I was going through my old email account and found this chunk of manuscript -- my first novel BLOODANGEL, which came out from Roc/Penguin in 2005.

I posted it at Scribd as a free (and long) excerpt:



http://www.scribd.com/doc/17273122/Blood-Angel-Excerpt


That is all. Except for this picture of brunette me:





And now I'm off to read and eat chocolate covered peanuts.

Here is the list of Tenner Twitter names for anyone (followers and Tenners alike) who would like to add us on Twitter. If you didn't email me with your name, feel free to add it in the comments!

Jessica Leader @JessicaLeader

Chelsea Campbell @kaerfel

Mindi Scott @mindi_scott

Laura Manivong @lauramanivong

Lindsay Eland @lindsayeland

Steve Brezenoff @sbrezenoff

Bree Despain @breedespain

Josh Berk @joshberkbooks

Jackie Dolamore @jackiedolamore

Suzanne Young @suzanne_young

Margie Gelbwasser @MargieGelb

Dia Reeves @diareeves

Christina Gonzales @ChristinaDG

Denise Jaden @denisejaden

Jen Cervantes @jencerv

Kimberly Derting @kimberlyderting

Rachel Hawkins @LadyHawkins

Karen Kincy @karenkincy

Christy Raedeke @craedeke

Jame Richards @jamerichards

Julie Kagawa @jkagawa

Anna Jarzab @ajarzab

Stephanie Burgis @stephanieburgis

Holly Hoxter @hnhoxter

Irene Latham @Irene_Latham

Amy Brecount White @amybrecountwhit

Jen Nadol @jennadol

Shaun Hutchinson @ShaunieDarko

Karen Healey @kehealey

Angie Frazier @angie_frazier

Tara Kelly @AuthorTaraKelly

Trish Doller @TrishDoller

If you have any connection to the universe of children's publishing, you have probably heard about this. I'm not up in arms or anything, as a) I'm not completely clear on the details of the proposal and b) "best of" lists are always limited, ultimately, in their usefulness. But, the idea is that BBYA would be replaced by some kind of popular vote, and that got me thinking about the starification of our culture, something that's been bothering me for awhile now.

I love our friend the Internet. You know I do. But I've always hated that you can't write an Amazon or Goodreads review without adding a star rating. How can you rate a Carson McCullers novel using the same scale as a VC Andrews novel---that is, 0 to 5 stars? I might give both Member of the Wedding and Flowers in the Attic a 5, as they are both totally satisfying to me in their own ways. But they are hardly equal. This same star scale is used to rate all consumer products, restaurants, cities, mechanics, doctors, ISPs, hair stylists...the list goes on and on.

Aren't these things a tiny bit more complicated than a five-star rating system? What do the ratings and rankings really tell you other than an average opinion of average people who may or may not be anything like you in their needs and tastes? In an ideal world, excellent things would also be popular, but the fact that America's Funniest Home Videos has been the most widely-viewed TV show for eons tells you that is not always the case.

Some books are excellent but not popular. Some books are popular but not excellent. Some are excellent and popular--yay! Of course this all ties into the last big online debate in kidlit: Who is qualified and should be allowed to review books? Which ties into the bigger cultural picture and the demise of print journalism, the controversies over citizen reporting and mommy bloggers, and the re-evaluation of the purpose of and need for gatekeepers.

There is a seismic cultural shift going on, and the ALA is not immune. As is always the case with change, whether it turns out to be bad change or good change, something is lost. I think we lose a lot by the way star ratings have encroached on how we make choices, and I fear that they---and any kind of popular vote scenario---can even keep us from knowing certain choices exist. The breadth and depth of the BBYA list has been so great---it's hard for me to see the proposed changes as anything but a loss, with nothing gained since there are already so many ways to measure and reward popularity.

SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE
by Jennifer Banash



Life in the Big Apple for Midwesterner from "Normal" is definitely "no place like home"

Third and last in The Elite book series – Jennifer Banash brings us more adventures from the spoiled, rich teens in Manhattan who nearly ate Casey McCloy alive when she first arrived in the Big Apple from her small town of Normal, Illinois. Casey learned very quickly after she moved in with her grandmother at The Bramford, the most exclusive luxury apartment building on New York’s Upper East Side and got into the prestigious Meadowlark Academy on a full scholarship, that it’s not who you are but who you know!

