Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Smash!

"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it." ~Arnold H. Glasgow

This is a quote I found online today that pretty much sums up how I've been feeling about the whole query process. Trying so desprately to hatch the egg, when what I want to do is smash it with a frying pan.

I have searched every data base that I know of, trying to find agents who take YA and/or fantasy. The list is slim even in the secular market. Laughable in the Christian market. And so many of them that I find turn out to work at the same agency. I feel like I've about memorized them all!

So what next? Continue to hound the same agents over and over, with new and improved, revised and repolished query letters? Exhaust my savings by becoming a conference junkie? Self-pub?

The egg just seems to be sitting there. Doing nothing.

I should throw in something about slow and steady winning the race, or any of the multitude of Bible verses that address patience. But, I'm not in the mood. If anything, I'm developing a taste for an omelet right now....

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Back cover blurbs and other mysteries

A new friend of mine, and really good writer, KM Wilsher is "featuring" me on her blog today! She's studying the one-line hooks and back cover blurbs of published and unpublished authors she knows as she works on developing those things for her novel in progress. (She let me read a short story she wrote--while I was reading it all I could think was, "This should be expanded into a book," and then she told me that is exactly what she is doing. Way cool!)

Anyway, I think it is brilliant of her to be learning about hooks and blurbs while she promotes other authors. Why didn't I think of that?

Writing queries, which requires summarizing your entire novel in a paragraph or two, while hitting on the key selling points, is much, much, much harder than it sounds if you've never done it. I've written several versions of query letters, and it's enough to make me want to tear my hair out. (Thinking about shaving it all off to avoid the temptation...hee, hee.)

I had no idea when I set out to write a book that I'd have to learn how to put the whole thing into a one-line "hook." It's maddening. But if you'd like to see the opening of my latest query letter, you can find it in KM Wilsher's post at http://kmwilsher.blogspot.com/. Hopefully, you'll find it intriguing...

Monday, July 27, 2009

Book Giveaway is over...shifting gears....

My daughter was so happy when I called her over to draw names for the winners of the books I was giving away (she's six--pulling names from a basket is big fun in her eyes:). I've already emailed everyone individually, so I will only post names on here if I don't hear back from someone. But I felt I needed to post something, so ya'll know the contest is over.

This is probably the last contest I will offer for a while. I've been doing a lot of thinking about this whole thing. A fellow writer told me a while back that book contests are a great way to draw people to your blog. I could see her point, and thought, "Hey, not a bad way to share some of the books I love, too!" I ended up with an extra copy of a favorite book, and off I went...

Well, now I'm looking at the whole writing/publishing/marketing process. It seems like it should be written more like this: writing/marketing/marketing/marketing/maybe-publishing-if-you're-lucky/marketing/marketing/marketing....

Not exactly fairly weighted in my opinion. I understand I need to market. But I don't want my blog, much less my life, overtaken by marketing "tactics." I write because I love it and I want to be a "novelist." I blog because I want people to know who I am! The thing is, I've discovered I'm "meeting" people through my blog and online writers networks that I like just cos I like them. It has nothing to do with marketing or making contacts. They're just cool people. I want to focus on that.

So, hopefully, you''ll keep coming back to my blog because you like my writing, my thoughts, my rantings :). There will probably be a lot of the latter going on soon--still waiting on repsonses to queries. I've been working on revising my query again--it is by far the most frustrating part of the process--trying to hook an agent...bleh!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Can't Get Enough of Harry Potter

I finally got to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last weekend. I'm not reviewing it, though, because I need to see it again first. I had just read the book--for the third time--and had all those details embedded in my brain when I saw it Saturday. The movie deviated quite a bit. I was disappointed that the movie lacked certain details and scenes from the book. And there seemed to be scenes that were added just for flair, but had nothing to do with the story in the book.

Fine, I get that movies don't "read" like books--some things on the written page just don't translate well to a movie. But I can't help comparing the book and the movie the whole time I see it at first. The second, third...fourteenth...time I see the movie, I can appreciate it as a movie in its own right, though. At least that is what has happened with all the other HP movies. So, I'm very looking forward to seeing it again.

And, of course, I'm reading Deathly Hallows now (third time). I read the whole thing in about a day and a half the first time--when it came out--and followed it by immediately reading it again. Now, I'm reading it at a leasurely pace, savoring all the details. So nice...

