tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2903977793740671402024-03-08T16:05:20.665-05:00The Seymour AgencyMarisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18372508890443179743noreply@blogger.comBlogger172125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-22047354047139089892024-03-08T16:04:00.002-05:002024-03-08T16:04:29.103-05:00Pacing, Tension, and the Power of Sexy Milk by Hannah Kates<span id="docs-internal-guid-26038ec1-7fff-36b2-7421-acf3747fd40b"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The most engaged I’ve ever seen a writing class was a course I taught on pacing and tension for the</span><a href="https://writehive.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Write Hive Program</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. I’ve taught sessions in full corpse makeup and a bloodied, 1880-style ballgown, but I’ve never gotten the reactions, feedback, and retweets I received for that class, and I blame it all on one decisive factor:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sexy milk</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Yes, sexy milk. The point I was trying to make is that </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">what you say doesn’t matter nearly as much as how you say it </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(the same point I make without a hint of sarcasm, thank you very much, in my article,</span><a href="https://www.authorhannahkates.com/what-you-say-probably-doesnt-matter/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What You Say Probably Doesn’t Matter</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). Using voice, strategic descriptions, and purposeful cadence, you can make even the most mundane actions tense and/or “udderly” salacious:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Mm.” She lifted the crystalline glass, her long, dark fingernails tinkling against the dainty embossments. The pucker of her pout spoke girlish innocence, but her side-eye told a different story.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">She paused for a moment, the glass halfway to her perfectly pursed mouth. “If only I had a cookie.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">She licked her lips slowly—top, then bottom. Her green eyes blazed. An electric tremble wracked my shoulders.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With a nod of her chin, she tipped back the drink. Every swallow, every gulp, chased ripples down the supple skin of her neck.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Cold. Creamy. Delicious.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In that moment, I swore I could taste every drop.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Is this scene cheesy? Of course. Contrived, violet, and downright ridiculous? Absolutely. But I believe this example stuck with my students not only due to the silliness, but also because it illustrates the power of content-level tension.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What’s content-level tension? Well… it’s tension on the content editing level. That is, style, prose, rhythm—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">how </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">you convey a message rather than simply the message itself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">While reading something engrossing, have you ever realized your heart was pounding? Your hands were sweating? Outside noises came distant and muffled, as if garbling at you from underwater? Has a book ever made you sigh? Cry? Scream or hurl something across the living room? (Not that I’d ever know what that’s like.)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As a voracious horror reader and a middle grade horror author, I’m fascinated when writers suspend my belief and commandeer my autonomic stress responses. It takes great skill to craft a written experience. Notice, I didn’t say “story”—I said </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">experience</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Good writing isn’t just telling a story. It’s crafting an experience.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Skillful horror authors create tension at the content level by mirroring our autonomic fear responses back to us. How are they able to do this?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Shorter, staccato sentences that both accelerate the pace and mimic our quickening pulses</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Narrowed, focused points of view (POV)—the same sensory contraction we experience in a fight, flight, or freeze response</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Panicked, run-on inner monologues that “startle” abruptly to external stimuli</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">By no means is this an exhaustive list, and these principles don’t just apply to horror. In the case of sexy milk, we don’t have to </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">say </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">that our narrator is bewitched by the milk drinker. We </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">experience </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">their ensorcellment through:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tunnel vision POV</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Winding, violet descriptions of the subject of our narrator’s fascination</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Shorter, reactionary sentences when the milk drinker drinks milk—as if our narrator’s lizard brain is locked on her every move</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tension isn’t about what we write. It’s about harnessing our readers’ emotions and serving them straight back.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, yes. Sexy milk has been a memorable, if not unexpected teaching tool on pacing and content-level tension. Nearly five years later, I still find it particularly a</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">moo</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">sing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I swear, that’s my last cow joke.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And I’ll milk it for all it’s worth.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>ABOUT HANNAH KATES</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgImzqVUePS8KzJITkKwDsTHLK-aXviRnzpz0lk8RqBSDwMbYJhrQXiLX-rAzoTOWmTg_GnIrIfD4qW0TW6BiyA_WHzQYBfGkkf3yph1Im5wJZv-gazdQsapnyebuQeYmMYkwwmUlK9dUNxMijJmXxEk35byxSGiARGR3m4xoX4Na53sqg85em8dhttd_M/s1280/MPS_2049-cropped(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgImzqVUePS8KzJITkKwDsTHLK-aXviRnzpz0lk8RqBSDwMbYJhrQXiLX-rAzoTOWmTg_GnIrIfD4qW0TW6BiyA_WHzQYBfGkkf3yph1Im5wJZv-gazdQsapnyebuQeYmMYkwwmUlK9dUNxMijJmXxEk35byxSGiARGR3m4xoX4Na53sqg85em8dhttd_M/s320/MPS_2049-cropped(1).jpg" width="256" /></a></b></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hannah Kates is an author, editor, and best-selling ghostwriter who also writes about ghosts. Ever since ending her short career as a pirate hunter/swordswoman, she’s moonlighted in a variety of vocations, including copywriter, character actress, governess in the Swiss Alps, and ghost tour guide in America’s most haunted mansion.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div>Marisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18372508890443179743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-87912544763579587472023-07-07T10:00:00.002-04:002023-07-07T10:02:21.673-04:00Interview with Author Stephanie Shaw<span id="docs-internal-guid-31437e51-7fff-a264-fd1c-33cbe0e9d656"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.stephanieshawauthor.com/works.htm" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="730" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBCVNbfmOkpVs_akUKzytk_5MzGi2IGWIuLgNZ2C9HOKCY5kW-m9q0CaS76zIYhKYlt_k9o31gbit14ty4LWQOKMOjKTZpuQZh7-LYwrnTbjXBBAOZcpsexmj3z8W2mk34bHFZFlZ45mObKkwQqP_tuJqglyFirXwVXLBEf2DqKMUWiEkC3GjU23JrfY/w400-h199/Shaw%20books%20pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><b><br />Tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing career.</b></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I offer up my early life as an explanation of the choice to write children’s books. I grew up in a time where the ‘electronics’ consisted of the radio. Television was something my family couldn’t afford until I was a bit older. And it was the stories told on the radio that my siblings and I would cling to. And, of course, books. We were read to every night. We had library cards at age five as a right of passage. Weekly trips to the library were treasured. I have to say, my fascination with books and my addiction to them started very, very early. I remember my sister and I discovering a string of Christmas lights in the attic that adjoined our bedroom. They were perfect for ‘under cover’ reading. And probably a fire hazard.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I always enjoyed writing. I was the kid in the fourth grade who was fascinated with diagraming sentences! And, I remember being praised for my writing. I wrote poems mostly and thank you notes (this was required writing but I didn’t mind).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In high school and college, it was the English classes that held my attention. Then when I began education studies, the required course ‘Children’s Literature’ just became my absolute favorite class. I dreamed of owning a children’s bookstore. I wanted to name it ‘Little Prints’ in honor of Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince. But the reality was that I needed more secure employment. So, teaching became my vocation. And fortunately, that kept me very close to children’s books!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As a teacher, a counselor and then a principal, I loved connecting kids with stories…especially those kids who did not have the privileges I had in a home that encouraged reading.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Also, in my career, I was required to do a lot of writing. Grants, newsletters, reports to public and parents…all took careful word choice and even humor at times.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Why are you a writer?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The actual writing for kids (stories to be published), came after I took an early retirement to care for my mom. There were periods in-between medical appointments or physical care. I suppose I could have just as easily (although ‘easy’ isn’t a word I associate with writing) taken up knitting or woodworking or even golf like my mom did when she was in her seventies! But all my life I found a comfort or a distraction or a belly laugh in children’s books. Why not try to write one myself? And I did.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>What is your writing schedule like?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It is totally haphazard unless I am in the process of revising an acquired manuscript. Then I am laser-focused and will work without distractions until I complete what an editor asks. My family is very familiar with my raising my index finger but not looking up from my computer. They know it means, “Not now!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But as for daily writing to develop new work, that just doesn’t happen. I do engage in daily pre-writing activities such as walking, reading professional journals, blogs, familiarizing myself with what is new on the market etc. If I get an idea, I’ll jot it down and then come back to it later. But there is no regiment to the creative process until I have a solid idea.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time before you were published?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Oh, I would definitely tell myself to start earlier in life. Take classes. Join a writing and critique group…basically all the things I did once I started writing only do it at a much earlier point in my life.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>What were the last three books you read?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b> </b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingslover (pre-Pulitzer)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Nameless Serenade by Maurizio de Giovanni (translated from Italian)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mysteries are my guilty pleasure. Once I find a series, I have to read every one of them…Agatha Christie, Richard Osman Elly Griffiths, Ian Rankin, Henning Mankel, Louise Penney. I just love them and I marvel how the authors weave the stories.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Do you read horoscopes?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.peachtreebooks.com/author/stephanie-shaw/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="220" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRGqDif2qWOyUPaSpMIOBW13IDkbBTS47WXxYvb6oqJelzBIIxjS_umKdAyf2cK4MBDa59TjevIP76dBtzpcH_KT8rLnfYo4yxSE8QghzboUcoaUX047srN6iyhirHvEoEL62nWsS_1v_xE8bOJLcEEIlnbNzSIBvf4MRBphq38jqJXHC8jR82JKLMxdw=w310-h400" width="310" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’m really obsessive about reading the newspaper every day. I may skim the political shenanigans but I thoroughly attend to the obituaries, the comics, the advice column and, yes, my horoscope. Then I promptly forget what it predicts for my day so I’m not sure why I read it. I love the obituaries that are often stories of wonderful well-lived lives and have terrific ideas for story characters’ names: Burl, Lydia, Clarence…names you just don’t hear any more.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>What are your pet peeves?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Stickers on fruit and vegetables</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Banquette seating in restaurants</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The glacier-like speed of the publishing world</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Fast Facts:<br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Coffee or tea?</i> Coffee</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Morning or night?</i> Morning</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Rivers or oceans?</i> Oceans</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>White wine or red?</i> White</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Champagne or liquor?</i> Scotch</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Cupcakes or ice cream?</i> Cupcakes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Laptop or desktop?</i> Laptop</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Casual or couture?</i> Casual couture</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Ponytail or headband?</i> Baseball cap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Shower or bath?</i> Shower</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Summer or winter?</i> Winter</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Motorcycle or bicycle?</i> Unicorn…I mean unicycle…I mean bicycle</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><div><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>* * * Connect with Stephanie * * *</b></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Website: <a href="http://www.stephanieshawauthor.com">www.stephanieshawauthor.com</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sgshaw50" target="_blank">sgshaw50</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stephanieshaw830/" target="_blank">stephanieshaw830</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><b>* * * Fun Freebie * * *</b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">If you visit Stephanie's <a href="https://www.stephanieshawauthor.com/works.htm" target="_blank">website</a>, you can download an <a href="https://www.stephanieshawauthor.com/works.htm" target="_blank">Activity Guide</a> for her newest picture book, <a href="https://www.peachtreebooks.com/book/all-by-myself/" target="_blank">ALL BY MYSELF</a>! </p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div>Marisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18372508890443179743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-51715613194358842092023-06-23T10:00:00.001-04:002023-06-23T10:00:00.143-04:00Debut Author Ed Mishrell on Writing The 5 Truths for Transformational Leaders<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My name is Ed Mishrell, and last month my first book, </span><a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+5+Truths+for+Transformational+Leaders%3A+How+Nonprofit+Organizations+Thrive%2C+Grow%2C+and+Make+a+Profound+Difference-p-9781394187003" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 5 Truths for Transformational Leaders:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+5+Truths+for+Transformational+Leaders%3A+How+Nonprofit+Organizations+Thrive%2C+Grow%2C+and+Make+a+Profound+Difference-p-9781394187003" target="_blank">How Nonprofit Organizations Thrive, Grow and Make a Profound Difference</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was published. It was thrilling to hold the book in my hand after three years of working and thinking about it every day. I worked most of my adult life for nonprofit organizations, first at community-based organizations in Philadelphia and then at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) National Office. When I read Marisa’s email asking for blog posts for The Seymour Agency's blog, I reflected on my journey as a first-time author, what I learned and how I managed to complete a book. I identified five phases, each with its own challenges.<br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://leadershiptruths.org/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="6351" data-original-width="4234" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERXx9aqQpBXVlDKTc1tAiE9k8aj-sQiDkEjgzvjzJcCO2QMcrek5Lc4-hmxMhD_tBD5SXXMl5zZhBiFj2qrAWZFJfbGHxDI_y7wjB9sqAD2P9kO6rgJGQ9vWbqRZ1eZaKejvd7h8NvnbcDpIHe_PDk2IDxh1W39rHDIEbWdbtX4vuQvoytdVzYw2aOdw/w213-h320/Ed%20Mishrell%20Headshot.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8b61569d-7fff-e652-84aa-5bd515049388"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clarify the purpose of the book</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Get organized to research and write the book</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Find an agent and publisher</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Publish the book</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Market the book.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clarify the mission and purpose of the book: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the fall of 2019, I made the decision to write a book about leadership in nonprofit organizations. I made a few false starts but didn’t make much progress until I clearly defined my goals for the book. The question I needed to answer was “what difference can this book make.” While there are thousands of books about leadership, very few are based on the experience of successful nonprofit leaders. I believed nonprofit leaders needed a mission driven leadership model that met the unique challenges of leading a nonprofit organization. And I believed my experience uniquely qualified me to write the book. Writing a book takes a long time. A mission and clear sense of purpose kept me focused and motivated to spend time everyday writing</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Get organized to research and write the book: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I began working in earnest on the book in January of 2020. The first couple of months were exciting but not very productive. I quickly became totally disorganized. I wasn’t sure how to organize my time and make progress every day. I needed a process and strategy for how to proceed. I learned a couple of valuable lessons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I quickly created hundreds of pages of notes from interviews plus hundreds more from books and articles I read. I couldn’t easily find anything. I needed to establish a system for organizing my research. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I needed to work on the book every day even when it was a struggle to write anything meaningful. When I worked on the book every day, it was always front of mind. Breakthroughs came at unexpected times. When I took a day or more off, it was very difficult to get restarted.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book didn’t need to be written in order. If I had an idea for something I felt was important for chapter 5, I would spend the day working on that part of chapter 5. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">·</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I needed to keep going back to rewrite and revise to make sure everything was in sync. My thinking often evolved from something I wrote early on. I needed to keep going back to make sure everything was aligned.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Find an agent and publisher:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> My sense of purpose and strong belief in the difference the book could make for nonprofit leaders kept me focused in spite of the rejections I received to my carefully crafted query letters. I am so grateful to be working with Marisa. From the first time I read her bio and talked to her I knew she was the perfect agent to represent me. Thank you, Marisa and The Seymour Agency. You are the best. And thank you, Wiley, for believing my book was worth publishing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Publish the book: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This went by very fast and while the editing process and then preparing the book layout was intense, it was exciting; after two plus years publication was a reality.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+5+Truths+for+Transformational+Leaders%3A+How+Nonprofit+Organizations+Thrive%2C+Grow%2C+and+Make+a+Profound+Difference-p-9781394187003" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="2667" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYw3MY0dwDjGzzEzBTWHXcvvU41bnQqG9XvgvdfyeMaE99ZUwWOsBEIBFb7YguMfXv5I7EYTVgQE1VBTBN0YEaUrRTi4ycZa9THAVNAdavdCyRTnIBlx8qiyPOCn-gGKbyYpZy2ZQZjCejif0hTCcCuBTCkx1qIiSnngjmTFFXkFHSrpvxYgPbbw6hsM/s320/cover-3D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Market and promote the book:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is where I am right now. I am not always comfortable promoting myself and I need to keep pushing myself. Before publishing a book, I never had a web site, a YouTube channel, or a blog. I seldom posted on social media. I wasn’t on any podcasts. I wasn’t speaking at conferences. This is all new and I am still learning. When I am having trouble, I reflect back on my mission to create a book that would help nonprofit leaders make a bigger difference. This pushes me to keep moving out of my comfort zone. The last of the five truths is to continue to grow as a Leader. What I learned from interviewing successful leaders is that the leadership they provided to grow the organization was often no longer effective when the organization became larger. Success means leaders need to adapt and change. Every leader I interviewed said evolving into the leader the organization needed after unprecedented growth was the hardest thing they ever did. And some of them were not successful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the same lesson for me as a first-time author. I am switching gears and contacting people I know and don’t know to invite myself into their organization to talk about my book. What fun I am having.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed Mishrell</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.284; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* * * CONNECT WITH ED * * *</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://leadershiptruths.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 5 Truths for Transformational Leaders – Learn how nonprofit organizations thrive, grow, and make a profound difference</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ed-mishrell-692a3bb_nonprofit-leaders-activity-7055915754805735424-Xl_4/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LinkedIn</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/emishrell" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2839972727272726; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br />Risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166181258689381777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-10921573678728992022023-06-16T10:00:00.004-04:002023-06-21T20:16:09.155-04:00Interview + Giveaway with Marie Tang<p> <b style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is your writing schedule like?</b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.beamingbooks.com/store/product/9781506483412/Yunas-Cardboard-Castles" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5OttF21tKnIWVp4qxFG8cDAHiQgzfvu7EQRIALEJOo90fNAPvkJeN1HdjhsG3cjwnloGh3Rgn63sOi1wLuE1KDhZpC7wb7vlChkgxELY4u0Cjn477AnSadDJqaCB94CBlaxxQ7wzfGp80wQypTNIijeDxhKKUh8kOg_9Fa-XzzNEZ3otnxCJ_Yhr2/s320/Cover_final.