Drawing in Church ...

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The above picture is one I drew in church last week.  My whole life, I've drawn in church.  My father was a pastor when I was growing up, and my mum understood that drawing can help right-brained people concentrate.[1. My mum never wore the "pastor's wife" hat too comfortably. More than once she was confronted by ladies in the congregation for wearing too much black.]  And so every Sunday, when my father started his sermon, she would pull a box of art supplies from her purse so the two of us could draw.

Drawing can have a powerful meditative effect.  My mother's work -- which she affectionately refers to as her "knittings" -- elevates this idea to a new level.  Each painting represents hundreds of hours of meticulous, repetitive mark-making to build textures.  All of these large-scale paintings began as tiny "knittings" worked out in small notebooks, sometimes in church.

 

 

I recently discovered another artist who draws in church.  Abrams illustrator John Hendrix has an entire section of his website devoted to drawings he's done while sitting through sermons.  I'll let him explain:

"Drawing in my sketchbook is the very best part of my work. I love it because it is linear improvisation. Much like jazz, it is unpredictable, exciting and unfiltered. Often with very good and very bad results. I attend church every Sunday, and I draw during the sermon. All of these pages were done in a pew (though I don't bring my watercolors with me- that waits till I get home). Simultaneous drawing and listening transforms familiar language into something new- a feedback loop of symbols, theology and wonder."

John's work puts me to shame.  Behold:

 

I think this sort of meditative drawing extends beyond the pews.[2. Just to be clear, the sermon I heard this week had nothing to do with baseball or monsters ... though part of me wishes it had.]  When I got to college, I started drawing in journals while I listened to lectures.  A lot of the pictures were mnemonic devices related to the lecture, others were the germs of what would later become stories.   (I still remember the afternoon in graduate school when I found myself sketching a certain blind thief!) 

College also happens to be when I started to become a better student -- my grades went up, and I started to take a more active role in what I was learning.  I don't think that's a coincidence.  I can't help but wonder whether there are kids out there struggling with school who might be helped by being given a box of art supplies?

GIVEAWAY PART II: Bigger, Badder, Givier!

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Hello readers!  I'm excited to announce phase two of the Peter Nimble giveaway![1. For the curious, there is a phase three and the prize is A-W-E-S-O-M-E!]  This time around, I'm giving away five prizes! 

Each winner will receive a Peter Nimble galley as well as a rad Peter Nimble t-shirt!  These shirts were designed with the help of Nick Caruso from Campfire Goods and will be printed on American Apparel 50/50 tees.  While I was up in Canada, I got the neighbour kid to model a shirt for the site:

 

Nifty, right?[2. The shirts are currently being printed, which is why I couldn't show a real photo. Just to be clear: actual t-shirts will not come with Justin Beiber inside them. Sorry ladies.]  To enter, just do THREE simple things:

1)  Like my Facebook author page or add me to your circle on Google+

2)  Follow me on Twitter

3)  Spread the word by re-tweeting this message

If you want to read the first chapter of the book, mosey on over here.  I've also listed a few reviews here.  Now get Tweeting before I sick the Beibster on you![3. A few rules: Each person will only be entered once. US and Canadian applicants only. The contest will end at Midnight PST, July 31. Winner will be selected by randomizer and notified by direct message.]

THE GIVING TREE: A Picture Book Without a Hero

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Few picture books seem to be so divisive as Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. [1. The movie Blue Valentine contains a charmingly direct critique of the book, which you can read about here. Also a nice article on Silverstein's unlikely rise to kidlit stardom here.] While the book has no shortage of fans, many other people protest how the story sentimentalizes (and promotes) a one-way relationship in which a Tree gives and gives and gives without ever getting so much as a “thank you” from the capricious, selfish boy.

This criticism puts me in a mind of one other great doormat in literary history: William Dobbin from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.[2. Mary and I have long hoped to one day name a dog “Dobbin” … it is a good name for a loyal friend. (Also, for the curious, the title of this post is a reference to Vanity Fair’s subtitle: “A Novel Without a Hero”.] In a nutshell, Dobbin is a sweet, loyal soldier in love with the vapid-but-beautiful Amelia Sedley. Dobbin spends much of the book as Amelia’s friend, caretaker, and confidant -- putting up with an endless stream of abuse in the process. At first a reader admires Dobbin’s loyalty and firm character, but slowly we start to get the feeling that we are not watching a hero, but a chump.

