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Happy Friday to all! Below are some links to help you through the day.  See you Monday!

An interview with Orhan Pamuk.

Is content king?

Are embryos morally equal to people? (more…)

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Smiley the Octopus, created in Painter.

Hi, my name is Richard Cardona, and I am addicted to creating stuff. This is my first post on this excellent site. (I hope the first post of a long string of many) I'm excited to be a part of this community, and am really inspired by the artists posting here every day. I am a painter, printmaker and also own a small marketing design company called hypno. I tend to be all over the place stylistically, as you can tell by my work on my site. Jeff told me to post a little info about myself, so there you have it. You can get the full scoop at my website: Richard Cardona. Thanks!

You cannot begin to understand how very very happy I am to have the chance to interview Nancy Crocker the author of Billie Standish Was Here. You may read my review of her novel here. You may visit her official site here.

My name is Billie Standish. William Marie Standish. It's pretty clear what my parents' expectations were. The "Marie" was a nod to Daddy's mother because she died two months before I was born. Otherwise who knows? I might have been William Edward.
My parents were told at my birth that there would be no more babies. So you might say my name was down payment for using their one chance to have a son.
For a long time I was mostly invisible. That was okay, though. Once you've figured out you can't do anything right it's just good sense not to call undue notice your way. Why step out of the shadows and get yelled at for blocking somebody's light?
Besides, my mama's always had the kind of temper that gets the nearest dog kicked once in a while just for being there. Being invisible had its benefits. (1)

What inspired you to write Billie Standish Was Here? (Or how did this novel come to be?)

NC: I had been writing fiction for ten years or so; as fate would have it, the picture book Betty Lou Blue was the first thing I sold. When my then agent asked what I wanted to do next, I said, “A novel,” and he suggested the Young Adult genre. All that really meant to me was fiction with a young adult protagonist, and I already had such in a short story that kept haunting me. The first 60 pages or so of Billie Standish Was Here are, in essence, that short story.

How long did it take to write?

NC: I wrote the first draft the winter of 2002-2003 over the course of about six months, during my three-year-old son’s afternoon naps. (Ask me how much patience I have with people who tell me they would write if they “only had the time.”) But all in all, I worked on it for two-and-a-half years before it was ready for submission.

Were there any surprises along the way on your journey to publication?

NC: I’d have to say my second (and present) agent kept me ahead of any surprises.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then? (if anything…)

NC: It seems the more I learn, the less I’m certain of -- so I can’t help you out there.

Did the character of Billie come to you all at once, or did the character take some time to evolve? How about Harlan and Miss Lydia?

NC: I would say both Billie and Miss Lydia came to me as they are. Harlan surprised me. I hadn’t planned for him to become so central – I simply wanted a positive male character in the book – but he came to flat-out amaze me as well as Billie. I was happy to let him become so important.
Do you have a favorite character—a character besides Billie—I mean?

NC: I love all the characters. I’m even fond of Billie’s parents, who had their own challenges.

A favorite scene?

NC: I don’t know that I have a favorite scene, but no one has asked if I have a favorite sentence, so I’ll tell you that: “I guess it’s easier living in a fishbowl if you just decide to accept the stripes on the other fish.” That, to me, sums up life in a small town. Pretty much life in general.

What was the most difficult scene to write? Which scene was the easiest?

NC: The assault scene was torturous to write. How to say only enough to make the scene sufficiently real for the reader to fill in the gaps in a mental image? Conversely, many of the happy scenes with Billie and Miss Lydia practically wrote themselves – the day they recited jump rope rhymes, the day Miss Lydia bought the Cadillac, etc.

What do you hope readers gain from reading Billie Standish Was Here?

NC: I hope readers absorb what Billie learned. You deserve to be loved. No one else can define you. And there is someone you can trust.

Is there anything you’d like to tell kids/teens going through such tough times?

NC: First, go back and read my answer to the previous question. But remember that friendship doesn’t always come in a package you’d expect it to look like, and it only takes one true friend to keep you from being alone.

You have a great opener. “My name is Billie Standish. William Marie Standish. It’s pretty clear what my parents’ expectations were.” In just those few sentences, so much is conveyed. Did these sentences come easily or did you struggle with getting it just right?

NC: Oh, I struggled. But as with so much of the book, I finally sat back and asked myself, “What am I really trying to say?” And then I’d stop trying to be poetic and lyrical and the words would come. Directly. Feeling real.

Does Billie have a theme song by any chance? Have you given any thought to what a soundtrack to Billie Standish Was Here might consist of?

NC: Great question! And thanks for making me laugh -- I had not thought about it at all, but even as I read your question Grace Slick came into my head singing, “When the truth is found, to be lies….” I think Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” would have to be Billie’s theme song. And the soundtrack would likely be (or would at least parallel) the soundtrack to Woodstock. Billie and Harlan were of that era, remote as their location was. They watched the news. They bought LPs.

What was your first impression of the cover art of Billie Standish Was Here?

NC: It hit me on a visceral level and I thought, “She got it,” although I couldn’t explain why. Then I read the accompanying message (from Jessica Sonkin, genius), which explained her thoughts. She definitely got it. I love the cover.

Are you excited that Billie Standish Was Here has been selected as a finalist in the Cybils? Does award-season (best of lists, awards, etc.) make you nervous or excited as a writer?

NC: I am thrilled the book is on the shortlist for the Cybils. What an honor!
As for nervous vs. excited – it’s difficult to discern the difference sometimes, don’t you think? I’m so very happy that the book has already made so many year-end lists, and I hope it won’t matter to me if no more honors are forthcoming. I hope.

What do you love about writing?

NC: Someone once said, “Having written,” and that’s not far off. But something I do love is wrestling with a sentence, a thought, rolling the words around in different orders and trying new ones – and finally knowing, without a doubt, that the pieces have fallen into place and I’ve gotten it right. One sentence solved can be the highlight of my day.

What do you find the easiest? What do you find the hardest?

NC: I enjoy rewriting. Editing. It’s much easier to go back and see what’s working and what’s not than it is to stare at an empty computer screen. I’d say that’s the hardest.

Can you describe what a typical day is like as a writer?

NC: For me? Up early, take my son to school, hit the gym, write until time for school pick-up. Deal with email and the other business of writing and life in general after that. I try to make the most of the hours I have available to write.

Can you tell us anything about your current work in progress? Do you have any upcoming releases?

NC: I don’t like to say much about works in progress; I don’t even let anyone read my manuscripts until they’re finished. I don’t have any scheduled releases just now, but I have a finished novel I love and have high hopes for.

Who has been your biggest supporter or mentor along the way for you on your road to publication?

NC: My husband, Dan Roettger, has been great. He’s always my first reader. He has a great eye and a great ear and I trust him. But I also owe an incredible amount to Jennifer Flannery, my brilliant and wonderful agent who has taught me so much. It doesn’t hurt that she always knows when – and how – to make me laugh, either.

Growing up, whose work did you admire most? Was there a particular author that made you say, “I want to grow up and do that!”?

NC: I’d say the first author whose work I fell in love with was Mark Twain, and the second was Kurt Vonnegut. I don’t know that anybody else’s work inspired me to write, though; I think that’s either part of who you are or it isn’t. I’m not sure writers have much choice in the matter; it’s something they have to do.

What were you like at Billie’s age?

NC: I started singing professionally when I was twelve, so I had kind of a Hannah Montana thing going (on a very small scale). But I was very confident and at ease when singing and socially awkward when I wasn’t. I could’ve really used Miley Cyrus’s writers to script my off-stage life.

What were your hopes and dreams?

NC: I saw myself as a musician, writer, artist – all of those things filled my hopes and dreams.

Your biggest fears?

NC: I was deathly afraid of putting my foot in my mouth – which was, coincidentally, a specialty of mine. I still wince over things I said that unintentionally hurt people.

Your biggest challenges?

NC: Probably imagining a big life while living in a very small town.

Would you ever want to see Billie Standish Was Here on the big screen?

