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This blog is intended to be a window into one writer's world, from thoughts about writing technique to musings about my experiences. Enjoy!
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As you may know, I'm moving over to my new blog home, slowly but surely. At the moment I'm posting a series on the 1920s, and I'll be following that up with a series on San Francisco at the turn of the last century with intermittent posts on tips for writers.
But for today I'd like to share some pics from a trip my hubs and I took to Scotland in October and November. This was partly a research trip, for my next book due out from Viking in early 2016. I have a few castles for you:
...and a burn in the Scottish highlands:
...and the standing stones at the Ring of Brodgar:
More coming soon!
Today on the blog I'm pleased to host an interview with Darlene Beck Jacobson, whose debut middle grade WHEELS OF CHANGE is an inventive look at a window of history as the car was making its debut. Here's just a bit of the great review Kirkus gave the novel:
<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE <![endif]--> "Twelve-year-old Emily loves helping her father in his barn; she even dreams, in futility, of becoming a blacksmith like her father’s beloved employee, Henry. She and her best friend, Charlie, ponder such things as gender roles, women’s suffrage and “horseless carriages.” She dutifully tries to become a lady even while working on a secret that uses her “masculine” skills. As the year progresses, Henry falls ill, and Emily and her family are subjected to the uncertainties of changing times as well as some nasty treatment from white supremacists. Resemblances to To Kill a Mockingbird are strong, especially during a tea party hosted by Emily’s mother. A nice touch: Throughout much of the book, Papa teaches Emily—and vicariously, readers—new vocabulary words. The strength of the text lies in Jacobson’s ability to evoke a different era and to endear readers to the protagonist. The prose is straightforward and well-researched, heavily peppered with historical references and containing enough action to keep readers’ attention."
Now, here's Darlene:
Hi Darlene! Please give readers a synopsis of WHEELS OF CHANGE.
Racial intolerance, social change, sweeping progress. It is a turbulent time growing up in 1908. For twelve year old Emily Soper, life in Papa’s carriage barn is magic. Emily is more at home hearing the symphony of the blacksmith’s hammer, than trying to conform to the proper expectations of females. Many prominent people own Papa’s carriages. He receives an order to make one for President Theodore Roosevelt. Papa’s livelihood becomes threatened by racist neighbors, and horsepower of a different sort. Emily is determined to save Papa’s business even if she has to go all the way to the President.
I love stories like yours that are set on the cusp of change. What inspired you to choose this particular time period and the shift from the era of carriage to car?
There were two family facts I discovered while researching my family tree. One was that my paternal grandmother’s father was a carriage maker in Washington DC at the turn of the Twentieth Century. The other was that grandma received an invitation to a reception held at the White House by Theodore Roosevelt. She attended that reception and met TR. The story grew from there.
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While I was doing research I discovered just how much change was taking place during this time period in history. The more I looked, the more I realized how frightening it must have been to many people. I wanted to show how change affects us all and can bring welcome and unwelcome things into our lives. It’s up to each of us to decide the importance of those changes. We can’t stop change–it still happens all around us. But, if we make it work for us, we can see a better outcome.
Emily is a strong character. Do you generally begin with character or with plot?
I usually gravitate toward characters first, trying to find something special or unique that makes that particular character stand out. I also enjoy where the characters take me in a story; it is often to a place I hadn’t envisioned. Plot is always more difficult for me. I generally need several rewrites to flesh out plot elements. With WOC several plot elements were expanded or added after the manuscript was accepted.
You have several important subplots (in particular, Henry's). Please tell us about them and how they came to be.
Henry was always part of the story. I wanted a character that was unexpected for the time and place, yet real and meaningful to Emily and her family. I doubt that a person of color like Henry would have been employed by my great-grandfather; but it seemed important to make that happen.
The rights and gender roles of girls and women became more fleshed out in rewrites than in my original version. The subplot with William and the mouse was also added later, as was the thread buying scene, and Emily building a miniature carriage for Papa. It amazes me how an editor – especially one who also writes, like Marissa Moss my editor at Creston Books – can make a suggestion that takes my mind in a whole new direction. I love that part of the revision process.
Do you have anything new in the works?
I have two projects actually. The first is a PB titled TOGETHER ON OUR KNEES about a little known abolitionist and suffragist, Matilda Joslyn Gage. The other is an MG historical set in a Pennsylvania mining town during Prohibition.
Here's Darlene's charming trailer for WHEELS OF CHANGE:
Darlene’s stories have appeared in CICADA, CRICKET, and other magazines. When not writing, Darlene enjoys baking, sewing and tea parties. She also likes hanging around forges watching the blacksmith work magic. She’s never ridden in a carriage like the one in the story, but hopes to one day. Her blog features recipes, activities, crafts and interviews with children’s book authors and illustrators. She still loves writing and getting letters. Check out her website at: http://www.darlenebeckjacobson.com or on Twitter: @dustbunnymaven
WHEELS OF CHANGE is available on AMAZON, Barnes & Noble, Indie bookstores, or on the Creston Books site: www.crestonbooks.com
I began this blog - knowing absolutely nothing about blogs - in 2007. I sat at my car dealership waiting on a car servicing, and opened my laptop and logged into Blogger for the first time. When asked for a name, I chose "Through The Wardrobe" because my first book love was THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. And, like Lucy, I felt that every time I opened a good book or my imagination I tumbled into a world I didn't want to leave.
But things change. I've been persuaded (it took a little arm-wrestle) to move
my blogging over to my website. From there I can post all sorts of cool stuff. I can post a series (like I'm about to do) on any of my books...I can post findable author resources...I can continue to serve the community through interviews and guest posts...all the material will be indexable and right in one place.
However, I lose the wardrobe. I confess this makes me sad.
I'll be cross-posting here for at least 6 months while I figure it all out. So the wardrobe isn't closed yet. I encourage you to check out
my website and the new material I'll be posting there in the next several months. I have a series of author help pages planned, a tour of 1906 San Francisco, a tour of the 1920s, and much more.
Please stay with me through this transition and I hope to make it worth your while. Thanks.
Okay kids, this novel is an incredible read - moving, mysterious, and deeply engaging. It is not for the faint of heart, nor for the easy-reader; it's a novel for those who love to think and be prodded out of their comfort zone. I devoured it in a single day. Lindsey Lane's debut YA THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN (out now from Farrar, Straus, Giroux) is a not-put-down story of the disappearance of one Tommy Smythe, a brilliant if odd teen. Here's a portion of the School Library Journal review and summary:
<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE <![endif]--> "The story unfolds through interviews with witnesses, scraps of scribbled notes from Tommy himself, and private moments between seemingly unrelated people. Tommy’s disappearance is at the forefront of some stories, at the back of others. Chapters are arranged by lead-characters or items, some more hard-hitting than others, but the picture of a small border town caught up in a mystery and bound by its secrets is an intriguing one that Lane does well. Some chapters do deal with more adult subject matter (drug use, teen pregnancy, racism, prostitution) and adult language is prevalent throughout, but isn’t gratuitous. Give to fans of Holly Goldberg Sloan’s I’ll be There (Little, Brown, 2012) and Todd Strasser’s Give a Boy a Gun (S. & S., 2002)."
Full disclosure: Lindsey is a dear friend. I've admired her work for as long as we've known one another - almost ten years! And we are agency mates, clients of Erin Murphy. I couldn't be more pleased.
Now, not only do we get to hear about this beautifully written novel, we've got a surprise - the first appearance of the novel's trailer! Here's Lindsey:
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Please give readers a synopsis of EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN.
Instead of writing a synopsis of EVIDENCE, I’d like to debut my book trailer on your blog (yay!!):
I was sucked into the story right away, and I confess that one reason was that Tommy is such a strong presence even in absence. How did you come to feel about Tommy?
