Lee Kelly's Blog, page 5

Freshman Fifteens

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve teamed up with a fabulous group of authors debuting in 2015… the Freshman Fifteens!  Check out our mission and our members — and stay tuned for good things to come!

http://freshmanfifteens.com/

Talking with Mindy McGinnis

Today I’m over on Mindy McGinnis’ blog, talking about my topsy-turvy submission process:

http://networkedblogs.com/OU7gs

Story Envy

Every so often, I’d estimate maybe once or twice a WIP, I come down with what I call Story Envy.  I’m not sure how many of you have caught Story Envy — but I find the writing disease so troubling, so annoying, that I finally wanted to touch on it here.

For me, it usually begins fairly innocously.  I’ll be talking to another writer about a great idea she’s working on.  Then, maybe a couple days later, I’ll read a deal in Publisher’s Marketplace that just sounds so original.  Around the same time, I’ll be reading a book that blows me away, and almost always in a genre or market that’s not really my writing “thing”.  And then I come down with the fever.  I start thinking….

Maybe I should be writing contemporary YA.

Maybe I should be writing adult thrillers.

Maybe I should be writing something light, and fun, and younger.

Maybe I should be writing a space saga.

And I look at what I’m working on, and it’s none of those things — I can’t even describe what it is except by way of what it isn’t.  Which panics me… and then the panic becomes doubt about the WIP.. then hatred… then loathing… and then I just want to bury the WIP-in-question in a locked drawer.

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone else?

Like any flu I suppose, previously I’ve just let it run its course, and eventually (whether out of compulsion or that writerly itch) I find myself back working on the project I was working on, some days loving it, and some days hating it, only to bide my time until the next bout of the Story Envy bug.  But this time, I’d had it — I wanted a cure. 

I made a list of my favorite movies, TV shows and books of all time, and the studied them for common elements, if there were any — I think part of my problem is that I read widely and across genres, and I like a lot of different things.  As a writer, I wonder if I’ve really found my niche, or if my first book was something of a fluke.  But my list of favorites surprised me, as nearly all of them had all of these elements: 1) odd mix of realism and fantasy/sci-fi/some other genre, 2) some kind of pervasive human condition theme, and 3)  dark to very dark in tone.   That’s what I’d written the first time around, and I think that’s a fair description of my other two WIPs.   I thought about what happened when I tried to write out of that zone: my heartfelt fantasy MG became darker, for an older audience, and sadder.  Then I thought back to college, when I swore I was going to be the next Jonathan Safran Foer: tons of abandoned literary Chapter Ones, tons of half-baked sweeping family sagas outlined.

And I realized, I write what I like and I like what I write. 

I’ve saved the list of favorite TV shows, movies and books on my desktop, so that I can pull it up and remind myself that even though I appreciate a lot of books, I too have preferences — and the best work I’m going to put forth is the work I’d like to read. 

Now hopefully I’ve nipped this bug for good.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

So Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park. 

I’m not even quite sure where to start.  I know I’m not the first person to give this book a rave review, and I certainly won’t be the last.  I promised myself I’d keep these reviews short so that I would keep doing them, so let me cut right to the chase.  The love story is just killer.  A sensitive boy from a good family, a tough-as-nails redhead from the wrong end of town with a doormat of a mother and an abusive step-father, our protoganists are a pair of outcasts, and yet they seem anything but.  Rowell uses her limited-third person, toggling POVs skillfully:  Eleanor and Park could both walk right off the page, and I came to understand, feel for and ultimately, fall in love with both of them.

I often wonder why a book “takes off” like E&P has, and while sometimes I really just dont get it, with this one I can provide a few reasons.  The central love story is thread with thick, interesting subplots at both homes and at school.  And the time period adds such an element as well:  I have to admit I regard “near history” tales skeptically.  I often feel like the author is trying to write from her own high school experience, and the setting reads as a convenience more than an active player.  Not so with E&P — Rowell’s 80s are alive and kicking, infuse everything from small details (like Smiths on mixed tapes) to characters’ views on their community and society at large. 

Heart-wrenching love story, provocative and complicated MCs, great setting, interesting subplots.

My rating….

POIGNANT AND PERFECT

Looking forward to FANGIRL for sure!

You Look Different in Real Life by Jennifer Castle

JENNIFER CASTLE’S “YOU LOOK DIFFERENT IN REAL LIFE”:

I was pumped about this one: a story centered around five teens who are the subject of a series of documentaries (Five at Six, Five at Eleven, and now, Five at Sixteen).  Castle’s voice is right-on-the-money and her heroine, Justine, is instantly likeable, just the right combination of snarky and self-deprecating.  The book starts off predictably enough: the camera crew comes to town, and our MC, who was the “star” of the first two films, hesitates to become involved because nothing interesting has happened to her in the past five years, and she feels like a poser. 

Then the book takes a detour, literally, as the five stars steal the camera from the directors and take a road trip to NYC, to help one girl find closure from her past (I don’t want to give too much away here).  The interiority and character arcs are totally admirable, and I found myself tearing through the final 50 pages, excited to see how Justine and company grew and internalized their growth.  I think I was just a little surprised: I went into the book expecting all that comes with reality television (cat fights, showdowns, he said/she said and unfair editing) and instead got more of a coming-of-age road trip story.  NOT a bad thing, just unexpected.

Amazing voice, crisp-clear writing, unexpected focus:

I give it a FUN AND SURPRISING.

And I will most certainly be checking out Castle’s first book, THE BEGINNING OF AFTER.

Now diving into Eleanor & Park!