Mindy Hardwick's Blog, page 49

Author Interview–Cordelia Dinsmore

I’m very happy to host a guest interview with author, Cordelia Dinsmore. Cordelia Dinsmore lives in a century-old farmhouse surrounded by fields of corn, wheat, sunflowers, etc., depending on the whims of the farmers. A dog, five cats, a horse, and several humans share the small farm where she works and plays. Cordelia writes strictly for children and has a fondness for creating rhyming picture books. When she’s not writing, she loves to grow flowers, blackberries, tomatoes, and the occasional herb. She also loves bird watching and scouring the Flint Hills for artifacts and prehistoric shark teeth. Cordelia’s middle grade book, MICHAELA’S GIFT is published by Musa Publishing. You can find out more about Cordelia at her blog, or friend her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

Story Blurb:  Michaela Cochran and her family make the trip to her father’s ancestral home every year, but this year is special. Michaela is now twelve, the age when every girl in the family receives a special gift. When Aunt Sharon explains that Michaela’s gift is a magical ability to bring one of her drawings to life, Michaela begins making plans. What she wants most is a castle high on the mountain, where her family can live together. But if she can’t figure out how to resolve the growing hostility between herself and her mother, her gift is meaningless.

You can buy MICHAELA’S GIFT at:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Musa Publishing

Where did you get the inspiration for MICHAELA’S GIFT?

Michaela’s Gift began as a seed from memories of my grandmother’s dog, Blackie. My mother was terrified of the dog and wouldn’t let us play with her. I wanted a pet of my own, but my parents weren’t crazy about the idea of another dog after ours ran off, and I was allergic to cats, so there were no fur people in my life. I made friends with Blackie, but only saw her once or twice a year, so I used to dream up adventures for her and imagine what it would be like if she had some sort of magical power.

What was the most challenging part of writing MICHAELA’S GIFT?

The most challenging part was Michaela’s mother. Everyone kept telling me she was just too mean. She is mean, although she is much nicer than the original version. But there is an explanation to her attitude toward Michaela.

Can you tell us a little bit about your path to publication?  How did you decide to submit MICHEALA’s GIFT to digital first publisher, Musa Publishing?  

I’ve been involved with the amazing writers over on Absolute Write for several years now, and if it weren’t for their feedback and the critique partners I have found through them, I would never have considered submitting to any publisher. They gave me courage and confidence in my ability. I also discovered Musa Publishing and Celina Summers over on AW, and advised another writer to submit to them before I ever considered doing so, myself. I read their contract, and the comments over on AW, and decided to give them a try. I’m certainly happy that I did.

What is one thing which has surprised you about being published?

Actually, when I received the offer of a contract, I was elated. Then I became terrified by all the new things I was going to have to learn. I had never formatted a manuscript to a house style. That was very scary. I had never considered the amount of time involved in promotions, and that was frightening. But as I face each new challenge, I know I’m learning something that I will hopefully use over and over again. I also couldn’t be happier with all the new friends I am meeting as I continue to reach out in the world of publication. I guess that’s a lot more than one thing, but it’s difficult to be precise when there is so much involved in the process of publication.

What advice would you give to young writers?  

I have run across a few young writers who have been in a hurry to see their name on the cover of a book. Be patient. You can still be persistent, but take your time to learn your craft. Find mentors whom you trust, and then listen to the advice they share with you. I have read published works that were exceedingly poor in quality of writing because a young writer did not want to heed the advice of people who knew better.

Teen Book Reviewer Opportunity

Musa Publishing’s MG and YA imprint is called, Euterpe. This is the imprint which is home to my book, STAINED GLASS SUMMER.

Euterpe is starting a Book Review Club for readers between the ages of 8-21. Club Euterpe!

If you join, you will get to read select Euterpe books (in ebook form) before they’re released for free! In exchange, Euterpe asks that you simply spread word about the book however you can (i.e. leave a review, post about it on FB/Twitter, recommend it to your friends).

Euterpe prefers that applicants be between ages 8 and 21 (members will be sent age appropriate books). Parents are welcome to apply on behalf of younger children.

