Swati Avasthi's Blog, page 7

Problem novels have a lousy reputation, especially amongst adults. Which begs a few questions for which I, in my delusions of grandeurs(DoG), will answer. (See the trick here is that I pose questions that I know the answer to. Pay no attention to man behind the curtain.)

First, what are problem novels? In YA, they're novels in which the characters of the novel try to cope with issues like rape, domestic violence, homelessness, alcoholism etc.

Why are they so seemingly unpopular?...

I haven't posted in a little while because school has started and the reams of paper are climbing over my head.
Seriously, when will I learn to cut back? My friends tell me that when I'm forty I'll learn to say no. So, while I'm looking forward to that birthday, I'm also a bit frightened that it will take me around 38 years to re-learn the favorite word of all 2 year olds.

But, if you were to dig me out from under the books and manuscript pages, you'd find me smiling about a review of Split.

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After reading this Salon article, reposted by Moonrat, I started thinking about feedback, which honestly, I think about a lot between my final year in University of Minnesota's MFA program, two writer's groups, teaching, and doctoring manuscripts (i.e. manuscript consulting). The question the writer's friend has in the Salon article is, basically, how do I keep a friend and still give honest feedback. Unasked, I'm chiming in.

Of course, all friendships are different, but I do think...

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A first book is an act of faith. You hope your imagination will bring you some place worth going and that your intuition will not fail you. You dig deeply into your imagination and create characters; you fuss with plot and structure; and you pray. A lot.

But I did not think past my first book; it was all I could handle – creating a manuscript and hoping it would turn into a real book someday. Thinking beyond that was plain hubris.

That kind of thinking. magical thinking, makes...

In May, I was lucky enough to introduce Laurie Halse Anderson before she read at the Loft in Minneapolis, MN. (See Meeting a Writing Hero.) Being the generous woman she is, she agreed to let me conduct an interview which she gave via email, in spite of a personal tragedy.
Laurie Halse Anderson has garnered accolades and awards too numerous to enumerate here, but here are some of the highlights: ALA Best Books 2008, ALA Quick Picks 2008, New York Times Best Seller List, International Teacher's

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In May of this year, I got to meet one of my writing idols, Laurie Halse Anderson. I discovered her books years ago, when my son, who we'll call The Possum, was only about four. We had spent so much time in bookstores over the years that The Possum had become an excellent book browser by age four. He could out do me. So, while he browsed books in at a local children's bookstore, I wandered bored. I assumed there was nothing for me to do.

I struck up a conversation with a bookseller, Li

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Meeting A Writing Hero

In May of this year, I got to meet one of my writing idols, Laurie Halse Anderson. I discovered her book years ago, when my son, who we'll call The Possum, was only about four. We had spent so much time in bookstores over the years that The Possum had become an excellent book browser by age four. He could out do me. So, while he browsed books in at a local children's bookstore, I wandered bored. I assumed there was nothing for me to do.

I struck up a conversati

You can find me at www.swatiavasthi.com, now. Soon I'll be linking my blog to goodreads. And look for an upcoming interview with the amazing Laurie Halse Anderson in the next few weeks.

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Recently, I was sitting in at Harvest Moon Café with a member of my writer's group who was complaining about tweets that go something like this: "Swati is eating apples" or "Swati is tired." Other tweets, he told me, are valuable, such as "I just posted a new blog." He objects to the idea that every thought someone has needs to be expressed, that it needs to be shared, and that by writing it down, we imply that eating apples is inherently interesting.

<>As someone who has written those statu</>