Oh, Hey 2014!

*Blows dust off blog* Hello there!

It's been awhile since I posted anything here, and when I look at the date of my last entry (February 16), I remember that as far as excuses go, it's honestly not been a "the dog ate my homework" kind of year.

Around the time I last hit publish, I found out I was pregnant. Pregnant! As in, hey, you better dust the sour patch kids off your face because you are about to become a mom.

Two weeks later, my sweetheart and I closed on our first house. I've been an apartment dweller my entire life, so this was pretty huge. We found a sweet brick colonial in a writerly suburb of NYC that has an amazing library... and as an added bonus, the village is also haunted, at least in the literary sense.

We decided to do major renovations before moving in, which required a lot of time and energy, all while I was fantastically nauseous.

And since I hit two major life events, I decided to go for a hat trick and accepted a job offer a few months later. The week after moving into our half-renovated home, I started my first day, with a new role, new boss, new new new.

Home ownership. Renovations. Nine months of pregnancy. New desk at work. It's been a hell of a year for sure!

My son Max was born in late October, and now one month in, I'm finally getting the hang of infant care. Though every time I think that, the little monster throws me for a loop :)

Fox-themed story time on Max's first night home

And even though Max came early, even though we still need to hang curtains and paint some rooms, and even though I sometimes don't brush my teeth until after noon, this tornado of a year has given me so much to be thankful for. And a big fat one is the shiny love, support, motivation, and hope I find in my kidlit community.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my writer friends -- amidst the whirlwind this year has brought on, you've been my constant! I've loved reading your blogs, your books, finding out about your book deals, and typing alongside you whenever I've had a free moment!

Hope you have more than one slice of pie and a few days of holiday bliss.

Sunday Writer's Treat: Amy Einhorn Opens Up

It's pretty rare to encounter a five-page interview on the internet that you'll want to read in its entirety -- but that's what I found the other day on Poets & Writers.

Check out this amazing interview with editor and publisher Amy Einhorn. You'll get the most forthright insight I've ever read on the editorial process, what it means to buy a book, and how the industry ticks. Enjoy!

Quotable Bite:

When you do your launch presentation and you say, “I love this book,” that’s almost completely meaningless to a sales rep. Every editor loves the books he or she bought. I know only a small portion of what the reps are up against, but related to the perception that everyone thinks that editors just read, a lot of what I do is sell. I have to sell the book to my reps, to publicity, to marketing, to booksellers, to reviewers.

World Book Night 2014

World Book Night is back! Well, not quite yet, but the 2014 books were announced recently, and there are some amazing choices this year.

If you are not familiar with World Book Night, get ready to smile. I participated in 2012, and sincerely loved every second -- even while carrying around a load of books.

Here's the full list of the 2014 books. The kidlit choices include
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, Hoot, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, and Code Name Verity.

Until then... more free books!

My last Marvelous Middle Grade Monday featured Keeper Of The Lost Cities with a giveaway to a commenter. I used random.org to pick a winner from the comments. And without further ado, the owner of a shiny new paper book copy is...

Michael of Middle Grade Mafioso!

Congrats! I don't have a Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendation today, but you can find plenty of great picks from these bloggers.

Instagram #PhotoADay: October

Confession: I'm a bit of a social media lurker. By nature, I'm an undersharer -- so some social sites elude me completely (I'm looking at you, Facebook).

But I find Twitter and Instagram fun, and I love catching up on people's clever (or not) updates -- even though I rarely post tweets and photos myself.

But that's about to change on Instagram. This month I'm attempting to post one daily photo. And three days in, sharing random pictures has been much easier than I suspected. In fact, I think it's reminding me to appreciate some of the small things I'd pass by without thinking twice about.

Take yesterday, for instance. While walking down Lexington Avenue on my way to work, I encountered a film crew that spanned a block and a half. This is a fairly common sight in NYC, but instead of rolling my eyes at the detour to my subway stop, I snapped a photo:

They are filming parts of the new "Annie" movie starring Quvenzhané Wallis in Harlem, and I spied the adorable actress getting her nose powdered between shots.

I'm glad I stopped and checked out Lex with fresh eyes rather than raced by to catch a train. It's not every day the street's packed with expensive camera equipment and a busy crew. And now I'll definitely be looking out for this scene and my familiar neighborhood sites when I watch the movie.

Are you on Instagram? Let me know - I'd love to connect and check out your feed! And you can find my profile here. After four months, it's about to get a lot less boring -- I promise!

