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Welcome to the 2009 Winter Blog Blast Tour! (You may ask yourself, "What's a WBBT?" Click here for the answer.) I'm happy to help kick off this year's events with this interview, in which Courtney Sheinmel considers character names, middle school memories, and cheese, as well as more serious matters, such as AIDS awareness and the effect of divorce on children.

I started things off by talking about her newest book, the positively wonderful novel Positively, which I highly recommend.

Your second novel, Positively, is about a young girl who is HIV-positive, having acquired it from her mother during the pregnancy. The story was inspired, in part, by your involvement with The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which we talked about in our previous interview. When writing Positively, you were no doubt drawing on past experiences and people you've known, some of whom have lost their battles... It must have been a difficult story to write.

Oh yes, writing POSITIVELY was extremely difficult. The narrator, Emmy, has to face life as an HIV-positive teen, and as a motherless daughter. I had some very emotional conversations with kids I know, who have experienced both of those things.

But more than that, sometimes I felt like I didn't have a right to tell the story. After all, my mom is alive and well; I can see her and speak to her whenever I want. And I'm HIV-negative, and don't have to take pills several times a day. I wanted to do right by Emmy, and I didn't want to offend anyone who was living with HIV. One night I had dinner with Elizabeth Glaser's son, Jake. He has been HIV-positive since birth, and when he was ten years old, he lost his mom to AIDS. I told him that I was really scared and that I felt like a fraud. He encouraged me to keep going. He said he believed in me, and believed I could tell the right story. I will always be grateful to him for that.

How did you select the name for your lead character, Emerson, better known as Emmy?

Sometimes I name characters after people I know, but in real life, I don't know anyone named Emerson. It was important to me to give her a name that wasn't attached to any of my friends or family members. I love androgynous names for girls, so I was thinking about Dylan or Blake. My agent suggested I give her a more feminine name, and I was quite pleased with myself when I thought of Emerson, because of the nickname "Emmy." I gave her the middle name Louise, so her dad could call her "Emmy Lou."

I wish I had a meaningful, poetic answer to why her name is Emerson – like it was inspired by a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote. The truth is that I just really love the name, and I think it suits her: it is beautiful, complicated, and unique, and to me Emerson is all of those things.

I like the sound of that. Both of your novels to date have modern, blended families: Emmy's parents were divorced, and her dad has remarried and is about to have another child; in My So-Called Family, Leah's mom went to the reproductive clinic in order to have Leah, then later married and had another child. Why do write about complex character relationships and family dynamics?

Relationships with stepparents and stepsiblings are very important to me; and really, they seem like a natural part of life. My parents divorced when I was nine years old, and for years I lived with my mom and my sister in New York, and my dad lived across the country in California. I am extremely close with both of my parents. We now have a sort of blended family. My mom ended up meeting a wonderful man, whom I call my "faux

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I'm so excited. The 2009 WBBT is coming up -- starting Monday! Colleen Mondor kept all of us on track -- check out the Master Schedule! Colleen will update this Master Schedule everyday with direct links and great quotes from the authors.

So come back next week! I'll have interviews with Megan Whalen Turner (The Attolia series), Jacqueline Kelly (The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate), Cynthia Leitich Smith (Tantalize, Eternal and many other books) and Robin LaFevers (Theodosia series, Nathaniel Fludd: Beastologist series, and more)-- you know they're going to be good.

Monday, November 16th
Jim Ottaviani at Chasing Ray
Courtney Sheinmel at Bildungsroman
Derek Landy at Finding Wonderland
Mary E. Pearson at Miss Erin
Megan Whalen Turner at HipWriterMama
Frances Hardinge at Fuse Number 8

Tuesday, November 17th
Ann Marie Fleming at Chasing Ray
Laurie Faria Stolarz at Bildungsroman
Patrick Carman at Miss Erin
Jacqueline Kelly at HipWriterMama
Dan Santat at Fuse Number 8
Nova Ren Suma at Shelf Elf

Wednesday, November 18th
Sy Montgomery Pt 1 at Chasing Ray
Jacqui Robbins at Bildungsroman
Sarwat Chadda at Finding Wonderland
Cynthia Leitich Smith at HipWriterMama
Beth Kephart at Shelf Elf

Thursday, November 19th
Sy Montgomery Pt 2 at Chasing Ray
Laini Taylor at Shelf Elf
Jim DiBartolo at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Amanda Marrone at Writing & Ruminating
Thomas Randall at Bildungsroman
Michael Hague at Fuse Number 8

Friday, November 20th
Lisa Schroeder at Writing & Ruminating
Alan DeNiro at Shaken & Stirred
Joan Holub at Bildungsroman
Pam Bachorz at Mother Reader
Sheba Karim at Finding Wonderland
Robin LaFevers at HipWriterMama

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Lisa Papademetriou needs no introduction in the world of Children’s Literature. And that is exactly why I didn’t write one.

