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On Katniss Everdeen

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : November 30, 2013
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Category: Inspiration

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Catching Fire is blowing up the box office right now, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I saw it last week and that’s why I’ve decided to take a moment to examine our beloved Catnip.

My opinion of Miss Everdeen in general is that she is a bad ass. I actually quite like her, more than I’ve liked a lot of girls in modern day young adult fiction, post-apocalyptic or not. Suzanne Collins has done one of the rarest things in the YA genre in recent history—wrote a bestselling novel series with a well-developed female protagonist and the love story is actually a stealth parody and criticism of typical YA fare.

If you’re read the books, you know what I’m talking about. Katniss, to be frank, doesn’t give a shit about romantic love. She struggles with the very idea of it, and certainly its relevance to her life considering the fact that she’s in the middle of a war that she inadvertently caused. Don’t get her wrong: Katniss loves her family, and she loves Gale, and she unknowingly loves Peeta, but all of those types of love aren’t the one that we normally see in YA. And that, to me, is beyond refreshing. Katniss is forced into a love story and every inch of her rebels because it’s not what is important to her, and I think a lot of girls feel that way. Some of them just don’t have the burning desire to have a boyfriend, and some of them find the very idea of it exhausting. This is a voice that we haven’t heard in recent times with the rise of stupid, codependent women making millions, particularly Bella Swan and Ana Steele. Katniss is and always has been fiercely independent, and one of the main struggles for her is playing the role that society and the Capitol have forced upon her.

I love that Katniss is all rage and defiance instead of a bundle of insecurities who needs to be protected by some quaffed up stalker with a crush. I love that almost all of the main events in The Hunger Games series are a direct result of something she did. Katniss does what a main protagonist should be doing—creating, advancing, and fulfilling the story. Many stories in YA make the mistake of having the plot happen TO the protagonist instead of BECAUSE of the protagonist. My most prominent example is Clary Fray of The City of Bones series. I read the first novel and as I mentioned before, I’m not really a fan of her. She is largely deadweight from the beginning to end of the first novel, and while she might get better later on, it was so tiring that I found myself not wanting to see if she ever grows a pair of ovaries and takes charge. A lot of teen stories can learn from Katniss’ example because people tend to think that YA is all about hormones and paranormal romance and schmoopy love stories, but that isn’t true. There are some kick ass ladies hidden in these pages who need attention. That’s why I’m so thrilled that the Hunger Games is doing so well.

However, let me also say that another reason why I like Katniss is that she’s so screwed up in the head. I’ve come to calling her “Robotniss” in my head, which is why I get irritated when people call Jennifer Lawrence’s performance wooden. That’s not her acting, folks. That is actually Katniss Everdeen. She has the emotional range of a Bengal tiger that’s been slapped in the ass with a baseball bat. Most of the time, Katniss is brooding over the ruined District 12 or feeding her family or how’s she’s going to survive. She actively manipulates Peeta because it’s what she has to do in order to make it out alive. She can’t falter. She can’t stop and wonder about her true feelings for him, or for Gale. This is life or death. Ain’t nobody got time for dat.

My brother told me that from a guy’s standpoint, Katniss is a bit of a cocktease, especially when it comes to Gale, and while I sort of agree with that a bit, it’s also why I think it’s so important that people read the book and watch the movie. Katniss represents something more than what society really wants to think about. It’s not so much about her being a “tease” than it is being a girl who doesn’t want what people think she should want. She has bigger fish to fry, and the last thing on her mind is deciding if she needs a boy to spend the rest of her life with. People need to hear that. Our society still has ridiculous standards for girls, especially ones my age. By the tender age of thirty, you’re expected to have one of two things, if not both: a successful career or a family. If you don’t have one or the other, you’re considered a loser. That well and truly sucks. No one’s path takes that amount of time to get going, and no one can live up to expectations like that when you consider how different each woman is from one another. Like Katniss, maybe some of us don’t want a relationship. Maybe we’ve got more to worry about. And maybe, just maybe, that’s okay.

After all that women have been put through over the years, I’m beyond happy to see Katniss Everdeen up on that big screen kicking ass and taking names and breaking box office records. It is a statement to the world that you can’t make excuses any longer. Women are awesome. We can carry a story. DC has been whining that they can’t make a Wonder Woman movie because people won’t go see a movie with a female hero as the main character, and now we can take the box office records and shove it down their stupid throats. $161 million dollars opening weekend. Read it and weep, sexists and misogynists. Our XX chromosomes are worth all that money, and will continue to be for years to come, so you’d better get ready.

