Author: hatfield13

How They Got Here: 2009 Debut Author Carrie Ryan

This post is part of a year-long series of blog interviews I’ll be hosting with my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, called "How They Got Here." 

It should be an especially helpful series for teens who write, teachers, and anyone who wants to write for kids.  2009 debut authors will be dropping by to talk about how their writing in school shaped the authors they are today, what teachers can do to make a difference, how they revise, and how they found their agents and editors.  (You’ll even be able to read some successful query letters!)  If you know a teacher or two who might be interested, please share the link!


Today…Carrie Ryan, author of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH!

In Mary’s world, there are simple truths.  The Sisterhood always knows best.  The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent.  And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

Welcome, Carrie! Tell us about the first thing you ever wrote that made you think maybe you were a writer.

Actually the VERY first thing I wrote (that I remember) was a poem when I was in middle school. I read it to my dad and he was like "what book is that from?" and I told him I’d written it. I remember the look of surprise and pride on his face and it made me realize that I could write something he thought was publishable!

What books did you love when you were a kid?

Any and all books! I loved Nancy Drew and then Sweet Valley High and then Christopher Pike books. I learned how to speed read staying up until two in the morning reading Christopher Pike, too afraid to put his books down!

Is there a particular teacher or librarian who was a mentor for you in your reading and writing life?

So many teachers were mentors to me and I was so excited to be able to send them a copy of my book! I wrote my first short story for Mrs. Carter, my high school English teacher and she encouraged me so much. She’s definitely one of those teachers who everyone remembers and everyone tells stories about at reunions 🙂

Moving on to the here and now, most writers admit that making time to write can sometimes be a challenge.  When and where do you write?   Do you have any special rituals?  Music?  Food & beverages?

With The Forest of Hands and Teeth I would write in the evenings after work. I was a lawyer preparing for trial during part of it and sometimes the only time I could find was the 8 minutes while I was waiting for the water to boil for Mac’n’Cheese! Now I’m a full time writer so I generally write during the day once the procrastination becomes too much!

I try really hard not to have any rituals, but most days I end up writing while I sit in my chair with a diet coke by my side (and often a cat draped somewhere).

Do you have a favorite strategy for revision?

Attack revisions! Generally I start with the big picture stuff, trying to think through the best way to approach the issues. Then, once I have a plan of action I go in and rewrite what needs rewriting and putting notes in the margins of other things to change. Finally I do a read through to make sure it all fits together. Mostly I just try to have an open mind and try to think of different ways to approach each problem.

What’s your best advice for young writers?

Read and write. I really think that reading is one of the best ways to learn craft, to see how other writers structure a story, structure characters, pacing, etc. I also feel like sometimes people really *want* to write, but never actually sit down and write.

Oh, and to remember the love — remember that you love writing and that’s why you do it 🙂

What’s special about your debut novel?

It’s special to me because I wrote it as a love letter to my fiance. I know that sounds kind of strange given what the story is about, but he was literally with me every step along the way as I wrote and wanted to know the ending as much as I did!

What were the best and worst parts of writing it?

The best were the moments that everything around me disappeared and I was in Mary’s world. When the words just flowed. The worst were the moments when I didn’t know what happened next and I was afraid of ruining the story!

How did you find your agent and/or editor?

Just sent him a query letter! I did a lot of research into agents and figured he might be interested based on other projects he represented. He emailed asking for more and then offered representation.

And here’s the letter!

Dear  ________:

I read on Publisher’s Marketplace about your recent sale of _______ ‘s zombie novel, ___________ , and thought you might be interested in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, my 70,000-word literary post-apocalyptic novel targeted to the young adult market.

Generations after the zombie apocalypse known as The Return, Mary’s life is as circumscribed by her community’s strict religion as it is by the fences that form her village’s only defense against the hordes of the undead — the Unconsecrated — who dwell in the surrounding forest.