NC: I’m going to go with a guarded “maybe.”

If you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

NC: Oh, my. I think I’d strap my son in next to me, cruise by 1980 or so to pick up my father in his prime, and take my two Charlies to a private tropical resort where we’d spend the day talking and laughing and playing and feasting, all while being entertained by Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, John Prine, John Hiatt, and Lyle Lovett in a day-long concert. And thank you so much for that image….

Lin, Grace. 2008. The Year of the Rat.

"Happy Year of the Rat!" Dad said as he toasted us with his glass. The clinking noises filled the air as the adults knocked glasses of wine against the kids' cups of juice.

What can I say about The Year of the Rat? Well, for starters it's a sequel to the oh-so-fabulous The Year of the Dog. I really loved the first novel. And I was super-excited to learn that another book was coming. It was one on my "wish list" for 2008 since early last spring.

The Year of the Rat continues the story of Pacy and her family and friends. She's a young girl, Tiawanese-American, who is "struggling" if you will with all the different shapes and sizes change can come in. The Year of the Rat, Pacy's told by her parents, symbolizes change. And change is something that can be more than a little scary for our young heroine.

One of the scariest changes for Pacy? Her best friend, Melody, is moving away! It's awful; it's terrible; it's true. Pacy now has the challenge or struggle of learning to live life without her best friend so close. School, her classmates, everything is different now. Emptier. Sadder. Lonelier. Can she find a place where she belongs?

This novel is all about being comfortable with who you are, discovering who you are, and learning what you want to be and see and do. It's a process. Change isn't always easy and it's definitely not always welcome. But Pacy will learn that a little change can be a good thing.

If you loved the first in the series, you're going to want to continue on with the rest. I just loved it!

182 pages.

Happy Friday to all. Next week I will be at the Tools of Change Conference but have no fear, there will still be new posts on the blog. If you are at the conference please come introduce yourself to me! I’ll be the one with the laptop.

David Lehman’s playlist.

A co-worker sent me this poem and I can’t stop reading it again and again and again.

Cassady Day! (more…)

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Sara Zarr had quite an amazing year in 2007. She was the first-time novelist that blew readers and critics away with her novel, The Story of a Girl. 2008 sees the release of her second novel, Sweethearts, and I am very pleased to be a part of the celebration. (The novel released last week.) Be sure to visit her official site.

BL: First of all, I just want to say how much I loved Sweethearts. It had me at hello. Which leads me to ask, how did you come up with the beginning? That sequence of images—“A dripping faucet. Crumbs and a pink stain on the counter. Half of a skin-black banana that smells as old as it looks”—are so strong. Was this something that came to you as an “aha” moment? Or did you struggle with choosing just the right words to hook readers?

SZ: Thank you! Those opening images actually came from a basic writing exercise I used when teaching a creative writing class a few years ago. I put up some pictures on the overhead projector and told everyone to freewrite. I did the exercise, too, and wrote those sentences and planned to use them in a story cleverly titled The Boy and the Dripping Faucet. I never did write that story, but when I was revising Sweethearts I found those old notes and the image of little Jennifer standing eye-level with the counter in Cameron’s house and seeing those things came to me. It’s funny because I don’t use writing exercises much myself in my own process, but whenever I do, the results end up somewhere I never thought they would.

BL: Cameron and Jennifer—Jenna as she comes to be known—are such authentic characters. Right from the very beginning, their story, their drama, feels so real. What inspired you to write Sweethearts? And how did Jenna and Cameron come to be?

SZ: I’d sent my agent some pages for a potential second book and while he liked them, he wondered what else I had going on. One day while telling him about a childhood friend of mine who got back in touch after 25 years and how interesting I thought it was that two adults could feel so bonded over a brief childhood friendship, he said that it sounded like a great idea for a book, so that was the jumping off point. Little Jennifer is an exaggerated version of myself when I was in grade school; high school Jenna is a little bit me and a lot fiction. Cameron was inspired by my childhood friend, Mark, but I made up the details of his life and the childhood friendship he has with Jennifer. As always happens, those characters inspired by real people developed more and more into their fictional selves as I wrote the story.

BL: I’m curious—and maybe others are as well—but when did you write Sweethearts? Was it before, during, or after the (quite successful) release of Story of a Girl?

SZ: I started it before the release of Story, but the major work and key revisions happened after.

BL: Does the success and popularity of your first novel make you more or less anxious—or excited if you will—when it comes to the release of your second novel?

SZ: It’s different. With Story of a Girl being so well received, the pressure was definitely on as I wrote Sweethearts. For a time, I psyched myself out and was convinced the second book would be a complete disappointment and failure. I’ve had zero perspective and have had to trust the assurance of my agent and editor and the initial response and reviews. But now that it’s out, I’m a lot more relaxed than I was when my first novel first came out. I know what to expect and don’t obsessively Google myself or worry about the book. In a way, it’s more fun now and I’m happy because Sweethearts being published is a different sort of personal triumph than the publication of Story. Second novels are notoriously difficult for writers to get through, for a host of psychological reasons, and also this was a project with an arduous editorial process (more so than with Story), so finishing it and having it well received so far feels a bit like I’ve climbed the mountain and now get to enjoy the view. (Until it’s time to edit the next book!)

BL: What does it mean for you—or what does it mean to you—to have received such praise and attention for Story of A Girl? Would you rather have critical acclaim from critics and peers (other authors) or would you rather have eager and enthusiastic fans begging for more? (In other words, how do you measure success?)

SZ: Do I have to choose just one? Critical and peer support are great for the ego, because it’s usually public and if you feel like you have something to prove (and most writers do, I think) being publicly recognized gives you a sense of affirmation and, sometimes, vindication, and assures you that you belong in this world. Fan support, on the other hand, feels really personal. Teen readers, especially, have no agenda and nothing at stake if they say they hate or love your books. They don’t know me from Eve, and their response is 100% about the story and the characters, not about me as a person or personality. So if my story and characters are compelling enough to make them want to find and email me the second they put down the book, that’s the best feeling and I very much treasure every single letter and email from readers.

How I measure success for myself is an even broader topic. I want to be commercially successful enough in terms of sales to have a long-term career. I want to be successful in terms of being happy in that career and figuring out healthy work/life balance stuff. I want to be successful in how I manage myself and my insecurities so as not to go bonkers or become someone who is paranoid and bitter, or on the other extreme falsely modest while secretly feeling entitled. It’s a tricky career with a lot of different waters to navigate!

BL: How much attention—if any—do you pay to awards and best-of lists and bestselling lists? I know Story of A Girl was a National Book Award Finalist, an ALA Best Books for Young Adults, ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, and appeared on the Librarians’ Choices 2007...

SZ: Well, I paid a lot of attention to the National Book Award thing! It’s an award that involves a lot of planning and participation and wardrobe, so it’s impossible not to. It’s hard to not pay any attention to any of these things because I’m part of a community that keeps them on the radar, and my publisher is interested, and it does have certain implications for the book, so yes, I do pay attention. However, I also know that there are plenty of books I love that don’t get awards or on lists so I know those things aren’t the final word on what is good or worth reading. (Easy for me to say now – ask me again when I don’t make any lists!)
BL: The cover of Sweethearts is so simple and so perfect—in my opinion. Can you share what your first reaction was to seeing it?

It’s always weird to see a cover for the first time, because it’s someone else’s idea of what is the best visual representation of something very complicated and abstract. After the initial (like, ten-second) shock, I absolutely loved it.
BL: Do you have a favorite scene in Sweethearts? One of my favorites—and I have many—is the scene where Cameron and Jenna really sit down to have their first real conversation since he’s returned. And he tells her “I’ve been talking to you in my head for eight years, writing epics and sequels to epics, and sequels to the sequels.” Were some scenes easier to write than others? And how did you know when you had the ending just right?

