Author Interviews

Kami Kinard Interview and Giveaway!

By on May 12, 2014   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

Welcome Kami Kinard back to the Mixed-up Files!

Kami was last here in 2012 to discuss her debut, The Boy Project, which follows Kara McAllister’s quest to find a boyfriend following scientific principles. Kara is successful *spoiler alert* but finding a boyfriend isn’t necessarily the end of the story – for that, you have to find the right boyfriend.

FC9780545575867Enter The Boy Problem. New this spring, Kami’s latest MG novel puts Kara’s bff, Tabitha Reddy, in the staring role as she looks for true love using symbols, predictions, math equations, and… cupcakes!

Thanks for joining us, Kami. First of all, why did you choose to write the second book from Tabby’s perspective instead of Kara’s?

It’s great to be here, thanks!

I just felt like Kara’s story had come full circle. I didn’t think it’d be very believable for her to start another wacky project to find a boyfriend. Somehow, it seemed like that would take away from her credibility in book one. But it was important to my editor and I that Kara still have a big role in the second book.

Which was easier to write – The Boy Project or The Boy Problem?

It was much easier to write my first book, The Boy Project because I didn’t have any pre-set limits.  Usually a writer can create characters and settings that will help their plots move forward, but a lot of the characters and settings for The Boy Problem were already established! Puzzling in pieces of a new story with an old one can get pretty complicated.

In addition to some new boys, The Boy Project introduced a strong new secondary character, Priyanka, who successfully befriends both Kara and Tabby without creating a problematic triangle. Pri is interesting, well-developed, and likeable.  Any chance she’ll be narrating the next book?

Head Shots from Carpe Diem 003When I wrote my first novel, I thought it would be a stand-alone novel, so I didn’t really set things up for a second novel. I didn’t want to make that same mistake again. In Priyanka, I tried to create a unique character we’d want to spend more time with given the chance. So yes, I hope we get that chance to hear her narrate her own story!

Me too! Any advice or suggestions for authors considering giving a secondary character in one of their books a starring role in the follow-up?

Yes! I have given this a lot of thought. Plan for the future, even if you don’t think you need to! You may not anticipate your book being part of a series, but are you really going to turn your publisher down if offered a contract for another book? Of course not! Here are some ways for you to leave room for a second book.

1. Think about the calendar. When will your story take place? I regretted setting The Boy Project at the end of the school year. This forced the next book to fall in the next year, so teachers changed, when it would have been nice to keep those established characters. (You might notice that The Boy Problem starts on the first day of school. I’m trainable!)

2. Think about the calendar. Yes, I know I just said this, but I want you to think about it in a new way. How many days, weeks, or months will it take for the action to take place in your book? Some middle grade novels have fast moving plots that cover only a few days or weeks. These leave plenty of room for other books to follow with the same characters in the same school year. Smart.

3. Think about the calendar. Is this getting old? Hopefully not, because, you have to do a lot of thinking about this or you will write yourself into a corner in a hurry.  What are your characters’ birthdays? How old will they be at the end of the story? What grade are they in? You don’t want your beloved characters to age out of the action too soon. I had intended for Kara, the main character of my first novel to be in eighth grade. But my publisher asked me to move her down to seventh. Thank goodness.

4. Develop story-worthy secondary characters. (I regretted not giving Kara a younger sister or brother in The Boy Project.) Because I needed to use a character my readers were familiar with for the second book, so I really only left myself one choice. I love the way Tabbi evolved into a main character for The Boy Problem, but if I had planned ahead, I would have set her up for this better.

Great advice, Kami!  Thanks for returning to the Mixed-Up Files.  Good luck with The Boy Problem!

Thanks so much for interviewing me. It’s exciting to have another book on the shelves and I appreciate your being part of the celebration!

To find out more visit Kami’s website and cool blog, Nerdy Chicks Rule.  You can also enter to win a hard cover edition of The Boy Project by following the Rafflecopter widget below. The winner will be announced on Thursday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Yolanda Ridge is the author of Trouble in the Trees (Orca Book Publishers, 2011) and Road Block (Orca Book Publishers, 2012), Both stories follow irrepressible, rule bending Brianna Bridges – but her neighbour’s been begging for a book of his own!

