UNSPOKEN and Sarah Rees Brennan

I'm SO excited to introduce you to savvy author, Sarah Rees Brennan, today. This interview has been on hold since March, when I finished an ARC of her latest paranormal YA, UNSPOKEN. The ARC included Sarah's email address (brave!) so of course, I had to tell her how much I loved this book. (also brave for me but kinda stalkerish/fangirlish) She responded very graciously not only to my gushing first email but to an interview request...which she then turned around in .5 nanoseconds. o.O  I really, really like organized people. being one myself and all. ahem. *looks modest*

Sarah's debut novel, The Demon's Lexicon, came out in 2009 - the first in a trilogy -  and got a starred review from the School Library Journal. Critics said that "even teens who don't consider themselves genre buffs will appreciate the solid writing, fast-paced plot and authenticity" Sarah created. She's also co-written Team Human with Justine Larbalestier, a vampire tale with a little zombie mixed in....Now, just from their blurbs, I can tell you that neither of these books fit my usual milieu. I'm not a paranormal fan. The thought of vampires fills me with such intense sarcastic power, my eyes practically roll out of my head and all I can parrot is: "whatever! whatever! whatever!"

BUT...what that reviewer said? True. Sarah's storytelling transcends genre. UNSPOKEN  hooked me with one line: Kami Glass is in love with someone she's never met—a boy she's talked to in her head since she was born. I read the novel in .5 nanoseconds. It was that good. And a bit inspiring. (read about that, plus see Unspoken's book trailer, here.)

Moi:  So Unspoken is set in the Cotswolds, one of the most adorable places on earth. Whyever did you choose it for the setting of this magical story?

SRB: My aunt lives there, so I know the place. ;) I've been to the Cotswolds many times, both to visit my family, and on walking tours, and when I was writing Unspoken I stayed in a small town, visiting others, walking through fields, and getting attacked by a very large fountain and a very small goat. (The countryside can be a dangerous place...)
I knew I wanted the English countryside, and I wanted to write about a small town, somewhere that was really beautiful but also remote: somewhere that seemed like a countryside idyll, until it didn't, somewhere with a lot of secrets under shady trees and amidst loveliness that was almost magical.
In the Cotswolds the town names seem like stories (Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, the Severn Vale are real places, and Sorry-in-the-Vale seemed to fit right in.) Even the stone there looks like gold from a fairytale: it was perfect.

Moi: I LOVE that Kami is half-Japanese. Talk about if you thought about this ahead of time, or if she just popped out of your head, fully grown. Will Japanese folk-lore get more play in the next two books?

SRB: Kami being part Japanese wasn't the first thing I knew about her (that was that she was a schoolgirl reporter, and then that she had a goofy sense of humour)... but it was one of the early things. I've read quite a few Gothic novels (you know, huge manor, mystery and secrets!) in which the heroine finds herself in a Mysterious and Strange Land, but the heroine herself was always white and English, and of course a lot of English people aren't white! It started to seem weird to me that someone with the same background was front and centre again and again.
Kazuo Ishiguro, a writer of Japanese descent living in England, said: "I grew up with a very strong image in my head of this other country, a very important other country to which I had a strong emotional tie[...]. In England I was all the time building up this picture in my head, an imaginary Japan."

That really struck a chord with me. Kami's never been to Japan, and the stories she knows about it are uniquely her stories, but so are the English stories: she has so many stories. I knew from early on that folklore was a part of the plot, and I didn't want it to be just traditional English folklore. Countries have a lot of variety, have many different kinds of people all living there, making up the fabric of a home, and lots of different stories wind together to become one. I wanted to talk about that in Unspoken, which is so much about imagination and stories: about the imaginary worlds inside your head, and the different people who make up a homeland.

Moi: The most compelling thing for me about Unspoken was your tension. Talk about drafting tension - is there a magic formula to creating great tension between characters? Are you able to tell while you're writing if you've achieved that, or does that knowledge always come w/ beta feedback?

SRB: Thank you. ;) Golly, I have never thought about tension as its own thing: you write the characters as realistically as you can, and the relationship between them as well as you can, and conflict or tension arises because of the people they are: it seems real and you care if the writer's succeeded in making you believe in the characters and care about them.
Kami has a lot of tension with a lot of people: her parents, her imaginary friend, her real friends, the people she's known all her life and the new people entering her life. Tension comes from the characters and the story they're in, the secrets revealed and the truths and lies told: whether you find or lose people as the story goes on, whether someone rubs you up the wrong way or fits with you. I enjoyed writing about Kami and Ash and Jared and Angela and Holly and everyone else, in many different combinations! I'm glad that came through!
I never know if I've achieved anything, but my critique partners saying 'Yes, that bit has the desired effect' or 'Add pain, more pain' or 'This banter isn't sitting right with me' or 'SO AND SO IS A CRAZY PERSON'... always very helpful. They're very helpful people. ;)

Moi: This book is the first of three, right? So how did you plot - a timeline? Rough sketches of each chapter? How is plotting a series different from plotting a single book? I mean, you can't go back to the first one and fix details later, if your third book goes in an entirely different direction, right?
SRB: I've never actually plotted a single book! I'm a series-writing kind of lady: I get so attached to the characters and the story that just one book doesn't seem like enough. I had a rough plan (not chapter by chapter) for the following books by the time the first one was finished: I know how the series is going to end, even if I end up taking a different path. I always know endings, and a few scenes in the middle, and then I figure out how to get there.
Besides, with publishing dates as they are, it is possible to go back and fix things if I absolutely need to. I'm partway through writing the third book now, and the second one is written and with my editor, and I can still change sentences in the first if I have to. Waiting for readers to read the first book is torture, but having it all flow together is achievable!

Moi: Some publishing questions: you've switched houses for this series. Did you have to go out on sub for Unspoken? If so, how was it different than when you submitted for your debut...and do editors give helpful feedback, even if they pass on your project? (you can tell that last one is for me. :)
SRB: I did have to go out on submission for Unspoken, yes! It was more or less the same as for my debut: agent gives you list of editors based on her thoughts (I had more suggestions this time around because I knew more), asks the editors if they wanna read, and then the editors go off with the book. You sit and wait, fainting and gnawing on electrical cords and then fainting again. Normal behaviour! Eventually, someone gets back with an offer. Maybe more than one someone. You then pass out for the fifty-seventh time, this time from relief and joy.
Editors sometimes just say 'Pass' and sometimes give helpful feedback: it very much depends on the editor. I've had great feedback from editors who I didn't end up working with: you remember the great feedback because you think 'Would definitely work with in the future.'

