Things Never Go the Way You Planned, and That's Cool

Lots of stories have morals, but lately I've been wondering if the moral of every story should be "Things Never Go the Way You Planned, and That's Cool." Authors work hard to keep their readers guessing, even though there are far more patterns on the page than in real life.

People who live great lives never know what they're getting into ahead of time -- they just manage to exist in a way that fascinates other people.

Whenever I've dreamed ahead, or looked forward to something, it never turns out like I imagined. Real experiences don't care what we want.

And here comes the close-out for the year 2015. My debut year that wasn't. A year that did not go as planned, so much so that I made a list:

1) I had a bizarre and random health scare that directly impacted work.

2) I lost my son's day care through particularly unfortunate circumstances.

3) There has been a lot of loss around me -- the kind that would have broken lesser humans, including myself. And it brought back some feelings from the past that I'd much rather have kept back there.

4) I bounced between feeling like the best and worst father on a daily basis.

5) Oh yeah, there was that one thing about my book losing its publisher. That hit me like a bag of poop to the face.

So yeah, 2015 threw me a lot of surprises. And these weren't so much surprise-party-on-your-multiple-of-ten-birthday surprises so much as pigeon-dumped-on-your-shoulder-while-walking-under-the-El-tracks surprises.

I got to thinking about that list. I drew an imaginary T-chart in my mind's eye, and put it in the left column. Then I added things to the right column to balance it out.

1) I'm still standing at work and giving all I can to my students. Parents had kind words for me at parent-teacher conferences. How bad can things be when people are going out of their way to assure you things are okay?

2) My parents jumped in to help with daycare, and my son is doing better than ever with so much individual love and attention. Many parents can't afford daycare, and don't have parents capable of helping.

3) The people I've watched experience loss are healing in their own personal ways. They will make it through the darkness, and while they won't be unscathed, none of us are at the end of the day.

4) Maybe it's possible that I make both good and bad parental decisions sometimes, and that's the best parents can expect from themselves.

5) It sucks to lose a publisher, but it's really great to land a new one. It makes for a great debut story. And I still have the Fall Fifteeners, and Fearless Fifteeners, and Sweet Sixteens backing me up every step of the way. The kidlit community rocks my face off.

Maybe 2015 didn't go the way I wanted it to at all, and that's okay.

Mike Grosso is the author of I AM DRUMS, a debut contemporary middle grade novel for musicians of all ages. It was orphaned due to the closing of Egmont USA, but has found a new home at Clarion Books and an updated release date of September 6, 2016. The Fall Fifteeners have been nice enough to let him hang out even though he's technically a sixteener now.

You can visit Mike's website here or follow him on Twitter @mgrossoauthor.

Can Music Complement a Book?

Generally speaking, reading is a solitary, independent activity. There are exceptions, but in most cases readers and writers are alone, experiencing something independent of human contact.

I wonder sometimes how to implement another dimension. A writer must do so properly – I have no desire to smell real smells or hear real sounds when prose can provide these sensations without the scientifically inaccurate "fourth dimension" gimmick.

And yet, I still wonder if I AM DRUMS could use a soundtrack. An original one, with no prior connections in the reader’s mind. Not stock songs people have heard before – those come with their own ideas and memories and feelings. And nothing with lyrics that directly spell out the reader’s experience. My debut novel already has enough words, I think.

I’d like to create fresh perspectives with any music meant to accompany Sam Morris’s story.

I wrote and recorded the below instrumental song about a year ago. It has issues, as most works in progress do. The tempo should be a tad faster. The bass needs a little more oomph. It was recorded in my former apartment, which had terrible acoustics, without a real drum set (a crime when your song accompanies a book about drums), as playing one in an apartment complex tends to make your neighbors think an asteroid has collided with the building.

But this song is something, and I know I was thinking about Sam at the time. It’s called FIGHT BACK for a reason, but I'm not sure how to explain said reason.