To join Club Euterpe, simply fill out the application below and send it to: ClubEuterpe@gmail.com

Name:

Age:

Links to online presences (FB, Twitter, GoodReads, blog, etc.):

YA genres you love:

YA genres you hate:

How will you promote the book in person?

How will you promote the book online ( may not be applicable to those 13 or younger)?

How much influence do you have over what your friends read?

What e-reader format (or pdf) would you like your book to come in?

Club members must post a review on GoodReads and Amazon. Those too young to post reviews must have a parent do so on their behalf. Links must be provided to the review once completed.

Older members may be asked to verify that they have promoted the book elsewhere online by providing links. Members with the best promotional reach will be chosen to receive subsequent books.

Any questions can be directed to: ClubEuterpe@gmail.com

Thanks!

The Pulse of Mixed Media

When I spend time on the Oregon Coast, I always like to bring along at least one mixed-media/art journaling book as well as a small bag full of mixed-media/art journaling supplies and my art journal. Art journaling is a creative outlet which feeds the writing process for me.

This time, I was given a book for my birthday, THE PULSE OF MIXED MEDIA: SECRETS AND PASSIONS OF 100 ARTIST REVEALED.

The book is a conversation with various mixed media artists. A variety of questions were asked and the artists responded. Interspersed with the questions are mixed media art work.

As I was reading, it occurred to me that many of these questions posed to the mixed-media artists could also be asked of writers. (Good questions to use when I’m interviewing other writers for the blog, too!)

Here are some of the questions asked in THE PULSE OF MIXED MEDIA: SECRETS AND PASSIONS OF 100 ARTISTS REVEALED. I challenge you to answer some!

If you had your choice of fame versus income as an artist, which would you choose?
Who has had the most impact on your creative life?
What is your biggest pet peeve in terms of art? (Substitute the word “writing” for art)
What is your most quirky creative habit?
What is the one choice as an artist that you regret having made or not made?
Have you ever lost a friendship over art?

Here are my responses:

If you had your choice of fame versus income as an artist, which would you choose?

Income. I’d much rather have a continual income than fame with huge demands on my time thus limiting the time alone that I need to create. This answer also reveals the type of writer I am. It’s more important to me to have a continual flow of published books and stories which provide a channel of income rather than a big, block buster book.

Who has had the most impact on your creative life?

My parents. Both of them are creative and raised my siblings and I to value our creativity

What is your biggest pet peeve in terms of art? (Substitute the word “writing” for art).

That e-book, digital first publishers are not seen as “real” publishers. Grrrr…..

What is your most quirky creative habit?

I have to drink coffee with vanilla flavoring while I write in the morning. It’s gotta have that vanilla flavor. I can not write with coffee and milk as cream!

What is the one choice as an artist that you regret having made or not made?

This is a choice that I am making today, but that is still changeable. I’d like to be living in a smaller community with less “busyness,” and traffic.  I’d like to be a small community where I could walk to more places. I am happiest when I am on the Oregon Coast, and at some point, I’d like to be able to live there, or one of the small towns in Oregon.

Have you ever lost a friendship over art?

Yes. It’s hard, sometimes, to explain how writing can take up so much time.

Teaching Little Women

It was recently brought to my attention by a blog post on the Nerdy Book Blog, that

“Louisa May Alcott’s seminal work Little Woman is on the recommended list of “Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Range of Student Reading 6-8 for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)-English Language Arts.”

First, to give a little background if you are not a teacher. The stated goal of the CCSS is to prepare students to be college and career ready. The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.

One of the things the Common Core Standards will focus on which is different than in the past is that students will be expected to read more non-fiction literature and thoughtfully responding to it—50% of all reading in elementary school and 70% in high school.

You can find a great interview about reading more non-fiction literature on the INK: Interesting Non-Fiction for Kids Blog here.

The Common Core Standards in Math and English/Language Arts can be found here.

