#TSOLG Paperback Palooza: Five Random Questions with Sarah Darer Littman

Sarah Darer Littman, 
strumming about Summer...

Less than two weeks to our Author Palooza on April 19th at the Huntington Public Library. YOU CAN CLICK THIS LINK TO REGISTER!

Several amazing MG and YA authors will be joining me for the fun and hands-on writers workshop, and I thought it would be nice to get to know them -- and me -- a little in the weeks leading up to the event. 

You may read all about the event HERE on the facebook event page, and even if you can't come to the event live, please join the event page and follow along in the fun.

So, over the past few weeks, I've been asking the guest authors to share their favorite piece of writing advice (or quotes that have helped or inspired them) as well as to answer five random questions from a big list I provided and I've been sharing  their answers (and chiming in with a few of my own in pink ...)

Up today with her five random answers to Five Random Questions is guest author Sarah Darer Littman, 

author of WANT TO GO PRIVATE? 

and the forthcoming BACKLASH,  

and several other amazing novels for tweens and teens. Sarah is also a smart and eloquent journalist, and you should follow and read her everywhere possible!

You can read all about Sarah HERE. 

Before we get started with Sarah's five answers, here's a favorite writing quote of hers that helps her stay motivated and focused: 

“The main rule of the writer is never to pity your manuscript. If you see something you know is no good, throw it away and begin again. A lot of writers have failed because they have too much pity. They have already worked so much that they cannot just throw it away. But I say the wastepaper basket is the writer’s best friend.” -Isaac Bashevis Singer

Now on to Five Random Questions with Sarah Darer Littman... 

1. What's one of your silliest memories from childhood? 

My late father was involved with espionage (although we didn’t know it at the time) so we had all sorts of code words and phrases. One particularly silly one was if our Pekinese, Ming (the Merciless) had pooped on a walk, the phrase was “Mr. Brown left a parcel.”

  

              

2.  What's the dumbest thing you ever did?

There isn’t enough space on this blog to list all the dumb things I have done. It’s really amazing that *I* survived to adulthood - or, quite frankly, that I am still surviving as an adult.  But the important thing is to keep learning from your dumb mistakes.

3. Okay, we can't milk specifics there, so... what's the cruelest/funniest thing you ever did to a sibling?

I put my younger sister in my doll carriage and started pushing her down our long and graded driveway. And then, oops, I let go of the handle. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I SWEAR! And then there was a pothole and the end of the driveway, and the carriage wheel hit the pothole and…yep, my younger sister went flying. 

But I wasn’t as bad as my older brother, who tricked my younger sister into the washing basket at the top of the stairs pretending it was a roller coaster - and then pushed her down. 

Frankly, it’s amazing my younger sister survived to adulthood. But she did - and she’s amazing and smart and funny and has two amazing smart and funny kids of her own!

4. What unique skill do you possess?

This isn’t a unique skill, but I have an extremely ANNOYING skill of having a song for every occasion, and an extremely awful tuneless voice to sing it in. This is the cross my children must bear, and they bear it with loud and frequent complaints. 

5. What did you want to be when you grew up?

The first thing I ever remember wanting to be was an airline stewardess. That’s what they were called then, because I’m old. It’s funny because now I hate flying, but I think my desire was more about the fact that I love going to new places and experiencing different cultures and meeting people who might live and think differently than I do, but looking for our common experiences. I thought about a career in the State Department when I was in college. 

In high school, I knew I wanted to be a writer but Dad said “You’ll never make a living as an English major.” 

It took me 38 years and hospitalization for a breakdown before I finally found the courage to listen to high school me and follow my dream. 

Sarah, what a brave, honest answer to share. Thank you. As for the stewardess part, me too (and me too on the ix-nay on the eyeing-flay now...) except for me, I think it was more about the outfits they wore back then. So glamorous! (I'm old too!)

So, there you have it. . . some advice and a few random things about author Sarah Darer Littman. Hope you'll check out all of her books, and if you're anywhere local, that you'll join us at the Huntington Public Library on April 19th for the reading, book signing and, if you're a tween or teen writer, the hands-on writers workshop with all these fabulous authors! 