Which Book Would You Buy A 5th Grader?

One of my dearest friends recently moved back to NYC from San Francisco to teach fifth grade English at a charter school in the Bronx.

We were chatting the other day about the library she's putting together for her kids. A company donated books to her school, and she received a sizable share for her class. She created a really special nook with cozy chairs for her students to cuddle up and read.

Given how much middle grade I devour, this conversation was bound to inspire me. So I decided to donate some of my favorite modern middle grade books to her classroom.

This was a task I took on with utter seriousness. I wanted to find a range of novels for her library, ones with fully formed characters of color, as well as stories set in diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and settings. And most of all, books that encouraged bravery and adventure while stirring the imagination.

After a few trips to The Strand, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon, I got hardcover copies (for durability) of the following books for her kids:

1.)  Wonder by RJ Palacio
2.)  Waiting For Normal by Leslie Conor
3.)  Chained by Lynne Kelly
4.)  May B by Caroline Starr Rose
5.)  Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin
6.)  How Lamar's Bad Prank Won A Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen
7.)  Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
8.)  When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
9.)  Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
10.) Inside Out And Back Again by Thanhha Lai
11.) Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
12.) Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective by Octavia Spencer
13.) Malcolm At Midnight by WH Beck

There were many more that I wanted to add to the list, but I had to stop somewhere! And since thirteen is my lucky number, I ended up going with a baker's dozen.

So, what middle grade books would you recommend to a fifth grader? If you could get every elementary schooler to read one book, what would it be?

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!

Tiger Eyes! Tiger Eyes!

It's not very often that my work life and my writing life intersect. But how fun when it does!

Today on HuffPost Live, we're having Judy Blume on at 3:30 PM EST to talk about the new 'Tiger Eyes' film with her son/director, Lawrence. Yes, Judy-freaking-Blume! Are you there god, because I might have a heart attack.

Come join the conversation, ask questions, or leave video comments for Judy before the interview begins and while she is live on the show. HuffPost Live is an interactive, community-centric livestreaming web and television show -- so we want Judy's fans to participate!

My lovely writing pal Ghenet and I are heading to the premiere tonight. Exciting to see another YA story on the big screen, right?  Will be back soon to post about BEA (and all the great kidlit coming our way), but wanted to drop this news first!

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.

Marvelous Middle Grade May Reading Challenge

Read me, Seymour!

Does your to-be-read pile look like this ----------------------------------->

Then check out the May reading challenge hosted by Deb Marshall.

I took that photo over the summer when I was overwhelmed by the unread books piling up on my shelves. Kinda like Gremlins, only they didn't need to be splashed with water to multiply.

Though I've made quite a dent in that monstrous heap, there are still so many stories waiting to be read. Good problem to have, yes. But how to prioritize?

This May, it will be all middle grade, all month for me and the rest of the people taking up this challenge. There's a hashtag (#middlegrademay). There are prizes. And there will be many pages devoured.

Are you in? Then get to tackling that reading list and sign up! My goals is to read ten fantastic middle grade books this month. How about you?

Rocking The Drop!

Did you know April 18 is Celebrate Teen Literature Day? I tuned in late to a fun meme going on that aims to get stories into the hands of young readers - definitely worth checking out if you could use a smile.

 

You can learn about Operation Teen Book Drop here. And look out for #rockthedrop on Twitter, where people all over the country are sharing their random acts of giving by snapping photos of books they've left for a lucky someone to find and keep.

I'm a big fan of giving out free books, so this is especially neat to see. Will definitely be dropping my favorites all over Manhattan next year! Happy reading.

Fun With Board Books

Howdy! Before I begin, last year I found some terrific charities that focus on donating books to libraries and children. Do you have any favorites to recommend? Would love to update my list, and also find new places to donate during the holiday season!

Noodle, enjoying an Indestructable

I've been doing some book shopping of my own for my tiny nieces, Joey and Justine, also known as Noodle and Bean. Noodle is two now, and has graduated from eating books to making you read them to her again and again.

Bean still eats them, much like The Incredible Book Eating Boy.

It's been so fun to flip through the board book section in the kids department. If you're in the market for new baby reads, here are my favorite recent discoveries:

Isn't this artwork modern and gorgeous? Alice is just one title from the BabyLit series - a series that also include funky illustrated classics like 'Pride And Prejudice' and 'Jane Eyre.' So neat to see in picture book form!

