Alyson Noel and FATED in Albuquerque

Alyson Noel kicked off her new Soul Seekers series in Albuquerque last Tuesday with FATED at Alamosa Books. FATED is the story of Daire Santos, a young girl who's mother sends her to Enchantment, New Mexico to live with a grandmother she has never met. Only Daire's grandmother knows what the girl's visions mean - that Daire is destined to travel between the worlds of the living and the dead as a soul seeker. Filled with romance, shamanism, and charm, this new series is sure to be a hit.

Go here to listen to the Audio Clip of FATED available through Macmillan Audio Books at Amazon

Alyson talked about her journey as a writer and said the beginning wasn't easy. FAKING NINETEEN was rejected by several publishers, including her own St. Martin's Press. At the time they didn't even publish YA. Then a new editor came on board who wanted to try books for teens. Her agent pitched the book again, and it sold. FAKING NINETEEN was the first teen title published by St. Martin's Press. Alyson said sales for her first seven books were unremarkable. Then EVERMORE hit the New York Times Best Seller List and she's been on a roll ever since. She attributes the initial success of EVERMORE, in part, to the fact that Walmart put in a huge order. They loved the book and loved the cover. She pointed out that a lot of towns don't have bookstores and Walmart is where a lot of people find books. Of course it also helped that EVERMORE was a really good story.

When rewriting her first novel, Alyson said her agent recommended she read STORY by Robert McKee. She knew within just a few pages what was wrong with her book and how to fix it. She still looks back through STORY before starting a new manuscript. The other book she recommended was SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder. Snyder, like McKee, bases his story analysis on screenplay format. He breaks stories into fifteen "beats" that keep the action moving forward. Alyson said one of the first things she does when she sits down to write is to make sure that her story has all fifteen of the "beats."

 

Regarding having other people critique one's writing, Alyson said she is a very private writer and does not like to share her work with anyone until it's in pretty good shape. She said "Advice comes in all forms and not all of it is good." She warned against getting too many people's opinions in your head and losing track of who you are writing for. If you are going to work with someone, make sure they understand and appreciate your genre. You don't want someone who focuses on literary fiction to critique your romance novel or vice versa.

It was very special to have Alyson Noel in New Mexico for her first stop on the FATED tour. Fans will have a special treat in store with this exciting new series.

Watching the Eclipse

Thousands of people from many distant places gathered in Albuquerque this evening for the solar eclipse. My daughter came down from Colorado with her boyfriend, a high power telescope, and a solar filter. Thank God for science buffs. We gathered in our backyard with friends, family, and neighbors to view the moon coming between the earth and the sun. The process began around 6:30 p.m. and reached it's apex with the ring of fire appearing around 7:30. It was the first annular eclipse in 18 years.

Hardware stores sold out of welding glasses and hundreds waited in line at Balloon Fiesta Park for three hours or more where astronomers had set up telescopes for public viewing. A friend of ours also brought a stack of film negatives. Supposedly, if you stack four layers of film negatives together, you can look at the sun. I certainly hope that's true because we were all trying it out as we waited for a turn at the telescope.

We were very lucky to have this view from our backyard. Here are two photos through the telescope lens.

Besides the telescope, we made the traditional pin holes in paper. Not nearly as clear as the telescope, but surprisingly effective. What we didn't expect was to see images of the eclipse on the fence through the shadows of our tree leaves.

Next up is the Transverse of Venus on June 5!

IRA POETRY PANEL

Below is an Excerpt from my recent post on Crowe's Nest. To read the entire article go to the Crowe's Nest

On Sunday, April 29th, I took part in an all day preconference institute at the International Reading Association in Chicago with seven other authors and another Crowe's Nester - Lisa Schroeder.

The title of our institute was Rekindling the Reading and Writing Fire. We spent an entire day sharing author tips with teachers about how professional authors write and think about stories as we explored a variety of genres that ended with a poetry panel that included me, Lisa, April Halprin Wayland, and Caroline Starr Rose.

The focus of our panel was on exploring how to hook struggling readers with verse novels in our segment entitled: Social Issues in Contemporary Fiction and Verse Novels: Recognizing Literary Devices and the Implications for Struggling Readers

Lisa and I have special places in our hearts for struggling readers. I work in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist and both of us have books selected as YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers.

 

               

Although TAKE ME THERE is not a verse novel, it contains several original poems. It's about a boy who can't read or write, but dreams of becoming a poet. My first true verse novel, FORGET ME NOT, will be published by Simon Pulse in October of 2012.

To Read the Rest of the Article go to the Crowe's Nest

FITNESS FOR SITTERS

Being a writer requires long hours of sitting in front of a computer. So do many other professions. Sitting for hours at a time is very taxing on the body. Repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis can be extremely painful, not to mention the negative affects of lack of exercise on overall health. But for people who sit for a large part of their day, it can be difficult to get moving. As the old adage goes, "Bodies in motion stay in motion. Bodies at rest stay at rest."

So what is a writer (or other sedentary couch potato) to do? How does one get up from the chair and move, especially if there are looming deadlines? How do we fit exercise into an already hectic schedule, especially if you are juggling a writing career with a full-time job? We all know that exercise has numerous health benefits, but who has the time?

