FINN-tastic!

I’ve pretty much stayed off the publishing world’s hot topics since I’ve started blogging here.  For the most part, that’s because I often feel “not informed enough” to formulate a response to some of these industry stuff such as the Amazon/Macmillan kerfuffle (ongoing, as far as I know) and the Kindle Missile Crisis.  I haven’t yet wrapped my head around the agency model and I haven’t stopped agonizing over which eReader I should lust after more (nook, Sony Reader, Kindle, etc).

But I have been growing more and more interested in the subject of whitewashing in publishing and entertainment as a whole.  This has been a snowball of an argument in the last few weeks as Bloomsbury made the mistake (for the second time) of whitewashing the heroine on the cover of Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore.  (The first time they made the mistake, they did it to Justine Larabalestier’s Liar.)

The more I read about people’s reactions and personal feelings, the more I grew aware of my own feelings.  I thought back to the stories I’ve read and enjoyed, and I haven’t read many books featuring a prominent Person of Color (POC) as either the hero or heroine.  (The last one I recall reading was Paula Yoo’s Good Enough about a Korean-American girl.)  This might speak of my limited reading choices, or it might be commentary on publishing and marketing as a whole.  Like many others, I put a part of my identity away because it’s irrelevant to the work I’m currently reading.  My Asian/Pacific Islander-ness is forgotten as I read or watch TV/movies (and no, I don’t relate to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon any better than I do The Breakfast Club).  It’s never really bothered me, per se, because for some reason I’d been conditioned to accept and assume that most heroines are of Caucasian descent.  It never occurred to me to be offended because that’s just how it’s been.  But you know what?  It doesn’t have to be that way.

I read this incredible post at Hello Ello (via Moonrat) and suggest you go read it.  Like, now.  Right now!  She, like me, is an Asian-American writer.  She states:

Change happens when we make what was once so different the norm. Representing diversity is especially important for publishers of children’s books. Books are the gateways for the imagination. But the ones in North America are apparently only gateways for white children as minority children are relegated to watching wistfully from the side. We are left hoping for a token side kick or small character that we can relate to. But not the main character. Because even if the book has a POC as the main character, we can’t be on the cover cause we won’t sell the book. That’s what this controversy meant to minority readers.

Since I am about to embark on Candace Havens’ Fast Draft and Revision Hell class, offered by OCC, I’ll be focusing on my paranormal YA that I set aside last October to focus on writing Tossing the Gloves.  Initially, I thought all my characters were white, but after feeling a bit left out of the loop, I opted to throw in a little of my Asian-American self in there.  I made one of the supporting characters Asian… and non-technical, non-human-calculator.  In fact, she’s kind of pyro and likes to blow stuff up.  I just wanted to put a little bit of me in there, and it felt right for the character.  I’ve been thinking recently about expanding the cast to include more than just whites and Asians — after all, we’re a diverse country full of diverse people… why shouldn’t our entertainment reflect the same?

It saddens me to see that in both film and publishing, non-white leads are being whitewashed and that the division between races is still so evident.  (See Hello Ello’s bit on how the film version of Avatar: the last airbender has an all-Asian cast of characters to be played by almost all white actors).  It’s 2010… isn’t time we embraced what it truly means to be AMERICAN?  And by American, I mean, encompassing all faces, colors, and shapes… I mean Asian-Americn, Afrian-American, Mexican-American, whatever-American… the common thread there is American.

Let’s celebrate our diversity, the shades of our skin, and be shameless.  American culture preaches tolerance and acceptance… so, it’s long past time for the whitewashing to end.  We are different, and yet, we are all American.  That’s what we ought to focus on, and that’s what we ought to fight for.

My name is Christy Finn, and I am a Filipino-American who identifies as either Asian or Pacific Islander.  I have no other country but the United States of America and speak no other language but English.  I was born in the land of the red, white, and blue, and feel pride swell whenever America does something great, and experience shame when we have failed miserably as a nation.  I have never appreciated being taunted with racial slurs and I am often overcome with a sense of awe when I see someone of my cultural background featured prominently in the media.  Why?  Because it’s so rare to see one of us celebrated for our talents, smarts, and aspirations — of which, I can assure you, there are plenty.

New Poll: What do you think about whitewashing in the media?

I am Finny’s muse.  Her unnamed, fickle inspiration she (affectionately) calls Lazy Bum.

I’ll have you know,  I am awesome.