I’m glad you felt Tommy’s presence strongly. Originally, he showed up in one of the stories when the novel was linked short stories that all occurred around this patch of dirt by the side of the road called the pull out. It was my critique partner Anne Bustard who said, “I think this particular story might be a bit bigger.” That’s when I went back in and did a floor to ceiling kind of renovation of the book and Tommy became a thread through all the stories.
I love the multiple points of view, the interweaving story lines. Did you write this novel in a linear fashion?
Do you mean did I write it from start to finish with a beginning, middle and end? Nope. When it was linked short stories, I wrote them one after another. Boom. Boom. Boom. But after I had the piece of Tommy going missing, I had a time frame so I had to weave each thread in relation to the moment he disappears. That’s all when I added in the first person sections of the kids who knew Tommy. Gradually, I found that what I was doing was writing around the negative space. If you have something or someone who goes missing, what remains is cast in sharp relief. Even if Tommy wasn’t part of another character’s life, his absence still affects that character. Like, when you lose your keys, you are kind off course looking for it and all the people you ask if they’ve seen them start looking and they go a little off course. Or worse, when your child wanders away from you at a store and you and everyone around you goes into a freak out until you find her. So if the center of a story goes missing, everything wobbles. I wanted all the stories around Tommy to have that feeling that life is just a little bit off course.
You know, Tommy would say that I did write the novel in a linear fashion because I wrote it in linear time whether or not I went back and shifted the structure of the book. That’s the kind of guy he is. I feel his presence every day. I probably always will.
The notes are brilliant, allowing us to see not only more deeply into Tommy's way of thinking, but they connect the story of his disappearance with the physics of dimensional possibility. Was that something you came up with early on?
Almost as soon as Tommy showed up in my imagination, I knew he was a bright geeky kid who was a little bit off socially. Once his absence was a central thread, I started keeping Tommy’s journal. I wanted to know the way he thought. I wanted to know who he was. What I discovered was this brilliant kid who was in the middle of having his mind blown by particle physics. I knew his journal was important but all that I included in the manuscript that sold to FSGBYR was that little snippet at the beginning, which is still there. My editor Joy Peskin loved it so I included a bit more when I did a revision for her.
I believe I recall that this novel was inspired by true events. Is that correct? If not, where did it come from?
In the category of truth is stranger than fiction, I was double checking facts and I called the Blanco Chamber of Commerce because I set EVIDENCE in that neck of the Texas Hill Country in a town about the size of Blanco and I needed to check a few facts. I told the woman who answered the phone what my book was about and there was this long pause. “We had a boy that sounds just like your character who went missing a few years ago.” Then my side of the phone went silent. Turns out the boy came back but he had whole town in an uproar for a couple weeks. Wild, eh?
As for the stories in the rest of the book, they aren’t real but they are inspired by real events. For instance, when I interviewed Karla Faye Tucker on death row many years ago, I couldn’t stop thinking about how her story had led her to kill someone. Like where did the stitch in the fabric of her life break so that the whole tapestry unravels one very bad night? She haunted me until she showed up in this book.
Truth and factual events captivate me. Then I like to go back and look at the why and how of it. I’m a sucker for epiphanies. I love the aha of life.
That's an amazing story. We were at Vermont College of Fine Arts together, a memory and friendship I cherish. Was any of this novel a part of your Vermont College experience?
When I graduated from VCFA, two stories--Comic Book and Lost--are in my creative thesis. But what was really important about the VCFA experience and this novel was faith. Faith in my writing. Faith in following and developing an idea. Faith that my ideas were worthy. I don’t know if I could have found that faith without going to VCFA. Every month for two years, I leaped off a cliff and sent my advisors pages and pages of writing. Each month, I made those pages better with tools in my writer’s toolbox. The VCFA experience was pivotal in my development as a writer and certainly this book.
You know the title of this novel comes from a quote in the bible about faith: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In way, this book is a result of that faith in myself as a writer.
What's your typical writing process? Plotter, or pantser?
Hmmm, I bet I’m going to write every book just a little bit different every time. Even though, I probably pantsed my way into this novel, I held each thread in my head before I wrote them down. I knew where I was going with each section. I knew who the characters were.
On the next book, I purposefully journaled for quite a while. I figured out the characters, the backstory, the crisis and the climax. What was most important was finding the inciting incident. It is the moment that makes the story unravel to an inevitable conclusion. I think of backstory as the hand of god. The reader will believe one coincidence at the beginning of the book. I try to make sure that one coincidence will make all the dice in the hand of god fall on the table. Gradually. Inexorably. Fatalistically. Lovingly. (I have to absolutely love my characters.) After I finish drafting and let it rest, that’s probably when I will do that hard work of making sure it hangs together on the arc of a plot. I do like to write intuitively when I’m drafting but I’m holding the story in my head so I have a map of where I’m going. If writing a novel is like a road trip, then I’m all about the surprises along the way in the first draft. I still get to the destination because I have the map but I’m stopping at cafes and pull outs and overlooks all along the way.
What are you working on now?
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The working title is Inside the Notes. Here is the inciting incident: A young girl arrives in Boston. First time away from home. She is staying with a couple near the music conservatory where she is studying for four weeks. As she is unpacking, the clock radio in her room clicks on (the coincidence) and she hears men’s voices reading poetry and letters. It is a prison radio show. The girl knows her father is in prison for killing her mother when she was two years old. It is the first time she has considered he might be real and have a voice. The journey begins.
It does indeed. You can find Lindsey here:
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Twitter @LindseyAuthor
The news is now out that my debut middle grade novel CHATELAINE: THE THIRTEENTH CHARM has been acquired in a pre-empt by Kendra Levin of Viking, for a winter 2016 release. I'm very excited, as I love this book and my main character, Kat, and I'm eager to share them with the world.
Here's a synopsis:
CHATELAINE is a middle-grade novel set in a rundown Scottish castle during WWII. The lady of the manor has set it up as a temporary boarding school for children escaping the Blitz. But something is not right with that castle or that lady, and the children begin disappearing one by one. There are clues that hint that a spy is in the house; there are signs that can't be denied that there is a sinister magic. It's a race against the clock for one girl, her two younger siblings, and her new best friend to get to the bottom of things.
So...World War II, spies, ghosts, magic, a witch, a creepy castle, steampunk, children in danger, an "enigma machine", a magician who may live forever, the Scottish Highlands...
I've made a little video sneak-peek. Let me know what you think!
Warning: the content of this blog post is more adult than teen.
We young adult authors put a whole lot of thinking (or we should) into what we put on the page. We feel a certain responsibility - as parents, teachers, librarians, former teens - to make sense of the world for our readers, not to make life more difficult for them. And certainly we don't want to throw anyone into PTSD hell.
So along come two new ideas/studies that have me churning about what I might write next and whether I will inadvertently light up a young reader's brain with a post-traumatic stress reflex.
Trigger warnings (see this article in The New Yorker) are flags that the material about to be read (or studied in the classroom or viewed on the screen) may trigger a post-traumatic response to memories that are evoked by the material. Huckleberry Finn would come with a trigger warning for those who have experienced racism; Taxi Driver would come with a trigger warning for those who have experienced sexual assault; Game of Throneswould come with a trigger warning for those who have experienced...just about any negative horror you can imagine, and some you don't want to.
My first thought upon hearing about trigger warnings was, "Oh, for pity's sake." How would a teacher teach anything, even things in the canon, without a trigger warning? Shakespeare alone would merit multiple warnings about violence, misogyny, anti-Semitism. And forget the bloody Greeks: certain bits of The Iliadmight ruin anyone's day.
Now new studies have determined that brain development in teens is not steady-state (golly, what a surprise.) The amygdala, that part of the brain that processes fear, develops earlier than the prefrontal cortex, which regulates reason (i.e., processes overcoming fear.) If you've ever wondered why so many of us get stuck reliving the dreadful anxieties that were born in high school, now there's a scientific reason why. Our brains keep trying to process the fear and anxiety that were brought on by those teenage experiences, even well after we are able to process newer fears and anxieties.
