THE RAVEN DESK

BEST OF '11: MOST ANTICIPATED

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:41:00 +0000

It's the last day of the Best of '11 Circus, and we're rounding out with our most anticipated reads of 2012. Yay! I actually almost didn't get to make this post because of reasons. BUT HERE I AM. My most anticipated reads for 2012 are:

5) Cinder: I've always been a big fan of fairy tales (their original forms, not the sugared up Disney versions)(really, how surprised are you by that, guys?) - and I have a super love for cyber punk. So putting the two together? Yes please. It certainly doesn't hurt that the cover is gorgeous. The jacket copy reads:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling.

4) Isla and the Happily Ever After: I've been a staunch Stepahnie Perkins fan since I got a hold of Anna and the French Kiss (quite by chance, mind you - I had no idea what I was picking up when I snatched a copy at ALA all those years ago). Naturally, I'm sitting on tenterhooks for her next release!

3) Insurgent: I got to read a very early copy of Divergent way back when, and then the published version when it hit shelves. My love for this series (and its author) are limitless, and I am so looking forward to the next book in the trilogy!

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

2) Born Wicked: I think if you know anything about my love for the series Charmed you won't be at all surprised that I have been waiting for this book forever! Witches, historical fiction and scandal. Yes, please!

Blessed with a gift...cursed with a secret.

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship - or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood - not even from each other.

1) Winds of Winter: Technically, this book isn't even scheduled for release, but I really hope since the show has been signed on for another season that there's going to be lots and lots of pressure on George Martin to finish it up and put it to press! I've been putting off reading A Feast for Crows just so that I don't finish the series before there's a release date!

So those are my most anticipated reads! What are yours? And don't forget to check out the rest of the circus:

Caroline Richmond, Corrine Jackson, Erin Bowman, Kaitlin Ward, Kate Hart, Kathleen Peacock, Kirsten Hubbard, Kristen Halbrook, Kristin Otts, Lee Bross, Lindsey Roth Culli, Phoebe North, Sarah Enni, Stephanie Keuhn, Veronica Roth

BEST OF '11: BEST BOOKS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:16:00 +0000

Strangely enough (or perhaps not so strange) this is the year I've been both recommending and loaning out books the most to my friends, which makes writing this list pretty easy! So my most recommended books for 2011 have been:

5) A Hundred Thousand Kingdoms: I actually loaned my copy of this book out (and still haven't gotten it back, for shame), but barring A Song of Ice and Fire, this series has been my favorite. It's complex, brilliant, and not at all what you'd expect from a fantasy series. The cast is diverse in the best possible way and I love this series enough to reread it, which I never ever do.

4) A Song of Ice and Fire: You may or may not have noticed I kind of have a George Martin situation. I also seem to enjoy getting my heart ripped out of my chest repeatedly. And sharing that feeling with all my friends. Martin's work definitely has problems, but there's also a lot of brilliance and it's the brilliance that has me shoving both the book and the show (which, guys, littered with issues) onto my friends.
3) The Hunger Games: I read The Hunger Games trilogy the weekend Mockingjay came out, and with the trailer out just this past month, have had the very lovely opportunity to push it on my friends. I have lent my lovely, autographed hardcovers out to friends so they can enjoy and weep over Finnick and Annie.
2) Jellicoe Road: I read this book at the very end of 2010 and haven't been able to stop recommending it since.

1) Anna and the French Kiss: So I may have ended up starting a St. Claire's club. And that club may be heading to Paris this summer. Because, well, that's just what you do when you fall in love with Etienne. I've loaned this book out this year more times than I can count, and without fail, every single person has loved it. Because this book is the best book.

What have your most recommended books this year been? And don't forget to check out the rest of the circus!

BEST OF '11: WOMEN OF WESTEROS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:34:00 +0000

So today the BEST OF '11 Circus is all about the best gals and guys you've run into reading this year. This list kind of made me realize that maybe I've been slacking on my reading? And then I remembered that this summer was the summer of A Song of Ice and Fire all day, every day. It was really very easy to make my list after that. Just a warning, some of these may contain spoilers.

