The Spiral Notebook

Review: Raven Rise (Pendragon Book Nine)

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:52:00 +0000

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
In the ninth installment of Bobby Pendragon's quest to save Halla from the clutches of Saint Dane, things go from crummy to worse. Mark and Courtney don't know what to believe when Saint Dane tells them that Bobby has given up the fight, don't know what they've started when Mark loses his traveler ring, and don't know what to do when they return to a Second Earth where nothing is as it once was.

These books are really interesting to me on a craft level. On the one hand, the plotting is top notch; with most of this series, I think I see the final twist coming, I usually predict one right, and then WHAM! Something comes flying in out of left field that I never anticipated. But it doesn't feel like a cheat. It's just really excellent story telling.

On the other hand, I find myself pretty much constantly annoyed with some of the actual writing. D.J. MacHale is a perfect example of telling instead of showing. What he normally does is show us something and then tell us about it. Several times. For example:

"Welcome back," he said warmly, as if he actually meant it. "I was afraid you'd miss the festivities. Close your eyes; I'll put some lights on."

What a courteous guy! He didn't want me to be uncomfortable when he flicked on the lights. How thoughtful. I'd have thanked him if I hadn't wanted to hurt him.

MacHale is trying for the easy conversationalism and sarcasm of Bobby's internal monologue, but really, he just succeeds in telling us the same thing twice. And he does it over and over and over again throughout the book. The tome's 544 pages could probably have been trimmed by a third by an editor with a canny eye. As it is, I spend a lot of time skimming with these books.

Also, his tenses bother me. Everything Bobby writes in his journals is in the past tense. Everything. Even things that are still true. If he means, "I love Coke," as in, he still loves it even when he is writing the journal, he will nevertheless say "I loved Coke," as if the love had passed. I know, it's a grammarian thing, but it bugs the heck out of me and has for all nine books.

But that's the interesting part. I still love the story. I'm still coming back for more. And I'm still REALLY disappointed that the last book of the series isn't out yet so I can run out and read it.

Definitely good for guys, especially guys who like a series they can sink their teeth into. But girls will probably like it just as much. Hooray for female characters who kick ass!

View all my reviews.

Assuming makes an ass out of you and me.

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Last week, I got an email from someone who'd found my name through an SCBWI web page, and wanted to invite me to join a writing group, and stated that one of their requirements was: "We specifically want members who are interested in promoting a Christian world view via children's literature. The writing does NOT need to be explicitly religious or spiritual, but we want members who can commit to this purpose."

I have to admit that I was more than a little taken aback by this. Set aside, for a moment, the question of whether or not children's literature should espouse a particular religious world view, and consider the blind audacity of emailing someone of whom you know nothing about and inviting them to join your religious group.

She found my name on a list of children's writers; she knew absolutely nothing more about me. And yet, her first assumption was that I was Christian. It doesn't matter whether I am or I am not; what matters is that, as a member of the majority, she automatically assumed I was too. I can hardly imagine a Jewish person making the same assumption, let alone a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist.

I will tell you that I was sorely tempted to mess with her and write back that I couldn't join her group because I was Muslim or Hindu or something else, but I decided against it and just responded that I didn't think I would fit in with their group. (In so doing, I too was making assumptions, that they weren't "my" kind of Christians, that they'd be offended by the use of magic in my stories, or that they'd try to dissuade me from writing about sex or using swear words should the need arise.)

It got me thinking a lot about the assumptions we all make in daily life. As a white, middle class female, I know I make a lot of assumptions based on my own status and privilege, and it worries me. I would rather take an active role in educating myself and draw my own conclusions about my bias than have it pointed out to me by an unhappy reviewer many years down the line.

Ignorance is a frightening prospect, especially for those of us who like to consider ourselves well educated. But the first step is recognizing it, and the second is choosing to educate ourselves and move away from ignorance toward understanding.

2009

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:56:00 +0000

New year, new resolve to work on the book! I'm headed back to basics this month to fill in some gaps. Started out by re-reading James Smith's You Can Write a Novel, and I'm working through his basic steps for setting things up, starting with character cards.

You know what's hard? Fatal flaws are hard. I know enough from fan fiction to tell you that one sure sign of a Mary Sue is if her biggest flaw is that she's too pretty, or too nice; stupid flaws that aren't really flaws are the mark of an amateur. Fatal flaws should be, well, possibly fatal. But it's really freaking hard to come up with them.

What would your fatal flaw be if you were a character in a book? I'm not even sure about my own...

Check out the haul!

