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By:
rgarcia406,
on 4/13/2016
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The Open Book
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Shame the Stars by Pura Belpré Award-winning author Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Summer of the Mariposas, Under the Mesquite) is a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet set against the Mexican Revolution in 1915 Texas.
Shame the Stars is set to be released Fall 2016! We’re excited to share a first look at the cover with you today.
Eighteen-year-old Joaquín del Toro’s future looks bright. With his older brother in the priesthood, he’s set to inherit his family’s Texas ranch. He’s in love with Dulceña—and she’s in love with him. But it’s 1915, and trouble has been brewing along the US-Mexico border. On one side, the Mexican Revolution is taking hold; on the other, Texas Rangers fight Tejano insurgents, and ordinary citizens are caught in the middle.
As tensions grow, Joaquín is torn away from Dulceña, whose father’s critical reporting on the Rangers in the local newspaper has driven a wedge between their families. Joaquín’s own father insists that the Rangers are their friends, and refuses to take sides in the conflict. But when their family ranch becomes a target, Joaquín must decide how he will stand up for what’s right.
Shame the Stars is a rich reimagining of Romeo and Juliet set in Texas during the explosive years of Mexico’s revolution. Filled with period detail, captivating romance, and political intrigue, it brings Shakespeare’s classic to life in an entirely new way.
Thanks to YA Interrobang for hosting the cover reveal! We can’t wait to hear what you think of the cover.
By:
Beth Kephart ,
on 3/6/2016
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In less than five weeks,
This Is the Story of You, my Jersey Shore novel, will be released by Chronicle Books. A Junior Library Guild selection that has received two early stars, this is a mystery set in the wake of a monster storm. It's a meditation on our environment and an exploration of friendship, sisterhood, loss, and resilience.
It is, perhaps, the most urgent novel I've yet written, both in terms of themes and pacing.
On March 18, in the New York Public Library, as part of the
New York City Teen Author Festival, I'll be reading from the book and talking about the perspective adults bring to the novels they write about teens in a panel gorgeously assembled by David Levithan and featuring Carolyn Mackler, Luanne Rice, and Francisco Stork. On March 20, I'll be signing early copies at New York City's iconic Books of Wonder. And on April 30, at Main Point Books in Bryn Mawr, PA, I'll be doing a signing.
This morning I'm sharing this scene.
Here I should probably explain the rules, the lines in the sand, the ins and outs of Haven. We were a people shaped by extremes. Too much and too little were in our genes.
To be specific:
Too little was the size of things—the dimension of our island, the we-fit-inside-it-bank-turned-school, the quality of restaurants, the quantity of bridges.
Too much was The Season—Memorial Day through Labor Day. Vacationeers by the boatload, bikinis by the square inch, coolers by the mile, a puke-able waft of SPFs. The longest lines at night were at Dippy’s Icy Creams.
The longest lines by day circled the lighthouse. During The Season the public trash bins were volcanic eruptions, the songbirds were scarce, the deer hid where you couldn’t find them, the hamburgers were priced like mini filets mignons, and the rentable bikes streamed up, streamed down. At the Mini Amuse the Giant Wheel turned, the Alice in Wonderland teased, the dozen giraffes on the merry-go-round looked demoralized and beat. At Dusker’s Five and Dime the hermit crabs in the painted shells sold for exorbitant fees.
Whoever was up there in the little planes that dragged the advertising banners around would have looked down and seen the flopped hats, crusted towels, tippy shovels, broken castles, and bands of Frisbee fliers—Vacationeers, each one. Whoever was up there looking down would not have seen the bona fides, the Year-Rounders, the us, because we weren’t on the beach. We were too employed renting out the bikes, flipping the burgers, scooping the Dippy’s, cranking up the carousel, veering the Vacationeers out of riptides—to get out and be seen. From the age of very young we had been taught to maximize The Season, which was code for keeping the minimum wage coming, which was another way of saying that we stepped out of the way, we subserved, for the three hot months of summer.
We Year-Rounders had been babies together, toddlers together, kindergartners together, Alabasterans. We had a pact: Let the infiltrators be and watch them leave and don’t divide to conquer. We knew that what mattered most of all was us, and that we’d be there for us, and that we would not allow the outside world to actually dilute us. Like I said,we knew our water.
Six miles long.
One-half mile wide. Haven.
Go forth and conquer together.
Papillote Press is delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Gone to Drift by the award-winning Jamaican writer Diana McCaulay. This young adult novel, which won second prize in the CODE’s Burt Award for Caribbean Literature (2015), will be published on 29 February 2016.
Gone to Drift tells the story of a 12-year-old Jamaican boy, Lloyd, and his search for his beloved grandfather, a fisherman who is lost at sea. An adventure story about a boy confronted with difficult moral choices it will inspire its readers to choose bravery over cowardice and to follow their hearts.
"This is my first novel for young adults," says McCaulay, "and as reading meant so much to me as a teenager, I'm hoping Gone to Drift will be read and enjoyed by many Caribbean young people. I wanted to pay tribute to our long tradition of fishermen, and I'm so grateful the Burt Award has made that possible. I'm also thrilled that Gone to Drift will be published by Papillote Press, a Caribbean publishing house which I've long admired."
Gone to Drift follows on from McCaulay’s two acclaimed novels, Dog-Heart (2010) and Huracan (2012) and is built on her 2012 Regional Commonwealth prize-winning short story, The Dolphin Catchers (Granta Online). As well as writing, McCaulay founded and, for many years, ran the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET); she was also a popular newspaper columnist.
As Pamela Mordecai, author of The Red Jacket, sa ys: "Gone to Drift is a love story about Lloyd's deep affection for his grandfather, and about the author's deep love for Jamaica, its land and seas. A Jamaican coming-of-age story - realistic, often funny and deeply touching - it’s a story for adventurous boys and girls, and for grownups too."
CODE's Burt Award for Caribbean Literature is an annual award given to English-language literary works for young adults (aged 12 through 18) written by Caribbean authors. Established by CODE - a Canadian NGO that has been supporting literacy and learning for over 55 years - with the generous support of the Literary Prizes Foundation and in partnership with the Bocas Lit Fest, the Award aims to provide engaging and culturally relevant books for young people across the Caribbean.
Founded in 2011, the Bocas Lit Fest administers major literary prizes for Caribbean authors and organises the annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago’s premier literary festival.
Papillote Press, based in Dominica and London, specialises in books about Dominica and the wider Caribbean. “I love this story. It entwines a tale of modern Jamaica with memories of the old ways of the sea. The reader follows Lloyd’s desperate search for his grandfather every step of the way.” says Polly Pattullo, publisher of Papillote Press.
Meg Wolitzer has written novels that blow the minds of adult and young readers alike. Her adult work includes
The Interestings, The Ten Year Nap, The Position, and
The Wife.
Her YA novel is
Belzhar, and for middle grade readers she has
The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman.
She talked to us about writing for both adults and younger readers.
