Bethany Larson

What I’m Writing {1}

September 10, 2011

So there’s something y’all may or may not know about me: I’m writing a YA novel. (I know, who isn’t, right?) And in truth, I’m writing about three. And there are about three more floating around in my head.

But that is not the point.

The point is that it’s both easy and hard to write a book. It’s easy in the sense that sitting down and getting the ideas and words out of your head and onto the page is, well, FUN. And you feel like you’re accomplishing something. For me that part is easy. The hard part comes in evaluating what you’ve written. So I’ve created this new feature so that I can share my writing with y’all (because y’all are experts on YA). And because sharing is the best. (And I’m sure at some point I’ll add in polls or ask for advice along the way. *grins*)

So, here’s the skinny on the chapter of the book I’m going to share with you today: I’ve really struggled with it. It’s the opening chapter of a contemporary espionage novel that I’ve been working on FOR MONTHS, and no matter what I do with it, I don’t seem to like the first few paragraphs.

But I figure that I’ll probably never be completely satisfied with my writing, so I’m just letting it go and turning it over the (hopefully constructive) people of the Internet. If you have the time, feel free to read through the first chapter and let me know what you think of it!

Addy Scott was annoyed. She knew that on that particularly warm October day, at exactly 11:52 A.M., a special announcement would be made proclaiming the names of the lucky ladies on this year’s Homecoming Court.

Addy was so anxious for the announcement that she couldn’t focus on anything her trigonometry teacher was saying. When it became obvious that learning wasn’t going to happen, she tried doodling and daydreaming to pass the time, but to no avail. Her thoughts kept going back to whether or not she’d made Court. She was growing more and more impatient; time seemed to be mocking her by moving more and more slowly.

So now she was trying bend the clock to her will. But, despite her best efforts at telekinesis, the second hand seemingly refused to budge past 11:47 A.M.

Normally Addy was not the kind of girl to sit around thinking about Homecoming Court, despite the fact that she lived in Katy, Texas and Homecoming was a bigger deal than the Fourth of July. However, things had changed for Addy in the past year, and now she was the kind of girl who thought about Homecoming Court.

In nine short months, she had morphed from a too short, too skinny, flat-chested girl into a perfectly proportioned young woman. And because high school is the most superficial place in existence, as soon as the rest of the students realized she was gorgeous with her chestnut colored hair, hourglass figure, and delicate bone structure, there was a new, widespread curiosity about Addy despite the fact that she had known her classmates since kindergarten. She actually found the curiosity and attention more annoying than flattering.

As she sat in class and thought about her newly inflated social status and her insane amount of commitments, Addy knew her chances of being on Homecoming Court were good. Not that she was full of herself—she had proof. At least eight of the football players stopped her that morning to tell her she was their pick for Court, and because they never walked alone, their friends all grunted in agreement, making it seem as if she was the obvious choice for junior maid.

“Come. On!” she said, a little too loudly, while still staring at the clock and rapidly tapping her pencil against the desk. She suddenly realized that she looked like the opening shot of that old Britney Spears video, except without the schoolgirl uniform and weird pink fluffy things in her hair. Praise God.

“Miss Scott, is there something you’d like to share with the class?” the trigonometry teacher asked.

As she tried to collect her thoughts and say something semi-coherent, the anticipated announcement began.

“Hello students! This is Mrs. Mitchell, your student council advisor. Today we have a very special announcement regarding your Katy High Homecoming Court.”

Addy’s heart rate rose until she could feel her pulse in her thumbs. She leaned so far forward in her desk chair that she felt the back legs tip a little off the ground. As she readjusted her weight so that she wouldn’t fall over, Addy caught the eye of her best friend, Marcy.

“Anxious much, A?” Marcy whispered from across the aisle.

“God, is it that obvious?”

Addy felt ridiculous. She hadn’t been nearly this nervous when student council was announced the previous May. And being vice-president was a way bigger accomplishment than being on Homecoming Court. At least, it was in her mind.

Marcy giggled softly and said, “Yeah. But, I mean, it is Homecoming Court. It’s a seriously big deal. Even for Addison Scott.”

