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The North Carolina Press Foundationis offering four of Artie’s serial stories to Newspapers in Education (NIE) newspapers across the United States. This year’s theme is Dig into Reading. In addition to the NIE, the foundation will also be offering Artie’s work to libraries and other newspapers throughout the United States. To read the stories please click on the NC Press Foundation link listed above.
Two of Artie’s children’s books will be featured on Ameba TV beginning this summer. Based in Canada, Ameba TV is presently streamed worldwide in million of homes.
Ameba TV’s rich, diverse content library delivers thousands of hours of educational, preschool, musical, and multilingual programming to children ages 2 to 12. The popular children’s streaming TV service features award-winning shows, like WordWorld, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, BusyTown Mysteries, and Ruby Skye PI.
More to come!
View from a Zoo – Bored with her life, a housecat seeks out adventure in this new fully illustrated picture book coming in the summer of 2013. Written by Artie, the book is being illustrated by the incredibly talented Indian artist Sunayana Nair Kanjilal. More to come as the book’s release date gets closer….
I'm enrolled in Katie Davis's Video Idiot Boot Camp. And while I haven't had time to dive into a larger project, I've had a little fun with some quick and easy tools introduced in her class.
Here's a little Animoto gem created in about 15 minutes for FREE.
On her way to speak at her Alma Mater (the wonderful Oberlin College), we were lucky enough to have Tracy Chevalier stop by for the fifth event in our 2013 Winter/Spring Evenings with Authorsseries. With a full house, Chevalier discussed her latest novel, The Last Runaway. For her 7th novel, Chevalier dove into the history Oberlin and its progressive importance in the Underground Railroad. She was able to merge her passion for history and love of Oberlin to paint an authentic picture of Quaker life in the age of slavery and on the brink of revolution. Chevalier spoke candidly about the trials and triumphs that come with writing a piece of historical fiction. Creating any voice that sounds realistic is difficult, but when it comes to creating a voice that is historically known to be in a certain vernacular, it poses a different level of challenges. In preparation, Chevalier reread Huck Finn, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and did an extensive amount of research on Quakers to truly wrap her senses around the language and attitude of the time period. Through the long line of people waiting to get their books signed, Chevalier also gave advice to aspiring authors, told stories of her time at Oberlin, and answered any questions that our guests threw at her. We hope everyone that made it to the event had as great of a time as we did!
Our season isn’t over quite yet! We still have two more wonderful authors on the way this spring and a whole new line up for our summerLiterary Picnics. Don’t miss Jeff Sharra Monday June, 3 or Steve Berryon Monday, June 17.
Click here for more information about those events and others to come.
Anna Olswanger has agreed to be our Guest Critiquer for June’s First Page. Deadline will be June 18th, so I wanted to give you an early heads up. For those who like the picture prompt, you will find it at the bottom of this post.
Anna Olswanger is a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates in New York. Anna has been a literary agent since 2005 and has sold to Boyds Mills Press, Marshall Cavendish, Dutton, HarperCollins, McElderry, Pomegranate, and Random House Children’s Books, among other publishers. Specializing in: middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction, some adult fiction and nonfiction, children’s illustrated books, and Judaica.
Anna is particularly interested in working with author-illustrators.Anna enjoys discovering new authors and illustrators. She is looking for “voice,” the sound and rhythm of an author that could be no one else’s, and has a special interest in children’s picture books (author-illustrators only), adult nonfiction, Judaica, animal stories, and ghost stories. Contact her at queryanna@LizaDawsonAssociates.com.
Ms. Olswanger has a background in editing and has worked with the author Mary Ann Schaffer on the adult novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, which became an international bestseller.
She represents Jim Carroll’s THE BOY AND THE MOON (Sleeping Bear Press), Nell Dickerson’s GONE (BelleBooks), Luli Gray’s ANT & GRASSHOPPER (McElderry), Michael Hall’s MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO and PERFECT SQUARE (Greenwillow), Zack Miller’s TRADESTREAM YOUR WAY TO PROFITS: Building a Killer Portfolio in the Age of Social Media (Wiley), Margaret Peot’s INKBLOT (Boyds Mills Press) and THE SUCCESSFUL ARTIST’S CAREER GUIDE (North Light Books/F+W) Barry Rothstein’s EYE-POPPING 3-D BUGS (Chronicle), Jennifer Sattler’s SYLVIE (Random House Children’s Books), CHICK ‘N’ PUG and PIG KAHUNA (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), and upcoming books by Allida Black (Penguin Classics), Cathy Fishman (Cavendish), Brett Hartman (Cinco Puntos), Michelle Markel (Balzer & Bray, Eerdmans, and Chronicle), Patricia Hruby Powell (Chronicle), Alan Rabinowitz (Houghton Mifflin), Vince Vawter (Delacorte) and composer Marvin Hamlisch (Dial).
