Mindy Hardwick's Blog, page 57
February 15, 2012
MUSA Books I Love Blog Hop
It's a blog hop! What is a blog hop? A blog hop is where a group of bloggers get together and all post about the same topic or theme. Bloggers link to the other blogs involved in the hop, and as you visit each blog on the hop. You can also enter to win free prizes.
The MUSA Books I Love Blog Hop is with Musa authors who blog. We are each talking about Musa books we love and giving away a free copy of our books. It's easy to visit other blogs on the Hop, you just click on the button above and it will take you to a list of Musa Authors who are on the Blog Hop.
So here we go…..
Welcome to the Musa Books I Love Blog Hop! And today, I'm talking about Musa Books I love!
I'm also offering a give-away of one copy of Stained Glass Summer in any e-book format to one lucky person who posts a comment below. I will draw from the names on February 20. So, if you want to win a FREE copy of Stained Glass Summer, be sure to comment below! And by the way, Stained Glass Summer can be given as a gift–just in case those of you who have already read the book are thinking, but what do I do with ANOTHER copy?! Give it as a gift to someone who has not read the book!
The two Musa books I love are both published in the Euterpe YA Imprint. If you are interested in writing YA or MG for Musa, you can find the submission guidelines here.
The Girl Who Remembered Horses by Linda Benson–
The Girl Who Remembered Horses is a beautifully written story. The story takes place after the Dark Days, and Sahara is living in a Clan which travels. She has dreams of these wild creatures called Horses, and believes that it would be possible to train them. But, no one believes her, and instead, thinks it would be better to hunt and kill the horses. Through many twists and turns, Sahara's gentleness and gift with animals shines as she cares and loves her two dogs, their pups, and her goats. The scene where Sahara rescues a baby horse is especially powerful, and demonstrates Linda Benson's skill and knowledge in writing about horses. Sahara is a courageous character whose story will appeal to all ages. Highly recommend! (From my Amazon Review).
I interviewed Linda Benson about The Girl Who Remembered Horses in December, and you can read that interview here.
THE GIRL WHO REMEMBERED HORSES is also available from major online bookstores, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble,and Smashwords.
Linda Benson is participating in the Musa Books I Love Blog Hop, and you can find her blog here. Stop by her blog for a visit! She is also doing a give-away of her book!
The Trouble With Nightingale by Amaleen Ison
The Trouble with Nightingale is a YA novella. (Longer than a short story, and shorter than a novel). It's a horror story for older YA's or adults. I'll admit, I don't usually read horror, but I've gotten to know Ameleen as a Musa author, and she has been very supportive of Stained Glass Summer, so I decided to give her book a read. It's one that will linger in your mind for a LONG time! Eighteen-year-old Millie Scrubbings must decide if she will accept her responsibilities as Hell's new Gatekeeper or risk the denizens of Hell trashing her home turf. Amaleen wrote a great blog post on the Euterpe Blog which talks about how a couple of the characters in her book are based on real people….you can read her blog post here.
Now, be sure to leave a comment below if you want to be entered to win a free copy of my Musa Book, STAINED GLASS SUMMER.
Twelve-year-old Jasmine wants to be an artist. But, can she escape the shadow of her artistic Father to discover her own path as a glass artist?
Twelve-year-old Jasmine adores her photographer Father and wants to be an artist just like him. But when Dad abandons the family, Jasmine is sent to spend the summer with her Uncle on a Pacific Northwest Island. Soon, Jasmine is learning stained glass from island glass artist, Opal, and thinking she might just be developing a crush on Island boy, Cole. But, it's not until Jasmine finds herself mentoring another young artist that she can truly let go of her Father and call herself an artist by her own terms. The story will appeal to young readers between the ages of 8-adult.
And, if you would like to read a few more blogs on the Musa Books I Love Blog Hop, click on the banner here which will take you to the list of authors participating in the blog hop!
February 14, 2012
Valentine Day Picture Books
Happy Valentines Day!
Today, I wanted to share two new picture book stories which are great for Valentine's Day reads. Both follow a similiar structure and character arc in that both books have a character who is unlovable and trying to find love and failing until he meets the right girl who is just like him! One of the things which makes a great picture book is the ability to read the picture book again and again. This is one of the key factors which separates a picture book from a short story that you might find in magazines such as Highlights or Cricket. A good way to capture that read me again quality is by writing about timeless themes such as love and including underdog characters who finally succeed at getting what they need and want.
Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Scott Campbell, Atheneum Books for Young Readers Publisher, August 2011
Mortimer, the zombie, has been looking for love everywhere–with no success. Why? Because he is a Zombie and when he goes to the gym, his arms fall off and when he takes ballroom dance lessons, the gals find him a bit too stiff to dance! Now, Mortimer is at the dance, and he's looking spiffy. But, no one will dance with him, no matter how big he smiles his Zombie smile. UNTIL…(Cue the music), another Zombie gal named Mildred arrives late to the dance and clears the dance floor with her sudden thud on the floor. Now, Mortimer finally has a dance partner–someone just like him!
Mr Prickles: A Quill Fated Love Story by Kara LaReau and Scott Magoon. Published by Roaring Brook Press, December 2011.
Mr Prickles is a little hard to get close to–he just has so many prickles! The other animals tell him that he's not like them. "But, I am," says Mr Prickles. "On the inside." Poor Mr. Prickles. Everyone needs someone to love. And then one day, Mr. Prickles notices someone else emerging out of the tree right next to him. Can it be? Is it? Yes! It is another porcupine. Suddenly, love is in the air for Mr Prickles and Ms. PointyPants!
Happy Valentine's Day!
February 13, 2012
Unreliable Narrator In YA Class
On Saturday, May 5, I'm teaching a one-day class at Richard Hugo House called, Writing the Unreliable Narrator in YA. Bring your liars, thieves and unsavory characters as we spend the afternoon exploring how to craft a narrator who doesn't quite tell the truth. I'll be sharing tips I learned about unreliable narrators while working on my YA novel, WEAVING MAGIC. (Forthcoming April 27, 2012). We'll also do some short readings and writing exercises. The class is also appropriate for writers working on middle grade novels or even picture books. Yes! Picture books have unreliable narrators too. One of my favorites is Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School. (I'll be reading it in class, and it's one that I've shared with the teens in juvenile detention!)
The class runs from 1-5 p.m at Richard Hugo House in Seattle. (If you live in the Seattle area, the Richard Hugo House is a great resource for classes, readings, and workshops! I took my first writing for children class at Richard Hugo House years ago, and I still take about one class a year in everything from writing craft to marketing)
Registration information for Writing the Unreliable Narrator in YA can be found here.
Market Opportunity for YA
Kensington Books has two YA imprints which are open to submissions. Dafina Books and Kensington Teen. Editors are looking for YA paranormal (80,000-100,000 words), as well as YA contemporary, suspense and historical. Many of their books are published in series such as Mythos Academy in which Greek Mythology is used to structure the series world.
Queries ONLY are accepted by e-mail, and you should submit directly to the editor. Allow three months for a response. They do not respond if not interested. Editor's list of submission wants as well as their e-mail can be found on the Kensington submission webpage here.
February 11, 2012
Weaving Magic Blurb and Excerpt
One of the things my editor and I polished is the blurb and excerpt for Weaving Magic. (Forthcoming, April 27, 2012) Basically, it amounted to adding in more conflict in the blurb and not giving away so much of the scene in the excerpt. Blurbs and excerpts are important because it's what is posted on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the publisher's website. Blurbs and excerpts are what entice a reader or reviewer to try the book.
Here is the 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?
And excerpt:
Everything would be okay, I told myself. Christopher was my boyfriend. I trusted him. I crunched inside the wicker basket and curled my legs underneath me. I wiped my sweating palms onto my black slacks. The audience stopped calling for an encore. They were so silent I wasn't sure anyone was still out there.
I'd barely gotten my balance before the first sword barreled into the basket with a lot more force than we'd practiced. Startled, I realized Christopher was keyed up from the magic show performance. He was overestimating the force he was putting behind the swords.
I tried to figure out how to tell him to slow down. I couldn't very well call out to him or the audience would hear.
Before I could it figure out, the second sword zoomed past me and into the basket. The two swords crossed over my head, and I rearranged myself so I could crouch lower. As I shifted, a third sword whizzed by my left arm and peeled off a small layer of my skin. I saw the blood before I felt the searing pain.
