Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Truth About Twinkie Pie

To find out more about Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, click here.  

Title: The Truth About Twinkie Pie
Author:  Kat Yeh (link)
Genre:  Contemporary
Pub Date: February 2015

Goodreads Synopsis:  Take two sisters making it on their own: brainy twelve-year-old GiGi (short for Galileo Galilei, a name she never says out loud) and junior-high-dropout-turned-hairstylist DiDi (short for Delta Dawn). Add a million dollars in prize money from a national cooking contest and a move from the trailer parks of South Carolina to the Gold Coast of New York. Mix in a fancy new school, new friends and enemies, a first crush, and a generous sprinkling of family secrets. That's the recipe for The Truth About Twinkie Pie, a voice-driven middle grade debut about the true meaning of family and friendship.

First Line: Truth is, I knew the lady with the green scarf was not Mama. But I followed her anyway.


I was so excited to score a copy of this middle grade debut by Kat Yeh at BEA that, out of all the books I was lugging in my heavy backpack, I picked this one to devour on my subway ride home from the expo. And it did not disappoint! 

First, can we talk about the cover? No wait -- first let's talk about the title. What's more fascinating than a dessert that has secrets, especially when you've never seen or heard of it before? From the cover, it looks as fun and kitschy and pink as I hoped. Food and the act of cooking with love and intention (and a lot of sugar) are woven throughout the narrative via recipes written in a most hilarious voice. 

Family and identity are both at the heart of this story. GiGi has just moved from the South with her lottery-winning sister DiDi to a wealthy Yankee town. Instead of splurging on their winnings, DiDi enrolls GiGi in a private school and continues to work as a hairdresser. As GiGi navigates this new suburban life, one that is a far cry from their old trailer park, she stumbles upon her first real crush, tries to win over an instant enemy, and begins to unravel the mysteries of her family.

DiDi and GiGi have a Gilmore Girls dynamic that will make you want to jump inside the pages and join their peculiar little family. The story takes fresh twists and culminates in a tear-jerker ending that magically captures the power of sacrifice and unconditional love -- so grab some tissues and a sweet treat or two before you dive in. 

If you want to hear more about the recipes and how this story came to life, check out this great podcast interview with Ms. Yeh on Publishers Weekly.

Why You'll Love Galileo / GiGi / Leia: You can tell a character is going through some major changes when she has that many names, and this gal does so with kindness, a level head, and spunk... until she doesn't. GiGi's deadpan observations and razor honesty perfectly serve up the characters at her fancy new school. And whether she's dealing with preteen politics or peering into her family's mysteries, her genuine worldview will simply charm you.

THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE Topics & Themes: family, identity, bullying, starting a new school, class, lgbtq issues, crushes, home cooking, friendship.

Want to read about more marvelous middle grade books? Check out my past picks, as well as these MMGM bloggers who feature recommendations every Monday!  

The Post-Conference Slump

At SCBWI LA with writing pals (left to right) Bridget,

Jodi, Pat, (me), Kathryn, Ghenet, & Edith

When I started writing fiction seriously about four years ago, I also began attending writer conferences. So far I've been to about six of them, and this August I made it over to the national SCBWI conference in LA for the first time.

Many of my writer friends consider this event one of the most special, motivating, and authentically fun weekend seminars for children's book writers. And I'm happy to report that the conference did not disappoint. The keynotes were delightful, particularly Laurie Halse Anderson, Matt de la Pena, and Jarrett Krosoczka. I had an amazing critique from an agent, and Richard Peck's first line workshop seriously inspired me to write more beautifully. I even got to meet a blogging pal - Cynthia from Read Is The New Black.

During the entire four-day event, I was pumped. The talks energized me to write the best book I can possible write -- to sharpen my prose, raise the stakes in my plot, liven up my characters. But when I got off the plane in NY, my brain remained in plan mode. Aaaand... I didn't write again for about three weeks.

This wasn't the first time I experienced a post-conference writing slump. In fact, it's happened to me after every single weekend-long conference I've attended. So what gives?

