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And here she is! Our wonderfully talented M.P. Barker!



2k8: So, M.P., yesterday you told us what sparked the idea for A Difficult Boy. Now, we want to know more, more, more. How did the book actually come about?

M.P. Barker: Well, I started doing character sketches and fragments of scenes, and, after a while I had enough of them that a vague semblance of a plot began to emerge. I showed them to some friends who promptly challenged me to write five pages a week until I was finished. About two years later, I had 700 pages—an actual book…well, enough for two or three actual books. Then I spent the next eight years revising and revising and revising and shopping it around, trying to find a publisher.

2k8: M.P. is the Mistress of Revision. See how she works her magic here, on Darcy Pattison's blog.

Okay. Back to A Difficult Boy. Give us the dirt on how it found a publisher.

M.P. Barker: Ummmm….how much time do you have? It’s mostly a story of “nos” that meant “maybe” and “yeses” that meant “no.”

A friend (I have such good friends!) told me about the PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus Discovery Award contest (whew! That’s a mouthful, ain’t it?). “Yeah, right,” I said, “Like I have a chance at that.” But I entered anyway and nearly fell over when I got the call telling me I was one of the winners. The prize? My MS (manuscript) bypassed the slush pile and went directly into the hands of an editor—not a lackey or assistant or intern. (By this time, the MS was down to a mere 500 pages.)

After reading it, the editor said “no” but she’d give it another look if I revised it. I got it down to 350 pages, sent it back, waited and waited and waited and waited. Finally, I got a “yes” that inexplicably turned into a “no” four months later—this was after the MS had languished with this publisher—contractless--for two years. (To be fair, the editor was very helpful, and making her suggested changes improved and shortened the MS greatly, so it wasn’t a total waste of time.)

Once I’d recovered from my semi-suicidal depression, I started kicking myself over how stupid I’d been for not getting an agent while my MS was sitting with publisher #1. If I’d had an agent, s/he could have forced a decision one way or another a lot sooner.

So I resolved not to waste any more time and started sending out at least one query a day until I got an agent. For those of you into statistics, I sent out 137 queries—25% got no answer at all, 62% were rejected (mostly form letters or postcards), 20% requested a partial MS, and 10% asked for a full.

It took me about five months to find my agent, William Reiss of John Hawkins and Associates. He initially said, “No.” (More on that later this week.) I wrote back to ask him if there was anything I could do that might make him reconsider. A week later, he wrote back, said he’d changed his mind, and voila! An agent for moi! It took him about nine months to find me a publisher, another two months negotiating the contract, then about six months to get editorial comments and another six months of revisions before the MS was finalized and off to the printer. Phew! Have I put you to sleep yet?

2k8: Wow! M.P., you are incredibly persistent!


A Difficult Boy is a PEN New England Children's Book Caucus Discovery Award winner.

2k8: Did anything surprise you or catch you off guard when you were writing your book?

M.P. Barker: Hmmm…besides the fact that I actually got an agent and a publisher? I think how strongly the characters just took over. For example, there was this peddler who was supposed to be just sort of a walk-on part. He was supposed to be a young, skinny guy who sees Daniel and Ethan riding their master’s horse and mentions it to someone, which gets the boys in trouble—three or four paragraphs, tops.

When I started writing him, though, he turned out to be this middle-aged, short, dumpy, trollish little guy with an uncanny knack for figuring people out. He ended up challenging Daniel to a horse race, came back later in the book, and re-appears as a major character in the sequel I’m working on now.

Then there was Silas, the eldest son of Ethan and Daniel’s master. He had this sort of stand-offish, brooding attitude that I couldn’t figure out until I got close to the end of the book. Then this whole story about a deep, dark secret from his past poured out, and I felt like I was just taking dictation and wondering “Where the heck did THAT come from?” When it was done, all of a sudden his character made total sense to me.

2k8: Imagine you have an offer from your dream press to publish your dream book, no matter how insane or unmarketable or sane or marketable it might be. What story do you want to write next/someday and why?

M.P. Barker: My first dream book is the one I’m planning to concentrate on once the sequel to A Difficult Boy is finished.

The working title is The Sea Captain’s Daughter, and it’s about the wife and daughter of a sea captain who is lost at sea and how they cope after he’s gone. A very strong-willed female botanist/explorer/botanical illustrator moves in with them and turns their lives upside-down. It’s told in the form of logbooks written by the wife and daughter, which are addressed to the sea captain—a practice they’d started when he was alive, and which they continue after his disappearance.

