The Office of Letters and Light Blog

Archer’s Story Begins Here…

taviastewartstreit — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:33:54 -0800

I’d like to introduce the newest member of the OLL family, Archer Grayson Stewart-Streit. This handsome little genius was born on December 21 (Winter Solstice!) at 6:07 AM, weighing in at seven pounds, six ounces. So far, his likes include eating, trees, Goodnight Moon, light fixtures, and balloons. His dislikes include being hungry, tummy aches, and much to his parents’ dismay, getting dressed.

While most babies and toddlers have an aversion to clothing, most parents just love to dress their kids up in cute, hip little outfits that reflect their own interests and fashion leanings. This is very true for my husband and I, who both (both!) love spending our Sundays clothes shopping. And now we have someone else to shop for and dress each morning!

What we discovered, though, is that there is a serious lack of baby clothes that reflect my love of writing and literature. Love dogs? You got it. Love robots, monkeys, cowboys, rock and roll, outer space, and trucks? You got it! Love books? Too bad.

Then, on the day of Tupelo’s launch party, we finally found this number:

Awesome, right? This got me to thinking that there are all these writers out there who have or know babies, and next to no writerly baby clothes.

So, what if we did a NaNoWriMo onesie? What would you like it to depict? What about a slogan? Let us know, and we may add it to this fall’s new line of NaNo swag. And if we pick your suggested concept, we’ll send you a $50 gift certificate to the store!

Letters and Light Around the World: Tracy Dawson

chrisangotti — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:47:00 -0800

It’s always fun to hear about kids and teens doing NaNoWriMo halfway around the world. Recently, we were sent an article about Tracy Dawson’s work in the small town of Parkes, Australia (population: 9,826), and we had to learn more. Here, she tells us how she got a program going in a tiny community with no previous writing support.

How did you hear about the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program, and what made you want to get involved?

Our school had several visits from Dr. Matthew Finch during 2011. He told me about NaNoWriMo and I was very interested and knew several students who were budding writers.

Coming from a rural town without a tradition of a writing community, how did you spark interest among your students?

I mainly publicised NaNoWriMo in school—using our newsletter, signage within the library, communication with English teachers, etc. I also posted on my library blog, Nailing Jelly to a Tree.

How did you and your students develop the plots for your novels? Where do you get ideas for your stories?

Most of my five students had ideas already. However, Matt had completed a couple of writing workshops in the library and I talked to the students about the writing methods of two Australian authors, Jackie French and Marcus Zusack, whom I had both seen present writing workshops at English Teacher Association conferences in previous years.

With regular school and exams, how did your students juggle their everyday lives with the writing process, and do they or you have tips for the rest of us?

I think they were just so keen they made themselves write a little each day, after studying first. Two of the students revised their word-count goals count downward and learned a valuable lesson about setting realistic expectations of themselves.

What does the future hold for your writing, and will you do NaNoWriMo YWP again?

In conjunction with Parkes Shire Library, we hope to begin writing workshops this year. They will involve adults and students and incorporate NaNoWriMo as an option for participants. Last year’s authors are keen to go again and now there are many others who have expressed interest.

Would a Silent Movie Count?

ollintern — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:28:11 -0800

As most of the staff here at OLL and Script Frenzy now know, I have no experience in scriptwriting. Like, really. None. But rather than feel intimidated, I’m trying to leap at the opportunity that will soon be presented to me this April. I even already have an idea. So what’s the problem, you may ask? Rather than forming my initial thoughts about my script as such, I can’t help but imagine it as a novel: heavy on description, omniscient narrator, light on character dialogue.

Which brings up the question: would a silent movie count? This prospect is becoming more and more appealing for me as I develop my idea. I’m hoping to write a murder mystery that takes place in the restaurant where I work. Imagine a busy Saturday night at a fancy steakhouse, and suddenly the waitstaff just start dropping like flies. But the surviving employees have to keep it secret from unsuspecting diners. Now imagine that as a silent film with creepy orchestra music. Scary, no? Or possibly some sort of dark comedy. We’ll see how it goes.

And now, with just that initial question, my brain is flooded with other script questions. How will my script actually play out? What would it look like with real people playing the parts? What would the set look like? I guess this means my murder mystery novel will be on the back-burner til November.

How do you all of you start your scriptwriting process? Does it start with a novelistic storyline, or do you usually hear your actors playing their parts early in the process? And are any of my fellow script writing novices facing similar challenges?

– Shelby

Photo from the Orange County Archives

Who puts pep in your step?

lindseygrant — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:21:00 -0800

It’s time for the great, grand pep talk poll! Has your favorite writer 1) written a novel, and 2) not yet contributed a pep talk? If so, they should totally write a pep talk for the 300,000 Wrimos who will be dashing out the rough draft of their novel this November!

