Interview with John Martz, illustrator of WHO'S ON FIRST by Abbott & Costello (Quirk Books)

I first met John Martz at a National Cartoonist Society party in Toronto a few years ago and am also a fan of his popular illustration and cartooning blog Drawn. In addition to his professional comics work, John is the illustrator of several picture books including Dear Flyary from Kids Can Press, written by Dianne Young, and most recently he adapted the classic Abbott & Costello routine Who’s on First? into a picture book from Quirk Books. His first graphic novel, Destination X, will be released in May from Nobrow Press. John is also the founding editor of the popular illustration and cartooning blog Drawn.

Q. How did this project begin?

I was approached by the publisher, Quirk Books. I got the email while I was sitting in a coffee shop in Wellington, New Zealand on my honeymoon, which was a nice addition to the trip. The book was published in cooperation with the estates of Abbott and Costello, so there were no copyright hurdles that needed jumping, at least not in regards to my duties -- the material was already approved by the time I was brought aboard.

Q. What was your illustration process for WHO'S ON FIRST?

The manuscript for the book was essentially the script from the original Who's on First? comedy routine verbatim, although there were a few things removed or edited just for simplicity and kid-friendliness. Because the material is completely dialogue-driven, it was a given that the story would be presented in comic-book-style with speech bubbles.

My first task was breaking down the dialogue into pages and spreads. I printed out the script and cut out the different pieces of dialogue so I could manually move the bits of paper about until I had figured out the optimal breakdown from which to start thumbnailing. They took up the entire floor of my studio. The illustrations were created digitally, but this physical cut-and-paste way of figuring out pacing and is much easier when you can just move stuff around at will and stand back to look at everything.

The process was pretty straightforward then -- I presented the publisher with a thumbnailed version of the book, I incorporated their feedback into the first draft, and then after an additional round of feedback, I completed the final illustrations. As for character design, I was told I didn't need to worry about making the characters look like Abbott and Costello themselves, and that the characters should be animals.

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring children's book illustrators?

This is only my second picture book, so I'm still a relative newcomer to the field. Attending comics shows like the Toronto Comics Arts Festival and SPX in Maryland has been a great way to meet and interact with publishers and fellow artists. My first picture book Dear Flyary, written by Dianne Young, was the direct result of meeting my editor while manning my table at TCAF.

I'm still learning a lot about self-promotion. I'm a little leery of the hard sell online because it contradicts the types of artists and writers I tend to follow on Twitter and social media. Genuineness goes a long way online, and I prefer to follow creative types whose updates aren't just a stream of self-promoting ads. I end up supporting the artists, instead, that provide me with a real sense of personality and likemindedness who produce great work. I think it's a delicate balancing act between promoting your work and trying not being a carnival barker.

My method is to just be myself online, and develop the trust and goodwill with the small-but-growing audience I have, and to hope that when I have new work to share, that my friends and fans and readers will be receptive and want to share it as well.

Q. What are you working on now? Any other upcoming events or other info you'd like to share?

I just finished my third picture book, Black and Bittern Was Night by Robert Heidbreder, which will be out from Kids Can Press in time for Halloween, and I have a science fiction graphic novel called Destination X that will be out from Nobrow Press in May, debuting at TCAF. A collection of my webcomic Machine Gum will also be debuting at TCAF from La Pastèque.

Where you can find more info about John Martz:

Website: www.johnmartz.com

Twitter: @johnmartz

-------

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview with Jo Knowles on writing process, writer advice & SEE YOU AT HARRY'S

I've been a fan of Jo Knowles ever since reading Lessons From A Dead Girl and even more so after See You At Harry’s (Candlewick, 2012) plus I love her fun and positive tweets from @JoKnowles on Twitter. I've also heard great things about Jo's Pearl and Jumping Off Swings, so am looking forward to reading those next!

 Jo has a master’s degree in children’s literature and taught writing for children in the MFA program at Simmons College for several years. Some of her awards include a New York Times Notable Book of 2012, Amazon's Best Middle Grade Books of 2012, An International Reading Association Favorite 2012 Book, an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, the PEN New England Children's Book Discovery Award, and YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults. Jo lives in Vermont with her husband and son. Her next book, Living With Jackie Chan, a companion to Jumping Off Swings, will be available September 2013.

Q: What's your writing process? What was your writing process for SEE YOU AT HARRY'S?

So far for all of my books, I've just started writing and discovered the book as I went. Not surprisingly, my first drafts are big messes. After I clean things up a bit and have a basic rough draft, I create a storyboard to help me get organized and figure out the themes, plot and rhythm of the book.

Storyboard from Jumping Off Swings.

The storyboard process I use I learned at a workshop with Carolyn Coman. Basically, you get a sheet of paper that's large enough to fit enough squares to represent each chapter of the book. Then you follow these steps:

1. Think of a scene with the strongest image that best represents that chapter. Draw it as best you can in the first box.

Part of a storyboard series from READ BETWEEN THE LINES, Jo's newest project.

2. Write a very brief phrase that describes the point of that chapter and write it in the bottom of the box.

3. Think of the strongest emotion conveyed in the chapter and write it at the top of the box.

Repeat for each chapter, one per box.

Part of a storyboard series from READ BETWEEN THE LINES, Jo's newest project.

This leaves you with a big visual that illustrates the movement of the book both actively and emotionally.

Part of a storyboard series from READ BETWEEN THE LINES, Jo's newest project.

Since my books tend to be less action driven and more emotionally driven, seeing the book this way is a big help. I can see the spikes of emotion and how they play out in the text, and where I need to insert more or less action, or emotional peeks.

Seeing the images also helps me to think about how stagnant certain chapters or groups of chapters might be, and helps me pinpoint where I need to move my character around more. (For example, in PEARL, Bean spent way too much time on the roof, which was her place to escape. I don't know that I would have realized this if I hadn't drawn a storyboard and had that visual.)

Q: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Remember that getting published is not a race. I recently read a blog post by someone who had taken three years to sell her first book, referring to her journey as "The Long Road to Publication." Long road? Three years?? Oh my.

In reality, I think the average time it takes most people going the traditional publishing route is more like ten. I think people tend to measure success on how quickly they can sell their first book. This is a shame because speed has nothing to do with it. I think longevity AFTER you sell your book would be a better marker.

Childhood restaurant that inspired Harry's in SEE YOU AT HARRY'S.If you want to be an author, you need to take time to learn the craft and learn it well. Read a thousand picture books. Study the rhythms of your favorites. Type out the text and close- read it without the pictures. Pay attention to the types of details that are in the text versus the ones that are implied or easily and more effectively shown in the illustrations.

The next step is to learn how to revise. To learn how to listen to feedback and make the best use of it. I can't tell you how many aspiring writers I've met who have told me they didn't want feedback because they felt their work was as polished as it could get. But they hadn't shared it with anyone but family members!

One of the hard lessons I learned when I first started out was that I really didn't understand what revision meant. When an editor suggested a revision without a contract, I happily addressed the changes she proposed, but not to the degree I should have. I tweaked, I didn't revise. There is a very big difference.

Revising is rewriting. Not rearranging. Not fixing typos. Not deleting a sentence here and there. That’s what you do at the copyediting stage. Better to learn this with critique partners guiding you than with an editor who doesn’t have the time or patience to teach you him- or herself.

There is just so much to learn and so many early mistakes to be made when you're first starting out. It's worth it to take your time and get lots of feedback from other writers (and make those mistakes with them, not an agent or editor). Not only that, you will develop some wonderful relationships and create a community–a support network–which will be invaluable when you DO start submitting.

I am as impatient as the next person, but for new writers, I can't emphasize this enough: Please don't treat the time it takes you to get published as a race, or measure your journey against someone else's and use that as a marker for success and failure. Instead, think of your journey to publication as a travel experience to savor. The more you learn, the more people you connect with, the better prepared you will be for your final destination. And the more people you will have to celebrate your success with!

Q. What are you working on now? Any other upcoming events or other info you'd like to share?

I'm currently working on two projects. One is a contemporary YA novel called READ BETWEEN THE LINES. After writing JUMPING OFF SWINGS I swore I'd never write another book with multiple points of view, so naturally this book has ten. It's kind of a "day in the life" sort of story about how each character's actions affect the next. While I wait for my editor's comments on that, I've started a humorous middle grade/tween novel tentatively called FROM THE COMPLAINT BOX, about a boy who goes to a funky independent school and the adventures/mischief he gets into with his two best friends. When I told my agent I was writing something funny he said, "That's how you described SEE YOU AT HARRY'S and it made everyone weep!" So, he's suspicious. We'll see!

Where can find out more about Jo Knowles:

Jo Knowles website - Jo Knowles blog - Twitter (@JoKnowles) - Facebook

SEE YOU AT HARRY'S book page

TWEETABLES:

Don't compare w/someone else's progress as your success/fail marker. Savor the journey. @JoKnowles bit.ly/11UDU4K (Tweet this)

Writers: Remember that getting published is not a race. - @JoKnowles: bit.ly/11UDU4K (Tweet this)

==========

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview With YA Author S.J. Laidlaw About Process, Persistence and AN INFIDEL IN PARADISE

I met Susan Laidlaw through the MiG Writer Critique Group and was excited to hear about the publication of her upcoming book, AN INFIDEL IN PARADISE, which comes out from Tundra on February 12th, 2013. I'm so looking forwarding to meeting Susan in person for the first time when all the MiGs get together at the SCBWI Winter Conference next week!

Set in Pakistan, AN INFIDEL IN PARADISE is the story of a teen girl living with her mother and siblings in a diplomatic compound. As if getting used to another new country and set of customs and friends isn't enough, she must cope with an increasingly tense political situation that becomes dangerous with alarming speed. Her life and those of her sister and brother depend on her resourcefulness and the unexpected help of an enigmatic Muslim classmate.

Q. What is your writing process?

In terms of scheduling my writing, I’m a very early riser and I’m always most creative first thing in the morning. Ideas percolate throughout the night. I often wake up in the night thinking about my stories, but I only rarely get up to write down my thoughts. Usually, I wait till morning.

I don’t set out a specific number of hours to write but I do try to write every morning and keep going until I feel I’m no longer being productive. Sometimes that’s only 3-4 hours but sometimes I’ll keep going all day. If I’m having a really good writing day, dishes are piled in the sink and we’re having tuna sandwiches for dinner.

I do a basic outline and a basic character sketch of my main characters. I find it helpful to have an idea where I’m going, even if I diverge, which I often do. I like to really think about all my characters’ backstories and motivations. Even if they aren’t central to the plot, I need to understand who they are to bring them to life.

Getting comfortable with the character’s way of looking at the world is also important. I’ve worked as an adolescent counselor for most of my career, so looking at life from a teen perspective is actually very natural to me but when I was writing AN INFIDEL IN PARADISE, I made a point of immersing myself in books with similarly aged main characters. I particularly liked reading books whose main characters were angry or a little snarky, as Emma, my main character, is both.

For about a year now, I’ve been working on my second novel. I wrote it, sold it, and now I’m in revisions with my wonderful editor, Sue Tate, from Tundra Books. This time I’ve been reading a lot of Young Adult novels with male protagonists, since the main character of my second novel is a 17-year-old boy. I particularly like novels with a bit of humor, since that’s an element of my writing, but I’ll really read anything from the young adult male perspective.

If I find a book that is particularly inspiring, I’ll keep it close at hand and re-read sections of it when I feel stalled on my own writing. If I’m really blocked I may take multiple writing breaks to just curl up and read. That’s one of the things I love about being a writer, you can fritter away hours doing your favourite activity and still call it work.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is one book that I re-read many times while writing my second novel. I’m also a massive, nerdy, John Green fan. I truly hope I never meet him because I know I’ll make a total fool of myself.

Q. If you could give your younger self advice about the craft or business of writing, what would you tell her?

Over twenty years ago I wrote my first book. I sent it off to one publisher. It was turned down but the editor wrote me a very nice handwritten note saying the book wasn’t a good fit for her publishing house but she’d like to see more of my work. I was devastated and didn’t try sending out my work again until just a few years ago. I realize now that that personal note was actually quite an endorsement and I shouldn’t have given up for twenty years.

So I guess my advice to anyone who enjoys writing is, don’t give up. You’re going to suffer rejection along the way. Look at it as part of the process and just keep sending your work out there.

One second piece of advice and it’s equally important is find a good writer’s support group. Being part of MiG Writers has been hugely beneficial to me and it’s not even for the critiquing so much as all the other things, sharing information, encouraging each other, celebrating each other successes, interviewing each other – Thanks for this, by the way.

Writing is by definition something you do by yourself. It’s a reflective, contemplative, process, as is it should be, but publishing is the opposite. It’s all about getting your name out there, getting people to notice you. This isn’t necessarily something that comes naturally to most writers – it certainly doesn’t to me - but having writing friends can make it a lot less intimidating.

Q. Any upcoming projects or events you'd like to mention?

I'm very excited about my second book, which I'm currently revising. It's set in Utila, a tiny island off the coast of Honduras, where my husband and I have a cottage. I've always used Utila as a place to write because there are no distractions, but it's also an ideal location for a mystery. More than half the island is completely deserted, just jungle and mangrove swamp. It's also a bit of a lawless place, particularly in recent months, though Utilans are working hard to keep the problems under control.

In my second novel, the main character's sister goes to Utila to study whale sharks. Utila's also one of the best places in the world to actually snorkel with whale sharks. I've done it myself. Anyway, Luke's sister goes to Utila to work at the whale shark research center - which does actually exist - but one night she disappears without a trace. The authorities think she must have drowned but they can't produce a body and Luke doesn't believe it, so he sets out to Utila to find her.

If everything goes according to schedule, that novel will be out in 2014. I just need to finish these revisions by March!

---

You can find out more about Susan Laidlaw and her work at:

S.J. Laidlaw website

On Facebook

On Twitter: @SusanLaidlaw1

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15767359-an-infidel-in-paradise

==========

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview: Joyce Grant on GABBY, Picture Book Writing & Editing Process, and Advice For Aspiring Writers

Joyce Grant is the Toronto-based author of GABBY, a new picture book from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, illustrated by Jan Dolby. GABBY is Joyce's first picture book. If you're in Toronto, you're invited to come to the Jan. 27th book launch - see GABBY launch info.

