New Year's Day 2014

This New Year’s Day morning began with U2’s “New Year’s Day” as the first-song-of-the-year ritual that I’ve kept for 30 years now.  Ian watched this promo video of the single from their 1983 album "War" with me, as we looked forward to a relaxing and creatively productive day off together, after last night’s New Year’s Eve fun. We had first spent some time with good friends Lee and Wen Li, and had the chance to say good-bye to Wen Li (for now) and to wish her luck as she travels back to Beijing after spending the past three months as an artist in residence in Poughkeepsie. And then we saw 2014 in with friends and co-worker/friends at Joe, Kristen and Daryl’s New Year’s Eve party that was a great and memorable celebration.

I’ve blogged about this song and its importance to me in an earlier blog post at the start of 2009, so I won’t rehash it again here. (That post can be found at http://write-rite-rightabouttime.blogspot.com/2009/01/rite-about-time-new-years-day.html.) My memories of that first New Year’s Day at home after living for three years in Boston haven’t been forgotten, and my feelings about the holiday haven’t changed much.

But one thing has changed somewhat – my ideas about New Year’s resolutions and goals. Like many people, I start each New Year with good intentions and expectations, only to see many of my resolutions and goals fizzle out into regrets and self-recriminations. And then, the next New Year, I start all over again. This happens especially with my writing goals – each New Year’s Day, I vow to finish a manuscript by that year’s end, only to find my work-in-progress impeded by various obstacles (including my own writer’s blocks) and remain unfinished on New Year’s Eve.

As the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/ gang aft agley” – the modern-English translation is roughly “The best laid plans of mice and men/ often go awry.” And it’s true – sometimes it’s futile to count on an expectation, because the future is uncertain and things can transpire to keep that plan from happening. That can be so frustrating and disappointing.

In last year’s New Year’s Day blog post (found at http://writingontime.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-years-day-2013-just-be.html) I decided to take a Zen-like approach to my writing, and focus more on appreciating the act of writing itself, rather than pressuring myself and forcing my writing to meet self-imposed deadlines. I had still hoped to accomplish my writing goals, though, but I still have unfinished manuscripts now.

I’m starting to see New Year’s Day differently. Yes, it’s a significant day on the calendar, the beginning of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. But it’s also just one of an infinite number of days in time. And I need to take each day as it comes, and to focus on what I can accomplish and appreciate about each day.

Today I spent some quality time with Ian and with my family. I had good (mostly-healthy) meals. I got some much-needed rest. I chatted with my friend Michelle. I started reading “Quakeland,” by Francesca Lia Block, one of my favorite authors. I worked on some notes for my “Time’s Crossing” novel. I wrote nine pages in my journal. And I’m writing this blog. It was a good and productive day.

And I hope to have many, many more good and productive days in this New Year.

How about you? Do you have any traditions for New Year’s Day? Do you have any goals for this coming year? How do you feel about the making (and sometimes breaking) of resolutions?

Any responses and comments are welcome and appreciated!

Happy 2014, everyone!

Monday's Muse - A Creatively Inspiring Weekend, Part 1: David Sedaris

I’m feeling creatively rejuvenated and inspired after a great weekend of literary and musical events: David Sedaris at Poughkeepsie’s Bardavon 1869 Opera House on Friday night (April 5th), and An Evening With Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer at Bard College’s Richard B. Fisher Center on Saturday night (April 6th). So now I have not just one but three amazing artists to add to my creative muses.

I’ve been a fan of David Sedaris’ humorous essays and stories since I first read his “SantaLand Diaries” essay in the mid-‘90s – his funny account of working as a Christmas Elf in Macy’s cracked me up so much, and I could really relate to his cynical view of the retail holiday season, especially after years of working in retail.

David Sedaris has written several books, been featured on NPR, and has done many book tour appearances, including a 2008 event at the Bardavon. Barnes & Noble had sold his books at the theatre for that appearance, but I hadn’t been able to work that event. So I was glad to have been part of the bookselling team at Friday’s event – we sold books and audio books from his backlist, and took pre-orders for his newest essay collection, Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls, that’s being released on April 23^rd.

After the audience was seated, my fellow booksellers and I got to watch David Sedaris’ reading from the back of theatre balcony. I was so glad for the opportunity to finally see him perform.

He read from his new book, and also from some new material that he’d written – he was so freakin' funny, telling twisted family tales and giving outrageous observations with a deadpan delivery, like the diary entry he read about an airport worker recognizing him that turned into a raunchy Willie Nelson joke!

He frequently mines his family for his writing – one memorable story involved his father bugging him incessantly to get a colonoscopy, until he finally went through it, with his sister Lisa as moral support. Afterwards, he felt so blissful from the anesthesia (Propofol, like Michael Jackson used) that he wondered why he didn’t get a colonoscopy sooner. As soon as he got home, his father called to check up on his test results. Sedaris said that he told him that they found something, and it might be cancer – just to hear his father’s reaction! (Definitely a twisted family tale!) After his reading, he answered questions from the audience, and someone asked if he really said that to his father, and Sedaris said yes – that his family has that kind of sense of humor. Another family would never find humor in that type of situation, but the Sedaris family does, and that’s one reason why he’s on the stage now.

David Sedaris told the audience that it was his father’s 90^th birthday that night, and asked everyone to help him with something – he borrowed a cell phone from an audience member and called his father, leaving him a voice message saying that he was at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie and that he had a message for him – he held the phone out and all of us in the audience yelled “Happy Birthday, Lou!” It was so cool that he included us in his birthday greeting to his father.

Afterward, David Sedaris signed books for audience members, and spent time having conversations with every one of us. He is known for being accessible and accommodating to his fans, and will sign for hours to make sure that he meets and speaks to everyone. When it was my turn to ask him to sign my CD of his “Live at Carnegie Hall” performance, he told me I have great hair, and signed, “To Linda – Great Hair – David Sedaris.” That was so awesome! I told him that I was one of his booksellers for the event, and that I was so glad to finally be able to see his reading, and he shook my hand. He asked where the store was, and said that he’s doing a bookstore tour soon, where he can spend even more time with the readers.

I love the humor of David Sedaris’ books, but his generosity to his readers makes me an even bigger fan of his – for life. And it reinforces my vow that if (when) I have a book published and am ever fortunate enough to do book signings, I’ll make sure to take my time with every reader, acknowledging them and letting them know how much I appreciate them. Because it’s a great thing for a writer to create a book, but it’s the readers who truly bring that book to life.

(posted on Monday, April 8, 2013 3:00am)

Sunday on SCBWI - Shop Talk, Saturday March 30, 2013

It was really good to see such a great turnout for last Saturday’s Shop Talk meeting of our Hudson Valley SCBWI group. Especially since it was a holiday weekend, and Kim Sabatini and I had anticipated that people would be having relatives over, doing holiday activities with their kids, or other similar plans. Thanks to all who made it, and for those who couldn’t, here’s a recap of Kim’s talk on revision.