 Moi: Many say that houses have their own editing style. In general, have you noticed a big difference between how houses edit?
SRB: Oh, yes. Every editor edits differently, I think, but even house standards vary: Simon & Schuster did all its edits on paper, so I'd often feel bad about the huge packages going to and fro from Ireland, where I live.
With Random House it was all electronic, and the change in format made a big difference: sometimes I had to print out pages to remember how I used to edit! But then Harper Collins struck a middle ground electronic edits and on-paper copy edits.

Moi: You've got a heavy hitter for an editor - the VP of Random House for Children's Books. Talk about how you bribed...er earned that attention and if it's made a difference so far in your publishing journey, compared to your last series.

SRB: Well, I've been very lucky with editors. Karen Wojtyla at Simon & Schuster, who edited my Demon's Lexicon series, and Anne Hoppe at Harper Collins, who currently edits my Team Human books cowritten with Justine Larbalestier, are excellent and heavy hitters, to borrow a phrase, as well. All three of my editors deserve acclaim because they are great!
Mallory Loehr, my editor for Unspoken and the other Lynburn Legacy books, is wonderful, though. I met her at a convention before Unspoken was even finished, and I was awestruck to meet Tamora Pierce's editor, because I'm a big fan of Tamora Pierce. She was funny, smart, and loved a lot of the same writers I did, and I thought that one day it would be amazing to work with her. I didn't dream I would work with her so soon afterward. I don't think anybody knows how they attracted an editor's attention... you just send the book out into the wide world, having made it the best you can, and hope it finds a really good home. Unspoken did.

With Unspoken, it was really great how absolutely Mallory kept me in the loop: I heard everything about covers (and I have the best cover ever, thanks to Mallory finding my wonderful cover artist Beth White). I had regular calls and emails, even when Mallory was on maternity leave! She has been amazing, and thanks to that it's been smooth sailing. I really love Mallory and feel very lucky she took a fancy to Unspoken! '

Moi: So how often do people ask you why you haven't written about leprechauns, seeing as how you're Irish and all. :)
SRB: Never, there doesn't seem that much demand for a leprechaun tale. I have however many times declared that I was going to write a story in which a girl is wooed by a hot, hot leprechaun. It's going to be called GETTING LUCKY... ;)
How about 50 shades of green? *snicker*

Moi: Now, a question about the Demon's Lexicon, your first series put out by Simon & Schuster. In reading the synopses on your site, it's clear your premise follows that of other published authors in this genre - there are plenty of demons/evil running riot but no recognized higher power to offset your evil dudes. (The good guys are humans, right?)  And you're not alone in this lack. Everyone seems to agree on the face of evil...but nobody can write a recognized GOOD higher power into their secular MS without controversy and/or genre change. Why do you think this is?

'The good guys are humans, right?' Er, well, no? Some of them? The hero of my Demon's Lexicon series is a demon. ;)
The demons in those books are not Christian demons (hell, heaven and angels are entirely unknowable to my demons as well as to my humans)--they are the creatures from Sumerian legend, made of fire when humans are made of earth, dangerous but not necessarily evil any more than humans are necessarily good. I can't speak for other authors, but I'm not really interested in writing about clear-cut absolute figures of good vs evil.
I'm interested in shades of gray, how people not originally evil turn toward it, how love is born and endures. So that's what I write about. I hope it's what people will want to read about.
Thank you very much for the interview! ;)

Thank YOU for stopping by, Sarah! Next Monday I'll post my top fall YA reading recommendations, one of which the winner of our Fact or Fiction bloghop will choose for his/her very own. Sign up here.
Have a great week!


K is for: keeping faith

Cynthia Leitich Smith did a great interview of Beth Revis in honor of A Million Suns' debut last week. This book marks the sequel to Across the Universe, which launched Revis from obscure-writerdom into New York Times bestseller-dom.

Accompanying the interview is this great vlog Revis did for WriteOnCon last year (which is an online writer's conference that is totally awesome) which I somehow missed. But I'm sharing it with you now because Revis's journey is pretty typical.

If you have six minutes, watch, learn and be scared  enjoy!

Interview with Tricia Lawrence of EMLA

Thanks to all of you who've helped get the word out about next week's pitch contest with Tricia of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. For those of you just joining us and have no idea what's happening, click here and be sure to sign up for a great giveaway via Rafflecopter. (If you're here for the character blogfest, scroll down.)

Tricia

1.      How do you go about finding clients since your agency is closed to queries?

TL: We may be closed to queries, but we get referrals constantly from current clients, editors, other agencies, publishing folks; last week we got a referral from Danielle Steele! If we have time, we take part in contests with other agents (I read entries on Miss Snark and elsewhere, invited agent or not!) or we have fabulous clients who offer to run contests with queries/first 250 words such as this one (thanks, Melodie!). We may not have slush to read, but my Kindle is always full. I don’t ever have a day without submissions to read.

2.      Do you look for other characteristics in your clients besides the writing - online presence, member of writing organizations, etc.? You're a strong advocate for social media. What steps do you recommend aspiring authors take in this area before querying?

TL: I’m merging two questions into one here. Sure, it’s always nice to be able to do some research on a possible client, especially if the writing is promising. I often do my due diligence when I’m considering offering representation or if I’m even going to ask for an R&R (revise and resubmit) and I like seeing a blog/website that I can poke around at. Plus, social media, SCBWI, Verla Kay, QueryTracker are awesome ways to get to know other writers, editors, agents, industry people. You’ve got to be savvy these days and why not use all the free tools that are out there to be in the know, rather than stubbornly insist that your writing should speak for itself. Good writing does speak for itself, but we’re in a publishing age in which we’re all connected. No longer can you sit and scribble in the dark, hidden away from everyone and expect to make a living or sell a lot of books. So, don’t focus on it, but consider it. So it goes (1) good writing and then (2) social media/online presence, SCBWI.

