Book Giveaway and Author Interview with Debut Author Shannon Wiersbitzky

If you are reading this in your email, don’t forget to click on the headline to go to my blog. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do. Oh, and I love comments. Spurring me on this week is the following quote:

"Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed." ~ Ray Bradbury

For my writer friends, here are a couple of great links to check out:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-flagrant-grammar-mistakes-that-make-you-look-stupid/6075621

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-wording-blunders-that-make-you-look-stupid/194?tag=nl.e064   You might get a chuckle out of these or a groan, and they might just remind you of your Uncle Waldo or neighbor Jimmy Bob.

Now for the real reason for this post. Recently, I reviewed a wonderful book for middle-grade readers called The Summer of Hammers and Angels by Shannon Wiersbitzky. (I’m having trouble linking to Amazon, so clicking on the cover won’t do you any good, but if you click on the title, you will be linked to the Amazon page where you can order the book.) If you missed the review, click HERE and give it a read. It’s a sweet book and you will enjoy it. After I posted the review, I contacted Shannon and asked if she would do an interview with me, and I am ecstatic to say, she agreed. As a writer, I always learn much from these interviews. I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I did.

Having your first novel published must be an incredible thrill. Can you tell us about the journey to this “overnight” success for you?

(Sound of laughter …) Well, like any journey, it wasn’t “overnight”. I’ve been a writer all my life, but didn’t begin writing for children until 2000. Most of my early manuscripts are awful….let’s just say the words I wrote didn’t always improve the value of the paper. But hey, that’s part of the journey. As I wrote I learned…and I’m still learning. When all is said and done, with the pit stops and wrong turns, Hammers took me somewhere between two and three years to “get right”.

What was your inspiration for the book?

There wasn’t one single event or situation that drove me to write The Summer of Hammers and Angels. The heart of the story is a community coming together. When that happens, when you’re a part of that, it feels like anything is possible in the world…I wanted to try and capture that spirit. We need more of that today.

Shannon Wiersbitzky

How did you discover your fictional characters? Are they based on real people?

None of the characters are exact replicas of actual people. Bits of characters were certainly gleaned from real people though. I used to know an old man who sat on his front porch and greeted everyone passing by. I took my mental picture of that man, made him grumpier and misunderstood, and turned him into Old Red.

I met a woman in New York once too. I was on a church youth trip, repairing a building, and she cooked us dinner. The food was amazing, the kind of southern home cooking that feels more like a hug than a meal. When I thanked her she said, “Honey, all I know how to do is cook fried chicken.” That one comment stuck with me and is the core of Miss Martha.

The voice of Delia is as clear and real as any I’ve ever read. I noticed you’ve lived a lot of different places, including the place I consider my real home, Minnesota. How were you able to make the language so consistently southern for Delia and the other characters?

Thanks so much! I’ve lived many places and travel as much as I can. There really wasn’t any trick to channeling that southern voice. As a child, my summer camp was my grandma’s house in West Virginia. I was her shadow. I can slip into southern mode in a snap. When Delia started telling me her story, I listened, and had sense enough to start writing it down.

Your writing has such a great, natural flow to it. Do you spend a lot of time planning your writing – outlining and such – or is it a much more organic process for you? Maybe you could talk a little about your writing process.

That is a wonderful compliment. It doesn’t always feel flowing and natural when I’m writing. Sometimes it feels like the words are coming out kicking and screaming. One of the best things about writing though is that it doesn’t have to be right the first time…that is why God invented editing! I have never learned or studied the art of writing. I write by instinct. Sometimes I go to conferences or writing workshops and other writers talk all kinds of fancy technique. It can be intimidating! For any writer out there who feels the same, don’t be discouraged! I don’t create detailed outlines. I do keep a simple list of ideas for the story and characters, but it is an evolving list, it certainly isn’t fully baked when I start to write. One bit of actual real-writer-technique I learned this year that I do find useful is storyboarding. When I’m struggling with a chapter, I’ve found that storyboarding can really help. Carolyn Coman describes storyboarding really well in her book, Writing Stories. 