Her faith is shattered the day her mother becomes infected by the Unconsecrated, and her belief in her community is destroyed when she secretly witnesses the Church leadership imprison, then condemn, a miraculously non-infected outsider who somehow finds a safe path to the village. The only other person who questions their Puritanical lifestyle is her betrothed’s crippled brother, Travis, who has been assigned to wed Mary’s best friend. Mary is torn between her duty to friends and society and her growing love for Travis.

When the Unconsecrated breach the fences and overrun the village, Mary, Travis, and their intendeds are among the few survivors. Now, their only chance is to brave the outsider’s path through the deadly Forest in an attempt to discover the only thing that Mary still believes in — that there is a world beyond the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

I am an active member in Romance Writers of America and several of its subchapters. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is my third completed manuscript and will appeal to fans of Alice Hoffman, Libba Bray, and Meg Rosoff.

Per the submissions guidelines on your agency’s website, I have pasted below the first chapter and synopsis. I would be delighted to send the full manuscript at your request. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Carrie Ryan

Thanks for sharing your fantastic query, Carrie!

You can read more about Carrie at her website, and of course, you can ask for THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH at your local independent bookseller.  You can also order it through one of my favorite indies, Flying Pig Bookstore (they ship!), or find an indie near you by checking out IndieBound!

Up next in the "How They Got Here" Debut 2009 series… Neesha Meminger, author of SHINE, COCONUT MOON, will be stopping by on Tuesday, March 24.

How They Got Here: 2009 Debut Author Cynthea Liu

This post is part of a year-long series of blog interviews I’ll be hosting with my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, called "How They Got Here." 

It should be an especially helpful series for teens who write, teachers, and anyone who wants to write for kids.  2009 debut authors will be dropping by to talk about how their writing in school shaped the authors they are today, what teachers can do to make a difference, how they revise, and how they found their agents and editors.  (You’ll even be able to read some successful query letters!)  If you know a teacher or two who might be interested, please share the link!


Today…Cynthea Liu, author of THE GREAT CALL OF CHINA!

Chinese-born Cece was adopted when she was two years old by her American parents. Living in Texas, she’s bored of her ho-hum high school and dull job. So when she learns about the S.A.S.S. program to Xi’an, China, she jumps at the chance. She’ll be able to learn about her passion—anthropology—and it will give her the opportunity to explore her roots. But when she arrives, she receives quite a culture shock. And the closer she comes to finding out about her birth parents, the more apprehensive she gets.

Enter Will, the cute guy she first meets on the plane. He and Cece really connect during the program. But can he help her get accustomed to a culture she should already know about, or will she leave China without the answers she’s been looking for?

Welcome, Cynthea! Tell us about the first thing you ever wrote that made you think maybe you were a writer.

Hmmm… that would probably be my first query letter.  It was to Arthur A. Levine and it got a yes! So I was pretty psyched about that. Made me think that I might have a future in children’s book publishing. I know it was only a query letter, but that was plenty enough for me.

What books did you love when you were a kid?

I ate up any book that had animals in it. Misty of Chincoteague, Trumpet of the Swan, Black Beauty, Mouse and the Motorcycle …

Is there a particular teacher or librarian who was a mentor for you in your reading and writing life?

I still remember my Algebra teacher in 8th grade. I moaned to her there was nothing to read anymore. I had basically blown through every book in the library that had looked interesting to me, and I thought I was done. She brought me a copy of one of her favorite authors, Dean Koontz. I think it was WATCHERS. Then I realized there was a whole world of adult fiction I hadn’t even begun to explore. So thank you to Ms. Macon for reviving my love for reading. (I swear, I skipped over the love scenes in that book!) 🙂

Moving on to the here and now, most writers admit that making time to write can sometimes be a challenge.  When and where do you write?   Do you have any special rituals?  Music?  Food & beverages?

All I really need is my laptop and a four-hour stretch of time. That 4-hour thing is rare these days. But when I do have it, things get even better if I have a diet Dr. Pepper to go with and a Snickers bar. Yes!

Do you have a favorite strategy for revision?

Hmmm… I usually write the whole thing first and only go back to make major revisions that affect forthcoming chapters or pages. Once the first draft is done, I start from the top and work my way through the book again. I do this a few times with my critique partners before it’s ready for my agent.