The Finnster just has a hard time seeing it.  We’re kind of entwined, you know, two minds, one body and all?  I like to slouch back into bed and curl up with other fantabulous works of creativity written by other brilliant authors instead of sit in front of the computer with that mocking cursor blinking at me, er, HER, and in turn feeling that familiar poke.  It’s a little one, at first.  A nudge with the tip of her foot.

“Hey,” she says.  ”Get up.  I have to work.”

“So work,” I retort, nose in the air.  ”Let me sleep.”

Finny sighs, her shoulders curve forward in defeat or frustration — I can’t tell which.  ”You know, Nora Roberts says you don’t exist.  Other writers say if I wait for the muse to come, I’ll be waiting my whole damn life.”

She waits a beat while I pick the dirt out from under my fingernails.  I worked hard enough last month.  I deserve a vacay.

“Looks like they’re right,” she huffs, turning back to her computer with a slight pout and a crinkled brow.

Over the last month or so, she’s been upset with me.  I’ve been on vacay, see?  For weeks now.  Weeks.  I have to tell you, fantabulous.  The blissful beaches of Hawai’i, the vineyards of Napa, and the party-hardy nights in Miami… and I might’ve paid a visit to that half-built world she and I dreamed up together a few months ago, something for the Elemental brats.  But while I have traveled far and wide in the shifting thoughts of her mind, I’ve always managed to stay far away from the shackles she keeps me in.

Do you know what kind of horrendous digs she has me holed up in here, people?  Disgraceful, I tell you!  I demand better accommodations, lush food, a prettier locale, and an inspiring view of the water!

Nothing.  I get none of these.  She claims we have to work for it.  Imagine that?  Work.  More.

C’est la vie, she tells me, and I ought to get used to it.

Uh-oh.  She’s coming back for her computer… and what’s that?  I think those are cuffs!  Cuffs?  Wait, wait!  I can be good.  I can work.  I can feed you ideas, see?  Um, what if a boy grew up, witnessed the death of his older sister-figure who was once destined to right certain wrongs, right?  What if he grows up and gets designated as protector of the next prophesied one?  Yes, you like?  No?

We can throw in a little romance?  A dog?  What about your mongrel — er, puppy?  No?

Crap.

LB, out.

Some of you may have noticed a new page on my site, called TBR.  If you’re unfamiliar with the acronym, TBR stands for “To Be Read”.  The list there is not indicative of what I prefer to read (as you can compare the list on my TBR list to the my reading lists on the far right sidebar), but instead is a bunch of classics mixed with some modern stuff and some fun stuff.

It’s intended to enhance and expand my reading tastes and my knowledge over the next five years.  Moonrat started this whole thing with her Project Fill-in-the-Gaps and you can join in on the fun, too!  If you dare, of course.

My TBR list has some flexibility, as I have “optional” books that will count towards my 75% that aren’t necessarily listed on the big list, such as what I’m currently reading, J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey, in honor of the author’s recent death.

I honestly have no idea if I’ll manage to read 75% of this list or not, but I am hoping that I’ll have a better, deeper understanding of the classics now as opposed to when I was forced to read classics on my own in school.

Matter of fact, what about you?  It’s Poll Monday, and this week’s poll is located on the right hand side in the POLL.space!  Tell me, do you enjoy the classics more as assigned reading or leisure reading?

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
My feelings on Becca Fitzpatrick’s HUSH, HUSH are incredibly mixed. One one hand, I dig the idea — fallen angels are right up my alley, much more so than vampires have ever been. I thought perhaps Fitzpatrick would offer me something new. Something Twilight-esque, but wholly different. Original.

FAIL.

(spoiler alert from here on) Read the rest of this entry »

It seems organization has been playing a major part in my life these last few weeks.  My calendar is quickly filling up with wedding-related duties (I’m the M.O.H., not the bride) and organization-related stuff.  You see, I took on a board position this year in one of RWA chapters I’m a member of… and that’s while still being an active member of two other local chapters and two more online chapters.  (Why, yes.  Yes, I am a busy girl, thank you.)

Added to that: I’m involved in two separate critique groups and am a member of a smaller group of writers hoping to push one another toward publication (we are yet “unnamed” but I still secretly hope we’ll go with my idea: League of Extraordinary Wordsmiths or some such) and have been somewhat floundering in my responsibilities as a writer!  How am I supposed to find time to actually write when I’m so uber-busy filling my time with, well, everything else?

I know I’m not the first person to discover that my writing duties have suffered due to the other responsibilities I’ve chosen to take on.  So, you know, I don’t have anyone to blame but myself for this madness.  And then, just when I was about to be overwhelmed, a few things happened:

(1) I decided I needed to get organized.

