The Beginning part 1.... how I learned to love zombies

So, after my recent post on how much an author should share about their writing, life, etc., it occurred to me that there really is a whole lot I can share that doesn't involve word counts and plot points. And, since I have to start coming up with website content anyways, I might as well start out with a little bit about how I came to write The Forest of Hands and Teeth (that link will take you to my post with the PM announcement for those of you who don't know what my book is about).

I think I've always been afraid to write this story down because I'm afraid of getting it wrong. Or rather, not getting it right. So why not use y'all as guinea pigs!?

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how JP was able to convince me to go with him to see the premiere of Dawn of the Dead (the remake, the one with fast zombies). I am (or was) definitively against horror movies. They scared the blank out me, I didn't like them, I didn't watch them, and I didn't understand them. See, way back when I was a kid, a babysitter came over and my parents went out (and my sisters I guess, all I know is I was home alone with this teen girl). I don't know how old I was, but my parents sold that house when I was 5 so I had to have been younger than that.

Anyway, the babysitter decides to watch a movie, and to convince me to go along she says, "oh, the girl in this movie is just like you! Her name is Caroline, she has long blond hair and is your age. Oh, and she has a walk-in closet full of toys just like yours!" And then she promised me that if I got scared, we could turn it off and go into the other room. As you may have guessed, the movie was Poltergeist and I got scared quick. The babysitter said I could leave the room if I wanted, but the rest of the house was dark and the only way to turn on the lights was to go through that darkness. No way.

So I suffer through. And then my parents come home right at the climax -- right when everything goes to hell. And they turn off the TV and take the babysitter home without pay, and I spend the next however weeks unable to fall asleep in my bed. I sometimes wonder if I'd seen the end of the movie, if I'd seen the resolution, if I'd have been able to get over it. But I didn't and I haven't. Hence my very strong aversion to horror movies and my utter surprise that JP was able to talk me into going to one.

The theater was packed and it was packed with the type of people who love to yell at the screen. To this day I swear I checked the clock on my cell phone every five minutes, mentally calculating when the movie had started, how long it might be, and when it might end. I was terrified. More than anything else, I was stressed -- how were these people going to be able to survive against ever increasing odds?

But it got me thinking... how would you survive something like that? How far would you go? Could you do it? Could I do it? JP and I spent the rest of the night talking about it, it was just fascinating to me. JP suggested other zombie-esque movies like 28 Days Later (and I made him tell me when the scary parts were so I could prepare myself, that's how I made it through.)

A few weeks later we were in the bookstore and JP found The Zombie Survival Guide. It was a total joke at the time, but he bought it and would read aloud from it (we were 3Ls in law school, we had a lot of time and a lot of booze). It too was fascinating because it went beyond the zombie apocalypse dealing with things that hadn't occurred to me before (I know, I know, sounds crazy). But suddenly, the mental game of how to survive became more complicated. And honestly, I started having dreams about zombies.

Over the next few years, JP continued to introduce me to zombie movies and we were both hooked. We'd watch anything with zombies (and there are truly some horribly terrible zombie movies out there).

... to be continued...

How much do you share?

This is cross-posted from my post on the Manuscript Mavens on Tues :)

A writing friend recently asked what my second book was about. Good question. Right now it's a companion book to The Forest of Hands and Teeth, ostensibly it's a sequel but we'll still see if that label fits once it's finished and turned in (incidentally, writing under contract does feel a lot like school, just with longer deadlines before you turn in your homework). As I pondered what more I could say about the book I started to wonder how much people really share about what they're writing.

Early on, when the idea for FHT came to me, I didn't say much about it on my blog. Maybe I didn't want to jinx it, maybe I was following what other writers were doing, but not talking about what I was writing suddenly became my habit. For my previous projects (pre FHT) I had word meters up (which I then protested) and talked at least minimally about what I was writing. And then, at the other end of the spectrum you have authors who have daily updates not only about word count, but also about plot.

On the one hand, I'm a writer and I blog about writing. It seems silly not to talk about what I'm actually working on at any given moment. On the other hand, I don't want to give too much information because I'm very anti-spoiler.

Plus, there's another element at play. It's hard to know how much I'm "supposed" to talk about. Not that there's a blog mafia out there watching my every word, but you start to get advice that maybe you shouldn't complain about writing, maybe you shouldn't talk about the struggles or put up a word count meter that will not only show the added words, but also the deleted words.

Oh, and since I origninally wrote this I found an excellent post by Justine Larbalestier on the topic of word count meters.

So that's the question I ask y'all. As blog readers, how much information do you want? What do you like to read about? As blog writers (or any kind of writer) how much do you share or think you should share?

A drive by posting...

Does anyone remember that scene from Mrs. Doubtfire when (s)he says "It was a drive by fruiting!"? Am I the only one who remembers totally random movie quotes and then uses them all the time?

Anyways, I've been horribly remiss about posting, but remember that I do post every Tuesday over at the Manuscript Mavens :) I've just been lazy about cross-posting those here. I hope to do better (I always hope to do better). In a nutshell, here are the updates...

First, there's been a helicopter hovering over our house ever since I got up this morning. Obama and Clinton have been in the area recently, and I know Chelsea was in the park behind our house last week. Makes me wonder if something exciting is going on outside...

Second, I had a fantastic weekend last weekend at the WRW Retreat in Maryland (that's the Washington DC chapter of RWA). I went mostly to hang out with my friend and CP, Diana Peterfreund, but I was also lucky enough to meet some amazing and terribly fun authors -- Kresley Cole (I now have a stack of her books on my nightstand) and Amanda Brice. It was by far some of the best fun I've had in ages. As much as I adore the online writing community, there's something to be said for sitting with a gallon of vodka and just talking about everything! Also, Kresley gave a fantastic workshop on writing paranormal romance. It was one of those workshops where it all makes so much sense that you don't write notes because you're like "dude, that's so true!" and then afterwards you're like "crap, I need notes!"

