Carolee Dean's Blog, page 26

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to My New Book

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FORGET ME NOT

My paranormal verse novel goes on sale today at bookstores everywhere and amazon.com.
It's available in hardcover and as an e-reader.
Read the wonderful Kirkus review.Here's another review from Alamosa Books.

And come back tomorrow, October 3 for the start of the Ghost Tour.

 

Fantasy and Science Fiction and Everything In Between - Interview with Bookseller Elizabeth Anker

The following is an excerpt from an article I wrote for this week's SPELLBINDERS post:

I was recently preparing to give a writing workshop entitled, "What's Hot in Teen Fiction." As I sat down to write my definitions for topics such as Steampunk and Dystopian, I realized I wasn't altogether sure about how to describe these fantasy sub-genres myself

That's when I decided to interview Elizabeth Anker, the owner of Alamosa Books, our local independent children's books store. I figured teachers and librarians would also be interested in exploring these different categories and hearing what a book seller thinks of their appeal to young readers. A large part of being able to recommend a book to a young person is knowing what these different genres contain. Below are Elizabeth's thoughts on the subject.



She says Steampunk started with good writers, mainly in Britain, writing on the edge of science fiction. Then editors saw the trend and began looking for other books with similar themes. These stories tend to be more about a similar look and an idea rather than a similar story line. The look is basically Victorian with Victorian type costumes, gadgets, inventions, and creative weaponry. Goggles of some kind are almost always involved. Plots involve adventurers out to seek their fortunes or defeat bad guys in creative and technological ways. Although drawing on elements of Victorian England, these stories are not so much set in the past as they are set in parallel worlds with Victorianesque influences.

Elizabeth says Sherlock Holmes stories, which actually take place in Victorian times, are a strong influence. Holmes's nemesis Moriarty is the perfect model for the archetypical steampunk bad guy is often based upon reliance on high tech (for the times) weaponry used by a villain who is trying to take over the world. Moriarty is not influenced by morality at all and many steam punk villains are equally as capitalistic.

Steam is often the primary energy source of the times, but something magical is usually involved as well. There is a lot of true science and pseudo science woven through these stories. In the better cases it's real science with pseudo science on the edge, but based in a true science like physics. In books trying for the trend but not so concerned with research it's purely magical in many cases.

Read the rest of the post at the Spellbinders Blog

How I Became a Teaching Author

Today I'm over visiting April Halprin Wayland at the
April: What's a common problem your students have and how do you address it? 

Me: It's easy to get stuck staring at a big white page or a blank computer screen. I can't tell you how many times I hear the words, "I don't know what to write."  I reply, "writing isn't about knowing. There is no magic right or wrong answer as there is in other subjects.

Writing is about choosing, about considering the infinite possibilities and picking one." To this the student inevitably replies, "I still don't know what to write." Then I usually give the stumped pupil a whole list of suggestions which he or she usually doesn't like because that blank computer screen is still just so darn intimidating.

To read the rest of the interview visit

Join Me over at Cynsations for a piece I wrote about...

Join Me over at Cynsations for a piece I wrote about the HISTORY OF VERSE NOVELS.

Here's a sneak peak:


With authors like Ellen Hopkins, Sonya Sones, and Lisa Schroeder, there has been a virtual explosion of verse novels in the past decade, but do we really understand their place in literature?

Are verse novels a YA or middle-grade fad, a new art form, or something else? Are they even really poetry? Were there verse novels before Out of the Dust won the Newbery in 1998?

In truth, verse novels have quite a long history.
Looking back just a few years, we find that before Out of the Dust there was Soda Jerk by Cynthia Rylant in 1990 and Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff in 1993.

And if we go back just a litter further in time we find Homer (not Simpson), who lived around 850 B.C.E. – the presumed creator of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," two Greek epic poems. Two of the oldest surviving works of Western literature happen to be written in verse. ...

For the rest of the post head over to Cynsations

TEN DAYS AND COUNTING

It's ten days until the release of FORGET ME NOT on October 2.

