Kate Ristau's Blog, page 44

The Cost of Magic

I’m working on a novel revision, and I’m running into a problem. A BIG problem. A magic problem. Specifically: the cost of magic.

When you write with magic, you don’t just think about the effects of that magic (the cool part –invisibility, flying, and unlimited cupcakes). You also have to think of the limitations of the magic.

Example

For example, can your wizard cast unlimited spells? Or does she start to get tired? In most fantasy magic systems, you can think of a magic user like a car. They need fuel — be it sleep, time, mana potions or butter (I’m still thinking about cupcakes).

Why does the Cost of Magic Matter?

The reason we tend to consider the cost of magic is because it makes for a compelling story. If the magic user is not limited by need, then they can be limited by items (think kryptonite) or situation (think Spider-Man without his web fluid).

If your magic has no limits, you run into the problem I have today: your character becomes almost invincible. In any situation, they can escape, triumph, and consume all the cupcakes.

So, that’s where I am right now. I’m considering the limitations of the magic system I created. I’m thinking about how I can write a more compelling story by putting some confines on my magic system. I’m considering the cost of magic.

Some Resources I’m Looking at Today

If you want to know more, here’s a couple of sources to get you thinking.

Brandon Sanderson: Sanderson’s First Law
Writing Excuses: The Costs and Ramifications of Magic
Mythcreants: How to Create a Rational Magic System
Reddit: Building Magic Systems

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Now Reading: Some Kind of Happiness

Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand

I picked up Some Kind of Happiness when it came out, read the first page, and quietly put it away. The style was so perfect and wonderful — and so close to how I wanted to write my next book. I didn’t want to be influenced too much by Claire Legrand’s style, and I wanted to enjoy it too!

I sent my newest draft to my agent, and then I picked this book right back up again!

I love the switch between big, luscious story and frustrating reality. Legrand also handles her characters like a master. I immediately connected with her characters; they felt undeniably real.

This book would be great for middle graders up through adults. It will spark discussion, and deals with themes of loneliness, depression, loss, and divorce, while also making us believe in something more.

For more about Claire Legrand, click here.

Up Next

This Mortal Coil, by Emily Suvada (Young Adult)

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Willamette Writers Conference

Sparks of Joy at the Willamette Writers Conference

Another year at the Willamette Writers Conference! I learned a lot this year about our amazing writing community. My favorite time was sitting behind the desk, working with volunteers and meeting other attendees.

How great to spend the weekend full of words!

I’d show you all some pictures, but there are so few of me; I wasn’t standing still long enough. Too much to do, too much to see. Don’t want to wait another year.

We finished off the Conference with The Big Critique. It filled me with happiness to see so many writers talking to each other about their writing, and walking away from the Conference with some next steps.

It was a long, hot weekend, but it was perfectly cool in the hotel. I can’t wait for next year!

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So much love at The Washington Post

Another essay in The Washington Post? I can’t believe it. What a whirlwind week!

Rowan is getting better every single day — stronger, faster, and ready to fly. The Washington Post also published another essay from me. At the same time, I’ve been busily working on other revisions, and drinking more than enough coffee. Here’s the start of my new essay:

“I have a story to tell about something that happened to our family last week,” Jimmy Kimmel began. “And before I go into it, I want you to know, it has a happy ending.”

On his show Monday night, Kimmel went on to explain how his son Billy was born April 21 with congenital heart disease. It all began when his nurse, Nanush, noticed a heart murmur.

I turned up the volume and stared at Kimmel’s red tie. I, too, remember the exact same moment when our nurse noticed our son’s heart murmur. We went through the same wait as Kimmel, watching the echocardiogram, wondering what would happen next. Kimmel’s son was diagnosed with tetralogy of fallot and immediately rushed into surgery. He had a hole between the left and right walls of his heart. Our son had two holes, but his surgery was pushed back until he was older. At 5 years old, his condition worsened, and he had his own open heart surgery three weeks ago.

[The wait for our son’s heart surgery has been long and agonizing]

“It was the longest three hours of my life,” Kimmel said.

It was the longest seven hours of ours. We said goodbye from a tiny white room, our son already sleepy with medication, his enlarged heart beating more slowly from the pre-medication. They wheeled him down the hall to surgery, and my husband and I sat in the chairs in his empty room. I didn’t cry. I couldn’t. I had to be ready for what came next.

Click here to read more at The Washington Post.

 

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Son’s heart surgery story in the Washington Post

My son’s heart surgery

Many of you know that my son’s heart surgery was this month. We were waiting for this surgery for quite a long time, and he is recovering well. I recently wrote an article about waiting for his heart surgery. It was published in The Washington Post. Here’s the beginning of his story. Click through to read the rest. Sending you all my love and thanks for reading my words.

