Anne Osterlund

Good Fairies

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 21:02:00 +0000

Peter Pan is my favorite book, as you probably know if you have read any of my interviews. The first version of Peter Pan that I remember was a Disney picture book that I had memorized as a child. I did not learn to read until I was six, but I remember pretending to read this book for guests at a younger age.

In the third grade, I read the real book. I had no idea, at the time, of what a challenging read it is for an eight-year-old. I just loved the story. I loved that there were elements of the story I had never heard of before. I loved the Wendy house and the scene where Wendy falls after accidentally being shot by the lost boys, and I loved the scene where Peter stands on the rock after letting Wendy fly away on the kite and prepares to face his own death.

Great stuff!

Many years later, my sister and I traveled to Scotland. I had wanted to go to Scotland ever since reading another book, Sally Watson’s Witch of the Glens; but when planning my itinerary, I learned that James Barrie had been born in Kirriemuir, Scotland. I had to go there.

My sister thought I was crazy. It was off the tourist track a whole—I don’t know—two hours? I insisted.

We went. And we had the best time. We saw the real Wendy house, a laundry shed behind the family’s home. We had our pictures taken there. We saw James Barrie’s writing desk, where I believe he actually wrote Peter Pan. (In an absolutely unreal number of limited drafts). I found a copy of the The White Bird, the first book to feature Peter Pan, in a local bookstore. And we bought lemon pound cake and strawberries at the local grocery, which was by far the most affordable and most memorable meal I ate in Scotland.

There was a light flitting around the upstairs of the museum/house where James Barrie was born. Tinker Bell, of course.

Promptly after my last blog post, my friend, Dawn, magically repaired all of the snarled stitches in my website links.

This week she is Tinker Bell.

Thank you so much, Dawn!

Ripping Stitches: A Writing Metaphor

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Sun, 15 Sep 2019 22:46:00 +0000

“Go get the seam ripper!” is the most common quote I remember from my sewing years growing up. A seam ripper, FYI, is a small device used to rip out one’s work. For me, sewing was frequently a process of one step forward and two steps back. The machine would jam; the material would pucker; the edge of the seams would catch.

Today I decline to sew.

I do, however, upon occasion find myself living a sewing metaphor, and that is what I am living this week. You see, I have a brand new manuscript ready to go out to publishers and agents; therefore, I logged onto my website this week, just to see what details I need to update and polish. The homepage looks the same as it has the last several times I have logged onto it; but this time I attempted to check other pages.

Nothing is working. All the links from the homepage are giving me scary, unhappy messages about how my website may either 1. not be configured correctly or 2. not really be my website. Yikes! Obviously something is not up to date. Here I was thinking the website was one aspect of marketing that is cumulative and continues to develop the more effort I put into it.

Time to get out the seam ripper AKA e-mail my web tech specialist and prepare myself mentally to rework whatever web pages will need reworking.

I do the same every day that I write. I now know a great deal more about what it takes to create a polished manuscript than I did when I wrote the first draft of my first book. But the process is the same. The polished pages never emerge in the first draft. That draft is just as messy as it always has been. If anything, the number of revisions has gone up.

But unlike with sewing, I love the process. I love peeling back the mess and plunging deeper and deeper into the story. Figuring out each of the characters and what about them is required in order to make every line sound right. Sometimes, I write whole scenes that prove unnecessary. Other times, those scenes turn out to be exactly what the novel needs. It is fun. It is also work.

The ripping is still hard.

But at least once a chapter, I have the amazing sense that comes when everything feels right.

New Inspiration: The Willamette Writers' Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 00:30:00 +0000

I had the amazing opportunity to attend the 2019 Willamette Writers Conference this past Friday! I love to recommend this conference to the following: new writers hoping to learn how to write and submit to publishers, experienced writers looking to challenge themselves with new ideas and/or tackle new dilemmas, and even writers interested in film.

My favorite takeaways from this year’s conference:

-The chance to talk about my newest manuscript with a plethora of industry experts. They may all disagree! But it’s great to meet agents one-on-one, have them read what I write, and gain a taste for their editing style. It’s up to me to sort through the advice and find the golden nuggets that can help make my manuscript shine at its best.

-Willamette Writers now offers full-day Master Classes on Thursday. I am already plotting to take one next year & pass it off as one of my mandatory 3 credit Create Your Own Courses via The Heritage Institute. (As a freelance teacher with certificates in two different states, I need three credits a year and love to combine inspirational writing coursework with that requirement).

-Classes on writing from amazing authors. I could only attend one day out of four this year so had to prioritize. Kate Elliot’s course comparing breaking stereotypes to pealing an onion absolutely delivered and got the wheels in my brain turning.

-Amazing and inspirational keynote speeches. Reema Zaman and Kim Johnson were both fantastic.

Reema Zaman-https://www.reemazaman.com/

Kim Johnson-https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18824198.Kim_Johnson

-And, as always, I loved meeting people who are passionate about sharing their ideas via the written word.

If you love to write, I highly recommend checking out this conference. And if you live in the area, check out the Willamette Writers organization as well. Who knows? One day I might see you there!

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Historical Fiction: Easy Answers--Tough Process

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 23:24:00 +0000

I never do the research first.

That probably sounds irresponsible, but the story has to come first. The characters—they have to be alive. They must have a story to tell. And that story always exists first, at least in my mind.