SZ: I had the ending---or at least the framework for it---pretty early on, which was a relief because endings are hard. What often happens to me is that my favorite scenes come in the very last draft, when I finally know the characters better than I ever have and am putting in those last pieces to make it emotionally resonant. For example, the memory of little Cameron showing little Jennifer the snow as if it’s a personal gift, or the scene near the end when Jenna’s stepfather, Alan, comes in her room at night and doesn’t know how to comfort her. Something magic happens in the final draft…I don’t know how or why. I experienced the same thing with Story of a Girl. (And I try to remember it now that I’m in an early, ugly draft of my next book!) Or now that I think of it, maybe they only seem magical to me because they are the newest and I haven’t had to read them five hundred times!

BL: Theme songs. What song do you think best captures Jenna? Best song that captures Cameron? Best song that captures their one-of-a-kind bond?

SZ: I might answer this differently depending on the day, but for now…
Jenna: “Born” by Over the Rhine
Cameron: “Close Your Eyes” by Steve Earle
The bond: “Satellite” by Guster

BL: The book flows a bit between their fifth grade year and twelfth grade year—so this question I suppose could apply to both ages—but what where you like at Jenna’s age? How are you similar? How are you different?

SZ: At Jenna’s age I was a little bit like her. I had friends and, at one point, a cute boyfriend that I always felt was too good for me (or felt that other people thought that). I often felt insecure about my place in my social circle (who doesn’t?). I struggled with my relationship with food and my body. I had a great stepdad who sort of changed our lives. But I wasn’t as pathological as Jenna is with her insecurities, and I didn’t feel haunted by anything. I had a sister and was active in church and not nearly as isolated. I was involved in drama and, unlike Jenna, loved being onstage.

BL: Slightly changing topics now, what are some of your favorite young adult books either from when you were growing up or now?

SZ: Off the top of my head, then and now: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, I Stay Near You by M.E. Kerr, A House Like a Lotus by Madeleine L’Engle, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher, Brock Cole’s Celine, Speak (of course!), Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess, A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary Pearson, and my friend Ann Dee Ellis’s debut novel, This Is What I Did:

BL: Was there an author that inspired you to become a writer? Is this something you’ve always wanted, always dreamed of?

SZ: I don’t think it was a particular author so much as my love of reading and stories in all forms, whether it was a great Joan Aiken book or a particularly satisfying episode of The Brady Bunch! I’ve been making up stories in my head my whole life. Transitioning to successfully getting them into publishable words was a ten-year process that started when I was about 25.
BL: And getting really off-topic, if you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

I would make lunch dates. With Robert Cormier, The Virgin Mary, Kate Winslet, Mike White, Jesus and his disciple Peter (not at the same time because Peter would probably hog Jesus), Richard Thompson, the two grandfathers I never met, Bill Bixby, Harriet Tubman, and Britney Spears. Not necessarily in that order. I realize that’s a lot of lunch for twenty-four hours.

Zarr, Sarah. 2008. Sweethearts.

A dripping faucet.
Crumbs and a pink stain on the counter.
Half of a skin-black banana that smells as old as it looks.
If I look at these things and at nothing else, concentrated on them and stay still, and don't make any noise, this will be over soon and I can go home without Cameron's dad ever knowing I'm here.

In that image-packed opening to the prologue, we meet Jennifer Harris, a fifth grader, who followed her best friend, Cameron, home from school on her birthday. He told her he had a special gift just for her. What she didn't know--couldn't know--was that Cameron's father was an abusive man. A rageful man.

Some memories are slippery. There are things I want to remember about Cameron Quick that I can't entirely, like the pajamas he wore when he used to sleep over, and his favorite cereal, or how it felt to hold his hand as we walked home from school in third grade. I want to remember exactly how we became friends in the first place, a definite starting line that I can visit again and again. He's a story I want to know from page one.

Isn't that a great opening? That's the first paragraph of chapter one. Jenna is now in high school. (I want to say 17, but it could be 16 or 18.) She's Jennifer no longer. Jennifer was lonely, miserable, teased, picked on, a cry baby who wore her heart on her sleeve. Jennifer was an outcast. A loser. Jenna, well, Jenna is transformed. She's beautiful. She's popular. She's scared and sensitive on the inside (at times) but doesn't show it. Jenna Vaughn. J.V. Cool kid at last.

Sweethearts is the story of what happens to Jenna's life when Cameron Quick comes back from the dead. Okay, this isn't supernatural. Her mother let her believe a lie "for her own good" of course. Cameron Quick moved away quickly, suddenly, without a word, without a trace. The facts? His mother had finally worked up the courage to leave her husband. Cutting all ties to the past. Trying to start over--out of sight--somewhere new, somewhere they couldn't be found.

Can Jenna reconcile her past with her present? Does her heart still have room for her former best friend?

Sweethearts is a wonderful novel. I loved it. I really and truly loved it. The writing, the style, the characters, everything about this novel was so good, so right, as close to perfect as a writer can hope to achieve. Sara Zarr's powerful imagery is just fabulous in my opinion.

There are moments I missed being Jennifer the way you can miss versions of yourself when you get a totally new haircut, or a favorite pair of jeans finally wears out. Even though it was sad that I'd spent so much time home alone eating and reading, the truth was that those were some of my favorite memories. Getting lost in a book with something sweet or salty or hopefully both, like stacks of crackers with butter and jelly, seemed, in some ways, the closest I'd gotten to complete and total happiness. (66)

*Note I read an ARC of this.

Today's interview is with Robin Brande, author of Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. The book was nominated for a Cybils in the YA Category which is how I came across it when I did. (The whole month of December was booked exclusively with Cybils reading.) You can visit her at her official site. Also be sure to sign up for her monthly chocolate drawing.

What inspired you to write Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature? (Or how did this novel come to be…)

I grew up in a church like Mena’s, and I, too, was kicked out right before high school—although it was for a really bizarre and stupid reason, not at all as noble as Mena’s. My background has made me pay extra attention to stories about churches trying to influence government and public policy in this country. And the more I’ve read about all these fights over teaching evolution, the more I wondered how a girl like me would have dealt with that fight in her own school. I wanted to explore how—or whether--a person of faith could reconcile her religious beliefs with her belief in science.

How long did it take to write it and see it through to the finished product? Were there any surprises along the way on your journey to publication? What do you know now that you wish you had known then? (if anything)

I spent about two months researching the novel—first reading science texts like Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (trust me, not light reading), then taking the easier route by going back to high school for a month and sitting in on freshman biology. MUCH more fun. Then once I had a good idea who my characters were and what might happen to them, I sat down and wrote the first draft in about five weeks.

My journey to publication has been pretty typical. I did not sell my first novel. Nor my second, third, fourth, or fifth. But I kept writing and kept sending my work out to agents and editors. I got an agent with my fourth novel, but when she wasn’t able to sell that right away I wrote the next one and the next one. Finally with Evolution everything changed. My agent sent it out on a Friday, and by the following week we had several competing offers. Hurray! And here we are.

Do you have a favorite scene? (I must admit that Mena and Casey’s first kiss is mine….)

Oh, my gosh, I love that, too. I also love all the scenes involving Casey’s sister Kayla, because she just cracks me up. She’s so much smarter and funnier than I’ll ever be, and I loved spending time with her.

Do you have a character that you love to hate?

That would have to be Teresa. I knew girls like her, and I’ve heard from other people that they have, too—the outwardly righteous girl who’s really a lot meaner and sleazier than people want to admit. Grrrr. But she was fun to write because I really wanted to see her get taken down a notch or two. I wanted the good guys (and girls) to prevail.

Why do you think kids/teens can be so mean to one another, so cruel, so intolerant?

I think a lot of it is based on fear. All of us are so anxious to fit in, we feel threatened by anyone outside the norm. If someone acts differently, dresses strangely, says things we’re not comfortable hearing, it’s a lot easier to gang up and push that person outside than to try to embrace him or her. Plus there’s that whole group mentality that says once a “popular” person doesn’t like someone, it’s a lot safer to go along with that than to stick up for the outcast.

