Joy Preble's Blog, page 15
May 1, 2014
We Need Diverse Books: Some Titles, Some Thoughts
That's the campaign right now, and it's an important one. It's also a larger topic than can be boiled down into a hashtag.
Do we need more authentic stories with people of color? Yes. Perhaps even more importantly, do we need some of those stories to be such that the issue of color is not an issue but rather, a fact about the character, such as in Crystal Allen's HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON HIM A BUBBA SIZED TROPHY? Yes.
LAMAR is an awesome story about life and bowling and siblings and mistakes and forgiveness and crushes and ego and a bunch of other wonderful things, in which the main character is African-American. It is a fact about him and certainly it informs his character in certain ways as do many things. But LAMAR is not about that one specific thing. It is not a story that says hey, here's this African-American boy who bowls and gets in some huge trouble and has to figure his way out of it. It's a story that says hey, here's this boy who bowls and gets in some huge trouble and he is also witty and also African-American and also crushing on a girl and he is also many other things.
In short, he is a real live human boy with many facets to him. He is authentic. He has a wonderful, sharp and truly funny voice. We want to read his story for all of those reasons.
But it's a bigger issue than just this. We all know that. And it's not just about people of color. It's about authentic stories beyond the obvious sound bite. Authentic stories with authentic characters who are more complex than just the go -to thing we know about African Americans or gays or lesbians or transgender or Jews or Catholics or Latinos or even angels or vampires or shape-shifters, for that matter. It's about letting the story be told.
This is often easier said than done, it seems, and often it is -- as are many (dare I say most) things-- to some degree a matter of business and money and how easily or slickly something can be marketed and to whom. (don't get on your high horses. It's simply the way it is.)
My wise, wise Soho Press editor, Dan Ehrenhaft has mused these issues recently here: http://www.cbcdiversity.com/post/81388069898/keeping-it-real-in-bologna
and also here: http://www.cbcdiversity.com/post/58272506549/what-is-authentic-and-what-is-offensive
Here's something I worried about as a high school English teacher: That the two stories -- often the only two stories-- my students had read and been taught about Jews in a school setting were Anne Frank and Night. Both of which are obviously amazing and life-altering books and authentic books and books that everyone should/must read. However, I -- a white, middle-aged Jew girl (just to be clear)-- often wondered what the subliminal message might be when the only two books with identifiable Jewish characters (and for the moment let's take Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice out of this discussion since that's a larger topic for another day) that most students ever read both were about Jews as victims of the Holocaust.
Now wait a second lady, you may be thinking. Jews were indeed victims of the Holocaust. That's the whole point. Well yes. Of course. But Jews are always many things, as are African-Americans who bowl and commit pranks that win them trophies. But most of my non-Jewish students learned about Jews solely through Holocaust literature. How different might the classroom conversation be if they also read, say, HOW TO RUIN A SUMMER VACATION by Simone Elkeles, where a teenage girl spends a summer in current day Israel with her estranged Israeli father? Very different.
(and probably I am not arguing that classroom teachers should pair Night with Elkeles's book, just to also be clear.)
Do you see what I'm getting at?
So it's not just diversity we're talking about, although obviously that's part of it. It's authenticity. About expanding our vision of the world and all its wonder and glory and ugliness and all the rest of the very messy human experience, one character at a time. Some characters are brave. Some are cowards. Some are characters of color. Some are not. Some girls like boys. Some girls like girls. You see where I'm going?
Some boys get caught with their hand down their pants and then bite it in a car accident and become their sister's guardian angel anyway. (Okay, that was shameless self-promotion for SWEET DEAD LIFE. Sorry about that.) But sometimes authenticity is admitting that boys-- and girls for that matter-- sometimes do that. And that maybe we should chat about how we're totally fine letting an 8 year old read often violent Hunger Games (a book I love hugely) but get all freaked out about a hand down the pants. Especially when the character becomes a flawed but still heavenly being not long after. Hey, it happens. (I'm in good company on this issue, by the way. The brilliant Sherman Alexie has a controversial hand down the pants in THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. People need to get over it. Seriously.)
Diverse Books = Authentic Books.
That's what we're celebrating!
We need to embrace ALL THE STORIES. ALL THE CHARACTERS.
Do we need more authentic stories with people of color? Yes. Perhaps even more importantly, do we need some of those stories to be such that the issue of color is not an issue but rather, a fact about the character, such as in Crystal Allen's HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON HIM A BUBBA SIZED TROPHY? Yes.
LAMAR is an awesome story about life and bowling and siblings and mistakes and forgiveness and crushes and ego and a bunch of other wonderful things, in which the main character is African-American. It is a fact about him and certainly it informs his character in certain ways as do many things. But LAMAR is not about that one specific thing. It is not a story that says hey, here's this African-American boy who bowls and gets in some huge trouble and has to figure his way out of it. It's a story that says hey, here's this boy who bowls and gets in some huge trouble and he is also witty and also African-American and also crushing on a girl and he is also many other things.
In short, he is a real live human boy with many facets to him. He is authentic. He has a wonderful, sharp and truly funny voice. We want to read his story for all of those reasons.
But it's a bigger issue than just this. We all know that. And it's not just about people of color. It's about authentic stories beyond the obvious sound bite. Authentic stories with authentic characters who are more complex than just the go -to thing we know about African Americans or gays or lesbians or transgender or Jews or Catholics or Latinos or even angels or vampires or shape-shifters, for that matter. It's about letting the story be told.
This is often easier said than done, it seems, and often it is -- as are many (dare I say most) things-- to some degree a matter of business and money and how easily or slickly something can be marketed and to whom. (don't get on your high horses. It's simply the way it is.)
