A Conversation About My Epic Fairy Tale Fail

So, I had the distinct pleasure of reading the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of Anna Staniszewski's second book in the UnFairy Tale series, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail.

 

Here's the description (Goodreads):

Fairy tales do come true. Unfortunately.

Jenny the Adventurer is back, and this time she's off to the Land of Tales: the crazy place that all fairy tales come from. If she can defeat an evil witch and complete three impossible tasks--all without getting eaten by blood-thirsty monsters--Jenny might finally get some answers about what happened to her parents. 

This is one adventure Jenny can't afford to fail.

Of course, I have at least two fans already in the house (and my daughter is just now getting into UnFairy at the age of seven) so I couldn't just keep the book to myself.

I passed the book to my sons (i.e. the book was ripped from my hands) and also to one of their friends.

Here's the ensuing conversation: (disclaimer: the interviewer has not read this book--she is starting book one now. Also, this video is choc full of boy humor. I am manning the camera, and occasionally the camera moves because I am either laughing or shaking my mom head "no." (Which was ignored, of course.) I didn't edit the tape--what my kids (and their friend) gave me is what I'm giving to you. :))




I have to say, I was bummed out at a certain point of the book, when Jenny, the main character (spoiler alert--LOL) FAILED a task. (Dude, it's in the title.) :)

But, this happens to my kids ALL THE TIME. And to me. I fail stuff ALL THE TIME. :) The whole point is what you do AFTER YOU FAIL.

Sorry for the polyanna life lesson today. :)

Read the book--it's great and wacky and weirder than our cat wearing a bathing suit.

The Next Big Things

So, I've been tagged by my awesome friend Nandini, a writer who is local to my town, and a wonderful wordsmith.

The title of the tag is The Next Big Thing, and there are questions to answer. Check out Nandini's post about her amazing book: Red Turban White Horse.

Awesome cover, right?

I'm going to take some liberties and change some of the focus of the Next Big Thing structure, and I hope that is okay with Nandini. :) I'm just going to talk about some of the Big Things in my life right now:

I'm querying what I hope will be a Next Big Thing--a YA post-apocalyptic Thriller. Fringe meets Maze Runner.

The Next Big drafting Thing is a YA cyber thriller, working title Revoltion. One sentence about it: When shy, sixteen-year-old Tryst opens the wrong virtual door at the cyber site Revolt!, what is hiding behind it makes her run for her real life.

Fun, huh? Evidently I like it when my characters have to run for their lives.

I'm writing it with the help of John Truby's amazing book, The Anatomy of Story. John Truby will always be The Next Big Thing to me. Seriously. Check it out.

The next Next Big Thing is that my thirteen-year-old son just started texting with a girl. WITH A GIRL. And he has his first dance at school tonight. It's a whole new world, people!

The most immediate Next Big Thing is that I am taking the always-fabulous Anna Staniszewski out to lunch to celebrate her new book's birthday, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail.

Great read--The MC Jenny isn't your average anything!

Anna, much like John Truby, will always be The Next Big Thing for me. She is an amazing person, writer, and friend.

I handed off my (loaner) copy of Anna's ARC to not one, not two, but THREE boys. You know, because #MyBoysReadGirlBooks and #TheresNoSuchThingAsAGirlBook

Soon, I'll let them tell you how they liked it!

And, of course, I am sitting in my gloriously The Next Big Thing loft office space for local writers. So, if you are a writer, and would like to have a quiet space to write, or a conference room for meeting with your crit group, or a place to take or give seminars, please check out my post about The Writer's Room of Requirement.

Yup, I'm shamelessly linking to my own blog there. :) That's how I roll.

And, of course, I can't wait for the NE-SCBWI Spring Conference, which is always a Big Thing in my life, but this year, I'm coordinating volunteers for it. Which is a lot of fun--I get to meet a lot of wonderful people. I have made life-long friends by attending this conference, and I'd love to see you there! Make sure to register soon, since it's getting quite full.

I am officially tagging Jon to find out what his The Next Big Thing is. :)

So, what's yours?

Writer's Room of Requirement

I think it's true that the more things I have on my plate, the more things I get done--to an extent. Also, the less laundry I get done.

These days, I'm waking up at six a.m. with jabbing thoughts about that bill I have to pay, that email I have to return, that postcard I have to print out.

The postcard that I wanted to print out today was this:

I'm starting a Room of Requirement for writers.

I'm moving into the new office this week, a spacious two-room loft with skylights and character. You're welcome to come and use the writing room to work, and the conference room to discuss, gather, teach, or hang.

