 The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is down to 3 YA finalists. Synapse is sadly not one of them. The contest is now up for public vote, though. Check out the finalists and help choose the winner at http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011 It was a fun ride while it lasted! Add Comment  Here’s a trick I used to use a lot, back in the olden days. Rather than jump right out of bed in the morning and plunge directly into the left-brain tasks of the day, I would lay there and let my right brain cogitate. I’d nudge it toward a problem I was having with my writing and let it wander. My very left-brained, morning person husband considers this sort of behavior borderline lazy, but some great story ideas came out of this technique. Really! I wouldn’t lie to you. He’s right about one thing, though. I’m not a morning person. Leaping out of bed full of vim and vigor is a completely alien concept for me no matter how well or how long I’ve slept. But according to Sleepy Brains Think More Freely in the journal Scientific American Mind, I was using that drowsy time to advantage. The idea is that when your brain is sleepy it’s more open to stray, unfocused thoughts that can lead to those light bulb moments. It’s not locked into reality as we are supposed to see it, but freed up to find alternative solutions. I had it right, then! I am more creative in that drowsy morning state. On the other hand, morning people should create during that can’t-keep-your-eyes-open twilight period just before their brain blinks out at night. I try that nighttime routine, too, but I tend to fall asleep without properly documenting my ideas, and POOF they’re gone. Then there’s the creative nap. Before I had a real job, those not-quite-asleep, meditative midday rests were sometimes ripe with story ideas. So, why don’t I do my morning creativity exercises anymore? It has to do with sleeping on a Murphy bed in the living room with a morning person who wants to get into work early every morning. Ugh! After reading this article, though, I may need to make some changes. For creativity’s sake, of course. Not because I’m lazy. Here’s a trick I used to use a lot, back in the olden days. Rather than jump right out of bed in the morning and plunge directly into the left-brain tasks of the day, I would lay there and let my right brain cogitate. I’d nudge it toward a problem I was having with my writing and let it wander. My very left-brained, morning person husband considers this sort of behavior borderline lazy, but some great story ideas came out of this technique. Really! I wouldn’t lie to you. He’s right about one thing, though. I’m not a morning person. Leaping out of bed full of vim and vigor is a completely alien concept for me no matter how well or how long I’ve slept. But according to Sleepy Brains Think More Freely in the journal Scientific American Mind, I was using that drowsy time to advantage. The idea is that when your brain is sleepy it’s more open to stray, unfocused thoughts that can lead to those light bulb moments. It’s not locked into reality as we are supposed to see it, but freed up to find alternative solutions. I had it right, then! I am more creative in that drowsy morning state. On the other hand, morning people should create during that can’t-keep-your-eyes-open twilight period just before their brain blinks out at night. I try that nighttime routine, too, but I tend to fall asleep without properly documenting my ideas, and POOF they’re gone. Then there’s the creative nap. Before I had a real job, those not-quite-asleep, meditative midday rests were sometimes ripe with story ideas. So, why don’t I do my morning creativity exercises anymore? It has to do with sleeping on a Murphy bed in the living room with a morning person who wants to get into work early every morning. Ugh! After reading this article, though, I may need to make some changes. For creativity’s sake, of course. Not because I’m lazy.  It's been a great day in writerville! This morning I found out SYNAPSE made the latest cut in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. They've whittled it down to 50 YA semifinalists out of 5,000 entries and, OMG, SYNAPSE is still in there. Tonight I realized that semifinalists got Publishers Weekly reviews, too. Here mine. I like it! ABNA Publishers Weekly Reviewer Strong characters and a tight plot bring this victims-take-down-a-mad-scientist yarn to life. Eighteen-year-old Jake's twin brother, Gabriel, has been housed in a mental hospital since an accident at age nine damaged his brain. Tough, remorseless Amnesia is sentenced to death after killing a cashier in an armed robbery. Terra, a scientist who has discovered a revolutionary garbage-eating fungus, is unable to move or speak after an attack by her jealous and money-hungry employer, Dr. Burlington. That a sinister Dr. Ryder will be the thread connecting the three stories is telegraphed almost immediately, and so when she appears with a notepad (in Amnesia's case) and an “offer [Jake] can't refuse” (in the twins'), an ominous tension has already built. Mind-reading is Ryder's field, and details about electrical signals and virtual reality games make her work seem plausible. What results is a dramatic, high-stakes contest to see who can use the technology most to their own advantage: the “good guys,” communicating telepathically and extracting plans and pass-codes from their captors' minds, or Ryder and Burlington, listening in on the mental chatter and torturing those with whom their victims connect. A final battle rages on Kaho'olawe, a Hawaiian island littered with unexploded bombs, until every loose end is tied up. Excellent entertainment with provocative questions about science and the human brain.  