This shouldn't even be necessary...

...but if I have to read one more thread/post/article/thing wherein the author of said thread/post/article/thing does not know that there is a difference between children's literature, MG and YA, I'm going to go into conniptions. I have to get this off of my chest.

Now, for those of you who do not follow Editorial Anonymous, YOU SHOULD. Her blog is geared towards those of us writing in the children's/MG/YA genres and contains tons of useful information about the genre and distinctions between the different "levels" of writing for those of us under the age of 18. In her words:

I'm a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to these designations. I just don't care what "chapter book," "middle grade," or "YA" are currently supposed to mean. Why don't we simply speak in terms of ages, or grades?

That is, I think, a great way to identify your audience (ie: girls ages 11-13, or boys ages 15-17). However, since you need to correspond to the industry conventions when you're querying, I'm going to try to break this down in nifty list format, as is my way.

DISCLAIMER: The ages used as examples in these definitions should be treated as such. Also, unfortunately there is a lot of bleed over between children's literature and MG, and between MG and YA. It's confusing as hell and I'm not going to spend a boatload of time going through all of the exceptions. These are just rules of thumb.

1. CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: This is a messy term. It can mean, in various contexts, "all writing for those members of the human race who are currently not the age of majority" or "all writing for those members of the human race who are currently not over 10 years of age." This means that the agent who says she reps "children's literature" might represent anything from picture books to YA, and, generally, you can assume that she does unless she specifies otherwise.

I'd like to see "children's literature" correspond directly and without any muzzy edges to the second definition I provided. This means that it would include things like picture books, chapter books, and novels written for kids. (Think the books that are available at the Scholastic Book Fairs for elementary school students.) There are things you shouldn't write about in children's literature. Dropping the f-bomb is probably a no-no. So is negative characterization of parents and "trusted adult" types.

Children's literature (of the second type) is not MG. However, some may choose to read MG while they are still considered children's lit readers by the publishing world. This is perfectly fine. You should write your children's books with your intended audience in mind and let the individual reader decide what she wants to read.

2. MG: Stands for "middle grade." Should remind you of the term "middle school." MG is generally considered to be literature for those humans with 11-13 years of life under their belts. MG is not children's lit and it isn't YA lit either, and that seems to cause a lot of confusion. In MG, I would still, personally, be hesitant to tackle some of the issues we have no problem with tackling in YA lit - or, at least, tackling them in the same way. In MG literature, the author should generally have a negative view of "edgy" goings-on. Drugs can be taken, but they lead down a bad road. Flirtation can occur, but there should be no sex. Cursing and swearing is limited to things like "piss-face" and "dang!". If you want a good example of how to incorporate swearing into MG, I would look at the early Harry Potter books. And the later Harry Potter books, for that matter, to see the transition between fakey-swears and full-out-swears.

This seems to be the genre everyone forgets when talking about literature for under-18s. REMEMBER THAT IT EXISTS. Correct people when they tell you that their novel geared towards 12 year-olds is YA. Explain to people the difference when they complain that there is nothing in the YA section for their 13 year-old to read.

MG literature is not YA. However, some may choose to read YA while they are still considered MG readers by the publishing world. This is perfectly fine. You should write your MG books with your intended audience in mind and let the individual reader decide what she wants to read.

3. YA: Stands for "young adult." Emphasis on the "adult." You may write whatever you damn well please in a YA novel as long as you can write about it in a novel written for an adult audience. This means that anything with bestiality (or water sports, or graphic incest...), bloody graphic violence, and overly explicit sex (I will not answer what qualifies as explicit because you are all intelligent people and should know. If you really want a rule of thumb, it should probably not resemble this: "PENIS PENIS PENIS PENIS COCKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!" K?) will be a hard sell. You may use your discretion. Everyone has different opinions on what is appropriate or not in YA fic, but then again everyone has opinions on what is appropriate or not in adult fic as well.