Registration is open! 

And don't forget to order a paperback copy of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO if you can't come to the Palooza to get a signed one!

xox gae

Friday Feedback: How to Keep Going When Your Inner Critic Chimes In, A Few Words About Querying, and a Standing Offer.

my kids hate these sunglasses.

Whoa! Hold on one minute!!!

No one, but NO one, said summer could go this fast.

NO ONE.

I mean, seriously, like mind-blowingly fast.

Alas, it has, and, thus, it is somehow our last official day -- and our last official Friday Feedback -- of the 2014 Teachers Write! summer.

*cue tears* Because, trust me, we are all as sad as you are.

Yet, all we can do is make the most of it. Go out with a bang! So, this modgepodge post will contain:

1. some hopefully valuable information on how to keep going when your inner critic chimes in, from Sarah Darer Littman (& a few others);

2. my now-usual parting gift (you'll see in a moment if you're new here...);

3. the name of the winner of the belated-but-not-forgotten drawing for an Advance Review Copy of Amy Fellner Dominy's A MATTER OF HEART which comes out next spring!

and, of course,

4. Some last-gasp Friday Feedback sharing of any excerpt of your choosing!

It's a long, long post, so apologies, but there's lots I wanted to cover. So, without further ado, here's Sarah, with:

#1. How to keep going when your inner critic chimes in...

Sarah is the author of the forthcoming BACKLASH,
WANT TO GO PRIVATE? and several other amazing
YA novels. Click the link and read all about her!

The Inner Crazy Lady:

After reading some campers' feedback to Gae’s question on the Teachers Write Facebook page the other day about how we might improve consistent participation in Teacher’s Write throughout the summer,  I started to recognize a familiar friend – or, more accurately, a familiar “Frenemy" -- showing up in your comments.

I call mine, “The Inner Crazy Lady.” You might call yours “The Inner Crazy Guy” or “The internalized voice of my hyper critical parents/friends/relatives” or, simply, "Bob."

What this particular "friend" does is sabotage your writing process – inhibiting the free flow of creativity, making you afraid to put another word on the page, preventing you from finishing what you started.

Sarah's ICL probably tried to stop Backlash
from being written. I'll say Beyotch!
*meanwhile, if you're reading captions,
write "I read captions" in your comment to
be entered to win an ARC of Sarah's Backlash!
Winner announced next week
on the TW! facebook page! 

How does The Inner Crazy Lady (or Bob) do this?  By telling you it sucks. That this is THE WORST THING EVER WRITTEN IN THE HISTORY OF EVER. By saying that you’re not a writer, you’re a fraud. My ICL still says tells me this even though my fifth book comes out next March, I’ve written many other work-for-hire books, and I have been paid to write political opinion columns since 2003. Put simply, she is a total beyotch.

As soon as I hear one of my students apologizing for their work before they’ve even read it, I give them “The Inner Crazy Lady” talk. I tell them how I’ve learned to trick the ICL by writing my first drafts as fast as I can, so that hopefully I’m finished by the time she wakes up and starts harassing me. If she does start up, thanks to Anne Lamott I have an answer for her: “Girl, this is just a sh*tty first draft. I’m just getting words on the page. I CAN FIX IT (“it” being whatever her complaint is at the moment) IN REVISION.”

Why do I call her a frenemy rather than simply an enemy? Because the Inner Crazy Lady is also responsible for my driven almost to the point of insanity work ethic, and for how I try to learn from the experience of writing each book (including the criticism) so that I can do better on the next one.  It’s okay that she hangs around -just not while I’m writing the first draft.

Find the strategies you need to keep your Inner Crazy Lady (or Bob) in check. And don’t think you’re alone! Every author has one.

