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Here's a great way to connect children's authors and readers, and it's a WIN-WIN-WIN for schools, authors and school book fairs everywhere!
AUTHOR SPOTS FOR SCHOOLS!
Author Spots are FREE mini-commercials created by children's authors which schools can broadcast to promote their book fair to kids and parents.
I'm not talking about anything fancy here - just a 30 second to 1 minute webcam, YouTube video of a children's author giving a shout-out about his/her books along with a personalized promotion for a school book fair. It might be something as simple as:
"Hi, I'm Jean Reidy, children's author! I'm super excited that TOO PURPLEY! is coming to the Abraham Lincoln Elementary book fair. (MAYBE ADD MORE ABOUT THE BOOK HERE) Don't forget to stop by and check out all the awesome books on sale. GO LIONS!"
Author Spots could be shown in morning video announcements, during library time, in the classrooms, at PTO meetings, at the school entrance, or loaded on the school's website ... the possibilities are endless.
It's simple! Here's how it works:
Teachers, Principals, and Book Fair Volunteers: Review the authors and their books listed below and decide who might be a good fit for your school book fair. Authors who have books specifically at Scholastic Book Fairs are noted with an "S" after their name. Their names link you to their website. Choose a few options because not every author will be available at all times. Then contact one or more -- can you imagine a whole week of AuthorSpots? -- of the authors below, requesting a FREE AuthorSpot. If the author agrees, tell the author how you'd like it personalized - school name, school mascot, etc. And when the video is posted, the author will send you the link. It's as simple as that.
Children's Authors andIllustrators: If you're interested in recording Author Spots for Schools, e-mail me your name, your 5 most recent book titles, genres and your website link and I'll add you to the list. Send your information to reidy(dot)jean(at)gmail(dot)com. If you know that one or more of your books is offered specifically at Scholastic Book Fairs, please let me know, and I'll put an "S" after your name. Then, when a school contacts you, record your Author Spot, upload it to YouTube and send the link to the school. If you'd like to participate but you'd prefer to record only one generic book fair promotion video that ANY school can use, let me know. I'll start a separate list and link to your video. If we get enough authors participating, I'll even host a website specifically for Author Spots.
The following authors are interested in promoting your book fair! And here is just a sampling of their books. Please check their website for contact and other information.
FICTION PICTURE BOOKS: Jean Reidy (S) - TOO PURPLEY!, TOO PICKLEY!, TOO PRINCESSY, LIGHT UP THE NIGHT, TIME OUT FOR MONSTERS!, ALL THROUGH MY TOWN Mirka Breen - THERE'S A TURKEY AT THE DOOR Jean Gralley - HOGULA, DREAD PIG OF NIGHT, VERY BORING ALLIGATOR, YONDERFEL'S CASTLE, THE MOON CAME DOWN ON MILK STREET Tara Lazar - THE MONSTORE, I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BEAR BOOK, LITTLE RED GLIDING HOOD Tammi Sauer (S) - MR. DUCK MEANS BUSINESS, ME WANT PET!, BAWK & ROLL, OH, NUTS!, PRINCESS IN TRAINING Liz Garton Scanlon (S) - ALL THE WORLD, THINK BIG, A SOCK IS A POCKET FOR YOUR TOES, NOODLE & LOU, HAPPY, BIRTHDAY BUNNY! Judith Snyder - WHAT DO YOU SEE?, STINKY FEET Deborah Underwood - THE QUIET BOOK, THE LOUD BOOK, A BALLOON FOR ISABEL, PIRATE MOM Audrey Vernick (S) - SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK STAR, IS YOUR BUFFALO READY FOR KINDERGARTEN?, TEACH YOUR BUFFALO TO PLAY DRUMS
NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS: Alison Ashley Formento (S) - THIS TREE COUNTS, THIS TREE 1-2-3, THESE BEES COUNT, THESE SEAS COUNT Audrey Vernick (S) - SHE LOVED BASEBALL, BROTHERS AT BAT
MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Ruth McNally Barshaw (S) - THE ELLIE MCDOODLE SERIES Mary Bartek - FUNERALS AND FLY FISHING Hélène Boudreau (S)- REAL MERMAIDS DON'T WEAR TOE RINGS, REAL MERMAIDS DON'T HOLD THEIR BREATH, REAL MERMAIDS DON'T NEED HIGH HEELS (SPRING 2013), REAL MERMAIDS DON'T SELL SEA SHELLS (FALL 2013) Mirka Breen -THE VOICE OF THUNDER Danette Haworth (S) - VIOLET RAINES ALMOST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING,THE SUMMER OF MOONLIGHT SECRETS, ME & JACK, A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY Lynda Mullaly Hunt - ONE FOR THE MURPHYS Natalie Lorenzi - FLYING THE DRAGON Michaela Maccoll (S) - PROMISE THE NIGHT Jennifer Nielsen(S) - THE FALSE PRINCE, THE RUNAWAY KING Audrey Vernick (S) - WATER BALLOON Danette Vigilante - THE TROUBLE WITH HALF A MOON Diane Zahler - THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS, A TRUE PRINCESS, PRINCESS OF THE WILD SWANS MIDDLE GRADE NONFICTION Cynthia Levinson - WE'VE GOT A JOB Sarah Albee(S) - POOP HAPPENED! A HISTORY OF THE WORLD FROM THE BOTTOM UP
When I read Conrad Wesselhoeft's DIRT BIKES, DRONES AND OTHER WAYS TO FLY - if you haven't read it, do it NOW - I had to know how my friend, fellow author, and Seattle dweller was able to pull off a New Mexico setting so spectacular, I felt like I was riding on the back of his bike racing over those dusty trails. So I asked. His answer inspired me and taught me a great lesson on what makes a setting work. It's sure to inspire you. Thank you, Conrad! Got an extra helmet? Let's go for a ride.
