Nice Diversion

I finished reading "Divergent" by Veronica Roth yesterday and I loved, loved, loved it. It's sort of a cross between "Matched" by Ally Condie and "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. And it's another three-book series, so there are still two more stories to come. I can't wait to read more about Tris and Four!

Now, off to continue reading my own teen novel. The first read-through went well and, for the most part, it seems pretty clean so far in my second read-through. There weren't as many gaps in the story as I thought there would be, so that's good news. OK, now I'm really going to get started ...

Four-Day "Weekend"

Isn't a four-day weekend supposed to be a vacation? I'm almost -- almost -- ready to go back to work after my last three days off.

I spent the first half of Thanksgiving cleaning closets and the second half hanging out and eating at my mom's house. Yesterday, I did a little more reading and cleaning in the morning, spent the afternoon out at lunch and shopping with my son, then came home and read a little more. Today, I spent the morning lazing about and then went to the park, lunch, library and Seaport Village in hopes of getting a picture with Santa. I am beat!

At least tomorrow should be a less busy day, I think. We're meeting friends for a park play date then lunch. I might -- might -- get up early and go to the gym. Ugh, I need a break!

But by the time I get to the end of Monday, I know I'll be ready for another long weekend. Thankfully, my 12 days off at Christmas time is less than a month away!

Intriguing Story, Bad Writing

I'm reading "Fallen" by Lauren Kate. I'm about a third of the way in and I really want to love it, but I don't.

I'm starting to lose interest in the story, because it's taking so long to find out what we're dealing with here. I believe they are supposed to be angels of some sort -- perhaps fallen angels -- but I don't even have a clue as to what is different about the main characters yet.

I'm on page 135. Yes, I get that Luce has problems or powers she doesn't understand. Yes, I get that she feels a connection to Daniel. Yes, I get that this reform school she went to is creepy and strange. But when is she going to get at least a hint as to the connection between Daniel and herself and their odd powers? If Kate doesn't tell me soon, I might just give up on the story.

This relates to problems I have with my own writing. I feel like I need to give a lot of back story up front, when I probably could weave some of it into the story and get the characters into their conflicts sooner. At least it doesn't take me hundreds of pages to get my readers there. Geesh!

It's all about striking the right balance -- creating an intriguing story or concept that keeps the reader engaged while giving them enough background that they understand the characters and empathize with them enough to keep reading.

Sad Books?

I need something really light and fun to read, because everything I've read lately has been so dark and sad.

I'm reading Jonathan Safran Foer's "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" about a boy who lost his father in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in New York. Before that, I read "Looking for Alaska" by John Green, which was funny, but ultimately really sad and tragic. Before that, I read "The Death Cure" by James Dashner, which sort of has a happy ending. Kind of. But only after a lot of suffering upon suffering upon suffering.

What I need is something silly and light. Maybe it's time to pick up the most recent Lorna Landvik book. Hmmm ... decisions, decisions ...

Back to Work

Since I finished my first edit of book no. 2, my teen novel, about a week ago, I've been taking a break from writing. I've been reading a lot.

I read "The Death Cure," the third book in the "Maze Runner" series by James Dashner. I wish they would make "The Maze Runner" into a movie. I thought I read somewhere that Dashner sold the movie rights, but I could be mistaken. I call it a boy-based version on "The Hunger Games" when I try to describe it to other people.

I also read "Looking for Alaska" by John Green. It's sort of a similar story to his more recent novel, "Paper Towns." There were several parts in "Alaska" that were funnier than the funny parts of "Paper Towns," but "Alaska" was much more sad in the end.

Next, I think I'll read "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. I saw the trailer for the movie version with Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks and I was intrigued. It's about a boy who lost his father in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks when one of the airplanes hit the Twin Towers in New York City. I think it's going to be uplifting. Or, at least, I hope.

But now that my little writing break is over, I need to go back and do a second reading of my own novel. I think it came together well, but I know it needs a good second reading before I ask someone else to take a look at it. I'm excited. It's very different from my first book.

Then, when I finish a second reading of my second book, I'm going to go back to one of the other novels I've started writing and pick up where I left off several months ago. I can't wait!

Teen Fiction

Today, I had an "Aha!" moment. Really, it was more like a "Well, duh!" moment, but bear with me.

I was thinking about some of the characters that I really love in the teen fiction that I've read and I figured out why some of those stories appeal to me. It's because, to some extent, I was those girls in high school. Or maybe they are me from back then.

I suppose that's the point -- the books are relatable to a lot of girls and women because we all feel like we don't belong or we're different or we think of ourselves as being outside the norm. But really, I was outside the norm.

I wasn't unpopular, but I wasn't popular either. Like Bella, for instance, in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series. She doesn't want to be popular, but she doesn't want to be disliked either. She just wants to be herself and find a place where she fits comfortably, whether it's with the yearbook kids, the smart kids ... or the vampires. Whatever.

(Although, full disclosure: The thing that really appeals to me about "Twilight" is the romance, because that sense of having to be with someone, no matter what, reflects how my husband and I felt, and still do, about each other when we were that young.)

Another great teen novel, or series, that I loved was "If I Stay" and "Where She Went" by Gayle Forman. I never had a near-death experience, but I was that girl: different from most of the other students that I went to school with (i.e. more mature); best friends with girls who also were outside the popular groups, but not disliked; actually really close to my parents, siblings and grandparents without feeling embarrassed about it; independent, determined and responsible, maybe even to a fault, because I didn't do some of the reckless things that other teenagers do and learn great lessons from (instead I learned from their mistakes); and in love with someone (and an older someone) I thought I might spend the rest of my life with before I even graduated from high school.

Similar characteristics are represented in other young adult novels that I love, Clary from Cassandra Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series or Andi from Jennifer Donnelly's "Revolution." The character similarities cross genres from paranormal romance to historical fiction to contemporary fiction.

Perhaps a lot of girls feel like I did in high school, but I felt like I was one of very few girls going through what I was going through at the time. My parents divorced when I was barely 6 years old and I moved a lot, so I had to grow up fast. I'm not complaining, but those were some of the circumstances that shaped me. It was a combination of factors and personality characteristics that not everybody has.

But, I suppose that's the point, isn't it? A lot of girls must feel like outsiders or "outliers" at some point or another, regardless of how popular they are, or else we wouldn't understand and fall in love with the characters in all of these books.