Category: Young Adult Fiction

Second Verse, Same as the First

Posted on by writermike in Michael D Young, The Canticle Kingdom, The Last Archangel, web serials, Writing Advice, Young Adult Fiction
Week Two went about as well as week one, even though we were in the middle of moving from our apartment into a beautiful brand new condo. We’re all settled in and loving it. Don’t write off writing just because you are busy!

Stats:
My word count for the week: 14079
Running Total: 31645
Monthly Percentage: 63.3%
Yearly Percentage: 5.3%

Writing Tip of the Week:
Take rejections in stride.  I had a very disappointing rejection this week, and stuff like that just hits you where it hurts…metaphorically of course. I think it’s okay to be sad for a little bit, to mourn that lost opportunity, but then you have turn around and start making your next moves. If you are not careful, you might be tempted to let that project languish on the farther back of burners so that nothing happens.

Most of time, it is not that your project was bad, just that it didn’t fit what the publisher wants right now.  Send it off again as soon as possible. I’m already preparing to send it to two more publishers myself.

Writing Update:
I’m continuing to map out another web serial, and working on recording the audio version of “Canticle of Night”. Did you know it is available for free on iTunes? Good stuff.

I have been working hard this week on a non-fiction project for once that is a guide for LDS Ward Choir directors, but also can be helpful for any church choir directors. It is a topic about which I know quite a bit, having done it several times.

I’m also working hard on the third and final installments of “The Canticle Kingdom” and “The Last Archangel” series. Just getting these off the ground. In addition, I am preparing a novel called “Countdown” to enter in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award. Last year, my novel “Starspire” (as yet unpublished) was a quarter-finalist.  I’d love to get at least to the semi-finals this year!

If you want to listen to or read “Canticle of Night”, please visit my page at http://www.bigworldnetwork.com/CanticleofNight.html

I’d love to know what you think about it!

Ring Out One Contest, Ring In Another

Posted on by writermike in Contest, Michael D Young, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Young Adult Fiction
I’d like to announce that the winner of this month’s blog hop is Diana! She has won a signed copy of The Last Archangel. Thanks to everyone who entered and I hope that you will stop by often.

 As you might have noticed in last post, I’m very excited for National Novel Writing Month, which starts on November 1st. I’ve managed to write 50,000 words both of the last two years I’ve done it and got done before the 30th. This year, I’d like to raise the stakes a little bit and encourage some of you, who I am sure are also writers, to participate.

On the entry form below, you can show that you have registered for NaNoWriMo. There is another button for when you “win” NaNoWriMo (which means reaching the word count goal). Each entry is timestamped, so I can tell in which order they come in. If any of you can “win” NaNoWriMo before I do, I will agree to do a full manuscript evaluation of your NaNoWriMo manuscript. If I get there first, I will still give a 50 page evaluation to the first person who wins after me. From all those who enter, I will pick three random people to receive a first chapter evaluation of their NaNoWriMo manuscript and other prizes at my discretion.

You can also get additional entries for prizes by spreading the word about this contest. If you have any questions or need writing advice, know that I’m always available at thecanticlekingdom@gmail.com.

Let the writing commence!

Writing Update: Had a great writing week. Simon Says is up to 36,370 and the Last Archangel II is up to 23,143. I’m also working with a company provide a serial story that chronicles some of the backstory behind The Canticle Kingdom, specifically the lives of the creators of the music box and how one of them became corrupted. I’ll have more news about that as it progresses. They let you retain the rights, so hopefully, I can let the series run and then publish the entire series in an inexpensive ebook somewhere down the road.
Come visit me this Saturday the 22nd at Barnes and Noble in Orem, UT from 1pm – 4pm. There will be many other authors there as well and it promises to be a great event.

RafflecopterSettings = { raffleID: ‘ZGM1OTRjYmFhNjUwNGM1OWE3ZTQxMmE4NzQ5MTc3OjY=’};<a href=”http://rafl.es/enable-js”>You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.

Depicting Immorality vs. Amorality

Posted on by writermike in Fire and Ice, Immorality vs Amorality, Linda and Richard Eyre, Michael D Young, YA Literature, Young Adult Fiction
Happy Labor Day everyone. Many of us might have a day off, but there’s nothing that says you can’t still make it a good writing day.

