Annie Cardi's Blog, page 36

TLT’s Doctor Who Week and How I Learned to Unabashedly Love Sci-Fi

Today I’m over at Teen Librarian Toolbox as part of Doctor Who Week, talking about how Doctor Who helped me finally admit that I’m a sci-fi fan. In very short, my thoughts on sci-fi before Who:

My thoughts on sci-fi after Who:

Click through for the full post, which has more explanation about genre and feelings, and also gifs! Make sure to check out the other posts in Doctor Who Week, too, and keep an eye out for my second post at TLT (coming on Friday).

Links Galore

Lots of link-y goodness:

What I imagine it would be like if Claudia and Jamie ran away to the New York Public Library instead.
Giles forever wins as my favorite pop culture librarian.
University Press of Kentucky is so onto something here.
Forget models or actors–get a writer to be in your ad.
Very glad to see The Giver and Never Let Me Go on this list of literary sci-fi novels.
These comic book character-inspired dresses are amazing, and surprisingly wearable.
What’s the story, Wishbone?
Behind-the-scenes tricks for when your plot runs into a wall.
And for when the words aren’t flowing at all.
Touching look at why some of the most reluctant readers need stories the most.
I need this reading net.
Book recommendations for people who (somehow) still look down on YA.
Malinda Lo analyzes a decade of stats for LGBT YA books.
Poison Dance, the prequel to the amazing upcoming Midnight Thief  by Livia Blackburne, is now available–and discounted!
Last but definitely not least, my amazing friend Hannah created nail art to match The Chance You Won’t Return! 

Friday Fifteen

Guys, it’s Friday and I’m starting to breathe like a normal human being again. Take that, plague! Onto the fifteen-word (or fewer) book reviews:

1. The Voice on the Radio by Caroline B. Cooney

Don’t remember this nearly as well as its prequels. Reeve is no longer crush-worthy.

2. Questions about Angels by Billy Collins

Good balance of whimsy and thoughtful poetic turns. Maybe not groundbreaking, but they satisfy.

3. Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle

L’Engle tackles a weird part of the Bible and, of course, handles it deftly.

4. The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2 by Lee Gutkind

Not quite as memorable as Vol. 1, but still excellent collection of essays.

5. Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys by Francesca Lia Block

My least favorite of the Weetzie books. The band stuff is fun though.

Me This Week

And of course it’s totally the wrong time to be sick. So apologies in advance for the probable blog silence this week.

Seriously, how am I not taking part in NaNoWriMo and still feel exhausted?

Friday Fifteen

Happy Friday, everybody! Let’s dive into a few book reviews in fifteen words or fewer:

1. Survey Of Historic Costume: A History Of Western Dress, Fourth Edition by K. Eubank and P. G. Tortora

Took a history of dress class; this was our text. Shockingly useful for a writer.

2. Under the Mummy’s Spell by Kate McMullan

Read this alongside an Egypt history unit in fifth grade. It was awesome.

3. Three’s a Crowd (Sweet Valley Twins #7) by Francine Pascal

OMIGOD, Mary, you can’t just be a Wakefield.

4. On Writing by Stephen King

Read this in high school, vehemently disagreed with King about adverbs.

5. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

This book gave me all the feels. Gorgeous writing, expertly crafted, characters I love.

Marry a Writer

Two years ago, I was doing this:

Since then, we’ve gone on adventures, shared jokes and hilarious cat videos, and cooked lots of tasty meals. We’re both writers, so these two years have also included evenings in separate rooms, typing away. Sometimes people ask what it’s like to be married to another writer, and so far it’s working out pretty well for us. Here are my reasons why you should marry* a writer:

Marry a writer because he knows that sometimes you need to go into the other room/a coffee shop/the library and not talk for a while, and that doesn’t mean you’re ignoring him.
Marry a writer because she loves books and moving in together will mean expanding your home library. (Note: this means you need more bookshelves than you’ll think you need.)
Marry a writer because he understands the anxiety of submitting work and the disappointment of receiving rejection letters.
Marry a writer because she’ll brainstorm and talk seriously about your characters and plots with you.
Marry a writer because he understands it’s a real job. Even if you need an additional day job to help pay for things like rent and food.
Marry a writer because she won’t get weirded out by Google searches like “how long does it take for a body to decompose?” and “arsenic poisoning symptoms.”
Marry a writer because he’ll join you at readings and book signings.
Marry a writer because she’ll put you in her book acknowledgments.
Marry a writer because he’ll spend hours with you at a bookstore and not ask “can we go now?” every ten minutes or side-eye that pile of books you’re going to buy.
Marry a writer because she knows that sometimes revising takes priority over vacuuming or making something other than cereal for dinner.
Marry a writer because he won’t get offended if you have to squeeze in some writing time during holidays.
Marry a writer because she can remind you that, even when the writing is hard, you need to keep going because you’re a writer.
Marry a writer because you’ll get to read/hear his work and feel so proud that the person you love makes amazing art.