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Author Inerview: Karina Fabian!


I’ve been given the awesome opportunity to interview Karina Fabian, the author of Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem, which I reviewed in my last blog post. Her book was not just fantastic because of the writing and the creative characters; it hit a personal spot for me because it’s set in central Florida—my home area!

Read on to learn a little more about Karina’s adventures writing a story set in the Sunshine State…

Kat: I’m a Florida native, so dealing with tourists and being barraged by theme park merchandise are things I’ve had a lot of experience with. But you’re not from Florida, so how much of the book was based on personal experience?

Karina: When we lived in Virginia, we went to Disneyworld twice, and with four little kids, we had to battle the temptation to buy all kinds of drek. And of course, there are whole streets dedicated just to restaurants and souvenir shops! In the end, we actually bought more t-shirts than we needed (it rained on us a lot!), but my oldest is still wearing some of them. Alex used the rain ponchos for sails on a pretend ship just last year, and still has his Mickey Mouse plate, which we actually bought in the grocery store. However, I can also remember my mother shopping on vacation for souvenirs for all our friends and relatives, and I had to fight that temptation, too. After all, who really needs a Florida Keys key chain?


The hotel was really just a composite of every convention hotel I've ever been in, as were a lot of convention scenes. I must admit, however, that I did get help on the detail of the World Gathering from fellow Mensans who have been there. For example, the color-coded hug buttons is an actual Mensan tradition. My friend and editor, Shirley Starke, let me in on the fact that you need to be certified by the health department to run a con café. I can't even remember now what BAC stands for, but we must know how to fight it!


My daughter was in the star-struck stage not long before I started writing this book, so Garn's desire to "be discovered" comes from her--and the rest came from my own cynical opinion of the people who think they the road to stardom is easy, and that the exceptions to the rule are the rule. (Although, as it turns out, Garn does get a bit part in "Live and Let Fly," the super-spy flick in my next novel, also named Live and Let Fly.)

Kat: What about the fire alarm scene? Surely, you haven't experienced that first hand.

Karina: Oh, no! For that one, I actually picked a southwest Florida fire department at random and called to ask them what the procedures were for false alarms at a hotel. I love asking off-the-wall questions like that, but I always have to backtrack and explain myself. One day, I'm going to ask the wrong person the right question and Homeland Security is going to knock on the door. I'll sign a book for them!

Kat: One of my favorite scenes was Gater Louie--especially the accent! Florida tends to be stereotyped as a tourist state and I think people forget we natives are Southerners. I could really relate to the Gator Louie accent (not that I sound like that, of course :).

Karina: I have a pretty fair ear for accents, but I have my husband to thank for making sure it was right. His grandmother, Amy, came from good Southern stock. She was even raised on a plantation, and lived in a small east Texas town with all the cousins. So, even though he was an Air Force brat, he had absorbed enough of the accent that once I wrote the draft, he could fix where I mutilated the accent.


Interestingly, the Fabian side of the family boasts two generals on each side of the Civil War. We're pretty sure we found a picture of one of Rob's ancestors at one of the battlefields in Fredericksburg, VA. At least, our youngest, Liam, has the same "I'm gonna take that hill!" expression.

Kat: How about some of the other Florida scenes?

Karina: Most of that was just good research. I adore the Internet. I can find maps and photos of wildlife, descriptions of places, even sounds. Whenever I had a scene I thought needed fleshing out, I'd stop, browse the Internet, get what I need, and move on. You probably noticed that I don't spend too much time describing stuff, either. I prefer to give a few details and let the reader fill in the rest with his or her imagination.

Kat: Vern has now been part of the Firestorm of Dragons anthology, and featured in his own book, Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem. And you mentioned an upcoming book, Live and Let Fly. Is there anyplace else we can find Vern?

Karina: You can read more of his adventures at http://www.dragoneyepi.net/. I have several stories for sale and give a free story to anyone who registers up on the website. Vern and I also publish a bi-monthly e-zine, "A Dragon's Eye View" with special offers and fun columns.

Thanks, Karina! It was great learning about you and your writing. And I can’t wait until your next novel comes out!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Not-so-mini Review


Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem is a very appropriate title for Karina Fabian's book, released just a few months ago from Swimming Kangaroo Books. I can think of a few more "M" words to go with it, too...mystery, music, mischief, muscle, maudlin...