My wise, wise Soho Press editor, Dan Ehrenhaft has mused these issues recently here: http://www.cbcdiversity.com/post/81388069898/keeping-it-real-in-bologna
and also here: http://www.cbcdiversity.com/post/58272506549/what-is-authentic-and-what-is-offensive
Here's something I worried about as a high school English teacher: That the two stories -- often the only two stories-- my students had read and been taught about Jews in a school setting were Anne Frank and Night. Both of which are obviously amazing and life-altering books and authentic books and books that everyone should/must read. However, I -- a white, middle-aged Jew girl (just to be clear)-- often wondered what the subliminal message might be when the only two books with identifiable Jewish characters (and for the moment let's take Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice out of this discussion since that's a larger topic for another day) that most students ever read both were about Jews as victims of the Holocaust.
Now wait a second lady, you may be thinking. Jews were indeed victims of the Holocaust. That's the whole point. Well yes. Of course. But Jews are always many things, as are African-Americans who bowl and commit pranks that win them trophies. But most of my non-Jewish students learned about Jews solely through Holocaust literature. How different might the classroom conversation be if they also read, say, HOW TO RUIN A SUMMER VACATION by Simone Elkeles, where a teenage girl spends a summer in current day Israel with her estranged Israeli father? Very different.
(and probably I am not arguing that classroom teachers should pair Night with Elkeles's book, just to also be clear.)
Do you see what I'm getting at?
So it's not just diversity we're talking about, although obviously that's part of it. It's authenticity. About expanding our vision of the world and all its wonder and glory and ugliness and all the rest of the very messy human experience, one character at a time. Some characters are brave. Some are cowards. Some are characters of color. Some are not. Some girls like boys. Some girls like girls. You see where I'm going?
Some boys get caught with their hand down their pants and then bite it in a car accident and become their sister's guardian angel anyway. (Okay, that was shameless self-promotion for SWEET DEAD LIFE. Sorry about that.) But sometimes authenticity is admitting that boys-- and girls for that matter-- sometimes do that. And that maybe we should chat about how we're totally fine letting an 8 year old read often violent Hunger Games (a book I love hugely) but get all freaked out about a hand down the pants. Especially when the character becomes a flawed but still heavenly being not long after. Hey, it happens. (I'm in good company on this issue, by the way. The brilliant Sherman Alexie has a controversial hand down the pants in THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. People need to get over it. Seriously.)
Diverse Books = Authentic Books.
That's what we're celebrating!
We need to embrace ALL THE STORIES. ALL THE CHARACTERS.
April 25, 2014
Five for Friday
Happy Friday!
Can you believe it's almost May?
Here's what I'm obsessed with/getting ready for/having fun with, this week:
1. Still flying high from yesterday's PM announcement about IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS, coming in 2016 from Soho Press. A girl. A boy. Two families that stumble upon a fountain of youth. And the crazy things that happen when you're stuck at 17 and searching for the boy you love.
Yeah. I kinda love it. I bet you do, too.
Tuck Everlasting meets Veronica Mars.
That's all I'll say for now.
(except that the blurb itself is on yesterday's blog post if you haven't seen it!)
Also that my agent, Jen Rofe, totally rocks.
2. Getting ready for this weekend's Houston SCBWI conference. I'm honored to be part of the local faculty, critiquing manuscripts. And looking forward to all the panels and sessions and just hanging out with authors, editors and agents. Yay!
3. Just ordered some fun giveaways for the A-WORD launch. Can you say cowboy boot keychains? They're seriously adorable. (Okay, I tried to type 'adorbs' but you know, I think I am officially done with the cloying cuteness of that word. There, I tossed that out there. Now you know.)
4. Finally watched most of The Trouble With the Curve w/Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams. Predictable. But sweet. A perfect rainy day/cleaning the family room/getting my head together before I leap into another project kind of movie.
5. Vampire Diaries is still holding my attention. There are far too many plot threads going on, some of which drag me from what I want to watch which is the Elana/Damon/Stefan triangle, but no matter. I'm still a fan. I do believe I could be a fan of The Originals, too, but I will need to actually watch more than the one ep I perused months ago. And it seems that perhaps this summer I need to catch up on Agents of Shield, which after its hiatus turned into a much stronger show. Sometimes, things just have to simmer a bit until the writers hit their stride. And I think this is one of them.
What are you doing/reading/watching this week?
Can you believe it's almost May?
Here's what I'm obsessed with/getting ready for/having fun with, this week:
1. Still flying high from yesterday's PM announcement about IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS, coming in 2016 from Soho Press. A girl. A boy. Two families that stumble upon a fountain of youth. And the crazy things that happen when you're stuck at 17 and searching for the boy you love.
Yeah. I kinda love it. I bet you do, too.
Tuck Everlasting meets Veronica Mars.
That's all I'll say for now.
(except that the blurb itself is on yesterday's blog post if you haven't seen it!)
Also that my agent, Jen Rofe, totally rocks.
2. Getting ready for this weekend's Houston SCBWI conference. I'm honored to be part of the local faculty, critiquing manuscripts. And looking forward to all the panels and sessions and just hanging out with authors, editors and agents. Yay!
3. Just ordered some fun giveaways for the A-WORD launch. Can you say cowboy boot keychains? They're seriously adorable. (Okay, I tried to type 'adorbs' but you know, I think I am officially done with the cloying cuteness of that word. There, I tossed that out there. Now you know.)
4. Finally watched most of The Trouble With the Curve w/Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams. Predictable. But sweet. A perfect rainy day/cleaning the family room/getting my head together before I leap into another project kind of movie.
5. Vampire Diaries is still holding my attention. There are far too many plot threads going on, some of which drag me from what I want to watch which is the Elana/Damon/Stefan triangle, but no matter. I'm still a fan. I do believe I could be a fan of The Originals, too, but I will need to actually watch more than the one ep I perused months ago. And it seems that perhaps this summer I need to catch up on Agents of Shield, which after its hiatus turned into a much stronger show. Sometimes, things just have to simmer a bit until the writers hit their stride. And I think this is one of them.
What are you doing/reading/watching this week?
April 24, 2014
IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS, coming in 2016 !
And so the secret news can finally be announced!
