The School Library Journal understands that not all readers can see, so I really appreciate Deanna Romriell's friendly review of CANNONS AT DAWN, audio book (Scholastic). I'm guessing the kaboom of cannons at the beginning was a hit!
Gr 4-8–Kristiana Gregory’s sequel (2011) to The Winter of Red Snow (2010, both Scholastic) continues the adventures
of Abigail Jane Stewart during the Revolutionary War. After losing
their home to fire, Abigail, her mother, and her younger siblings follow
Abigail’s father and the Continental Army from one battleground to
another, often facing harsh conditions, dangerous situations, and great
loss. Spanning the years from 1779 to 1781, Abby makes several new
friends, falls in love with one of the Continental soldiers, gets
married, and is expecting her first child by the end of the story.
Listeners learn about the daily events such as finding and preparing
food and the terrifying moments of battle. Illyana Kadushin does a nice
job of capturing the maturing voice of Abigail over the course of the
diary. This title can stand on its own, and fans of the first title will
not want to miss this sequel.–Deanna Romriell, Salt Lake City Public
Library, UT
www.amazon.com/Dear-America-Cannons-Dawn-Audio/dp/0545315263
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
new Curiously Odd Stories!
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| Volume 1 |
I'm happy to announce another set of short stories available on Amazon's Kindle, each set for $2.99 with an Author Note. Just for fun I've given a bit of background, explaining the origin of my ideas. The notes might be of interest to teachers and new writers.
 |
| Volume 2 |
Mr. Hooper and His Wife is about a mysterious neighbor with an unfortunate secret, based on a real neighbor in my past.
In The Last Jar of Applesauce, a farm wife--whose specialty is homemade applesauce--has a nefarious plan that backfires with chilling results.
I had fun watching my son, Cody Rutty, come up with new covers using his art and fractals. I really like them because they're curiously odd! In the meantime, thank you for reading my stories and I hope you enjoy them!
Amazon links:
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
kids' letters are funny, confessional & sometimes disturbing: answering fan mail Part 3
This stormy afternoon in Idaho, I've been sitting with a mug of decaf at the kitchen table. It's cluttered with note cards, postage stamps, pens and a friendly stack of fan mail. Getting letters from kids is one of the quiet perks of being an author. They can be sweet, funny, and irritable--as in being forced to write for a class assignment.
For example, a 5th grade girl in Texas began her letter about the Cabin Creek Mysteries by saying, "I love all your books." I can picture her at her desk, pencil in hand, erasing the misspelled words and carefully starting over because her handwriting is very neat. Then I picture her ducking down out of the teacher's sight, hunched over her lined notebook paper as she wrote this confession: "p.s. I didn't really read all your books." Ha! I laughed out loud! Good for her, being honest.
Catherine from Florida wrote that the reason she liked Catherine: The Great Journey was because "it was her name." Actually, I've received a lot of letters from kids who read a book merely because of a character's name. That's cool. At least they're reading.
However, a middle-school girl from Wisconsin has given me pause. She "loved" Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie and sounded sincere with her praise. It seemed she had been paying attention to the plot and characters. Her questions were thoughtful except for the last one: "Is the book based on your life or career?"
Let me mention that this Dear America diary is set in 1847 on the Oregon Trail. We're talking covered wagons, Indians, buffalo. I came this close to answering her letter with, "Are you kidding me? Do the math!" But I didn't. I figured out a graceful response, which in itself worries me.
I'm worried kids aren't learning critical thinking. I'm worried that my being polite and not wanting to hurt a student's feelings might instead be a detriment in the long run. I don't know.
If you have thoughts on this, whether an author should be more forthright when answering fan mail, please leave a comment. I would really love your feedback. Thanks!
For example, a 5th grade girl in Texas began her letter about the Cabin Creek Mysteries by saying, "I love all your books." I can picture her at her desk, pencil in hand, erasing the misspelled words and carefully starting over because her handwriting is very neat. Then I picture her ducking down out of the teacher's sight, hunched over her lined notebook paper as she wrote this confession: "p.s. I didn't really read all your books." Ha! I laughed out loud! Good for her, being honest.
Catherine from Florida wrote that the reason she liked Catherine: The Great Journey was because "it was her name." Actually, I've received a lot of letters from kids who read a book merely because of a character's name. That's cool. At least they're reading.
However, a middle-school girl from Wisconsin has given me pause. She "loved" Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie and sounded sincere with her praise. It seemed she had been paying attention to the plot and characters. Her questions were thoughtful except for the last one: "Is the book based on your life or career?"
Let me mention that this Dear America diary is set in 1847 on the Oregon Trail. We're talking covered wagons, Indians, buffalo. I came this close to answering her letter with, "Are you kidding me? Do the math!" But I didn't. I figured out a graceful response, which in itself worries me.