I’ve asked the staff whose pep they’d love to receive (their top picks are below). Now it is your turn to tell us what novelists’ writing advice you’d most love to read.

Take a look at our pep talk archive (and the photos above!) to see who has already written a pep talk in the past. Then post your top picks in the comments below! We’ll do out best to get as many yes answers from your faves as we can.

Here are the staff’s picks:

Zadie Smith
Chang-rae Lee
Jennifer Egan
Kevin Wilson
Joshua Ferris
Dana Spiotta
Hannah Pittard
Tupelo Hassman
Jonathan Franzen
Karen Russell
Chad Harbach
Patrick Rothfuss
Peter Orner
Noah Hawley
George RR Martin
Kathryn Stockett
Stephen Hely
Robert Olen Butler
Charles Yu
William Gibson

Who’s on your list?

– Lindsey

An Austen Intervention

chrisangotti — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:41:06 -0800

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a reader in possession of… any-sized fortune really, must be in want of a book.

There’s much ado in my household with regard to debuting just now because my first novel, girlchild, goes on shelves this week. With girlchild being a debutante in her first season, I cannot get my mind off of Jane Austen, her work having taught me what little I know of debutantes and seasons, particularly from Pride and Prejudice. As I prepare to leave go of my little girl’s hand and watch her waltz off into the world, I’m glad I brought my smelling salts. It is a swoon-y time. The parties! The gossip! The dresses!

girlchild’s official launch party (might we call it a ball?) is Saturday night and she’s already fussed over her dress. The jacket turned out beautifully, it hugs her in all the right places and is adorned with blurbs (sequins perhaps?) that make me blush. As the reviews come in, there is much gossip, a great requirement of any good society function. girlchild’s dance card is filling up, at least according to its Amazon ranking, and much as I disbelieved Chris Baty when he told me I’d become addicted to monitoring that statistic, I do have it on speed dial. (I’m told another angel gets his Viking helmet every time Baty is right about something, and that guy is always right. I’m so glad he’s gone.)

Parties, check! Gossip, check! Dress, check! So, why am I so nervous?

Dear me! Have I become Mrs. Bennet? No faith in my progeny, chewing with my mouth open, and forcing my dearest on whoever doesn’t already have a book in his hand? Or, can we fault Mrs. Bennet (that is, me) for her awareness of the limited choices facing her girl children and a desire to see them held and loved and secure in this digitized world?

I never hoped to see myself as Mrs. B.

But here I am, nose to the embroidery hoop, where I’ve stitched this blog sampler, pretending not to worry and failing miserably. When no one’s looking, I’m wiping the dirt from her face with my spit, straightening her jacket, pinching her cheeks to add color, and shoving her onto the dance floor. I acquiesce to fate. I wanted to be Elizabeth, I dreamt of being sweet Jane, but here I am, Mrs. Bennet, uncouth, uncertain, and only focused on seeing that my darling gets to dance all night.

If I’m Mrs. B when it comes to introducing my work to the world, who are you? What literary character best illustrates your feelings about your writing? Do you hoard it, like Gollum, eyes wide and jealous? Do you cobble your story together during the lightning flashes and scare the villagers with it? Do you fly it like the kite in Mary Poppins? Are there any other Mrs. Bennets out there?

Whoever you are, may all of your darling precious monsters fly to the highest heights of your imagination.

– Tupelo (aka Mrs. B.)

All You Need Is Love

chrisangotti — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:43:00 -0800

Although some critique Valentine’s Day as a Hallmark card holiday (and, yes, I’ve said those words as a young lad, much to my romantic peril), it’s hard to argue with pausing in this crazy life to celebrate love—whether it’s loving your sweetheart, your granny, your pet toad, your novel, or the meter maid you yelled at last week for giving you a parking ticket.

The only thing the Office of Letters and Light loves more than writing is love itself—so we want to spread amorousness to all on Valentine’s Day in ways that are more fun than cheesy Hallmark cards (although we love many cheesy things, such as the fake roses in our office window).

Join us in a group hug:

On February 14, we’ll be talking about our favorite movie love scenes on Facebook, whether they make you cry, cringe, or guffaw. Scarlett O’Hara? John Cusack in Say Anything? I’ve been tearing up at Downton Abbey lately.

Download a snazzy NaNo or Script Frenzy heart to post as your profile photo on Twitter or Facebook.

Love your novel by learning how to pitch it. The Book Doctors, Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, are back for the second annual Pitchapalooza, February 1 to 29, for NaNoWriMo participants.

