Author: Katy Upperman

RTW: Blame It On The Wildwinds…

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Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it on their own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic: “The winds in Washokey make people go crazy.”

That’s the first line of Kirsten Hubbard’s LIKE MANDARIN. You can read the rest a few months early if you win our ARC giveaway! Post on your own blog about a time you did something completely crazy and be sure you marked “yes” on the entry form for an extra chance to win!
 
Love this topic, and I’m excited about the chance to win a copy of LIKE MANDARIN! I’m not the craziest of girls, and sadly, most of the crazy I’ve taken part in occurred in college and is far from fit for online posting. But, here are a few crazy things I’ve done over the years: taught elementary school (fifth graders–yikes!), para-sailed, married a soldier (crazy, but the BEST decision), ridden in a NASCAR, joined a sorority (lots of crazy ensued during those years), and took a stab at writing books.
 
But the craziest and absolute weirdest thing I’ve ever done took place in high school. Let me preface by saying that I was (am) a fairly straight and narrow kind of person. I have brown hair. I shop at The GAP. I eat Eggo waffles every day for breakfast. That being said, in 1999 I attended a Korn concert. In a lavender button down shirt. With an equally straight and narrow friend. Rob Zombie opened, a performance which was less than entertaining in my eighteen-year-old eyes. Said friend and I wandered the Tacoma Dome, sort of bored.
 
While wandering, we were approached by a gnarly looking man who invited us to dance in the Korn Kage. You might be wondering what a Korn Kage is. Well, it was a literal sort of cage set up toward the back of the stage where fans (a term I use loosely since, you know, I was involved) got to dance during the performance for all to see. We blindly agreed and were herded backstage with about thirty other people who seemed to know exactly what they were getting into and were WAY excited.
 
Long story short, my friend and I danced on stage at the Tacoma Dome in our pastel GAP shirts for the duration of the concert. I’m pretty sure we would have been invited to the after show party if we would have  looked a little… um, wilder, but the whole experience was  tons of fun, and will live down as one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever done.
 
So, that’s my crazy in a nutshell. What about you? What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

Tuesday Tunes: Free

I love Zac Brown Band. They’re like the cool, irreverant bad asses of country music. And their songs rock. Rumor is has it, Zac Brown is touring with Kenny Chesney next summer which is like, a dream come true concert for me. Here’s Free, with lyrics below.

So we live out in our old van
Travel all across this land
Me and you

We’ll end up hand in hand
Somewhere down on the sand
Just me and you

Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be
Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be

We’ll drive until the city lights
Dissolve into a country sky
Just me and you

Lay underneath the harvest moon
Do all the things that lovers do
Just me and you

Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be
Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be
and ever —- be

No we don’t have a lot of money
No we don’t have a lot of money
All we need is love

We’re free as we’ll ever be
Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be

So we’ll live out in our old van
Travel all across this land
Me and you

Repetition

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It can be a good thing, definitely, but repetition is also one of my biggest pet peeves when reading. By repetition, I mean using the same word or phrase repeatedly, until it begins to stick out like a blinking light on the page, distracting the reader. Let me give you an example:

Last month I read a YA novel I really enjoyed. It was extremely well plotted, its characters were three dimensional, and the writing was spot on. BUT the author used the word stark (or starkly) like, three billion times. The first time I came across it I thought, Ooh, perfect word choice there. That’s exactly the way I pictured his expression: sort of bleak and barren. Then I encountered it again. And again. And again.  So many times that I was completely pulled out of the novel and ended up wondering why no one (the author, CPs, betas, editors) caught it, instead of focusing on the story itself. 

In another book I recently read, a supporting character asked the protagonist “Are you okay?” or “Are you all right?” in almost every scene. Literally. And again, every time I came across one of those phrases, I kind of rolled my eyes, distracted, and then begrudgingly moved on.  In another contemporary YA I loved, the characters seemed to “shrug happily” a heck of a lot. In yet another, an author used the same sentence structure over and over, a lot like, Typing furiously, she wrote the blog post.

