Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 23

dragon ladies

When Stephanie Burgis read DRAGONS IN A BAG with her ten-year-old, she immediately reached out to let me know how much they enjoyed Jaxon’s escapades. She then invited me to write a guest post for her blog and it went live today: “Zetta Elliott on Dragons, Hybrid Publishing and Reshaping Reality.” Here’s an excerpt:

“I expected I would have to publish Dragons in a Bag myself because most of my fantasy fiction has been rejected by traditional publishers. The kids in my community aren’t their priority but when I publish a book independently, I set my own priorities. Having a book with ‘the Big 5’ has made me realize how important it is to have a sense of your own worth before entering the publishing arena. Otherwise not getting starred reviews, or not making ‘Best of’ lists, or not being treated like a rock star can leave you feeling utterly insignificant.”

You can find both our books on this list of dragon novels compiled by Liz Flanagan for Book Trust. Another dragon lady, Marti Dumas, posted a photo of her homemade dragons online and we got to talking about a recent interview in which Hugo Award-winning SFF author NK Jemisin declared that being a Black woman writing about dragons is “f***ing political!” That got me thinking…what if we three dragon ladies got together to talk about our books? I think it’s a great idea and hope you’ll stay tuned for our pre-holiday blog chat!

year-end honors

It’s that time of year again! Libraries and review outlets are publishing their lists of the “best” books of 2018. Of course, there are lots of great books that aren’t on these lists. DRAGONS IN A BAG has made three so far and I’m honored to have my book recognized in this way. But most years, the stories I wrote didn’t get any recognition and I was proud of those books, too. So let these lists be a starting point—give these authors a try and then look for their earlier books and comparable titles by other writers. Here are DRAGONS’ honors so far:

Best Children’s Books of 2018, Ages 6-8; Amazon
Best Fiction for Younger Readers, Chicago Public Library
Best Middle-Grade Books of 2018, Kirkus

I didn’t write about my weekend in Houston, TX for NCTE but this photograph from my conversation with Maya Christina Gonzalez sums it up perfectly:

And this shot captures the fun we had at Uncle Bobbie’s last weekend—my first time reading from DRAGONS! (look, Ma, no slides)

I’m hoping to get one more book written before the end of the year, but I have a bunch of NYC gigs coming up next month…I’ve started LOST IN THE SHADOWLANDS so will keep plugging away and see how far I get.

the dragons are…delayed

You can sleep in tomorrow morning because our event at Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books has been postponed. Unfortunately the books haven’t arrived so we’re pushing the event back to November 24 at 11am. Uncle Bobbie’s expects to get the books soon, though, so you can still pick up your copy and read it before our event. And I’ll still be reading at Big Blue Marble this evening at 7pm…

good news!

Two years ago my agent sold this picture book story but the deal was just announced yesterday. I’m excited to be working with a woman of color artist from Philly! I wrote that story almost twenty years ago so it’s good to know it will eventually be in kids’ hands. This morning I woke up to more good news—the Democrats have taken back the House! And the members of Congress are going to be MUCH more diverse and truly representative of our country…

A friend in Scotland wrote me this morning to let me know Betsy Bird included DRAGONS IN A BAG over at her Fuse 8 blog. Her question: “What Would You Include If Someone Asked for a Quick List of Recent Titles Starring Black Kids?” If you only had $325 to stock your library, which titles would YOU choose? Poor marketing for many Black-authored books means it’s hard for parents and educators to even know what’s available, so a list like this is really helpful and I’m happy to see fantasy fiction included!

Heading to the city archives today to see if I can find names of actual Black women who were inmates at the Blockley Almshouse. It looks like my copies of Cin’s Mark won’t arrive in time for Friday’s reading but I will still read an excerpt. There’s a community reading tomorrow night and I might read there, too, just for practice…I’m so used to giving book talks with slides—got to work on my dramatic reading skills!

