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Interview with Kim Ventrella, Author of Bone Hollow!

By on March 20, 2019   /   Articles  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

JR: Today, I’m pleased to welcome Kim Ventrella, whose book, Bone Hollow, is out now from Scholastic Press. I’ve gotten to know Kim through both of us being involved in SpookyMiddleGrade.com, and she is funny and quirky and all the other things you love in an author, so I’m thrilled that all of you will get to meet her now!

Hi, Kim and thanks for joining us today.

KV: Thanks for having me Jonathan!!! Excited to be here and, by the way, you are super quirky and funny as well 😛

JR: Well, that’s true. Er, I mean, awwww, thank you!

JR: I already read Bone Hollow and loved it, but can you tell our readers a little bit about it and the impetus behind writing it?

KV: Sure! At its heart, Bone Hollow is the story of a boy and his dog, but it’s so much more! It also features one ornery chicken, a candlelit cottage in the woods, friendship, mystery and big doses of heart and hope. It’s a stand-alone novel, but one of my goals was to build on the world that I created in my first book, Skeleton Tree.

Here’s a teaser:

In retrospect, it was foolish to save that chicken. On the roof. In the middle of a thunder storm. But what choice did Gabe have? If he hadn’t tried to rescue Ms. Cleo’s precious pet, she would’ve kicked him out. And while Ms. Cleo isn’t a perfect guardian, her house is the only home Gabe knows.

After falling off the roof, Gabe wakes up in a room full of tearful neighbors. To his confusion, they’re all acting strange; almost as if they think he’s dead. But Gabe’s not dead. He feels fine! So why do they insist on holding a funeral? And why does everyone scream in terror when Gabe shows up for his own candlelight vigil?

Scared and bewildered, Gabe flees with his dog, Ollie, the only creature who doesn’t tremble at the sight of him. When a mysterious girl named Wynne offers to let Gabe stay at her cozy cottage in a misty clearing, he gratefully accepts. Yet Wynne disappears from Bone Hollow for long stretches of time, and when a suspicious Gabe follows her, he makes a mind-blowing discovery. Wynne is Death and has been for over a century. Even more shocking . . . she’s convinced that Gabe is destined to replace her.

JR: I read on your website, www.KimVentrella.com, that you lived in Kyrgyzstan for a couple of years, what was that experience like and how has it influenced your writing?

KV: It was amazing!!! Basically, it cracked open my brain and allowed me to see the world and myself in a totally new way. I think that’s partly because I had the opportunity to look back at the U.S. and my old self as an outsider, which granted me a perspective I couldn’t have gained any other way. Also, the hardships of living in a freezing, remote location on a Peace Corps salary, which is equal to the average local salary, pushed me to appreciate the things that are truly important. Returning to the U.S. was very difficult for me. They tell you that it’s going to be a huge adjustment, and, oh boy, it was. But writing helped me find my way, and my favorite character from Skeleton Tree, Miss Francine, is inspired by my time in Kyrgyzstan.

JR: Sounds amazing! On your website, you also describe yourself as weird. I think many authors feel that way at some point, I certainly did, what were you like in school?

KV: Erm, yeah, weird, but I definitely think that weird is a compliment. In middle school, I was totally obsessed with the Beatles and the ‘60s in general. I starred in our school play about this caveman who travels through time, and I randomly added in songs from the musical Hair, because, yeah, why not? I was super goth for about a year in high school, and not the ‘aww, how adorable’ brand of goth. I had this dog harness that I wore on my face with scary make-up, Duck-taped legs, etc. I’m not gonna lie, I looked pretty freaking awesome, but I could not deal with all of the people staring at me constantly in terror 😛 So many stories, but that’ll have to tide you over for the moment.

JR: Well, I know what I’m asking about in our next interview! Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey getting to this point? 

KV: I thought about writing for the first time in college. Tried it on and off for years. Received a lot of short story rejections that were like, yeah, we like weird stuff, but this is just disturbing 😛 Joined the Peace Corps, during which time I didn’t really write. Returned to the U.S., got depressed and was like, this publishing thing has to happen now! I wrote five or six complete manuscripts back-to-back in the summer of 2015. The last one was this super creepy MG called Quimby. I queried agents for the first time ever. Got a few rejections, before getting a request from Brianne Johnson, my current agent, to either de-creepify Quimby or submit another MS. I sent her Skeleton Tree, and the rest is history. The main lesson here: never stop writing. I started Skeleton Tree the moment I sent off Quimby, and if I hadn’t, I might have never landed my agent.

