Harvard English professor: "5 stars for STALKED"

My guest today is Dr. Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, English professor at Harvard University in Boston 

Elisabeth invited me to comment on my journey from traditional publishers to self-publishing for her blog today: http://thetuesdaywriter.blogspot.com/  -- then she was kind enough to post some encouraging words for my YA thriller, STALKED. Thank you Elisabeth! Her review, which also appears on Amazon:

      "When exiled from her home after being framed for theft, Rikke - the fifteen-year old dressmaker to the Queen of Denmark - pretends to be the "bravest girl in Denmark," telling people that she is going on an adventure to see her papa, even though inside she feels terrified at leaving her home and going on a ship to a place she doesn't know. Aboard the ship, things are not what they seem: the nice man who her mother asks to chaperone her turns out to be a criminal who has chosen Rikke as his next prey. 

       "When arriving at Ellis Island in 1911, all Rikke has are fifteen dollars and the sewing skills she has worked to learn. When the ocean wind blows her dollars overboard, Rikke finds herself dependent on the kindness of strangers and her real adventure begins...
     
   "Through a combination of third person narrative and Rikke's letters to family and friends, we see an impeccably researched immigrant story of loyalty, love, and desperation unfold through Rikke's eyes: the friends she makes from a melting pot of nationalities, the job she finds working as a seamstress, the younger sister she adopts from negligent parents, the impact of the Titanic crash on the families in New York who were awaiting their loved ones on the ship, and Rikke's growing awareness that she is being stalked by her "chaperone" from the ship ride to America.
     
    "Through these events, Rikke must learn to count on herself, her own skills and ingenuity, to survive and find her way back to her family. Indeed it is her very own craft, her sewing, that enables Rikke to pull herself up stitch by stitch and make a life for herself in early-century New York. From start to finish, Stalked is a well crafted and suspenseful story in which all of the threads are woven shimmeringly into place."  www.amazon.com/Stalked-ebook/dp/B0069WE02W/

a warm summer evening in Idaho

90 degrees at 9 pm

Another warm summer evening in our garden. We have a fountain and there's a symphony of birdsong in the trees. Since the sun sets late in Idaho, we're able to read outside until 9:30.

I'm making progress on my neglected novel, but it's REALLY hard staying away from the Internet and Facebook.

I miss seeing friends' updates & photos! Soon, soon I hope to return.

taking a break from social media

Payette Lake--McCall, Idaho

I love summer in the mountains, especially by a lake and with a book.

A couple weeks ago when I was hiking in McCall, I realized an addiction: Facebook! It wasn't enough to enjoy the cool air and scent of pines, to watch a bald eagle soar on an updraft, noooo I had to interrupt this solitude by posting it on my home page, thanks to the i-phone in my backpack. Then later while at the lake reading--contentedly, I had thought--I kept checking my cell see if anyone had "liked" my post or commented.

What a wimp! I never used to be so needy.


One of my best-selling Dear America books with Scholastic, The Winter of Red Snow, was written in 19 days (after months of research). We had moved to a new town and had no friends yet, no TV or Internet, no daily newspaper. Our sons were in 4th & 6th grades so after I walked them to school I had a chunk of time. Also, it snowed a lot. I stayed inside and wrote. Two-dozen books later I'm still trying to duplicate that lovely, productive isolation, to no avail.

Fast forward to my current middle-grade novel. I've been at it for more than a year, with a self-imposed deadline of yesterday, but am barely at the half-way mark. Aaaack! What happened? I blame myself for diluting my days with happy interruptions and distractions, but I also realize that trying to be hip with social media (Twitter, Goodreads, etc.) has taken a toll ... at least for me. I spend more time thinking and talking and posting about writing, than actually writing.

Maybe it's not possible to find the same solitude as those 19 days, but I'm going to try to regroup, to tighten the belt so to speak. I'll miss seeing everyone's news, updates, and photos on Facebook, but will check in now and then on my author page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kristiana-Gregory-Author-Page/337854195221

my youngest reader

Emmett likes dogs and books, 7 mos. old

 I'm a proud great-aunt, not just because Emmett is a ray of sunshine, but he's already tackling historical fiction! He conked out on STALKED, but at least the paperback makes a nice pillow. My boy!

www.amazon.com/Stalked-ebook/dp/B0069WE02W
www.amazon.com/Stalked-Kristiana-Gregory/dp/1477434828/

Cannons at Dawn, audio, helps visually impared readers

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

new Curiously Odd Stories!

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:

Curiously Odd Stories, Volume 1

Curiously Odd Stories, Volume 2

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!