*winter and me!
i hope to be done with the sequel this week.
i only have some final scenes to write. and i have
to say, writers always complain about how difficult
beginnings are. and they are. but for me, endings
are much more challenging. it’s the difference
between an initial impression and a lasting impression.
i think only the ending can accomplish the latter.
what do you think?
i had a lot of fun at my first teen book club
library visit. around fifteen readers showed up
and miko the librarian did an awesome job
by creating a fantastic flyer announcing my visit.
on top of that, she served pot stickers, rice,
green tea and even had a package of dried squid!!
to pass around. many of the teens were brave
enough to try it! hee!
we talked about everything from chinese
folklore and myth to li rong and chen yong
to themes found in Silver Phoenix, my personal
phobias (which made their way into the book),
titles and covers and my ending. 8)
i had such a great time and thank you to two
other librarians, joann and jennifer for attending
as well! i wish i had a teen book club at my local
library during the summer!
ruth had asked about my silver phoenix contest
from april. um. i think the winner will be drawn
in october! i didn’t mean to take so long, honestly.
but don’t worry, i haven’t forgotten!
i’m off to the scbwi conference for a long weekend.
looking forward to the panels, meeting new and old
friends, talking about books and writing. i’m sure i’ll
return with another stack of books. i simply can’t
resist! will report back next week!
now for some taro / vanilla frozen yogurt,
tele and reading. =D
currently reading :
the adoration of jenna fox
by mary e. pearson
11 Comments
LOL, I thought I had missed the announcement of the winner of the contest :P
Anyway, hooray for coming so close to the end of the sequel! I really cannot wait for it to come out and I’m dying to see how beautiful the cover will be for it too! :)
Congrats on nearly finishing the sequel! You can do it. Looking forward to Ai Ling’s next adventure.
Green tea – mmmm, now I fancy a cup!
I totally agree about the ending being harder than the beginning. I swear I stared at my laptop trying to write the perfect ending paragraph for at least two hours. And then rewrote it later ;).
The ending is what either causes the reader to put the book down and sigh in satisfaction, or toss it onto the pile and say “That was okay, I guess.” No pressure!
Congrats on the book club visit! That sounds like it was a great success :D.
See you MANANA!
thank you everyone!
rebecca, haha! yeah, no pressure. =DD
barrie, yes! can’t wait!
Wow you’re almost finished? You’re rockin’! Way to go!
For me the ending of the book is as much important as the beginning. Of course as a writer you put a lot of efforts into attracting the reader with the first lines, but it’s also very important not to disappoint the reader with the end of the story. You got to surprise the readers so that they would want to read your book again and again :)
Good luck with your sequel :)
Hi :)
Have a terrific time at the convention this weekend.
Love and best wishes
RKCharron
xoxo
I linked to you. Even though you almost cost me my life. Ha! (Yes, yes, I know I made it to SCBWI eventually…)
Hm… I’m not sure if I’d call either one the hardest for me. Endings often come to me, fully formed, while I’m somewhere in the middle of my work, and I have a slew of beginnings on my computer. I often even have the beginning and end, and chunks missing from the middle.
I think I have trouble forming comprehensible climaxes. I can take anything and complicate it.
carradee, thanks for commenting. i’m always fascinated by each writer’s individual process. i think part of difficulty this time is also i’m a bit reluctant to leave these characters and this world.
i had the beginning and climax (and probably end) with my debut. THE DREADED MIDDLE was def the hardest!