In Praise of Place: Why fiction writers should light out for personal territory
In my mid-twenties, I fell in love with northeast New Mexico—the high plains, broken mesas, torn shadows, and rich, drifting light. I lived for two years in the town of Raton, working as a journalist for the local newspaper.
Working for a small-town paper meant doing every job in the newsroom: writing and editing stories; laying out the paper on a composing table; and taking and developing photos.
I took thousands of photos, criss-crossing the county with my sturdy Pentax K1000 camera—later moving on to a more nimble Canon AE-1.
The vistas of northeast New Mexico enthralled me. Much of the time, they looked flat and dull, but at certain times of day, under certain light, they exploded with beauty.
I’d reach for my camera, and all would go quiet.
Several years ago, when I started writing my young-adult novel Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly, I wanted to re-capture that special landscape—both the look and feel.
I started by creating a fictional town and calling it Clay Allison, after the 19th Century gunfighter who had lived in that area. I jotted these notes:
“Clay Allison is a town in northeast New Mexico located in the high desert snug up against Colorado’s mountainous ass. ‘Clay’ has a rusty, shoddy, past-its-prime look and feel. In reality, it has never experienced a prime.”
The surrounding landscape, I noted, “is a hundred muted shades. Nearby are Eagle Tail and Burro mesas, and to the north, the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains. Many small mesas are carved with dirt-bike tracks, an insult to Mother Nature, but a playground for Arlo Santiago and his friends.”
Arlo is the novel’s 17-year-old adrenaline-junkie narrator. He loves to blast across the mesas on his Yamaha 250 dirt bike, hitting the bumps and flying high.
I stretched my vocabulary when I wrote:
“The story unfolds under the cerulean emptiness of New Mexico’s slow-fuse sky.”
My goal was to have Arlo fit organically into this landscape. I wanted him to respond—consciously and otherwise—to the monotonous-one-minute, staggering-the-next horizons, just as I had. If he could do this, then maybe readers could, too. That was my hope anyway.
Whether I pulled it off is not for me to say. What I did learn, however, is how important setting can be to a story—so important, in fact, that it can become a galvanizing character in its own right, one filled with moods and fancies, passions and mysteries.
Writers often overlook setting in favor of more obvious characterization tools— for example, action or dialogue.
The result is that New York City appears no different in the mind’s eye than Portland, Oregon, and the Grand Canyon exudes all the gravitas of a touched-up postcard. Hasty writers like to locate Denver in the Rocky Mountains when, in fact, “the Queen City of the Plains” is located just east of the Rockies.
It’s as if the writer had carelessly stuck a pin on a map and said, “I think I’ll set my story here.”
But when setting works—when a writer taps into emotions associated with a place—it can be glorious, as in Huckleberry Finn (the Mississippi River), The Old Man and the Sea (the Caribbean), or To Kill a Mockingbird (small-town Alabama).
It’s no coincidence that Twain, Hemingway, and Harper Lee lived and worked where they set their stories, or that they acquired far more than an eyeful of land or water. By the time they embarked on writing their novels, they had mingled their souls with those places.
And therein lies the beauty of “place” or “setting” in fiction.
When a writer dips into his or her own life and bares emotions connected with a place the result can exalt a story and illuminate the characters.
Scott O’Dell’s love for California’s coastal islands shimmers on every page of Island of the Blue Dolphins, his 1960 young-adult novel about a girl left on a remote island to fend for herself. You more than hear the gulls cry, waves crash, and wind blow. The island on which Karana lives seems alive. You hear it mourn for all that is missing from her life, just as it rejoices in her victories over storms, hunger, and wild dogs.
Lois Lowry’s ambivalent memories of growing up on military bases darken the stark, regimented world of her 1993 dystopian novel The Giver.
C.S. Lewis based his sweeping Narnia vistas on the Mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland. About them, he wrote: "I have seen landscapes . . . which, under a particular light, make me feel that at any moment a giant might raise his head over the next ridge.”
In every case the writer traversed a personal geography to inform a fictional one. His or her emotional connection to a real place grounded the reader in an imagined place.
Contemporary young-adult fiction writers traversing this personal geography include Molly Blaisdell, whose Plumb Crazy makes small-town Texas taste like a sweet-potato pie glazed with dust and peppered with grit; Louise Spiegler, whose historical novels capture the damp majesty of Puget Sound country; and Holly Cupala, whose Don’t Breathe a Word gives the midnight alleys of homeless America a heartbeat.
When a writer soaks up the spirit of a place—whether it’s a town, city, mesa, or just about anywhere else—that place can inspire a profound fictional setting. A great story puts you there, so that you see and feel the landscape around you. Writers get there by digging into their personal geography—and listening for the heartbeat.
