Friends

Tamora Pierce will be chatting live at the readergirlz blog TONIGHT, Wednesday, December 16th. The chat will begin at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST and last for about an hour.

Yesterday was.... let's not go into it.

Today is here and that is all that matters.

If you are still shopping for a winter holiday, read "Cheese and Crackers Never Changed Anyone's Life" and then finish your shopping at Indiebound.

There now - wasn't that simple?

Congratulations to Melissa on this WINTERGIRLS video - the project earned her a 100 in her class.

Revision Tip #16 (yes, I know it should be 15, but yesterday really was something of a mess and it's easier this way. Do you remember the "Bruce" sketch of Monty Python? Remember how there was no Rule #6? This is the same thing.)

Where was I?

Right, Revision Tip #16

Revision is the perfect time to brainstorm.

Really.

Brainstorming is not a one-and-done part of the writing process. Not the way I see it. After that messy first draft, I usually have chapters that feel empty or out-of-place. I mentioned the way I use huge sheets of paper to organize my chapters. Here is another technique.

1. Identify the critical chapters in your novel. Which are the ones that contain The Really Big Stuff?

The Really Big Stuff chapters will usually be separated by chapters in which the action unfolds in a slightly less intense way. Think of your novel as a wide river that your reader needs to cross. The RBS (Really Big Stuff) chapters are small islands in the river. The other chapters are either stepping stones or bridges that get the reader from one island to the next.

2. List the Stones & Bridges chapters, then prioritize them by how alive they feel. What is the chapter that feels the most flat - the chapter (or chapters!) you are secretly wondering if you should cut?

3. Don't cut them yet.

5. Brainstorm as if you were starting from scratch. For each of the flat chapters, dream up ten different ways the action could unfold. Go ahead - be outrageous. I dare you. Sometimes thinking way outside the box is what you need to jolt your writer brain into clearer storytelling.

6. (Please note; there IS a Rule Six, Bruce!) Pick one of the ten and just freewrite the chapter over again. How does it help the reader understand the characters better? How does it move the story forward?

7. Rinse. Repeat. Send me questions.

Due to health issues, Cassie gets 8 pills a day. They're spread out, four times a day, some with food, some without food. I finally had to buy one of those big plastic pill containers that had four compartments per day just so I could make sure I didn't forget to give her one. They're mostly big pills and not the kind you can just mix in with her food. I figured out that a slice of American cheese works pretty well for pill pockets. I take a small piece of cheese and mold it around the pills and she scarfs them right down.

As I was filling the compartments with all the pills today (and trying not to think about the cost of all this medicine) I started thinking about the commitment we made to Cassie when we rescued her. At the time we adopted her we had no idea that she would have medical issues. We went to an adoption day, fell in love with Cassie, and brought her home to start a new life with us as soon as possible. We've lavished her with love and treats and toys, and most importantly, training. When the health stuff popped up we just started dealing with it because that's what you do when you love someone, even when that someone is a dog.

And then I started thinking about how some people might give up on a dog with health problems and expensive medicines. They might say enough is enough and walk away from the dog, unwilling to deal with the expense or the hassle of a dog with health issues.

Not us. We're in this for the long haul. Sorta like that "in sickness and health" promise my husband and I made when we got married.

Sometimes writing is easy. You start to write a story and you fall in love with it and the words seem to fall from your fingertips to the page with hardly any effort at all. And you smile to yourself and think, man, it's so dang easy to be a writer. This is the life. But sometimes writing is tough. Plots fall apart. Characters misbehave. Theme evaporates right before your eyes and you start to wonder why you should even bother, especially with the state the publishing industry is in right now.

If you feel like you've had enough and you want to walk away, go for it. Because if you can really quit the writing, maybe you didn't love it quite as much as you thought you did. Now quitting isn't the same as taking a break. We all need those breaks to shift our thinking to another part of the brain for a while. But when you are in a story, you need to make a commitment to finishing that story, even when it seems like everything is stacked against you. Sometimes all you need to do is promise yourself to keep on keeping on, one word at a time. The battle will fight itself under the surface and as long as you don't quit, you don't lose.

When we first started giving Cassie all this medicine I felt bad. Several times a day I had give her something yucky. Something other dogs didn't need to deal with.

But you know what? Cassie doesn't look at it that way. When I pop open one of those compartments she comes running into the kitchen from wherever she is in the house. She knows she's getting a pill. And she knows that pill is going to be coated in cheese. She's not thinking about it being medicine. The way she sees it, she gets four yummy cheese treats a day.

It's all in how you look at it.

Today I want to introduce you to author/poet Liz Garton Scanlon. Her book All the World was just named the year's best picture book by the L.A.Times and a Best Kids's Book of the Year by The Washington Post. Reading her blog is like sitting across the table from her chatting, one-on-one, about life and family and writing and poetry and so much more. I read Liz's blog for the beauty of the language she uses and I read it because she is always so darn grateful for her life that I can't help but walk away from her blog feeling better than I did when I first started to read.

Liz is also one of the Seven Poetry Princesses responsible for encouraging them to write their Thanksgiving Villanelles.

A couple of my favorite posts of hers are Thanksgiving in the Backcountry and Humility and Audacity.

Don't rush your visit with Liz. Sit with her a while. You'll be glad you did.

I had a blast at Foxwoods Resort Casino this weekend. For those of you who are unaware, I had four book signings there on Saturday and Sunday. The great part was that my signings were right on the gaming floor among the poker players and the racing fans!

WARNING: To add to my string of photographic maladies, I misplaced my camera and could not find it before I had to leave. Hence, all of the photos were taken on my phone. Ugh.

Here is the monolith called Foxwoods as I drove up in the rain.



