The Creative Value of a Binge

My winter vacation comes to an end, and with it the end of a binge — not the usual holiday eating indulgence (although plenty of Christmas cookies were involved) but of a lengthy reading binge spent immersed in Regency romance. I started with Austen, went deep into the Georgette Heyer catalog, then branched out into modern writers, then back to Austen.

The holiday binge is over.

As after most binges, I’ve ended feeling slightly overindulged — I’ve had enough younger brothers with gambling problems, dukes with rakish reputations, and haute ton society gatekeepers to last me another six months. I also have completed a crash course in rule-bound historical romantic tension, which is just what I need for the YA historical fantasy I’m writing.

Prolonged reading binges are how I became literate in the fantasy genre and in the middle-grade category. Until those self-directed educations, I read primarily adult literary fiction, and I haven’t gone back yet. Deep and wide immersive reading is form of research for fiction writers, and for me a purely pleasurable one. I had to know the voice and rhythms before I could find my own. I needed to learn the tropes and conventions so that I could avoid or deploy them purposefully, rather than falling into them inadvertently.

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Notes on a Diversity Hashtag: Project Mayhem

Listening to #WeNeedDiverseBooks, I realized the conversation wasn’t about me. And neither are the books I want to read.

When the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign began through the work of 22 writers and bloggers, I was enthusiastic. I was long familiar with the issue through Cindy Pon and Malindo Lo’s Diversity in YA campaign, and I had tried to populate my middle-grade novels with diverse characters. So I joined the conversation.

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Proud to be a Mayhemmer

I‘m thrilled to announce that I’ve joined the wise and wild minds of Project Middle-Grade Mayhem, a blog of kids’ writers in a community for readers, teachers, and librarians. I’ve been a long time reader of the site, founded by Hilary Wagner (Nightshade City) books, and I was honored to be invited by exiting member, Dee Garretson (Wildfire Run). I’m sharing my welcome with fellow Mayhemmers Jim Hill (Cape Cod Writers Center)  and Joanne Roddy (Jules and the Djinn Master) — good company!

My first post on Project Mayhem will be May 13 — looking forward to sharing some thoughts (once I come up with them).

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