Reflections on the SCBWI National Conference

via wikipedia

I want to sing like the birds sing,
not worrying about who hears or what they think.
― Rumi

I just got back from the SCBWI National Conference in New York City.

Wow.

There was so much information to absorb. I flew home last night, exhausted. All I've been able to do today is organize my thoughts, and I'm not very far along in that task. Enter: the blog post. You, my dear bloggy friends, are my unsuspecting therapists for this session. ;)

Attending a writers conference does two things for me:

1) It gives me plenty of revision homework.

and

2) It injects me with creative energy. Good thing I'm not taking Rumi literally - my words are really all that sing well around this house.

If you recall, last week I posted about my two manuscripts, and which I would present to the editors for a critique. Old Kitty got her wish. (Yay!)

I read the first 500 of my MG work, Mist of Kavala, to Scholastic editor, Jenne Abramowitz. Her list includes lots of humorous middle grade fiction. While my MS is not humorous fiction, she really encouraged me by totally buying into the sci-fi premise of my story. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but I thought she was nodding her head and smiling at me like: "Go for it." The boost to my fragile writer's morale was priceless. Now, I do have to work on formatting a few things, and the rest of the story needs a thorough edit still, but I think maybe I'm on to something.

In the afternoon, I met with Kari Sutherland from HarperCollins. I read the first 500 of  my YA Fantasy, Burnt Amber. Can I just say that I've been working my butt off on this MS? I've revised, and revised, and revised again. I totally get the word RE-VISION. Apparently, the work paid off. She said BA has an authentic teen voice. I translated that to: "the voice works".  She might as well have told me I won the lottery.

So what does all this mean? Were they just being nice to me because I was sitting at the same table? Will the self-doubt never end?

Other conference highlights:

• I met people I've only seen in thumbnails on the sidebar of a website. Puts things into perspective like nothing else, I tell you. I really want to query some of them now, and some others I don't think would be a good fit at all.
• I attended amazing breakout sessions given by editors from important publishing houses. For example, Wendy Loggia from Delacorte gave pointers on the sensory elements she looks for in manuscripts. I love the way she thinks, especially since I dream in deckle-edge.
• I met lots of authors. Cassandra Clare, Katherine Erskine, Chris Crutcher....there's a long list of awesome for this conference.
• I made some new friends from the Carolinas and beyond.

Most importantly, I learned that I shouldn't give up on this dream of mine. Ever.

Forbidden Amulets

muska

Maşallah!

If you've been to Turkey, chances are you've seen this word woven into a banner hanging on a taxi or bus window, or even heard someone say it.

The word translates to "God has willed it". Take it as praise if someone says it to you. It's really admiration disguised as a prayer to protect the receiver/bearer from the evil eye.

Lots of Turkish people wear or display a blue nazar boncuk glass bead to protect against the evil eye too. It's not uncommon to find the nazar boncuk with the Maşallah on it, or next to it as well. Double protection.

For triple protection, you'll want a muska with an evil eye bead, embossed with Maşallah.

Muska - pronouced moo-ska - is an amulet containing a Qu'ranic verse or prayer. Old nomadic versions were a simple piece of leather, stiched in a triangle, worn as a necklace or stitched into clothing. Upgrades are made of silver or metal like the one in the picture above. The practice was not limited to Turkey. I remember plenty of gorgeous, empty bedouin amulets in the souqs of Abu Dhabi.

Here's where stuff gets sticky:

Anyone can fold up a printed prayer and wear it in an amulet, but the muska is actually a pagan throwback.

According to the old ways, a medium (think gypsy or shaman) would write the desired verse, fold it up and pray over it - drawing djinn, or some sort of secret magnetism to the amulet for effectiveness. Some mediums were said to use spells and/or curses. I think there's something important about the triangular shape, but I've seen squares too, so I'm not sure anymore.

All of the above is forbidden according to Islam.

Too bad, because both the nazar boncuk and the muska make pretty necklaces. I suppose we can still wear them (and use them in our stories), as long as we don't believe in the hocus pocus.

Two-faced Transition

wikipedia

2012 is supposed to be a year of transition. I didn't come up with this idea - the Mayan calendar says so: "End of Great Cycle". I'd like to thank them for the heads up because, personally, I think beginnings are scarier than endings. I know because I write them. -- I'm 100% sure my writer friends agree with this assessment.

