Leaping into the Unknown: Trying out New Genres

I like to try new things when I'm writing. Sure, I enjoy writing a nice simple picture book text now and then, but I also like to stretch my muscles and try new genres.

My first loves as a children's book writer are comedy, action, adventure, and fantasy. These are the types of stories I love to read. They are my comfort zone. However, sometimes the best stories we come up with are the ones that don't come so easily. They are the ones that make us stretch our imaginations even more and let our thoughts run wild.

Right now, I'm working on my first historical/Christian fiction middle-grade novel. It is not in my wheelhouse. It's no where close to the type of story I usually read. However, the idea for this story is so interesting to me it cries out for me to write it. And so, I've put aside my anxieties of the unknown and plunged into this new genre full speed ahead. 

Since starting this project, I've researched the time period and events around my main character's life and have hammered out a dozen plus chapters. My initial fears that I might be a terrible historical/Christian fiction writer have been replaced by a bit more confidence in myself as critique partners and my agent have encouraged me to continue the story after looking at the first chapters.

Now, if they had told me these first chapters weren't working, I might have scrapped the whole idea, but it seems the story is connecting with readers and so I have the boost I need to move forward into the unknown world that is historical/Christian fiction.

So, next time you get hit with an idea that is outside your comfort zone, don't be afraid to at least give it a shot. You might be surprised by the stories you can tell when you don't restrict your genre, but rather let your imagination and abilities carry you off to unexpected places to meet characters you never thought you'd write about.

For right now, that unexpected place I'm visiting on my computer screen is Ancient Capernaum in the time of Jesus and the characters I'm meeting in this formerly-quiet fishing village have given me a lot to think and write about.

Just remember, the old say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

So go venture already!

Insights into the Reading Habits of New Adults

As an academic librarian, I get a different kind of patron than when I worked in an public library. First, I don't get many requests for children's books. This makes me a tiny bit sad because I think there are some excellent children's books that deserve to be explored in academics. Still, I understand that when faculty assign a book or young adults choose a book for class, their first inclination isn't to turn to children's literature. I know I was like that before I took a children's literature class later in college.

It wasn't until I took that class that I realized how much I appreciated and liked reading for children. I was always someone who read up. Even in high school, I read adult books. But then, I realized how well written children books are in comparison to the adult books I'd read. I was struck by how much more entertaining and fun the books were. I was hooked.



So, a part of me wishes more students took children's literature classes in college. If only to remind them there is more to life than adult fiction and non-fiction.

Anyway, after working at a community college for three years, here is what I've noticed about the reading habits of my college-aged patrons.

First, of all the book displays I've ever done for the community college, the ones that have the greatest success are... drum roll, please:

Graphic Novels!



That's right! These things get checked out and read in the library all the time. Almost every day, I see at least one person sitting next to our small graphic novel section, reading whatever strikes their fancy.

When I first arrived at my current position, we had about 60 graphic novels that were spread out all over the library. After talking to my boss, I convinced him to let me collect graphic novels for the library. Since then we've added over 100 books to the collection. This is primarily thanks to a grant from the Meemic Foundation, which allowed us to add over 40 books to the collection. If you work in education, definitely look into their grant program!



These additional books allowed us to give graphic novels there own section in the library and make students aware that we had them. Of all the books I collect, these are the ones most likely to get checked out and not just sit on the shelves.

Secondly, when I get asked for book recommendations (which is very rare at my college), the patrons are almost always young women who are looking for a particular genre (romance, mystery, etc.). This type of request isn't as easy to do in a community college as it is in a public library. Why? Because academic libraries are not laid out with browsing fiction in mind. There are no "historical fiction" or "mystery" or "romance" areas. There is only literature in general. So trying to find certain types of fiction can prove a bit more difficult.



This is one of my pet peeves about library of congress classification, but I doubt it will change any time soon.

Lastly, whenever I do a student recommended book list, it is always a mixture of classics, best-sellers, and the Bible (which might surprise some people, but it is one of the top choices every time I do the survey). We almost always have Harry Potter and The Hunger Games recommended by our students. In addition, we have titles like Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, and The Hobbit.



Anyway, these are just a few insights I've gained into the reading habits of my community college new adults. Maybe you'll find them helpful. I know I do as I consider not only how to collect books for community college students, but also consider how to portray them in stories. After all, knowing what new adults read can only help us as writers when we try to portray them on the page.

The Asterisk Wars: A Glimpse into the Life of an Academic Librarian

As an academic librarian, I don't get to purchase many children's books. From picture books to YA, I have to be very picky about the materials I buy. Personally, I'd love to collect a bunch, but budgets are tight and although we have a Children's Literature class, I can't go crazy.



