Wednesday on Writing - SCBWI's First Pages Event: Saturday, March 10th at St. James Church, Hyde Park, NY

I had a great experience on Saturday, March 10^th, at “First Things First” – SCBWI’s First Pages Event, featuring editors Molly O’Neill (of Katherine Tegan Books, an imprint of HarperCollins); Lynne Polvino (of Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing) and agent John Rudolph (of Dystel & Goderich) giving critiques of all attendants’ first page manuscripts. It was the first of its kind in the Hudson Valley, and I think it was enlightening and informative. It was held in the parish hall of St. James Church in Hyde Park, NY – a good space for the 50-person attendance. Banquet tables were set up throughout the room – I sat with our local Shop Talk writers: Michelle M, Lisa K, Heather V, Marita R, Irene K, and Lobsang C (with his moral support, Patrick). It was a long afternoon, and at the end of the 4 ½ hours, my arm and hand were sore and tired from taking so many notes – but it was worth it.

(Some of my fellow Shop Talk writers at my table)

Nancy Castaldo, SCBWI’s Eastern NY regional director, began by introducing the editorial panel, and speaking about the four ongoing Shop Talk events in the region. In addition to our local Mid-Hudson Shop Talk in Poughkeepsie, there is an Orange/Rockland County one in Suffern; a Northern Country one in Plattsburgh; and a Capital District one in Guilderland. Information on the meetings can be found on SCBWI’s Eastern NY website: http://scbwi-easternny.org/shoptalk.php.

(Nancy Castaldo introducing Lynne Polvino, John Rudolph, and Molly O’Neill)

She also announced an event with Cheryl Klein, Executive Editor at Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) and the author of Second Sight: An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults (2011, Asterisk Books). It will be in Colonie, on October 13, and registration will start in June. Nancy said that Cheryl Klein does events nationwide, and they always sell out. This should be a really interesting event – I’ll look out for more information on the website: http://scbwi-easternny.org/conferences.php.

Four of the event’s organizers – Karen Kaufman Orloff, Della Ross Ferreri, Barbara Wells, and Catherine Ciocchi – were also readers. The readings were timed – each panel member had about a minute to respond to each first page, for a total of five minutes per page.

(Karen Kaufman Orloff reading a manuscript)

We were all given a list of first page titles, and the order in which they would be read. The manuscripts were anonymous – only the title and age level and genre was given; not the writers’ names. The submissions were pretty evenly divided between picture books and novels for middle-grade or teen readers. There were two non-fiction titles – one was a picture book and one was a middle-grade biography. Each of the readers read about a dozen of the manuscripts.

My manuscript was 25^th on the list, exactly at the halfway point. I had submitted the first page of What Luck, my novel for tween readers, age 10 – 13. I’ve had a 15-page, first chapter version of this manuscript critiqued several times – twice at SCBWI’s Mid-Hudson conference, where one year an editor gave very positive feedback, even saying that she’d be interested in reading more (unfortunately I didn’t have a complete manuscript to send to her); and another year an agent had some problems with it. I also submitted the manuscript to YA author Kelly Going several years ago, when she gave a writing workshop at Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook. She gave it a favorable and encouraging critique. So I was curious to see how my first page would fare.

Della Ross Ferreri read the page, and I think she did a great job conveying the voice of my character, 13-year-old Mallory, who is upset that her mean, superstitious great-grandmother is coming to live with her family. I carefully watched the editorial panel during the reading, and even took pictures of them, to see their reactions to it.

(Della Ross Ferreri reading my first page)

(The editorial panel listening to my first page)

I learned a lot from the panel’s feedback. I was glad that Lynne Polvino and Molly O’Neill gave favorable comments about my opening paragraph. Lynne said that the beginning (where Mallory foreshadows that she’s not superstitious – yet) is strong and intriguing, and Molly said that it’s nice. Molly also liked a line where Mallory says that she just wants things to stay the same.

But Molly also said that the first page should be tighter – the language can be cut down but still show the sentiment. John Rudolph said that the first page is all background, telling about stuff that happened before the great-grandmother came. He suggested cutting the back-story, to start the actual story quicker. And Lynne agreed that the reader doesn’t need to know all the background details. Molly said it’s OK to write it all down first, in order to get to the real beginning of the story. She said that sometimes a story starts at chapter 3, but it’s not apparent in first drafts.

