Today I’m excited to interview Maya and Sarah, 5
th
graders, who started a book club with their friends, for my ASK THE EXPERT
series. And Maya’s mom is Kristin Lenz, who contributes to our Tuesday Tips and
who blogs with a number of other bloggers, many who are published authors, at
YA Fusion. I follow it regularly and recommend you check it out
here.
Hi Maya and Sarah. Thanks so much for joining us.
1. Please tell us a
little bit about yourself, your school, and what you like to read.
We are good friends in the fifth grade, and go to a public
elementary school. We both like to read fantasy and realistic fiction. Some of our favorite books are: Harry Potter,
Gregor the Overlander, The Mysterious Benedict Society, the Magyk series, Hugo
Cabret, Ida B. and True, Rules, and Out of My Mind. At school, our teacher is reading Wonder, and
we are really getting into it.
2. So glad you two like Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins. It was the first series I read of hers before Hunger Games became so popular. I know you’ve
recently started a book club with your friends. Tell us a little about that and
how it’s going.
The book club is going pretty well. We have a few members that want to be in the
book club just to be with their friends and don’t want to read the book. We
still are working on a compromise. We found some book club rules in an American
Girl Book Club book to try to get everyone to read the books and take it
seriously and be respectful.
We started at the end of the summer and wanted to meet once
a month, but we’ve had to be flexible because it takes some members longer to
read. Our first book was the Green Glass
Sea, and the second was Out of My Mind.
We just finished The Hobbit, then saw the movie together. Our next book is Princess Academy.
3. Sounds fun to read The Hobbit and then see the movie together. How do you find
out about the books you read? What about new books coming out?
4. I hadn't heard of that website. I'll have to check it out. Maya, does the
fact that your mom is a writer influence what you read? How?
Sometimes she recommends certain books, and sometimes I get
to read manuscripts from some of her writer friends and give them suggestions. My mom and Sarah’s mom are in a book club
together so they have given us suggestions and tried to help when we’ve had
problems with our book club.
5. Wow! Your mom's friends are lucky that you're willing to read their manuscripts. What books are you
waiting to be released?
More books in the Magyk series and the Heroes of Olympus
series.
6. I can't wait for the next book in the Magyk series too. Do you buy most of
your book or get them at the library? How often do you go to a bookstore?
Both, but we go to the library more often. We go to the bookstore a few times a
year. Sometimes we get Barnes and Noble
gift cards for Christmas or birthdays.
7. I love the library too, though I get there less often now that I get so many ARCs. Do you read any
teen book blogs, author blogs, or author or publisher websites? Become a fan of
an author on Facebook? Why?
No. We aren’t on
Facebook yet.
8. Have any of your
teachers recommended any blogs or websites to your class or to you?
No, but sometimes they recommend books.
9. Are there things
your favorite authors could do that would make you more likely to visit their
website, their blog, or become a fan on Facebook?
Maybe if they had a contest to win their books.
10. I think the contest idea is an excellent one both for connecting with authors online and in school visits. Have any authors
visited your school? Who? Is there anything you’d recommend that an author do to
make their presentation more interesting to you and other kids at your school?
A picture book author came when we were in first grade. She was good, but we can’t remember her
name. Jonathan Rand has come to our
school 3 times.
We would recommend doing a book signing, and if you’re an
illustrator maybe you could do a raffle where the winner gets his picture
drawn. You could also giveaway book
related stuff like bookmarks. You could
recommend your favorite books, and teach writing techniques like how to
overcome writer’s block. Also, please don’t talk on and on about your life
story, and don’t say “dude” every few minutes, don’t try to act younger.
Thank you for interviewing us for your blog!
Thanks Maya and Sarah for sharing all your great advice.
Everyone, I'm looking for more kids to interview for my ASK THE EXPERT series starting in July. If you know a kid who'd be willing to be interviewed, e-mail me at rmarma2 at yahoo dot com. Thanks so much.
Today, I'm beyond thrilled to share SHADES OF EARTH with
you. I feel so lucky to have gotten an ARC.
The final book in the New York Times bestselling trilogy, perfect for fans of Battlestar Galactica and Prometheus!
Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed
behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on
Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles
across the universe to experience.
But this new Earth isn't the
paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like
birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious,
unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first
let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.
Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if
they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building
a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of
what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because
if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends,
family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.
FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.
This is absolutely amazing! It’s one of the best
ends to a trilogy that I’ve read.
This book is filled with action. Right away, Amy and
Elder land on Centauri-Earth. And while Amy loves leaving the confines of the
ship and Elder marvels at seeing a real sky, they quickly realize this is not a
paradise. There are pterodactyl-like birds, deadly plants, and something even
scarier that lives on the planet with them. The planet is filled with mysteries
Amy and Elder must unravel or the group they lead won’t survive.
We get to meet new characters, like those finally
woken up, including Amy’s parents. And many of them aren’t what we were expecting.
There’re plenty of secrets, lies, and betrayals.
One of the things I loved about this book was the
character development of Amy and Elder. They have so much to face and they do
it together. And they’ve grown into leaders that can make the hard decisions
necessary to lead their people as they try to create a new life.
