Rachel Hartman's Blog, page 6

A smattering

Hello, friends. I turned in my draft, but now I am sick. Just wanted to drop by and say hi and jot down a couple notes to myself.

I gave a pretty good speech last week to the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable about how I became a writer in spite of the fact that most things I want to express artistically are ineffable. How does one use words as a medium to express things for which there are no words? I found my solution in fantasy and metaphor. But more on that when my nose stops ru...

Revision brain

I am off the internets until the beginning of February, friends. I know you’ll miss me, but I leave you with this:

Mourning

Max Gladstone has written a really good article on mourning over at Tor.com: On Alan Rickman, Loss, and Morning Our Heroes. Just wanted to share that with you. It’s full of stuff to think about, as per usual with Max.

Neither Bowie nor Rickman were major figures in my personal pantheon, but I know the feelings. I cried when Terry Pratchett died. I was on tour, about to give a presentation at a middle school in Seattle, when I heard the news. I was worried about the Q&A I always do at the end...

ALA Youth Media winners

The Youth Media Awards had already been announced by the time I got up this morning (they’re on the east coast this year, and I’m on the west, and I get up early but not that early). Here’s the rundown of this year’s winners (unless it’s another metalcore recipe, you never know with me). Particular congratulations to Becky Albertalli on the Morris Award.

Everybody’s gushing about Matt de la Peña’s Newbery win – it’s been a long time since a picture book won the Newbery, but I don’t think it’s...

Kelly Loy Gilbert: Conviction

Almost forgot to link to the last interview! Sorry about that. I guess my brain is tired. Here’s Steph Kuehn’s interview with Kelly Loy Gilbert, author of Conviction.

Congrats again to all the Morris finalists. I’m sure they’re as eager as I am to learn the results on Monday morning.

Stephanie Oakes: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly

Welcome to day four of the Morris Interviews! Today it is my pleasure and privilege to interview Stephanie Oakes, author of The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly.If you’re unfamiliar with this hard-hitting debut, have a gander at the cover and the blurb below:

The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust.

And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too.

Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set afl...

Anna-Marie McLemore: The Weight of Feathers

The Morris interviews continue, with our newest laureate, Isabel Quintero, interviewing Anna-Marie McLemore about The Weight of Feathers. I feel like I’ve been seeing this title absolutely everywhere in the last week, so it’s getting a good buzz as ALA approaches.

If you’ve read any of the books we’re talking about this week, feel free to chime in with opinions and commentary. Any debuts you feel were overlooked this year?

Becky Albertalli: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Morris interview #2 is up today! John Corey Whaley interviews Becky Albertalli about Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

This is the one Morris finalist I’d heard of* before the shortlist was announced, and it sounds hilarious, so I’m eager to read it.

*Not bragging, so we’re clear. I feel even more out of the loop than usual this year. Luckily, this is easily corrected.

Leah Thomas: Because You’ll Never Meet Me

Welcome to Morris Award Interview Week, wherein past Morris winners interview this year’s crop of nominees. And a fine crop they have turned out to be! First up, Blythe Woolston interviews Leah Thomas about her debut, Because You’ll Never Meet Me.

I will be linking to these interviews all week and posting my own on Thursday. The winner will be announced this weekend at ALA Midwinter, along with the other Youth Media Awards, such as the Printz and Newbery. Anyway, go read! These are some wonde...

Word for the coming year

Every year, since 2012, I’ve been choosing an aspirational word to sum up my hopes for the coming year. I remembered pickingperspective, art, andauthority, but I couldn’t remember what my word was supposed to have been for 2015. Turns out it was relax, which made me laugh a little. This time last year I was, indeed, anticipating a lot of stress. The release of SHADOW SCALE, two book tours, writing a third book, and then we were trying to fix up our condo, sell it, and move. My choice seemed t...