One of the most shocking (and delightful!) moments in the book comes late when Amelia -- who has since fallen on hard times -- finally condescends to accept Dobbin’s oft-repeated proposal of marriage. And that’s when something wonderful happens: Dobbin rejects her! He finally shows some self-respect and demands a woman who actually appreciates him for who he is. Awesome.

Unlike Vanity Fair, The Giving Tree does not have this satisfying reversal -- at no point does the Tree stand up for herself. Instead she continues to be exploited and (the narrator would have us believe) continues to be “happy”.

What could Shel Silverstein have been thinking?

I’ve recently been spending a bit of time with the book, and I think I’ve found some things in the text that actually complicate the offensive “doormat reading”. Let’s dive in …

2) WHAT KIND OF LOVE? An essential assumption of the doormat-reading is that the book's relationship is meant to be an allegory for romantic love.[4. This is a moment where CS Lewis' exploration of The Four Loves becomes very helpful in articulating such differences. I would argue that Giving Tree haters assume it is a story of "eros" love, whereas defenders see the book as a portrait of "agape" love -- the love that transpires between God and mankind.] However, there are clues in the book that indicate that the dynamic is much closer to parent/child than girl/boy. Consider the fact that the boy moves from child to old man, while the tree essentially stays in a fixed state, always older and wiser. Consider the fact that the Tree shows no jealousy or feelings of betrayal when the boy courts a girl under her eaves. Consider the fact that at every stage, the boy comes to the tree as a provider, rather than a romantic companion. I don’t know why, exactly, but I am much more comfortable with the doormat reading when it is taken out of a romantic setting. No matter what happens, the parent in a parent-child relationship always maintains a degree of dignity and power.

1) "BUT NOT REALLY" Every scene in The Giving Tree ends with a refrain: "And the Tree was happy." Some readers see this phrase as a tacit endorsement of the relationship -- and the boy’s terrible behavior. This, however, assumes that the author is being completely straightforward with the word “happy.” Wouldn’t it be nice if Shel Silverstein found a way to indicate that the refrain “And the Tree was happy” was, in fact, ironic? Lucky for us, he does just that! Right before the final scene, Silverstein adds a twist: “And the Tree was happy … but not really.” Of course this does not instantly negate all of the Tree’s aforementioned happiness, but it does point to the fact that the author understands the difference between declaring oneself happy and actually being happy.

3) "I AM VERY TIRED" I have long maintained that an author cannot hide from his ending: the final scene of every story works as a key with which the reader can unlock and interpret every scene before it. Throughout much of The Giving Tree, it does indeed seem as though Silverstein is sentimentalizing a doormat relationship. The end, however, tells a different story. In the final scene the boy returns to the Tree one last time, now old and decrepit. He is made to remember all the things that he has taken from the tree, each one more humiliating than the last ("My teeth are too weak for apples," "I am too tired to climb," etc.). While he does not openly apologize for his past behavior, I do think that some sense of remorse is implicit in his tone.[4. You will notice that this is the only scene in the book in which he does not directly ask for anything from the tree. Perhaps because he is too ashamed?]

* * *

I suspect the one thing missing for people are the actual words "I'm sorry." The old man may be sad and humiliated, but he is not repentant in a way that we wish he were. To this I would answer that an overt apology would undermine the entire book. The point of unconditional love is that it has no conditions.

Of course, we will never know what Uncle Shelby meant to say in his book. However, I tend to believe that if there are two valid readings of a text -- one of which makes the book awful, and the other makes it better -- we would be best served to grab hold of the reading that lets us enjoy the book. Call it an Occam's Razor of Interpretation.

 

We Have a Winner!

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The tweets are in from the first Peter Nimble giveway! I used a random number picker to determine the winner ... Zoe Rain Dasher Benji!

Congrats! Judging from the name, I'm pretty sure Zoe is a Jedi knight. You can learn more about her at her website, where she posts reviews and runs giveaways of upcoming YA books! Enjoy your copy of Peter Nimble, Zoe ... and thank you to everyone for participating!

* * *

Right now, the awesome folks at Penguin Canada have me hanging out with booksellers in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia.[1. I even got to meet the folks from Canadian trade publication Quill & Quire who gave Peter Nimble a wonderful writeup last week!]

Speaking of spreading the word, everyone should check out what Librarians Mr. Schu and Donna are up to on their annual road trip across the country. They stop along the way reading books at various attractions.[2. I think the official selections are Frankie Pickle and Owly ... I can hardly imagine better traveling companions!] Here's John Schu reading Peter Nimble at what seems to be a restaurant run by a serial killer -->

Later in the week, I'll announce another (EVEN BIGGER) giveaway! Stay tuned!

