Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m thrilled to have debut author Sheila M. Averbuch here to
share about her MG contemporary/thriller Friend Me. It sounds like a great
story, and I’m excited to read it.
Here’s a blurb
from Goodreads:
What happens when an online friend becomes a real-life nightmare?Roisin hasn't made a single friend since moving from Ireland to Massachusetts. In fact, she is falling apart under constant abuse from a school bully, Zara. Zara torments Roisin in person and on social media. She makes Roisin the laughingstock of the whole school.
Roisin feels utterly alone... until she bonds with Haley online. Finally there's someone who gets her. Haley is smart, strong, and shares anti-mean-girl memes that make Roisin laugh. Together, they are able to imagine what life could look like without Zara. Haley quickly becomes Roisin's lifeline.
Then Zara has a painful accident, police investigate, and Roisin panics. Could her chats with Haley look incriminating?
Roisin wants Haley to delete her copies of their messages, but when she tries to meet Haley in person, she can't find her anywhere. What's going on? Her best friend would never have lied to her, right? Or is Haley not who she says she is...
With twists, turns, and lightning-fast pacing, this is a middle-grade thriller about bullying, revenge, and tech that young readers won't be able to put down.Hi Sheila! Thanks
so much for joining us!
Follower News
Before I get to Sheila's interview, I have Follower News.
Shannon Lawrence has a new book, Happy Ghouladays: A Collection of Holiday Horror Short
Stories, that will be releasing in November. Here's a blurb and a few links: Family time can lead to murder and mayhem, especially during the holidays. These and other tales of woe await you beneath the mistletoe. Be careful who you offer a kiss. It may be your last. Links:
Pre-order link -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MDZR9K5My website:
www.thewarriormuse.comMy Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/thewarriormuseAnd Lynda Young writing as Elle Cardy has a new YA fantasy novella, Well of Ash. Here is a blurb and a few links:
No one knows who built the Great Wells across the world or why. To linger near makes the skin crawl and the mind drift in nightmares. Yet this one calls to Ash in whispers that pull her closer. Soon she’s caught in a mystery that can kill. She must find the answers before she loses her sanity and her life.If you like dragons, magic, and a fierce heroine with a wounded heart, then you’ll love Well of Ash, a YA Fantasy novella by Elle Cardy. Available now as an ebook and paperback on Amazon. OR, for a limited time, pick up a free copy when you join Elle’s VIP newsletter club.
Interview With Sheila Averbuch
Hi Sheila! Thanks so much for joining us.
1. Tell us about
yourself and how you became a writer.
I’ve earned a
living from writing, first as a journalist and then as a copywriter, for 25
years. So for me, seeing my name in print wasn’t the dream: the dream was to
write for children. I wanted to write stories that 11-year-old me would have
read without stopping, forgetting meals, bedtime, and even homework to read
just a little more. I wanted this so much, I never told anyone -- because I
knew from being a professional actor for a couple years just how badly I
handled rejection. I've said before that the goal of becoming a children’s
writer was so precious and so huge, it felt like a gigantic and embarrassing
imaginary friend that only I could see!
It wasn’t until I
was 33 (17 years ago!) that I made the first inquiries about how one goes about
that kind of thing, which led me to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and
Illustrators. SCBWI was my gateway to the professionals who helped me work on
my craft and connect me with like-minded aspiring children’s authors; I loved
it so much, my friend and I started the Scotland region of the British Isles
network; it’s now a thriving, supportive community of more than a 100 writers
and illustrators.
2. That's awesome that you already had a writing career before starting to write for kids. Were did you
get the idea for Friend Me?
One spark was the
day that my 13-year-old son mentioned it was his best friend’s birthday. I
encouraged him to call the boy on the phone, and he acted like I’d suggested
something unnatural. The aversion that many tweens have to using their phones
for voice calls is so well known, it’s a thing now in kidlit – remember that joke in ONE OF US IS LYING
where one character jokes to the other, What does ‘incoming call’ mean? – but
it also got me thinking.
If a young person
could have a whole friendship with someone via text and chat, what could that
lead to? And that led me into thinking about bullying, because when I thought about
the young person who would become so totally reliant on that phone-friendship, to
the exclusion of real-world friends and family, I realized she’d be someone who
was suffering badly. I also had another a-ha moment when I realized the
central twist of FRIEND ME – I was in the depths of the flu but made myself
grab a pen and scratch down a note so I wouldn’t forget it.
3. So true about kids not wanting to talk on the phone. You were a
journalist before becoming a MG author. What made you decide to make the leap
to writing for middle graders? Has your writing as a journalist helped you in
writing stories?
