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Hi Everyone!

Baby Bear is asking for your help voting for his book, Achoo! Why Pollen Counts.  You see, he can't vote himself - but you can!  EVERY vote counts.

Achoo! Why Pollen Counts is a 2015 Foreword Review INDIEFAB Finalist.  You vote for the Readers' Choice by saying, Achoo! is my #INDIEFABFAVE in the comment section here: https://indiefab.forewordreviews.com/books/achoo-why-pollen-counts/ 

You can use you Facebook account, or create a Foreword Review account to leave your comment.  It is very simple - and would mean the absolute World to Baby Bear and all his forest friends!  Please also help spread the word and help me make this go viral.  Voting ends May 20, 2016.

A HEARTFELT THANK YOU from: Baby Bear, Valerie Vole, Momma Bear, Sandy Spiderling, Zoe Zebra Butterfly, Honey Bee, Lili Ladybug, Sammy Snow Owl, and Shennen.

www.achoowhypollencounts.com

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My first authored book, Achoo! Why Pollen Counts, written and illustrated by me, Shennen Bersani, is being released later this month from Arbordale Publishing.  Pollen and bees are in the air in these illustrations from the book.  Learn more about the book, and pollen, at the book's website www.achoowhypollencounts.com.

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Little bee, no swerving from your line when you deliver the goods back home.

A busy place with no door but when you enter you still use your buzzer.

Then back again from flower to flower, collecting the pollen that gives you power.

It’s home again, little bundles carried to feed the Queen

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“Pollen.” Mz. Buzzbee, the second grade teacher called out to Beep.

“Pppollen.” Beep stammered. “Can you please use it in a sentence?”

………………………………………………………………………………..

UPDATE Aug. 24 2012

I woke up this morning to find my little bee was pick of the week on Illustration Friday. How exciting!!! Woooo hoooooo!!! Weeeeeeee!!!!!

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The busy bee has no time for sorrow.
_ William Blake

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I added a page (I Love Patterns) to my site with these new patterns, you can click on each thumbnail to see them bigger. The patterns are based on some portfolio pieces, I had a great time designing them, hope you like them.

Añadí una pagina (I Love Patterns) a mi sitio con estos nuevos repites, pueden hacer click en cada imagen para verla mas grande. Los repites están basados en piezas de mi portafolio, disfruté mucho diseñandolos, espero que les gusten.

Filed under: ilustracion illustration, patterns repites

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I spent so much time being awake thinking of this image, that it was the first thing I did in the studio today.
I am sure that happens to many of my illustrator friends. You just can't let it go and it nags at you until you
give the image some time. Here is the rough sketch and the image.

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QUESTION;

 Hey Mr. Bee.

    How do I

    Tell you It Is none of your business?

ANSWER;

    Mind your own beeswax, dude!!!

    

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Kirsty expertly handled link love last week so some of these links are a week old- but I think they are still relevant. So get busy procrastinating!

Web 2.0 isn’t exactly democratic but does it matter if it works?

Jeff Jarvis’s tribute to twitter.

A visual tour through 79 years of Best Picture awards. My favorite poster is GiGi. (more…)

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Wiess, Laura. 2008. Leftovers.

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Mull, Brandon. 2008. Fablehaven: Grip Of the Shadow Plague.

On a muggy August day, Seth hurried along a faint path, eyes scanning the lush foliage to his left. Tall, mossy trees overshadowed a verdant sea of bushes and ferns.

The third in the series, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague continues the story of Kendra and Seth Sorenson, an unforgettable brother-sister team that (along with several 'responsible' adults including their grandparents) enjoys spending their summer vacations fighting in the ultimate battle between good and evil. If you haven't read the first two in the series, you should definitely do so. (That is if you love fantasy.) I enjoyed the first two. I really did. But this third one is even better--if that's possible. Every page was a pleasure. I didn't want to put it down.

For those that are familiar with the series, expect more of the same. But for those unfamiliar with Brandon Mull's fabulous series here's what you can expect. Adventure. More adventure. Danger. Action. Even more adventure. Some mystery. Some intrigue. Some surprises. If you love action, adventure, and mystery, then Fablehaven is definitely for you!