Last week at another SCBWI workshop (this one in New York) the words of a wise author hit home to me. And for the first time, I realized why conferences -- while stirring and enlightening -- have been so temporarily disruptive to my own writing.

Editor Wendy Lamb and Newbery winner Rebecca Stead at
SCBWI Metro NY's Professional Series

Rebecca Stead, along with her editor, Wendy Lamb, were special guests at my local Metro NY branch's monthly writing talk. If you read my MMGM features, then you know I'm a Fan of Stead. Yes, that's fan with a capital F. As far as middle grade goes, she's top notch, and I seriously wish I could have read her books in elementary school.

While describing her writing process, Stead mentioned how perfectionism can really get in the way of doing the work. And what writer can't relate to that? She said that sometimes, preparing to write is like setting up for a perfect dive. And if you're a good, dedicated diver, you'll stand on the edge of the pool and concentrate on the building blocks of that set up so you execute strongly.

But if you're too focused on setting up perfectly -- you might not dive at all.

Here is a tweet from another attendee that sums that up more concicely:

"Writing is like diving. U want 1st jump to be perfect...I've had to learn to throw myself off the board flailing." @rebstead @scbwimetroNY
— Ginny Poleman (@GinnyPoleman) September 11, 2013

Though I enjoy and learn a ton from conferences, the intense amount of information, feedback, and reflection put me in set up mode. I leave thinking of a million things I should change and improve. And for a small amount of time, I'm too intimidated to dive (ha) back into my writing. Because a piece of me wonders if I can ever live up to the renewed vision I have for my work.

That said, I seriously love attending writing conferences. This problem eventually solves itself, but next time, I might paste a few gentle reminders in my notebook to help bolster me from my own hyper criticism.

How about you? Do you ever psych yourself out when you're learning all the good stuff at writing conferences? Any tips on how to incorporate craft lessons without slipping into a slump?

Three Things I Meant To Blog About...

...but didn't quite get to.

So what have I been up to instead of blogging?

1.) Reading BEA Books.
Over the past few weeks, I devoured Counting By Sevens, Fangirl, and If You Could Be Mine (to name a few). So many amazing books will be hitting the shelves this fall/winter. Will post my favorite middle grade picks on upcoming Mondays. Pinky promise!

2.) Winning July's Camp Nano.
I've never participated in November's big NaNoWriMo kahuna before, but I liked the idea of setting a small goal this summer. And guess what? I won! I'm the proud owner of 25k words of a shiny new work-in-progress. The lighter version of NaNoWriMo happens twice a year, and I highly recommend trying it out!

3.) Learning At SCBWI LA.
So many writers rave about SCBWI's summer conference in LA, and I've wanted to attend for awhile now. Happy to say, it did not disappoint. Along with incredibly moving, motivating speakers like Richard Peck, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Matt de la Pena, I sat in on some great workshops that really got the wheels turning. Lots to say here, but I'll save that for another post.



While I was in LA, my blog turned two years old. Two?! Yup! Since this site is still a toddler, I'm figuring out how to balance writing and work with posting and other social media. But rather than submit to the terrible twos, I'm hoping to revitalize and keep chugging along. It's been so fun to meet other writers and connect over wonderful books here and on other blogs.

Will be back soon with some thoughts on LA and more marvelous middle grade recommendations. Xox!

Camp Nano, Because Why Not?

 I've never braved the 50K November challenge they call NaNoWriMo, but my pal Kim rallied some NYC writers to try out its lighter, summerier counterpart, Camp Nano. The rules are more flexible in Camp Nano, where writers set their own word count goals instead of going for the 50K loopity loop gold medal.

And moi? I'm trying for 25k words this month, because why not? I'm currently on submission (gasp!), and can really use the distraction. You can find me camping out here.

How about you? Any fancy Nano winners out there?

In unrelated but awesome news - my pal Ghenet is one of ten writers to start up a new YA site -- check out the YA Buccaneers. Word count, a'hoy!

And for unrelated sad news - today is the last day of Google Reader. Thanks for all the bloggy memories!

BEA 2013 Editor Buzz Books: Get Excited For Fall!

