Really, my last Blogger post here!

I've already switched to WordPress, but in case you are a Blogger user and want to know the solution of my problem of how to post PDFs and such to Blogger, try one of these two links:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8333820_post-pdf-file-blogger.html

http://sewbold.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-link-to-pdf-in-blogger.html

Good luck! I should caution you that these directions tell you to use Google Docs. As of the last few months, this is called Google Drive.

Here's an example of a story I published a couple years ago that I'm posting here using these directions! Click the link to read it!

It's All In His Head, from Aim! magazine

Big news!

I'm switching my author blog to Word Press. The biggest advantage will be that I can publish PDFs that show samples of my work. You'll be able to find me at http://rebeccaklempner.wordpress.com/ from now on. See you there!

Bitter with a touch of sweet

It's the Three Weeks. For those in the know, this period (from the 17 of Tammuz through the 9th of Av) are historically the three saddest, most unlucky, dreadful weeks for the Jewish people. Both Temples destroyed. Declaration of the First Crusade. The Jews expelled from England. The beginning of the Spanish Inquisition. The deportation of the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka. Bad, bad stuff.

My bad stuff does not compete. But of course, this had to be the week when I received a rejection letter from the first publisher I sent my novel to. In the end, it might not be bad news (maybe it's sub-par, maybe the next publisher I send it to would be a better match...), but it feels like it right now. I'm not really down in the dumps--probably because of the 5 month delay--but it's still a disappointment.

On the other hand, it's tempered by some great news. I IY"H expect to have a short story in Binah BeTween this week, with a few other pieces placed for publication soon. As soon as they reach newstands, I'll let everyone know.

Three books, three lessons

I haven't been posting to this blog very much recently because I've been very, very busy. Among other things, I've been writing (I'll post about that IY"H soon) and reading--reading to my kids, parallel to my kids, and on my own. Notably, I've recently read several books that are "message books"--books with a sincere moral message that the author wants readers to absorb. While many such books come across as heavy-handed, these do not.

HIGH SCHOOL AND ABOVE Orson Scott Card (as a practicing Mormon, he often introduces ethical dilemmas and messages into his books) is most famous for his first novel, Ender's Game. I recently read the first sequel Speaker for the Dead, and was sucked in right away by the introduction by the author. (In it, Card says that one of his motivations for writing the book was because he wanted to show a central character who is NOT an adolescent, or a drifter, or any other aloof, single man on the fringe of society who usually stars in sci-fi novels. Rather, he portrays a man ready to create a family, who really wants to build bridges between the members of communities.)

Speaker for the Dead follows the hero of Ender's Game to the age of 35--although 3000 years have passed, he hasn't aged because he has spent so much time travelling, teaching people insights into the behavior of the dead, allowing people to walk in the shoes of people before judging them (as it says in Pirkei Avot/The Ethics of the Fathers). This is his personal tikkun (rectification of error) following his (SPOILER ALERT) near-destruction of the species of Buggers at the climax of the last novel. Now, Ender's sister and companion, Valentine, is expecting her first child. Her travels are over, and he realizes he wants his to end, too. But he has one last mission--to find out why members of another alien race have started killing the scientists (actually xenologists--like anthropologists, but studying aliens instead of humans) who have befriended them and studied them.

This novel provides a nuanced discussion about a new kind moral relativism--not that right and wrong are relative, but that our ability to judge them is. The story is a little focused on one side of the argument, and I was able to guess the mysterious cause of the aliens' behavior right off--but that might be because I 1) am a writer myself and 2) hold a master's degree in Anthropology. However, I really enjoyed the book and it would be an excellent stepping off point for discussion in a classroom, book club, or around the dinner table.

MIDDLE GRADE Vivian Vande Velde's middle-grade novel, Three Good Deeds, tells the story of Howard, a rowdy boy who spends several months as a goose. Howard's transformation is at the hands of the local witch, who feels he is a selfish child more interested in his own entertainment than the needs or wants of others. The only way out of the curse is for Howard to complete three genuinely good deeds.

Three Good Deeds uses fantasy, a charming although obnoxious anti-hero, and plenty of droll humor to draw the audience (ages 8 and up) into the story. Despite the light treatment, the message--that a person should be a giver and not a taker--is beautifully interwoven into the text. Warning: The end is a bit of a tear-jerker for softies (it mentions chessed shel emes).


