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I have just inadvertently deleted the 25 most recent comments to this blog. Including my own.
*facepalm*
I didn't even know batch deletion was possible.
This brief (and apparently inept) foray back into blogging has been fun on some levels, but it's also reminded me just how much time a blog slurps out of my day. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how many minutes I spent posting the quiz answers. I don't even believe it.
So. Once again I am forsaking the blog and fleeing back to my WIP. However, I'm not disappearing entirely -- if you'd like to keep up with my mini-updates on reviews, interviews, contests, and Romanov-y things in general, please bookmark my Facebook page:
Oooh... another WIP! I already read that you're not telling anyone what you're working on next, but I was just wondering if it takes place in history and or what century?
Today I fell off the anti-self-Googling wagon in spectacular fashion. For your amusement and edification, here's a sampling of what I found people saying about The Lost Crown:
Pacing: "...you easily could have docked 50-100 pages."
"No chapter is useless or unnecessary."
Momentum: "It is so well written and captivating that I couldn’t put it down; read it all in one sitting."
"...the book may have made me cry out of boredom at some parts..."
Style: "She uses a lot of unique similes and metaphors throughout - which were mildly distracting..."
"I was floored in regards to her beautiful descriptions."
Characters' believability: "The relationship between the sisters is realistic to the point of being eerie..."
"...all of the girls react in interesting ways and, sometimes in ways that almost don't make sense."
Voice: "The book is told from Tatiana, Olga, Maria and Anastasia's POV, sounds lovely no? It wasn't, it's hard to keep track of who is who..."
"...I was impressed with Miller's ability to give distinct voices to each girl, while at the same time showing how similar they were..."
POV: "Each princess has their own unique voice and offers different insight into what was happening-whether it be war-torn Europe or problems at home..."
"...having four voices going through basically the same things does make the book a bit confusing."
Historical scope: "She seemed to leave out certain things, or just didn't go into them very much..."
"...The Lost Crown offers a whole lot more in the way of story and real historical events."
The bloggers and Goodreads members whose snippets I've ganked could argue that I've pulled some of these lines out of context. That's absolutely true. But you know what else is true? When you're the author of a brand new book, sometimes all you can see are the best and worst fragments of a reader's reaction. And the real kicker is, when the book is so sparkly-fresh that you're panting for feedback, you believe EVERYTHING everyone says.
It's enough to make you crazy, and in the beginning it usually does. All that noise can burrow into your head and start to taint your feelings toward your own book. That's when you've got to STOP typing your name into Google. But not forever, because after a while, when enough reviews and reactions have accumulated, all those opposing opinions suddenly become comforting as you begin to realize that nothing any one person says is going to mean life or death for your pretty new book-baby. I think that's where I am now. For a minute, anyway.
4 Comments on Self-Googling: the agony and the ecstasy, last added: 6/13/2011
I did a post like this once, showing totally opposite opinions on my book. Personally, I think everyone should just agree that our books are awesome. But since that'll never happen, we can at least have fun with those opposing opinions.
Sounds like it's very well received over all. Congrats! I was once complaining about how I appeared in some article. My sister cut me short and asked, "does it say you are dumpy? " I had to laugh...well no..." then" she continued " what's the complaint!?" lol! I have to say that new base line helped
There is also the story of an artist complaining of a receiving "terrible review" in the paper . Their dealer got out a ruler and measured the article " 15 inches! " they said, " Why that's a great review!"
Love that you shared this, Sarah. Great perspective. So I guess this means I should laser off that tattoo I got of the negative review of my new book. . .
Need a break from pondering those trivia questions? Click on the image below to visit Frozentears.org and treat yourself to a thoughtful interview hosted by my Romanov-buddy, Laura Mabee:
(Nose around a little while you're there. You might even stumble across some useful information.)
6 Comments on Frozentears Interview, last added: 6/12/2011
Glad to know I'm not the only one who was scared silly the Unsolved Mysteries - the theme song and the show. Yet I strangely couldn't pull myself away from it when it came on the TV. :)
Super interview, thank you both. Reading it reminded me of my own work of painting the family because there is a decision , often many , behind everything in one sees in the paintings and in this case, there are decisions behind what one reads. So if one is asked a question about the piece , there is usually a ready answer. Often the pathways to those decisions are interesting,as this interview so clearly shows.
It's also interesting to me you speak about their voice here because I just posted on the book's AP thread yesterday about hearing their voice in a small segment I read. The sensation is so strong , I'm not putting the word voice in quote marks. So congratulations on that achievement!
