Never give up! An interview with Stephanie Blake

by Amy

We've had a bit of a theme working here in the Tubro Monkey Treehouse lately. Motivation, healing, aiming for the stars...all of these resonate with my "Never, never, never give up" magnet. In the same vein, I'd like to share a success story.

Today, I’m pleased to welcome my long-time virtual friend Stephanie Blake. Steph’s truly awesome middle-grade novel, The Marble Queen, has been climbing charts all over the place. I just read it and LOVED it, but what I love even more is the story behind the book. And here's Steph...

 Thank you for the warm welcome. Yes, the book has been well received, much to my relief. The first two weeks of its release were kind of fun. It was neck and neck on the Hot New Release list with the new James Patterson book, I FUNNY. It was also up and down on the top 100 of the Best Selling Children's books for a couple of weeks. My family had fun checking on the numbers every few hours. We were #1 on the Children's Hot New Releases on New Year's Eve. I got a screen capture of that.

So, when did you write The Marble Queen of Idaho Falls (which is what it was originally called, right?)

The long title was a mouthful, but I loved it! My editor thought it would be better shortened. She won. I started writing it in 2006. The manuscript came together quickly, but it needed a lot of work, especially the plot.

Am I right in remembering that you had a lot of 'near misses' with this -- agent interest, publisher interest—early on? Did you have other books on submission at the same time?

TMQ wasn't my first book, it was my 4th manuscript. I had a funny, heartwarming boy book about three friends who start a summer business together--picking up dog poop. I submitted that thing everywhere. Got some close calls, but no offers. I landed an agent with my second manuscript, another funny boy book about a kid who gets into all kinds of trouble when he acts out after finding out he is expecting a new sibling. The agent and I parted ways when that ms didn't sell. I wrote a manuscript about a tween witch and revised with an agent for a year. The, I revised again for another agent. I wrote TMQ and garnered a handful of "too quiet" agent rejections before working on it with an editor at FSG. She helped me through two revisions, but in the end, no offer. I was so discouraged.

Ah, yes. The ‘too quiet’rejections. You and I must have a monopoly on those…

Actually, your writing life mirrors mine so much. We had our ‘no query pact’…I think that lasted about 6 months. And before that, when I went on my soul-searching Year Of Lamentation And Whining, you actually quit writing and became a phlebotomist. How did you come to the decision to step away, and what brought you back?

That No-Query pact was awesome! I think more writers need to do that when they start to feel desperate. And desperate I was! Honestly, I went to a dark obsessive place. I was spending all of my time on the internet. I got sick of the whole thing. Sick of submitting to black holes of nothingness. Sick of spending money on conferences. Revising over and over for agents, only to have them decline to represent me. Sick and tired of being jealous of my writer friends who were breaking in.

Oh man, I so get you on the jealousy. Not that I’m not thrilled for my friends, but sometimes I can’t help wondering, “When’s it gonna be my turn?”

Finally, when The Marble Queen was picked up by Marshall Cavendish, it turned out there were a few more surprises in store, right?

I subbed the manuscript to Marshall Cavendish as a last ditch effort. And when I didn't hear a peep, that was it for me! I went back to school and got a certificate in phlebotomy. I was working in a hospital and out of the blue, a year after mailing off that manuscript, an editor emailed to ask it if was still available. My short answer was "Hell yes!" I quit that job about two weeks later. Good thing, too because I didn't realize that revisions were going to take eighteen months! Then came the announcement that all of the Marshall Cavendish titles were bought by Amazon. That was scary. I worried that the book wouldn't be reviewed, that it wouldn't be on shelves in physical stores, and mostly that I wouldn't sell another one! (That last worry is still alive and well).

Argh...proof that the grass is never completely green.

Now that your first book is out and doing SO WELL…was it all worth it? Was there any one thing you wish YOU had done differently?

I wish I wouldn't have deleted my blog.

Oh, me too! I loved your blog!

I had a great following and some really useful and memorable posts, but when I quit writing, I quit blogging and deleted it one day without saving any of the posts. I also kind of wish I wouldn't have spent so much money on conferences!

What are you working on now?

I am waiting to hear from my editor on a proposal for a companion to The Marble Queen. I have also been revising a contemporary middle grade, and have clogged up a couple of slush piles with a picture book that I wrote on a whim.

Last thing...what's the one thing you cannot write without?

I need complete silence when I'm writing! My husband just started working from home, so that's been tough.

Someday we’ll meet in person! Margaritas on me!

It's a deal. I'll bring the chips and salsa!

YUM!

 
To learn more about Steph and The Marble Queen, visit her website and check out her book.

And also...

Never, never, NEVER give up!
-Winston Churchill

 

 

 

Monkey Favs: Writing/Illustrating/Kidlit Related website

We monkeys are taking a lil' holiday, going swingabout for a week to hang with our tribes. We wish you healthy, happy and inspired Holidays and a truly wonderful New Year! If you have a little quiet time between your festive frolics, you might check out some of these great websites...