The major distinction between MG and YA comes in two parts: first, the "coming-of-age." I define coming-of-age as having to deal with adult problems with a teenage mind. Remember the scene in Juno when she comes back home after learning that the potential adoptive father of her unborn child has decided to get a divorce? Her father asks her what she's been up to, and Juno responds: "Oh, nothing. I've just been out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level." Bam. Coming-of-age. Second, the edgy stuff I talked about previously is no longer dealt with in black and white terms. Now the characters are exposed to drugs, sex, and rock 'n' roll, and they decide for themselves how they feel about them.

So there it is folks. Rant over. Hope this cleared things up for some of you.

Six (Super Short) Reviews

Hello Readers!

Today I have a new kind of post for you. Instead of taking the time to write a lengthy review for each of the books I've read this week, I'm simply going to give you a very straightforward paragraph laying out my thoughts and feelings on the books. You will be missing out on plot, extensive information about the characters (including names), and some other information I tend to inject into my reviews, but these reviews are, one might say, from the soul. I am being brutally honest in them, though I sincerely hope that no authors or readers are offended by my comments.

Well, without further ado, here are six super short reviews:

Maybe by Brent Runyon (Amazon. B&N.)
--- I really liked this book. It was pretty excellent, actually. I thought the main character's fascination/obsession with sex was a little annoying/creepy at times, but it generally worked and I'm willing the look past that because the book made me think after reading, which is pretty awesome. I'd definitely recommend it. I would also recommend Runyon's The Burn Journals.

Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford (Amazon. B&N.)
--- This was a great, well-written book. I liked the main character, his parents, his doctors, his friends at the hospital, and his sister. I didn't feel like his best friend was fleshed out as much as she could have been, but that might have been done on purpose. I also didn't feel like one of the big revelations was...shocking enough for the main character, considering the plot, but that also might have been making some sort of statement. It's hard to say. Generally good, though, and I'd recommend it.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd (Amazon. B&N.)
--- This debut was very well written and the characters were all well developed. As I read I could feel the main character growing and changing with the story and the events that occurred. My main issue with the book was the ending, which seemed rushed and wasn't particularly satisfactory. I almost have to wonder if the author didn't write this ending at first, but then changed it for agent and/or editor acceptance. Something just seemed a little off there. Otherwise however, it was good and I will definitely look for the sophomore novel by this author.

Black is for Beginnings by Laurie Faria Stolarz (Amazon. B&N.)
--- I'm going to be completely honest here and say that I wasn't wowwed by this addition to the Blue is for Nightmares series and that, in some ways, I'd like to pretend it never happened. While there was nothing wrong with the story, there was...so little story. Much of the book was rehashing what had already occurred in the first 4 books in the series, and then tying up a few loose ends. I also did not feel that the format (graphic novel) worked particularly well, and it was difficult to combine what I already imagined about the characters with the artist's renditions. Ultimately, I don't think I would highly recommend this book, which saddens me because Laurie Stolarz is one of my top 5 favorite authors. I would highly recommend many of her other books, however (especially Blue is for Nightmares and Bleed). Just not this one.

Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman (Amazon. B&N.)
--- There aren't many young adult paranormal romances with gay main characters (Actually, I can't think of any others. If you can, please comment!), but here is one! It was pretty good, though a bit rushed in some areas, and well-written (though there seemed to be some issues with copyediting and/or typesetting, which have nothing to do with the author, really, so I don't blame Berman). I would have liked for the MC to have more...shock over his apparent ability to contact ghosts, but otherwise I think everything was well fleshed out. I would recommend this.

The Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart (Amazon. B&N.)
--- I really enjoyed this. Very good. The third in a series, but it explains just enough that I didn't have to re-read the other two to remember what had happened before. There are emotional ups and downs, E. Lockhart does some excellent writing, and the characters are just as fleshed out as always (taking into account the main character's point of view and everything). I would definitely recommend this, and I look forward to another Ruby Oliver book.

Break (is) Out!

Break by our very own Hannah Moskowitz should be widely available in B&Ns near you! Borders is lagging behind, so go ahead and bother them about it.

