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Delights & Scribbles

I am very happy to report that the new issue of the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy is online. There is a terrific interview with Professor Joan Kaywell, her teenage son Stephen, and me, too, that gives some background into TWISTED and into my writing process. (Joan is the brilliance behind LETTERS OF HOPE, which should be in every middle and high school English classroom.) I would love to see more teenagers brought into the reviewing of adolescent books. What do you think?

I wrote all weekend, ignoring the whimpering of my rather fertile garden and shunning all thoughts of watching football. I’ve had a couple of serendipitous moments in this new book which were absolutely magical. I know I whine a lot about the workload, but I have to admit: I really, really love writing.

BH and I have been talking about how social networking has ramped up between the release of TWISTED 18 months ago and the upcoming release of CHAINS. I love how easy it has become to communicate with readers. In the last two weeks, I’ve had more than two dozen notes – via my various blog places and website – from readers who had a strong and positive response to one of my novels. Last week, a teacher who saw my posting on Facebook about the tentative tour dates contacted me and we were able to add an appearance in her area for teachers and grad students. This morning, I had a lovely note from a father of a reader in Mumbai, India, also on Facebook. More and more people are reading this journal (which is echoed on MySpace), and are giving me wonderful feedback on my work. There was a terrific comment from a teacher using SPEAK yesterday (scroll down to the bottom of the comment list).

I think I’ve managed the art of not letting the online stuff take over. I have stopped feeling guilty about not answering each and every blog comment (though I do read them all). My strongly worded email policy has cut waaaaaay back on the number of homework help requests I’ve been getting. My forested corner of the blogosphere has become like the corner diner for me, filled with buddies and the smell of coffee.

How are you balancing your blogging and social networking with your writing?

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playing catch-up

I will be using today’s subject line a lot in the next four months!

Life is busy – good busy. I am so incredibly blessed to have all this fun stuff to do! Right now most of my time is spent working on the new book (it’s a historical that continues the adventures of the characters introduced in CHAINS). My goal is to get the first readable next to my editor my early next month. The tentative publication date is the Spring of 2010.

I’m also gearing up for the crazy CHAINS book tour that starts on 10/21. I’ll be posting more details about that soon. Counting a few events before and after the actual tour (NCTE/ALAN and a couple of bookseller trade shows), I’ll be spending 40 days on the road, and visiting 27 cities (in several places, I’ll be in town for two days). I am a little overwhelmed by the thought of this, but mostly am so excited that I am giving off sparks.

And there is the very advance publicity work I need to do for WINTERGIRLS, my YA that will be published in May, 2009. I hope that the WINTERGIRLS book tour will cover some of the regions of the country (i.e. West Coast) that I won’t be seeing on the CHAINS tour.

Oh – and the other thing about next year? Next year is the tenth anniversary of the publication of SPEAK. More details about any festivities later.

This afternoon is the big meeting with the folks at my mother’s rehab facility spa to discuss her discharge date, and that is the most exciting news of all. She had gotten back much of her strength and is beginning to walk with a walker. If they leave her there much longer, she’ll reorganize the facility, so I suspect she’ll be home soon. Thank you everyone for the prayers and warm wishes. They have meant a great deal to our family.

The sad thing is that I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to can as much food as I had hoped, and my garden is showing signs of neglect.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic But my pumpkins are comfortably resting on their cozy beds of shredded manuscript draft.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic And my Beloved Husband has finished splitting and stacking almost 25 cords of wood to heat the house this winter. (You can’t see it from the photo, but the stack extends to the far wall of the garage.)

What have you been up to?

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Stars in my eyes!

I’m back home and a wee bit tired, but I made great progress on my “Desert Island Down-and-Dirty Draft”. Being able to stay inside the story with no interruptions is perhaps the greatest luxury a writer can have.

The cherry on top of this ice-cream-sundae-mood was the news waiting for me at home…

The first reviews for my historical novel, CHAINS, have appeared, graced with beautiful stars!!!

Publishers Weekly says:

“Pursuing similar themes as M.T. Anderson’s Octavian Nothing, this gripping novel offers readers a startlingly provocative view of the Revolutionary War. Isabel Finch, the narrator, and her five-year-old sister, Ruth, are to be freed from slavery upon the death of their mistress in Rhode Island, but the mistress’s unscrupulous heir easily persuades the local pastor to dispense with reading the will. Before long Isabel and Ruth are in New York City, the property of a Loyalist couple, whose abusiveness inspires Isabel to a dangerous course: she steals into the Patriot army camp to trade a crucial Loyalist secret in exchange for passage to Rhode Island for herself and Ruth. But not only does the Patriot colonel fail to honor his promise, he personally hands her over to her Loyalist mistress when she runs away, to face disastrous consequences. Anderson (Speak; Fever 1793) packs so much detail into her evocation of wartime New York City that readers will see the turmoil and confusion of the times, and her solidly researched exploration of British and Patriot treatment of slaves during a war for freedom is nuanced and evenhanded, presented in service of a fast-moving, emotionally involving plot. Ages 10–up. (Oct.)”