And a monolith it is. Foxwoods is really four hotels and four casinos all connected together by what I call mallways (that's malls + hallways). Simply massive, I tell you. It was a good fifteen minute walk from my room to the places where I did my book signings! But let me tell you that it is an AMAZING feeling to be walking through the casino and hear a booming voice announce to all 50,000 patrons and 10,000 employees that "author Eric Luper is here at Foxwoods to sign his two novels, Big Slick and Bug Boy."

When I heard the announcement that first time, I almost fainted. Seriously.

The first place I signed was the race book. It's where all the horseracing fans congregate to bet on the ponies. Here is the poster I spotted around the casino.

\

And here I am at my table in the race book holding BUG BOY and BIG SLICK. All those electronic signs behind me have horsey stats on them.



Then it was onward to another super-cool locale:



If you are a poker fan, you will recognize that logo as that of the World Poker Tour. That's right, I signed books right in the WPT poker room! It is the largest poker attached to a casino in the world and certainly the most famous overall. Just mega cool. Here is the sign that appeared around the casino for that signing:



And when I say I was right among the poker players, I am not exaggerating. I was mere feet away from a $1-$3 no-limit Hold'em table. And when I got to the poker room for my Sunday signing, they ran a poker tournament around, you guessed it, BIG SLICK! For periods of time throughout the tournament, any player showing an ace and a king won an autographed copy of my novel, BIG SLICK!

Oh and here is the view from my hotel room:



And here is where I spent much of my time when I was not signing books:



A pool very similar to the one Andrew and Jasmine sneak into in Big Slick!

Needless to say, they do things right over there at Foxwoods. Thank you to Nanz, Dawn, Linda and all the other great people who helped arrange such a memorable event!

Here's the 4th contest to win an ARC of Radiant Shadows. . . All you have to do is VOTE for one of the videos.

I think I have all of the casting videos so far up as my favourites at my YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/user/MelissaMarrAuthor (look to the right and you'll see abt 40 videos under "favorites." ALL videos there are eligible to be voted for.)

If I missed your entry OR if you make one before the 18th, let me know, & I'll add it.

As I've said before, you can enter up to SIX times.
SIX entries will be chosen via a randomizer (US & Canada) on or after the 18th of Dec.

Winners will be posted here in the blog, so remember to check back after the 18th.

If you are NOT an LJ user, sign your entries w a name/URL.


NOTES: Please don't spam people's personal blogs for your extra entries. Thanks!

REMINDERS:

Contest #1: Goodreads. I'm still giving 10 away in the Goodreads program. Thru the 12th of Jan (10 ARCs)

Contest #2: Fansite--You can still enter the book teaser/trailr/casting contest over there (ARCs to the videos voted top 12)

Contest #3: WL Casting AND teaser/trailers--ARCs to the top 10 videos (votes go in the replies to the blog post you are reading rt now. SEE ABOVE.)

Contest #4: Replying to this blog post & voting. 6 ARCs

I'm pleased to announce that editor Deborah Wayshak at Candlewick Press will publish both a new prose novel and a new graphic novel adaptation in the Tantalize young adult Gothic fantasy series.

The untitled prose novel will feature pre-existing characters in the series and some new ones too.

The graphic novel will be an adaptation of Eternal (Candlewick, 2009).

The series is set in a multi-creature-verse, populated by angels, ghosts, shape-shifters (of various kinds), vampires, and some nifty human beings. The stories have strong elements of romance, some humor, and nod to various classics, most notably Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897).

I'm extremely excited to be writing additional books set in a spooky world that I first began to envision in 2001!

Thank you to Deborah, my agent Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown Ltd., everyone at Candlewick Press, my writing pals, and most of all, my readers for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Here's the complete series to date:

Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007, 2008)(a prose novel)

*Tantalize (Candlewick, 2011)(a graphic novel)

Eternal (Candlewick, 2009, 2010)(a prose novel)

*Eternal (Candlewick, TBA)(a graphic novel)

Blessed (Candlewick, 2011)(a prose novel, which crosses over the casts of Tantalize and Eternal and picks up where Tantalize leaves off)

Untitled (Candlewick, TBA)(a prose novel to directly follow Blessed)

Cynsational Notes

Two short stories--both with original characters--also are set in the Tantalize universe:

"Cat Calls" appears in Sideshow: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists, and Other Matters Odd and Magical, edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2009). Notes from the Horn Book says: "These stories reveal the stranger truths the audience is never meant to see and offer touches of humor and pathos among the thrills."

"Haunted Love" appears in Immortal: Love Stories with Bite, edited by P.C. Cast (BenBella, 2008, 2009). Note: after a limited release in 2008, exclusive to Borders/Waldenbooks, this anthology is now available nationwide. Read an excerpt.

In other news, avid Cynsations readers may recall that my Candlewick editor Deborah Wayshak is also a children's-YA author, publishing under the name "Deborah Noyes" (see Sideshow anthologist above). Learn more about her in this recent interview.


Eternal Trailer

OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS | MySpace Video

Thus far, I've had a quiet morning at home alone, the buzzer on the dryer just now notwithstanding. Soon, though, I must fling myself into the outer world, to the world of post offices and shops and the like. And since there is cloud-filtered sun today, I don't mind in the slightest that I didn't get some of the shopping chores done on Sunday, when it was ark-building weather here, although I rather wish I'd gotten more accomplished yesterday, when it was all the way sunny.

Speaking of today's sun, I am reminded yet again of one of my favorite Dickinson poems, which begins "The morns are meeker than they were", since the sun at this time of year is so very lovely, but it is indeed meeker – it has a watery quality to it, and in the late afternoon it has a golden quality that I associate with Tuscany, despite only having been there once (and some years ago now). Turns out that Miss Dickinson and I aren't alone in giving thought to the way autumn and early winter sun looks.