Up today on Publisher's Marketplace:
THE SWEET DEAD LIFE series author Joy Preble's IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS, pitched as Tuck Everlasting meets Veronica Mars, about a girl, a boy, a fountain of youth, and what happens when you're stuck at 17, again to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Soho Teen, for publication in Spring 2016, by Jennifer Rofe at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency (World).
[email protected]
Yay yay yay!!!
More soon!But you're intrigued, right? I know you are!
Thanks a zillion times over to the lovely, brilliant, nurturing team at Soho Teen/Soho Press who somehow keep wanting to write books with me. I couldn't be happier about this one.
Up today on Publisher's Marketplace:
THE SWEET DEAD LIFE series author Joy Preble's IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS, pitched as Tuck Everlasting meets Veronica Mars, about a girl, a boy, a fountain of youth, and what happens when you're stuck at 17, again to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Soho Teen, for publication in Spring 2016, by Jennifer Rofe at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency (World).
[email protected]
Yay yay yay!!!
More soon!But you're intrigued, right? I know you are!
Thanks a zillion times over to the lovely, brilliant, nurturing team at Soho Teen/Soho Press who somehow keep wanting to write books with me. I couldn't be happier about this one.
April 22, 2014
What I'm Reading Tuesday and Getting Ready for THE A-WORD
So far, April is not exactly, as the poem says, "the cruelest month" but it certainly has been the busiest! It is now officially less than a month until THE A-WORD (Soho Press) on 5/13 and less than month until the A-WORD Launch Party at Blue Willow on 5/17 and less than a week until the SCBWI Houston conference where I am once again honored to critique manuscripts, which I have been reading and pondering and scribbling notes on. It is -- as of yesterday-- also exactly one year until FINDING PARIS hits the shelves from Balzer and Bray.
In fact, yesterday Harper Collins sent me my Author Questionnaire! This always makes me both giddy with excitement and also panicked. Because it asks questions that in essence say, "What hugely famous people do you know who will say nice things about you and this book and thus make people buy a bunch of copies?" Okay, it asks other stuff, too. But that's part of it. You'd think this wouldn't phase me by now. You would be wrong.
But still! Another book! The crazy wonderful of this is NOT LOST ON ME.
But I have not yet posted my TLA post and so that will come tomorrow. Like I say, it's been a busy few weeks.
Also just bought tickets for the Grand Ole Opry for when we're in Nashville this fall. I am on the fence about this, but I am told I will love it. So there you go.
And now on to what books I'm obsessed with this week!
Want a lovely, thoughtful, gorgeously illustrated picture book with an amazing story and message? Then pick up a copy of GRANDFATHER GANDHI, co-written by my talented Austin friend Bethany Hegedus and the grandson of Gandhi, Arun Gandhi. There is a post-9/11 story behind this book and it is just as moving and magical as the book itself. Still plowing my way through book 2 of the Outlander series. Jamie and Claire. Scotland! Romance! War and rebellion! Weird historical facts about lice and medicine and childbirth! Scottish dialect that sticks in my head and makes me say to the dog, "you're such a wee piggie" and then try to speak Gaelic!Alternately also reading two prized galleys I picked up at TLA: WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart (to whom I shall always be grateful for blurbing Sweet Dead Life) and THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE by Jen Mathieu, a talented and brilliant debut author from right here in Houston. (in fact we'll be signing together, along with Kristin Rae, on 6/28 at a co-sponsored event at BOTH Murder by the Book and Brazos Books!)Both are must reads. LIARS has an enormous marketing campaign behind it so you've probably heard about it. Something has taken the main character's memory of a horrible accident and she is trying to piece things together. There is wealth and secrets and life-long friends and a love gone wrong and a powerful family and so much more. Mostly it's the writing. You may actually guess the secret early on. But Emily Lockhart's prose and style just thrill me. Such a cleverly crafted book.
Likewise for ALICE. Mathieu has hit it out of the park on her first book and it's receiving a very warm welcome. Multiple narrative voices. A small town. A girl named Alice about whom there are salacious and abundant rumors. And the truth that lies somewhere in between.
Actually it's a good pairing, these two books. And it's been interesting reading both while finishing the edits for FINDING PARIS, which is also about family secrets….
What are you reading this week?
In fact, yesterday Harper Collins sent me my Author Questionnaire! This always makes me both giddy with excitement and also panicked. Because it asks questions that in essence say, "What hugely famous people do you know who will say nice things about you and this book and thus make people buy a bunch of copies?" Okay, it asks other stuff, too. But that's part of it. You'd think this wouldn't phase me by now. You would be wrong.
But still! Another book! The crazy wonderful of this is NOT LOST ON ME.
But I have not yet posted my TLA post and so that will come tomorrow. Like I say, it's been a busy few weeks.
Also just bought tickets for the Grand Ole Opry for when we're in Nashville this fall. I am on the fence about this, but I am told I will love it. So there you go.
And now on to what books I'm obsessed with this week!
Want a lovely, thoughtful, gorgeously illustrated picture book with an amazing story and message? Then pick up a copy of GRANDFATHER GANDHI, co-written by my talented Austin friend Bethany Hegedus and the grandson of Gandhi, Arun Gandhi. There is a post-9/11 story behind this book and it is just as moving and magical as the book itself. Still plowing my way through book 2 of the Outlander series. Jamie and Claire. Scotland! Romance! War and rebellion! Weird historical facts about lice and medicine and childbirth! Scottish dialect that sticks in my head and makes me say to the dog, "you're such a wee piggie" and then try to speak Gaelic!Alternately also reading two prized galleys I picked up at TLA: WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart (to whom I shall always be grateful for blurbing Sweet Dead Life) and THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE by Jen Mathieu, a talented and brilliant debut author from right here in Houston. (in fact we'll be signing together, along with Kristin Rae, on 6/28 at a co-sponsored event at BOTH Murder by the Book and Brazos Books!)Both are must reads. LIARS has an enormous marketing campaign behind it so you've probably heard about it. Something has taken the main character's memory of a horrible accident and she is trying to piece things together. There is wealth and secrets and life-long friends and a love gone wrong and a powerful family and so much more. Mostly it's the writing. You may actually guess the secret early on. But Emily Lockhart's prose and style just thrill me. Such a cleverly crafted book.
