Kym Brunner's Blog: Kym Brunner - Young Adult Author

Writing suspenseful stories often leads me to investigating creepy places and  gruesome stories of real events.  Oftentimes what the adage said is true: real life is often scarier than a fictional world.

Blame my interest in the macabre on not having YA books when I was a middle-schooler. Faced with reading sweet boring books with no violence, sex, or swearing (boring), I turned to Stephen King to get a taste of something scary and different, and of course, spine-tingling.
At the head of the creepy list:  insane asylums. Now they're called "psychiatric hospitals," but until 1970, people were packed offand put away in scary buildings for the mentally ill. Places that looked like this..

Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital











An 18th century "hospital" in Paris, France chained mentally ill women to posts. (Yikes!)



The first US psychiatric institution- early 19th century









Blackwell Island's Lunatic Asylum (their words, not mine!) in New York



[image error]
Women doing laundry at the Texas State Lunatic Asylum, 1898
(I'm pretty sure doing laundry 24-7 would make me a bit insane too...) 




Pilgrim State Mental Hospital - 1938 - New York
(Straight jackets...do they still use these things?!?)




St Kevin's Psychiatric Hospital - Cork, Ireland
Closed down in 2002. Doesn't look too inviting to me...

If the people weren't crazy when they went in these places, I'm sure the deplorable conditions once they arrived made them go insane. What places scare you the most? Graveyards? Dark alleys? Caves? Under your bed?  Leave me a comment about your scariest places or experiences so I can incorporate some of your ideas into my next book. 
I live between a  lake and a forest, and have to admit, hearing a coyote howl nearby is pretty scary––-especially when accompanied by a victory song of several coyotes celebrating a kill.  Be sure to look for scary settings in my future novels.
'Til next time,
KYM

INSANE SETTINGS FOR NOVELS

 Writing suspenseful stories often lead me to investigating creepy places and to ferret out  gruesome details.

And I must admit...I love unusual and scary settings and situations.

Blame it on not having YA books when I was a middle-schooler. Faced with reading sweet boring books with no violence, sex, or
 wearing (ugh!), I turned to Stephen King to get a taste of something scary and different, and of course, spine-tingling.
At the head of the creepy list:  insane asylums. Now they're called "psychiatric hospitals," but until 1970, people were packed off
 and put away in scary buildings for the mentally ill. Places that looked like this...


Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital











An 18th century "hospital" in Paris, France which chained mentally ill women up! Eek!



The first US psychiatric institution- early 19th century









Blackwell Island's Lunatic Asylum (their words, not mine!) in New York



[image error]
Women doing laundry at the Texas State Lunatic Asylum, 1898
(I'm pretty sure doing laundry 24-7 would make me a bit insane too...) 




Pilgrim State Mental Hospital - 1938 - New York
(Straight jackets...do they still use these things?!?)




St Kevin's Psychiatric Hospital - Cork, Ireland
Closed down in 2002. Doesn't look too inviting to me...

If the people weren't crazy when they went in these places, I'm sure the horrible conditions made them go insane. What places
 scare you the most? Graveyards? Dark alleys? Caves? Under your bed?  Leave me a comment about your scariest places or
 experiences so I can incorporate some of your ideas into my next book. 
I live next to a forest, and have to admit, hearing coyotes howling nearby is pretty scary. 
'Til next time,
KYM

I tasted my first old-fashioned only about two years ago. They're very popular in Wisconsin (where one of my daughters lives) and she encouraged me to try one. Hello, instant convert! 

I guess I was reluctant because I always thought it was an old man's drink filled with sherry and vermouth, maybe with raw squid and olive on a skewer?

WRONG!

The basic old-fashioned is bourbon (a kind of particular whiskey...), water, bitters, and sugar. 

SIMPLE TO MAKE, BUT THE TASTE IS DELIGHTFULLY COMPLEX AND SASSY!