In addition to writing picture books, Joyce is a freelance journalist and editor. She is also co-founder of the website Teaching Kids News, which offers free daily kid-friendly news, and is a passionate advocate of children’s literacy through her blog Getting Kids Reading. On Twitter, she's @JGCanada.

About the book: “Gabby” is the story of quirky, likeable Gabby who discovers that her alphabet book has a magical quality. Its letters can be used to create anything she likes! When Gabby puts the letters together to create a cat and its natural enemy, she has to think fast!

You can read a fun interview by Joyce with Gabby here.

Q. How did GABBY get published? 

About four years ago, I went to a CANSCAIP meeting and one of the speakers had some great advice. She told aspiring authors to visit conferences like the Ontario Library Association (OLA) and Reading For The Love Of It. All the publishers are there, and their books are on display. So you can see exactly which publisher might be a good fit for you—and you can meet people and network.

I took that advice seriously. I went to the next OLA conference and checked out every booth. I looked for a publisher whose books appealed to me and seemed to fit with Gabby. It was helpful that I’m also a children’s literacy blogger; publishers want to talk to book bloggers because of course they help publicize their products.

At the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth, I introduced myself and got chatting with a publisher. It turned out that both our family trees go back to a town in Scotland called Forres. Forres is where Duncan’s castle in Macbeth is set; it’s got some history, some magic. Anyway, that connection sparked a wonderful conversation and I asked her if she would read my manuscript for Gabby. She passed it along to an editor at Fitzhenry—and three weeks later I got the good news!

I was incredibly lucky, because—although I’ve been a freelance journalist my entire career—it was my first creative manuscript submission. I’ll always be very grateful to the editors at Fitzhenry & Whiteside for taking a chance on me.

Image from GABBY (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), art by Jan Dolby.

Q. What's your writing process? or What was your writing process for GABBY? 

I only wish I had a proper writing process! I have about a dozen different writing projects on the go, every day. Freelance journalists—we wear a lot of different hats. Every day I do a news article for TeachingKidsNews.com. Every month I produce a newsletter called Administrative Assistants’ Update for Thomson-Reuters. And clients send me documents to edit, so every week I’ll get five or six of those; and then there are other odd deadlines, like marketing projects.

Here’s me: I wake up and grab my phone to check Twitter. Seven a.m., I’m looking at Twitter. I’m a huge news junkie. Then I’ll read the Globe and listen to the CBC. So I find out that a country in Europe is going broke, or there’s a demonstration downtown. So right away I want to write about it for TeachingKidsNews.com. I try to tackle all of my journalism and marketing writing first; after that I can do the work that is more creative.

When I write creatively, I have to have a bubble around me. I have to sort of become the character. I look around the room in her eyes, and I see the things she would see. So I find that I usually need a fairly large block of undisturbed time alone if I’m going to write creatively.

I edit my creative writing a lot. A lot. I’ll go over a sentence 15, 20 or 100 times until each word is exactly the word I want. A picture book is like a 350-word poem to me. There aren’t many words, so each word has to work hard.

In terms of ideas, I have learned that they can come at any time and there has to be a way of capturing them because as much as you think you won’t forget—you will. This year (!) I finally figured out that I need to have one, beautiful notebook. Just one. That’s where I jot my ideas, it’s where I take notes during interviews, it’s where I sketch and it’s where I write. So if my publisher asks me to change something in a manuscript, those notes are in that one book. And when I run out of room in that book, I buy a new one—it’s an indulgence. It’s always lovely, suede or leather—the kind of book that just begs you to write in it. And I prefer pages that are a beige or a cream colour. I use a blue Sonix Gel pen, which is a Staples brand. It’s my current favourite because the ink flows really fast. I have a favourite pencil, too—the Blackwing, which has a very soft, velvety lead. It’s so beautiful I even wrote about it (in my blog, Getting Kids Reading).

I have a great editor. Trust between an editor and a writer is extremely important. Once a writer and an editor have trust, the good work will just flow. You trust that the editor will bring out the best in your writing. And the editor trusts you to submit excellent, well-thought-out work and not get your back up when she tries to help you make it better. I’ve trusted my editor, Christie, at Fitzhenry since day one—since she listened to me describe Gabby and then hired the perfect illustrator to render her just the way I envisioned. As soon as I saw Jan Dolby’s sketches, I thought not only do I have a great illustrator to work with, but boy do I have a great editor. Because Christie was able to “get” exactly what I was trying to do—and then translate that to everyone else who worked on the book.

How do we work together?

I used to watch the CBC show Being Erica. It was about two women who own a small publishing house. After I got my contract for Gabby, I called my editors and said, “Can I take you out for coffee so we can chat about the book?” I wanted to have one of those cool, writer-publisher meetings like Erica did. You know, everyone dressed in black, sipping on lattes in a cafe, discussing “the book.” And that’s exactly what we did. And you know what? It was just as great as I thought it would be! So now every time I go to my publisher’s I try to convince them to have the meeting at Starbucks.

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring picture book writers? 

Don’t give up!

It’s kind of funny, because the very day I got the phone call from Fitzhenry with the good news, I had gone to a meeting with my writers’ group and told them I’d decided to quit writing children’s books. To quit!

I belong to a group of six children’s writers who get together regularly to critique each other’s work and discuss stories and plots. Well, for whatever reason that day I was frustrated with my work—and I told the group I was quitting! Yep, that’s it! Hadn’t heard from the publisher—obviously she hated my manuscript—and I should just stick to journalism. Done.

That evening, I got home and the phone rang. It was my publisher calling to tell me they were going to publish Gabby. Unbelievable! Looking back, of course, it’s hilarious that I thought three weeks was such a long time for a publisher to get back to me on a manuscript. But that’s the innocence of ignorance, I suppose. Now I know that the average wait time is more like six months. I guess I was used to journalism deadlines, which are based more on the day or even the hour.

Build a community for your book.

Many years ago, I went to a Writer’s Union symposium—this was before everyone was on Facebook and Twitter—and I got some advice I’ve never forgotten. They stressed, “you have to build your reading community long before your book comes out.”

It’s so true. Gabby has a strong literacy component; for a long time (many years before I started writing for children) I’ve been a children’s literacy advocate. I used to be involved in the Trent Valley Literacy Association in Peterborough, and I blog about children’s literacy.

In Gabby, the main character can actually touch and manipulate the letters in her book to form words. That’s one of the foundations of my literacy theory—that one great way to get kids reading is to give them cut-out letters or Scrabble tiles so they can actually feel them and work with them.

So in marketing Gabby, I want to reach out to parents who are homeschooling, and teachers and other literacy advocates. There’s a huge community there, that’s always looking for good resources. I’m hoping they’ll use Gabby in that way.

Push past your fear of technology.

Of course, the best way these days to build your reader-community is through social marketing like Facebook and Twitter.

If you’re on Facebook, great. So now create a Facebook page for your work. Or an author website, or a blog. If you don’t know how, then starting talking to people and start reading. Or, just do it—often the program will walk you through the process as you go.

When I started my kid-friendly news website, teachingkidsnews.com, I didn’t know much about creating a website. I’ve written for quite a few, but had never actually created one. A friend suggested I check out lynda.com; I took their online course on Wordpress. Lynda.com lets you learn in 10-minute bites; it’s great. I learned nearly everything I know about websites from them. Also, I keep learning from other people and asking questions.

Social media are new—for everyone.

I’ve been a journalist for more than 20 years, but when it comes to social media, I’m a neophyte. And that’s because for me—and everyone else—it’s new. We are in the midst of a technology revolution. There are no ancient practitioners of social media. New technology is coming out every day—new hardware, new software, new websites; we’re all learning together.

Get a good proofreader.

It’s not okay to have typos, grammatical errors and inconsistencies in our work. I’ve heard wonderful manuscripts read aloud and they sounded amazing—but when I looked at them on the page, they looked completely different to me. Horrible. I’m an editor (textbooks, journalism) and because I’ve been doing it for so long, typos just leap off the page—I know that’s what it’s like for other editors, too.

It’s the same with inconsistencies. Editors use a manual, like the Chicago Manual of Style or CP Style that defines how they format dates, for instance. Is it January 15^th 2013? Or is it Jan. 15, 2013? I wouldn’t expect an author to catch something like that, but for editors it will stick out like a sore thumb.

That’s why, if editing isn’t your forte, you should hire a good proofreader. At least someone who will give you that final polish, looking for typos and inconsistencies. It’s important. I get my work proofread by someone else whenever I can—it’s almost impossible to proofread your own work.

Joyce & me, with our printer proofs last year.

Q. What are you working on now? Any other upcoming events or other info you'd like to share?

I’m so excited to make the big announcement here: we’re doing a second Gabby book!

Jan Dolby is the illustrator and Fitzhenry & Whiteside will be publishing it. It’s scheduled to come out in the Fall of 2013. In the second book, Gabby will be taking a bit more control over her letters—she’ll be using them more deliberately, to create her own scenarios. It’s going to be really fun.

I have a few other creative projects on the go as well. I have a novel for adults that I’ve been working on for more than 17 years. I’m not kidding. And I do intend to have it published. I’ve workshopped it twice through the Humber School for Writers and I’ve been told that it’s publishable. The problem is, I just can’t seem to wrap it up! I need to wrap it up. I’ve given myself a deadline of next year. So there’s that.

I’m also working on a middle-grade book of short stories for boys. I have that query in to a publisher and I think it’s got some legs. We’ll have to see if they agree. I hope so; I’ve been working on some of the stories and I’m having fun with it, so we’ll see.

I’m exploring another YA book—non-fiction—as well. They like the idea but it’s one of those enormous projects that might fit into a publisher’s book list or it might not. So far, it looks promising. Again—we’ll see.

Of course, I have TeachingKidsNews.com (TKN), which is a huge commitment for me. We publish one kid-friendly news article every weekday. It’s a labour of love; my TKN partners are amazing. I also do a media lit workshop every week, where I talk to kids about the news. I’d like to do more of those. I’ll be speaking at Reading For The Love Of It this year; we’re doing four seminars. That’s on Thurs., Feb. 21 and Fri., Feb. 22, 2013.

I’ll be doing a book signing for Gabby at the Ontario Library Association Superconference this year, at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth on Thurs., Jan. 31 at 2:00 p.m.

And of course, Gabby launched on Jan.15! The launch party will be on Jan. 27 1pm at the Intergalactic Travel Authority Café in Toronto (Bloor St., just west of Dufferin) and I would love it if everyone would come down! After all, children’s book writers, editors and illustrators—we’re a village.

I’m on the Internet at:

@JGCanada

www.joycegrantauthor.com (author website)

facebook.com/gabbypicturebook

www.teachingkidsnews.com (daily, kid-friendly news with teaching questions)

facebook.com/teachkidsnews

www.gkreading.com (children’s literacy blog)

==========

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview with children's book author Ame Dyckman about BOY + BOT, picture books & writing process

[Update: You can download Ame Dyckman's "Breathing book molecules helps you write" quote poster from my For The Love Of Reading page.]

Ame Dyckman is one of the sunniest and most enthusiastic online personalities I've ever come across. I love her positive posts, how she encourages and helps promote others in the industry. I really hope to meet her in person someday!

I recently bought a copy of her BOY + BOT picture book, published by Knopf Books For Young Readers last year and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino. This funny, tender story focuses on a friendship between a boy and his robot.

LOVEITLOVEITLOVEITLOVEIT.

You can visit Ame at amedyckman.com, or follow her on Twitter (@AmeDyckman), where she posts picture book reviews "and a good amount of whatever pops into her head."

Q. What’s your writing process?

At home, I sit in my Writing Spot, on the floor in the TV room between the couch and the toe-eating table.

When I get a funny thought, I jot it down. Some of these become story ideas. Some become Tweets. (Twitter is a terrific brain playground for PB writers!) Some of my thoughts are too goofy to become anything! But they make me laugh.

If my Funny Thoughts tank is empty, I think up random questions and Google the answers. (Recently: “How do you brush an alligator’s teeth?” and “Where can I buy gauntlets?”) This often leads to story ideas, too.

When I’m stumped for the morning, I jump in the shower. When I’m super-stumped, I ride on a train. (Once, I was SUPER super-stumped and thought I’d have to shower on a train, but I got an idea on the way to the station. Which was good because I don’t think our trains have showers.)

I go to the library a lot. Breathing book molecules helps you write. It’s a fact.

When I have a story percolating, I’m possessed and temporarily useless for most other tasks. I forget to shut off the sprinklers. I lock myself out of the house. I burn most meals.

Luckily, my family is very understanding. (And our local pizzeria delivers.)

I jot on anything handy. (The cats run when I’m holding a pen.) I do my actual writing on my laptop, and my editing on paper. I keep pages to edit in my pocket.

Usually, I remember to take my pages out of my pocket before I do the laundry.

Usually.

Writing picture books is a crazy-fun-messy process, but now I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring picture book writers?

If you want to write picture books, read every picture book you can. Then re-read them. Order pizza for dinner so you can read longer.

Read picture books aloud to children. If no children are handy, read to dogs. (I love cats too, but most cats prefer dystopian YA.)

If no children or dogs are handy, read picture books to anyone not operating heavy machinery at the time.

Learn what you love in a picture book. Learn what others love. Write for all of you.

Most importantly, celebrate every writing success, no matter how small. Each finished draft deserves ice cream!

Q. What are you working on now? Any other upcoming events or other info you'd like to share?

I’m looking forward to the release of my next picture book, TEA PARTY RULES (Viking; Fall, 2013), illustrated by the fabulous K.G. Campbell (LESTER’S DREADFUL SWEATERS and the forthcoming THE ILLUMINATED ADVENTURES OF FLORA AND ULYSSES by Kate DiCamillo). TEA PARTY RULES is a funny eventual friendship/compromise story between a rule-obsessed little girl and a tea party-crashing bear cub who really wants cookies.

---

Here's where you can find out more about Ame Dyckman and her projects:

Her website: AmeDyckman.com

On Twitter: @AmeDyckman

TWEETABLES:

Celebrate every writing success, no matter how small. Each finished draft deserves ice cream! - @AmeDyckman http://bit.ly/VLC7bC (Tweet this)

Breathing book molecules helps you write. It is a fact. - @AmeDyckman (BOY and BOT) http://bit.ly/VLC7bC (Tweet this)

---

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

23,000th Follower Profile: YA Author Julie Williams On Writing Process, Art and Tips For Aspiring Writers

Thanks to Julie Williams (@JulieKWms2013) for being the 23,000th person to follow my @inkyelbows Twitter account! Julie is the author of two YA books. ESCAPING TORNADO SEASON: A Story In Poems (HarperCollins, 2004) is a novel in verse. IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD (title may change) will come out from Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press in 2013 or 2014. She's repped by Jill Corcoran of the Herman Agency, Inc.

