About six weeks ago I was privledged to read an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine which will come out in hardback in April 2010. I read it in one sitting. I laughed, I teared up and I didn't want the story to end. To say it is wonderful, is just an understatement.I was already a fan of Kathy's writing after reading her great YA Book, Quaking.

Here's a bit about Mockingbird from Amazon:

In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.

Kathryn Erskine has written a must-read gem, one of the most moving novels of the year.

And two reviews from Good Reads (which is also hosting a giveaway of this book by the way--http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/1753-mockingbird)


Beckie Weinheimer (um me)rated it: 5 out of 5 stars
Read in September, 2009
I adored this book. If it doesn't win the newbery, then something is wrong at the top! It's perfect!

Moira Rose Donohue (Author of Penny and the Punctuation Bee)rated it: 5 of 5 stars
bookshelves: kid-lit
Read in November, 2009
Watch out, readers of kidlit - this will be one of THE books to talk about next year when it officially debuts. But I've read an ARC (and the manuscript, as it was written as well) and I can tell you, it is truly a gem. I've never read a book that took a main character who was as difficult as this one and made me love her anyway. It takes a brilliant writer to make an Asperberger's girl who is trying to come to terms with the tragic loss of her brother someone you just adore, cheer for and rejoice with. Erskine does this all the while holding you hostage in a fascinating tale. A winner for sure!!!!

So now to my interview with Kathy Erskine.

Can you tell us how the idea for Mockingbird came about?
I'd been wanting to write a book about a child with Asperger's, since I have one, to help people see what it's like. It can be both fun and frustrating for everyone, including the kid with Asperger's. I wasn't quite sure of the framework for the novel, though, so I was letting it mull around for a while. After the Virginia Tech shootings on April 16, 2007, I felt truly stunned, shaken, and I had to do something. In my m

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Thanks to all of you who signed up for the contest! Carol has written such a great book and its doing so well in its first month of life! Here's to Star in the Middle!!

We're featuring another author for December. Kathy Erskine and her new book, not quite out yet, but she's offering a signed copy of the ARC of Mockingbird, win a copy before its out!

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Each month I interview young adult authors about their latest books and give away a free signed copy of the book to one lucky reader. To learn more about my monthly book contest feature, e-mail me at [email protected] to win this month's free YA Book or leave a comment on the blog below this month's interview! Or, if you're an author who'd like to be interviewed you can reach me the same way by e-mailing me at [email protected].

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Just e-mail me at [email protected] with the following information:

1) Send me two poems or up to five pages of creative writing
2) Tell me a little about yourself

Want an example? Continue reading to see past featured young adult and teen author writing samples.

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So, hello, it's me again. Still in my New York City apartment, and it's still Autumn outside. Last time (in part I) I chatted with you I chatted about setting scenes.

Now today I'm going to talk about dialogue--with you. Yes, you are going to talk back to me. Hey, I write fiction, I can make your part up, easy as pie. Oops, easy as pie is an overused metaphor--avoid them at all costs, rack your brain think until you can come up with a unique metaphor of your own, it helps if it relates to what you are writing about. For example, I am writing about writing, so perhaps off the top of my head as simple as a poet penning a two line poem--hey, cool I also organically added some alterations-- "poet," "penning" and "poem,"--all p words. Cool!

**Wikipedia tells us that alliteration is a literary or rhetorical stylistic device that consists in repeating the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words in close succession. An example is the Mother Goose tongue-twister Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers...

I even picked P at random and so did Wikipedia. Okay, I'm getting all jazzed about this writing thing. And oops I haven't even mentioned dialogue. Sometime soon I'll have to do a writer tip blog about rewrites and cutting out the boring, unimportant parts of your writing, which would mean, if I was practicing what I preach that this entry would begin right here...

But then that would contradict the whole message of voice, which is basically this--ignore the rules of writing, listen to your heart, write from your soul, use your unique way of saying things, to thine own self be true....

Okay, so my authentic voice is chatty, and often digresses from the point, but I happen to think my diversions are fun, sometimes entertaining and hopefully informative.

I also like myself, did you notice?

Okay to Dialogue.

Once again a definition from Wikipedia. Sorry, Maria (My friend Maria is a librarian and she absolutely hates Wikipedia because it is often--shock--not accurate!).

A dialogue (sometimes also dialog in North American English) is a conversation between two or more people. It is also a literary form in which two or more parties engage in a discussion.