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hate to admit it, but it’s chaotic! With my first book out in the world, I now have 1001 ideas swimming around my head on how to promote it, all while thinking of what my next book might be. So when I’m not working my part-time gig at the senior center, helping my husband market his business, or trying to feed my teenager and her friends who always seem hungry, I am writing. If it’s not a new manuscript idea, it’s a blog post, a letter to a school, or an email request to friends to suggest my book at the library. Sometimes I’m updating my bio or writing content for the website updates I need to make. All and all, I am writing. It’s just not part of a schedule that I would eventually like to have. The one thing that I have been doing regularly is meeting (virtually) with a lady out in Cincinnati whom I met by chance during an online writing course. We spend an hour and a half 3 days a week working on our Middle Grade novels. I’m always telling her how grateful I am that she reached out to this introvert and got me on this schedule. Without it, I wouldn’t have the first draft of an MG novel to talk about!</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What has been the most thrilling part of being published?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You know that book “The Secret” that talks about willing something to be? I feel like I willed being published to be. I don’t think I ever said it out loud the way I do now with my affirmations, but for years I would repeat in my head, “I will be a published author, I will be a published author…” It was thrilling to see that come to fruition (not without a lot of work and perseverance along the way of course).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other thrilling thing is hearing and watching children react to my book. As a former teacher, I’ve always been tickled when a child reacts to a funny or sad, or scary emotion in a book. It’s a magical thing to witness and I feel honored when I hear a child has made a connection to my story.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What do you think makes a good book?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For me, a good book is all about the characters and how they move throughout the story. I love trying to guess how a character is going to react in a scene and what they’ll do next. This to me makes the book worth reading. I am also a big comedy fan so if a story has humor and heart, it grabs my attention.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>How long does it take you to write a book?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been mainly focused on picture books. I would say it takes me an average of twelve revisions before I feel good about submitting to it my agent (although I’ve come out of my shell a little lately and tested sending something on revision 2 or 3, hehe) I tend to have lots of initial theme ideas too but those pretty much stay in my head until a second spark causes me to realize the potential for a story and there is no telling when that happens.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What's one thing you can't live without?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m going to give a corny answer here, but I couldn’t live without books. I didn’t truly discover reading until I was pretty much an adult. English was my second language and throughout grade school, I was turned off by the way recommended reading was presented to us. I also didn’t have the support I needed to love reading. That changed in my sophomore year of college. I fell head over heels for Harry Potter and my joy of reading began! I don’t stop reading now. It helps me in so many ways. I read everything from business books, to self-help, to children’s books, and all varieties of fiction. I usually have 3 to 4 books lying around that I’m reading at the same time at different times of the day.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.marie-tang.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2640" data-original-width="1980" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6u6pcBs8YucUZYjho5kBxsLoOCBIz_L6ETYo23AXlPE17oC6pzkSMnHVA_RS8YLNGdiqdghLD4QCHGjzbmPUWrbc2Spo5hE-togQ0t8uyUFfnMDwcafsJeGl_FU-l-tdOKJZ98iKGHcOSBVyKyFeK2Sl1GxMBngE-0Nvv0wHj6UbaIVe2KMY6xtu/s320/Marie%20Tang%20Headshot.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Fun Facts:</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Coffee or tea?</i></span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> BOTH! Coffee in the morning, tea at night.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Morning or night?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Morning</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Rivers or oceans?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Rivers</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>White wine or red?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Red</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Champagne or liquor?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Liquor</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Cupcakes or ice cream?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Ice cream</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Laptop or desktop?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Laptop</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Casual or couture?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Couture</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Ponytail or headband?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Ponytail</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Shower or bath?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Bath</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Summer or winter?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Summer</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Motorcycle or bicycle?</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Motorcycle</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>About Marie</b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; white-space: normal;">Marie Tang was born in Hong Kong, raised in New York City, and lived in Shanghai for more than a decade. The unique characters and neon lights of “The Big City” have been an ever-present source of inspiration for her. She proudly tells the tales of the grit, tenacity, and compassion of the Asian people. She is the author of YUNA’S CARDBOARD CASTLES, with three more books releasing the coming years.</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>* * * <a href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/5a71dfb328/?" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">GIVEAWAY!</span></a> * * *</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Click <a href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/5a71dfb328/?" target="_blank">HERE</a> to enter the <a href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/5a71dfb328/?" target="_blank">Rafflecopter</a> giveaway for a chance to win:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- a signed copy of Yuna's Cardboard Castles</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- a pair of origami earrings</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>* * * Connect with Marie * * *</b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Website: <a href="https://www.marie-tang.com/" style="white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">https://www.marie-tang.com/</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/marietangauthor/">https://www.instagram.com/marietangauthor/</a></span></p><p><br /></p>Risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166181258689381777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-70784244505690152272023-06-09T07:00:00.001-04:002023-06-09T07:00:00.139-04:00A B’nai Mitzvah Story by Stacey Agdern<span id="docs-internal-guid-2cb703ab-7fff-6d0c-a8fa-aed1946a1efd"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p></span><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://tulepublishing.com/books/bnai-mitzvah-mistake/#order" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0uMyp8_L8ETO-dsXjoIHOpsWvVxu_tNSWsQTSa47mvPfM_-zdtEf9egPan0Qm_EOFym8ktX4Q1pLNJ2SthxDlg9CCqOmHtjx7-6DI8wZwRUZFW2k9YA9qzvaeLmjOjoj6xbbsIuI3EIe5RyUB1_q348WgV2eL1vzmbY33GOKgr1aklg3kgy2Tt1bp/w200-h200/DFTs--O4_400x400-2%20(1).jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I was 12, I had my bat mitzvah. I studied long and hard, and on a Saturday morning in October, I stood in front of my family and congregation, read from the Torah, gave my speech and celebrated.<br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not long after that, I went to a synagogue a few towns north of where I lived, to celebrate another Bat Mitzvah. But there was something different. The celebrant was the mother of one of my brother’s friends, a woman in her forties. Because for multiple reasons, she hadn’t had the chance to have her Bat Mitzvah at 12 or 13 like I did.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I was younger, I didn’t understand what must have gone through this woman’s head, what made her decide to not only take this step, but also create the space in her life in order to prepare for it. Because as a 12 year old, the space in my life to study for my bat mitzvah was made for me. My parents facilitated this practice, and also made sure I stuck to the schedule created for that purpose. They drove me to lessons and told me when and where I needed to study. Even over the summer.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/b-nai-mitzvah-mistake-stacey-agdern/19937744?ean=9781959988335" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1601" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTowv_eBlbS65rBUkF_DbBxebAZv7Dzu0PieqNv6e_GLy5dMePo9d3MwuJAb7TZ89KfID6MywpgqLKv1RwqcghZkFvQc08OR26KFky3nM7qAc9M80T3S4ysAsEINaQeM_5cS3zobOKYDaT6S-f0GrUlSMxyrR25Hl1qDvubx28-B6n8iFpkigdKtL/s320/Ebook_BNaiMitzvahMistake_final-01.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But my brother’s friend’s mom didn’t have that luxury. Her time, as a professional, a mother and a wife, was rarely her own. Which meant that if she was going to stand before her congregation and have her own Bat Mitzvah, she needed to carve space for that too.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Years later, I involved myself in conversations about what ‘adult coming of age’ books would look like. And that was when I remembered hearing stories about athletes and comedians having their own Bar and Bat Mitzvahs as adults. These people had taken the time, as a way of rediscovering or reconnecting to their Jewish heritage, to undertake the study necessary to prepare for the ceremony. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I thought about their stories, and what they had to do, I was reminded of my brother’s friend’s mom.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of these stories, in so many ways, became the inspiration for what would become the B’Nai Mitzvah Mistake. You can see two different journeys towards the choice to have this ceremony as an adult in Judith’s and Asher’s story. And I hope that you also see love.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>* * *</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><div><span><span><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>FAST FACTS</b></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Coffee or tea?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I can’t choose; I love both</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Morning or night?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">That weird space where night becomes morning :D yes I’m that kind of night owl</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Rivers or oceans?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I live by the river but love visiting the ocean</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">White wine or red?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">White when it’s sweet, red when it’s dry</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Champagne or liquor?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Depends</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Cupcakes or ice cream?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">cupcakes :D</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Laptop or desktop?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Laptop to write, desktop to edit</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Casual or couture?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Casual :D</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Ponytail or headband?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Ponytail</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Shower or bath?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Shower</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Summer or winter?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Both</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Motorcycle or bicycle?
</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Uhhhh.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>* * *</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>GIVEAWAY</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Stacey is giving away one copy of her new release to a random commenter!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Not sure what to say? Ask her a question or let her know if you've read another one of her books!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Winner will be chosen at random on Friday, June 16, 2023. If you do not include your email in your comment (not required to win), please be sure to check back here on Friday, June 16, 2023 to see if someone from the agency has replied to your comment letting you know you've won a copy of Stacey's book! </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">See footer for giveaway terms and conditions.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>* * *</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>About Stacey</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><br /></b></span></p></span></span>Stacey Agdern is an award-winning former bookseller who has reviewed romance novels in multiple formats and given talks about various aspects of the romance genre. She is also a romance writer. C. She lives in New York, not far from her favorite hockey team's practice facility.<span><span><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2c293b; font-family: "ibm plex sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2c293b; font-family: "ibm plex sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; white-space: normal;">***</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Connect with Stacey!</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/nystacey" style="font-size: 11pt;" target="_blank">Twitter: https://twitter.com/nystacey</a></div></span><p style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@sagdern" target="_blank">TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sagdern</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/sagdern/" target="_blank">Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sagdern/</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/staceyaagdern" target="_blank">Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staceyaagdern</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.staceyagdern.com/" target="_blank">Website: https://www.staceyagdern.com/</a></span></p></span></span></div>Marisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18372508890443179743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-26761576170609949852021-09-23T07:00:00.001-04:002021-09-23T07:00:00.248-04:00Meet Author-Illustrator Andrea Tripke<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We're so excited to share with you this interview with author-illustrator Andrea Tripke!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">1. <span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing career. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0JKf8cCCybi0pqGKKErbS5HdvfAWzPvf-LQIkqvUdPBU_KZhj92bzn1BFMPT5gY69sUfaIeP-KQ1UERDqBpE839Z8BuE5cPVRUKVedJNguyKgBAze98HCny3Df0TgDbhrCz71zO4LU9E/s499/51761o43FHL._SX379_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="381" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0JKf8cCCybi0pqGKKErbS5HdvfAWzPvf-LQIkqvUdPBU_KZhj92bzn1BFMPT5gY69sUfaIeP-KQ1UERDqBpE839Z8BuE5cPVRUKVedJNguyKgBAze98HCny3Df0TgDbhrCz71zO4LU9E/s320/51761o43FHL._SX379_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="244" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love my job.
I am not a person who can just sit around for very long time doing nothing.
I started writing only a few years ago.
2. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
After being commissioned to illustrate my first picture book, I was hooked. Naturally I was wondering if I could come up with my own stories…
3. Why are you a writer?
Illustrating my own ideas and stories is the best thing ever! I have so many ideas. Instead of just painting a single image, I come up with a story for a whole book.
4. What is your writing schedule like?
I don’t have a writing schedule. Our critique group asks for submissions during the first week of each month, and I usually start brainstorming and writing a few days before due date. If something comes up, I write it down and submit. Working under pressure does make things happen.</span><div><span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time before you were published?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Don’t look for ideas a child might like to read, but ideas a mom would like to read to her child. I find this a lot easier, and chances are I am coming up with something unique. Every idea can be turned into a children friendly story. Join a critique group! </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
6. What has been the most thrilling part of being published? </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Seeing my books in stores is unbelievable. Knowing that children everywhere can read them is more rewarding than anything else.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
7. What do you think makes a good book?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">
I think it needs to be interesting and unique, including the images. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to make it appealing to the adult reading it to a child.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. How did you come up with the idea for your book Miranda, Queen of Broken Toys? </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Most of my stories are written spontaneously. Sometimes I pull my car over to write down an idea before it is gone. The idea for Miranda, Queen of Broken Toys formed, when I was trying to decide what to do with my daughter’s old and damaged toys. Nowadays, a lot of toys end up in the garbage because it’s so easy and inexpensive to replace them. I was wondering if it should be like this.
<br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
9. What was the hardest part of writing your book? </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Writing the first sentence. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
10. How long does it take you to write a book? </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
The fastest picture book manuscript took me less than an hour to write. I couldn’t sleep and suddenly came up with an idea. I got up around 1am in the morning and was back to bed before 2am. Of course, it needed tweaking afterwards. That’s when my critique group comes in.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
11. How many books have you written, and which one is your favorite?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
I have only been published (as a writer) with one book, but after joining my critique group in 2019, I have written about one manuscript a month. The group keeps me going. The most recent story is usually my favorite.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">12. Do you buy books based on the cover or the blurb? </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
As an illustrator I tend to buy books by the cover art. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
13. What books have influenced your writing? </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
I like picture books that entertain me as a parent too. Books by Ryan T. Higgins or Philip C. Stead are highly entertaining, just to name a few. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
14. Do you prefer ebooks, paperbacks, or hardcover? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">
I prefer hardcover picture books. They are durable and look good in a </span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">bookshelf. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
15. What were the last three books you read?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Currently, I am reading Harry Potter with my daughter. The last picture books I purchased (and read) were The Secret Garden and Creepy Carrots. The pandemic slowed me down, and I haven’t been as often to the bookstore as before COVID.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">16. What do you do when you're not writing? </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Working on book dummies. Each story that has been approved by my lovely agents Marisa Cleveland and Joyce Sweeney will be turned into a book dummy. Besides that, I am a full-time mom.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
17. What is your typical day like?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
I try to fill every free minute, means the time I don’t spend taking care of my daughter, dog, hamster, fish, parrot and sometimes husband, somehow creatively.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
18. What's one thing you can't live without?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
I can’t limit it to one thing. I can’t even limit it to 10 things!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>About Andrea</b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yX0CPXYc_8Wqx3j-8UZu7HR7bP659G6W4x-tn28v3pexZS65XONxxWedBPnUfDNnqMK88vexHlS3YOg5gAjVe8TAcBBwoTGf9qFwmcvSJ3DbPhuvva6gtiJNSzYlSurb1hBtOMtKQc8/s2048/Andrea+Tripke+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1476" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yX0CPXYc_8Wqx3j-8UZu7HR7bP659G6W4x-tn28v3pexZS65XONxxWedBPnUfDNnqMK88vexHlS3YOg5gAjVe8TAcBBwoTGf9qFwmcvSJ3DbPhuvva6gtiJNSzYlSurb1hBtOMtKQc8/s320/Andrea+Tripke+2.png" width="231" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Andrea Tripke is a German-born artist who has illustrated books for children, including A Girl named October by Zakieh A. Mohammed and Selfie the Elfie by Savage Steve Holland. She studied at the Columbus College of Art and Design before pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a children’s book writer and illustrator. Miranda, Queen of Broken Toys is her first authored/ illustrated book.</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Connect with Andrea through her </span></span><a href=" https://andreatripke.com" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">website</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/AndreaTripke" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Buy MIRANDA, QUEEN OF BROKEN TOYS</span></div> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Miranda-Queen-Broken-Andrea-Tripke/dp/1684336414" target="_blank">Amazon</a><span> | <span> </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/miranda-queen-of-broken-toys-andrea-tripke/1137999574" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>Risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166181258689381777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-42783231035092288442021-06-17T12:00:00.011-04:002021-06-21T20:29:50.557-04:00A Twitter #PBPitch Success Story with Ronna Mandel!<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">By Maggie Apostolis<br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zX9IiQBRHSAQElyD0-gGCG6PaGenSHFDgUflGWAnhtnRSdt2mvyTygsoZUiYwdDRoHriNeqpZQHEJOZ3-obvQ-Tg0s3g5iSVMYR4KwPNPUASm2uncrQmpmHykb8QWqb0c_SLjC7zFdA/s743/Ronna+Interview.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zX9IiQBRHSAQElyD0-gGCG6PaGenSHFDgUflGWAnhtnRSdt2mvyTygsoZUiYwdDRoHriNeqpZQHEJOZ3-obvQ-Tg0s3g5iSVMYR4KwPNPUASm2uncrQmpmHykb8QWqb0c_SLjC7zFdA/s320/Ronna+Interview.png" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Was writing a lifelong dream or something
you sort of fell upon? <o:p></o:p></span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I recall first being enamored when taking high
school and college short story and playwriting classes. I also began composing
essays. After I studied abroad in Paris and London, all I wanted to do was travel
writing. In fact, I actually toured the country in one of my jobs giving
educational seminars on travel to Russia, Eastern Europe, India and Europe.
Writing speeches was such fun! When my husband, daughter and I moved to
Frankfurt and then London, I took classes, joined critique groups and began
writing short stories and entering contests. I also began writing an adult
murder mystery. That all changed to writing for children after I had my own
children and LA Parent magazine, where<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
worked when I moved back from living overseas, asked me to begin a blog and
review children’s books.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Did school/education have a positive or
negative impact on your writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I originally thought I wanted to major in
art and become a set designer for theater, but once at university I changed my
mind. My university had a strong English department and the classes I took
prompted me to create an interdisciplinary major called Media Production and
Writing. I thought I would write for television but never did. Fortunately, as
a result of several creative jobs post college, (publicity in publishing,
advertising and then travel) I’ve ultimately found my passion in writing for children.