In addition to being an agent, she is the author of the picture book Shlemiel Crooks, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and a Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist.
You may have attended some of her workshops, like Why Was My Manuscript Rejected? 3 Agents, 3 Opinions, with two other agents (see www.3LiteraryAgents.com). Writers in the Northeast may also know Anna, because she coorinated the Jewish Children’s Book Writers’ Conference at the 92nd Street Y for many years. In addition, she founded the website http://www.Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com
I only accept email queries (no snail mail queries, please.)
Please insert (cut and paste) the first five pages of your manuscript into the body of your email. (I’m leery of opening attachments from addresses I don’t know.)
We understand the priorities and passions that motivate editors, publicists, sales directors, and marketing directors.
We consider each of our books to be an exciting kernel that can grow – into an international bestseller, into a movie, into a calendar, into a career. That’s the power of a thrillingly told story, and that’s what people expect from our submissions.
On 9-10 May 2013, we had a fantastic workshop facilitated by Joan Rankin.
We each received a file containing a number of exercises. On day 1 we drew with pencil.
We shared and discussed the work.
And worked some more!
Joan inspired us with her "Hat story".
To be continued ....
0 Comments on Drawing: The body language of children, people and animals - Joan Rankin as of 5/23/2013 9:35:00 AM
Authors Sudipta Bardhan and Kami Kinard gave a workshop at the New England SCBWI Conference in April. I had SCBWI member, Karen Calloway ask me why I never put up anything about the New England SCBWI Conference a few days before it was held in April. I told her I would be glad to share her experience on my blog, since I know the New England Chapter does a great job with their conference. Karen put the conference to verse. Here it is:
It was late Sunday night when my friend Christi and I returned to our homes in western Maine. We had journey for twelve hours round trip to attend the New England SCBWI Art of Craft conference in Springfield, MA. We were bleary-eyed and exhaus-ted, but euphoric.
To say that my writing will be forever changed would be an understatement, but rather than write a long piece about every workshop I attended, who taught it, and what I learned, I offer the following verses.
What SCBWI Can Do if I Let It
by Karen Calloway
All my stories, every one,
the old, reworked, or just begun,
seemed more than perfect, skilled and deft,
yet somehow I was always left
with angst, confusion, doubt, and so -
off to a conference I did go.
It grew my brain and filled my heart-
an end, a middle, a whole new start.
I learned about metaphor, arc and rhyme,
character changes, voice sublime,
facebook, blogs, critiques and wine,
and illustrations I wish were mine,
indie publishing (self-help advice),
poetry, picture book (word-count precise),
young adult, middle grade, theories, craft . . .
new information to polish my draft,
authors, artists, new-found friends,
editors, agents, and newest trends.
Keynote speakers Lin and Creech
convinced me (again) that I must reach
to do my best upon this stage-
word by word and page by page,
for books are within me, daring, wild.
They will stir the heart of a waiting child.
Genre, genre, wish I might
have the wish I wish tonight . . .
to be courted by publishers, one, two, three,
considered a “find” by the industry.
Then certainly, surely, my luck will have flipped.
Perhaps even Spielberg will ask for the script?
It was awesome. Wished you were there. Maybe you were.
Hazel Mitchell and Dawn Metcalf showing off the doodles they did on their book table. I am not sure, but I think they auctioned it off at the end of the conference.
Thank you Karen for sharing, hope you keep the motivation you found and attend more SCBWI events.
While I can’t show you Robert Byrd‘s gorgeous interior art for Africa is My Home, I can show you the cover in the following book trailer. (And if you are at BEA, do stop by the Candlewick Press booth for a more comprehensive look or, even better, come to my Thursday 3:30 signing of F&Gs of the complete 64 page book.)