Third, I just found this great website -- thanks to Reviewer X for passing it on! It's not only a review site but also has a weekly YA roundup. I'm definitely tuning in!

Fifth, I'm knee deep in Book 2 and it has a title! And even better, I think Delacorte likes the title! But I have no idea how these things go about getting officially approved so until then, I'll just be referring to Book 2 as either B2, WIP, or DTW. Just to keep things confusing :)

Sixth, the puppy is doing great! He's awesome at training and heels, sits, and places beautifully. He really is such a sweet boy! Though occasionally one of the cats will trap him in the kitchen and he whines and whines and whines. Really, it's terribly hard not to laugh!

Seventh, JP is writing a book! And it's awesome and he's racking up words and I've been loving every bit of it! Seriously, I can't wait to read more! Yay JP! Everyone go cheer him on!

Eighth, this weekend is chock full o' fun stuff. Cinco de Mayo party tonight, more margaritas with friends tomorrow, lots of writing and of course chatting with the Debs.

Ninth, soon I shall be working on my website. Anything in particular y'all like to see with websites? Any particular websites y'all like or dislike? Anything you think should be avoided?

Tenth, (really, it was all about trying to get a top ten thing going on here), I finally grabbed the dog and stepped outside to see what was up with the helicopter. To my surprise, this is what I found -- the MetLife blimp has been hovering over our house

PS - bonus picture. Since my family always likes to joke (*cough*) that they keep up with me via my blog, here's a picture of my recent hair cut. Of course here it's all blown out straight, normally it's curly :)

Beginnings

On many an occasion, my friend and CP, Diana, has joked about my need to have a first line in order to get started on a book. And on more than one occasion I have talked about how important it is as writers not to fall into the trap of our own myth -- to believe we need to write at a certain time, in a certain place, with a certain ambiance lest we never be able to write anywhere else and under any other situations. And so of course I wanted to prove Diana wrong and start on Book 2 (B2) without the requisite first line. At the same time proving myself right that we need to find flexibility as writers.

Oh, how I tried and tried!! I even started a draft, wrote many many words and sent it to JP who said "Well, I don't think that will end up as your first line, but that's a great start to the book!" And then a few weeks later that draft stalled for various reasons. And it was back to plotting (which I don't really do so I'm not sure why I was trying).

I think one of my issues is that the possibilities are so endless when you start a book. I've used the analogy of thousands of doors that stand open and ready at the beginning of the book and writing is a series of closing doors. To me, choosing that first line is like finding the spot in the labyrinth of open doors to start closing them.

Put it this way: before you put one word down on paper, your book is without limits or bounds. With every word, you narrow the focus and the world. And so here I was casting about for ideas in an infinite world!

I realized that for me, finding that first line is finding the jumping off point (yes, duh, but bear with me). Suddenly, the possibilities aren't endless -- they all have to lead from the last word written. At that moment it's not just "what happens" it's "what happens from here? What comes next." That narrows that infinite stream of possibilities dramatically. Having something on paper gives me focus, and if the first line is wrong, then that focus may be off.

When I was in high school I read a book on short story plotting. The author suggested that the beginning of a story is like standing on a line and looking into the distance, each line splitting into more and more branches (like the trunk of a family tree constantly splitting). Each branch is a moment of decision for the character: he can choose to do what he's always done, he can choose to change, or he can refuse to choose. At the beginning, every one of those branches should be a possibility to the reader (like standing at the base of a tree -- there are hundreds of possibilities to reach a leaf). But looking back from the end of the story (from the leaf), every choice should be clear -- there should be a defining path back to the starting point (the base of the trunk).

For some reason, that image has always stuck with me. And so I wonder that if that first line is wrong -- if the trunk of the tree is off, if the rest of the story fails.

Because I've become a big believer in revision, I'd like to say that no, the story won't fail because the first line is off. I know enough people who have changed their first lines to know this for sure.

But at the same time, a while back I was struggling with the infinity of possibilities and then I found my first line and now I can focus on the story. Now, instead of hopping from idea to idea to idea, I can take where I left off and think "what comes next." To me, this is much easier - that first line grounds me and grounds the story.

How do y'all start your stories? How do you find the beginning?

Learning to Love Revisions

A few updates...

Thank you for all of your warm thoughts -- thankfully my kitty's eye is doing much better! And Jake's (the puppy's) paw is much healed and he got reprieve from the lamp shade collar today. He's also gained 10 pounds since we got him 3 weeks ago. Eep! I promise pictures soon!! Oh, and because I always feel that she's so left out, JP's cat is still smelly. And fat. But still cute :)

And now, I'm cross-posting from my Tuesday post at the Manuscript Mavens about revisions and learning to love them :)

I'm not going to lie, I used to hate revisions. In high school, college, law school -- I never revised. With my first completed novel I thought I revised -- I read it out loud, changed the flow of a scene or two to make sure the plot held and ran spell check. With my second novel I set it aside rather than revise a massive plot flaw.

