Update from Dublin: New content LIVE at Hunger Mountain, Art & Insanity issue

The Lemon Scented soap

So here I am in Dublin, a literary capital. A renowned whiskey town. It's raining. We went for a walk this am, a literary tour that took us by Oscar Wilde's home, Finn's Hotel, near where James Joyce met Nora and where she once worked as a chambermaid. We stepped into Sweny's chemist--a pharmacy featured in Ulysses, here lemon scented soap is purchased. We joined locals gathering for tea and for a reading. 









Now I sit on a cafe near Grafton Street waiting for V to finish his last meeting before we head to County Wexford for two days and then we continue on to Paris. I am sipping an Irish Coffee and wondering how and when life became so pleasantly unexpected. Here I sit, at age 39, on my first trip abroad in Ireland, from whence part of my family stems. (Ah, whence, would I be using that word if I were in Austin. Nope.)

I am doing what I love for a living. Writing. Teaching. Editing. I am so grateful. And speaking of editing, it is today's recent work at Hunger Mountain, that I am here to share. The children's lit team is extraordinary and our Assistant Editor, Caroline Carlson, who is repped by Greenhouse Literary just earned herself a three book deal! As stated on the Greenhouse website:

Caroline Carlson’s MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT, pitched as Eva Ibbotson meets Lemony Snicket with a twist of ‘yo ho ho’, to be illustrated with maps, journals and letters, in which a girl is rejected by the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates and shipped off to a Finishing School for Delicate Ladies instead, from where she must escape and set sail with a motley crew including a governess, a budgerigar and a talkative gargoyle on a treasure hunt for the kingdom’s lost magic, to Phoebe Yeh and Toni Markiet at Harper Children’s, in a significant deal, in a pre-empt, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2013, by Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency (NA).


Congrats, Caroline and thank you, thank you, thank you for all you do at HM. You make my job easier, more fun and even more inspiring. All good things! (And possibly some Writers' Tears Whiskey in your future.) Cheers.

Now on to the latest over at Hunger Mountain...

This week, we welcome our Katherine Paterson prize winner and finalists, as judged by National Book Award winning author Kimberly Willis Holt: Him by Heather Smith Meloche; Forty Thieves and  Green-Eyed Girl by Christy Lenzi, and Cesar by Betty Yee.  Another highlight is Writing from Both Sides of the Brain, a feature by Kelley Barson, which explains how both the left and the right sides of the brain are engaged in producing good fiction. We offer several poems by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of the recent Under the Mesquite. This issue’s Flipside is unique. We offer three voices, a seasoned writing instructor, Uma Krishnaswami, author of The Grand Plan to Fix Everything and newer writing teachers, Sarah Aronson, author of Beyond Lucky and Debby Dahl Edwardson, a current National Book Award nominee for  My Name Is Not Easy. Each shares her own unique method of The Art & Insanity of Teaching Writing.

And as a reminder, we are accepting pieces for submissions for consideration for our Winter 2012 issue The Magic & Mystery of Identity and our Spring 2012 issue The Landscape of Literature. Please see here for submission guidelines. *Note: there is now a $3.00 submissions fee which is not a reading fee, but a charge that helps fund the cost of the online submissions manager. Since our readers and editors are scattered around the globe, snail mail submissions, which would also cost submitters roughly $3, are not viable. Thank you for your continued support of Hunger Mountain.*

Fabulous Fall Friday

The temp here in Austin is now reaching a high of 87 with evenings in the cool 60s. This is fall for us--so I am going to take it. I do miss the fall foliage of upstate NY, the crisp apples, donning sweaters and walking to my beloved Brooklyn bagel shop and having coffee with friends on park benches. But, Austin has brought other Indian Summer pleasures--taking a walk with AK down at Town Lake, writing outside at The Place with the ladies and as K.A. Holt said bogarting a picnic table for 5 hours, and finally opening The Writing Barn to friends.

This last Sunday, a rainy Sunday which the drought ridden soil so desperately needed we held the opening of The Writing Barn. (Also, a birthday celebration for my 39th.) The day before Dave Wilson, a wonderful photographer, who just happens to be married to Austin author Nikki Loftin came to take professional shots of The Barn. It may have been gloomy outside but Dave, with his wide angle lense, and his talent made The Barn look bright and welcoming.

A fancy shot merging three solo shots.

Guest bedroom, queen sized bed

Cozy loft space to read or write

A place to rock and read

Screened in porch

Lovely courtyard in front of The Barn

The rain continued to fall for the Barn Warming on Sunday afternoon but friends came--ready to eat, drink, and be merry! Abou Sylla and band were incredible!