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:31:00 +0000

Christmas 2008 - 6
Originally uploaded by LacyLu42

Man, I got one great haul this Christmas — of books! This is the towering "to read" stack that now lives by my bed. I've already cracked the Pendragon book, because I've been waiting MONTHS to read it! See you in a few weeks when I come up for air.

Inkheart the Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:33:00 +0000

How did I not know that there was going to be an Inkheart movie???

This looks awesome, but was all that stuff about Oz in the book? Am I crazy that I don't remember it? Maybe I'm getting it mixed up with one of the sequels...

But Paul Bettany as Dustfinger? I'm there.

(Although... why is the girl English and the dad American? Brendan Fraser can't do an English accent, I'm guessing?)

Review: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Aly Carter

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:18:00 +0000

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have to admit: I've really got a thing for spy books, especially spy schools, and the Gallagher Girls really hit me right where I live. So fun! So snarky!

Cammie, the main character, has such a wonderfully realized voice. These books work because Cammie is believable not only as a spy, but as a teenage girl.

While I tore through this one almost as fast as the first in the series (I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You), I wasn't quite as engaged. It seemed like we were covering similar ground even though the boy was at the school this time instead of outside of it. I really wished there was more at stake for Cammie, and I found myself disappointed that the big sting at the end was a manufactured test rather than a real emergency. I want Cammie to have more riding on her decisions than just whether or not she gets the guy.

I'll probably keep reading this series in the hopes that Aly Carter will up the ante for her Gallagher Girls. I feel like there's a lot I can learn from her voice and tone.

Great for any YA reader, especially girls with some spunk. 10+

View all my reviews.

Review: The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:11:00 +0000

The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love a book that takes an familiar trope and turns it on its ear. Forget what you know from other books about fairies; Charles de Lint's fairies aren't particularly beautiful, but they are a little bit wicked. I loved the way he mixed elements from fantasy, science fiction, even horror to create his world.

The characters are realistic and believable, and the issues they deal with are real as much as they are fantastic. Bullying, oppressive parents, parents who don't care enough, image and one's real self all come into play. Not to mention soul sucking shadow creatures, fairies, ghosts, angels and an imaginary friend named Pelly who is half boy, half hedgehog, half rabbit.

Great book, probably for slightly older YA audience. 14+ for good measure.

View all my reviews.

Review: The City of Ember

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:38:00 +0000

[Reposted from 2005]

I have to admit, The City of Ember caught my eye because of its cover. The cover of the paperback is a slightly shiny metallic bronze color, with a single light bulb, the filament of which spells out the word "ember." It's very aesthetically pleasing.

Ember is classified as a young adult book, and while I did end up enjoying it, it commits itself to a fallacy that I think young adult literature needs to strive harder to overcome: it talks down to the reader.

One of the main reasons that the Harry Potter books are so insanely popular is that, while definitely aimed at a young audience, Rowling never dumbs down her story or her language to "accommodate" her younger readers. Quite frankly, they don't need it. Society does quite enough dumbing down for our kids, and personally, I think what they need more of is a challenge.

[/soapbox]

The City of Ember is the story of a city where it is dark all the time, but there is no moon, and no stars. The sky is black, and the city is lit entirely by electric lights, which have begun to fail. At one time the citizens of Ember had all they could want in the way of material goods like clothes and canned food, but now things have begun to run out. There is even a rumor going around that they are running out of light bulbs, and if the lights go out in Ember...

The story follows two twelve year old children, Lina and Doon. At the end of their school year when they are twelve, all children get assigned a job in the city. Lina wants to be a messenger, but she draws the dreaded job of pipesworker, fixing and maintaining the water pipes that run under the city. Doon draws messenger and offers to trade -- he wants to work in the pipeworks, because he wants to try to figure out how to fix the electricity.

But there's very little a twelve year old boy can do, when no one in all of Ember really understands the generator, or the electricity. When Lina finds part of an old message, however, she and Doon realize that there may be a way out of Ember and a better life for everyone.

The plot and the characters are engaging, but, as I said, unsophisticated. Lina and Doon don't think or speak or act the way I would expect a normal twelve-year-old person to act, and they certainly don't act as though they are adults, which is what the book would have you believe -- they get jobs when they are twelve and become productive members of society.

Honestly, I feel as though the author might have been missing a bet, trying to simplify her story for children. The message that Lina finds could have been an excellent plot device to engage the audience into trying to figure it out with her, but the author doesn't provide us with enough clues to figure it out for ourselves; so when Lina and Doon do begin to translate bits of the message, it's almost anticlimactic, because it seems to come too easily to them.