3.      What type of relationship do you have with your clients? Do you talk often?

TL: We do talk via email as often as necessary. I’ve got clients on submission that check in, clients revising that check in, clients that I am still working with on figuring out revisions that check in. Email is wonderful.My clients are so kind about allowing me to take a break on the weekend or figuring out that by later in the evenings, I’m probably sacked out on the couch watching Big Bang Theory. They are patient to know that I’ll reply as soon as I can. 

Also, there is a very strong trust relationship between author and agent. I mean they have essentially hired me to represent them to the industry. They trust my judgment and I trust them to ask thoughtful questions about my process or something I’ve said or done. The best part is that my clients take a step back and let me do the agent stuff. They are then able to relax and do the writing stuff.

MW: I'll jump in here. Tricia is great at communicating via email or phone, however her clients feel comfortable. One thing I wanted in an agent is someone who responded promptly, and she definitely does that.

4.      What annoys you most in a potential client?

TL: Someone who doesn’t listen. I don’t have time to spend repeating myself, especially if they are not my client (my priority is my current clients, always) and if I write an email explaining how I think an author should approach said manuscript, I don’t like when they reply back and ask a question that shows they weren’t really paying attention to what I just wrote.

My words aren’t chiseled into stone, but I don’t have time to argue the point. Sometimes giving a critique is the most helpful thing I can do. People who don’t understand that do annoy me.

5. Is there a difference between being an agent in Washington State vs. New York?

TL: I believe that I have an alternate life and in it I live in NYC and I LOVE IT. What is that Katy Perry song called “In Another Life”? That’s me. While I miss all the publishing/literary events located only in New York, I really don’t feel I am out of the necessary loop. Email, again, is a wonderful thing and when I need to go back into New York and see faces to talk business, I always can. Being away from a big city, however, FOR ME, helps me to be very thoughtful about my work. Sometimes things move so fast, it’s nice to be able to walk away from the email/phone and go think a bit. I like being out away from all of the extroverted clamor that is a big city (introvert alert!) and I like my own home office that looks out over my back yard. Plus, I’m a Pacific Northwest girl. I was born and raised here. My husband and I have created a life here. NYC is always waiting for me when I’m ready to talk shop. Best of both worlds, I say!

5.      This past weekend at SCBWI in NY, a YA editor said "MG is the new YA." What are you hearing from editors about what they are looking for in MG? Favorite MG reads?

TL: There is a huge demand for quality middle grade, yes. But I think that editors are being much more careful about their approach with MG versus the onslaught of YA that has happened in the past few years. They are staying picky, which is good. They want amazing stories, first. MG is tricky because it smells like YA, looks like YA, but it sure is not YA. The middle grade reader is facing different challenges, friendships, awkward growing pains; it’s like your most vivid memories, both good and bad on high voltage. So editors are looking for MG, true, but a great, great, great MG, not something that was transplanted from YA or the adult world. The MG world is startlingly unique.

And I think the middle grade quest is all about placing that character in a unique world and how he/she reacts to that world in all its weirdness. A middle grade reader may think they know what they’re doing (or then again, maybe not) and then it turns upside down again the very next day. Editors are looking for the experience that can seem real and authentic to as many readers as possible, but is something new transmitted differently that has never been experienced before. That sounds impossible, but I just described my favorite MG reads!

These include:

SPARROW ROAD, Sheila O’Connor
ONE MORNING AND ONE AMAZING DAY ON ORANGE STREET, Joanne Rocklin
PENDERWICKS, Jeanne Birdsall
NOWHERE GIRL, A.J. Paquette

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E.L. Konigsburg

THE FALSE PRINCE, Jennifer Nielsen

I am also reading the ARCs for spring 2012 and I think we’ve only seen the beginning of the fantastic MG boom! I can’t wait!

6.      Do you like historical fiction? Would it turn you off or interest you if the historical fiction aspect were blended with something else? My historical fiction YA is mixed with social satire and spoof, not straight historical, and I know some other people have mixed historical fiction with sci-fi or fantasy.

TL: I love historical fiction. There’s a term being thrown around New York in kids books publishing (at least a few months ago, it was) called historical plus. Historical plus sci-fi or historical plus fantasy, just like you said. It would definitely interest me and would also raise the bar, because mixing genres is NOT for the faint of heart. I would encourage writers to write a first draft and let everything into it, including the kitchen sink, and then as they revise for several drafts, begin to winnow out what doesn’t fit. And then, when they pitch an agent, give it to us high concept, ie, “a 1980s ghost town that isinvaded by humans” or “1870s Wild West town that wakes up to find out it is set in the middle of the world’s largest mall—as an amusement park” (those are just off the top of my head, so take ‘em if you want). Oftentimes, the high concept can start your story creation process, but remember you have to do it well and it will take several drafts and multiple rounds of revision to get the character emotional development arc and the dramatic action plot and the thematic arc all working together and not against each other. Whew. Now I’m tired.

7.      How do you know when a genre is 'in' or going 'out?' How do you know when the market is gearing up for the next big thing? Do you have any inclination as to what the next big thing will be?

TL: I think I’ve heard more and more lately that editors are weary and very timid about dystopian manuscripts. They’ve scheduled a lot of it in the next two years, so I think we’re definitely moving on. I think I’ve heard that sci-fi and space fantasy for YA is becoming a trend. Thrillers as well both for YA and MG. And nonfiction is definitely an interest.

8.      What do you want to see more of as an agent?

TL: I’ll repeat myself a bit. I love thrillers, sci-fi, space fantasy, and historical plus, but I also love a good contemporary. I’m always interested in fantasy and retellings, including mythology. I’m also looking for a fantastic chapter book (a la CLEMENTINE!) to become a series. That one is hard and not necessarily MG or YA, but you never know who’s working on a good one!

9.      What would you like to see in the way of YA non-fiction?

TL: I just met E. Kristin Anderson, the author of DEAR TEEN ME ( Zest Books), and also her editor at ALA Midwinter, who is keen to find more nonfiction aimed directly for teens, so the sky’s the limit, I think. There are just so many opportunities to write a book about any subject as nonfiction, but aim it directly for a YA audience. Subjects such as taking tests, driving safely, shopping smart, cooking, time management, art, creativity, relationships, being a good employee, resumes, etc. I would love to see some really strong proposals for YA nonfiction in the days to come!