 Kim was an ideal person to speak on the topic – she spent three-and-a-half years writing and revising her YA novel Touching the Surface before it was sold to Simon Pulse and published in October 2012. She also recently sent out her already-revised manuscript of her second novel, The Opposite of Gravity, to her agent, and is awaiting feedback so she can revise it some more. Here’s her blog post about her time spent in the “revision fort” - http://kimberlysabatini.com/blog/2013/03/back-in-the-revision-fort/

She brought in several drafts of Touching the Surface, as it went through the editorial process with her publisher, for an interesting show-and-tell: each revised draft had editorial notes and comments for yet more revision on every single page. All those notes might seem a bit daunting, but Kim said she valued the revision process because it helped Touching the Surface become the book it was meant to be.

William Faulkner famously said, “In writing, you must kill all your darlings,” and Kim agreed with his wise advice. Sometimes we really love a certain aspect of our work – a turn of phrase; a scene; a plot point; or even a character – and want to stick with it, even if it’s not really right for our project. But she said we shouldn’t get wedded to our work – we should have an open mind to change. If something doesn’t really fit, and it seems like we’re working too hard to keep it, then maybe it really doesn’t belong.

She’s had experience with this in her revision work – one major change in her rewrite for Touching the Surface didn’t exactly involve killing, but instead aging one of her main characters: four-year-old Oliver, who became a 16-year-old due to editorial advice that teen readers can better relate to characters close to their own age. It was a challenge, but ultimately, it made Touching the Surface an even better book. I told Kim that I felt the original spirit of the story stayed intact, throughout all of her revisions from the first draft to her final book. And I think that’s important – you can kill your darlings, but keep your book’s fundamental energy.

Kim brought several books on revision that she recommended – Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Brown and Dave King (2004, William Morrow); Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go by Les Edgerton (2007, Writer’s Digest Books); and the workbook Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise by Darcy Pattison. She shared in detail two that were particularly helpful in her own revision process: Writing It Right: How Successful Children’s Authors Perfect and Sell Their Stories by Sandy Asher (2009, Writer’s Institute Publications) and The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman (1999, Simon & Schuster).

Sandy Asher (http://usawrites4kids.drury.edu/authors/asher/) is the author of numerous books and plays for children and young adults, and did a workshop at one of the Pocono conferences that Kim attended.  Her writing guide (available online at http://www.writingitright.net/bm449/wir_2.htm ) gives detailed examples of several authors’ revisions of their books, from picture books to chapter books to middle-grade and YA novels, using the actual manuscripts so the reader can follow the process from first draft to published book. And she shows how the authors were challenged to answer nine essential questions that editors ask when considering a manuscript, such as “Whose story is it?”, “What does the main character want?” and “What stands in the way?”

I really liked how Sandy Asher showed the steps of the revision process with the authors’ manuscript drafts. It’s rare to see authors’ early attempts at writing their books, and even when how-to-write books use writing examples, they are usually from published works. I think that seeing these embryonic drafts can help to demystify the development of a book as it goes through revision.

Noah Lukeman (www.noahlukeman.com) is the president of Lukeman Literary Management Ltd, and has also been an editor for several major publishers, so he’s got a lot of experience and knowledge of the publishing industry. Kim said The First Five Pages is extremely helpful with beginnings. I have the book too, and I agree.

Those of us who attended last spring’s SCBWI First Page Event know very well how crucial the beginning of a story is – it’s so important to capture the attention of an agent or editor right away because they always receive so many manuscripts and usually just look over the first several pages of each one before moving on to the next. The purpose of a well-written, intriguing beginning is to make them want to keep reading.

Kim shared some of Lukeman’s straightforward, practical advice on sound, vocabulary and style – just some of the topics he covers.

The sound and rhythm of a story is important, especially with dialogue. Use dialogue as a tool to build the characters and world of your book. He suggests listening to others talking and then mimic it in writing. Read your dialogue passages out loud, to make sure they sound natural. And don’t worry about repeating the word “said” – it disappears in the reading. Also, cut out everyday small talk like, “Hi – how are you?” Dialogue should move the story forward, but shouldn’t be used to convey backstory – that sounds forced.

Avoid cliched metaphors and similes, like “raining cats and dogs.” Instead, use specific words that are clear to the reader. Also, cut out any words that aren’t essential to the story. And be careful of using repetitive words and phrases, like the word “ran” in an action story. Read the passage out loud to catch these recurrences. Or use the word-processing program’s “find” and “replace” tools to seek out and correct over-used words.

Lukeman also says to remember that books are as much about what readers bring to them as what is actually written. Different readers may interpret a book in many different ways, and readers may also have different conclusions depending on when they’ve read the book. He used Moby Dick as an example – it may have a different meaning to a twenty-year-old reader than to the same reader at age seventy.

Everyone has different writing habits and methods for revision. Kim said that Lauren Oliver (author of the Delerium series) wrote her first novel, Before I Fall, on her Blackberry while on the NYC subway and e-mailed the chapters to herself so she could revise them later at home. Laurie Halse Anderson (author of Speak and many other acclaimed YA novels) writes “fast and dirty first drafts” (as Kim described them) – she’ll start with a loose story arc, and then adds in layers of character and plot development with each draft. My own writing style is a lot like Kim’s – she said she needs to write with detail from the start, and will ponder character traits, plot arcs, and music playlists for her story before writing a full draft. I can relate – I spend a lot of time mulling over my book projects in my head, especially when I’m at work and can only sneak a jotted note in my pocket journal from time to time. Then when I’m finally able to have some time at the computer, I try my best to write as much of what’s on my mind as I can. I’m in the habit of writing a chapter and then revising it before moving on to the next. And I know that’s one thing that’s kept me from completing my novel projects. Kim encourages everyone to finish a first draft before going into the revision phase, so there’s a complete manuscript to work with.

Since the meeting, I found and ordered a copy of Writing it Right from barnesandnoble.com – I’m really looking forward to getting the book and seeing how I can learn more about revision from it. I also pulled The First Five Pages from my shelves and am re-reading it, so I can learn to strengthen the beginnings of my current projects. That should be very helpful in preparing the first chapter of my teen novel for our Target Audience Feedback Shop Talk in June!

Wednesday on Writing: SCBWI Hudson Valley’s First “Shop Talk” of the New Year – Saturday, January 26, 2013

Our Hudson Valley chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) had its first “Shop Talk” meeting of the New Year on Saturday (January 25^th) at Barnes & Noble. We had nearly 25 in attendance – it was great to see a good turnout of fellow writers and illustrators for children and teens.  Thanks to all who came on an icy-cold Saturday morning, and for those who couldn’t make it, here’s a recap:

After we all put on paper-sticker name tags (great new idea from our Shop Talk leader Kimberly Sabatini!) and introduced ourselves, Kim gave a talk about writing conferences and social media networking.