Beth is certainly not afraid to kill off characters,
even when it breaks our hearts and Amy’s and Elder’s. She does a fantastic job
twisting the plot, revealing things you wouldn’t have thought of, and racketing up the problems, the betrayals, and
the conflicts leading up to the final race to survive.
I SO recommend this fantastic book. I’m sad to leave
this world, but can’t wait to see what Beth Revis has in store for us next.
I'm giving away my ARC of SHADES OF EARTH. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if
you’re not a follower) and leave a comment by
midnight on January 26th. It would be great if you could leave a comment about the interview. I’ll announce the winner on January 28th. If your e-mail is not
on
Blogger, please list it in your comment.
If
you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention
this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. International entries are welcome.
Here's what's coming up. I hope you're as excited as me about it.
On Friday I'm doing a Dreaming of Books Book Giveaway Hop. I'll have a fantastic list of popular books for you to choose from. These book hops are really popular so
I'm going to try to do a few more of them this year.
Next Monday, I'm interviewing our follower Leigh Moore and giving away a
copy of ROUGE, her fantastic gritty, romance set in Reconstruction New Orleans. I don't read any romance books, but loved this one.
Wednesday that week, I'll be participating in Michael Pierce's blog tour and giving away a copy of PROVEX CITY, an urban fantasy told from a male POV,which also has some contemporary issues.
Then, on the last Monday of the month, I'm interviewing Marie Lu and giving away an ARC of PRODIGY, her fantastic second book in her series. I'm SO excited to share Marie's book with you because it's so good. Marie is so kind to stop by for another interview, with her busy schedule. She's already had an amazing career as an author and I can't wait to find out what's been going on with her since she became a debut author a year ago.
And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.
Hope to see you on Friday!
I’m going to publish a bestseller in 2013!
Who said that? Oh, it was me. I know, I say it every year. If only saying it made it true! So, how does one go about writing a bestseller?First off, don’t tie your imminent success to projected book sales. Instead, set out to write a really great story. Realistically, we have very little control over whether or not our stories become bestsellers or not. But what we can control, is crafting a story so compelling, so evocative and so poignant, that people can’t resist buying it, and publishers can’t resist promoting it (see: Hunger Games).Two Truths:First Truth: Writing several chapters that follow each other in a consecutive order is easy.Second Truth: Writing an entire novel-length story where the chapters are cohesive and build upon each other, where the story follows an arc, the character grows and fulfills their biggest desire, (or not) in a compelling, yet realistic way (with plot-twists) told in a style that is completely original and at once familiar, is really REALLY hard!Oh, we knew that already. Well, sometimes we need reminding.So, let’s take smaller bites. I’m going to outline a model of writing that works for me. It’s not for everyone, but it’s a guide for thinking about measurable progress in very concrete terms. We’ll lay it out for the calendar year of 2013, since we’re all going to write bestsellers this year, I mean, really great stories. Keep in mind, this is the macro, and that each time-frame can be further sub-divided into even smaller micro bites. Yum, let’s get started.January: Dream. Think about your story and your main character’s journey. What does she want? What is this story about? How is it relevant? Who are you writing it for? What do you hope to accomplish with this story?February: Plot. Hopefully, this will be done with the help of trusted friends and critique partners. Sketch your story in a way that works for you. One of my writing partners uses one of those tri-fold science project boards and divides it into three acts with color-coded Post-Its that list the major plot points. The boards are amazing! For me, I usually make an outline or write one sentence for each chapter “This is where our hero is called to action. This is where our hero realizes that what she thought she wanted is not at all what she wanted.” Yes, it’s that dry.March-April: Fast and Dirty. Writing, you guys, come on. Don’t worry about making it pretty or flowing or award-winning. Just get it out. You will most likely change every word later, some words several times over. The most important thing is to write it.May: Give it to someone else, get their comments, which should include significant changes as it is first-draft work. Wrestle with self-doubt, consider deleting the story (don’t do it!), and then, get over it.June-July: Rewrite for plot; fix your beginning, middle and end. Make sure you like your ending, and that it works for your story. It should be unexpected, and yet, it is the inevitable conclusion to the story you’ve so meticulously laid out, one that is unexpected, yet congruent with page 1. Working backwards sometimes helps.August: Rewrite. For emotion, voice, dialogue, transitions. Fix grammar, spelling, echoes, melodrama, etc.September: Give it to your original person and also to someone new. Take both of their comments graciously. Wine and chocolate help. Incorporate those comments that you are in agreement with, but remain true to your story.October: Polish. Blood, sweat, tears and elbow grease are an amazing concoction.November: Write your abbreviated and extended synopsis and query letter (if seeking an agent); book a writing conference and pay for a formal critique. Take advantage of connections you have and cultivate new ones. If you’re self-publishing, do your homework! Research your avenues of publication and initiate the process.December: Relax. Take a shower, walk the dog, and congratulate yourself on writing a really great story, regardless of the outcome.So, what do you say? Is it do-able? Does it make sense? Are you pumped and ready? Then let’s all write bestsellers, I mean, really great stories in 2013!
