Vampires and a Halloween Omen (Or Why I Knew Today Would be a Good Writing Day)

After loading E on the bus today, the driver wished me a Happy Halloween and handed me a set of fangs. Seeing as the dark lord in my WIP took center stage recently, and seeing as he craves souls in much the same way a vampire thirsts for blood, I smiled all the way back to the house.

Writer-ly Inspiration: My Undead Daughter

How can I not be inspired to delve into KM these days? The witching hour approaches, and my oldest daughter joined the ranks of the undead this weekend. (edited 10/30/07)

Critique Group an Island Getaway

Some weeks life's siren call conspires to distance me from KM, and the only thing keeping my butt in chair for the hard work of writing is critique group. This week is no exception. Between homework three-hours-plus a night for my youngest (we're working with the school to convince them that this heavy work load is asking too much of any 6th grader, let alone a child with special needs), last-minute arrangements for the upcoming SCBWI Illinois Prairie Writer's Day conference, and preparations for our church youth group's annual haunted house (yes, we do a haunted house on holy ground), keeping writing a priority is a challenge.

Critique group meets today. Looking forward to meeting up with J & A. Our meeting days are so focused, centered, and immersed in the craft, they're how I imagine I'd feel after spending uninterrupted time on my own personal island getaway.

Hats Off to The Writing Life, or Why I Love My Job

Every now and again, this process dazzles and intrigues me. Think about it. What other profession allows you to wield a sword, befriend a minidragon, heal with a touch, and save the world?

Exciting the Muse, Writer-ly Homework and Why the Reader Trumps All

At last week's critique meeting, fellow writer A--sensing I hadn't finalized key rules of the magical system for my most current rewrite of KM--challenged me to do so before our next meeting.

I balked at first. After all, I could see how the magic worked in my head, and eventually, with enough rewrites, how I saw it would translate to the page, right?

But here's the thing. After taking this summer's Plotting the Novel class, I learned that no matter how many rewrites I did, I'd make little forward progress (and waste reams more paper) if I didn't make the hard decisions now.

What's more, it didn't matter that I could see my world's magic in action. What mattered was that A, my loyal and trusted reader, could not, which meant I hadn't done my job.

Leave it to J and A. Nothing gets past them. What J doesn't pick up, A does. And vice versa. And if both of them notice something, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. Go back and try again.

Honestly, I knew my current vision of the magical system was still a bit murky when I submitted the copy, but since the deadline was upon me, I sent it in anyway, hoped for the best, and thought, "hey, maybe it is working after all, maybe they'll let it slide."

Not.

Because I so respect these ladies, because the reader trumps all, and because I know from experience that the hard work will lead to a happy muse, I put a hold on my writing this week in order to finalize the Ecology of the Magical System in my fantasy world.

What I find fasinating about this exercise is that although the ecology isn't yet complete, my muse is inspired and eager to return to butt in chair time for the hard work of writing.

In case I haven't said it lately: This process continues to excite and amaze me.

Legends, Road Trips and Faith

As part of her unit on ancient cultures in social science, S has been learning about legends. A recent class assignment was to write her own.

S brainstormed her legend last weekend while on a road trip to a gaming convention in Bloomington with her dad. She came home with a story so rich with detail and characterization that I wish I could have been in the car with them to take advantage of the energy they generated.

S's fantastical tale tells the story of how the stars came to be in the sky. It begins with a Korean princess who befriends a group of fairies and then must save them from drowning at the Empress' hands. In doing so, she creates the stars in the sky.

As a writer mom I can't help but be tickled by how readily S embraced the creative process. But even more than that, I'm thrilled that she wanted to share her story with her classmates yesterday. Doing so was no trivial thing. You see, S suffers from something called childhood apraxia of speech, which means she understands you fine, and knows what she wants to say, but getting it out requires fits and starts and lots of effort.

S will never grow out of this disability, and being made to "perform" makes matters worse. Despite this fact, S put herself in front of the class yesterday and read her entire legend out loud. I'm told she did beautifully.

Not only am I awed by S's willingness to take such a big risk, I'm humbled by her unwavering faith in herself and her story. Go S.

The Cybils are Back--Nominate Your Favorite Children's & YA Book(s) of 2007

The Cybils, kidlitosphere's first literacy awards, are back. For more info and to nominate your favorite children's and YA books for 2007, surf on over to the Cybils blog.