She has a lot of experience with conferences – her first SCBWI Eastern NY conference in 2007, where she met authors Laurie Halse Anderson and KL Going, inspired her to follow her dream of writing her Young Adult novel Touching the Surface, and also started her on the path of learning about writing and publishing that helped her achieve her book’s publication this past October. (Kim’s blog post about how this conference changed her life can be found here: http://kimmiepoppins.livejournal.com/105161.html)

SCBWI offers two national conferences: each winter in New York City and each summer in Los Angeles. Kim will be attending the NYC conference this weekend (February 1 – 3) and I’m sure will have a great report for all of us at next month’s Shop Talk! Here’s the link for more info: http://www.scbwi.org/Conference.aspx?Con=11

The Summer conference in Los Angeles is scheduled for the weekend of August 2 - 5, 2013.  The detailed information hasn't been posted yet, but will be found on the SCBWI website, under Events - International Conferences, as soon as it becomes available. Kim plans to be there too, so we can look forward to hearing about it all at the August Shop Talk. 

Kim’s favorite conference so far was her first one in LA in 2011. There were so many inspiring authors, including Laurie Halse Anderson, Donna Jo Napoli, Libba Bray and Gary Paulson. She said it felt like “here [meaning Shop Talk] on steroids!” Her blog posts about the conference are here: http://kimberlysabatini.com/blog/tag/la11scbwi/.

Kim blogs always have a lot of pictures – she thinks pictures make them more interesting, and I think they are a great window into the conferences for those of us who can’t be there.

Kim has gone to every NYC conference since 2008, and I went to the 2009 and 2010 conferences with her. She said the NYC conference has a more professional feeling, because it’s in the “city of publishing.” It’s a great place for not-yet published authors to network and learn about submissions and acquisitions. The LA conference is a bit longer and doesn’t feel as serious. It has a professional track of speakers and has a larger group of published pros socializing, at events like the costume ball. She described it as being “like a family reunion.” She filled out a feedback form at the last NYC conference, requesting a professional track, and this year there will be one. At the end of each SCBWI conference, feedback forms are passed out to attendees – it’s important to fill them out because the conference planners do listen and tweak their upcoming programs with the comments in mind.

There are also several smaller regional conferences that are near the Hudson Valley area. I referred to the current issue of the SCBWI bi-monthly bulletin (that’s part of the membership benefits – see http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Membership-Benefits for details) that lists the regional events for February – May. SCBWI’s Eastern Pennsylvania chapter has their annual Pocono Mountain Retreat on April 12 – 13 (here’s the link for info: http://scbwiepa.org/events.html) and the New England chapter’s annual conference will be the weekend of May 3 – 5 in Springfield, MA (for details, see: http://www.nescbwi.org/news/) Kim has been to the Pocono retreat several times, and said that it’s a special and intimate-feeling weekend – only about 100 people attend, and there’s a great chance to talk, and even eat, with the authors and editors. There are professional critiques, and hands-on workshops on topics like revision, so anyone going should bring along their work-in-progress.

And, of course, there’s the Eastern New York conference, set for September 21 – 22 in Fishkill. It’s still in the works, and information hasn’t been posted on the website yet, but our regional director Nancy Castaldo and the planning committee is lining up a great faculty list, with several renowned authors, as well as editors, agents and art directors. It’s being expanded from what had been an all-day program to one full day and one half-day, with an added social event planned for that Saturday evening. When details become available, they’ll be posted on the website: http://scbwi-easternny.org/conferences.php.

There are also several conferences offered by other organizations, such as the annual Rutgers One-on-One Plus conference in New Brunswick, New Jersey, sponsored by the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature (RUCCL). This year it will be held on October 19, and anyone interested must apply for it. Kim has attended twice, and she said it’s a very overwhelming all-day event. Each person is paired up with a professional mentor (an author, editor, agent, illustrator or art director) for a critique of a work-in-progress. There’s also a Five-on-Five small group session, with five pairs of mentors/mentees. The ratio is always one to one. Kim said that at her first Rutgers conference, she was paired up with an agent, and even though she was nice, they just couldn’t relate to each other at all. Kim said that sometimes that just happens! But the second year, Kim had a great, helpful mentor. Her reports on these conferences are here: http://kimmiepoppins.livejournal.com/tag/rutgers. All in all, she said that Rutgers is an amazing experience, and she recommended it to us all.

Fees for conferences vary, depending on where the conference is held and how many days it is. This year's Eastern New York conference will cost more than the previous ones, but that's because it will now take place over a day and a half. Kim said that most of us wouldn't have to stay in the hotel, so we could save on that fee. She said that the international conferences are the most expensive, but SCBWI members can save by registering early. For example, the early registration for the NYC conference was $380, compared to (the ballpark figure of) $415 for members and $515 for non-members. The hotel fees are always extra, but some hotels have special pricing for conference attendees. And many conferences, such as the NYC one, offer intensive workshops or professional critiques at an extra charge. 

About half of us have been to at least one writing conference, and Kim encouraged all to attend one if possible. She said that great things can happen at these events, on both professional and personal levels, and I agree. I remember how amazing and overwhelming it was to see the hundreds and hundreds of people at the 2009 NYC conference – it gave me a great perspective of how huge and vital the world of childrens and teens publishing is, and it was a good feeling to be able to be a part of it all. And also at that conference, Kim and I, along with several of Kim’s writing friends, got to meet Jay Asher (author of the amazing YA book Thirteen Reasons Why, who had given an funny and inspiring luncheon talk that day) and even had dinner with him after hours – he proved to be not just a fantastic writer but also a wonderful and down-to-earth person, who related to us all on his level and made me believe that all of us have potential and value as writers. I became a fan of his forever, and I think Kim will agree that she did, too.

And  Kim excitedly told us how she and her online writing friend/critique partner, Jodi Moore, met up at the 2009 Pocono Retreat, and because they hadn’t been able to sign up for a professional critique, they decided to spend the time critiquing each other’s work. All of the comfortable seats in the lobby were taken, so they found a wooden bench and spent a wonderful and productive couple of hours sharing and commenting on each other’s work… until a man came up to them and asked them why they were sitting in the golf bag holder! Kim and Jodi had a good laugh, and it became such a fond memory for them that, in every following year that they’ve gone to the Pocono Retreat, they make sure to take a picture of themselves sitting in the golf bag holder – and also with their books that each of them has had published.

