Becoming a Rennaissance Writer
Earlier this year I finished the UNDER THE NEVER SKY series, which felt pretty darn awesome. It was something I honestly wasn’t s...
Writing Books, Iron Man Style
Some of the most common questions aspiring writers ask me are about process. How do you write a book? Do you outline, or are yo...
UNDER THE NEVER SKY Trailer!
In case you missed it (somehow), our very own Veronica's UNDER THE NEVER SKY has this awesome, amazing trailer! If you like it, please ...
3...2...1...BLAST OFF into the Never Sky
The magic of UNDER THE NEVER SKY hooked me long before I ever had the privilege of reading a full draft. It began one sweltering night at th...
I am not a good reader of science fiction and fantasy novels. It's not that I don't like them -- heck, I grew up wanting to inhabit the world of Star Wars, and read those books countless times. It's just that somewhere between then and now, my brain has short circuited. I get all discombobulated in the world-building, and end up obsessing on single elements -- the trains in Hunger Games, the ocean in Feed, Karou's hair in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I get snagged and dragged back by cleverly invented words. I stop and hold them up and twist them in the light, pausing the entire endeavor like a toddler finding a ladybug on the walk to the store.
This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy these novels, or that I couldn't suspend my disbelief. It just means they took more effort, more concentration on my part. It was a different kind of reading.
Why am I telling you all this? During the week we're hosting and celebrating UNDER THE NEVER SKY? Because none of that happened to me while reading Veronica's book.
Veronica's world-building is vibrantly alive. Her invented words seamlessly integrated (I love "rancy" -- and OK, maybe my inner toddler did stop to crow and wonder over this one). But while thinking about this post, I decided that what really did it for me were her characters.
Veronica Rossi has inhabited her world with a host of engaging, multi-dimensional people, each with his or her own agenda and layered personality.
Perry is brave, stalwart, troubled, hurting. Aria is terrified, desperate, lonely, but never, ever weak.
My favorite character is Roar -- from the moment he stepped onto the page. Maybe it was his dashing demeanor or perhaps his effortless charm. Maybe it was his talent with a knife.
Marron is someone I want to know personally. Strength without brutality. But with a carefully hidden edge that I hope reveals itself more fully in the rest of the series.
Cinder -- damaged, extravagant in all his emotions, complex, even -- dare I say -- pitiful. But not in the cruel sense of the word.
And all the rest -- from Talon to Soren, Vale, Rose, Paisley. Even the characters we never really get to meet are fully-formed in the minds of the characters we do.
That for me is the magic of UNDER THE NEVER SKY.
Because, you see, I haven't read it in over a year. My local independent bookstore had an epic fail with the delivery of their shipment. I can't find it in the wild (well, I could drive a half-hour to the nearest B&N, just not in the time that's been allotted me in the past couple of days). And yet I can still visualize these characters, living and breathing in my mind. That is a triumph.
That is the magic.
This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy these novels, or that I couldn't suspend my disbelief. It just means they took more effort, more concentration on my part. It was a different kind of reading.
Why am I telling you all this? During the week we're hosting and celebrating UNDER THE NEVER SKY? Because none of that happened to me while reading Veronica's book.
Veronica's world-building is vibrantly alive. Her invented words seamlessly integrated (I love "rancy" -- and OK, maybe my inner toddler did stop to crow and wonder over this one). But while thinking about this post, I decided that what really did it for me were her characters.
Veronica Rossi has inhabited her world with a host of engaging, multi-dimensional people, each with his or her own agenda and layered personality.
Perry is brave, stalwart, troubled, hurting. Aria is terrified, desperate, lonely, but never, ever weak.
My favorite character is Roar -- from the moment he stepped onto the page. Maybe it was his dashing demeanor or perhaps his effortless charm. Maybe it was his talent with a knife.
Marron is someone I want to know personally. Strength without brutality. But with a carefully hidden edge that I hope reveals itself more fully in the rest of the series.
Cinder -- damaged, extravagant in all his emotions, complex, even -- dare I say -- pitiful. But not in the cruel sense of the word.
And all the rest -- from Talon to Soren, Vale, Rose, Paisley. Even the characters we never really get to meet are fully-formed in the minds of the characters we do.
That for me is the magic of UNDER THE NEVER SKY.
Because, you see, I haven't read it in over a year. My local independent bookstore had an epic fail with the delivery of their shipment. I can't find it in the wild (well, I could drive a half-hour to the nearest B&N, just not in the time that's been allotted me in the past couple of days). And yet I can still visualize these characters, living and breathing in my mind. That is a triumph.
That is the magic.
The Magic of UNDER THE NEVER SKY
I am not a good reader of science fiction and fantasy novels. It's not that I don't like them -- heck, I grew up wanting to inhabit...
In Which I Fall in Love with Perry
I won't tell you how many trips to Barnes & Noble I made over the weekend to see if I could spot UNDER THE NEVER SKY in the wild, bu...