 So there you have it. If you think your MS fits Tricia's tastes or want list, polish your query/first 250 and plan to stop back Feb. 13-17 to share both.

In the meantime, get the word out and sign up for some great prizes here.

Alicia Bessette and A Pinch of Love

 My introduction to Alicia came a few years ago, when I read Simply from Scratch, a novel about a grieving young widow who enters a baking contest. I loved the book and kept watching the library for Alicia's name to reappear in the New Books shelves.

Two years later, I was researching the guy who wrote Sorta Like A Rock Star, which I'd read an ARC of in 2009 and really, REALLY liked. I'd never written to an author before (cross my heart) and vowed at the time to send the author a note. I never did until one day, I was commenting on a blog that requested favorite YA reads and I wanted to recommend SLARS. Turns out that author is Matthew Quick, who is married to Alicia Bessette. *huge eyes*   Matthew's blog mentioned A Pinch of Love. I read the blurb and thought - HOLY COW! I remember this book but it wasn't called A Pinch of Love. (It's been renamed for the paperback version.)  The writing was soooo good. And Matthew is Alicia's husband?! How did so much awesomeness get in one family? (So that's where all the awesomeness went. I was wondering...) Anyway, I won a copy to re-read in about two days (still love it!), which encouraged me to cyberstalk request an interview on the off-chance Alicia was as gracious and classy as the characters in her book.
I'm not giving you my copy, which is autographed *holds onto it jealously* but I promise that if you buy APOL you will LOVE it. (Or you can send it to me for free.)

An article on your site suggests your husband's first sale was fuel for a total life-change - a move not only to a new community, but to becoming a full-time writer yourself. Talk about your thought processes then, and where you found the courage to quit your day job.

Yes, my husband and I have embraced several big life-changes. The first was in 2004, and it required the most courage. We quit our jobs, sold our home, and moved from New Jersey to Massachusetts, all in the name of becoming published novelists.
What fueled that change? Dissatisfaction. We were disappointed in our jobs and had no spare energy to fully pursue our shared dream of writing fiction. We decided that nothing would change if we didn't change it. Many people told us we were taking a risky and illogical step backward by forsaking our then-careers and moving in with my parents. But at the time there seemed to be no other alternative. While we both wanted to write, we couldn't afford for both of us to do that at the same time. So Matt entered an MFA program while I became a reporter for my hometown newspaper. Our plan was to switch places in a few years.
Which leads to the second big life-change in 2007, when Matt sold his first novel, THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. We had enough money to move out of my parents' house, and I could join him in writing full time. At that point, no courage was required to quit my day job! Matt's success was all the impetus I needed. We missed Philly, so we returned to that area and rented a small apartment. My "office" was a desk and chair in the corner of the living room. It was there that I wrote A PINCH OF LOVE.
Our third big change came this year, when we moved back to Massachusetts, to be closer to woods and mountains, which fuel our creativity. We're homeowners now, and I have my own office -- a real room -- bliss!


Yay! I always pictured you in New England because the world you create in APOL is so vivid.
How did you snag your agent?

I found my agent with the help of agentquery.com. It's a very useful and informative website that I recommend to anyone seeking advice on querying, which can be a grueling process. (The first novel I wrote was not published, and was rejected by more than one hundred agents.) To any writers out there entering the agent search, stay hopeful; don't despair. Keep writing. Remember that every rejection gets you closer to the person who will become your agent. And, read this:

AgentQuery is awesome! So is QueryTracker...but I'm preaching to the choir.

Describe your writing relationship with your husband. Do you two talk about your work, or prefer to keep your professional lives as separate as possible?

We've built our marriage around fulfilling personal potential, so topics related to myth and reality, success and failure, meaning and meaninglessness, writing and editing, character development and plot, movies and books, frequently work their way into our daily conversations. Our professional lives and our personal lives are closely linked.

Your site mentions you're an accomplished pianist. Does your music encourage creativity at the computer keyboard? If so, how?

A friend participating in NaNoWriMo this month told me she wrote more than 2,000 words while listening to one of my CDs. I was so happy to hear that!
I usually listen to music when I write -- but I never listen to my own music, because all I hear are mistakes, places where I could have been either more or less subtle, both in performance and in songwriting. My mind becomes so preoccupied with my own perceived shortcomings that I can't focus on anything else. (For the same reason, I've never read A PINCH OF LOVE beginning to end in book form.) I'm very self-critical. That quality can be crippling, but it also can be a boon, especially when it comes to revision -- at the piano and at the computer.
That said, my writing breaks frequently feature me at the piano!

How do you balance life as a professional musician with life as a writer? Do you set practice time limits on both or set whole days aside to pursue one or the other?

I'm a hobbyist musician and a professional writer, and the two pursuits seem to balance each other out naturally. I made my two full-length CDs (with the help of an old friend who is a hobbyist music producer) during times when I wasn't writing much fiction. After Big Life Change #2 described above, I was separated from my piano -- it didn't fit in the apartment. That's when I really dove into fiction. Now, in our home in Massachusetts, I'm reunited with my piano. I'm playing and writing. It's a gift.

BTW, you can listen to some of Alicia's recordings here.

Your MC in APOL is a widow. I'm guessing you had to imagine yourself as a widow to get into her head. Was that hard? Did it make you view life any differently?

Instead of imagining myself as a widow, I imagined Zell, my narrator, as a widow. I got to know her entire personal history, from birth to now, in order to get inside her head as much as possible -- and out of my own. What about the grieving process is difficult for Zell in particular? Which of Zell's personality traits help her to cope, and which of her personality traits sabotage her healing? Those were my guiding questions in creating her voice and her world.
Writing a book -- especially a book that centers around grief and recovery -- is an emotional journey. I do view life differently after having written it, in the sense that perhaps I'm generally less judgmental of other peoples' complaints. Life is hard for everyone. No one is immune to pain.