-Sarah  

Amy Fellner Dominy, author of OyMG, Audition & Subtraction,
and the forthcoming A Matter of Heart on her inner critic...

and, Charlotte Bennardo, co-author of the Sirenz Series & Blonde Ops

and, me, author of The Pull of Gravity & The Summer of Letting Go

#2. a parting gift... So last year, and maybe the year before, I made a so-far standing offer to any TW! camper who regularly participated on Friday Feedback to review your query letter for any of your WIP's when ready. This summer, I hereby extend this offer. I know this gift only really helps those of you who are working on your own fiction, but, hey, camp is free, and at least it's a little something. BEFORE you send my your queries, I beg of you, please do your research on how to write a query letter and read this post: Friday Feedback: KISS those Queries! While the advice in there is harsh and limiting, I stand by it. Though I have seen the rare query that violates these rules and still gets requests, you'd better believe it was because the manuscript described was exactly what that agent was looking (or, hoping) for. If you find yourself ready to query, feel free to contact me at my email g.polisner@gmail.com or through my facebook author page;

#3. The winner of an ARC of Amy's Fellner Dominy's of A MATTER OF HEART,

as determined in a purely random drawing involving only me, your names on folded paper, and my son's green golf hat, 

but carefully supervised by the accounting firm of My Son's Dog, Charlie. . . 

is Linda Mitchell!!!! Linda, email me at g.polisner@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with Amy for mailing information!

and, last, but not least, 

4. Friday Feedback. You know the RULES! Since it's just you and me today, I'll share a passage from the very middle of my WIP I'm turning in to my agent as we speak! Wish me luck! The story takes place near NYC on the day of, and in the few immediate days after, 9/11. The MC Kyle brings home a girl who has amnesia (and some other weird things) and he hasn't exactly figured out how to tell his cop dad, whose been busy down at the site, that he's brought her there... fyi, we don't know the girl's name, and Kerri is Kyle's sister. . .  So, what works for you? What doesn't? Does it compel you to keep on reading? 

See you in the comments!

Kerri’s door is still shut.

            I knock as quietly as I can, then open it a crack without waiting. So she doesn't call out, to tell me it’s okay to come in.

            Except I don’t need to worry about that.

Because she’s not in the room anymore.

            Kerri’s bed is empty. Made up. My plaid pajama pants folded neatly on the pillow.

            I run down the hall to the bathroom even though it’s clear she’s not there. The door is wide open, the toothbrush I gave her gone from the sink.

            My heart races. Why did she leave without telling me?

            I close the door and sit on the toilet to think, then figure, screw it. If she’s gone, she’s gone. What am I going to do about it? 

            It’s her problem, right? Not mine.

            Still.

I close my eyes and lean back against the cold tank, shake my head against the thoughts that creep in.

The girl on the bridge in those wings.

At the edge.

Leaning way out over the water. . .

            I try to think back to my sister’s room. Did she take the wings with her? I don't remember seeing them on the chair.

I look helplessly around the bathroom wondering if I said something to bother or upset her? Wondering if she left me some clue.

My eyes pause on the magazine basket. It’s out of place a little, maybe. Rifled through. Jutting from the base of the cabinet.

On top is a June issue of the New York Insider magazine with a photo of Washington Square Park on the cover. Stone archway, pink trees in massive bloom. In an inset, a photo of those three asshole prep school boys who they say raped that exchange student this past summer.

Was that just a few weeks ago?

It was such a huge story back then.

I shove the basket back with my foot, and stand up. Why can’t I be an uncaring asshole like they are?

I mean, really. Why do I care about the girl?

It's great news that she’s gone!

Now, she’s not my problem anymore.

I'm relieved!

I should be relieved.

So why do I feel so crappy?

***

See you all next summer! Or maybe for a few periodic FF's between now and then?! 
xox gae

p.s. please continue to buy, share, tweet and review the titles of all the Friday Feedback guest authors. Word of mouth is everything to most of us! 

Friday Feedback: Our Inner Crazy Lady (or Dude) & a Pulse-Pounding Excerpt

Sarah and me with one huggable Paul Hankins who snuck in -
okay, maybe not snuck - last spring. :)

Hello, all my Teachers Write! (and other lurky?) lovelies!

It's FRIDAY FEEDBACK, and you know what that means?! (If you don't, go HERE).


Today, I'm lucky to have Sarah Darer Littman*

("Want To Go Private?") with me for two (well really, a dozen) reasons.

First, I love and adore her, and second (omg, omg!) she did ALL the hard blog post work for me today!


