Fiction

Author Jodi Kendall – Interview & Book Giveaway

By on September 27, 2017   /   Author Interviews, Fiction, Giveaways  

I recently had the opportunity to chat with author Jodi Kendall about her debut middle-grade novel, The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City, which releases on October 3rd. Read on for a glimpse into the inspiration for Jodi’s story . . . and for a chance to win a signed copy!

The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the CityT. P.: Thanks, Jodi, for stopping by MUF to chat about The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City. Our interview is quite fitting for two reasons. First, I live in the city. And second, my daughter is convinced she wants a pet pig. I let her scoop the cat’s litter box instead.

Anyway, since I haven’t seen many pigs in the city, I’ve got to know—where did you get the inspiration for your city-dwelling porcine pal?

JODI: I grew up in a big city in the Midwest. When I was thirteen years old, my college-aged brother showed up one holiday season with a surprise piglet in his arms! He had saved a runt from certain death at a nearby farm. Her name was Ellie, and she was a typical farm breed that grew big and fast. Ellie lived inside our house for six months. As you might imagine, we had quite our share of pig adventures! While the main plot of The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City is loosely inspired by this childhood experience, the book is a work of fiction.

T. P.: Wow! That brings to mind two different questions. First of all, exactly how big did Ellie the pig get during her 6 months in your house?

JODI: I had to call my dad to answer this one! He thinks Ellie was about 180 pounds when she finally moved out. Here are a few pictures.

Author Jodi Kendall with Ellie

This is thirteen-year-old me bathing her, and another one when she had grown really big… From the snow out front, I’m guessing it was maybe a month or two before she left our family in April. (I remember because it was my Mom’s 50th birthday and, while us kids all loved Ellie, Mom said that her leaving our house was the best present she ever got!) We had this small room attached to our kitchen – we called it the dinette – where Ellie stayed when we were at school. But when we were home, we let her out, and she roamed our house and explored around the yard, too.

Ellie the Pig

T. P.: As for the second question your real-life-pig-in-the-city experience brings to mind, what’s one event in your novel that was inspired by something that actually happened with Ellie?

JODI: There’s a scene when Hamlet the pig bullies her way into the kitchen, figures out how to open the fridge with her snout, makes a huge mess on the floor, and the main character’s little sister, Amelia, is standing on the kitchen countertop swatting at the hefty pig’s rump with a fly swatter trying to get her to back away. That’s a true story! Pigs are highly intelligent animals and motivated by food. Our pet pig, Ellie, also bit into aluminum cans with her teeth to make it spray soda everywhere (she liked the taste). Ellie learned how to open lower cabinet doors, and she knew there was food inside cans. While she couldn’t open soup cans with her teeth, she did peel off the labels. At one point we had 2-3 dozen cans of unknown content because she tore off all the labeling!

T. P.: It looks like 180 pounds worth of pet pig provided plenty of inspiration! Now let’s go to the flipside of real-life inspiration. What’s a favorite pig-focused scene or event in your story that sprang completely from your imagination?

JODI: There’s a scene in which Hamlet the pig escapes the family’s tiny city townhouse backyard by jumping over the fence into the neighbor’s adjacent property – and this is a very ornery neighbor who is NOT a fan of chaos, noise, or the Shilling family. It was a fun action scene to write (that leads to some consequences and character growth, too).

[SMOOTH SEGUE ALERT #1!]

T. P.: Speaking of characters. . . . As the author, I’m sure you love Josie (the story’s protagonist) and Hamlet the pig; otherwise, you’d never have told their story! Aside from them, who’s your favorite character in the story? What makes that character stand out to you?

JODI: Hands-down, Josie’s college-aged brother – the oldest of the five Shilling kids – Tom. He’s hilarious, confident, and always breaks the tension in the family with a good one-liner. His character was a blast to write!

[SMOOTH SEGUE ALERT #2!]

T. P.: Speaking of writing. . . . What’s next for you? Do you have another project in the works?

JODI: I just finished up the sequel to The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City, which is very exciting. It will publish in Fall 2018. We’ve been secretive about the content, title, and cover art, so interested readers will just have to wait and hear the news. 🙂 But I’m currently working on a new book proposal, a third book that’s unrelated to my first two middle grade novels. And you can bet that there’s an animal adventure involved!

T. P.: A hush-hush sequel??? I can’t believe you’re going to keep us in suspense like this, Jodi! Regardless, I sure do appreciate you taking the time to come visit us here at the Mixed-Up Files. Now, as we anxiously await details about your next novel, I suppose we could offer our readers a chance to win a copy of your current one. . . .

*  *  *  *  *

Want a chance to win a SIGNED copy of The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City by Jodi Kendall plus some bonus swag? Entry is easy. Just comment below by answering one simple question:

If YOU could live in a city with any farm animal, what animal would it be?