What's the third one about? Well the subtitle of "Grip of the Shadow Plague" says it all. Book 2 closes with the family securing--saving--Fablehaven, doesn't it? Does it? The traitor, Vanessa, has been captured and imprisoned in the Quiet Box. The Sphinx has taken away the other prisoner--the one who was released from the Quiet Box--and all seems to be well. But then if you remember Kendra discovers a note implying or suggesting that the Sphinx is not who he appears. That he is in fact the bad guy though he's been masquerading as one of the good guys--one of the top good guys--for decades and decades. The third book explores that claim and seeks to solve that mystery once and for all. But that doesn't even begin to capture what the third book is about. It is exciting. It is intense. It is good.

471 pages

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Morpurgo, Michael. 2008. The Mozart Question.

Don't let appearances deceive you. This book may not look like much. It's a small book after all. But it can pack a "wow" with the best of them. It's not a novel. It's not a picture book. It's definitely for older readers--upper elementary on up. What is it about? Well, even the book starts in a roundabout way.

The question I am most often asked is always easy enough to answer. Question: How did you get started as a writer? Answer: Strangely enough, by asking someone almost exactly that very same question, which I was only able to ask in the first place by receiving a dose of extraordinarily good fortune. I had better explain.

The Mozart Question is a story within a story. The story is framed around that of a reporter--a new reporter hoping for her big break--interviewing a famous musician. The inside story is that of the musician. It is that story that in my opinion is able to pack quite a wow.

Lesley is a new reporter. She's only worked at the paper for a little over three weeks. But when her boss is unable to get the story--get the interview--due to a skiing accident, Lesley takes her place. Her job? To go to the home of Paolo Levi. Her instructions: Don't mess up! And above all else DO NOT ASK HIM THE MOZART QUESTION. The problem? She doesn't know what "the Mozart question" is. So she can only hope that she doesn't ask it accidentally. When she arrives, he tells her she may ask one question. Nervous she goes for it heart and soul, "I wonder if you'd mind telling me how you got started. I mean, what made you pick up a violin and play that first time?" His answer stuns her, wows her if you will.

I hope you'll read The Mozart Question yourself so you can see just how magical this short, little book really is.

Another (recent) review of The Mozart Question.

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Neches, Karen. 2008. Earthly Pleasures.

I rarely read Amazon reviews these days. I typically don't second guess my opinion. (And for the record, I'm not second guessing it here either even though I did look the book up on Amazon. The only thing I'm second guessing is whether to give it 3 stars or 3.5 stars or 3.75 stars.) But I have to say that Publishers Weekly's phrasing of "appealingly unorthodox" is just right in describing this fun, often light-hearted debut novel, Earthly Pleasures. Set both in heaven and on earth, it follows the lives of many characters--some living, some not so much. The story lines are seemingly unconnected--unconnected but enjoyable nonetheless--until the last third of the book when everything begins to come together. It is a romance. An unusual romance, but a romance all the same. The man? A celebrity both in heaven and on earth. Ryan Blaine. The woman? Well, when we first meet her she's a 'greeter' in heaven. Skye Sebring. Where they meet. How they meet. When they meet. I'll leave that up to you to discover.

Expect a sweet, often-funny story of two lovers that seemingly will never have the chance to connect. Don't expect an orthodox vision of heaven. Don't. If you do, if you read it through the mindset of "this is wrong; this is wrong; that's wrong, too" you'll be missing out on a charming story. Theologically weak--at least for Christian believers that may come across this novel--the novel's strength is in its telling. The back cover for instance mentions that the heroine "discovers that all of life's lessons can be learned from the lyrics of five Beatles songs." As a Beatle fan, how could I really resist such a tale?

This book may not be for everyone. Some--myself excluded--might find it a bit too light, a bit too fluffy, a bit too predictable. Romance novels aren't suited for all readers after all. And one person's "best book ever" is sentimental trash to another. But I enjoyed myself greatly with this one. It was fun. Pure fun. Guilty fun.