I find this newest brain research raising a level of concern, for me, that the experiences of adolescence that adults dismiss as trivial or advise as character-building may in fact be setting up kids for years of adult therapy.
I am not advocating sheltering young people from the bumps and bruises of life. Indeed, to a certain degree, resiliency is born of the ability to weather downturns and is necessary to achieving success. Furthermore, I do firmly believe that when teens are coping with a stressful situations - and even situations that are filled with horror - one of the best coping mechanisms is reading about it in the safety of one's home, room, school, library. Just look at what Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak has accomplished in terms of raising awareness and giving voice to the victims of rape.
One of my works in progress is a contemporary YA novel and addresses a brutal attack on someone who has come out of the closet. Should it come with a trigger warning for those who've experienced abuse because of their sexual orientation?
I wonder whether you'd like to weigh in on this issue. What do you think about trigger warnings? What about this new brain research, and the vulnerability of teens to fear and anxiety? I'd really like to hear your opinions.
I'm pleased to announce that my second novel and the companion to FAITHFUL, FORGIVEN, is now available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle for $2.99.
If you haven't read FORGIVEN - and I hope you'll give it a try! - here's the synopsis:
Kula Baker never expected to find herself on the streets of San Francisco in 1906. The daughter of an outlaw, Kula is soon swept up in a world of art and intrigue – a world she hardly dared dream of back in Montana. She meets handsome David Wong, whose smiling eyes and soft-spoken manner have an uncanny way of breaking through Kula’s carefully crafted reserve. Yet when a mighty earthquake strikes and the wreckage threatens all she holds dear, Kula realizes that only by unlocking her heart can she begin to carve a new future for herself.
This is the second launch for FORGIVEN. Unfortunately, it's been out of print for almost a year, but fortunately my options as an author with an out-of-print book are now greater than ever.
I'll share a bit of my journey in case you're curious or in the same position.
First and foremost, here's my new cover, designed by Elijah Toten:
I couldn't be happier with the design, which pulls together an image of San Francisco after the earthquake and fires of 1906 with the period flavor of the girl's clothing and the sense of searching that dominates the novel.
I found Elijah after scouring the web for cover designers and choosing him for the clarity of his designs. I also had advice on all matters including cover design from
Chris Eboch and
Dotti Enderle, who have much experience with e-book creation. And I should add that Elijah's price was extremely reasonable.
After returning my electronic rights to me, my publisher graciously supplied me with an epub version of the manuscript. This was great, because it allowed me to retain much of the interior design; but Amazon uses mobi files, not epub, and I'd decided to launch with KDP Select because the terms are better for me.
My web designer
Lynn Kinnaman helped me by converting the epub first to Word and then to mobi, and then we set up the book to publish. We had to go through several corrections but Amazon makes that easy by allowing you to preview the text since sometimes glitchy little software errors do creep in. I looked through the text carefully because I find it no fun to read an ebook with quirky issues.
If you have a final, clean manuscript in Microsoft Word, it's much easier to go from there, but all interior design has to be removed. Frankly, I was thrilled to have Lynn's help, as my left-braininess doesn't extend to the tedious job of formatting.
It felt like it took forever, but really the process was very easy, thanks to all the advice and help. If you have questions, please fire away!
I'm delighted today to welcome Stacy Nyikos to the blog. Her newest picture book, Toby, is a delight, with a sweet story and charming illustrations. Stacy and I overlapped at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and during our shared workshop I was impressed by her talent and insights.
First a bit about Toby: "Birds, and crabs, and crocs - oh my! Can Toby outslip, outslide, out-double flip and dive them? Join this curious little sea turtle as he follows his heartsong from egg to ocean."
Hi Stacy! So great to have you here. What inspired you to write about sea turtles?
That’s easy. Countless, very excited, energetic young readers! I do a lot of author signings at aquariums, and the number one question I get from children is, "Will you write a story about a turtle?" This went on for almost five years, but I never had a story idea. Then one day, I was coming home from an aquarium signing, and I think all of that collective energy from those eager readers finally hatched its own idea and Toby was born. I didn’t even make it home. I had to pull over and write the story down. It was awesome.
Toby is not your first publication. How did you get your start?
Sea animals gave me my start. My girls were in the aquarium/zoo stage. We visited A LOT of them. The giftshop was, of course, one of the most exciting exhibits. The girls were repeatedly drawn to the plush animals, toys, rocks. I searched and searched for a couple of books to take home, something that would last longer than a week. It was a hard search. I finally decided to try to do something about it and started writing books featuring sea animals. I’ve since moved on to dragons, fantastical worlds, and dogs, but sea animals will always be closest to my heart. They inspired me to write for children.
I know you've written both picture books and longer work. Do you have a preference?
I don’t. I don’t have that much control! The story decides what kind of form it’s going to take. I’m just along for the ride. As fate would have it, it’s usually when I’m months into a longer novel that a rush of picture book ideas comes to me. I’ll take a day – sometimes a week – off from the novel to get the ideas down and hash out a few rough drafts, before getting back to the novel. The break usually gives me a second (or sixteenth) wind for the novel, which moves along faster again. It’s as if I need that break from the marathon of a novel for a few picture books sprints to finish any of it.
Vermont College helped me understand how better to wield the tools in my writer’s toolbox. It also trained me to write more consciously, to direct my story a little more effectively. I have to turn off the conscious writer sometimes to let my characters play, but I enjoy being a little more clued into what I’m doing now. I like to think it makes me more even-keeled, but the secret drawer of chocolate in my office still needs a lot of refilling.
Would you share your writing process? In particular, how do you write a rhyming picture book like Toby?
Oh man, sharing my writing process is like voluntarily showing my messy closet to my mom because my process is REALLY messy. I’m not much of a plotter. I like to let a story develop, to experience it – at least the first draft – the way my readers will. That’s half the fun of writing for me. But it’s really messy. My characters like to take off and do their own thing, leaving me hanging high and dry. I spend a lot of time herding them back, or following them if they just won’t come. Mondays are generally pretty cranky days because they do not want to get back on my storyline. The other days aren’t much better. I wake up thinking about plot lines, forget where I’m driving because a character will suddenly appear in the seat next to me and start chatting. Story dogs me even when I don’t want it to, and I never have a pen when I should, which makes my whole writing process messy, messy messy (but secretly, A LOT of fun :) ).
What's coming up next for you?
I’m in the early stage of marketing for another picture book release in November, Waggers, which is about a newly adopted puppy who tries to be good – he tries really hard! – but his tail gets in the way. Writing-wise, I’m working on a picture book about a family of singers who can’t actually sing, The Four Tenners. I’m also working on a YA novel, Skin Deep, a retelling of Moses in a Blade Runner setting. I started it at Vermont College and am now revising. And finally, I’m laying the groundwork for a new YA, Legacy, about a high school senior whose parents are all over her to take the college, job, career fast track and her grandfather who helps her find a her path.
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My new agency is a blessing in so many ways. I love, love, love my agent. But I also feel like I've joined a family - her co-agents, her staff, and all of their talented clients. The agency recently held a retreat - a fabulous experience - and it was like the best party of all time.
Some of these gifted writers I'd known for a long time and are old friends, and some are new friends. One of the latter is Anna Staniszewski. She writes for "tweens" and her voice is spot-on. Hilarious, charming, moving, wacky, smart. So I invited her here today to talk about that voice and give us a few insights.
And I hope you'll check out her new release, The Prank List.
Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. Currently, she lives outside Boston with her husband and their crazy dog. When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time reading, daydreaming, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. She is the author of the My Very UnFairy Tale Life series and the Dirt Diary series. Her newest book, The Prank List, releases on July 1st from Sourcebooks. You can visit Anna at www.annastan.com.
Here's Anna:
Don’t worry. I will not be writing this post in “tween speak.” Why? Because if I wrote it that way purely to make a point, the voice would feel fake and cliched. And that, I think, is the key to writing a believable tween voice--you can’t force it. But there are some things you can do to help the voice along.
