You’ve heard that advice before. Probably from the first time you were told to write a story. “Don’t try to get all fancy. Just stick with what you know.” Or, “If you have trouble creating a character, base him/her on someone you know.” It’s sound advice and I’m not going to knock it. And it works for any genre. That evil mermaid from a favorite book? I’m betting money SOMETHING about her was modeled after someone.

But…

Of there’s a but. All this becomes a problem if you’re ONLY basing characters on people you know. If you become too scared to step out of the box you’ve decorated so well to see if you can thrive without it.

My first manuscript was a story about three generations of one Russian-Jewish family. I liked to think of it as a Russian-Jewish JOY LUCK CLUB. It had romance, death, war, betrayal. It was a great premise. A 350 word epic. But it didn’t move. It didn’t sing. The reason? I based too much of it on my own family. Each time I dared to get creative, a voice in my head screamed “That’s not how it really happened! What will your parents say? Get back in the box!” Now, if this was a memoir, this would have been fine, but it was supposed to be fiction. In fiction, events don’t happen as they would in real life. They move quicker, toward something. There are obstacles at every step. My manuscript had obstacles but they didn’t factor in how they should have. The last 1/3 of the manuscript worked the best because that was the part most loosely based on my own life. That’s when I got my A-HA moment.

When I write now, I start with a voice. Sometimes it’s voice of someone I know/knew. Other times, it’s just a girl or guy with something to say. Along the way, they develop. I let my characters borrow some of my traits, some of people I know. I think a small part of me (like how I would react to a situation) appears in many of them. But I know to keep the story moving now, to not hold too tightly to a memory or vision of someone.

The goal is to keep stepping outside the confines of my box.

Why? Health issues, family issues, revisions…just life. It happens, sure. But what can we do to avoid delays like this?

The obvious answer is to write things down on a calendar, which I started doing, and that has helped immensely. However, even with calendars, we get bogged down. Sometimes, I feel like I’m juggling twenty balls in the air at once, and I don’t know how to keep them from falling (ok, since I can’t juggle, this analogy would have worked just fine with three balls, but twenty is more accurate and dramatic). Sometimes, I finish nineteen things and pat myself on the back, only to have the twentieth hit the ground (which is what happened this week). The thing that took the most time these last few weeks was getting my revisions done. I finished them, sent to friends, finished rereading and felt like a load had been lifted, and minutes ago I realized today is the 12th and this post was due yesterday.

I usually try to give advice in these or discuss the writing process, but today I’m asking you what you do to keep all the balls in the air. What keeps your life balanced? Do you have a huge calendar on a wall of your house? Do you use multi-colored sticky notes? Do you just remember everything?

I think it depends on the type of person you are (e.g. visual, etc.). Tomorrow, I’m buying a wall size calendar, maybe three and putting them in various rooms in my house as visual reminders. Other suggestions?

Picture Books:

1. Knuffle Bunny (and others in this series) by Mo Willems
2. You Can Do Anything, Daddy by Michael Rex
3. The Naked Mole Rat by Mo Willems
4. No, David! By David Shannon (and other books in this series)
5. My Father is Taller Than a Tree by Joseph Bruchac

Elementary School/Middle School

1. The Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
2. Danny and the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
3. Babe and Me (and others in this series) by Dan Gutman
4. The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Chris Singer
5. Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
6. White Fang by Jack London
7. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
8. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
9. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien
10. Old Yeller by Frederick Gipson
11. Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta
12. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
13. Holes by Louis Sachar

High School

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
2. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
5. 1984 by George Orwell
6. Animal Farm by George Orwell (this one and 1984 created lots of discussion because we originally came from the former Soviet Union so my dad shared how what he encountered during his childhood related to these books)
7. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Kitty Keswick

This week, we’re celebrating Kitty’s debut! Kitty Keswick has been an Anglophile since age four when she saw Robin Hood and fell head over heels in love. As she grew up on her grandfather’s California vineyard, Kitty’s imagination was her best friend. At a very tender age, she started writing her stories and reading them to the grapes.

Kitty spends her days with werewolves, Valkyries, vamps, and other creatures that go bump in the night. Check out her website www.kittykeswick.com.

Here’s a little bit about FREAKSVILLE (Leap Books).