First sentence: The red light on Skye Sebring's computer blinked rapidly, announcing the arrival of her first client of the day. Within seconds a girl with dark, darting eyes entered the cubicle. She wore spiked leather wrist cuffs and a T-shirt with the logo "Hustle or Die."

309 pages.

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Today I'm interviewing YA author Laura Wiess. She is the author of Such A Pretty Girl, one of the Cybil nominess. Her newest book, Leftovers, has just been released. You may read my review of Such A Pretty Girl here. And you may visit Laura Wiess on the web here.

What inspired you to write Such A Pretty Girl? (Or how did this novel come to be…)

Pretty Girl was born while watching a news story about yet another kid being sexually abused by an adult. The first draft came fast with Meredith, the main character, speaking loudly, clearly and in detail, desperate to tell her story. Once I had it down on paper I went back and researched pedophilia, childhood sexual abuse, Megan's Law, incest, crossover offending and more, and was lucky enough to talk with some very candid survivors of sexual abuse.

Also, director James Ronald Whitney's Just Melvin: Just Evil is a stunning documentary. Powerful, unforgettable stuff.

How long did it take to write it and see it through to the finished product? Were there any surprises along the way on your journey to publication? What do you know now that you wish you had known then? (if anything…)

The first draft was written fairly quickly but the revision took time. I wrote it with no thought to market or age bracket or anything but the story itself, so there was no limiting or censor along the way.

When Pretty Girl was finished I submitted it to Barry Goldblatt who then became my agent. We agreed this story would need just the right editor, one who really "got" Meredith, and who didn't shy away from controversial issues. Luckily, Jennifer Heddle at MTV Books was out there, and we found her.

Honestly? I can't think of anything I wish I'd known in advance because each step of this journey has taught me something and if any of those moments had come sooner, I might not have been ready to absorb and (hopefully) learn from them. I love the constant evolution of it.

Who has been your biggest supporter or mentor along the way for you on your road to publication?

I'm really bad at picking only one of anything, so it would be a toss up between Barry Goldblatt (whose belief in Pretty Girl never wavered from the moment he read it), and my husband and my family who never said, "When are you going to stop writing and get a real job?" They believed, and that support meant a lot.
In addition, my mom's always been a voracious reader, and when I was little she would take me to the library once a week where we would each fill a big bag with books, go home and start reading. Thanks to her, I discovered the whole world in books.
She also belonged to a minimum of five book clubs, so there were new books coming in every month. I can't tell you how many times I wandered out of my room and said, "I have nothing left to read," and she would point me towards the new-book bookcase. She still passes on all the ones she's read, so I'm really lucky that way.

What do you hope readers gain from reading Such A Pretty Girl?

This is a hard question to answer because each person's reading experience and interpretation of the events in the book is different. I imagine it'll be the same for Leftovers, too, because I think people will identify to different degrees with different parts of it, depending on their own life experiences.

So, an intense read but ultimately hope, maybe an eye-opener to this kind of abuse and a degree of satisfaction in the end.

Is there anything you’d like to tell kids/teens going through such emotionally turbulent times?

Anyone stuck in a situation like this – and judging from the reader emails I've received from adult women who lived through similar circumstances, this is unfortunately nowhere near as uncommon as people would like to believe – knows better than I do what they're enduring just to make it through. I'm not a professional counselor or a part of law enforcement but I'd tell them that no matter what the predator tells you it isn't your fault, and that there are safe, responsible, reliable adults out there who'll believe you and step between you and danger. There's help and professionals out there who care.

Does Meredith have a theme song by any chance? Have you given any thought to what her playlist would be?

'Heaven' by Los Lonely Boys was the only one mentioned but readers have suggested several Evanescence songs which seemed perfect. I love reader suggestions!

I found your opening lines to be very powerful, a great hook. “They promised me nine years of safety but only gave me three. Today my time has run out.” Did this come easily or did you struggle with getting the opening just right?