JR: Agree totally. Never stop or give up. What’s your writing process like?

KV: It’s different for every book, but I’m coming to realize that it looks kind of like this:

  1. A) Have amazing idea
  2. B) Attempt to plan it out
  3. C) Write a draft that’s totally different from my original plan
  4. D) Complete draft and cue eureka moment: “Oh, that’s the story I’m trying to tell!”
  5. D) Re-write the book again from scratch (now that I know what it’s actually about)

JR: That sounds extremely familiar. What’s your favorite book and who’s your favorite author?

KV: Okay, we’re getting to the tough ones. I would have to say J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, because they are truly what inspired me to be a writer and I go back to them year after year. They’re like a magical vacation home in my mind, and I can visit it anytime I want.

 

JR: I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of rereading Harry Potter. What’s your favorite movie?

KV: Why so many hard questions Jonathan? 😛 I’m terrible at picking favorite movies, because I don’t watch very many. As a kid, I adored The Rocky Horror Picture Show and It. I also enjoyed the new It, and, as far as horror, I’m a fan of Let the Right One In. I was obsessed with Charlie Chaplin when I was younger too, saw all of his films, and I still love a good silent movie.

 

JR: LOVE Chaplin. Buster Keaton too. What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you?

KV: I wrote Skeleton Tree while sitting in a dog bed.

JR: Okay, adding that to the list of future questions! What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received and is there any advice you can give to writers looking to break in?

KV: My favorite advice is to focus on impact. Every choice you make should be geared toward having a certain effect on the reader. Once I internalized that idea, the whole writing game changed for me. It’s not about just throwing in cool stuff. You have to know what writing ingredients will achieve your desired impact, and the only way to do that is through practice (and reading).

JR: What are you working on next?

KV: Secrets, only secrets. Although I can say that I have a story appearing in the upcoming New Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark anthology (2020, HarperCollins).

JR: Can’t wait for that! How can people follow you on social media?

Website: https://kimventrella.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimventrella

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimventrella/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimventrella/

 

JR: Now, comes my favorite part! Explain to everyone why I’m your favorite member of the Spooky MG team, in 10,000 words or more. 

KV: Jonathan, I would love to, but…spoiler alert…that’s my next book! It’s called Is Jonathan Rosen the Spookiest Author in the Universe?: Yes He Is and Here’s Why!!! (Coming soon to bookstores everywhere…or at least Amazon…maybe…Also check out the sequel: Did I Mention That Jonathan Rosen Is Really Great?: I didn’t? Well, He Totally Is!!!)

JR: Wow! I can’t wait to read that! Pre-ordering now!

 

JR: Anyway Mixed-Up Filers. that’s all our time for today. I’d like to once again thank Kim Ventrella for joining us, and wish her all the best of luck with Bone Hollow! The rest of you, go get your copies now!

 

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Author Spotlight: Sandy Stark-McGinnis

By on March 20, 2019   /   Articles, Author Interviews, Fiction, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, New Releases, Publishing & Promotion, Writing  

Full disclosure: Author Sandy Stark-McGinnis, author of the grippingly beautiful MG debut, EXTRAORDINARY BIRDS, and I share four things in common: 1. an agent (the incredible Patricia Nelson, of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency); 2. an all-encompassing love for the iconic TV sitcom, The Golden Girls; 3. a penchant for cowboy boots (don’t judge); and, above all, 4. genuine friendship. Sandy and I “met” on Twitter last year and have been enjoying a back-and-forth flurry of messages—of support, encouragement, or just to vent—ever since. Today, I have the honor of interviewing Sandy, whose novel flies free from Bloomsbury on April 30. Enjoy!

MR: First off, Sandy, I need you to know how much I loved EXTRAORDINARY BIRDS. It gripped me from page one, and never let me go. I was also deeply moved by your main character, December—a truly remarkable heroine. Can you tell me a little about her, and what led you to tell her story?

SSM: December is a bundle of contradictions—that’s why I love her. She’s strong and knows how to survive, but is vulnerable and carries a lot of sorrow in her heart.

