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

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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

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This month, YA Outside The Lines is hosting a massive giveaway of signed books and prizes.

I'm giving away a signed copy of NARC and a Skype chat. If you're a teacher or librarian, Skype is a great way to bring authors into your classroom (through the magic of an internet chat).

Find me in International Giveaway #2



The participating young adult authors include:

Brian Katcher
Lauren Bjorkman
Crissa-Jean Chappell
J OConnell
Joy Preble
Wendy Delsol
Cheryl Renee Herbsman
Sydney Salter
April Henry
Rosemary Clement-Moore
Julie Chibbaro
Lisa Burstein
Jody Casella
Kimberly Sabatini
Patty Blount
Alisa M. Libby
Emily Whitman
Stephanie Kuehnert
Catherine Ryan Hyde
Jennifer R. Hubbard
Jenny Torres Sanchez
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rachel Harris
Jan Blazanin
Holly Schindler


The contest lasts throughout the month of January 2013.

Good luck!

--crissa :)

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I love my old-school Imperia pasta machine--a Christmas present from last year. On cold winter days, I get a craving for fresh pasta. Not the dried-out spaghetti that comes in a box. Homemade noodles have a different taste. It takes a little time...wringing the flour-dusted ball of dough through the machine. The best part? Slicing it into ribbons that curl at the edges.









As I swirl my fork around the of dough, it begins to take shape. It's true for pasta and the first draft of a new book. In the beginning, the gluey clumps doesn't look like much. You keep mashing the fork around, trying to find the center of things.









When I crank up the Imperia machine, I'm reminded of all the effort that pours into a revision. Every book finds its own shape. Maybe it takes a few readings to figure it out (and a sharp knife will always do the trick). Cutting out chapters. Writing new scenes. Searching for one perfect word. Finding the themes hidden beneath the surface. That's when you put the book away for a while. Hang the loose strands on a rack. Let the minutes boil away. When it sticks to the wall, it's done.

c.

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hey, that's me in the Palmetto Bay news

...and R.L. Stine on the opposite page!

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When I was little, I wrote about the same characters over and over. I whispered into my tape recorder and drew pictures of ghosts and time machines. The stories were never-ending. That's what made them so real to me.

Lately I've been hearing a new question:

"Will there be a sequel to NARC?"

I never planned on writing more. When I finish typing the last chapter, I try to leave my characters in a good place. It's not always a happy ending, but it's the one that makes me say: Okay. I can let go of you now. You're on your own.

While working on NARC, I designed a tumblr for the book. You can find extra letters along with lots of pictures and music:

http://whoisaaronfoster.tumblr.com/

Sometimes it's really hard to say goodbye to my characters. That's why I had fun writing a new scene from Aaron's point of view (not exactly a sequel...more like an additional scene on a DVD). During the month of October, thirty YA authors are posting stories online and answering the question: What are your characters doing on Halloween? It's part of the blogger-hosted Halloween Character Booktacular. My story is up today on A Book Lover's Review

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday (and if you've read NARC, you know it's also Morgan's birthday). Follow the links to participating blogs for a chance to win a signed and doodled copy of the book...along with lots of prizes.

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It's the end of summer and the cicadas are buzzing like spaceships. August is the book birthday month for NARC. Check out what's been happening:

LISTEN to the Narc playlist via Into the Hall of Books

WATCH me draw the book's characters and read an excerpt for the Friday Thirteeners



READ "behind the scenes" interviews talking about...

--my move to New York and its effect on my writing via Ditmas Park Corner

--gator teeth and air plants, the inspiration on my bookshelf via
Tampa Bay Times

--behind the scenes with book Cover Stories via Melissa Walker

-- and more love for early blogger reviews <3

Readinista
Characterized
WhoRuBlog
Claire Reads
Taking it One Page at a Time
I Swim For Oceans


This month I'm the featured author at the Ultimate YA Reading Group. Watch my video interview and find out what's next. Sneak peek at my upcoming book, Flip The Switch (Flux 2014).

On September 8th, I'll be throwing a book release party at Books & Books in Miami, my hometown. Can't wait to see everybody and celebrate at one of my favorite bookstores.

I've been signing copies of NARC all across New York City. If you spot it somewhere in the wild, tweet a picture (or tag me on Facebook). I'll mail a signed bookmark to you!