PICTURE BOOK Paul Budnitz's The Hole in the Middle takes a fantastic approach, as well, to teach its lesson. Morgan quite literally has a hole in his middle. He tries to fill it up with superficial and self-centered pursuits. However, it only shrinks when he does chessed (kindness) for his friend Yumi.


The fanciful, metaphorical style of this book ALMOST overpowers the moral. My 3 year old and not-quite 5 year old children laughed at the story, but when I asked the older of the two about the message, she had indeed absorbed it. I'm wondering if the wackiness of the set-up might make the book so memorable, that even if a younger child doesn't quite understand the message at the time she reads it, she'll draw on its memory to guide her after she reaches a stage where it's no longer over her head.


I'm highlighting these books because they definitely represent one of the directions I want to go with my writing--using speculative fiction to explore subjects that might not appeal to children or teens if approached more directly.

What will your children be reading this summer?

I just read an interesting opinion piece in the New York Times by Claire Needell Hollander, a middle school teacher. Her article explains that while young, inexperienced readers should go ahead and read whatever they want during the summer, so long as they read, maturing readers of 10 years old and up will benefit more from selective reading. Ms. Hollander's preferred books build "verbal knowledge (an increase in word recognition) and world knowledge (an increase in understanding about the world around them)."


Ms. Hollander believes that middle- and high-schoolers should not self-select their summer reading. She believes that some students do well with the traditional recommended reading list (heavy on literary novels recognized as "classics"), but she prefers to narrow the students' selection by genre to ensure they are getting the literary diet that will enhance their academic health. Her top picks? High-quality but developmentally appropriate non-fiction. Most revolve on serious moral issues--child soldiers, the bombing of Hiroshima, and the like.


I believe Ms. Hollander when she says that studies have shown that students who read "high quality" material over the summer do better than those who completely self-select. My problem is that this is too short-sighted a goal. We don't just want successful students, we want to make life-long learners who will turn to books for information as well as pleasure. 


So, yeah, a kid who (her comparison) reads The Hunger Games might in the short term learn less words and information that the kid who reads The Red Badge of Courage. But if the kid who read The Hunger Games enjoyed it and develops a real pleasure in reading, they'll might read more as a 30 or 40 year old than the kid who read The Red Badge of Courage and gritted his teeth through the whole thing (not because it's a bad book, but because it was not to his taste). There was a wonderful post on the Nerdy Book Club recently by Sasha Reinhardt about how her low-brow love of The Babysitters' Club series helped develop her lifelong devotion to books. 



And while studies have supported (as mentioned in previous blog posts) that non-fiction appeals to many children who normally don't identify themselves as book-lovers, the serious tone of the books Ms Hollander lists will turn-off many children. The graphic novels Kampung Boy and American-Born Chinese may not appeal to her, but they certainly introduce serious subjects, geographic detail, and lots of new vocabulary in a format that might appeal to reluctant readers more than Francesco D’Adamo and Ann Leonori's Iqbal  or John Hersey's Hiroshima.

Need help with research, but can't reach primary resources?

My husband showed me a marvelous website today, both for teachers and for writers--the updated Library of Congress website. The benefits of this site are the following:

1) Large amounts of the LOC's collections are now digitized. That means, without actually visiting its site in DC, you can view rare materials like maps created by George Washington, newpapers from the time of the Civil War, and political cartoons from the Great Depression.
2) The award-winning interactive site offers the opportunity to virtually "visit" the current exhibitions at the LOC, play "Knowledge Quest," and make your own personal collection of favorite items.

As writers, we can benefit enormously from this resource. Setting a story in the past? We can find letters, diaries and journals of historical figures and be able to quote them in our work. Wondering what should be in the bedroom or office of your main character? You can see the books they read, find out from their diaries what their favorite foods were, places they visited, who they knew, see photos (from 1860s on) of how people dressed in those days, or paintings or woodcuts of where they lived. Need the characters to sound real? You can find out how people felt about historical events while they were still happening through personal correspondence, letters to the editor of newspapers, and political cartoons.

So little time, so many books to write...

I've been busy recently with editing projects, creating a new website (for family campers), and dealing with the general craziness in the Klempner family. That means that I haven't been doing my own writing very much in the last month. I sat down today to revise something I worked on a couple of weeks ago in my writers' critique group, and it felt divine. Ahhhh...