Writing can be a lonely business. Do you work with critique groups or critique partners? If so, in what ways do you find it helpful?

I have a wonderful critique group that I’ve been working with for ten years now. I’ve also been to several of the Highlights workshops. I’m a working mom….writing is what I do in my spare time…so the focused days at Highlights are a gift. There is magic in those cabins! (Or maybe the magic is Marsha’s cooking?!) The writers I’ve met there have been wonderful. Having a week with people who truly value writing and the creative process fills up my battery and keeps me motivated long after I’ve gone. In writing it is easy to doubt that what you’re writing has value…you need to find folks to cheer you on.

You worked with über editor Stephen Roxburgh, just a dream for many of us. How was that experience for you?

First, I think Stephen would love being described as an über editor! He truly is brilliant. He knows what works in a story. Period. He’s worked with so many amazing writers…I’m humbled to be on the list. I’d send Stephen any story. I trust him implicitly. It does get a bit annoying that he is right all the time though…

But I know you want more about the day-to-day experience, so here you go. Stephen isn’t the coddling type. He is tough and to the point and he pushed me to be better….which meant I really had to work. His favorite notation is a big question mark. That’s it….just a question mark. It really meant, “OMG…seriously, this is the best you can do here?” At least that is what I heard him say in each of those damn question marks.

What has been most thrilling for you since your novel debuted?

A young reader posted a review on Amazon that brought tears to my eyes. She wrote: 

For those who give, it is a motivator to do more.

For those in need, it is a message of hope, faith, and courage.

When I read that I knew she had really connected to the heart of the book. If this book inspires any young person to go and help others…what a joy that would be.

What advice would you pass along to those of us who haven’t gotten that first book published?  

I certainly don’t have all the answers but here are a few thoughts…..

Work on a story that inspires you. Persevere. Write regularly. Find people who will give you honest feedback, folks that will write those stupid question marks all over your manuscript. Be open to learning. Be open to criticism. Be open to scrapping words and starting over. Be patient. But whatever you do…keep writing!

Thank you for so generously sharing your time and thoughts.

I have a copy of The Summer of Hammers and Angels to offer to one of you reading this. If you leave a comment sometime before my next post (probably next Tuesday) and you live somewhere in the U.S., I will put your name in a hat from which my completely unbiased six-year-old granddaughter will choose one name, and the winner will receive a copy of this wonderful book. I know some of my blogging friends, more technically adept than I, have magical computer randomizers to draw names, but you will just have to trust my granddaughter and me to do this right.

A Little Gift and a Review of Chris Crutcher's Autobiography

If you are reading this in your email, don’t forget to click on the headline to go to my blog. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do. And please leave a comment. I love to hear from you.

First of all, I have a little gift for the writers out there. I ran across this article quite a while ago, but forgot to include it until today. If you struggle with revision, as I do, and don’t have as much patience as you might, like me, you will get a lot from this wonderful article from an issue of The Writer magazine: http://www.writingclasses.com/FacultyBios/facultyArticleByInstructor.php?ArticleID=93&utm_source=Gotham+Writers%27+Workshop+List&utm_campaign=24f7491fa1-WEB_September_NLAug28_2011&utm_medium=email

Secondly, I love to read and also love to share what I read by way of reviews. I read a book yesterday that blew me away, and I want to share it with you.