--crissa xo

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"I'm trying to set a world record," said Josh Berk, leaning over the podium. The author of "The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin" was decked out in a purple velvet smoking jacket, a pipe clenched between his teeth. He aimed his flickering iPad at the audience. "Are you ready?"



We chanted the opening lines of Cyn Balog's new novel, Touched. "Got it!" he said as we burst into applause. The "simultaneous reading" was one of many events at YA Fest in Easton, PA. Throughout the afternoon, readers swarmed the Palmer Library for book signings, panels, and a chance to meet over 35 young adult authors.



Jennifer R. Hubbard and me, sharing a table. We sat two by two, scribbling our names on everything from postcards to Nooks. (picture by Kidlit Authors Club)

Teens raced up and down the aisles, trying to match a hilarious list of trivia questions with the correct author.

"Were you ever attacked by monkeys?" a girl asked me.

"Not that I can remember," I said.



towers of YA titles provided by local indie Harleysville Books

At a nearby table, Jonathan Maberry tried to guess if Jon Skovron's tale of visiting a necropsy lab was true (it was). Charles Benoit talked with me about "YA noir". On my left sat a table of awesome ladies and fellow Flux authors, Alissa Grosso, Margie Gelbwasser, Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman. We all wished the same thing: "Why didn't something like this exist when I was in high school?"



gift baskets loaded with candy and books

The festival was an easy drive from New York City. During the weekend, I stayed in Bethlehem, PA, a town of steel and train tracks, where you can sip picklebacks and dance to ragtime music at the Bookstore Speakeasy. I ate fried squash blossoms at Bolete, an old stagecoach stop, and visited Klein Farms Dairy and Creamery on the way home.



sunset driving

In just a few days, NARC will be in bookstores. I was so excited to sign copies at YA Fest. Shout out to Cyn Balog and Jennifer Murgia for making it happen!

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...from Publishers Marketplace:



It's about...

gator teeth, the Everglades, cameras and guitars. Hey, film school kids! This one's for you!

c.

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Enter to win a special autographed arc of NARC with my "behind the scenes" notes and doodles.

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It sits on the floor--pages covered in sticky Post It notes. This is what revision looks like. Sometimes it's easy to get lost in a novel-length manuscript. A character or plot thread could pop up in one scene, only to disappear for countless chapters. But you didn't see it back then. Why? Because in the writer's imagination, it all makes sense.

I'm a big fan of Darcy Pattison's strategy for novel revision, The Shrunken Manuscript.






Stella says: revision is tough!

After combing through my outline, I spread the chapters on the floor. The rainbow of Post Its helps me "picture" the story.



The book whispers: "This is what I want to be."

Now it's time to listen.

c.

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Everyone says the Javitz center looks like an airport.



Signing advanced reading copies of Narc at the NYPL Teen Author Carnival.



rooftop sunset at the YA Author / Blogger party





Cupcakes and books = perfect combo.



NARC was featured in Publishers Weekly's BEA Daily magazine.



NARC at the Flux booth. The QR code on the poster sent visitors to the
animated book trailer.



A massive line of people waited at the autograph tables. Many authors were signing books at the same time.





Goodbye BEA! It was a blast!

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NARC by Crissa-Jean Chappell (Flux Books, August 2012)
crissajeanchappell.com
fluxnow.com

Animation and design by Marlon Morina
marlonmorina.com

Music and sound design by Model.Fragment
modelfragment.com

https://vimeo.com/38344121

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Originally posted by crissachappell at BEA schedule

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I'll be at the Book Expo next week and I'm so excited! Please swing by the Flux booth (#3975) and say hello. I'm giving away tote bags, buttons and NARC bookmarks.


MONDAY 6/4

BEA Book Blogger Conference
Javitz Center, NY


TUESDAY 6/5

6:30 -- 9:30 PM
NYPL Teen Author Carnival
Jefferson Market Branch
425 Ave of Americas & W 9th, NY


THURSDAY 6/7

9:30 -- 10:30 AM
I'll be signing NARC at table three
BEA Young Adult Salute





shout out to Angel Acevedo for designing the NARC book swag!

