February, 2010

Something Different

You may have noticed something different around here. LOL I’ve had several people mention how hard it is on the eyes to read against a black background. I loved the drama of it, but decided I needed to change my site’s colors. Sigh.

That said, I hope it’s easier on your eyes and mine. I need to see the opthamalogist….

Hook Problems?

Go to Pen Perfect Associates and put your hook into Lea Schizas’ “Your Hook Posts.” She has agreed to do a critique. Also, make sure you check out her other blogs as she’s got SEVERAL awesome sites, all with great information. As soon as my toddler allows, I’m going back to read through more of Lea’s posts.

Children’s Literature Links and Reviews

I’ve done some surfing recently and found several links that might be of use to those of you who write or are interested in reading juvenile works with Asian and/or multi-cultural leanings.

Stacy Whitman has an incredible list of multi-cultural reads (mostly juvenile literature, although not entirely) and I’m going to have to read a whole lot more just to play catch up! Check it out.

Tu Publishing is pleased to announce that we will be officially open for submissions from writers on Jan. 1, 2010. We are a small press focusing on multicultural fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults. We are specifically looking for novels for readers ages 8 to 18. (Though we intend to expand to chapter books in the future, we are not looking for them at this time.) We are a royalty-paying (on retail) publishing company.

Chasing Ray seems to be a site dedicated to reviews of children’s literature and the above link page is all about books with Asian settings. He’s also done a review of “Shine, Coconut Moon.”

Cynthiea Leitich’s site brims with links to children’s resources both educational and fictional. It’s an amazing site if you’re a writer/reader of juvenile material with Asian leanings.

I plan on posting all of these links on my sidebar for future readers, but they’re so good I also wanted to draw attention to them. Enjoy!

Time to Think

This is a list by Angela James of Carina Press. They are reasons why editors pass on manuscripts. Keep in mind, I just copied her bullets. To read the editors’ in depth responses, select the link. The list does make you stop and think, “Could this be a problem?”

1. The manuscript doesn’t catch the reader’s attention from the start.
2. The story doesn’t stand out as fresh or unique.
3. The author has included too many unimportant details and not enough important details
4. The writing just isn’t there
5. The voice of the manuscript/characters doesn’t work
6. The reader can’t connect to the characters, they’re not fully realized or believable
7. The story requires too much suspension of disbelief
8. The manuscript starts well but doesn’t follow through
9. Unnecessary subplots
10. The conflict wasn’t sustainable

Two of a pair

Elana Johnson is cosponsoring a contest with Shelli at Market My Words. Check her out as soon as you can. She’s also given a link to another contest. Many thanks to these ladies and their generosity!