Author Interviews

Author Interview: Shea Fontana

By on September 27, 2018   /   Author Interviews  
DC Superhero Girls: Out of the Bottle Cover

DC Superhero Girls: Out of the Bottle Cover

As a proud comic book nerd, one of the coolest things about my job as a collection development librarian is  the opportunity to preview the latest in the DC Superhero Girls series, OUT OF THE BOTTLE, which was released in August, and SEARCH FOR ATLANTIS, which hits bookstores on October 2nd.

OUT OF THE BOTTLE highlights Harley Quinn as the comic book character she’s created for Ms. Moone’s art class comes to life and wreaks havoc on Superhero High. SEARCH FOR ATLANTIS introduces Raven and Mera to the team. Mera is a new student at Super Hero High, and as she and Wonder Woman becomes friends, Bumblebee becomes anxious that she’s losing her best friend. When the heroes discover that Atlantis has been stolen, the girls have to work together to get it back.

DC Superhero Girls: Search for Atlantis Cover

DC Superhero Girls: Search for Atlantis Cover

Then, I had a chance to talk to author Shea Fontana about the series.

MUF: Every book in the DC Superhero Girls series deals with an important life lesson. For example, OUT OF THE BOTTLE stresses the importance of mental health care, and SEARCH FOR ATLANTIS deals with accepting change. Do you feel that the graphic novel format makes these issues more accessible for young readers? If so, how?

The graphic novel format really gives us the space and intimacy with the reader to dive into big ideas. Plus, having these awesome, well-known characters explore these topics makes it accessible for kids. Our heroes are aspirational for kids reading the books, and we want to show kids that even heroes face hardships. When kids deal with those types of things, like mental health care or accepting change in their friendship groups, it can feel very lonely and it helps to know that superheroes are dealing with it, too! My goal with these types of stories is to always help kids feel less alone and empower them — like they have a team of superheroes that can fight and win every battle with them.

MUF: SEARCH FOR ATLANTIS has a couple of new beginnings. Both Mera and Raven are introduced, and the Teen Titans were essentially formed. Which of these new beginnings were you most excited about introducing? Was it fun brainstorming new names for the Titans? Were there any rejected names that didn’t make it into the book?

I loved integrating both Mera and Raven into this graphic novel! Both are such wonderful, and very different characters. From the beginning of the series, I knew that I wanted to build up to the Teen Titans reveal, bringing together the traditional Titans that kids know from the TV show as well as the comic book version that includes Miss Martian and Bumblebee. The misnaming thread was a fun way to build the tension toward what everyone knows is coming — of course their group name should be the Teen Titans!

MUF: Why was Brainiac chosen as the villain for this story?

We knew that Brainiac got away at the end of the DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games animated movie, so he’s been waiting in the wings for his next attack. Since in the Legends of Atlantis movie, we meet Mera and Aquaman under water on their “turf,” I wanted to do something different, but still Atlantis-oriented with this story. So, I decided to bring Atlantis out of the water. Since Brainiac is a collector of bottled cities, it seemed the perfect fit.

MUF: What was your favorite part of the story? What was the most difficult to write? What was the most fun?

My favorite part of the story is how Miss Martian steps up as a leader. She’s not the regular kind of leader that the heroes expect — she doesn’t seem as bold as Wonder Woman or as outgoing as Supergirl. But she has a quieter style of leadership that is just as valid.
The ending on this one was difficult for me to write. I really felt for and related to Bumblebee!

MUF: Who’s your favorite superhero? Who’s the most fun to write about? Why?

I loved writing Raven in this story! Her personality is a great contrast to a lot of the other characters. She has an edge and attitude that we don’t often see in kid superhero stories and it’s fun to explore that. 

MUF: Conversely, who’s your favorite villain? Who’s your favorite to write about?

