On September 1st, I published my latest novel for teens, The Yo-Yo Prophet. Why did I write about street performing?
As an author, I have a love-hate relationship with performing. Once I get to a book reading or writing workshop, I’m eager to interact with my audience. But there’s often a moment beforehand where I’m dreading it – mostly because I’m worried about how an audience will react to what I have to offer.
Managing an audience is not unlike taming wild lions. Not that I’ve ever tamed lions, but the two are linked in my mind. A performer tries to work with the audience, to control its reactions – get people to laugh at the right part and fall respectfully silent when needed. In The Yoyo Prophet, 15-year-old Calvin faces his audiences head on. He feels the joy of successful performances as well as the horror and shame of public humiliation.
Today, the effect of public humiliation and success can be multiplied a thousand-fold through online exposure. With instant fame possible through viral videos, instant defeat can be just as swift and harsh. Calvin experiences both in the novel, and finally has to find his judgments about himself from within.
Street performers, like Calvin, are a different breed, since they need to capture the attention of a mobile and possibly indifferent audience and compel them to watch as well as pay for an unsolicited performance. The inspiration for writing about a street performer grew from my love of BuskerFest, held every August on the streets of Toronto. With a spectacular stunt, a joke or original music, buskers can transform an open street into a dynamic performance space.
To check out my video book trailer for The Yo-Yo Prophet, click here. To enter a draw for a signed copy of the book, simply comment on this post, or send me an email through my website before September 20th.
On September 1st, I published my latest novel for teens, The Yo-Yo Prophet. Why did I write about yo-yoing?
Pull out a yo-yo, toss a few tricks and most people want to give it a try. There’s something compelling about manipulating a yo-yo up and down a string, never mind perfecting more complicated tricks. Is it the satisfaction of achieving desired results? All I know is that when I successfully throw an around-the-world or trapeze trick, I’m thrilled – and eager to try more advanced tricks.
Modern yo-yo design and construction has changed what we can do with a yo-yo – like the new ball-bearing system that allows for unprecedented spin times. Yo-yos can sleep for minutes, rather than seconds, allowing for infinitely more complicated tricks, like Buddha’s revenge. The yo-yo has catapulted from cheap toy to high-tech wonder.
So it’s no surprise that an underground yo-yoing movement exists. Websites such as yoyoexpert.com or yoyonation.com offer advice on which yo-yos to use for which type of tricks as well as video instruction on specific tricks. And if you thought yo-yo contests were a thing of the past, check out the World Yo-Yo Contest in Florida and the National Yo-Yo Contest in California, which includes qualifying regional contests.
Personally, I think the appeal of yo-yoing lies in the ability to coax that carefully crafted construction of plastic, aluminum and string into doing what I want it to do.
To check out my video book trailer for The Yo-Yo Prophet, click here. To enter a draw for a signed copy of the book, simply comment on this post, or send me an email through my website before September 20th.
My new novel for teens, The Yo-Yo Prophet, is officially available today. To celebrate, I’m launching my video book trailer and hosting a draw on my site for a signed copy of the book. To enter the draw, simply comment on this post, or send me an email through my website before September 20th. Good luck!
The early reviews have been wonderful. Here’s a sample of what reviewers had to say:
“A captivating and believable portrait of a young boy coming of age.” Kirkus Reviews
“Intimate and authentic … a clever and quiet coming-of-age story about developing confidence and doing what’s right.” Publisher’s Weekly
I received an email recently from a 12-year-old fiction writer. She was looking for advice on how to stay motivated throughout the writing of her whole story. Her question made me think about how I write a first draft.
The beginning of a story is usually fun to write — I feel inspired and enthusiastic. But after I write the first chapters, writing can slow down and it can be hard to keep going. A novel can take so long to write that it’s sometimes hard to imagine it will ever be done.
So when I’m writing a first draft, I like to set myself targets. When writing is tough, I aim for only 200 new words a day. On good days, I can get 500 to 1500 new words, although 200 words a day becomes 73,00 words in a year — enough for a novel! It may add up slowly but there’s usually time to write 200 words on most days. It’s also easier to keep my head in the story when I write a little bit every day, rather than a lot only once or twice a week.
I don’t have to write 200 “good” words. I let them be rough and polish them the next day because it helps me get into the next 200 words.
Here’s a good quote about getting through the first draft:
“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something — anything — down on paper.”
— Anne Lamott (from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life)
I also have an extremely supportive writing group. There are five of us who share our writing to get constructive feedback on it, and we encourage one other when writing is tough. I know authors who have writing partners to help motivate them (they meet to write together once a week ). I tend to write alone, although I find that a writing retreat with other writers brings a fresh burst of material — as well as fabulous conversation.
Basically, I do whatever works to get that first draft down. The rewriting and polishing stages will take care of the warts.
One of my summer projects this year was collecting donations of books for the Red Door Family Shelter in Toronto, where I volunteer once a week with school-aged kids. I was happy to collect books from Rachel Seigel of S&B Books, author and reading program coordinator Sheilah Currie, and Barb Pepin of Chapters Indigo. These books are being used in the shelter’s summer reading program, which I help with once a week. I received novels, picture books, learning-to-read books, graphic novels, and non-fiction books by fabulous Canadian and international writers and illustrators – a total of five boxes of books. The kids and the shelter staff were thrilled when I brought them in! Thanks to Rachel, Sheilah, and Barb for making it happen.
On September 1st, I published my latest novel for teens, The Yo-Yo Prophet. Why did I write about street performing?
On September 1st, I published my latest novel for teens, 