5) Val: Val is the younger sister of Dalla, wife of Mance Rider who is King-Beyond-the-Wall. You don't see her very often, and when you do it's usually through Jon Snow's eyes. But what we do see of her is amazing; she's strong willed, gutsy, enjoys herself and others, and is committed to her family. But what you know the most is that Jon respects her. He respects her will, her determination, her time for grief and her autonomy. When he's given the choice of taking her to wife without her consent he turns it down because he knows Val is stronger and better than that. You come to respect Val because the only person we see her through respects her, and believes through and through that she's deserving of that respect.
4) Catelyn Stark: Catelyn gets so much hate in ASoIaF fandom it isn't even funny. It makes my heart bleed guys, because while Catelyn is not flawless, she's definitely a lot smarter than a lot of the men in Westeros and if one of them would listen a lot of bloody-tear-inducing events that go down in A Storm of Swords would have been avoided. She's a Southron lady who knows how to play the Game of Thrones, it's just that no one actually believes her. Her determination to see her children alive, and the quiet strength she bears when she believes most of them are dead is breathtaking. All I can say to this fandom is: haters to the left.
3) Daenerys Targaryen: Dany was my absolute favorite character in the very first book. Her plot line is one of intense self discovery and growth. She transforms from a terrified child, abused by her brother, friendless and without parents, into a strong and determined Khaleesi, capable of standing up for herself and demanding her birth right. Her introspection is finely wrought and beautifully played out.
2) Cersei Lannister: We cannot talk about the women of Westeros without talking about Cersei Lannister. Oh god, my feelings on Cersei are many and varied and I don't even know where to begin. What I love most about her, and what makes her number two on this list and fabulous women of Westeros is her ability to play the Game of Thrones, play it well, and be totally unabashed and without shame about the way she plays and wins. Cersei hate in the fandom is stronger (and often more terrifying) than hate against Catelyn because one of the things Cersei is unafraid to use as a weapon is her sexuality. But what a lot of people forget is she's living in a society where that is the only tool available to her. Her brothers and her father can use their swords, their gold, and their minds. And while Cersei has both gold and a mind, nothing but her sexuality is ever recognized. She's a woman whose success would have been much more easily achieved had she been a man, and she knows that and hates it. So she plays the game the only way she can to get what should have been hers in the first place. And the more you learn about Cersei, her insecurities and her fears, her transformation from the girl Robert Baratheon married twenty years ago into the woman she is at the start of the series, the more you feel for her. She's the product of a misogynistic society, and a lot of the misdeeds people attribute to her have actually been committed by men around her. I could go on and on but the point is: Cersei, cunning and awful and wonderful. I love her.
1) Sansa Stark: If my feelings on Cersei Lannister are many and varied, my feelings about Sansa are limitless. She's thirteen when the series starts out, innocent, and she's never left Winterfell (the Stark seat). If Daenerys' journey of growth and self discovery are finely wrought, Sansa's is a masterpiece. She is, in my opinion, going to be the only Stark that survives the end of the implosion of Westeros. Much like Cersei, she's learning to play the Game of Thrones the only way a girl in her position can, and she's learning fast. She gets a lot of criticism for being meek and passive, but she's thirteen, she's not Arya, all she wants is to be married to a knight and have children (which is a valid desire, especially given the fact that she's been spoon fed those stories for as long as she knows). Instead she gets slammed with tragedy after tragedy, is betrothed to a boy who is most definitely a sociopath, and she manages to survive in the pursuit of her own happiness. She's not swinging swords or fighting battles or poisoning kings, but that's because she wants to live and she's learning that if she wants to live in the political climate her father helped create, she's going to have to play the game. And she's learning, good god is she learning. Nothing would please me more than if George Martin made Sansa sit the iron throne at the end of the series. Nothing.

So, these are my top five characters for 2011. Do share yours! And don't forget to check out the rest of the blog circus:

BEST OF '11: SONGS/ALBUMS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:51:00 +0000

Well. It's been a while, blog followers. I...have not been the best blog keeper, but you can blame school for that. One more semester, and then I get to dive in to grad school. I'm hoping and praying it'll be more manageable, but...you know...it rarely ever turns out that way. So what brings about my resurgence (aside from the end of the semester)? The lovely Sarah Enni has invited me to the lovely BEST OF '11 blog circus for the last week of December. I always do a recap post on New Year's Eve, so I figured, what better way to prep for that than joining in on Sarah's BEST OF '11 circus?

Today it's songs and/or albums.

I'm definitely a music writer. More often than not when I'm writing I'm listening to soundtracks, but the plotting stages are usually dominated by musics with lyrics. So here are my top five albums and songs for the year 2011.

5) The Beast - Austra: I found this song on Tumblr, via a fanmix for the women of A Song of Ice and Fire called Stiffen the Sinews, Summon Up the Blood (which, how cool of a name is that?!)(it's from Macbeth)(Tumblr this fanmix guys, the songs on it are ah-mazing)(fanmixes in general are very good). Anyway, this song captured a lot of what I was trying to capture with my main character, the quiet build, the monstrosity, the fear and anger. It's a beautiful song that manages to convey so much and I've listened to it more than a hundred times.
4) Inception OST - Hans Zimmer: Do I really need to elaborate on my obsession with Inception? Do I? I think it's well documented via twitter and emails and this blog (in fact I think there's a post on Inception on this blog right after it came out somewhere). Hans Zimmer is a genius (seriously; everything he makes is magic)(The Dark Knight soundtrack is amazing)(the amount of want I feel for the The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack is ridiculous, guys). I really love the mix of quiet and loud moments, the juxtaposition of calm and panic. If you haven't gotten your hands on this soundtrack, get on that. So much of my writing was done to this soundtrack, thank you very much, Zimmer.
3) Rocks and Water - Deb Talan: Deb Talan was another song I found on Stiffen the Sinews, Summon Up the Blood. I love this song, guys (seriously, it's my ring tone right now). It's simple, but it's message is powerful: a mother leaving her daughter a legacy, and watching over her even when the daughter isn't aware. The message more than anything else captured me and my imagination.
2) Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars: Sarah, though she might not be aware, introduced me to The Civil Wars. There is something beautiful and poetic about them, their voices, and their music. Dance Me to the End of Love wrote the back end of my last book. Barton Hollow is writing the beginning of my current work in progress. And of course, their collaboration with Taylor Swift has captured the imagination of The Hunger Games fandom.
1) Death is the Road to Awe - Clint Mansell: If you haven't seen The Fountain you are missing out on what is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. The Fountain made me fall in love with Darren Aronofsky as a director, and this song epitomizes the film and, like a lot of Clint Mansell's work, is amazing. The amount of emotion that this song carries on its own and that it allows you to put into it is limitless. Many, many scenes were written to this.

