• Before your book comes out, get comfortable on all those social networking sites.  Make friends on Facebook, decide what you’re going to say on your blog, and learn how to tweet.  You don’t want to be dealing with all that book launch stuff and trying to figure out what RT means at the same time.
• No matter how much they hang in your face, do not get your bangs cut the day before your book launch.  Feel free to disregard this if you have one of those hair stylists who always make you look fabulous.  (If you do, and you live in NJ, please IM me)
• Once you step in front of a group of kids, you’re the one running the show.  That means you need to acquire some basic classroom management skills.  Think about what you’re going to say when a very angelic-looking 4^th grader interrupts his classmate to tell a story that involves blood, guts and brain spillage.
• When you’re speaking to a class, pay attention to the teachers.  You can learn a lot from their body language.  When they stop their conversations, cross their arms, and lean toward you, you know you’ve just called on the child who will talk about brain spillage.
• Even after you’re published, you’ll still have to take the dishes out of the dishwasher.  At some very weird level, this fact surprises me.  (To everyone who has more than one book out there:  When do they work the “no dirty dishes” clause into your contract?)
• Watch out for those 5th graders.  One moment, they’re giggling and acting like little kids, and the next moment, their maturity and insight will leave you tongue-tied.
• If you give out Tootsie Rolls to large groups of 4^th and 5^th graders, many will lose teeth.
• There might be one or two people in your life who aren’t quite as happy for you as you’d thought they’d be.  But for the most part, you will be overwhelmed by good wishes and good energy from friends and family.
• Don’t even attempt to seriously answer the question: “Why don’t you try to get on Oprah?”
• Even a starred review is not going to make you feel secure about your writing, if you happen to be a naturally neurotic writer.  All those good feelings really do come from within.
• Getting the call from your agent, working with a great editor, and holding your book for the first time will live up to your every expectation.  But it’s the things you never thought about, like the really wonderful email from a stranger or a surprise celebration from friends that will take your breath away.
• Do not become obsessed with your ranking on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, LibraryThing, etc.  It will only make you crazy.  One day, I hope to follow this excellent advice.  For now, I am a moth.  Amazon is the flame.
• Being published changes nothing.  In all probability, you will still have your day job, still spend a summer Saturday afternoon with the in-laws and I’ve already told you about the dishes.
• Being published changes everything.  Something about a having a dream come true changes  you to the very core.

I’m sure I’ve left a lot out, so please feel free to add to this list.

WHAT: Win the 20 Things grand prize, including 6 autographed debut books (Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog, Breathing by Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Prada & Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard, Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne, and The Great Call of China by Cynthea Liu) and 14 fun summer goodies in the 20 Things in 20 Days blog scavenger hunt!

WHEN: June 11-30, 2009

HOW: Complete clues/activities to earn points toward the grand prize. Complete all or some of the clues, in any order, any time now through June 30. Visit 20 Things in 20 Days for details and the list of clues (updated daily).

What: As part of the YA Book Carnival, a giveaway of four YA books/ARCs (Crash Into Me, Watersmeet, Initiation, The Secret Year)

When: Now thru 6/27/09 at 5 PM EDT

How: Just leave a comment and see complete rules at http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/110176.html

Advice for an aspiring writer.

Where do I even begin? Ultimately, I went with the obvious:

Stick With It.

Now that I look back, though, that advice is so basic. Every author out there will tell you that to be successful you need to 1) write, 2) read, and 3) stick with it no matter what.

I wish I could’ve taken her to lunch and discussed publishing over a plate of cheese fries with ranch dressing; shared stories; talked about what worked for me for one ms; what didn’t work the next. I’d introduce her to The Writer’s Market, which would tell her everything she needed to know about how to find an agent. I would tell her what I’d learned about pushing yourself through the first draft, how to tackle revisions and edits, and how to write the perfect synopsis and query letter.

