Writing Advice: Villains!

Writing Advice on a Well-Rounded Villain!

IMM 54: In Loving Memory of Cokie Star

So as the video annotations say, Cokie, my Monster, has gone to Heaven. This past week she ruptured a disk in her back and within fifty hours was paraplegic. 

Cokie was a bipolar sort of dog, when she was high, she was flying, and when she was low, she was so miserable. I knew that keeping her, after she lost the ability to use the lower half of her body, would mean she had to roll around in a cart. I also knew that she would hate it and I didn't want her living only in the lows. 

Her eyes were telling me that she was not long for this world, and that to let her go was the last way to tell her 'I love you, you crazy, wonderful puppy, you.' So I did. 

She died peacefully in my arms on February 16th, 2012.

I let her go, and though I don't regret my decision, my heart has such a hole in it that I must fill up again, because that's what Cokie would want.

In order to fill myself up, I must stop spreading myself so thin. So...

I need a break.

I think we all feel this way at one time, or another, but I have good reasons to take a step back and re-group right now. 

A big chunk of this vlog, filmed over a month ago, was all about how I finished my first novel!

Now, I am deeply involved in the querying process, which includes writing query letters, editing the manuscript, and researching the agents I believe would be a beautiful fit for my book and I. 

I am going to be writing freelance for Huffington Post and need to write some articles before they forget who I am! 

I am applying for a big, important and wonderful job that could change my whole, entire life! 

I have such a love for this blog and want some time to write new, fresh, exciting posts, film wonderfully bookish vlogs and catch up on my reviews. I don't want MPB to be half-baked in any way. 

And, oh, yeah, I'm a college student and the end of the term is nigh. 

I am hoping that by April MPB will be back and better than ever! 

My 'Congrats on finishing your first Novel!' Cake. 

Until then, I have a select few posts that will run from now, until whenever, to tide y'all over. 

I appreciate all of you. I couldn't have gotten through those first hours without Cokie if I didn't have your tweets, Facebook messages and e-mails pouring in. 

If you want to contact me, I'm sure I'll continue to need all kinds of support:

@modpodgebooks

modpodgebooks@gmail.com

I want to make sure you all understand, MPB isn't going anywhere! I just lost one baby, and this will not be the second to go. I need to get some things in order, take a nice breather (I blogged nearly every day last year!) and look towards the bright future ahead, even if I must do it without Cokie Star. 

Blessings,

Gabrielle Carolina <3

Saturday Will Be Fearless

I'm strangely glad I forgot to post my News Years Resolution vlog until now as I needed a reminder about my goals. 

You'll see why I needed this extra 'oomph' manana....

The Character of Names with Mary Lowry

The Character of Names

THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE is about a 14 year-old girl named Rhonda who goes on a river rafting trip in Big Bend National Park, which is on the border of Texas and Mexico.  Rhonda runs away and swims across the Rio Grande River to Mexico. Soon after she climbs out of the river on the other side she encounters a peyote-addled bartender named Juan Diego, who helps her cut her hair and die it black so that she can “pass” as a Mexican boy. Juan Diego dubs her with the new name of “Angel.” Rhonda/Angel then sets off into Mexico looking for her family’s gardener Jésus.  

So how did I pick the names for these three prominent characters in my novel? Well, I picked the name “Rhonda” for the protagonist because I don’t think it’s very pretty. I wanted Rhonda to have a name she didn’t really like so that she could later “shed” the name and become “Angel.” 

I chose the name Angel for Rhonda to take on after her transformation because the novel is fantastical and I wanted her new named to be magical and beautiful, too. I also chose Angel because in English Angel is a girl’s name; and in Spanish it’s a boy’s name. Rhonda pretends to be a boy so that she can travel safely alone in Mexico, and so that she can live without the gendered expectations placed on her as a girl. 

