Finding Your Own Voice

I like to moonlight as editor of the SCBWI Metro NY Chapter Blog. We wrapped up our season with Nova Ren Suma speaking on Finding Your Own Unique voice. I was the writer on this one.

  To check out other articles and events go to: SCBWI Metro NY Chapter

Award-winning YA author and writing instructor Nova Ren Suma spoke about voice at the final SCBWI Tuesday night professional series lecture of the season in June 2015. She emphasized three important tasks for writers: finding your own unique voice, taking risks, and being true to yourself.

The journey of being a writer is not an easy one. Suma explained how voice is deeply connected to that journey and often develops from hitting a low point, such as failing to find an agent or publisher or feeling your career has stalled.

She described a low point in her own career when she doubted her place in the YA publishing world. She no longer felt connected to her readers or her publisher. So in her next book, 17 and Gone, she tried to please everyone. This only created a feeling of more distance and she began to question everything.

“Should I take a break and write something else?” she asked. She was advised, “Embrace what is going on in YA right now, and write more commercial books.”

“Is this the way to carve out my place in the industry?” Suma wondered. “Should I actually try to be more commercial?”

After much soul-searching, Suma decided instead to write one last book that was all her own. She put together what she calls “a weird book proposal” doing exactly the opposite of all the advice.

“I wrote just for me,” she said. “I am weird, so I write weird!”

She left the large house she had been working with and submitted the proposal to smaller publishers. It was picked up by Algonquin House at a new literary imprint. So, Suma was starting over with a new house, a new editor, and a smaller advance.

She very quickly saw she had made the right choice. “I received wonderful support from the publisher, went to conferences, and got good responses to the book, including seven starred reviews and a review in the NY Times.” The Walls Around Us became the most successful book of her career to date.

Suma had spent many years ghostwriting middle grade books, chapter books, and media tie-ins. The Walls Around Us was the first book that was completely hers. However, she did learn a lot from writing other people’s characters, and working with editors, so that experience was not wasted.

So how does a writer stay true to her own voice? Suma suggests, “Look for a spark, make the reader connect. Use specific details to bring a place to life.”

In her writing workshops, she tells her students, “Take risks, let pieces of you filter into the story. Push yourself until the story deeply connects with you. If this was the last book you were going to write, what would you want to put in it?”

Her “impractical” advice to all writers: “Don’t worry about becoming the next John Greene or writing the next Hunger Games. Instead, be the first, unapologetic, original version of you.”

Reading by the Fire with The Adventurers Troll Creek

Diversity Panel at SCBWI Metro NY

I often moonlight as an editor for the SCBWI Metro NY Chapter Blog. This panel on diversity in children's books caught my eye. Here is the article by Adria Quiñones.

This article is reposted from SCBWI Metro NY Chapter Blog

The last year has seen heightened awareness and active discussion about the importance of providing diverse books for children. Inspired by the recent Children’s Book Center report on the lack of diversity among writers of children’s books and the rise of the We Need Diverse Books campaign, in February SCBWI offered a panel discussion about diversity with six professionals: authors Matt De La Peña and Rebecca Alexander, illustrator Eric Velasquez, publisher Stacy Whitman (Tu Books, a middle grade and YA genre fiction imprint at Lee & Low) and editor T.S. Ferguson (Harlequin Teen), moderated by Metro-NY Co-Regional Adviser Bridget Casey.

The panelists had similar visions of what diversity means. For illustrator Velasquez, diversity is “not just inclusion;” it’s about making a minority character the hero instead of the sidekick. Harlequin editor Ferguson noted that, “Everyone should have an equal voice. The loudest voice in the room shouldn’t be that of a white man.” Author De La Peña described a scene where, “We’ll read a description of someone walking into a coffee shop where there are three guys and a Mexican girl–she’s not just a girl, she’s marked [by being described as Mexican]. Diversity is focusing on the marked character.”

Velasquez continued, “We’re race-obsessed, but maybe we should be story-obsessed.” What kinds of stories should we try to tell? De la Peña suggested that diverse characters should be “in books for everyone, in stories that have nothing to do with diversity.” And what about trying to tell someone else’s story? Moderator Casey quoted Kwame Alexander’s session on diversity at the recent SCBWI Midwinter Conference, where he encouraged his audience to do their research and be respectful. Harlequin editor Ferguson advised the audience to “be open to criticism. Be willing to make changes.” Illustrator Velasquez was equally blunt: “Go out and meet somebody and have a conversation.” Rebecca Alexander, who writes about her experiences with disability, suggested authors write with eyes covered or ears blocked to gain empathy towards what it might be like to be blind or deaf.