The point of these conference anecdotes is that, as important as it is to attend these conferences for professional critiques and the opportunity to submit as a conference attendee to publishing houses that are otherwise closed to unagented manuscripts, another great thing about a conference is the opportunity to meet like-minded and similarly creative people and make new friends and even find critique partners.

Kim also talked about a great way to keep in touch with these people, and to meet others in the writing community – through social networking. One of the best resources for children’s and teens’ writers is www.verlakay.com. Verla Kay is a successful picture book author who shares her knowledge and resources on this site, and also maintains a chat board for writers, illustrators, editors and agents. It’s a great place to meet other writers; find answers to publishing questions; discuss publishing trends; share successes along the way to publication; and most importantly, to be a part of a huge, supportive, creative and helpful writing community. Kim is an avid “Blue-Boarder” and recommended that we all check it out: http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php.

Of course, there’s the ubiquitous Facebook – most of us are on the site and have joined our Hudson Valley Shop Talk Facebook group. We will continue to use our Facebook page to communicate with our Shop Talk members between the monthly meetings, and to share news, thoughts and ideas. Also, many professional authors have Facebook fan pages that can be followed by anyone.

Twitter is also an extremely popular social network site, for sharing thoughts and information in posts that are no more than 140 characters long. Many authors and publishing professionals are on Twitter, and can be added to a user’s list of accounts to follow. For anyone who’s not too familiar with it, I found a brief, useful description of Twitter here on PC Magazine’s website: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,1237,t=Twitter&i=57880,00.asp. And Shop Talk member Bill Joel, who’s a middle-grade author and poet, mentioned that you can find different writing groups on Twitter, such as KidLitchat, MGLitChat, YALitChat, and AskAgent – these usually have monthly group live chats, and then post the transcripts.

Tumblr is an interesting site – its users can post photos, videos, music and links, and can follow and also share each others’ posts. It’s also a good way to follow authors, and publishing and media topics. Here’s a description of Tumblr from a tech website: http://www.techopedia.com/definition/27517/tumblr.

I learned about Pinterest from Kim – it’s a kind of public visual bulletin board, where images pertaining to different topics and interests can be posted, and also shared among users. Here’s a definition of Pinterest that I found online: http://www.techterms.com/definition/pinterest. Kim has created different Pinterest boards of visual images for Touching the Surface (http://pinterest.com/kimsabatini/touching-the-surface/) and her novel-in-progress, The Opposite of Gravity (http://pinterest.com/kimsabatini/the-opposite-of-gravity/). I think it’s a cool way to brainstorm story ideas and also to share different aspects of a story with people.

Linkedin is a more professional type of social network, most well-known in business circles, but many writers use it, too. I don’t know a lot about it, but found a good definition of it on this site: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/LinkedIn. And I also found a good article, about its usefulness to writers, by Linda Parkinson-Hardman, who wrote LinkedIn Made Easy. Here’s the link: http://womanontheedgeofreality.com/2012/06/12/how-authors-and-writers-can-use-linkedin-effectively-your-profile/.

Many writers also have their own websites, or keep a blog on a blog hosting site, like LiveJournal (www.livejournal.com) or Google’s Blogger (www.blogger.com). The good thing about these blog hosting sites is that they are free – and can be used until you’re ready to maintain the monthly or yearly fees that many website domain hosting services charge.

Many of us (like Kim) use many of these sites; some use one or two sporadically; and some aren’t really into social networking. Of course, it’s best to do what you feel most comfortable doing online, but Kim said that social networking is important to building an author’s platform.

Platform building is basically a way to become visible to the public, and to build an audience for your work. Kim said it’s important to create a platform early, before publication, because it can build a supportive readership. Agents and editors are usually attracted to writers who have developed a platform because those writers can have a built-in audience for their book, and that makes the professionals’ jobs of marketing and promotion easier.

Kim stressed that the main purpose of creating a platform is not to focus on your own agenda, but to make genuine connections and interactions with people in the writing and publishing community.

She started by following her favorite authors, agents and editors – especially those she’d met at conferences and book events – on their blogs, Twitter and Facebook pages. She said that many times you can follow an author you like, or one who you think your work is similar to, and then find their agent and editor, and begin to follow them, too. Or you can meet an agent or editor at a conference, and then find their list of authors on their social network pages. The goal is support the work of other authors – Kim has always promoted other new authors’ books as they’ve come out and then they returned the favor by posting about Touching the Surface as it was being released.

You can also look up different public and school librarians, teachers and parent groups online – a great way for picture book and middle-grade writers to find places for school and book visits.

And Kim also mentioned that some authors do video conferencing, through “vlogs” on video sites like YouTube. It’s like a virtual conference or book event, and can reach audiences that are outside of your immediate community or region.

There wasn’t much time to cover each of these social networking sites in detail, but Kim (who I think is a queen of social networking!) said if anyone has questions or wants to learn more about any specific sites, to just get in touch with her.

Near the end of the meeting, Kim had us all break up into smaller groups for writing critiques. There were groups for picture books, chapter and middle-grade books, and young adult books. I think it worked out well – it gave more Shop Talk members a chance to read and get feedback on their work in smaller, more specific groups than if just one member shared their work with the whole large group.

So going forward, we’ll have these small group sessions during the last hour of our meetings, after the first discussion hour. Kim has posted the information about setting up the groups on our FB page.

Also, there’s a “wish list” post, where you can suggest topics for discussions at upcoming Shop Talks.

All in all, I think it was a great start to the New Year – I hope the information was helpful (and that this blog post isn’t too long or boring!) And I hope that everyone was as inspired as I was! Here’s to a productive and accomplished 2013 for all!

New Year's Day 2013 - Just Be

I hope everyone has had a fun and safe New Year's Eve 2012, and a happy New Year's Day 2013, however you celebrated the turning of the year.

This New Year was a bit different for me and my boyfriend Ian. In past years, we have enjoyed some great evenings of music at the (sadly, now closed) Cubbyhole Coffeehouse that were presented by our friend Lee Brown, musician and proprietor of the coffeehouse. We've also spent some memorable New Year's Eves in New York City, although not at the massive Times Square ball drop. One year we saw an amazing and inspiring performance by Patti Smith at the Bowery Ballroom, and another year we attended an adventurous and surreal dance party at the (now closed) club Mother, with a great group of people, including our good friends Jayne and Len Warner. And at the turn of the Millenium we celebrated with our own dance party, organized by Jayne and Len, at Beacon, NY's historic Howland Center - it was a fun and unforgettable time.

Even when there hasn't been a great music event or party, Ian and I have at least treated ourselves to a nice dinner out at one of our area's many excellent restaurants - we've gone to Dickens (sadly, also closed); River Station, and Cosimo's (all in Poughkeepsie, NY). And we've come home in time to watch the ball drop in Times Square on ABC-TV's broadcast of Dick Clark's "New Year's Rockin Eve."