What do pirates, oddballs, record-breakers, scientists, and time gobblers all have in common? The makings of great middle grade stories, of course.

Last weekend at BEA, five editors gushed over the middle grade books chosen by this year's buzz panel. Here's a summary of what they had to say about each book, as well as some photos I snapped during the conference.


1.) A Very Nearly Honorable League Of Pirates #1: Magic Marks The Spot
By: Caroline Carlson
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pub Date: September 2013
Based on the title alone, Toni Markiet knew this story would have a sense of humor. She soon found out it was also sassy and irreverent, right from page 1. Described as a "rollicking pirates yarn that grabs you and doesn't let you go," it follows the adventure of Hillary Westfield, who wants to join a band of pirates rather than go to finishing school. I mean really, can you blame her?

2.) The Fantastic Family Whipple

The Fantastic Family Whipple

By: Matthew Ward
Publisher: Razorbill
Pub Date: August 2013
Gillian Levinson fell hard for this book about a colorful family of record-breakers with a classic message -- that "caring for people is the most special thing of all." Arthur Whipple's twelve siblings have broken 49,521 world records. Only he hasn't broken a single one. Though he is the unlikely hero in a family overachievers, Arthur discovers he might be the only Whipple who can save his family when mysterious catastrophes begin to follow them.

3.) Nick And Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab
By: Science Bob Pflugfelder & Steve Hockensmith
Publisher: Quirk Books
Pub Date: November 2013
Jason Rekulak gave a nod to MacGyver ("the best show of all time") when introducing this book, with one caveat -- Nick and Tesla's inventions and contraptions actually work in real life. In this adventure story, Nick and Tesla use real fundamentals of science to get them out of jams (courtesy of co-author Science Bob, who is also an elementary school teacher). "It shows kids how to solve problems," said Rekulak. The book contains instructions on how to construct the contraptions in the story, such as a bottle rocket, using items found around the house.

4.) The Time Fetch
By: Amy Herrick
Publisher: Algonquin
Pub Date: August 2013
The smooth pacing and lyricism of this science fiction adventure made Elise Howard fall "head over heels in love." Set primarily in modern-day Brooklyn's Prospect Park, the story weaves classical mythology with an imaginative glitch in the time/space continuum, leaving eight grader Edward with a tricky problem. Along with two classmates, he needs to stop foragers from gobbling up time before it runs out for everyone.

5.) Counting By 7s

Counting By 7s

By: Holly Goldberg Sloan
Publisher: Dial
Pub Date: August 2013
"It touches you to the core," Lauri Hornik said of this contemporary story filled with deep familial themes. "It makes you love people more than you already do." Willow Chance, an "oddball" twelve-year-old genius who finds comfort in counting by 7s, finds her life thrown into upheaval when both her parents suddenly die. Taken on by a surrogate family, Willow shows readers that "everyone as the potential to be loved."

2013 Editors' Buzz Panel

Authors Carlson, Goldberg Sloan, Ward, Science Bob, & Herrick

Will preview some more middle grade books from BEA later this week. Check out more middle grade recommendations from the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday crew.

BEA 2013 Is Here!

The Super Bowl of books has arrived in New York! I picked up my press pass to BEA this morning and took a quick spin around the conference hall, but didn't stay too long.

I'll be attending tomorrow's children's book breakfast as well as other middle grade events Friday and Saturday. Will keep you posted on what's new and exciting in the booths!

Until then, here are a couple shots I snapped.

John Bemelmans Marciano signs his latest book in the Madeline series.

Cynthia Voigt poses with the first book in her new Mister Max series.

BEA Announces 2013's Editor Buzz Books

What will be the buzziest books of Fall 2013? Each year, industry professionals selects groups of books to spotlight in different genres at Book Expo America. The full list of those lucky, lucky titles was announced today.

I got the chance to see the editors of last year's picks discuss what it was like working on those manuscripts, as well as what made them stand out during acquisition. This year's panel for middle grade picks will be on May 31st.