She started by describing a horrible question people ask writers at parties: "Would I have heard of you?"
The right answer ... "In a more just world, yes."
Her world involves going back and forth from one literary world to another.
"Being a writer is really about freedom," she said. "All of you should have the freedom to say I want to write the next Hunger Games. Then switch and say I want to write the AARP games. A scary tale."
Meg had a secret weapon in the fight to become a writer: her mother, an 85-year-old writer who is still publishing books.
"My mother was the only writer in town, and the exciting thing for me was that the checkout person would let us take out as many books as we wanted."
People often ask what's going to happen to books, but Meg feels encouraged. It's natural to see narrative all around in the world (including in one-celled amoebas). And the stories we tell are very reflective of us.
"A novel is a sort of concentrated version of who a person is," she said, "a boullion cube of concentrated sensibility."
She gave us great advice about how we should approach our writing.
"Be who you are, but much more so on the page. That's how a book starts to take shape. That's how a writer develops," she said. "Write what obsesses you."
Another way to do this is to write the book you would have loved to read as a teen. She once had a book taken from her because it was for older kids, and it suddenly became irresistibly alluring.
She also had the help of others when she first started writing stories, which she'd dictate. One was about truckers, and included the dialogue, "Get on the rig, Mac."
Meg's mother also wrote for adults and for children, and began her work around the time the women's movement started. Meg also became a feminist. (One of her mother's first published stories was titled "Today a Women Went Mad in the Supermarket.")
Writing tortured Meg's mother, who typed on a quivering Smith Corona. But it showed Meg writing was something you could do. She did have to get over the sex scene her mother wrote in her first book—something she was teased for by the neighborhood toughs, who went into the store and bought something from the literary fiction section, which makes her laugh now.
She encouraged us not to be afraid of what we write, and not to avoid something that makes us feel uncomfortable. When she writes her adult novels, she doesn't think about audience, except that she's the ideal reader for her kind of books. She doesn't have to worry about any of the content or emotional complexity. All her adult editor wants is to know that the book is meeting the expectations Meg had when she set out.
When you write, you should be able to do it freely without fear of being judged or found lacking. And in one sense, she writes adult work for herself today, and kid lit for the person she used to be. She is mindful of making her work have a rhythm that will work for her readers.
With "Belzhar," she was looking to create what obsessed 15-year-old Meg, not just the arty summer camp girl, but someone who was waking up to an emotional world for the first time. It's inspired by Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar," which struck her hard when she read it.
It's about a girl who was sent to a school for emotionally fragile, highly intelligent teenagers. The students there are all reunited with the things they've lost, taking the short view of their sorrows. The characters she creates are filtered through her own humanness. It's taking them and making them us. We're all different, and every novel has lots of ways in. Points of view can vary.
But we should only write about what's important to us, she said.
Switching hats means we have a lot of roles. The one we occupy among our friends and family. The one you wear when you write autobiographically. The one you wear when you're writing about about growing up in the 12th century.
"Write about what obsesses you because that is the one that people will identify with," she said, "and that will be one I definitely want to read.
By:
Elizabeth Varadan,
on 4/20/2015
Blog:
Elizabeth Varadan's Fourth Wish
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 |
| Author extraordinaire . . . |
I became acquainted with Caroline Stellings through a review I wrote of her book,
The Manager, an engrossing tale about boxing with quirky, captivating characters. You can read the review at
The Children's Book Review HERE . The Children's Book Review is an award winning, online, book review site endorsed last year by the Association for Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association.
The Manager, published by Cape Breton University Press in 2013, is a young adult novel that won the Hamilton Literary Award for Fiction. Carolyn Stellings' middle-grade novel
The Contest (published in the USA by Seventh Generation) won the ForeWord Book of the Year gold medal in 2010. Her
teen mystery, The Scratch on the Ming Vase -- which I'm reading right now and loving -- was published by Second Story Press and was included in the Canadian Children's Book CenCentre's 2013 Spring edition of Best Books for Kids and Teens . She also writes and illustrates picture books.
 |
| Humor and boxing . . . |
 |
Anne of Green Gables,
look out! |
 |
First in an exciting mystery
series . . . |
It’s my pleasure to have this award-winning author as my interview guest today. I’ll get right to it:
EV: Have you always been interested in writing? When did you first get into it seriously?
CS: Well, it was nearly 20 years ago, and I was in a PhD program at McMaster University, but stumbled upon a book about the life of the famous illustrator from Vermont, Tasha Tudor. She, of course, has done numerous stories about her corgies, and I decided then and there to quit the academics and write books about my dogs, which have always been Schipperkes. These are little black sailing dogs from Belgium, and very smart. First, though, I had to learn how to do watercolors.
EV: You write both YA fiction and picture books. Do you favor one of them over the other, or do you enjoy them equally?
CS: I love the picture books because they feature animal characters, not only my Schipperkes, but I have also done a series of mice books, and recently, my book about a fortune-telling cat, Gypsy’s Fortune (published by Peanut Butter Press) was chosen as a Best Bet in Canada, one of the top ten picture books of the year. I think everyone liked the traditional fortune cookie sayings! Novels are more difficult, but I have enjoyed doing a mystery series because I am a big fan of Nancy Drew.
EV: Do you approach the two genres differently? If so, what are some special challenges of each?
CS: The biggest challenge with the picture books, for me, is the art. I was not lucky enough to be born with artistic talent; in fact, it took me years to learn to paint. With the novels, the challenges come at that stage when the publisher assigns an editor. She then goes over the book piece by piece, and there is a lot of re-writing to do. With The Secret of the Golden Flower, the second book in my Nicki Haddon mystery series, my wonderful editor really worked hard to get it right. Nicki,the main character, is a female Chinese James Bond, and anytime a book has a number of clues, etc. the editing can take almost as much time as writing the book in the first place.
EV: Do you have any favorites among the books you’ve written?
CS: My two Skippers books, Skippers at Cape Spear and Skippers Save the Stone because they are about my dogs.
EV: Can you describe your writing process? Do you plot ahead of time? Become haunted by a theme or idea? Start with a character and then see where that leads?
CS: It usually takes me a few months to decide on my next project. Those are the months when my house is the cleanest, because I find it easier to wash floors than face the blank page. Once an idea hits, then my house isn’t so clean, because I can’t tear myself away from the computer.
I always seem to know what my ending will be, and then I sketch out a basic plot, and a few sentences for each chapter. This inevitably changes, of course, once the characters start developing minds of their own and bossing me around.
Sometimes, a book requires research. With The Manager I had to learn about boxing. Even though the book is a comedy, and boxing is just in the background, I still had to know it, right down to the last jab.
EV: The research really showed. I felt the world of boxing come alive when I read it. What was your inspiration for The Manager?
CS: One hot summer night, when I couldn’t sleep, I watched a movie called The Station Agentstarring Peter Dinklage, an achondroplastic dwarf, and a fantastic actor. I fell in love with him, and decided I had to write a YA novel with a dwarf character. I wound up with a female lead, but never stopped thinking about that film. Nothing much happens in that film, but thanks to the superb actors, it haunts you for a long time.
