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The Fake Cape Caper - MB book 5 |
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Wednesday, 12 September 2007 10:50 |
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As some of you know, the original title for the fifth book in the Melvin Beederman Superhero series was going to be Fast Times at Highmont Ridge. Unfortunately, I was overruled on that one. I also liked Caped Fear. No go—overruled again. The title everyone agreed on is The Fake Cape Caper and features the hilarious Spaz Brother and Melvin's sidekick Candace Brinkwater, who remains center stage for most of the book. Coming next month to a bookstore near you. I'll try to find a way to upload an image so that I can show off the cover art. Technically challenged author here. Greg
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Heather Tomlinson's - The Swan Maiden |
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Monday, 10 September 2007 17:17 |
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On Sunday I headed over to Adventures for Kids bookstore for the launch of Heather Tomlinson's first novel - The Swan Maiden. For those of you not in the know, Heather and I work with the same editor (Reka Simonsen) over at Henry Holt and Company. It was nice to celebrate not only a fellow Holt author's success, but also a fellow critique group member—Heather and I go back to around 2001ish. Anyway, lots of folks from the world of kids' lit showed up and we partied like only kids' book writers know how...in other words, the snacks were plentiful! I even baked chocolate chip cookies.
Fellow authors in attendence were Alexis O'Neill , Tina Nichols Coury , and Carol Heyer , to name a few. And of course the star of the day Heather Tomlinson. A pretty great day. You should have been there. Greg
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Thursday, 06 September 2007 12:56 |
Mark Twain is one of my all-time favorite writers. We sat down recently and had a chat.
Greg: I think I speak for the entire world when I say, we’ve missed you, Mr. Twain.
Mark: Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!
Greg: Really? You look dead to me. Can you tell us a little about your writing process?
Mark: Certainly. I wrote the rest of The Innocents Abroad in sixty days and I could have added a fortnight's labor with the pen and gotten along without the letters altogether. I was very young in those days, exceedingly young, marvelously young, younger than I am now, younger than I shall ever be again, by hundreds of years. I worked every night from eleven or twelve until broad daylight in the morning, and as I did 200,000 words in the sixty days, the average was more than 3,000 words a day- nothing for Sir Walter Scott, nothing for Louis Stevenson, nothing for plenty of other people, but quite handsome for me. In 1897, when we were living in Tedworth Square, London, and I was writing the book called Following the Equator, my average was 1,800 words a day; here in Florence (1904) my average seems to be 1,400 words per sitting of four or five hours.
Greg: Wow. That’s what I call choosing your words carefully. Please, go on.
Mark: To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.
Greg: Any last words of advice to writers?
Mark: I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.
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Wednesday, 05 September 2007 12:56 |
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The writing quote of the day comes from Edgar Rice Burroughs, and if you can tell me what he's most famous for, I'll send you a Melvin Beederman surprise.
"I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly." Edgar Rice Burroughs
You go, Edgar. I agree.
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Friday, 31 August 2007 11:31 |
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In writing the Melvin Beederman series, I'm constantly on the lookout for interesting villains to pit against my superhero protagonist and his feisty sidekick. What do all great villains have in common? A great evil laugh, that's what. In order to get into the head of my bad guys I find it necessary to start each writing session with a good hearty evil laugh. Also, as a father of two teenage daughters, this comes in handy when young men call the house. "You want to talk to my daughter? Mwah ha ha!"
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, being a writer helps me be a better dad. Greg
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Tuesday, 28 August 2007 04:50 |
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I just got back from my trip to the Eastern Sierra where my good buddy Steve and I have spent time every summer for the last 13 years. In the early years it was all about fishing. We'd get up before sunrise and be on the river (or in it) by the time there was a mere hint of light. Now we get up late, go to Starbucks in Mammoth, fish when we get around to it (we still catch just as many fish), go to a movie, take a hike, and have campfire at night. And this is when we break out whatever writing we've been working on and read aloud to each other. Steve, who has sold tons of short fiction to literary journals, read his latest, and I shared the first two chapters of my YA novel entitled *Blah Blah, about 15 year old *Blankity Blankity.
