squeetus

My next 2 years: 6 books and a movie

So I have a lot of schtuff going on (and I promise, no new book announcements for sometime). To sum up:

August 16, 2013 - AUSTENLAND premieres in LA and NYC, more cities and dates TBA.

September 17, 2013 - GUYS READ: Other Worlds, an anthology of a science fiction and fantasy short stories. I have a story in it titled "Bouncing the Grinning Goat."

October 8, 2013 - EVER AFTER HIGH: The Storybook of Legends, a middle grade book about a boarding school for the children of famous fairytales, a tie-in book with Mattel's new Ever After High line of products.

April 1, 2014 - DANGEROUS, a young adult, scifi, superhero adventure novel. (btw, the setting is contemporary. Some assume that YA scifi is always dystopian.)

July 2014 - the fourth book in the SPIRIT ANIMALS series. Like 39 Clues and Infinity Ring, this is a 7-book series, each book written by a different author, supported by a huge online video game. The first book, written by Brandon Mull, launches Sept '13.

Fall 2014 - THE PRINCESS IN BLACK, the first book in Dean's and my early chapter book series, gorgeously and wittily illustrated by LeUyen Pham.

Winter 2015 - PRINCESS ACADEMY: Dragonfly Sisters (working title), the third and final PA book. I imagine it'll be Jan or Feb '15.

And then, who knows? Well, there will be at least three more PIB books, and I have other books outlined and stories to tell. I want to write more Austenland books and wish I could have gotten to one to time it with the movie's release. It's almost maddening, how many books I want to write! And book writing takes so much time I have to tell those other stories just to sit down and shut up for a minute please, I can't get to you yet!

So...I thought I was slowing down, taking it easy for a few years. Funny what happens as soon as you say that. Thanks for sticking with me, guys! I'm excited about all the different kinds of stories and fun books I'm getting to create, and so grateful there are readers who are excited about them too.

Next post I'll tackle that question I get as often as any: how do you manage to write while being a mother? In the meantime, if you have specific questions about that or have thoughts about how to balance parenting/your work, school/your passion, etc. let us know in the comments.

Ebooks and the great equalizer

I was recently gifted a Kobo and now have read three books on the ereader. I like that it's not backlit. After working on my laptop, I don't want to stare at another screen. I like that I can purchase ebooks through my local bookstore for it and check out books from the library and hold many books in one small place. I don't like that it has to be recharged, turned off on airplanes, doesn't feel like a book or smell, I can't easily tell how far into the book I am, the formatting isn't beautiful but functional, etc. I can see the benefits of ebooks in certain circumstances, but I am far from converting entirely to electronic.

I'm not disgruntled about ebooks. I wish I liked them more--I'd love space for a dresser in my bedroom, but all the walls are taken up by book cases. I receive royalties for ebooks just as I do for paper books. But I do believe it's important to consider the consequences if ebooks take up too much market share.

Often ebook retailers who also sell e-readers sell ebooks at a loss in order to promote their e-readers. If ebooks are sold for significantly less than their hardcover and even paperback counterparts, it's less likely people will invest in the latter. Paper books will come to seem ridiculously overpriced. Which they are not. Publishing is not a fat cat industry. No one is getting rich (except a very few megaseller authors, which represent such a tiny percentage of the industry they're hardly worth mentioning). Look at anyone down the line: editor, agent, publisher, publicist, distributor, bookseller, author, and you see that everyone is trying to make a living and no one is wealthy. No one gets into any part of publishing with the intent of striking it rich (unless they're woefully ignorant). They do it because they love books and care about literacy.

So, what happens if ebook prices dip down lower and stay lower? Customers like that because they can buy books for less. HOWEVER, the smaller the print run of a paper book, the more expensive it is to publish, the less profit a publisher makes. If most editions sold of a book are electronic, publishers won't be able to afford printing hard copies. Many books would only be available electronically, and those in paper would be more expensive.

So what? Maybe everything goes digital in the future. Save the trees, right? But what about those who can't afford an e-reader? What about libraries, schools, kids? Right now, public libraries are "the great equalizer" as someone said. Anyone can have access to most any book for free in a library. But if some books are only available as an ebook, only those with readers will have access. Libraries are already underfunded. What will happen if fewer hard copies are printed and the prices go up?

I don't know how this will all play out, but I am concerned. Some say, keep the market open and don't be afraid of change. But the change I foresee isn't just a different industry, it's one that is actually smaller, more prone to monopolies, and less accessible by the poor and by children. I want quality literature. I want freedom of speech. I want all children and adults to have access to thousands of different books, any one of which might change their lives.