What’s your best advice for young writers?

Believe that you can do it if you are willing to listen, learn, and endure.

What’s special about your debut novel?

THE GREAT CALL is unique because there are few fiction books that feature a teenage foreign-born adoptee. It’s amost a first in its own right. I think the selection of books in the United States could better reflect how diverse our country is, and it’s not just about skin color. It’s also about diversity within our families, too. 

What were the best and worst parts of writing it?

The best part of writing any book is putting THE END on it! Seriously. Developing something from nothing, like writing a novel, is way harder than having a baby. At least when you’re pregnant, your body is on auto-pilot. You just have to deal with the backpain and all the trips to the bathroom. With writing a book, however, everything (except for the stuff your editor makes you do) is up to you. You have to take care of all the details—what the characters say, think, do, and much, much more! It can be more tiring than labor, that’s for sure.
The worst part of writing THE GREAT CALL OF CHINA was tackling a dramatic scene that could easily cross over to melodrama. It took me forever to get that down in a way that I thought was acceptable. So big emotional scenes are one that I really dread writing.  They can be so taxing.

(Though somewhere in all of this, I assure you I do have fun writing. There’s nothing like nailing a good line! But … THE END is still more fun to write.)

How did you find your agent and/or editor?

I researched agencies via the usual channels–on the Internet, using Jeff Herman’s guide, the CWIM, and SCBWI publications.  After I narrowed it down, I just queried a few agents with my picture book manuscripts. After they rejected me, I queried again with a new manuscript I had written. That manuscript was PARIS PAN TAKES THE DARE, which is coming out in June. An agent connected with that story, and the rest, as they say, is history! 

This was the pitch used in the query letter:

Twelve-year-old Paris Pan has moved to a small town where she has a real shot at making friends. But that friendship comes at a price. She must take The Dare, something that killed a girl on the very property she now resides. To make matters worse, Paris must play basketball against her will, eradicate a crush on the least desirable boy in sixth grade, and cope with a family crisis that was possibly caused by a chili dog.

Thanks, Cynthea!

You can read more about Cynthea at her website.  You can pick up your copy of THE GREAT CALL OF CHINA at your local independent bookseller, order it through one of my favorite indies, Flying Pig Bookstore (they ship!), or find an indie near you by checking out IndieBound!

Up next in the "How They Got Here" Debut 2009 series… Carrie Ryan, author of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, will be stopping by on Thursday, March 12.

Five Things on a Friday

1.  Last night, my editor sent me the almost-but-not-quite-final cover for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z, and I absolutely LOVE it.  I just sat and stared at it for about ten minutes.  I swooned.  Then I sent it to my mother, who also stared and swooned.  This morning, I Skyped her and we stared and swooned together.  I can’t wait to share it with the rest of you in a few weeks when it’s final-final! 

2. After many months of revising and editing books under contract, I have two new projects "out there" in the big world this week — my MG novel called SUGAR ON SNOW and a new picture book.  For those of you in the earlier stages of submitting work and wondering if that excited, scary feeling goes away after the second or third book, the answer (at least for me) is no.  

3. Kara LaReau, my former editor at Scholastic, has launched a new business that will be of special interest to writer friends.  After leaving publishing this fall, she decided to start her own creative consulting company called Bluebird Works.  (If you know Kara, that name is so perfect – she’s an absolute joy to be around.)  She’s offering manuscript critiques, among other things, and if you have a book that needs a good critical eye, I can’t think of anyone I’d trust more.  Here’s the PW article about her new venture.


4. I’ve read a bunch of great books lately, mostly MG and YA but also this one for teachers.

THE BOOK WHISPERER by Donalyn Miller comes out this month and is all about helping kids love reading again.  The author is an amazing 6th grade teacher whose ideas will be familiar to many of us who promote reading and help kids choose books in our classrooms all the the time.  (cfaughnan , the author of this book reminds me a lot of you.) I think it ought to be required reading for every teacher, especially those who are so worried about standardized testing that they’ve forgotten what it’s like to love a good story.

