It’s a good day for waiting. Sun floods the city and brightens up every gable on my block. Trees are still bare, but the one in front of my writer’s residence, the elm that almost touches my window with its spiky branches, has formed carmine buds. It won’t be long before they pop and reveal tender green. Blue skies where ever the eye reaches. I know it just appears blue because the air scatters more short-wavelength light than longer wavelengths, but still, it’s a happy sight. A promising sight, for it seems limitless. Days like this make the writer’s waiting game a very bearable one. Don’t worry, I don’t just sit and wait. My mind never sits and waits. It keeps me busy with…
Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing
Posts from the “YA books” Category
While I was sitting in my usual quiet corner at Odette’s, enjoying my truffle-cheesed omelette, minding my own business, these two lads came in. Black-rimmed glasses were their main theme today, not just on the nose, but embroidered on their matching grey jeans as well. They peered around and, even though there was plenty of space, they choose to sit in the middle of the room, just next to the goodies fridge and spot-on in my view. I had fled the house and the Poles and THE WEED MAN, but didn’t have any company. That turned out to be a smart move, as it gave me plenty opportunity to listen, to observe and to so not minding my own business anymore. Both lads had…
It’s been a while, people, I know. It was hard work, finishing the Dark Fiber revision and it didn’t leave much room for anything else, but last Monday I hit those six keys I’m so fond of, the ones that give me that TGIF feeling: THE END. Dark Fiber is done and I’m very happy with the result. Now starts the long wait until my agent has read the new version and comes with his verdict. Waiting is a constant in the life of a writer. We wait a good deal of our time and most of us have learned to live with it. Some waiting bouts are worse than others, though. The most agonizing one is when you wait for a positive reply to a query.…
Tagged: 36 cube, Dark Fiber, Mina Witteman, The Sun Spirit, The Weed Man, thriller
When I looked out of the window this morning and saw cold and wintery Amsterdam, I couldn’t help but think of Hodur, the Nordic God of Winter, the one who was tricked by Loki into killing his brother Baldur. Hodur was blind and it dawned upon me how apt this was for the God of Winter. Snow and mist do diminish your sight. I tried to locate the Westertoren, as I always do when I start my day. You live in Amsterdam if you can see the Westertoren from your window, real Amsterdammers say. I know it’s right there, behind the tree, just a notch left from the tallest building on the other side of the canal. But… I couldn’t find it. It vanished,…
These past few months my life seems to revolve around words and chords, around writing and music. It made me rethink the name of my blog and my dear friend Jay unwittingly told me what it should be: Writers Rock. Words come in multiples as I am working on the revision of my thriller Dark Fiber. One day I hit 5,000 words and the next day I don’t even come close to a mere 500. But no matter how many words do find their way from inside my head to my manuscript, music accompanies them all. If I am on a roll, I switch my iTunes controls to repeat and listen to the same song over and over again, until I almost fall in a…
Tagged: Booktunes, Cath Crowley, Dark Fiber, Gorillaz, Jennifer Donnelly, Mina Witteman, Raaf Hekkema, thriller, writing, YA, Young Adult
It is very rare that I get to read a book that immediately touches the right chord. Jennifer Donnelly’s Revolution is such a book. Andi Alpers, her protagonist, grabbed me by the throat at the very first page and didn’t let go. I read Revolution in one go, not wanting it to stop. Not the words, not the music in it. Ever! Revolution is about Andi Alpers, a gifted musician and student. She is a senior at a prestigious private school in Brooklyn when grief threatens to destroy her life. She is angry with her father for moving on with his life, heartbroken by the pain she sees in her mother, who’s not able to cope with life anymore, and she blames…
Tagged: Delacorte Press, Jennifer Donnelly, Mina Witteman, Paris, Random House, Revolution, YA, Young Adults
It was a almost like a trip down memory lane. I had to report at school, at 12 sharp. High school, that is. Now I have been at high schools quite a bit these past years. It comes with the territory: children’s book writers go out for reading and signing sessions at schools. It’s fun and it creates an audience, it sells books. I often combine a reading session with a workshop creative writing. It’s amazing how much talent there is out there! After spending a couple of hours with kids I usually head home tired but totally replenished. My inspiration cup filled to the brim with intriguing protagonists and unexpected plot twists, and with the strongest urge to write, write and…
Tagged: Amsterdam, De wietman, density, dry ice, potato cannon, science, spud gun, The Weed Man, YA, Young Adult
Mina Witteman 