But do books need music to be complete? They don’t need artificial smells, sounds, or surfaces to fill your senses.

I feel like designing audio for the sole purpose of accompanying a reading experience implies that words are not enough. Even as a musician I do not believe this to be the case.

But this song exists, and I’m not sure what to do with it. Maybe I won't do anything, and that's okay, too.

*****

Mike Grosso is the author of I AM DRUMS, a debut contemporary middle grade novel for musicians of all ages. It was orphaned due to the closing of Egmont USA, but has found a new home at Clarion Books and an updated release date of September 16, 2016. The Fall Fifteeners have been nice enough to let him hang out even though he's technically a sixteener now.

You can visit Mike's website here or follow him on Twitter @mgrossoauthor.

R U OK?

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day (and this is National Suicide Prevention Week). 

If you are a survivor of a friend or loved one lost to suicide, you can join millions of other people tonight by lighting a candle near a window at 8 p.m. your local time. I’ll be lighting one. 

Over 800,000 people around the world end their lives each year. For teens and young adults in the U.S. it’s the second leading cause of death, and about 25 attempts are made for each completed suicide. 

The biggest predictor for suicide is depression (although suicidality only affects a small subset of those suffering depression). Alcohol or substance abuse makes things a lot worse.

Depression is highly treatable.

Suicide is preventable.

My YA thriller, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light, deals with suicide. You could even say that it’s about suicide. It’s a topic in which I’ve long been interested.

It’s still a difficult subject that makes most people uncomfortable. The stigma surrounding it (in the west) is strong. This dates back at least to medieval times and the stance the Christian church adopted toward suicide. Even though we've rethought the old desecrate a suicide’s corpse, bury them at the crossroads, seize all their assets and exile their family, we've still got a ways to go.

If we can’t talk about it, we can’t help someone who needs it--including the devastated family members who survive a loved one’s suicide.

Let's talk about it. We can save lives.

If a friend or loved one is showing any of these signs, ask them if they’re okay.

R U OK? is the name of a national Australian suicide prevention program.

Have them call 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) or text "go" to 741-741.

“The act of showing care and concern to someone who may be vulnerable to suicide can be a game-changer. Asking them whether they are OK, listening to what they have to say in a non-judgmental way, and letting them know you care, can all have a significant impact. Isolation increases the risk of suicide, and, conversely, having strong social connections is protective against it, so being there for someone who has become disconnected can be life-saving.”

The International Association for Suicide Prevention, part of the World Health Organization is sponsoring World Suicide Prevention Day and the quote above is from their site.

The American Federation for Suicide Prevention sponsors National Suicide Prevention Week.

The Signs of Stress

I'm not going to lie. I almost forgot to write this post. Like I've forgotten to do a lot of things lately.

Sometimes you have a bad day. Or a bad month. And things get thrown to the side whether you like it or not.

August has been a terrible month. I'm keeping a positive attitude about it, but that's really just spit-shining a turd.

My mom looked at me the other day and said, "You know, Mike, you're really showing signs of stress." Then she pointed at my eye and said I'm blinking 3,245,987 times per minute.

That's not to say there aren't great things happening. Today I'm going to close on a house. It is not a big house, but it doesn't need to be. It just needs to be my house, and it most certainly is.

The path getting there has been insane and stressful. And losing daycare for my son two weeks before my school year started? I have a new vein in my forehead that I now call my DAYCARE VEIN.

A whole host of other personal and professional tomfoolery piled on, and all of a sudden I'm out of time for reading, writing, finishing copyedits, planning for my school year, and meaningful father experiences.

Oh, and my book was initially supposed to come out this month, but it won't for another year. So I'm kind of sad about that. It deserves a blog post of its own when the time is right. And Amazon still hasn't updated its listing.

My point -- besides tangential whining -- is that I'm learning how much the writing life relies on you keeping other affairs in order. You can't be productive and inspired when a million other tasks are weighing you down. Letting stress get to you has physical and emotional side effects. It's inevitable at times, but I'm really thinking I have to let go and convince myself the world around me will not fall to pieces if I take a break now and then.

