Another celebrity is jumping into the world of writing for children. And this time it's David Beckham. Yes, David Beckham is launching a series of books for children.
According to parentdish, David Beckham will base the books on his soccer academies for children in London and Los Angeles. And unlike many celebrity authors, he is not claiming that he will actually write the books; no, they will all be ghostwritten. It seems he's trying to use his name to get kids to read, especially those kids who like soccer.
I don't know. I guess this can be a good thing, especially if the books appeal to boys. I mean, it can't hurt anyway!
~Coe~ P.S. I can't seem to find any information on the publisher yet. I'll post it in the comments section when I find it!
[Edited to add: Here's another article on the books.]
The Guardian UK posted an amazing set of essays last week, on HOW TO WRITE FOR CHILDREN, featuring thoughts on character, story, voice, and the path to publication by kids lit heavyweights Lauren Child, Linda Newbery, David Fickling, and Michael Rosen.
In fact, you might want to set an hour aside and go through the entire Guardian HOW TO WRITE series...including screenplays, memoir, comedy, poetry, etc.
How cool is that?
-=siobhan=-
*stolen from Carlie's fabulous Librarilly Blonde blog, where there just so happens to be an interview with moi up.
I found this amazing blog via Emily Magazine-- it's called What Claudia Wore, and it's all about my fav BSC-er Claudia Kishi. Girl knew how rock a pair of leggings.
for your reading pleasure, an excerpt from Mary Ann's Bad Luck Mystery:
"Nobody, but nobody, dresses like Claudia. At least, nobody in our grade. (We used to have a friend, another member of the Baby-sitters Club, named Stacey McGill, who dressed kind of like Claudia. But Stacey moved back to New York, where she used to live. And anyway, trust me, Claudia is unique.) The best way to get this point across is to describe to you what Claudia was wearing at lunch that day. It was her vegetable blouse: an oversized white shirt with a green vegetable print all over it - cabbages and squashes and turnips and stuff. Under the blouse was a very short jean skirt, white stockings, green anklets over the stockings, and lavender sneakers, the kind boys usually wear, with a lot of rubber and big laces and the name of the manufacturer in huge letters on the sides. Wait, I'm not done. Claudia had pulled the hair on one side of her head back with a yellow clip that looked like a poodle. The hair on the other side of her head was hanging in her face. Attached to the one ear you could see was a plastic earring about the size of a jar lid.
This outfit sounds like something Mrs. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus would wear-- and I say that with all respect. Mrs. Frizzle's outfits were the whole reason I read those books. And if you're thinking I'm too old to have read them, you would be right. My little sister did. And if they were lying around, well, hey. Anyway, if you peruse old BSC books you'll notice a trend: fashion really does come full circle. Leggings, headbands, little floral dresses, they're all here in 2008, still kickin. I was watching Season 2 Buffy with Siobhan the other week, and I noticed the same thing. Buffy had on a high waisted skirt and a t-shirt and platform shoes. Hello, Olsen twins!
xoxo jenny
P.S. Thank you everyone, for helping me out with my fall book list! I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help.
This past weekend I was on a panel speaking at the SCBWI Eastern PA conference. I get pretty worked up about stuff like this- talking to more than three people at any one time makes me really nervous and when you're presenting there is an expectation that you say useful stuff in a way that others can actually get what you're saying. My tendency is to speak too fast and say "uh" and "like" every three words or so, which is not conducive to getting a point across.
But I was speaking with fellow authors Laurel Snyder, Liz Gallagher and Nancy Viau who are all very good at saying clever things and were very calming to speak with. (Here's our picture where my bra strap is showing and my hair looks awful- I swear it is impossible for me to take a decent picture!) We each spoke about our journeys to publication, our advice on getting agents, and our tips on sticking with writing when you're feeling blue about the whole process. The audience also asked some good questions and it ended up being a pretty fun experience all around. I had even more fun talking to people one on one and getting chance to meet Matt Phelan whose pictures I just love.
All in all it was a lovely weekend and big props to the wonderful ladies of SCBWI Eastern PA for putting it all together!
Diablo Cody did a nice a little write-up of Judy Blume in Entertainment Weekly. She praises books like Are You There God and Blubber-- she says,
''Judy's girls'' are imperfect and unsure; they tend to vacillate maddeningly between outspokenness and passivity. Even physically beautiful characters (like the protagonist in Deenie) are outcasts somehow, stymied by the expectations of others. It's definitely not the stuff of Hollywood. But Judy Blume's bildungsromans are as sweeping and intense as anything we see on screen these days. They'd make great disaster movies, and anyone who's been a teenager knows that's not an overstatement.
I would definitely call Juno one of Judy's girls-- she certainly vacillates between outspokenness and passivity, and you could call her an outcast. A pregnant outcast.
Here's the front and back of the postcards I had made for NAIBA. Standard 4 by 6.
(front)
(back)
The info I included came directly from a set of NAIBA instructions I was given for the Author Show and Tell, about what I'd be expected to communicate to booksellers. The thing that stinks is that I probably have no other use for these guys after NAIBA, since they say "Siobhan Vivian would love to visit your bookstore". But whatever. I'm still glad I did them.
And while I know I am soooooo lucky to have a boyfriend who is a designer, and can whip up pretty things like this for me, it is also not impossible to make something look just as lovely on your own! I used a printing company called JakPrints, and it was all very fast and inexpensive. They even give you templates.
This past weekend, I was invited to the NAIBA (New Atlantic Indie Booksellers Association) fall conference. Chronicle decided to send me so I could sign copies of Vunce Upon A Time. And, once I knew I was confirmed, I called up the folks at Scholastic, and asked if I might do something for them while I was there. What can I say? I'm a hustler! : )
I arrived on Sunday afternoon. Scholastic set me up with a table at something called Author and Illustrator Show and Tell. At this event, I was to pitch myself to booksellers, let them know what kinds of store and school events I could do, and generally just get my face out there.