Those two lines have always been the beginning of Meredith's story because she was caught in the living nightmare right from the first page. And it speaks to what she sees as a major betrayal by the adult world that caught and convicted her father and knows what he is, yet goes and releases him anyway. She's not thinking of laws and probation or with adult logic; she's thinking of what happened to her, the horrendous, terrifying details and is scared to death that for some reason, it has all ceased to matter and he's free again.

Meredith felt very authentic, very real as a character. Did you struggle with any of your characters? Was it easy to bring the mom (with her denial and naivety) and dad (with his perversions) to life? Did writing it ever get to be too intense? What was the hardest scene to write?

Meredith arrived almost fully formed, a real girl stuck in a real hell with a story she wanted to tell and a voice that never wavered. Her parents were more difficult because I had to see through their eyes and spend time in their heads, and that was extremely disturbing and frustrating. Still, it was a great (if horrible) experience because the world is full of opposing POVs and different motivations, and ignoring or dismissing them doesn't mean they don't exist.

There were times though, usually while I was writing Meredith's father, that my skin actually crawled and I had to push away from the desk and get out of the room for a little bit, just to shake it off.

The other thing that got to me was researching the current 'real life' victim soul, a paralyzed girl here in the U.S. who has been laying in her bed being stared at for years (her mom converted the garage and put in a viewing window to her bed, to the best of my knowledge), while strangers from all over the country (and who knows, maybe the world) come to stare at her and (before she was windowed off) cry, touch her and beg her to cure their illnesses or save their loved ones, etc..

Imagine the burden of that, day in and day out for years just lying there unable to speak or escape, and having hundreds or thousands of strangers file past your bed or stare at you crying, pleading and begging you to absorb their pain and misery? She can't leave, she can't call for help, she can't sit up and say "Hey Mom, I'm done with this. Where are my jeans? I'm going out." The realization that some girl somewhere is actually living this way astounds me.

The hardest scene to write was the climax scene, I think, if only because I had to be in Meredith's head with the terror and the rage and desperation and the whole skin-crawling thing all over again. I was so freaked while I was writing it that when she was frantic, shaking and crying so was I, and in my mind heading toward that snap moment when, seemingly doomed and cornered, she turns and makes her last desperate stand.

The best part about that scene was that I didn't know what was going to happen or how it was going to play out until maybe the third draft. I was writing like a crazy person and suddenly, it was just…THERE. I was so amazed and excited that I called my parents (my mom had read the previous drafts), and said, "I know! I know what happens, and oh my GOD, you're not going to believe it!"

Then, after I got them all excited, I wouldn't tell them what the end was, only that I had to go and finish writing it. Terrible of me, but fun.

What was your first impression of the cover art for Such A Pretty Girl? Do you prefer the American or UK cover?

I love the covers. The first time I saw the U.S. cover I got a chill because it seemed so perfect. The U.K. cover is perfect for the market there, too. I couldn't be more pleased.

What do you love about writing? What do you find the easiest? What do you find the hardest?

I love the intriguing whisper of an idea, of a question I don't know the answer to, a character I want very badly to know, a story idea that lures me in and makes me laugh, cry, worry and cheer. I love ideas that make me furious, stories that evoke passionate responses, make me discover new ideas and opinions and ways of living outside of my own. I love offbeat characters, fringe characters, people who either choose or are thrust into lives outside of the mainstream and wrestle with all that comes with it.

I love stories that can wring me out emotionally because I care so much for the characters and want so badly for things to go well for them. For me, it's all about the characters. If I care about them, you've got me.

The easiest thing about writing is that when it's right, I get lost in it. I love it when the characters become real and take off and I get to follow them and be with them, listen to their dreams and desires and opinions, angst with them and write it all down.

The hardest part is learning not to protect them. To step back and let the story happen, no matter how bad it gets.

You write YA books, what do you love about the genre? Do you have any favorites past or present?

I love the endless possibilities, the 'firsts' and the evolution. I enjoy using kid-logic which is a lot of fun, fresh and intriguing, with way different boundaries, ins, outs and paths than experienced, adult logic.

I don't have any one favorite book. I love so many that it's impossible to list them, especially since I keep finding new ones!

Leftovers is being released in January 2008. What can you tell us about your new book?