I’ve only written about 40-50 pages so far, still trying to figure out where the story is going and who these people really are, but this is another one where the characters have taken over. As I’d originally envisioned the story, the mother was supposed to die, leaving the daughter free to go adventuring with the botanist. But like that old guy in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Iris (the mom) said “I’m not dead yet” and it looks like she’s going to have some interesting adventures of her own.

If I had a publisher with an unlimited budget, I think it would be really cool to incorporate floral borders and plates done in the style of 19th-century botanical illustrations.

My second dream book would be any one that would involve a publisher paying me large amounts of money to travel around the world—especially to places that have good food, warm climates, and nice beaches.

2k8: That's all very fine. As long as you turn it into a field trip and take along the entire class!

M.P. Barker: Sounds fun to me!

2k8: Awwww. And our hardcore question of the day: What question won't most people know to ask you? What's your answer?


M.P. Barker: Would you like some chocolate? Oh, yes, please!

Sorry to have been the silent bee of late...

It's been busy in the Gibson hive of late. But it's been all good stuff. I post to you from my hotel room in South Beach Miami where I've been since Sunday. Before that, we were up in Clearwater Beach for the wedding my wonderful friend and critique partner, Diana Peterfreund. I can't download my pics yet, but let me assure you, she was the essence of a bridal magazine bride...tres gorgy!!!

But yeah...I missed out on the guilty pleasure post because I was experiencing my guilty pleasure...the beach. For me, it's so much more than just a vacation away from the cold New England weather that's set in. It's a total mind and body getaway. The sun it soothing to me. Yes, I wear sun block, but I've got Indian blood in me and I seem to come alive in the sun. I feel better when I sit out in the sun. The surf...wow...I could sit and listen to the waves all day pounding the shore and slipping back out in to the ocean. And who doesn't like squiggling their toes in the sand?

Here's a view from where we stayed in Clearwater. The sand there is sugar...honestly. White and sifted like flour. I highly recommend a visit there.



And here's a picture of our spot in Miami Beach. Every time we visit here, this is where we plop down to spend several hours. The art deco designs of the whole beach decor is just gorgeous.



So...what is your favorite beach and why?

Hugs,
Marley = )

SORORITY 101: Zeta or Omega?
SORORITY 101: The New Sisters
May 2008, Puffin Books
writing as Kate Harmon

BuzzBlog readers may remember a few months back when Growing Up Godly became OH. MY. GODS. (a way better title anyway). Well, the reason it changed at that time, my editor said, was that the info was due to the catalog that goes out to book buyers and other folks responsible for ordering books.

Oh my gosh, I thought. If the catalog is going out, surely I'm going to show up on bn.com any day now!

So I started checking. Not every day. I'm not as obsessed--er, devoted as some people. Still, once or twice a week I would log on, type in my name, and cross my fingers. Nothing. Nada. A bunch of random books that have absolutely nothing to do with me. Sometimes I would pop over to Amazon and try there. Or fetchbook.info, which searches bunches of sites simultaneously. Like I said, I'm not obsessed.

Then one day (okay, day before yesterday) I was with my mom at the local Borders by my parents' house in OKC. We had run in so I could grab a research book, and on the way out I said, "Hey, I'm gonna check their system real quick."

And that's when it happened. I was there. My book was there. OH. MY. GODS. was available for pre-order!!!

As soon as I got home I logged on to Amazon. Yep, I was in there. Books-a-Million? Uh-huh. Barnes and Noble? Well... I'm still waiting on that one. But for the last forty-eight hours, all I can think about is the fact that people all over the world can order my book right now. (And, at least on Amazon, at a totally amazing 32% discount!)

My guilty pleasure? Feeling like the distant dream is finally becoming a reality.

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS. (Dutton) May 2008
Available for pre-order!
teralynnchilds.com

Okay, so my tweak on Caridad Ferrer's fabulous book title (It's Not About the Accent) is not at all related to ethnic identity struggles. I'm talking about guys with accents, and how they can make any guy suddenly beyond attractive.

It could be a Scottish accent, a la Sean Connery...


Or a Spanish one, like Antonio Banderas...


There's Colin Farrell's Irish brogue...


Australian-born Troy hottie, Eric Bana...


And super-sexy Israeli, Oded Fehr.


Face it, blogsters, there's just something magical about an accent. Who are your favorite foreign-born actors? Bonus points for actors who aren't native English speakers!