I'm not sure what really changed with The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Maybe it's because I didn't have a clear idea where the book was going so I kept changing things on the fly. Maybe it's because I really felt I had something with that book and I needed to give it the best shot I could. Maybe I just loved the story enough to get it right. But whatever the reason, I learned to love revisions. I'm sure every process is different (and in fact, authors are discussing their revision processes over here on Fangs Fur & Fey), but I thought I'd share mine. Or at least, what mine was most recently :)

After writing 20k in less than 2 weeks I had no idea if I had a viable idea. So I sent it to a CP and she said "Yes! Keep writing!" So I kept writing. I added another 20k, sent these pages back to the CP. This time she noticed some issues. I believe she hated one of my characters with the fire of a thousand suns. And I realized that maybe this book was going to take more work than I realized :)

So I finished the book, changing the plot as necessary. Relationships changed, attitudes changed, secrets changed. But I never looked back -- just kept writing. Because who knew if I'd have to reverse some of those changes or change them even more? I didn't want to waste time revising something I'd just have to revise again.

After I typed The End, I went through and streamlined, making the story hold together, making the relationships consistent, making the story "work." And then I held my breath and sent it out to the same CP and another CP who had no idea what she was getting. I also made JP read it (again!). All were wonderfully honest -- pointing out TSTL moments, telling me how they felt about the characters, etc. So I revised again. I think at this point I was up to draft 5. And then I read it again (and made JP read again!) making sure it really held together. That brought me up to draft 7! More drafts than anything else I'd ever written in my life!

I'm sure I could have gone on to drafts 8, 9, and 10 if one of those CPs hadn't kicked my rear and forced me to start submitting. But she was right -- it was time to stop tinkering and time to start submitting. How to make that distinction? I've heard the advice that when you're only working on the tiny details that don't affect the story, it's time to let it go. So that's what I did.

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of the revising I did on FHT. I'm proud that I actually did it -- that I stuck to it. I'm also pretty shocked because I'm usually not so good with the long term follow through (my guest room closet is a testament to that!). I think one reason I was so set on revising was that I never wanted to look back on rejections and wonder what I could have done more -- what I could have done better. I wanted to send my very best work out into the world just so I could then let it go. And I'm glad I did :)

So, what are y'all's revisions processes? Do you like revising? Hate it? Why?

Odds and Ends

For those of you reading this on blogger, I have to say that as dear to my heart as blogger is, LiveJournal has been winning me over recently. I just love how easy it is to feel connected and part of a larger community instead of one blog hanging out a shingle in the darkness. Of course, what I like most are (a) that you can reply directly to certain comments so it's more of a conversation and (b) the flist so I'm updated whenever a friend posts (instead of with blogger where I have a whole big folder of favorites I gotta check every day!) Plus, I seem to get more comments over there *shrug*. Not that I'm changing the way I'm doing things -- I'll still cross-post, etc., I'm just saying that if you're a LJ fan you can find me there: carrie-ryan.livejournal.com.

So, lots of things going on in life, lots to update, not a lot of time. Hence a listing-type post...

1. For a brief moment, I thought my old computer had come back to life! See, it's just that the screen won't illuminate. Except that it does work when starting up, it just goes dark when it's running, as if it the screen is in hibernation when the computer itself isn't. If I angle it just right, I can actually still see what's written which is how I was able to get last year's tax forms off it. I did a system update and for two glorious days my old laptop worked just like it used to. It was wonderful!! Oh, how I missed it! But then, LITERALLY as I began this paragraph, the screen went out. Crap.

2. In other computer news, my firm was selling it's old laptops dirt cheap -- I like dirt cheap! I'm still angling for a new Mac, but this one here will do just fine for a while!

3. My agent posted a really sweet entry on they Dystel & Goderich blog today. Seriously, it made me teary and brought back the excitement I felt when he first called me to offer representation. JP pointed out that it's the first time he's seen an agent admit that he reads to reject :) I'm not just sending you over there because he says nice things, I actually think it's an interesting insight into how agents approach submissions :) Needless to say, however, I love Jim and he's the bestest ever!

4. In beastie news: Jake has had his whatnots removed and seems no worse for the wear for it. Unfortunately, he had a hanging dew claw we also had to remove and over the weekend he reopened the spot and now he wears a lampshade. Poor guy! He's still wonderful and we have many wonderful walks together! He's also a wimp - submits himself in a heartbeat (he's buffing at the dishwasher right now).

However, when we took Jake in to get his foot re-stapled, I also took my cat, Sam, in cause he's been all winky recently. Turns out he has an ulcer on his cornea and he's in danger of losing his eye. I cannot tell you how upset this makes me (even if he would make the best pirate kitty ever). So fingers crossed that copious amounts of meds work!!

5. Sarah Prineas is hosting a week long chat about publicity and marketing on her LJ. For those of you who don't know Sarah, her debut MG, The Magic Thief, is coming out around June (?) and I've been hearing some great buzz, reading some awesome reviews, and am totally looking forward to it. Of course, publicity varies from house to house, author to author, editor to editor (i.e. no two experiences are the same) but I'm a believer that it's better to know more about the process rather than less, even if it's a process that may be different from yours.

6. If you're a YA author with a debut in 2009, I highly recommend joining The 2009 Debutantes livejournal community (I think it says how on the user page). If you're not a YA author with a debut in 2009, I still recommend the site as we've started in with some weekly discussions about writing and the pub process so far. Did I ever mention I was a deb? Perhaps I should dig up pictures... unfortunately I think it was in the day before digital pics. Ah well...

7. Work (day job work) is copious. However, I am learning tons of stuff. 'Nuff said!

8. I'm horribly late in responding, but Karen Mahoney nominated me for a Roar for Powerful Words award! Thanks Karen!! It really does mean a lot to me that people find my ramblings interesting :) But y'all will have to check back in my next post to see who I nominate :)

Um... I think that's it for now. Though I'm sure I'll come up with more stuff as soon as I hit post :)

Telling a Good Story

X-posted from my Tuesday Maven post on the Manuscript Mavens...