Likewise for ALICE. Mathieu has hit it out of the park on her first book and it's receiving a very warm welcome. Multiple narrative voices. A small town. A girl named Alice about whom there are salacious and abundant rumors. And the truth that lies somewhere in between.
Actually it's a good pairing, these two books. And it's been interesting reading both while finishing the edits for FINDING PARIS, which is also about family secrets….
What are you reading this week?
April 4, 2014
Five For Friday
And somehow it is Friday again!
Actually, it is technically still Thursday night. It's me and Jimmy Fallon -- who just told his 2nd Vladimir Putin joke-- and my laptop and this post. And the dog, who is snoring. Yes, this is the glamor life of an author.
Anyway, Friday!
So what am I obsessed about this week?
1. Just read THE OTHER SHEPARDS and WHERE I WANT TO BE, both by Adele Griffin. Brilliant! Simply brilliant. She explores family and loss and desire and achieves this delicate otherworldliness that just blows me away. Did I say brilliant? Times a zillion. An amazing talent, and if I'm lucky, I'll snag a galley of her upcoming ADDISON STONE (Soho Press, August 2014)
2. Popovers! Ordering a popover pan from Crate and Barrel. Popovers! I want to make popovers! It looks easy and I still have this luscious memory of the popovers and butter and salt they served with my fig Old-Fashioned at the bar at BLT at Camelback Inn in Scottsdale. Okay yes, this was like 3 years ago! But I've been too busy to follow through. It is hard being both lazy and obsessed, I tell you. These huge puffy yummy popovers with melty butter.
*Oooh. It's now me, snoring dog, Jimmy Fallon and also Daniel Radcliffe. Hello little Harry Potter!
3. Game of Thrones Season 4! Starting Sunday. Now my only worry is: Exactly how many days are left on my free 6 months of HBO? Or will Comcast cut me off just as the opening credits roll? I shall let you know. But Game of Thrones! You are almost here!!
4. Secret News!!! I have secret news!!!
Okay, enough shameless self promotion. But seriously! Secret news. I have some. And I'm really excited about it.
* Ooh! Daniel Radcliffe is a fan of the Food Network! He watches Chopped! Harry Potter watches Chopped! Just like me. (let me note here that Chopped makes me very nervous. Because it's all: Okay, here is a baguette, corn, some kind of horrible fruit no one has heard of, canned haggis and gummy bears. Make an appetizer. You have 20 minutes. This makes my heart race. I'm all: Good God almighty, what is that ugly fruit? And haggis? In a can? I think I would puke. And then I'm all: Hey, I hope someone uses the ice cream machine or starts a fire or cuts their finger. Yeah. Chopped. I love it. I have this idea that we need to put YA authors on Chopped. Yup. Me (since it was my idea), John Green, Rainbow Rowell and Maggie Stiefvater all opening our mystery baskets. IT COULD HAPPEN*
5. It is only a month until THE A-WORD comes out! That's the weird thing about books: It's months and months or often years until a book arrives. And it feels like it's never going to happen and you wander along all la la la and then you're like "crap!" It's almost here. And then SLJ says some nice things and you're pretty happy. Which is a relief when it's book 2 in a series.
*Jimmy Fallon and Daniel Radcliffe are wearing jumpsuits and playing sticky balls* In case you were wondering.
Happy Friday, my lovelies!!
If you're at TLA, please, please don't let me be alone in the Author Area signing line. Come get a galley of A-WORD on Thursday morning at 11. Tell your friends. I will give you candy.
Actually, it is technically still Thursday night. It's me and Jimmy Fallon -- who just told his 2nd Vladimir Putin joke-- and my laptop and this post. And the dog, who is snoring. Yes, this is the glamor life of an author.
Anyway, Friday!
So what am I obsessed about this week?
1. Just read THE OTHER SHEPARDS and WHERE I WANT TO BE, both by Adele Griffin. Brilliant! Simply brilliant. She explores family and loss and desire and achieves this delicate otherworldliness that just blows me away. Did I say brilliant? Times a zillion. An amazing talent, and if I'm lucky, I'll snag a galley of her upcoming ADDISON STONE (Soho Press, August 2014)
2. Popovers! Ordering a popover pan from Crate and Barrel. Popovers! I want to make popovers! It looks easy and I still have this luscious memory of the popovers and butter and salt they served with my fig Old-Fashioned at the bar at BLT at Camelback Inn in Scottsdale. Okay yes, this was like 3 years ago! But I've been too busy to follow through. It is hard being both lazy and obsessed, I tell you. These huge puffy yummy popovers with melty butter.*Oooh. It's now me, snoring dog, Jimmy Fallon and also Daniel Radcliffe. Hello little Harry Potter!
3. Game of Thrones Season 4! Starting Sunday. Now my only worry is: Exactly how many days are left on my free 6 months of HBO? Or will Comcast cut me off just as the opening credits roll? I shall let you know. But Game of Thrones! You are almost here!!
4. Secret News!!! I have secret news!!!
Okay, enough shameless self promotion. But seriously! Secret news. I have some. And I'm really excited about it.
* Ooh! Daniel Radcliffe is a fan of the Food Network! He watches Chopped! Harry Potter watches Chopped! Just like me. (let me note here that Chopped makes me very nervous. Because it's all: Okay, here is a baguette, corn, some kind of horrible fruit no one has heard of, canned haggis and gummy bears. Make an appetizer. You have 20 minutes. This makes my heart race. I'm all: Good God almighty, what is that ugly fruit? And haggis? In a can? I think I would puke. And then I'm all: Hey, I hope someone uses the ice cream machine or starts a fire or cuts their finger. Yeah. Chopped. I love it. I have this idea that we need to put YA authors on Chopped. Yup. Me (since it was my idea), John Green, Rainbow Rowell and Maggie Stiefvater all opening our mystery baskets. IT COULD HAPPEN*
5. It is only a month until THE A-WORD comes out! That's the weird thing about books: It's months and months or often years until a book arrives. And it feels like it's never going to happen and you wander along all la la la and then you're like "crap!" It's almost here. And then SLJ says some nice things and you're pretty happy. Which is a relief when it's book 2 in a series.