I soon realized, though, the things above are irrelevant if you’re lacking perseverance: the ability to laugh in the faces of friends and family members when they doubt you; the desire to turn on the computer and open that MS Word file and work day in and day out for weeks, months, years, or however long it takes to reach “The End.”

The truth is, knowing “how to do” it isn’t “doing.”

I suppose that makes “don’t ever give up” the best possible advice I could’ve given, whether I had 30 seconds or 30 years to give it.

To that girl at BEA and the other aspiring authors out there (you know who you are), remember that the only difference between a published writer and an unpublished one is perseverance: despite the odds, the published one simply never stopped trying.    

In the first picture of that thirteenth year I faced the camera, smiling and with my arms behind my back. My skirt stopped above two bony knees, one with a band aid.  My hair was pulled into a ponytail with a limp scrunchy that had lost its snap back when I was twelve. I’d inherited my grandfather’s terrifying uni-brow, and I remember that until that year it hadn’t mattered.

For such a short time, perhaps only that day when somebody clicked the shutter, I was poised between two worlds–about to leave the tomboy behind and ready to try my hand at being grown up.

On the next pages I had two tweezed eyebrows, my hair was combed and fell nicely to my shoulders, I’d turned slightly to the side and bent one knee like the models. No band aid anymore and something was different in the way I smiled.

Do you have any photo of yourself poised on the brink of something new–maybe a thirteen-year-old at that same central moment? If so,  I’d love if you’d share the description.

Is it the age of the main character? The protagonist in most YA novels is anywhere from 14-18 years old. But adult fiction protagonists, such as in Life of Pi, can be teens, also. In the case of The Book Thief, there are two main protagonists—one is ageless and the other is a child. So this rule is not hard and fast.

The point of view? Many YA books are told in the first person. First person narratives can create a more intimate connection between the reader and the main character. The Book Thief is narrated by Death. If Death had been malicious or heartless, the novel would’ve been even darker. But Markus Zusak’s Death is both tender and observant in a non-judging way, which adds a touch of humanity. I believe this is one of the reasons The Book Thief was categorized as a YA.

A sophisticated narrative style? Young adult readers are extraordinarily advanced. They can enjoy intelligent characters (An Abundance of Katherines), unreliable narrators (Now You See Her), stories told backwards (The First Part Last), novels in verse (Crank), and anti-heroes (Inexcusable). The Book Thief’s inventive narrative style would not faze this audience.

Themes? The themes and topics that are relevant to teens—themes such as coming of age, self-acceptance, good vs. evil, personal responsibility, as well as topics like suicide, eating disorders, abuse, and war—are also relevant to adults. So the line blurs here.

Perhaps the difference comes from how these themes and topics are addressed. Even though YA books can be disturbing and gritty, at the end there is a ray of hope for a better future. That—combined with an intimate story-telling style, growth of the main character, and an engaging plot—distinguishes YA from adult fiction.

Still, I wonder. If Markus Zusak had written The Book Thief before he had earned a reputation as a YA novelist, would it still be called YA? Opinions?

But I thought it might be fun to issue a challenge for this summer, to set some goals and see if anyone else cares to join in.  Here’s what I’m suggesting:

Read 10 books by Sept. 21.  (I hope to read many more, but 10 is a nice, reasonable, summery goal.)

Of the 10, I suggest:

1 classic you’ve never read but always meant to (I think mine will be The Grapes of Wrath)

1 book you’ve read and always wanted to reread but haven’t yet (mine will be Rules by Cynthia Lord)

1 book featured here on AuthorsNow! (I will probably pick several)

1 book outside the genres you usually read (I’m thinking of Tammi Sauer’s Chicken Dance; I don’t usually read picture books but this one looks like a lot of fun)

1 “impulse” book that catches your eye during the summer

5 others of your choosing

You may change your list at any time–this whole exercise is meant to be fun!  If you decide to join this challenge, please leave a comment below or email me at jennifer[at]jenniferhubbard[dot]com.  You can list all your books now, or wait until later to report them.  I’ll try to come up with a little trinket (something like a bookmark) for those who participate and meet their 10-book goal.  (We’ll be on the honor system.)