Under the Never Sky Launch Day
Today, my debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, hits the bookshelves. I've been imagining this day for more than a year; you would think ...
All UNDER THE NEVER SKY - All Week!
Happy New Year, everyone! We're kicking it off this week with an amazing book birthday. Our very own Veronica Rossi is celebrating th...
First of all - THANK YOU for taking this wild ride through 2011 with us! We have loved hearing from you, sharing with you, and have appreciated every thought and moment of support. You guys are the best, and make every blog post worthwhile to us.
Secondly, what does 2012 hold in store for the Muses? Well, come and see.
January:
Veronica's debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, will be released officially this week! January 3. We will be hosting an all-NEVER SKY, all-the-time week here on the blog, and will give away four signed copies. Check back tomorrow for details, but be sure to keep a lookout for the book in the wild. We've already seen a few photos, and we'll be asking for more!
V will also be at the following in-person events:
Book Launch! Saturday, January 7th, 4:00-5:30 PM - Rakestraw Books, Danville, CA
Not Your Mother's Book Club! Thursday, January 12th at 7 PM - Books, Inc. Opera Plaza, San Francisco, CA with Tahereh Mafi, Ellen Schreiber and Anna Carey
April:
Spring Spirit Conference! SCBWI North/Central California's annual event held in Rocklin, California on April 21. The five of us are presenting a panel on revision, to be followed up with five days of revision posts on the blog. Come see us in person if you can! Registration details here.
May:
TNB arrival! Bret and Lisa's baby is due mid-May. Of course, babies no know set schedule, so we can't attach a date to this yet. In the meantime, Bret is in training for the TNB marathon.
GILT launch date! Katherine's book will debut May 15.
October:
SKINNY launch date! Donna's book will debut October 12.
Fall:
SILVER launch! There is no set date for Talia's debut yet, but keep checking back, because we'll know soon...
And of course, you can always find us here and on Twitter. I'm sure we'll have more announcements as the year progresses, and we look forward to sharing it all with you!
Secondly, what does 2012 hold in store for the Muses? Well, come and see.
January:
Veronica's debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, will be released officially this week! January 3. We will be hosting an all-NEVER SKY, all-the-time week here on the blog, and will give away four signed copies. Check back tomorrow for details, but be sure to keep a lookout for the book in the wild. We've already seen a few photos, and we'll be asking for more!
V will also be at the following in-person events:
Book Launch! Saturday, January 7th, 4:00-5:30 PM - Rakestraw Books, Danville, CA
Not Your Mother's Book Club! Thursday, January 12th at 7 PM - Books, Inc. Opera Plaza, San Francisco, CA with Tahereh Mafi, Ellen Schreiber and Anna Carey
April:
Spring Spirit Conference! SCBWI North/Central California's annual event held in Rocklin, California on April 21. The five of us are presenting a panel on revision, to be followed up with five days of revision posts on the blog. Come see us in person if you can! Registration details here.
May:
TNB arrival! Bret and Lisa's baby is due mid-May. Of course, babies no know set schedule, so we can't attach a date to this yet. In the meantime, Bret is in training for the TNB marathon.
GILT launch date! Katherine's book will debut May 15.
October:
SKINNY launch date! Donna's book will debut October 12.
Fall:
SILVER launch! There is no set date for Talia's debut yet, but keep checking back, because we'll know soon...
And of course, you can always find us here and on Twitter. I'm sure we'll have more announcements as the year progresses, and we look forward to sharing it all with you!
Happy New Year! And...what's happening in 2012?
First of all - THANK YOU for taking this wild ride through 2011 with us! We have loved hearing from you, sharing with you, and have appreci...
Writing Influences
Paul Cezanne, Painter at Work When I was in art school, I had a painting instructor who worked very quickly. Like me, he could finish...
The Art in Writing
This week, we've been talking about artistic influences in our writing. I have to confess -- the topic was my idea. Art plays a h...
UNDER THE NEVER SKY COVER!
Well... I couldn't wait until Thursday. Take a look... Could you have waited? You can take another gander at the cover here wh...
What do the following books have in common:
- Dinner with a Cannibal
- A Natural History of the Senses
- Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game
- The Human Experiment: Inside Biosphere 2
- Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
- Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing our Minds, our Bodies – and What it Means to be Human
- The SAS Survival Guide
- The Gift of Fear
Answer: They are some of my favorite research books.
There are many more, but these are the ones I leaned on heavily in the creation of UNDER THE NEVER SKY. I’ve found everything from minor details to major world-building ideas within the pages of the above books.
The best kind of research is the kind that feels effortless. It’s searching for information that excites you—that spurs ideas and makes you hungry to write. None of the books above were a chore to read. In fact, the process of reading and consulting these books has continued as I write the second book in the NEVER SKY trilogy. I dip into them often, scanning a few pages, reminding myself of the passages I noted.