Simply Irresistible (Penguin) brings us a whole new set of adventures now that Casey has had a big city-haute makeover, courtesy of her classmate and neighbor Madison Macallister – part teen icon and part queen diva-bitch. Wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, and meeting the right people, has given Casey the look and the attitude – she’s “in” and loving it! Much to Madison’s dismay, her rival is climbing up the social ladder in a big way and could end up just as popular as Madison now that the two are set to star in their own TV reality show, “De-Luxe.” Yes, showbiz came knocking on two of The Bramford’s most illustrious doors and, as much as Madison thrives on the attention the show brings, she’s not thrilled about having every bit of her life of privilege caught on tape. However, fame comes at a price and Madison is one chick who is willing to pay anything…especially if it means becoming the next reality “it girl.” Casey, on the other hand, is realizing that Reality TV can sometimes beunreal, causing her to wonder if she even knows who she is anymore. With her relationship with Drew, Madison’s ex, currently more off than on, she can’t help wondering if everything i n her life is really just an illusion – and how much longer the illusion can last….

Although The Elite series is obsessed with fashion and glamour, Branash does an impressive job of examining real issues that teens face, such as cutting, divorce, infidelity, and drug addiction. Having personally attended high school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan provided the author with the background for her ample insight and imagination portrayed in The Elite Series.

Jennifer E.: In my book The Ex Games, Hayden has to overcome her fear of heights to make it as a professional snowboarder. What are your characters afraid of, and how do they conquer their fears?

Jennifer B.: I think that Casey is afraid she'll lose her uniqueness trying to fit in with the Upper East Side crowd, and Madison's deepest fear is that no one will ever love her.

Jennifer E.: What has been your greatest fear as a writer, and how have you dealt with it?

Jennifer B.: I think that my greatest fear, much like many other writers, is rejection. You work for years sometimes on a novel, and then to even contemplate people not liking it is a heartbreaking prospect.

Jennifer E.: In The Ex Games, Hayden goes head-to-head with her ex-boyfriend in a snowboarding challenge. Are you involved in any sports? How do you think being a woman has affected you as an athlete?

Jennifer B.: Heh. I am just about the least sporty girl you will ever meet. To quote Carrie Bradshaw, "shopping is my cardio."

Jennifer E.: For good or ill, I design my own web site. Who designed yours? What’s your favorite part of your web site that you wish more people would visit?

Jennifer B.: Jenny Hassler is redesigning my site, www.jenniferbanash.com. My fav part of the site (which isn't up yet) is the Flash intro, which is really sparkly!

Jennifer E.: What’s your favorite gizmo advertising your book?

Jennifer B.: Book trailers! I am completely obsessed with them. Madison Meyer over at M2 Productions makes mine, and she's seriously talented. But don't take my word for it, check out the trailer for SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE, and decide for yourself!

  



The best remedy for The Doubts is liking your project as you revise.
Thinking to yourself "Hey, this isn't too bad!"
Or maybe just "Hey, this isn't too bad." (minus the exclamation point).

I am SO grateful for these glimmers right now.
Whether they're exclamatory, or not.

              
           

It's always good to run across Petrarch when researching a book.

After climbing a mountain and reading St. Augustine's Confessions, he notes:

"I closed the book, angry with myself that I should still be admiring earthly things who might long ago have learned from even the pagan philosophers that nothing is wonderful but the soul, which, when great itself, finds nothing great outside itself. Then, in truth, I was satisfied that I had seen enough of the mountain; I turned my inward eye upon myself, and from that time not a syllable fell from my lips until we reached the bottom again. [...] [W]e look about us for what is to be found only within. [...] How many times, think you, did I turn back that day, to glance at the summit of the mountain which seemed scarcely a cubit high compared with the range of human contemplation..."

Of course, he kind of misses the point that the mountain largely engendered this inner contemplation. But whatever. It's a good enough summation of why I'm taking a holiday from the Internets for a while. Happy trails, peeps.

Don't forget the Lyrics Contest runs until the end of this month. Go here for details and please do broadcast so everyone has a chance to SHIVER!

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/1490046549.html?nid=3713

The last time I was in Chicago it was for the Kidlitosphere Conference, the yearly gathering of children's and YA literary bloggers (held this yea...

Hey, the hovercraft seems to be full of eels over here, and for various complicated reasons, Juan's not going to be able to fix it for a few days. So if you're trying to get hold of me and can't, and it's really urgent, you might ping jenett, who will have my phone number. (Sorry to volunteer you, dear heart, but I want to get this message out while I still can.)