What's the most surprising thing about being a published author?
How many people have participated in getting me here. No book is the result of one person working in solitude. So many people helped create A PINCH OF LOVE: first readers, agents, agents' colleagues, editors, editors' assistants, proofreaders, copy editors, publicists, marketing professionals, artists, and the list goes on. Not to mention my mother, who gave me a lined journal to write in for my eighth birthday; my fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Moran, who made reading absolutely magical for me; and my creative writing teacher in high school, Mrs. Rubenstein, who took a special interest in me during a vulnerable time in my life.

Where are you headed in your next WIP - a sequel, a new setting or genre?? (hint: SEQUEL.)Many readers have asked if I'm working on a sequel to A PINCH OF LOVE. Right now, I'm not ... but that doesn't mean I won't ever be! Regarding my current work in progress, I'm too superstitious to discuss it in detail. But I have high hopes.

Hmmm...future blog post alert. What is up with super-secret WIPs? Foment your brains, people, and come back Monday to share your reasons for staying undercover.

Fast five ...

Cat or dog?
Dog. (Cat is a close second.)

Ocean or mountains?
Mountains. (Ocean is a close second.)

Favorite swear word and time/place you use it most often.
 The F-bomb. I use it all over the place.

Mine is g.d. I use it in the car all the time, ALL the time.  Each of my kids' first word was dammit which they said in the car.  (Not my finest mom moment. Dammit.)

First thing on your Christmas wish list
World peace. (Second thing: a red Le Creuset skillet.)

I'd like another pair of fuzzy socks. The kind with aloe vera in them?? They rock.

Thing you do that you know is annoying but you just can't stop.
 Hum.

Thanks for stopping by, Alicia!

Interview with Eowyn

Eowyn Ivey

Today I'm interviewing Eowyn Ivey, an author whose literary debut, The Snow Child, comes out via Little, Brown Feb. 1. I first met Eowyn in person last spring, but have known about her for years through mutual friends. (And yes, her name comes from that Eowyn in LOTR.) We also have daughters the same age, with the same name and some of the same talents so we run into each other performing mom-duties occasionally.  She lives with her family north of town, semi-off-the-grid, and is a life-long Alaskan. Last summer she spent rafting down the Copper River, writing her second novel and doing subsistence stuff like berrying, hunting and gardening.  She is sooo generous with her time, and sooo very talented, I'm always a bit in awe of her whenever we meet. I know you'll feel the same after reading her words, and will rush out to put in your order for her book ASAP. (BTW, isn't that a great photo? That was taken by another mutual friend. I'm surrounded by talented people!! When will that rub off? *taps foot*)

1. You found your agent in an unusual way. Please share!

I was attending the Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference in Homer several years ago. I know a lot of writers go to conferences hoping to pitch to an editor or an agent, but that wasn’t my goal. I went to learn more about the craft and meet other writers. I was there with my mom, Julie LeMay, who is a poet. Jeff Kleinman from Folio Literary Management was the presenting literary agent, andI was impressed with the titles he represented. But my novel wasn’t finished, and I wouldn’t have signed up to speak with him if my mom hadn’t kept prodding me. What did I have to lose? At least I could get a feel for how the novel might be received if and when I was ready to query agents. I described my concept to Jeff, and he asked to read the first 100 pages. Since I wasn’t there to pitch, I hadn’t even brought my manuscript! Thankfully, I was able to get the pages to him; he read them there at the conference and offered to represent it.

Isn't that a great story? I had no idea how lucky she was until I joined the query trenches a few weeks ago. It's like Eowyn got one of those Amazing Race fast-forward passes.

2. From your blurb, The Snow Child appears to have elements of a re-telling, magical realism and historical. What's its genre and how did it get classified?

It’s general fiction.  Although it has a fantastical element and is set in the past, it isn’t a genre novel. You’ll see it described as “literary fiction” by some bookstores and websites, but it’s a label I’m uncomfortable using myself because it seems to be a value claim. “Literary” to me is something that has stood the test of time. But The Snow Child would be shelved in the fiction section of a bookstore or library.

3. You did research prior to writing this book. Talk about how important the research was to your plotting.

The research provided more inspiration than facts. I was working a shift at Fireside Books when I stumbled on a children’s picture book called The Snow Child, illustrated by Alaskan artist Barbara Lavallee. That’s when I first learned of the Snegurochka fairy tale. Right then I knew this was the storyline I had been looking for. As I began writing the novel, I continued to learn more about the fairy tale. I discovered that over the centuries it has been retold in many versions and media– Russian lacquer paintings, Arthur Ransome’s translations. There’s even an opera and a ballet based on the fairy tale. All of this fueled my imagination.

Fireside Books is our local bookstore. I spend a regular chunk of Christmas dough there each year. So do my kids.

4. How important are beta writers or critique partners to you?

My family is my primary source of writing support. As I wrote each night, I would come downstairs and read sections aloud to my husband and older daughter. At the same time, my mom and I had an ongoing arrangement – each week she would give me a poem and I would give her a chapter. The rule was that, because these were first drafts, we could only say what we liked about them. It was really about having a deadline and encouraging each other. I was also fortunate to have other people who were willing to read finished drafts of it, including my dad, fellow authors and booksellers, and former coworkers from the newspaper business.

5. What authors inspire you with their style? Or, if you had to compare your book to others out there, what are they?

I could write pages and pages about the authors who have inspired me. My writing was born out of my love of reading. When I was a little girl, I devoured books such as Little House in the Big Woods, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, andThe Boxcar Children. As a teenager I read everything from David Eddings to Lois Lowry to Stephen King.  It was in college and later that I discovered authors such as Louise Erdrich, Larry McMurtry, Annie Dillard, Cormac McCarthy, Annie Proulx, and Charles Frazier. I am a member of a book club, and we’ve read a lot of classics over the years -- Frankenstein, As I Lay Dying,Middlemarch, Crime and Punishment. I read Austen, Nabokov,  Hemingway, Melville, Joyce, Chekov, Woolf. I also read a lot of modern fiction such as The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Tinkers, Everything is Illuminated, The Green Age of Asher Witherow, The Ice-Shirt. As a bookseller, I’m in constant contact with the fabulous new books hitting the shelves. I just finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Detour, and The Marriage Plot. Now I’m reading Pure by Julianna Baggott. As you can see my taste runs from westerns to fantasy, literary fiction to classics. And I would love to think that what I read influences my own writing.