Here’s the thing: I am so guilty of repetition in early drafts. I’ve been reading over bits of my WIP, Where Poppies Bloom, and have found the word gentle more times than I care to admit. I’m leaning on the phrase “His/her voice was…” too. The thing is, I’m aware of the problem and intend to tackle it in revisions. While revising, I’ll probably find dozens more words that need to be changed or cut or improved upon. And I know the fabulous people who will eventually critique my manuscript will do their best to point out any repetition they find too.  

 I know it sounds sort of nit-picky (and I’m nothing if not nit-picky :)), but I think it’s SO important for an author to be invisible. I don’t want to think about his or her writing and editing processes while I’m trying to enjoy the book. I want to lose myself in their world, be completely immersed, not distracted by echoes that travel the pages of the novel. It’s easy to fall back on a few comfortable words or phrases, especially early in the process. I think it’s fine to go with whatever comes while you’re drafting , but I also think it’s important to carefully consider your words later in the game.

So, please tell me I’m not the only person this bugs. Do you notice repetition? Do you have any examples that make you want to pull your hair out?

Sadly, our vacation is over, but here's one last picture of my Cutie Pie and me in Arizona.

RTW: Literary Cliches

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Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading related question and answer it on their own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic: What are your favorite literary clichés?

Okay, these aren’t necessarily my favorites, but there are several I always notice. Sometimes they’re done so well I’m envious of whoever it was that wrote the piece, and sometimes they totally pull me out of the story and force me to roll my eyes. In no particular order:

The sassy (redheaded) best friend – Best friends are almost always cooler, cuter, smaller and more experienced than the female protagonists they accompany. Often, they’re coppertops too.  

Emerald eyes – Do they exist? They run rampant in literature, YA especially, but I can’t say I’ve ever actually seen someone with eyes the color or emeralds. Or sapphires, for that matter. If you have eyes the color of jewels, I’m jealous.

So bad, yet so good – A la Romeo and Juliet. Or Perfect Chemistry. A couple that should never, ever be, yet they’re so amazingly good together you just wanna root for them.  

Surprise! It was all a dream! – Or multiple personality disorder. Or amnesia. Ugh… it can be so disappointing when this happens. While watching Alice in Wonderland with my daughter a few weeks ago, I had an epiphany: Lewis Carroll’s ending would have infuriated the readers of today.  

Perfect Guys – I’m probably totally guilty of writing flawless males from time to time, but there are a lot of literary heroes who are so darn perfect. Of course, there are a lot who are completely undesirable too (though highly sought after… go figure), which I suppose is a cliché itself.

So, those are mine. What about you? What are the literary clichés that stand out to you?

Seven On Sunday

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Yep, Seven on Sunday… Or maybe just a more organized method of posting all my random thoughts for this last week. 🙂

1) I’m on vacation!!! Well, really, I’m visiting my parents in Phoenix, but it’s in the eighties, sunny and my parents are eager to cook and clean and entertain my daughter. So, yes, it’s just like a vacation. My original goals for this trip were: revising, writing, and reading. I’ve done a fair amount of revising, some great reading and zero writing. Poor WIP. Still, who wants to be cooped up inside with a laptop when this awaits outdoors:

 

2) While flying from Seattle to Phoenix, I sat next to a wriggly and very cute three-year-old (okay, I’ll claim her) and, awesomely enough, an aspiring screenwriter. When I pulled out the paper copy of my MAX manuscript to start a (hopefully) final edit, he asked if I was an editor. Um, no. Not officially, but I am editing my own book for the billionth time, and better yet, I totally do it for free! That’s when he began to tell me about trying to break into screenwriting, and it turns out we had lots in common. Let it be known: I usually like to be left alone during flights, but it was cool to talk to a “real” (read: not online) person who shared similar goals and motivation.

3) I mentioned editing MAX above. I just finished a fairly extensive revision of it, where I converted the whole 74,000 word manuscript from present tense to past tense, and expanded on many of the supporting characters. Why would you do that? you might be wondering. Well, a lovely agent who I greatly respect recently read MAX and suggested that the supporting characters weren’t as well-developed as the main characters, and that (in her opinion) the book would flow better and be more “reflective” in past tense. While she passed on the manuscript, she invited me to revise it with her feedback in mind and resubmit it to her. So yeah, that’s what I’m doing. It’s hard, but you know what? It’s coming along, I appreciate her feedback more than I can express, and I look forward to sending it back to her! 