Check out the rest of the circus' BEST OF 2011:

HI THAT'S MY COFFEE MUG

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:01:00 +0000

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The first week of school is winding down (yay!) and I have many thoughts about what this semester is going to be like. They go something like this:

Victorian Literature! Critical Methods! Race Theory! I am excite!
Linguistics and translation theory - why have I never heard of you before, baby, where have you been all my live long life?!
Oh look, there's a twenty page research paper. And a ten page statement of purpose. And goddammit I'm supposed to graduate why why why...
Coffee. Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeeeeeeeee.

In that vein: Every since I started college my mother and I have had a tradition. It's not an acknowledged one; in fact, I think if you asked my mother she would deny it as a tradition and more an accident. It's no secret that I'm a lover of all things coffee. So it follows that I would (and do, oh God I do) splurge a lot of money on coffee mugs. Ceramic mugs, shiny mugs, thermoses that keep coffee hot - coffee is my pride and joy and I will drink it out of a nice cup.

My mother doesn't really care what she drinks her coffee out of. Ugly mugs, short mugs, mugs with no handles - sometimes even glass. Until I return in May with my beauties and then all of a sudden she is very concerned that she go to work with one of my little delights in hand. By the end of the summer my cups have been microwaved, dishwashed, melted, burned, lost or cracked. I had a lovely ceramic mug and the handle snapped off while I was washing it.

Snapped. Off.

So I have compiled a list of things to keep in mind when caring for your, or your significant other's coffee paraphernalia.

Check the bottom of the cup/mug/thermos before putting it in the dishwasher. Most of them have inscriptions that will specify if they are dishwasher safe. If they are not dishwasher safe, do not put them in the dishwasher.
Most thermoses have a plastic exterior - this does not mean they are microwave safe.
This also does not mean they are safe to put next to a hot stove. Plastic melts, guys. Really.
Some of the really fancy mugs have steel exteriors. Do not put in a microwave, for the love of God. Just. Don't.
Ceramic does not mean heavy duty. It is the opposite of heavy duty. Opposite.
Cousin's who are not old enough to drink coffee have no business touching your coffee mugs. In fact, if you do not drink coffee or judge me for my love of coffee and my morning coffee ritual get out. Get your blaspheming hands off my mugs and get out.
Respect the mug.

This has been a public service announcement. You're welcome.

IN WHICH I GIVE YOU THIS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:12:00 +0000

I am up to my eyeballs in revisions, and have nine days of an executive residency to coordinate so this trailer of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as a teen comedy is all you're getting from me. Laugh, friends, laugh! And try not to die before Friday.

Happy Monday!

IN WHICH WE TALK REVISIONS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Mad Men.

Except not that kind. I'm up to my eye balls in that sort of revision, so I figured I would talk about something different.

This summer has been both rewarding and disappointing in terms of movies. There've been great hits (Harry Potter, I'm looking at you), crazy misses (why Sucker Punch, why?) - but over all, I and the sisters have been pleased. More often than not we've walked out of the theater thinking those $11 were well spent. But we've noticed something else, too - Hollywood likes to revise history. A lot.

It took a while before I noticed - for a while I was just glad that there were characters of color who a) didn't die off in the first half of the film or b) weren't cast as villains (and even some of my favorites couldn't deliver on this). But whenever I and the sisters sat down to discuss some of our favorite films of the summer, there was always that - something that was clearly inaccurate, or omitted. X-Men: First Class was a fantastic movie - great characterization, and the writers did a fantastic job of weaving the history of the '60's with the imagined world of the mutants. But there was a gaping hole - during the Cold War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Darwin's death and Angel's defection from the X-Men to what would become the Brotherhood of Mutants - the Civil Right's Movement. Gone. As if it had never existed or wouldn't impact the lives of the mutants (especially Darwin's, Angel's and Erik's).

More recently we went to see Captain America (okay film, more set up than anything else). Lo and behold, there is an African American who is part of the core team (yay!), fits no stereotypes, speaks French and attended university before he was drafted. But, as an op-ed pointed out in the New York Times, the United States Military wasn't integrated during the second World War. The African American men that were allowed to fight were segregated from white units for fear of polluting the rest of the military. Seeing Gabe Jones' character accepted and celebrated among his fellow soldiers (and not dead), though refreshing, was false. And it made me wonder: why write it that way? Why turn away from years of painful history? Why ignore it when the entire story is about wanting to belong, and loss and displacement?

