Chris Baty's Blog, page 244

The Sacrificial Mitten

Sometimes, there are things in life that are just meant to happen, and much though you might try to change the course of destiny, you can't.

I lost my mitten again. I'm pretty sure it's gone for good this time. You see, I left it in a cab in New York City on my way from LaGuardia Airport to my hotel. And I'm okay with it being gone, for two reasons. First of all, that mitten obviously longed to be free, and I was oppressing it by forcing it to live in my pocket. It was obviously an adventure-seeking mitten, and I was lucky to get an extra two years of mitten-y love after it made a break for it a few years back.

And second of all, it became clear over the course of the week that the mitten was my sacrifice to the gods of New York City. And based on the rest of my trip, they deemed my sacrifice worthy.

I flew out on Friday the 13th, and was a little nervous that some horrible disaster would befall me as a result. I got held up in traffic thanks to a billboard that fell on the bridge, and lost my mitten, and it felt like an inauspicious start to the whole thing. Fortunately, things turned around on Saturday. I got up early and rode the Staten Island Ferry out past the Statue of Liberty, then wandered around Canal Street. (I bought some replacement mittens with flip tops for better tweeting.)

The rest of the day was equally pleasant, with several hours spent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, delicious dinner with my cousin and his girlfriend, and a truly stunning view from the top of the Empire State Building. Sure, it's kind of a tourist trap, but it's one for a reason. Plus, it was cold, so there weren't any lines. (It's always good to be a hardy Canadian in these situations.)

The hardy Canadianism was most required on Sunday morning. It was windy as hell and the temperature dropped quite a bit, but I got up first thing, put on pretty much all the layers I had, and headed down to the Eugene O'Neill theatre to wait in line for standing room at The Book of Mormon. They sell 28 spots an hour before the show for $27, and I decided I was willing to wait five hours in the cold.

Two hours before the show, they do a draw for the rush tickets, which are the handful of seats they reserve for a lottery. I'd guess that about 200 people entered the draw, including all 30 or so people in the standing room line. 15 people got tickets.

I was one of them.

So we ended up with box seats to the hardest-to-see show in town. We went from there to dinner featuring the greatest cheesecake I've ever eaten, then on to Mary Poppins. (If you would like to experience theatrical whiplash, see those two shows back to back.)

The mitten karma carried through to Monday, where I found a pair of jeans so perfect that I took two pairs up to the cash register, only to discover they were 40% off. That night I saw Avenue Q, which I knew was going to be awesome from the very first song, "What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?" (I have a B.A. in English.)

On Tuesday, the weather was kind of mediocre, but I put up with it to check out Top of the Rock and nerd out in the NBC store. (I was torn as to whether the Community, Parks and Recreation, or Friday Night Lights section was most awesome.) Then I headed over to Hell's Kitchen to get into line again, this time to see a Daily Show taping.

It took up most of the afternoon, but it was super-cool to see behind the scenes, especially since I wasn't sure I'd be able to get tickets on such short notice. From there we had a staggeringly delicious dinner, and thanks to Restaurant Week, it was $35 for our three course dinner instead of $150.

So sure, I lost my mitten. But I spent five near-perfect days in New York City, and I'd sacrifice a dozen mittens for the weekend I just had. Besides, now I get to knit myself some new mittens. That's not so bad, right?

Have you ever had one of those trips where everything just worked out? If you're planning one right now, consider packing a sacrificial mitten. If it's to New York, let me know and I'll fill you in on my Book of Mormon and Daily Show ticket-acquiring tips. And if you take a cab while you're there, keep an eye out for a red and white mitten with a bird on the thumb.

The Play's the Thing

Until last week, it had been about a year since I went to "see a show": a stage production of Beauty and the Beast.

I was reminded then, as I always am when I go to the theater, how much I love plays and how I really ought to see more of them. And more regularly.

And then another year passed before I found myself happily—luckily—invited to see Cirque du Soleil's Immortal Michael Jackson tour. Not your traditional stage play by any stretch, but still theater to be sure.

The intersection of story (a loose bio of Jackson), tribute to his life and loves, and spectacular performance-art-as-music-video certainly ranked this production in the "like nothing I've ever seen" category. The astronomical production value, the astonishingly ornate costumes, the interpretations of history and the music that ranged from the wildly creative and abstract to the literal,  the pyrotechnics (!), the acrobatics, and the sheer awesomeness of the music heard in a different context all left me slack-jawed, starry eyed, and one million percent dazzled.Contrast this with the show I saw over the weekend: a radio play of Wet Hot American Summer, originally a cult-hit film that came out back in 2001.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from a radio play of a movie, but it was pretty straightforward: the original cast assembled on stage for a reading of the script, replete with sound effects and the occasional props.

