Kate Elliott's Blog, page 38
June 9, 2011
"Why the best kids books are written in blood"
Writer Sherman Alexie writes a moving and searing piece responding to the now infamous Wall Street Journal essay by Meghan Cox Gurdon bemoaning the "fad" for dark, dangerous YA because of how it might, like, warp children's minds.
Alexie:
Almost every day, my mailbox is filled with handwritten letters from students–teens and pre-teens–who have read my YA book and loved it. I have yet to receive a letter from a child somehow debilitated by the domestic violence, drug abuse, racism, poverty, sexuality, and murder contained in my book. To the contrary, kids as young as ten have sent me autobiographical letters written in crayon, complete with drawings inspired by my book, that are just as dark, terrifying, and redemptive as anything I've ever read.
And, often, kids have told me that my YA novel is the only book they've ever read in its entirety.
So when I read Meghan Cox Gurdon's complaints about the "depravity" and "hideously distorted portrayals" of contemporary young adult literature, I laughed at her condescension.
Does Ms. Gurdon honestly believe that a sexually explicit YA novel might somehow traumatize a teen mother? Does she believe that a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow shock a teenager whose life has been damaged by murder and rape? Does she believe a dystopian novel will frighten a kid who already lives in hell?
Read the whole thing.
Alexie:
Almost every day, my mailbox is filled with handwritten letters from students–teens and pre-teens–who have read my YA book and loved it. I have yet to receive a letter from a child somehow debilitated by the domestic violence, drug abuse, racism, poverty, sexuality, and murder contained in my book. To the contrary, kids as young as ten have sent me autobiographical letters written in crayon, complete with drawings inspired by my book, that are just as dark, terrifying, and redemptive as anything I've ever read.
And, often, kids have told me that my YA novel is the only book they've ever read in its entirety.
So when I read Meghan Cox Gurdon's complaints about the "depravity" and "hideously distorted portrayals" of contemporary young adult literature, I laughed at her condescension.
Does Ms. Gurdon honestly believe that a sexually explicit YA novel might somehow traumatize a teen mother? Does she believe that a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow shock a teenager whose life has been damaged by murder and rape? Does she believe a dystopian novel will frighten a kid who already lives in hell?
Read the whole thing.
The Golden Key re-release, June 2011
THE GOLDEN KEY, by Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliott, has a re-release (available again in paperback) with a new version of the old cover.
This re-release prepares the way for Melanie's THE DIVINER, due in August, her prequel to THE GOLDEN KEY.
Really, it's a clipped down version of the old cover (which I'm sending you over to Tumblr to look at because it is so much easier to post photos on Tumbler than here).
This re-release prepares the way for Melanie's THE DIVINER, due in August, her prequel to THE GOLDEN KEY.
Really, it's a clipped down version of the old cover (which I'm sending you over to Tumblr to look at because it is so much easier to post photos on Tumbler than here).
June 4, 2011
My weird steampunk question for the night
How long might it take a small airship to get from the coast of Texas to the north coast of Cuba? Discuss options and variables.
The timeline of the Cold Magic world and its technology obviously does not map exactly to ours.
The timeline of the Cold Magic world and its technology obviously does not map exactly to ours.
May 26, 2011
"Don't take it lying down"
I'm really liking Tumblr because it's easier to post links and photos. It's limiting, too, something like a cross between Twitter and live journal, if I had to make a crude comparison, which I do, but it's just so much easier to post photos there (for me; this may not be true for those of you who find posting photos on lj easy) that I can post a photo a day JUST BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT and the hardest part is deciding which one.
I'm on Tumblr here.
Today I posted a quote from Iain Banks taken from a short interview up on Orbit Books blog with Simon Morden.
The quote I quoted:
I just think it's basically snobbery which makes us separate entertainment and art and denigrate one while worshipping the other. I also don't mean to imply that all art/entertainment is of the same worth; it isn't. All I want to argue is that what we are faced with when we confront the vast array of creative cultural output that we currently call art and entertainment is not as crudely binary in nature as those two words suggest but rather a spectrum, and an untidy one at that, with junk and gems distributed throughout.
I think all that any of us can do is produce the best stuff we're capable of producing – preferably without either feeling ashamed of it or (even worse in a way) working on projects our hearts aren't really in but which pursue anyway because we feel they'll garner a better class of praise just through their supposedly more serious or refined nature. And, I repeat, keep banging away at this very subject; don't take it lying down, don't accept this is just the way things have to be. We have to challenge the authorised version of our imposed cultural hierarchy.
I'm on Tumblr here.
Today I posted a quote from Iain Banks taken from a short interview up on Orbit Books blog with Simon Morden.
The quote I quoted:
I just think it's basically snobbery which makes us separate entertainment and art and denigrate one while worshipping the other. I also don't mean to imply that all art/entertainment is of the same worth; it isn't. All I want to argue is that what we are faced with when we confront the vast array of creative cultural output that we currently call art and entertainment is not as crudely binary in nature as those two words suggest but rather a spectrum, and an untidy one at that, with junk and gems distributed throughout.