In his latest album, Sting has penned lyrics to a lovely tune by Johann Sebastian Bach and come up with "You Only Cross My Mind in Winter", which has a haunting quality to it. The specific piece of music from which he borrowed is the Sarabande from Bach's Sixth Cello Suite, to which Sting has crafted ghost-story lyrics:

You Only Cross My Mind in Winter
by Sting

Always this winter child,
December sun sits low against the sky,
Cold light on frozen fi elds,
The cattle in their stable lowing.

When two walked this winter road,
Ten thousand miles seemed nothing to us then,
One walks with heavy tread,
The space between their footsteps slowing.

All day the snow did fall,
What’s left of the day is close drawn in,
I speak your name as if you’d answer me,
But the silence of the snow is deafening.

How well do I recall our arguments,
Our logic holds no debts or recompense,
Philosophy and faith were ghosts
That we would chase until
The gates of heaven were broken.

But something makes me turn, I don’t know,
To see another’s footsteps there in the snow;
I smile to myself and then I wonder why it is
You only cross my mind in winter.

Is that not haunting and gorgeous? You have GOT to hear it with the tune. Oh. Thank you, kind sir from YouTube: you've posted the music as accompaniment to gorgeous photos of Salamanca in the snow:



Sting's new CD, If On a Winter's Night . . . , has been on near-continuous loop for me for weeks now. The songs are an interesting mix – lots of lullabyes as well as some Christmas-themed music, but none of it is happy-happy-Father-Christmas music, and according to the liner notes, that's entirely on purpose:

Like many people, I have an ambivalent attitude towards the celebration of Christmas. For many, it is a period of intense loneliness and alienation. I specifically avoided the jolly, almost triumphalist, strain in many of the Christian carols. I make a musical reference to “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” only as a dramatic counterpoint to the words in “Soul Cake”, for example. This was a song sung at Halloween by children who go from door to door asking for pennies and “soul cakes” (the latter not originally intended for the living). I was also keen to avoid the domestic cosiness of many of the secular songs, recognizing that, for many, Winter is a time of darkness and introspection.
. . .
Walking amid the snows of Winter, or sitting entranced in a darkened room gazing at the firelight, usually evokes in me a mood of reflection, a mood that can be at times philosophical, at others wildly irrational; I find myself haunted by memories. For Winter is the season of ghosts; and ghosts, if they can be said to reside anywhere, reside here in this season of frosts and in these long hours of darkness. We must treat with them calmly and civilly, before the snows melt and the cycle of the seasons begins once more.

The title of the work, If On a Winter's Night . . . , is a reference to a novel written by Italo Calvino and translated into the English under the title If On a Winter's Night a Traveller,, which sounds intriguing - the odd-numbered chapters are excerpts from a book that the main character is trying to read; the even-numbered are written in second-person and narrate the mc's life. I'm probably oversimplifying, but hey - I haven't read the book. Yet.

In If On a Winter's Night . . . , the CD, I am especially fond of "You Only Cross My Mind in Winter", "Cold Song" and "Lullabye for an Anxious Child", and "Hurdy-Gurdy Man" is growing on me, sad though it is, but there is much to love about this entire project, especially if you fall into one of the following categories:
1. music geek with an interest in music history (Purcell, Bach and Schubert anyone?);
2. Sting fan – especially if you liked Songs from the Labyrinth (and I sure did);
3. introspective Winter person (those who are prone to thoughtfulness at this time of year – and I'm not talking "oh, what a thoughtful gift" thoughtfulness here – more of the "this sort of year always has me assessing life and its meaning" sort of thoughtful);
4. folks who aren't particularly interested in Christian or Santa celebrations of the season, which isn't limited to pagans and Wiccans, although I rather suspect both those groups will find much to love in this CD.

Despite having just said that folks who aren't particularly interested in Christian or Santa-based celebrations of the season will love this, I have to say also that many folks who ARE into Christian and Santa celebrations will like it for the album's quieter, more introspective moments and because you simply won't find music on this CD elsewhere. It's not full of songs that are playing in heavy rotation in 20 versions on the radio - no "Santa Baby" here. In fact, the only song you might here using the same tune elsewhere is "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming", which is a particular favorite Christmas carol of mine, although it's one of my least-favorite tracks on this CD because there's a spoken part that on occasion strikes me as cheesy (although at other times I don't mind it –it's a mood thing). This CD has no "Deck the Halls" or anything in that vein, no "Here we come a-wassailing" (although "Soul Cake" has some echoes of the words from that song in it), no "Angels We Have Heard on High", although "Gabriel's Song" does have a gloria in it.

I bought and downloaded my copy of this CD from iTunes, and I can tell you that I regret doing so – although, I have to add that because I did so, I got a bonus track, "Bethlehem Down", which is not on the CD/DVD pack, which has, instead, "Blake's Cradle Song" as a bonus. The reason I regret it is that I really want to be able to hold the CD package and hug it and pet it and call it George, and frankly, having just ascertained that I can see a DVD and have a different bonus track, I believe I've just talked myself into buying the package at the store despite already owning most of the tunes. Because hey! Video footage and a different bonus track = justification.

If you are buying only one CD of seasonally themed music this year, this is my recommendation, particularly if you fit any of the above-listed categories.

When I read books now, it is often as if I can see only the bare wood in the architecture of the design. I find it difficult to get caught up in a book, and all the more pleasurable when I do. And yet, I think that there is much to learn in books that are good, but don't make me forget that I, too, am a writer. The sort of mistakes I see are probably mistakes that I make myself when I have not yet been able to hide my work behind wallboard and paint.

These are not beginner mistakes in writing, and they may not bother most people, but for me, these make me see through the book to the writer, the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain:

1. Characters who do things mainly because they lead to the next part of the plot. Likewise, coincidences that happen to lead to the next part of the plot. Coincidences that lead nowhere, as in real life, never seem to happen.

