Cory Putman Oakes's Blog, page 7

Meet Two Fantastic Authors!

 

As you all know by now, because I have been exhaustively tweeting/facebooking/emailing/eviting about it, The Launch Event for The Veil is going to take place this Thursday, November 10 at Book People in Austin (7pm). What you may not know is that I have the privilege of sharing the evening with two other intriguing authors. I wanted to give you a chance to get to know them and their wonderful books before the event, so here's some information on both of them:

RONNA QUIMBY HUCKABY will be presenting her book, Somewhere Out There: My Experience of Adoption and Search for Understanding. It is a story of one person's experience with being an adopted child. From the courtship of her adoptive parents to the experience of wanting to know more and looking for the answers that she knows must be somewhere out there.  As a professional counselor, she also relates to the reader about the emotional struggles that others may find.

Ronna's Bio: Somewhere Out There is Ronna Quimby Huckaby's first book.  She has a master's degree from the University of North Texas in Education & Counseling.  She is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor and board approved supervisor.  She has over 21 years working in non-profits specializing in women's issues, domestic violence, homelessness and substance abuse.   She currently is the Chief Operations Officer for Recovery Resource Council a not for profit agency in Fort Worth, Texas.  During Ronna's career in the non-profit sector, she has been a noted speaker on domestic violence at various state events.  She was chosen in 1998 as one of the Top Forty Under Forty in Tarrant County by the Fort Worth Business Press.  She currently serves on the board of directors of the Texas chapter of the Association of Substance Abuse Programs. .

Ronna enjoys cooking, reading and music.  She currently lives in Bosque County with her husband Billy, their 2 dogs-Sadie and Cooper and three cats-Nabor, Sonny and Indiana.  She is also blessed with two bonus daughters-Cindy and Stacy. 

 

LINDA GINAC will be presenting her book, Fake Perfection. It is a personal memoir about career transition and the veil that people wear to hide the pain of going through such an unexpected event.

Fake Perfection provides an intimate glimpse into the life of Linda Ginac as she struggles through ten tumultuous years to overcome a lifetime of broken trust. Ultimately a story of triumph, it tells the often-shocking story of a broken girl who overcomes incredible odds to become a strong, independent wife, mother, and entrepreneur. Linda's life wasn't always a bed of roses, but her defiant attitude and indomitable spirit shines through even in the darkest moments, allowing her to become a trust broker to clients and friends alike. Through it all, Fake Perfection shows us how we all wear veils to some extent, but through honest self-evaluation and effort, we can all achieve true happiness, even though we're not perfect.

Linda's Bio: Linda Ginac, Master PCM, is the founder and CEO of both TalentGuard, a strategic talent management company, and The Ginac Group, a full-service career development company. She is also the author and creator of the Professional in Career Management Certification Course, which includes her proprietary MATCH Career Management System. She's been a regular contributor to Fox News on a host of career topics, and has contributed articles to 90+ publications.

Linda's accolades include: Blazing Star Finalist 2008, Women's Chamber of Commerce—Texas; Austin Under 40 2008 Entrepreneur Finalist—Young Women's Alliance; Woman of the Year in Business 2007, YWCA; Central Texas Most Powerful Business Woman 2007, Austin Business Journal; and President of the Young Women's Alliance 2004–05. Linda has also served as Chairwoman of the Cattle Baron's Ball/Austin, raising $500K for the American Cancer Society, and Chair member Toast of the Town/Austin, raising money to benefit St. David's Dental Program for at-risk children.

She holds a Master's Degree in Career Development from John F. Kennedy University, and a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts from Norwich University.  Linda is an avid athlete, enjoys singing, and lives in Austin, TX, with her husband, two sons, and three dogs.

You can find Linda online at: www.fakeperfection.com

 

I hope you can join the three of us at Book People on Thursday, November 10 at 7:00pm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YA Lit – It's Not Just For Kids Anymore!

While on a recent visit to San Francisco, I dragged my husband into City Lights (one of SF's most renowned indie bookstores) to look around. I immediately went right for my favorite section—Young Adult. I found it crowded, so I browsed for just a quick second before we headed down the street to meet some friends for dinner.