*Jimmy Fallon and Daniel Radcliffe are wearing jumpsuits and playing sticky balls* In case you were wondering.
Happy Friday, my lovelies!!
If you're at TLA, please, please don't let me be alone in the Author Area signing line. Come get a galley of A-WORD on Thursday morning at 11. Tell your friends. I will give you candy.
April 3, 2014
GETTING READY FOR TLA and Houston Writer's Guild
Excited about TLA next week. Couldn't go last year and so I'm revving up to hang with librarians and teen readers and my publishers and fellow authors and wallow happily in books, books, books. It's always such an energizing experience and I'm thrilled to be there!
On Wednesday 4/9, our YAHOUs (YA HOUSTON) group is hosting a meet and greet at Overlooked Book's Pat Anderson's booth 2522 from 2-3. Pat is an amazing and tireless supporter of Texas authors and illustrators! We adore him!
Later than afternoon, from 4-6, I'll be with the wonderful gang from Soho Teen at Twig Books, signing SWEET DEAD LIFE and maybe some A-WORD galleys, too! Yes, it's Soho Teen Afternoon and here's the link: http://thetwig.indiebound.com/event/twig-teen-afternoon-texan-authors-featuring-soho-teenrandom-house-published-authors
Thursday 4/10 brings a variety of events including TT4L and the Texas Tea with YA Authors events, both at the Grand Hyatt.
And for the first time, I'll be in the author area on the Exhibit Hall Floor, signing galleys of THE A-WORD (which arrives from Soho Press on 5/13) from 11-11:40
If you want an A-WORD galley signed by me, this is your opportunity!
And honestly, I'd love to see you! I've signed at TLA before, but always in the publisher's booth, so this is a bit daunting. I don't want to be that girl with no line! Please come say hi!
And just to round things out, on Friday, I'll be hanging out at the Book Festivals of Texas booth 2243 from 9:30 - 10 ish, signing SWEET DEAD LIFE and soaking up a few last hours of TLA!
And then, if things aren't busy enough, I'll be at Houston Writer's Guild conference on Sunday 4/13, presenting the post-conference workshop on Building Your Author Platform. We shall be using legos. Okay not really. But I'll be dishing the story of how I went from teaching Julius Caesar 6 times a day to author with books on shelves. It will be fun, informal, and hopefully informative as well!
Happy Wednesday!
On Wednesday 4/9, our YAHOUs (YA HOUSTON) group is hosting a meet and greet at Overlooked Book's Pat Anderson's booth 2522 from 2-3. Pat is an amazing and tireless supporter of Texas authors and illustrators! We adore him!
Later than afternoon, from 4-6, I'll be with the wonderful gang from Soho Teen at Twig Books, signing SWEET DEAD LIFE and maybe some A-WORD galleys, too! Yes, it's Soho Teen Afternoon and here's the link: http://thetwig.indiebound.com/event/twig-teen-afternoon-texan-authors-featuring-soho-teenrandom-house-published-authors
Thursday 4/10 brings a variety of events including TT4L and the Texas Tea with YA Authors events, both at the Grand Hyatt.
And for the first time, I'll be in the author area on the Exhibit Hall Floor, signing galleys of THE A-WORD (which arrives from Soho Press on 5/13) from 11-11:40
If you want an A-WORD galley signed by me, this is your opportunity!
And honestly, I'd love to see you! I've signed at TLA before, but always in the publisher's booth, so this is a bit daunting. I don't want to be that girl with no line! Please come say hi!
And just to round things out, on Friday, I'll be hanging out at the Book Festivals of Texas booth 2243 from 9:30 - 10 ish, signing SWEET DEAD LIFE and soaking up a few last hours of TLA!
And then, if things aren't busy enough, I'll be at Houston Writer's Guild conference on Sunday 4/13, presenting the post-conference workshop on Building Your Author Platform. We shall be using legos. Okay not really. But I'll be dishing the story of how I went from teaching Julius Caesar 6 times a day to author with books on shelves. It will be fun, informal, and hopefully informative as well!
Happy Wednesday!
March 28, 2014
Five for Friday
Been writing, writing, writing this week. Revising and writing new material, both. Some days it's been like digging up rocks with a toothpick. Other days--yesterday--it flows more smoothly.
But it's time for the Friday five!
Here's what I'm obsessed with this week:
1. On the Kindle: The 2nd Outlander book. Still LOVING Jamie and Claire. But this second book moves a tad slower than the first. It is a little less unbridled lusty romance and a little more 18th century political intrigue in France. A little more "Claire! Why did you let the French maid wax your armpits? Who would do such a thing?" But no matter. It's Jamie and Claire. I'm in this for the duration!
Also: Swamplandia -- which I just started because Amazon sent me a refund from that law suit with various publishers including some of mine so what did I do? Bought a book. Of course. It's by Karen Reese, who I randomly heard on NPR the other morning and who, it turns out, is an NU alum like me (well, not like me. She was nominated for a Pulitzer before she was 30. ) And now there she was on the cover of my Northwestern alum mag, the issue called The Write Way, which featured alumni fiction writers including Veronica Roth, who wrote Divergent during her senior year. During my senior year at NU I did take Creative Writing but mostly I hung out, worked crazy part time jobs, and did as little work as possible while applying for teaching jobs. Uh, yeah. (I do appear in the mag-- but only in the alum news section. Cause I've got a new book out and another coming. There's even a picture)
But to the book. The writing is gorgeous. Reese writes that the night sky was 'star-lepered.' Lovely! And I am obsessed with the relationship between characters and their settings these days, so the FL swamp setting is pulling me in. Swamplandia! A mother who swims with the gators. Annoying oldster tourists. The weirdness that is FL
2. Catching up some with Scandal. Love the dialogue. Love the crazy plots. Love Olivia Pope and her outfits. But I'm more a fan of Blacklist. Maybe it's because I haven't watched every ep. But I think it's the pacing. I think I want more variety than only frenetic. And while I find Olivia fascinating, I don't find myself empathizing with her the same way I do Spader's Reddington in Blacklist. Weird. Thoughts?