Alex—I’ll introduce her to you eventually—has existed for no fewer than seventeen years. That seems like forever, but she actually introduced herself after both Aurelia and Aerin so she’s been kindly waiting her turn until now.

Since Alex’s story is historical fiction, I’ve always believed that I would have to confirm certain facts about the premise of her book before I committed serious time to writing it for publication. These facts involved claim inheritance law in Eastern Oregon at the turn of the century.

I didn’t think they would be impossible to find. But . . .

I sure wasn’t having any luck. I started by ordering a couple books about women and the law—hoping, I guess, for a timeline involving women and property rights.

Didn’t get one.

From there I tried online searches, which were—hmm—not very helpful. Specific dates and the law are not so easy to research on Google.

Which brought me into the realm of serious research: contacting the experts. I promptly e-mailed a librarian at the Oregon Historical Society. Now I really thought this would work. I didn’t think the librarian would necessarily be able to answer my questions. But I truly believed he or she would be able to direct me to a person or a resource that might.

However, here’s the thing about Oregon pioneer history. Most of what you read about it revolves around the settlement of the western side of the state, which occurred a full fifty years prior to the settlement of the eastern side. In fact, if you research the Oregon Trail, you will find printed resources claiming the trail ceased to be used prior to 1900. Which is incorrect. Families where I live migrated across the trail during the first two decades of the early 1900’s. Most people came by railroad but not if they couldn’t afford it.

So . . . I received three responses from the OHS librarian. The first was inaccurate because the law referenced was defunct by 1904. The second was inaccurate because the law was passed after 1904. And the third was that I might try asking a law professor at a university.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had trouble obtaining a timely response from my own advisor at a university.

The real problem I was having was this. There are people who know a lot about the law and people who know a lot about history. But finding someone who knows a lot about the law and history—this is not so easy. Much less claim inheritance law in Eastern Oregon.

My real breakthrough came when I finally went to the Homestead National Monument website, where—low and behold—the original text of the National Homestead Act is printed for all to read. And—believe it or not—includes an entire paragraph or two on the legal inheritance of claims.

So easy! Almost.

You see, my plotline isn’t exactly simple. I still had a few knots I needed to untie.

But Alex had about had enough of waiting around, and it was pretty clear to me by now that plenty of folks weren’t following the letter of the law when it came to settling claims anyway so I figured I had enough data to validate writing the first draft.

Good thing too because I had finished it while going through all of this rigmarole. So much for confirming the premise first.

There was a little box for “contact info” on the Homestead National Monument site, and I had sent out my specific plot questions in the box; but I wasn’t counting on getting an answer. It was one of those I’m-sending-this-off-into-the-electronic-netherworld experiences in which one suspects one may only reach a teenage receptionist, if that.

But—miracle of miracles—just as I was wrapping up the final reading of the local 1904-1905 newspaper, I received an e-mail.

From a man who helps advise the Homestead National Monument site. He has—ding, ding, ding!—a background in historical law. And no, of course my current plotline didn’t work.

Maybe I could try this, he suggested in his e-mail.

Yikes! I thought. That’s going to wreak all kinds of havoc on my plot. But, as I’ve mentioned before, the beauty of a living and breathing resource is that that person can help you navigate through the difficulties. And find your way around them.

So I set up a phone call.

Sure enough, in less than a twenty-minute discussion, I had a legally and historically valid plot. And, again, the answer was so easy!

But—geez—the process of finding those easy answers. Sometimes it’s not.

Historical Fiction: The Second Wave

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 22:55:00 +0000

So . . . as I was saying. My major achievement after the first wave of research for my new writing project was selecting the specific dates for my novel.

Followed by the completion of a first draft.

After which, I had a whole NEW set of questions to research.

Such as . . .

What songs might be sung at a school concert in1904?

What serious diseases might last a full month and spread in the dead of winter?

Did students receive a diploma upon graduation from the eighth grade?

The list goes on.

And on.

The answers came, as always, from a variety of sources. Some of the best primary sources I found were online. (The original text of the Homestead Act, the Bureau of Land Management database, a first-hand account of a frontier school teacher in exactly 1904). Real people, as I have mentioned in an earlier blog post, are always outstanding. They are the only sources that can speak up and say, “No! Your idea doesn’t work and here is why.” And then help you fix the issue without your having to rewrite your entire novel.

But in this case, I found a new resource. The entire time period of my novel is covered in weekly issues of the Condon Globe newspaper, stored at the Gilliam County History Museum. So guess who got to spend the final weeks of one summer and most of her weekends in September at the museum.

Yep, that would be me.

There is an art to learning to read a newspaper from 1904.

First, one has to recognize the ads. The advertising tricksters on youtube have nothing on the advertisers from 1904. Their ads were immersed right into the text. Same font. Same spacing. Everything.

One moment you’re reading about so and so’s wedding last Saturday, and the next, you’re smack dab in the middle of a Laxative commercial. It takes a serious level of reading—which I was doing—to reach the point where you can bypass these terrifying trips into the promises of cures for everything from the Grippe to household mouse control.