So thank you, Catnip, and thank you, Suzanne Collins, for being voices to a cause that we should be fighting and will continue to fight for decades to come. The Hunger Games novels are by no stretch perfect, but they are a message that needs to be heard. We’ve got a long fight ahead of us, but I get the feeling that the odds are in our favor this time.

-Kyoko

Things Avatar: The Last Airbender Taught Me About Writing

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : November 20, 2013
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Category: Things X Taught Me About Writing

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ATLA poster

The second season of The Legend of Korra is ending soon. I, uh, wish I had better things to say about it, but that’s a story for another time. With season two on its way out, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic for the show that got it all started.

Have you seen this show? If you have, high-five. If you haven’t, hold up your left hand, extend your first finger, and jab yourself in the eye. Hard. After you see the eye doctor and he okays your vision, then go out and buy the DVDs. It’s that good. Thus, I will spend a minute or two talking about all the wondrous things this delightful animated show has taught me.

Underage characters are just as interesting as adult characters. Anyone with experience in reading Young Adult fiction, or who frequently watches cartoons/anime intended for children, has heard this tired, common complaint. Unfortunately, a lot of folks think that just because a novel/short story/cartoon/anime stars a child, it won’t be as good as something with a teenager or adult protagonist. This is such pure bologna that it should be represented by Oscar Meyer. Children are interesting. They are engrossing. They are capable of incredible things, whether they are good or bad. Avatar TLA knew this right of the gate. It introduced us to one of the most amazing spread of characters in all of animated history. Every kid had their own personality, their own agenda, their own beliefs, and their own dreams/goals. It is simply staggering to know that there are seven main young characters (and that’s just the ones central to the plot: Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Suki, and Azula) and every single one of them develops and changes over the course of three seasons. Age only determines the way certain things unfold within a story. It often does not limit the spectrum or scope of things that happen. These kids still deal with all the horrible parts of life that adults face at one time or another: violence, rage, hatred, racism, sex, fear, faith, and that’s just for starters. The writers (affectionately called “Bryke” for Brian Konietzko and Martin Dante DiMartino, because both their names are a mouthful) did not treat their audience like drooling infants. They wrote the Gaang the way all shows should hope to—with balance, maturity, and respect.

‘The Chosen One’ trope is not always a cliché. Everyone knows this trope: the “one” who is prophesized to end a war or battle of some sort. It’s been around since the Bible days—Jesus, Luke Skywalker (or Anakin, if you decide to believe that the Star Wars prequels exist), Neo, Harry Potter, and John Connor are just the ones I can rattle off the top of my head. Sometimes it can really wear on the nerves when one character’s actions will affect an entire society, or even a world.

For instance, while I generally disagree with the massive hate over the Matrix sequels, one of the main reasons they were disliked is because after Neo got all his powers, he stopped being an underdog, and a normal guy in an abnormal world. If not written properly, the Chosen One can destroy a story and make the reader want to throw your book across the room. I hate to point fingers (usually), but the Fallen series by Thomas E. Sniegoski also had this problem: a bland, douchebag character who was “the Chosen One” and yet all he did was selfishly bitch and moan, neglect his duties, and get people in his life murdered. However, ATLA was a refreshing change from the tired stereotypes of the Chosen One.

First of all, Aang is freakin’ adorable and peppy and cheerful and wide-eyed and goofy. It’s so easy to like the kid. You’d have to actively try to hate him. His idealism is what makes him both strong and weak throughout his journey, especially his struggle to find a way to stop Firelord Ozai without killing him. The show laid bare all of Aang’s inner turmoil and expanded on everything he learned from his friends and his enemies. I think all writers should watch the show and takes notes, especially those who might consider writing a Chosen One character at some point in their careers.

Another important factor that ATLA got right was to PROVE why Aang was the Chosen One: for his skill, his love of the world and the people in it, and his ability to unite them. That can go haywire quickly. Anakin Skywalker via the Star Wars prequel had this problem in spades. Through all three movies, everyone kept talking about Anakin being the one to “balance” the Force, and yet we’re never shown why. He NEVER shows any great potential, other than the potential to whine incessantly, glower creepily at Padme, and throw temper tantrums that result in murdering lots of people. He had some Jedi skills, but not enough to warrant all that attention. ATLA avoided this and proved that there is a way to do it right.

