Karen Sandler

Tag: karen sandler

  • #LA12SCBWI – The Prelude

    About an hour ago, my son and I arrived at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza for the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) big annual summer conference. The room is quite nice and very spacious. I hadn’t been here two minutes before I accidentally moved something in the mini-fridge before reading the sign that told me I would be charged for anything I moved, even if I didn’t consume it. Yikes! Called the front desk to report I really hadn’t drank a can of Red Bull.

    We’re renting an actual fridge from the hotel ($5/day) for the couple of snack/breakfast items we brought with us. I recall the breakfast scene at SCBWI being a bit of a zoo. I’m praying the organizers will have coffee on offer in the mornings like they did last year.

    Here are a few views from the hotel. The fountain on Avenue of the Stars:

     

     

     

     

    A view of Century City/Beverly Hills off to the left:

     

     

     

     

    The iconic hotel itself:

     

     

     

     

    I’ll do my best to share whatever writing wisdom I glean this week via my blog. Cheers!

  • RTW – Best Book in July

    YA Highway‘s Road Trip Wednesday asks today, What was the best book you read in July? I’ve been on a bit of a Lois McMaster Bujold kick for nearly the entire month (which means I’ve read 1 1/3 of her long, Vorkosigan science fiction sagas). I do recommend Ms. Bujold, both for her fantasy and science fiction. She writes a great story and wonderful characters.

    So, since I’ve been Bujolding up a storm, the only YA book I’ve read in July is the marvelous Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (isn’t that a great author name?). There is a Groundhog Day-like premise (the movie, not the annual tradition), but it’s done in such a fresh and, well, peculiar way, it makes for a riveting read. Its mix of present day world and British WW2 setting also contributes to this fantastic story.

    As I mentioned in my Goodreads review, my only real complaint about the book is that darn it, there’s no sequel available. It ends with more loose ends than an unraveling afghan. Only the main story line is tied up. The book is just begging for a follow up. Anyone out there know of plans for a Peculiar book two? I’d love to hear about it.

  • RTW – Doing the Groundhog Thing

    This week on YA Highway, the prompt asks, If you could be reincarnated as any fictional character, which would it be? Which made the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, pop into my mind, hence the title of my post.

    Moving on, I gave the question my usual three seconds of thought, figuring that the quickest answer to come into my mind would be the best. I did briefly consider Katniss (but for only the first second of those three), then realized everyone in the world wants to be Katniss (admit it). So I spent the next two seconds digging a little further back and came up with a character I’ve loved for years.

    I’d want to be Lessa from Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. If you haven’t read Anne McCaffrey’s dragon books, I suggest you check them out. Yes, some are better than others (the first three, Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon are very worthy, as well as the more YA companion series, Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums). But McCaffrey created such a great world and society that I’ve often fantasized about living on Pern with its genetically augmented dragons.

    Lessa is a pretty kick-ass character who doesn’t let anyone push her around. She doesn’t actually run around in that cheesy white outfit shown on the cover, by the way. When she’s riding her golden dragon, she wears practical riders’ leathers. But she’s a feminist’s feminist, insisting that yes, female breeding dragons can fly and they can carry a rider. They can even help fight Thread, the menace on Pern.

    So there you go. I want to be Lessa and fly around on a golden dragon. That would be my fantasy come true.

  • Taking a Risk

    My husband and I spent the week before last helping my son and daughter-in-law move into their new house. New to them, that is. The house is close to 90 years old, and has many of the “glitches” you’d expect an old house to have. Maybe more than glitches in some cases.

    I knew there was another house they’d looked at in the area and from what I recall from the Realtor’s photos, it was a newer, less glitchy home. I really liked the looks of that house and the fact that it was right next to a park. But when I asked my son about their choice between the top two, he said, “Well, there was the safe house, and there was the interesting house. We chose the interesting house.”

    I bring this up because it made me think of the whole issue of taking risks, not only in life, but in writing. If I’d been the one choosing the house, I’m pretty darn sure I would have picked the “safe” house. Yes, it was more of a suburban tract home. It didn’t have much in the way of intriguing features (unlike the “interesting” house, which has wonderful windows, a stately entry and living room, and a dining room with a cool little built in china cabinet). The safe house looked comfortable, but it was a bit blah.

    To connect this to my writing, what if I always chose the comfortable, but blah? Would I have ever sold a book, let alone the 20 that I’ve sold in my career? Would readers have eagerly looked for my books, read them with enjoyment, sighed with the satisfaction of experiencing a good story if I’d stayed “safe?” I’m thinking not. I’m thinking I’ve been better off taking the interesting road rather than the safe one.

    How about you? Do you take risks in your writing? Do you create characters, scenes, stories that are safe, or are they interesting? It might end up being more work, a more difficult endeavor. But in the end, when you take the interesting path, you have a much better chance that the book you’ve written, the literary house you’ve built, will be wow and anything but blah.

  • RTW – Creative Inspiration

    This week’s blog prompt at YA Highway is When you need creative inspiration, where do you go? My first, off the top of my head response, the shower, is a little too cliche, so I’ll offer up some other options.

    First of all, I don’t so much pursue that creative spark as find ways to leave myself open to it. That’s why the shower, cliche as it is, really does work to get me past a creative logjam. For me, writing is a problem-solving exercise and for some of those problems, I need to be away from the manuscript for clarity.

    Some favorite ways to spark my creativity:

    • meditation
    • driving
    • riding my horse
    • brainstorming
    • conference workshops

    With the first three, I can’t just grab a piece of paper to jot down notes (well, I suppose I could when I meditate, but that would defeat the purpose of meditation). I don’t have a phenomenal memory, so instead I’ll work through the solution in my mind enough times to ingrain it (I hope) well enough that I’ll remember it later.

    I often end up brainstorming with my husband when I’m driving, which leaves him to take the notes. At a conference, I’ll have either a notepad or notebook computer to jot ideas down.

    There’s a theme here: I need to put my brilliant ideas in writing as much as possible. Often once I’ve written them down I don’t need to refer back (the act of writing sets it in my brain), but if I don’t inscribe them somehow, they dissolves like mist. Frustration ensues.

    Regarding the last item on my creative inspiration list–conference workshops–I should mention that I don’t find inspiration in workshops about inspiration. Oddly when I’m sitting listening to an agent speak about the publishing market or a bestselling author talking about their career, solutions to my current writing problems start popping up in my brain. I guess just being in the milieu helps me be creative.

    So my secret to creative inspiration–walk away from the problem, give your brain time to clear. And the answer will flow right in.