Juan Diego, the peyote-addled bartender who helps Rhonda (and dubs her with the moniker Angel) is named after the indigenous Mexican who, according to Mexican Catholic tradition, first saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, in 1531. I thought it would be funny to have a kind, but drug-muddled man named after Juan Diego step in to help Rhonda. While Rhonda has been struggling with her spirituality and unable to articulate why she doesn’t feel totally comfortable praying to a male, Christian deity, Juan Diego tells her the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe and explains that many Mexicans pray to the Virgin of Guadalupe and ask Her for care and support. This piques Rhonda’s interest and makes her think there may be ways to think about God and prayer that don’t have to fit into the rigid male-centered religion she has learned about in church.

And last, I named Rhonda’s family’s gardener Jésus for a couple of reasons. First—of course—is the religious reference.  Jésus has many Christ-like qualities. He’s humble and kind and gentle. But I also wanted it to be a little bit strange and edgy that a girl pretending to be a boy named Angel goes looking for a man named Jesus. 

Also, when I was a little girl my grandmother hired a Mexican national named Jésus to take care of her yard, her house and my grandfather, who was sick with Alzheimer’s. My grandmother called my aunt and said, “You don’t have to worry about Dad anymore. Jesus has come to live with us.” It was so darkly funny and sad.  

THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE has a dark humor as well. It’s very iconoclastic and really looks into issues of both sexuality and spirituality through the lens of Rhonda’s adventures. Readers who love adventure stories with strong female protagonists will likely love this book!

The Earthquake Machine

The book every girl should read, 

and every girl’s parents hope she’ll never read.

The Earthquake Machine tells the story of 14 year-old Rhonda. On the outside, everything looks perfect in Rhonda’s world, but at home Rhonda has to deal with a manipulative father who keeps her mentally ill mother hooked on pharmaceuticals. The only reliable person in Rhonda’s life is her family’s Mexican yardman, Jesús. But when the INS deports Jesús back to his home state of Oaxaca, Rhonda is left alone with her increasingly painful family situation.

Determined to find her friend Jésus, Rhonda seizes an opportunity to run away during a camping trip with friends to Big Bend National Park. She swims to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande and makes her way to the border town of Milagros, Mexico. There a peyote- addled bartender convinces her she won’t be safe traveling alone into the country’s interior. So with the bartender’s help, Rhonda cuts her hair and assumes the identity of a Mexican boy named Angel. She then sets off on a burro across the desert to look for Jesús. Thus begins a wild adventure that fulfills the longing of readers eager for a brave and brazen female protagonist.

Author bio:

Mary Pauline Lowry has worked as a forest firefighter, screenwriter, open water lifeguard, construction worker, and advocate in the movement to end violence against women. Due to no fault of her sweet parents, at 15 she ran away from home and made it all the way to Matamoros, Mexico. She believes girls should make art, have adventures, and read books that show them the way.


www.marypaulinelowry.com

Goodnight Tweetheart

Goodnight Tweetheart

Author: Teresa Medeiros

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pages: 220

Read Time: 1 Day

Tag Words: Twitter, Author main character, Pop Culture references, Italy, New York City, Cancer, Mental illness, expectations, true love

My Summary:

Abby Donovan is a down-on-her-luck former New York Times best selling author who can’t seem to put pen to paper. Due to a lack of flowing ink Abby takes up tweeting the few fans she has left, hoping for some inspiration in disguise.

What she didn’t expect was that the whirl-wind romance of her life would take place over the Internet!

Can Abby and Mark’s love survive all bugs, viruses, and glitches, or will the trending topic of true love be toppled before it’s time?

My Review:

Who doesn’t love a witty man? Who doesn’t love a witty romance? If you are one of those people who don't...who are you? What are you?!

Goodnight Tweetheart will appeal to fans of the fast-talking, pop-culture referencing Gilmore Girls who captured America’s hearts for so many seasons. I couldn’t help but think that Abby Donovan was Rory Gilmore in disguise, tweeting up Jess for old times sake. Sigh. Jess...

Anyway, back to the book! It was good, it was fun, it was quick and it was laughter. I even picked up a few Twitter tricks between the pages.

This book should be a plane ride necessity.

Notes on the Names:

Their usernames were:

@MarkBaynard

@Abby_Donovan

The only uninteresting thing about the book.