As I started checking out her blog, I discovered that Julie is not only a published author but also an artist. When she's not writing, she's likely to be in her studio up to her ears in paint, glue, markers, fabric, paper, old photos, beads, sticks, driftwood, stones, vintage books, lace and hardware -- all used to create her mixed media works.

Check out her gorgeous "Mardi-Gras Me-Dusa" piece, which was chosen for the cover of the Minnesota Women's Press magazine a while back:

The piece is a mixed media fiber art collage: fabric, fusible interfacing, thread, ribbon, beads, Lumiere acrylic paint, ribbon. Stitching was done by both hand and machine.

Q. What is your writing process?

I'm an avid journal keeper. I write first thing every morning no matter what and have been doing that for many years. When I'm working on a book, my journal becomes a place to try out all the WHAT IFs of my characters and story line. Almost all my back story writing happens in the journal first. Starting my day with the journal is the most constant part of my writing routine. In the early stages of a novel (you know, like the first THREE drafts) I write mostly in the mornings and only about 2 or 3 hours a day. I usually write about five days a week. Later, when I'm bringing the story home (like rewrites FOUR and FIVE) I become pretty obsessed and write for 5 or 6 hours a day or even longer and seven days a week. I wake, sleep, dream, eat and journal journal journal the book. That's where I am right now with what I hope is the final revision of IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

Whenever I get stuck in my writing (and I do get stuck, especially on a big project), I either let it sit and do artwork for a couple days, or I apply the visual work to the book project itself. What works for me: I make many charts and calendars and flip charts and story boards. Sometimes I even draw maps and do collages and make character paper dolls. Anything that helps me to not only track the characters and plot lines, but to flesh them out and make them dimensional. Whenever I take the time to do one or more of these things, the writing always flows again.

ESCAPING TORNADO SEASON is a novel in verse and it began with poems I'd written about my family and about growing up in Northern Minnesota and Nebraska. I wrote over a hundred new poems in order to create the story of Allie. It was an exciting process because I discovered that the more fictional the story line and characters became, the more they revealed the emotional truth I'd been searching for in my original writing. IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD is different in two big ways -- it's in a more traditional prose form and it's not nearly as autobiographical. But my inspiration for the book does come from the years I spent in the theatre here in the Midwest and from my wildly diverse and nontraditional family.

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Do it because you love it, because if you don't write your head will explode.

Develop rituals that work for you -- like writing in a journal first thing in the morning (or right before you go to bed at night). Let the other parts of your life inform your writing and your writing rituals. When I was working on an earlier draft of IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, I created a Director's Book inspired by my graduate study in Acting and Directing. And then when that wasn't giving me what I needed, I went back into it and added visual images to help capture things I might have missed about the characters and about their dreams and wants and needs and desires. When I was in the theatre I never dreamed I'd use those skills to write a book. No matter what "other life" you've led or are still leading -- mine it for your writing!

Read what you write out loud. And then, when you're too close to what you've written -- have someone else read it out loud to you so you can hear how someone else is receiving your words. That second one is a lot scarier than the first, but it is a pretty powerful tool. This revision I've done a lot of interviews with my main character (again, in my journal) and I'm always surprised what Jessie has to tell me when I get out of my own way.

I've been very fortunate to have one or two "first readers" that I love and trust. I think they encourage me to continue writing more than anyone or anything else.

Hook up with great organizations like the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and Sisters in Crime (SinC) where you can meet other people who write so their heads won't explode. I'm not a big group person myself (like a lot of creative people I tend to be a loner who needs a LOT of solitude). What helped me get over that obstacle was to volunteer to help at events and conferences and workshops and that led to many years of fruitful contacts and teaching opportunities. I met my first editor at an SCBWI retreat. My agent and I were in a writing group together when I lived in Southern California. Here in Minnesota I know if I show up at The Loft for a reading or a class or a workshop, I'll go away enriched and quite possibly with a new writing friend.

Facebook and Twitter (I'm just starting this!) and web sites and blogs, oh my! They work. I'm still learning about all of this and parts of it I love and parts of it I don't love so much. What I do love is meeting new people in a virtual way. I forget to check FB and twitter, so I set it up to receive everything in my email. This would make many people crazy but I love it. I'd rather delete what I don't want to read than miss something important.

Laugh a lot. Cry a lot. Listen hard. And keep writing so your head won't explode.

Q. I saw your gorgeous Mardi-Gras Me-Dusa piece. Have you ever combined your writing and artistic talents for any book projects?

I'm so glad you liked Mardi-Gras Me-Dusa. I had a lot of fun doing that fabric art collage and was really pleased when it was chosen for the cover of the November 2011 issue of Minnesota Women's Press magazine (e-edition and paper copy). I haven't combined the writing and artwork (in a finished product kind of way) yet, but would love to do that in a creative nonfiction/memoir piece. I'm really drawn to hybrid forms in both fiction and nonfiction. They are, as I'm sure you know, harder to sell. I am using some of my poems and other journal writings in my collages right now and am excited about the possibilities.

Q. What are you working on now? Any other upcoming events or other info you'd like to share?

I'm totally engrossed in what I hope is the last big rewrite of IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. By the time I finish the book, it will also have a new title!

Where you can find more info about Julie:

Julie Williams blog

Julie Williams gallery at MNArtists.org

On Twitter: @JulieKWms2013

--------------------------------

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview with Adrienne Kress about THE FRIDAY SOCIETY: creative process & advice for writers

Photo of Adrienne: Tanja Tiziana. Steampunk background: http://valerianastock.deviantart.com

I met Adrienne Kress through the Toronto MG/YA Author Group (Torkidlit). She's smart, funny and passionate about her craft, and I've appreciated her advice and encouragement over the years. I interviewed Adrienne about her middle grade novels last year, and I can't wait to buy her new YA steampunk novel, THE FRIDAY SOCIETY (Dial, Dec/2012). More info on her website: AdrienneKress.com.

If you're in the Toronto area, I encourage you to go to Adrienne's book launch on Fri. Dec. 7th at the Gladstone Hotel. Check out this VERY cool event launch poster (click to see the bigger version):

Summary of the plot from a starred Quill & Quire review of THE FRIDAY SOCIETY: "The steampunk adventure novel, set in Edwardian London, follows the lives of three very different teenage girls, each of whom works for an important man but also maintains a life of her own. The three strangers – Cora (the lab assistant), Nellie (the magician’s assistant), and Michiko (the Japanese fighter’s assistant) – find themselves thrust together as the result of a horrific unsolved murder and quickly discover that, by combining their special skills, they can accomplish more than they ever thought possible."

Above: BookEnds interviews Adrienne about steampunk fiction, writing & THE FRIDAY SOCIETY.

Q. What was your creative process for The Friday Society?

The creative process for THE FRIDAY SOCIETY was very similar to the process for my writing in general.

It starts with thinking. Normally I get a cool basic idea. In this case it was a team of female Steampunk superheroes. Then I start to problem solve: how many should there be? Who are they? How do they meet? What is the basic plot that drives them? What are the supporting characters? Etc. The more I think, the more comes to me. It's all a bit of a logic exercise, "If they are like this, then this means that. If this is their job, that means that they probably live here. . ." and so on.

I really do just think about it for a good while. If the idea sticks with me, if it gives me butterflies still a week later, I take that as a sign that the idea has staying power. That's the key with writing for me. The act of writing is not glamorous. It's hard work. You aren't always inspired to write. In fact many days you feel a bit like a little kid who doesn't want to get up in the morning: "I don't wanna!!" So you need to have a project that you are completely passionate about. That you are willing to work through the rough patches for. At least I do.

Then comes figuring out the voice. This usually begins by jumping into the deep end and just starting writing. For THE FRIDAY SOCIETY it took a bit more effort than usual coming up with the voice. I started out writing it oldy-timey - a bit like the voice I used in my short story in the anthology CORSETS & CLOCKWORK - but it didn't really suit the light irreverent tone I was going for. Eventually the idea of writing the book in a contemporary voice came to me, and it made SO much sense. After all, the key to Steampunk is that it is anachronistic - a story set in the past but with futuristic technology and attitudes. Well why couldn't the actual act of telling the story be anachronistic too?? (if you want to read a post on the subject of anachronisms in Steampunk and why I chose the voice I did, check out my blog here). Once I had the voice, I could really get going on the story.

Photo: Tanja Tiziana

Now back when I was younger when I wrote just for fun, I realised I was the kind of person who enjoyed starting to write and seeing where the story took me. If I planned something out too much I got bored. I would feel, "Well, I already know what happens, what's the point in me writing it?" But I quickly learned that if I didn't do any planning whatsoever I would paint myself into a corner that I just couldn't get out of. So what I tend to do is a combination of both. I come up with a very basic plan, and then I fill in the blanks in the moment as I write. I also tend to plan in phases. So I'll plan the first fifth of the book, and when I'm coming to the end of that, I'll stop and plan the next fifth. Etc. As an example: with the beginning of THE FRIDAY SOCIETY I decided I wanted three chapters of introductions per girl and then I wanted my girls to meet up at a gala where they would come across . . . something mysterious. Seriously, that was it. Not much to go on, but still enough that I knew where I was going.

I should add at this point that I do tend to have a very basic idea of what the novel will be on the whole. This is part of what I think about during the thinking phase. But again it's very basic. In the case of TFS it was, "I want a Steampunk superhero origins story where my three girls defeat someone intent on destroying London for some reason. Also there will be subplots." :)

As I continue to write my book I, of course, come across bumps in the road and face difficult problem solving. This is always tricky to manage but I have learned that if I just stick with it I can get out to the other side. Sometimes it means moving onto something else or just going for a walk to clear my head. Sometimes it means sitting there and figuring it out one word at a time. And it's kind of amazing the direction your brain can take you. The characters of Hayao and Dr. Mantis were meant to be small one offs, but as I wrote them they just took on a life of their own and became integral to the story. This is why I enjoy not planning every little thing as I write, I love being surprised by my own story.

Now my method is simply mine. It certainly does not work for everyone. The most important thing is for a writer to find what works for him/her and be confident in that technique. So many blogs will tell you absolutes. But here's a secret: whatever works for you, works for you. Try different methods, see what sticks and discard that which doesn't. Don't be afraid to fail, and don't second guess when something is working for you.

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Unfortunately my advice in not particularly glamorous nor original. It is: Read and Write. Ta da! To elaborate. . . Read. Read a lot. Read every genre and every medium. Read novels, non-fiction, plays, poetry, graphic novels, picture books etc etc and so forth. Everything you read will inform what you write. It will teach you the writing rules, it will teach you how to break those rules. It will teach you what you like, it will teach you what you aren't a fan of.

And then you have to write. You just have to write. A lot. You never really learn until you do. And you never really improve until you do a lot.

Q. Any upcoming events or current projects you'd like to share?

Well, the book launch for THE FRIDAY SOCIETY is this Friday at The Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. 

I am also doing a Steampunk event at Words Worth Books in Waterloo on December 12th with the wonderfully talented Morgan Rhodes (author of the upcoming FALLING KINGDOMS). 

Related links where you can find more info about Adrienne:

Adrienne Kress media kit

Adrienne Kress author website (Adrienne's also an actor, director, playwright & teacher)

On Twitter: @AdrienneKress, on Facebook

Inkygirl interview with Adrienne last year

Review of THE FRIDAY SOCIETY by Quill & Quire, Steampunk Canada

Some related interviews:

Avery's Book Nook: "The Friday Society" by Adrienne Kress

The Friday Society: A Chat with Adrienne Kress (The Book Smugglers)

Manga Maniac Cafe interview with Adrienne

Interview with YA author Maureen McGowan about DEVIANTS

Over the weekend, I was excited about attending Maureen McGowan's book launch for her new YA, DEVIANTS: THE DUST CHRONICLES (Book 1). I met Maureen through the Toronto Middle Grade and Young Adult Author Group, a fun network of kidlit/YA writers who meets monthly.

Maureen's one of my favorite YA authors: she's so positive, encouraging and supportive...plus I love her wicked sense of humor. :-)

Maureen kindly agreed to answer a few questions about her Deviants experience:

Could you tell us a little bit about your new book?

Deviants is the first book in a new sci-fi series called The Dust Chronicles. Glory is a sixteen-year-old orphan who can kill with her eyes. She and her younger brother are both "deviants", their DNA having been mutated by asteroid dust that covers most of the Earth. When her brother, a paraplegic, is discovered, she must accept the help of a mysterious, hulking boy to flee the domed city they live in before they're captured and killed.

Outside the dome they're pursued by horrible scab-covered monsters, called Shredders, and Glory discovers the truth about her parents' deaths. It's fast-paced, full of action--and some kissing too.

Did you plan it as being the first of a trilogy from the beginning?

Yes. I think each of the books work as standalone titles, but I knew that Glory's full story could not be told in one novel. She learns things in Deviants that completely change her perception of herself and the world, and more in book 2 that changes her perception of others and her ability to differentiate between right and wrong... Basically she needs more than one novel to work through all these issues.

How did DEVIANTS get published?

When the version of Deviants that sold was ready to go on submission, my agent knew that each of the traditional publishers already had several post-apocalyptic-set novels on their lists. We figured there was a good chance that, even if one of those editors picked up the series, it was unlikely they'd be able to give the books "lead title" treatment.

So to increase the chance for the books to find a wide audience, he suggested we try something different and submit to Amazon who, at the time, were just getting ready to announce plans to ramp up their publishing arm.

At first I thought the idea was crazy. But I took it as a sign when Connie Brockway and Barry Eisler (then Penny Marshall and James Franco and Deepak Chopra) among others, announced they were planning to publish with Amazon. Suddenly it seemed like a bold and interesting option.

Claudia Osmond & Maureen at the DEVIANTS book launch this past weekend

The editor offered very quickly after reading the manuscript. I had to keep the sale a secret for a long time and that was tough! We first discussed releasing my trilogy under their planned adult sci-fi imprint 47North (not yet announced at the time) but ultimately decided to release the books as young adult titles.

I think the young adult market is so exciting right now, with so many fabulous books that smash both age and genre barriers. Most of the best books I've read in the past three years have been young adult and I'm excited to be part of that world.

