What I’ve been reading…

So I read something like 450 pages yesterday. That’s a lot. Most of which in a rocking chair. Here’s what I read:

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
Semiprecious by D. Anne Love
Thoughts on Bree Tanner
When I write, I always like to switch to other characters’ points-of-view. It usually becomes a problem because then I want their point-of-view in the story and I end up with 7 characters all trying to tell the same story. But it’s fun. So I understand why Meyer liked to do the same thing (with Edward in Midnight Sun and now Bree in this novella). The story actually was pretty interesting. It held my interest even though I knew the outcome. And she did create a couple of fleshed out characters that haven’t appeared in the Twilight books. I was surprised at how well thought out this was. The only thing I’m going to poke fun at is Meyer clearly wants her dream man to be her protector. Over and over again, her male love interests protect women. I don’t think she can write a romance and not put that in there. If you want to read the novella about Bree, it’s free online for the next 72 hours (until July 5th). Just google Bree Tanner.
Beginning Thoughts after reading Semiprecious
I’ll probably do another post after I discuss this book in class. The author was supposed to be my professor, but couldn’t teach the class. This is one of the books she’s published. I couldn’t help but notice LOTS of similarities between the books on the reading list she created.
-Two deal with Communists (and then a third has hate against Germans during WWII)
-Two have Native American influences
-Three protagonists who move and must deal with making new friends
-All of them take place in the past
-All but one take place in a small, rural town
-Three have a teenage older sister who is obsessed with boys, clothes, and make-up
-All have a white main character. (In fact I think the only non-white character was an Indian.)
I’m getting really bored of these types of books. I’m really sick of realistic fiction. That doesn’t mean these were all bad books. I just really think she should have had more diversity in the reading list.

Thoughts on Stephenie Meyer

A lot of people (especially writers) give Stephenie Meyer a hard time. And rightfully so, her books are not terribly well written and Breaking Dawn makes me want to hurl.

HOWEVER

I do think you have to examine any extremely successful person and examine why they were able to stand out among the crowd. She DID get published. She HAS made millions. So she must have done a few things right.

Here are my guesses as to why Meyer had such success:

Timing
I think Harry Potter had a very large female reader population who was left with nothing once that series finished. All these girls/young women were looking for a nice chunky book series to fill a hole. I think Meyer was lucky enough to fill that niche.

First Love
A huge aspect of why Meyer has been so successful is that she was able to recreate what it feels like to fall in love that first time. You can argue with me all you want, but I really do think she did this well. Though, this is also what makes her writing poor because in order to capture this feeling, she did things like describe Edward’s eyes 876,253 times (I made that number up, but you get the point.) All the repetitious descriptions of Edward, while poor writing, do take girls back to when they were teenagers where they would obsess over that one boy. From doodling his name over and over and over. To memorizing where he’d be at different parts of he school day. The repetition of her writing reminds us what it was like to be all-consumed by thoughts of one person.

Love Triangle
I don’t think the series would have been nearly as successful without Jacob. If the books had just been about Bella and Edward, it would have sizzled out much earlier. The smartest choice Meyer ever made was to put Edward on the backburner for book 2 and take the time to develop Jacob’s character. And then, what she did was make two characters that are such polar opposites. I must say that she did a good job in making both characters so different, but still making them both lovable. Edward being uptight, cold, protective, dangerous. Jacob being a fun-loving, warm, honest, comforting. I really do think she did a good job of developing these two characters. They are the ones that drive the stories.

Soooooo… Yeah, Stephenie Meyer is no Shakespeare. Yeah, her last book is a joke and she doesn’t know how to end a series. Yeah, there are better writers out there who deserve to make more money than she does. But the reading population doesn’t buy books based on how well written they are. Meyer is a commercial/popular writer who found a niche, created a brand, and milked it for all its worth. She found a subject with mass appeal.

And so I think a lot of the writers who criticize her have been bitten by jealousy. But if you want to make money off your writing, it’s not just how pretty your words sound, you have to consider your audience. Does this have mass appeal or is it too edgy? You have to think about it. Meyer hit on a idea with mass appeal, and then gave her audience what they wanted most.

And yes, I will admit I saw Eclipse last night. And yes, I enjoyed every minute of it. (Though that will probably be the last Twilight movie I enjoy.)