8 Comments on Africa is My Home: The Cover! The Book Trailer!, last added: 5/25/2013
It’s beautiful–I like the layering of pictures and lines–and what an interesting story. I look forward to reading it.
Ariel Cooke said, on 5/24/2013 4:46:00 AM
It looks amazing, Monica! I can’t wait!
Deanna Day said, on 5/24/2013 9:22:00 AM
Monica–Awesome! I can’t wait to read your book!
Gail Wood said, on 5/24/2013 7:27:00 PM
Congrats, Monica. Just talked about Margru today with a first grade group visiting Oberlin’s Little Red Schoolhouse. I’m looking forward to being able to share the picture book.
Jen said, on 5/25/2013 8:50:00 AM
I really like the artwork and the trailer music. Congrats and have fun at BEA!
Nora Elish said, on 5/25/2013 3:29:00 PM
Congratulations, Monica! The artwork is gorgeous – can’t wait to see the entire book.
Nora
This class covers all the topics necessary to give a beginning student the tools needed to understand and apply biblical truth in everyday life. The class is a family collaboration of John Schoenheit and his sister, Sue Carlson. The blend of their two voices, manners, and teaching styles is an extremely logical and winning presentation that you can give to your friends and acquaintances who want to know why you are so jazzed about life and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This class is available online for free or for purchase on cassette tape or CD through the Truth or Tradition online store.
To view the PDF syllabus that comes with this audio class, click here.
If what you have just listened to has been a blessing to you, please consider sowing into our continued outreach of the Gospel, all over the globe.
To donate online via PayPal or any major credit card, click here. For the Truth or Tradition mailing address / phone number, click here.
We trust you have enjoyed this free online class. God bless you!
The North Carolina Press Foundationis offering four of Artie’s serial stories to Newspapers in Education (NIE) newspapers across the United States. This year’s theme is Dig into Reading. In addition to the NIE, the foundation will also be offering Artie’s work to libraries and other newspapers throughout the United States. To read the stories please click on the NC Press Foundation link listed above.
Two of Artie’s children’s books will be featured on Ameba TV beginning this summer. Based in Canada, Ameba TV is presently streamed worldwide in million of homes.
Ameba TV’s rich, diverse content library delivers thousands of hours of educational, preschool, musical, and multilingual programming to children ages 2 to 12. The popular children’s streaming TV service features award-winning shows, like WordWorld, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, BusyTown Mysteries, and Ruby Skye PI.
More to come!
View from a Zoo – Bored with her life, a housecat seeks out adventure in this new fully illustrated picture book coming in the summer of 2013. Written by Artie, the book is being illustrated by the incredibly talented Indian artist Sunayana Nair Kanjilal. More to come as the book’s release date gets closer….
In a 3/18/13 New Yorker “Talk of the Town” piece by Rebecca Mead resides this gem:
The books of Dr. Seuss, the pen name of Theodor Geisel, depend on what Donald Pease, a professor of English literature at Dartmouth, refers to in his biography of Geisel as “plausible nonsense.” “Children will grant you any premise, but after that—you’ve got to stay on the same key,” Geisel told one interviewer.
So much more could be written about this, but I don’t know that I yet have the experience to be one to do so. However, I’m shopping around a manuscript that may set me on that path. It’s a departure for me—picture book yes, nonfiction no.
It’s funny, too. I need some way to redirect the energy I am not putting into cartooning at the moment.
I hope to be able to elaborate here soon.
You—or someone—may be shocked…
0 Comments on Plausible nonsense as of 5/23/2013 7:33:00 AM
Today I have a special treat for you. Author Meradeth Houston is here interviewing Tom from The Chemistry of Fate. Take it away guys!
“They are everywhere, can be anyone, and are always the last person you’d expect.” When Tom stumbles across his grandfather’s journal, he’s convinced the old man was crazier than he thought. The book contains references to beings called the Sary, immortals who are assigned to save humans on the verge of suicide. They certainly aren’t allowed to fall in love with mortals. Which the journal claims Tom’s grandfather did, resulting in his expulsion from the Sary. As strange as the journal seems, Tom can’t get the stories out of his head; especially when he finds the photo of his grandfather’s wings.
Tom’s only distraction is Ari, the girl he studies with for their chemistry class.