First, it has to fit the story you’re trying to tell, and it has to fit the characters, as well. Not all young people sound the same, so if you’re writing what you think a thirteen-year-old sounds like instead of what your specific character sounds like, you probably won’t get very far. You might need to journal in your character’s voice or throw him/her into wacky situations and see what s/he does and says in order to get the voice just right.
This brings me to my second point: Avoid cliches. Just because you hear kids on TV saying certain things doesn’t mean that kids in real life and/or kids in your books would say them. If you’re going to use catch phrases and slang, it’s often better to make those up rather than rely on real ones that will probably feel tired in a matter of weeks.
And finally, focus on emotions. Honestly, that’s what I spend most of my time working on when I’m writing a story. I think about what the character is feeling, how the story is affecting him/her, and how the events are going to bring about the character’s emotional evolution. Once I have the character’s personality and emotional journey figured out, the voice often emerges naturally.
If you know what your characters want, what they're going through, and where they're headed, somewhere along the way, you’re bound to discover their unique voices.
This week I'm delighted to introduce my EMLA colleague Matt Faulkner, whose newest book is the graphic novel (yes, he's the artist, too) Gaijin: American Prisoner of War.
Matt is an award-winning children's book author and illustrator who has illustrated twenty-nine books and written and illustrated seven since he began his career back in 1985. He enjoys working on projects of both historical and fantastical natures (and he concentrates very hard not to get them confused). His author/illustrated book A Taste of Colored Water (Simon and Schuster) was recently chosen by the School Library Journal as a significant book for sharing concepts of diversity with kids. And the San Francisco Chronicle calls his recently released graphic novel, Gaijin: American Prisoner of War (Disney/Hyperion) “superb”! Matt is married to author, national speaker on early literacy and librarian Kris Remenar and lives with their children in the lower right hand corner of Michigan.
Congratulations on the publication of your new graphic novel, Gaijin: American Prisoner of War. What a gorgeous cover. And, ahem, Trekkies (raises her hand) should check out your blurb from George Takei. How cool! Can you tell us a bit about the story and what inspired it?
Thanks, Janet, for the invitation onto your wonderful blog!
Gaijin: American Prisoner of War (Disney/Hyperion, April 2014) is my first graphic novel and tells the tale of 13 year old Japanese/Irish American Koji and his Irish American mom, Adeline, as they are interned in a prison camp in California during WWII. As a result of hysteria, racism and economic exploitation, over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned in these camps from 1942 to 1946- what is more, over half of those interned were children. When Koji first receives a letter from the government informing him of his pending internment, Adeline marches down to the army office, irate at the insanity of imprisoning a 13 year old because of his race and demanding that he be exempt. She is told that because of his race Koji must go to the camp, but, because of her protests she is allowed to accompany him. For most of the book Adeline and Koji bunk together in a horse stall at the former racing track now prison camp- Alameda Downs. Being a teen, Koji expresses his angst and anger toward the situation by acting out. He soon gets involved with bunch of older kids- trouble makers. Only through the love of his mother and the help of friends is he able to free himself from their influence.
The book was inspired by the internment of my great aunt Adeline, her daughter Mary and Mary’s three babies. When I first considered writing a story about their experiences our two sides of the family had lost touch back in the 1970’s. I looked for them over the years but until very late in the process I wasn’t able to locate my “Adeline cousins”. Eventually, I decided to write the story and honor Adeline by using her name and as much as I knew of their experience. The night that I turned in the my first set of sketches to my editor I did one last online search and, believe it or not- I found a post at the Manzanar National Park research site that eventually lead to our reconnecting after 40 years! Boy, did we ever have a party!
How fabulous to connect your work with your family like that! How long have you been writing for children/teens? Have you written other books or is this your first effort?
My first authored/illustrated picture book came out in 1985. It’s called The Amazing Voyage of Jackie Grace (Scholastic). It’s got pirates. And big waves with faces in ‘em. I still get emails about this one!
Since 1985 I’ve written/illustrated seven books for kids and illustrated another twenty-nine.
Can you describe your path to the publication of GAIJIN?
GAIJIN was first conjured back in the late 1990’s along with a picture book I wrote for Simon&Schuster called A Taste of Colored Water. It’s not that I thought of these two as a compendium pair. I just came up with the concepts around the same time. GAIJIN sat on a back burner for over ten years until I started playing with imagery for it in 2007. Originally I had thought the book would be executed in ink. Then I started messing around with pencil images and finally, when I came upon the idea that Koji’s daylight panels would be rendered in browns and blues and his dream imagery would be rendered in vibrant, full color, I decided to work in water color and gouache. My agent at the time, Jennifer Laughran of Andrea Brown Lit., did a great job in negotiating the books contract with Disney/Hyperion in 2009. It took three years to render all 140 pages of panels.
Wow. That's such a commitment of time and energy. Do you have any advice for beginning writers?
Sure. I’ve gone back and forth about how to structure my creative process and I find it an absolute necessity to have a set place and time in which I will create. Defining a specific space somewhere in my house (or out of it) and setting firm time frames in which I will create has gone a long way toward helping my creative self (or muse, if you will) develop a trusting relationship with me. Prior to working in this manner, I spent a lot of time indulging my muse's whims- working all night, sleeping all day, having to use a certain brush or pen or laptop, allowing all sorts of interruptions to separate me from the sometimes difficult process of creating.
A little discipline goes a long way.
It sounds like you have discipline in spades. Can you tell us something about your personal life – inspirations, plans for the future, goals, etc.?
I got married a few years back to my lovely wife, Kris Remenar- kid’s book author (Groundhog’s Dilemma, Charlesbridge, 2015), children’s librarian and national speaker on early literacy. Being with her, developing a partnership, supporting our family and our dreams- this has been tremendously inspiring to me.
The future? I want to continue to develop the graphic novel format for children. For so long I’ve witnessed a disconnect in our education system in which nurturing our children’s creative process sat on the scale of importance. Of late, I’ve seen the tremendous exodus of arts programs from so many school systems and the development test taking mania I’ve become fairly frightened for our future “creatives”. And yet, with the recent emergence of the graphic novel and the way it has been embraced by librarians and media specialists, I’ve found some hope. I’d like to help continue this healthy development by adding some of my own titles to the graphic novel library.
I think you are well on your way with GAIJIN, especially in its appeal to boy readers. Do you have any new writing ventures underway?
I am illustrating two books: Groundhog’s Dilemma by Kristen Remenar, Charlesbridge, 2015
and Elizabeth Started All the Trouble by Doreen Rappaport, Disney/Hyperion, 2015
And I have two of my own projects on the drawing table- one tells the story of a mob of bunnies who venture into town one day annually in search of the perfect burrito and the other tells the story of Quin, a youngster who wakes to find that a large number of his dreams have missed their train back to where ever it is they come from and are stuck over here. He helps them build a bridge back to their world, utilizing a good deal of his parent’s prized possessions.
Do you have a website where readers can learn more about GAIJIN?
You bet!
You can also hear more from me at:
My guest this week is Elizabeth Dulemba. She's a talented picture book author who has ventured into the middle-grade world with her debut novel A BIRD ON WATER STREET, already garnering great praise. Elizabeth is also my new "agency-sister" at Erin Murphy Literary Agency, so I'm doubly thrilled to have her here. And her question - why write for kids and not for adults - is one I encounter all the time, and I share her passion for the answer to that question.
Elizabeth has graciously offered to host a giveaway of a signed copy of A BIRD ON WATER STREET, so please comment to enter, and if you've reposted let me know for more points!
Here's Elizabeth:
Most authors of mid-grade novels get the question at some point, "Why do you write for teens? Why not write for adults?" And within the kidlit community, "Why write mid-grade? Why not write Young Adult?”
As a picture book author/illustrator for thirteen years, I'd heard the stories of such conversations, but I thought it was a cliché, a myth of the writing community. That was until word got out about my debut historical fiction mid-grade, A BIRD ON WATER STREET, and I started getting the questions myself. Happily, I have an answer.