Advance Reviews and--OMG FREE BOOK!!!

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When I was at ALA, I spoke with a number of different writers about what I should expect as I approach publication.  Invariably, the conversation would turn to one dreaded question: "Have you seen any reviews yet?"  This was always asked gently, in the same tone one might use to inquire whether a friend has any living grandparents.  

Every time, I gave people the same reply:  "Ask Mary." 

The thing you should know is that writers are famously sensitive to reviews.  Even a rave review with a single itty-bitty criticism lodged in the middle can feel like a crushing blow.  Most every author I know has a few "funny" stories about when they went over the edge, obsessing over stupid Amazon/Goodreads/Bookscan rankings until they had a nervous breakdown.[1. You doubt me? I dare you to google "author meltdown." Prepare to cringe.]

For that reason, Mary and I decided a few months back that I wouldn't read reviews.  Not a single one.  Instead she would read them and then tell me what they said.  She doesn't omit the bad stuff, but she does make a point of framing the criticisms (of which there have been mercifully few) in terms of things I might want to remember when a embark on a new project.  Because the fact is, Peter Nimble has already been written, and there's no real use in obsessing over a manuscript that I can't change.

That said, Peter Nimble reviews do exist -- and, frankly, they are pretty freaking awesome!  Here are a few highlights:

"What begins Dickensian turns Tolkien-esque in this quest replete with magic and mystery.... Auxier has a juggler’s dexterity with prose that makes this fantastical tale quicken the senses" - Kirkus Reviews

"Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes is both a pull-no-punches adventure with the darkness of the most authentic fairy tales, and a whimsical romp in a fictional world where anything is possible ... The book’s quirky nature, distinctive plot, and fresh themes will draw young readers in and spark their imaginations, earning it a place on the shelf for re-readings." - Quill & Quire Magazine

"the fast-paced, episodic story, accompanied by Auxier's occasional pen-and-ink drawings, is inventive, unpredictable, and -- like its hero -- nimble." - Publisher's Weekly

"When the book ended, I was not only left with the satisfaction a great story brings, but with the idea that each one of us is important and can make a difference in the world.... Indeed, this is a book that could quite possibly steal The Newbery right out from under all of the other books I have read so far this year." - The Lemme Library

"What is the most telling difference between works of children’s literature written long ago and those written today? I’ll answer for myself: Tone. The tone of a book like Wind in the Willows or The Secret Garden is difficult to replicate. What Peter Nimble manages to do is create a tone akin to those books of yore.... Kids will stay with Peter every step of the way. It’s like something you’ve seen before and nothing you’ve ever read." - School Library Journal (Fuse #8)

Now doesn't that sound like a book you want to read? 

Here's the good news: even if you missed ALA, there's still a chance to win a copy of the book before it hits shelves!  I'm giving away a copy of Peter Nimble & His Fantastic Eyes right here!  To enter, follow these two easy steps:

1) Follow me on Twitter!

2) Retweet this link!

That's it![2. A few rules: Each person will only be entered once. The contest will end at 12pm EST on Monday, July 11. Winner will be selected by a randomizer and notified by Direct Message.]  You really have no excuse not to enter!  And plus, don't you remember all the great things those reviewer people said about the book?!  Now get Tweeting!

SEVEN LITTLE AUSTRALIANS Quote #1

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How's this for an opening line?

"Before you fairly start this story I should like to give you just a word of warning.  If you imagine you are going to read of model children, with perhaps; a naughtily inclined one to point a moral, you had better lay down the book immediately ... Not one of the seven is really good, for the very excellent reason that Australian children never are."

- Ethel Turner, Seven Little Australians

 

Toward a Definition of Children's Literature

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This morning I read an engaging rant on a topic close to my heart:  Whither the children's book?[1. thanks to Fuse #8 for pointing me to the story!]  The post came from Australian Judith Ridge's excellent book blog, Misrule.  "Misrule" is the name of a cluttered, sprawling home (think Von Trapp family crossed with the Lost Boys) in Ethel Turner's Australian classic Seven Little Australians.[2. Seven Little Australians is a delightful book that, along with The Paper Bag Princess (Canada) and The Wonderful Adventure of Nils (Sweden), seems to have been relegated to "local favorite" rather than part of the larger international canon.  This is a pity.] Mary and I have, in fact, long dreamed of one day christening our own home "Misrule" and then filling it with lots of ill-mannered children.