Ari has one goal when she arrives in town: see how much Tom knows about the Sary and neutralize the situation. This isn’t a normal job, but protecting the secrecy of the Sary is vital. If Tom is a threat to exposing the Sary to the public, fate has a way of taking care of the situation, usually ending with the mortal’s death. While Ari spends time with Tom, he becomes more than just an assignment, but how far can a relationship go when she can’t tell him who she really is? When she finds out just how much Tom actually knows about the Sary, Ari is forced to choose between her wings, and her heart.
Thanks so much for hosting me Kelly! I thought I’d give everyone a little introduction to Tom today, and allow you to get to know him a little better (and realize just why I love the guy in all his slightly-nerdy glory).
MH: (I sit down at my desk and take a long sip from a mug of something that is theoretically water. Tom settles uncomfortably into the seat across from me, nervously rubbing his hands together.) Nice of you to join us here today, Tom!
Tom: Thanks for having me. I think. Just what was this job interview for again?
MH: Yeah, about that, we’ll talk once we’re done, m’k? Moving on, tell me Tom, are you currently seeing anyone?
Tom: Wait, what does thathave to do with a job?
MH: (Another sip) It just does. We like to be thorough. So, are you seeing anyone?
Tom: (Looking around like he might bolt for the door any second.) No. I don’t have time.
MH: Don’t have time? Come on, there has to be someone you at least have your eye on? A guy who looks like you (I can’t help eyeing the nice muscles on his arms) doesn’t have trouble getting dates, I’m sure.
Tom: You’re not going to give in until I say a name are you?
MH: Nope. Not a chance.
Tom: There’s a girl I study with for our chemistry class. Without her, I’d probably be flunking. She’s way out of my league though. Nothing’s going to happen.
MH: I’m very sorry to hear you think that. You two haven’t done anything other than study together?
Tom: (Sighs) She’s asked me to grab coffee a few times. But I can’t get involved. I need to keep my grades up.
MH: Why is that so important?
Tom: I’m on a full ride scholarship but the required grades are really high. If I don’t keep them up, so long scholarship and so long college.
MH: Sounds rough.
Tom: Yeah, well, that’s why I need another job…?
MH: We’ll get that to that, I promise. Tell me, do you work anywhere else already?
Tom: I have a job in a genetics lab on campus. I work there part-time.
MH: Do you like it?
Tom: It’s good. My boss is a little crazy, but it keeps me out of student housing.
MH: What’s so crazy about your boss?
Tom: He’s, just, nuts. I mean, yesterday I walked in on him doing a fashion show for himself, singing to Thrift Shop. He saw me and was excited to have an audience for the last of it.
MH: That does sound, random. I’ll bet he keeps work entertaining at least.
Tom: Yeah, definitely. And he’s been really good getting me experience in the lab. Speaking of which, this position, it’s working in a lab right?
MH: (Looking at my watch) I’m so sorry Tom, but I have to run! Thanks for stopping by and we’ll be in touch!
Thanks, Meradeth and Tom! Check out The Chemistry of Fate on Amazon and B&N. It's only $2.99 during the blog tour, so hurry!
Also, Meradeth has a giveaway for you! It's for a $10 Amazon GC and a beautiful journal. Enter below. And be sure to thank her or comment about the interview.
I apologize for not blogging more frequently! It's been a crazy busy month!
I had a fabulous time at the Gaithersburg Book Festival with Jessica Spotswood, author of Born Wicked. We talked about world building, outcast females, girl power, research and books we love. It was a great time!
I also had a author hero worship moment when I got to meet both Walter Dean Myers and his son Christopher Myers. Guys if you don't have We Are America in your bookshelves, you should! It is beautiful and brilliant and the illustrations by Christopher Myers is gorgeous! It should be right next to Harlem, which you should have in your bookshelves also! After introducing myself to them and mentioning that we had the same editor, the brilliant Phoebe Yeh, I was rendered speechless. It is not every day that you meet the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and his talented illustrator/author son.
I got to hear Mr. Myers speak and he was amazing! Funny, sincere, eloquent. It was such a pleasure. And then I got to go home where I found that my oldest had been playing around on her Instagram account and had made this photoset of me during my panel discussion.
All I have to say about that is - Hey!
2 Comments on Authorial catch up!, last added: 5/23/2013
After being trapped on an island in the middle of a hurricane, travel writer Lea Sutter discovers and adopts orphaned 12 year old twins Daniel and Samuel. But Lea’s husband Mark has his doubts about adopting the twins. Doubts that are soon justified when, shortly after Lea and the twins return to their Long Island home, Mark finds himself under suspicion for a brutal murder that occurred in his own front yard.