A group of teenagers, trapped in a haunted theater on the night of a full moon, discover that ghosts are the least of their worries…

Every woman in the Maxwell family has the gift of sight. A talent sixteen-year-old Kasey would gladly give up. All she wants is a normal life. Shopping and talking about boys with her best friend and long-time sidekick, Gillie Godshall, consume her days until Kasey has a vision about Josh Johnstone, the foreign exchange student from England. The vision leads her into new realms, a lead in a play, a haunted theater … and into the arms of Josh. Yet, both Kasey and Josh have secrets lurking in dark corners. Can Kasey’s new romance survive FREAKSVILLE?

FREAKSVILLE by Kitty Keswick

If you had to give your book a movie rating: G through Rated R, which one would you give and why?

PG13. The book deals with a first boyfriend. There is French kissing, but the romance does not go beyond the kissing stage.

What topics, issues, or themes does your book address? What drove you to write about them?

In a humorous way, the book deals with acceptance. Kasey, the heroine, has the gift of sight, which she feels makes her a freak. The underlying theme is “to thine own self be true.” A modern Romeo-and-Juliet story plays out in a haunted theater with fashion, mystery, and the occasional werewolf.

The book supports strong friendships and family. Gillie, Kasey’s best friend is supportive and not a “frenemy.” Kasey’s parents are married and deal with conflicts in a loving and supportive manner. Kasey and Gillie are also strong female role models who support Girl Power.

Name a few examples of readers who would identify or like your book.

A 13-year-old girl who’s feeling a little awkward. A 15-year-old girl who loves fashion. Anyone who’s had to deal with feeling like they are a little freakish. Because of the crushes on boys and fashion, it would appeal to any girl who enjoys a light paranormal mystery laced with humor.

How can your book be used in the classroom?

The Romeo and Juliet theme can be explored by comparing the original version to modern adaptations. Freaksville not only incorporates quotes from Shakespeare but also ties in an ancient feud (based in actual history) that occurred on the border of Scotland and England for centuries.

Discussions on how the traits that make us unique and different can really be an asset rather than a negative. Self-acceptance and discovering hidden talents play a major part in the story, and the heroine also has to deal with bullying, an important issue in the lives of many teens.

Parts of the book are based in Norse mythology, so exploring those ancient themes and the ways the modern story parallels these tales, along with discussing various cultures’ myths and beliefs surrounding death and the afterlife (the heroine learns about her connection to Valkyries and their role of ferrying the souls of the dead).

Now whet our appetites with a teaser.

Huge crisis. —I’m in Freaksville!
Monday, January 15th

I so needed a filter between my brain and my body, one with big flashy lights and blaring sirens that ruptured my eardrums if I was about to do anything stupid.

The last six months had been a regular freak show, as if being me wasn’t already strange enough. On my sixteenth birthday, I got the gift. Not a gift, but The Gift, as in the gift of sight. Now that was something I totally wished I had a receipt for, so I could return to sender. Unfortunately for me, it was in the family genes. Every female of the Maxwell clan had the gift. My great, great, great, a million-times-back grandmother in the sixteenth century—Gran­nie Maxwell—was the first to have the gift of sight, premonition, the sixth sense. Whatever way you spun it, it still ranked big time, as in stunk.

Are you offering authors visits to schools, libraries, or other organizations?

Yes.

Are you willing to speak nationally?

Yes.

List a few example titles of presentations, talks, or workshops you might give for an author visit.

• Fur and Fangs, Writing YA Paranormals, Beyond the Vampire
• Strange Worlds, Understanding Setting and World Building
• Scene and Sequels, the Action and the Glue
• Young Writers Workshop, (basic novel writing, geared toward teens.)

This concludes our interview with our latest author, Kitty Keswick. We wish her much success with her debut novel FREAKSVILLE. To see what Kitty is up to these days, visit her website at http://www.kittykeswick.com or her blog at http://wolfychicks.blogspot.com.

*GIVEAWAY ALERT* Kitty Keswick is giving away a signed copy of FREAKSVILLE to a winner. Tell your friends and leave a comment for the author! Enter by March 8th, 2011 11:59 PM CST. (U.S. and Canadian residents only, please.)

Your email address will not be displayed publicly and will only be used to contact you if you win! And don’t forget to participate in our other AuthorsNow! giveaways.