So, that means I spend a lot of time each year creating a list of the best children's books of each year based on a variety of criteria.

First, I keep track of all the starred reviews. This used to be a tedious task, but then I found Jenn J of the Spreadsheets, who has a wonderful resource for all librarians (or book lovers) who collect children's and YA books. Each year, she keeps track of all the starred reviews from the major reviewers (Booklist, Bulletin, Horn, Kirkus, PW, and SLJ) and puts them into this spreadsheet.

 Jenn!

I add all the books that get four or more starred reviews to a document and put a number of asterisks next to it equal to the starred reviews.



Second, at the end of each year, I keep track of all the best book of the year lists that come out. Each time a book is on one of those lists, I put another asterisk next to it.

Third, I look at Amazon and see what "normal" people are saying about a book. I've seen some six star books have low ratings on Amazon. However, I don't let that hurt the overall score. Instead, if I see a book get 80%+ 5 stars (there needs to be at least ten reviews), I give the book another asterisk.



Lastly, when award season rolls around, I straight-up purchase the winners of the major awards.



So, in 2015 here are what the top five books in each category looked like on my collection development sheet:

Picture Books and Early Readers

***************Last Stop on Market Street Matt de la Peña, illus. by Christian Robinson.
(Stars: Kirkus, Horn, PW; Best Book: Bookbag, Good Reads, Horn, Kirkus, NPR, NYPL, NYT, PW; Newberry Award winner; Caldecott Honor)

***************Waiting Kevin Henkes.
(Stars: Booklist, Horn, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; Best Book: Amazon, Horn, Kirkus, NPR, NYPL, NYT, PW, SLJ; Caldecot Honor)

*************Sidewalk Flowers JonArno Lawson illus. by Sydney Smith.
(Stars: Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; NYT Best Illustrated Book; Best Book: Good Reads, Horn, Kirkus, National Post, NYPL, PW, SLJ; +80% on Amazon)

************Finding Winnie Lindsay Mattick, illus. by Sophie Blackall.
(Stars: Booklist, Horn, PW, SLJ; Best Book: Bookbag, Horn, NYPL, NYT, PW; Caldecott winner; +80% on Amazon)

**********The Princess and the Pony Kate Beaton.
(Stars: Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; Best Book: Amazon, Goodreads, Kirkus, National Post, NYPL, PW)

Middle Grade

****************March: Book Two John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell.
(Stars: Booklist, Horn, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; Best Book: AV Club, B&N, Forbes, Good Reads, GQ, Horn, Kirkus, NPR, PW, Washingston Post; +80% on Amazon)

****************Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan.
(Stars: Amazon, Bulletin, Kirkus, PW, SLJ: Best Book: Amazon, Good Reads, Kirkus, NPR, NYPL, NYT, PW, Washington Post; Kirkus Prize Winner; Newberry Honor)

***************Goodbye Stranger Rebecca Stead.
(Stars: Booklist, Bulletin, Horn, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; Best Book: Amazon, Good Reads, Horn, NPR, NYPL, NYT, PW, Washington Post, SLJ)

**************The Thing about Jellyfish Ali Benjamin.
(Stars: Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ, VOYA; National Book Award longlist; Best Book: Amazon, Good Reads, Kirkus, NPR, NYPL, NYT, PW, SLJ)

**************Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras Duncan Tonatiuh.
(Stars: Booklist, Horn, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; NYT Best Illustrated Book; Best Book: Horn, Kirkus, NYPL, SLJ, Washington Post; Kirkus Prize Finalist; Sibert winner)

Young Adult

********************Nimona Noelle Stevenson.
(Stars: Bulletin, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; Eisner Nomination for Best Webcomic; National Book Award longlist; Best Book: Amazon, AV Club, B&N, Bookbag, Comics Alliance, Forbes, Good Reads, GQ, Kirkus, NPR, NYT, PW, SLJ; +80% 5-star rating on Amazon)

******************Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War Steve Sheinkin.
(Stars: Booklist, Bulletin, Horn, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; National Book Award longlist; Best Book: Amazon, Bookbag, Horn, Kirkus, NYPL, NYT, PW, SLJ Washington Post, YALSA; +80% 5-star rating on Amazon)

***************Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
(Stars: Booklist, Bulletin, Horn, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; Boston Globe/Horn Best Fiction Honor; National Book Award longlist; National Book Award winner; Best Book: Bookbag, Horn, Kirkus, NYPL, PW, SLJ)

