Bonnie Doerr is another debut novelist from the class of  2K10. Her novel, New Island Sting, has just been released by Leap Books. I asked her to give us a summary of the book and talk about what inspired her to write it.

Summary of Island Sting:

Kenzie Ryan's New York know-how and private girls' academy education prove useless when she moves to a cottage in the exotic Florida Keys. Upon arrival, she is thrown into the midst of an ecological island mystery involving the endangered Key deer. How can she navigate this upside down world?

By contrast, this new world is deftly maneuvered by Angelo--island native and nerve-wracking hunk. The two team up to accomplish what has perplexed law enforcement, but Angelo also exposes Kenzie's insecurities, as well as her inexperience with nature and the opposite sex. Danger and disagreement follow the pair wherever they go. Enamored with Angelo and his local savvy, Kenzie desires his total devotion. But how can she win Angelo's heart when what she must tell him will crush his ego?

Inspiration:

Human damage to the beautiful environment and native wildlife of the Florida Keys was the inspiration for Island Sting.

Bio:

Bonnie J. Doerr has always played with words, ideas, and nature. For years this therapeutic pursuit manifested itself in poetry. In recent years her play resulted in stories and novels for young adults. A lifetime educator, she has taught students from kindergarten to college in eight states. Degrees in reading education, combined with a brief post as a science teacher, led her to write ecological mysteries. Years of teaching and living in the Florida Keys provided irresistible material. Her novels celebrate caring, involved, “green” teens who take action with attitude and a touch of romance. When she's not playing in the Florida Keys, she lives in a log cabin in North Carolina.

 

 

Barbara Jean Hicks moved into my neighborhood from Seattle a few years ago and became one of my closest writing friends. The published author of five picture books, Barbara Jean enriches my writer's group, edits the blog and keeps a pulse on school programs and speaking opportunities.

I asked my good buddy Barbara Jean Hicks to give us the Writing Tip of the Day. 

June Sobel's writing tip a few months ago about "letting go" was a good reminder for me. I hate letting go of my beautiful, too-many-for-a-picture-book words!

I've found that retyping my story from scratch is the best way to excise those extra words from my manuscripts. Somehow it's easier to leave words out when I'm retyping than it is to delete them from an existing file.

Another important tip for writers of picture books: remember that your story will, hopefully, be read aloud over and over again, so make sure it reads aloud well. I constantly read my stories aloud during the writing process, so much so that by the time I'm finished with the final revision of a manuscript I can almost recite it from memory. Not only does this practice increase the fluency of my work, it helps me catch nit-picky mistakes along the way.

Bio:

Barbara Jean Hicks is the author of five children’s picture books, two of them featuring monsters and one featuring a cat who imagines he’s a monster—among other things (THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER KITTY). 

Barbara is getting more and more attached to British monsters, who in the capable hands of illustrators Alexis Deacon (JITTERBUG JAM: A MONSTER TALE) and Sue Hendra (MONSTERS DON'T EAT BROCCOLI) clearly are likeable beasts. She lives near Los Angeles with her partner Michael and a monster cat.

Barbara is also a teacher for an online high school. Her most recent venture is Class Act Creative, a company formed to publish student art and writing.  www.class-act-creative.com

CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR
Barbara Jean Hicks
www.barbarajeanhicks.com

One of my favorite books of all time is Gennifer Chodenko's Newbery honor winner, Al Capone Does My Shirts.  For many years I hoped for a sequel, and this year I got it. Al Capone Shines My Shoes is a masterful sequel.

The story picks up where the first one left off, when twelve year old Moose Flannagan asked a favor of one of the most deadly gangsters of all time, Al Capone, who is incarcerated in the prison at Alcatraz where Moose's father is a guard. In the first book, Al helped Moose's autistic sister get into a very prestigious school for the learning impaired--and now he wants payback.

The sequel begins with another note from Al sent to Moose in his laundry: "your turn then we're square." This sets up a series of crazy events for Moose as he tries to keep the note secret, deal with his friends and pay back Capone.

I really loved this book. It was fun to revisit all the characters on the island. The Alcatraz kids look out for each other, and they are something like celebrities in their schools. Everyone wants to meet Capone.

Poor Moose is tortured by his promise to fulfill the favor for Capone and finds a very ingenious way to do so. The nasty Piper is so mean, I wanted to throw the book across the room, but in the end I actually felt sympathy for her.

This sequel is rich, warm and heartfelt with an ending that I didn't see coming. If you loved the first book you will adore this sequel.

In honor of the announcement of the 2009 Newbery prize, I am posting an encore interview with Newbery Honor winner Gennifer Choldenko.  The sequel to her honor book Al Capone Does My Shirts was just released, Al Capone Shines My Shoes is fabulous, here's the link http://www.tinanicholscouryblog.com/2007/12/gennifer-cholde.html#more

Big Congrats out to my buddy Hester Bass. Her picture book, THE SECRET WORLD OF WALTER ANDERSON, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, won the 2010 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children.

Alexandra Diaz is a member of the class of 2K10. Her debut YA novel, Of All The Stupid Things, was just released by Egmont USA.  I asked Alexandra to give me a summary of her novel and what inspired her to write it.

When a rumor starts circulating that Tara's boyfriend has been with one of the guy cheerleaders, the innuendo doesn't just hurt Tara. It marks the beginning of the end for three lifelong friends.

Tara is training for a marathon, but also running from her fear of abandonment by her father. Whitney Blaire seems to have everything, but an empty mansion and absentee parents leave her looking for her own value in the wrong places. And Pinkie has a compulsive need to mother everyone to make up for the mama she's never stopped missing. Then the new girl arrives in school and Tara starts to feel things she's never felt before for a girl. Can the girls' friendship survive when all the rules have changed?

What inspired me to write this book? It was a story that greatly intrigued me, and being written in three POVs, challenged me as well.

I met agent Caryn Wiseman at the SCBWI summer conference through my good buddy Greg Trine, who is one of her clients.  As we all were dancing around the costume party that Saturday night, I got Caryn to agree to an interview. I give you Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

When and why did you start representing children’s authors and illustrators? 

I started agenting in early 2003, as a second career. I had always been a voracious and critical reader, and had done a lot of business writing and editing. I knew that agenting would allow me to do the things that I love best - reading and editing - and that, as an agent, I could discover wonderful authors, and help them get their books published. 

Seeing one of my clients' books in the bookstore still gives me goosebumps!  I interned at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and fell in love with all of the amazing children's literature that I was reading both at work, and at home to my young kids.  I quickly took on my own clients, and have now sold almost 100 books!

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a published writer?

Promote, promote, promote. No matter how great your book is, it's not going to sell without you being the primary evangalizer for it.   Take advantage of viral media, do as many school and library visits as you can, drop into bookstores and sign some stock, shamelessly promote yourself to any person or group that you are in contact with, including alumni associations, social organizations, and any organizations that are tangentially related to something in your book.  Blog, tweet, develop a great website.  Do everything that you can to get your book out there. 

In this economic climate is it better to wait to submit when houses will be purchasing more books? 

No.  Even in this climate, we are still selling lots of books!

What are some of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?  

