I apologize for the lack of posting. Things have been absolutely insane around here.
First of all, I’ve been dealing with The Most Miserable Puppy in the World. It’s tough to tell if she was more miserable the first few days, when she was feeling crappy and looking crappier:
Or if it’s worse now, when she thinks she’s feeling better, and is completely bouncing off the wall at all times of the day and night because she’s not allowed to exercise for another few days.
Unfortunately, she has developed what the vet tells us is a reaction to the sutures. it looks like a large, egg-shaped lump underneath her skin where the incision is. We’re treating it a few times a day with warm compresses, which she’s actually tolerating pretty well, all things considered. It’s pretty much the only time she’ll lie still.
Today, I’m going to Florida. Yay! So excited! Haven’t been home in over a year. (Yes, I realize I should probably not call Florida home, as I actually own a home here in D.C., where, like, my husband is, and my stuff. But give me a break. It’s February and it snowed this weekend and wah. Florida!) I’m a little worried about leaving though, while Rio is still under the weather. Who will give her hot compresses?
And no sooner do I get back from Florida than it’s time to pack for Ireland and Castlemania. Castleocity. Castletation. I did go and buy some new clothes for that trip, since as one has gathered from the above, I’m really not a fan of being cold, and castles in Ireland in March are probably precisely that at all times. I really hope there are enough blankets on the beds.(Strange the things I worry about. I’m sure precisely no one else on the trip is worried about how well they’ll be able to cocoon, but as my husband, parents, and various college roommates could tell you, even in the height of summer, I like to bury myself under blankets to sleep.)
In general, I’m sick of the cold. I can haz summer now, plz? Okthnkbai!
All of this planning and dog care has been made more difficult by the fact that I’m in the midst of a couple different projects: I just turned in the proofs for my Mind-Rain essay, the proofs for Tap & Gown are due first thing next week, I’m finishing up that secret project I think I’ve mentioned a time or two, and, oh, yeah, the deadline for KU2 is galloping at me, horn lowered. All these projects are going well, it’s just that there are so many of them. I’m really used to being able to live in one world, in one project, from beginning to end. I’m learning multi-tasking right now. Fun stuff.
Did I mention how much I’m looking forward to Florida?
And here’s the point in our show where we answer letters from the audience. Today we have three lovely letters. The first is from a young woman with a bone to pick:
L. writes:
Hi, I enjoyed your first book very much. However, when you mentioned prep schools, you displayed immense favoritism towards Andover. Exeter is not, and has never been, inferior in any way to Andover. Of course you can write whatever you’d like in your books, but I’d just wanted to share my opinion. It’s all prep school rivalry anyways.
Also, upon further research, I have found that both Andover and Exeter had secret societies. You may be interested in the following… [lots of redacted info about high school secret societies...]
Dear L.,
Thank you for reading. I must admit that I’m baffled by your observation, as upon examination, I mention Andover and Exeter precisely once apiece in my first novel. Additionally, my main character is unlikely to hold a preference, being a midwest public high school graduate.
Have you read THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS, by E. Lockhart? It’s about secret societies at east coast prep schools,and I think it may be right up your alley.
Yours in 312,
Diana
K. writes:
Who do you suggest I read while I am waiting for Ms Ryan’s book to come out and I have to wait till May to see what happens to Amy.
Dear K.,
I know, it’s such a hardship to wait for the release of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, the debut novel by Carrie Ryan. I’m mindlessly slavering at the fence line, myself. Luckily there are some other fab novels available right now. I’m enjoying SHADOWED SUMMER, the debut novel by Saundra Mitchell, which is a spooky southern ghost story.
Unicorns rule, Zombies drool,
Diana
M. writes:
I just read on [blog redacted] that you have a book about killer unicorns. I am writing to tell you that unicorns are SO not evil. They are adorable. I don’t think you should make unicorns evil in your book.
Dear M.,
Thank you for your interest. You will be happy to learn that unicorns are not evil in my book. Rather, they are killers, like sharks, or wolves, or humans. When they kill, they do it for food, or to protect themselves. And, like people, some of them are very adorable indeed. I look forward to hearing your reaction to Bonegrinder, who despite her bloodthirsty tendencies, is a real cutey-patootie.
So on Friday, Sailor Boy calls me and is like, “Okay, command decision. We’re driving down to Alexandria tonight and trying to get into the Birchmere.”
Since it usually takes me about three weeks to ease Sailor Boy into the idea of crossing the border into Virginia, I was a bit taken aback. But a few weeks back, we’d been dismayed to discover that both the local DC shows of Jonathan Coulton (one up in awesome Annapolis) were sold out, and SB had been bummed out about it.