The panelists agreed that to bring diversity to children’s literature, writers, illustrators and purchasers of children’s books have to take action. We must write, draw and buy books about characters who are diverse across all of the elements that make up the diversity spectrum. Tu Books publisher Whitman noted “11 axes of diversity,” including ethnicity, socio-economic stratum, gender identification, sexual orientation, beliefs and abilities. She suggested people not only buy diverse books but demand them when we can’t find them. “Take a list of books that you want to buy to your independent bookstore,” Whitman urged. “And if they don’t have them, ask them to order them for you.”

Several panelists mentioned the need to fight the belief that diverse books are only of interest to people of a particular subgroup. “When I published my book,” Alexander explained, “I would find it only in the Disabilities/Special Needs section of the bookstore, back in a corner behind a pillar. But able-bodied people also found themselves in my book.” Author De La Peña agreed. “It’s common for librarians to say, ‘We don’t need your book because we don’t have any students like that at our school.’ To which a writer-friend of mine responds, ‘Really? How many wizards do you have at your school?'”

Diverse books provide kids with a mirror, panelists agreed, but also with a window that shows how other people think and feel. As writers and illustrators, we should look to offer both.

For more resources, visit:
We Need Diverse Books Campaign: http://weneeddiversebooks.org/
Children’s Book Council’s Diversity Blog: http://www.cbcdiversity.com/
School Library Journal on “Embracing Diversity in YA”: http://www.slj.com/2013/09/teens-ya/embracing-diversity-in-ya-lit/
The Show Me Librarian’s post, “Selection is Privilege”: http://showmelibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/02/selection-is-privilege.html

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Adria Quiñones is a winner of SCBWI’s 2014 Emerging Voices award for her middle-grade novel, “The Disappeared.” Visit her at http://adriaq.com.

Crafting A Dynamic Character

I often moonlight as an editor for the SCBWI Metro NY Chapter Blog. For you writers with all those characters stuck in your head. Here is an article from of our events by Gae Polisner.

This article is reposted from SCBWI Metro NY Chapter Blog

Editorial Assistant Kelsey Murphy of Balzer & Bray led a wonderful workshop at the SCBWI LI on Saturday April 13, at the Huntington Public Library on Long Island. The workshop was on “Crafting a Dynamic Character.”

Ms. Murphy provided a four-pronged outline on how to craft dynamic characters, explaining that, to draw in readers – and prospective agents and editors! – realistic characters (1) must have a want, (2) must change, (3) must be emotional and reactive, and (4) must be specific (not stereotypical or clichéd).

Using examples from both participants’ own two-minute writing exercises prepared on the spot, as well as from well-loved picture books and works of young adult and middle grade fiction, Ms. Murphy walked the audience through each prong of character building, helping us to see how it is done, and why each prong matters.

“A character will change, while still being that character at the core.”

Always coming back to prong one, that a character must have wants in order for the reader to connect—and to build plot—at the outset of a story, Ms. Murphy explained that a writer should even know the wants of her secondary characters: “A character that wants for nothing is dull.” She explained physical wants versus emotional wants, active and overarching wants to build characters from the ground up—and to view their personal history through these statements of want.

Elaborating that showing, not telling, the history leading to those wants is key to a well-told story, Ms. Murphy stated: “A character with a want has power and will encounter conflict either in pursuit or in lack of pursuit of the desire itself . . . and the backgrounds to those wants give the book momentum and energize the story.”

Carrying these precepts over to picture book writing, Ms. Murphy shared that simplicity of focus in picture books matters. At the core of a picture book, there should be one central idea “blown out” via repetition or exploration or upending of classic tropes—bringing them to a funny or unusual setting, while the simple want of the story remains clear. “She wants a frog!” Ms. Murphy exclaimed, alluding to one of her favorite picture books her house has recently acquired.

Following the workshop, Ms. Murphy generously fielded an audience Q&A session and took writers’ individual questions.