Because that's a lot of freaking blinking.

* * *

Mike Grosso is the author of I AM DRUMS, a debut contemporary middle grade for musicians of all ages. It is currently orphaned due to the closing of Egmont USA but is on its way to finding a new home. The Fall Fifteeners have been nice enough to let him hang out in the meantime.

You can visit Mike's website here or follow him on Twitter @mgrossoauthor.

Do Something Unexpected

Why reinvent the wheel? I'm linking to Chuck Wendig's always interesting Terrible Minds blog where he recently posted 100 RANDOM STORYTELLING TIPS. Some thought-provoking writing advice awaits you. A lot of thought-provoking writing advice.

I taped number 4 near my keyboard to refer to as I struggle with my work-in-progress:

 Do something unexpected in the story. Yes, right now. If not now, then soon.

The power of the unexpected in storytelling is one of my favorite subjects and I still need to remind myself to remember it. If everything happens as expected, there's no story!

So, surprise us.



via GIPHY

I also like number 98:

 The best stories make us feel giddy and afraid not only when we read them — but when we’re sitting there writing them, as well.


Next month on September 10,  I'll be talking about National Suicide Awareness Week. It's one of my favorite times of the year. Join me!

Release Day for From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grogan

It's Release Day for Shannon's book

From Where I Watch You!

Here is my book, summarized in 3 Gifs!

Stalker

Baking

KISSING

Available now from
B&N | Amazon

Why I Read Young Adult

Neighborhood friends keep forwarding me emails inviting me to their next book club meeting. While I am never one to turn down free wine or any appetizer made with cheese (or any appetizers not made with cheese, for that matter), I continue to politely decline. I read at least a book a week, so you'd think I'd be drawn to this like college kids to Panama City during Spring Break.

The truth is, I would rather spend my time reading Young Adult novels than the ones on their book club lists. Yes, I know that a woman my age should probably prefer books in in the genre of Women's Fiction. But as my first love Tim W. told me when he broke up with me in sixth grade: The heart wants what the heart wants.

I prefer not to invest my beloved reading time in story lines where middle age women question their life choices and struggle against the conflict that results when dysfunctional families are put under duress. Obviously. If I wanted that kind of drama, I wouldn't waste twenty dollars on a hardcover book at Barnes and Noble. All I'd need to do is go in my family room and attempt to wrestle the remote away from my sons in a bitter battle wherein I try to switch the channel from ESPN to HGTV.

I choose to read Young Adult fiction because the characters are more emotionally charged and the conflicts are more intense and fast paced. Maybe it's the resilience of youth, but YA fiction leaves me feeling more hopeful and positive about life. Or maybe I love YA because it submerges me in the kind of passion that ignites when your life is so ripe with yearning and potential. Or maybe I just feel grateful to be done with all that adolescent angst.

So there you have it. My name is Lynn and I read YA fiction. Give me the Teen Department in the book store over Oprah's suggestions any day. And if you don't know where that's located, you're really missing out.

"...it's impossible to put the book down. Conspiracy, loyalty, secrets, oaths, lies, and riddles flourish, making this the perfect book for readers who love to untangle mysteries by puzzling things out."  -BOOKLIST 

"At the end of the day, it’s Talan and his endearing combination of bravado and vulnerability, coupled with the crackling chemistry he shares with Laney, that will keep readers turning the pages. A satisfying read for secret-society fanatics and romantics alike."   -KIRKUS REVIEWS

Lynn Lindquist (Chicago, IL) lives with two overly social sons who provide fodder for her young adult novels and growing anxiety disorder. Her contemporary thriller Secret of the Sevens is set for release on June 8, 2015 from Flux Publishing.  To learn more, follow Lynn on lynnlindquist.com or on Twitter at @LynnLindquist.