UV, W, X, Y, and Z -- Mysteries of Science Explained by Electricity

UV, W, X, Y, and Z, the last days of the A to Z April Challenge.

Yes, obviously, I failed a little at the challenge, but at least I failed with flare! This last installment includes fascinating links from around the web! Since I'm a huge fan of speculative fiction, specifically science fiction, I thought I'd share some of my research links with y'all. These articles/videos are a great way to kickstart your imagination if it's been dormant (like while line-editing) for a while.

From the sun to water vapor to ancient artifacts to futuristic bandaids, electricity rules the world

Electric Currents Create Magnetic Fields in the Sun 
(okay, this doesn't start with u or v, but UV rays... from the sun... get it? 



Let it Rain - how electricity governs our Weather


Robot finds mysterious spheres in ancient temple in MeXico < See what I did there? (This discovery is beneath the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, which is connected with electric plasma theory/unified theory of myth/ancient cosmology)


ElectricitY Can Help Heal Wounds (Dnews video) 


The Mysterious NaZca Lines video (More photos here) These are also possibly lightning-related



Hope you enjoyed the science and archaeology tour! Be sure to head over to Operation Awesome tomorrow morning bright and early for our Mystery Agent one-sentence pitch contest.

L is for Letting Go

the challenge

L is for Letting Go

This is a tender topic for me, something that's hard for me to do personally, and I'm sure was hard for my mother before me. When you've done the best that you can, when you've given something or someone your all, there comes a time when you have to let it/them go. 

For mothers all over the world, this is a terrible balancing act. When and how do they let go? Baby birds learn to fly at great personal risk, and mothers must watch helplessly. But the truth behind the questions of how and when is that it isn't up to us. There comes a time when children stand up and say, "I am me. You are you. I'm going now. This is my next step into the world." 

Whether we let go or not, the time comes when our white-knuckled grasp is only holding air. 

It's this way with art, too. Like children, art comes from a very tender, private place inside us. It is cultivated by our love and attention. It is shaped by us, as much as it is within our talents and power, to resemble what we think it ought to be. And when we've done our best, given our all, it's time to let go. 

For authors lucky and determined enough to have publishing contracts or self-publishing release dates, that time is a specific date. For them, letting go is a fixed affair. "On this day I will send my book baby into the world, come what may." You see a lot of posts to this effect on twitter and facebook. Authors say, "I've done it. It's release day. I'm sending it out into the world. I hope you love it." 

But you can't make them love it. You can't even make them understand it. People will misunderstand your art, just as they will insist on misunderstanding you. People will chop up your work, quote it or paraphrase it out of context, make you look silly (sparkly vampires). People will snark about what is sacred to you, make themselves seem clever while tearing you down. It's what people do sometimes. 

People may review the earliest edition of your self-published book (as happened to a very vocal disgruntled writer a few years back). They may reprint your typos and call them stupidity. 

And they will do all of this without asking for your permission. 

Let it go.

Then there are artists like me. I'm not published, and I haven't published myself. I've talked about it. I've thought about it, but I'm just not ready. Some of my closest friends and family say, "Let it go." Just put your art out into the world and let it be read, even when it's not perfect. I resist. I want it to be perfect. I want it to be without flaws. I want to "avoid those weaknesses which often expose a strong understanding to ridicule" (Darcy).

Some painters swipe and brush away at their favorite pieces in the lamp-lit corners of their houses, never portraying their art to the community because all they can see are the flaws. I don't want to be that. But I also want my "debut" to be auspicious and what they call promising. I want to be read and appreciated and most of all understood. 

So I can understand if even a traditionally published author has trouble, because I feel it, too, the resistance, as tight as a rubber band, to the notion, the pull against gravity, telling me to

Let it go.

K is for Kids (and what they want to read)

the challenge

K is for Kids

I write MG and YA mostly (though I am writing a NA contemp romance at the moment). Plus, I have three boys at home, so it's only natural that K made me think of them. When it comes to writing for kids, I can't help but think of my own children... a lot.

What do they like?
(Dragons, pirates, legos, marbles, pizza, pizza, pizza, messes, races, cars, My Little Pony- hey, don't judge.)

Classic: Legos

What would they relate to?
(kids with helicopter parents, kids with siblings, kids who go to church on Sundays, kids who spend holidays out of state with extended family, kids who have special talents, kids who struggle in a certain subject, kids who like to read, kids who like to play video games on Kinect, kids who are hilarious and always telling jokes, playing pranks)

He cut his own hair and is inexplicably wet.

What makes them sad?
(a lot of the same things that make adults sad: death, illness, trying really hard and failing, wanting to be good at something that doesn't come easily, being second best (my boys are really competitive), getting a lesser toy for Christmas or a birthday, running out of ice cream, no seconds of their favorite dinner, being yelled at, being disciplined or corrected in any way, breaking a favorite toy or tool)

Focusing really hard on a lacing project

What makes them jump up and down?
(exciting movies with scary bad guys, a chase/race, high stakes, something really funny, a reunion after being apart for so long, daddy coming home, sleepovers, birthday parties, new games, new anything)

Clowning around

Since I have all boys, you may will have different experiences with your own kids or kids you know personally. 

