metteivieharrison

The Rose Throne book trailer

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:08:02 -0400

is here, if you missed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfG_q9IMZ-4

“It isn’t every day that I get to read books that are so strongly feminist (in a good...

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:43:19 -0400

“It isn’t every day that I get to read books that are so strongly feminist (in a good way) it makes me want to smack someone, anyone, while reading. The world that the two princesses live in is one governed by men, where the queens and princesses hardly have a say in anything, and the people with no magic are merely used strategically for trade or diplomacy. And the girls knew what was going on and desired more for themselves (and their gender). I was frustrated for them!”

http://geekerydo.blogspot.jp/2013/05/book-review-rose-throne-by-mette-ivie.html

Who is keeping you from writing?

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:43:00 -0400

There are people keeping you from writing in your life. Some of them may be small, squirming, cute little creatures who think they need you constantly and weep piteously every time you try to move away from them. I had five of these and I understand the temptation to give up writing time for them. But there are other people who are stealing your writing time and I urge you to identify and stop them.

1. You are keeping yourself from writing. You have a million excuses. Sometimes you are keeping yourself from your best writing by working on projects you think are “more commercial,” but which you don’t actually love. Sometimes you are keeping yourself from your writing because you are afraid or because you don’t believe you are good enough. Sometimes you are keeping yourself from writing because you are refusing to admit that you need some medication or assistance with other work or because you need to say no more often to other things.

2. Old voices from your past. It could be an old teacher who told you you could never become a writer because you don’t know your grammar well enough. It could be a parent who told you that writing isn’t a “real job.” It could be an old “friend” who read one of your first works and then ridiculed you mercilessly about it the rest of the time that you were “friends.”

3. A spouse is actively sabotaging your writing. I have seen this happen on occasion. Most of the time, writers struggle with spouses who simply don’t understand what it means to be a creative type. They often mean to be supportive, but sometimes are doing it in the wrong way (by offering suggestions that are completely useless). But there are spouses who are competitive and simply mean. If you married one before you knew you were a writer, you may have to choose between the marriage and your dreams.

4. Your writing group acts like crabs in a barrel. They have stopped really trying to get published and they have certainly stopped trying to help you become a better writer. Instead, every group meeting devolves into a rehashing of all the old problems your earliest manuscripts showed and a list of everything wrong with the current book, with no kind words about how you’ve improved and no useful suggestions.

5. Children or parents who are afraid that your writing may in some way embarrass them. They are constantly asking to see manuscripts so they can “vet” them by giving you approval that your version of them is “correct.” This can happen whether or not you are writing anything remotely non-fictional. Sometimes people see themselves in characters where they are not. But even if you intended the comparison, it doesn’t help to have them give you “feedback.”

6. An agent who never sends anything out. If you have an agent who acts more as a block to you finding the right editor for your book than as a guide to the publishing world, it may be time to part ways. I often tell writers that the problem isn’t their agent, it’s themselves, but there are times when it’s the agent. If your agent doesn’t like anything you write or can’t see potential in it, then you have the wrong agent for you.

7. An editor who has damaged you so badly by rewriting things for you that you stare at the blank page with horror. I have heard stories of this, though it has never happened to me. Editors should NEVER EVER rewrite for an author. On rare occasions, I have had editors suggest “something like this?” But an editor who is writing lines for you is an editor who is trying to usurp your position as a writer.

8.A friend who keeps talking about the books you used to write. It may be that this is intended kindly, I don’t know. But in my experience, looking backward is not a good thing. If you have abandoned a project from the past, there is probably a good reason for it. Hitting your head against the same wall again and again is not productive creatively.

9. Co-workers at your day job/neighborhood friends who are constantly giving you advice on what book you should write next to “make it big.” What sells big and what you want to write are completely different things. What sells big and what you are uniquely able to write well are completely different things. You need to write from your heart more than you need to write what someone thinks is “easy.”

10.Critics of your last book that sold badly. I know this one intimately well, believe me. One of the problems here is reading reviews of your own books. Reviews are not meant for the author. Really, they aren’t. They aren’t kind attempts to help you become better. If they were, the reviewers would send them to you and to no one else (although sometimes on twitter, it can feel that’s what they are doing). Reviews are for readers. They are to help readers find books like other ones they liked. They have nothing to do with writing. NOTHING.

The Problem with 'Boys Will Be Boys'

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:09:30 -0400

The Problem with 'Boys Will Be Boys':

For months, every morning when my daughter was in preschool, I watched her construct an elaborate castle out of blocks, colorful plastic discs, bits of rope, ribbons and feathers, only to have the same little boy gleefully destroy it within seconds of its completion.