Any books by my authors and other Andrea Brown Literary Agency authors (see our website www.andreabrownlit.com <http://www.andreabrownlit.com> , FEED by MT Anderson, NORTHERN LIGHTS by Jennifer Connolly, HOW I LIVE NOW, by Meg Rosoff, HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins, WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead, just to name a random few. There are so many wonderful children's books out there.

What is your favorite dessert and why? 
Anything involving dark chocolate; hazelnuts are a plus.  Do I need a reason? :-)


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I have known Bruce Hale for many years and I am always struck by how funny, kind and generous he is. He's a huge supporter of the SCBWI and full of great ideas, and I will sit in on any talk or workshop he gives.  Author of the wildly successful Chet Gecko series, Bruce gives us the Writing Tip of the Day.

A CURE FOR STORY STUCK-ITIS
     
Often, I find that when my story bogs down I've lost track of what the character wants or I haven't given her a strong/meaningful enough goal to carry her through. If the character is actively trying to solve a problem, your story will keep moving forward. Of course, it’s one thing to say this and another thing to accomplish it. Here are a few techniques you might try to get unstuck:

• Character journaling: Write journal entries as if you were that main character. Sometimes in the free flow of writing, a new idea will shake loose.

• Interview your character: Write this in Q&A format, with you posing questions and your character answering. Ask what she’s feeling, what she wants – anything that will help you get past the stuck place. The answers might surprise you.

• Brainstorming: It’s vital to do plenty of this before you begin writing.  Sometimes I’ve gotten stuck because I didn’t allow the story idea enough time to gestate before I tried to push it out into the world. Play with the idea before writing. Let it grow organically.

• Dream seeding: Writing is a head game. (And some of us are head cases because of this!) Let your unconscious mind lend a hand. Before you go to sleep, hold the key story question in your mind, whether it’s “What happens next?” “What does she want?” or “How does he get out of this predicament?”
   
And if all that fails, try putting your story aside and working on something else for a week. The brain break may do you good. 
   

I met Laurent Linn several years ago at the SCBWI National Conference and I was struck by his kindness, generosity and humor.  He is a great friend to the SCBWI, participating in portfolio reviews, workshops and roundtable discussions.  I am also a great admirer of his work as a designer.  It gives me great pleasure to interview Laurent Linn.

When and why did you start art directing for children?

My entire career has been involved in children’s worlds. I didn’t set out to do that, it just evolved that way. Perhaps because I’ve never grown up (and don’t plan to), so I’ve basically worked on projects that interest me.

That has grown into an intense goal of hopefully helping make the world a better place for kids. I started in puppetry with the Muppets, which has led to so many varied art projects and jobs. Being an illustrator myself, I’ve always loved children’s books from all angles, so stepping into the design and art direction world was quite natural. I’ve been art directing books for kids since 1995, and love it.

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer/illustrator?

I’d say that you have to think of yourself as the creative artist you are, as well as a business person. Meaning that, in today’s crazy publishing world, you’ve got to figure out how to promote your work, and having a published book is a great way to do that. Being published says that you’re a professional, and that you have experience collaborating and working with deadlines. Another piece of advice is to take some time to sit back and realistically look back at your experience with the project you did that was published. What surprised you about the process? What feedback was most valuable? Assessing, with unclouded eyes, how you can improve and seeing where you need to rethink how you work can help you to step up to a new level with your work.

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?

A book that I had the pleasure of designing a couple of years ago is called MASTERPIECE, so creatively written by Elise Broach and beautifully illustrated by Kelly Murphy. It’s a magical middle-grade novel that has the charm of a classic  -  it’s all about the creative process and truth in art. But also about a boy and a beetle that can draw.

What are you looking for in a portfolio?

Well, in addition to gorgeous and skilled art (of course) . . . I’m always looking to see how an illustrator uses his or her own unique vision and style in illustrations that could truly apply to children’s books. In other words, not portraits or landscapes or still lifes, but art that really illustrates a captured moment. The two main aspects of art that separate children’s illustration from other types of art is STORYTELLING and EMOTION. Art in every book needs to tell a story (on many levels) as well as emotionally draw the reader into the book, so we identify with the emotional state of the main character.

What are you working on now?

I work on picture books and middle-grade novels as well as teen novels, so it’s a fun variety. One book in particular that I’m having a great time art directing and designing is a picture book called THE SCARECROW’S DANCE, by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. It comes out this fall, and is a gorgeous poetic story of a scarecrow who decides to break free, but comes to realize his importance to his world. Truly a stunning book.

What is your favorite dessert?

What isn’t my favorite dessert?! I guess the winner would be anything with peanut butter, just because.

Sometimes I read a book that is so moving I have to get in touch with the author for an interview. The Underneath is one such book.  Both a National Book Award honor book and a Newbery honor book, this  story is so powerful that at times I had to put it down--but it was also so heartfelt I had to pick it back up.  I am honored that Kathi Appelt agreed to be interviewed for the blog.

When and why did you start writing for children?

I started writing for children not long after my second son was born in 1984.  Before that, I thought I wanted to be a scholar and write academic papers and books--you know, "scholarly" stuff.

I was in love with the thought of being a college professor. That all changed when I became a parent and discovered how much I loved reading with my little boys. They're big boys now, and I still love reading with them. The huge irony of this is that now I teach at Vermont College of Fine Arts, so I feel like I get to do the two most wonderful things in the world--write children's books and teach at the college level.  Life is good.

Also, at one time, I considered writing songs, but since I'm not much of a musician that hope was quickly dashed, especially since all I seemed capable of writing were barroom ditties that I couldn't sing for my mother (or anyone else, for that matter).  Nevertheless, when I wrote THE UNDERNEATH, some of the parts I most enjoyed writing were Ranger's songs.  

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

Remember that you are your book's best p.r. person.  Your publisher can only do so much for any given title. It's important to do school visits, to talk to college classes, and even to teach a class at your local community college or community center. Attending conferences, speaking, doing book signings (even when the only people who show up are your cousins)... These are all important.

I think it's also helpful to consider "niches," unusual places where your book might find an audience. Too often we limit the notion of where our books might find homes to schools, bookstores and libraries. And yet, I've seen my books in national park gift shops, hospital gift shops, on-line at animal rescue sites, etc. Your publisher will appreciate leads like this when it comes to marketing. And it's fun to try to figure out where you might place a particular title.

Folks keep telling me that a blog is helpful too, although to date I've resisted that. Probably to my detriment. I recently signed on to FaceBook, however, and I really enjoy being part of that community.  

THE UNDERNEATH was the first time I ever created a book trailer. My son composed the music for it, and it turned out to be a lot of fun to put together. I found I enjoyed becoming a "filmmaker" and look forward to producing more of these. I have a picture book due out in 2010 that I can't wait to do a trailer for. It's all in rhyme, so it should be fun to set to music. And the art, by Kelly Murphy, is truly beautiful. I think it will lend itself to this type of promotion.  

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?

Oh boy, that's a hard question because I love so many of them. But if I could only take one with me to a deserted island I think I'd have to choose MISSING MAY by Cynthia Rylant. That book works on so many levels and it's so life-affirming. I'd miss it if I didn't have it with me.  

What are you working on now?

