I'm Sorry, Bella Swan.

Read this post by Donna & Frankie at First Novels Club. It's in defense of some book-bashing of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater that occurred at the Rejectionist blog.

Now, I had a bit of a negative reaction towards this post (not in the comments there, elsewhere). And I realise I was a bit harsh. those things don't make me put down a book - don't be worried if you're an author that's written a novel with those things in it - it's just that those are the things that I see too often for my tastes. I try not to let personal dislikes taint my reviews, and I always finish books. Those are just the types I stay away from, because I know I view those things negatively.
Now, you might have noticed in the past I've said some negative things about the novel Twilight. Have you heard of it? It's about this girl, Bella, and this vampire guy, Edward. In the fourth book they have a vampire baby, in spite of the fact that vampires can't have babies and Bella is a teenager and Edward is seventeen still but actually 108 and neither of those ages are appropriate for new fathers. They should be, like 25-40, and certainly not immortal.
See? I can't help myself. But I'm stopping this right now. Read on.

I started thinking. I do this often. It distracts me so much I often walk into things. My thoughts led me to this conclusion:

• I don't hate Twilight.
• I don't hate Bella Swan for being a pushover.
• I don't hate Stephenie Meyer for writing Twilight. I'm sure she is a lovely lady.
• I don't hate any book.

I don't. I don't hate books because I don't hate anything (except cruelty to animals, ignorance, violence, etc). I like most everyone I meet. I like every book I read to some degree. There is a good in everything. Almost every author pours their heart and soul into their works. And I can appreciate that. Absolutely. I write myself. I am a heart-and-souler.
Now, all of the Twilight-haters will hate me for going back on what I said earlier. And all of the Twilight-lovers will hate me for changing my mind and being a fence-sitter.
But here's the thing I want to say to all reviewers:
Yes, you have the responsibility to your readers to review honestly. But, you need to take into consideration that your readers do not have the exact same tastes as you.
For example: I know I have a lot of readers who adore Twilight. I know I have some readers who are Christians and want to read clean novels. I know I have readers who love edgy, gritty novels, and who don't mind a bit of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
I aim to review honestly, but I don't rip books apart. I try not to let my personal tastes come through (inevitably it happens).
Guess what? You can review honestly without being nasty. And if you really, really hate the book, probably due to personal preferences and prejudices, stop reading. Don't denounce the book on your blog. If you have to review it, state what you disliked and what made you feel unfavourably towards the book. But also look for the good things. They're in there. Books published by reputable publishers have gone through a long, expensive process to get to that point. People believe in this book. Thousands has been spent on this book, most likely for the publisher to lose money. There is good in that book. If there wasn't, it would still be sitting in someone's drawer at home.
If you want an example of personal prejudices, here are the things that turn me off books which other people don't mind:

• Most drug use
• Most underage drinking
• Most teenage sex
• Relationships where the male half is always dominant
• All image-obsessed girls
• Anything about 'popularity'

This is just me. These are just the things I don't like. But I can see past these things to recognise a brilliant book, even if some of the themes aren't my cup of tea.

I'm going to say something here, and you're going to want to throw stuff at me, and I'm going to want to stab myself in the eye with a fork, but here it is:

I read the first three books in the Twilight series. And I loved them.

This was last year though. And I'm 15, so I was a completely different person last year. In defense of Stephenie Meyer, Twilight, vampire baby abominations and Bella Swan, I say this:

• No offense, teenage girls, but most of you are like Bella Swan. You know it's true. But that's why it's popular! Girls identify with being completely infatuated with people, and with feeling as if that person leaving/dumping you is the end of the world.
• Twilight-haters - you know you're mostly irritated by the fact that Twilight has a huge fan base and some of the fans are crazy. Like, really crazy. I said, 'some', okay? Don't attack me, Twihards.
• In response to everyone saying Twilight has no literary worth: No. It doesn't. Who said it had to? It's a bestseller. They're not usually literarily worthy. They're intended for mass consumption.