Otherwise, please don't assume email to me is getting through right now. *sigh*

http://greglsblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/conans-pizza.html

Day 2 of the Pizza-a-day Plan!

Conans Pizza (603 W. 29th Street and other locations). I last went to Conans Pizza when I was in grad school and it was on Guadalupe where the Kerbey Lane now is. All I remember is that it wasn't bad, that the decor was a riot (a Conan the Barbarian motif, of course), and that it was my first experience with Shiner Bock. And, until recently, I'd thought they'd gone out of business.

But Conans has been around since 1976 and serves a deep dish pizza they say is "inspired by an old Chicago recipe" and bill themselves as having "The Best Deep Dish Pan Pizza in Texas" (although this may be damning with faint praise :-)).

I ordered The Savage (this has sausage, pepperoni, hamburger, mushrooms, black olives, onions, green peppers, with jalapenos and anchovies optional.). And a Conans salad to keep up the pretension of healthy eating.

The pizza arrived promptly after about forty-five minutes, still warm in its insulated delivery bag. It was slightly thinner than I was expecting, although still definitely deep dish. It was tasty but a little doughy -- I'm not sure about putting the cheese on top of the ingredients. Still, not terrible, and I did have a great feeling of nostalgia whilst eating it. :-).

Oh, and for the law geeks out there: yes, it's the same Conans from Conan Properties vs. Conan's Pizza, 752 F.2d 145 (5th Cir. 1985).

 Does anyone know any good books that involves a long lost father or an estranged father? Anyone know what I mean?
You know, when a girl wants to find the father she's never known or is forced to live with him? Any plots along those lines?

 I have had an interesting week and a half with PALACE BEAUTIFUL. I think I have learned something--something big--something really big.

As many of you know I had a heart attack over my cover and I ranted and stressed and all that until my agent and editor assured me they and the team of marketers and artists and everyone think it's best for the book and people like it--especially kids. For some reason, I was instantly appeased and now I feel great about it all. For the first time, I feel really excited and ready for it to come out. Before I felt like I was still processing it all. I just feel different now. 

Today, I got to thinking. Why did I get so upset over the cover and why was I so easily content once I heard the marketing facts? I realized what it was. The cover didn't look like me. I wanted the cover to have my style because the book was written by me so the writing has my style. The cover looks nothing at all like me. I realized I had to let go of the idea that the book is mine. It isn't. I wrote it, but when it is out in the world, it doesn't belong to just me, it belongs to anyone who reads it. The cover doesn't need to look like me because it is not just my book anymore, it is everyone's. When I got the idea that the book is not just mine anymore, I was perfectly okay with the cover. 

The crazy thing is, I think it was a kind of grief process. It is not like it has been only mine for a while. Many, many people have helped get this book where it is today. But it will be different when it is sitting on bookshelves all over the place and being read by kids who will love it or hate it or be indifferent to it. It is theirs as much as it is mine. 

I think the cover was a shock to me because I realized--even if it was only subconscious at the time, that the book is out of my hands and ready to belong to the world (or at least the US and Canada at this point :) ). I think letting go and allowing the book to look how it looks for the best of the book let me detach enough that I can now let the book go where it needs to go for its best good and for the people who will read it--and not just me. 

I had no idea I was clinging to it that firmly. Now, I'm ready to let go and ready to let it belong to all of you as well.

In more ways that one!

Tonight some neighbors are having us over for a good-bye party. They are a blast and we always have such a great time when we get together. I've been saying goodbye all week: lunches, coffees, dinners, drinks. It's all so fun, but I'm left wondering, why wasn't I able to see all my friends more?

Long answer? Well, for the last [nearly] two years, we've been gypsys traveling north and south and north and south, between Northern and Southern California for work.

Short answer? We live in LA [well, in the suburbs anyway]
And, when you live in LA your friends can live anywhere from next door to 90 miles away usually involving excruciating drives on freeways full of fellow angelinos trying to do the very same thing. The traffic is even an excuse to miss work. OK, don't make a habit of it or anything, but I actually did have to turn around and head home when I worked in Mid-Wilshire. Called my boss from the Sepulveda Pass after being on the road for 2 hours and told her when I did eventually get there she definitely wouldn't want to deal with me. She told me to turn around. And, I did have to turn back on PCH when, after driving a little over an hour, I was still in Malibu, on the road to meet friends in Santa Monica. My bad.

But, I'd brave the crowded asphalt for any one of my buddies and will miss them all. So, that hurts.