So in this roundabout answer, I’d say yes, my education had a positive impact
since I’ve been in writing jobs ever since graduating.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who is your favorite author?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">To be honest, I can’t name just one
favorite. Each time I read and love a book, that’s my current fave. There are
many kidlit authors whose writing I admire including Sandra Boynton, Tammi
Sauer, Marla Frazee, Jane Yolen, Kelly Starling Lyons, Ryan T. Higgins, Josh
Funk, Jon Klassen, Andrea J. Loney, Carole B. Weatherford, Tara Lazar, Jerry
Craft, Alexis O’Neill and tons more!!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who or what is your biggest influence when
it comes to the work you produce?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">My own life experiences and those of my
family constantly influence my writing. Whether I’m writing about special
needs, bullying, fitting in, or Jewish culture, there is usually something I
can tie to my childhood, my parenting experiences, travel and life overseas, as
well as the ever-changing world around me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What do you want to see change about the
literary world?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’d like to see more works from BIPOC
authors and illustrators. It’s starting though. I see that as a reviewer which
is terrific. That being said, I’d also like to see books by Jewish authors
sharing non-stereo-typical experiences across the board and the same for
disabled, LGBTQIA and neurodiverse authors and illustrators.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">If your reader could know one fun fact
about you or one of your character’s, what would you want to share?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m ambidextrous and I play a mean air
guitar.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">How have you witnessed your work change
over the years as a writer?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">My writing improves with every course I
take and every book I read. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">How do you cope with writer’s block?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think I really don’t cope with it. I
ignore it. That’s why deadlines are so good. When I don’t feel the creativity
flowing, I often do non-writing things like arts and crafts (I love decoupage
and papier mache), listen to my favorite radio podcasts or go for a walk. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Where is your favorite place to write?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of my favorite places to write is the
main branch of the Pasadena library. Being surrounded by warm wooden décor,
studious people, and thousands of books is so calming and inspiring. I also
like to write with a group of kidlit who used to meet at a café weekly prior to
the pandemic. I cannot wait to return there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wrap up question that I like to ask all
writers; what is the one piece of advice you want to offer to aspiring authors
and writers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m laughing because I still consider
myself an aspiring author since I’m not published yet. My advice is to feed
your creativity by feeding your soul. Do the things that spark joy and likely
this will also spark stories. Maybe that’s a walk along the beach, walking the
dog, or a walk through a museum. I never know when or where an idea will strike
me, but if I’m relaxed and feeling good, chances are my brain is more open to
new things. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2jDJPqstO7c01k408pyv1FdjuRxbFg0Oy96jGT4Mv-R8keDc4K68ivD0-2q3gUJyXHsiPIf1v2Vn3ZR0PvWOXeA51VHzVrpNiPd5KheBWPNPTk6Y4sOldKLgLFgT3vHMG1AQxTSiUxw/s880/pbpitch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="880" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2jDJPqstO7c01k408pyv1FdjuRxbFg0Oy96jGT4Mv-R8keDc4K68ivD0-2q3gUJyXHsiPIf1v2Vn3ZR0PvWOXeA51VHzVrpNiPd5KheBWPNPTk6Y4sOldKLgLFgT3vHMG1AQxTSiUxw/s320/pbpitch.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div>Was this your first Twitter pitch event? How many have you done?<br /></b><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Twitter pitch event, #PBPitch, that I participated in this past February was maybe my fourth or fifth. But it was only the second time I pitched my Onion manuscript which you liked. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Is there any advice you would give to people participating in the future?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If people want to join a Twitter pitch event, my advice would be to visit the website of the person who hosts the event and read the instructions carefully. I see so many people who don’t follow the rules. Next I would type the Pitch Event hashtag into Twitter to get an idea of what a typical pitch is for picture books (in my case), middle grade and so on since not everyone deletes their pitch when the event ends. Look for ones with one or more hearts (likes) to see the qualities of a successful pitch. Lastly I recommend writing several different versions of the pitch and asking critique partners for feedback. It doesn’t hurt to also do a test run without really tweeting it to make sure you don’t have too many characters. Since 280 is the limit, be sure that includes space for required hashtags. Book titles are not required and neither are comps and could take up room. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">By the way, there are probably more than a dozen different type of Twitter pitch events throughout the year whether that’s DVPit, faith pitch, dark pitch, Pitmad, and pitch events for scifi + fantasy, romance, lgbtqn and more!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Thanks, Ronna!</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">*** Connect with Ronna ***</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/RonnaWriter" target="_blank">@RonnaWriter</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/goodreadswithronna/" target="_blank">@goodreadswithronna</a></span></p>Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14637312917337099546noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-47909254052157252532021-06-11T11:14:00.002-04:002021-06-21T19:32:53.749-04:00PB Party Success Story with Marie Tang! Thanks, Mindy!<p>By Maggie Apostolis</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgI1W437L3GZ6HL9i8a2k4tANdJucrfT7oU0tVoqBINZx82J6SjXPMfojV9mJfRJL11UIcwnayqFGqmEkCnmdHOTL3y9dWAwalOWCtXCttvrDoSYIGdnb1e1nRFJ7Nqc5qlgYGcoj74o/s959/IMG_1253.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="959" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgI1W437L3GZ6HL9i8a2k4tANdJucrfT7oU0tVoqBINZx82J6SjXPMfojV9mJfRJL11UIcwnayqFGqmEkCnmdHOTL3y9dWAwalOWCtXCttvrDoSYIGdnb1e1nRFJ7Nqc5qlgYGcoj74o/w320-h162/IMG_1253.JPG" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Tell us a bit about yourself.<o:p></o:p></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I was born in Hong Kong, but my family moved to New York when I was very young. I consider myself an Asian American, though technically, I am an immigrant. My daughter is a first-generation Asian American here. My daughter is going into high school this year, which’s great, but I have a little bit of anxiety about it because, for the last 11 years, we’ve been living in Shanghai. When she was eighteen months old, we got a job offer in China, and we found it to be a great opportunity to try something new. It is a cool city to be in, I liked what I saw, and I thought if I could get a job there and stay awhile, let’s see where it would take us. So, we stayed, and my daughter pretty much grew up there. But after a decade. it was time to come home. Our pup, Ginger, who we adapted when we were over there took the trip back to America with us as well. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was a great experience. I’ve always regarded myself as Asian American and all that comes along with it, but being able to go to China and experience the true Asian culture was an experience I was so blessed to have had. Many of my stories revolve around Chinese culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How long have you dabbled with writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I guess every writer has had this within them, but I have always loved writing. I’ve always just written stuff. Even after all the moving around, I still find random stuff I’ve written here and there throughout the years. I decided in 2017 to pursue children’s picture book writing, and I realized this is what I want to do. I love writing, so I had to hone in on picture books, to truly learn about the craft and find that elusive “voice.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Were you always interested in children’s books?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When I was in China, I got a job as a preschool and kindergarten teacher. That was a huge influence being around children and books. But what’s funny is whenever you start to tell people that you write picture books, they all believe they can write one as well. They’re always like, ‘oh, that’s easy, there are so few words,’ and that can sometimes be discouraging. I have learned over the years that it is one of the most difficult things to do. You’re writing a full-on story in less than 500 words, and that is not an easy task to take on. That is why I am so excited about this opportunity, and I am so lucky. In these three to four years, I’ve been writing a lot, doing a lot of webinars, and putting myself out there to get here, and it is certainly cool to be here. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Did you have a favorite book or author from childhood that shaped you as a writer?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I can’t really say I have a favorite. One of the reasons is because no one read to me when I was a kid. I didn’t read, it’s embarrassing to say, but I didn’t really read for enjoyment until I was in college. This however, has led to another passion of mine which is reading aloud with children. I have even written a book about it, and it was something I did as often as I could as a literacy teacher when I was working abroad. It must not have been until kindergarten when teachers and librarians when I heard stories read aloud. And at that point I was still an English language learner. But because when I was very young, no one read to me. I can’t say I have a favorite book because it wasn’t really a part of my life. One of the things I want to do is change that part of the culture. I want Asians to realize how important it is to read aloud to their children. It is very important for kids to read in terms of phonics, which is typically the focus for Asian parents, but reading for enjoyment is something totally different. I want to bring entertainment reading to the culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do you have specific audiences you are trying to reach/who do you write for?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Culture-curious kids. Kids who are interested in exploring different cultures. I have narrowed it down to the things I find common in the stories I write: sharing Asian culture with young people. There are so many great aspects that American children can pick up on which deal with food, mindfulness, and of course, family. Those are the three main threads I find in my stories.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What is your favorite subject to play within kid lit? Do you like heavier topics or to keep it light?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Heavy for sure. I overthink things way too much. That’s not necessarily a good thing but it’s fun to overthink something and cut it down to 500 words. For example, I have a story about death. When we think about death, it’s usually sad, and it <i>is</i> sad to see someone go. But my story is about a <i>Tai Gong</i> or, great grandfather, who’s lived until he was 100 years old. It’s about a little girl experiencing her great grandfather’s Chinese death ceremony. In this story I am trying to express the celebration of life that comes after death. Though I do love humor, I like to stick to heavier topics. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">People can tend to be sensitive when it comes to heavy topics, and you have to be sensitive when it comes to children. But I don’t know. I kind of don’t want to fall victim to playing it safe with the more controversial topics. I think there is a lot of value in hard-hitting lessons, such as kids being mean to each other and that we can find ways to express it that feel good to read. It’s all about moving the main character so they can become the hero they are meant to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">How was the PBParty successful for you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOCg_BAwaClOye9zHmDVpQ1zsiClx4sYRCttQoNK4jldyXp_7MXGzaZjdnAGA8nW-LvjPEZe692KeDeltOzD5GTWNZqRWAHT4FzaBTJM6Nfmdv8MF0MbXcQemcPkMq2PtbDLku0itOPQ/s496/Screen+Shot+2021-06-11+at+11.12.15+AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOCg_BAwaClOye9zHmDVpQ1zsiClx4sYRCttQoNK4jldyXp_7MXGzaZjdnAGA8nW-LvjPEZe692KeDeltOzD5GTWNZqRWAHT4FzaBTJM6Nfmdv8MF0MbXcQemcPkMq2PtbDLku0itOPQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-06-11+at+11.12.15+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />Since I moved back to America in July, I’ve been dabbling in contests when I could. I never did a PB Party before when I was in China, and to be honest, I had no idea what I was getting into. Which may sound naive, but I had no idea what it was. I am not on social media, so I just kind of went headfirst into the contest. But I was so excited when I became a finalist. I thought I was just going to get a conversation with an editor or an agent. But then, about a week later, I checked the blog posts and reread them, where I saw that editors and agents would possibly request manuscripts. And because I hadn’t checked, there were TEN requests in my inbox!!<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At the end of the year last year, I also enrolled in the 12 x 12 contest in hopes of winning a scholarship for the program, and I won, which was incredibly exciting. But the PB Party was different. You become a finalist, and you are suddenly a winner. There were forty and fifty finalists out of the over one thousand contestants who applied. I was so excited to see my inbox pouring in. I was so surprised, but I sent what I had to, and the first one I sent was immediately rejected. But the next four requested more of my work. So, it was a roller coaster. I was excited one minute and then remembered that the rejections were also lurking around the corner.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But now I am with Marisa, who has been wonderful. I’m really excited to continue writing and learning about the process.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Is there anything you want to tell other writers who may be interested in the same event?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just go for it! I was recently in a Highlights Foundation story plotting course, where many people were wondering how they would get attention from agents. My advice to them is to do these contests, do these pitch parties. There is an application process, just like anything when trying to submit your work, but it’s worth it. Not only do you get to practice pitching and querying, this amazing community of writers begins opening up to you. It always blows me away how much children’s book writers pay it forward and really want to see one another to succeed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The final question is there any advice you can offer to aspiring writers who may read this?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is a lot of work, research, and learning that goes into this. But at the end of the day, you have to keep writing what you truly want to write. Because everyone is sort of in the search for an agent, people could fall for writing something that doesn’t necessarily match their passion or their core values as a writer. I think the key is to stay authentic. Find your thing and keep writing it. When it comes from inside, that’s where the best stories come from. Take the craft and information you learn but implement them into the stories you are passionate about.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Thanks, Marie!</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>Risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166181258689381777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-90434372332356176972021-05-25T13:51:00.001-04:002021-05-25T14:05:01.537-04:00Getting the Shot: An Interview with Shariya Lynn <p> <span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">By Maggie Apostolis</span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>We were lucky enough to find you through a Twitter event! Have you previously participated in Twitter pitch events before <em>#SFFPit 2021</em>? What were your experiences?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6UYaVUXPRLmy9k_qbOyHQI-UDHtgmThQLWPNKzLX0uNx-YGno2yP0JIyf2O7O7Z_aQ-MpOkAgRpjR6oTURK7N1RP7F8EwXQOQoqcQs2xF9U5lU2LeauEqSV0G_UqcF1slqq5M0-ZujY/s2048/Shariya+Lynn+headshot.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6UYaVUXPRLmy9k_qbOyHQI-UDHtgmThQLWPNKzLX0uNx-YGno2yP0JIyf2O7O7Z_aQ-MpOkAgRpjR6oTURK7N1RP7F8EwXQOQoqcQs2xF9U5lU2LeauEqSV0G_UqcF1slqq5M0-ZujY/w207-h368/Shariya+Lynn+headshot.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>Shariya: Yes, I did a couple. The first one I did was <i>#DVPit</i>. I had reached a point with pitch contests where I felt they weren't helpful because, after my first pitch contest and receiving a lot of likes and stuff, the follow-up sometimes was a bit disheartening. They request your work, form reject you, or people have your work for months. I’ve had multiple pitch contest requests hold my work for literal years. Even after nudging them, they still didn't give me a response or they’d say they are still considering it, locking me out of querying anyone else at their agency. Like, just a few days before my offer of rep, I’d gotten a form rejection from a pitch contest query from literally two years ago. I’d straight up forgot about that one and was like, wow I can’t even get mad, that’s hilarious.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">I got frustrated with pitch contests because it is hard not to get excited. It's not the same thing as querying because I had actually queried TMZ Day for about a year and a half. It was not ready when I first started querying it if I am being honest. But when you are querying, you don’t know if that X agent didn’t like your concept, or pages, or maybe something isn't right with the query itself. But with the Twitter events, I would get super excited, because oh my god, look at all these agents who like my concept, but your heart is still broken and you know it wasn’t because they didn’t like your idea. But at the same time it is still treated as a regular query. Though some people are different, like The Seymour Agency, who requested the full, others only just want your query and normal amount of pages, so it didn't feel very different from usual querying. I wish more people would request fulls or at least partials for pitch contests.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">What I did find helpful from Twitter pitches was finding agents who would not necessarily show up during your search. By the time I got to <i>#SFFPit</i>, I wasn’t even going to do it because it felt like an exercise in futility and heartbreak, but I decided it couldn’t hurt at the last minute. And when I got the two-month response time from your agency, I thought, oh, this is different I’m glad I decided to give it one more go. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>How did you discover your love of writing?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: Writing was definitely something that I've done my whole life and what I've always wanted to do. I always joke that I ruined my mom's life, hahaha, she had me at nineteen and always wanted to be a screenwriter. She never pushed it on me, but I grew up watching movies with her, and she would say, ‘oh, this is the pinch, this is leaving the ordinary world, or this is the mentor character’. That became the way I always viewed movies. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Though I have a deep love for books, I got tired of watching bad movies. So, I told myself I could write a movie when I was a teenager, and though I did love books, I always told myself it was too hard to write a book, and I would never been able to do that. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>Well, you did write a book, a great one at that! How old were you when you first involved with writing?<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b> </b></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: I want to say I wrote stories when I was little, but I always told stories. I didn’t really write them down. But when I reached middle school, I would write what I called song lyrics, even though what it really was, was poetry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">In high school, I was annoyed with movies I loved, like Mean Girls, and I got frustrated because these were not like real-life high school experiences at all. Like Regina George would get punched at my school. I wrote a little story, well, a screenplay called <em>iTeenager</em>, which was about what it was really like growing up in high school. I did some short stories and prose in high school. I wrote my first real screenplay that is a movie now, which was changed a lot for it to be made into a movie. But that was all in high school, and then I went to college for screenwriting. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>Is it safe to say movies have a huge influence on the writing you do today?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: Growing up with two geeks for parents was a huge influence for me. My mom and my stepdad are both black, my stepdad is from the south side of Chicago, but he loved Star Trek. Growing up with a Trekkie stepdad and a Star Wars geek in my mom, my mom will watch every horrible Syfy movie of the week, she would watch them every Saturday, and I grew up watching these repeatedly. Growing up without a filter as a child, I wasn’t just forced to watch Disney, I’d watch whatever my mom wanted to watch, I would want to watch. But she would always shield my eyes. I have this great memory of going to see Starship Troopers in the theater with her. I was like nine or ten, but you know all of the gratuitous violence I witnessed was just fine, but as soon as the infamous shower scene happened, she covered my eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Growing up without this filter allowed me to see movies and even read adult books at a young age. I read Jane Austen when I was tiny, which I think totally destroyed my love life. I always joke with my friend when I was younger that my dream man was Mr. Darcy meets Hans Solo, and she would always tell me how awful that combination was. Now that I am older, she is right. That sounds awful.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">This lack of a filter opened my eyes because I did not know that stories could do certain things and play with all of these crazy storylines like Event Horizon, for example, might destroy many adults because it’s super scary. Still, I watched this pretty young and was impressed. I was amazed by the idea of a spaceship going through an alternate dimension and coming back from hell effectively possessed. It never even crossed my mind. I was like, that’s so cool! I didn’t know stories could do things like that and that helped me expand my horizons on what kind of stories could be told.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>How have you personally witnessed your writing change over the years?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: I personally am a plotter. I do not get married to the original idea or the original outline, which was not the case when I was younger. When it did not work, I used to force it to happen. My current work in progress, <em>TMZ Day</em>, is a great example. It is an old concept that I had, and all of the basic ideas are still there, the game, the main characters, but it was all just an excuse for them to be good at slaying zombies. But one day, I saw a really cool picture, which blended into my love of <em>Outrun</em> and the vaporwave aesthetic, which made me realize this could be an excellent cyberpunk story. Younger me would have been more married to the original idea than expand it to the larger world and a new storyline.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b style="color: #0e101a;">Would you say school affected your work?</b></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: The creative writing classes I took in high school and at community college helped. I was taking college classes while I was still in high school. I feel like those helped because I wanted to tell a particular story. When I workshopped the first part of it, everyone in the class hated it and said it was stupid, basically. I refused to listen to them and was like, no, I will keep writing it, and when the second part of the story came out, everybody ended up really liking it. Which turned out to be a huge lesson to learn.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">In film school, that was a little different because screenwriting is much more rigid. Which is one of the main reasons why I prefer novel writing. With screenwriting, there is an entirely different skill set. They really teach you to work within the confines which definitely includes length. Novel writing has this too, in particular for debuts, but you can do a lot more in 100k words than you can in 90-120 pages in the way they are formatted in a screenplay. Another good example is budget, which can really stifle creativity. You might have a really cool idea that you know would really increase the budget of the movie and leave it out for that reason.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">I felt like my school, in particular, was all about the Auteur Theory and doing everything yourself, but that also favored the director over the screenwriter and I think both end up hurt by that method. My best friend and I directed one of our movies together (which by the way was rewritten to reflect the smaller budget we had to work with). We laugh all the time that some of the things that we learned in college ended up hurting us when we were making our movie because it was all based on fantasy and fairytale. "Do everything yourself; that's the true nature of the artist" is what they would preach, and I genuinely don't believe anyone knows what the true nature of an artist is. Even authors who get to do much more of “everything” themselves still have critique partners, beta readers, agents, editors, etc. that all have an effect on the end story result. I think most creative writing endeavors end up being a collaborative effort in the end and that screenwriters can learn a little form authors in fighting more for their idea and authors can learn a lot from screenwriters in collaboration.