Joy Preble's Blog, page 32

Five for Friday

The HAUNTED Blog Tour heads to Mundie Moms today for an interview.
Tomorrow we'll be stopping by Girls in the Stacks for a review. Please stop by!And don't forget the giveaway of two signed copies -- one HAUNTED and one DREAMING ANASTASIA over at Cari's Book Blog!
Thank you to everybody who has been part of this tour, to the Sourcebooks team that tweets and links, and to the wonderfulness of the authors, readers, bloggers who I talk to every day, whether in person or on line. My career has blossomed because of your generosity and support.
And now for the Friday Five!
1. Yes, I admit it. My world became a better place this week because Bethenny Ever After started up again. Yup. Bethenny, Jason, Brin, Julie, Cookie... my favorite not so guilty Bravo pleasure. B's honesty may be calculated, but I dig it.
2. Lyla the wonder dog is possibly learning to settle down. Possibly. Unless there's a squirrel. Or a cat. Or a garbage truck. Or the new washing machine. Or people.
3. It is almost time for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo. Each year we eat one really bad for you fried food that we purchase on the midway at a booth called Fried What? A few years ago, I consumed fried oreos, which I blogged about here. Last year it was fried ice-cream. This year I'm thinking twinkie, but I'll let you know.
4. I think I can let you see the cover of ANASTASIA FOREVER next week. I've actually started to see it here and there, but there may be a few tweaks still...
5. I have the best agent in the universe. Her name is Jen Rofe. And yesterday when I needed it, she made me watch this:

HAUNTED BLOG TOUR: Let's Read an Excerpt

Today Sarah's Books and Life is hosting the HAUNTED BLOG TOUR with an excerpt from Anne's first chapter in the book!
Like DREAMING ANASTASIA and like the forthcoming ANASTASIA FOREVER, HAUNTED has three narrative voices. In this second book, we see the story through Anne, Ethan and Baba Yaga the witch. You get a little glimpse of the witch through this excerpt from Anne's point of view, although Baba Yaga's own narration goes deeper into her backstory. Here we see Anne realizing that she can no longer hide from the destiny that set in motion when she met Ethan. Later, we'll see how and why Baba Yaga became what she is, a story that will continue into book 3. I loves me a good villain, but I like my villains in that gray areas: I want to know why they do what they do. And If I work up a bit of sympathy for them, that's all the better.
The rusalka is also introduced here -- this other Russian folkloric creature that's screwing with Anne's life and connected to her in ways that will surprise all involved.
Somehow, with the DREAMING ANASTASIA series, I always knew it needed more than one point of view. And so even when I scribbled that long ago first draft, writing in between classes and on yellow legal pads until I could get back to my laptop, writing at football games and even once sitting in the paper gown waiting for a doctor's appointment because that was the only ten minutes I was going to have that day, I always saw these novels as both Anne's and Ethan's. Eventually, I realized that the magic three would extend to the narration as well and added a third different voice to each book. Anastasia in book 1. Baba Yaga in book 2. And upcoming, Viktor in book 3. Because the guy's found a way to get his immortality back. So I figured we needed to know what he was thinking...
Click above to read the excerpt.Check out the HAUNTED trailer on Sarah's site or right here on my blog.And enjoy!
Tomorrow, I'll be back at Mundie Moms with an interview.And then Saturday, Girls in the Stacks is doing a review.
Fun thing, this HAVE YOU READ HAUNTED? BLOG TOUR!!
Tomorrow, I'm also talking about other stuff I've been doing: SCBWI Austin, last night's author event at Blue Willow where I got to finally meet Beth Revis!! Who was just as funny and delightful as everyone had said she'd be! And who was excited to meet me, too, which is always a rush.