I'm worried kids aren't learning critical thinking. I'm worried that my being polite and not wanting to hurt a student's feelings might instead be a detriment in the long run. I don't know.
If you have thoughts on this, whether an author should be more forthright when answering fan mail, please leave a comment. I would really love your feedback. Thanks!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
from a writer's sanctuary, R.I.P. stately trees
 |
| majestic pines coming down |
But for the past three days we've been hearing the high-pitched buzz of chainsaws and the roar of a commercial shredder parked on our street.
Three of our next-door neighbor's beautiful trees are being destroyed because their landlord wills it so. The trees are not diseased. "We always hate to cut down the ones that are healthy like these," one of the sawyers told me, "but I want to keep the client happy." In other words, he needs the job. That part, I understand.
 |
| No more place to play |
Boise boasts that it's the City of Trees, but there's something wrong when any ol' homeowner can shave a neighborhood just because he's tired of raking leaves or wants a landscaping project.
Monday, February 27, 2012
kids with e-readers: kindle vs nook, Part Two
On Friday my hairdresser and I had a good discussion about e-readers for kids. As I posted here in January, her 11-year-daughter had received a Kindle for Christmas. Initially thrilled, the sixth-grader was soon envious of her friends who had Nooks because they could read and play games.
Now six weeks later, it seems her peers are mostly playing games. With one click it's easy to fool a parent that comes into the room. It's easy to fool people at school. Her teacher organized a reading-for-fun pajama party. I didn't get all the details, except that the students with Real Books and Kindles were actually reading. Those with multi-use devises were just goofing off with games. Cheating. It's sad but the teacher canceled the program.
My friend said she's thankful this "1st generation" Kindle is for books only. She has three children. Like other good parents she's trying to be vigilant supervising TV, Internet, video games, and cell-phones.
"At least when my eleven-year old daughter goes to her room to read, I know she's reading."
Now six weeks later, it seems her peers are mostly playing games. With one click it's easy to fool a parent that comes into the room. It's easy to fool people at school. Her teacher organized a reading-for-fun pajama party. I didn't get all the details, except that the students with Real Books and Kindles were actually reading. Those with multi-use devises were just goofing off with games. Cheating. It's sad but the teacher canceled the program.
My friend said she's thankful this "1st generation" Kindle is for books only. She has three children. Like other good parents she's trying to be vigilant supervising TV, Internet, video games, and cell-phones.
"At least when my eleven-year old daughter goes to her room to read, I know she's reading."
Friday, February 24, 2012
writing obituaries as a young reporter & a haunting story
In the late '70s I worked for a daily newspaper in a small coastal town in California. One of the things I loved most was the cacophony of the newsroom. The teletype machine was always clacking in the background with breaking news from the wire services. Phones rang and editors yelled. Reporters were at their typewriters, mostly black Underwoods that dinged when you hit the return bar and had a satisfying clickity-swoooosh when you pulled the finished story out of the inked roller.
"Today it's news, tomorrow it wraps fish," an editor told me when I was laboring too long over a lead paragraph. Usually there was only time for one draft before an article appeared in print.
At first I wrote weather reports, wedding and anniversary blurbs and---most interesting of all--obituaries. By 8 a.m. the funeral homes would call with the death notices and I would then try to make the nicest stories out of the grimmest details. Sometimes I called family members to learn more about their loved one so that the obit could have a little warmth. It might sound macabre, but I really enjoyed writing these short stories, as I called them.
Sometimes, however, calls from the mortuaries were upsetting. One morning I took a page of notes before realizing the person I was to write about was my next door neighbor, a young man who had always waved hello, but had suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night.
The call that has haunted me the most was from a funeral director telling me about his cousin. I was sympathetic of course, then asked my usual questions. When I hung up the phone and set my pencil down, I felt numb. To this day I don't remember what I wrote. This is what he told me:
Sometime in the night his cousin, a middle-aged man with an undetermined illness, decided to end his life. Not wanting to inconvenience anyone with a mess or an ambulance bill if he were to have been found alive, he drove himself to the mortuary and shot himself. His cousin came to work the next morning and discovered his childhood friend on the steps with a note explaining all this.
As I said earlier, I don't remember what I wrote.
"Today it's news, tomorrow it wraps fish," an editor told me when I was laboring too long over a lead paragraph. Usually there was only time for one draft before an article appeared in print.
At first I wrote weather reports, wedding and anniversary blurbs and---most interesting of all--obituaries. By 8 a.m. the funeral homes would call with the death notices and I would then try to make the nicest stories out of the grimmest details. Sometimes I called family members to learn more about their loved one so that the obit could have a little warmth. It might sound macabre, but I really enjoyed writing these short stories, as I called them.