The fact it's a novel and yet its author is a stickler for accuracy is a powerful combination. It plainly is a landmark publication in the Romanov world and will bring many to the family. That has to be a wonderful feeling.
I'm thrilled there are photos, they are so important imo.
I can always put them on my website if there's interest in the extras.
Hi Sarah - I recently read THE LOST CROWN as an ARC and absolutely fell in love. I've been a huge Romanov fan for quite some time and was wondering if you'd allow me to interview you for my book blog - located at www.nicegirlsreadbooks.com? I haven't been able to find an email address so I'm resorting to commenting!! :D Please let me know!
Wonderful, Sarah. Like Anne, i'm excited at the idea there are photos. Not only they're important, but i have had the same idea for my writings. I think it's necessary writing about real people, even if it's "just" a novel. You showed me it's possible to have photos published - maybe i seem odd, but i thought all my layouts would have remained on my pc withut seeing daylight! All my congrats, sarah; you know i've not received the book yet, i'm waiting for it every moment!
A whopping seven. I counted the other night, and I couldn't believe it either. No wonder it's been quiet around here. Even getting my very first pair of glasses hasn't made me more fictionally inclined.
Add to this the fact that I refuse to discuss what I might be working on next -- even with the people I live with -- and there isn't much left to talk about.
Sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean to turn into such a wiener, even when I proclaimed myself a Very Occasional Blogger. At the moment, I don't see a cure for it on the horizon.
0 Comments on About the blogging... as of 1/5/2011 5:12:00 PM
Remember ages ago when I extolled the virtues of my favorite writing software -- Scrivener? In brief: It's the Mac-based program that kept my brains from exploding while I juggled four narrators during the two years it took me to write The Lost Crown. I would never write a book without it ever again.
Scrivener is now available in a Windows beta version -- free! If you're willing to put up with some bugs, PC users can play with the program for nothing before the official version goes on sale next spring. Also, according to the Scrivener website:
Anyone who participates in NaNoWriMo this year and achieves their 50,000 words (and has them validated) will get a 50% discount coupon which they will be able to use when Scrivener for Windows is released next year."
Learn how it works from Scrivener's fast-talking designer:
You can change the size of the YouTube player in the HTML editor. I do a width of 425 and a height of 344 (and you have to change the number at the beginning and end of the code) and the player fits perfectly inside blogger.
There may still be 8 months to wait for The Lost Crown, but look what I can do with my brand new dust jacket and a great big book* from my own shelves in the meantime:
(*I've left a smidgen of a certain somebody else's great big book peeking out at the bottom. Bonus points if you can ID it.)
The spine is GINORMOUS. And pearly. The little purple square is glossy-laminated, and the title is embossed on the front. Possibly this is crazy, but my favorite part might be the back:
6 Comments on Author-nerdery at its finest, last added: 10/29/2010
This sculpture isn't about book-banning, but don't you think it could be?
"Listening to History," by Bill Woodrow
Image snapped this weekend at the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, which, incidentally, is having a great big exhibit of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. It's nifty stuff -- sort of a Willy Wonka meets Dr. Seuss flavor:
Page proofs for THE LOST CROWN arrived on Friday, and they are prettyful:
Appealing as that is, you know what I looked at first? The back matter. Nerdy stuff like photo captions and bibliography:
I kind of like this page, too:
So. I'm supposed to be correcting the text, not just ogling it. Confession: I'm not the world's greatest proofreader. Ever seen that email that begins,
Aoccdrnig to a rseearchr at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit any porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
I can read that without even blinking. (Well, except for where it says "it self" instead of "itself.") I'm much better at spotting formatting goofs -- like misplaced italics and reversed quotation marks -- than spelling errors.
oh, it really is beautiful! i love that you've got the photos of the girls above the chapter headings. really lovely design. and the "cast of characters" -- good idea!
I love seeing all the "behind the scenes" stuff that goes into making a book. You're the only blogging author I know of who does this. It's so interesting--thanks!
This is going to sell like hotcakes and the best part about it is that everyone who buys and reads your book will receive an amazingly told story from a very gifted writer. I like it very much and am thrilled for you.
(They are considerably spiffier than my expression might lead you to believe.)
I really really like that little apple on the spine. Don't forget to peek at the very backest back, where you'll find a teaser chapter from The Lost Crown:*
(*Yes, the title's changed again. Daughters of the Tsar -- formerly known as OTMA -- is now THE LOST CROWN. Once and for all.)
