Showing posts with label blog ramble. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog ramble. Show all posts

Saturday, June 8

I'm the featured guest today for Tina's Book Reviews's Saturday Spotlight. I talk about how the ideas of grief, ghosts and God came together in my novel. There's also an Amazon giftcard giveaway going on through July 1. Please swing on by to say hello!

 Have any of your stories taken years to gel? Do you revisit trunked projects?

Inspirations...and a giveaway

Saturday, June 08, 2013 Laurel Garver
I'm the featured guest today for Tina's Book Reviews's Saturday Spotlight. I talk about how the ideas of grief, ghosts and God came together in my novel. There's also an Amazon giftcard giveaway going on through July 1. Please swing on by to say hello!

 Have any of your stories taken years to gel? Do you revisit trunked projects?

Friday, May 3

I'm over at Tyrean Martinson's blog today, explaining why fiction writers should include poetry reading in their craft-building self-education, in a post titled "Why read poetry?".

Poets have plenty to teach you about how to use words powerfully, how to employ sound and rhythm to undergird the action and emotion in your work, and how to conquer wordiness. You might be surprised to know that even genre-based magazines--romance, fantasty, SciFi, horror--often publish poems. So if form scares you off, perhaps content will make the prospect a bit more enticing.

I hope to speak more specifically about some of these things in an ongoing series "Stolen from Poets." My first post, on using vowel power to ramp up emotion, is HERE.

Are you verse averse? How might you overcome it?


Verse averse? Why you should try poetry

Friday, May 03, 2013 Laurel Garver
I'm over at Tyrean Martinson's blog today, explaining why fiction writers should include poetry reading in their craft-building self-education, in a post titled "Why read poetry?".

Poets have plenty to teach you about how to use words powerfully, how to employ sound and rhythm to undergird the action and emotion in your work, and how to conquer wordiness. You might be surprised to know that even genre-based magazines--romance, fantasty, SciFi, horror--often publish poems. So if form scares you off, perhaps content will make the prospect a bit more enticing.

I hope to speak more specifically about some of these things in an ongoing series "Stolen from Poets." My first post, on using vowel power to ramp up emotion, is HERE.

Are you verse averse? How might you overcome it?


Wednesday, April 24

I'm the featured guest today on "Artist Unleashed" series over at Jessica Bell's blog The Alliterative Allomorph, talking about how to preserve your life experiences patchwork-style. You might be too young to write a memoir, but your life experiences are worth capturing now, before they lose their keen freshness. I suggest why and how in my post "Save Your Life: a Patchwork Approach."

If you ever get writer's block, this post is for you. If you think poetry is impossible to write, this post is for you, too.

How to save your life

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 Laurel Garver
I'm the featured guest today on "Artist Unleashed" series over at Jessica Bell's blog The Alliterative Allomorph, talking about how to preserve your life experiences patchwork-style. You might be too young to write a memoir, but your life experiences are worth capturing now, before they lose their keen freshness. I suggest why and how in my post "Save Your Life: a Patchwork Approach."

If you ever get writer's block, this post is for you. If you think poetry is impossible to write, this post is for you, too.

Thursday, April 18

If you write fiction and have ever been tempted to try your hand at poetry, or you're simply curious about the diverse kinds of poetry out there, check out my guest post for fiction-in-verse author Caroline Starr Rose, "Stories that Sing: Poems with a Plot." It's part of Caroline's excellent National Poetry Month series serving up a daily dose of poetic treats.

In the post, I share a bit about the history of narrative poetry, explain how I crafted some of my own poems, and offer advice on giving this genre a go yourself.

Tales of heroes and epic love find a voice by the fire. (morguefile.com) 

If you've done any writing at all, you have raw material for poems. Fiction drafts, journal entries, childhood stories you've jotted down, the spooky tales your uncle told around the campfire--all are excellent sources for narrative poems.

What's holding you back? How might the image of campfire stories help you take the plunge?

Stories that sing

Thursday, April 18, 2013 Laurel Garver
If you write fiction and have ever been tempted to try your hand at poetry, or you're simply curious about the diverse kinds of poetry out there, check out my guest post for fiction-in-verse author Caroline Starr Rose, "Stories that Sing: Poems with a Plot." It's part of Caroline's excellent National Poetry Month series serving up a daily dose of poetic treats.

In the post, I share a bit about the history of narrative poetry, explain how I crafted some of my own poems, and offer advice on giving this genre a go yourself.

Tales of heroes and epic love find a voice by the fire. (morguefile.com) 

If you've done any writing at all, you have raw material for poems. Fiction drafts, journal entries, childhood stories you've jotted down, the spooky tales your uncle told around the campfire--all are excellent sources for narrative poems.

What's holding you back? How might the image of campfire stories help you take the plunge?

Wednesday, April 17

What? you might think. How could fear be a friend?

As part of Jennifer R. Hubbard's guest series on facing fear, I suggest a whole new paradigm for how writers might approach and think about fear. Stop on by to learn more at my guest post "Writing through Fear."

You might be surprised to learn that it's through writing poetry that I learned this lesson. Poetry often has the reputation of being trite, dainty contemplations of flower petals and sunsets; the best poems are so much more.

How has writing shifted your perspectives?


Fear is your friend

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 Laurel Garver
What? you might think. How could fear be a friend?

As part of Jennifer R. Hubbard's guest series on facing fear, I suggest a whole new paradigm for how writers might approach and think about fear. Stop on by to learn more at my guest post "Writing through Fear."

You might be surprised to learn that it's through writing poetry that I learned this lesson. Poetry often has the reputation of being trite, dainty contemplations of flower petals and sunsets; the best poems are so much more.

How has writing shifted your perspectives?


Monday, April 8


April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, I'm scattering poetry love among my fellow bloggers. 

Photo by d3designs, morguefile.com
Today I'm over at Connie Keller's blog "A Merry Heart," with tips for beginner poets, "Make Words Your Playground." 

Many writers fear poetry based on misperceptions: it is old-fashioned and frivolous, or else it's much, much, much too hard to read or write.

 Honestly, most poetry is not highbrow and esoteric; it can be very FUN to write. Yes, it's more condensed than prose, but who needs a PhD to trim things? And no matter what genre you most often write in, you want your work to stir your reader's imagination and give them a sensory experience. Learning some techniques used in poetry can help you do just that. I guarantee your prose will get stronger from experimenting with poetry.

If you're trying to build a publication history, it's often easier to break in with poetry. Literary journals typically publish three to four times as many poems as short stories per issue, simply because they take up less space.

Do you have fears about writing poetry? Would you like to learn more about poetry techniques and how to use them in prose?

Tips for getting started in poetry

Monday, April 08, 2013 Laurel Garver

April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, I'm scattering poetry love among my fellow bloggers. 

Photo by d3designs, morguefile.com
Today I'm over at Connie Keller's blog "A Merry Heart," with tips for beginner poets, "Make Words Your Playground." 

Many writers fear poetry based on misperceptions: it is old-fashioned and frivolous, or else it's much, much, much too hard to read or write.

 Honestly, most poetry is not highbrow and esoteric; it can be very FUN to write. Yes, it's more condensed than prose, but who needs a PhD to trim things? And no matter what genre you most often write in, you want your work to stir your reader's imagination and give them a sensory experience. Learning some techniques used in poetry can help you do just that. I guarantee your prose will get stronger from experimenting with poetry.

If you're trying to build a publication history, it's often easier to break in with poetry. Literary journals typically publish three to four times as many poems as short stories per issue, simply because they take up less space.

Do you have fears about writing poetry? Would you like to learn more about poetry techniques and how to use them in prose?