DIAMOND IN THE DESERT

It's day three of the HAUNTED BLOG TOUR and I'm visiting Jen Bigheart's I Read Banned Books to talk about YA books that have influenced me. And in case you missed it during my Texas Bloggers are Rockstars series, Jen has also reposted - with extra pics!-- my interview with her and Stephanie Pellegrin highlighting not only their awesomeness but also how they almost got trampled/broke a leg running at TLA to meet Suzanne Collins.
Once again, thank you to Mundie Moms for organizing the HAUNTED tour as we count down to August and ANASTASIA FOREVER! (By the way, Mundie Moms is today's stop on the blog tour of another Sourcebooks Fire paranormal, the forthcoming EMBRACE, by Aussie Jessica Shirvington)
Tomorrow you'll get to read an excerpt from HAUNTED on Sarah's Books and Life!
And now I would like to introduce my guest for today, author Kathryn Fitzmaurice, whose first novel, THE YEAR THE SWALLOWS CAME EARLY, debuted in '09 and simply blew everyone away with its wonderful, lyrical beauty! In full disclosure, Kathryn and I are agent sisters, both being represented by the fab Jen Rofe of ABLA. But I really got to know her as part of the Class of 2k9, and we've stayed friends since, watching out for each other in this crazy business.
Kathryn's new novel has been garnering amazing reviews already. It is called DIAMOND IN THE DESERT . Here's a quick summary:For Tetsu, baseball is so much more than just a game

On December 6, 1941, Tetsu is a twelve-year-old California boy who loves baseball. On December 7, 1941, everything changes. The bombing of Pearl Harbor means Tetsu's Japanese-American family will be relocated to an internment camp.

Gila River camp isn't technically a prison, but with nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no time frame for leaving, it might as well be. So when someone has the idea of building a baseball diamond and starting a team, Tetsu is overjoyed. But then his sister gets dangerously sick, forcing him to choose between his family and his love of the game. This is an impeccably researched, lyrical story about baseball, honor, and a turbulent period in U.S. history.

Kathryn stopped by today to chat about the story behind DIAMOND in the DESERT, which is based on real events that occurred during WWII. Here's what she had to say:
Every once in a while, a really great story comes your way. This one came to me by accident. I was visiting my oldest son's middle school National History Day competition. One of the students there had built a model of the Zenimura baseball field as it stood outside Gila River, a Japanese internment camp. Her grandfather had played outfield for the team. I asked her if I could interview him. I thought I would write a short magazine article about him, but after the interview, I immediately contacted the other two players who were still alive so I could interview them, too. This began a two-year process in which I learned everything I could about the baseball team and Gila River. I'll admit, I never thought I'd write a story about baseball or Gila River. I didn't even know the baseball team had existed until the day I saw the model of the field.
But here's the thing. After listening to the men, and hearing what they went through, I wrote the story because, against all odds, in a time of turmoil in our nation, this team of young boys was able to come together and beat the Tucson High School state champs in a nail-biting extra innings game that was so incredibly remarkable, it gave a sense of hope to the other residents of the camp. It gave a sense of what is possible, if we try.
I spent many months in the Pacific Archives building of the Laguna Niguel branch, reading through all three and a half years of the Gila News Courier on microfiche, the newspaper that was published at the camp. I interviewed the men over a period of two years. After each draft of the story, I sent it to the pitcher, Mr. Tetsuo Furukawa, so he could read it to make sure I got it right. And then, I asked my son's former baseball coach to read the book, so he could check my baseball facts, and the baseball scenes of each game. I am so very grateful for the support and help I received while writing this book.
Moreover, I would say A DIAMOND IN THE DESERT is a story of hope and courage, which happens to take place in an internment camp. It's a story that helped me to see the good in people, and how with faith and determination, we can achieve what we want. It's also a story about a dog, named Lefty (after Lefty O'Doul) who after he was given away (because the camp didn't take dogs) found his way home and waited there for his owners to come back.
I hope you will enjoy the book. I am so happy to be able to share it with you.

Thanks for stopping by, Kathryn!

Check out Kathryn's website and blog.

Add DIAMOND IN THE DESERT to your GOODREADS !