So our trips have changed over the years, becoming more literary, and I have to say, more fun. Greg
*Blah Blah and Blankity Blankity are code, lest someone steal my ideas.
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Monday, 27 August 2007 02:52 |
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Ahem...important announcement. This week is blog week. Due to things beyond my control, which is code for Goofing Off, I've been unable to blog to the degree that blogging should be done here in the kidslitoshpere. Before I continue, let me define Goofing Off. It means I went water skiing at Bass Lake and spent some time in the Eastern Sierra catching the elusive brown trout (actually, it was rainbow trout, as the brown was more elusive than normal). The point is, I haven't been able to blog much during August, so this week is blog week, where I will do some much-needed catching up. Tune in tomorrow for an update on my friend and short story writer, Steve Frye, and the wily brown trout. Greg
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SCBWI National Conference 2007 |
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Tuesday, 07 August 2007 04:00 |
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Hi, world. I just returned from the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) National Conference and my brain is a little overloaded, but in a good way. I love being part of such a friendly, creative, and supportive group. One of the best talks of the four-day event was given by John Green , author of Looking For Alaska and An Abundance of Catherines. Pretty smart guy, to say the least. I enjoyed hanging out with my usual crowd and meeting a few new people...and especially being part of the winning trio in the By The Light of the Silvery Moon costume costest. A more thorough post on the conference coming soon to a blog near you. Greg
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Tuesday, 31 July 2007 11:51 |
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I did a bad thing, ladies and gentlemen. Since I've only read as far as book four in the Harry Potter series, and since I knew eventually someone would spill the plot beans before I got around to reading the book, I decided to let my youngest daughter tell me the plot of books 6 and 7—I saw the movie, so I'm caught up through book 5 (Don't you just love long sentences?). My daughter spent an hour filling me in...an hour! That girl has an amazing memory. Talk about a chip off the ol' story-telling block. I still plan on reading the books, but now I don't have to live in a cave lest I hear something that will ruin it for me. Greg
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National Conference...Woo-Hoo! |
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Monday, 30 July 2007 03:34 |
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As all of you know, out there in the kidlitsoshere—you know who you are, the millions reading this blog—beginning this Friday is the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) national conference and I'll be commuting to Los Angeles from my home in Blah Blah...that's code for...Oops!...can't say...trying to keep the paparazzi down to a bare minimum. I'm looking forward to the conference. A couple of not-to-be-missed sessions will be given by Susan Patron , this years Newbery Medal winner, also Printz Award winner, John Green . Other workshops I plan to attend will be Mary Hershey's session on humor, and fellow chapter book writer Bruce Hale's session on promotion. For everything else I'll be going with the flow and shooting from the hip.
In between there will be plenty of time to shmooze, hang out, and drown our literary rejection sorrows. As they say, misery loves company. Greg
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Sunday, 22 July 2007 15:15 |
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I took my wife and daughters to see the movie Hairspray , but when I got up to the ticket window I suddenly forgot what it was called and asked for four tickes to Conditioner. When the clerk looked at me funny I said, "I mean Mousse...uh...Dippity Dew." I know; it was embarrassing, to say the least. The movie was great. I came out of the theater ready to dance, which, of course, made my teenage daughters swear they didn't know me.
Speaking of dancing, I'm heading to the SCBWI National Conference in L.A. in a few weeks. My writing pal and sometimes costume designer, Tina Nichols Coury, is making me a costume for the Dance by the Pool Extravaganza. She better not make me look like a chick. Anyway, I'm looking forward to attending a writing workshop or two and generally hanging out. Greg
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Page 9 of 11 |
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Greetings!
Welcome to my blog:
On writing, children’s literature, and chocolate!
Name: Greg Trine
Home: California
Favorite Quote: Have you saved the world lately? – Melvin Beederman
Favorite Reads: Bloody Jack series,
Favorite Movies: Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future, Princess Bride, It’s a Wonderful Life,
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