So really, I confess to having my own rating system for books:

1 star/heart/whatever: Do I really have to give it anything? Pretty much a zero.
2 whatevers: Meh.
3 whatevers: Okay, you're on to something here
4 whatevers: I like it. I'd tell my friends it was worth the read
5 whatevers: I am buying this book because even though there's already too many books and not enough time, I will want to read this again.

My "five whatevers" book of the week? Openly Straight, by Bill Konigsburg. Straight or gay, I wish all my friends, enemies, and frenemies would read this book. Protagonist Rafe has been out since 8th grade. He lives a life free from discrimination in Boulder, CO, and gives tolerance speeches at schools. But what he really wants is to be a regular guy, not that gay guy. Why does his sexual orientation have to be his headline?

Rafe transfers to an all-boys boarding school across the country and makes the decision to be, well, openly straight. He's not going to hook up with any girls, but he wants to know what it's like to have people see him first and not gay first. You can probably guess what happens to Rafe at his all-boys school, of course once he's pretending to be straight he'll finally find the perfect guy to be his boyfriend. But Rafe's journey opens up so many questions about how we let labels define both ourselves and others. Albie, Toby, and Ben are wonderfully developed secondary characters and I want to take a class with Mr. Scarborough, Rafe's writing teacher, who pushes Rafe to take his writing above and beyond.

Here's an excerpt:
"...[T]he fact that there was this party and everyone other than my grandmother was pretending that something wasn't true about me made me feel slimy, like I needed to take a long shower. While everyone else was talking, I wandered back over to the tofu pig. It looked real, unless you got up close to it. Then you could see: It was very much not. Up close, you could see how the artist molded the tofu, and the places were there were cracks in the pigskin. You could even see the finger indentations where he'd tried to massage the tofu flat. It was like when you approach a woman whom you think is beautiful and you see the caked-on blush and mascara, and you realize what you are seeing isn't her; it's her vanity. You're seeing her attempt at beauty and it's the opposite of beauty that you're looking at." (Konigsburg 236).

This book is humorous and real - don't miss the trip. Happy reading!

As long as I'm on a craft book kick, this week I checked in with fellow Swoon Reads author, Jenny Elliott. Jenny's book, SAVE ME, will be a January 2015 release from Swoon Reads. Here's Jenny about her writing process and favorite craft books:

"I'm hard at work on my first round of edits for SAVE ME. I absolutely love the new title! I'm still somewhat in shock that I skipped the process of getting an agent. I also skipped the revision stage that usually happens when an agent represents an author, before a book is submitted to a publisher. It's daunting, but exciting!

I rely heavily on outlines when I write. I also spend most of my waking hours in a dream world in my head, watching my characters and recording their doings and dialogue. I'm beyond happy to be getting paid to do what I love. I've been doing it for years anyway and don't see myself ever stopping.

If I were to recommend three books on writing, I'd say a writer would do well to begin with Stephen King's, ON WRITING. It's an entertaining read and full of basic pointers. Donald Maass's, WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL is also a good one to help a writer figure out ways to make their book stand out. Before a writer starts a story, or at least before they revise and start querying, I'd recommend Noah Lukeman's, THE FIRST FIVE PAGES: A Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile. Most everything Noah points out that agents and editors look for in the first five pages can be applied to an entire novel.

Noah Lukeman's chapter, Subtlety, helped me the most. In it, he says, "...if we were to stop and ask what best signals the proficient writer, the answer would probably be subtlety. Less is always more. Subtlety is the mark of confidence and is thus by far the hardest thing for a writer to achieve." He goes on to ask, "Will a reader want to read your book twice? Three or more times? If not, why not? Is so, what will he gain from additional reading?" Working toward achieving subtlety in my work has been challenging, but rewarding. I often turn back to Lukeman's book, and am constantly working to improve at all the aspects it covers.