I do agree with their criticisms – looking at the first page, I realize that there is no dialogue or action. It is all telling, and not showing. And of course, one of the most well-known rules of writing is “Show, don’t tell.” I appreciate the editorial panel’s comments, and will follow their advice in a rewrite, as soon as I can get to it. I’ll cut back the paragraphs of exposition, and convey that information through dialogue, mixed in with action. Fortunately, I don’t have a problem with revision; I actually really like doing it. Sometimes so much, that I tend to fall into a cycle of write and rewrite, without really moving the story forward much. That’s one of the reasons that I have so many works-in-progress, rather than finished manuscripts. But I’m encouraged by the positive comments from Lynne and Molly, as well as the previous favorable critiques that I’ve received for What Luck. I do think it’s a viable story, and I want to write it the best way that I can, until it’s finished.

(Barbara Wells reading a submission)

One of the great things about this event is that each writer could learn something from every page critique; not just the writer’s own. I was especially interested in the middle-grade and young adult novel critiques, and I noticed that the panel made similar comments and instructive points about many of the submissions.

My manuscript wasn’t the only one that emphasized telling over showing. Several first pages were full of detailed descriptions and settings – John described it as “people watching things from tall places.” There’s too much seeing and thinking, rather than doing, and that makes the characters seem removed from the action of the story. However, a couple of first pages were heavy on dialogue, and the panel advised that such an opening needs to better establish the characters and the context of the story. So a good story has a balance of showing and telling. And clarity is also important, to give the reader a connection to the story.

A character’s voice and attitude is critical – characters need to be fully-realized and relatable to readers. It’s OK give realistic flaws to characters, to keep them from being too perfect. And a quirky voice should have a quirky character to match. The age and language of the characters should be appropriate to the age level of the intended reader. Most kids like to read about characters who are slightly older than they are, so chapter book characters are usually around seven or eight; middle-grade characters are usually around ten to twelve, and young adult characters are high-school aged, or maybe college freshmen, but never older. The panel cautioned about using curse words – it’s OK if there’s a reason in the story for such strong language, but that could also limit the its audience.

Some manuscripts seemed over-written, with too much information given at once (they said that can be a problem in historical fiction) or with language that is noticeably very lyrical and beautiful. The panel said that it can be tricky to get the right balance between the way the story is told and the actual story. Lovely language is great as long as it’s true to the narrative voice. And informational facts can be measured out among a story’s action and character development, so that they don’t overwhelm the reader.

The panel was intrigued by the stories that started with a problem, or had some tension, or a sense of immediacy. A clear character point of view is important too, to give a sense of perspective. They agreed that a strong first sentence makes them want to read on.

I can keep all of these points in mind, when I’m writing What Luck or any of my other teen novels.

(Catherine Ciocchi reading a manuscript)

The panel made a lot of interesting points in their critiques of the picture book manuscripts. Molly said that kids first understand how stories work through picture books, so a clear beginning, middle and end is important. Young children like stories that are fun, and have a sense of whimsy or humor. A book with an educational theme is good for classroom use – that can expand the market for it. But, like with novels for older readers, the most important aspects of a picture book should be the story and the characters. A lesson can be imparted subtly, within the story.

It’s also important that a picture book is age-appropriate for its intended audience. Many times an adult will read a picture book to a child, but the story should be easy enough for the child to follow and understand. The protagonist should be young, whether it’s a child or an animal or a fantastical creature, and the point of view should be of the protagonist. There should also be some kind of problem for the character to solve.

Some of the manuscripts were too descriptive and wordy, with writing that seemed old-fashioned. The panel said that picture books are shorter and punchier now, and every word should count. They suggested reading a picture book manuscript aloud, to get a feel for the rhythm.

Several of the submissions were written in rhyme. The panel said that rhyme only works if it’s perfect – otherwise, it can sound forced and seem like the rhyme is driving the story. They suggested re-writing a rhyming manuscript without the rhymes – they all agreed that in many cases rhyming language can get in the way of a story, and the story can be better without it.

They all liked the stories that had visual appeal, and left room for an illustrator’s creative interpretation. They said that picture books need to have some different settings and actions, so the illustrations aren’t too much the same. They said it’s OK to give an art note if the text isn’t clear, but they cautioned that a manuscript that is too descriptive or contained too many notes for the artwork, especially on the first page, would be seen as a red flag.