No matter how many times he did it, his parents never swooped in BEFORE the morning’s live 3-D reenactment of “Invasion of AstroMonster.” This is what they’d say repeatedly:

“You know! Boys will be boys!”

“He’s just going through a phase!”

“He’s such a boy! He LOVES destroying things!”

“Oh my god! Girls and boys are SO different!”

“He. Just. Can’t. Help himself!”

I tried to teach my daughter how to stop this from happening. She asked him politely not to do it. We talked about some things she might do. She moved where she built. She stood in his way. She built a stronger foundation to the castle, so that, if he did get to it, she wouldn’t have to rebuild the whole thing. In the meantime, I imagine his parents thinking, “What red-blooded boy wouldn’t knock it down?”

She built a beautiful, glittery castle in a public space.

It was so tempting.

He just couldn’t control himself and, being a boy, had violent inclinations.

She had to keep her building safe.

Her consent didn’t matter. Besides, it’s not like she made a big fuss when he knocked it down. It wasn’t a “legitimate” knocking over if she didn’t throw a tantrum.

His desire — for power, destruction, control, whatever- - was understandable.

Maybe she “shouldn’t have gone to preschool” at all. OR, better if she just kept her building activities to home.

I know it’s a lurid metaphor, but I taught my daughter the preschool block precursor of don’t “get raped” and this child, Boy #1, did not learn the preschool equivalent of “don’t rape.”

Not once did his parents talk to him about invading another person’s space and claiming for his own purposes something that was not his to claim. Respect for her and her work and words was not something he was learning. How much of the boy’s behavior in coming years would be excused in these ways, be calibrated to meet these expectations and enforce the “rules” his parents kept repeating?

There was another boy who, similarly, decided to knock down her castle one day. When he did it his mother took him in hand, explained to him that it was not his to destroy, asked him how he thought my daughter felt after working so hard on her building and walked over with him so he could apologize. That probably wasn’t much fun for him, but he did not do it again.

There was a third child. He was really smart. He asked if he could knock her building down. She, beneficent ruler of all pre-circle-time castle construction, said yes… but only after she was done building it and said it was OK. They worked out a plan together and eventually he started building things with her and they would both knock the thing down with unadulterated joy. You can’t make this stuff up.

Take each of these three boys and consider what he might do when he’s older, say, at college, drunk at a party, mad at an ex-girlfriend who rebuffs him and uses words that she expects will be meaningful and respecte, “No, I don’t want to. Stop. Leave.”

The “overarching attitudinal characteristic” of abusive men is entitlement.

There is an opening in my wifyr full novel class for anyone who has a manuscript ready to go. This...

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:04:32 -0400

There is an opening in my wifyr full novel class for anyone who has a manuscript ready to go. This is going to be such an awesome class! I am so looking forward to really getting into the nitty gritty instead of just first chapters, and talking plot structure with specifics!

Writing Wednesday: 10 "Secret" Ways to Get Your Manuscript Thrown Out

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:39:17 -0400

1. Print it on specially colored paper.
2. Turn one of your pages upside down to see it is read that far.
3. Send it in with a bribe of some kind, like chocolate.
4. Declare that your kids love your book.
5. Threaten, in a joking way, what you will do if it isn’t published.
6. Describe the publishing industry as a waste of time.
7. Diss books published by agent or editor you are querying.
8. Talk about your book in vague terms, with no specifics.
9. Compliment yourself on how great your book is and how many copies it will sell.
10. End your letter with the words “You don’t want to miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime chance” that sounds like what a used car dealer would say.

Writing Wednesday: 10 "Secrets" to to Make Your Manuscript Stand Out

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:38:49 -0400

1. Have a killer hook.
2. Show you read in the genre by naming a book that hasn’t been made into a movie.
3. Use good punctuation.
4. Proofread your manuscript.
5. Don’t ask the agent to read the new version a week after you’ve sent the first one.
6. Pitch one book at a time.
7. Have a killer setting.
8. Have good dialog.
9. Show, don’t tell.
10. Do something uniquely well.

“When Duke Kellin arrives from Rurik to offer a betrothal between Prince Edik and Marlissa,...

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:09:46 -0400

“When Duke Kellin arrives from Rurik to offer a betrothal between Prince Edik and Marlissa, the princess and her father are wary, since there’s little love lost between the two kingdoms. Accepting the offer will stave off a war and might be the first step in fulfilling the prophecy of a royal child who will have both weyrs and will reunite the island. Perhaps 13-year-old Prince Edik will grow less like his father during their long betrothal…”

http://www.abookandahug.com/paranormal-2/23225-rose-throne

“The book’s magic system is rich and fascinating. It’s split into two kinds of power — taweyr,...