I am sort of a British Wannabe, hence I spell dialogue with a "ue" on the end.

To explain dialogue, I'm going to steal an idea from a writer I admire, because she was so cool when I heard her explain it and besides that's what writers do, we copy ideas we read about, we are like tape recorders eavesdropping on interesting conversations that we will later use in our stories, in short we are thieves.

But I will give credit for the floating dialogue--to the great and famous and wondrous Jane Yolen.

So here is an example of "floating dialogue." The kind you don't want to have in your stories.

"Hello," I say.

"Hi," you reply.

"So you want to know about dialogue?"

"Um, sure."

"Okay do you want the short story or the long story on dialogue?" I ask.

You r

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Friday Night
At the Santa Monica Promenade

I hear its mournful sound
Beckoning in the distance
So Faint I wonder. . .

I push through throngs of
teenage girls in spaghetti-strap tops and skinny leg jeans
young men in pants belted below their boxers
a homeless man huddled by a lamppost
shaking coins in a paper cup
around two lovers arm in arm
past the buzz of the outdoor cafes
with their chinking of glass and table chatter
I am not tempted by the aromas of basil and garlic
But press on past the onlookers gathered around the clown
shaping balloons into animals
beyond the young boy, maybe ten years old,
dressed in a tux too big for his body
break-dancing to music
from a boom box rusty and splattered with paint
I do not pause to gape at the contortionist escaping his chains
nor to listen to the woman with long braided hair
Strumming her guitar
Humming a melancholy tune

But only stop when I see him—
Yes, he is here
Beyond the dinosaur vine fountain
He stands legs apart with his bag and pipes
Under the lit doorway of a store now closed
The sound fills my ears
And suddenly
The ground is green
The hills are purple with heather
An ancient stone castle sits before me
The wind, salty and wet
Whips through my hair
And brings a thousand voices from the past
I see their kilts and plaids
And hear the names of those before me
Stewart and McMinn
My eyes grow wet with the foggy mist
My heart swells with feeling
For a hidden part of myself
I do not know

People ask me if I’ve ever been to Scotland
And I don’t know what to say
Because I’ve been to the Promenade in Santa Monica on a Friday night
And heard the bagpipes play

By Beckie Weinheimer



-- Post From My iPhone

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I have known Livi for about two years. We met online, she read my book and I soon became a fan or her art and poetry. Though I've never met her in person I have a piece of her in my house. She sent me this beautiful art piece in exchange for a signed copy of my book. What fun! I'm sorry Livi that there are shadows on my iphone photo of your art. I framed my pretty black girl with the purple eye and she sits beside me on my desk watching me write.

I thought Livi lived in Forks, Washington at first, because that was on her profile. Then I learned about Twilight and realized Livi is a fan. I'm not sure what her last name is. She's known as black dream stream and other online names.
Her poems and her art are full of light and darkness, beauty and pain, and always vivid, always moving, always making my day.

 Here's another one of her art pieces from her collection on Deviant Art. I must admit I am a fan of anything that has purple in it, so I picked her pretty purple girl piece, as I call it. But Livi has named it Tea Dress.

Here's an interview with Livi, two of her favorite poems and her two favorite pieces of art.

How long have you been drawing? Writing?
basically the best answer to this would be,since i could hold a crayon.my mom says she could tell i was going to be an artist the first time i picked a crayon up by the way i looked at it.

Is poetry your favorite type of creative writing?
not necessarily, its my fave to MAKE, not to read,i enjoy anything thats well done,paints good images in my head,and makes you think.i mostly read short storys because i have a short attention span.

What inspires your art?
just about everything;primarily feelings,if i am in a public place feeling bad,you will always see me drawing on napkins and writing on candy wrappers.sometimes i feel as if i was filled with a hot,sticky,infection,boiling in my body,and the art is like a cool water cleansing me.sometimes i feel as if i am as light as air,and all the world is bathed in light,the art then is the magic required to lift my feet from the ground.

Where do you write?
mostly on my bed,i also paint on my bed.my sheets are covered with ink and paint.

Are there certain times you write more?
i go through phases,im usually painting a lot,or writing and sketching a lot,not sure what controls that,it can be frustrating though when i don't feel productive because i have no finished products,i just have to remind myself that its all just practice for the next time i DO finish something.