Their critiques about the non-fiction submissions applied to both the picture book and the middle-grade biography. They said a non-fiction manuscript should focus on the main character’s story, from the character’s point of view. They said some non-fiction gets bogged down in research details that can overrun the story. And they said that in historical non-fiction, there’s a tricky balance between historical details and stereotypes that may put off some of today’s readers. They suggested portraying historical characters with details that today’s readers can relate to. They found both of the non-fiction manuscripts to be interesting subjects that they haven’t heard of before.

At the end of the afternoon, Nancy Castaldo gave a wrap-up – “This was a full day!” She said she thought it was very insightful, and everyone seemed to agree.

She also gave some information on a couple of other SCBWI events. There’s an agent event planned in June, in Hudson, NY. It will be a dinner event, with three or four agents and a group of about thirty writers, and the proceeds will benefit the Clavarack Library. There will also be a “Falling Leaves” retreat, focusing on non-fiction, the weekend of November 9 - 11 in Silver Bay in upstate NY.

Nancy said that more information about the events will be posted on the website (www.scbwi-easternny.org) and that the site will change to an updated format soon, around August.

I thought the First Pages event was really helpful and successful, and I look forward to the other interesting events that our Eastern NY region has in store for all of us this year.

Wednesday on Writing - A Great YA Author Event at Oblong Books

March 14, 2012 – I haven’t posted a blog in

over a week because there’s been a lot of trouble with my boyfriend Ian’s computer – it keeps crashing when it’s been running for longer than a brief amount of time. He’s been working on it, and it seems to be stabilized for now, so I'm trying to catch up.

I’ve been to two great writing events since the beginning of March. On March 2, Oblong Books hosted authors Lauren Oliver and Kate Ellison – the first Hudson Valley YA Society event of this year. And Saturday, March 10 was SCBWI’s First Pages event, with editors Molly O’Neill and Lynne Polvino and agent John Rudolph, who critiqued the first page manuscripts of all who attended.

So I’m writing about the Oblong event today, and I’ll try to post about the First Pages event as soon as I can after. I want to give each one its own post, because there’s a lot to say about each event!

I went to Oblong Books & Music in Rhinebeck, NYwith Kimberly Sabatini – it’s been a few years since I’ve shopped there, but I’ve always thought that it’s a great independent bookstore. Kim introduced me to co-owner Suzanna Hermans, who organized the event along with Jennifer Laughran, a bookseller at Oblong as well as an agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency. They founded the Hudson Valley YA Society in 2010, and have hosted many notable authors of young adult books at the store.

There was a great turnout, with every seat in the event area filled with a mix of aspiring and published YA writers, and teen readers – all eager to meet Lauren Oliver and Kate Ellison, and hear them read from their books and discuss their writing careers.

(Jennifer Laughran introducing Kate Ellison and Lauren Oliver)

Lauren began by talking about her start as a writer. She grew up in Westchester, New York, with a great love of reading – her parents are both literature professors, and her father is a true crime author. As a kid, she’d write sequels to the books she loved, like the Redwall series. She said that she was a “fan fiction” writer, before the concept really existed! And in middle school, she wrote little fanzines for her friends, as well as her own stories. She studied literature and philosophy at University of Chicago, but started writing seriously while pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at NYU. She said she wrote an 800-page literary novel during that time, “in which nothing happened!”

She was also working at Razorbill, the young adult imprint of Penguin Books, where she learned about YA writing and was inspired to start her first book for teens, Before I Fall.

It’s the story of Samantha, who gets the opportunity to re-live the last day of her life over and over again, in order to discover the mystery of her death, as well as the meaning of her life. It was published by HarperTeen in March 2010, and has become a best-seller that’s also received several awards.

Her second book was Delerium (published in January2011) – the first in a dystopian trilogy about a world where love is considered a disease, and everyone over the age of 18 is given a treatment to cure it. Lauren said that she was inspired by a quote she’d heard about writing, “All great books are written about love or death,” and wanted to write a book with love at its heart. Then she heard some media stories about the possibility of a bird flu epidemic (that didn’t happen) and likened the “symptoms” of love to a sickness. She was also interested in writing about a society with rigid rules imposed on its people. Delerium’s main character, Lena, is due to be cured when she meets a boy who changes her mind. Lauren read a compelling passage from the beginning of Pandemonium, the recently-published second book in the series. And the last in the trilogy, Requiem, is due to be published next March. Lauren said she had intended the book to be a tragedy, but she fell in love and got engaged while writing it and the story turned out differently. “Maybe some kind of joy seeped through my fingers,” she said.