So I whipped out my $50 (no joke) planner and attempted to actually schedule my writing and editing time.  For real.  No more “ehh, when I feel like it”.  I worked well on a schedule in November/December while I was working on Tossing the Gloves, and I should get back to that schedule.  It was an insane pace, and I burned out right after, but if I take it at a lower level of intensity, I think I can still be successful.

The whole reason I modified my day job hours was so I could have more “evening” time to write.  (I could have opted to shift my schedule to give me some more sleep, but no.  2010 is supposed to be the year I continue what I started last year.  2010 is the year I write my second novel.  2010 is the year I begin actively seeking representation.)  While flipping through my enormous planner, I found all kinds of handy tools for breaking down my goals and finding ways to keep track of my progress.  This is good.  I like to reward myself for hitting certain milestones because it gives me something to work toward.

Then, I got caught up on my RWA loop emails (and let me tell you: there are lots).

That’s where this next part comes in.

(2) I may not have any resolutions, but that doesn’t preclude me from having goals.

Another member suggested a goal setting technique centered on coming up with one word I want to exemplify me and my life this year.  It took me a few days before I could come up with anything, but while at the day job (because, apparently, that’s where my mind wanders most) I found it.

Intention.

I want this year to be the year I live my life with intention.  I want to own my space, my words, my successes, my attempts, my actions.  I want to be purposeful and not wishy-washy in my life.  I am going to strive to be fully aware of every decision I make, every commitment I make and should I choose to do something,  I want to do it to the best of my ability.  I know people are generally advised to do that kind of thing everyday anyway, but let’s be honest here.  Sometimes, we’re lazy or complacent.  It’s easier to do an “okay” job than it is to do a “fantastic” job because the difference between the two is how hard (or diligently) one works.

If I am able to inject my every action and decision with intention, I feel as if it will become a powerful motivator for me to push forward both professionally and personally.  Also, by living with intention, I will not have the opportunity to make excuses — at least, that’s how it works in my head.  We’ll revisit this idea in a year’s time, I’m sure.

(3) I saw the sign.  (Sort of.)

I know there are plenty of people who are touched by music.  For me, I love that moment when the perfect song comes up and you are suddenly hit with that A-ha!  That’s just what I was feeling right now.  Thanks for putting it into words.

That’s how I felt when, as I began writing this point, “Swim” by Jack’s Mannequin came on.

You haven’t come this far to fall off the earth
The currents will pull you away from your love
Just keep your head above

With everything else going on in my life right now, this song was a good reminder that I didn’t come this far to quit.  I came this this far in my writing so I can keep on pushing forward.

And that’s what I intend to do: keep on pushing forward.

What’s you 2010 word?

Well, the holidays are over and I’ve had ample time to lick my wounds and get back on the horse. After all, isn’t that what New Year’s is all about? Out with the old, in with the new?

Yeah.

Except, I don’t really care for making New Year’s resolutions (they haven’t worked for me historically, so why would it change now?) and I have been really rather under motivated as of late. I won’t say it’s because of the elimination. I think it’s because of burnout. That’s how it was post-NaNoWriMo 2007 for me. BURNT out. This year? Not so different.

But, it’s time to get back in the saddle. It’s January, it’s chilly outside (well, not really where I live), and I’m in the mood to finish reading a few books before I really settle in. The only thing is: I don’t have a lot of time.

Once again, I’m striving to meet a deadline. This one in February. A story you’ve heard before with a twist.

I have no idea how it’s going to go down because I can’t seem to plot it just right. To which, as usual, I feel like chucking to the side and saying “Forget it, let me just get something down on paper. I’ll worry about plot points later.”

This, too, is part of my “New Year, No Resolutions” mantra. After all, I’ve made it my goal to finish that novella and do another edit on Tossing the Gloves before February. And of course, it feels like a mountain that I’m not equipped to climb and I’m just too tired from my last mountain-journey to grumble my way up the steep terrain yet again — and so soon!

But that’s just me complaining, of course. I set the goal for the month (an achievable chunk, I believe), and am struggling to put my butt in the chair, fingers on keyboard. Time to quit the whining and get to typing!

Happy new year, everyone.

Today, I was the first of the Final Five to be eliminated from the Dorchester America’s Next Best Celler contest.

The poll I had running here indicated that out of 14 people, 8 thought I’d go all the way and 6 thought I’d make it to the final three.  No one thought I’d be eliminated first.