Conrad Wesselhoeft worked as a tugboat hand in Singapore and Peace Corps Volunteer in Polynesia before embarking on a career in journalism. He has served on the editorial staffs of five newspapers, including The New York Times. He is the author of the young adult novels ADIOS, NIRVANA (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010) and DIRT BIKES, DRONES, AND OTHER WAYS TO FLY (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014). His ancestors were doctors to Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. His three children are in various stages of university study or job searching. He lives in West Seattle with a poodle named Django (the "D" is silent). Druid Circle cookies (from Trader Joe’s) are his weakness.
0 Comments on Conrad Wesselhoeft, Author of DIRT BIKES, DRONES AND OTHER WAYS TO FLY, Talks About Place. as of 10/1/2014 9:17:00 AM
Reach Out and Read prepares Colorado’s youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. Reach Out and Read trains doctors and nurses to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud and to give books to children at pediatric checkups from 6 months to 5 years of age with a special focus on children growing up in poverty. By building on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers, Reach Out and Read helps families and communities encourage early literacy skills so children enter school prepared for success.
And that's why I'm so very proud to serve on the board.
It's a prescription for literacy and it works. It's that simple. But if you need more convincing:
Friends, I'm only 55 for a few more months, so here's how I'm celebrating ... For every $5 you donate to Reach Out and Read Colorado - it has to be Colorado - you receive one entry to win your choice of:
A critique of the first 5-pages of your picture book, middle grade or young adult manuscript from amazing Bloomsbury New York Editor - Brett Wright
OR
A classroom gift pack from me, which includes autographed books, coloring sheets, bookmarks, a Skype visit and more. OR An autographed set of my books plus a $100 gift card to the bookseller of your choice.
3. For every $5 donated you'll receive one entry into a random number drawing for one of the prizes above. 4. Then, on September 26th at high noon (here in Colorado we like such things) Mountain Time, I'll pick a winner! 5. If you're my winner, I'll e-mail you to let you know. And if you pick the critique as your prize, you'll have 48 hours to send me your 5-pages. Then I'll send them on to Brett. So make sure they're polished long before 9/26. You only have one chance at a first read.
So celebrate with me and support early literacy for every child. Thanks so much for stopping by! Jean
P.S. And if you want to get weird, there's always this:
0 Comments on Happy Birthday to Me, an NYC Editor Critique for YOU, and the Gift of Literacy for ALL! as of 8/26/2014 9:33:00 AM
<!--[if gte mso 9]>Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONE<![endif]-->Recently, on the SCBWI Forum, a new children's writer posted her doubts about her ability to critique manuscripts. My agancy-mate and fellow author Parker Peevyhouse offered her wise advice, which spoke to me as a critiquer and a writer. So I invited her to expand on her thoughts for my blog.
I hope it speaks to you. 3 Questions a Good Manuscript Critique Answers by Parker Peevyhouse
Manuscript critiques have been the greatest tool for improving my writing. But it’s not only getting a good critique that has helped me improve--I’ve learned just as much from giving critiques. Whether I’m giving or getting a critique, I’m thinking about story choices, and that kind of analysis hones my story-telling skills.
When I give a critique, I find myself focusing on three particular questions--questions that explore character, plot, and the intersection of the two:
1. Plot: Where do I feel like I can't make sense of what’s happening OR I don't believe what's happening would actually happen?
Sample comments I might write on a manuscript:
How did the dog get out of the yard if the gate was locked?
It’s hard for me to believe that a tree branch would break the fall of someone dropping from outer space.
2. Character: Where do I feel like I don't like (or am not interested in) the main character (or other characters)?
Sample comments I might write on a manuscript:
Darren complains about so many things--I’m starting to feel like he’s a whiner.
Why doesn’t Petunia speak up for herself when her sister blames her for spilling the milk?
3. Plot + Character: Where do I feel like the character doesn't actually have a reason to do what he/she is doing in the plot?
Why does the kid try to nab the thieves himself instead of calling the police?
So Winnie walks into the villain’s lair even though she knows he wants to steal her ruby wand?
Not only do these questions help me focus my critiques, but they also help me interpret comments I get on my own manuscripts. For example, a comment like “I can’t believe he won’t help his own best friend!” makes me think, My character is losing likeability here (#2). A comment like, “Why does she bother to figure out who created the virus?” makes me think, I need to strengthen this character’s motivation (#3). I hope you find these critique questions helpful. If you want to hear more from me, you can follow me on Twitter @parkerpeevy or sign up for my occasional newsletter right here!
Parker Peevyhouse lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family, where she teaches part-time. Her debut YA science fiction novel, FUTURES, will be published by Kathy Dawson Books/Penguin in 2015.
0 Comments on 3 Critique Questions with Author Parker Peevyhouse as of 8/18/2014 11:07:00 AM
Whether you write picture books, chapter books, middle grade or young adult, stay tuned. I have a chance of a lifetime coming in late August. But I'm not ready to spill the beans quite yet. So polish up your favorite manuscript (Oops - now there's a hint!) and hang on. August will be here before you know it.
0 Comments on Secret and Sensational Opportunity for Kidlit Writers Coming in Late August! as of 7/30/2014 2:46:00 PM
One of my Top Ten Super Secret (so this one's no longer a secret) Writing Tips that I share with students is
DO NOT WRITE!
As in,
Step Away from the Computer,
Unplug
Shoot Some Hoops
Take a Shower
Go For a Run
Get a Massage
Strike a Yoga Pose
Meditate
Go For a Walk
And I mean it.
