Chris Baty's Blog, page 224

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 16

Today’s cover was designed by Andrew Twigg!

What the Water Gave Me by Charles Heathcote

A novel spanning seventy years, What the Water Gave Me is a reimagining of the Scottish tale “The Selkie Wife”. Beginning in the 1940s, our unnamed six-year-old protagonist discovers a naked woman dancing in a cove—she is Deirdra, a Selkie. From this moment, he is enraptured. They spend the day together, but in the evening, she returns to the sea.

Every seven years, Deirdra reappears and he goes to her, although a question hangs over them both: if he took her pelt she would have to stay with him, but will he? Their relationship faces challenges, as the protagonist grows older and Deirdra remains the same age she was when they first met. This is a novel exploring the complexity of love and man’s morality.

Andrew Twigg is an independent designer focused on design strategy, branding and web design. He is the Incoming Presidents Council Chair of AIGA, the professional association for design, President Emeritus of AIGA Pittsburgh, and serves on the Board of Directors for DesignInquiry, a conference-alternative design research organization. He has written for AIGA Voice and UnderConsideration, and has had articles published internationally in DesignTaxi and AIGA Speaks, China. He is an adjunct faculty member with the Carnegie Mellon University School of Design. He can be found on twitter at @andrewtwigg.

YA Highway: The Carpool Lane

This month, you’ve been cruising the picturesque countryside of your novel, steering nervously through the writers’-blocked roads, and honking at those annoying plot points that are parked in the red zone. Earlier in November, we offered you a roadmap to the month, and to add to your writing creativity, the fantastic ladies at YA Highway created the Carpool Lane—a daily dose of inspiration for your NaNo adventures. Today, Sarah Enni joins us from YA Highway, to tell us why driving with a car full of friends is better than going solo.

What inspired the Carpool Lane?

The idea sort of came to me out of the blue a few months ago. YA Highway offers recurring weekly features like Field Trip Friday that serves as a great resource for the latest publishing news, and Road Trip Wednesday that encourages participation among our readers. We know hundreds of thousands of people sign up for NaNoWriMo every year, and that includes tons of people familiar with YA Highway. So it seemed like this great addition to the things we were already doing.

What inspirational bits and pieces are being included in the Carpool Lane? 

The Carpool Lane is going to feature a little bit of everything! The biggest part will be daily emails highlighting blog posts—on YA Highway but also on other sites that we love—that have great writing tips, or some words of advice that have helped some of us persevere through the writing doldrums. But we’ll mix in things like great writing playlists, or our favorite first lines from novels. I saw a YouTube clip recently of the best motivational speeches given by Coach Eric Taylor from Friday Night Lights—that seems perfectly suited to The Carpool Lane! And, of course, cute animal pictures, too.

In addition to e-mails, though, we’ll also be hosting weekly live chats for any YA Highway readers participating in NaNo, so we can check in with one another, and cheer each other on.

How will it enhance the NaNo experience?

Writing can be lonely and emotionally taxing. NaNoWriMo has done a fantastic job creating a network where writers can check in with one another and report progress or commiserate. We feel like YA Highway is a sort of assistant trainer to Wrimos.

Wrimos can get something inspiring in their email each day. Every email has something in it to remind Wrimos why they’re doing this crazy writing thing in the first place, and hopefully give them the tools to write a better, leaner 50,000 words.

Have you written a NaNo-novel?  How many YA Highway followers attempt NaNoWriMo? 

Up to this point I’ve been an enthusiastic NaNoWriMo cheerleader, but not a participant! November hasn’t lined up with my personal drafting schedule yet, but many other YA Highwayers have done it, and many are planning on participating this year. I know so many people who have come out of NaNoWriMo with projects they’re excited about, that never would have been written the same way if the 50,000-word, 1-month goals weren’t laid out. I can’t wait to hear about how the Carpool Lane has any role in helping readers achieve something so great.

The Carpool Lane provides inspiration to our readers who have goals for the month besides creating a first draft, too. Anyone who has set a writing goal for themselves in November—revising, line editing, crafting the perfect query—will find something to help them.

Keep up with YA Highway:

On Tumblr
On Twitter
On Facebook
At their site

Photo by Flickr user Captain Kimo

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 15

Happy halfway through the month! Are things starting to look bleak? Don’t worry. You can pull through!