I made friends with Chris Crutcher on Facebook recently. Okay. “Made Friends” might be an overstatement, but I like the way it sounds. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know I am a HUGE fan of his writing. Check some earlier writings HERE and HERE. I’ve read many of his books, some more than once. Anyway, I took a chance and asked if he would be willing to do an email interview for my blog. He said yes. YAY! Keep an eye open for that upcoming interview. It should be here in a couple of weeks. Anyway, in preparing my questions, I took a look at his page on Amazon and discovered there are a few books of his I haven’t read, one of which is an autobiography. I figured I’d better read that before I wrote my questions, so spent yesterday with the book. It is called King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography. I knew Crutcher had a great sense of humor. You can’t read his books without realizing that, but I had no idea just how flat-out funny he is. Clearly, he could do stand-up comedy, and, if he ever wants a career change, I’d recommend it.

I am just the same age as Crutcher, and we graduated high school the same year. Maybe that’s why I just couldn’t put this fabulous book down. I really related to it. In July, I reviewed a book here called Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt that I LOVED! It was set in the sixties, the most seminal time of my formative years. It was funny and smart and heartbreakingly real. This book had much the same effect on me for the same reasons. Crutcher grew up with an All-American kind of childhood – in a small town with an older brother, a younger sister, a dad who was around and had lots of rules, and a mother who quietly drank herself into a stupor every night. Okay, it wasn’t Leave it to Beaver, or maybe it was and we never got to hang around long enough to watch Mrs. Cleaver fall off her 3-inch heels and sob into her useless, frilly, little apron. But honestly, Crutcher wasn’t much more than a degree off norm, if that. And his memory of his childhood seemed selective only to the point of finding the absolutely most drop-dead humor in every bit of it.

Many, many times, I found myself laughing so hard I had to stop reading for several minutes to calm myself down enough to wipe away the tears and get my eyes to focus enough to go on. I read several passages to my husband, but couldn’t get through them without breaking down again. When I finally did get through them, he was laughing has hard as I was. (Seriously. NOT kidding or exaggerating.) I have so many Post-It arrows in the book, I nearly ran out.

“There are plenty of wanna-do-something-neat? stories, each more embarrassing than the last, but my brother’s real coup had to be the time he shot me in the head with a BB gun and didn’t spend one second behind bars for it.”

Crutcher’s brother, John, could always convince little brother of the most outrageous things with that wonderful opening – “Wanna do something neat?” Everyone who has older siblings can relate to that. (In thinking back on the book, Crutcher’s younger sister was nearly non-existent in the book. I suspect he had to pay her off long ago so she wouldn’t write her own book. Hmmm. Maybe that’s where the real story lies.)

“Let it never be said that Chris Crutcher does not listen. My coach’s last words before I stepped onto the court were ‘Don’t embarrass yourself.’ That isn’t always easy.”

Well, you KNOW this isn’t going to end well. AND, you can probably relate to it. I know I could. I could probably put thirty or forty such openings in here, but you get the idea. Crutcher knows how to set up, load up, and knock it out of the park, even though his childhood stories belie any athletic skills. He sure has the understanding of sport, which you will know if you read his books. And if you read this book, as I hope you will, you will find out there is great humor, but there is also great humility and heartbreak in this fine piece of writing.

I hope you will A) get hold of this fabulous book and enjoy it as much as I did, and B) keep an eye on the blog for his interview. I’d bet my lunch money it won’t be boring.

An Interview with Author Mary McGarry Morris

If you are reading this in your email, please click on the title of the blog. Otherwise you won't be counted as a reader and you won't be able to leave a comment. And I love comments and love to know how many readers I have!

Mary McGarry Morris

A while back, I posted a review of the book The Lost Mother by Mary McGarry Morris. If you missed it, you can see it by clicking HERE. I contacted her after that post and asked if she would be kind enough to share her thoughts through an email interview. She was generous with her time and answered a long list of questions. I'm excited to share that interview with you today. Those of us who are readers will enjoy learning more about her wonderful books. Those of us who are writers will learn a great deal about the art and craft of writing from her answers.

The Lost Mother is set in the deepest part of the Great Depression. What influenced you to choose that setting?