4) On a similar note, a week or two after receiving the revise and resubmit email I mentioned above, I got an email from another absolutely awesome agent who had read the first three chapters of MAX. She liked the voice of MAX and, surprisingly enough, thought it flowed really well. She requested that I send her the rest of the manuscript. Honestly, I have to say, I kind of agree with her. I love MAX in present tense (though I certainly like it a lot in past tense too, especially now that that’s done!) and I think voice and flow are two of my strong points as a writer. I can’t wait to hear back from her on what she thinks of the rest of the story. Anyway, my point here is: Writing (and reading) are so subjective. What works for one person sometimes doesn’t work for another. More often than not, you have to trust your gut.

5) Just wanted to link to this awesome post by the lovely Hannah Moskowitz who, I’ve decided, is wise beyond her years. Read it. You’ll feel better.

6) I’ve read two really great books recently (well, three actually, but I already raved about Mindi Scott‘s Freefall here). The first, Dirty Little Secrets by CJ Omololu, and the second, The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney. Both are excellent, and both are must reads for anyone who enjoys contemporary young adult fiction.

7) Daylight Savings: Ugh. Hate it! SO unnecessary! I am such a summer person. Such a lover of warm weather and sunshine and a golden tan. I so hate when it gets dark at four-thirty in the afternoon. I hate the cold, rainy Pacific Northwest winters. I hate soggy grass and umbrellas and rain boots. I hate… okay, let’s just say that I’m already looking forward to April. 🙂

Another vacation pic... me and my Cutie Pie at the Phoenix Zoo (which was fabulous, in case you're wondering!). 🙂

RTW: If I Ruled Publishing…

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Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it on their own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

Today’s Topic: If you were made supreme ruler of the publishing world, what would be your first ruling?

My first ruling would be easy (and crazy and self-serving and totally unreasonable, but hey, I’m in charge!) and has to do with the querying process. Currently, it’s hard. And frustrating. And sometimes depressing. So I say, let’s make it easier on writers! With a shake of my all-powerful publishing scepter, I declare a complete flip of the querying process.

Why not create some kind of huge and very well-organized database where aspiring authors can post their query, sample pages and synopsis under a specifically narrowed-down category and genre? Then, when agents have a spare minute (they have lots of those, right?) they can troll the database for prospective clients and request partials/fulls through each aspiring author’s clearly posted contact information. Authors can link their data base profile to their Twitter/Facebook/blog/whatever, and have an individualized profile ID that they can pass on to agents they meet at conferences. That way, their information can later be accessed at the agent’s leisure. 

So, I’m a genius, right? I’ve completely revolutionized slush, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet. 🙂

What about you? What changes would you make to publishing if you ruled the world?


 

Tuesday Tunes – If I Die Young

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The Band Perry is a fairly new group out of East Tennessee. There first big hit, If I Die Young, was written by lead singer Kimberly Perry for their debut album. This song is thought-provoking, haunting, and moving–all the things I want my WIP, Where Poppies Bloom to be.  If I Die Young is a constant on my play list these days. Here’s the video, and below are the lyrics in full.

“If I Die Young”

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh, uh oh

Lord make me a rainbow, I’ll shine down on my mother
She’ll know I’m safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh and
Life ain’t always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain’t even grey, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life, well
I’ve had, just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life, well
I’ve had, just enough time

And I’ll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom
I’m as green as the ring on my little, cold finger, I’ve
Never known the lovin’ of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand, there’s a
Boy here in town says he’ll, love my forever
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life, well
I’ve had, just enough time

So put on your best boys and I’ll wear my pearls
What I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I’ll sell them for a dollar
They’re worth so much more after I’m a goner
And maybe then you’ll hear the words I been singin’
Funny when your dead how people start listenin’

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh (uh, oh)
The ballad of a dove Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep ’em in your pocket
Save them for a time when your really gonna need them, oh

The sharp knife of a short life, well
I’ve had, just enough time

So put on your best boys and I’ll wear my pearls

*Written by Kimberly Perry

What about you? Any songs that have been particularly moving or inspirational lately?

