Back to School, Back to Blogging

So, today was back to school day here in Austin. And, I figured that was a good time to get back to blogging. I meant to only be away for a month (Sorry, those who have interviews scheduled with me. I shall be posting them soon!) and I had pre-blogged. 

I was in Maui for much of June and early July. Rough, right? I know. My fiancé had a conference he was hosting at one of the area hotels and we stayed there for two weeks and then spent two weeks in Paia, this funky little hippy town. While there I let myself decompress from the work-a-day world and made my transition into the write-a-day world. I kept up with my editorial duties at Hunger Mountain, and with the work of my one-on-one students, but I took time to breathe again. 

To be Bethany again. 

To explore. To laze on the beach. 

To sip cocktails and read, read, read and write, write, write.

Each day new words found me. I jotted them all down. A week before leaving I had 40 pages down and usually that is the time I take those pages, those mountains of words, and I hit delete. I had found my characters a bit and now I could start again. I could begin.

 Strangely, or not so strangely really, two days before leaving Maui I realized the manuscript I was writing would be a beach book. A summer vacation story which would bring my two MCs to Maui the summer’s after Sophomore year, Junior year, and Senior year. I have always loved beach books and walking through airports have purchased Dorthea Benton Frank and Elin Hildebrand for years (though I can’t read a Nicolas Sparks book I can partake of the movies made from them). I never—never—thought I would write my own beach book.  Those that know me well know that I hate summer. Since I was a kid I felt like summer fun is prescribed and is supposed to be a prescription for all that has ailed ye all year long. Summer fun by definition is giddy and outdoorsy. I am not giddy or outdoorsy. Maui opened me up to see another side of summer—and another side of me. The sunsets, the sunrises, the people, the tropical flowers and afternoon showers all created this opening in me. An opening to do what I wanted—write, watch locals collect seaweed, walk on the beach, hear music, play with kids in the water—splashing and doing tricks. It took me away from myself. From my year round concerns and healed the overworked, treadmill part of me. 

When I arrived back in Austin, about a month ago now, I didn’t find it hard to write but I did find myself resisting blogging. I love to blog. I do. But I needed time for my story to come first. I am now at 100 pages in my RD and feel grounded in where I may be headed. I have been missing blogging. Missing adding my voice to the kid lit conversation. Missing trumpeting the horn of my fellow writers and all their accomplishments. I have missed the in-depth interviews and have some fabulous ones I shall be posting in the weeks to come. I now miss the outer world as much as I missed my inner world before my time away. So, thanks for having me back! 

Next week I will begin a month (or more long) series on Adventures While Teaching, using thoughts I garnered from reading Roger Rosenblatt’s Unless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing.

In Hunger Mountain news:

Look for, later this week, the In Defense of YA Round-Up that was promised to readers back when the whole WSJ brouhaha began in June, as well as a Toolbox piece by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and a sneak-peak into her new novel, Jefferson’s Sons. 

We are still accepting fiction for the fall issue: The Art & Insanity of Creativity. See here to submit and to see guidelines: http://www.hungermtn.org/submit/

The Katherine Paterson Prize has closed (though there is always next year so start polishing those submissions) and the judging is going on now. Who will NBA winner Kimberly Willis Holt choose as the 1k winner??? Keep a look out. 

2012 Winter and Spring Themes to be announced soon as well as those pieces from 2011 that have been selected to be a part of the annual print edition, which will be on sale in bookstores and sent to Hunger Mountain subscribers.

In Awesome Austin, a round up of the summer awesomeness.

Since I last posted two incredible Austin authors have welcomed wee ones (and this time I mean babies—not books). Congrats to Varian and Crystal Johnson on the arrival of Savannah Parker and to Mari Mancussi Beach and Jacob Beach on the arrival of Avalon. 

Get ready for Chronal Engine by Greg Leitich Smith. I have seen some of the cover art and interiors for his 2012 release and this time-traveling dinosaur book is going to knock you out. 

