Paper Hangover Flash Fiction Fridays: Attempt # 1

Writing Song of the Day: "Black Cat" by Janet Jackson

Happy Friday!

So, we don't usually blog on Fridays... but that just might change because of Pam's new excellent venture. She and her blog partners at Paper Hangover are challenging writers to come up with a Flash Fiction piece each week based on a given prompt.

How does it work?

1.) You get the prompt early in the week, write it, and then post it on your blog.

2.) Next, you link your FF piece to the Paper Hangover blog.

3.) From there, you visit others and leave comments on their fiction.

Simple enough, right?

This week's prompt was to write a FF piece (no longer than 300 words) that starts with the line "That darn cat..."

So... here goes my 1st attempt at Flash Fiction. *fingers crossed*

FF Attempt # 1:

That darn cat.

I hated him from the moment Dad brought him home. To make me forget about Rick. This darn lazy cat, Chemo is supposed to take away my ache for Rick.

Darn cat. I can’t curse. Not even in my head. Dad will know. He said so. “Don’t even THINK about cursing. I’ll know, Alexis. I’ll know.”

So I don’t.

It’s not like I’m naïve, I mean, I’m freaking fifteen…but Dad is scary as sh—I mean, hell, I mean…he’s scary. He knew about Rick—even when I was trying to be sneaky. Once Dad knew, I never saw Rick again. It’s not like I didn’t try. I did. Rick is just gone. In his place I have the fat orange and white cat, Chemo. Dad named him. Said he would cure the cancer that Rick put in me.
I didn’t know I could fall so hard. My friends were mad, saying I chose him over them. Who wouldn’t? Rick was tall, muscular and majorly cute. He had a chiseled face just like the late, great Heath Ledger. Only thing missing was the accent.

And now I have no clue where he went. He could be in a detention home, in jail, or just locked away in his bedroom. I try not to think the worst. But after three weeks of no new texts or e-mails…I can only think that Dad’s done it again.

Just like when I really liked Jamal in eighth grade. He disappeared and Dad brought home one of those rescue dogs. He named her Penny, short for penicillin. She died in her sleep.

I coax Chemo until he brings his fat body to me. I stroke his fur.

Dad might have missed my message with Penny, but he’ll get it for sure this time.

There you have it...my demented take on the prompt: That darn cat... What do you think? Are you participating this week? If not, you MUST next week! Have a good weekend :D

Constructive Criticism My A@#!

Critiquing Song of the Day: "Everybody Hurts" by REM

I'm not a perfect writer.

There. I admitted it. I mean, that's why I went back to school to receive my MFA in creative writing. I still have a ton to learn about my craft, and I've enjoyed my workshops and professors and recommended reading (okay, that may be a lie). Simply put, my MFA program has been very helpful...

Until I decided to make my creative thesis a contemporary YA novel.

You see, I didn't apply to one of those graduate programs that focuses on children's writing. Why? Because I didn't know that writing YA was my calling until after a month or two after I started classes.

Don't get me wrong. Despite not being familiar with YA writing, both my professors and classmates have given me lots of substantive feedback. They taught me how to build characterization, how to avoid cliches--to push myself to be a better writer.

But recently (like last week), one of my "older" classmates read a chapter in which one of my teen protagonists used curse words and had sex. She went on to not offer constructive criticism--only to tell me that not all teens do these sort of things and I'd be ostracizing my readers who were actually "good boys and girls." Oh, and she went on to tell me that her teenagers never engaged in these activities, so why was I so obsessed with making my characters unlikeable?

How did I react? I laughed. Then I got pissed. Then I tweeted about it. Then my tweeps made me laugh again (you guys rock, by the way).

And now? I'd like to thank my lovely classmate. You see, once my novels hit bookshelves (notice how I didn't say "if"--I'm feeling bold today), this is the type of feedback that I'll probably get from many parents. Why are my teens engaging in these wreckless behaviors? Furthermore, why am I promoting sex and drug use?

No matter what we all decide to write, it will never be universally liked--but that's what makes reading so great, right? We have choices, so if we don't want to read about teens cursing or having sex, we can always grab another book.