I've learned to build this kind of time into my day. It's been proven to me again and again that my best ideas come when I'm away from the page. I keep my story with me. Inside my head. Dangling there like the carabiner hooked to my backpack. I let it dangle, and inevitably, ideas surface.
Two walks from the past two days yielded:
Two universal truths
Two endings
Five funny lines
One story arc
One final scene
A whole new character
Three illustration ideas
Need more convincing?
Try it! For thirty minutes -
DO NOT WRITE.
Have a great weekend!
0 Comments on All In a Day's Walk as of 7/11/2014 3:37:00 PM
Hoot! I'm beyond excited about my latest book deal. From Publishers Weekly.
"Virginia Duncan at Greenwillow has acquired two picture books by Too Purpley! author Jean Reidy; the stories feature Specs, a not-so-clear-sighted young owl who explores the world with his friends. Book one is scheduled to release in summer 2016; Erin Murphy at Erin Murphy Literary did the deal for world rights."
0 Comments on Hooting About My 2-Book Deal! as of 7/1/2014 1:37:00 PM
<!--[if gte mso 9]>Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONEMicrosoftInternetExplorer4<![endif]-->Ask and you shall receive.
When I asked fellow novelists for help understanding and writing novel epiphanies, one of the first to answer my call was middle grade historical fiction novelist, Jeannie Mobley. What a gal!
As a matter of fact, I was reading the ARC of her latest book SEARCHING FOR SILVERHEELS (September 2014 from Margaret K. McElderry Books) when she responded to my question. Jeannie crafted this crystal clear epiphany primer, complete with Disney examples - she obviously understood who she was dealing with.
So please welcome celebrated author Jeannie Mobley. I was intrigued by your recent blog post in which you asked fellow authors about how the epiphany moment was set up in their books, because I never really thought about my books having an epiphany moment. When I first read it, I actually felt a little stupid, like, "oh, great, I've been writing MG books for years and haven't even heard of this part that I'm supposed to have." Then I realized, it isn't that I don't have that moment, I just think of it differently. I prefer to think of it as the climax of the character arc, and the key moment that ties the character arc to the plot arc. Thinking of that moment as the climax of the character arc makes the question of how to set it up a bit of a non-question. If it is part of an arc, then just like with the plot arc, that climax comes out of the natural progression, flow, development of the entire story 's action up to that moment. If your book is well plotted, then you wouldn't say, "I've got this whole story, but now I have to set up three chapters of action to make a climax happen." The plot builds and builds from page one until you've got a situation that's taken on a life of its own by half way through the book and the characters are propelled along to the climax. Likewise, the character arc should chart out the same way. Whatever the character has to resolve in the character climax (find inner courage, realize they love the guy, see who the real enemy is, outsmart the bad guy, etc.) that should be building all the way through the book. Say the epiphany moment has to be the moment the character overcome her self-doubt. In that case, the reader should see self-doubt holding her back at the beginning of the book. Because it holds her back, it causes the next thing to happen, and the next, and by 1/2 way through the book, she's struggling against it but can't quite overcome it, or she tries to overcome it and fails. Then, at that pivotal moment, the darkest moment, the do or die moment, the bad guy taunts her and says she's too weak to win, and she realized (in one or two sentences) that it's nasty voices like his holding her back, not anything inside her, and from that she puts away her self doubt, finds her courage, and rushes off to save the day. But the reader should have seen her reaching and struggling, and falling back from her self doubt all the way through the book. She doesn't see she has self doubt, but we the readers do, and so when she faces it, we all nod sagely and don't need pages and pages to fill in the details. I'm thinking about the movie Beauty and the Beast, just because when my daughter was little I had many, many opportunities to analyze the story. The "epiphany moment" would be when the Beast is stabbed and dying, and Belle, realizing she is going to lose him, says "I love you." That's an epiphany to Belle, forced out of her by the belief that she's losing him. But to the rest of us, it is totally believable without any set up in that moment, because the whole movie has set it up. We've seen her throwing snowballs and feeding little birdies, and eating oatmeal, and dressing up and dancing and reading books with him. We've seen her tell Gaston, "He's not the beast, you are!" and Gaston replies, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you have feelings for this beast." We've seen her gaze lovingly into the mirror that shows him and heard her voice go all tender when she says "He's my friend." She's the only one who can't see that she's in love. She also doesn't know that admitting the love will break the spell, so the viewer is kept in suspense--we don't have any suspense about whether or not she's in love, we just don't know whether or not she will realize it and utter the words before the last rose petal falls. My upcoming book SEARCHING FOR SILVERHEELS (McElderry Books, Fall 2014) has a bit of a mystery element in it, in that they are (believe it or not) searching for the truth about Silverheels--a legendary dance-hall girl that lived in the area sixty years earlier. She is also dealing with people who are accusing her friend Josie and her family of sedition during the early months of World War I. She has an epiphany for both plot elements--she has to realize that the boy she likes is really unlikable and find the strength to tell him to shove off, even if he is considered the best catch in the county, and she also has an epiphany where she sees what she's been missing the whole time to figure out the truth about Silverheels. To avoid a BIG spoiler, I am not going to tell you about that second epiphany. But the first one, finding the strength to break up with George, is set up like this: All the way through the book, both Josie and Pearl's mom have been telling her she has to stand up for what she believes in, and we've been seeing her wrestle with that issue. This is her main flaw. The epiphany comes when Pearl's friend Josie, a suffragist, gets arrested for standing up for her rights, and George belittles her sacrifice. This isn't a big spoiler, because the reader can see that George isn't right for Pearl, and increasingly, that George isn't a very nice guy. But Pearl can see it, she's blinded by love, or more accurately, by her unrealistic, dime-novel ideas about what love is supposed to look like. She's been confused by things like her first kiss to George, which doesn't feel all sweet and wonderful like she expected, and by him putting her in an awkward position, which she y. It's this last straw moment, when George is so awful to someone she cares about, specifically because that someone has done the one thing Pearl most needs to do, that makes Pearl see what we've seen all along--the guy isn't worth it! But in the scene itself, the epiphany unfolds across the scene with a few short sentences--when George tries to put his arm around Pearl's shoulder to calm her and she steps away. When she finds the strength to tell him to leave, and realizes being strong is a good feeling. No big set up or internal pondering, just a subtle shift, a straightening of her shoulders, a new determination that makes us cheer. So to anyone wondering how to set up an epiphany, my advice would be, look at it as the climax of an arc rather than an epiphany. Plot out the emotional element that has to come together at the climax: make sure there are scenes from the beginning that point to that pivotal moment. Let them build, double back on themselves, change directions, keep building, just like you would plot elements. Then throw in a crisis that forces a decision without waffling--a decision the MC is ripe for making (stab the Beast in the back. Or get her best friend arrested).If you've done all that, then the "epiphany" will be just that--a quick flash of self-discovery that drives us into the climax of the book, needing no big awkward set up scenes added in.