precedent

I’ve been thinking about Prince lately, so much so that I wrote him into my latest novel. What do today’s teens know about Prince? One nonbinary character considers him a role model but my other character only knows that Prince died of an overdose. I’ve said it before but I really feel lucky to have been a teenager in the ’80s. There were so many ways for men to express/perform gender, but I didn’t have language for any of it. I either liked their music or I didn’t, thought they were cute or not—end of conversation. Today I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody and was nearly bawling by the end. I didn’t know or think much about Freddie Mercury as a kid but I definitely knew Queen’s rock anthems from the ’70s. I never knew he was born in Africa and educated in India, but I could relate to being the child of immigrants who don’t understand that being an artist is a calling and can be a viable profession. My father once said, “No one can get up every day and write.” But I can. And I did in order to finish this novel in about five weeks. Here’s the summary:

Ever since his uncle committed suicide, thirteen-year-old Taj has been trying to hold his family together. He’d do anything to see his mother happy again so when Taj meets a strange woman in Woodlands Cemetery, he carefully considers her curious offer: directions to a magical door that will let Taj and his mother escape this world’s misery. All he has to do in return is find something precious that was taken from the woman over a hundred and fifty years ago. But can Taj reach the portal once the vengeful ghost’s wrath is unleashed upon the city?

In the afterword I talk about my family history of mental illness and how learning about West Philly made me feel more connected to my new neighborhood. I didn’t set out to write about a Black woman who died in an asylum but that narrative mirrors the fate of my paternal grandmother. Sometimes I know exactly what I’m going to write about and sometimes the story comes in pieces that I have to puzzle over for a while. Students in Brooklyn last week asked me if I had a favorite book—which is like asking a parent to name their favorite child. I always give the same response: “I don’t have a favorite, but I remember who and where I was when I wrote each novel.” Someday I will look back at Cin’s Mark and remember that I wrote it just a couple of weeks after moving to Philadelphia. I’ll remember writing quickly, desperately; I’ll remember how emotional I was, how menopause and the midterm elections had me eating and weeping and dreaming of moving abroad. I printed five copies of the novel but only one of my readers had time to give me feedback. She loved it and she grew up in this neighborhood. But I worry that I wasn’t able to scrub all the Brooklyn residue from my imagination. If I waited a year, I would know Philly better. If I waited a few weeks, I could probably find other readers and get feedback on the nonbinary and disabled characters. If I waited. But everything feels urgent right now. I’m part of a YA reading at Big Blue Marble Bookstore this Friday and hope to have copies printed in time. The next morning I’ll be at Uncle Bobbie‘s to read from Dragons in a Bag. The week after is NCTE in Houston. And then the holidays begin.

I started a new novel yesterday. I was thinking of the horrific shooting in Pittsburgh and how a sequel to The Phantom Unicorn would give me another chance to write about Nazi-puncher Ari. First Charlottesville, now Pittsburgh. Would I write less if there were fewer crises? Or would I just write simpler stories about unicorns and rainbows? Sadly, I doubt I’ll ever know.

The election is Tuesday. If you haven’t already, please vote. We have turned things around before and we can do it again.

Happy Book Birthday!

This morning I got the final cover for THE DRAGON THIEF! Geneva B has knocked it out of the park again, but it’s a little disorienting to be celebrating the publication of the FIRST book as the SECOND book is being prepared for Fall 2019. And, of course, I had to complicate matters by self-publishing a MG novel as well…we’re still working on the cover for CIN’S MARK and I’m still revising but hope to have it ready in early November. In some ways this novel is a remix of SHIP OF SOULS; I wrote that story in 2010 and changed the ending when a friend suggested it would be upsetting to kids. But in CIN’S MARK, the Black boy protagonist makes the choice I originally wanted D to make. I look at where I am in my life—and where I have been—and realize I’m at the crossroads. It’s agonizing to sit through another election season without the ability to vote. My birthday is on Friday and I’m asking friends who are able to VOTE. Do it so we can turn this country around; do it for all the children suffering under the Trump effect; do it for folks like me who live and work here and care about this country but have no voice on the 6th. Folks online were super excited about DRAGONS IN A BAG, and I think a bit of whimsy and magic is just what the doctor ordered with everything that’s happening in the real world. But magic is ultimately about POWER, so please use the power you have and VOTE if you can!

