Friday Week in Review on a Tuesday!

Ah, so I missed doing a round up last Friday as was preparing to leave for a family memorial in Georgia and my fiancé and I were waiting on my “official” engagement ring to arrive. It did and once it did, V took me back to the spot where he first asked me—a week ago—and he slipped the vintage inspired glittery and gorgeous new ring on my finger. 

We then took off for Atlanta. Saying goodbye to my aunt Susan was difficult but her service and us all being together had its own bumpy grace attached. Along with our goodbyes, we had hellos. V met the all the family who lived in the area. We went to the Marietta diner and feasted on pancakes, cake, omelets, and other yummy dishes. The kids, my mom, and my sister went to the movies where Bella conked out—as did my mom. I read books to Tehmin and Bella—signed books I’d collected for them since the last time I was home. We devoured Holler Loudly, All the World, and the Hallelujiah Flight. We took funny pictures and tucked the kids in and before you knew it we were back in Austin.

I signed copies of Truth with a Capital T for my family and I pointed out to my mom this passage from the acknowledgments at the back of the book:

To my parents, Allan and Beth Hegedus, for sealing my fate and moving the family to Georgia. To the Bells, the Browns, and the rest of the Hegedus crew, and to all those who’ve ever been to the Kiss-Me-Quick Bridge: family is family. Our hearts have been healed.

And, that’s what this trip home to say hello and goodbye was: healing.

What’s Happening  for Truth with a Capital T

Truth with a Capital T has been named a Bank Streets Best Book of 2010.  As a prior New Yorker, I love the Bank Street School of Education and the Bank Street Book Store. And like last year when Between Us Baxters made the list, (with an extra special *) I was glad to see Truth be one of the 600 out of 6000 books which were endorsed by Bank Street.  Truth is on the list in the Nine to Twelve, Today category.

What’s Happening for Grandfather Gandhi

An illustrator announcement for the Gandhi book is expected soon. Fingers crossed. 

What’s Happening  for Hunger Mountain

I’ve served as HM Co-Editor for about two years now and the editorial hat is one I’ve grown accustomed to wearing. I love putting the issues together, reading submissions, approaching authors to write for Hunger Mountain, and I love digging deep into the “gushy” stuff of an essay or a fiction piece and getting my editorial hands dirty as the author of the piece creates and shapes and digs a deeper, more substantial pocket of earth to lay their creative seeds in. (Ah, it is spring and flowers, planting, etc. abound). I was more than pleased to do this work with Linnea Heaney and even more pleased to see she wrote about her HM experience over on her blog, Linnea’s Illuminated Notes.

We did go through revision, with Bethany’s gentle, but to-the-point comments. During this time, I learned about addressing editor suggestions and how to rewrite to find the story in the snuggest and most illuminating way. By the time I sent off the final version near the deadline and heard my phone ringing, I knew it was Bethany with the call all writers want to get. I thanked her for being my first teacher in the writing world!

If you haven’t read A Real Best Friend, the picture book manuscript Linnea discusses revising for me, go do. It’s a real good read!

In Awesome Austin

Congrats to Jo Whittemore who celebrated the release of her latest book, Odd Girl In this last Sunday at BookPeople. Check out Jo’s post over at Diversity in YA, Against Tokenism.

For all the Austin TLA buzz go check out the Austin author schedule over at the Austin SCBWI. I will be there walking the floor on Wednesday and attending the All Publisher Party at the Four Season’s Residences Wednesday night. 

The YA A to Z Conference kicks off this Friday. I am bowled over at the fab line up and will be busy beyond belief but I am excited to be a part of this inaugural event. Along with my WLT Office Manager duties, I will be sitting on two panels and also doing a Q&A with Uma Krishnaswami. Check out the fab book trailer of Uma’s new novel, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, which is racking up starred reviews and has early Newbery buzz. 

And, as I’ve got to get the office in Awesome Austin, this Tuesday wrap-up has no Outside Awesome Austin links this week but maybe that is a-ok. After all, TLA kicks off today and this year all those librarians are here, keeping Austin weird and well-read (and protesting cut backs and everyone is doing all we can to Keep Libraries Open!)