Thursday, April 4

Photo by palomino, morguefile.com 
Independent publishing has truly revolutionized how books get into the hands of readers. Authors themselves can get books to market themselves quickly and cheaply. The prevailing thoughts about it tend to fall into these two camps:

This is great news: authors are earning more sooner, unheard voices are emerging, genre-benders are seeing the light of day.

This is terrible news: quality is a thing of the past, we’re drowning in a deluge of bestseller knockoffs, it’s impossible for non-genre authors to get any traction.

In my experience, the Indie Revolution is neither all roses nor all doom. When you want to bring something completely different to readers, it can be the best option, because legacy publishers tend to be risk averse, and new approaches are by nature risky. But book marketing is tricky no matter how you publish, and when you’re going it alone, something of a daunting task. Building an audience takes time, but the independent author has the advantage of “the long tail”--your work is available as long as you like, rather than having to earn out in a matter of months or face a premature death.

A number of factors led me onto the Indie path.

First is my broad experience in publishing. Over the past 21 years, I’ve done copywriting, editing, graphic design, print production, project management, scheduling, and copyrights and permissions. It felt like a natural extension of my existing skill sets to produce polished, professional books after years of producing magazines and newsletters.

Second is the nature of my fiction and poetry, which takes faith seriously but doesn't sanitize real life problems. I soon discovered that what I think of as the sweet spot (the dramatic place where life and beliefs collide) falls into a publishing no-man’s-land, too faith-saturated for the secular market, but too edgy for the Christian market. You’d be surprised by how little it takes to be “edgy” in the Christian market, where even “gosh” might be considered profanity. I explain more in an interview I did with Author Karen Akins (http://novelsduringnaptime.blogspot.com/2012/10/edgy-clean-writing-across-genre-divides.html).   Rather than choose a side, I opted to forge a new path.

Finally, I considered the following three questions:

1. What does success look like TO ME?

Quitting the day job to write full time might be your goal. Or having a loyal following of readers who appreciate your work. It might mean having a certain level of control. Producing work that you feel proud of. Reaching a particular target audience with something helpful and life-giving. Having creative freedom to write in several different genres or across categories.

2. What are my no-go areas?

What sacrifices am I not willing to make in my career? This might involve decisions about genres and approaches, financial risk, public exposure, associations. Where are you unwilling to compromise?

3. What kind of writing lifestyle can I maintain?

This question is perhaps the toughest to answer. It has to do with your stamina, your level of self-motivation, your ability to deal with outside pressure and to some degree the strength of your ego.


After much research and soul-searching, I concluded that publishing independently fit best with my work and my goals. It enables me to tell the kinds of stories I feel called to share without downplaying either the grit or the spiritual aspects. I can produce at my own pace, market at my own pace, and work in multiple genres.

(This had originally been a guest post I'd written for Michelle Davidson Argyle/The Innocent Flower.)

Have you wrestled with publishing path decision-making? What questions or concerns do/did you have?

Why choose the Indie path? My story

Thursday, April 04, 2013 Laurel Garver
Photo by palomino, morguefile.com 
Independent publishing has truly revolutionized how books get into the hands of readers. Authors themselves can get books to market themselves quickly and cheaply. The prevailing thoughts about it tend to fall into these two camps:

This is great news: authors are earning more sooner, unheard voices are emerging, genre-benders are seeing the light of day.

This is terrible news: quality is a thing of the past, we’re drowning in a deluge of bestseller knockoffs, it’s impossible for non-genre authors to get any traction.

In my experience, the Indie Revolution is neither all roses nor all doom. When you want to bring something completely different to readers, it can be the best option, because legacy publishers tend to be risk averse, and new approaches are by nature risky. But book marketing is tricky no matter how you publish, and when you’re going it alone, something of a daunting task. Building an audience takes time, but the independent author has the advantage of “the long tail”--your work is available as long as you like, rather than having to earn out in a matter of months or face a premature death.

A number of factors led me onto the Indie path.

First is my broad experience in publishing. Over the past 21 years, I’ve done copywriting, editing, graphic design, print production, project management, scheduling, and copyrights and permissions. It felt like a natural extension of my existing skill sets to produce polished, professional books after years of producing magazines and newsletters.

Second is the nature of my fiction and poetry, which takes faith seriously but doesn't sanitize real life problems. I soon discovered that what I think of as the sweet spot (the dramatic place where life and beliefs collide) falls into a publishing no-man’s-land, too faith-saturated for the secular market, but too edgy for the Christian market. You’d be surprised by how little it takes to be “edgy” in the Christian market, where even “gosh” might be considered profanity. I explain more in an interview I did with Author Karen Akins (http://novelsduringnaptime.blogspot.com/2012/10/edgy-clean-writing-across-genre-divides.html).   Rather than choose a side, I opted to forge a new path.

Finally, I considered the following three questions:

1. What does success look like TO ME?

Quitting the day job to write full time might be your goal. Or having a loyal following of readers who appreciate your work. It might mean having a certain level of control. Producing work that you feel proud of. Reaching a particular target audience with something helpful and life-giving. Having creative freedom to write in several different genres or across categories.

2. What are my no-go areas?

What sacrifices am I not willing to make in my career? This might involve decisions about genres and approaches, financial risk, public exposure, associations. Where are you unwilling to compromise?

3. What kind of writing lifestyle can I maintain?

This question is perhaps the toughest to answer. It has to do with your stamina, your level of self-motivation, your ability to deal with outside pressure and to some degree the strength of your ego.


After much research and soul-searching, I concluded that publishing independently fit best with my work and my goals. It enables me to tell the kinds of stories I feel called to share without downplaying either the grit or the spiritual aspects. I can produce at my own pace, market at my own pace, and work in multiple genres.

(This had originally been a guest post I'd written for Michelle Davidson Argyle/The Innocent Flower.)

Have you wrestled with publishing path decision-making? What questions or concerns do/did you have?

Monday, April 1

Easter arrived with a flurry of activity. Between a press deadline at work, my daughter's nine-day spring break (still in progress), choir rehearsals, and many details that go along with moving a congregation into a new church building (like making new liturgical hangings and cleaning/organizing nursery supplies), we're feeling a bit stretched thin. A nap might be in order today.

How was your Easter?

A few things I'm looking forward to this month:

April Fool's Day hoaxes and jokeses, precious. As a perpetually late-adopter of tech, this tickled my funny bone:



April is National Poetry Month, so it's prime season for me to get out and about in the blogosphere to talk poetry (and Muddy-Fingered Midnights). Here's my schedule so far:

April 4 -- My self-pubbing journey with Michelle Davidson Argyle
April 8 -- Tips for beginner poets with Connie Keller
April 12 -- Interview with Anne Gallagher
April 17 -- Writing through fears with Jennifer R. Hubbard
April 18 -- "Stories that Sing -- Poems with a Plot" with Caroline Starr Rose
April 24 -- All Things Strange and Beautiful with Jessica Bell

For many bloggers, April is the A-Z Challenge. Many creative themes happening this year! As part of the fun, my novel Never Gone will be featured on Michael DiGesu's blog for letter N. I also enjoy popping around reading the entries, even if I'm not able to maintain the blog-a-day schedule.

Would you like a guest post for National Poetry Month? I have some dates available in late April. Are you doing the A-Z? What's your theme? 

On tap for April

Monday, April 01, 2013 Laurel Garver
Easter arrived with a flurry of activity. Between a press deadline at work, my daughter's nine-day spring break (still in progress), choir rehearsals, and many details that go along with moving a congregation into a new church building (like making new liturgical hangings and cleaning/organizing nursery supplies), we're feeling a bit stretched thin. A nap might be in order today.

