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Randomness on a Sunday evening

- Stacy

Kind of a Poetry Sunday. 

Lament for Flodden*

I’VE heard them lilting at our ewe-milking,
Lasses a’ lilting before dawn o’ day;
But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning–
The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.

At bughts, in the morning, nae blythe lads are scorning,
Lasses are lonely and dowie and wae;
Nae daffing, nae gabbing, but sighing and sabbing,
Ilk ane lifts her leglin and hies her away.

In hairst, at the shearing, nae youths now are jeering,
Bandsters are lyart, and runkled, and gray:
At fair or at preaching, nae wooing, nae fleeching–
The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.

At e’en, in the gloaming, nae swankies are roaming
‘Bout stacks wi’ the lasses at bogle to play;
But ilk ane sits eerie, lamenting her dearie–
The Flowers of the
Forest are a’ wede away.

Dool and wae for the order sent our lads to the Border!
The English, for ance, by guile wan the day;
The Flowers of the Forest, that fought aye the foremost,
The prime of our land, lie cauld in the clay.

We’ll hear nae mair lilting at our ewe-milking;
Women and bairns are heartless and wae;
Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning–
The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.

Jane Elliot (1727-1805)

I’m sitting here ripping a whole bunch of CDs (which I picked up at the library annual sale) to my iPod. My tastes definitely run to the eclectic side–jazz from Harry Connick Jr. to Lena Horne to Miles Davis, some R&B, lots and lots of folk and bluegrass, some country (though I have always leaned toward the older stuff excepting some really great stuff in the early and mid 90s, and I’ve been an Alabama and Judds fan since I was a kid–not to say I love it all; years of listening to Conway Twitty woo Loretta Lynn in song left me not really a fan of their duets, though I love her solo stuff). I love religious choral music, too, the more classical the better–hence the University Presbyterian Church Cathedral Choir CD I picked up of pieces from Bach, Brahms, Rutter, and others.

At the same t
ime, I suddenly had a desire to reread Rob Roy, which I haven’t picked up since the big to-do over the Liam Neeson movie. I don’t remember reading it for class; I think I must just have been in a Sir Walter Scott mood back then and decided to read the book before I ever saw the movie. I highly recommend the book; don’t bother with the movie.

Picking up Rob Roy made me want to read a few shorter pieces by Scott, which I was pretty sure I had in one of three volumes of poetry from the Harvard Classics set**–also picked up at a nice price at a library book sale!–and in searching for Scott ran across two women poets of the later 18th century, Alison Rutherford Cockburn (1712-1794) and Jane Elliot (1727-1805). 

What was it about writing in Scots at that time? It’s basically a completely foreign dialect, as foreign from standard British English as modern American slang is, I would think.

I didn’t know the work of either Cockburn or Elliot before today. Both of these women’s work predated Scott, and in my evening musings that didn’t involve invoking Google, which of course could lead me to all answers, wondered if their Scots poetry influenced Scott. Or was it just a pervasive style, perhaps employed by the English, in the way that many white writers wrote slave dialect for so many years? 

(At least, I didn’t Google until I decided to put links into this entry. And then I went with the option of the the truly lazy–turn to Wikipedia, which, though not all that reliable, at least seems plausible for my purposes.) 

Elliot’s version of the poem is a tribute to the fallen men of Ettrick Forest in Selkirk (Scotland) who fell at the battle of Flodden, which I’m not familiar with, but Wikipedia says it was a battle in Northumberland in 1513. Cockburn’s lyrics were set to the same traditional tune, but apparently it’s debatable whether it refers to the same battle (according to my Harvard Classic edition), the fall of her husband’s fortunes, or a lost love (the two latter being Wikipedia’s suggestions). As you can probably tell due to my quoting it above, I think I prefer the Elliot version, perhaps most because of the heavy use of Scots. You just couldn’t use that nowadays and expect to communicate with your reader–at least, for a U.S. audience. Makes me wonder how much more easily it might be understood in any of the Commonwealth countries, especially eastern Canada and anywhere in Aus
tralia that might have a strong Scot region.

