Check out this interview with director Diliana Alexander. We are currently working on the NARC screenplay and production is scheduled for this fall.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/arts/filmgate-interactive-is-all-about-encouraging-filmmakers-to-create-locally-8351148

SWEAT broadsheet collaboration at the New York City Center For Book Arts : "Mice With Wings" (art by Andrew Binder and words by me).

MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH won the bronze medal for young adult literature. Congrats to all the FLORIDA BOOK AWARD winners! So honored and thrilled to be part of it!

My friend and former student, Houston Cypress, (Miccosukee Otter Clan) and me. This book would not exist without his kindness and generosity.

Shiny stickers!

Paper flowers decorated the awards table at Mission San Luis (folded from Emerson's transcendental essays).

TV interview at the PBS station in Tallahassee with Suzanne Smith.

Half native. Half white. One hundred percent nothing. 

"My mom doesn't want me. My dad just got out of jail. They want me to go live with him on the reservation in the Everglades. Trouble is, everybody there just ignores me.

At least I get to work with Pippa on my film project at school. We used to be friends when we were like twelve. Now that we're hanging out again it's like old times--except she's way cuter.

The thing is, I don't belong anywhere. I don't fit in on the Rez, and I suck at school. My dad thinks I'm an idiot, but Pippa thinks I'm all good.

I don't know what to think. Am I bad news or am I more than good enough?"

MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH, Flux 2014

When I began researching my third young adult novel, MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH (Flux, 1/2014), the key to finding Trent's voice carried me to the Miccosukee reservation in the South Florida Everglades.

My good friend and former student, Houston Cypress (otter clan) smiling under the palms on his family's tree island. MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH would not exist without his generous spirit. He welcomed me onto the Miccosukee Rez and answered all my questions with tremendous patience. We took an airboat over the "River of Grass" and met his friends on the Rez.

This jagged chickee roof inspired a scene in MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH. When you look up, you'll see ribbons of clouds. The thick wooden posts are carved from cypress trees.

Boardwalk to the chickee huts on the tree islands in the Everglades--not a "swamp" as many people assume, but a vast expanse of sawgrass prairies studded with live oaks. As a little girl, I used to climb the same trees in my backyard in Miami.

Chickee chobee ("big houses") thatched with palm fronds on the tree islands in the Everglades. The homes seem to float between the sky and sawgrass.

Houston took this picture of me learning how to grind corn for

sofkee

(cornmeal porridge) at his father's chickee on the Rez. Cooking pots are on the shelf nearby.

"Indian Boy Wrestling Alligators at Musa Isle Indian Village, Miami, Fla."

 State Library and Archives of Florida.

The Miccosukee and Seminole style of wrestling allows you to keep your hands free (and ready to bind the gator's jaw with rope).

A pointy gator tooth that I carried in my pocket--a gift from Houston's father. He found it in a cooler on his front porch! I keep it on my bookshelf at home.

Another gift from Houston's father, who discovered a pair of Stickball rackets (traditional game that is similar to lacrosse) hidden in the tall grass near the road. I carried them back to New York in my suitcase. Now they're on my wall and they're the first thing I see when I wake up.

Bookmarks inspired by the patchwork design, Everlasting Fire. Each morning, Houston's father lights the cook fires in his yard and keeps the flames burning throughout the day.

"Miccosukee Boys Reading at the Mission"

State Library and Archives of Florida. 

The boys in this archival photo remind me of the book's protagonist, Trent Osceola, who loves to read.

I'm thrilled that the cover for MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH was modeled by a Native American face. Here I'm smiling with the advanced reader copies.

Launch party for MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH at Books and Books, in my hometown, Miami. Can you spot Houston in the second row?

Water lilies (spatterdock) threading the sky-blue water in Everglades during my airboat ride with the Miccosukee tribe through the tree islands on the Rez.

 Miccosukee patchwork jacket tangled in the post of a chickee on a tree island that belongs to the Cypress family. The air was sharp with woodsmoke that day and speared with sunlight.

Sewing machines in the chickee at Houston's father's house on the Rez. No doubt, their needles have stitched many intricate patchwork "Big Shirts".

 A wide-eyed baby alligator--my new friend on the rehabilitation island on the Rez. The opening chapter of MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH was inspired by my meeting with Quasi, a pet gator abandoned in the Everglades. He is in safe hands with the Miccosukee tribe, who look after the South Florida animals in need of special care.

The amazing teens rocking out in The Osceola Brothers Band. Just like Trent in MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH, they find solace in music.

I am so thankful for my experiences on the Rez and for the kindness of Houston, his family and friends.

Discover more on the book's Tumblr page:

http://more-than-good-enough.tumblr.com/

"I believe in writing with secrets..."