One aspect of the Common Core Standards is there is a list of recommended reading for the Core Standards. Educators do not have to use this list exclusively, but some schools are purchasing every book on the list. You can see a listing of the books for K-8 here.

Hence…back to the discussion on Little Women becoming a classroom taught book. I loved Little Women. I was so fascinated by Louisa May Alcott, that in college during my Senior Lit. Seminar, I chose Louisa May Alcott as the author I would study for my thesis paper.

Did you know that Louisa May Alcott wrote many other books and short stories beside  Little Women? Yes. She did. But it was her family story, Little Women, which became her bestseller.

You can find a great history on Little Women here.

So, if your class is studying Little Women, why not partner that book with a writing unit on personal narrative, or personal family stories? Boys may not be interested in Little Women, but I bet they can tell a great family story about something funny, gross, or scary which happened while on a family vacation.

If you are looking for great books about writing personal stories, the two I’d recommend are:

Personal Fiction Writing by Meredith Sue Willis

Jump Write In: by WritersCorps, Judith Tannenbaum, and Valerie Chow Bush

I’d also teach about Louisa May Alcott using this great video:

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women

You can tour the Orchard House where Louisa May Alcott lived here.

If I was teaching Little Women, I’d be sure to focus Louisa May Alcott’s courageous strength in pursuing a writing career in a time in history when women were not writers.  And I might seek out some local writers for a panel about their writing careers (or a Skype Visit) and talk about some of the challenges they’ve overcome on the writing path.

Markets for Young Writers

One of the questions I receive from young writers is: “How can I publish my work?” I always tell young authors that once they are ready to publish a story or illustration, they’ll want to find the markets which are just for kid and teen writers.

Summer is a great time to write, and I’ve put together a list of markets for young writers. I’m handing this out at all the Kid Writing Workshops. Please feel free to download and share with young writers!

Publication for Young People Handout Writing Web Sites

There is also a quarterly teen writing contest hosted by Euterpe YA Books. (An imprint of Musa Publishing). The theme this quarter is “THE END OF THE WORLD.”  The winning story will receive a book contract from Musa Publishing. The deadline for submissions this quarter is September 1, 2012.

You can find the Euterpe YA Quarterly Teen Writing Contest guidelines here.

Audio Book Stained Glass Summer

It’s time for a little round-up of good news about both my books…STAINED GLASS SUMMER and WEAVING MAGIC.

Audio Book: STAINED GLASS SUMMER is now in production to become an audio book! It should be out in December–just in time for Christmas.  When I sold the story to Musa publishing, Musa does not ask for audio rights. The Musa contract is for print and ebook.  I listed STAINED GLASS SUMMER on the ACX exchange in the spring. It received three auditions. The first two were good, but did not fit the voice of Jasmine. However, as soon as I heard voice over artist, Sarah Newswanger’s  audition, I knew she was the one! The audio book will be distributed through itunes and Amazon. Musa Publishing has been amazingly awesome, and designed my audio book cover art to match my ebook cover art. They did not have to do that, and receive no compensation for helping me with my audio book cover art. Thank you Musa!


Blog Interviews: This was a busy week for blog interviews about WEAVING MAGIC.

Besides from the Nerdy Book Blog Guest Post about Mrs. Piggle Wiggle’s Magic and how it inspires my writing today, I was also interviewed on YA author, Meradeth Houston’s Blog and you can read that here.

And I did a quick Q & A for the Plotting Princess Blog. This is a great blog written by romance writers, and I was thrilled to be included on their blog this week.

Also, if you are a subscriber to Children’s Writer, look for the front cover article for the August edition, “Will Middle Grade go Digital” by Chris Eboch. STAIINED GLASS SUMMER is one of the featured books, and my editor, Jenn Loring and I were both interviewed in the article.

When I decided to publish with digital first publishers, I had no idea if my books would have “legs.” It was a risk to go with digital first publishers as this is new and charted waters. My biggest fear was that my books would get stuck in a pipeline somewhere and no one would be able to read them. It has been a year since I sold both books. STAINED GLASS SUMMER has been out for seven months, and WEAVING MAGIC has been out for three months. I am thrilled to see both books finding “legs” and readers being able to find them through the major book channels, libraries, and now an audio book.  Jumping into unknown territory can be really scary,  and my learning curve has been steep in the last year, but I’m really happy I went with digital first publishers for both of these books.