This also brings up the question of the heavy Scots in anything by Scott. I’ll have to reread and decide again what I think, because I remember it being very hard to read. But that was before I visited Scotland and got to know a few people who speak a little more like that, though not in complete Scots. It makes me want to study Gàidhlig again and go back to Scotland. (The latter is on my agenda for next year;

[info]tltrent

, start saving up, because here’s your chance for a tour guide! 🙂 )

Anyway, these are the kinds of things I think of while ripping a Boyz II Men cd (ah, high school memories! *sniff*) and thinking of starting Rob Roy again on a Sunday evening. And neither the music or the books are at all from this time period.**** Which makes me think of really bad movies. What was that one called that used a rock soundtrack… A Knight’s Tale? What say ye all? I hated it and turned it off in the first 10 minutes, but I’ve been told it’s because I didn’t understand what they were going for. I maintain that it’s just that it was a bad movie. 🙂

If you’re interested in either of the poems, you can read them in full here and here. 

* I wanted to indent every 2nd line, but I couldn’t figure out how to do a hard space or a tab. HTML annoys me. I know there’s a code for a hard space, but I don’t want to go looking it up at midnight.

**Flipping through all these old books***, I’m starting to have an allergy attack! I sure hope my books haven’t gotten moldy in this climate, because I think that would devastate me. But these Harvard Classics were printed in 1910, so I think it’s just plain age. The same thing would happen when I was back in the stacks for too long at my college job, working for the Special Collections*** department of the library.

***Which makes me remember that I need to find a better way to preserve two relatively ancient family Bibles I just inherited. They were delivered to me in ziplock bags. Which cer
tainly aren’t acid-free, although they do seal out the air. I’m thinking an archival box for each of them. Anyone have any experience with preserving old books like this? I should call my old boss.

****I take that back. My next CD purchase, long overdue, will have to be One Voice, by Gladys Knight and the Saints. Oh my goodness. I love good gospel music, and I love beautiful hymns, and things brings them both together with an artist who I also love. And this is totally where Mormon music should be going–learn to go at a beat faster than a funeral dirge!

From the Mirrorstone blog

- Stacy

Just a reminder that the Mirrorstone blog is your source for announcements regarding all of Mirrorstone’s books. I’m a little biased here because, of course, I’m talking about my work in particular. But at the Mirrorstone blog we’re going to make sure to point out news that relates to all the books we’re publishing, the authors who write those books, and even all the editors. Take note of yesterday’s post in particular, if you’re in the San Francisco area and thinking about going to the local SCBWI conference next month:

A few words from Nina Hess, Mirrorstone’s Senior Editor

Thanks to everyone who has friended Mirrorstone! We’re excited to be here on MySpace and able to reach out to people across the country. %
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A few upcoming appearances, we’d like for you to know about:

I will be speaking and critiquing manuscripts at the San Francisco East/North Bay Region SCBWI conference on Saturday, September 8, 2007. If you’re in the area, please stop by! I’d love to meet you. Information available at the SCBWI site.

Stacy Whitman, intrepid Editor, has graciously agreed to step in for me to speak at L.A. Public Library’s monthly meeting on September 4 at 9 AM. (The meeting is open only to L.A. librarians.) Thank you, Stacy! I’m sorry I had to miss meeting librarians in L.A., but I’m excited to have the chance to meet with writers in the San Francisco area that same week!

If you can’t make any of our in-person appearances, meet me on the Internet! I’ll be speaking via the magic of the world wide web on September 28 at 11 AM Eastern time. This “webinar” is hosted by the amazing duo of Susan Raab of Raab Associates and Jeannette Larson of the Texas Public Library. A webinar is a speech broadcast over the Internet. You call in to a phone number to get the audio, and log in to a website to see the power point slides. Pretty fancy, huh? Here’s the write-up:

A Practical Guide to Fantasy
Nina Hess is Senior Editor at Mirrorstone, an imprint at Wizards of the Coast, where she edits fantasy fiction for children and teens. She is also the author of A Practical Guide to Monsters (August 2007), which follows the company’s New York Times bestseller, A Practical Guide to Dragons.

In her web-based seminar, Hess will discuss the popularity of fantasy for all kids and its value as a means for encouraging more boys to read. She will introduce ideas, including role-playing, costume parties, and fantasy script writing, that can be incorporated into library programs for school-age children and teens.

Though this webinar is primarily aimed at librarians, it should be of interest to any writer intrigued by the fantasy genre, or any published fantasy authors looking for ideas to use in school-visits or local bookstore appearances. There is a fee to participate, but there are discounts for groups of ten or more. Full information and registration available here.

Ellsworth’s Journal

- Stacy

Candice Ransom, author of the Time Spies series, has started a new blog named for the stuffed elephant owned by Sophie, the youngest of the three siblings who go on adventures through time in the series. Told from the point of view of Ellsworth (with occasional commentary from Winchester the cat), this promises to be an entertaining and informative author blog. Check it out!

