Tag: interviews

How They Got Here: 2009 Debut Author Erin Dionne

This is the first in a year-long series of blog interviews I’ll be hosting with my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, called "How They Got Here." 

It should be an especially helpful series for teens who write, teachers, and anyone who wants to write for kids.  2009 debut authors will be dropping by to talk about how their writing in school shaped the authors they are today, what teachers can do to make a difference, how they revise, and how they found their agents and editors.  (You’ll even be able to read some successful query letters!)  If you know a teacher or two who might be interested, please share the link!


Today…Erin Dionne, author of MODELS DON’T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES!

Thirteen-year-old Celeste Harris is no string bean, but comfy sweatpants and a daily chocolate cookie suit her just fine. Her under-the-radar lifestyle could have continued too, if her aunt hadn’t entered her in the HuskyPeach Modeling Challenge. To get out of it, she’s forced to launch Operation Skinny Celeste—because, after all, a thin girl can’t be a fat model! What Celeste never imagined was that losing weight would help her gain a backbone . . . or that all she needed to shine was a spotlight.

Welcome, Erin!  Please tell us about the first thing you ever wrote that made you think maybe you were a writer.

Hmm….I guess it was the short story I wrote in fourth grade about a girl who hid while watching the colonists plan the Boston Tea Party. I loved the feeling of concocting my own version of the story. I still have it.

What books did you love when you were a kid?

Too many to list. Off the top of my head: The Little House on the Prairie series, the Great Brain books, Charlotte’s Web, The Westing Game, Hotel For Dogs; Jennifer, Hecate, William McKinley & Me, Elizabeth…

Is there a particular teacher or librarian who was a mentor for you in your reading and writing life?

Yes! Mrs. deBaerstrand, my 4th grade teacher encouraged my outrageous reading comprehension skills by giving me books to take home and devour, and she would quiz me on the contents when I finished them–often the next day!

In high school, Mrs. Baron encouraged my writing. I never had her as a teacher, but she was the faculty adviser to the school’s literary magazine, which I edited. She encouraged me to write as much as I could.

Moving on to the here and now, most writers admit that making time to write can sometimes be a challenge. When and where do you write? Do you have any special rituals? Music?

Most of the time I write on my laptop, either at the dining room table or in my local library. Since I have a new baby, I write whenever I get the time!

I always listen to music when I’m working–typically mellow, background stuff like Paul Simon, Jack Johnson, or Sting. But I’ll sneak a Red Hot Chili Peppers song or Linkin Park on my playlist to wake me up every so often!

Do you have a favorite strategy for revision?

I have an elaborate kabuki ritual around revision. I wish I were a one-or-two revision writer, but I’m not. In order for my work to be good, I have to go through a lot of steps:

I print the manuscript, make handwritten notes on it and tag the pages with post-it notes. Then I input the changes into the computer, making additional tweaks as I go. I print the manuscript again, make the edits–I did this 7 times when working on MODELS. Then I put each scene on a color-coded index card to evaluate the book as a whole. And I go back to the manuscript two more times.

What’s your best advice for young writers?

Read a lot. Write a lot. Love it!

What’s special about your debut novel?

What’s special to me is that it shows how hard work can really pay off! What’s special to readers…well, I hope readers find something special that they relate to.

What were the best and worst parts of writing it?

The best parts were when the words came in a rush, and when writing some of the scenes I cracked myself up. There weren’t any "worst parts." Going to the keyboard was tougher some days than others, but overall I loved every minute of it.

How did you find your agent and/or editor?

I found my agent through a recommendation from another author, but she wasn’t ready to take on children’s book writers at the time. About a year later, she was adding children’s book writers to her client list, and MODELS was ready to go out. Voila!


Ready to dig into this tasty novel?  You can pick up MODELS DON’T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES at your local independent bookseller, order it through one of my favorite indies, Flying Pig Bookstore (they ship!), or find an indie near you by checking out IndieBound!

Up next in the "How They Got Here" Debut 2009 series…Saundra Mitchell, author of SHADOWED SUMMER, will be stopping by on Monday, February 16th.

How They Got Here: 2009 Debut Author Sarah MacLean

This is the first in a year-long series of blog interviews I’ll be hosting with my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, called "How They Got Here." 

It should be an especially helpful series for teens who write, teachers, and anyone who wants to write for kids.  2009 debut authors will be dropping by to talk about how their writing in school shaped the authors they are today, what teachers can do to make a difference, how they revise, and how they found their agents and editors.  (You’ll even be able to read some successful query letters!)  If you know a teacher or two who might be interested, please share the link!

Today…Sarah MacLean, author of THE SEASON!


Seventeen-year-old Lady Alexandra Stafford doesn’t fit into the world of Regency London — she’s strong-willed, sharp-tongued, and she absolutely loathes dress fittings. Unfortunately, her mother has been waiting for years for Alex to be old enough to take part in the social whirlwind of a London Season so she can be married off to someone safe, respectable, wealthy, and almost certainly boring. But Alex is much more interested in adventure than romance.