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Gae Polisner is the award-winning author of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO and THE PULL OF GRAVITY (fsg/Frances Foster Books). She lives on Long Island with her husband, two sons, and a suspiciously-fictional looking dog she swore she’d never own. When she’s not writing, she can be found in her wetsuit in the open waters off the Long Island Sound.

The Truth About How I Got My Agent

One of the most frequently asked questions to an author is: How did you get your agent?

My wonderful author friend, Kat Yeh, has graciously offered to share her story.

My debut middle grade novel, THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE, has just come out and a lot of people have been asking me how I came to be repped by my superstar agent, Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary. I can't say enough good things about Sarah. I love that she owns her own business and puts everything behind it. I love that along with her lovely and elegant ways, she is a strong and fierce competitor. I love that to read her blogs and to hear her speak, you'd think she is 6'2" but she is, in reality, perfectly petite. I love that she plays the ukulele. And I loved that she made me feel that she believed in me and was behind me 100% from the moment she got my query.

So, The Truth About How To Get An Agent? I can only speak to my own experience and what worked for me.

Here are the stats:

Query letters sent: 5

Results: 4 offers of rep, 1 offer to revise together first

This is what I did.

1) RESEARCH

As soon as I became serious about being published, along with writing every day, I researched agents and editors with the stalker-ish fierceness unbecoming to ladies of a gentle sort. I looked up who repped whom. I subscribed to Publishers Marketplace and studied who sold what. I spent hours on Casey McCormick's invaluable site, Literary Rambles (http://www.literaryrambles.com/) and read every single agent interview. I talked to my friends. I asked everyone how they liked their agent - and, more importantly, WHY. I began crafting a list. A Dream List. It stayed fairly small. One thing I knew about myself was I did not want to do a mass mailing. I wanted to do a small personal mailing of submissions. I wanted to really know the agents I was subbing to. And I wanted them to know me.

2) NETWORKING

I went to a lot of conferences. I sought out specific agents and where they would be speaking. I went to their workshops. I signed up for as many critiques as I could. I am shy, by nature, and this part was pretty hard for me — at first. But I found that most people want nothing more than to be helpful during critiques and I learned so much during them.

3) REVISED LIKE CRAZY
 

During this time, I was fiercely revising the manuscript for THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE. I knew that this was the manuscript that I wanted to put out in the world first. This was the manuscript upon which I was going to base my query. And I knew that you only had one chance to make a first impression. I did not want to waste it on a weak submission and risk being written off by someone on my dream list.  I did not want to be the writer who rushed and submitted something that was clearly not ready to go.

4) TIMING

Then something wonderful happened. I won the Sue Alexander Award at LA12SCBWI for a YA work-in-progress and suddenly, in a small way, my name was out there a little bit. I knew it was the time to sub agents.

I took my small Dream List of four agents and wrote personal queries. I had either met with all of them — or had a personal connection through a friend who was recommending me to them. I sent out my four and took a deep breath. Then I spoke to my friend (and wonderful writer) Betsy Devaney — who was playing the role of my Submission Therapist during this time. We went over all my choices and then I mentioned there was one more person I wanted to sub to, but it was also the one person that I really did not have any connection to. Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary. We had met once briefly, but I didn’t know any of her clients to recommend me to her and she had never critiqued me or read anything I'd written. Without any sort of connection, I felt that, if I subbed to her, I would just end up in a pile and lay there for months…

But I really liked her.

I liked her blog and her writing and her passion.

Oh, and she had the same name as my best friend from high school.

Betsy intervened. "I know Sarah and I'm friends with one of her clients, Sarah Aronson - I'll ask Sarah to tell Sarah to put you at the top of her list —"

Now, I'm one of those people who never cut in line. I felt awkward. Favors from someone like Sarah Aronson (whom I had also never met) made me feel uncomfortable.

But then I gave in. Of course, because - c'mon.

I know that writers are always interested in the Query That Worked. So, this is the query I sent:

Dear Ms. Davies,

We met briefly during this year's NJSCBWI Summer conference. You share a first and last name with my best friend. And we share a favorite book: THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt. I have really enjoyed reading your blog and I love your comparison of writing to music. Your online presence seems to be so much about teaching and discussing the publishing world and your passion to "nurture and grow" your authors is clear. I'm seeking representation for my middle grade manuscript, TWINKIE PIE (AND OTHER THINGS OF A DELICATE NATURE), complete at 52,000 words.

