P.J. Hoover's Blog, page 83

Thoughts on Conferences

(I'm not sure I've typed this many words since my last novel. And not a single picture to boot.)

Thank you all for the awesome comments on my conference wrap-up from Monday! My post along with seeing all the other posts about the Austin SCBWI conference for some reason really made me remember when I first joined SCBWI.

It was only five years ago though it seems like forever. I joined Austin SCBWI and signed up for the conference which was only a few weeks later. I didn't know a soul. I knew alm...

Take that New York—Austin SCBWI Rocks!

In case you felt sorry for us writers here in Austin that we weren't attending the National SCBWI conference in New York, I'm thinking the tables were turned. Sure, the temperature dropped just a few degrees colder than we'd all hoped, but we bundled up and kicked off the weekend Friday afternoon.

I headed to the airport where I had the pleasure of meeting Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson and her husband Neil, editor Stacy Cantor of Walker books, former FSG editor now full-time author Lisa...

Five on a Friday

Happy Friday!

I'm so looking forward to our Austin SCBWI conference this weekend. We've got a packed schedule filled with fun and lots of great faculty. I'll fill you in on the details next week. But if you're curious about who all is going to be there, you can check out the Texas Sweethearts Friday roundup.

Here are my five for the week:

1) I'm picking up author-editor Lisa Graff of FSG and author Sara Lewis Holmes at the airport. My son was nice enough to make me this awesome sign to hold to g...

THE EMERALD TABLET - A Closer Look at Revisions

I'm rerunning this post from a month ago when I posted it over on The Spectacle.

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First some basic stats on THE EMERALD TABLET:

Time to write first draft - 3 months
Length of first draft - 113K
Length of published novel - 66K
Time from first word written until publication - 4 years

First line of first draft - The night was bright, lit by a waxing gibbous moon.
(Okay, it pains me to put that down. And it came from a prologue, no less, long since deleted from the story.)

First line of published...

Five on a Friday

Can you believe it's Friday already? Again. Where does the time go? Yikes, before I know it, it will be April and my birthday. It's a big one this year :)

Here are my five for the week:

1) Thank you to everyone who made me feel better about my WIP. I worked on the beginning (yet again) last night, and already feel like it's going to be stronger. And I just have to reiterate Sherrie Peterson's comment:

"Ever watch Finding Nemo? Sing Dorrie's song with my words:

Just keep writing, and...

On love...

I've been working on a new WIP for, oh, something like eight months now. Yes, there have been other things being revised during that time and lots of critiquing, and ... well, I'm not sure what else. But suffice it to say, I've taken time away from the WIP. I've changed it around a bit. I've added motivations and changed POV and tense and all sorts of things.
But I don't yet love it.

I kind of have the feeling after I get through it this time and once I actually get a beta reader, the love will...

I bet I can make you smile - Cootie Catcher :)

Okay, so at least one thing in this post should make you smile. If not, I suggest a large heart filled with chocolates. If the chocolates don't work, maybe try watching a Twilight spoof or something else similar on YouTube. And if that doesn't work, take a nap and try again tomorrow.

I'm guessing it's not going to be the post I did over at The Enchanted Inkpot about the interesting cross-breed of historical fiction and fantasy via time travel, but if you're interested in this type of book, hea...

Five on a Friday

Revisions have pushed everything else to the backburner this past week. Well, revisions and a 3rd grade art project (on Picasso), a solar system project, a Cub Scout derby car, and me polyurethaning the floor. It's good to be busy.

I hope everyone had a fantastic and productive week! Here are my five:

1) I had a blast at Baranoff Elementary today (Thursday) at a school visit. I talked about the Hero's Journey and how it can be used to help with plotting. Baranoff actually got a handfull of peop...

Critique Contest and the Becky Levine Winner!

Happy Monday!

We're giving away a manuscript critique over at the Texas Sweethearts blog, so if you're interested, head over and check it out!

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And I'm thrilled to announce the winner of THE CRITIQUE GROUP SURVIVAL GUIDE by Becky Levine is...

Kelly H-Y!

Yay, Kelly! Email me your address and whether you'd prefer a print version or a PDF, and Becky will arrange it!

Thank you all so much for entering!

And have a great week!

Five (ways to stay warm while writing) on a Friday

Happy Friday! The weather is cold as a...well, I'm not really sure any of my similes are appropriate. Any clean suggestions? I realize it's only supposed to get into the teens, but in Austin, Texas, that is major. As in bundle up and hope you don't have to leave the house major.

So how to get writing done when your teeth are chattering? Here are five suggestions for this cold and windy Friday:

1) Hot tea
Have lunch with fellow Texas Sweethearts Jessica Lee Anderson and Jo Whittemore at The...