Flipping Valentine’s Day: Generosity Day

If you’re still a critic of Valentine’s Day, then there’s an alternative. Some creative folk (who probably did NaNo one year) have “rebooted” Valentine’s Day as Generosity Day—“one day of sharing love with everyone, of being generous to everyone, to see how it feels and to practice saying ‘Yes.’”

One way of saying “Yes” is to sign up for GoodSearch and designate the Office of Letters and Light as your charity. We have 6,100 supporters on GoodSearch, but we aim to reach 25,000 supporters by the end of 2012 so that we can improve our programs—for you!

Download the GoodSeach toolbar and with each Web search you’ll contribute money to OLL. And if you use GoodShop and GoodDining (say, to buy chocolates and roses or pens and paper), up to 6% of each purchase will go to support OLL (we’re sorry, but unfortunately many of the merchants and restaurants are only in the U.S.—they’re working on a more global presence).

Love. Love. Love. In whatever way you can. Even if it’s just writing a romantic scene.

– Grant

Aliza, I Am.

ollintern — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:33:33 -0800

I guess I should start off by saying that today is my first day working here as an intern with Script Frenzy. My first task? To write a little bit about myself. Sounds easy enough, right?

I’ve never been the best at writing on spot—even Facebook status updates take about 15 minutes of thinking through, editing, and re-editing. However, I’m trying to grow away from that, so this helps.

I’m currently an English major and creative writing minor over at UC Berkeley. This time next month I hope to know whether or not I’ll be accepted into the writing MFA programs that I applied to. Fingers are crossed. (I made sure to cross them as I typed that so as not to come across as a liar.)

What else? I’m a habitual abuser of hyphens, commas, and alliteration. Without spell-check I would be completely lost, and I love dresses, kittens, and reading.

What drew me to Script Frenzy was the program’s amazing intent. It’s like a world-accessible workshop course equipped with deadlines, goals, and fun! So far I’ve met some gorgeous, kind people who seem truly enthusiastic about their jobs.

I’m excited to learn more and become part of the Script Frenzy team!

– Aliza

First Day at the Office of Letters and Light

ollintern — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:36:02 -0800

It is the very first day of my internship with Script Frenzy and what do you know, they’re already making me write. I’m a little nervous but mostly excited to be here. As an English student at UC Berkeley, I’m used to doing a lot of writing, but this is actually my very first blog post ever—which I realize is pretty strange for someone in their 20s. Anyways, I hope I’m doing this right.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in Santa Cruz, California, one of the greatest places on the West Coast, or let’s face it, the world. I’ve always felt very at home in Northern California and I’ve been bouncing around the Bay Area since high school. But I’m graduating from Cal this Spring and I plan on relocating to East Coast so I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for “seasons,” meaning snow in the winter and humidity in the summer. What are you supposed to wear in July when it’s 80 degrees out and raining?

I realized how much I love literature when I was in the fourth grade and I read Louis Sachar’s novel Holes, after ordering it from the Scholastic catalog. Looking back, I’m not sure what about the book got me so darn excited but I absolutely loved it. I can remember telling the entire story to my mom over the course of an afternoon and asking her, “Isn’t it genius how it all comes together?” After my brief obsession with Holes came a much longer obsession with the Harry Potter series. By the time I left elementary school, Sachar and Rowling had turned me into an avid novel reader. Although it was not until high school that I began to cultivate a more sophisticated appreciation of literature, I’ve known since the fourth grade that I want to work with readers and writers, which is why I’m so thrilled to begin my internship with the Office of Letters and Light.

I’m really looking forward to getting to know the OLL staffers over the course of my internship and to begin my first attempt at scriptwriting.

– Jessie

Hello, this is me.

ollintern — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:16:00 -0800

On my first day of this internship, I’m having flashbacks to my 11th grade English class. The one where I had to write a personal essay. The kind about myself. Eek. However, looking at those flashbacks now with a good extra six years of life experience I feel vaguely more prepared. Or I’ll fake it til I make it…

I’m Shelby, a recent Mills College graduate, trying to make my way in life with a Bachelor’s in English. When I was 12, I read Mrs. Dalloway for the first time, not understanding a word of it (no chapters! no plot! insanity!), but that was the moment when I decided I wanted to work in literature, whatever that means. Be it reading, writing, or helping others do a bit of both, it’s a pretty great life to lead. My 12-year-old self would also be really impressed with my senior thesis on Virginia Woolf, and I like to think that her opinion is all that matters.

I am a Bay Area native—although some silly people will debate the Bay Area-ness of the suburbs on the other side of the tunnel—with a love for crafts, finding the perfect parking spot, long sentences, and breaking the writing “rules” I learned in junior high.

This is a very exciting, though nerve-wracking, day for me. I’m looking forward to working with all of these eclectic, passionately literary people. And I’m looking forward to getting back into writing; apparently a two-month long hiatus between graduating in December and now is too long. So, yay! And hello!