Another thing that kept me busy for the past month was an author visit. I read A Dozen Daisies for Raizy just in time for Shavuot & we did a great art project with the students (here are a couple more Raizy tie-in project suggestions...1&2). As usual, the kids wanted to know if there were any more books written about Raizy. I had to explain (again) that in fact I've written two sequels, one of which has never been published, the other of which was revised with a different central character and longer format, then published as a short story in Mishpacha Jr. 

I miss Raizy. But rejection letters have demoralized me. I haven't even tried to write a sequel for quite a while. I'm planning to write another novel this summer, but I think I'll also try my hand (again) at a follow-up to Raizy. 

I've already started brainstorming and scribbling away in my little notebook.

Summer reading

image from ClipArt ETC

I'm not a Pinterest fan, but here's a wonderful post by a fellow blogger at the Nerdy Book Club that gives super projects to make summer reading fun in your family. 

Summertime is the perfect time to develop a love of reading in your kids. Kids can select their own reading material based on their own interests rather than what their teachers think they should be reading. They can also read at their own pace without meeting a deadline. If your family (or your child's camp bunk) goes on an interesting outing, they can select books that dovetail nicely with the subject matter.



Many libraries have summer book clubs that your kids can join. Just go see the children's librarian for details at your neighborhood branch.

When you write about a place without really capturing its essence

There's an interesting article by Janet Fitch in today's L.A. Times discussing the way local (L.A.) writers fail to portray Los Angeles in an authentic way. "L.A. writers still must navigate the entrenched notion that we're all out here lying by the pool with a margarita in one hand and a phone in the other," she writes. Failure accurately describe our city in print, Fitch argues, will not only misrepresent the city in the eyes of readers, but in those of its citizens. "To write about this city is in some essential way to create it...An image that is, in its way, as important as the concrete place where people live and sleep and look for places to park" she explains. 

People remember the movie "L.A. Story"--which really is an ingenious satire of life here in the Southland--but seem to have forgotten that satire is about inflation and exaggeration. They remember the bored weatherman prerecording his reports of "sunny, sunny, sunny" three-day forecasts and believe that's the reality. The reality is more complex--rainy winters, June gloom, droughts. Viewers remember "L.A. Story"'s superficial actress wannabes and vicious agents, when many Angelenos have no more experience in Hollywood than someone from Wichita. They recall the characters who would rather drive than walk even one block, without realizing that our city maintains a fantastic public transit system which is widely used and growing more popular all the time. Maybe people assume that the average resident of Southern California goes to the beach daily, surfs, and maintains a perfect tan year-round, but they don't get that the water in Santa Monica is freezing cold even in August, and that many of kids in the inner city never get to dip their toes in because their parents are too busy working two jobs a piece just to pay rent.

I think there are some authors who capture L.A. well. Ayelet Waldman's Nanny Track mysteries depict many familiar landmarks more or less accurately (although I've caught a few geographic inaccuracies). Rochelle Krich manages to depict many L.A. neighborhoods in ways that accurately reflect my personal L.A. experiences. However, I think that by and large, I have to concur with Ms. Fitch's comments.

Has your child received their free Hebrew-language picture books, yet?

The division of the PJ Library that sends Hebrew language books to the children and grandchildren of ex-patriot Israelis in the U.S.--Sifriyat Pijama B'America (SP-BA)--is now accepting new families to join the program. Children will receive monthly books in Hebrew, often tied to events on the Jewish calendar. The first year of the program was a success, and its leadership has launched a new website in English that includes many of the features in the Hebrew website. Follow this link to check out the improved site and sign up: http://www.sp-ba.org/.

When Reading Books Becomes a Dangerous Habit

Image from http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/69800/69898/69898_boy-read.htm. That little reader looks so innocent, doesn't he? Little does he know the life of addiction that awaits him!


I just read a hilarious article on Tablet by Marjorie Ingall about how to encourage your children NOT to read. My favorite hint is number one:

Do not set aside 15 minutes to read each day.If you set aside 15 minutes to read each day, at bedtime or before bath, you will turn reading together into a habit. You know what kind of people have habits? Junkies.

This is actually something we currently struggle with in the Klempner household. We used to have just one juvenile book delinquent (you know, the type of kid who smuggles literature into their bunks well past bedtime), but we have recently acquired a second, and a third appears to be close on his heels.  Homework is no longer getting accomplished by my second son in the prompt, no-nonsense way I used to love--he's now forgoing his nightly worksheets, Hebrew fluency practice and spelling drills in favor of reading Tintin, Geronimo Stilton, and Stories of Tzaddikim.