 A recent article in the IDEA Fitness Journal summarized a study conducted by The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm conducted that was published in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (2011: 53 [8]). The purpose of the study was to determine the result of work productivity on workers who were given time off (2.5 hours per week) to exercise. Actual productivity of these workers was similar to that of people who didn’t get time off to exercise, but the exercise group reported that they felt more productive and took fewer days off due to illness. The bottom line was that taking time off to exercise didn’t decrease productivity, and in some cases, increased it.

Could the same be true for writers? Would I write the same number of pages even if I used some of my limited time for exercise?

My personal experience has been that when I adhere to an exercise schedule and take breaks to exercise, I feel more mentally alert, more energetic, and more organized.  It’s hard to get started though. Sometimes it can feel like trying to move a mountain, (or at least my mountain-like butt).

A book I have found extremely helpful is 8 Minutes in the Morning by Jorge Cruise. He outlines a weight lifting program that addresses all the major muscle groups and can be accomplished in as little as 8 minutes a day. He cites evidence that when we exercise in the morning, we continue to burn calories all day. His book contains handy travel cards that you can slip into your wallet when you’re on the road. There is a diet plan and even inspirational motivators. 

But to be completely honest, I leave for work at six forty-five in the morning, and I write before that, so many days even that 8 minutes feels impossible. One solution I've incorporated is to take an adjustable weight to work and do two minutes of exercise at a time. I also have an adjustable set of weights next to my writing desk at home. This reminds me to get up every now and then and move my body. Even this small amount of exercise helps me stay toned and pain free. Just as writing a book requires focusing on one page at a time, even a couch potato like me can become fit if I just do a little bit of exercise every day.

HOME OF THE BRAVE and THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STORIES

One of the verse novels I read for poetry month was HOME OF THE BRAVE, by Katherine Applegate.

It is the story of a teenage boy named Kek, a Sudanese refugee who saw his father and brother killed in Africa and then came to America to live with his aunt. The spare verse is accessible for students ages 10 and up, yet the themes of relocation, ostracism, and political oppression make this book of interest for high school students as well, especially low readers (high interest-low readability). It fits well with themes of African studies. The variety of poetic and literary devices found in this story make it a good resource for covering those topics in preparation for SBA testing.

I will be using the 12 steps of my story analysis method I call THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STORIES (SLOS) to talk about the plot. To learn more about SLOS see the tab on this blog.

 Kek, a young Sudanese refugee receives a CALL to adventure to leave his refugee camp and come to America. As the story begins, he is making his CROSSING from the OLD WORLD of the camp to the NEW WORLD of Minnesota in the dead of winter by way of a "flying boat" or airplane. He is met at the airport by Dave, a man assigned to help him make the transition to America. Dave serves as a MENTOR as he gives Kek advice about adjusting to his new live. The boy was reluctant to come to America without his mother and hopes that she will soon join him. Dave takes Kek to live with Kek's aunt and cousin Ganwar who lost his hand the same night Kek's father was killed.

On their way to his aunt's apartment, Kek sees a cow standing alone in the snow and asks Dave to stop so that he can pet the animal. Back in Africa, cattle meant life to Kek and his family who were herders.

Kek faces many challenges in making the adjustment to America. The language is totally confusing to him. He uses terms like "the fast-car road" to describe the highway and "the don't-move belt" to describe the seatbelt. Nothing is like it is back home. He looks up to his older cousin, Ganwar, who has already gone through the male initiation rite and bears the scars on his forehead that prove he is a man. Kek very much wants to become a man, but does not know how to do that in this strange new place. Ganwar is a very flawed and embittered role model.

A PROBLEM arises when Kek tries to wash his aunt's dishes in the washing machine in the basement and ends up breaking them. He makes a PLAN to repay her by going back to the farm where he saw the cow and asking the owner, a woman named Lou, if he can have a job. At the MIDPOINT of the story he does just that. He asks Lou for a job. During the DOWNTIME he enjoys his new employment and even PURSUES a position for his cousin Ganwar. Kek names the cow Gol which means family. Gol symbolizes both his family and his search for manhood because of the responsibility he assumes in caring for the cow.

Unfortunately, Lou is getting old and she decides to sell the farm. She's not sure what she's going to do with the old cow. Kek becomes despondent with this news and quits going to the farm. Shortly thereafter he receives news that Dave was able to track down the people who made it to the second refugee camp and Kek's mother was not with them. He then has a flashback about what happened the night she disappeared. Their camp was attacked by gunfire and they ran. His mother hurt her leg and couldn't go any further, but instructed him to keep running and return for her when it was safe. When he returned, she was gone. This is the DEATH and TRANSFORMATION point in the story, because all hope seems lost. At first this desperation just causes Kek to run away, to try to make it back to Africa to look for his mother, but as he passes the farm and Lou's house, he wants to tell her thank you and goodbye, so he gets off the bus. Lou shows him pictures of her and her husband and the farm when they were young. Then she shows him a picture of her sister's house in LA. She says she is hopeful because even though her sister's yard is tiny in comparison to the farm, she can grow things year round. Kek realizes that like him, Lou must leave the home she has always known. He remembers his aunt's words, "Kek finds sun when the sky is dark," and he realizes that finding the sun wherever you are is one way to be a man. His transformation occurs when he decides to go back to work for Lou as he stays in Minnesota and waits for his mother and tries to make the best of his new life.