3. Speaking of Blacklist-- finally! Finally Lizzie has figured out that her husband (sorry my friends in the UK who haven't watched yet) is NOT WHO SHE THINKS HE IS. It took you long enough, Lizzie!
4. And speaking of Outlander, I am now obsessed with planning a trip to Scotland. OBSESSED, I tell you!
5. This one is for Ree, the Pioneer Woman, whose recipes I currently love. Made her chicken spaghetti the other day. It was darn good chicken spaghetti. Also in the past weeks, in non-TV related recipes, I have figured out how to make chicken pot pie and Shepherd's pie. So there you go.
Happy Friday!
What are you obsessed about this week?
But it's time for the Friday five!
Here's what I'm obsessed with this week:
1. On the Kindle: The 2nd Outlander book. Still LOVING Jamie and Claire. But this second book moves a tad slower than the first. It is a little less unbridled lusty romance and a little more 18th century political intrigue in France. A little more "Claire! Why did you let the French maid wax your armpits? Who would do such a thing?" But no matter. It's Jamie and Claire. I'm in this for the duration!
Also: Swamplandia -- which I just started because Amazon sent me a refund from that law suit with various publishers including some of mine so what did I do? Bought a book. Of course. It's by Karen Reese, who I randomly heard on NPR the other morning and who, it turns out, is an NU alum like me (well, not like me. She was nominated for a Pulitzer before she was 30. ) And now there she was on the cover of my Northwestern alum mag, the issue called The Write Way, which featured alumni fiction writers including Veronica Roth, who wrote Divergent during her senior year. During my senior year at NU I did take Creative Writing but mostly I hung out, worked crazy part time jobs, and did as little work as possible while applying for teaching jobs. Uh, yeah. (I do appear in the mag-- but only in the alum news section. Cause I've got a new book out and another coming. There's even a picture)
But to the book. The writing is gorgeous. Reese writes that the night sky was 'star-lepered.' Lovely! And I am obsessed with the relationship between characters and their settings these days, so the FL swamp setting is pulling me in. Swamplandia! A mother who swims with the gators. Annoying oldster tourists. The weirdness that is FL
2. Catching up some with Scandal. Love the dialogue. Love the crazy plots. Love Olivia Pope and her outfits. But I'm more a fan of Blacklist. Maybe it's because I haven't watched every ep. But I think it's the pacing. I think I want more variety than only frenetic. And while I find Olivia fascinating, I don't find myself empathizing with her the same way I do Spader's Reddington in Blacklist. Weird. Thoughts?
3. Speaking of Blacklist-- finally! Finally Lizzie has figured out that her husband (sorry my friends in the UK who haven't watched yet) is NOT WHO SHE THINKS HE IS. It took you long enough, Lizzie!
4. And speaking of Outlander, I am now obsessed with planning a trip to Scotland. OBSESSED, I tell you!
5. This one is for Ree, the Pioneer Woman, whose recipes I currently love. Made her chicken spaghetti the other day. It was darn good chicken spaghetti. Also in the past weeks, in non-TV related recipes, I have figured out how to make chicken pot pie and Shepherd's pie. So there you go.
Happy Friday!
What are you obsessed about this week?
March 26, 2014
Writing in the Suburbs: Can You Create Art While Carpooling and Buying Toilet Paper at Target?
One of the best sessions I attended at the AWP conference last month was the one titled: Daydreaming at the Mini-Mart--The Suburbs and Literary Imagination. The controlling question being not only how has the conception of the American suburb informed American writing in general but this: Is it possible to live and write in the suburbs and not consider yourself a suburban writer? And this: Does art exist in the suburbs? And as someone who lives and writes in one, am I affected by it and its mall culture? Does my daily existence somehow preclude the type of art that I might create in say, Brooklyn? Or Austin, even? And yes, my darling Austinites, you know you contemplate this as you shop at your vegetable collectives and buy your organic soap at Whole Foods. (which we have here in Houston, just not near me). I wonder if Texas collectively believes that Austin= art. And that the rest of us are struggling to keep up?
I think about this a lot, actually. I've poked at it the Sweet Dead Life books some, but I've not come to any definitive conclusions other than that Jenna in SDL is both a product of and an ironic observer of, her life in the northern Houston 'burbs. As am I.
Have you seen this?
http://www.labelscar.com
Labelscar is a history of closed retail establishments. It details pictorially the 'death' of malls and the 'scar' left both literally and culturally when the name is stripped but the shut down building or business is left behind.
Suburban life has changed a lot since the musings of John Cheever and John Updike and period pieces like Revolutionary Road and books like Little Children. I think it's more than just what one of the panelists referred to as 'renegade sexuality' or the rampant infidelity in Updike's books like Couples. There's a wider mixture of people here now and certainly a thread of violence--whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. (Have you seen the film American Beauty?)
Are the suburbs still banal and filled with only Olive Gardens and Cheesecake Factories and the like? If I live in this world, does it affect the art I create? If so how? Can I treat it only ironically? Or as one of the panelists mused, "Even in a Food Lion parking lot you find that pastoral inspiration." Meaning: there is more complexity here in the 'burbs than just the stuff we might satirize or criticize.
Of course sometimes I do. I can't help it. I like in a place where we have Market Street, which is a newly constructed 'town center' where they have put up stores in what look like old buildings repurposed but are actually new buildings with basically just a facade. There is something strange and not necessarily wonderful about this if you think about it too long. How can this not affect me as an artist or the characters whom I might place in this landscape?
And that thread of violence: What do I do with the fact that there are robberies in Wal-mart parking lots? That sometimes groups of bored teens from the local highly affluent high school do more than re-arrange Christmas lawn reindeer into sexually compromising positions but break into houses and smash windows on cars just to have something to do?