You can also buy it on Amazon.

Edit!: For those of you who are interested, the lovely Grace is having a giveaway on her blog, Gracetopia. Win a copy of Break by Hannah Moskowitz, Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin, and Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon.

Sentences in Bold and Other Quirkz

One of the many quirks I have as a writer manifests itself during edits. Especially when I'm concerned with continuity, I often don't spend too much time angsting over the right words to put in certain places - that comes later. So when I'm faced with a situation that I'm not certain how to handle, I tend to take the easy way out:

Her eyes filled with something that doesn't sound incredibly trite, move on move on let's deal with that later okay cut to DRAMATIC CHASE SCENE OMG

Granted, that's a (rather horrible) example I pulled out of my rear just now. But you get the picture, right?

What are some of your writing quirks? Let's see who wins the Weirdest Writer Waward.

I'm also going to share with you another quirk I've discovered. I originally blogged about this on my personal (and dead dyingly dead) blog, which you can read (if you're really bored) by clicking on the link in the sidebar.

Sometimes, I make lists. I make lists of things that amuse me, lists of things I need to do, lists of things that bother me, lists of things that are ridiculous about my day to day existence, lists of colors of things on my desk, lists of books I want to read, lists of books I haven't read yet, lists of skin care products that people tell me will prevent my eczema from coming back ever ever in a billion years, lists of citrus fruits.

Very rarely does this tendency carry over into writing. However, since I'm sort of stalling on the whole wordcount thing (lol wordcount what is this mysterious creature oh you mean it's supposed to get larger aka grow in magnitude what are you talking about silly internet people), I decided to come up with a different form of motivation.

We're going to call it the "vocabscribble" method. This is what you need (in handy dandy list format!):

- paper
- a pen
- a book, which may be either fiction or nonfiction but must be entertaining or you will want to stab yourself with the aforementioned pen
- your WIP

Now, carefully open the book with your hands. It may be a long time since you've last read a book (*raises hand guiltily*) and so all the books in your house may have a) gotten incredibly dusty or b) began to plot your demise.

After ascertaining whether the book is going to be cooperative, begin to read. Embrace those words with your eyeballs! EMBRACE THEM. Whenever you come across a particularly titillating word, pick up the pen and record it on the piece of paper. Repeat until you have a good list, about 10 to 20 words.

At this point, you may want to have a tea break.

Once you've finished sipping, open your WIP and start writing. Keep a couple of brain cells thinking about the words you've written down. Can you use any in an upcoming sentence? Do any fall into your deathless prose naturally? If so, check off the word and continue writing. When you've checked off all the words, give yourself a reward. A new book, perhaps. Or a cookie.

Note: I don't worry about going in order. My rough drafts don't go in order, and neither do my vocab lists.

I'm Bored (and Other Writerly Moods)

Today I was completely and utterly bored. I was at work, and, yeah, I had a lot to do, but I was at my computer all day, and all I could think about was how bored I was. Now all day long, I have my Gmail up, which is the account I use for agent e-mails, and another site, that occasionally I comment on when I need a short break from work. Today, I was completely obsessed with refreshing that site. I just wanted something to happen, and the working wasn't satisfying this craving. (For the record, I did get everything I planned to do at work today done. It really only takes a second to flip to the site, hit F5, and flip back to what I'm working on when it disappoints.)

In my head, all I hear is "I'm bored," "God, something happen," "Why am I soooo bored?"

Then it hit me, just as I was actually about to post "I'm bored" on that website just so something would happen. I wasn't really bored, and I didn't really care what was going on on that site (I mean, I did, but not to that extent). What I secretly wanted to refresh was my Gmail account. But Gmail refreshes itself so frequently that it wouldn't be worth it to refresh that, so my subconscious sent me to the other site to refresh that. Yet it wasn't what I wanted, so even when someone else posted, I was still unsatisfied.