At the CLIMAX of the story Kek, with Lou's permission, walks Gol, the cow, all the way to the zoo. He and Ganwar stop traffic and end up getting a police escort. When they arrive at the zoo the "zoo boss" is reluctant to accept the cow. This is not the way animals are usually acquired. Kek finally persuades him and as Gol is taken into the petting zoo, he makes the analogy the she is going to her new land to begin again. The REWARD is that he has found a place for Gol, but another reward awaits him. In the epilogue, his mother finally meets him in America.

CONGRATULATIONS CAROLINE STARR ROSE!

2012 Spring New Voices Titles Announced

By Shannon OConnor on Thursday, Apr 19, 2012

For the past few months, the 2012 New Voices Committee has been hard at work, reading more than 80 titles by first-time authors. Their task? To pick the top debuts published between January 1 and June 30, 2012 in two categories: Ages 8 - 12 and Teen. The results are in, and the committee’s top six picks in each category are featured on a flier arriving at ABA member stores in the May Children’s White Box mailing.

The 2012 Spring New Voices titles, picked by kids’ booksellers for bringing something fresh and exciting to literature for children and teens, are:

Ages 8 - 12

• Child of the Mountains, by Marilyn Sue Shank (Delacorte/Random House)
• Glory Be, by Augusta Scattergood (Scholastic Press)
• If Only, by Carole Geithner (Scholastic Press)
• May B., by Caroline Starr Rose (Schwartz & Wade/Random House)
• My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer, by Jennifer Gennari (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, by Cynthia Levinson (Peachtree Publishers)

Teen

• Breaking Beautiful, by Jennifer Shaw Wolf (Bloomsbury)
• Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles, by Marissa Meyer (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan)
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews (Abrams)
• Wonder Show, by Hannah Barnaby (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Something Like Normal, by Trish Doller (Bloomsbury)
• Shadow & Bone, by Leigh Bardugo (Henry Holt/Macmillan)

Verse Novel Workshop in Albuquerque and Upcoming IRA Conference in Chicago

On Saturday, April 14, Caroline Starr Rose and I held a verse novel workshop at Alamosa Books. It was the culmination of a city-wide poetry contest. Students from elementary through high school submitted poems from all over the city and there was a poster contest for the 2Pac poster with the "Dead Rapper Rap" poem from FORGET ME NOT (Simon Pulse, October 2012). Kids had to find the 2Pac song titles hidden within the poem.

Several students showed up to read their original poems. The elementary and secondary schools with the most poetry submissions won free author visits.  Kennedy Middle School was the winner of the Secondary School Author Visit. I'll be going there on Friday, April 27th. to meet with students. Some of them are planning a performance of the "Dead Rapper Rap."

Meanwhile, I've finished the novels I planned to read for poetry month, May B. by Caroline Starr Rose and The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder. I even had time to go back and read an old favorite - Girl Coming in for a Landing by April Halprin Wayland. Last weekend I got a pad of sticky notes, made a cup of coffee, and went through these books page by page, looking for literary devices to use as examples for our upcoming poetry panel in Chicago. The four of us will be presenting a panel entitled: Social Issues in Contemporary Fiction and Verse Novels: Recognizing Literary Devices and the Implications for Struggling Readers.

What inspired me as I read through these verse novels was the sheer number of literary and poetic devices the authors used. There were numerous examples of metaphor, simile, allusion, personification, alliteration, and assonance. Even though almost all of the poems were written in free verse, they were still filled with beautiful imagery, figurative language, and word play. For our panel, I'm creating a "Treasure Hunt" based on examples from these books and my own verse novel, FORGET ME NOT (Simon Pulse, October 2012). I'll share it in my Teacher Resources section soon.

Our panel is part of an all day  pre-conference institute entitled  Rekindling the Reading Fire - Author Panel - Using the Story Strategies of Professional Authors to Inspire a Love of Reading and Writing. There is a separate fee for the institute, but participants don't have to be attending IRA to come to the institute. We already have people signed up from over ten different states and five different countries. So... if you know anyone who is going to be in Chicago on April 29th, tell them to check out our institute. There will be a total of 9 authors participating. Some of our other panels include:

Brave New Worlds in Fantasy and Magic Realism: Inspiring Literacy by Sparking the Imagination Kimberley Griffiths Little, Kersten Hamilton, Lisa Schroeder

Social and Cultural Influences: Approaching Plot Through the Intersection of Character, Setting, and Time - Uma Krishnaswami, April Halprin Wayland, Esther Hershenhorn

Content Area Literacy: Making History Come Alive - Carolyn Meyer, Caroline Starr Rose, Kimberley Griffiths Little

I will also be presenting an overview of The Secret Language of Stories, my twelve step story plotting system.

IT WILL BE A GREAT WAY TO END POETRY MONTH!!!!!