Just like adults, kids have varying tastes, interests, and personalities. What makes one kid hug the book might make another kid throw it at the wall. I mean, I hope you're teaching your kid not to throw books. That's terrible! Why is your kid throwing a book? Get that kid under control before you bring him back to my blog.

Ahem, for all you good parents whose kids would never dream of throwing a book at a wall...

Darn. Lost my train of thought. Trains! Kids like trains. 

It's 1:30am, y'all, and I have to get up early in the morning. 

I have kids, you know. :)

Hope you found something thought-provoking in my kid lists. If not, you can't go wrong basing your character off a real person. C.S. Lewis did it all the time. Happy Weekend!

Don't miss my post at Operation Awesome today. (And in case you were sleeping yesterday, here are the results of April's Mystery Agent contest!)

J is for Jester (comic relief in your novel)

the challenge

J is for Jester (comic relief in your novel)

In middle grade, it's the stinky guy. In YA, it can be anything from a cowardly best friend to a snarky main character. 

No matter where it comes from, comic relief is essential to an enjoyable read. 

Yep, even if you've written something dark. ESPECIALLY if you've written something dark. 




The Hunger Games, which I think we can all agree has a fair degree of darkness (kids forced to kill each other to survive), is pocked with comic relief. I said pocked, not packed. It only takes a teaspoon of sugar to help the medicine go down.

As many of you know, I was afraid to read Hunger Games. It took about a dozen recommendations before I decided to jump in. And that was only after I was able to confirm that there is some comic relief in it. If not, well that would have been a deal breaker. 

A few pages into The Hunger Games, I laughed. 

In the midst of some tragic scene-setting, Katniss has an exchange with a cat she once tried to drown so she wouldn't have another mouth to feed. This doesn't sound funny at all, but the banter-like relationship really is. 

Then there are the names, especially the names of people from the Capitol and people from the fancier districts, like Glimmer from District 1 (even though the character herself is horrible). 

And my favorite bits of comic relief...

Haymitch Abernathy and Effie Trinket. 

Source

Haymitch has a tragic story, and you wouldn't think he'd be funny at all, but between his drinking, his uninhibited language, and his obvious intelligence, he's a bright spot in the series. When he chides Katniss in Book 3 for trying to take down the Capitol with a syringe, I fell even more deeply in love with his character, as well as hers. (Brilliant, really, creating a reluctant mentor rather than a reluctant hero - or rather in addition to a reluctant heroine.)

Source

Effie Trinket. The name speaks for itself, right? This is a comic relief character, but she's also a symbol of the ridiculousness of the Capitol, the apathy, the image-obsession, the cluelessness. In a tense moment when Katniss puts a knife into a table right next to Haymitch's hand, Effie cries, "That is mahogany!"

Already we've got an acceptable amount of comic relief to go with our dark and twisted premise. And I haven't even gotten to the beauticians at the Capitol, but you get the idea.

A book without comic relief (or without enough comic relief) is called horror. It seems to be rising in popularity, even in the YA genre. *shudders* As you can see I have no love for this genre.

Comic relief is a theme all by itself. It says that even in the darkest times, light can be found if one only remembers to turn on the light. I think Dumbledore said that. 

For a quick study in comic relief, watch Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. 

I is for Imagination and Inspiration #amwriting

the challenge

I is for Imagination and Inspiration.

Since I was a junior high school malcontent, I've been reading to escape my reality. Granted, I actually choose and like my life now, so I'm not escaping much. But I still love the adventure of a new reality. I still love to read.

It is the only way to get into another person's head so thoroughly. A movie can transport you to their world, or at least a first impression of that world. But only the written word can give you every sensation and its consequence in a way that feels truly vicarious. 

"New Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes"  Illustrations by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone.

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (Dutch Lullaby)
by Eugene Field (1850-1895)

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
   Sailed off in a wooden shoe---
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
   Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
   The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
   That live in this beautiful sea;
   Nets of silver and gold have we!"
                     Said Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
   As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
   Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
   That lived in that beautiful sea---
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish---
   Never afeard are we";
   So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
   To the stars in the twinkling foam---
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
   Bringing the fishermen home;
'T was all so pretty a sail it seemed
   As if it could not be,
And some folks thought 't was a dream they 'd dreamed
   Of sailing that beautiful sea---
   But I shall name you the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
   And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
   Is a wee one's trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
   Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
   As you rock in the misty sea,
   Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.

Imagination is what separates mankind from the rest of the animal kingdom. 

The stories we create are a connecting fabric like the nets of silver and gold in the poem, drawing us together across time and longitude. 