Let’s be honest. Once you’re published, things do change. You no longer write in a vacuum. You ponder over words and characters in a way you haven’t before because you know better what editors and readers look for. You can’t help but think of writing in terms of what sells; and while I won’t write solely for the market (because the market and what’s hot changes often and today’s trend may not be around a year from now and I so can’t create vampires or werewolves), if I get two ideas I like, I’ll pursue the one that’s more sellable first. I used to believe giving any thought to the market when writing was selling out and somehow hindered creative expression. But I realize now that’s silly. If you want to make a living, you explore those options. It’s like telling an architect to follow his dreams and design that fanciful building regardless of whether it will collapse. And I used to think that looking at writing in any other sense than just being one with the paper (or computer) and idea, would take away the love I have for the written word. Not true.

So, in honor of Valentine’s Day (yes, I know it’s on Monday but I’m sure people are having weekend celebrations), I’m creating a list of what I have always loved about writing and still do.

1. The euphoric feeling I get when a new idea enters my head
2. The need to stop whatever I’m doing, grab a notebook, and write two pages of a new scene that’s been nagging at me
3. Being captivated as the characters I created in my head come to life on paper, speaking their own thoughts, following their own dreams, blocking some decisions I have made for them
4. Getting that idea which fixes—so perfectly—the major plot issues I’ve been having
5. Creating words and sentences that sound poetic
6. Writing banter that cracks me up
7. Successfully tackling a paragraph or scene I found daunting
8. Having others be affected by my words, story, or characters. We may think we write in a vacuum but I think we all want to reach someone.

In the year since my novel, Forget-Her-Nots, came out, I’ve had an amazing time meeting readers, teachers, librarians, and flowers lovers. They’re always eager to hear about the language of flowers and how I came up with an original focus, but the question on many minds is:  What writing advice can you give me?  With the boom in teen fiction, so many book lovers dream of writing the next Hunger Games or The Sky Is Everywhere, two of my recent favorites.

What is the best advice any librarian, teacher, or bookseller can give these starry-eyed writers? Revise!  And then revise some more.

All writers dream of that magic moment when the words fall into place on the page and in the hearts of our readers, but most readers and wannabee writers don’t realize how much hard work that magic takes.  Writing well is not about having a muse or fairy dust or anything out of the ordinary;  it’s much more human than that. Writing requires dedication, determination, and diligence.  It requires you to be hard on yourself and on your words.  I worked on Forget-Her-Nots on and off for eight years trying to get the magic right. (I was doing lots of other things too, but still. When I started, I thought it would take me about two years to write the novel and about two months to sell.  Both predictions were wildly wrong.)

Even for published writers, the Revise! dictum holds true.  Last fall I also realized that my WIP, called String Theories, which I thought was done, wasn’t.  It needed another round of intense scrutiny, which I’ve given it over the past months.  During those months, I’ve discovered all sorts of wonderful things about my story.  It’s been an emotional and intellectual challenge, but the connections have deepened, the emotional impact is stronger, and loose ends have tied together.  And all this was after I’d already declared it done. Silly me.

But don’t trust me, a writer who’s published only one book so far.  Take a look at Shannon Hale’s section on writing advice to see how many times she mentions the word.  The prolific Stephen King recommends setting aside a manuscript without a peak at it for at least six weeks after the first draft, but I’d give it three months.  It feels like a long time when you’re hoping that the dream agent or dream contract will arrive by Fed Ex tomorrow, but be patient.  Work on something else.  Read books about the writing life and the writing process.  Read books and try to figure out why they work and why they don’t.  And then, when your mind is sufficiently distanced from your darling manuscript, take another look.  You’ll be amazed by both the things you got right and the things that are wildly wrong.  Revise away!!

This may not be secret or sexy advice, but I promise that it’s the best and the one that most aspiring writers need to hear.

I’m not naïve. I understand that the way students behave for a guest speaker is not the same way they always behave. I taught for over ten years (8 of those in a public school classroom). I remember that as awesome as students think you are, you are still their teacher—one they have to see every day for 10 months of the year. There will be days they love you. There will be days they wish you would stop talking and let them pass notes or sleep or just tune out. Sometimes those days will be consecutive. You do the best you can. You show them you care. Years later some of them may contact you on Facebook and tell you you meant something and that means a lot. If they don’t do that, that’s fine too. You don’t need to be THE teacher who made a difference (yes, when I started teaching during my practicums that’s what I wanted but I grew up). But you do hope they took away something from your class. I once looked at a former student’s FB page to see how he was doing. We aren’t FB friends but his page is public. He had a bunch of interests, and under favorite books he had listed a book we read when I taught him in 8^th grade (he’s graduating college next year). That made me happy.

