The Everafter gets all awardy!

Congratulations to Amy Huntley, fellow Write-Brainer and debut author, whose book, The Everafter, has been short-listed for YALSA's William C. Morris award.

Of course, we all knew it was one of the best YA debut's of 2009 but you just can't beat shiny round stickers, no sirree.

Stay tuned. . . .and check out the other nominees out here.

Query Contest

Mary Kole, an associate agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, is holding a query contest. The winner gets a 30 page critique. Click here for the details.

Thanks to Beth for the link.

Hurrah, Amy!

We've all of us been rather quiet on this group blog lately, but here's something definitely worth shouting about:

Our own Amy Huntley's young adult novel The Everafter was released this week. We're all jumping up and down and clapping! Congratulations, Amy. Yay!!!

Question of the Week: What Have You Learned?

Lori asks, “What have you learned?”

Writing was an early interest of mine, one that I let go of over time only to rediscover about a decade ago. In the past ten years, I’ve come to realize just how difficult and wonderful the pursuit of writing can be. But that discovery really was a case of re-learning something I already knew.

What I have truly and newly learned is this: for me, the most satisfying moments of The Writing Life are the people moments.

Reading aloud something I’ve written, and seeing the reaction of kids and their parents. Gathering with other writers to share and discuss manuscripts. Even just hanging out with other writerly people.

For words are the writing. But people make the words matter.

And for an introvert, that's been one heckuva revelation!

Q of the Week: What Have You Learned?

by Ann

This is a difficult question because most of what I know about writing and marketing I've learned from this group. There is one gem that stands out, though.

I come from a goal-directed family, and as a former scientist, I'm the product of an extremely goal-directed culture. The most important lesson I've learned from this group is the process is more important than the goal.

YAYApalooza

What an extraordinary opportunity I had this past week. When I attended a gathering at Brilliance Audio that’s been dubbed YAYApalooza, I had a number of fascinating experiences.

Let’s start with what it’s like to finally meet in person the disembodied voice you’ve been talking to for nearly a year, one that has negotiated contracts for you, and encouraged you when you thought you weren’t going to make it through the next round of revisions. This person is otherwise known as “your agent.”

How wonderful it truly was to meet Josh Adams—who, until last week, I had only known through tools of technology (email and phone). I’m so glad that I have the chance to work with all the people at Adams Literary. They are tireless advocates.

Meeting the many people at Brilliance Audio who participate in the making of an audio book was another awesome part of YAYApalooza. Tim Ditlow, who acquires the novels that will be a part of the children’s line of Brilliance Audio, is such a friendly and fun guy. Then there were studio managers, plant managers, sound engineers, an entire sales force…everyone there contributed to my wonderful experience learning about how audio books are made.

I also got to meet Tavia Gilbert, who is the narrator of The Everafter. Her voice is perfect—at least it is when you can hear it. The day I was there to meet her, she had laryngitis, but the book’s director made sure I got to hear some of the book’s recording session from the day before. This is why I know she has the perfect voice to be the narrator of Madison Stanton. She’s also just a marvelous person and fun to converse with.

As far as I’m concerned, there are never enough opportunities in life to talk about engaging books with people who are widely read in YA literature, but YAYApalooza was a bookworm’s heaven. Talking with Cindy Dobrenz, Lynn Rutan, Mary Burkey and Ed Spicer (all fantastic bloggers) gave me quite the fix. Walter Mayes is a fabulous storyteller, and an expert on young adult literature. Much to my delight, I had the opportunity to meet him, too.

Meeting Mike Winerip of the Adam Canfield series was another great part of this trip. Any time I can meet a fellow author, I’m ecstatic. Mike is fun to talk to and his enthusiasm is contagious. Oh, and it helps that he writes for the New York Times and I’m a fan of that newspaper.

I’m so thankful I had this awesome opportunity!

Q of the Week: What Have You Learned?

I guess because I'm going back to school I'm sorta focused on learning right now. Anyway, our group has been on this journey together now for at least six or seven years, a few of us more. In that time four of us have successfully published--and published well.

We've written poems, picture books and novels. Letters, proposals and queries. Math games and silly song lyrics. Fiction and non-fiction. We've gone on retreats and met monthly for writing exercises. We've submitted. We've been rejected. We've made lifelong friendships, of course.

But here's what I'd like to know: What have you learned? About writing mainly, although you can feel free to digress (like we need permission to do this!)

What have you learned about this process? About yourself? Those who are published, what has that process taught you?