Which is why one or two people can really turn things around just by saying, “That’s not acceptable. Don’t treat him that way. Don’t say things like that about her.” Just as someone’s cruelty can influence others, so can someone else’s kindness. But I think a lot of us are afraid that if we stick up for someone, the bullies will then turn on us—and face it, that happens sometimes. It’s easier to keep our heads down and not draw attention to ourselves.

But change has to start somewhere. Someone has to be the first to say, “No, let’s not do this.” Someone has to be the first to reach out a hand to the person who’s being picked on or shunned. It takes courage, but it also shows incredible leadership qualities. It’s easy to be the person other kids fear. It’s more rewarding to be the person they admire.

Mena’s life is in many ways restrictive. Her parents govern so much of what she sees, what she watches, what she does, where she goes, etc. Obviously, that’s every parent’s right or prerogative to raise their children as they see fit…and it’s really no one else’s business as long as there is no abuse…but what do you see as the risks to such a strict upbringing? Do you think there is any benefit to sheltering kids? (And of course there are parents that go to the other extreme—that neglect their children and don’t provide any rules or structured discipline)

I think it’s an illusion to believe we can keep kids in a bubble and shelter them from all the influences of the world. Information is too accessible these days—we can’t possibly shield our kids forever and keep them from knowing what goes on “out there.”

And I don’t think that’s the solution we want anyway. The only way we change things for the better is by first understanding exactly how things are. We can live in a fantasy world—protected from the Internet and movies and music videos and all the other “bad” influences—or we can live in the real world and see what work needs to be done.

I also think that the more we make something off-limits, the more alluring it becomes. I’ve known a lot of young people who have chosen not to have sex too young or unprotected sex ever, not to experiment with drugs, not to participate in other “risky” behaviors simply because they have respect for themselves and prefer to make smart choices for their lives. I’ve also known home-schooled kids and kids from strict religious households who sneak around and do everything their parents swear their little angels don’t even know anything about.

Drilling a child in “Christian values” isn’t nearly as effective as showing a child how to value him or herself and how to value others. A teenager who makes choices based on her own feelings of self-respect and self-love will often do better than one who’s being good only because she’s afraid of being caught and punished. At some point every teenager will grow to adulthood and have to make choices on their own. They’ll be better equipped if they were able to practice listening to their instincts and following their conscience while still safely at home.

Does Mena have a theme song by any chance? What would her playlist sound like? Would she be into Christian rock? Or would her parents think rock music is of the devil?

Mena really likes soft rock—the romantic kind. She likes Christian rock, too, but what she mostly wants is songs about love—human to human love.

One of the messages in Evolution, Me & Other Freaks, in my opinion, is that honesty and open communication are healthier for relationships than secrets and lies. . .especially when it comes to building trust. What do you hope readers gain from reading Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature?

Honesty is important for any relationship—whether it’s a friendship, a romance, a relationship between parent and child--but sometimes telling the truth is excruciatingly hard. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is admit where you’ve gone wrong and try to start over—it seems easier to just keep going as you are, no matter how guilty you feel about it.

But the truth is, it takes a lot of energy to sustain a false life. It’s ultimately a lot more restful to have a policy of telling it like it is. People might not always like what you have to say, but at least the relationship—and your conscience—are a lot cleaner.

And I think a lot of us come to the conclusion that it’s not worth it to do things we’re going to feel like we have to lie about later. After a while lying gets boring.

What was your first impression of the cover art for Evolution, Me, & Other Freaks of Nature?

The cover you see is the second one created for the book. The first cover was wildly different—so wild it turned off some of the booksellers it was shown to. I really like the current cover, but I’ve heard from some teenage boys that they took it off while reading the book so they wouldn’t get flack from their buddies. Face it, the cover is pretty girly.

What do you love about writing? What do you find the easiest? What do you find the hardest?

What I love is getting to spend all day long playing make-believe—it’s exactly the kind of job I wished I could have when I was a kid. I love that reading is part of my job, so if I want to spend all afternoon curled up with a book I can, and no one will complain. I love that I get to pretend to be all the characters in my books, and get to act out scenes between them, and can spend hours picturing what they wear and what they say and when, if ever, they’ll kiss. Who wouldn’t want a job like this?

The hardest part is when the writing isn’t going as smoothly as I like some days, and I just know I’m not saying what I mean to say. I have a vision of how I want a book to feel as it goes along, and if I’m off somehow I get very frustrated. Those are the days I just want to watch movies or read someone else’s—better, perfect—book. The trick is to let myself take a break when I need one, but still come back to the story the next day. If I let too much time go by without working on the story I tend to lose my nerve. I have to get back in there and fight my way out.

Can you tell us anything about your current work in progress? Do you have any upcoming releases?

I’m working on another YA right now. It’s about reincarnation—a subject I LOVED to read about when I was in high school. Now this is my chance to write the kind of story I would have loved to read when I was 15.

Who has been your biggest supporter or mentor along the way for you on your road to publication?

I’ve had two great supporters (besides my husband and family): one is my best friend since high school. I always send her my books as I’m writing them—a few chapters at a time--and many times her enthusiasm for a project has been the main thing that has kept me going with it. Plus she taught high school for many years, so she always has lots of inside information for me.

The other is my writer pal Barry Lyga, author of The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl and Boy Toy. Barry and I met at a writers’ conference several years ago, and since then we’ve been each other’s editors, critique partners, and cheerleaders. We’ve come up through the ranks together, and it’s so much fun to share in each other’s success. Finally!

Have you always wanted to be a writer? Has this always been a dream of yours? Growing up, whose work did you admire most? Was there a particular author that made you say, “I want to grow up and do that!”?

I’ve wanted to be a writer since fifth grade, but I just never thought it was possible. So even though I majored in English in college, I did the sensible thing afterward and went to law school. It wasn’t until 9/11 that I finally convinced myself that it was time to do what I really wanted to with my life.

The writer I most admired when I was young was Judy Blume. I saw her at a book signing when I was in sixth grade, and I couldn’t believe she was right in front of me, this regular real-life person. I love doing school talks now because I keep thinking there might be a kid like me out there who really needs to know that this job is possible.

Have you always loved to read? Did you have a reading hero growing up? Someone who encouraged you to read, to lose yourself in a good book? What were some of your favorites growing up? And what are some of your favorites now?

I loved reading—especially anything about animals (my mother wouldn’t let me have pets). I loved fantasy and mysteries—Encyclopedia Brown, Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew in particular—and all the Beverly Cleary books. I loved walking to the library on Saturdays and coming home with an armful of books. I preferred books to real life—and sometimes that’s still true.

My favorite author is Charles Dickens—masterful beyond compare. Great Expectations is phenomenal. I love all the Harry Potters--I think J.K. Rowling is the Dickens of our time. Other favorites: Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, anything by Meg Cabot, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Princess Academy by Shannon Hale.

What are your favorite books of 2007?

So hard to choose! But I’ll try to narrow it down:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (absolute perfection)

Austenland by Shannon Hale (perfect book for someone like me who is obsessed not only with Pride and Prejudice, but also with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Sigh)

Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner (so funny I wish I had written every page)

Boy Toy by Barry Lyga (a book I didn’t think I’d be able to stand because of its subject, and it turned out being one of the deepest and most emotionally-satisfying stories I’ve read in a long time)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (so honest, so funny, so inspiring—and not just because of the pizza and gelato binges she goes on. This book changed me in many ways)

Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller (the story of the first several tumultuous weeks of Annie Sullivan trying to teach Helen Keller to be anything but a feral animal. I didn’t think I cared about this story or needed to hear any more about it, but seeing it through Annie Sullivan’s eyes was a fascinating, amazing, uplifting experience. This book was a wonderful surprise)

Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor (wonderful fantasy world, beautiful writing, exciting and scary, with a great and unusual heroine. Can’t wait for the next in the series)

What do you love about being a blogger?