The wait for my son’s heart surgery has been long, and agonizing

“What have you been up to?”

She asks it innocently enough, her hand resting on her shopping cart. My mind flies to the real answer, and it makes me want to go home. To be with my son. To process, mend and hold. To not be staring at her fingers tapping the handle of the cart. She has somewhere else she needs to go, and so do I. All I wanted was to pick up a gallon of milk, hummus and a loaf of bread.

My mind runs through the possible responses.

I could brush her off: “Not too much. Just grabbing lunch before I head back to work.”

I could disarm her: “Not too much. Taco rebellion.”

I could flip it back to her. “Not too much. You?”

But those answers don’t make their way to my mouth. They aren’t right. They aren’t the heart of it. And the heart is all that matters.

I’m too emotional lately, and I don’t have the tools for this. I shouldn’t be out in public, talking to people. I say stupid stuff. And people act weird around me.

Last April we began planning for my son’s surgery. We’d known it was coming — he was born with two holes in his heart. Now, five years later, his heart, once so small, had become enlarged. This meant more blood was making its way into his lungs, which could lead to heart palpitations, shortness of breath and even death.

We had been waiting, hoping random tissue would gather around the hole to form a barrier. It didn’t. We scheduled surgery for July.

But when we went in for one last appointment in June, it looked like some tissue was gathering around the hole. It looked like it would close on its own.

We held our breath and pushed back the surgery. We did exactly what we know how to do — we waited, and we played. There were lots of Legos, soccer balls and books. We invented new games and told crazy stories. We lived for the moment — riding the carousel and piling up sand at the beach. It was wild and it was good and everything seemed possible.

That’s the power of waiting. You don’t know what’s coming and you don’t know what you’ll leave behind, so you put it all on the table. You play every card in the deck. You finally understand all those stupid inspirational posters, and you don’t have to read New Age books about being present because there is nothing else — just that little boy with his dirty blond hair and his Legos and his smiles and his heart beating a little too hard.

Summer came and went. We shuffled through fall, sickness dogging our heels. We sat in the cardiologist’s office in January.

“We can’t wait any more.”

[READ MORE AT THE WASHINGTON POST]

You can find out more about my son’s heart surgery in my column at Literarymama.com.

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Join Cascade Writers to Switch it Up!

Cascade Writers Switch it Up!

Join me and Cascade Writers this Saturday. We’ll help you fall in love again… with your manuscript. Do you have a piece of writing you’ve been looking at so long you’re not sure what you’re doing anymore? Find yourself stuck at a literary impasse? Maybe you’re just feeling burnt out in general and wondering where the good times went. Bring your literary darlings for a Cascade Writers play date with me, Tina Connolly, and Alex Renwick!

This Saturday

April 29, 2017
10:00 am – 6:00 pm


Taborspace

5441 SE Belmont St

Portland, OR
COST: $135
Scholarships still available!
More Details
This workshop is going to rock. We’ll help you refocus on what you really love about your storyline, characters, or plot by building castles in a whole different sandbox than the one you’ve been working in. Turn your elevator pitch into a haiku, your short story into song lyrics, your novel into a comic strip. Rewrite your hardcore urban fantasy novel synopsis as a gritty western, or pretend your space opera is a furry love story. We’ll free up those creative juices and find you a new way of looking at, thinking about, or honing your writing. Business, branding, rules — blah, blah, blah. Let’s make creating stories fun again and bring back the joy. This is a day to remember how much we love what we’re doing, and why. We’ll lead a series of creative exercises aimed at bringing new inspiration to your writing by using other disciplines and writing styles. To get registered for the fun and inspiration, click here.

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Current Projects

What I’m working on

For those who know me personally, you know that my life has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster lately (which is saying a lot, being as I’ve never even gone to that metaphorical amusement park of emotion). I could probably heart dump and leak all over the page, but I decided instead that I would tell you what I have been doing. It makes the world seem much more manageable to focus on what I’ve been writing, and not how I’ve been feeling.

Feelings are mushy. Words can be magic.

So here’s a bit about the sparks flying around here.

Shadow Girl Two

You heard me. It is happening. The first draft was written, and I’ve fallen back into it. I say fallen, because I have a problem: It is WAY shorter than I realized. That’s the thing about hand-writing your first drafts. Sometimes its hard to tell how long they are until you type them in.

I’ve been fleshing out the novel, building the scenes, and even adding in description, but I’m thinking there’s much more work to do. I’ll be begging for beta readers in a few months, so keep your eyes open (or close them tight if you can’t stand undeveloped characters and wiggly worlds).