It doesn't need to be deep and philosophical, although you can do that if you want to. One thing I've learned from this group is that I no longer have to put two spaces after a period (though my thumb disagrees).

I've also learned that I have a bit of a persistence disorder. This requires me to step back and gain new perspective a lot and often.

More later from me. What about you??

Debbie's Childhood Reading

Our question of the week has to do with books we read during childhood that have really stuck with us.

If I put my mind to it, I could probably come up with a list about a mile long. But just rattling off the ones that pop to mind immediately, here are a few that have stuck with me through the years:

From early on:

• Any and all Dr. Seuss books. I especially loved Fox In Socks and The Sleep Book.
• John Ciardi's You Read To Me, I'll Read To You poems, illustrated by Edward Gorrey
• The poetry volume of the Junior Classics series (favorite poem at the time: "Jabberwocky")
• That's Good, That's Bad by Joan M. Lexau, illustrated by Aliki
• "Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going To Sneeze!" by Patricia Thomas, illustrated by Wallace Tripp

Then of course there were the years dominated by...

• The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Count me amongst those who read each of the books dozens of times.
• Around this time, I also loved the All-Of-A-Kind-Family books by Sydney Taylor.
• And I really liked a book the title and author of which I can't recall, but involved a boy who left the house one morning for a walk and came back to find his house burned down and his family presumed dead. He went off on his own, perhaps with his dog (I'm fuzzy on that part) and managed to survive in the woods by the highway by rigging up a little something so that trucks going by wobbled and lost a bit of their loads - these bits of lost cargo served as his provisions. At the end, the family turned out not to be dead. Plot details hazy, but I read and re-read this book many times. I think the author's last name was in the first half of the alphabet, because I still remember the shelf area of the library where the book was.
• Oh, and let's not forget Freckle Juice, Nate the Great books, James and the Giant Peach, From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and dozens more I'll think of later.

Later, during my teen years, my reading was all over the map (though frequently in the area of the map covering frequently challenged books):

• A series of books, something maybe having to do with someone's attic - all I remember is the cutaways on the mass market paperbacks
• Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber. Yikes! I don't think I could read that book now, but back then I was fascinated by it.
• A romance book written by someone named Skye something. The book itself didn't impact me, but the notion that someone would have the name Skye was mind-bending. Then someone clued me in that it was a pen name. Oh! That was mind-bending, too. I immediately decided I should have a pen name, something as glamorous sounding as Skye. I settled on... Denise O'Dharbe, which is an anagram of my name. (But no, I haven't written any romances.)
• The Best Little Girl In The World by Steven Levenkron. I think the book was meant to be illuminating as to eating disorders, but unfortunately I think the book served to heighten many a girl's interest in anorexia.
• The Velvet Room by . Actually, I'm not sure I found the book itself that absorbing (I don't remember any of it), but that room has stuck with me!
• A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck. I don't remember much about this book now, but I think it was a definite early influence on my eventual vegetarianism.
• I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan.
• Deenie by Judy Blume

I read many other books during my childhood, but those are some that pop into my head as having left their mark. I'll probably add to this list as more influences percolate up.

Question of the Week: Favorite Books, Blast From the Past Edition

We've been a little quiet on Write Brainers lately, so I thought I'd toss out a new question:

What are some of the books that you read during your K-12 years that have (for good or even not so good reason) really stuck with you?

Shift Your Reading Habits…

            To Include This Book

Amy Huntley reviews The Shifter by Janice Hardy

“Stitch together enough wrongs and it makes a blanket that almost keeps out the chill.” So says Nya, the main character in this fantastic new Balzer and Bray book, due to be released in October 2009.

Fifteen-year-old Nya is able to remove pain from other people through a simple touch. This isn’t so uncommon in her world. But what is uncommon is the way she can transfer that pain into another person. With unusual abilities comes unusual responsibility. Nya knows that she is in danger of being kidnapped because of her potential as a weapon. She knows she can be forced to inflict pain on others. Her efforts to avoid this outcome place her in complex situations where she finds herself having to bargain with her own moral code.

But don’t be misled by all this talk of morality. This is a book about tough choices, but the mid-grade reader won’t be able to put it down because of its hair raising action and suspense scenes. Set in a vividly imagined world,  and filled with interesting characters, this book is sure to please both male and female readers of all ages. We all have something to learn from it.

I can’t wait for the sequel.

 

How to Create an Enigmatic and Aloof Internet Presence in Ten Easy Steps

Once upon a time, in the good old days, authors were known to be enigmatic and aloof. Then along came the Internet, and ruined all that.