HarperCollins also published Liesel and Po, Lauren’s book for middle-grade readers, last October – it’s about a girl who befriends a ghost, and Lauren said it means a lot to her. She said all of her books share a common theme – transformation.

Kate Ellison, the debut author of The Butterfly Clues (published in February by EdgmontUSA) had a creative childhood, too, in Baltimore. She said she would write to get her family’s attention, and also wrote her version of “fan fiction” – stories about the characters of Sweet Valley High! Both Lauren and Kate agreed that fan fiction,with established series and characters, can be away to learn how to write .

Kate got her degree in acting at DePaul University in Chicago, and is an accomplished artist as well as writer. She talked about the origin of The Butterfly Clues – she grew up with a cousin who had OCD and also had a tragic loss in her life. Kate said she didn’t understand about OCD until she read about the condition when she was older. It inspired the book’s character, Lo, who is a compulsive collector of strange and interesting objects. Lo’s obsession is a way of dealing with constantly having to move from place to place with her family, and is also a way of coping with the grief of her brother’s death. When she finds an antique butterfly necklace at a flea market and realizes that it belonged to a girl who was recently murdered, she becomes obsessed with trying to solve the murder mystery. Kate read a passage from the book, where Lo meets Flynt, an intriguing street artist.

(Kate Ellison listens as Lauren Oliver discusses her books)

Then, both authors answered questions from the audience, about reading, and the writing process. Both are avid readers – Lauren said she reads four books at any given point in time! Kate said she’s wary of reading in the genre that she writes in, so she doesn’t read a lot of YA titles. She’s been reading a lot of neuro-science books lately. Lauren agreed that reading dystopian teen books “can be paralyzing,” so she has only read the first Hunger Games book. She read Agatha Christie while working on the Delerium trilogy, and she also loves historical novels, like those of Philippa Gregory.

When asked to tell about when she first heard she’d be published, Lauren said she felt like it wasn’t really happening. One of the proudest moments of her life was when she called her father with the news – but he hung up on her twice; he thought he was hallucinating! Kate said she had a dog-walking job with a troublesome dog, on the day she got the call – “it was thrilling!”

They shared their writing habits – both tend to write in the morning. Lauren aims to write a certain amount of words every day – sometimes it takes a half-hour and sometimes it takes four hours, but “I just get it done.” She said she wrote Before I Fall on her Blackberry while commuting between two jobs. She must have coffee, but she can’t listen to music while writing – instead, she picks songs as a way to inform her characters. Kate likes to listen to instrumental music, and usually reads a few pages of something she loves for inspiration, before writing.

They both gave some helpful tips and advice about writing. Lauren believes that writer’s block is a myth. Writing every day is important – it doesn’t have to be good, but it cultivates discipline. She does worry between books that she’ll never write another. So she just writes “bad novels” in between! Kate said you need to take the pressure off yourself – just write anything down. She suggested taking walks, or traveling for inspiration – “even if it’s just to a crappy motel; you can write about that, too!” Both stressed the importance of doing what you love.

Lauren said that working in the publishing field did help her meet people – she pitched her first book to her agent at a cocktail party. But she said that querying is the best way to get an agent, and it’s important to work on the query letter until it’s perfect. She read a lot of queries at Penguin, and many were bad: “It’s Twilight meets Harry Potter”!

In addition to writing, Lauren co-owns Paper Lantern Lit – a literary development company that helps up-and-coming authors with editing and preparing their books for publication. She said that five Paper Lantern authors have books coming out this year. Kate is an author with Paper Lantern – Lauren helped her with The Butterfly Clues, and Kate’s agent is the same as Lauren’s.

The audience wanted to know about their future writing plans. Kate is working on another teen mystery, and she’s thinking of writing poetry or adding art to her writing, “to keep myself challenged.” And Lauren’s second middle-grade book, The Spindlers, is coming out this Fall, with Requiem to follow in 2013.

After, Lauren and Kate both graciously signed copies of their books. I bought every one of their books, and said I’d be glad to recommend them as possible titles for the teen book group that I moderate at the bookstore where I work. Kim got several books signed, too, and shared with them the good news of her upcoming debut, Touching the Surface, that’s being released on October 30. We were also lucky to get pictures with Lauren and Kate.

