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Bee Ridgway grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts.
She attended Oberlin College (B.A.), then worked for a year as an editorial
assistant at Elle magazine. She studied literature at Cornell University (M.A. and Ph.D.) and has
worked at Bryn Mawr College
since 2001. She lives in Philadelphia,
PA. The River of No Return is Bee's debut novel. It publishes today.
The River of No Return - Bee Ridgway
So yep, I’m an American. In fact, thinking
about being American is how I make my living.
I’m a professor of American literature, and I spend my days teaching Moby-Dick to young Americans. But about two years ago I sat down and
started writing The River of No Return.
It’s a big, busty time travel novel, a genre mash-up that combines
adventure, romance, spy thriller, mystery.
It’s set in Vermont, in contemporary London and in Georgian
England. Its two main characters are
British. I surprised myself: shouldn’t a scholar of American history and
literature write an American novel?
Instead, a frothy tale of time-traveling Regency aristocrats, beautiful
medieval beet farmers and faceless corporate heavies from an ominous future was
flowing from my fingers.
I had tossed my academic hat aside, my hair
had come tumbling down, and I was tapping into fantasy. And if there’s anything Americans love to
fantasize about, it’s England
(not Britain – England). Of
course you fantasize about us right back, and always have. Brits have more to say about Yanks than Yanks
do, and Americans are fiercely protective of an idealized England that no British person
would recognize. The number of times an
American has yelled at my British partner for not enjoying tea would astonish
you.
This used to tick me off. I’ve spent years in both countries, I have a
pretty good grasp of the “real” Britain
and the “real” US, and I used to roll my eyes at the notions each nation
harbors about the other.
But that was a humorless mood. The fact is, fantasy is pleasurable and
admitting it keeps us honest and makes us more generous, in art and in
life. The fun house mirror that someone
else holds up teaches you to laugh at yourself. I am now a thoroughgoing fan of
the fictional versions of our two nations that we dream up between us. And there are always new ones. Remember that amazing Dr. Who episode where Britain
is zooming through outer space on the back of a white whale? Remember how I told you that I teach Moby-Dick? Our mutual and often absurd
fascination may not have had particularly savory effects on the world stage,
but the“special relationship” has made for some terrific popular fiction, going
back a long way.
If I may put my academic chapeau back on
for a moment, and regale you with some literary history? Some of the most archetypically “English”
writers bounced their portraits of Albion off America. Arthur Conan Doyle grew up reading American
penny dreadfuls: the first Sherlock Holmes story is largely set in Utah. Agatha Christie’s
father was American. P.G. Wodehouse spent vast portions of his adult life in America.
Frances Hodgson Burnett immigrated to the U.S. when she was sixteen. Rudyard Kipling married an American and lived
in Vermont
for four years – he adored it and was wildly prolific while there, writing The Jungle Book and reams of poetry.
I’ve chosen the “popular” writers of yesteryear to make this point, because
it’s the “popular” fantasies that we swap back and forth to this day. The Hollywood
and BBC portraits of one another that we love to hate . . . and hate to love.
So yep.
I’m an American, and I’ve written a fantastical novel about Britain.
My time-travelly Britain is
also – through a side window and around some corners – a portrait of America. I wrote the novel because it was incredibly
fun to do so. I enjoyed myself
thoroughly, wallowing in the alternative versions of reality that I had given
myself permission to explore. I offer it to you with a grain of salt (for
flavor), and I hope that you enjoy it, too.
The River of No Return is out today. For a gentle introduction to the novel, here's Bee talking about it on Penguin YouTube.
Author, actress and
freelance journalist, Giovanna Fletcher is married to Tom Fletcher from McFly. She grew
up in Essex with her Italian dad Mario, mum Kim, big sister Giorgina and little
brother Mario, and spent most of her childhood talking to herself (it seems no
one wanted to listen) or reading books. Giovanna is a firm believer in the
power of magpies and positive energy. To find out more about Giovanna, view her blog or
follow her on Twitter.
Her debut novel, Billy and Me, is out this Thursday (23rd May 2013).
Anyway, over to Giovanna as she tells us about a day in her life...
Every day varies, but my writing days are a fairly consistent array of
distractions that I struggle to knock on the head before getting on with the
pressing task of writing.
