Janet Ruth Young's Blog, page 2
December 14, 2011
Last Day for the Giveaway!
I'm giving away three copies of THe Babysitter Murders. They're under my desk, with the creamy title pages just waiting for an inscription to the lucky winners. December 15 is the last day to enter, so get your name in now!
November 18, 2011
Inside Scoop on Babysitters Paperback
Some readers have said that they found the title "The Babysitter Murders" misleading. (They expected a murder mystery when the book is an exploration of mental illness, media ethics, and my culture's attitudes towards illnesses it doesn't understand.)
Well, readers and friends, brace yourselves, because Atheneum told me early this week that the paperback edition is most likely going to have a NEW TITLE as well as a new cover design and an author's note about how I decided to tackle this subject matter.
Changing a book title, my editor said, is unusual "but not unprecedented." For curiosity's sake, I may do some homework about which other books have had title changes after being published. (Yes, I know all the stories about Hemingway's titles, but that was pre-publication.)
Anyway--and this does not constitute investment advice--it's looking like the version of Babysitter that's out now will have a limited run. If you love this book, you may want to own both copies!
As for the new title, I think I'll keep that to myself for a while. What do YOU think it should be?
Well, readers and friends, brace yourselves, because Atheneum told me early this week that the paperback edition is most likely going to have a NEW TITLE as well as a new cover design and an author's note about how I decided to tackle this subject matter.
Changing a book title, my editor said, is unusual "but not unprecedented." For curiosity's sake, I may do some homework about which other books have had title changes after being published. (Yes, I know all the stories about Hemingway's titles, but that was pre-publication.)
Anyway--and this does not constitute investment advice--it's looking like the version of Babysitter that's out now will have a limited run. If you love this book, you may want to own both copies!
As for the new title, I think I'll keep that to myself for a while. What do YOU think it should be?
October 14, 2011
Reading in Gloucester October 20!
If you live in the Boston area, please come out and read with me in the town that is partial inspiration for The Babysitter Murders. If you're a Goodreads friend, please be sure to introduce yourself. Here's all the info on Thursday's event:
Gloucester author Janet Ruth Young will read from her novel The Babysitter Murders at The Bookstore of Gloucester, 61 Main Street, on Thursday, October 20, at 7 p.m.
The Babysitter Murders, published in July by Simon & Schuster, is a book for everyone who’s had a thought they’re afraid to say out loud. Seventeen-year-old Dani Solomon adores Alex, the little boy she babysits. But one day, Dani has a vision of harming Alex—an image so gruesome she can't get it out of her mind. Dani becomes convinced that she may try to kill Alex. She confesses the thoughts to keep him safe, setting off a media frenzy that makes "Dani Death" the target of an extremist vigilante group. Soon, everyone in town will have an opinion on Dani’s character, and those closest to her will have to choose loyalty or betrayal.
In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called the book a "provocative exploration of a community's response to the mere possibility of a horrific crime" and "a realistic and disturbing look at our cultural response to mental illness."
Young has set the story in the fictional North Shore town of Hawthorne, Massachusetts. Cape Ann readers will spot variations on familiar places and events including a popular ice cream restaurant called Icey’s, a forest called Havenswood with a landmark known as Shark’s Jaw, a scandal that brings an unwanted media circus to town, and a slew of anonymous commentators who stir up trouble on the website of the local newspaper, The Hawthorne Beacon-Times.
For more information contact the bookstore at 978 281-1548 or go to www.janetruthyoung.com.
Gloucester author Janet Ruth Young will read from her novel The Babysitter Murders at The Bookstore of Gloucester, 61 Main Street, on Thursday, October 20, at 7 p.m.
The Babysitter Murders, published in July by Simon & Schuster, is a book for everyone who’s had a thought they’re afraid to say out loud. Seventeen-year-old Dani Solomon adores Alex, the little boy she babysits. But one day, Dani has a vision of harming Alex—an image so gruesome she can't get it out of her mind. Dani becomes convinced that she may try to kill Alex. She confesses the thoughts to keep him safe, setting off a media frenzy that makes "Dani Death" the target of an extremist vigilante group. Soon, everyone in town will have an opinion on Dani’s character, and those closest to her will have to choose loyalty or betrayal.
In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called the book a "provocative exploration of a community's response to the mere possibility of a horrific crime" and "a realistic and disturbing look at our cultural response to mental illness."
Young has set the story in the fictional North Shore town of Hawthorne, Massachusetts. Cape Ann readers will spot variations on familiar places and events including a popular ice cream restaurant called Icey’s, a forest called Havenswood with a landmark known as Shark’s Jaw, a scandal that brings an unwanted media circus to town, and a slew of anonymous commentators who stir up trouble on the website of the local newspaper, The Hawthorne Beacon-Times.
For more information contact the bookstore at 978 281-1548 or go to www.janetruthyoung.com.
July 6, 2011
I'm on (Virtual) Tour!
In the runup to the publication date for THE BABYSITTER MURDERS (July 26), I'm doing a blog tour with the wonderful group Teen Book Scene.
http://theteenbookscene.weebly.com/th...
Started by three high school students who read and review tons of books, TBS is now an aggregate (agglomeration, consortium, choose your synonym) of book bloggers who select titles from publishers' upcoming lists and then share ARCs and blitz those titles right before they get published.
Each blog will feature BABYSITTER for two days. On the first day the blogger publishes her review, and on the second she publishes an interview or guest post from me that we've worked out in advance. Some of the posts are about BABYSITTER, but many are background stuff like my hobbies, interests, tastes, and travel recommendations.