– Shelby

February is Pitchapalooza!

lindseygrant — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:56:00 -0800

The Book Doctors are back with the second-annual Pitchapalooza for Wrimos. Read on to get the lowdown from them on what this means, and how you can participate!

You wrote your 50,000 words (or got pretty close!). You’re a winner. You’ve been congratulated. You felt the high. But here’s the 64-gigabyte question: What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious manuscript?

If you’re like the approximately one gazillion writers we know, you want to get published. And you want to get published successfully. You want readers to devour your book ravenously; you want raves glowing in blog posts; you want bookstore owners to hand-sell your book so fast it’s literally flying off the shelves; you want to trade barbs with Stephen Colbert; you want readings in front of rapt devotees; you want to go viral at the speed of one of those krazy kitten movies. But how?

This is where we, The Book Doctors, come in. It’s our job to help writers make their dreams come true. It’s what we did with our first Pitchapalooza winners, Nura Maznavi and Ayesha Mattu, whose book, Love InshAllah, just hit the shelves. In the last week, they were profiled in the New York Times, had one of the most talked about pieces on the Huffington Post, and cracked the top 500 of all books sold on Amazon. Then there’s Pitchapalooza winner and NaNoWriMo veteran, Genn Albin. After she won Pitchapalooza, one of New York’s top agents sold her dystopian novel in a three-book, six-figure deal.

Now we’re embarking on our second online Pitchapalooza exclusively for NaNoWriMo participants so that you, too, have a chance to win.

For those of you not familiar with Pitchapalooza, here’s the skinny: You get 200 words to pitch your book. You then email your pitch to nanowrimo@thebookdoctors.com. Twenty-five pitches will be randomly selected from all submissions. We will then choose one winner from the group. The winner will receive an introduction to an agent or publisher appropriate for his/her manuscript. We will also award a fan favorite who will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250). All pitches must be received by February 29, 2012. The 25 random pitches will be posted on March 5, 2012. Winners will be announced on March 15, 2012. Anyone can vote for fan favorite, so get your social media engine running as soon as the pitches go up!

You may be thinking, “I can’t sum up my entire book in 200 words!” Let us say this: “Yes you can!” Your pitch is the first thing an agent, editor, publisher, bookseller, and often reader, will look at. In this age of one-minute attention spans, if your pitch doesn’t blow the person you’re pitching out of the water, you’ll get that dreaded letter that starts: “Dear Writer, Unfortunately…” We don’t want you to get any more of those letters. So enter the 2nd Annual NaNoWriMo Pitchaplooza by sending us a kick-ass pitch for your kick-ass novel. Who knows, maybe this year, the golden ticket will have your name on it.

P.S. Like last year, we’re offering free 20-minute consultations (worth $100) to anyone who buys a copy of The Essential Guide To Getting Your Book Published. Just attach a copy of your sales receipt to your email and we’ll set up your consultation.

Writer Fuel: Salad

lindseygrant — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:46:00 -0800

Today I’d like to ponder an oft-overlooked but rife-with-potential dish: the salad.

That’s right, I said it.

I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill, floppy iceberg lettuce and mealy tomato accompaniment. I’m talking about a glorious, multi-textured, ingredient-bonanza.

I have long respected the versatility of salads, and devote one night a week to making an epically large and experimental salad for dinner, and frequently bring a bag of ingredients to work for a custom lunch creation. What a mid-day treat!

Here are some of my favorites:

Avocado, red onion, and grapefruit over arugula. Also great with grilled chicken!
A classic niçoise: potatoes, green beans, egg, seared tuna, and optional olives and fresh corn. Mmmm. No sardines for me, please!
My newest creation: Beets, white beans, pistachios and feta over mixed greens. Add broccoli for color and toothsome fiber.
My mom’s specialty: pears, toasted pumpkin seeds, manchego cheese and a sherry vinaigrette. This is best on baby romaine, but any lettuce will do. Call the ambulance—I’m on my way to heaven just thinking about it!

No matter the salad, add one or a couple of these great vitamin and protein-packed ingredients to take your bowl of goodness from ordinary to extraordinary: pomegranate seeds, toasted hazelnuts (also called filberts), garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds, goat cheese, or raw asparagus coins (my new favorite). Oh, or bacon! (My real favorite. Let’s be serious here.)

Bon appetit!