6. What was going out on sub like? How did you fill the waiting?

It is a torturous process, especially having worked in journalism for nearly a decade. I was used to a fast turn over, same-day praise or rejection. In book publishing we’re talking months or even years. But I tried to put that nervous energy to good use. I wrote short stories, I began working on the next novel, and I read a lot.

7. Now that TSC has been on shelves in other countries and is doing well, talk about your expectations for the US debut. What advice have any publishing experts given you?

I don’t think anyone can give me advice on this one. The truth is no one – not the editor, the agent, the publisher, the bookseller, and certainly not the author – can predict how a book is going to do. We all just follow our guts, write and read what we love, and it can be surprising which books hit the bestseller list and which ones never see the light of day. I’m not talking about quality as much as theme and subject and approach. I believe a lot of different factors in society influence what books become well-loved at a certain time. So instead of trying to play that impossible guessing game, I’m just grateful for each email or tweet I get from a reader in Oslo or London or Orlando who has enjoyed it.

When I say 'doing well' I really mean it's a bestseller. Like, in Norway. And possibly in other countries by now.

8. You landed a grant to help fund research for your next novel. Talk about that process, including any tips for grant writing or research you may have learned.

It’s true what they say – try, try again. I’ve applied for grants before and not received them.  I think a few things helped me this time with the Rasmuson Foundation. I had a very concrete project that would clearly help me write my next novel. I had a polished excerpt from the novel in progress. I had improved my resume with short story publications and the acquisition of my novel by Little, Brown & Co. And I had attended a fabulous session at Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference in Denver that was all about how to write a grant proposal. I highly recommend to anyone who wants to write and publish and apply for grants to attend conferences like these. You can get a tremendous amount of helpful information!

9. Your debut is coming right up. How will you balance publicity for this book with writing on your next?

 We’re planning a book release part in conjunction with Fireside Books at the Inn Café in Palmer that evening. As for balancing everything, my goal is to enjoy the incredible ride. I write because I love to, and I always find the time when I set my mind to it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find The Snow Child opening new doors for me to publish essays and short stories. But however much writing I do, or don’t do, I know that publicity opportunities for The Snow Child are once-in-a-lifetime -- never again will I have a debut novel.

10. I've heard it said that landing the second contract can be harder than the first. What's your opinion on that?

I have no idea. I guess when I finish my next novel, I’ll find out.

 Well, dang. I was hoping you'd dispel that as an urban (or literary) legend. Sometimes the literary life seems like a climb up Lazy Mountain - just when you think you've hit the summit, you see another peak to climb...and then another...and another....

Alaskan fast five

caribou and Mt. McKinley

Do you prefer moose or caribou?

Caribou, but I’ll never turn down a moose.

Dip-netting record? (or gill-netting if that's how you roll)

Only four.  I’m lacking as a dip-netter. Lucky for me, my husband Sam is a natural and fills our permit almost every time he goes out.

Oh, we're tied! I caught four last summer...but I had my son's help. That net is gigantic and I kept slipping and getting stuck in the mud. And the salmon we caught averaged 15 lbs., which didn't help matters when we had to haul them onto shore as the creek rose. Bleck.

Cords of wood it takes you to get through the winter?

Six. And for those who don’t know the measurement, a cord is wood stacked 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long. So about six of those.

Also, Eowyn chops that herself. You should see her arms. (Kidding. Or am I....)

Gallons of water you must haul each week?

300. And we do laundry in town. We used to make do with just 50 gallons at a time, but we recently got a larger holding tank so we’re getting spoiled with hot baths and everything.

Luxury item you can't live without? (Mine is Oregon Chai Tea. Mmmmm.)

Good coffee with real half-and-half, no sweetener.

Thanks, Eowyn! She'll be popping by to answer any questions periodically, so fire away!

Paying it forward with Heather Lende

In honor of Alaska Book Week, I'm interviewing Heather Lende,  an author whose considerable talent with words is matched by her generosity, kindness and quiet humility. Through her lyrical writing and focus on small-town life, she is Alaska's version of Garrison Keillor...only way better looking.  Her books, If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name and Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, are ones to curl up with at night and feature stories you'll savor long after you read the last page.

1. You're from the east coast. Talk about how living in Haines (pop. 2,271)is different than New York. (NOTE: You can get to Haines by ferry, by driving through Canada or taking a small plane.)

Let's see. Haines is about as different from suburban NYC as a place can be - in lots of ways. In New York, bears and moose are in the zoo and here we eat them. Also in New York, you buy bagels and lox and here we make them. There's more, too - in bigger places people live with like-minded neighbors. They send their chidlren to school with other children who have the same values, socio-economic standing, etc. In Haines because we're so small, this is all mixed up. One public school is a great leveler, as is one clinic, one golf course, one gym, one boat harbor...you know?

best thing about living in Haines:
The people, the isolation and its extreme environment/location.
 Okay, actually there is also a great library, bookstore, public radio station, pool, new school, theater, weekly independent paper and in the summer, great places to eat.

and worst thing:


Fall in Haines, AK

 The people, the isolation and its extreme environment/location.

2. Your obituary writing is a key component behind your story making. Tell us how writing obits has trained you to be a better writer.

In all ways. In school they say to write what you know or show, don't tell. Well, what does that mean? When I write obituaries, my one unspoken question is 'prove it.' That is why I don't write: 'she was nice.' I write: 'every Christmas for 37 years she baked cookies for the crew at the post office.' I also think that writing obituaries teaches you to listen carefully and get all the details right. You don't want to spell someone's name wrong in the last thing that's written about them. For me, writing is more about paying attention and being fundamentally curious than anything else I'm not a great writer in 'each sentence sings' kind of way. It's the stories I tell.

 And I have been very very lucky to write about a long list of diverse and interesting subjects (and sources) through my work. It has also given me a huge amount of empathy. People are loved for all kinds of reasons, by all kinds of people and when you write an obituary, you're always looking for the good in people.  I've been criticized for that but I'd rather add a positive voice to the world than a negative one.

