Monday, August 25, 2014

The Author Interview: Joshua David Bellin, SURVIVAL COLONY



It's time for another round of the aptly titled segment, THE AUTHOR INTERVIEW! In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce you to fellow OneFourKidLit alumni, Joshua David Bellin, author of the YA dystopian, SURVIVAL COLONY. Here he is, to tell us a little about himself, his process, and his killer new book.



Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a writer, college teacher, fantasy film fan, and lover of apes and amphibians. (Seriously, my favorite movie of all time is the 1933 King Kong, and I spent nearly my entire childhood playing with frogs and toads.) I live in Pittsburgh with my wife and two children, who are my biggest fans and first readers. I spend way too much time on the computer, but my fifteen-year-old daughter still thinks I’m a hopeless caveman because I don’t own a cell phone.

You wrote a book? Awesome! What's it about?

The YA science fiction novel Survival Colony Nine tells the story of Querry Genn, a teenager living in a future world that’s been devastated by war and environmental catastrophe. He belongs to a small mobile camp called a survival colony, which is all that’s left of human civilization after the collapse of governments and nations. The survival colonies are faced with near-starvation in a desert world, and that’s not all: they also have to evade the creatures called the Skaldi, monsters that mysteriously appeared on the planet after the wars of destruction.

In Querry’s case, he’s got two additional problems. The commander of Survival Colony Nine is his authoritarian father, Laman Genn. And six months before the action of the book starts, he lost his memory during a Skaldi attack. If he can recover his past, he might be able to unlock the secret to defeating the Skaldi. If he can’t, he’s their next victim.

Tell us a little about the process. How long did it take? It this your first book ever? What inspired you?

Like a lot of writers, I’ve been writing novels from a pretty young age. I started my first novel at age eight, completed my first one (an epic fantasy inspired by Lord of the Rings) at age sixteen. I tried to get that one published, and when that didn’t work, I almost made the colossal mistake of handing over my life savings to a vanity press (until they sent me some of their books and I realized, even at the age of sixteen, that the writing wasn’t very good). When I graduated college there weren’t as many MFA programs as there are today, so I got a Ph.D. in English, taught college, published academic books and articles. But I always kept alive the dream of publishing a novel. And then, when I had a sabbatical a few years ago, I used the time away from teaching to take a class at a local MFA program and work on making the dream come true!

How was your journey to publication, and what was it like when you arrived?

I acquired an agent for Survival Colony Nine at the tail end of 2011, but we had to part ways when it turned out we didn’t share the same vision for the novel. (Hey, it happens.) I queried again and found another agent, the fabulous Liza Fleissig of Liza Royce Agency, by late 2012. From there, it was a matter of revising for submission and waiting to hear back. We got an offer from Karen Wojtyla, senior editor at Margaret K. McElderry Books, in early 2013.

I’ve got to be honest: when Liza called me about the offer, my reaction was . . . stunned silence. I’d been dreaming of being a published novelist since I was eight years old, so to learn forty years later that the dream was about to become a reality was almost too much to process.

After the shock wore off, though, I started doing a happy dance, and I haven’t stopped since!

Any advice for would-be writers just stepping out?

My best advice is to be wary of overly restrictive advice about how to tell your story. There’s some really wretched advice out there like, “never begin your novel with a character waking up” or “always end each chapter on a cliffhanger.” As a writer and a teacher, it drives me crazy when I read advice that tries to make writing seem like a paint-by-numbers set! (Never begin your novel with a character waking up? Where does that leave The Hunger Games?) There are many common-sense things you can do to develop the craft of writing, but when people start telling you there’s a single “right” way to tell a story, you should tune them out and just start writing.

Finally, where can we find you? 



Saturday, May 17, 2014

The Author Interview: Linda Vigen Phillips, CRAZY

It's time for another round of the aptly titled segment, THE AUTHOR INTERVIEW! In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce you to fellow OneFourKidLit alumni, Linda Vigen Phillips, author of the YA novel, CRAZY. Love this cover, y'all. Here she is, to tell us a little about herself, her process, and her amazing new book.



Tell us about where you are from and how that place fuels you as a writer.
             
I was born and raised in pristine southeast Oregon. I left after graduating from University of Oregon but Oregon never left me. There is a deep-down reservoir in my soul that holds the sound of lake wind whistling through tall Ponderosas, sun glancing off of Cascade Range peaks, the semi-arid wind carrying sage and juniper scent....more creative resources than any writer could ever need.  Growing up in this setting probably influenced my writing more than anything.
You wrote a book?  Awesome!  What’s it about?
         Here’s brief synopsis:       
Crazy is a YA novel written in free verse about fifteen-year-old Laura Wahlberg, who can't imagine life without sketching or painting.  When her artist mother has a nervous breakdown the same week Laura's teacher pressures her to enter a prestigious contest, Laura must face her fear that art will send her over the edge, too.