Thoughts on the Cover:

It’s sweet. I love that the Twitter theme is apparent, without being overwhelming. I also love that I now own another blue book, because really, there can never be too many blue books on one shelf.

Parental Book Review *spoilers*

Sexual Content:

Mild/Moderate

Sexual Innuendo

Language:

A- 18
S- 1
H- 12
D- 8
B- 3
Bast**d- 5
D*ck- 1
P*ssing- 4
Scr*w- 4

Violence:

None.

Other Notables:

None.

Vlog: Books I Should Have Read By Now

So I filmed this back in December, and since then I've read a few of these including Blood Red Road by Moira Young, which was amazing! 

I hope y'all enjoy!

Illyria

Illyria

Author: Elizabeth Hand

Publisher: Viking (An Imprint of Penguin)

Pages: 133

Read Time: One Sitting

Rating (1-5): 5

Tag Words: Cousins, incest, true love, the theatre, singing, wasted talent, sex, family dysfunction, falling short, coming back together

My Summary:

Cousins Madeline and Rogan Tierney are the descendants of the late, great actress, who is Maddy’s namesake. They are also madly, passionately and truly in love... with each other.

My Review:

Okay don’t get all grossed out on me. Cousins married each other for years and years and years. Some still do... I prefer to find someone a bit further outside of my family tree. Still, the fact that these two are very literally ‘kissing cousins’ should not deter you from reading Illyria.

Hand wrote this book based off of a thesis. Maddy and Rogan have always been better together, they came into the world on the same day and have never been apart, even though there has always been a giant block between them. The thesis: Separated, they can amount to nothing, together they can do anything, but their love supersedes any individual talent.

Brilliant, eh? I think so.

I use to be an actress, no, really, I was! I left because I didn’t want the life Maddy ended up with. I wanted love, I wanted to do something greater, something a little less selfish. I didn’t want to make it, look back and wish that someone had just told me to stop, because I wouldn’t be fulfilled by the end result. I am still SO happy with that decision, but reading this made me nostalgic and I loved the bits of Twelfth Night Hand included so I could read aloud some of the best work in history!

This is a short book and I recommend any older reader of YA to have a crack at it.

Notes on the Names:

Okay, so here is where things fall flat. Hand describes this huge family spawned by this glamorous actress and she never gives us all of their names! I get that you don’t want to sit there and list out every family member, I would have considered it overkill as well, but I at least wanted to know the names of the six sisters and six brothers!

I did gather sisters Madeline and Brigid and brothers Michael, Thomas, John and... Rogan? I love Rogan and Brigid and Madeline, to me the classic, basic choices of Michael, Thomas and John were the ones that stuck out. This family is Irish, their name: Tierney. And as an Irish girl writing a story about Irish warriors I know all there is about awesome Irish names. I am re-naming these sibling-sets!

Brigid
Aveline
Deirdre
Kathleen
Tara
Madeline

Cormac
Ferris
Killian
Padraig
Troy
Rogan

Thoughts on the Cover:

It’s mystifying. I love that the cape is included and that the setting almost looks like a stage, but the models... gah. All wrong, all wrong, all wrong, all wrong!

Parental Book Review *spoilers*

Sexual Content:

Very Heavy

Language:

Very Heavy

F- 17
B-2
Jesus-7
S-5
D-5
H-3

Violence:

Mild

Rogan is beat up by his brothers so he won’t become “spoiled.”

Other Notables:

Rogan becomes a drug addict and later recovers.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Publisher: Poppy Books

Pages: 248

Read Time: 1 Sitting

Tag Words: Weddings, divorce, death, true love, love at first sight, airports, British boys, family affairs

My Summary:

Hadley Sullivan has just missed the flight that will take her across the Atlantic ocean to England, where her father is getting married a second time.

Things couldn’t be worse, Hadley believes, until she meets Oliver and fate has its way with them, and the Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.

My Review:

I read it in a singular sitting because I was captivated from page one. If I’m truly being fair I should say it was the title that first got to me nearly a year ago. *Nearly two years ago upon review revision.* I received this book at BEA 2011 and read it in the middle of July.