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I discovered you, personally, with the marvelous book The Wizard, The Witch and Two Girls from Jersey, which I’ve described as part Ella Enchanted, part The Lord of the Rings, and part Mean Girls. In reviewing the book for MotherReader, I said that it was perfect for a movie and, in fact, made some casting suggestions. My question is: Has a movie option been arranged and do I get a producer credit if Vanessa Anne Hudgens is chosen for the lead, as I suggested?

Yes, the book has been optioned by Paramount Pictures! I don’t know if they’ll actually make the movie or who they’ll cast... but I’ll pass your suggestion along. I’m not sure I can arrange a producer credit, though — how would you feel about gaffer?

It seems like every time I pick up a book, it has your name on it, but even I was surprised to find that you’ve written more than thirty children’s books. For such a prolific author, I see you as flying under the radar in children’s literature. How do you see yourself as an author and how does it work for or against you?

Well, first let me just clarify that book number. I began my career as an author writing books in series such as Sweet Valley and Lizzie McGuire, and I still adapt a number of movies for Pixar and Disney under a pen name. (A lot of writers, including R.L. Stine and Ann M. Martin, have started as series writers.) So that accounts for the majority of my published work. I suppose I am flying under the radar. I prefer to think of it as “on the verge of rocking the world.” Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of control over whether or not I become a household name. I just try to concentrate on the kids who write to me and tell me that they love my books. To them, I’m as famous as any other author. And, of course, my mom thinks I’m incredibly famous.

You mentioned Sweet Valley and Lizzie McGuire, but you’ve also authored many titles in the Candy Apple and Disney Fairies series. How does your writing process differ when writing for a series versus writing your own books, and do you have a preference for which kind you like to write?

I love paperback. The process is fast and you’re writing directly to the kids. For me, the writing process is pretty much the same — it’s just that hardcover tends to make me more neurotic because I’m stressing over the reviews even before I write the first sentence.

In Chasing Normal, M or F? and Sixth Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me, you really capture the insecurity of the teen years with humor and sensitivity. How are these books reflective of your own life experience? In other words — and with all due respect — do you have an inner dork?

Inner dork? Believe me, I’m a dork through and through. You’ve read The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey, so you can probably tell that I’ve read every fantasy book out there about ten times. The three books you mention are all very reflective of my own life experience — except, hopefully, funnier.

Your new book, Drop, is a real departure from your set comfort zone. Why did you want to branch out with this particular book?

There were a lot of nuggets for that book. I wanted to write something about fate and chance, and I wanted to write something about the eeriness of Las Vegas, and I wanted to write something about being a first-generation American. I guess I could have tried to play it for laughs, but it just didn’t come out that way. And thank you for phrasing it as “a real departure from my set comfort zone.” It really was. Writing that book was like swimming through concrete for me. I have no idea what people will think of it.

You used to blog through Bookburger, but are you blogging anywhere else these days?

No. I also used to have a blog on Amazon, which I loved. Unfortunately, when you blog, people can write mean things back to you, and on Amazon, they can even vote on whether or not they liked your post. It was too much like having people vote on whether or not they approved of my thoughts — I started to feel inhibited and defensive, which isn’t a good thing. I don’t know how you do it!

[Lightning round through the other “Ws.”]

When did you start writing?

I started my first novel when I was in fourth grade. I wrote three pages and gave up. It turned out that writing a book was much harder than I thought it would be.

Where do you do your best thinking?

I do my best thinking while on a long walk with my husband. I’ll say something like, “I want the heroine to play some kind of sport.” And Ali will either come up with something brilliant, or he’ll say something like, “How about cricket?” And then I’ll try to think of something better. That usually works.

Who inspires your personally or professionally?

The readers inspire me. Also, the need to pay my mortgage is a real fire-lighter. Beyond that, I never know what will make the wheels in my head start to turn. I take little pieces from everywhere.

What’s next for you?

I just had a baby this year, so that’s been a big project for me! Professionally, I’m working on the last book in a four-book series (Accidentally Fabulous). It’s under the Candy Apple line, and I’m having a ball writing it. After that, I’m working on a creepy mermaid tale. Then — we’ll see!

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Today the Winter Blog Blast Tour features:

• John Green (!!!) at Writing and Ruminating
  
• Martin Millar at Chasing Ray.
  
• Beth Kephart at HipWriterMama
  
• John David Anderson at Finding Wonderland
  
• Brandon Mull at The YAYAYA’s
  
• Emily Ecton at Bildungsroman

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To date, Lisa Ann Sandell has seen two of her verse novels published: The Weight of the Sky and Song of the Sparrow. Though they take place in different locations and time periods, both stories follow the journeys of the protagonists, strong young women whose physical journeys lead to other types of journeys - emotional, spiritual.

I've traveled very little, but books have allowed me to travel to and from all kinds of places. The Weight of the Sky came backstage with me back in June, while Sparrow accompanied me on a bus ride earlier this year. I recommended Weight to a friend after she returned from her own trip to Israel with a happy heart. While discussing the Lady of Shalott scene from the Anne of Green Gables movie with other friends, I told them about Sparrow. Lisa has been around the world. One conversation with her and you can tell she has a great respect for the places she's visited. Take a trip with us now on the Winter Blog Blast Tour.

