Friday Four!

1. Taxes.
2. I hate them.
3. Barely finding time to write, and they're sucking time from every other part of my life too.
4. I'll be back soon in better spirits.

If you're interested, I'll leave you with a fabulously informative vlog from Jackson Pearce about how books are stocked:

Swearing in YA

I was just reading a great post over at Ebony McKenna's blog about swearing in MG or YA fiction. During a recent round of edits, she was encouraged to take out a phrase that could be found offensive. I thought Ebony's reaction was very smart, and I think I would do the same.

This is a topic that's of interest to me at the moment, because my current work in progress is riddled with bad language. So much so, in fact, that it makes me uncomfortable. The thing is, though, I had to write the first draft this way to stay true to my character.

I've been discussing this with critique partners as I'm moving into draft 2 of the novel and trying to edit out as much of the language as I can. I believe wholeheartedly in staying true to characters, but at the same time, when I read a book filled with abundant curse words, I notice that most of them don't seem necessary to me. In fact, in many cases, the language will cause me to get annoyed by the voice.

So I'm making an effort to cut as many instances of bad language as I can. I figure it's hard enough to find an audience as a new writer, and I really wouldn't want something as simple as overuse of the "F" word to make readers bypass my book. What it has come down to for me, I think, is strong writing. Challenging writing. It's easy to show character, especially a rough character, with a swear word. Much, much harder to show who they are without it! But it is possible.

Lovable and Admirable Characters

Back when I was a struggling writer (as opposed to now, when it just comes oh-so-easily *note sarcasm*) trying to make my inroad into the world of publishing, I used to enter a lot of writing contests. Not to win. No, seriously. The first one I entered with the aim of winning, but after the enormous bout of depression that followed, I changed my tune. I entered to get feedback that I knew I could count on as honest and impartial. I get this from my critique partners, too, but sometimes I talk through my plots so much with them that I don't know for sure if they're seeing my writing with fresh enough eyes. So I look for fresher ones.

I'm rambling. This was not at all my point. I've gotten a variety of feedback from contests, but there is one stellar little nugget of wisdom that's stuck with me beyond everything else. The judge who gave me this little bit of enlightenment also told me who she got it from, but I've searched far and wide and I can no longer find it. So this bit of writing advice needs to be attributed to somebody other than me, and if any of you know who's wisdom it is, please tell me so I can give this person a thousand kisses to their feet. Because it's been a wonderful tool for my writing arsenal.

This was the advice: Main characters should be at least two out of the following five to be engaging and lovable:

1. Extremely smart

2. Extremely talented


3.  Extremely funny


4. A victim of extremely difficult circumstances (notice how this, on its own, is not enough)


5. A superhero  (includes "saving the cat")

 This was so life-changing (or at least writing-life-changing) that I've never forgotten it. To be honest, I'm not sure that I can write a character that's extremely anything yet, because I'm not extremely smart, funny, talented, a huge victim, or a superhero. But it gives me something to strive for. And I like that.

What got me thinking about this is the book I'm reading right now, REVOLUTION by Jennifer Donnelly. The MC, Andi, is brilliant, and I just noticed how I was immediately drawn to her. (She;'s also extremely talented AND a victim of her horrible circumstances). Also, I recently watched THE SOCIAL NETWORK and had the same reaction. This one, of course, was based in reality, but I have an enormous amount of respect for writers who can write such beautifully brilliant  dialogue.  Of all the above character traits, I think "smart" is the one I would most love to be able to write. Or maybe funny. But heck, I need two of them, so why not go for both?!

I'm curious what you think of this writing advice. Consider some of your favorite characters. Do they fit the bill? And if you disagree, what do you think it is that most makes you love characters?

Teen Author Tuesday Presents Sara Bennett-Wealer and RIVAL!

Today I'm excited to welcome another Elevensie AND a fellow Contemps member, Sara Bennett-Wealer.Sara's debut novel, RIVAL, releases Feb. 15, 2011 (Today!) from HarperTeen. It is Contemporary YA, for ages 12 and up.

Welcome, Sara! Boy, it feels like I've been waiting to see this book hit the shelves forever--I can't imagine how long it seems to you! Tell me about your book in seven words or less, Sara.
Music, competition, rivalry, best friends, now enemies

Other than your main character, who's a favorite character of yours in your debut novel and why?

I love Matt because he's the kind of friend everybody should have: loyal, funny, sweet and a blast to have around.

