Randy Ribay's Blog, page 4

Next weekend is B&N’s inaugural national teen book festival. Stores around the country will be hosting events with MG & YA authors throughout the weekend. Here’s where you can find me:

Sat, June 11, 1-3pm – Barnes & Noble in Cherry Hill, NJ with Jared Caracciolo and Michael Geisinger

Sun, June 12, 1-3pm – Barnes & Noble in Wilmington, DE with Sharon Roat, Ilene Wong, Cindy Callaghan, Dianne K. Salerni, and Meghan Rogers

These may be my last book events in the area for a while since I’m moving to the Bay Area this summer, so I hope I get to see some of you!

When I first began teaching at my current school, I basically commandeered the summer reading assignment from my department chair at the time. Thankfully, he was a good sport about it. Being an avid YA reader, making this list of options has been one of my favorite things to do each year. Sadly, since I’m moving to California in a couple of months, this was my last time doing it for our school. As such, I wanted to  share it with you all.  Even if you aren’t a middle or high schooler, I’d highly recommend checking out some of these books!

HIGH SCHOOL

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Feel free to drop your thoughts on any of these or tell me what you’re reading this summer!

 

The first book I ever wrote was a YA zombie apocalypse novel. In my defense, this was before THE WALKING DEAD became a TV show, before WORLD WAR Z was made into a movie, and before the plethora of YA zombie novels that now exist.

It’s not very good.

Correction: it’s not good.

Mostly, for me it was about learning that I could write a novel. That I could make up some people and lead them through roughly 300 pages of made-up events. Along the way, one of the things I also learned is that Google is a ridiculously valuable research tool even for writers. But sometimes I had to Google things that made me uncomfortable, things that might make anyone just perusing my search history wonder if they should report me to the authorities. Here’s a sampling:

Types of guns

How to fire a gun

How to reload a gun 

Taste of human flesh 

Map of cave systems in US

(The story practically writes itself, eh?)

After that, I wrote two contemporary YA novels, so my search history mellowed out a bit. However, I’m getting ready to revise a dark fantasy story I’ve been working on, and the sketchiness factor has ratcheted up. Here’s what I’ve been scouring the Internet for in recent days:

Filipino myths and legends

Filipino ghost stories 

Map of Cemeterio Norte de Manila (North Cemetery of Manila) 

Cemetery squatters

Human corpse rate of decomposition 

Cults 

Jonestown

FLDS

Cult leader psychological profile 

Cult member psychological profile 

Necromancy 

Capnomancy 

Augury 

Purgatory 

Bolo knife 

Sacrificial rituals

Aaaaaand that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Fellow writers, what are some of YOUR sketchiest search terms for the sake of story?

 

I received an email from Goodreads today telling me I’m in the top 1% of reviewers (in terms of number of reviews written). I don’t know why, but I found it funny–especially since it included a link to my most popular review:

Deep, right?

Anyway, if you’re over on Goodreads, send me a friend request. I’m always in the market for new book friends.

If you’re in the area, this action is going down this weekend. Of course, there’s a million other awesome YA authors participating, so be sure to check out the full schedule at nyctaf.com!

I’ve had a few people ask me how I got a literary agent, and now you can the full story over here at Writers Digest.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll have a short story in a collection of YA adoption-themed short stories edited by Eric Smith, to be published by Jolly Fish Press in fall 2017. Check out his far more meaningful/detailed post about it over here at his site. Or, if you’re too lazy, here are some snippets:

“Welcome Home collects genre-spanning short stories centered around the theme of adoption, with tales about foster care, searching for birth parents, group homes, adopted siblings, struggling adoptive parents, and more by a number of amazing authors…The list includes Adi Alsaid, Dave Connis, Helene Dunbar, Kate Leth, Lauren Gibaldi, Libby Cudmore, Matthew Quinn Martin, Mindy McGinnis, Shannon Parker, Randy Ribay, Nic Stone, and many, many more we’re going to reveal over the coming months…The book will be out with Jolly Fish Press in the Fall of 2017. We’ll be donating the book’s royalties to organizations that work with adoptees and foster kids…I’m still looking for stories, particularly from diverse voices.”