But this year, I've been sick with some kind of lingering cold/flu since Christmas Eve. So we decided it was best to stay in. At first, I was disappointed, because New Year's Eve is the best excuse for a night out, but we made the best of it and actually had a good night. We made dinner - salmon with sour cream-dill sauce and roasted potatoes, and chocolate-filled crepes with strawberries for dessert. And we toasted the New Year with glasses of wine as we watched the ball drop on TV. It wasn't the same without Dick Clark (RIP) but it was a New Year's tradition nonetheless.

And this morning, I observed another New Year's tradition that I've had since 1984 - playing U2's "New Year's Day" as my first song of the year. I love this live performance at Ireland's Slane Castle, from 2001's Elevation tour (posted on Youtube by dolenc1234).

To me, it just wouldn't be New Year's Day without hearing the enduring Irish rockers' rousing and inspiring song... especially the lyrics, "I... I will begin again." That's always been the my idea of a new year - fresh beginnings; the potential and promise of the future.

And I usually focus on the possibilities of the coming year, with a renewed list of resolutions and goals - most of them centered on my writing. This year my writing goals are the same as always - to finish at least one of my book manuscripts; to post more writing blogs and develop a better online presence; and to practice journal writing more often each week.

In past years, I've usually spent a good part of New Year's Day on my writing, as I planned to do this year. But I still felt sick when I woke up today, and after Ian and I had breakfast (he made French Toast with freah strawberries and blueberry syrup - it was awesomely yummy) and I had a cup of Echinacea tea, I fell asleep on the couch, for the entire morning. I woke up briefly, and started reading "Ruby," a great, magical-realism fantasy novel co-written by one of my favorite authors, Francesca Lia Block, along with Carmen Staton. I got halfway through it, but then fell asleep again, all while Ian took some photographs of the clockworks of an old clock; worked on some of his previous photos with Photoshop; and submitted some pictures for a show at a gallery in Troy, NY, featuring photographs taken on 12-12-12.

When I woke up, I was glad that he'd had so many creative accomplishments, but I felt like I'd wasted too much time sleeping. Until Ian reminded me that I really needed the rest - probably one of the reasons the illness has persisted is that I've concentrated too much on just getting through most of my scheduled workdays and haven't focused on getting better. And he's right. It's probably time to see a doctor and finally get some real medicine to get this out of my system.

And it's time for me to just accept that although this New Year hasn't been perfect, it's been just fine. And instead of being disappointed in myself for still not being able to meet all my New Year's endeavors, I should appreciate my writing ability and the fact that I can still make renewed writing goals for the coming year.

I know I tend to get down on myself when I don't feel like I've lived up to all of my resolutions that I've set for myself each year. I think it's partly because I'm a perfectionist, and partly because this society is so results-oriented. Everyone tends to want to overcome obstacles; reach the finish line; be a winner.

But sometimes, obstacles (like this illness) are a part of life, and they need to be accepted and lived through, not just overcome. This New Year's Day, I needed to rest, instead of sprinting through the starting gate of a new year of opportunities and plans. That doesn't make me a bad person; it makes me human. And I realize that it's okay.

I think I should start this year with a more Zen-like approach, as writer/artist/teacher Natalie Goldberg discusses in her seminars and many of my favorite writing books, such as "Writing Down the Bones" and "Wild Mind." I really love her idea of writing as a spiritual practice that's developed throughout life. I need to appreciate the opportunities when I can write and hope that they come often enough for me to make some progress on my projects, instead of berating myself when I am just unable to write and it can't be helped. I need to get back to enjoying the act of writing in itself, without the pressure of self-imposed time limits. I need to get out of my own way, and just write... and keep writing, and trust that it will eventually lead to meeting my writing goals.

 I need to accept that I'm a person with flaws as well as strengths. I need to appreciate who I am. I need to just be.

The words "just be" were on my mind, and I remembered them in a song. I looked up, and found it in this video on YouTube (posted by oOXenaOo) - "Just Be," by British electronica musician Kirsty Hawkshaw, in  a 2004 collaboration with DJ Tiesto. A new song, a new approach, for a new year...

Happy 2013, everyone.

Many Monday Muses - Part 1: Francesca Lia Block

I've been so inspired by many people in the past week, so I want to give each of them a post, for my Monday Muses:

First is Francesca Lia Block. Yes, she was one of my muses for my birthday post last week. But today (December 3rd) is her birthday, so I want to write a happy birthday post for her.

She is definitely one of my favorite writers ever, & I've loved and been inspired by everything she's written: her fanciful yet relatable novels for teens; her lovely and sensual erotica stories for adults; and her beautifully lyrical poetry. She has a wonderful way of expressing the knife-edge balance of lightness and darkness in life with her magical-realism style.

Someday I hope to visit L.A. so I can take one of her writing workshops - I think it would be an amazing and empowering experience. Until then, I'll continue to be inspired by her books - right now, I'm re-reading (for the countless time) her "Weetzie Bat"/ "Dangerous Angels" series, and have just finished "Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys." This new-age rock-and-roll fable is one of my favorites.

And I'll keep in mind her advice for writers, from this great video taken at the 2010 West Hollywood Book Fair by writer and blogger Nutchell, and posted on the blog, "The Writing Nut" (www.thewritingnut.com) and on Youtube:

So, thank you, Francesca, for being a wonderful role-model for all of us writers and readers who have been so positively affected by your work. And Happy Birthday!

Monday's Muses - A Birthday of Inspiration

My birthday was this past weekend – I always think of a birthday as a personal holiday and a time to do whatever one wants to do the most. I always make sure to be off from work on that day and I always spend part of the day writing. This birthday was really enjoyable and inspiring, from morning until night.

On Saturday morning, I went to a meeting of our local SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) group at Panera in Fishkill, NY. Longtime member Bill Joel gave a presentation on the concept of world-building in fiction writing. With his educator background, it was more like a class, with a great informational “lecture,” a hand-out of helpful resources and even a small-group exercise. And with his experience as a writer of self-published science fiction novels and several sci-fi short stories for middle-grade readers, he knowledgably conveyed the importance of creating detailed, logical and believable worlds in fiction, no matter what the genre. It’s an excellent time for me to address world-building in my writing, and I learned some things that I can apply to the time-travel novel that I’ve been working on – I’m sure they’ll help make the concept of time-travel in my fictional version of today’s world believable.

After the creative inspiration and camaraderie of our writing group, I relaxed for awhile at home and read one of my favorite and most inspiring writers: Francesca Lia Block. I have read most of her books several times, and always make sure to read some of her writing during my birthday month of November. She writes novels, short stories and poetry, for both teens and adults, and I love everything about her writing – her lyrical language; her magical-realism style; her dream-scape L.A. settings; her unique yet relatable characters; and her themes of both lightness and darkness in life. 