Between sumptuous balls, lavish dinner parties and country weekends, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get entangled in her biggest scrape yet. When the Earl of Blackmoor is killed in a puzzling accident, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. It’s a mystery brimming with espionage, murder, and suspicion. As she and Gavin grow closer, will Alex’s heart be stolen in the process?

Romance and danger fill the air, as this year’s Season begins!

Welcome, Sarah!  Please tell us about the first thing you ever wrote that made you think maybe you were a writer.

I’ve wanted to be a romance novelist for as long as I can remember.  When I was 13, I wrote a romance short story for my 7th Grade English class.  I don’t remember much about it, but I do remember the heroine was named Chantel.  My teacher, who was a man, posted it on the bulletin board outside his room, and it became a big gossipy thing in my school because the hero and heroine French kissed.  That’s when I knew I might actually pull this crazy career off someday. 

What books did you love when you were a kid?

I cut my teeth on Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach was my favorite book for AGES), Judy Blume, Ann M. Martin and the Sweet Valley High Books.  And then I found Jane Austen, and never looked back.

Is there a particular teacher or librarian who was a mentor for you in your reading and writing life?

There isn’t one…there are dozens.  I was so very lucky to have a collection of incredible teachers and librarians who encouraged my crazy ideas and were willing to go along for the ride.  Off the top of my head: Ms. Brear (4th Grade); Mr. Sullivan (6th Grade); Mr. Slattery (8th Grade Geography who never once complained when I spent every free moment in his class with a romance novel in my hand); Mrs. Moylan (who made history come alive for me in high school); Ms. Nolette, Mr. Boudreau and Mrs. Deriso (who did the same for literature). And Ms. Long (my high school librarian who is still there…and still a big fan). And that’s all before college! 

Moving on to the here and now, most writers admit that making time to write can sometimes be a challenge.  When and where do you write?   Do you have any special rituals?  Music?  Food & beverages?

I have a day job (like most writers), so things are particularly challenging in my world. 

The short answer is, I write whenever I can. I’m on a really tight schedule for my next books, with one due every 6 months for the next year and a half, so I can’t really afford to have a ritual. Mainly, I write on the subway, waiting in restaurants for friends, at the laundromat, and at my dining room table while my husband watches The West Wing. 

When I am at home, though, my writing almost always involves classical music.  Mozart was really popular in the Regency, so I listen to a lot of that…and Johann Strauss, Jr.’s waltzes always get me in a ballroom-scene-kind-of-mood.

Do you have a favorite strategy for revision?

Trust your gut and slash and burn. If I second guess a sentence or word, it gets cut or rewritten. No questions asked.

What’s your best advice for young writers?

Writing is not a talent.  It’s a skill.  Write every single day and you’ll eventually be a pro.

What’s special about your debut novel?

I hope that Alex and her friends are what’s special about it.  My goal going into it was to create a world and a group of characters who were fun and feisty and, most importantly, good friends to each other.  I hope I accomplished that.  

What were the best and worst parts of writing it?

I’ve said it before…writing The Season was the most fun I’ve ever had.  In my life.  Meeting these characters, spending time with them, enjoying them, it was all so fun.  It wasn’t so fun being on deadline.  And it’s not so fun waiting for reviews and reader response.  But the writing was SO FUN!

How did you find your agent and/or editor?

My editor found me, actually…she knew I was thinking about a Regency novel and suggested I try one for YA. I actually didn’t have an agent for it…but I now have one–best thing I ever did.

Would you like to share part or all of your successful query letter with blog readers?

Again, it was slightly different for me…but here’s the first paragraph of the query I sent for an agent…after the purchase of The Season.

Lavish ballgowns, extravagant parties, juicy romance and a fair share of adventure fill my young adult regency romance series–which follows three best friends as they navigate their first London Season during the spring and summer of 1815. The first of these books, The Season, has already been purchased by Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic, and is set for publication in March of 2009.  I am writing to you with a somewhat strange query; I was unrepresented for The Season  and would like to avoid being so for the next book!

The Regency World of Sarah MacLean. 
Be there…or be talked about.
http://www.macleanspace.com

So…would you rather be there than be talked about?  You can pick up THE SEASON at your local independent bookseller, order it through one of my favorite indies, Flying Pig Bookstore (they ship!), or find an indie near you by checking out IndieBound!

Up next in the "How They Got Here" Debut 2009 series…Erin Dionne, author of MODELS DON’T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES, will be stopping by on Wednesday, February 11th.

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Nonfiction Monday – An Interview with Jim Murphy

If you’ve spent any time around middle school kids, you know they devour Jim Murphy’s works of nonfiction.  Murphy has won two Newbery Honors for his books The Great Fire and An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.  His latest book, The Real Benedict Arnold, was brought to my attention this fall by a Vermont librarian who purchased it as a non-fiction companion to go along with my middle grade historical novel Spitfire, about a young girl who disguises herself as a boy to join Arnold’s fleet on Lake Champlain during the American Revolution. 

Jim was kind enough to take time out from his writing to answer some questions for blog readers.

Thanks so much for joining us, Jim! Your most well-known works of non-fiction for middle grade readers have focused on disasters — fire, the blizzard, the yellow fever epidemic.  What drew you to write a book about Benedict Arnold?