My eldest son will chose to read over eating. Sometimes even over eating pizza. 

It's probably my fault. I used to one of those slackers who read novels instead of doing my homework. And now, I read instead of doing dishes or scrubbing the bathroom. And sometimes--truth be told--even instead of writing. Maybe I need to re-read Marjorie Ingall's article.

How to Cope with Rejection When Your Colleagues are Coping with Success

“Expect rejection.”

     That’s what I was told as I entered the field of the professional writer. Sure enough, the vast majority of us do experience it—and in varied and often humiliating forms--and I was not exempt. I no longer sulk for days if I receive a rejection later (although it might cast a fog of discontent over an hour or two). The more mature of us move beyond tolerating rejection and even learn to appreciate it, and maybe someday I'll reach that stage. Recently, however, I discovered a facet of the rejection experience that has been less commonly addressed, but needs some attention.

    In the space of a few days, two of my colleagues received contracts for their first books. These are two hard-working artists with talent and skill, who worked very hard to reach this point. I’d shared all the ups-and-downs of these particular manuscripts, so each phoned with their good news soon after they received it.

Meanwhile, I’d been tapping away endlessly on my first novel. I had come to a point where I feared it was unpublishable. What made it worse was that I’d been so preoccupied with writing that novel, I’d sent out far fewer pieces of writing than usual. Not one submission had resulted in a sale. I’d been feeling stuck and frustrated that week when my friends phoned with their exciting book deal news.

     In this situation, I had to make a decision.

     I could have hung up the phone and sneered, “But his book isn’t any better than mine!” or “Why is it always someone else?” I could have given the cold shoulder to my recently-successful friends. But the pleasure would be tiny, and it would be brief. Worse, it could cause the loss of a collaborator, colleague, or friend.

     But there was another choice. It’s best described by one (Yiddish) word: farginen.

     To fargin is the opposite of schadenfreude. Whereas the sufferer of schadenfreude delights in the misfortune of others, the person who fargins another delights in their good fortune.

     There is a tendency in artists of all kinds—writers are not exempt—to experience envy, envy in a deeply unattractive shade of green. Somehow, someone else’s success feels like it has prevented your own. Or maybe you believe your work is more deserving than your friend’s.

     You hear about “fair weather friends,” but some people are “foul weather friends.” There are individuals who like having other people around only when they can feel equal or even superior to them. They feel life is a competition, and they always want to be the one on top.  Taking pleasure in someone else’s successes and good fortune, regardless of your own state of being, is just as much of an expression of unconditional love as is sticking it out with a friend in need.

     To be fargin isn’t always a spontaneous emotion. In most people, it requires practice. You remind yourself that your friend’s success doesn’t prevent your own. You cheer for your friend. You spread the word about their new project. You buy the book as a gift for other friends. You let their success remind you that yours is possible at a future date. After all, G-d can hand out as many book deals (or sales or whatever) as there are people, all at the right time. 

     The more you practice this spiritual muscle, the stronger it will become.


(Update: I wrote the original draft of this piece a couple months ago. Don't worry--I got some writing/coaching gigs after the dry spell.)

How to get back into the swing of things after taking a vacation from writing

I took some time off from posting to concentrate on Passover preparations...and then another couple weeks off recovering. My brain was so focused on errands and checklists, and my body was so exhausted from scrubbing, that I pretty much couldn't write at the end of the day, not anything coherent anyway. I had several manuscripts under review by editors, so I thought it would be best just to step back a bit from cranking out stories and submitting them.

It was strangely relaxing to stop writing. While I love to write, things were getting jumbled in my head, ideas tangled up, and I was losing focus. I've always been a person whose problem is too many ideas, not too few. But it was getting to the point that sitting down to write was like opening up the doors to one of those closets where people just keep shoving things in wherever they fit, and you're left fumbling for your navy pumps in a mess of fluffy pink sweaters, old luggage, and forgotten handbags that really ought to be sent to Goodwill. Where to start?

Plus, my writing was feeling less joyful. When writing becomes your job, and you expect yourself to produce something (hopefully brilliant) every day, it can become a chore instead of a pleasure. When most of your writing is done at the end of a long day of homemaking, it just turns into one more thing to check off your to-do list. A succession of rejection letters hadn't helped the situation.

During Passover, I found extra time to lavish on my husband and children, without worrying that I was being a slacker or would miss a deadline (even a self-imposed one). Since most of the publishers I deal with are Jewish ones, I figured they'd all be out of the office, too.