A little blast from the past happening right now...

Some people believe love at first sight is as mythic as time travel, but my parents met on a blind date and were married a year to the day. I suppose I’ve been brought up believing in myths, legends and stories, I suppose I’ve also been brought up to believe you can surpass the boundaries of possible to discover the impossible.

This book is as fabulous as I hoped it would be. I loved everything about it, from the back-stories of both characters to the descriptions of the airports and the plane ride Oliver and Hadley take across the pond, to the bravery of a girl caught up in a romance that will last her lifetime. I loved the redemption and the way Smith framed her ideals and her story, without force, or coercion; the story simply breathed.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day I suggest you run out and buy The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight; it may turn even the most hardened cynic into a believer.

Notes on the Names:

Only downer. Hadley. I’ve been hearing this name a lot, all over the literary world. What do you think? Are you infatuated, or as confused as I am by it’s lively accession?

Hadley was Ernest Hemingway's wife's name.

Thoughts on the Cover:

Aw.

It's a book!

It's a BOOK!




I wish people wouldn't bring back my books uncharged... 


Actually I'd rather they not steal them to begin with. 

Melina's Vacation

There are very few people I would dedicate an entire blog post to, but Melina is one of them. 

This girl-hold on- *sobs wretchedly*... thank you, now *dabs at stray tears with a hankie* what was I saying?

Melina has recently announced that she is taking a Vacation from Reading Vacation. The permanent kind. 

This is an open letter to Melina, however, I know that others will read it, so, for those who don't know, my name is Gabrielle Carolina, I am a college student, a writer, a blogger and a vlogger. 

I'm young, but I'm the sort of young where I'm about to be old...er. I'm at the age where people stop talking about the wonderful young woman you're about to be, and start talking about the wonderful young woman you are. (At least, I hope I'll still be called young for a long, long time. Please, God!) There are things afoot for me. Everything is about to change, and I owe so, so, so, so, so much of that to The Mod Podge Bookshelf. 

Melina, however, began her blog at ten. This still stuns me. She's been blogging for a couple of years now. She's going to be 13, soon, and she deserves to be fully invested in the life she's got coming to her, as well. 

I need my blog *right now* to fully seize the life ahead of me, and she needs to lay hers down to fully participate in hers. 

"To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under Heaven...," and all of that. 

I understand why this must be, but I am still crying, because here comes the sappy, squishy, heartstrings, and violin's part of this post. 

Melina, I love you. 

You have encouraged me, and, ironically, made me feel like I was your age again, and finally accepted by my peers, even though I haven't been a tween in nearly a decade! It just shows you, those things that happen to you when you're young can have a profound impact, especially those things that are hard to bear. 

So I'm glad you've walked away for now. 

(Side note: I was about your age when this song dropped and it has never gotten old. It grows with me, I hope it grows with you, as well.)

I know your dreams, your plans, your goals, and I can tell you, baby, that they will change, ebb, flow and fluctuate.

 Maybe one day Reading Vacation 2.0 will help you claim and achieve those dreams, like mine is helping me, or maybe you're about to discover a new dream that is big, and wild, and you'll find another place you belong, like the one you will always, always, have with all of us.

I'll let you in on a secret- I was a little older than you when I quit my own job. I was a professional actress, and I walked away, and not looking back was harder than I thought it would be. Even though it was my choice, I felt like I was missing a big chunk of myself for a long while... and then I started writing. ; )

I am so proud of you. Just being with you for a single weekend, I can see what a special and wonderful young woman you are about to be. (As if I didn't already know all of that just by reading your blog devoutly and tweeting with you fiendishly.)

I only wish I could hug you right now; I know, I'm being an over-dramatic big sis, but that's what I am. I'm proud of you. These are happy tears for you, and for how much of me I see in you, and how that gives me hope inside brighter than anything. 

You're going to do great things; it makes me feel like maybe I will, too. 

I love you and I can honestly speak for the entire 'sphere when I say, enjoy your Vacation!