Something I hear a lot from many different people doing different things is this: we live in post-race America. Our president is African American. People of color are doing all sorts of amazing things. There was the civil rights movement! Why are you guys (you guys being minorities, people of color, etc) so upset/angry/bitter about things that are no longer happening? Racism doesn't exist!

And so on and so forth. This is, of course, not true. But it becomes a little difficult to disprove, and very easy to see where these assumptions come from when the media depicts a world where racism never existed. How can it exist now, how can it be a fight we're still fighting, when it didn't exist then? And it makes me uncomfortable and sad that Hollywood erases these stories and in doing so, makes them irrelevant (or at least helps in making them so).

This is the reason I love Mad Men. The show is littered with moments of discomfort for the viewer - but it's accurate. The show depicts men and women dealing with misogyny and racism and the ways in which they work through that. It shows that we are now here because we were once there. And I think that is incredibly important.

What about you all? Opinions? Comments? Disagreement? I want to hear it!

Further reading: My Very Own Captain America, and Go#%$ Hollywood!

IN WHICH I TRY TO COPE

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:36:00 +0000

With yesterday being the first day of Ramadhan, my very shiny revision letter in hand, and August being the month the program that I work for officially opens, you can understand how I'm freaking out, just a teeny tiny bit. I'm going to be fasting 14 hours a day, running around crazy like trying to make sure all the things that we need to be done are done, and trying to break down a book I haven't looked at in over two months so that I can build it back up again.

Yesterday I stared at my laptop and basically shut down. This, my friends, is not the way to handle pressure. Not even a little bit. I am still trying to figure out a way to actually handle said pressure. For example, I meant to post this yesterday, but forgot because by 2pm I'd been caught by a caffeine headache. I will try to be more regular and handle the pressures August is throwing at me with more dignity. Until then, I leave you with this very lovely picture.


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How are you all coping with the summer heat and end of summer stress?

MORE ON TRAINS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:13:00 +0000

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Recently I downloaded an app onto my Android (I can't remember what it was for) and set up notifications for it. The notification went off sometime over the weekend and the noise actually made my heart stop. Why? Because it was the same noise I'd set for my email when I first started querying (I've since changed the notification sound). Every time my phone made that noise my heart jumped into my throat and I wanted to vomit over everything. If you're anything like me, once things become attached to an event, they never un-attach. So I came up with a list of ways to make your present and post-querying life easier.

Make everything query specific. The notification on your phone, the labels in your inbox, the music you listen to - if you attach things to events make sure that you have things that are query specific and that you don't mind absolving yourself of after every thing winds down and you no longer want to vomit.
Don't listen to your manuscripts soundtrack. I couldn't listen to We, the Risen's soundtrack, even if I had been so inclined. Anything associated with it made me want to throw myself off the edge of a cliff. But yesterday, a song that a played repeatedly during revisions showed up on Pandora and I could enjoy it without barfing. If I had listened to it during query time, I would have skipped it yesterday and possibly thrown myself out of my chair (as there was no cliff in sight).
Don't read your manuscript while querying. This (like everything in this post) goes back to the vomit-y feeling that will attach. I think I spent the entire process trying to decide if I wanted to choke on my heart or throw up everything I had ever eaten. Just re-reading my query and the first ten pages I sent along made me nauseous. And I'm really, really glad I didn't reread it while I queried - doing revisions with a heart-in-your-throat feeling would not have been fun.
Find a new project. One of the things that made waiting so much easier was planning other projects. I'd tell myself: even if We, the Risen doesn't work out, I have something else. I have a project that I am as passionate about, that I love as much, that is speaking to me as much as We, the Risen did. It meant that went rejections started coming in I didn't want to throw up as much. And it gave me hope because even if it hadn't worked out I had another piece of myself that I was working on.
Lay off the coffee/caffeine. I know! I know. It sounds so ridiculous since most of run our lives on caffeine. But - and this might just be me - I had a lot of trouble eating while I queried. Breakfast became an optional meal, and lunch was sometimes cheese. When there is less food in your system, coffee can affect you in all the wrong ways. Shaky hands, headaches, wanting to throw up even more than before. I'm not saying give it up completely - but replace it with other things or cut back. Black tea is a good replacement. Or cut your two cups down to one. Or the espresso to regular coffee.

Those are just some of the ways I coped with being on the query train. How do you/did you/will you cope with it?

TRAINS & THANK YOU

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:52:00 +0000

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So. I am staring at my right side bar (which is a ranking of most popular posts)* and my last post (here) has become the ~~second most popular post~~ most popular post (since I posted this it has climbed) on my blog in a week. It's surpassed The Other - I'm Not It, and It's the Fear (which have, until this past week, been the most trafficked posts on this blog).

Wow. Thank you guys so, so much for all your congratulations and kind words.You have no idea how much I appreciate it, and how giddy I was (and still am!) as your kind words poured in. I'm still trying to figure out how to get back on track with blogging consistently while maintaining a certain level of quality, so bear with me please!