And I wasn't bored. I was frustrated. I want my book to go somewhere. I want to query some more (I'm stuck due to lack of envelopes, stamps, and e-queriable agents), and the WIP's not ready, and I just want the novel I'm querying now to move on to the next stage. I wanted to hear something from someone--to have another little "(1)" at the top of that tab--and I wasn't, and in my mind that static status translated into boredom.

Yawn.

Anyway, it shouldn't have come as such a surprise to me. How often does a full request send my spirits through the roof? Or an important rejection (say on a partial) cause me to snap at my cat for being extra annoying. But this one just seemed strange to me.

So, ever found your emotions completely manipulated by what's going on in the writing world?

The 40 Most Exciting Parts

STAGE ONE

1. Getting the EARTH-SHATTERING idea that will SHATTER THE EARTH.
2. Nailing the first scene.
3. Figuring out the climax (an important step in any girl's life).
4. Writing an awesome snippet of dialogue.
5. Finishing the first draft.

STAGE TWO

6. Remember that first scene you nailed? Deleting it. Realizing you didn't need it in the first place.
7. Discovering how to rescue the terrible murky middle from the pits of the earth.
8. Making up a better ending.
9. Saying the same thing in less words.
10. Realizing your book is absolute crap and that you will need to write a new one. Trunking the first one. Starting over from stage 1. Repeating all of stage 2. Again. And again.
11. Ohmigod if I look at this manuscript one more time I just might scream.

STAGE THREE

12. Finding an agent on agentquery who practically begs for your book.
13. Getting a form rejection from her. Your thirst for success deepens.
14. Querying a bunch of agents who sound eh sort of okay maybe they'll like it?
15. Getting your first personalized rejection.
16. Getting your first request.
17. Peeing yourself while you wait.
18. Sending out revenge queries when you are rejected (this is not when you query the same agent again. This is when you query a different agent to show the industry that you will not be tread upon. Most everyone I've ever queried was revenge queried. Shhh don't tell them.)
19. Getting that "Hey I like your book..." email
20. The offer.
21. The phone call.
22. The stars and twinkly lights.

STAGE FOUR

23. Seeing the submission list.
24. Going out on submission.
25. Getting rejections back where editors call you by your last name and talk about you like you're not there. "Though Moskowitz adeptly explores the unicorns in the novel, she neglects to expand on the main premise of the novel. Indeed, I wondered why I was reading a novel about unicorns when I expected one about a boy who wanted to break all his bones." Note: This rejection is not real. BREAK is probably not about unicorns. Probably.)
26. "Hey, so I think an editor might be interested."
27. That editor is interested.
28. Let's talk numbers.

STAGE FIVE

29. Talking to your editor on the phone.
30. Getting a MASSIVE BOX OF BOOKS from her. (Was this just me? Well it rocked.)
31. Seeing the cover.
32. Seeing the cover.
33. Seeing the cover.
34. Chopping out random lines of witty dialogue someone doesn't like. Realizing how unnecessary they were.
35. Wondering how the hell this paragraph got into your manuscript.
36. Changing 7-11 to 7-Eleven because your copyeditor tells you to.
37. Seeing what customers who pre-ordered your book on Amazon also ordered.
38. The first review.
39. Realizing your book comes out in 16 days.
40. Seeing that bitch on a bookshelf. I assume.

A Double-Take

I'm currently in Montréal for Worldcon, and I happened to sit in on a panel about taboos in writing, just because, you know, it was there and we've discussed edgy fic a lot on this blog. Anyway, as I'm sitting there, a woman in the audience asked about the prevalence of YA lit in the SFF market, and the panelists could not name any GLBTQ YA fiction.

I was floored. ON THE FLOOR I WAS FLOORED.

Clearly this situation has to be remedied.

Now this is what you should do, YAYAers: Go out into the world and tell everyone how progressive and nifty YA fiction is. Tell them how we hit those taboos and we hit them hard. Tell them how moving, exciting, literary and deathless the prose of your favorite YA writer is. Tell everyone you can, because YA isn't getting the recognition it deserves!