silver skies

Yesterday morning I came out of Penn Station at 8:30 and immediately felt assaulted by the noise of midtown Manhattan—construction on every corner, roads choked with traffic, people racing by with sullen faces. My first thought was, “I don’t miss NYC at all!” Of course, I always made a point of saying I lived in Brooklyn. I avoided Manhattan as much as possible, and preferred the peaceful residential neighborhoods in my own borough. But then my Lyft arrived and being inside the car shut out some of the noise; by the time I reached our meeting place on 11th Ave., I was feeling calmer. Then I got upstairs, discovered my flash drive was NOT in my bag, and scrambled to get my presentation together. But the librarians attending the Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking PD were ready to learn and ready to share—within minutes I forgot about not having had a bite to eat and we spent the next three hours writing! I brought copies of my new writing guide for everyone, and so far I’ve gotten some encouraging feedback. I’m so grateful that Melissa Jacobs of the NYC Department of Education/NYC School Library System invited me to facilitate after seeing me present at the DOE Sexuality, Women, and Gender conference last spring. Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, gave everyone materials to take home—and I’m hoping I can find someone in Philadelphia who might want to get kids involved in the contest. After my workshop ended, I signed copies of BENNY DOESN’T LIKE TO BE HUGGED and MILO’S MUSEUM for the participants, gobbled down half a sandwich, and then walked back to Penn Station. The city was SO intense…I was relieved when I finally reached the Amtrak waiting lounge and dozed in the quiet car on the way back to Philly. Then I opened my eyes, looked out the window and for once, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. The train was crossing the Schuylkill, I could see rowers on the river, and the silver, mirrored skyscrapers were gleaming. And I was SO happy to be home again! I’m moving again this weekend (across the hall this time) and I’m trying to finish my first Philly novel by tomorrow. I have a few more NYC gigs this fall and I love that it only takes 90 minutes to move from one city to another. But I’m also glad that I left Brooklyn when I was ready because that means I can come and go without any emotional baggage. I believe Melissa took these photos during yesterday’s workshop, and I love that in this one you can see the Hudson River out the window. Rivers make me think of bridges and bridges are what keep us connected…

IndieLAB 2018

Conferences can be tricky because if you don’t find your people, you can feel very alone. For an introvert, mingling is hard so how does one find one’s people? Go to a conference where EVERYBODY is an indie author! IndieLAB was that rare space where I didn’t have to grovel and thank the organizer for including an indie in the line-up because the entire line-up consisted of people who either self-publish themselves or have advice for those who do. Not condescending advice—sound, generous advice designed to help you and your book succeed. My talk was partly about how we define success. I think some folks see me as the exception to the rule when it comes to self-publishing—they don’t *generally* like indie titles, but mine are pretty good. They might think that the attention some of my books have received means I’m earning lots of money from royalties, but that isn’t true. I make a living from speaking fees and so it was a real pleasure to address the attendees at IndieLAB in Cincinnati last weekend. I got a little pressed for time at the end and, of course, left my power cord at home so there were a few technical issues as well. But I thought I’d put my bullet points here on the blog so I can return to them as my idea of success evolves.

A successful indie author…

embodies possibility: be an example for others; do you best work but remember you don’t have to be perfect
serves her community, not just herself: think about the readers who need “mirrors,” support others in your community who share your values (teachers, librarians, nonprofits)
takes risks: don’t settle for the status quo—rustle feathers, rock the boat, and demand that the system recognize there’s more than one way to produce a book
supports a cause: care about something more than sales
operates in context: know the history of your field, recognize trailblazers, learn from others and share what you know

Afterward I had about a dozen people who waited in line to thank me for my talk and share their own projects, triumphs, and challenges. Last in line was Ashley who had seen our 2016 panel at the Books by the Banks Festival. She went ahead and self-published her first picture book and has a second in the works! Hearing that made my day and I passed along her beautiful book to an ecstatic little girl named Nia…

ALSC was also holding its annual conference in Cincinnati so I got to connect with several of my kid lit librarian friends over the weekend. They patiently let me rant about the bookseller who showed up to the conference with NONE of my books. That’s happened more times than I can count so I wasn’t really surprised, but one would think that at an INDIE WRITERS CONFERENCE, the bookseller would make more of an effort. The booksellers here in Philly are proving more receptive and I’ve got a couple of invitations already. This morning I met a friend to tour the Mutter Museum, and she provocatively suggested I bring the building down at the end of my novel. I just might! I’m still a bit upset at the human specimens on display—did they ever give their consent to be treated as “curiosities?” I’m nearing 20K words with the novel and Christina Myrvold has agreed to do the cover. She knocked it out of the park with Mother of the Sea, so I’m ready to be wowed again. It was nice to see friends and meet new people in Ohio but I’m ready to hibernate and get this novel done!

