When I was about 12 years old, I stumbled upon a book at the Round Rock Public Library titled “What’s Your Story?” by Marion Dane Bauer. It was a book for kids that described certain steps to tell a story well. Finding that book was a huge milestone in my life.

It was about two years before I started on The Farfield Curse (then, I was writing a fun but abyss of a fantasy story called Enchanted Memories, which had nothing to do with Enchantments, and nothing to do with Memories, but surprisingly enough had many of the same character names as is in The Farfield Curse). I was very new to writing, and when I found this book at the library, I realized suddenly that there was actually such thing as a book about writing a book.

After later miraculously finding another guide by Phyllis A Whitney in our attic, I was led to my first voluntary foray into the upper floor of the library, where the adult books were kept (a milestone in itself). There were about two shelves of books that fit between the decimal numbers for Authorship and Writing Novels: and I am almost certain that I read every book there at least once. I would literally fill up backpacks and baskets with them, bringing every guide on writing that I could find back home, or spreading them out on the library carpet to see if it had anything interesting I had not yet read about.

I discovered, to my dismay, that publishing a book is not as simple as calling up the editor of Scholastic (to me back then, all publishers were Scholastic or HarperCollins, who did Lemony Snicket). I also discovered that my cousin could not be my literary agent, that you actually have to finish a book before sending it out, and that you cannot telephone head editors to pitch your story idea, even if you found their number somehow (sorry Liz at Scholastic).

Thanks to that first book by Marion Dane Bauer, I was led to a treasury of others like it, and slowly formed a list that I re-read at least every 6 months, until I pretty much had them memorized. All the research built up was an enormous help, and having a basic knowledge of publishing lingo is priceless for query letters.

The following books are the ones I recommend to anyone who asks me about writing, or anyone who is already an author and wants something humorous and informative dealing with the writing life:

How To Grow A Novel — by Sol Stein

This book is wonderful throughout. The title is pretty much burned into my memory as a Good Writing Book, so that if anybody asks me what I recommend, this is the first one that comes to mind. I don’t know what it is about it, but this book seems to focus highly on that elusive ‘unique voice’ that makes a good story. It doesn’t really go over commas or correct grammar, but rather how to tell an engaging story and how to hold the attention of readers with your words. One of the biggest things it taught me was a technique of never giving the reader what they want, and in the process giving them exactly what they want. Confusing? Read the book. You’ll understand.

How To Be Your Own Literary Agent — by Richard Curtis

Before the trolls start to hop up and down, screaming that Richard Curtis is my agent and of course I’ll promote his book, there is a secret you should know: I read this book 5 years before I ever knew who Richard Curtis was (yes, it was a very welcome surprise). This book was on my Annual Reading List, because not only did it refresh me on all the duties of agents and the process of getting published, it has a nifty little appendix that describes what a ‘fair’ book deal is (aka $) and a ‘good’ book deal is (aka $$$). The title makes me laugh: there are so many things that agents do, you leave the book all the more convinced that you need to get a good agent, and fast.

Richard has recently offered this book entirely free online through Google.com, and you can read it here. Also there are links on how to buy it from stores (really, it is worth it. When my editor says things in publishingese on the phone, I am secretly paging through this to translate).

The First Five Pages — Noah Lukeman

This book was one of the biggest influences in helping me get an agent. It is very thin (only about 200 pages) but the advice in it is absolutely invaluable. Besides going over the things to keep in mind for the first five pages in your novel (practically undisputed as the most important part of the book) it also goes over Characterization, Dialogue, Narration and all sorts of important elements that go into the story.

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Sometimes The Magic Works — Terry Brooks

If you are looking for a good inspirational story about a real bestselling author, this is the one. I have honestly (and ashamedly) never read a Terry Brooks novel (it’s on my list… I started on Magic Kingdom For Sale just before I moved to college, and left it at home). But that didn’t stop me from enjoying this story in its entirety, as the author goes over his life as a writer, certain stories from his experiences, and the things that he has learned along the way that made him the success he is.

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Beyond The Bestseller — Richard Curtis

Another book by my agent: this one I actually read after I had signed with him, and was searching the Austin Public Library for anything by him. I found this old one (originally from the 1980’s) and read it about 4 times all the way through. It is one of the funniest accounts ever from a literary agent’s point of view, telling of previous clients, wonderful book deals, pseudo-possessed authors (and editors), and much more. In the midst of the humorous stories about the writing life, from an agent’s perspective, there are scores of writing tips to be gleamed.

If you have any other great books for writers, leave it in the comments!

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Posted in About Me, Writing
Tags: Books, Richard Curtis, Writing

After I posted my original article defending Stephenie Meyer’s decision to put Midnight Sun on hold, I received more emails and comments supporting what I had said than I have received for any single article before. The fact that so many media venues have relentlessly attacked Stephenie since the leak is appalling, and my best reward was when many of the people who read my article told me they subsequently understood her decision a little better because of it.