2. Twists in the plot that seem mainly designed to surprise the reader, not to make sense of the world. I think the main problem with this is that too much is concealed in order to surprise the reader and then it feels like a device instead of a natural development. And in real life, I think that people aren't able to conceal themselves that well.

3. Characters who are pure evil, and who have a terrible childhood to explain this. I mean, yes, terrible childhoods sometimes cause people to be evil. But is that the only reason. One of the refreshing things about Dark Knight was that the Joker was evil simply because he loved evil, not because he was a poor, misunderstood child. That was the kind of villain that felt real and terrifying to me.

4. All the adults are stupid or untrustworthy, all the kids are clever and misunderstood. I know, I'm reading children's books a lot, but this happens in adult books more often than you think. It's a way of doing backstory, because it allows a conflict between two worlds. I like it better when the kids don't turn out to know everything, because I think that's more like real life, too, and less like the ideal of the child, which is a trope.

5. Hidden family members appear out of nowhere. Family is a deep need for children and for adults, but sometimes this just makes me laugh. How often do people hide their families? This is the old Little Princess story, or Little Lord Fauntleroy, where the good poor child is rewarded by discovering he is true royalty. I loved it when I was a kid, but it doesn't work for me anymore. It's not finding family members that interests me now. It's getting away from them!

6. The hero returns to the beginning even if there is no reason for anyone to believe that anything has changed to make him not want to leave again. Everyone hates him, but now they love him? I think Harry Potter was a fun reversal of this, because no matter what Harry did, the Dursleys still felt the same about him. And isn't that the way it is? You go back to a high school reunion with all the books you've published and it turns out no one cares except the one person who wants to talk for an hour about how you can help them publish their book.

7. No one exists in a story simply as a friend or a bystander. Everyone will eventually be reused in the plot because there is only a certain number of words, and a writer doesn't have time for window dressing. In real life, people are just people. They don't exist as part of a plot. Sometimes they get wrapped into it, but they don't turn out to have just the right magical object to open the terrible gate. They make stuff up as they go along, and they think that anyone would have been better, and sometimes they are right. They were simply the one there, at the right time.

8. A character without magical powers will always end up with magical powers, because this is a fantasy, dammit. This is one of the reasons that I wrote THE PRINCESS AND THE SNOWBIRD, because I wanted a story where a character who doesn't have magic powers at the beginning still doesn't have them at the end, and is able to make a difference in a magical world and save it anyway. I think because, again, this is the way it is in real life. We don't have magic, but we have to make do.

9. In real life, there are thousands of people to fall in love with. In a book, two. The bad boy and the good guy. Usually, the bad guy wins. Sometimes the good guy. Depends on the author. But why not any other choices? Is that the way we see our romantic partners in real life? Good/bad? Not a very mature or useful way to see life.

10. Postponing the ending until well, page 545. Like in a TV detective show, when it seems like they're going to find the bad guy, but you know they aren't, because it's only twenty minutes in and the show lasts for sixty minutes, so it has to be whoever is least expected, even when that turns out to be easy to guess.

I suppose I could just label all of these as cliches, and in general, if you want to do a good job of really surprising the reader, you have to think of a new way of doing it. But I think some of the same-old things still work, if you do a good enough job of making it feel necessary rather than letting the reader see the author who is trying to figure out how to make this book follow the plot outline and get paid. Though I sympathize with that. I really, really do!

Prepare yourselves. In February 2010, The New Dead shall rise.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review:

The 19 provocative, haunting, and genuinely unsettling original stories in this zombie anthology move the genre beyond its usual apocalyptic wastelands. David Liss’s novelette "What Maisie Knew" is a stunning and gruesome meditation on the banality of capitalism and evil. Mike Carey’s "Second Wind" is a haunting tale of an undead stockbroker who comes to question whether he ever truly lived. Lovers of more traditional zombie fare will also not be disappointed. Joe Hill’s ingenious "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead" tells a classic slasher film story through Twitter posts, while Jonathan Maberry’s heartbreaking "Family Business" describes a ruined America populated by kindly monks and zombie hunters. This powerful anthology shines a bright and unflinching light on the fears of death, decay, and loss that underpin America’s longstanding obsession with the undead. (Feb.)

Jacket Summary:

Resurrection!

The hungry dead have risen. They shamble down the street. They hide in back yards, car lots, shopping malls. They devour neighbors, dogs and police officers. And they are here to stay. The real question is, what are you going to do about it? How will you survive?

How will the world change when the dead begin to rise?

Stoker-award-winning author Christopher Golden has assembled an original anthology of never-before-published zombie stories from an eclectic array of today's hottest writers. Inside there are stories about military might in the wake of an outbreak, survival in a wasted wasteland, the ardor of falling in love with a zombie, and a family outing at the circus. Here is a collection of new views on death and resurrection.

With stories from Joe Hill, John Connolly, Max Brooks, Kelley Armstrong, Tad Williams, David Wellington, David Liss, Aimee Bender, Jonathan Maberry, and many others, this is a wildly diverse and entertaining collection...the Last Word on the New Dead.

Publishing Information:
Trade Paperback, 400 pages
Release date: February 16th, 2010
Published by St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN-10: 0312559712
ISBN-13: 978-0312559717

Learn about Kimberley Griffiths Little.

In the photo, she signs a three-book contract for The Healing Spell (Scholastic, July 2010), Secret Rites of the Goddess (Scholastic, fall 2010), and The Traiteur's Daughter (Scholastic, summer 2011)!

Visit Kimberley's Wanderings: Thoughts, Musings, and the Writing Life of YA Author Kimberley Griffiths Little.

What is the one craft book that you refer to again and again? Why?

I've got shelves full of writing books, probably 50 of them, but one book that I read over and over again is The Career Novelist: A Literary Agent Offers Strategies for Success by Donald Maass [now available as a free download].