We have had so many fun villains in this series, both in the graphic novels and the animation. I think my favorite is Dark Opal, because he went into villainy as a back-up career when musical theater didn’t work out. Mera’s sister, Siren, who we meet in the Legends of Atlantis animated move, is also great. She’s so controlling and manipulative.

MUF: If you could teach any class at Superhero High, which one would you want to teach?

Power Naps 101.

MUF: Right there with you! I think that would be my favorite class to take. Is there a superhero or villain that you’d like to write about that you haven’t yet? Who?

It had been Batman, as he is my childhood favorite hero, and he is not featured in DC Super Hero Girls. But now I’ve had the chance to write him in BATMAN: OVERDRIVE which will be published under the upcoming DC Zoom middle grade imprint! I can’t wait for everyone to read it — it’s some of the most fun I’ve had writing.

MUF: And finally, do you have any advice for aspiring writers and writers who would love to work on graphic novels one day?

Read a lot and do a lot! The best way to get familiar with story structure, dialogue, and how graphic novels work is by reading. But the best way to come up with stories is by doing! While the old adage of “write what you know” isn’t true (I don’t know how to fly or shoot lasers out of my eyes), the more you experience, the more you’ll have to pull from when thinking of story ideas. Whenever I need the courage to do something new, I tell myself, “Well, it could be a good experience for a story…”

Shea Fontana is a writer for film, television and graphic novels.  Her credits include developing and writing the DC Super Hero Girls animated shorts, TV specials, movies and graphic novels; Polly Pocket, Doc McStuffins, The 7D, Whisker Haven Tales with the Palace Pets, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz , the new Muppet Babies series; two Disney on Ice shows where she wrote new material for the worlds of Mickey Mouse, Inside Out, Disney Princesses, Finding Dori, Frozen, and other Disney and Pixar properties; and the feature film, Crowning Jules. Learn more about her and her writing at http://www.sheafontana.com/.

 

 

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Author Interview: Amanda Rawson Hill

By on September 10, 2018   /   Articles, Author Interviews, Giveaways, New Releases  

Happy Monday, everyone!

I’m excited about this author interview because it gives me a chance to introduce our Mixed-Up Files community to one of my favorite middle-grade writers, Amanda Rawson Hill. Her debut novel,  THE THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC (Boyds Mills Press), drops on September 25.

And what’s more …. we get to give one lucky reader a copy of THE THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC! After you read our interview with Amanda, scroll down and enter the Rafflecopter to win.

Author Interview with Amanda Rawson Hill

My son and I read THE THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC at the same time, which allowed us the fun of collaborating on an author interview with Amanda about the amazing Kate and how her brand of magic came to be.

MUF: How did you come up with the concept for the Three Rules of Everyday Magic? And by that, we mean the theme of the book AND the three rules themselves?

Elizabeth Gilbert is a best-selling author and she wrote a book called BIG MAGIC that talked about the theory that ideas are actual THINGS that exist outside of a person and are just waiting to be found. That’s sort of what finding the theme and the three rules felt like. When I started writing the book, I didn’t know it was going to be about connecting with others through giving. I just knew it was about a girl and her grandma. When Grammy taught Kate how to knit a hat, that’s when I realized that the book was about giving. I actually worked on the book for about ten months before I did a major revision that added in the THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC. I was writing while on a cross-country drive and all of a sudden my fingers typed out Grammy saying, “That’s the first rule of Everyday Magic. You have to believe.” It wasn’t in my head before I wrote it, but all of a sudden it was there on the paper. And I thought, “What are the other rules?” That’s when it all came to me. Like it was one of those ideas just floating around in the air waiting for someone to latch onto it.

So I guess that’s a long way of saying, “I don’t know.” Sometimes…most of the time…I don’t feel like I did come up with the rules. I feel like they kind of exist outside of me and were just waiting to be discovered.

MUF: Did you conceive of Kate before the book? Or did she grow along with it?