Over at Madwoman in the Forest Laurie Halse Anderson is hosting her annual Write Fifteen Minutes a Day Challenge. So far, I think I'm flunking. I just left this comment:
So...if I've spent the first 5 days of WFMAD submerged in copyedits, does that count? Clearly it's writing-related, but even when I'm tweaking a scene it doesn't feel like "real" writing -- it mostly feels like clerical work. At the end of a day of copyedits, the last thing I want to do is compose something new, and I end up rationalizing for waaaay more than 15 minutes:
This is necessary work, real-live-published-author-work. The deadline is Friday; that takes precedence. You've been at it for hours, give yourself a break. (ad nauseam)
Maybe I do need to quit being so literal and give myself a break. Pirate Code of Writing, and all that. But the daily rationalization bugs me -- isn't that exactly the sort of procrastinatory baloney that WFAMD aims to conquer? Isn't rationalizing a signal of guilt? Because for the record, I KNOW DARN WELL ANOTHER 15 MINUTES WON'T KILL ME. I just don't *want* to....
What do you think? Should I atone with make-up days in September? Or am I being too hard on myself?
(In the interest of full disclosure: a couple days ago I did squeeze in my 15 minutes. It felt FABULOUS -- when it was over, that is.)
2 Comments on WFMAD Challenge-fail?, last added: 8/12/2010
Oh, what is the pirate code of writing? I want to know! I know the magic word for Jack Sparrow was "parlay." That can mean to talk. . or it can mean to "maneuver to great advantage." I'm thinking you are parlaying your writing time into something amazing -- a completed book!
If I ever start writing a book that includes vocabulary from a language with a non-latin alphabet, SHAKE ME BY MY SHIRTFRONT.
Motherofgod, I'm a Russian minor, and I can't tell you how much of the transliteration I've botched. Lemme tell you, in 400+ pages, there's a lot of room for botching.
Just when I think it's all sorted out, one more sneaky word pops up to throw me for a loop. For example, the Russian letter "Я" can be rendered correctly in English as "ya" or "ia." I picked "ia." Oh wait, except for when I spell dorogaya -- which I refuse to change, because dorogaia looks ridiculous and unpronouncable. If I want to keep my preferred spelling, then all my "ia" words and names (Obednia, prigoditsia, Rodzianko...) have to be converted to "ya."
Hence, I have been Find-and-Replacing for three hours.
And it's dawned on me that technically, if I follow this -ia/-ya rule, the two youngest grand duchesses' names should be spelled Mariya and Anastasiya.
NO NO NO I WON'T AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME.
(I'm afraid to look at my character list now.)
1 Comments on Copyedits, BLARGH, last added: 7/29/2010
I don't know if you should blame the Bulgarians for inventing that silly Acrylic alphabet or several hundred years of haphazard linguistic bastardization that is modern English. We can't get our own spelling constistent. IMHO the "ia" looks better for anglicized names, but the "ya" looks more Russian for everything else. I'm thinking of words like dosvedanya and Stolichnya.
Been doing a bit of reading on Laura Ingalls Wilder's portrayal of Native Americans in Little House on the Prairie, and if one more historian sees fit to remind me that "Wilder's genre was fiction -- and children's fiction at that," I'm going to blow a gasket.
1 Comments on Sunday grumble, last added: 7/28/2010
I never felt like Laura portrayed Native Americans in a deliberately negative light; at times there even seems to be some sympathy for their plight in the face of the political situation created by westward expansion. I also think there is a bit of implicit admiration, or perhaps just curosity as a young girl has her first contact with a people and a culture she has only heard about second hand. No, it's certainly not completely accurate, and you're well aware of all the filters and changes in perspective that are between the real events, the written story, and the reader. But I'm not going to let it diminish my enjoyment of the story, or keep my children from enjoying it as I did. That's not just because it's "historical fiction" or "children's literature", it's because there are really 3 stories worth studying: the actual historical events, Laura's fictional account, and the writing of the book itself. And that might be the ultimate criteria: right, wrong, or indifferent, how does it compare to other accounts published at the same time?
You might recall that not long ago I was raving about Orson Scott Card's Seventh Son. Couldn't wait to read the sequel.
Well. Red Prophet has been on my nightstand for the better part of two weeks now, and I'm all the way up to...page 11. The thing is, I've been reading up on Native images and stereotypes in American culture -- mostly here and here -- and I must be starting to get it, because in less than a dozen pages the descriptions of the Indians in Red Prophet are turning me right off. Given the setting, I can't say the white characters' racism is inappropriate. It's probably accurate, and it may even turn out to be an integral element of the story. But for me, right at this moment, it's not much fun to wade through.