I had two inspirations that led me to write her story. One was students I’ve had through the years, and the other was a newspaper article that reported an incident where a mother, in a methamphetamine rage, physically attacked her young daughter. With December I wanted to explore how a child could endure an event like that. Where would she find the strength to keep going and find a better place, a place of healing?

MR: Obviously, birds are a major theme in your novel. December is obsessed with birds and flying, is fostered by a caring taxidermist named Eleanor, and keeps a journal/biography called Bird Girl: An Extraordinary Tale. What is it about the subject of birds that captures your heart and imagination?

SSM: Well, I thought birds and flight were perfect metaphors to use to explore how  December deals with her past.  And, I’ve always wanted to try and write a realistic story about a child who believes she/he can fly.

MR: Along these lines, December has an encyclopedic knowledge of birds, with facts and figures flying off every page. What kind of research did you have to do to make December’s interest in the subject authentic?

SSM: My researched focused on specific birds. December uses her knowledge of them to navigate her way through the world. So, the hard/fun part was exploring specific birds and their behaviors,  and using them to parallel December’s own interactions with people and/or situations in which she found herself.

MR: December is a foster child who has suffered extensive trauma and physical abuse in her young life. You handle this topic with great sensitivity and care. What was your approach to understanding the subject of abuse, as well as December’s mindset as a foster child? Was extensive research involved?

SSM: To get inside December’s head and heart, I focused on how she dealt with her own tragedy. I started from there and then spent a lot of time trying to find her voice and cadence, her perspective of the world based on her past experiences. Once I knew what motivated her, it was easier to capture her inner-life and how she responded to events that happened to her. When I had specific questions about foster care, I found someone who worked in the California system who generously took the time to answer any questions I had. Most of the inquiries had to do with making sure December’s experience was authentic.

MR: At school, December develops a strong friendship with Cheryllynn, a spunky transgender girl who stands up for December when she is bullied. December has never had a real friend before, and she has a hard time letting Cheryllynn into her heart. Can you tell us a bit about Cheryllynn, and her role in December’s story?

SSM: Cheryllynn is a heroine too. She, like December, is vulnerable and strong, but she’s more grounded than December. I think because she has roots—a home, a mom who is there for her—she’s able to navigate who she is and her own conflicts with honesty and a trust that December has to learn is possible.

MR: I know you’re a fifth grade teacher, as well as a mom to two young children. How do you balance work, parenting, and writing? What does your writing routine look like?

SSM: The only quiet time in my house is in the morning. I wake up at four o’clock—five o’clock on weekends—and write. I’m a morning person so it works well for me. Thirteen years as a competitive swimmer—getting up for practice before school every day of my high school years—trained me to have the discipline I needed to keep a consistent schedule.

MR: Can you tell us about your path to publication? Was it a straight shot or a long and winding road?

SSM: It was definitely long and winding. From the time I started writing Extraordinary Birds to when Patricia Nelson made an offer of representation was about five years (And in those five years, I sent out around fifty queries and revised many  times.) Then, Patricia and I took another year and a half for revision before Allison Moore at Bloomsbury made an offer.

MR: And finally, I know you’re a huge Golden Girls fan.  Who’s your favorite character, and why? Do you have a favorite episode?

SSM: Ugh. This is hard, but I think my favorite is Rose. She’s the character who always surprised me, and made me laugh the most.  And, she was a storyteller!  I don’t have a favorite episode, but anytime Rose started to tell a story about living in St. Olaf…Well, just hilarious!

MR: Thanks for chatting today, Sandy. It was a pleasure to have you on Mixed-Up Files!

SANDY STARK-McGINNIS is a debut author and award-winning poet whose work has appeared in Quercus Review, In the Grove, and Penumbra. She holds an MA in creative writing from San Francisco State University. Sandy lives with her husband and children in California, where she teaches fifth grade. You can find Sandy at her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram. 

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Children’s Authors Travel to Israel and Inspiration Blooms

By on March 18, 2019   /   Articles, Author Interviews, For Librarians, For Writers, Writing  

Leslie Kimmelman in Israel

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                         Author Leslie Kimmelman has just returned from a tour of Israel, as one of eighteen  picture book and middle grade authors sponsored by the  PJ Library Organization. I wondered what a trip with so many creative and zany minds would be like. How would Israel look through their eyes? What details did they see that might go into a book? Did they come up with story ideas? Leslie is one of the most creative people I know and I couldn’t wait to ask when she returned.

