I hate making decisions. Which movie to rent? Which restaurant to eat at? What sights to visit on vacation? The very real possibility of making the wrong decision dances in the back of my brain. What if the movie turns out to be insipid? What if the food is only so-so and the waitstaff rude? What if the tourist attraction is lame, closed or overcrowded? Of course, none of these outcomes are catastrophic, yet I hate to waste time or money or both if it can be avoided.

Enter: the Customer Review section. (*cue angel choir here)

When Customer Reviews began appearing on websites, I was thrilled. Reading what others had to say about a place or product helped decrease my chance of disappointment dramatically! I began adding my own .02 on everything from restaurants, to jeans, to the latest book I’d read. How liberating! How freeing! How great to be able to say exactly how I felt about a product without holding back!

When I became a published author, however, everything changed. Suddenly I was being the one reviewed. (One can argue it’s the book that’s being reviewed, but when you’re the author, trust me, it feels like you.) Perfect strangers were commenting freely on my characters, my plot, my writing. Official reviews by Kirkus and Book List and School and Library Journal appeared below my book title with no say from me. Every time my google alert popped up with yet another unsolicited opinion, my stomach clenched. I read each review through squinted eyes. The slightest hint of negativity caused my heart to drop. Smarminess or blunt cruelty boiled my blood. If you think it’s so easy, I wanted to write back, then you try it!

Then I recalled a negative review I had written years ago on a book by a VIP children’s author. It was on a mock newbery list and I did not feel it was worthy. Oh, how I railed about the plot being boring, the writing didactic, the characters shallow! Me! An unpublished nobody criticizing the work of an award-winning author! What was I thinking? Clearly, I was not. Hiding behind the cloak of anonymity, I felt free to spew forth my opinions, however uninformed they might be. Yes, I had the right to my opinion and yes, I had the right to have that opinion heard. But to what end? Was I giving my opinion to help potential readers make an informed decision, or was I just trying to placate myself for not yet being published?

With the growing popularity of e-readers, more people than ever are sharing their views on books, through sites like Amazon, Barnes and Noble and the very popular Goodreads. I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t read these reviews – they still help me decide which books to buy, borrow or skip altogether. But now I look at the act of reviewing much differently. Not only do I keep the potential reader in mind, but the author as well. I now know how an author dissects each review, in hopes of making their next book better. I keep in mind that this book is someone’s baby, their work of art, a part of themselves they were generous and brave enough to share with the world. If I do not care for it, I now try very hard to be honest without being brutal or superior. I highlight things I thought the author did particularly well. I can also now concede that maybe “it’s not them, it’s me.”

They say you are a perfect parent… until you have children. I think the same applies to authors. You are a perfect author… until you get a book published. Then, as with parenting, you realize how much you don’t know, how inexperienced you really are and how much respect you have for those who have gone before you.

Therefore, whatever your profession, the next time you write a book review, keep in mind the hard-working author, cowering at his or her computer, reading your words. Be honest, definitely. But be helpful as well, because more than anything, we want our next book to be the one you rave about!

Beverly Patt is currently working on a top-secret historical novel which she hopes one day will be favorably reviewed by readers and professional reviewers alike.

Ellen Jensen Abbott

We at the Mixed Up Files are thrilled to have fantasy author, ELLEN JENSEN ABBOTT, stop by for an interview. Her first book, WATERSMEET, came out in 2009 and the second in the series, THE CENTAUR’S DAUGHTER, hit the shelves just weeks ago. Please join me in welcoming Ellen to our cyber-home! (*wild applause here*)

Hi Ellen! Congratulations on the recent release of THE CENTAUR’S DAUGHTER! Please tell our audience a bit about your trilogy and how it came to be.

Hi! Thanks and glad to be here. Like a lot of writers, I often have a character come to me first, and that was true in this case. The first image I had was of my main character, Abisina. I knew what she looked like—dark skin and hair, light eyes—and I knew that she was an outcast, but that was all. As I started to explore why she was outcast, the entire world began to weave itself together. The trilogy deals with the events in the world that led to the outcasting of whole groups of folk and to the healing of this break—or I hope it will deal with the healing of the break. I’m in the middle of the third book, and right now, no one wants to be healed!

The Centaur's Daughter

Ha! Darn those stubborn characters! Haven’t they read your outline??? Speaking of, outlining an entire trilogy sounds like a huge amount of work. How closely have you stuck to your original? Did you find you had to make some changes once you were up to your elbows in writing?