I love the friendships, the conversations, the feeling that I have found my people, even if I never meet many of them in person. This year I did have the pleasure of meeting some of them, though, at the 1^st Annual Kidlitosphere Conference in Chicago (a conference I put together so we could all finally be in the same room for 24 hours—and it worked! We had a blast!). Next year’s conference will be in Portland, Oregon. I hope you’ll join us, Becky!

If you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

Okay, now that’s a great question. (Your other ones were, too, by the way.) I would skip around the planet and the centuries and have long leisurely dinners with each of my favorite authors, one at a time. The list would include Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, J.R.R. Tolkien, T.H White, Philip Pullman, J.K. Rowling, and I’d throw in Leonardo da Vinci and Plato, too. Why not? And I assume the time machine makes me forget what I just ate? Because I’d want to have the best meal of my life with each of them, starting with scones and jam with Jane Austen.

Thank you, Becky! What fun!

Today I am bringing you a special interview, Dianne Salerni, author of High Spirits. This is what her website has to say: Dianne K. Salerni lives in Chester County, Pennsylvania with her husband Bob and two daughters, Gabrielle (10) and Gina (7). She graduated from St. Mark's High School in Wilmington, Delaware and received her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Delaware. She subsequently earned a Master's in Language Arts Education at the University of Pennsylvania before taking a job teaching in the Avon Grove School District. She has now been teaching fourth and fifth grade at Avon Grove for 18 years. You may visit her official site here.

What inspired you to write High Spirits? (Or how did this novel come to be…)

I did not start out to write a story about the Fox sisters. I was originally planning to write a humorous story about talent-less spirit mediums, but during my research I encountered the Fox sisters and was astonished that two adolescent girls could make such an impact on American society. By the time I learned of Maggie’s involvement with “the greatest Arctic explorer you never heard of,” I realized that I had the makings of a novel already at hand. And as far as I could tell, no one had ever fictionalized it before. It seemed a perfect story for the teen historical fiction reader.

Since this is historical fiction, and furthermore since it’s based on true events, how much research was involved? What was your favorite part of the research experience? Did you learn anything that you weren’t able to work into the plot, but would like to share with readers now?

I read a number of biographies of the Fox sisters and other spiritualists of the nineteenth century, and I did as much research as I could online. I also read Arctic Explorations, written by Dr. Kane himself, and used this book to mimic his speech patterns and wry sense of humor. One fun thing I did was visit Dr. Kane at his eternal resting place in a Philadelphia cemetery. My husband and I had to break a few rules to get close to the crypt, which is perched precariously on a steep hillside overlooking the Schuykill River and a major highway, but I believe the explorer would have approved of our little adventure!

They were many things I was unable to work into the plot, most of them revolving around Kate. Although I had originally planned to write about both sisters equally, it soon became apparent to me that I was telling Maggie’s story. Several interesting episodes in Kate’s career as a medium had to be cut from the plot for time’s sake. In one instance, I made up for this by inserting a fictional medium named Cora Scott to perform a ghostly manifestation which was actually a trick developed by Kate when she was in her twenties.

How long did it take to write and see it through to the finished product?

I spent over two years writing and revising High Spirits—although this includes an eight month hiatus when the pressures of my day job and frustration over one character’s entrance into the plot caused me to lay aside the manuscript altogether.

What was your first impression of the cover art for High Spirits?

I would have preferred cover art that had a more historical feel to it. In particular, I wanted it to depict a young woman dressed in nineteenth century costume, seated at a séance table. However, when I first saw the cover art that was chosen, I was resigned to not getting my way and relieved at their choice. The publisher had been considering an image of a young woman in a very modern pixie haircut blowing out a candle, and I pleaded, “No, no, no!” Over time, I have come to appreciate the cover for its slightly spooky quality.

[For the record, in case anyone is curious what I think, I didn't come to appreciate the cover until after I read it. It had to grow on me, but now that it has...it works for me.]

Your novel is told through two perspectives. Maggie’s voice is the strongest. Yet obviously Kate’s voice, Kate’s perspective, was important for you to convey as well. Why did you feel it important to tell both stories, to share both viewpoints? Was it easy to balance the two? I suppose this last bit might be a bit unfair, but did you come to favor one more than the other?

Kate was an important counter-balance in the story. Readers have variously described her as “melodramatic,” “not grounded in reality,” and “keenly insightful.” Kate believed in her own powers even while admitting she committed fraudulent tricks. While Maggie doubted herself, Kate never did. I found this a useful point of view at several points in the story. In addition, Kate’s chapters allowed me to provide a third-person description of her sister, which supplemented Maggie’s own first-person narrative. It was very useful to show each sister through the other one’s eyes. It is not hard for me to admit that I favored the well-meaning and often conflicted Maggie over the more dominant and deceptive Kate.

Since this story was based on facts, did you ever struggle with telling the story? Were there any scenes or plot twists that frustrated you?

A lot of the detailed information about the Fox sisters comes from a book written by their older sister Leah which was clearly self-serving and presented the girls as genuine mediums. Thus, the explanation behind their manifestations and the true motivation for their actions was sometimes difficult to figure out. I had to fill in a lot of gaps. For instance, although the incident in Troy, New York is a true one, the Fox sisters never explained how they were able to escape from the Bouton house. So I had to invent an escape plan for them. I think my version of events fits the facts and the time period—and possibly explains why Leah never revealed the details of their escape in her book. It might even be the true story!

But the biggest roadblock in the development of my plot was Elisha Kent Kane. Struggling with his character ultimately caused me to put the manuscript away for eight months! What in heaven’s name did Maggie see in the man?! Only after I had read Kane’s own book, written in his own words, did I come to appreciate his intelligence and his humor. And when I stumbled across a daguerreotype of Kane as a young naval officer in full uniform, looking energetic and dashing and totally unlike the haggard, bearded version in the more commonly known picture, I finally understood what had attracted Maggie Fox!

Have you always loved to read? Did you have a reading hero growing up? Someone who encouraged you to read, to lose yourself in a good book? What were some of your favorites growing up? And what are some of your favorites now?

I have always loved to read. I used to drive my parents and grandparents crazy pointing to the comics in the newspaper and asking, “What does this say? What does this say?” My mother was a big reader too, and her collection of books was a treasure trove to me. In elementary school, I was big on mysteries and ghost stories, especially series books like Trixie Belden, The Three Investigators, and the Green Knowe books. By middle school, I was delving into my mother’s collection of Mary Stewart and Mary Roberts Rinehart. Nobody could write a murder mystery with clues as convoluted as Rinehart! In high school, I moved on to science fiction—C.J. Cherryh, Roger Zelazny, and Douglas Adams. As an adult, I will read in all those genres, but in recent years I have developed a hunger for historical fiction. I enjoy Philippa Gregory, and I’m always on the lookout for a new author.

What do you love about writing? What do you find the easiest? What do you find the hardest?

I think characterization is a strength for me, and I love when a character begins to speak to me! Once High Spirits was well under way, the Fox sisters spoke to me constantly. Leah lectured me on her opinions; Kate dreamed of mystical truths, and Maggie was trying to find some ethical justification for her lies and deceits. The hardest part of writing for me is describing places. As a reader, I tend to skip over descriptions—even though I sometimes discover I have missed something important and have to go back to find it!

Have you always wanted to be a writer? Has this always been a dream of yours? Growing up, whose work did you admire most? Was there a particular author that made you say, “I want to grow up and do that!”?

I was a writer before I could read. My first book was titled The Dragon and the Girl. My father had to write down the words for me, and I drew the pictures and bound it together with Elmer’s Glue. I continued to write throughout my life. As a teacher, I frequently write for my class—stories about explorers, or limericks about students in the class. Being a published author was always a dream of mine, and I have to credit my husband for helping that dream become a reality. If it wasn’t for his encouragement, High Spirits would probably be stuffed in a drawer somewhere, unfinished. In terms of my development as a writer, I think I was most inspired by the science fiction and fantasy authors I read as a teenager. Nobody is more surprised than me that my first published work turned out to be historical fiction!