The Great Depression was such a long, harrowing period in our country’s history and psyche that its effects are still felt today.  I grew up hearing my parents’ and relatives’ stories of their own hardships and the pain they saw around them.  So, even though I hadn’t actually lived through any of it, I felt an almost visceral connection to their experiences.  When I began to write “The Lost Mother,” I had a keen sense about that time and place.

The book has great relevance in today’s world, perhaps even more than when it was published a few years ago. Is there a personal connection for you? Did you write The Lost Mother as a message book or did you simply have a story to tell?

“The Lost Mother” was a story that had been gestating in me forever.  My maternal grandmother left her home and family when my mother was only four years old.  My mother felt that loss and abandonment all her life.  She always wondered how a mother could walk away forever from her children.  It was such a deeply painful question that seemed to have no logical answers but the kind of haunting question a writer can’t let go of.  Writing “The Lost Mother” was my fictional attempt to quarry through the obdurate unknown to the truth, or at least the common enough truths of human frailty, determination, and enduring love.     

The book is very real to me. I certainly relate to it from stories my parents shared of that time, and some things were very hard for me to read because they were much like the hard times my parents suffered. Can you talk a little about the research process for The Lost Mother?

I read many great books about this period, but my most important research came from talking to people who had lived through it.  First hand accounts collected during that time by the WPA Writers Project were another vital resource for understanding both the widespread deprivation as well as the often guilty success of those few who still had jobs and could feed, house, and clothe their families.

How do you discover your fictional characters? Are they based on real people?

If some of my characters seem to resemble real people, it probably comes from always asking why. Digging deeply enough into a story reveals the characters’ motivations and from there comes a better understanding of the whole person.  And much of what I discover about a character may never end up in the story.

Your writing has such a great, natural flow to it. Do you spend a lot of time planning your writing – outlining and such – or is it a much more organic process for you?

When I begin a story I need to have some idea, some sense where I’m headed.  I may think I know the ending, but it’s usually not what I expected.  I have a great reverence for the ancient art of story-telling.  In many ways a story is an almost living thing, an organic process of discovery that constantly surprises with all its twists and turns, false starts, and wonderful moments of revelation.  And that’s what I mean about needing to know and always asking why.  The layers get peeled away to the steady heartbeat of why, why, why. 

Writing can be a lonely business. Do you work with critique groups or critique partners? Maybe you could talk a little about your writing process.

I’m not part of a writing group.  When I write I need quiet, though with much of my family nearby I’m used to interruptions.  I try to be at my desk by 9 a.m. and then write for as long as I can.  I’m lucky to have a large room as my “writing space.”  When I first saw this house 35 years ago it was the study that sold me on it.  Finally, a room of my own, which seemed to validate what was then an often insecure pursuit.

As writers, we all hear so much about the editing process. You had a long relationship with Penguin publishing, but your last two books are with Random House. Do you find a difference in working with the editors from two different houses? Are there philosophical differences between publishing houses that are apparent to you as an author? How does that affect your work?

I’ve been fortunate to have worked with two of the best editors in publishing, Kathryn Court at Penguin and John Glusman at Crown (now at Norton.)  I’m sure there are philosophical differences between publishing houses, but I’m unaware of them.  It’s not a world I move in beyond my own work.  Publishing is a strange business, especially in these times, and no one seems to know where it’s all heading.  Just a few years ago death knolls were tolling for independent bookstores, but now it’s the chains that are foundering.  If sales of electronic books ever overtake sales of bound books it will be interesting to see if the obvious savings to publishers (paper, printing, shipping, warehousing) will be in any way passed on to writers.  Or to readers.

Something many of us aspiring writers dream of is having our books turned into blockbuster films. Two of your books, A Dangerous Woman and Songs in Ordinary Time, were made into films. How was that for you? Did you have much input on the screenplays or casting?

I had no real input turning “A Dangerous Woman” and “Songs In Ordinary Time” into films.  Wish I had, but it’s a very different process and I understand that. 