I tend to compartmentalize things and always thought everything was either or. A writer or a teacher. Like somehow doing both would take away from the writing, would make me less of a “real” writer. Or, a better explanation is, I thought staying in the teaching profession gave me fallback, made it seem like I had a backup if the writing thing didn’t work out. It not working out was not an option. Now, I realize it doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve also realized I can’t have just one professional outlet because then it’s too much energy focused on one thing and I go crazy.

Another epiphany? The writing part of me, the part who has a book published and another on the way, will see teaching differently than the girl who thought there was only one way to make a dream happen. I don’t know about going back to public school teaching. For now, I’m content with doing class visits, teaching a few periods, signing some books, helping aspiring writers. But there’s a private school I have been talking to about working part time. I’m also sending out my resume to a university in hopes of obtaining an adjunct position. Just thinking about the classes I can teach at both these venues and the students I can work with and mentor makes me giddy, and that has to be a sign.

It’s funny. I thought having a book published would be everything—the epitome of what I wanted. But it’s opened my eyes to everything I can become. Writer, teacher, more.

I love when authors incorporate food into their novels. Weaving in recipes or delicacies adds layers to the characters and lets the reader know more about them through a topic everyone can relate to.

My debut novel, Inconvenient, often mentions Russian food, and when I wrote about the dishes I was brought back to family gathering with those foods, cooking with my grandma and shaping the cookies just right, bringing the foreign food to school and feeling foreign myself because of this. Food in a novel also adds to the many themes a book already has.

Below are some of my favorite books where food plays a role. Please share yours as well.

1. Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes
2. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (this is not a children’s book but one of my favorite novels, and the first time I read it was in a high school class)
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
4. Heidi by Johanna Spyri (who can forget those scenes where Heidi and her grandpa share milk and cheeses)
5. The wonderful If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series by Laura Joffee Numeroff

A Christmas Carol and the poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” (more commonly known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”) spring instantly to mind. But over the years, we’ve built up quite a body of literature from different faiths, and with thousands of different takes on the season.

Today I’m fondly recalling The Great Christmas Kidnaping Caper by Jean van Leeuwen, which I read as a child (and reread, and re-reread). It’s the story of three mice who live in a dollhouse in the Macy’s toy department, and how they help solve the kidnaping of the store’s Santa Claus. Not only did the mice have street smarts and a sense of humor, but they brought to life every child’s fantasy of being able to stay in a toy store overnight and have free run of the place.

What are your favorites?

Vicky Whipple

This week, we’re celebrating Vicky’s debut! Vicky Whipple is an avid student of life’s great lessons. She grew up as Vicky Le Grand—an energetic “navy brat” who loved the outdoors. By the time she graduated from high school she’d gone to 11 schools. Along the way, she struggled with school’s demands, especially reading, due to a learning disability. Aided by wonderful teachers and a patient mother, she wrote her first story in the second grade; it was published in the school paper. Later in life, she helped children who struggled like she did, while working for the school district’s special education department as a teacher’s assistant.

Having married a navy man, Vicky and her family moved from the West coast to Virginia Beach 15 years ago. She works at a friend’s boutique, soaking in the daily delights of working with people. She finds humor in much of life, especially movies (comedies). Vicky has two children, three grandchildren, one older brother and one younger sister—all of whom are her heart’s treasures.

Here’s a little bit about THE LITTLE WEED FLOWER (Raven Tree Press).

Have you ever felt that you are a little different from the rest around you, and that you just do not fit in?

This story is about a little weed flower that has hope and dares to dream of leaving the weed patch in which she lives. She discovers help from a Hawk to accomplish her dreams of going to live in a beautiful garden. She sees that a wonderful, kind gardener cares for and tends the other flowers, so they can grow happy and strong. Once she gets to her dream place, she discovers that the beautiful flowers are not so willing to accept her, because she came from the weed patch.

She discovers that she has brought with her some wonderful survival skills from the weed patch. She and her friend share positive lessons by encouraging others, thereby growing love and hope. The gardener teaches that no matter where we come from, everything has its own beauty and a special purpose in the big garden of life. She becomes the most beloved flower in the garden. Not all flowers bloom at the same time, but when they bloom they can change the world with kindness and encouragement.

THE LITTLE WEED FLOWER by Vicky Whipple

If you had to give your book a movie rating: G through Rated R, which one would you give and why?