The words belong to Sadie--a young writer from a high school in New England. When I received her first letter this winter, I was impressed with her wise and thoughtful reflections on creativity (Sadie plans on directing films someday). She had read my debut novel, Total Constant Order, and wanted to know: How did you start writing?

I remember sitting at my desk in class, longing for escape. I wrote stories in my notebook like a spy. I always wanted to be somewhere else.

"In class, I tend to shut the world out," Sadie tells me. "I put headphones in if it's a class where I can do so, or I write. Or I read under the desk until I get yelled at."

Just like Sadie, I used to get in trouble for reading my favorite books during Geometry class. Music and words were my escape from the dull hum of school.

"Sometimes I scroll really far down on my Twitter when I need inspiration and reread tweets which sparks the memory of what it was about," she writes. "Or go through all the pictures on my phone. Or reread old notes. Or clean my room because I always find the weirdest things, like pictures I've drawn or painted, or notebooks full of quotes."

If my teenage self could've jumped in a time machine, I might've written the same letter. Now I'm staring backward into the future:

"I noticed in your writing that you write with a lot of detail. But not the boring kind. The 'hi, I'm shy but I notice everything' kind. I do too."

I hope that Sadie never loses her special way of looking at the world. It's hard when you're a quiet observer, the sort of person who sees things differently. It can be your Kryptonoite. But if you're a storyteller, it's also your superpower.

After selling three books, I've learned that it doesn't get any easier. The business of writing for publication can be brutal. Sometimes I need to remember the pure joy in crafting stories, as Sadie so perfectly describes:

"I write because I love writing. I love having the control of my stories when I feel like I have no control over anything in my life. I love forgetting the world while all I focus on for the time being is the characters and the conflict."

Her letters remind me that we long to be heard. We tell stories to make sense of the world. And we hope that somebody is there to listen. "I think that writers write to an audience that at some point, was a vacant stare into the dark nothing in the peak of the night. I think we want to be noticed by the universe. And not in a weird, attention seeking way. I think writers write because they have a story to tell and they can channel it into something beautiful without making eye contact or revealing themselves totally. I think we want to be heard."

Thank you, Sadie, for your elegant thoughts on writing. I look forward to hearing your stories someday.

--crissa

photo by Sadie

Crissa-Jean Chappell reading More Than Good Enough. from crissachappell on Vimeo.

As I wrote More Than Good Enough, I wanted to show "the real Miami" that I remember from my childhood. The main character, Trent, moves to the Miccosukee reservation in the Everglades. He feels lost. Trent doesn't know much about his Native American family. His only connection to that world is a father who has forgotten where he came from. As Trent begins to create a documentary for his film class, he learns there is more than one truth. Not one perspective...but many.

Growing up in South Florida in the 1980s, the TV show, Miami Vice, was everywhere. I didn't relate to the images on the screen. It looked nothing like my backyard--the oak trees draped in Spanish moss. The blue crabs scuttling through the grass after it rains. The sing-songy music of the bufo toads in a tropical storm.

When you visit a new place, you often see the surface of things. The keychains. The t-shirts. The pictures in your head shaped from movies and television. The neon-soaked streets of Miami Vice give one perspective that many know of my home. But there are layers of complexity to the Magic City that are often unexplored. It's not just the postcard of sandy beaches, but the handwritten words that tell a personal story of a place.

cross-posted at yaoutsidethelines.blogspot.com

photos by Craig Stokle.

(from left to right)

Tara Altebrando, Roomies

Alexandra Monir, Timekeeper

Melissa Walker, Ashes to Ashes

Crissa-Jean Chappell, More Than Good Enough

Matt Blackstone, Sorry You're Lost

hosted by David Levithan

January Teen Author Reading night was so much fun! Big hugs to everybody who braved the Polar Vortex and joined us at the gorgeous New York Public Library, Jefferson Market Branch (the "castle library").

Launch week continues with a Goodreads giveaway! FIVE signed copies of MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH are up for grabs (with my notes and doodles)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

More Than Good Enough

by Crissa-Jean Chappell

Giveaway ends February 03, 2014.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

one of my favorite bookstores in the world...ever since I was a little girl

I'm back in my swamp!

awesome crowd at the launch party at Books and Books, Miami

MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH playlist

Big hugs to everybody who came to the MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH launch party in Miami, Florida!

Missed your chance to grab a signed copy? No worries. Books and Books will hook you up! (Yes, they will mail the autographed book to you).

Yay for indie bookstores!

Books and Books 265 Aragon Avenue Coral Gables, Florida 33134 305.442.4408

Here's the final teaser trailer for More Than Good Enough. Want to win a signed copy of the book? It's easy!

Double-click to like on Instagram.