Francesca Lia Block

So far this month, I’ve re-read a couple of her short-story collections – Nymph, a series of spare and sensual stories for adult readers; and The Rose and the Beast, a book of creatively modern retellings of classic fairy tales, such as “Snow White,” “Bluebeard,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” for both teens and adults. I re-read Echo, a novel about a teen girl who feels ignored in the face of her parents’ intense love for each other, and who seeks the love she needs from her friendships and a series of relationships, with the point of view shifting, from chapter to chapter, from Echo to the different people in her life. And I read a recent title, Pink Smog: Becoming Weetzie Bat – the prequel to Francesca’s ground-breaking and much-loved Dangerous Angels series. This book was heartfelt and insightful in showing the circumstances in the life of a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles – her father leaving; her mother’s drinking; her misfit status in middle-school; and her struggle for her own identity – that led her to become the quirky and loving Weetzie Bat. Now I’m re-reading the Dangerous Angles series for the countless time. I will always love Francesca Lia Block’s amazing, inventive writing. And even though I know I could never have her unique vision and writing talent, her words and images inspire me to work on developing my own imagination and writing voice for my own books. 

And on Saturday night, Ian and I went to the Towne Crier in Pawling, NY, where we had dinner and saw a wonderful performance by singer-songwriter Mary Fahl. We’ve been longtime fans of her music, since she was with her 1990s band October Project, and we’d seen their excellent show at the Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY in the late-‘90s. But this was the first time we got to see her solo performance, and it had an intimate feeling and a great sound quality. She is incredibly talented, with a beautiful, resonant contralto voice accompanied by her acoustic guitar. Her style is so versatile and compelling – she sang her original songs, from October Project and her solo albums – they have a rich and atmospheric goth/folk sound. I especially love her mythology and literature-influenced songs about sirens, Persephone, and Shakespeare’s Ariel. She also did an amazing cover of Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage/Eclipse” from her CD that’s her unique interpretation of Dark Side of the Moon - she originally recorded it in 2006 and self-released it as From the Dark Side of the Moon in 2011. And she sang Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” Mahalia Jackson’s “City Called Heaven,” Donizetti’s classical aria “Una Furtiva Lacrima,” and “Ben Aindi Habibi,” a Mozarabic language song from 11^th century Iberia. Ian took some great pictures and even a couple of videos as we listened, and I was swept away into a dreamy realm of imagination. Even if I don’t get the chance to write any stories based on the images that were influenced by her songs, I feel that seeing Mary Fahl has greatly inspired my sense of creativity and fantasy. And that’s something I appreciate.

Mary Fahl performing "Bury My Lovely," the first single from her band October Project

Mary Fahl, performing Pink Floyd's "Brain Damage/Eclipse"

Afterward, Ian and I got to meet her – she was so nice, and signed our copy of her From the Dark Side of the Moon CD and even took a picture with us!

When we got home, I stayed up late writing in my journal – the first time I’ve done any journal writing in a couple of months. I feel rejuvenated and motivated again - I want to try to push my imagination into the farthest creative directions that I'm capable of reaching. And for that, I thank my muses - my SCBWI group, Francesca Lia Block and Mary Fahl.

Wednesday On Writing - A Celebration of Books at New Paltz's Celebration of the Arts Festival

Saturday, October 6 was a great day off - I was glad that Ian and I were able to go to the 6th annual Celebration of the Arts (COTA) Festival in New Paltz. We had gone to the first two festivals, but hadn't been able to attend in several years, so it was good to see that the arts celebration has continued to thrive. It was held in Hasbrouck Park, within walking distance of the center of town, and even though it was in intermittently rainy day, I think there was a good turn-out for it. 

One thing I really like about COTA is that it features not just art and music, but writing, too. There were several tents of local artists displaying and selling their works, and two stages of music performances throughout the day. And then there was a tent featuring authors reading from their books. This year showcased children's and young adult authors from the Hudson Valley - I was especially interested in the readings, because I've been working on writing for young adults for the past several years. 

Ian and I met up with our friend (and a fellow writer of mine) Lisa K., and she joined us in the audience for the author readings. The first one we saw was Jennifer Castle, who read from her debut young adult novel, The Beginning of After, that was published by HarperCollins in September, 2011. It's about a teen girl, Laurel, whose life changes forever when her parents and brother are killed in a car accident. Now living with her grandmother, Laurel tries to cope with the grief of losing her family, and also with David, the neighborhood boy whose parents were also in the accident - his mother died, and his father, who was driving, is in a coma. 

She said the book took her six years to write, and has been out thirteen months. It's had some mixed reactions. Some people consider it part of a trend of death in young adult literature. (It's been compared to Gayle Forman's "If I Stay" and Sarah Dessen's "The Truth About Forever," - all share themes of loss within families.) But she said that although it may be a book trend, there's death in life. And the best reactions that she's received have been emails from readers who have experienced loss in their lives, and say that it was the perfect book for them to read.

 (Jennifer Castle reading from The Beginning of After)

She also read from her upcoming young adult novel, You Look Different in Real Life, that will be published in June, 2013. She said it took her one and a half years to write, and it's in the copy-editing phase now. It's very different from her debut novel - it has some humor and an interesting topic. It's about a group of teens who have been the subjects of a series of documentary films about their lives, following them every five years between the ages of six and sixteen, and how they deal with the intrusiveness of the media on their lives. It's set in a fictionalized New Paltz (where she lives) and I'm sure it reflects her background in film and documentary television in Los Angeles. It reminded me of a similar documentary TV series, by Michael Apted, that started with "7 Up." I look forward to reading it when it's published.

 

 (Jennifer Castle reading from You Look Different in Real Life)

COTA was also the first-ever author reading event for Kimberly Sabatini, our good friend whose debut young adult novel, Touching the Surface, is being released on October 30th by Simon Pulse. I had made sure to have the day off from work for this, and it was so cool to be in the audience as Kim read from her brand-new book. Her family, including her mother, brother, husband and her three little boys, were there, and I'm sure they felt even more proud of her as I did.

 (Kim waving to her kids in the audience)

Kim read her book's dedication to her father, and explained that when he died several years ago, it gave her the courage to write - she didn't want to have any unfinished goals in life. She was inspired to write the story of Elliot, a teen girl who has died for the third time and arrives in her afterlife at the Obmil, a retreat-like place where souls go to learn from and understand their previous lives before they can move on. 

It's a wonderful and well-written book, as I wrote in my review for this blog and for Goodreads.com. And Kim did a great job reading the first chapter, where Elliot arrives at the Obmil and is greeted by Mel, the woman who is her guide. She looked and sounded like an author pro already!