Male character function: be a character; Girl character function: love interest

When I was about 18, I was in a community theater production of Robin Hood. As is so often the case with theater, there were more girls than guys who auditioned, but there were more guy than girl parts in the play. I was one of three girls cast as a silent, hooded "Merry Man." During rehearsals it quickly became ridiculous. Though we kept our hoods on all the time, three of us girls playing Merry Men were really bad at walking and moving like men. I remember talking with the lead male actors.

Me: Why do all of the Merry Men have to be men? I could still be a girl and be in the band.
Actor: But if there was a girl in the band, why wouldn't Robin fall in love with her and not Marian? We don't want to confuse the audience.

I was confused myself. Why would that even be an issue? The presence of a single woman in proximity to the lead other than the Love Interest would confuse the audience? In real life, do guys go around falling in love with every girl who happens to be nearby? Obviously, I thought, Marian happens to be Robin's type. He must like the polished, noble, girlie-girl, and a Merry Girl would be rough-and-tumble. What's confusing about that?

But it is. As I look at movies, especially action movies and animated movies, there are rarely any girls besides the Love Interest. Audiences are accustomed to this. The main character's Love Interest can have an elderly female friend, or even a comic-relief female friend her same age (so long as she's overweight, extremely quirky, lacking classical beauty features, etc.). But No Extra Girls Allowed. It's as if the only function of a female character is to be the Love Interest. So if there are, say, two female characters then the audience will be confused. But wait, there are two! Which is the Love Interest? We don't know who to expect will end up with the Lead and the unexpected is upsetting!

Just when I watch a film that's an exception--like Thor, which had several female characters (though male characters still represented the large majority)--I think, hey, we're over it! Then I see 4-5 action or animated movies in a row with an all male cast and one token female--the Love Interest.

I want to be conscious of this. I want all of us to be aware. Because I don't want to see the reverse happen either. In an effort to over-correct, are we doing that with the boys? In YA novels, do we have female characters with 1 male character (The Love Interest) or two if there's a triangle? I'm begging writers of movies and books, be respectful of the girls. Include them in the stories. Girls can be funny and interesting and daring and shy and adventurous and evil and anything a character should be.

Without further ado...my newest Super Secret Project

She wears glass slippers.
She sleeps in a tower.
She sings to birds.
She is the perfect princess.
And for a monster-fighting heroine, that is the perfect disguise.
Princess Magnolia is...

The Princess in Black!

The Publisher's Lunch announcement:

"From Newbery Honor winner and Eisner nominated authors Shannon and Dean Hale, a young chapter book series following the brave and exciting adventures of Princess Magnolia, a perfectly proper princess by day, but when trouble raises its ugly, monster-shaped head, she ditches her flouncy dresses and glass slippers and becomes THE PRINCESS IN BLACK! Sold at auction to Sarah Ketchersid at Candlewick Press."

These things take time to publish. They'll be full of illustrations, so I imagine a couple of years before we'll see the first one? I'm so excited about this series. We love writing them. They make me laugh. Can't wait to share!

Gallavanting with beauty queen torsos

Happy release day to my torso twin, Libba Bray, for her new book Beauty Queens!

Torso twin? you ask. What is that?

Well, a little over three years ago, Libba Bray and I went on book tour together (back when I used to do those sorts of things. Before the baby clones. Who are squirming at my feet while I write and searching the floor for anything non-edible they can put in their mouth. I want to put your faces in my mouth, you little edible darlings). We were promoting our new books. Notice the similarities?

Yes! You're so smart! They both feature female torsos. And so it was the Torso Tour 2008.

Well, Libba's latest just released. Take a look at the cover:

First, obviously she snapped a photo of me in a bikini while we were on tour. I feel a little violated, but that's beside the point. The main issue is, her book features yet another female torso. Can we just say what this is? A desperate cry from a lonely woman for her Torso Twin? I miss you too, Libba darling. But you don't have to go to such an extreme to get my attention. An email is fine, you darling you.

So Libba is off touring a torso book, but NOT with me. I ask you, loyalty anyone? No, she's gallavanting with Meg Cabot and Maggie Stiefvater...wait. Okay. Fair enough. I'd gallavant with Meg Cabot and Maggie Stiefvater too. (Oops, just had to separate the babes. One was trying to eat the other's ear.)