Dear people who hate books (myself occasionally included), here's the thing: You don't have to hate them at all. You don't have to hate anything. (Except make up being tested on bunnies. Hate that.) What do you really gain from it?
So here we are:

• I'm pro-creative expression. Write what you want. (But, um, don't make it sick or wrong, OK?) Don't censor yourself because you're afraid of the 'gate-keepers' of YA fiction - teachers, parents, librarians. Don't censor yourself because you think you'll offend someone, or because you read that a certain fifteen-year-old doesn't like teenage drinking in books. Guess what? I'm nobody. I don't matter to you. But you matter to you. Write what you want to write, write what you love, don't tear other writers down.
• I'm pro-open mindedness. I'll read anything. I'll look past sparkly vampires in novels.
• I'm anti-book banning, burning or bashing. If a book is really that harmful, it won't reach widespread publication. Relax, your kid reading a book about sparkly vampires or homosexuality is not going to make them go out and engage in illegal or dangerous activities. Blame their friends for that. Keep them locked in a tower room if possible. But give them all the books they want! Even Madame Bovary! And Lolita!
• I'm pro-positive book reviewing. I don't want to give books star ratings, or tell you every single book I read is Pulitzer-worthy. I want to write detailed reviews that'll give you an idea of what a book is about, whose tastes it'll suit, whether it is worth you, personally, getting. Because there isn't one book that everyone will love. I hope that my blog allows you to find books you'll love, even if I didn't love them.

Feel free to disagree with me (I do love a good discussion).
But, um, I'm going to continue making jokes at the expense of sparkly vampires. Sorry Edward Cullen and Co., but I don't have a whole lot of comedy material.

Writing Advice I Really Shouldn't Give: Diabolical Dialogue

Question from reader: I'm doing the NaNoWriMo thing and at the moment, my story has WAYYYYYY too much dialogue. Does that matter? Is it bad? idk.
jw.

It doesn't matter. Not at all.

With the quantity-over-quality nature of NaNowriMo it doesn't even matter if you novel is wholly dialogue at this point (though I wouldn't advise it). Later on (perhaps in January), you'll revise tonnes, I'm sure. For now, whatever writing you do it great! Get it done! Finish that thing! Then trek back and rewrite like crazy (don't think about the rewriting right now. It'll just make you feel depressed).

Here are some tips for when you do get to that revising bit. If you're doing NaNoWriMo, bookmark this for later and go write some more.

When I'm revising my novel, and there seems to be an awful lot of dialogue (I'm a bit of a dialogue fiend) I ask myself these questions:

• Does this conversation add to the plot?
• Does this conversation add to the character development?
• If I took this dialogue out, would the rest of the novel remain unchanged?
• Am I just trying to work in a funny anecdote and this has no other point? (Note that it's okay to have a couple of these. I tend to put one in on every second page).
• Why are these characters speaking to each other? What does this achieve in terms of the novel?
• How can I change this conversation so that it does add something to the plot/character development?
• Would this character realistically say this, or am I just using this as an opportunity to slip in some of my own beliefs?
• Would real teenagers have this conversation?

Of course, a few of those questions are asking the same thing, but I find the rewording makes me look at it in different ways.
Personally, I love heaps of dialogue in books, as long as the dialogue a) furthers the plot, or b) adds to the character development. It has to be realistic-sounding, and it's even better if it's entertaining (that's the point of reading a book, right? Entertainment?).

However, as I mentioned earlier, if you're in the midst of NaNoWriMo - which I kind of, sort of am, though finishing up school for the year and my other responsibilities have taken precendence - don't worry about this stuff. This is for when you're revising. A long and painful process, but a rewarding one (okay, it's not that long or painful for me. I have more trouble with first drafts - well, lately I have).

Obviously, I'm not the best person to give advice about dialogue, since every conversation that occurs in my writing sounds like I'm copying Pulp Fiction.
Do you have any advice about dialogue?

And if you have any questions, comment below if you want them answered publicly, or email me and you can ask me that way. Any suggestions for writing-advice type posts is much appreciated!

I Stop Reading A YA Book When...