This weekend was the SCBWI Los Angeles Writer’s Days, and while I was able to go only for Saturday’s events, I learned lots. One of the most encouraging things I learned was that some agents and editors DO still edit! Sara Wilson Etienne’s new book, Harbinger, was certainly the product of Sara’s long efforts, but it also had the benefit of the expertise and devotion of agent Michael Bourret (of Dystel and Goderich literary agency) and editor Stacey Barney (of Putnam/Penguin). I confess I was emerald with envy. I have long coveted a team like that, and truly believed it was a myth from the days of yore. Michael said that for adult books this kind of editing might not be the norm any more, but he indicated it was still there for children’s books. The dream lives! Lee Wardlaw told us all the important lessons she has learned from her cats. I practiced one of her tips today – the nap. Very helpful! She also showed us some of the rejections she got for Won Ton Cat before it went on to win more awards than a cat has furballs. Nice to know even the best get rejected. Dawne Knobbe shared her Runaway Storm journey, and gave us some tips on creative marketing. Terri Farley told us how one good girl’s misbehavior turned into fodder for great stories. But a book every two months? Wow! That’s a lot of naughtiness. I met some new friends off the stage, too, another of my favorite things about SCBWI conferences. You never know who you might run into, but if they are interested in children’s literature you know they will be fun to know. Sarah Laurenson and Lee Wind (also known as Sarah Lee) did an excellent job of pulling it all together and then pulling it off. My thanks to the entire team and to SCBWI!  One of the wonders of writing is that everything you do or read, every movie or stupid TV show you watch, every adventure you take can be considered research. Every aspect of life is work, so you are never just slouching off! Everything is guilt free! I love it! The other fun thing is seeing things I wrote about as fiction turn up in the real world. Like Terra’s hot science project in my YA novel, SYNAPSE – the discovery that promises to make Dr. Burlington rich if he can just find a way to dig the specifics out of her newly-damaged brain. In SYNAPSE, Terra is taking garbage (something nobody wants) and using a genetically engineered yeast strain to turn it into fuel. Not so far-fetched when you recognize that people have been doing this with corn and sugar cane stalks for a while now. Terra’s innovation is to engineer a strain of yeast that makes use of something we wanted to get rid of anyway – trash. Here’s the Science News version - Seaweed Fuels Bioenergy Optimism developed at a company in Berkeley. Hey, cool! That’s where Terra started out in SYNAPSE, and where I did my own gene jockey work once upon a time. So Anyway, a company in Berkeley has genetically engineered a strain of E. Coli bacteria to be able to do the same thing Terra did, only with seaweed where Terra used trash. The cool thing about using seaweed instead of corn, for example, is you don’t have to waste fresh water, or farmland. You don’t have to pour a bunch of potentially polluting fertilizers or weed killers out there. And you aren’t going to be running a bunch of diesel-guzzling, smog-spewing tractors back and forth over the piece of ocean where the seaweed grows. Now why didn’t Terra think of that? Next time! If she gets her brilliant brain back. You might want to read SYNAPSE and see.  Here’s the second ABNA (Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award) review for my YA novel, Synapse. It’s not quite as glowing as the ABNA Review I posted earlier, but it was enough to push me into the quarterfinals, so no complaints. Interestingly, this reviewer seems quite comfortable with this as a Young Adult novel. ABNA Expert Reviewer What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt? The author uses a combination of styles through the different perspectives (stories) that should broaden the audience quite a bit. Based on the summary, the multiple perspectives start wide and far and come together as the story progresses. It's usually fun to see how the perspectives cross into each other and complete the primary story. In addition, the theme is quite original. A bit of medical drama, scifi, and thriller all rolled into one. The excerpt is a strong introduction to the characters. You feel Jake's angst for his brother's situation and his parents' handling of it. Amnesia's verse-like intro gives her a tough vibe, but something more is lurking within. And Terra seems to have a lot going for her. What aspect needs the most work? I was not hooked by the excerpt. While it is well written, it leaves me with little urge to continue on. The excerpt is a just an intro of characters, but the summary ensures that more is coming. The excerpt on its own didn't make that clear. What is your overall opinion of this excerpt? All in all, the excerpt is well done. Grammar, dialogue, character introductions, and engagement of emotions (characters and reader) are all great. I wish there was more of a hook leading into the character development. Possibly a quick snapshot from the future of the story - then rewind and have us engaging in character development. I think the target audience is well-thought out and fits.  