When LIbba and I were in Seattle, we took photo booth pictures of our torsos in honor of the Torso Tour. Then we looked at the photos, realized why our publishers didn't ask us to pose for our covers, and promptly did the photos in. At least, I think they were destroyed.

These ones survived.

The babes are now holding a sing-off to see who can sing the loudest. This sort of thing can quickly get ugly. I'd better go.

Secret writing cabals and other things you've suspected all along

 If you've followed on blogs/twitter recently, there's a conspiracy theory about a YA Mafia, a clique of YA writers who boost each other's careers and keep out people they don't like. Fabulous! John Scalzi has the best response (note: some mature language). I wish people thought I could be so nefarious and clever, but alas, even though I toured with Libba Bray and have repeatedly and publicly volunteered to be Holly Black's best friend, no one sees me as mafia material. *sadly removing fedora*

Then I'm told I'm part of the sinister Mormon Mafia, a group of Mormon YA writers who intend to take over the publishing world! Look out, evil world, we come armed with fantasy tomes and cleverly rhyming picture books!

Since I'm into full exposure (see nursing post) I'll reveal the nature of a secret writing cabal of which I am actually a member/acolyte. Read on if you dare...

Rock Canyon is a listserv of Utah children's writers and illustrators who are nationally published. It was started by the wonderful and generous Rick Walton as a way to support each other and use our combined talents to do some good in our community. It is not a religious organization, of course. Some writers are Mormon (it is Utah after all) and some are not. Actually, I have no idea what religion if any most of the members belong to. We have a couple of Arizona and Idaho members too (you know, just so we can appear inclusive). We have writers who have been publishing for decades and others who have one book under contract. Fiction and non, pictures and poetry and prose, it's a diverse, opinionated, and stimulating group.

Mostly we email questions to each other, the new asking advice of the old. It's a safe place to complain about the rockiness of publishing and the trauma of the creative process, or to cheer each other's successes, such as a new contract or starred review. It's natural in most any profession, I think, to seek out others like you. (Freaks, that is.) It's especially nice to feel like we have co-workers, since we each work alone, often in a dark basement room.

Each year we host a writing workshop event that raises money to put books into schools. So far this year alone, the Rock Canyon authors have done assemblies at multiple high-need elementary schools in Utah, giving each child in the school a book of their very own. This rocks. Rock Canyon rocks.

Al Capone was known as a benevolent and generous man to some. So, I guess we're kind of a mafia. Without the killing. (As far as you know...)

Here's a little secret to identify Rockcanyoners (since the scars and tattoos are hidden by clothing). We challenged each other include the name Rock Canyon in an upcoming book. Mine will appear in Midnight in Austenland (January 2012).

I found out about the YA Mafia brouhaha through the Rock Canyon listserv, and we had a nice hearty discussion about it. Some of the brouhaha-ness was inspired by writers who blogged about the dangers of hopeful writers who review/bash books. The writers warned that one day you might meet those authors you are bashing (note the difference between disliking a book and the rantish vitriol that sometimes spews forth). I don't want to wade through all the back and forth of this argument, but let me throw out two helpful rules that should apply to everyone:

1. Only write online what you would feel comfortable saying to their face.
2. Don't poop in your workplace.

About number 2 (tee-hee): imagine one day you are querying agents. The agent likes your ms but is on the fence since she's already overworked, so she googles your name. She reads on your blog several reviews where you go into detail about how much you hated several books she loved by authors she represents.

Or imagine the same scenario about an editor. If you are a writer or want to be a writer, then consider other authors, agents, and publishers as your co-workers. You don't have to pretend to like everything your co-workers do, but respectful discourse in any profession is just common sense.

And...the irony of the sleep deprived mom-of-four surrounded by piles of laundry and dirty dishes trying to give advice to anyone. Ah well. Seacrest out.

EDIT: just to be clear, there is no YA Mafia. I depended too greatly on my ironic tone to convey this. Note to self: use ironic tone with greater caution or else sumbit to inserting emoticons.

Pirates and books and poo-poo heads

In my last post, I said, "If you buy all your books online or exclusively use the library, try buying the occassional book at your local bookstore." I want to make sure you know how passionately I feel about libraries. If you get all your books at libraries, good for you! I just wanted to suggest thinking about purchasing a book from a brick-and-mortar store in order to help keep them around as literary centers, vibrant businesses that improve your local economy, and means to attract author visits for your neighborhoods and schools. I used to get all my books at a library and just purchase those I really loved to keep or gift. Then I became an author and felt empathy for other people's books and started spending a lot of time in bookstores and got greedy and had to have all the books on my shelves whenever I wanted so I could read them on a whim because I am whim-ish. But still, libraries are awesome. Libraries=democracy.