Even better, there are dozens of variations of the old-fashioned, which is where the fun comes in. You can substitute spiced rum (another love of mine) for the bourbon, flavored sparkling water for plain, flavored bitters for traditional, and Stevia, cherries, or other sweetener instead of sugar.  Another cool thing to do is mull (grind the hell out of) some cherries or other fruit in the bottom of the glass before you pour the bourbon on top. (Sidenote: dark red cherries in a can are the bomb!)

I was never a true whiskey lover per se (drank too much Jack Daniel's once in my early 20's and then somehow my alcohol brain remembers and rejects it), but I'm learning to try new flavors and mixers.

The one pictured above is a Peachy Old-Fashioned.

Southern Comfort (my fave b/c it's on the sweeter side)Fee Brothers Peach bittersKlarbrunn sparkling peach mango sodaDoor County Sour Cherries icePerfect for a "bitter"sweet fall day that tastes like a sip of autumn. Also a perfect cozy drink for reading by a fire. Cheers!
Til next time,Kym

That is the question. It's a toughie, too.

After fifteen years of writing kidlit (mostly YA), I'm officially writing a suspenseful crime fiction novel for ADULTS! Loving the change and it feels like a great fit. But...on the other hand...I'm feeling like I'm starting all over again.

Some of the reasons I decided to take the plunge?



First of all, I LOVE watching LIVE PD, Fear Thy Neighbor, 48 Hours, and anything else on  ID Network. I feel like I've got police procedural down enough to make it feel right. Lots more to learn, but having a blast figuring it all out.

Plus, the character I'm writing feels super real to me. She overweight, worried about everything, and is flawed. VERY flawed. But I love all of her crazy naughtiness and odd quirks. Granted, not everyone will like her, but that's just like real life.



So yes, though I feel like I'm out of my element, and quite like a newbie who just moved across the country (like in my favorite Christmas move, The Holiday). can I say I'm loving the experience?

NEWBIE or not to be? Not even a question.

Have you ever changed genres or the intended age of your readers? Any advice for making the transition smoother?

Til next time,
Kym

I am! Ever since I moved last summer and now have to drive 25 minutes instead of 5 to work every day (I know...crazy, right?), I've been reading (okay...listening to) a book every other week.

I love Audible books, but I find that I often get in a rut, reading the same type of story for many months in a row, and then I get burned out on it. As a writer, I start to see what they mean about avoiding common tropes. COMMON TROPES,  Makes me want to scream when I figure out the ending when I'm only one-third into the story. It's always my goal to write stories that surprise readers.

My challenge to myself is to mix things up as far as my reading list. Here are some of my ideas:


A book by a debut authorOne in a genre that I'm not familiar withAn award winnerA classicA non-fiction motivational bookOne written by a known comedianGot any suggestions? What's on YOUR challenge list?
Til next time (hopefully it won't be as long as the last time!),KYM

Oh man, I love being invited to author events!

Even though I have three books out, sometimes I still feel like an imposter. It's always fun to talk about writing and the evolution of my stories and to just hang out with some literary giants. I'll be fangirling all over the place today. :)





Hope to see you there!

Til next time,
KYM

HELP! What do I do with this unruly blob of words?
 

SQUAWK1 Less than one week until FLIP THE BIRD is born. Can't wait until he makes his fledgling flight and lands in hands of readers all over the world. 
If you want to read an excerpt or to try your luck at winning a free copy, check out any of the stops on the tour here: ROCK STAR BOOK TOUR


THE SCOOP:  Mercer Buddie wants two things in this world: a girlfriend and the chance to prove to his master falconer father that he’s not a flake. With hunting season fast approaching, fourteen-year-old Mercer has only a short time to work with Flip, a red-tailed hawk he irreverently named to show his dad that falconers don’t have to be so serious all the time.     When Mercer meets Lucy, he falls hard for her gorgeous looks and bubbly personality. He thinks his love life is about to take flight, until he discovers that Lucy and her family belong to a fanatical animal-rights organization called HALT—a group that believes imposing any sort of restrictions on animals is a form of cruelty. Mercer soon realizes that if he wants to keep seeing Lucy, he’ll need to keep his love of falconry and his family’s raptor rehabilitation center a secret from her, and Lucy’s involvement with HALT from his family.     With humor and honesty, Mercer’s story shows how growing up means making difficult choices…and sometimes, being rewarded in unexpected ways.'


PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS
Gr 7 Up—Scoot over, Don Calame—Brunner is about to join you on your perch. This is not a book for the squeamish. It's about falconry at its finest, but it is also about much more than that. On his way to capture his first hawk, Mercer Buddie meets the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, she is also the daughter of pro-animal activists. Mercer must come to terms with who he is, who he wants to be, and the belief systems he wishes to espouse and reconcile those with his desire to be with a hot girl. The humor is bawdy, though not quite as ribald as Calame's, and the accounts of hunting and dispatching prey are as honest as the descriptions of what happens when animal rights extremists "save" animals from humans. Brunner also introduces the issue of animal research and why adorable canines may just be the answer to human cardiac conditions. Readers will think deeply about their beliefs and why they hold those values right along with the protagonist. The puns, including Mercer's decision to name his red-tailed hawk Flip, keep an otherwise heavy subject from becoming too grisly. Lovers of Sterling North's Rascal, Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf, and Calame's Dan Versus Nature will flock to this tale about a teen and his hawk. VERDICT Get multiple copies for nature-loving reluctant readers.—Jodeana Kruse, R. A. Long High School, Longview, WA --School Library Journal
"Brunner writes an impassioned story with real-life moral dilemmas. Abundant details of falconry, the result of the author's own falconry apprentice lessons... root the story solidly in a fascinating world new to most readers. An engaging story of a young teen finding what's most important in his life." —Kirkus
“An exciting adventure into the art of falconry and the heart of a young man.” —DAVID LUBAR, author of Hidden Talents and Character, Driven

"His experiences with HALT help him realize the importance of understanding the difference between information and propaganda, and the value in thinking for himself."
--BOOKLIST
"Lovers of Sterling North’s Rascal, Farley Mowat’s Never Cry Wolf, and Calame’s Dan Versus Nature will flock to this tale about a teen and his hawk. . . Get multiple copies for nature-loving reluctant readers."
--SLJ