Fabulous DEVIANTS book cake at the launch (by Fanta Cakes)What's your typical work process?

When I’m working on a first draft, I’m obsessed about the word count—to the point where I’ll change a passage to the strikeout font, rather than delete it, even when I know that a section needs to go.

I need to see evidence of forward momentum to keep motivated and meet deadlines. First drafts are the hardest part for me—usually. I can lose confidence in the book and myself midway.

The days when ideas are coming fast and furious and my fingers are flying are magical—but those days are few and far between. I need to store up that fabulous feeling to get through the bad days.

If you could travel back in time and give your younger writer self some advice, what would it be?

Don’t expect publication to happen too quickly or on the same timeline as other authors. Don’t try to write only what you think will sell. Know the market, but don’t pander to it. Write books you’d want to read.

Any tips for aspiring writers on handling rejection?

Rejection is part of the business. Everyone—and I mean everyone— gets rejected multiple times, and at every point in his or her career. Rejection typically begins the first time you show your work to someone and ask for objective feedback, and it doesn’t end when you get a publishing contract.

Embrace rejection. Every “no” simply means that particular editor or agent wasn’t right for that particular project at that particular time.

Success in publishing is like being struck by lightning. All you can do is build more and better quality lightning rods to up your odds.

Maureen doing a reading at her book launch

Any news about upcoming projects or events you'd like to share?

Compliance, the second book in The Dust Chronicles will be released May 21, 2013, so readers won’t have to wait long to see what happens to Glory next.

I’ll be appearing at the World Fantasy Con, in Toronto, November 1- 4th. I’m also excited to be part of a “Teen Books for the Apocalypse” tour with Megan Crewe, Lesley Livingston, Leah Bobet, Cheryl Rainfield and Courtney Summers. We’ll be visiting bookstores in southern Ontario during the month of November. It feels a long way off right now, but I’ll also be attending the Teen Day at the RT Booklovers convention May 1-5, 2013.

Readers can find me at: www.maureenmcgowan.com, www.facebook.com/MaureenMcGowanBooks or follow @MaureenMcGowan on twitter.

Thanks so much for having me!

---------

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Tweetables:

Publishing success=struck by lightning.All you can do is make better lightning rods. @MaureenMcGowan http://bit.ly/PCUAsS

Interview with Rob Sanders (Picture This!) about COWBOY CHRISTMAS

Rob Sanders does not work as a telephone sales rep, loading dock worker, trophy engraver, photo stylist, or editor. But he used to. Rob Sanders is not a cowboy, ballerina, chicken, twin, or rockabilly star. But he writes about them. Rob Sanders is a picture book author, a writing teacher, a blogger, a great uncle, a dog owner. And he loves it all.

I'm a big fan of Rob's Picture This! blog, a wonderful resource for picture book writers, and I'm thrilled to be illustrating his new RUBY ROSE series, which is coming out from HarperCollins in 2014. Rob's COWBOY CHRISTMAS picture book (written by Rob, illustrated by John Manders) came out from Golden Books in September.

Rob was kind enough to answer a few questions about his recently released book:

How did Cowboy Christmas begin?

The idea that became Cowboy Christmas came to me when I was driving home from a picture book boot camp with Lisa Wheeler. As I drove along I-75, random thoughts flooded my mind, including memories of the GALA Choruses Festival I’d attended a couple of months earlier. (NOTE: Let your mind wander. Some of the best story ideas come when you’re not trying to think of story ideas.) In particular, I remembered a song entitled “Hannukah Hoedown” which was performed by an ensemble of “Orthodox cowboys.” I thought, “I’ll write a story called Hanakkuah Hoedown!” Of course, I don’t know much at all about Hannukah, so the story quickly morphed into Cowboy Christmas.

I worked drafts through my critique groups and, truthfully, it stunk. But after a few critique group cycles (and a couple of paid critiques), the plot firmed up and the story got better.

Diane Muldrow, Golden Books

I sent the manuscript for a consultation at SCBWI, LA, and I was assigned to Diane Muldrow, of Golden Books/Random House. Diane began our consultation by saying, “My dad and granddad were cowboys.” What a serendipitous connection! Diane gave her critique. I listened, learned, and asked questions. Then I hauled out my latest revision of the piece which we went over it. Diane gave me pointers about making the story more “cinematic” and said, “Send it to me after you’ve revised—no promises.”

Two weeks later, I mailed off the revised manuscript, and two months later we had a signed contract!

What was the editorial process like? How did the manuscript change from when you first submitted it?

Most of the revisions Diane wanted were already in my “second” manuscript (the one I whipped out during our consultation). The Golden Books/Random House team wanted me to “up the cowboy” even more with lingo, expressions, and dialogue. I also revised the verbs over and over.

Diane and I had a couple of phone-call editing/revision sessions. One of them came after she had finished sketches in hand. At that point, we were able to tweak some lines, simplify a passage or two, and we even cut out one whole block of text because the illustration on the two-page spread showed what the words said, so the words were no longer necessary.

When Diane snail-mailed or emailed me the latest version of Cowboy Christmas, I poured over every word, every line, every scene. I charted out words (especially my verbs and dialogue tags) to make sure I wasn’t being redundant and that I had the just-right word every time. Then I collected up my ideas and saved them for the next time Diane asked for input, or we had a scheduled conversation. There are many times to revise during the process leading up to publishing and a wise writer seizes every opportunity.

Working with Diane was a blast. She’s funny, talented, and knowledgeable. She not only valued my input, but went out of her way to ask my opinions.

Have you met the illustrator, John Manders, in person yet?

A family photo from Christmas 1959. I'm the little one on the end. From left is my older brother, Butch; sister Pat; and my cousin Kem. Could these cowboy outfits planted the seed for Cowboy Christmas?I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting John Manders in person. When Diane Muldrow told me John would be the illustrator, my first response was, “The spine will say Sanders/Manders! I love the rhyme!” Diane replied, “It rhymes? We hadn’t even thought of that.” LOL!

When I received Diane’s email about John I had just used a book he had illustrated with some of my student writers. I sent him a fan email immediately, and told him how excited I was that he was going to illustrate Cowboy Christmas. We also passed emails back and forth a few times at the end of the process and after the book was published.

Some people ask if the illustrations look as I had imagined them. That is so-o-o-o difficult to answer. Diane likes her writers to give lots of art notes. (It’s like art directing a movie.) And John did follow the intent of most of the notes—HOWEVER, I could never have imagined the characters and settings and hilarious scenes he created. The book really is a collaboration between story and art, and the illustrations definitely tell the other half of the story.

Picture This! is such a wonderful resource for picture book writers. When did you create it? How did it begin?

Debbie Ohi, you are precious to mention my blog! Picture This! (http:// www.robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/) is my blog for picture book writers. The blog launched January 2011. The whole reason I started the blog was to make myself study and learn more about picture books and Picture This! gave me structure and a schedule to do that. I blogged daily for a year and a half and nearly wiped myself out. (I tend to overindulge in things I love.)

Now I post less frequently, and only when I really have something important to share or say. I’m trying to work smarter, not harder these days, so I’ve created an archive (or directory) for Picture This! so folks can easily find writing craft topics, interviews, inspiration, creative challenges, and so on. I’ll update the directory every six months or so. You can find the directory for Picture This! at: http://robsanderswrites.com/Writers_files/ PICTURE%20THIS%20DIRECTORY.pdf.

Do you have any advice for those who are considering attending their very first children's book writer/illustrator conference?

Stop considering it, and do it! I suggest going to a conference in your SCBWI Region first—that will be more manageable and not quite as overwhelming. Take full advantage of everything—every session, breakout, informal critique time, cocktail hour, paid critiques, etc. After you have a regional event under your belt, go to LA or NYC for a national conference. There is one word for one of those events—AMAZING!

Some folks say they can’t afford to go to conferences. Believe me, I understand. I work as a teacher for my full-time job. I know all about money constraints. But if you’re serious about writing and/or illustrating, you simply cannot not go to conferences. Start saving your money. Find roommates. Share a ride. Ask if there are scholarships or reduced rates in your region. As my Granny always said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”

Rob with friends at the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA 2012

What advice do you have for writers when it comes to handling rejection?

Develop tough skin. Rejection is part of the process (and part of life). In our fantasy worlds editors open our manuscripts and fall in love with us and print our books without a single alteration. But in the real world, there are thousands of rejections for every one published book.

Can I tell you the truth about what I do when one of my writing projects is rejected? I revert to seven-year-old Rob and I say to myself, “I’ll show them. They’ll be sorry. When I sell a million books they’ll wish they’d bought this one from me.”

Then I set out to prove them wrong.

Some of my best writing has been I’ll-show-them writing. Turn your rejections into motivation. Learn from your mistakes. Listen to what people are telling you. And try, try, try not to take rejection too personally. Remember, they rejected a particular manuscript . . . they didn’t reject your writing as a whole, and they certainly didn’t reject you as a person!

What's next for you? What are you working on now?

I have two picture books coming from HarperCollins in 2014. The books are based on my character, Ruby Rose, who dances her way through life and in and out of trouble. (By the way, Ruby Rose grew out of a big-time rejection.)

The first book is entitled Ruby Rose on Her Toes. The other Ruby Rose book is still in the works. Oh, guess who the illustrator is? None other than the world-famous Debbie Ohi!

(Note from Debbie: WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!)

I have several picture book projects out with my agent right now and he’s shopping those around. I’m working to promote Cowboy Christmas and have book signings, readings, and other appearances coming up in the next few months. I’m beginning to be asked to speak at conferences in various locales. And (believe it or not) I am working on an edgy middle grade novel—a real departure for me—but very, exciting, too. What can I say? I just can’t stop writing!

Any advice for aspiring picture book writers?

Advice-R-Us! I always have advice, ask anyone who knows me. Let me give you a quick list.

1. Write more than one story. As you write more and more, and experiment and learn, the practice of doing so will make you a better writer. It takes many stories to find one that is publishable.

2. Join a critique group AND participate by submitting your work for critique and by critiquing others.

3. Join SCBWI and attend regional and national meetings. Almost every book is sold through a personal contact, a link, a connection.

4. Pay for professional critiques from other authors and professionals. Choose the people you use for critiques from those you meet at conferences, or people whose work you respect and admire.

5. Learn your craft. Good writing doesn’t just happen.

6. Don’t try to find short cuts or take the easy way out.

7. Don’t give up! I know many writers who have stopped because they received some rejections, or life got too busy, or they thought another genre might be easier. Keep at it! Success will come!

8. Visit my web site and have some fun looking around.

9. Buy a copy of Cowboy Christmas and support my retirement fund!

10.Look me up on Facebook, through my blog or website, Twitter, via email, or at conferences. I’d love to meet you!

Rob’s Events and Appearances

October 19-21, 2012

Florida Writers Association

Orlando, FL

Speaker and Critiquing

November 3, 2012

2:00-4:00 p.m.

Inkwood Books

Tampa, FL

Book Launch Party and Signing

November 4, 2012

Horn Museum of Art

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

Reading and Book Signing

November 9, 2012

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Mintz Elementary Night at Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble, Brandon, FL

Reading and Book Signing

November 17, 2012

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Parnassus Books

Nashville, TN 

Reading and Book Signing

December 1, 2012

1:00-3:00 p.m.

Barnes & Noble, Dale Mabry

Tampa, FL (Near Kennedy Blvd.)

Book Signing

December 15, 2012

1:00-3:00 p.m.

Barnes & Noble

Springfield, MO

Reading and Book Signing

January 18-20, 2013

Florida SCBWI Winter Meeting

Miami, FL

First Books Panel and Critiquing

I'M BORED interviews, guest posts a podcast (and many giveaways of the book!)

It's been an exciting and whirlwind week since I'M BORED launched on bookstore shelves last week!

Thanks so much for those of you who have been helping me promote the book online and offline. I've compiled a list of interviews, guest posts and other places online where you can find related posts, and most of these still are or were holding random draws for copies of the book.

*NEW* I am also going to be sending hand-drawn doodles to each of the book giveaway winners for I'M BORED. This applies to any blog who is doing an I'M BORED giveaway in the near fuure.

TODAY:

Wed. Sept. 12, 2012 (online): Interview by Christina Farley on Chocolate For Inspiration.

I'll also be giving a talk tonight at the monthly CANSCAIP meeting about my I'M BORED experience, the benefit of conferences like Packaging Your Imagination and SCBWI, as well as how to get the most out of these kinds of events.

RECENTLY:

Today's Parent and Parenting magazines featured I'M BORED (Today's Parent photo at the top right of this post courtesy Adele Maclean)

I was Featured Artist on PaperTigers.org

July 27, 2012 (online): Toasted Cheese interview with me about I'm Bored - by Erin Bellavia

August 20, 2012 (online): For Young Readers: Most Anticipated Books Of Fall 2012 (49th Shelf)

August 27, 2012 (online): At The Desk: Debbie Ridpath Ohi on Open Book Toronto

Tue. Sept. 4, 2012 (online): I'm Bored Releases Today! - by Christina Farley

Tue. September 4, 2012: A MiG Writer Book Birthday Series: Happy Book Birthday To I'M BORED, by Christina Farley - A Fun Potato Recipe from Carmella Van Vleet - A Boring School Challenge, by Kate Fall - I'm Bored Potato Celebration, by Andrea Mack

Wed. Sept. 5, 2012 (online) - Miss Marple's Musings. Interviewer: Joanna Marple.

Wed. Sept. 5, 2012 (online) - I'M BORED contest announcement by Andrea Mack.

Fri. Sept. 7, 2012 (online) - Perfect Picture Book Friday, with Beth Stilborn.

Fri. Sept. 7, 2012 (online) - I'M BORED review by Greg Leitich Smith. "With expressive illustrations and a hilarious point-counterpoint, a little girl demonstrates that children are less boring than potatoes. And there are waterfowl, too. Really."

October issue of TODAY'S PARENT (print): I'M BORED feature mention

Sun. Sept. 9, 2012 (online) - New Voice & Giveaway: Debbie Ridpath Ohi on Cynsations. Interviewer: Lena Coakley.

Above: selection of photos from my I'M BORED In The Wild gallery of readers with the book.

Mon. Sept. 10, 2012 (online) - The Other Side Of The Story - podcast interview by Matt Mylusch

Mon. Sept. 10, 2012 (online) - It's Worth The Wait: My guest post on Beth Stillborn's blog, By Word Of Beth, about the waiting process between the offer and when the book finally appears on the shelves.