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">You do not have to go to college or anything like that to get better at your craft. I didn't learn what I knew about novel writing from school. I truly learned a lot from Youtube, which has inspired me to start my own Youtube channel. Even if you are watching the same topic from multiple people, you are still getting new perspectives and ideas. For example, I learned a lot about filler words through Youtube.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>What would you like to witness change about the literary world?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: I think I am starting to see a change happen with having more people of color and, of course, black people, but all people of color getting more representation. Sometimes we take a step forward and think that is enough, but we are still thirty steps back, so I think that still needs a push. The work isn’t done yet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">But also, I feel the industry is a little sexist. When it comes to genre fiction, especially in YA, there is this common theme that girls do not like sci-fi. The Marvel series is top-rated, half their audience is women, and it’s sci-fi. This is what they said about high fantasy ten years ago, and today fantasy is dominating women centric markets, like YA. “Most readers are white and they don’t want to read POC main characters.” Now people are demanding these stories, proving that idea wrong. And yet they still say this for sci-fi, even though fantasy has proven that the old rules no longer apply. I don't understand why an industry that claims to be so woke can still operate on these archaic ideas. Teenage girls aren't reading any sci-fi because there aren't any books out for them and even when they are they aren’t marketed towards them. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in some ways. They are not being marketed because they have decided girls do not like it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">For example<em>, Kingdom of Souls</em> by Rena Barron. She tried to sell the novel ten years ago but had trouble. It was not until Black Panther came out and made a billion dollars that she able to finally sell it. I think the industry is constantly chasing trends into the ground. They claim zombies are dead, vampires are dead, no one wants to read this or that anymore. Girls don’t want sci-fi, no one wants African inspired high fantasy. These things have to be proven untrue before they can change, but often times people rarely get the opportunity to even attempt to try to prove those “truisms” incorrect. People want more vampires; they just don’t want to read <i>Twilight</i> a hundred times with new characters. Agents and editors, you read their interviews, and they say they cannot predict future trends, but then in the same breath say no X or Y or Z because they are “dead” and no one wants to read them. Could anyone have predicted the popularity of the <em>Red Queen</em> or <em>The Hunger Games</em> before they happened? The answer is no. “Kids killing kids in a competition? That’s not marketable!” There should be “unmarketable” or not “popular” books available on the market because that is how the next trend is found.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>Is writer's block ever a challenge for you?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: I like to joke that I do not suffer from writer's block; I suffer from not knowing what to work on. It is more of procrastination or a laziness thing. If you are suffering from writer's block, you are you are stuck especially if you are a discovery writer I suggest trying to plot out what will happen. It doesn’t have to be everything, but I am all about knowing what happens in the story because, yes, you can go back and fix things and change things, but I preferably like to know where a story is going. Even if it is just the bare bones of the story. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">If you know where you are going, you can work toward that goal. I feel like writer's block comes from not knowing where to go and not sitting down and really understanding what story you’re telling or what happens in X troublesome scene is what’s blocking you. Maybe even working on something else because I tend to juggle multiple projects, so if one is giving me issues, I will put that down and let it simmer in the back of my head while I work on something else and that way I don’t feel like I’m stuck or not doing enough writing. Having that distance can change your perspective and you might just see right through a problem that was impossible before because you were too close to it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>Where is your go-to place to write?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: I usually write in my house because it’s convenient, but when I have the time the beach is a go-to. Living in Hawaii, I can go to the beach pretty much anytime. Reasons not to write are never helpful. Unlike at home, a beach is a great place because it is free from distraction. My PlayStation isn't in the corner and my laundry isn't able to catch my eye, so I can focus solely on my writing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">One of my favorite spots to write is also coffee shops. I used to be a barista in Hollywood, where lots of writers would come in. I was fortunate enough to meet some of my favorite writers during this time, for example, one of the writers of<em> Scott Pilgrim vs. The World </em><em><span style="font-style: normal;">or</span> The Descendants</em>. I always loved that environment because of the people-watching aspect of a coffee shop can really get the creative juices flowing because of the random conversations, the random characters, and situations you come across.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>Are there any tips you can offer to authors who participate in future Twitter events?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: Do not overexcite yourself just because you get a like. But also, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get one. There are a lot of pitches, and it is tough to find things. Sometimes agents just straight up didn’t see your pitches. Also, if you want to feel better about yourself during a pitch event, look at one of the Tweets with over two hundred likes, and you will see it’s not two hundred agents liking that tweet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">I found out the hard way sometimes it is actually about the <i>pitch</i>. One of the stories I was working on which is very marketable and sellable didn’t get any attention. It wasn't as digestible in tweet format, especially when you remove characters from the Tweet because of the hashtags. Just because you are not getting any likes does not mean no one wants your book or that it would not sell. That is just not true. Some stories are more pitchable than others. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Also, I’d suggest checking the other Tweets with similar hashtags to yours. You might find agents you wouldn’t otherwise and even though they didn’t like your Tweet, you know they like your genre so look into querying them the traditional way. It can be a really good way to find agents who fell through the cracks of your agent search.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>What about for non-Twitter event authors? What piece of advice can you offer them?</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">Shariya: Research. Research. Research. Whether that’s writing conventions, agents, or just anything about this industry you want to start a career in.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">So many times, you often only get one shot. You want to believe that people will not remember you, but I've even had agents remember me by name and project in my experience. They weren’t even full requests, standard form rejections. I used to think they got way too many queries to remember mine, but sometimes you leave a mark. You want to put your best foot forward, so do not query projects you know need to be polished or are not complete. I have done it, and I know if I put more work into it, I would not have received a rejection. The tiny little things can lead to the project getting rejected, so you want to make sure your book is as strong as you can make it before the query. The better state your work is in, the more legitimate the reasons agents will have find to reject you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">You want to put your best foot forward and not give them any easy reason to say no.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>Thanks, Shariya!</b></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>Connect with Shariya:</b></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(14, 16, 26);"><a href="https://twitter.com/ShariyaLynn" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | </span></span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/shariyalynn/" target="_blank">Instagram</a></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166181258689381777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-4700960894157127142021-05-10T11:11:00.000-04:002021-05-10T11:11:14.912-04:00Interview with Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Move-Motherf-cker-Live-Laugh/dp/1684034868">Move on Motherf*cker: Live, Laugh, and Let Sh*t Go</a></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1e3d9d24-7fff-df11-6f6e-c210f3f3c4a3"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Get to Know: Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing career. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For many years, I wrote scientific research articles on physician burnout and wellness - mainly academic medicine. In 2017, I began a whole new writing career in relatable self-help. 3. I've always loved writing because I find it healing. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have known that I wanted to be a professional author since 2002; however, I was too scared to take the leap. I had too many "not good enough" thoughts. Age and experience has taught me this was BS, and I went for it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why are you a writer? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I write because it helps me manage my own whirlwind thoughts and because I hope it helps others. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is your writing schedule like?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With my kids and my private practice, my schedule is crazy so I don't have a set writing schedule. It is more fits and spurts. By the time I sit down to write, hours can pass because I've saved so much. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time before you were published? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Advice: "Steel yourself. This will be the hardest thing you have ever done, and all of the rejections don't mean your work isn't worthy. Take your time. It's a journey." </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What has been the most thrilling part of being published? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't know that I have found anything about being published thrilling. It has been a roller coaster of anxiety. I'm still waiting to kick up my feet and just feel thrilled. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do you think makes a good book?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am incredibly picky about what I call "a good book." A good book is one that hooks me from the beginning with emotion or mystery. I want to be swept off my feet.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Move-Motherf-cker-Live-Laugh/dp/1684034868" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><img alt="" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="375" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHG5RxaC-7I4svEJPix_OZQIxR6QiTHMKSwQXdtTWtsP5vv9qLvASxZ3heek_PHdgIkBsMu8tFgxRnDnFlv05gMOrU5WhMeUqlPHHTlW-Lbd8B9O4dk1nwdm84iaMDLji7cFsDQfffX8/" width="180" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How did you come up with the idea for your book?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I chose the title Move On Motherf*cker because it is my favorite self-talk phrase. It defines the book. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What was the hardest part of writing your book? <br /></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hardest part of writing Move on Motherf*cker was letting go of the emotional attachment so that good editing could happen. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How long does it take you to write a book? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To write the initial manuscript took about 4 months. Editing and re-writes took much longer. Patience is a must! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many books have you written, and which one is your favorite?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have written a total of 5 books - 3 are in the works. Move On Motherf*cker will always be my favorite because it made everything real. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you buy books based on the cover or the blurb? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do buy books based on the inside description. If the brief intro doesn't capture me, I put it back. I'm no-nonsense that way. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What books have influenced your writing? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I LOVE Brene' Brown, but she would probably not be flattered if I said she influenced my writing. Sarah Knight has probably influenced me the most. She puts it right out there, and she is so relatable. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you prefer ebooks, paperbacks, or hardcover? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I only read paper books, and I am cheap so I generally wait for them to be printed in soft cover. I need to feel the book in my hand. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What were the last three books you read?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently read Into the Woods by Harlan Coben and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I am currently reading The Guardians by John Grisham.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do you do when you're not writing? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have my private practice and executive coaching gig, which takes a lot of my time. When I am not working, I spend time with the family. I love to travel and to exercise. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is your typical day like? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My typical day is run, run, run. I exercise first thing, get cleaned up, and I typically see patients during the day while running the kids to their activities. I've learned to be very flexible. I don't typically get to write until the weekends.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_CFLXY-RE7Frmd_KCKHxT4liAUgeDS3964pW0L5VGc3_agr9VGVbWrfvCXSsLSVlEGuiliDiBm6mKdrktdFcJ8SlJBZMDbZroq91wxPDXjLNucSgHHgVZzkFIuqnD6pU52XXZAJOk95o/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_CFLXY-RE7Frmd_KCKHxT4liAUgeDS3964pW0L5VGc3_agr9VGVbWrfvCXSsLSVlEGuiliDiBm6mKdrktdFcJ8SlJBZMDbZroq91wxPDXjLNucSgHHgVZzkFIuqnD6pU52XXZAJOk95o/" width="180" /></a></div></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What's one thing you can't live without?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can't live without exercise. I have generalized anxiety disorder, and exercise is my medicine. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About Jodie</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified health psychologist who has been in professional practice for more than 20 years. She lives in Michigan with her family, including the family treasure, Bacon—the dog prince.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://jodieeckleberryhunt.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">jodieeckleberryhunt.com</span></a></p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166181258689381777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-50323177932706749992021-04-23T13:29:00.008-04:002021-04-23T13:33:57.637-04:00Introducing KL Burd<h2 style="text-align: left;"></h2><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">By Maggie Apostolis</span></h4><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Was writing a lifelong dream or something you sort of fell upon?</span></b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: right;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIkQI1lZnTWy4235M_CgN_sRkO2ovgiO31tTAbCaWFnHlr4R72TkH2E-WnFKsihUN0rTGvS1lPdDx4cAl7rhTnsJOL2b9v4Ii1F8IhrRLq1CdBLanCMtrEIt6kkBUm7-1VBP9zF_sZUo/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1354" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIkQI1lZnTWy4235M_CgN_sRkO2ovgiO31tTAbCaWFnHlr4R72TkH2E-WnFKsihUN0rTGvS1lPdDx4cAl7rhTnsJOL2b9v4Ii1F8IhrRLq1CdBLanCMtrEIt6kkBUm7-1VBP9zF_sZUo/w202-h305/KL+Burd.jpeg" width="202" /></span></a><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Writing has always been a mixture of both. As a kid, I enjoyed writing and to this day still remember the first story I was ever proud of. I always had multiple ideas for storylines, and I loved to read. I read non-stop. Flash forward ten years, I’m in college and I decide to write down some of my ideas. I tell my wife—then girlfriend—about a few of these ideas and try to flesh out a few stories. I had not yet taken any writing classes, so I didn’t get far. Maybe two chapters or so. Flash forward ten more years, and I am 32 years old. My ideas for various books start popping up again so my wife buys me a book called, <i>The Snowflake Method</i>. This book helped me to outline my entire first book idea. I then found the story grid podcast which pushed me to start writing it and finally I was gifted a writing class by a bestselling author, Amanda Eyre Ward. The class ensured that you finished your novel in nine months. I finished in seven. </span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When did you first get involved with writing?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After the writing class, I joined Twitter, and everything took off from there. The writing community is absolutely amazing, and as I added friends, my knowledge began to increase. I learned everything I know about querying, pitch parties, synopses, and the publishing world from interacting with folks on Twitter. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Did school/education have a positive or negative impact on your writing?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sadly, school all the way through my freshman year of college had a negative impact on my writing. I remember it was the only class I could never get an A in. I was told by teachers that I didn’t understand poetry or that my analysis of a piece or writing was wrong. For years, I knew I loved reading but hated English Class. Then, in my third year of college, I took an English Composition class with a wonderful professor and absolutely loved everything about it. I loved breaking down pieces of art and looking for symbolism everywhere. I loved the study of the craft and being able to incorporate the world around me into my writing. After that, I understood how important the teacher/professor was in my journey. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Who is your favorite author?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Ta-Nehisi Coates is currently my favorite author. I say currently because I am always evolving and adapting. His work has probably had the most impact on me in the past 5 years. I also love the trajectory of his career. After writing non-fiction, he switched over to fiction, then did an entire Black Panther comic book run, now he is posed to make movies including a new Superman movie. I would love to reach his level of being able to choose whatever project you want but that desire is a distance second to being able to write beautiful prose the way he does. He has a way with words that is just simply amazing. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Who or what is your biggest influence when it comes to the work you produce?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The kids I taught in school. I was a middle school/high school teacher and coach for 12 years. I still work with kids now and I believe in our future generations. I write so that they can see themselves in literature. I write so that they have stories they can relate to. I write so that kids who don’t look like me, can get a robust catalog of work.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What do you want to see change about the literary world?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I would love to see the literary world become more inclusive of all people. The absolute minimum is for every area of publishing to have numbers that reflect the demographics of the United States. In 2021, there should be no reason why only 1% of editors, 4% of agents and a dismal 5% of all authors are Black. This type of change requires a major overall of how things are done. Publishing companies and literary agencies have to do a little extra legwork. It may be going into 4-year and 2-year colleges that have underrepresented people groups and finding their talent there. It may take partnering with HBCUs and giving internships and entry level jobs to recent grads but there is talent out there who can make a difference. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I would also love for white publishing executives to take chances on Black authors who have the range, voice, and heart to make it work even if it’s not a style, background, or story they are familiar with. The market for these books may be there but if no one takes a chance we’ll never know. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you reader could know one fun fact about you or one of your character’s, what would you want to share?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In <i>Chasing Lincoln</i>, one of the main characters, Kyla, is modeled after a former student of mine. She would constantly hear racist comments like, she is pretty for a dark-skinned girl. The comments even came from some adults! I would shut it down every chance I get but when I needed my first female main character, I knew I wanted a dark-skinned girl who was not going to be harassed for her dark skin. Instead, it would be celebrated. I pulled the opposite of people who write in characters for people they hate. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How have you witnessed your work change over the years as a writer?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Absolutely. This is one of the things I am most proud of. It has changed so much from the beginning, but the largest leaps are coming now. Between book one and two, I started to dig deep into craft. After editing book two, editing book three is completely different. I expect to get better as a writer as time goes on. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The most interesting part was figuring out what I wanted to write and nailing that down and then expanding from there. I figured out that I wanted to write for underrepresented kids, especially Black boys and girls and as I continue to take on new genres, I’m confident that I can expand my range while staying true to my vision. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How do you cope with writer’s block?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I switch things up. The biggest weapon I have against writer's block is a consistent time to write. I’m up every morning by 5:15am and sit at my writing desk by 5:30am. If drafting isn’t working, I’ll edit. If I don’t feel like editing, I’ll do some research into a new idea or story. One of those has always worked. In a worst-case scenario, I’ll watch a movie or get into a series. I’ve gotten so many ideas from TV shows. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Where is your favorite place to write?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My office. I am used to the set up and it gets the juices flowing. I would love to write on a train ride across America on a luxury train car. That’s a dream. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Wrap up question that I like to ask all writers; what is the one piece of advice you want to offer to aspiring authors and writers?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Perseverance is the key. When you get stuck, research another method, find another angle, reach out to a friend and if you don’t have any writing friends, reach out to me. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Connect with KL on Social Media:</span></b></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook Fan Page</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKLBurd">https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKLBurd<br /></a></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: <a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorKLBurd">https://twitter.com/AuthorKLBurd<br /></a></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instagram:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/authorklburd/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.instagram.com/authorklburd/<br /></span></a></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TikTok: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMedxtp77/">https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMedxtp77/</a></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-02c5554d-7fff-6484-3532-d1b1c6d525b8"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><br /></p>Risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166181258689381777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-84722069000127589952021-02-23T14:33:00.006-05:002021-02-23T14:33:59.942-05:00Q&A with Barbara Devlin<style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">By Elisa Houot, Assistant Agent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsDO4MbgahyW-iX9BkcM99lnQE8FizdRewXdP1AS8hXlAYP_b-61AWDmGtQM6OOpUS83mxoKgxizwBfiUSWl2np1e2LvXH6C_Y7mL_TT8eu_PH4raHNE-O6cGicZdqNUxP2trCBs2Rbs/s2048/The+Accidental+Duke+high+res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsDO4MbgahyW-iX9BkcM99lnQE8FizdRewXdP1AS8hXlAYP_b-61AWDmGtQM6OOpUS83mxoKgxizwBfiUSWl2np1e2LvXH6C_Y7mL_TT8eu_PH4raHNE-O6cGicZdqNUxP2trCBs2Rbs/s320/The+Accidental+Duke+high+res.jpg" /></a></div><br />April 14, 2021 cannot come soon enough! While you wait to meet THE ACCIDENTAL DUKE, the first book in a new series, you can get to know the author behind the historical romance in this Q&A with Barbara Devlin. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Elisa: <i>Your new series features disabled heroes from the battle of Waterloo. Was that topic especially close to your heart? Did you draw anything from your own experience to write these characters?</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: Given I am disabled, I draw heavily from my own experiences learning to cope with life after a debilitating injury. And it’s safe to say this book isn’t just close to my heart. In some ways it is my heart. The story reflects my pain, self-doubt, and struggle to move forward after a life-altering injury.