How was your Easter?

A few things I'm looking forward to this month:

April Fool's Day hoaxes and jokeses, precious. As a perpetually late-adopter of tech, this tickled my funny bone:



April is National Poetry Month, so it's prime season for me to get out and about in the blogosphere to talk poetry (and Muddy-Fingered Midnights). Here's my schedule so far:

April 4 -- My self-pubbing journey with Michelle Davidson Argyle
April 8 -- Tips for beginner poets with Connie Keller
April 12 -- Interview with Anne Gallagher
April 17 -- Writing through fears with Jennifer R. Hubbard
April 18 -- "Stories that Sing -- Poems with a Plot" with Caroline Starr Rose
April 24 -- All Things Strange and Beautiful with Jessica Bell

For many bloggers, April is the A-Z Challenge. Many creative themes happening this year! As part of the fun, my novel Never Gone will be featured on Michael DiGesu's blog for letter N. I also enjoy popping around reading the entries, even if I'm not able to maintain the blog-a-day schedule.

Would you like a guest post for National Poetry Month? I have some dates available in late April. Are you doing the A-Z? What's your theme? 

Monday, March 18

I'm over at Crystal Collier's blog today, talking about how I got started writing poetry and my attraction to the offbeat and the "beauty of the weird." Please stop on by and say hello!

 In celebration of my new release, I'm also hosting a giveaway of a digital copy of Muddy-Fingered Midnights. The contest ends April 1 (no fooling), just in time for National Poetry Month. Use the widget below to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The beauty of the weird

Monday, March 18, 2013 Laurel Garver
I'm over at Crystal Collier's blog today, talking about how I got started writing poetry and my attraction to the offbeat and the "beauty of the weird." Please stop on by and say hello!

 In celebration of my new release, I'm also hosting a giveaway of a digital copy of Muddy-Fingered Midnights. The contest ends April 1 (no fooling), just in time for National Poetry Month. Use the widget below to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, March 1

Welcome! 

 This page is a compilation of all my guest appearances around the Internet. Learn more about my fiction, poetry and writing tips.

 Contact
To request an interview, guest post, or a copy of my work for review, e-mail me at
laurels (dot) leaves (at) gmail (dot) com

Never Gone 

Articles

Exploring father-daughter relationships: Why Dads Matter

From high rises to cathedrals--setting a story in NYC and rural England: How I develop setting

Writing realistic romance: Repulsion, Attraction, Connection: Romance is more than "hotness"

Writing a character for whom faith is a natural part of life: The truth about...writing faith

How I use poetic techniques in my fiction to make it more musical: Make your stories sing

How I wrote Never Gone: inspirations and themes--Grief, ghosts and God

Advice on writing bereaved characters: Grief faces, not phases

Advice on developing distinct character voices: Elements of Voice

Learning to embrace a messy creative process: The two-faced life of a writing editor

Laurel's favorite book from childhood: Stories of our youth: empathy and transformation

On writing stories when you're mature enough to do them justice: Let It Simmer

Why community matters in Never Gone, and for me as a writer: The importance of community and support

Tips and tricks learned while creating the book trailer for Never Gone: Eleven book trailer tips

Interviews

Edgy and clean? Writing across genre divides
"KA: You call Never Gone’s genre 'YA edgy inspirational.' What does that mean?
LG: It means Christian in outlook, but with mature, challenging situations. 'Edgy' here is not what mainstream publishers mean by the term — they’re generally talking content and language that would earn an R rating if it were a film. My story is 'edgy' compared to other books in the Christian book market."
More here: interview with Karen Akins

 Why I wrote Never Gone: tackling the question of "where is God when we suffer?"
"I wanted to explore how loss and grief are handled well – and poorly – in Christianity. People of faith can at times have an unhealthy stoicism about death.... But when someone isn’t given space to fully grieve, the emotions will come out sideways and be far more damaging."
More here: interview with Carmen Ferrerio Esteban

 In loving memory: How autobiographical is Never Gone?
"I also knew if I tried to write directly about my experience [losing a parent], I’d have trouble keeping the emotional distance I needed to really shape the story and not err toward clinical detachment or maudlin sentiment. In that way, fiction can be more truth-revealing than 'true' stories."
More here: interview with Angela Felsted

Why ghosts and God?
"The idea of a parental presence lingering to help a child fascinated me, especially when it’s unclear why it’s happening (is it supernatural or psychological?)."
More here: interview with Mary Aalgaard

Teen grief and "third culture kids"
"Dani struggles with expressing her deepest feelings, suppressing and self-managing more than the typical American teen might.... Losing her British father requires Dani to reassess how she fits in the world, and how to reconcile with her American half."
More here: interview with Margo Berendsen

 Let Setting Emerge From Character
"I wanted the time that Dani spent in her late father’s hometown to challenge her strong identification with him. The setting had to be a big contrast from her very American, very urban home, so her dad is not only foreign, but rural."
More here: interview with Melissa Sarno

 Style, roadblocks and growing as a writer
"I strive to use language in a way that’s musical like a movie soundtrack, undergirding the emotion and action. In tender moments, expansive and flowing; in tense moments, terse and staccato. Beautiful doesn’t have to mean slow paced."
More here: interview with Kayla Black

Teen experiences 
"Like the busy teens I know in real life, Dani juggles many things that compete for her time: school work, extracirriculars, friendships, romance, family, and her own spiritual health. But most of all, she faces a moment when she has to grasp her own faith rather than lean on her devout dad’s faith--a moment every teen raised in a Christian home will face at some point."
More here: interview with Tessa Emily Hall

Writing life, projects and favorite resources
"Talk to real people when researching any aspect of your story. It not only gains you insider perspective, but also can stimulate your thinking and help generate stronger plots and characters far more than static library and Internet research can."
More here: interview at New Zeland blog YAlicious

Inspirations and comparison titles
"BK:Which books are your book’s 'cousin' (Similar set-up or style)?
LG: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, and Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr."
More here: interview with Brandi Kosiner

Reviews

"I couldn't put this one down": a review

"The perfect fall-into-winter book": a review

"Journey across the world and into the depths of her soul": a review

"A story of redemption, of hope in the face of intense sorrow, and of great personal growth, Never Gone is a touching read." review from A Word's Worth

"Laurel Garver approached the hard issues of grief, doubt, and fear with an honesty I have never read.... Even with the tough subjects in this novel it is a very hopeful book.  I recommend this novel to young adults and not so young adult readers." review from A Novel Review

"This book is full of twists and turns, of love and forgiveness, and of faith and clarity. This story is beautiful and inspirational and can reassure someone in pain that things will get better....a great read." review from O.D Book Reviews

"I found it to be a very well written story about how a fifteen year old feels the loss of her father, written with a very realistic feel.... The author weaves a serious story, but instead of it feeling sad, it was a story of new beginnings, friendships, faith and family." review from WV Stitcher

More to come!

Muddy-Fingered Midnights


Interview with Crystal Collier
featurette and e-book giveaway with Deniz Bevan
"Skills + soul = my publishing journey"; guest post for Michelle Davidson Argyle
"Make words your playground"; guest post for Connie Keller
Interview with Anne Gallagher
"Writing through Fear"; guest post for Jennifer R. Hubbard
"Stories that sing: poems with a plot": guest post for Caroline Starr Rose
"Save Your Life, a patchwork approach": guest post for Jessica Bell
"Why read poetry?" guest post for Tyrean Martinson

Interviews & articles

Friday, March 01, 2013 Laurel Garver
Welcome! 

 This page is a compilation of all my guest appearances around the Internet. Learn more about my fiction, poetry and writing tips.