G – for good, old-fashioned wisdom and kindness, and of course, for garden.

What topics, issues, or themes does your book address? What drove you to write about them?

It is a book of hope and encouragement, about making friends and nurturing people along the way and about fulfilling one’s dreams. I worked on this book for 3 years. My ideas came from my life experience moving around a lot and struggling in school. Moving in and out of the classroom from regular classroom into special educational classes and back into regular classrooms was not easy. Everyone knew I was different.

Name a few examples of readers who would identify or like your book.

1. This book is for anyone who feels like they don’t fit in – children and seniors alike!
2. Children who have recently moved or relocated.
3. Children who are bilingual-Spanish and English.

List a statistically improbable phrase or sentence one might find in your book.

She told the flowers not to give up hope and to dig their roots deep inside the soil to find water.

How can your book be used in the classroom?

It can be used for a science experiment about growing plants in different environments. It’s written in both Spanish and English so it’s great for working with kids to teach English as a second language to Spanish speaking students. It can also be used in preschool and elementary school and Junior High/High School as a tool in Spanish language class. Also, I would like to see the book used by psychologists in children’s mental, medical and emotional therapy, school counselors, and military family support services as a tool to help children who have moving issues (migration).

Now tell us about other already-published books that readers of your book might enjoy.

Kids who like The Little Weed Flower might also enjoy Ruby Lee Bumble Bee by Dawn Matheson; Rockin’ Roly Poly by J.A. Mackay; A Walk With Grandpa by Pamela Barcita; The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein; Aesop’s Fables; and books by Hans Christian Andersen.

Now whet our appetites with a teaser.

Rooted in the corner of the weed patch lived a tiny little weed flower. She would gaze at the beautiful garden nearby and listen to the flowers. She could hear the snapdragon bragging about her gorgeous bright red buds, the daisy boasting about her glistening white petals, and the rose proudly discussing her luscious red blooms. The little weed flower longed to be in the garden with them.

Are you offering authors visits to schools, libraries, or other organizations?

Yes.

Are you willing to speak nationally?

Yes.

List a few example titles of presentations, talks, or workshops you might give for an author visit.

• “Life in the Weed Patch Versus Life in the Garden” – Vicky shows samples of weeds and samples of flowers, describing them from the perspective of gardening, the difference. She then reads The Little Weed Flower and conducts an art workshop in which the students draw pictures of what their imaginary garden would look like.
• “Help Along the Way” – Vicky reads The Little Weed Flower then explores the concept of accepting and giving help with the students. The students share real life examples of how they have both accepted and given help.

This concludes our interview with our latest author, Vicky Whipple. We wish her much success with her debut novel THE LITTLE WEED FLOWER. To see what Vicky Whipple is up to these days, visit her website at http://www.deltapublishing.com/mediakit.cfm?OPID=5212 or her blog at http://VickyWhipple.wordpress.com.

*GIVEAWAY ALERT* Vicky Whipple is giving away a signed copy of THE LITTLE WEED FLOWER to a winner and a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble to another winner. Tell your friends and leave a comment for the author! Enter by December 7th, 2010 11:59 PM CST. (U.S. and Canadian residents only, please.)

Your email address will not be displayed publicly and will only be used to contact you if you win! And don’t forget to participate in our other AuthorsNow! giveaways.

Stuart Stotts

This week, we’re celebrating Stuart’s debut! Stuart Stotts is an author, songwriter, and storyteller from Deforest, Wi. He’s made his living for nearly 25 years as a performer, working in schools, libraries, and community events. He also leads teacher workshops around the country as a Kennedy Center Teaching Artists, and as a frequent keynote presenter for early childhood conferences.

Stuart lives in Victorian house in Deforest.King He loves to ride his recumbent bicycle and spend time at his cabin in the woods. He was born in Texas and raised in Chicago, and he’s visited many countries. He and his wife love to travel. Stuart is always at work on another book, and often on several at a time.

Here’s a little bit about WE SHALL OVERCOME: A Song That Changed the World (Clarion Books).

“We Shall Overcome” isn’t a complicated piece of music. The first verse has only twenty-two words, most of them repeated. The melody is straightforward. The chords are basic. Yet the song has had a profound effect on people throughout the United States—and the world.

