Nikki Loftin

Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

Writing Days in the Desert

I’m off!

Today, Writer Friends, I’m beginning the road trip to New Mexico. Where, exactly? To Ghost Ranch, the place that inspired Georgia O’Keeffe to do this:

 

I’m hoping it inspires me to do a lot of this:

The conference/retreat this time (AROHO — A Room of Her Own) is named for a small book I read WAY back when – and I re-read every once in a while just to remember to be fierce about this whole writing thing. Check it out.

I’ll be back in eleven days or so. And yes, I do know how cool this all is. Thanks to my mom for the “grant,” my husband for watching the kids solo, my colleagues at work for covering my classes, and my Writer Friends for all the encouragement! Oh, and the Muse, too, for sending the idea that I’m taking with me. Gotta pack now!

 

Wonderful News for My Dear Writer Friend!

What a lovely week! Why so lovely? Well… I spent mine in the Caribbean, cruising around, petting dolphins and paddling near white sand beaches. Hard life, I know. But right before I left, I also found out some amazing news!! Shelli Cornelison, one of the people I love the very most in the Entire World, whose manuscripts I have critiqued and adored, whose children I have taken on mission trips, the woman who took me to my first SCBWI conference and force-fed me chocolate and encouragement when I was about to Give Up on the Whole Writing Thing a while back… just signed with her agent.

Congratulations to Karen Grencik, of Red Fox Literary. You probably don’t know yet how lucky you are to work with Shelli Cornelison. But you will.

Oh, frabjous day!

In Other News: As if that weren’t enough, I got home to an email from my own darling agent, with positive notes on my Next Manuscript! The Dark House will be on its way to Editor L so very, very soon.

And, um, while I was on that cruise? I snuck in some writing time. I’m in love again, Writer Friends. In love with my own words.*sigh* and LOL

This one will be tragic and dark, fairy-tale-ish and magical realistic, beautiful and heart-breaking. I. Can’t. Wait.

But I will have to. I’m leaving for the AROHO conference in New Mexico in four days!! Laundry, laundry, laundry…

 

 

A Little Librarian Love

I broke my self-imposed non-political blog rule a few weeks back to protest what’s happening to librarians all over the country — and in my kid’s school district. Today I read this excellent letter, written by Lin Oliver, the Executive Director of SCBWI. Y’all go read this.

An excerpt: “(S)chool librarians notice what kids are reading, and hand them the next book they might enjoy, point them to the right internet site, encourage them to take the next step on the path to knowledge, education, and the immense joy that comes from reading.”

This is what we’re giving up when we remove librarians from libraries: the path to joy — the joy that comes from the books that touch a child’s heart, stretch a child’s imagination — and the knowledge of how to get there.

Thank you, Ms. Oliver.

 

I’ve Got Joy… and Happiness, Too

“One joy scatters a hundred griefs.”

– Chinese proverb

Today, let’s talk about joy in the writing life. And why not its red-headed, cross-eyed cousin, happiness, too?

I know, I know. Happiness isn’t in vogue, is it? We’re supposed to be all post-post-modern and deconstructionist, supposed to be too cool to care about such things.*

Here’s the thing. As writers, especially writers seeking publication/external validation/an audience for our work, we need to forget being cool and look for happiness wherever we can find it. Because, honestly? The publication process has plenty of the other stuff for us all. Dish after dish of hot, steaming rejection, tables full of despair, and wafer thin mints for the “successful” in the form of brutal reviews from Kirkus, etc.

Happiness matters. Even little scraps of it. Maybe Lolcats do it for you. That works.

For me? After a bad day of writing, all it takes to bring me back is a margarita with a friend. An inappropriately funny website shared with my older son. Belly farts on my eight year old’s stomach. (Hold that thought. I have to go do that now. Back in a minute.)

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Happiness. I’ve been meditating on happiness in general and Writer Happiness in particular because I’ve been thinking about why so many writers avoid the page – including me, at times.

I think it’s easy to take all the rejection to the page with you, to open up your WIP file while you’re playing your Soundtrack for Failure in the background.