5.  I’m just starting to teach one of my favorite units — a research project where the kids choose a character from Colonial America, research every aspect of that person’s life, and write a work of historical fiction in a first person diary format.  We have a Colonial Tavern in the school cafeteria as our celebration at the end of this unit, complete with musical performances, dances, displays, and TONS of colonial treats. 
Snickerdoodles, anyone? 

Have a terrific Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Welcome to the Future

As a teacher, I’m so very fortunate to work in a school district that supports creative technology integration in the classroom. The kind of technology that let my kids chat with Laurie Halse Anderson via Skype last week. The kind that lets them participate in Harvard University’s River City research project about how science-based virtual reality games can promote authentic scientific inquiry. It’s a school district that just gave me permission to visit other teachers’ classrooms from my desk during my lunch hour, to talk with their kids about my books and writing.  I’m thankful for all of that.

I know not everyone is fortunate enough to have that kind of technology or the kind of leadership that recognizes how it can help kids explore and learn. Sometimes, there’s fear of what’s "out there."  My own district has blocking software that used to filter out all of LiveJournal, but a discussion with our technology boss about the author blogs that my kids read and love prompted some tweaks to let your blogs through. I truly believe that teachers and administrators AND students need to have those kinds of talks. If you’re interested in how kids are taught in schools, you’ll want to check out this video of Peggy Sheehy’s student keynote for the Net Generation Project (thanks to coolcatteacher for the link!). It’s a wonderful way to begin the conversation.


Find more videos like this on grownupdigital

The Amaranth Enchantment: An Interview with Author Julie Berry

This is kind of a long story, but first of all, let me tell you that you really need to get this book and read it. 

I had the good fortune of reading THE AMARANTH ENCHANTMENT as an early draft, and it was amazing even then.  If you like fantasy with a fairy tale feeling — books like ELLA ENCHANTED — you will absolutely love it.

Now…the story.  THE AMARANTH ENCHANTMENT is by Julie Berry, who is the little sister of my best friend from junior high school.  At the New England SCBWI Conference two years ago, I heard someone call my name, and there was Julie, all grown up and beautiful and brilliant and writing amazing books for kids.  Her sister Joanna, my friend and a talented writer, too, was in touch with me online and told Julie I’d be in Nashua.  We swapped critiques and have been touching base with writer-talk ever since.

In case you weren’t lucky enough to grow up hanging around Julie’s house in the country like I was, here’s a chance to get to know her a bit – a 2009 Debut Authors feature!

Welcome, Julie!  Tell us about the first thing you ever wrote that made you think maybe you were a writer.

In sixth grade, I was assigned to find a photo in a magazine and write a descriptive paragraph. I found a picture in National Geographic of a jungle waterfall. I’m pretty sure I used words like “glossy” to describe the jungle leaves, and “thundering cascade” for the waterfall itself, the kind of stuff no editor would let me get away with today. But I was proud of my paragraph, and I showed it to my older sister, who said, “Maybe you should be a writer when you grow up.” She was my big sister, she knew everything, so naturally, I figured, she must be right.
 
What books did you love when you were a kid?

Oh, goodness! So many. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, first of all. Little Women and everything by Louisa May Alcott. All the Little House books. The Great Brain books by John D. Fitzgerald. Anne of Green Gables and all its sequels by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Plenty of Nancy Drew, too. I loved anything by Roald Dahl, and still do.  Some of my favorite books – and I still have the dog-eared paperbacks – were It’s Like This, Cat, by Emily Neville, Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien, and Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson. Two of my favorites when I was very young were The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese, and I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew by Dr. Seuss.

Is there a particular teacher or librarian who was a mentor for you in your reading and writing life?

My sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Mary Vosler, inspired me by challenging me. She was utterly unimpressed with my writing, or so I thought at the time, and it irked me just enough to make me try harder. She made me rewrite assignments repeatedly, and chastised my handwriting, grammar, and construction. She wouldn’t accept a paper from me until it was perfect (by at least some measure).  I’ve thanked her repeatedly for being strict with me! She was a gem of a teacher. Language is bigger than we are, and it deserves nothing less than our best effort.