This post is one part thank you post and one part very flimsy how-to advice (because nothing works for everyone and what worked for me might not work for you).

Fact: I could not have revised my manuscript or gotten on the query train, or stayed on the query train (I think at one point I said: ~~me no gusta~~ no me gusta el query train, which is awful Spanish, but you get the gist) without amazing support. It would have been impossible. Writing is an isolating endeavor. It's emotionally stressful - just the act will make you rip out your hair (you all know what I'm talking about). You (or maybe just me) cannot - or maybe should not - do it alone.

I am incredibly blessed to have a mother and two sisters who have supported me every, single step of the way. I am doubly blessed to have friends in the young adult community who cheered me on all the time, who cheered me up when I was ready to throw the towel in, who made sure to tell me that what I was feeling was normal and that patience was necessary and that I was awesome (whether that's true is up for grabs, but flattery never hurts during any part of this process).

And I think the best and most important thing that I've taken away from this process** is that you need that. You need a support system that will prop you up when you want to fall down, who will force you back on the train while telling you that it's going to take you somewhere amazing. Whether you find them on Twitter (how I met Sarah), or on a forum (how I met Kristin and Dawn) or through their blog (how I met Tahereh), go out and meet people. Connect. Make friends. They will be invaluable once you get on that train (I really have a thing for trains today, I don't know why) and really, desperately want to jump off.

How have you all met friends and critique partners? And are you talkers or lurkers on blogs? Inquiring minds (aka the lurker) want to know!

*Apparently I also really like parenthetical asides today.
**Lord knows I didn't learn patience. Not even a little bit.

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:05:00 +0000

So I'm going to preface this post by saying: I got a smart phone at the worse possible time in my life.

I finished the final draft of my book, We, the Risen, in May. I wrote a query, a synopsis and then I fired it out into the universe. The following two months were two of the hardest months of my life. I had nightmares (one which involved me being responsible for the death of an agent because my book was that bad), could not sleep and avoided work duties in favor of reloading my email.

I got a lot of really positive responses - and then one morning I woke up and there was an email that basically changed my world and also made me rip my hair out. An agent hadn't finished the book, but she loved it so far, and wanted to know who else it was out with.She'd be finished soon, she said, but to please let her know if anything changes in terms of my representation status.

To be honest, I hadn't thought I would hear back from this agent. She'd contacted me first two years ago about a novel that has, since then, been trunked. We kept in touch, and when I finished We, the Risen I sent it off to her, expecting to wait a very long time before I ever heard back.

Instead, a few days later I got the email - 'I'd love to set up a time to talk with you.'

Commence more hair ripping.

If I had gotten this email a year ago I would have jumped straight into 'this is an offer of representation'. But I'd heard enough to know that sometimes agents called to give you a revise and resubmit, or to (God forbid) offer you a very personal rejection. And to top it off, in my fear/euphoria/need to vomit I'd scheduled the phone call for five days later. I had a lot of nightmares. And did a lot of stalking. And also whined an incredible amount to all my wonderful friends. (Seriously, guys, thank you so so so much for listening to me belly ache about everything for the past two months.) The fifteen minutes before the call I think I nearly threw up twice, and hand my hands shook so much I could barely keep a grip on my phone.

But the call went wonderfully. Not only did she offer representation, she had such wonderful things to say about We, the Risen and understood my vision. By the end of the conversation, I knew. And I'm pretty sure in the blur that that afternoon was, that I said that.

The next day I sent her an email, and a few hours later I had a contract.

I am very very very very pleased and excited to say that I am now represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

RETURN OF THE JEDI

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:29:00 +0000

source.

I'm pretty sure I've used that title before in a blog post not to far back, but I'm floating on a caffeine high and can't be bothered to care.*

So it's probably obvious that I haven't updated The Raven Desk in nearly six months (if not more), and for that I'm very, very sorry. There are two reasons The Raven Desk pretty much died in January: 1) I got sort of promoted in January (as in I was acting Higher Position until a qualified Higher Position could be hired) and 2) I had no idea what to do with the blog, how often to post, and what sort of content I consistently wanted to be posting. A lot of blogs have proven that they can be useful platforms for discussion, important discussions at that. And that's the sort of place I want The Raven Desk to be. I want to turn out quality posts that will generate discussion and debate (always respectful) and will make people think. But I also want to post what you all want to read. So if you leave a comment (which would be great - I know how MIA I've been in the last few months on everyone elses' blogs) let me know what you want to hear and talk about. And how often? I know it sounds like I'm trying to get you guys to do all the work, but that's not true (except only a little).

So more excuses for why my blogging has been non-existent:
1) I applied to the BA/MA English program at my school and got in! I was ridiculously stressed from January until April wondering if I would make it past the committee. And then I did! I'm very excited and also incredibly daunted because I have to write a thesis. I was hoping to put that off until I started working on my PhD but - ah well!
2) Right around finals (and around the time my English professor mentioned that forking over $50k for a Masters in English was a dumb idea) I got offered a job in a graduate program at my school that would also cover tuition. It's also a full time job that I'll be balancing with my senior year. That social life that pretty much didn't exist in my junior year - yeah, I'm saying bye bye to it now.
3) I think I'm out of excuses?