Annabelle: Was there a single experience that you would like to share with young readers?

Leslie:Every single experience was a revelation–I think one of the most important things in life is to let go of preconceived notions as much as possible and be open to new adventures. The trip was everything I expected, only in the sense that it was an incredible trip. But it opened my eyes and enriched me in ways I never could have anticipated. You can see how meaningful the trip was to me by counting my (over)use of adjectives in answering your questions!         

Annabelle: What surprised you the most? How would you explain or dramatize it in a book?

Leslie: I’m not up to that yet–still processing everything that happened, and waiting to see what rises to the top. I will say that two things stood out to me. The first was how moving it was to be in a place with thousands and thousands of years of history. I am a huge history enthusiast, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt so strongly that feeling of walking in the steps of civilization after civilization–civilizations that thrived, then were gone, then replaced by another, and so on. Particularly in Jerusalem. We had an underground tour that gave me goose bumps. Being connected to the generations that came before us is one of the most compelling traditions of Judaism, I believe, but in Israel I felt that in a visceral way. I’m trying to get over the feeling that I may not have the words adequate to describe what I experienced. (Not something a writer wants to feel!) 

The second thing that struck me quite strongly and unexpectedly is how many disparate communities make up the country. Standing in Jerusalem and seeing and hearing so many different cultures, all at the same time–a bar mitzvah at the Kotel, the call to prayer from the minaret, the holy places of Christianity. I am not diminishing the very considerable problems of these groups living together in close proximity, but it was amazing to see. We also toured an extremely impressive school where Jewish and Arab children learn together in both languages. The person who showed us around and does outreach for the school is from, improbably, New Jersey. Either of these two themes would be a good underpinning for a children’s book.

Annabelle: Wow, agreed! So was traveling as a group of writers like being in an idea laboratory? Did you and your colleagues bounce ideas off each other?

Leslie: It wasn’t so much that we bounced ideas of each other, though there was some of that. It was more that we were experiencing all of these new and fantastic adventures in the company of a group of incredibly talented and thoughtful people, who just happened to also be children’s book authors and artists. (And did I mention funny? There were definitely a lot of really funny people on the trip.) It was exciting to be able to see each new experience through the eyes of so many interesting colleagues. Everyone had a different take, something to add.  As far as specific ideas go, I think we were all too busy taking it in to formulate specific ideas. At least, I was…. I can’t wait to see what kind of books this trip inspires from everyone.

Annabelle:Neither can I! Now tell me –did anything unexpected happen?

Leslie:  Everything was unexpected, especially for me, as I’d never been to Israel before. The trip was planned so beautifully. It approached Israel from every possible perspective: historical, archaeological, political, cultural, aesthetic. Each experience added to the mosaic. We got to do things that even Israelis don’t get to do–like a behind-the-scenes, close-up look at the Dead Sea Scrolls. That was very emotional. Kayaking on the Dead Sea was magical: The Israelis I spoke with didn’t even know that was a possibility! Celebrating Shabbat in an Israeli home (we divided into groups of three authors per home) was inspiring. From a purely practical standpoint, nothing unexpected happened, which was kind of unexpected! No one got lost or sick–oh, except that one person’s luggage didn’t arrive with the rest. (He was a really good sport about it.) Mostly everything went like clockwork. Everyone got along as if we’d known each other for years. Pretty awesome.

Annabelle: What stood out about the culture? In writing about it, would you focus on history, food, music, art, or something else?

Leslie: Again, I think the history and the multicultural aspect resonated most with me. I definitely want to find out more about some of the people who loom large in Israel’s history. We saw the kibbutz home of David Ben Gurion, the first president of Israel, and it was remarkably modest. But check back in a few months. And I have to add: The food was excellent, too!

Annabelle: Thanks, Leslie. I can’t wait to see how this experience blossoms into one of your books!

Leslie Kimmelman’s latest books are BELLY BREATHE, A VALENTINE FOR FRANKENSTEIN, and WRITE ON, IRVING BERLIN, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book.

 

 

 

 

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