For the middle grade category, we have:


The Fantastic Family Whipple by Matthew Ward
Pub Date: August 2013
Goodreads link

The Time Fetch by Amy Herrick
Pub Date: August 2013
Goodreads link

A Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1 by Caroline Carlson
Pub Date: September 2013
Goodreads link

Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Pub Date: September 2013
Goodreads link

Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith
Pub Date: November 2013
Amazon link

Which ones are you looking forward to picking up?

What Day Is It Again?

Also, is it really October? Scratch that -- the MIDDLE of October?!?

Hey darlings! The loudest thing happening on my blog as of late has been the sound of crickets. Since I last posted, a new job opportunity pranced into my life out of nowhere (literally -- it was something I hadn't even applied for), and it has since taken over my life a bit. All that free writing and freelance time I had disappeared, so I've got my butt in the chair most nights after work and on weekends.

And now that I'm two months into my new job, I did what any good new employee would do and went on vacation. Well, not really. The Scientist and I planned on driving a car from California back to NYC for months now, and we're currently on the road. So far we've breezed through Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. We did a cross-country road trip back in 2008, and kept up our tradition of taking photos at each state sign.

I'll be pretty busy up until the elections. Wait... who am I kidding? I'll be pretty busy up until forever. But hopefully I'll be back up and blogging after we get our car back to Harlem. I've been stacking up my MMGM reads, and even went to a book blogging conference that got ideas whirling in my noggin.

See you back in NYC! And yes -- since we've been on the road, I really don't know what day it is... Let me go check now.

WriteOnCon Is Here!

Ready for two full days of *free* publishing and writing advice from authors, agents and editors? Today and tomorrow, WriteOnCon is in full swing. Check out all the details:

• Write on what? About the conference
• The full schedule
• How to register

I'll definitely be be popping in to watch videos, read posts, and see what's happening in the forum. Check out my forum profile here -- and let me know if you have a query or sample pages! Would love to read them :)

What Is the Heart of Your Story?

Over the weekend I attended SCBWI New Jersey's regional conference. This was my second time at the summer conference, and I can't say enough good things about it!

One moment that really stood out for me was during a chat with agent Susan Hawk. We were discussing my manuscript, and she asked me what the heart of my story was.

Wait, what? The heart? Not the genre-elevator-pitch-setting-main-character-plot-query-marketability? I walked away really thinking about this question. What IS the heart of my story?

Within a few minutes, I narrowed it down to two basic thoughts. It's a story about:

• a boy who forgot how to love people
• a boy who needs to run away to find his way back home

Despite all the robots and steampunk and magic and climaxes and plot points, the true essence of the story, underneath all the storytelling, boils down to that. Bare bones!

So what about you? What is the heart of your story?

Fall Preview: BEA's 5 Buzz-worthy Middle Grade Picks

Happy Middle Grade Monday! This week I have something a little different to share. At Book Expo America, I had the chance to attend the Middle Grade Editor Buzz Panel. Five editors shared their most buzz-worthy books coming out in the fall, and they look fantastic.

1.) Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin: Grace's editor and friend Alvina Ling presented this book with so much pride, it was difficult not to get caught up! It's a companion novel to her Newbery Honor Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and experiments with some of the classic styles of the Chinese literary tradition, like using a narrator - in this case, Madame Chang. (Oct 2012)

2.) Malcolm at Midnight by WH Beck: Kate O'Sullivan from Houghton Mifflin called this story a "masterpiece" with an "intimate, personal arc about becoming one's own best self." She acquired it at auction when she fell in love with this tale of a secret society of classroom pets that helps keep the school children safe. (Sept 2012)

3.) Professor Gargoyle by Charles Gilman: This is the first book in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series, all of which have lentical covers that display a simple animation when you move them. Jason Rekulak, of Quirk Books said that though the covers are pricey, they grab readers right away, and even noted that when they were setting up their booth, groups of adult construction workers stopped to check the books out. (Sept 2012)

4.) Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss: Being billed as Midnight in Paris for middle graders, this story mixes contemporary with historical when Mira goes to Paris to find her mother, but ends up whirling through the past when she visits Notre Dame. The book has sketches by Mira doodled throughout, which is a nice visual touch to the artistic themes. (Sept 2012)

5.) The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann: "Gothic, steampunk, fairy, and fantasy" - "dark, scary, weird, magical, whimsical." Virginia Duncan of Greenwillow press gushed over this debut and its 18-year-old author, saying she wanted to "live in this book." (Sept 2012)

Can't wait to start reading! Which fall books are you most excited about? Also, if you'd like to watch any of the panels at BEA, check out their livestream options.