Driven by shame and rage, Laura hides her disintegrating home life from everyone, including her best friend. Neither her older sister nor her father recognizes her fear of going insane.  Desperately alone, she considers suicide, faith healing, an unlikely relationship with a super-jock, and a new artistic endeavor.  When Laura’s mother becomes violent, Laura vows to find the demon that is driving her crazy.  Learning that her mother was raped at fourteen and discovering her own inner strength, Laura opens her heart to the mother she never knew. 


Tell us a little about the process.  How long did it take you?  Is this your first book ever?  What inspired you?

The process of writing Crazy has been long and slow, you know like “we sell no wine before its time.”  I was busy teaching school, raising twin boys, and being an active minister’s wife when my longtime love of poetry started oozing out of my pores.  In my “spare time” I wrote a collection of poems mostly as a cathartic way of dealing with my mother’s bipolar disorder.  When a few of them started getting published in literary journals I considered moving toward a chapbook collection.  A friend suggested they needed to be a novel, but it took many years and about five revisions before that all came together.

 How was your journey to publication and what was it like when you arrived?

         Well, I haven’t arrived yet, so I’ll let you know how it feels when that happens, but I am scheduled for an October 2014 release of Crazy. The journey up to this point in time has been a fascinating ride.  I’ve been in love with writing all my life, so going through this publishing process is quite a thrill. I was at a Lorin Oberweger Free Expressions workshop in 2012 when my agent, Julia Kenny, emailed to say I had just received a third offer to publish Crazy.  Needless to say I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of that workshop.  I can safely say that going through the editing process with my wonderful editor, Kathleen Merz at Eerdmans has been like taking a crash course in writing skills.  Challenging for sure, but exciting to see the end results, polished to a sheen I never could have achieved on my own. 

Advice for would-be writers just stepping out.

         Go to as many conferences and workshops as you can afford, and always try for scholarships when necessary.  I owe a debt of gratitude to SCBWI, the Highlights Foundation, and Lorin Oberweger at Free Expressions Seminars and Literary Services for all that I have learned from them over the years.  Find a critique group and go regularly, even if you don’t have anything ready to take.  You can learn a lot just from critiquing the work of others.  Write from the heart and dig deep.  You’ll be surprised how many characters and story ideas live just below the surface of everyday life. 

You can find me:



website and blog:      http://www.lindavigenphillips.com
twitter:@LVigenPhillips
So You Wanna Be a Children’s Poet article:  http://www.writing-world.com/poetry/children.shtml

Monday, April 7, 2014

The Author Interview: Helene Dunbar, THESE GENTLE WOUNDS



It's time for another round of the aptly titled segment, THE AUTHOR INTERVIEW! In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce you to fellow OneFourKidLit alumni, Helene Dunbar, author of the brilliantly-titled YA novel, THESE GENTLE WOUNDS. Here she is, to tell us a little about herself, her process, and her amazing new book.



Tell me a little about yourself for bio purposes. Also, if you like, tell us a little about where your from and how that place fuels you as a writer. (Basically, what's the local writing culture like?)

I’ve always written, but mostly journalistic pieces like music features or encyclopedia entries or marketing documents.

I live in Nashville which is filled with writers, musicians, and other creative sorts, but I have to say that, even though I don’t live there anymore, it is still New York City that fuels me as a writer. I lived there for most of 15 years and it’s just inside me somehow.

1. You wrote a book? Awesome! What's it about and when can we read it?

I did! And thanks! These Gentle Wounds is out May 8th and is about a boy with PTSD who has to dig deep within himself to save those he loves.

2. Tell us a little about the process. How long did it take? Is this your first book ever? What inspired you?

This is the fourth manuscript I completed. The third is my 2015 Flux release, currently titled Crash. I was inspired by some of the tragic cases I wrote about for an education series on popular court cases. And curiosity. Always curiosity.

3. How was your journey to publication, and what was it like when you arrived?

The journey felt WAY longer than it was. I signed with my first agent after querying Crash for a couple of months. We submitted that for a while and then, TGW won a couple of awards and we sent that out and Flux bought both of them. That was just over a year. Flux had a spot in their Spring 2014 list open, so it will be just over a year from signing to publishing.