I spent about $100 on postcards with my books, my contact info, etc...and I think I maybe gave half away. Not sure if it was worth it, but who knows. I did pass out a TON of Same Difference arcs and a bunch of leftover ALFA arcs, too. So that was really great...to be able to really introduce myself as a newbie author. One downer was that the room never got more than perhaps a quarter full. In fact, it was mostly kind of bare. Luckily, Maureen Johnson had the table next to mine, so I got a lot of her run off. Everyone visited her table!
(this was the view from my table)
That night, I sat at Scholastic's table for the NAIBA Books of the Year dinner. The YA winner was THE PATRON SAINT OF BUTTERFLIES, and Cecilia Galante gave a very touching speech about her experience growing up within a religious cult and then the escape to a public school. I grabbed a copy of her book, which I am very excited to read. I also love her editor, Melanie Cecka @ Bloomsbury. She's fantastic.
The next morning, the convention portion was opened up, and all the signings happened. Mine was at 10:00AM, and it only took me about fifteen minutes to sign a huge stack of books. That felt AMAZING. But then, my conference duties were over. Kind of anti-climactic!
So I proceeded to run to every single publisher's table and take my pick of their give-a-ways. Some highlights? The new Joyce Carol Oates, the Domino Magazine book of decorating, and the new Sharon Creech - Hate That Cat.
While mingling, I saw a bunch of other authors I knew, like the very handsome Jay Asher and the gorg Lizabeth Zindel. Here we are, chatting and exchanging signed copies.
I also ran into Sara Sheppard, authoress of the Pretty Little Liars series with HC. I had no idea...but she is writing EIGHT books in that series! Whew. I couldn't imagine.
Finally, I stopped to sign a bunch more Same Difference arcs at the Scholastic booth. It felt so awesome seeing them there for the taking.
(my baby, she is out in the world!)
Hmm. Here's one miscelaneous factoid from my experience at NAIBA. Far and away, the most common question I was asked by booksellers was "How clean are your books?" That kind of caught me off guard. Sure, there's no real sex in either of my YA novels, but there's teen drinking, broken families, etc. That made me nervous of where to draw the line with clean. I pretty much just stuttered my way through.
Hope you enjoyed my wrap-up. Have a great weekend, friends!
Michael Rosen looks just like his picture. Well, maybe not quite so sad.
It was kind of freaky, actually. I had no idea I knew what the British Children's Laureate looked like until I walked into the lecture hall and thought "oh, hey, that's the guy from Michael Rosen's Sad Book."
Last night I went to one of those things that I would have meant to see in New York but not gotten around to, so it's a good thing I live in London, where I'm inspired to try new things. Back in August I got bored and went to the Freud Museum 'cause it was a nice day, and on my way out I picked up a brochure for the Connecting Conversations Children's Books Series at the Institute of Psychoanalysis. (That picture is from Michael Rosen's website, by the way, not the event--I still don't have a camera.)
The brochure says the series is dedicated to "bringing together psychoanalysis and other fields," which is true enough, but mostly that consisted of the moderator (Hannah Solemani, a psychoanalyst who works with adolescents) asking, "don't you think what you do is really just like what we do, sort of, in a way?" But the answers to that were pretty interesting, as were the audience questions. (Being in a room full of psychologists asking a writer questions is ENTIRELY different from being in a room full of writers asking a writer questions. Not a single person asked him how he found his agent.)
So, from sort of vaguely knowing who he was, Michael Rosen is now my HERO, and I want to be just like him when I grow up. Not only has he written something like 140 books (gulp), but he has his own radio and TV shows! Besides school visits, he performs at places like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He gets to talk about reading and writing education to people who actually make policy about it. And he has great things to say about writing, and education, and reading.
Now, bear in mind that I do not write shorthand, so these quotes are probably neatened-up versions of what he actually said--I tried to be as precise as possible, but sometimes I'd be writing and he'd be further into the thought, so it's likely that bits from further into the thought made it into the notes I was taking. My favorite parts:
On how writing is like psychoanalysis: "When I write, I have that sensation of being the first reader. Reading [what I've written] creates a triangle between me, the Writer, the written work, and me, the Reader...I am looking at myself from an angle I couldn't see from before."
The emphasis is mine, because I had never thought of that, but it's absolutely true--the writing that means the most to me is always what I produce when I'm trying to find out what I think, not trying to express what I think. My favorite books do the same thing: they tell me something I don't know, or something I do know put differently than I would have thought of it, so I see the truth from a different angle.
He talked a lot about aiming for an authenticity of feeling, which was picked up in the Q&A later. Mr Rosen said he didn't aim for universality, because he didn't know whether that was even possible: can he really write something that's true for everybody, even someone who grew up in an entirely different world from his? This seemed to upset at least one member of the audience, who protested that surely something had to be universal, but he stood fast, which I for one applaud. I'm not sure why a writer should reach for the universal, anyway; I always feel that trying to apply an idea to everyone leads to watered-down ideas.
This was just about my favorite part: near the beginning of the conversation, Ms Solemani asked, "and how do you know if it's any good?" Mr Rosen looked startled at that idea, and answered "I never know whether it's any good...I have a sense of when I've got to something I was trying to get at." He didn't talk about this, but I think this is why critique groups are so important, also: not only can they make the aesthetic judgments a writer may be blind to, but your critique partners tell you whether you're actually saying what you wanted to say.
He said, "I'm trying to find the truth as it feels to me." I think that's what we should ask from ourselves as writers: trust that what feels like truth to us will feel like truth to others, as well.
I was too shy to actually talk to anybody at the receptions before and afterwards. (I have to get over that.) But it was a very enlightening and inspiring evening. I can't wait for the next one!
It's that time of year again-- I am about to embark on a book-buying binge for the school library I work at. We are pretty well-stocked, and kids come in all the time looking for what's new. I've made a list of books that came out in 2008 that are must-buys, but I could use some help from y'all. So far on my list I have books like Madapple and 39 Clues, 13 Reasons Why, Breaking Dawn (of course). Are there any stand outs from this past year that you can think of? Let me tell you a bit about our readership before you answer that question. We have several prototypical readers at our library.
