Thanks to a link from Cynthia Leitich Smith, I’ve just discovered the website of Cheryl Klein, an editor for Arthur A. Levine books at Scholastic. She’s got some great content on there, and I really like her article on plot (especially the ideas of first and second drafts focusing on different things), and especially the article on how finding a publisher is like dating and falling in love. In mentoring me, my senior editor has also used that comparison–submissions are like wooing, you don’t want to give too much away too soon, and sometimes you have to “break up” with an editor or an agent.
In that article, she’s got great advice for writers as the “pursuer” and publishers as the “pursued.” For example (I’ve made her points into paragraphs because I don’t know how to do bulleted lists in HTML and it was going all wonky):

So it’s your job to introduce yourself and your book in a way that will be attractiv
e to the pursued. In the dating world, this is known as a pick-up line. In publishing, it’s called the query letter.
What sets a yes apart from a no, in dating and in publishing?
Personality—Something interesting to say, that we haven’t heard five hundred times before;
Expression—said well. Basically, it should sound like jacket or catalog copy for your book.
Interest in the other person—that emphasizes why the listener (the editor) is right for the speaker (the book).
And—it has to be said—a nice, clean outward appearance, with no copyediting errors and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Do NOT emphasize numbers like word count. Equivalent of taking your date out and reciting your ACT and IQ scores. Interesting, but only relevant if the rest of it works out.
It’s often helpful if you can compare your book to another book the editor might know—especially one of the editor’s books. It allows us to get a handle on it, and it shows you’ve done your research….
Now, queries don’t have to be exclusive—you can send out more than one at a time. But you should try to tailor each one to the editor to whom you’re sending it. Nothing more off-putting than when I get a query letter addressed to Samantha McFerrin at Harcourt—which happens sometimes: It’s sloppy on the writer’s part, and it’s not personal to me. Do note it’s a simultaneous query, though.
Just like in relationships, you need to be honest with everyone involved.

If you’re a new writer looking for advice on submitting, it’s great advice. She’s also got some suggested reading lists and advice for young editors.
Which reminds me that I’ve been meaning to post my own recommended reading list. Maybe I’ll try to do that over vacation. I’m off tomorrow to visit the family and go to a drum corps reunion. Happy 4th of July!

Wow, what a great dream I had this morning right before waking up. I finished Specials late last night, and apparently all night I dreamed I was a Special. Flying on a hoverboard over the city, going into a house to find a clue left by someone earlier, and being ambushed by somebody. It was the most vivid story-esque dream I’ve had in a while. Of course, now most of it has faded, but the memory of flying on a hoverboard remains.
Thus, to have cool dreams, read Scott Westerfeld.

Cynthia Leitich Smith‘s interview of me is up on her blog today.

I’ve really admired Scott Westerfeld‘s work since I discovered the first Midnighters book as a bookseller my last semester of grad school in Boston. I’ve been hearing great things about Uglies, but just never had the time to read it. Finally requested it from the library a few weeks ago, which forced me to make the time for it.
Finally finished it this morning.
Good thing I’d gotten Pretties a week later! I couldn’t wait to keep going and find out what happened to Tally. And it answers a question raised at a conference I went to earlier this year, in which a couple of writers lamented that no one is publishing SF for teens anymore. Not so. Granted, in the last few years it’s been heavily weighted toward social science fiction–The Giver, for example–but Uglies does what few space-oriented SF books I’ve read do: make me care about the characters. At the same time, Westerfeld also explores sci
entific ideas without divorcing them from their ethical repercussions. All in all, I think Westerfeld has done what few hard SF authors do, at least the ones I’ve read–using both plot and characterization to emphasize the Idea, rather than emphasizing just the Idea or allowing the logic of the Idea to slip in service to plot and character.
Go read it. If you’re writing SF, use it as an example. Just be sure to have Pretties ready to go when you’re done. And remember that Specials is out now, too. (I’m hoping the long waiting list for the library copy goes fast, or I might have to break down and buy it!)

Last week, I had a nice week of leisurely going through my slush, requesting full manuscripts from some authors, reading said manuscripts, meaning to reorganize my files (but not really), getting some authors started on projects for me, and so forth. In other words, all the things I’ve meant to do, but haven’t had time because I’ve had deadlines looming.
Now, back to the grindstone–I got a draft in that needs a quick turnaround, so I’m dropping everything for that. Which is wonderful, don’t get me wrong. It’s a good book. But I’m back to looking at those stacks of paper longingly, hoping that someday I’ll have the time to sort it all out some more. Perhaps longingly isn’t a good word. With frustration might be a better phrase, because those stacks of paper are taking up space on my desk that makes me glad most people don’t know where I sit. I don’t get a lot of traffic back there, but when I do give tours, the last stop is my desk, and I cringe to show how disheveled my desk has gotten recently. But that’s a sign of a busy mind, as the placard above my grandpa’s desk always said. The rest of t
he placard read something about how an empty desk is the sign of an empty mind. My mind is very, very full, Grandpa!