And then there's this shoulder of mine that mysteriously decided to ache this morning. And all these other aches and pains that have cropped up. Moving is actually quite the workout. Not a lot of cardio, since I don't have to chase after young kids while I pack any more, but lots of weights [picking up boxes that I've overstuffed with our earthly possessions] which my body sorely needs. Just wish it didn't make me so sore. But, every time I start getting whinny, like I am here...SO sorry, I'm manning up...I think about my 81 and 85 yr old parents who just packed up and moved to FLA. They are amazing and a constant source of inspiration when I get tired and cranky.

But, it doesn't make the move hurt any less.

And then there's the photos I poured through today. Didn't get anywhere near the amount of packing done I thought I would, getting bogged down in my hallway cupboard full of photos that should come with a warning similiar to land wars in Asia: Never get involved. Flicking through the years in as many minutes. Coming across images that crack me up, images that make me question why I ever thought I was fat at 30, and images that surprise. The photos of the loved ones no longer with us that I thought would live forever. And the random card that I saved and re-read again that means so much more today, Christmas cards after 9/11 particularly. Ow.

But those who have passed on are closer to me now in ways I can't quite describe. Hearing their quips in my head in certain situations. Affecting my daily thoughts and deeds by their example. They have become a part of me now.

But, it doesn't make the move hurt any less.

So I'm going to do what Elle does in Legally Blonde when she need's a lift. Mani/pedi here I come! The boxes will wait.

I have been totally overwhelmed with RL stuff (one of the GOOD things was my oldest friend having her first baby - yay!), but I made time to reply to all your fabulous comments on my last entry. Thank you! I also made time for one hour each night to watch... this:



I've used the BBC America trailer because I think it's the best one. Five nights of brand new Torchwood = five nights of BRILLIANT entertainment. This was dark and gritty... I loved it! Did you watch it?*

Ladies and gentlemen, that was your Friday Five for this week. ;)

*Please don't post spoilers - I know lots of people who haven't seen it yet.

DRUMMMM ROOOOOLLLL....

Congrats Sarah-Greenbeanteenqueen! You were lucky number #26 on my list! I sent you a message on Goodreads so check your inbox! :)

I'm going to be giving away another ARC next month, and I promise it'll be held here at the blog. Thanks so much again to everyone who entered!!

Love,
Alex

The New York Times says, "Plenty of authors dream of writing the great American novel. Bradley Inman wants to create great fiction, dramatic online video and compelling Twitter stream — and then roll them all into a multimedia hybrid that is tailored to the rapidly growing number of digital reading devices.Vook is a technology platform offering storytellers the best digital tools to deliver written stories with integrated video, photos, social media, and community features."

And if you go to vook.tv, you'll see that:

"Authors and Publishers [April says: are publishers so important they deserve their own capital letter?] will directly benefit from this new distribution platform.
Vook Provides...
New sources of revenue [good luck with that one]
Higher value offering over traditional eBooks [Maybe I'm really old, but "traditional" seems a weird word to apply to eBooks, seeing as how people haven't yet agreed how to spell the dang things]
Richer storytelling experience [seems possible]
Turn-key media solution [buzz words that really mean what?]
Effective social media marketing [how?]
Direct fan engagement [I like to think of them as readers, but I guess that's another "traditional" word]"

So what exactly is a Vook? "Last year, considering the opportunities that e-book devices like the Amazon Kindle might someday create, Mr. Inman wrote his own thriller, “The Right Way to Do Wrong” and got TurnHere to film two dozen short videos with actors that augment the book’s main mystery. He recently began showing his Vook prototype to publishers as a way to hook them and their established writers on the idea."

My guess is that it would be expensive to do this for most books. And would it really add to the value, or would it distract from the reader's imagination.

You can read more here.

Crossposted from the Deadline Dames, where this week we’re answering reader questions. Come on over and play!

My brain is oatmeal today, because yesterday I finished the first draft of the third Strange Angels book. So if I occasionally sound like a babbling idiot, that’s why. There’s a snapback involved in finishing any huge project. This one is all the more intense because I don’t get a break–I go right into last-minute Weasel Boy revisions and short-story reworking. Come August, when everything is turned in, I am going to be so, so useless.

Last week I talked about how writing is not a bloodless art. Several of you have asked me about the “hidden hinges” I mentioned at the very beginning of that piece. (Warning: I am about to beat a metaphor to death in this post. I AM NOT KIDDING.)

