Teen Text Talk: Splash into Summer: Day #1 and Giveaway

So, I've been waiting for this week for a little while now, I'm looking forward to reading reviews, and have already entered several giveaways for mermaid books and swag.

I have always loved mermaids.

Let's talk about mermaids for a minute...if I wanted to get really embarrassed I'd show you pictures I drew when I was in elementary and junior high. I'm not going to do that, ever! I would like you to know that my deep love of all things mermaid started with the Sea Wees. We'd get a set of these toys everytime we'd go to Wal-Mart. They were perfect for bathtime play as they were mermaids who came with floaty sponges and their tails make excellent razors for fake leg shaving. I wish I had some...I guess I know what I'll be doing for a diversion today!

And, there are so many good mermaid movies! I was totally enchanted with Splash as a kid (it wasn't until later I even recognized that this movie may not have been appropriate for a 7 year old...it had a friggin' mermaid, come on!), my niece and I just had a delightful discussion about Aquamarine, such a good movie about a teen mermaid, and I just watched for the first time Fishtales with Billy Zane, then there's the under-rated Lady in the Water. And, don't even get me started about The Little Mermaid, even if it is a "Disney-fide no one dies" version. I even like it when mermaids aren't so nice like in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Peter Pan!

Feel free to read: The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

Feel free to watch these Disney's Silly Symphonies...two of my favorite mermaid cartoons.

Tera Lynn Childs has also given me a great idea for a school project! More information can be found at: Books, Boys, Buzz

Character collages

Collage. I do this for every book. Because I'm a visual learner, I find it invaluable to have a pictorial compilation of my characters. Lots of writers do collages, but here's my method. You'll need some printer paper, scissors, a glue stick, and some magazines.

Step One: Flip through as many magazines as possible. I like TeenVogue, CosmoGirl, InStyle, and Lucky the best. I tear out anything that reminds me of any of the characters in this book. I do collages for all of the main characters and most of the secondary ones, so as I tear stuff out I divide into piles by character. The more I have to choose from the better. At a minimum I need something that will make a good background, a headshot or two of and actor or model who looks like the character, and some clothing and accessories they would own.
Step Two: Build the collage. Start by gluing down a background image that fills up most of the page (this way you won't end up with whitespace left over at the end). Then select a few of the headshot and clothing images, trim them to just the desired element, and arrange them over the background. I always lay these out before I glue so I make sure they all fit. Then snip out the small pictures and accessories and stick them wherever they fit.
Step Three: Finalize the collage with words. This usually requires flipping back through the magazines looking for two things. 1) Words that resonate with your characters. 2) Ransom-note-type letters that you can cut out and use to form your character's name. Sometimes I even outline the letters of the name in a silver Sharpie to make it stand out more.