EDIT: Apparently, I completely forgot the reason I chose to restart the blog. If you head over here you'll see some awesome and exciting news! The YA Highway ladies have invited me over to be a monthly contributor, along with a number of other amazing (and also intimidating) women!

So what have you guys been up to in the last six months? Any exciting news that I've missed out on? Also - thank you to all my new Twitter followers, and the blog followers that showed up during my unannounced hiatus!

*Or at least I was when I started this post on Saturday...

BEAUTY OF LANGUAGE

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:00:00 +0000

source.

I forgot how much I love language. In high school, I read poetry all the time (Lord Tennyson was my favorite and I read him religiously over and over) and it just - I don't know. There's something magical and beautiful about stringing so many words together and producing something that is both coherent and evocative. And I just remembered that, like a light bulb going off in my head, when I ran across a poem by Pablo Neruda (while reading fanfiction no less!). I'm just going to leave it here and - yeah - hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

PERHAPS NOT TO BE IS TO BE WITHOUT YOUR BEING

pablo neruda

Perhaps not to be is to be without your being,

without your going, that cuts noon light

like a blue flower, without your passing

later through fog and stones,

without the torch you lift in your hand

that others may not see as golden,

that perhaps no one believed blossomed

the glowing origin of the rose,

without, in the end, your being, your coming

suddenly, inspiringly, to know my life,

blaze of the rose-tree, wheat of the breeze:

and it follows that I am, because you are:

it follows from ‘you are’, that I am, and we:

and, because of love, you will, I will,

We will, come to be.

HOW TO SURVIVE BETA COMMENTS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:39:00 +0000

source.

1) Remember betas want to help you, not hurt you.

2) Remember whatever problems they say the story has, you can fix it.

3) Remember that betas give advice, not hard and fast rules.

4) Remember that you asked for their help and they're doing you a favor by reading.

5) Remember, in the end it's your story and up to you to decide what to do with it.

HOW TO TAKE A VACATION

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:29:00 +0000

source.

1) Don't get out of your pajamas and offend your family with your presence for at one day.

2) Drink your morning coffee out of a porcelain mug and teach your sisters what it means to start the day right aka with coffee.

3) Take long walks with your sister around the neighborhood and discuss the future.

4) Watch all the seasons of Friends at your disposal. Then go back and watch them again with your mom and sisters.

5) Watch Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back at 1am and realize that Yoda, after 30 years alone on Dagobah is fracking crazy and not at all the Zen Jedi master you learn to love in episodes 1 - 3.

6) Read, read, read until you can't anymore aka never stop. Realize that you may never measure up and move on.

7) Indulge in all the fanfiction you've been avoiding to finish up your book for hours. This is the best type of guilty pleasure.

8) Flip through your moleskine notebook and realize it's not over, it'll never be over.

9)Sit at the dining room table with your aunt and discuss the difference between coffee connoisseurs and coffee drinkers - determine that your mother is a coffee drinker and mourn the fate of her taste buds.

10) Relax. Seriously. The beta comments will show up eventually. School will start soon. Revel in these last days.

RETURN OF THE JEDI

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:18:00 +0000

source.

I've been meaning to post since I got on break but - well, things got in the way. Mostly, I pushed myself to finish my latest project (I did, on December 28!) and then I was busy either lazing around and getting out of work mode or revising like a mad woman so that I could send the project out to beta readers. But I have now finished both writing and revisions, just in time for the New Years (I actually spent New Year's Eve putting the last touches on the project) and I will be trying to put myself in a Zen zone until I have to go back to school on the 9th.

To greet the new year I've revamped the site layout with these funky colors (and thanks so much to colour lovers for the amazing background) as my way of greeting 2011 with love and high hopes for a successful year. Last year I did Through 2009 and What I Found There to reflect on the year. Here is Through 2010 and What I Found There:

1) Finished The Scion: The Scion was the second complete manuscript that I wrote and I loved it to bits. Unfortunately, I freaked out at the end and trunked it with hopes of a rewrite. In hindsight, I'm really glad I did. It gave me the time to improve my writing and gather the courage to really query and not just kind of query with a book that definitely wasn't my best. But just as The Pawn taught me how to finish a book, The Scion taught me how to write a book. And that's important.
2) Started two projects (Heart of Angelline and Eidolon): I started Eidolon in the very early days of the summer and trunked it around July and then started Heart of Angelline and trunked it in late October. Trunking both was really, really important because it taught me how to let go, when something is beyond fixing, when fixing something isn't worth it. I was of the opinion that if something wasn't working you could power through it and fix it in the end and I think this is still true for a lot of things. But there are times when it stops being true and it's important to recognize that and pull out.
3) My third creative writing workshop: This. There are no words for the roller coaster that this class was. I'm not going to lie: this class is part of the reason I managed to finish my last project. The professor was brilliant and I learned something I might have never known or managed to forget and it made writing not only easy but fun again. I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to be with your character to know everything about them to enjoy wrecking their lives and then fixing it again. And regardless of how psychotic my professor may have been they did teach me to write again and to stop getting twisted in so much of the business and focus on the craft of it.
4) Cutting back on my social life: I know this sounds kind of ridiculous to be a good thing but - yeah, it wasn't. My freshman year of college wasn't as stellar as I wanted it to be because I invested more time in hanging out and running around instead of buckling down and studying. Sophomore year was all about trying to find a balance between the two and this year (junior year) I think I've struck the balance. I'm doing much better in school, I enjoy the majority of my classes and I have time to write.
5) Finished the first draft of a project I am in love with: This felt like a break through for me. I love this project and I loved it when I started and I loved it even when I was going through revisions. I have never felt this way about a book that I wrote. I've loved characters and plot lines but I've never loved anything as wholly as I love this project.