So... even though my book isn't out until Spring 2009 (April is the word on the street these days), I just got my first review! Click here to read Melissa Marr's thoughts on The Forest of Hands and Teeth. A huge thanks to Melissa for taking the time to read and comment on a debut book and thanks to my sister who read me the review over the phone because I was off in the mountains without internet access :)

Anyways, recently the Mavens all talked about those ah-ha moments in writing. As I said then, I get these moments all the time. I can have the same conversation about craft, read the same books on craft, have the same day dreams and each time I'll walk away with something new. The other day I had one of these ah-ha moments I wanted to share :)

I was reading a book and realized that while the writing for much of the book is great, some of the writing is just... writing. It's not great, it's not bad, it's not mundane or boring -- it's just words strung together getting points across. Honestly, I doubt anyone reading those particular passages would have thought anything of the way they were written -- like I said, they were written fine. They didn't stand out as gorgeous prose -- they didn't really stand out at all.

And suddenly I had this ah-ha moment! I realized that the purpose of writing a book is to tell a story (yeah, most of my ah-ha moments tend to also be duh! moments). I realized that sometimes we get so focused in on parts of our books that we forget to stand back and take in the big picture -- we forget to look at the story we're telling.

Sometimes I think it can be easy to focus on internal conflict versus external conflict versus raising the stakes versus showing all five senses that we forget that all of these devices serve to help us tell a compelling story. And I think sometimes you can look at individual scenes of a book and they work, but once put together as a cohesive whole suddenly the story feels off.

Here's a rather timely but odd example... it's March Madness, the season where everyone fills out NCAA brackets and joins office pools to see who wins. I love following the tournament but I never have the time to follow the whole season -- so when it comes to filling out my brackets I have NO idea who to pick. I do it all by gut and who sounds good and whose colors I like. JP was reviewing my choices and finally he said "each game you choose is totally plausible, when you look at your brackets on a game by game basis, it's solid. But overall there's no way you're going anywhere."

I've judged some contests recently where I see this happening -- scene by scene everything makes sense, but when you read the synopsis, when you look at those scenes adding up to become the whole, the story just isn't there -- it doesn't hold together.

So, along with all the myriad other things we remember when writing, don't forget that in the end we're all story tellers. How we tell that story (what devices we chose, the tone, the language, the POV) influences that story, but in the end, it's all about telling a good story.

Meet Jake!

We adopted this guy yesterday -- isn't he the cutest? He's a rescue mutt and just about the sweetest thing ever. Terrified of cats, loves people and to be petted -- really he's a very gentle beast!

Support Yourself

This is x-posted from the Manuscript Mavens --

So, I joined Seventy Days of Sweat and so far I've written... um... nothing. I joined 100x100 (one hundred words a day for one hundred days) last year and um.... it didn't stick. In fact, I think the only writing challenge that's ever worked for me was when on her blog Diana Peterfreund challenged everyone to write -- something, anything -- every day for a month. Her motto was "writers write" and so she said we should all write! This couldn't have come at a more perfect time for me -- I was trying to finish the first draft of The Forest of Hands and Teeth and I was gearing up for a massive trial -- working 80 hour weeks. There were days when the most time I had to write was the 8 minutes it took for my mac 'n' cheese pasta to boil. But I wrote during those 8 minutes because Diana was (and still is) right: writers write.

All of these challenges and all of these goals are very useful and they're great! I'm all for anything that gets people writing (the old motto I learned around the RWA boards: BITHOC -- butt in chair, hands on keyboard). But here's the thing that I have to remind myself: at the end of the day, it's only you and the keyboard. You and that blank piece of paper. At a certain point it can't just be about being accountable to other people -- about sending an email to a loop checking in -- it has to be about being accountable to yourself. In the end, no one else can make you sit down and write except yourself.

Of course I'm not saying to go out and unsubscribe from your loops and disconnect from your support systems. Trust me, I know that at the end of a long day sometimes you just want to steam your face with pasta water rather than sit down and bang out a few paragraphs that you'll end up deleting anyway. And sometimes the only thing that forces you to trudge to your computer is knowing that the next day someone is going to ask you: did you write last night? But I am saying that you also need to find that accountability within yourself. It has to matter to *you* if you wrote or not. You have to answer that question for yourself and be satisfied with the answer.

And here's something that I'm starting to catch a glimpse of now that I have some publisher-set deadlines off in the future. Deadlines don't necessarily force you to write. It may seem reasonable to say "well, once I have a contract and publisher-set deadlines I'll have built in accountability so I won't need to rely on myself any more -- something external will push me to sit down and write." Here's a truth: some published authors miss deadlines (well, except for Nora Roberts). Some published authors misjudge and come close to missing deadlines. My next book is due in roughly six months -- that's at least 10k a month I need to write to get it done (and let's not forget that it took me 4 months to revise the last one). That's over 2k a week. How much did I write this week? Last week? Nothing. See, I have a deadline and it's not making me accountable, because that has to come from me. A contract does not make you write -- the skills, perseverence, dedication, motivation you learned getting to that contract make you write.

I'm all about supporting each other and riding each other to reach farther and write better. Trust me! I love nothing more than celebrating an awesome word count or an awesome chapter or writing The End or submitting -- all of it! And I love it when people celebrate those steps with me (like all the awesome support for my book cover!) At the same time I think that we all have to find that part of ourselves that wants to write -- that needs to write -- and that's what has to drive us. Because in the end, no one else will: it's you and the blank page.

Computer Decisions....

So it's time I bought a new computer! It's been time for a while now but I'm a terrible decision maker when it comes to big purchases. So this is where I ask for y'all's thoughts. I'm trying to decide between the MacBook laptop and the MacBook pro.