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1. copy edits are like magic grow-in-water animals. Remember those tiny shrunken toys that expanded in a glass of water? (the alligator was my favorite). Copy edits remind me that the first draft started off like a gator dropped in a glass...a twisty thing that eventually grew into the right shape. It just takes patience.

2. copy edits are like shoe polish. Every line of dialogue...every flicker of action.... has to shine. During this stage of the book, I ask a lot of questions. Did I pick the right word? Could I say it in a stronger way? That's when I grab my red pen.

3. copy edits are like ninja stars. Sometimes it feels like I'm throwing knives at my book. It's not easy, but if you can cut anything (whether it's an entire scene or a snippet of dialogue that needs to be replaced with action), the delete button is your sharpest weapon.

4. copy edits are like seashells. As I kid, I used to look for conch shells on the beach. If you held it against your ear, you could hear the ocean. The final pages of copy edits remind me to pause and listen. I'll hold onto that shell for a little while. Then I'll drop it in the sand. Let the tide swoop it away. Grab another shell and hold it against my ear. I might hear a new story, small as a whisper.

c.

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The proof copies of NARC are here!

This morning, I held the paperback in my hands, flipped the pages and sniffed the ink.








When I was little, I carried paperbacks everywhere. I built a pulley for my tree house with a bucket and a rope, just so I could read The Hobbit between the branches. I rode my bike to the park with a book tucked in the basket. At night, I fell asleep with a paperback hidden under my pillow and dreamed about the characters.

A paperback was the perfect size to sneak under my desk during math class. My room was filled with towers of books...so many, they spilled onto the floor.

Since I've moved to New York, I often carry paperbacks in my tote bag and read on the subway. I glance up and see others doing the same thing. Sometimes they smile, as if we share a secret.

Paper and ink.

It's what dreams smell like.

c.

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NARC is on NetGalley!

If you're a reviewer, you can can sign up to request an e-galley. You can also preorder the paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or find a local bookstore on IndieBound.

The book will be out this summer (August 8) and it's in the publisher's catalog. Check out Flux to get a peek at the cover, synopsis, and more.

I remember working on the manuscript, staying up late and listening to Aaron. I'd wonder about his dreams, the stuff that kept him awake at night. Now he's off on his own. Sometimes I get a glimpse of him skating past me, waving hello or goodbye.

c.

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In my new video post, I'm talking about outsiders and starfruit and Converse kicks with Kirstin Cronn-Mills, fellow Flux author.

Follow the link to her blog, Outlaw Boots.

<3

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At the Museum of Modern Art, the teens marched downstairs in twos and threes. Their tables were stacked with supplies: pencils and pens, Moleskine notebooks, and a copy of Letters to a Young Artist by Anna Deavere Smith. They had chosen to spend Friday night at the museum as part of Art Underground: a new series of workshops. I was honored to be invited as a guest teacher. For two hours, we moved through the stages of writing a narrative poem: from rough draft to final edit. Between writing sessions, we read from Smith's wonderful essays about forging a creative life. Most of all, I loved hearing the teens read from their own work.

Memory Snapshots:

--Making out with a boy in Prospect Park ("It's kind of inappropriate," the writer told me. But she was brave enough to write something meaningful and true).

--Trapped in the back seat, listening to Mom and Dad argue, looking out the window, quietly suffocating under the "new car smell."

--Playing with a bunch of neighborhood kids outside the smoke-belching factories...a stray dog with a sagging belly that is "never full."

--Standing in line at ComiCon, waiting for Stan Lee's autograph (and finally giving up).



zombie graphic novel by a teen at MoMA

As Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" oozed through the speakers, we read our poems out loud. I was blown away by their talent...and their honesty.

In the last letter that I shared from Smith's book, she quotes the jazz genius. He always spoke at a murmur. He moved slowly and took his time. He was the epitome of cool.

"But don't try fake it," the book advises. In other words, an artist shouldn't be concerned about other people's judgement. Listening to the teens and their brave work, I was reminded of one thing:

Never be cool.

"Be hot."

c.

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"Don't worry," Marlon said, as we jumped to the beat of LCD Soundsystem. "I just need your feet."

He aimed the camera at our sneakers. Behind us, a wall the color of antifreeze curved and swooped into infinity, surrounded by a barricade of eye-scorching lights. Marlon, the ever-so-patient director, along with actors Joel and Valeria, got up early on Saturday morning to meet me at school. In the film department's "green screen" room, we shot reference footage for the animated NARC book trailer.

