Talk about the kidlit you're reading!

Kitty Pryde said:

There's going to be a new "Ranger's Apprentice" series starting this fall (Brotherband Chronicles) which sounds much more exciting to me than the original series was. I may need to read all of them now anyways!

Click to expand...

I can't even translate the happy noise my son made when I showed him this post. Even better than his favorite series ever? Wow!!!

I'm still trawling through Will Hill's 'Department 19'.

Now, when I say 'trawling' I mean it in the very best possible sense; I don't want to miss a single word of his amazing writing! The book really is superb, and I can't recommend it enough.

Dave

I just bought the sequel to The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda. It was an impulse buy at B&N. I was picking up my daughter's reading assignment - something about India. For a second I felt silly - that my daughter was reading something so much more advanced, and I was picking up Darth Paper Strikes Back for myself. But then I laughed and the feeling passed.

It will have to wait, though, because I have other important things to read.

Re-reading Shug.

Such a good book.

Still trying to get through 13 Curses, and last night started Turtle in Paradise. That one's hard to put down.

SheilaJG said:

For a second I felt silly - that my daughter was reading something so much more advanced, and I was picking up Darth Paper Strikes Back for myself. But then I laughed and the feeling passed.

Click to expand...

Hee - hee! My daughter and I went to the library the other day to stock up on reads while it was closed for remodeling and I got Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors and The Necromancer (Secrets of Nick Flammel) and she got a book thicker than my head with tiny print all about the Kennedy women! I also got books on survival for research for my next WIP, but her idea of fun is studying the Kennedys and I read children's books! Maybe she'll be like me and read the heavy stuff young and revert to more childish pursuits in her future years.

Ah, just finished Turtle in Paradise. I could read books like that all day long.

Just finished volume 1 of The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows. I like the main character a lot, and also the little boy she encountered in the painting. My favorite parts were where the two of them interacted. I also thought it was interesting how the author handled the problem of parents: by making them both absent-minded professors of mathematics.

DavidBrett said:

I'm still trawling through Will Hill's 'Department 19'.

Now, when I say 'trawling' I mean it in the very best possible sense; I don't want to miss a single word of his amazing writing! The book really is superb, and I can't recommend it enough.

Dave

Click to expand...

I gave this one a try a few weeks back but just could NOT get into it, at all. I don't even remember if it was well-written, only that it wasn't my cup of tea. ;p I think I only managed 30 pages or so before returning it to the library.

I'm looking forward to reading The Donut Diaries by Dermot Milligan.

I'm in the middle of Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. I really like it.

sissybaby said:

I'm in the middle of Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. I really like it.

Click to expand...

I read this a bit after it first came out. I only got over halfway through it, but that's only because I got distracted with another book I wanted to finish, which I did, and loved it.

But also it was in part of the rivalry complex I get sometimes since this is the kind of story I write most of and pride plus self-inferiority stopped me from finishing it. I know. I know.

But old habits go down hard as much as you may want to be rid of them.

That aside, I've read far enough to know it's a great book, you're sure to like it if our tastes are even remotely similar.

CJ - well, I've read enough from some of your posts that I can tell you, you have no reason to have any feelings of inferiority in regards to your writing. FWIW - I think you're right up there in the running for the type of reading I love.

sissybaby said:

CJ - well, I've read enough from some of your posts that I can tell you, you have no reason to have any feelings of inferiority in regards to your writing. FWIW - I think you're right up there in the running for the type of reading I love.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I truly appreciate the compliment. I haven't given up, it's just been slow going for now, I'm in a transition period right now writing wise, but I refuse to let it beat me.

Anytime you need some extra encouragement, or just a shoulder to cry on, let me know. I've had recent periods of frustration, and some very wonderful AW folks have helped me greatly. Always willing to pay it forward!

Question: Is The Sea of Monsters pretty good? I read the Lightning Thief but it was just average to me. Is the second book much better? And has anyone read the other series, The Kane Chronicles?

Go back through this thread and you'll find plenty of opinions about both of Riordan's series.