Also, for those who prefer to read such things on their friends’ pages, I created a feed:

[info]ellsworthjourn.

Readergirlz 31 Flavorites

- Stacy

If you’re not familiar with Readergirlz yet, go check them out. They’re a literacy project started by four YA authors who talk about YA books and feature YA authors on their site. This month they’ve been featuring Holly Black.

Come October, the month of Teen Read Week, the Divas will be hosting a different author every day, including Tiffany Trent (

[info]tltrent

  ). They’ve got a poster and bookmarks for you to download and share, and the lineup is a good one. 

 

Isn’t that a great poster?

Here’s all the info from Little Willow (

[info]slayground

  ). The list includes authors like:

Week One
1. Meg Cabot
2. Tiffany Trent
3. Brent Hartinger
4. Lorie Ann Grover
5. K.L. Going
6. Nikki Grimes

Week Two
7. Ellen Hopkins
8. Justina Chen Headley
9. Chris Crutcher
10. Ann Brashares
11. Sarah Mlynowski
12. Cecil Castellucci
13. Kirby Larson

Week Three
14. Tanya Lee Stone
15. John Green
16. Sara Zarr
17. Deb Caletti
18
. Rachel Cohn
19. Kirsten Miller
20. Mitali Perkins

Week Four
21. Sonya Sones
22. Lisa Yee
23. Carolyn Mackler
24. E. Lockhart
25. Janet Lee Carey
26. Gaby Triana
27. Lauren Myracle

Week Five
28. Holly Black
29. Cynthia Leitich Smith
30. Dia Calhoun
31. Stephenie Meyer

She also includes a plug for the latest issue of Readergirlz, which I’ll pass along:

Have you read the latest issue of readergirlz? The August edition spotlights IRONSIDE by Holly Black. Read the exclusive interview, take part in the book discussions, pick up other highly recommended books, and more! Read the issue.

Readergirlz is a literacy project founded by four female authors – Justina Chen Headley, Lorie Ann Grover, Dia Calhoun and Janet Lee Carey – in an effort to encourage teenagers to read and discuss quality books featuring gusty girls, and to get active in their communities. For more information, please visit http:
//www.readergirlz.com

Go check it out!

Booksense pick

- Stacy

In the Serpent’s Coils by Tiffany Trent (

[info]tltrent

)  is currently featured as one of the fall 2007 Booksense Picks. (You’ll have to scroll down to the section “For Teen Readers.”) The listing reads:

IN THE SERPENT’S COILS, by Tiffany Trent (Mirrorstone, $8.95 paper, 9780786942299 / 0786942290) “Who do you trust? That’s what 15-year-old Corinne asked when she started having the dreams, and thought her world was ending. The Fey gave her everything she wished for. But when she is sent to boarding school, she is confused by her surroundings and th
e people she interacts with. Did they follow her there? Why are the teachers so harsh on the students? A gripping, magical book — you’ll be dying to read the next book in the series (but not if the Fey have their way).” —Cassandra Helms, Constellation Books, Reisterstown, MD

Awesome! Thanks to Cassandra of Constellation books for liking Serpent’s Coils!

Mirrorstone MySpace blog

- Stacy

Of course you get all the news you need right here, but if you specifically want to keep up to date on info from Mirrorstone, be sure to friend or subscribe to our blog at http://www.myspace.com/mirrorstonebooks. I’m actually going to keep it up to date, with a little help from my friends. I’m also going to try to work on a nice-looking template sometime in the near future, which goes for pretty much every MySpace I’ve mentioned to you here that I have anything to do with. Corrine and her friends from Hallowmere need some nice pages, too! 

Hopefully this will eventually find a home at our homepage, www.mirrorstonebooks.com, but even after that we’ll continue to mirror it at MySpace.

My new favorite T-shirt

- Stacy

Back at ALA, I got a chance to meet one of the guys involved with Unshelved, a webcomic about librarians. They had some fun t-shirts at their booth, and he ended up giving me a “Guess what I’m reading?” tee, which has become my new favorite, and tends to start conversations. But it’s a men’s tee, and you know how shapeless those can be. Well, come to find out, they have women’s sizes too! And they’re having a summer sale! I couldn’t resist. I had to get one in a more fitted style. And my next new favorite t-shirt will be:

Too bad this other one only comes in men’s sizes. I’m tempted to get it anyway–it’s a good price for a well made tee–and then alter it myself:

But then, I’d have to admit that I should alter my current t-shirt rather than get a second of the same tee. And the truth is, my sewing machine was broken by the movers two years ago, when I moved here. All sorts of complications would arise, I tell you! Perhaps they’ll do a women’s version sometime.