However, my vacation had to come to an end some time. I belong to a critique group, and with a meeting coming up, I had to get back to writing. I forced myself to sit at the computer. My first couple attempts didn't go anywhere, and I felt a bit demoralized. Thankfully, some wonderful helpers were sent to me from Shamayim (Heaven). Totally unsolicited, two friends told me that they like my writing. One particularly focused on my quirky way of looking at things in a way that's humorous but true. This made me reconsider what I had been attempting to write.

I think that one of the problems with my recent attempts of writing was that I was trying to write what other people have successfully sold, as opposed to staying true to my own voice. Half-submerged anxiety about pieces that hadn't sold because they didn't "fit in" with publisher's expectations must have led me down the wrong path, and a little reflection set me straight. I ditched the stuff that wasn't really "me," and returned to my uniquely wacky and off-beat voice. The ideas are beginning to flow and I'm feeling more optimistic.

The Providential arrival of a complimentary email from an editor contributed to the general upswing, too. If this particular editor loved my piece, I must be good!

Pasedena AJL Conference Info Up on the Web!

Schedules and registration forms for the upcoming Association of Jewish Libraries Conference in Pasedena June 17-20, 2012 is now up on the AJL website. This is a great opportunity for Jewish book lovers to share their knowledge and experience.

http://www.jewishlibraries.org/main/Events.aspx

Great post on read alouds

I subscribe to get regular updates from the website "Beautiful Books." Today's guest post, by a speech-language pathologist, describes how to maximize the efficacy and enjoyment of read-alouds. Read her excellent advice here.

How to Increase Literacy Through Changing the Genre of Classroom Materials

When I said, "change genre" in the title of this post, I meant it literally. Many advocates of reluctant readers have in the past mentioned that U.S. school rely too heavily on fiction--especially certain kinds of fiction--to teach students. Studies of boys' reading preferences have pointed out that boys frequently prefer non-fiction selections, but that their schools often rely on fiction. Students sometimes complain about the value of reading short stories and novels in the long term. Are they really going to need to know the major characters and plot points of Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, or Moby Dick as adults?

Now a study in New York City schools described in today's New York Times online adds evidence that increasing the use of non-fiction in classrooms has concrete benefits. Students using an experimental--mostly non-fiction--curriculum scored better on reading comprehension assessments. They also internalized the content of those pieces sufficiently to increase their scores on tests of social studies and science knowledge. The NY Times article mentions that this is particularly useful, as classrooms have generally reduced the amount of time they spend on those subjects in an attempt to improve students' scores on standardized test that focus on reading and math skills. Interestingly, the students that participated in the study were largely from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The study has its opponents, and I would never say fiction should be tossed out of schools (I love novels! I love short stories!), but I hope that this study will prompt school districts to reconsider their current balance of classroom materials.

The Romance of Writing a Novel

I subscribe to the daily emails from Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac (which I highly recommend) and today's email included a lovely quote from the award-winning author, Khaled Hosseini (here I have to admit that I couldn't finish The Kite Runner--there's this violent street-fight scene I just couldn't deal with--but I love this quote just the same).

Apparently, he once said, "There is a romantic notion to writing a novel, especially when you are starting it. You are embarking on this incredibly exciting journey, and you're going to write your first novel, you're going to write a book. Until you're about 50 pages into it, and that romance wears off, and then you're left with a very stark reality of having to write the rest of this thing. [...] A lot of 50-page unfinished novels are sitting in a lot of drawers across this country. Well, what it takes at that point is discipline ... You have to be more stubborn than the manuscript, and you have to punch in and punch out every day, regardless of whether it's going well, regardless of whether it's going badly. [...] It's largely an act of perseverance [...] The story really wants to defeat you, and you just have to be more mulish than the story."

Having just submitted my own first novel (please keep praying a publisher buys it!), and having discussed writing novels with a lot of people, I have to agree with the first half of Dr. Hosseini's statement here. A lot of people dream of writing a novel. Many people actually start writing novels, but most of those peter out right around the point Dr. Hosseini describes.

But here's where Dr. Hosseini and I are going to disagree: while I think that discipline and perseverance are the keys to finishing a novel, I think that many people who begin to write books just don't know how to! While there are people who like to "write by the seat of their pants" or "wing it," completing a novel in a timely fashion without outlining or diagramming or writing notes or some sort of prewriting exercise, and without studying how to write a novel in advance (even just reading a single how-to book from the library can help) is a much more daunting exercise than doing it without putting in those steps up front. Many of these abandoned books could be finished if their authors took these steps. For more on this subject, check out this recent post by Susanne Larkin here.