Thank you, Jeannie.
Now, fellow novelists, go have some fun with your epiphanies. And don't forget to add SEARCHING FOR SILVERHEELS to your "to read" list. About SEARCHING FOR SILVERHEELS (from Goodreads) In her small Colorado town of Silverheels, Pearl spends the summers helping her mother run the family café and entertaining tourists with the legend of Silverheels, a beautiful dancer who nursed miners through a smallpox epidemic in 1861 and then mysteriously disappeared. According to lore, the miners loved her so much they named their mountain after her.
Pearl believes the tale is true, but she is mocked by her neighbor, Josie, a suffragette campaigning for women’s right to vote. Josie says that Silverheels was a crook, not a savior, and she challenges Pearl to a bet: prove that Silverheels was the kindhearted angel of legend, or help Josie pass out the suffragist pamphlets that Pearl thinks drive away the tourists. Not to mention driving away handsome George Crawford.
As Pearl looks for the truth, darker forces are at work in her small town. The United States’s entry into World War I casts suspicion on German immigrants, and also on anyone who criticizes the president during wartime—including Josie. How do you choose what’s right when it could cost you everything you have?
After I put the word out that I needed help with my novel's epiphany, I continued to research the topic in craft books and online. Below I'll share with you some notable quotes and the resources that helped most.
But before I do, here's how I ended up revising my epiphany and related chapters.
First, I cut out most of my main character's ruminations in the chapters surrounding and containing my epiphanies. I put them in their own file labeled "Lessons." Everything that my character needed to learn to complete his quest or story was added to that file. This forced me to think about those lessons as a whole and determine their importance and validity with every scene that came before. I compared them to my initial reasons for telling this story and writing this novel. I highlighted the ones that were non-negotiable to my main character reaching the climax.
Then, I explored all the ways my main character could show he'd learned those lessons through his actions that followed rather than through words. These post-epiphany actions needed to be in direct contrast to his prior actions. I needed to show he'd changed and learned.
Finally, I revised the chapters that followed his epiphany to make my main character's actions more intentional and deliberate, to show his growth and commitment to his new inner-self. In some cases, those scenes did include interior monologue, but I tightened those sections and rewrote them to be less didactic.
And I made sure that my new and improved main character, acting as his enlightened new self in cause and effect scenes, logically rises to his climax ... where he does what he never would have done before his transformation.
WOO HOO!
Sorry, no spoilers here. But instead, some of the resources I used on my epiphany journey along with some key quotes to give you a taste of their messages.
"It's a time of recollection, integrations, assessment and review. Before blindly reacting as always, finally now, she takes time to re-evaluate, re-invent, re-form and redo things."
Revision - David Michael Kaplan (p. 66)
"The Philosophic Ramble or Rumination, in which the writer suddenly seems to take time out for some cracker-barrel philosophizing or narrative commentary ... Now it's a different story (to make a pun) if the philosophic asides are an ongoing, integral aspect of the narrative, the author in effect becoming a character himself?"
Second Sight: An Editor's Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults - Cheryl Klein (pp. 271-272)
"I divide Internal narration into the categories of Commentary and Reflection (which I also call Processing). Commentary is the character's immediate internal response to events; Reflection is the character pulling together various bits of information to arrive at a new conclusion, which will usually push the story forward in setting up his next course of action. ... With that said, Internal narration is a tool that should be used carefully and sparingly, because it can quickly become telling and redundant and slow the action down."