I LOVE imagination. Last night the hubz and I watched 'Til There Was You:




I love it because it's about two people who don't meet until the end, yet affect each other's lives in so many ways. It's about stories and how they intertwine. It's about a hopeless romantic who is obsessed with finding her "story," meaning the love story she'll tell her children one day, and a broken architect who eschews all things old and sentimental, and the relationships that prepare them to meet at last. 

One of the reviews on amazon says it best:

"I love movies that complete a circle, those are rare and this is one of those." -ILoveGadgets

Imagination is stirred by the simplest things: a poetic phrase, a lullaby, the wait at a red traffic light. 

Last night my husband inspired me without even knowing it. I sneaked downstairs past midnight to add a few thousand words to my WIP, Could Be Worse. 

The words just rolled off my fingers onto the keyboard, landing on the page like that's where they've wanted to be all along and they were only waiting for my fingers to obey my brain and write them.

Imagination can be intrusive, demanding a story be told or an image be created. But it can also be tender, healing, weaving poetry out of a broken heart, out of loss and into integrity.

It's less a master and more a companion, and yet we are happiest when we're letting it take the lead.

Where will yours lead you today?

H is for Help (for writers)

the challenge

H is for Help.

No writer succeeds in a vacuum. No man is an island. Writers need help with their craft, in the form of expert advice, moral support, housekeeping...

While I can't help you with the housekeeping part, I'm happy to share many of the resources I've come across since beginning this earnest journey in 2010. 

I give you, my LINKS FOR WRITERS page. You're welcome. :)

In addition, I'd like to highlight a couple extremely helpful places that are near and dear to my heart:

Operation Awesome
What began as a couple critique partners getting together to blog and hold lit agent contests morphed into a treasure trove of writing tips, industry info, and fabulous book recommendations (not to mention the monthly pitch contest that has resulted in agent/client signings). You can find books by Operation Awesome bloggers in my sidebar to the right.

Miss Snark's First Victim
The originator of the Secret Agent contest, Authoress Anon runs this site (and another site with a forum for teen readers). She wrote Agent Demystified: Lifting the veil on the secret world of literary agents. She is the real deal, and her site is filled with lessons from contests. Here you can see what agents loved, endless examples of great writing from contest entrants.

Creepy Query Girl
Something about Katie Mills' blog is just addicting. Maybe is the adorableness or cleverness of her blog title and concept. It's definitely the honesty with which she approaches the writer's journey. I come here for commiseration, industry trends, discussion. Contrary to the title, Katie is not endlessly querying.

Elana Johnson
The author of the POSSESSION series and one of the co-founders of WriteOnCon, Elana has been a super-blogger from day 1. At her blog she shares tips for how to become a super-blogger, on social networking, and of course writing. I've learned so much from her, loved her books, and appreciated her comments occasionally on my blog. She taught us all to reach out and get involved with one another.

Mother. Write. (Repeat.)
Krista Van Dolzer features agent interviews, which is such a huge service to querying writers. I can't tell you how many queries I've written that referenced tidbits (about the agent) I learned in her interviews.

Shannon Messenger
Home of the Shannon-Style advice on everything from writing to revision to querying. Shannon is the author of middle grade KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES and young adult LET THE SKY FALL. She is also a co-founder of WriteOnCon, an incredible resource for writers: a free online writing conference complete with contests, a forum, and lots and lots of ninja agents lurking and requesting the good stories.

Casey McCormick
Literary Rambles is the blog of Casey McCormick and Natalie Aguirre, and it's the home of Agent Spotlights, which are golden nuggets for querying writers. An Agent Spotlight isn't just an interview. No, it's SO much more than that. It's links to ALL the interviews an agent has ever given. It's lists of what an agent likes and what that agent hates. It's insights into their souls. Okay, maybe not that intense, but it's pretty dang thorough. Casey is also a co-founder of WriteOnCon and a literary agent intern.


I just finished reading PAS DE DEATH by Amanda Brice (review), a YA ballet murder mystery set in New York City. I just started reading ROTTEN by Michael Northrop, a YA novel with a troubled teen and a rottweiler.

F is for Funny, G is for Gritty: Books that keep it light, and books that keep it real

Today I'm celebrating books that keep it light (funny), and books that keep it real (gritty)! 

the challenge

F is for... funny.

My favorite books for laughing:

the challenge

G is for... Gritty

My favorite books that don't sugar-coat it:

E is for Ender Wiggin

the challenge

E is for Ender Wiggin

Asa Butterfield, who will play Ender in the coming movie

Of course the actor isn't as young and baby-faced as this pic anymore, but he does still have quite the baby face, making it almost okay that the movie doesn't seem to begin when Ender is six years old.

Add on goodreads

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. 

Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. 

Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

The movie site

First glimpses

Who else can't wait for November?

Share your writing play lists with Becky at Operation Awesome today.