 Contact
To request an interview, guest post, or a copy of my work for review, e-mail me at
laurels (dot) leaves (at) gmail (dot) com

Never Gone 

Articles

Exploring father-daughter relationships: Why Dads Matter

From high rises to cathedrals--setting a story in NYC and rural England: How I develop setting

Writing realistic romance: Repulsion, Attraction, Connection: Romance is more than "hotness"

Writing a character for whom faith is a natural part of life: The truth about...writing faith

How I use poetic techniques in my fiction to make it more musical: Make your stories sing

How I wrote Never Gone: inspirations and themes--Grief, ghosts and God

Advice on writing bereaved characters: Grief faces, not phases

Advice on developing distinct character voices: Elements of Voice

Learning to embrace a messy creative process: The two-faced life of a writing editor

Laurel's favorite book from childhood: Stories of our youth: empathy and transformation

On writing stories when you're mature enough to do them justice: Let It Simmer

Why community matters in Never Gone, and for me as a writer: The importance of community and support

Tips and tricks learned while creating the book trailer for Never Gone: Eleven book trailer tips

Interviews

Edgy and clean? Writing across genre divides
"KA: You call Never Gone’s genre 'YA edgy inspirational.' What does that mean?
LG: It means Christian in outlook, but with mature, challenging situations. 'Edgy' here is not what mainstream publishers mean by the term — they’re generally talking content and language that would earn an R rating if it were a film. My story is 'edgy' compared to other books in the Christian book market."
More here: interview with Karen Akins

 Why I wrote Never Gone: tackling the question of "where is God when we suffer?"
"I wanted to explore how loss and grief are handled well – and poorly – in Christianity. People of faith can at times have an unhealthy stoicism about death.... But when someone isn’t given space to fully grieve, the emotions will come out sideways and be far more damaging."
More here: interview with Carmen Ferrerio Esteban

 In loving memory: How autobiographical is Never Gone?
"I also knew if I tried to write directly about my experience [losing a parent], I’d have trouble keeping the emotional distance I needed to really shape the story and not err toward clinical detachment or maudlin sentiment. In that way, fiction can be more truth-revealing than 'true' stories."
More here: interview with Angela Felsted

Why ghosts and God?
"The idea of a parental presence lingering to help a child fascinated me, especially when it’s unclear why it’s happening (is it supernatural or psychological?)."
More here: interview with Mary Aalgaard

Teen grief and "third culture kids"
"Dani struggles with expressing her deepest feelings, suppressing and self-managing more than the typical American teen might.... Losing her British father requires Dani to reassess how she fits in the world, and how to reconcile with her American half."
More here: interview with Margo Berendsen

 Let Setting Emerge From Character
"I wanted the time that Dani spent in her late father’s hometown to challenge her strong identification with him. The setting had to be a big contrast from her very American, very urban home, so her dad is not only foreign, but rural."
More here: interview with Melissa Sarno

 Style, roadblocks and growing as a writer
"I strive to use language in a way that’s musical like a movie soundtrack, undergirding the emotion and action. In tender moments, expansive and flowing; in tense moments, terse and staccato. Beautiful doesn’t have to mean slow paced."
More here: interview with Kayla Black

Teen experiences 
"Like the busy teens I know in real life, Dani juggles many things that compete for her time: school work, extracirriculars, friendships, romance, family, and her own spiritual health. But most of all, she faces a moment when she has to grasp her own faith rather than lean on her devout dad’s faith--a moment every teen raised in a Christian home will face at some point."
More here: interview with Tessa Emily Hall

Writing life, projects and favorite resources
"Talk to real people when researching any aspect of your story. It not only gains you insider perspective, but also can stimulate your thinking and help generate stronger plots and characters far more than static library and Internet research can."
More here: interview at New Zeland blog YAlicious

Inspirations and comparison titles
"BK:Which books are your book’s 'cousin' (Similar set-up or style)?
LG: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, and Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr."
More here: interview with Brandi Kosiner

Reviews

"I couldn't put this one down": a review

"The perfect fall-into-winter book": a review

"Journey across the world and into the depths of her soul": a review

"A story of redemption, of hope in the face of intense sorrow, and of great personal growth, Never Gone is a touching read." review from A Word's Worth

"Laurel Garver approached the hard issues of grief, doubt, and fear with an honesty I have never read.... Even with the tough subjects in this novel it is a very hopeful book.  I recommend this novel to young adults and not so young adult readers." review from A Novel Review

"This book is full of twists and turns, of love and forgiveness, and of faith and clarity. This story is beautiful and inspirational and can reassure someone in pain that things will get better....a great read." review from O.D Book Reviews

"I found it to be a very well written story about how a fifteen year old feels the loss of her father, written with a very realistic feel.... The author weaves a serious story, but instead of it feeling sad, it was a story of new beginnings, friendships, faith and family." review from WV Stitcher

More to come!

Muddy-Fingered Midnights


Interview with Crystal Collier
featurette and e-book giveaway with Deniz Bevan
"Skills + soul = my publishing journey"; guest post for Michelle Davidson Argyle
"Make words your playground"; guest post for Connie Keller
Interview with Anne Gallagher
"Writing through Fear"; guest post for Jennifer R. Hubbard
"Stories that sing: poems with a plot": guest post for Caroline Starr Rose
"Save Your Life, a patchwork approach": guest post for Jessica Bell
"Why read poetry?" guest post for Tyrean Martinson

Tuesday, February 12

I've been interviewed by book blogger Brandi Kosiner at the popular review blog Blkosiner's Book Blog.  Learn a bit about me, inspirations for my debut novel, as well as what other projects are in the pipeline.

Brandi is also hosting an ebook giveaway of Never Gone. Swing on by to enter!

Interview...and chance to win

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 Laurel Garver
I've been interviewed by book blogger Brandi Kosiner at the popular review blog Blkosiner's Book Blog.  Learn a bit about me, inspirations for my debut novel, as well as what other projects are in the pipeline.

Brandi is also hosting an ebook giveaway of Never Gone. Swing on by to enter!

Friday, December 14

What twisted thing did I do to earn money for college? What author helped me meet the love of my life? What's my odd writing quirk? Discover the answers to all these questions and more in my interview with book blogger Elizabeth Marie at Read Review Smile.

She's also hosting a giveaway through the Feast of St. Stephen (December 26), which strikes me as fitting, since that's the saint Dani's church is named for. Two copies are up for grabs! Hop on over HERE to enter.

Help Hurricane Sandy victims
Get a great read for a great cause! Purchase a copy of Angela Felsted's contemporary YA novel CHASTE now through December 15, and all proceeds go to Hurricane Sandy relief, PLUS Angela will make a dollar-for-dollar matching contribution.  Available as an ebook and in paperback from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Have you had any unusual jobs? Which authors have kindled a romance for you?

Twisted

Friday, December 14, 2012 Laurel Garver
What twisted thing did I do to earn money for college? What author helped me meet the love of my life? What's my odd writing quirk? Discover the answers to all these questions and more in my interview with book blogger Elizabeth Marie at Read Review Smile.

She's also hosting a giveaway through the Feast of St. Stephen (December 26), which strikes me as fitting, since that's the saint Dani's church is named for. Two copies are up for grabs! Hop on over HERE to enter.

Help Hurricane Sandy victims
Get a great read for a great cause! Purchase a copy of Angela Felsted's contemporary YA novel CHASTE now through December 15, and all proceeds go to Hurricane Sandy relief, PLUS Angela will make a dollar-for-dollar matching contribution.  Available as an ebook and in paperback from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Have you had any unusual jobs? Which authors have kindled a romance for you?