EV: What were some of your favorite books while growing up?
CS; The Wind in the Willows was my favorite illustrated book, and then Nancy Drew when I was a bit older. Later, of course, it was Tasha Tudor’s books, and Corgiville Fairis a masterpiece.
EV: What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?
CS: I keep this piece of advice on a sticky note on the front of my computer at all times: SOMEONE MUST WANT SOMETHING ON EVERY PAGE.
EV: Do you have any advice for beginning writers?
CS: 1.) Don’t invent a book, experience a book and then write it. 2.) Don’t tell the reader anything; make the reader feel everything instead.
EV: What are you working on now, or can you say?
CS: I am starting a western, set in 1857 Utah Territory. Because I must learn the time period, speech, clothing, etc. I am taking longer than usual with the preparatory stages, but enjoying it. And I hope to begin editing a novel I have written about Janis Joplin called Saskatoon Blues. She came to Canada just before she died in 1970 to ride the Festival Express, and when the musicians aboard the train ran out of liquor, they made an unscheduled stop in Saskatchewan. That is where my story begins! There‘s only one problem with writing about Janis Joplin – she steals every scene she is in!
EV: Ah . . . Janis Joplin. I can believe she would. When oldies-but-goodies come on my car's radio, she outshines all the other singers the DJ plays.
Caroline. It’s been such a pleasure to learn more about you and your work. Thank you for sharing all this.
Thank you so much, Elizabeth!
EV: Readers can find more about Caroline Stellings and her books at:
By:
[email protected],
on 4/15/2015
Blog:
Perpetually Adolescent
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I enjoyed writing the blog post Books with the word ‘Girl’ in the title so much, I thought I’d do one for books that have ‘boy’ in the title. At first glance, I thought this one might be easier, but let’s see how I go. The first book that comes to mind for me is […]
and really loving it. I’ve always written first drafts quickly, but I’ve never taken part in
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, where writers, pre-published and published, try to write a 50,000-word novel–or longer–in a month.
I’m glad I’m taking part this year.
I’d forgotten the joy that comes from writing a first draft (I’ve been editing two other books I’ve written, lately). I love writing quickly. I think writing quickly is part of what gets me past the editor in me. While editing is necessary, I think it’s best to come in during the second and further drafts.
I did plan out my book first (using The Anatomy of Story by John Truby, as I always do), so I know the direction I’m going, but I love discovering new things about my characters or a new plot twist or point as I write.
I’m writing about ten pages a day–by hand. I write (and edit) all my books by hand; it feels the most connected to my creativity and inner voice. I’ve been trying to cram writing this new book and then typing it up into each day, but I’m behind in typing it up (and trying to pace myself so I don’t burn myself out). So my updates on how much I’ve written are about four or five days behind on NaNoWriMo. I’m glad people understand that some of us write by hand! (And all this while I’m sick–but I’m having fun!)
I am writing a YA paranormal fantasy set in my HUNTED world, about Gemma, a queer black telekenetic girl who has been sucked into all the anti-Para messages that are constantly being spewed at her–through school, her home and neighborhood, her community, and the media, the church, and the government. This is about a girl who starts out hating herself–because after all she IS a Para, and her own mother abandoned her because of it–but in the end she discovers she’s stronger and better than she realizes. It’s about a girl who’s bought into the oppressive messages in society and is forced to unravel them. A girl who has the family and love she’s always craved, but just hasn’t seen it yet. A girl who, in the end, will have to save herself. It will be a stand-alone fantasy, but it will have some mentions of characters from HUNTED for those readers who loved HUNTED.
If you’d like to connect with me on the NaNoWriMo website, I’m here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/cherylrainfield/novels/endangered-642915/
By:
[email protected],
on 10/29/2014
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It was while researching the French explorer Nicolas Baudin that Australian children’s author, Chrissie Michaels came across one of those gems that every writer loves to find. It was the story of a young convict girl, who was transported to New South Wales for theft and ended up as a passenger on Baudin’s ship as […]
By:
Jack O'Rourke,
on 8/27/2014
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gael writer
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My current novel-in-progress will fit a loosely defined literary genre of historical fiction. That is, it will be fiction artistically grounded in a period of American history--an era in the mid-1870s--when an organized labor movement began its contest with the laissez-faire business interests of the period. The story moves through the violent birth and tragic demise of the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish immigrant mine workers who struck back at the railroad magnots who owned the mines and the lives of the mineworkers. The railroad owners, often called the 'robber-barons' in American history, also owned the justice system of Pennsylvania at the time, a state where the deep underground anthracite coal mines were fueling American industry. After the robber barons crushed an early attempt by the miners to form a labor union, they embarked on a campaign to exterminate a continued, violent resistance of the Mollies to the desperate wages and deplorable working conditions in the mines.
The Young Molly Maguires was conceived as a YA novel, and looks at the lives of several teen-aged boys and a girl, the sons and a daughter of Molly families in a local mine patch of the Pennsylvania mountains. I'd done a fair amount of reading as a boy about Irish immigrant life, and whatever I could find about the Mollies. In those days without the internet and its search engines there wasn't much, but enough to whet the appetite of a boy for reading about avengers of impossible causes. There was even a Sherlock Holmes story that revolved around the existence of the Mollies. A lot of the early stuff portrayed the Mollies as a totally villainous band of outlaws, and the newspapers of the times described them as worse than the secret society of Thugs in India, robbers and assassins devoted to the goddess, Kali. Heady stuff, but that sort of press coverage effectively distracted readers from sympathetic concern for the desperate attempts of workers to wrest a living wage from the robber barons.
More objective and factual information about the working conditions and lives of the mineworkers became available from newspaper articles and essays written by labor union leaders following the failed efforts of the earlier union organizers. By then, the Mollies were finished, and the immigrant waves had shifted to new arrivals from Eastern Europe. Labor conditions were still very harsh, but they were beginning to improve as union organizing grew nationwide. The most thorough and engaging documentary book I have read on the time of the Mollies was written by Kevin Kenny, a professor of history, titled, Making Sense of the Molly Maguires, and published in 1998. For general coal mining lore, I have been a geotechnical engineer and have worked in underground coal mines. I did some research on the older equipment and techniques, and by 2000, I was ready to begin a first draft of my Mollies novel.
I thought it was an important point for me to keep in mind, relative to all such intriguing old and new data sources, to use only as much historical data as might enhance the 'fictional dream' (as in The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner) for my novel. There is a recent Writer's Chronicle essay (Sep. 2014) by Debra Spark, Raiding the Larder--Research in Fact-Based Fiction, which addresses the point. Among the ideas Spark discusses is... when it comes to fiction, information is only interesting because it is part of the story, because it has an emotional or narrative reason for being, and, Indeed all the research for authenticity can get in your way...and not just because it's a time suck. Colum McCann distinguishes between what is true--or perhaps what is actual--and what is honest in fiction. Similarly, Sparks quotes the author Jim Shepard... you're after a "passable illusion," not the truth. This is fiction, after all. It's a lie. You're just trying to make it convincing." And, discussing author Lily King's use of research for her anthropology-based novel (Euphoria)... the important thing isn't the information but (quoting King) "how you get your imagination to play with all that information."