Then there’s the sad lack of one’s own historical knowledge. Famous generals of the Japanese-Russian War, the Russian Revolution of 1905, the Oregon Land Fraud Scandal. I really needed to spend several evenings rifling through Wikipedia just to gain enough background to understand the stories I was reading. And I have to say I’m impressed with the coverage by this small local paper. The local papers today cover very little beyond their own tri-county region. But in 1904, the local newspaper was the major source of international news. And throughout that year, its major headlines on the front page were all world news.

Unfortunately, this meant I had to dig a lot deeper for the local stuff.

And some of it was hilarious. Not in the differences between then and now. But in the similarities. Those things that annoy you about your community. Sometimes small. Sometimes big. They just might have existed for a hundred years!

Sadly, I didn’t get the answers to ALL my questions in the local paper. But I got most of them!

And that just left the monster:

Claim law. 1904.

Which—you guessed it—is a whole other blog entry.

Historical Fiction: The First Wave

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 22:16:00 +0000

My next book—the one after REDEMPTION—is true historical fiction. Not historical fantasy, like Aurelia and Robert’s series. But real HF.

Which means the research has to be more real. (In other words, I can’t cheat).

Don’t get me wrong. I do a lot of research for Aurelia and Robert’s novels. And it’s a blast. Scimitars. Loading rifles. Battle plans. Eighteenth century furniture, torture devices, high-heeled shoes. I get to use all kinds of crazy historical details within Aurelia and Robert’s books.

But for my upcoming novel, I knew I needed to kick that into a whole other gear.

This meant a LOT of reading. Starting off with some general topics: the Oregon Trail, pioneer life, school teaching in the Pacific Northwest, Native American tribes in Eastern Oregon, homesteading. I got to read some fiction and some great non-fiction. I also got to read some really lousy non-fiction. And some stuff written by people who definitely don’t or didn't write at a professional level.

But some of that stuff . . . was the best. Because it was the most specific to the county I was researching. And it’s great to know that’s all you can get because it means there’s definitely room for a novel about the topic. I mean, that’s one of the reasons I want to write about it. Because no one else has.

So, as I was saying, that was a lot of reading. Most of which, won’t get into my book.

Because I had to pick a specific date, or series of dates: September 1904-1905. Ding, ding, ding!

My major achievement after a month of reading.

Once I had done that, I could actually write the whole first draft of the book.

And then launch into the second wave of research.

Redemption Tour Stop 6: Aurelia's Top Ten Challenges for Headstrong Characters

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 23:50:00 +0000

1. Assassins. When you have a mind of your own, people seem to want to kill you.

2. Vultures. AKA unwanted suitors with lots of power and very little hair.

3. Sisters. Always a challenge, whether one is headstrong or not. But Aurelia’s sister definitely belongs on this list.

4. Stepmothers. Like we haven’t all read enough fairy tales to know this. And I admit that Aurelia’s stepmother bears an unfortunate resemblance to the fairy tale stereotype. Aurelia would really prefer that her stepmother did not. But that’s just not the way life turned out.

5. Cowardice.

Check out the rest of Aurelia’s top 10 at Emily’s blog, Falling For YA!

http://www.fallingforya.com/2016/10/blog-tour-redemption-by-anne-osterlund.html

Redemption Tour Stop 5: Miz Writer Lady

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 14:32:00 +0000

From Jean at Miz Writer Lady:

“It was one of the things I had forgotten about Anne Osterlund’s storytelling: her ability to sucker punch you with emotions. Being the end of a trilogy, emotions were running rampant as Aurelia and Robert face impossible choices and worse, their own feelings. Anne Osterlund brilliantly crafted a story that wove together themes of duty and love . . .

Check out the rest of Jean’s review for Redemption, as well an brand new interview by yours truly, on her Miz Writer Lady blog!

https://mizwriterlady.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/interview-with-anne-osterlund-redemption/

Redemption Tour Stop 4: YA Book Nerd

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 16:41:00 +0000

From Jennifer at YA Book Nerd:

“I liked watching both Robert and Aurelia come into their own. I liked the strategies, the defiance, and the determination . . . A fantastic ending to a wonderful trilogy."

Check out the rest of Jennifer’s review for Redemption on her YA Book Nerd blog!

http://yabooknerd.blogspot.com/2016/10/redemption-blog-tour.html

Redemption Tour Stop 3: YA Bibliophile Review

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 01:09:00 +0000

Check out Heidi’s review for Redemption on her YA Bibliophile blog! Also Redemption is now available at Barnes & Noble on the following page:

Barnes & Noble's Redemption Page

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books

From Heidi:

As I said, I read Aurelia before I started blogging regularly. I was immediately captivated by the characters. I read Exile as soon as I got my hands on it in 2011 and have been dying for Redemption ever since! It was so great to finally find out what happens with Aurelia, Robert, and all of Tyalt.

The thing I love most about this series is Aurelia herself.

To read the rest, visit Heidi’s blog at YA Bibliophile.

https://yabibliophile.com/2016/10/blog-tour-redemption.html

Redemption Release: Today is the day!

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 00:29:00 +0000

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Redemption hits bookstores today. Aurelia, Robert, and I hope you enjoy their third and final story. Today is also the second stop on the Redemption Blog Tour. Check out Danica Page’s from Taking It One Page at a Time.

To purchase Redemption:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Kobo Books

It is also available through iBooks.

From Danica Page:

Redemption by Anne Osterlund. Finally!!!!