Don’t be afraid to explore other cultures. Alright, lower your pitchforks. I’m not one of those writers who believes that white people are the devil. I am, however, realistic about what’s out there in the main media. When it comes to fantasy and science fiction genres, white characters are predominant. Often, it happens because there are just a ton of incredibly talented writers. Still, there is a stigma whispered about that ethnicities can’t bring home the bacon, and that’s just not true. ATLA integrated several different cultures—Chinese, Japanese, Hindu, Indian, Eskimo, and that’s the tip of the iceberg, hahaha I made a funny—and still knocked it out of the park without (a) being offensive or (b) compromising great storytelling. This is another aspect I think other writers should make a note of for the future. Culture is what makes the world go ‘round. At the end of the day, all writers end up talking about can boil down to how similar or different their characters are. There are beautiful and hideous things about every culture. We should explore them, and explore them without restraint. A character’s race should never be a deterrent. If it is well written, it can be enjoyed by a person of any background.

Women are awesome. I really don’t need to go on long about this one. ATLA has some of the best female characters of all time, bar none. I mean, Toph. Just…TOPH. If you somehow don’t worship the ground she earth-bends, then there’s always Katara, Suki, Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, Princess Yue, June, Avatar Kyoshi…I could go on for ages. ATLA knew how to write girls, and write them better than a hell of a lot of other shows. Mostly because Bryke knew that girls are the same as boys—they have emotions, thoughts, fears, desires, and everything that the male characters have. There were very few stereotypes to be had and every character had a purpose in the show. That, to me, is one of the greatest things that ATLA accomplished in its run.

Honestly, I could probably go on longer, but I have to stop worshipping at some point because my knees are tired. Seriously, though, if you haven’t checked it out, please do. It’s worth your time, believe me. I’m glad to have grown up with a show that believed that I could handle a great story and didn’t talk down to me. It’s something we should all have, no matter how old we are.

Kyoko

On Thor and Loki

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : November 12, 2013
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Category: Uncategorized

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So your royal highness of nerdiness had the day off and returned to the theater for a second viewing of Thor: The Dark World. Yes, I loved it that much. And yes, I enjoyed just as much the second time as the first. However, this time around after I left the theaters, I got to thinking about our two main male characters. After all, the heart of the story pertaining to Thor has been about Loki ever since The Avengers (I argue that it’s more about Odin and Thor in the first film than Thor and Loki). As a writer, I want to take a second to analyze their dynamic just because I find it so interesting that while Thor is an awesome character and is played by an insanely gorgeous, talented Aussie, Loki is still the more popular character.

Naturally, massive spoilers ahead for Thor: The Dark World.

I mentioned in my review of Thor: The Dark World that I am not a Loki fangirl, and I rather dislike a large portion of that fanbase. I’d like to continue the thought and clarify what I mean when I say that. What I dislike is their blatant disregard for what Loki’s done in favor of defending his actions and chalking his downright evil actions to being ‘misunderstood.’ Loki is definitely misunderstood, but it’s by his own doing. That’s one of the best things about Thor: The Dark World. Loki tried to throw his weak argument in Thor’s face (“Who put me there?” “YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO DID!”), and Thor wasn’t having any of that nonsense. We did not get to see Loki and Thor grow up. Thus, there is no excuse for anyone to say that Odin was a “bad father” and that’s why Loki turned out the way he did. We have implications that Thor was favored because he’s handsome and strong, but it is quite clear that Thor, Frigga, and Odin cared for Loki as he grew up.

Odin handled this beautifully in the beginning of The Dark World by also smashing Loki’s dumb logic to bits. Loki tried to claim that his birthright was to be a king, and Odin put him in his place by explaining that he’d be dead if Odin hadn’t saved him that cold night in Jotunheim. Loki glossed over an entire childhood and adulthood life of being a prince of Asgard just because he felt he deserved to be king instead of Thor. Yes, he’s probably a bit mad in the head and yes, we all know what it’s like to be envious, but that does not excuse him from trying to exterminate the Frost Giants nor does it absolve him for his crime of coming to earth, killing dozens of people, and trying to enslave mankind. There. I said it. Come at me, bro. Er, gal. Whatever.