This Really Happened Today

Look, it's me with my new buddy, Captain Underpants:

If only I had known the dress code was so lax at BEA :O)  Will post more on the expo once my schedule is back to normal.

BEA Week 2012: Author Events in NYC

Holy Halloween there's a lot happening in New York this week in the way of kidlit. Sorry this post is a little northeast centric, but I wanted to organize the 80 million things going on after everyone pours out of Javits: - mostly selfishly so I can pick out what I plan to do!

If you don't have a pass to Book Expo America, here are some awesome (and free) author events open to the public at bookstores and libraries:

Monday

McNally Jackson | 6/4, 6pm
Young Adult Fiction Panel: YA authors discuss writing and their work | Ally Condie, Marie Lu, Andrea Cremer, Michelle Hodkin, Tonya Hurley, Adele Griffin.

Grand Central Library | 5-6pm
Secrets, Changes, and New Places - the Middle Grade Reader: From secret powers to strange neighbors, from hidden histories to threatened worlds, find out what's happening in for middle grade readers | Rebecca Stead, John Stephens, Brandon Mull, and Shannon Messenger

Tuesday
Books of Wonder | 6/5, 6-8pm
From Bookseller to Book Creator: Authors who were once in the industry in another capacity discuss going from a seller to a writer | Jenny Han, Nick Bruel, Jason Chin, Ariel Winter, and more.

Jefferson Market Library | 6/5, 6:30-9:30pm
Teen Author Carnival: this even hosts over 30 YA writers discussing six workshops including: Keeping It Realistic, Let's Talk Boys, New Voices, and Kick Ass Characters.

Wednesday

Books of Wonder | 6/6, 6-8pm
Rebel Writers for Teens: YA writers come together to discuss their provocative works, sign books, and answer questions | Holly Black, Scott Tracey, Victoria Schwab, and more.

Thursday

Books of Wonder | 6/7, 6-8pm
Meet the Class of 2k12: Ten debut authors of middle grade and teen fiction discuss and sign their work | Lynne Kelly, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Sarvenaz Tash, Meredith Zeitlan, and more.

Know of any others? Not that we need even more events to choose from!!! It's going to be a busy, busy week!

Is It Too Late for a Friday Five?

Let's just pretend it's west coast time! My week in five photos:

1.) 

My sweetheart surprised me with a writing gift - this book on craft written by Ursula K. Le Guin. So sweet, and it was even wrapped up in flowery brown paper!

2.) 

On Tuesday, I attended an SCBWI Metro talk by author Nora Raleigh Baskin on turning fact into fiction. Like a good student, I took lots of notes.

3.)

At work I shot an interview with Cherie Blair, human rights lawyer and wife to the former prime minister, at the Council on Foreign Relations building in NYC.

4.)

I broke this fortune out of a cookie.

5.)

And I left my office at Chelsea Market today carrying two of my favorite things: cupcakes and a big old bouquet of flowers.

How was this week for you all? Happy Friday!!

Wigs, Ponchos, & Dystopia at the New York Public Library

Last night I went to one of the Teen Author Festival events going on this week in NYC. This particular reading and discussion was on world building and destroying, and it was held at the main branch of the NY Public Library.

Chris Shoemaker hosted the event in a Capitolesque blue wig (right on), and eight authors read from their works. On the roster were: Anna Carey, Sarah Beth Durst, Anne Heltzel, Jeff Hirsch, Andy Marino, Lauren McLaughlin, Lissa Price, and Jon Skovron.

 I've been to a few Teen Author readings, but this one was the most hilarious. In between books, we played dystopian themed Wheel of Misfortune and Family Feud. And somewhere out there is an embarrassing clip of me winning a poncho to survive a future dystopian world by guessing the most survey answers on how to survive a zombie bite.