Maass is an author of a dozen books as well as a top agent in New York. He knows the business inside and out. The Career Novelist is not a book geared particularly for children's/YA writers, but it's chock-full of writing and publishing experience and advice that fits any kind of writer, no matter what genre of novelist you aspire to be.

Because we're seeing in this new 21st century a change in the way that children’s books are being bought, published, and marketed - much more like the way adult novels have traditionally been published, Maass' books become even more relevant, not less, for us children’s literature lovers.

The Career Novelist is a book I read for fun. Once you dive in, you can’t stop. Maass backs up his advice with personal experience and anecdotes that are fascinating as well as delicious.

The first chapter is called “The Dream” – how can you resist that? Every writer starts out dreaming of publishing a book and wonders/hopes she can and will have success. Maass gives you the realities of the hard work and the disappointments and the opportunities, how to choose an agent, what “the market” means, how to write in different genres and the reality of the numbers game - AKA $$$.

But the magic of this book is that Donald Maass gives you the information and tools you need to carve out your own career and make it work. It's like a shot of optimism, and he makes you believe that you really can become a novelist if you want to. Every time I read this book, I get excited all over again about the career I’ve chosen—or the career that’s chosen me.

I'm currently reading his newest book, The Fire In Fiction: Passion, Purpose, and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great (Writer's Digest, 2009). The introduction alone is worth the price of the book. He asks the provocative question: Are you a status seeker or a storyteller?

So far, what's the most fun you've ever had working on a book? Why?

"On Location in Egypt: How I Met The Queen of Sheba During Spring Break" all began one morning with two writer friends, Carolee Dean and Jana Striegel, around a meet-up for breakfast. All three of us had had books published, but were struggling, trying to sell our next projects (of which we had many in various stages) and getting more and more discouraged.

At the time, chick lit and romance were selling like hot cakes, and unfortunately, none of us had one written. Yet.

We started comparing notes on the books coming out from New York, our own extremely varied research (desert tribal people, a 16th century queen of France, and the chocolate-eating habits of the ancient Mayan people).

Giggling over eggs Benedict and jumbo muffins, we started throwing out wild and crazy ideas about a story told from three different 13 year-old girls' point of view, and soon Kimmie, Jenna, and Lena emerged from the ashes of our own projects.

Kimmie’s father was an Egyptian movie director, Jenna was a dancer hired for his latest B film being shot "on location" in the Middle East, and Lena was visiting her mother, the makeup artist, for spring break–throwing all three girls together for the first time. It’s hate at first sight.

Then the girls discover that they each own a mysterious medallion given to them from a fortune teller in Venice Beach, and when the medallions come together–watch out! The girls soon find themselves a thousand years in the past, trying not to get killed by tribal raiders and with Kimmie being married off to the sheik’s son.

We smartly planned three books in our series, each book featuring one of us--I mean our characters!--in the lead role and jetting around the world to various movie locations.

Many more hilarious breakfasts were scheduled over the next few months, complete with laptops and notes and ideas flying.

We wrote a proposal of 60 pages, many version of a hilarious synopsis, but then we all were in the process of changing agents and the project got shelved for a long time.

"On Location in Egypt" was further shelved when Jana Striegel’s breast cancer came back after twelve years, reappearing in her brain.

After fighting it for another two years, the cancer took Jana’s life, but through her medical procedures and declining health, we continued to meet and write and encourage one another.

Jana was a professional ballet dancer before she donned the writer hat, and you can read her novel, Homeroom Exercise (Holiday House, 2002), about a ballet dancer with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Writing "On Location in Egypt" changed my life in many ways. Carolee, Jana, and I were able to help each other through some enormously discouraging times, not only in our careers but in our personal lives. Writing together also brought back the fun and pure enjoyment of story and creation into our lives and work, something all three of us had been greatly missing.

How do you reach out to teachers and librarians?

With two other authors, I launched a brand new newsletter this past September. It's directly geared toward teachers, librarians, homeschoolers, and parents, and called "Spellbinders: A Newsletter for Teachers and Librarians to Help Create Lifelong Readers."

The newsletter features interviews with well-known authors as well as librarians and teachers, along with regular columns about curriculum connections, literacy in the community, and book buzz.

I also do author visits at schools and libraries and conferences. Please visit my Author Visit page on my website for details! I have a fantastic hands-on writing workshop that has proven very successful and loads of fun for grades 3-8. Don’t hesitate to email me! kglittle@msn.com

In your own words, could you tell us about your latest book?

My upcoming middle-grade novel--The Healing Spell (Scholastic Press)--is about eleven-year-old Livie Mouton who is hiding the biggest secret of her life when Mamma comes home from the hospital in a coma. Her daddy is determined that Mamma will only get better surrounded by the people who love her best, but Livie is terrified of her mother's lifeless condition—and some sins are so dangerous they're better left hidden.

Summoning her courage, Livie travels into the forbidden recesses of the swamp to seek out the mysterious traiteur, hoping that if she buys a healing spell, she can bring her mother back to life. Then Livie discovers that her mamma is hiding a secret of her own...

What can your fans look forward to next?

I’m currently writing The Traiteur’s Daughter (Scholastic), which is also set in the Louisiana bayous, about a girl who gets involved in a dangerous clash between the traiteur folk healers and hoodoo magic through a secret circle of girls at school.

And Secret Rites of the Goddess (Scholastic) is a sexy YA romance about the roots of belly dance and the ancient goddess temples of the Middle East. It's the YA version of The Red Tent [by Anita Diamant (Scribner, 1998)]!

Cynsational Notes

The Craft, Career & Cheer series features conversations with children's-YA book creators about positive aspects of their creative and professional lives.

By Cynthia Leitich Smith

Who will visit your author or illustrator website?

Young readers may be your ultimate target audience, but educators—teachers, university professors of youth literature, and school librarians—are on the forefront of efforts to connect books and kids. What's more, they're using the Internet more than ever to help them make purchasing decisions.

