OneRepublic - Secrets

You Have Issues...

I have issues, you have issues, everyone has issues. As writers, even our characters. Especially our characters, hopefully.

I belong to a weekly critique group led by the amazingly talented YA author, Bonnie Hearn Hill. She says that everyone has a hole in their heart that really lends to who they are, and what motivates their actions. She always wants to know what our character's "hole" is. This has been so helpful in my writing and in creating authentic backstories for my characters.

Why is it so important for your characters to have issues? Well, I think most importantly, because it makes them empathetic. It's hard to like someone who's perfect, or read about them, because for one they're not interesting, and secondly, because we can't relate. We read because we want to see ourselves on the paper, and we want to see the characters making the same kinds of mistakes, having the same kinds of problems that we do. It's human.

It's kind of like how some women tend to always go for the bad boy. Why do they do it? Because they see vulnerability within them. Take Captain Kirk in the most recent Star Trek movie. He was definintely a bad boy, but he was an empathetic character becaus we knew that the reason he was having such a hard time was because his dad died when he was young, his mom was always away on other planets, yada yada yada....and we liked him despite his actions because we believed he was really good on the inside. He has issues, and once we saw that, we started to root for him (well, and Chris Pine is sort of gorgeous...)

So anyway, if you have a character who is seemingly perfect, you better rethink that. Give them some character flaws, create some backstory, and you'll go from making your characters from flat to round.

This looks awfully appealing right about now...

My oldest just got out of school to today and so for me it officially feels like summer. The pool's fired up, the weather's finally warm...life feels really good right about now.

Looking forward to reading lots and lots of good books (naturally), and I have a goal of finishing a WIP I've started. As a family, we are planning a few nice trips, and the kids have the usual array of summer camps and activities.

...Also, I have some really good news that I've been sitting on, and I can't wait to share it with everyone, hopefully by next week.

In the meantime, watching Bear taking a nap outside is just waay too tempting, so think I'll lay down for awhile, read some books, and take a quick nap.


Hope everyone out there has a great, wonderful weekend! Cheers!

So clever! These kids are why I love writing YA

What was Your Favorite Summer Books as a Kid?

Last day of school today for my kiddos. The last week has been an everlasting parade of parties and awards and papers coming home, and now it's here. Summer. And for me summer means (besides of course, swimming and trips and ice-cream and movies and fireworks etc...) books. Lots and lots of wonderful, glorious, can't-wait-to-fall-into-them...books.

As a kid, my highlight of the week was when my mom would take us to the local library, and we would get to pick out our books for the week. I can remember when I first discovered THE BLACK STALLION, that was my summer of horse books. Then another summer, I plowed through the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, The Lloyd Alexander books, and all the J.R.R. Tolkein books. Anyone fall in love with ANNE OF GREEN GABLES? Oh, that was a happy summer reading all of those--I think there are like nine. What about all the Nancy Drews, or Hardy Boys? And as an adult nursing my second son, I remember discovering with delight the Harry Potter books, and reading them one right after the other, baby on one arm, book in another.

Here is a quick list I made of some of my favorite summer reads:

1. Lord of the Rings series

2. Harry Potter series

3. Chronicles of Narnia

4. The Black Stallion series

5. Anne of Green Gables

6. Hunger Games trilogy

7. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer

8. All of Jane Austen's books

9. Little Women, Little Men

10. Stephen King's The Stand, The Shining, The Gunslinger Series

The list goes on and on, for sure.

So...I'd love to hear what were some of your favorite summer reads as a kid. Are there some I'm missing?

Public Service Announcement!

Hellooo there. To keep myself on track a little bit better, I decided that I'd try to give myself a sort of schedule for blogging. It also will give all y'all who stop by from time to time something to expect. So, without further ado....my blogging schedule!

Mondays: Writerly Stuff and What-not  On Mondays I plan to talk about my foray into publishing, getting an agent, writing my book, etc... . I also hope to talk about all that other great stuff associated with writing: voice, character, plotting, etc... etc... and from time to time talk about my book FINDING PONY and my other works-in-progress.

Wednesday: Social Worker-y Stuff  I am a social worker with a Master's in Social Work, and I currently work in adoptions. I've had some pretty cool and interesting jobs in the past: worked in a group home, an emergency shelter, homeless shelter, adoptions, CPS, and many of my experiences have still stayed with me and effect my writing. Oh yeah, that. I also write issue-driven fiction; it didn't start out that way, but I guess because I love what I do and the kids I work with, that it just seeps through and travels into my brain and through my fingertips. So on Wednesdays, I may talk about anything on my mind related to social work and issues teens face: foster care, gangs, sexual abuse, physical abuse, teen homelessness, adoption, abortion....you get the picture.

Friday: Fun Day! My kindergartener's teacher does this thing on Fridays called Friday Fun-Day. Doesn't that sound...fun? Yeah, to me, too. Fridays will be a day where I'll just post something fun, a video, a poem, a book review, maybe even a picture or a recipe or two. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hope's Boy by Andrew Bridge


My rating: 5 of 5 stars







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