Interview: Kevin Sylvester on MINRS series, science and advice for young writers

A while back, I raved about how much I enjoyed Kevin Sylvester's first and second MiNRS books for middle grade. Here's my #BookADay post about the first MiNRS book. 

With the third book in the series coming, I asked Kevin to tell my readers about his MiNRS series as well as offer some advice for young writers. Thanks to Kevin for answering in the video above!

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#BookADay: MINRS by Kevin Sylvester (Simon & Schuster, Sept/2015)

Appropriately enough, I began and finished Kevin Sylvester's MiNRS underground. It was soOooOooOOoo good that I missed my subway stop. Twice.

MiNRS is Kevin's upcoming action-adventure sf book for middle grade ... though honestly, I believe older readers will enjoy it as well. The premise: A 12-year-old boy and his friends have to survive in the mining tunnels after their new space colony are attacked during an Earth communication blackout.

Love the unexpected plot twists.

Loved the action and adventure, sense of real danger. The darker bits are part of what helps set this sf middle grade apart from others.

Love the main character, Christopher, and how his character develops throughout the story. Love the fact that he's just an ordinary boy (no superpowers, etc.) who has to use resources available to him to figure things out and learn how to be a leader.

Loved the depth of the character interactions and complexity of some of the relationships.

Loved the strong female characters.

Loved the fascinating tech/science behind the asteroid mining process.

Just ***LOVED***.

Can't wait until MiNRS comes out this September from Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster.

And Kevin: I want MORE, PLEASE.

Read about MiNRS on the Simon & Schuster website.

Find out more about Kevin and his work at KevinSylvesterBooks.com.

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More info: Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge | Archives of my #BookADay posts. 

Three Questions for Kevin Sylvester: indie bookseller podcast, advice for young writers & illustrators, and outer space

Kevin Sylvester is not only a talented children's book writer/illustrator and broadcaster, but he's also one of the nicest kidlit people you could hope to meet. His Neil Flambé books for Grades 3-7 are incredibly fun; you can find out more about these and Kevin's other books on his website. In addition to Neil Flambé and the Bard's Banquet (Book #5 of the Flambé series) coming out today, Kevin's Baseballogy: Supercool Facts You Never Knew just came out from Annick.

If you're in the Toronto area this Sat. Jan. 17, 2015, you can meet Kevin at Chapters Markham at 2 pm. Details on Facebook.

1. Could you please take a photo of a random object in your office and tell us about it?

How about this?

It was on my desk when I got the email, so I just picked it up and took the photo.

It's a microphone I use to record the Great Kids, Great Reads podcast. I bought it a couple of years ago and I can take it on the road with my iPad to interview independent booksellers. I've done "on the road" versions in Ann Arbor, New York, all over Ontario and in Phoenix. The podcast is my chance to talk to indie booksellers about their picks for the best books for kids. (It's available on iTunes)

I love independent bookstores a lot. The sellers there read everything, and tapping into their expertise makes me smarter too.

2. What advice do you have for young writers and illustrators?

The best advice is to very carefully examine your favourite artists and actually see how they do what they do.

Do they use simple sentences? Or complex? Do they mix it up? Do they end each chapter with an open question, hooking you in? Do they draw digitally with lots of details? Is line more important than colour? Find out what they do, and how they do it, and then copy them.

Don't plagiarize or steal, but mimic. I read a lot of Artemis Fowl when I was writing the first Neil Flambé and I can see echoes of Eoin Colfer's humour and descriptive sentences in my book. I think my own voice has emerged in the later books in the series (and my new series MiNRS, which launches this fall) but I stood "on the shoulders of giants" to get there. Bob Dylan sounded a LOT like Woody Guthrie on his first few albums, and the Beatles lifted songs straight from Chuck Berry, but that gave them the experience to go beyond.

3. What are you excited about these days?

Space. I grew up with a poster of the universe over my bed and I would stare at it for hours, meditating on the fragile improbability of our existence. 2001 is far and away my favourite movie. I've always wanted to set a book in space, and that book comes out in fall 2015 (MiNRS#1, Simon & Schuster).

But what's amazing (and unintentional on my part) is that we are in a golden age of space exploration right now. The Hubble telescope continues to unlock secrets of star formation, the european space agency landed a satellite on a rock, and NASA is discovering earth-like planets all over the place. Chris Hadfield also stirred up the popular imagination with his time in the space station. So, wow.

You can find out more about Kevin at his website, blog, Twitter and Facebook.

And here's me being all fangirlworshippy at the Inspire! Toronto Book Fair, in the Simon & Schuster Canada booth:

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For more interviews, see my Inkygirl Interview Archive.

Hanging out with Neil Flambé writer/illustrator Kevin Sylvester

For more info about Kevin Sylvester:

http://kevinsylvesterbooks.com