Between the Lines – Jessica Page Morrell http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781582973920 "An epiphany, the luminous moment when a character, usually the protagonist, realizes something she has not know previously, can be a powerful and electrifying pinnacle of character development." (p.64)
"Find ways to insert subtext – the unspoken, the innuendo, the nuanced moments that are not directly represented, and the actions that speak of feelings that are too volatile to express out loud. Also, look for times in your story to pull back, to allow the reader to bring her own understanding of human nature into your story." (p.222)
Writing For Children & Teenagers - Lee Wyndham http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Children-Teenagers-Lee-Wyndham/dp/0898793475 "The best method for resolving this kind of ending is to have something happen to your main character to make him or her 'come to realize.' It should be some powerful personal experience that shocks, rocks, even floors him or her... Then you should have a quiet scene, for the change in the main character must in no way resemble instant magic. The hero should think over what has happened and realize the impact and implications, and resolve to change course or mend his or her ways ... Next comes the clincher for this kind of ending: you must devise a scene in which the hero or heroine can prove that he or she has indeed changed."
The Writer's Journey Mythic Structure for Writers – Christopher Vogler http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780941188708 "The trick for writers is to make the change visible in appearance or action. It's not enough to have people around a hero notice that she's changed; it's not enough to have her talk about change. The audience must be able to see it in her dress, behavior, attitude, and actions." (p.210)
Writing Irresistable KIDLIT – Mary Kole (p. 163) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/writing-irresistible-kidlit-mary-kole/1111307026?ean=9781599635767 "This is when he decides that he will risk everything that's important to him – including his core identity and life, if necessary. This decision must be very meaningful. This moment usually happens as Internal Conflict and leads very quickly to the Climax, which is usually External Conflict."
Also VERY helpful were: The "Practical Tools" Donald Maass offers for "Turning Points" in The Fire in Fiction on p.77. The Epiphany Mistakes Darcy Pattison offers on pp. 41-41 of Novel Metamorphosis. Just about everything in the "Transformation" chapter of Martha Alderson's The Plot Whisperer.
What are your favorite tools and techniques for revising or writing epiphanies?
0 Comments on Novel Epiphanies Part 2 as of 4/14/2014 1:15:00 PM
Novel revision doesn't seem quite so formidable when it's tackled one issue at a time, one character at a time, one chapter at a time. So today I pulled one problem chapter out of my binder - a mere four pages, versus the whole 185-page heap - and worked on that. Sometimes you have to let go of the big picture. Sometimes you have to forget about all other notes and story lines and pages and characters. Sometimes the only way to get through a huge project without losing your mind, is to get deep inside one manageable section. And hang with it for a while. And make it great.
... and the main character comes to a realization of what he/she must do to move forward. It's called the epiphany. In movies we have all the special effects and scenery in the world to keep them interesting. The main character might be on a mountaintop thinking. Or off in a canoe. Or swinging on a porch swing. Or walking through the desert with a droid. And then there's the amazing John Williams score in the background. You know what I'm talking about.
But we don't have that luxury in books. We have to fill in that time. Nor can we simply allude to it. We have to deliberate and reach a verdict. And for middle grade readers, we can't afford too much navel gazing. We don't want to to lose them.
I'm working on the epiphany of a character-driven middle grade novel right now. And I've got three chapters of self-talk, dialog, rumination - some different settings, but talk nonetheless.
WHOA!
So how do you do it? How do you gussy up a character-driven, middle grade epiphany? Even THAT sounds boring. What do you do to keep it interesting?
Make it funny?
Intersperse action?
Use the "Pope in the pool" technique from Save the Cat?
Keep the tension high? If so, how?
I don't want to water it down or make it longer. So, maybe it needs less gussying and more trimming.
Maybe there's more I can do with inference.
Maybe I'm explicitly stating too much.
What are the best character-driven middle grade epiphanies you've read? How were they achieved?
Middle grade writers, HELP!
0 Comments on That part with all the dramatic music and amazing scenery ... as of 2/28/2014 10:16:00 AM
Great News! The fabulous Tattered Cover Bookstore has agreed to stock autographed copies of all my books. So now, you can order autographed copies online and have them shipped directly to your home. It's easy. Here's how:
2. Add the desired number of copies of my books to your Shopping Cart.
3. From your Shopping Cart, click "Checkout" and complete the Checkout form. In the "Order Comments" field at the very bottom of the online order Checkout form, please add the comment "Autographed copy/copies please."
4. Review and place your order.
If you have any problems or questions, contact Michael Parker at the Tattered Cover at 303-470-7050.
Of course, if you're ever in the Denver area, stop in at one of the three Tattered Cover locations. It's a phenomenal bookstore and an experience that you'll never forget!
0 Comments on Autographed copies of my books available ONLINE through the Tattered Cover! as of 1/1/1900
Sometimes the freshest eyes are those of readers who don't also write. And without minds muddied by picture book writing rules or market madness, Average Mike (nicknamed after my husband who sometimes fills this role) readers can offer a quick, clear assessment of where your story works or doesn't. With just one read under their belts, they're also a barometer for complexity of picture book plot. After all, they won't have multiple reads to figure it out.
So here's how best to use an Average Mike reader.
Pick an Average Mike - someone who doesn't write. Maybe even someone who doesn't often read in your genre. Ask him to read your story slowly and carefully and tell him that you'll be asking him several questions when he's done. DO NOT tell him what to look for in the story or what questions you'll be asking. If your chosen reader loves to "edit" or catch grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes, tell him that this isn't the draft for that. That you'll be turning to him for help with that in a later draft.
When he begins reading, leave the room. Have him call you back in when he's done. Have him hand the manuscript back to you so that you can take notes on it and so he doesn't peek or scan it for answers.
Then ask him to do the following/answer the following questions (if any of the questions are not applicable, simply eliminate them):
Retell the story in simple terms - in particular describe the cause and effect of each plot point.