Wednesday, December 12

I'm calling today "three dozen day," in honor of the date 12/12/12. It will be a long while until we have another symmetrical date like today's . We'll of course have 1/3/13 and a palindrome, 3/1/13 next year, but that's not quite as pretty as the date patterns we've had going for the past eleven years, starting with 01/01/01.

To celebrate, here are three sets of a dozen goodies for you:

A dozen quotes (from yours truly)

"...truth is beautiful, no matter where you find it."
(From a guest post for Tricia O'Brien, "Make your stories sing")

"If you wait for inspiration to strike or writing conditions to be optimal, you’ll never finish anything. You have to keep chipping away at projects on good days and bad."
(From my interview on Read Review Smile)

"Gratitude is light in the darkness, friends. It is a powerful weapon against despair, a powerful creator of joy." (From "Thanks and Joy")

"A funny thing about listening to fear--it takes away your power to contradict it."
(From "Leaving Fear, Grasping Hope")

"Hope comes from being like the Magi--keeping an eye on the far horizon, watching for something good. We lose hope when unhappy things in the immediate environment consume our vision and we stop regularly scanning the horizon." (From "Following Your Star")

"...the stuff of creativity--joy, life energy, what have you--is like manna in the wilderness. It is a gift that must be gathered fresh daily." (From "Living Forward")

"The past doesn't stay in the past. It always has implications for the present and future."
(From "I've Got a History")

"Remember that where you come from shapes who you are."
(From an interview with Melissa Sarno, "Let Setting Emerge from Character")

"Real attraction, real magnetism is more deeply layered than finding someone hot. It grows out of finding something admirable in another person that resonates with who you are and want to be."
(From a guest post for Laura Pauling: "Romance is more than 'hotness'")

"The writers who do non-preachy well...succeed because the way faith deeply shapes how the characters think...around the idea of rescue and redemption, of deeply needing help themselves."
(From interview with Karen Akins, "Edgy? Clean? Writing across genre divides")

"Despite the eye-rolling, daughters know they’re valued when their dads don’t let just any guy get close to them."
(From a guest post for Tyrean Martinson, "Why Dads Matter")

"One of the most lovely things about literature is how it opens a window into other worlds, gives us a chance to understand other perspectives by living inside them for just a little while."
(from guest post for Leigh T. Moore, "Getting Real About Faith...and Doubt")


A dozen albums that inspired Never Gone

The Hurting, by Tears for Fears
Requiem, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Disintigration, by The Cure
Once Upon a Time, by Simple Minds
Macalla, by Clannad
Avalon, by Roxy Music
Mercury Falling, by Sting
Fields of Gold, by Sting
Hey Jude, by The Beatles
Optical Race, by Tangerine Dream
Thirtysomething Soundtrack
The Best of Simon and Garfunkel, by Simon and Garfunkel

A dozen British slang terms from Never Gone

barking mad / barmy / blimey / bollocks / crikey / fancy / gadding about / Geordie / git / hobgoblin / nutter / peaky

More chances to win

I also have a few giveaways going on. If you'd been hoping to win a copy of Never Gone and haven't yet, check out Read Review Smile (2 copies up for grabs) and Day 6 of  Fifteen Days of Christmas giveaway at Ramblings of a Book Junkie!

How will you celebrate Three Dozen Day? 

Three dozen day 12/12/12

Wednesday, December 12, 2012 Laurel Garver
I'm calling today "three dozen day," in honor of the date 12/12/12. It will be a long while until we have another symmetrical date like today's . We'll of course have 1/3/13 and a palindrome, 3/1/13 next year, but that's not quite as pretty as the date patterns we've had going for the past eleven years, starting with 01/01/01.

To celebrate, here are three sets of a dozen goodies for you:

A dozen quotes (from yours truly)

"...truth is beautiful, no matter where you find it."
(From a guest post for Tricia O'Brien, "Make your stories sing")

"If you wait for inspiration to strike or writing conditions to be optimal, you’ll never finish anything. You have to keep chipping away at projects on good days and bad."
(From my interview on Read Review Smile)

"Gratitude is light in the darkness, friends. It is a powerful weapon against despair, a powerful creator of joy." (From "Thanks and Joy")

"A funny thing about listening to fear--it takes away your power to contradict it."
(From "Leaving Fear, Grasping Hope")

"Hope comes from being like the Magi--keeping an eye on the far horizon, watching for something good. We lose hope when unhappy things in the immediate environment consume our vision and we stop regularly scanning the horizon." (From "Following Your Star")

"...the stuff of creativity--joy, life energy, what have you--is like manna in the wilderness. It is a gift that must be gathered fresh daily." (From "Living Forward")

"The past doesn't stay in the past. It always has implications for the present and future."
(From "I've Got a History")

"Remember that where you come from shapes who you are."
(From an interview with Melissa Sarno, "Let Setting Emerge from Character")

"Real attraction, real magnetism is more deeply layered than finding someone hot. It grows out of finding something admirable in another person that resonates with who you are and want to be."
(From a guest post for Laura Pauling: "Romance is more than 'hotness'")

"The writers who do non-preachy well...succeed because the way faith deeply shapes how the characters think...around the idea of rescue and redemption, of deeply needing help themselves."
(From interview with Karen Akins, "Edgy? Clean? Writing across genre divides")

"Despite the eye-rolling, daughters know they’re valued when their dads don’t let just any guy get close to them."
(From a guest post for Tyrean Martinson, "Why Dads Matter")

"One of the most lovely things about literature is how it opens a window into other worlds, gives us a chance to understand other perspectives by living inside them for just a little while."
(from guest post for Leigh T. Moore, "Getting Real About Faith...and Doubt")


A dozen albums that inspired Never Gone

The Hurting, by Tears for Fears
Requiem, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Disintigration, by The Cure
Once Upon a Time, by Simple Minds
Macalla, by Clannad
Avalon, by Roxy Music
Mercury Falling, by Sting
Fields of Gold, by Sting
Hey Jude, by The Beatles
Optical Race, by Tangerine Dream
Thirtysomething Soundtrack
The Best of Simon and Garfunkel, by Simon and Garfunkel

A dozen British slang terms from Never Gone

barking mad / barmy / blimey / bollocks / crikey / fancy / gadding about / Geordie / git / hobgoblin / nutter / peaky

More chances to win

I also have a few giveaways going on. If you'd been hoping to win a copy of Never Gone and haven't yet, check out Read Review Smile (2 copies up for grabs) and Day 6 of  Fifteen Days of Christmas giveaway at Ramblings of a Book Junkie!

How will you celebrate Three Dozen Day? 

Monday, December 10


"Writing religion is risky. Beliefs and values are so core to our identities, our vision of the good life, and these beliefs often come into conflict. And yet teens need to see themselves in fiction...."

I shared these thoughts and many more with author Leigh T. Moore over that That's Write. You can find my guest post on writing authentic religious experience HERE.

Do you read much faith-based fiction? Why or why not? Who do you think does it well?

Getting real about faith and doubt

Monday, December 10, 2012 Laurel Garver

"Writing religion is risky. Beliefs and values are so core to our identities, our vision of the good life, and these beliefs often come into conflict. And yet teens need to see themselves in fiction...."

I shared these thoughts and many more with author Leigh T. Moore over that That's Write. You can find my guest post on writing authentic religious experience HERE.

Do you read much faith-based fiction? Why or why not? Who do you think does it well?

Wednesday, December 5

My great-grandpa trained horses for Ringling Bros.
Yesterday, my nephew asked for help gathering enough family history to write a ten-page college paper. I quickly piped up with the most zany pieces of family lore I could remember. How a great grandfather ran off and joined the circus. How a great aunt had been in the Ziegfield follies. How my dad worked as a sideshow freak as a kid. (They called him Lizard Boy--he had ichthyosis, a genetic skin condition.)