– Lindsey

An interview with Grant Faulkner, OLL's new Executive Director!

lindseygrant — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:34:46 -0800

On January 9, the OLL-iverse changed in a very important way. Our new Executive Director, Grant Faulkner, arrived at 3354 Adeline for his first day on the job. I sat down with Grant at his excellently appointed desk and we chatted about him, his life and loves, and what he’s most looking forward to now that he is OLL’s fearless leader. Here’s what he had to say.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I tend to drop a lot of things, but I’m really good at catching them. I drive my car with a mug of coffee in one hand and a thumb on the steering wheel while singing to songs on the radio. Sometimes I’m also eating a bagel and asking my kids if they did their homework. I bring numerous books, journals, and pens on plane flights and stack them on my tray as if I’m engaged in a serious research project, but then end up reading Vanity Fair.

I miss drive-in theaters and pool halls. I was awarded the most-improved bowler in the junior division of my bowling league when I was 13, a dubious honor. Ulysses S. Grant is my favorite president, largely because of his horsemanship and his love of cigars (and I guess we share a name as well). I love visiting my parents in Iowa, where I grew up, and driving around on country roads taking photos of objects in states of desuetude. I plan to spend my later years mastering the art of tap dancing.

How many times, if ever, have you participated in NaNoWriMo or Script Frenzy?

I unofficially participated in NaNoWriMo years ago one summer when I was house-sitting in New Mexico. I think this was before NaNo existed. I challenged myself to write 1,500 words each day for the summer to develop a novel, but I didn’t quite hit my word count. I lacked pep talks, guilt monkeys, wombats, and write-ins.

I officially participated in 2010, however, when the inspirational zealot and whirling dervish of novel writing Chris Baty cajoled me into participating. It was really wonderful. I’d become a victim of my writing routine, which had plowed deep ruts into my creativity. I “wrote with abandon” for a month and developed a novel I’d been thinking about for years and took it in many directions, which I’ll call daring, that I wouldn’t have risked otherwise.

Script Frenzy held a similar revelation, but I enjoy doing it even more because I enjoy writing dialogue and it’s easier to write a relatively finished script in a month. It’s a good lesson to shake up your creative patterns.

What is your favorite thing to write about?

Transience. My characters tend to get addicted to their search and lose themselves in movement, forgetting that the place they came from holds the meaning they’re looking for. It’s like Blaise Pascal’s quote, “All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” My characters always think elsewhere is better, so they live in a state of abeyance.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve done in the last five years?

Other than taking part in National Novel Writing Month? I started a literary journal, 100 Word Story, with some friends. I’d held my writing solitude too dear for a long time, so it’s been great how this project has opened me up into a larger writing community, which is so energizing. Likewise, I started writing a script with a writing partner, which I’d never done, and I love the collaboration, all of the insights of another. I keep planning to go hang gliding, but haven’t found the time.

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I think I had some fantasies about becoming Batman. I still thought being President of the U.S. was a cool thing as well. And I remember begging my parents to let me grow my hair long because I wanted to be just like David Cassidy on The Partridge Family.

That said, I have many memories of going to book stores with my parents and staring lovingly at the journals and pens, as I still do. There’s not a writing accoutrement I don’t covet. I asked for a diary with a lock on it for Christmas one year. So I’m pretty sure I always I knew I’d be a writer, whether I was president or Batman.

What are you most excited about doing here at the Office of Letters and Light?

Creating. Creating joyfully. Creating with wildly spirited and funny and zany and daring people. And then creating some more.

What is your favorite thing on your desk, and why?

I love the styrofoam mannequin head that my daughter decorated in preschool. I like the mannequin’s tawdry elegance, her stately grace, her assertion of mad dashes of color. She’s got a disregard for naysayers’ opinions. She knows herself.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

The capacity for endless gratitude and the ability to express it meaningfully to all those I have to thank for this crazy, blessed life.

Marathon TV Watching

chrisangotti — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:27:00 -0800

The other day, I added the entire six-season run of The Larry Sanders Show to my Netflix Instant queue. I’ve been meaning to watch it for a while, and I plan to take it down in one big gulp—a few solid days of rigorous sitcomming during the winter months.

Obviously, I’m not alone in this style of marathon TV watching. DVD and video-on-demand have made the practice a common part of the cultural conversation. I can’t jump on to my Facebook or Twitter feeds without hearing about someone working through a season or more. (A friend’s run of Cheers was the most impressive.) Recent episodes of Portlandia and Up All Night have noted the intense commitment people feel to the shows they’re mainlining. And many media critics have spoken up both for and against the “binge.”

(Our office, meanwhile, houses some serious Downton Abbey marathonners: Sarah and Grant just knocked out the first season.)

Are you a fan of watching TV shows all at once? Why or why not? If you are, which ones have kept you couch-bound? Any notable marathons that you regretted or repeated?

– Chris A.

Photo by Flickr user jayneandd

The Sacrificial Mitten

sarahjmackey — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:47:36 -0800

Sometimes, there are things in life that are just meant to happen, and much though you might try to change the course of destiny, you can’t.