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS. (Dutton) May 2008
teralynnchilds.com

Loves, loves, loves me some hockey! What's not to love? Men in pads going thirty miles an hour with sticks, bashing each other into the boards, slamming to the ice and scoring with only a few seconds left. It's testasterone at it's best!


And my favorite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs...my favorite player...Darcy Tucker. What's not to love? He shoots, he scores...





He fights...





He's a leader and a team player...





And he's sooooooo cute!





What's your favorite sport? Favorite player? Let us know!


And a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge CONGRATS to Stephanie Hale for her new sale!!!


Hugs
Marley = )


SORORITY 101: ZETA OR OMEGA?
SORORITY 101: THE NEW SISTERS
writing as Kate Harmon
May 2008, Puffin Books

After taking a couple weeks’ break to reintroduce ourselves and talk about the our own Simone Elkeles’ book, How to Ruin a Teenage Vacation, being nominated for a YALSA Top Ten Book award, we’re back to our Guilty Pleasures theme.

This week, our subcategory is Boys. This was something I had to think long and hard about, revisiting different times in my life, trying to zero in on one male trait that makes a guy stand out in my mind.

I realized it was listening.



What stops my clock is when a guy will block out the world to pay full attention to a girl who needs to talk. Who will concentrate on what’s important to her, hear her, and become part of her world.

Even if what she is saying seems trivial to him. Even if he doesn’t have much to contribute on the subject. Because sometimes all a girl needs is to vent...and in doing so, the problem at hand disappears, or she simply feels better.

In any case, listening really does it for me.

And there’s some cyber chocolate (sorry, the real giveaways were last week) to whoever can identify the celebrity whose ear I used. (Hint: I took the picture myself, and there aren’t many celebs I’ve gotten that close to.)

What I’m Reading: How to Take the Ex out of Ex-Boyfriend, Janette Rallison

Tina

Tina Ferraro
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
How to Hook a Hottie, January, 2008
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, Spring, 2009
www.tinaferraro.com

My name is Marley Gibson...and I am a Foodie. (Everyone say: "Hi Marley!")

Yes, my guilty pleasure in life is food. And more particularly cooking. I think it all started in Girl Scouts when I went for that Cooking badge and had so much fun learning how to boil water, break eggs, and peel potatoes. I know it sounds like a life for a mess haul cook, but I was hooked.



In college, I had a microwave and a large coffee pot/boiler and I used to make all sort of concoctions in my doorm room. Things like "tuna noodle surprise" (tuna, Ramen and cream of mushroom soup...surprise!) When I had my apartment senior year, I moved to more creative things like Beef and Potato casserole (that I got off the French Fried Onions can) and homemade spaghetti sauce (my brother's recipe that I expanded on.)



In 1996, two things happened to me. 1) I was diagnosed with a pepcid ulcer (eww...) and 2) the Food TV Network came on cable. The two things coincide, because I had to make a conscious effort to know everything I was eating, therefore eliminating a lot of "crap" from our lives. No more red meat, cut down on acidy things, no more caffeine, and lower fat foods. I thought this was going to make our mealtimes extremely boring until I started watching shows like Ready, Set, Cook and Emeril and Sara Moulten. Through these shows, I learned knifing techniques, how to pair foods and how to substitute lower fat items for higher fat items and not lose any of the flavor.



Thus began my "cheffing" career. I bought all the best products -- knives, pans, pots, bakeware -- and got serious about having fun. Since then, I am the queen of retooling recipes to make them more healthy. Cooking is my stress relief. I love the chopping and slicing and preparing of the mise en place (French term for all the prep work ahead of cooking.)



I love cooking for friends and having them over for my stuffed chicken breast with red pepper coulis, grilled grouper with tropical salsa or traditional paella. (Leave a comment if you want any of these recipes.)



On my wedding anniversary last year, I made lobster thermador with chateau potatoes and grilled asparagus.



We also had a Mardi Gras party, complete with jambalaya and King cake.





Cooking is such a guilty pleasure because it not only gives me joy to put my creativity and love into a dish, but then to serve it to people and see their enjoyment when they eat it. It's quite satisfying.

Do you have a favorite dish? Something you enjoy making for friends and family? Please share!

Hugs,
Marley = )

SORORITY 101: ZETA OR OMEGA?
SORORITY 101: THE NEW SISTERS
writing as Kate Harmon
May 2008, Puffin Books

What I'm reading right now: Sadly, nothing...but I finished a new book proposal!