A Kidseye View

It's one of those mornings where the sky's a bit overcast and the bugs--I think they're cicadas--make that sound that starts soft and then grows very loud, then tapers off and goes soft again. The air's all hot and heavy. It's like living in one of those jungle movies--Papillon or Bridge on the River Kwai.

Catherine and I went to see Airbender last night. It wasn't so bad, but it was a let-down for me. My primary response was that I don't know how anyone who hasn't seen the show as many times as we have (the girls watch it constantly) has any idea what's going on or why.

My almost eight year-old daughter loved it. She was bouncing in her seat, calling out the names when her favorite characters appeared, and then she talked about it the whole way home. She would give it an A+++. THAT made it a great movie for me.

It also made me remember how I responded to movies at her age. I wasn't so judgmental about how skillfully the acting was done or how true it was to the original story or how real the special effects looked. If I saw characters I liked doing cool stuff, I was happy.

We walked out of the theater and the moon was that little crescent with Venus at two o'clock. It was gorgeous. Even Catherine exclaimed when she saw it.

As we drove back to our house, the sky flashed white with heat lightening the whole way. Catherine sat in the back gazing out the window at the sky. Every now and then she'd say, "Look, Mommy!" or "Did you see that?"

I wished I could pull the car over and just sit out somewhere and watch it with her. I also mentally noted that as small as our little town is, there's not a lot of places to pull off the road and just stare up at the heat lightening.

We were driving on U.S. 31. JRM told me once that you can take that road all the way to Indianapolis where it becomes Meridian Street.

I remembered driving on Meridian many times in Indy with her in a car seat less than a year old. She liked the Dixie Chicks, and she'd cry when I had to stop at red lights.

Time's passing fast, but so much never changes. Last night I glanced in the rearview mirror occasionally at her little strawberry head and remembered when I used to sit in the window staring at the heat lightening.

I always thought it was pretty cool, too.

***

Earlier this week, Katie (a.k.a., Creepy Query Girl) gave several bloggers and me awards at her BLOscars. I had two responses. The first from the Monkees: "I'm proud, and a little bit humbled..." the second from Sally Field: "You like me! You really like me!"

Since I'm the guerilla comment lady, I took the supportive commenter award:

And a big THANK YOU! to Katie. It was both unexpected and encouraging and I appreciate you very much~

Age and imagination

First, if you're 7+ years-old and haven't watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, you're seriously missing out. (It's the Nickelodeon cartoon upon which the movie Airbender by M. Night Shyamalan is based, and it is so good.)

On to today's post!

I read on a writer's forum a lament about how many young novelists there are now--as in agented writers under 20--and how they're being greeted with so much enthusiasm. The person was concerned if s/he was "too old" to be writing YA.

I can understand this insecurity, but I don't know. Maybe I watched too much Miracle on 34th Street growing up. The imagination's ageless right?

To me, this is just another one of those sneaky things that'll psych you out as a writer.

And there's all kinds of things that do that. I almost psyched myself out the other day worrying about how much time I don't have for writing now that the summer break is upon us and the girls are with me nonstop.

If the concern is younger writers having more time to improve at the craft and build a bigger following, I guess they might. But if it's about keeping up with trends or slang proficiency, I think that's a mistake.

I like to imagine my books being read in 20 years (or more). So I want to be as neutral as possible in what my characters are saying or doing. Catch-phrases and technology change so fast, and publishing is sooo slooow....

But the imagination and good stories are ageless. Which is what makes writing such a wonderful craft when compared to crafts like acting. Or rock-n-roll musician-ing. Only don't tell Madonna that. Or Mick Jagger... Or Meryl Streep.

OK, there's also that way some people have of knowing how to give the market what it wants. I'm not sure if you can develop that or if you just have it. Like It.

Perhaps it's a matter of getting in the right mood. Maybe life's blocking your creative flow... If it's me, I plop down and watch some iCarly with the girls or jump over to the "Forever YA" blog. The author of that blog never fails to put me in a funny, YA mindset--especially when she goes on a Sweet Valley High rant.

I loved those books.

Then again, I just wrapped up a week with (awesome) teenage helpers at VBS.

That's another way to get plunged right back into those days of wanting to be an adult so badly and being freaked out by the whole idea at the same time. Oh, the self-consciousness! Oh, the desire to just blend! Oh, is that boy looking at me?!

Or read some good books in the genre. I try to really get to know my characters before I start writing. Just really get in their heads, and then relax and let them act.

Regardless, heed the experts and keep writing, writer friends~

Awesomeness and fishing

Gotta take a break from the world. Catherine and I are beside ourselves about this (use your back button to return): The new trailer for The Last Airbender movie.

The first word out of both our mouths was "Appa!" The second out of Catherine's was, "It's in 3D?"

My children haven't embraced the whole 3D movie craze. As a result, I haven't seen a 3D movie yet either... Here's the deal: a few years back Monsters v. Aliens came out in 3D. (I think it was one of the first for kids.)

Well, a mommy friend of mine called and wanted us to do a girls movie date to see it. That was cool, I was onboard. I love, love, love the movies, right?

Laura dug her little heels in and said "NO!" She was literally offended at the suggestion. But not because it was in 3D. Laura's like me as a little kid--she likes to sleep. And it only took one scary movie for me/her to realize that hiding under the covers in the dark shivering for three weeks straight was no way to spend your nights.

I said Monsters v. Aliens to Laura, and she looked at me like I was a monster. Or an alien. So we agreed she'd stay home with Daddy and watch Kipper or Angelina Ballerina.