Who is the main character?
What does he/she want most?
Are there significant secondary characters?
What do they want most?
Describe each of the significant characters in the story and how you see them?
Retell the story in terms of actions and motivations of the significant secondary characters?
Describe significant character emotions during the story. Describe the cause of each.
Where did the logic of the story trip you up?
What makes the main character stand out? How is she/he different?
What is the climax of the story? What happens there? Does it work?
How is the main character's problem resolved?
How are any secondary characters' problems resolved?
Does the solution/conclusion of the story make sense? Why or why not?
Did you find the ending satisfying? What questions were you left with at the end?
What did you like best?
What bugged you most?
Where did the language or rhythm of the story trip you up?
Did anything in or about the story surprise you? What and why?
How did you feel as you were reading the story?
Notice how none of the questions are YES/NO. Let your reader talk. You should simply listen and take notes. Try to refrain from explaining or even reacting if your reader has misunderstood your story or has understood something incorrectly.
Feel free to tailor the questions with specific character names or plot points as necessary. But beware of directing your reader to the answers you want. They may not be the answers you need to hear.
As I’m sure you know, today is Colorado Gives Day. No doubt you are receiving many emails and appeals from worthy charitable organizations throughout our great state. I hope you’ll indulge me as I ask you to join me in supporting Reach Out and Read Colorado today. Reach Out and Read Colorado has a goal of raising enough money to purchase 10,000 books in 24 hours for low-income children in our state. A gift of $100 will purchase 25 books. Donate now. I support this wonderful organization both financially and with my time as a member of its board of directors. Let me tell you why.
Reach Out and Read Colorado works with doctors and other health care providers to give new, age-appropriate books to children at well-child visits between 6 months and 5 years of age, and to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud with their children. Studies show that early exposure to books and reading is one of the most effective ways to ensure that all children start school ready to read, learn and succeed.
Reach Out and Read is a prescription for literacy. Numerous independent, published research studies prove that it works. In addition to receiving the prestigious David M. Rubenstein award from the Library of Congress this year for its groundbreaking contribution to the sustained advancement of literacy worldwide, Reach Out and Read was recently recommended by New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof in his Season of Giving column. Reach Out and Read Colorado administers the national model in our state, and currently serves about half of Colorado’s low-income children. All money donated on Colorado Gives Day will support the program right here in Colorado.
Please join me in supporting Reach Out and Read Colorado in its efforts to raise enough money to purchase 10,000 books in 24 hours. Gifts of any amount will be a vital boost to this effort. Donate now to improve literacy outcomes for Colorado children.
Thank you!
Jean
0 Comments on Colorado Gives to Reach Out and Read! as of 1/1/1900
I'm thrilled, as part of Picture Book Month, to host Educational Consultant, Marcie Colleen. Marcie is not only a teacher but also a picture book writer who so understands the importance of picture books in the education and lives of kids.
Today, she stopped by to answer a few of my most pressing picture book questions. 1. What would you say to a parent who insists that his/her young child is too old or too advanced a reader for picture books?
Ah, yes. We are so focused these days on reading levels and the like. Of course, some parent might have objections. However, the Common Core State Standards stress reading a variety of text across many genres, while also analyzing the audience the book was written for and who authored the book. So, when you look at it that way, students can become very savvy readers when studying varying texts with a similar theme.
For example, when I taught 7th grade English Language Arts, we read The Diary of Anne Frank and had an entire curriculum about the Holocaust. I also introduced Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches to the class which has a strong theme of prejudice and discrimination. We not only discussed the plot and issues of The Sneetches, but analyzed Dr. Seuss’ inspiration for the story, as well as his intended audience and approach to such a topic, looping it back to The Diary of Anne Frank and other texts about anti-Semitism.
That’s a long-winded answer, but our students should be introduced to the written word across many genres to inform their skills are readers. Newspapers, magazines, internet blogs, encyclopedias, interviews, diaries, letters, fiction novels, etc. And yes, picture books. 2. What would you say to a young child who says that he/she is too old or too advanced a reader for picture books?
Great question. A child who is in 1st or 3rd grade fights so hard to be older. They might perceive these books as babyish. Also, adults are sometimes guilty of trying to push kids when it comes to reading level.
When confronted with this issue, I like to empower the student. Tell them you understand that these books might seem too young for them, but you want them to look at the book in a different way. Is there anything they find/see/hear in the book that a baby wouldn’t? Maybe start with the illustrations. Maybe one word that might be difficult. Find a jumping off point that is intriguing for an older kid.
Good stories have layers. I challenge them to be a detective and find the “older kid layers” in every picture book.
I used picture books a lot when I taught high school many years ago. It was a tough inner-city school. And yes, in the beginning of the year, when I would stand at the front of the room holding a picture book students would complain. “Man, that’s for babies!” Laughter would erupt. That’s when I would play a little game with them. I would open up the book and read the first page or two as engagingly as possible. And then pretend to have a realization that the book was too babyish and suddenly shut the book. I’d say, “You know what, you are right. This is for babies. Open your text books.” Complaints would ring out—different complaints this time. “No, Miss! Keep reading!” After a few moments of letting them beg, I would start again. And you could hear a pin drop.
After a while, my classes had grown to appreciate picture books and this game was no longer needed. The students loved hearing stories that they read as kids, or that they had read to their younger siblings. They loved feeling a tad superior to the text, knowing that they would be able to comprehend it because it was for younger students. And they loved analyzing it.