I get up at a respectable eight o'clock (I'm conveniently forgetting the times
I struggle to get out of bed before ten - they’re rare!), and potter around
having breakfast with the hubby, showering, getting into a
fresh pair of PJs or comfies, and then pottering around for an hour or so. I
then like to watch the beginning of This Morning for their
quick round up of the news. Now, this can sometimes work against me as
occasionally there'll be someone being interviewed that I think will be
interesting to watch. But, let's say this is a day I prise myself away
from the telly . . .
I then go
to the office and sit at my desk in front of my laptop. First task? Checking my
Twitter, Facebook and the Mail Online (I like the pictures), and then,
before I know it, it's one o'clock and its time for lunch. Not that I've earned
the break, of course!
After lunch (usually soup in case you're wondering), I start reading what I'd
worked on the previous day to get my mind focused . . . Occasionally I feel
tired and have a nap at this point (let's blame the Italian in me - I love
a siesta), although I've tried to stop myself from doing that - grabbing a
quick cuppa is much more time effective. I'm then ready to write for the
rest of the day and late into the evening, usually getting a solid six hours
distraction-free-writing in the bag.
Yes, reading back over this, my working day is pretty disgusting really. I
promise to rid myself of a few distractions and leap over obstacles with speed
so that I can get to work a little quicker in the future . . . This is
said from my PJs while I nurse yet another cuppa. I guess with writing it's all
about finding a way that works for you and gets the creative juices flowing.
Today I read a few pages from Peter Johnston’s book, Choice Words. You know this book, right? If not, it is a small, powerful read that can change your teaching life forever. (If… Read More →
So I was planning to try a new kind of post last Friday. And then Friday came and went. How does this happen? So right now, let’s just pretend it is Friday. Or… Read More →
How did an 18-year-old college student in Maryland gain the trust of and get access to TV executives and anchors in New York? “By posting 10 or 15 posts a day meant that the industry knew it was a reliable consistent source,” says Brian Stelter, creator of our sister site TVNewser and now a media reporter for the New York Times and author of the just released book “Top of the Morning.”
As he neared graduation, Stelter had to make a choice: work in TV news, or cover it.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Goodreads has created a massive William Shakespeare flowchart to celebrate the famous author’s birthday today.
We’ve embedded the complete chart below–visit AppNewser to download free copies of all these plays.
If you want all these poems and plays in a single place, you can download a free copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. If you don’t feel like reading a whole play, try Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Philadelphia Weekly has mounted a petition to put up a historical marker plaque for Isaac Asimov‘s former home in Philadelphia.
They have already collected more than 750 signatures, petitioning the Pennsylvania Historical Marker Commission to celebrate the great science fiction writer’s time in The City of Brotherly Love. Follow this link to sign the petition:
Though he’s often thought of as a New Yorker, he spent three very important landmark years in Philadelphia. From 1942 to 1945, while living and working here during WWII as a chemist at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Isaac Asimov wrote half a dozen of the key stories that comprise his two most influential cultural masterpieces: the Foundation series, which introduced the idea of “psychohistory,” the mathematical modeling of the future; and the Robot series, which introduced the famous Three Laws of Robotics governing how artificial intelligences should behave.
(Via Harflax)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Brian Stelter, who launched TVNewser almost 10 years ago, is now a published author. “Top of the Morning,” out today, lays bare a tumultuous year for network morning news shows which saw one anchor pack her bags, another face a serious health issue, a ratings leader fall — and lose a quarter of its audience — and an entirely new show launch.
In his first interview for the book, Stelter tells us about the secrecy behind “Top of the Morning,” the access he got, and what he thinks about being called Matt Lauer‘s nemesis.
- Part II, tomorrow: What happens when Brian Stelter Tweets something he shouldn’t?
For more videos, check out our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Tania Elizabeth is a mother first and foremost and the author of The Tier of Eternal Grace. Book One The Moon Clearing was released earlier this year. Book Two The Mirror’s Shadow will be released about September. Book Three will then follow in the early part of 2014.
The Tier of Eternal Grace is a captivating fantasy of magic and passion, wound into the truths of reality that will enchant readers with its depiction of the faerie realm, and the exploits of the faeries themselves. Book One of the series The Moon Clearingis an immersive tale of mysticism and adventure, of spiritual and sensual intent that shall enrapture your every sense.
SUMMARY
Beyond the boundary that separates the mundane and earthly planes from the divine lies Eterna Fadas, a place ruled by extraordinary beings, lithe and human-like in appearance, yet ethereal in their grace and beauty, and sensuous in nature.
"I have existed always! Where I began I do not know, for all I know is just as I am today!"