Note: Mrs. Vosler was my 6th grade teacher, too, and she’s every bit as awesome as Julie says.

Moving on to the here and now, most writers admit that making time to write can sometimes be a challenge.  When and where do you write?   Do you have any special rituals?  Music?  Food & beverages?

Generally, I write at night, after my sons have gone to bed.  Kids need my attention when they’re awake; writing needs attention, too.  I write best in a quiet space when distractions are at a minimum.  When I’m under a deadline, sometimes I’ll go to the library for an evening after my husband gets home from work, or for a block of time on Saturday afternoons.  I don’t have any rituals, really, and I don’t eat while writing because eating late at night, and eating at the library are both taboo (alas).  This is my ideal set of conditions, but I’ve learned that I need to be flexible about every aspect of my writing, or else circumstances will prevent it from happening. Laptop in bed vs. PC in office, library or home, quiet or noise, I have to roll with it.
 
Do you have a favorite strategy for revision?

During the writing process I try to be gentle and sweet to my ideas. Come revision time, I’m stern, like Mrs. Vosler. At least, I try to be.  If I’m unsure about how to revise, cutting is a good way to start. I save backup copies just in case, but then I slash my way through a piece.  Rather than wondering if I should cut, I like to cut, then see how it feels. Probably the best strategy of all is just to listen. Listen to what you’re really telling yourself when you read and reread a piece.  Get your ego out of the way, and listen to what you already know about how the piece can improve.

What’s your best advice for young writers?

Read lots, and write in a journal. Develop a bulletproof vocabulary – when you find a word you don’t know, look it up, then use it! Those are the basics, like brushing and flossing. Beyond that, when you write creatively, write about what excites you, or what you really care about. Don’t worry about what’s a good idea or a bad idea. If it interests you, it’s good enough. Then just write and write and write. If you have a teacher, friend, or parent who will challenge you to make your writing better, don’t get discouraged – count yourself lucky.
 
What’s special about your debut novel?

The things I love most about The Amaranth Enchantment, I think, are Lucinda’s friendship with Beryl, and her romance.  There’s nothing in the world quite like falling in love for the first time, and I tried to capture that experience. Aside from that, the story would lose a lot without Peter the rascal. And every girl needs a goat named Dog.  I enjoyed developing the otherworldly aspect of the fantasy, and I hope that readers will enjoy that as well.
 
What were the best and worst parts of writing it?

Writing this novel was joyful.  I felt close to Lucinda. Her ups and downs became my own. I liked and respected her, I wanted her to win.  Figuring out how to make that happen was a big triumph.  Authors often don’t know how they’re going to solve the dilemmas they’ve created for their characters until they’ve thrashed around for a while. So that was a lot of fun. The hard parts were the late nights of propping my eyelids open, and some of the revision work. Not that the revisions were bad, they were just challenging. That’s where the real problem-solving happens. I think authors don’t really write novels into being, they revise them into being.

How did you find your agent and/or editor?

I met my agent at a local SCBWI conference. I introduced myself, and followed up with a short note in the mail.  We corresponded, I sent a submission, and ultimately, she offered to represent me.

Thanks, Julie ~ and many, many congratulations on your debut!  I can’t wait to read it all over again.

3rd and 4th Graders Want to Know…

The third and fourth graders at one of my recent school visits sent me off with a big packet of letters at the end of the day, and I honestly have to say this is pretty much my favorite thing about being an author.  Here’s a peek at what they had to say…

Michael writes:  I like biographies because I like to know about people that I like the best.  Could you write one biography about someone you know or that you want to learn about that you think is the best?  Or maybe you could write a biography about the person in your family you like the best or write a biography about your whole family so I could read it once it comes out after being published by the publisher.

I don’t have any immediate plans to write a biography, Michael, but I have some author friends like Tanya Lee Stone and Kerry Madden who have written great ones recently. You may want to check out their websites with a teacher or parent.