Retweet the trailer (or tweet at me @crissachappell)

Use the hashtag #MoreThanGoodEnough

Add the title "to read" on Goodreads.

On the book's birthday (1/8/2014) I'll pick three winners. Good luck!

c.

More Than Good Enough second teaser trailer from crissachappell on Vimeo.

Here's the second teaser trailer for More Than Good Enough. Shout out to Mr. Skeleton and the teens at Turners Falls High School for helping with the voices. You guys rock!

Want to win a signed copy of the book? It's easy!

Retweet the trailer (or tweet at me @crissachappell)

Use the hashtag #MoreThanGoodEnough

Add the title "to read" on Goodreads.

On the 8th of each month until January, look for a new teaser trailer. On the book's birthday (1/8/2014) I'll pick three winners. Good luck!

c.

"In More Than Good Enough, Crissa-Jean Chappell's fractured narrative perfectly reflects the life of Trenton, a boy pulled apart by broken family, lost between the urban Miami he's known and an alien life on his father's Everglades reservation. Trenton's ability to find meaning in the mixed shards of his past is powerful and satisfying." --Geoff Herbach

winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Young People's Literature

I'm totally thrilled and honored to share this blurb from Geoff Herbach. His character, Felton Reinstein, is one of my favorite male protagonists. I love Felton's absurd sense of humor and brutally honest observations of the world. Can't wait to read the final book in the series, I'm With Stupid. I'm packing a copy in my suitcase when I fly to the Houston Bookrave in a couple weeks!

More Than Good Enough teaser trailer one from crissachappell on Vimeo.

I'm so excited to share the first teaser trailer for More Than Good Enough (1/8/2014 Flux Books). The airboat footage was taken during a diamond-bright afternoon on the Miccosukee reservation. In the distance, you can see the tree islands of the Everglades (it's the opening scene in the book).

Want to win a signed copy? Here's how to enter.

Retweet the trailer (or simply tweet at me @crissachappell).

Use the hashtag #MoreThanGoodEnough on Twitter.

Add the book "to read" on Goodreads.

Follow More Than Good Enough on Tumblr.

Each month, I'll choose a random winner. The final trailer releases January 8th.

"Half native. Half white. One hundred percent nothing. My mom doesn't want me. My dad just got out of jail. They want me to go live with him on the reservation in the Everglades. Whatever. I switched schools again, and I'm flunking everything. At least I get to work with Pippa on my film project. We used to be friends when we were like, twelve. Now that we're hanging out again it's like old times--not to mention, she's super cute. The thing is, I don't belong anywhere. I don't fit in on the Rez, I'm in trouble all the time, and my ex-girlfriend is messing with my head. So who's right? My dad, who thinks I'm a loser? Or Pippa, who thinks I'm more than good enough?"

sneak peek of the first teaser trailer for MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH

This morning I'm in Miami, typing to the skittery music of tree frogs and bufo toads. All the oaks in my family's backyard are laced with ferns. The breeze smells like thunderstorms. This is the Florida I carry in my heart...and the setting of all my books.

MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH takes place in the Everglades--a strange and otherworldly place to call home. At least, that's what the main character, Trent, thinks. I wrote a lot of this book on the front porch in Miami and worked on my editor's notes last winter in New York. I'd look out the window at my snow-crusted fire escape and think of the tree islands on the Miccosukee reservation. A wounded gator named Quasi. The taste of frybread and the rumble of our airboat as it coasted over the water lilies.

my tire swing has melted into the bark of this oak

pink lemonade skies on Soyers Lake, Canada

Soyers Lake was scooped out of the earth by a meteor. You won't find any crocs gliding through the water, but the yellow lilies near the shore reminded me of the Everglades. The lake is in "cottage country," just a few hours drive from Toronto. It was the perfect spot for a writing retreat (organized by our fabulous host, Megan Crewe). Our family of YA writer-sisters included: Lena Coakley, Deva Fagan, Jo Karaplis, Adrienne Kress, Maureen McGowan, and Jessica Spotswood.

a house in the trees

Over the weekend, I finished the first round of copyedits for MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH. I think Trent and Pippa would approve of my favorite editing spot: a treehouse near the lake.

my writing "room" on the porch

I slept on the porch of our cottage and woke up to tea-colored light and a chorus of birds. Everybody worked on their own writing projects during the day. We took little breaks in the afternoon to swim and sit on the docks. I especially loved our dinners and conversations on the sun-soaked deck.

dinner by the lake, surrounded by laughter and dragonflies

Writing is such a solitary existence. The retreat gave me a chance to crawl out of my hobbit hole and chat about books, the publishing world, and the imaginary people in our heads. Everybody has their own style (writing scenes out of order, starting with or without an outline, etc.) It's so much fun to learn about the many ways that novelists create stories.