Amy:  Querytracker—not only helps you find which agents or editors might be interested in your ms, but also helps you keep track of who you've queried and their responses. And Harold Underdown's The Purple Crayon website. Tons of info on the kidlit publishing process and a "Who's Moved Where" of the publishing industry.

Craig:  DrydenBooksFacebook page—Emma posts great daily links to kidlit articles, news and websites

Ellen:  YA Muses, Laurie Halse Anderson’s blog

Hazel:  Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast and Turbo Monkey Tales (Yay for Monkeys!)

Julie:  Writer Unboxed, YA Muses, YA Highway

Kristen:  Verla Kay’s Message Board --nearly every question you've ever asked yourself about kid lit is answered here, somewhere, on this message board. Take a few hours to poke around and you'll probably make some new friends.

Marilyn:  Amazon – because I see all my favorite authors there and I can have their books in my hand or on my Kindle in seconds or a few days. I also enjoy simply shopping for the latest tools and resources for writers without having to leave the house. (I also love going to bricks-and-mortar bookstores and browsing and buying from them.)

Sarah:  Janet Reid, Literary Agent and Queryshark

Elements of a Successful Writing Retreat

By Kristen

Last month thirteen writers (including five Turbo Monkeys) got together in Virginia City, Nevada (where most of us met during the Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program) to reminisce and write. It turns out successful writing retreats and good novels have a lot in common...

SETTING

Photo credit: Ellen Jellison

A place with atmosphere, favorable weather conditions, and room for lots of writers.

Example: St. Mary's Art & Retreat Center 

A former hospital, built in 1875 by the Sisters of Charity, "St. Mary’s Art & Retreat Center is a place where creativity can be explored in an atmosphere of quiet beauty…Recharge, regroup and reconnect with yourself and others under expansive views, blue skies, clean air and the incredible light of the high desert at 6200 feet elevation."

VIEWPOINT

Photo credit: Hazel Mitchell

Example: A view of the town of Virginia City from the porch of St. Mary's Art & Retreat Center.

CHARACTERS

Photo credit: Dawn Callahan

Example: Cook, chauffeur, reluctant hero, girl next door, geek, jock, Southern belle, dark lady, monkey, etc.

PACING

Example:

Write

Eat

Write

Eat

Sleep

Repeat!

CONFLICT

Example: 

Workout?

Or shopping?

SUSPENSE

Example: Resident ghost?

DIALOGUE

Example: Cozy living room + 13 writers = awesome conversation.

GOALS

Example: Meet your wordcount and you get chocolate!

Revision: When to Start & When to Stop

Nano's almost over! Let the fun begin!

You've done it. You've written a book. Your manuscript is complete; your story arc has touched down. The first draft puking has stopped. Next up, my favorite phase...the glorious days/months/years of revision!

I adore revising. I have, in fact, been revising my books for years. And years. And...years, which makes me something of an expert on revision. And the first thing I can tell is...don't start yet. As much as you want to scrub the guck off those fifty-thousand words and let your critique group see them shine, don't. Put it away, for a few weeks at least, until you've forgotten everything you did or were trying to do. Going in cold is one of the best things you can do for a new manuscript. It's easier to see what's working and what's not because you've forgotten about all those darlings you've built in. You know...those super clever things that totally aren't working and detract from your story? Yeah, those.

So give yourself a month away from the infant manuscript. Read some books. Revise something else. Brainstorm new book ideas. Whatever. When you finally get back to it, you'll be a much more objective critic.

Let's skip ahead a few months/years/decades...  You've reread and revised. You've responded to comments from your critique group. You're ready to send it out but shouldn't you go through it one more time, just to make sure?

Obviously, we want our submittals to be the best they can be, but sometimes we writers just don't know when to let go. We put off sending out a manscript because we're being cautious or, possibly, as a subconcious effort to avoid rejection. [I could totally name some Monkeys who are super guilty of this, but I won't because I'm classy like that.]

So, when *is* a manuscript ready? Here are five points to consider...

1) You've changed something back to an earlier version. If you drafted a revision, then decided two weeks later that it worked better in the original, chances are it's time to stop revising. You could go back and forth forever. Better to send it out and see what a professional makes of it than spin your wheels endlessly.

2) The revisions you're working on make the book 'different' but not necessarily 'better'. There are hundreds of little changes that would make our books 'different'. But if you're making a lot of revisions that don't improve the manuscript, it's probably time to stop revising. If an editor or agent loves your book, they're certainly not going to reject it because your main character's name is Bob instead of Bill.

3) Your critique group opens your submittal and groans, "Ugh. Not this again." I usually submit something to the Monkeys once. If they suggest huge revisions to it, I might send it back for feedback on the changes, but that's rare. I never, ever send anything three times. My feeling is, once they sign off on it, it's pretty darn close to editor-ready.