Greg, Vanessa Lee and Jenny Moss pour over a Chronal Engine slideshow

Congrats to Jeannette Larson’s Hummingbirds: Facts and Folklore of the Americas illustrated by Adrienne Yorinks being chosen to represent Texas in the National Book Festival. 

 

Three cheers for Tantalize: Kieren’s Story, a new graphic novel by Cynthia Leitich Smith and illustrated by Ming Doyle which releases tomorrow. To get a peak into Cynthia’s process of turning her best-selling novel into a graphic novel with new content see her Hunger Mountain article Going Graphic.  

The Austin Statesman this weekend featured a review of Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson, calling the book: “finely wrought, with emotional twists that will absorb your teen reader.” (14 and up) To see an interview with Jessica, head on over to Carmen Oliver’s blog  and read their in-depth Calli chat. To read a chapter from Jessica’s work-in-progress, check out the Hunger Mountain archives and read Finding Bigfoot.

A big whoo-hoo for the Writer’s League of Texas 2011 Children’s Book Award Finalists:  

Shark Vs. Train by Chris Barton, A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata, Holler Loudly by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy, Betti on the High Wire by Lisa Railsback, and Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber.

And triple woo-hoos for Austinites Cynthia Leitich Smith, Lisa Railsback, and Chris Barton. 

E. Kristin Anderson, Jennifer Ziegler, moi, and Holly Green

I attended the Keep Austen Weird celebration for Austin author Jennifer Ziegler’s new release Sass & Serendipity. Plenty of fun was had by all and with my long gown I won the award as the Most Serendipitous. And for all you Jennifer Ziegler fans go vote for Sass & Serendipity at Justine magazine as your favorite summer read. Vote here. Or read her Hunger Mountain essay, Let There Be Light on the writing of the novel and how Jane Austen influenced her and her work. 

Big rah-rahs for Austinites Shelli Cornelison and Donna Bowman Bratton for signing with Red Fox Literary. See Kathy Teman’s wonderful interview with the folks at Red Fox.

Solstice, the new e-book, by PJ Hoover continues to sizzle this summer. Check out:

 and

I may have missed someone’s accolade (sorry if I did) so don’t miss the Austin SCBWI website where Debbie Gonzales is always celebrating the Austin kid lit writing community’s successes. 

For the Calendar 

Don't miss the Austin Teen Book Festival, Oct. 1st. 

or The Texas Book Festival Oct. 22-23rd.

Week in Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Bruised

Ah, I spent half the week laid up in bed (or on the floor) with a back injury after I took a tumble while cleaning. Perhaps there is a reason no one ever called me graceful. (And why there was no Wednesday Inside the Writer’s Studio…be sure to check in next week for author Michelle Knudson, and her new picture book Argus.) However, as time ground to a halt for me there was much happening in cyberland and all over Austin this week.


The oh-so-witty K.A. Holt was featured over at the Daily Texan and I now know where the source of her haiku brain stems from. Getting back at the man! The article states,


To pass the time at her nine-to-five, and perhaps to channel her unused imagination, she began writing snarky haiku poems on the community dry erase board, typically targeting company management.

“Who are you to judge?/ A messy desk shows genius/ And a lack of drawers,” Roy wrote at work. “A messy desk ode/ Can an ode be a haiku?/ Messy haiku, too.”


And over at the Horn Book, Chris Barton, author of the forthcoming Can I See Your ID has a tip for all authors of nonfiction in his piece, Your Mother Should Know.


Dear Teen Me, one of my favorite spots to stop and reconnect with my youth (and I am sure teens everywhere are reading. Is yours?), featured my friend Lindsey Lane this week. I love Lindsey’s letter and so wish I had read this when I was a girl, and sexuality, and how to use it, how to acknowledge its power (over me and others) was such a new discovery. Sex and sexuality is never easy to discuss for some reason, but Lindsey is frank, forthright, and even funny! Cheers to her and DTM for the groundbreaking posts!