Fellow Page Turners,

I'm thrilled to be part of today's blog stop for Redemption by Anne Osterlund. Anne Osterlund has been one of my favorite authors for years, and I'm super excited to share my thoughts with you about her latest book. It was absolutely incredible. What a great ending to a great series! Definitely check out this series and just this author in general.

To read the rest of her five-star review, go to Danica’s blog: Taking It One Page at a Time.

Redemption Blog Tour: An Early-Morning Character Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 02:39:00 +0000

“Come on, Aurelia. It’s time to go to Live to Read!” I call to the heroine of my first complete series.

She is hovering at the top of the stairs. She has actually been dressed and ready for the first stop of our blog tour—in honor of REDEMPTION, the third & final novel of the Aurelia Trilogy—since about 4:00 a.m. Aurelia is the only participant in the tour who is a morning person.

Though if you ask her, she will probably tell you she has been prepared for her own personal blog tour her entire life.

“I’ve been ready,” she says. “Robert is the one who is dawdling.”

Robert is more nervous.

Read the rest on the first stop of Aurelia & Robert's Redemption Blog Tour at Live to Read.
http://livetoread-krystal.blogspot.com/2016/10/redemption-by-anne-osterlund-character.html

In the Villain's Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 22:24:00 +0000

I’m generally not a fan of scenes told from the villain’s point-of-view. I don’t like being there, in the villain’s head. I find that it gives away a lot of the tension within the novel—knowing what the villain is plotting. And, again, I don’t like being there.

This is, no doubt, close-minded of me. And you have to be careful, as an author, not to close your mind to possibilities. Because, eventually, you are going to have to break down that wall.

The problem with ignoring the major villain in Redemption is that—if I tell this story only from the main characters’ perspectives—the villain doesn’t get to walk onto the page until the climax.

And that’s a problem. A big one.

Because even though the villain has caused all kinds of havoc, it just doesn’t seem like a big deal if that character doesn’t show up for the build-up.

So after writing not one, but two full drafts of Redemption, I realized that—kill me now—I was going to have to actually climb into the villain’s head. And let this character talk to the reader . . . several . . . times within the story.

This was really quite creepy. I mean, you never know what might happen to you in the villain’s head. He or she might just chop you up with a letter opener or something. (You think I’m joking, but I’m not).

Spending a whole week—much less a month—climbing into the villain’s head was just not how I was planning on spending one of my summers.

But the book is oh so much better for it.

Historical Fiction: The First Wave

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 20:12:00 +0000

My next book—the one after Redemption—is historical fiction. Not historical fantasy like Aurelia and Robert’s series. But genuine HF.

This means the research has to be more real. (In other words, I can’t cheat).

But for my upcoming novel, I knew I needed to kick the research level into a whole other gear.

This meant a LOT of reading. Starting off with some general topics: the Oregon Trail, pioneer women, school teaching in the Pacific Northwest, Native American tribes in Eastern Oregon, homesteading. I got to read some fiction and some great non-fiction. I also got to read some really lousy non-fiction. And some stuff written by people who definitely don’t know how to write. At least not at a professional level.

But some of that lousy stuff—it was the best. Because it was the most specific to the locale and the era I was researching, southern Gilliam County in the Columbia Basin at the turn of the century. And it’s great to know that’s all you can get because it means there’s definitely room for a novel in this setting. I mean, that’s one of the reasons I want to write about it. Because no one else has.

So, as I was saying, that was a lot of reading.

Most of which . . . won’t get into my book.

Because I had to pick a specific date, or series of dates: September 1904-1905. Ding, ding, ding!

My major achievement after a month of reading.

Once I had done that, I could actually write the whole first draft of the book.

And then launch into the second wave of research.

REDEMPTION: Publication Date & Cover Reveal

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 22:35:00 +0000

Release Date: Redemption, the final novel in Aurelia & Robert’s trilogy. October 17^th, 2016!

Aurelia is jumping up and down. “I did it! I did it!”

Robert is just laughing at her, though of course, he knows he has worked every bit as hard at finishing their story as she has.

“We did it,” I say.

“We did it! We did it!” she shouts.

Robert is now jumping up and down with her.

They start shouting together. “We did it! We did it!”

Apparently that’s as much eloquence as I shall get out of them today. Why are we all jumping up and down with excitement? Because we have crossed the desert, climbed the Gate, and survived the trek through the myriad obstacles along the trail to publication. Redemption has been a challenge every line of the way, but the finished novel--and series--is absolutely the story of my dreams.

My characters and I sincerely hope you all enjoy the conclusion of Aurelia & Robert’s story.

The Novel's Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Fri, 27 May 2016 23:16:00 +0000

I’m generally not the most organized person. I don’t keep a date book. I don’t record my travel expenses on a regular basis. I cram all my receipts into my wallet or dump them in a pile on my file cabinet.

And I’m lucky if I file twice a year.

In general, I warn my students that the teacher’s desk is the last place they should leave their stuff because there it will get lost.

So, not surprisingly, I don’t love keeping track of Aurelia & Roberts’ calendar.

I mean, really—the lazy part of my brain wants to say—this is fantasy. I haven’t bothered to invent a calendar for their world so why should I have to keep track of it?

But, you know, I do.