Addy rolled her eyes. She knew that her late-to-the-party growth spurt and subsequent popularity hadn’t been easy on Marcy, who is Amazon tall with so-red-it’s-orange hair and millions of freckles covering her almost translucent skin. She had always been the gangly, awkward girl who was the obvious choice to play center for the girls’ basketball team, but was too uncoordinated to actually play.

But Marcy had been her best friend since the first day of middle school, when Addy had spied the picture of Spike in Marcy’s locker, and they had bonded over their mutual love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They had been inseparable ever since. Addy wasn’t about to abandon that friendship just because Cassidy Freeman, the most popular senior, decided to invite her to eat lunch one day.

Suddenly, Addy was jolted out of her thoughts.

“ . . . and this year’s junior maid will be . . . Ariel Stephens!”

Addy felt as if a sumo wrestler was sitting on her chest. She was surprised by the weight of her disappointment and didn’t turn to look at Marcy, whose big blue eyes were surely full of the same disappointment Addy was feeling. She just couldn’t face her yet, even though she knew Marcy would have exactly the right thing to say.

In an attempt to distract herself, Addy closed her trig book and started making a mental list of the things she needed to do that day.

“French test. Quiz Bowl practice. Grocery store. Oh right, grocery store.”

For some reason her dad had asked her to pick up a couple things after school. He said he had something special planned.

“I hope he’s not announcing that he’s going to propose to his inane girlfriend,” Addy thought.

Since her mother had passed away three years ago, she and her father, Richard, a NASA engineer, had become incredibly close. Then six months ago he started dating Felicia, a hair stylist at a funky Houston salon, and Addy started to feel their perfect father-daughter relationship waver. She was glad that her father was happy, but didn’t he realize that Felicia wasn’t right for him? She was too loud, couldn’t cook, refused to wear any color other than black, and had blue streaks in her platinum blonde hair. Felicia was cool, sure, but she just . . . wasn’t right for her dad. Why couldn’t he see that?

However, her anti-Felicia train of thought was once again interrupted by Mrs. Mitchell’s peppy, high-pitched voice.

“Now for the big announcement. Although we typically have at least three nominations from the men of the Katy football team, and a school-wide vote for who the Homecoming Queen will be, there was only one nominee this year. The same lucky young woman was nominated by not only the freshman, sophomore, and junior football players, but the seniors as well, which forfeits the need for a vote.”

“Geez,” Marcy said, “Who in the world would every class of football players nominate?”

Mrs. Mitchell continued, “It is my distinct privilege to announce that this year’s Katy High Homecoming Queen is . . . ADDISON SCOTT!”

The trigonometry class erupted in applause and Addy felt Marcy grab her in a huge hug. “Of course it would be you! Can you believe it?!” Marcy said.

But Addy couldn’t believe it. She was a junior. It was always a senior who was Homecoming Queen.

Always.

Throughout the rest of the day it seemed as if the entire student body congratulated, hugged, and told Addy how much she deserved the honor—even Cassidy Freeman, who had been on Court her freshman, sophomore, and junior years, and wasn’t the senior maid this year, graced Addy with the rehearsed smile of a pageant queen and a stiff hug. Addy had expected some serious attitude from Cassidy, and was glad to receive the forced sentiments. It was way better than the screaming showdown she had imagined, where Cassidy accused her of sleeping with the starting offensive line in return for the nomination.

By the time Addy aced her French test, finished up Quiz Bowl practice, made the trip to the grocery store, and pulled into the driveway, the shock of the announcement had worn off and was replaced with unadulterated joy. She couldn’t wait to tell her dad. She was even looking forward to Felicia’s reaction, despite the fact that she knew the woman would insist on giving her some sort of herbal hair treatment that smelled like patchouli the day of the Homecoming Parade. So when she walked through the front door, Addy was actually a little disappointed to find that Felicia was nowhere in sight. But the disappointment was quickly tossed aside and Addy reveled in the fact that she was able to share this moment with just her dad.

After they cooked dinner together, and Addy had set the table, they sat down to eat. She had been saving her big news for dinner so that she could properly make the announcement. She was sure he would be thrilled, despite the fact that he wouldn’t understand why it was a big deal. Even in high school Richard had been a genius who was more concerned with astronomy and physics than a high school football game. But she knew that he would still be psyched for her.

