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. 

Life and Death Literature

Picture from this site

I read this incredible interview with Suzanne Collins today. It really moved me, reading about her personal experiences with a father away at war and a family life saturated with the history, stories, and relevance of war. It's an upbringing most of us don't have, but more of today's children are currently experiencing, as the wars just seem to multiply.

When I first read The Hunger Games, I was devastated by the violence, but loved the story. Even as much as I devoured it and praised it, I didn't recommend it for preteens because of the sometimes graphic depictions of blood and death. After reading Collins' interview, I better understand her philosophy about children and war. She wasn't writing bloody scenes to sensationalize battle or to sell more books. She wrote about the realities and consequences of war. She feels she is writing to a generation of children who, like her, are growing up without one or both parents while they fight abroad.

In “The Hunger Games” Collins embraces her father’s impulse to educate young people about the realities of war. “If we wait too long, what kind of expectation can we have?” she said. “We think we’re sheltering them, but what we’re doing is putting them at a disadvantage.”

I still believe most preteens would have trouble handling this series, maybe as much trouble as if their own families were torn apart by war. I still remember sneaking a peek at Braveheart with my brother while our parents were away, and the slitting of a girl's throat will always be in my very vivid and sensitive memory. BUT... But I can see the value in introducing children to the concept of war in a safe context, especially when the world around us is literally burning with rebellions, revolutions, and wars for power.

So here I'm apologizing to Suzanne Collins for loving her books with the caveat Not Appropriate for Children because clearly, it was for them she wrote this story.

The Fake Boyfriend/Girlfriend Blogfest

 The Fake Boyfriend/Girlfriend Blogfest is here! Go sign up if you're just finding out about it! This is Amparo's first blogfest, so show her and your special crush some love for Valentine's Day!


Le rules: Choose between an author crush and a celebrity crush, then write them a love letter on your blog. It can be from your POV, or the POV of the main character in your WIP.

Le love letter:

On the Count of Three by Mapvee@deviantart

Dear Peeta Mellark,

If I were ten years younger...

And really good at archery...

With a secret talent for singing to the birds...

And a chance to prove my fierce family loyalty...

You would so be mine!


Read the other entries and join the linky here

MOCKINGJAY as Political Statement

In the Districts, the idea of a republic is completely alien. There is only President Snow, and his Peacekeepers. No checks nor balances as there are in the United States government...or as there used to be. 


Nowadays, the lines between the three branches of government (executive, legislative, judiciary) are so blended as to make them almost meaningless. Congress debates whether or not things are constitutional (the judiciary's job). The Supreme Court creates law, even at times overruling multiple votes by the people. And the President steamrolls them both from the bully pulpit. It has been this way for decades, and it is getting worse. 


Whatever your politics, we can all agree that the less WE THE PEOPLE participate in government, the less power the people have. This line in the third book of the Hunger Games trilogy left me with goose bumps: 


"In return for full bellies and entertainment, people had given up their political responsibilities and therefore their power." -Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins


How is the Capitol with its Districts like our world today? Without spoilers, please share your thoughts in the comments. 

Interviews, Book Excitement, and Follower Contests

I am sick today. Fuzzy head, achy muscles, and stuffy nose sick.

But it's okay! Because there are so many exciting things going on right now!

Interviews!! I'm doing a series on WriteOnCon's fabulous organizers about how it was to put together the world's first completely free, completely online writers conference, and what's next for WriteOnCon!

Each Friday, I post an interview over at the Operation Awesome blog. Currently, we've got:

Elana Johnson
Casey McCormick (this one's fresh from today, so skip over and say hi to Casey!)

I just recently posted an interview with literary agent Natalie Fischer, in case you missed that one. Update: This interview now includes her favorite TV shows and movies. Woot! She's a BONES fan. :-)

There's a tab across the top of my blog (go ahead and look) for all the interviews I do, whether they're based here or over at Operation Awesome. It's a great resource for writers who want to learn more about agents and the online writing community (which is probably the best online community in the history of online communities!!!).

Book Excitement!! Last night I finished reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. I am now officially caught up with y'all who are just now reading Mockingjay. Give me a day and I'll be caught up with y'all who already finished Mockingjay! :-)

Can I just say that all of you who read Catching Fire before Mockingjay came out are freakin' book warriors?! I think I might have gone insane from that Lord-of-the-Rings-esque ending--that wasn't really an ending--if I hadn't been able to turn to the first few chapters of Mockingjay immediately after. So I'm in the throes of District (no spoilers here) and the leaders who kind of creep me out. Pray for me to get to the sunshiny parts soon.

There is sunshine, right? Right? (See this post about my fear of dark literature.) Of course I am loving the trilogy, and marveling at Suzanne Collin's genius in creating something so compelling and complex.

Follower Contests!! Of all the funny situations: my blog following is now at 49 at the exact same time as Operation Awesome is at 99. We are just on the cusps of 50 and 100! I'm not making an official announcement, but I will say that we have something fun planned as soon as we reach 100. Thank you, by the way, for all your support of Operation Awesome! We are honored to have reached so many wonderful writers in such a short time (the blog is only 10 days old). Our goal is to give back and pay it forward, and that gets easier with every awesome follower who shares our links or retweets.

As for me, I plan to do something special when Mr. or Mrs. 50th Follower comes along.

*insert drumroll*

A contest to win my favorite punctuation book of all time:

EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation 

I read this years ago, but it stays with me always. If you'd told me before I picked it up that I'd actually enjoy reading a book about punctuation, I'd have given you that raised eyebrows look you're giving me now. Stop that! You'll wrinkle your forehead!

It really is hilarious, especially if you're already one of those people who can't stand it when people say, "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less." Or maybe you're one of those people who balked when you saw the movie poster for Two Weeks Notice (where's the apostrophe?!!).

But even if you're not. If you're the opposite--someone who doesn't get punctuation (but desperately wants to)--this book is for you.

When I hit fifty followers, one winner will win this frawesome book! Update: WE HAVE OVER 50 FOLLOWERS! The contest is a go! Comment to enter.

To enter, leave a comment telling me on a scale from 1-10 where you stand on the punctuation train, 10 being punctuation expert and 1 being "where the heck does this semi-colon go?"

Happy writing, everybody! And good luck!