Kirkus says:

““ ‘Freedom and liberty’ has many meanings,” but enslaved Isabel knows that while Loyalists and Patriots battle for their own versions of freedom, she is “chained between two nations” that uphold slavery. She wonders, “If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl?” Anderson brilliantly recreates New York City in the summer of 1776, viewed through the eyes of a remarkable heroine. Taught to read by her previous owner, Isabel knows the Bible and has memorized poetry, and her eloquent first-person voice portrays her life as a slave even as she spies for the rebels, covertly delivers food to Bridewell Prison and plots her own escape. Readers will care deeply about Isabel and may feel frustrated by the abrupt ending to the novel, clearly poised for a sequel or two. While waiting, they can enjoy M.T. Anderson’s The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves, another superb take on the subject. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10 & up)”

I am incapable of speech right now. I am out of breath from running around the house screaming “Yes! Yes!” and imitating Brandi Chastain after she shot the game-winning penalty kick over China in the Women’s World Cup championship soccer game in 1999. (see photo below)

I worked really, really hard on this book. It feels delicious to get these pats on the back.

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Me as Robinson Crusoe

What with all the family drama this summer, I am a little behind on my writing schedule. (Though I did get in a minimum of 15 minutes a day, every day, even when Mom was in the hospital!)

Right now I need about 16-18 hours a day with no interruptions or distractions. I have to hold all of the story threads in my hands at the same time to figure out how they need to be woven together.

I have dragged myself, my laptop, and several tons of research to a desert island where I am writing what shall forever be known as the “Desert Island Down-and-Dirty Draft”. The goal is to complete this draft and polish it to the point where I won’t be embarrassed to show it to my editor before I leave on book tour in October.

As these things go, it’s a fairly comfortable desert island. I have a supply of Diet Red Bull and fruit and I have music. Truthfully, it’s not on an island. It’s at a secret location just down the road from my mom’s rehab place so I can get there in a hurry if necessary.

Yesterday was the first full day here. I worked from 6am to midnight, with breaks to eat and an hour-long walk in the middle of the day. I could not type fast enough. The way the scenes unfolded in front of me was pure magic, as if the Muse had been impatiently waiting for me to come back and pay Her my respects.

It is much easier to hear the voices when the rest of the world stops shouting.

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Book Trailer Contest Revision

Thank you to everyone who commented and emailed me about the book trailer contest deadline yesterday. You confirmed my hunch.

I have two announcements.

1. To everyone who has submitted a book trailer as of today. Please email your mailing address to Officemouse AT writerlady DOT com as soon as possible. Your trailer is still entered in the contest, but since I am changing the rules in the middle of it, I figure I owe you something. I want to send you one of my books. In your email, let me know if you want SPEAK, CATALYST, PROM, TWISTED, or FEVER 1793. If you are in the mood to be patient, you can request my new historical novel, CHAINS, which comes out on October 21, or my next YA, WINTERGIRLS, which will be published in May, 2009.

2. To the rest of the world: the new deadline for the book trailer contest is midnight (Eastern Standard Time in the US), October 31st, 2008.

NEW OFFICIAL BOOK TRAILER CONTEST RULES

1. Create a book trailer for SPEAK or TWISTED. You may not use clips or images from the SPEAK movie (it is copyrighted, that’s why). Your trailer must qualify for a PG rating. Try to keep it under two minutes long: four minutes is the absolute maximum length allowed.

2. Post the trailer on YouTube. Include the phrase “TWISTED trailer contest” or “SPEAK trailer contest” in the title. Submissions must be posted by midnight (Eastern Standard Time in the US), October 31st, 2008.

3. Once the trailer is posted, notify us by emailing the Office Mouse: officemouse AT writerlady DOT com . When you notify us, please provide a link to your trailer and a valid email address so we can contact you if you win. Please include the name of your school librarian or English teacher and her (or his) email address. If you are home-schooled, include the name of your public librarian.

4. Watch and wait. Winner will be chosen by Laurie Halse Anderson (aka me).

5. NOTE! Contest is only open to people who will be 21 years old or younger on October 31, 2008.

6. Contest is open to anyone on the Planet Earth. Teens working aboard the space station are welcome too. Entries from other planets and galaxies will be considered, as long as they can be watched on Earth-created technologies.

7. If your trailer is chosen as the winning entry and you are not 18 yet, your parents will have to sign a release form granting me all rights to use your trailer. If you are over 18, you get to sign for yourself. You will be credited as the producer of the trailer, but the only payment you will receive is the prize described below. If you win, be sure to include this on your college or film school application.

8. If you win, your school or public library, or your English teacher, will receive 5 signed copies of my books.

9. There will be two grand prizes awarded; one for the best SPEAK trailer, one for the best TWISTED trailer.

10. The creator of the winning trailer will be awarded an 8GB iPod Touch. Winner agrees to be responsible for setting up and paying for Internet connection and any warranty protection plan for the device.

11. If the winners do not live in a region where the iPod Touch is supported, a substitute prize of equal value will be awarded.

12. Winners will be announced on this blog at some point in November and will be notified by email.

I think that’s everything. Please feel free to post this announcement to listservs and on your blog. If you have any more questions about the contest, please post them in the Comments section.