Unfortunately, "merriment" is the only "M" word I can find that relates to humor, and that just doesn't cut it. I need a word that means "hilariously funny, you will laugh out loud, do not eat or drink while reading or you'll end up snorting said refreshments all over your book."


This is the premier novel featuring Karina's character, Vern, the dragon private investigator who knows not only how to save the universe, but is quite adept at properly-placed puns. Stick him in the middle of a Mensa convention...throw in a few long-winded Elves, a Norwegian she-ra, and and a couple of dysfunctional dwarves....


I loved reading this book. It brought to mind the old Xanth novels by Piers Anthony--with some overlapping terms, like non-faerie humans being called "mundanes" (oh, look, another "m" word!), to the locale of the story being Florida. And of course the puns, which flow from Karina--I mean Vern--with such ease and Grace (Vern's partner).


There were several instances that just had me rolling, but my favorite part, being a native Floridian, was the end scene in chapter fifteen. I won't ruin it by telling you about it, but sheeeew-dang, if Karina ain't nevah been to Flor'da and heard fer herself the ol' suthunahs talk, she shore does have a good mind fer guessin'....


Ah, the point? Get the book. Read it. Someplace where you can laugh out loud.


And visit Karina--AND VERN--at http://www.dragoneyepi.net/. You can even sign up for a newsletter with all the latest on Vern. There are loads of cool things on Karina's site!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Mini Reviews

Well, I've read several books recently (in between reading the Harry Potter books in prep for the sixth movie), and thought I'd mention them and a few comments.

Pillage by Obert Skye--This is classified as YA, but despite the age of the protagonist, I'd call it the young end of YA. Beck Phillips is 15, but the book's humor and reading level is, in my opinion, closer to that of a ten or twelve year old. Now, don't take that as a necessarily bad thing. I set the book out in hopes that my nine-year-old son would read it. Yes, I want him to, because I think he would enjoy it. It was a fun book. I liked the humor, it was full of dragons and adventuresome stuff young boys would love. It just wasn't exactly what I expected.

(On a side note, another book that was not what I expected was Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley--but that one was for the worse. Prattling, rambling waste of time, that book. Bleh.)

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld--I've blogged about Scott Westerfeld before--I love this guy's writing. And this book was not a disappointment. It was completely hilarious! This is a total teen book, cool and captivating without smut or cussing. That is one thing I love about Westerfeld's writing. He may throw a "d**n" in there ever now and then, but that's about the worst of it. He keeps your attention because his writing is good, engaging, and funny. Check it out and find out where you fall on the "cool pyramid" :).

The Distant Shore by Debora Coty--Debora is from my home town, and I've met her on a few occasions. She's fabulous, and funny, a really awesome public speaker. She's written a bunch of humor books for Christian women, and has done some writing for Women of Faith. But she got started with The Distant Shore, which is a YA historical novel. I will admit, this is not normally my kind of read (books generally need magic or dragons, or at least some kind of other-worldly adventure to keep my attention), and I bought the book mainly because I know Debora and wanted to read her fiction. It was a very well-written and sweet book. If you are someone who likes historical Christian fiction, you will like this book very much. The protagonist is nine, so this would be a perfect gift for a younger girl--the age group that would be into the "American Girl" series, I would guess. Visit Debora's site at http://www.deboracoty.com/.

OK, I feel better getting that out of my system :).

***And don't forget***
My book giveaway is still going on. Go to my earlier post here to see what I'm giving away and enter the drawings.

Monday, July 13, 2009

A little this and a little that...

So, I had a nice, relaxing birthday. Lots of laying around, reading, talking with my BFF on the phone. All in all, a good day. Topped off with a sort of acceptance on another personal essay. I've submitted this one place before--Light & Life Magazine, where it made the second reading but wasn't ultimately used. Now, it's made the second reading someplace else--an online magazine called Now What?--and I'll hear the final word in about a week. I'm very excited to have gotten good news on my birthday :). Also, if this is accepted, that will mean that eight of the ten personal essays I've written have sold. One of the others has made the top 1% and is tentatively accepted, and the last is still awaiting response. A pretty good track record, I think.

