What makes a hero?

I was rereading Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet and thinking about how much I genuinely admire Kel. I was at a talk with Ms. Pierce and heard her explain how Kel deals-- she deals, by dealing, and I thought how amazing that was. Kel has this ability to take all of the crap life throws at her, and manage it without too much hatred, because she has to do it to get what she wants. And that's probably the most admirable thing I've ever heard.

It got me thinking-- what makes Morgana admirable? I love her, but I don't admire her, not the way I admire Kel. At least, not in the first book. In the first, Morgana is defined by her search for acceptance. But at the end, she learns that all that matters is that you believe in yourself. You don't need other people to believe in you, because if you know you can do it, other people will realize you can. And if they never realize it, that's still okay.

I think that in the first book, you see Morgana as she is, flawed, human. And in the next, you see her striving to become what she one day will be-- a hero, not without flaws, but someone who tries, and in that trying, is admirable. Someone who doesn't want to be a spoiled princess, whining and complaining, but wants to be a knight, a girl who can save herself from her own tower, and save every other girl locked in a tower, because if you can believe, anything is possible. If you want it enough.

In Which I Laze

I don't write often in this blog. I have many excuses. I have other outlets and things to do. I have a video game blog that is up and running and fairly current, though I'm fairly certain I haven't posted for a few months-- dry spell, new game-wise, which I just broke the other game by reviewing Evoland. Various other reasons, usually work-related, but which are due more than partially to the fact that I am often exhausted beyond belief.

So I think it's time to get started on June's YA Challenge, timewarping to us from 2011. Similar to the situation two years ago, I've been mostly working on the first case and I'm about a quarter of the way into the second.

My goal this year is 1000 words written, 3000 words edited, or 150 words written in pursuit of getting Morgana Tremaine published. The day after tomorrow, the work officially starts, complete with status bars, etc, so today I'll figure out some of the prework and get my notebooks together. June 1st it begins!

My Favorite Books of All Time, As Yet Unordered

You know those books that you can't help but read over and over again? The ones that stick in your heart and in your mind? These are mine.

Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite

Prospected Books for 2012

Last year, I challenged myself to read 100 books in one year. Start to finish. Once I decided to run it through Goodreads, it also became clear that I wasn't allowed to count books I read more than once in that year toward my count. So I officially read 101 books, though about 10 I read twice in the same year.

This year, I obviously must have a 100-book goal as well, but I wanted to outline some of the books I plan to read this year.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
The Indian in the Cupboard / The Return of the Indian / The Secret of the Indian by Lynn Reid Banks
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Wraeththu by Storm Constantine
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (I finally finished American Gods and now am so in love with it it hurts.)
The Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
A Point of Honor by Dorothy J. Heydt
Howl's Moving Castle, The Castle in the Air, and The House of Many Doors by Diana Wynne Jones
Ringworld by Larry Niven
As many books as possible by Naomi Novik
The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Eric & subsequent Discworld books by Terry Pratchett
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
The Merro Tree by Katie Waitman
The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams
Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

A modest proposal so far, I know, but I've been planning to read some of these for years. @_@ It's time to get around to it. I'll probably keep adding to it.

What I've Learned About My Writing This Year, Unorganized

1) I write best friends who are named Angie. I don't know why, but I seem to have written a lot of them. At least three, perhaps four, without even realizing. Why? *headdesk*

2) I like to write about en plein air marketplaces. This one I know why I like: it's because the depth of description in a marketplace is beautiful. There are smells, sights, different things to touch and do, different kinds of people to see, different tastes that linger in the air. It makes it lovely to write.

3) I have a thing for dragons, but I suppose I already knew that. >_<

4) Writing a children's novel has forced me to learn clarity and, I suppose, intention in writing. I have to constantly be aware of what I'm portraying, what it means that I'm portraying it, and how it's portrayed. I need to make things recognizable. I need to not promote stereotypes, and yet still try not to do the exact opposite of a stereotype just because the stereotype exists. I need to work with legends and make them recognizable without making them stereotypical. And it's hard, but I love it. And I've realized that it's leeched into all of my writing. I'm so much more aware nowadays of what I'm saying when I'm writing something.

5) I like to write scenes with food in them. The most memorable scenes of Redwall are the banquets. One of the reasons I love Poppy Z. Brite is for her use of taste as a sense in her writing. It's fun to make someone's mouth water about what you're writing.