You have had books in print for over twenty years. Do you think it’s much more difficult for writers to be published today than when you started? How do you think things have changed for emerging writers over those years? What advice would you pass along to those of us who haven’t gotten that first book published? 

It may be more difficult for new writers to get published today just because there are so many more people writing books now.  But today’s new writers also have the advantage of self-publishing, which is a great way to get one’s work to probably more readers than some publishing houses can reach.  My best advice for emerging writers is born of my own experience: confidence in your work and persistence, persistence, persistence. 

Your latest book, Light From a Distant Star, will be out in September. It looks wonderful and I can’t wait to read it. I’ll be setting aside some time next month for that. From the synopsis on your website, it looks like it has a very young protagonist, as did The Lost Mother.  And yet, your books all have very adult themes and are marketed to adults. Does the young adult market hold any interest to you? 

“Light From A Distant Star” was written for an adult reader.  But I’m pretty sure there’s a young adult reader in all of us no matter how far we are from our own childhood.  Everyone remembers what it felt like to be overlooked or disrespected or, worse, not believed because you were only a child.  It can be a frightening experience, especially when you’re convinced you’re the only one who knows the truth.  And in “Light From A Distant Star” that is Nellie Peck’s dilemma, a frustration we’ve all felt as powerless children. “Light From A Distant Star” may well find a young adult audience just as “The Lost Mother” has.  “The Lost Mother” is read in many high school English classes as well as  courses that blend history and literature. 

Thank you for so generously sharing your time and thoughts.

 

A Couple of Things and a Book Review of The Summer of Hammers and Angels

 "I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars." ~ Fred Allen

I’m old enough to remember Fred Allen, so thought I’d pass this little quote along. It made me smile. And wonder about my sanity just a little.

I also have a couple of little gifts for the writers among my readers. The first is an interesting blog about not blogging. Not kidding. It’s an thought-provoking read. http://blog.liviablackburne.com/2011/07/author-blogging-youre-doing-it-wrong.html The second is a site that has a wealth of information for writers. Check out her blogroll and categories on the right-hand side. Wow. This is definitely worth bookmarking and checking often. http://www.annemini.com/

Now to the meat of the blog post this time. I had an email from an author recently who asked if I might read her new book and possibly review it on my blog. Since I hope people will do the same for me someday soon, I’m always happy to take a look. It’s a risk, because not every book published is a great read. I’m happy to say, in this case, I had a fun time reading the book and have lots of nice things to say about it.

The book is The Summer of Hammers and Angels. The author, Shannon Wiersbitzky, had the good fortune to work with über editor Steven Roxburgh on this book, and it shows. It is a tight little page-turner of a coming-of-age novel with one of the strongest voices I’ve run across in a long time.

Young Delia, living in the small town of Tucker’s Ferry, West Virginia, is the only child of  her single mother who works as a waitress at the local diner. Mama isn’t much of a housekeeper and certainly not a home-repair maven. The house is pretty much falling down around their ears. A home inspector shows up unexpectedly and serves them with notice that if a long list of things isn’t fixed and soon, he will have no choice but to condemn the place. Incidentally, he doesn’t seem to mind that he has no choice.

Needless to say, Mama is furious. That night, a storm of equal ferocity comes to town. Lightning strikes the house, and Delia finds her mother unconscious with burns on her hand. A small fire has started, and Delia can’t move her mother or get her to wake up. Delia runs to the Parkers’ house next door to find help. Thus begins a long, long journey for young Delia.

The Parkers are good people who take Delia in. The only problem is her nemesis, Tommy Parker, is their son. We are never told the exact age of these children, but one must guess it is somewhere around ten or eleven, a time when boys and girls gag at the very thought of each other. This, of course, sets up a strong secondary conflict in the book.