1. the Warriors girl/boy. This kind of reader enjoys Cornelia Funke, Pendragon, Eragon, etc. 2. the Wimpy Kid. Basically, this is every boy in the 5th and 6th grade. It is a book that crosses prototypes. These kids want more of this kind of book. Funny and fast, ideally illustrated in some way but not exclusively. 3. the Clique/Eleven/You're So Not Invited to my Batmitzvah girl. This girl is not quite ready for Sarah Dessen, still a little too young, but in a year or so, she will be. This girl likes pretty covers and anything with pink. 4. the Twilight girl. This kind of girl is obsessed with Twilight and nothing else will suffice.
So there you have it. Please, if you have suggestions for me, hand 'em over! Your help is much appreciated.
I've never been known for being patient. I talk fast, work fast, write fast, eat fast, etc. I don't like to dilly dally, and when I'm around people that do, I'm bugged (get it? punny!).
Right now I've got a WIP that needs Serious Revising, and I find myself in unfamiliar territory. Normally I would take a week or so to make notes and map out an ATTACK for the next draft and get moving immediately, while my ideas are hot, but since there's little chance I'll be able to start writing again with any regularity until Bridget is 3 months or so, I've got time to deliberate.
I could do X, I could do Y. I could completely kill one character and give their storyline to someone else. I could change the ending, the middle, the tense, the tone. The more time I have to think, the more I come up with crazy ideas! I'm worried I'll get too far away from my original idea for the book, the idea I was excited about and still am, but can't seem to translate onto the page.
So I need to practice my patience. I need to tell myself that taking another month or so to plan isn't wasting time, it's preparing myself to write a Really Good Draft. It's giving my story time to stew, which I know it needs. (Bridget is helping me practice my patience by being on morning nap strike for the last two days. Also, by producing some Ridiculous Diaper Events.)
Please send me, a very impatient writer, some good patience karma.
This weekend I had the pleasure of spending an hour in our building's elevator with my four year old son. We live on the 6th floor and somewhere between 5 and 6 the elevator decided it needed some time off. The unfortunate thing for us was that if we'd remembered Cookie Monster on our original trip down, we'd never have gotten stuck at all. But my husband, the kids and I were rushing out for a playdate and somehow forgot the most important family member of the moment, my son's beloved Cookie. So he and I ran back for it while my husband and daughter walked to the subway. We figured we'd zip up, dash into our apartment and grab Cookie, and be back down before they'd even reached the station. But the elevator had other ideas.
When it came to a grinding halt, the lights went out and there was a loud banging sound, my first thought was that the cable would snap and we'd plunge to our deaths. You know how that always happens in movies. But there wasn't time for me to panic because my son is the sensitive type and he was totally freaking out. The thing about being a parent is that you have to be the grown up in these situations, something that can be a challenge when you are picturing snapping cables and wild rides down. But I gathered myself and thought about what would make him (and me) feel safe while we waited for someone to get us out and what I came up with was stories. First I told the story of Cookie being trapped in the elevator (someone should write this story for real) and then he started asking for his recent favorites like HOW I LEARNED GEOGRAPHY, RABBIT AND SQUIRREL: A TALE OF WAR ND PEAS, THE HALLOWEENER (we had a lot of fun shouting "weiner do, weiner dog" in our little elevator) and my own childhood favorite SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE. I told each one slowly, trying to remember all the words when I could (this is not a big challenge when you read a certain book three million times) and we'd talk about what was in the pictures, trying to remember all the details. We were in the middle of HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES when the super pried open the elevator doors and hauled us out (I just have to quickly say that my super is a strong man because I was sure there was no way he was going to be able to drag me out- I'm 5'9"!- but he pulled me up with one hand. Supers are pretty super, ha, ha.)
So thanks to the awesome authors of these books, we survived what could have been a pretty crummy hour. We were late to the playdate but our time in the elevator was actually kind of fun, except for when it got stuffy and hot, but even then we just kept talking books. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning!
I have a cold. BLARG. Colds suck (in case you were not aware).
Luckily, I think I've found the cure. Next time you get a cold, just follow this simple recipe and you'll be healed in no time (or 2.5 days at least, which is what I'm shooting for).
INGREDIENTS:
lots o' vitamins lots o' water Lisa's new healing concoction of decaf Earl Grey tea with vanilla soy milk and honey (best thing EVER!) 400 boxes of tissues 1 copy of Isabelle's Boyfriend by Caroline Hickey 1 copy of Life with Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse 1 copy of The Braid by Helen Frost 1 Netflix DVD of the last episodes of Gilmore Girls (crying is totally acceptable, since you are sick after all) 1 hour of One Life to Live (do not exceed one hour dosage; extreme danger of brain explosion) sleep sleep more sleep hot chicken noodle soup delivered to your door (who does not love New York??)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all ingredients and apply liberally as needed.
(Honestly, I think it was the good reading material more than anything that has fast-tracked me to good health. So manymany thanks to Caroline, Ms. Frost, and Mr. Wodehouse, who are not only great writers, but have been blessed with magical healing powers as well.)
I was about to post my recap of NAIBA, which took place this past weekend in Cherry Hill, NJ, but I realized as I uploaded a picture of a big stack of SAME DIFFERENCE galleys, that I hadn't yet shared my cover with you. So here's yet another cover unveiling for The Longstockings...MINE!
Ain't she a beaut? I love the way her reflection in the glass plays with the title. And also...she's a REAL GIRL. This has always been very important to me, especially having worked for so long at Alloy Entertainment, home of the ridiculously gorgeous teen supermodel. (not that there isn't a place for those covers, too. just not on my books, mmkthanks)
Hope you likey, friends! And now that that business is out of the way, I'll have my NAIBA post up later this week. Highlights being...Indie Booksellers rule, Jay Asher is very handsome, and I basically took a copy of every single book they were giving away. HA! Lord knows, I love freebies.