As Queen, Tatiana was thought to have lived a life of opulence, her faith and beliefs her endearing essence. Why then was it so, that beneath the picture of perfection laid torments and terrors even she dare not explain. Being She came with its prices paid. Being She came with a deal; a contract in which she was to relinquish herself to a rogue of unmerciful fury. Would this be the end of all she know? Would this be the end of her existence?
Aside from her writing and her three angels, Tania is also an advocate for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Being a mother herself and having seen firsthand what some of these children are dealt with on a day to day basis, and yet seeing the strength and courage they each maintain, Tania felt the need to not only donate her time, but to also help raise much needed funds.
The Starlight Children’s Foundation transforms the experience of hospitalization and treatment for seriously ill children and their families. Starlight is the only children’s charity with a permanent, physical presence in very major pediatric hospital in the country.
Every minute of every day a child is admitted to hospital in Australia. For thousands of these children what happens next is the diagnosis of a serious or chronic illness that changes their life, and the lives of their families, forever.
This is where Starlight steps in - delivering a range of innovative programs, built on the World Health Organization’s social model of health, to support the well-being and resilience of these seriously ill children and their families.
Starlight programs are integral to the total care of seriously ill children - while the health professionals focus on treating the illness, Starlight is there to lift the spirits of the child - giving them the opportunity to laugh and play and be a child again
About the Author, Tania Elizabeth
Like each and every one of us, Tania's own journey has been one of trials and tribulations, of Love and of passions; and the dissolutions of it. Heartache, sorrows, smiles and laughter always seeming. Through the writing of this book and the words of Tatiana, Tania has found a peace within and learnt the true meaning of "I LOVE ME!"
A message from Tania
STARLIGHT AUTHOR’S AID
I am asking for all’s assistance.
To give to others is to give to oneself, and
I NEED YOUR HELP!!!
Help us to raise funds for the Starlight Children's Foundation, which supports terminally ill children and their families.
There are two ways in which people can help.
It is very simple.
By simply hosting, reviewing or interviewing myself/my book via a blog post, amazon, newspaper, radio, TV within a 21day window frame, between the dates of Friday 12th of April and Friday the 3rd of May. For every appearance, I will be donating $1 to the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
If any of you could help, I would be so grateful. If you could connect me with anyone else who would be happy to interview, do a short post or review on myself/my book, I would be ever so grateful more.
We are looking at making this an annual event. This year it is based upon myself, though every year after, we will base it upon another upcoming author.
So please share and pass this along to all. Let's make this a huge affair and raise much needed funds for a very worthy cause.
My heartfelt thanks to all.
Love, Blessings and Faerie Kisses always xo
Do you feel like you have failed to reach readers with your writing? Never give up.
Fight Club and Choke novelist Chuck Palahniuk answered reader questions on Reddit this week. When one reader wrote “It’s rare for a writer’s first book to be as successful as Fight Club was,” Palahniuk clarified and shared some inspiring insight into his career:
Please let me address a misperception. ‘Fight Club’ was a huge failure. Most of the hardcovers were going to be pulped. They were unsold when the movie opened… and then the movie was a flop. It has taken years ( decades ) for the story to build an audience. What’s amazing is that it still resonates for young readers; it’s never become dated. ( he shakes his head in disbelief )
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Have you ever wanted to share your life story in a memoir? To get some tips, we caught up with Jon Reiner–the author who teaches Mediabistro’s upcoming Memoir Writing course.
Reiner shared the story of his award-winning memoir, The Man Who Couldn’t Eat along with advice for writing a great memoir. Check out the highlights from our interview below…
Q: What advice do you have for others who want to write their own memoir?
A: Figure out the story first and test it with a trusted, critical reader or editor. Is the story compelling enough to keep a reader interested? That’s the first test and you can’t fudge it. If you believe the story can work, begin to write in a scene structure to avoid falling into the confessional diary pattern. If you find that it’s moving and scenes are begetting scenes, keep going.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Happy National Poetry Month! All throughout April, we will interview poets about working in this digital age. Recently, we spoke with award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Betsy Snyder.
In the past, Snyder (pictured, via) has published two picture books that feature haikus, Haiku Baby and I Haiku You. She has been celebrating poetry by tweeting one haiku a day all month long. Check out the highlights from our interview below…
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Her website.
Her blog.
Her Twitter feed.
Her Facebook page.
Titles I've written about:
It's Our Prom, So Deal With It (2012):
[Azure's voice] definitely dominates, and she's also much harder to like, mostly because her behavior is so hypocritical: she's supposedly hugely open-minded and stridently opposes People Judging Each Other, but she's very dismissive of people who have opinions different than her own, and she judges other people on the basis of their appearance on a regular basis. BUT, realizing that is a big part of her personal journey.
