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Back in 2005, I started writing a book based on something that really happened: a blind girl who was briefly and accidentally kidnapped when her parents left the keys in the car and someone stole it. Only in my book, the thief kept the girl and she had to figure out how to escape.
My editor at the time felt that kidnapping books were overdone. He suggested I rewrite it from the POV of the kidnapper. That didn't seem right to me. How would readers understand what it was like to be blind? So I kept the book as it was, and my agent sent it out to a bunch of editors. Christy Ottaviano at Henry Holt loved it the way it was.
What I hadn't thought of at all - what I think no one thought of - was that schools like to have students read books about characters with disabilities. So that helped the book to find a wider audience. Also, it's about as clean as a YA can be, which I think also helped. The third thing that helped the book be assigned is that I tend to write books that test out at a fairly low grade level (even my adult books are like that, probably because I used to have to write to a certain grade level when I wrote in health care) and that are about high-interest topics (sometimes known as hi-low books).
I started getting requests for a teachers' guide, and with the help of a teacher, I put one together. You can see it here.
Since it was published, the book has been the winner or a finalist for 9 state awards. Now I get emails every day from kids who have read the book because they were assigned it at school.
Or I see posts on Amazon like this:
I'm in the middle of writing what must be my 25th book (not all went on to be published). Actually, I wish I were in the middle. I'm more like in the first third. It was due May 11, but after a talk with my editor this week, it got pushed back to June 2. I did not ask for the extension, but she gave it. I actually hope to land closer to May 11, because I know I'll get edits soon on a different book. Plus I need to think about promoting the book that comes out June 18.
I'm also going to St. Louis for four days in the middle of the month, then to Houston for two for the Teen Book Con, then to Southern Oregon (where I grew up) for three or four days at the end of the month.
The day after I get to my old home town, new buyers will take possession of my mother's house. I want t
o walk through it one last time to say goodbye to all the memories. Maybe I will leave them the key my father carried on his keyring until he died and that has been on mine for the past 10 years.
My mother's death still pains me. I think of her every day, sometimes every hour. And everything was good between us and she had the best death you could ever have. I don't know how people deal with the dead if things were bad between them.
While I'm down there, I'm going to need to write, of course. I have a decent outline for this book, at least for the first two-thirds. I don't know how the sleuth will connect the dots. I don't know what the big show down will be, or how things will look lost but won't be.
I have gotten stuck like this once before, with my back against the wall and no time to write. That time I turned out one of my best books. Will I be able to do it again?
I sure hope so.
Penny C. Sansevieri, who offers a free email newsletter for authors, had a great post for authors who use their Facebook pages - personal or fan - to connect with readers.
Some tidbits from her post:
- Photo posts get 50% more impressions than any other type of post
- Quotes get 22 percent more interactions
- Questions generate almost twice as many comments
There’s a lot more interesting information, including when the best time to make a post is, how often to post, etc. You can read Sansevieri’s post on Facebook here.