If you read a lot of modern YA, you’ve probably noticed that time-wise, the genre tends to run on the short side. For the author, this has a lot of allure. You get to fully flesh out the scenes. Nobody complains about your transitions. The pace should feel fast.

And for some books this works astoundingly well. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton being my favorite example.

But limiting your time frame also causes problems. Relationships can feel rushed, non-genuine, or superficial. You never get the long-term payoff you can grasp from a great coming-of-age novel. And vast, sweeping developments within the world? They don’t really feel real.

Don’t get me wrong. I love YA. I really, really do.

But most of my plotlines refuse to stick within a single week or a month.

And this means, things get messy.

Especially when you’re traveling on horseback across an entire country. And when news has to travel the same way.

Because in order for the followers of character A to run into the minions of character B at EXACTLY the most heinous possible time, I have to know the timeline for everything.

Which means I have to keep a calendar.

High-Maintenance Horse

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 19:45:00 +0000

Aurelia is a fantasy. When I first began writing it, I thought of it as a story along the lines of Tamora Pierce or Patricia C. Wrede. I had no idea that it would become in any way “a horse book.” Though looking back now, I can see that the horses were already there—in Robert’s first conversation with Aurelia.

It wasn’t until chapter three, however, that I first met Horizon. Robert needed to go to the horse fair, and it was only natural that he ride a horse.

I didn’t realize at the time that I was creating a character.

Not an animal. Animals are easy. You guide them onstage, lead them around, and shoo them off when you’re finished.

Cars are even easier. You park one. You drive it. You wreck it. You have total control.

Not over Horizon. I should have known, from the beginning, that he was going to be a problem. He wouldn’t walk straight to the fair. Oh no, Robert had to ride him clear around the outskirts of the city. (Which allowed me to paint the setting and also to align the timeline within the book—character flaws can be useful!)

When I eventually needed to decide the climax for the novel, it just made since to have a horse race. By that point, I had a mysterious golden colt, a jockey for a villain, and a heroine who could ride. It didn’t matter that Horizon was Robert’s horse. Or that most women in this historical-fantasy era would have ridden sidesaddle. The race became the fastest—and easiest—scene I wrote within the entire book. And that includes all umpteen revisions.

It’s possible this success went to Horizon’s head.

You see, Robert has to ride everywhere. And after book one, he and Aurelia travel a lot. But they are never ALONE.

There is always this extra character getting in the way. I can’t open a scene without explaining the location of the horse. Is Robert riding? Is Horizon trailing behind? And if not, why not? Because you can’t just park Horizon anywhere. Or leave him with anyone. Not easily. Not without his having to protest. He is so real that I can’t refer to Robert as “he” without worrying that the pronoun might be confused with that of his frigging horse. (I have a similar issue with Falcon and Aurelia). Robert can’t even leave the country without having to say goodbye to Horizon.

Or return, in book three, without greeting said horse. Because, of course, Robert still needs Horizon in order to travel.

Truthfully, I can’t recommend turning your animals into living, breathing characters. It can be a royal pain.

Denis Ten: Witnessing the Extraordinary

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:07:00 +0000

I know this is an author blog, but I am going to have to add another entry about figure skating. I think, as an author, you need to recognize the extraordinary in real life. I first saw Denis Ten skate at the 2009 World Championships. Live. He was an itty bitty fifteen-year-old from a country that had never produced an elite figure skater, and he was in seventeenth place after the short program.

To tell you the truth, I have no memory of that short program. According to the British television commentators, he deserved better marks and I believe them; but you have to understand that during the World Championships that year there were fifty men competing. That is a LOT of gladiators and matrixes.

As an audience member, by the time the free AKA long programs roll around, you’re fairly numb from sitting so many hours and you’re prepared to stand for anyone who doesn’t fall down.

Denis Ten was better than that. He skated clean. He landed two triple axles in a year in which neither the World gold nor silver medalists attempted a harder jump. He did not pop a jump. He did not squat really low and put his hands down in what figure skating rules generously do not call a fall. He did not two-foot a single jump.

He hit.

But what was even more incredible to those of us in the audience was that this fifteen-year-old could skate to the music. And spin a la Evgeny Plushenko. And do footwork.

And we were out of our seats and gave Denis Ten the loudest standing ovation for any man in the competition outside the gold medal winning American, Evan Lysacek.

Denis placed sixth in the free skate, and probably did not make the U.S. television broadcast; but he was amazing.

And young. Training in Russia with the choreography of plausibly the most famous skating choreographer on earth, Tatiana Tarasova. (Coach of three Olympic gold medal dance teams as well as two Olympic gold men’s medalists).

We—the skating fans—knew Denis was good. Anyone at that Worlds in L.A. knew he was better than good.

But he was from Kazakhstan, and something else figure skating fans know is that there is no money, little support, and practically no political pull for skaters from most non-Russian, post-Soviet countries. In fact, there’s precious little of the latter for skaters from any country that does not host one of the six senior Grand Prix events.

It’s very, very easy for a skater from a non-Russian post-Soviet country to get lost, especially in the search to find and afford an international level coach.

Denis had a different problem. Inconsistency. He placed eleventh at the 2010 Olympics and thirteenth at the following Worlds. But what was far more frustrating for those of us watching was that he couldn’t seem to hit a program early in the Grand Prix season to save his life. These are the smaller events, and there was no question Denis had the qualities to compete for a spot on these podiums, but . . .