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:04:55 -0400

“The book’s magic system is rich and fascinating. It’s split into two kinds of power — taweyr, the masculine magic, used for violence, for hunting, for thrills and lust and death, and neweyr, the feminine magic, used for controlling plants and other natural, quiet, healing things. Those who have the “wrong” magic (like one of her heroines, who has masculine magic) are persecuted, considered vile abominations who stole the rightful magic of others.”

http://feministfiction.com/2013/05/16/the-rose-throne-by-mette-ivie-harrison/

I like the feminist bent of this review.

“I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It took me a bit to grasp the concept of the world and...

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:03:45 -0400

“I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It took me a bit to grasp the concept of the world and magic, but once I understood that, things started falling into place. I envisioned the one princess to be just like the girl in Brave, and the other was a much softer gentler sort, maybe like Belle or something. It was a fun contrast.”

http://sueysbooks.blogspot.com/2013/05/book-review-rose-throne-by-mette-ivie.html

“I’m usually not someone who likes slow books, and even though I tend to finish every...

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:02:58 -0400

“I’m usually not someone who likes slow books, and even though I tend to finish every book I read, my attention span and tolerance are very limited when it comes to slow-paced books. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing; a slow pace allows for a great story building, only when an author knows how to make use of it. And unlike other books I’ve read that stretch the story aimlessly for far too long, The Rose Throne makes a good use of its slow pacing and develops its story well.”

http://scarletsilhouettes.blogspot.com/2013/05/review-rose-throne-by-mette-ivie.html

In your 21 Reasons You Think You Don't Have Time To Write, I didn't quite understand number 5. I haven't realized I need help with what?

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:18:07 -0400

Sometimes people get stuck and they don’t think to ask for help from a wise reader friend. Also, sometimes people need help for real life kinds of things. Like housework, errand running, or medication for mental illness problems. Realizing you need help is often the most important step towards getting it.

21 Reasons You Think You Don't Have Time to Write

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:20:34 -0400

1. You are letting people tell you that you should be doing other things with your time.

2. You can’t live with the level of clean that your family accepts as normal.

3. You haven’t decided to treat your writing seriously and so no one around you treats it seriously, either.

4. You haven’t made yourself a writing space.

5. You haven’t realized that you need help.

6. You do what is urgent rather than what is necessary.

7. You don’t let your kids and other people solve their own problems.

8. You think that someday you will have more time for writing.

9. You are spending time doing things you actually don’t care about.

10. You are actually using distractions as an excuse not to write.

11. You are terrified of writing, of actually sitting down and putting yourself on the page.

12. You are too busy criticizing the best selling books that you are reading to write something better.

13. You don’t know what to do with a blank page.

14. You don’t know how to turn off your internal editor.

15. You talk a good game, but you don’t play it.

16. You need to do a little planning and research before you start.

17. You don’t actually like writing. You like having written. (Join the club.)

18. You need to write the first line of the next chapter before leaving for the day.

19. You need to spend time remembering what it is you love about writing.

20. You have convinced yourself that you need 2 hours to write and don’t know how to use the 20 minute chunks you actually have.

21. You don’t have notebooks scattered through the house, including in the bathroom, to jot down inspiration.

The Rose Throne: Timeline

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:50:11 -0400

Timeline is one of the trickiest things for me as an author. This may be because I don’t outline or it may be a problem for all authors and all books. For me, there were two distinct tasks involved in this.

1. Condensing events

My first draft of The Rose Throne had Issa and Ailsbet begin as pre-teens, about age 11. They met each other briefly, became friends, and then spent another 6-7 years apart before meeting again at age 17. I think I did this in part because I was used to spending a lot of time building backstory for my main characters. In The Princess and the Hound, Prince George begins as a young child and ages up through about 70 pages of the book.

But The Rose Throne was a very different book than The Princess and the Hound, in part because there were two viewpoint characters who grew up in different kingdoms and had very different views of the magic system which they actually share. But in addition to that, I think The Rose Throne is for an older audience than The Princess and the Hound. And there were other reasons for me to condense the story, which included the fact that if Issa and Ailsbet had met and become friends as younger figures, a lot of the narrative tension around their relationship was taken away from the rest of the book.

I cannot say how often I have done critiques on manuscripts in which I tell the author that the timeline needs to be condensed. It’s a major change, but increasing the tension often makes other narrative problems disappear or at least become easier to fix. It improves pacing enormously and makes the structure of the novel really pop out and make itself obvious. If you are meandering through your plot slowly, more tension will help you find your climax and move toward it more easily.

2. Day by day

So the second timeline issue was a chapter-by-chapter day-by-day issue. This happened at a much later stage in the process, at nearly the final revision before copyediting. After I had condensed the book events into one year, I needed to make sure that the seasons were right for each chapter and scene, and that events happened in the right order. You would be surprised at how often I had to shift things backward or forward in time so that one event that caused another didn’t happen chronologically after it in my narrative.