The one other thing that bothered me about this book is that it ends with a cliffhanger. It's a particular pet peeve of mine that books should not end with the characters hovering between life and death, and although Doon and Lina are not dangling from a cliff or watching an army ready for the attack, their situation at the end of the book is no less hazardous. The City of Ember is not a long book, which makes me wonder why the author chose to make it two (the second is called The People of Sparks) instead of simply continuing the story to its logical conclusion.

Overall: a tad disappointing, which, I suppose, teaches me that I should stop choosing my books by their covers, no matter how intriguing...

"Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies" sounds good right about now.

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Almost 35,000 words into my first draft and I'm realizing MAJOR problems. *sigh* I wish I were one of those amazing people who can plot in their heads, write a first draft, and have everything come out crystal clear at the end.

Clearly, however, I am not.

I've been working with Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method of plotting, and it's been hugely helpful — in getting me to see the enormous, gaping holes in my plot. I'm not talking about logistical fallacies and events that don't make sense. I'm talking about literal holes in the plot — as in, there isn't one.

The other thing I'm noticing is that my main character isn't doing a whole lot. I mean, she is, she's running around like a crazy person, but she's having things done to her and then reacting to them. Nothing that's taken place so far has been her decision. Which is a problem.

I'm also realizing that I've got a shit-ton of sub plots going on. Maybe more than the book can handle. Maybe more than I can handle! I've got to get a handle on them.

And turn my reactive MC into an action hero.

Still not going to rewrite, though it is practically KILLING me not to. I'm just going to make whatever changes I need to starting on page 137 and move forward. We'll fix it in post, as we used to say in film school.

Three Disasters Plus an Ending

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:54:00 +0000

I just read something that might save my novel:

I like to structure a story as "three disasters plus an ending". Each of the disasters takes a quarter of the book to develop and the ending takes the final quarter. I don't know if this is the ideal structure, it's just my personal taste.

If you believe in the Three-Act structure, then the first disaster corresponds to the end of Act 1. The second disaster is the mid-point of Act 2. The third disaster is the end of Act 2, and forces Act 3 which wraps things up. It is OK to have the first disaster be caused by external circumstances, but I think that the second and third disasters should be caused by the protagonist's attempts to "fix things". Things just get worse and worse.

From Randy Ingermanson's How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method

You know how sometimes you know things, but you don't know that you know them until someone says them to you in a new way?

Yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now. My protagonist isn't trying to fix anything. She isn't even trying to DO anything! She's just having stuff happen to her.

No wonder I'm bored! Time to spice things up!

Under-The-Bed Books

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:40:00 +0000

I'm at the point in NaNo when I'm behind, I'm bored with my own story (never a good sign) and I'm pretty much convinced that I'm the worst writer ever.

So I dug out some of my inspirational books to try to get back on track. Here's what's resonating with me today.

Writing a book is exactly like love. You don't hold back. You give it everything you have. If it doesn't work out, you're heartbroken, but you move forward and start again anyway. You have to.

You don't hold some of yourself in reserve. It's all or nothing. There are no guarantees. If one book doesn't work out, you figure out why. How can you do things differently next time? If you hold back from the book, it won't fully reveal itself. You write each book, utterly and completely giving yourself to it. Some will end up under the bed. And some just might end up brilliant.

Heather Sellers, Chapter After Chapter

So, I'm giving myself permission to suck. This might be a learning book. It might be an under-the-bed book. But I'll never know if I don't finish it.

Hooray for books!

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:45:00 +0000

The New York Times Book Review does it's annual Children's Books Special Issue! Go find something to read!

NaNoWriMo 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:51:00 +0000

November 2nd: I'm procrastinating.

Must mean NaNoWriMo!

I've signed up sort of unofficially this year; I want to finish my novel. So, despite the fact that I have about 23k words of a first draft, I'm going to try to get 50k more. In one month.

Here's my progress meter. Keep me honest!

Looking Backward

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:39:00 +0000

From my blog in 2004:

Writing can be a terrifying process. If you're writing something that you ever intend to let anyone else read, writing can be as nerve wracking as public speaking, as soul-baring as acting, as emotional as singing. Writing is not for the faint of heart. And you cannot do it simply to please an audience -- at least, not well.

I was looking at the web site of one of my favorite authors, and he said that he doesn't write to be read. He writes because there is nothing else for him to do; it isn't a choice, it's a calling. He says:

"If I were locked in solitary confinement for years on end with paper and pens enough to last me, I'd probably be all right. Unhappy, but sane. If I had no books and nothing with which to write, I imagine I'd end up sitting in my little cell telling stories to the walls. It's not that I require an audience so much as I have to put the thoughts somewhere -- I don't care if anyone ever reads them, so long as they're there."