A bit of both. There are certain things about Kate that haven’t changed at all since the very first words of the first draft. Her love of karate, her hatred for the color pink, her secret crush on Parker. But there was a lot of her that I felt like I really didn’t know after the first draft. So I opened up a blank document and completely rewrote the entire book trying to really tap into WHO KATE IS. I ended up writing that version in epistolary format. The whole thing was told in letters to her dad. It didn’t stay that way, but doing so allowed me to really get to know Kate because letter writing requires a certain vulnerability which Kate didn’t really want to show me (and I still struggled to get her to open up to me all the way, even in much later drafts.) That’s what the symbolism of the pink is all about. Kate becoming comfortable with being vulnerable.

MUF: The poetry in this book is simply lovely and we just loved the way Kate’s teacher structured the history lesson with poetry and self-expression. Have you done this yourself as a homeschooling mother?

I’ve done poetry with my kids before, but I haven’t done this specific kind of poem with them yet. I got the idea for it at a writing conference I went where George Ella Lyon herself was presenting about how to write a ‘Where I’m From” poem and how to help children write one. It was such a great class, and everyone shared lines of their poems and I loved it so much that I knew I had to use it in my book.

MUF: Another special piece of the poetry in this book is that Jane’s poem was written by Joan He, a friend who is also a writer. How did you come by her poem?

I actually asked Joan and paid her to write it just for this book. It was important to me that Jane’s poem was authentic to her experience as a Chinese American, and I just didn’t feel like I could do that justice, even if it was just a few lines. I felt Joan’s knowledge and authenticity would really add something that I couldn’t bring to it, and I definitely think I was right about that because the poem is amazing and beautiful.

MUF: The themes of loss and depression are tough to write about – and poor Kate has to cope with some terrible losses. How did you approach writing these themes for a middle-grade audience?

I started out approaching them much more simply, with Kate simply referring to her father’s depression as “the sadness” and describing it all about his eyes and just lying in bed all day. But when it sold, my editor made me get much more specific about it. She had me refer to it by name, call it a sickness every time. She wanted me to show the slow development of it, other ways it manifested, etc. Which meant that I then went and talked to a lot of different people who had experienced it, so that I could show it in several true ways. I think that’s important. There are lots of kids dealing with depression, whether in their parents or themselves, and so naming it and accurately portraying it is absolutely vital, even if it’s hard because we’d like to just simplify and shield kids from it, right? But that doesn’t end up doing anyone any favors.

However, I did still have to filter all this information through the eyes of a child. I think that’s where the hope comes in. That quiet, undying hope that everything can and will get better eventually. And when you let hope color these hard topics, even when you face them and the pain head-on, it makes it approachable for a middle-grade audience. That’s the number one rule. Hope. Always.

MUF: What is your favorite passage?

Oh man! What a hard question! There are so many that I love. I think my absolute favorite though is, “Grammy said that magic happens when love becomes visible, when you give people something they can hold. But I think she was wrong about that. Because some things you can’t hold, not really. Like a firm squeeze that says it’s okay, or a song that makes you feel better. Like a family that’s always, always a family no matter what. You can’t knit that, or cook it, or draw it, or write it. But all those things are magic.”

Followed closely by this one that always makes me cry. “I’ve waited five months and twenty days to hear Dad say my name again, to say it like he knows me for real and forever, and when he does, it’s like somebody shaking up a root beer and pouring it over ice. All the foam comes spilling out from inside of me. ‘Daddy, please come home. Please come home. I can make you happy again. Mom will understand. I know you’re sad. But I’m sad too. And Mom’s sad. She needs you. We need you.'” (This passage hasn’t changed since the very first draft, which is kind of miraculous.)

MUF: We got chills AND tears in our eyes when we read that part, Amanda.

MUF: Congratulations to you, and good luck with your launch. And — thank you so much for offering to give away a copy of THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC!