Ridge's post bemoans what she sees as a trend in the book industry of labeling books written for children as "Young Adult" ... some even going so far as to call chapter books "Young Young Adult."  This is obviously a market-directed phenomenon, and thus something that will pass after a few more YA movies flop at the box office[3. Note how Cowboys vs. Aliens and The Walking Dead are not being touted as a comic book adaptations -- quite the change from five years ago when everything was boasting its comic creds.]

Of course, this new trend begs an old question:  what is children's literature? It's a slippery question because for every rule you put down (Rule #1: "Children's Books Feature Child Protagonists"), you can find an adult book featuring the same trait.

After many years of wrestling with this definition, I came across one trait that might actually apply to every children's book ... and is virtually antithetical to adult literature.  It is something my wife (who studies Victorian children's literature) learned while working with children's literature scholar June Cummins.  Are you ready?

children's literature assumes a teachable audience

This is not limited to books with obvious morals.  Nor does it specify that this "teachable audience" must be a literal child.  Rather, it specifies a tone in which the author is speaking to a reader who is still unformed in his/her opinions.

I understand that this is an infuriatingly-vague definition.  It's akin to "defining" comedy as being anything that's funny.  But unlike the a posteriori checklists obsessed with reading level and plot specifics, Cummins' definition is both parsimonious consilient.[4. Which my freshman geology course instructed me was essential for any good scientific theory! Go college!]

What really excites me about this definition is that it might also be applied to YA books ... and it goes a long way toward explaining why some Young Adult titles feel like adult books and others feel like children's books.

Born on the Fourth of July!

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Today is the birthday of America!  Also my wife!  Last year I found an old bicycle and re-painted it for her.  As everyone knows, bicycles need names.  Mine is "Danny the Champion of the World".  I named Mary's after one of her favorite Dickens' characters:  "Little Dorrit".

I leave you all with a patriotic quote from children's author and all-round smartypants, EB White:[1. Thanks to Cheryl Klein for the quotes]

"Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time."

And while we're at it, something from Mark Twain:

"God created war so that Americans would learn geography."

I might add that this is also why God created Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Do it, Rockapella!

Lewis Carroll and Portmanteaus ...

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I recently stumbled across commenter Lisa's new word blog This Wretched Hive.[1. The title of Lisa's blog makes me think all blogs should be named after things Obi Wan said.]   Lisa writes smart, succinct posts about words old and new.  One of my favorite pieces discusses portmanteaus.  Portmanteaus are words that combine two different words to make something new:  televangelist, spork, interrobang, etc.

I love portmanteaus because when done well, they brush up against word play.  In fact, without that element, portmanteaus pretty much fail.  Consider the example Lisa discovered in her grocery store:

"Portmanteau" is actually a French word for an upright trunk that has dresser-like compartments in one half and a hanging closet in the other.[2. I find a beautiful irony in the fact that the word portmanteau is a portmanteau -- being a combination of "porter" (to carry) and "manteau" (cloak).]  I first discovered the word as a child when I read Lewis Carroll's introduction to "The Hunting of the Snark."  He observes:

Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all.  For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious".  Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first ... if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say "frumious".

Carroll is referring to something Humpty Dumpty says in Alice in Wonderland[3. "You see it's like a portmanteau -- there are two meanings packed up into one word."] in order to explain how a reader might be able to decode the made-up words in his famous nonsense poem, "The Jabberwocky."

A few years later, while scouring footnotes in Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice (which I read nightly for over a decade), I discovered that Alice in Wonderland was actually the first time portmanteau was used in this linguistic sense.  Way to be awesome, Lewis Carroll!

 

 

Five Things I Learned at ALA

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After a brief and incredibly productive hiatus, I'm back in blogger mode![1. While I cannot promise that I will never take breaks from blogging, I can promise that I will only take breaks in order to write new books for you to read -- as was the case this month.]  This last week was an exciting one, as it officially marked the debut of Peter Nimble. Well, pre debut.