From the back of the book:

Blair and Ardith are best friends who have committed an unforgivable act in the name of love and justice. But in order to understand what could drive two young women to such extreme measures, first you'll have to understand why.
You'll have to listen as they describe parents who are alternately absent and smothering, classmates who mock and shun anyone different, and young men who are allowed to hurt and dominate without consequence.

You will have to learn what it's like to be a teenage girl who locks her bedroom door at night, who has been written off by the adults around her as damaged goods. A girl who has no one to trust except the one person she's forbidden to see.

You'll have to understand what it's really like to be forgotten and abandoned in America today.

Are you ready?

I was what-iffing about several things, including the difference between how these two girls would break if the pressure was great enough as opposed to how say, two guys might break. There are so many kids out there who become targeted by bullies and the daily torture just never ends and sometimes, ultimately and sadly, drives them to do desperate things just to try and make it stop.

I was also thinking about interpretation, how when adults say things it's almost like they assume their kids automatically value the same things they do and understand exactly what they mean by the orders or advice they give. The thing is, each person is an individual with a different set of wants or goals, secret dreams and desires, and I wanted to see what would happen when two girls with loves, hates, dreams and firsts of their own absorb the advice/values/lifestyles of their parents and then interpret them and use them to serve themselves in an entirely unintended way.

Are you excited that your novel, Such A Pretty Girl, has been nominated for a Cybil award? Does award-season (best of lists, awards, etc.) make you nervous or excited as a writer?

Oh yes, it's very exciting to be in such good company. The nominee list is impressive and it's an honor to even be on it! This is my first time with a personal stake in award season so now I'll be cheering on my friends and chewing my nails at the same time.

If you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

I would go back in time and take care of unfinished business with people I cared about. For example, my grandparents are all deceased and I would have liked the opportunity to speak with them as a grown woman rather than in the semi-restricted role of granddaughter. I would have liked the chance to have been a peer and talk as a friend, if you know what I mean. So many rich moments lost because I never thought to ask.

With others there were moments when I could have apologized, been kinder or more patient, should have stood up for myself but didn't, picked the wrong battle and missed the more important opportunity, didn't think to ask the questions that I would now love to have the answered, listen closer to the opposing point of view…that sort of thing.

Try and resolve – or at least gain additional insight – into what (for me) will probably always remain unresolved but still, I'd love to give it a good try.

Thanks so much for this great interview, Becky. I appreciate the time spent and it's been wonderful speaking with you!

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Help Me, Mr. Mutt! by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel. April 2008. Harcourt.

I loved this book. It's true. I loved it. Whether you like cats or dogs OR cats and dogs, I have a feeling you'll like this one too. The full title of this one is Help Me, Mr. Mutt! Expert Answers for Dogs with People Problems. The premise is simple. Dogs write to Mr. Mutt for advice about the problems they're having with their owners. Mr. Mutt then responds. But never one to let a dog have the last word in anything, the Queen also responds. (The Queen--in case you didn't guess it from her name--is a cat.)

It was hard for me to choose a favorite part. It really was. It was hard for me to even narrow it down a bit. I really loved so many of the "letters" that Dr. Mutt received and answered. But of particular note--if I have to play favorites--I'd say that Overdressed In Oklahoma was one of my favorites.

Dear Mr. Mutt,

It's ridiculous!
Outrageous!
Preposterous!
Holidays are unbearable. First I'm a baby, next I'm a bunny, then I'm a bride, now I'm an angel.
I'm NOT a baby or a bunny or a bride or an angel.
I'm a dog.
Where is my dignity? I'm the laughingstock of the block! I'm in need of your assistance immediately!
Help me, Mr Mutt!

Overdressed in Oklahoma

P.S. My people never dress up the cantankerous cat!

Another one I simply loved was Confused in Connecticut. The truth is that I really loved them all. I HIGHLY recommend this book for everyone that loves pets--cats, dogs, whatever. It's a true gem of a book. The text, the illustrations, everything was just right!