I stuck fairly close to my original concepts until the third book. As I said above, the characters in the third book are not cooperating and everything is up in the air. (Do I sound nervous?? Excuse me while I gnaw on my finger nails!) Of course there are always changes as you get to know your characters. I tried to put Abisina into a love triangle in The Centaur’s Daughter and she wanted no part of it. The guy I had intended to catch her attention was just too creepy, and she was happy with who she was with! Even now as “everything is up in the air” the broad outlines are intact, but it’s in the details where it gets messy. It’s easy to outline a chapter in a few sentences, but when you actually start to elaborate you discover all the ways that your general idea could play out. In addition, in writing sequels, you are affected by decisions you made years ago. For example, I created my fairy race with specific qualities and values; just because I need them to play a specific role in book three, I can’t change who they are. I have to work within the confines I established—which means, if I’ve made it difficult for myself, I only have myself to blame!

Oh, man, don’t you hate it when that happens? In THE CENTAUR’S DAUGHTER, your main character, Abisina, is a shape-shifter. Besides that obvious difference, how are you and Abisina different? How are you alike?

You’re right that I have never suddenly turned into a centaur, though as I teen, I could relate to that feeling of who is this person I am becoming? Whose body am I living in? Abisina and I are both pretty intense, but I like to think I can kick back a little better than she can. (Of course, I’m not trying to save a nation. Kicking back can’t be that easy when there is a herd of centaurs after you!) She appreciates humor in others, but I am more likely to crack a joke. And while she is an excellent archer, the only time I’ve ever shot an arrow was in PE in 9th grade.

We’re alike in that we both really value the concept of home and family, and at times, both of us have had to search for the home we wanted. I had written most of my first book, before I discovered that similarity! It was there all the time; I just wasn’t looking for it.

First book in the Series: WATERSMEET

Very interesting. Also, Absinia is not a high school English teacher, like you are;) Have you ever taught a class or unit on fantasy? If so, what do you think fantasy offers readers that other genres don’t?

I’ve taught a lot of fantasy/science fiction. I taught en elective for 11th and 12th graders looking at Science Fiction dystopias, including books by Ursula Le Guin, Verner Vinge, Isaac Asimov and Robert Sawyer. Dystopic fiction is fascinating because the societies that turn so bad usually started out as a society crafted to be a utopia. They allow readers to talk about what went wrong—where greed, egotism, religious fanaticism, classism, etc. can take us as humans. By the same token, these novels allow us to discuss what would constitute a Utopia for us which asks students to articulate what social values they cherish.

I’ve also taught the Odyssey to ninth graders—if the Cyclops and Calypso and Circe aren’t fantasy characters, I don’t know fantasy! Aside from being just a really kick-butt story, the Odyssey also is about what it means to be a hero, to be loyal, to be adrift in the world and longing for home.

I’ve always wondered why more fantasy isn’t taught. Essentially, it’s The Giver, 1984, Animal Farm, a few short stories by Ray Bradbury and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” that appear on a lot of curricula along with folklore and mythology. I think the genre has a lot more to offer!

Absolutely. So, if you were to teach a middle school class on fantasy, what books would you use and why?

I would begin with folktales/fairy tales from around the world. It’s so interesting to see the same motifs come up again and again: the three brothers, the orphaned girl, the tests of bravery and pureness of heart. Equally interesting are the myriad of differences reflecting the cultures the stories are from. The same animal can be good or evil depending on where in the world you are. All fantasy writers today are responding to these early myths and stories, so I would then look at how different characters from early myths show up again in books like the Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, the Artemis Fowl series, and Harry Potter. I would also include more modern dystopias like Lois Lowry’s The Giver and Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games. Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, Fanny Billingsley’s Chime and Megan Whalen Turner’s Attolia trilogy would also be great in a middle school classroom. And then…oh! I could go on and on! But that would at least get me to Christmas!

Switching gears now, please tell us – if one of your characters in The CENTAUR’S DAUGHTER could come to life and stay a week in your house who would you choose and why?

Wow! That is so hard! It would be fun to hang out with Findlay, Abisina’s love interest, because he’s easy going and funny—and easy on the eyes! Elodie, Abisina’s best friend, would be a nice guest because she tends to look on the bright side; I could use her humor when I’m grading papers and trying to make a book deadline. I would love to have Rueshlan come. He’s Abisina’s shape-shifting father and he’s heroic in terms of both his physical attributes and his character. I really admire him and would love to get to know him better. Hoysta, the dwarf, is a dear, but I’d have to keep her out of the kitchen! No smoked moles for me! I guess, Haret the dwarf would be the one I would most want to have, though. He is the one who gives it straight to Abisina; she always knows where she stands with him, and those kinds of friends are invaluable.

Agreed. Anyone who would be barred at the door?

Aside from all the creatures like trolls, minotaurs, and leviathan birds, I would rather not have the Fairy Mother come to stay. She’s just too imperious, too commanding to be a good house-guest. And I would have nowhere to put her huge fairy guards!