One of the coolest things about being last born, and a late-in-life child, was having my parents to myself as they entered late middle age and became obsessed with legacy. I loved hearing the colorful stories of my grandmother meeting Boris Karloff when he did the Vaudeville circuit because the family boarding house was a usual stop for Vaudeville troupes. How my grandfather lost so much weight in dental school because he had to eat lunch in the anatomy lab, where formaldehyde-soaked cadavers lay partly dissected.

But I equally cherished hearing how harsh my paternal grandfather was and why my maternal grandparents divorced when my mom was seven. These stories are far more deeply important because they explained so much about who my parents had become, why my dad was such a softie, why my mom was terrified of drunk people.

That I was so steeped in family lore in my teens and early twenties surely shaped my sensibilities as a writer. Because it made clear to me that the past doesn't stay in the past. It always has implications for the present and future.

I'm guest posting at Tessa's blog, and when she asked what I hope readers will take away from my novel Never Gone, this is one the points I emphasized:

"Getting to know your parents’ stories is an essential part of growing up the relationship. It’s easy to misjudge them when you don’t know what struggles, hardships and heartbreaks they’ve endured, and how those things have shaped them."

You can read more of my interview with Tessa Emily Hall HERE.

Do you know your parents' stories? How might learning family history help you better understand family members and their interpersonal dynamics? 


photo credit: keyseeker at morguefile.com

"I've got a history..."

Wednesday, December 05, 2012 Laurel Garver
My great-grandpa trained horses for Ringling Bros.
Yesterday, my nephew asked for help gathering enough family history to write a ten-page college paper. I quickly piped up with the most zany pieces of family lore I could remember. How a great grandfather ran off and joined the circus. How a great aunt had been in the Ziegfield follies. How my dad worked as a sideshow freak as a kid. (They called him Lizard Boy--he had ichthyosis, a genetic skin condition.)

One of the coolest things about being last born, and a late-in-life child, was having my parents to myself as they entered late middle age and became obsessed with legacy. I loved hearing the colorful stories of my grandmother meeting Boris Karloff when he did the Vaudeville circuit because the family boarding house was a usual stop for Vaudeville troupes. How my grandfather lost so much weight in dental school because he had to eat lunch in the anatomy lab, where formaldehyde-soaked cadavers lay partly dissected.

But I equally cherished hearing how harsh my paternal grandfather was and why my maternal grandparents divorced when my mom was seven. These stories are far more deeply important because they explained so much about who my parents had become, why my dad was such a softie, why my mom was terrified of drunk people.

That I was so steeped in family lore in my teens and early twenties surely shaped my sensibilities as a writer. Because it made clear to me that the past doesn't stay in the past. It always has implications for the present and future.

I'm guest posting at Tessa's blog, and when she asked what I hope readers will take away from my novel Never Gone, this is one the points I emphasized:

"Getting to know your parents’ stories is an essential part of growing up the relationship. It’s easy to misjudge them when you don’t know what struggles, hardships and heartbreaks they’ve endured, and how those things have shaped them."

You can read more of my interview with Tessa Emily Hall HERE.

Do you know your parents' stories? How might learning family history help you better understand family members and their interpersonal dynamics? 


photo credit: keyseeker at morguefile.com

Monday, November 19

Music has been a big piece of my life for as long as I can remember. My sibs and I all took piano lessons. There were school choirs, the radio, and as anyone raised in the Christian tradition, sacred music making up the soundtrack of my days.

Lyric has a way of working into your consciousness, thrumming in your brain. It most naturally expresses itself in poetry. But lyrical writing can appear in any kind of writing, from nonfiction essays and memoir to the most hard-boiled fiction. Noir has its own musicality. So do thrillers and horror.

Today I'm over at Talespinning, talking about making your stories sing: the benefits of poetry training for novelists. Swing on by for some tips on using poetic devices in your work to give it texture.

Tomorrow, I'll have a special guest, author Connie Keller, here to talk about how having face blindness has in fact helped her build strong characterization. Can't wait for you to hear her story. It's fascinating!

Giveaway

Deniz Bevan at The Girdle of Melian is hosting an ebook giveaway of Never Gone. She's also talking about Daleks. Who could resist? Go forth and enter for a chance to win "a delightful page-turner full of sorrow, mystery and redemption."

Does your fiction have a soundtrack? Is it palpable in your story itself? 

Make your stories sing

Monday, November 19, 2012 Laurel Garver
Music has been a big piece of my life for as long as I can remember. My sibs and I all took piano lessons. There were school choirs, the radio, and as anyone raised in the Christian tradition, sacred music making up the soundtrack of my days.

Lyric has a way of working into your consciousness, thrumming in your brain. It most naturally expresses itself in poetry. But lyrical writing can appear in any kind of writing, from nonfiction essays and memoir to the most hard-boiled fiction. Noir has its own musicality. So do thrillers and horror.

Today I'm over at Talespinning, talking about making your stories sing: the benefits of poetry training for novelists. Swing on by for some tips on using poetic devices in your work to give it texture.

Tomorrow, I'll have a special guest, author Connie Keller, here to talk about how having face blindness has in fact helped her build strong characterization. Can't wait for you to hear her story. It's fascinating!

Giveaway

Deniz Bevan at The Girdle of Melian is hosting an ebook giveaway of Never Gone. She's also talking about Daleks. Who could resist? Go forth and enter for a chance to win "a delightful page-turner full of sorrow, mystery and redemption."

Does your fiction have a soundtrack? Is it palpable in your story itself? 

Wednesday, November 7

When NaNo time comes around every year, I honestly get a bit blue. It seems like everyone and his brother can churn out thousands of words a day, and I just can't. I never could. Not even when I was furiously scribbling away in high school (and my teachers through I was such a great note-taker! Ha!).


Photo credit: ajaxserix from morguefile.com
But you know what? There are plenty of NYT bestsellers, plenty of Pulitzer prize winners, plenty of all kinds of good, successful writers who have never written 50K words in a month. NaNo can be a motivational tool BUT it should never, ever be a de-motivational tool--something that makes you feel like a hopeless loser for not diving into.

Sometimes great ideas come in a flash of white-hot inspiration. But more often, the big ideas, the life-changers, take time to develop fully. Serious time. Decades of time.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share my story of the idea that arrived before I was mature enough to write it, and how letting ideas simmer can yield good results. Stop on by Shannon O'Donnell's blog Book Dreaming and be encouraged.

Shannon is also hosting a giveaway of an e-book of NEVER GONE and a SIGNED paperback. If you've been hankering to win a copy but don't have an e-reader, this contest is for you!

Do you keep an idea file of stories that come when you aren't ready to write them? What's the longest you've ever worked on a project?

Encouraging, giving

Wednesday, November 07, 2012 Laurel Garver
When NaNo time comes around every year, I honestly get a bit blue. It seems like everyone and his brother can churn out thousands of words a day, and I just can't. I never could. Not even when I was furiously scribbling away in high school (and my teachers through I was such a great note-taker! Ha!).


Photo credit: ajaxserix from morguefile.com
But you know what? There are plenty of NYT bestsellers, plenty of Pulitzer prize winners, plenty of all kinds of good, successful writers who have never written 50K words in a month. NaNo can be a motivational tool BUT it should never, ever be a de-motivational tool--something that makes you feel like a hopeless loser for not diving into.

