YA Author Stacey Kade

Book Two–still operating under the title of Princess Poltergeist–is now officially turned in. Yea!!! I’m very proud of myself because this is the first book where I was under contract with a REAL deadline. I’m really happy with how it has turned out so far–my editor is awesome and will surely have suggestions to make it even better.

While I’m waiting for edits, I’m attempting to “relax.” I don’t relax well, honestly. And things are about to get rather busy, promotion-wise for G&G, so it would be good if I could take advantage of this momentary lull. But…not so much.

So I’m playing around with a few new ideas–unrelated to the Alona and Will trilogy–and letting notions for the third book in that series simmer also.

It’s always strange to be at the beginning of something again. I know, logically-speaking, that at the beginning of G&G, I started as I usually do–a curiosity about the story that won’t let go and the urge to see if I can do it, if I can tell this particular story.

In remembering it now, though, it seems it always felt like, “Yeah, this is going to work!” In truth, I suspect I was having fun trying it and felt a connection to the story, which made me want to see it through to the end.

So that’s what I’m trying to make myself keep in mind. I’m playing, writing pages to see if they will go anywhere or not and trying not to worry about whether they do or don’t. If I’m having fun, odds are, it’ll be worth it one way or another.

One of my previous day-job managers, who is writer as well, said that the uncertainty, the unsureness of whether you can write a particular project, is good. It’s an incentive. I didn’t understand that at the time. Now, I get it. I’m always looking for ways to challenge myself, improve my writing or explore different facets within it.

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Other stuff:

–Just picked up Hex Hall by fellow D-H author (and Tenner, I think) Rachel Hawkins. It is just awesome! Shaping up to be one of my favorite books so far this year.

–LOVE, LOVE, LOVED Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. Kept me riveted.

–Only two more Fringe DVDs and then I’ll have to move on to a new show on Netflix because Season 2 isn’t out yet. Any suggestions?

–We saw Up in the Air (the George Clooney movie) and Percy Jackson this weekend. Up in the Air was kind of depressing, as I’d expected, but Anna Kendrick deserves all those nominations she’s been getting. (Also, I totally called the “twist” that everyone was talking about, much to my husband’s annoyance.)

Percy Jackson was…eh. I felt like they’d meant it to be like Harry Potter 1, but cast the actors like they were from Harry Potter 5, does that make sense? The actors seemed too old for some of the stuff that was going on. I don’t know why they didn’t cast younger, other than the heart-throb factor. Other than that it reminded me a lot of Clash of the Titans (the original), which only reinforced the idea that the new version of Clash of the Titans (now with MORE Sam Worthington goodness) is going to be fabulous!

Whew! Okay, the good news is my brilliant critique partner came back with very positive things to say about Princess Poltergeist and only a few relatively minor fixes were required. Yea! So, I finished those this weekend and rewrote the ending slightly, per her recommendation, and though I wasn’t sure at first, I now LOVE the new ending.

That is what’s wonderful about having a critique partner who really gets you and how you write. She could see more clearly the note on which this story needed to end and helped me see it, too. Which is interesting because the way we write, in some ways, couldn’t be more different. I have to have the whole thing written and nearly done before I can share it for feedback. She’ll shoot me one or two chapters at a time to get my thoughts. Our individual ways work for each of us, and I think it helps actually that our processes are so different.

So, now at the end of this book I feel, as I always do, that I’m kind of coming out of hibernation. It’s a nice but unsettling feeling. It’s good to have the time to go out for a spontaneous meal with two of my closest friends and their adorable kids, for example. So much fun!

But that huge chunk of space in my brain that was once occupied with Princess Poltergeist (and likely will be again, during edits) is for the moment unoccupied. Eeek.

I don’t like that. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m writing. While I’m driving, when I’m waking up, when I’m folding laundry, when I’m falling asleep. And right now, I have that frantic feeling of trying to seize upon something to fill those moments.

But I don’t yet want to start on the third book in the G&G trilogy until the major edits are done on PP because that could affect events in book three.

So, I’m playing with a couple of new ideas. Playing being the operative word. I don’t know if either (or both) will pan out, become something I want to work with. But I guess this is the only way to find out.

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Books bought recently:
–Gone by Lisa McMann
–Heist Society by Ally Carter
–Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
–Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
–Monster by Walter Dean Myers
–The School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Schrefer

Princess Poltergeist is now with my absolutely brilliant critique partner for review, and I’m in that panicky stage where I’m convinced that she’s going to send me a gently worded email to the effect of, “We need to talk,” which is code for “This is hopeless. You’re screwed.”

So, in an effort to distract myself, I’m blogging (obviously) and looking for interesting things to keep me occupied until I hear back from her.

First, I picked up Rachel Vincent’s book, SHIFT, last night on my way home. I’m so eager to read this next installment of her werecat series. (Please note: While Rachel does write Young Adult, this is series is NOT.)

Second, another DVD of Fringe Season One arrived yesterday as my Netflix–yea! It’s not the X-Files, which I loved, but I have always liked Joshua Jackson (Yes, even back in his Dawson’s Creek days) and the combination of humor and strange science is right up my alley. It’s kind of a relief, actually, not to have the Mulder-trying-to-find-his-sister type of plotline hanging over the show. Makes it possible to enjoy each episode on its own merits.