And, along with all the articles and blogs, a bevy of unveilings were going on. Greg Leitich Smith unveiled the cover art of all the Austin 2011 books from the community, and PJ Hoover featured one in particular—Callie—the fall release by Texas Sweetheart, Jessica Lee Anderson. I had the pleasure of reading Callie in almost final form and it is taught with tension and explores the crisscrossing of friendship, sisterhood (foster sisterhood but sisterhood, nonetheless) and family. Jessica always writes “real” and this is another stellar addition to the books under her belt.

The grace and good humor-filled Liz Garton Scanlon welcomed a new book into the world this week, Noodle and Lou (illustrated by Arthur Howard) is her follow up to the award winning All the World. Where All the World was big and all encompassing, Noodle and Lou is a small scale story but is big in the way that meaningful friendships are. What is bigger and more meaningful than a best friend?

Noodle and Lou join a bevy of picture book best friends, who should not be friends (Can a bird and a worm be friends? Buy the book and also hop on over to my previous blog post on the Dynamics of Picture Book Pairs…) and add to the canon of great kid lit. 

Previous Austin author and still friend to oh-so-many-of-us, Dorothy Love, debuted her new website this last week. Who is her designer? None other than Erik Kuntz, Austin SCBWI Volunteer of the Year.


I also got a wonderful surprise this last week—a stack of thank-you letters from the kids at Travis Heights Elementary. The day of the visit the kids were great but you never know if you made a lasting impact or not. The letters brought their smiling faces back front and center as I soaked up their words and feasted on their drawings. There were many references to, who lots of kids, dubbed Mr. French Fry Guy in their character sketches. Here are two of my favorite letters.

"Dear Bethany,
Thank you for teaching us how to sketch a person using words. My favorite part was when we got to sketch using words. I also liked the book you read to us. Do you think you can do it next year? I really enjoyed it.
From, Dexter.


And another…


“Dear Bethany Hegedus,
It was nice to work with you I hope you can come again next year. P.S. I came with another name for the boy, it’s super French fris eater.
Senserly your friend,
Jose”

Man, you gotta love the fruits of school visits. Does it get any better than that?


Goings on in Austin

And, as usual there is a ton going on at the WLT and SCBWI. This weekend, Jeanette Larson, is the SCBWI speaker at BookPeople. She will be speaking about Love the Librarian (and Texas librarians do so much, we need to rally and show them our love!)

And after her talk, it’s party time. Jeannette will be celebrating the release of Hummingbirds, illustrated by Adrienne Yorinks. I’ve been waiting to get my hands on a copy, as she keeps selling out at other events I’ve attended where the book is for sale. I’ll need to nab my copy on the way in. Congrats, Jeannette for a gorgeously written (and fact filled) book. 

Over at the WLT, we have a treat in store for kid lit writers---both novelists and picture bookers. Kirsten Cappy, book publicist and creator of Curious City is coming to town. She will teach a class on Creating Your Independent Marketing Plan (Sat, April 2nd) and is also doing special one-on-ones with picture book authors and illustrators (Fri- April 1st.) Lisa Jahn Clough introduced me to Kirsten many years ago and I always look forward to spotting her at the big book events, BEA, ALA, etc. She is whip smart, thinks outside the box and is the marketing brain behind such books as Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, and The Accidental Adventures of India McAllister. To register for either the class or the limited one-on-one appointments, go here.


And, the YA A to Z Conference welcomes Random House/Delacorte Press editor Francois Bui to the line-up. Be sure not to miss the first ever conference dedicated to the YA (books considered upper MG, tween, etc.) field. Tim Wynne-Jones will be the Keynote Breakfast speaker. Tim will be speaking about how to find and appreciate your own genius. If you're looking for the perfect boost to inspire you as a writer, you'll want to be sure to catch this talk! To learn more and/or register for the conference, go here.


Coming Up for Me (and Truth with a Capital T)

The kind folks at the Brazos Valley SCBWI are hosting me for a workshop titled “Creating Your Own Canon” on March 26^th from 10am to 1pm. If in the College Station area or willing to head down that way, click here for the workshop registration materials.

Don’t forget the YA Diversity in Fiction Tour is making an Austin stop. Authors Jo Whittemore,Varian Johnson and I join Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo. Check the YA Diversity Tour website for more information



See ya’ll next week!