We are featuring a dark story for Day 15, this time with a cover designed by Matteo Bologna!

Eating Sarah by Jaret Martens

Fall is ending, hunger runs rampant, and Sarah is a cannibal. In the deep forests of the Rocky Mountains, Sarah lives in a community of man-eaters. Ever since she was young, all she could dream about was participating in The Hunt, a monthly event during which her people sneak into the nearby cities and villages to gather food for the following month. However, once Sarah realizes the shocking and revolting nature of the event, and her very lifestyle, she becomes set on leaving.

Leaving will not be easy: to leave would be to dishonour the family name and, in turn, would cause their deaths. In addition, with suspicions of mutiny within the colony rising, everyone is being watched. And then there are the bodies, the ones of people that are unmistakably of their own community, complete with missing limbs and bite marks.

In this thrilling first novel, boundaries will be pushed, allegiances broken, and the very question of what it means to be human will be called into play. No one is safe and no one can be trusted.

Matteo Bologna is the founding partner and Principal of Mucca Design, where he also serves as Creative Director. Under his direction, the Mucca Design team has created uniquely successful work for a wide variety of companies like Victoria’s Secret, Barnes & Noble, Adobe Systems and Target. The work produced by the Mucca Design team has been widely recognized by industry publications, competitions and exhibitions, including AIGA, Communication Arts, and the James Beard Foundation. Matteo is the Vice President of the Type Directors Club. He frequently lectures about branding and typography around the world.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 14

Today’s cover was created by Bryony Gomez-Palacio!

Star Trails by Lauren Ring

Zach and Ethan are having the time of their lives in their sophomore year—that is, until a new “miracle drug” is released that flips their world upside down. The viral contents of the drug slowly begin to affect the entire nation, causing shifts in neural connections that lead people to either perceive time as speeding up or slowing down.

Zach is fast, but Ethan is slow: he remarks that he can even see the trails the stars leave behind them in the night sky. As the virus mutates, the young couple must find a cure before the damage becomes irreversible. 

Bryony Gomez-Palacio is a graphic designer and writer now living in Austin, Texas. She is co-founder of UnderConsideration—a graphic design firm and publishing enterprise rolled into one. Bryony has co-authored four books with her husband and partner, Armin Vit—their most recent efforts being Graphic Design, Referenced and the self-published Flaunt. Bryony enjoys conducting workshops and lecturing when not tending to her two young daughters.     

Photo by carfull.

Young Novelists of Awesome

It’s Donation Day, and we’re working hard to bring NaNoWriMo back next year—as you toil away at dashing off your novel, you may be feeling alone in the trials and celebrations that come with attempting this feat. Take heart! Hundreds of thousands of fellow writers are working alongside you, including this school:

Last week, I got to pay a visit to one of my favorite November places: Tom Matsumoto Elementary School in San Jose, CA. This is the third year I’ve stopped by, and each time the NaNoWriMo party gets a little bit bigger.

I first met Melody Sutton in 2010, when she was brand-new to teaching noveling. Back then, she led a class of excited fourth graders through the challenge. Now she’s teaching sixth grade, and her class includes a few of her previous students—who couldn’t wait to write the second novels of their young literary careers.

Melody’s success—as well as fellow teacher Susan Shirley’s—has made NaNoWriMo a key part of the sixth grade experience at Matsumoto. All 140 (!) students are currently writing novels.

And man, they are on it. I met with the entire grade, and I talked about writer’s block, the inner editor—all that stuff of Week Two noveling. But mostly I listened. The kids had amazing advice to share with one another, like building with Legos to inspire new plot elements, locking the inner editor in a bank safe, and giving up a few minutes of video game playing each day. (That last one was a little controversial.)

They were nonstop with ideas and questions, and we went well over our planned time together. Matsumoto has become such an inspiring, supportive place to write novels—an environment where being creative is cool. (Melody has this John Green poster on her door, and I think that may say it all.)

I’m proud that the Young Writers Program gets to support these truly awesome novelists.

– Chris

Photos of 2011 novelists by Melody Sutton

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 13

Today’s cover was created by Tanner Woodford!