This might be slightly old news, and I meant to post about it when I first read it, but here it is now. Carl Hiaasen and Mike Lupica --- long time friends who share an agent --- are working together on a pilot for HBO. Read more about it here. I'll totally watch this. But can I just say that I want HBO to bring Sunday nights back? I mean, I know some shows are on Sunday nights, Entourage for one, but I strongly dislike that show. I used to so look forward to HBO Sunday nights, Sopranos, Sex & The City, etc. But I can't wait for Big Love to come back! I miss you, Barb!
xoxo Lisa GW
P.S. Longstockings/How I Met Your Mother Fans - how'd you feel about last night's episode? I'm happy to have them back.
Y'all! Thank you for commenting and saying such nice things. I tell you, it really lifts our spirits and surges us onward when we get such amazing feedback. It's good to know that a few people out there are reading and enjoying. We've had this blog for two years now, and we'd like to keep things fresh and interesting for y'all. So we'll keep on keeping on, talking about books and publishing and our writing lives. Things are busy around these parts. Why, in 2008, we had Siobhan, Daphne, Coe, Lisa, and Caroline put books out. In 2009, Lisa GW will have her very first book debut, and Siobhan, Lisa G, Coe, and me. I hope I'm not leaving anyone out there! It's hard to keep up with the eight of us.
The Longstockings met for dinner this week, and one big part of the conversation was this blog. We talked a lot about what kind of content is interesting to our readers and what we could do to keep things interesting and relevant. It's hard to know without knowing a bit about who our readers are. So, reader, who are you? :)
If you wouldn't mind, maybe you could introduce yourself in the comments section. Maybe you could say what kind of posts you find neat. Or not. We just want to do our best to offer the best blog possible! This would help a lot, esp because we know not everybody who reads the blog comments.
As if Amy Poehler wasn't busy enough, the comedienne/actress/writer is producing a new digital TV show for young girls called Smart Girls at the Party, which will launch at On Networks this October 2008. The program is designed to celebrate girls for being themselves and encourage them to use their talents to follow their dreams and make an impact on the world. In each episode, Poehler interviews a girl with a specific talent, community interest or point of view, with the conversation running from serious to humorous. The episodes will also be available for viewing and download exclusively via On's AllScreen syndication partners (e.g. iTunes, Adobe Media Player, and web, digital TV and mobile partners). Smart Girls at the Party is created by Poehler along with Meredith Walker, head of talent for Saturday Night Live and former Sr. producer on Nick News, and Amy Miles, recording artist and host of the PBS kid's show Lomax: Hound of Music. Poehler's animated series The Mighty B! airs on Nickelodeon, and she is of course a cast member of SNL, while also working on a new primetime spin-off of The Office, several movies and of course she's is expecting her first kid this fall.
According to Variety, Nicholas Sparks is simultaneously writing a novel and screenplay, the sole purpose of which is to give Miley Cyrus her very own star-making vehicle, ala Mandy Moore's turn in A Walk to Remember (that comparison was actually in the article, I swear I'm not being snide).
Ummm. Does anyone else think that's sorta weird???
Although, in the thirty seconds since I first heard this news, it has gotten me to thinking about two things:
1. Which star is so awesomely awesome that I would agree to write a novel/screenplay just for him/her?
and
2. If forced to write a novel for Miley Cyrus, what sort of thing would I write?
Personally, I think my answers would be (1) Meatloaf and (2) an action-thriller wherein all the tigers get loose at the zoo and Miley Cyrus is called in to find them because she has psychic powers. But that's just off the top of my head...
According to The Bookseller, Virgin Books in the UK has signed Kelly Osbourne to write a memoir. It seems as though it will be published as an adult book, but according to the details of the deal, Kelly "will draw upon her own extraordinary experiences to help other young women as they negotiate the minefield that is growing up."
The memoir is scheduled to be released in May 2009.
Children's: Young Adult Candace Bushnell's THE CARRIE DIARIES, about Sex and the City character Carrie Bradshaw's high-school years, to Alessandra Balzer at Balzer & Bray, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2010, by Heather Schroder at ICM (world).
Could this be any good? Or will it be just a watered-down version of SEX AND THE CITY? I'm kind of torn on this one. I think it has possibility. If it's handled well, the characters could explore their own sexuality in an honest, realistic way. And that would be refreshing since there aren't all that many books out there about female sexuality (from a girl's point of view.) And it would be interesting seeing how Carrie navigates high school and tries to figure out what she'll do with her life.
But if the publishers are just trying to capture some of the remaining buzz of SEX AND THE CITY and write fluffy books that are all about brand names and not real characters, then I'm not interested.
But I am curious to see which way Candace Bushnell will go.
Donna Freitas’s book THE POSSIBILITY OF SAINTHOOD is one of my favorite reads of 2008 and I’m not the only one: so far it’s received four (!!) starred reviews, including one from Kirkus which says, “Like good homemade pasta, this satisfying novel balances lightness with substance and leaves teens wanting another serving. “ I know I want another one! I adored MC Antonia after about two sentences- she’s sassy with true heart, and her take on things had me laughing out loud. The story caught me immediately (who doesn’t want to know more about a girl striving to become a saint and get her first kiss at the same time?) and Antonia’s family is officially one of my favorite literary families of all time. I could gush all day but since Donna was nice enough to stop by for an interview I’ll stop and let you read what Donna had to say about her second career, her favorite saint and her love of formal wear.
Daphne: Give us your elevator-pitch summary of the book.
Oooh. I’m wordy so elevator-pitch sounds challenging. (Look: I’ve already used up…8 words! Gah!). Here goes: The Possibilities of Sainthood is about a fifteen year old high school sophomore, Antonia Lucia Labella, who wants two things more than anything: to become the first ever living saint in Catholic history (because then she’d be famous!) and land her first kiss. Antonia’s life is filled with melodrama (of the funny kind, I hope): her Italian Catholic immigrant family and neighbors, a best, bestest friend Maria, petitioning the saints and the Vatican to make her a saint, and two boys—1) a bad-boy named Andy she’s lusted after forever, and 2) a nice boy with a bad reputation named Michael who has pined for Antonia for years. Oh—and there’s lots of food. She is Italian after all, and lives about her family’s Italian market (Labella’s) in the neighborhood of Federal Hill in Providence, Rhodes Island.