Bowing out this early does put a bit of a damper on my year-end celebration because I’ve been celebrating how much I managed to accomplish in 2009.  I know that I should focus on the fact that I made the Final Five with the first manuscript I have ever completed.  I’ve tackled so much in the last year that I am proud of, that even though I’m disappointed I did not go the distance in this contest, I’m still happy to have made it so far.

The process taught me plenty, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to participate and advance in this contest.  My thanks to Dorchester and Textnovel for putting on the contest, to those who’ve supported the story, and to my fellow contestants — one of whom will be the next Best Celler.

To me, this feels kind of like how it would be if I was a hockey player and my underdog team made the final push for the playoffs with a great run. Maybe people started to believe; players start thinking that maybe this is their year as you advance from the first round to the second.  Then, from the second to the third.  Then, from the third to the actual Stanley Cup Final.

It’s like that.  First round = making Top 20.  Second Round = making Top 10.  Third Round = making Top 5.  Fourth Round = Winning that contract.

And then, you get swept right out of the playoffs with a decisive, heartbreaking elimination game.  You gave it your best, and you’re looking at this elimination like it was you’re one shot and it’s gone.  It’s slipped from your hands, and you don’t know when you’ll get another chance.

That’s how it is with the Stanley Cup.  You might only have one shot to win that baby, then and be faced with a drought (cough, Toronto Maple Leafs, cough).

But you console yourself that there’s always next year.  Your team can make some adjustments over the long summer.  Tweak the roster, make some moves to strengthen up the weaker areas, then have another go at it in the new season.

As a writer, I can gut the story and try to find the places that were “predictable” and slow.  See if I can spin it, tweak it, improve it.  See if I can edit, rewrite, and revise it enough to give it another go in 2010.

This isn’t the end, a friend pointed out, this is just the beginning.

I’ll end with a message a friend left me on Facebook:

The vast majority of people who want to write novels never start. The vast majority of those who start never finish. The vast majority of those who finish never submit. I say, in all seriousness, having watched this process many times in others … if you bounce back from this, you’ll know you have the stuff to go all the way.

…do something for other people.

“‘Tis the season for giving” doesn’t necessarily mean that we ought to be giving a whole lotta stuff.  I’ve been giving the idea a lot of thought primarily because we do seem to get caught up in the hype of buy-buy-buy during the holiday season.  I’m not saying that it doesn’t have it’s place, after all, that’s part of the fun.  But I remember having to scrimp, scrounge, and charge (!) stuff because I knew this was something someone on my Christmas list wanted.

This year, in this economy, I believe people are seeking alternatives to explosive spending.  I’ve cut back on holiday cards, on my Christmas list, and explained to people in my life that I was going to be limiting my spending to my parents and my best friend.  Maybe even my nephew, if I’ve money left over for it.  My current circumstance doesn’t allow for me to be downing untold hundreds into the holiday craze.

That being said, I’m advocating ways to help make other people’s holidays a happier one.

For instance, Xerox allows you to go to this website and send off a free postcard to U.S. Military personnel stationed overseas.  It takes less than a minute to pick out a design (unless you obsess like me), write up a note and click send!  Xerox will print them off and send them out on your behalf.

Also, in support of saving money this holiday season and using it to make someone else’s life better.  Donate some to your favorite charity or to a cause you support.  Recently, I saw a group called Advent Conspiracy, and I really appreciated the message behind their campaign.  Spend less, give more, especially their support of giving wells to provide clean water around the world.

So, that’s my message to you today: this holiday season, spend less and give more.  Give to your family, your friends, the troops, and to those in need.  It’s like a pay-it-forward concept.  Give, and hope that person gives to the next.  Make our world a better place.

Me & my soapbox: OUT.

I had been so obsessed with the deadline for the full manuscript, I hadn’t actually considered the Final Five elimination schedule.

Here’s how the Final Five will be pared down to one.  And for your information, the final manuscript standing wins a $2,000 advance and will be published by Dorchester Publishing in November or December, 2010.

CONTEST CALENDAR AT A GLANCE

• Dec. 18 - Fifth Place Announced, with criticism
• Jan. 4 - Fourth Place Announced, with criticism
• Jan. 8 - Third Place Announced, with criticism
• Jan. 15 – Winner and Runner-up Announced

First elimination round is coming up this Friday!  Vote in my poll to tell me how far you think Tossing the Gloves will go in this contest.  See the far column on the right?  Yeah, there!  Poll will remain open until Thursday, 5pm PST.

After three weeks of being in social lockdown, I have re-entered my social life with GLEE!  Okay, not the TV show, although I do think it is all kinds of awesome.  I’ve taken “writing” days off since last Wednesday, when I submitted my full manuscript to Dorchester for further consideration in the America’s Best Celler contest.  What constitutes a writing day off?