Especially, with our Teachers Write! Virtual Progress Pool Party Chat & Read Aloud all day tomorrow (are you signed up?!**), and my Frankie revisions due date looming just around the summery corner, I am so grateful for that.

Speaking of which, you won't likely see me back here in the comments until Saturday or even Sunday. . .

that looks about right. . . grrr.

(having a little birthday party for myself on Saturday . . . ;) but I'm sure Sarah will hold down the fort, though not until midday as she has a political column due! #busybusyJuly!

So, without further ado (though maybe with some minor chiming in by me -- hey, it's my blog, you know the drill), HEEEEERE's Sarah!

(er, that is a Johnny Carson intro, not a Shining One!):


Hello Teachers Write Campers! I hope you are enjoying your summer and writing, writing, writing!

I should probably say something profound and inspirational, but I'm a Jewish mother, so first I'm going to nag you and kvetch about my health a little. Campers, make sure you are writing in an ergonomic position. I have learned about this the hard way. Two years ago I had to have surgery for tennis elbow that was triggered by tennis but aggravated by laptop work in a non-ergonomic position. These days I'm dealing with a really delightful combo of tendonitis and the beginning of carpal tunnel. So take it from Mama Littman (as I'm known amongst my daughter's friends): Look after your health while you write. Otherwise you end up taking pills for inflammation that upset your stomach and then you can't drink ICED COFFEE, the Heaven sent nectar of the writer. This is not good. Take it from me.


My friend Irene posted this cartoon on my Facebook recently and asked me if it was true for me:

I told her I can go through all of those emotions several times in the course of a day. That's why I've become a firm believer in Anne Lamott's concept of a "shitty first draft", as elaborated in BIRD BY BIRD - one of the best books on writing. I try to write my first drafts as fast as possible, to try and trick my inner crazy lady. On the days when I feel like what I've written is total drek, I just repeat: "It's just a first draft. Revision is where the magic happens."

(me: hah! Inner Crazy Lady! I think I house a couple of those! In fact, anyone watching me on my private [stupid, ridiculous, inane] private facebook page this month would have seen these highs & lows of "I'm brilliant!"/"I suck!" played out in my status updates right before their very eyes!)


With that in mind, I give you the opening of a WIP that had a title but now doesn't. The previous title made my agent think of a bodice ripper. She had a point.

(me: it's not a boddice ripper, but it is a pulse pounder! Thanks for sharing, Sarah!)

The Humvee speeds down the road, creating a wake of dust. My mother is inside, grey eyes alert, watching for danger. The knuckles clutching her medic bag are white, but she's ready to jump out the minute the vehicle stops to do her job; to tend to the injured, to try to save lives. It's her mission. It's what she was trained to do. But I know what's hidden up ahead. I try calling out to warn her, to warn the driver to stop, slam on the brakes, to turn back, change course.

My lips move but nothing comes out. I'm shouting but nobody hears me. The Humvee keeps speeding towards the hidden IED. My blood is racing; my heart feels like it's going to break through my rib cage. I try screaming but it's as if someone has reached into my throat and torn out my vocal chords, leaving me helpless to save them. My mouth is still open, rounded in a pained, soundless scream when the weight of the Humvee triggers the IED in a fiery explosion. Metal, glass, and body parts go flying.They're dead, and it's all my fault.

I'm woken up by the sound of my own sobbing, the pillowcase soaked with tears. It's three twenty-three, according to the alarm clock.  Mid morning in Iraq. Mom could be out on a mission. What if it's not a dream? What if she's really going down the road in a Hummer toward danger, and I could have saved her, somehow?

Stop it, Madison!

I stare up into the darkness, taking deep breaths, willing my heart to slow its frantic cadence.

It’s just a dream. She’s safe.

The words are my mantra, the charm I use to dispel the hazy remnants of the same dream I've been having every few weeks since my mother deployed ten months ago.


- Sarah (& gae)

*p.s. for more about Sarah, find her on facebook and twitter @sarahdarerlitt!

** If you're not signed up, it may not be too late for you to pop in for a session. Follow me on Spreecast and go to the fb events page and I'll let you in!