You don't have to be a writer or a Mayan to understand. I'm thinking Janus is a pretty good example of what I mean.

Thankfully, Wikipedia is up today, free and unfettered:

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions, thence also of gates, doors, doorways, endings and time. He is usually a two-faced god since he looks to the future and the past. The concepts of January and janitor are both based on aspects of Janus.

So here we are, January of transition year 2012. What am I doing? Transitioning.

I've got one manuscript to the point where I will not touch it again without an agent looking at it first. I've got another just coming out of the gate, with plenty of room for improvement.
The problem: I've got an SCBWI conference this week and I don't know which to submit.

One is a YA fantasy designed for girls. The other is an MG Sci-fi designed for boys. Two very different sides of me, both important. One is a huge part of my past, with plenty of connections to my time as a young woman in Turkey. The other is my present and future, with teen/tween testosterone-filled adventure crammed into the work. I'm writing under the influence of my boys.

I love both manuscripts, and I'm starting to feel like Janus. Look back? Or look forward? Can't I have both?

My flawed plan: I have the first 500 of each polished to a high shine - read: best of my ability. I'll know what to do when I walk through the ballroom doorway because Fate will decide which editor/agent sits across from me. I'll ask them which they'd prefer to see.

Only one itty bitty problem -- I won't be able to sleep until its over.


Janitors are so underappreciated, btw.

Donkeys, Elephants - and Camels?

wikipedia

Election season brings out the animal in lots of people. (Sorry for the bad joke.)

I won't say if I'm a donkey or an elephant, but I thought you might like to know that some people think politicians are camels. Yes. Breeders of wrestling camels name their animals after politicians.

I see the resemblance. Camels and politicians look friendly at first glance. Camels bat their lovely long eyelashes at an unsuspecting person, so you think they might be helpful, you know - to carry your stuff, or give you a ride to the nearest watering hole. Politicians have great smiles... you fill in the blanks.

Get too close and both can turn nasty and spit. Believe me, "camel breath" is the ultimate insult.
I almost passed out when a camel breathed on me once. Maybe I should stop comparing these two before you think I'm too cynical/critical/insane.

Back to the wrestling camels:

Camels in the wild wrestle over females in heat. Long story short: Men got involved and camel wrestling became an Anatolian event. As a part of Turkic heritage, camel wrestling tournaments are a lucrative tourist attraction. The tradition has seen an upswing as a result, and a prize bactrian (two humps) camel can now go for up to $20,000.

I think a camel would have to go 0-60 much faster for me to pay that much, but then there are camels bred for racing too. I lived in the UAE - land of the even more expensive racing camel. Dromedary (one hump) camels are FAST. I reevaluated my perception of the camel after I saw one running past. They can get up to 40 miles per hour, which is a lot faster than my two feet can carry me. They run on animal feed, which probably costs less and gets more miles per gallon. Plus a camel can cross the desert with little water and survive crazy sandstorms.

I haven't included any camels in my work. Probably because I haven't found that character who needs to meet a stubborn pack animal yet.

Wonder who represents the camel party around here...

wikipedia

Shortcuts

ARWEN

This isn't Vermont, although the picture does remind me of my days at Bennington and a certain local poet.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost

Gosh, I love that poem.

The picture above was taken at Yedigöller National Park, on Bolu Mountain in Turkey.

I travelled over that mountain a few times. The old highway (two lanes) snakes up though some breathtaking scenery, up to the top. There's a good roadside restaurant run by the Varan busline there. One really should stop and take in the view, especially when the strawberries are in season.

A tunnel bypasses it all now, saving hours. Hours! Just think of the things I can do with all that time.

The scenic route usually means we took the long way by accident, in my family anyway. So in an age when everything is "so 42 seconds ago" I wonder, will the next generation seek out these places? I think our grandparents wondered the same thing about us, yet I wander - except when there's a convenient tunnel.

Darn tunnel.

itusozluk 

There weren't many tunnels where I grew up, so I probably love them more as a result. You know what? When you use a tunnel, you bypass all sorts of lovely. But when you get where you need to go, there's extra time to find a different sort of lovely at your destination.