I came across this great article in the Deseret News not to long ago, and I’d like to share a snippet from it with all of you.  It concerns the difference between depicting Immorality in the media vs. depicting Amorality. It was written by Linda and Richard Eyre and though it is specifically talking about movies, I think what they says applies to literature as well.

Here is the problem: We are failing to distinguish betweensomething that depicts immorality and something that depicts amorality.Immorality means the breaking or violation of moral codes, of religiouscommandments and often of basic decency. Immorality, where it is accuratelyportrayed, complete with consequences, is a good literary device and anessential part of most stories. Scripture is filled with accurate,consequence-included depictions of immorality.

Amorality is something very different. It is theignoring of moral questions altogether. It is the complete disregard and thefailure to even acknowledge the question of right and wrong. It portrays thingsas “normal” even when they are not, and it ignores consequences orpretends they do not exist.

Whether dealing with issues of honesty, sexualmorality or character in general, attempts to portray real mistakes orcharacter flaws or any kind of indiscretion or bad judgment or moral violationaccurately and honestly can be great elements of movies or of any form ofstorytelling, particularly when those portrayals are done with discretion andtaste.

You can view the entire article here: 

This gave me serious food for thought. I think to have a good book, you need to depict someone or something showing immoral behavior.  Without a villain, most stories fall flat. You probably even need to even show most of your characters doing things that are wrong.  The clincher is that as a good writer, you need to depict truth.  If your characters mess up, it is your duty to depict realistic consequences. Even if you are writing fantasy or science fiction, readers still expect realistic consequences. 


I believe that depicting amorality is not only bad writing, but a dangerous precedent to set. Especially when writing fiction targeted at teens and young people, I feel the responsibly not to depict amorality. If you are what you eat, to some degree you are also what you read, watch, or otherwise consume.  I will not be the purveyor of moral junk food. 


What are your thoughts on the matter?  How do you see the difference between depicting immorality and amorality?  


Writing Update: 


I had a wonderful writing week.  I submitted my latest work “The Lost Barge” to an interested publisher and I’m crossing my fingers.  I wrote over 15,000 words, spread out between my two works in progress, one of which is the sequel to The Last Archangel and the other I would still like to keep under wraps for a bit.  I’m hoping for another great writing week. 


For a chance to win the Last Archangel, there is a giveaway on the Fire and Ice blog: 


http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com/2011/09/last-archangel-book-giveaway.html

Blog Tour Day 7: Review by Lisa Bookworm

Posted on by writermike in Blog Tour, Book review, Fantasy, Immersing Yourself, Lisa Faber, Michael D Young, The Canticle Kingdom, The Last Archangel, Tristi Pinkston, Young Adult Fiction
Latest Post: Enjoy a great review by Lisa Faber.  I got a kick out of the end of the post where she says that she realized that she already had “The Canticle Kingdom” sitting on her booshelf and she wants to read it right away after reading “The Last Archangel”.  I’m also on author Tristi Pinkston’s blog today with a guest post about gaining creative inspiration through immersing yourself in good art. Also don’t forget to enter the blog tour giveaway.
_________________________________________
July 6th: Review from Lisabookworm
http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-tour-of-last-archangel-by-michael.html


and


Guest Post at Tristi Pinkston’s Blog: 
http://networkedblogs.com/k3Ebd
_________________________________________
July 5th: Interview with Eden: http://www.joramsey.com/?p=690

and

Guest Post: http://thereadingfever.blogspot.com/2011/07/writing-certified-fresh-fantasy-guest.html

July 4th: Giveaway at: http://jenbigheart.blogspot.com/2011/06/freedom-giveaway-blog-hop.html
And

Interview at: http://wp.me/p18Ztn-m4
July 3rd: My Life in a Laptop: The Last Archangel by Michael Young
July 2nd: http://fayeflamereviews.blogspot.com/
And

http://jlloydmorgan.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-of-last-archangel-by-michael.html
July 1st: http://franklewiscole.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-review-of-last-archangel.html
J
une 30th: http://habeyondworlds.com/2011/06/welcome-michael-young/