Every year the American Library Association holds an annual conference wherein a million librarians descend on an unsuspecting town.[2. I think the actual number was something under 30,000.  But still, that's a lot of ladies in glasses.  For a video-look at the weekend, check out Travis Jonker's post here.]  A post about ALA is basically a post about hanging out with amazing authors, librarians, editors, and illustrators.  Instead of name-checking all the swell people I spent time with (save that for Twitter), I've decided to write a post about the five things I learned from my time at ALA:

1)  Always Wear a Name Tag

For many years, I have considered myself too cool for name tags.  In the same way that I refuse to run across busy streets (why run when you can walk slow and scowl?), I also refused to wear name tags.  This changed at ALA.  As I was about to pocket my name tag, a woman beside me saw it and exclaimed "You're taller than I thought you'd be!"[3. I get this a lot.  Apparently I look short in my headshot.]  This woman was author Jo Whittemore, and she promptly introduced me to the Texas Sweethearts author clan.  Within seconds, I was on my way to lunch with a half-dozen YA novelists who had plenty of good advice for a nervous newbie.  That never would have happened without the name tag.

I also noticed that wearing a name tag seems to improve conversation.  I forgot to wear it to a few events, and those were the same events where small talk stayed small -- never really moving beyond "Where are you from?" and "Oh, the humidity!"   I realize now that the purpose of a name tag isn't to help identify yourself on a handshake, but to help five minutes after the handshake.  It allows the person talking to you to casually glance down and remind themselves who you are ... and the less time they spend thinking "What's his name again?" the more time they can spend actually having a real conversation.

 

2)  Ugly Ducklings Abound

I had a chance to to talk with a number of authors and illustrators about how their careers started.  More than a few of them had published in obscurity for years before hitting it big.  Some were trapped on the midlist.  Others had their aquiring editors change jobs, leaving their books orphaned at the house.   A few were even dropped outright.  This really hit home when I heard Brian Selznick talking with Horn Book editor Roger Sutton.  He alluded to a frustrating period during which he could only get hired to draw biographies of dead presidents.  From that dark period came Hugo Cabret -- a book that changed both his career and (arguably) children's literature.  This was but one of probably a dozen stories I heard with the same trajectory.

This is a good reminder for me as I'm about to send a book I love out into the world.  This industry can be a real crap shoot.  Sometimes great books can fall through the cracks.  Sometimes terrible books are huge hits.  The key thing for a writer is to keep believing that the greatest story they will ever tell has yet to be written.

3)  Stay Humble

Related to the above lesson, I noticed how much of an impression it makes when a successful author hasn't  lost sight of the fact that they were once merely aspiring.  This lesson was perfectly illustrated when I had the privilege of eating dinner with Abrams authors Tom Angleberger and Jeff Kinney.[4. Tom's kindness to me on this trip cannot be understated -- he is truly a Gentleman among men.]  Jeff is a HUGE author.  He's pretty much ruled the publishing industry for the last few years.  When he met both Tom and I, he asked us the same question:  "What was it like when you got the call saying you were going to be published?"  It was clearly a go-to question for him, and one that speaks to his character.  For him to ask other authors about "the call" not only graciously indicates that he considers us his peers, but also acts as a reminder that all the Wimpy Kid success he's enjoyed is actually just gravy.  The dream-come-true part of his life has nothing to do with bestseller lists, merchandising, or feature films ... it is simply that he got to be published at all.

4) Don't Tell Lauren Myracle Anything

One night at a party, a woman with whom I had been chatting mentioned that she thought I resembled Seth Rogen -- not the most flattering comparison I've ever gotten.[5. For the record, the most flattering comparison I've gotten is "they guy who plays Darth Maul" ... which I've gotten repeatedly.]   Even worse, my wife hates Seth Rogen, and she often uses his name as a sort of shorthand to describe all that is wrong with mankind.  I mentioned this unfortunate comparison to YA author Lauren Myracle at the Newbery Banquet.  Lauren is not one to pass up this sort of information (by "this sort of information," I mean information that will allow her to mock you), and she promptly brought it up to the whole table -- at which point I was forced to sit through a serious debate over whether or not the comparison was apt.  Then she started bringing other people into the mix.  For the rest of the night, I had strangers coming up to tell me I looked like this actor.  The highlight was when an older librarian tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was "Steph Rogaine" ...

I have a henceforth enacted a "Don't tell Lauren Myracle anything" policy;  I would advise you all to do the same.

5) Librarians Love Free Crap

This weekend marked my first ever Peter Nimble signing event!  Before the big night,  a few experienced authors warned me that signings for debut authors can be humbling -- nobody knows you, so why would they want to wait in a line to talk? This is probably true, but none of these authors knew that my publisher had armed me with a secret weapon:  free crap!

The above picture is of the special eyeball tote that Abrams was giving away with copies of Peter Nimble.  Within about thirty seconds of the doors opening, I had a line around the corner  -- all eager to get a bag.  Here is a picture of my first ever signature for librarian and blogger @Jenbigheart:

The second day was even better, and we ran out of ARCs after 20 minutes!  Even after the books were gone, people were running up to the booth asking about the eyeball bags.