Adult novels seem to me to be about solving problems (mysteries!), or finding that perfect mate, or re-discovering oneself. The first two elements might be indicative of any good story (replace mate with friend/companion/whatever). But the third is where I like to dwell. But I skip all of the re-discovery nonsense and go straight to the source, in the beginning, when a main character isn't re-discovering anything - when they are discovering who they are and what the world is all about for the first time.
To me, it makes for unpredictable scenarios. Young teens aren’t yet set in their ways. They don’t know if they are generally good or bad, if they tend to make smart decisions or not. It's all new territory and the pendulum could swing either way.
Like thirteen-year-old Jack in A BIRD ON WATER STREET… will he stand up for what he believes in, or follow the generation of miners in his family into a career that causes him anxiety and distress? When Jack’s uncle is killed in a mine collapse, will he stand by mining as a viable option for his future, or will he try to do something to improve the damage that has been done to the land after a century of poor copper mining practices and pollution? His family may love everything underground, but Jack loves everything above - or what is supposed to be above anyhow. His denuded home has no weeds, no trees, no bugs, no birds. How can Jack follow his heart and support his community at the same time?
In the hands of a young boy, these are enormous questions - how to be true to yourself, or who you think you might be, especially when it runs counter to who you’ve been taught to be.
It's all about firsts really, when the world is still a wonder. When a teen is trying to make sense of things. It’s an exciting and unpredictable time. There is such promise and possibility - the world is wide open! It's a powerful sensation, which is why I find it especially profound to explore those emotions when they're happening for the first time. It's why mid-grade may very well be a sweet spot for me. I hope for my readers too!
Awards for A BIRD ON WATER STREET:
· Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance OKRA Book Pick
· Gold Mom’s Choice Award
· ABOWS has been chosen as THE 2014 title to represent the state of Georgia at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
Twitter: @dulemba
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This week I'm participating in a blog tour for a gorgeous new book: Map Art Lab, by Jill K. Berry and Linden McNeilly.
Before I began writing for children I experimented with design, and took a series of classes at Rhode Island School of Design, one of which was 2-Dimensional Design. One of my portfolio requirements was to design a game board.
I wish I'd had this book back then - because there, on page 94, is a wonderful way to make a game board, complete with lore and images of some of the earliest boards.
And that's what this book is filled with. Beautiful and artistic projects, with stunning visuals and fun histories. And, hey, there are 52 of these projects, so you and the kids could spend an entire year, one week at a time, having a blast.
If you comment on this or on any of the other tour stops (see below) you'll be entered in contests to win a copy of this must-have book. For this stop, please leave a comment with contact info and whether you've posted to other social media.
I'm delighted to announce that L Myles has won an ARC of Penelope Crumb Is Mad at the Moon! Thanks for all your comments!
Shawn Stout and I overlapped at Vermont College of Fine Arts a few years ago. At the time she was just getting started - and, zowee. She has some fantastic books out now, including this series, Penelope Crumb. Check out those luscious covers, and, let me tell you, the voice in these is spot-on.
Now, I happen to have an ARC of Penelope Crumb is Mad at the Moon. IF I get a handful of comments, oh, say, five or so (include contact info, please), I'll enter you all in a giveaway of this ARC. Otherwise, she's mine.
Hi Shawn! I LOVE Penelope. Please tell readers a bit about the series.
Thanks, Janet! There are three books out now in the series, and the fourth one, which I think is the last—PENELOPE CRUMB IS MAD AT THE MOON—is set to come out in September. They follow fourth grader Penelope Crumb as she tries to make sense of the world, understand why her teacher Miss Stunkel has it in for her, deal with her older brother who’s an alien, figure out how her big nose gives her super powers, and find her long lost grandpa. Oh, and she gets in a lot of trouble along the way. And did I mention that she is kind of obsessed with dead things? Oh yeah, she totally is.
Not since Clementine and Junie B. have I read such a strong and charming middle-grade voice. Where does Penelope come from?
That’s so nice of you to say. I’m not quite sure, to be honest. There’s a lot of me in Penelope’s voice, but mostly she is a character who has been in my head for many years. I knew only three things about Penelope when I started writing the first book: 1) she had a big nose but didn’t know it, 2) her father was Graveyard dead, and 3) she wanted to find her grandpa who she thought was dead but turned out not to be.
Please tell readers something about how your career began and developed.
I wrote for many years and then stopped for about a decade, mostly out of fear of failing. But after a series of unfulfilling day jobs, I decided to take a writing class. During a writing exercise, what came out was the voice of a 10-year-old, which was as much of a surprise to me as it was to my teacher. That was a jumping off point for me to rediscover the world of children’s literature. I dove in head first, reading as much as I could and taking more writing classes. I stalked Mary Quattlebaum and hung out in her living room for her advanced writing workshops until, with her encouragement, I applied to Vermont College of Fine Arts to get my MFA.
VCFA changed my life. I sold my first book before I graduated, and I’ve been lucky since.
This is your second series for middle-grade girls. Do you envision stepping out of that genre one day?
I have a middle grade constitution, I’m afraid. Inside I’m really nine or ten, but I have been working on a middle grade adventure book about a boy, so we’ll see. Maybe one day I’ll grow up and write YA, who knows?
How do you balance your life as a mom with life as an author? Does your daughter have any input as you write?
I have a full-time day job, too, so combined with being a parent to a toddler, the answer is barely. There is barely a balance, and the scales are usually tipping over. I write when I can, and I have bursts of productivity followed by days of the blankest pages you’d ever want to see. My daughter is just about three, so she doesn’t really give input in my writing, but we read a lot together, so it helps me to discover what characters she likes and finds funny.
We share a history as grads of and love for Vermont College of Fine Arts. (VCFA whoot!) How did that experience influence your writing?
VCFA changed my life. Did I say that already? Well, it cannot be said enough. I learned so much about writing, in particular, how little I knew beforehand. The faculty, the students, the alumni—they are a community unlike any other. I want to go back. Can I go back?
Let's go back together! Where else are you headed from here? Upcoming publications or story ideas? Anything else you'd like to add?
I’m currently working on a middle grade novel called A TINY PIECE OF SKY (Philomel/Penguin), which is slated to come out in early 2016. The story is set in the summer of 1939, and Frankie Baum, the youngest of three sisters tries to prove herself by clearing her father’s name after he is accused of being a German spy. She does some spying of her own to get to the truth, and what she discovers surprises everyone.
Please let readers know where they can find you...and thanks!
You can find more than you ever wanted to know about me on my Web site at: www.shawnkstout.com.
You know you want this book, so comment!
Today is the day to celebrate diversity - or the lack of it in kidlit. In fact, there are many excellent books out there by outstanding authors, books like these:
But there isn't enough diversity at the top - the books that hit the big time.
The campaign
#WeNeedDiverseBooks is working to get my friend
Varian Johnson's newest book
The Great Greene Heist on the bestseller lists.
And you know, that shouldn't be hard, given Varian's talent and the fact that it's received a starred review from Kirkus and has been named a PW Best Summer Book of 2014.
I'm pleased to announce that my young adult short story Jewels is included in an anthology of stories by Bozeman-area authors. The anthology is part of a set of three books - the other two feature authors from Missoula and Billings/Livingston - and will be available in limited numbers beginning in early May.
There will be a book signing of the anthology on May 20 at 7PM. If you're interested in copies, contact Country Bookshelf for details.
Imagery is often least-discussed stepchild of the writing craft world. That's understandable. Most of us who write novels begin with either plot or character or a combination, and whether you are pantser or plotter, you need to get that ugly first draft out before you really know what the book you're writing is about.
Imagery - or the image system, as Robert McKee calls it - is a reflection of the novel's theme, and the theme is hard to define until the second or third draft. Yet imagery can deepen a novel's layers, attach significance to character behavior, enrich the plot, and produce satisfying connections for readers.