I was just interviewed by Cynthia Leitich Smith for her Cynsations blog. She’s very nice and I had a great time. Watch for it!

posted a great visual explanation of how to use a circle to plot. She talks about how in crime fiction, you have two stories going on at once, really–the detective solving the crime, and the story of how the crime happened.
To illustrate it to students, she explains:

Draw a circle open at the top. The end on the right label Beginning, the end on the left lable End.
Plot your *crime* around the circle.
[…]Plot your *investigation* from where your investigator comes in. If we’re talking a dead body here, then it may be at End, the body on the carpet. From there, take the line over to an event on the other side of the circle. Then over to another arbitrary event, repeat until you’ve covered two thirds of the points you put around the circle.
You now have
a) a non linear investigation which uncovers the evidence in an order different to the actual events of the crime.
b) you’ve left enough “untold” information to make your detective look smart.
I really like this. I think it can apply to any story in which a mystery occurs, true crime or fantasy. I think I’m going to start sharing this with authors whose plots include mystery.

I get Friday afternoons off now due to new core hours at work. I was going to go for a bike ride, but it was rainy and oppressive outside, so I was going to work out in the gym, but then I remembered a coworker was having a going-away lunch, so I had to go to that, and by the time it was done, all I wanted to do was just come home and take a nap. So I did.
Woke up about 2 because Mogget, who hates me sleeping, was meowing all over the room. Got up, puttered around the house for a while, kept meaning to go out for a walk but avoiding it because I was sure that the allergies would be in full force out there.
Well, then I realize the source of my kitty’s distress. The automated litterbox I got them (meaning both my cats) about a month ago–NOT a LitterMaid, but a cheap knockoff I was convinced into getting, but which turned out to only be $10 less than the Maxi (premium) LitterMaid…
How did I find out about that price difference?
Because every time my cat got in the box, the litter rake would start raking while the cat was in the box.
No wonder my cat
was freaked out.
So I returned it, deciding to eat the extra $80 I thought the LitterMaid I wanted would cost. Turns out that I’d actually paid $20 over the price I’d been told the first box was, and didn’t pay attention, and that the LitterMaid I wanted was actually $159, not $200 like their quoted price on the website.
$10 difference, and I get a self-cleaning litterbox that actually works. My kitties and I are very, very happy.
I never did go on that walk, though, and now I’m tired again.

It’s not helping me right now. Rather, there’s just so much to wade through, and I don’t think I’m using the right search terms.
I’m trying to get a sense of what children’s and young adult books have been optioned for movies in the next few years. What are the up-and-comers?
Also, what other fantasy movies, movies based on comic books, science fiction movies, etc. will be coming out in the next few years?
I’m just curious, because the trend seems to be more and more each year.
I can think of a few:

the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, spring 2007
His Dark Materials–which has had perpetual director problems–by Philip Pullman
XFiles 2 is in talks
KITT2000 (Knight Rider! Yay!)
Wonder Woman/Joss Whedon
Shazam!
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Spiderwick Chronicles and Artemis Fowl (by 1. Holly Black and Tony DiTerlezzi, 2. Eoin Colfer)

Edited to add:

Meet the Robinsons, based on A Day With Wilbur Robinson, written and illustrated by William Joyce, set to be released by Disney in 2007
Dinosaur Bob, by William Joyce
A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin, in production by Studio Ghibli (yay!) and due out sometime next year, as far as I can tell
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, reported to be out next year sometime
the Alex Rider books, by Anthony Horowitz–first one due out in the U.S. near Labor Day, but to be released in the U.K. in July
The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper, allegedly coming out in December (but can’t find anything to back that rumor up)
apparently there’s also a new picture book named Punk Farm that’s supposed
to be made into a movie
Spider-Man 3
Superman Returns
Ghost Rider
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Cars
Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3
The Power of the Dark Crystal. Sequel, 2007. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky.
Prince Caspian, summer 2008
7/26/06 ETA: Mel Gibson picks up Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty

… what else? (I’m looking for stuff coming out, not ones that have already come out like Holes.) Also, I’m curious when they’ll come out, so I know when to expect them!
I’ll add to the main list as I get responses. I’ve also asked a “collective mind” aka child_lit for help. If you ever need booklists or any number of lists of other things, child_lit is amazing in its response. And they have great discussions of children’s literature, too. (It’s a listserv run out of Rutgers, or at least, the last time I checked it was, though they’ve had new servers sometime recently. Anyway, if looking for good children’s lit conversations, google “child_lit” and “Rutgers” and I’m sure you’ll find them.)

Our parent company just started this health incentive program that as employees exercise and use this web-based program to keep track of it, we earn points that we can earn prizes with. Part of the program is a thing called “10K a day,” which involves trying to walk 10,000 steps (about 5 miles) a day.
When I lived in Boston, I’d have had no problem making that 10K. Living in Seattle, having to drive everywhere, not so much.
It’s really funny, though, because all the employees are walking around work with little pedometers at our waists. (If you paid $5 to join the 10K a day program, you got a little pedometer to keep track of your steps.) As of 6pm today, I have walked 2645 steps. That’s really not much. They say the average person takes 5000 steps in a day, but even with all the running around I did at lunchtime, I’m barely even halfway to 5000.
If I hadn’t worked out this morning, I might go for a walk tonight. As it is, I think that was good for now, what with me still trying to work back up to normal after having been sick for a while. It’s really frustrating, though, to
know you used to be able to be a whole lot more active than you are now.
But it is heartening to have a way to keep track of it. The program calculates how many calories you’ve burned from a particular activity, and even has a food journal side of things, to help keep track of nutrition and calories there. All as a way of getting employees to do more for their health–and rewarding them as they do. I like it.