The Down Side of Being a Speech Coach

So I've spent a lot of time the last week editing speeches with my students. It's fun, I really enjoy it. Finding the perfect line to get the audience's attention, and the perfect place to end it- leaving them wanting more.

Many of the kids bring in books they've found on their own, great books. This sounds like a good thing, and it is, really, but the downside is that I don't get to read them in the normal fashion. I have to skim through and find the best parts, often times reading the end first.

This is the only time I would do this. I am not a 'read the last page first' kind of person normally. I have even been known to cover the bottom half of a page with my hand so that I don't peak ahead. Okay, that may be a bit odd, but I want to read it in the order the writer intended it.

So, how about you? Do you like to skip ahead, or do you prefer to be surprised as you go?

Perfect Pitch Contest

So there is an amazing contest going on right now where you can give a quick pitch to an awesome agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette. Here's the link to check it out. You post a two line, (up to 35 words) pitch and the first 150 words of your YA or MG novel. We have some time now to get feedback on our pitches, then post the official one on the 17th. I've already read some great entries!

So. . .anyone willing to give me some feedback? I would really appreciate an honest critique.. It is impossible to hurt my feelings, I promise!

So here goes:

YA novel
Flesh-Eating Zombies and Evil Ex-Girlfriends

Pitch: Erwin and his classmates become locked in their school after people start craving human flesh. As the zombies' numbers grow Erwin must decide whether or not to stay, and who he's willing to leave behind.

First 150:
The carpet in the school library was rough against Erwin's cheek, but the uncomfortable floor had nothing to do with why he couldn't sleep. No one was sleeping. Everyone was lying there in silence, the fear and tension in the air so thick it reminded Erwin of movie scenes where the ceiling is coming down to crush everyone. The only difference, he thought, was that in the movies they always escape just in time.

It was hard to believe only a few hours ago he had been working out in the school gym. He remembered thinking, this day couldn't possibly get any worse. He laughed at the thought now. Outside he heard another bang as the things that used to be his classmates tried to claw and crash their way into the locked school.

Story Game

"Can we play the story game?"

This is the question I get every night when we sit down to dinner. It involves my seven-year-old, my five-year-old and myself taking turns telling a story line by line. (To be honest, my seven-year-old, Elizabeth, usually tells more than one line, then tries to tell Johnny what to say, too.)

Sometimes we start with a classic tale then take it in a new direction, sometimes they make up their own. Their favorites are when they make themselves and their little sisters the main characters. For some reason Catherine is always getting into trouble, just like in real life. :)

I love that they are using their imaginations. It's always fun to see what they come up with. Maybe tonight we'll tell a story about this girl:

ps. I took these pictures of Elizabeth just two days ago. Today it is freezing and there is snow covering everthing.

Who Has the Time?

This morning I was planning to write about writing and having four kids and how I am so bad at time management! I was going to ask for suggestions. As in, "If you have ANY ideas to make it easier to find time to write please help me!!"

But before I got that far I read this. Thanks Kathleen. :)

I need to make myself take the time to write. I need to remember that after getting some stuff done, or, like Kathleen says, after setting myself up to get more done, it is okay to sit down in one spot and do some writing.

Now I just need to decide what to work on. . .My YA zombie novel is still being revised, but I started a new project, and I like it. :) It's a MG fairy tale retelling and I'm having a lot of fun with it. However, my husband throws a fit if I work on anything other than the zombie book. (He loves zombies.)\

I will keep on working and some day (hopefully) they will both be done.

Breadcrumbs review

Description on Goodeads:
Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. They had been best friends since they were six, spending hot Minneapolis summers and cold Minneapolis winters together, dreaming of Hogwarts and Oz, superheroes and baseball. Now that they were eleven, it was weird for a boy and a girl to be best friends. But they couldn't help it - Hazel and Jack fit, in that way you only read about in books. And they didn't fit anywhere else.

And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it's never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack's heart had been frozen, and he was taken into the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it's up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she's read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn't the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel.

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

I loved this book. I love the way Anne Ursu writes. The main character is so real and genuine, and you feel like you are in the very real world of a fifth grade girl, then the magic blows in like a stong wind and you're in the middle of a fairy tale. What's really amazing is how seamlessly she takes you back and forth between the two.

There are some intense scenes and some pretty serious things going on for a middle grade novel, but I think kids can handle more than we sometimes think they can.

I would recommend this book to any one who enjoys a little fantasy and a great story.

Speech Season, Yay!

Let me start by saying a big thank you to everyone who participates in the Insecure Writers Support group. It is amazing. After all the encouraging comments on my post last Wednesday I am feeling renewed and inspired. (If you are not part of that group, you should be. The link is on Wednesday's post.) Now, after the night I had last night, I just need to find an Insecure Mothers Support Group and everything would be awesome! ;)

 Yesterday afternoon we had our first speech meeting of the season. We had a lot of familiar faces and some new ones. This is my twelfth year coaching high school speech and I get excited for it every single year. The kids are amazing, both talented and a lot of fun. Plus I love the other coach I work with.

Now we get to start the fun process of helping kids find speeches, and cutting them. Basically we take a wonderul, engrossing novel and cut it down to an eight minute speech. It is not easy, but it is fun. Last year we had a girl do a cutting from Ellen Foster, which has an amazing opening line. "When I was little I used to think up ways to kill my daddy." Now that's the way to start a book, and a speech. :) It gives me chills.

This year that same girl is doing a cutting from The Lovely Bones. The challenge will be to keep the  emotion without getting too morbid a piece, it is high school after all. She is an amazing speaker and I am really looking forward to working with her again this year. In fact, we have quite a few amazing speakers coming back this year. It's going to be an awesome season. Wish us luck!

Insecurities

I've joined The Insecure Writer's Support Group, which is an awesome place where writers are encouraged to check out other writers' blogs and leave encouragement for them. On the first Wednesday of the month we all post about our own insecurities. So here goes.

Some times I really wish I had never told anyone I was trying to do this. My mom, my husband, my siblings, my friends, it's a lot of people to look foolish in front of if it never happens. What if I keep writing and editing and submitting and I never get any interest?

I feel like everyone will think, 'really? You thought you could write a book? To write a book you need to be smart and interesting. No wonder this didn't happen for you."

Okay, yes, I realize that is not what my friends and family would actually think. . .I think. . .But it seems like it would have been safer to just keep it a secret from anyone I actually know personally.

How about you? Do you ever feel that way?