I think, maybe, we forget how to experiment with the words, how to build the worlds we’ve imagined with a sense of joy and wonder, rather than fear and foreboding. We forget it’s supposed to be fun, and joyful, and more about the process than the product.

We forget how to play.

When was the last time you wrote with abandon, with joy, with a smile on your face and your fingers flying on the keyboard? That feeling? It’s heaven.

I think, maybe, that’s part of what my favorite storyteller was talking about when he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

I wish you all joy this week, and happiness, too. Play with your words!

And if any of you need a margarita with a writer friend? You know who to call.

***

Nikki News: My flash fiction piece is still up! Thanks so much for the comments. I have another story coming out next month – links in a week or so. And I’m almost done revising Dark House… my next story is impatiently nudging at me. Can’t wait to cut loose on it!

* I never was cool. I always cared too much. WAY too much. I teared up in my graduate lecture when we were discussing Toni Morrison’s Beloved. My tears brought the class to a halt. “Wow,” said one of my classmates. I can’t remember the last time I cared that much.” I thought that was kind of sad, actually.

I wish I could say that it was only great works of literature that gets my tear ducts working, but it’s not. I also cry for Hallmark ads, seatbelt PSAs  like this one, and when my kids are on stage anywhere, anytime.

I always have been a huge dork. I’m okay with it.

My High School Mustache

If you hop on over to this post on the excellent Dear Teen Me website, I think you’ll see that I will do anything for a laugh. Or for sympathy. Or for attention. Whichever.

Go ahead, laugh at me. I kinda like it.

(So, do you think I should have changed the name of my Eternal Crush in this piece? I mean, it’s on the Internet now, with his Real Name. Will he be embarrassed? Shocked? Will his wife and kids be all “ICK!” ?)

Happy Monday! Now go write something fabulous.

Hurry Up! Now Wait.

Hi, Writer Friends!

As most of you know, I’ve been hip-deep in alligators and line edits. (I’m convinced that term does NOT mean what I thought at first. I had visions of small, piffly, “which word would work better” changes. Not so much, in my case. Eek.) Oh, and I did almost all of those line edits at South Padre Island on vacation with my family. Fun times.

(Actually it was fun. Seriously awesome in fact! Hinky Punky caught a sting ray! Dave took amazing pictures that he will turn into artistic gold! I learned how to line edit BEFORE drinking the pina coladas!)

So, no major blog post. Just this, my author picture.

I look mahvelous, darlings. Ah, the wonders of Photoshop.

Happy Writing , Friends!

Freaky Flash Fiction

Happy Memorial Day, Writer Peeps! I have good news. Not only do I get to sleep in tomorrow (what, that doesn’t rate as good news? Does for me.), my very first flash fiction story came out today in Flash Fiction Online. It’s short, weird, and — dum dum dum! — Young Adult.

Oh no! NOT middle-grade? Hide your sons and daughters!

No, seriously. This piece isn’t for all ages. But for you? Yes! My favorite part of the story is the comment from Suzanne at the end. I was bouncing up and down, like, “She got it! She got it! I must have done something right because this reader got it!”

Which reminded me (I’m not sure why) of an excellent post about reviews my agent-sister Hannah Moskowitz had on her blog this week. Read it. Hannah’s so smart, and funny, and wise. Listen to her, book reviewers!

Of course, then I had to Google myself to see if *I* had any negative reviews floating around out there… and I found a review! A very strange one, but lovely… I think. Or maybe not. Of a poem I had published a year ago, in Front Range Review.

Here’s the link to the review. If you scroll down alphabetically to Front Range and read my review, can you please leave a comment and let me know — is “clear, pungent juice” a good thing in a poem, or a sign that you might need some antibiotic cream?

Here’s to publication, and reviews, and all the attendant strangeness that this writing life brings with it. Have a lovely weekend!

Guest Blog Post #2

Before you know it, I’ll be blogging all over myself.