 (Kimberly Sabatini reading from Touching the Surface)

Kim also told everyone about her five-year journey from hopeful fledgling writer to published author. On her youngest son's second birthday (he's seven now) she got the urge to attend the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Hudson Valley conference. She went alone, and felt nervous and scared that she didn't belong - until she met up with Chris, an attendee who had taught at the same school where she'd been a special ed teacher. They reconnected as writers, and he made her feel comfortable there. Laurie Halse Anderson (the author of Speak and several other acclaimed young adult books) and KL Going (the author of Fat Kid Rules the World, as well as other highly-respected young adult and middle-grade titles) were two of the speakers at the conference, and Kim felt inspired by them.

So when she saw that KL Going was giving a writing workshop at Millbrook's Merrit Bookstore, Kim went home and wrote the first pages of her book, for a critique session. With KL's encouragement, Kim started attending SCBWI's local Shop Talk meetings, and worked on her novel through that year. Then, at another of KL Going's workshops, Kim registered for a critique of double the amount of pages. She appreciated KL's feedback so much that she hired her to give a full critique of her novel's first draft. KL gave her extensive notes, and Kim used some of them to revise her book and prepare it for submission to agents. One agent liked it and asked Kim for some specific revisions - Kim found that they were the same suggestions that KL had made in her notes! She realized that she just hadn't been ready to fully revise her book until then, but when she did, she signed on with another agent, Michelle Wolfson, who then sold Touching the Surface to Simon Pulse.

 Kim was thrilled to point out KL Going, who was scheduled to read next, and to thank her for all of her inspiration and guidance. I think it's cool, too, that Kim gave one of her book's characters the last name Going - a great acknowledgement of her mentor.

 And before KL Going did her reading, she said that it was a momentous occasion for her to hear Kim's first reading of her first novel - she remembers very well Kim's first ten pages, and recognized some of the changes in Kim's first chapter. She said she's proud of Kim's growth as a writer, and is looking forward to reading Touching the Surface when it's released.

KL had some excellent news to share - the film of her award-winning first young adult novel, Fat Kid Rules the World, premiered officially the night before, in New York City. It's an independent film (with a budget of just $750,000), directed by Matthew Lillard (who has acted in movies such as SLC Punk and She's All That) and starring Jacob Wysocki, Matt O'Leary and Billy Campbell. She said it did the film festival circuit and has had a great response. She's hoping it will get to come to a Hudson Valley theater, and talked about an online program called Tugg (www.tugg.com) where people can sign up to request movies to be shown at their local theaters, and then do online promotion to ensure the movie screening. I've checked out the Tugg site - it would be so cool to see Fat Kid in a theater such as Rosendale's. KL said she hopes that Kim's Touching the Surface will become a movie, too, so Kim can share the excitement that she feels.

 (KL Going talks about Fat Kid Rules the World)

KL acknowledged that Fat Kid Rules the World has some adult language in it, so, in keeping with COTA's family atmosphere, she instead read from her second novel, The Liberation of Gabriel King, that was published by Putnam in 2005 and is for middle-grade readers. It's set in 1976, and is about a white boy, Gabriel, and a black girl, Frita, who are best friends and who try to help each other overcome their fears and stand up to the school bullies in their small Georgia town. She read a humorous passage where they try to deal with Gabriel's fear of spiders. 

 

(KL Going reading from The Liberation of Gabriel King)

She also talked a bit about her writing process - she said she firmly believes in the power of the subconscious, and she lets her book ideas percolate in her mind (for sometimes up to a year or more) before starting to write. She said that when she can hear her characters' voices in her mind, then she knows that it's time to write. She compared it to the gestation period before giving birth. 

I could really relate to that because I tend to think a lot about my writing projects - with several of my book ideas in my head at once - before actually sitting down to start to work on them. Some of my story ideas have started out with vague ideas and don't develop much in my mind. But several of my ideas have grown in my mind over time, to the point where I think about them every day, whether or not I have time each day to work on writing them. Especially the books that I'm currently working on - my 'tween novel, What Luck, and my adult time-travel fantasy novel, with the working title Time's Crossing. I've never been much of an outliner, though I do make notes that I keep in a notebook for each project. And I'm glad to know that there's not just one way to write a book, and that the intuitive, from-the-mind-to-the-page process has worked successfully for writers like KL Going, and also Kimberly Sabatini. Kim describes herself as a "seat-of-the-pants" or "pants-er" type of writer - she flies by the seat of her pants when writing, and often mulls over her book ideas while running or doing other activities. And it's worked out very successfully for Kim, too.

Afterwards, we talked with KL, Kim, and Kim's family - everyone is looking forward to the October 30th pub date of Touching the Surface, and the book launch events that weekend. On Thursday, November 3rd there is a book release party, hosted by Kim's husband John, at Asellina in New York City. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it that night, but I'm looking forward to Barnes & Noble Poughkeepsie's "Meet the Writer" book signing with Kim at 2:00pm on Saturday, November 3rd, and the Hudson Valley YA Society's book launch party at Oblong Books, Rhinebeck at 4:00pm on Sunday, November 4th. With Kim's enthusiasm and networking skills, I'm sure these will all be great events. 

Thanks to Kim, KL and Jennifer for their entertaining and inspiring readings and talks, and thanks to COTA for another great Celebration of the Arts day in New Paltz. I'll let the day's memories motivate my writing, hopefully for weeks to come. And I'll dream of a year, hopefully sometime in the not-so-far future, when I can read from one of my published books at a Celebration of the Arts Festival, too.

(posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at 3:00am)

Monday's Muse - Kimberly Sabatini's "Touching the Surface"

It's been quite awhile since I've written a post for this blog. But,after reading this great, soon-to-be-released novel, I'm inspired to revive this blog with a review. This book has made me think a lot about my writing, and about life in general. 

Last Friday, I was so excited to finally get to bring home the Advance Reader’s Copy of Kimberly Sabatini’s upcoming debut novel, Touching the Surface – its release date is October 30. I’d been looking forward to reading this book ever since I found out that it had been accepted for publication by Simon Pulse (a young adult imprint of Simon & Schuster) last February (2011) and since I first saw the actual ARC copy this past January. I spent last weekend reading it during my free time from work, not wanting to put it down, and finished it last Sunday afternoon, with just minutes to spare before I had to go to work. I was glad to have Kim’s words, characters and images in my mind during a long and mundane work-night. And they’ve been in my mind ever since.

There’s so much I want to say about this book and (as usual with my writing), I’ve spent much time trying to find just the right words to accurately convey what an excellent book Touching the Surface is.