I just finished a draft of my next novel, KEEPER.  It's still got miles to go, but for me the first draft is always the hardest, so I'm glad to get that done. I'm getting ready to embark upon a new collection of short stories, along the lines of KISSING TENNESSEE, which will be for upper middle grades. Who knows what will come after that? I'd actually love to return to picture books. It's been quite a while since I worked on one of those and they're really my first love.

What is your favorite dessert and why?

I love bread pudding with hard sauce. Why? Because it's bread pudding with hard sauce.


Kathi Appelt's Biography

I was born on July 6, 1954 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. My father, Bill Cowgill, was stationed in the Army there, a member of the 82nd Airborne. He and my mother, Patricia, were both still teenagers when I made my fortuitous appearance. By fortuitous I mean that I couldn’t wait to get to the hospital and was born instead in the front seat of my father’s Ford. Waiting is still not my strong suit!

We only lived in North Carolina for a short time and then moved to El Paso, TX and finally to Houston, which is where all my relatives are from. Both of my younger sisters, Patti and B.J., were born there, and Houston is where we grew up.

In our house on Mayo Avenue, we had a garage with unfinished sheet rock on the inside walls. On one side of the garage was my dad’s work bench where he kept all his tools. But the other side was just a big blank wall. My mother divided it into three sections. As soon as my sisters and I could hold crayons, we were allowed to express ourselves on that wall in any color or form that we wished.

If you stood back and looked at the wall, it was like a record of my growing up. Down at the bottom was just a lot of scribbling, but as I grew, the drawing took on new and clearer forms. You could tell the drawings that were done when I was happy from the ones I did when I was sad or angry. The garage wall was a perfect place for expression. Once I started actually writing, on paper, I no longer needed the wall. But I still think of it as the place where my earliest writing took place. It was like my first journal, a record of my feelings and experiences.

I still keep a journal. Like the garage wall, it’s a place for catching all my thoughts, and sometimes my dreams. It’s often the first place that the idea for a new story or poem occurs. Because I don’t have any particular rules about writing in my journal, sometimes I’m surprised by what shows up! I also get ideas when I walk. I enjoy taking long leisurely walks. They help me clear my thoughts, but they also give me an opportunity to take a good look at the world around me.

Most of my books and poems come directly from my own life because that’s what I know best and feel most strongly about. Sometimes I write from a place of joy, as in my book The Thunderherd, which is about horses. I’ve loved horses since I was very young, and The Thunderherd was an opportunity to express that love. Of course horses and cowboys go together and for most of my childhood years, I really wanted to grow up to be a cowgirl and ride the range. This long-held dream turned into Cowboy Dreams.

As much as I loved horses, however, I was afraid of bats! Because writing helps me overcome my fears, I decided to write a book about bats: this became Bat Jamboree, followed by Bats on Parade, and Bats Around the Clock. Writing those books helped me see bats differently and even to laugh about my fears. Now I appreciate and love bats almost as much as horses.

Nowadays my favorite animal is cats, and I’m thrilled that my first book featuring the furry felines, At the Alley Cat’s Meow, will be released in the fall of 2002.

My family plays a large role in my writing life too. My husband Ken is a high school English teacher and a musician, and he has always encouraged me in my work. We were married on a cold, icy day in January, 1979. On the day we were married, Ken’s grandmother Emma told us that being married on a rainy day meant that we would be “showered with blessings,” and she was right! And two of the best blessings that we have are our sons, Jacob and Cooper. Jacob was born in 1982 and Cooper was born in 1984. Both of them are musicians like their dad.

Even though I had thought of myself as a serious writer for years, I doubt that I would ever have written for youngsters if I had not become a mom. It was through reading to my Jacob and Cooper that I became reacquainted and then enchanted with childrens’ books. We spent many happy hours reading together when they were little, and we still enjoy a good book together now that they are almost grown. Both of them are now in college!

And watching them grow reminded me so much of my own childhood. People often ask me if I write about my sons and for the most part I don’t. I figure they’ll have to tell their own stories. But I do get ideas from them, and mostly those show up in my poetry. When Cooper was very small, he loved to put rocks in his mouth. If I didn’t keep my eyes on him, he’d pop them in his mouth faster than I could blink. This turned into my poem, “The Pebble,” which is in Just People.

I used to think that a real writer had to have lots of exciting, maybe even dangerous, adventures in order to have something meaningful to write about. Now I know that the best writing is about the people, places, pets, and objects that surround us and that we meet every day. I’ve discovered that writing about them is the absolute best way to really know them and in the process to come to know ourselves a little better. I now know that writing is really a way of seeing. I’d like to encourage you to get out your old journal or start a new one and see what shows up.


   

I meet a lot of writers who say, "I want to be a bestselling author." Um, that's a lot of pressure for anyone--published or unpublished.

I would encourage you to have more bite-sized goals. Like, "I want to write a good sentence today." Or, "I want to complete the chapter I am writing by the end of the week."

It's weird, but for most writers there seems to be this pressure to be published. If you like to swim, people seldom ask, "Oh, when will you be racing Michael Phelps?" However, if you tell someone you write, chances are you will be asked, "Are you going to be like JK Rowling?" There's enough of this pressure from the outside, so don't do it to yourself, too.

Take heart in the joy of writing.

With the publication of Millicent Min, Girl Genius, Lisa realized her lifelong dream of becoming an author. There are over 300,000 copies of MILLIE, the winner of the prestigious Sid Fleischman Humor Award, in print. Lisa's second novel, Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time, won the Chinese American Librarian Association Best Book of the Year award, and was named an American Library Association Notable Book. Lisa was also named the 2007 Thurber House Children's Author-in-Residence. Her third novel, So Totally Emily Ebers came out in 2007, as did Good Luck, Ivy, an American Girl historical novel.

Read the hilarious  Lisa Yee blog

 I met Kathy Landwehr at the Ventura/Santa Barbara Mission picturebook retreat this year.  Kathy was gracious and generous with her critiques of first pages.  I am always pleased to interview an editor.  I give you Kathy Landwehr.

 Why? I love the challenges of children’s books. Someone once said that simple isn’t easy, and that’s particularly true of children’s books. Every single word has to count; I like to say that there’s nowhere to hide the mistakes! I love the relationship between the text and the artwork, and the process of figuring out which will convey what sort of information and how. And I love the final product—there’s nothing more wonderful than holding a finished book in my hands and knowing that I played a role in its birth.

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

Write. Write more. Read. Read more. Talk to other folks. Talk more. It’s so important to keep the balance between the essential solitary time spent writing, and the equally essential time spent figuring out what’s going on out in the world. Each part informs the other.

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?

Can I cheat and pick a series? I absolutely adore Harry Horse’s Little Rabbit picture books (www.littlerabbit.net <http://www.littlerabbit.net/> ). The artwork is so marvelous and Harry catches the voice and mindset of a toddler just perfectly.
 
I have a preschooler myself and have probably read Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus approximately ten million times. I never get sick of it and neither does my son. Mo Willems is another person who’s got that voice just right.

What are you working on now?