Ellen, thanks so much for talking with us here at the Mixed Up Files. We can’t wait to dive deeper into this fascinating world you’ve created!

Readers: what fantasy stories would you like to see taught/read in schools?

Find out more about Ellen Jensen Abbott and her fantasy trilogy here

Knowing many of you readers are teachers and parents, I am certain you have, at one time or another, heard this complaint: I don’t know what to write about!*  (*said in a whining tone of voice)  Well, here are a few tips you can share with those young writers and you can say you got them from a real author!

You can tell I'm a real author by my messy work station

First off, authors do not have a complete story in mind before they write it! It is said that authors don’t write stories, they discover them. We all start with a puzzle piece or two: A name, Setting, Cool phrase, Subject (war/baseball/dog/dance, etc), Ending, Title, Character (boy/girl, alien, chipmunk), Conflict (argument, competition, misunderstanding, 2 people w/ conflicting needs).  We then take those few puzzle pieces and brainstorm.

General Brainstorming Rules

• Have lots of scrap paper available – don’t limit yourself to just one page.
• Write down EVERYTHING that comes to mind, however stupid or lame or blah or boring or far-fetched. Actually PUT IT ON PAPER. It may not be as stupid as you think and it may lead you to something better.
• Write fast. Do not pause to edit or second guess. NO editing allowed at this stage!
• Neatness does NOT count. Neither does spelling or grammar or complete sentences.
• If something ‘rings your bell’ put a star by it but KEEP BRAINSTORMING.

Three Brainstorming Techniques to Try (In order, from knowing the least about your story to knowing the most)

1. Web-making or Tree branching (Puzzle piece = Cool Phrase, Subject, Genre, Setting, Title)

Put your word in the center of the page and draw a circle around it.

Then play a ‘word association game’ with it, writing as many other words/phrases that come to mind. If a word you write makes you think of a different word, continue the branch forward. When you run out of words on one branch, go back and start a new branch with another first word.

Don’t get caught up with the branching – drop it if it is slowing you down. It’s not a work of art and there’s no right/wrong way. The most important part is to keep writing down words/ideas that come to mind.

2. Questionnaire (Puzzle piece = Name, Character, Conflict, Ending)

Take your initial idea/word/subject and start asking yourself questions about it.

Write down as many different answers as you can to each question – nothing is stupid!

Sometimes you have to get those first, easy answers out of your brain to make room and time for something more interesting to come out. Writing them down gets them out of your way, out of your mind so they don’t keep coming back to block your thinking.

If you have trouble asking yourself questions, here are some to get you started:

1. Who is the Main Character?
2. What does the Main Character want/need? (Needs are more compelling than wants)
3. Why is this important to the Main Character?
4. What could happen to stop the MC from getting what he/she wants?(conflict, complications)
5. Where does this story take place?
6. What is cool or important about this setting?
7. Who are the other characters in this story
8. How do they feel about the MC and/or his problem?
9. Does the MC achieve his goal and if so, how? How does he fail?

3. Character Diaries/Interviews (Puzzle piece = Conflict, Character(s)

Write from the point of view of each of your characters. A short story should have a main character and a few others (3 max?). If you’ve decided what the conflict/major story problem is, have each character write about it from his/her perspective. This is merely the way you used to pretend as a kid. It’s acting, but on paper. Pretend you are this person and start ‘talking’. You can pretend you are writing in your diary, or writing a letter, or even being interviewed (where you make up the questions).

Post Brainstorming: Now what?

Once you have a paper or ten full of ideas, words, phrases, go back and re-read. Mark anything that strikes you as interesting/exciting. Pull out those ideas and put on a separate sheet of paper. You may need to do a little mini brainstorming to fill in the holes.

By the time you are finished, you should have

A Character___________________________________________________________

in a setting____________________________________________________________

who wants/needs something______________________________________________

but there’s a conflict_____________________________________________________

and he/she has some failures (making it worse each time)_______________________

_____________________________________________________________________

until finally*…___________________________________________________________

(*Remember, your character should solve his/her own problem. They can have help but only a little.)

Brainstorming is not just for Beginnings! There are many times, mid-manuscript, when authors get stuck. So I go back to my earlier brainstorming sheets and see if there are some ideas there. If that doesn’t help, I brainstorm my problem, asking myself, um, “what’s the problem?” And then, “What are some possible solutions?” If a character is not working, I might do a diary entry for that character to see what I can “discover” about him/her.

Brainstorming is useful in the “re-visioning” process as well. By the time we are finished with our first drafts, we know the characters better than when we started. We may find our original plan does not work so well with who the characters have become.  Uh oh! What’s a writer to do? 

Why, brainstorm, of course!

Beverly Patt is mid-brainstorming, mid-re-visioning her third novel at this very moment.