It’s been amazing. Really, the best is the support of other writers. This is a wonderful community.

4. Any advice for would-be writers just stepping out?

READ. Seriously, I can’t tell you the number of books I’ve studied to try to figure out WHY they work. And I don’t mean on a commercial level, but on an emotional one.

Also, be nice. This isn’t a race where someone wins and someone loses.

5. Finally, where can we find you? (goodreads, amazon link, website, blog)

Monday, March 17, 2014

The Author Interview: Skila Brown, CAMINAR




It's time for another round of the aptly titled segment, THE AUTHOR INTERVIEW! In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce you to fellow OneFourKidLit alumni, Skila Brown, author of the poetic YA novel, CAMINAR, releasing March 25th. Here she is, to tell us a little about herself, her process, and her amazing new book.

You wrote a book? Awesome! What's it about?
From the jacket:
Carlos knows that when the soldiers arrive with warnings about the Communist rebels, it is time to be a man and defend the village, keep everyone safe. But Mama tells him not yet—he’s still her quiet moonfaced boy. The soldiers laugh at the villagers, and before they move on, a neighbor is found dangling from a tree, a sign on his neck: Communist.

Mama tells Carlos to run and hide, then try to find her. . . . Numb and alone, he must join a band of guerillas as they trek to the top of the mountain where Carlos’s abuela lives. Will he be in time, and brave enough, to warn them about the soldiers? What will he do then? A novel in verse inspired by actual events during Guatemala’s civil war, Caminar is the moving story of a boy who loses nearly everything before discovering who he really is.

Tell us a little about the process. How long did it take? Is this your first book ever? What inspired you?
I was inspired to write this book after many trips to Guatemala and much reading about its history, specifically the conflict that occurred there just a few decades ago. What happened there was tragic, and I was upset that it was something I’d known nothing about. So I guess I wanted to make sure more people knew about what happened. And books are a great way to do that.
It took about a year to write Caminar. I worked on it while I was getting my MFA and it became my creative thesis. Though it’s not the first novel I’d started, it was the first one I’d finished. And by finished, I don’t just mean drafted, but I mean actually finished – revised all the way until I could tell it was Done.

How was your journey to publication, and what was it like when you arrived?
I think I had a typical journey beginning, which is to say I wrote a bunch of garbage, sent it out, crossed my fingers, and was generally perplexed that it wasn’t all snatched up. Then I got serious about writing. I joined SCBWI, found a critique group, and then went back to school to get an MFA degree.  Which is where I realized I needed to stop submitting and pay more attention to my writing.
Getting that degree not only made me a better writer, but it also opened doors. Candlewick awarded me a scholarship while I was working on my MFA for a picture book I had written called Slickety Quick (which Candlewick will publish in 2016 – yay!) When I mentioned I also had a novel, they asked to see that too. And now, here I am.

Any advice for would-be writers just stepping out?
Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Find a good critique group. Repeat. 

Finally, where can we find you? (goodreads, amazon link, website, blog)

You can find me at www.skilabrown.com  

And you can order a copy of Caminar here:




Thanks for having me on your blog, Stephen!

Skila Brown holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She grew up in Kentucky and Tennessee, lived in Guatemala for a bit, and now resides in Indiana with her husband and sons. 

Monday, February 3, 2014

The Author Interview: Christina Farley, GILDED



It's time for another round of the aptly titled segment, THE AUTHOR INTERVIEW! In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce you to fellow OneFourKidLit alumni, Christina Farley, author of the Korea- influenced YA novel, GILDED. Here she is, to tell us a little about herself, her process, and her amazing new book.



Tell me a little about yourself for bio purposes.I’m a teacher and while I lived in Korea for eight years, I started writing. While I was teaching my students Greek mythology and comparing it to Korean, I read the myth of Haemosu and Princess Yuhwa. GILDED was born!


1. You wrote a book? Awesome! What's it about?

A Korean god, a curse, and a girl with an attitude and bow who must change it all.

2. Tell us a little about the process. How long did it take? It this your first book ever? What inspired you?
I started writing GILDED during NaNo 2009 and finished it at the end of 2010.