I also sent off another round of submissions of short stories lately. I've now got three awaiting responses. A bit nerve-wracking. One of those stories is sent both to a professional-paying magazine and a really cool non-paying anthology; the second story is sent off to two pro-pays; and the third is submitted to a cool-but-minimum-pay online spec-fic magazine. I'm busting waiting on these three!

And this week is the countdown to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...we're going to see it Saturday night! Woo-hoo! I, of course, read the first six books (again) in preparation, and I'll read book seven after seeing the movie.

Oh, quick aside--my second essay came out in print in Purpose and it involves my son. I let him read it. His little eyes got so big, and he said, "You wrote a story about me!" Big grin :).

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Birthday Curse, Day Two

Day two actually spent most of its time in the "up" position--great bikeride in the morning, and lots of pool time during the day. My six-year-old daughter even got up in front of everyone poolside and sang karaoke with a couple of girls she met at the pool. They were TOO CUTE.

The kids bought some rocks at Black Market Minerals (yes, rocks--my son is way into geology and he's trying to pass the bug to his sister) and I even bought a really cool tiger eye necklace.

So far, so good--only two minor mishaps--my camera (I discovered AFTER I took the pics) was set wrong when I came across a falcon sitting in a tree and got some would-have-been-great shots. They're not terrible, but woulda been better had I noticed and changed the setting. (Lexi, wish you had been there, the pics would have been amazing :).

And, I lost my cell phone but it was returned almost immediately. Whew!

We made it to the longed-for Mexican place--they have other locations and we had to drive even farther, but we did make it. It was almost as good as I remembered it being, and we did have a good time.

And then the curse hit. Oh, yeah. You know it had to happen at some point. I got back from dinner and my head nearly exploded off. I never, ever get headaches. But last night I had a borderline migraine. I'm allergic to milk, and a headache is the major symptom, so since I never get headaches, that leads me to believe there was milk hidden in there somewhere even though I ordered no cheese and all that. Alas, I went to bed feeling miserable. But, much better this morning!

So now, we're on day three...and we'll be heading home. Pray for us to make it back safely.

Update--
We're back home, no incidents, no headache :). Yay! Of course, tomorrow will be the real test, since that's my actual birthday. This weekend was just the "celebration" of it. My kids will be celebrating tomorrow, though, since I won't be making them do lessons!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

The Birthday Curse, Day One...

OK, the title of this post needs a little explanation. My husband and I have determined that at some time there must have been a curse put on my birthday. It seems that something ALWAYS goes way wrong. Like the year I wanted to spend my birthday shopping at a local outdoor mall, and out of nowhere a storm hit and we were stuck dodging pouring rain all day. Or my thirtieth birthday, which was supposed to be a surprise party, but a fight I had with my husband over the logistics of getting to "dinner" forced him to tell me about it. And a few years ago my family and I spent my birthday driving back from Tenessee...all day...long, long hours...and had to stay overnight in a complete hole of a hotel. I'd give you more examples, but honestly, I've quit keeping track--they are memories best forgotten.

So this year we've decided to make a bit of a game out of it and everytime something happens we say, "Birthday curse!" We planned a nice little two-day camping trip where we'd won two nights free last time we were here. We figured we'd rather have the disaster weekend be something we didn't have to actually pay for.

Anyway, here's the list so far of things that have gone wrong so far:

My daughter came down with a cold.

My son broke his glasses--both pairs--so we had to delay our leave time to wait on the new pairs to be made.

We also had to drive my inlaws' truck to the airport as they were coming home from a two-week trip and had left their truck with us. It got egged and we didn't realize this until we got it to the airport parking lot. More delay trying to scrub dried egg of the door.

It rained on us while we drove to pick up our travel trailer from my inlaws' house--with our bikes on the back--and the whole time we were hooking the trailer up to the truck.

We didn't get to the campsite until 6:00 pm, all of us starving.

Hubby had issues with the hitch. Again.

Finally, able to leave the campsite and head out for dinner, my hopes totally set on this awesome Mexican place we've been eating at for years and years...had to drive a long way through Orlando traffic to get there.......it's gone, replaced by something we'd never heard of.

OK, I'll admit the food at the new place was pretty good, but it took forever to actually come, and my son ended up with a massive stomach ache. Calimari--he's just not used to fried food. I had the fried gator tail--oh, yeah, I'm a cracker. Yum-mee!!!!