Full Disclosure: This review post is going to be somewhat subjective, because Kim has been a good friend, as well as an active and supportive member of the children’s writing community here in the Hudson Valley, NY, for many years. Since the beginning of this year, I’ve helped her moderate the monthly meetings of our local Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Shop Talks. And she and I have shared many great SCBWI meetings and conferences together, as well as many great talks about writing and life.

I remember when, about five years ago, Kim showed up at a Shop Talk meeting, with a sheaf of pages – the first chapter of her novel, about a teen girl’s experience in the afterlife, and inspired by the death of her beloved father a couple of years before. She read it to everyone there in a faltering yet excited voice and I knew immediately that I’d heard something special and unique – unlike any other teen novel I’d read before. When everyone gave her their feedback, I told her that I could tell right away that her story was special – heartfelt and well-written – and I had no doubt that one day it would be a success.

Since then, I’ve read Kim’s manuscripts in various forms of revision, and each time I’ve been really impressed at how she rewrote and developed the story, while still remaining true to her original and ongoing vision. I think that her agent, Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Agency, and her editor, Annica Risi of Simon Pulse, saw the same great potential and the result is this wonderful published book.

Reading Touching the Surface in its ARC form, I have no doubt that it will have a great audience of readers – teens and adults – and that it will help inspire them for years to come.

It’s the story of Elliot, a 17-year-old girl, who has died for the third time and surfaces in a lake at the Obmil Center for Progression – she is pulled out by Mel, an older woman who has acted as her guide each time she’s been there. Kim explained to our SCBWI group that “Obmil” was her interpretation of the Catholic concept of Limbo – as a picturesque mountain lodge retreat that is a sort of way station for souls who have died, and need to have life lessons before they can move on to their afterlife. It’s such an inventive setting, especially since the various souls’ memories, thoughts and moods can cause the Obmil’s surrounding buildings and grounds, as well as its atmosphere to change, creating steep mountain paths, fields of flowers, or a sudden snowfall.  

At first, Elliot has no recollection of her previous life and only vague memories of her past two lives – as an elderly man who’d died alongside his twin brother, and as a forty-year-old divorcee who had died with her best friend in a plane crash after a self- help retreat.

One of Obmil’s objectives for a “Third Timer” such as Elliot is to go through a process called “Delving.” I loved these scenes, where, in a New Age-y Workshop setting, each soul is suspended in a “swing” that allows him or her to relive a past-life experience, and the participants in the group are able to share in it, while the guide helps the person to cope with or process the revealed issues that have kept him or her from moving on. It’s like a fantastical form of hypnosis.

Elliot’s memories are so urgent however, that she begins to re-live her past without the safety of the swing, and even, at times, outside the haven of the Workshop. Her remembrances involve Oliver and Trevor, two teens who are also at the Obmil, and who are as different from each other as day and night. Oliver is light and sweet-natured, with a positive, Zen-like outlook, but Trevor is dark and angry, with an aggressive attitude. Elliot feels a natural kinship to Oliver, and although she is repelled by Trevor, she is as equally drawn to him. Through her guided and unguided Delves, she is dismayed to discover her connection to both boys. And she finds it difficult to forgive herself for the effect she’d had on both of their lives, and now, afterlives. It’s hard for her to accept Oliver’s kind friendship, and she feels that she deserves Trevor’s wrath. Her relationship with them forms a constantly shifting triangle, and it’s interesting to see how all three characters are able to grow and work out their complicated and emotional ties to each other.

Another character at the Obmil is Julia, Elliot’s roommate at the lodge – she’d been Elliot’s closest companion in her first two lives, but was somehow absent from her recent past life. And for some reason, Julia is now avoiding Elliot, causing more hurt and confusion in Elliot’s already distressing afterlife. Julia does have her reasons, though, and when her back story is revealed through Delving, it’s understandable. It’s a good sub-plot about the give and take in long-lasting friendships.

Touching the Surface is the perfect title for the book’s multi-layered themes. Elliot must delve through the surface of her knowledge of her past life to uncover its meaning and to have a deeper sense of herself and the people she has loved. She also must learn to look past the surface of her companions, to forge deeper and more understanding perceptions of them. There is much more to each character than what appears on the surface. Even Mel and her Obmil colleagues - caretaker Freddie, and David, a pompous Guide - have an interesting and surprising connection to each other and to the Obmil.

Kim further enhances her theme with metaphors and images of water in its many forms – a hidden pond; a rushing waterfall; an unpredictable crust of ice on a lake. She also adds recurring

images of birds – eagles and paper origami cranes – to add beauty and resonance to her words. The result is a story that is as beautifully written as it is compelling. I found myself wanting to take a highlighter to its pages, to mark the phrases, sentences and passages that affected me and made me think – I will definitely make good use of the highlight feature on my Nook copy.

I’m so glad that Simon Pulse is the publisher of Touching the Surface – Kim’s book deserves to be released by a major publisher. But I also think that it’s more than just a “teen fiction” book. Yes, its protagonists are teens, and it does cover many of the typical teen-novel tropes – like making sense out of one’s life; a potential love-triangle; a best-friend relationship; the issues that a troubled teen must go through with parents and in school. But that’s just on the surface. Delving into the story reveals much more than that – I think it’s a metaphysical fiction tale about personal growth; person-to-person connections; guilt and forgiveness; the healing of hurt and anger; and overall, love that can transcend life and death. Offhand, I’m hard-pressed to come up with YA novels and authors with similar themes – Suzanne Weyn’s “Reincarnation” comes to mind. But I would classify Touching the Surface with some of the best metaphysical fiction – for any ages – that I’ve read, by such amazingly insightful authors as Richard Bach, Mitch Albom and Paolo Coelho.

It’s for that reason that I recommend Touching the Surface to any reader from teen to adult, who wants to read a beautifully-written, thought-provoking tale with wonderfully imagined characters, setting, and story-arc, that also gives a deep message about life, death and the afterlife, and has the potential to stay in the reader’s mind and heart long after they’ve turned the last page.

So, Kim is my muse - not just for this blog post, but one of my muses for my writing - for the past several years now, and into the near-future. Reading Touching the Surface has been so inspiring - it has made me think about my own writing, as well as life in general, and the themes that I want to express in my written works. Like Kim, I want to express my spiritual thoughts and ideas about life in novels that may also have meaning, not just to me, but to other readers. I've had several book ideas in my mind, and in various stages of notes and written beginnings, but I haven't felt that my writing has been adept enough to adequately express my point of view, to effectively reach others who may read my work. So, whenever I feel unsure about my writing, I'll remember Kim, when she first came to a Shop Talk meeting, and her hesitant reading yet fervent belief in her story and the importance of its meaning. And I'll strive to express my ideas and beliefs in words and characters and settings and plot arcs, and hope that one day, they'll result in books that will find an audience of readers, who will appreciate them the same way that I know they will embrace Kim and Touching the Surface.