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Conferences, castles, and critiques
Oct. 30th, 2006 08:31 pmThis week is fall break for the kids, so we've been doing some day trips. Yesterday the choir I'm in sang at a large-ish church conference (11 area congregations) in Nürnberg, which was fun. As of yesterday, I am also now a counselor in the leadership of an area-wide organization for teen girls (for the same 11 congregations--10 German, one for daughters of US soldiers stationed in Germany). We organize monthly activities and try to connect with the girls and help them figure out who they really are, and develop the skills and courage to develop their potential. I was a little, um, overwhelmed when I was asked to do this, but at the same time, I'm kind of excited. The fact that I read and write YA must mean I've never really grown up or something, and I guess I'm glad to be back with my mental age group.
Today we went to a tiny village some distance away by train and toured a huge castle ruin. We did have to pay a minimal sum (usually, ruins in the forest are free), but it was in the center of town, and it was huge. Definitely worth it. No tours, all "view-at-your-own-risk, watch-your-kids-on-the-dropoffs, and don't-walk-on-the-walls!!" sort of stuff, the kind of low-key environment I want in proper castle-viewing. We all climbed the rickety Hogwarts-like stairs of the keep and peeped over the railing at the top. (Note: this is a great way to spark a heart attack as a parent. Spindly railings, dropoff of a hundred feet or more, and small toddler who wants to slither through the railings to pick a flower growing in a crack of the wall. Hopefully I can sleep tonight.) The knights' hall was locked, but the kids loved the stuffed wildlife museum that played animal sounds. We also went in the Folterkammer (torture chamber), but that was when the toddler started screaming due to a total refusal to nap, and we figured we'd all had enough sleep deprivation that other forms of torture were merely superfluous.
When I came home I finished a whole-novel critique I've been working on for someone. I loved the story. Don't want to say more, since it isn't my story, but I'm quite sure this one will be on the shelves in the not-so-distant future. Very strong writing, with rich, specific detail--but NOT purple prose. And the very things I've been wrestling with in my own writing turned out to be this writer's stellar strengths. I hope my crit helps her, but her ms has been a total tutorial for me. One thing I liked was the way her real-time scene descriptions paralleled things that had happened in the backstory that had Major Emotional Weight for the MC. She also spun out the revelations until the height of tension, kind of like Catherine Murdock does in Dairy Queen. And she told what the MC's reactions were. I know, show-don't-tell. But I think my problem is that I'm so afraid of telling that I'm just chucking raw data onto the pages and leaving out the interpretation part. So it was very helpful to see that done so well. This one is a winner, definitely.
Today we went to a tiny village some distance away by train and toured a huge castle ruin. We did have to pay a minimal sum (usually, ruins in the forest are free), but it was in the center of town, and it was huge. Definitely worth it. No tours, all "view-at-your-own-risk, watch-your-kids-on-the-dropoffs, and don't-walk-on-the-walls!!" sort of stuff, the kind of low-key environment I want in proper castle-viewing. We all climbed the rickety Hogwarts-like stairs of the keep and peeped over the railing at the top. (Note: this is a great way to spark a heart attack as a parent. Spindly railings, dropoff of a hundred feet or more, and small toddler who wants to slither through the railings to pick a flower growing in a crack of the wall. Hopefully I can sleep tonight.) The knights' hall was locked, but the kids loved the stuffed wildlife museum that played animal sounds. We also went in the Folterkammer (torture chamber), but that was when the toddler started screaming due to a total refusal to nap, and we figured we'd all had enough sleep deprivation that other forms of torture were merely superfluous.
When I came home I finished a whole-novel critique I've been working on for someone. I loved the story. Don't want to say more, since it isn't my story, but I'm quite sure this one will be on the shelves in the not-so-distant future. Very strong writing, with rich, specific detail--but NOT purple prose. And the very things I've been wrestling with in my own writing turned out to be this writer's stellar strengths. I hope my crit helps her, but her ms has been a total tutorial for me. One thing I liked was the way her real-time scene descriptions paralleled things that had happened in the backstory that had Major Emotional Weight for the MC. She also spun out the revelations until the height of tension, kind of like Catherine Murdock does in Dairy Queen. And she told what the MC's reactions were. I know, show-don't-tell. But I think my problem is that I'm so afraid of telling that I'm just chucking raw data onto the pages and leaving out the interpretation part. So it was very helpful to see that done so well. This one is a winner, definitely.
