You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June 2012.
Today, I thought I’d reblog something from 2010 back when I was fumbling with The Six Train to Wisconsin first draft.
Working on the end of my third book this week, I swore this was the only book where I didn’t quite know what I was doing. Glad I reread this post and realized that’s actually the norm. 
“…When I have a headache, inspiration has fled the house. I look at my outline and gulp. I have to figure out the scenes needed to get from point A to point B. And shit, I didn’t work out how certain things feel/work. Holy Hell. This is gonna suck…”
You can read the entire post here:
http://kourtneyheintz.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/when-inspiration-has-fled-the-house-writers-pause/
What if you only had one year to live…and you knew it?
That logline alone caught my attention. But I had the amazing opportunity to hear Chris Crutcher read an excerpt from this book, Deadline, at the Winter SCBWI Conference last January. He hooked me with the opening scene.
The protagonist is unforgettable. I think Ben Wolf will live in my memory for the rest of my life. I feel like I just spent his last year with him. And I sobbed when he died. It was so hard to finish the book through the blur of tears. Because despite the fact that I knew he was going to die of a terminal illness, I fell in love with the character and I wanted him to live.
This is the best YA book I’ve read this year. It deals with some tough stuff–dying young, child abuse, racism, truth, and Jesus (Hey-Soos as Ben calls him).
Ben tries to cram a lifetime of living into his senior year of high school. He does everything he was afraid of doing. Talks to the hottest girl in school. Goes out for football despite his small size and weight of 123 lbs. Baits his teacher into debates about the lies in history. And in his dreams, Hey-Soos comes to help him deal with what is happening to him.
This book made me think. About our expectations of god, our prejudices, our concept of what matters. I took the entire journey with Ben. And even as I write this post, my eyes tear up because he taught me so much and I’m sad to say goodbye to him.
There were many amazing lines in this book, but this was my favorite: “Something you learn on the last day of your life is as important as something you learn on the first day of grade school, because you’re not dying, you’re changing.”
This is a YA novel that belongs up there with The Catcher in The Rye. Destined to be a classic that should be read for generations to come.
Dallas has returned to TV on TNT. You may not know this, but I grew up watching the original show. Now, I have every season on dvd.
It was classic delicious American drama. Or melodrama. Either works. And it was addictive.
Back in 2010, I started collecting the dvds and rewatching. I made it to season 11, when I got Dallas fatigue. I plan to get back to it this summer.
So I was delighted to tune in for the new version which focuses on J.R. and Bobby’s now-grown-up sons, John Ross and Christopher. It harkens back to the first season of Dallas where they focused on Bobby and J.R. and their wives and Mama and Jock.
I must confess, J.R. was a favorite of mine. I loved to hate him. Larry Hagman is back, reprising his best role ever.
The show is full of what made the original Dallas great–money, power, and rivalry all embedded in the backdrop of family. It’s on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. EST on TNT. I’m really excited to see where it goes this season.
I still remember when I was in elementary school, I complained about feeling tired and the school nurse asked, “What time did you go to sleep last night?”
I said, “Sometime after Dynasty.”
That was my second favorite show as a kid.
Once again, the fabulous Kat Bender, has provided me with another blog post topic. We were talking about some of the frustrations of the writing life and she sent me a link to one of the best blog posts ever on this topic. 1000 thank yous Kat! And 10,000 thank yous to Ms. Revis for writing the post.
I bookmarked the post because I know I’ll need to come back to it again and again. If you’ve ever wished you didn’t have this writing dream (even for just a moment)–read this post:
Bloodrose is Andrea Cremer’s final book in the Nightshade Trilogy. This book is super fast-paced, soaked in action, and I loved almost every second of it.
Andrea Cremer is a terrific writer. She’s mastered setting the scene without getting bogged down in setting. She knows just where to add a pretty literary phrase. Her world building and plotting–I’m in awe.
This book was a superfast read and I never wanted to put it down.
One of my pet peeves is when readers disagree with author’s ending and want to rewrite them. To me, it’s the author’s world, and I just get to walk through it.
But the ending to this book didn’t leave me completely satisfied. I think the problem for me was that I wanted the character to struggle with the hard choice and actually be forced to make the decision. I don’t want to spoil the ending for anyone else, so I won’t say anymore.
I’m sure in a few days, I’ll understand why this ending was chosen. Because at the end of the day, I do trust the author and I do believe she made the best decision she could for her characters.
I’m glad I invested the time to read this trilogy and I’ll definitely read Ms. Cremer’s other books.
My website, kourtneyheintz.com, was recently redesigned by the amazing Jian Chan. I was lucky enough to have my cousin James refer me to Jian. James spoke so highly of Jian, I was 95% certain he was the web designer for my site before I met him.
Jian and I exchanged a couple e-mails, where we talked about my budget and my timeline. We decided to meet to discuss the redesign of my website. I honestly think the meeting was the most important part because the website of an unpublished author isn’t about their books, it’s about their personality translating into their website.
Before we met, I looked at a couple dozen writer websites and took notes on what I liked and what I didn’t like. I also thought about what was and wasn’t working with my current website.
We talked for a couple of hours during which Jian asked some really insightful questions and made me think about my website in a new way. He focused me on what I needed the website do and how to accomplish it.
I left that meeting 100% certain that Jian was the only web designer for my site.