So we bundled up against the frigid February night and prepared ourselves for a long wait outside the Birchmere, holding two fingers in the air.
Or not. Actually, the nice lady at the box office informed us that they’d just released a few more tickets, so we bought a pair and walked right in. All that fleece for nothing.
The show, she was awesome. For those who don’t know, Jonathan Coulton is a sort of comedy science fiction folk singer. He is probably most famous for writing the theme song for PORTAL, which is one of the best video games ever. It is certainly one of the only video games whose script is so darkly comedic that I spit out my coke all over my controller while playing. Anyway, JC is a Yalie, and a former Whiffenpoof, and, as I’m sure surprises no one who is actually familiar with the group, a former Spizzwink. He was also a computer programmer until he decided to chuck it all and make a living writing songs about mad scientists in love. This is a WOW machinima video of one my favorite of his songs, “Skullcrusher Mountain::
He also has this great zombie apocalypse/office etiquette song entitled “Re: Your Brains.”
Okay, one more…
Oh my gosh, so funny. And also catchy.
Anyway, on Saturday, I went to the WRW meeting, where Sophia Nash and Diane Whiteside talked about characterization. Sophia is a character charter, and I am not, though I think we seem to think about characters in much the same way, in terms of who they are and what they need. I definitely found that I had the information to put into her charts about my characters — in fact, I surprised myself with how much information I actually had. So it was fun to see a new way into something I already do during story development. For instance, Sophia asked about our character’s favorite possessions, and I was surprised to realize that the characters I was charting did, in fact, have thematic possessions. I never would have put that together on my own.
Diane’s talk was about using astrology to develop characters. I know nothing about astrology. I’m not even sure what my own husband’s sign is. But I imagine it might be a really good way to go about a creating a character, because the “brightside” of astrology — all the good qualities that come with a sign — is matched with “darkside” faults. So you can think about who your character is and what sign that matches best, and then see what the corresponding faults might be. Often, people’s greatest strengths are also their greatest faults. Someone very steadfast might also be very stubborn, for example. Someone very spontaneous could also be very flighty. Someone very perceptive can also be very manipulative. If you’re a writer that often has trouble seeing your character’s flaws, this method might be very helpful to you. It doesn’t even have to match your character’s actual birthday. Though I was surprised to discover that, four books later, I had given a character in SSG a birthday (because it was relavant to plot, which is the only time my characters have actual birthdays) that matched a sign that matched his personality really well. Who knew? SURPRISE!
Also, I am the proud possessor of an ARC of Sophia Nash’s latest, Love with the Perfect Scoundrel. Jealous? It’s a snowstorm story. I’m such a sucker for those. I think I shall read it while sequestered in my own little castle in Ireland. Jealouser?
Hee hee. I’m evil.
Now it’s Sunday, and I’m working on my secret project. I love my secret project. I’m so giddy all the time when I’m working on it. I think often of what Jennifer Lyn barnes wrote about keeping the love, and it’s very fitting that it’s what has been filling my head recently, as Jennifer just sold her “love-book”:
Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s RAISED BY WOLVES, in which a human teen struggles to find her place in the werewolf pack that has raised her since childhood, while dealing with the inexplicable connection she shares with the pack’s newest wolf- a teenage boy, to Regina Griffin at Egmont, by Elizabeth Harding at Curtis Brown.
BookEnds Literary Agency recently did a fascinating series of posts about why an agent might turn down work they think is good and/or saleable. It started when agent Jessica Faust shared a story from the trenches: She requested a partial from an author, and before she had the chance to get to it, he’d received another author of representation. He contacted her to tell her about the other offer and gave her a chance to read the full manuscript and make her own offer. She read the manuscript and passed.
This story set off a bit of a storm in the comments section of the post.
Some writers wondered what was keeping authors from just lying and saying they had offers in order to rush an agent’s response and encourage the response to be yes. I suppose I should not be surprised that this thought enters into people minds. One Harlequin editor told me that they have spreadsheets where they track what they actually request because so many things come in with “requested” on them that aren’t.
My thought is that writers might be overestimating the propensity of agents to pile on. Just because there is another offer, doesn’t mean they’re going to want the book too. Other commenters in the thread brought up the problem that happens when the agent catches you in your lie. If they do. And agent Kim Lionetti drops in to point out something even more likely:
“If an author tells me they have an offer and I like the book, but feel it needs quite a bit of work, I’ll oftentimes just pass, figuring that there isn’t time to see revisions. If the author weren’t waiting with an offer on the table, then I may be inclined to offer very specific feedback and hope to see it resubmitted.”
