Twinkle Light Parade

 

This was the float Alamosa Books created for Albuquerque's Twinkle Light Parade. See the Christmas tree in the left hand corner? Now check out the close up below...

Sean and Elizabeth, the owners of Alamosa, decorated the tree with books. Forget Me Not is one of the featured titles, along with May B. by Caroline Starr  Rose and Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little.

The three of us, along with several other local authors, will be at Alamosa Books in Albuquerque, on December 11 from 6-8 p.m. In addition to mingling with librarians and conducting a multi-author book signing, we will be collecting books for the Albuquerque Public Schools - Title One Homeless Project. This project has already served over 400 students this year alone. A book is a gift a child may treasure forever. If you are not located in the Albuquerque area, consider donating books to your local homeless shelter, or better yet, partner with a local bookstore and start a book drive of your own.

As part of the evening's entertainment, we will be singing Christmas Carol Spoofs. I must give kudos here to the staff at Alamosa (Chris Warner, Megan Herceg, and Corey Bowen) for helping me brainstorm these wacky songs. They were the ones who suggested zombies and brought out a host of Jonathan Maberry books (see last weeks post for the Zombie song as well as for tips for creating your own holiday spoofs).

To see my second song spoof - "Hunger Games Holiday Traditions," visit the Spellbinders Blog.

Girl Bullies

When I asked the girls on my bowling team if they could give me some help on the article I was writing about Girl Bullies, at first they thought I said "Girl Bowlers." I guess that's what I get for trying to interview social workers at a bowling alley.

All joking aside, my three bowling comrades had a lot of insight about the phenomenon of Girl Bullies. To read the article I wrote for Simon and Schuster's Tips on Life and Love, visit the S and S site here.

Here is an excerpt from the article...

Girl relationships are complicated social structures often fraught with strict (but shifting) rules, mind games, and sometimes cruelty—the perfect breeding ground for bullies.

I've been examining the phenomenon of girl bullies for my verse novel, Forget Me Not, where cyber-bullying drives a girl to attempt suicide.

I asked Laurie Bartlett, former teen counselor, along with Andy Cullen and Lynne Ortiz, school social workers, if they thought girl bullies were more common in the current generation. Lynne says there have always been girl bullies while Andy believes they are more prevalent today than ever.

Andy says it’s hard for schools (and adults in general) to always be aware when bullying is taking place because so much of it occurs over electronic media. Cyber-bullying is more accessible to kids because parents and teachers don't see it or hear it and therefore can't intervene.

A teen can be dumped by their best friend, find out a classmate has been involved in a fatal car crash, and receive three hate texts all via cell phone in the time it takes to drive home from the grocery store.

Without a word being spoken.

To read the rest of the article go to Simon and Schuster's Tips on Life and Love.

Have a Very Zombie Christmas

Author Caroline Starr Rose and I marched in the Twinkle Light Parade dressed as Candy Canes to promote our upcoming multi-author book signing at Alamosa Books. Come on over if you are in Albuquerque:

Alamosa Books

Tuesday, Dec. 11

6-8 p.m.

Local Authors, Food, Music

For entertainment we will be singing Christmas Carols based on young adult novels. If you'd like to see the spoof I wrote for Jonathan Maberry's Rot and Ruin Series, visit the Spellbinders Blog.

Happy ThanksHallowChrisGiving!

While I was cooking the turkey this beautiful Thanksgiving Day, my kids went out to walk the dog and found this pumpkin behind someone's car tire, probably poised for a messy prank. They brought it home and carved a Christmas tree on the front, combining all their favorite fall holidays and creating ThanksHallowChrisGiving! 

I'm glad they are so easily entertained. Or maybe the tryptophan is going to their brains.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!    

Cinquain Chains

The following is an excerpt from my SECRET LANGUAGE OF STORIES column over at the Spellbinders Blog.

Last month in my SECRET LANGUAGE OF STORIES column I discussed The Major Impact of Minor Characters and gave suggestions for several short forms that could be used to explore them such as the epigram and the epitaph. A fun activity making headstones was described.

Another short form I enjoy is the cinquain. Cinquains are also a great way to explore characters. They are short, just five lines long as the name illustrates, so it's important to capture the essence of a character with as few words as possible. It's also a good activity for students who struggle with written language.

Writing character cinquains can be part of a book report or a stand alone activity. They can be used to create a "cast of characters" and because so much white space is left on the page, other artwork may accompany the project.

Because it's a poem, ideas are more important than grammar and punctuation. Ironically though, students are still exploring grammar because the cinquain focuses on using parts of speech to create each line.

To read about the basic format of the cinquain and to find an example of a cinquain chain from my verse novel FORGET ME NOT, check out the rest of my article over at the Spellbinders Blog. .

Fantasy Sub-genres

 

This post is an excerpt from this week's Spellbinders feature article. Spellbinders is a newsletter and blog designed to help teachers and librarians build life-long readers. To read the entire article go to the Spellbinders blog.

This interview is a continuation of my discussion with bookseller Elizabeth Anker about fantasy sub-genres. She is the owner of Alamosa Books here in Albuquerque, NM. To read her thoughts on Science Fiction vs. Fantasy see the October Feature Article.

I asked Elizabeth about dystopian fantasy and said she believes dystopian looks at the future as an examination of political structures. In utopia everything is perfect. Dystopia turns everything on its head. Usually a totalitarian and authoritarian government is involved and the story is set in a future that is often post apocalyptic. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the most popular example of dystopian fiction.

Elizabeth said she was personally tired of the genre because as it continues and people write more of it there is far less explanation of why the future described in the book is happening and how the events affect our world at large. These weaker stories tend to focus on a few teens struggling to survive and rely on super powers to explain things.

In discussing other sub genres of fantasy, Elizabeth pointed out that just about any magical creature you can think of has its own series: vampires, werewolves, and even angels.


Scott Westerfeld, author of the Leviathan series, explores zombies, vampires, and classic fantasy creatures by explaining their biology and origin in scientific terms. He tends to fall in her science fiction shelves. For an interesting discussion of the difference between fantasy and science fiction, see our October Feature Article.

To read the rest of this article go to my Spellbinders post on Fantasy Sub-genres.

I'M IN ST. LOUIS AT THE YALSA SYMPOSIUM

I'm currently in St. Louis at the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Symposium. I'm meeting amazing librarians and conducting a panel with four fabulous New Mexico authors at 1:30 on Saturday! See the details below:

 

YALSA Author Panel

St. Louis, Missouri - November 3, 2012

 

A Matter of Facts and Fiction:

Giving Teens a Research Edge through YA Author Panels

Program Description: Five New Mexico authors will present a pilot program that brings teens and authors together to explore research strategies for writing fiction and nonfiction in a digital world.  The authors will discuss collaboration among libraries, bookstores, educators, and local authors to create dynamic interactive school events designed to excite teens about becoming research detectives, and inspire teachers to link YA fiction with curriculum goals and objectives.

To find out more about the authors on the panel and to explore the handouts for this presentation, go to the tab on this blog under YALSA Author Research Panel