A marvelous fall 2009 picture book called Mind Your Manners, Alice Roosevelt!, written by Leslie Kimmelman and illustrated by Adam Gustavson. They’re a terrific team—Leslie’s text is hilarious and informative, two of my favorite qualities, and Adam’s artwork… well, let’s just say that Adam sees the world differently from anyone else, and I’m really glad of that. I love his cockeyed view of the world. This title is just about to go to the printer and I can’t wait to see the finished book.

What is your favorite dessert and why?
 
My husband makes something we call Daniel Cake. He found the recipe when I was in the hospital delivering our son Daniel. Tom got so bored waiting for the baby to come that he read every single page of the newspaper—even the food section, where he found this terrific recipe. The original name of the recipe was something like “World’s Best Chocolate Cake,” but it will always be Daniel Cake to us.

I heard Neil Gaiman speak at the BEA authors' breakfast in 2008. He was paneled with Jon Scieszka, Judy Blume, Sherman Alexie and Eoin Colfer. Anyone who was there will tell you that it was one of the most hilarious mornings of BEA. It is also where I picked up an advance copy of The Graveyard Book. I adore this book and I was so happy that the Newbery committee thought it was worthy of their award.  I contacted Mr. Gaiman soon after The Graveyard Book won the Newbery, and he was gracious enough to grant me an interview. I am thrilled to have this year's Newbery winner, author and screenwriter Neil Gaiman, give us his insights for the blog.

When and why did you start writing for children?

My first book was for children. I was 21, and when it was finished I sent it to a publisher and it came back with an encouraging rejection slip. 23 years later, after CORALINE and WOLVES IN THE WALLS, I found the ms. in a tub in the attic, and read it, at bedtime, to my daughter Maddy.

There was a single page about 2/3 of the way through that sounded like me, and might have been written by me, but the rest of it was a sad mash-up of J.P.Martin and Noel Langley and others, and it wasn't very good, so I put it back in the attic.

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

Don't stop now. And listen to advice, but go your own way. (Also, make a point of ignoring any advice  that comes prefaced with the phrase "This is for your own good." It never is.)

What is one of your favorite children's books that you'd like to recommend?

The 1967 edition of Noel Langley's The Land of Green Ginger. I don't know why the 1971 edition happened (it is half a chapter shorter, regularises the capital letters and removes a great deal of the wit) nor why the 1971 edition is the one that occasionally gets reprinted. And you can skip the 1933 edition too, although the pictures are nice. But the 1967 edition was a children's classic.

What are you working on now?

In all of the Newbery/Coraline movie madness I'm now late on 2 short stories, a comic, a film script and a TV script. And I don't know which one of them I'm going to get on with when I stop doing email.

What is your favorite dessert and why?

I love strange fruit -- when you're in a foreign country and someone brings you some fruit you've never seen before because it doesn't travel.

And ice cream. You can't go wrong with ice cream. Well, unless you go to those places that start mashing cake and sweets and whatnot into it.

Biography

Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in modern comics, as well as writing books for readers of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama.

His New York Times bestselling 2001 novel for adults, American Gods, was awarded the Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, SFX, and Locus awards, was nominated for many other awards, including the World Fantasy Award and the Minnesota Book Award, and appeared on many best-of-year lists.

Gaiman's eagerly awaited new novel for adults, Anansi Boys, debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list in September, 2005. About Anansi Boys Gaiman says: "It's a scary, funny sort of a story, which isn't exactly a thriller, and isn't really horror, and doesn't quite qualify as a ghost story (although it has at least one ghost in it), or a romantic comedy (although there are several romances in there, and it's certainly a comedy, except for the scary bits).” An audio version of the entire text of Anansi Boys, as read by UK comedian Lenny Henry, has also been published by HarperAudio in both regular CD and MP3-CD formats. 

The Sundance Film Festival premiere of Mirrormask, a Jim Henson Company Production written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Dave McKean, took place in January 2005. The film was released from Goldwyn/Sony on September 30, 2005. Mirrormask, a lavishly designed book containing the complete script, black and white storyboards, full-color art from the film, and augmented by notes and observations by the creators is published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Mirrormask, a picture book for younger readers, also written by Gaiman and illustrated with art from the movie, was published by HarperCollins Children's Books in October 2005, and The Alchemy of Mirrormask was published by CollinsDesign that same month.

With Roger Avary, Neil Gaiman wrote the script for Beowulf, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie.

Gaiman is co-author, with Terry Pratchett, of Good Omens, a very funny novel about how the world is going to end and we're all going to die, which spent 17 consecutive weeks on the Sunday Times (London) bestseller list in 1990 and has gone on to become an international bestseller. In March 2006, Morrow published a new hardcover edition of the book, including an introduction and other ancillary material from the authors. 

Gaiman was the creator/writer of the monthly cult DC Comics horror-weird series, Sandman, which won nine Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, including the award for best writer four times, and three Harvey Awards. Sandman #19 took the 1991 World Fantasy Award for best short story, making it the first comic ever to be awarded a literary award.  Norman Mailer said of Sandman: "Along with all else, Sandman is a comic strip for intellectuals, and I say it's about time."

His six-part fantastical TV series for the BBC, Neverwhere, aired in 1996. His novel, also called Neverwhere, set in the same strange underground world as the television series, was released in 1997. It appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Locus. Film rights to Neverwhere were bought by Jim Henson Productions; Gaiman has written a draft of the script for the film.

Gaiman's first book for children, The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish, illustrated by Dave McKean, came out in May 1997, was listed by Newsweek as one of the best children's books of the year, and was reissued to acclaim by HarperCollins in 2003.

Stardust, a prose novel in four parts, began to appear from DC Comics in October 1997. Illustrated by Charles Vess, it is a fairy story for adults. The collected DC version appeared in late 1998, and in January 1999 Morrow/Avon released the all-prose unillustrated version of Stardust; it received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, appeared on a number of American bestseller lists, was listed by Publishers Weekly as one of the best books of the year, and was awarded the prestigious Mythopoeic Award as best novel for adults in August 1999.

His most recent collection of short fiction, Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, was published in 1998. It was nominated in the UK for a MacMillan Silver Pen award as the best short story collection of the year.

Gaiman's 1999 return to Sandman, the prose book The Dream Hunters, with art by Yoshitaka Amano, won the Bram Stoker award for best illustrated work by the Horror Writers Association, and was nominated for a Hugo award.

Two Plays For Voices (2002), an audio adaptation of two of Gaiman's short stories, and starring Brian Dennehy and Bebe Neuwirth, was awarded a 2002 Audie Award by the Audio Publishers Association.

At the end of 2002 Gaiman wrote and directed his first film, in association with Ska Films: a short, dark, funny work called A Short Film about John Bolton, which is available on DVD. In 2006, Gaiman directed his first feature length film, based on his graphic novel Death: The High Cost of Living for New Line Films.

His children's novel Coraline, published in 2002, was also a New York Times and international bestseller and an enormous critical success; it won the Elizabeth Burr/ Worzalla, the BSFA, the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Bram Stoker awards. Henry Selick directed the film Coraline, in theaters now, with music provided by the band They Might Be Giants.

In 2003 The Wolves in the Walls, illustrated by Gaiman's longtime collaborator Dave McKean, was published, and it was named by the New York Times as one of the best illustrated books of the year. It is currently being made into an opera by the Scottish National Theatre. 2003 also saw the appearance of the first Sandman graphic novel in seven years, Endless Nights, which was published by DC Comics and was the first graphic novel to make the New York Times bestseller list.