3. I've said this to you before - you are the mistress of the lyrical, meaningful ending. How do you do this so consistently? Do the words just 'come' or are you missing chunks of hair trying to find the right phrase?

I feel very strongly that if you write what many people read, you have an obligation to say something more than what you think about the new picture on the Cheerios box. That's journaling. Writing is taking that observation and making it mean something - or actually, realizing that something so normal, so un-newsworthy, as much of my material is - has meaning. It is not so much a deliberate way to write a piece as it is my way of thinking and observing.


4. Both of your books have been on shelves for a while.  Is it easier or harder to keep up promotion momentum than it was with your first book?



View from Haines

 I'm very lucky in that my publisher promotes my books so I don't have to. What I have done (at their advice) has been pretty easy once I got over my initial terror. I maintain a web site and blog and Facebook presence. It also makes any promotion I have to do much easier. I can say 'just take that interview off my site' or picture or whatever. I don't have to spend time saying stuff I've already said again.

5. What are your favorite book promotion tactics?

The ones I have liked the most are the radio tours my publisher has booked for the launch of the paperbacks. It is so nice to stay home and answer quick questions Sometimes it can be pretty funny, though, since the time change hangs me up. I have had calls at 4 a.m. and sort of bolted up and said God knows what to some person I haven't caught the name of. Mainly, I find the best thing and most rewarding book promotion (not sure it's the right word since it doesn't sell more books) is talking to book clubs and classes via Skype. It's easy and fun and I'm always amazed at how appreciative the audience is to talk to a 'real author.' It's a huge gift to me that they're interested and yet they act like I'm doing them a favor. I still can't quite believe that.

6. You write about people you live with in a small town. How do you avoid offense?


Haines boat harbor


I don't know. I hope I do. I do, however, always do my best to write about people in a way that first transcends some local issue - that has a wider significance in the point I'm trying to make and to me personally. In other words, this is my story so I share how their action in words, life, etc., impacted mine, rather than tell their story for them. And I do it in the same way I write obituaries - in the way they would like and that their friends and family agree with. So I wouldn't quote someone's enemy saying: "She shot at me everytime I cut through her yard and  was crazy as a loon." Instead I'd have her best friend say, "She was a real character; she'd actually shoot at trespassers. Thank goodness she couldn't hit the broad side of a boat shed." It's the same thing, just a different way to say it.

7. Your blog is also filled with life details. How do you decide what to share and what to keep private?

By the time I write about it, the news is not private to me or my family or friends. For instance, I have not written about my youngest daughter's pregnancy until now because she's not married and it has been a bit emotional. But now that she's four months along and posting photos on Facebook and we're all feeling happy about it, I will. When I do write about it, I will at first try to re-create that initial response to bring the readers alongside me and connect with many other parents who have had similar life-changing moments. 

8. On your first book tour, you mentioned the mystique people assign to being Alaskan. Do you use that? Or are you quick to dispel it?

Both. I'm very proud to be an Alaskan and to know how to do the stuff we do and live the rural Alaskan life. At the same time so much of it - local foods, shopping, volunteering for hospice or the Humane Society, getting outdoors, hanging around with people who disagree with you, sending your kids to public school, using the library - can be done anywhere. Here in Haines, a lot of this happens by default - we have no choice. In bigger places, people who want to live like this can do it. They just have to be more intentional about it. I encourage that.

9. What are you working on right now? Title yet? Or pub date?

I'm finishing a novel, A Hole in the Middle of a Pretty Good Heart. It has been accepted by an agent and needs some small revision before it goes out in the world to hopefully be published (after what no doubt will be a long list of rejections. That is what happens to all good books, right?) Luckily my nonfiction has a good track record and Algonquin Books will be publishing a third book of essays, as yet untitled (and not finished) in about two years.  Also I'm a Woman's Day columnist now and a contributing editor, which means when they say 'jump' I say 'how high?' and I still write local obituaries.

 10. Weirdest thing a reader has ever said to you about your books?

"Too bad my husband didn't die sooner or he would've been in it," speaking of If You Lived Here...


Fast five: (Alaskan version of optional questions - except the salmon recipe request bc I'm on the hunt for new ones.)

Do you prefer moose or caribou?
Sitka black tail deer

Favorite smoked salmon recipe?Creamy smoked salmon fettuccine

Fishing near Haines

Most fish you've ever caught dipnetting? (or gill netting if that's how you roll.)

About 20 gill netting. But the family record is 36. I wasn't on the boat that day. If I had been, I would've quite at 15 - that's my ideal weekly limit.  The smoke house holds about eight fish and I have two big canners. We can eat the rest fresh if the family are home. But after 20 it's crazy. I'm processing fish for days and days.

Biggest vegetable you've ever grown?
Down here we don't grow huge vegetables but my strawberries are the size of plums.

NOTE: Heather specified 'down here' bc Haines is hundreds of miles south of where I live in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Here we are world-renowned for huge veggies. Seriously. Check your Guiness BOWW. We grow cabbages as big as small houses.

What you splurged on using your PFD*? (I'll go first. I'm getting a vacuum sealer. Also we're going to Cancun.)

I gave about half of it to the Haines Library Community Foundation and animal rescue kennel through the PFD Pick, Click & Give charitable gift program. I bought a ticket to Mexico with the rest.

 So we are both sourdoughs, the definition of which is: sour on the weather with enough dough to get out. *snort*

PFD: permanent fund dividend, a yearly cash amount paid to each Alaskan out of the Permanent Fund Endowment. Yup, we get paid to live here. Thanks big oil! :)
And thanks Heather, for hanging out with me today.

Blogs I love:

Anita Grace Howard: she's creative, fun and sophisticated. She posts great book trailers, query success stories and beautiful poems.

Sleuths, Spies & Alibis: A brand-new blog aimed at MG/YA mystery writers and readers.

The Authoress: Her blog, Miss Snark's First Victim, offers monthly agent contests and the upcoming Baker's Dozen auction.

Anita Grace Howard and the splintery world of Wonderland

It's been a really great year for Anita Grace Howard but it didn't start out that way. Last December, she parted ways with her agent and hit a low point literally speaking. Then, in February, she received THREE offers of representation before signing on with superstar agent, Jenny Bent. (Read about that journey here.) And everything changed.