By Kym Brunner
Like Goldilocks, I have had experiences with a small, a medium, and now a large publishing house and want to share what’s the same, different, and unique about working with each. Which one was “just right?”Here now is a sampling of my experiences, a virtual “publishing smorgasbord”:
THE APPETIZER 
 The Smallish Publisher: My first book, ONE SMART COOKIE, was published with Omnific Press in June 2014. They are an independent publisher of romantic fiction. Contract to publication (on-demand trade paperback and digital) took nine months.The Medium House : My second book, WANTED: DEAD OR IN LOVE, was published with Merit Press (part of F & W Media / Adams Media) in July 2014. The book came out in hardcover and digital fourteen months after the contract was signed.The Big Guy: My third book, FLIP THE BIRD, will be out in November 2016 and will be published with HMH Books for Young Readers (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Contract to hardcover and digital publication will be sixteen months. TAKEAWAY: There are many different routes to publication, but no matter whether you choose the traditionally published or the self-published path, nothing quite matches the feeling of holding a book in your hand with your name on the cover. My advice? If going the traditionally published route, work your way from the top down, querying the large publishers, then medium-sized, and finally the small independent houses if the larger houses don’t pan out. Submitting to the top 5 usually requires an agent, but there are many houses that still accept unsolicited queries.
THE MAIN COURSE
Acquisition Process to PublicationThe Smallish Publisher: I sent a query via email to Omnific, they requested the full, and then after several weeks, I received an email saying they’d like to acquire One Smart Cookie. I accepted, made a few changes to the contract, and then we began the editing process. There were three rounds of revisions with various editors, each focused on a different aspect. Because Omnific is a romance publisher with readers of all sizes, any negative comments about body size from my sarcastic MC were traded for other types of jokes. Made me more aware of the types of jokes readers might find offensive in all of my novels after that. Omnific being a smaller publisher, the books are readily and inexpensively available via digital text, but for paper copies, they are print-on-demand. This helps save the publisher money so they don’t have a large print run, but these books generally are not stocked by brick-and-mortar bookstores because they can’t return them if they don’t sell after a certain amount of time (generally one season or three months).The Medium House: My agent pitched the project to the sole editor of Merit Press, Jacquelyn Mitchard, who read the full manuscript, brought it to acquisitions within the organization, and viola! offered me a contract. After my agent negotiated some of the details of the contract, I signed, and the revision process began. It was relatively painless with only a few suggestions, mostly about expanding the ending. Book cover design followed, and then copyediting a few months later. It was super exciting to see my book come out in hardcover and appear on the shelves in Barnes & Noble. That distinction was definitely on my personal bucket list. The Big Guy: As with the medium house, my agent pitched senior editor Julie Tibbott, who said she both laughed and cried (mission accomplished!) while she read my manuscript, prompting her to make an offer. After the contract was negotiated and signed, Julie and I went back and forth with four rounds of revisions. She gave me a list of about five scenes that felt “off” and why, but it was left up to me to figure out how to fix those inconsistencies to both our satisfaction. We then moved to the smaller issues, and finally down to word choice. During the last couple of rounds, additional HMH wordsmiths had eyes on the novel to make sure every aspect was the best it could be. I will say this novel was the most scrutinized and fine-tuned of the three. But since I spent soooo much time writing and researching this book (falconry lessons and observations for over a year), this was definitely my Cinderella book, so I was thrilled with the precision tuning. I can’t wait to see Flip the Bird hit the bookstores in November. Feathers crossed that it’s a soaring success.  TAKEAWAY:  The acquisition process can be short or long, but it might be better for your psyche to NOT be aware if your book is under consideration by a publisher. The wait (and sometimes the answer) can be excruciating. Two of my books went to acquisitions but were not acquired at that time, crushing my spirit and making me analyze everything. Eventually other publishers acquired both of those books, so I could have saved myself some of that grief. Of course, I’m sure those pitfalls probably helped me to grow as an author.
The BOOK COVER – How Much Input Did I Have? Smallish Publisher: I filled out a two-page questionnaire about all the aspects of the book (plot, setting, characters) as well as the feeling I wanted to invoke in the reader. I described what Sophie, my teen protagonist, looked like, as well as her relationship with her man-hungry mother and her adorable Polish grandmother, Busia. They asked what sort of feeling I wanted to invoke in readers as well as any ideas I’d had for how I envisioned the cover. I really felt involved in the process and loved the final cover, which perfectly depicts Sophie frowning at a cookie, which goes fabulously with the title. All in all, I had a lot of input about font, design, and color choices, and couldn’t be happier with how it came out.  Medium House: I was shown one cover for Wanted: Dead or In Love (bullet hole ridden – looked cool!), but others I showed it to said it appeared to be a nonfiction book instead of YA novel. I found a stock picture that I thought fit the main character and suggested maybe incorporating her into the original cover to help make it look more fictional. The next cover was completely different from the first. The art director used the picture I had sent as the main focus of the cover, which was great, but when I asked if we could tweak the font and/or colors, I was told that it needed to go to print. Readers have since told me that they picked it up because the cover was so catching, so there you go. Trust the professionals––they know what they’re doing.  The Big Guy: I was asked to find comps (or comparable) covers that conveyed the feeling I wanted for my book. That was an interesting task and one that I took to heart. I found maybe ten covers and I put a short note as to why I thought they went along with my book. By now I had learned that the art directors have a gift and you can let them work their magic. I was eventually shown five covers for Flip the Bird and was asked my opinion on them. We narrowed it down to two choices and eventually ended up with a cover that perfectly matches the humorous coming-of-age aspect along with a bird named Flip (a red-tailed hawk), while the protest sign shows that there might be some adversity inside the novel as well.  TAKEAWAY : The amount of input I had didn’t depend on the size of the publisher, but rather on the standard procedure for each publishing house. Art directors know what designs make readers pick up books, so while the publisher wants you to love the cover, they also have to make a financial decision and go with a cover design with proven sales.
THE DESSERT
Each of the publishers offered an advance against royalties, i.e. payment made by the publisher, which is offset against future royalty payments. The bigger the house, the bigger the advance, which of course is always nice. Each of the publishers was concerned with the content being appropriate for teens and with sending out the story in the best possible shape. Alleluia for that!All three publishers had knowledgeable literary professionals who helped guide me each step of the way. That said, I often checked with the Internet or friends who had been previously published if I had a newbie question about some aspect of the revision process before asking my editor. (Your agent may or may not know the answer because each house has its own particular preferences on how things are done). TAKEAWAY: I have found that I only email my agent and editor when I have a pressing question, and they respond quickly. I’m guessing if you email them every little question, you might be viewed as “needy.”
IN CONCLUSION, there’s a familiar question authors are supposed to ask themselves when considering the size of the publishing house they would prefer: Would you rather be a big fish in a little pond (meaning lots of attention) or a wee fish in an ocean (meaning very little)?  MY ANSWER: I haven’t noticed any differences in the way I’ve been treated by the different-size publishers other than the variances with which any individuals interact with another. For the most part, everyone I’ve worked with has been professional and kind, with a rare, slightly abrasive response. As in every other aspect of my life, I’ve treated others the way I’d like to be treated, and that’s worked out just fine.Have a question or comment? Feel free to contact me at one of the social media links listed below. Happy writing!  KYMKym Brunner dreams entire novels in her head but needs about a year to write it all down. She wishes there was an app for this. She's addicted to chai tea, going to the movies, and reality TV. When she's not reading or writing, Kym teaches 7th grade full time. She is the author of three young adult novels. She lives in the Chicago area with her family and her two trusty writing companions, a pair of shih tzus named Sophie and Kahlua. Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads 

