Sneak Peek!

Well, I've missed a couple of blog posts this week and today's post is going up a little later than usual. However, since I'm doing the final touches on the book, I think I have a good excuse. Today's post is going to be a little sneak peek of Magic High, which will be released in June. Enjoy!

Shuffle. Shuffle shuffle. Nudge. Resist urge to shove. No, no Tabetha. You can’t put a hex on them just ‘cause they cut in front of you. Not even if they do keep looking at you like you’re the jerk.

Assemblies suck. Trying to get through the overcrowded halls to get to the stupid assembly sucks more.

My friend shoved her way through the crowd toward me, knocking kids against the wall so she could have a better path. Her brown braids swished behind her, smartly smacking people in the face if they tried to fight back. I watched Eleanor with a smile. No one would dare mess with her when she was wearing braids. And in a few minutes she would be walking beside me, helping me to get through the crowd faster too. What else were friends for?

“Elle!” I called to her over the noise.

“Tab!” Eleanor waved. “Hey! Can you believe this crowd? You’d think someone would have thought of a better way to herd us from our classes to the auditorium.”

Of course everyone glared at her when she spoke since she was being super loud, but I was used to it. I felt particularly pleased to be Eleanor’s best friend on braid days. It meant we would always get the best table at lunch. And it meant there was even less chance of people paying attention to me, which was just how I liked it.

Should YA stories have swear words?

I've had my novel edited by several different types of people. All of them are adults and all of them swear on occasion. However the responses about swearing in my novel varied greatly depending on the reader. Some thought that it would sound more natural if there was more swearing, while some thought that it should be taken out completely.

My thought is that it all depends on the overall tone of the book. There are plenty of YA novels that are full of swear words, from the characters saying something as simple as “oh my God!” to the scary “f-word.” I don't think that writing should be limited. Children swear. They may not swear around their parents or teachers, but they swear. I know I did. I remember having a conversation with my best friend in grade two about how “I need to stop fucking swearing so much.” I may not have known what they meant, but I through words around. As a result, I see no problem with children saying things like that now. It's only words. Unless they are directing them toward someone in a bullying manner, then they should feel free to express themselves however they like.

You've probably guessed that I have decided to add more swearwords or at least keep the ones I have. Well, you'd be wrong. When it was mentioned to me that I should take out the few words I had in this novel which were basically along the likes of “crap” and “oh my God” I realised I really didn't need them to convey the story and they weren't helping with the tone of the book. Having those types of words can cause a barrier for the readers, often coming from parents and librarians. I want my story to be as accessible as possible. If I felt that the words were necessary for the tone of the book, I would fight to keep them in. As it is I'm happy with the decision I'm making.

What are you're feelings about swearing in literature?

Aren't you afraid of people stealing your ideas?

I've known a number of writers who are terrified to talk about their stories because they believed that someone would steal their idea. But to be honest, that isn't very likely. Everyone has ideas. Not very many people are out actively trying to steal new ones. I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just not likely to happen.

The idea for a book is the easiest part. Some ideas are better or more exciting than others, but it's only an idea. It's not until it's been executed that there's any real value to it. Now if you start posting entire books online, there is a chance they will be stolen. Not usually by someone looking to claim it as their own and make money off of it, though that has been known to happen, but more likely by people wanting to read something for free. Although I don't think people are as likely to download a stolen book as compared to music, it does happen.

Although I don't think someone is going to steal my ideas, I don't tend to talk about my stories while I'm writing them. An idea that I thought was great might end up sounding dumb when I try and talk about it with someone. This isn't necessarily anything to do with the merit of the idea, but more to do with my confidence in it and how well it's developed. There are a lot of reasons not to write a book, having talked about it too soon doesn't need to be one of them. Besides, so much can change during the writing process. The part of a story that I talk about one day might be completely gone by the next.

Idea's do get stolen, that's a fact of life. However, it's really unlikely that it will happen to the average writer. More likely it would happen to really popular authors who can turn their ideas into best selling novels as opposed to unknowns such as myself. Generally I talk about my stories as much as I feel comfortable, and usually only to real life friends. It's more likely they will get bored of my obsession rather then steal the idea.