February 9, 2012
Writing the Picture Book in Cannon Beach
I'm teaching, Writing the Picture Book, in Cannon Beach on Saturday, February 25 from 10 AM-Noon. The class will be held at the Tolovana Community Hall. 3779 S. Hemlock Street, Cannon Beach, OR. The cost for the class is $35 and you do need to register by February 22. To register e-mail me at: mindy @ mindyhardwick.com
Writing the Picture Book Workshop. Picture books are the most beloved story form of children's writing. But, how easy is it to write a picture book and how can understanding picture book writing help writers who are working on longer stories? We will discuss how to create a memorable character, how to structure a picture book, brainstorm and draft a picture book story. The workshop includes hands on writing exercises and is perfect for writers and educators who want to better understand how to work with and teach the elements of story.
10% tuition discount for Tolovana Arts Colony members. Membership applications are available at the workshop. Scholarship opportunities are also available through Tolovana Arts Colony. Email tolovanaartscolony@gmail.com or call TAC program coordinator Val Magee at (503) 368-7222 to request a scholarship application.
Learn more about the Tolovana Arts Colony and their classes here.
Come see why the Oregon Coast is so magical at all times of the year!
February 7, 2012
Editing Weaving Magic
The last few weeks, I've been working on the content and line edits for Weaving Magic. (Forthcoming April 2012). I won't lie. Being edited is both a joy and a curse. It's fun to see the story polished and shined. But it can also be a lesson in problem solving when the editor asks you questions that, for a minute, you think the whole story is about to fall apart because the scene doesn't make sense! Then, you take a deep breath, and look at the scene again and, hopefully, realize it's a simple fix such as adding one or two lines.
Some of my fixes for Weaving Magic included:
Shantel's cat appears half-way through the novel and Christopher trips over it. The editor suggested the cat make an appearance much earlier in the story when we first are inside Shantel's house. My cat, Cleo, just happened to be sitting on my printer while I was editing. Suddenly, Shantel's cat was a calico named Cleo who streaks through the living room much earlier in the book. Problem solved.
In the key climax scene, drugs drop out of Christopher's pocket. My editor didn't believe it. He wasn't hanging upside down. How would the drugs just fall out of his pocket? This is where I had a moment of panic…..I took a deep breath and relooked at her notes. She suggested he take out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from Shantel's arm and the drugs fall out. Viola! A one sentence fix.
It's all in the details. A lot of editing is simply cleaning up sentences, deleting overused words, and making sure all the commas are in the right place. One of my favorite overused words in Weaving Magic was: "It seemed to be," and "It seems," from Shantel. My editor questioned some of Shantel's tentativeness. An easy fix and not something I'd noticed with Shantel's character.
Editors are worth their weight in gold, but as an author, the trick is being able to let go of the story enough to hear what they are suggesting. The best piece of advice I was given about being edited is that it's much, much better for an editor to question elements in a story than to hear them from a reviewer once the story is published.
February 6, 2012
Truth and Lies with Teens in Detention
A couple weeks ago, I presented a young adult book and writing workshop to the teens at Denney Juvenile Justice Center. The topic was Truth and Lies. The first day we did a brainstorming exercise. I asked the kids to write down all the lies they had told on one side of the paper. We talked about how lies included everything from lying to cover an addiction to those small little white lies. The kids wrote fast and furious.
After fifteen minutes, I asked them to flip the paper over and write Truths they had told. Suddenly, the room got very quiet.
"Truth? What kind of truth?"
"Truth," I said. "How many days you have clean and sober," or "The truths about yourself such as, you are creative. "
The kids wrote. Two lines. Three lines. Finally, one boy looked up and said, "You know, truths are really short. Lies are big and long, but truth, truth is really, really short."
I agreed and we talked about how truths look on our papers. We talked about how the sentences were short. The words simple, and the list of truths very small compared to the lies. We talked about how lies are long and lengthy. How lies need a lot of explanation and words. And how, we all lie about so many things that, sometimes, we forget we are even lying.
After we finished with the brainstorming, I asked the kids to choose from our selection of young adult novels and memoirs that we used for the workshop. The young adult books were selected because each had an unreliable narrator who is telling the story. The narrator in each story is trying to come to terms with the truth and that sets up the character arc. My teen romance, WEAVING MAGIC (April 27, 2012) also uses this structure for the character arc of Shantel. In my story, Shantel can't face her Mother's suicide and creates elaborate romantic fantasies–fantasies she tries to play out with Christopher that come to a disastrous ending.