You can also earn BONUS entries by sharing this post on Facebook, Tweeting about the giveaway, visiting Jodi’s website, signing up for Jodi’s author e-newsletter, and/or following her on Instagram. Entries will be accepted through the day of the novel’s official release—Tuesday, October 3rd.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Children's author Jodi KendallTo learn more about Jodi Kendall and her writing, visit www.jodikendall.com. You can even download free bonus resources for The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City, including an in-depth Classroom Curriculum Guide.

 

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Kersten Hamilton and the Book of Half a Lifetime

By on September 22, 2017   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, New Releases, Publishing & Promotion, Writing  

I’m very pleased today to feature a long time friend of mine.

Kersten and I have critiqued each other’s work, we’ve gone on writing retreats together, attended conferences, and enjoyed group meet-ups with other local authors over the years. Kersten Hamilton is an incredibly talented writer, deep thinker, and a selfless, giving person.

Here at From the Mixed up Files, we’re excited to show off the gorgeous cover for her middle-grade novel, DAYS OF THE DEAD, which will launch into the world this coming summer.

Enjoy a little bit about Kersten’s inspiration and an excerpt from the novel.

~Kimberley Griffiths Little, one of your MUF’s authors and bloggers~

From Kersten Hamilton:

“When I first saw the art created by Merce Lopez  for the cover of Days of the Dead I wanted to shout, “LOOK AT THIS! IT IS THE BEST COVER EVER!!!” because Merce had captured the magic and mystery at the heart of my story. Having a cover means the book is real! It is almost here!

Some books take half a lifetime to write. Days of the Dead is one of those books. I can’t remember when the story started to grow in me. When I was six, and my mother left? When I was a teen sitting in a chill of a lava tube, breathing in darkness so deep it was almost alive?  The day my heart broke so badly I thought I would die. I know the roots of this story reach back through that day. But the story took years of drafts and re-writes to form.

Slowly, it settled into a time: the Days of the Dead, when the border separating the living from the dead grows thin.  And a place, Puerta de la Luna, where strange things happen. Things that science isn’t big enough to explain. And a girl, Glorieta Magdalena Davis y Espinosa, whose choices would destroy her family – and whose courage would make it whole again.

Days of the Dead will be coming from Sky Pony Press this August of 2018, but I can’t wait one minute longer to introduce Glorieta. I hope she will find a lot of friends and help them pick themselves back up when they have made a terrible mistake.”

LOOK AT THIS STUNNING COVER!

And here’s Glorieta in her own words:

“Every bowl of Alpha-Bits starts out with hundreds of words. But the power is in the last spoonful.

“Dios mio, Magdalena!” Mamá’d said as she’d pointed to my spoon, “Your spoon says ‘libros’. Books!’ Now, you choose. If you swallow it down, then you will learn about books!” I swallowed it, and that year I’d been the first kid in class who learned to read. I learned about big books, thick books, their smell, their feel, the letters gathering into words and the words into stories. Mamá and I read together every night, in English and in español, Spanish.

In third grade I’d had to find the word in my Alpha-Bits myself. I used an extra big spoon, one that could fit all of the letters of mother, if Mamá wasn’t enough. Or even Mamá, come home.

The word had been hoggs. I’d known that was too many ‘gees’ for a real word. I’d swallowed it anyway, and cried because I thought my Mamá’s magic had gone away with her.

Then, one month into the school year, a new editor for the Epoch Rattler came to my school to interview me about a poem I’d written for the paper. His name was Hogg. That hadn’t made me feel any better. You can’t knock off one letter and say it’s close enough. That’s not magic. It’s cheating.

But just after Christmas my teacher Miss Dotson, who’d met Mr. Herbert Hogg the day he interviewed me, married him and became Mrs. Hogg. Two Hoggs. Pieces fitting together. The magic worked.

I shook the box, and something rattled inside.

I got a bowl, and turned the box upside down. Letter pieces and cereal powder rained out. I poured in some milk, and three perfect letters bobbed to the surface.

“Are you looking for a word in your Alpha-Bits? Seriously?” Lilith was leaning over my shoulder.

“Go away.”

Lilith laughed. As she walked across the room and picked up the phone again, one more letter struggled to the surface of the sludge. I stared at the bowl. It couldn’t be right.

I’d wanted the magic to help me keep my promise to Mamá. I hadn’t wanted this.

Now you choose, Glorieta…

“We’re on hold, B,” Lilith said into the phone. “I’ve got to work out something with my stupid step-tard first. See you at school.”

Lilith saw me still staring at the bowl and leaned over to see what I was looking at.

“O.D.I.O.?” She laughed. “That isn’t even a word, loser.”