 

walking with the dead

It feels like fall here in Philly, which is a nice change after last week’s heatwave. The temps won’t stay this low but for now it’s perfect writing weather. It rained all night and was still going this morning, but I went out for a run anyway; forgot my pedometer so all those steps didn’t “count,” but I knew I needed to be in the cemetery. The great thing about rainy days is that most people stay inside, so it feels like you have the city to yourself. I’ve started a new novel and it’s set in the cemetery and surrounding neighborhoods; I watched a lot of TV yesterday but I also worked out my summary and got a few chapters underway. I realize that I’m often thinking about doors—last week I was headed to the bank when I saw a freshly painted interior door resting against the outside of a corner house. The yard was a bit wild and the exterior of the house needed some work, but that lone door was perfect. I must have tucked that image away because it came back to me yesterday as I was writing. When I visited the website, I didn’t find any African Americans among the “notables” buried in Woodlands, but there was an adjacent orphanage, asylum, and poorhouse: Blockley.

So if my teen protagonist finds a lone Black boy in the cemetery, he might have been an orphan buried in a mass grave near Woodlands (1,000 burials were discovered in 2001 and reinterred at Woodlands). That area was considered rural in the 19th century even though Center City isn’t that far away from West Philly today. My second ghost is called Cin (short for Lucinda); she’s a Black woman wrongly committed to the asylum for working “black magic.” In reality she’s a psychic, a formerly enslaved woman who can sense portals that offer a way out for those in need. When her wealthy White mistress asks for her help, Cin complies and is then charged with her murder. I’m getting ahead of myself—a lot of this probably won’t end up in the book. But Cin matters because the protagonist’s mother is on disability due to mental illness; he’s terrified of having his mother taken away and so he’s become the adult in their household. But what he wants most is a place where his mother can heal, and Cin seems to offer that possibility.

It’s no coincidence that I’m writing about portals after watching Season 2 of Westworld; I’m also close to finishing Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. Think I’ll make another cup of tea and try to get an outline done for this new novel. For now I’m just calling it “Philly Story #1” because I’ve got two others in the works…

resist

Our anthology is here! Many thanks to Cheryl and Wade Hudson, founders of Just Us Books, for responding to the 2016 election and the devastating “Trump Effect” that is harming so many of our kids. I’m honored to be included in this collection of esteemed writers. I hope you’ll add it to your home, school, or public library.

In a few weeks I’ll be delivering my keynote at the Writer’s Digest IndieLAB conference in Cincinnati. I recently did an interview for WD, which you can read here. The last question asked me to give a preview of my talk and here’s what I said:

I want to encourage people to think of storytelling as much more than a way to make money. Sharing your story can be therapeutic, empowering, educational—it isn’t always about selling thousands of books. In most cultures, stories are meant to connect people; it’s a way of building and maintaining community. So when I look at the current industry and consider all the voices that are being excluded, I have to wonder what that does to our ability to relate to one another. This is a nation of dreamers and I think our communities would be stronger if more of us found the courage to share our unique stories.

We’re suffering through a heatwave here in Philly. I try to run early in the morning and today decided to walk to Trader Joe’s to get my steps in—big mistake. I wore my new “Professional Black Girl” t-shirt that came in my Sisters in Education Circle swag bag, and it was soaked (and possibly sheer) by the time I reached the store. When I got to the checkout, the Black cashier immediately complimented me on my shirt—despite the sweat!—and we got to talking about the hot weather, my recent move to Philly, and how I write books for kids. She’s expecting her first and so I gave her one of my postcards and she immediately took out a pen and started circling the book covers that interested her. It’s those kinds of encounters that make me glad I do what I do. And I’m learning to focus on what matters—not how gross and sweaty I felt/looked but how warm and friendly Danielle was. Thinking I’ll take a couple books with me the next time I need groceries…