Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius, and, above all, a criminal mastermind. But Artemis doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren't the fairies of bedtime stories--they're dangerous!

I first read this book, I don't know, probably ten years ago. My oldest son is reading this series now, and I'm re-reading them with him. And I'm getting a whole lot more out of it than I anticipated.

Artemis's father is presumed dead, and his mother is suffering from something like dementia. The only adult in his life is his bodyguard, Butler. But Artemis is still the boss, so the relationship is skewed. Hence, Artemis has been running around, unchecked, with little to no nurturing for almost two years. Which has made him cold, calculating, and quite unlikable. This intrigues me to no end because the series is called Artemis Fowl, meaning it's all about him! So why would readers want to read about a character we don't like?

The short answer, of course, is that we don't. In fact, my son set the book down after the first chapter and didn't want to pick it back up. I had to convince him to give it a few more chapters, then promise a reward if he read the whole thing. The reward won over, and he finished the book. By the end, he really liked the story and wanted to read the next book in the series. But it took him a third of the book to get to that point. If I hadn't promised him that reward, he'd have missed out on a great series.

Artemis is more likable by the end, and he grows a bit. But the real saving grace is the story's other main character, Holly Short. She's a fairy, and a badass one at that. Without her, I doubt I would have continued reading. The story starts off slow, but once Holly enters the picture the pacing gets a big kick in the pants. It's non-stop adventure from then on. I had a hard time putting it down, and so did my son.

So, if you can tolerate an unlikable main character through the beginning, then you'll probably enjoy the rest. Possibly the rest of the series.

Rules of Storytelling, Part One

Last month, one of Pixar’s storyboard artists posted her 22 Rules of Storytelling. There is SO MUCH good stuff here. I posted the link a few weeks ago, and now I’ve had some time to digest some of the information. I’m going to take a few of these ‘rules’ at a time and talk about them over the next few weeks.

Today’s topic: Characters.

A good, strong, solid character is what transforms a story from good to amazing. A few of the ‘rules’ capture the essence of what character should be, but I want to expand on that a bit. I’ll take them one rule at a time.

Rule #1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

Yes!! I can’t count how many books I’ve read where the main character gives up before even trying because he comes to the conclusion that the task is impossible. When I was growing up, my mother always used to tell me “you never know unless you try.” That’s what I always want to scream at these characters. If the task is impossible one way, then try a different way. Or don’t do everything at once. Or, do something else completely! But characters need to DO something. I would rather see characters try and fail than give up before anything has happened.

Rule #6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

This is instrumental in showing the reader what kind of person the main character is. As the saying goes, you see a person’s true character when he is under stress. I can’t think of a stress greater than being completely out of your element. How does the character react? What personality flaws surface? How do these flaws affect those around him?

Rule #13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it's poison to the audience.

Most definitely. Everyone has opinions. Even the most easy-going people have opinions. Those who don’t have opinions just aren’t interesting, so why would we want to read about them? Your character doesn’t need to spout his opinions to anyone who will sit still long enough to listen. In fact, he might be very reserved about expressing opinions. But the reader needs to know these opinions because it forms a bond between the two. Actually, if the character doesn’t share opinions with other people in the story, but the reader gets to hear them, it makes that bond even stronger because the reader feels like he’s getting privileged information.

Rule #15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

This gets into the blurry line between the author and the characters. All characters are manifestations of the author, albeit some more obvious than others. Hence, the author needs to know what he would do in any given situation. Then, he needs to figure out what the characters would do. Which brings me to the next rule...

Rule #18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

For storytelling to be at its most effective, the author needs to imagine situations where he has no idea what he would do in a particular situation, so he must make his best guess. Honest guess, that is—the author may not like the answer, but honesty will bring authenticity to the story.

Rule #21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can't just write ‘cool'. What would make YOU act that way?

This is taking the above rule and switching it around. If the character needs to go to a certain, horrible place, what would it take for him to get there? Honestly and truly? Take that answer and run with it.

Next week, I’m going to delve into the more plot-related ‘rules,’ so, if that interests you, be sure to stop by!

Winner of the June Book Giveaway!

Where the heck did June go?? Granted, I've been hunkered down on a pretty extensive revision, but still. I thought I had come up for air often enough. Apparently not.

Anyway, it's time to announce the winners of this month's book giveaway.

For Prize Pack #1

Kirthi!!

For Prize Pack #2

Marie Frances Baldomar!!

Congratulations!! I will get your books out you as soon as I can. As for everyone else, stop by next saturday to see what I'm giving away next month!