Between Mom and Jo (2004):
It gets ugly. Really, really ugly. The whole second half just made my jaw ache. (It didn't make me cry—it wasn't that kind of book—it was closer to rage. Nick's emotions just tunneled their way right into me. Rage, pain, frustration, betrayal, confusion. It's raw.)
Pinterest boards: Across the USA Through YA: Colorado; YA Authors.
Her website.
Her blog.
Her Facebook page.
Contact her.
Titles I've written about:
Savvy (2008):
To all of you Savvy-lovers: You win. Ingrid Law had me from that first sentence, and I have nothing but praise for this book. It surprised me, again and again—I'd think that I had it figured out, and then she'd throw a curveball—to the point where I realized that I really didn't know how it would all turn out, even right down to the last few pages. (And yes, I got a little weepy.)
Scumble (2010):
This is, and will be, a great story for booktalking, reading aloud, and just general recommending. Like Savvy, it's got colorful characters, an engaging plotline, and despite some hurdles to be overcome, fears to be faced, and tears to be shed, it's a pretty gentle adventure. Though there is someone trying to Do Bad Things, he's doing it out of fear and grief, not out of evil or even plain meanness. So, yes, in brief, thumbs up.
Pinterest boards: Across the USA Through YA: Colorado; YA Authors.
Author Dave Wolverton (better known as fantasy novelist Dave Farland) is raising money to pay medical bills after his son’s tragic accident.
Over at GoFundMe, the family has already raised nearly $23,500 in four days to pay for the medical bills. Yesterday, readers and writers banded together for a book bomb, buying copies of Farland’s Nightingale (propelling the book to No. 84 on Amazon). Here’s more from the donation page:
Ben Wolverton, age 16, was in a long-boarding accident on Wednesday the 4th, 2013. After falling off his board, he suffered from severe brain trauma as well as a cracked skull, broken pelvis, broken tail bone, burnt knees, bruised lungs, broken ear drum, as well as road rash and many scars. He is currently stable, but in a coma. Ben is a straight-A student, very athletic, and is well liked by all that know him. His family has no insurance, and the bills for the hospital and treatment in this instance often exceed a million dollars, but we are starting out low, hoping that he will recover quickly. Any donations are greatly appreciated.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Happy National Poetry Month! All throughout April, we will interview poets about working in this digital age. Recently, we spoke with New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.
Hopkins (pictured, via) has been writing poetry throughout her entire life. She first established her professional writing career by penning nonfiction children’s books.
After Simon & Schuster Children’s Books published Crank in 2004, she became well-known for writing novels in verse. Many of her hit titles focus on dark topics including addiction, mental illness, and prostitution. Check out the highlights from our interview below…
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
By: Maryann Yin,
on 4/3/2013
Blog:
Galley Cat (Mediabistro)
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Happy National Poetry Month! All throughout April, we will interview poets about working in this digital age. Recently, we spoke with J. Patrick Lewis, the United States’ current children’s poet laureate.
Lewis (pictured, via) worked as an economics professor for many years. The sighting of a moonbow (a white rainbow) inspired him to write his first children’s story.
He has since gone on to write more than eighty books and has collaborated with other respected members of the industry including prolific children’s writer Jane Yolen, illustrator Sophie Blackall, and artist Michael Slack.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Novelist Iain M. Banks revealed today that he is battling advanced cancer. His doctors predicted he had “several months” to live.
Banks has published numerous books in a variety of genres, including his science fiction Culture series. Banks’s personal site is currently being updated to build a place “where friends, family and fans can leave messages for me and check on my progress” online during this difficult time. Here’s more from the author:
As a result, I’ve withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I’ve asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry – but we find ghoulish humour helps). By the time this goes out we’ll be married and on a short honeymoon. We intend to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us. Meanwhile my heroic publishers are doing all they can to bring the publication date of my new novel forward by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
If you checked in with us yesterday, you read the behind the scenes editorial perspective of Michael Hassan’s debut teen novel, CRASH AND BURN. Today Michael responds to our notoriously strenuous, sweat-inducing Opening the Book questions…
Which was your favorite book from childhood, and what are you reading right now?
I was always into books and a real sucker for the Dr. Suess stuff, can probably still recite Green Eggs and Ham by heart, but the first book that made me want to be a writer was Les Miserables, which I would probably have named as my favorite book, except for the Princess Bride by William Goldman, who is primarily known as a screenwriter, but has written some incredible novels.