Whoa

I've just submitted my novel. Whoa. I'm a little freaked out. 

Fear competes with excitement. I'm not sure which is winning, but I have a suspicion that I should really be feeling relaxed. After all, my manuscript's acceptance is now entirely in G-d's hands. I did my part: I finally finished the sucker, got it edited by multiple people, revised it, got it proofread, and researched the most suitable publisher to start with (I hope they agree). There's not much left for me to do, other than pray. And wait.

One of my sources of excitement is that now my writing schedule is wide open for other projects. I have lots of ideas, thank G-d. I kept getting sidetracked by competing writing projects in the last couple months. That is part of what took me so long to finally wrap up this book--that and the multiple viruses that have been afflicting various members of the Klempner household.

Avoiding the dreaded DEAD END

As mentioned in a couple previous posts, I'm wrapping up my Novel-In-Progress. This has been a long, somewhat traumatic process, but it's getting done. About two weeks ago, I realized that I had to scrap the ending entirely. Why? Because my ending wasn't The Ending.

Confused? Let me clarify.

To be a good ending to a novel: 1) there has to some resolution to the major problems faced by the central character/s (this doesn't mean there is a happy ending, just that you see things are settled); 2) the conclusion should share the themes addressed at the beginning of the book (even if it's to turn the initial beliefs of the characters on their heads); 3) the end should be consistent with the details and personality brought up earlier in the novel; and 4) the reader should feel satisfied that they didn't waste their time.

While some books have many possible "Endings" that flow logically from what precedes, there are also many "endings"--dead ends that leave the reader disappointed. You can't expect a reader to be satisfied by the last minute introduction of a character (never before seen in your novel) to save everyone from destruction. Unless you're trying to be funny, it probably won't work for a character to act like their personality has been switched with the hero of a different story entirely. Consistency helps your world become believable to the reader.

The ending I wrote in my outline was replaced long ago with another. However well this ending resolved the characters' dilemmas, it didn't really address the same themes as the initial chapters of the book, nor did it satisfy the readers. Everyone who read my first complete draft seemed to sense that I was holding back certain details of how the book should finish. The truth was, I was afraid to write the Ending the way it should be written, because I was afraid it would become unpublishable.

What do I mean by "unpublishable?" All publishing houses use a style guide. Normally, this governs mechanics like punctuation, capitalization, use of American English vs. British English, and the like. However, Orthodox Jewish publishing houses have an additional level of what words, topics, and the like that they think are appropriate to include in their books. Truly, other kinds of publishers have similar guidelines, just must less stringent ones. Then magnificent Ending I have just written has just crossed a few too many of those guidelines most likely to be found at an Orthodox press. However, the book is VERY, VERY Jewish. Like probably wouldn't make sense if you didn't have a sound foundation in Yiddishkeit.

I think I have now written the Ending the way it should be, but it's just as unpublishable as I feared. Seeking sympathy and advice, I spoke to the ladies from my writing group. They think I should keep the new conclusion, since it is after all the Ending.

And so now, I will have to revise yet again, to see if I can make this book into something someone (other than myself) would publish.

Picture courtesy of http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/68000/68050/68050_123_W14-1_b.htm

I Feel Liberated!

.

Last week, I finished the charming and very wacky Larklight by Philip Reeve. This sci-fi adventure for kids 10 and older follows the Mumby family as they try to stop a mysterious race of giant white spiders for taking over the solar system. The novel takes place in a wonderfully-articulated alternate Victorian history, where Newton started the space race and all scientific discoveries after his time have not occurred or occurred differently than they did in our true-life universe.

Interestingly, G-d (and praying to Him) is referred to on several occasions as the ultimate Creator of the universe in this book. This is in keeping with the time period of the setting, and also very appropriate in the context of one particular character. The book does not refer to a Christian-specific deity, just "G-d" in the generically monotheistic sense. The mentions are mostly in passing, and are certainly not the focus of the novel, but I can't think of any other mainstream sci-fi or fantasy books that actually include one character telling another, "Oh, yeah, G-d created the universe." I was blown away.

