadline

And a retreat with awesome writer friends

Happy holidays, everyone!

Links Galore

Lots of good links for today:

Challenge your reading habits in 2014.
An infographic for everything that could be wrong in your screenplay; also useful for novels.
Great interview with four short story writers you should get to know.
“When we fret about CONTENT, we miss entirely the worth of a book, the real content.”
Fears as stories.
Book gift recommendations for everyone who’s looking for something “emotional and thrilling,” “cool and charming,” and more.
Writing is the #2 most competitive field in the US, under choreographers and above athletics. So…
Retreat productivity tips from Laini Taylor.
“These books were tackling the biggest ideas and questions imaginable. That was the kind of literature I wanted to write, and that was when I made the choice to do it in children’s fiction.”
Sherlock Holmes inspires a real-life forensic scientist. Fiction matters, people.

Friday Fifteen

Another Friday, another set of blog reviews in fifteen words or less.

1. The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway

In which I learned I was not a Hemingway fan.

2. Baby Be-Bop by Francesca Lia Block

I just want to hug Dirk. A touching ending to the series.

3. The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne

A lot of humor and heart. Lit nerd in me loved the Shakespeare stuff.

4. Eloise by Kay Thompson

I still kind of want to be Eloise.

5. Rao’s Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking Hardcover by Frank Pellegrino

Classic Italian recipes from the ultimate VIP restaurant.

A Real Book With Pages: Cover Reveal Vlog

In which I talk about how much I love The Chance You Won’t Return‘s cover and show you how it’s a book with pages and everything.

Don’t forget to sign up for the ARC giveaway!

Music: Transient Lines (Westy Reflector) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Links Galore

Some link-y goodness:

The gift of art for the young and young at heart.
Analyzing the 2013 Best lists with Someday My Printz Will Come and Stacked.
And a fun look at the 2013 cover trends.
Common book review phrases and what you may really mean.
YA romance advice from the delightful Jessica Spotswood.
I want to print out this diagram of key plot points and post it above my desk.
Careers for bookish people.
60 search engines and sites for writers. Get your bookmarks ready.
Quotes about writing from Nobel Prize winners’ speeches.
I don’t care–I ‘ship it!