Clockbreakers Two

Clockbreakers Two has been drafted also. I’m working through a bigger question about the series at the moment, so it’s sitting on my computer, waiting to be tapped on. I’m the type of writer that thinks through things first, and when I’ve finally solved the problem, I head back into the revision with a clearer head. It’s getting close to readable, but it will still be a few more months.

Your Ideas

So, if you have thoughts about Shadow Girl or Clockbreakers — characters you have loved or hated — now is the time to weigh in. Who do you want to see in the next book? What do you want to know? Last chance to voice your thoughts below.

New Book?

Okay, this one was a bit of an accident. But it’s happening. Much more detail coming soon. Let’s just say I am more than excited — I am thrilled with this new project. A group of 8th graders at Geneseo Middle School are getting a crack at it right now. They’re telling me what they love, what they hate, and what just doesn’t even make any sense. My lips are sealed on the project, but if you hear something from them, I really hope it’s good! And if they say anything about tacos, just ignore them.

What’s next?

More drafting! I’m working on the above novels, and am creating quite a few smaller things too. I’m also collaborating on a few new projects. More on those when they emerge from the Goo of Awesomeness.

That’s all for now! Post your thoughts below or on Facebook, keep being kind, and light some fires. The world needs our warmth.

-Kate

Photo: Shelsi Lindquist

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Find Your Writing Community

How to find your writing community

Laura Stanfill, over at the Main Street Writers Movement, asked me to share my thoughts on building writing relationships and a writing community. I told her:

Writing is lonely. For many of us introverts, spending the day by ourselves, sitting at a computer, maybe not even taking a shower, is . . . awesome! Am I right? I love being by myself. I’m high-fiving myself right now. I’m the coolest person in my home office. The funniest too.

But occasionally, even I want to get out of my shell – to peek my head out and see what’s on the other side of my computer. And sometimes, I need more support than my dog. I mean, he’s great. When I’m sad, he’s sad too, or he just wants to go out for a walk. You never know. That’s why it’s important to build your writing community.

I could cite a bunch of studies about introverts, community, support, and loneliness. But I don’t want to. Instead, I’m just going to slap you and tell you that you need writer friends for support, encouragement, face-slapping, and direction.

Find Your Writing Community

Click over to the Main Street Writers Movement to read more of my essay about high-fiving and making new friends: http://www.forestavenuepress.com/main-street-kate-ristau-on-building-writer-relationships/.

And take the pledge! Laura is leading a quiet revolution of kindness in publishing. She’s creating space for discussion, questions, and community in a competitive landscape. High five her when you see her, and share the movement with your friends! Now, more than ever, our writing community matters. See you on Main Street!

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Main Street Writers Movement

As a writer, one of my main goals is to connect with readers and other writers. I want to make friends and to share my love of stories and words. I want to bring kindness into the world as a very real thing. I want to believe we are better, and we can do better.

The Main Street Writers Movement

That’s why I joined the Main Street Writers Movement. It was started by Forest Avenue Press, a local Portland press. The publisher, Laura Stanfill, is someone I admire and support. From her choice in books to how she sees the world, Laura Stanfill is leading a quiet revolution of kindness in publishing.

Laura Stanfill is leading a quiet revolution of kindness in publishing. #mainstreetwriters @ForestAvePressPowered By the Tweet This PluginTweet This

And now we can join her in that movement. Today, she is launching the Main Street Writers Movement. Here’s her description of the movement:

The Main Street Writers Movement encourages writers to build genuine community on the local level, with a focus on amplifying underrepresented voices and supporting regional literary organizations and businesses. As we activate Main Street Writers hubs across the U.S. and connect them, we will strengthen the literary ecosystem, increase the volume of the literary publishing conversation, and earn more visibility for the writers who invest time and effort in their communities.

Forest Avenue Press is clear on their goals: to build, amplify, support, and connect. In these uncertain times, I can’t imagine a better way to bring us all together. So, I signed the pledge. Here’s why:

Now, more than ever, community matters. Together, we can raise our voices in celebration and support of each other. We can build, we can challenge, and we can create, with a new model — one that ignores competition and elevates kindness. We are stronger together. That’s how I see Main Street, and that’s the world I want to live in.

Join me on Main Street. Sign the pledge, and let’s get to work, helping each other and building a stronger community, together.

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Today

My thought for today:

“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” – J. R. R. Tolkien

Today, I will buy a book.

Today, I will read to my son.

Today, I will tell him that every single day,

he has the chance to change the world.

Today, we will begin again.

What will you do today?

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