Deadeye by Zoey Sloane

Welcome to Bannock, Montana. It’s 1863; the miners are pulling gold out of the hills and the town is growing by leaps and bounds. Don’t get me wrong, everything isn’t rosy, not by a stretch. There are road agents outside of every growing mining town and Bannock is no different, but lately people have been found all torn open with only human footprints leading to and from the site.

Zombies are loose in the Old West. Grab a shotgun, join the posse, or if you find your courage lacking, stay behind with the old men and the women-folk. Just remember to make it a head shot, pardner. Out here in Big Sky, you have to be a deadeye.

Tanner Woodford is a Lead Interaction Designer at Morningstar, a provider of independent investment research. On nights and weekends, he is the Executive Director of the Chicago Design Museum, a pop-up institution that celebrates design excellence via ephemeral installations. For the past five years, Tanner has taught and lectured on interaction design, web design, and motion graphics in academic and professional circuits. Tanner currently lives in Chicago with wife and illustrator Amanda Woodford.

"I sold my post-NaNo novel!" A Q&A with Kat Zhang

NaNoWriMo helped author Kat Zhang finish her first-ever novel; although it wasn’t the novel that she went on to publish, the experience proved to her that she could accomplish the improbable.

At the age of nineteen, she sold her first young-adult novel to HarperCollins. What’s Left of Me, the first book in the Hybrid Chronicles, tells the story of a fifteen-year-old girl struggling to survive in a world where two souls are born into each body and one is doomed to disappear. You can watch What’s Left of Me’s thrilling trailer here.

Did I mention that she wrote the first draft during her senior year of high school? Read on for her advice on juggling NaNoWriMo with the hectic pace of November life:

What was it like writing your first NaNo novel? Is it a story you will come back to?

Well, when I first found out about NaNoWriMo, I’d never finished a novel, though I’d been telling myself I wanted to be a published author since I was twelve. I’m very much a perfectionist, and NaNo was the best thing for me, letting me shut up my inner editor and just get the words onto the page.

I “won” NaNo that first year but didn’t finish the book until halfway through NaNo the following year (it was quite the monster at 140,000 words!). Being my first-ever finished novel, it wasn’t quite up to publishing standards, but I learned a ton from it, and just finishing that book changed my perspective on writing so much.

Any tips on how to reach the 50,000 word finish line for people struggling in Week Two?

Don’t let yourself fall further and further behind! Some people seem to be able to get into a hole, and then knock out 20,000 words in a day, but for me, setting daily goals to catch up through is so much less intimidating than cowering in front of my entire deficit.
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. The goal isn’t to write the next great American (or whatever country you’re from!) novel. It’s to write 50,000 words. And don’t let anyone tell you that’s not a big accomplishment in and of itself!
Get buddies involved who will motivate you.

How has NaNo shaped you as a writer?

It’s changed the way I draft. I’m much more free with myself. I allow myself to write “crap,” knowing that 1) bad writing is better than no writing, 2) often the “bad writing” isn’t as bad as you feel it is while writing it.

The premise of your book floored me immediately. What inspired your novel?

I don’t have a super interesting story to tell about how I came up with the idea for What’s Left of Me, unfortunately! I just started wondering one day—everyone has a bit of an internal monologue going at times; what if that little voice in the back of your head was a real person? What would it be like to live trapped in your own body? That was how the idea for Eva, the main character, began, and the rest of the story grew around her.

Tell us about your book trailer.  What is it like to see your words translated to the screen?

I actually love book trailers, and I adore mine. There’s the fear that live-action ones can be a little cheesy, but MainStay did such a fantastic job, I think. It’s storytelling in a different medium, and sometimes a short trailer can grab someone’s attention faster and more readily than a blurb.

The trailer is especially close to me because the team at Harper was kind enough to hire MainStayPro after I asked for them. I’d first heard of MainStay through their ridiculously cool Hunger Game short films, so I contacted them in hopes that they’d be interested in doing a trailer for the book. Luckily for me, John loved it, and I love the wonderful job the whole team—especially the actresses Stefania (older Addie/Eva) and Juliette (younger Addie/Eva) did!

What’s Left of Me was released on September 18, 2012. Are there any surprising or funny stories from your book launch?