6) The day I don't include a full cast of characters, of every race, gender, sexuality, religion, and ethnicity is the day I die. It's been that way since I first started writing seriously at ten, and it's the one thing I think my ten-year-old self got seriously right. Go, ten-year-old me!

7) I generally write modern-day fantasy. Also known as contemporary fantasy. Urban fantasy, if you can get past the paranormal romance connotation the phrase has gotten lately. And that enables one thing I like to do, perhaps too much: invent the pop culture. Bands, video games, movies, books, slang. It's really fun. I just don't know whether I should watch it or whether it's a good thing.

8) Trickster characters are probably something I should try to do without, because even though I love them, not every single thing I've written needs one. Really. I think. (But I love them so....)

9) Twins. Why do I write so many of them? I don't know. Is it the angst that one can create by making one favored over the other? Is it the twinny bond? Is it the sense that it's two-for-the-price-of-one? Is it the weird fascination I have for making one blonde and one brunette? Is it the fact that legends say they're cursed/powerful/awesome/evil? I've been doing better, but still. I suspect that I will write twins yet again sometime soon, and I will enjoy doing it.

10) Witty dialogue, I think I overuse you. But there's nothing more satisfying than when characters spar verbally. There's nothing more satisfying than a snide comment. This might be why I adore Snape, come to think of it. But when I edit, I always have to cut some of the witty dialogue. Dear characters: I know you're brilliant, but sometimes things are more important than you getting a hit in on your rival. Thanks. Me.

October is Horror Novel Month!

October is one of my favorite months, not least because my birthday comes in it. This has also led to Halloween being my favorite holiday-- I have plans to be Red Riding Hood, modern, as well as watch a scandalously large amount of scary movies and cheesy horror flicks on All Hallow's itself. So there will be a reading list this month that will be epic and awesome! I'll add books, take books away, et cetera, as I get to them, but they'll generally be listed below.

The Books of Blood by Clive Barker
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere by Neil GaimanNight Shift by Steven King
At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror by H.P. Lovecraft
The Best of Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre by H.P. Lovecraft
The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death by H.P. Lovecraft
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Project 17 by Stolarz

I shall probably include Coraline and Dracula, provided I can find my copies, and Frankenstein.

Morgana Tremaine, FINISHED

Taking advantage of what I refer to as "the writer's prerogative," also known as "rampant procrastination," I gave myself a two week deadline following the end of August to finish Morgana Tremaine.

And I did.

At midnight on Wednesday (I.E. Tuesday night) I wrote my last few words and squealed, bounced, and considered screaming for joy. I have editing left to do, though not as much as I might have ordinarily, given that I edited some as I worked along, but Morgana Tremaine is finished.

I worked on a tough subject, as discussed in my previous post, but hopefully managed to do it well. Time, editing, and some feedback will tell.

Given the recent scandals regarding gay YA, I'm feeling a little bit of fear for when I want to send it to agents, etc. Not that there are any gay characters in Morgana Tremaine, as it stands, and yet.... The thing is. Well. A few things. So, in the agent's rebuttal, she says that everything in the original post is untrue, and that she wanted to cut all romantic relationships/suggestions/etc. to make it for middle-grade rather than YA. I, personally, don't believe that all hints of romance, crushes, and sexuality should be cut from middle-grade fiction, since they're certainly present in middle-grade life. Outright relationships, perhaps. Rampant sex-talk, perhaps. But sexuality in general? Gah. Sexuality is generally established pretty young, even if the person doesn't know it yet. That being said, one of the characters in Morgana Tremaine is gay. I'm not saying who, yet, and that character isn't even "out" yet in the book. But that character is the one thing that I refuse to back down on. The thought that just because Morgana Tremaine is intended for twelve-year-olds could mean that I would have to cut that character, who is easily one of my favorites.... Well, I think that's one situation where I put my back to the wall and stand my ground. Not to say that whatever editor/agent I hopefully get WILL suggest for me to cut the character out, but I think this is just a situation that a lot of people, including me, are very passionate about. So even the thought makes me angry, frustrated, and sad.

I think I'll stop on that subject here; no point in adding to the conversation, since I think everything that can be said by this point has already been said.

So now I enter editing land, with the hopes of finishing edits by the end of September (hopefully!) and then sending it out. This means it will probably be done by my birthday at the end of October, though if I could have an agent for my birthday, I would probably cry with joy. :)

Ah, life is good, when you've finished your novel.