The Weight of the Sky was partially inspired a trip you took to Israel as a college student. While writing the book, what weighed heaviest on your heart or mind?

When I finally sat down to write this book, so much had changed for me in terms of the way I thought about Israel since I'd traveled there the first time. After college, I moved back to Israel and worked, and in living there as an adult, many of my ideals and beliefs changed—matured, I like to think. So, it was challenging for me to remember the breathless, wide-eyed infatuation for the land and the incredible sense of belonging I felt when I first visited as a teenager.

Also, I very much wanted to keep politics out of the story; I was really concerned about this and tried to keep it in mind as I portrayed a certain kind of daily Israeli life -- an outsider's daily life.

You've traveled all over the world. What are some of your favorite places? Where do you hope to go next?

Ooh, some of my favorite places? The list is long, and I could go on and on, but I'll try to keep it short here. I think my favorite place is southern Spain—Sevilla if I have to name a specific spot. But I also love the Isle of Skye in Scotland, which I visited when I was nineteen. I traveled there by myself, and I spent three days in relative silence. I only spoke to people to arrange for my room in a hostel, to order food at a local café, and to rent a bicycle. It was so moody and beautiful up there; I got lots of writing and thinking done. Also, I love Mongolia—the terrain is rugged and vast and wild, and when I was there, cheesy as this sounds, I felt like my spirit just opened up.

Next on my list is India. I'm dying to go there.

Your second verse novel, Song of the Sparrow, was inspired by the Arthurian tale of the Lady of Shalott. Had you a longtime fondness for the legend, or did something else prompt you to retell this tale?

I've always loved the stories of King Arthur, ever since I was a little The notion of Camelot and all that Arthur stood for represent the very best of humanity and what we can achieve. It's a very inspiring and alluring mythology.

Telling the story of the Lady of Shalott came to me, because I've always been haunted by that 1888 painting by John William Waterhouse of the Lady, dressed in a flowing white dress, sitting upright in her boat, with this awful, stricken look on her face, as she knows she's on the brink of death. It's awful and stunning, and the first time I saw this painting, I couldn't look away. She's stayed with me. And I always wanted to retell an Arthurian story from a girl's perspective; it's the women in these legends who pretty much get the shaft. They're either helpless and weak or evil and manipulative, for the most part. So, to take this story of a girl who falls in love with Lancelot only to die of a broken heart and turn it on its head and to re-imagine their whole world was great fun.

Rather than being a damsel in distress, Elaine was brave, fiery, and strong, and she soared. What do you think modern girls can learn from her story?

I hope that modern girls take away the fact that we women have as much value as men, and that a girl can be as strong, as smart, as courageous as any man. And when we get into relationships, it should be because the other person recognizes these qualities and appreciates them. I hate the idea of girls being scared to show off their wit and strength.

Do you prefer to write stories set in contemporary days or historical times?

I like both: I love doing research and creating settings and characters based on the past, and so writing historical fiction is very enjoyable for me. But I also love to explore our time, this day and age and to plumb the world and the lifetime I recognize for truths and stories.

Why verse novels? Is it simply your favored writing style?

The Weight of the Sky began as a series of poems that I wrote immediately upon returning from my first trip to Israel, and Song of the Sparrow . . . I don't know - I hadn't intended to write this one in verse at the outset. But Elaine's voice came to me in the verse that became the book's prologue. And once I had that, I knew this was how I'd write her story. My newest book, A Map of the Known World (which is coming out in April) however, is not in verse. So that was an exciting change-up for me. All of this said, whether I write in verse or prose depends on the project.

Would you ever release a book of poetry?

I don't know if I have the nerve. And, besides, I haven't been writing too much poetry lately. Too busy trying to keep up with my deadlines! Still, I'm not ruling it out... maybe somewhere down the line.

You contributed the short story See Me to the anthology 21 Proms. Have you written other short stories? Would you ever revisit those characters for another short short or full-length novel?

I have written other short stories, but none that I've ever tried to publish. It's not my favorite form. I prefer long form writing, novels. I'm not sure I'd revisit the characters from "See Me" either. I'm not adverse to it, but usually, when I begin a project, it starts with a particular character in a particular situation, so I hadn't thought about starting over with these characters afresh. Interesting . . .

What are your ten favorite books of all time?

In no particular order . . .

1. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
2. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
3. The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen
4. Atonement by Ian McEwan
5. Blubber by Judy Blume
6. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
7. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
8. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
9. Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks
10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee


Visit Lisa's website.

Read my favorite passage from The Weight of the Sky.

I have an entire booklist dedicated to verse novels.

Today's WBBT schedule:
Mayra Lazara Dole at Chasing Ray
Francis Rourke Dowell at Fuse #8
J. Patrick Lewis at Writing and Ruminating
Wendy Mass at HipWriterMama
Lisa Ann Sandell at Bildungsroman
Caroline Hickey/Sara Lewis Holmes at MotherReader
A.S. King at Bookshelves of Doom
Emily Wing Smith at Interactive Reader

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