Having said all of that, now that I’ve seen Thor, The Avengers, and Thor: The Dark World, I think I finally understand Loki’s appeal. For the longest time, I didn’t get it. Seriously. Now, I got the appeal of Tom Hiddleston. I mean, Christ. He is literally the nicest man who ever lived. He’s insanely intelligent, well read, funny, charming, sweet, and dorky as all get out. He has an incredibly sexy voice. Plus, he’s British. He’s British, guys. Come on. How can you not fall in love with those big blue eyes? But Loki I never could grasp the concept of why an entire legion of panties fell before him after The Avengers. That is, until Thor: The Dark World. For me, I understand it now that Loki has had a full character arc. I feel that his arc was incomplete as of The Avengers, but now that his character has been fully explored, I can understand the somewhat twisted mentality that makes people, particularly girls, favor him over Thor.

First, I’ll explain how I came to this conclusion as a girl. As much as I hate 50 Shades of Grey, E. L. James did nail one concept when it comes to the fairer sex: we effing love bad boys. Granted, Loki is more a bad man than a bad boy, but go with me on this one. I of course do not speak for all women. I would never dare do such a thing. However, from my own experience, I do have a thing for naughty haughty fictional men. In real life, I opt for sweet, funny, nerdy guys, but in my fiction, I can’t help but love the jerks. I think Loki is more popular than Thor with the ladies because many of us have dull, unspectacular lives and it’s so much more fun to imagine what it would be like if you could have a roll in the hay with the god of mischief.

Loki is cruel and vain and unpredictable. He’s a sadist. He’s a self-destructive bastard. It would be literally impossible to come up with a scenario where he’d even think about sleeping with a human woman (sorry, ladies, nothing personal but don’t forget Loki is racist as in he thinks the entire human race is beneath him), but you can’t help yourself imagining that the hell that would be like. You probably wouldn’t survive the encounter, but it’d probably be worth it. Power is attractive. Corrupt power can be even more attractive. It’s the thrill of the forbidden, I suppose, and also the fleeting thought that maybe we could be the one to melt the ice. Not that we’d want Loki to change after being with us, but rather, we’d be the one girl that he’d show his softer side to at the end of the day. Er, that’s a bit of a mixed metaphor, but you get my point right? After The Dark World, to me, there is proof of something noble inside of Loki. He is still manipulative and treacherous and cruel, but we saw a flicker of something else inside him. That flicker is something a lot of girls can’t resist.

Second, I’ll explain how I came to this conclusion as a fan of great writing. Loki has evolved through these three films as much as Thor did, in my opinion. To me, he might have still had a chance for redemption in Thor, but by the time we hit Avengers, the Loki of the past was long gone. As charming as I find him on occasion, the guy came to earth to enslave us all. He killed people and enjoyed it. Sorry, but that’s inexcusable. They made a Hitler parallel on purpose, dammit. Loki deserved every single beating he got by the end of Avengers. However, The Dark World did me one better by having Loki skate between being a monster and being an intriguing yet dark character. I love the grey area when it pertains to the soul. I love that I’ve read things and watched things where good men do horrific things and bad men do noble things. Hell, it’s the subject of both of my upcoming novels. I love that Loki straddled the fence between good and evil in this film. I think he genuinely mourned the loss of his mother. I think he genuinely wanted to save Thor, even though he used it as a ploy to fake his own death. I think it’s fantastic that they decided to show us both sides of him and allowed us to choose which one we think he might be. That is the mark of a well written character. We know a lot about him, but just enough for him to still be mysterious and unpredictable.

Now, having said all of that, I still love Thor as much as Loki. My reasoning is that Thor and Loki are more than just hunky fictional bad asses. They represent two sides of a coin. Thor is courageous, self-sacrificing, kind, and responsible. Loki is selfish, reckless, conniving, and nefarious. Thor is the kind of man you want to spend the rest of your life with, the kind of man you want to have four hundred babies with, the kind of man who will honor and respect you until the end of your days because that’s what you deserve. Loki is the kind of man who you want to throw you over his shoulder, make off with you, do unspeakable things to you in the bedroom, and then go on about your life. Thor and Loki are complete opposites, but I think that’s why they resonate with us fangirls a little more than some of the other Avengers and their supporting casts. Don’t get me wrong—I would kill to come home to Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, or Bruce Banner—but while those wonderful characters have so much to offer us, I think Thor and Loki hit a soft spot with the female gender because of their interesting dynamic. It’s exactly why there have been so many hilarious posts on Tumblr comparing the duo to Tulio and Miguel from The Road to El Dorado. One is the sarcastic one with all the plans and the other is the total sweetheart. At the end of the day, who can resist that? Certainly not this fangirl.