I have a final draft of my Mollies novel about ready for review. I've considered the possibility of submitting it through the traditional publishing route, but I'm getting old and do not relish wading through that long and often disparaging process. Alternately, I had a thoroughly satisfying experience with self-publishing my first YA novel with Amazon, and I might go that route again with this one. If there are any professional book reviewers (newspapers, YA groups) among readers of this blog who might be interested in providing a no-cost review, with your permission to quote, I would be pleased to hear from you through the 'comments' link below.
Spark by Rachael Craw (Walker Books)
For most teenagers having your mum die, having to live with your mum's twin sister in another city, and having your body go all strange on you (massive growth spurt, tingling all over body, visions and nightmares) would send you in a depression - not Evie. She's feisty and motivated even when thrown a curve ball on top of everything else ... When she meets up with her childhood friend Kitty it sparks a desperate desire to protect her friend at all costs.
Find out who is trying to harm her friend and why Evie feels so compelled to rescue her. Throw in a potential romance, intrigue, and you have an exciting Sci-fi thriller for YA. Okay, so I love science fiction but even people who do not have Dr Who or Star War leanings will love this book. There's no other world, or planets, or aliens but an ordinary girl mixed up in an experiment gone wrong two generations ago.
I literally couldn't stop reading this book (until the early hours of the morning); the twists and turns in the plot had me turning page after page. When I finished the book (matchsticks propping up my eyes) and tried to find out when the next book in the series was coming - I read the author's bio and was really surprised ... The story is set in USA and it reads like an international bestselling book - I was not expecting it to have been written by a first time author from a provincial town in New Zealand.
Rachael Craw has a great support team: agents Barbara and Chris Else, her writers' group, and the Walker Book team, and she has been an English teacher at High School - needless to say, this is a writer to watch. Her writing is taut, the plot is gripping, and her characters are very likeable. I can't wait for the next two books in the series: Stray (book two, 2015) and Shield (book three, 2016). If you're a Divergent or a Viral fan - you'll be hooked on this new exciting series.
Author interview here and here
Discussion guide here
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By:
Sherrie Petersen,
on 7/21/2014
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Write About Now
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I hope you had a good two weeks off. I know I did. My WIP is up to 16K (hooray!), not as far as I’d like to be, but all progress is good so I’ll celebrate that! Today I’m giving away my ARC of a YA novel that I’ve heard compared to Harry Potter. (Yeah, […]
The 2014 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature were recently announced. And the winner in the fiction category?
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith.
I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader copy of this YA back in early February before the novel was released and I have to say, it was one of the strangest books I've ever read. Parts made me laugh out loud, and parts made me wonder what Andrew Smith was smoking when he came up with this plot. Six-foot-tall grasshoppers taking over the world? Yeah. Like I said...
But the backbone of the story – the relationship between Austin, his girlfriend and his best friend – make it a worthwhile read. Even if you do have to suspend your disbelief as an enormous grasshopper makes a meal out of the chemistry teacher. Or when you happen upon chapter titles like, "Never Look for Ice Cream in a Sperm Freezer."
You can read
The Horn Book review here. But if you'd like to read this YA novel for yourself, I'm giving away my ARC. Fill out the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win!
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By:
Mayra Calvani,
on 10/24/2012
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When Beverly was a child she hated to read. Even though her eighth-grade teacher sent her poem “Stars” to a high school anthology and it was published in Young America Sings she hated to write. In spite of her rocky relationship with books, she managed to graduate from high school then attended Midwestern State University, where she read more books than she could count. After four years, she graduated cum laude with, you guessed it, a teaching degree. And somewhere along the way, perhaps reading to her sons or reading great Newbery winners with her students, she discovered what she’d been missing: reading was fun. Now she reads most every day. She also writes stories and articles for children and teens.
Beverly lives in the country with her husband, two cats, and a variety of wild critters that stop by for a handout or just to peek in the door. Besides writing, she plays the piano, searches for her ancestors, and teaches a women’s Sunday school class. She also has the most beautiful grandchildren in the world.
Congratulations on yet another book release, Beverly! How do you keep yourself so productive?
Thank you, Mayra. It is fun to see a new book, after so many months of writing and editing, finally in the hands of readers. As for being productive, I think as an older writer, realizing I’m in those supposedly “golden years” motivates me to stay busy. Each hour of every day is precious to me. I hate to waste time. Maybe my years as a teacher helps too, since I’m used to a schedule. Even though I retired years ago, I still write out my plans for each day, not that I always stick to them, but I try. Also, my sons are grown and away, leaving me time for myself, which is rare when you have children at home. I do not see how writers with young kids and even teens manage to write.
I write at least two hours every morning except Saturday, which is catch up day, and Sunday, church day. Sometimes, my words are not worth keeping. Other times, they flow onto the screen and a story forms.
What was your inspiration for Life on Hold? Sounds like a compelling mystery.
One day, I read an article in the local newspaper about a young couple that had a baby while they were still in high school. The girl’s parents made her give the child away. The teens eventually went their separate ways, married others, and had other children. Years later, a chance conversation between the boy or girl (I forget which one) and a friend mentioned an 18-year-old boy they knew that had been adopted when a baby. The article went on to tell how the former boyfriend and girlfriend, who no longer were married to their spouses, found each other again and decided to search for the son they’d given up. And, you guessed it, the teen mentioned was their son. They went on to have a wonderful relationship with him. I love stories with happy endings. I also imagine this story happens quite often.
Could you share with us what your process was like during the creation of this novel?
Most of the time, my stories start from something I read about, or sometimes a little voice speaks to me, or an event begs to be told. With Life on Hold, I basically started with the plot of a teen discovering her father really was her stepfather. At first, I wasn’t sure how the story would end or even how we’d get there. The characters carried me along, occasionally as confused as I was; other times knowing exactly where they were going. I’m pretty stubborn when it comes to my writing and try to write a little every day, as I mentioned earlier. My schedule is flexible, but mornings are my best writing time. It took me a bit over two years to write the story, including many revisions and then more edits with my great editor. Yes, I’m slow, but like the turtle I eventually reach my destination.
Did you hit any walls while writing the book? If yes, what did you do to overcome them?
Not walls exactly, but the final version had many changes from the original as I got to know the characters better. I keep each draft on the chance an earlier edition might have a scene I’d want to add back in. When a scene wasn’t working, I rewrote it in different ways to see what worked best. Many times the first thought was the best.
Did you celebrate when you typed ‘The End?’
I didn’t do anything special, but the words The End are two of my favorite words. They give me a sense of accomplishment, because many times in a story, I’ll wonder if it will ever end or if I should scrap the whole thing.