• vampires are introduced
• actually, scratch that: generic Twilight vampires are introduced, making it clear the author is trying to cash in on Stephenie Meyer's success by writing a novel where some randomly violent bloodsuckers sparkle and have physically- and emotionally-weak teenage girls swoon for them for no apparent reason.
• it shows any hint of becoming a novel where a beautiful, smart, popular girl seems absolutely perfect but actually it's all a show... and I lose interest. I read this plotline way too often. It has to be phenomenal for me not to dismiss it as being terribly generic.
• anyone's problems are completely solved by falling in love with another person. I mean, are you trying to encourage teenage girls to be desperate and clingy or what?
• there is a very clear message that the author is trying to put across to teenagers. Like "PRACTICE ABSTINENCE" (I am already, damn it) or "DON'T DRINK" (ditto). You can write theme novels. But they have to be great novels in their own right, not just a vehicle for a moral.
• someone's eyes are referred to as 'orbs'. The word 'eyes' works fine. Don't make me think you're talking about a wizard in Middle Earth when you're just describing someone's face.
• any girl launches into a description of how thin, tall and good-looking her best friend is. Usually these sorts of descriptions add nothing to the story or character development. They just frustrate me. I hear enough of this in real life.
• a sexy, randomly violent bad-boy character is introduced. People like this in real life wind up in juvenile detention before they finish school. They aren't desirable, they're unstable. I don't like them in books either. Random violence = not on.
• a brooding, mysterious, emo boy is introduced. Girl instantaneously falls for this character for no apparent reason.
• there is a romance between a girl who is sixteen and a guy who is some indeterminable age over twenty-five. This is one million shades of wrong. In real life, this is illegal. And in books for teenagers, rarely are there relationships where the boy is younger. (Note: Age-inappropriate crushes are mostly okay, as long as they don't go anywhere. Because if they do: I will put down the book. Be afraid.)
• any girl bemoans her total lack of boobs. I. Just. Don't. Care. Again, I hear enough of this in real life.
• the arty speech-without-quotation-marks thing is done. It frustrates me no end. Are you deliberately trying to confuse me, or did you not learn about talking marks in Grade Three?
• there's some unnecessary drug reference. Personally, I'm okay with drugs in books for teenagers. I'm okay with most things in books for teenagers. It provides a good venue for teenagers to learn about stuff within context (which none of those anti-drug pamphlets offer) without having to experience something themselves. HOWEVER drug use in books for teenagers for the sake of edginess bothers me no end.
• everyone is rich. I don't care about wealthy characters. Maybe it's an Australian thing. We always go the underdog.
• there's a prologue offering a snippet of excitement! then 200+ pages of backstory and internal dialogue and gazing at sparkly people from afar.
• teenage characters have sex with someone they're not in a relationship with (yes, I shun you casual hooker-uppers) and it's completely unnecessary to the plot and character development. It's like the author's gone, Hey! Casual teenage sex! That'll make my novel sell for it's EDGINESS. Ooh, edgy. Yeah. And everyone can take LSD and not use contraception and there will be absolutely no consequences.
• teenage characters hate their family. I can't relate to this at all. That's just me, because my family is awesome (this is bad, though, because all of my friends like my parents more than they like me).
• I could go on for some time. This post, distilled: unnecessary drugs, sex, bad boys, age differences, vampires and sparkles make me put down a teen book.

What makes you stop reading a YA novel?
One more thing: I've been interviewed at a new book blog, Reading the Best of the Best. Head over and check it out!
Oh, and: Enter this competition!

Interview with Mary Naylus

Mary Naylus is the author of The Dresskeeper, a novel about a girl who accidentally travels back through time to 1685 via a magical dress, published by Prospera Publishing. I reviewed it here. Thank you to Mary Naylus & Yannick at Prospera for making this interview possible!

1. What inspired you to write The Dresskeeper, and what inspires your writing as a whole?
I enjoy history and some small aspect I read or become aware off tends to inspire my writing. I prefer to delve into areas that deal with the more mundane aspects of life – for example I am not particularly interested in wars and so on. Hence I wanted to write something about the late 17th century period – which was one of relative political and religious stability, but also had plenty of quirky attributes that I felt could relate to teenagers, such as early marriage; the affectations of the Londoners at the time (wigs, colourful dresses and so on); the pollution.

2. If you had a magical time-travelling dress, what year would it take you to? What sort of stuff would you get up to?
Well now that I have researched 1685 so intensely I might choose another time – for example early Egyptian culture. It is fascinating to wander the halls of the British Museum and see all the bits and bobs that were part of their way of life. It would be great to be there and experience it.

3. Were you anything like Picky as a teenager?
Not really, as I was sporty and tended to stand up for myself a little more than poor Picky. I suppose all teenagers are a bit like her, though; morbid thoughts and laziness and all of that.