The MacBook is the white or black one you've seen around and the MacBook Pro is the silver one. The differences as far as I can see...

MacBook has a 13" screen, Pro has a 15" screen (I don't care about it being small, in fact I like to have space on the screen to put all my windows. I just don't know if the 13" is enough screen -- right now I have a 15")

MacBook has 1gb memory, Pro has 2gb. The size of the hard drive doesn't really matter because I don't use that much but I'm also getting a 500gb backup.

MacBook has the glossy screen, Pro has the anti-glare screen.

The cost difference between the two is about $500 (I'm going with a refurbished one) but this is the one thing I said I'd splurge on with the sale of my book (and it's deductible).

So, any thoughts? Does anyone have either of these -- how did you make the decision? Anything else I should take into consideration?

Cover!!!

Hey Y'all!! I'm so ecstatic to finally be able to introduce you to my protagonist, Mary:

I couldn't be more excited about this cover -- I love the Forest in the background, I love the way her hair is blown out behind her, I love her expression, I love the font (rumor is both my name and the title will be glossy) and I love the colors. I'll admit, I wasn't expecting a person, and especially not a face, on my cover -- first, there just haven't been heads on YA covers recently and second, I don't describe Mary that much (and I don't think I ever describe her clothes which is another reason I'm uber impressed with this cover). So when I first opened the email I was like "Oh!" and then I was like "Oooooohhhhhh!!!!!" I just don't think they could have done a better job on this cover -- I'm totally in love :)

And yes, I've totally been staring at this cover all the time. I have a print out hung next to my desk at work and one propped on my bookcase (my future inlaws actually glued my cover to another book so that it looks like a real book and my dad had it framed!).

So, what do y'all think!?

Tidbits

JP gives his side of the proposal here. He's just the best ever! Also, he's been reading me his book and I LOVE it. I'm so excited for him and the story and I'm totally hooked!

I've been working on copy-edits or, as I like to call it: "playing with punctuation." I have a whole post about it but I'll probably save it for the Manuscript Mavens tomorrow. Um, if I can find a way to fit it into this week's theme...

This weekend I'm going home to see my sisters -- both of them will be in town with all of their kids: 5 boys and 1 girl ages 5 and under. OY!

And finally, I know people dismiss facebook and I did too. But can I just say that I LOVE reconnecting with old friends. I've always said that I'm too lazy to continue a lot of my earlier relationships but that doesn't mean I don't care about the people who have been important in my life. It's just cool to catch up with folks without the pressure: to see the engagements, the kids, the fun! This weekend I was able to catch up with two people who were amazing friends in my life -- Kristin from law school and Nancy from high school. You know, it's hard to keep in touch with people that you know you won't see a lot. But these are people I spent every day with for years. They know me so well, and it's cool to catch up and know that life has been great to them.

It made me happy to know that their lives are happy because they deserve it. Maybe I'm sentimental, but I kinda like that :)

So that's what's going on here! House is still a mess, roses are still gorgeous, kitties are still rotund. Life is good in the Ryan-Davis house :)

Speechless

Thank goodness JP was on mail duty tonight! I didn't notice anything when I came home from work but JP saw a bright pink box on our porch as he pulled in. One look at the box and he was pretty sure it was for me without having to read the label.

Flowers! How cool is that? And utterly unexpected! I checked the return address, but it told me nothing! I opened the box to find....

Gorgeous -- stunning!! -- roses. Two dozen of them! And they're just amazingly beautiful. In fact, looking at the colors my first thought was "I want that for my wedding!" I was just overwhelmed with how beautiful they were, especially since it's been so dreary outside recently (I live in the South for a reason -- where's my spring???)

And then I read the card -- a congratulations from my editor Krista and the folks at Random House Children's Books. Seriously, I felt teary. I thought maybe they came from my mom or my sister, but to have my editor send them just leaves me speechless. All I can say is a huge thanks to Krista and everyone else who's just made so many of my dreams come true this year! I write for the best house ever!

I could just sit here and stare and sniff all night!!

Engaged!!!

The big news is that JP and I got engaged this weekend!!! Yay!!! So let me tell you all about it...

The first year we started dating, JP surprised me with a Valentine's Day trip. He refused to tell me where we were going but he sprinkled in all sorts of gifts during the day -- a CD for the trip, candy for snacks, etc. I had no idea what was up! As we entered Virginia I was still clueless and it took me about forever to realize that he was taking me to Williamsburg. All I knew about Williamsburg was what I remembered as a kid during field trips but I still thought it was a cool idea. We stayed in a part of the Williamsburg Inn that we loved, we took long walks and just forgot about life outside the colonial world. It really was wonderful and romantic (rose petals, more chocolate, truly romantic!).

On the way out of town, we saw signs for a vineyard -- the Williamsburg Winery -- and on a lark we followed them. We were just in time for a tour and tasting and so we signed up! We had a great time and bought a case (maaybe two) of their wine.

They say Southerners do something once and it becomes a tradition... well... this became our tradition. Every Valentine's Day we go to Williamsburg for a weekend. We have a candlelight dinner at a tavern, we stroll around (never actually getting around to going to the attractions), we buy tons of Godiva chocolate on sale :) And we always go to the winery -- increasing our haul every year. And every year we discover something new! Last year, for example, we signed up for a wine dinner in honor of Washington's birthday. Turns out, Washington was the guest of honor and he showed up to chat and answer questions. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it was amazing.

When we moved from Durham to Charlotte and the V.day drive got longer, I wondered if we'd keep it up. If the longer drive would be worth it. It is. It's amazing how wonderful it is to fully exist in another world. How long and relaxing the days feel, how nice it is to forget blackberries, cell phones, internet -- all of it! This is the trip we look forward to every year.