Jeff Crosby, Shelley Ann Jackson, and E. Kirstin Anderson chat.

Gather ye round for cake. From R to L, Vanessa Lee, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Jenny Moss, and Don Tate and his lovely wife.

Abou Sylla breaks it down. Pic by Jen Bigheart.

The birthday carrot cake ala Central Market

It was a wonderful to see so many friends, old and new, and to break in the barn the right way--mud and all--before The Barn's first event this weekend, a book launch party for HARNESS HORSES, BUCKING BRONCOS & PIT PONIES: A HISTORY OF HORSE BREEDS at the Writing Barn on Sunday, Oct. 16th from 2-4 pm. Written and illustrated by Jeff Crosby and Shelley Ann Jackson.  (For an excellent interview with Jeff and Shelley see Donna Bowman Bratton's blog.) 

Lots of other goings on this week, In Austin

Don't miss Cynsations interview with Tu Books (Lee and Low) Editor Stacy Whitman and Author Karen Sandler. Comment and you will be eligible for a 10 page critique by Editor, Stacy Whitman. 

Publisher's Weekly featured BookPeople in this week's Children's Bookshelf. Meghan Goel, book buyer for BookPeople was asked 3 Questions. To find out what they are--go here. 



Outside Awesome Austin

The National Book Award nominees were announced. A big congrats to all nominees but a special congrats to friend Debby Dahl Edwardson for My Name is Not Easy, and the two other VCFA names in the mix--the wonderful Lauren Myracle  for Shine and current VCFA faulty member Franny Billingsley for Chime!


Over at Hunger Mountain

The annual print edition is DONE, which means new content to the YA & Children's section for the fall issue, The Art & Insanity of Creativity will be launching soon. Look for content by Bobbie Pyron, Ron Koertge, Lindsey Lane, Debby Dahl Edwardson, Uma Krishnaswami, Jennifer Hubbard, Sarah Aronson, J. Patrick Lewis, and more.
 

I was invited by Claire Guyton to write an essay for the Hunger Mountain Voices series going on at the blog, Another Loose Sally. The first essay was written but nabbed up for a future Writer's Life, Inc piece. So I began drafting a new one--that effort YA Is Not a Genre--I hope clears up some of the misinformation about YA. Thank you to my Hunger Mountain colleagues--the woman at the head of the ship, Miciah Bay Gault, and our extraordinary social media intern, Kris Underwood for their participation in the conversation.

Last of The Varying Shade of Shadow issue

This week the Varying Shade of Shadows issue comes to a close with the much anticipated, In Defense of YA, a round up of YA reader and writer voices that comment on the Wall Street Journal pieces by Megan Cox Gurdon that lit up the twittersphere with the creation of #YAsaves in June. By now, much has been written about in reaction to the question Darkness Too Visible? but here at Hunger Mountain we care not only what we writers think, we care about what the readers think. The teen readers. YA is after all for young adults. What they think matters. Thank you to the teens who took time out of their summer vacation plans to lend their voices, their intellect, and their wit to join with YA authors everywhere who tackle darkness, light, and everything in between.
  

 Our issue also closes with a sneak peak into the much anticipated historical novel Jefferson’s Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, as well as a Toolbox piece, Searching for Truth in History’s Shadows: Finding the Characters in Jefferson’s Sons , also by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.




Congratulations are also in order for Hunger Mountain Young Adult & Children’s Assistant Editor E. Kristen Morse, who along with Miranda Kenneally, whose popular website DearTeenMe, will now be an anthology, with new and original content, forthcoming from Zest Books in 2012. Since coming on board here at Hunger Mountain Emily’s expertise and enthusiasm is much appreciated. We wish her and Dear Teen Me, the book, every success.

And don’t forget our next issue, The Art & Insanity of Creativity is coming soon. We are still accepting fiction submissions. Please see here, for guidelines.






Earlier content from The Varying Shade of Shadows issue. 

Our industry is not just about the writing but about the illustration as well, from books for the very young to teens and beyond. We at Hunger Mountain are thrilled to champion the illustration and ingenuity that goes on in our field by featuring three sneak-peeks into books that are soon to hit the shelves.  Award-winning illustrator Betsy Lewin offers a snapshot into creating The Little Bitty Bakery by Leslie Muir. This delectable treat will leave you wanting more…look for The Little Bitty Bakery to be released August 30th. Author/illustrator Don Tate takes us into his Austin studio with his piece Toot Toot Tootie Toot: an Illustrator Captures Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite, detailing his choices and art-in-progress for his October release.  And New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith in her piece, Going Graphic, details how she and illustrator Ming Doyle created the visual world for her characters to inhabit, in the eagerly awaited Tantalize: Kieren’s Story.  Fans of the gothic series will not be disappointed.