Shannon Wiersbitzky

Delia calls on her best friend, Mae, to help her fix her house while Mama lingers in an unconscious state at the local hospital. These two young girls are resourceful and bring great energy to the project. They take on odd jobs to earn money for the materials needed, and we meet some of the interesting people in Tucker's Ferry. But the reality is, the girls know little about fixing anything. Tommy Parker shows up and, it turns out, he has mad skills at fixing things. The children get to work and make some real progress. Tommy gets a little full of himself, drags a ladder from his house, and, over the protests of the girls, climbs to the roof to take a look around. You know this can’t be good. But I don’t want to ruin anything for you, so let’s just say things get worse before they have any chance of getting better.

Delia learns much about herself and the people around her as she trudges through this troubling summer. She is an engaging character, one the reader will be rooting for the entire way through this charming story. Delia’s telling of this story in her own words is absolutely convincing. You will hear her Southern twang clearly in your head and recognize the thoughts and feelings of a young girl from a small town on a mission from which no one can deter her. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Take a little trip to Tucker’s Ferry, West Virginia and enjoy the summer of Delia’s dilemma. Let her introduce you to the quirky characters in her hometown and tell you the story herself.

If you are reading this in your email, don’t forget to click on the headline to go to my blog. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do. And please leave a comment. I love to hear from you.

A Magical Highlights Retreat

It has been a while since I’ve posted, but I’ve been away at a writer’s retreat and have been far too busy to blog –in a good way.

First, some news – I want to announce I had a poem (one that I really think is a rhyming picture book) called The Monster Hairy Brown, chosen to be included in an anthology called Fifty Funny Poems for Children to be published in England next year. I guess that will make me an internationally published author!

Last week, I flew to New York and was picked up at the airport by a driver for Highlights Magazine, the wonderful Pam Box, and whisked away to Boyds Mills, Pennsylvania, to the original homestead of the founders of the magazine. This is a magical place. I have attended two workshops and two writer’s retreats there. You can read about one of the workshops by clicking here. I always make great progress in my writing and learn a great deal when there. This time I spent a week with six other writers and Carolyn Yoder, editor and teacher extraordinaire. Five of us were in a similar retreat last year and all intend to be in another such next summer. In fact, I think all are already signed up. I know I am.

Each of us had our own little cabin with good work space and lots of quiet time. The people from the Highlights Foundation treat us like royalty. They pick us up when we arrive from whatever airport we get to. If you come from the west coast as I do, they are happy to have you come in a day early and, if necessary, leave a day late. No extra charge. The meals are spectacular – always made with fresh, local ingredients and great imagination. When I say great food, I’m not foolin’. Even the oatmeal is the best I’ve ever had!

Each day we came together for meals and cocktails. We each had one-on-one time with Carolyn every day but one as well. No kidding! Every day. Everyone came with work in progress and many of us started new projects while we were there. It was such a collaborative effort. Supper every evening was followed by a critique session. When we read our latest version or chapter or story, we received lots of kudos and helpful suggestions. Everyone there was a published author – some more than others – trying to improve their craft.

I spent most of my time working on two projects – my middle-grade historical novel, The Incredible Journey of Freddy J. and an article for possible submission to Highlights called The Princess Who Wouldn’t Take “No”. I made a LOT of progress on my novel and…Tah Tah Ta Dah…Carolyn took my article to Highlights for submission. That means she liked it and I’m over a big hurdle with it. Fingers crossed!! She also mentioned to someone that I had sold my article on FDR to Highlights! She submitted that last year, then asked for a rewrite. I think there is still one more person who has to give it the thumbs up, but it is looking very good for both articles.

I also started a new picture book. It’s an idea I’ve been kicking around for awhile and have completed some research , but had kind of gotten stuck. Besides getting great help from Carolyn, one of the attendees was particularly helpful to me. Lois Huey, an archaeologist and writer with lots of notches on her writing belt and who was at the retreat last year, was someone willing to share her knowledge and expertise and even write to experts she knew to help me with that project. She is still sending me info by email (as well as a great cookie recipe!). She also took extra time to proof some work for me and offered great suggestions. And my picture book is coming along, largely thanks to her and Carolyn.

