Deborah Halverson's Blog, page 15

For 10 Seconds, I Was the Coolest Mom Ever

I had a great conversation today with Kevan Lyon, an agent at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency today. Marsal Lyon reps my books for adults. After a lovely half hour of book talk, our call ended and I went to pick up my sons from school.

While we walked to the car I told my three second-graders that I’d just had a very interesting interview with an agent. The middle-born of my triplets shot me a surprised look and eagerly asked what we talked about. As I told him, a look of confusion drifted across his face, sat there for about ten seconds, and then suddenly he cut me off with, “Oh! Now I get it. Huh.” Then he slumped away.

Now I was the confused one. So I asked him about his reaction and he told me: “You interviewed a book agent. I thought you meant you interviewed a SECRET agent.”

007 you are not, Kevan. But you’re still pretty cool in my book.

Hanging with Graphic Novel and Comic Book Expert Danny Fingeroth

I sure get to hang with the most interesting folks. Today, comic book and graphic novel expert Danny Fingeroth visited DearEditor.com as my Guest Editor. Danny was a longtime writer and editor for Marvel Comics, best known for his work on Spider-Man. His books include Superman on the Couch, Disguised as Clark Kent,  The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels, and The Stan Lee Universe (co-edited with Roy Thomas), about the life and career of the co-creator of Iron Man and The X-Men.

Danny is a recognized expert on comics and graphic novels, lecturing about them at venues including The Smithsonian Institution and The Metropolitan Museum and and creating and editing the only how-to publication dedicated to comics writing and writers, Write Now magazine. He also writes how-to books (including How to Create Comics from Script to Print with artist Mike Manley, as well as its companion DVD) and serves on the board of directors of the Institute for Comics Studies. Danny’s even got a new online writing course, “Graphic Novel Writing,” which teaches the entire graphic novel writing process, from producing a proposal to handling Hollywood (it starts May 23 at mediabistro.com). Does he sound like the perfect guy to field a DearEditor.com reader question about submitting graphic novels to agents? Yeah, I thought so, too.

So here’s the question Danny fielded:

Dear Editor…

My husband has put together a middle grade hybrid graphic novel that I’ve helped him to edit. He’s gotten some positive responses from agents but is always told they don’t think they can place the book. Is there something more challenging about selling this type of novel even though they seem to be very popular right now?

Sincerely,

Heather

Pop over to DearEditor.com for Danny’s answer.

How to Make Writing Hazardous to Your Health

Sit on an exercise ball as you type in order to work your core muscles? Surely they’re not serious. If they are, safety gear is a must. Trust me.

Move Over Tacos, We’ve Got Books!

Four writer friends and I gathered today at yummy (and healthy!) Seasons 52 in La Jolla, but our attention wasn’t on the awesome blackened mahi tacos the waiter set in front of us—it was on the gaggle of books these writers have just launched into the world.

Amazing nonfiction writer Kathleen Krull has two new ones out: What Was the March on Washington? and What Was the Boston Tea Party? Yet again, Kathy makes sure that little readers will learn a lot and have fun doing it. She signed copies for my sons, who think autographed copies are the bee’s knees. Kathleen’s husband, writer/illustrator Paul Brewer was there celebrating along with us.

The lovely picture book author and former librarian Helen Foster James takes us on a journey from China to America with Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America, in the Tales of Young Americans Series. It’s stunningly illustrated by Wilson Ong. Not only did Helen autograph a copy for me—she dedicated the book to me and the others in our writers lunch group. How cool is that?!

And my longtime pal Jean Ferris rocked with me a copy of Thrice Upon a Marigold, the third Marigold book. Those of you who’ve read my book Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies know how much I love the first two Marigold books and Jean’s clever sense of humor. My boys have been waiting as anxiously as I for this third volume. Of course, signed copy there!

My nightly bedtime reading session with the boys may be a tough one tonight as we decide which book to start with. What a wonderful problem to have!

 

Honored to Deliver Keynote at SCBWI 42nd Summer Conference

I’m honored to announce that I’ll be giving the “Market Report: An Up-to-the-Minute State of the Industry” keynote at the SCBWI 42nd Summer Conference in Los Angeles Aug 2 – 5. In fact, it’ll be a busy conference for me, as I’m also teaching the intensive “How to Build Your Own Teenager: Techniques for Writing Believable MG/YA Characters,” along with two breakouts: “The Read-Aloud Factor: Achieving Rhythm without Relying on Rhyme in Picture Books” and “Setting, Wherefore Art Thou?: The Surprising Benefits and How-To’s of Setting in MG/YA Fiction.” I’ll be doing one-on-one critiques, too! For info, check out the conference page.

Revision Week Was a Hoot!

In all the busy-busy of the last few weeks, I’m only just now able to collect my thoughts on DearEditor.com’s 2013 Revision Week. My primary thought: Wow, that was a blast! I love getting a peek into the minds and processes of creative people, so being able to interview six authors about their revision process was a true treat. There were overlaps in techniques, as well as some very original methods, and I know from reading the comments of DearEditor.com that week that many writers were as inspired and enlightened as I was by the mixing-and-matching.

I’ve also had the pleasure of working with the partial and full manuscript winners in the weeks since Revision Week ended. I love this one-on-one with DearEditor.com readers, and it is yet more peeking into the minds of creative people.

Do I have the perfect job for me, or what?

What Souffles and Revisions Have in Common

I LOVE Revision Week.

Today Edgar-nominated author Bruce Hale talks about the trickiness of knowing when you’re done revising: “When I can’t find anything else to tinker with, and I have that general feeling that if I mess with it much more, the entire souffle will collapse in a soggy heap — that’s when I know it’s the final draft.”

Yesterday, New York Times Bestselling author Laura Griffin shared that even after 11 award-winning books across several tension-filled series, revision is still no walk in the park. And yet she does what needs to be done: “Cutting scenes always feels drastic to me. I try not to get hung up on all the time I spent creating something that ends up on the cutting room floor, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Please pop over to DearEditor.com for their full interviews. And the week’s not done yet! Still ahead, three more authors with 85 books combined. The inside scoop on revision, from successful writers in the trenches.