 

Never again will I doubt the power of SWAG.  Speaking of, for those of you who missed out on scoring a free copy of the book, know that I will be doing a ton of Peter Nimble giveaways this month, so stay posted!

Pashminas and Pipes ...

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The above picture is a mulberry tree I drew for my cousin Sarah's wedding invitations.  The wedding itself was a wonderful, magical event -- unlike any I had ever attended.  All those who plan on inviting me a wedding in the future, please take careful notes:

- They fed us barbecue cooked over an old chuck wagon

- They filled the grounds with tiny fire pits and dusty wingback chairs

- The Ring-bearer came down on a zip-line, wearing a Jedi robe

Even better were the gifts for guests.  Women were all given pashmina shawls to keep warm into the night.  Men were each given a handmade tobacco pouch and new pipe.  Being a master of the Pretentious Arts, I was asked to draw instructions on how to pack and light a pipe:

Congratulations, Sarah and Jake.  You kids deserve every happiness.

Harry, Neo, and Prophecy Stories

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Well, I'm supposed to be furiously working on a new script right now ... but I hated the idea of not following up on this particular topic.  Last week I wrote a piece that compared rolling the dice in a board game with authorial intervention in a plot.  The comments that followed were lively and engaging.  One early remark (by friend and K-Blogger Robosoyo) went off on an interesting tangent:

I’ll be honest: this is why I was disappointed by the last two, and especially the very last Harry Potter book.  Because by book 4, Harry’s luck should have run out, and his own skill/inventiveness/wit should have been the thing saving him.  Instead, Who He Was got him all the way to defeating Voldemort, rather than What He Learned.  The end of book 7 and the git still only knew about five spells, two of which were “Authorio Intrusio” (accio and apparating).[1. This is actually an abridged version of a much more in-depth rant Rob published a few years back on his own blog, which is worth a read provided you can accept the premise that Tolkein is a great writer.]

He makes some good points ("authorio intrusio" is truly inspired), and several commenters voiced their support.  I get it; everyone hates lazy prophecies.  However, I cringe to think that just because a story contains a prophecy it must be obligated to subvert it.  Rowling is a smart writer, and she went out of her way to make it clear that Harry Potter would never be the most skilled/smart/witty of his friends ... I have to think that that was intentional.  Maybe it even has something to do with the point of the whole series?

This question sparked an off-blog conversation about "prophecy stories."  As I see it, prophecy stories contain unexceptional protagonists who have been selected as The One.  Why have they been selected as The One?  Well, that's sort of the point:  they've done nothing to deserve the title; it is thrust upon them and the central question of the story is "Will they live up to it?"  In our current world, which places great emphasis on personal merit and individual choice, this concept may seem completely unrealistic -- but remember that for thousands of years people lived in a world where a baby could become a king by virtue of bloodline, and another baby could be born into slavery for similarly arbitrary reasons.  In that older world, the idea of being The One might actually speak very directly to the human experience.

In fact, I would argue that "older world" is a key distinction here.  Prophecy stories almost all take place in ancient worlds (even high tech sci-fi stories Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica occurred long ago in galaxies far away).  This is different from our current age.  Nowadays we crave stories about characters who shape their own destiny.  We want to believe that individual choice and personal merit are the most important determinants of success.[2. I can't say for sure, but I suspect this storytelling sea-change has something to do with the Enlightenment, the Protestant Reformation, and Shakespeare.]  While true to an extent, it is occasionally very untrue.  Just ask the victims of a natural disaster.

The world is a big place, and there is plenty of room for both kinds of stories.   The problems start when authors try to have it both ways.  That's usually the point when readers start to revolt.  Any time I see a story about a hero with superpowers (personal merit) who also was predicted by The Ancients (destiny), I start to get nervous.  It means that no matter how the story ends, it will betray one of its central metaphors.[3. This idea has been stolen directly from Matt Bird's excellent blog post on the subject.]

What happens when authors betray their metaphor?  Well, consider the Matrix trilogy.  Everyone loved the first movie and hated its sequils.  Why?  some people claimed they were too confusing, but so was the original.  Some claim it had too many pointless special effects, to which I ask Why did they feel pointless? Looking back over what happened in that series, I suspect that one of the central problems is that the story transitioned from one of choice to one of destiny.  The first movie is all about Neo choosing to become a hero (as exemplified by the red-pill/blue-pill scene).  The later installments, however, take pains to reveal that Neo has never really been in control of his own destiny -- that everything he's ever done has been part of a plan.  This is a literal slap in the face for the audience, as it's telling us that we (along with Neo) were fools for ever caring about which pill he chose.  Ha ha.  Joke's on us.