I worked as a tech
journalist for over two decades and FRIEND ME is interesting because it’s the
sixth manuscript I’ve written, but the first that marries my background in tech
(I was IT Journalist of the Year in Ireland way back in 2000!) with my passion for
writing kidlit. FRIEND ME has a lot of tech – cyberbullying, obviously, but also
advanced AI, bullet trains…there’s even a robotic cat.
I think the book found
a publisher in part because childhood has become so technologized. The
innovations that I cover still in my day job as a tech writer definitely fuel
my fiction, and the discipline of getting words onto the page I learned in
journalism school is also invaluable. My work as an actor was also essential: I
wrote my first manuscripts with a kind of cool distance, never realizing I had
to get into character and be that person. My writing got a lot better
when I used that actor’s insight.
4. Your book is
described as a fast-paced thriller. How did you plot this out? What advice do
have for other writers on how to create a page turner.
FRIEND ME was the
first time I skipped my usual process of writing a plot outline –typically one
sentence,
25 or so, for the projected chapters of whatever middle grade manuscript I was
working on. I started writing FRIEND ME slowly and averaged 250 words a day; I
wouldn’t let myself advance to the next scene until I knew absolutely that
Roisin, my main character, was driving the action. All I had was an idea of the
overall online-friendship-goes-bad and the central twist, and I didn’t bother
with those 25 sentences.
To be honest I’d intended
to write FRIEND ME purely to get myself out of a dark place (I’d actually given
up on writing for children, and was feeling really low), but three chapters in,
I felt more like myself again. The story was going well, so when I saw the
deadline approaching for the Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awards (which give
a cash grant, mentoring and training to Scotland’s most promising unpublished
writers, funded by Creative Scotland), I went for it and included a 500 word synopsis
for the whole story.
That provided a
compass, but I kept that commitment to staying deep within Roisin’s point of
view, writing slowly, and not letting myself advance without a strong,
character-driven reason. I also adore masters of twist like Karen McManus,
Elizabeth Wein and Sarah Waters, and tried to apply what they’d taught me about
leading readers exactly where I wanted them to go.
5. So interesting that you didn't start with an outline. Roisin is
bullied at school and on social media, and it sounds really like extreme
bullying from your blurb. How did you tackle this issue, which many middle
graders, without getting preachy?
You are so right
that middle grade readers won’t stand for preachiness. In FRIEND ME, I try to
let Roisin’s actions speak for themselves, showing both what ‘healthy’ and
‘unhealthy’ look like on social media. Roisin switches off her phone when
notifications are getting her down. She hits the swimming pool and feels more
like herself when she’s doing that heavy workout. This based in reality
including my own research about the nature of cyberbullying (how it gets deep
inside your head, delivered by the highly personal device of your mobile
phone), and coping strategies suggested by mental health resources for young
people (switch off if you can, delete apps if necessary, get as much physical
exercise as you can to get those good endorphins going). There are good
resources in stopbullying.gov and Nicola Morgan’s TEENAGE GUIDE TO STRESS on
these coping strategies.
6. What was
something you learned about making your story stronger from working with your editor?
Working with Emily
Seife, who’s a Senior Editor at Scholastic, was an author’s dream. Not only was
she sensitive and kind, she also saw a flaw in my story arc that no other
reader had. Originally, Roisin feels she has defeated her bully Zara, and
starts wanting to escape the increasingly uncomfortable friendship with Haley, right
after Zara’s accident. That was dramatically unsatisfying, because it gave my
main character everything she wanted in the middle of the book, but it was also
hard to believe: would Roisin really be over Zara? Would she really be so quick
to drop Haley? The friendship between them, and the way Roisin copes with the lingering
trauma of Zara’s bullying, now resolve in a more believable and interesting way
in the final version of FRIEND ME.
7. Jennifer
Laughran is your agent. How did she become your agent and what was your road to
publication like?
If your readers can
bear it, I wrote a long how-I-got-my-agent blog post here:[ http://www.sheilamaverbuch.com/blog/how-i-got-my-agent-and-what-nearly-stopped-me/]; in brief, my journey
to publication began with a derivative sci-fi adventure I wrote back in 2003. Cut
to 2014, and I got a standard but beautifully worded form rejection from
Jennifer on a different middle grade manuscript, and her kind reply made me
want to return to her when I had totally redrafted it. In 2015 I took advantage
of a live Writers Digest webinar where Jenn critiqued the first 500 words. She
liked what I’d done, and again her few words of encouragement were manna to me.
We met at Big Sur Children’s Writers Workshop in December 2015; I’d queried her
just before this, and she offered representation then and there, under the
redwoods.
Our first two
manuscripts that we went on sub with didn’t find a home (yet!), but we hit gold
with FRIEND ME. Shout out to Jenn and her Andrea Brown Literary Agency colleagues
for the title! Emily thought its original title (BEST FRIEND CODE) didn’t quite
hit the mark, and an all-agency brainstorm by Jenn’s colleagues came up with
our wonderful alternative.