Happy reading!

Fate now smirks when she sees me, as I am the only female in a house full of males – even the dog and both of the cats are boys. The presence of several Y chromosomes in my life has made me think harder about all things boy-related, including their reading preferences.

My oldest son is just about to turn 12. He still reads, but he has trouble finding things that interest him. He’s a bit “eh” about fantasy (he never really got excited about Harry Potter, something that he will never admit to his friends), he didn’t like Twilight because there was too much “love stuff” and he’s too young for books like Looking for Alaska by John Green. The past few months, he has found a few books that he really liked – Savvy by Ingrid Law was a big hit (even though it is sort of a “girl” book), and Feed by M.T. Anderson is a favorite. He’s always looking for things to read, but is quick to dismiss anything that is overly girlie.

I’ve been told by those who should know that boys don’t read. At least they don’t once they pass the age of 12. Oh, they might pick up an action/fantasy book or a good graphic novel on occasion, but as a species, they don’t read regular books. I’ve started to wonder if boys stopped reading regular books because there aren’t many regular books for them to read, or if writers and publishers have stopped marketing regular books to boys because it was a losing proposition.

With all this in mind, I have a confession to make – I write books for girls. Honestly, it didn’t start out that way. When It’s Six O’clock in San Francisco is coming out in July, and as a picture book, that is for both boys and girls, but my YA Dirty Little Secrets is being marketed to girls. The book I’m writing now is definitely for girls (too much love stuff, as my son would say), and the zygote that is percolating and may turn into the book after that also seems to have a girl main character.

I feel bad about this. I want boys to have great books that will give them other perspectives on life without having to leave home. Even though my main character is a girl, I still hope some boys will pick it up and enjoy it. As my son says, they can always take the jacket off when they carry it around so that the girl on the cover doesn’t look weird.

If a book comes to me that has a strong boy character, I’ll write it, but I’m not sure I’ll go out looking for one. If you write it, will boys come? Honestly, I don’t know.

What were the elements of the story that shouted “film!” to you?

BRIN: Honestly, the first chapter of the book spoke to me. It offered a prose depiction of basketball that was so honest, so raw, and felt so much like the gyms I grew up playing ball in that I instantly connected with the voice. Then I kept reading and sparked to the way the layers were peeled back on Sticky’s story. Then I read some more and found an authentic version of the Santa Monica and Venice, CA that I grew up in… For me, this source material was an opportunity to go home and make an honest film – a film about an LA and a character that normally doesn’t get told. That opportunity absolutely excited me.

MATT: I’m not sure how much of what I was writing even shouted “book!” while I was writing the initial draft. This was my first novel and I was suffering from a serious case of “impostor syndrome.” Who was I to think I could write an entire novel? And a novel that actually sold? Crazy talk. Luckily the obsessive part of me beat out the skeptical part and after about a year I had the makings of an actual book. Of course, it wasn’t until the revision stage that I figure out what the book was actually about.

I’ve always loved visual fiction. Novels driven by scene. My main character, Sticky, is very external. Throughout ninety percent of the novel he is actively NOT internalizing events from his past. He’s a reactionary character. Because of this, much of the character development is driven by what he does as opposed to what he thinks. So that part was easily translated into script form. Also, the basketball scenes were very active. Pick up hoops in Lincoln Rec, as well as the big playoff game in the middle of the book. Early in the process, Brin described what he wanted to do with the basketball scenes, and that really excited me. There’s only so much you can do in fiction. I went to odd figurative language, short choppy sentences, syncopated rhythms. But Grayson brought it all to life in the movie version.

But truth be told, I had no idea this was worthy of adaptation until Brin said he was going to make it happen.

What were some of the immediate challenges and surprises in creating the screenplay?