(Aspiring–or established–authors, note that last line!)

 

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be joining a billion awesome YA authors as part of the NYC Teen Author Festival in March. I’ll be on a panel at the NY Public Library about writing realistic fiction on Fri, 3/18 and I’ll be signing at Books of Wonder on Sun, 3/20. If you’re around that weekend, I hope you can make it!

Here’s the entire festival schedule.

I tweeted some Thoughts about the Oscars yesterday, so I just thought I’d collect them here. They are not by any means a manifesto, but more so my attempt to just work out how I feel about all of this. Of course, you’re welcome to leave your own Thoughts in the comments if you feel so inclined! (But I won’t be sad if you don’t–I know this conversation is happening in several places.)

Some random early morning thoughts on the Oscars…

— Randy Ribay (@randyribay) January 22, 2016

 

We are all inclined to identify with the familiar. If the voting body is vastly white and male, that’s who’s likely to keep winning.

— Randy Ribay (@randyribay) January 22, 2016

 

And then that perpetuates the idea that white males are superior directors/writers/actors, etc. So they keep getting awards AND best jobs.

— Randy Ribay (@randyribay) January 22, 2016

 

And, even more insidious, it keeps messaging to the world they are objectively superior.

— Randy Ribay (@randyribay) January 22, 2016

 

And while I’m rambling on the subject, I’m not sure how I feel about the separation of male & female actor awards.

— Randy Ribay (@randyribay) January 22, 2016

 

I know it forces mostly male Academy to acknowledge females, but doesn’t it just perpetuate the false idea that there are only two genders?

— Randy Ribay (@randyribay) January 22, 2016

 

And in their current form, presenting male actor awards directly before best picture every time reinforces ideas of male superiority.

— Randy Ribay (@randyribay) January 22, 2016

 

That’s all for now. I’ll just leave those here. Time to go to work.

— Randy Ribay (@randyribay) January 22, 2016

HAMILTON is amazing.

For those of you who’ve been living under a bridge for the last year, HAMILTON’s a hip-hop musical about the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton written by Lin-Manuel  Miranda (who also  wrote IN THE HEIGHTS).

As a writer, when I love something as much as I love HAMILTON–it’s pretty much the only thing I’ve been listening to for the last few months–I like to try to figure out what makes it so great. In this case, it has A LOT going for it. Catchy songs, talented & diverse cast, insightful themes, clever lyrics, and an engaging story based in fact (so you’re learning–yay for learning!).

But in my opinion the strongest element is the characters. I’m sure Miranda was drowning in information about the characters’ lives since they were all real historical figures, but he has made them highly relateable and sympathetic. Here’s how I think he did it*:

Characters are boiled down to a few essential traits & motivations that are nearly universal. 

Alexander Hamilton: Humble beginnings; determined to  succeed; outspoken and passionate about his beliefs
Aaron Burr: Also determined to succeed, but as a foil to Hamilton his desire for ambition supersedes his beliefs


Those traits are clearly conveyed through their actions, dialogue, and refrains. 

Hamilton: “There’s a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait, just you wait.”
Burr: “Talk Less. Smile more. Don’t let them know what you’re against or  what you’re for.”


Those traits drive the story’s conflicts. 

There are multiple instances throughout the story where Hamilton and Burr come into conflict with each other or other characters because of their opposing motivations. In real life, maybe there was more to it. But as a story, it’s an elegant design. Burr wonders why his career is stalling while Hamilton rises;  it’s because Burr is missing the key ingredient–something to fight for beyond himself. But at the end of the day, Hamilton dies for his beliefs while Burr survives. Most will probably view Burr as the bad guy, but in my opinion, it’s only a matter of perspective. Can you really fault Burr for fighting to survive (“He will not make an orphan of my daughter!”)?

I use Hamilton & Burr as examples, but I believe nearly all the other characters get this treatment. As someone who always loves character first and foremost in a story, this brilliant execution is why I’ll probably be listening to this soundtrack a million more times.