Odin bless you for reading this rambling bunch of nonsense. Maybe I’m on my own for this one, but it’s still nice to live in a world where such excellent characters exist and continue to kick ass for our benefit. Marvel, ya done good. Keep it up. Excelsior.

Kyoko

Things The Marvel Universe Taught Me About Writing

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : November 7, 2013
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Category: Things X Taught Me About Writing

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Face front, True Believers! Thor: The Dark World is premiering early in my current town of residence tonight and I could not be more excited. I know some people are a bit lukewarm about the God of Thunder, but I am just not one of them. Still, Thor is just one of Marvel’s greater successes, at least in my humble opinion. In honor of our big blond teddy bear god hitting the silver screen tonight, I’d like to take a quick look at some of the things that the Marvel Movie Universe has taught me over the years. I’m also taking a bit of freedom here with the term ‘Marvel Universe.’ I’m not simply talking about the continuity they created starting with Iron Man. I’d also like to take a look at their previous franchises like Spider-Man and X-Men because they are huge parts of my childhood as well as great teaching tools.

Know thy fanbase. This is one thing that Marvel has nailed repeatedly in recent years. They have an unparalleled ability to listen to their fans and figure out where to go from there. They didn’t always have this talent, mind you. A perfect example would be the horrific abomination that is Spider-Man 3. It’s common knowledge that one of the movie’s biggest reasons for sucking was due to executive meddling, where the studio poked their big nose into Sam Raimi’s script and told him to do stuff. It resulted in an overstuffed, over-the-top farce of a film that laid waste to the film’s previously excellent reputation. Here’s where knowing the fanbase kicked in.

Disclaimer: I didn’t like the Amazing Spider-Man. I’m sorry. Hate me if you wish. I just couldn’t help myself because Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 are without a doubt two of my all-time favorite superhero/comic book movies. I grew up on them. I watched them hundreds of times, and I still have to stop every time one of them comes on. They have so much heart and depth and wonder to them. However, it turns out that while those two films broke box office records and definitively proved that superheroes are worth the general movie audience’s time, a lot of fanboys and girls were unhappy with certain aspects of them. The most vocal complaint was Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, which I understand completely. I liked Mary Jane well enough in the first film, but by the second and third films, I kind of wanted her to get the Gwen Stacy treatment. She was weak and nagging and got stuck firmly in the “damsel in distress” role whereas in the comic books, she often kicked ass and sassed people like no one’s business.

Marvel gathered up these comments and then made the brilliant move of picking everyone’s favorite redhead (ironically to play a blonde; double ironically because she’s a natural blonde) Emma Stone to be Gwen Stacy. My dislike of Amazing Spider-Man notwithstanding, I fully admit this decision was a God-send. Emma Stone is funny, sexy, snarky, and an absolute joy to watch. While I still would have liked her as the new MJ, she did everything that I hoped she would do. Marvel understood that the best way to win over their fans was to listen to them and learn from their past mistakes.

In terms of writing, Marvel’s method is something I think all writers should enforce. I would never try to pander to my fanbase (if I had one), but I would take a serious look at the criticisms that arise for my work. Writing is subjective. So is the act of reading. No one reads a book the same way, and fans will inevitably find something in my writing that I didn’t know was there, or that I never considered could come across. If it’s a universal problem, it would be wise to address it either in a blog post, or more likely, subsequent works of mine. There are very few drawbacks to accepting detailed, intelligent arguments against your own work. Even if it pisses you off to your very core, you can only go up from there.

Give a damn about your own work. Strap in, folks. Mama’s about to lay the smackdown on some things here. To me, it is always easy to tell when Marvel gives a shit about their work. The quality of the filmmaking is the most telling of all. Stuff like Daredevil (bite me, nerds, it’s a shit film and you know it), Elektra, The Punisher (which I admit still has a corny charm to it), X-Men: The Last Stand (and that’s coming from someone who kinda likes it), Ghost Rider, and Fantastic Four have clear evidence that they weren’t invested in their products. I argue that each of the listed films lack charisma, effort, and heart, and was pushed out more to make a profit than to actually be considered worthy of the Marvel name.