On our way to the restaurant, my husband said, "Weird. Did you notice that the Young Adult aisle was the only one in the store with any people in it?"

I had noticed that. And I had also noticed something else – the people in the aisle with me were not kids. They were adults – and not even necessarily on the "young" side of adult. At 31, I had been the youngest person in the entire section.

It's a phenomenon that I've been noticing with increasing frequency over the past few years. Even Publisher's Weekly has taken note of the trend, remarking in a recent article: "adults are shopping in the YA aisle."

And they're not just shopping for the teens in their lives – they're shopping for themselves.

This got me thinking – who are these adults who read YA? Are they all people like me who simply never grew out of it (who use the fact that they write YA as an excuse to keep going back for more? Or have they recently rediscovered it? What do they like about it?

To find out, I took a totally nonscientific poll of some of my Twitter followers who were gracious enough to respond to a short questionnaire—I ended up with twenty-two respondents, all self-professed "lovers of YA," who ranged in age from 21 to 46.

Here are the nuggets of wisdom I was able to glean from their responses:

 

Harry Potter and Twilight appear to be the gateway drugs . . . but they have since moved on from Harry and Bella.

The vast majority of my test group reported that they either started reading YA or picked the genre back up again after reading either Harry Potter or Twilight (or both). Nobody with their eye on the publishing industry would be surprised by that.

But, when asked to name their favorite YA book, most named much more recent YA titles, such as Divergent (Veronica Roth) and The Hunger Games series (Suzanne Collins), indicating to me that they have branched out and kept current with the genre. I think it is also worth noting that almost every respondent objected to having to pick just one favorite and instead gave me a list. Clearly, these adult YA lovers are more than just rabid Harry Potter fans or Twi-hards who read the same books over and over again—these are true fans of YA who have read widely in the genre.

 

They also read adult novels, but are drawn to the lack of pretention in YA.

Savvy YA Lit lovers are aware that YA Lit is a lot more than just Adult Lit that has been watered down or simplified in order to appeal to teens. YA Lit is an entirely different animal than its adult counterpart: the pace is faster, the plots are generally more streamlined, and the main characters grapple with uniquely "teen" problems and concerns.

These differences appear to be precisely what adult YA readers enjoy about the genre. As Graeme Ing  (@GraemeIng) put it, "I am often in the mood for a "simple" adventure story that doesn't involve 800 pages of political intrigue, overly complex backstory, or the author's cleverness getting in the way of the story." Shauna Shoptaw (@shaunzeebaby) added, "I enjoy YA literature because of the (often) ease of readability and because, even as an adult, I find that I can relate to the characters."

Reading YA can be a nice break from the pressures of being a grown-up. Several respondents told me that, for them, YA is "more escapist than the high suspense thrillers that are common place for popular adult fiction." (Ashley Elizabeth, @AEWrites). As Joli Huynh (@ActinUpwb) put it, "My life is full of enough adult stressors and responsibilities that I like to get lost in a [YA] book."

 

The lack of graphic sex and violence is also a draw for many.

Much like old movies, where the bedroom door is discreetly shut when things start to get serious, YA lit requires its readers to fill in the blanks when it comes to some of the more graphic scenarios. And many readers, even those who also regularly read adult books, find this refreshing.  As Jillian Van Leer (@jvanleer) put it, "I love to read YA because I don't have to worry too much about the book being inappropriate. Yes, the characters still curse, and yes they still have sex, but it's not graphic."

"[N]o one falls in love quite like characters in a book, and I like reading about these young, sometimes awkward, innocent and undiscovered loves," said Kari Bradley (@KariBradley7). There is a sweetness about first romance that is heightened by the fact that you know you are reading a YA – therefore you know it's not going to morph into a bodice-ripper at any moment. YA writers have to be more creative than that. Not that there aren't some mighty creative bodice-ripper books out there, but YA writers have to work extra hard to make their romances believable, irresistible, and compelling, while still being genre-appropriate.

Good YA's strike the perfect balance between "graphic-ness" and age-appropriateness "but at the same time, they're not dumbed down" (Vivi Barnes, @ticklingthemuse). Brilliant YA's can build an entire franchise off of the idea that the characters are not having sex (see: Twilight, Stephenie Meyer).

 

Adults Like Reading About Teenagers . . .