Disaster. After disaster after disaster.

He had changed coaches by now to Frank Carroll, who—along with coaching Olympian Michelle Kwan among many others—may have the strongest reputation in the world for helping young skaters build consistency.

Wasn’t working for Denis. Probably, in part, because he was growing up.

Then there were health problems.

And, yes, a lot of us likely were starting to think this was one of those kids who was never going to hit.

He did. Big time at the biggest skating event of 2013, the World Championships. Second overall and first in the free skate with a score FORTY-SIX points above his highest A-list mark all season. (Previously, he had not medaled in a single one of the yearly ten, A-level figure skating events—that season or in his entire senior career).

For most athletes, a silver at Worlds would have instantly made them a prime contender for Olympic gold in 2014.

But this is Denis.

Once again the beginning of the season was awful. He had to withdraw from his opening Grand Prix event due to health issues. Then he missed the podium twice, placing fourth in the two A-list events he entered.

The Olympics were billed as a two-man race, between Patrick Chan—the three-time world champion that Denis had defeated in the free skate the previous year—and Yuzuru Hanyu—the up and coming teen phenom who had finished behind Denis in fifth at the Worlds BUT had broken the world record in a Grand Prix event early in the Olympic season.

The 2014 Olympic men’s competition was in many ways a nightmare, though Patrick and Yuzuru both skated up to expectations in the short and took what most people viewed as an insurmountable lead. This left eleven—yes, eleven—men fighting for the bronze. In days gone by, such a battle would have been impossible since placements determined an athlete’s ability to move up. Today, that ability is technically based only on the score, though generally-speaking, a placement in the final competitive group—top six—is considered vital, since judges’ scores tend to rise as a competition goes on.

Denis was in ninth. He had missed on his quad in the short, but due to mutual devastation among the field, he was still within three points from third place.

Among skating enthusiasts, this battle became known as the Olympic Bronze Medal Hunger Games.

The man in third after the short program, Javier Fernandez, was the reigning European champion and the most recent athlete to have landed three clean quads in a single program.

Denis skated well in the long program. He hit his quad. Hit all the hard jumps. Fudged a couple of the easier jumps at the end, but skated with wonderful musicality and maturity and easily earned his season’s best score. He did not remain in the arena.

There is no camera footage of Denis’s reaction when he learned that he had won the bronze medal. In the end, he had one of maybe three clean (without falls) long programs among the top 13 male skaters. Denis had become the first man from Kazhakstan to win an Olympic skating medal.

Which, again, one would think would make him an automatic favorite for this year’s World Championships. Especially with the Olympic silver medalist sitting out the season and the gold medalist suffering a bad accident, as well as many falls in his early events of the season.

But this is Denis.

Fourth place at his first Grand Prix event. (Yep, behind—well, three people who did not win a medal at the Olympic games). He did not make the U.S. television broadcast (grumble, grumble).

Then a GORGEOUS short program at his second Grand Prix event in France. Only to have a wretched fifth-place skate in the long program and finish third overall. His first Grand Prix medal. Mini-hop.

This is an Olympic bronze and World silver medalist who has never WON an A-level event. Going into this year’s Four Continents Championships, essentially one of the two largest international events leading into Worlds, Denis was not on top of many skating fans’ prediction lists. Not because of his skating. As skaters go, Denis has an astounding—almost universal—respect among skating fans for the quality of his jumps, his basic skating skills, his musicality, his spins, his speed. Essentially, when Denis is great, we ADORE him.

But in five previous attempts, he had never medaled at Four Continents. This despite a huge chunk of the international field skipping the event last year due to its proximity to the Olympics. Denis competed at last year’s Four Continents. He placed fourth.

No one wanted to see him place fourth again. But to be honest it was probably the highest result most people expected from him.

He skated another GORGEOUS short program. This one even more spectacular than the one in France. People were beginning to hope. But we had been here before.

In the long program, Denis Ten landed two quads—one in a quad triple combination; two triple axles—one turned out but fully rotated; the full gambit of other jumps, including a triple singleloop triple sequence; and of course skated with spectacular spins and footwork and musicality.

He won.

He did not only win. He earned the third highest score in figure skating history.

There’s something incredible about winning an Olympic bronze medal. There’s something even more extraordinary about an athlete who—after six years on the senior circuit—knuckles down in the year after said Olympic medal, creates two fabulous original programs (neither of which is to Carmen, Swan Lake, or Phantom of the Opera), and competes. To win his FIRST senior A-level championship.

Bravo.

REDEMPTION: Aurelia's Announcement and Confessions about Book 3.

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 21:16:00 +0000

“Shall we dance, da dum dum dum . . .” Aurelia is dancing around the room and performing acrobatics while singing songs from The King and I.

“Shall you tell them or should I?” asks yours truly.

“Hmm?” She steps onto a footstool and attempts an arabesque.

“Whose fault is it that I haven’t blogged in so long?” I prompt.

“Mine,” she answers.

No ducking the truth today. “And why is that?

She hops over toward the back of a chair and does a chimneysweep move from Mary Poppins. “Because Robert and I needed you to finish writing our trilogy!”

“And has it been easy?”

“Umm, no.” She twirls her way toward another chair. “Not exactly.”

Not at all. “And why is that?