That's the kind of freedom I wish I had with my writing. That's who I was at three years old, in the photograph my mother gave me. I am sitting on our front porch at the old house wearing an old Halloween costume over my regular clothes, with purple shoes on, my bear clutched in one hand, a short stick in the other, singing to myself and narrating little stories in which I was always the protagonist. I never needed an audience back then. I was my own audience; I contained whole worlds of people and places and things in my head, and my imagination was limitless and effortless and free.

Somewhere along the way, I lost that freedom that comes from not needing anyone's approval but your own. Now I find myself lost in worry that something I've written isn't good enough, isn't spectacular enough, isn't original enough or engaging enough or flashy enough. Enough for what? For whom? Even my own private journal that I write in by hand that no one but me is ever allowed to see, I sometimes censor because it isn't "good" enough. Why? Shouldn't my own thoughts be good enough for me?

Review: Into the Wild

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:57:00 +0000

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a GREAT idea! Wish I'd thought of it!

Julie lives in suburban Massachusetts with her mother, Rapunzel, and her adopted brother, Puss In Boots. Her mother, brother, and a host of their friends all escaped from The Wild hundreds of years ago, where they had been imprisoned, forced to relive their fairytale stories over and over and over again. The Wild is now imprisoned under Julie's bed.

Until it isn't.

I loved the way this story took every fairy tale convention and turned it on its head. Goldie(locks) is a self-centered woman only concerned with what SHE wants; Cindy wears ridiculous clothes and drives around in a bright orange suburban; and Snow's seven have very old-fashioned ideas about whether young ladies should be wearing jeans at the dinner table. So fun!

This was a quick, fun, energetic story, and the characters were so compelling, I can't wait to read the sequel.

View all my reviews.

Review: Little Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:48:00 +0000

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you don't read the blog boingboing.net, you should. And if you like what you see, then you should definitely read Little Brother.

Written by Cory Doctorow, one of the editors of the delightfully subversive, fascinating and informative blog Boing Boing, Little Brother doesn't disappoint in any measure. It's a quick read, with lots of action, strong characters with good voices, and a quick-moving plot.

Like another of my recent reads, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks, this book is a pseudo-issues book, tackling the issue of individual freedoms versus national safety.

In the near future, Marcus and some friends ditch school to participate in the scavenger hunt portion of an online game, and are therefore in the wrong place at the worst possible time when a terrorist attack blows up the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Arrested and held by the Department of Homeland Security, Marcus and his friends quickly learn what personal freedoms really mean, and when the DHS takes over the city, detaining, questioning, and wrongly imprisoning hundreds of innocent civilians in the pursuit of terrorists, the teens decide to fight back.

Part of the fascination of this book is its plausibility. Doctorow takes his plot to logical extremes, and all of the digital subversion the teens participate in is based in real technology and theory.

As with The Disreputable History, I was impressed with the way the author's argument was presented. While it's clear where Doctorow and his main characters stand on the issues, he presents the arguments of the other side and allows his characters to argue smartly, even eloquently for their side. We sometimes see the opposing characters as bumbling or moronic because they are seen through Marcus' eyes, but Doctorow doesn't take any shortcuts explaining his side of the argument.

It's also a great example of another trend I've been seeing in YA lately — authors giving their intended audience a great deal of credit. These books treat their teen audience as near-adults who think and decide for themselves, which is as it should be.

I've no doubt Little Brother will be challenged and banned widely — for a lot of reasons. So pin your "I read banned books" button proudly to your lapel and download it for free from the author's website if you can't get your hands on a copy anywhere else.

View all my reviews.

Review: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:56:00 +0000

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am not a very good feminist. I always thought I was sort of fair to middling, but now I realize that I usually only see something through a feminist viewpoint if someone else points it out to me. It's something I'd like to change.

In fact, I wish I had had this book when I was a teenager (or, more specifically, I wish it has existed when I was a teenager) because it really made some great points about being a young woman in a male dominated society.

Frankie Landau-Banks attends a prestigious boarding school whose students go on to Ivy-League colleges, big business and politics. At first, she doesn't think much about the Old Boys network she is a part of until she decides she really wants to be a part of it — and can't. It might have to do with the fact that she's not rich enough, not well-connected enough, maybe even not Christian enough (at all) — or it might just be that she's not male enough.