So kudos to you, dear classmate, for making my skin even tougher and preparing me for the real world. Have any of you experienced criticism for your writing yet? How have you handled it?

*BTW, don't forget you still have time to submit your first few lines in our First Lines Critique next Monday!! :)

RTW: Like Mike...Not Really

Revising Song of the Day: "Only Girl (in the World)" by Rihanna

It's time for Road Trip Wednesday again--woot woot! The lovely ladies at YA Highway are asking this week: I would have given anything to be like...

When I first read this question, I thought this:

And this:

And maybe a little of this:

Okay, maybe that last one was a little indigestion from dinner, but still--I was confused. But then I thought about it. Really thought about it. And I realized, I think I always kind of wanted to be someone else in school. Why else would I create all of these characters that had everything I wanted or said things I wanted to say?

As far as "real life" people--or people that I actually knew in the flesh--I think I wanted to be a Polk sister. The Polks were these fraternal twins that had everything: good grades, athletic skills, mad friends, and the good hair. I had them in a few of my advanced placement classes, and despite being uber popular, they were never bitchy (one did beat me in a class debate about Hamlet, although my rebuttals were both witty AND accurate, but that's besides the point).

I always wished I had the confidence of a Polk sister, and I think I'm slowly but surely walking down the street with my head held high (and have you seen the size of my head? That's a feat!).

As far as a famous person, I've always had a girl-crush on Chili from TLC (Left Eye was Quita's fave). I loved her so much, that when I was in middle school, two of my friends and I dressed up as them for Halloween. We even safety pinned lollipop heads to our clothes to use as condoms. Yes, Chili did have "the good hair" that I always envied, but I liked the whole girl power vibe that both she and and the rest of TLC always embodied. They were proud to be women, and that made me proud to be almost fully developed at age 11. Okay, not really--but I understood the changes my body was going through because of TLC, as strange as that sounds.

Quita says she's completely clueless about this topic (besides wanting to be ANYONE but herself...hey teens are like that!), so you tell us--was there anyone you wanted to be like growing up?

The First Line is the Deepest...

Writing Song of the Day: "The First Taste" by Fiona Apple

While traveling the blogiverse lately, we've noticed that a lot of our fellow writers are offering up their blogs as a forum for critiquing and helping out our writing brethren. We would like to join in this fun and open up our blog as yet another place to give and receive feedback.

...And on this lovely Monday (actually kinda cold and dreary Monday here in VA) we want to tackle the first step in the WIP and usually one of the parts that gets the BIGGEST makeover. The first lines. These lines are like your first boyfriend/girlfriend...you want to love him/her because they're your first, but you also want to change them constantly. Okay, maybe that was a bad analogy, but you get the point. The first lines need to pull in your reader, yet they also need to be subtle enough that it doesn't feel like the writer is trying too hard. For examples of really awesome first lines from some of our fave published YA novels, check out this post.

So, how do you write engaging first lines?

There are several theories out there about this. Some think you should shock your readers to make them read more. I hope the shock value works b/c in my WIP, The Blues (working title) this is how the novel starts:

Henry Knight was found bludgeoned to death early this morning.

Others think you should write a declarative sentence to start off the pacing of your novel: He was an old and cranky man.

OR you can give some description to let the reader know exactly where they are: It was a dark and stormy night with gray skies and tortured leaves whirling around the red brick two story house. (Yes, this sentence is awful)

One of the other effective methods is to ask a question: How do you get over your first true love?

Check out this article for more on the topic of first lines. Here is another one to help you out. Also, our buddy Erinn at Something Else to Distract Me had a cool first lines contest a while back that offered some good info on this topic. Check it out here. Lindsay N. Currie also offers up some info on the topic of first lines here. There's a pic of Tom Cruise in his undies--just a lil' more inspiration for you to go and read it :D

Which of these does your WIP have if any???

Now for the real reason behind this post...we want to have a critiquing day! We would love for you all (our devoted stalkers, er...followers) to participate by sending us your first lines. We will post the lines (it can be anonymously if you'd like) NEXT MONDAY, March 14th, 2011 and in the comments your fellow writers (who are quite nice and supportive) will leave critiques stating whether the first lines are effective or not and what you can do to revise them.