Just as she was forming the words to tell him her news, he said in his serious tone, “Addy, I have some news.”

“Well, I have some news too,” she said, mimicking his tone. She quickly added, “But you first. My news can wait.”

He breathed in sharply, and then held his breath for an excruciatingly long ten seconds. “Addy. I’ve been promoted.”

“Oh my God, Dad, that’s awesome! I’m so proud of you!” Addy exclaimed, beaming at him. “You so deserve a promotion. You spend almost every waking moment at NASA helping them develop . . . whatever it is you’re working on.”

She felt bad that she didn’t know, but to be honest, it wasn’t like they had spent much time together lately.

“That’s not all sweetie,” he said, and Addy felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“Here it comes,” she thought, certain he was going to announce his plans to propose to Felicia.

“The promotion isn’t in Houston. I’m . . . I’m being transferred to the Ames location.”

“Ames,” Addy said slowly, before asking “Where exactly is the Ames location?”

“California,” her dad said quietly.

“Oh. Wow,” said Addy, her head swimming. “Well, you didn’t already take it. Did you?” she asked cautiously, not daring to look him in the eye.

“It’s a huge promotion for me. For us. I couldn’t turn it down, “ he replied.

As Addy tried to digest the information, she realized her eyes were brimming with tears. She tried to hold them back, but that just made the urge to cry stronger.

Finally Addy asked, “What about Felicia?” hiccoughing before she said the dreaded woman’s name. Richard took off his rimless glasses and rubbed his eyes. “She’s not coming. I asked her to, but she said that she can’t imagine leaving Texas.”

“Neither can I,” Addy whispered.

“Addy, I’m so sorry,” her dad said, placing his hand on top of hers. “But I really think this is the best decision for our family.”

She couldn’t believe that he had accepted without consulting her first. It was just so . . . selfish. Didn’t he realize that she loved her life? The next, burning question was one Addy didn’t want to ask. But she had to.

“So . . . when do we move?” she asked, finally looking up from her chicken fried steak and straight into her dad’s eyes. He looked away. “Saturday.”

It was already Wednesday.

“The company hired movers, so you don’t have to worry about packing. And I can contact the school so you don’t have to tell them. And if you want to stay with Marcy the rest of the week, or have her stay here, that’s fine by me,” he said, hoping that concession would somehow ease the pain that was so visible on his daughter’s face.

As Addy tried to stomach all of the information, she realized tears were streaming down her face and off of her nose, and that she was making those stifled gulps in the back of her throat that sound like an oinking piglet. She was sure her mascara was all over her face, but she didn’t even bother to wipe it away.

Finally her dad said gently, “Now what was your news?”

©Bethany Larson, 2011.

****

All right, so that’s chapter one! If you find yourself wanting MORE of Addy’s story (oh, wishful thinking!) there are six chapters already up over on Figment. And I would love love love to have your feedback on this (good, bad, or ugly), as I’m currently my only editor and in desperate need of additional eyes on this. 🙂

Happy Saturday!

TGIF: Books I’d like to See as TV Shows

September 9, 2011

‘ello lovelies.

This week, the wonderful Ginger at GReadsBooks has asked:

Which books would you love to see made in to a tv series? or movie?

Now, I’m something of a film and television aficionado. Which basically means that I watch a lot of Netflix and have taken a couple pop culture criticism courses (read: have a Master’s degree in Arts Journalism.) So, I tend to think EVERYTHING should be a television show or movie.

But, the more I read, the more I find that’s not quite true. There are so many books that have been adapted to (especially) movies or (less especially) television shows that have gotten SO SCREWED UP because the screenwriters change things or the actress isn’t quite what you hoped the character would be or your favorite scene in the book was cut from the movie for some stupid reason that I have sort of become anti-book to film medium. I just can’t seem to trust screenwriters with my beloved books.*

But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about these things.

So, here are the carefully considered books I’d really love to see on either the big or small screen, but only if they are done with thoughtful care and with the loving permission of the author, who has preferably adapted their own screenplay and/or given their blessing. 🙂

1. Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz

I’d love to see this as a TV series. Preferably on the CW and not MTV.

