Monthly Archives: May 2013

Things That Offend Me (or Excuse Me While I Spew My Ranting All Over the Internet)

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frustrationIn general, I’m not an easily offended person.  After a lifetime of being The Girl Who Thinks Too Much, I’ve learned to roll with the punches … in fact, I’ve learned the “punches” are quite often in love.  As a writer, I am used to critical feedback about things that matter to me deeply.  And because I feel pretty confident just being Jackie Lea Sommers, throwaway comments don’t usually floor me.  I like to assume that people have good intentions (although you know what they say about good intentions … and adverbs …)

But there are a couple things that really get under my skin.

1) The belief that young adult literature is inherently sub-par.

A friend from my writing group recently went on an intense writing experience in Scotland where her absolutely brilliant instructor essentially told her that she was “too good” to be writing YA.

Excuse me?

I write young adult lit, and I demand of myself writing that is not only of the highest literary quality (beautiful, rhythmic, paced, character-driven, and clear) but also worthy of the minds of teenagers, whom I believe often outstrip adults in creativity and ingenuity.  I am writing for people who are on the horizon of the future.

2) The belief that I am “less than” because I’m single.

A co-worker was booking his honeymoon the other day, and another co-worker said, “Welcome to adulthood!”

Of course I took offense.

I am single in every sense of the word– does that somehow mean I haven’t reached true adulthood?  Am I not as important because I don’t have a spouse or children?

Not at all.

I hate the subtle ways that society declares this though.  Frustrates me to no end.

I AM A COMPLETE PERSON ON MY OWN.

3) The stigma that it’s wrong/sinful to seek out help for mental illness.

I have dear, dear friends whom I cherish who propagate this idea on Facebook every day, and it takes all that is in me to cool off and not post, QUIT SHAMING ME FOR WANTING TO SLOW DOWN MY SEROTONIN REUPTAKE.  I’m glad juicing/yoga/whatever-it-is works for you.  I am not a bad person for taking Prozac.

Okay, that’s all.  Have a nice day! 🙂

 

 

My 7 Favorite YA Romances

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pinkiesIn real life, I usually think high school dating is silly.

But in BOOKS … well, that’s another story.  A completely other story.  Here, for your reading pleasure, I count down my seven favorite YA romances.

7. Hazel and Augustus (The Fault in Our Stars)

Theirs was a tumultuous, wonderful, devastating romance.  “It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you.”  Wow.

6. Brigan and Fire (Fire)

This is still YA though not technically a high school romance, and it does read like one more mature.  There is something so deep and attractive about the slow burn.

5. Lenny and Joe (The Sky is Everywhere)

I love these two together.  ““He doesn’t have to say it, I feel it too; it’s not subtle– like every bell for miles and miles is ringing at once, loud and clanging, hungry ones and tiny, happy, chiming ones, all of them sounding off in this moment.”

4. Eleanor and Park (Eleanor and Park)

What is not to love about these two???

“Holding Eleanor’s hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.”

“Damn, damn, damn,” she said. “I never said why I like you, and now I have to go.”
“That’s okay,” he said.
“It’s because you’re kind,” she said. “And because you get all my jokes…”
“Okay.” He laughed.
“And you’re smarter than I am.”
“I am not.”
“And you look like a protagonist.” She was talking as fast as she could think. “You look like the person who wins in the end. You’re so pretty, and so good. You have magic eyes,” she whispered. “And you make me feel like a cannibal.”

I want someone to like me because I look like a protagonist, LOL!

3. Ron and Hermione (Harry Potter)

We watched the friendship and sexual tension build for seven books, until we finally got our kissing scene while, “OI!  There’s a war going on here!”  Delicious.

2. Jonah and Taylor (Jellicoe Road)

Oh, Jonah Griggs and his steady, loyal devotion.  Supposedly this scene wasn’t supposed to be romantic, but I’ve always found it dreadfully so: “He stops and looks at me. ‘I’m here because of you. You’re my priority. Your happiness, in some f***ed way, is tuned in to mine. Get that through your thick skull. Would I like it any other way? Hell, yes, but I don’t think that will be happening in my lifetime.”

1. Will and Frankie (Saving Francesca and The Piper’s Son)

As it says in my blog bio, I have a thing for cute nerds.  That’s probably why this romance takes the cake for me.  I want a smart, dorky boy in leadership to love calculus and ancient Roman warfare and me.

“Come here,” she says.
“No, you come here.”
“I said it first.”
“Rock paper scissors.”
“No. Because you’ll do nerdy calculations and work out what I chose the last six times and then you’ll win.”
Will pushes away from the table and his hand snakes out and he pulls her toward him and Tom figures that Will was always going to go to her first.”

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Dealing with Tough Subjects

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Today’s topic is

TOP TEN BOOKS DEALING WITH TOUGH SUBJECTS.

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10. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous | This is the first book I’d ever read of its kind– the “diary” of a teenager caught up in the life of drugs.  It’s raw and ugly and incredible.  There is one particular drug-free scene of kitten-induced happiness that would always make me cry.

9. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien | I’m not someone who would generally like “war books,” but this is an exception.  A must-read.

8. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath | This novel is the thinly-veiled autobiography of Sylvia Plath and her battle with depression.  It’s funny and scary and devastatingly well-written.

7. Ordinary People by Judith Guest | Guest’s brilliant novel features suicidal Conrad and his family that is falling apart.

6. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell | This new book shows the ugliness of abuse and the sweetness of first love.

5. Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser | Here’s a book that matters to me on a personal level as it shows Tara’s struggle with OCD.  Reading this book was like reading my autobiography.  I recommend it to everyone touched by obsessive-compulsive disorder.  In fact, while this book is meant for younger readers, my novel Lights All Around was intended to serve the same purpose but for an older audience.

4. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta | Of course, I swoon over all things Marchetta.  SF gives the reader a front row seat for observing depression.

3. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson | Although Lenny’s sister has already died before the start of this story, this book shows how Lenny picks through the scraps of her shredded heart in the aftermath of Bailey’s death.

2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green | I don’t care if it’s cliche to list this book!  I am in love with the way John Green is able to weave humor and beauty through the story of a girl dying of terminal cancer.

1. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta | This book has everything: drug abuse, death, abandonment.  And yet it’s full of hope and light and the power of friendship.

 

 

 

When Thinking Hurts

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wanttostopthinkig

I remember days when my brain worked like a manic assembly line, working, working, always working– and not in a good way.  Those days, I’d carve out time reserved for obsessions, for list-making, for mental reassurances.  Car rides were killer– especially those long stretches on boring I-90– and could throw me into panic mode.  At night, I’d lie awake in bed, drowning in circular thought.

And that was the thing: my mind was racing, but it never got anywhere.  Ten minutes or an hour or a week later, I’d still be chewing on the same things, exerting so much effort for no gain.

I was programmed.  When there was a moment, a pause, a hesitation, my head would fly to a dark place.  And then it would battle its way back out.  Over and over and over (and over and over and over and over and over …).  So useless, so fruitless, and so much energy spent, so much time wasted.

The by-products of OCD are not worth the efforts.

These days, my mind is still working hard– but in a good, healthy, productive way.  I listen to audiobooks while I get ready in the morning, in my car, while I exercise, as I fall asleep.  I let the wonder of literature engage my mind and thoughts, and it feels healthy, like solving a difficult puzzle or marveling at philosophy.  I write every day– blogging, poetry, my novel– and it’s like climbing a mountain.  My brain is a muscle, flexing and growing stronger.  My conversations with friends are deep and meaningful and far more important than just seeking out temporary comfort.  

When thinking hurts in a bad way, you need to re-wire your brain.

She thinks about Narnia too much.

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narnia

It’s probably true.

Look, I know I’m a nerd.  For goodness sakes, I have a perfectly good armoire sitting in my living room used not for storage but for a diorama.  And I’m 31.  There’s maybe something wrong with me.

narnia (4)

But I love C.S. Lewis’s fantasy world, and I love the lessons I have learned from those beloved books.  I love the characters, the stories, the victories.  It’s May 2nd, and so far in 2013, I have read the whole series once through, but also three additional times through The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and one more time each for The Magician’s Nephew and The Horse and His Boy.  Actually, right now I’m re-reading The Horse and His Boy for a third time.

I write poems about Susan and Edmund and Cair Paravel.  I have this strange need to sort out problems the books never solve.  I post quotes to my blog (left and right and up and down and front and back).  I collect songs I find about Narnia.  Narnia finds its way into my fiction.  It helps me process my thoughts on heaven and uncertainty.  I even dared to venture into straight-up fan fiction zone.

I guess when books change your life, you become an evangelical freak about them.

Or maybe that’s just me.

narnia art

 

Introducing Crux Literary Journal

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Hi friends!

Today I’m excited to tell you about a new project of mine.  Crux Literary Journal is a brand-new online arts project that launches today at cruxliteraryjournal.com.

I love Jesus.  I love quality writing.  But so often in my life, I have found Christian literature to be cheesy, over-sentimental, and sub-par.

But I know it doesn’t have to be this way.  That’s why I started Crux.  

Crux Literary Journal is committed to publishing works of Christian art that display true excellence.  We publish poems and stories that are real, gritty, raw, even savage– but laced with the grace that is ours through the cross.

I invite you today to check out the site’s first two posts– a short story by T.J. Martinson and a poem by Anna Stone.  Both pieces are brilliant.

What else can you do to support Crux?

1. Follow the blog site.
2. Leave encouraging comments for the writers.
3. Submit your own creative work with Christian themes.

Enjoy!

Love,
Jackie

crux2

Just One More

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Even though one of my strengths is ideation, as a writer, I still worry that my current work-in-progress (whatever it happens to be) will also be my last.  I worry that inspiration works more like the lottery than like an assembly line.  It seems to me that so many other writers have one hundred million ideas for stories, poems, and projects while I have one— whatever I happen to be working on.

And what if that next idea never comes?

It makes me nervous.

I wonder if musicians ever worry if this song will be their last one, or if an artist thinks, What if I don’t have another painting in me?  Is this a common worry among creative types?

E.L. Doctorow has this famous quote, which goes, “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

headlights

As Anne Lamott once pointed out, “This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.”