I'm all about making connections and building community, through blogging, writing events, and conferences. And now through sharing a community space.

So, if you live in Massachusetts, (especially around the Natick-Sherborn area) and are looking for quiet writing office space, a space to meet with your crit group, or have a book party, please email me at hegkelly (at) gmail (dot) com.

It's going to be a casual, drop in when you can kind of situation.

I feel very strongly that in order to survive this business--the business of writing toward publication, or any creative profession--I need to be consistently doing two things:

1. Striving to get to the next level with my craft while helping others do the same.
2. Seeking out professional opportunities outside the book writing arena.

I have seen too many people go off the rails because 1. they wrote in a vacuum, or at least felt like they did, and 2. their book was the only thing to hang their professional writing hat on.

I can't control the querying process, but I can control the job I do helping out with the NE-SCBWI conference or the job I do setting up a non-profit so others can come and have a writing space.

What do you need most from a writer's Room of Requirement?

My Human Moments and the State of the Desk

The State of the Desk: Thank goodness Athena is here to watch over it all. Lots of post-its, manuscripts, and endless emails coming in, which I am, indeed, thankful for--emails mean that people are stepping up to volunteer! :)

So, I've been creeping around behind-the-scenes here, and thought I would mention the creeping things.

I'm querying. Which feels a lot like I might be walking around with broccoli in my teeth (from the crepe I had with @Annastanisz last night), and nobody is telling me. But I know that can't be true. You guys would tell me. Right?!

I'm filling volunteer positions for the Spring NE-SCBWI conference. I'm even singing about it. (Don't worry, twitter isn't wired for sound...yet.) You can follow along on twitter (@HeatherGKelly) and #nescbwi, or check out the full version here.

I went to Jodi Meadow's book launch for ASUNDER at Brookline Booksmith. I was so distracted by the above tasks that I was at the launch a full two minutes before I realized that Jodi had written INCARNATE which I had read and loved. Then I was even happier to be there.  I know, #ICanBeSoDense and I promise, #ImNotACompleteFlake. I'm just having a lot of human moments right now. Would love to have more superwomen moments, though. Loved talking with @ACGaughen at the launch. I think she's all kinds of awesome.

Then I caught up with the fabulous @KristineAsselin, @AnshaKotyk, @Kiperoo, and met a couple other awesome kidlitters like @Lena_Goldfinch at Kris's fabulous meet-up. If you live in New England, check out the date of the next one in Kris's sidebar. There were not enough hours in the night to get all the talking done. (Well, there might have been enough hours, but we chose to go home and sleep through some of those.)

Phew. Lots of fun stuff this week.

So, is your desk any less post-it-y than mine? Have you gotten out for a bit of community during this long winter? What has been your flakiest moment this week? Maybe I'll give out an award. :)

To everyone attending the NY SCBWI conference this weekend: Have fun!!

How My Characters Would Query, and How Superman Sleds

Querying is an odd beast.

I send off e-mails, not knowing if they are even received (or are victim to the Spam Bot), and wait for a reply, not knowing if I will get one. I don't even know if the agent I queried is ever going to see my e-mail--I understand that some agents use interns to weed the in-box out.

I'm working over-time to put myself in the shoes of the agents, to understand why the system is what it is, but at the same time, some days I feel like I'm giving away my power.

Everyone copes differently with stress. Some queriers openly rage against the system. Some quietly hide the stress. Some do what is recommended and work on the next thing. Some alternate between all of the above.

Right now, I'm thinking about what my main characters would do:

Pete would create to-do lists to keep him on track. He would look at the puzzle of how to get an agent from all sides and come up with concrete, but out-of-the-box solutions. He would stay steadfast, systematic, and ignore the feelings of powerlessness.

Jeze would jump right in and pretend to bold and un-crushable. She would hide her insecurities behind attitude and blow through emailing agents like a bull in a china shop. She would face her fears unquestionably and query all the scariest agents first. :)

So, how am I doing it? I think I'm combining the two. I'm definitely ignoring the feelings, and some days, ignoring the fact that I am even querying. I am making lists and doing research, but I am also jumping out there. I'm probably making a bunch of mistakes. You know, because I'm human and just a little stressed about being vulnerable.

I am being methodical, but also pretending to be bold. I'm hoping the combination works for me.

I'm doing the hard work.

And rushing out there. 

I admit, the risk of querying can be a rush. :) Clearly, just sitting on the sled isn't enough thrill for Superman. 

And, if it doesn't work, there is always the next book. :)

How would your characters query? How do you?

We're going to be sledding until there's no more snow on the ground. :) Are you enjoying winter?