So how does this tie back to Harry Potter?  Well, I would argue that just as The Matrix began with the premise of choice, the Harry Potter books built their foundation on prophecy.  Baby Harry defeated Voldemort not by his actions, but simply by being The One.   In the end, [SPOILER ALERT] he defeats Voldemort in the very same way -- and, to me, any other outcome wouldn't have felt half so magical.

THREE MEN IN A TUB Quote #1

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"We had knocked those three old gentlemen off their chairs ... and they were now slowly and painfully sorting themselves out from each other, and picking fish off themselves; and as they worked, they cursed us -- not with a common cursory curse, but with long, carefully-thought-out curses that embraced the whole of our career, and went away into the distant future, and included all our relations, and covered everything connected with us -- good, substantial curses."

Jerome K Jerome
Three Men in a Tub, ch XII

AFTERWORDS: Fridays are for Suckers ...

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So I think it's time for another roundup of links.  Most people post these sorts of things on Fridays, but I am way too cool for that.  Let's get to it ...

LINKS!

This last week marked the Book Expo of America in New York City.  But for those who could not attend, there was the Armchair Bea -- a big ol' blogging event where tons of people talked about books, blogging, participated in giveaways and were generally awesome. The last day included some nice pieces about book blogging.

 

 

On the topic of BEA, Peter Nimble made its debut there!  A few friends snapped photos of the book in my absence.  Thanks to Lisa Yee, Michael Scotto, Frank  Polito, Mercedes Fernandez, and everyone else who picked up a copy.  Hope you enjoy!  If you missed it, no fear, both Peter and I will be attending ALA this summer in full force!

 

I don't read many Young Adult (YA) blogs, but recently I've been enjoying Stephanie Sinkhorn's site Maybe Genius.  She does a great job of tackling big themes in the genre, such as Cliches of YA Fantasy or Using Named Characters Well.  Check it out.

 

 

A few weeks back I found The House of Automata -- an online repository of all things clockwork.  They have a workshop dedicated to pieces they're restoring, as well as some fantastic videos.  Even better, you can commission custom jobs from them.

 

If that's too expensive, perhaps you'd prefer to assemble your own time machine from Ikea. The folks at College Humor have created Ikea-style instructions for a variety of sci-fi treasures ... including a Jedi "Litsabbur" and the "Tjardiis." All you need is some plutonium and a hex-wrench and you're set!

 

 

Marginalia!

Mary and I recently finished reading Adam Gidwitz' A Tale Dark and Grimm aloud to each other.  Readers of the blog will know I am a big fan of his dedication.  As it turns out, I'm also a big fan of his book.  Here are some choice quotes ...

A nice bit of narrative intrusion: “Now, my young readers, I know just what you’re thinking. You’re thinking,Hmmmm. Stealing a girl. That’s an interesting way of winning her heart. Allow me to warn you now that, under any other circumstances, stealing a girl is about the worst way of winning her heart you could possibly cook up. But because this happened long ago, in a faraway land, it seems to have worked.”

A paragraph I wish I'd written: “But she wasn’t a witch. The Brothers Grimm call her a witch, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact she was just a regular woman who had discovered, sometime around the birth of her second child, that while she liked chicken and she liked beef and she liked pork, what she really liked was child.I bet you can figure out how this happened. ”

Some lovely description: “…the little village that stood near the Schwarzwald was not dark at all. No, no: It was ringed by trees that, when Gretel arrived, had just slipped into their golden robes of autumn.”

What do you eat for breakfast?: “The next morning, the Devil arose and readied himself for another day of soul-collecting. His grandmother made him a breakfast of human fingernails — scrambled, of course — and packed up his lunch bag.”

About false apologies: “This I would not recommend. It’s sort of like sweeping broken glass under the carpet; the floor still isn’t clean, and somebody’s going to end up with a bloody sock.”

Again, jealous: “Of course, getting trapped in the stomach of a dragon is, even for a creature that cannot die, an incredibly unpleasant experience…. Though not quite as unpleasant, I would imagine, as getting out again.”

Some final wisdom: "You see, to find the brightest wisdom one must pass through the darkest zones. And through the darkest zones there can be no guide."