Blessings in all things,

Gabrielle Carolina

P.S. Here's an interview Steph Su did with Melina over a year ago. Some things have changed, and others have stayed the same, but in Melina's own words on the future, "Anything can happen..."

Sweethearts

Title: Sweethearts


Author: Sara Zarr


Publisher: Little, Brown Books


Pages: 217


Read Time: One Day

Tag Words: Best friends, unique dynamics, growing up, the truth of love, BIR11


My Summary: 

'There are things I want to remember about Cameron Quick that I can't entirely, like the pajamas he wore when he used to sleep over and his favorite cereal, or how it felt to hold his hand as we walked home from school in third grade.

I want to remember exactly how we became friends in the first place, a definite starting line that I can visit again, and again.

He's a story I want to know from page one.'


My Review:


It's easy to hide behind a review blog. You develop a persona, the smart one, the mean one, or the one who doesn't know what they're talking about. If you just play your part you can skate by without sharing an iota of yourself, but I don't want to do that.

That's why I'm going to be real with all of you now.

I read this book for a reason. The back cover spoke to me, because I have often spoken the very same sentiments. I wanted this book in-hand, because I've lived this book, and I've loved that boy. Very, very much.

Though my thoughts may be slightly less than impartial, I want to tell you, this book needs to go on your TBR pile post-haste. As someone who has lived out Jennifer's world, nearly to a T, I can say that Zarr perfectly captures that rare and beautiful relationship that falls between true love and true friendship. And wouldn't you know? Sara Zarr once loved that boy, too, in that special way I thought no one could put words to, until now.

Well done.


Notes on the Names:


Jennifer and Cameron, very appropriate for their ages, but nothing that excites me.


Thoughts on the Cover:


It makes me hungry. Why can't more covers be like this? It's simple, sweet how punny and enticing.


Parental Book Review *spoilers*


Sexual Content: 


Moderate.

Talk of drunk hook-ups & some make-out scenes.

Some sexual innuendo.

Cameron sleeps in Jennifer's house, but her parents are careful to set boundaries.


Language: 


Mild


H- 5
A- 4
B- 4
Retard- 3
F- The word is used once and starred out.


Violence:


Heavy.

Cameron's father is abusive.

Kills Cameron's pet.

Cameron's father forces the pair to play "doctor," to prove to him that Cameron isn't gay. They are about eight at the time. Jennifer gets them out of the house by escaping through the window.


Other Notables:

Jennifer stole candy bars to feed her food addiction. 

Figment Flash-Fiction with Kim Culbertson

The Liberation of Max McTrue Contest

Brought to you by Figment.com and Kim Culbertson

Kim Culbertson is joining Figment for a whirlwind weekend of Flash Fiction to celebrate her new ebook, The Liberation of Max McTrue!

Enter the Max McTrue Flash Fiction Contest!

There will be a Total of three prizes: Each winner gets a free download of The Liberation of Max McTrue as well as a custom-made “beautiful things” journal. The first place winner will also receive a 30 minute manuscript review by Kim Culbertson.

All you have to do is write a super short story under 500 words that follows one of the four prompts below. Submit your entry between 11:00am on February 3^rd, 2012 and 11:59pm on February 5^th, 2012. The Figment editorial staff will choose the top ten entries as finalists, and Kim will choose the winners from those finalists.

The Prompts:

(1) Write a story set against the backdrop of a scavenger hunt.

(2) Write a story confined to the periods of a school day. The character can be in school or out of school.

(3) Write a story in which a character is deeply afraid of something.

(4) Come up with a totally ordinary character and then set him/her up to have an extraordinary day.

How to enter:

1. Go to www.figment.com and sign up. 
2. Once you have received your confirmation email, go to your Figment profile page, click “My Writing,” and “Create Something New.” 
3. Before you start writing, read the full rules on the Max McTrue contest page, which you’ll be able to find under the “Contest” tab on Figment on February 3^rd, 2012.
4. Write an original story, under 500 words, that follows one of the four prompts above.
5. Go to the “Details” tab of your story, and put maxmctrue in the “Tags” section.
6. Wait the 2 hours it sometimes takes to see your story appear on the contest page.