Take two sisters: a brainy 12 year old and a Jr. High Dropout Turned Hairdresser.

Add a Move from the trailer parks of South Carolina to the Gold Coast of New York.

Mix in a fancy new school, a first crush, and a generous serving of trailer park food.

Then top it all off with a supposedly dead Mama and her lipstick.

It's the recipe for TWINKIE PIE (AND OTHER THINGS OF A DELICATE NATURE), the story of what happens when 12 year old GiGi Barnes and her big sister, DiDi, say goodbye to their home in the South, leaving everything behind — except their dead Mama's cookbook of trailer park recipes. After all, recipes play a big part in their lives. DiDi has even given GiGi a Recipe for Success that is sure to head her straight for an Ivy League education.

But GiGi figures it's time to try her own Recipes. Like how to make good friends as easily as she makes good grades. How to turn her boy friend, Trip, into A Boyfriend. And especially how to find a tube of Mama's favorite lipstick, Revlon's Cherries in the Snow. Discontinued now for 20 years. On her search for all these things, GiGi stumbles upon a clue that leads her to believe that her dead Mama might not be so dead after all. Filled with recipes, humor, and heartache, TWINKIE PIE (AND OTHER THINGS OF A DELICATE NATURE) is a story about growing up, reinventing yourself, and most of all, figuring out what to make — out of what you've been given.

Pasted below are the first five pages. I would be glad to send the complete manuscript at your request. It was an honor to have the first few chapters nominated for the Sue Alexander Award at the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA, last year. I have received editor requests for the full, which I would prefer to send with an agent's Guidance and Wisdom. I have also just been informed that I am the winner of this year's Sue Alexander Award for my work-in-progress, a YA, titled GIRL IN SHADOW.

Before writing children's books, I worked in advertising and sports marketing at Saatchi & Saatchi. My two previously published pictures books are YOU'RE LOVABLE TO ME (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2009) and THE MAGIC BRUSH: A Story of Love, Family, and Chinese Characters (Walker Books for Young Readers, 2011). I have decided that it's time to start working with an agent (and stop pretending that I know how to read contracts on my own).

I thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Kat Yeh

(directly below this, I pasted the first chapter of my manuscript)

And that's it. 

Two days after sending in my queries, I received an offer from one of the other four agents. As was appropriate, I let the remaining agents know that there was currently an offer of rep. I heard from Sarah right away. She was heading for the airport at the break of dawn the next morning to attend a conference and asked for the full manuscript and if she could get back to me after she returned from her event in a few days — which I gladly gave her. An hour later, Sarah emailed me to let me know that after reading my query, she was going to read my manuscript immediately. During this time, another offer came in. Sarah began emailing me every few hours to let me know how far she was in the manuscript and how excited she was. That afternoon, in the checkout line at the grocery store, I received an email from her that had me bursting into tears (and confusing my cashier!). She asked if we could speak that evening before she left for her flight in the morning. During that call, she discussed how passionate she was about my manuscript, all the reasons she felt that she and Greenhouse Literary were the right fit for me, and she offered representation. I received another offer of rep. And then the last offer came in to revise together. I slept on it. And it came down to this.

It was a small list. It was a Dream List. No matter which way I went, I knew I was in great hands. I had used my head to get me this far. The final decision I left up to the heart. I accepted the offer from Sarah. After another round of revisions, she took THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE to auction where it sold to Alvina Ling at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 

To everyone about to send out their queries, I wish you the best of luck. This is what worked for me, but everyone will find their own way and what works for them. And that's the truth.

THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE available Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Interview with Author Richard Herr

Invasion From Fred!

I'm thrilled to share with you a very funny new book by my author-friend, Richard Herr!

Invasion from Fred is a humorous sci-fi story of a young boy and his friends who encounter an alien in the forest disguised as a fire hydrant. Hilarity ensues as they try to help the alien find its new look and stop an invasion to boot.

Richard and I met through a writing group called The Write Group in Montclair, NJ. We have shared many an adventure with critique groups and workshops along the way.

Richard, can you tell us about yourself?

I like walking on the beach in the moonlight...No, I’m sorry! Wrong frame of reference! Where have I been on my travel through life? I’ve had a number of jobs along the way: actor, musician, stage manager, AV technician, business owner. I’ve got two daughters and four grandchildren. ...and OK, I do like walking on the beach in the moonlight. 