It was a word. Lilith just didn’t know it because she couldn’t speak español.

You choose, Glorieta.

If it had been about anyone else, it would have been wrong. But I knew it wasn’t about anyone else. It was about Lilith. Somehow she had gotten in where she didn’t belong and messed everything up. Even the magic.

I could feel her breathing on the back of my neck as I scooped the word onto my spoon and lifted it to my mouth. I would learn it like I’d learned to read, learn the pieces and the parts and how they fit together and it would keep Lilith away from me.

Lilith took a step back, and I couldn’t feel her breath anymore. It was working already.

Shivers raced up my spine as I chewed.

Odio. Hate.

My magic word for the sixth grade.”

Thank you for letting me share, Mixed-Up Files!

Kersten Hamilton

Website: www.kerstenhamilton.com

Pre-order DAYS OF THE DEAD

Email: Kersten@kerstenhamilton.com

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Interview and Giveaway with Jessica Lawson

By on August 16, 2017   /   Author Interviews, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Giveaways, New Releases, Writing  

Today we’re pleased to be interviewing middle grade author Jessica Lawson. We featured her novel Nooks & Crannies on Mixed-Up Files back in 2015, and she’s back today to talk about her latest book, Under the Bottle Bridge.

In the weeks leading up to Gilbreth, New York’s annual AutumnFest, twelve-year-old woodcraft legacy Minna Treat is struggling with looming deadlines, an uncle trying to hide Very Bad News, and a secret personal quest. When she discovers mysterious bottle messages under one of the village’s 300-year-old bridges, she can’t help but wonder who’s leaving them, what they mean, and, most importantly…could the messages be for her?

Along with best friend Crash and a mystery-loving newcomer full of suspicious theories, Minna is determined to discover whether the bottles are miraculously leading her toward long-lost answers she’s been looking for, or drawing her into a disaster of historic proportions.

Hey, Jessica! Welcome back to the MUF! Can you tell us how came  up with the idea for this novel?

I always thought of bottle messages as things that were found bobbing up and down in the ocean. For whatever reason, when I was brainstorming new story ideas, I had this picture in my head of a girl finding message bottles in a shallow, empty ravine—a place that used to run with water, but had been dry for hundreds of years.

As for the setting, I’ve always been fascinated by traditional arts—blacksmiths and weavers and candlemakers and such. I wondered what it might be like to live in a modern-day place that really valued those talents, and what sort of encouragement and pressure the children of artisans might be given to continue that work. Those elements blended and I had myself enough to start writing

This is your first crack at a contemporary story. What were the challenges for a writer used to historical settings?

Well, I cheated a little. Under the Bottle Bridge is set during autumn in a modern-day artisan village that’s steeped in tradition and history. While there are modern conveniences like cell phones and yummy pizza restaurants, there’s definitely a thread of the town’s history being very much alive. Each chapter opens with a consecutive piece of village history that leads-up to a reveal that concerns Minna, and the Gilbreth’s annual AutumnFest involves people in period dress…bottom line, you can take the author out of historical fiction, but you can’t always take the historical fiction out of the author.

Honestly, I couldn’t get away from my interest in personal history and how it shapes us. There’s an Alex Haley quote at the beginning of the novel: In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. I think that, for better and for worse, that’s so true.

In terms of challenges, dialogue had to be more modern than I’m used to writing and school scenes had to reflect modern conveniences.

Your character, Minna, is raised by her uncle and she reads all of the parenting books that he buys for himself—the titles are pretty funny (for example: Rollercoaster: The Oft-Nauseating Ups and Downs of Parenting Kids, Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings That Won’t Leave the House). Have you read many parenting books?

I have not read many, but I am a mom and stepmom to four kiddos (ranging in age from 4 to 22) and I think it’s nearly universal to have the occasional wish that our precious children came with a straightforward handbook. It can be intimidating to be the framing influence in our children’s lives, just as it can be scary to navigate the ups and downs of childhood. Minna reads all of her uncle’s books and has sort of internalized all of the advice. She comes to realize—as does her uncle—that there’s no one answer to life’s trials.

What are themes that teachers, librarians, and booksellers might latch onto when sharing the story with readers?

Family, friendship, and expectations all come into play in this story. There are elements of balancing family expectations and the desire to honor the past while becoming your own person. A new girl in town teaches Minna about pre-judging others. Also, the bottles play with the idea that sometimes the thing you’re searching for isn’t necessarily what you need to feel complete.

I think the book would pair nicely with a student project on traditional artisan skills or interviews with family members to delve into personal history.

Thanks so much, Jessica, for stopping by! We wish you and your new book all the very best!

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To be entered to win an ARC of Under the Bottle Bridge, publishing this September, please leave a comment below.

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