Ellery writes:  I normally don’t enjoy historical fiction or nonfiction, but your book Champlain and the Silent One was great!  I loved how you added a sense of humor to a very serious situation.  Like the way you described Stinking Dog!

Thanks, Ellery!  The nickname “Stinking Dog” is fictional, but it’s based on historical documents that describe the Frenchman Pont Grave as a large, loud man who sat around all day, eating and…well…passing gas.  It’s pretty amazing what you can find in those primary sources sometimes.

Danny writes: I liked your book.  It almost felt like I felt myself sitting in a canoe with the wind blowing in my hair in the 1600s.

Thanks, Danny.  I felt that way when I was writing it sometimes, too. I think historical fiction is a great way to time-travel!

Austin writes: Once I was fishing.  It was a calm night, water not moving at all, no fish biting.  I was about to give up fishing.  All of a sudden, I thought I had a weed hooked, or at least until my pole bent down like a bridge.  I almost had the fish on the dock.  I was reeling so fast that I felt like my palm was on fire!  Sounds pretty interesting, right?  It must have been for me to write a narrative about it, because I just did.

Wow! And you chose such vivid words, Austin!  I felt like I was right there at the water with you and the fish.  Keep writing!

Patrick writes:  Are you only going to write about history?  If not, what else are you going to write about?  My favorite genres are realistic fiction, fantasy, and animal stories. Maybe you could write about one or two of those.  Only if you want to, of course.

My next book, THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z, is realistic fiction set in Vermont.  It’s the one I told you about when I came to visit, where the girl has that HUGE leaf collection project where everything goes wrong.  I’ll give some thought to the fantasy and animal books…

Haeli writes: When did you start writing stories?  I was four years old when I started writing stories.  When I began, I wrote stories like “Where Is Little Dog?” because I have two dogs.  If you wrote stories when you were five or six, what did you write about?

One of my earliest memories of writing is in first grade, when I wrote a story about two kids having a snowball fight.  I still remember the first line.  “Suzy threw a snowball at her brother.”  Pretty exciting, huh?  I don’t remember the rest of the story, but I do remember how my teacher, Mrs. Arnold, put my paper up on the board and said, “Now this is a terrific story!”  It helped me start to see myself as a writer.

Josh writes: I hope you never stop writing because you are a very, very, very, very , very good author.

Gosh!  Thank you!

And thanks to all of my new 3rd & 4th grade reader friends!  A letter to all of you is in the mail, along with some bookmarks to use with whatever books you are enjoying now.

How They Got Here: 2009 Debut Author Jenny Moss

This post is part of a year-long series of blog interviews I’ll be hosting with my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, called "How They Got Here." 

It should be an especially helpful series for teens who write, teachers, and anyone who wants to write for kids.  2009 debut authors will be dropping by to talk about how their writing in school shaped the authors they are today, what teachers can do to make a difference, how they revise, and how they found their agents and editors.  (You’ll even be able to read some successful query letters!)  If you know a teacher or two who might be interested, please share the link!

Today…Jenny Moss, author of WINNIE’S WAR!

A debut novel set against the backdrop of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.

Life in Winnie’s sleepy town of Coward Creek, Texas, is just fine for her. Although her troubled mother’s distant behavior has always worried Winnie, she’s plenty busy caring for her younger sisters, going to school, playing chess with Mr. Levy, and avoiding her testy grandmother. Plus, her sweetheart Nolan is always there to make her smile when she’s feeling low. But when the Spanish Influenza claims its first victim, lives are suddenly at stake, and Winnie has never felt so helpless. She must find a way to save the people she loves most, even if doing so means putting her own life at risk.

I had the good fortune to read an ARC of Winnie’s War and was swept away by Jenny’s story of a small-town Texas girl standing up to try and protect her family from the 1918 influenza epidemic. This is the very best kind of historical fiction – full of rich characters, vividly detailed history, the suspense of a threatening pandemic, and even a touch of romance, in the form of a first-kiss scene that made me smile for weeks after I read it. Teachers, in particular, will want to snatch this one up for their classrooms and school libraries.