You’re a teacher. Obviously that keeps you busy. Very busy. (My sister’s a teacher, so I know how much work is involved.) How did you (how do you) find time to write? To do research?

High Spirits was mostly written on my summer vacations. It is very difficult for me to get much serious writing done during the school year, not only through lack of time, but also because teaching saps most of my creative energy. I also have two young daughters who deserve my attention and devotion—and who sometimes compete with me for computer time!

Research, if it involves reading, is no problem. I end every day by reading for pleasure, no matter how much correcting work is piled up, and I can do a lot of research for my books that way. I have not been able to do any research that involves traveling, however, except for the 1 hour’s drive to Kane’s gravesite. I am afraid that traveling for research will have to wait until I’m retired!

Are you writing anything at the moment? Is another book in the works? What would you like to write next?

There is another book in the works, although it is just in the planning stages now. It will be another historical novel set in the nineteenth century, this time about a group of psychic investigators. Some of the characters will be loosely based on the real founders of The Psychical Research Society and many of the spiritualists they investigate will be based on famous mediums such as Eusapia Palladino and Leonora Piper. The fictional main character, however, will be a young girl who comes to live with the founders of the society under mysterious circumstances and is not what she at first appears to be. I’m on the lookout for a catchy title. Any ideas?

If you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

Tricky question! My first thought was to solve some historical mysteries, but then I realized that 24 hours would not be enough time to, say, learn what happened to the Roanoke Colony or locate Amelia Earhart’s aircraft in its final minutes. I could probably observe how many shots were fired at J.F.K. (and from where) or find out if Lizzie Borden was guilty or innocent—but what a grim way to spend such a precious gift! Upon reflection, I think I would like to spend the 24 hours trying to gain an actual glimpse of some fascinating people from history. What did Anne Boleyn really look like? How about Cleopatra? And I would definitely want a glimpse of one of my all-time favorite personages from American history, George Washington.

Today's interview is with Deb Caletti, author of The Nature of Jade. You may read my review here. Be sure to visit her official site as well. And here is the site to watch the elephants.

Every big happening has a moment of plunge, that moment of decision, usually instantaneous even if you've been thinking about it forever. That now! Toes at the edge of the pool, looking at the water, one toe in, looking some more, and then, suddenly, you're in, and it's so cold, but nice, too, and you don't even remember where in there you decided to jump. (104-105)

What inspired you to write The Nature of Jade? (Or how did this novel come to be?)

My daughter was in her senior year of high school and was planning to move across the country to go to college. It was a year of change - a year of both mourning her moving on and feeling excitement for the future. I started to think about change, and its evil counterpart, fear. Change is necessary, change is unavoidable, change can be a great thing, but change often just plain sucks, too.

“When you live one and a half blocks away from a zoo like I do, you can hear the baboons screeching after it gets dark.” Why did you choose a zoo theme for Nature of Jade? Why the focus on elephants? And how much research was involved in finding out all of those cool animal facts? [Personally, I loved this. I’ve always been a big elephant-lover, and I really enjoyed this aspect of the novel. But still, it’s not something you find in your typical teen novel.]

I think I was focusing less on the zoo itself than on nature. Human nature, animal nature, and nature as a whole. I felt that nature made a nice backdrop for the idea of fear and change, a way to make the point that both fear and change are basic and primitive and timeless. It seemed comforting to me, to think of change as very old and irrevocably connected to life on earth. Elephants were a natural choice as a focus. As a matriarchal group with males on the periphery, they mirrored Jade’s own family. They also have so many human traits that the ties were interesting to play with. And, yes, it all took a great deal of research, but that’s one of the fun things about writing. It’s a great excuse to read fascinating stuff and call it “work.”


First of all, I’ve just got to say that I thought Jade’s anxiety issues, her panic attacks or panic disorder, seemed very authentic. It was something that I could really identify with. It felt “real” to me. Did this involve research as well? And what advice (if any) would you give teens going through similar experiences to Jade’s?

I’m so glad it felt real. I hear from many readers who think I must suffer from anxiety, too, because of that. I did do a lot of reading about anxiety, but what I think I did more than anything was turn up my own empathy and imagine what that might feel like. To me, anxiety is very relatable. We ALL feel it sometimes. The volume is just louder for those incapacitated by it. Anxiety and fear are part of our biology, so I think it was an easy place to get to in my mind. I got there so deeply when I was writing that sometimes I felt like it was hard to catch my breath. I don’t have easy advice to give to teens who deal with anxiety. I do have a wish, though, and that is for teens (and everyone) to understand that we all have our issues and not to be embarrassed about asking for help.

Does Jade have a theme song or playlist?

No. But every time I go up in a plane now and look down at the tiny things below, I think of Jade traveling to meet Sebastian, and the song, “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service.

What do you hope readers gain from reading The Nature of Jade?

I don’t really set out with an idea of something I want a reader to gain, or something I want to teach or instruct a reader about. I have way more questions than answers, so I don’t feel very equipped to lecture a reader. I think of us, the reader and me, more as equals tromping around the human experience together. With all of my books, I hope a reader will have that experience I most love to have while reading, that moment of, “I know exactly how that feels. That is so right.” My wish is that a reader will go along on this little trip with me, exploring questions and maybe laughing and maybe feeling sad and happy and hopeful.

What was your first impression of the cover art for The Nature of Jade?

I loved it immediately, and thought it was just right. I think Simon & Schuster does a beautiful job.

What do you love about writing? What do you find the easiest? What do you find the hardest?

I most love that writing is a place where I can be completely honest. I most love, too, the mystery of the process – the sense that you think you don’t know where you’re going, but some part of you does know. I love the discoveries that brings, the neat tricks that occur when you’re writing and everything just works and you don’t even know how it’s happening. The easiest thing for me is listening to characters and writing down what they say. I feel like I’m just the typist. The hardest is the ups and downs of self doubt. I work on a book completely alone for a year or more, and so you have those days where you think it’s the best thing you’ve ever done and the days you’re sure it’s a disaster. Getting out of your own way is probably seventy-five percent of the job in writing, same as in life.


You write YA books, what do you love about the genre? Do you have any favorites past or present?

I think I again most love the honesty that’s found in the genre. Teens have a built in B.S. detector that I respect and understand, and that the genre must also respect. My all-time favorite is what I think to be the quintessential Y/A book – The Catcher in the Rye.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? Has this always been a dream of yours? Growing up, whose work did you admire most? Was there a particular author that made you say, “I want to grow up and do that!”?

I think that even more than “always wanting to be a writer” that I always already was a writer. I have this belief that most writers just come this way. I had a need, from maybe the age of seven or so, to observe and explain and describe. I started writing stories then. It was always part of who I am, as long as I can remember. When it came time to go to college, though, I didn’t study fiction writing. I studied journalism, because being a writer seemed like one of those big, impossible dreams, like becoming an actor or musician. But I was never a journalist; I’m a novelist. And so one day I made a pact with myself – pursue the dream or banish it from my head. I was afraid to be one of those people who say, “I always wanted to be a…” So, that’s what I did. Pursued and pursued and wrote and wrote and read and read. Every author, every book I read made me want to write, from childhood on. From Little Bear to Nancy Drew to The Chronicles of Narnia, and later, to Hemingway and Flannery O’Connor among so many others.

Have you always loved to read? Did you have a reading hero growing up? Someone who encouraged you to read, to lose yourself in a good book? Did you/do you have a favorite time and place to read?

I was always the kid with the big stack of books coming out of the library, and I am still the kid with the big stack of books coming out of the library. I inhaled books then, and do still. My books morph into furniture – end tables and nightstands. My mother always took us to the library as kids, and the library is still my favorite place, my favorite way to spend a day. She read aloud to us, too – I remember Charlotte’s Web in particular. I don’t have a favorite time or place to read – anywhere, anytime. I’d read while driving, if I could. Maybe my favorite is the cozy old standard – in bed, just before sleep.
Are there any out-of-print books that you wish would make a come back?