Are your visual and written art inter related?
i really wouldn't know,i don't know much about why i draw or write what i do,i just put the pencil down and it turns into something.s

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I am so excited to be able to interview Carol about her book Star. I have had the opportunity to be a part of Carol's entire journey from manuscript--to submission--to lots of waiting--to book contract--to more editing--and to the final copy process.Carol's manuscript sat waiting on an editor's desk for a year before she heard back and then finally no it hadn't been lost or forgotten or even rejected, she waited and got what we all hope for--a book contract! Getting to know Carol through emails and through reading STAR has been a joy and high in my life. When Carol sent me a copy of  her manuscript, Star in the Middle, I couldn't stop reading. Presenting the challenges of teen pregnancy from both young parents points of view gives this novel a depth not often found in young adult literature. Star’s dark secret is addressed with compassion in vivid and realistic detail.This is a wonderful first novel and a riveting story, written with lovely, poetic language.

And now for an interview with Carol Larese Millward, who's book Star in the Middle is out new this month from WestSide Books.
.

Why did you decide to write for young adults?

I think teens make a great audience. They are such savvy readers. I became interested in writing for this group while working with young adults, because I have so much respect for them and the issues they voiced. There are several YA authors that I admire. I think they help bring focus to so many challenges facing teens.


Why did you decide to write a novel about teen parents?
When I worked with teen mothers, I was struck by a sense of underlying sadness and guilt in many of our conversations as they talked about their lives, both past and present.
In that same sense, even the most articulate young mother was often unable to talk about what hopes and dreams she had for the future: Life was diaper-to-diaper, day-to-day. But at the same time, they were determined to care for their babies.
I wanted to write a book that demonstrated the challenges teens encounter when faced with an unplanned pregnancy and birth of a child. The reality of raising a baby is not about choosing a name and cute clothes; it’s about the constant care and feeding of a very dependent human being.

What audience do you hope to reach with this book?
I wrote this book for teens, as well as parents of teens. I hope that the characters, and the experiences they encounter in the pages of Star in the Middle, will help young adults ask themselves some tough questions about what they want for themselves. It’s so important to have dreams, and a plan on how to make those dreams come true.
While writing the book, I visited bookstores and was so pleasantly surprised to find both mothers and daughters in the YA section buying books. They shared with me that reading the same books helped start dialogues about topics that were not always easy to talk about. So, I hope that this book will provide those positive interactions between teens and their parents – as well as teens and their peers.

Can you give some examples of dialogue topics you hope the book will inspire?
There are so many, really. I think the most important is to talk about choices, and the consequences that come with making both good and bad choices. Ultimately, a poor choice made on some random Friday night could result in facing a painful decision about what to do about an unplanned pregnancy, or dealing with a life-long STD, or facing someone you don’t feel quite the same way about on Monday morning.
Star was dealing with a painful secret in her life.  

Why did you choose to add that particular storyline?

Sometimes things happen in a girl’s life, against her will, that put her at a higher risk for becoming a teen mother. Research shows that Star’s secret is one of those indicators. It is a very serious problem that all too often targets both genders. Star kept a secret that she should have not have kept. This type of abuse can escalate and should be reported immediately.

Abortion is such a controversial subject. Did you worry about how teens would view your characters’ points of view on this issue?
Absolutely. Because it’s a very personal decision, and it’s so important not to judge anyone for the tough decisions they feel they must make for themselves. But, again, I think that teens are very savvy readers. They understand that this is fiction, and that there are lots of real stories out there in the world with different outcomes. I think the dialogue should be less about right and wrong and more about making good choices. This is something that you can control. If you choose to become sexually active, choose to protect yourself against an unplanned pregnancy and/or STD’s.

Do you think that Star made the right decision to keep her baby?
I hope readers will ask themselves that question. The reality is that many teens that become pregnant keep their babies – that’s the story I wanted to tell. I thought it was important to talk about the care and commitment it takes to be a parent. There are also couples that want to adopt and give a baby a good home. Adoption would be a very positive outcome for any mother that is not ready, or doesn’t have the resources to raise her child.

Do you think Star and Wilson should get together at the end of the book?
Another reality, and a harsh reality at that -- teen mothers more often than not end up raising their babies without the help of the babies’ fathers. So, without giving anything away, I will let readers come to their own conclusions about how this story should end. There are lots of clues throughout the story to help readers understand the probability of Star and Wilson’s relationship lasting.

Thank you, Beckie, I appreciate this opportunity to talk with you and your readers!

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