4. How did you begin writing, and what was the road to publication like for you?
I have always loved reading, and one day, the nugget of a good idea came to me, so I decided to flesh it out and get started. Many letters and edits later and Prospera finally published it for me. I believed it in the book so it was easy to convince others to believe in it too, I suppose.

5. What's your life like outside of writing? (Hopefully there are time-travelling dresses involved...)

At the moment I am writing quite a lot as I have to deliver The Plaguemaker to Prospera very soon. Sorry, no time-travelling (if one of your readers has suggestions of how to make it happen please pass them on!) but lots of time spent researching.

6. Are you working on a new novel at the moment? Can you tell me a little bit about it?

Sure, as mentioned, it’s called The Plaguemaker and it’s about 15-year-old Blessie, who discovers via ghostly messages from the past that her father is about to build on the site of a plague pit, which could have disastrous consequences for the primary school children next door.

Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moriarty

Dreaming of Amelia is the story of Amelia and Riley. They're bad kids from the bad crowd at bad Brookfield High, and they've just transferred to Ashbury.

Brilliant, mysterious and probably evil, they have the rich kids at Ashbury spellbound.

But just who are Amelia and Riley?

Tantalisingly aloof, they are somehow managing to have an extraordinary impact on all the HSC Ashbury students, and the staff.

Told through memoirs written as part of the gothic fiction elective in the HSC English exam, Dreaming of Amelia is a story about ghosts, secrets, madness, passion, locked doors, femme fatales – and that terrifying moment in the final year of high school when you realise that the future's come to get you.

A brilliant new novel from Jaclyn Moriarty, whose compelling storytelling weaves lyrically around the reader.

I absolutely loved Jaclyn Moriarty's previous novels, and Dreaming of Amelia is no exception. I loved the format - told through memoirs written as part of the gothic fiction elective in the HSC English exam from multiple viewpoints of Year Twelve students at Ashbury High. I love that it's a companion novel to a few of Moriarty's previous titles including Finding Cassie Crazy - I love revisiting all the same characters.

Dreaming of Amelia is just the right balance of spooky and hilariously funny. I love the expansive cast and multiple viewpoints. My onyl complaint would be that it's very lengthy - I personally prefer shorter books, Dreaming of Amelia is 515 pages long - and I that a fair bit could have been cut that was unnecessary to the story. That said it was a wonderfully interesting, unique, original novel - I love love love all the different voices of the characters, so authentic, ridiculously realistic. Dreaming of Amelia is certainly worth checking out, and while you're at it, have a look at some of Jaclyn Moriarty's previous novels (The Spellbook of Listen Taylor is my personal favourite).

Dreaming of Amelia is out now in both Australia and New Zealand, and it'll be out in the UK in April of next year, with this cover:
Plus, it's also coming out in the US and Canada in June of 2010, but there it'll be called The Ghosts of Ashbury High.

--

http://jaclynmoriarty.com
Dreaming of Amelia on Amazon UK
Jaclyn Moriarty's blog

The Dresskeeper by Mary Naylus

When 13-year-old Picky's Mum forces her to look after Gran, who has dementia, she is accidentally locked in Gran's dusty old attic. There she finds a chest full of old clothes, and tomboy Picky is forced to don what appears to be a ball-gown when the freezing night temperatures hit. As soon as the dress is pinned together, Picky is transported back to the year 1700, where a man who appears to know her as Amelia is trying to kill her. Managing to get the dress off just in time, Picky returns to the present with the dress covered in blood. Did the man kill the girl called Amelia? Will wearing the other dresses in the chest take her back in time too? And will she be in danger again should she try it? "The Dresskeeper" uses a contemporary 13-year-old viewpoint to explore this murder mystery, set in the early 18th Century.

Picky was a great narrator - sharply funny and just a bit sarcastic - and I absolutely loved her journeys back through time. When she puts on a dress in her grandmother's attic, she's Amelia, alive 300 years before and betrothed to a rich but awful Earl, and she appears in the garret of a dressmaker's. When she takes off the dress, she travels back to the present day - but she has to be in the dressmaker's in order to get back. She's skipping between the two realities, and the parts set in the 1600s are especially interesting - and very enlightening for Picky. She observes the huge gap between the wealthy and the poor, as well as terrible living conditions and sicknesses that are easily cured today, but which were uncurable back then.