"It is professional librarians and educators who are most likely to specifically seek out information about authors and illustrators and ways to use children’s books in educational and group settings," says author and former school librarian Toni Buzzeo. "Teachers and librarians continue to discover and value books, even when the books are no longer on the front list. They look for books that connect with writing and literature topics. They value books long after they’ve appeared in the publisher's catalog or a review source."

Buzzeo adds that librarians are likewise interested in paperbacks and that teachers sometimes seek paperbacks that can be purchased for full class study.

Many teachers build their own classroom libraries. Some use their own money. Others apply grants or donations from parents and other community members.

“We’ve heard reports that many media specialists can only buy books for the media center if these books are requested by teachers,” says publicist Vicki Palmquist of Winding Oak, an agency offering promotional services to authors and illustrators. “This puts a lot of book-buying power in the hands of teachers.”

Organizations such as the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), and the American Library Association (ALA), as well as their state and district affiliates, are highly influential.

Each publishes journals and websites that highlight authors, illustrators, and youth literature. In addition, they sponsor prestigious award programs, a few of which can prompt thousands—even hundreds of thousands—of sales.

Publicist Susan Raab of Raab Associates emphasizes a website is one way that authors and illustrators can raise their awareness in this market so their books have a better chance of being considered for awards.

As librarian Sharron L. McElmeel noted, “What could be more credible than the author’s own site providing information about a book?”

So, how do you make your website educator-friendly?

First, cover the basics. It’s better to start with a small, well-designed site and build thoughtfully over time than to upload several unorganized and incomplete pages.

Remember that this is your “professional face” to prospective readers. Kid-friendly and colorful may work. Cutesy and homemade won’t. When in doubt, err on the side of easy navigation, clean lines, and a limited color pallet.

Wait until the site is ready before uploading. “Under construction” signs suggest a lack of commitment. On the flip side, think twice before adding cutting edge technology. Freezing your visitors’ computer screens won’t help you (or your book) win any new readers.

One question is whether the focus of the site should be you or your debut book itself. Your byline is your brand. In today's crowded market, it will be enough of a challenge for readers to learn your name. When it comes to awareness-raising, you don't want to have to start over with each new title. If you’re planning a long-term career, first launch an author/illustrator site and then consider a book-specific site as a supplemental marketing tool.

For example, although we both have official author sites, my co-author Greg Leitich Smith and I decided to launch www.santa-knows.com to promote our picture book, Santa Knows (Scholastic Book Club). “The real marketing window for a holiday book is only open for a couple of months," he explains. “You have to look for any opportunity to maximize outreach.”

One exception to the author-site-first guideline would be in the case of a book series. Before you take on the job of launching a series tie-in site, however, check first to see if your publisher is willing to provide one for you.

Ideally, your site should launch at about the same time review copies are sent, usually six months prior to publication. Each new book listing should be added to the site on the same schedule. But it’s never too late to promote a book in print.

If budget allows, research the possibility of hiring a Web designer. The time saved and professional results may well be worth the money. A handful of designers even specialize in children’s-YA book creator sites. Ask established published authors and illustrators in your local writing community or on listservs for recommendations.

In the alternative, investigate pre-formatted options. The Authors Guild, for example, offers such sites to members for nominal fees.

"I chose the Authors Guild as host because they're inexpensive, it's a good organization, and they use a convenient template without bells and whistles that a simple-minded person such as I can update in seconds," says author Leda Schubert.

At a minimum, include a brief biography and your photograph along with basic publication information (cover art, title, author, illustrator, publisher, publication date, target audience age range, and ISBN). The cover art should be large enough to see clearly and, if possible, include a link to a larger, high-resolution image. Clear titles for each page, emphasizing the title and author/illustrator names, will help facilitate search engines. So will choosing your name as the URL.

“A name like supercoolwriter.com is not going to be as easily discovered by someone looking for you as cynthialeitichsmith.com,” says Anne Irza-Leggat, educational marketing supervisor at Candlewick Press.

Links to your publisher's website and/or the sites of your co-creators also are helpful and courteous.

Children’s-YA author Tanya Lee Stone offers a printer-friendly, comprehensible title list (PDF) of her books. She explains, “This was a suggestion I got from a librarian who commented that she’s surprised more authors don’t have their own complete list somewhere.”

Beyond the basics, offer visitors a taste of each book. Consider including an excerpt or interior illustration or link to these on your publisher's site, if provided.

Keep in mind that copyright law applies to the Internet. Authors should request permission from illustrators to highlight an example of their interior art. Illustrators should request authors’ permission to feature text excerpts.

Include award listings and review excerpts as they arise. Those from established print journals and/or blurbs from well-known authors or youth literature experts tend to be the most persuasive. Moreover, reviews, too, are subject to copyright and may not be wholly reproduced without permission. Use short quotes, and link to the source website.

Keeping this information up-to-date is critical. Interior links should always be in working order. The occasional exterior link may be unavoidable, but do your best to keep these current. New books should be added promptly. Such maintenance will preserve the site’s credibility and effectiveness as a promotional tool.

Offer teachers and school librarians reasons to share your book with students.

“If your book has good curricular tie-ins,” children’s author-poet Hope Vestergaard begins, “it pays to make that obvious on your site.”

Curriculum guides and related activities are especially sought after. These may include discussion questions and links to curriculum-related sites.

“I was a teacher,” explains young adult author Gail Giles, “and I know I’d pick up a book that has a teacher’s guide before a book that didn’t—if the books were essentially equal.”

Buzzeo adds, “Content standard based curriculum activities are much appreciated. Teachers do not have time to teach things simply for the fun of it anymore, in this age of standardized testing. Thoroughly familiarize yourself with national and state content standards before writing support material.” She recommends hiring a member of the educational, library, and children’s writing community to write guides.