**************Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad M.T. Anderson.
(Stars: Booklist, Bulletin, Kirkus, SLJ; National Book Award longlist; Best Book: Bookbag, Boston Globe, Kirkus, NYPL, NYT, PW, SLJ, YALSA)

************Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Becky Albertalli
(Stars: Amazon, Booklist, Bulletin, Kirkus, PW; National Book Award longlist; Best Book: Amazon, Good Reads, Kirkus, NYPL, PW; Morris Award Finalist)

*************Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans Don Brown.
(Stars: Booklist, Bulletin, Horn, Kirkus, PW, SLJ; Best Book: Horn, Kirkus, NYPL, PW, SLJ; +80% 5-star rating on Amazon; Sibert honor)

You may have noticed that graphic novels have a few more opportunities to gather best book of the year awards, this is because I also collect for the graphic novel section and so I can squeeze some of these children/YA graphic novels into that budget so they get some extra love on my personal list.



Anyway, if you are looking for some of the best books from last year to read. These are an excellent starting point. Hope you all find this post helpful, if you do, let me know and I'll try to do some more like it in the future.

Best Wishes,
Joseph

Where the White Rabbit Leads: Thoughts on Metafiction

As I've explored various stories through writing and reading, I realized I enjoy metafiction quite a lot. If you don't know what metafiction is, here's a quick definition from wikipedia:

Metafiction is a literary device used self-consciously and systematically to draw attention to a work's status as an artifact. It poses questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually using irony and self-reflection. It... forces readers to be aware that they are reading a fictional work.



I am familiar with the term "meta" since there is a whole class of gamers called metagamers. Another quick definition from wikipedia:

Metagaming is the use of out-of-game information or resources to affect one's in-game decisions.

As an avid gamer, I make use of metagaming quite often through the use of various resources my characters would not have access to such as walkthroughs, character builds, etc. There are some gamers who do not use these types of things, preferring instead to experience the game without any knowledge beyond what they experience in the game.

Both ways of playing are perfectly fine. There are times I don't metagame at all because I want to experience the story of a game without worrying about the mechanics, but other times I want to know what my character doesn't so I can make the best use of my character's time, resources, and decisions. In short, I don't want my game to be sunk by a poor choice early on.



In some books, the best way to make use of the story's elements is to also think outside-the-page and use metafiction. In the story I created that got me my agent, I wrote about a book that is too tired to tell a story. The first page is a letter to the reader asking them to come back later.

The story immediately jumps into metafiction, but will the intended audience (kids!) really think that way? Some, maybe, but the wonderful thing about children readers is they don't limit there thinking to "meta" or normal. They are much more accepting of all possibilities... even a book writing a letter to them.



Maybe I like metafiction so much because it stretches the imagination of young readers, while respecting the intelligence and experience of older ones.

As a child, my first experience with meta-fiction was The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone. It's a story that stuck with me from an early age and one I've shared with my niece and nephew, who also enjoy it immensely (along with The Book with No Pictures, and other metafiction stories). Why do all three of us enjoy these types of tales?

The humor is probably the biggest draw and interactivity is another. Many metafiction books engage the funny bone and/or involve the reader in some way in the story. They draw us into their blatantly fictional worlds and make us part of them. They help us suspend our disbelief by shattering the fourth-wall between us and the story. They draw us down the rabbit hole... into a Wonderland where anything is possible... a tale about a monster who worries about the monster at the end of the book, a picture book without any pictures in it, or even a book that is too tired to tell a story.



So, has the white rabbit lead you to any good metafiction books lately? If so, then share them here as I'm always looking for more to read.

One Stop Poetry Shoppe for Writers and Lovers of Words

In case you didn't know, April is National Poetry Month.



As an academic librarian, I'm often asked to hunt down good resources for patrons. So to save you some legwork and celebrate National Poetry Month I've gathered twenty of my favorite poetry resources for you to enjoy.

Organizations
Academy of American Poets
Poetry Foundation
Poetry Society of America

Poets and Poems
Famous Poets and Poems
Favorite Poem Project
Poetry Magazine

Ebooks and Databases
American Verse Project
Bartleby Verse Collection
Project Gutenberg Poetry Page

Reference and Resources
Library of Congress, Poetry Resources Guide
Modern American Poetry Guide
Poetry & Literature, Library of Congress
Rhyme Zone (Rhyming Dictionary)
Scansion: The Basics
Understanding and Explicating Poetry

Writing Poetry
How to Write Funny Poetry
Rhymes and Misdemeanors
Rhyme Weaver
Writing Stories in Rhythm and Rhyme

Whether you want to find out more about poetry organizations, hang out with your favorite poets, explore poetry collections, learn how to properly scan poems, or even write them there is a link on this page for you. So I hope you'll make use of these resources to grow your appreciation for poetry and/or improve your writing craft.