What do you want readers to get out of this book?
I’d like for children/teens who are adopted or those that are step children to realize that bringing a child into the world does not make a man a father. (Or a mother, a mother) Holding, rocking, and whispering gentle words to a child when she’s sick make a father. Attending her programs at school, helping her with spelling, taking her to the movies make a father. A father and mother show their love by actions: love, discipline when necessary, and always being there when the child has a crisis, whether big or small.
What do you enjoy most about being a children’s book author?
The most exciting thing about writing for children to me is when a child or teen says he/she likes my books. What greater reward can an author wish for?
Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?
You’ve heard it before, but it’s true. Hang in there. Never give up. I have enough “No thank you” letters to paper my whole writing room, but some of them also contain a word of encouragement. Cling to those comments. Use them to improve your story. Keep writing. Learn more. Attend conferences, Online ones if you can’t get to live ones. Keep writing. Yes, I’m repeating myself, but if you stop writing when times are tough, you’ll never be published. If you’re persistent, one day, you’ll succeed. Hint: Don’t expect to get rich, unless you write a blockbuster. Enjoy the writing. For me, the finished story is the reward.
What’s on the horizon?
My chapter book, Kate, Little Angel Sometimes (title will be changed) is scheduled for a May/June 2013 release from 4 RV Publishing. January 2013 is the release date of my Tween paranormal A Pirate, a Blockade Runner, and a Cat, MuseItUp Publishing. My orphan train story, Scattered to the Winds, is under contract with Twilight Times, and Guardian Angel has Weird Noises in the Night, no dates set yet.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers?
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my thoughts. I hope they help you in some way. Visit me on my blogs. I love comments. If you read my books, please let me know what you think.
Thank you, Beverly!
Thank you, Mayra. It’s been my pleasure, sharing my work with everyone.
By: Jenny Martin,
on 8/10/2012
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Guys.
GUYS. I AM HAVING AN UGLY CRY ABOUT POSTING THIS AND I AM STILL IN SHOCK AND I CAN’T STOP SHOUTING IN RANDOM CAPS-LOCKY WAY BECAUSE…
My agent sold my debut. Our first book deal.
(C’mon. I know you want to sing along with me.)
I can’t believe this is happening. And if you are my twitter friend, or my IRL friend, or my I-haven’t-met-you-yet friend, you may or may not know how daunting and scary and wonderful my writing journey has been so far. Whatever the case, thank you for sharing this moment with me. I love you for it. I would hug you very tightly right now, if you were here. I would ugly cry on your shoulder, and you would get impatient and tell me to stop being so maudlin and so silly, and I would listen to you. But just for a minute. Then I would start acting like a sentimental nincompoop again because…
One of my childhood dreams is coming true. I WRITE BOOKS AND SOMEONE BELIEVES IN THEM AND SOMEONE WANTS TO PUT THEM OUT INTO THE WORLD. I AM A PENGUIN.
I am so incredibly happy and lucky to be able to write that. I have so many people to thank (My family! My fabulous agent, Sara! My dream editor, Heather!). I have presents to give. I have (not very) gory details to share. But that is another post, one I’ll be writing soon. For now, thank you for reading this and being my any kind of friend. It means a lot to me.
TODAY
TOMORROW
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on 7/30/2012
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The Divorce Girl: A Novel of Art and Soul by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Publisher: Ice Cube Press
I’m excited to introduce to you–The Divorce Girl as part of the WOW! Women On Writing blog tour. What a great, great book. I was captivated on page one and couldn’t wait to get to the end of the book. I recommend this book to ANYONE! I have a print copy to give away–from the author. Please leave a question and/or comment about the book by Sunday, August 5 at 8:00 pm CST to be entered to win (US mailing addresses only, please.)
Here’s my review:
From the first page of The Divorce Girl: A Novel of Art and Soul by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, readers will discover that it’s a well-written novel with a lively, witty, teenage voice narrating the story. Mirriam-Goldberg captivates you on page one and doesn’t let go until the end of the book. She includes unique, well-rounded characters; unusual settings; and plenty of interesting subplots as well as an understanding of how the world and people work, especially during and after a divorce.
Mirriam-Goldberg is the 2009-2012 Poet Laureate of Kansas. Her love of words and ability to string them together to create a masterpiece shines through in this novel. Simply stated: “It’s a good book!” Although divorce is a subject that has been written about thousands of times in YA and women’s fiction, The Divorce Girl will still fascinate readers who will be drawn into the story because of Mirriam-Goldberg’s writing.
It centers on Deborah, a high school student in New Jersey in the 1970s and oldest daughter of Jewish parents, who announce that they are getting divorced with no huge surprise to her. Her parents have been fighting for years, and it became progressively worse after a baby sibling died of SIDS.
At first when the divorce is announced, Deborah’s father takes a special interest in her, leaving the two younger (surviving) children with their mother. Her dad takes her regularly to eat at a diner, where a Greek hostess, Fatima, works. It soon becomes clear that he has an ulterior motive to these dad-daughter dinners. But Deborah doesn’t seem to mind. She likes the attention from her father, who is talking to her as if she is an equal.
Because of the special attention from her father and the tensions that rise with her mother during the divorce proceedings, Deborah winds up choosing to live with her father and Fatima, which causes many problems within the family, including with her grandparents.
Soon, she realizes that her father isn’t quite the man she thought he was or that he presents himself to be in public; but she doesn’t feel like she has anywhere else to go. He works her hard, too—at home, cooking and cleaning, and at a weekend auction, similar to a flea market, selling large-sized clothing.
The good thing is Deborah loves photography and has quite a talent for it, and her father allows her to take a photography course. He also allows her to get involved with a youth group at the local, and somewhat liberal, temple.
These two outlets and the people there basically save her soul from destruction, as she lives with an abusive father and is estranged from her mother.
Although this book is written with a teenage narrator, the author state
By:
Tara Lazar,
on 7/19/2012
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One of my favorite quirky picture books is OTTO GROWS DOWN by Michael Sussman, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to learn that Michael has a new YA novel, CRASHING EDEN. Well, Michael is crashing my blog today and he’s leaving behind a paperback copy just for you.
“Dr. Suss” (as I like to call him) is a prolific, versatile writer who has published books in diverse genres. So I asked him how he shifts gears to try different formats and what obstacles he faced.
TL: Michael, you’ve written medical books, picture books, and now a young adult novel. How did you adjust from writing one genre to another?
MS: The toughest shift was from writing nonfiction professional books on psychotherapy to writing fiction. About 20 years ago I first tried my hand at a novel. Looking back at that manuscript, I cringe at how stiff and wooden my writing was—especially the dialogue. Thanks to practice and critiques from writer’s groups, my next novel was considerably better, although it too went unpublished.
After reading hundreds of picture books to my son, I decided to start writing for children. That transition was a breeze. Writing for kids totally freed my imagination and allowed me to be much more playful and fantasy-based. The result was OTTO GROWS DOWN, a story about a boy who becomes trapped in backwards time.