Meeow is my new favorite cat. This is the type of illustration I especially adore, and the stories are super cute! Yay Meeow!

LOVE LOVE LOVE! 'My Friends' by Taro Gomi. Read it!! The story is sweet, and great for rereading.

And never fear -- since Noodle and Bean can neither work a computer or read on their own, this post is spoiler-free :)

Do you have some favorites to recommend? Please share in the comments!

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 :)

Blogversary!

Holy smokes does time fly! It seems like yesterday that I was fumbling around with blog templates and trying to decide if and how and why I wanted to start up a kidlit blog.

But a whole year has passed, and the following things transpired:

I wrote 120 posts

          that have 508 comments

18 of which feature Marvelous MG Monday picks

My most popular post tested out a neat gender app

The runner up involves Tim Burton

My most commented post was my first book giveaway

My favorite thing about writing this blog has been connecting with other children's book writers and reviewers. I love getting a peek inside everyone's process, finding a good book recommendation, and learning tidbits about your lives.

I'm still getting the hang of this, and want to ponder a bit more about how I can use this blog to contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way. I don't stick to a schedule, but might consider trying out a few blog challenges and memes. Any favorites out there? At any rate, the wheels will be turning on my end. And thanks for sticking with me this year! 

Birthdays and anniversaries usually merit cupcakes in my world, but books would be more appropriate here. I have a few shiny arcs and some middle grade favorites that I've been hoarding on my bookshelf for this very occasion, and I am excited to release them into the wild! I'll have more details about this giveaway on Monday, but here's a preview of some of the goodies I have for you:

5 Things to Swoon Over on the Web Today

You probably don't need more any ways to procrastinate, but wait, of course you do! I feel like I've struck internet gold lately, and must share some of my favorite new things:

1) Title to Come: If you are writing a book, have written a book, work in publishing, or maybe just like to eat books, then you will cherish this tumblr. My pal Ghenet was gushing over it on Twitter the other day, and my life has since changed for the better.

2) Sorted This Way: Hufflepuffs meet Lady Gaga, because why not? The video is a little racy for no reason, but the lyrics are nerdy and fun.

3) Harry Potter Characters in the Books Vs. Movies: Remember how awesome Hermione was all teeth and bushy hair in the Harry Potter books? So do the folks at BuzzFeed.

4) Beautiful Bookshelves: One of my new favorites on Pinterest -- middle grade blogger Jasmine Ko has a board with hundreds of drool-worthy bookshelf images.

5) SmartEdit: Stina Lindenblatt reviewed a program for writers that tracks the words and phrases and dialogue tags (and cliches) most used in your manuscript, along with other neat stats. I downloaded it the other day, and really enjoy torturing myself with it.

Happy Wednesday, people!

Harper Teen Plays Dress Up

I just stumbled upon Harper Teen's fun Polyvore page. The site lets you pair clothing and accessories into creative sets that you can ogle at and wish you had all those items in your closet. You can also shop from the site, or share with friends.

I love when YA and fashion intersect. It's like getting to play paper dolls with fictional characters. Lucky mag created a slideshow not long ago that picked out fashion for their favorite books. And now Harper Teen is dressing up their fictional heroines in summery outfits.

 

So far, I can't pick out a favorite set - they are all too cute!!!

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?

Back to School

Ten years is such a long time, yet I can still remember scrambling to get in my last Chaucer paper, scribbling pencil into those little blue final books till my hands ached, and the feeling of elation when it was all finally over.

At Smith, where I spent my college years, there's this fantastic tradition during the reading period before finals. Just around that point in studying when you feel like your head is about to fall off, each student abandons her books and computers, goes out into the quiet Northampton night, and screams her head off. The feeling of catharsis is unbelievable - something I wished to repeat after my last finals as a senior.

This weekend I'm going back to school for my ten-year reunion. I can't wait to see old friends, visit old haunts, remember all the quirky rituals, smell all those musky books in the library. There's a terrific literary tradition at Smith - with alumnae like Madeleine L'Engle, Sylvia Plath, Ann M Martin (of Baby Sitter's Club fame), and Jane Yolen. Knowing this as a student always inspired me to write. And now that I'm on the brink of submitting my first completed manuscript, the timing of going back feels oddly perfect.

Do you have a reunion or graduation to attend this year? Along with my own milestone, I have a niece graduating high school next month -which means she's quickly leaving her YA years behind! Unfortunate for me, since she is one of my informants for contemporary high school information!

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!!