Today I met three men who are on a cross-country bike ride to raise money for The City of the Children, a Mexican orphanage.

Please take time to read their story on their Web site. They are three extraordinary individuals with numerous achievements to their credit; yet to them, this bike ride is one of the most important things they’ve ever done in their lives.

Their concern for these orphans is genuine, and the friendships they share with one another are real and deep.

Days like today — when I get to tell the story of people like John Shinsky, Eljay Bowron and Joe DeLamielleure, and the cause to which they are so committed  – make me thankful that I’m a writer and can tell their story.

The idea for today’s post comes from a comment sent by Julianne.

(By the way, If you’re looking for your comment, Julianne, you won’t find it. That’s because I accidentally clicked “delete comment” instead of “accept comment.” Drat. Fortunately, I still have a copy of the e-mail from WordPress, notifying me of your post. Thanks for being so sweet!)

Anyway, I’ve been asked this question by others and decided I should try to give a thoughtful answer.

Julianne said: “I’d love to know what you think about the Twilight series. I tried to read the book but just couldn’t get through it. Not sure what all the hysteria is about.”

If she’d said the Twilight ZONE series, the answer would have been easy. LOVE IT. So what if it’s half a century old? Rod Serling,  may he rest in peace, is one of my all-time favorite writers.

But Julianne’s asking about THE Twilight series, the teen/vampire love story written by Stephenie Meyer.

So here’s my reply, and here’s hoping bullet points will make my ramblings appear like organized thoughts.

• I haven’t read any of the books, so I can’t offer any judgment about the stories. I’ve heard good and bad comments from all sides.  The truth is that Twilight isn’t the type of story that interests me. I like fantasy, but I’m not a vampire fan. I’m not into romance and, generally, I prefer to read middle-grade novels over YA. (Examples of middle-grade novels would be Newbery Medal or Honor books; could be anything from Charlotte’s Web to historical fiction to Harry Potter. I enjoyed the first four books of the Harry Potter series, but when I got to the fifth, I lost interest.)
• I hear a lot of criticism about Meyer’s writing. I also hear people say they get so caught up in the story they don’t notice the writing. It sounds to me like Meyer is probably a good storyteller. A book’s prose may be perfect, but if it’s a boring tale, no amount of style is going to keep a reader turning the pages.
• Anything as visible and popular as Meyer’s series is going to generate positive and negative talk.
• As for today’s news that LDS bookstore chain Deseret Book stopped carrying Meyer’s books (Meyer is LDS) … Booksellers are businesses, they cater to their customers and can choose to stock whatever books they wish. I’m LDS, and Deseret stopped selling my books a long time ago. Back when my books were in print, I asked some local bookstores to carry them and was politely turned down. Where I live, there aren’t many people who want to buy books that feature Latter-day Saint characters, and the publisher’s no-return policy didn’t help matters. (At least that’s what I was told.) I was disappointed, but … 
• … I would be concerned if a public library refused to stock Meyer’s books or my books or anyone else’s books. (My library was happy to put my books on their shelves, and I occasionally hear from locals who have read them.)  Libraries provide free and open access to information for everyone.  They shelve ideas, not products, and protect the rights to free speech for all. If you don’t want to read a particular library book, don’t check it out. For every book you might want to ban, it’s a safe bet that someone else finds a book you cherish offensive, or wants to ban the books that are most meaningful to you.
• However, I do believe that parents have the right to monitor — and restrict, if they believe it’s warranted – what their minor children, especially little ones, read or watch on TV or in movies.

(UPDATE: Just an additional thought here — there’s been no direct statement, at least that I know of, from DB that it has chosen not to stock the book because of its content. I’m more inclined to believe that the books don’t sell well at DB because DB charges more  for them than Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble or WalMart.)

(UPDATE TO UPDATE: Just read where DB did, in fact, pull the series from the shelves due to customer complaints.)

After weeks of avoiding yummy things (as in foods that are deep-fried or smothered in chocolate) I finally was able to step into, zip up, and button the waist of a pair of khakis I haven’t been able to fit into since September.