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Elisa: <i>What is your favorite song to listen to when you’re alone? </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: I would have to say I don’t listen to a favorite song. Rather, I listen to an album. Icehouse: Man of Colours. Iva Davies has a voice that just reaches out and grabs you by the throat. Every song on that album speaks to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Elisa:<i> You are a full-time writer. What does a work day look like for you? </i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: On a typical work day, I get up, document my vitals—I’m currently battling a hereditary blood disorder with underlying leukemia—eat breakfast, shower, and go to work. If I have doctor appointments or treatment, which holds me captive at an infusion unit for approximately 5-6 hours once a week, I go home and put in my word count. I have a set daily goal that I will not rest until I achieve.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Elisa: <i>If you could live in a movie, what movie would it be, and why?</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Barbara: If I could live in a movie, I would choose The Avengers, because—superheroes. Seriously, what an exciting prospect to live in a world with otherworldly beings. And then there’s Loki.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Elisa: <i>What is your favorite thing about being a writer?</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: I love the ambiguity and verbal texture of fiction that allows me to share so much intimate knowledge of myself with my readers. They don’t know which parts reflect my identity or experiences, but they still see me. They just don’t realize it. In a way, my life is validated through their reading of my work. It’s an incredibly humbling and inspiring relationship between author and reader.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Elisa: <i>Who is your favorite fictional character?</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: My favorite fictional character is Faith Leslie, from Catharine Maria Sedgwick’s Hope Leslie. Sedgwick is known in many literary circles as the first romance writer. She wrote strong female characters who bucked Puritan ideology.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Elisa: <i>What are your next writing projects, can you tell us a little bit about it? </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: Well, I have two more books due in the Mad Matchmakers of Waterloo series, but I’m currently developing a Regency version of Three Men and a Baby, working title Three Lords and a Baby. It features a descendent of royal lineage that connects Spanish royalty to the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Elisa: <i>What can we expect from The Accidental Duke? </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: The Accidental Duke positions disability at the center of the conflict. The story also details PTSD, which was known as nostalgia or irritable heart, at the time. And this is a story about a hero with a disability written by an author with a disability. It’s authentic and deeply personal. But I also wanted to attack some of the stigma associated with disability. While anyone can research and write about disability, I think only someone who lives with disability can truly convey the impact of a life-altering injury. I’ve had so many people tell me to move on or get over what happened to me. Therein lies the greatest misunderstanding. I’ll never get over the line-of-duty accident that ended my law enforcement career, my marathon running, and put me in rehab for three years. I may be alive, and I may be finding success in other ventures, but what I have today will never be normal for me. Normal was what I had prior to the accident. And the accident didn’t happen that one time, the morning of December 23, 1998. I relive the trauma every day, over and over again, as manifested in all the things I can no longer do for myself. No matter how good things are now, there’s always the nagging temptation to look back to the past, to remember what I was once. The memory of my former self, hale and whole, will haunt me until I die. That’s what I hope the reader sees in my book.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Elisa: <i>If you could be anywhere in the world right now, in a Covid-free world, where would you be and what would you be doing?</i> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: This is an easy question. If I could be anywhere in the world right now, in a Covid-free world, I’d be right where I am now. We built our dream home atop a mountain in North Carolina. When my husband and I were working, he was a firefighter and I a police officer, we used to escape to the mountains of Colorado every summer, to rest, relax, and recharge. We promised ourselves we would move to the mountains when we were both retired. Mike retired in January, 2019, and we broke ground on the new house a week later. It’s our slice of heaven, and we worked very hard for what we have now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Elisa: <i>What is your favorite thing about romance novels in general? </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barbara: What I love about romance novels is the escape. I call romance novels Calgon in a book, because romance takes me away. As I rehabbed from my injury, I devoured romance books. For a few hours a day, I could travel to Regency England, run raids with Navy SEALS, or ride with a handsome cowboy and forget that my world had been completely upended. Romance novels brought me hope that I could heal. That I could find my way to something new. That I could survive. But more importantly, romance helped me believe that Mike could love me, despite the fact I was mentally and physically shattered. We weren’t married at the time that I was struck by a drunk driver, while I was on foot and working an accident on the shoulder of a major freeway, during a record-breaking ice storm that crippled N. Texas. To be honest, I never saw myself as the marrying type. We were living together, and I was happy with that. But he made it clear he wasn’t going to abandon me. He took family leave to help me—and I needed a lot of help. And he didn’t really ask me to marry him. He told me we were getting married. How could I refuse my own HEA?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span lang="FR">AUTHOR’S NOTE<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Dear Reader,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8u5uI9BXKMZ4EY5Q9rBmuoJjlE1uN8g5J5F8mEKhXgk_T20iax4tvh4SPDpPGHtwtc86_gxSnRxpBnyP1KMDVUjQEVbyj-vaun06S0WFXNp2kOLp_ZeKJfL_vuPKnMYtTJxA6LGHGexs/s311/Screen+Shot+2021-02-23+at+2.21.30+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8u5uI9BXKMZ4EY5Q9rBmuoJjlE1uN8g5J5F8mEKhXgk_T20iax4tvh4SPDpPGHtwtc86_gxSnRxpBnyP1KMDVUjQEVbyj-vaun06S0WFXNp2kOLp_ZeKJfL_vuPKnMYtTJxA6LGHGexs/s0/Screen+Shot+2021-02-23+at+2.21.30+PM.png" /></a></div><br />I am a person with a disability. It has taken years for me to admit that to those who don’t know me. I hid my disability because I couldn’t bear the pity, condescension, and sometimes open disdain with which others treated me. I didn’t want to be the injured woman. The inferior woman. Less than. Other. Since the life-altering accident and permanent injury that ended my law enforcement career and devastated my world as I knew it, I endured years of painful therapy and rehabilitation with a single goal in mind: to conceal my condition. To avoid the inevitable questions. To escape the memories, if only for a little while. Yet, more than twenty years later, I still struggle with paralyzing panic during bad weather. I lock myself in my home on the anniversary of the day a drunk driver plowed into the accident scene I was investigating, leaving me pinned between a car and a guardrail.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">There is no training to prepare us for disability and the accompanying mental trauma. It’s something that must be experienced, firsthand, to truly understand. The associated stigma only inflicts more suffering. That’s why I wrote this series. To help others struggling with disability, that they might realize there’s nothing wrong with them. We’re only human. Unfortunately, the assumptions surrounding disability are nothing new.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Research for this book led me to Dominique Jean Larrey, Napoleon’s personal physician. Larrey wrote extensively on what he referred to as nostalgia or irritable heart. Today, we call it Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). What I discovered was countless troops from the Peninsular Wars experienced lingering effects of battlefield trauma, and many were committed to asylums, where treatment incorporated an array of methods, including starvation, sleep deprivation, and torture.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">The descriptions of the fictional Little Bethlem, including treatment and torture devices, are based on accounts from the final report of the 1815 Parliamentary Committee on Madhouses and narratives by Edward Wakefield, an advocate for asylum reform. The committee sought to change management of the insane from one of confinement and physical restraint to one of re-education and socialization. For the wealthy, involuntary commitment was a lucrative business exploited by medical professionals promising a variety of cures for the right price.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of my personal experience creating this series was realizing how little has changed in the way of attitudes toward those with physical and mental disabilities. As my agent shopped the first book, I met with an editor from a traditional publisher at a conference. With a smile on her face, she explained to me that, while she enjoyed the story and my prose, no one wanted to read my sick lit. That’s right. Sick lit. With that one sentence, she threw me back to the past. Back to that cold December day when everything changed. When I became a shadow of my former self. I started over in that moment. I just didn’t know it at the time. So, after the unfortunate exchange, I returned to my room, sat on the bed, and cried. Then I got up and emailed my agent, and we started over again. In the end, I found a publisher who believed in me and my work. An advocate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Dragonblade is the latest in a long line of supporters who’ve helped me make it where I am today. Who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Not the least of which is my network of family and friends. Perhaps the most significant champion in my corner is my husband, Mike. We weren’t married when I was injured, but he didn’t let that stop him from loving me or making me his wife, a privilege I’ve enjoyed for more than twenty years. So, if you learn anything from me, please, know that disability is not the end. In some ways, it’s a new beginning, filled with just as much promise as the past. If this series helps just one person, the fight will have been worth it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR">Barb<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="FR"> </span></p>Risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16166181258689381777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-71295565060155565952021-01-12T17:19:00.000-05:002021-01-12T17:19:15.073-05:00The Call with Steve Hickner<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Before I sent out my agent queries, I braced myself for the tidal wave of expected rejections. I’ve worked in the entertainment industry for a long time and I knew first-hand what the chances of success would be like. In fact, right outside my office was the assistant to one of DreamWorks development executives, so I had a front row seat to the battlefield of disappointed faces. My point is, I figured that Charlie Bucket had a better chance of finding a Golden Ticket than I did in getting an agent.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The closest thing that I can compare to sending out agent queries is when those rats will hit that lever repeatedly in the hopes that it might deliver a treat. Well, one day, I sent out a few queries and I got a request for a full manuscript.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Cue heavenly choir: a full manuscript.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I told myself, don’t get too excited. I’m sure the studio with Pluto Nash felt they had something at the time. (“My god, we have Eddie Murphy!”)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Not long after I sent the manuscript, I got an email from Lynnette saying that she liked the material and wanted to discuss possible representation. I was thrilled, and vowed on the spot to never again mock Sally Field for saying, “You like me, you really like me.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I have to confess, the details of the phone call are all a blur now, but one thing about it stood out: Lynnette struck me as a wonderful person. She really loved books, loved telling stories, and most importantly, she cared about people. I know selling books is a crazy pie-in-the-sky pipe dream, but having someone along with you on the journey makes it worthwhile. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Even now, I am grateful for the countless hours I spent scouring manuscript wish list to find the right agents to send my material to. Because all that work led me to getting that phone call from Lynnette Novak and working with the Seymour Agency. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To all of them, I am—and will be—forever grateful. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One more thing, if this is needs to be edited, nuked of adverbs, and spell checked, then that’s another reason why I need Lynnette Novak. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>About Steve Hickner: </b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mumPFY8C5rpdTGtlzevuDYraSQ5xr4dpW2aD9gXfufyf2tbOl5luvQKJcqGH-5-1W1RNWUnKykcQCs8ivYtxFfy46keHP8o5nD0JBaCzh7BTVv2HbZSNckxrwu5mf5WRfXjrCwxa_7A/s544/Steve+Hickner+Head+Shot.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mumPFY8C5rpdTGtlzevuDYraSQ5xr4dpW2aD9gXfufyf2tbOl5luvQKJcqGH-5-1W1RNWUnKykcQCs8ivYtxFfy46keHP8o5nD0JBaCzh7BTVv2HbZSNckxrwu5mf5WRfXjrCwxa_7A/w299-h320/Steve+Hickner+Head+Shot.webp" width="299" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Steve Hickner has worked at many of the fabled studios in animation: DreamWorks, Disney, Amblimation, Aardman, Hanna-Barbera and Filmation. His extensive career includes experience with both the production and artistic sides of the process, serving as Producer on such films as: American Tail II: Fievel Goes West, We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story, and Balto. His director credits include Bee Movie and The Prince of Egypt. In addition, he has contributed to such feature films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective, Madagascar, Shrek Forever After, Peabody and Sherman and Home. His television credits include the childhood favorite, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Steve has contributed to theme park and location-based entertainment projects in China, Dubai, London, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hollywood. He recently collaborated with Steven Spielberg to write and direct the Comcast sphere film, The Power of I. He has been a guest speaker at many colleges and universities, film festivals and animation events. He is the author of Animating Your Career, and Animation Rules! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/HicknerSteve" target="_blank">@HicknerSteve</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stevehickner1/?hl=en" target="_blank">@stevehickner1</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Website: <a href="http://stevehickner.com">stevehickner.com</a></span></p><div><br /></div><p><br /></p>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-24618265565595547102021-01-05T11:20:00.004-05:002021-01-05T11:20:21.099-05:00Finding His Voice: Q&A with the Author of Timestamp: Musings of an Introverted Black Boy Marcus Granderson<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">By Margaret Apostolis</span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Q: Around what age did writing start to spark your interest? </b></span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A: I would probably say sometime in middle school. Around 7th or 8th grade, I started to recognize the fact that there were very few teenage black authors. At about 12 or 13, I solidified the idea that I wanted to produce an advice or self-help type book. </span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Q: Was this the driving inspiration behind your journey into writing? Or was there a specific author or novel that was a big inspiration for your work?</b></span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A: I never thought I would be a writer growing up. I always said if I knew I was going to be a writer, I would have read a lot more books. I was not the type of kid who was into reading novels; I was more of the article browser in the weekly paper because I invested in catching up on current events. The biggest inspiration behind my work is my ancestors, my personal history as an African American, and my legacy. What I mean by legacy is the art created by black people and how literature, words, and writing, are a form of preservation to sustain, clarify, and capture history through the proper perspective. I like to consider myself a legacy writer: I am writing in the tradition of this legacy as an African American to preserve it, to celebrate it, and to uplift it. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Q: How did you address this legacy within your debut novel <i>Timestamp: Musings of an Introverted Black Boy</i>? </b></span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A: The book is inseparable from my heritage and identity as an African-American, which is one part of my identity that I did not fully come into until I went to college. At Harvard, I came of age in every sense of the phrase: physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, and racially. During this four-year experience, I truly discovered writing as a medium to process and reflect on my experiences. At the time, however, I did not even realize I was writing the book. I was just writing because I felt inspired to do so. Over time, I soon realized I could use writing to also help others around me who were struggling to come of age, in whatever sense that meant. Which is what ultimately led to this book. So, to put it succinctly, had I never gone to Harvard, Timestamp maybe would not exist. But had I never come of age into my blackness at Harvard, this book would definitely not exist. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b> Q: On the topic of Harvard, were there any experiences you wanted to highlight? </b></span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A: Harvard was a fascinating experience. Harvard was the first time that I reckoned with my racial identity and found myself surrounded by more young black people my age than I had ever in my young adult life. My racial coming of age took place at Harvard because I realized I was black. I mean obviously, I knew I was black, but after I joined the oldest undergraduate black organization at the institution, I truly fell in love with my blackness. The choir Kuumba Singers of Harvard College gave me a legitimate diverse experience and furthered my interest in continuing the legacy discussed further in my novel. My experience attending Harvard and joining the choir sustained me during my four-year journey and ultimately helped with the production of my first novel. </span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Q: For my wrap up question, is there any advice you want to give to aspiring or struggling writers?</b></span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A: The journey is not an easy one. Even once you are published, you will still get rejections. Second, I think one of the things that I had to realize and encourage authors to understand themselves is that those rejections are not a measure of your value as a writer. If you write something and you believe in it enough to pour your heart and soul into it, then it has value. Believe in the work you are producing. Being published does not equate to value. Don’t ever say, “my work didn’t get published; my work doesn’t matter,” you wrote it. Your work comes from you -- it is a part of you. So, it matters.</span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>About Marcus Granderson:</b></span></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffrU9-6l1czCbMrB5u4kWCrOk8YmdAi07I_2urCTZuENeMTnKoEOhx9lmBvOK-L9V2u0hfJAKbEbn833P4UUKYeLoPKw8Db_uwrwL_3qYzO7SbCkctYuvvPj-fKPiEgZrKlf29K0-614/s4032/Marcus+Granderson+Head+Shot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffrU9-6l1czCbMrB5u4kWCrOk8YmdAi07I_2urCTZuENeMTnKoEOhx9lmBvOK-L9V2u0hfJAKbEbn833P4UUKYeLoPKw8Db_uwrwL_3qYzO7SbCkctYuvvPj-fKPiEgZrKlf29K0-614/w240-h320/Marcus+Granderson+Head+Shot.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Marcus Granderson is a podcaster, speaker, and writer based in New York City, originally from Canton, Michigan. A 2018 cum laude graduate of Harvard, Marcus created his own interdisciplinary degree curriculum, concentrating on the intersection of rhetoric and oratory. His written work has been featured in Blavity, Medium’s The Start Up, and Eden Magazine. And his debut literary collection, Timestamp: Musings of an Introverted Black Boy, was released in September 2019.</span></div><br /><p></p>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-82840631873070347262020-12-17T11:57:00.003-05:002020-12-17T11:57:21.194-05:00Staying Motivated with Mindy Alyse Weiss<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today we sit down with children’s book extraordinaire, Mindy Alyse Weiss, and discuss how to stay motivated through the writing and revising process. In addition to writing funny, heartfelt picture books and middle grade novels, Mindy fosters community as the host of PBParty. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Could you describe what #PBParty is and how it began?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">PBParty started seven years ago, before I had the pleasure of joining as co-host. Authors Michelle Hauck and Sharon Chriscoe decided there wasn’t enough out there for picture books so they created an annual contest. The first year, they allowed a small amount of entries (I think it was a hundred or so) and it filled up in minutes! After that, they realized their contest was in such huge demand, they needed to allow more entries. Writers e-mailed the first fifty words of their picture books along with a query. Michelle and Sharon chose a diverse variety of the strongest entries to share with a few agents and editors in the final showcase. Through the years, they’d narrow it down from a few hundred to around 20 finalists and then agents and editors would request the full (and sometimes additional manuscripts) from the ones that caught their attention. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">How did you get involved?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In 2019, they asked if I wanted to participate and I said “Oh my gosh! It sounds like so much fun!” It kind of blew up. That year we had over 800 entries, allowing 2 per person. We eventually had to narrow it down to 1 entry per person because we only had a week to read all of them. With 1 entry per person, we received 526 entries this year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">What is it like being in charge of all those authors’ submissions?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s amazing! It makes you see from the agent’s side of the desk, which is such a gift. When you start out you think, “This is a maybe. This is a maybe,” and all of a sudden you’re thinking “Nope! We’ve seen something stronger, or more unique.” It really shows how some rise to the top and others sink to the bottom. There’s so much in the middle—making the final choices is incredibly hard. This year, we narrowed it down to 30 finalists. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s interesting to see trends—March was full of chickens, worms, zombies, dragons, unicorns, and mermaids. They’re all popular children’s topics—but the amount of submissions with them makes them battle even more for a spot. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We also have an Illustration Showcase that I launched my first year after talking to a talented illustrator who said he’d enter…but I’d never seen his work before. I thought “it’s so competitive with the writing finalists that if I see a gorgeous illustration, it’ll be hard to turn it down.” It’s become an important part of our final showcase. Agents and editors seem to love browsing for talented author/illustrators—and we love celebrating all the requests and offers. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">PBParty has been a huge hit! So many talented writers and author/illustrators have received agents and editors through this process. Last year, one entry had 18 requests! And at least eight finalists received offers, which is so exciting. I can’t wait to see all the 2021 entries in March!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">How does it feel to be a central point in helping people connect with agents?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It fulfills me so much. Things like this are my sunshine, especially during COVID. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I love celebrating successes. It’s incredible to fall in love with entries, happy dance when they make it into the final round or Illustration Showcase…then cheer for each request. I’m probably on the edge of my seat, squealing as much as the finalists—I want them ALL to succeed! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Could you speak to how creating community helps with motivation as a writer?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During the PBParty contest in March, we’d have daily prompts that gave participants the opportunity to chat, answer questions, share tips, cheers, and support. When the contest ended, the PBParty chats always did. But in March, the pandemic hit and I tweeted “I’m so sad. I don’t want this to end.” They agreed and I said “Do you want me to keep asking questions?”</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I played around with different questions and people were so encouraging. The next thing I knew, we were doing Motivation Monday. That’s when you make your goals for the week. Then, there’s Celebration Sunday. It’s so important to celebrate along your journey. People think “I want an agent,” “I want book sales” or “I want awards.” It helps to sit and make small goals you can accomplish. I love having some easy goals because you never want to go through a whole week thinking “I’ve accomplished nothing.” This way, you can turn around and realize you’ve checked so many things off your list. Challenge yourself to do at least one thing each week that you’re not so sure you can do. Hopefully you can!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Seven months ago, I realized I hadn’t written a new picture book in 2020. That’s unusual for me. I’d been revising, but I hadn’t written anything new. I was online and some other picture book writers were saying “I haven’t been able to write in the pandemic.” So I said “Let’s write a picture book! How’s Thursday?”