“Because we may have made you take out every sentence in the book just to make certain the ones you put back in were really important.”

“And . . .” I prod.

She points at me. “And because it’s the conclusion of our series and you’ve never written one before.”

True. “And . . .”

The pointing finger begins swishing like a conductor leading an orchestra in song. “And because we wanted to get it right.”

I have to give her credit: she’s being totally honest today. “All right,” I say, “Go ahead and tell them our huge tremendous news.”

Aurelia performs another chimneysweep move, then leaps onto the table and raises her hands skyward. “Angelle Pilkington is editing Redemption, Robert’s and my third and final book!”

“And why is this so incredible?” I say because, of course, she assumes you all know.

“Because she was our editor for the first two books in the series, and despite battles in canyons and washed-out crossings through the mountains and dreadful tragedies we can’t even share, she is going to make sure you do our conclusion justice.”

A Graveyard Butterfly: Salvation Teaser Tour Stop 8

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:15:00 +0000

To read the Prologue, go to Pure Imagination.
To read Chapter 1--Scene 1, go to Always YA at Heart.
To read Chapter 1--Scene 2, go to Books that Bite.
To read Chapter 1--Scene 3, go to Live to Read.
To read Chapter 1--Scene 4 pt. 1, go to The Bookish Babe.
To read Chapter 1--Scene 4 pt. 2, go to Confessions of a Vi3tBabe.
To read Chapter 2--Scene 1 pt. 1, go to The Reading Date.

Chapter 2: A Graveyard Butterfly--Scene 2
Beth smiled as she reached the graveyard. “Morbid,” her mother would have said about her daughter’s desire to visit the cemetery, but Beth kicked off her sandals and waded through the fresh-cut grass. The cool strands tickled her ankles and the sweet scent of late roses clung to the air. Pale yellow, blue, and pink tombstones scattered the green in a pastel palate.

A squirrel rushed across the grass and scurried up an old oak tree, the fluffy gray tail disappearing among the branches. Beth approached, watching to see if it would emerge again, but when it did not, she swung off her backpack and slid to the ground beneath the tree’s outstretched shadow. And beside the slender pink stone with the name Gloria May Courant etched in the center.

“Hello, Grandma,” said Beth. “I’m sorry I’m late.” She explained about Nalani’s meeting. “You know she always has something happening. I’m sure you aren’t surprised.” It felt right to be here. Grandma had always expected Beth to share about the first day of school, a ritual that Beth hadn’t wanted to stop now.

“It was a pretty good day,” Beth went on, “for the first, you know. I’m not sure I’ll survive trigonometry; but I thought the same thing about algebra II, and it turned out all right. All the answers are still in the back of the book, so I’ll know when to ask Nalani for help.” She knew Grandma would remind her that Beth’s final math scores had outpaced Ni’s all the way through school. But grades, and confidence in math, were two different things.

A robin hopped down onto the grass about twenty feet from the pink tombstone. Beth stopped talking so that she wouldn’t frighten him. He pecked his way closer, hopping four or five inches at a time and up onto the mound of turned earth. The grass there had not quite grown in yet. The robin preened, raising his chest and showing off, then disappeared in a sudden rush of wings.

Beth’s head swam with the questions her grandmother had always asked. Do you like your teachers? Did you make any new friends? Were you on time for everything?

Obediently, Beth answered the questions, though she skimmed through her problems with being late. She told herself the aversion had nothing to do with crashing into Salva Resendez . . .

To read the rest, join Salva, Beth, and I at I am a Reader, Not a Writer. And after that, my fabulous tourists, I'm afraid you shall simply have to splurge and read the book! Thank you so much for joining us on our tour! Salva, Beth, and I have read every comment at each and every tour stop. We genuinely appreciate the support:)

Beth: Salvation Tour Stop 7

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:16:00 +0000

Beth savored the silence of the emptied-out school hallway that afternoon and devoured the final pages of Wuthering Heights. She could no longer feel the oppressive late summer heat or the hard metal of the locker at her back. Gone were the crumpled papers, broken pencils, and discarded candy wrappers on the tiled floor. She was on the cold English moors with the wind blowing around her and the whistle of death in the air.

A trio of voices suddenly invaded the end of the hall. Beth rushed through the last page. A banging locker emphasized the drama of the final line, and she looked up, just in time to see El Perfecto sprinting past, no doubt in a rush to get to football practice.

Apparently, tardiness was a new thing for him.

Nalani came up at a much more relaxed pace, her pink canvas book bag slung over one shoulder.

“So what was the meeting about?” Beth asked her best friend.

“Who knows?” Nalani’s eyes shone as she rolled them. She glanced over her shoulder, then lowered her voice. “Just Markham on a power trip. I’ll tell you on the walk home.”

Beth stuffed Wuthering Heights back into her locker, not wanting to lose the book again and owe a fine to the library as she had back in June. Then she gathered her supplies and hefted her backpack.

Nalani was already halfway to the back exit, which led, naturally, to the football field. Beth hurried after her.

The team had stretched out in lines, five rows of testosterone-filled tight pants and loose jerseys hopping up and down in jumping jacks. The compact blond with the number 12 plastered on his front wasted no time sending Nalani a wave, even though he was leading the entire team—minus El Perfecto, who must not have made it out of the locker room yet—in the warm-ups. The team mimicked the wave.