In 2004, Gaiman published the first volume of a serialized story for Marvel called 1602, which was the bestselling comic of the year, and is currently a Quills Award finalist in the graphic novel category.

Gaiman's work has appeared in translation in dozens of countries around the world. His journalism has appeared in Wired, Time Out London, The London Sunday Times, Punch, The Observer Colour Supplement, and he has reviewed books for the New York Times Book Review and the Washington Post Bookworld.

Tori Amos sings about Neil on her albums Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink, Boys for Pele, and Scarlet's Walk; and Neil has written songs for the Minneapolis band The Flash Girls ("the find of the year and perhaps beyond" -- Utne Reader), for Chris Ewen's The Hidden Variable, and for the band One Ring Zero.

In August 1997 the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a First Amendment organization, awarded Gaiman their Defender of Liberty Award. In 2000 he did the final series of "Guardian Angel" readings, which he began doing for the CBLDF in 1993, and replaced the retiring Frank Miller on the CBLDF Board of Directors. In September 2005 he was one of 17 bestselling authors who, in support of the First Amendment Project, auctioned off the chance to name a character in an upcoming book.

Gaiman's official website, www.neilgaiman.com, now has more than one million unique visitors each month, and his online journal is syndicated to thousands of blog readers every day. Currently, more than 2,500 websites link to his website.

Born and raised in England, Neil Gaiman now lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has somehow reached his forties and still tends to need a haircut.
 

I have known Rene' Colato Lainez for many years and have admired his  books about the Latino experience in the United States. His new picture book Rene' Has Two Last Names is a fabulous story of a kid feeling out of water in a new school and new country.

On the first day in his new school, René’s teacher gives everyone a name tag with their first and last names.  Like many Salvadoran names, Rene's name has two parts, “Colato Laínez.” But his tag reads only “René Colato.”

Thinking the teacher must have run out of ink, Rene' adds the "Lainez." René is teased about having a long name but uses the opportunity to teach his classmates--and his teacher--that his name represents both of his parents' heritage.

What is wonderful about all of Rene's stories is that they come from the heart of his own experience. I also love that the book is in English on the top of the page and Spanish on the bottom. This gives a child a chance to learn both languages. Graullera Ramírez’s fun watercolor scenes of family and classmates are bright and welcoming. The story explains cultural differences in an easy and entertaining way.  Buy it for any kid.

Occasionally I will hear from an author around a holiday to promote their holiday book. Such is the case with Terri Hoover Dunham and her darling Christmas picture book illustrated by Laura Knopp, The Legend of Papa Noel: A Cajun Christmas Story. I give you Terri Hoover Dunham.

  Then one day my three-year old did something that gave me an idea for a children's book.  That was twenty years ago and I have been writing for children ever since.  (And I haven't given up on that book I wrote 20 years ago.)

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer? 

Get out there and promote yourself and your book.  Even if you are shy, you need to step out of yourself and form connections with readers, booksellers, media and anyone who can help you promote your book.

What is one of your favorite children's books that you'd like to recommend? 

That ís difficult to answer.  There are so many wonderful children's books.  In a picture book, I love, love love Dr. Seuss.  His books are so much fun!  And though I'm not writing middle grade or YA, there are so many wonderful authors and books in those genres now.

What are you working on now?

I'm revising a picture book.

What is your favorite dessert and why? 

I love anything chocolate, especially dark chocolate.  Mmm . . . maybe strawberries with chocolate syrup.

Terri Hoover Dunham is the author of The Legend of Papa Noel: A Cajun Christmas Story, released by Sleeping Bear Press in September of 2006.  Her work has appeared in Louisiana Literature, The Louisiana Review, 2006 Jubilee Anthology, 2007 Jubilee Anthology, Whispering Wind, St. Anthony’s Messenger, St. Anne De’Beaupre’, Victoria, Backwood Homes, Mississippi Magazine, Cappers and Grit.  In addition, she has written book reviews for the Baton Rouge newspaper The Advocate for twelve years and is pursuing her degree in Liberal Arts, with a focus on Literature.  Terri also worked as a substitute teacher for eight years, before deciding to write full-time.

You can learn more about Terri Hoover Dunham and The Legend of Papa Noel: A Cajun Christmas Story by logging onto her website: www.terrisbooks.com.

As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President. I love this book! It made me laugh out loud. No wonder it won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award last Summer.  It is hilarious.

Vanessa has a crush on the wrong guy, she's praying for the Boob Fairy to come, and she hates having a secret service agent following her every move at school. Most of all, she hates that her mother, who is Governor of Florida, is running for president.

Resentful of her mom being on the campaign trail, Vanessa devises a plan to make her mother quit. But her plan backfires, and Vanessa has more to deal with than she bargained for.

The book has a surprise ending and left me wanting more. I love this kid!

I started writing for kids in 1991, just before I entered law school.  While I'd always loved writing, I really didn't make a conscious choice to write for kids.  Rather, an idea for a story hit me and I tried to just flush it out of my mind - after all, I was going to be a lawyer, not a writer - but the idea would not be put to rest.

It hung around and nudged me until I broke down and started writing.  And once I started, it was clear to me that it was a story for kids.  I kept on writing for the next 13 years and wound up with 100 pages of a book manuscript.  When my daughter was born I chose to stay home with her, and that's when I began devoting time to my writing in earnest.  I put that original manuscript away (because I'd put so many years into it that I was afraid I would be discouraged to have it critiqued) and I started writing When the Whistle Blows. And the rest is history!

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

My most valuable advice is this:  talk with your editor about how many advance copies of your book you are getting.  Sending out advance copies is THE BEST way you can promote your book.  But you can't send out ARCs if you don't have them.  If you are only getting 20 copies, ask your editor if you can pay the cost of additional ARCs.  Get several hundred of them - it will likely be less than $2.00 per copy, and it will be the best money you'll ever spend on promotion.  When you have that many ARCs, you don't have to be stingy with where you send them - you can send them to bloggers to review your book and interview you, you can send them to bookstores as you begin to set up book signings, and you can send them to regional newspapers and magazines (but don't send them to the big newspapers or major reviewers - that's for your publishing house to do).  I happened to luck into learning about this, and I've found it to be absolutely invaluable.

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?

Sounder by William Armstrong.  It is one of my all time favorites.  It is beautiful and moving, and it took me to a completely different world and made me feel like I was a part of it.  My philosophy of time was greatly impacted by this book, and I know it has influenced my own writing and thinking.  I last read it a couple of years ago, and oh, did I cry!  Wow.

What are you working on now?

I'm working on a middle grade dystopian fantasy about a girl who wants to be a pirate. The tentative title is Ship's Boy.

What is your favorite dessert and why?

Red Velvet Cake.  (And I like Red Velvet Cake batter ice cream at Maggie Moo's too!)  I like this cake because the icing is to die for (it's got lots o' butter in it), and it has been my birthday cake practically every year of my life. Happy taste, happy memories.

Fran Cannon Slayton spent her childhood growing up in Manassas and Haymarket, Virginia.  She was a mean unicycle rider and pogo stick hopper, and prided herself as an all-around terror on the kickball field.  Other favorite pastimes included exploding caps (with or without the use of a magnifying glass), catching salamanders with her bare hands, and using them as bait when she went fishing.

In high school she played first trumpet in the Bishop Ireton-Saint Mary’s Academy Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and lettered in four varsity sports (soccer, basketball, softball and field hockey – goalies rule!).  In college she went to the Junior Olympics in fencing, played in the Award Winning Virginia Fighting Cavalier Indoor/Outdoor Precision Marching Pep Band and Chowder Society Review Unlimited!!!, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia with a double distinguished major in Psychology and Religious Studies. 

After getting married to her college sweetheart and working on Capitol Hill for a couple of years, she went back to UVA’s Law School where she set a personal record by playing on six different softball teams in one single semester.  After law school Fran became a prosecutor, specializing in child sex abuse cases, and then went on to become a legal publisher and mild-mannered title insurance agency owner.  After her daughter was born, Fran became a stay-at-home mom (“the best job ever”), author, and part-time singer/trumpet player in a rock and roll cover band.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am hosting Kidlitosphere  Non-Fiction Monday. Kidlit bloggers and others will offer their best posts for nonfiction. Keep checking the comments as I update links all day.

 Paula Willey is getting a jump on the week by pre-writing her review of The Vermeer Interviews: Conversations with Seven Works of Art by Bob Raczka. It'll be up on Pink Me (http://pinkme.typepad.com)

I didn't plan to meet one of my all time idols while I was wearing a Mother Goose costume, but that's what I had on when I met the great Karen Cushman. She is the author of one of my favorite books, Catherine Called Birdy, which I have bought for gifts probably 40 times.

I wanted to know what she did and felt and what her life was like, and the only way I could do that was to make it up and write it down.  So I did, and that idea grew into Catherine Called Birdy, my first book.

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

First of all, enjoy!  There is no more exciting time than the publication of your first book--okay, maybe getting married and having children.  But you've worked hard for this moment so enjoy.  Then realize that your work has not finished with publication.
You will need to network, to publicize your book, to talk and write about it until you wonder why you wrote it in the first place.  And you will need to learn to say no, to pick and choose commitments, to protect your time so you can start working on your next book, which is probably bubbling away in your head already.
 
What are some of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?

I think Sarah Plain and Tall is a masterpiece of a book and a writing class in miniature.  I also like the historical novels of Rosemary Sutcliffe, Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson,  Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chains, Missing May by Cynthia Rylant, and Down Sand Mountain by Steve Watkins.

What are you working on now?

I am actually working on a book about a boy--it will be my first with a male lead character and is for that reason a challenge.  Will Sparrow's Road tells of a runaway boy who finally learns to give and receive trust, care, and affection.  I am almost finished with a first draft, which is by far the hardest part for me, and looking forward to taking those rough 100 pages and making them into a real book.

What is your favorite dessert and why?

Pumpkin pie--no question.  Not only does it taste fabulous but it makes me think of autumn, which is my favorite time of year.

 
BIO:

I was born in Chicago. My favorite things about Chicago were snow, summer lightning storms, and my grandparents. When I was 10, we moved to Los Angeles where there were none of those things. It was too hot. I was grumpy. You can read The Ballad of Lucy Whipple to see how I felt.

I loved books and would read anything I could get my hands on: Little Lulu comic books, Rufus M. and The Middle Moffatt, Homer Price and the Doughnut Machine, Mad magazine and Seventeen and cereal boxes. And I wrote enthusiastically: poems, plays, short stories, and even a novel (six chapters in three pages!). I didn’t know anyone else who wrote and certainly no adult who wrote for a living, so I never thought about being a writer. I just wrote. For my real job I wanted to be a movie star or a ballet dancer, an archaeologist or a brain surgeon, depending on what book I had just read.

In 1959 I went to college at Stanford University. What a change from Los Angeles. It was the first time I realized I didn’t have to get married and do laundry and spend my life making bologna sandwiches for my kids’ lunches.

Now I live on a soft, green island near Seattle with my husband, Philip, who is a professor. Our daughter, Leah, is a librarian. The love of books runs in the family.

 
 

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Kid Lit authors are taking matters into their own hands again this year with a program called Buy a Book, Save the World!

With the holidays upon us, these authors are reminding the world that it's just as easy to buy a kid a book as it is to buy a toy.  It's great to know that children's authors are not going to take this downturn in the economy lying down.

Today is National Bookstore Day.  So go out and buy books for gifts and save the world in the process.

Tracy Barrett is a hard working RA for the SCBWI for years.  I would see her around the summer conferences always helpful and kind.  Tracy is also one of these "Brainieacks" that I often find in children's literature.  Professor at Vanderbilt University, published author and scholar. We are so lucky to have her in our mist. I give you Tracy Barrett.

When and why did you start writing for children?

In 1975, I wrote some short stories for an educational publishing firm. I later found out that I was the only non-professional in the group (I was a college student) and was edited the least of any of them, so that gave me confidence that I could actually do it!

Grad school and life got in the way, and my first nonfiction book wasn't published until 1993. My first novel, Anna of Byzantium, came out in 1999.
I started writing because I had developed all sorts of research skills as a grad student and was bored in my day job. I've always loved history, so that's the focus of my nonfiction work. My fiction is mostly historical or time travel, so I haven't strayed far from that love!

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

Don't assume that one publication will open all doors. Anna of Byzantium has sold almost 200,000 copies, and once it was on bookshelves and on reading lists and winning awards, I thought that my problems with finding publication were solved, but my next novel was rejected 24 times before it was bought! It too won some nice awards and has sold well, but I was close to giving up before my wonderful editor at Henry Holt fell in love with the story and the characters and accepted it. She's now published four of my novels and three more are under contract with her. You have to keep working on craft, attending conferences, and making conference.
And join SCBWI!

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?

I don't think you can go wrong with Charlotte's Web; it's beautifully written, with great characters, wonderful humor, and very moving passages. It's also about how writers can save the world--or at least a pig--so writers should feel flattered by it!
My favorite more recent books is, or books are, Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series.


What are you working on now?

I'm roughing out Book 4 of my series "The Sherlock Files." Title still to be decided, but at the moment I'm leaning toward The Case of the Missing Heiress. Book 3, The Case That Time Forgot, will be out in May, 2010. I also have a book I'm very excited about coming out in Fall, 2010: King of Ithaka. It's a historical/fantasy/coming of age/adventure/love storyyoung-adult novel based on Homer's Odyssey. My agent is currently reviewing my revisions to another YA novel, still untitled, based on the legend of the Minotaur.
Did I mention I was a classics major in college???

What is your favorite dessert and why?

Linzertorte, because a. the house smells AMAZING when you bake it; b. it's very easy to make but looks complicated, so you impress your guests; c. it has lots of almonds in it, so you can pretend it's good for you and ignore all the butter and egg yolks; d. it's the perfect combination of flavors. Or it would be if I could figure out a way to put chocolate in it.

Tracy Barrett is the author of numerous books and magazine articles for young readers.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree with honors in Classics-Archaeology from Brown University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Italian Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. Her scholarly interests in the ancient and medieval worlds overlap in her fiction and nonfiction works.