Check out a preview of the GHOST TOUR which will begin Oct. 3.

And if you haven't seen the BOOK TRAILER check it out and pass on the link on Twitter and Facebook and email, etc.

EXCITING PREPARATIONS

The release of FORGET ME NOT is 17 days away (and counting).

Last week, in between working at three different high schools, attending soccer functions, arriving late at our monthly SCBWI meeting, and going to craft stores on three different occasions to find 14 t-shirts (all the same shade of neon green - at which time I discovered that an XL youth is the same size as a S adult), I met the gals who are making the jewelry for my October Ghost Tour and Bookstore Book Launch and found something exciting from UPS waiting on my doorstep...

It was the box containing my author copies of FORGET ME NOT.



Earlier in the week I was absolutey stunned when I met Sherri Erler, Shauna Mellady, and Debi Hennigen at Alamosa Books to work on the display for the book launch and saw the amazing pieces they had created. Here is Sherri showing off her many different styles of forget-me-not bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.


And here are some pieces created by Shauna and Debi. Each piece is linked to a stop on the blog tour and has symbolic significance in the book. Ravens figure prominently at Raven Valley High School and there is an allusion to Odin, the Norse god of death and poetry. He had two ravens called Hugin and Munin, also known as Observation and Memory, who travelled the world and returned to report what they saw... exactly what a writer does, by the way.

There are also allusions to Shakespeare, Dante, Poe and 2Pac, so come back October 2 when the Ghost Tour begins, right here on my blog. In the meantime, if you live in Albuquerque, mark your calendars for the book launch at Alamosa on Saturday, October 27th at 6:00pm.

See you there!

How Hiking is Like Writing

I've been doing a lot of hiking this summer, usually with my family and our boxer, Maya. On this trek through the Sandias, I started thinking about how much hiking is like writing.

1. I always start out strong.
2. About halfway through I discover the path isn't as clear as I thought.
3. I often forget it's all about the journey.

1. I always start out strong. I have my trusty Sandia Mountain Hiking Guide, my good shoes, my camelback filled with water and my trail mix, but somewhere along the way, I realize I left the trail guide in the car, the frozen water in my camelback didn't thaw as fast as I drank it which has left me sucking ice, and I've eaten all my trail mix (or else the chocolate pieces have started to melt). I always start out strong with stories too. The ideas feel fresh (like the trail mix), and I feel well equipped for the task. It's important to remember that initial enthusiasm as my motivation begins to fade. 



2. About halfway through I discover the path isn't as clear as I thought. Sometimes it's hard to know which direction to take. Either there seem to be too many choices, or else the path comes to a dead end and I have to back track. Sometimes I just need to sit quietly until I can get my head together.



3. It's all about the journey. When I'm in the middle of writing a story, or hiking a trail, it's easy to think about reaching my desination, but in the case of hiking, I always wind up at the exact same place where I started... my car...hopefully. When I'm writing a story I always wind up at the same place too... The End. Then I begin the process all over again. In both cases I need to focus more on relishing the experience than simply completing the task.

FOUR FRIENDS JEWELERS

A few weeks ago I attended a home jewelry party put on by a collaboration of women who call themselves FOUR FRIENDS. We got to talking and they are now in the process of making some very exciting giveaways for my October book launch. Pictures will be revealed soon, but in the meantime, look at some of their wonderful pieces.

