Yippee. 2018 is coming to a close

Hi everyone! 

I am Young Adult and Middle Grade author Barbara Binns, writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. As my tagline says, I write Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.  My debut MG novel, Courage, was recently published by Harper Collins. It's a great read for this, or any season. 

Check my books out at http://babinns.com

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. 

That line is true, not only for the French Revolution as depicted in Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale Of Two Cities, but also for me and the entire year of 2018.

Best of Times:

2018 saw the long-delayed publication of my middle grade novel, Courage - https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Barbara-Binns/dp/0062561650.  Kirkus not only gave Courage a favorable review, they also printed an interview with me - https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/barbara-binns/.

I had numerous opportunities to share my knowledge with others.

1. At the Illinois Library Association conference in Peoria, Il, I spoke with librarians on ways they can perform outreach to various diverse populations. Afterward, the public library in Matteson, Il invited me to reprise that topic for their staff who could not attend the conference. 
2. The Sauk Valley school in Illinois invited me in to speak to parents and teachers about helping reluctant readers. And I already have an engagement for next March at the University of Illinois.
3. I gave a Webinar for KidLitNation http://kidlitnation.com/home/resources/webinars/ about my journey to publication.
4. I hosted a presentation at the Spring Fling Writer’s romance writer's conference in Schaumburg on the subject of diverse writing. Plus, I got a new agent. Thank you Spring Fling!
5. I also spoke at the Romance Slam Jam conference for readers and authors of black romance, about the art of crafting Heroes & Heroines. Being there felt a lot like coming home.
6. I helped youth, by judging at Chicago's annual Louder Than A Bomb  poetry slam in January, and at the City of Chicago Annual Science Fair in March.

I also had chances to learn from others.

While attending the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color , (JCLC) I had an opportunity to be part of a half-day seminar called Beyond the Racial Stalemate, which was facilitated by  people trained at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation - https://www.wkkf.org/.   For more information on this intense experience on communication and racial healing look at a blog post I wrote for JCLC at: http://www.jclcinc.org/conference/2018/beyond-the-racial-stalemate/ 

Last, but certainly not least, my daughter had her thirtieth birthday this year (talk about feeling old).

Worst of times:

Did I mention I got a new agent this year? She really liked the two manuscripts I sent her, saying, “Nice start.” AKA, let me see what you can really do because these need to be changed.

Fortunately, she and I talked and she gave me a good idea of where her thoughts were. She felt they were too old for a middle grade market, something I was shooting for.

I have finally re-written one of them two. I'm calling it Duets, and it's a story about some cello playing middle graders living in a south suburb of Chicago and daring to dream big. So big, that by the time I finished the rewrite I looked up to see it was almost Christmas. There's really no point in sending it to my agent until next year. I just fear that by then I will probably see more problems on the pages and want to rewrite from scratch all over again.

One of the things that made the re-write so slow was recent cataract surgery. That killed my ability to see, and to write, for awhile. Ditto for some intense pains in my knees caused by worsening arthritis. The pains grew so bad, I agreed to an experimental treatment that Medicare did NOT pay for. Even the sticker shock beat the idea of knee replacement surgery. I am now back to walking and even climbing stairs again, with no pains strong enough to keep me from writing.

JCLC marked my second time being part of a Beyond The Racial Stalemate seminars, I also attended one in 2017 at the American Library Association conference. In spite of that, and the seminar's intense focus on communication issues, I still fell into a “failure to communicate” trap with some Facebook friends on diversity initiatives. I'm still not sure that friendship can be salvaged. Facebook is a poor communication device. Not even emojis help or replace real face-to-face content, which

And, as much as I loved being part of the JCLC, my heart had a reaction to the altitude in Albuquerque. The slightest exertion (and I mean just walking across the street from the hotel to the convention center) had me completely out of breath. My cardiologist recently ordered an echo cardiogram to see what might be happening inside me.  (I'm still waiting for the results)

My session at Spring Fling went okay. EXCEPT for technology issues that made me unable to show my presentation on the screen! All that time spent on preparing visual effects, only to be undone by a machine I didn't understand.  I had wing the talk without visuals.  I still have nightmares.