Back in the 1990’s, R.L. Stine was to teen fiction what J.K. Rowling became in the 2000’s. Every month, without fail, he produced a new Fear Street book for teens and a Goosebumps book for younger readers, and man, did those books sell. For three consecutive years in the ‘90’s, he was America’s best-selling author, and in 2003, the Guiness Book of World Records named him the best-selling children’s book series author of all time. Then, around the time Harry Potter became the “next best thing”, R.L. Stine seemed to vanish.
In the early 2000’s, YA fiction changed. The quality improved, it became respectable and all the monthly teen paperback series that were popular in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s died out. I had always assumed that Goosebumps and Fear Street had gone the way of The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High and that Stine had retired to do whatever he pleased. However, it turns out that, not only is Stine still writing around six Goosebumps books per year, he also has his own TV series (The Haunting Hour) and has recently come out with a new book for adults.
Red Rain is Stine’s fourth book for adults, but the first I would class as a true adult novel. Stine is clearly most comfortable writing for and about kids and teens. His previous three attempts at breaking into the adult market (Superstitious, Eye Candy, and The Sitter) all had protagonists in their early 20’s who acted like over-grown teenagers, so for all intents and purposes, were effectively YA books, just with more swearing, sex and violence that you’d usually find in one of Stine’s books. In Red Rain, however, Lea and Mark Sutter are a married couple in their 30’s, with kids and jobs, who said goodbye to their own childhoods years ago. Of course, Stine, being who he is, had to find some way of getting kids into the mix, which he does by way of 12 year old twins Daniel and Samuel, who turn out to be more than the Sutters bargained for, in the full horror story sense of the phrase (Side note: Why is it that adopted kids are always evil in horror stories? Did all these horror writers hate Annie and Anne of Green Gables that much?). The scenes featuring the twins are where the story really comes to life. Nevertheless, the book never feels like it is actually aimed at 12 year olds.
Red Rain is not great literature, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is very entertaining. The writing is bad in parts (“He doesn’t want us to be happy. Pa doesn’t want to give us the things we want. You heard him. You heard every word. We have work to do. We have plans, boyo. We cannot let the new pa stand in our way.”) and some of the twists and turns are ridiculous to say the least, but if you enjoyed reading Stine’s Fear Street books, you’ll love it. That’s essentially what this book is – Fear Street for adults.
The Fear Street books weren’t great books either, but Stine’s formula of cliff-hangers at the end of each chapter and humour mixed with a genuine sense of danger, kept readers turning the pages and buying his books. No matter how much I laughed at the lameness of Red Rain (for example, who really adopts kids without so much as checking to see that their parents are really dead?), I kept reading, I had a lot of fun, and I was even surprised by a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming. By that definition, as far as I’m concerned, Red Rain was a good book.
Even though R.L. Stine was once called “the Stephen King of children’s literature”, his writing will never be mistaken for King’s, but it serves a purpose. I loved the Fear Street books and missed them sorely when the series ended. Red Rain provides one more opportunity for fans to journey down Fear Street and for that I am grateful.
Verdict: A laughably bad, good time that Fear Street fans will welcome.
Were you a fan of R.L. Stine? What was your favourite of Stine’s books? Comment below.
0 Comments on Whatever Happened to R.L. Stine?: Red Rain by R.L. Stine Review as of 5/23/2013 8:27:00 PM
Cattra’s Legacy by Anna Mackenzie, Longacre (Random House NZ)
Young adult author Anna Mackenzie follows up her post-apocalyptic series, The Sea-wreck Stranger Trilogy, with an absorbing story set in a vividly-imagined medieval fantasy world. Risha is bereft when her father dies and the local villagers banish her from her home. She sets off with a group of travelling traders in the hope of locating a relative - but all she has is a name. However she soon realises that some of the traders know more about her background than she does. Risha survives through a series of dangerous adventures, at the same time gradually discovering the secret of her birth. The book ends with Risha contemplating the sacrifices, hard work, and luck needed to claim her noble inheritance.