SOOO...if you want in (and we really hope you do!) send your firt THREE lines (can be less than three but no more than three) to cuzwewrite@gmail.com by Saturday, March 12th, 2011 at 12PM ET. In the e-mail put the title of your writing, your genre (YA/MG/Adult--historical, contemp. etc.), your name that you want posted on the blog (if you want anonymous, say so), and the first THREE lines of your piece of writing.

We hope you guys participate--it will be fun and helpful!

WAIT! Before you leave...share some of your own fave first lines OR tell us what you think makes a good first line.

Gone But Not Forgotten Blogfest!!!

Blog Hopping Song of the Day: "Gone" by N SYNC

It's FRIDAY!!! Not only the end of the work week for us, but also the day we get to share our favorite shows that are no longer making new episodes.

We had MAY-JAH fun with Alicia, Holly, and Erinn when we did the Page 99 Blogfest a while back, so we teamed up with them again to bring you the Gone But Not Forgotten Blogfest. Click here to see who else is hopping in this fest!

We luvs us some TV. It's an escape (and sometimes a distraction) but we can't tell you how many ideas we got from some of our faves like Prison Break and Friends. As writers, TV shows are very helpful to our craft. As a matter of fact, our # 1 fave show taught us a lot about pacing, voice, and awesometastic dialogue!

Here are our TOP 5 Gone But Not Forgotten TV Shows:

Eastwick: This show starred Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price, and Jamie Ray Newman. It aired from 2009-2010 and only had about 13 episodes. But they were GOOD! The show put a spotlight on three women in a small town who were beginning to come into their powers as witches. There were hi-jinks, deaths, omens, and love triangles. Who can ask for anything more??

Joey/Freddie: This was a tie b/c we couldn't get enough of both comedies. Joey starred Matt LeBlanc as his character from Friends (another one of our faves- could we BE loving any more shows?--please excuse the grammar for the sake of a good Chandler Bing impersonation). The comedy followed Joey and his sister played by Drea de Matteo when he moves to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. It aired from 2004-2006 and had 46 hilarious episodes. Freddie starred the man himself, Freddi Prinze Jr., as a Chicago chef living with three generations of female family members. His best friend was played by a very funny Brian Austin Green. This one aired from 2005-2006 and had ONLY 22 episodes. We heard some of the funniest lines ever from this show and couldn't believe it was canceled!

Fastlane: Fastlane starred Dr. Carlisle Cullen himself, Peter Faccinelli (looking sexy as evah!) and Bill Bellamy as two smooth, sarcastic, and hilarious cops forced to work together by their siren of a police lieutenant played by Tiffani Amber Thiessan. Most of the charm of the show came from the interactions between Bellamy and Faccinelli. They had contrasting personalities, but you could tell they would kill for one another--and it was awesome seeing Thiessan in a position of power over these two boys.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: This show starred Lena Headey as the show's namesake and Thomas Dekker (cutie!) as her son. Their relationship was touching and realistic and one of the things that made this show work so well. Oh, and there was a kick ass machine. Summer Glau played the bot sent to protect Sarah and John Connor. Brian Austin Green also cameoed as John's uncle (are you seeing a pattern here?) Between the relationships, the technology, and the bad guys, Terminator kept us entertained, guessing, and intrigued. This was a show that was clearly too advanced and smart for the American public (no offense to any of our blog readers/friends--you are all very intelligent). The SC Chronicles aired from 2008-2009 with 31 episodes.