Jenny sold Splintered, a Gothic Wonderland re-telling to Amulet, who initially put publication at Spring, 2013. But yesterday, Anita got the exciting news her pub date has been moved up six months. Squee! *cue racing heart* AND, Anita is on sub for her newest MS, a gothic/literary romance called The Architect of Song. She's posted an amazing book trailer you shouldn't miss - click on her name above to watch. (BTW, if anyone knows how to do these, I would LOVE to learn. *googling how to make a book trailer*)

1. Now that you're on the pub list, share the deets about any research you did for Splintered. I ask bc there are a TON of books out there on Alice Liddell - including ones that suggest Lewis Carroll was a bit of a pedophile. Did you come across any of that? And did it affect your plot at all?

The main thing I did for research was re-read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I hadn’t read them in years and wanted to revisit how he wove underlying threads of eeriness into his nonsensical scenes and characters. My main goal was for this book to be a tribute to his genius, and to have the funkiness/creepiness evolve from subtle nuances to take center stage. I’m hoping it will inspire a whole new generation of readers to seek out the original. The actual idea came to me when I went to see the Tim Burton Alice movie. I watched it a couple more times while writing, so I guess that could count as research, too. I found a book called ALICE, I HAVE BEEN that clicked it all into place. It’s a historical fiction account of Alice Liddell’s life. The “pedophilic” rumors did not play a part in my story. Instead, I went strictly with the Alice Liddell slant. I needed something to tie my heroine into today's world, and some way to make the story different than it had ever been done. So I decided to have my heroine be a descendant of Alice Liddell. Everything else just came from my own warped imagination. :)

2.Fairy tale retellings are hot right now. Do you think there are specific rules to this subgenre? If so, what are they?

I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules. But in my personal favorite retellings, the author doesn’t make light of the original fairy tale. They’re less spinoffs and more adaptations. They make the most of the original author’s vision by giving the characters/details a deeper meaning. They expand on them, if that makes sense.

3. How many revisions did you do with Jenny?

We did a small revision at first, and then after a few passes, ended up cutting more wordage from the beginning of the book to get my heroine/hero to Wonderland faster.

Did the process help you identify your strengths/weaknesses as a writer?
I don’t really feel that it isolated any of my weaknesses. It was more of a nod to what publishers are looking for right now. Faster paced books with less set up and more punch.

4. How does that self-awareness help you now? Is it easier or harder than it was to write Splintered?

Ha. Ask me that in about a month or so. I’m just now starting a WIP, and this is the first thing I’ve written in about six months. I’m hoping I still remember how to write at all. LOL

5. For your next MS, you're branching out into adult. How will switching genres help your career?

I’d like to have both an adult and YA audience that can cross over. It’s a win-win, expanding my readership, and feeding my eclectic muse. I’ve always been drawn to fantasy/paranormal, but that is my one and only constant. Other than that, I like to spread my wings, and having books in both the YA and adult markets will allow me that freedom. It helps that I have an incredible agent who is rather eclectic herself. ;)

6. You've launched your author blog it is SO COOL. Thank you! It’s totally unofficial at this point. There’s still a bit more work to do. Talk about how that happened - did you hire a designer and if so, how did you choose one?

I design my own pages, just like I make my own book trailers. It’s a nice outlet for the more visual/artistic side of my creativity. My husband is my webmaster (although I suspect he does it just so I’ll call him master … heh). Right now, he’s learning all about animation because I have something very specific and cool in mind for my homepage. We’re hoping to have it ready for an official launch in a few months.

7. Does Splintered have any author blurbs on its jacket? If so, talk about the process of approaching an established writer to get a quote.

Too soon for this, but I’ve heard that both the publisher and the author can play a part in getting blurbs. I have a couple of author acquaintances in mind that I’ll be asking for props when the time comes. That’s another reason it always pays to network, online or at conferences.

8. When will your promotion machine kick into high gear?

It’s already started. The minute I signed w/Jenny, she told me to get a blog going and a twitter acct. What's involved for you as your book b-day nears? Blog tours, book tours, what?? I’ve joined a group called TeenShiver, a joint blog that promotes Texas YA paranormal authors. I’m hoping to use it (and line up blog tours/book reviews via some of my fellow bloggers).

9. Has your agent filled you in on what to expect as a debut author? Yes, in fact she wrote an amazingly detailed article on that very subject that I’d love to share. It’s here: What are your expectations? To work hard, and be flexible. To be diligent and professional. But most of all, to be grateful and never forget how hard it was to get here, so I’ll always be sympathetic/helpful to other writers still in the trenches and on their way to the shelves.

10. Best thing about being you right now.

I can finally look back at the last seven years of my life and know I was going in the right direction.
And worst thing...
When I look ahead seven years, I see the pressure of deadlines and advances to fulfill. Little nerve wracking, but totally worth it.

Fast five (questions to which you give fun, fluffy and erudite answers. All optional except for #5 bc I need suggestions for my Netflix queue.)

Favorite kind of sausage? Weiner dogs. They’re just so CUTE.

Biggest pet peeve while driving? People texting / talking on cell phones while driving. Unless it happens to be someone I’M texting/talking to.

Where you went on your last vacation? Unless you count the short time my sanity took a hiatus during the submission process (yes, I officially lost my mind), Kansas City, MO.

Historical character you'd travel back in time to meet? Christina Rossetti. Does she count as historical? I’d like to just sit at her feet and drink in her brilliance. NO ONE could write description like her. She’s my literary crush (but if you happen to leak that to Neil Gaiman, I’ll swear that you’re lying and he’s my one true love).

Best movie you saw last summer? The Fall. (HUGE fan of brilliant/vivid cinematography, and this movie had it in spades). Not to mention, there was an incredible soundtrack. Candy for the eyes and ears.

Speaking of metaphorical candy, Anita inspired the Casting Call bloghop (see button above and below) with this post, in which she puts her fashionista sense to work for her characters. Read it over and then get inspired...I did! Use that inspiration to sign up Monday over at Carrie Butler's blog to share your own casting call. What do your MCs look like? How do their personalities come through as you put together your cast? We'll have prizes and fun and it's only one post. How can you resist??