Want to know what that one thing is?
It's very simple: take action. That's it! One small thing that no one else might see, but you know you accomplished. Eventually all the tiny, one-step tasks will add up to you meeting a goal. Here's what I mean:
Everyone has a goal: could be short-term, long-term, subconscious or fully on your mind. Perhaps it's:
·      More friends/different friends/ spend time with friends·      A better job/ a more rewarding job/ quit your job ·      Leaving an abusive relationship·      Acceptance (to a college, from a parent, of themselves)·      Learn a new hobby/language/skill The list could go on indefinitely. What’s your secret wish? (Close your eyes and think of something now. Got it in mind? Good. Read on.)
Now....do something about it. ONE THING. Take a single step in the direction of your goal. Right now. Today. It can be anything. Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re too busy. That's always going to be the answer though. Seriously, when aren't you too busy?
WE’RE ALL TOO BUSY – ALL OF OUR LIVES – AND UNLESS YOU MAKE TIME FOR THE THINGS THAT ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU, YOU WON'T REACH YOUR GOALS. 
You can:
·      Write a letter that you never send (or maybe one you do).·      Send out an application to a job, a college, an award·      Go DO the thing you wanted. Today. At least call and make a future date.·      Send a friend request.·      Research the one thing you wanted to do and sign up for a class.·      Go get a jar right now to put extra money in to save up so you can do that ONE thing

So that’s it - start to blaze that path from WISHING to ACHIEVING with one small step in the right direction. I'll even help you. <push> 
Til next time,  KYM