What about technology? Are we lonelier here in the 'burbs now? Or is that just a myth?
And how, if at all, does it affect my writing?
Of course, the panel also used phrases that were new to me. Like "liminal interstitial nature of all our spaces." Which I had to look up. Possibly because my trips to Target and the fake French bistro in my fake town center have confused me. Possibly not.
What do you think? Does where we live affect our art? Are the suburbs a specific and special case in this regard? Or is this entire idea simply an intellectual sort of navel-gazing/anti-tract home/snobbish derision at Stephen King/etc. that one finds at academic conferences?
I'd love your thoughts!
I think about this a lot, actually. I've poked at it the Sweet Dead Life books some, but I've not come to any definitive conclusions other than that Jenna in SDL is both a product of and an ironic observer of, her life in the northern Houston 'burbs. As am I.
Have you seen this?
http://www.labelscar.com
Labelscar is a history of closed retail establishments. It details pictorially the 'death' of malls and the 'scar' left both literally and culturally when the name is stripped but the shut down building or business is left behind.
Suburban life has changed a lot since the musings of John Cheever and John Updike and period pieces like Revolutionary Road and books like Little Children. I think it's more than just what one of the panelists referred to as 'renegade sexuality' or the rampant infidelity in Updike's books like Couples. There's a wider mixture of people here now and certainly a thread of violence--whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. (Have you seen the film American Beauty?)
Are the suburbs still banal and filled with only Olive Gardens and Cheesecake Factories and the like? If I live in this world, does it affect the art I create? If so how? Can I treat it only ironically? Or as one of the panelists mused, "Even in a Food Lion parking lot you find that pastoral inspiration." Meaning: there is more complexity here in the 'burbs than just the stuff we might satirize or criticize.
Of course sometimes I do. I can't help it. I like in a place where we have Market Street, which is a newly constructed 'town center' where they have put up stores in what look like old buildings repurposed but are actually new buildings with basically just a facade. There is something strange and not necessarily wonderful about this if you think about it too long. How can this not affect me as an artist or the characters whom I might place in this landscape?
And that thread of violence: What do I do with the fact that there are robberies in Wal-mart parking lots? That sometimes groups of bored teens from the local highly affluent high school do more than re-arrange Christmas lawn reindeer into sexually compromising positions but break into houses and smash windows on cars just to have something to do?
What about technology? Are we lonelier here in the 'burbs now? Or is that just a myth?
And how, if at all, does it affect my writing?
Of course, the panel also used phrases that were new to me. Like "liminal interstitial nature of all our spaces." Which I had to look up. Possibly because my trips to Target and the fake French bistro in my fake town center have confused me. Possibly not.
What do you think? Does where we live affect our art? Are the suburbs a specific and special case in this regard? Or is this entire idea simply an intellectual sort of navel-gazing/anti-tract home/snobbish derision at Stephen King/etc. that one finds at academic conferences?
I'd love your thoughts!
March 25, 2014
The Art of Revision
Been revising a lot lately. I'm working on some sample pages for a new project and at the same time I'm finishing up a final round of revision for FINDING PARIS--which I just learned will arrive in the world on 4/21/15!!
Working on other things, too, but it's the revision that's most on my mind this morning. Mostly what's on my mind is that I am very fortunate to be working with two amazing and thoughtful editors and an equally amazing and editorial agent--all of whom care very deeply that the work I produce is the best it can be.
I showed my latest editorial letter (a short one: just 2 1/2 single spaced pages!) to my husband. I don't always do this. He has enough to do without reading what is essentially a 'do it like this' note from my boss. :) But this time he looked interested…
"That's a lot," he said.
"It's way less than last time," I told him.
"You seem happy," he said.
I was.
Not just because the edit letter was shorter. But because I am working with an editor who is incredibly vested in making this book work. Because each time I dig deep and add layers, she pushes me to go deeper. We look together at words and phrasing and pacing. At flashbacks or lack thereof. At the narrative as a whole. At how the minor characters are working. At the big reveals and the small ones. Is everything clear? Is everything balanced? What needs to be on the page? What should remain off-screen? We look at the characters' little descriptive 'tics' and at my own as an author. Where does style slip into repetition and become less effective? How exactly should this or that be revealed?
It is hard work.
And I love it.
Digging in now.
How about you?
Thoughts on revision?
Working on other things, too, but it's the revision that's most on my mind this morning. Mostly what's on my mind is that I am very fortunate to be working with two amazing and thoughtful editors and an equally amazing and editorial agent--all of whom care very deeply that the work I produce is the best it can be.
I showed my latest editorial letter (a short one: just 2 1/2 single spaced pages!) to my husband. I don't always do this. He has enough to do without reading what is essentially a 'do it like this' note from my boss. :) But this time he looked interested…
"That's a lot," he said.
"It's way less than last time," I told him.
"You seem happy," he said.
I was.
Not just because the edit letter was shorter. But because I am working with an editor who is incredibly vested in making this book work. Because each time I dig deep and add layers, she pushes me to go deeper. We look together at words and phrasing and pacing. At flashbacks or lack thereof. At the narrative as a whole. At how the minor characters are working. At the big reveals and the small ones. Is everything clear? Is everything balanced? What needs to be on the page? What should remain off-screen? We look at the characters' little descriptive 'tics' and at my own as an author. Where does style slip into repetition and become less effective? How exactly should this or that be revealed?
It is hard work.
And I love it.
Digging in now.
How about you?
Thoughts on revision?
March 24, 2014
Failure is Your Friend (Yes, Really)
Did a lovely school visit last week at Moody Middle School in Moody TX. (A writer friend pointed out that this is the perfect name for a middle school! Because 7th and 8th graders… yeah… they can be kinda moody, you know?)
But we had a great time, at least as far as I could tell, and the librarian and teachers had asked me to speak about both revision and the idea of never giving up. And as I was creating my powerpoint-- interspersed with images of Lyla the bassett/boxer, who never fails to elicit a laugh or two-- I add this slide:
Because I really, really believe it's a message they needed to hear. And then I added this, because it's the follow up:
Because it's the other thing I think we all need to keep reminding ourselves.
