#yeah I tweaked the dialogue a bit to fit the panels

[starsoflyra]

Humphrey was looking at him with wide eyes. Robin leant his elbow on his knee and massaged his temples with his hand. Mary downed her cider in one go. Pat stared straight ahead with a faint smile, looking for all the world like there wasn’t a single thought behind his eyes.

The Captain thought hard about what he had just said, and could find nothing false there, nor anything particularly surprising, to him at least, that could have caused such reactions from his friends.

Absolutely had to draw this scene from @charlie--lover’s fantastic modern AU “Lost Then Found”-- it was too funny not to! If you haven’t read it yet I highly recommend you go check it out

(ID under cut)

[Image description: A two panel digital comic portraying an alternate universe iteration of the characters from BBC Ghosts.��

In the first panel, the Captain is sitting on the grass, looking to the side (where Joanie sits out of frame) with an incredulous but bemused expression on his face, petting Fanny’s dog, Beatrice, with both hands. He’s wearing a dark blue shirt lined with light blue stripes. Behind him is a grassy park lawn, a couple of trees, and a wrought iron fence. He’s saying, “As if anyone would be interested in me!”

The second panel shows Mary, Robin, Pat, Kitty, and Humphrey (in that order) sitting opposite him in the park. Pat is front and center. He’s holding a sandwich and looking forward blankly in disbelief. He’s wearing a pink T-shirt, a blue Hawaiian shirt, and jean shorts. Behind him, the others look on with an array of reactions. Mary, wearing an orange-and-blue exercise shirt, red shorts, blue flip-flops, and a floral-patterned headband, has her head thrown back as she chugs a cider. Robin, wearing a too-small white wifebeater and self-cut jean shorts, is leaning forward with his hands in his hair. Kitty has on a purple tank top and a pink skirt. She’s got her hand partially in front of her mouth, in an expression of amusement. Humphrey is looking utterly aghast. He’s wearing a green, tree-patterned button-down and khaki shorts. Behind them, the park lawn sprawls on until it meets the fence, behind which is a row of houses.]

[carriejonesbooks]

Before she died, I heard my Nana Morse say to my sister, “Well, you know Carrie has always been a little… different.”

My sister nodded pretty emphatically in agreement.

“She’s just so different,” she said.

She said this ALL throughout my growing up.

She wasn’t wrong

Nana Morse was worried about this – about me being different. She also worried that I didn’t get enough protein. Or why I dressed so ‘differently.’

And honestly, I was so used to not fitting into my family by then that my only reaction was, “She just used the word ‘different’ to describe me twice. That’s not really creative of her. I wish I could edit her word choice a bit.”

So, yeah, she was obviously right.

When I was little, my Avó Palreiro took me aside and said, “You be you. To hell with everyone else.”

And then she glared at my nana.

Only one of my grandmothers would approve of this picture. 

The thing is that different is okay. Different is good. Different can be stigmatic and incite bullies and all sorts of negative things, but different is also innovative.  Different people who take action? They make changes in this world. This world needs positive change. So, if you feel a bit different or if your family or others are mocking you for it? Well, they suck, honestly.  Ignore the suck. Be you.

  HOW TO MAKE A GOOD BOOK BETTER (WHILE BEING DIFFERENT)

Here are some things I (should) think about when I’m revising. Hopefully, they’ll help you out, too. I’ve taken them from James Plath’s article “Twenty-One Tweaks to a Better Tale,” but adapted them to fit me.  Why? Because I’m different like that.

1. Does the beginning need to be an ending? Sometimes our beginnings stink.

Beginnings need to be:

powerful witty stunning

How do you do that? You could use a powerful piece of dialogue, a witty description, or a stunning scene.

Sometimes we writers have to amp up, sort of rev our engines before we start the race of the story.

My engine is revving. Shh….. Sidenote: Some of us never get started.

It’s okay to cross entire paragraphs or a chapter out.  It’s okay to do what it takes to make your beginning awesome.

2. Check Out How It Ends Just like a beginning needs to be powerful or witty or stunning to draw us in like a really good appetizer, the ending has to linger (not in the way heartburn lingers). The ending has to resonate. Is there a way to echo earlier images or words or a phrase so that it has that extra kick, making the reader realize that there are deeper things going on, that there is a deeper meaning, that this story or poem somehow touches on the truth that is life? 3. Make Love to the Image

Have an image that resonates throughout the story. In the movie Brokeback Mountain it’s when one guy is hugging the other guy from behind him or it’s when he says, “I wish I knew how to quit you.”

Think about a book like Carolyn Coman’s MANY STONES or THE HOBBIT or CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS. There are central images in there. Do that. Use an image. A strong image will keep your story in readers’ memories.

Gabby’s central image for her life is basically this. 

Random Marketing and Book Things

My nonfiction picture book about Moe Berg, the pro ball player who became a spy,  is still coming out March 1 and I’m still super psyched about it. You can preorder it. 

Kirkus Review says:  Jones gives readers the sketchy details of Berg’s life and exploits in carefully selected anecdotes, employing accessible, straightforward syntax.

And also says: A captivating true story of a spy, secret hero, and baseball player too.

Booklist says it’s: An appealing picture-book biography. . . Written in concise sentences, the narrative moves along at a steady pace.  

This is lovely of them to say.

              I’ll be in Exeter, New Hampshire, on a panel for the release of THINGS WE HAVEN’T SAID.

Thursday, March 15, 2018 – 7:00pm

  Water Street Bookstore

125 Water Street

Exeter, NH 03833

And the podcast, DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE, is still real. I’m still terrified.

There are new podcasts every Tuesday and our handle on the tech gets better as you go along. I promise.

We talk about love, marriage, living in Maine with dogs and also give writing and life tips with linked content back on the blog. It’s um – cough – different.

Three Quick Ways to Make A Good Book Better – and also my nana said I was different. Not in a nice way. Before she died, I heard my Nana Morse say to my sister, "Well, you know Carrie has always been a little...