Children’s author and reading expert Tracie Vaughn Zimmer not only is available for hire, she also posts the guides she writes to her own site, offering a “directory” that attracts visitors.

"Since most of my visitors are teachers," Vaughn explains, "I decided to appeal directly to them. Teachers are visual people (think bulletin boards and their wonderful, bright classrooms) so my directory is like a bulletin board with all the beautiful book covers speaking for themselves. I can feature new guides this way too."

She adds that dividing the books into age categories (along with one for poetry) makes the directory easier to navigate.

"I also don't add a lot of design to the guides themselves," Vaughn says, "so that teachers can use as little ink and paper necessary and just dive into activities and lessons with their students."

Teacher guides may be augmented by background on the crafting of the book.

“If authors and illustrators will provide information about process, research, and revision that applies to specific titles, they will help educators adopt them more readily,” Palmquist says.

Question-and-answer interviews might touch on such subjects as the author's and/or illustrator’s background in the field, inspiration behind the book, required research, challenges in bringing the story to life, the revision process, and themes.

This same information could also be shared in a story-behind-the-story article.

“I think the ‘How I Wrote It’ section is part of the educator’s extended experience for the class or reader,” says Giles. “I put it there to enhance the reading experience and make it really easy for the teacher to use the book in the classroom.”

Such Q&A interviews and articles may be further supplemented with bibliographies of books or other resources used for research in writing the story.

McElmeel encourages a global approach—making your focus wider than just yourself and your own book(s). “The ‘online presence’ should not be merely a sales site but rather should give more than take. The idea is to introduce you as an author/illustrator to more educators, and educators will find your site more often if you are gracious and include the titles and authors of other books that might be collaborative reading material.”

Consider the author's/illustrator's expertise and each book for special opportunities. These are limited only by the site creator's imagination.

Children’s non-fiction author Fred Bortz offers a set of “Ask Dr. Fred” questions that includes suggestions for asking good science questions. He says, “I get an average of 30 to 50 visitors per day who are wondering why Pluto isn’t a planet anymore.”

Author Rebecca Stead’s novel First Light (Wendy Lamb, 2007) takes place in Greenland. One character’s father researches climate change. Another character lives in an imagined world within the ice cap. “I wrote a Q&A fact sheet with input from scientists, interviewed a guy about what it’s really like to dig snow pits (and why), and posted links to educational sites," Stead says. "I also put in some bits of history/science that inspired me—about sled dogs, Volkswagen’s secret testing ground in Greenland, oak trees, etc.”

Readers’ theater adaptations of picture books, short stories, and chapters are popular with classroom groups. These work best with dialogue-heavy texts.

Coloring pages also are an option for illustrated books. Again, authors should obtain permission from illustrators before making art available for this purpose.

Children’s author-illustrator Katie Davis’ site includes activity sheets and games made with a program called Puzzlemaker. She says, "I can input specific words from my books, and they’ll get imported into a crossword puzzle.”


Recipes tend to attract traffic from teachers and parents alike.

“My ‘Hairy Toe Cookies’ recipe (PDF) is one of the biggest entry pages to my site…a lot from teachers at Halloween time,” says Shutta Crum, author of Who Took My Hairy Toe? (Albert Whitman, 2001).

Ultimately, your author site should be a reflection of your creative and professional self, a place to celebrate books and writing, and a way of reaching young readers and their champions. Educators are such heroes. Design and maintain your site to offer them all the encouragement and support they need to integrate your books into their schools.

Cynsational Notes

This article was originally published in the The (21rst Annual Edition) 2009 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, edited by Alice Pope (Writer's Digest, 2008).

The (22nd Annual Edition) 2010 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, edited by Alice Pope (Writer's Digest, 2008) is now available. From the promotional copy: "The 2010 Children's Writer's & Illustrators Market is the most trusted source for children's publishing information, offering more than 700 listings for book publishers, agents, magazines, and art representatives. It also contains exclusive interviews with and articles by well-respected and award-winning authors, illustrators and publishing professionals as well as nuts-and-bolts how-to information. Includes exclusive access to online listings on www.WritersMarket.com."

Tamora Pierce will be chatting live at the readergirlz blog tomorrow, Wednesday, December 16th. The chat will begin at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST and last for about an hour.

Right this minute:
Kona coffee from my parents.

Earlier this morning:
Even though it’s raining, it’s about 22 degrees warmer than it was this time last week, which makes early morning dog walks more enjoyable. (Although it makes the aroma of Wet Dog more pervasive, as well.)

Daily:
Robin Benway’s daily musical selections.

I’ve never been good at staying up on new music. Okay, that’s not technically true. When I worked at Warner Bros. Records a million years ago I was listening to music before it was released. So … that was my hip and happenin’ period.

Now I rely on Robin to be my source for cool music. (I’ve only met her once, but that’s the beauty of the Internet … I can stalk her music recommendations without having to pester her via email.) Robin’s taste is very eclectic – she doesn’t just list brand new stuff. For example, yesterday’s song was by Edith Piaf.

Recently she talked about having the song “Roslyn” (by Bon Iver and St. Vincent) stuck in her head all day, and after I listened to it … yep. In my head. Not all day, because I have a short attention span, but long enough. Don’t tell anyone, but I actually bought the “New Moon” soundtrack just to get the song. Shhh. Then I listened to it four times in a row.

This week:
Candlelight and Christmas lights.

We celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas at our house. We sing the blessing over the candles AND we have a Christmas tree. Are we raising a confused kid? Probably. But, well, we do the best we can to honor and respect the heritage of two families in our house.

We gave our son “The Sims” a couple of nights ago, which was on his Christmas list. Heh. Much to my surprise, he started to populate his virtual world with characters from Flash Burnout.

Last month:
Have you read Malinda Lo’s ASH yet? Gor. Geous.

