Defining Dystopia

Recently I posted the first five pages of my WIP, Princess, for critique. It is set in the future after a catastrophic event, but I do not call it dystopian. After reading those five pages, several people said they would call it that. While I know that's something that can be difficult to discern after only five pages, their comments led me to examine my definition of dystopian fiction.

For my purposes, I will use Hunger Games as an example. I believe dystopian novels are driven by the problems in that world. If you place Katniss in present day Appalaccia (which is where she's from), you wouldn't have a story.

In my novel, the main character is Adria. Yes, the world fell apart prior to her birth, but that doesn't affect the story I'm telling. If I placed Adria in modern day Colorado, the heart of the story would be the same. She grows up, sheds her innocence, and learns about the world around her. I could have set it anywhere, but I felt the future I created added color and flavor to her story. Something unique.

That's why I maintain my story is not dystopian. What are your thoughts? How would you define dystopia?

TELL ME A SECRET by Holly Cupala

RWA Literacy Autographing

The Dolphin hotel at Disney World was full of win yesterday. And by win, I mean fabulous authors whom I love and adore. Here are the few I met.

Myself, Small Child, Morgan Ashbury, and Kelley Armstrong. Morgan is actually part of my online writing group over at Kelley's website.


Simone Elkeles


Sarah MacLean


Meg Cabot

The Princess and the Pea: A Haiku

To lie on these beds
and feel the wrath of the pea,
sucks ever so much.

Poem inspired by the Merry Sisters of Fate.

Writing Links

Hey, everyone. I have a couple of links I wanted to share today. The first is over at kidlit.com, one of my favorite agent blogs. This post is for people to find critique partners. My info is there in the fifth comment.

The second link I wanted to share is Writeoncon. It's a free online convention arranged by several writers. It officially begins August 10th, but you can introduce yourself and do some practice critiques before then. I'm there under KrysteyBelle.

I'm still working on Princess. I just finished the mid Act 2 climax, and hope to have a complete rough draft by the 10th. I'm also editing a short story about vampires. Yippee.

What are you all up to?

Updates

Well, I'm sitting at home on a Saturday evening (my anniversary of all days) with a nasty stomach flu. Ick. So, I thought I'd throw a little blog out there. This month has been super busy. I've been editing and querying Spirit World. On top of that, the family and I went on a cruise. Good times were had but unfortunately Carnival has nothing for babies. Small Child was not allowed in the pool areas, and was only allowed in the playroom four hours the entire week. We kept him entertained by letting him crawl up and down the halls and up the stairs. Then, when we got back, he started walking. Lord, help me.

So, needless to say I've gotten very little new writing down. I seem to be stalled out on Princess. I've made it to the end of the first act, and know how the second act ends, as well as the rest of the book, but am not sure how to fill in those 10,000 words I'm lacking. I'm going to go ahead and write the bits I do know, and see what happens then. Maybe the characters will tell me.

Fun Links

The other day, I opened my email to find a wondrous surprise, I had won the May prize pack from The League of Extraordinary Writers. Yay. Books and swag! If you enjoy dystopian novels, I highly recommend you check them out. Plus, they get bonus points from me by discussing Joss Whedon's Firefly today.

Another blog and webiste I've been visiting frequently is QueryTracker.net. You can search for agents and it's instantly visible whether they accept submissions by mail, email, or forms. You can then save your searches and record the responses. Rejections get evil emoticons. It's fabulous. They also have frequent agent judged contests, but you have to be quick on the draw. They do, however, give you plenty of notice as to when the contest opens.

FYI, I don't post a lot of links on my blog. More often, I'll put them on my Twitter page. If you're interested, the link for that is on the side.