One of the other attendees, Nicole Groeneweg, also an accomplished and many-times published writer working on an amazing book about Eisenhower, was so generous with her time helping me prepare for some submissions – proofing and offering excellent suggestions. When I didn’t have a return envelope with me (What was I thinking?), she interrupted her writing to take me to town and buy what I needed. Wow. And you heard me right. Submissions – plural. That poem the Brits are publishing next year, that I always thought of as a rhyming picture book, The Monster Hairy Brown, has now been submitted to Boyds Mills Press as a picture book with Carolyn’s approval, which, I am sure, carries some serious weight. I know that it will at least get a close reading, and I can’t ask for more than that.

I’d like to give a shout out to the other attendees – Selene Castrovilla, Tracy Helixon, Norma Lewis, and Lisa Idzikowski. All were generous with their time and ideas. In addition to learning more about my own writing, I learned a lot about the Revolutionary War thanks to Selene (Check out her many books – great stuff!), Air Force One and the Kennedy assassination thanks to Tracy, life in 19^th century Alaska from Norma, and sooooo much about Thomas Jefferson from Lisa.  

We had visits from editors from the press and from the magazines, as well as the much-published author Kate Messner who brought each of us three of her books and graciously signed them for us. Watch for reviews of those books here in the coming weeks.

Yes, it was another magical week at Boyds Mills. Unfortunately, my trip home wasn’t quite so magical. My left knee dislocated during my charge through Kennedy Airport, and I am still nursing that. The pain is unbelievable, especially after physical therapy or my exercises. Ice is my new best friend. But this too shall pass and I will be left with the memories of my magical time at the retreat and my much bolstered writing career!

 If you are reading this in your email, don’t forget to click on the headline to go to my blog. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do. And please leave a comment. I love to hear from you.

My Gifts: Links for Writers and Reviews for Readers: The Emerald Atlas and The Fourth Wish

If you are a writer, I have three gifts for you today – three valuable blog links. If you are a reader, I have two gifts for you – book reviews for great summer reading.

If you write picture books or have ever wanted to try writing picture books, you should know about a terrific blog run by a woman named Christie Wright Wild. She has lots of valuable information. Every month she runs a contest for picture book writers who can submit their manuscripts and, if they are chosen, get a free critique. Check out Write Wild out by clicking on the title. If you click on the Picture Book Contest blog you can find the monthly contest. (I haven’t won a critique yet, but I’m going to keep on trying.) Spend a little time looking around. There is much to enjoy and learn on Write Wild.

The Speculative Salon, one of my favorite blogs, has a great post this week called 101 Sites to Distract or Help You. Writers and others, you will love this one. Click the title and it will take you there. So much fun! Thank you, Elizabeth.

My good friend and fellow writer and blogger, Michelle Fayard, can be found blogging at Bird’s-Eye View. She always has something interesting going on on her blog, but recently had a particularly valuable post for bloggers – a guest post by Theresa Milstein about getting blog comments to work for you. Click HERE for the link.  I learned a good deal from this post and from many others Michelle has posted. Poke around while you’re there. You can also read some of Michelle’s fabulous work in progress, The Underground Gift, if you click on her aptly named Work in Progress button.

Now for the first suggestion for a great summer read. My friend and critique partner Morgan Mussell (who blogs wonderfully and prolifically at the First Gates) has been raving about a book for some months. Morgan writes fantasy, very well I might add, and I don’t – write fantasy, that is. In fact, I hardly ever read fantasy. I may be the only human on the planet who hasn’t read all the Harry Potter books. But Morgan reads a lot of it and he has spoken very highly of The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens. I resisted for awhile, but last week picked it up. It’s a good thing I didn’t have a lot on my plate last week. This is one of those books that once you crack the cover, you won’t get much else done.