Can you tell my readers a little bit more about yourself, Sara?

I'm a very lucky person who's blessed to make her living doing something she loves.

What's been the most surprising thing about your path to publication so far?

I've been surprised at how little changes! You still get rejections. You still have stress. But you also make amazing friends, and there's nothing like connecting with a reader who really *gets* your story. You have no idea how good that will feel until it happens to you!

What's one piece of writing advice you would give to aspiring authors?

Don't wait for inspiration--just sit your butt down and write. It's OK if it sucks; that's what revision is for!

Great advice! Are you swept up with promotion for your debut book right now or can you give us a sentence or two about something new you're working on?

I wouldn't have to say much to reveal the concept for my new book, and since I don't want to spoil it, I'll stay mum! 

That seems a little unfair, but okay. I get it. But I still want to know! What did you write when you were a teen? Did you journal? Write poetry? Write overly literary or emotional stories? Or avoid writing altogether?

I wrote a lot of papers, since I took AP English classes. I wrote a lot of fiction in grade school, actually, then quit during my teen years. I didn't start writing fiction again until I was in my 20s.

What's the last book you read that you really loved?
YOU WISH by Mandy Hubbard. I got to read it as a crit partner, and thought it was the most charming concept. Mandy did a great job with that story! Right now I'm reading MATCHED by Allie Condie. I wouldn't say I love it because it is creeping me out, but I do love how well it's creeping me out!

I loved YOU WISH too! And MATCHED is in my TBR pile. If readers want to find out more about you and your writing, Sara, where should they look?

Website: www.sarabennettwealer.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/sbennettwealer

Blog: http://sbennettwealer.livejournal.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/sarabennettwealer

RIVAL Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Rival/140616459301752

Great! Thanks so much for stopping by, Sara, and all the very best with your debut!

My Bookshelf Giveaway!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! I'm happy to have my valentine home again today, as he's been out of town the last week.

Because I'm feeling extra lovey-dovey, I'm going to give another THREE books away from my bookshelf.

And the winners are...

IF ONLY YOU KNEW goes to Christitheteenlibrarian!

HOTLANTA goest to Liana!

THE KID TABLE goes to Jacinda (The Reading Housewives)

Congratulations!! Please send me your mailing address at d (at) denisejaden (dot) com as soon as you can!

I'm going to do one more week of clearing right now (mailing is getting expensive!) and then I'm going to add a whole bunch of new awesome books and save them to give away during March Madness.

For any of you who don't know, March Madness is a writing challenge through the month of March, kind of like NaNoWriMo, but without all the rules. The idea is camaraderie...helping each other along in our self-imposed goals. Keep your eye on my blog as we get closer for more details. Writers of all sorts, beginners to advanced are welcome! If you're looking for a little writing motivation and want to win some great prizes, this is the place you'll want to be during March!

Now onto my last bookshelf! Just tell me in the comments which book you'd like to win (some may be ARC's, some may be signed, most are in great condition, but there may be a few that show some wear). This contest is open for US mailing only (by the way, we will have some great INTERNATIONAL prizes during March Madness, including books of your choice and critiques!).

Choose away! And good luck!!!

Click on the above photo to see better, or here are a couple of closer up shots:

Friday Four!

1. Apparently I cannot walk into a bookstore and come out empty-handed. I tried. But these are books I've been wanting for a while and I'm very, very excited about them:
 

2. Maggie Stiefvater once did a post detailing how much she'd spent on books one year. Since I'm in the middle of trying to get my taxes organized, I was tempted to do the same. But then I thought...what if my husband caught sight of the number? Surely I'd be cut off! Then again, he doesn't read my blog.

3. I have a really difficult time formatting pictures in Blogger, and an even worse time getting them aligned in LiveJournal. If anyone knows this Great Secret To Life, please enlighten me. You'd think it would be easy to stick pictures beside each other, or insert them here and there among text. And it probably is. I'm showing my stupidity, aren't I?

4. We're dog-sitting this week while my parents are out of town. My son is thoroughly enjoying the company and I'm back to rethinking about the possibility of getting our own puppy. What do you think? Should we get a puppy?

I'm off to teach teens at the homeschool co-op for the day. I'm teaching novel writing, and helping with a class on web design. Hopefully the web design teacher won't notice how technically dense I am.

P.S. That was really five items, I know, but I didn't number the fifth one, hoping that no one would notice. Then I decided, since I've already called myself daft twice in this post, you probably don't need another reason to think of me that way.