Tue. Sept. 11, 2012 (online): I'M BORED Trifecta with Mr. Schu and Colby Sharp:

-- My guest post on Nerdy Book Club: In The End, It's The Story That Matters (A defence of so-called celebrity books)

-- Mr. Schu's post about the I'M BORED book music video, his interview with Zoe (w/ help from Zoe's Dad)

-- Colby Sharp shares his 4th grader's favorite moments from I'M BORED on Sharpreads

----------

You can find these and other press links on my Debbie's Interviews, Appearances, Guest Blog Posts and Other Cool Press Page.

Interview with Helaine Becker, author of How To Survive Absolutely Anything

Helaine Becker is one of the most enthusiastic and productive writers I know. I met Helaine through Torkidlit: the Toronto Area Middle Grade and YA Author Group. She has written over 50 books, including the best-selling picture book, A Porcupine in a Pine Tree, the Looney Bay All-Stars series; popular non-fiction, including Magic Up Your Sleeve, Secret Agent Y.O.U. and The Quiz Book for Girls; and young adult novels including Trouble in the Hills and How to Survive Absolutely Anything.

Q: Could you please tell me a little bit about your book? What inspired you to write it? What it's about?

Author and friend Marsha Skrypuch inspired me to write the book. We were having lunch one day and we were discussing how, when you write illustrated books for children, your royalties are divided with the illustrator. Fair enough. But Marsha said, “Gee, Helaine, if you wrote a YA novel, you might make more money since you won’t have an illustrator….”

As a hardworking writer, the idea of making more money appealed to me, so I thought I’d give it a try! I had a story idea niggling at the back of my brain, so I wrote it up. And Voila! How to Survive Absolutely Anything was born.

I somehow don’t think I’m going to wind up making that much more money on it than some of my picture books (A Porcupine in a Pine Tree hit #1 on the National bestseller list last year). Nevertheless, I enjoyed writing it, learned a lot about the craft of writing from doing it, and have enjoyed the whole process immensely.

Q: What was your research/writing process? How did the book get published? 

This book did not require any major research, but most of my other books – I do a lot of nonfic – have a lot of research involved in them. For Trouble in the Hills, a YA adventure that I wrote after How to Survive….. (but it was published first), I had to research what a dead body that had been lying in an alpine cave for a year would look like. That was delightfully gruesome.

I also had to research drug growing in BC, human trafficking in BC, and mountain biking – to get all the info I needed I had to dig into newspaper stories, but also interview forensics pathology experts and cyclists in Grand Forks BC.

I’m working on another YA novel right now that involves fireworks. To research that project, I signed up for “Fireworks School” – a training course for pyrotechnicians. I’m now certified – as well as certifiable. ;)

How did Survive get published? After I wrote it, I stuffed it my drawer and tried my hand at a second, more ambitious novel. Both of these novels then went through the “kidcrit” process – the online critique group through Compuserve. Funnily enough, people seemed to like the second book better, so I tried to sell that one first, with no luck.

Now, looking back at it, I can see the flaws in it, so maybe one day that will get a rewrite. Anyhow, after a trip to Grand Forks BC for an author tour, I conceived the plot for Trouble in the Hills.

I wrote up a synopsis and some sample chapters and pitched it Christie Harkin at Fitzhenry and Whiteside. She liked it and offered to buy it. In conversation I told her I also had a “girls” manuscript, and she asked to see it.

Surprise surprise, she liked that too, and bought both of the books in a two-book deal. Trouble came out in Autumn 2011; How To Survive came out in June 2012. We’re talking about a sequel to Trouble in the Hills now – we’ll have to see what happens!

I didn’t have an agent to sell these books. In fact, although I ‘ve had an agent at several points in my career, I’ve always sold my own work directly. I don’t think anyone can really represent you better than you can yourself if you have sales skills.

I’ve published more than 50 books, trade and educational, in Canada and the US, without an agent. I think it’s a lot harder to do this, though, in the US trade market than it is in Canada or in the educational field. So I am now talking with my dream agent to rep my work in the US. We’ll see how that goes but my fingers are crossed that we’ll work something out and I can continue to grow my career with her.

Q: You said you learned a lot about the craft of writing while working on How To Survive Absolutely Anything. Could you give an example?

I had often heard people talking about how too many varied dialogue attributions (remarked, demanded, cried, interrupted, etc. instead of a simple “said”) and attributions modified by adverbs weaken your text. I didn’t really see it, until I was revising this book. Then I finally understood! Rather than saying, “Close the door,’ she scolded angrily,” it would be stronger writing to put “Shut that damn door already!”

Once I saw how adapting my dialogue in that way would get rid of lots of unnecessary words and make the whole text tighter, I went through the whole manuscript again, making changes. This was, unfortunately for my poor editor, the day before the book was supposed to go to press! But we both agree – it was worth it. The book is better now than it would have been.

Q. I've heard such great things about your school presentations! What one piece of advice would you give a new author who is just starting to give presentations?

Ask another writer if you can go and observe their presentations before you do your own. That way you can learn the ins and outs – how to check in with the school office, how to present your invoice, how to organize your space, etc.

Observe how the author handles interruptions, how they handle questions and answers, etc. It’s much easier when you’ve seen someone else do it first rather than going in completely cold. Also remember that kids are very forgiving audiences so don’t fret too much. It will turn out ok, and if it doesn’t people will still enjoy a good laugh!

Helaine's dog Ella is always present while H. works, adding editorial commentary.Q: How much outlining do you do? What is your typical work process or work day?

Some of my books have been completely outlined. Others, like How to Survive, were more organic. I prefer to work with an outline. My typical work day starts late (after ten) and very slowly. I’m not a morning person, which is one reason why I’m a writer – I’ve been fired from every job I’ve ever had, mostly for being late! (If work started at noon….)

I like to warm up by checking and writing emails, then gradually work my way into the frame of mind to start writing REAL stuff. That being said, I’m extremely disciplined.

I write pretty much every day between 10-4, and if I’m on a deadline, between 10 and whatever. I work in my kitchen and can tune out everything around me as I work, much to the annoyance of my family. They want me stop typing and start making dinner. They, however, know where the fridge and stove are too, so I ignore them.

Q: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

I know most people tell you you should read a lot and get writing partners etc. But I think every single writer should take some basic business and sales courses. As a writer, you are really the sole proprietor of a business.

You need to know how to run your business and sell your product if you want to have a hope in hell of making a living and/or not getting stomped by unscrupulous parties.

I spend at least 50% of my work time preparing pitches and putting prospective projects “in the pipeline” – that’s a basic sales technique that guarantees you never wake up one morning with no contracts and no work and a mortgage you can’t pay.

I’m going to be teaching a session at Canscaip’s Fall writing conference, Packaging Your Imagination, on this topic. If you are in the Toronto area and have no idea what “qualifying the customer” or “profit centre” mean, this seminar is for you.

Q: What are you working on now? Anything else you'd like people to know?

What am I working on now? A zillion things, as usual. I have four – yes four! – books coming out this fall, 2 quiz books and two picture books, both of which have final edits on the go.

I’ve just finished my first draft of a new nonfic for Kids Can Press, coming out in 2013. I’m on the fourth draft of a YA horror, and working on the first draft of a funny middle grade novel.

Going back and forth between those two books as well as a verse picture book I’m polishing for Scholastic Canada really makes my head spin! I also put manuscripts away for a while to mature (this really means I didn’t have luck selling them the first time out!).

I pick those up when I have time and look at revising them. I’ve got three of those in the “on deck” circle right now.

I NEVER consider any project dead – they are all just resting. I’ve recently gotten an offer on a project that has been in my drawer since 1999. The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea (Kids Can Press, 2012) was based on a pitch I wrote up in 1998. And my quiz book series with Scholastic Canada grew out of another ancient proposal that I’m sure most people would have considered compost. I just looked it up – it had originally been dinged in 2002. But when the opportunity arose, I rewrote the pitch and gave it to Scholastic, and now, well, it’s four-books and more, I hope to come!

So my advice would be to everyone to hang on to all your old stuff and periodically go through it to see what still has potential. Often good projects are rejected because the timing or fit is bad.

When the times change, and personnel changes, you may find the perfect fit for that old raggedy project, restitched into a new suit.

Q: Where can people find you online?

Here are all my online deets:

www.helainebecker.com

www.helainebecker.blogspot.com

www.sci-why.blogspot.com

follow me at www.twitter.com/helainebecker

------------------------

Did you enjoy this interview? Check out other Inkygirl interviews.

Interview with Joanne Levy, author of SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE

 

I met Joanne Levy through the Toronto Area Middle Grade & Young Adult Author Group (Torkidlit), and was excited to hear about her upcoming book, Small Medium At Large, published by Bloomsbury. If you're in the Hamilton area on July 14th, do check out Joanne's book launch party. (Note: there will be CUPCAKES!)

You can follow Joanne on Twitter, on Facebook and on her website: Joannelevy.com.

About SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE: After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel.

SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE comes out June 26 in Canada and July 3 in the U.S.

Could you please tell me a little bit about your book? What inspired you to write it? What it's about?

The story of what inspired SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE isn’t all that exciting—it began as a title. Normally, I get about halfway through a book before I come up with something to call it, but this title came to me fully formed one morning when I woke up. I was working on other projects at the time, so I tucked it away, but it nagged at me for about a year until I figured I’d better just sit down and write it. The title pretty much dictated what it would be about. 

Wow, it began as a title? That's great! Has this happened to you before or since? Do you keep a notebook of title ideas?

Thanks, Debbie! I actually have another really great title that popped into my head one day, but I have yet to write the book, so I’m going to keep that one under wraps for now. That said, it’s usually through writing the book that I come up with a title. I try to come up with something that’s catchy but has a lot of meaning at the same time—stuff with multiple layers/meanings are always good. But I will say that it’s nice when my subconscious does the heavy lifting for me and gives me something great to work with!

How much outlining do you do? What is your typical work process or work day?

I do zero outlining. I usually start with about four or five plot points in my head and just sit down and start writing. I’ve tried to force myself to become an outliner (which would save me a lot of trouble down the road) but my brain just doesn’t work that way. As for my work day? Well, I do have a full-time job to work around, so much of my writing is done in big chunks on the weekend and sometimes in the evenings, if I have time after Tweeting and Facebooking. ;-)

Do you do much revision? What's your revision/editing process?

 I’ll be honest: I don’t love editing. For me, the love is in the drafting and discovery of the plot and the characters, so the editing is the really hard work. I edit a lot as I go, so generally my first completed drafts are pretty clean.

BUT, when you don’t outline, editing for content beyond the first draft is really necessary to get everything in order and layer in details.  That means several drafts. I do try to put my first drafts away for a bit (and send them off to beta readers) so I can look at them with fresh eyes after some percolate time.

Then I pull them out and start with big picture stuff, much of which will have come from beta readers. Does the story work? Any big inconsistencies or holes? Are the characters’ motivations realistic? That’s usually two or three passes, especially if I’m adding/deleting scenes.

Then I start in a little closer with the detail work—names, events, timelines – does everything line up? After that, I do a final ‘find and replace’ to get rid of my overused words like ‘that’ and ‘just’ and my many physical tics – head shaking, nodding, winking.

Joanne's office

You originally began SMALL MEDIUM as a YA. What was your reaction when your editor suggested it would work well for a younger audience? 

The first time she came to me to ask if I would consider rewriting it, (and just to be clear, this wasn’t the editor who ended up buying the book) I was flattered that she loved it so much, but I thought someone else would like it as it was, so I respectfully declined.

The second time she came back and asked, nearly a year later, after we hadn’t sold the book, I figured why not? I really had no idea what I was doing, but she suggested some reading and had faith that I could do it. She was obviously right, and although she didn’t end up being the editor who bought the book, I’m grateful for her vision.

Do you have any advice for writers who aren't sure whether their work-in-progress is MG or YA? 

Read a lot of both and get a good ear for the voice. I wasn’t familiar with MG, (other than what I read as a kid)  until I started reading it for research, but it made a lot of sense once I got a good really good taste of it. Here’s an excellent list of differences – I particularly like #3 about the focus.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

 Read a lot. Write a lot. And prepare to toughen up your skin—this is a tough industry where heartache, rejection and bad news are pretty much guarantees. BUT if you are passionate, willing to put in the time and effort, and can stick it out, the rewards can be amazing!

What books are you reading right now?

 My tastes are very eclectic—as much as I love books for kids, I also enjoy grown up escape reads, too! I just finished an ARC of IN A FIX by Linda Grimes – a book for grownups, but filled with lots of laughs and was great fun. As for MG, I recently read THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate and loved it a lot. Up next is the YA, THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT by Jennifer E. Smith – I’ve really been looking forward to reading this one for a while and I’ve been hearing lots of great things about it.

What are you working on now? Anything else you'd like people to know?

I’m working on several different projects: more middle grade and a funny YA that I’m hoping will be a great follow up to SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE as my readers get a bit older. Nothing I can talk about specifically just yet, but I can tell you, all the stuff I’m working on will make you laugh! 

Where can people find you online?

I’m all over the place!

Web: joannelevy.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoanneLevyAuthor

Twitter: @joannelevy

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview: YA author Nelsa Roberto and THE BREAK

 I met Nelsa Roberto through the Toronto Middle Grade and Young Adult Author Group (a.k.a. Torkidlit). I love Nelsa -- she's so positive and funny and encouraging; I've appreciated her encouragement of my own writing.

I enjoyed Nelsa's previous book, Illegally Blonde (Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2010); I interviewed Nelsa for Inkygirl about how she wrote and sold her first book. Thanks to Nelsa for agreeing to answer some questions about her second YA novel, THE BREAK, which launched in this Spring.

Nelsa posts about the writing life, kidlit/YA & her work in her blog, Out Of The Wordwork. You can also find her on Twitter at @nelsaroberto, Pinterest and Facebook (and she's currently using a photo that I took for her Pinterest & Facebook user icon, yay :-).

Could you please tell us about your book, THE BREAK?  

THE BREAK began with a simple thought, one that came into my head as I saw my mom interacting with my kids in that completely unselfish, completely there, unconditional love she and my dad have for them. “This is the purest kind of love”, I thought. From there came the less happy thought, “What would my kids life be without their grandparents in it? What would they lose? What would my parents lose?”