I lost my mitten again. I’m pretty sure it’s gone for good this time. You see, I left it in a cab in New York City on my way from LaGuardia Airport to my hotel. And I’m okay with it being gone, for two reasons. First of all, that mitten obviously longed to be free, and I was oppressing it by forcing it to live in my pocket. It was obviously an adventure-seeking mitten, and I was lucky to get an extra two years of mitten-y love after it made a break for it a few years back.

And second of all, it became clear over the course of the week that the mitten was my sacrifice to the gods of New York City. And based on the rest of my trip, they deemed my sacrifice worthy.

I flew out on Friday the 13th, and was a little nervous that some horrible disaster would befall me as a result. I got held up in traffic thanks to a billboard that fell on the bridge, and lost my mitten, and it felt like an inauspicious start to the whole thing. Fortunately, things turned around on Saturday. I got up early and rode the Staten Island Ferry out past the Statue of Liberty, then wandered around Canal Street. (I bought some replacement mittens with flip tops for better tweeting.)

The rest of the day was equally pleasant, with several hours spent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, delicious dinner with my cousin and his girlfriend, and a truly stunning view from the top of the Empire State Building. Sure, it’s kind of a tourist trap, but it’s one for a reason. Plus, it was cold, so there weren’t any lines. (It’s always good to be a hardy Canadian in these situations.)

The hardy Canadianism was most required on Sunday morning. It was windy as hell and the temperature dropped quite a bit, but I got up first thing, put on pretty much all the layers I had, and headed down to the Eugene O’Neill theatre to wait in line for standing room at The Book of Mormon. They sell 28 spots an hour before the show for $27, and I decided I was willing to wait five hours in the cold.

Two hours before the show, they do a draw for the rush tickets, which are the handful of seats they reserve for a lottery. I’d guess that about 200 people entered the draw, including all 30 or so people in the standing room line. 15 people got tickets.

I was one of them.

So we ended up with box seats to the hardest-to-see show in town. We went from there to dinner featuring the greatest cheesecake I’ve ever eaten, then on to Mary Poppins. (If you would like to experience theatrical whiplash, see those two shows back to back.)

The mitten karma carried through to Monday, where I found a pair of jeans so perfect that I took two pairs up to the cash register, only to discover they were 40% off. That night I saw Avenue Q, which I knew was going to be awesome from the very first song, “What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?” (I have a B.A. in English.)

On Tuesday, the weather was kind of mediocre, but I put up with it to check out Top of the Rock and nerd out in the NBC store. (I was torn as to whether the Community, Parks and Recreation, or Friday Night Lights section was most awesome.) Then I headed over to Hell’s Kitchen to get into line again, this time to see a Daily Show taping.

It took up most of the afternoon, but it was super-cool to see behind the scenes, especially since I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get tickets on such short notice. From there we had a staggeringly delicious dinner, and thanks to Restaurant Week, it was $35 for our three course dinner instead of $150.

So sure, I lost my mitten. But I spent five near-perfect days in New York City, and I’d sacrifice a dozen mittens for the weekend I just had. Besides, now I get to knit myself some new mittens. That’s not so bad, right?

Have you ever had one of those trips where everything just worked out? If you’re planning one right now, consider packing a sacrificial mitten. If it’s to New York, let me know and I’ll fill you in on my Book of Mormon and Daily Show ticket-acquiring tips. And if you take a cab while you’re there, keep an eye out for a red and white mitten with a bird on the thumb.

The Play’s the Thing

lindseygrant — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:49:01 -0800

Until last week, it had been about a year since I went to “see a show”: a stage production of Beauty and the Beast.

I was reminded then, as I always am when I go to the theater, how much I love plays and how I really ought to see more of them. And more regularly.

And then another year passed before I found myself happily—luckily—invited to see Cirque du Soleil’s Immortal Michael Jackson tour. Not your traditional stage play by any stretch, but still theater to be sure.

The intersection of story (a loose bio of Jackson), tribute to his life and loves, and spectacular performance-art-as-music-video certainly ranked this production in the “like nothing I’ve ever seen” category. The astronomical production value, the astonishingly ornate costumes, the interpretations of history and the music that ranged from the wildly creative and abstract to the literal, the pyrotechnics (!), the acrobatics, and the sheer awesomeness of the music heard in a different context all left me slack-jawed, starry eyed, and one million percent dazzled.

Contrast this with the show I saw over the weekend: a radio play of Wet Hot American Summer, originally a cult-hit film that came out back in 2001.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from a radio play of a movie, but it was pretty straightforward: the original cast assembled on stage for a reading of the script, replete with sound effects and the occasional props.