Hmm. None that I can think of. But there are out-of-print (well, you know) foods that I wish would return. This cereal called “Quisp” from when I was a kid. Captain Crunch-ish, but with a space alien theme. Also, these chocolate Poptarts with a white-something filling. Sounds disgusting, I know, but in my kid-memory they were awesome.

If you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

I’d want to go to Florence, Italy, during the time of the Renaissance. I’d like to sit in Lorenzo de’Medici’s garden, where the great artists, writers and thinkers of the time gathered, and where Michelangelo first learned to sculpt. But I imagine that would be one really nasty case of jet lag.

Today's interview is with Barry Lyga the author of Boy Toy and The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. Boy Toy has just been announced as one of the finalists in the Cybils in the YA category. You can read my review of Boy Toy here. You can read my review of Fanboy and Goth Girl here. His official site is here. The announcement about the Cybils is here.

What inspired you to write Boy Toy? (Or how did this novel come to be…)

The book began with a fascination with the spate of teacher/student sex scandals in the media, specifically the subset of those relationships that revolve around older female teachers and teenage boys. These are the ones that seem to get the most media attention, most likely for two reasons: 1) there’s a social hypocrisy that makes it more acceptable for a young male to have a sexual relationship than a young female, and 2) so many of the teachers in question are young and attractive.

That was the case in the school system where I grew up — a few years ago, a stunning, married young teacher was arrested after months of having drunken orgies with her underage students. Reactions, predictably, ran from outraged to “why weren’t there teachers like her around when I was a kid?”

The more engrossed I became in the case, the more I started to branch out and investigate more and more of them. There were common patterns and I became fascinated by the psychology of the women who throw away their marriages, their careers, and their lives, all to satisfy the pull of a taboo sexual thrill.

I realized that I had to do something with this weird obsession I’d developed, and for years I planned to write about it. And then I realized: We never hear from the kids. We never know their names, even, because they’re minors and they’re protected. So we never know what THEY think about it all. I decided I wanted to give a voice to one of them.

How long did it take to write it and see it through to the finished product?

Depends on how you count. I mean, I’d been THINKING about writing a book like this for about five years. But from the time I actually sat down to write to when I turned in my first draft was only about seven weeks.

That sounds really short, but it was an INTENSE seven weeks. By the time I was finished, I was a wreck. I was physically and emotionally exhausted.

From there, it was another month or so of revisions.

Is there anything you’d like to tell kids/teens going through such emotionally turbulent times?

God, yes — tell someone. Tell your parents. If your parents are the ones doing it, tell a teacher. If a teacher’s doing it, tell your parents. If your parents AND your teacher are doing it, tell a cop or call the district attorney’s office. Tell someone.

Shortly after the book came out, I got an e-mail from a girl who’d been molested by her teacher. She wrote to tell me that she had told people and they hadn’t believed her. That just killed me. I told her she still did the right thing and that someday people WOULD believe her. You have to tell someone. These people only have their power in secret.

What do you hope readers gain from reading Boy Toy?

Well, I’m not trying to change the world. You write to entertain people, to make them think a little, to give them a glimpse into someone else’s life. Maybe it’s a glimpse that’s somehow applicable to their own lives. That would be best — if reading the book helps someone understand their own problems or the problems of a loved one just a little bit better.

I got another e-mail from a girl who described herself as the “Rachel” in a relationship — she was in love with a guy who had been molested and after reading the book, she found that she was able to empathize with him and understand him much better. That’s an unintended side effect, but it makes me feel ten feet tall.

The book opens—quite effectively in my opinion—with a Top Ten list. Our narrator, Josh’s list of “Ten Things I Learned At the Age of Twelve.” Was this an easy decision? Did you know how or where to start to hook the reader? As I said, I think this works great…

Thanks! I wanted to tell people what this book was about right up front. I didn’t want to pretend. If the idea of a twelve year old having sex is beyond your comfort zone, then you can’t say I didn’t warn you from page one. I also felt like it was a good hook. I figured that if you got to the tenth item on the list and decided not to keep reading, I probably wasn’t going to keep you as a reader anyway. That opening was the first thing I thought of for the book — I carried it around in my head for a year or so before I actually sat down to write.

The story is not told chronologically. It’s told in bits and pieces as Josh struggles to come to terms with it, to open himself up—make himself vulnerable—with someone else. So much of this story was intense. Was it intense to write as well? Did you ever struggle with the characters and the scenes?

Yeah, it was very intense. I mean, that’s why I felt so drained when I was finished. I didn’t realize how intense it was until I was finished, at which point I sort of slumped in my chair and said, “God, I need a vacation!”

It was creepy for me because even though the story is from Josh’s point of view, Eve’s the one in control during the abuse. So every morning for about two months — every single morning — I would wake up and my first thought would be, “Hmm, how would I go about seducing a twelve year old boy?”

Did you know from the very beginning that Josh would need to confront his abuser? I think that is one of the most powerful scenes in the book, by the way. One where he really sees his abuser as the person she is—not the person he imagined her to be all along. Was it difficult to get inside her head, to understand her, to bring her to life?

Well, when I first envisioned it, the book had a completely different ending, but in every ending scenario I imagined, Josh had to have some sort of meeting with Eve. I mean, how could he not? I think it would be a cheat NOT to have Josh go to see her.

It was scarily easy to get into Eve’s head. Like I said before, she was in control, so I had to think like her a lot. A few years back, I did a ride-along with a cop friend who was in charge of the child abuse unit in Baltimore. At the time, I was going to help him write a book about his experiences. That never came to be, but from that night and from hours of talking to him about pedophiles, I came away with some good chunks of insight into them.

If Josh were to have a theme song, what would it be?

That’s actually a really tough one to answer in good taste! Umm… How about “Iron Man?” No? Probably “Growin’ Up” by Bruce Springsteen, but honestly, that could be used for just about any of my characters.

What was your first impression of the cover art for Boy Toy?

Absolutely loved it. I had said from the very beginning that I thought that the best cover for this book would be to let the title do the talking, just make those two words as big as possible. Jon did a terrific job. My agent says it looks European — it makes her think of sexy Italian shoes. I like that.

What do you love about writing? What do you find the easiest? What do you find the hardest?

I love those moments where you almost lose track of where you are — say you’re at the beginning of the story and as you’re writing, you suddenly realize how something you JUST WROTE is going to play out at the end. That’s a great feeling, when you’re just tooling along and suddenly you can see the whole map of the story spread out before you.

The easiest part is the idea. The hardest part is figuring out which ideas are the good ones.

Can you tell us anything about your current work in progress? Do you have any upcoming releases?

Sure. My next book is titled Hero-Type. Like the first two, it takes place at South Brook High School, set about a week before the opening of Boy Toy. For fans of the first two books, both Kyra and Josh are name-dropped. It’s about a kid who’s in the right place at the right time and is called a hero. Then he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time and suddenly he’s a villain. And he has to decide which is his true nature. It should be out next fall.

I’m working on the fourth book, but it’s way too early to talk about it.

Are you excited that your novel, Boy Toy, has been nominated for a Cybil award?
Does award-season (best of lists, awards, etc.) make you nervous or excited as a writer?

Not to be a smart-ass, but how about...“none of the above?” I really, really try my best not to get excited about awards and lists and the like. I don’t always succeed, but I try. I think it’s possible to get too caught up in it all, to lose sight of the work itself, of the reasons I started doing this in the first place. I didn’t start to write because I wanted an award or my name on a list — I did it to tell the stories.

If someone wants to put me on a list, that’s terrific — I’m thrilled by it. Honestly. If someone wants to give me an award, I will be honored and humbled by it. But I can’t let myself think about or stress about it in advance.

It’s not that I don’t care about these things. I just don’t get worked up about them. I don’t get nervous OR excited. They’re out of my control anyway.

Growing up, whose work did you admire most? Was there a particular author that made you say, “I want to grow up and do that!”?