So, it's not been a total disaster yet, and I"ve managed to create a fun list for you all to laugh over. Time to see what awaits on day two...

Monday, July 6, 2009

Clearing off my bookshelf...

I've decided to give away several of the books on my shelf--all in new or like-new condition. A few are books I liked very much but am unlikely to read obsessively over and over (like I do with Harry Potter), one I received for free so I could review it, and a couple are duplicates of books I have and want to keep.

Here's the details on them all (click on the titles to go the Amazon pages):

Mistmantle Chronicles, books one and two: Urchin of the Riding Stars and Urchin and the Heartstone, by M.I. McAllister. These are juvenile readers, as in 4th-6th grade. I LOVE these books, but I have the hardcover editions of the entire set. I did buy these two specifically to give away because I think so much of the stories and writing. These are brand new and will go together to whoever wins them. If not for you--for your kids, niece/nephew, grandkids, younger sibling...

Firestorm of Dragons. This is an anthology of, you guessed it, dragon stories. I bought because it has a short story by Karina Fabian. The rest of the stories are pretty good, but Karina's is by far my favorite. I wanted to share--maybe, like me, you'll get hooked on her writing and add her new book (Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem) to your wish list (I'd have bought it myself, but my birthday is coming up---hint, hint, hubby)! Karina writes faith-filled speculative fiction, but Firestorm is a secular book. However, it's pretty clean--not squeaky, but nothing truly offensive either.

Until the Last Dog Dies, by John Lawrence Robinson. Harboiled detective novel--Christian. Not normally my kind of read, but I really did enjoy this book. It's out of print right now, and this copy is like new.

Summa Elvetica, by Theodore Beale. This is one of the first run books from Marcher Lord Press. It's classic fantasy, even written in a very classic style. I enjoyed it, but it's not totally my cup of tea. I really wanted to read something put out by Marcher Lord on its maiden voyage, but the other titles were sci-fi and I lean strongly toward fantasy. The concept of this one appealed to me, and it's well-written, but I just didn't fall in love.

Face of Betrayal, by Lis Wiehl. OK, I must be honest. I got this for free as part of the Thomas Nelson blog-review program. It's supposed to be a suspense/thriller. This book did not impress me at all. But, if you read other reviews, there are people who absolutely loved it. Go here to see reviews of the book on the Thomas Nelson site and decide for yourself.

--You can enter for more than one book, but if you win one, your name will be taken out of the drawing for the others. This will be a totally random drawing, and I will announce the winners on my blog, and of course email them directly to get their mailing address so I can send the books out. The contest will end definitely by July 31st, before that if I'm not getting any more entries for a while.

***And now for the directions. Leave a comment on my blog with your name and email address, and please indicate which book/books you are entering for. If you do not want your information published on my blog in the comment, you can do one of two things--either tell me so in the comment, and I'll write your info down but "reject" the comment. Or, you can go to my site and leave me a comment there, which will go straight to my email and not be published at all. These last two options will give you no guarantee that the comment went through (as in seeing it for yourself right there on my blog), but it will keep your email address private if that is important to you.

Good luck to you all! And thanks for helping me clear off my shelf for more books :).

Sunday, July 5, 2009

A little news, and a little more...

Just had to post that this week I've had three pieces accepted for publication! Two are personal essays that were accepted by Standard, a Sunday school periodical that has purchased several essays and personal experience stories from me already. The other is, I suppose what would technically be called "creative nonfiction," but what I prefer to call "a fantasy-infused personal experience story" :). It will appear in an anthology called Grandmother's Necklace (I'm not sure of the release date), which, as its name implies, will contain "gems" about grandmothers in the form of short prose and poetry.

This has come on the heels of me feeling highly bummed out over rejections on my book and a few short fiction pieces I've submitted lately. So, it is helping to lift my spirits.

Speaking of my short fiction--the post has moved down a bit in my blog, so here's a reminder about my story that is out in Christian Fiction Online Magazine right now. Here's the link:
http://christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/EyesOnTheHilltop.html.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Peace and Quiet...

So, it's Fourth of July, and what am I doing? Hah! Writing :). Yep, my hubby's got the kids over at our neighborhood pool, with their best buddies, while I have the house to myself. This happens, like, never. I usually have everyone underfoot, and when I do get time to myself it's out of the house. I love this. Sitting here, listening to silence. (Well, almost silence--my Boxer snores.)