If you are in the New York area this weekend, I definitely recommend checking out the rest of the Teen Author Festival! The schedule is packed with great discussions and great authors and book signings. I'm going to be in Toronto, so I'll miss it. But if you go, let me know how it was!

The Difference Between Young Adult and Middle Grade

Literary agent Kristin Nelson's new weekly video blog has been interesting to follow. It airs on Friday, and this week she covered a question that anyone writing kidlit wonders at some point: What Is the Difference Between Young Adult and Middle Grade.

Answered elegantly, yes? You can check out her original post here.

And speaking of middle grade - I'm happy to report that I'm plowing through my newly revised ROW80 Goals like an abominable snow monster. The kind that has a snow monster laptop.

For once, I'm on track to meet my revisions as scheduled. This is partly due to getting through the dreaded beginning (it consistently wins the award for hardest/worst part of my manuscript), and also from conference motivation. I recently attended the Writer's Digest Conference - which my lovely writing pal Ghenet sums up here. She attended sessions with Donald Maas, James Scott Bell, and NaNoWriMo's Chris Baty, and does a great job extracting the gems from their talks.

So yay to conferences, yay to goals, and yay to staying on track. Hopefully all this motivation will keep up! Happy writing this week to you all!

Row80: The Checklist Returns

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80.
Happy Sunday everyone! My head is currently spinning with all the great information I took home from the Writer's Digest Conference this weekend. I'll keep this short and hopefully not too erratic.

 On Wednesday I worked on revising my goals with a more deadline-driven schedule. Having markers to revise chunks of pages really motivates me - and I was a little lost on how to start back up.  Here's the geektastic calendar I used for planning my new schedule:

I also created a checklist of what needs to be done within each group of pages I'm revising during that purple section. I'm one of those people who LOVES marking off boxes and crossing out items on a list. Geektastic!.

my darling checklist

This honestly isn't my way of procrastinating - after I organized my critique group notes into the checklist and created hard deadlines, I became super focused and more productive. My updated goals for this round can be found here. 

How have the first couple weeks of goals been working out for you, team ROW80?

The Joys of Pitching

my pitch index card book

Last year I bounded out of the Writer's Digest Conference onto the wintery streets of Manhattan and almost walked the full 50 blocks back to Harlem. I was glassy-eyed and wired from the two-hour agent pitch session, grin still plastered on my face. It took about an hour to adjust back to the normal speed of life, where every nerve in your body isn't on edge and you start to speak like a half-sane person again. Pitching my manuscript was part scary, part exhilarating, and completely exhausting.

Well tomorrow, I'm going back in! And as I'm preparing for an even longer pitch slam this year, I've been contemplating what worked last time around.  Here's what I learned from my experience:

First - I used these articles to research the nuts and bolts of an in-person pitch:

• Janet Reid on pitches vs queries.
• Query shark again on pitch and query length.
• Nathan Bransford on pitches of various shapes and sizes.

Here's where to take it from there:

-Format a pitch outline. This will really depend on how much time you have to pitch your manuscript, plus listen to feedback. An easy way to kick off your pitch is with the skeleton of a TV Guide-style one-liner - aka a logline. There are many tips out there on how to write a logline. Here is a simple formula that can get you started:

 TITLE is a GENRE story about MAIN CHARACTER, whose life is changed when INCITING INCIDENT occurs

This is just a start - be creative, but clear. And after you describe your main hook, get into the details that are worth including (why we care about this character, what makes their world unique or interesting, what creates the most tension or suspense for the reader). You can't include everything - so choose wisely! And remember to practice out loud and to time yourself.

-Be excited about your book! While I was practicing my pitch, I was so focused on memorizing what I wanted to say that I ended up boring myself. No one should be a greater advocate for your story than you! I went back to the drawing board and approached my pitch like I was telling a story to a good friend. I adjusted my body language, sat on the edge of my chair, and even threw in a gesture to demonstrate the action a character took during a climactic moment.