Sometimes, however, calls from the mortuaries were upsetting. One morning I took a page of notes before realizing the person I was to write about was my next door neighbor, a young man who had always waved hello, but had suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night.
The call that has haunted me the most was from a funeral director telling me about his cousin. I was sympathetic of course, then asked my usual questions. When I hung up the phone and set my pencil down, I felt numb. To this day I don't remember what I wrote. This is what he told me:
Sometime in the night his cousin, a middle-aged man with an undetermined illness, decided to end his life. Not wanting to inconvenience anyone with a mess or an ambulance bill if he were to have been found alive, he drove himself to the mortuary and shot himself. His cousin came to work the next morning and discovered his childhood friend on the steps with a note explaining all this.
As I said earlier, I don't remember what I wrote.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
traditional vs. self-publishing: my experience
For the past 35 years I’ve been a professional writer and have published more than two-dozen middle-grade and young adult novels for traditional houses: Harcourt, Scholastic and Holiday House. And as of last November, I’m also a self-published author. From big signings and national tours to now managing the whole thing myself, I can say there are joys and stresses to both routes:
Time: With several books I’ve waited at least two years between acceptance and seeing them in print, and often have already turned in the final manuscript before receiving the contract. With self-publishing you just click a button. It’s instantly gratifying to publish right away, but the time it takes with a traditional house isn’t for naught (points below:).
Support: Editorial, sales and marketing is a huge plus with regular publishers as is Production. This is the cover design, copyediting, formatting, and adding the title to their catalogue. It’s a team effort getting a book out to libraries, schools and stores. When you’re on your own, all this is up to you.
Economics: Okay, here’s the money part. An advance with traditional publishers is actually a loan against your future earnings, which may or may not blast out of the park like J.K. Rowling. If your works don’t sell, the advance is it, probably gone by Christmas, and it’s time to start the process of submitting and waiting—and waiting—all over again. Publishing with, say, Amazon Kindle, there’s no up-front money but you’re guaranteed 70% of sales if your title is priced at $2.99 or above.
Royalty statements: Traditional publishers send these in the Spring and Fall, reflecting earnings from the prior nine months. I spent two years writing and editing my recent novel, STALKED, then my artist son did the cover. I published it on Amazon Kindle in November and have already received a check! Monthly royalties, wow!
Trends: Success with traditional houses often depends on fads and inflated expectations for profits. I was invited to create two paperback series for young readers, which the publisher initially loved but soon cancelled. The reason? Despite mountains of fan mail from kids, parents and teachers, sales weren’t as brisk as hoped for. Now out on my own, I can directly reach my readers with new adventures.
All this to say, there are benefits to both approaches. I’m deeply grateful to my former editors and publishers. They put my stories into the hands of so many children, many of whom are now adults reading to their own kids—and many of these kids have e-readers! What a great time in history to be an author.
Time: With several books I’ve waited at least two years between acceptance and seeing them in print, and often have already turned in the final manuscript before receiving the contract. With self-publishing you just click a button. It’s instantly gratifying to publish right away, but the time it takes with a traditional house isn’t for naught (points below:).
Support: Editorial, sales and marketing is a huge plus with regular publishers as is Production. This is the cover design, copyediting, formatting, and adding the title to their catalogue. It’s a team effort getting a book out to libraries, schools and stores. When you’re on your own, all this is up to you.
Economics: Okay, here’s the money part. An advance with traditional publishers is actually a loan against your future earnings, which may or may not blast out of the park like J.K. Rowling. If your works don’t sell, the advance is it, probably gone by Christmas, and it’s time to start the process of submitting and waiting—and waiting—all over again. Publishing with, say, Amazon Kindle, there’s no up-front money but you’re guaranteed 70% of sales if your title is priced at $2.99 or above.
Royalty statements: Traditional publishers send these in the Spring and Fall, reflecting earnings from the prior nine months. I spent two years writing and editing my recent novel, STALKED, then my artist son did the cover. I published it on Amazon Kindle in November and have already received a check! Monthly royalties, wow!
Trends: Success with traditional houses often depends on fads and inflated expectations for profits. I was invited to create two paperback series for young readers, which the publisher initially loved but soon cancelled. The reason? Despite mountains of fan mail from kids, parents and teachers, sales weren’t as brisk as hoped for. Now out on my own, I can directly reach my readers with new adventures.
All this to say, there are benefits to both approaches. I’m deeply grateful to my former editors and publishers. They put my stories into the hands of so many children, many of whom are now adults reading to their own kids—and many of these kids have e-readers! What a great time in history to be an author.
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