Brings writing to mind. I prefer to follow an unexplored story trail, but I don't have time to revisit unless it's useful, because a pretty path isn't enough. Something needs to be stunning for me to make the trek. Think of the poem. Frost doesn't let us get away from his single minded idea. He takes no tangent to describe the leaves on the trees, only the leaves on his path. Seems to me like sticking to the path is a good idea.

Gosh, it took me a long time to realize that!

Off With Their Heads!

image credit

You may recall last spring/summer I was actively researching Mithraic mysteries and Cilician pirates. Well, the research led me to some interesting places in my new MS -- places I'd always wanted to go, but never knew how to utilize.

Nemrut is one of those places. Search the word hierothesion, and you won't find an easy definition. What you'll find is a link pointing over to UNESCO world heritage site, Nemrut.

To paraphrase what I learned:

Nemrut is believed to be the burial site of King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene, high on the mountain top overlooking his kingdom. Hierothesion refers to the way the statues of the gods are arranged at the site. (see restoration below)

Now here's where I go off track a bit.

The statues are enormous (8–9 m/26–30 ft). Depictions of Hercules/Vahagn, Zeus/Oromasdes, Apollo/Mithra, Tyche, plus paired eagles and lions, flank the king. To confuse me some more, the statues wear Persian style dress/hair, but were carved with Greek faces. (And why are all the guys identified in Greek/Persian, but Tyche, the goddess of fortune, is only Tyche? I'm voting to call her Tyche/Mah, but what do I know?) It seems the hierothesion falls at some sort of midpoint between the two belief systems, circa 62 BC.

http://fararheill.is/risastytturnar-i-nemrut



Something so big and so important draws attention. When religious ideas of the area shifted to monotheism, the statues were beheaded, lest they be used for idol worship. No one knows when or how it happened, but the heads are now located down the hill from their respective torsos.
Maybe that isn't such a travesty after all. The statues are interesting, but I think the detached heads are what make the site unique.

The image on the right of a restored Nemrut is from an Icelandic source that I couldn't really translate well. (Feel free to follow the link and try for yourself.)

For a long time, not many people made it out to Nemrut. It's out past Malatya, near Adiyaman in eastern Turkey. Read: very far from the beach.

Tourists are coming much more consistently these days. Now Malatya and Adiyaman are fighting for road access rights, airports, and hotels. I think before they worry about the tourists, they should worry about the statues. More people means more deterioration of the site.

Controversy over Mt Nemrut spreads

And PS - No spoilers in the comments, LTM! ;)


Historical (in)Accuracy

clipart etc

ost everything I write has roots in some archeological site, artwork, or historical figure. I take what information I need and leave what I don't, which isn't easy. I want to honor the history, yet my story needs are different (and more important). It takes me a few days to process the research and pick out the suitable details. I don't pretend to write historical fiction. I write fantasy, yet what I keep usually rings pretty true. However...lately, I've been wondering just how far I'm willing to drift from my sources.

As far as accuracy of place, I try to be strong willed and make the story fit the landmarks. I don't change things. Two excellent examples of my reasoning:

1) Assassin's Creed-Revelations put a port in Cappadocia.
2)The International relocated Yerebatan Sarnici beneath the Blue Mosque.

Shifts like that irk me because I know better, and because those shifts mislead people. Many viewers or readers won't know the difference, and worse, they might take the information at face value. I suppose the important issue is exposing the public to the landmark, regardless of location, but it bugs me. Does it bug you?

I find historical figures are even more sticky to handle. So much so, I'm thinking to rename some major characters in Burnt Amber to avoid a big headache later.

Exhibit A:

The Turkish series I currently <3 <3 <3, Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century), featured Isabella Fortuna, Princess of Castile -  a whole subplot of her falling for Sultan Suleiman. Give me a break.

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

That Isabella died in 1504. (I think they're referring to queen Isabella - I can't find evidence to the contrary.) What was she doing in Istanbul in late1526?

Don't screw with my head like that, people. Readers and viewers are not stupid, and we don't appreciate being misled. Although what worries me most is the idea that these inaccurate episodes may be the only history lesson people get about these rulers. At least give us a decent disclaimer. No?

So. Maybe I can and should go farther from my source than I thought, especially since I know accuracy is not all it seems to be either. Winners wrote their version of the story. What would the losers have to say?

I say creative license is a blessing. What say you?