Catherine definitely wanted to go, but I can't remember why she didn't. She might've gotten sick--it was first grade. They still get sick a lot at that age. But the rest of the gang went, and after it was over, word got back that one of the little girls had left the theater and thrown up afterwards.

Her mom said it was because during the movie, this tiny six year-old (she really is the littlest of the girls) had consumed her popcorn, her neighbor's popcorn, a box of gummies, a whole Sprite... you get the picture.

Made no difference to Catherine. She lives her little life by a strict "no vomiting" philosophy. (I'm onboard with that, considering I'm the clean-up crew.)

No amount of reasoning would convince her that her buddy had just eaten too much junk food. Nope. It was the 3D. Catherine actually left another friend's birthday party because it culminated in watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D.

I'm almost relieved M. Night gave us an out. Because while we LOVE the animated Nickelodeon TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender (upon which the movie's based) and we have every episode on DVD, I've said before it's one thing to see Koh, the face-stealing spirit, as a cartoon. It's a whole nother to see it in real life. And a whole nother to see it in 3D.

Still, for me July 2 can't get here fast enough. I might have to sneak off with Aunt Dara and the boys to see it... whee!

And what's all this about fishing? Well, let me tell you. It's about Brand New Novel.

There have been times in my agent search when I've been discouraged. I've said I wasn't doing it anymore, it was stupid, why was I wasting my time, I was tired of it, I didn't really care if I never got published, etc., etc., etc.

At the risk of driving away ALL my friends, I've tried to keep these moments to myself as much as possible. Only poor Richard has to hear it. Oh, and my mom.

My sweet mom has been so great. She listens and has no idea what I'm talking about half the time, but every time she says the following: "It's just like fishing. You've just gotta keep casting and one of these times you're going to catch a big fish."

Well, reader friends, I caught The Shark.
...

I'm trying to be philosophical about it. It doesn't matter if she comes back and says "no thanks." Now I know I have a query letter for BNN that will result in a full manuscript request from a veteran, top agent.

I'm also trying to apply Catherine's "no vomiting" philosophy. I've got 59 days to go.

My uncle Kelly's a welder. When he was in his late 20s-early 30s, he worked on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf, and they used to deepwater fish from the platform. He caught a shark once... It was delicious.

More soon~

P.S. Hey, Locals! The Hangout is donating all profits from this weekend's music/art festival to oil spill relief. Click here for more info.

How High School Influenced My Writing Career

High school. sigh.

I went to one of the two "gifted" high schools in Baton Rouge. The other was Baton Rouge High. BRHS was distinguished by having a (really cool) radio station run by the students. My school was distinguished by having a (really nerdy) engineering program run by the engineers at Exxon (where my dad worked).

Not all us arts and literature geeks could go to BRHS. The school was only so big. And there might've been zoning issues, but it seems like a lot of my school friends lived clear on the other side of BR from me. So I don't know.

My point is this: There were some wickedly creative kids at my school. I mean blow your mind creative in art, literature, music, drama. There were also some serious nerds. (Says the girl wearing her "Team Zuko" t-shirt.)

I was always the quiet one back then, and being surrounded by all those kids who would deliver those completely out of the box ideas about literature and writing was very intimidating. The art kids were pretty amazing, too. And of course, I was always in awe of my big brother's dramatic stylings. We actually had a show choir at my school. He was in it, too. And it was cool.

What we did not have:
-Cheerleaders
-Football players
-Team sports of any kind (other than intramurals)
-Jocks
-Hot guys... OK, there were a few. (Sorry, former classmates.)

What we did have:
-Lifetime sports, which included golf, ballet, and fencing (fencing?)
-Drafting class
-Piano lessons
-Amnesty International

Yep, that was my high school experience.

So like most writers, I've been writing all my life. My first graphic novel I wrote and illustrated when I was about seven. It was called Fury Woman, and it was about this pretty female scientist who accidentally dumped acid on herself or something. Well, it tranformed her into this hideous creature with giant black eyebrows and a protruding mole... I don't remember exactly what Fury Woman did, but I do remember my drawings of her and how much ink I wasted on those eyebrows.

The next book I wrote was illustrated by my best friend/sister (and fellow Airbender lover) Dara Rush Bartee, who is a fabulously gifted artist still. Back then she was just getting started. We were about eight or nine, I guess. That book was called Dignity and Detriment. I used the thesaurus to look up alliterative synonyms for Pride and Prejudice. I don't recall D&D having a lot in common with P&P, and I'm not sure why we went with that. I think I just liked the sound of the words, and Dara couldn't care less so long as she was getting to draw.

I didn't mind my unusual HS experience, but looking back, I realize that being surrounded by all that edgy creativity did get in my head. I decided I'd probably never write like Phillip Roth, so why bother? At my HS, you didn't settle. Instead, I spent the first 15 years of my career in editing and news writing. No books. Not me.

Is that an excuse? I don't think so. Just being honest.

Now, of course, I realize how silly that was. So listen up, high school kids, take it from a nerd: do what you love and don't look around and compare yourself. The world is full of different tastes, and you really don't know what you might do. You just gotta keep doing it. Keep putting pen to paper or fingers to keys or whatever.

And to my HS peeps, I love you guys and continue to be amazed by your creativity scattered all over the world as you are today. I'm esp. grateful for my musical education, and I love that art rock is making a comeback. As well as the new twist on the classic techno stylings of Kraftwerk. Good stuff.

Moral (Mom would say): You're only limited by you.