Sculpting a masterpiece

- Stacy

We talked earlier in my series of posts relaying my talk from the Life, the Universe, and Everything conference about the relationship between an editor and a writer and the general process of how a book goes from manuscript to published book. I’m not going to rehash that–that’s covered in that talk.

But I wanted to address the misconception that a book isn’t “well-edited” if a reader has found a typo. I’ve heard that a lot in my time as an editor, and used to say it a lot when I didn’t understand the editing process either, and I just want to lay the idea that “editing a book” means that all an editor does is look at a finished, beautiful manuscript from a writer, change a few typos, and call it good.

Catching typos and grammatical errors is the job of an editor, sure. We certainly don’t want typos in the finished manuscript! But it’s not their only job. As you can tell from those posts about the process, it’s the polishing end of a long process of sculpting with an ever-finer tool. First the writer starts with this large hunk of stone, and tips and taps and sculpts. It’s a beautiful piece of art. It could be a statue of a Grecian god. But wait! there’s a rough hunk at the back here that could be sculpted–did you do that on purpose? His nose is missing–shouldn’t he have a nose? Etc. And then the line editing might be thought of as chipping off the little bits that have been clinging that we couldn’t get to until we had the overall shape down. 

Copyediting and proofreading, the processes that most lay people think is all an editor like me does, is like taking a fine piece of sandpaper (or whatever a sculptor uses–I admit ignorance on this, but let’s just go with the imagery) to really smo
oth off the finish of the piece, and give it that beautiful sheen that proclaims, “this is a finished piece of art, ready to be seen by the world.” (Keeping in mind that we’re talking the Classical idea of beauty, not something intentionally left rough. Go with me here.)

So when a typo shows up in a published book, am I mortified? Indeed. It appalls me that I could have looked at that problem again and again and not seen it, and not just me, but that two other editors–the copyeditor and the proofreader, usually freelancers–and then myself again, looking at the final galley, could have missed something that is so obvious to me when I can’t do anything about it.

But I also have to have a little mercy on myself, because when you think about it, the tiniest flaw in a great sculpture doesn’t negate the sculpture’s greatness. How long have I looked at that manuscript? How many times? Was a flaw introduced because I sanded too hard? I just did that in a recent proofread–in trying to fix something, introducing more problems that thankfully the proofreader caught and I’m entering the changes this very day.

Which is what made me think of this post. Hopefully, not one single error will remain in this book when I’m done going through the proofreader’s changes to the manuscript. But if there are one or two tiny little errors, have mercy on the editor.
It was just a tiny piece of a large masterpiece, and perfectionists that we are, we’re probably already mortified that the error made it through on our watch.

Angel’s 11

- Stacy

With thanks to A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy.

Especially resonant because the same week that I went to see Ocean’s 13, my roommate and I were starting (again) on Angel season 1. As my roommate said as we were giggling over it, “yet again, there’s a perfect example of people who have too much time on their hands.” And we thank them. 😀

Wizards of the Coast Discoveries

- Stacy

And now a public service announcement from the adult side of the books department. If you’ve seen the latest PW, you should look for the WotC Discoveries ad about halfway through–it’s very nice. Note that they’ll be open for unagented submissions next month, though agented submissions can be sent year-round.
Wizards of the Coast Discoveriesâ„¢ is a fantasy-tinged speculative fiction imprint that discovers new worlds, new talent, and new voices for adult fiction readers.

Wizards of the Coast Discoveries, a brand new imprint debuting in January 2008, is looking for well-written speculative fiction. We will open for submissions September 1 and close for submissions January 15. Further guidelines can be found at http://www.wotcdiscoveries.com.
Agented submissions are welcome year round.
In January 2008, Discoveries will launch this exciting new imprint with Firefly Rain, a southern gothic ghost story by Richard Dansky. Further launch titles include Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott and Devil’s Cape by Rob Rogers, both
first-time novelists who were selected from previous open calls.
Good Luck!

So if you’ve got a manuscript you think would fit Discoveries–I hear from my compatriots that they’re looking for speculative fiction like magical realism, high fantasy that breaks boundaries (i.e., this is not your father’s high fantasy), horror–they’re pretty open right now, but it needs to be of a literary bent for adults. Follow the submission guidelines and don’t submit until Sept. 1.
And feel free to pass this along to writers you know, writing groups, etc.