Sometimes great ideas come in a flash of white-hot inspiration. But more often, the big ideas, the life-changers, take time to develop fully. Serious time. Decades of time.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share my story of the idea that arrived before I was mature enough to write it, and how letting ideas simmer can yield good results. Stop on by Shannon O'Donnell's blog Book Dreaming and be encouraged.

Shannon is also hosting a giveaway of an e-book of NEVER GONE and a SIGNED paperback. If you've been hankering to win a copy but don't have an e-reader, this contest is for you!

Do you keep an idea file of stories that come when you aren't ready to write them? What's the longest you've ever worked on a project?

Friday, November 2

Quick quiz: When I was a kid, which did I want to be when I grew up?

A. An architect
morguefile.com

B. A teacher
morguefile.com

C. A magazine editor
photo by Raphael Gorski, Flickr Creative Commons

D. A Broadway star
morguefile.com

To find the answer, go check out my post for Jessica Bell, the Alliterative Allomorph! I also discuss why writing is harder for professional editors, and how I got my creative and analytical sides to play nice  (hint, there was a bit of bloodshed first).

Last chance to enter!

The ebook giveaway of Never Gone at Margo's blog, Writing at High Altitude, ends tonight! Pop on over and enter now!

Did you guess correctly? What were your childhood career aspirations?

Aspirations

Friday, November 02, 2012 Laurel Garver
Quick quiz: When I was a kid, which did I want to be when I grew up?

A. An architect
morguefile.com

B. A teacher
morguefile.com

C. A magazine editor
photo by Raphael Gorski, Flickr Creative Commons

D. A Broadway star
morguefile.com

To find the answer, go check out my post for Jessica Bell, the Alliterative Allomorph! I also discuss why writing is harder for professional editors, and how I got my creative and analytical sides to play nice  (hint, there was a bit of bloodshed first).

Last chance to enter!

The ebook giveaway of Never Gone at Margo's blog, Writing at High Altitude, ends tonight! Pop on over and enter now!

Did you guess correctly? What were your childhood career aspirations?

Wednesday, October 31

image from morguefile.com
I feel like I'm having a very authentically spooky Halloween this year--in the dark, with lots of candles. Yeah, we got socked by Hurricane Sandy's powerful winds that toppled trees throughout my neighborhood and killed our electricity Monday night at 10 pm. The electric company estimates it will be restored November 1 at 11 pm. Yeah, that means three days of no electricity. Fun times. Fortunately my hubby's parents have taken us in for the time being.

Halloween is when we celebrate spooky things, which is really kind of strange when you think about it. In most cultures, spooky things are meant to be simply feared or appeased. And yet, here we are laughing about Uncle Harold being the perfect zombie and little Emily's dripping fangs looking oh-so-fabulous. What gives?

Though Halloween has roots in pagan practices, its edge has been somewhat lost because of newer Christian practices that sprung up around it--specifically All Saints Day (Nov 1) and All Souls Day (Nov 2) rituals that channeled all the previous death and spook obsession into celebrations of past heroes of the faith and lost loved ones. Though we're entering a post-Christian era, the sense that we can laugh at spooky things rather than cower is very much rooted in a faith that offers light in dark places and a leader who went through death and came back from it, triumphant. Evil didn't have the final word, and that's something worth celebrating.

How's everyone doing after Hurricane Sandy? What do you think of the "laughing at spooky things" aspect of Halloween?

Chance to win! (and other Ramble News)

Margo Berendsen is hosting an ebook giveaway of Never Gone that runs all week. Don't miss out, enter today! I also wrote a guest post for her about what's unique to a teen's grief experience and my particular take on it, as well as how cross-cultural family dynamics come into play in Never Gone.

I also got to be the special "Sit Down Sunday" guest on Ramblings of a Book Junkie. I talked a bit about how visual people experience grief, my style and all kinds of favorite things beyond raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.

Spooky

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 Laurel Garver
image from morguefile.com
I feel like I'm having a very authentically spooky Halloween this year--in the dark, with lots of candles. Yeah, we got socked by Hurricane Sandy's powerful winds that toppled trees throughout my neighborhood and killed our electricity Monday night at 10 pm. The electric company estimates it will be restored November 1 at 11 pm. Yeah, that means three days of no electricity. Fun times. Fortunately my hubby's parents have taken us in for the time being.

Halloween is when we celebrate spooky things, which is really kind of strange when you think about it. In most cultures, spooky things are meant to be simply feared or appeased. And yet, here we are laughing about Uncle Harold being the perfect zombie and little Emily's dripping fangs looking oh-so-fabulous. What gives?

Though Halloween has roots in pagan practices, its edge has been somewhat lost because of newer Christian practices that sprung up around it--specifically All Saints Day (Nov 1) and All Souls Day (Nov 2) rituals that channeled all the previous death and spook obsession into celebrations of past heroes of the faith and lost loved ones. Though we're entering a post-Christian era, the sense that we can laugh at spooky things rather than cower is very much rooted in a faith that offers light in dark places and a leader who went through death and came back from it, triumphant. Evil didn't have the final word, and that's something worth celebrating.

How's everyone doing after Hurricane Sandy? What do you think of the "laughing at spooky things" aspect of Halloween?

Chance to win! (and other Ramble News)

Margo Berendsen is hosting an ebook giveaway of Never Gone that runs all week. Don't miss out, enter today! I also wrote a guest post for her about what's unique to a teen's grief experience and my particular take on it, as well as how cross-cultural family dynamics come into play in Never Gone.

I also got to be the special "Sit Down Sunday" guest on Ramblings of a Book Junkie. I talked a bit about how visual people experience grief, my style and all kinds of favorite things beyond raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.

Wednesday, October 24

Yesterday was my very first school visit, in which I discussed editing and writing with my daughter's mixed 3rd-4th grade class (her private school has mostly mixed-grade classrooms to encourage peer mentoring).

In addition to talking about what editors do and describing how I switch gears to write fiction, I also shared a little about how to shape a story. The teachers want me to come back and do some more activities on the topic, because this is one of the toughest things for kids ages 8-10. Their ideas are big and sprawling and rapidly become overpopulated and never quite arrive anywhere.

One activity we did together was discuss a basic story arc, and pulled examples from the film How to Train Your Dragon (HtTYD). I think it might be helpful to writers at any level to take a look at these skeleton basics, because we too can lose the forest for the trees:


Eight point plot structure


1. Stasis

This is where we see the normal, every day life of the character--what sort of person they are, and what are the “rules” of the world they live in.

In HtTYD, we meet Hiccup, the techie geek boy with a laughable name, and learn that he lives in a medieval-type Viking culture that has some problems--their weather is terrible and they have a "pest" issue, namely that dragons regularly attack and steal from them. Hiccup is inept at the one thing that matters most--killing dragons. He longs to be respected.

2. Trigger

Something disrupts or changes your character’s normal world. It might be something bad, like Snow White’s stepmother turning against her, or something good like finding a treasure map.

In HtTYD, Hiccup actually succeeds at doing something his culture values--he takes down one of the most feared types of dragons, a Night Fury.

3. Quest

In response to the trigger, the main character wants to do something, whether it’s Snow White fleeing for safety or the map finder seeking the treasure.

In HtTYD, Hiccup realizes he does not want to kill the dragon he injured. He commits to understanding dragons differently than his culture does. 

4. Obstacles and surprises

This is the main portion of the story--the middle--where the main character sets out on the quest and stuff happens. Other characters help or hinder them. Nature and society helps or hinders them. There should be a mix of defeat and victory. The events shouldn’t be too random or too obvious. They should make sense based on who’s in the story and the rules of the story world.