Ladies in Waiting by Laura L. Sullivan

Eliza dreams of being a playwright for the king’s theater, where she will be admired for her witty turns of phrase rather than her father’s wealth. Beth is beautiful as the day but poor as a church mouse, so she must marry well, despite her love for her childhood sweetheart. Zabby comes to England to further her scientific studies—and ends up saving the life of King Charles II. Soon her friendship with him becomes a dangerous, impossible obsession. Though she knows she should stay away from the young, handsome king, Charles has a new bride, Queen Catherine, and a queen needs ladies in waiting. And so Zabby, Beth, and Eliza, three Elizabeths from very different walks of life, find themselves at the center of the most scandal-filled court that England has ever seen.

This is an interesting account of the 1600’s in England. It’s a work of fiction, but the author clearly did her research and utilized actual, historical characters well. Also, the time period feels authentic, especially for the court that existed during the reign of Charles II. England had just spent years under Cromwell, who imposed radical puritanism on its people. Then the court, post-Cromwell, swung wildly the other way.

There is a lot of innuendo, adultery, and references to sexual practices. For that reason, this isn’t really a book for younger teens. But I think older teens, say 16 and up, will find this interesting. The feel of the time period seems authentic, as well as the situations of many of the characters. For the most part, I enjoyed this story. The parts I didn’t enjoy are just personal taste.

For example, I’m not big into scandal. But Charles II’s court was rife with it, many of which were cause by him. He was notorious for having mistresses and acknowledged nearly a dozen illegitimate children. If that doesn’t set a precedent, I don’t know what does. Hence, there is a lot of drama and scandal between several characters. That said, there are no gratuitous mean girls, and the drama that unfolds still feels authentic to the time period.

Even with the promise of scandal and drama, this is a pretty quiet book. It’s character driven, so there’s not adventure on every page. Yet it was still interesting enough to keep me reading. The romance is on the lighter side, too, which was fine with me. I think some readers might take issue with the ending, but I enjoyed it. It felt like Shakespeare, in a way, and I thought it fit the story well.

If you’re looking for an historical novel that feels authentic to the time period, you might enjoy this book. If you’re looking for a romance that happens to be set in an historical time period, this probably isn’t the book for you. 

Quotes From Famous Writers

Here's some more great quotes from great writers. Enjoy!

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

- Stephen King

Make your novel readable. Make it easy to read, pleasant to read. This doesn’t mean flowery passages, ambitious flights of pyrotechnic verbiage; it means strong, simple, natural sentences.

- Laurence D’Orsay

Writing is turning one's worst moments into money.

- J. P. Donleavy

Rereading reveals rubbish and redundancy.

- Duane Alan Hahn

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.

- Ray Bradbury

A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.

- Thomas Mann

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

- Stephen Covey

Rewriting is like scrubbing the basement floor with a toothbrush.

- Pete Murphy

If you're a singer you lose your voice.  A baseball player loses his arm.  A writer gets more knowledge, and if he's good, the older he gets, the better he writes.

- Mickey Spillane

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

- Sylvia Plath

If you tell the reader that Bull Beezley is a brutal-faced, loose-lipped bully, with snake’s blood in his veins, the reader’s reaction may be, ‘Oh, yeah!’ But if you show the reader Bull Beezley raking the bloodied flanks of his weary, sweat-encrusted pony, and flogging the tottering, red-eyed animal with a quirt, or have him booting in the protruding ribs of a starved mongrel and, boy, the reader believes!

- Fred East

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

This is a cute book that's definitely for fairy tale lovers. It reads like one and references practically all of them, so you kind of need to like fairy tales if you're going to read this book. :)

Personally, I love fairy tales so this book was right up my alley. I gave it a lot of leeway, simply because of the fairy tale aspect—there is no way anything in this book could be mistaken for what happens in real life, so I didn’t look at it that way. Instead, I put my feet up and went along for the ride. And it was a very pleasant ride.

This story references Jack and the Beanstalk, The Princess and the Pea, The Frog Prince, Rumplestiltskin, and more, but it is far more than the sum of its parts. The plot is more complicated than I anticipated (a pleasant surprise), and the characters have plenty of depth. The voice perfectly fits the story, and the first line is the best I’ve seen in quite some time:

“My name is Sunday Woodcutter, and I am doomed to a happy life.”

Doomed to a happy life?? That hooked me right there.

If fairy tales aren’t your thing, then this isn’t the story for you. But if you have a soft spot for them, then you’ll probably enjoy this darling of a book. 

For a chance to win an ARC, go here and fill out the form. Good luck!