Then, a clearly frustrated aspiring author says that he hates this response, that if an agent likes it, he or she should take it. This writer has apparenlty gotten a few “great, but not for me” rejections, which he likens to being told “you’ve won the lotto, but I think someone else should be the one to give you millions of dollars.”
Another responder gives what, to me, is a far more accurate metaphor: “you’re nice, but I’m just not that into you.” And then Kim comes back with an entire post on the subject.
“Why would an agent ever want to go into a new partnership with an author feeling at a disadvantage? The publishing industry is tough enough as it is. When I take on a new project, I want to feel supremely confident in my ability to sell it. Time spent worrying over a project I’m not sure I was the right advocate for could be used finding another perfect fit. And there’s a ton of perfect fit manuscripts out there for me, just as there are a lot of agents out there that could be your perfect fit — if not with this project, then your next.”
Both posts and the threads that follow are worth a peek.
I’ve said it before, but I also believe that this is something that is really tough for a writer facing heaps of rejection letters and no agent offers to swallow:
When you have the right book, finding an agent is a relatively straightforward process.
A few days of research on what agents would be best for your type of book, an afternoon spent crafting a really bang-up query letter, and, oh, yeah. However many months or years it takes to write an incredible, can’t-say-no novel. That’s what it takes.
I know that’s hard to believe. But it’s true. There are no tricks. Finding an agent is not hard. It’s writing the great book that’s hard. So what’s actually hard about finding an agent is finding an agent with the wrong book. That’s nigh unto impossible. Here’s another take on the same story (complete with the author being scammed a bit first by signing with a bad agent for the wrong book — or the right book in the wrong version) by Jeaniene Frost.
I wrote four books and found an agent with the fifth. The fourth book, I sent out 21 submission packages and received 18 rejections and three full requests (one of which turned into a rejection). I had not yet received the other two answers when I began querying my fifth book. With my fifth book, I sent out four submission packages, got four requests, and three offers before I even sent the fourth agent (the only one who was looking for hardcopy) her requested pages. The difference is that the fourth book was problematic. The fifth book sold in a two book deal, at auction, a week and a half after it went out.
Yes, there are the occasional miracle stories about how no one saw the fabulous book’s glories for what they were. They are nice stories. They are also far more rare than agents who see potential in a book that doesn’t actually sell. Both are far less common than books that don’t get agents because they don’t have potential.
I’ve assembled a Venn diagram, for which the values of “good” and “bad” pertain only to their potential on the marketplace, and not on any actual assessment of literary merit:
Clearly this is not to scale. If it were, the red part would be WAY WAY bigger, since it encompasses books that span the entire Slushkiller spectrum, from functionally illiterate to “meh” to “just not for us right now”. But think of it like those not–to-scale diagrams of the solar system. Good books would be an invisible Pluto planetoid next to the Jupiter of bad books.
So yes, some good books are not visible to agents. And some bad books (remember, “bad” in this scenario means “will not sell” — and sometimes THAT only means “in this marketplace”) find representation. (In fact, the “bad books that find representation” part of the diagram might even be a bit bigger than shown.) But if you do have a good book, chances are overwhelmingly good that you’ll find an agent. If you don’t, chances are overwhelmingly bad.
Might I have found an agent for MS #4? Possibly. (Actually, probably. I received a phone call a few weeks after my sale from one of the agents who had the full of MS #4. I figured, since she’d told me she’d called me by X date and this was more than a month later, that she’d passed, so I hadn’t bothered to contact her to tell her I’d signed elsewhere. I do not know if she was calling to offer representation or revision suggestions.) But I think that, if I had, the book would likely have languished in that top part of the purple circle.
Still, that would be okay. I have plenty of friends who signed with an agent for a book that didn’t sell, but then wrote the agent a book that the agent could and did sell.
However, looking at this diagram, you can see why it’s ALWAYS a better choice to write a new book than it is to keep pounding your head against the submissions wall with a book that’s just not happening. The next book you write could be THE book, the one that isn’t a fight to get representation for at all.
A lot of people have been asking me, and the rumors are out on the internet, so though I have not been given the go-ahead by TPTB over at Harper, I have decided to respond, since “I can neither confirm nor deny…” sounds kinda silly in the face of “I saw on Amazon…” So:
The publication date of Rampant has been pushed back to August 25, 2009.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the reorganization that occurred at Harper last week. I have known about the date change for over a month.