Welcome, Jenny! Tell us about the first thing you ever wrote that made you think maybe you were a writer.

I can’t remember when I *didn’t* think of myself as a writer. But I do remember when I realized someone else might view me that way, too. It was one of my junior high English teachers, who praised my writing in front of the class. Teachers rock — and matter more than they probably know.

Is there a particular teacher or librarian who was a mentor for you in your reading and writing life?

So many! But this from my Acknowledgments page:

Many thanks to: The librarians at the numerous libraries I visited in Harris and Galveston counties, but especially to Mrs. Simkulet, wherever you may be, my first favorite librarian, who taught me how to shelve books and about kindness

Do you have a favorite strategy for revision?

Printing out the whole manuscript and reading it through first is a must for me.

What’s your best advice for young writers?

Write, read, and enjoy!

What’s special about your debut novel?

The main character, Winnie, lives in a small Texas town in 1918. Much of her life is very different from kids today, but some of her worries are timeless.

How did you find your agent and/or editor?

I found my agent through research, and she found me in slush.

If you’re a fan of historical fiction, WINNIE’S WAR is a middle grade novel you won’t want to miss.  You can pick up a copy at your local independent bookseller, order it through one of my favorite indies, Flying Pig Bookstore(they ship!), or find an indie near you by checking out IndieBound!

Up next in the "How They Got Here" Debut 2009 series… Cynthea Liu, author of THE GREAT CALL OF CHINA, will be stopping by on Monday, March 9.

Virtual Author Visits: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, & the Awesome

There’s been a lot of online chatter lately about virtual author visits, and as someone who wears two hats, I’ve been paying special attention. Because I’m a middle school English teacher as well as an author, my ability to travel for school visits is somewhat limited, so I’ll be using Skype videoconferencing software to offer virtual visits to classrooms and book clubs when THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z is released in September.


I also love the idea of my own students having more opportunities to talk with authors, and today my 7th graders had a virtual visit with the amazing Laurie Halse Anderson. We read CHAINS this winter and were swept away, so the kids had lots of questions about how Laurie researched the novel and brought her characters to life. Laurie is planning to offer virtual visits for schools starting in the fall, and we were thrilled to be her guinea pigs. Our kids piled into the auditorium at 9:45 this morning and waited for my laptop to ring with Laurie’s 10am call on Skype.

And then there she was!

Laurie and I agreed to double team an online review of our virtual visit – I’m providing a teacher’s perspective, and she’s blogging about the experience from the author’s point of view over at halseanderson .  So here are my thoughts on virtual visits: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the awesome…

The Good:

~Laurie is not only an incredibly talented author but also a friendly, generous, down-to-earth person, and that came through on the big screen, too. Our 7th graders loved her before this visit; they love her more now.

~She gave answers that were just long enough but not too long. We had time for about 30 kids to ask questions in a 45-minute visit, and they were just thrilled. When the kids asked about her research, she held up her latest sources.

~Our plan to keep things organized worked. Students knew who was asking questions and when it was their turn. I gave each interviewer a rundown, along with an index card with the question her or she wrote.


Kids were on “standby” when the person before them on the list was talking with Laurie, and that kept things moving along.

~The setup for this virtual visit was pretty much painless.

~I brought in my laptop from home (a MacBook with a built-in camera), connected it to the projector in our auditorium, hooked the computer into the school network, and patched it into our sound system.

~Skype worked like it was supposed to work 95% of the time. (See “the Ugly” for the other 5%)

The Bad: (What we’d do differently next time)

~Sometimes, it was hard for our auditorium audience to hear the questions being asked. Our interviewers were facing Laurie on the laptop, rather than the other students. Next time we do a virtual author visit, I’ll remind the kids about the need to speak up, try to get a microphone set up, or perhaps ask if our author might be willing to repeat questions before answering.

The Ugly:

~Skype is wonderful and magical and free. It is also subject to the whims of all sorts of Internet bandwidth, firewall, and other technology issues that I don’t entirely understand. As a result, four or five times during our virtual visit, we simply lost the connection. Laurie’s face would freeze mid-sentence, and we had to hang up and call her back. Usually, that all happened within a few seconds, but once I had to quit Skype and re-launch the application before we could get our connection back, and that took an extra minute. Overall, the interruptions were annoying but manageable.

