How to use this Page

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of leading a writing workshop with three of my critique partners. We’ve been writing and editing together for a while. And while we all write a variety of styles and genres, we intersect at middle grade. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure when I conceived the workshop if […]

This week I'm working on endpaper illustrations and a few other bits and pieces for Maggie and Oliver, a middle-grade novel by author Valerie Hobbs.

There's always a stage in the process where I think the art looks like blech. Most times I can work through it. (Figured this out after years of self-torture.)

















Usually my desk looks something like below. My hairy little assistants are always ready to help. (Between nap breaks, that is.) Luckily I also have a standing desk. Keeps the ol' spine happy.






















Here's another piece from the book:

I'm happy to be posting again about my Maggie and Oliver book illustration project, with an update! Things were put on hold this summer because my lovely & wonderful editor moved to another house. (It's publishing. It happens.) The book was reassigned to a new editor (just as lovely & wonderful)* and I'll be finishing up the cover and endpaper art in the next month or so. Look for a Fall '11 publication date! I still intend to blog about the whole process of working on the book– probably closer to the release.

Meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at one of the interior illos:























*(Just gotta say, I'm feeling really, really fortunate to have the chance to work with so many lovely & wonderful people!)

Manuscript update: Current word count is 14,577. I am managing to wake up early and write, but the writing is going slowly. This is a book that I think will really come together in the revision.

And now, as promised, onto Valerie Hobbs‘ answers to your questions. You might remember that Valerie is the author of a bunch of children’s books, most recently the middle-grade coming-of-age novel The Last Best Days of Summer. Two weeks ago, I asked you to give me questions for Valerie, and her favorite one will win a copy of Summer.

First, congratulations to Susan Ruch Roush, who won the copy of Valerie’s book. Thanks for the great question, Susan. I’ll email you to get your address.

And here are Valerie’s answers to your questions, starting with the winning one:

Hi Val, can you share a magical moment of the writing of The Best Last Days of Summer … perhaps when a character did something completely unexpected/unplanned, and it was just wonderful for the story? –Susan Ruch Roush

Valerie: It was magical when I let Eddie follow Lucy to the lake. It was what he wanted and he livened up that book so much.

As a published author myself, I would like to know what you think about the Kindle and it’s affect on young readers. –Doris Fisher

Valerie: I don’t see much of an effect yet, but I expect there will be one.

How do you develop your characters? How do you create a character that seems real? How do you connect with them and know how they would think and act and effectively convey that on the page? Also, just for fun, how do you decide what your character will look like, what their name will be, what they’re house looks like, etc.? –Erin

Valerie: Great question for which there are many answers. In short, I don’t always know (!) Toby in Defiance just “came to me” out of the blue, but many of my characters (well, all of them really) are me in various guises. They become more and more “real” as themselves as I write. If they don’t, I’m “outa there”!

I try to “see” them in my mind (I think I could actually do a better job of that) and I look in a character naming source book for names.

My question for Valerie: What do you do to overcome a missing muse and get your writing going again when you become stuck? –Rosi Hollinbeck

Valerie: Hardest thing in the world! I go for a long walk. And pray.

Do you find that the best and very private qualities of yourself go into your characters? I’m thinking of those qualities of fine feeling level, which don’t necessarily find their way easily into public interactions. Thanks. –Gillian Foster

Valerie: Absolutely. Although the characters don’t usually start out with the best values, for example, that’s where they end up. S

Today, I’m welcoming Frances Foster to DayByDayWriter. Frances is publisher of Frances Foster Books, with Farrar Strauss Giroux Books for Young Readers and editor of The Best Last Days of Summer, by Valerie Hobbs. This is the 10th book of Valerie’s that Frances has edited.

A little about The Best Last Days of Summer, and then we’ll get to the questions. The middle grade novel is about 12-year-old Lucy Crandall, who’s spending her usual summer week with her grandmother in a cabin on a lake. While Lucy worries about being popular in her next school year and her neighborhood kid with Downs syndrome, she discovers that she has bigger things to worry about. Her grandmother isn’t well, and this will be their last summer at the lake.

Now onto the interview with Frances Foster.

What attracted you to The Last Best Days of Summer?

First it was Lucy, then her wonderful grandmother.

The voice of Lucy in the book is so strong right from the first sentence. How much of that voice was in the book before you acquired it?

Lucy’s voice was strong from the beginning and kept getting stronger and truer as the story developed. More and more of her kept being revealed as she got to know herself better, and when Eddie’s role grew larger, Lucy became an even more complex and interesting character.

Valerie has great descriptions and uses beautiful language. How much of that was brought out through your partnership with Valerie?

Storytelling comes so naturally to Valerie that, much as I’d like to, I can’t claim any credit for her graceful descriptions or beautiful language — unless it’s that editing helps eliminate distracting and/or extraneous detail, allowing Valerie’s storytelling gifts to shine clearly and unimpeded. But Valerie Hobbs almost never overwrites, so gives me no opportunity to cut and slash.

What do you look for in a manuscript you’re going to buy?

Voice, story, and writing (content, substance, and meaning), and whatever I buy has to resonnate with me in some way. I have to believe in it.

Generally, how much editing do you do on your books?

Only what I think is absolutely needed, meaning it can be minimal on some books and extensive on others. In general, I think of myself as a light editor, but I question anything that doesn’t sound right to me. I ask lots of questions.

What is the worst thing you see writers doing that you’d love them to do differently?

I can’t answer this que

Look what arrived for me today! Yay!

If you're not familiar with Beth Kephart, you can read my interview here. And over at My Friend Amy's blog, Amy and Lenore throwing a book drive party with fabulous prizes. They are trying to get 200 sales for Beth through their blog, so if you haven't bought the book yet, do it through their link.

I've enjoyed interviewing authors on my blog, and I have to say, I've noticed a trend...these friends of mine are doing well, winning awards and gaining momentum in the marketplace. And who, you may ask, is this happening to? Well, since being interviewed on my blog:

• Jessica Burkhart's Canterwood Crest series has been optioned for a TV series or movie, and the first book of the series has gone to reprint.

• Thalia Chaltas was named as a Flying Start author by Publisher's Weekly. Her book, Because I am Furniture, is also going into a second run.

• Val Hobbs' book Sheep was chosen as this year's California Young Reader Medal winner for intermediate readers. Sheep was extremely popular in hard cover and was reprinted in paperback in April.

I love success stories. I'm so excited for all of them and thrilled that I got to share their stories here on my blog. Now, I'm off to the sofa. The kids are gone, the house is clean, and I can't wait to read Nothing but Ghosts.

Have a great weekend!