Here is a video I made that explains what inspired GILDED:


3. How was your journey to publication, and what was it like when you arrived?
My journey was mainly about sticking with it. GILDED was the second YA novel I wrote. Before that I had written two MG’s. But GILDED was my favorite and I decided I should do something with that novel other than let it sit on my computer.
GILDED had my favorite coffee shops and places I loved to visit in Korea, so it was special because of that. The biggest issue for me was when my family moved back to the States, it took nearly a year just to adjust to the change and my new job.
It was at an SCBWI conference that I got inspired to seek out representation for GILDED. I queried a bunch of agents, got 3 offers and ended up signing with Jeff Ourvan of the Jennifer Lyons Literary. He’s amazing and really believed in the project.
We sold GILDED five months later to Marshall Cavendish. The biggest issue though came after the book sold. Marshall Cavendish was bought out by Amazon and became what we now know as Skyscape. So because of that there were some changes and restructuring. My book was delayed from November 2013 to March 2014.
The reality is I wouldn’t change a thing. I have the best editor for my book that loves GILDED and believes in Jae Hwa’s story. I really don’t know how I got to be so lucky.

4. Any advice for would-be writers just stepping out?
The writer’s life isn’t easy and it doesn’t get easier. But if you love it, then write. And if a book doesn’t sell, write another. The key in this whole crazy writing world is to focus on your love for writing. That should be your dream.

5. Finally, where can we find you? (goodreads, amazon link, website, blog)
Online Presence
Buy the book at Amazon!
Twitter: @ChristinaFarley

Monday, January 27, 2014

The Author Interview: Christine Kohler, NO SURRENDER SOLDIER



It's time for another round of the aptly titled segment, THE AUTHOR INTERVIEW! In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce you to fellow OneFourKidLit alumni, Christine Kohler, author of the YA novel, NO SURRENDER SOLDIER. Here she is, to tell us a little about herself, her process, and her exciting new book.



Tell me a little about yourself for bio purposes. Also, if you like, tell us a little about where you're from and how that place fuels you as a writer. (Basically, what's the local writing culture like?)

I’ve worked as a journalist and a teacher. I lived a decade on Asian-Pacific islands, Hawaii, Japan and Guam, which is where my novel is set. I worked as a political reporter and foreign correspondent for Gannett. About six years ago I moved from San Antonio, Texas, to a Victorian house in a tiny rural town in West Texas. In the town there are no bookstores or theaters. There is an operational Carnegie Library. My town is within 40-50 minutes of three larger small towns, all which have universities.  
      
1. You wrote a book? Awesome! What's it about and when can we read it?
NO SURRENDER SOLDIER, Merit Press (Adams Media/F+W Media) is out now! The official release date is January 18, 2014. The Carnegie Library is having a launch party for me that day and I’m going to talk about the research behind the book. NO SURRENDER SOLDIER takes place on Guam in 1972 during the Vietnam war. Kiko, a 15-year-old Chamorro boy, finds out his mother was raped by a Japanese soldier during WWII. What Kiko doesn’t know is that a WWII Japanese soldier has been hiding in the jungle behind Kiko’s house. It’s based on a true historical event.        

2. Tell us a little about the process. How long did it take? It this your first book ever? What inspired you?
NO SURRENDER SOLDIER is my 17th book, but my first novel published. It wasn’t until after I’d moved back to the U.S. mainland that I couldn’t get the WWII stories from the Pacific Theatre out of my head. I began doing more research. I research until I’m saturated. I call it “filling the well.” Then I write and write and write until the well is empty, then I fill it up again with more research, then write again. I can’t remember how long it took for this first draft, especially since it is historical. But usually I hack out a first draft of a novel in about six weeks, especially if family life isn’t extra demanding at that time. But revision takes me longer. For me revision is like chiseling granite.     

3. How was your journey to publication, and what was it like when you arrived?
My road to novel publication was as winding as the road to Hana. Here’s the long version: http://www.christinekohlerbooks.com/blog.htm?post=921793
Even though my YA historical novel is out now, I’ve still got “miles to go before I sleep,” as Robert Frost said. Today novelists are expected to do a lot of their own marketing. And I’ll be presenting at a number of librarian and teacher conferences this year, plus book festivals. I don’t know if a writer ever feels she’s arrived. I feel more like I’m just beginning on another journey.        

4. Any advice for would-be writers just stepping out?

Oh, lots of advice! One, figure out how you can make writing a lifestyle. Two, study craft. Three, don’t write to please others. Four, revise deeply and often. Five, persevere.

5. Finally, where can we find you? (goodreads, amazon link, website, blog)


[Note: My publisher is doing a Goodreads give-away this month for 25 signed hardback copies of NO SURRENDER SOLDIER.]
Class of 2k14: Fiction Addiction http://classof2k14.com/our-books/
[Note: Discussion & Activity sheets available at Teachingbooks.net & Sharemylesson. However, if teachers want the quiz, test, and 3 keys they can e-mail ckohler@christinekohlerbooks.com and request.]