The Awesome:

~Kids who I never dreamed would stand and share a question were so excited to talk with Laurie. She treated each student like his or her question was the most important one in the world. I watched their faces as they listened. They glowed.

~My class was watching the ALA video-conference from Denver last month and cheered when Laurie was announced as the winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. We cheered again today and loved that she could hear us this time!

~We also got to listen to Laurie read the first few pages of FORGE, the sequel to CHAINS, told from the point of view of Isabel’s friend, Curzon. It is so full of promise that I don’t know how I’m going to wait until 2010 to read the rest.

Thanks, Laurie, for such a wonderful morning with our kids!

If you want to read about another author/illustrator’s experience, Elizabeth Dulemba has an extensive blog post on her first virtual visit, too.

And finally….a to-do list for teachers who want to set up a Skype virtual author visit.

1. Download Skype at home and try it out with someone you know. Figure out how it works. It’s pretty simple, but you’ll want to make sure you’re comfortable before you set up a visit.

2. Contact your technology coordinator to see if you can use Skype at school. Some will say yes. Some will say no. And some will wave magic wands and adjust bandwidth restrictions and unblock things so you can pull it off. Send them chocolate later.

3. Contact the author with whom you’d like to have a virtual visit. Find out about availability, technology needs, and fees. Also be aware that video chats aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so if an author says no thanks, respect that.

4. Once you’ve set up a date and time (morning may be best to avoid high usage Internet times), reserve the space where you’ll be having your virtual visit. Make sure the equipment you’ll need is available and working. If you’re not good with technology, enlist the help of a co-worker who is. Send that person chocolate later, too.

5. Make a plan for your virtual visit. How long will it last? (30-45 minutes seems to be perfect.) Who will ask questions? Where will they stand? Where do they go when they’re done? If you figure it out ahead of time, you won’t have to interrupt your visit to deal with questions.

6. Talk to your students about etiquette for a virtual author visit. In many ways, it’s just like having a guest speaker in your auditorium or classroom in person, and kids need to know that all the same rules about courteous behavior apply. It will also be important for them to know that technical issues are a possibility and that their quiet cooperation will help you get things fixed more quickly.

7. Test Skype at school. It doesn’t matter if you’ve tested it at home; things are different on school networks, and you don’t want to discover a problem when it’s time for your virtual visit.

8. On the day of your virtual visit, launch Skype and either call the author or wait for him/her to call you – whatever you agreed upon in advance. Know that there may be technical problems, but you’ll be able to fix them. You may want to have kids bring books for silent reading in case there’s an extended period of lost contact. Planning and flexibility (and a sense of humor!) will go a long way toward making your virtual author visit a great experience!

One more thing….

9. After your virtual visit, would you stop back here and let me know how it goes? I can’t wait to hear more about kids & authors coming together through technology!

best tracker


A Breath of Summer

If you read my blog with any regularity, you know that we love winter at my house.  A big snowstorm, in all its fluffy white glory, is about as good as it gets for this family of skiers.  But every now and then, we start to miss colors like green and red and purple.  Yesterday, the Montreal Botanical Garden provided a welcome breath of summer.

The best part?  Butterflies Go Free…a special exhibit of thousands of butterflies, set free in the main greenhouse. (Those within striking distance of Montreal may want to know that the exhibit runs through April 26th.) The butterflies were purchased from free trade butterfly farms in Costa Rica, and they are spectacular.

More butterfly photos behind the cut…

GIANNA Z’s Page Proofs

So all this week, I’ve been reviewing page proofs for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z, looking for any mistakes that survived the copy editing process and any typos that were introduced during type-setting.  I was distracted throughout this process because when page proofs arrive in the mail, your actual title page is included.  I kept flipping back to stare at it…

Did you see the little leaves?!!  Squeeee!!!!

I mean…ahem…I’m very busy looking for typos now…