The date change also has nothing to do with the preparedness of the manuscript. ARCs have been out since last fall, as is usual for a spring book, and the only changes made to the final book concern the usual typography errors and copyediting changes that did not, for some reason, make it into the galley version. (This is common, and has occurred with every book I’ve written. That’s why most ARCs have huge disclaimers on them that the text is NOT the final version.)
So, that’s the news. Now, the bad part of this news is, obviously, wah, three more months until killer unicorns take over the world! Additionally, it means that my little romance will not be out in time for the RWA conference in my hometown of DC, and also, that I am less likely to be able to throw a joint launch party for Tap & Gown and Rampant, since they are no longer being released a week apart. (Then again, if one party is good, two is twice as good. True for everything but weddings and funerals.) But the good parts, in my opinion, far outweigh the bad. The extra time gives me the opportunity to plan some truly exciting promotional tidbits. Also, since Rampant is now a fall ‘09 book, it means that KU2 is a fall ‘10 book, which means that my deadline has been pushed back. Yay, extra time! Finally — and this is really the best part of all — I’m now being released very close to a few of my YA writer friends, which means that we might end up doing some cool events together! More to come on that front, obviously. But as I’ve waited for over two years to become an official YA author, I’m hoping ot take as much advantage of that as possible!
Which brings me to my next bit of news. Next month, there’s a Teen Author Festival in New York City, and I’m going to be attending,and speaking at the following panel:
NYC Teen Author Festival Juvenalia Smackdown Panel
Date: Monday, March 16, 2009, 4-6pm Location: Tompkins Square Park branch of the NYPL, 331 E. 10th Street
Join Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Alaya Johnson, Justine Larbalestier, David Levithan, Diana Peterfreund, and Scott Westerfeld as they read some of their (ahem) less accomplished work from their middle school and high school years. Hosted by Libba Bray.
I am so excited about this panel. Justine has done itbefore and she says it’s the most fun you can have at a conference. Now, the only trick is to choose which of my works of early genius to share with you all. There’s the apothecary romance, in verse, natch. There’s the historical about the scarred debutante being stalked by her dead sister’s lover (who set the fire that killed her family and burned her half to a crisp). The best thing about that story is how most of the scenes centered around the heroine’s cousin, who was secretly in love with her childhood best friend (not that this was more familiar to my own high school experience than arsonists and burn victims). Oh, and the best friend had just discovered he was an earl. Because what’s a story without a secret inheritance? Then there’s the teen Christmas story which, I’m sorry to admit, I actually faked sick from school for several days in a row so I could stay home and work on it. (Kids: don’t do this. Stay in school.)
Jennifer Lyn Barnes, of Team Castle, also pointed out this lovely from my own alma mater:
Hail the hometown hero!
Given the color of the killer unicorn, I’m going to guess that the yale improv troupe in question is the Purple Crayon. Am I right, Jen?
And finally, remember last week, when I said that my publisher had decided to go a bit pinker with my cover? Well, now they’ve decided to go a bit more retro. Something about nostalgia for those heady old romantic days…
I knew I should have called it THE ITALIAN’S VIRGIN UNICORN HUNTER.
Finally got my act together with “My Phi Beta Kappa Valentine,” so newsletter subscribers can read it at the secret story page. In addition, last month’s secret story has been unlocked. Enjoy!
Remember, all you have to do to get the password for the secret story is to sign up for my newsletter.
Okay, off to work. Some of us are NOT on vacation today!
Sunday morning Chez Diana, and I’m hanging out in sweats on the couch while Rio plays outside with the neighbor’s dog. We don’t really “do” Valentine’s Day around here, and since we’ve been together for the better part of a decade, I am unused to the V-day extravqaganza that seems to have gripped the city. Florists on every corner hawking little bundles of roses. Restaurants offering incentives to come on Sunday night instead of Saturday. Sailor Boy looked at me as we drove down a street festooned with giant, heart-shaped balloons and was like, “Is it Valentine’s Day?”
We watched the new Joss Whedon show, Dollhouse (Guys, was that Helo?), then made pasta allla vodka and sat down with a bottle of chianti and A Letter to Three Wives. I love that movie. It’s very romantic and feminist and cool.
Speaking of V-Day, the story’s still not done. Sorry, guys. Monday, I promise!