Mrs Piggle Wiggle’s Magic–Guest Blog Post

I am guest blogging about The Magic of Mrs Piggle Wiggle on the Nerdy Book Blog today. The Nerdy Book Blog is a great blog and includes wonderful guest posts about all aspects of books and reading.

Here is the opening of my guest blog post…..the link to the rest of the Nerdy Book Blog guest post is at the end…Enjoy!

I was lucky to grow up a home where reading was given high priority. My parents read to my brother and I, and books were regular gifts at birthdays and holidays. To this day, I can go to my bookshelf, flip open any of my childhood books and find the inscription from my parents or grandparents. I loved hearing my Mom and Dad read Little Women, Black Beauty, Charlotte’s Web, and the Little House Books. However, it was the stories of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle which I asked for over and over. The Piggle Wiggle stories had a magical power which lasted long after the story ended and they fascinated me.

Who can forget, Mrs. Foxglove baking her thick chewy chocolaty nutty brownies for crybaby Melody? Or Evelyn Rover, Marcy Crackle, and poor little Cornelia Whitehouse eating whisper sticks? Or the story which horrified me the most—Patsy and her dirty arms that grew radishes! I loved the magic of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and her ability to find a solution for every childhood problem…….

To read the rest of the blog post, stop by the Nerdy Book Club Blog here.

Thank You Libraries

I’d like to give a special thank you to the following library systems who have purchased STAINED GLASS SUMMER:

The Sno-Isle Library System (Washington State)

The Seattle Public Library System (Washington State)

The Timberland Regional Library System (Washington State)

The Alachua Public Library System. (Florida)

These library systems each have many, many branches, and all total, STAINED GLASS SUMMER is available for check-out at 90 libraries! I’m absolutely thrilled that so many readers can find STAINED GLASS SUMMER for their e-readers at the library!

STAINED GLASS SUMMER is available on Overdrive for school and library purchase, and you can find the listing here. 

WEAVING MAGIC Available at Barnes and Noble

It’s here! WEAVING MAGIC is now available at Barnes and Noble for Nooks!

Blurb: He loves magic. She loves romance. But the biggest illusion is the one Shantel and Christopher perform together.  Sixteen- year- old Christopher fights to stay sober while fifteen-year-old Shantel struggles in the aftermath of her mother’s death and seeks refuge in a fantasy world. But the unacknowledged roots of their problems refuse to stay buried and soon, the two are headed toward a deadly magic trick. Can Shantel and Christopher move beyond magical illusions to find love?

WEAVING MAGIC is a YA romance which is receiving great reviews from romance lovers of all ages. WEAVING MAGIC is available at Amazon, ibooks, and Barnes and Noble.

Find out more about WEAVING MAGIC, including a free discussion guide here.

The First Time

One of the writing prompts I use in many of my workshops is: Write about a “first.” Write about a first kiss,  the first time you drove, the first date, the first dog, the first day at school, etc.

There are two books that I like to use in workshop which tie into “firsts”

Never Before: Poems About First Experiences, edited by Laure-Anne Bosselaar– A wonderful collection of poems about that “first” experience.

First Kiss, Then Tell: A Collection of True Lip-Locked Moments edited by Cylin Busby–A fabulous collection of true stories about that “first kiss” written by YA authors.

When I wrote, YA Romance, WEAVING MAGIC, I had to deal with the question: “How far would Shantel and Christopher go? Would they have sex?” Sex in YA is a huge topic, and there have been many fabulous blog posts written about it, including this one at Kidlit.Com.

I won’t tell you whether or not Shantel and Christopher have sex, you will have to read the book …..but, today, the “first kiss” excerpt is posted on the MuseItUp Blog.

You can read that “first kiss” scene here.

And, I ask you….what “first experience” will you include in your story?