Amanda Rawson Hill

Amanda Rawson Hill grew up in Southwest Wyoming with a library right out her back gate. She got a degree in Chemistry from Brigham Young University and now lives in Central California with her husband and three kids. THE THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC is her first novel.

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Two Book Giveaway and Interview With Jonathan Rosen

By on August 20, 2018   /   Author Interviews, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Giveaways  

I’m thrilled to interview Mixed-Up Files member Jonathan Rosen and celebrate the release of his middle grade novel, From Sunset Till Sunrise. Huge congratulations, Jonathan! I’d love to know how you came up with the idea for From Sunset Till Sunrise and some of the changes your story went through before publication.  

Hi Mindy!

The idea for From Sunset Till Sunrise, was actually just a continuation of the ending of Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies. When I wrote Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies, I did so with the intent/hope that it might become a series. At least, I left open the possibility, by ending it by mentioning there might be a vampire moving in. I just loved working in this genre of horror/humor and hoped to continue. It’s a lot of fun taking horror tropes and twisting them. When Sky Pony talked about a sequel, it was before Cuddle Bunnies even came out. So, there was some discussion about what to make the next book about, but since the ending already had vampires, and they liked it, we just went with it.

Cuddle Bunnies played with movies like Gremlins and Fright Night, and From Sunset Till Sunrise also uses Fright Night, but there’s a lot of From Dusk Till Dawn and other vampire movies in there, as well.

As far as changes, there really weren’t too many, though I did go back and forth on who the main villain would be. But, there weren’t many others.

 

I read and loved the first book in this series, Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies, and will never look at stuffed animals the same way again. I plunged into From Sunset Till Sunrise, excited to see Devin, Tommy, and Abby again, and noticed that you gave just enough information for new readers to quickly catch up on what’s been happening in Gravesend. Can you share some tips for writing a series?

I think series are fun, but challenging. In From Sunset Till Sunrise, I alluded to what happened in Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies, but never specified. That way, the sequel could stand on its own for new readers. They didn’t have to read the first one. But, if you did read the first one, there was still enough of a continuation for you to get references that new readers wouldn’t. When references are mentioned, the series reader can just smile and know exactly what is meant, but the newbie still has an idea.

It’s definitely tricky. Because, now we have established characters. Even though I did reintroduce them, and you get an idea of their personalities, it’s extra fun if you’ve already gone on the ride before. You amp up what they did the first time around, which for me, I loved pushing Tommy even further.

 

Tommy had so many zany ideas in the first book, I didn’t think it was possible to push him even further—but you definitely did that! You also let us see a lot more of spunky Abby in this book, which was awesome.

Your books are so funny—and you often make me laugh on Facebook and Twitter, too. When did you realize you had a great sense of humor, and how has it helped you?

Does it sound immodest to come here and say, “I always knew I was funny”? Well, I did! ? But, kidding aside, humor was/is a huge part of my life. Most of my family had good senses of humor. My immediate family and my uncle, as well. And, those are the types of movies and books that I gravitated to. As a kid, I watched so many old comedies with my dad, and they really were a great way to learn things like timing, and set-ups. Humor has always been a part of my life, and as you said, it has helped me, since I was very shy, quiet, and nerdy. And, like a lot of people with the same traits, humor was a self-defense mechanism. You’re not getting picked on, if you’re making people laugh. Well, that is if you’re not making a flippant remark that gets someone angry. ? As you get older, your humor starts standing out for different reasons. You start getting noticed for it, in good ways.

 

You not only have humor, you have a lot of heart, too. Thank you so much for giving us a glimpse of your childhood and why humor is such a big part of your life.

 

Between your humor and the surprising spooky elements, your books are awesome for everyone, including reluctant readers. They’re fast-paced fun reads! Do you have any advice for anyone who is trying to encourage kids to read?

Thanks for saying! First, I always let kids read what they want. I wasn’t a reluctant reader, but I read everything. Books, comics, magazines, etc. As long as someone is reading, I think that’s great. I have a reluctant reader at home, and quick chapters, with funny, fast-paced action, seems to work.