And now... for a random dance party!

Why? Because there weren't enough emotes in this post.

Oh, and one more thing... a silly poem for writers.

Stories are read, poems are too.

Writing is sweat, but worth the dew!

You may commence with the throwing of things at the screen.

It Takes a Village to Raise a Writer: Success Isn't Just Personal

As my manuscript nears the point of being submitted to publishing houses, I thought I'd take time to reflect on how the act of writing might be solitary, but the bettering of a book is (at least for me) a communal act.

Like the wave at a ballgame, it is a chain of individuals working together to create something special.



Without my critique partners and agent (and her lovely assistant!), I would be a much worse writer. They constantly give me new perspectives on my own writing and I learn from them each and every day. The coolest thing is that I learn from my critique partners not just when they comment on my stories, but also when I critique theirs.

Sometimes a critique partner's comment leads to a bolt of inspiration.




Other times pondering another person's story gives me unexpected insights into my own writing, where I'm strong or weak and how I can improve. Even beyond improving my craft is the fact that I'm helping the others to improve, too.

With a good group, you can watch as slowly, but surely, everyone in the group grows. Then, one day, one of the members announces getting an agent or a book deal and you know you helped get them to that point in some small... or even big way... just with a few comments. An hour or so out of your day.

Having others in your writing life also helps when times are tough. Life likes to catch us up in whirlwinds great and small.



It can whack us over the head with rejection, personal problems, life changing events.



Our critique partners and agents can help us through these rough patches. They can give us the reassurance and support we need to overcome our doubts, fears, and anxieties. Their cheers can drown out the jeers we might be hearing from others or from ourselves.



So for me, I really do believe it's important to have a good group of supporters in my writing life. Without them, I'd be lost, but with them, I can leap over the hurdles in the way of my writing and sail the stormy seas of life with the knowledge that there are people right there with me... buoying me up when I'm in need. People I can do the same for and together, some day, we'll find our publishing paradises and enjoy the fruits of all our labors.



So to everyone who's helped me become a better writer, critiquer, and human being, I say:

The Suspension Bridge We All Must Cross: Why Fiction Needs to Be Truer Than Life

I recently one of my critique partners was having trouble with a story and I ended up giving her this piece of writing wisdom:

"The problem with fiction is it needs to be truer than life or people with think 'that's convenient!'"

The suspension of disbelief is an important aspect of any work of fiction. It is required by nearly every story told, seen, or read, except maybe those that like to break the fourth wall.



or are purposefully nonsens-icle, like rabbits with pancakes on their heads



This means, unlike life, we can't have coincidences or apparent coincidences show up on the page or we risk the reader seeing behind the curtain and realizing we are not wizards of words, but charlatans selling them deus ex machina snake oil with a side order of lazy writing. And if we do this, then we can't blame our readers if they decide to take out the pitchforks and roast our books with flaming hot reviews.



So, what can we do to encourage our readers to suspend their disbelief? First, everything on the page needs to be truer than life. There needs to be a cause and effect. There needs to be foreshadowing. If there is a reveal in the story or a twist, then the reader needs to have enough clues leading up to it that they have a chance to figure it out on their own.

If you have one character  another character, you can't just do it for fun or slap stick humor. There needs to be some reason for the act that the reader can see and understand. Nothing should come out of left field unless you've shown the reader left field and given them some kind of hint that they should pay attention to left field. Oh, look! There is the guy our main character kicked earlier... with a steamroller!!!



You might notice the kick doesn't have as much impact as the steamroller... this isn't just because the steamroller is bigger and squishier, but also because we have a context. One character was kicked by another and this sets up the motive for revenge... with a steamroller!!! Overkill, yes, but at least there is a setup that explains the action. There is reason to suspend our disbelief and accept that there is a possibility of someone running another person over with a steamroller.

We could set this scene up even better by mentioning the steamroller earlier in the story, having the character who gets kicked be the driver of the steamroller, or any number of other pieces of foreshadowing. The key is to make sure the reader can sense something coming. Even if they don't anticipate exactly what it is completely.

So, just remember, setup is an important aspect of helping your readers suspend their disbelief. So, don't forget it! Whether it's a steamroller or a shark. We need to see it coming... unlike this ninja...