That's my year in hindsight. Pretty quiet all things considered but I like quiet, thank God. Happy new year! May it be as fruitful or more so than 2010.

MY REACTION TO FINALS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:42:00 +0000

Good luck to those on their final stretch. We can do it!

SURVIVING THE FINAL WEEKS

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:35:00 +0000

1) Junk food. This is your best friend. Cheez-Its, pretzels, chips, cookies, chocolate chips- these will make that final stretch before break bearable. Even a ten page paper seems doable when you have a bowl of cheez-its and a bottle of gatorade.

2) Advil: Finals will give you headaches. Those eight papers, two finals, and one oral exam you've got? They're going to make you want to bash your skull in against your keyboard. Do it. And then take Advil.
3) Quiet: If you're the type that gets roped into studying with friends or your campus doesn't have a quiet zone, invest in a pair of a) ear plugs or b) over the ear headphones that will muffle or (better yet) block out the sound around you. Some people like working to music, and the headphones are a good investment for when you're not cramming to save your life and writing to keep living.
4) Specialized Mug: It will be a light for you when all other lights go out. But seriously, looking at a mug that you (or someone special) picked out for you for sentimental reasons will be a small and tiny bright spot in a very dark couple of weeks.
5) Coffee: Looking into an empty coffee mug is no fun. Never be afraid to splurge on tastey coffee and creamers. Make your caffeine cabinet shine. It will make the remaining weeks of finals and papers fly by. Everything is more fun on a caffeine high.

7 HARRY POTTER MEMORIES

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:13:00 +0000

Source. Also: yes, yes I do.

1) Eleven: My fifth grade teacher takes me to the library to check out books. Harry Potter has its own shelf. I pick out the first, start reading, check it out. I finish it in a few days, go back, get the second and third. My dad looks disapprovingly at the Hippogriff on the cover, but doesn't take the book away and I read on in secret.
2) Twelve: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone comes out in theaters. My sisters tease me to no end for my nerditude, citing the tag line 'Have a very Harry Christmas' as further proof. I beg and beg and beg my father to force them to see the film with me. After sunset on a Saturday he turns into the movie theater parking lot silently, buys tickets and popcorn and watches Harry Potter with my sisters and I. My sisters are converted and I am a very happy eleven year old.
3) Fourteen: We're at a thrift store and I scour the book section for the fourth Harry Potter book. I beg and beg my mom to buy it and she finally relents, staring disapprovingly at the boy with a wand on the cover. She warns be to go to sleep later that night while I'm reading, shuts off the light and I pretend to sleep. Later, I shine my alarm clock over the book and read on until the harrowing end. A few hours later I crawl into bed with my mom, and say I can't sleep because of monsters. She sighs, says 'I told you, Sumayyah' then turns over and goes back to sleep.
4) Fifteen: My sister's fourth grade teacher loves me. For my birthday she buys me Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and a very pretty journal from Borders. I ignore the journal for the mean time and devour Harry's new adventures shamelessly.
5) Sixteen: The sixth book comes out, we pre-order it and my sister gets it for her birthday. She reads it first, cries, hands it to me that night and I read and cry. The youngest gets it last and by then she knows the ending is not happy, it is harrowing and horrible and so wonderful we cannot wait for the conclusion.
6) Seventeen: The seventh book comes out, but Harry Potter isn't finished it lives on and my sisters and I have a Harry Potter shelf in the basement with all the books. We have the films, they are a family activity.
7) Twenty: The first part of the finale of the Harry Potter franchise is released. It is the beginning of the end of an era. The beginning of the end of my childhood. I am not in middle school, the journal I got for my fifteenth birthday is filled, my Harry Potter books - hard cover and paperback - are frayed and beaten and old and I feel just as old as they are. I watch each new trailer, new television spot with goosebumps appearing on my arms and drink coffee while I watch and wait and wait and wait for my sister to come back from school so we can go see it as a family because it's a family tradition.