I am currently re-reading several William Goldman novels, including Marathon Man and the Color of Light. You can learn a lot as a writer from reading his books. .
More importantly, I am back to reading hardcovers and paperbacks after spending too long with e-books. While I’m a techno nut, the truth is there is nothing better than holding a real book, being able to thumb back and forth through the pages and knowing exactly where you are at any given point.
What is your secret talent?
I play keyboards. I am, in fact, really bad musician and have been fired from some pretty talentless bands when I was younger. Thankfully I record nothing so no one has to know. Until now.
Fill in the blank: _______ always makes me laugh.
Mean Girls. I could watch this movie constantly and still laugh at every line.
Also, fart noises and Gilbert Gottfried, not necessarily in that order.
My current obsessions are…
Headphones, I have like 20 pairs. I need loud music when I’m working.
Also, Uncharted 3D, in fact almost every videogame, movie and documentary in 3D.
Any gem of advice for aspiring writers?
Know where you are going before you start. Make an outline and stick to it and then keep on going without looking back until you hit THE END. And then, take whatever you’ve done and put it on the highest shelf in your room for 6 weeks without looking at it.
And then make a new outline and start over with the brightest red pen you can find.
And don’t, under any circumstances, get stuck playing Uncharted 3D or watching anything else in 3D. In fact, disconnect your television and your internet and throw away your iPads, playstations and smartphones.
Finish this sentence: I hope a person who reads my book…
Forgets that they are reading;
misses a train stop because they need to finish a chapter;
recognizes the characters so much that they find it difficult to believe that its fiction;
Buys another book the second they finish this one;
Or is inspired to write one themselves.
Tell us more about how CRASH AND BURN was born.
I was challenged by my son, who has ADD to write something that he would be willing to read. Spending time with him and his friends, playing videogames and watching movies, I wanted to come up with a form of entertainment that they would consider to be as fast paced and captivating, something that would make them think differently, more deeply about themselves and their world. Using him and his friends as models, I went back in time and thoroughly researched the everyday occurrences in the world they lived in, the language they used, the legal and illegal drugs they were experimenting with and the social interactions between them and the adults in their world. When I realized how difficult the struggle was for most kids, I knew that I had something that I wanted to write about.
Thanks Michael! CRASH AND BURN (which has received 2 starred reviews– from Booklist and BCCB!) is on sale in stores now.
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By:
Andromeda Jazmon Sibley,
on 3/27/2013
Blog:
a wrung sponge
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I am very excited today to be part of the Hilary McKay Blog Tour! Today she is stopping by for an interview focused mainly on her books Lulu and the Duck in the Park and Lulu and the Dog by the Sea. These two endearing early chapter books are a delight to read. I will be giving away copies to two lucky commentors on today's post, so make sure you stick around and put in your two cents at the
Do you remember when you thought you might be able to fly,
if you just jumped high enough?
Do you remember when anything was possible?
On Monday, I helped at a young writer's conference.
I was surrounded with small writers
belly-full pleased with their writing,
oblivious to that dreaded taskmaster Revision,
unconcerned about snagging a publishing deal,
purely finding joy in their words.
All that youthful buoyancy
made me want to climb out of my writing slump
and grow some wings!
How do we as writers return
to that weightless pleasure in our words
without losing
the wisdom earned
from critiques and rejection slips,
writing groups and how-to books...
How do we find both our feet AND our wings?
As soon as we returned from our very long day,
the girls embarked on a writing project:
to send letters
to 100 authors and illustrators
of some of their favorite books.
Think we can do it?
If you're an author or illustrator friend and a crooked little envelope comes to you,
would you be kind and write back?
Please!
We have two hopeful writers, who think anything is possible.
In Need of Some Snail Mail?
Leave us a comment, and we'll put you on our snail letter list - whether you're published or not.
Happy writing!
Books: 
A Letter to Amy - Ezra Jack Keats
The Gardener, by Sarah Stewart, ill. by David Small
Toot and Puddle - Holly Hobbie
Click, Clack, Moo! Cows That Type - by Doreen Cronin, ill. by Betsy Lewin
Mailing May, by Michael O. Tunnell, ill. by Ted Rand
By:
JD Holiday,
on 3/27/2013
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JD'S Writers Blog
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Authors Of The World Of Ink Network : Authors of World Of Ink Network: Visit us at our site. the authors and hosts of World Of Ink Network and their work. Here's a sneak peak of our blog.