Back to Top

Indie Spotlight: Children’s Book World, West Los Angeles

By on April 30, 2014   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Indie Spotlight  

Tucked into a West Los Angeles neighborhood is Children’s Book World www.childrensbookworld.com), a treasure of a childrens’ bookstore.  Today we’re talking with  “assistant manager and book wizard” Cherry O’Meara, with assistance from owner Sharon Hearn.

CBW logoMUF: Describe the atmosphere of Children’s Book World.  What strikes someone when they come into your shop?  Are there any special features, nooks and crannies?
Cherry: Customers are invariably immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of books displayed on our store!  Next, once they catch their breath and start to browse a bit, they comment also on the quality, range and diversity.   Our center room has a large display table with books relating to the major holiday of the season, for Black History Month at the beginning of the year through Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanza.  We set up displays around the store in advance of most occasions, right now we are featuring: Earth Day, Poetry Month, Cinco de Mayo, the Japanese National Holiday Children’s Day, and Mother’s Day.

 MUF: Children’s Book World has  been in business for over twenty-five years, while other children’s bookstores have come and gone.  What’s the secret of your success (and your continuing enthusiasm)?CBW front 3
Cherry: We have a very simple secret.  Besides having an amazing selection of books, our staff READS!  We love books, we love to read, and we read constantly! Because we read the books, we are able to tailor suggestions to the tastes and abilities of individual kids.  Because we love to read, we inspire parents and kids with our enthusiasm for books.  And because we see kids daily who love to read, we get inspired in turn!   Our customers are very loyal to us, and we’ve seen many families stick with us from Very Hungry Caterpillar to One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

MUF: Children’s Book World has become known not just as the place to buy children’s books, but also the best place in Los Angeles to recycle them, and this effort all began with a request form a certain best-selling middle-grade author.  Please tell our readers something about Ann M. Martin, the Book Recycling Center and the programs you have for getting used and even new books into the hands of children who need them.
Cherry: When Ann Martin came to do a signing for one of her extremely popular Babysitter series books, we asked customers to bring in a book to be donated to a program working with children from low-income families.  This request was the inspiration for starting our non-profit program, the Children’s Book Recycling Center, founded in 1997.  CBW book Recycling centerWe collect “gently used” book donations, which we organize by age and subject in a storage facility behind the bookshop. Staff from literacy programs, low income schools, and non-profit organizations can arrange to come in to gather the books their children need from our selection. Recipients are invited to come back every 6 months to replenish their collections. We have provided recycled books to over 200 under-served schools and organizations.
Children’s Book World is just starting a new program, Readers & Writers Rock!, thanks to a grant from author James Patterson, that has the mission of bringing authors to low-income schools and bringing underserved children to Children’s Book World author events.  Each of the children attending will receive an autographed copy of one of the visiting author’s books.  We want to put books into the hands of children and be able to provide them with author visits that can give them inspiration and generate and nurture a love of reading.

Popularity Papers

Popularity Papers

MUF: Many bookshops list staff picks on their websites, but your list of recommendations is quite extensive, covering all age levels, with a mixture of classic, currently popular, and lesser-known titles—apparently favorites of your booksellers! How do you decide which titles, new and old, to order and keep in stock?
Cherry: It’s hard, with so many great books out there! Our founder and owner meets with sales reps, and she reads trade magazines for reviews. We have an enormous library of ARCS that the staff can take home to read. We talk to librarians and teachers, and we talk to kids to get ideas for great titles that we hadn’t come across ourselves.  We carry our favorites, old and new.  If a book that one of our booksellers loves is a slow sell, we may still keep it on our shelves, hoping to be able to offer it when the “right” reader comes in.

Cornelia

Cornelia

MUF:  So unlike the chain stores!  How do you help shoppers find the right book?
Cherry: We conduct mini-interviews with shoppers.  What grade is the reader in?  What books have they read recently that they have really enjoyed?  What books haven’t they liked– and why? We love to talk to kids to get an idea of not only their reading level, but their personality.