Now authors are commonly understood to be friendly, outgoing, and accessible “normal” people. Chances are, your favorite author is now on FaceBook and MySpace; has a web site; and maintains a blog. (Incidentally, these opportunities are not limited to living authors; rumor has it, Shakespeare now tweets.)

Oh, how we all miss those glory days, when authors were inaccessible and eccentric. Is it too late to turn the tide?

No. No it is not. There’s still time for writers to reclaim their collective and rightful aura of mystery! This impossible-sounding task can actually be accomplished in ten easy steps:

1. Write your blog entirely in the third person. Or better yet, the second person.

2. Resist the temptation to blog on topics popular on other writing blogs, such as: writer’s block; your writing “journey”; writing conferences; and Michelle Obama’s arms. Instead, blog about your writing “process,” and Barack Obama’s arms.

3. Include only obscure authors in your blog roll list. If any of them link back to you, delete them from your list immediately.

4. Alongside your web site or blog “Words Written” gadget, add a “Words Scratched Out”gadget. Specify both counts to two decimal places.

5. Tantalize your readers by offering only limited personal information. For instance, when composing a blog entry about your Ideal Weekend Breakfast, do not specify your preferred cereal brand.

6. All of your web site photos should depict you in silhouette, hunched over a writing surface, surrounded by crumpled paper wads. Use stock photos from a free photo site and/or PhotoShop if necessary. Alternately, use hand-drawn stick figure illustrations. Credit these drawings to your dog.

7. Wear sunglasses to all of your public appearances. When asked about them, state that Sunshine Impedes The Flow Of Ideas. When asked the inevitable follow-up question (“Where do you get your ideas?”), fling the glasses off, sneer dramatically, and shout “Next question!” Be sure that a bookseller films the outburst, and post the video to YouTube immediately.

8. For your Twitter tweets, use the Cyrillic alphabet.

9. Alter your contact link so that instead of bringing up your email address, it launches an audio feed of Philip Glass music.

10. When you use friend as a verb, put it in "quotes."

By following these easy steps, you too can have an Enigmatic Internet Presence ™.

Fellow Write Brainers, any additional suggestions?

A Review of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

 Amy Huntley

Guilty.

I've long been a person who romanticizes Native Americans. Idealized versions of Native American life have been woven deeply into the fabric of our culture. What REAL experiences have I had with Native Americans and their reservation life? Only a few: met a Navajo while passing through the reservation in Arizona when I was 16. He took me into a teepee (that's right, even though Navajos were not teepee dwellers, he had one set up at a roadside area where he was selling jewelry) and told me the story of his experiences fighting in the Vietnam War. He shot a monkey in the jungle and got into trouble for going back to bury it because he considered the monkey his brother. It was a cool story. I've been to Soaring Eagle. I've visited ancient pueblo sites in New Mexico and gone to Pipestone to see where the sacred stone for peace pipes was mined. But what all these experiences have in common is that they have reinforced rather than challenged my romanticized ideals of Native Americans.

What I love about Sherman Alexie's book is that it adds a strong dose of good old Realism (yes, I mean the literary movement that followed Romanticism) to the stew of impressions I have of Native American history and modern culture. Not that there's a single Native American culture. There are many. I learned that long ago in my travels to Native American exhibits, museums and reservations. But with Part-time Indian, for one kid (the narrator, Junior), at one reservation, during the all too vulnerable teen years, I truly got to see another side of Native American culture. Junior's complex feelings about the people of his reservation remind me (in some ways) of how I felt growing up in a small, insular farming town. His frustrations with money troubles, girls, alcoholism within the family, and the high mortality rate for the people of his reservation all ring so true.  His narrative voice is poignant and real. Something any one who remembers the teen years--no matter what their background--can relate to. I walked away understanding the difficulties Junior faced without being overwhelmed by them. Junior himself faces them with grace, dignity and the best humor he can muster. I truly appreciated his story--and the way Alexie shared it.

Stalker

by Amy Huntley

The Advanced Reader Copy of my upcoming book arrived recently. I got an email on a Wednesday from my assistant editor, Ruta Rimas, telling me it was coming. She also gave me the tracking number of its package. This tracking number became the catalyst for a major personality change on my part.

I became a package stalker.

While talking to some of the younger teachers at school, I discovered that package tracking was not uncommon among the younger--and I need not say more technologically savvy--set. I have used package tracking on rare occasions before--but only when a package whose delivery date had already expired hadn't yet reached my door. But stalking a package--that was all new for me. Apparently there are people in the world who have such a difficult time waiting for deliveries that they begin tracking the package before it's delivery date.