My head was so in the clouds. I wrote “Happy Launch” in one poor girl’s book instead of “Happy reading,” and just couldn’t manage to spell this other girl’s name no matter how many times she spelled it out for me. But it was so much fun!

You were only 19 years old when you sold the Hybrid Chronicles. How is your life different now from before you were published? What advice would you give to the young writers tackling their novels right now?

It was amazing! In many ways, my life is the same—I’m still a college student, I have midterms, etc. But I also get to do panels at book festivals, and travel to do school visits, and signings, and such, all of which I love so much. It’s a balance, and while I love the publishing world and the things that happen after the book deal, at the end of the day, my main job as a writer is still just to write the next book.

This is true for aspiring writers as well. Focus on the writing you’re doing now. Keep writing, because it’s what you love. Do your research about the industry, but try not to stress about it too much, and only after November! There’s a lot about the business that’s outside of your control, but what you can control is your own writing—that’s your skill. Hone it.

— Andrea

How’s your novel going so far? Who would you cast in a book trailer for your characters?

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 12

Today’s cover was created by Solomon Wong!

Fish Eyes by Taylor G. White

A fan-tailed goldfish, who the family names Phineas, is brought home from the pet store as a new friend by nine year old David. His older sister, ten year old Julie, befriends him and takes care of him while David still clings to the idea that it’s his fish. The parents watch from the sidelines, with their own unique opinion and relationship with the fish. Little knowing that he was watching and listening, remembering and writing, everything going on around him.

Say hello to the world, as seen from the eyes of a simple fish. And get ready to learn that an awful lot can happen in just a single hallway in a simple house.

Solomon Wong is a writer, designer, and four-time Wrimo. He runs the Iron-Chef-inspired cooking blog Butternut.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 11

Today’s cover was created by Josh Silverman!

Being Human by MC Augtkalns

In the near future, science has perfected cloning of extinct species from recent fossils. The first creatures to reappear were the mammoths, soon followed by other Ice Age megafauna.

The birth of the first Neandertals in over twenty thousand years sets the world astorm. The twins, originally men who lived not only thousands of miles apart but were also separated by thousands of years, are only the beginning.

When the clones start to come of age, the social implications of integrating another species of human become staggering. There are unifiers and separatists on both sides, and society as we know it is changed forever.

Then the asteroid hits. The Earth’s climate shifts, growing colder as dust fills the atmosphere. The two peoples must compete for land and resources. The age old conflict is fully reignited. Which species of humanity will emerge victorious this time?

As Agent of Perspective and President of Schwadesign, Inc., Josh Silverman considers the big picture with constant mindfulness for details. In 1997, he created the adaptive collaborative model studio to provide unsurpassed attention to client relationships, and tremendous capacity for scalability.  Over the past 15 years, Josh and his teams have generated dynamic results with clients such as Justice Resource Institute, Boston University, Harvard Medical School, British Telecom, AIGA, The City of Providence, Providence After-School Alliance, Blue Man Group, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and many others. This work has been recognized by AIGA Boston’s Best of New England, ReBrand, and Print. Josh earned his BA in Media Studies from Ithaca College, is an Adjunct Professor at The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and has taught and guest lectured at RISD, MassArt, and other institutions offering design studies. He is President Emeritus and co-founder of the AIGA Rhode Island Chapter, and has twice served on the AIGA National Board Nominating Committee. When he’s not turning “what if?” questions into ways to make the world a better place through design, he’s mixing tunes as his alter-ego, DJ Dijon.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 10

Day 10’s cover was designed by Matthew Muñoz!

How To Become Invincible by Rachel Shapiro

Anthony and Cory meet at the hospital. He is recovering from popping out his knee. She is dying from, as she puts it, a ” deadly, boring disease you’ve never heard of.” What starts out as a late night adventure to a vending machine becomes first an acquaintanceship and then a friendship. And then, things go to a whole new level when Cory asks Anthony to go on another adventure with her. And this one is a road trip to a spring that grants immortality.

Matthew Muñoz is co-founder and chief design officer at New Kind, a company that helps organizations build, inspire, and engage communities of people. He leverages his background as a communication designer to facilitate conversations, form visual identities, craft stories, develop strategies, and make information understandable. He is currently President ex-officio of the AIGA Raleigh chapter.