This leads me to the question of pirated books. "If I can check out any book I want for free at the library, what's the difference with downloading a pirated ebook off the internet?"

(Pirate. Argh.)

The difference is MASSIVE.

1. Downloading a book you didn't pay for is theft. It's illegal. It's unethical. It's rude. Would you slip a novel into your purse at a store and sneak out? If your answer is yes, then SHAME ON YOU, POO-POO HEAD! But likely your answer is no, because most people don't shoplift. And most people are not poo-poo heads. (Please don't tell my kids I said "poo." That's a bathroom word.)

2. Libraries keep track of circulation. When a librarian is considering purchasing a new book by an author, she will check to see how well his previous books circulated in her library. How often his backlist books were checked out determines how many of his new book she'll purchase, if any. When you check out books at the library, you are supporting that author's future books. Many authors don't have good enough sales in bookstores to support future publications, and it's only thanks to the library as a book buyer that their books can get published. (Librarians, can I get a hey-hey? Or a nay-nay if I'm wrong. You can correct me. I promise not to call you a poo-poo head.)

3. When you download pirated ebooks, you are supporting no one, not the author, the publisher, the editor, the cover artist, the publicist--any of the dozens of good people who worked so hard to bring that book about. You are being greedy and lazy and selfish. My goodness, Ms. Hale, so much name calling in this post! What has gotten into you? Sometimes it just feels good to be declarative.

Also, I declare (randomly) that Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers is a fabulous, week-long, intestive conference and workshop for writers in Sandy, Utah every June. Some of the workshops (like Holly Black's, Ann Cannon's, and Martine Leavitt's) have already sold out. If you're a writer and need a kickstart, this is an excellent choice.

As you were.

Why brick-and-mortar still matter

Many of you have heard that Borders declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is closing about 200 stores. This is a big blow, and some estimate that will affect sales of books so much that authors, agents, publishers, etc., will see a 10% decrease in profits. And of course hundreds of fine booksellers are now looking at unemployment in a recession.

In an age where you can buy books online, often for cheaper and without having to leave your home, why bother at all with brick-and-mortar stores? Here are a few of reasons.

Local stores provide local jobs and improve the economy in your neighborhood.

Local bookstores become hubs of the arts. Without bookstores, there would be no book tours. When authors tour, we go to events at bookstores and do school visits set up by the bookstores. These are free literary events.

When someone says San Jose, California, I think Hicklebees. When someone says Austin, Texas, I think BookPeople. Local bookstores increase the livability and positive perception of your home town. This has a direct effect on economy.

Bookstores mean booksellers, people whose job it is to read books, know what's out there and what's coming out. They are experts you can talk to for book recommendations for your child, for you, for reluctant and voracious readers. They help keep literacy alive.

Without handselling, it's harder for new authors to get published. How often do you buy a debut author's book online? A new book is much more likely to be sold by a person in a store, where it can be propped up in a display or handed to a reader by a bookseller. This is serious, hopeful authors out there. Without booksellers handselling books, your chances of getting published are diminished. Even if you're not a hopeful author, the more bookstores there are means more individual places for books to get noticed, which means more types of books that get published, which helps keep freedom of speech alive.

Since you're reading an author's site, most of you probably have a local bookstore you support. But if you buy all your books online or exclusively use the library, try buying the occassional book at your local bookstore. Books make excellent gifts! Indiebound is a good tool for finding nearby bookstores in the US.

Please add in the comments other reasons bookstores are important or any personal thoughts you'd like to share.

Awards aplenty

Congratulations to all the winners of the ALA awards today, especially long time squeetus friend Jenni Holm on her THIRD Newbery Honor! Also happy for Terry Pratchett winning the the Margaret A. Edwards award and The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex getting the Odyssey for audio book. I'm pretty certain calamity jack not getting the Caldecott was a clerical error since Nate Hale is clearly a genius. For a complete list of awards and winners go to the ala website.