It’s the kind of book you don’t want to come to an end. Teenage readers will be swept along in the parade of hair-raising adventures, timely escapes, grim battles, and hidden secrets. Risha is an appealing and spirited heroine, and we follow her with interest as she develops her mental and physical skills, becomes close to a faithful supporter, and discovers in herself an eerie ability to communicate over distances. All these themes will be expanded in the sequel - I can’t wait!
ISBN 978-1-77553-318-4 RRP $19.99 Pb
Reviewed by Lorraine Orman
0 Comments on Another exciting title from Anna Mackenzie as of 5/24/2013 12:47:00 AM
I tire of the idea that the only "serious" writers are the ones writing literary fiction.
I tire of the idea that I am less real as a writer or work less hard or am somehow less important because I write books for teenagers.
And I think it is absolutely absurd when people say things like "That isn't what literature is about."
Like, the only stories of worth have to examine the human condition and be about death and some middle-class white bloke wandering about doing nothing for four hundred pages (as written by some narcissistic middle-class white bloke).
About 90% of the time when I read a critically-acclaimed, award-winning novel I am just baffled. (Generally of the books-for-adults variety. I usually like the YA award winners.)
A great deal of literary fiction seems to be about literary fiction which, to me, is very odd. It's like an entire genre of in-jokes.
I dislike the idea that all the important stories must be depressing. I think that literature can and should be about a lot of things. Entertainment and comfort and whatever it is the reader wants out of it. I don't know, I think there's enough depressing in the real world without every novel of "value" (how do we ascribe this value? how does this work?) being so incredibly depressing.
I think the idea of "serious" and "non-serious" writers is stupidly linear. (Maybe I should add "unserious writer" to my bio. I'm not sure I could ever be, or be considered, a "serious" writer.) I am, however, very uncool and not really part of any literary scene and likely not a future award-winner, so perhaps I am not the best person to listen to.
To sum up: 1. I have forgotten how to write blog posts. 2. People who talk about "serious" fiction are irritating. 3. Lots of novels are important and have value and bring people joy and make them think! Stories, I love them all! Stop acting like your genre is by default superior to mine!
3 Comments on On what literature is really about, and being a "serious" writer, last added: 5/25/2013
Hear, hear! Sometimes I feel the same with my genre, fantasy. And books are for escape! Yes, you want to connect to the characters, but geez. Good post!
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The May session of Fairy Online School starts on Friday. There are several classes to choose from and if you are interested in a class, now is the time to sign up, because in July I will only be offering a few classes leaving time for the Animal Communication Mentorships. Since I am in the middle of lots of business transformational changes and lots of weeding out, the next classes will not be available until later in the Fall and they may be limited. Head on over to the catalog and pick out a class!
0 Comments on Fairy Online School May Session Starts Tomorrow as of 1/1/1900
Hello again blog readers! This is a midweek update as to what I – Victoria the Intern – have been up to here at Thurber House.
Three days into my internship and I have learned a lot of things – the life and writings of James Thurber, the importance of organization, and the superiority of Nickles Donut Fair (absolutely true). I’ve also managed to start up my own collection of pens, become an Excel spreadsheet master (which is harder than it looks, let me tell you), test out every single marker/pen/glue stick within a five-mile radius, and do a lot of inventory.
But, mostly I’ve just been helping Thurber prepare for their Summer Camp, which looks like so much fun that I’m contemplating building a time machine and going back in time to when I was a 2nd - 8th grader just to join! Seriously – awesome games, interesting writing prompts, and stories galore – what better way to spend your summer?
For my summer, I plan on reading all the books I’ve been assigned to read for school next year. This should take about the entire summer since I decided to take four different English classes (I know, I’m crazy). Here are a few books not for school that I plan on reading:
On my Want to Read List: In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust), Nine Stories (J.D. Salinger), and The Fault in Our Stars (John Green).
On my Currently Reading List (AKA the books that are collecting dust in my room): Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut) and a truck full of my guilty pleasure – Sarah Dessen novels.
And that was your midweek update! Check in on Friday for the final entry!
Kweku Sai is dead. A renowned surgeon and failed husband, he succumbs suddenly at dawn outside his home in suburban Accra. The news of Kweku’s death sends a ripple around the world, bringing together the family he abandoned years before. Ghana Must Gois their story. Electric, exhilarating, beautifully crafted, Ghana Must Go is a testament to the transformative power of unconditional love, from a debut novelist of extraordinary talent.