Now, this is purely personal terminology, YMMV and all that. I do structure my books vary carefully and put things in certain places for a reason. I tend to visualize a book like a tapestry or a fall of cloth hanging in a certain configuration, and the external and internal hinges are the places where I’ve inserted a hook or something to get the fabric to make the shape I want. It requires both fine close work (trees) as well as stepping back to take a look at how the whole damn thing is hanging (forest.)

What I call “external” hinges are big plot points, major parts of the plot. Smaller plot points are the folds of the fabric itself. Internal, “hidden” hinges are smaller, pretty much invisible underpinnings, and they come in two types: the personal and the reader’s hinges.

This won’t make a lot of sense without an example, so here goes.

In Working For The Devil, the sex scene with Dante and Japhrimel is an external hinge. It moves the story forward and introduces the basic tension in the second half of the book, the tension that was foreshadowed both by Japh’s treatment of Dante and by Dante’s own feelings of being an alien in her own world. The reader’s hidden hinge in that scene is where Dante talks about Japhrimel telling her things she had always wanted to hear. That feeling–that you’re waiting for the lover who will whisper the right thing in your ear–is amazingly human, and it is the reader’s entry into the scene, for all it occurs near the end of it. It’s not quite a payoff, but it is a hidden hinge and part of the reason why that scene works.

The personal hinge is just that–personal. It’s the part of the scene that makes it work for the writer, and no, I’m not going to tell you what my personal hinge in that scene is. It’s not what you think.

The personal hinge is the writer’s entry into the scene–it gives the writer what the scene is “about,” it emotionally invests the writer so that the writer can make it possible for the reader to be emotionally invested. It happens in the oddest places, and most times the reader’s eyes skip right over it. I have yet to identify a hidden hinge in a fellow writer’s book, and I have yet to have anyone guess any of mine correctly–or even mention them.

This is why reading is so important for writers. You have to read widely, in a few different genres, before you start being able to identify where the outer and the reader’s hidden hinges are. Sometimes the hidden hinges are missing–try as I might, I cannot find them in a lot of big “blockbuster” books. (Clancy and Dan Brown come to mind here.) This could be because there is no emotional point of entry for me in those books personally, or it could be because they’re not there. (I will leave that question where it lies.) I can read them for other reasons, but the satisfying emotional gestalt of story is missing.

Hinges are different than worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is how you dye that fall of fabric, but without the hinges it’s just a shapeless mass. Hoisting it properly and making it hang to make the finished shape you want requires structure–both the bigger structure of external hinges and the smaller detail-oriented structure of reader’s hidden hinges.

If the external and the reader’s hidden hinges are at variance or improperly balanced, the work isn’t going to “hang” right and will feel lopsided or misshapen. External hinges without internal hinges make for a choppy mess of events with very little internal logic and no reason to care about why these characters are doing those things. Internal hinges without external hinges are very hard to do, because a story without something happening, even if that something is purely internal, is not quite a story. Sometimes the reader’s hidden hinges can double as external hinges in a story with not much “going on” on the surface, but that’s a hat trick for other writers, not me. Purely internal stories are okay, but I prefer a little more bang and flash. Again, that’s a personal taste.

I didn’t find out about internal hinges until after my sixth novel or so. Before I had a fuzzy idea why some things worked, because I’d read so much and had caught the rhythm of storytelling. But around my sixth finished book I started being able to see the structure of a whole book inside my head like a 3-D model, and I was pretty much useless and excited for a week thinking about it and applying that sight to stuff I’d already written. Which held up okay, I guess, for someone who couldn’t see what they were doing while they were building it. I’d been working blind up to that point, just doing things instinctively, and now I could finally see what I was doing.

It was awesome.

This is part of why I am so adamant that writers cannot stop at their first finished piece and just flog that one, endlessly. I may be a dolt because it took me six effing books to get the structure model inside my head, but I would never have gotten there if I was still flogging smoke and being That Writer. There are two things about novel writing that new writers largely don’t get: that it takes a phenomenal amount of sheer bloodyminded practice/hard work, and that it’s different each time. Each novel’s process is different–the shape under the cloth is unique. Understanding how to get the cloth to fall the way you want requires that you practice enough to understand how cloth behaves, to get it to do what you want.

I warned you I would beat that metaphor to death, but I think I’ll stop now while it’s on the floor begging for mercy. I don’t have the heart to finish it off today. I must be getting soft in my old age. Either that or I’m exhausted from finishing that most recent book and looking at dyeing a whole new batch of cloth…

Oh, crud. The metaphor just died. Guess I killed it after all.

Keep writing!

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