Inside the Writer's Studio, with Jo Whittemore author of Odd Girl In

Today at Inside the Writer’s Studio we have with us the hilariously funny, Jo Whittemore. Jo is the kind of author one can call on in a pinch. When I moved last year, Jo and her husband (the man who can wear a loveseat as a hat and carry it up and down three flights of stairs) were the first to arrive. Jo is that kind of gal. She shows up—in life and on the page. And in both efforts, she is the perfect combination of funny and wise. Jo is here to celebrate her new release, Odd Girl In.

Here is a bit more about Odd Girl In.

Alexis "Alex" Evins is a first-class prankster. When she plays a particularly disastrous prank (hair + fire=bad), her dad sends Alex (and her older brothers) to a character-building after-school program. There, the Evins siblings are faced with the ultimate test of teamwork, leadership, and responsibility. Can the "Evil Evins" pass the course in one piece, or are they destined for an epic fail?

And what are the reviewers saying?

"...witty, laugh-out-loud romp. Whittemore handles not only the comedy but deftly portrays Alex’s and her brothers’ advancement into a more mature state of mind. It should keep middle-schoolers laughing from start to finish. Funny and perky."--Kirkus

"Secondary characters have surprising depth. There’s plenty of humor along the way to redemption and healing as Alex and her brothers learn to work as a team and as a family."--School Library Journal

Thanks for being here Jo!

How do you stay inspired to face the dreaded blank page? Is it something you dread? Look forward to? Share a bit about your writing process.

I used to be a blank page panicker, but over the years I’ve realized you have to view writing a book like eating a pizza. Though you can visualize it in its entirety, you would never attempt to eat a whole pizza at once, just like you shouldn’t attempt to write a book all at once. You eat the pizza bite by bite, slice by slice until you’re done. By that notion, you write a book page by page, chapter by chapter, until it’s done. When I’m facing a blank page, I don’t let myself get overwhelmed by the thought “I have to write a book!” I settle with a simpler, easy-to-grasp goal of “I have to write a page.”

How important is community in keeping you inspired? What authors are a part of your virtual and/or hometown community? How do they keep you inspired? How do you inspire them?

Community is essential to me. People say writing is a solo craft, but I don’t think I know a single author who works entirely alone. You have to have a critique group (or partner) to keep you on track, remind you that your writing is good and help you navigate through the tough parts of your story. You have to have mentors, who can guide you on your career path, encourage you to reach that next level and believe in your work. You have to have writing friends who can sympathize on a bad day, motivate you to succeed by sharing their own successes, and celebrate with you when things go well.

I’m blessed to have so many wonderful authors in my hometown community AND the virtual community. These are friends I’ve met through SCBWI meetings, book signings, message boards, even Facebook and Twitter. They inspire me with their success stories and their tenacity. We shouldn’t be jealous of each other’s good fortune. We should use it as motivation to reach a similar level of awesome. I try and inspire others by sharing personal experiences, both good and bad, and helping them see the worth in their writing and the light at the end of the tunnel.

Theme can be seen as a dirty word but as writers I believe we all have something to say, something we want to share with the world. What is that something for you?

I love the idea of theme, and I didn’t realize I was even writing to one until I heard Marion Dane Bauer speak at the SCBWI LA conference last year. I’d been noticing what I called a trend in my books, where the main characters are usually girls who don’t conform to cliques and “girly” behavior. It concerned me at first, because I thought maybe all my stories were the same, but after hearing Marion Dane Bauer’s speech, I realized the stories were different, but there was a definite theme prevalent in my writing: Different does not equal bad.  

How important is voice in your work? How does “voice” come to you?

Voice, to me, keeps the reader turning the pages when there’s no action or happiness to be found. If the voice is captivating, a simple conversation is full of intrigue, and the reader has to know why so-and-so refuses to eat pudding. And a character in a dark situation needs us to keep reading so we’ll know it all turns out okay. The voice is what connects us to a character. 

 
Voice comes to me after I’ve worked out the plot of a story in my head. I’m usually going for funny, so the voice will lend itself to either intentional or unintentional humor. If I’m going for intentional, I’m usually working with a smart, witty character that can crack a joke or issue a retort without a second thought. If I’m going for unintentional, I’m usually working with a sweet, goofy, naïve person who is unaware their words or actions are rife with comedy.

I once heard Deb Caletti say when asked how her life has changed since becoming a published author that she feels she is living the life she is meant to live. How has your life changed since you became a published author? Has it? What lessons have you learned that you’d care to share since becoming published?