In clear, accessible language Stuart Stotts explores the roots of the tune and the lyrics in traditional African music and Christian hymns. He demonstrates the key role “We Shall Overcome” played in the civil rights, labor, and anti-war movements in America. And he traces the song’s transformation into an international anthem. With its dramatic stories and memorable quotes, this saga of a famous piece of music offers a unique way of looking at social history.

WE SHALL OVERCOME: A Song That Changed the World by Stuart Stotts

If you had to give your book a movie rating: G through Rated R, which one would you give and why?

PG if only because there is some graphic violence described.

What topics, issues, or themes does your book address? What drove you to write about them?

The history of the Civil Rights Movement, The Power of Music. I have a long history of being interested in the role of music in social change.

List a few statistically improbable phrases or sentences one might find in your book. These are phrases or sentences you might never find anywhere else.

“We Shall Overcome” deserves to be honored in the same way we honor historic places like Ellis Island or the Lincoln Memorial.

At the anniversary celebration, Pete Seeger sang “We Shall Overcome.” Dr. King had never heard the song before. Afterward, while driving to Louisville to speak, Dr. King kept humming the tune. He told his driver, a civil rights activist named Anne Braden, “‘We Shall Overcome.’ That song really sticks with you, doesn’t it?”

Now tell us about other already-published books that readers of your book might enjoy.

• Claudette Colvin by Phil Hoose
• Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement by Ann Bausum

Now whet our appetites with a teaser.

In August 1963, my father had been a professor at McCormick Presbyterian Seminary in Chicago for only three days when the President of the Seminary called him into his office.

“Jack, I want you to go on a trip for us. One of our students, a young black man, has been doing summer work with a church in Wilmington, North Carolina. Yesterday, he was arrested for leading his youth group in singing a song on the county courthouse steps, and it created a big uproar there. People from seminaries around the country are gathering with local civil rights groups to protest his arrest. It sounds like a precarious situation. We want to show our support, and Jack, I’d like you to go.”

The year 1963 was the height of the Civil Rights movement. Nearly every day brought more news of protests, arrests, and violence from around the country, especially in the South.

“I’d be glad to go,” my father said nervously.

“Excellent,” said the President.

“By the way,” my father asked, “what was the song?”

“We Shall Overcome,” the President replied.

Are you offering authors visits to schools, libraries, or other organizations?

Yes.

Are you willing to speak nationally?

Yes.

List a few example titles of presentations, talks, or workshops you might give for an author visit.

• How Do I Know: ( I Read It In A Book)
• Ghost Stories: What, Why, and How
• Writing the Hero’s Journey: Using Storytelling to Shape Your Story
• All A Family Under One Sky: Songs and Stories from around the World

This concludes our interview with our latest author, STUART STOTTS. We wish him much success with his debut novel “WE SHALL OVERCOME: A Song That Changed the World”. To see what Stuart is up to these days, visit his website at http://www.StuartStotts.com or his blog at http://stuartstotts.blogspot.com/.

M. G. King

This week, we’re celebrating M. G. King’s debut! M. G. King grew up in southern Indiana on the Ohio River. She always wanted to be like the town’s librarian, who drove a rusty bookmobile through snow and chased off neighborhood bullies so children could check out her books. Although King hasn’t found anyone willing to let her drive their bookmobile yet, she’s held lots of other jobs, including camp counselor, ESL teacher in Japan, and registered nurse in ICU, transplant, and surgical recovery.

King lives in a suburb of Houston with her husband, two sons, and a Labrador who sheds a lot. She often visits her family’s farm in central Texas, and admires Lockhart’s beautiful hundred-year-old library with her feet planted firmly on the ground.

Here’s a little bit about LIBRARIAN ON THE ROOF! A TRUE STORY (Albert Whitman & Company).

Braving heights and bad weather, librarian RoseAleta Laurell ascended the fifty-foot roof of the oldest library in Texas. She refused to come down until she received $20,000 in donations to improve its children’s section and bring computers and Internet access into her rural library. During the week-long campout, her community came together to raise nearly twice that amount.

LIBRARIAN ON THE ROOF! A TRUE STORY by M. G. King, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin

If you had to give your book a movie rating: G through Rated R, which one would you give and why?

Rated G picture book, for ages 4 and up.

What topics, issues, or themes does your book address? What drove you to write about them?

Lockhart, TX is a town I visit often. When I first heard about this event that took place in October of 2000, I knew it had all the elements of a beautiful picture book – an historic building, a daring librarian who wouldn’t give up, and most importantly, the fact that a very diverse community came together to achieve something wonderful.