On the flipside, films like The Avengers, X-Men and X-2, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor have evidence that Marvel gave a crap and wanted to make great movies for its audience. They chose great directors, writers, and actors—people we love and trust to bring our favorite comic characters to life. Do you remember the day they announced Robert Downey Jr. to play Tony Stark? We all flipped our shit in celebration of such perfect casting. Same with Joss Whedon getting to direct The Avengers, which is arguably the best Marvel film to date, or Edward Norton getting to play Bruce Banner. These movies all went on to do incredibly well at the box office because Marvel put their foot down and opted for quality over profit. They knew that profit is a result of quality. They recognized that if they took their time to make a fantastic film franchise, they’ll make bucketloads of cash and keep us happy for decades to come.

It seems like common sense to give a crap about your own writing, but sadly, these days it is not. Anyone can be a writer. We live in a world where a faux masochistic relationship that was ripped off from a creepy codependent relationship between an emo teenage girl and a vampire both out-grossed the intricate, beautifully written world about a boy wizard. We live in a world where the crappiest of films can get sequels. We live in a world where actual effort is an afterthought. The easiest thing in the world is to not try.

Don’t be that writer. Sure, E.L. James and Stephanie Meyer are literally swimming in cash, but that doesn’t have to be you. The happiest authors in the world are the ones who stay true to themselves and write honestly. They write from within. They strive to make the best for us readers because they care and they want to create a wondrous world for us to dive into. They want to leave behind a legacy they can be proud of. Authors like Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, and John Green are all down-to-earth, humble, and full of life because they give a shit about what they put out there.

It’s unwise to compare oneself to bestselling authors, but they can also simply be a north star for young authors. Yes, it’s daunting that crappy novels make money, and crappy movies make even more money, but for every turd there’s a gem. Shoot for that instead.

Have faith in your own product. There’s a line from the movie Hitch that I always think about when it comes to certain aspects of writing.

Albert: You’re selling the stuff, but you don’t believe in your own product.

Hitch: Love is my life.

Albert: No! Love is your job.

Marvel is by no means perfect. I’ve already listed the films I consider to be travesties. But that’s also something I think they have learned well in the past decade. One of the main reasons why I favor Marvel over DC in the film department is the overwhelming amount of faith that they appear to have in the characters as well as their audience. They seem to recognize that there is a reason these films do so well. These characters and stories helped many of us grow up. We read them dozens of times as kids and we still follow them as adults because heroes inspire us. Heroes make us believe in the impossible. They make us want to be better than who we are. The Marvel films that tend to be better in quality are those where you can tell that the writers, directors, and actors actually care about the subject matter and want to do it justice. Tony Stark is by far the most popular of the Marvel universe, and guess what? He’s an asshole with a drinking problem. We can totally relate to that. Sure, he’s a billionaire, but most of us know someone like that—an insanely talented friend who has a good heart, but lacks focus and belief.

Marvel is out there kicking the box office’s ass every year because they believe in our heroes. They don’t always get it right (I’m still angry about Barakapool from X-Men Origins and whatever the hell they did to Beast in X-Men: First Class) but it is clear that they realize if they make a good film, we’ll watch it. We’ll stand outside in a line to San Diego Comic Con for hours just to catch a glimpse of the next one. We’ll waste hours online crying over Tom Hiddleston’s perfection. We’ll buy tickets early and dress up in costumes even when it’s nowhere near Halloween. It’s love, plain and simple.

Maybe you’re not Jim Butcher or Stephen King. So what? Do you have something to say in your writing? Do you want it go be good? Bam. There you go. That’s it. That’s your secret. No one said you had to be Shakespeare. The best way to become a great writer is to invest in your product the same way you invest in the TV shows and books and movies and video games you love. Pour your soul into your writing, even if your soul is twisted and scary and broken. Authenticity is key. No one will believe in your work if you don’t believe in it.

With that in mind, I hope that Thor: The Dark World uses the positive examples I discussed above. We have a lot of exciting films coming our way in the not-too-distant future and I can’t wait to see more as long as they adhere to their better works. Here’s to you, Marvel. Excelsior!

-Kyoko

P.S. While I’ve got you here, did you know that the giveaway for a free copy of my novel, The Black Parade, is still going on? Why not pop by and enter to win? It only takes a second. It ends Monday, November 11, 2013. Don’t miss out!