 Teddy and Sushi

The Secret Past of Denise Jaden

Okay, it's really not all that secretive. But this post is about my past as a reader and a writer.

I've been working on a novel-writing workshop to teach to a class of homeschooled teens for a while now. When I first suggested the idea, back in October, I thought I had loads of time to get it ready. Funny how things NEVER actually work out that way.

So tomorrow I'll be meeting my class and teaching my first workshop. I'm very excited! And okay, a little nervous. Tomorrow will mostly be an intro day - finding out about everyone's experience, interests, favorite books and so forth. That part excites me a lot, actually.

I thought I might share some excerpts on my blog along the way, and even though there's not a lot of teaching material in this excerpt, as I was going through my notes, I realized I don't think I've ever really shared much of this on my blog.

So this is just a little bit of my background on reading and writing. It's something I'll be talking through, so I'm sure I will expand and condense as it feels right, but these are some of the notes that will catapult me...

Most writers I know have wanted to be writers since they could first hold a pencil. Many of them have spent a good portion of their lives devouring books. So if that’s you, you’re in good company. If that’s not you, you’re probably a lot like me.

I grew up as a reluctant reader and writer. Through school, I spent much of my brainpower trying to figure out how to get out of reading and writing assignments. The term “reading for fun” seemed like an oxymoron to me. It didn’t make any sense.


All that changed when a friend passed along a novel to me and made me promise I would read it. “It’s that good!” he told me. I was in my twenties at the time. My friend was right. I loved it. I couldn’t put it down. And when it was finished, I rushed out to buy the sequel.(The book was KANE AND ABEL by Jeffrey Archer).

Since you’re here to write a novel, I’m assuming most of you already love something about fiction, but I encourage you over the next few months to find out exactly what you love the most. Do you love action and adventure? Romance? Beautiful language and detailed description? And why do you love those things? It took me so long to discover that I loved reading, that it really took a ridiculous amount of time to figure out what it was I loved about it!

When I first began writing, it was actually kind of journaling. Before I even realized I wanted to be an author, I created characters to endure some of what was happening in my life. The thing that surprised me the most was when the characters took on lives of their own. Soon they were doing things I’d never thought of doing. They were coming up with their own set of problems and situations, and reacting in ways that I would never be able to bring myself to, and I was just along for the ride!

My first inclination to attempt an actual novel came when I read a book by Joel Saltzman called, If You Can Talk, You Can Write. The premise behind the book is that anyone can write a book. And many, many people start writing books. It just takes a whole lot of discipline to finish one.
That book inspired me, and I was determined to be one of those Finishers! To take my characters, put them into a real novel, and finish it.
This was about eight years ago, and it took me most of a year to finish writing the first draft of that first novel. Only after I typed “The End” did the thought of publication cross my mind.


But I wasn’t completely clueless. I knew I had no training or experience. I barely had experience as a reader, for that matter. So I started to learn. I picked up every book on the craft of writing I could get my hands on. I found many at the library, and ordered several others off of eBay. I found one thing frustrating, though. Even though the books made sense to me, I had a difficult time taking the lessons and actually applying them to my writing.

Enter Critique Circle. In 2004 I found an online group at www.critiquecircle.com. I had floundered around by myself for long enough. The idea of this website is that you trade chapter-long critiques with others. I read several chapters posted by others, critiqued a few (even though I had no idea what I was talking about), and finally sucked in a big breath and pressed Post with my own first chapter.

The first critique I got back said a number of things, but this was the most memorable. “If I found this book at Barnes & Noble, I would put it down by the second paragraph.”


Ouch! But honestly, even though that could have been worded a little nicer, my determination did not stop me from trying. I went on to get better and more helpful critiques, to the point that eventually I felt ready to submit my work to a literary agent.

Or more like 50 of them. I sent query letters to many, many agents. And I received many, many rejections.

As I waited, sometimes many months, for rejections to pour back in, I started on a second book. After going through approximately the same process as the first novel, I began to query that one. Again, without success. It was my third novel, after lots of polishing and revision, that gave me my first offer of representation.


I signed with my agent on my third book in November, 2007. We sent my novel out to a slew of editors (17, I think?)  in January, 2008, and I had an offer on LOSING FAITH from Simon & Schuster by March, 2008.

And so was it in bookstores by April then, right?


Um, no. It hit bookstores in September of 2010, after three more sets of revisions with my Simon & Schuster editor.

The rest, as they say, is history!