Libraries have always struggled with funding issues. Eighty percent of library funds come from the tax revenue of their local communities. They compete with other basic services like water and fire stations. A great irony in the library world is that the demand for library resources goes up during economic downturns, when librarians are forced to cut their budgets.

We’ve all heard stories in the news recently about librarian layoffs, shortened hours of service, and even library closings. But we can also find stories about communities coming up with creative ideas about how to shore up this important resource. I hope RoseAleta’s story will serve as an inspiration to library supporters across the nation.

Name a few examples of readers who would identify or like your book.

• Young library patrons
• Anyone who has ever wanted to camp on a roof
• Librarians who do extreme sports
• Library supporters who face funding difficulties in the present economy

List a few statistically improbable phrases or sentences one might find in your book. These are phrases or sentences you might never find anywhere else.

“What I want to know,” exclaimed one little boy, “is how she’s going to go to the bathroom!”

“We are a respectable town. We simply cannot have librarians falling off the roof.”

“Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money, but it’s not enough. I never do anything halfway.”

How can your book be used in the classroom?

This story inspires discussions about community, cooperation, and achieving goals.

Now tell us about other already-published books that readers of your book might enjoy.

• That Book Woman, by Heather Hensen, illus. by David Small (Atheneum)
• The Storyteller’s Candle, by Lucia Gonzales, illus. by Lulu Delacre (Children’s Book Press)

Now whet our appetites with a teaser.

The sky turned green and the winds shifted. The news stations warned of tornados. The whole town of Lockhart feared for their beloved librarian.

All night long, great gusts blasted across the roof. RoseAleta held onto the slippery rail with all her might.

Are you offering authors visits to schools, libraries, or other organizations?

Yes. I prefer children’s groups.

Are you willing to speak nationally?

Yes.

List a few example titles of presentations, talks, or workshops you might give for an author visit.

• Story Gears: The four essential parts of storytelling, grades 3-5
• The Stories Around Us: grades K-2
• Working Together: Cooperation games and activities for grades 3-5
• Writing Expeditions: The writing and revision process, grades 3-5
• Please visit my website http://mgking.us for more details.

This concludes our interview with our latest author, M. G. KING. We wish her much success with her debut novel LIBRARIAN ON THE ROOF! A TRUE STORY. To see what M. G. King is up to these days, visit her website at http://mgking.us.

*GIVEAWAY ALERT* M. G. King is giving away a signed copy of LIBRARIAN ON THE ROOF! A TRUE STORY. Tell your friends and leave a comment for the author! Enter by November 23rd, 2010 11:59 PM CST. (U.S. and Canadian residents only, please.)

Your email address will not be displayed publicly and will only be used to contact you if you win! And don’t forget to participate in our other AuthorsNow! giveaways.

We are writers. We write books. We write about topics that we hope will touch and impact others. Some of us just write to entertain. When it comes to my novels, I don’t write willy nilly with no thought about what is taking place—the opposite in fact. But here is my problem with saying writers with weak female characters are setting a poor example for teen girls. By giving so much responsibility to writers, we are taking away the power from teens.

The reason these conversations and lectures irk me is because they imply teenagers are so impressionable that they will read a novel and want to emulate the heroine. Why not consider that teens will say, “I don’t want to act like her. I will do things differently.”? There are plenty who think this way. Or, how about using the opportunity to start a dialogue with the teen to see how s/he would react in the same situation.

I think those that complain are really pushing their own agenda as opposed to showing true concern for teens. This is obvious when books like Ellen Hopkins’s are banned. She does not glorify drug use, prostitution, or abuse. So how will her books influence teens to partake in these activities?

As writers, we have the responsibility to write good novels. Novels that will make others think or laugh or serve as great conversation pieces. The rest? Let’s give the readers some credit to choose their own paths, love or hate our characters, and the fortitude to show everyone that they have brains of their own.

And now, “alright” has become accepted usage. It’s hard for me to get used to, but the fact is that our language changes. Words fall into and out of fashion; old rules die (You can now end sentences with prepositions!), spelling changes, and new words appear (internet and teh, for examples that didn’t exist when I was born).

Language is something that all of us build, maintain, and develop through an ever-changing consensus. It has its arbiters and authorities, but every day, millions of people adapt it for their own purposes. Sometimes we consult the authorities–say, when we consult a grammar text or a dictionary. And sometimes the authorities consult us, as when new words are added to the dictionary.