In writing for young adults, I benefited from having already spent years honing my novel-writing skills. There were, however, two major differences. It was a stretch to write with the voice of a teenager, and that took a great deal of revising to get right. Secondly, I had to revisit my own adolescence, and that was no picnic!
TL: Which genre is your comfort zone?
MS: When it comes to writing, I’m such a perfectionist that I’m not sure I have a comfort zone.
Writing picture books is probably easiest for me, since the sky’s the limit when it comes to letting your imagination run wild. In terms of novels, I think I feel most comfortable writing thillers and mysteries, especially with a comic edge.
TL: How did you get the idea for CRASHING EDEN? What made you decide to tackle the YA genre?
I started trying my hand at fiction about twenty years ago. I wrote a psychological thriller and a comic mystery novel, neither of which were published. I developed severe writer’s block, which was immediately relieved when I began writing for young children. Looking back, I think I was working out unresolved issues from my own childhood. Next I turned to writing for young adults. Consciously, I chose YA because the market was hot! But unconsciously, I believe I realized that it would give me the chance to work on issues from my mostly miserable adolescence.
The genesis of CRASHING EDEN began with the title, which had floated around in my mind for nearly a decade. I’d been interested in world mythology for many years, and especially intrigued by the widespread myths suggesting that humans have degenerated from an ancient state of grace, symbolized by Paradise or the Golden Age.
I began to wonder what
Picture Book
Sam Pylar by Shalesh Vasan, ill. Duncan West, Phantom Tree House
I couldn’t find any information on the internet about this writer, and the publisher’s website at www.phantomhouse.com wasn’t very forthcoming. Recommendation to small publishers: provide plenty of information online for reviewers, booksellers, and librarians. It’s a mildly spooky story about a vampire named Sam Pylar, written from the p.o.v. of Lucy, his 7-year-old classmate. When Sam eats a garlic sausage at Lucy’s birthday party, he is severely indisposed. He later re-visits Lucy as a vampire bat to deliver his good wishes. The production of the book is handsome, with a fold-over glossy cover and top-quality paper. The illustrations are done in an old-fashioned style reminiscent of the Phantom-type comics of the mid-1900s. The illustrator has taken a daring step by rendering the first half of the book in muted colour and the second half in heavy black ink, presumably to emphasis the spookiness of Sam’s transformation into a bat. Children may need this change of style explained to them. Definitely not a book for pre-schoolers. ISBN 978 0 9864571 6 6 RRP $19.99 Pb YA Novel
Snakes and Ladders by Mary-Anne Scott, Scholastic NZ
This is Mary-Anne Scott’s first book, but writing runs in her blood – her mother is Joy Watson, author of the popular Grandpa’s Cardigan series. The novel takes a contemporary look at several current issues such as parent-child relationships, bullying, and peer pressure. Finn’s aging rocker dad is on trial for accidentally killing a pedestrian. Initially Finn is glad to take up his grandmother’s offer to fund him at an exclusive boys’ boarding school – but Finn soon finds out that his family secrets make him a target for a bully. His life becomes more and more complicated as he tries to fulfil the expectations of Mia, a popular girl at a nearby school who has decided Finn will make a nice accessory for the school ball. But a disastrous after-ball party results in heartbreak for Finn and his mates, and Finn finally realises it’s time to face up to his own demons and reveal the truth about earlier events. Finn is an engaging hero, and
Themes in Colors Like Memories
First off, thanks a million for hosting me today! I love connecting with other writers and readers :) And I do have a contest running for my blog tour—all commenter’s are entered into a drawing for two copies of my book, and one person will win a $25 giftcard to Amazon or Barnes & Nobel. There are more details on my home blog, if you want to check it out!
So, today I thought I’d talk a little about the themes in Colors Like Memories—my debut novel published by MuseItUp. Some part of me is going “Oh, great, back to high school English class.” Back then, I was a lot more into reading for an escape than reading for themes and symbolism and all the other stuff that cropped up on midterms and finals. When I’m writing, I’m still more invested in characters and plots and world-building than anything else :) But there are a few things in my book that are subjects that I have spent a lot of time thinking about that worked their way into the story and plot.
The most prominent of these is probably forgiveness. My main character, Julia, feels a huge amount of guilt over the death of her boyfriend. Marcy, the girl Julia’s supposed to be helping, feels terrible about the death of her mother. Both of these girls are trying to find a way to play the cards they have been dealt, and Marcy at least is ready to throw in her hand. Wow, doesn’t that sound uplifting? I swear it’s not as dark and depressing as it might seem! Anyhow, I think most people have faced events in their life that have brought them a great deal of sadness and loss, and finding a way to face this can be some of the hardest trials we ever face. They can be also incredibly character building (see what I did there? Character building? Gotta love the bad puns!). Learning how to forgive others, and especially how to forgive oneself, are definitely themes that are addressed in CLM. Of course, there’s some romance, a bookstore, and lots of flying tossed into the mix to make things interesting!
Inquiring minds want to know: do you find it easier to forgive others, or yourself?
Release date: May 11th 2012 from MuseItUp Publishing.
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By:
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on 2/26/2012
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I am super excited that I am hosting Meredith Zeitlin today on her blog tour for the wonderful YA book, Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters! I am also excited to tell you that we have a copy to giveaway, so after you read the synopsis and Meredith’s guest post and watch the book trailer, you will be super inspired to write a comment or question to Meredith. Then I will choose one of you lucky commenters to win this book on Sunday night, March (OMG, MARCH, already!!) 4 and announce the winner on Monday. If you are a tweeter, you can also tweet this contest with the hashtag #FrYrDisasters. Then come back and put the URL of your tweet in a comment for another chance to win.
Synopsis:
Let’s say you’re fourteen and live in New York City. You’d think your life would be like a glamorous TV show, right? And yet . . . You don’t have a checking account, much less a personal Black American Express card. You’ve never been to a club, and the only couture in your closet is a Halloween costume your mom made from an old laundry bag.
In other words? You’re Kelsey Finkelstein – fourteen and frustrated. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled. Kelsey wants to rebrand herself for high school to make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny. But just because Kelsey has a plan for greatness . . . it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it.
Kelsey’s hilarious commentary and sardonic narration of her freshman year will have readers laughing out loud – while being thankful that they’re not in her shoes, of course.
About the Author: Meredith Zeitlin is a writer and voiceover artist who lives in Brooklyn with two adorable feline roommates. She also writes a column for Ladygunn Magazine, changes her hair color every few months, and has many fancy pairs of spectacles. In case you’re wondering whether any of Kelsey’s experiences are based on Meredith’s own, the answer is NO WAY. When she was fourteen, Meredith looked and behaved perfectly at all times, was never in a single embarrassing situation, and always rode to school on her very own unicorn.
And now a few words from Meredith. . .