And for your viewing pleasure, my cutie pie, Claire, as Dorothy, and me as Hermione Granger on Halloween 🙂

Friday Five – Picture Book Addition

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More often than not, I focus my blog posts on young adult literature. It’s what I love most. But, a close second as far as amazing books go, are children’s picture books. I have a three-year-old who LOVES books, so we spend a lot of time in the Borders Kids section and at our public library. Plus, I’m a former elementary school teacher. I used to love using picture books as part of my curriculum, even when I taught fifth graders who pretended to be too old to be read aloud to. Over the years, I’ve adopted some favorites picture books. There are the classics, Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, anything Dr. Seuss, Corduroy, the Frances books and Blueberries for Sal.

That being said, my very favorite kids’ books to read aloud all happen to rhyme. There’s something about the rhythm and the sing-song quality they take on that makes picture books in verse hard to pass up. So, for today’s Friday Five I’m sharing some of the best.

 
One) Bear Wants More, by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman – The story of a bear who wakes up from winter hibernation, and  his forest friends who attempt to satisfy his HUGE hunger.

Two) Cha Cha Chimps, by Julia Durango, Illustrated by Eleanor Taylor – Ten little chimps head out to the neighborhood dance hall for a night of counting and fun, until their mama comes looking for them.

Three) Edward the Emu, by Sheena Knowles, illustrated by Rod Clement –  The tale of a lonely emu who searches the zoo for true love.

Four) Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino, illustrated by Steven Kellogg – A little llama explores nature and meets lots of different animals, hoping to find his mother.

Five) The Snail and the Whale, by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler – A snail with an itchy foot hitches a ride with a whale who roams the sea. They forge an unlikely friendship while the little snail learns how big he can be.

What about you? What are your favorite picture books? Are there any you’re happy to read to your child(ren) over and over again?

RTW – October’s Best Book

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Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it on their own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This week’s topic: What was the best book you read in October?

An easy question to answer this month because I’ve read a few books in October that, in the end, did not live up to their hype. Perhaps my expectations were too high, or perhaps they just weren’t for me, or perhaps, when compared to the one really AMAZING book I read this month, they just didn’t measure up.

And now you’re probably wondering what that AMAZING book was.

It was FREEFALL, by Mindi Scott.

 
Here’s the Goodreads blurb:

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend Isaac alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time where Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn’t wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend’s death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.

Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he’s ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn’t the only one who needs saving . . .

There are a few reasons I was excited to read this book. One, I’ve been following Mindi Scott’s journey for a while now. Freefall is her debut and she’s from around the same area that I am, which for some reason makes her feel relatable. Two, Freefall is a “boy book” (in other words, the protagonist is a teenage guy and the plotlines are sort of male-centric, though that’s not to say females won’t be all over it!). I’ve read “boy books” before, of course, but none written by women–I was curious. And three, I love contemporary YA fiction, especially when it’s a little edgy, which Freefall certainly is.

First, I’ll comment on Seth’s voice because… it’s awesome. He swears, he drinks, he thinks too much about sex and not enough about school. He’s dry and funny He can be sort of insensitive, but at the same time, there are instances where he is intuitively sensitive without ever realizing it. He wants to be better, but he doesn’t know how. Seriously, had the name “Mindi Scott” not been printed on the cover, I would have assumed this book had been written by a teenage guy. The voice is that spot-on.

Freefall’s characters are very real. They have real problems and realistic relationships. They’re flawed–all of them, but that’s what made me want root for them. And they have motivations. Motivations that–gasp!–make sense. (This is one of the problems I had with some of the other books I read this month: a character would do something and I’d think–what?!).

And Rosetta and Seth together… I loved their interactions from the very first scene they shared. Their dialogue was natural and witty and it flowed well, plus, I could clearly see the things they grew to like about each other. Their relationship felt legitimate and sincere, not forced for the sake of the novel. I *got* why Seth wanted to be present for Rosetta, and understood why she wanted to be better for him. Oh, and they had a few pretty steamy interactions, too.

So, Freefall was definitely the book I loved best during the month of October. I highly recommend you check it out.

What about you? What was the best book you read this month?