This year no exception -- this was our fifth time going to Williamsburg. And unfortunately, our favorite place to stay was under renovation. As we were driving in and I was telling JP to "turn here, turn here!" to get to our hotel, he said "let me give you my Valentine's Day gift early" and he turned into the drive for the Williamsburg Inn itself. He'd booked us a room there -- complete with fireplace (just call the front desk before 11pm for them to bring wood and light it) and amazing bathroom (plus gorgeous views of the gardens). In a word, posh and indulgent.

We ate wine and cheese, had cocktails and dinner and then lounged in front of the fire. JP had booked us for an 11am wine tour for Saturday morning. Usually we just do the standard tour, but this year JP booked us for the reserve tour -- more in depth, more wine to taste. What I didn't know was that JP had actually booked the entire tour just to make sure that it would be the two of us! We ended up in the wine cellar (wrought iron gates, candles everywhere, wine stacked around the walls) for the tasting -- 14 bottles to taste. JP admitted afterwards that the wine did take the edge off his nerves.

We taste everything and then JP thanked the tour guide and then turned to me and I wish I could remember what he said but I can't :) Something about love and living our lives together :) The tour guide tells me that JP did get down on one knee (I remember this) and said "Carrie Ryan, will you marry me?" and apparently I said yes about 20 times (I wanted to make sure he heard me!). And then they popped a bottle of champagne and we had a blast just enjoying the feeling (while I tried to pry my eyes off the ring). Apparently, the entire winery had been in on it and the tour guide had been stressed out in case I said no! Haha!

After the tour our guide announced our engagement to another tour upstairs and it was just so wonderful to see all the excitement. Then we ate in their tavern where I grilled JP on all the planning and details and then we bought about 9 cases of wine! We ran into the winemaker just as we were leaving and he gave us a bottle of reserve wine as a gift to celebrate (which we promptly drank that afternoon!).

It was just a wonderful amazing and romantic day all around. We went to a candlelight dinner that night at one of the taverns and our server was overjoyed that we'd just gotten engaged. He brought us champagne, introduced us to his fiance, had the performers dedicate songs to us -- all just so celebratory! And of course, for the drive home I bought every wedding magazine at Barnes & Noble :) (and no, no idea when or where yet)

In the end, it was a perfect weekend! JP did just an incredible job with everything -- it was all amazingly special and memorable. Except for memories of him actually asking me to marry him -- still no idea what he said and he doesn't remember either). And he'd been so busy with work and life that I really had no idea he had anything like this up his sleeve. Tricky tricky guy!

So thanks, JP, for giving me a wonderful story that I could share with all of my friends and a wonderful memory to savour in my daydreams :) I never expected anything like this, it was more than I could have ever dreamed up! I truly am a lucky, lucky girl!

And the winners are.....

The winners of Mark Henry's debut, Happy Hour of the Damned, are Wendy (from blogger) and lalam (from LJ). Congrats! Please email me your address (carrieryanwrites [at] gmail.com) and I'll get those right out to you!

Thanks everyone for commenting and helping me celebrate Mark's book!

Promise to post my news later tonight but wanted to go ahead and announce the winners now!!

Don't Forget!

Don't forget to comment on the post below in order to win a copy of Mark Henry's book, Happy Hour of the Damned! I'll be picking a winner on Monday, when I get back from a romantic weekend with my fiance :)

Oh, and for those who don't pick up on it, I'll have some news to share on Monday too :) Let me just say, it's been a VERY amazing weekend!

Mark Henry -- he's so hot right now!

I owe a lot to Mark Henry and there’s a long story behind that but I cut it from the post because this is about him and not about me :) [imagine story here of how I met Mark and how important he’d been to my career].

So naturally, I’ve been DYING to read his book, Happy Hour of the Damned. I don’t think two zombie books could be more different -- my zombies are old school, his have attitude. I was blown away by his book. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this -- this book is so fun and creative and crass and wonderful. It’s full of lists and recipes and footnotes. The main character, Amanda, is one of the most distinct characters I’ve ever read. And I think that Mark’s best skill is keeping her honest.

I know that sounds strange, but let me explain. The book starts out with a mystery and then quickly meanders away from it (it meanders into things I love like how Amanda becomes a zombie, how she lives -- really cool stuff that’s very unique). It’s tempting as a reader to want to go “Yo, Amanda -- what’s up with the mystery? Did you just forget about your friend? You know, the one in trouble that you’re trying to help?”

You don’t do this for a few reasons. First, Amanda would kick your ass for thinking such things. Doesn’t matter that she’s trapped in the pages, she’ll find a way out. Second, you’re so interested in the world that’s being created that you yourself kinda don’t care. But third, Amanda is honest with you -- she comes right out and tells you that she’s veered away from the mystery and you just have to deal with it. I loved this part of the book because it’s totally self-aware and it plays off its own self-awareness.

I’m not gonna lie -- Amanda can get crass and there were a few times I was genuinely squicked out. But I’m sure Mark (and Amanda) would chortle with glee to hear this because Amanda does love to cause a reaction.

All in all, this book is fun and unique and different. I love what Mark has added to zombie lore. It’s a whole new twist on the world and it’s truly great. Amanda is a character that stands out and that I will not forget (and I tend to forget most characters quite quickly). Mark's created a great world here and he made me laugh. I can’t wait to hear what happens to Amanda and her pals next.

In honor of Mark’s debut and as a thanks for all of his and Amanda’s efforts at spreading the zombie love, I’m giving away two copies of his book. I’ll choose one winner from the blogger comments here and one from my livejournal comments (and yes, you can comment on both if you want to up your chances). To up the ante even more, I’ll add an extra entry for anyone who also links to this giveaway (make sure to let me know if the comments if you’ve linked). I’ll choose the winners next Monday.