Not only was I gobsmacked to be in the same room as the likes of Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, and Paul Rudd. But the comedic value of a live reading of a script—and its many mess-ups, foibles, riffs, and improv moments—made this an utterly unique experience that was even more enjoyable than watching the actual film, funny as it is. As an audience member, I got to observe the writers and performers from the original work interact with and react to the material in a way that you'd never see in the film. My favorite part of the whole show was watching the performers react to their colleagues' delivery of their lines.

I am fascinated by the juxtaposition of theater and art in these two shows: an acrobatic performance of Michael Jackson's music and his life in one; a live stage reading of a film script in the other.

It also got me thinking about inventive and unusual subjects to tackle for Script Frenzy. (At my fiancé's urging, I had to abandon my plan to write a rock-opera script for our upcoming wedding.)

What artistic intersections or reinterpretations have you witnessed recently? Any Script Frenzy plans that involve the melding of media?

– Lindsey

Jane Sevier: A Perspective on Revision

Jane Sevier completed the first draft of Fortune's Fool during NaNoWriMo 2008. After revision and publication, the novel was a finalist in the Romance Writers Association's Golden Heart Awards. In this article (originally published on the Moody Muses blog), Jane discusses her post-NaNo process and how she built the book from the bones up. What lessons have you learned from your own revisions?

You made it through NaNoWriMo with your 50K or however many words. Then the holidays came along to distract you and let you recover a little while those words lay fallow for six weeks.

So, now what? If you're like me, you're itching to look back at what poured out of you in November. Or what you extracted with forceps and one foot braced against the desk. However those words arrived on the page, enough time has passed to give you a fresh perspective.

I spent this last NaNo working on the second book in my Psychic Socialite series that I launched in the fall with Fortune's Fool. Fool was my first NaNo win and great experience for what faces me now with the new book.

Fool started as just a premise. I knew the protagonist would be a 1930s Memphis socialite whose husband dies and leaves her penniless. She becomes a fortuneteller, only to discover that she has the true sight. I wanted the love interest to be a fake medium who bears a striking resemblance to Simon Baker of The Mentalist. And I knew Nell, my socialite, would be faced with providing for a household that included her mother-in-law and her cook and lifelong friend.

That was it. I didn't know the ending or even the mystery that Nell would have to unravel. Because Fool is the origin story for the series, I trusted that all would be revealed as I felt my way. I'm an organic writer who doesn't plot much, so I wasn't uncomfortable with that. It really helped that NaNo is the kind of hell-for-leather, don't-look-down ride that doesn't give you time to stop for doubt. And when the time came, the mystery showed up, as did the final scene.

After that NaNo, I put Fortune's Fool aside for several months while I worked on other projects. When I came back to it for the first read-through to get a feel for the story and what it needed, I was thrilled to find that the bones of a pretty good mystery were definitely there, although in a several places, the thigh bone was not necessarily connected to the hip bone. I had to figure out how to reassemble the skeleton so that it fit together in the best way for the story.

The next read-through, I looked for major scenes and turning points and compiled a scene list so I could see what I had and be able to move the pieces around. I also write screenplays, and studying their structure has helped me not plot exactly but organize what I've written after it's on the page. So, I made a chart dividing the story into "Act I," "Act II-Part I," "Midpoint," "Act II-Part II," and "Act III" based loosely on Blake Snyder's Save the Cat system. It would be some time and several reads before I decided those pieces were in the right place.

The next read was to be sure my characters were distinct, well-motivated individuals. Nell, Joseph Calendar, Miss Bess, and Hattie are so real to me that they practically wrote themselves. Having them as anchors made it easier to motivate the other cast members.

At first, I wanted a sort of über-villain who would be Moriarty to Nell's Sherlock throughout the series, but the scene and character-emotion reads told me that wasn't going to work with the way the story—and ultimately the series—were unfolding. So out with that idea. The mystery that showed up gave me several possibilities for the villain of this particular book. Then I just had to figure out why anyone would do such a thing.

I tend to write dialogue before anything else, and lots of it, so once the characters and structure were in place, I went through to be sure that I had action and description to help drive the story and evoke emotion without having a bunch of talking heads on every page.