Short summary: Some folks love them, some folks find them "meh." Most people agree the second series isn't nearly as strong as the first.

But they sell really, really well.

So you have to decide. If you're reading them for your own pleasure, and didn't enjoy Lightning Thief, then don't bother with the others. You aren't likely to enjoy them any more.

But if you're reading them to learn something about how to write books that kids will buy, then you might want to keep going. Riordan has found a mix of content, character, pacing/adventure and humor that kids are eating up.

Judy's right, to a point, but remember, we are readers too.

Just because X book or writer works for some it won't for others.

It doesn't matter if the book's from our time or now, we only justify books published now because it's impossible to ignore entirely, from a market perspective.

But hang with me a bit. We can't please all readers, so doesn't it stand to reason those who are addicted to books by a certain writer, aren't likely the majority of readers who will find the stories you or I like reading and writing ourselves enjoyable to read.

Doesn't mean we can't or won't convert a few, but I'm speaking generally, okay?

I think this "Study other writers" thing works differently for different people, and some like me, just don't find it helpful at all!

It just made you feel shame, but as history tells us again and again, learning, in and of itself should NOT bring shame!

It should and is meant to bring empowerment, and a better understanding of yourself, and others, but sometimes we're so numb from all the pressure, inward and outward, we forget that.

I'm quick to admit I've been guilty of this in the past, and it's still a problem for me, but it's getting better, and I hope you find that solace for yourself soon, Playground King.

I just finished reading "The Throne of Fire", the second book in the Kane Chronicles, and enjoyed it (as I had with Riordan's other books, both the Percy Jackson series and "The Red Pyramid"). Though I should add that I like mythology (both Greek and Egyptian) and history ("The Throne of Fire" brings in much of it; one of the main villains, for example, is the grandson of Prince Alexander Menshikov, an actual advisor and friend to Peter the Great of Russia - that brought back fond memories of a college class on pre-1917 Russian history). I also got a kick out of the protagonists' back-and-forth bickering over the recorded narration as only a brother and sister can perform.

I read a great many books that make me think, Yes, very nice, lovely, but that's not the sort of book I would ever write. That doesn't mean I can't learn something about the craft from them.

People get stuck thinking about the "Rules" of writing--don't do this, don't do that. And then you read a book that breaks those rules, and it works.

Learning to write well means figuring out what works. What works for one author may not work for another. Trying too hard to do what worked for someone else may end up with you doing something bland and derivative. But figuring out what works for someone else may lead to try something that will work very well for you.

I agree with everything Ms Judy said.

If I try to write like Rick Riordan, I'll fail. I can't possibly be a better Rick Riordan than Rick Riordan himself, and I'd rather be myself anyway. But that doesn't mean I can't learn from Rick Riordan, and from countless other MG authors.

Learning what you don't want to do with your writing is just as important as learning what you DO want to do.

MsJudy said:

I read a great many books that make me think, Yes, very nice, lovely, but that's not the sort of book I would ever write. That doesn't mean I can't learn something about the craft from them.

People get stuck thinking about the "Rules" of writing--don't do this, don't do that. And then you read a book that breaks those rules, and it works.

That's WHY I said what I did in my initial response. It was to echo your point 'I really agree with you!' without making PK feel worse or needlessly confused. Some things are just really not as simple to do as they are to say. That's all.


Learning to write well means figuring out what works. What works for one author may not work for another. Trying too hard to do what worked for someone else may end up with you doing something bland and derivative. But figuring out what works for someone else may lead to try something that will work very well for you.

Click to expand...

Judy, all I was getting at was that if trying to pick apart other writers brings you nothing but apathy, confusion, and pain that makes you HATE the process, and stop writing all together, that's when it's gone too far. On this I know full well what I'm talking about. This craft can make the hardened among us here feel inadequate sometimes, even though a fair amount of you never take it to my extent. If I didn't want to quit after my last nightmarish feud, I think it's fair to say I was done being the to quick to quit flake I used to be. I just need to channel that rage to the books and the page and not folks here (They know who they are and I'm seriously trying to get it in gear).

Wicked, really good advice. Thanks everyone!