Ha! I feel like this is a customer testimony. “Since I’ve become a published author, I’ve dropped ten pounds and have whiter teeth!” But seriously, being published HAS changed my life, in good ways and bad. The good? I’ve become less of a recluse and have ventured out of my shell to make friends and meet new people, something pre-pub Jo would have avoided. For that matter, it’s made me more confident in myself and helped me identify personal strengths. The bad? It’s also helped me identify personal weaknesses! But at least I know what I need to work on.

 
Lessons to share? Don’t sell yourself short…but don’t oversell yourself either. When I first started many years ago, I boasted to anyone who asked about my book that I was going to be the next J.K. Rowling. Today, other than the fact that we both go by the name Jo, there are no similarities. I’m not even wearing designer underwear.

Another lesson? Watch what you say! The creation of Facebook, Twitter, and blogs mean gossip and negative comments spread much faster to people you might not want to hear. And don’t watch just what you say about other people; watch what you say about yourself. I once had a down day and wanted to post woe-is-me thoughts, but before I could, another writer told me how my good humor always made her feel better. Instead of going public with my pity party, I told a few close friends. The world didn’t need to watch me beat up on myself.

Quickly name 5 favorite stories—could be books or movies even. Do these stories have anything in common with one another? Do they have anything in common with your own work? What comparisons can you make in terms of what matters to you in your own work and what you like to read/experience?

1. The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (Heinemann, 1956)
2. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (Atheneum Press, 1967)
3. The Silver Spoon Mystery by Dorothy Sterling (Scholastic, 1958)
4. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (Not sure who original publisher was, 1934)
5. The Good Master by Kate Seredy (Viking, 1935)

All of these are comfort books for me. One thing they all have in common? They’re from before I was even born! They were originally gifts when I was a kid, and I didn’t read them for the longest time, either because I’d already seen the movie (The Hundred and One Dalmatians, Mary Poppins) or they sounded boring (Mixed-Up Files is set at a museum, The Silver Spoon Mystery was set in the 50s, The Good Master was set in Hungary). But when I finally read them, I fell in love with them. I want to write these kinds of books, the ones kids fall in love with and turn to when they’re sick or sad or just need a bit of cozy.

Inspired by the Actors Studio, what sound do you love? What sound do you hate?

 
I love the sound of laughter. I hate the sound of crying. I’m prone to duplicating these sounds (and their emotions) when I hear them.

If your protagonist and antagonist were competing on American Idol what songs would each sing? And who would have the better voice?
Let’s see. For the newest book, Odd Girl In, the protagonist is a loner tomboy named Alex, and she’d sing Raise Your Glass by Pink. The antagonist is an overachiever named Chloe, and she’d sing Headstrong by Trapt. I’d say Chloe would have the better voice because she’d do anything to win and would hire a vocal coach to help her nail the song.

In ode to Maebelle, the main character in my new book Truth with a Capital T, who keeps a book of little known facts about just about everything, please share a wacky piece of trivia that has stuck with you or please share a little known fact about YOU.

 
I have stitches in the middle of my forehead from the time I got overexcited about cookies and whacked my head on a banister when I jumped up and down for joy.

Ouch! Told you readers that Jo was exciteable!

Thanks to Jo Whittemore for being with us. For more on Jo, be sure to check out her website, her involvement with the Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels (and if in Austin for TLA, please stop by the Texas Sweetheart & Scoundrel reception amid the hustle and bustle of the conference floor) and come see Jo, Varian Johnson, and myself when we join Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo for their Diversity in YA  stop here in Austin on May 9^th, at BookPeople. 

Week In Review: Celebrating Life

Sunday March 20th, would have been my Aunt Susan's 61st birthday. I wasn't sure what the day would bring, in a week that took her from her apartment to ICU to the crematorium (her wishes) and ended with her birthday, the first day of spring. I spent the day working--me at the kitchen table on a talk I am giving on March 26th and V (the man in my life) in his cedar cubby of an office a few feet away working on his many projects.

At 5pm we left the house, (me with painted nails in honor of my aunt who taught me how to use nail polish and who often gave me a manicure) and drove to East Austin to celebrate V's African drumming teacher's 33rd birthday. We gathered at a picnic table with Abu's many students. Wine and water was shared. African dishes and pita and hummus. After about an hour of talking and laughing, the music began. Abu played the ballaphone--a wooden xylophone instrument and his students gathered with their djembe, drums. One of the guests had brought her roommates toddler and he stole the show dancing--arms thrusting as the music wove a spell over us all. It wasn't the way my aunt would have celebrated her birthday but I found myself looking skyward after taking in the love, graciousness, and beauty of the faces around me that it was the perfect way for me to say goodbye and to celebrate life and the signs of spring all around.

