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Anthony Alvarado

Anthony Alvarado

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Advice for myself (and other creative people)

24 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by Alvarado in Uncategorized

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Trust yourself. It is the idea that really doesn’t seem to fit. The idea that doesn’t go along with the flow. The idea that seems too dumb, too weird, too different. That’s the one you want.

That’s the one that other people will find interesting too.

I think this is the great secret to creativity—you have to trust yourself enough to be really different. Sometimes uncomfortably and weirdly so. The world is full of people who are always chasing after recreating the thing that just was popular. I’m thinking of knock-offs in the world of books and movies, but I am sure this applies to just about any creative endeavor. Every successful Hunger Games, or Harry Potter spawns a thousand would be imitators— but of course they are never as good, they are merely a colorless copy and lack that spark of originality that makes the real thing so fresh and vital. Nurture your most outlandish thoughts and you will find the path that is solely yours.

Besides, it is only when one is following the muse, and the weirdness of real creativity that one can become not only inspired but obsessed with the act of creating. Obsession is vital, it leads to mastery of one’s art.

Don’t ever try to fit in. Look to your heros, the people who do your craft that you admire. Mine our Kafka, Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Roberto Bolano, David Foster Wallace, Cormac McCarthy, Murakami. Pretty much all weirdos with weirdo ideas if you think about it. You must take yourself and your weird ideas as seriously as your heros took themselves and their ideas to be. Therefore an aspiring artist must treat themselves as though they are already in the pantheon of the masters. That is to say, an artist must be like a child; able to play with the utmost seriousness.

“By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.”
-Kafka
14934_kafka_franz

Going on a YA binge!

16 Wednesday Oct 2013

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movies, Reading List, YA Fantasy

So, as I may have mentioned here I am currently working on a YA fantasy novel. I am excited about it, it’s been a lot of fun to write, and I think it’s going to kick all kinds of ass when it’s finished. I wrote the first draft without really thinking about how it would stack up against anything else that’s out there. I wanted it to be wholly original. But now that I am going over the second draft it seemed like a good idea to sample what’s out there right now.

So, over the next few months I am going on a YA binge. to see what the kids are already reading today, what’s good and what sucks, and how my YA novel stacks up against the competition. Here is the complete list of everything that I put on hold from the library. I plan to gorge myself on these books over the next few months, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

(Rather than import the book cover for each pic. I thought it would be fun if I just cut and paste the first non-cover Google image that the title brings up.)

Crewel — Gennifer Albin

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Catching Fire — Suzanne Collins

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix — JK Rowling 

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Poison Princess — Kresley Cole

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(Whoa.)

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children — Ransom RIggs (Not only a great sounding title, but what a great sounding writer’s name, Ransom Riggs, what alliteration! I’m jealous.)

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Steelheart — Brandon Sanderson

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(lol. Hmm I would think twice before naming my book the same title as a hair metal band. The plot of the book sounds cool though.)

City of Bones — Cassandra Clare

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(Wow, I didn’t realize how many of these have been made into movies.)

 

 

Divergent – Veronica Roth

 

 

 

 

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(Apparently Hollywood just gave the order to make a movie out of every YA book from here on out.)

 

The Fault in Our Stars — John Green

 

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These are pretty much all best sellers I think. Should be fun.

OPB radio Interview

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

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DIY Magic, radio interview

I’m a guest this month on the very cool OPB radio show Destination DIY. The show doesn’t actually air on NPR until Saturday, October 26th. I know there is someway to embed the soundfile . . . let’s see :

I made it onto the “Daunting DIY” show. Which is funny since I spend the whole interview trying to explain why magic and reality bending is an easy, every day phenomena. My segment begins at the 30 minutes mark, although the whole show is pretty interesting and well worth checking out. I especially like the segment on the guys who are building their own homemade astronaut space suits. Wow!

It’s too bad this interview is coming out at a time when DIY Magic the book is all sold out! Jason from Floating World tells me that people have already been asking at his shop for more copies of the book. Sorry folks, guess we didn’t bake enough pies this go round. My agent is currently at work finding a publisher to do a second printing, so hopefully that goes fast and we will get more copies available ASAP!

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