MATT: The biggest challenge for both of us was the structure of the novel, which is non-linear. The present tense element of the story takes place in just one day. But the novel moves back in time as well. Half of the literal space is dedicated to flashback (which I tell my writing students is a big no-no). As a novelist I wanted to explore all of the foster families that had taken Sticky in only to ultimately give him back. For me, this is what the novel is about first and foremost. In a traditional film we probably would have scrapped the foster system and built up the hoop action. But (thank God!) Brin was also interested in Sticky’s rough background.

The coolest surprise for me was the way we were able to move through time. I love some of the transitions in the film version. I think Brin did an amazing job keeping the audience grounded. And one of the biggest highlights of the film is Brin’s strategy of showing Sticky in front of every single foster house at the end of the film. That’s when it really hits home what a crazy and sad journey Sticky’s been on just to get to present day.

BRIN: One major hurdle was taking a character that is so abused by the system that he spins inside himself and lives in an extremely internal manner. His external reaction occurs pretty much on the court and he becomes a classic active character only when backed into a corner and forced to react. But what would normally be seen as a flaw became quite useful in our story arch because when he does finally take matters into his own hands late in the film, it has an unbelievably wonderful impact on the audience. We gambled on the notion that the ills Sticky’s suffered, the difficult system he endured, and getting to see him overcome some of those woes would allow us to win the audience over and buy some time with a character that kind of lives in a turtle’s shell. I’m always pleasantly surprised and pleased when the audience vocally roots for Sticky in a harrowing scene toward the end of the film.

What remained consistent about your vision for the film, and what had to change?

BRIN: I think the consistencies are in how authentic the basketball is and truthful the depiction of a normally unseen Santa Monica and Venice is. I also feel like Sticky’s overall arch and story is pretty consistent with where we started a few years back.

A lot changed from script to shoot to final film. For one, we had to cut a 3 ½ hour rough cut of the film down to a 1 hour 40 minute film, so a bunch of great scenes that we all loved hit the edit room floor. The one scene that we lost which comes straight to mind is a scene that originally made me believe that this could be a film – the scene is one where a street walker on Lincoln Blvd teaches Sticky how to kiss a woman’s hand. In writing the script, this scene felt like the moment when Sticky begins to realize that he can love again after all the ills bestowed on his character and starts to rethink how to define family. It’s a very important scene to the book. However, in structuring the film, it immediately became expendable.

Those are the lessons learned late in the adaptation process – don’t be too precious with the book – the book is one piece of art and the film should be seen as another piece of art merely trying to tell the same story in a completely new way.

MATT: I think the movie version of Sticky is incredibly true to the book version. We kept some of his monologues and placed them over basketball action. We remained very true to Sticky – which was really important to the story.

The biggest change was probably between Sticky and Anh-thu (his girlfriend). The end of their story is QUITE different. Right Brin? Brin . . . ?

BRIN: Oh… sorry, I was perusing through your new book WE WERE HERE – could be a good film… But, yes, sir. That is quite correct .

BALL DON’T LIE opens in select theatres June 5.

What book-to-film adaptations have you adored/abhorred? What questions do you have about the process? For the trailer and more about BALL DON’T LIE: The Book, The Film, and of course, The Legends, visit them all online. And check back next month for Part Two of the interview, including a fantastic giveaway!

As summer approaches, I envision lying on a beach somewhere, cool drink by my side, kids happily playing in the water. And as I dig my toes down into the sand, I crack open a brand new YA novel and dig in.

That’s not such a far-fetched fantasy, is it? I have no idea if I’ll make it to the beach this summer, much less one where it’s warm enough for the kids to actually spend time in the water without wet suits. Northern California beaches are deceptively freezing. But a girl can dream, right?

And there are SO many amazing YA novels coming out these days! My stacks of books to be read just keep growing! And so many of them are perfect for summer – for a good beach read. I don’t know where to begin!

So how to choose? For me, especially if I’m at the beach (which hopefully I will be!), it’s gotta have romance. A happy ending is definitely a plus, but I’m not a last-page-first kind of reader, so this is mostly a guess on my part. A deep story with some higher meaning or clearer understanding of life is also always a plus for me. And, of course, real characters that jump off the page and stay with me after I put the book down are what cause me to not be able to put it down. So that’s what I look for in choosing which fabulous book to start with. And there are so many good ones to choose from right now! How do you choose?