Yes!

I have fallen off the wagon a few times, but have climbed back on, though grumbling and grouching about it the whole way. I still have some pounds to go but today’s milestone should keep me motivated for a while.

Random stuff. Think of it as Kibbles and Bits, but less crunchy and useless for preventing hairballs.

In case you haven’t noticed, the path from point A to point B is rarely ever a straight line.

Often, you end up visiting unexpected places, stopping for unexpected amounts of time. You meet, and make, unexpected acquaintances along the way.

You may believe you know your character or have a handle on the plot for your next novel. Yet from the moment you pick up the pen until you punctuate the final sentence of a project, the only thing constant about your work is that it will change.

This is even true with nonfiction writing. Many times I’ve kicked off an interview, fully supposing the lead of a story to be X, when the subject innocently makes a quote-worthy statement about Y that causes me to re-think my opinion of the whole darn alphabet.

We often talk about the constraints of writing. We swear by style guides. We agonize over grammar. We memorize proper manuscript format. We seek the magic formula to create a killer query letter or synopsis.

In our frustration to get it right, we complain that the devil is in the details. Yet it’s those same restrictions that add polish to our work, and may even save us from the slush pile.

Format and language constraints free us to create stories and share information in unique ways, much like a tailor uses a pattern to construct a suit or a contractor uses a blueprint to build a house. The steps are the same for everyone; it’s the properties of the materials and the way in which we combine them that allows our individuality to shine.

So, while the path from point A to point B may be clearly marked, who knows how many interesting detours and distractions you may encounter along the way. In order to find out, you’ve got to follow the map.

Whatever the case, the most important thing is to enjoy the journey. Serendipity, like lightning, may not strike in the same place twice. Adhering to the pattern, however, may heighten the odds.

This past week, negative Agentfail comments, many posted anonymously by angry writers, have hovered like storm clouds over the blogosphere. The posts were in reponse to Queryfail, a day when agents shared via Twitter portions of queries from writers (no names mentioned) that prompted immediate rejection.

The agents had good intentions, for the most part. Queryfail was intended to help writers increase their chances of getting a partial or full request from an agent. Some Agentfail posts offered constructive criticism. Others were just downright bitter.

Fortunately, folks were posting positive agent comments today.

Here’s my two cents on this:

1. Angry outbursts don’t improve anyone’s situation. (I know, because every time I have my own angry outburst, I end up embarrassed afterwards, wishing I’d controlled my temper.) If you can’t find an agent for that manuscript you’re shopping around, work at improving your manuscript rather than blaming agents for your inability to get published. Get past the “it’s them” syndrome and consider reasons why you might be the problem.

2. This is a business, people. It’s not American Idol, the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes or one of those fast-food restaurant promotions where “everyone’s a winner.” Completing a manuscript doesn’t mean you’re entitled to a contract or even a request for a partial read by an agent.

As the recession continues, more people will try their hand at writing children’s picture books and novels, believing it’s a quick way to make money.

Read my lips: It’s not.

The path to publication is long and arduous. It takes months, sometimes years, to write a novel. It takes months, sometimes years, to get a novel accepted for publication. It takes months, sometimes years, for a book to go from contract to the bookshelf at Barnes and Noble. Same for picture books. Just because they’re 700-800 words doesn’t mean you can flip ‘em quicker than a griddle cook at Waffle House.

In other words, if you had a complete manuscript for a novel and it got accepted today, by the time it hits the shelves, the recession may be over.

As for the making money part — I’d write more, but right now I’m laughing so hard the tears are shorting out my keyboard.

It seems that we live in an age of anger, and sometimes it’s so contagious that we catch it and spread it without even realizing the effect it’s having on us or our surroundings.

The negative energy emanating from the whole Queryfail/Agentfail debacle has, at least for me, done nothing to improve my understanding of the business.

The only thing I learned is that there are a lot of bitter writers out there.

Bitter is not what I want to be, not about my writing, nor about agents or editors.

The day that I am overcome with bitterness will be the day that I fail as a writer. And if I fail, I won’t have anyone to blame but myself.