Here’s a little snippet; In this scene, Ash is at her mother’s grave – where she has been forbidden to go because of the risk of the Fairy Hunt seeking out souls on the night after burial:

The ground beneath Ash’s body heaved, and she let out a scream of fright as she felt the world buckle beneath her, earth and stone and moss and root twisting up as if it were clawed by a mighty hand. There was a roaring sound in her ears as the horses surrounded her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, afraid of what she might see. She dug her fingers into the ground, clinging to the earth where her mother lay buried.

And then there was a sudden silence, and in that silence she could hear the breathing of the horses, and the heaving of their lungs, the musical jingle of bit and bridle, and the whisper of voices like silvery bells. She thought she heard someone say, “She is only a child. Let her go.”

*shiver*

Last night:
THE EVERAFTER, by Amy Huntley.

I just came across this lovely line (about girls in a swimming pool at night):

The only sounds we hear are the whorls our limbs make in the water.

And how about this perfect description (about her best friend, who has a crazy mother):

She sometimes looks like a present that’s been professionally wrapped by someone who doesn’t care at all about the gift inside the box.

Nice, right? I love the cover of this book, too. It’s lovely and ethereal on its own … but once you start reading, you realize the image has meaning in the story. Art directors are so clever.

Last chance today:
Our last Debsness gift package is up for grabs right now! Click on the image to find out details.

All my adult life I have wanted a MINI Cooper and I totally got one this year, which is awesome and amazing. The MINI itself is cute and small and huggable. Yes, my car is huggable.


Trees can be huggable.


Weird faceless green things can be huggable.

Why not MINIs?



However, yesterday at the post office, I realized that there are certain issues that come with buying a MINI Cooper. I got my mail out of my po box and found a yellow slip that said I had a package.

I thought, "YAY PACKAGE!"

Hoping it was a Christmas present for me, because I am like that. I like presents. A lot. Kind of like the kids in CHRISTMAS STORY. I am like that.

Out of all the famous fictional characters out there, I am ashamed to admit that I am the most like Ralphie.

Anyway, I went to the counter and the post office lady who is super nice said, "Oh, Carrie. You have a huge package. Can you come to the side door?"

So I squeed and people laughed and I went to the side door. And there was a package that was as big as me.

"What is it?" I asked, thinking it was maybe a leg lamp or something.

Thought it might be this! *crossing fingers*
"It's from Amazon.com," she said. "Do you think you can carry it?"
And then I said, "Um...."

And then I said it again, "Um..."

And then she said to another nice post office lady who was pretty strapping looking, "Why don't you bring it to door 4?"

This was the point where I realized:
1. That it wasn't a present for me. It was presents for this family that I heard about on the radio who needed help this winter. So, it was a couple comforters (Transformers and Disney) and dolls and Wow Wee Cubs, and an electric razor.
2. That it definitely wasn't a leg lamp.
3. That it wasn't food from Harry and David, which nobody sends me anymore. Sadness.
4. That it wasn't going to be easy fitting it into my MINI.

So, I hopped out of the post office, into my MINI, drove the MINI to the back cargo door. The lady at the door started laughing.
"Oh man..." She grabbed her stomach. "Oh man... How are you going to fit that? Oh man..."
And the thing is I already had the gear of Em and Belle who are both on the swim team crammed in the backseat and I had groceries in the trunk.

"Don't laugh," I ordered laughing post office lady. People in the parking lot had now joined her.
"No," I begged, "Seriously, don't laugh."

And then I said, "Hey? Does anyone have a knife?"
At this point everyone stopped laughing, but some crazy man gave me his knife. I did not turn it on the laughers, I swear. Instead, I slit open the box, took out all the contents and crammed them into my back seat, earning semi-respectful glances from the laughers.

This is why if someone wants to send me a leg lamp, it would be much better to send it to my home address.

Today's stop on 31 Blogs (you might not know) is The Idea Garage Sale , the virtual home of author Peni Griffin. I love Peni's mind, the way it tunnels through things the rest of us might not notice and comes out the other side with a story, such as her latest book, 11,000 Years Lost which is in the Pleistocene age. Cool, huh?

Peni believes ideas are all around us, we just need to become more aware of them. She believes this so much that she is giving ideas away to all comers. Go on now, pick one up for yourself.

A couple of my favorite posts are Coolest Thing I Learned All Year and Projects.

Since Peni is a new blogger I hope some of you will head on over to say hello.

• 17:54 @angelsongj Here you go! I need to add a link to this (and other interviews) on my blog. bit.ly/8Wo5ho #

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Three things:

1. The second GLEE soundtrack is available for sale already.

2. Better than the GLEE soundtrack (imo) is STRAIGHT NO CHASER's 1st Christmas Album, Holiday Spirits, which includes their version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", which I first heard because of angeladegroot who loves the ending. You may have seen them already - their video went viral, more than 10 million views "as seen on YouTube". Or here:



3. Be sure to catch the actual IRL a cappella competition airing this week on NBC: Sing-Off. Foxy Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman are judges along with an attractive Paula-like girl (whom M tells me is from the Pussy Cat Dolls), and Nick Lachey hosts. Groups to watch include the Beelzebubs, Nota and Noteworthy - my picks to make the final three. Song choices for tomorrow night promise to be fantabulous.

Your adverteasing has resulted in severe disappointment for me. Whyfor did you get me all excited about fixed-price packaging beginning at $4.95, using terms like "small, medium and large boxes"? I ask because today, I stopped at the post office for to acquire some of these miracle boxes in order to ship presents to friends and family to find that . . . well, SMALL is for serious - you could maybe fit a paperback in there. Or a couple of pairs of panties. But hey, you could fit panties in an envelope and ship them cheaper, right? The medium boxes go for over $10 each, and won't hold particularly much either. And LARGE? As if.