And imagery attaches significance to disparate events that at first blush seem unrelated. In the past several weeks we've experienced earthquakes in Wyoming and Los Angeles, a rare "blood moon" eclipse, and we're all sick of the "never-ending winter" of snowstorms and ice storms that don't want to quit. The ancients would have seen a pattern in these natural events, as portents of something significant.
How can we enrich our imagery and thus enrich our stories? Here are five ways that I find and use imagery in my work:
1. Find patterns. In my current WIP, I created a character who loves math and is practical. Her father repairs clocks as a hobby. After my first draft it became clear that numbers, time, and mechanical objects that take on magical aspects figure throughout the story, and so I played with those ideas, enriching sensory elements - the sound of a chime, the metallic taste of fear, the sharp point of a steel blade. Readers might not even notice my choice of language, but at a subconscious level, it will hopefully resonate.
2. Use repetition with variation. The color green figures prominently in another novel I'm working on. The novel has much to do with plant life; but I use green in other contexts - for a certain kind of light, for the color of someone's eyes.
3. Discover surprise. My novel SIRENS is told in the two alternating points of view of two girls, and is set in the 1920s. Spiritualism was a popular concept in the 1920s. I unearthed references to the popular magic show of Howard Thurston, who had two special acts, one in which a girl levitated and one in which a girl disappeared after being enclosed in a box. My two characters became living representations of those two magic acts, and thus I could surprise the reader with a connection between the spiritual aspects of the novel and a popular magic show of the time.
4. Use the setting. As in my title example, setting and natural elements provide perfect ways to incorporate imagery. Snow can be cold and life-threatening, but it can also conjure images of cozy evenings by the fire and festive holidays. Find ways to express what the snow means to your character and bring a layer of threat or joy to your scene.
5. Don't overdo it. It's easy to make too much of a good thing. Pare back to the essential and make enough connections that the reader doesn't feel knocked over the head by your use of imagery or image systems.
Chime in: how have you used imagery in your writing?
It's been three months with my new treadmill desk, and I thought I'd update my experience.
I really love having the treadmill right behind my actual desk. It's only a couple of feet away, so I merely have to stand up and take a few steps and hop on. This is a big plus if you're thinking about getting one - ease of use and access. And there's always the guilt factor in seeing it, right there in the office, every day.
On the plus side:
- it's very easy to use. Get on and go. Once I'm walking I hardly know I am. Reading is especially good on the treadmill, and since I tend to read aloud a lot as I work, I am using it.
- it's "free" exercise. We've had a real winter here (who hasn't this year?) and often I can't get to the gym because of snow or ice. Now I can hop on the treadmill and crank it up a bit and read while I actually burn some calories, in addition to my slow walks.
On the minus side:
- it's hard for me to walk and type, even at a slow pace. I can do it, but it's tricky and I tend to make a lot of errors.
That typing/walking issue is the only minus, and since I do a lot of reading of craft books, reading of other writing-related stuff, reading of other books, and reading of my work out loud, I'm really using the treadmill. Maybe not as much as I thought I would, but that's ok. Any walking is better than sitting all day long. And I'm hoping that the more I use it, the more I will.
So far this new desk has been a great addition to my work space and a bonus to my health.
Since taking up knitting, I've done a fair amount of unraveling. For one thing, I'm new enough that sometimes the instructions confuse me, and I only realize I'm wrong after repeating the error over and over. For another, if I get the least distracted during a critical section and lose count, I might cable left when I should cable right, or knit two together in the wrong place.
 |
| Three hats |
Once I even had the experience of not liking the way a particular yarn worked in a particular pattern, so I unraveled the entire ten inches I'd done and started over, doubling the yarn with another.
Happily, most yarn is forgiving, and can be unraveled and reknitted. And I have a local yarn shop where the patient and knowledgeable staff will sit with me and work me through a tricky spot. I'm there at least once a week.
Knitting is so analogous to writing it's perhaps one reason why so many authors I know are knitters.
I've unraveled more than one book in revision. I've repeated errors over and over (pet phrase, anyone? character tics, everybody?), and gotten distracted by a subplot or character and lost the thread of the main plot. I've had to start over countless times. And I've counted on the genius of my critique partners, beta readers, and agent to work me through a tricky spot. |
| Partial selfie with cowl |
Like yarn, words - and diction and syntax - are forgiving. It's the underlying pattern that counts, coupled with what I bring to it - with every project, there's a bit of difference. Those three hats were knit from the same pattern, but the yarns and how I was feeling during the project made them come out with a unique finish, one knit tight, one knit loose, one stretchier than the others.
It's no wonder that we describe both writing and knitting as crafts. We craft a novel, and when we get it wrong, we can unravel and start again. It won't come out the same way each time but with each effort we draw closer to something we think fully expresses the pattern we want to show to the world.
One of the other participants in my first workshop at Vermont College of Fine Arts – which was also her first workshop – was a young writer, Adi Rule. She brought a piece to workshop that was one of the most stunningly beautiful narratives I’ve ever read. I knew she’d go places, and, yup, she has.
Her debut novel STRANGE SWEET SONG launches today, and I know it will be a gorgeous read. I can’t wait. It’s also a thrill to call her an agency-sister, as she is repped by Erin Murphy Literary Agency.
Adi grew up in New Hampshire among cats, ducks, and writers. When she isn't writing, she may be found winning Triple Yahtzee or losing at Upwords against her grandmother. She sings in the chorus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra/Boston Pops, has an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and probably has more vintage memorabilia from Disney's Robin Hood than you.
Congratulations on the publication of your novel, STRANGE SWEET SONG. And - wow! - what a spectacular cover. Can you tell us a bit about the story and what inspired it?
The story takes place at a remote, prestigious music conservatory where history is entwined with mythology. The main character, Sing Da Navelli, is both thrilled and terrified to learn that her first audition there will be for the opera Angelique, which was written at the conservatory. While the role of Angelique is one Sing has dreamed of singing since she was a child, it is also the role her mother was performing when she died on stage two years ago. As Sing struggles to find her own voice, she is drawn to the dark forest that surrounds the conservatory, where the great beast from the story of Angelique is rumored to roam.
I think the story started out with its names, actually. The mythical beast that haunts the forest is called the Felix. She's catlike, with celestial origins. Felix is traditionally a cat's name, but it doesn't actually come from the Latin word for "cat," it comes from the word for "happy," and that was the spark of that character -- a being who embodies happiness, what causes her to fall so far from that state, and what restores her. The main character's name, Sing, is a tribute to her distinguished parentage. But, as she says, it's both a name and a command. I wanted to explore what would happen if a character had both a true, innate love of singing, and a name that almost works against her own psyche.
Can you describe your path to the publication of STRANGE SWEET SONG?
My path for this book was fairly traditional. I queried Ammi-Joan Paquette at Erin Murphy Literary Agency about another novel. She liked it, but wanted to see something else, so when I had finished a pretty good draft of what was then called Sing, I sent it along. I was thrilled beyond the moon when she offered to represent me. EMLA is just a warm, fun, fantastic agency to be a part of. (Janet, I know you'll back me up on this! You bet I do!) Joan sold Sing to an enthusiastic editor at St Martin's, and we revised and revised. It's funny, with a big publisher like SMP, I assumed that -- and was okay with -- I would be somewhat lost in all the gears and big machinery. But it hasn't been like that at all; it's been a very friendly place to launch a first book.
Do you have any advice for beginning writers?
Well, I'll certainly echo the same advice everyone gives, because it's the best -- read a lot and write a lot! And find your support system -- you're going to need feedback from people who have your work's best interest at heart. Learn to accept the label "writer," and remember that it only means, "someone who writes." It doesn't mean someone with a book on Oprah's Book Club; neither does it mean someone who has a great idea for a novel but never writes any words. But it can mean someone who is learning, someone who writes a lousy first draft, someone who writes a piece that just doesn't work, or someone who hammers out and polishes a story into something truly wonderful.