4) Your heart isn't in it. Remember the first-draft days when you jotted down fab lines of dialogue and snazzy plot twists at stop lights?  If you don't feel at least a smidgeon of the same love for your manuscript, it's time to move on to something new. Writers write because it's our passion. If the passion between you and your manuscript is gone, it's because you've turned it into a job instead of a love. Send it out and let someone else fall in love with it.

5) You can't figure out what else to do with it. This seems obvious. If you can't find anything else to fix, it must be ready. Right? Yet so many times, we writers fail to see this. We stare at the words; we make small changes (a la #2); but we just can't believe it's ready. Perhaps we're waiting for a sign from the Almighty. Send out your book now written in the clouds. (FYI, this hardly ever happens.) If you can't figure out what else to do to it, the next step is probably to send it out. The first round of comments you get back will help you determine if there really is something you need to address, or if it just needs to find the right home. Either way, you're making forward progress.

Remember...one-hundred percent of shots not taken, don't score. Your book will never be published if it remains hidden on your hard drive. So take a chance. When it's ready--send it out!

Something's Coming...

I spent a good part of this afternoon looking out the window. Hurricane Sandy is coming and boy, could I tell. The sky was leaden. Wind pulled at the treetops. It felt like that moment when a perfectly still cat flicks its tail, and you just know it's ready to pounce…

It's the perfect example of what I learned last weekend in Honesdale. During the Heart of the Fantasy Novel Workshop led by Patti Gauch, I began revising the novel I wrote over the summer. (Nearly 80,000 words in two months. You will not be surprised to learn it needs work.)

One of the big issues I dealt with was what Patti called “staging.” In a theater sense, I think this refers to the physicality of the set: where people stand, etc. However, as best I can describe it,* Patti meant that the climax of each scene or chapter must be set up.  (This is different from foreshadowing, where an event in the first chapter might foreshadow something at the end of the book.) Staging means that every portion of a chapter sets up what happens a few pages later. There should be a narrative wave, or momentum, that carries the reader to a specific moment in every scene and chapter.

However, in my hurry this summer, I often just plopped major plot points or moments into the narrative. It happened a lot towards the end, where I wrote as fast I could figure the story out. Now, as I'm revising, those story plops** need to be set up. Here's what I think that means, specifically: 

If I reveal a major plot point in a chapter, I better be sure that the reader has been curious for a while. The reader shouldn’t find out where the villain comes from before she wonders about it. I need to stage a fight-- or a kiss. The reader needs to cringe away from the fight before it starts, or lean in for that kiss. To play with an old adage, if I'm about to take the horse reader to water, I'd better be sure I've salted the oats story. 

This may seem obvious, but I also need to identify my narrative high point for each scene and chapter. I can't build to it if I can't find it. And if there isn't a high point at all, well, I'd better put one there. 

Now, as I revise, I pick that one moment that the scene rises towards. Then I check to see if I’ve staged it. If I haven’t, I spend some time making notes or thinking about how to set it up. Should I draw attention to some portion of the environment? Should I tilt the dialog to reveal a specific emotion? Maybe one sentence of a main character’s introspection will do the trick. (Craig told me he actually writes down what the set up and payoff will be for his scenes.)

I also think about what I should cut. Are there any places that would draw a reader’s attention away from the moment I’m moving towards? Are there any sections that could be tightened so that the momentum doesn’t lag?

All today, I've known Sandy was coming. I would've known it without the Weather Channel. I need to make sure I do the same for my story. I want readers to feel in their bones and blood that something is about to happen. They don’t need to know what it is, but they better feel it coming.

And to all our East Coast friends, please stay safe and dry these next few days! You’re in my thoughts and prayers. 

*Anything I've said about staging that makes sense should be attributed to Patti. Anything that doesn't came straight from yours truly.

** Not unlike cow plops because, narratively, a reader often ends up just stepping in one. Story plops do smell better, though.

Writing Mojo on a Monday

It's my turn driving carpool and as I sit waiting outside the school in my car, I tune in to a saved copy of This American Life, episode 476, "What Doesn't Kill You." Ira Glass explains that the show will focus on people who have experienced serious brushes with death. And then I'm listening to Tig Natoro deliver a stand-up comedy routine about just having been diagnosed with cancer, about losing her mom tragically, breaking up--this whole insane list of horrors in a crazy short time. And I'm laughing. Out loud. She speaks of how tragedy plus time equals comedy. Even without time, she creates something deeply touching--and funny--and heartbreaking. When the junior high's final bell rings entirely too soon, I hope the kids will take their time getting to the car...

Home at last, I buy the mp3 of Natoro's whole set. I want to own it, to know how she has the courage, the mojo, to pull that off. It's a lesson I could use.

A few years ago, I began writing in earnest after a dear friend of mine suffered this unspeakable tragedy in her life. Even from the sidelines it was devastating, and I channeled  some of the feeling into  a story that centered on ways people cope with tragedy, with how they more and less successfully carry the pieces of life they wish they’d never been handed. The words came so quickly it almost felt like actual channeling.