Not only was I gobsmacked to be in the same room as the likes of Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, and Paul Rudd. But the comedic value of a live reading of a script—and its many mess-ups, foibles, riffs, and improv moments—made this an utterly unique experience that was even more enjoyable than watching the actual film, funny as it is. As an audience member, I got to observe the writers and performers from the original work interact with and react to the material in a way that you’d never see in the film. My favorite part of the whole show was watching the performers react to their colleagues’ delivery of their lines.

I am fascinated by the juxtaposition of theater and art in these two shows: an acrobatic performance of Michael Jackson’s music and his life in one; a live stage reading of a film script in the other.

It also got me thinking about inventive and unusual subjects to tackle for Script Frenzy. (At my fiancé’s urging, I had to abandon my plan to write a rock-opera script for our upcoming wedding.)

What artistic intersections or reinterpretations have you witnessed recently? Any Script Frenzy plans that involve the melding of media?

– Lindsey

Jane Sevier: A Perspective on Revision

chrisangotti — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:58:29 -0800

Jane Sevier completed the first draft of Fortune’s Fool during NaNoWriMo 2008. After revision and publication, the novel was a finalist in the Romance Writers Association’s Golden Heart Awards. In this article (originally published on the Moody Muses blog), Jane discusses her post-NaNo process and how she built the book from the bones up. What lessons have you learned from your own revisions?

You made it through NaNoWriMo with your 50K or however many words. Then the holidays came along to distract you and let you recover a little while those words lay fallow for six weeks.

So, now what? If you’re like me, you’re itching to look back at what poured out of you in November. Or what you extracted with forceps and one foot braced against the desk. However those words arrived on the page, enough time has passed to give you a fresh perspective.

I spent this last NaNo working on the second book in my Psychic Socialite series that I launched in the fall with Fortune’s Fool. Fool was my first NaNo win and great experience for what faces me now with the new book.

Fool started as just a premise. I knew the protagonist would be a 1930s Memphis socialite whose husband dies and leaves her penniless. She becomes a fortuneteller, only to discover that she has the true sight. I wanted the love interest to be a fake medium who bears a striking resemblance to Simon Baker of The Mentalist. And I knew Nell, my socialite, would be faced with providing for a household that included her mother-in-law and her cook and lifelong friend.

That was it. I didn’t know the ending or even the mystery that Nell would have to unravel. Because Fool is the origin story for the series, I trusted that all would be revealed as I felt my way. I’m an organic writer who doesn’t plot much, so I wasn’t uncomfortable with that. It really helped that NaNo is the kind of hell-for-leather, don’t-look-down ride that doesn’t give you time to stop for doubt. And when the time came, the mystery showed up, as did the final scene.

After that NaNo, I put Fortune’s Fool aside for several months while I worked on other projects. When I came back to it for the first read-through to get a feel for the story and what it needed, I was thrilled to find that the bones of a pretty good mystery were definitely there, although in a several places, the thigh bone was not necessarily connected to the hip bone. I had to figure out how to reassemble the skeleton so that it fit together in the best way for the story.

The next read-through, I looked for major scenes and turning points and compiled a scene list so I could see what I had and be able to move the pieces around. I also write screenplays, and studying their structure has helped me not plot exactly but organize what I’ve written after it’s on the page. So, I made a chart dividing the story into “Act I,” “Act II-Part I,” “Midpoint,” “Act II-Part II,” and “Act III” based loosely on Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat system. It would be some time and several reads before I decided those pieces were in the right place.

The next read was to be sure my characters were distinct, well-motivated individuals. Nell, Joseph Calendar, Miss Bess, and Hattie are so real to me that they practically wrote themselves. Having them as anchors made it easier to motivate the other cast members.

At first, I wanted a sort of über-villain who would be Moriarty to Nell’s Sherlock throughout the series, but the scene and character-emotion reads told me that wasn’t going to work with the way the story—and ultimately the series—were unfolding. So out with that idea. The mystery that showed up gave me several possibilities for the villain of this particular book. Then I just had to figure out why anyone would do such a thing.

I tend to write dialogue before anything else, and lots of it, so once the characters and structure were in place, I went through to be sure that I had action and description to help drive the story and evoke emotion without having a bunch of talking heads on every page.

Then, I read for style, remembering that Mark Twain said that the difference between the right word and almost the right word was the difference between lightening and lightening bug. And I love language so much that it’s fun for me to play with words.

Along the way, I had wonderful beta readers go through the manuscript a couple of times. Their feedback gave me wonderful insights into what worked and what didn’t. A final revision with all the pieces in mind, and I was ready to publish Fortune’s Fool.