However, since I published that article, even more trouble has arisen. For some reason, many people are under the impression that by Stephenie putting Midnight Sun on hold, we are being ‘punished’ for what a small group of people did. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

For some reason, there is a misguided notion that writers are simply machines with fingers, typing away at stories that write themselves with no emotion or thought involved in the process. With some stories and many non-fiction books, that could easily be the case. But a great number of writers put emotion into their work and connect with it far deeper than simply penning words onto a page and publishing it.

Any writer who is emotionally connected with his or her work can tell you that a shattering event, such as a divorce, death in the family, or a deep betrayal of trust (such as what happened with Midnight Sun) can severely damage the ability to write a moving piece of fiction. In the book “How To Be Your Own Literary Agent”, Richard Curtis* writes:

” [pg 187]: As an author myself, and a friend or agent of many other writers, I can testify how tightly interconnected the personal, financial, and creative elements of an author’s life are. Trouble in one area almost invariably indicates trouble in the others.”

This may not be for all authors: but many of us write with emotion, and when our emotions are affected, the writing will inevitably suffer.

You have to take a step back and seriously think about what people are claiming: Stephenie has postponed Midnight Sun to punish those who leaked it, and inadvertently punish her fans as well? How in any way would delaying the release of Midnight Sun punish the people who posted it online? If anything, that would be exactly what they wanted.

On the contrary, the decision to put Midnight Sun on hold is to me more of a display of how much Stephenie cares about her fans and the world she has created. Even on the basis of simple economics, the fact is that if Midnight Sun was to be published, it is a guaranteed international bestseller; and simply by attaching it to the Twilight franchise will generate millions in revenue no matter what is written between the covers.

I know to many of the critics it might sound like a outlandish idea, but maybe Stephenie does care more about her readers than the fame, publicity and money to be made from her writing. It would be far more of a punishment to the Twilight fans for her to just continue writing the book with her heart not into it, and put out something that is lacking feeling simply to add another book to the series. Perhaps she wants to write something that is good, with her heart in it, rather than something that is put out just for the sake of publishing.

Nowhere did Stephenie say she would never publish Midnight Sun. That is a rumor that has been going around and spread by multiple news websites, and it is false. From her statement:

“[...] In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely**.”

Stephenie has put the work on hold: not canceled the project entirely. Most of the frenzy has no basis.

I certainly do not claim to know everything that goes on behind the scenes or to represent what Stephenie may be planning. But I do know that the strength to set aside a project that is worth millions in favor of what is best for her readers is something that Stephenie should be admired for.

ADDED: If you are a fan and would like to help support Stephenie, please consider being a part of our Youtube project. Submissions end on September 25.

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*Richard Curtis is my literary agent and has worked with authors for over 30 years. More info on him can be found here.

*Indefinitely (AH Dictionary): ADJECTIVE: Not definite, especially: a. Unclear; vague. b. Lacking precise limits: an indefinite leave of absence. c. Uncertain; undecided:

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Posted in Stephenie Meyer
Tags: Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer

Today I turned 20.

This past year has flown by so fast. My 19th birthday was in a different city, miles from where I am now. My life has changed so much in the past 12 months. And as I have done for the past few years, through different blogs, here is a short recap of a few of the things that have happened since my last birthday:

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Posted in About Me, College, Videos

In case you live under a rock and haven’t heard, Hurricane Ike is coming through Texas right now, and it looks as if it might actually hit as high as my apartment in Dallas. Observe the reasons for citywide concern:

In this image, you can see Ike (the ginormous whirling demonic thing in the corner) and me (the tiny red trembling dot). Ike appears to be nearly the size of Texas, which for all of you geographically challenged people is the second largest state in the US.

Yesterday, it was very sunny, which was very sneaky of the hurricane because nobody would have believed it was coming. We were told to chain down all of our bikes and porch furniture. I got to work on that, and then looked in the mirror, and saw something like this:

My hair had become horrifyingly long, as I haven’t had it cut since three weeks before I went to Austin. And as the Robert Pattinson, just-slithered-out-of-bed-and-I’m-ready look doesn’t exactly look good on me, I decided it would be a wonderfully prudent idea to get it done now. My reasoning behind this:

1. If Ike obliterates the place I get my haircut, my hair will grow to abysmal lengths while I search for someone nearly as Fantastic as Sam’s, and
2. If Ike obliterates me, at least I’ll die clean cut.

This had the negative effect of my hair being a little lopsidedly short, as it usually is the day of it getting cut (added benefit: during hurricanes, you can’t leave the house, and nobody sees). Unfortunately, I had to pick that day to go test out my new BlogTV channel, on which me and someone famous are going to be doing a live show. After we got it working, we thought we needed some people to test it with us, so we went to my chatroom and invited everyone over for a sneak peek. This turned into a broadcasting-until-2-am party, which was riotously fun until my eyelids began to droop. So, whoever happened to be in there: you got a look how monstrous I can appear after 2 AM

I’m looking out the window right now and it’s slowly getting darker, and the pre-40-mph winds are starting to brush the trees about. Coincidentally, it is hitting on a weekend (no doubt some diabolical plan from the college so that we don’t get a bad weather day from class). We have been told to stockpile water and food. If we get flooded in, I’ll be living off water and lasagnas for quite a while longer.

