We have a winner of a signed copy of Kurtis Scaletta‘s The Winter of the Robots.
And the winner is:
Maria Selke
Congratulations, Maria! You’ll be receiving an email soon.
Thanks to everyone who commented and entered.
Book Lists
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I have a confession to make: I love Christmas music. In fact, I like it so much that my wife had to institute a family rule—no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. I eventually got her to compromise, convincing her that Christmas music was allowed before Thanksgiving, as long as it had snowed first. This year, pre-Thanksgiving, I had the stereo pumping “Jingle Bells” as soon as Virginia had its first snowfall.My wife accused me of cheating because we live in the state of Washington.
I say that she never specified the location of the snow. |
Anyway, with Christmas now only one week away, I began to wonder what writing wisdom might be gleaned from the music of the season. From the traditional “Away in a Manger” to Elvis’s “Blue Christmas,” here are five Christmas songs and the writing truths they reveal:
1) “Away in a Manger”: I don’t care if you are reading this while at work in a busy office. Don’t be shy. Go ahead and belt out the opening lines of this Christmas classic. What do you have? Within the first four measures, you already know about the no-crib issue.
If you want to pull in the reader, start with a problem that needs overcome.
2) “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”: There’s more to be learned from Rudolph than the proper hyphenation of phrasal adjectives*. In fact, the writing truth embedded in the song is as illuminating as Rudolph’s nose:
A single unique trait is often enough to create a memorable character.
3) “Blue Christmas”: Elvis had snow. He’d finished decorating the Christmas tree. But none of that could pull him from the doldrums of a blue Christmas. He was missing his “Dear.”
Have your protagonist struggle with the loss of something or someone he cares about.
4) “Christmas Don’t Be Late” as sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks: The squeaky voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore get really annoying, really fast. My tolerance of their singing definitely doesn’t extend to listening to the whole song. So . . . when you write, I don’t care if your character is a singing chipmunk or a granny who grew up deep in the mountains of Kentucky.
Don’t overdo dialectical speech in yer dialogue. It’ll get distractin’.
5) “The Christmas Song” (a.k.a., “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”): Written on a hot summer day in 1944, “The Christmas Song” went from a few lines penciled in a notebook to a finished song in about 40 minutes. No, you probably won’t crank out a timeless masterpiece in under an hour. But . . .
You never know when the muse might strike.
Sometimes you just need to sit down, start writing, and see what happens.
Now, before you give your muse an opportunity to inspire, take a moment. Pick a Christmas carol. Pause and ponder. Then share with us some holiday-based writing wisdom of your own.
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*Note: If you have no idea what a phrasal adjectives is, you may not know why you should never write about a “ten year old boy.” Thus, in the spirit of the season, I offer this ever-so-useful link as my grammatical gift to you: Grammarist: Phrasal adjectives. |
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My Princess Boy image courtesy amazon.com
In the 1997 Belgian film Ma Vie En Rose, Ludovic is a seven year old boy who likes to wear dresses and fancy shoes. He can’t wait to grow up to be a woman and doesn’t understand why those around him are so upset by his gender nonconformity. The film beautifully portrays Ludovic’s story in the context of a family, community, and identity formation. It is not about sexuality persay, but squarely about gender identity.
Although we hear more and more about gender identity in the mainstream press, including legal disputes over children being allowed to use gendered bathrooms in schools, and conversations about whether gender nonconformity in very young children is the same as an expression of trangender identity, are gender nonconforming and transgender young people represented in Middle Grade Novels? I can think of a number of YA novels with transgender or gender nonconforming characters (check out this list on the great John Green’s tumblr, which includes Luna by Julie Anne Peters and Parrot Fish by Ellen Wittlinger). I can also think of recent picture books including 10,000 Dresses, and My Princess Boy. But what about middle grade novels?
It took me quite a bit of searching, but the best list I found was on Lee Wind’s excellent website, on a post GLBTQ Middle Grade bookshelf. Not all titles were of gender nonconforming characters, but here are some highlights of the ones that appeared to be. Many of these titles are unfamiliar to me, so I’d love any thoughts you have on them, or any other novels featuring gender nonconforming/challenging or transgender characters!
image courtesy ellenwittlinger.com
1. The Boy in the Dress by David Williams: 12 year old Dennis is a star soccer player who likes reading fashion magazines wearing dresses. One day, his new friend Lisa dares him to wear a dress to school.
2. If You Believe in Mermaids, Don’t Tell: 13 year old Todd is the best diver at summer camp. Only thing is, his secret with is to be mermaid, something he knows he’s not supposed to be.
3. From Alice to Zen and Everything in Between: 11 year old Alice likes playing soccer and working on her go kart. But her new best friend Zen tells her that she needs a makeover to make it in middle school. Only fast-talking, fashion-loving Zen is himself outcast at school for his interests.
4. Wandering Son Book 1 and 2: (Mangas) Fifth graders Shuichi and Yoshino connect during the first days of school, discovering that they share a love of many different things… including the fact that Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy.
Looking forward to your thoughts and recommendations!