This all sounds a lot more organized than it was when I was actually revising Fortune’s Fool. Having muddled through that, though, revising A Billy Sunday Kind of Love should be a piece of cake. Or at least less daunting. Right?

It's the simple things in life.

sandrasalas — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:46:10 -0800

Last February, I posted a story about my nerd-out over the arrival of my new seed catalog. I love to garden and I was deciding on what to plant for the season. Right before Script Frenzy kicked off in April, I managed to plant an assortment of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. I wasn’t sure what was going to take, but I hoped for the best.

By July, my garden was bursting with three types of squash, plenty of herbs, cucumbers, strawberries, jalapeños, bell peppers, and sunflowers. It was wonderful, and my friend snapped a photo to share with you. Ah, it really is the simple things in life that make me happiest.

What’s been making you happy lately?

– Sandra

Down the Rabbit Hole

capitanoll — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:41:44 -0800

NaNoWriMo’s been over for a bit now, but I’m only just beginning to feel the slump. After a month of spending hours with my characters, researching the perils of deep-cave exploration and the mechanics of spelunking, and not-so-patiently explaining why I wouldn’t be making that baseball game with friends after all, the relative quiet of January is, well, a little disquieting. I’m a little sad to be honest!

Still, one thing that’s bucking me up? Knowing that Script Frenzy is only a few short months away. NaNo came first for me, and is near and dear to my heart, but Script Frenzy might be a footstep nearer and dearer. I was a literature-writing major at UC San Diego, and chose a focus in screenwriting for my last year there.

My now-dusty portfolio consists of a spec script for The Office, in which Michael Scott discovers Facebook and demands to know why Pam won’t friend him back (wow, remember when people were “discovering” Facebook?), a feature where a boy decides he will resurrect his recently deceased older brother, and a pilot script that examines the sometimes sordid, less than magical lives of the workers inhabiting the princess dresses and mouse costumes at the non-copyright-infringing “Fizneeland.”

Still, I can’t seem to shake this last novel off completely, to the point where I’m thinking I might just adapt it into a screenplay this April. Even though the final product was pretty beastly, there are hints of a strong jawline and glinting eyes buried somewhere underneath the hairiness. I can excavate something yet. It’s the setting, really, that’s inspiring me. Caves! Journeying underneath the earth’s crust! Stalactites and stalagmites, and still pools of water, hollow echoes and eyeless amphibians! The thought of it all makes me hop, and I’m glad to have reason to keep exploring as I look ahead to Script Frenzy.

What about you? Looking back on all that hard work this November, what is most exciting to you about your novel? Anyone else adapting a NaNo novel for Script Frenzy?

– Tim

Photo by Flickr user Bernt Rostad

The Office of Mittens and Brrr

chrisangotti — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:49:30 -0800

Here in the Bay Area, we’re having a quite beautiful, quite temperate winter.

But in the OLL office, we cannot get out of an ongoing cold wave. Try as we might, even with the heater pumping, we’re just not feeling the warmth. I blame our high ceilings and big windows—nice the rest of the year, but they provide insufficient structure for maximum toastiness. At least one of us has even taken to wearing a Snuggie at the coldest points in the day. (It’s a leftover merchandise sample… Did we ever tell you that we thought about making NaNoWriMo Snuggies?)

Many of you live in colder parts of the world, and we thought you might be able to help. How do you stay warm while working—whether on your writing or at your day job? Better yet, give us your most ridiculous idea to stave off the cold, and we’ll take a picture of a staff member wearing or doing it.

Thanks in advasbnm,ce (Whoops, mitten-related typo.)

– Chris A.

Photo by Flickr user Syniq

Writer Fuel: Mexican Hot Chocolate

sandrasalas — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:10:44 -0800

Need help tackling that rewrite? This tasty drink will give you the boost you need to help you get started. The following recipe makes about two over-sized mugs of hot chocolatey delight.

Ingredients:

One tablet of Mexican chocolate (Abuelita, Morelia or Carlos V) broken into smaller pieces.
3 cups of milk (skim, 1%, 2%, or whole milk all work)
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
A pinch of salt (optional)
Mini marshmallows (optional)
Brown sugar (optional)
Cinnamon sticks
Whipped cream

Directions:

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat bring the milk to a gentle simmer. Next, add the chocolate, cinnamon, and salt (optional) stirring frequently with a wire whisk for five minutes until the chocolate melts. Allow the mixture to simmer for a few more minutes so the chocolate and milk can blend together. When it comes to a boil remove from heat and beat with a wire whisk until frothy.

Sweeten with brown sugar to taste. Top with marshmallows, whipped cream, and add cinnamon sticks as stirrers. Be sure to let it cool before sipping because it’ll be piping hot. Enjoy!

Photo by Flickr user Louish Pixel