When, Along with her Characters, an Author Gets In Trouble by Ellen Levine, describes running into a wall of silence with her latest book, In Trouble.  The Monsters in Us All, by Dr. Ilsa J. Bick is a precursor to Hunger Mountain’s In Defense of YA.  We chose to spotlight Ilsa J. Bick’s thoughtful but cutting response  now as she not only disagrees with Megan Cox Gurdon—she also agrees, with certain points, that is. As always, please feel free to weigh in in the comments section of each piece.

For What My Last Book Taught Me, Monika Schröder advises us to Learn to Drive in the Dark as she takes a trip back to discover what her latest novel, My Brother’s Shadow, taught her as a writer.  Lastly, as all the world is a stage, we offer Jest A Minute, which pokes fun at all the dark/light publishing hullabaloo, with a list of Ten Classics Revamped to Capitalize on the Dark  YA Trend (created by none other than moi) and a second list–of Ten New Titles to Please All by author and humorist K. A. Holt.  Read, respond, enjoy!

Also check out This Writer’s Life: The Politics of Story by Neesha Meminger author of Shine, Coconut Moon and Jazz in Love. Neesha explores and argues, with great clarity, how writing fiction is and always will be a political act. In our Industry Insider we host a Q & A with Anita Silvey, author, children’s literature scholar and the creator of the popular Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac.  We also add to our growing list of new fiction with Quarry, a short story by Kevin Waltman that captures the delight and danger in a trip to a forbidden place.

Don’t miss a timely FlipSide, The Light and the Dark of It, highlighting Jennifer Ziegler’s Let There Be Light and Clare Dunkle’s On the Dark Side. Both authors had their pieces well in the works before the June 4th Wall Street Journal article by Meghan Cox Gurdon asked the question: Is Darkness Too Visible?.  Also be sure to check out new fiction: Stone Field, a re-imagining of Wuthering Heights, by Christy Lenzi;  Starcatcher, a unique fantasy by Penny Blublaugh author of Blood & Flowers;  Monsters, a surprising and raw read by Jennifer Hubbard;  The Proposal, fiction by Lindsey Lane that dives deep into the hiddenness of our human natures and our desires to be both safe and loved.

You can also read earlier features: an exploration of self and sisterhood by Janet Gurtler in Embracing Shadows;  also  In the Half-Light, an essay detailing the shadowy subconscious that aided Hunger Mountain Sneak Peek author Joe Lunievicz in creating his debut novel, Open Wounds (WestSide Books, 2011); the wickedly smart investigation into the use of elision by Janet Fox in The Shadowy Landscape of Dreams Where Reader and Writer Meet. Our Industry Insider Column offers an interview with Elena Mechlin and Joan Slattery in New Faces at Pippin Properties. Be sure to check out the instructive Toolbox piece, Where the Teens Are: 5 Ways to Freshen Up YA Fiction’s Favorite Places from Deborah Halverson, author of the newly released, Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies, and the In Response essay to the Passion for the Picture Book special feature by the outstanding author Liz Garton Scanlon.



So, please stop back often.  Read, respond, share your thoughts, delight in the darkness and luxuriate in the light. They both offer respite and reward. Go ahead, see for yourselves.

Best,
Bethany Hegedus, Editor

Friday Round Up: Awards, Snubs, and Passion for the Picture Book

Ah, this Monday started out cold and grey and I had the best of intentions to meet with fellow Austin authors at Mozart's, a local coffee haunt, to watch the webcast of the ALA awards. Alas, I was in my sick bed--where I write to you now--battling a cold that I just can't kick and it is still grey and gloomy outside. Yes, it is January but to be this chilly in Austin (20s) is something rare indeed. And, that's what award season offers us. The rare and rewarded. Does it matter that the Today show booted the big winners for Snooki? (Heck, yes. Read a post citing the letter SCBWI Executive Director Lin Oliver sent to the good folks over at Today.) Does it matter not many of us predicted the big winners--unlike last year? (I personally like when this happens! It's like Christmas morning when the committee honors a book I haven't yet heard of for the big win. "Oh, I have a treat in store.")