2. The Magicians by Lev Grossman

I had some issues with this book, but I think it would make an INCREDIBLE film. But, I could also see it as a really compelling and totally different-feeling TV show.

3. The Curse Workers series by Holly Black

I’d loooooove to see this as films. But only if Jesse Eisenberg would play Cassel. Now that I’ve heard him narrate the audiobook, he will always and forever be my Cassel.

4. Paper Towns by John Green (But, really, anything by John Green.)

There have been lots of movie rumors about his novels being turns into films, and I know that film rights have been sold for, I think, all of his books thus far. And while any one of them would translate to the screen well, I really, really want the visual of a house full of black Santas.

5. Geek Fantasy Novel by E. Archer

If written by the right people (read: Jane Espenson and the rest of the Joss Whedon crew) and acted by the right actors, this could be ALL KINDS OF AWESOME.

Aaaand that’s my list! Let me know which books you’d like to see in theaters in comments. TGIF!

*If some of my favorite books and top reads of this past year were to become films or TV shows, I would be ECSTATIC for the authors and would wholeheartedly support it with my dollars and viewership. But if it gets screwed up because of those pesky Hollywood types, I will be verbally ninja-kicking them on this here bloggy-blog.

Review: Legend

September 8, 2011

Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 336
Release Date: November 29, 2011
Format: ARC via Good Choice Reading Blog Tour

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.—Goodreads

I’m not normally one for dystopian stories, but I’d heard great things about Legend and wanted to give it a try. And I am so so so glad I did because, y’all. This book is great.

June is incredibly cool—smart and sexy with observation skills that are straight up Sherlock Holmesian. And, of course, she’s special. Having made the only perfect score on record of the test that all children in the Republic are required to take to determine their future, she’s basically a celebrity. But she’s not nearly as famous as Day, a sly criminal who is a Robin Hood figure for the plague-ridden citizens of the Republic who live in next to deplorable conditions and are denied upward mobility. When she’s assigned to find and kill Day once she joins the military, the two meet each other and then things go crazy awesome.

I love the way the story unfolds—I was never quite sure who to trust or what the next moves might be. There was one character in particular that I just couldn’t get a good read on and whose motives I was constantly trying to figure out. Though that may have bothered others, I really dug it—it kept me on my toes while reading.

Overall, I really enjoyed Legend. It’s a fast paced, methodical, smart, and really entertaining murder mystery/conspiracy novel. Additionally, the descriptions of the clothing are all a little steampunky, which is always welcome. (Bring on the goggles, that’s what I say!) So whether you’re a die hard dystopia fan or a person looking for a good read, I highly, highly recommend picking up Legend when it comes out in November. Ooh! November! That means it could be a Christmas present! So, there ya go. A copy of Legend for everyone you know. Christmas shopping=finished. 🙂

Waiting on Wednesday: Out of Sight, Out of Time

September 7, 2011

Title: Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls #5)
Author: Ally Carter
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 272
Release Date: March 20, 2012

The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan—an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It’s a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.—Goodreads

So there’s this series of books about awesome spy girls-in-training that I’m all kinds of obsessed with. And the newest book in the series finally has a title and a release date (the week of my 25th birthday!!) and a synopsis.

That book is Out of Sight, Out of Time.

I seriously love this series. It’s so so so much fun. And I’m so ready to hang out with Cammie and Zach and the rest of the Gallagher girls again. But, alas, I have to wait until MARCH.

*sigh*

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Tune In Tuesday: The Warblers

September 6, 2011

So, I have this weird on again, off again relationship with Glee. Sometimes I really super love the show and other times I want to head butt it.

But no matter what my swinging opinions are about the episodes or writing or guest stars, I have to admit that the musical arrangements and vocal performances are usually pretty awesome.

Lately I’ve fallen in LOVE with The Warblers’ cover of one of my favorite Keane songs, “Somewhere Only We Know.”

Like, I can put it on repeat for hours and not get sick of it.

So now I’m sharing it with y’all. And while I recommend putting it on repeat, listening to it once is also a good move.

Also: I love Darren Criss. And think he should play Magnus in the City of Bones movie. Just sayin’.

Aaaand just for funsies, here’s The Warblers version of Destiny Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills.”

Yay for a short work/school week! I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day weekend!

Tune In Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReadsBooks.