Monster Luv!

I've been rereading Everlost by Neal Shusterman. There are so many great things about this book, but one thing that really struck me is how much I LUV the monster in this story, The McGill. He's not a good monster. The McGill is nasty and mean and he likes it that way. He works hard to be a terror. Don't worry. Those arent' the things I love.

What I love is that even though he's so repulsive, Shusterman still finds a way to make him likable in a way that you hate to love a villan. I've been trying to pinpoint the aspects of this great monster and what makes him so great. Here's what I've come up with so far.

1) He's written w/ humor, in a way that made me think of this monster as more of a young boy trying to be a bully.

2) The McGill develops a respect for the female protagonist even though he isn't prone to giveing repect to anyone.

3) This is probably my most favoritest part and PARTIAL SPOILERS BELOW:
In Everlost, there are 2 thru-lines that are weaved together nicely. They are shown early in the story and follow through til the end and are tied together by showing the reader how the McGill came into existence.
A. In Everlost, people will sink into the ground if they stand still for too long and will sink to the core of the earth. No one is able to get out of the core of the earth. The souls just sit and wait until the end of time.
B. In Everlost, if you forget what you look like, your appearance will change accordingly. ie: someone who prized their smile might start to develop too many teeth. A bully that used his fists might grow oversized hands etc.

Now, this is the good part:
Toward the end we find out that before the McGill became the McGill, he was just a regular little boy who sank to the middle of the earth. But . . . as he sat there with all the other sunken souls, he imagined himself strong and powerful. Little by little as his body changed accordingly, he grew strong enough to claw his way out. Something that no one else had done before. However, the very thing that gave him the ability to climb out of the depths is the same thing that turned him into something mean, horrible and heartless.

As the McGill grows in fondness for the female protagonist, his features start to change again; only this time he starts to become less horrific.

Isn't that brilliant!!!! So many threads come together and the monster isn't just a monster for monsters sake. He has a past. He has endearing qualities.

I can't think of any other literary monster that has struck a cord in my quite like this one.

How about you? Do you have any monsters/villans that you love to hate or hate to love?

inspiration

I'm still working on the stinking !@#$@#% synopsis. So far I've got it down from 2 pages to 1. The reason I'm doing this is because I want to submit to an agent that accepts queries only. Right now I have a synopsis that is about 1/2 page, but I don't think it highlights the unique qualities of the story. It doesn't sparkle! Since the agent only accepts queries, I figure I better make it sparkle and highlight what makes the story unique. It's hard. It's really really hard.

The only glimmer of joy in trying to write a better synopsis is that I've been able to revisit some of my favorite scenes and remember the inspiration behind them.

One of my favorite chapters is when my protagonist goes to obtain a Charm that is guarded by an eccentric painter and his minions of impish monkeys. It's a chapter about how things aren't always as the seem. . . .

Artwork by Edgar Muller

One of the main inspirations behind this chapter comes from 3D chalk art much like this one found at moillusions.com

Cool, huh? I never get tired of looking at these. They never cease to amaze me!

Why is a synposis harder to write than the whole dang book?

First, the good news. Over the weekend I finished the first round of revisions for the fast draft that I did as my NaNoWriMo project this past Nov. It's called Kiss The Frog. I love the story and I'm having fun with it. YaY! Now just a gazillion more revisions to go . . .and I can send it out. ;0)

Now that I'm done w/ that, I'm setting it aside for at least a couple of weeks and I decided to sparkle up the synopsis for my YA Fantasy titled UNSEEN. I just started sending it out. I have a synopsis, but I don't think it conveys enough of what makes the story unique. Unfortunately I have to do better than the doggie in above picture.

The synopsis is hard. It's really really hard. Why is that?

In my quest for a better synopsis/query, I found a great resource on Agent, Kristen Nelson's blog. She gives real queries that she received along with her reaction to them. These are all books/authors that she ended up representing. You'll find them a little ways down on her sidebar. There are about 9 queries from different authors. Very helpful. Thnx agent Kristen. U R dah BEST!

Anyone else have any good synopsis/query advice?

I found my untapped Super Power in Pennsylvania

Does this caterpillar make my hand look fat?

The retreat was great, but what really surprised me was that I discovered my untapped Super Power while I was there.

As it turns out, I'm a caterpillar rescuer!

On average, I saved at least 20 caterpilars that had wandered into peril, whether it was in my cabin, or if they were dangling from a spider web, I was there to save them! (insert super hero trumpet here)

Thanks to me, there will be more butterflies in PA this year.

What is your Super Power?

If you don't know your Super Power, Click here to find out what it is.

Author, Rich Wallace on Voice: What are your favorite "voice" books?

Here's that mysterious word writers hear about all the time.

VOICE

It's a crucial element in a manuscript but it's a confusing term. It's hard to wrap our minds around of what "voice" really means. I've found it very helpful to listen to those in the "know" talk about their take on what "voice" is.

Last year about this time I got to hear editor, Martha Mihalik's explaination of "Voice"

This year I got to hear the perspective of a successful author, Rich Wallace. Rich had some awesome points and gave great examples as well.

If I were to boil down Rich's advice, I'd say that

VOICE = THE CHARACTERS UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE

How do your characters show their unique perspective of the world and their thoughts through the words that you choose?

Here was Rich's advice on developing "Voice":

1) Develop a unique eye that makes a scene different.
An example that I can think of from this is Judy Blundell's description of the moon from "What I Saw and How I Lied" A FAT CUSTARD MOON WAS SPLAT IN THE PURPLE SKY.
I think Judy nailed the "unique scenery description" with that one!

2) Research dialogue in specific regions in order to may your dialogue believable.
He uses author (I don't know if I copied her name correctly, so I will refrain from using it) as an example. This author drives around area's, gets out of her car and simply listens and looks for the local oddities that make the area unique. She'll go into bars and listen to how the locals talk to one another.

One of my personal recent examples would be Ingrid Law, author of SAVVY where just one sentence gives you a sense of the characters speech.
"I had liked it with a mighty kind of liking." Ch 1


3) Develop and eye for details that make a person unique.

Mr. Wallace used the example of Susan Orlean who developed a unique sense of personal details by traveling with a group of gospel singers.

An example that I can think of is from "The book Without Words" by Avi

Ch 2 "Everything about Mistress Weebly was small: small body; small face; small gimlet eyes; small nose. Her smallness was emphasized by her being dressed in an overlarge, soiled gown of green that reached her ankles - sleeves pinched at her wrists, apron over all, wimple on her head. It was as if she had been dropped into a dirty sack and was spying out from it. Indeed, the womans only largeness was her curiosity."

I just love that one!!!


What about you? Do you have any authors in mind that have mastered any of these elements of voice?

What is Magic Fairy Dust Made of? Where does it come from?

What book characters have become real to you?

When the Good Fairy waves her magic wand, Fairy Dust flies and "POOF" Pinnochio becomes a real boy. Easy for her, right? Wave. Sparkle. Poof. But did you ever stop to think about where this Magic Fairy Dust comes from?

Well. . . I'll tell ya what. One thing that I've learned from this workshop is that this natural resource is not easily mined. Mined. That's right. The stuff that Magic Fairy dust is made of comes deep from the caverns that many do not dare to go and this Fairy dust isn't just handed over, you have to work for it. . . and in our very first morning session, Rich Wallace led us there. Let me explain:

This is where it started. From this cozy living room on a warm country morning, Rich led us into the depths of our memories; that dark forbidden place where Fairy Dust is born. The magic that can turn a paper character in to a flesh and blood person to whom we can relate.

Rich's advice to us was this: Use the emotional heat from your experience and give it to your characters.

You don't have to make every story a direct experience from your life. But you can add the feelings of anticipation, sadness, love, etc. pluck it out of your life and add it to whatever circumstance is in your story.

Rich also told us to put ourselves inside of each of your characters heads. Even the antagonist. Because to have a believable antagonist, he/she needs to seem real to the reader. So, instead of having just a skeletal villan, we need to put flesh and blood on his bones. Since we tend to hate our own antagonists and want the reader to hate him/her, we tend to only think of them as bad. But to give the antagonist more depth, Rich suggests that we ask ourselves this: "What do you like best about your antagonist?"

Rich led us through an exercise where we were to think of a life changing moment from our past. First we were to list details that we remember; emotions, those involved, sensory details, words spoken, etc.

Once we made our list of details, we went back and wrote the memory in story form. Then we each shared our memory with the group. This was like a therapy session. I think if Rich had not become a writer he may have very well made a good therapist. We all reconnected to that time in our life and the emotion showed in our voices. Many of us even cried.

Our final assignment was to take the emotion from that moment in our lives and start a new story that involved the emotions we had just dug up. (I'll share more about what I came up with in a later post.)

This was such an awesome exercise and it was interesting to hear how each of the other ladies processed their emotions.

But mining a memory and putting it into a story isn't easy. You may not want to go back and face certain emotional moments. You may not want to put those feelings into a story for fear of showing a more vulnerable side of yourself. You may even come out liking something about your antagonist and relating to him/her even though you really don't want to.

So. Next time you read a book where a character or scene moves you, one where you can relate and connect. . . I'd say that you'd better bet your bippy that the author had to face a struggle to mine those gems and graft them into the story.

It's not easy, but ohhhhh. . . the difference it makes!

For me, One of the most memorable characters that I've read lately is Katniss from "The Hunger Games" Even though I've never been in her situation, I feel like she was written in a way that I can relate and feel for her. I wanted to stay with her through the whole ride.

What are some of the most memorable characters that you've encountered?

In a cabin in the woods; Writing in style!

If you're ever interested in going on a writing retreat, the Highlights Founders Workshops are well worth it. Even if your low on $$$$$ they do offer scholarships.

This is the main house. This is where we got pampered and had our sessions. They have unbelievable cooks that are willing to cook to order if you have special dietary needs. Before I even got to the retreat center I was already hearing "rave reviews" over the food. Let me tell you, it's not just hype. Stuffed portabella mushrooms, grilled meats, waffles, scrambled eggs, fresh fruits, fresh baked cookies, gourmet desserts . . . nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. I must stop now. I'm getting hungry.

But even w/ all the fancy food, the kitchen is homey and the fridge is stocked w/ an assortment of beverages and they make you feel at home so that you can grab whatever you need at any time.


Only a short gravel-road distance from the main house are the cabins. There are about 21 or so. . . I forget how many.

We each had our own cabin. This was mine. Sweet #17 where approx. 20 caterpillars greeted me on the prorch and I had a great view of the woods.

The inside of the cabins are clean, well furnished and each room had a mini-fridge and a cofee maker.

On our first evening we ate dinner on the screened in front porch as we sat around and got to know each other better. Our facilitator was author Rich Wallace. He was so nice, patient and down to earth and was a wealth of information. I couldn't think of anyone who could do a better job. I'll share more of what we learned fromr Rich in future posts.


So, I've shared my dreamy writing retreat space. Now you tell me. Where is your dream writing retreat? Have you been there already?