BACK ON THE WAGON

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:23:00 +0000

How you know when wonderful things are happening:

When you're writing regularly.
When you're not afraid of writing regularly.
When you're trying something new with you're writing.
Where things happen to come together without a mother effing outline (I KNOW GUYS I'M JUST AS SHOCKED AS YOU WHATTT??)
When Tumblr and fanfiction are not enough to pull you out of that chapter you're writing because it is going so well.
When you have four types of coffee creamer, three types of coffee (TWO OF WHICH ARE GODIVA OMG) and a bottle of coffee flavoring syrup (vanilla).
When your roommates partake in your coffee addiction and recognize it for its wonder.
When great things happen in life.
When great things happen to friends.
When that apple danish isn't finished but it's all yours.

REASONS I AM QUIET

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:43:00 +0000

The next wave: IT APPROACHES.
The next wave: it includes (1) paper on masculinity, (1) paper on Jewishness and Christianity in medieval theater, (1) short story to be offered up to the altar that is workshop, and (1) seminar piece. All due within days of each other.
JON STEWART IS COMING TO DC THIS SATURDAY. Yeah. I'll be there for that.
Insomnia: it is my friend.
I'm trying to build a curriculum for independent study next semester. It's really exciting.

I will be back soon. Good luck to all those amazing people who are managing NaNo this year. My envy of you knows no bounds.

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:13:00 +0000

...over the past few days.

Porn is not suitable for workshop. Especially not in the first person. How am I supposed to look at you?
Once you get started on fanfiction it is like a fraking addiction. You can't stop. You know you have to or you'll fail all your classes, but you can't. You. Just. Can't.
Characters all need to have a purpose. Alas, convenience does not qualify as a purpose.
My professor is really, in fact, a fraking psycho. I'm a little fearful and resentful. Also, perhaps plotting rebellion.
I'm incredibly protective of my things: namely, coffee. If you use it and finish it, you must replace it people. I AM NOT A COFFEE MONEY MAKING MACHINE, GUYS. I'M JUST NOT.

One day, I'll get back to real posting. As it is, please make do with the lists I come up with until the craziness that is my life stops being so crazy. Also, contest winners, I haven't forgotten about you! Things will be mailed out in short order, I promise. As soon as I get a moment to actually mail them out.

HOW TO KNOW YOU'RE STUCK

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 23:21:00 +0000

When you have entire days with nothing to do and instead of writing you are reading fanfiction.
When you are trying to figure out what is wrong and not coming up with answers.
When you are eying that stack of index cards so that you can rework your outline.
When you are trying to connect the beginning that you've written with the end that you want to write.
When you don't know what the ending you want to write actually is.
When you are writing a post about how you know you're stuck.

Clearly, I am stuck. And just as clearly, I will figure out how to unstick myself when I don't have two critiques and a Milton midterm looming in my very near future.

HOW TO BALANCE

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:50:00 +0000

...a giant workload.

Pull all nighters.
When you pull these all nighters, call them nuit blanche. It will make you feel better.
Stock up on coffee. And tea. And creamer. Also: chocolate, sugar, pancakes and an assortment of unhealthy food.
Have an awesome roommate/BFFL combination like @abundantchaos.
Have Russell Crowe kill people in the background and look all manly. Even when he doesn't talk.
Have your mom and little sisters visit you, and make fun of you. It will put things into perspective.
Giggle over nonsense.
Remember, there is no such thing as balance. You will fail inevitably. But realize that you won't stop climbing the hill anyway.
Also, you might want to buy a plot in a cemetery. Just in case.
Remember to breathe. This is only a phase in your life. Better things come later and to those who wait.

MANAGING TIME YOU DON'T HAVE

noreply@blogger.com (Sumayyah) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:23:00 +0000

You are probably a high school student, or a college student, or a parent, full time worker, a professional, a writer. You have a life. If you had it your way, you wouldn't but it's not your way. You don't have the necessary 40 hours a day, only 24. Rest assured. I have come up with a few helpful ways to stretch those hours to their limits.

Coffee. Coffee. If you do not have a coffee maker go and buy one. Starbucks? Caribou Coffee? These are weak substitutes for the lovely brew you could be making at home. I have a small one. I am going to get a big one. And I also have a CABINET OF CAFFEINE. This cabinet, you stock it with creamers, and coffee mugs, and different flavors of coffee (my favorite is French Roast). And then you bask in the glory of the thing that is your caffeine high.
Sleep. Sleep is overrated. You don't really need it. What you need is to budget it. You need 8-10 hours if you want to be a fully functional, awake, coherent human being. Drop that to 6 if you want to just be an awake human. Drop to 4 if you want to be awake. Drop to 2 if you plan on coasting through your day barely alive.
Social life. You don't have one. Not anymore. You already have to write, work, study, read, cook, and clean. YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR PEOPLE. You don't have time to laugh or drink or go out and dance with that really cute boy. Just forget about that social life. Forever.
Spare minutes. You need them. You need them so much. Any downtime is not downtime it is time to get work done. It is time to outline that scene, or read that chapter, or skim those notes. If you think you have downtime, you are lying to yourself. You only have more time to get more done.
Multitask. This is a skill that will serve you well. Cooking? Pull out that book and read. Writing? Open up twitter and connect. Drafting that essay? Talk to your friends and listen to music. ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

*This is not actual advice. It's the way I choose to live my sad, unhappy life. Follow at your own peril.