If you think I'm excited about Synapse making the ABNA quarterfinals, just take a look at one of the reviews it got! No, it's not written by my mother. A real honest to goodness stranger wrote that. I could kiss him/her! ABNA Expert Reviewer: What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt? This story is extremely compelling. Not only do I like the storyline, but I like the style....a story from three perspectives (a boy who lost his twin....not completely lost but his twin has brain damage); a doctor who studies garbage for a living (and who appears to be recruited for other nepharious things) and a psychopath, although developmentally slow girl with the name Amnesia. Seeing how their lives intersect would be a delightful read. The fact that there may be a scientific dilemma concerning these characters makes it even more compelling. Ultimately I think issues concerning humanity & science will collide in this spellbinding tale. What aspect needs the most work? I don't think that there is any portion of this work that needs improvement. The story evokes several emotions in the reader.....nostalgic; compassion and frustration. The writing seemed effortless and the story flowed from the paper into the mind of the reader in vivid color. The only thing that I would probably change would be the target audience. I believe that this would sell under general fiction. While the main character, Jake started off as a young boy, eight or nine years have passed, clearly making him a young man. Unless there is a specific reason to market this as a young adult novel, I would probably consider changing it. What is your overall opinion of this excerpt? Overall, I think this was one of the best submissions that I have critiqued in terms of overall appeal and style. This story had everything that I would look for in a thriller, sci fi, story. There were appealing characters and a mesmirizing plot (I for one wanted more to see what would happen) all told from different perspectives. I liked that the author basically asked the question: (1) how does a family continue on after a tragedy; (2) how does a twin, who always felt inferior feel once that rivalry is gone; (3) what ethical questions arise out of certain medical experiments; and finally (4) what is a person willing to risk to get a loved one back as well as what is someone willing to do to achieve greatness. I definitely wanted to read more and would purchase this as a full novel. Especially to find out the fates of the characters, Amnesia and Jake for sure. Bravo.  Last Wednesday was a sad day out here at the Baertlein residence. After a weeklong struggle with pancreatitis (or something) we had to say goodbye to our wonderful Australian cattle dog. His body gave out on him and all the brilliant vets in our world could not save him. Axl came to us five years ago as a stray. He was quirky and a bit scary until you got to know him. The crazy mutt growled when you petted him! But we eventually figured out that he thought he was purring. If he was really happy he would flop over on his back, offering up his belly for a scratch, all the while snarling and baring his teeth. (He never bit a soul, by the way.) I always wondered how he came to be standing by the side of the road near our home, sore-footed and covered with ticks, but not scrawny. He was good at capturing small creatures for supper and ate moths by the bucket load, so there’s no telling how long he might have survived on his own camped out by the stream before I came along and invited him for a car ride. In the days when we were putting up posters to find his owners, we became more and more attached. He followed us around so closely his nose bumped our calves, and we couldn’t help but wonder if he was worried he’d be abandoned again. By the time the two weeks grace period we’d given the owners to answer our ads and posters had run out, we were all relieved he was still with us. We quickly had him neutered and microchipped . . . and learned on drives to the vet that he was prone to motion sickness. Maybe someone pushed him out of the car after one too many pukes on that twisty road. He seemed well trained, and came every time he was called even before he had a name. He borrowed our other dog’s name for a while until he got his own, racing to get there first when we called her. She was not so obedient, so it wasn’t much of a race. It took us a few months more to figure out he was epileptic. But that was easily kept in check by a few measly pills each day. No reason to toss such a good dog into the wilderness. He was loving and energetic, and so smart we started talking about going for a “KLAW” instead of a “WALK” so he wouldn’t get too excited before we managed to get out the door. Axl seemed so strong and resilient that I took for granted that he would be with us a good long time. Fate had other plans. I will miss him forever.  Yes, yes, I know. Synapse and 999 other YA novels, but it's a step forward! It feels a bit like blossoms in the snow, just like the daffodils outside my wee cabin today. Congrats to us all! | AuthorI write software by day and stories by night, a combo made even odder by the fact that I started my adult life as a marine biologist/geneticist. Subscribe
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