Also, learn to love revision. Also also, revision does not equal copyediting.
Can you tell us something about your personal life – inspirations, plans for the future, goals, etc.?
One of these days, I'm going to clean the heck out of my apartment. Sunbeams will bathe the floor, my mother will start visiting again, and all the spiders living in my shower will close their multiple eyes and inhale the light scent of pine. That will be a glorious, glorious day.
Hah! Your mother will be happy, I can vouch for that. Do you have any new writing ventures underway?
Yes! :) I have another book coming out from St Martin's (fingers crossed for 2015) called Redwing. It's a bit industrial revolution and a bit mythological. We're in the editing/revising stage right now.
Do you have a website where readers can learn more about STRANGE SWEET SONG?
I love it when people pop by to say hi on my site or social media! I especially love pictures of cats! Find me here:
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My friend Denise Jaden has a new book out, and I can tell you - it's fabulous. Titled FAST FICTION it is a craft book for those wishing to "fast-draft" a novel. But let me assure you it's more than a how-to-get-it-out guide; FAST FICTION has great summary information on all aspects of the craft. Below is a post Denise wrote for this blog, followed by an incredible opportunity to participate in a giveaway that includes a critique of your first five pages, compliments of Denise's agent, Michelle Humphrey from The Martha Kaplan Agency!
Here's Denise:
Fast-Drafting: But What About Quality?
Whenever I tell writers about my new book, FAST FICTION, they are either very interested, or they dismiss the idea of fast-drafting on the basis of their goal of “quality writing.” I care very much about high quality writing, and I believe in spending the time and effort to discover and bring to life the very best for my stories and characters. I just don’t believe high quality writing should be the main goal of a first draft.
One of my favorite things about fast-drafting is that I can find the story arc of each book very quickly, which helps me discover the path for each of my characters. When drafting new words, my mind is in micro-mode, where I’m focusing day to day on all the small occurrences that are happening in each scene. In that mindset, it’s nearly impossible to see the big picture, so I want to get out of that mindset to a place where I can step away from my finished novel as quickly as possible to properly evaluate it. The first draft, for me, is the part I want to get through quickly, so I can move forward into the real work of a novel—the work that makes it authentically flow and take readers on a journey they won’t forget.
Just because I believe in fast-drafting my first drafts does not mean I don’t believe in deep characters and plotlines either. I do a lot of prep work before drafting to know who my characters are at a gut level. For instance, how do they feel about their mothers and siblings? What’s the worst thing a parent has said or done to them? How do they still carry around some of their most embarrassing moments, and how do these moments still reflect in their day-to-day lives?
Even with this preparation, however, I don’t like to nail anything down in stone until after my first draft. To me, fast-drafting is as much about exploration as it is about finishing a book. Often I’ll get to the end of writing a draft before I truly know what the book should be about. And when I go back to read the draft over, I often hardly recognize many of the scenes or character traits that have shown up. This is the characters at work, showing me who they are, rather than the other way around.
There are a lot of things an author needs to think about when crafting a satisfying novel, but I like to take the fast-drafting phase—only 30 days—and spend that time not thinking. Instead I spend that time simply feeling what is happening with my characters and which directions they want to go, and which directions they’re afraid to go. This quick writing gives very distinct and natural voices to my characters as well.
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Fast-drafting goes beyond the conscious mind and lets writers tune into their subconscious, so if we’re talking about quality of writing and depth of characters, fast-drafting is a step that will take you quickly toward both of these goals.Rather than doing a traditional interview-filled blog tour, Denise Jaden is celebrating the release of her new nonfiction writing book, FAST FICTION, by dropping tips about writing quickly at every stop of her blog tour, and offering some awesome prizes for commenting on any of these posts (including this one!)
The more you drop by and comment, the more chances you have to win these great prizes:Denise's Fast Fiction Tip: Write about something you care deeply about.It’s no accident that my first two published novels revolve around two sets of sisters. You see, I’ve never had a sister, and I think I’ve always been secretly jealous of people who understand that relationship first hand. I’ve taken that desire and let it fuel me through several novels. The more I start to understand about having a sister, the more complex the relationship seems. That, to me, has always been exciting, and I’ve spent many hours exploring the deep well of the sisterly relationships in my stories. That drive to know more has driven me to be able to write a lot of daily words and pursue finished novels. The more I care about my characters and their relationships, the more I need to tell their complete stories. Think about what it is you care enough about to carry you through an entire novel.
The Prizes:- Compliments of New World Library: They will be giving away A BOX of copies of FAST FICTION by Denise Jaden and GET IT DONE by Sam Bennett (US and Canada only):
- Compliments of Denise Jaden, TWO BOXES of great fiction (US Only). Details on Denise's blog.
- Audiobook copies of NEVER ENOUGH by Denise Jaden!
- A critique of your first five pages, compliments of Denise's agent, Michelle Humphrey from The Martha Kaplan Agency!
All you have to do is enter the rafflecopter for a chance to win (at the bottom of this post, I've included links to all of the other blogs where you can comment for more chances to win).
About Fast Fiction:
Writers flock to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) each November because it provides a procrastination-busting deadline. But only a fraction of the participants meet their goal. Denise Jaden was part of that fraction, writing first drafts of her two published young adult novels during NaNoWriMo. In Fast Fiction, she shows other writers how to do what she did, step-by-step, writer to writer. Her process starts with a prep period for thinking through plot, theme, characters, and setting. Then Jaden provides day-by-day coaching for the thirty-day drafting period. Finally, her revision tips help writers turn merely workable drafts into compelling and publishable novels.
A portion of publisher proceeds will be donated to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
Praise for Fast Fiction:
“Fast Fiction is filled with stellar advice, solid-gold tips, and doable, practical exercises for all writers who want to draft a complete novel.”
— Melissa Walker, author of Violet on the Runway
“Being a ‘pantser’ I have always resisted outlining, but I have to say that Fast Fiction changed my mind! Denise Jaden takes what I find to be a scary process (outlining) and makes it into an easy and, dare I say, enjoyable one. Fast Fiction is a hands-on book that asks the right questions to get your mind and your story flowing. I know I’ll be using Fast Fiction over and over again. Highly recommended for fiction writers!
— Janet Gurtler, author of RITA Award finalist I’m Not Her
“Fast Fiction is full of strategies and insights that will inspire and motivate writers of every experience level — and best of all, it provides them with a solid plan to quickly complete the first draft of their next novel.”
— Mindi Scott, author of Freefall
“Fast Fiction provides writers with the perfect mix of practical guidance and the kick in the pants they need to finish that draft. This book is a must-have for writers of all levels.”
— Eileen Cook, author of The Almost Truth
“Practical and down-to-earth, Denise Jaden’s Fast Fiction makes a one-month draft seem doable, even for beginners, any month of the year.”
— Jennifer Echols, author of Endless Summer and Playing Dirty
“One of the greatest challenges any writer faces is getting a great idea out of one’s brain and onto the page. Fast Fiction breaks that process down into concrete, manageable steps, each accompanied by Denise Jaden’s sage advice and enthusiastic encouragement. And anything that helps streamline the drafting process is a-okay by me! Fast Fiction is a great addition to any writer’s toolbox — I’ve got it in mine!”
— Catherine Knutsson, author of Shadows Cast by Stars
“Forget the fact that this resource is directed at those wanting to complete a fast draft — if you’re out to get your novel done, period, Jaden’s Fast Fiction will be the kick in the butt that gets you there, from story plan to ‘The End’. . . and beyond.”
— Judith Graves, author of the Skinned series for young adults
Where you can find Fast Fiction:
Comment on any of the following blog posts celebrating Fast Fiction's release to be entered to win prizes galore!
(All Fast Fiction blog posts should be live by March 9th, or sooner. Contest will be open until March 15th. If any links don't work, stop by h
ttp://denisejaden.blogspot.com for updated links.)