If you’re not bored of me yet, please go check out my guest post on my friend Emily Kristin Anderson’s excellent blog. Her blog is what my blog would be if I had more time, energy, a more organized mind, and knew more about publishing. (Wow, I got tired just writing that sentence and thinking about all the stuff Emily does!) Ms. Anderson also has the distinction of being one of the most voracious readers I’ve ever met or HEARD OF. If you want to know if a YA book was good – even a book that won’t come out in print for another year? – ask Emily.

By the way, she’s also one of the creators of the amazing blog called Dear Teen Me. And I have another post coming up in a few weeks! A funny one, all about my awkward high school facial hair.  Wait for it, wait for it…

In Nikki News: This week, I’ve been working on revisions to The Dark House, and panicking over the POV. Thank you to my good friends who talked me down. You know who you are. I’ve also been taking care of a sick kid, planning my Halloween costume (I’m going as Ke$ha. Dirt and glitter, a gold tooth… what else do I need?), and reading some amazing books. More on those later. Have a great weekend, Writer Friends!

Book Launch Party Planning

I know quite a few authors now, and all of them have different stages of the publishing process that really appeal to them. Some of them (sickos) love revision, some go all gooey at the thought of seeing their galleys/ARC/finished book on the shelf at B&N. Me? I spend most of my daydreaming time planning for my book launch party.

That’s right. I’m party planning for next year. Don’t laugh. If you’d written a book about a school with haute cuisine in the cafeteria, and bowls of candy on every desk, you’d have some ideas, too. (Where can I get small, golden bowls for the M&Ms I MUST give out to my partygoers? Anyone?)

Of course, the book also touches on the possible cannibalization of small children, so that opens some interesting culinary doors. No, I’m not planning on serving my sons up as spare ribs! But gingerbread cookies with names? Small, child-sized, lifelike fingers and toes made of marzipan?Yesssssssss.

I am a very sick woman.

I’ve been attending book launches like a bride goes to wedding expos — with a gleam in my eye, and a notepad handy when I see great ideas. I’ve seen a lot of amazing launches – I do live in Austin, after all, so we’re lousy with talented authors who throw amazing parties/launches at our local Indie, Bookpeople.

I’m thinking of having more than one launch – why not? I had more than one wedding reception! (Three actually, one in Scotland with all those lovely boys in kilts. Dude, I got some wear out of my wedding dress.) I want to support my local library, so I’m thinking of doing a summer program there, with a contest for kids to design their most elaborate, magical school cafeteria menu… or playground… with prizes (donated signed books?) for the winners, and food for everyone.

Enough food to fatten up all the children, at least.

Can you tell I’m excited? What can I say: I’m a party girl.

So, what is your dream, Writer Friends? Are you a Contract in the Mail type? An Advance Check dreamer? A secret Newbery Fiend? What keeps you writing through the rejections and the revisions?

Heartsick

I have nothing in the world to be upset about. My life is amazing, my family is healthy, and I have a book deal, for crying out loud. But every day, my mind keeps skipping to what’s happening in our local public school system this coming year because of the short-sightedness of our state government, and their unwillingness to restore funding to our public schools.

Yep, you read that right. I’m talking politics. I have never posted a political rant on this blog before. But that’s because they never fired all the librarians in my kids’ school district before. Not to mention the art and music teachers, the aides, the secretaries, and getting rid of the GT program.

I was angry. And then a parent mentioned to me on the weekend that “at least they’re not firing any real teachers.” It was very hard not to scream. Thank goodness my mama raised me right.

I ran across this post by Gayle Forman today. Feel free to go read it. I’m not going to go on myself, since if I did, I would probably start dropping F-bombs like she does in the post. But I agree with her.

In fact, I’m not going to rant. I’m just going to say this: my heart is breaking. What will we do with no librarians? What will we do when almost all the music and art teachers are gone? What kind of education is that? There’s gotta be a best-selling YA dystopian in there somewhere. You find it, Writer Friends. I’m too heartsick.

N.B. And, look. They’re doing it in California, too. WTF. And I know there is some good news on the horizon, possibly. But it still won’t affect our district, since all the cuts I mentioned will still be in effect to make ends meet.