Those of you who've read the series -- should I stick with this installment? Are there going to be other perspectives to counterbalance Hooch's attitude toward the Reds?
Given the setting, I can't say the white characters' racism is inappropriate. It's probably accurate, and it may even turn out to be an integral element of the story.
The question will be, not whether the racism is accurate, but what the narrative voice says about the racism.
If I told you exactly what I liked best about this book, I'd spoil it for you in at least three different ways. Instead, I will be cagey, brief, and metaphorical -- probably maddeningly so:
If The Underneath was a ballad, Keeper is a pot of gumbo. So many flavors and combinations, some of them even a little audacious -- a girl who believes her mama is a mermaid? -- but so, so tasty when they're all simmered together.
Read it by the sea, or a lake -- like so:
(Or a puddle, if all else fails.)
2 Comments on KEEPER, by Kathi Appelt, last added: 7/9/2010
I was just thinking about how long it's been since I last read a novel. It was also in March! (And that was just cuz I was meeting the author...but it was a good book, too. Bonus!)
I can't remember the last time I read a novel. I have, however, nearly mastered Oh Say Can You Say by Dr. Seuss, and memorized several of the Golden Books adaptations of Disney flicks. Toddlers dig that stuff.
Thank you for recommending this one - it's been years since I've read Orson Scott Card, but I've been looking for a good series to get into - and I desperately need some grown-up lit. No offense to Geisel, Scarry, Milne, et al.
Confession #1: I'd never heard the term disablism until I read my friend diceytillerman's Blogging Against Disablism post over the weekend.
Confession #2: Although I haven't run into anything cringe-worthy yet, it's pretty darn unnerving to be reading up on this topic now, nearly three years after publishing a novel about two of the most famous disabled people on the planet. But it's also making me think - a lot - about how disability is portrayed in children's literature.
Case in point: Through a weeklong session of link-clicking, I found my way this morning to one of the best book reviews I've ever read:
Confession #1: I run into the, "Oh, f***, I wish I'd done this reading earlier/thought about this sooner!" problem a lot in my writing, too. I think we just need to keep our eyes and ears open as writers in the world, listen to as many people/viewpoints as we can, and try, as best we can, not to fall into the mindtraps of ignorance all around us. And, when we make mistakes, acknowledge them to ourselves, and try not to make them again in future books. I *hate* discovering that I have potentially contributed to some hurtful and unjust way of thinking in my novels, because of my own lack of thinking. It's going to happen, though. We're creatures of our culture and our culture is so flawed in so many of its assumptions. Plus, as writers, we're trying to keep track of so many things when we're writing a novel. It's too easy to miss things.
(I"m not suggesting you've done anything wrong in your writing, btw! Just saying that I think I understand, and I'm also trying hard to think through these important things.)
*blink* Thank you. I was very startled and pleased to discover that a) my review/rant had been linked to, and b) it was enjoyed.
Disablism is something that I live with and yet still find myself guilty of, quite often (being one type of crip doesn't stop me from accidentally wounding any number of people, because I don't realise that my language is, while institutionalised, wrong. Alas.) I think the only thing anyone can do is keep an awareness of such things.
Looking forward to reading (or listening to!) Miss Spitfire. I promise I won't read it specifically for any type of language--it just sounds very interesting! *grin*
Lookit this pretty font I found while I was pretending to be OTMA's* designer instead of its author:
OMG, I LOVES THAT.
But oh wait, it's a latin-cyrillic hybrid font, so look at the dumb things that happen when I add the subtitle:
I guess it's supposed to look exotic and Russiany, but if you are a person who actually reads Russian, this is what your mind says when your eyes try to read those words: D Iovel of Yaomanov Yaussia
OMG, I HATES THAT.
__
*I have neglected to mention that Madame Editor and I seem to have settled on an official title for OTMA. As you may have guessed by now, it's Daughters of the Tsar: A Novel of Romanov Russia.
2 Comments on The trouble with hybrids, last added: 4/12/2010
By and large, the proposed cuts are not as scary as I was braced for. Madame Editor is a sharp line editor. However, there is the matter of her suggestion to do away with ALL THESE PAGES:
Two great big handfuls, both from chapters narrated by Maria. The first one had me bent over the kitchen counter making horrified exclamations: Oh. Oh, you vile woman! No! And then I caught myself smiling as I fussed, because....because...I think she might be right.
But I am not touching this big pile of paper again until Monday.