Once those thoughts start happening then, if you’re a writer, you know a story line will surely follow. So Abby Lambert and her beloved, Nonna, were born.

Around the same time that I was thinking about writing a love story about a girl and her grandmother, I also decided to bring the aging theme – and all the constraints and difficulties aging creates – into sharp focus by making Nonna be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

Memory - and all that means to relationships and family and the passing down of family history from grandparent to grandchild – is a fascinating thing. Without it we have no connection to each other.

How does the loss of memories affect relationships? How do family members react when this starts to happen? I knew so many people whose lives have been impacted by various forms of dementia. So many times I heard people say it was almost harder to deal with seeing their parents/grandparents/spouse etc. losing their memory than if they were dealing with a physical illness.

 

As for a plot summary for THE BREAK, I just had my first review in The Winnipeg Free Press and I thought they did a fabulous job of summarizing what the book is about:  

“…in The Break (Great Plains, 204 pages, $15 paperback), Roberto has written (about) … a teen who refuses to accept that her beloved grandmother is suffering from dementia. It is also a novel about guilt and the devastating effects of regret. Abby Lambert is furious with her mother, who has accepted a position with Doctors Without Borders for the very week of spring break, when Abby has planned to join a ski trip. Abby is left to look after her grandmother, whom she soon realizes may be having some severe problems. Her Nonna also wants to visit the Sunny Haven home, which Abby avoids at all costs. Abby's life becomes more complicated when she gets to know a boy whom she has always thought of as arrogant and unfriendly -- until she sees a sensitive side of him as he works with seniors at the nursing home. Abby must face unwanted truths and make important decisions. This is a realistic novel with a dash of romance that teens will find appealing.”

  How did THE BREAK get published?  

Research into Alzheimer’s was easily done as there are many websites and articles about this devastating illness. I also, unfortunately, knew friends and family who had had to deal with a loved one going through this illness.

I began writing this book as a follow up to my first novel, ILLEGALLY BLONDE (Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2010) – in fact, I began writing it while IB was still on submission. Once Great Plains bought my first book I knew I’d have to submit an option book.

Knowing Great Plains preferred contemporary realistic stories I knew the idea and themes of THE BREAK would appeal. Yet, as per my usual process, I wrote about 100 pages then stopped (that dratted murky middle again!) and I started another book that was calling to me – a YA paranormal.

My then agent looked at both partials and encouraged me to focus on THE BREAK. Good thing she did! Great Plains released it in March, 2012 and I had the launch April 20th at TYPE Books in Toronto where I did my very first public reading and didn't collapse from nerves!

  How much outlining do you do? What is your typical work process or work day?

For this book, I actually outlined the whole thing! That deserves an exclamation remark because that is not the usual process for me. Usually I outline the first half or do a back-cover kind of blurb/synopsis then jump right in to writing.

Funnily enough, I always thought that because I don’t usually outline the whole book, that was one of the reasons I get stuck in the murky middle – I haven’t plotted the rest of the book out so I need to stop and think! Yet, with THE BREAK I had plotted it all out and I still stopped in the middle.

When I look back on the outline now, I do see some plot lines that didn’t branch out in the final product so I know when I actually start the writing, regardless of whether or not it’s plotted out, the pantsing takes over and I may veer off in another direction that may or may not slow me down (usually it slows me down!)  

My typical work process is to write when and where I can. With a full time job and a busy family life, I usually write on the subway, or at home late at night. But my life the last year has been unusual since we’ve undergone a massive home reno so all my routines went out the window (along with the old windows!).

I’m hoping to get back into at least an hour’s worth of writing a night again. I’ve discovered that not writing is not making me feel good (writers understand). I’m only 20,000 words away from finishing a WIP that I started back in 2008 and shelved.

When I looked at it again last fall, the spark lit up for me and I added another 10,000 words on it relatively quickly so I’m hoping now that I’m settled in my home life (somewhat) I can finish this one and make headway on another one that I just started and start querying agents with it in the fall.

Any words of encouragement for writers who keep getting rejection letters?

Rejection letters are what you make them. If you are getting form letters congratulate yourself on having the courage to send your writing out there. That is no small thing. If you are getting personalized rejection letters it shows you are developing as a writer.

Your story, your writing, your characters - something has made an editor or agent connect enough with your words for them to write something to you. Appreciate the compliments and learn from the comments.

If you keep getting rejection letters it means you have perseverance. You cannot become published if you don't have that. 

Bravery, talent, knowledge, persistence.  What's so bad about rejection letters again?

What are you working on now?

I've completed a YA fairy-tale inspired romance that is out for critique with some writers I trust. It may need to be reworked again before I decide if it is good enough to query.

I'm also trying to finish another YA contemporary that I began several years ago. I'm hoping to get that done over the summer. The thing I've learned is that not every book you finish writing may be good enough to go out there. But every book you finish writing is a victory because you finish.  

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?  

Always write a book you feel passionate about. Don’t worry whether it’s not the ‘in’ thing that will land you a publishing contract. Worry about whether your main character is appealing. Worry about whether he/she has a goal/problem worth writing (and reading!) about for 200+ pages. Worry about if you have enough conflict.

Worry. About. The. Story. Not about whether you are going to be published or not. That worry comes soon enough after you’ve written this book you are passionate about. Until that time comes, concentrate on the writing and the story. The rest will follow.

---

Find out more info about Nelsa at her blog: http://out-of-the-wordwork.blogspot.ca/

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview: YA Author Deborah Kerbel & UNDER THE MOON

I first met Deborah Kerbel through the Toronto Middle Grade and Young Adult Author Group (a.k.a. Torkidlit) - Deborah's so fun to talk with, and I've also been enjoying her books over the years. Deborah's teen novels include Under the Moon (2012), Lure (2010), Girl on the Other Side (2009), and Mackenzie, Lost and Found (2008). Her personal essay, The Curtain, is included in the YA anthology, Dear Bully (HarperCollins, 2011) and her novels have been shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association’s YA Book of the Year Award and the Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award. A native of London, U.K., Deborah now lives and writes in Thornhill, Ontario.

Her website: http://deborahkerbel.com

Tell us a little bit about your new book, UNDER THE MOON. 

Under the Moon is a YA novel about a girl who’s lost her sleep, a boy who’s lost his dreams and the twenty-six nights that change their lives. It’s about grieving, friendship, and first love. And at the heart of the story lies a question: what do we, as human beings, really need in order to survive in this world?

Despite the serene looking cover, this book was born out of chaos…specifically the chaos of my life. I started writing it in the spring of 2010 – at that time, my children were aged 7 and 4 and, between the daily demands of motherhood and writing, there was never enough time to give proper attention to everything. To put it bluntly, most of the time I barely had a spare moment to scratch an itch. During my busiest moments, I secretly resented having to give up so many precious hours to sleep and a strange fantasy began working it’s way through my exhausted brain: ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I didn’t have to sleep at all? Imagine all the things I could accomplish?’

I actually came out and spoke about this weird little fantasy one night at a Torkidlit meeting…in fact, I think I said it to you, Debbie! And of course, uttering the words out loud immediately sparked an idea for a new book. Sure, I knew what I would do with all those extra hours in a day. But what would a teenager do if she didn’t have to sleep? How would she fill the long, dark hours of a sleepless night? I wanted to find out. That’s where the idea for Under the Moon came from.

When was UNDER THE MOON published? 

Under the Moon was published in March 2012 by Dancing Cat Books (an imprint of Cormorant Books). Barry Jowett is the publisher and editor there and he’s so wonderful to work with. He was the acquiring editor of my very first YA novel, Mackenzie, Lost and Found (which came out with Dundurn in 2009) and I was really hoping for the chance to do another book with him. I submitted this manuscript to Barry exclusively and crossed my fingers. Luckily for me, he liked it.

How much outlining do you do? What is your typical work process or work day?

 I confess, I don’t have a standard approach to writing books. Sometimes I outline meticulously, other times I fly by the seat of my pants. This book was a pantser. I started out with the premise of a sleepless girl (whose voice was already very loud and clear in my head). I didn’t really know where I was going with the story when I started writing, which was a bit scary and a bit exciting at the same time. But I kept pushing my main character forward through the plot and ultimately, the story revealed itself.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

 Read every day. Write every day. Absorb all the details, from the beautiful to the hideous, in the world around you. Be mulishly stubborn, fearless, and committed. Write stories that move you. Don’t take criticism of your writing too much to heart. Same thing with compliments – they can be equally destructive. Connect with other writers…ultimately, they’re the only ones who’ll understand the ups and downs of this crazy roller-coaster business.

What are you working on now? Anything else you'd like people to know?

 My kids are a couple years older now, so lately I’ve got more time and I’m starting to get more done (read: no more insomnia fantasies). I’m actually working on several projects at the moment, each in various stages of completion and revision: a picture book about memory; a middle-grade novel about the evil eye; and an urban fantasy YA novel with a bit of a horror edge. On top of all that, I’m also co-authoring a non-fiction book about kids and money. There’s a little something for everyone in the works.

For more info about Deborah Kerbel and her work:

Website: www.deborahkerbel.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authordeborahkerbel

Twitter: http://twitter.com/deborahkerbel

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview with Holly Thompson, editor of TOMO: Friendship Through Fiction (Stone Bridge Press) plus a giveaway

As I've mentioned earlier, I'm very excited to have my first YA short story included in Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction, a new teen anthology edited by Holly Thompson and published by Stone Bridge Press. Part of the sales proceeds will go to help teens affected by the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

Post a comment below for a chance to win a copy of the book!

-------------------

Holly Thompson was raised in New England and is a longtime resident of Japan. She is the author of the YA verse novel Orchard (Delacorte/Random House), which received the APALA 2012 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and is a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection; the picture book The Wakame Gatherers (Shen’s Books); and the novel Ash (Stone Bridge Press). She recently edited Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction (Stone Bridge Press). She teaches creative and academic writing at Yokohama City University and serves as Regional Advisor for the Tokyo chapter of the Society of Children’s Book and Writers. Visit her website at www.hatbooks.com and her blog at http://hatbooks.blogspot.com.

How did you come to live in Japan?

My husband had been an exchange student in Japan and was eager to return when we met. I was a biology major at the time, and Japan wasn’t on my agenda, but we compromised and I taught biology in Massachusetts for a couple years then we moved to Japan. That was in the 80s--we stayed for three years and during that time, I began writing seriously.

Then, so that I could attend NYU’s creative writing program, we moved to New York and ended up staying there until 1998 when we moved back to Japan. We thought we’d stay for another three years or so, but here it is 2012, and we’re still here, our children have basically been raised here, and it is definitely home for us . . . though New England and New York are also home.

Please tell us about how Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction was born.

March 11, 2011 brought the triple catastrophe of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant disaster to Japan. For me, having lived for many years in the coastal town of Kamakura, the brute force of the tsunami and the destruction it wreaked on towns was terrifying. I happened to be in the U.S. for readings and a conference that day, and watching from afar, while my family was in Japan, was agonizing.

Those days immediately afterward, I was in a deep fog, and in the middle of that fog author Greg Fishbone contacted me to ask what we could do and to share his ideas about a Kidlit for Japan auction. Greg woke me out of my stupor, astounded me with his energy and determination, and I knew that I, too, needed to act.

The first thing I did when I returned to Japan was sign up to volunteer with tsunami cleanup in Tohoku with the NGO Peaceboat. And the next thing I did was to put together my ideas for a benefit anthology of Japan-related YA fiction. My agent reacted with understanding and encouragement, and soon Stone Bridge Press had agreed to take on the project.

What kind of response have you received so far? 

People have been enjoying the contributor interviews on the Tomo Blog, and reviewers that have received  Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction have praised its depth and breadth. It is a full anthology with 36 stories, including 10 in translation. And we enjoyed March launch events in Tokyo, Boston and New York—see the events page on the Tomo Blog.

Tomo contributors with the Boston Children's Museum Teen Ambassadors

Any specifics about how the funds will be used?

Funds raised through the sales of Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction will go toward NPOs or NGOs that are active in supporting teens in the earthquake and tsunami affected areas. To start with, proceeds from the sales of Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction will be donated to the Japan-based NPO Hope for Tomorrow which is active in providing educational funding, mentoring and foreign language support to teens in the hardest hit areas. 

Was this the first time you've edited a fiction anthology?

I’ve edited university poetry and fiction anthologies, but this was my first time editing an anthology of fiction that would reach a wide audience. It was also my first time editing works in translation, and the process taught me so much.

Compiling and editing Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction was an enormous undertaking, particularly given the time constraints—we wanted the anthology to launch in time for the one-year anniversary of the earthquake. But I know that I will be a stronger writer and better editor of my own writing thanks to this experience. And I loved plunging deep into the work of other writers and playing a role in shaping and polishing the stories.

Tokyo launch: Back row, L to R: John Paul Catton, Juliet Winters Carpenter, Deborah Iwabuchi, Margi Napper, Louise George Kittaka, Ann Slater, Charles De Wolf, Trevor Kew, Hart Larrabee Front Row, L to R: Arie Nashiya, Yuko Katakawa, Holly Thompson, Sako Ikegami, Fumio Takano, Leza Lowitz, Mariko Nagai

Do you have any advice for authors considering editing a short story anthology for the first time?

Understand from the get-go that it will consume much more of your time than you can possibly anticipate! Have an angle that will make your anthology completely different from any anthology already on the market. Get writers on board and share your proposal with others for feedback before you approach an agent or editor. Plan as much as possible before you even start.

What was it like, working on TOMO? (any challenges? anecdotes to share?

The biggest challenge, as I’ve said, was the time constraint. Everything was rushed, from soliciting work, to making final selections, arranging for translators, editing, compiling the glossary and bios, copyediting and proofreading. It was an intense marathon project, but the authors and translators who contributed were wonderful to work with, and Stone Bridge Press has poured time, funds, energy and enthusiasm into this book. I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity.  

When I sent "Kodama" to you, I half-expected a rejection because of the unusual format. What convinced you to include it in your anthology?

I love the fun journal format of “Kodama.” When I set out to do Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction, I knew from the start that I wanted the book to be open to various forms of fiction—prose, verse and graphic narrative. Many YA editors and publishers have fortunately been very open to and encouraging of innovation, and I think we will continue to see more and more uniquely expressive YA fiction forms.

Please tell us about your YA novel, Orchards, which received the APALA 2012 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.