</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This morphed into an amazing, motivating monthly event called the PBParty New Draft Challenge & Critique Train. You can flesh out ideas and plot ahead of time, then write, write, write on challenge day—you have 24 hours to write a new PB draft (EST). Then, you shout “DONE” on Twitter and add your name to the Critique Train Google doc. You receive a critique from the person above you, and give a critique to the person below you. You can send any picture book you need feedback on. Fresh eyes are such a gift—and I love seeing new friendships and critique partners form through this, too! In October, around 50 new picture books were born during the challenge. I can’t wait to cheer for all the new PB drafts during the December 17th challenge! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’m grateful to the picture book communities that have motivated me—and it’s so fulfilling to add my contribution to the kidlit community. I love how we support each other, help motivate each other, and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This would turn into a novel if I share them all, but here are a few that I love participating in:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Storystorm with Tara Lazar is every January. The goal is to come up with at least one idea (in any genre) per day and there are inspiring daily blog posts and tons of prizes…including the chance to have an agent look over your favorite ideas and tell you which seem like the strongest. This is where I get most, if not all, of the ideas I use for an entire year! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I also love the 12x12PB Challenge with Julie Hedlund. The goal is to write/revise a picture book every month. It’s a supportive community with an active forum and Facebook group, a critique area, monthly webinars, and a post to celebrate good news each month. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Justin Colón, runs PBChat which is another amazing community with Twitter chats. He also has a free, three month mentorship program each summer. There’s huge competition to get in with all the big name authors and illustrators who participate and an agent/editor showcase for the finalists to display their work after the mentorship ends. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">What advice would you share with aspiring writers?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Enjoy the journey. So many people only have their eye on agents and publication and that won’t get you anywhere alone. Don’t be in such a rush because the learning curve is huge. It’s so much better to learn how to do deep revisions before you’re on deadline with an agent or an editor. Take as many workshops and classes as you can. Critique groups are an absolute must. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When you write a new picture book a month, you lose that “this has to be perfect” mindset. You can play around with new styles. Feeling like you have to be perfect bogs you down. Challenges help you let go of all the rules swirling around your head and write. There’s plenty of time to revise later…but you can’t revise a blank page. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes when things are going on in your life, you can’t write certain things. Don’t push yourself to write anything that pulls you down, particularly during a pandemic. You can always put work aside, switch to some writing that makes you smile and come back to it when you’re ready. Even if you’re busy or not sure you can write, do your best to write something every day. Set a timer for ten minutes (half an hour is great if you can swing it) and write. Don’t let writing slip out of your life because once you do, it can be difficult to get back into it. Keep it as part of your routine, but make it work for you.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All around me, I have motivational sayings. Every year, Julie Hedlund does a webinar series leading up to the holidays and she does something that I love and make part of my life now. Think of a word that you want for the year. The first year I was having a very tough year and my first thought was “survive.” And then I thought no, that is not going to be my word of the year and I switched that to “thrive.” The next year was “believe” and that was the year I got my amazing agent, Joyce Sweeney, and became part of The Seymour Agency family. Now I’m looking forward to this next year and I might borrow a word from a friend that is so perfect “bloom” but there’s another word I’m considering (take one look at my website and you’ll see why): “sparkle.” </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3v7JnzYD2ChOpRUHd4g96s1ppkwBJ5tqyspMJ_fwmtJZFuEvGYEYFx_EOUTQth1dOsC2Gb-e_aeea5sJhRgn3cXw-Fe1JYKirMoNqhEk4RXmfmAV3ZXwfC027-t0AExLb8_iFpl7Ty8/s1024/Critique+Train+-+no+today.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3v7JnzYD2ChOpRUHd4g96s1ppkwBJ5tqyspMJ_fwmtJZFuEvGYEYFx_EOUTQth1dOsC2Gb-e_aeea5sJhRgn3cXw-Fe1JYKirMoNqhEk4RXmfmAV3ZXwfC027-t0AExLb8_iFpl7Ty8/w400-h200/Critique+Train+-+no+today.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Don't Miss Out on <br />The December PBParty New Draft Challenge & Critique Train!</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">About Mindy Alyse Weiss:</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mindy Alyse Weiss is a glitter-loving kid at heart who loves viewing the world through a child’s eyes. Writing, reading, and hanging out with other book-loving people is her air. She’s written many humorous picture books and middle grade novels, but also enjoys tapping into the challenging parts of her life so she can spread sunshine and hope. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXj87CzWxFu1oPNVM_3Lb3GHOhytq5cz0d-dBE86fYORjUBZ3-HiiQKDH4ZWUyNwThNdcCUXfVR8NTwT7Qfm8VBjCcdP8z43AY-J9GJn2GICl7sY0aVl_r5dGl-fd5s3X1wVT3JyAtovI/s2048/Mindy+Weiss+Head+Shot.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1470" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXj87CzWxFu1oPNVM_3Lb3GHOhytq5cz0d-dBE86fYORjUBZ3-HiiQKDH4ZWUyNwThNdcCUXfVR8NTwT7Qfm8VBjCcdP8z43AY-J9GJn2GICl7sY0aVl_r5dGl-fd5s3X1wVT3JyAtovI/w144-h200/Mindy+Weiss+Head+Shot.jpeg" width="144" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Her heartfelt picture book manuscript, Mason’s Greatest Trick, won 5th place in the Writer’s Digest Competition and helped her receive a 12x12 PB scholarship. She’s had several pieces published in Highlights magazine, is the SCBWI FL Critique Group Coordinator and Free Meeting Facilitator, an Administrator on the SCBWI Blueboard, a founding member and Administrator on the From the Mixed-Up Files…of Middle-Grade Authors blog and host of the PBParty chats, challenge, and annual contest. Mindy lives in Florida with her husband, two daughters, and rescue dog and cat. She adores animals and would adopt every homeless one if she could. She also loves chatting with other book-loving people on Twitter and Facebook…and seeing their adorable pet photos! She’s thrilled to be represented by Joyce Sweeney.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Website: <a href="https://mindyalyseweiss.com/">https://mindyalyseweiss.com/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/MindyAlyseWeiss">https://twitter.com/MindyAlyseWeiss</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MindyAlyseWeiss">https://www.facebook.com/MindyAlyseWeiss</a></span></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-27112657028477146012020-12-15T13:56:00.002-05:002020-12-15T13:56:26.279-05:00The Call With Carol Coven Grannick<p><span style="font-family: arial;">It was just another pandemic day. I planned to be busy with marketing and PR-related planning and doing after my morning cardio walk, stretches, and breakfast. But first, during an early hour of the morning, I had my coffee, checked emails, and noticed an interview with a new agent on "The Mixed-Up Files..." blog. I opened it, prepared for the usual description of wishlist requests that would have nothing to do with what I wrote. I felt a slow "zing" meander through my body as I read, "Lyrical picture books and novels in verse" (huh? really?) and a little statement indicating the kind of positive attitude and emotional resilience I write in my columns and guest blog posts. I finished the interview and looked up Joyce Sweeney at Twitter. "I'm not accepting submissions." Okay. I'm respectful of what people say. Ten or twenty years ago, I would have shrugged, felt sad for a few minutes, then moved on. On this day, though, well into my writing journey and feeling pretty comfortable with who I am and what I write, I decided to email Joyce. With respect for her statement about being closed to submissions, I let her know that I'd never seen such a good match, and that I'd appreciate it if she would consider my work once she reopened to submissions. And I meant it. I just wanted to connect, and respect the limit that was presented. Shortly after (I mean, a few minutes), I received a lovely email from Joyce: "I like your style, Carol—please send me your best work." I felt so immediately comfortable that I conveyed that my "best" work involved several different types of picture books, listed them, and asked her to choose. She did. She loved it, and asked for more...and then more...until I'd sent almost all my ready-to-go file of varied-subject, varied-voice picture books. She read, we talked, we signed. I have never felt so relaxed and comfortable with an agent. I trust her to care for my work and help me guide it in the right direction as necessary. As a longtime children's writer with a debut novel-in verse this September (2020), and poetry for the very young in a number of the children's magazines, I feel a freedom to refocus even more energy on my writing, since my written and revised work is in the best of hands.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>About Carol Coven Grannick:</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0co0RHrAeUn7LHgp13O8YqcTdWiK0mJqVDuLgG6VPGJByZK-M8AV_umx1l6rzdS23-zHnv8gVmQRjNNQm0gBnS_RWhje9ZD8OJ4BHHXMDUor3C8kFEIb4EQuGk3JXjfKbUhOjB_GtrWQ/s866/Carol+Coven+Grannick+Head+Shot.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0co0RHrAeUn7LHgp13O8YqcTdWiK0mJqVDuLgG6VPGJByZK-M8AV_umx1l6rzdS23-zHnv8gVmQRjNNQm0gBnS_RWhje9ZD8OJ4BHHXMDUor3C8kFEIb4EQuGk3JXjfKbUhOjB_GtrWQ/s320/Carol+Coven+Grannick+Head+Shot.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Carol Coven Grannick is an author, poet, and chronicler. Her poetry and fiction for young children has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous magazines, including Hello, Babybug, Highlights, Ladybug, and Cricket. She is a regular columnist for the Illinois SCBWI Prairie Wind, reporter for Cynthia Leitich Smith's award-winning blog, Cynsations, and a member of the GROG blog. Her awards include: Finalist, 2014 Katherine Paterson Award at Hunger Mountain (VCFA) Honorable Mention, 2018, Sydney Taylor Manuscript Competition Ragdale Foundation Writing Residency, 2016 Illinois Arts Council Grant, 2019. She is a member of The Society for Children's Writers and Illustrators and The Chicago Writers Association. She looks forward to many conversations with young readers about REENI'S TURN.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Website: </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://carolcovengrannick.com&source=gmail&ust=1608144719616000&usg=AFQjCNGZ3svaQlk7aUBmzKDfOwMrL1BW4w" href="https://carolcovengrannick.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://carolcovengrannick.com</a></span></p>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-1075105133732974432020-12-10T13:33:00.001-05:002020-12-10T13:33:10.264-05:00The Call with Matt Tesoriero<p><span style="font-family: arial;">My call story is filled Drama! Drama! Drama! I was honored to have been selected as a mentee with #PBChat. I polished, edited and re-worded three manuscripts with my mentors At the end of the mentorship program, we were given another amazing opportunity to post the first 50 words in an exclusive pre-vetted agent's/editor's micro site along with the other finalists. Weeks past without a single bite. Then miracles of all miracles I got a request for the full manuscript from an agent! Within 30 days she asked for an R&R...and R....More drama! The agent had not yet been announced so the 3rd R was to reveal her identity. Soon, the pandemic took over the world and was consumed by making sure my family was safe while dealing with a family emergency. THAT's when I got the email, offering me representation. I had been dreaming about this day for a long time and when it finally came to fruition, I was too distracted to even respond. Amazing how in life when you're not looking, wonderful things come to YOU! Today, I've signed with the amazing Joyce Sweeney. Identify revealed! And am on submission. OH, how I love DRAMA!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>About Matt Tesoriero:</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dlFjJkMsDW0gkTY2t7yNF60tBLkMU6hJZT7JMzt51qA4UrV_X-L_yu4woN4nTGH36o9e0v_uw_zd5L4zBwd4n3EWB2dq3yZuU6_TmgGS_mXUqi0sA34kxYLU5sZPN-A3hvnLESsgPUo/s1860/Matt+Tesoriero+Head+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1240" data-original-width="1860" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dlFjJkMsDW0gkTY2t7yNF60tBLkMU6hJZT7JMzt51qA4UrV_X-L_yu4woN4nTGH36o9e0v_uw_zd5L4zBwd4n3EWB2dq3yZuU6_TmgGS_mXUqi0sA34kxYLU5sZPN-A3hvnLESsgPUo/s320/Matt+Tesoriero+Head+Shot.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I make a delicious, spicy meatball!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I was born into a large Italian-American family where we talk and listen at the same time. Big hugs and loud conversations are in my DNA. I grew up in rural Upstate New York, but we didn’t milk any cows. We preferred frolicking in open cornfields and swimming in the cold waters of the Finger Lakes. I’ve lived in Boston, London, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale and just relocated to Orlando with my partner. I love Dunkin Donuts coffee. It provides the magical juice I use to write. I’m a certified Spinning Instructor and enjoy seeing my riders flourish and grow.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With twelve nieces and nephews as my audience, I made up silly stories to entertain them. I wanted to be their favorite uncle. One of them told me, “Uncle Matty, you should write these stories down.” So I have. I always remember a day when I was volunteering as a teacher’s aide in a first grade class. I read “The Giving Tree” to the children. I remember how moved they were and how the story made me cry. That’s my goal as a writer: to create children’s stories with heart. To inspire, enlighten and entertain. I always root for the underdog and characters who feel different. PAVE. THAT. ROAD!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/Matt_Tesoriero" target="_blank">@Matt_Tesoriero</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/matt_tesoriero_author/?hl=en" target="_blank">@MattTesoriero_Author</a></span></p><div><br /></div>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-31634257340901832342020-12-08T15:12:00.001-05:002020-12-08T15:12:28.877-05:00Q&A with Kess Costales <p><span style="font-family: arial;"> By Elisa Houot </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Who is your favorite poet and/or writer?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Do I have to choose one? I’m obsessed with Nikita Gill and Yrsa Daley-Ward. I love Warsan Shire and Andrea Gibson. When I’m real romantic, I swoon over Pablo Neruda’s work. John Keats wrote one of my favourite poems, La belle dame sans merci. Emily Dickinson was my highschool ob</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I want to write a book like Catherynne M. Valente’s Deathless and dream of writing a collection of fairy tale retellings like The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. I want to be Roshani Chokshi and V.E. Schwab, especially the latter’s jump across age categories. My friend (humblebrag all the time), June Hur, is truly one of my favorite writers because she’s so good at doing atmospheric. Like I hate her so much that I adore her. I want to write romance like Alisha Rai, Courtney Milan, and Tessa Dare. Helen Hoang is also incredible. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">•<b><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Do you think there was room for two on the closet door to save Leonardo in Titanic?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe there was room on the door, but would it float? Does it matter? That movie scarred me for life and I never want to go on a boat or ship or cruise, especially at night. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the poem that moved you the most?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">UGH I hate choosing. I think I was just holding my breath the whole time I read TEACHING MY MOTEHER HOW TO GIVE BIRTH by Warsan Shire. The whole book was phenomenal and stabs you right in the heart.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To my daughter I will say,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">'when the men come, set yourself on fire.'</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is one thing we will never hear you say?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You will never hear me say that empathy isn’t one of the most important things to me. It’s something that everyone should have for so many reasons, but especially for how it impacts the way we perceive and treat people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Mental health and inequality were my areas of focus while I was in university and while I’m not really in that field, my passion remains. When we have empathy, we’re able to look at what people might be experiencing. It’s essential as a storyteller to understand the complexities of people and life as a whole. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the last music you’ve listened to?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I listen to music all day while at work. Usually you can catch me listening to some chill pop. Music for chilling. Pop is fun. I like fun and catchy. I’ve listened to Taylor Swift’s Folklore more times than I can count. I like Billie Eilish’s earlier songs, but also vibing with Hozier, Tate Mcrae Lennon Stella, Kina Grannis, Halsey, Julia Michaels, Ariana Grande, etc.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is your current writing project? Can you tell us a bit about it?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The best way to describe my writing this year is one word: chaotic. You could also say I am starting over and trying to rediscover my love for writing stories, after the big realization in 2019 that a piece of my heart will always belong to poetry.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Right now, I am pants-ing a teen rom-com that’s a mashup of my favourite romance tropes. I’ve tried and failed with YA contemporary novels but I think this might be the one that gets done. Oh god I hope I didn’t jinx it with that. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Note: I did not run this by my agent, Lesley, yet and I hope she’ll like it because she’s liked everything else I’ve thrown at her so far. Hi Lesley, I can’t wait to bury you in an overwhelming amount of new books I plan to write.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Are you a dog person, or a cat person?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I am an animal person in general. I am the person who follows several animal instagrams, gets excited about going to the zoo or the aquarium. A lot of Torontonians have a love/hate relationship with raccoons, but I LOVE them and I got to pet one after a family of chubby baby raccoons surrounded me, looking for food. I washed my hands right away, of course, but only after squealing about how much I love the little babies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I have a cat and a dog though. The cat, Kingslee, is my adorable baby/old man who just turned 12 this past summer. I tell everyone he will live to thirty because I cannot handle imagining otherwise. My baby. Forever. Always. I pull out my baby talk just for him. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Are you a good cook? If yes, what is your specialty? If no, what is the dish you wish you were able to cook?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I’m more of a baker than a cook! I like that baking is more specific, especially with measurements. I have the hardest time with the vagueness of meal recipes, especially my mom’s, where the amount of an ingredient is “to taste”. I do make some Filipino dishes though, like beef mechado or our version of spaghetti (which typically involves banana ketchup).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I mostly bake cookies, but I also make cakes, with hopes of making my own wedding cake one day! The oven in my home is very small though, so I don’t bake much anymore. I do, however, make lots of mug cakes, especially ones with lots of sprinkles. One thing that I should actually make again (because it’s been forever and I love them so much) are oreo cheesecake cupcakes, where the oreo cookie is the crust. It’s so good. My mom is also forcing me to make a few different types of cookies for Christmas this year. How she thinks we’ll finish it all (since it’s unlikely we’ll have a big Christmas party like we usually do), I don’t even know!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What do you love most about writing?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Just… the creation of it all—the world, the characters, the relationships. There is so much you can do and the only limits to your imagination is you. There is so much growing we can always do to create and create and we only stop creating when we just do. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is your favorite movie from your childhood?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Princess Bride. I’ve seen it so many times, I don’t even know the number. My earliest memory of watching it is asking my mom to put it on and her saying I’ve already seen it. I watch it every year! And I know all the lines.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What was the hardest poem to write in SO SAYS THE HEART? And in SPEAK YOUR DARKNESS?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The thing about SO SAYS THE HEART is that it’s my recovery book, following a major breakup. I got out of a relationship that was about to get to its 6th year. I had been living with my partner and we were talking marriage. We kept trying to convince each other that we would always be together, there would never be anyone else, etc etc.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But when something isn’t working, that’s what you have to accept. Coming to terms with that was pure agony, but since the beginning, I told my partner that if there are any doubts about being with me, we couldn’t be together. And so it ended. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That meant SO SAYS THE HEART was painful. I cried writing half of the book. That first half? It’s bitterness and heartbreak and wondering what happened and why. The second part was when I started accepting it. Here’s the thing though: I wrote both parts at the same time, because some day were good, others were bad, and you can grieve a relationship, and grief isn’t some linear path. I was grieving, trying to heal, still grieving, and healing. Back and forth. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Some line that will always stick out are these, from Father (pg 41 in SSTH):</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We are not who we were.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You are not who I loved.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And I am not what you wanted. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For SPEAK YOUR DARKNESS, it might be Prayer (pg 35).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For context, I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic elementary and secondary school. I went to church every week, went to confession, read the Stations of the Cross every Good Friday. There was always a rosary in my family’s car. I always believed in god until I was a sixteen and falling into depression. I still cry thinking about sitting on my bedroom floor, wondering why I would feel this way and why god would do that to me. I still grapple with religion and when I am at my worst, I always wonder about god.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I stopped looking for angels in the sky.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Don’t press my palms together in prayer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When I whisper under my breath,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I no longer call out to my god.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If he’s out there, if he’s real,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Then why won’t he hear me?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That is all I can ask of him now. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If you watched the show, who is your favorite F.R.I.E.N.D ?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I grew up watching this show but I don’t really care about it, tbh. Unpopular opinion: I don’t think Netflix needed to spend soooo much money to keep the rights to having the show on the platform.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve always liked Rachel’s outfits though.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Can you tell us more about your next writing projects, both novel and poetry?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Novel-wise, I’ve been revising a fantasy manuscript with con artists and witches, and that’s always been the project of my heart. It’s been so fun working on it again! I’ve also been working on a ghostly YA novel in verse, which should be interesting and hopefully very creepy. I have another project in the works that’s my teen rom-com with a massive trope mashup. And a new YA fantasy set after a revolution. I want to get back to writing romance soon though! Maybe something set in Casa Loma, a castle-styled mansion in Toronto. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For poetry, I haven’t started on a big project yet, but I’ve been working on short collections that will be Kindle exclusives! The first of the series, LOVE LIKE INSECTS, came out on November 1st and has about 60 pieces.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Romantic poetry has always been my favourite to write and I’m sticking to themes to challenge myself instead of reusing the same metaphors.! For those with Kindle Unlimited, it will be free. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is on the top of your bucket list?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It used to be going to the Philippines, but I actually accomplished that in September 2019! Now, I’m not entirely sure what I would want to before I die. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I want to see castles. Maybe Versailles? Or Neuschwanstein, the sleeping beauty castle in Germany that inspired Walt Disney. I want to see the tourist-y side of the Philippines with its beaches. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Wait omg I want to touch a snow leopard and hug a red panda. Is that crazy? Whatever.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is your all-time favorite book?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">UGH I can never choose. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I have read it a million times. As mentioned earlier, Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente is iconic. So is The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. I think I might always love Roshani Chokshi’s The Star-Touched Queen. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I also LOVE romance books, especially when they make me cry. I think I fully sobbed through Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai and The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. On the YA side, I think I could read To All the Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han a hundred times. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the song you know by heart that you can’t help but sing every time you hear it?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Wannabe by the Spice Girls. That’s my anthem.</span></p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">About Kess Costales:</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiprTKjypHevuMiLmZIrDv41n4oW2Qm_jNQK-3ca31mfLWCMx1zaAzak7y2DixtUvPORzrXobwUdNjDnNIUZYdtPPOdLmxS8t_1S68OtW-dOEhHQG7hAp6iTWlp-hivbmqwY1a04PgDgEI/s284/Kess+Costales+Blog+Post.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiprTKjypHevuMiLmZIrDv41n4oW2Qm_jNQK-3ca31mfLWCMx1zaAzak7y2DixtUvPORzrXobwUdNjDnNIUZYdtPPOdLmxS8t_1S68OtW-dOEhHQG7hAp6iTWlp-hivbmqwY1a04PgDgEI/s0/Kess+Costales+Blog+Post.png" /></a></div><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Kess Costales (she/her) is a queer Filipino-Canadian author and poet represented by Lesley Sabga of the Seymour Agency. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminology and works at a receptionist at a non-profit organization in Toronto when she isn’t writing or daydreaming. Since 2019, she has self-published three poetry collections, and has had short stories published online and in print. You can follow her Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Wordpress (@kesscostales).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div><table cellpadding="0" class="cf gJ" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-top: 0px; width: auto;"><tbody style="display: block;"><tr class="acZ" style="display: flex; height: auto;"><td class="gF gK" style="display: block; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap; width: 803.688px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf ix" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 803px;"><tbody><tr><td class="c2" style="display: flex; margin: 0px;"><h3 class="iw" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; color: #5f6368; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: 20px; margin: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 8px); overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></h3></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-18438376115607723972020-12-03T14:11:00.003-05:002020-12-03T14:11:14.561-05:00Curiouser and Curiouser with Kyan Howland<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Kyan Howland - Repped by Joyce Sweeney</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Curiouser and Curiouser</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Since being a child, I’ve felt how stories permeate the atmosphere.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Being a sensory synesthetic I wake every day to taste, listen, breathe, feel, and see everyday stories come and go. I worked decades as a hospice nurse witnessing those final moments, holding hundreds of stories with my heart, hearing both adventure and regret.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I’m especially curious about what others call mistakes. Like Miles Davis, I believe they can be music as you choose the next note and moment. As a writer and relentless editor, I’ve struggled with perfection but never let it keep me from making up homemade songs as a child died. I enjoy taking a few favorites and putting them to a new song on my guitar, like the one I did for a three year old called Oopsa' Daisy Dinosaur. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And so when another mistake happened where the convertible top ordered was the wrong color, I went with it and made the most of it. Having a sandy top rather than black, demanded a blue car rather than silver. So with the help of friends I dipped my car deep sea blue. Then we added images of mermaids and ideas from stories and songs I wrote and put them all over my new art car. This has sparked much dialogue in parking lots as families ask about the rainbow hive or the phrase ‘slow is the new fast” uttered by the purple turtle on the bumper.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I believe taking time to be curious doesn’t kill the cat, whoever came up with that metaphor missed alot. As my blue cat Vega nestles beside me, she would agree, be curious and find the magic in the moment, which has never been more important at this time on the planet.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">About Kylan Howland:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFRF99xxLscaz-TP71zSQ5Pl1oSiaUG4gR4M3lpRpYcY0o9uQ33K5UPDWJZpyFwHy8wdc5puWIh1-5DbvQvjTwUWubUObGhjYFxn-xWT_zEcagwKNL5Imc3a-Nv94KrHrzyilbLrt6w4/s720/Kyan+Howland+Head+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFRF99xxLscaz-TP71zSQ5Pl1oSiaUG4gR4M3lpRpYcY0o9uQ33K5UPDWJZpyFwHy8wdc5puWIh1-5DbvQvjTwUWubUObGhjYFxn-xWT_zEcagwKNL5Imc3a-Nv94KrHrzyilbLrt6w4/w200-h200/Kyan+Howland+Head+Shot.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Kyan is an award-winning Singer/Songwriter and Author. Her love of instruments from handspan to acoustic guitar, and her four octave voice make for an incredible reading and keynote. Studying with Bobby McFerrin and earning her Masters in Creative Writing, she innovates with word and sound. Westside Voice wrote “she enchanted both young and old”. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">She created the Lullaby Club online, where her stories, songs, and ASMR relax the whole family. Her social media LIVES reach thousands and she’s been featured on Public Radio, as well as being a popular artist-in-residence at schools, hospitals, and conferences. She painted her blue convertible with magical images from her stories and songs with the help of friends, and is beloved as the singing nurse. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Having worked hospice and behavioral health, she knows the edge where a child jumps from a window and a grandmother reveals her secret cinnamon bun recipe with her last breath. Her own NDE gave her a love life to cloud nine and a bravery to advocate for the planet and LGBTQ community. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">She lives on the shores of a great lake with her cat Vega, and they both turn mermaid on Saturdays, because life is too brief and beautiful, not to! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/secretmermaidstuff">https://www.facebook.com/secretmermaidstuff</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Email: secretmermaidstuff432@gmail.com</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kyanmermaid/?hl=en" target="_blank">@kyanmermaid</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/MermaidKyan" target="_blank">@MermaidKyan</a></span></p>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-2285179076550134182020-12-01T11:19:00.001-05:002020-12-01T11:19:15.493-05:00Meet Lauren Connolly and Her Characters<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> By Elisa Houot</span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1CdkIAshVRfsq-FdmYjyErk9psvbrFb4WVh3IehHk82oiixoAtzzXSE6r93BVYjabqBomsUMRKStJTsS_PASGVPuRSHvBhxVm3LiIfnZdkn0Vz5twjFdLhOKXOnrv-qMfUJPmlVHO7g/s352/Lauren+Connolly+Blog+Pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="264" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1CdkIAshVRfsq-FdmYjyErk9psvbrFb4WVh3IehHk82oiixoAtzzXSE6r93BVYjabqBomsUMRKStJTsS_PASGVPuRSHvBhxVm3LiIfnZdkn0Vz5twjFdLhOKXOnrv-qMfUJPmlVHO7g/s320/Lauren+Connolly+Blog+Pic.png" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Lauren Connolly is a contemporary and paranormal romance author and librarian. She is the author of Rescue me, and took part in the Only One Bed anthology. You can find her on her <a href="https://www.laurenconnollyromance.com/" target="_blank">website</a>. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lauren majored in Professional Writing for her undergraduate degree, but never felt like she was truly pursuing a writing career until she started writing every day. The only reason she could stick with her daily writing practice was because she found the genre she loves to write: romance. For years, she avoided admitting how much she adores love stories because of the stigma the romance genre often faces. But when she embraced what she loved to write, that's when getting words on the page became easier.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lauren’s favorite part about writing is when she elicits an emotional response from herself. This could be making herself cry, but she loves it even more when she makes herself laugh. She figures if she thinks the joke is funny, some reader will, too!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Here is Lauren’s advice for emerging authors: you don't have to write every day, but if you want to finish a project you will have to write during times where you have no inspiration. I believe it is unrealistic to expect bursts of inspiration to get you through an entire manuscript. Take advantage of those times when they come, but don't completely forget about your writing when your ideas feel flat. Keep working on your craft, until you learn how to inspire yourself!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Ladies and gentlemen, welcome! We are delighted to offer you a VIP ticket for our very special show today, starring our equally very special author, Lauren Connolly… and her characters.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Please give a round of applause to our guests…</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paige and Dash, from <i>Rescue Me</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive and Theo, from <i>The Bed Hierarchy</i> (available in the Only One Bed anthology)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly and Ben, from <i>You Only Need One</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah and Nathan, from <i>Love and the Library</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Round One</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paige, Olive, Holly and Hannah sit on a large couch near Lauren while Dash, Theo, Ben and Nathan stay behind the scenes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ladies! We will give you a scenario, and you will have to determine which of these gentlemen over there will be the best to have by your side. You can take your time and discuss it before giving an answer. Lauren will help you if you can’t reach a unanimous decision. The gentleman picked will earn five points.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">First scenario. Who is most likely to prepare a grand gesture moment for your birthday? (And, for the utter romantics in the audience, tell us what he would do) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah – “Nathan definitely would. But he already named a slice of pie after me. Is there a way to top that? Can the guys hear us?” Hannah taps her mic. “Hey, Lucifer, I think you peaked early.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paige – “He named a pie after you? Is that an option that exists in this world? Dash, are you taking notes? Oh, sorry, I’m supposed to be on your side. Which I totally am! Um, yeah, so Dash is great at planning fun dates. He always tries to take me somewhere I haven’t been before. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of exploring with him.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “Ben and I don’t really do grand. He’s more likely to get me a bunch of small things that would make me happy. My favorite snacks, a new book, a fun board game. I’d rather have all those little gifts than some grand gesture. Plus, we just started a small business together, so money is kinda tight.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “Okay, you all are sweet, but I’m warning you now: I’m here to win. Theo would crush a grand gesture. My guy is expected to pull out all the stops on my birthday. We’re talking video slide show of every picture we’ve ever taken together set to the sappiest love song in existence. He’d probably make me a crown, to alert everyone that they are in the presence of a badass. Then there’d be a dinner out on the town, cause he’s a shit cook. I still love him though. At some point during the day he’d find an adorable animal for me to pet, then there’d be a surprise video chat with my family because you do not leave out the Buchanan clan. And since I don’t know the age of our audience, I’m not going to give too much detail about birthday bedtime. But trust me, there’d be plenty of grand stuff happening then, too.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A silent beat.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lauren – “Wow, okay. That was a lot, Olive. And that does sound like an awesome grand gesture. But… I think I have to go with Hannah’s Nathan, only because he’s already proved he’s up for a grand gesture with that pie-thing.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “Bullshit.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah – “Score!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Five points for Hannah and Nathan.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Second scenario. You just fought with your love interest over something stupid, and neither of you is willing to admit they’re wrong. Who would be the most likely, between the four gentlemen, to reach out and apologize? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paige – “Dash! We’ve gotten so good at communicating, but also, he’d probably worry I’d tell my parents about our fight. I think my dad scares him. I mean, Dash isn’t really scared of him. Just a little. He may or may not have compared him to the Grim Reaper.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “First off, I now want to meet your dad. And second, Theo would have to apologize because I’m never wrong. Just depends how long it takes him to figure that out.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah – “I’ve got to be honest, I’m not sure Nathan would. Arguing with each other is our thing. We’d probably have to settle the dispute by playing Mario Cart. Loser apologizes!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “Ooo, I like that idea. Board game battle would be my choice! But Ben would definitely apologize before we got that far. I mean, I gave the guy my kidney. That pretty much means I win all arguments for the rest of eternity. Not that I’d hold that over him…” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lauren – “Good points all around, but Holly is definitely right about Ben. The guy just can’t stay mad at her.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Five points for Holly and Ben.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Third Scenario. Who is most likely to prepare you a Sunday breakfast after you spent the Saturday night out late with your friends?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive - “Theo would make the best breakfast you could ever imagine!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah – “Didn’t you say he was a shit cook in round one?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “Damn it. You weren’t supposed to remember that.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah – “Sorry. And anyway, Nathan isn’t much better. The guy lives off Kraft mac-n-cheese. But he would kindly escort me to the dining hall and offer to hold my tray for me!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “Ben and I cook together all the time, so you can bet he’d have pancakes ready and waiting for me. Plus, my favorite green tea. He might even run to a bakery and grab some almond croissants. Crap, now I’m drooling. Does this game show have snacks?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paige – “Dash always makes sure I wake up to the smell of coffee, and after a late night out, I’d need that. Cooking breakfast, though? He’d might try. More likely he’d buy a dozen bagels or grab some beignets.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lauren – “Oh gosh, almond croissants versus beignets? That’s a tough one, but I think I have to give it to Dash. That idea of waking up to the smell of fresh coffee really sells it.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Five points for Paige and Dash.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lauren – “So that means Hannah and Nathan have five points. Holly and Ben have five. Paige and Dash have five. Then Olive and Theo have zero.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “No points? How did we get no points?! This game is rigged!” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Round Two</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This round is called “Prove me you know me…” and this time, we invite Dash, Theo, Ben and Nathan to join their partners on stage. Before coming in front of you, Paige, Olive, Holly and Hannah answered a few questions about themselves. Now, we will test their significant others to see who know his lady best. Each good answer brings three points to the happy couple.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ladies, when you met your love interest:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">1-You were attracted to him but waited for him to prove himself to you before giving him a chance </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">2-There was no chance in hell you would ever agree to a date with him</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">3-It was love at first sight</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben – “Well, when we met, Holly was all about keeping things above board so nothing went wrong with the kidney donation. So, I’m going to go with option two, no way in hell.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “That’s what I said!” Holly shows her whiteboard with the number two written on it. “I mean, I never expected him to be so hot, but I was still set on us only being friendly, nothing more.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben – “But I wore you down.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “You did. Weren’t happy with just a kidney, were you?” Holly sticks her tongue out at Ben.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Nathan – “I’m also going with number two. Shorty hated me when we first met.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah – “Well you called me Shorty! But he’s right. I thought he was Lucifer come to torment me. Still think that, only I fell for his devilish ways.” She holds up a board with number two.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Dash – “Uh, well, Paige had just gone through a bad break up, so I’m also going to say option two.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paige – “Dash! You dope! You’re the sexiest man I’ve ever seen, and you were working at a dog shelter. What straight woman wouldn’t have wanted to jump your bones immediately? Honestly, I was waffling between option one and three, but yeah, that break up was bad and I wasn’t ready to trust another man just because the sight of him set my panties on fire. Anyway, I said number one. Just waiting for you to prove I could trust someone again.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Dash blushes furiously as his eyes try to devour Paige from across the stage.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “Well—”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “You better get this right.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “I was—”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “We have zero points. I do not accept zero points.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “Olive—”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “Just look into my eyes and read my mind.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “Three! Happy?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive beams across the stage. “Hell, yeah I am.” She holds up a board with the number three. “I knew he was the one the second he boosted me out a bathroom window so the cops wouldn’t catch us at that frat party. You know you’ve got a good guy when they help you run from the police.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “Of course. It wasn’t my personality, or my intelligence, or my looks. Just my willingness to act as your accomplice.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive blows him a kiss. “Love you.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo rolls his eyes even as he grins.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ladies, what is your partner’s most annoying habit you wish you could change?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben – “I’m going to say my obsession with comedies from the nineties, probably. Half the time I talk in Chris Farley quotes.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “That doesn’t actually bother me. You know what does?” She holds up her board.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben – “Dark night walking? What does that mean? Like, a batman thing?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “No! The fact that you walk around at night without turning any lights on. It freaks me the hell out! I keep thinking our place is haunted.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben chuckles. “Yeah, I should probably stop that seeing as how you chuck things at my head whenever I do.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “It’s self-defense.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Nathan – “I’m not sure this counts as a bad habit, but I’m going to go with claiming the chair in the library she likes.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah – “It does count!” She holds up a board that reads ‘stealing the chair’. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Dash clears his throat. “I guess, Paige doesn’t like it when I skip meals. Sometimes I forget to eat during the day. You know, I get busy, then it’s time to clock out, and I haven’t had lunch.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paige – “Yes!” Paige holds up a board that says, ‘Not eating enough’. “I want to feed him all the time. I’m constant shoving food in his pockets hoping he’ll remember.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo sits in silence, staring at Olive.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “Well? Are you going to give an answer?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “Just waiting to hear if you have any pre-answer commentary.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “Smartass.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “You know it. I’m going to say, Olive hates when I work during vacation. Since I work remotely for the most part, it’s hard to shut off that part of my brain even when we’re supposed to be relaxing.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “You sir, are the smartest of asses.” Shows her board with ‘Not respecting vacation time!’ “Often I have to use creative threats to get him to power down his laptop.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo shrugs. “Not sure I mind.”</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ladies, what are your all-time favorite songs?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ben – “Crap. We always listen to Preston and Steve when we’re in the car together, but that’s a radio show. Um, music you like… maybe Kelly Clarkson?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Holly – “Not a bad guess. But that’s not what I wrote.” She holds up a board that reads ‘In My Blood by Shawn Mendes’. She shrugs. “Kinda reminds me of you. And me. And how we didn’t give up.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“I like that song,” Ben says softly, and they share a smile across the stage.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Nathan starts singing off key, “I like me better when I’m you.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah sings back, “I like me better when I’m with you.” She holds up a board with the words ‘I Like Me Better by Lauv.’</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Nathan – “She played that on repeat for week straight.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah – “Still love it!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Dash – “Paige likes listening to country. There’s this one song she always plays when she’s driving her Impala on some backroads. I think it’s called My Church.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paige – “I can’t believe you remembered!” She holds up her board with ‘My Church by Maren Morris.’</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “Just based off of what you sing in the shower I’m going with WAP.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive – “Damn it! You’re right, I should’ve written that. Still, your guess was in the ballpark.” She holds up a board with ‘Pynk by Janelle Monáe.’ </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Theo – “Ah, no, you’re right. I should’ve known you go with Monáe. That’s my bad.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Olive sighs in defeat. “Maybe we should stick to beer pong instead of trivia.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And our winning couple tonight, with twenty points, is…</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah and Nathan!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Thank you so much for joining us tonight, and we hope this made you want to read more about our lovely couples and their stories.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Nathan crouches down so Hannah can latch onto his back for a piggyback ride. They then proceed to march around the stage, cheering in triumph over their glorious victory.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div><br /></div>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-89638628067189984372020-11-24T14:16:00.004-05:002020-11-24T14:16:34.612-05:00The Call With Hannah Lapehn<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Agent Lynnette Novak emailed me about a week after I queried her. In that email, she asked if she could set up a phone call. Of course, I said yes! I used the time in between to research pretty much everything about her, the Seymour Agency, and their reputation. I called my mentor, spoke with other writers and had lots of questions lined up to ask her. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When Lynnette called, I knew right away that our personalities were going to mesh well. She had a lot of questions for me at first, then she talked about my story. That’s what really drew me in. Her passion for my work and her belief that it was something special was exactly what I was looking for. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lynnette’s transparency was also a selling point. She agreed to let me contact another client of hers, answered all my questions, and explained what her editorial style looks like. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lynnette offered me representation during that call. I took some time to mull it over and email other agents I had queried. Then a few days later, I signed the contract! </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">About Hannah Lapehn:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbbKhhwv_Nv9RztSsyMjToJr8b7dDrlpKBvzC9r2UGEolAeukbXZZXx80wMkS2Iq8WH_9Tscu6_NoH3roeteAwAqh_Z12-MQuKAUVoUVfLCMHOZuPXIj9sRjxF4ZGo7JfK1ht7c0YfFI/s612/Hannah+Lapehn+Head+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="611" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbbKhhwv_Nv9RztSsyMjToJr8b7dDrlpKBvzC9r2UGEolAeukbXZZXx80wMkS2Iq8WH_9Tscu6_NoH3roeteAwAqh_Z12-MQuKAUVoUVfLCMHOZuPXIj9sRjxF4ZGo7JfK1ht7c0YfFI/s320/Hannah+Lapehn+Head+Shot.jpg" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Picture book writer Hannah Lapehn is a member of the SCBWI and Julie Hedlund's 12x12. She has attended many conferences including the Highlight Foundation's Crash Course into Children's Publishing, the SCBWI Middle of the Map conference, and Hannah Barnaby's picture book workshop. In 2019, she was selected by author Jill Esbaum for the PBChat Twitter Mentorship Competition. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah likes to write stories that make kids laugh and think about others. She's always on the lookout for creative ways to make that happen. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Website: <a href="http://hannahlapehnbooks.com">hannahlapehnbooks.com</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6852129" target="_blank">Hannah Lapehn</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/HannahLapehn" target="_blank">@HannahLapehn</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Yahoo: hlapehn@yahoo.com</span></p>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-75171830064918391572020-11-19T12:00:00.003-05:002020-11-23T13:39:21.443-05:00What Should the Next Five Years of Disability in Publishing Look Like?<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> By Madison Parrotta</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Disability often remains the afterthought when it comes to diversity in publishing. Although more disabled authors are being represented and published, the numbers are still very low. And even though you may see more books than ever with disabled characters, it doesn’t necessarily mean that those books are Own Voices.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Lillie Lainoff is the founder of Disability in Kidlit and an advocate for disabled writers of all kinds. Her debut, One for All, will be published in Winter 2022 with Farrar, Straus and Giroux. She obviously wants to see more disabled stories by disabled authors in the coming years—so many more that she can’t read them all—but there’s much more when it comes to disability diversity. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Here is Lillie’s wishlist for more disability inclusion in publishing:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>An end to traditional gatekeeping and a change to the structure of publishing. Most authors and publishing professionals know that the industry is made up of cis, straight, white, nondisabled women. There may be more diversity when it comes to internships and entry level jobs, but there needs to be an overhaul of more disabled workers in all facets of publishing and agenting, and especially in the higher roles. Getting disabled professionals to that level will involve figuring out why they’re not in these positions now. Is it because acquisition meetings aren’t accessible? Is it because they need to work remotely? Or maybe the salaries are too low? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Disability representation in more genres. Right now, most disability representation is in contemporary MG and YA, though not all are #OwnVoices. While these are obviously great genres, the kids who are reading those stories have few stories to grow into as they get older and become adults, and the lack of disability diversity in other MG/YA sub-genres (and other adult genres like Science Fiction/Fantasy and Historical) does a disservice to all disabled readers. In addition, Lillie would like to see the eradication of sicklit and inspiration porn, as well as characters who are physically disabled and have mental illnesses and multiple disabilities.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>An end to publishers using marketing and/or readership as an excuse to not buy disabled books. 20% of the US population is disabled, so there is definitely a wide readership. In addition, many disabled people read! When it comes to marketing, there’s not much research being done in terms of disabled readers or disabled books, and it’s difficult to have a market without that. But there is a shift happening, albeit slowly. </span></div><div><br /></div></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">About Lillie Lainoff:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzPqCrzqu8ubm1E7FAYT4qOJbxjEmAv1ZSwShcxV4E76GCKWotC1ddEkQ77v3GmQoJp2ao6Bi0bDiH-dAnWk3fgkDxuu95h9XXsk7d22ztvVa4_m4ftk0DCv5RiXqscJocHqYIRs0FR4/s1440/Lillie+Lainoff+Head+Shot+.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzPqCrzqu8ubm1E7FAYT4qOJbxjEmAv1ZSwShcxV4E76GCKWotC1ddEkQ77v3GmQoJp2ao6Bi0bDiH-dAnWk3fgkDxuu95h9XXsk7d22ztvVa4_m4ftk0DCv5RiXqscJocHqYIRs0FR4/s320/Lillie+Lainoff+Head+Shot+.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lillie Lainoff received her B.A. in English with a concentration in creative writing and distinction within the major from Yale University. She currently lives in Norwich, and is getting her MA in Creative Writing Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry has been featured in The LA Review, The Washington Post Outlook, Today’s Parent, via the Disability Visibility Project, Washington City Paper, and The Yale Daily News, amongst other places. She’s received recognition from Glimmer Train and The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and won the 2019 LA Review Literary Award for Short Fiction. She was a featured Rooted in Rights disability activist, and is the founder of Disabled Kidlit Writers (FB).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As an undergraduate, Lillie was a member of Yale’s Varsity Fencing team. As a senior, she was one of the first physically disabled athletes to individually qualify for any NCAA Championship event, and helped her team to an end-of-season 10th place ranking by the National Coaches Poll. She still fences competitively and coaches. In 2017, she was named a recipient of the inaugural Spirit of Sport award by the US Fencing Association.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Website: <a href="http://www.lillielainoff.com/">http://www.lillielainoff.com/</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/lillielainoff" target="_blank">@lillielainoff</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/officialLillieLainoff/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/officialLillieLainoff/</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lillielainoff/?hl=en" target="_blank">@lillielainoff</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lillie Lainoff is represented by Jennifer Wills.</span></p>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-58160826002257893292020-11-17T13:56:00.003-05:002020-11-17T13:56:21.825-05:00Q&A and Giveaway with Beth Vrabel! <p><span style="font-family: arial;">By Elisa Houot</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>1. What was your favorite book to write ?</b><br /><br />That’s such a tricky question! I loved, struggled, doubted and am proud<br />of each of my books. I think The Newspaper Club series was the most fun<br />to write, though. I braided my background as a journalist with my love<br />for small towns and quirky characters. Nellie, Gloria, Thom, Min,<br />Charlotte and Gordon were a blast to create!<br /><br /><b>2. Do you write while listening to music or do you need silence?</b><br /><br />Spending so much time in newsrooms conditioned me to need a lot of noise<br />but no one talking to me. That’s why under ordinary times, I love<br />writing in coffeeshops. Right now, I actually have a framed picture of<br />my favorite coffeeshop hanging on my office wall! At home, my office is<br />in the heart of the house, right off the kitchen. I kick off writing<br />days by lighting a candle, settling into my armchair, and listening to a<br />Pandora station. The station itself shifts depending on the book. For To<br />Tell You the Truth, my June release, that was Ella Fitzgerald and the<br />Avett Brothers. For The Newspaper Club, I listened to a lot of The<br />National and The Frights.<br /><br /><b>3. What was your favorite middle grade book growing up?</b><br /><br />Where the Red Fern Grows had a huge impact on me on a kid. I loved<br />Billy’s independence and determination.<br /><b><br />4. Who is your favorite fictional character ever, and why?</b><br /><br />Oh, this is a tough question for sure! Anne of Green Gables and I are<br />kindred spirits, so I’m going to have to go with her.<br /><br /><b>5. What is the one advise you would have to new writers?</b><br /><br />My biggest piece of advice is to tell yourself the story first. Some of<br />the best writing takes place long before you ever <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">pull up that new</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">document or turn to a blank page. Fall in the love with the characters,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">imagine the critical moment when everything seems lost, think through</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">how you’re going to pull everything together at the end. And then, when</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">you’re so excited about this story that you feel like you might burst,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">that blank white page won’t look intimidating; it’ll seem like an</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">invitation.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Be sure to follow Beth on Twitter, Instagram, and "like" her Facebook page to be eligible for</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> this giveaway to win book one and a poster of The Newspaper Club! </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Link: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e7c376692/" target="_blank">http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e7c376692/</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZzaxKBqhXMejijoPj7osRhun0dY9COAMl7wr2cBaLmSVlhcqVxvmZRHWzOQJuP3bHWHWL21zr0TMalaiY4hgWGjOjeLWKpjuxJfTSrpozfxov7rYNwKb2hfFwZkbWgz0BFHoWbXBV2Q/s1080/Beth+Vrabel+Giveaway+2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZzaxKBqhXMejijoPj7osRhun0dY9COAMl7wr2cBaLmSVlhcqVxvmZRHWzOQJuP3bHWHWL21zr0TMalaiY4hgWGjOjeLWKpjuxJfTSrpozfxov7rYNwKb2hfFwZkbWgz0BFHoWbXBV2Q/s320/Beth+Vrabel+Giveaway+2.png" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Be sure to follow Beth on Twitter, Instagram, and "like" her Facebook page to be eligible for</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> this giveaway to win</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> books one and two of The Newspaper Club! </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Link: </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e7c376691/&source=gmail&ust=1605724130351000&usg=AOvVaw2lwGRdHeQuKuvikR89qN83" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e7c376691/" rel="noreferrer" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; text-align: left;" target="_blank">http://www.rafflecopter.com/ra<wbr></wbr>fl/display/e7c376691/</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">? </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcBgLSzKpns-Xgh2WFtMFIjESq7niEFiBGyFxduEjcd9bSBDPjvK0PRi37YhGn_nhDuRsuW5JOJnN4atL5zBmxU-uG1JYU5RabwROWvwhxEhiB7gFL9OFZYCN6RKGZXoc8qpbV8baosM/s1080/Beth+Vrabel+giveaway-2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcBgLSzKpns-Xgh2WFtMFIjESq7niEFiBGyFxduEjcd9bSBDPjvK0PRi37YhGn_nhDuRsuW5JOJnN4atL5zBmxU-uG1JYU5RabwROWvwhxEhiB7gFL9OFZYCN6RKGZXoc8qpbV8baosM/s320/Beth+Vrabel+giveaway-2.png" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>About Beth Vrabel:</b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEd_IFOYYhDGkE1Kh8nvkOvR03SQfbX0Npp9zULLCrPVEeNOIzi5hRZ87b4_qDikWMvWxsmUP6-Y4PqFuLl6w26tDfl7i7YGFfy-4BPNZ4-nkhXxA7HRA57sqKdHjvtltI4FTRe3Q1PwI/s700/Beth+Vrabel+Head+Shot.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEd_IFOYYhDGkE1Kh8nvkOvR03SQfbX0Npp9zULLCrPVEeNOIzi5hRZ87b4_qDikWMvWxsmUP6-Y4PqFuLl6w26tDfl7i7YGFfy-4BPNZ4-nkhXxA7HRA57sqKdHjvtltI4FTRe3Q1PwI/s320/Beth+Vrabel+Head+Shot.jpg" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">Beth Vrabel is author of the Cybils’-nominated Caleb and Kit, ILA award-winning A Blind Guide to Stinkville, JLG-selection A Blind Guide to Normal, The Reckless Club, the Pack of Dorks series, and The Newspaper Club. She lives in Connecticut with her family.</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">Website: <a href="http://bethvrabel.com" target="_blank">bethvrabel.com</a></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">Facebook: <a href="http://facebook.com/AuthorBethVrabel">facebook.com/AuthorBethVrabel</a></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/beth_vrabel">twitter.com/beth_vrabel</a></span></p><div><br /></div>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-80584056655589607122020-11-10T11:13:00.004-05:002020-11-10T11:13:39.651-05:00The Importance of Horror in Kidlit with Hannah Kates<p><span style="font-family: arial;">By Madison Parrotta</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Of the many genres in Kidlit, horror is one that tends to be tiptoed around, especially for middle grade books. Author Hannah Kates, however, shines a light on horror through her writing, and deems horror to not only be entertaining, but important for kids and teens alike. She names herself the “author of strange tales,” even though as a kid, she was easily spooked by everything and couldn’t watch scary movies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ironically, this fear got her started with writing horror for kids. As a kid, she one day came home to find that her hamster had had babies and then ate them, which made for a terrifying experience. This later inspired her work as an adult, and this was when she discovered that kids like scary books, even though horror is an underrated genre.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Even so, the common tropes of the horror genre are known to nearly everyone—vampires and werewolves. They’re not just made-up creatures from out of the blue, but they come from fear. Vampires are representative of the fear of consumption, while werewolves invoke a fear of all the changes that come with puberty. What one can glean from all this is that horror can teach lessons, especially to children.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">According to Hannah, the most important thing that horror can teach is that fear isn’t necessarily a negative emotion. What is scary for kids and adults alike is usually things that don’t make sense, but when horror characters face their fears and survive, they are the ones who are in charge and have power. When kids see themselves represented in an MG or YA book, they realize they too can survive their own struggles.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In Hannah’s words, “Life can often be frightening, confusing, and bring turmoil without any explanation or reason. Scary stories prove to us that we can make it through. We can be heroes, we can find help, and we can actualize these experiences/the second and third-order consequences they have in our lives.”</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">About Hannah Kates:</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHDo8iMHLp5S4jbtqaMgC0QdPubZrg5RJGo15S7C-k2vo_syZsaWs-QUg27QRSxM3FiKsTr7uhH_5j6Tm6gTzkrCqs-9N35kM5_CmsgZMbYVXbGizCUb3AVKEDkk7HeBBTeJOJ394CgQ/s1800/Hannah+Kates+Head+Shot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHDo8iMHLp5S4jbtqaMgC0QdPubZrg5RJGo15S7C-k2vo_syZsaWs-QUg27QRSxM3FiKsTr7uhH_5j6Tm6gTzkrCqs-9N35kM5_CmsgZMbYVXbGizCUb3AVKEDkk7HeBBTeJOJ394CgQ/s320/Hannah+Kates+Head+Shot.JPG" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah Kates ran away to join the circus at a very young age. Aside from being an author, she also considers herself a professional adventurer and has chalked up misadventures everywhere from the streets of Mumbai to the ranks of the French Foreign Legion. If she's not skulking around cemeteries, you can find her running for ridiculous distances, having tea with her corgi, Bilbo Handsomepants, or playing honky-tonk piano.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Website: <a href="https://authorhannahkates.com/">https://authorhannahkates.com/</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/HannahKates1" target="_blank">@hannahkates1</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Facebook:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/authorhkates" target="_blank"> https://www.facebook.com/authorhkates</a></span></p>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290397779374067140.post-87139036306210343292020-10-29T13:33:00.005-04:002020-10-29T13:33:32.150-04:00Author Spotlight: Jennifer Beckstrand - Mom, Mathematician, Author<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By Leah Kornacki</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today we are very proud to shine a spotlight on our client and friend Jennifer Beckstrand. Jennifer has been represented by the agency for ten years now, and was discovered by our founder Mary Sue Seymour. We love Jennifer’s story, so we asked her to share more about how she came to be published and what advice she has for budding authors.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jennifer is a lifelong fan of fiction, but didn't begin her journey as an author until well after she started a family. Jennifer's first passion was algebra, and she actually holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics. Even though She isn’t a career mathematician, Jennifer says the math degree was probably the best decision she’s ever made because it has come in handy getting all six of her kids through high school and college. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Her dream of writing came after she had her fourth child and began to suffer from insomnia brought on by restless thoughts. When she couldn’t sleep, Jennifer would write a Western romance story in her head. Eventually, she looked forward to bedtime more than ever before because she could spend the time exploring more of her story.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial;"><i>“You know how about four kids into your life you suffer from chronic insomnia because you can’t stop wondering what you forgot to do that day—like hug your child or go to the bathroom? </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial;"><i>Anyway, that is basically how I started my writing career.”</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today Jennifer has 24 books published (with four more on the way!), but she wasn’t always a book writing machine. She says it took her 14 years to finish her first novel, a 130,000-word Western historical romance titled Rachel’s Angel, which won best novel in the League of Utah Writers Contest in 2008 and first place in the Inspirational category at the Utah Romance Writers Conference in 2009.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">She says the first thing aspiring writers must make peace with is the very difficult and painful realization that not everyone is going to like their work.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial;"><i>“I pitched my book to one agent who wasn’t interested because she said it wasn’t “steamy” enough. Another agent judged my manuscript in a contest, and I could tell without her having to spell it out for me that she hated my story with a white-hot passion.” </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was Mary Sue Seymour who finally showed interest in Jennifer’s work. Mary Sue was looking for an author who could write inspirational romance, and she knew Jennifer was the right fit for the agency. Today, we know Jennifer as a resident rock star in Amish Fiction, but it was Mary Sue who originally suggested she research the genre. Jennifer quickly put together three synopses and a fifty-page query of her first Amish romance.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial;"><i>“Soon thereafter, ON MY BIRTHDAY, Mary Sue called with an offer to represent me—and a charge to ‘hurry and finish that book.’”</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Five months later, Jennifer signed a three-book deal with Guideposts Books for her first Amish romance series, Forever After in Apple Lake.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">From the beginning, Jennifer has dedicated herself to becoming the best writer she could be. Early on, she sought help and guidance from her author friends and attended conferences and workshops. She didn’t go it alone, and she didn’t try to rely solely on her storytelling talents. Instead, she researched and read up on writing and editing fiction. Jennifer recommends aspiring authors pick up a copy of Self-editing for Fiction Writers. She says its principles made her a significantly better writer, and she promises she isn’t exaggerating when she says reading it was “absolutely life-changing.”</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jennifer has also co-written her own nonfiction book for helping creative people called Big Ideas. It’s about how to get better ideas and more of those “Aha! Moments” by allowing your brain to go into “rest mode” rather than trying to squeeze ideas and creativity out on demand. She says her ideas usually don’t come easily, and if the inspiration isn’t flowing, she will spend lots of time contemplating and ruminating, sometimes staring at a blank screen. The problem is, sitting still at a desk for more than a few minutes makes her fall asleep.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial;"><i>“The advantage of being a task-oriented, stay-at-home mother is that many of my daily jobs allow ample time for musing. I ruminate while puffing on the treadmill or running a vacuum over my carpet or taking a shower. I am notorious for long, indulgent showers—my guilty pleasure. I do my best thinking in there. (My apologies to the green movement. But I do recycle!)”</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">At the same time, Jennifer doesn’t give her hard work enough credit. She balances creativity with research. She doesn’t consider herself an expert on the Amish, but she puts in the time to get the facts right to create a believable world and characters that are a fair representation of Amish people and their culture.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial;"><i>“One thing I have discovered about the Amish is that they are just regular people trying to navigate life in the best way they know how, just like the rest of us. So I try to make my characters real, instead of cardboard cutouts of what people think the Amish are like.”</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To create her amazing characters, Jennifer seeks additional inspiration by observing the people around her. Anna and Felty Helmuth from her Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series are heavily inspired by her parents, and she made a hero out of her daughter’s boyfriend in one of her books. This method seems to breathe life and humor into Jennifer’s characters. Above all, the magic in her work comes from telling stories centered on what she loves and believes in. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial;"><i>“I would say, write what you love or writing becomes a drudgery very quickly. I love romance, humor, and faith-filled stories, so those are a pleasure to write.”</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jennifer’s formula for success has been equal parts dedication to her craft, dedication to her family, and a confidence that enables her to take criticism and use it. She understands that making mistakes are essential to the learning process, and she doesn’t let negative reviews get her down because she knows even the best writers get them. She says the only criticisms she takes to heart are from her beta readers, her agent, and her editor.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jennifer says her favorite thing about being an author is hearing that readers enjoy her books, especially when her story has touched, inspired, or helped someone. Her next big goal as an author is to make the USA Today Bestseller list, and to get her first contemporary romance novel, Dandelion Meadows, published. In life, she says she is also striving to spend more time with her grandchildren and get better at pickleball.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many thanks to Jennifer for sharing how she got started as an author and how she surmounts some of the challenges authors face. We love hearing how hard work and dedication can pay off!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARVOqG9bVqJBsB2jFZunebrOUl10pnPmlWZXzLnb4zLYKyVX2SjWD4HsK3d32RSuv_xC38fnqC8s8HWlO4v3SRW5dLoC0mWaq8dpy3FAGU9U8AB-Pd5W4KKAKj42qlyyfAhTnM2pIAC0/s984/Huckleberry-Hill-1-600x984.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARVOqG9bVqJBsB2jFZunebrOUl10pnPmlWZXzLnb4zLYKyVX2SjWD4HsK3d32RSuv_xC38fnqC8s8HWlO4v3SRW5dLoC0mWaq8dpy3FAGU9U8AB-Pd5W4KKAKj42qlyyfAhTnM2pIAC0/w122-h200/Huckleberry-Hill-1-600x984.jpg" width="122" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWsPEG7Kk3_TaGIcWGFATehQ0QaTFNsbQ7HixKJGqhb2VgxjhnsCcsBUBABSHp48rigw8ZTEtb78XPjyugHPojx_-zKcFwdbDmkbQCBuzxAiQXxLGe7T1nCw13dAGcY3Hqmtu8h7TqurQ/s387/AmishChristmasCandle258x387.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="258" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWsPEG7Kk3_TaGIcWGFATehQ0QaTFNsbQ7HixKJGqhb2VgxjhnsCcsBUBABSHp48rigw8ZTEtb78XPjyugHPojx_-zKcFwdbDmkbQCBuzxAiQXxLGe7T1nCw13dAGcY3Hqmtu8h7TqurQ/w133-h200/AmishChristmasCandle258x387.jpg" width="133" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jennifer Beckstrand has several Amish fiction series including </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The Matchmakers of Huckleberry </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Hill and The Petersheim Brothers. Lovers of Historical Western fiction should read her novel Jessie and James which is a humor-filled romance set in a late 1800s mining town. We can not recommend diving into her worlds enough! <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You can find out more about Jennifer and her books at her wonderful website: </span><a href="http://www.jenniferbeckstrand.com/" style="font-family: arial;">http://www.jenniferbeckstrand.com/</a>. <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Also be sure to join her official Facebook group for updates, giveaways, and more fun! </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2061229137272299" style="font-family: arial;">https://www.facebook.com/groups/2061229137272299</a></div></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsh8W0fS-eTXT8Ccthhq7kB-f8FjPPYqYgTCNmH5vZUmvp2vXlxCFA3FEsxNLg66ooCOwyz-XocQvrlGDrVcChtxnKt0cjCisUuPMEz7qNAF3LRSgF1oQxIw85mOu2wCMEsZpypNLU9h0/s280/Jennifer+Beckstrand+Head+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="201" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsh8W0fS-eTXT8Ccthhq7kB-f8FjPPYqYgTCNmH5vZUmvp2vXlxCFA3FEsxNLg66ooCOwyz-XocQvrlGDrVcChtxnKt0cjCisUuPMEz7qNAF3LRSgF1oQxIw85mOu2wCMEsZpypNLU9h0/w230-h320/Jennifer+Beckstrand+Head+Shot.jpg" width="230" /></a></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Lesley Sabgahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140179972415964384noreply@blogger.com2