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In January and February, you might have noticed I've taken a detour. I've focused on classics both adult classics and children's classics. While it's been fun for me, I'm not sure it's been fun for YOU. So I'm determined in March to focus on books that are BRAND NEW. 28 books published (or soon-to-be-published) in 2008!

Yes, from February 27th through April 2nd I'll be trying to read 28 2008 books. All 28 don't have to be long YA novels, I'm allowing picture books to count as well. But I'm not trying to take the easy way out either by reading all picture books. I'm going to try to get some serious reading done!


1. Wake by Lisa McMann (submitted to Edge of the Forest)
2. The Compound by S.A. Bodeen (submitted to Edge of the Forest)
3. Saga by Conor Kostick
4. Leftovers by Laura Wiess
5. Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull
6. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
7. On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
8. Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George
9. The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner (review forthcoming)
10. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George (review forthcoming)
11. What To Do About Alice by Barbara Kerley (picture book)
12. Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett (picture book)
13. Fisherman and His Wife by Rachel Isadora (picture book)
14. Help Me, Mr. Mutt by Janet and Susan Stevens. (picture book)
15. Alien Feast by Michael Simmons (review forthcoming)
16. Love (and other uses for duct tape) by Carrie Jones (review forthcoming)
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I still can't believe my good fortune in having an interview with Susan Beth Pfeffer. THE SUSAN BETH PFEFFER. Of Life As We Know It fame. I first reviewed Life As We Knew It in November of 2006. In September, I reviewed the audio book of Life As We Knew It. And this past January, I reviewed the dead and the gone. It will release in June. The audio book releases a few weeks later. If I have the opportunity to review the audio book of that one, I'll happily review that as well. Yesterday, Sunday, February 17th, was her birthday!!! So after reading this interview, you should definitely make a point of going to her blog to say hello and wish her well!

What inspired you to write Life As We Knew It? (Or how did this book come to be?)

It's always embarrassing to admit how I was inspired to write Life As We Knew It. I was home one afternoon, with nothing else to do, so I ended up watching the movie Meteor. It got me thinking about how a teenager would cope with a worldwide disaster, and the next thing I knew, I was plotting away.

How long did it take you to write?

From the moment I saw Meteor, until the completion of the first draft, about two months. Which is a long time for me (but then again, it's my longest book).

Do you have a favorite scene?

I probably have a dozen of them; the book was a joy to write. If I had to pick one at this very moment, well, I'll go with two- the ice skating scene and the woodstove backdraft scene. But I really love the tiny one paragraph diary entries.

What was your first impression of the cover art for Life As We Knew It?

I loved it. I still do.

Because the book is so intense, I'm curious if it ever became too intense, too overwhelming for you when you were writing…were you haunted by Miranda and her world?

It was never too intense or overwhelming, but I was totally absorbed by it, and continued to be so for months after writing it, which is very unusual for me.

When you were writing it did you begin to look at the moon differently? I've often heard that people see the moon as "spooky" or "eerie" after they've first read your book…

Oh yeah. Nowadays, when I look at the moon, I smile at it and thank it for all the good it's brought to my life. But as recently as this fall, I drove home with a full harvest moon glaring at me, and got a little nervous.

Are you ever surprised by people's reactions to the book?

I've been surprised (and delighted) by how adults have responded so strongly to it. I love hearing about how people check out their food supplies after reading it.

How soon after writing Life As We Knew It did you know you wanted to revisit Miranda's world and write a companion novel?

Instantly. Of course all my thoughts were of a sequel. I wanted to know what happened next. Actually, I still want to know.

What inspired you to write the dead & the gone? (Or how did this novel come to be?)

I'd been haranguing my editor to let me write a sequel to LAWKI, and she was quite resistant. So I suggested a book taking the same disaster and putting it in a completely different setting with completely different characters. The people at Harcourt discussed that and agreed to let me try.

I decided immediately that everything about the dead & the gone had to be different from LAWKI. If LAWKI was about a girl, d&g had to be about a boy. If the family in LAWKI was upper middle class, the family in d&g had to be lower middle class. If LAWKI was exurban, then d&g had to be urban. If religion was not a factor for the family in LAWKI, then it had to be of primary importance to the family in d&g. If the LAWKI characters were isolated, the d&g characters had to get out of their home and interact with other people.