But the best part was that for those precious moments that I read aloud, even the most difficult, tough-acting students became 4 again. 3. With a full curriculum, an extra-long work day and the ever-present cloud of standardized testing, how/why would you convince a busy teacher to incorporate more fiction picture books into her class plan?
All of the elements of good story writing/telling are within a picture book. A reader can be introduced to full characters, intriguing plot and conflict and an engaging world within only a few shorts minutes. Therefore, picture books offer the beauty of story in smaller, more manageable pieces.
Picture books can serve as springboards for further instruction and research. And they also build listening skills and oral comprehension, as the story is read aloud.
And sometimes this happens….
“Hey, Miss! I was reading this story to my little brother last night and it so has to do with discrimination. I mean, how the rabbit is treated by the other rabbits. It’s crazy! I think we should talk about it in class.”
The student handed me the book and I asked him to read to the class. He did. And then we incorporated it into our curriculum. Now that’s education. That’s building a lifelong reader and learner.
So, I would challenge the teacher to pick one picture book to start. Use the Picture Book Month Teacher’s Guide for ideas on how to incorporate it into the existing curriculum. If it is successful, choose another picture book for the next unit.
4. What are a few fun and simple learning activities parents can incorporate into their at-home, picture book read aloud time?
Discussion. Instead of just reading the text on the page, guide the children through the story. Ask questions along the way. (Why do you think the character did that? How is he/she feeling? What do you think they will do next? Do you think that is a good idea? What would you do?)
Look for details in the illustrations. Using your five senses, how does it smell/sound/taste/feel/look in this world? Read the body language/facial expressions of the characters. How do they feel? How can you tell?
Through this kind of reading, parents will help develop their children’s comprehension and analytical skills for text and art.
5. What is your all-time, favorite and fun learning activity base on a fiction picture book? As a writer, I love activities that allow for exploration of internal thoughts, “offstage” action and change of point of view. As an actress/director, I love activities that bring the world to life and get students up on their feet, playing within the story. But it’s is really hard to pick one activity. So I am going to cheat and tell your readers to check out the Picture Book Month Teacher’s Guide which includes many activities for ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies classrooms. Also, check out the samples from my other Teacher’s Guides at www.thisismarciecolleen.com.
Read more about picture books in education in all of Marcie's Blog Tour Interviews:
Finally, if you'd like to see all the fun ways you can use my books in the classroom or for activities you can try at home, please check out my FREE Teacher's Guides which are linked to learning standards. They're all right here!!
0 Comments on Picture Book Month: "Ask the Education Consultant" Blog Hop! as of 1/1/1900
If you're a picture book writer, during Picture Book Month inspiration abounds via challenges like Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo. But at some point you have to actually write the books.
How about one per month?
I learn volumes about the art of picture book writing every time I sit down to write a new picture book. But in case you need further convincing, here's my plug for writing 12 picture books this year.
12 Reasons to Keep 12 Picture Books Percolating
1. A portfolio of many projects keeps one project from becoming too precious. And it's hard to remain objective when one project receives all your time and attention.
2. You never know which muse will sing to you. Today it might be picture book #5. Tomorrow it might be #8.
3. You banish writers' block by hopping from project to project.
4. Projects stay fresh as you take time between them and, hence, between reads.
5. One project might inform another. You might cannibalize picture book #9 to make #10 better.
6. When a project is rejected, other potentially winning projects-in-progress help soothe the pain.
7. You always have a manuscript ready for your critique group.
8. You get ALL your ideas out there. Like in a brainstorm, sometimes it's the 5th, 10th, or 12th idea that hits the mark. You might just have to work through the good, the bad and the ugly to get to the GREAT.
9. You never know which project will resonate with a given agent or editor - it's often not what you think. And editors are often looking for projects to match various illustrators – you don't want to be one-dimensional.
10. Getting agent representation for picture book authors is tough, but you increase your chances if you have several projects to offer.
11. Trends come and go. You'll always want to look beyond what's currently "hot." Multiple projects improve the odds that you're looking toward fresh ideas.
12. You'll have 11 more options when an editor asks, "What else you got?"
Autographed books make special gifts for the little readers on your list. And just in time for the holidays, I have some upcoming appearances and book signings.
I leave the country for a few days, and look what happens:
"Caroline Abbey At Bloomsbury has acquired Jean Reidy's picture book text SNEAK A PEEK CONSTRUCTION WEEK, in which progress at a busy playground construction coincides with the progression of the days of the week, and will again pair Reidy with illustrator Leo Timmers, for a spring 2015 publication. The team's ALL THROUGH MY TOWN debuted earlier this year. Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary did the deal for world rights for Reidy; Timmers represented himself."
I'm thrilled to be working with Bloomsbury and Leo again! Hooray!
0 Comments on Hooray! A New Book Deal - SNEAK A PEEK CONSTRUCTION WEEK as of 1/1/1900
For anyone who is a follower of my blog, I'd like to redirect you to one of my favorite blogs: BIBLIO LINKS
The sole purpose of school librarian and children's author, Natalie Dias Lorenzi's Biblio Links is to match kids with books they might likely love and teachers to books they can use in the classroom.
As Natalie says:
"Kids tend to ask for books that speak to them, while my colleagues ask for books that they can use to teach. This blog is where I’ll log my recommendations for both. Feel free to add your own recommendations along the way."
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