HAUNTED Blog Tour Continues and other stuff

Thanks to the effervescent Maria Cari Soto for yesterday's interview and giveaway. If you still want to enter to win a copy of both DREAMING ANASTASIA and HAUNTED, then pop over to her blog!
Today Mundie Moms will be reviewing HAUNTED as stop two on the tour. Thank you to Katie!
And tomorrow, I'll be visiting Jen Bigheart's I Read Banned Books and talking about 5 YA books that have impacted me as a reader and a writer. Which ones would you choose?
So lots of fun this week and next!
Because there are three books in the DREAMING ANASTASIA series, HAUNTED will always be the middle child. DA was the miracle book: first book, first published work. ANASTASIA FOREVER, when it arrives in August, will be the finale. HAUNTED does the job of bridging those two and amping up the conflicts in Anne and Ethan's love story. Anne has tried to forget what happened the past fall. She has tried to forget Ethan even though she loves him. But then the rusalka arrives and Anne can't forget anymore.
Readers don't always categorize HAUNTED as a mermaid story, but in part that's exactly what it is. Rusalki (the Russian plural) are sad and malevolent creatures. They've met untimely deaths in or near a body of water and they are doomed to haunt watery locales, luring people-- men mostly-- to their doom. They are beautiful and tragic and can't be released from their rusalka curse until the blood of the person who caused their death is shed. And this rusalka, Lily, is connected very intimately to Anne.
So new questions arise: Who caused this rusalka's death? What does she want from Anne? How does she connect to Ethan and the Brotherhood and Baba Yaga the witch? The answers begin in HAUNTED and come to their conclusion in ANASTASIA FOREVER.
More than anything, Lily seems to want both release and revenge. She wants her story to end differently. And in this epic telling of so many stories (the Romanovs, Anne's family, Ethan's journey, Baba Yaga's tale, Viktor's desires...) Lily's story always feels the most tragic to me. Because underneath it all, she's a mother protecting a child. Or at least she was.
You'll have to read the book to get the rest.I hope that you do!And then you won't have long to wait for ANASTASIA FOREVER in a few months.Exciting news coming on that soon, btw!

Have You Read HAUNTED Blog Tour begins Today!

Just back from Austin SCBWI conference, which I'll post about later in the week because today is day one of the HAUNTED blog tour, hosted by the fabulous Mundie Moms, with stops at many amazing Texas blogger sites!
ANASTASIA FOREVER is quickly approaching in August, so as I wrote on Friday, Katie of Mundie Moms and I decided it was time to put everyone back into the world of DREAMING ANASTASIA (book 1) and HAUNTED (book 2)
Of course you should check out the HAUNTED book trailer here on this blog.
Remind yourself how sexy awesome blue-eyed Ethan is!
And how brave and wonderful Anne is!
And get back into the spooky, sexy world of DREAMING ANASTASIA again... or for the first time. Baba Yaga. The rusalka. Tragic Anastasia Romanov. A star-crossed romance of epic proportions.

Or as I like to say, History doesn't tell us everything....
The tour begins today at Cari's Book Blog with an interview. We're dishing about HAUNTED and other good stuff.
Click on over the Mundie Mums for the full week's fun.Tomorrow they'll be reviewing HAUNTED on stop 2!
THANK YOU!! to all the amazing Texas book bloggers who continue to support me and my books! You are all made of many pieces of awesome!

HAUNTED Blog Tour coming and other Good News

So things are heating up on the ANASTASIA FOREVER front. I have an exact release date-- 8/01/12!! ARC's are headed to production. The cover is being finalized. I've seen it now and it is TO DIE FOR!! You are all going to fall in big huge, slobbery love over this sexy, spooky cover. I want to show it to you right now. But, Editor Leah says I can't quite do that. And she's the boss. So hang in there. Soon, my pretties. Very soon.
Til then, something even more fantabulous!!
Katie of Mundie Moms and I and some of those fabulous Texas book bloggers that I've been raving about have partnered for a "Have You Read HAUNTED?" Blog Tour starting Monday 2/20. Because what better time to make sure everyone has read book 2 than when book 3 is almost here?
So just head on over to the Mundie Mom's website for the full deets.
And check out the HAUNTED book trailer that's right here on this blog. Remind yourself how sexy awesome blue-eyed Ethan is!And how brave and wonderful Anne is!And get back into the spooky, sexy world of DREAMING ANASTASIA again... or for the first time. Baba Yaga. The rusalka. Tragic Anastasia Romanov. A star-crossed romance of epic proportions.
We start on Monday 2/20 at Cari's Book Blog with an interview with me!Tuesday, 2/21 we'll head over to Mundie Moms for a review. And onward from there.
I'll keep you posted each day.And I'm so excited.
DREAMING ANASTASIA. HAUNTED. ANASTASIA FOREVER.History never tells you everything....