(Kim with Lauren Oliver and Kate Ellison)

(me, with Lauren Oliver and Kate Ellison)

It was a fun and inspiring evening, and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to meet Lauren Oliver and Kate Ellison – their book readings and writing discussion will surely help to enrich my own writing. Thanks to Suzanna Hermans and Jennifer Laughran for hosting this event – I look forward to many others of the Hudson Valley YA Society!

Wednesday On Writing - SCBWI's February Shop Talk

Our local SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) chapter had its second “Shop Talk” meeting of the year on Saturday, and, after a hectic few days, I’m finally getting to post my write-up of it.

We had quite a large turn-out of 15, with a good balance of longtime members and newcomers in attendance. This was the first meeting that new coordinator Kimberly Sabatini led (with me assisting) and I think she did a great job. She was equal parts teacher and cheerleader – passing along a wealth of information that she’s learned during her four-year journey from aspiring writer and SCBWI novice to published author of the YA book, Touching the Surface, that’s due to be released in Fall 2012 by Simon Pulse; and generously giving advice and encouragement, so that others in the group may be able to follow her path to success.

Kim truly believes that anyone can attain publication, if they are dedicated to writing; put in time, energy and hard work into their project; and seek out advice and feedback from fellow writers, along with information and resources that SCBWI can provide. I think she’s got a point, and I hope that this group will help all of our local children’s and young adults’ writers and illustrators to reach the goals they’ve set for themselves.

After everyone introduced themselves and talked a bit about the type of work they’re pursuing and projects they’ve been working on, Kim distributed information sheets about SCBWI, and we discussed the agenda for each month’s Shop Talk. We meet for roughly 2 – 2 ½ hours, and the first hour will be devoted to discussing a particular topic of writing and publishing. We passed out a “wish list,” so anyone could suggest a topic they’d like us to cover. The list included topics such as querying agents and editors; narrative point of view; and commercial publishing versus self-publishing. Thanks to everyone for their input, and for some great topics that we’ll discuss in the coming months.

Kim also presented regional advisor Nancy Castaldo’s idea to have a writer’s book club, where each month we can read the same picture book and middle-grade or teen book – not just for entertainment, but as another tool that can teach us about the craft of writing – and then have a brief discussion about the books and what makes them successful and interesting good reads. I agree with Kim and Nancy that writers must also be readers, especially in their chosen genre; and that much can be learned from published writers’ works.

The second hour will be for critiques – everyone is encouraged, if they’d like, to share their writing; and everyone is also urged to give their thoughts and concerns as feedback. We can all learn from such critiques, even if it’s not our own writing that’s discussed. And we can all learn to become skilled and effective evaluators, to help our peers become the best writers they can be.

That led into the topic for the month – the importance of critique groups, and how to give useful criticism. A good critique can come from a fellow writer or a reader – after all, readers are the audience for all books. Kim talked about the significance of finding “beta readers” for a manuscript once a draft is finished. These are the first readers of a written work, and can provide invaluable feedback to keep in mind when revising.

Criticism should always be constructive, and balanced between saying something positive – what we liked about the piece – and voicing concerns: any problems or questions we had about the writing. We should never just want to “blow smoke up someone’s butt,” (as Kim so eloquently put it!) but we also should never rip someone’s writing to shreds. A critique must be honest, but also kind and helpful.

As writers, we should be open to considering whatever may need to be changed. We should also try to become thick-skinned, so we don’t feel hurt or defensive by the criticism. And we should learn not to take the feedback personally – critique groups are evaluating our writing projects, not us personally. We should try to see what parts of the feedback we can use to make our writing and our stories stronger.

Kim introduced the idea of the “Concept Critique,” as explained by author, editor and speaker Kristen Lamb in her blog. The link to the full article is http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/a-new-approach-to-a-traditional-group-the-concept-critique/. Because Shop Talk only meets once a month for a couple of hours, there are limitations to the traditional critiques of a picture book, short story or chapter of a book. The helpful feedback usually emphasizes a writer’s voice or style of the given piece, but often not the story as a whole.

So a concept critique can be an effective option for a group like ours. A writer can bring in a 5 – 10 page synopsis of a book, and the group can comment on the entire storyline, and what they think of the characters and the overall plot arc. A well-written synopsis can lay the groundwork for the scene-by-scene and chapter-by-chapter development of a book. And once a manuscript is completed, we should already have a strong synopsis to present to agents and editors if requested.