Then, I read for style, remembering that Mark Twain said that the difference between the right word and almost the right word was the difference between lightening and lightening bug. And I love language so much that it's fun for me to play with words.

Along the way, I had wonderful beta readers go through the manuscript a couple of times. Their feedback gave me wonderful insights into what worked and what didn't. A final revision with all the pieces in mind, and I was ready to publish Fortune's Fool.

This all sounds a lot more organized than it was when I was actually revising Fortune's Fool. Having muddled through that, though, revising A Billy Sunday Kind of Love should be a piece of cake. Or at least less daunting. Right?

It's the simple things in life.

Last February, I posted a story about my nerd-out over the arrival of my new seed catalog. I love to garden and I was deciding on what to plant for the season. Right before Script Frenzy kicked off in April, I managed to plant an assortment of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. I wasn't sure what was going to take, but I hoped for the best.

By July, my garden was bursting with three types of squash, plenty of herbs, cucumbers, strawberries, jalapeños, bell peppers, and sunflowers. It was wonderful, and my friend snapped a photo to share with you. Ah, it really is the simple things in life that make me happiest.

What's been making you happy lately?

– Sandra

Down the Rabbit Hole

NaNoWriMo's been over for a bit now, but I'm only just beginning to feel the slump. After a month of spending hours with my characters, researching the perils of deep-cave exploration and the mechanics of spelunking, and not-so-patiently explaining why I wouldn't be making that baseball game with friends after all, the relative quiet of January is, well, a little disquieting. I'm a little sad to be honest!

Still, one thing that's bucking me up? Knowing that Script Frenzy is only a few short months away. NaNo came first for me, and is near and dear to my heart, but Script Frenzy might be a footstep nearer and dearer. I was a literature-writing major at UC San Diego, and chose a focus in screenwriting for my last year there.

My now-dusty portfolio consists of a spec script for The Office, in which Michael Scott discovers Facebook and demands to know why Pam won't friend him back (wow, remember when people were "discovering" Facebook?), a feature where a boy decides he will resurrect his recently deceased older brother, and a pilot script that examines the sometimes sordid, less than magical lives of the workers inhabiting the princess dresses and mouse costumes at the non-copyright-infringing "Fizneeland."

Still, I can't seem to shake this last novel off completely, to the point where I'm thinking I might just adapt it into a screenplay this April. Even though the final product was pretty beastly, there are hints of a strong jawline and glinting eyes buried somewhere underneath the hairiness. I can excavate something yet. It's the setting, really, that's inspiring me. Caves! Journeying underneath the earth's crust! Stalactites and stalagmites, and still pools of water, hollow echoes and eyeless amphibians! The thought of it all makes me hop, and I'm glad to have reason to keep exploring as I look ahead to Script Frenzy.

What about you? Looking back on all that hard work this November, what is most exciting to you about your novel? Anyone else adapting a NaNo novel for Script Frenzy?

– Tim

Photo by Flickr user Bernt Rostad

The Office of Mittens and Brrr

Here in the Bay Area, we're having a quite beautiful, quite temperate winter.

But in the OLL office, we cannot get out of an ongoing cold wave. Try as we might, even with the heater pumping, we're just not feeling the warmth. I blame our high ceilings and big windows—nice the rest of the year, but they provide insufficient structure for maximum toastiness. At least one of us has even taken to wearing a Snuggie at the coldest points in the day. (It's a leftover merchandise sample… Did we ever tell you that we thought about making NaNoWriMo Snuggies?)

Many of you live in colder parts of the world, and we thought you might be able to help. How do you stay warm while working—whether on your writing or at your day job? Better yet, give us your most ridiculous idea to stave off the cold, and we'll take a picture of a staff member wearing or doing it.

Thanks in advasbnm,ce (Whoops, mitten-related typo.)

– Chris A.

Photo by Flickr user Syniq

Writer Fuel: Mexican Hot Chocolate

Need help tackling that rewrite? This tasty drink will give you the boost you need to help you get started. The following recipe makes about two over-sized mugs of hot chocolatey delight.

Ingredients:

One tablet of Mexican chocolate (Abuelita, Morelia or Carlos V) broken into smaller pieces. 
3 cups of milk (skim, 1%, 2%, or whole milk all work)
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
A pinch of salt (optional)
Mini marshmallows (optional)
Brown sugar (optional)
Cinnamon sticks
Whipped cream

Directions: 

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat bring the milk to a gentle simmer. Next, add the chocolate, cinnamon, and salt (optional) stirring frequently with a wire whisk for five minutes until the chocolate melts. Allow the mixture to simmer for a few more minutes so the chocolate and milk can blend together. When it comes to a boil remove from heat and beat with a wire whisk until frothy. 