A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study medieval women writers led to the writing of her award-winning young-adult novel, Anna of Byzantium. Her most recent works for young readers are The Ancient Chinese World (Oxford University Press 2005) and On Etruscan Time, a sequel to Cold in Summer (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2005).

For ten years, Tracy Barrett was Regional Advisor for the Midsouth with the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She has taught courses on writing for children and on children's literature, and frequently makes presentations to groups of students, librarians, teachers, and others.

She teaches at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

When and why did you start writing for children?

   

I knew at age six, while playing “Library” with my sister and friends, checking in and checking out our shared treasured books, I wanted my name on a children’s book someday.

 Fast-forward lots of years, past college and teaching and journalism degrees, past years as a classroom fifth grade teacher, past years on staff of a suburban Chicago newspaper chain, to the arrival of my one-and-only son.  At 2 ½, Jon sat cuddled on my lap as we watched Mr. Rogers explain all about fog – how it suddenly arrives, like a gift from above, magically making the whole world disappear, then just as suddenly, disappears itself, magically showcasing the world in all its glory. 

No surprise that my very first picture book, titled “Catch a Patch of Fog,” told the tale of a little boy (curiously named Jonathan!) who needs to catch a patch of fog, to cover that piece of him that’s always hanging out, that piece that helps friends find him whenever playing Hide-and-Seek.  Though empty-handed and fog-less at story’s end, the little boy is satisfied.  Maybe, he thinks, he’s somebody worth finding.

It took my oh, so long writer’s journey to learn a similar truth.  I count my blessings daily for the gifts my writing brings.
     
What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

 
All writers, but especially newly-published writers, need to connect with SCBWI.

The recently-introduced Speakers Directory will soon allow website visitors from around the world to not only read about an author, his books and programs, then link to his website, but view a video of an actual presentation.

A member’s local Chapter offers published authors valuable connections to city and state schools, libraries, bookstores and community events as well as city and state related professional organizations.  Local low cost or no-cost Chapter programming can also teach new authors what they need to know – about speaking in public, presenting to schools, creating effective PR, balancing life, a career and writing.

A member’s local Chapter’s Listserv, Facebook page, newsletter and public events – each gets an author or illustrator out there, establishing an identity – easily, safely, in the comfort of colleagues.

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?


A heartfelt reading of William Steig’s Brave Irene concludes most of my writing workshops; and I personally reread my well-worn copy every four months.
    
In short, Irene is my Heroine.  She struggles on, despite the snow, the wind, the hilly terrain, determined to deliver the boxed dress her ailing mother sewed for the Duchess.  At one point she wonders, “How much longer can a small person keep this struggle up?”  Nearing the story’s climax, the narrator shares, “She very much needed to be held in someone’s arms.”

The story’s resolution arms me for anything:  Irene’s burden – that cardboard box, proves to be her ticket out! She simply climbs aboard and sleds down the hill, arriving in the nick of time at the Duchess’ front door.  And, her foe, the wind, proves to be her friend, pinning the dress that had sailed away two scenes earlier against the duchess’ tree, waiting for Irene.

For Heart and Hope, Brave Irene can’t be beat.

What are you working on now?

   
A little more than a year ago, I came upon a little known truly nameless figure in American history while reading an obituary notice in my daily Chicago Tribune.  I was instantly Googling, placing books on hold, wanting to know more so I could share this hero with children.   A picture book biography seemed the perfect vehicle.

For years I’ve helped students write successful picture book biographies.  Now it’s my turn to practice what I’ve preached.

The character grabbed my heart and wouldn’t let go, which is always a good sign.  And I’ve become quite taken with writing non-fiction since writing S is for Story.  There’s a concreteness to the process, a do-ability.  I like the way I can proceed taking measured steps.  I’ve especially enjoyed researching this period in America’s history, the early 19th century when our country was so new, as well as coming to know this man who might be kin to Brave Irene.

What is your favorite dessert and why? 

Alas, I cannot resist a profiterole: a delicate pastry puff filled with rich vanilla ice-cream, topped with a drizzle of dark chocolate sauce, a crisp caramel glaze and a mountain of whipped cream.  The bistro Mon Ami Gabi in Lincoln Park creates profiteroles to die for.  Each time I eat one I feel like I’m in Paris.

Esther Hershenhorn spends her days doing what she loves and loving what she does: writing picture books and middle grade fiction, teaching Writing for Children classes at the University of Chicago’s Writer’s Studio and Chicago’s Newberry Library and coaching writers of all ages to discover and tell their good stories well.  A member of SCBWI’s Board of Advisors, Esther recently concluded her seventeen-year term as the Illinois SCBWI’s Chapter Regional Advisor.  Sleeping Bear Press released her latest book in September, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.  It’s the book she wishes she’d own as a little girl, when she tucked away her dream of writing children’s books someday.


  I love this blog INK, interesting nonfiction for kids. It is one of my favorite group blogs and includes posts from 22 award winning nonfiction authors. Debrah Heiligman just was nominated for the National Book Award, for "Charles and Emma:The Darwin's Leap of Faith." All the authors have gotten together to form a new online database, INK Think Tank  to help educators find nonfiction books.

22 AWARD-WINNING NONFICTION AUTHORS LAUNCH FREE DATABASE OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS ALIGNED TO NATIONAL CURRICULUM STANDARDS

Twenty-two leading children’s book authors have launched a free online database of nonfiction books, www.INKThinkTank.com, designed to help teachers, librarians, and homeschoolers find the books they need to meet curriculum requirements in grades K-12.

The database will enable users to build an outstanding classroom or home library that includes material required by school districts nationwide. Visitors will be able to search by National Standards, subject, grade level, author names, titles, and keywords. The result will be a printable list of award-winning books that will ignite kids’ enthusiasm for reading and provide the information they need to excel.

Participating authors are:

●Don Brown ●Vicki Cobb ●Sneed B. Collard III ●Marfé Ferguson Delano ●Susan E. Goodman ●Jan Greenberg ●Cheryl Harness ●Deborah Heiligman ●Steve Jenkins ●Barbara Kerley
●Susan Kuklin ●Loreen Leedy ●Sue Macy ●Dorothy Hinshaw Patent ●Susanna Reich
●April Pulley Sayre ●Rosalyn Schanzer ●David M. Schwartz ●Melissa Stewart
●Tanya Lee Stone ●Gretchen Woelfle ●Karen Romano Young

Most classroom materials written to State or National Standards are designed to meet test requirements, rather than to stimulate kids’ natural curiosity, fire up their imaginations, and inspire innovative thinking. Recent studies have shown that many students, especially boys, prefer nonfiction to fiction. If kids are exposed to creative, well-written nonfiction, they are significantly more likely to become lifelong readers. In addition, assessment tests mandated by No Child Left Behind require that students be skilled in reading and writing nonfiction. Kids need great books to serve as models of good expository writing, and the books in the INK Think Tank database fill the bill. 

The INK Think Tank Web site grew out of the blog INK: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids http://inkrethink.blogspot.com, to which all of the authors have contributed. The blog, founded by Linda Salzman, enables authors to share thoughts about all aspects of their craft—from research and discovery to design and illustration.  Now these authors have taken the next step by creating INK Think Tank: Nonfiction Authors In Your Classroom, at www.INKThinkTank.com. 

