Timewaster's Guide Archive

I have mixed opinions about advancing technology. When technology claims to match/surpass mother nature, it always makes me think of what the Greeks termed as "hubris" or excessive pride (which, in their folklore, always resulted in a huge smack-down from the gods). But I also think inspiration comes from God, and that progress is important.

Which is why I said "Cool, but a little disturbing." That tends to be my reaction to things I'm not sure how to react to, like cloning. I'll probably keep this slightly indifferent, definitely wishy-washy opinion until the robots self-replicate and attack us (think I Robot) and THEN I'll say, "See, I knew they were bad!" and pretend I've been lobbying against them all along.

But by then it will be too late.  

How much time do you have?

I like your YA book--it makes me laugh. And I think it shows that you are a versatile writer. But if most of the audience is expecting mainstream fantasy ("deep and ponderous," as you've termed it), then that might be what you want to stick with.

Reading from Mistborn could be good. I know when I have gone to listen to an author I admire, I always am intrigued when they read something "new" and "unpublished" that they are working on. So to please your millions of fans, maybe that's what you should do.  

That's pretty much what I did, though I didn't have as much time to do it, since my major was actually MFHD.

*Chimera snickers at herself

It sounds like you were much more sensible than I. Oh, I think there is going to be a celebration in the English department when I graduate. Not that they know me personally, but I think they must get excited when a super-senior with like a million credits finally leaves. I mean, the major is only 40 credits--how in the world did I end up with somewhere near 150?

I wish I had known what I wanted to do before my mission. I jumped into YA/Child's lit headfirst after, when I was finally brave enough to follow my heart. Which is why I've taken so long to graduate--I kept taking the classes I wanted instead of the four or five I needed to graduate.  

chasingisis,

I don't know what your opinion of YA is, but the first thing that popped into my mind was Crown Duel/Court Duel by Sherwood Smith. It it light and entertaining, and has a fun romance. It was originally published as two books, but you can get it as one book in paperback from Firebird. Even though it is "packaged" as YA, it reads like mainstream fantasy. At least, according to EUOL--I lent it to him to read since Sherwoood Smith had written a review of his book on her blog.

My friend Holly--another fantasy and YA writer/reader--highly recommends it as well. She is not on TWG, so you will have to take my word on her behalf.  

Since when did the English dept. have a children's lit emphasis?

Technically, the BYU English dept. doesn't. But since the English major is so open and flexible (and I knew I wanted to write children's and YA), I made it work for me. I took 320 "Writing for Children/YA" 3x (1 as a PB class w/ Rick Walton, 2 as general w/ Ann Cannon and Chris Crowe), 419 "Creative Projects" w/ Sally Taylor and focused on YA/child's, 420 "Adolescent Lit" w/ Chris Crowe, a 395 "Studies in Literature" class which was Children's Lit, a 518 class w/ Louise Plummer which was YA novel (funny enough, that's where I met EUOL. He was disguising Mistborn 2 as a "YA" fantasy so he could keep writing it in a BYU grad class and get credit), another 518 class w/ Sally Taylor where I worked on my YA fan novel, and EUOL and Sally Taylor's 318 class "Writing Sci-fi/Fan" where I worked on my YA fan novel.

Even for my 495 class, which is like your capstone class, I picked one that would allow me to do what I wanted. It was on Tolkien and Film, and we compared the LOTR trilogy with the movies, and for my final paper I chose a children's lit project (comparing the film Ella Enchanted with the book) which I am now trying to revise for publication. I have also attended several local YA/Child's lit conferences such as UVSC's Forum on Children's Lit and BYU's Writers for Young Readers Conference.

After all that, I think I can claim an emphasis in children's/YA literature, even if it is only something I can mention on my resume and grad school applications, since no emphases appear on the BYU transcripts (only minors). The Creative Writing and Editing emphases do exist, but also do not appear on transcripts. You just have to tell people that's what you emphasized in.

There are so many great published writers in the children's/YA field at BYU and here in Utah that I'm surprised they don't have some sort of emphasis in the creative writing area. I think BYU is still a little snobby about it--children's and YA lit isn't "literary" enough for the English department. So, like the flourishing sci-fi/fan community, the child/YA lit community is "underground." You have to seek them out. But anyone can make it work for them, like I did--especially with a faculty and local network so skilled in the national children's/YA market.

P.S. Sorry for the long posts. Brevity is not one of my skills.

I was also voting for A, but that was also because I didn't want to encourage B or C until I was sure you were Heather and not some crazy stalker.

Discretion is always wise--especially when approaching a potentially rabid squirrel or a potentially crazed stalker.

But yes, I am Heather, so I do have a right to blow noisy kisses at EUOL in an attempt to distract or embarrass him.

Okay, goodnight! Who knows when the insomnia will strike again--but I will come here if it does!