And lest we forget, I'm not the only one crowing over Mark's debut -- others have loved it too! He got 4 stars from Romantic Times! I couldn’t be more thrilled at all the positive responses he’s getting. I think he took some risks with this book, I think he pushed the envelope, and I love that it worked so well!!

Have a Heart

When JP and I made our ten year plan back at the start of 2006, my first step towards becoming a published author was to get back into the community. I needed to meet people, learn what was out there, find where the market was, remember how everything worked. And so I joined RWA and a few subchapters and I started reading author blogs. I noticed that one person in particular, Diana Peterfreund, was very helpful -- she answered questions with knowledge, she posted thoughtful and meaningful blog posts, and she just seemed like a downright cool person. So I always took care to read her posts and I learned SO much about the industry.

And I met a few more people, slowly learned more and the the summer came and it was time for the RWA National Convention. At this time I knew *of* people. I read a lot of blogs and yahoo group messages, but I was generally a lurker or one comment of so many that I was pretty sure that no one knew *me.* In fact, the only person I really knew was Diana and she was so sweet when she met me -- she made me feel like I wasn't quite the outsider that I felt. I actually like social situations and meeting new people -- but try going to a massive convention where you know *ONE* person (who everyone else knows as well) and things can get scary. But I forced myself to a chapter cocktail party and there I met up with two more writers who took me under their wing: Erica Ridley and Kelly Remick. These girls knew I was alone and they introduced me to their friends, made sure I was included. In fact, I'm a member of their chapter -- TARA -- even though I live states away because I felt so included and welcomed at Nationals.

I decided that this was the type of person I wanted to be. As I gained more knowledge of the industry, I wanted to share that information and take the time to pay forward all of the goodwill and patience that I was shown (and oh, was there a lot of patience involved when it came to me!). I wanted to make that new person (or any person) feel welcome and comfortable. I've been on the other side -- in the hotel room at Nationals terrified of walking into a room where everyone else is friends and trying to find a way in or trying to learn the ropes of the writing profession.

This is part of who I am now, as a writer, and I really enjoy it. I like trying to help out as much as I can (and I fully recognize I have SOO much to learn). I like encouraging writers, I like trying to inspire people and show them that yes -- you can sell from a query letter.

At the same time, I also to try to stay away from drama and intrigue. I try not to indulge in the negative and backbiting. I've been told it exists (some people think it runs rampant) and I've always been *so* proud of the people I know in the writing community because I feel like everyone I know is supportive, helpful and friendly. Of course not everyone is going to be besties, but I feel like the people I know don't bring personal issues out into the world for everyone to see and comment on.

I bring all of this up, because recently I saw some ugliness in a moderately public forum. I am not going to get into details because remember -- I like to stay away from the drama -- but there was miscommunication (what else, it's the internet) etc etc. Here's the thing -- I don't think it's appropriate to threaten the careers of our fellow writers. Bitch about them to your friends, fantasize that their books get riddled with typos, whatever. We are all colleagues here and we should all be professionals -- it's about the writing and shouldn't be about the personal lives of the writers and the choices they make. You will never see me speak ill of another writer personally on this forum -- I do not believe in it. I have no problem critiquing books, or discussing the implications of plagiarism, etc -- we're writers and writing is our career.

One thing about having a blog is that it's really easy to think that what you say might matter somehow. And if anything I say ever matters, I hope it is this: we are a community and we are all doing the best we can to follow our dreams and we need to support each other. Over the years, I've watched people get jealous and think that they can only succeed if other people fail. I disagree. I look at the surge of fantastic YA literature over the past few years and I look at all the amazing books on my shelves and I realize that it is because so many writers shine and succeed that YA is doing so well.

As a former litigator who could be so forcefully disagreeable at times, I find it kind of funny to be saying these things. But I know that I have benefited from the generosity of other writers. And that's the type of writer I would like to be.

Making it Different

This is a topic that's been floating around in my head for the last week and it seems that everywhere I turn, there's another facet of the discussion. It's about what's been done, what hasn't been done, what to avoid, what not to avoid -- really, it's about being unique. Let me show you all the things I've been pondering...

First, I was judging some contests (somehow, I have found myself inundated with contest entries this year. Note to self: keep track of obligations to not be so overwhelmed next year). Anyway, I've always said that you can learn a ton from judging contests and this one was no exception. Since I have more contests to judge I'll save the whole "what I've learned post" for later, but one thing really jumped out at me with these entries: the need for originality, to take a common and oft-used situation/set-up and make it their own. It really felt like a lot of these entries were falling back on the easy, weren't digging deep to really portray their character's life and setting as deeply as they could.

Second, I read on Kristin Nelson's blog (she pulled it from Joelle Anthony) a "25 Things that show up repeatedly in YA literature" list. I've seen these lists before and I always read them and take them for what they're worth -- meh, not too much. I'm a firm believer that the story will triumph over all. And agents echo this all the time, that's why they're so hesitant to list things they're tired of seeing or that they would never be interested in: because even an idea that they might be tired of could be done in such a new and amazing way that they think "wow! gotta have it!"

Third, JP wrote a really thought provoking post on his LJ that really tied everything up for me and made me understand what I felt was off about the contest entries I'd judged and the list I'd read. His post is very very worth reading -- short and to the point (with examples!). Essentially, his conclusion is

"For me, the take away is that you don’t have to come up with the world’s most original plot to create a great story. You just have to tell the story in a unique way."

Yes, though it is not a long quote, it deserves to be set off as such because it is such great wisdom! Reading that post was one of those moments when I was like "duh!" but where you need someone to tell you what should be obvious. And for some reason, it's not obvious enough!