. . . in a "non-creepy way" as Megan Whitmer (@MeganWhitmer) put it. Teenagers are fun! "[T]hey care so deeply about things. They're overly dramatic and self-involved and totally unapologetic about it." (Megan again! @MeganWhitmer).  Jesi Lea Ryan (@Jesilea) added that "I love the 'coming of age' storylines and the experiences of first love. Teens feel emotions so strongly."

Who doesn't sometimes wish they could go back and be teenagers all over again – this time, knowing what we know as adults? Whether your teen years were horrific or glorious, reading YA is the perfect excuse to revisit them. "It's the time of first – first love, first kiss, first heartbreak . . . It's one of lifes biggest defining moments, the last gasps of childhood where adulthood is beginning . . . Life just holds so much potential at that age." (Cassi Hagard, @veela_valoom) Who wouldn't want to read about that?

 

YA Is Where The Writing Talent Is These Days.

YA Lit has grown leaps and bound in the past several years and has drawn some of the most talented writers at work today. The popularity of the genre has led even well-known Adult Lit authors to take a crack at YA. See James Pattison's Maximum Ride series and Scott Westerfield's Uglies series.

So what is it about the YA writing that attracts adults? "The writing is, in my opinion, much better and the plots more interesting than traditional adult publishing." (Melissa Buron, @melissaburon). Some respondents felt that the quality of YA Lit is actually superior to that of Adult Lit: "I feel that YA authors put more into their books. They are held to really high standards by teenagers. Teenagers are fickle and if a book isn't good they aren't going to stick with it or give it another chance like an adult would." (Amy Olsen, @AmyO122). Farrah Ritter (@Momofthreeunder) noted that "[YA is] honest, straightforward and interesting. It isn't usually constrained by the typical 'adult' genres in the predictability department."

Or it may be as simple as, "There are so many great YA authors writing great books!" (Cari Soto, @cariblogs). There is so much to choose from in the YA section these days, there is bound to be something to interest everyone.

 

So grown-ups, don't be ashamed to check out the YA aisle the next time you are in a bookstore—chances are, you won't be the only non-teen browsing there! And teens—look out! That person elbowing you aside to get their hands on the latest Tamora Pierce may not be who you think it is – it might even be . . . wait for it . . . your Mom!

 

Many thanks to my generous Twitter friends who contributed to this post:

Farrah Ritter – @Momofthreeunder (http://thethreeunder.com/)

Colleen Conrad – @ColleenConrad (http://www.colleenconrad.com/)

Tabitha – @Pabkins (http://www.missiontoread.com/)

Shelly Brown – @SBrownwriter (http://writingwithshelly.blogspot.com/)

Graeme Ing – @GraemeIng (http://www.graemeing.com/)

Ashley Elizabeth – @AEWrites (http://aeoutloud.blogspot.com/)

Sarah Evans – @sarahjevans (http://sarahsbookslife.blogspot.com/)

Amanda Galliton – @agal2tch (http://readabookaday.blogspot.com/)

Cari Soto – @cariblogs (http://cariblogs.blogspot.com/)

Cassi Haggard – @veela_valoom (http://galavantinggirlscout.blogspot.com/)

Jillian Van Leer – @jvanleer (http://jvanleer.blogspot.com/)

Amy Olsen – @AmyO122 (http://www.confessionsofafangirl.com/)

Melissa Buron – @melissaburon (http://melissaburon.livejournal.com/)

Jesi Lea Ryan – @Jesilea (http://diaryofabibliophile-jesilea.blogspot.com/)

Vivi Barnes – @ticklingthemuse (http://4chicks.wordpress.com/)

C. J. Skuse – @CeejaytheAuthor

Joli Huynh – @ActinUpwb (http://actinupwithbooks.blogspot.com/)

Natasha M. Heck – @natashamheck (http://www.natashamheck.com/)

Shauna Shoptaw – @shaunzeebaby

Megan Whitmer – @MeganWhitmer

Kari Bradley – @KariBradley7

Stephanie Pellegrin – @StephPellegrin (http://www.stephaniepellegrin.com/)

THE VEIL's Release Date is Here!!

 

Today is THE VEIL's official release date, and I couldn't be more excited!!