I became one of them.

I was so looking forward to getting that package that within two minutes of the arrival of that fateful email from HarperCollins, I was at the UPS site tracking the package. For the next two days, I kept track of every city the package went through. I knew what it's arrival scan time was. What it's departure scan time was. Friday morning, I announced to my husband, "The package went out for delivery from Lansing at 6:50 this morning."  By eleven o'clock, I knew that the package had been placed on a delivery truck at 7:50. And when the package arrived at 2:45, I ran out to the delivery truck to meet the UPS man.  (Who, by the way, seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he was delivering a package to me that would change my life. He did smile nicely at me, though.)

It's official. I've entered into a new technological state of personality. I may just become a regular package stalker. 

But I hope not. There should be something special that sets apart the arrival of your very first ARC from all other packages delivered in your lifetime.

Writing Outdoors

By Tim Bogar
MI really like to write outdoors. You may recall that at our Hankerd Inn retreat, I did a fair amount of writing on the deck.
MI have done a lot of writing on my patio. I have lots of flowers in pots, and it's nice when the butterflies and birds stop by while I'm writing. I love the breeze, the sunshine, the fresh air. The patio is quite private, which is good, since I'm distractable
MIt has an electrical outlet so I don't have to use my laptop battery. I set up a card table in the shade of the eaves, or in the shade of a Rose of Sharon bush. That way, I can almost always keep the screen in the shade.
MUNFORTUNATELY, I am far and away too sensitive to noise. In my neighborhood there's a lot of lawn mowing and clipping blowing. (Has no one heard of a broom?) One day last summer I just set up outside and someone nearby started mowing. I went in. They stopped, I went out and set up, and you guessed it. This happened a third time before I gave up. It didn't actually amuse me.
MSo this summer I'll probably stay inside. I've set up a different, quieter writing space without an easy internet hookup, and I'll probably keep writing there.

Screen the Screen

I love the idea of writing outdoors, but I never do. I find it difficult to see the monitor of my laptop in natural light. I've heard you can buy a filter for the monitor to solve this problem. Perhaps I'll get one before the writing retreat.

So, no, Mr. Fresco has never written back to me. If he ever does, I hope it won't be a rejection letter.

Do You Write Al Fresco (And If So, Does Mr. Fresco Reply?)

It's not spring yet, but it sure does feel like it today. So.. how about a weather-related question-of-the-week:

When the weather's nice, do you write outdoors? Or are you strictly an indoor writer? (Or are you perhaps like a cat, and can't make up your mind?)

Write-Brainers, post 'em if you've got 'em. All others, feel free to chime in in the Comments section.

I Lead a Charmed Life

Several centuries ago, Lori asked a "Question of the Week" on the topic of what charms, trinkets, and inspirational objects do you keep in your writing desk area. After some delay, I'm finally answering. (I'd love to have thumbnail images for you, but you'll just have to use your imagination.) In my writing vicinity, you will find the following:

• Two framed b&w photos of my children. The photos were taken by my talented photographer Dad.
• A fishy sun-catcher, given to me by my wonderful Mom.
• My favorite pottery mug, holding one pen. It's my writing pen. I try to use it.
• A Pout-Pout Fish mug, full of other pens.
• An SCBWI mug, mostly full of unsharpened pencils (I've been meaning to sharpen them, but somehow haven't). This mug also contains a rooster pen, given to me by April; though it's now out of ink, I still treasure it.
• A Lego office complete with Lego Debbie at a Lego computer and with a built-in Lego Post-It Note holder. This original creation was put together by my elder son.
• Another Lego creation, a box with a secret compartment, built by my younger son. I'm afraid if I open it, I'll never get it back together properly, so I just use my imagination as to what it contains.
• Three pieces of art by my boys.
• A birdhouse decoration that originally sat on top of my wedding cake.
• A magnet that says, "When you absolutely, positively have to know: Ask A Librarian!"
• A small pottery container given to me by April. It stores the earplugs that I wear when writing if the children are loud (i.e. when they're awake).
• A magnificently lovely barn photo taken by my Dad.
• A beautiful tile turkey created by Shutta Crum.
• A Laura B. DeLind linocut, "Great Expectations."
• A collection of rocks. Each rock has its own story.
• A coaster with my elder son's handprint.
• A coupon from my younger son, good for "One Big Hug." It includes, in his writing, an expiration date: 100/100/1020.

It's a charmed life, indeed.

Good Luck Charms

I recently brought my mother's antique writing desk up to my bedroom and have been using it as my workplace. In the past I have worked at my kitchen table, in my living room at a TV tray, at a rolling desk to follow the sunbeam through my house (like a dog).