Lisa Graff: What were you like when you were Antonia's age? Were you like her at all?
Um, I might’ve been a tad boy crazy like Antonia. I was also pretty traumatized about how A) difficult and B) scary it seemed to go about getting that first kiss. Then I became a bit of a kissing bandit…(I hope my Dad NEVER see this.) I did not, however, want to be a saint! It never would have occurred to me to desire something like that. I mostly hoped for a date to the prom. The other thing Antonia and I have in common is the conscription by our mother into cooking all the Italian delicacies—in my family we were always cooking. Italians are obsessed with food.
Daphne: What was the hardest thing about writing the book?
Revising it—I take everything a bit too far, always, and need the helpful eye of an editor to figure out where to scale back. Luckily I have an amazing editor, Frances Foster, who is wonderfully patient and willing to help me figure out what needs “pruning” as she comes to call it (figs and fig trees are an important part of Antonia’s story).
Lisa: Can you tell us a little bit about the non-fiction you write? And what made you want to start writing fiction for teens?
I am a professor at Boston University and got my Ph.D. in 2002, so writing nonfiction is simply part of my job. The project I care most about is also my most recent. It’s called Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance & Religion on America’s College Campuses and is based on many, many interviews I conducted with college students all over the country. I loved traveling around meeting such a diversity of students with the most incredible stories and I care deeply about the topic—because the students do and I am a teacher at heart. I started writing fiction for teens because Antonia’s character—no, her voice—popped into my head one day and then got louder and louder and simply wouldn’t let up (like a good Italian). Her voice and that desire—to become a saint because it was her own wacky road to fame—showed up and then I finally sat down to write. Once I started I couldn’t stop but it never occurred to me that someone would publish it. I mean, how weird is that? I can’t write fiction! (This is a joke right? My novel wasn’t actually published, was it?)
Daphne: Who are your three favorite authors and what do you love about their books? Only three? How about I’ll name three of my favorite fantasy authors: Philip Pullman, Elizabeth Knox, and my newest favorite: Kristin Cashore. I love to step into an invented world and I am especially excited when that invented world has something to teach us about our own. In my academic work as a professor, a large part of it is invested in understanding the workings and reaches of the imagination. These three authors display an extraordinary level of imagination in their novels. And then I love BIG QUESTIONS—the ones about why we are here, the meaning of life, death and all that goes in between, and, while children’s literature in general is filled with this kind of daring, risky inquiry, fantasy novels especially revel in this kind of grand narrative.
Lisa: In POSSIBILITIES, Antonia wants to be the world's first living saint. If you could be the saint of anything at all, what would it be?
This is a little embarrassing maybe, since it’s not really helpful toward world peace or getting Obama into the White House, but… I’d be the Patron Saint of the Fancy Dress. Then I’d always get to wear ridiculously amazing gowns (you know, for my portraits) and help girls going to special occasions like proms and bat mitzvahs. It’s a really important job. And I really like to dress up but you know, as a professor and all, the occasions are a bit lacking. So if it was my job to be overdressed all the time, I’d really enjoy that.
Lisa: You are a fountain of knowledge when it comes to obscure saints. What are a few of your favorites? (Mine's Saint Lucy, because when I was studying in Italy there was this fabulous, GIGANTIC painting of her near my apartment, in which she was depicted holding a plate of her own eyeballs. Yum.)
LOL! Saint Lucy and her plate of eyeballs shows up in the second book, actually. My favorite saint has always been Saint Anthony, the finder of lost things, because he was frequently evoked in our household and he was practically superhuman in his ability to find things—like when my mother lost her wedding ring while mowing the lawn and didn’t realize it until nighttime and she’d been tossing the grass from the grass catcher into the empty lot behind our house. Our entire family was scouring the yard with flashlights and then suddenly my mother is shouting “Thank you St. Anthony!” and there’s her ring. Every time I go into a church or cathedral I light a candle in front of St. Anthony’s statue or portrait in honor of my mother (who I like to think of as the Patron Saint of Pasta-Making—the book is dedicated in her memory.)
Daphne: Rumor has it your next book continues the adventures of Antonia- tell us about it!
Yes! It’s called the Patron Saint of Kissing and, surprise, surprise! Antonia becomes the first ever living saint in Catholic history—the Patron Saint of the First Kiss and Kissing. Much ridiculousness and pageantry ensues…and kissing, too.
Lisa: Antonia's mother is known for her delicious home-made pasta. Are you a good cook yourself? Do you have any scrumptious pasta recipes to share with us?
In the novel, when Antonia’s mother keeps crying out that she pay attention in the kitchen because “if I die, these recipes go with me!” is actually a direct quotation from my own mother. I grew up learning my mother’s family’s recipes and so I know how to make homemade Italian anything—you name it. But, for example, I could never cook a turkey or roast a chicken. And the descriptions in the story of the family making the homemade pasta are taken directly from how we made it (and I still make it) in our kitchen. I can’t tell you the recipes though—not because they’re secret, but because it really is a “pinch of this and a pinch of that” and, typical of Italians, my mother and grandmother did everything from memory and “just knowing” when something was right. So that’s how I cook, too. The best part is you keep having to taste everything as you go and I LOVE tasting. I am impatience and always hungry. If you ever want to come over my apartment for an in-person lesson, though, I’d be happy to pass on the knowledge!
Thanks for coming by, Donna!
Check out the awesome book trailer:
You can pick up a copy of the book here and to learn more about Donna, go here.
Have you read that really depressing article in New York Magazine? It's like a horror movie. It's called, The End. And it's all about "How we reached the end of book publishing as we know it." A few scary tidbits-- like, 1 in 20 books is passed over by Barnes and Noble, and Borders is basically on death watch, and when Oprah goes off the air, the whole book industry will be in dire straits.
Marketing a book these days is like playing a slot machine; hitting one 7 won’t get you a dime. “There has to be this constellation of events,” says Daniel Menaker, whose departure was tied in the press to the low sales of Benjamin Kunkel’s much-ballyhooed debut novel, Indecision. “Not only a Times Book Review front cover but Don Imus talking about it and Ellen Pompeo actually reading the book on-camera. And Barack Obama has just bought it.”