Orchards (Delacorte/Random House, 2011) is a novel in verse told in the voice of Kana, a bicultural Japanese and Jewish-American girl who is sent to spend the summer with relatives in Japan after the suicide of a classmate.

Kana addresses her former classmate, Ruth, as she struggles to make sense of what happened while adjusting to life in a Japanese farm village and coping with issues of her bicultural identity. While Orchards deals with tough topics such as bullying, depression and suicide, it is the story of a girl discovering compassion and the need to take positive action. 

What are your current and upcoming projects? And where can people find out more about you?

I am now busy doing the final revisions for my next YA verse novel The Language Inside (Delacorte/Random House 2013), about a non-Japanese girl raised in Japan who has suddenly moved to the U.S. due to her mother’s illness. The book deals with communication on many levels, inner and outer identity, and, of course, language. My website is www.hatbooks.com and my blog where I write about life in Japan, travels in Asia and whatever catches my interest. 

Anything else you'd like to say?

Thank you for sharing your story “Kodama” with Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction. I look forward to seeing the full-length work this leads to...hint, hint! And thank you for your enthusiasm for Tomo. The Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction anthology is all about helping teens in Tohoku by connecting readers to Japan. I hope that readers of this blog will enjoy all that Tomo has to offer and find their connection to Japan.

------

For more info about Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction, including interviews with all the contributors, see the blog at: http://tomoanthology.blogspot.com

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Interview With Lee Wardlaw, My First Writing Mentor: Children's Books, Advice and a Book Giveaway

Photo: Craig Jaffurs

Book Giveaway: Post a comment below to be entered in a prize draw for a copy of Lee's 101 Ways To Bug Your Friends and Enemies and a buggy doodle from Debbie.

Way back when I started pursuing getting my novels published, Lee Wardlaw offered to read what I had written and give me feedback. It was first time I had received a critique from a professional in the industry, and I was blown away by her generosity, encouragement and advice.

I worked hard on revamping my manuscript and after another round or two, Lee passed my work on to her agent, Ginger Knowlton. Ginger took me on as a client! I'll always be grateful to Lee for that early encouragement and for taking that time with me.

Lee has written over two dozen books for young people and has won many awards and award nominations for her work. Most recently: 2012 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award (for Won Ton), 2012 NCTE/CLA Notable Children's books in the English Language Arts, 2012 Best Children's Book Award - Los Angeles Book Festival, 2012 ALSC Notable Children's Book , 2012 CCBC Choices as well as nominations for the 2012-13 Chickadee (Maine) Reader's Choice Award, Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award and Rhode Island Reader's Choice Award.

You can find more info about Lee and her work at:

http://www.leewardlaw.com/

and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/leewardlaw

--------

Photo: Lisa Yee

Q. How did you make your first sale?

Plucked from the Slush Pile! Yep, it happens. And I will never, E.V.E.R., forget the day I received that first acceptance. I screamed. I babbled. I called my mom. I might’ve even kissed the mailman…

Q. How did you get your agent?

I met her at the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference, just a couple of days after I sold that first book. I hadn’t yet written a feigned nonchalant “Why, yes, if you’d like to publish my novel, by all means please feel free to do so” response to the editor, because I was still too busy screaming and babbling. So the agent stepped in and negotiated the contract for me. We worked together for about three years; in that time, she sold two more YA novels and a nonfiction book of mine.

When I decided I wanted to challenge myself by writing picture books, we parted ways. (She specialized in the teen and adult markets.) Over the next few months, I asked every author I met – at school visits, book festivals, SCBWI functions, conferences, etc. – which agents they would recommend. Again and again I heard: “Ginger Knowlton”. She was newish to the agenting world, but she worked at a highly respected New York agency, was learning the ropes from Marilyn Marlow (the Grand Dame of children’s book agents), and had a background in Early Childhood Education. Sold! I queried her with a couple of manuscripts, and she called not long after that, saying she’d like to represent me. I screamed. I babbled. I called my mom. I kissed my husband. (Our new mailman wasn’t nearly as cute.) Ginger and I have worked together now for almost 24 years. She’s stuck by me through thick and thin and anorexic. I adore her.

Q. You've written in so many genres in the children's book world. Which feels the most comfortable for you?

None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. If I feel ‘comfortable’ when I’m writing, then I know I’m not challenging myself.

Instead of ‘comfort’, I prefer to experience what psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls flow. In his book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, Dr. C. (didn’t want to attempt that spelling twice!) describes flow as an intense focus on an activity – a concentration so deep that you’re unaware of yourself, your surroundings, of time passing. You see flow most often in Montessori schools. There’s an intense joy on the face of a young child who is wholly immersed in tackling and mastering a task. I experience flow when I’m writing something I love, whether it’s a poem or a picture book, a novel or nonfiction. It happens a lot, too, when I’m creating humorous dialogue for my middle grade characters. Their conversations just, uh, flow…

Q. How much time (or percentage of your time?) do you spend promoting?

In 2011, I had two new books published: a picture book, Won Ton – A Cat Tale Told in Haiku, and the third novel in my middle grade series, 101 Ways to Bug Your Friends and Enemies. It had been almost seven years (!) since I’d last had a new book out, so I really felt invisible. To offset that, I spent the majority of 2011 promoting like crazy.

My year-end totals were: 18 bookstore events, 17 school visits, 7 speaking engagements, 3 Skype visits, 3 blog interviews, 3 TV/radio/print interviews, 3 articles written, and 2 miscellaneous events. Miles driven: 3,500+. WHEW! I did all my own coordinating and publicity for these events, too, so that meant creating/printing/mailing flyers, sending info to schools, contacting newspapers, magazines, events websites, etc., etc. It was a huge job. Won Ton went into a third printing in less than a year, so I have to think the effort was worth it!

Coming April 22nd, 2012Usually, though, I’d say I spend 50% of my time writing and 50% promoting. The latter is usually through school visits, which I love. Put a microphone in my hand, and I turn into a total ham - - with cloves and brown sugar on top! But the balancing act is a constant struggle. It’s great fun working with and talking to my readers…but sometimes I’d really rather be at home, writing.

Q. Do you work on more than one project at a time? If so, how do you manage your time?

Eek. No. If I’m working on a novel, that’s really all I can handle. I tend to juggle a lot of characters and subplots, and I do a lot of research for each book, which means a full-to-overflowing brain. Ditto for my office, which needs shoveling out frequently. Add another novel or picture book to that mix, and I might implode - -or end up on that TV show “Hoarders”.

Sometimes, I can work on a couple of picture books at the same time, but that’s only in the early stages of each, where I’m mainly banging out ideas or plot lines.

Because I have A.D.H.D., I tend to get easily distracted. If I’m distracted, I don’t finish projects. So it’s best if I stick with one project at a time. That being said, I’ve learned that I need to be distracted now and then, otherwise I get bored and don’t finish projects. (Kind of a Catch-22.) So I treat my brain by entertaining it with writing in the mornings and promo stuff in the afternoons. The variety helps.

Q. What are your writing habits? (wordcount goals? rituals? favourite place? etc.)

If I’m working on poetry or a picture book, I need to use a pen and notebook, and I need to sit somewhere comfy: curled up on the sofa, outside on the deck, etc. But if I’m writing a novel, I MUST work in my office. I’ve never done well working outdoors or in coffee shops. (Too many distractions.) My office is painted and decorated in shades of green (teal, seafoam, jade, forest), which calms me so I can focus.

Other Must-haves:

1. A Mac. Forever and always. And it must have a 27” screen.

2. An Aeron chair (I have neck and lower back issues)

3. An ergonomic keyboard (wrist issues)

4. Natural lighting or a desk lamp with a 100-watt incandescent light bulb (government intervention issues. I’m stockpiling my 100’s! I hate CFLs. They make me squint.)

5. Plenty of protein snacks. (hypoglycemia issues)

6. A glass of iced tea with extra lemon, mint leaves and Splenda.

7. A cat or two curled up on my printer or on the floor heat vent.

I start work early-ish: 8:00 a.m. (I prefer between 5 and 6 a.m., but with a husband and teenaged son at home, those times aren’t optimal.) I write until noon; take an hour break; then go back to work until 2:40 when I leave to pick up my son at the high school.

My habits have changed over the years. In the past, my minimum goal was three hours or three pages, whichever came first. Now, if I’m working on a novel, I’ll set a different goal for myself every day, depending on where I am in the story. If I think I can rough out two or three major scenes in a particular chapter, then that’s my goal. If I know it’s going to be a particularly difficult chapter, for whatever reason, then I may set a goal of writing only one scene.

It’s that variety that keeps me from getting distracted!

When working on 101 Ways to Bug Your Friends and Enemies, I was really having a hard time focusing. (For some people, like me, ADHD gets worse asyou get older.) So instead of writing the book sequentially, I allowed myself to hop around, writing chapters out of order. That was great fun, and it kept me motivated.

Q. How much prep do you do before you start writing?

Tons.

Whether it’s a picture book or a novel, I write pages and pages about all the central characters, asking myself questions about who they are, what they want, why they want it, how they’re prevented from getting it, etc. It’s crucial to know what motivates your characters – what values move them to action – and why. Otherwise, you won’t know how they’ll act or react in every situation you put them in.

Each book also involves research. Take, for example, WON TON – A CATTALE TOLD IN HAIKU, the story of a wary shelter cat and the boy who adopts him. Now I know cats. My first spoken word was ‘kitty’ and I’ve shared my life with probably 30 cats over the years. BUT, I still needed to research cat behavior, specifically that of adult cats who’ve spent most of their lives in an animal shelter. I researched shelters, too, and how best to introduce a cat to a new home. (I thought it important for the book to be accurate so shelters would get behind it, maybe even carry it in their gift shops.) I also researched haiku - - American haiku is different from Japanese haiku - - and that’s when I realized I’d actually written the book in senryu! That was an important distinction for me to be awareof if I wanted elementary schools to use the book as a teaching supplement.

After the character work and the research, then I do a rough outline of the book. I ALWAYS know how the story is going to end before I start writing. For me, writing a novel is like taking a trip. You don’t just get in the car and start driving willy-nilly. (Well, in real life you might, if you’re the adventurous sort, but if you do that in fiction, you’ll end up with stream of consciousness stuff, not a novel.)

Before you back out of the garage, you need a destination and you need a road map. The road map is the plot outline. My outlines tend to change along the way, taking little detours here and there, picking up extra passengers (characters), maybe getting a flat tire (more conflict!), but I make sure the basic road map stays the same. That way, I and my story get to The End in one piece.

Q. What's the biggest mistake that new writers tend to make?

Ha. I don’t know. There are so many from which to choose! Not having read a children’s book since before the invention of dirt…not having been around children since being children themselves…worrying too much about contracts and agents and merchandising instead of focusing on their craft…submitting stories that aren’t stories at all, but incidents or anecdotes…the list goes on.

My biggest mistake, way back when, was writing picture books that featured inanimate, anthropomorphic characters. Kind of like The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein – but without his wit, intelligence, heart and drawing talents! My early picture books were awful. Of course, I didn’t know that then…

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring picture book writers?

1. Read, read, read, read, read picture books. Pick out your favorites and take them apart, analyzing what you like about them and why; what about them resonates within you; what’s their unique tone, their style; what makes their characters fresh; what is special about their voice; and what gives them enough appeal to be read and re-read up to 500 times;

2. Take a poetry-writing class. Learning how to distill a story’s essence; using rhythmic, evocative language and vivid imagery; creating something that cries to be read aloud - - all of that is what you need to write poetry and picture books. I don’t think it’s an accident that WON TON is my most successful picture book. I started writing it while taking a poetry class from children’s book author and poet Ellen Kelley.

Q. For your picture books, how much interaction did you have (if any) with the illustrator?

None. Well, I might send them an email, introducing myself and saying I’m looking forward to the publication of ‘our’ book. But that’s it. Typically, the author and illustrator don’t collaborate on a picture book project. The author writes the story, the editor picks the illustrator, then the illustrator draws the pictures.

People are always surprised by this. But it makes sense. I wouldn’t want an illustrator standing over me, saying: “Gosh, I don’t know how to draw cats. Could you make your story about dogs, instead?” And I’m sure an illustrator wouldn’t want me dictating to him/her what kind of style, medium, etc., should be used. Of course, this means you have to have an extremely savvy editor, one with a clear vision of what kind of art will best complement and enhance the story.

Q. What are three things you wish you had known when you first started your writing career?

1. That rejections aren’t personal

2. That an editor’s suggestions aren’t set in stone

3. How much publicity and promotion I’d have to do!

Q. Any news about current or upcoming projects you'd like to share?

RED, WHITE & BOOM! (Holt, ages 2-6, illustrated by Huy Voun Lee) will debut in April. It’s a rhyming picture book about the ways families from different cultures celebrate our country’s independence.

I’m finishing up a sequel to WON TON…and making notes for 101 WAYS TO BUG YOUR BROTHER AND SISTER…and I have a cool idea for a nonfiction project (but I’m not saying what it is!).

-----

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

Congrats to Valerie Haight: My 16,000th Twitter Follower!

Today I'm highlighting Valerie Haight, who was the 16,000th person to follow my @inkyelbows account on Twitter. :-) Valerie was also mentioned in Joani Plenty's blog recently and although I've never met Valerie in person, she sounds like someone I would like to meet someday.

Valerie's first e-book, HAPPENSTANCE, will be released through Turquoise Morning Press in December. She also has a suspense represented by Blue Ridge Literary Agency that is currently in edits. and is working on a suspense she says she hopes to pitch in May.

I asked Valerie how she found me on Twitter. Her answer:

I found you by searching the amwriting hashtag on Twitter. I've been on Twitter almost three years and I joined to meet other writers, broaden my resource opportunity and to market my books.

You can find out more about Valerie on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog.

Related links:

Blue Ridge Literary Agency blog post about Valerie

Interview: Hazel Mitchell & HIDDEN NEW JERSEY (Post a comment to be entered in the prize draw!)

Today, I'm delighted to interview my Pixel Shavings friend, children's book illustrator and writer Hazel Mitchell, about her newest project.

Published by Charlesbridge/Mackinac Island Press, HIDDEN NEW JERSEY is a new book written by Linda Barth and illustrated by Hazel. The book is packed with historical, cultural and fun facts about New Jersey shared in rhyming narrative and Hazel's wonderful art. Young children can search for the hidden pictures throughout as they learn more about the state.