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Posted in College
Tags: College, Hurricane

As I’m sure most of you have already heard, Midnight Sun, the promised future book from Stephenie Meyer, has been put on hold indefinitely after about 150 pages of it was leaked online.

The leaked file contained direct photographic scans of a spiral-bound notebook with hand-numbered pages, posted online by a website of anti-Twilighters. After the initial buzz across the internet, Stephenie found out and announced that due to the ordeal, she has stopped writing on the book, and gave the chapters away for free on her site. This prompted an uproar of media attention, causing many anti-Twilighters to immediately lash out at Stephenie and proclaim that she is only making it worse by dropping the book, calling her reaction ‘childish’.

These people are gravely misguided. If you are looking for someone who is childish, turn instead to a certain group of so-called Twilighters who have taken what they wanted from Stephenie and then stabbed her in the back on the way out.

In recent months, I have seen a surge of hate directed at Stephenie from people who formerly called themselves her fans, surpassing any resemblance of even remotely constructive criticism and instead trashing her latest book, Breaking Dawn, over its very plot, as if they have any right to dictate what happens in any of Stephenie books. Even worse, Stephenie herself has fallen victim of completely irrelevant attacks. I honestly do not see what being a Mormon or Stephenie’s hairstyle has to do with writing or books. And yet people in recent months have relentlessly attacked Stephenie as if because she is famous, she is some sort of sub-human who deserves whatever she gets: be it a battering of hateful websites or the illegal distribution of her unfinished novel.

Just because Stephenie is a celebrity author does not mean that she writes her books any different than any other writer out there. Stephenie did not write to get famous. In fact, Twilight came out at a time when vampire and romance books were far from ‘in’. She just wrote a story, and became popular so fast she still hasn’t had a chance to come to terms with how famous she really is. It wasn’t until recent months, after being all over MTV, one of TIME’s Most Influential People, and on major news, that she removed her family photo from her website to protect her children from media scrutiny.

People are proclaiming that ‘Stephenie should know better than to give drafts out to her friends’ but they are overlooking the fact that Midnight Sun has been partially written for years. These pages were done long before Stephenie was world famous, and probably given or shown to people before she ever dreamed that her works would even be leak-worthy.

Blaming Stephenie for trusting her friends is absolutely idiotic. At the moment, I have 100 pages of my second book floating amongst my friends, which won’t even be heard of by the world until months after my first book comes out (even my publishers have not seen any of it). These pages are rough, unedited early cuts that I let certain people read just to see what they think about it.

Even though I am a literary flea, if I were ever to become half as popular as Stephenie, and one of my trusted friends were to distribute my unfinished draft publicly, I would not only feel enormously betrayed but I would probably react in exactly the same way and feel like withdrawing from the work entirely. People who are not writers do not understand the large amounts of emotion required to write a book. Things grow as you write them- ideas are used and ideas are tossed out. You are basically putting a piece of your soul into it, and if somehow it is taken while still growing, it is like someone has stolen your secret diary and read the most embarrassing lines to the world.

Other people, again, compare Stephenie to JK Rowling, and say that Harry Potter was leaked plenty of times and was still released. But there is absolutely no comparison. When Harry Potter was leaked, it was always finished, edited copies of the book that was about to go to printers. This is an incomplete, unpolished draft printed by Stephenie herself that was never meant to be seen by anyone besides people she knew. A better comparison would be someone breaking into JK Rowling’s home and stealing her writing notebooks.

I can only imagine how it is for Stephenie right now. The ordeal was all across the newspapers and covered the front of Yahoo.com for two days, more popular even than Britney Spears agreeing to be at the VMA’s. The entire world has gotten a peek at something that was incomplete.

I wrote a few months ago about how Stephenie is like a mother to all of her fans. It seemed that everyone agreed with me. Times have obviously changed. Take a step back, look around at what is happening, and try to imagine how she must feel now: these people she trusted as her fans suddenly turning against her.

I am not against criticism. I am not against people who do not enjoy Twilight, or Breaking Dawn, or even people who do not like Stephenie in general. But the relentless battering of Stephenie from her own former fans has come to such a maddening point, I honestly don’t blame her if she decides never to release Midnight Sun at all– or at least until her real fans show some respect for all she has put up with so far.

If you want to show your support for Stephenie Meyer in the wake of all the negative people trying to bring her down, please consider this petition that was emailed to me by one of her fans. I think now is the time for the real fans to come together.

ADDED: I decided to make some Support Stephenie Meyer buttons for people to post on their Myspace/Xanga pages. Check them out on the TwilightGuy downloads page, and show your support to Stephenie.

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Posted in Stephenie Meyer
Tags: Stephenie Meyer, Twilight