These are the books in the Juvenile Detention Truth and Lies Workshop:
After, Amy Efaw: The story of a teen who leaves her baby in a dumpster and spends time in a juvenile detention center in Tacoma, WA. I loved this book for many reasons. First, it is one of the few books I have read with a character in detention where the detention center is not portrayed as some horrific place. I know that some juvenile detention centers are terrible, but Denney Juvenile Justice Center is not one of those and neither is the Tacoma Juvenile Justice Center. This story is based on a true story and the author spent quite a bit of time with the girls in detention and researching the story.
Monster, Walter Dean Myers—This is always a popular book with the teens in detention, and a lot of them have read it, and usually want to reread it. It's the story of a young man who has been accused of a crime and is waiting his trial. While he is waiting, he is writing a script about his life. The story is told in script format.
Inexcusable, Chris Lynch–This book is the story of a teen boy who rapes his best girlfriend. It is told from the point of view of the teen boy as he tries to deny what he has done. This book was often discussed in my Vermont College MFA work. But, the detention center kids were not as interested in this book as I had hoped. The boys did not choose it at all, and the girls brought it back the next day and said they hated the character and didn't want to read it.
Invisible, Pete Hautman- This is the story of a teen who refuses to remember what happened one night. He's teased at school, and building a large model railway in his basement. It's a good book to discuss how the things we don't want to look at or remember influence our lives.
A Million Little Pieces, James Frey–When I introduced this book, I talked about the controversy over whether it was a true story or not and should it have been called fiction instead of memoir. The boys and I had a great talk about how addicts don't always know the truth and how for them, the truth IS the lie.
Terror Father, I Remember You, Sue Silverman– This is a memoir and the story of Sue Silverman's sexual abuse at the hands of her Father. I heard Sue speak at a conference on Orcas Island and she is a dynamite teacher, author, and speaker. The young lady who chose this book had a powerful realization about her own experiences with a step-father during the poetry workshop. She said to me, "I guess it's common when a Mom doesn't take your side." And then wrote a powerful poem about her experience.
Love Sick, Sue Silverman–The continuation of Sue's story when she is in college and her experience being addicted to men.
We're waiting on release forms for the teen's poetry, and then I'll be posting some of the poems on the Denney Poetry Blog.
February 2, 2012
Bylines 2013 Writers Desk Calendar Seeks Writers
Bylines is seeking writer contributions for their 2013 Desk Calendar. I was one of the writers included in the 2010 Writers Byline Desk Calendar and it was great fun! Here is the cover from the year I was included:
If you are interested, here are the submission guidelines:
Submission Guidelines
We're looking for succinct personal stories about the writing life. The oh-wow success tales, the naked truth about what motivates you, the heartache of rejection, the toughest lessons, the joy and pain of freelancing. Humor is good. Please avoid routine, trite, ordinary stories. Read the many insightful submissions in the current Bylines and you'll see what we mean. We strongly urge you to read these entries so you understand what we're looking for. Click on the links below for three examples of entries from previous Bylines.
Submission Length
The combined word count of your essay and bio should not exceed 300 words. We want room for your photo. However, don't send your photo yet. We'll let you know if your submission has been chosen and request your picture then.
Submission Method
Send your submission within the body of your email (NOT as an attachment) to: info@bylinescalendar.com. Include your full name, address, phone number, email address and website. Do not mail hard copies.
Deadline
Submissions must be received no later than March 1, 2012. Writers will be notified after April 15.
January 31, 2012
Stained Glass Summer Available on Itunes
STAINED GLASS SUMMER is now available on Itunes. This made me smile. I don't have an Ipad. But I do buy my music through Itunes. And here, is Stained Glass Summer, on Itunes. Amazing! (It's an e-book on Itunes. But, there's a possibility STAINED GLASS SUMMER could become an audio book. I have been approached by a performing artist for audio books and she is working on a sample of the book).
STAINED GLASS SUMMER is also on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and even Amazon UK!
One of the great things about being published with an e-pub, such as Musa, is the book gets formatted for all different types of e-readers and then is sold on many, many venues. Sometimes people ask me, what's the difference between self-publishing and e-publishing. THIS is a big difference. If I was self-publishing, I'd have to format the book for the different e-readers and then upload to the sales venues. An e-pub has someone on staff who does this job. As Musa likes to say, "The money flows to the author and not the other way around." I like to include time in this equation too!