In HtTYD, Hiccup leads a double life, rehabilitating an injured dragon while learning to fight them in training sessions with his peers. He earns Toothless's trust and helps the dragon fly again through trial and error of various prosthetic tails. Meanwhile, he also learns through trial and error how to gain mastery over dragons through what Toothless has taught him about dragon likes and fears. More complications arise as the Toothless rehab project is discovered by Ingrid. In trying to convince Ingrid to think differently about dragons, Hiccup is led to discover the real problem: Toothless and others are bullied by a much worse enemy, the "hive queen." Through a series of events, the village learns about the taming of Toothless and make him their pawn in the war against all dragons.

5. Decision

The ongoing troubles of the quest should lead the main character to decide something important to move the story forward.

In HtTYD, Hiccup decides to rescue Toothless from the villagers and try to stop their raid on the dragon hive, even if it means becoming even more of an outcast than he already is.

6. Climax

This is the big battle the main character has decided to face. It might be a fight with an enemy, or tackling an obstacle that seems impossible, or entering a final test or trial like a sports competition.

In HtTYD, the villagers uncover the truth of the "hive queen" dragon, and Hiccup and the village teens work together to battle this mighty monster with the help of their trained dragons.

7. Reversal

The place the character was before the big battle--their status--is reversed. He or she comes out on top, or maybe thought something would be easy, but fails.

In HtTYD, the teens defeat the "hive queen," proving once and for all that Hiccup's way of seeing the smaller dragons is correct and that he is indeed not inept, but more skilled than anyone else. Hiccup's father Stoic is no longer prideful, but humbled; no longer disdainful, but loving. 

8. Resolution

This is the new normal for the main character. The weakling who has won the battle wins respect. The foolish person who fails wins wisdom. In fairy tales, it’s usual to see the hero or heroine winning a partner, a domain, and a treasure.

In HtTYD, we see Hiccup bearing a "badge of honor" for his culture--a battle injury requiring a prosthesis like his mentor the blacksmith and like his dragon Toothless. We return to a riff on the opening exposition describing the village, but with a twist. Instead of  dragons being "pests" that bring harm, they are now "pets" that improve villagers' lives. 

Hiccup gains Ingrid's affections (partner), a place of respect in the village (domain), and  a tricked-out prosthetic foot-- a battle scar that makes others honor him (treasure).
While there are variations on this most basic of hero's quest, it's a helpful model to keep in mind when you aren't sure how to start a story, how to build toward a satisfying ending, or how to shape incidents into a cohesive whole.


Another back-to-basics...

I'm over at the Rabble Writers' blog today, talking about "Grief faces, not phases." In the post, I discuss how researching the grief process shaped my characterization of Danielle in Never Gone.

Have you used a skeleton plot structure to shape your stories? 

Back to basics: Plot for dummies

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 Laurel Garver
Yesterday was my very first school visit, in which I discussed editing and writing with my daughter's mixed 3rd-4th grade class (her private school has mostly mixed-grade classrooms to encourage peer mentoring).

In addition to talking about what editors do and describing how I switch gears to write fiction, I also shared a little about how to shape a story. The teachers want me to come back and do some more activities on the topic, because this is one of the toughest things for kids ages 8-10. Their ideas are big and sprawling and rapidly become overpopulated and never quite arrive anywhere.

One activity we did together was discuss a basic story arc, and pulled examples from the film How to Train Your Dragon (HtTYD). I think it might be helpful to writers at any level to take a look at these skeleton basics, because we too can lose the forest for the trees:


Eight point plot structure


1. Stasis

This is where we see the normal, every day life of the character--what sort of person they are, and what are the “rules” of the world they live in.

In HtTYD, we meet Hiccup, the techie geek boy with a laughable name, and learn that he lives in a medieval-type Viking culture that has some problems--their weather is terrible and they have a "pest" issue, namely that dragons regularly attack and steal from them. Hiccup is inept at the one thing that matters most--killing dragons. He longs to be respected.

2. Trigger

Something disrupts or changes your character’s normal world. It might be something bad, like Snow White’s stepmother turning against her, or something good like finding a treasure map.

In HtTYD, Hiccup actually succeeds at doing something his culture values--he takes down one of the most feared types of dragons, a Night Fury.

3. Quest

In response to the trigger, the main character wants to do something, whether it’s Snow White fleeing for safety or the map finder seeking the treasure.

In HtTYD, Hiccup realizes he does not want to kill the dragon he injured. He commits to understanding dragons differently than his culture does. 

4. Obstacles and surprises

This is the main portion of the story--the middle--where the main character sets out on the quest and stuff happens. Other characters help or hinder them. Nature and society helps or hinders them. There should be a mix of defeat and victory. The events shouldn’t be too random or too obvious. They should make sense based on who’s in the story and the rules of the story world.

In HtTYD, Hiccup leads a double life, rehabilitating an injured dragon while learning to fight them in training sessions with his peers. He earns Toothless's trust and helps the dragon fly again through trial and error of various prosthetic tails. Meanwhile, he also learns through trial and error how to gain mastery over dragons through what Toothless has taught him about dragon likes and fears. More complications arise as the Toothless rehab project is discovered by Ingrid. In trying to convince Ingrid to think differently about dragons, Hiccup is led to discover the real problem: Toothless and others are bullied by a much worse enemy, the "hive queen." Through a series of events, the village learns about the taming of Toothless and make him their pawn in the war against all dragons.

5. Decision

The ongoing troubles of the quest should lead the main character to decide something important to move the story forward.

In HtTYD, Hiccup decides to rescue Toothless from the villagers and try to stop their raid on the dragon hive, even if it means becoming even more of an outcast than he already is.

6. Climax

This is the big battle the main character has decided to face. It might be a fight with an enemy, or tackling an obstacle that seems impossible, or entering a final test or trial like a sports competition.

In HtTYD, the villagers uncover the truth of the "hive queen" dragon, and Hiccup and the village teens work together to battle this mighty monster with the help of their trained dragons.

7. Reversal

The place the character was before the big battle--their status--is reversed. He or she comes out on top, or maybe thought something would be easy, but fails.

In HtTYD, the teens defeat the "hive queen," proving once and for all that Hiccup's way of seeing the smaller dragons is correct and that he is indeed not inept, but more skilled than anyone else. Hiccup's father Stoic is no longer prideful, but humbled; no longer disdainful, but loving. 

8. Resolution

This is the new normal for the main character. The weakling who has won the battle wins respect. The foolish person who fails wins wisdom. In fairy tales, it’s usual to see the hero or heroine winning a partner, a domain, and a treasure.

In HtTYD, we see Hiccup bearing a "badge of honor" for his culture--a battle injury requiring a prosthesis like his mentor the blacksmith and like his dragon Toothless. We return to a riff on the opening exposition describing the village, but with a twist. Instead of  dragons being "pests" that bring harm, they are now "pets" that improve villagers' lives. 

Hiccup gains Ingrid's affections (partner), a place of respect in the village (domain), and  a tricked-out prosthetic foot-- a battle scar that makes others honor him (treasure).
While there are variations on this most basic of hero's quest, it's a helpful model to keep in mind when you aren't sure how to start a story, how to build toward a satisfying ending, or how to shape incidents into a cohesive whole.


Another back-to-basics...

I'm over at the Rabble Writers' blog today, talking about "Grief faces, not phases." In the post, I discuss how researching the grief process shaped my characterization of Danielle in Never Gone.

Have you used a skeleton plot structure to shape your stories? 
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City dweller, word nerd, Indie film enthusiast and incurable Anglophile. Professor's wife and mom to a young adult daughter. Follower of the Good Shepherd, who is faithful when we are faithless. My poetry and fiction explore the places where heart and soul are tested and growing up truly begins.

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