Third, I think I’m going to start taking notes for another book. Writing is one of those self-soothing things for me. So when I’m stressed about one book, it helps sometimes to focus on another.

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I also found a fabulous blog entry about writing and being a writer by Robin Wasserman (author of the awesome book SKINNED) on Justine Larbalestier (author of the equally-awesome-but-in-a-totally-different-way LIAR)’s site. Here’s a quote:

“Obviously there’s no absolute right or wrong way to be a writer any more than there’s a right or wrong way to be a working mother—there are about a million ways, all equally prone to setback and failure and second guessing.

And writers, at least the ones I’ve met, are extremely good at second-guessing. Not to mention self-abasement and paranoia. (As far as I can tell, the only writer not afflicted by this is James Patterson, who seems to have developed some kind of miraculous immunity.) They harbor the fear that they’re failures, that they’re frauds, that they’re lazy, that they’re hacks, that it’s just a matter of time before that bottom drops out or that whatever they’ve achieved, it isn’t enough.

This is partly because we’re crazy.”

I LOVE that.

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I follow screenwriter John August’s blog as well because I use screenwriting techniques in writing my books. Plus, I like the way he thinks about things.

Anyway, he posted this week about the advantages and necessity of being able to simulate powerful emotion on the page even when you’re not feeling it personally, at that moment. It was fascinating, and I found myself nodding in agreement with much of what he said. That distant observer part of you does kick in, even in the most trying of situations, to record stuff for later. I call it the, “I might be able to use this somehow” feeling, which is kind of creepy but part of being a writer, I think. We try to observe everything, including our own emotional reactions, to help us understand and relate to something else. It’s part of how we function.

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Also, random note, speaking of emotion, my sister pointed me toward Sia’s song “Breathe Me,” which I just love, and if Princess Poltergeist has the same ending that it does now, that is THE song for that scene. Makes me cry every darn time.

One of the things I love most about writing is watching the movie of it play in my head. Scenes play out in my head, just like on a screen. The trouble is sometimes I have no idea who these people are, why they’re doing what they’re doing, or what comes before or after the moment playing in my head.

This is something I’m still working on how best to understand and cultivate, honestly. Before, when this would happen, I would eagerly leap into writing those scenes, banking on the fact that eventually the story would come. The scenes before and after would make sense, the motivations for the actions I was seeing would eventually become clear. Sometimes they did. Other times, I got sixty pages in and discovered I didn’t really have a story.

That was heartbreaking. Truly.

These days, I’m a little more cautious. Mainly because I can’t afford to go in endless circles for months at a time with deadlines and contracts and being a professional (yea!), nor do I want a repeat of that heartache and frustration.

That being said, sometimes it feels like you can’t know whether a story really has something until you’ve given it a little time to unfold. Then you’ve got at least a jumping off point from which to figure everything out. Otherwise it’s all up in the air and impossible to pin down.

So, I think I’ve decided to give myself permission to write the first three chapters in a given idea first before worrying about where it’s going. But only the first three. Then it’s time to figure out whether this idea and I have a future together or it’s just a fling.

I’ve got three ideas I’m playing with (yikes, that would be a total of nine chapters to write “just to see”) for books in addition to my Ghost and The Goth series. (Princess Poltergeist is and will continue to be my top priority, of course! But I’m thinking ahead because I like knowing what I’m going to work on next so it can start simmering in the back of my brain.) Not sure which of these ideas will end up being “the one,” or if it will be something entirely new, an idea that hasn’t even introduced itself yet.

So many possibilities…That’s half the fun, I guess!
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Random Stuff:
–Impossible by Nancy Werlin and The Hate List by Jennifer Brown were both awesome, awesome books! Highly recommend them.

–Glee rocks my world, just thought you should know.

–If you have a chance, check out my post–Mean Girls, Villains and Cheerleaders, oh my!–over at The Bradford Bunch blog and tell me what you think.

Crap. I’ve been gone for too long. But it’s for a good reason, I promise! I’m working hard on the sequel to The Ghost and the Goth, Princess Poltergeist. (As always, my Facebook and Twitter pages–www.twitter.com/staceykade and www.facebook.com/staceykade–are the best place to find me!)

I’m thinking there probably needs to be a bit more routine around my blog updating. I’m good with routine and scheduling. However, I’m not particularly interesting, I’m afraid, so you may end up getting lots of posts about cool new books and tv shows you should check out.

I can say this, that outside of Princess Poltergeist, I just had an experience that doesn’t come along very often: an idea comes out of nowhere and it’s just freaking tantalizing I want to start writing it right away. THAT does not happen often for me. Usually there’s lots of planning and thinking and hmm, where is this story going to go? But not this time. It was, like, all there. Or, almost all of it. Which is quite distracting because I normally spend a good deal of time getting to know the people and what they want.

I do know from experience, though, that I need to take the time to do the pre-writing. Otherwise, when I run out of the stuff I know (the scenes I’ve already watched in my head), I’ll be really stuck.

So, I’m working on piecing it together in spare moments when I’m taking a break from Princess Poltergeist.

I should also have an update about a potential school visit at the end of September/October.

But in the meantime, don’t forget GLEE comes back tonight! I’m so excited!!!