 

I love the creative ways Devin and Tommy protect themselves in your books—including bubble wrap, water balloons, and Super Soakers. This could definitely inspire teachers, media specialists, and parents to ask kids to write the creations they’d come up with if they were sucked into an adventure with Devin and Tommy. Any suggestions for a writing exercise they can use?    

Writing for Devin and Tommy is one of the most fun things about this series. As I said earlier, it’s fun to take the regular tropes and twist them in a fun way. I made a list of so many things, and I wound up using only a small portion them. The key is to look up all the tropes for a particular monster or myth and see what you can do to substitute or replace any of them. In From Sunset Till Sunrise, Devin and Tommy are facing vampires without Holy Water around, so they had to improvise. A little garlic powder mixed into water balloons did the trick there, but look at the tropes and play with them. See what you can come up with.

 

That sounds like a fun writing exercise! I’d love to see the inventions kids come up with.

What type of research have you had to do when writing middle grade novels?

I am sooooo big on research. Names, myths, lore, everything. In my books, a lot of the characters also have names which mean things. Including the vampires. But, I do like to research everything I can while writing. Geography, history, etc. I researched all the ways to be able to defeat certain monsters. The characteristics of monsters. I want to take the familiar and mix them up.

 

What are you working on now?

My agent is starting to take something else out on sub, while I’m in the middle of another two humorous, middle grade books.

 

Ooh, I can’t wait to hear more about them when you can share. We need more of your amazing humorous middle grade books! Is there anything else you’d like your readers to know?

I just want them to know that I’m grateful for them. Seriously. I get such a rush out of knowing that someone is enjoying my book. It means everything to me. Also, please feel free to reach out. I have usually answered most messages.

Hopefully, I’ll have some news to share soon about other works of mine!

Thanks again, Mindy!

 

You’re welcome, Jonathan. I loved reading your books and interviewing you.

Find out more about Jonathan on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  You can also read Jonathan’s interview when Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies was released. 

Enter the Rafflecopter widget below for a chance to win a signed copy of both Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies and From Sunset Till Sunrise. Thank you so much for this generous giveaway, Jonathan!

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Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies

Twelve-year-old Devin Dexter has a problem. Well, actually, many of them. His cousin, Tommy, sees conspiracies behind every corner. And Tommy thinks Devin’s new neighbor, Herb, is a warlock . . . but nobody believes him. Even Devin’s skeptical. But soon strange things start happening. Things like the hot new Christmas toy, the Cuddle Bunny, coming to life.

That would be great, because, after all, who doesn’t love a cute bunny? But these aren’t the kind of bunnies you can cuddle with. These bunnies are dangerous. Devin and Tommy set out to prove Herb is a warlock and to stop the mob of bunnies, but will they have enough time before the whole town of Gravesend is overrun by the cutest little monsters ever? This is a very funny “scary” book for kids, in the same vein as the My Teacher books or Goosebumps.

 

From Sunset Till Sunrise

Devin Dexter and his cousin Tommy just saved the city of Gravesend from the menace of magical, malicious Cuddle Bunnies brought to life by the warlock, Herb. But there’s no rest for the wicked, as a new mysterious neighbor moves in across the street. At night. With a coffin. Tommy immediately jumps to conclusions as he thinks this can only mean one thing: Vampires.

Devin isn’t so quick to believe, as he is struck by the neighbor’s daughter, a girl his age. Even though Tommy points out that they have never seen her during the day. Yet when she invites him to a dance at her school–the Nosfer Academy of Talented Understudies–how can Devin say no? Tommy, though, realizes that this is an opportunity. After tackling a wizard last winter, surely they can protect Gravesend from some measly vampires, right?

 

The winner will be announced on Sunday, August 26. This giveaway is open to anyone in the U.S.  Good luck, everyone. 🙂

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