This is such a change from the atheism, animism or paganism that has permeated the sci-fi fantasy genre for years. Some of these books go into elaborate detail about how to practice a fictional variety of avodah zara. These books appeal to tweens and teens, who gravitate towards them. One of the reasons that I started writing sci-fi and fantasy material is because of the dearth of such stories that nourish the neshama.

I've written a new (and, I fear, completely unpublishable) ending for my current Novel-In-Progress, and I've started to think ahead about the next project. About six months ago, I thought of a Jewish steampunk/alternate reality book, but I've wondered if the Orthodox book publishers would find it acceptable. Would it be yet another arduous project with an unpublishable result? I started to outline it with the Snowflake method over the weekend. I have transformed the original idea into a fantasy that is not Jewish--but does firmly establish the world I'm creating as created by G-d. I had contemplated this before (as a possible solution to my publishing issues), but felt discouraged due to the lack of such books in the mainstream YA market. Reading Larklight has empowered me to take the leap. Thanks Mr. Reeve!

Another existential crisis in the life of my Novel-in-Progress

So, if there was any one thing that every single person I've had read the Work In Progress has said, it's this:

You call this an ending?

Otherwise known as: time to find another way to end this book.

I've been avoiding this issue a bit as I've been rewriting, because I'm still not sure what would be a better ending. However, I'm almost done resolving the other issues in the book. My new ending must be found. Preferably soon rather than later.

It's not that I don't know where my story's going. Or at least the general neighborhood. It's just the details.

I've been looking for some inspiration online, and have found a few great links to help me out. I'll share them with my readers, in case any of you are in the same corner as me.

Post from The Other Side of the Story with Janice Hardy http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/03/end.html

Post from the Creative Penn http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2010/08/09/how-to-write-the-ending/

From How to Write a Book Now http://www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com/plot-development.html

Article by Holly Lisle http://hollylisle.com/how-to-finish-a-novel/

The two easiest ways to write books yet

 

Picture credit:
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/24300/24305/snowflakes_24305.htm

For a while now, I've been a believer in the Snowflake Method. It was invented by Randy Ingermanson as a way to build your novel in a structured, yet streamlined way, and it does just that. I came late to it, as my novel had started off as a short story, then had expanded to much more than that. I wish I'd got to the Snowflake Method sooner--it would have prevented me from floundering about quite as much. There are other ways to create a novel with discipline and skill--but this has always seemed to me just about the easiest. There's even a computer program that can help you with the method.

However, there's new tool that makes creating a book possibly even easier. Building on a successful blogging format, the folks at PressBooks have designed a online tool that adapts the WordPress platform for the purpose of making a book. The writing process becomes as easy as managing a blog, using the same familiar, simple tools.

The webware is free, and can be used collaboratively (multiple authors can have access to your book-in-progress at once, just as with a blog). Each post is roughly one chapter. You can take your document and covert it to a PDF, epub, etc. It can also be used for a POD (Print On Demand) service, if that's what you want to do. The design of the book is reportedly much more refined than in most do-it-yourself POD products.

I'm skeptical about its utility for novel-writing (although if you want your final product to seem like a fly-by-the seat-of-your-pant serial, where what happens next might surprise the author as much as the reader, it might be okay). It's too linear, where a good novel is usually built in layers. However, if you are working on a non-fiction book project with colleagues, I imagine it would be outstanding. Check more about it out at: http://pressbooks.com/about

Everything I need to know about Styling, I learned from LuLu

Picture credit: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/18900/18980/book_18980.htm

Okay, okay, so my title is a bit of an exaggeration. Here's the story:

I get lots of questions from new writers about how to format manuscripts for submission. My first piece of advice is always to follow the specs articulated by the periodical or book publisher you are submitting to. However, if you don't know where you're sending it to, I've always preferred to use a sans-serif font like Arial or Helvetica for titles and author info, followed by a double-spaced body written in a simple serif font like Times New Roman or Courier. (Serif fonts have those little crowns and tails, sans-serif do not.) You can always reformat later, thanks to the magic of Microsoft Word. And don't forget to insert a footer with a page number and your email address on every page.

In the past, that magic formula has always worked. But now that I'm working on something longer--in fact, an entire book-- things have gotten complicated. It's simply harder to be consistent across more than a hundred pages. I can't remember how I numbered the chapters (with numerals or the numbers as words), if I put in an extra line after each chapter heading, or what size and font I used for each. Sometimes I paste in pieces from other documents and the font and size may differ. My document was turning into a mess. And don't even ask me what happened when I went back and started to rewrite!