By: Robin,
on 3/29/2013
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We love listening to Chris Crutcher. He always has the most interesting things to say. Luckily his new novel, PERIOD 8, is full of things to talk about!
Watch Chris Crutcher discuss the truth and when to tell it, what it means to live a good life, and PERIOD 8. Make sure you stick around until the end for a special message to teachers and librarians!
Download the PERIOD 8 discussion guide and get talking . . .
As Women’s History mMonth draws to a close, we wanted to be sure that you haven’t missed BRAVE GIRL: CLARA AND THE SHIRTWAIST MAKERS’ STRIKE OF 1909 by Michelle Markel and illustrated by Melissa Sweet.
BRAVE GIRL tells the story of Clara Lemlich, a young immigrant girl who led the biggest strike of women workers in U.S. history. The book has received four (!) starred reviews and big praise in the New York Times Book Review, in which they say: “Many schoolchildren today learn about the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, but they don’t often learn about what precipitated the disaster. Markel’s sympathetic, fact-filled and moving story of a garment worker with gumption rounds out the lesson.” And we completely agree with their compliments for Melissa Sweet’s artwork: “With her distinctive mixed-media collages, she may have surpassed herself here. And with an inspiration like Lemlich — smart, ambitious, gutsy — it’s easy to see why.”
There are so many terrific topics, themes, and curricular tie-ins in this fantastic picture book. We created an educator guide aligned to the Common Core designed to help you start the discussion, available here.
And starting next week… April is Poetry Month!
2-4 April, Forever My Lady by Jeff Rivera is free to download on Amazon. Please take the time to download it. Please!! Take the time to download and have your friends download it, too! You don’t have to have a Kindle or plan to read the book. You do have to take the time to show your support for books by Latinos. Download free here.
A synopsis of the book from Amazon:
Dio Rodriguez grew up on the streets and knew all too well the hard, cool feeling of the barrel of a gun tucked down the back of his jeans. But his hard exterior softened when he met Jennifer. Jennifer understands Dio like no one else and makes him want to be a better man. Suddenly a drive-by shooting lands Dio in a prison boot camp and sends Jennifer to the hospital. When Dio learns that Jennifer is pregnant, he realizes that he must find a way to turn his life around and return to his lady. But can trainee Rodriguez get his act together among the hardcases in prison? And will Jennifer be waiting for him if and when he does?
Literature by authors of color is definitely worth supporting. Have you read any of Benjamin Alire Saenz’s books yet? His YA novels include Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, Last Night I Sang to the Monster and Aristotle and Donte Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I loved Aristotle and Dante and was not surprised after it won so many awards at ALA Midwinter. I was able to speak with Saenz at ALAN last November and when our conversation was done, he actually offered me the copy of Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club which he had been carrying with him. I should have had him autograph it.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz has been awarded the prestigious 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his book Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club!The PEN/Faulkner Award is America’s largest peer-juried
prize for fiction, and past winners have included Phillip Roth, Sherman Alexie, John Updike, Julie Otsuka, Ha Jin and others. As winner, Sáenz receives $15,000. Each of the four finalists—Amelia Gray for Threats (FSG); Laird Hunt for Kind One (Coffee House); T. Geronimo Johnson for Hold It ‘Til It Hurts (Coffee House); and, Thomas Mallon for Watergate (Pantheon)—receives $5,000. Sáenz is the first Mexican-American and the first Texan to win the award. It’s been 15 years since a small press published a PEN/Faulkner Award Winner. Cinco Puntos is wonderfully happy for Ben and extremely proud to have published his book. 
Read more about the award in the El Paso Times.
(quoted from email from Cinco Puntos Press)
Yes, I should have had it autographed!!
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I love, love, LOVE, that Lulu isn't depicted as white! I really enjoyed that that was a conscious decision on your part. Great books. My 6yr. old daughter has read the first one and she loved it. I am so excited to keep her going with this series.
HURRAY for another unique brown character, whatever her background. The illustrations of Lulu are so adorable, and I have heard so much good about this series - can't wait to grab a copy and share it around. Thanks for all of your work, Hilary - some really great stuff with those Cassons. Long may you write!<br /><br />Great interview, Andromeda.
What a brilliant interview. Thanks to both of you. We adore the Cassons as well as the folks in Dog Friday. Lulu is appearing on Orange Marmalade Monday as part of an early chapter book group. Love the wit and charm and kindness in every Hilary McKay book.