Kim said that any other short pieces are always welcome – short stories, picture book manuscripts, and query letters are some traditional options to bring for critique, but we always want as many people to be able to share as possible.

Because we covered a lot of ground, we only had time for a couple of critiques. I had suggested that those of us who had signed up for the March 10^th SCBWI First Pages event could bring in our first page, to get feedback from the peers in our group. Then at next month’s meeting, after the two editors and agent have given their first page impressions at the event, we can compare the peer critiques to the professional critiques – hopefully we can learn to critique in a more professional way.

I was first (the first time I’ve shared my writing in a Shop Talk in a few years), with Kim reading the first page of my ‘tween novel, What Luck for me. Kim said we shouldn’t read our own work – we could get nervous and possibly stumble over the words; or we could get so comfortable with our story that we end up reading it as a type of performance, and that could get in the way of the writing itself. And it does help to hear a story in someone else’s voice – it can give a different perspective. Then, everyone in the group had a chance to comment on it.

I was pleased with the critique, and appreciate everyone’s feedback on my brief opening passage of a thirteen-year-old girl complaining about her mean great-grandmother coming to stay with her and her family. Several commented about the generation-gap conflict and the importance of family as the story’s theme. Others said it was well-paced, and the voice was true to that of a thirteen-year-old girl. And several wanted to read more, so that’s good!

There were a few problems – some phrases were too wordy; and a couple of details about the great-grandmother were confusing instead of clear. Those comments were really instructive – I’d written and read several drafts of that opening page, and had overlooked some things that new readers had caught. I’ll remember to aim for more clarity in my next rewrite.

And now I’m really looking forward to the First Pages event, and hearing what the professionals have to say about my page. I wonder if they’ll have some of the same opinions?

Kim also read the opening page of “Michael’s Bridge,” a short story by Liz O., who is fairly new to the group. It’s about a fourteen-year-old boy who’s been disabled in a car accident, and feels left out of his friends’ summer activities – instead, he enjoys the calming respite of the Hudson River. Liz received many favorable comments – about the realistic depiction of a disability, and the dilemma that the character must face; and the strong sense of place; and the well-balanced emotion. I liked the timeless tone of the story, and Liz said that it involves time-travel – that her character crosses the railroad bridge and goes back in time, where he meets a disabled boy from the past. That suddenly sounded familiar to me, so I paged through the story, and recognized hearing it at a Shop Talk meeting several years ago. I told Liz that I remember her reading it then, and what a great, imaginative story it was, and I’ve always thought of it as one of my favorites, of the many, many pieces that have been shared over the years – it’s that memorable, and that good. Liz was a bit surprised, but I think she was glad to hear that.

As the meeting wrapped up, we picked out books to read for the next meeting, on March 31st, from among the current Caldecott and Newbery or Michael Printz award winners. The picture book will be the Caldecott-winning A Ball For Daisy – a wordless book by Chris Raschka. And the older-readers’ novel will be Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos – it won the Newbery award, and I’m sure it’s well-deserved.

The topic for next month will be conferences. Several of us will be at the First Pages event, so I’m sure we’ll have a lot to share about it. And Kim went to the NYC conference last month, and will be attending the Pocono Mountains Retreat in April, so she’ll have much to report.

Kim also encouraged us to keep in touch throughout the month, and to feel free to buddy up in small groups or as critique partners – anywhere outside of Shop Talk, and even online – so we can have the opportunity to communicate with each other and share our writing for feedback more than just once a month. She mentioned an upcoming event at Oblong Books and Music in Red Hook on Friday, March 2^nd – a reading by YA authors Lauren Oliver (her current book is Pandemonium) and Kate Ellison (her first novel is The Butterfly Clues). Several of us are interested in going – it should be a good night. And Kim invited everyone to the post-ShopTalk lunch in the café – seven of us stayed and had a great talk, about the pros and cons of prologues, and teen novels written in verse, among other things.

And Kim mentioned our Facebook group, and encouraged the newcomers to join, if they have a Facebook account. I think our group is working out well so far, and I hope to see it grow.

I'm really looking forward to all the great writing events in March, and all the inspiration and motivation that I'll get from them. And I'm ready to get immersed in continuing What Luck - thanks to Kim and the Shop Talk group for helping to renew my enthusiasm for the book and my commitment to finishing it!

(written on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - posted on March 1)