I loved the way the author wove in the feminist ideas without beating people over the head with them. Frankie's older sister is away in college at Berkley and has a lot of strong feminist ideas, not all of which Frankie is ready to accept. After Frankie's (rich, powerful, old boy) boyfriend gives her his favorite T-shirt, Frankie and Zada have the following conversation:

But when she told Zada about it, Zada said, "Ugh. Frankie, don't be so retro. I mean, Matthew's a good guy and all, but wearing his T-shirt is like wearing a sign that says 'Property of Matthew Livingston' on your breasts."

"Zada!"

"Well, it is."

"It is not."

"It's like he's marking you."

"On the contrary," Frankie snapped. "He gave me something he loves, something he usually wouldn't want to be without."

Throughout the book, Frankie needs to make up her own mind about how she sees the world. Unfortunately, she doesn't always like what she sees. But the author doesn't villify anyone, either. There are other young women in the book who are happy being trophy girlfriends, or enjoy being domestic and fitting traditional female roles, and neither Frankie nor the author judge them for their decisions. They leave that entirely up to the reader.

Even the boys, who are sometimes less than virtuous knights in shining armor, aren't truly the villains of this story. They are as much the heroes of their own stories as Frankie is of hers.

The story was fun and rambunctious even without getting into feminist theory, but I think the underlying message is a really great one for young women to think about — and make up their own minds about. I wish I'd had a big sister Zada, or an E. Lockheart to make me think about these things when I was a teen.

View all my reviews.

Suite Scarlett

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I had trouble getting into this book. I liked Scarlett as a character, and I liked her quirky family and odd guest at the hotel, but I felt like nothing ever really happened. It had a very episodic feel to me, as if I were reading the quirky adventures of Scarlett in her hotel. Tune in next week! There also never really seemed to be very much at stake for her or any of the other characters.

I wanted to love it! But ended up thinking it was just OK.

View all my reviews.

Online Conferences

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:54:00 +0000

Over on LiveJournal, a group of writers are hosting Bittercon — an online writing convention for those of us who couldn't afford to go to ComiCon and other genre conventions held over the summer around the country. Discussions are going on now.

Drop by and join the conversation if you're interested.

Another virtual writing convention is the Muse Online Writer's Conference for writers of all disciplines and genres. The Muse conference will take place in real time, October 13–19, with workshops and panel discussions exactly like a traditional writing conference, simply taking place entirely online.

Both are free and open to everyone. Let me know if you find anything exciting!

;(

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:39:00 +0000

Has modern life killed the semicolon?

Wonder of Wonders

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:54:00 +0000

Last night, I wrote the climax scene of my novel in my head as I was lying in bed. This morning, I typed it up.

I've never done that before!

Also, more than a week ago, I wrote the last page of the book. This is so weird. I actually feel like maybe I know where I'm going!

Percy Jackson to the Rescue!

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:06:00 +0000

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a great book! Fun, fast-paced, great characters, great premise.

I loved the idea that Percy's ADD and dyslexia were linked to him being half god, and I especially loved the ways in which the mythical creatures insinuated themselves into modern society.

Percy's voice was clever and believable, and I'm sure I'll be picking up more of this series when I can!

View all my reviews.

Currently Reading:

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:04:00 +0000

Or, about to start reading, at any rate. I've heard great things about this book, and I've had a hold on it at the library for AGES, and it finally came in! WOO!

The Hound of Rowan

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:13:00 +0000

The Hound of Rowan by Henry H. Neff

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I realize that there have been stories about magical schools since long before Ms. Rowling picked up a pen, and that there will be similar stories long after, but as I was reading this particular addition to the pile, I couldn't help being stunned by the similarities. The details were all significantly different, but many of the tropes were exactly the same. Enter a magical school that likes to play tricks on its inhabitants (moving staircases?), unusual magical pets, a reformed ogre employed by the school with a soft spot for the protagonist, a big bad believed to be vanquished all these years, a magical sport the protagonist excels at… I could go on and on.

Another similarity to the first Harry Potter book is that the story didn't really get going until nearly two-thirds of the way into the book. Even then, however, I found myself having trouble really enjoying it. Every dozen pages or so, I would find myself so astounded by the audacity of the similarities to the Harry Potter books that I'd have to stop reading.

Sorry, Mr. Neff. I bet I would have loved this book a lot — if it had come out 11 years ago.

View all my reviews.

Blooks?

noreply@blogger.com (Lacy) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:57:00 +0000

Editorial Anonymous tackles an issue I've often wondered about: whether or not a book published online will have trouble being published elsewhere.

This is good news for persons like me who like to write to an audience!