Yes, I’ve done a lot of books that focus on one or another form of disaster.  In fact, my friends jokingly call me the Master of Disaster.  I try to write nonfiction that reads like a good “you are there” story and a fire or blizzard or whatever has the built feature of having a beginning, middle, and an end.  What’s more, these are often dramatic events that people who survive write about in vivid and dramatic prose.  Combine the event and the people and the result has the potential to be a book that allows readers to experience a part of our history in an active, involving way. 

So you’re right that The Real Benedict Arnold was a bit of a departure for me.  I was drawn to him because most books about the American Revolution or about Arnold simply paint him with the traitor brush and never try it discover why he turned against the Cause.  In addition, very few give him proper credit for his military abilities.  He was, in my opinion, the best field general that the colonies had and deserves a great deal of credit for the ultimate American victory.   

Where did your research for this book take you?  Were there many surprises along the way?

Researching The Real Benedict Arnold was a nightmare.  I ended just about every day with a massive headache and the feeling that I’d only scratched the surface.  But after six or so years the path to the finished began to look clearer.  Here’s why it proved to be so difficult.  I found that many, if not most of the negative stories about Benedict surfaced after he’d turned traitor.  I wondered how many were invented by people who wanted to distance themselves from Benedict or saw it as an opportune moment to get even.  I also wanted to find out the truth about the negative stories that existed before he went over the British.  So every event in his life had to be evaluated as if it was a potential crime scene and my job was to trace every story (positive and negative) back to its origins and then evaluate it as carefully as I could.  The biggest surprise for me was how many of these stories were completely fabricated and false, and then passed along as fact by succeeding generations of historians.

You’ve written both non-fiction and historical fiction.  How does your writing process differ with those two genres?

Research for both my nonfiction and historical fiction is pretty much the same.  I’m a bit obsessive about assembling facts and trying to “see” what the person or event was really like.  The writing process itself is different.  In nonfiction I can include only information that I’ve been able to verify with at least two reliable sources.  This means stopping frequently to discover, for instance, what the weather was like every day during Benedict’s march with his troops through the Maine wilderness.  With my historical fiction, the emphasis is on the characters – what are their conflicts or aspirations, what problems get in their way and how to they overcome them, etc.  Still, I try to create characters that are historically accurate.  This means shying away from giving them obviously modern opinions and ideas (say about the environment or war in general).  

Many teachers are using your books in the classroom, particularly as companion books alongside historical novels.  I know that my school has a class set of An American Plague that we use with Laurie Halse Anderson’s Fever, and I’ve heard from another school that’s planning to use your new Arnold book as a non-fiction companion to go along with my own historical novel, Spitfire.  As an author, how do you feel about the trend of fiction & non-fiction being paired in the classroom?

On a purely selfish level, I love to have my nonfiction books paired with someone else’s historical fiction counterpart.  In general, kids will much more readily seek out historical fiction than nonfiction (historical fiction comes with a promise of action and drama, while nonfiction seems like tons of facts).  So using one of my nonfiction books and historical fiction together in a classroom allows more readers to get a taste for the way I write history and might even convince some that it might even be fun to read.

I like the pairing of nonfiction and historical fiction for another reason.  Reading historical fiction allows readers to see the past through a character’s eyes and, hopefully, might prompt a series of opinions or questions.  Readers can then use the nonfiction book to check out their ideas or get a fuller understanding of our past. 

Are there other works of historical fiction that you like to recommend as companions to your non-fiction titles?  Have you heard about novels or picture books that teachers  like to use along with Blizzard and The Great Fire?

This is a great question for which I have no answer.  I tend to muddle along day to day struggling to get words on a page, so I haven’t devoted much thought to additional pairings.  And most teachers I’ve spoken with have spoken about the pairings mentioned above, but not offered new ones.  Maybe the notion is so new that most of us don’t think about it in a regular way.  Besides, I have a feeling most of your readers a better qualified to make such pairings.  Or maybe someone out there should write an article about it for SLJ….

(How about it blog readers?  Any thoughts on novels or picture books that would work well as pairings for Murphy’s other books?  Betsy Bird, doesn’t that sound like a blog post in the making?)

Readers always love a sneak preview, Jim.  Can you tell us what you’re working on now?

What am I working on?  Well, I’ve written a nonfiction book about the Battle of Antietam called A Savage Thunder.  It’s a look at how Robert E. Lee and George McClellan managed their armies both before, during, and after the battle, but the story line is driven by scores of firsthand accounts of the fighting.  It will be published by Simon & Schuster in spring, 2009.

I have two other nonfiction books in the works.  One is entitled Truce: The Day the Soldiers Refused to Fight (and is about the famous Christmas truce in 1914).  The other as yet untitled book follows George Washington from his disastrous performance in the Battle of Long Island to his miraculous victory at Trenton.  Neither book has an official pub date, but (if someone somewhere smiles upon me) might appear in 2009. 

Finally, my wife, Alison Blank, and I are writing a history of tuberculosis (which is much more interesting and scary than it sounds).    

Jim, thanks so much for joining us for Nonfiction Monday!  We’ll be looking for those new titles in 2009.