It was very easy to write LAWKI. Nothing, for me at least, is easier than a teenage girl diary book. You just sit down and let her do the writing. d&g, which is third person from a male point of view, was much more challenging. I made it even harder for myself for having the d&g characters be bilingual, English and Spanish. I don't know Spanish, so I was constantly using the internet, and a good old fashioned Spanish/English dictionary.

How long did it take you to write?

I'm not sure, four months maybe from conception to completed first draft? I know I was working on it in my mind when I took a trip to Vancouver, because it was on the plane ride home that I came up with the Yankee Stadium scene (where Alex goes to look for the body of his mother). I was so excited, I was practically dancing in the aisles. That would have been the very beginning of November, 2006. I submitted the outline and writing samples (including the Yankee Stadium scene) to Harcourt in January, and they gave me the go ahead almost instantly. But I really don't remember when I actually finished.

Do you have a favorite scene?

Just like LAWKI, I have several. The Yankee Stadium scene, which is a great stand alone (and which can be read on my blog anytime one wishes). There's also a birthday party for Alex's younger sister Julie that I love. I was working on the submission scenes for Harcourt (I decided I didn't want to submit the first 50 pages, but scenes from various parts of the book instead), and I realized everything I was writing was really depressing. So I created the birthday party scene just for a change of pace. For some reason, I almost always have a party scene in the books I write, maybe to compensate for the fact no one ever invites me to parties!

Again, as with LAWKI, there are little moments I love in the book. I'm particularly fond of Alex's interactions with his friend Kevin.

What was your first impression of the cover art for the dead and the gone?

Harcourt e-mailed me three variants of the cover art. I loved one of them, liked the second one enormously, and didn't care for the third, which for some reason had lots of birds in the sky. Harcourt decided against the one I liked the best (of course!), but combined covers two and three, clearing the sky of some of the birds. I think the cover is terrific. I love how it echoes the cover for LAWKI, yet creates an urban feeling of loneliness and desperation. And it has just the right number of birds (which I think they think represent life or something positive, but to me are the souls of the dead and gone).

Was it easier to write or harder to write the dead & the gone since you'd already created the fictional world—the setting, the tone, the events, etc. and timeline?

It was a little of both. When I wrote LAWKI, there were things I had to learn or figure out, the volcanoes, the off shore oil rigs, the communication satellites (the latter two, I think my brother suggested). I knew all that before writing d&g, so that was a time saver. On the other hand, I had to stick with the basic schedule of events- when would the flu strike (earlier in d&g, because it seemed reasonable to me it would hit an urban area earlier), the big snowstorm (which also is an ice storm in d&g).

When I was working out the plot, I originally planned for the book to end about a month later than it actually did. I had a copy of LAWKI by my side at all times, and I discovered there'd been a second snow storm (the one that causes the woodstove to backfire). I just couldn't deal with a second storm, so I changed the plot of d&g so the book could end before the weather got worse.

Both books seem very authentic, very realistic, very intense, yet both have their small threads of hope running throughout. How, as a writer, did you balance hope with the doom and gloom of global catastrophe?

I'm a very cheerful, optimistic person.

This one may seem odd, but I want to ask it just the same. As the author, as the creator of these characters, you obviously have thoughts about what goes on behind the scenes. Both books leave so many unanswered questions, so many things are left unsaid and unanswered. Do you as the author know 'the fate' of some of these characters and the resolution of some of these situations? (Not that you have to reveal all your secrets or anything. But it's hard as a reader not to wonder about what happened next…)

I wonder about what happens next also. And I harangue my editor regularly to let me write a third book so I can find out. Twice I floated suggestions to her where major characters from each book die (one time it was Matt, one time it was Alex- I guess I kill the boys off for some reason). Both times, she vetoed the ideas emphatically.

There are minor characters I'd love to know what happened to, Chris Flynn from d&g in particular. The yenta in me would like to fix him up with Miranda.