Newbery Medal

“Moon over Manifest,” written by Clare Vanderpool

Newbery Honors

"Turtle in Paradise,” by Jennifer L. Holm

“Heart of a Samurai,” written by Margi Preus

“Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night,” written by Joyce Sidman

“One Crazy Summer,” by Rita Williams-Garcia

Caldecott Medal

“A Sick Day for Amos McGee,” illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead
 
Caldecott Honor

“Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave,” illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill

“Interrupting Chicken,” written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein
 
Michael L. Printz Award

“Ship Breaker,” written by Paolo Bacigalupi

Printz Honor Books

“Stolen,” by Lucy Christopher

“Please Ignore Vera Dietz,” by A.S. King

“Revolver,” by Marcus Sedgwick

“Nothing,” by Janne Teller

M.T. Anderson's secret relationship to Generic Viagra

Most of you know that I have a mad crush on M.T. Anderson. (You can see my squeetus exclusive interview with him here.) You understand. I'm not in love with him per se. I am an ecstatically happily married woman. And so is he. Only not the woman part. But how can I not help crushing? He's not my only crush, of course. The list is awfully long. (Holly Black, when will you admit we're best friends?!) But he comes up today because:

1. I'm about to read The Game of Sunken Places for the first time. The sequel is out, The Suburb Beyond the Stars, and has this awesome promo vid, if you haven't seen it.

2. We just had this email exchange. I share, with Tobin's permission.

Me:

Man those spam robots are clever! I just found this comment on one of my blog posts that mentions you, written by "Generic Viagra" with a link to an online pharmacy: "M.T Anderson is such a great guy, the most important thing is that he is a smart guy. Maybe he can share with us some other interesting ideas."

Well, sir, can you? Don't betray the high opinion Generic Viagra has placed in you.

MTA:

I should mention that Generic Viagra is my stepmom. She's really nice about promoting my work. We used to call her Genny. For some reason, she was touchy about us using her full name.

Dickens was a genius

So I am convinced after watching a myriad of Christmas Carol adaptations this year (of which my favorite is, of course, the Muppets). How many adaptations are there? Movies and TV show episodes add up to over fifty, though there may be many more. There are plays, an opera, books...Dickens's structure has been imitated so often it feels almost cliche. And yet, before Dickens, IT DIDN'T EXIST. He done thunk it up all himself.

Of course he had influences: fairy tales, Washington Irving, Shakespeare, the Greeks, etc. He read, he listened, he took those elements of story and human nature that existed out there and wove something entirely new. IT's such a familiar story that I forget sometimes to give credit to the man who made it happen. I also read somewhere that Dickens, who was concerned about the state of the poor in Victorian England, meant to write a political tract encouraging people to do something about it. He changed his mind and instead wrote the novella The Christmas Carol, convinced fiction could do far more to inspire. 150 years later his story is still vibrant. I doubt we'd ever see a Muppets version of the essay on caring for the poor.

One of the things that fascinate me about The Christmas Carol is that we think of it as a feel-good tale, because of the ending. But of course it is actually a horror story. It's a haunting. Ghosts visit a man and scare him nearly to death. Some of them are really quite frightening, while the others are disturbing at best. The main character sees horrific and sad things. This is a visceral and psycological horror tale that Dickens coupled with Christmas and made up his own slipstream genre that resonates a hundred and fifty years later. Like Shakespeare and Austen, Dickens wrote a story that can be retold again and again, remain relevent and not get tiresome. Genius, my friends.

And as Gonzo says at the end of the movie, "If you liked this, you should read the book."

Feeding Hansel

I just love you people! I'm so grateful that you  express your opinions in a respectful way and that this blog doesn't have to become another place of hatred and flaming. Instead of covering our ears and humming so we don't have to hear anyone else's opinion, I love that we can both express and listen. Most issues are complicated and most of the time I can see both sides. Book banning, selecting books for public school curriculum, deciding what a room full of teens are or aren't ready for--these are often complicated issues. But you know what isn't? Calling a book like Speak, which deals honestly and non-graphically with rape, pornography. I draw the line there, people! I shout foul! And I bleed for all the survivors out there who have to deal with this attitude in real life. Speak up, girls! We've got your back.

So I'm 36 weeks, a huge milestone. Even if I went into labor tonight (no please) our babes have a great chance of avoiding the NICU. I want those girls. I want them already. They're so quiet inside my belly, so hidden, a jumble of pokey parts that jab me and move around. Mysterious. I want the realness, the babyness, the tangible parts. I want the smells and the skin to kiss and the milk breath and the silky soles of their feet. I want the crying that (hopefully) stops when I hold them and snuggle them and help them feel safe. I want to see the baldness or hairy heads, the eye shapes and marvelous noses, the little lips for me to kiss like flower petals. I want my babies!

But not yet. Maybe in another week. They could use some more fattening up. Like Hansel's witch, I've felt their boniness through my skin and find them too skinny still. Eat more first, my pretties. Here, have some pie.