GamerGirl (10) is still loving the heck out of the Sims 3 on the Mac, GamerBoy is pretty much ONLY playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 and I’ve finished Red Dead Redemption and am about 2/3rds of the way through Alan Wake. My iPad love is growing by the moment and I have a few more apps to speak of — oh and an update on my little (and shrinking) book. First, let me bore you with the book.

Harvey Stickman & Jenny and the Giant: I don’t know if anyone enjoyed the excerpts I posted a few months ago but I think I’m going to post them, serialize them, here completely.  Personally I think they’re both excellent, but one of the realities of any business is that things have to sell and you’ve got to pay your dues.  I know once Vlad ramps up, and I am 100% sure it will be published and will probably lead to a series (more on that in a minute), and I’ll be stuck with it for a few years. I also know that while I love these two, they’re flawed and represent an earlier time in my writing.  I guess I figure I might as well put them here, see if they fly, and then revisit them if I ever get the clout to make them happen.  As it stands, I can see why they’re being rejected. Both are risky propositions at the marketplace and publishers can’t afford risks anymore.

Vlad the 4th Grader: Flying close to the sun can make you blind. I knew I had a winner when I first came up with the “vampire boy in monster town gets bitten by a human baby and turns human” concept. It’s an easy sell. It dovetails nicely with the new vampire trend (which isn’t new by the way, it’s over 100 years old but everyone likes to pretend it’s new). And you can imagine how boys will react to the idea and the cover art – girls should be attracted too. Originally I intended Vlad to appeal to 3rd and 4th graders but this was a few years ago and I wasn’t able to write that simply yet. It came out as something aimed at 7th graders and then during that revision with MacMillan I aged it down to 5th grade. In these early years kids change rapidly so there’s actually a pretty big difference between 3rd and 5th grade reading level.

I had settled on something fairly complex. Sort of a puberty allegory (first kiss leads to massive changes and upheaval) and I figured “Hey! Something for the little sisters of Twilight fans to read). The revision notes suggested going younger and making it more humorous than scary. I tried and I have to admit, I failed. I came up with something good but MacMillan was more interested in something younger so they passed.

Disappointing.

I tried to write it younger then and I found myself in anguish. I couldn’t do it. So I worked hard on the existing manuscript and tried to make the older Vlad thing happen. I needed to do this because I was A: too close to the book. B. Too in love with my own writing. How could I abandon those pages I’d worked and reworked? In a flurry, I finished the older Vlad book and then I sat with it. Then I archived it and admitted that it had to be younger. My writing may have been working for me but the market really demands something younger. I think all along, in the back of my head I knew the agent and editor were right. I just didn’t want to admit it. Or I couldn’t admit it until I wrote my way through and finished the older version to my satisfaction. It’s ready to go. Maybe it’d be accepted. Maybe it’d be published. Maybe I’m making a mistake. But I doubt all of that. A month ago I would have insisted I was doing right by sticking to my guns and favoring my instinct over “selling out” and doing what I was told. I will always make my decision based on what I want to do, but even when I wanted Vlad older, you can’t ignore 30+ years of children’s book experience. So I had my doubts.

Once finished and sat with, I realized that the book should be younger. And I also realized that I’d gotten it out of my system, the book I wanted is done and on several hard drives. It will always exist. I’ll never lose it. But if I go younger, rewrite it from scratch, I’d find more success and more satisfaction. So the lesson is: Always go with your first instinct. I knew Vlad was better off as a 4th grader. I just had to write the older Vlad out of my system first. So, here goes nothing!

GAMERBOY: Super Mario Galaxy 2 is eating all of his screen time but I can’t imagine a better way for him to spend it. Like the first one the game is gigantic, creative and endlessly imaginative. He loves riding Yoshi and playing as Luigi, and I get called in to see the latest planets and boss fights … constantly. I know Cary is working on this so he’ll have final say but I think I can safely recommend this as a must for Wii owners. It’s one of those Wii games that makes you feel sorry for Xbox360 and PS3 households. Those are a bit too rare.

GAMERDAD: Red Dead Redemption is finished and I adore that game. It’s always a pleasure when you realize that you’re playing a game that will always be on your BEST OF lists. Riding the trails proved to be more entertaining than any sandbox game I’ve ever played. For some reason the dead expanses of desert feel more alive than Liberty City. Also a lot is sticking with me, especially the first time you ride in a Model T automobile. The game really showcases how turbulent times were when everything rapidly started changing and modernizing. There is one oddly offensive sex scene (simulated sex, bare breasts, callous though realistic attitude toward the woman) but I’m remembering the good history lessons the game teaches. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t edutainment or a history game, its just the game really showcases a lot of the real attitudes. From the Sheriff who’s become jaded and lazy over a lawless frontier, to a Rancher dead set against the government, his daughter who rails against sexist attitudes, corrupt Mexican government troops quelling a rebellion who’s leader clearly promises a new kind of corruption, to the natty US government agents, to an anthropologist nurturing a pet theory on why the Indian is innately more savage then the white man (the smartest guy in the game is clearly the most wrong) and much, much more. I can’t wait for expansions, this game could tell a lot more stories.

ALAN WAKE: I’ve slowed down a bit on that one because the gameplay/combat is very repetitive and the story is losing my interest. This is more due to the story being smeared over too much bread – the game is too long to keep the narrative that interesting – but the game is still spooky and eerie enough that I’m sure I’ll finish it eventually.

IPAD: I love my iPad. But that’s mainly because it suits ME. Reading on it is easy and far superior to those paper book things grandma used to read and the convenience is dangerous (I spend too much on books and the whim-inspiring Kindle app isn’t helping). I pre-ordered THE PASSAGE a few weeks ago after reading a review and this morning it loaded instantly. Not even fulfillment by Amazon can match that. Music is handy and the speaker is strong enough for quiet backyard sitting – you won’t party with it but you can hear the music better than on a Macbook or iPhone/Touch.  Oh and I don’t go anywhere so the “man-purse” thing doesn’t affect me.

That’s about it.

Tags: Misc