For a chance to win a copy of this book, just post in the comments section below! Be sure to enter your e-mail address so we can contact you if you win (random draw).

--------------------

How did you become the illustrator of Hidden New Jersey?

The developer for the book, from Mackinac Island Press (imprint of Charlesbridge) has produced two other books in this series (about Michigan and Ohio) and was looking for an illustrator for New Jersey. She saw some of my work on my Facebook fan page and contacted me. We took it from there. Hurrah for social networking!

Hurray, indeed! How useful have you found social networking in your career? And how did you find the right balance between online marketing/networking and your creative work?

Yes I have, in many ways: making contacts and meeting new people in the industry, learning from other's blog posts and links and for getting my work out in to the world. I spend a lot less time on line than I used to .. especially when I am working on projects. Marketing is a big part of the book industry these days so I will probably spend at least an hour a day doing something online.

Have you ever been to New Jersey?

Yes! My hubby was raised there, so we went to visit occasionally. I had no idea it was such a diverse state, though! The author, Linda J Barth lives in New Jersey and is a local historian.

Did you have any direct interaction with the author during the project?

No, put now the book is ready to publish we have liaised on marketing ideas. it's really great she loved what I did with her words! Phew!

How many illustrations did you have to do for the book? How long did it take?

I did 15 double spreads, plus the artwork for the covers, title/verso page and the 'hidden objects'. In total about 4 months. About 5 days on each full spread.

What media do you work with?

The line work is done in graphite and then I scan in and colour completely in photoshop.

Does illustrating a nonfiction book differ from illustrating a fiction book?

In some cases yes. In this case there was no running narrative throughout the book, as each page is specifically about a different region of New Jersey. So I had to include all the 'facts' in a montage style, abit like a jigsaw puzzle, and yet keep the feel of the illustrations cohesive. I did include the characters from the front of the book (in their canoe) throughout the illustrations as well as their little bumble bee friend, who is the state's adopted insect. There was a lot of research to be done as the illustrations had to accurately reflect many historical places. It was definitely a challenge, but an enjoyable one.

What are you working on now?

I am just about to start illustrating the fourth book in the 'All Star Cheerleaders' chapter book series by Anatasia Suen, (pub Kane Miller). And I am working on writing and illustrating my own picture books, and somewhere in the mix is an illustrated YA. So there is no chance that I will get BORED :-)

Ha! :-D And wow, you have a lot on your plate. How do you juggle your work schedule between so many different type of projects? Any tips to offer other illustrators with multiple projects on the go?

I like a lot going on. It's stimulating. When I have only one thing to do I feel like I am not working at my best. This probably stems from my Naval career and running a print business for many years. However when I am working on a book project I do find it hard to drop it and work on something else. I prefer to see the whole thing through in one go.

Sounds like a contradiction after saying I like working on lots of stuff. But mostly I am thinking about other projects, or making notes. If I have multiple deadlines, then I try and break the day up, or at least swap alternate days to work on them. It's hard. And then sometimes you hit a lull, and it's like you don't know what to do with yourself :-)

My advice is make lists. I cannot do without them and ticking things off gives me a sense of moving forward. I am learning that you have to go with the flow in the world of publishing, that's for sure!

------

You can find out more about Hidden New Jersey and Hazel Mitchell at the Hidden New Jersey Facebook Page, Hazel's Personal Facebook Page, Hazel's Pro Facebook Page,  Hazel's website and Hazel's blog.

------

Other recent posts about HIDDEN NEW JERSEY:

Pixel Shavings: Hazel outlines the step-by-step process of how she illustrated HIDDEN NEW JERSEY

David L. Harrison's blog post

Joanne Marple's "Miss Marple's Musings" blog

Michelle Henninger's Hidden NJ blog post

-----

Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

KafkaGirl.com: YA Author Andrew Tolson, Blogging, and Enticing Editors

With Andrew Tolson's agent submitting his YA manuscript ,The Girl Who Saved Kafka, to prospective publishers, he wanted to entice editors with something extra, a taste of the novel before they had read the first page. He decided to launch a blog that was in the voice of the main character:

http://kafkagirl.com

An explanation from Andrew:

In my daily work as a photographer, I use big expensive cameras. For personal work, I’ve been using my iPhone and the Hipstamatic app. I’m fascinated by the lo-fi approach to many digital applications and Hipstamatic gives you all the beautiful and unpredictable results you’d get from a crappy film camera. The kind of low budget camera you might find in the Linfield Thrift Store. It’s a perfect tool for someone like Zoe Burns to express herself. She’s the fifteen-year-old heroine of my novel, who shops at the thrift store and uses a typewriter because it makes the letters sound loud. She’s desperate to break out of her outcast’s existence. But she must also come to terms with her crazy mother, her best friend’s growing allegiance to the popular girls and the pending appearance of teen pop star Tyler Sharp. Then there’s the school talent show which Zoe is being forced to enter. Can she combine her growing obsession with Franz Kafka’s existential masterpiece, The Metamorphosis, and her talent show performance? She’s certain she has the potential for extraordinariness but–

Wait a minute. This is starting to sound like a synopsis.

Just look at the blogopsis: http://kafkagirl.com

What gave you the idea for starting your Kafka Girl blog?

The idea was two-fold. First, I really enjoyed writing in Zoe’s voice and wondered what it would sound like if I transferred that voice to another medium and then added visuals. Since I’m also a photographer, I wondered what kind of things Zoe would take pictures of. How would she document her environment and her life? But also, I wanted to give prospective editors who are considering the manuscript a unique way of marketing the book to readers.

How often do you update?

At the moment I don’t update it all and that’s intentional. I’ve set up the blog so it has a narrative arc as Zoe introduces herself and her world. If the book sells, and the publisher is interested, I’d love to expand into regular updates with photos and video. Zoe already has a Facebook profile, but I’ve not done anything with it yet. It was a lot of fun putting together the stock images and shooting elements from the story, like Zoe’s Mom’s postcards. I hope the blog will intrigue readers enough to want to check out the book.

What has the response been so far?

The response has been great. I’ve even had a few people get to the end of the blog and not realize it’s fiction. I just hope no one will feel duped.

Who's the man in the picture? (beside "I'm Zoe Burns...") I thought Zoe was a girl?

The man in the photo is Franz Kafka, he of the book’s title. Nowhere in the blog is there a clear photo of Zoe. I want the reader to leave it up to their imagination as to what she looks like.

What's your "elevator pitch" for your book?

Fifteen-year-old Zoe Burns is desperate to break out of her ordinary existence, so she mounts a one-girl show, performing her version of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis at her high school talent contest. Meanwhile, she must come to terms with her crazy mother, a burgeoning relationship with a fellow outcast and the imminent arrival of the insanely popular teenaged heart throb Tyler Sharp, who will be judging the talent show. It sounds like it could be dark and depressing, but it’s really quite funny.....

What other projects are you working on now?

I’m hard at work on a new book, a MG fantasy called ‘The Knife Of Lost Souls’, about an orphaned 12-year-old girl who discovers that she comes from a long line of demon slayers.'. Very different from the Kafka story, but hopefully just as much fun. It’s really important, I’ve found, to start work on a new project when your ms is making the rounds of editors. Otherwise you’ll go crazy with anticipation!

More info:

http://andrewtolson.com/

http://kafkagirl.com

On Google+

Interview: Jo Karaplis on Fractured Fairy Tales

Jo Karaplis lives and breathes books. During the day, she works for a children’s publishing house in Toronto. In the evenings, she’s usually either reading a book or working on her own. Jo's also a member of the Toronto Middle Grade/YA Writer Group (Torkidlit), which is how I met her.

Jo's website: http://www.joannakaraplis.com/

You can find also Jo on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.

Love the way you told each of the three fairy tales in a slightly different style. What made you decide to use this format? How did you choose which style would be best suited to each fairy tale?

Honestly, it wasn't something I planned out in great detail beforehand. "Snow White and the Seven Dorks" was the story that came to me first. I could picture Yuki perfectly, and I knew she'd want to talk directly to the reader, so I let her be the narrator. The scene at the school dance was the most captivating for me, so I wanted to have it at the beginning of the book, but I didn't want to bog it down with back story, so I decided to switch back and forth between the action at the dance and how Yuki ended up there. 

When brainstorming about different fairy tales, Cinderella struck me as a tale that would have turned out much differently with cell phones or the internet, which gave me the idea to tell it entirely through texting and blogging. It was really fun to write, but I did worry that readers would find it unsophisticated. (Thankfully, most people who reviewed the book have really liked that story!)

I originally tried to tell the final story, a retelling of The Little Mermaid, in the third person just for variety, but it was such a personal story that I switched back to first person, which I think worked much better. Because of the ending (which I won't spoil!), it was necessary to do that one in straight chronological order.

What are some of your other favourite fairy tale retellings?  

I actually haven't read too many retellings, although I've got some on my to-read list now. And I loved the movie Tangled! 

Twisting and retelling fairy tales is an old tradition. I remember seeing fractured fairytale cartoons on Rocky & Bullwinkle reruns as a kid. When I was in high school, fractured fairy tales popped up a few times: my younger sister brought home a picture book called The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Jon Scieszka), the Politically Correct Bedtime Stories series by James Finn Garner came out, and I read a few fable retellings in Margaret Atwood's Good Bones. I was inspired to do my own versions, and ended up writing a play in which a few famous fairytale princesses went on a talk show to discuss what happened after "happily ever after" (hint: they had some grievances to air!).

What was your writing process for this book? (outline first or plunge right in? how much prep? etc.)

I always plunge right in, then end up stuck, then procrastinate for a while, then do a lot of revising and outlining, then finish writing. I usually end up with notes in the manuscript like "fight scene here" so that I can come back and write that bit when I have a better idea of how it's going to unfold. I always re-read what I've written before continuing to write, so either that's a part of my process or I need to learn to turn off my editor-self when I'm writing!

Cyberella took the least revising out of all the stories: there's something about text messaging and chatting that just lends itself to speedy writing. It was fun playing the part of both Cindy and her friend Matt, and jumping rapid-fire back and forth between the two of them. It was also very quick to read back the conversation, so I could see right away if something just sounded wrong. The only hard part of writing a short story entirely in texts and blog posts was trying to describe action in enough detail that readers could picture it.

How long did the entire process take, from when you started working on it until the book made it into print?

I'd say about two years. I started writing it in April 2008, submitted the final draft two years later in April 2010, and it came out in November 2010. But part of the delay was that it was first under contract with a different publisher (same editor). I think under normal circumstances it probably would've taken about a year from first draft to publication.

How much does your experience working in the publishing industry as an editor influence you as a writer?

It doesn't affect me as a writer (that is, it hasn't made me change my writing style), but I think it makes me more realistic about being an author. I don't expect to make a living off my books (not yet, anyway!), and I know that I need to do a lot of promotion on my own (not that the publisher doesn't help, of course!). Also, I don't take rejection personally, because I understand that this is a tough industry and publishers can only take on books that they really believe in and know they can sell--and there are tons of reasons that a book can be rejected that have very little to do with the author (for example: a similar book just came out or is in the works; it's a sci-fi manuscript but the publisher only publishes poetry; the publisher's list is already booked full for a year and they don't want to hold onto something they can't publish in a timely manner, etc.).

Also, having worked with authors professionally, I know what makes someone a "dream author" and I try to keep that in mind when working with my editor!

Sounds like you're working on multiple projects at the same time. How do you manage that, in terms of work process/time?

I work on one until I get stuck or bored or both, and then I switch to one of the others. It's great because taking a break from a work in progress usually allows me to look at it with fresh eyes when I finally return to it. And it also turns my procrastination into productivity, which is an added bonus. Usually I only do this with a maximum of two projects at a time, though, and one of them typically takes up the bulk of my time whereas the secondary project just gives me a break when I'm getting burned out on the primary work.

Some authors believe that the bulk of the marketing & promotion of their books should be the publisher's responsibility, not theirs. What's your take on this?

This is such a tricky question--doubly so since I'm both an author and work in marketing at a publishing house! So I can definitely see both sides of the argument. On the one hand, there are things that a publisher definitely needs to do and is better-equipped than an author to do: make sure the book is widely available in stores and online, submit the book for awards, send the book out to reviewers, purchase advertising, promote the author to appropriate festivals and events. 

However, I believe that the author can be more effective than the publisher at personal promotion such as writing blog posts about the book, setting up and monitoring a Facebook fan page and Twitter account, giving interviews on blogs and websites, etc. Readers are much more excited about talking to or hearing from the author than the publisher, so authors should take advantage of being a literary rock star!

Also, there are some marketing and promotion techniques that aren't effective for all books, and should ideally be jointly considered by the author and publisher; some examples would be book trailers, launch parties, and giveaways. Overall, though, I'd say that the success of a book's marketing efforts hinges on communication: the author needs to tell the publisher what efforts they're making, so that the publisher can help support and publicize those efforts, and the publisher also needs to tell the author what they've planned for the book, so that the author knows which areas are covered.

How do you juggle writing vs promotion time as an author?

I have a full-time job and am also planning a wedding this year, so I'm stealing little bits of time here and there and hoping I'll have more time come winter. Last year, I participated in National Novel Writing Month and found that writing on my daily commute allowed me to make good use of all that time I spend riding the subway. I'd like to get back into that habit again this year. As for promotion, I did the bulk of it once the book was available for purchase (I had a few book launches, set up a Facebook fan page, organized a giveaway through GoodReads, contacted bloggers to set up a blog tour, etc.). Now that the book has launched, my efforts have scaled back. I have Google alerts set up so that if any reviews or mentions of my book appear online, I can add them to my website and share them with my social networks, but other than that, I've switched from promotion mode to writing mode. I think it's possible to do both at once, but you need to be quite disciplined--well, more disciplined than I am, anyway!

Any current or upcoming projects you'd like to mention?

I'm the kind of writer who loses steam if I talk about things I'm working on, so all I'll say is that I've got at least three more projects in the works, and leave it at that.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Read, read, read. Then write, write, write. Remember that you need to make bad art before you can make good art, so don't judge yourself too harshly (for example, don't compare your first drafts to a published author's masterpiece!). Find a writing community--either online or in person--who will critique your work. Go to your friends and family for praise, and your writing group for feedback. Finally, have fun!

---

Where to find out more about Jo Karaplis:

Her website: http://www.joannakaraplis.com/

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jokaraplis

Her Facebook page

Her Goodreads page