So, to backtrack a little, how does JP's little tidbit fit in with contest judging and the lists? As for contest judging, as I said, I felt like the writers could dig deeper. For example... contemporary teens go to school therefore a lot of contemporary YA books will deal with school. It's important when writing these school scenes to make them your own and not to fall back on the common cliches. We've all watched The Breakfast Club and Saved by the Bell and we all know that school isn't like that. It's really easy to fall into archetypes when writing in a school setting and my advice is to try to bend those archetypes. Don't always make the head cheerleader the witch/most popular girl who wreaks havoc for the poor protagonist. Give her some flaws. This actually reminds me of High School Musical and that scene where all the archetypes break out and sing about the things they do that don't fit with their "type" -- this only serves to deepen the character, to make him or her more complex.

I think it's easy when writing a school scene to fall back on the easy -- to make the teacher boring ('Bueller.... Bueller.... Bueller..."), to make the protag complain about having to take a test that won't help them later in life, etc. But this is just the picture of school we've been painted and to get it right, we have to remember that school isn't like that picture at all and we have to bring that stuff up in our writing. Plus, we have to remember that for most of us, school has changed a lot. If you're writing a contemporary school scene you have to address cell phones and iPods and security and stuff like that -- it's such a different world!

And that plays back into the list that Kristin posted and which has caused many posts around the blogosphere (I only link to two out of sheer laziness...here and here). Yes things have been done and I'm sure done to death, but what's key is how you approach it, what new thing you bring to the table. So what your protag's mother is dead? The key is to make sure that her being dead means something to the book. Just because something on that list is in your book doesn't mean you have to rewrite your book, but you should examine why you chose to put it in there and what purpose it serves (you should do this for everything in your book, actually).

I know I'm rambling on, but bear with me :) I remember a talk Suzanne Brockman gave a long time ago where she talked about how she analyzed the market to figure out what to write. She'd always wanted to blow romance out of the water, to do something totally and utterly original. I think one of her first books had a rock star as a hero (used to be a big no no). She didn't want to write the same old same old cop hero because there were so many books out there with the cop hero. But then she realized that people liked the cop hero, they wanted to buy books with the cop hero and that it wasn't about making the hero something totally wild, but about taking what people wanted and doing it in a unique way. It was all about the execution.

I always think about that story when I'm pondering how to approach the market. Because I think we all want to be that visionary that breaks the mold and forges a new path. And so we come up with these awesome ideas but then maybe we find out that someone else has done something similar and so we think we have to go back to the drawing board. But in reality that's not always the case. As JP said so well, the take away is that you don’t have to come up with the world’s most original plot to create a great story. You just have to tell the story in a unique way.

So when you find yourself slipping towards triteville or clicheopolis, remember to dig deeper, to think about what traits you can add to set your character or your setting apart. That's what will make your story stand out of the pack. At least, that's what I think :)

For an awesome story...

For an awesome story, click here. Yep, that's right -- the Manuscript Mavens had so much fun with the Halloween Choose You Own Adventure (CYOA)* that we've brought it back for Valentines day. Monday will be day four and you can catch up over at the Mavens site. While there are no zombies (yet), there's tons of action and I've cracked up every single day. I'm telling you, we've had some fabulous writing!!

Here's a list of the guest authors:

02/01/08
Historical romance writer Colleen Gleason, author of the Gardella Vampire Chronicals.

02/02/08
Jody Wallace writes paranormal comedy, fantasy romance, and Southern women's fiction, including A Spell for Susannah. She has also written several novellas for Red Sage publishing under the pseudonym Ellie Marvel.

02/03/08
Amie Stuart writes erotic romance for Kensington Press and futuristic urban fantasy, including her upcoming book Nailed.

02/04/08
Multi-published author, renowned speaker, and National Reader’s Choice Award Finalist Debra Dixon, author of GMC: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict.

02/05/08
Deanna Lee is the author of numerous print and e-book titles, including Bounty Hunter.

02/06/08
Historical romance writer Karen Lingefelt, author of True Pretenses and past president of the Tampa Area Romance Authors.

02/07/08
Avon FanLit winner and Thursday Maven Lacey Kaye, president and webmistress of Seattle's East Side RWA.

02/08/08
Multi-published author for Steeple Hill Love Inspired, RWA Region 4 director, and RITA Finalist Terri Reed, author of Her Christmas Protector.

02/09/08
Friday Maven Jackie Barbosa writes both historical and contemporary romance with an erotic edge for Cobblestone-Press, including her May release Wickedly Ever After.

02/10/08
Mystery writer Julia Buckley author of The Dark Backward and the Madeline Mann series.

02/11/08
New York Times best-seller Virginia Henley, author of 25 historical romances, including Notorious and Infamous.

02/12/08
Agented, multi-contest finalist, and Monday Maven Erica Ridley, webmistress for the Tampa Area Romance Authors.

02/13/08
Debut Zebra author and Golden Heart Finalist Delilah Marvelle, author of Mistress of Pleasure.

02/14/08
New York Times best-seller C.L. Wilson, author of Lord of the Fading Lands and Lady of Light and Shadows and president of the Tampa Area Romance Authors.

02/15/08
Grand prize drawing and title contest!

There are prizes every day and you get to choose what happens next by voting in the comments. So stop by and get your action and laughter -- it's totally worth it!!

*As always, the Manuscript Mavens would like to thank Chooseco for graciously letting us borrow the CYOA name. Choose Your Own Adventure is a trademark of Chooseco LLC, Waitsfield, VT. Check them out at cyoa.com. The trademark has been used by permission herein. Thanks, CYOA!