Mary E. Pearson's Blog, page 8

Pub Day!

Hooray!
The Fox Inheritance is out in paperback today!

And today marks the ONE MONTH countdown until Fox Forever is out! 

If you haven't read the first two books I hope you'll catch up on them now before the final book is out!  A few early reviews of Fox Forever say:

"A speedy thriller . . . crucial, memorable conclusion for readers."  --Kirkus Reviews

"The Jenna Fox Chronicles distinguish themselves among the many dystopian novels because of their unique combination of genre appeal and literary merit."  --Horn Book Review

"This is my kind of book . . . All of the elements that made the previous books so good are here too: fast pace, interesting world-building, complex thematic ideas about humanity and morality." --Stacked - librarians, reviews, mayhem

A Conversation With My Editor . . .

Happy New Year all! 

I hope your holidays were wonderful and you are rested and ready to tackle 2013!  I am!  I have a lot of writing to get done for the new series I mentioned earlier plus I have two books coming out in just a few months (the paperback of The Fox Inheritance and Fox Forever, the final book in the series!) so I'm being ruthless trying to keep a schedule!  (Is that possible?) But I'm trying!

And all of this is not keeping me from finding time to yak with my editor (one of my favorite pastimes ; )   Here is a bit of one of those conversations on the Macmillan blog where my editor and I  talk a bit about writing and conspiring on a series. Check it out and  come yak with us!

Plotting and Tools of the Trade

In my last post on tools of the trade, I mentioned that I was trying out Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet for the new book I was working on.  The beats of course, are all the elements of story, beginning, middle, and ending, and obviously several more beyond that.  So by the fact that I'm using it, it might imply that I already know all these things about my story already.  Um. No.  In truth, the story I'm working on has already turned in directions that have nothing to do with the prescribed "beats."  And that's okay.  Writing out the beats certainly wasn't wasted time.  It gave me a chance to ponder my characters and the world they live in.

In terms of writing, I've always been more of a plunger than a plotter.  I find my way through a story, but that doesn't mean I don't do some planning too.  Usually after my initial plunge, I step back, regroup, and plan, at least loosely.  Then a bit more plunging.  Rinse and repeat.  Even though I try to plan, I know that Serendipity and the Muse could gang up on me at any moment and hijack the story in a way I hadn't expected.  Actually, I'm kind of counting on them to do just that.  The unexpected turn or revelation, even for the author--is one of the delights of writing.

And of course, since I've only planned "loosely" I'm hoping these wispy writing partners will also step up and fill in those gaps I couldn't quite figure out.  Usually they do by the time I reach the end.  I know it's only my subconscious working and trusting the process, but sometimes it does feel like some other being made all those unwieldy threads align.

It's funny because I sometimes hear authors firmly say they're in one camp or the other, plotter or plunger, but very often when they start describing the details of their process, they seem to be a bit of both: Trusting the characters and story to lead them where the story needs to go, but not afraid to wield a tool from their writing tool chest when the story requires it. What kind of writer are you?

Off to plunge and plot . . .

ALAN!

I love ALAN.  It's one of my favorite conferences.  Don't ask me to repeat what ALAN stands for.  I know Assembly is in there, and Adolescent, and Literature.  But I always mangle the whole name.  The important thing is it's all about YA books, and the people who love them, and teach them, and share them.  If you happen to be going, I hope I'll see you there.  Here's my schedule:

Sunday: 9-10 a.m. I'll be signing ARCs for FOX FOREVER at the Macmillan Booth #511!  It's my first signing for my final book in the series!  Very excited.

Sunday night I'll be at the ALAN kickoff reception which is always so much fun. 

Monday and Tuesday I'll be hanging out listening to all the great panels so I hope I might run into some of you then.

And on Tuesday afternoon from 2:40-3:40 , I'll be on a panel discussing speculative fiction. (And I think I might be signing after that too?) so I hope you'll come to that too.

Then whisking home to get ready for turkey day.  Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

November travels . . .

Indiana, here I come!  Zionsville, Indiana to be exact!

On November 7th I'll be visiting teens and college students at the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library.  And get this:  If you hurry and preregister, you get a free copy of The Adoration of Jenna Fox.  But you must preregister. Space and books are limited.  Here's the registration form and instructions.  I'm excited.  I've been to the states on either side of it, but I've never been to Indiana before!  If you know a teen or college student in the Zionsville area, please pass along the information.  I would love to meet them! Patricia VanArsdale, the Librarian Goddess who has arranged the visit, says teachers and media specialists are also welcome. I will also be giving away an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of Fox Forever!

In other authory visit news, I will be in Las Vegas November 17-20 for the ALAN conference!  I love this conference because it's all about young adult literature and it's loaded with people who love YA books!  My schedule is as follows:
Sunday Nov 18th - 9-10 am signing at the Macmillan Children's Booth #511
Monday - free day to take in the sessions and ???
Tuesday  Nov 20th - 2:40-3:40 Science Fiction Breakout Session - More info to come on topic and fellow panelists!