The week also brought many fruitful connections for the behind-the scenes work I am doing for ReachOut.com and the Reaching Out Through YA Fiction Campaign for May. ReadergirlZ.com is on board, and author chats are being scheduled and lots of good stuff is ongoing.

The new issue of Hunger Mountain went live and the Passion for the Picture Book article is being mulled over by many a reader. I also did an interview over at WordCrushes where I talk about what is up and coming for the Hunger Mountain Children's and YA Page. Lots of new stuff happening--including rolling content with the next issue!


There is also much to be celebrated in cyberland, as well.

In Awesome Austin

Texas Sweetheart (or Scoundrel) depending on her mood or her wit, Jo Whittemore released a new title!
Look for an interview with Jo here, on the Inside the Writer's Studio series, next Wed.

Austin Author, Chris Barton, got a PW starred review for his latest--a YA non-fiction title.

Can I See Your I.D.? True Stories of False Identities
Chris Barton, illus. by Paul Hoppe. Dial, $16.99 (144p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3310-7

In 10 impeccably crafted profiles, Barton (The Day-Glo Brothers) shares the stories of individuals--many just teenagers--who adopted false identities for amusement, profit, or survival. From Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Civil War, to 16-year-old Keron Thomas, who in 1993 impersonated a transit worker to fulfill his dream of piloting a New York City subway train, Barton reveals the motivations behind and the consequences of each deception. The use of second-person narration is very effective, allowing readers to assume the identities of each individual. Barton's prose captures the daring, ingenuity, and quick thinking required of each imposter ("You can bluster and grumble with the best of them.... You use up your share of tobacco too," he writes of Wakeman). In the most powerful stories, assuming a false identity was a life or death decision, as with Soloman Perel, a Jewish teenager who joined the Hitler Youth to escape being killed, and Ellen Craft, a slave who disguised herself as a white Southern gentleman to escape to the North. Hoppe contributes dynamic comic book–style panel art, not all seen by PW. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on: 03/21/2011

Permalink: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8037-3310-7 (978-0-8037-3310-7)

Outside Awesome Austin

One of the bravest Dear Teen Me letters yet has been posted. Be sure not to miss Jessica Burkhart's letter to her teen self.  Here is the opening:

Hey nineteen-year old me,
You feel like you’re drowning in secrets, huh?

Jessica at 19

I know. Every morning, life crushes your chest until you can’t breathe? Look, that might last a little while. But, and I know you won’t believe me now, it won’t be forever.

To read the letter in it's entirety, go here. You won't be sorry you did.

And VCFA faculty member and fabulous writer, Uma Krishnaswami (who is coming to Austin for the YA A to Z Conference) just rec'd a starred Kirkus review on her new novel, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything.

Editor Review (reviewed on April 1, 2011)

Hooray for Bollywood.

Eleven-year-old Dini is not pleased at all at the prospect of leaving Takoma Park, Md., and her best friend Maddie to live in a small town in southern India for two years. But though she knows it's ridiculous, bakvaas, as Indians say, she wonders if she might get to meet her idol, Dolly Singh, Bollywood film star. Dini and Maddie are devoted Dolly fans. And, in a series of events as wonderfully convoluted and satisfyingly resolved as any movie plot could be, she does. The fast-paced tale introduces and manages to connect an Indian-American family, a postal worker from Mumbai, a movie producer and his erratic star, a car mechanic, a tea plantation owner, a local baker and assorted monkeys—all coming together for a grand finale party and dance. Set in imagined Swapnagiri (which means Dream Mountain), this high-energy concoction is thoroughly believable and entertaining. The story is told in a third-person present-tense voice that rings true to its protagonist, who sees her life as a movie script. Though Dini and Maddie are halfway around the world from each other, they communicate through cell phones and computer chat, keeping up their friendship while making new ones.

Full of references to Bollywood movie traditions and local customs, this is a delightful romp with a fresh setting and a distinctive and appealing main character. (Fiction. 9-13)

And SLJ this week featured a special project that took place in Round Rock and featured picture book author, Phil Binder, in an article titled, Librarians Help Students, Author Create Book Trailers.