Virtual Blog Tour Final Stop: Mythical Books

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : November 4, 2013
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Category: Author Events

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The Black Parade Banner 851 x 315

It is with a heavy heart that I announce this to be the last day of The Black Parade’s virtual blog tour. I had so much fun I don’t want it to end. Still, everything must end so here is our last blog stop: Mythical Books. This time, there’s another guest post by yours truly.

Remember: you still have another week to enter the free book giveaway via Rafflecopter.

Thank you for your support. Welcome, all new followers. Don’t be shy. Read the posts and comment as you see fit. I look forward to seeing you all for my next blog post.

Kyoko

Things National Novel Writing Month Taught Me About Writing

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : November 1, 2013
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Category: Inspiration, Things X Taught Me About Writing

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Holy crap. It’s November. NaNoWriMo is here. HEAD FOR THE HILLS.

Ha, that was a joke. You’re not going anywhere, writers. I’ve chained you by the ankles and now you have to sit and listen as Grand Master Kyoko tells you about NaNoWriMo and why you should be doing it.

For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a competition in which we write a novel in a month, starting on November 1st and ending on November 30th of every year. What do you win? A cool little button from the official website and eternal bragging rights.

Now, if you’re not a writer, you might be thinking, big deal, it’s just a novel. Uh, no, newbie, let me shut you up right there. It’s not a book. You have to write exactly 50,000 words in thirty days. And no, John Bender, I don’t mean the same word repeated 50,000 times. You’ve read a novel before. That entire story typically takes a writer between four and eight months, depending on what level they’re on. And they are expected to do that within thirty days so you had damn well better respect it before I box you upside the ears.

Back to you, writers. As it says on most of my author profiles, I participated in NaNoWriMo in 2011 and actually completed it. But I’m not trying to brag when I mention it—I’m trying to add some authenticity to this post. That crazy, painful month taught me a lot and I’d like to share it with you to give you encouragement on your first day of writing.

Writing is f@#king hard. Now, granted, you already know this, authors, but trust me, NaNoWriMo is going to enforce it like a bouncer outside of a sexy night club. You’re going to feel like Judge Doom at the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit—flattened while you flailed and screamed in a high-pitched voice. It’s hard enough to pound out 50,000 words a year for a paycheck (or for nothing if you’re an indie author like me hahaha it hurts to laugh), but cramming all of that process into a month is going to make you want to eat a bullet. But you’re not going to do that. Tuck in your skirt, lady.

Writing is hard because it’s worth it. You’re going to have days when you write the full 2,000 word a day quota, and then you’ll have days when you write two sentences and then eat a bucket of Americone Dream while sobbing that you are a total failure. You’re going to struggle over character motivations and action sequences and witty one liners and it’s going to suck. You’re going to stare at the clock and wonder how you ever thought this was a good idea. You’re going to curse God and try to make a deal with Lucifer in order to inspire you to reach that finish line.

And you know what?

That’s a good thing.

It’s all about pacing yourself. This is also a concept that is infinitely hard for writers because the creative process isn’t like the scientific method. There isn’t a quota or a calculation to writing. There is no formula. It’s all free ideas flowing constantly through your brain and your soul. It comes and goes. But you don’t have time for that hippie stuff when you only have a month to write a full on novel. What NaNoWriMo taught me is to simply let go: let go of the perfect dialogue, the flawless landscape of the plot, the meticulous character details, all of it. NaNoWriMo is all about raw materials. A diamond isn’t beautiful until it’s polished, but it’s still a diamond. No one said you had to pull it fully cut out of the ground—you simply have to dig for it and you’re there. Your draft is going to be total garbage at first, but that’s the entire point. NaNoWriMo is dumpster-diving, plain and simple. You learn to dig through different piles each and every day. You’ll find some yucky stuff and toss it aside, but you’ll also find buried treasures that you never thought you could find.

There are also plenty of resources to help you with pacing yourself each day. To total up to 50,000 words in a month, you basically have to write 2,000 words a day, but that’s rounding up. There is an exact number of words (around 1,600 or so), but I think it’s healthier to aim for 2,000 because then if you fall short one day, you’ll still be ahead by a little bit. That way, if you have a long day at work and you don’t have time to write, you can realistically catch up.