2 Comments on OTMA, round 2, last added: 3/12/2010
stopped posting star-ratings to the books I've read on Goodreads
pared down blogs I follow by 30%
abandoned daily visits to two of my three favorite message boards
(mostly) stopped reading Facebook updates of people who aren't personal friends or family
stopped checking my Amazon ranks(!)
ignored my blog traffic stats
decreed that widget-peeks and web browsing sessions may commence only between the hour and the quarter (how long those sessions last is another matter, however)
Discoveries:
Networking and blogging and all the rest aren't so much about keeping in touch as about keeping up. And up, and up, and UP. Blargh.
Left to my own devices, it's positively creepy how much time I will spend loitering online, waiting for a bit of virtual interaction to pounce on. As opposed to, say, seeking out a live human to speak with in person.
It's also disconcerting to see how odd it initially felt to be done with my morning web-binge in half the time. I found myself staring at the screen thinking, Really? Already? as if I were an alcoholic dumbfounded by an empty glass.
I can't honestly say that cutting down on all this malarkey has upped my productivity. My constitutional resistance to drafting is still a great big hurdle. However, I am far less inclined to do my procrastinating online, which in turn makes me feel far less...turdy. The internet is a strange place, capable of making me feel simultaneously harried and slovenly.
Posting only privacy-filtered, literature-relevant slices of yourself online paints a very two-dimensional impression of a person. It's also oddly tiring.
The good news:
Cutting back was much easier than I expected. And you know what? I LIKE IT BETTER THIS WAY.
The bad news:
I wish there was a way to say this gently, but...I did not miss blogging. Not one little bit.
Confession: I've been suspicious of blog-burnout since well before Christmas, and Blog-Free February provided the definitive diagnosis. The space that has opened up in my brain and my schedule this past month is too big to let go -- especially while I'm doing daily battle with a first draft. (Or trying to.) I always give precedence to the more pressing deadline, and that is nearly always blogging.
From now on, fiction comes first -- count on me only as a Very Occasional Blogger.
5 Comments on BFF recap: good news/bad news, last added: 3/2/2010
Oh, every single word of this rang a bell in my heart! Good for you, Sarah!
I'm not sure why, but for me, turning off comments on my blog has had a similar effect -- my mind is no longer constantly whirring with blog posts to write, and writing the posts is less tiring, because my internal filters have somehow changed. I still keep my private life off the blog, but I also feel freer to say certain personal things, because I know I won't have to deal with the inevitable comments that hurt my feelings or that I need to remove. There's less pressure and more freedom, and there's no longer worry about how many people are reading or what they think. I'm doing it for me now. And I'm enjoying it a lot more, and my life has improved drastically. Here's to all of us bloggers finding whatever formula works for us -- and Laura, sounds like you might have some pondering to do! :o)
Loved this: Networking and blogging and all the rest aren't so much about keeping in touch as about keeping up. And up, and up, and UP. Blargh.
I think that I'm also not going to respond to comments much anymore. Just about everyone who comments regularly also knows how to contact me directly elsewhere.
Laurie Anderson posted a Really Good Idea a couple weeks ago:
We had NaNoWriMo in November. December and January have been filled with revisions for many of us, and by many of us, I mean ME. And many of us want to finish up the current project so we can get hopping on the next one. So...........
Let's make February a blog-free month.
(I heard that gasp. Breathe slowly. Into a paper bag. With your head between your knees.)
Do not panic. February is short! We could call it the new BFF: Blog-Free February.
If you do this, you'll be at the cutting edge of the next digital trend: the Slow Media Movement. Give everyone a heads-up that you're stepping away from blogging for a couple of weeks. If you are truly bold (or desperate) make February an Internet-free month, not just blog-free. On March 1st, write a blog (or a letter) evaluating any differences in your productivity during February.
Count me IN. I'm actually between revisions, having shipped off a shiny new draft of OTMA to Madame Editor the morning I left for Boston. If I behave myself during BFF, I might get a decent start on something new before OTMA returns to haunt me...
Remember the snurpy Halfway Down the Stairs tribute video I made a couple years ago? To create a teaser for the Rochester Oral History Archive, longtime HDS customer Corrie Pokrzywa layered in an audio track of owner Cam Mannino's bookshop memories:
Intrigued? Listen to Cammie's full 45 minute interview here for lots more insider stories on the life and evolution of a book store.
1 Comments on Bookshop memories, last added: 1/25/2010
5 Comments on And the winners are...., last added: 6/14/2011
Oooh... another WIP! I already read that you're not telling anyone what you're working on next, but I was just wondering if it takes place in history and or what century?