It’s exciting to think of books, our current body of literature, as shaping the future, as much as they’ve been shaped by the past.

Nancy Gow

This week, we’re celebrating Nancy’s debut! Nancy has always tried to do the things she enjoys most. She was a rock singer in her late teens and twenties, with the lead role in a hit rock musical and life on the road with a wonderful band called Software. Then she did a complete “about-turn” and became a yoga teacher, immersing herself in yoga postures, breathing techniques and meditation. This was followed by the perfect combination of the ridiculous and the sublime when she discovered the joy of writing for children. Ten Big Toes and a Prince’s Nose is her first rhyming picture book.

Here’s a little bit about TEN BIG TOES AND A PRINCE’S NOSE (Sterling).

A beautiful princess with very big feet and a fun-loving prince with an enormous nose have a hard time attracting a suitable partner. But when the self-conscious pair meet on a ski lift in the Alps (their peculiarities are well hidden beneath winter clothing), they quickly discover the beauty that lies beneath appearances.

TEN BIG TOES AND A PRINCE'S NOSE by Nancy Gow, Illustrations by Stephen Costanza

If you had to give your book a movie rating: G through Rated R, which one would you give and why?

G—This picture book is for kids ages 4-7. (It’s also for adults who want a good laugh!)

What topics, issues, or themes does your book address? What drove you to write about them?

The book addresses a topic that almost everybody struggles with – self-esteem. I was inspired to write it after attending a wonderful meditation retreat in California. At the end of the retreat I ordered a bunch of CDs, so that I could relive the experience at home. When they arrived in the mail, I was really excited. But for some reason, the CDs sounded flat and uninspiring when I listened to them on my own … except for one extra CD they’d thrown in as a kind of bonus.

The extra CD was about accepting ourselves exactly as we are. The teacher said that if we could stop tinkering with our personalities for a while and just relax and be still, we could look deeper into who we really are.

Well, if that wasn’t the most beautiful, restful thing I’d ever heard… And it became the refrain for a children’s story that I hoped I could complete one day: I am what I am and that’s all right with me./ I don’t have to be different, I just have to be. / I don’t want to be somebody else. No sir-ree!/ I am what I am and that’s all right with me.

Name a few examples of readers who would identify or like your book.

• Any child between 4 and 8 who’s self-conscious about their appearance.
• Anyone who needs an example of courage.
• A kid or grown-up who loves snappy rhyme and “tongue-in-cheek” humor.

List a few statistically improbable phrases or sentences one might find in your book. These are phrases or sentences you might never find anywhere else.

“One day, while the princess was skiing in France,/ His Wonderful Highness just happened to glance/ at the beautiful girl who glided with ease/ down the slopes of the Alps (she was not wearing skis).”

How can your book be used in the classroom?

Because the prince and princess have flaws that are so humorous and exaggerated, kids can feel more relaxed and open about discussing their own perceived imperfections. The humour in the book makes it possible to look at one’s own struggles with self-acceptance as being less dramatic.

The repetition of the chorus: I am what I am and that’s all right with me, etc. is catchy and easily remembered. It’s a short rhyme that can stay with a child long after the book has been put away.

The climax of the story, when the prince and princess reveal their “imperfections” provides an opportunity to discuss the dangers and delights of honest communication.

Now tell us about other already-published books that readers of your book might enjoy.

• I’m Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis
• Finklehopper Frog by Irene Livingston
• I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track by Joshua Prince (great rhyme and humor)

Now whet our appetites with a teaser.

There once was a princess so lovely and fair

with ruby red lips and a mane of brown hair.

Her voice was like honey, her smile soft and sweet.

But the beautiful princess had gigantic feet!

This concludes our interview with our latest author, NANCY GOW. We wish her much success with her debut novel TEN BIG TOES AND A PRINCE’S NOSE. To see what Nancy is up to these days, visit her website at http://www.nancygow.com.

*GIVEAWAY ALERT* Nancy is giving away a signed copy of TEN BIG TOES AND A PRINCE’S NOSE to two winners. Tell your friends and leave a comment for the author! Enter by November 16th, 2010 11:59 PM CST. (U.S. and Canadian residents only, please.)

Your email address will not be displayed publicly and will only be used to contact you if you win! And don’t forget to participate in our other AuthorsNow! giveaways.