I think all that any of us can do is produce the best stuff we're capable of producing – preferably without either feeling ashamed of it or (even worse in a way) working on projects our hearts aren't really in but which pursue anyway because we feel they'll garner a better class of praise just through their supposedly more serious or refined nature. And, I repeat, keep banging away at this very subject; don't take it lying down, don't accept this is just the way things have to be. We have to challenge the authorised version of our imposed cultural hierarchy.
May 25, 2011
ARCs of COLD FIRE (Spiritwalker #2)
I've learned there will be no paperbound ARCs for COLD FIRE (Spiritwalker #2). Orbit Books' new policy is to produce a paper ARC (Advance Reading Copy) only for standalones and first novels in series.
What this means is I can have no contests to give away early copies, for which I'm sorry, because I like to have the chance to throw a few out there to eager readers. But . . . there it is.
An eARC of COLD FIRE will be available on NetGalley some time in the next few weeks (I have no date for that yet, but since I've just sent back the marked-up-pages of the first pass page proofs, an e-galley can't be far behind).
If you are a reviewer or bookblogger, contact Orbit Books for information on how to get an eARC.
A reminder: Official publication date (world English) is Sept. 26, 2011, aka 26 Sept. 2011. It may appear on the shelves a little before that.
What this means is I can have no contests to give away early copies, for which I'm sorry, because I like to have the chance to throw a few out there to eager readers. But . . . there it is.
An eARC of COLD FIRE will be available on NetGalley some time in the next few weeks (I have no date for that yet, but since I've just sent back the marked-up-pages of the first pass page proofs, an e-galley can't be far behind).
If you are a reviewer or bookblogger, contact Orbit Books for information on how to get an eARC.
A reminder: Official publication date (world English) is Sept. 26, 2011, aka 26 Sept. 2011. It may appear on the shelves a little before that.
May 22, 2011
May 19, 2011
The Revisions Process (in three parts)
This is a housekeeping post in which I link to all three posts I made last month on The Revisions Process.
Part One: On a Theory of Revising
Part Two: What My Own Eyes Look For
Part Three: I answer two questions re: debut novelists and working with an edit
It will also be posted in The Writing Life section of my web page in a day or two.
Part One: On a Theory of Revising
Part Two: What My Own Eyes Look For
Part Three: I answer two questions re: debut novelists and working with an edit
It will also be posted in The Writing Life section of my web page in a day or two.
May 18, 2011
Interview at Civilian Reader
Here's a short interview at the blog Civilian Reader.
Civilian Reader also reviewed Cold Magic.
Here's a link to an older review of Cold Magic at Hawaii Book Blog (which was possibly the first island-wide book blog in the state).
Civilian Reader also reviewed Cold Magic.
Here's a link to an older review of Cold Magic at Hawaii Book Blog (which was possibly the first island-wide book blog in the state).
May 16, 2011
Five Ways of Seeing Andevai (Cold Magic)
If you haven't read Cold Magic, you may not only not find this post of interest (although you may find it marginally amusing), but my complete lack of any explanation may prove confusing -- or not, now that I think about it, since the content is quite straightforward.
1) Cookie-cutter and completely cliched arrogant jerk stuck into the book because author felt obliged to have a non-essential and pointless romance element.
2) Arrogant jerk who is borderline abusive. Despite the things he does to aid Cat (and Bee) in the last third of the book, it is unlikely there is anything he can ever do in book two to redeem himself for how awful he is to her at the beginning.
3) My god, what an arrogant jerk. I didn't like him, but I can see that he has reasons for being an arrogant jerk and I did recognize that he changed in some ways over the course of the book. I just wish there had been more reasons to like him and/or to believe he fell in love with her at first sight as he claims in the end, because I don't see much evidence for it, and I don't really see why Cat could be attracted to him besides that it is stated that he is strikingly handsome. Still, I'll withhold final judgment until book two.
4) Yes, he's an arrogant jerk at first, but arrogance is how he has learned to protect himself from the difficult situation he was forced into years ago, and we slowly see layers of his background and personality revealed as he begins to respond to Cat's presence and predicament with his own very cautious, tentative, and even awkward attempts at change. As one (older male academic) reader put it: "Andevai is a deeply divided character whose attachment to Cat represents his struggle to come to terms with a part of himself."
5) I totally love me some arrogant-jerk sulky snarky handsome bad boys. Can't wait until book two!
No matter what, everyone agrees on one thing! And that is as it should be.
Four months until Cold Fire.
1) Cookie-cutter and completely cliched arrogant jerk stuck into the book because author felt obliged to have a non-essential and pointless romance element.
2) Arrogant jerk who is borderline abusive. Despite the things he does to aid Cat (and Bee) in the last third of the book, it is unlikely there is anything he can ever do in book two to redeem himself for how awful he is to her at the beginning.