It’s plausible that publishing would already be in the red if it weren’t for Oprah. And “she is reportedly going off the air in a few years,” says former Simon & Schuster CEO Jack Romanos. “The most effective marketing tool they have for a book isn’t going to be there. If I were still there, I would be figuring out, now, different and better ways to market in anticipation of that being taken away.”
This would mean far more than just the few book “trailers” you see online. “They’re all the rage right now,” says Bloomsbury’s Peter Miller, “but I would love to see an example of one video that really did generate a lot of sales. There’s a sense of desperation.”
Does all this apply to us little children's book writers?? Oprah never picked children's books anyway! (Well, until now, and it's not nearly the same thing as having her seal on it.) Are y'all scared?
While in the shower yesterday, I listened to a fascinating interview on NPR with Jeannet Conant, author of THE IRREGULARS. In it, she discusses how Britain had employed several dashing and handsome patriots, including future author Roald Dahl, to try and influence American press and political elite to support Europe against the Nazis. And Conant claims that if Dahl had not spent time gallivanting around Washington D.C., spinning captivating propaganda stories, he would have never even thought to become a writer!
Alas, I can't help but regret that I didn't forgo the whole MFA route in favor of becoming an international woman of mystery. I'm sure that experience would have made me way better with character development.
Everyone should go check out the First Book website, which asks people, "What book got you hooked?" and is taking votes to determine which state will receive 50,000 free books for children in need (I've got my fingers crossed for you, California!). The "Celebrity Favorites" section is especially fun. It was there that I learned that Neil Patrick Harris (of the awesomest show ever) got hooked on Katherine Paterson:
"Bridge to Terabithia was a book my mother read to my brother and me before we would go to sleep. Well written, beautiful imagery, full of imagination. Quite an emotional ending, though. Mom stopped reading it aloud for weeks, finding excuse after excuse as to why she was busy. We finally forced her and, sure enough, we all had a good cry."
Mine, weirdly enough, was Around the World in 80 Days. What was everyone else's first book love?
It says that Mary Louise Parker had her son's third birthday party at The Scholastic Store in SoHo. Awesome, huh? I'd totally have a birthday party there. My 30th maybe? :)
Nooooooooo! I am screaming silently. Munch should paint me. Lauren Conrad, also known as LC, is writing YA books for Harper Collins, due out next summer. About a girl who moves to LA and is a reality TV star. OMG. I am gagging. Why oh why. Nicole Richie writing a book is one thing. She's legit Hollywood royalty or at least she is a trendsetter. I mean, she singlehandedly brought back the swoopy bang.
Anyway. I am disheartened and sickened. Do I watch The Hills? Sort of. Do I want LC encroaching on our turf? No! First of all, we all know she ain't gonna be writing them. Just like we all know didn't design shizz. Those jersey knit dresses SUCK anyway. Come on, man. Leave the kiddie books to the professionals!
Great article in the Times, celebrating Maurice Sendak's 80th year as well as his legacy. A few gems: He is not, as children’s book writers are often supposed, an everyman’s grandpapa. His hatreds are fierce and grand, as if produced by Cecil B. DeMille. He hates his uncle (who made a cruel comment about him when he was a boy); he hates anything to do with God or religion, and Judaism in particular (“We were the ‘chosen people,’ chosen to be killed?”); he hates Salman Rushdie (for writing an excoriating review of one of his books); he hates syrupy animation, which is why he is thrilled with Mr. Jonze’s coming film of his book “Where the Wild Things Are,” despite rumors of studio discontent.
“I hate people,” he said at one point, extolling the superior company of dogs, like his sweet-tempered German shepherd, Herman (after Melville).
Also: according to this article, even a living legend like Sendak has insecurities about his work. Fancy that.
Hip hip hooray to longtime friend-of-Longstockings and commenter, JOELLE ANTHONY, for selling her debut young adult novel!
Here are the deets, per Publisher's Marketplace
Joelle Anthony’s RESTORING HARMONY, a debut novel about family, courage, and finding oneself set in an all-too-possible near-future of massive oil shortages and a return to a more agrarian way of life, to Stacey Barney atPutnam Children’s, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).
Wednesday, September 10th / 6-7:30PM Jefferson Market Branch of New York Public Library, 425 Sixth Avenue @10th Street
Here's the lineup of authors:
Emily Franklin (The Other Half of Me) Gordon Korman (The Juvie Three) Beth Levine Ain (Revolution of Sabine) Melissa Walker (Violet in Private) Robin Wasserman (Skinned)
So come on by. Admission is FREE! And bring questions for the Q&A part of the program!
There's an assumption that writing and publishing get easier as you go. I know I used to think so. Or at least I hoped so.
Right before I had Bridget, I sent off my new WIP to my agent. I'd been working on it for about 8 months, had gotten good critique and positive feedback from my writing group, and even though I knew it needed some work, I thought it might be ready to send out soon.
*Sigh*. No such luck. I must have been all pregnant/hormonal/crazy to even think it was close to ready because my agent sent me back a very long, and, sadly, very correct letter with more than a few substantive changes to be made.
So it's back to the revising board for me. My plan is to start with a few weeks of just rereading the ms and thinking through its problems (that's about all I can manage with a newborn to take care of anyway), and then when I've really figured out a good plan for the revision, to get started on it and take my time.
Revision is my favorite part of writing, and I normally enjoy the beginning of a rewrite. This one will be hugely different though, because I won't be able to work with the same intensity that I normally do. I'll have to grab an hour here and there when I can, which is difficult for me because then I have to put myself back into the story every time and I lose my flow.
Any new mothers/full-time day jobbers out there have advice for making the most of short bursts of time?
Siobhan Says: Picking A Tense Is More Torturous Than Picking A Bathingsuit
I've been toiling away on a new book idea for a couple of months now. And up until this weekend, I'd been writing it in first person past.