-Prepare notes. Narrow down the list of agents you want to chat with by first checking which ones represent your genre. After choosing agents, research what kind of work they like, want, and already represent. Then, rank what order you'd like to talk to them. I jotted down notes about each agent to customize my pitch with details I found out about them from interviews, their bio, and their agency website. I put my notes for each agent in an index card book I could easily flip through as I waited in line (pictured above) - and then jotted down exactly what they requested for me on their card after the pitch was over (it's also handy to bring along paper clips to attach their business cards to your notes).

-Kill your inner Micro Machines Man. The ticking clock combined with nerves might make you start talking *reallyreallyfast*. Take a breath. Slow down. Cramming 100 extra words in your synopsis won't matter if the agent or editor doesn't understand what you're saying!

-Listen and learn. Agents and editors are pretty in-demand people - so use this time to get as much feedback on your pitch and your concept as you can. Be open minded to what you hear, especially if they spot plot problems or other issues. And also remember that this interview isn't just going one way. Consider how the conversation is going - would you want to work with this person?

-Follow up in a timely manner. When you get requests, make sure you are clear on time expectations. I pitched too early last year (at the time, I didn't realize my revisions would take so long!), and didn't end up sending my manuscript to any of the agents who requested it. Sending your manuscript before it's ready will inevitably close doors, so it's really best to pitch when you are 100% finished, or when the timeline for sending it is open. Follow the instructions they give for sending your work (subject line, format, amount of pages, with/without query or synopsis, etc.), and add details from your conversation or their feedback that are worth mentioning.

This post is getting pretty lengthy, and I'm seriously tempted to start throwing in [har] baseball metaphors. So what are some of your pitching tips?

Row80: My Texas Check In

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80. 

Greetings from the Lone Star state! The Scientist and I are on a birthday getaway in Austin. This is my first trip to Texas, and of course there isn't a better way to get to know a place than meeting its kidlit writers.

On Saturday I stopped by BookPeople, where the SCBWI Austin chapter was hosting a mini event. Lynne Kelly and Tim Crow presented highlights of The Story Masters Workshop they attended in Houston (featuring Donald Maas, Chris Vogler, and James Scott Bell). They broke down some of the larger themes emphasized at the conference, such as using emotion and surprise in your story. A great mix of picture book, middle grade, and YA writers came out to take notes and join in on the conversation. Great bookstore, and great group of writers!

I'm definitely inspired to dive back into my own manuscript. Right now my writing goals are all about revisions. Other than eating tacos and walking around without a coat, here's what I've been up to:

• I met with my critique group on Wednesday and got super helpful notes. We have just 30 more pages of my story to go!
• The highlighters are back! I cut about 1,500 words from the beginning of my manuscript to pick up the pace, and now I'm trying to catch all those teensy references and phrases that go along with them. It's smoothing out nicely.

 Hope you all had a fabulous and productive week!

Slowing Down With Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith might just be the reigning queen of author readings. Last night at NYU, she read selections from the novel that she's been writing over the last eight years. I've always admired her amazing dialogue, but hearing her act out different characters totally blew me away. She wasn't being overly theatrical or anything, but I could see how she pictured each voice in her mind, and how she took great care to capture it just so on paper. Her pacing and word choice are thought out entirely, and the result was beautiful.

Here's something she said that hit home in the frenzy of my goals and being done, done, done already:

"It's not the typing that takes time. To type a novel would take six weeks, or not even that.  It's the mental blocks and those kind of horrors. But say you even wrote 500 words a day, which is nothing, you would have several novels completed in a year. But no one does that, because it's actually tough to find 500 words that you like. That's all the trouble."

Definitely an interesting thought to hear in the middle of National Novel Writing Month. The energy of NaNoWriMo is absolutely captivating. And we all don't have the luxury of working on a novel for years and years. But it was also refreshing to listen to her talk about her process, and how getting 500 words down isn't just difficult, it's almost painful. I'm inspired to take a little more time getting moods and attitudes right, to read my work aloud in different voices, and to obsess a little bit more over stringing together beautiful sentences.