2018 was the last year the Museum of Science and Industry and the Chicago Science Fair will be together.  Although the event has been hosted by the Museum of Science and Industry for almost 70 years, the museum announced it would not continue doing so after 2018.  I'm not sure of the new location, or how that will effect my ability to continue volunteering.

And now, at year's end, the stock market appears to be struggling to reduce me to poverty. Plus, I've heard several Indie Authors reporting unexpected declines in revenue.

At least it's almost the End of Times

It’s now time to sit down to my annual viewing of Die Hard, my favorite Christmas Movie of all time. The season doesn’t really start until I watch Hans Gruber plunge from the Nakatomi Building.

It also doesn’t start until I wish you all a very happy holiday season. And Great Expectations for 2019!

Novel-To-Film Adaptions. Do They Ever Get It Right?

It’s mid-winter here in Melbourne, Australia, and I’m on the couch, bundled in a blanket watching romantic comedies. So it’s no surprise my muse has refused to show up and sprinkle her magic on the Fireworks theme my fellow genre-istas are rocking this month. Even thinking about the night sky is enough to freeze me to the bone!

But lucky for me, lounging in front of the television has proven beneficial - it's given me a blog topic. A number of the films I've watched recently have been based on novels. Some have been good, but not great, while others have flopped completely. This got me thinking... 

Can a movie adaptation ever be as good as the book? 

It’s a debate that fires up book worms and movie buffs alike—usually those of us who have a foot planted firmly in each camp. I’m a lifelong reader and movie-goer. My childhood copy of The Secret Garden is worn and tired from too much love, and my VHS copy of the 1993 movie adaptation must have been watched and rewound hundreds of times. I adored them equally. 

Each art-form brings something different to the storytelling experience. Books tantalize my imagination, inviting me to build worlds and characters in my mind. Movies are like a large fleece blanket in winter, bundling me up in a warm comforting embrace where I can settle in and enjoy the sensory experience of watching worlds come alive before my eyes.

Most criticism of movie adaptations come from readers who have loved the book, then found the film lacking. The characters aren’t what they imagined. Plot lines have changed. Or some of their favorite scenes or characters are missing altogether. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a film is bad.  It’s often good enough to stand on its own, and viewers who haven’t read the book—who go in free of expectation—have a completely different, positive experience.

We all know of the countless book-to-movie failures, but here are some movies that are often touted by critics as actually being better than the book (many people wouldn’t even know they’re an adaptation).

Fight Club – Author, Chuck Palahniuk loved the film adaptation of his book and even felt that it managed to draw together plot-lines he’d overlooked. 

Jurassic Park -  The book was a bestseller, but the movie won over viewers an action-packed plot, likeable characters and amazing special effects (for the time).

The Princess Bride – This one is debatable as the book was also fabulous, but the 1987 movie has garnered a cult following.

Stand by Me – It’s hard to improve upon anything Stephen King creates, but the movie expanded upon the world and characters of his novella and captured the hearts of viewers and is now a popular classic.

Die Hard – Honestly, did anyone even know this was an adaptation? This classic action movie - also an unlikely Christmas movie favorite - was more of a thriller in the original novel.

The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks’ books are bestsellers, but the film adaptation of The Notebook struck a chord with romantics all over the world and has become far more popular than the novel.

Jaws – By today’s standards, the mechanical shark may not be too impressive, but audiences were terrified by his fin slicing through water and his rows of giant teeth. And along with the iconic Duuun dun duuun dun dun dun dun dun dun music, the movie was able to instill a level of fear the book could never achieve.

We all have novel-to-film adaptations we love, or love to hate. What are yours?