I keep a stack of research books on my nightstand. DEEP SURVIVAL by Laurence Gonzales is currently at the top of the pile. This book is dog-eared and peppered with highlighted passages. I adore this book. I bought it up because I knew I’d be writing a story about survivors. My characters are people who regularly face life and death situations. Seeking to reconnect with that, I picked it up recently and randomly turned to a page. I found this underlined passage:
“Killip had entered the final stage that separates the quick from the dead: not helpless resignation but a pragmatic acceptance of—even wonder at—the world in which he found himself… He had discovered the first Rule of Life: Be here now.”
Give me a minute as I do back-flips over the awesomeness of that bit of insight.
Knowing this—knowing that the people who live in dire situations are those who can accept and move on—gives me a fantastic window into how my characters will react in those moments. Those are the kinds of nuggets a research book can give you. An idea. The perfect detail. The right lens through which to view a situation.
Setting fiction aside completely, how wonderful is it to be reminded: Be here now?
For me, research is an ongoing practice. It’s that daily 30 minutes of aerobic exercise for your mind. It’s a reminder of the vastness and complexity of the human experience. A way to tap into all the million little details that make life interesting and rich. You can only benefit by bringing some of that into your fiction.
(Yes, I really do own this book.)
(And yes, it's quite informative and interesting.)
Make Research a Regular Part of Your Writing Practice
What do the following books have in common: Dinner with a Cannibal A Natural History of the Senses Basic Butchering of Livestock a...
We have to interrupt our Follow Friday today for BIG BREAKING NEWS! After an amazing year for YAMuses, who could have dreamed we have another big announcement? But we do!
Publisher's Weekly announced this morning:
That's right. Veronica is going HOLLYWOOD!! We're so proud of you, V. Couldn't happen to a nicer person.
To read the whole article, check out the link below:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/industry-deals/article/45381-rossi-s-ya-dystopian-romance-lands-at-warner-brothers.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=ca5ea3dd1e-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email=
Publisher's Weekly announced this morning:
Veronica Rossi’s debut, a dystopian YA romance trilogy called Under the Never Sky, sold to HarperCollins in September in a major deal and has since been quietly selling internationally. Now, after being sold in 20 markets, the book is headed to Hollywood. Warner Brothers has optioned the series, for feature adaptation, beating out both Summit Entertainment (which produced the Twilight saga) and Fox. Creative executive Chris Gary acquired the dramatic rights.
That's right. Veronica is going HOLLYWOOD!! We're so proud of you, V. Couldn't happen to a nicer person.
To read the whole article, check out the link below:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/industry-deals/article/45381-rossi-s-ya-dystopian-romance-lands-at-warner-brothers.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=ca5ea3dd1e-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email=
When you thought it couldn't get any better... WOW
We have to interrupt our Follow Friday today for BIG BREAKING NEWS! After an amazing year for YAMuses, who could have dreamed we have anot...
For today's Friday follow we bring you literary agent Josh Adams. Josh and his wife Tracey are founders of Adams Literary, a powerhouse of a boutique that specializes in representing authors of books for children, including YA Muse Veronica Rossi. Josh and Tracey are not only savvy business folks, but also fantastic cheerleaders and supporters of their clients.
You can follow Josh on twitter
or at the Adams Literary website
And this Friday brings another huge announcement for one of our YA Muses, Veronica Rossi, whose debut, a post-apocalyptic YA trilogy sold this week! I've had the good fortune to read an early version of UNDER THE NEVER SKY, and I can't wait to read it again. It's got everything: star-crossed romance, humor, a thrilling adventure, and ambiguous moral questions, not to mention some gorgeous writing. Here's the formal announcement from Publishers Marketplace:
Veronica Rossi's UNDER THE NEVER SKY, about forbidden lovers from radically different societies - following a girl banished from her enclosed, technology-bound city out into the deadly natural world, where she encounters a savage boy who becomes her only chance to survive and return home, to Barbara Lalicki at Harper, in a major deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in Winter 2012, by Josh Adams at Adams Literary (NA).
Congratulations to Veronica!
You can follow Josh on twitter
or at the Adams Literary website
And this Friday brings another huge announcement for one of our YA Muses, Veronica Rossi, whose debut, a post-apocalyptic YA trilogy sold this week! I've had the good fortune to read an early version of UNDER THE NEVER SKY, and I can't wait to read it again. It's got everything: star-crossed romance, humor, a thrilling adventure, and ambiguous moral questions, not to mention some gorgeous writing. Here's the formal announcement from Publishers Marketplace:
Veronica Rossi's UNDER THE NEVER SKY, about forbidden lovers from radically different societies - following a girl banished from her enclosed, technology-bound city out into the deadly natural world, where she encounters a savage boy who becomes her only chance to survive and return home, to Barbara Lalicki at Harper, in a major deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in Winter 2012, by Josh Adams at Adams Literary (NA).
Congratulations to Veronica!
Friday Follow and Another Huge Announcement by Talia
For today's Friday follow we bring you literary agent Josh Adams. Josh and his wife Tracey are founders of Adams Literary, a powerhouse...