Now doesn't that make you want to run out and buy the book?  It should.  Also, the comments thread in last week's piece about Boardgames and Storytelling has sparked not one, but two new posts coming this week.  Stay tuned!

Wood Ports and Good Plots ...

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This last week, the Auxier family descended on Southern California for a wedding.  One of the things we like to do is play board games.[1. This is an understatement: Mary was not allowed to marry into the family until she could hold her own in whist.]  One of our favorite games as of late is Settlers of Catan.

For the uninitiated, Settlers of Catan is a "German style" board game that involves building towns and cities on an island -- sort of a pre-industrial Monopoly that works on bartering rather than bank accounts.  Settlers has helped usher in a golden age of board gaming, supplanting classics like Risk and Diplomacy as the favorite Friday night activity of nerdy boys in AP History.[2. Or IB History, as was the case for this particular nerdy boy.]

In fact, Risk is something I've used more than once to explain Settlers to newcomers.  Both games involve a map, cards, and anxious rounds of placing armies/towns on unclaimed real estate.  There is, however, one key difference between Settlers of Catan and Risk:  I hate Risk.

Risk is Candy Land in wingtips and a smoking jacket -- a game of luck pretending to be a game of skill.  “But how can you say that Jonathan?” you protest.  “Risk involves military strategy! and sacrifice! and cannons!”  Perhaps, but the fact is that when all is said and done, the dice are king.  You could be Napoleon Bonaparte facing off against Gomer Pyle, but if you’re rolling bad dice, you’re going to lose.

Of course, luck is not in and of itself a bad thing.  Pretty much every good board game includes a little bit of chaos to confound best-laid plans.[3. Except for chess, of course, which might explain its standing as a legitimate sport.]  Settlers makes heavy use of dice and random card drawing -- so why doesn’t it inspire the same frustrations as Risk?

This weekend I spent a lot of time thinking about the relationship between luck and strategy in these two games in the hope of figuring out how they differ … and I think I figured out an answer!

First let’s look at how luck and strategy work in Risk:  a player’s turn begins with fortifying his/her countries with armies (skill); then they maneuver those armies to attack their enemies (skill); then they roll the dice to see if their attacks were successful (luck).

And now Settlers of Catan:  a player starts his/her turn by rolling a dice, which determines how many resources they acquire (luck), then they barter with other players for the things they need (skill), and then they spend the resources to expand their empire (skill).

So, in Risk, people make plans and then luck determines the outcome; but in Settlers, luck initiates the action and then players must react.   When I broke it down like that, I began to wonder whether the key to a board game being fun for me was in the sequence of luck and strategy.  Whist, Canasta, Cribbage, Scrabble, Scatergories … in all these games the biggest piece of luck comes at the beginning rather than the end of play.

So what does this have to do with The Scop?

Well, the more I thought about my luck/strategy preference, the more I thought it could be applied to more than just board games.  I like the idea that humans have a chance to react to the things we can’t control.  Consider, for example, how luck interacts with stories.  In all my favorite books/movies/plays, some unpredictable event (luck) thrusts a hero into the middle of a plot in which he must react (strategy).

In fact, this idea of keeping your biggest piece of luck at the top of the story is pretty well documented in the writing world.[4. “luck” in this case being defined as a plot event that the main characters have no control over.]  When it happens at the beginning, we call it an “inciting incident.”  But when writers save their biggest roll of the dice for the final scene, we call it a “deus ex machina.”

And nobody likes those things.

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I have recently been inspired by book critic Laura Miller to try limiting my in-text links in favor of a list at the end.  Let me know if you approve:

- A fantastic Wired feature about how Settlers of Catan is the "Monopoly Killer"

- Speaking of, watch this hilarious mock trailer for a Monopoly movie

- TV Tropes article hating on Deus Ex Machinas

- A discussion of inciting incidents in screenwriting

- The Salon article in which Laura Miller dumps on hyperlinks

Shadowboxing

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Mary is an insane crafter.  I turn my back for ten seconds, and the next thing I know she's making a quilt, or painting a chair, or re-wiring an old chandelier.  As you can imagine, a number of the crafts in our house are book-related.  I thought I'd start sharing some of our more bookish creations on The Scop.  First up, a series of shadowboxes we made for our bookshelves:

The inside is cut from pages of an old German hymnal.   Here are a few pics from an angle: 

But the coolest part is when we put lights in the frames: 

Neat, eh?  In the coming weeks I'll try to post some other book-related crafts (mostly Mary's).  If you've made anything bookish and awesome, send me some pics and I'll feature it!