Something happened when I started working at an actual desk, though. Little treasures accumulated: A beautiful Robert Sabuda pop-up Christmas card from my friend Erin, a picture of my kids, a framed Gwen Frostic poem that used to be Debbie's, an enormous conch seashell from my childhood. There is an encouraging card from my mother, with congratulations for a small publication. A favorite handpainted china saucer is used as a coaster. I have a clay figurine molded by one of my kids when they were very young. It's supposed to be a dog, but resembles something more alligator-like. There is also some junk in the drawers that needs cleaning out, and some clutter in the little side bins, too.

I never thought of these things as particularly or deliberately inspiring, but I realize now how nice it is to have my own little corner with trinkets and things to look at while I work. They are sort of the opposite of distracting, which is what you call inspiration I suppose.

This question was on Kirby Larson's blog: What are the things you keep on your shelves or on your walls that celebrate your writing self? That comfort you? That inspire you?

Let's make that our question this week. Tell us what it looks like where you are working. :o)

Winter Whoa Woes

I'm inordinately unfond of winter. Other than cross-country skiing, I find no use for snow. I detest winter driving. And the cold? I have nothing good to say about it. Nor, really, about winter in general. The days are short, and cabin fever a reality. All the hot cocoa in the world doesn't quite make up for winter's shortcomings.

On the plus side? Few distractions.

No flowers to smell. No long jacketless walks to take. No beaches to visit. No lawns to mow.

As long as I can ward off the midwinter doldrums (a battle I'm slowly winning as the years go on -- lots of exercise and sufficient sleep seem to help greatly), I actually get quite a bit of writing done in the winter. When there's little else to do but hunker down and work, well, one hunkers down and works.

But as soon as that first crocus pops up? I'm clockin' out!

Writing Through the Seasons

-April

Is it a form of affective disorder to have your writing ability influenced by sunlight (or lack thereof)? We should really come up with an official term for weather writing. For me, it's not just my writing that is affected by winter, though: I go into a form of hibernation that looks a lot like me walking around, but isn't. I'm somewhere deep inside, waiting it out.
I do like to read in the winter, like Lori says. Big fat books, late at night with tea nearby.

That being said, I have lately decided to push myself to tie up some loose ends with unfinished stories. Just yesterday, I completed a first draft of a playful project involving nursery rhymes. This week, I edited a nonfiction piece that I'd put on the back shelf many months ago. Today, I'm working on another idea.
So I guess it's not so much the Weather, as Whether or not you can overcome it!

Turning, Turning

By Lori

My writing normally doesn't follow seasonal ebbs and flows, but has a cycle all its own. The current downward turn is happening to coincide with the middle of the winter, which is a bummer, because winter on it's own doesn't promote a lot of motivation in general on my part.

So, I have been reading a lot, reviewing books and conducting industry interviews for my blog, seeing movies and giving my brain a chance to incubate some ideas. I'm trying to honor the cycle, in hopes that I can help things along by not getting my undies in a bunch over things.

I'm considering abandoning a story I have outlined because it's not holding my interest. Maybe I'll go back to it another day, or incorporate bits of that plot into whatever I work on next. Nothing is wasted. I have a new idea that is very close to my heart, is but a wisp on the paper as of yet. But perhaps I'll tackle it head on in the weeks ahead. And maybe that will be the upswing for a while, until I have to get quiet again.

And so the circle goes. I keep turning turning turning until, eventually (hopefully) I come around right. . . .

Car Won't Start

by Ann

My writing is stalled, and it is tempting to blame the cold.

In fairness though, the real culprit is a ton of family issues. Also I'm in the slowing accelerating phase of a new project. I've done character sketches, made flow charts, and written pages of notes. Soon, I will plan a chapter-by-chapter sequence of events.

The main problem is my main character has lost his voice. Yes, I've tried taking him to the doctor, but the car keeps sliding into snow drifts. Maybe if I could get outside and ski or hike, I could rev up my brain and hear his nerdy, self-absorbed little voice again.

Weather Whither

This week's question for Write Brainers and Write Brainer Readers is...

What with winter currently upon us (subzero temps and windchill and all), do you find that you're writing substantially more, or less, due to the season? Does winter cause you to head in and hole up with your pencil? Or does winter bring on a bout of cabin fever that cuts into your creativity? If winter's not your thing, do you have a particular favorite season for writing?

(OK, so that was more than one question. Call it a question "cluster" if you will. Anyway. Discuss.)