That's where LuLu stepped in. You see, I was doing a lot of research last week and the week before regarding e-publishing (hence a couple blog posts wherein I mentioned it). If you publish an ebook through LuLu, you have to use a very specific format. Or, rather, you Style instead of Format.

Most of us look at the Style menu in Word and have no idea what to do with it. We write using the Format menus, sometimes just out of habit.  Even if you don't plan to use LuLu, your editor will still be much happier if you use Styles. Doing so can save you time, but it also will increase consistency throughout a document and prep it for conversion into other document formats like Adobe InDesign or ePub. In fact, if you use LuLu, you have to use Styles, because that's what triggers page breaks for chapters and creates your table of contents.

Some people hate the way the Styles look, or object to the fonts and spacing used. That's okay! With a little practice, you can create your own Style and apply it throughout your Word document. Want to learn how to do this? Here are some links that can help you:
http://floridawriters.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/tool-time-using-styles-in-word-to-help-with-your-formatting/
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/04/authors-keep-formatting-when-they-should-be-styling/
http://daiya.mvps.org/bookwordframes.htm

I doubt I'll go the LuLu route, but I owe the company a debt of gratitude. My reStyled document looks beautiful and is perfectly consistent and organized. Now if only I can finish my rewrite...

Fun story about Picture Books on Aish.com

TKAWK7326886

My teacher and neighbor Emuna Braverman wrote a piece for Aish.com this week about picture books and how they teach us about the parent-child relationship. http://www.aish.com/f/mom/Instructive_Childrens_Books.html

Picture books are amazing not only for kids, but for their parents. We experience them on a daily basis at bedtimes and sometimes they leave a lasting impression. I'll never forget when Rebbitzen Shira Smiles used Goodnight Moon to illustrate a point in a shiur I once attended many years ago.

If you haven't seen them already, here are a few more articles on the same theme, this time by yours truly on  MetroImma.com:

Where The Mild Things Are
Most of us remember the childhood classic, Where the Wild Things Are. In it, the mischievous Max trashes his house and terrorizes the family pet until his mother sends him to his room. Once there, the boy fantasizes about a voyage to the land of the Wild Things. In this marvelous isle, he can be as rowdy and ferocious as he wants. 
More . . .

Our Very Hungry Caterpillars
About 2 hours before a recent Shabbos, my 3 year old daughter and I
watered the container garden in the back of our apartment building.
Alternating waves of heat and rain here in 
More . . .

Your Mother is Coming!
At this time of year, we all need some strategies with which to
fight our ultimate enemy. But where is a busy wife with little kids
supposed to turn for weapons to fight this war? More
. . .

Sometimes even Mommies
have bad days
If you have ever read the book Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day, you may remember the page.
Alexander finally adjourns to bed at the end of his terrible,
horrible, no-good, very bad day. He sounds resigned, yet also
comforted. Why? Because his mother has just informed him that “some
days are just like that.” 
More . . .

With Chanukah just over...

If Chanukah is over, it means just one thing in the Klempner household: time to prepare our annual Purim Spiel. Traditionally, a Purim spiel is a play, but in our household, we've transformed it into a pseudo-newspaper. Our friends and neighbors always enjoy receiving our Purim Spiel, and we put a lot of work into it to make it as wacky as possible.


Picture credit: 
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/63100/63192/63192_men&paper.htm

My husband, eldest child, and I actually collect material for our fake news stories and ads all year round, but it's only after Chanukah that we start fleshing the ideas out and laying them out to look like a newspaper. I start collecting all the little bits my husband has emailed himself and scour my journal for bizarre thoughts I've scribbled (off-the-wall shaggy dog stories to make people groan, truly terrible puns that would make great names for sham products, off-beat reflections about life in L.A., and so on). As Purim gets closer, we usually mix in more time-sensitive material that's based on current events.

As much pleasure as our readers get, we also get the pleasure of  knowing that we're using our talents for goofiness to brighten people's Purim. (Plus, I love the voicemails people leave for a week after Purim telling us which parts were their favorite.)

What's really strange is that the more I write for professional purposes, the harder the Purim Spiel gets for me. I noticed it last year, and this year the feeling's even stronger. It's still fun to make (especially as it's a family endeavor), and I still enjoy our readers' reactions, but my energy is differently directed these days. Luckily, I have family members to keep me in line. We'll get it done even if I'm distracted, IY"H.