Oooh where have I been lately? It’s been forever since I’ve posted something new, huh?
Well for one thing, I’ve been working. And that is tiring.
Secondly, I went to a regional SCBWI conference, which was much smaller than the one I went to in NYC, maybe forty attendees tops. While there, I had the pleasure of meeting author Gina Damico and hearing her speak. She was very funny and friendly. I purchased a book she wrote called Croak, which is the first in a YA trilogy about a girl, Lex, who goes to live with her uncle only to discover that he is a grim reaper and she is, too.
After reading Croak – took me one day – I went to Barnes & Noble and purchased the other two books in the trilogy, Scorch and Rogue. This is VERY big news. Because lately the YA books I’ve been picking up have been leaving me disappointed, as you might know since I did write about a couple of them. Fangirl was good, but not like this. I knew I was going to blog about Damico’s trilogy, so I tried to come up with an adequate simile to describe the reading experience without giving anything away. This is what I came up with:
Reading the Croak trilogy is like watching a person blow up a balloon. At first you’re like, “Okay, that is a balloon. I have seen hundreds of these in my life. I know exactly where this is going.” But they keep blowing air into it until you’re thinking, “Okay, man, you can stop now. At this point you can’t even tie it off. You’re going to have to let some of the air out of it.” But they keep going! And then suddenly the balloon gets so huge that it bursts, and the person who was blowing it up – Damico I guess – turns to you and smiles and you realize you enjoyed the entire whirlwind experience. You never expected her to go that far, but she did, and it was amazing.
So I highly recommend this trilogy. That being said, I did have a couple small problems. It was a bit kitschy at times, and at other points it got a little hard to suspend my disbelief. But honestly Damico kinda made those things work for her. Like that was her schtick. Overall, it was a visceral, engaging, occasionally rage-inducing experience. Look for a link on my Books I Recommend page.
Along with reading those three books, I have been busily working on my own. In fact, I filled an entire notebook with The Dreamcatchers without even realizing it. It wasn’t even a tiny notebook like the one I showed you before. This one was big.
See? If you can read my scrawl then I guess that means you get a sneak preview. And yes, because I’m nice, you can click for a larger view.
So I just about filled that notebook, which is cool. I want to share my strategy with you for avoiding writer’s block, but this post has gone on too long. Next time! I promise.
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