And, rare treats the two debut winners of the Newbery and Caldecott are. Look to Elizabeth Bluemle at the PW Shelftalker as she quotes some little-known-facts (Maebelle is making note!) about the Newbery via Peter Sieruta’s post, Sleeping with the Newbery, on his blog, Collecting Children’s Books.

I was thrilled to see Hunger Mountain contributor G. Neri get a Printz Honor for his book,  Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shortie illustrated by Randy Duburke and that Rita Williams Garcia recieved the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award for her triumphant One Crazy Summer.    (For G. Neri's Hunger Mountain offerings check out this essay on how to hook urban readers and this short story  that inspired the novel Surf Mules, and this nonfiction piece on Chief Wahoo McDaniel.)

And I pumped my fists when I heard that WestSide listmates Cheryl Rainfeld with Scars was the #1 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers and that Hope In Patience by Beth Fehlbaum made the list too. (If you missed my recent interview with Beth Fehlbaum on the Inside the Writers Studio series, go here and here.) 

I have not met Newbery winner Clare Vanderpool but we do share something in common. The same hard working, talented, eagle-eyed editor Michelle Poploff. I loved dashing off a quick note to Michelle to let her know the Delacorte Dames and Dudes here in Austin were thrilled.

Not To Be Missed Awesome Austin Events:

The first Austin SCBWI meeting of 2011 kicks off with a sweetheart of a speaker, author Jessica Lee Anderson on Sat, Jan 15, 2011, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM at BookPeople

Thursday January 20th, I will be moderating the WLT Third Thursday series at 7pm at BookPeople, with these authors in attendance. We will be discussing Inspiration (and Perspiration)

Jennifer Ziegler

Brian Yansky

Stephen Harrigan

Panelists:
Jennifer Ziegler is an Austin-based writer of YA fiction. Her novel How Not to Be Popular (Delacorte/Random House, 2008) was selected for the Lone Star Booklist and the International Reading Association’s Young Adults’ Choices list. Her next novel, Sass and Serendipity (Delacorte/Random House, 2011), gives Jane Austen a small-town Texas spin.

Brian Yansky is the author of the novels Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences, Wonders of the World, and the award winning My Road Trip to the Pretty Girl Capital of the World. He teaches writing at Austin Community College and has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College.
Stephen Harrigan is the author of eight books of fiction and non-fiction, including the novels Challenger Park and The Gates of the Alamo. He is also a longtime writer for Texas Monthly and other magazines and an award-winning screenwriter who has written many movies for television. In May, Alfred A. Knopf will publish his latest novel, Remember Ben Clayton.

Also, that evening we will be honoring the WLT Book Awards. Drum roll and the winners are:

Writers' League of Texas Book Award

2010 Awards Sponsored by University Co-op

The Writers' League of Texas Book Awards recognize outstanding published books each year in five categories, Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry & Literary Prose, Children's books (long works) and Children's books (short works).

Poetry Winner Quiver Susan B.A. Somers-Willett	Finalists Modiglian’s Muse by Jacqueline Kolosov The Ocean Liner’s Wake by Ellen Wehle Self Portrait with Crayon by Allison Benis White
NonfictionWinner Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith	Finalists Wilderness Warrior by Douglas Brinkley Lit by Mary Karr
Children’sWinner Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice Phillip Hoose	Finalists The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon
FictionWinner Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories Lorraine Lopez	Finalists Black Water Rising by Attica Locke That Demon Life b

If you'd like to enter the WLT Book Awards or enter the manuscript contests, check out the information here:
http://www.writersleague.org/contests/manuscript.html

http://www.writersleague.org/pdfs/2011%20Book%20Awards%20Guidelines.pdf

Book Bash!
Mari Mancusi  with Night School (Berkley)and Cynthia Leitich Smith with Blessed (Candlewick) are launching their latest books at 2 p.m. Jan. 29 at BookPeople.

The event will include author talks, Q&A, book raffle, surprise giveaways, devilish desserts, demonic drinks & signing.
Wear red and black if you’re on the side of Evil or blue and black if you’re on the side of Good.

Bonus points (and possible prize) to anyone who dresses up as a vampire, shape shifter, vampire slayer, angel or fairy!


And check out the incredible Blessed book trailer!

Upcoming in Hunger Mountain

I put out the call and those passionate about the picture book are responding. If you'd like to submit a 250 word quote (or less) to be considered for a special feature in the upcoming issue of Hunger Mountain, see here for details. This am my inbox found an email from Jane Yolen, whose work for all ages I adore but I am oh so fond of Owl Moon.