8. What an awesome way to get your agent. You live in
Scotland. How are your promoting your book in the United States? What advice do
you have for other authors who have to focus on online marketing given
COVID-19?
The fact that I
live in a little stone cottage in Scotland, outside the city, and went through
years of manuscripts and over 100 rejections before getting a deal proves that
you can do it, too -- and you don’t need to live in London or New York.
Online promo
offers real opportunities, and everyone is in the same online-only boat this
year. A year ago, my husband had a terrifying head-on car crash at 60mph; even
though he walked away from it, the accident was a drastic reminder of my real
priorities. I decided before Covid that I would do online-only promo until 2021,
to be here for my family as Ralph recovered.
I attended a SCBWI
debut bootcamp that helped me realize it’s ok to focus on what I like and what
I enjoy (for me, that’s Twitter, Instagram, and talking about books). I also
took a wonderful Reinventing the Author Visit masterclass with Kate Messner
that helped me formulate a virtual school visit that’s right for FRIEND ME.
The best thing to
do for your own online marketing is to have your own website (mine is sheilamaverbuch.com).
I keep mine updated with info about my book including promo blurbs, links on
where to buy, and a full press kit (including high-res photos and biographies)
that’s an editable Google Doc.
I also put out a
quarterly Kidlit News email newsletter that anyone can sign up for, about what
I’m reading, authors resources and other value-added content, not just about my
writing. Having your own mailing list, even if it just starts with a handful of
people (never subscribe anyone to it unless they ask to be), is one of the best
things you can do for your marketing.
9. That's great that you're staying home to take care of your husband. You have a day
job as a senior content strategist and social media manager. How has this
helped you develop your marketing plan and social media platform? What advice
do you have for the rest of us on developing our online presence?
Content gets
conversations started. Focus on making and sharing content you like and are good
at: for me it’s pics and mini reviews of what MG and YA books I’m reading, plus
mini videos and other content about FRIEND ME –Instagram is a super place to
share bookish content because the algorithms really seem to favor it; explore tags
there like #bookstagram and #middlegrade. I post this content also on Twitter,
where I also follow and react to what’s being said by teachers and librarians,
using Twitter lists.
YouTube mini
videos are one of the best things you can do for search engine visibility –
unboxing your ARCs, talking to camera if you can bear it – and they’re easy to
embed in a website or share on social. For graphics I use tools like Canva and
the free PowerDirector mobile app to edit video I shoot on my phone. I also
write blogs regularly on my website at sheilamaverbuch.com and I share these on
all my platforms.
Be authentic with
whatever content you share and whatever you say on social media: listen before
you post, and never post anything in the heat of the moment.
In your bio or at the
top of your social profiles, include hyperlinks to places that people can buy
your book, NEVER just an Amazon link; I use bit.ly to create short hyperlinks (choose
a naming convention: all of my links begin with bit.ly/SMA) that I can track
clicks and see what’s popular.
I also sent a few
of my precious author ARCs to people who I knew would be willing to put up
Goodreads reviews; these have been hugely helpful in FRIEND ME’s visibility to
search engines. But I can’t stress this enough: do NOT rely on social media for
all of your visibility: have your own website and mailing list, which you
control.
10. That's all great advice. What are you
working on now?
I’m working on
another standalone middle grade technothriller, this time centered around
selfie culture and what that does to the tween psyche.
Thanks for sharing
all your advice, Sheila. You can find Sheila at:
Website http://www.sheilamaverbuch.com
Sheila’s Kidlit newsletter http://bit.ly/SMAkidlitnews
Twitter https://twitter.com/sheilamaverbuch
Instagram https://instagram.com/sheilamaverbuch/
Giveaway Details
Sheila has generously offered an ARC of Friend Me for a giveaway. T
o enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by November 21st. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is U.S. only.
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.
Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways
Tuesday, November 10th I'm participating in the Super Stocking Giveaway Hop
Monday, November 16th I have an interview with debut author Rachel Short and a giveaway of her MG spooky mystery The Mutant Mushroom Takover
Wednesday, November 18th I have an agent spotlight interview with Tori Sharp and a query critique giveaway
Monday, November 23rd I have an interview with debut author Carol Coven Grannick and a giveaway of her MG contemporary Renni's Turn
Wednesday, December 2nd I have an interview with debut author Diana Pinguicha and a giveaway of her YA fantasy A Miracle of Roses and my IWSG post
Thursday, December 3rd I'm participating in the Winter Is Coming Giveaway Hop
Monday, December 7th I have an agent spotlight interview with Maria Vincente and a query critique giveway
Monday, December 14th I have a guest post by debut author M.L. Tarpley about marketing and school visits during COVID-19 and a giveaway of her MG contemporary Malie and the Maize
Hope to see you tomorrow!