What I did to fix this problem was make a chart for each chapter and then type in a date. Now, the kingdoms of Rurik and Weirland don’t have our Roman calendar and I purposely never referred to our months or days of the week. I always feel like fantasy loses its sense of other-worldliness if it relies on our conventions too much (unless it’s set in our world, in which case, it’s fine). So instead I used seasons and day numbers. Each event happened on a given day in a given season. When I put them all together with a short one-sentence explanation of each chapter, I could glance through and make sure there weren’t any long, unexplained absences (which, of course there were, but I had to fix). I also could see whether too much happened in one stretch. This visual was a useful way to make sure the scenes were organized properly and that the events happened in a measured fashion.

I still have trouble with timeline in most books that I am working on now. Maybe one day I will figure out a way to hold it all in my head and not make a mistake. Ha!

What We Control--and What We Don't

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:57:43 -0400

What We Writers Control:

1. When we write.

2. Where we write.

3. Learning to write better.

4. How focused we make our writing time.

5. Who we associate with and whether those people aid our writing or not.

6. What we send out and to whom.

7. Our on-line presence.

What We Don’t Control as Writers:

1. When we are published.

2. How much money we are offered.

3. Our sales numbers.

4. Reviews

5. Awards

6. What we write. I don’t mean choosing between projects here, which we can do, but to some degree, the story chooses us and we write it as only we can write it. There is only so much tinkering in worldview we can manage and that’s OK.

Kathy Miller at goodreads writes: “This book has it all ~ an evil king, battles for power,...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:25:15 -0400

Kathy Miller at goodreads writes: “This book has it all ~ an evil king, battles for power, attempts to join two kingdoms in peace, mystery, intrigue, fantasy, love ~ something for everyone of all ages. Easy, fast read.”

“From the first chapter I found myself hooked by Ms. Harrison’s writing. She has a way...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:24:45 -0400

“From the first chapter I found myself hooked by Ms. Harrison’s writing. She has a way with crafting a story that kept me reading page after page. The pacing was perfect and the story offered the perfect element of mystery with regards to the ending.”

Sebrina Parker from Goodreads.

Sebrina also says she wishes that she believed the second book would tell her more about Ailsbet. But she assumes I will only talk about Issa and Kellin. Au contraire, my dear reader friend. The second book has got it all going on for Ailsbet in Aristonne. She meets the prince! And he has some plans of his own!

“I did enjoy the writing and world building, but it left me wanting...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:24:27 -0400

“I did enjoy the writing and world building, but it left me wanting more.”

http://www.theflashlightreader.com/2013/05/review-rose-throne-mette-ivie-harrison.html

Mwahahah! I am flattered. Readers who want more are the best kinds of readers to have!

“This is a deeply imaginative story, of two distinctly different young women, their upbringing,...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:24:09 -0400

“This is a deeply imaginative story, of two distinctly different young women, their upbringing, their duty to their countries, and their true loves. Each has her own unique power. The two young women, thrust together by the decisions of their fathers, eventually become friends and confidants. The story touches on various levels of love; love of country and duty, love of power, love of music, and love for one another.

The explanation of the various countries in this world was easy to visualize once the vocabulary became second nature. I could see the land bridge that separated the two kingdoms, and feel the fury of the ocean and how it affected those with powers. I was intrigued by the people without powers, the `unweyrs’, and how they were the only ones that easily traversed the lands. So, in the end, even they had powers.

This is a great story for young adults. The romance is sweet, yet powerful. It also shows that sometimes true power lies in nothaving power at all, and strength lies in knowing when to give power up. I appreciated that Ailsbet’s “true love” was something beyond romance with another - and that it was her deep devotion to music that guided her decisions, and her heart.”
http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Throne-Mette-Ivie-Harrison/dp/1606843656/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368633696&sr=1-1&keywords=the+rose+throne+by+mette+ivie+harrison

She got it! She really got it!

I am a bit confused by readers who talk about the double romance in The Rose Throne. Issa and Kellin is definitely a subtle romance. And there’s the friendship romance between Issa and Ailsbet. But Ailsbet has no romantic partner in this book. Her father keeps throwing her at the absolutely wrong guys. Her only love is music, and that is what is so great about her as a character! She is complete without a guy because that is who she is.

I also love that she felt the slow and gradual sense of being set into this world. The magical terminology may be a bit confusing at first, but once you’ve read a couple chapters, it should feel like second nature, like this is your world, too.

“The turmoil in this novel is written superbly and made it tough to put the book...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:23:08 -0400

“The turmoil in this novel is written superbly and made it tough to put the book down.”

http://findmeinabook.com/2013/05/07/the-rose-throne-by-mette-ivie-harrison/