The overwhelming emotion I am feeling right now is gratitude. It takes an unbelievable number of people to make a book possible, and I'd like to take a moment to express my profound thanks to a select few who have been with me from the start – today is just as much their day as mine!

Lee Klancher at Octane Press – for taking a chance on an unknown – and yikes, teenage – book and for continuing to believe that if we just get people to read it, it'll go far!

Susannah Greenberg (of Susannah Greenberg Public Relations – http://bookbuzz.com/), my amazing publicist who got the book into the hands of advance reviewers across the country (and beyond) and whose sage wisdom and advice could fill several books of her own.

The forty individuals – book reviewers, book bloggers, and teenagers – who took the time to read advance copies of The Veil and make their opinions known. I have been living for your reviews these past several months and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading every word you had to say about my baby (er, my book). Thank you for giving it such a fabulous start. (You can read all of the reviews for yourself here on the Press Page and also on my Goodreads page)

Rhonda Helms, Leah Cochenet Noel, Tom Heffron and David Brady who are responsible, respectively, for making The Veil grammatically correct, error-free, professional and pretty!

My husband, Mark, and my daughter, Sophia, for loaning me out to this Business of Book and not minding (much) when I sometimes just have to tweet about it during family time.

Whether The Veil ever ends up on a bestseller list or not (fingers crossed – ya never know!) I will forever be proud of us for creating something that is fun, unique and which people seem to genuinely enjoy curling up with and reading.

Congratulations to us all on a job well done!

 

Much love,

Cory

 

PS – I hope to see everybody at The Veil Launch Event on November 10 at Book People! For more info, click HERE.

Please Join Me At The Veil Launch Party!

 

I hope you can join me at the Veil Launch Party!

The Veil is being officially released on November 1, 2011. But the official "Launch Event" will be held on November 10 in Austin, Texas at Book People's Local Author Night (7:00pm).

I will be doing a reading from The Veil and giving a talk, which I promise to keep short. I also promise to try and keep it together when I thank the people who have made it possible for me to have a book with my name on the cover. After that I will be doing a signing, plus there will be food and drinks, as well as a Veil-themed game to play.

As a bonus, there will also be two other amazing authors there presenting their books! For more info on Ronna Quimby Huckaby and Linda Ginac, check out Book People's Event Calendar at http://bit.ly/q2YDWu. Both of their books sound fascinating – I'm excited to hear more about them.

I am also working on a fun surprise for my reading – no details yet, because I'm just in the early stages of planning. But if it works out, it's going to be awesome J

All in all, it should be a fun evening! I hope to see you there!

 

THE VEIL LAUNCH EVENT

Book People's Local Author Night

November 10, 2011

7:00pm

Book People:

603 N. Lamar

Austin, TX 78703

http://www.bookpeople.com

The Veil Trailer!

THE VEIL now has its very own trailer!! Thanks so much to the good people at Abraxas Studios for making this happen!

Writing My "Dear Teen Me" Letter

 

Just recently, I had the honor of having a letter featured on Dear Teen Me! This website is run by E. Kristin Anderson and Miranda Kenneally and publishes letters from authors to their teen selves (an anthology is forthcoming from Zest Books in the fall of 2012).

When E. Kristin Anderson first asked me to participate in her website a couple of months ago, I was very intimidated. The question of "what would you say to your teenage self" loomed large in my mind and I struggled to come up with some profound, epic, earth-shattering advice for Teen Cory. But nothing came to me.

Don't get me wrong – I was not one of those people who had ideal teen years (I mean really, do those people exist?). There were plenty of things about those years that I would change if I could – I just couldn't come up with something that I thought Teen Cory would actually listen to.

Until I busted out my senior yearbook.

Flipping through the pages, seeing the pictures, and reading what my friends from way-back-when had written sent me right back into Teen Cory's head. And while certain things have changed – I don't have quite as much angst now and I don't spend nearly as much time thinking about David Duchovny – in a lot of ways I am still very much Teen Cory in Thirty-Something Cory's body (even looking around every now and then and thinking, "am I really a grown-up?").