Veronica Mars: Oh yeah, V Mars, yeah! This was the ultimate of teen dramadies during its time. Veronica Mars aired from 2004-2007 and had 64 episodes. This was not NEARLY enough! The show starred the cute and sneakily funny Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars--the teenage detective, solving murders, thefts and the like for her high school (and sometimes adult) friends. The show focused on Mars and her crafty detective skills, yes, but it also highlighted teen and parent/child relationships. Mars was so realistic; she seemed like a girl you could meet by your locker in the high school hallways. And the crimes that she had to solve were always so unique and clever--just like V Mars herself. The show was smart with pacing and never went into the cliched realm of plots. They even managed to transition Veronica to college smoothly and still keep viewers intrigued--people are STILL fighting for V Mars to come back to us in some shape or form. As we mentioned above, this show helped us to understand sarcasm and wit and encouraged us to try it with our writing. We could go on and on about Veronica Mars, but we will end with this statement:

BEST TV SHOW EVER!!! Hands down.

Okay...so we cheated by making a "tie" but we couldn't decide! What about you, what show (s) do you wish you could see new episodes of?

What Agents Want: Steampunk!

Querying Song of the Day: "A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend

What Agents Want is a new series in which we will research what trends/topics agents are looking for right now. We'll give you information on the trend/topic and the agent that is looking for this specific type of project. The better to query with, my dears.



This week, we are gonna discuss a topic in YA that is picking up steam...pun intended. Yes, we're delving into steampunk. A few of our bloggy pals have already discussed this topic, helping me and Pam to better understand it. Holly broke down exactly what the steampunk genre is all about here. She explains that steampunk is generally novels that are set around the nineteenth century and Victorian-era Britain where technology and fictional or magical elements are incorporated. And Alicia took us inside a steampunk museum here. She got to see a steampunk pinball machine AND she gives some good steampunk music suggestions.


There are several agents that are looking for steampunk novels. Amongst them is Kathleen Ortiz of Lowenstein Associates. It even says on their website that steampunk is one of the genres that Kathleen is desperately seeking.

So, what the heck is steampunk? (Info taken from Wikipedia.org)

• It meshes science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction
• It involves an era where steam is still used (as a source of energy)
• Usually set in the 19th century and Victorian era Britain
• Science fiction and fantasy are prominent features
• It is influenced by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, and Mary Shelly
• Usually features technology and innovations in the style that Victorians would have seen them

What Books Can I Read for Research? (Books that fall in the steampunk category)

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century # 1) by Cherie Priest

Leviathan (Leviathan # 1) by Scott Westerfield
Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Finally, tell me about the agent who wants steampunk novels!

Kathleen Ortiz was an editorial assistant and interactive media designer for the young adult section at Ballinger Publishing before becoming a literary agent with Lowenstein Associates. At Lowenstein, Kathleen represents Middle Grade (MG), Young Adult (YA), and adult novels as well as being the Foreign Rights Manager. Some of Kathleen's clients (according to QueryTracker.net and Kathleen's blog) include: Jamie Reed (Kathleen just sold her YA Paranormal Soul Impulse!!!), Dawn Rae Miller, Jennifer Walkup, and Sarah Fine.

Good news for you? She is definitely looking for more clients!

So...if you have already written and polished your steampunk novel, OR if you are planning to write one (and you swear to polish, polish, polish it) then query Ms. Ortiz. How? Send an e-query to: assistant@bookhaven.com . Include the word QUERY and the title of your novel in the subject line. Address the query to Ms. Ortiz and paste the first ten pages into the body of the e-mail. DO NOT ATTACH your pages. The agency responds to all queries and usually does so in two to four weeks. For more detailed information on submissions, go here.

To find out more info on Kathleen Ortiz, check out the links below:

Neverending Page Turner
Twitter
QueryTracker.net
Interview: The Punching Bag Fights Back

Pam's Epic Skype Chat with Kathleen Ortiz

Agent Wish list: Kathleen Ortiz

**DISCLAIMER** We are BY NO MEANS telling anyone to follow trends or try to hurry and write novels based on these features. This is for people who have written, or have been thinking about writing, on the topic presented.

Did you know about steampunk before reading this post? Or better yet, have you already started a WIP in this genre???

New Blog!!

This post will be short and sweet, but I have an announcement! I'm part of an AWESOME new blogging group called Paper Hangover! We'll be bringing you interviews, writing tips, and news from inside the publishing world!

Oh, and we may be kicking off our grand opening this week with a few giveaways (wink, wink).

So what are you waiting for? Head on over and check it out! :)