Oh! I'll also be making a virtual author visit via Skype on November 3rd for the Sam Houston State University's Children's Book Festival !  It will be in the morning, 8:30ish, but I will confirm the time soon. I'll be chatting and sharing with teachers, librarians, and library science students--virtually! So if you'll be at the festival, stop in and say hello!

Fox Forever arcs!

The ARCs are here! Well, I got two at least, but I know there are more out there somewhere, and Fox Forever, the final book in The Jenna Fox Chronicles trilogy is being read by someone.  Who?  I don't know! 

This is always a nail-biting but wonderful stage in the publication of a book, and every time feels like the first time.  It's no longer just my story.  Others are reading it and bringing their own life experience to the words and characters and it's becoming something different.  Edmund Wilson, a literary critic and editor, said it best: "No two people ever read the same book."  Which is one of the things that makes a book so exciting.  It has an infinite number of incarnations, depending on who reads it, and yet there is always that shared experience too.

It's exhilarating when the story you worked on for so many months and sometimes years, is finally starting to look like the real thing--a book!  Of course an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) is not the final product.  It's a sneak peek.  It's produced before the final final edits are complete, so there are mistakes and sometimes there are small changes in the story too. Very often even the cover is not the final cover, as is the case with Fox Forever. There will be some changes to that too.  (But isn't it gorgeous already?  I love it!)

I haven't really said too much to anyone what this final book is about, but the short synopsis is up on most bookselling sites.  But for me in this final book, the world Matthew Fox spun into existence came full circle and it explored what it means to be human from multiple perspectives and from start to finish. 

I must admit, it was a very satisfying but bittersweet moment as I typed the last words.  I've spent a lot of time with Locke and Jenna and so many of the other characters too.  It was hard to say goodbye.

Sneak peaks aside, this last book of the trilogy will be out on March 19--only a few months away!

Banned Books Week - Celebrating the Freedom to Read

What do the following books have in common?

Little Red Riding Hood by Brothers Grimm
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
My Brother Sam is Dead by James and Christopher Collier
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Nancy Drew (the series) by Carolyn Keene
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Bible

So just what could this very diverse list of books possibly have in common?

1) I have read them all, either as a child, student, or adult.
2) I have loved them all (and hated a few)
3) I am grateful that I had the opportunity to read them all--whether I loved OR hated them.
4) And finally, ALL of these books at one time have been challenged or banned.

What this means, is that if the person who challenged these books had their way, I might never have had the opportunity to read these books. My right to exercise my choice would have been taken away. And oh my, I have some very particular feelings about choice.

On a very gut level reaction, I am insulted when someone insists on making a choice for me. What they are in essence saying is: I am smarter than you. I am a better parent than you. I am a better citizen than you. I am better informed than you. I am better, period.

Yes, they are certainly better to make decisions about their own life, but please, not about mine. I may be stupid, biased, swayed, uninformed, have bad breath or am just plain ignorant, but choice is something I value. More than value. It defines everything about me, who I am in this world, and what I might be in the next one. Do not take away my choice.

And to illustrate my point I will cite a story, a story from historically, one of the most banned and challenged books of all time: The Bible. In the book of Genesis God created a man and woman in his image. That image included free will. Choice. He could have made a man and woman in the image of robots–always doing everything as they were told. Things might have gone much easier for the world if he had, right? But he didn’t. IF, in all his wisdom, he gave man and woman the right to choose, and not only that but he gave them this right in the first pages of the most widely read book of all time, who am I to take that right away?

By now you are probably well aware that this is Banned Books Week. The problem with banning books is that there isn’t a book on earth that isn’t disliked by someone. If we got rid of every book that someone hated, the books that we love would be among them and they would be gone too. I can’t imagine a world without books. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Reading Little Red Riding Hood as a child certainly impacted me (read my bio) but I survived it and am none the worse for wear. Ban Little Red Riding Hood? Preposterous!

Without a doubt, we've all read a book that's been banned somewhere.  Maybe you're reading one right now.  What's your favorite banned book?

Last taste of summer . . .

What a summer.  Just back from a week long road trip up the California coast--part research, part fun, well, ALL fun really.  I never cease to be amazed at what a diverse state California is.  I took a zillion pictures as part of my research, but also many random fun pictures too.  Here is one that was unexpectedly weird.  It's an underpass tunnel on a trail.  I'm at one end and my hubby took it from the other: 
Bizarre huh?  Looks like I am being sucked into some sort of time travel zone.  In a way, I was.  This tunnel led to this:

A hidden cove in Big Sur.  I didn't know beaches like this existed in California.  I wouldn't mind being shipwrecked here.

Anyway, it was a great week that provided a lot of writing inspiration and material, and now with Labor Day past,  I'm ready to hunker back down into my writing routines.  Hope you are refreshed and ready to dig back into your work too.

Last taste of summer . . .

What a summer.  Just back from a week long road trip up the California coast . . .

June 04th, 2012

 I added a new page to my website  For Writers.  

I've received more than the usual amount of mail lately from new writers needing some tips or guidance and I figured it was time to put some helpful resources together in one neat tidy place. I hope new aspiring writers will find it useful.

If you know of other great writing resources, please share them!