Sounds like you have had lots of experiences to draw from. So tell us, what is Invasion from Fred about?

The main thing that it’s about is the three generations of characters. A grandmother who is a former Flower Power pacifist; a father who’s an investment banker; and a 12-year-old boy trying to figure out what he’s going to do with his life. He’s mirrored by an alien who’s visiting Earth, trying to figure out what to do as an adult. Boy, that all sounds very heavy. This is actually a funny book. 

It is a funny book! And I loved the interaction between the alien and the kids. And the relationship the boy has with his grandmother. What inspired you to write Invasion from Fred?

I wanted to write to young people in a simple, direct way, not preach to them. I wanted to use everyday language. That is, if you include ‘Who’s-On-First-style’ dialogue as everyday talk. 

Have you ever met any aliens? 

Better than that. I’ve been an alien. I’ve also been a mother, a father, several cats, and every character I’ve ever written about. As a writer, you’ve got to know how all of them think. If you’re writing a scene where two people have an argument, you’ve got to argue both sides for them. 

Now that makes for very interesting points of view! Can you describe the genre you write in?

This is a science fiction book. After all, we are getting invaded from a planet called Fred. Its main genre is humor. The sci-fi and the fantasy genres are very good for humor writing. You can have things be totally outlandish and simply explain that’s how things are on that planet.

In the sci-fi genre you have created a whole new world. How did you accomplish that?

You start out asking the question, “What if?” Everything follows from there. What if the planet these aliens in your book came from was a gas giant? I guess they’d have to be made out of gas themselves. What if there were elves, and trolls, and wizards, and humans, and unicorns? I guess there’d be some inter-species arrangements for co-existence. What if an alien came to this planet to decide what to do as an adult? I guess you’d wind up with an invasion from Fred. 

Can you tell us about your writing process? 

There are many writers who carefully outline their books, using 3 x 5 cards, and flow charts, and probably have a form of the outline that’s a PowerPoint presentation. That isn’t me. I usually come up with some overall idea, figure out how things start, then sit down at the computer and start writing. The exciting thing about working that way is that characters will suddenly take the story in a brand new, exciting direction I couldn’t have thought about. 

How long have you been writing?

I started out about a dozen years ago. I was staring at a blank computer screen and decided to fill it with words. 

What about writing do you enjoy most?

I’m enjoying doing something entirely different. Prior to writing, I was a technician. Now that’s changed. It was like washing my brain. 

You have two other adult books as well. Can you describe them?

My second book is the first book in a new series called Dog & Pony. This is Volume I, and it’s called “Aloha.” The Dog & Pony part has to do with the setting for the book. The protagonist has a company that produces corporate presentations, otherwise known as Dog & Pony shows. But the story really involves schemes to take over the worlds, two of them: our own, and the one of the Fair Folk. Harry, the narrator, is a reluctant hero who gets dragged into all sorts of adventures, protesting every step of the way.


And your third book is also a sci-fi humor story. Can you tell us about that?

Yes, Tales from the Starboard Café encourages you to belly up to a bar next to a Spacer in most any location in the galaxy, and you can expect to be plunged into a brawl, or worse. However, you might also find yourself the involuntary audience to a story. The Café holds a yearly storytelling contest, and Spacers love to tell stories. The individual tales in the contest might reveal that strange happenings are stirring the galaxy-wide civilization. These problems might involve that recently-uplifted, disruptive breed known as the Humans; or the vanished Wistrani, the highly advanced founders of the Amalgam? Whatever the stories are about, they promise to be most prankish!

Now that promises to be prankish indeed! Who are your favorite books and authors?

Terry Pratchett, Christopher Moore, Douglas Adams, Jasper Fforde, Tom Holt, Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen, and Janet Evanovich. 

I think Invasion From Fred is a great addition to the science fiction and humor genres for young readers. Can you offer any advice for aspiring authors? And what advice helped you the most?

Follow your heart--but keep your head in the conversation. 

Wise words. Richard, thanks so much for doing the interview and telling us about your book and writing process.

Richard and his grandchildren reading an Invasion from Fred

You can visit Richard's website here

Invasion From Fred available Amazon and Barnes and Noble