To read the rest, join Salva, Beth, and I at The Reading Date for the 6th stop in our Salvation Teaser Tour.

An Ethical Dilemma: Salvation Teaser Tour Stop 6

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:02:00 +0000

“Hey, gorgeous,” Tosa greeted the long-legged blonde at Char’s side. He grinned as if he was joking, but no one was fooled.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Linette flipped her golden hair over one shoulder, propped herself on the outside of the bench, and leaned her hip against Tosa’s waist. Whether or not she was joking was harder to tell.

Char, whose tight shirt and tighter jeans battled with the dress code, stood waiting next to Salva, despite the fact that there was no space beside him on the bench.

He hated that—how she’d just stand there waiting for him to read her mind whenever she wanted something.

Pepe moved over, and Salva reminded himself to give his best friend a lecture on loyalty. Char slid in between them.

“Listen, guys.” Linette set her chin on Tosa’s shoulder. “My parents are water-skiing this weekend. You wanna come over while they’re gone for a little back-to-school action?” She popped her tropical-orange lips. “Saturday ’bout two?”

“I’m working,” Salva said. Scut every weekend at the onion-processing plant. His father’s idea.

“Ah, man!” Pepe frowned. “You’re not serious.”

Salva shrugged. Sorting onions wasn’t his view of a career path, but whatever. His older brother and sister had done their part to pay his way, so Salva owed it to his two younger sisters to do the same. Plus, he could work around his football schedule.

“Can’t you talk your way out of it?” Linette asked.

Char’s fingers brushed his arm.

“No,” he replied.

The fingers retreated, slightly.

To read the rest, join Salva, Beth, and I at Confessions of a Vi3tBabe for the sixth stop in our Salvation Teaser Tour.

The Guys: Salvation Teaser Tour Stop 5

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:36:00 +0000

Somehow Salva made it through the rest of that torture session. He cruised through finance and survived the first-day lecture for AP calc. Mostly due to the promise of lunch.

He conquered the food line by piling his tray with as much protein as he could and snatching an extra milk, then touched down on the prime spot in the cafeteria, Table Numero Uno, bequeathed to him by last year’s seniors and now solely the possession of Salva and his friends.

“What the H, man? I thought you were takin’ PE. You know I had to run relay with Tosa here?” Pepe elbowed Ricardo Tosa, whom Salva liked almost as much as his best friend. Tosa was huge. Maybe six-three. Despite his extra height, he mostly just warmed the bench, but his goofy, lighthearted personality was the heart of the football team. Everybody loved him. Even Pepe, who was all about the win.

“D’you lose?” Salva asked, sitting down on the bench beside his best friend.

To read the rest, join Salva, Beth, and I at The Bookish Babe for the fifth stop of our Salvation Teaser Tour.

The Mercenary: Salvation Tour Stop 4

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:54:00 +0000

To read the Prologue, go to Pure Imagination.
To read Chapter 1--Scene 1, go to Always YA at Heart.
To read Chapter 2--Scene 2, go to Books that Bite.

Chapter 1: Collision--Scene 3

Salva scanned the stark classroom. The seniors sat so frozen in their seats you’d have thought the air-conditioning was working. Every chair at the back of the room was already filled. With nerds.

Luka was in the front row. Salva liked Luka. If it weren’t for his phenomenal speed as a running back, nobody at Liberty High would be headed for the state football championship. But sometimes the white guy was just strange.

What sane person would sit in the front row before the Mercenary? Her scowling expression curled Salva’s stomach. The pointed toe of her shoe tapped out a funeral dirge, and she wielded a bright red marker as if she might stab him with it.

Salva cut his losses and sat down behind Luka.

The walking disaster area came in next. But she didn’t know when to hide. Instead, she stood there, stuttering her apologies, trying to untangle the strap of her backpack from her frizzy brown hair, and dropping things, first her pencil, then an eraser, while the entire class waited for her to just sit down.

To read the rest, join Salva, Beth, and I at Live to Read for the fourth stop of our Salvation Teaser Tour.

Note: I have updated the link since this morning. It will now take you directly to the scene.

The "Real" Collision: Salvation Tour Stop 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anne Osterlund) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:18:00 +0000

Today's sneak peak is the very first scene I ever wrote for Salvation. At that time, it was written from both points of view. And while Salva won most of the scenes in the prologue and the first chapter, Beth eventually won this round.

To read the Prologue, go to Pure Imagination.
To read Chapter 1--Scene 1, go to Always YA at Heart.

Chapter 1: Collision--Scene 2

Beth could have killed him. All the time he spent oblivious to her and he chose this moment to intersect her path. She was already late, and she’d been trying desperately to unwrap her remaining school supplies so that the second-period teacher wouldn’t glare at her the way the homeroom instructor had. Papers flew out of Beth’s arms, across the floor, and under the slice of space beneath the lockers. Her open backpack fell, emptying its contents into the pile. Devastation.

She dropped to her knees.

He had the audacity to sigh. As if ramming his way around the corner was her fault. Frantically, she started to scramble, cramming pencils, folders, notebooks, erasers, and books into her backpack.

The bell rang.

She reached for a binder, and his hand stopped her.

To read the rest, join Salva, Beth, and I at Books That Bite for the third stop of our Salvation Teaser Tour.