When I was twelve or so, pretty much everything my parents – particularly my mother – said to me, suggested, invited me to, or insisted I do seemed to pretty obviously be one more attempt to ruin my entire life. (Don’t worry, parents of teens, I eventually got over it. I even dedicated my book to my mom – although, if we’re splitting hairs here, I’m still pretty sure she’s trying to drive me crazy…)
One of the very few exceptions to the rule was books. My mom and I had a special bond over words and language and reading. My dad wasn’t a big book person; in fact, I never saw him reading one, ever. But my mother was an English teacher and a huge bookworm; and despite the million and one things she did that made it seem impossible to believe she was my real mother, I was always elated when she came home with a new paperback or three for me or invited me to ride with her to the library. And we read each other’s books, too – nothing was off-limits in my house in the literature department. Looking back now, I realize how grown up it made me feel to be allowed to read her books. I can also see how u
Review: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie. Illustrations Ellen Forney.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. NY: Little Brown, 2007. ISBN: 0316013684 9780316013680 142876450X 9781428764507
Michael Sedano
Among the more disheartening sights in my purview is an ever-growing “to be read” list. As the list grows to become unmanageable, good things fall off the list. It’s so heartening, then, when one stumbles across a supernumerary and finds it super.
That’s me and Sherman Alexie. Back a few years, his title, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, caught my eye and made it to my road to hell list. Recently, my good intentions and a random reference coincided and finally I read this wonderful novel.
Pegged as a YA piece, adults, too will enjoy
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I bought a copy for a teenager heading off for a summer vacation on or near an Indian Reservation. I told the boy the story resonates with me, too. In many ways, the novel is part of my schooling story, too. I moved from a brown school on the “wrong side of the tracks” to an anglo school in the heart of middle-class Redlands. Learning many a hurtful lesson about stereotypes, mean white folks, expectations, and toughness, nonetheless these are valuable experiences refugees from the internal colony learn to swallow. Lots of things turn out well, too.
Arnold “Junior” Spirit lives the bleak existence of a reservation Spokane Indian. Junior’s loving parents and family friends exude warmth despite torments of poverty and alcoholism. Schooling is no way off the reserve. Arnold opens his geometry book and sees it once belonged to his mother. It’s a slap in the face but a realization he and his rez school classmates are trapped in an aimless spiral. There’s only one way out: enroll in the white school off the reservation.
Courage and love make escape possible. Junior’s parents do whatever they’re able. If there’s money for gas, give him a ride the 20 miles to school. When there’s not, the boy walks both ways or catches a ride. Takes guts to stick it out while absorbing the emotional beatings, and the physical ones, delivered on both sides of Arnold’s worlds.
For Arnold it’s the worst of both worlds. Shunned, and called apple by folks on the rez, “Chief” and much worse by the whites, Arnold confronts the ways of the white world with his home-grown manners. Singled out for special torments by racist kids, Arnold does what his rez culture taught him: fight. It’s a marvelous scene when the slight kid punches the bullying football player. Arnold hunkers down for a retaliatory beating, stares wide-eyed as the bloodied athlete marvels, “you punched me!” before he slinks off with his cowed buddies. The confrontation produces unexpected results: respect and the big guy’s friendship.
Any brown kid who’s ever been thrust into an anglo-dominated school will recognize the crap Arnold is put through. That the boy calls upon his culture and intellectual resources makes Alexie’s novel an ideal example of “literature as equipment for living”. Not only does the boy persevere, he wins loyalty from the entire school and a white girlfriend. He learns the white kids have the same dreams and likelihood of attainment as Arnold. They’re the same only different.
Children of privilege should read this novel. From it they will learn empathy and take keen insights about those isolated brown kids in their midst. Indeed, a brow
f2m:the boy within by Hazel Edwards and Ryan Kennedy
ISBN:9781876462901 , Publisher: Ford Street Publishing
"Tick the box. M or F. Male or Female are the only options 'ordinary' people know about. M for Male. F for Female. You're one or the other. But what if you're not? Like me. As I'm finding out."
All adolescents face the quest for identity, but gender change complicates 'coming of age'. Meet school-leaver Skye who is transitioning from female to male. Skye plays guitar in her all-girl band, The Chronic Cramps. Making her name in the punk music scene is easier than FTM (female to male) transitioning: from Skye to Finn, from girl to man. At the school reunion, Finn faces victimisation, but challenges the bullies.
Uncovering genetic mysteries about family heritage tears the family apart. Gran’s loved sibling Al was also Alberta. Transgender identity is more than hormones and surgery, it’s about acceptance. Going public, Finn sings FTM lyrics on TV.
With a little help from bemused mates and parents who don’t want to lose a daughter, but who love their teenager, Finn is transitioning.
Read the first 12 pages for free
here. See the
trailer.
Awards & Recognitions: Included in White Ravens 2011, displayed at Bologna Book Fair.
Top Five YA novels for 2010 on Literary Clutter review blog (George Ivanoff)
Hazel Edwards and Ryan Kennedy co-wrote the novel f2m:the boy within and collaborated via Skype using a webcam. By writing together online and using web conferencing, they developed the entire novel using web 2.0 tools.
Australian Author
Hazel Edwards has written over 200 books for children and adults. This is New Zealand author
Ryan Kennedy's first book.
Book Reviews
•The Great Raven - Book Review "It’s well-written and answers a lot of questions"
•The Reading Stack - Book Review:"Give it a try. f2m blew my mind"
•Read Plus - Book Review: "Recommended"
•Aussie Reviews - Book Review: "A groundbreaking novel"
•Paper Tigers Blog - Book Review: "It’s a fast-paced and compulsive read"
•The Gender Centre, Australia - Book Review: "F.T.M. the boy within is a valuable addition to teen literature and should be in every school and public library"
•Reader's Corner – Book Review: "superbly written and well researched"
•Mortal words - Book Review: "a great, easy read"
•Cheryl Morgan - Book Review: "very approachable and non-confrontational."
•Bookie Monster - Book Review: "should be mandatory reading"
•Rooster Tails contains 'fan art' . 'going to recommend f2m to my Mum.'
•The Year in Review' ' delighted to see the YA market producing good books about trans characters'. Cheryl Morgan
Guest blogging today on the Barn Door Book Loft.
Come on over and meet Roger Bruner author of Found in Translation. There’s a giveaway…
By: Kathy Temean,
on 2/13/2011
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On Saturday night Anita Nolan and I traveled to the Barnes and Noble to see Cynthia Leitich Smith. She was doing a book signing for her new book BLESSED, which is the third book in her gothic novel series. Since I hadn’t read the series, I bought all three books and had them signed. I’m reading MOON OVER MANIFEST (Newbery Winner), which is really good, but when I finish, I’ll start Cynthia’s TANTALIZE and discover how her main character starts up a vampire themed restaurant. Of course, it becomes a place that vampires frequent.
I never met Cynthia, but I think like most people I felt like I knew her from of her blog Cynsations. You probably think she does her blog, just as a marketing tool, but she really is a caring author who wants to give back (something I hope other published authors will try to do). Patty Brown who comes out to many of our New Jersey events came out to support Cynthia, which was nice. Cynthia knew Patty from one of her MFA classes at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Patty says her whole experience with Vermont College and their MFA Program was wonderful. I know that is something most of us would like to do.