3) My god, what an arrogant jerk. I didn't like him, but I can see that he has reasons for being an arrogant jerk and I did recognize that he changed in some ways over the course of the book. I just wish there had been more reasons to like him and/or to believe he fell in love with her at first sight as he claims in the end, because I don't see much evidence for it, and I don't really see why Cat could be attracted to him besides that it is stated that he is strikingly handsome. Still, I'll withhold final judgment until book two.
4) Yes, he's an arrogant jerk at first, but arrogance is how he has learned to protect himself from the difficult situation he was forced into years ago, and we slowly see layers of his background and personality revealed as he begins to respond to Cat's presence and predicament with his own very cautious, tentative, and even awkward attempts at change. As one (older male academic) reader put it: "Andevai is a deeply divided character whose attachment to Cat represents his struggle to come to terms with a part of himself."
5) I totally love me some arrogant-jerk sulky snarky handsome bad boys. Can't wait until book two!
No matter what, everyone agrees on one thing! And that is as it should be.
Four months until Cold Fire.
May 15, 2011
Coming Soon!
I'm trying to get back up to speed in general, having been preoccupied and saddened by a pretty awful ongoing family medical situation (not me, my spouse, or my kids, I should note). It is what it is, as we say; I won't be discussing it here.
I do want to try to start posting again more regularly (I tend to be in Twitter most of all my social media these days, a fact which is becoming increasingly irritating to my spouse, which I find amusing).
If there's anything you would like me to post about, let me know in the comments (or email me, for that matter). Sometimes I don't post because I can't come up with anything that seems of interest.
This week, I am scheduled to receive
1) the page proofs for COLD FIRE. Whoo! One more step closer to publication in September.
I'm now at that point where all the second thoughts I may ever have had bubble strongly to the surface, because -- really -- it's too late to do extensive changes. Or really, anything except check for typos and maybe make one or two word choice changes.
Also, I've learned I second guess myself too much. A few months ago I was literally cutting and rewriting a pair of lines from the end of one chapter in COLD FIRE, lines I had decided didn't work, when I received a Twitter message from a beta reader quoting, to praise, those two very lines. My confidence had just quit. I kept the lines as they were, because of that beta reader (thanks, Mark).
It might be interesting, although I'm not sure I have time, to do a complete breakdown of the beta reading process of Cold Fire at some point after the book has come out, because it was a particularly interesting series of rewrites and revisions, of the "nothing changed, yet everything changed" variety.
2) my new one man canoe. I'll try to post a photo when it comes in. It's made by Papu Williams, whose company Pineula Va'a hand makes all its canoes in Hilo. It's a Pe'a -- a smaller lighter version of the Ma'a Afi (and is not featured on the website because it's the newest canoe type he's making).
Pe'a is a Samoan word. It can denote a specific kind of tattoo for men (google it; I dare you), but it was chosen as the name for this brand of canoe because it also is the Samoan word for the flying fox (fruit bat) native to Samoa.
Finally, on lj, our very own![[info]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380451598i/2033940.gif)
rachelmanija
has posted a great review of COLD MAGIC.
I need to do a post on the five ways of seeing Andevai.
I do want to try to start posting again more regularly (I tend to be in Twitter most of all my social media these days, a fact which is becoming increasingly irritating to my spouse, which I find amusing).
If there's anything you would like me to post about, let me know in the comments (or email me, for that matter). Sometimes I don't post because I can't come up with anything that seems of interest.
This week, I am scheduled to receive
1) the page proofs for COLD FIRE. Whoo! One more step closer to publication in September.
I'm now at that point where all the second thoughts I may ever have had bubble strongly to the surface, because -- really -- it's too late to do extensive changes. Or really, anything except check for typos and maybe make one or two word choice changes.
Also, I've learned I second guess myself too much. A few months ago I was literally cutting and rewriting a pair of lines from the end of one chapter in COLD FIRE, lines I had decided didn't work, when I received a Twitter message from a beta reader quoting, to praise, those two very lines. My confidence had just quit. I kept the lines as they were, because of that beta reader (thanks, Mark).
It might be interesting, although I'm not sure I have time, to do a complete breakdown of the beta reading process of Cold Fire at some point after the book has come out, because it was a particularly interesting series of rewrites and revisions, of the "nothing changed, yet everything changed" variety.
2) my new one man canoe. I'll try to post a photo when it comes in. It's made by Papu Williams, whose company Pineula Va'a hand makes all its canoes in Hilo. It's a Pe'a -- a smaller lighter version of the Ma'a Afi (and is not featured on the website because it's the newest canoe type he's making).
Pe'a is a Samoan word. It can denote a specific kind of tattoo for men (google it; I dare you), but it was chosen as the name for this brand of canoe because it also is the Samoan word for the flying fox (fruit bat) native to Samoa.
Finally, on lj, our very own
rachelmanija
has posted a great review of COLD MAGIC.I need to do a post on the five ways of seeing Andevai.