How they croaked

How they croaked

As Middle- grade authors, we have to ask: what  

School for Good and Evil

School for Good and Evil

CBW Neddiad

The Neddiad

particular fiction and nonfiction titles are you recommending to middle-graders at the moment?
Cherry: Well, tell us a little bit about your reading tastes… what have you read recently that you liked?  We have so many books that we recommend that it is hard to make a list that accurately reflects the titles that we sell daily.  Popularity Papers by Amy Ingatow, anything Wendy Mass, The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander, H.I.V.E. by Marl Walden,  Cornelia & the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by  Wolf Brother by Michele Paver, Ice Fall by Mathew J. Kirby, School for Good and Evil .  We like to find readers for books that are a little less obvious, but that we love: Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, Nation by Terry Pratchett; Saffy’s Angel byHilary McKay,  The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater.

Home of the Brave

Home of the Brave

CBW left for dead

Left for Dead

Non-fiction:  Temple Grandin by Sy Montgomery and Temple Grandin, How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Fanmous, by Lesley M. M. Blume,  Primates, the Fearless science of Jane Goodall, Dian

Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottavani,    Left for Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice by Pete Nelson.  

MUF: Who are some middle-grade authors who have visited Children’s Book World for readings and/or signings?  Are any special events planned in the next few months?
Cherry: Sharon Creech, Lois Lowery, Eoin Colfer, Brian Selznick, Sid Fleischman, Katherine Patterson, Kate DiCamillo, Jon Scieszka, JK Rowlings, Rick Riordan, Betty Birney, Richard Peck, and many more.   We wind down our middle grade authors events in May because of testing and end of school scheduling conflicts, and go full steam ahead when school starts again in the fall.  We have events with picture book authors the next few weeks: Jon J Muth, Barney Saltzberg, Antionette Portis , Tim Eagan, and Max Kornell.

Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry

Nick Bruel

Nick Bruel

Antoinette Portis

Antoinette Portis

We love when authors visit us just to see our store. Recently, Stuart Gibbs just dropped by to say howdy !  So come by and visit us!

MUF: If a family visited your shop from out of town, would there be family friendly places nearby where they could get a bite to eat afterward?  How about other interesting family activities in the neighborhood?
Cherry: There is great food very close by – our favorites are a casual, order at the counter, gourmet quality place called FOOD, right across the street, and John O’Groats,  a block down, with the best breakfasts in town.

Thank you, Cherry(and Sharon), for chatting with us today about your lively store.  Readers, if you have visited Children’s Book World  or would like to, please click on comments below and chime in.

Sue Cowing is author of the puppet-and-boy novel You Will Call Me Drog (Carolrhoda 2011, Usborne UK 2012)

 

Back to Top

Interview with Gayle Rosengren–and a Giveaway

By on April 28, 2014   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

Fiona & Me

Gayle Rosengren (and Fiona)

About Gayle: Gayle Rosengren grew up in Chicago and majored in creative writing at Knox College.  She never outgrew her passion for children’s books, and she worked in the children’s and young adult services departments of  her local library for several years, enthusiastically sharing her love of books with young people.  After moving to Madison, Wisconsin, she worked first in the reference library and later as a copyeditor at American Girl.  She also published short stories in Cricket, Ladybug, Jack and Jill and Children’s Digest. Now Gayle writes full-time in her home outside of Madison, where she lives with her husband Don and their slightly neurotic rescue dog, Fiona. She is living her dream, she says, writing books she hopes will make the same difference in children’s lives as her favorite books made in hers.   What the Moon Said is her first novel.

WhatTheMoonSaid_presales

 

From Indiebound: Thanks to her superstitious mother, Esther knows some tricks for avoiding bad luck: toss salt over your left shoulder, never button your shirt crooked, and avoid black cats. But even luck can’t keep her family safe from the Great Depression. When Pa loses his job, Esther’s family leaves their comfy Chicago life behind for a farm in Wisconsin.

Living on a farm comes with lots of hard work, but that means there are plenty of opportunities for Esther to show her mother how helpful she can be. She loves all of the farm animals (except the mean geese) and even better makes a fast friend in lively Bethany. But then Ma sees a sign that Esther just knows is wrong. If believing a superstition makes you miserable, how can that be good luck?  Debut author Gayle Rosengren brings the past to life in this extraordinary, hopeful story.

What the Moon Said is a Junior Library Guild Selection.