Moving with great elegance through time and place, Ghana Must Gocharts the Sais’ circuitous journey to one another. In the wake of Kweku’s death, his children gather in Ghana at their enigmatic mother’s new home. The eldest son and his wife; the mysterious, beautiful twins; the baby sister, now a young woman: each carries secrets of his own. What is revealed in their coming together is the story of how they came apart: the hearts broken, the lies told, the crimes committed in the name of love. Splintered, alone, each navigates his pain, believing that what has been lost can never be recovered—until, in Ghana, a new way forward, a new family, begins to emerge.
Ghana Must Go is at once a portrait of a modern family, and an exploration of the importance of where we come from to who we are. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from Accra to Lagos to London to New York, Ghana Must Go teaches that the truths we speak can heal the wounds we hide. Review: Ghana Must Gois an unusual read. Taiye Selasi tells the complicated story of a family from the perspective of each of the members. Beginning with the father, Kweku Sai, a brilliant surgeon who left Ghana to train in Johns Hopkins and Harvard. We learn about Kweku's life as an impoverished student in Africa, as a displaced, brilliant, and hardworking student and doctor, as a devoted husband and adoring father, and as a gifted doctor in one of the top hospitals in the world. When Kweku's brilliant career is somehow implodes through no fault of his own, he is devastated devastated by the change and the damage impacts his family deeply.
As Taiye Selasi introduces Fola, the wife and mother, and the children (Olu, the eldest and surgeon, the gifted and beautiful twins Taiwo and Kehinde, and Sadie, the baby of the family) we discover more about the family, about each person's struggle for acceptance and love, and about the worlds that they inhabit in Brookline, in New York, in New Haven, and in Africa. There is Fola, a legendary beauty whose mother died in childbirth and whose father was tragically murdered during a violent attack when she was still a young girl. Fola escapes to Ghana and then to the West to study. When she meets Kweku in the US, she has locked her story deep inside. Her eldest child, Olu, has followed in his father's footsteps and has established himself as a brilliant surgeon. Olu has not remained unscathed by the troubles in his life despite the fact that he appears to lead a "charmed life" and learning more about Olu makes him complicated and deeply sympathetic. Olu's twin siblings have inherited the strikingly gorgeous looks of his mother's family. For as long as anyone can remember, the twins have drawn people to them with their unusual looks and their independence - they seem to live in a world of their own. Kehinde doesn't have the tension, the drive, that characterizes Olu's life but Kehinde has become a world renowned artist. Taiwo is brilliant and gorgeous, but her gifts and successes haven't brought her the contentment that we'd expect but Taiwo carries a dark secret that explains her isolation. Ghana Must Go is an amazing read. It's a story about Africa, about immigration, about building a life and the sacrifices and joys that this entails. ISBN-10: 1594204497 - Hardcover $25.95 Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The (March 5, 2013), 336 pages. Review copy courtesy of the publisher and the Amazon Vine Reviewers program. About the Author: TAIYE SELASI was born in London and raised in Massachusetts. She holds a B.A. in American studies from Yale and an M.Phil. in international relations from Oxford. “The Sex Lives of African Girls” (Granta, 2011), Selasi’s fiction debut, will appear in Best American Short Stories 2012. She lives in Rome.
0 Comments on Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi as of 5/22/2013 10:47:00 AM
I'm excited to share this interview with Ben Kane, the author of the Spartacus series. I'd previously read and reviewed the first three books in the series. The latest book, Spartacus Rebellion, has just come out.
Publication Date: May 14, 2013 St. Martin's Press Hardcover; 464p ISBN-10: 1250012775
Spartacus has already done the impossible—not only has he escaped from slavery, he and his seconds have created a mighty slave army that has challenged Rome and defeated the armies of three praetors, two consuls, and one proconsul. On the plain of the River Po, in modern Northern Italy, Spartacus has defeated Gaius Cassius Longinus, proconsul and general of an army of two legions. Now the road home lies before them—to Thrace for Spartacus, and to Gaul for his seconds-in-command, Castus and Gannicus.
But storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. One of Spartacus's most powerful generals has defected, taking his men with him. Back in Rome, the immensely rich Marcus Licinius Crassus is gathering an unheard-of Army. The Senate has given Crassus an army made up of ten legions and the authority to do whatever it takes to end the slave rebellion once and for all.