In a way, making a trailer is a lot like storytelling. First, I wrote a list of images from the book. Then I emailed them to Marlon. It was fascinating to see how he interpreted them into scenes that moved and breathed.

"Maybe I should look down," said the lead actor, Joel, squinting at the camera. "It's like a metaphor for where my life is going."

He wobbled on a skateboard, trying to balance on one leg while Marlon shouted instructions: "Strike...strike...now step on it. Less puppety. Not so zombie-ish."

Joel zipped up his hoodie. "I'll do it one more time."

And he did: falling in slow motion, kneeling on the floor, never complaining.

Valeria propped a chair on top of a table. "This is supposed to be a tree?" She wore a paper crown and a punk rock fairy dress.

"Your character looks way too cool to be interested in me," said Joel, laughing.

As Marlon transforms the pictures into animation, I wonder what shape the book trailer will take. They are still my characters, but now they also belong to others. It's like sharing the people who live inside my head. Soon they will be walking around inside someone else. That's exactly how it feels when I read a book.

I can't wait to turn the next page.

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When I start a new manuscript, I take breaks to let my mind rest. Sometimes I doodle my characters on paper napkins. Or listen to songs that frame their stories. Often, I find myself wandering into the kitchen. Baking is my meditation. I the way dough feels between my fingers, the smell of bread drifting through the house like a promise of good things.

The process of getting a book into someone's hands is like baking bread. You begin with the tiny grains of an idea. In the beginning, it's all about letting things sit. It's like the sugar and water and yeast, waiting in a bowl.










After a while, the mixture spreads out. My imagination works like that. It takes up more room. Before I start typing, I need time to myself--small moments to daydream, sift through potential scenes...and discover what I really want to say.











Soon the characters will whisper in my ear. I try to figure out their hopes and fears. As I layer each scene, it's like adding cups of flour. Each chapter builds upon the next. At first, it's very messy. How does it all turn out? I learn to take a leap of faith and trust that everything will come together in the end.











Now the real work begins. It's not enough to put words on paper. Writing is all about editing....and going over it again. In my new drafts, I make discoveries. The book whispers to me: This is the shape I want.












Sometimes you need to walk away from a draft to see it clearly. It's like letting the dough rise on my back porch, tucked under a warm tea towel. When I come back, it has already changed. Now I can see the spaces I need to punch down and tear apart. That's when the story forces me to make difficult choices.

The hardest part is letting go. So much of writing a book is about waiting. You wait for agent feedback, then your editor's revision letter, then the final copyedits. Next comes the marketing of a book...the fun stuff that makes you realize: this is really happening. It's so close, I can almost taste it.












The book belongs to anybody who reads it. That's what I love most about writing...the fact that every reader creates their own story. It's yours to share. The rest is up to them. Good stories, like bread, will fill you up. They will make you believe that the simplest things are pure magic.

c.

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My apartment is a maze of boxes. No place to sit and to write. But I've been writing stories in my head like I always do in New York. It's a place that asks you to hold still and look at things.

On the subway, I take out my notebook. I wonder about the boy with the bouquet of tulips in a paper bag, the girl chewing french fries one at a time, the women in leather boots, laughing as they ask for directions, and yes, I do know the way.

On a walk to the coffee shop, I put on my headphones. There's a song that says, "The city is my church." An elderly man opens the door for me. When he smiles, I smile too.

On the fire escape, I plant an herb garden. My fingernails are crusted with dirt. I save half the seeds for later. If they don't grow, it's okay.

I moved to New York a week ago.

This morning they started to sprout.

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NARC is on NetGalley!

If you're a reviewer, you can can sign up to request an e-galley. You can also preorder the paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or find a local bookstore on IndieBound.

The book will be out this summer (August 8) and it's in the publisher's catalog. Check out Flux to get a peek at the cover, synopsis, and more.

I remember working on the manuscript, staying up late and listening to Aaron. I'd wonder about his dreams, the stuff that kept him awake at night. Now he's off on his own. Sometimes I get a glimpse of him skating past me, waving hello or goodbye.

c.

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Originally posted by crissachappell at NARC is on NetGalley!

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