I was immediately drawn to Sherri's display. Sherri, top left, is a physical therapist who works with my friend Desiree who hosted the party. I had been looking all around town for flowered beads because I wanted to make forget-me-not bracelets as giveaways for my book launch and blog tour. Then I found the lovely pewter necklace at the right.
I was so excited. I love pewter and Sherri's work was so earthy. We spent half an hour collaborating on a bracelet design and she agreed to make bracelets for my book launch. Then I thought about how fun it would be to have all of the FOUR FRIENDS at my book release party at Alamosa  Books on October 31. Forget Me Not comes out in October and ghosts figure prominently.
Sherri said I had to talk to Day of the Debi. That's their nickname for Debi (seated in the photo next to Sherri). Debi specializes in Hauntwear featuring skeletons from The Day of the Dead, but she also has some wonderful steam punk pieces. Debi and I got to talking and she's going to make some cool necklaces and maybe even something with a picture of Shakespeare, who so strongly influences one of the major characters in the story that he spends several weeks speaking in iambic pentameter.
That all lead to a conversation with Kristen who makes amazing sterling silver necklaces and earrings and is also a painter. She agreed to make hand painted journals for the blog tour giveaway. Next stop was Shauna, seated to the far right, whose work is very gothic. She's going to do something fun with raven feathers and bookmarks.
So, if you happen to be in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Halloween, stop by Alamosa Books for books and baubles and beads, Oh my!
FORGET ME NOT BOOK LAUNCHAlamosa  BooksOctober 31, 20126:00 p.m.
8810 Holly Avenue NEAlbuquerque, NM505-797-7101

FORGET ME NOT Book Trailer - Cast and Crew

I am VERY excited to announce the release of the book trailer for FORGET ME NOT. I'm trying to get 2,000 YouTube views before the book is released on October, 2, so if you like the trailer please pass on the link via Twitter or Facebook or email or whatever.Go here now to see the FORGET ME NOT BOOK TRAILER

I was lucky to have a very talented group of young people working on this project. Most of them are recent University of New Mexico Graduates. Josh Stuyvesant, second from the left, who just completed his degree in Media Arts, created the script and storyboard and basically put the whole video together. Check him out at his blog. His very talented friend, Kyle Ruggles, created the musical score, Jessica Garrett did makeup, and Jesus Ordóñez was in charge of photography.
Josh also played the part of Elijah, the boy you see running down the street and holding the forget-me-not bracelet. Haleigh Chwirka, who went to school with my oldest daughter through sixth grade, played the part of Ally. I didn't even know that Josh knew Haleigh until I arrived at the cast party at La Cumbre. Haleigh just finished her teaching degree and will be leaving soon to teach English in Thailand.
Jeremy Kinter played the Hangman, the creepy guy in the hall, and also served as production assistant. He's actually a very nice guy in spite of his role in this video. When Josh and I got together for the final stages of production, we met at one of my favorite coffee shops, the Satellite, where Jeremy happens to work as a barista.
Nate Steinberg played Davis, the football stud. He also helped with set up. He is sort of semi-famous, having played an extra in "The Social Network." His father is David Steinberg, book reviewer for the Albuquerque Journal.
These kids all did an amazing job, so if you like what you see, pass it on. BOOK TRAILER LINK

Preparing for a Book Launch: Searching for Flowers

I can't believe it's a mere 8 weeks until the release of FORGET ME NOT.


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[image error] While looking for flowers to use in the book trailer, I called the local florist to see if they had forget-me-nots. They did not, nor could they order any. I went to the craft store to see if they had plastic versions of the tiny blue plastic flower. They didn't. I finally went to Jackalope, a local nursery based on the fictitious animal that is supposedly a cross between an antelope and a jack rabbit. To my dismay I discovered that forget-me-nots were NOT in season. 

They suggested growing them from seeds. I told the helpful plant lady that I doubted my publisher would delay the release of my book to allow me time to grow flowers.
[image error] Trying to be helpful, the plant lady showed me white barcopa. It also has five petals, but it's white, not blue. I seriously considered painting the flowers, but since I've never been artistic, I put this thought aside. Just as I feared all hope was lost, I found this pretty little blue flower whose name I can't remember. It's not forget-me-nots but as long as we don't do any close up shots, I think we'll be okay.

I now have complete sympathy for those movie people who have to go around town searching for props and sets and drug stores with jukeboxes and flowers that aren't in season and whatever else the crazy author decided to put in the story.

I now also know that flowers can have stunt doubles.
There's a lot more to being an author than I ever imagined.