The book opens with three small children being handed off to a stranger. The oldest, four-year-old Kate, is told by her mother she must protect her brother, Michael, and sister, Emma, and keep them together and safe until their parents can come for them. They wander through a string of orphanages, each worse than the last, and keep being sent on and on until they end up going to the last possible place that will take them, seemingly at the end of the earth.

The pier was long and narrow and had many broken and rotted slats; it stretched out past the shelf of ice and into open water, and the children walked to the end and huddled there, pulling their coats right and leaning together like penguins against the bitter wind blowing in across the lake.

John Stephens

The orphanage is a rickety old mansion and they are the only orphans there. Kate is now fourteen; Michael, twelve; and Emma, eleven. Of course, they have to explore. They find what looks like a laboratory and there come across a green book with blank pages. Michael drops a photograph between the pages and BAM! They find themselves transported through time. A beautiful witch, known as the Countess, has a child in her hands and threatens to drop her to her death in a lake. The children of the town, Cambridge Falls, have been separated from their parents by the witch who is searching for something. The fathers are forced into heavy labor in search of the item and the mothers are kept away from their families. 

Cambridge Falls is in a magical place and the surrounding area is populated by all sorts of beings. There are dark creatures called Screechers who terrify and control everyone, a wizard, hoards of dwarves (who are very funny and gross – something kids will love and I did, too), a giant named Gabriel, and the most terrible salmac-tar.

Its skin was a translucent, gooey white and dotted with greenish sores. Its arms and legs were hideously long and thin, its back curved from generations of moving through low-ceilinged tunnels. Its claws tapped the floor as it advanced, and Kate saw the milky, sightless eyes and huge, bat-like ears. The salmac-tar made a gurgling hiss deep in its throat…

This book, like the Harry Potter books, is marketed as a middle-grade book, but I think anyone who enjoys fantasy or a really compelling story with great characters that will take you away from your everyday life will love The Emerald Atlas. It, like Potter, will be widely read well beyond the middle-grade audience.

The second book I want to tell you about is The Fourth Wish. This book by Elizabeth Varadan is soon to be released as an e-book on Amazon, but you can still buy it in printed form. Elizabeth is a good friend and critique partner. She blogs at Elizabeth Varadan’s Fourth Wish  and posts lots of wonderful book reviews. Stop by and say hello.

The Fourth Wish is a middle-grade book set in Sacramento. It opens with four kids (siblings Melanie, Cory, and Erin, and a neighbor, Arthur) going to a magic show and movie. We learn the three sibling’s father had recently left, and they are having a hard time dealing with the loss. On their way to the magic show, the four encounter a strange old woman, Mrs. Seraphina. The bag she is carrying breaks and the kids help her pick up the strange objects that have spilled out. She gives each of them a wish box, but they must all agree on a wish. You know the old saying: Be careful what you wish for… Cory gets the first wish and it is that The Great Mondo will do real magic, not just tricks. Well, once this particular rabbit is out of the hat, it’s pretty hard to get it back in. The domino effect of this wish is quite something. Mondo’s magic show goes completely out of control and he loses his job. Of course, the kids feel it’s their fault and set about trying to fix everything by finding the mysterious Mrs. Seraphina and using the other three wishes to put things back the way they should be. They learn just how specific every wish has to be as things go wrong with each try.

Elizabeth Varadan

This is quite a romp through modern-day Sacramento. The setting is dead on and the children have normal lives with normal problems, yet there is plenty of funny stuff going on and enough of a mystery to keep the pages turning and turning. Kids from nine to ninety, will enjoy this fun summer read.

There isn’t much summer left for summer reading. I hope this and some of my earlier blogs have given you some good choices for filling your time. If you are reading this in your email, don’t forget to click on the headline to go to my blog. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do. And please leave a comment. I love to hear from you.