Let go of your inner perfectionist. I feel like such a hypocrite saying this, but it’s definitely a hard lesson that NaNoWriMo taught me. I get my perfectionist habits from my parents—a business consultant who is working on his Ph.D and a registered nurse who works in case management, respectively—and they aren’t easy to kick. I take it ten times more seriously in my writing than in my real life, too. I obsess over every single word and where it is and how it’s phrased and how I can make it so perfect that publishers will bang down my doors and filmmakers will run up to me begging to make my book into a movie so that I can finally achieve my dream of meeting Nathan Fillion and marrying him and oh wait I lost my point back there, didn’t I? Ahem. I fret over my own writing day and night. I think I’m substandard. I weep that I’m not Jim Butcher. I read my favorite novels over and over in vain attempts to soak up their greatness and squeeze it back out over my own manuscript.

But you can’t do that in a month.

A month gives you enough time to map out where you want to go and then you just trail-blaze, like Miguel and Tulio. Don’t stop for all the little stuff. You have words to write. It’s like cutting through vines in a jungle—you’ll get stuck if you stop every five minutes to clean the mud off your boots. You have to let go of all the things that make you want to stop and edit and erase what you’ve written. You can’t do that. You have to accept your faults and move on because this is about the end game. You’re heading for that pyramid with the huge diamond on top. You have a goal and by God, you’re going to reach it and don’t let that crazy person in your head talk you out of it no matter what.

The reward outshines the difficult journey. First of all, don’t you dare get down on yourself if you are unable to finish NaNoWriMo. You are NOT a failure. This is one of the hardest competitions any writer will ever face, so don’t even think for a second that you are less of an author if you don’t complete it in time. I’m not saying this to coddle you, either. The truth is that NaNoWriMo has more than one reward. It’s not just about the bragging rights. Even if you don’t finish on time, there are still great things to gain from it.

First of all, you still have an original idea in manuscript form. That’s fantastic. Once November is over, you’re free to go back to being a regular crazyface author and you can do whatever the bloody hell you want with your new story. You can chop it up into bite sized pieces, you can make it into a series, you can turn it into a screenplay, you can do anything. That’s an incredibly liberating notion, isn’t it? All the rules no longer apply and you can take it wherever you want, including nowhere if you don’t like it (like I did. The Starlight Contingency was a one time gig and I have no plans to finish it, but it’s still great that I did it. But if you’re curious, you can read the entire thing for free right here: The Starlight Contingency.)

Second of all, if you do win, you can always look back on that victory no matter what happens in your future career. No one, and I mean no one, can take away that fresh, exhilarating thrill when you think about the fact that you condensed months’ worth of work into thirty days. Not everyone can write a novel. Sure, some hacks can fart one out and become bestsellers, but they didn’t do it in a month. You did. You’re awesome. You’re a god. You’re Elvis. You’re one bonafide bad mother sucker.

And after you do it, take the time to celebrate. Strut down the street like you’re a sexy piece of ass and don’t let anyone tell you anything different. You did something worthwhile and that very few people could ever do. That’s the real reward of NaNoWriMo. It’s a celebration of the writing process and celebrating the brave souls who do it, whether just for a month or a year or for their entire lives.

And that might sound corny, but I truly think that is why every single writer should try it at least once in their lifetime. Whether you complete it or not, you’re going to learn something for free.

Who doesn’t want that?

Good luck, my darlings. Open that document and get started.

Don’t worry. I got your back.

-Kyoko

Virtual Blog Tour Stop Roundup

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : November 1, 2013
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Category: Author Events, Book & Movie Reviews

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The Black Parade Banner 851 x 315

Happy belated Halloween!

In celebration of the holiday, we actually had a few different blog tour stops last night and this morning. Here’s the round up:

Book Suburbia

Elfwitch Loves Books

The Writerly Exploits of Mara Valderran

Fang Freakin’ Tastic Reviews* (* There is an actual full review of the novel with this post instead of just a spotlight. If you’re interested in the details of the plot and character, check this one out for sure. She did a great comprehensive review of the entire thing and I have to admit I am humbled by her kind words.)

And as always, don’t forget to pop in another entry for the free book giveaway.

The tour ends on November 4, 2013. Thank you so much for the support so far. Stay tuned. It’s November, and that means National Novel Writing Month. Get your pens and paper ready, my duckies.

Kyoko