How to Succeed in Children’s Publishing, Without Really Trying In Six Easy Steps

Hmm. That doesn’t sound right does it?

The movie, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967) directed by David Swift or the newly remounted Broadway show, starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and John Laroquette is a comedy but is pursuing a career as a children’s author a comedy or a tragedy? Maybe creating a career in the kid’s biz of publishing is a dramady—a bit of the comic and a bit of the tragic. But the only real tragedy, as we read last Monday, is not trying.

But how do we create a career? You got me? I am still figuring it out but I have learned a few things in my ten year pursuit to publish and my now two years on the shelves.  And here they are:

  1.  Put writing first.             

No, this doesn’t mean to ignore your family and friends, to not do well at your day job, or to let the laundry pile up until it buries you alive. But what it does mean is keep creating as a top priority.

2.     2.  Keep reading.

It can be hard to find the time to read when there are school visits to book, presentations to create, blogs to write and read. But keep reading. Read critically. Read for pleasure. Just read.

3.      3. Attend the biz of writing workshops/read biz of writing blogs

Do we twitter? Facebook? Blog? V-log? Create fliers? Audio clips? Podcasts? Social media is here and it is here to stay. Go learn from PR professionals but remember your first priority is not to run a social media empire. It is to write. So write and pick the couple of business tools that feel good to you. 

Greg Leitich Smith works the tech for the Holler Loudly About Alien Invasions and Truth with a Capital T Book Party

4.   Create Community.

We are not in this alone. Even if you live in the Artic tundra or on the equator and you think there are no other children’s authors or illustrators around, look. Are there any in your town? Your state? Becoming an Austinite was easy. We have a thrilling and thriving kid-lit community here but even if you aren’t in Austin tap into the creative people in your area. Together you can lick wounds, celebrate successes and keep the solitary confinement to times when you are deep in the cave. 

5.     5.  Pay it forward.

All artists have mentors. When a writer whose work we admire sees something in us—believe them. They have been where you are. They are lending a helping hand. Take it. Listen. Be grateful and don’t forget to pay it forward. When your time comes, and you see a talented newer writer—reach out.

6.       6. Develop a split personality. 

Author Jenny Shank, who I mentioned in last week’s post on perfectionism, advises:

“You can’t stop looking if you want to publish a book; you just have to compartmentalize the looking. I turned my publication-seeking activities over to a fragment of my personality…let’s call him Johnny Business—while the rest of me didn’t think about it, worry about it, and went about my days without pining over it. What Johnny Business does is none of my business.”

So how does that work?  Well, the business side of you keeps sending out work while the creative side of you is creating. The business side of you thinks about ways to raise your profile while the creative side is creating. The business side of you works a business plan, makes contacts, follows them up, while the creative side of you is creating. Think of it as the yin and yang or rather the Biz and the Whiz. The biz side of you is necessary but without the inner whiz- kid creating there would be nothing for Biz to do.

Creating a career is not a knee-slapping musical comedy—not even if Harry Potter appears and dances across the stage.  The title of this post should be: How to Succeed in Children’s Publishing, While Really, Really Trying.

 It takes more than six easy steps. It takes a lot of trial and error. It takes a lot of chocolate and wine. It takes a lot of work and even more access to one’s inner whiz-kid.  Simply put, it takes what it takes.

And speaking of community, check out the Awesome Austin Goings On:

From Publisher's Marketplace:

Jo Whittemore's D IN DRAMA, about a group of drama school losers who are perpetually cast as trees and nameless villagers, but hatch a plan to upend the status quo and create their own starring roles, again to Alyson Heller at Aladdin, by Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Philip Yates's A PIRATE'S TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS, companion to the popular A PIRATE'S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, to Sterling Children's, for publication in Fall 2012, by Quinlan Lee at Adams Literary (World).

 

 And,

Alvina Ling at Little, Brown has bought world rights for Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld's companion picture book to Shark vs. Train, for publication in spring 2013. Erin Murphy at the Erin Murphy Literary Agency is the agent for the author, and Amy Rennert at the Amy Rennert Agency is the agent for the artist. 

For  an interview with Chris Barton about his latest non-fiction offering head on over to Kathi Appelt's blog where she has interviewed an in-depth interview titled: The Real Chris Barton.

Also, since March Madness is upon us look for an Inside the Writer's Studio Interview Tuesday through Thursday this week.