Sweeten with brown sugar to taste. Top with marshmallows, whipped cream, and add cinnamon sticks as stirrers. Be sure to let it cool before sipping because it'll be piping hot. Enjoy!

Photo by Flickr user Louish Pixel

Calling all YA and Middle Grade Novelists!

We just caught wind of a tremendous opportunity for Wrimos who have written a young adult or middle grade novel. And it supports a wonderful humanitarian cause that also champions our shared passion for literacy and libraries!

Thanks to a contest hosted by literacy charity Book Wish Foundation, you could get feedback on your writing from literary agents and renowned authors like Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe, and Cynthia Voigt, winner of the Newbery Medal for Dicey's Song and the Newbery Honor for A Solitary Blue.

(We're excited to see past NaNo and YWP pep talkers Meg Cabot and John Green are involved in this project, too!)

From Book Wish Foundation:

Visit http://bookwish.org/contest for full contest details. To enter, write a 500-word essay about a short story in Book Wish Foundation's new young adult anthology, What You Wish For. Write the best essay about Meg Cabot's story, and you'll win a manuscript critique from one of the top YA literary agents. Write about Ann M. Martin's story and the author of the mega-bestselling The Baby-sitters Club and the Newbery Honor-winning A Corner of the Universe could provide feedback on your NaNoWriMo novel.

Six winners will be chosen, one for each of the agents/authors. You can even submit essays for each of their stories, and you'll be in the running critiques from all of them.

Essays are due Feb. 1, 2012. Winners will be announced on or about Mar. 1, 2012. If you win, you will have six months to submit the first 50 pages of an unpublished young adult or middle grade novel to receive a one-page critique from one of these literary agents or authors. Since you will have time to work on your novel before sending it for critique, you can enter even if you didn't win NaNoWriMo. This contest is open to U.S. residents age 13 and older, with full eligibility requirements at http://bookwish.org/contest. There is no fee to enter.

What You Wish For is a collection of short stories and poems about wishes from 18 all-star writers: Meg Cabot, Jeanne DuPrau, Cornelia Funke, Nikki Giovanni, John Green, Karen Hesse, Ann M. Martin, Alexander McCall Smith, Marilyn Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joyce Carol Oates, Nate Powell, Sofia Quintero, Gary Soto, R.L. Stine, Francisco X. Stork, Cynthia Voigt, and Jane Yolen.

This anthology is available at these libraries, or you can find it at your local book seller. 100% of the proceeds go to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to fund the development of libraries in Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad.

Best of luck to all our YA and middle grade writers who participate!

– Lindsey

Thanks for Your Readership

Some time during our office's holiday nap, this blog quietly reached 10,000 Tumblr followers. A pretty sweet milestone.

Today I reread the staff "Blog Manifesto" that started it all, and this phrase jumped out:

We want to show people who we are and what we care about.

I think we're accomplishing that—through posts both silly and serious, on topics from the height of NaNoWriMo to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and everywhere in between. And even more importantly, we're learning a lot about our readers through the great discussions that happen in the comments section.

But, we can always do a little bit better. We'd love to hear from you: What's your favorite part of reading the OLL blog? What features do you want more of? Any new ideas or questions?

Thanks for your readership, and thanks in advance for your thoughts. We appreciate you making OLL a part of your day.

– Chris A.

Photo by Flickr user mollybob

Mark Your Calendars! ABNA is Coming!

On our 2011 edition of the "I Wrote a Novel, Now What?" page, we list a number of free contests and writing challenges that you can enter this year. One of them is the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, which is fast approaching!

Wrimos are no strangers to the ABNA; scores have entered, many have reached the semi-finals and finals, and last year a Wrimo won!

That's right.

In 2011, Jill Baguchinsky was the winner in the young adult fiction category for her novel, Spookygirl, which she drafted during NaNoWriMo!

This from Amazon:

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award brings together talented writers, reviewers, and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction. The 2012 international contest will award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance.

Open submissions for manuscripts will begin on January 23, 2012 and run through February 5, 2012. If you're an author with an unpublished or previously self-published novel waiting to be discovered, visit CreateSpace to sign up for regular contest updates. See the official contest rules, or read details on how to enter.

If you plan to enter, share the details about your novel here! We'd love to hear all about your masterpiece manuscripts.

Good luck, novelists! We're rooting for you!

– Lindsey