Carol Callicotte

Author

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes! October 4, 2011

Filed under: Books,For Writers,France,French Language,Projects,Writing,Writing World,Young Adult — A French American Life @ 9:36 am
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I’m ripping up my YA novel and starting over. Well, not completely. The main characters and the main story line (a first love story) will remain intact. At least, that’s the plan for now. The setting, however, is getting a makeover, French Riviera style.

That’s right. France!

The original form of FIRST TIMES AND SECOND CHANCES spilled from my pen when I was thirteen. I spent a couple years working on the story, typing it up on my Grandmother’s word processor and printing it out on her dot matrix printer (yikes – that makes me feel old!). It took place at a summer camp, and I’ve never changed that setting.

Over the past couple years, I’ve reworked this story several times, keeping the bones (which were surprisingly good, I have to say) but updating and maturing the story, adding more plot, more tension, more character development. I kept the original setting because it seemed to work – I needed a place where a bunch of teens who didn’t know each other would be together all hours of the day and night for a stretch of time. Still, the summer camp setting never sat well with me. It targets a younger audience; 15 and 16 year olds just don’t tend to go to summer camp. As much as I love the story, I finally had to admit to myself: the setting is getting in the way of selling this book.

Then, it hit me. I love France. I’ve spent a ton of time there. I’ve enrolled in two language immersion programs. The one I did in Antibes had: (ta da!) a program for teens! Teens, spending the summer together with a bunch of strangers, living together in youth hostels, having activities organized for them, and taking French classes together! THIS IS IT! This works! I know this. I can write this. I can have a fantastic time with this.

So Jenni, grab your French/English dictionary, your bikini, and get a passport. You are going to Antibes, France, on the Cote d’Azur, and we’re going to have some fun!

 

 

Conferencing March 16, 2010

Filed under: Books,Conferences,For Writers,Reading,Writing,Writing World — A French American Life @ 4:15 pm
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I’ve been to two conferences in the last couple months: The San Diego State University Writer’s Conference, and then my fourth (!) year at the Southern California Writer’s Conference here in San Diego. I guess this makes me a conference junkie.

Going to conferences is great, regardless of where you are as a writer. Contemplating exercising that right brain in this particular creative endeavor? There’s plenty of inspiration for newbies. A draft or partial draft in and unsure what on earth you’ve gotten yourself into? Seminars on every aspect of story creation or editing can be found at most any conference. Curious about the business side? Plenty of information to be found. Have a clean, edited final manuscript? Here’s a great place to connect with agents and editors.

The thing I’ve loved most, however, about going to conferences is the people I meet and the inspiration I take away. I always leave with a few new friends (and potential critique partners) and with a renewed sense of purpose. This year was no different.

I haven’t ventured out of San Diego yet for a conference; any suggestions out there on good ones you’ve been to?

CURRENTLY READING: THE LITTLE BOOK by Selden Edwards

Confession: I hate time travel stories. I get stuck every time on the whole grandfather clause thing; plus the butterfly effect. But two things have snuck in under my radar. The TV show Lost. I loved it from the get go, and then they started the whole time travel storyline, but I was already hooked. And then, this not so little book. I knew it was time travel and hesitated to buy it, but I heard the author speak at the SCWC and he was so charming that I had to give his book a try. SO GLAD I did – I’m loving it so far. A caveat: both of these time travel stories contend that whatever happened, happened, so the outcomes can’t be changed. That’s time travel I can live with.

 

Quiet but Working September 3, 2009

Filed under: Books,Cheater,Projects,Writing — A French American Life @ 11:42 am
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I know I’ve been quiet lately. At least blog quiet. I’ve taken a long break from the submission process for Cheater, but plan to start up again this month. And the most important thing is this: I have been writing. A lot. I’ve found a great rhythm and balance between working part time and writing part time, and have been happily delving into a YA novel I wrote as a 13 year old. It needs a lot of work – but the bones are good. It’s been fun (yet angst inducing) to return to the teenage world. Mostly fun. And I have to say, I love the voice I’ve found, and it is so easy, scarily easy, to slip into my inner teenager. This character is flowing over with potential, and I can see myself writing many, many stories with her. Changing my focus from searching for an agent back to craft has been rejuvenating. Just what I needed to do some revising on Cheater and jump back into the toil of the querying process!

 

Word Count August 26, 2008

Filed under: For Writers,Writing,Writing World — A French American Life @ 12:34 pm
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For those of you who, like me, have been confused by word count expectations for novels, agent Colleen Lindsay of FinePrint Literary Management has an excellent post on this subject.  The numbers I’ve heard vary widely depending on the source.  Thanks to Colleen for giving us some solid guidelines.

 

Discussions this week in the writing world August 23, 2008

Filed under: Censorship,Writing,Writing World — A French American Life @ 3:00 pm
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There were quite a few interesting conversations going on in the blog world this week. I’m late posting links – I needed some technical assistance (meaning my husband) and Stephane’s had a long work week. But, better late than never:

Nathan Bransford, a literary agent with Curtis Brown, posed an interesting question on what is and is not a publisher’s responsibility. He cites two recent events: (1) a book Random House chose not to publish, citing fears of backlash and possible acts of violence and (2) a book Simon and Schuster did publish – a less than truthful smear of Barack Obama. At the heart of the matter – moral responsibility and questions of censorship. Check it out, here.

Another blog that caught my eye was posted by The Rejecter, another literary agent. Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, is apparently being returned to stores at an unprecedented rate. I’ve never even thought about returning a book simply because I didn’t like it – I tend to sell those to a used book store or donate them to the library. The Rejecter hosted a discussion on the practice of returning books to the store for a full refund, and the implications of this practice, here.