I’m actually headed down to Carmel today to celebrate my 20^th wedding anniversary! (Yes, I married young ) And it is technically a beach town, and a beautiful one at that, but with wind and temps in the 60s, I don’t know how much lying on the beach and reading is likely to happen…. But you never know!

Happy summer reading!!

]]> http://www.authorsnow.com/connect-with-cheryl-renee-herbsman-so-much-to-read-so-little-time/feed/ 0 http://www.authorsnow.com/opening-lines-contest-3/ http://www.authorsnow.com/opening-lines-contest-3/#comments Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:49:07 +0000 C. Lee McKenzie http://www.authorsnow.com/?p=4118 Writers have sent in some great Opening Lines in the past two contests:

Here are the first two winners:
“The next time someone wants me to keep a secret, I’ll do something easy instead–like baptize a cat.” Mike Boyd

“Like all my birthday parties, my own funeral is just plain boring.” Shelli

The rules for the June contest are simple: Write a compelling opening to a YA novel. It can be a few lines or a paragraph.

The prize is a signed copy of Sliding on the Edge.

Hope to see at The Write Game soon with the winning entry.

Go ahead.  Look through the windows of any house in Nabor.  It won’t take you more than a couple of blocks to find Livvie Owen’s name written on a wall. That’s because Livvie, who has autism, has gotten the Owens evicted from over twenty homes in the town of Nabor.  Of course her family doesn’t say it’s her fault. But Livvie can sense it in the stares of the landlords and her growing isolation from her family. The options now are few:  move out of town or convince a landlord who knows about Livvie’s destructive behavior to take a chance anyway.

But Livvie, who sees a lot of things her family doesn’t, sees another option hidden in the rubble of their past.  The Sun House stands empty on the edge of town, abandoned after the Owens lost it to the bank.  There’s a sign on the front porch, and Livvie, who doesn’t read, is convinced the sign says “For Rent.”  Can Livvie control her behavior and convince her family to take a chance on staying in Nabor? More importantly, can she convince them to take one last chance on her? In her efforts to reclaim a doomed house, Livvie will challenge her parents’ frustration, her sisters’ anger – and her own ideas about what makes a house a home.

Sarah Dooley

The Author: Sarah Dooley
Location: Asheville, NC till June 2009; then Beckley, WV

As a child, Sarah Dooley lived 24 different places, including an old post office, a tent, and a red cargo van.  She now lives in a relatively normal apartment, aside from the gaping hole to the basement and the jazz cover band practicing in the kitchen. When she is not writing, Sarah has the pleasure of teaching, and being taught by, children on the autism spectrum. She shares her life with her partner and their assortment of dogs, cats, and horses.

Author Visit Information

To be determined

Contact Information:

• Official web site: http://www.dooleynotedbooks.com
• Blogger: http://swdooley.blogspot.com

1 ZANY ZOO, told in rollicking rhyme, is the story of a boy who sneaks into the zoo before it opens.  While in the zoo, he witnesses increasing numbers of crazy animal antics which all add up to 1 zany zoo!

Lori Degman

The Author: Lori Degman

Location: Vernon Hills, IL

Lori Degman lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her husband and two sons and is a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing.  She returned to writing, after a fifteen year hiatus, and entered the 2008, Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Contest.  Her story, 1 ZANY ZOO, was awarded the grand prize.  As a result, Simon & Schuster offered to publish her manuscript, which will be released in July, 2010.  A smaller, paperback version of the book will be included in boxes of Cheerios in Spring, 2010.

Her debut picture book, 1 ZANY ZOO, will be illustrated by the wonderful Colin Jack!

Contact Information:

• Official web site: http://www.loridegman.com
• Blogger: http://habitualrhymer.blogspot.com