I realized that Teen Cory would not want any advice at all. She wouldn't want a list of people, places and situations she'd be better off avoiding, or a step-by-step instruction guide as to how she could navigate her life more gracefully. Teen Cory would have ignored all of that. The best thing I could do for her was to reassure her that, for the most part, things work out well for us. And the things that don't quite go our way are all survivable and sometimes even blessings in disguise. That's what Teen Cory would really want to hear. And if it's possible to imagine a future version of myself writing a "Dear Thirty-Something-Me" letter, I suppose I'd want to hear the exact same thing from her.

However, I could not resist giving myself one concrete piece of advice. Thirty-Something Cory was not nearly as mortified by her yearbook portrait as Teen Cory was – in fact, I laughed hysterically upon seeing it and immediately brought it over to my neighbor's house so she could laugh about it too – but Thirty-Something Cory still remembers how Teen Cory felt about that picture (and that haircut!) and it would have been heartless not to at least try and warn her. I'm not sure she'll listen, but even if she doesn't, she'll have a good laugh over it one day!

To read my "Dear Teen Me" letter (and, even better, to see the picture!), click this link:

Cory's Dear Teen Me Letter

 

Chrissy's Classroom – UPDATE

 

UPDATE: Chrissy has created a Wish List for books on Amazon! You can see it HERE. Please do not think that you are limited to the book she lists – if you happen to have one of these books to donate (or if you are shipping to Chrissy directly through Amazon), then great. But these are just suggestions – all donations are welcome, and hopefully the list will give you an idea of the types of books she needs the most.

UPDATE: For those who have asked about making their donations through Amazon, here is a non-PO Box address that Amazon can ship your donations to (as Amazon will not deliver to a PO Box). Many thanks!

 

Chrissy Costello

co/Rachel Mercer-Smith

2123 Tiera Court

Farmington, NM 87401

 

ORIGINAL POST:

If you are like me, then you can't imagine a world without access to books. I have had the good fortune to be surrounded by them for my entire life – for me, it has never been a question of if I'll be able to read another book, it is a question of which book I will choose.

If, like me, you have been blessed with the opportunity to grow up literate and with the world of reading at your fingertips, then please join me in donating a new or gently used young adult book to help a group of students who are not so fortunate.

"Chrissy's Classroom" is located in Shiprock High School, an underserved school in the Four Corners region of New Mexico. My friend Chrissy Costello, who works there as part of the Teach for America Program, had this to say about her students and the world they have grown up in:

The majority of my 100% Navajo students speak neither Navajo nor English fluently; they are "alingual". My reading classes are 9th through 12th graders reading at a 2nd – 6th grade level. 56% of the population is below the poverty line with 51% unemployment (40% of homes lack plumbing, 60% lack phone lines, and 78% of roads are dirt or gravel).

The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) developed a boarding school system for American Indian students in the 19th century. The philosophy and intent of this and most subsequent schools was to assimilate Indian children by removing them from their native cultures (aka families), and teaching them the manners, dress, and job skills that were deemed important by the school founders and administrators. The repercussions of these boarding schools on contemporary native life are lasting trauma, difficulty integrating back into families and communities, failure to learn parenting skills, loss of culture, loss of identity, loss of language, domestic violence, substance abuse (mostly alcohol, crystal meth, and pharmaceuticals) and suicide. On top of that, illiteracy is rampant. The majority of my students parents were never taught to read, and that has passed down to their sons and daughters. The concept of a book is foreign to them, as that physical object was not a presence in their upbringing. For many of my students, they did not have books growing up.

Although all donations are helpful, Chrissy tells me that she and her students are most in need of young adult books along the lines of Harry Potter and Twilight – something that will capture the students' interests without being too challenging. I assure you that Chrissy will make sure that the donated books fall into deserving hands.

If you have a new or gently used book that you would like to donate, you can send your donation directly to Chrissy's Classroom at:

 

Ms. Chrissy Costello

PO Box 4854

Shiprock, NM 87420

 

Or, if you live in the Austin area and would like to save on postage, please email me at coryoakes@gmail.com and we'll arrange for you to leave your donation with me. (I am working on getting a "Drop Box" location in Austin where you can leave your donations at your convenience – stay tuned, and I'll let you know if and when I'm able to figure something out)

Thank you so much in advance for donating to this great cause! If you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment below.