Submission for Can You Hook A Teen Contest

Title: I, Benandante
Genre: YA Dark Fantasy


The sound roused her slowly, like a drip in a faucet. Marisa heard the rhythm grow stronger, like someone tapping – no, like a drum. It sounded like someone was beating a drum.

“Come on!” A man’s voice shouted at her. “Get up! It’s time to go!”

She had heard that voice before; it was happening again.

Marisa didn’t want to open her eyes. She was terrified of what she would see. She could feel them swirling around her.

“Wake up! Will you come with me?”

The voice shouting at her had an authoritative tone that demanded obedience. Her eyes flew open and she stared at him standing over her bed. He carried a plant with a long stalk in his hand like it was a weapon.

Then Marisa realized she could see through him.

She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t open her mouth or move any other part of her body. She felt frozen, like a stone. With the scream still caught in her throat, she glanced up at the man’s face again. One second it was a human face, then it changed shape into a cat, then a mouse, then a chicken. The only thing that didn’t change was his eyes as they bored into hers with an angry, terrifying gaze.

“The battle is approaching!” The chicken head changing into a bat head shouted to her.

Marisa knew the others were there. Rats, cats, rabbits, birds, deer with human eyes, more spirit people with cat and goat eyes; all of them moving together to the same destination.

A sobering question answered.

Write On Con's Event ended this week, and I tried to attend some of the live chats. Some of the presenters represented publishers for children's books and picture books, which I don't write, but there were also presentations from those representing YA publishers. One of the questions asked during a "chat" (Meaning a heavily monitored chat room where very few if any comments from the guests ever make it into the chat, one of the most FRUSTRATING things about Write On Con and one of the reasons I eventually give up and find something better to do. Not even greetings are allowed through, except from a few chat guests) asked if YA books written from a male point of view were becoming more popular, and would any of the literary agents in attendance be willing to represent a writer with such a book. All three adamantly said no, because those books don't sell. Period.

I couldn't believe the answer from these agents, especially with my knowledge from being a teacher and have first-hand knowledge by observing what boys read. I've seen boys reading many books from popular YA lists, which I know are geared to a female reading audience because there just isn't much out there for them. Boys do read, and my thinking would be that these boys would enjoy books in the YA genre that had a male point of view. I asked this question, mentioning that I am a teacher and the monitor let that one squeak through (probably because I mentioned I was a teacher). One of the agents responded to my question with, "Look the market just isn't there for YA books with a male point of view."

That answer completely deflated me, because my WIP Pierian Spring has two teenage boys for main characters. Even while I work on my new WIP I, Benandante I continue to research and work on Pierian Spring. Now I wonder if there is even a point to continue on with it. If the market for YA books really is ignoring half of the population of readers because they believe there is no market for it, putting the time and effort into writing this book might be a huge waste of time.

I know I will keep on working on it, because my main reason for writing is to write the stories I want to read. Perhaps self-publishing will be the best way to go in the future, when Pierian Spring is a polished work.

First week of Camp Nano.

No, I never know the meaning of "enough is enough!"

Around May I had an idea pop into my head for a new novel. It's completely different than Pierian Spring as it's set in the present (mostly) and deals with a completely different subject. The title for it is I, Benandante and would fall under dark fantasy if it must be pigeonholed into a genre.

The most profound thing that happened as I developed the concept for I, Benandante was how quickly I fell in love with the two MC's before I wrote a single word. I had entire scenes between them running through my mind for weeks before July 1, when I was finally able to start putting words down. After one week I've reached over 13,000 words as of last night. Feels like a good pace. I listen to lots of Rob Zombie as I type, which may be contributing to how fast I'm getting it down.

This novel is also my reward for finishing 6 credits in college toward professional development in my career, and also for finishing the ABCTE program in special education. I can teach special ed in 11 states now! Fingers crossed I find a job soon.

In the meantime, keep on writing on.

IT GETS WORSE

Yesterday I pissed and moaned about Sarah Palin whom while visiting Paul Revere's home town completely got wrong who he was when asked. Today I didn't even get mad when she told Chris Wallace on Fixed Noise that she didn't "mess up about Paul Revere", (Yes she did, big time) and that the faithful supporters gotcha media got her again.

But what does make me mad is when the Queen of Stupid's brain dead followers try to revise actual history so it matches the stupid shit this stupid twit says.

That's right, Palin supporters tried to edit Wikipedia's Paul Revere page to match what Sarah Palin said. Because if Sarah Palin said it, it must be true, right?

But if it isn't ... well then, we'll just have to make it true.

Fortunately, Wikipedia realized what was going on, locked the page and told the people involved in the discussion section to knock it off. There's always Conservapedia!

Things that make me tear my hair out and scream

"He who warned, uh, the…the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringin’ those bells and um by makin’ sure that as he’s ridin’ his horse through town to send those warnin’ shots and bells that uh we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free…and we were gonna be armed." -- Sarah the half governor Palin

When I began writing Pierian Spring it was a labor of love for me. Historical fiction once upon a time was very popular; I still love to read it. It's faded in popularity though for fantasy in recent years. What this means is even though I have 56,000 words dedicated to a work of fiction set against the Boston Tea Party that I've enjoyed writing, I accept that there may be no market for it.

But when people who think they deserve the chance to run for the highest political office in our country can't even get one of the best known historical events of the American Revolution right, and she happens to be standing in the man's home town where it happened when she makes said blunder makes me hope that maybe, just maybe there is a chance historical fiction might become popular again.

Dare to dream that we can have a president as smart as a 5th grader.

I finally figured it out!

I finally figured out how to start Pierian Spring!

I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner! Best of all, I finally got the kick in the pants I needed for serious revising time.

Who knows, maybe some time this summer I will be ready to attempt some query letters?

How much history should you write into historical fiction?

Part of my revision process was to intensively do more research into the historical events that led up to the BTP starting on October 18, and ending on December 17, 1773. I was aware of quite a bit before I started writing my story - the meetings that took place, some of the rowdier riots (One involved a tea merchant shooting into a mob that showed up at his house) But I was quite surprised to learn that a week didn't go by for those two and a half months without something significant happening.

On top of all this, I have my two MC's, their families, their problems they need to overcome, one of them is hiding a secret life from the other and so on, not to mention a budding love interest. Oy.

I'm going to be writing a few new chapters.