However, my lack of holiday spirit aside, I was pleased as punch to see that Poe an Amy made a couple of “best couple” lists on the blog rounds this week. YA writer Amanda Brice opines:
In the first two “Secret Society Girl” books, Amy Haskell’s nemesis in Rose & Grave was a senior (and later, recent graduate) codenamed Poe. He was sullen, moody, and incredibly disagreeable. Not even worth Amy’s acknowledgement, particularly when there are so many other hot guys around, like the delectable George. But author Diana Peterfreund was a literature major at Yale, and an avowed Jane Austen fan, so “the sudden, startling transformation of a mysterious Rose & Grave patriarch from sheerly evil to utterly…appealing” is not exactly terribly shocking. But it’s still really fun to read!
Funny story: Poe and Amy were never intended to get together. He was not a major character in the first book. I didn’t even know his real name. But I had a blast writing him, and what’s more, I had a blast writing him and Amy. He seemed to click with her even better, storytellingly-speaking, than either party in the love triangle I’d cooked up: George and Brandon. And since I’m a firm believer that plot is the confluence of character and situation… I was happy to see how many people got behind their pairing, which took a book and a half to, IMO, adequately lay the groundwork for. Amanda’s Rice, the transformation’s not a shock, to anyone, perhaps, but Amy. I never claimed my heroine was the most self-aware girl on the planet. And the aftermath comes… well, in T&G. Because of course, he’s still sullen, moody, and disagreeable.
Okay, these two aren’t necessarily in love, per se, but they fit in with my favorite couples.
I’ve talked a time or two about how much I adore Diana Peterfreund’s Secret Society Girl series, so I probably don’t need to go on ad nauseum now. Can I just say that I love the progression of this couple? They started out loathing each other—Amy thought Poe was a misanthrope with a stick up his ass and Poe thought Amy was clearly inferior and infuriating besides. Things definitely changed. Loathing grew to respect, respect grew to…making out on spring break. And along the way there are all these great little clues. Like some guy spits at Amy and Poe clocks him. And Ms. Peterfreund doesn’t fall on the old standards of “one guy hits another and it’s all macho and sexy” (though it was). She had Poe freak out right afterwards because a) he had hit somebody, and b) that kind of hurts. Such a great scene. And since I shipped these two from pretty much the beginning (I’m a big sucker for love/hate), I loved the clues. I was really happy when they got together because Poe’s awesome.
That’s actually one of my favorite scenes, so it makes me really happy to find a reader who enjoyed it. It’s funny, when I first wrote it, I sent it to a critique partner to read and she railed against Poe’s post-clocking freak-out. She thought it was awesome that he punched the guy, then appalling that he proceeded to react in that way. She thought I’d ruined it and turned him into a wimp.
This may be why I never succeeded in writing romance novels. In romance-novel land, the guy usually punches out the villain, then saunters off into the sunset like John Wayne.
Anyway, I disagreed with that particular note, and chose to ignore it.
Poe is not a man who speaks with his fists. His weapon of choice is always his tongue, which is pretty damn lethal all on its own. (And actually, the punch in question is of the sucker variety. Poe makes sure that the guy’s hands are full before he lays into him.) But it was a really primal move that surprised everyone involved, especially Poe, and I think what comes after is the first real glimpse we get of Poe’s personality beyond the cold, calculating asshole Amy had seen thus far. I also like that he’s a bit confused about his own motivations behind the punch, and chooses to rationalize it as Digger loyalty.
As this is Valentine’s Day weekend, one might assume I would be posting the new Secret Story, “My Phi Beta Kappa Valentine” today. You would be… well, not right, but close.
I’m working on it. I got a little distracted this week by other things (new book! new book! new book!) and it totally slipped my mind. Sorry guys. Stay tuned for more updates.
I’m heading off today to do some location scouting for the aforementioned new book. I love location scouting, and I haven’t gotten a chance to do any since last year’s trip to Rome. This is, um, not as exciting as going to Rome. Though it’s similar, in many ways. (I’m such a tease!) Then I’m having lunch with a friend from my old work, which is super-exciting, because we never see one another anymore! She was one of the first people I told about Rampant, way way back in 2005.
It’s weird, the trajectory that books often take. I came up with the idea for Secret Society GIrl at the very beginning of 2005 (might even have been over the holidays of 2004), and now, four years later, I have three books in that series on the shelves, and a fourth about to come out. Meanwhile, I came up with the idea for Rampant in mid 2005, and it’s only four years later that it will be realized with an actual published novel. though I have friends who have just published books they envisioned twenty years ago, so that must feel even more unusual — to have something living inside their head for that long and only now be up for sharing with the rest of the world. Though a character in Rampant is stolen from a book I wrote in 2003. Does that count?