I get letters from kids, and they seem most interested in what happened to Miranda's father and stepmother.

Is there going to be another book, another sequel?

I harangued my editor about this possibility in the middle of November. She said, basically, that Harcourt would want to see how well d&g does before deciding. d&g comes out June 1 (I can hardly wait) and she thought they'd have a sense of its success/failure within a couple of months. So I guess I'll know by next fall if I can keep on ending the world.

I don't know what the nature of the third book would be, except that it would be further along in terms of time. Maybe the original characters would show up, maybe not. Maybe it would just be a sequel to LAWKI. Ideas get suggested and rejected on a regular basis. At this point, I'm not thinking about it. Next fall seems very far away.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? Has this always been a dream of yours? Growing up, whose work did you admire most? Was there a particular author that made you say, "I want to grow up and do that!"?

I knew I wanted to be a writer from first grade on. My father, a constitutional lawyer, had his first book published when I was in first grade, and I'd sit there, reading the title page with the word Pfeffer on it, and the dedication page, with my mother's, my brother's, and my name on it. That did it for me.

Having a father who wrote books showed me that I could, that there was nothing exotic about the process.Of all the good fortune in my career, that was the biggest and best piece of luck I ever could have had.

The writer that influenced me the most was Mary Stolz. Her YA books, which I read when I was 11-12 years old, were so superior to everything else that was out there that I knew if I could model myself after anybody, it would be her.

Years later, she allowed me the honor of dedicating a book to her.

Who are some of your favorite authors? Have you met any of your favorites? Who would you most like to have dinner with?

I mostly read non-fiction, and I make my selections by subject matter, rather than author. Ellen Conford is my cousin and very very close friend and I always like having dinner with her (she's a wonderful cook).

If you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

I'd take the time machine back 24 hours and deposit the limitless supply of money into my checking account.

I am a very practical person!

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Na, An. 2008. The Fold. Releases April 2008.

Joyce stared at herself in the mirror, twisting her head from side to side, finger combing more of her long black hair over the unsightly bulge that used to be her temple. What had started as a tiny red bump had swollen and grown in circumference with each passing hour and day, building up over the week into a massive burial mound on the side of her head. And though Joyce had tried to head it off with her arsenal of tools and tricks accumulated over years of poring through beauty magazines, the medication, steaming and "gentle" squeezing did nothing to stop the growth.

What can I say about The Fold? In some ways it's your typical YA novel. A teen unhappy with the way she looks, a teen who feels that her life would be better if she could just look a certain way, a teen who thinks that she could get the guy of her dreams if only....if only. Joyce is such a teen. She feels her sister, Helen, is the pretty one, the perfect one. The one she'll never live up to in a million years. (Authentic feeling for a little sister to have? Yes!) There is also a little brother. Joyce is the middle child. The narrator is Korean-American. And there is that angle of the novel. While some things are specific to that culture, many things--many feelings are universal. The crush on the guy out of her league, for example, the typical problem between friends, family (parents and siblings) and school drama, etc.

Joyce's dream of coming back "beautiful" and "perfect" after summer vacation are within reach due to her aunt's winning of the lottery. Her aunt who is big into plastic surgery wins big and passes along gifts to her family. Some of her gifts tend to be controversial, however, and are geared to alter who the person is. In a way that is. For example, the little brother wants to grow tall so he can play basketball. She gives him a bottle of pills (or some such thing) that is supposed to "help" him grow. The older sister gets a matchmaker. A gift that is so NOT welcome. Her aunt feels she needs a boyfriend to be "happy." And Joyce's gift??? Well, her aunt wants to gift her with plastic surgery. A cosmetic surgery to give her eyelid folds.

Joyce has conflicting emotions about the surgery, about the procedure. Part of her feels that she needs it to be beautiful. That she's unacceptable, "ugly" without it. That her aunt was saying that she needs surgery to be as beautiful as her sister. That she needs an extra boost to match up to everyone's expectations. But a part of her feels that it is a drastic step. And perhaps an unnecessary one at that?

Beauty. Self-esteem. Self-image. Self-loathing. Sibling Rivalry.

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