I'm finally back on a roll with my second book, Seeking Unseen. I've written the prologue, and nearly the first nineteen chapters, plus a few scenes farther in. I'm not sure how many chapters there are going to be--they're coming out shorter than the chapters in Finding Angel. There are 34 chapters in Finding Angel, and it's 106,000 words (almost 400 pages, typed, double-spaced, 12-pt font), but I don't know if Seeking Unseen will have more chapters, or fewer pages. I suppose I'll find out when I get to the end!

Anyway, it just feels good to be back in that groove. I've written three short stories so far based on characters in my book as well, and I intend to write quite a few more. It really helps my characteization (which I've posted about before), and I'm finding now, too, that it's helping me work out the plot line.

I just got another rejection on one of the character stories, but the first one got accepted immediately. Go figure. I haven't decided if I'm going to submit this third one or not. I'm waiting for a friend to read it and then I'll decide.

OK, I suppose it's time for the festivities now...

Thursday, July 2, 2009

The Hunger Games--a review


On the advice of a fellow YA writer, I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. One word--awesome.


Katniss lives in a society that is divided into districts, each defined by the products it provides. She's from District 12--a poor, coal-mining area, and she's from the low end of that. She's forced to hunt illegally to feed her family, alongside her best friend, Gale. Her father has been killed in a coal-mine explosion, her mother is emotionally cut-off, and her little sister is the light of her life.


When her sister's name is chosen for participation in a brutal, fight-to-the-death competition between districts, Katniss volunteers to take her place.


The story is full of action, suspense, and deep emotion. I could not put this book down. I was completely caught up in Katniss's character, and I felt every moment of her experiences. Suzanne Collins' writing is masterful.
There is violence, of course, but it's not overboard. No sex, no cussing. But gobs and gobs of intensity.
Awesome. Really, really. A total must-read.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

"Eyes on the Hilltop"--my first published fiction!


OK, TODAY IS THE DAY!!


My first short fiction piece is officially published in Christian Fiction Online Magazine!!!!


Go here to read the whole magazine--my story is under the "Brilliant" tab, where you will find "Short Stories." This is an awesome magazine for writers, with loads of helpful info, so take some time to read the articles if you are at all interested in writing.

Go here if you want to go straight to the Short Stories page. Mine is the second story.
I am SO excited!! And I'd really love if you'd come back to my blog and leave me comment :).
UPDATE--
OK, first, for the record, I still LOVE CFOM as a magazine, but omigosh do NOT read the "Fiction Rants" this month--read everything else, just not that one column. The writer of this month's rant completely bashed Inkheart.
Let's look at her complaints--
She says it sends the message that books are dangerous. Wait, I'm thinking if I were trying to tell people that books are dangerous, I'd not do it with a book. And apparently this person passed over all the beautiful imagery Cornelia Funke creates regarding the love of books possessed by ALL of the main characters. What I got from Inkheart is that books are magical, worlds unto themselves. Cornelia Funke floods the pages with the joy she obviously has over getting lost in a created world. Holy cow, Inkheart is a tribute to paper and ink, not a disparagement to it!
She also complains that the "kid" saves the day. Honey, it's a YOUNG ADULT novel. In ALL young adult novels, the kids save the day. That's what makes it young adult. Duh.
And then there's the fact that the "author" of the book inside the book (Inkheart is the tale of a book called Inkheart and its readers and author) is happy to see his villains come to life. First, the guy doesn't quite get that these people are REAL in the beginning--remember he wrote them--it's morbid fascination and we'd ALL be just like that. Second, by the end he DOES get it, cos he's smacked in the head with the reality of it all. Third, it is shown in the end that the writer in fact does control the show, not the characters, so he really doesn't need to be all that afraid of them anyway. Besides, a little humor never hurt anyone (ahem).
Last, she complains that the book is translated from German, insisting we Americans have enough trouble getting published that we don't need competition from another country. And we Americans never publish in other countries? I'm thinking there's a bit of green-eyed monster going on here.
Ok, I just had to get that off my chest. INKHEART ROCKS. It is one of the BEST books I have EVER read. (Yes, a little childish there, but so what :P.)