Spoiler note: Some of the bloggers probed into my character's psychological issues and medical diagnosis, which is not revealed until more than halfway through the book. If you want to wait on finding this out (I must admit that I paced that information to make the book as taut and thrilling as possible), avoid posts that I've marked with "potential spoiler."
Kicking off the tour is
Steph the Bookworm's review
http://stephthebookworm.blogspot.com/...
and Steph the Bookworm's interview about my research process (potential SPOILER)
http://stephthebookworm.blogspot.com/...
Thanks to everyone at Teen Book Scene for giving me a tour without traffic and airports.
http://theteenbookscene.weebly.com/th...
Started by three high school students who read and review tons of books, TBS is now an aggregate (agglomeration, consortium, choose your synonym) of book bloggers who select titles from publishers' upcoming lists and then share ARCs and blitz those titles right before they get published.
Each blog will feature BABYSITTER for two days. On the first day the blogger publishes her review, and on the second she publishes an interview or guest post from me that we've worked out in advance. Some of the posts are about BABYSITTER, but many are background stuff like my hobbies, interests, tastes, and travel recommendations.
Spoiler note: Some of the bloggers probed into my character's psychological issues and medical diagnosis, which is not revealed until more than halfway through the book. If you want to wait on finding this out (I must admit that I paced that information to make the book as taut and thrilling as possible), avoid posts that I've marked with "potential spoiler."
Kicking off the tour is
Steph the Bookworm's review
http://stephthebookworm.blogspot.com/...
and Steph the Bookworm's interview about my research process (potential SPOILER)
http://stephthebookworm.blogspot.com/...
Thanks to everyone at Teen Book Scene for giving me a tour without traffic and airports.
June 8, 2011
My Body, My Book
Last week I found out that my upcoming novel THE BABYSITTER MURDERS got a starred review in Publishers Weekly. I never really understood before why people get tattoos, but the day I saw the PW review I started daydreaming about getting a tiny red star on my right shoulder because I wanted to always remember that moment. Now I realize that tattoos are memories people draw on their body.
January 18, 2011
Friends + Reviews = ?
Hi, book readers! My second novel, The Babysitter Murders, is due out from Atheneum Books for Young Readers on July 23. It's about a babysitter who has thoughts of harming the child she cares for. My first novel, The Opposite of Music, is about a family dealing with the father's depression.
I've just gotten active on Goodreads again and have gotten a number of friend requests. Thanks to everyone who's gotten in touch with me. However, I feel that I want to maintain appropriate boundaries between friendships and book reviews. I would love to see what you all think about Babysitters when it comes out, but I always want reviews of my books to be candid and not influenced by friendship, even a new Goodreads friendship. So please keep this in mind as the situation evolves.
What do other readers and writers think about this practice of reviews by Goodreads friends? And how does it affect your perception of the book and your reading and book-buying choices?
I've just gotten active on Goodreads again and have gotten a number of friend requests. Thanks to everyone who's gotten in touch with me. However, I feel that I want to maintain appropriate boundaries between friendships and book reviews. I would love to see what you all think about Babysitters when it comes out, but I always want reviews of my books to be candid and not influenced by friendship, even a new Goodreads friendship. So please keep this in mind as the situation evolves.
What do other readers and writers think about this practice of reviews by Goodreads friends? And how does it affect your perception of the book and your reading and book-buying choices?
The Scary Face of Mental Illness
Is anyone else perturbed that all mentally ill people get lumped into the same category as Tucson shooter Jared Loughner?
In the days after he shot Representative Gabrielle Giffords, journalists seemed to fill every gap in the developing news story with comments about him being "mentally ill" and how scary and tragic "mental illness" is and how horrible it is to be the family member of a "mentally ill person."
Oh, is it?
Let's say I have trichotillomania, a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes me to pull the hairs out of my eyebrows. I may look a little funny, but are you really going to be afraid of me?
Let's say I have arachnophobia, an anxiety disorder that makes me scared to death of spiders. As I'm running through the supermarket parking lot to escape the spider I just noticed on my windshield, are you worried that I'll pull out a weapon and start shooting people?
Let's say my husband died five years ago and I can't shake the depression. I don't want to leave my house or see my friends. Are you terrified of me now?
Maybe it's a good time for those in the media to start parsing their mental illnesses into finer categories. We can start by discriminating between violent mental illnesses and not-violent ones.
In the days after he shot Representative Gabrielle Giffords, journalists seemed to fill every gap in the developing news story with comments about him being "mentally ill" and how scary and tragic "mental illness" is and how horrible it is to be the family member of a "mentally ill person."
Oh, is it?
Let's say I have trichotillomania, a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes me to pull the hairs out of my eyebrows. I may look a little funny, but are you really going to be afraid of me?
Let's say I have arachnophobia, an anxiety disorder that makes me scared to death of spiders. As I'm running through the supermarket parking lot to escape the spider I just noticed on my windshield, are you worried that I'll pull out a weapon and start shooting people?
Let's say my husband died five years ago and I can't shake the depression. I don't want to leave my house or see my friends. Are you terrified of me now?
Maybe it's a good time for those in the media to start parsing their mental illnesses into finer categories. We can start by discriminating between violent mental illnesses and not-violent ones.
Janet Ruth Young's Blog
Young is the author of My Beautiful Failure, Things I Shouldn't Think (previously published as The Babysitter Murders), and The Opposite of Music, all published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
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