In my experience, getting published takes a lot of hard work and a little luck. Those who love writing will put in the time and effort. I've been told it often takes 10,000 hours of practice before one's writing reaches a professional, publishable level. That sounds about right to me. Good thing the journey is a fun one!"

Increase your hour count this weekend - pick up one of these books. Got a craft book you can't live without? I'd love to hear about it, please leave a comment!

Pre-order Jenny's book on Amazon.
You can also follow Jenny on Twitter: @jennykelliott

If you're reading this post, you've probably at least seen the question before about what three books you'd want to take with you if you were to be stranded on a desert island. Though there are many, many authors I would miss, if I could only take three books I would take these three craft books so I could write myself a lifetime of stories. Egotistical? Perhaps, but these three books are worth it.

For developing great premises, I love Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel. This book also taught me how to raise the stakes, incorporate psychology of place and social trends, and to develop my themes more fully.

“In one-on-one meetings at writers conferences, I can usually stop a story pitch dead in its tracks by interjecting the following: 'Hold on, your protagonist wants to [insert goal here}.], but let me ask you this, if he is not successful, so what?'” (Maass 60)

Robert McKee's Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting  is the book I wish I had seen in high school. Though I learned to basics of character, setting, and genre in school, McKee explains the relationships between these and other essential elements. “A beautifully told story is a symphonic unity in which structure, setting, character, genre, and idea meld seamlessly. To find their harmony, the writer must study the elements of story as if they were instruments of an orchestra – first separately, then in concert.” (McKee 29) Though the book was written for screenwriters, it is very applicable to novels. This is the book I turn to when developing plot lines and character arcs, the book that taught me about beats, writing a scene, turning points and climax.

Once I've developed a strong premise and have an idea of how the character arcs and plot structure will work, I write the first draft. Then it's time for the last book on my list: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print, by Renni Browne and Dave King. “You can drop your amateurish look and give your writing a professional edge.” (Browne & King 4)  This is the book that I use to polish my drafts. With checklists at the end of each chapter, it guides writers to check for showing instead of telling, avoiding backstory dumps and tangents, using the most effective point of view, creating authentic sounding dialogue and much, much more.

Check back on future Technique Tuesdays for posts where I apply Donald Maass's Breakout Novel techniques on a potential new WIP!

I am proud to belong to a fantastic SCBWI critique group called Four Ladies and a Gent, and my fellow members helped make Pairing Up what it is today. I knew the novel was ready for submission when our gent, a writer of MG fantasy and sci-fi, confessed that he couldn't believe I'd sold him on a figure skating romance. I think well-written stories can reach far beyond their intended audiences, and with that in mind I have two recommendations for this weekend with premises I never thought I'd like.

I must confess that I am not a horse person. My apologies to all of you who are, but please don't stop reading because I'm about to recommend a couple of great horse books. If, like me, you just want to get out of this "stinking fresh country air" (quote from my four-year-old self), please also keep reading because these amazing authors sold me on their novels despite the fact that they're both about horses.

Nineteen-year-old Sean Kendrick is in love with water horses. It doesn't matter that one killed his father, that the mythical creatures brought to life in this novel would gladly eat their riders for lunch, that they're monsters. Puck (Kate) O'Connolly is terrified of these beasts who made her an orphan, yet through the novel she grows to love them and Sean.

Stiefvater made me love these monstrous horses as well, with a world so seamlessly built into her story that I'm going to have to write an entire critical essay this month on how she did it. A fantasy without information dumps? A rare creature indeed, and I'm on a quest to find more. You don't have to like horses OR fantasy to LOVE The Scorpio Races, Stiefvater will sell you on her story either way.

This is a light-hearted romance and not a fantasy at all, yet Kenneally uses her character's voice to show her world. I am a huge fan of Kenneally's use of landscape to flavor her character's voices and this book didn't fail to please, heading off to the races right out of the starting gate. Having read Kenneally's previous books, I also enjoyed the skillful way in which “where-are-they-now” scenes with characters from prior works were woven together with Savannah's story.

Happy reading!