On the last day, we took a boat ride near the islands. I never expected to see a Canadian swamp, so familiar to a South Florida girl. I watched a heron swoop over the water and thought about new pages that keep tugging at my imagination. It's hard to let go of a story...almost like taking a trip and saying goodbye to friends.

Copyedits are turned in! You know what that means... ARCs are next!

Win a signed copy of MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH with my notes and doodles. Check out the international giveaway at YA Books Central

1. What is the working title of your next book? MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH is the official title!

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

Growing up in South Florida, I was fascinated by the Miccosukee tribe. I remember hearing about Tiger Tiger, a Native American rock band formed by brothers Lee and Stephen Tiger (the children of Miccosukee chief, Buffalo Tiger). I wanted to tell a story about a teenage boy who lives on the reservation in the Everglades, his search for identity, and the tension between the old ways and the modern world.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

I write contemporary young adult novels for older teens.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I could easily imagine Tyler Posey as my main character, Trent. (also: they're both from multicultural families). I'm a big fan of Chloe Grace Moretz and I'd love to see her play Pippa...if she's willing to dye her hair "ultra violet."

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

"...about a teen boy whose dad is Miccosukee and whose mom is English--making him 'one hundred percent nothing' --who is determined to figure out where he belongs and who he belongs with..." (from Publishers Marketplace)

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

The book is scheduled for publication in winter 2014 (Flux).

I am repped by the fabulous Tina Wexler of ICM.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

It always takes about nine months for my first drafts (in a way, books are my babies).

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I haven't read any novels about Miccosukee teens. I'd really like to see more stories about Native Americans in general--also more YA novels with male protagonists.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

South Florida, my home. As I researched this book, I spent a lot of time in the Everglades. My Miccosukee friend was kind enough to share his world with me. One afternoon, we took an airboat ride to the "tree islands." When the sky is reflected in the water, it looks like glass. And the alligators always keep watch with their periscope eyes.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

I'm intrigued by "friendship caught on fire" stories (Trent and Pippa knew each other as children and meet up later in life).

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable."

--Bruce Lee

I was tagged for this blog meme by Gail Gauthier (Saving the Planet and Stuff, G.P. Putnam's Sons).

In return, I'm tagging two South Florida authors:

My fellow Fluxian, Steven dos Santos (The Culling, Flux).

and Patrick Matthews (Dragon Run, Scholastic).

So......my upcoming YA book has a new title! MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH

The deets from Publisher's Marketplace:

"...about a teen boy whose dad is Miccosukee and whose mom is English--making him 'one hundred percent nothing' --who is determined to figure out where he belongs and who he belongs with..."

(Flux Books, winter 2014)

I can't wait to share Trent's story. I've been working on revisions for my editor and it's so much fun to revisit these characters.

Recently, I drove to the Everglades and met up with my Miccosukee friend on the reservation. We took an airboat ride to the "tree islands" in the swamp. It's always helpful to visit the settings in my books. Of course, I take lots of pictures.

chickee houses on the Rez

sun-stained ceiling of a chickee

airboats and spatterdock lilies

My new friend

Tuesday, March 19 (WORD Bookstore, 7-8:30pm, 126 Franklin St, Greenpoint):

The Only Way Out is Through: Engaging Truth through YA

Description: "Pain. Confusion. Loss. Mistakes. Revelation. More mistakes. Recovery. One of the things that makes YA work is its desire to engage the messy truths of both adolescence and life in general. Here we talk about what it's like to engage this messy truth, and how to craft it into a story with some kind of form."

Crissa Chappell Tim Decker Ellen Hopkins Amy McNamara Jessica Verdi

moderator: David Levithan

Sunday March 24: Our No-Foolin' Mega-Signing at Books of Wonder:

1-1:45pm:

Jessica Brody (Unremembered, Macmillan) Marisa Calin (Between You and Me, Bloomsbury) Jen Calonita (The Grass is Always Greener, LB) Sharon Cameron (The Dark Unwinding, Scholastic) Caela Carter (Me, Him, Them, and It, Bloomsbury) Crissa Chappell (Narc, Flux) Susane Colasanti (Keep Holding On, Penguin) Zoraida Cordova (The Vicious Deep, Sourcebooks) Gina Damico (Scorch, HMH) Jocelyn Davies (A Fractured Light, HC) Sarah Beth Durst (Vessel, S&S) Gayle Forman (Just One Day, Penguin) Elizabeth Scott (Miracle, S&S)

See you there!

Lots of writerly events happening in NYC all week. So many amazing YA peeps! Check out the full schedule on the Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/NYCTeenAuthorFestival

--crissa xo