Like the end of NaNoWriMo, there’s this kind of *crash* that happens after you spend an extended amount of time pouring your heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into something.  Except, mine hit after the Final Five were announced.  For those two-and-a-half days before the announcement, I was high on stress.  Not that I know anything about having been high, mind you, but there was this… adrenaline running through me.  I tossed and turned at night when I had expected to fall face-first into bed.  I distracted myself with celebratory dinners with friends, renting movies, and consuming a bottle-and-a-half of wine.

And glorious sleeeeeeeeepppp for something like, um, all day.

Then there was the holiday party I could finally attend!

And, finally, there was New Moon. Three weeks after it’s release, I was finally able to re-join the frenzy and watch the film version of Stephenie Meyer’s cult hit, The Twilight Saga.  Prior to the Top 10 announcement, I’d been planning to go to the midnight showing on the night of the release.  Instead, I’ve waited three weeks, and was rewarded with no long lines, no crowded theater, and no screaming babies.

And then the movie started.  Disappointment sunk in rapidly.

I confess: I am a purist.  I watched the first film with great frustration that it was not exactly like the book.  (I mean, I know you have to change some things, but… WHY? *sob*)  I tried to like the first movie, and for a while, I convinced myself it wasn’t that bad.  When the DVD came out, I bought it.  Then I went home and played it five times in a row (not all in one day) and started to like it better by the end of the fifth viewing.

But this one?  New Moon?  I’ll say that the second novel was the toughest of the four for me to get through.  I think, mostly because Edward was missing for a good, fat portion of it.  The film version?  I’ll say this:  I didn’t have a problem with the script or the changes they made.  That’s a good sign.  I didn’t even have a problem going sans-Edward for much of the film.  They handled it as best they could, with this ghostly floating Edward that would appear in Bella’s moments of adrenaline-induced hallucinations.

But, I did have a big problem with Kristen Stewart.  She didn’t bother me too much in the first film, though I will criticize her delivery of the “Say it! Out loud!” / “Vampire.” line.  I liked the film enough to forgive the terrible delivery.  But this time around?

I just couldn’t buy it.  I couldn’t buy into her being Bella.  Particularly during the break-up scene, then again when faced with evil vamp Laurent threatening her life, then again in front of the Volturi with Edward being WWF’d (oh, wait, didn’t they change their name to like, WWE? Anyway…) into these marble stairs.

Emotion! I wanted to scream in the theater, growing more and more agitated.  Give me some emotion in the line!

Every time she opened her mouth, the line was flat.  Infused with little to no emotion.  How could I believe in a love so great as Edward/Bella’s when the actress cannot convince me to suspend my disbelief and buy into the emotion?

I bought into every word that came out of Jacob’s (played by a much beefed out Taylor Lautner, see below) mouth.  There was emotion filtered through that voice, need and desire and angst all wrapped up in that corded body, that still-maturing face.

A beefy Jacob Black

And then, there was open-mouthed, a-duh looking Bella.  Who couldn’t convince me she was about to die at the hands of a vamp, who couldn’t deliver a line about her love for Edward, and whose shrieks of terror made me wince — not because I was convinced she was having awful dreams and sending chills down my spine in concern for her, but because it hurt my ear drums.

The ever-open-mouthed Bella Swan, who speaks in monotone and without emotion. With a slight, obvious stutter on occasion, such as in that hospital bed scene in the first flick.

I might need to watch this one eight more times to convince myself I liked it. =/  Mike, perhaps you and your wife were right.

This, however, was one of the most disjointed and boring movies I’ve seen in a long, long time. It’s about two hours long and you need to chop out about 45 minutes of gloomy staring to get to the actual meat of the story. Even my wife called it “disappointing” and said that she wouldn’t be buying this one on DVD.

Beyond Stewart’s horrible portrayal of Bella, I wished the film had done a better job of handling the delicate relationship between Bella and Jacob.  This film felt very much like a Team Jacob movie (I mean, I can’t lie.  I went “WHOO!” really loud when Jacob whipped his shirt off to wipe the blood streaming down the side of Bella’s head after her motorcycle stunt), and even though I am decidedly Team Edward, I wanted to see more development on the Bella/Jacob side of the story.

To cheer myself up, I had to go and read Cleolinda’s LJ take on it.  After all, last year, she wrote a hysterical entry entitled Twilight in Fifteen Minutes.  And now, the sequel: New Moon in Fifteen Minutes. It’s definitely more entertaining.