Alice in Wonderland


Today’s class was finally a little better. The first hour and a half was still just the professor rambling on and not making much sense, but then after the break, all the students started talking about Alice in Wonderland and it became a lot less boring.

If you haven’t read Alice in Wonderland and only know of the Disney version, you’re really doing yourself a disservice. Disney really slaughtered the whole mood and charming bits. The best part of the story is Alice’s thought processes. She is so funny in how she thinks about the world, and she is such a charming character. You don’t get that from either the Disney movie or the Tim Burton film. I feel like the films focus more on the world of Wonderland and its inhabitants when really its Alice’s views and interactions that made the story so wonderful. For example, at one point when Alice is growing extremely tall, she has a whole conversation with herself about how she’ll be too tall to put on her shoes and stockings. And whoever shall do that for her feet now? And she even pretends that she will have to write letters to her feet now. For if she can hardly see them, she can’t speak to them. She sounds just like a 7 year old girl, and made me laugh.

I highly recommend reading Alice in Wonderland, and I hear Through the Looking Glass is even better. I was dreading reading it, but thoroughly enjoyed it once I got started.

Project Dilemma

I spent two hours in the library this afternoon and cranked out over two thousand words. (For you math people, that’s 16 words per minute!) I was rollin! It felt really good, and that’s really what I came to Hollins for in the first place.

But here’s the dilemma that I technically already know the answer to. (It’s just not the answer my creative brain likes.)

What writing project do I work on?

I have this newly inspired project that I worked on today. A dark dystopian/sci-fi piece.
Standing at only 3500 words

I have my lovely original project inspired by the ocean which I let my students read the last week of school. (They loved it!)
Standing at 22,000 words

I have an exciting project inspired by Greek Mythology.
Standing at 14,000 words

Then I have a cute little fairy tale.
Standing at 9500 words

As you can see I have a problem with starting new projects. It’s lovely that I have no lack of ideas, but I need to set about finishing something. I know exactly which project I should finish. The original. It’s not that I don’t like working on it.

It’s just that each idea is one of my children and I love them all, though they’re each different and unique. But you’re making me spend time with just one and all the rest are sulking and neglected in a corner. That may be a bit melodramatic but that’s really how I feel.

I can’t hop around and write a little of each when the mood is right or inspiration strikes because I’ll honestly never finish anything that way. So I know I have to buckle down and focus on one.

I just don’t like it.

But I will. Because I’m desperate to get a draft done this summer.

Craft Day 4

After discussing the book Loud Silence of Francine Green we moved on to another writing exercise. I’d been hoping we’d get to read the piece we’d revised as homework because I’d made some pretty big changes and revisions and I was curious what my peers would think. So I was a little disappointed when we didn’t do that.

Instead we wrote something completely new. And the prompt was very difficult for me to apply to my character. My character’s biggest trait is her fearless and fiesty attitude. The prompt was: Have your character confront a challenge and not make the brave decision.

Well, if you have a fearless and fiesty character, that presents a problem. My character is not a coward in the least bit. So I tried to work through my frustration with the prompt by brainstorming things my heroine may be scared of. I came up with three things: getting caught, trusting people, and losing her younger brother.

Then I knew at some point they were going to run away, so I wrote about some hypothetical situation where they were running away and ran into people, and “Jane” made a decision not to trust them. It wasn’t my best writing. It was a very cliche scenario. And so now, after I finish this post, I’ll write for fun without a prompt.

And at some point today… I’ll read Alice in Wonderland.

The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman


Surprisingly enjoyed this book. Had to read it for a grad class. Loved the voice and style initially, but then after I’d read some of the other selections for class, the voice didn’t stand out as much.

Francine is a young teenage girl growing up during the 1950’s. She is obsessed with movie stars and likes to read. She meets the outgoing and outrageous Sophie and experiences her first best friend. She attends an all-girl Catholic school in Los Angeles where she keeps quiet and stays out of trouble with the evil Sister Basil. However, the nation is frightened and paranoid about communists and the atomic bomb. Francine is trying to figure out the truth in a confusing world where not even the adults around her know what the truth is.

My only criticism for this book is today’s teens might not have enough background to understand and relate to Francine. I can’t see any of my students getting into this book. Though, I do think my mom would love it… My favorite chapter is the one towards the beginning about paper dolls. 🙂

Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe

Summary

Wataru suddenly finds his world broken apart when his father leaves his mother for another woman. But after a series of mysterious happenings at an abandoned construction site in the neighborhood, Wataru discovers that he can enter a fantasy world called Vision. In this world full of both friendly creatures and evil doings, Wataru must collect 5 gemstones in order to change his fate in the real world. If he collects the 5 gemstones, he can make one wish to the Goddess, and Wataru wants to wish for his family to be put back together. But the journey Wataru goes on will be long and difficult and may lead him to discover things about himself that he didn’t know.

This book is an amazing work of translation (originally in Japanese), and it won the Batchelder award which recognizes translations in children’s literature.

Review

Liked this book but it was sooooooo long. It didn’t fly by like a chunky Harry Potter book. I’ve passed my copy on to one of my favorite students from this past year, and I found myself wondering today if she’s started it yet.

I really liked the clarity and beauty of the author’s descriptions. You really feel like you traveled to the world of Vision by the end of the book. There were some amazing similes that I want to go back and find and write down somewhere.

Wataru was an incredibly likable character. Lots of great supporting characters. The ending was satisfying. Some people say they thought the beginning 200 pages were slow, but I flew through that part of the book and really liked it.

My brother is reading this book right now too, and really likes it. The book has lots of similarities to a fantasy video game plot, and anyone familiar with video game storytelling would probably really enjoy this book. And my brother isn’t complaining about the book being so long, so maybe he’s more engrossed by the fantasy. Maybe Tolkein lovers would enjoy this one?

Hist. & Crit. Day 3

Today was only marginally better than past classes. I think my other classmates are just as tired of listening to the professor talk for 3 hours, and so they were trying to chime in and talk about other stuff. Which made class a little better, though if you asked me what I learned today or talked about… I can’t tell you a thing.

Though the professor is very nice. He said he would like to have our class up to his cabin for a cookout one weekend towards the end of July.

Next class we will finally move away from theory and discuss Alice in Wonderland. Hopefully, class will get more interesting on Thursday.

Today’s Class and Season of Gifts


A Season of Gifts was my first encounter with proclaimed author Richard Peck, and supposedly it’s not his finest work, but I enjoyed it just the same.

Summary

A preacher’s kid named Bob Barnhardt and his family move to a small southern town. The family isn’t welcomed all that warmly, and they learn that they are living next to the town kook: Mrs. Dowdel. Over time, Mrs. Dowdel plays an integral part in their being accepted into the town.

My Review

The book is brimming with Southern expressions and culture of the 1950s. Richard Peck has a tremendous voice as an author and a fantastic sense of humor. For example, here’s a line from the book: “The sorority was Iota Nu Beta, which some people said stood for I Outta Know Better.”

The one criticism of the book is that it is much more character driven and not action driven. There is no definable climax. Though the novel is character driven, the protagonist, Bob, is a very bland character and not as fleshed out as some of the others. In fact many of the other characters, such as Ruth Ann, Phyllis, and Roscoe Burdick make a much more dynamic transformation and were much more interesting characters. And then there was Mrs. Dowdel who is just such a larger than life character and known to be one of Peck’s greatest.

Overall I really enjoyed this book!

Today’s Class:

After discussing Season of Gifts, we did two writing exercises. Last class we created a character. Today we had to describe that character’s hands. It was a fun way to get your brain rolling.

Next, she let us write for 20 minutes straight and our only job was to create a scene. I love, love, love what I got out in those 20 minutes. It was suspenseful and mysterious and filled with strong imagery. They loved my first sentence which was:

Jane felt safe when she had sweat rolling down her back.

Jane actually isn’t the character’s name. I substituted for now. It won’t be any chore at all to revise/polish it up and maybe expand on it a little!

I’m kind of tired because I was up til 1:30 last night working on schoolwork, but I was having a blast doing it, so it’s all good!

Why hadn’t I heard of this guy???

Taken from book flap:

Described by the Washington Post as “America’s best living author for young adults,” Richard Peck is the first children’s writer ever to have been awarded a National Humanities Medal. His extensive list of honors includes the Newbery Medal, a Newbery Honor, the Margaret A. Edwards award, the Scott O’Dell Award, and the Christopher Medal. He has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award.

I just finished the book A Season of Gifts which I’ll be discussing in class tomorrow. (Full post after discussion) Loved the book and I have no idea how this guy has avoided my Kid Lit radar!