Of Candy Hearts and Other Things

When you teach, Valentine's Day is always a high emotion day. Love it or hate it, it can't be avoided. High schools are like this life microcosm: those who get flowers and candy and stuffed bears walk hip to hip with those who get nothing. Some give. Some avoid. Even the self-proclaimed celebrators of "Singles Awareness Day" find themselves with just a teensy bit of longing for someone to say "I Love you." Hopefully someone other than their mom.
But still I do miss this: In creative writing each year, I brought in huge bags of those chalky candy hearts. Everyone would scoop a healthy handful. "Make a poem," I'd tell them. Use as many of your heart phrases as you can. An activity that even the cynics could enjoy.
So today I dare you. Spill out those candy hearts and write something.Too CoolI want youtoText MeBabyTell me that youLuv meHug meEven if I sense that youMight notBe True
Feel free to let me know what you came up with!

Lesson in Point of View

Have gotten back to Jennifer E. Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight which I picked up at ALAMW#12 because Soho editor Dan Ehrenhaft said I must, must read it. I'm not far yet, but I'm loving it and I am fascinated by its very different choices for point of view.
Like most writers, I study other writers a lot. I'm always learning from their word choices, their sentence structure, their rhythms... the things they put in and the things they leave out. Essentially this amounts to voice, but it also affects how the story is unfolding and how we learn about the characters. And okay, everything else, too.
In Statistical Probability, Jennifer Smith uses limited third person present tense, with flashbacks in limited third person past tense. It is, I think, the first time I've seen this technique and it took me a few pages to see what she was doing. Once I did, I fell in huge slobbery writer love with how this works.
Let me show you: Hadley, seventeen, is headed to London for her father's wedding to thirty-something Charlotte with whom he fell in love while teaching poetry at Oxford on a fellowship. Her parents separated, then divorced, and now this. And Hadley has missed her plane. And is about to fall in love at first sight with Oliver, who is going to sit one seat over on the next plane with her. On the page, it looks like this:
Hadley isn't so sure.
The flight attendant is now working the keyboard of her computer with a kind of ferocious intensity, punching at the keys and snapping her gum. "You're in luck," she says, raising her hands with a little flourish. "I can get you on the ten twenty-four. Seat eighteen -A. by the window."
Hadley's almost afraid to pose the question, but she asks it anyway: "What time does it get in."
As you can see, the reader is intimately in Hadley's head, almost as close as 1st person present tense, but different. A fascinating difference.
I will post again when I've finished reading. But I'm pondering Smith's book this morning. Observing how this very unique point of view allows her a smidgen more of the writerly word show one gets with third person while still maintaining the intimacy of first person.
Would love to hear your thoughts today. Any experiments with point of view that have caught your fancy? Writers whose narrative choices you find fascinating? Choices that didn't work as well for you? Your own choices and why you make them?

Random Wednesday

Yup. It's random Wednesday. Let's chat random things that come to mind. I'll start. You guys chime in!
1. I used to play the viola. I was actually pretty good.2. I just spent a ridiculous amount of cash on a pair of Cole Haan brogans that I love. But to justify the purchase you will see me wearing them with everything I own. Be warned.3. What has happened to small, regular sized packs of Twizzlers? I don't want the GIANT size. 4. Lost Girl is good. Thank you, Canada. But it does steal plot lines from Buffy so overtly that even my husband has noticed.5. Going to the dog park is like a flash back to going to the play ground. And I'm just saying... if you have a pit bull puppy and you name it Patron, I'm going to assume that you have a certain set of expectations for your dog's behavior that might not mesh with mine.
Okay. Your turn!

Happy Monday and Grrrrl Power

Happy Monday!In the great old American tradition, I am still full from yesterday's Super Bowl party. Specifically: spinach dip, cheese ball, sweet/sour meatballs and homemade thin crust sausage and onion pizza. Plus crackers. And a few carrots to round out the food groups.
And I picked the winning team and part of the final score! So there ya go.
Plus Madonna. Okay, the marching... I could have done without the marching. And the guy in the dress/toga/thing on the wire? I was nervous for him. But Madonna. The girl still has it. Serious stamina and IN SHAPE. And the commercial right after? Betty White.
So here's what I'm saying: There are two ways to go in the aging process: Madonna/Betty White reinvent/work at your craft/have fun out there. OR: Meemaw sitting around watching Dancing with the Stars.
Now I know this is a vast overgeneralization. There's lots of space in the middle. And I mean no offense to any readers who are DWTS fans. I have to admit I've watched on occasion myself.
But this is what I'm thinking this morning.
Thoughts? Let me know how you see it.