Meanwhile, Spartacus wants to lead his men over the Alps and home, but his two seconds have a different plan. They want to march on Rome itself and bring the Republic to its knees. Rebellion has become war. War to the death. I thought that it would be a great time to touch base with the author. He's been kind enough to spend time to talk about his writing. Please welcome Ben Kane!
(1) Your first Spartacus novel developed into a whole second book. Was this something that you'd planned when you wrote the first book?
(Please can the question be rephrased as above or similar? Otherwise it implies that there are more than two books. Thank you.)
Initially, I sold the idea of one Spartacus novel to my UK publishers. Once I had begun it, I found that the story itself was bigger than I had imagined. I realised at about 100,000 words of the first book that there was no way on this earth that I could finish Spartacus’ story within 30-40,000 (the amount that was left if my novel was to come in at normal length) – without having to cut loads of wonderful detail about what he’d done. I rang my editor and asked her if I could write a second book, to finish the story. I’m happy to say that she gave me the green light, which freed me up to pen the second volume. I wrote both books in a frenzied twelve month period.
(2) How have you adjusted to expand the adventures and keep the main characters and relationships throughout?
It was easy, I am glad to say. Spartacus did so many amazing things in the two years of his rebellion that I had no trouble keeping him and his fellow characters very busy indeed. Having two novels to write also meant that I had more time to develop the character of Ariadne, his wife, which I really enjoyed doing. It’s unusual for ancient texts even to tell that he had a wife, let alone that she was a priestess of Dionysus, the god of wine and ritual mania. he moment that I read those details, I knew that Ariadne also had a great story to tell.
(3) What are you currently working on? Would you like to tell us a bit about projects that you have brewing?
Currently, I am writing Clouds of War, the third in my Hannibal series. Enemy of Rome, the first book in this series will be published in the USA next year. It’s a series that opened a year before the outbreak of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), which details the stories of characters from both sides of the conflict. Originally, I just planned to write a trilogy, but the sheer scale of the war and my publishers’ backing means that I’ll write at least five if not more books about it. Before I write the fourth one, however, I plan to start a new series, set during the Hundred Years’ War, which took place between England and France from 1337 – 1453. After that, I have plans to return to Spartacus’ boyhood, as well as to write about other time periods that I won’t mention just yet. About the Author
BenKane was born in Kenya and raised there and in Ireland. He qualified as a veterinary surgeon from University College Dublin, and worked in Ireland and the UK for several years. After that he travelled the world extensively, indulging his passion for seeing the world and learning more about ancient history. Seven continents and more than 65 countries later, he decided to settle down, for a while at least.
While working in Northumberland in 2001/2, his love of ancient history was fuelled by visits to Hadrian's Wall. He naïvely decided to write bestselling Roman novels, a plan which came to fruition after several years of working full time at two jobs - being a vet and writing. Retrospectively, this was an unsurprising development, because since his childhood, Ben has been fascinated by Rome, and particularly, its armies. He now lives in North Somerset with his wife and family, where he has sensibly given up veterinary medicine to write full time.
To find out more about Ben and his books visit www.benkane.net. To celebrate Spartacus Rebellion's release, the publisher and Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours have sponsored this giveaway of 1 copy of Spartacus Rebellion. Enter the giveaway below - the giveaway ends on June 15, 2013. GIVEAWAY: To enter the giveaway, please comment below and share what book you're looking forward to reading this summer. For an extra entry, tell us about a book that you loved recently and why. Contest ends on June 15, 2013. (1) You must be a follower of the blog to enter. (2) Limited to U.S. residents only. (3) Maximum of two entries per household. Want to learn more about Ben Kane, Spartacus and the latest book in the series? Want more chances to win your personal copy of Spartacus Rebellion? Check out the tour schedule and/or follow #SpartacusRebellionTour Link to Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/spartacusrebellionvirtualtour/ Twitter Hashtag: #SpartacusRebellionTour
0 Comments on Interview with Author Ben Kane & Giveaway of Spartacus Rebellion as of 5/22/2013 3:31:00 PM
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On her way to speak at her Alma Mater (the wonderful 
Anna Olswanger has agreed to be our Guest Critiquer for June’s First Page. Deadline will be June 18th, so I wanted to give you an early heads up. For those who like the picture prompt, you will find it at the bottom of this post.
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Nice book cover video!