Here is what the reviewers had to say:

“Rosengren, in her first novel, offers an intimate account of a family’s adjustment to country life and the hardships of the Great Depression. It’s easy to root for Esther, who makes the most of each day, wants little, and gives much.”  Publishers Weekly

“A coming-of-age tale gets to the heart of family dynamics in the face of drastic life changes in the earliest days of the Depression.”   Booklist

“…the story triumphs in its small vignettes…”  School Library Journal

“… Sensitive and tender.”     Kirkus

What kind of research did you do about depression-era Chicago and Wisconsin? What was the hardest part?  

I had heard a lot of stories about my mother’s  life on the farm while I was growing up, but it was all in very broad strokes. I needed to fill in lots of details, about life on a farm and especially about farm and city life during the Great Depression.  I first reached out to my mother and she was able to provide a few really nice details, but for the most part her memories were cloudy and unreliable.  So I moved on to books for a general sense of the times, and then I went to my computer to research more nitty-gritty details online.  The hardest part was not taking anything for granted. For example, I originally planned to have the two teachers at Esther’s school distribute candy canes on the last day of school before Christmas.  I suddenly wondered if they would have been wrapped in cellophane at the time, or if perhaps the teachers would have wrapped them in waxed paper. Asking my mother led to a vague, “They must have been…it wouldn’t have been sanitary if they weren’t.”  Unconvinced, I went to my laptop to research candy canes only to discover they weren’t even available to the public until the 1950’s!  Who knew?  So a quick change from candy canes to gingerbread men was immediately made to the manuscript.  I was incredibly relieved I’d caught the error before it made it into print.  All my careful research was nearly undermined by a candy cane!  But this taught me a lesson about research that I won’t soon forget:  Never assume!

Esther’s mother seems to have a superstition for every possible situation. Do you have any superstitions of your own? 

My grandmother lived with us from the time I was eight years old, so she instilled in me the same superstitions that “Ma” drummed into Esther.   Even as a child I had my doubts about the connections between my actions and good or bad luck, but there was no getting around the required actions:  you spill salt, you toss it over your shoulder; you never tell a bad dream before breakfast or –eek!–it will come true; you never put a hat on a bed or someone is going to die(!); and, of course, you never EVER bring an open umbrella inside the house.  There were lots more, but you get the idea.  To this day, I won’t bring an umbrella inside the house until it’s closed, even if I get wet in the process of closing it outside.  It’s silly, and intellectually I know this but even though I don’t really believe in them, I “honor” them rather than tempting fate.  (Which I guess sort of undoes my denial of belief!)  In terms of my own superstitions, I do have a few.  The most significant one is that I always wear my mother’s ring when I do an event about What the Moon Said.  Although my mom knew I had written a book inspired by her childhood and had even read an early draft, she passed away before it was accepted for publication. Wearing her ring makes me feel as if she’s with me, seeing how well her story is being received and how many readers have fallen in love with the character of Esther.  She’d be so happy to know that.

If there was one single thing that you wanted readers to get from What the Moon Said, what would it be?

That you should follow your heart–trust it to guide you when you must make difficult decisions, as Esther did in the book.

Why do you write middle-grade?

I write middle grade because I think it’s the most fertile ground for planting and nurturing a love of books.  So much is new to middle grade readers.  They’re wide open to all kinds of stories–fiction, non-fiction, biographies, fairy tales, historical fiction, contemporary, mysteries, suspense, silliness.  This time in their lives is when the vast majority of them will discover the joy and excitement of entering the world of a book and be started down the path to being life-long readers.  I love being a part of that very important adventure and discovery.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to write middle-grade fiction?

As with writing for any genre, but especially writing for children and young adults, the first step is always to read, read, read what has been published in recent years.  Especially read the award winners and the books on recommended reading lists at libraries.  The children’s publishing market is evolving nearly as quickly as everything else. Read to get a sense of what is out there already and to get some sense of the terrain.  Then forget about what you read and write your own story–not with the thought of making a fortune or a getting a movie deal.  Just with the hope that it will resonate with young readers.  Write from your heart with no other goal than to touch theirs.

Gayle is giving away a signed copy of What the Moon Said. Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jacqueline Houtman is the author of The Reinvention of Edison Thomas. She is currently working on a biography of Bayard Rustin for young readers.

Back to Top