The INK Think Tank web site includes supporting literature about how to use nonfiction trade books in the classroom as building blocks for literacy.  Users will also find information about the authors’ school visits and professional development workshops, which will ultimately be available through video conferencing.

Books listed in the INKThinkTank database have been awarded more than two hundred national, international, state, and regional honors and awards.  These include the Caldecott Honor, the Pura Belpré Honor, three Sibert Honors, the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, the Christopher Award, the James Madison Book Award Honor, and the New York Times Best Illustrated Books.  Numerous books have also been named as ALA Notables, ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, or have been on best-of-the-year lists, including those chosen by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, School Library Journal, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Parenting, and Instructor.

However, I grew up to work as an actress and singer, and in broadcasting, where I only wrote advertising copy. After my children were born, I fell in love with stories all over again. I began to work as a storyteller and wrote some of my own material. In 2002, after I was a winner in the Hot Seat on “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” with Meredith Vieira, I could afford to get even more serious about writing for children and sold my first book in 2004.

I write for children because the stories I read as a child are the ones that thrilled me most, that stayed with me through the years, and I hope to contribute something to the canon. Plus, writing is hard work but it’s fun.

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?




Seek balance. Writers need to write, market their work, stay connected to family and friends, and dust occasionally, unless you can find a possum to do that.

Marketing support varies among publishers, but if you’re willing to get out there and promote your work, my advice is to craft a specific plan and then ask your publisher how you might create a partnership. Also, consider limiting marketing efforts to a specific portion of your working day so that you have the time and energy to create more stories.

More free advice: network within the industry. Attend events, meet other authors and editors, make friends. I believe it was Woody Allen who said that 80% of success is showing up. After a long, drawn-out rejection of my first submission to a publisher, I joined SCBWI in 2001, and I can attribute my publishing success to connections made at their fabulous conferences.

What is one of your favorite children’s books that you'd like to recommend?




Weslandia by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (Candlewick Press). It explores conformity and individuality, addresses the nature of culture, and celebrates the inventiveness and resiliency of the human spirit – all without saying so. It’s a constant inspiration, a marriage of words and images that bears reading again and again. I give it as a gift to children and adults alike.

What are you working on now?




I particularly love picture book biographies so I’m writing more of those, as well as some fiction picture books. I’ve also started a middle grade novel set in an alternative past and a philosophical YA with supernatural elements. Like I said, writing is fun!

What is your favorite dessert and why?


Congo Bars. Balance in all things is the lesson I want to learn most, and Congo Bars strike a pleasing harmony between cookie and brownie. If anybody knows why they’re called Congo Bars, I’d like to hear it. My Congo Bar recipe is under “Short Cuts” on my website.


Hester Bass is the author of So Many Houses, illustrated by Alik Arzoumanian. She lives in Owens Cross Roads, Alabama. Hester Bass is a Georgia native and has also lived in Ocean  Springs, Mississippi, where Walter Anderson was from.

Today I am featured on the Kidlit blog the Class of 2009.  For the past few years, YA & Middle Grade authors who have released a book in the same year have banded together to form a group to do joint promotions. 

I produced a book trailer for one of the members of 2K9 and the group asked if I would do an interview for the class blog. http://community.livejournal.com/classof2k9

Welcome, Tina!  First, the Class of 2k9 would like to thank you for making this wonderful book trailer for Albert's book, Crash Into Me!!  Tell us how you first heard about Albert's stroke, and how you came up with the idea to do a book trailer for him. 

I have been a member of the SCBWI for fifteen years.  It is a wonderful organization full of generous souls.  I don’t remember who first told me about Albert, but when one of our own experiences such a tragedy word gets around and what I like to call the “Book Angels,” spring into action.   

One angel passionately wrote to me about Albert needing blog reviews to help with the promotion of his debut novel, Crash into Me! I was happy to write a review. But I soon realized that the best way I could help was to give Albert a tool in his promotional cyber arsenal, a book trailer.    

I loved Crash into Me!  The book trailer had many challenges.  How could I portray teen suicide, a road trip and a surprise ending, in less than a minute?  More importantly could I make it enough of a tease for teens to buy the book after viewing the trailer? I knew an amazing song could do all of that and more.  I belong to several professional royalty free music libraries and I probably listened to 150 songs before I found the one I felt was a perfect fit. It is gritty and hopeful…like the book. I built the trailer from there.  My background is in art.  To me a trailer is like a painting, with images, color and movement placed in deliberate order to invoke the emotion of the story.

 
The trailer for Crash Into Me is very professional - when did you start doing book trailers and how did you first get into them? 

Two years ago my husband, Al Coury, received a lifetime achievement award from a heritage foundation in Washington D.C.  Al had run record companies for over thirty-five years and worked with everyone from the Beatles to Guns and Roses. He was to supply a ten-minute video about his amazing career.  I wasn’t happy with the videos that a production company had done for the organization, so I passed on using them.  My control freak self rose to the surface and I decided to go take classes and learn to do it myself. I’m a fearless Renaissance type of women and mastering a new art form was a mission. Luckily I’m a Mac person and the apple store had all the classes I needed. Around that time book trailers were just surfacing on Youtube.  My author friends found video production company fees way out of their budget.  I knew that I could provide a decent product for a reasonable price.  Being a children’s author I also had a unique perspective of how a book could be made into a trailer. 
 

You are a children's book author yourself.  Tell us about your own books and about your blog as well. 

My first picture book, “Hanging Off Jefferson’s Nose, growing up on Mount Rushmore” is scheduled for release on Dutton 2011.  It is about the son of the sculptor, Lincoln Borglum, who grew up on Mount Rushmore and eventually finished the monument when his father passed away.  My agent, Mark McVeigh, is shopping a picture book on the building of the Lincoln Memorial told by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln and I am working on a middle grade novel about a parochial school girl growing up during the Vietnam lottery. 

My blog, Tales from the Rushmore Kid, has changed my life in many wonderful ways.  In January of 2007, my local SCBWI put on a retreat on promotion.  Starting a blog was one of the workshops.  Back in those days there weren’t many kidlit blogs so I found a niche with a blog that had a different look.  Many Newbery Winners, National Book Award winners and other authors gladly gave me interviews.  I gained readership, a professional platform and friendships.  My reputation for having a popular blog surged and that led to writing an article for the just released Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market 2010 on Book Promotion: From Blog Tours to Book Trailers.   

If someone reading this were interested in doing a book trailer, what advice would you give them?

Every children’s book author should invest in a professional book trailer, even before the book is published. The more buzz about your book the better.  If you write the script yourself make sure it is only two or three sentences.  The trailer must use royalty free music; Youtube will eventually pull sound off your trailer for unlicensed music. Do not narrated unless the production house hires a professional voice over artist. Often a trailer will look great but sounds like an amature video.  Some publishing houses will pay for trailers and some will not.  If you can only afford a trailer done by a friend make it short and simple to compete with the professional trailers.  Less is more with book trailers.  Show book cover, a few sentences, book cover and isbn number with house and author info.