Oh, that’s such a tough question for me because of course I want to lie and give you all kinds of literary names, but the fact of the matter is that I was a comic book kid. So Paul Levitz was the first writer whose work I read where I realized, “Hey, wait a minute! An actual person wrote this! Maybe I could do that someday.”

But probably the single biggest influence on me was Bruce Springsteen. I have zero musical talent, so I gave up on my quest to become the world’s greatest singer/songwriter and figured I would write instead. His music had an enormous influence on me, in terms of what a story is and how you tell it.

How do you find time—do you find time—to keep reading? Do you have any favorites of the year?

Oh, sure. I have a running competition with my friend Robin Brande to see who can read the most books in any given year, so I have to keep up. Favorites for this year would have to be Robin’s debut, Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature, as well as Sarah Aronson’s brilliant Head Case.

Oh, and The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta is just flat-out brilliant.

This one is for both you as a reader and an author. Do you write fan letters (or emails) to authors you admire? And have you received any fan letters from readers?

When I was a kid, I used to write fan letters to Paul Levitz all the time. He even printed some of them in his comics. I was shocked when I met him years later and he still remembered my name! More recently, yeah, sure — when I read something that strikes me, I drop a line to the writer. But most often, I just wait until I see that person at a conference and tell ‘em in person!

I’ve gotten a lot of fan letters. It’s terrific. I mentioned before some of the tough ones I’ve gotten recently, from kids who’ve been abused, but even those are gratifying because you see that you’ve helped someone. I’ve also gotten some great fan letters from parents and grandparents, who’ve told me they read my first book with their kids or grandkids and it helped them make a connection or discuss an issue. I think that’s cool.

If you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

Oh, boy. I’m such a practical guy… I would probably take that limitless supply of money and pay a bunch of historians and economists to figure out the one event in history that — when changed — would result in the maximum benefit to humankind. And then go change that event.

Because here’s the thing — if you have a time machine, a twenty-four limit is really no limit at all, right? :)

Well now that 2008 is well underway its time to get back to some serious procrastination. Below are some posts to help you succeed.

2008 predictions from the prescient John Battelle.

The future of e-textbooks? (with some comments from our own Evan Schnittman)

Ten wishes for LA in 2008. (more…)

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2008! Happy New Year! May your year be one of wonderful discoveries, enough challenges to keep you on your toes, learning new things, success, health, joy and greater connection and communication with friends and loved ones.
My husband and I spent a much needed time together in Warm Springs VA, soaking in the 200 year old Warm Springs. What an experience.
We also visted 3 Hills Inn. Gorgeous and beautifully appointed.
With three kids, time alone without them is a rare occasion.
I've been gone from blogging for so long. What a relief to be back. Our Christmas and New Year's celebrations were a whirlwind of wonder, challenges, good connections with family and friends and ending with a need for a good rest for all.
Here's a New Year's link for you. It's a fascinating view into the process of how James Gurney creates the Dinotopia art.

Pfeffer, Susan Beth. 2008. The dead & the gone. (June 2008)
The dead and the gone is the much-anticipated follow up novel to Life As We Knew It. Though the characters and setting are different--New York not Pennsylvania--the terror and uncertainty of future days is the same. Our narrator is Alex Morales, an older teen (perhaps 17?), whose world is about to be turned upside down. While there was set up in Life As We Knew It, the dead and the gone begins with the BIG event. Wednesday, May 18... At the moment when life as he had known it changed forever, Alex Morales was behind the counter at Joey's pizza, slicing a spinach pesto pie into eight roughly equal pieces. (1). Of course, at that moment, Alex doesn't know that. He's just your average teen. His mom was a nurse called into work that evening unexpectedly. His dad was out of the country attending the funeral of Alex's grandmother. His older brother, Carlos, is away from home and in the Marines. Thus when the calamity happens, it is on Alex and Alex alone to protect his family--his two younger sisters--and begin the fight for their ultimate survival.

In Life As We Knew It, no matter how bad it got, Miranda, the narrator, could relax a bit. Her mom was there for her and her brothers. Her mom was there to tell her what to do. There to make a plan. There to support her, comfort her, and yes, at times to annoy her. But Alex, Briana, and Julie. These three siblings have to face the unknown alone. It's not that they're completely alone, the dead and the gone introduces the element of faith and community in the midst of disaster, but without parental guidance, support, and love. Imagine being that age when the world starts to crumble. When the volcanoes and epidemics start. To know that the world will never be the same again. To know that if humanity is to survive this at all, it will be only a few, only the strongest, only the bravest. There is no safe place anymore. There is no reassurance, no promise of a better day, a brighter day. Now imagine being the caregiver of not one but two younger sisters. Sisters who'd fall apart without you. Sisters who are depending on you, trusting in you to provide for them, to protect them. Alex bears a heavy burden. Not only is he fighting for his own survival, he's fighting for the lives of his sisters.

As for his parents, his extended family, his friends and neighbors and classmates, too many are listed as "the gone" their final fates unknown in this captivating companion novel. While Life As We Knew It showed the private battle of one family for survival, the dead and the gone captures the story of a neighborhood, a community. I'm not sure whether to be surprised or not, but one thing that intrigues me is the element of faith and religion in this novel. When so many elements of society are falling apart, are crumbling, the Catholic church is strong and resourceful. They're not abandoning their flocks. They're a place where the faithful can come to rally, to rebuild their strength, regain their focus. They are actually providing for the needs of others. It's not that they're selfless. But they haven't forgotten the message of Christ either. They are living out the compassion of Christ who said...in this world you will have trouble, but I leave you my peace. That's what I see their mission as in some ways, caring for the physical and spiritual needs of the faithful. They can't stop the bad things from happening, they can't "solve" any problems. But they can be there, they can provide solace and peace for those who feel so downtrodden, so troubled.

Those who have read Life As We Knew It, will know that this is an intense novel. That it will leave you cold and hungry and a bit anxious of full moons. The dead and the gone is a companion novel to Life As We Knew It, but it stands alone. You don't need to have read Miranda's story to embrace this one. Alex's story is just as intense, just as strong, just as captivating, just as memorable. However, I would encourage everyone to go ahead and read Life As We Knew It in the months leading up to the release of the dead and the gone. There are so many memorable scenes, memorable passages that whether you read the book or listen to the audio, it is sure to haunt you.

You may read my review of Life As We Knew It here and here.
You may visit the author's blog here.
Other reviews of the novel are here, here, here, here, and here.

I heard today that the folks behind the Accio 2005 Harry Potter Conference that was held in Reading 2 years ago are planning a new conference next year in Oxford, England - dear gods, I might actually be able to attend this one !

The conference, From Quidditch Flyers to Dreaming Spires: Exploring the Worldwide Influence of the Harry Potter Novels will be held at Magdalen College from 25 - 27 July 2008.

Here's what they say in the Call For Papers:

Accio 2008 will bring together academics and adult fans to discuss the Harry Potter series in the Hogwarts-like setting of the University of Oxford. The conference will be held at the beautiful Magdalen College, which still preserves its 15th century pronunciation of 'Maudele'n' and which boasts such alumni as C S Lewis and Oscar Wilde.

During the last ten years, the Harry Potter novels have made many changes to our world, including increasing reading (particularly among boys), creating a much larger interest in fan sites and fan fiction, adding words (such as 'Muggle') to the dictionary and increasing interest in science that looks like magic.

The Programming Committee is inviting proposals for paper presentations, roundtables, moderated panels, debates and workshops to evoke a lively, interesting and thoughtful discussion on the changes the Harry Potter novels have already made to our world, and on the potential for the novels to have a lasting influence.

Suggested Topics
Presentations on any topic relating to the Harry Potter phenomenon are welcome and topics may include, but are certainly not limited to:

Chemistry
Computer Science
Economics
Education
History
Linguistics
Literature
Physics
Psychology
Publishing
Sociology
the Fandom

Proposal Submissions - Deadline: 4 January 2008