Annette Lyon's Blog, page 34

Writing Journey: Why Does It Take So Long?

I'm not talking about the eight years of writing, submissions, and rejections I went through before landing my first novel contract, although that did take forever.
(Granted, I was publishing articles during those eight years, so I wasn't a complete failure . . . I just felt like one.)
Today's topic is a reader question I got from Chas Hathaway some time ago:
Why is it exactly that it takes so long (2 yrs I've heard is average) for a book to get from submission to publication? Is it editing...

WNW: New World, New Language

I'm willing to bet that English has changed more in the last 50 years—at least in terms of vocabulary—than during any other time, and that's thanks to technology.
We have brand new words and acronyms that never existed before (Internet, RAM, Meg, LCD, blog, vlog, PC, DVD, e-mail, snail mail, high-definition, and many, many more).
I'd bet my great-grandparents wouldn't understand half of my conversations because of the new words I'm using. ("I'm going to a bloggy lunch tomorrow . . ." Huh?)
On...

WNW: Much vs Many

This week's WNW is a reader question asking me to help her children understand the difference between much and many.
If you know the difference between less and fewer, you already know the answer: it all boils down to non-count nouns and count nouns.
In other words: Are you referring to stuff of a general quantity or to something you can actually count, such as on your fingers?
Examples:
A NON-COUNT NOUN: TIMEYou can't count time. It's a general noun. You can say you spent a lot of time or a...

Today: A List

1) Five Whitney nominees to go. Three are THICK. I'm hoping to finish one of the thinner ones today. We shall see if I succeed . . .
2) I'm being loud and opinionated again over on the AML Blog.
3) Tonight my parents are coming over for FHE. Yay!
4) I'll be leaving in a few for lunch with Luisa, my favorite New Yorker and my first close bloggy friend. There will be much enjoyment of food and plenty of great conversation, I'm sure.
5) My chocolate cookbook has a title, but I can't reveal it yet...

So Subjective

What makes a good book? What makes for good writing?
You'd think those questions would have pretty straight-forward answers.
Mmmm . . . not so much.
This is my second year serving as a Whitney Awards judge, and we're rounding the bend on finishing up the reading of the nominees so we can cast our ballots for who we think should be the finalists in our category or categories. I'm judging two of the six categories, and there are five judges per category.
I know every judge has their own way of...

Writing Journey: TwHistory Side Project

One of the cool benefits of being a writer is the people you get to know and the opportunities you run into as a result.
Those opportunities could be things that advance your career and bring in money (such as a new freelance gig), but more often than not, they simply enhance your life in some way. Many times they're ways of offering service with the skills you have.
An example there is with my doctor. He's known our family for over fifteen years, and he's literally followed my entire career...

WNW: Structural Ambiguity

One of my favorite assignments in college, no surprise, was in Dr. Oaks's class (if you've been here long enough, you know that he was my favorite professor). He was fascinated with the idea of structural ambiguity: that sometimes the way a sentence is put together can make the meaning unclear, giving it two or more possible meanings. He's even written a book on his years of researching the topic that will be going to press soon.
Our assignment took the entire semester, because we were to...

Behold: My Cover!

I had Blogger open all morning, waiting for inspiration to strike for a new post. I had nothing.
And then my editor sent THIS, and I knew it would suffice: the cover for Band of Sisters.
Isn't it cool? I had even suggested something with five women's hands together somehow.
This is a record for me: I got to keep the title I submitted (one my husband came up with, because I'm terrible at titles, but this one just fits) and the cover is essentially what I suggested. Wowzers!
This book will be...

Writing Journey: Writer Weirdness

Being that it's New Year's Day (and I'm out of town), I'm cheating by re-posting from my archives from when I literally had what, two readers? Below is literally my very first post, and since it happens to be writing-related, I thought it'd be a good fit for my Writing Journey series.
(As a side note, the scene I refer to the beginning was for Hannah's injury in Spires of Stone.)
Enjoy!
*****
Not long ago, I pulled one of my many reference books from my office bookshelf so I could get a few...

My Top Reads of 2009

Just for the fun of it, I thought I'd post some of my favorite reads from the last year. This isn't a complete list by any means.
I'm aware that this list contains a rather a bizarre combination of genres. What can I say? I'm an eclectic reader.
The Reckoning, by Tanya Parker MillsA finalist in several Whitney categories, and definitely deserving of that honor. Loved it.
Seeking Persephone, by Sarah M. EdenAlso Sarah's Affectations. The former was a Whitney finalist this year for Romance (it's ...