I have not taught full time in over 2 years, but I still remember the day my principal told us that 50 was the lowest grade we could give a student. Period. Because, the logic went, if we gave the student at least a 50, then mathematically, he/she would still have a chance to pass. And the school had basically preset the grading program to make this happen for us. Meaning if a student earned only a 40, it would automatically be figured in at grading time as a 50.
Well, that year I had a student who had refused to work. And just before Thanksgiving, he stopped coming to school at all. By mid January, he'd never returned, but he hadn't dropped out, either. So the school had to issue him a report card. He was going to receive a 50. He had done 1 assignment during the course of a semester. It made no sense to me. Still doesn't. Not as a general, required rule. Are there extenuating circumstances sometimes? Yes.
Here's what I believe: Failure is okay. I used to be afraid of it. But the truth is, if I never fail at things, then what that means is that I am not stretching myself. I am not testing my limits. I have no idea what huge things I can achieve. It is good for me to be afraid sometimes when I'm trying something new. To wonder if I'm up to the challenge. When I stop getting those butterflies in the belly, I'm not trying hard enough. I'm just phoning it in.
I have failed a lot as a teacher and a writer. I'm not happy to admit this, but it's true. Bethany Hegedus is doing a great and related series about rejection over at the Writing Barn blog. Here's what I wrote having my option book rejected a couple years ago: http://www.thewritingbarn.com/2014/01/27/rejecting-rejection-author-joy-preble/
I have presented lessons that didn't sufficiently teach the topic. I have had manuscripts rejected multiple times. I have turned in revisions and been asked to revise again. And again. That last part isn't necessarily failure, but it still means that I need to dig deeper to get it right. I have pitched ideas--and myself-- for conferences that weren't accepted. I have reached out to stores who did not choose to host me. I have written two full manuscripts that will most likely remain in a file on my laptop. I stubbornly worked at education for many long years even though the creative life kept calling me. Some days I feel like I will never catch up with the herd.
And that's just some of the professional stuff. My personal failures could be an entire year long series of posts. :) Including those ballet lessons that just didn't stick.
Well, so be it.From each of those failures has come a success. Really. Sometimes it was a long time getting here. But it happened. Some days it's harder to see that than others. Some years, it seems patently false. But it's true. All my successes are owed to the times I didn't quite make it.
Except for ballet.
A true story: I decided to try it again when I was at Northwestern. A pass/fail PE credit that I didn't even need at all, but figured hey, what the heck. Except it was winter quarter. It snowed foot after foot that winter. The gym was almost a mile walk from where I lived. I still sucked at ballet. So I stopped going. My OFFICIAL transcript includes my ballet grade. Yeah. You know what it was.
Anyone else have a failure story that pushed you toward eventual success?
But we had a great time, at least as far as I could tell, and the librarian and teachers had asked me to speak about both revision and the idea of never giving up. And as I was creating my powerpoint-- interspersed with images of Lyla the bassett/boxer, who never fails to elicit a laugh or two-- I add this slide:
Because I really, really believe it's a message they needed to hear. And then I added this, because it's the follow up:
Because it's the other thing I think we all need to keep reminding ourselves.I have not taught full time in over 2 years, but I still remember the day my principal told us that 50 was the lowest grade we could give a student. Period. Because, the logic went, if we gave the student at least a 50, then mathematically, he/she would still have a chance to pass. And the school had basically preset the grading program to make this happen for us. Meaning if a student earned only a 40, it would automatically be figured in at grading time as a 50.
Well, that year I had a student who had refused to work. And just before Thanksgiving, he stopped coming to school at all. By mid January, he'd never returned, but he hadn't dropped out, either. So the school had to issue him a report card. He was going to receive a 50. He had done 1 assignment during the course of a semester. It made no sense to me. Still doesn't. Not as a general, required rule. Are there extenuating circumstances sometimes? Yes.
Here's what I believe: Failure is okay. I used to be afraid of it. But the truth is, if I never fail at things, then what that means is that I am not stretching myself. I am not testing my limits. I have no idea what huge things I can achieve. It is good for me to be afraid sometimes when I'm trying something new. To wonder if I'm up to the challenge. When I stop getting those butterflies in the belly, I'm not trying hard enough. I'm just phoning it in.
I have failed a lot as a teacher and a writer. I'm not happy to admit this, but it's true. Bethany Hegedus is doing a great and related series about rejection over at the Writing Barn blog. Here's what I wrote having my option book rejected a couple years ago: http://www.thewritingbarn.com/2014/01/27/rejecting-rejection-author-joy-preble/
I have presented lessons that didn't sufficiently teach the topic. I have had manuscripts rejected multiple times. I have turned in revisions and been asked to revise again. And again. That last part isn't necessarily failure, but it still means that I need to dig deeper to get it right. I have pitched ideas--and myself-- for conferences that weren't accepted. I have reached out to stores who did not choose to host me. I have written two full manuscripts that will most likely remain in a file on my laptop. I stubbornly worked at education for many long years even though the creative life kept calling me. Some days I feel like I will never catch up with the herd.
And that's just some of the professional stuff. My personal failures could be an entire year long series of posts. :) Including those ballet lessons that just didn't stick.
Well, so be it.From each of those failures has come a success. Really. Sometimes it was a long time getting here. But it happened. Some days it's harder to see that than others. Some years, it seems patently false. But it's true. All my successes are owed to the times I didn't quite make it.
Except for ballet.
A true story: I decided to try it again when I was at Northwestern. A pass/fail PE credit that I didn't even need at all, but figured hey, what the heck. Except it was winter quarter. It snowed foot after foot that winter. The gym was almost a mile walk from where I lived. I still sucked at ballet. So I stopped going. My OFFICIAL transcript includes my ballet grade. Yeah. You know what it was.
Anyone else have a failure story that pushed you toward eventual success?