There were a lot of different plotlines - Picky going into the past and trying to save Amelia, problems with her friend Luce and the popular girls at school in the present and trouble between her separated parents. I loved that so much was going on - it certainly added a lot of realism to a fantastical time-travel story - but I did wish they could have been developed further. I felt as if Luce's transformation occurred too quickly, and like Picky's father was never really a problem at all. I would've liked to see these things go into more detail, though that may have taken away from the historical plotline central to The Dresskeeper. Picky - who ordinarily hates History and all her other school subjects - is radically changed by her experiences in the past, and her present-day life changes as a result of this. The ending was incredibly sweet.

I think The Dresskeeper is a novel suitable for middle grade, as well as YA - the narrator is thirteen, and the themes are appropriate for anyone 10 and up. It's hilariously funny and the historical parts are fascinating, but there's also just enough suspense and intrigue to make it a great murder mystery too. Well worth checking out, especially for younger readers and lovers of historical fiction.

--

Prospera Publishing
The Dresskeeper on Goodreads
The Dresskeeper on Amazon

Extreme Kissing by Luisa Plaja

Carlota and Bethany are best friends. Bethany is the sensible one with a long-term boyfriend, Carlota is the crazy one with a wild past and rebellious nature. All is fine in their world - apart from Carlota hating her stepdad and longing for a old flame. And apart from Bethany thinking her boyfriend is about to dump her and that her period is late...Carlota comes up with a plan to put all their troubles behind them and go on a girls-only wild day out, with only their favourite magazine to guide them through the day. If they open it on a fashion page they have to get hold of a fabulous new outfit and pretend to be models. If they open it to a page on snogging, they have to find a boy to snog. The magazine will take them everywhere they need to go - but will it help them to reveal the secrets they are keeping from each other?

Extreme Kissing is a brilliantly funny, chick-lit novel for teenage girls, which also has some substance to it. Over the course of a crazy day in London, Carlota and Bethany (aka Lots & Bets) both change - their friendship with each other, their feelings about their families, as well as their view of themselves. Carlota is the impulsive, boy-crazy one (she's a fan of the pash'n'dash, to use an Australian term) whilst Bethany is more stable, in a long-term relationship. They're both stressed out - Bethany over her GCSEs, trouble with her boyfriend and a secret she's trying to bring herself to tell Carlota, Carlota about her strained relationship with her family and something to tell Bethany of her own. The point of view jumps between Carlota and Bethany, and each of their perspectives were unique, though it was so frustrating that they couldn't tell each other what was on their mind the entire day (I'm thinking, geez, spit it out already).

Carlota thinks that all problems can be solved with the assistance of her favorite magazine, and when she discovers 'Extreme Travel' - doing crazy, random things while out and about - she sees it as the perfect opporunity to get their minds off their problems, somehow tell Bethany the secret (have you seen that documentary The Secret? Every time I type 'secret' I'm whispering 'the secret'.) and bump into an ex-boyfriend she's still pining for. Needless to say, things don't work out quite as Carlota had planned, though the experience is certainly life-changing for both girls.

I also love the usage of British words. Like snog*. It's classic.

Extreme Kissing is about an unlikely day out for two best friends, though the things they deal with and their voices are completely authentic and true-to-life. I think teenaged girls will find it very relatable, as well as entertaining (some bits are absolutely hilarious). Definitely worth a look.

--

http://luisaplaja.com
Extreme Kissing on Amazon
Extreme Kissing on The Book Depository (The Book Depository offer free worldwide shipping! Very cool.)

*Though really, snog? It's such a ridiculous word. Who came up with it?**
**After googling the word 'snog' I've discovered the Social Network of Graduates (SNoG) as well as a band called Snog.***
***Then I googled 'Snog History'. Then I laughed at the word snog again.****
****Definition of snog: Verb. To kiss lengthily, passionately or lustfully. E.g."There was a young couple snogging in the seats behind us, and making such slurping noises that we couldn't hear the film."
Noun. A lengthy and passionate kiss. *****
*****Yeah but where did the word come from?******
******Am I having a conversation with myself about the history of the word snog in the footnotes of this book review?*******
*******They're pretty lame footnotes. They're just rows of asterisks.********
********Shush, you. I can't find the history of the word snog. If anyone cares to inform me as to where this word originated from, I would be grateful.