I also had some homework to do. I had to write and rewrite everything that was going up on my website.
Several times, I deferred to his expertise in making decisions about the site. I appreciated how invested he was in the project and how he explained his choices to me.
Jian kept in touch with me while he worked on the redesign. He passed several options by me and implemented my suggestions. Sometimes even anticipated how I would like things before I even articulated it.
He created a test site so I could see what my site would look like before it went live. The day it went live, he was available all day to tweak things.
He stayed within budget, met every deadline, and kept in touch throughout the process. He also put up with tons of questions from me about the most basic web designing things. And he always answered them politely and kindly. I can’t imagine a better experience with a web designer.
You can check out Jian’s work on my website. He also has examples of projects he’s done for other clients on his website: Celestial Sonata.
Last summer in Nai Harn, I had a giving up moment. You know one of those moments where you just admit it isn’t working and give up.
I sat in a lounge chair, watching the ocean slip away from the shore and I thought, “This is heaven. This is happiness.”
And I realized that I wanted this. To feel this calm and content.
I didn’t need anything else. In that moment, I was certain I could give up my writing. That I could be complete without it. That traveling could be my new passion.
I didn’t say a word to my friend. I just let that moment happen. It wasn’t a decision I made, but a decision I contemplated.
An option that never existed before in my mind.
So I let it linger there as I traveled.
And the traveling began to wear on me.
Getting pick-pocketed really rocked my center of gravity.
And the one thing that helped me make sense of it?
Writing.
So those giving up moments–embrace them. They remind us that writing is a choice. An option. And deep down, a necessity.
Andrea Cremer is one of those writers that truly inspires me. I devoured this book in 3 days. Her pacing sets my pulse racing. Her action sequences are to-die-for crisp and clear. Her characters are all three-dimensional. She had created a world so rich and so real, I swear I’ve been there as I’m reading one of her books. As soon as I shut the book, I’m anxious to get back there.
Originally, I planned to do a book review of book 2 and 3 together, but I can’t. They are too good to group together.
My biggest fear in a trilogy is the loss of momentum. The first book in the Nightshade trilogy was AMAZING. Fast paced, clever writing, perfect balance of dialogue, description, and inner thoughts.
But the second book, Wolfsbane, is *gasp* even faster paced. The characters are developed more. The world building delves deeper. And the choice between her old life and her new one are even more painful.
Andrea Cremer is a masterful writer. She had this line that I reread four times because it was such simple and gorgeous imagery:
“No,” Bryn said, her voice plowing through my flurry of thoughts.
I <3 Andrea Cremer! I can’t wait to crack open book 3 of this trilogy! She is one of the best YA authors I’ve read this year.
I have a secret to handling rejections on queries, partials and fulls. It’s not Ben and Jerry’s. Nope. I share my rejection letters with my trusted critique partner, the fabulous Kat Bender. She’s part of my tribunal in determining what to take away from each rejection letter. I thought you might enjoy a glimpse at excerpts from the rejection letters I’ve received lately.
Let’s start with my YA paranormal mystery, Reckonings…
…Agent X has had a chance to review GHOST WHISPERER. Regrettably, he is taking on very few new clients at the moment and does not feel sufficiently excited about the manuscript to take it on…
Sincerely,
Intern Q
*********
…I don’t think I’m an ideal fit for RECKONINGS. I had trouble buying the tension between Kat and Evan, largely because I had trouble buying Evan. I’m a tough audience for British characters written by American authors anyway, but Evan felt less developed to me than the other characters. I did like the voice…and the story at the heart of this book is compelling, but ultimately I didn’t feel that spark of connection that I need to feel to represent a project successfully…
Sincerely,
Agent Z
********
…While I love the idea and am a fan of gothic mysteries, I’m afraid I’m not connecting enough with Kat on an emotional level to remain invested in the story. I’m sorry I can’t have better news, but I think in the end this is simply a matter of personal opinion and not a comment on your writing itself…
Best,
Agent A
********
Now onto The Six Train to Wisconsin rejections…
…Thanks for sending along the pages of your manuscript, THE SIX TRAIN TO WISCONSIN. Truth be told, though, I’m afraid these pages just didn’t draw me in as much as I had hoped…
Best,
Agent Q
*********
…I find the story very interesting, and unique. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the story though as I can’t answer this question:
How is the husband able to get into his wife’s head to know when her suicidal tendencies are going to flare? I understand that she is a suicidal telepath, but how is her husband able to also sense this in his mind?
I found it hard to continue to read on not being able to answer this question and therefore must pass.
Best,
Agent N’s Assistant
*******
…Though the husband is a valiant figure, we feel the piece has some problems: the language is melodramatic; the organization, a bit scattered; the content, somewhat redundant…
Respectfully,
Agent L
********
Now onto the fun part–separating subjectivity from actual issues in the manuscripts that require further revision.
Have you received any rejections lately? Did they help you improve your manuscript or just leave you shaking your fist at the world?
Starting next week, I am going to decrease my blog posts to 3 times a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Why?
It’s summertime and we all should get outside more.
I need to decrease my time online until my neck gets better.
Emerson has asked for more time playing and walking around.
I’ll try to keep the posts interesting but short throughout the summer. If there’s anything in particular you’d like me to write about, please let me know.
Happy Summer!