I thought this would be a nice change, as my first two books are first person present. I also hoped it would allow me more room to be reflective, to go off on tangents and descriptions, to dig a bit deeper with my main character. While in grad school, all my writing was first person past. I didn't think it would be that tough to make the switch.
How very wrong I was!
Writing is already a very awkward, uncomfortable endeavor for me...and this change in tense made things even worse. I had a really hard time getting into the story, feeling that I was right there with my main character. My sentences were all terribly awkward and clunky, like you could actually feel me trying to conjugate the verbs. Ugh. I can't tell you how many hours I wasted on trying to figure out a sentence like this...
"Autumn was my best friend."
ME: "Was? I mean, Autumn STILL IS her best friend. But I can't use IS. But WAS makes it sound like they aren't friends anymore. Which is something I don't necessarily want to give away in Chapter Three. ARGH!" *bangs keyboard*
So, I made the switch back this weekend. First person present all the way! It already feels so much more comfortable. I'm just writing now...not thinking so much. Also, I've made some plot decisions that lead me to believe this will truly be the best tense for the book. It's a mystery. She's very impulsive. Etc.
But a little part of me is still troubled. Will I ever be able to write in past tense again? I'm curious to hear YOUR experiences. Do you write in mainly one tense? Or are you able to switch it up? What's your secret?
I am a big fan of this contest for the oddest book title out there but I have to say that the winner, “Greek Rural Postman and Their Cancellation Numbers,” while odd, doesn’t seem as odd as some of the others. “How to Bombproof Your Horse” for example. I mean, who knew a horse needed to be bomb-proofed? And “How to Avoid Huge Ships”— I never thought about it but I probably do want to avoid big ships, unless I’m planning to take a cruise or something.
The other thing is, while the rural postmen of Greece seem like a potentially lovely bunch, I’m not sure I want to read about them. The title, while wacky, doesn’t make me want to pick up the book. But the others really grab me. I want to know more about what sick lunatic is out there bombing horses and the real reason I need to avoid huge (not big but huge) ships.
Of course this got me thinking about odd kid’s book titles. Not the ones that make you step away from the book but the ones that are wacky and unusual and make you want to know more. The first one I thought of was SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU. I laughed when I first saw it because it’s such an awesome summary of the worst of the teen years. I immediately identified with it and wanted to know more and I loved that it wasn’t a cookie cutter type title. So what are some of the wacky titles that got you to pick up a book?
If you've written and written and no-one's read your book, are you still a writer?
Editorial Anonymous posted a response to a question I could have written (but didn't):
I've been a good doobee and joined SCBWI, gone to conferences, joined critique groups, gotten an MFA in Writing for Children, read tons, written reams, edited, edited and edited. Yet all I get is rejected, rejected, rejected. What am I doing wrong?
EA's answer (read the original) boils down to "'cause that's how it is sometimes," which I understand. Probably the only reason I didn't send in this question is that, after years, I've finally figured out that if it hasn't happened yet, it's just because I--or, more precisely, my work--am not ready. Every now and then, re-reading what I've written in the past, I even find room to offer a sigh of relief that I've been saved the embarrassment of publishing something that really needed more work.
But reading the question and answer brought up a question I'm still wrestling with, and I thought I'd throw it out to the community to hear what you think: what do we call myself, those of us who are still in the developmental stages of our writing careers? What is our profession?
A friend of mine from high school, the first person I ever knew who would just tell people he wanted to be a writer when he grew up, complained about this when he got to college. "There's no career path for writers," he said. "If I wanted to be pretty much anything else, there'd be a process. Writers are just supposed to fit in their career around some kind of real job." The older my MFA gets, the more I sympathize with Dave's frustration. It doesn't matter how much I write, or how professional my approach. I still end up feeling as though, until I have a contract, the rest of the world thinks my real job is whatever I'm doing when I'm not writing.
After two years (almost exactly!), I am still stung by what happened when the New York Times called to fact-check my wedding announcement: I had given my occupation as "writer," but the fact-checker informed me that "the New York Times won't call you that until you've published something." The final result, while noting that I held an MFA and had taught creative writing, stated baldly, "she takes temporary assignments as an executive assistant for Manhattan Human Resourcing, a Manhattan temporary agency." Oh, the shame, it burns, still! I took one long-term temp job to pay for the wedding--while still writing on the bus to and from work, and for a couple hours after getting home most nights, and every Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon--and I'm in the paper of record as an office temp for the rest of history.
I'm frustrated enough by the work I've put in that still leaves me a long way to go. It just makes it worse, to not know how to talk about that work. This is not a problem with other writers--everyone remembers that they weren't published before they were. But I'm not meeting much in the way of other writers right at the moment. How do I talk to the rest of the world, who think writers are people who have books published, and the rest of us are whatever we're doing besides writing? Maybe this is my own personal neurosis, but help me out here. I need a job title!
I just learned that Robert Giroux died yesterday. He was 94 years old. I only worked at FSG for 2 and a half years but early on I realized that there was something so special about the place: the history of the company, the attention and devotion to editing and producing such high quality work. I had the pleasure of meeting Roger Straus a few times.
It seemed like all around me things were changing publishing-wise and in so many other ways too, and there was something so refreshing about the old-school nature of FSG. Of course I was only an editorial assistant and I'm sure there was much I didn't know and didn't realize, but in my mind, FSG was truly unique and one of a kind.
Now that I am finally feeling settled in the new apartment, I am starting to really think about and prepare for MY LIFE IN PINK & GREEN coming out in March. Even though the book is pretty much out of my hands now, I still want to do all that I can to promote it. Here's a question I have: should I print up business cards and bookmarks to hand out to people I meet, kids at school, etc.? Or do I just need one or the other? Also, I can't decide if it makes sense to put my book title on it because then I won't be able to use the bookmark/business card again for future books.
So tell me what you've done, what's worked and what hasn't.
For the most part, I've adjusted to London. I've met some cool people through cooking classes, and yesterday I went to Buckingham Palace on a whim, just because I could. (Still no pictures. I'm working on it.) Still, I do sometimes get pulled under by homesickness. This happens a lot when I hear about all of the great bookscoming outthis season that I have to either pay massive shipping for or wait until Christmas to get ahold of. Grrr.