But most importantly, you should marry someone who supports you and your writing. Who knows that this is your passion and your work, and loves that this is a major part of who you are. I know lots of people think pain and suffering makes good art, but I’m inclined to think that love and support are at the top of the list.

*And my “marry” I mean “share your heart with.” Forget traditional gender roles and structures.

Links Galore

All the links I’ve been hoarding:

With Veterans’ Day coming up, it’s a good time to remember how children are affected by war.
Cave paintings to Amazon: a brief history of publishing.
A reading list for Harry Potter characters.
Forget the rules: write opening lines that work for your stories.
Not that I’m biased or anything, but Boston is an awesome literary city.
Pets. In. Costume.
Cannot wait for  Bleed Like Me .
These book-inspired beers need to be real and a bookstore/bar near me.
Writing “unlikeable” girl characters and how readers react to them.
Maggie Smith basically made Daniel Radcliffe Harry Potter, continues to be the best.
A playlist for Andrew Ladd’s upcoming novel, What Ends, aka that book about a Scottish family that will give you all the feels.
Inspiring writing quotes to power you through NaNoWriMo.
Excellent post on the Ender’s Game movie and how we can use it as a teachable moment.
Series you may have missed and need to check out. Or revisit. Because SO GOOD.
Elizabeth Wein looks at who’s reading and buying teen novels.
A guide to all the dystopian plot elements Katniss could want from a book.
A fun YA reading flowchart.
Writing about mental illness from the inside.
Rejections facts for when you need to keep going.
Excellent look at the actual gender breakdown of the New York Times YA Bestseller List.

Friday Fifteen

Happy November, everyone! What better way to start the month off than with a few book reviews in fifteen words or fewer?

1. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

A fun read in companion with Harry Potter 7. “The Tale of the Three Brothers” especially feels like a real folktale.

2. Both Sides Of Time by Caroline B. Cooney

Romance and time travel in Victorian New York. Reread this a lot as a kid.

3. The Sunnydale High Yearbook by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder

Season 3 was the best, and I was totally the target audience.

4. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Can see why it was so influential, but never connected to Stephen Dedalus.

5. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Handford

In a world where red-striped shirts rule, one man stands alone…in a huge crowd.

“Heads Will Roll” on Halloween

Happy Halloween, everybody! In case you couldn’t guess by my Twitter feed today (or really, this month), I’m a big fan of Halloween-ish music. Who needs Christmas carols when you have classics like “The Monster Mash” and the Ghostbusters theme song?

One of my current favorite creepy songs is “Heads Will Roll” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The video is really fun, too:

Similarly, I like when Halloween pops up in books/movies otherwise not about Halloween. The Chance You Won’t Return has a Halloween scene, and has been there since the first draft. So much of the book is about who you present yourself as and who you really are, which meant that having a Halloween scene seemed necessary. Other favorite books with Halloween scenes include:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Class halloween parties are great until there’s a troll in the dungeon. Who doesn’t love the moment when Harry, Ron, and Hermione become friends?
To Kill a Mockingbird

So much of the book feels like summer to me, but the last terrifying and beautiful scene is set on Halloween night.
The Egypt Game

Halloween is when the group takes its full form, with Toby and Ken joining. This book feels like fall to me.

Hope you all have a fun and spoooooky night!

Composers and Writers

People closest to me know that a) I’m not musical, and b) I really wish I were musical. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take inspiration from famous composers! Here’s a collection of great quotes from composers about making art. A few of my favorites:

“To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist.”–Robert Schumann

I love this idea and this image. I feel this connects especially well to YA, which is so often about first encounters with despair and grief and pain, but ultimately also hope and love.

“The old idea of a composer suddenly having a terrific idea and sitting up all night to write it is nonsense. Nighttime is for sleeping.”–Benjamin Britten

Okay, everyone’s process and schedule is different. Some people work late into the night, and others get up super early in the morning to get work done. But a) I love sleep, and b) for me, lots of writing happens when I make myself sit down and work, not when inspiration suddenly strikes. The “feverish writing all night” image is kind of romantic, but I think it neglects the work that writers put in day-to-day.

“Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.”–Johannes Brahms

In a similar vein, I love this focus on craftsmanship. You can have the best idea in the world, but it takes work and craft and thought to bring it to life on the page.

Click through for more composer quotes.

(image: crazybobbles)