GCC Blogs:
Additional Participating Blogs:
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About a year ago I had the good fortune to visit Austin, Texas, and stay in the Writing Barn. What a fabulous experience that was. The Barn is fast becoming a mecca for writers and artists of all stripes, but especially in the kidlit world, who wish to retreat, learn, or just spend some quiet time. During my three days there I wrote over 10,000 new words of my manuscript, and felt inspired and renewed.
The Barn hosts numerous gigs all year long, and I've invited Bethany Hegedus, who owns the Barn, to tell us about it. Here's her story, and what the Writing Barn will be up to in the near future:
If someone would have told me five years ago that I’d own and run a writing retreat and workshop center, I would have called them crazy. I had just published my first novel, Between us Baxters (WestSide Books, 2009) and my second, Truth with a Capital T (Random House/Delacorte, 2010), was going through final copyedits with pass pages awaiting me. I was working on a new MG, still trying to see if and when Grandfather Gandhi (Atheneum/S&S, 2014) would land at the right and perfect publisher. Five years ago, I still lived in NYC—the publishing capital of the world.
Fast forward five years, and here I am sitting on the screened-in porch of The Writing Barn in Austin, Texas, on a sunny February day, working with one of The Writing Barn interns who recently joined our team. Crazy, huh? Above me are names of the giants in kid lit who have visited our facility, either teaching, as Francisco X. Stork and Sara Zarrhave, or attending kid lit bashes as Maggie Stiefvater, Matt de la Peña, Peter Brown, Jon Scieszka, Katherine Applegate, and more have. Writers from around the country come here to retreat, craving solitude for solo retreats. Writing groups come as well, like the Write for Cake ladies, who visited to share pages, long walks, and lots of laughter (and wine.)
This strangely hectic but rewarding literary life is built on a foundation of everything I love: My husband, who has owned the land The Writing Barn sits on for over ten years and who has worked tirelessly by my side; my dog Toby, a Chihuahua who loves lapping up writerly love (and who inspires drawings from the illustrators when they are here); the books I’ve been collecting since I began writing, and which I’ve dreamed of sharing with students I’d hoped to teach, and our ever expanding collection of Buddhas; and my deep desire to have writers focus on craft and creativity and trust that our first commitment is to the work the page.
Along with the dozens of retreats, book launch parties and local classes we’ve held in our first two years in operation, we’ve recently expanded our programming. We have workshops for “advanced writers”—those who have agents, are published, or are routinely getting personal rejections. We call these events our Advanced Writer Weekend Workshop series. Our first AWWW this year is in May, with bestselling authors Jo Knowles and Robin Wasserman. They are tackling revision with Discover the Beating Heart of Your Book. In October, agent/author Ammi Joan Paquette and K. A. Holt will be with us for Writing Outside the Box: Multiple Viewpoints, Unreliable Narrators, Unusual Structures—Oh My! In December, best-selling authors and friends Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian will be with us. 
There’s also the Full Novel Revision week: Mastering the Middle Grade with Newbery Honor authors Kathi Appelt and Rita Williams-Garcia, Shana Burg and myself in August. And in September, best-selling picture book agent Erin Murphy and two of her clients, Audrey Vernick and Liz Garton Scanlon, will lead The Complete Picture Book Workshop. Applications and registrations are open for all these events, and spots are filling up quickly. For out-of-towners, we also offer on-site lodging and airport shuttles. You can apply for these events here. I have no idea what the next five years will bring, but whatever it is, I hope I’ll still be living and loving the literary life.
BETHANY HEGEDUS’ books include Truth with a Capital T (Delacorte/Random House) and Between Us Baxters (WestSide Books). Both novels were named to the Bank Street Books Best Books, with Between Us Baxters garnering a star for outstanding recognition. Her debut picture book, Grandfather Gandhi, (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster) co-authored with Arun Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma, and illustrated by Evan Turk has received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus. To learn more about Grandfather Gandhi, and how to live your life as light, please visit www.grandfathergandhi.com. Bethany has served as the Hunger Mountain Young Adult & Children’s Editor since 2009. A graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults, Bethany is the Owner and Creative Director of The Writing Barn, a writing retreat, workshop and event space in Austin, Texas.
A former educator, Bethany speaks and teaches across the country.
A few books on my TBR pile...
My friend Nancy Bo Flood writes wonderful multicultural books, and has a deep interest in Native American issues. I invited her to submit a guest post, and she chose to feature CHILDEN OF THE TIPI. Although we just missed the Multicultural Book Day on January 27th, it's never too late to celebrate the rich heritage of this country. Here's Nancy:
CHILDREN OF THE TIPI: LIFE IN THE BUFFALO DAYS
Edited by Michael Oren Fitzgerald
CHILDREN OF THE TIPI is a treasure. The book shares both images and words that accomplish so well what Michael Fitzgerald describes in his Editor's Note - that we can "learn the wisdom of the olden-day Indians directly from the source...we can still glimpse the spirit of that irreplaceable world directly through their words and photographs."
During the past several years as I have written and spoken about the need for children's books about and by Native Americans. Less than 1% of published books for children are written by or about American Indians. I have emphasized the need to show individuals, not stereotypes, and historical accuracy, not myths, exaggerations, or misrepresentations...or silent omission. We need books written from the Native perspective. What an amazing book Michael Fitzgerald has created that is accessible and understandable by young readers.
CHILDREN OF THE TIPI was published by Wisdom Tales Press, an imprint of World Wisdom and Wisdom Tales. This year Wisdom Tales is sponsoring the first annual Multicultural Children's Book Day, January 27th. They will be giving away sets of their children’s books on both their Facebook and Pinterest pages in conjunction with the event. Take a look – their books are wonderful.
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When I was a kid my first hobby was rock collecting. It all started with one of those little sampler boxes that we picked up at a museum. Then my parents took us rock-hounding: searching for gems in places open to the public. Then my sister found (and subsequently lost, sadly) a lovely ruby. Then I got my masters in geology. Then I married a geologist...well, you get the drill.
What I would've given for a copy of this book when I was young! Michele Corriel has written a truly fun exploration of some of the weirder rocks on the planet. Today she's here with a guest post, plus she's giving away one copy of WEIRD ROCKS. It would be a great addition to any library. All you need to do is comment and I'll put you in my random giveaway generator!
Sometimes it’s easy to think of a non-fiction picture book (or any non-fiction book) as a way to get information across to young readers. But for me, it’s much more than that. It’s an opportunity to understand language. It’s a new door opening for a poetic perspective. A new inlet to creativity.
For example, you can’t say the “obsidian black sky” before you know what obsidian is. You can’t say “the granite feeling of winter” without knowing how old and stubborn granite can be.
There is also something empowering about being able to name things. (Think about Voldemort and how by never saying his name everyone became even more afraid.) For me, non-fiction is more empowering than the Hallow's elder wand.
So when I’m sitting down to write a non-fiction picture book, I think very hard about the words I’m using and how to embracing the language in a way that can open the door for young readers to use those words and to understand the concepts, not just in the scientific way, but in a poetic way as well.
In the same way, non-fiction books can used in the classroom as a means to seeing vocabulary not only as definitions but to hear how melodic words can be, how close beauty is to an idea. And, of course, as a way of avoiding the dreaded clichés.
Another way to use non-fiction for creative writing is to use the old “what if” scenario. What If the continents never drifted apart? What kind of world would we live in? Would we be a single country?
I also like to try to think out of the box when I approach a subject that has the potential to be very dry. I try to come up with a new way to introduce the reader to something as boring as, say, a simple rock. For every rock we come across there is a history as ancient the earth itself. Sometimes, even older (I’m thinking of meteorites). I think of star dust and mysteries. I think of cities destroyed by volcanoes. Or inland oceans whose only signature is the fossils they left behind.
Besides the words themselves, besides the story behind the subject, there are the people whose lives are dedicated to sorting out a single question.
The world is such a fascinating place, and it is the job of the non-fiction writer to get that point that across to the reader.
Check out the WEIRD ROCKS trailer, and then comment to win a copy!
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