Last week I decided to attack this by heading to Hatchard’s, near Picadilly Circus, to see what was new in their Teen section that I couldn't have gotten in the US. (I know, I know. I should have gone to Foyle’s. I will, honest. It's just that Foyle's involves a tube ride to my least favorite part of town, while Hatchards means a nice bus trip that goes by lots of parks. Plus, Hatchard's carries the full line of Persephone Books, to which I have become addicted.) For the most part, the trip just confirmed my homesickness, since they only had one wall of books for 12+, and that was mostly filled with imports from the US. But I persisted, and ended up finding one of the most satisfying books I've read in a very long time.
I was going to try to make you all jealous of the fact that you cannot get ahold of looking for jj, by Anne Cassidy, without expensive shipping charges or a plane ride, but I see that it was actually published in the US last year and is available on Amazon and BN.com(albeit in hardcover and with what looks like, to me, a much less intriguing cover).
According to the back cover, looking for jj is about teenager Alice Tully, who is "making a go of things, putting her past behind her at last. But Alice's past is dangerous, and violent, and sad--and it's about to rip her new life apart." This says it about as well as I could, without giving away too many spoilers. But I found it particularly fascinating that the book is really about a girl living with a lot of normal, teenage girl fears--that the real you is so rotten that if you're honest about it, no-one will ever love you; that everyone's watching to see you mess up, even a little bit; that the world is out to get you--but in Alice's case, those fears are affirmed every day in the newspapers. At 17, she gets to read daily debates on whether or not she has a right to be alive. (If she weren't in a witness-protection-type program, she probably wouldn't be for very much longer.) Worse, even the people on her side acknowledge that those on the other side have a point. At one point Alice tells herself, "I don't deserve a future," and my heart about broke watching her try to fight that feeling.
The middle section of the book flashes back to the mysterious JJ and the childhood that got Alice to where she is now, and it was, I felt, where the story was at its richest. Cassidy shoes a real feeling for the dysfunction of pre-adolescent friendships, especially when a girl doesn't have that many friends to choose from. JJ's choices in navigating the world are depicted against the background of her homelife, with a mother who seems to be using absolutely all of her energy to avoid facing the fact that life isn't going to be the same as it was when she was a 20-year-old model. This was also the most suspenseful part of the book, even though I knew the outlines of what was going to happen. Watching Alice navigate young adulthood and knowing that it could blow up any minute kept my heart in my throat, but it was nothing compared to watching JJ's childhood disintegrate.
Probably the best thing I can say about this book is that, once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down Friday night until my eyes refused to stay open, and I picked it up again as soon as I woke up Saturday morning. I couldn't really live my own life until I'd dealt with Alice's and JJ's. Best of all, once I finished I wasn't so homesick anymore! I see from the flyleaf that Anne Cassidy has four other novels out. I kind of want to run out and get them all right now, but I think I'd better ration them out. I may need the help, come Thanksgiving weekend.
According to this article, someone in Stephenie Meyer's inner circle has leaked a very rough draft of MIDNIGHT SUN on the internet. She's so pissed that she's shelving the book for the foreseeable future. She also writes about the experience very candidly on her website.
I got to say, I would be crushed if someone put my less-than-best work out there. And especially with all the hoopla that surrounded BREAKING DAWN--SM probably wanted to right a few of her wronged fans.
But it sounds like she might know who did the leaking. And if I were that person, I'd seek some serious witness protection. Think of all those Twilight fans who'll come hunting for YOUR blood!
I'm also reminded of the recent blogger who was arrested for distributing leaked tracks of Guns and Roses new album online. If I were the brass at Little,Brown, I would certainly be making some serious calls. I mean, from a business standpoint, this renegade internet poster may have just robbed them of millions!
Will 15-year old Taryn succeed in stealing a guy from Isabelle, the most popular girl in school? Will her dog stop getting her in trouble? Will her best friend ever speak to her again?
You can finally find out! ISABELLE'S BOYFRIEND is now in stores and available online!
I'd like to say I have big plans to celebrate today's launch of my second book, but so far the celebration has only included a 5:30am wake up call, being pooped on (2x), peed on (1x) and a bowl of frosted mini wheats. Still, I'm really excited because I LOVE this book and I can't wait for people to read it.
My husband is a teacher and every three years all the teachers at his school can trade in their laptops for new ones, courtesy of the school. The old ones are either recycled or the owner can buy them for $100. This past June my husband finished his third year and we were both very excited about the new computer that would come in August, him because he loves new technology and me because we’d decided to buy his old laptop for me to use on writing dates (I normally write on a desk top at home). I am not at all into the latest thing so a gorgeous, slightly used Mac for $100 seemed fantastic. And it was until I saw his new computer.
It’s the new Mac Air, as seen in Lisa Graff’s last post. It’s thin like a wafer and light as a handful of feathers. A fellow teacher actually had a bit of a scare with his: after reading the morning paper and tossing it in the recycle bin, he couldn’t find his new computer anywhere. He looked everywhere and then finally realized he’d accidently grabbed the computer in between sections of the newspaper when he was cleaning up, and had unknowingly put it in his recycle bin. That’s right: the computer is so thin and light he thought it was a section of newspaper!
I’ve never been the kind of person who lusts after the latest gadget but this computer has completely corrupted me. It’s so tiny and yet so bright and sturdy. My husband carries it like you would a thin notebook and all I can think about is the epic works I could create on such a machine. I could carry it around all day and barely feel the weight in my backpack, and then whip it out whenever the muse struck. I swear I’d be a Newbery author with such a computer. Or at least a writer without a sore back from carting a heavy laptop about!
So what are the writing tools you lust after, that you’d buy in a heartbeat if you suddenly came into a bucket of cash?
Meet The Longstockings
Eight writers who discuss areas of interest to writers and readers of children's and teen literature. (And yes, those are our actual feet pictured above!)
Another celebrity is jumping into the world of writing for children. And this time it's David Beckham. Yes, David Beckham is launching a series of books for children. 