Cynthia is already writing her fourth book for the series and she is working on a graphic novel of the series, except the graphic novel is going to be told from the main male(werewolf) character’s point of view, which I think is very cool. She also talked about how she completely writes the first draft of her novels and then throws the whole thing away. The real book starts after that. I know there are people who say that is what you should do, but I never actually met anyone who was that brave. I could sit down and start writing the story again, but I am not brave enough to just trash the whole thing. I keep everything, just in case I want to go and look. I never do, but like I said, I am not that brave.
After the book signing Anita, Cynthia, her publicist Heather from Candlewick Press and I went out to dinner. It was really nice getting to know both or them and we will be doing an interview with Cynthia for a later issue of Sprouts Magazine. Don’t tell anyone, but Cynthia drinks very dark red wine. It almost looks like she is sipping blood. Okay, I think I’m getting too into her books.
One of the things she said was that she started writing paranormal right before the genre really took off and she feels the next big thing is going to be in the direction of science fiction. Which stopped me, because that is exactly what Agent Ginger Clarke from Curtis Brown said at the conference in New York last month. So there you go. We already know that dystopia is big, so it doesn’t seem like a big jump to get to science fiction.
Hope you get a chance in the future to meet Cynthia. Maybe we can work something out for next year’s NJSCBWI June conference.
Please Note: I have extended the “Early Bird” pricing to March 1st. After talking to some of you, it sounded like everyone could use a little more time. Hope this helps.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Kathy
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| A Query is the Rock Breaking the Surface |
It's been an interesting month of working on a YA novel, "The General's Daughter," which has evolved into "The Brigadier's Daughter." Someone in an online writer's group pointed out that there was a 1996 movie with the first title, based on a novel of the same name. Presumably, titles are not copyrighted, but it's no big problem to change it. The mom is still a one-star general, which works out to be a Brigadier General. Writer's groups, or writer's workshops, can be tough with critiques of a Work-in-Progress (WIP), but generally no one is shooting to kill, and if the author can just adjust to the flak he might better advance across the beachhead and come out with a better book at the end.
The last blog talked a little about how the first 5 pages need to 'hook' the reader; they need to compel him to want to read further. There's an even tighter window of opportunity to grab the attention of an agent or editor to want to read an offered manuscript. It's one thing to write, say, a 50,000 words YA manuscript, and quite another to write that dreaded one-page query, which somehow has to distill all that material into, at most, about 300 words. Helpfully, there is an online forum of writers accessible at
www.AgentQueryConnect.com, where a writer may post a draft query and invite critiques. Of course there is an art to critiquing material, and not everyone is so artful, but generally a lot can be learned by careful attention to the sum total of all the critiques.
The opening lines of a fiction query letter always contain introductory details of how the writer chose to contact this particular agent/editor, the title of the completed work, and the genre. Some include the number of words here, and some insist it belongs at the very end of the query. Probably the agent/editor would prefer it up here, so that they can decide whether to read further about any work that has an unsuitable number of words for the genre. Gordon Lish may have been willing to edit down Raymond Carver, but it may be presumptuous of lesser writers to expect such willingness by the editor.
The next part of the query is the 'hook,' two or three lines giving the color of the story and a compelling element of tension about where the story is going. Here was the first attempt for 'General..'
A prepping journey undertaken by teenagers to signal an independence from parents is difficult. If the parents divorce first, prepping is maybe half over. But when the remaining parent is a dominating, all consuming disciplinarian, an Afghan immigrant mother, who also happens to be a one-star general in the US Army, prepping takes on epic proportions. Most of the critiques commented that the voice wasn't appropriate for YA; too 'preachy;' or too academic. Generally, sitting back and looking at it again, they're right. That's how it's going to come across to the query reader. The actual story doesn't have such academic overtones. It's just the result of laboring to get a whole lot of ideas on the table in a couple of sentences, and using big words to do the job. Here's a later version after the critiques and a couple of revisions:
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What kind of insights did I get from the literary fiction I recall, or the movies or plays I saw, in those early formative years, the years I spent urgently trying to become who I am now--for better or worse? Some stories that jump to mind might simply have been good, escapist fare transporting me to another place or time, or featuring especially interesting characters. I might have thought those characters' exploits seemed exciting, or fun-laden, or sad; however, perhaps in only a few cases, did a character really touch something deeply profound in the ongoing search for who I was, or was trying to be.
Some of the books I remember from those formative years included most of the works of Charles Dickens, Robt. Louis Stevenson, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington, and an assortment of other individual classics. But this is not meant to be an exhaustive reading list, just a takeoff point for reflections on a few, perhaps lesser known, but personal choices.
I read "Tom Brown's School Days," by Thomas Hughes at a time when I was thinking about what high school I might go to. Certainly the choices available bore no resemblance to the nineteenth century English public school that Tom was sent off to board at. I admired his sense of honor and bravery while there, and the hardships he came through in that difficult, sometimes brutal environment, to become a leader among his school peers. When I peruse those pages today, it's a wonder to me how I got through Hughes' Victorian style of 'Rule, Brittania!' literary expression, but the story was somehow deeply satisfying to the boy I was at the time.
An odd one next, "The Amboy Dukes," by Irving Shulman, which I read when I was at a NYC public high school in the late Forties. The old neighborhoods in south Queens where I lived were changing, with more of the inner city gang culture beginning to appear in our far out reaches of the city. Initially I thought it was a bit exciting, and of course girls were becoming a major related attraction. "The Amboy Dukes" story dramatized such developments; I knew the neighborhoods, and in a way, the characters of that story. But ultimately, I judged the story so disheartening. Luckily for me, I guess.
I'll close the chat with "How Green Was My Valley," by Richard Llewellyn. By this time I had started college, commuting daily from my home in Queens to CCNY, up in the Bronx. Being one of a large family of boys and one sister, I was taken with the closeness of the large family of young men and their sister, and loving parents, living in a coal mining community in Wales around the turn of the century. The narrator was the youngest son of the family, and described his coming of age trials in the harsh school system of that time and place, and the rough-and-tumble world of the youths his age. His father and all his brothers were miners, and if they did have a cheerful, song-filled approach to life, living was nonetheless hard with the wages and labor unrest of the time. The father had hoped his youngest son, a bright lad, would go on to a higher education than any of the rest had had. It was not to be, because as his brothers left one-by-one for a better life in America, the young boy passes up his chance for higher schooling and goes down into the mines to work alongside his beloved father. I think I was so overcome by the sentiment of it that, along with other factors, I decided to leave college and go to work as an apprentice in an uncle's construction union. That ill-
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Just gorgeous! Looking forward to reading SHAME THE STARS-such an interesting setting for this plot!
Hmmm. I’m not a fan of photos of real people on the covers of books. Would have liked to see something else.