California Readers May Newsletter

I'm delighted to learn that The Year the Swallows Came Early has been reviewed and is on the front page of the May issue of the California Readers Online Newsletter. In addition, the book is under consideration to be added to the California Collection. Even to be considered is an honor, and I'm most thankful to the committee for the time they spend reading the book.

To see the review, and the rest of the May issue, click here:

http://www.californiareaders.org/newsletters/2009-May.pdf

autograph

My twelve year old was on a mission yesterday. If he wasn't going to be able to hear Ray Bradbury speak on the afternoon panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, then he was going to make sure he got his autograph. He stood in line for an hour and and half waiting. He was number 64, meaning; 63 people were in front of him also waiting for Mr. Bradbury's autograph. My son was the only kid there. We were told Mr. Bradbury would not be able to personalize anything, and to hurry through when we got to the signing table so the very long line of people could also have their chance.

When it was finally my son's turn, he was so nervous. Mr. Bradbury (now 89 years old) signed my son's new book, Something Wicked This Way Comes, then went to wave goodbye to him. My son thought Mr. Bradbury was holding up his hand to "high-five" him, so my son reached across and slapped his hand. For a moment, everyone was quiet, wondering if this was not the right thing to do; to touch Mr. Bradbury, to take an extra amount of personal time at the signing table. My son stepped back. I could tell he was sorry. But then, suddenly, Mr. Bradbury laughed. It was one of those loud happy laughs. I heard the gentleman next to him in the booth, say, "Oh, he really likes kids. Look at that."

Of course, the day was successful.

It didn't matter that I didn't have a line of over 64 people waiting for a signed copy of my own book, The Year the Swallows Came Early. My son had gotten what he wanted.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The festival of books starts tomorrow. It will be the first one I've attended as a published author. I'm delighted to have been asked to sign books, both at 11:30am, at the Book Soup booth, and at 3:00pm, at Mrs. Nelson's booth.

I've been trying all week to buy tickets to hear Ray Bradbury speak. He is my twelve year old's favorite author. Naturally, they're all sold out, and have been since Monday morning. It looked like they went on sale Sunday afternoon. If I'd known they were going to go that fast, I would've been ready to buy them Sunday. Now we'll have to wait in the standby line. :)

last three chapters of Amelia's story

To read the first chapters of this Reader Tuesday story, please see the previous post. Here are the last three:

Chapter Three

Flight

Whoosh! The wind went by. It ruffled Morris' feathers. Boy, it was a sight to see, a sky full of birds. Especially cliff swallows like me, Morris told himself.

It had been weeks since they had left Goya, Argentina, and everyone needed rest.

Chapter Four

Lost and Found

They landed and wandered for awhile. Just as he was about to settle into his new nest, Morris heard a coo. Someone was in trouble. He waddled toward the sound, but it seemed to come from everywhere.

"Kathalee! What are you doing in there?" Morris scolded.

"Pretending to be a human," she replied.

Chapter Five

Imitating

So the flock thought that sounded like fun. The people were all in costumes celebrating their return at the mission. The swallows were behind a person they chose imitating them. Some were disco dancing and some were eating food. We made it to California, thought Morris. This is the best party to come back to.

The End.

Reader Tuesday

This swallow story is from Amelia, a fourth grader. It has several chapters to it, and runs three pages long, so I'll post the first two chapters today, then add more tomorrow. It's really quite amazingly creative!

Prologue:

Never in the name of Pittsburgh has a swallow been a human. Well, that's about to change!

Chapter One

A Cold Winter Day

It was a cold November winter day, snow was lightly sprinkling. Morris was pacing back and forth. Being the leader of the flock wasn't easy. It was fifty days before they left for their 7,500 mile trip. Goya was cold already and he didn't think they would make it. The cliff swallows were tiny and had to fly all the way to San Juan Capistrano, California. It was unimaginable, plus most would have frost bite. The wind howled. He knew he had no choice.

Chapter Two

The Meeting

"Coo coo! Cooooooooo! Coo cooooo!" Morris practically shouted above the wind. "We are gathered here today to vote whether or not we should leave Goya early. Everyone who wants to stay, coo." None of the swallows cooed.

"We leave tonight then!" Morris declared. Everyone cheered.

Meet Kay Cassidy!

Kay Cassidy is a writer with a new series coming out soon. She just started the Great Scavenger Hunt Contest. I recently got the opportunity to interview her. Here is our conversation:

Kathryn Fitzmazurice: I see you have a book coming out next year. Can you tell us a bit about it? How long did it take you to write?

Kay Cassidy: My debut novel, The Cinderella Society, is the first book in a new YA series. The series takes readers behind the veil of a secret society of extraordinary girls where ultimate life makeovers are the main attraction. Lifelong outsider Jess Parker thinks life on the inside is her ultimate fantasy until she discovers the real force behind her exclusive society. It’s a battle of good vs. evil played out on the high school battlefield, and the Cindys in power need Jess on special assignment. When the mission threatens to destroy her dream life come true, Jess is forced to choose between living a fairy tale and honoring the Sisterhood… and herself. The Cinderella Society will be an April 2010 release from Egmont USA with book two in the series to follow in Spring 2011.

From idea conception to final edits, The Cinderella Society took me about four years to complete. But that was primarily because it started out as a much, much smaller story than what it is today. Each time I sat down to write it, it got bigger... and bigger... and bigger in scope. Until it was too big and unwieldy! So I scrapped everything, keeping only the best big parts, and replotted the entire story from scene 1. I plot every scene in advance (to avoid writing fluffy scenes that have no point ), but once plotting is done I write first drafts very quickly. I wrote the entire book in 25 days. A couple of months beyond that to edit it, and off the book went to agents.

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Are you working on a new book? If so, what is it about?

Kay Cassidy: Right now, I'm working on book 2 in the Cinderella Society series for release in Spring 2011. I can't say too much about it because it would include spoilers for book 1. :-) But suffice to say, the battle of the Cindys vs. the Wickeds has only begun. And Jess is about to put everything on the line to fight the battle ahead of her.

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: If you could pick one book to live inside, which one would it be and why?

Oh wow, what a cool question! Definitely Harry Potter, but I'm not sure which book of the series. That world is so fascinating. It would take a lifetime (and then some!) to uncover all the secrets inside the walls of Hogwarts.

Kay Cassidy: How did you come up with the idea for The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest?

As a YA author and proud owner of a well-worn library card, I wanted to give something back to all the librarians whose book recommendations helped me grow as a writer and fed my imagination over the years. With the economy in turmoil, funding for public libraries is taking a major hit. School libraries are struggling as well. So I set out to create a totally free program that teen and youth librarians could use to keep kids excited about reading.

Plus, I’m a huge fan of trivia, scavenger hunts, mysteries... so The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest was a natural fit. I would’ve been all over it when I was younger. :-) Registration for libraries opened about a week ago, and we already have dozens of libraries from nine different states participating. I can't wait to see contest entries from readers (we call them hunters) start rolling in from librarians!


** Now, let me turn the tables on you for a minute. :-) First of all, thank you so much for participating in The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest. If it weren’t for authors like you, The Hunt wouldn’t exist. Authors are incredibly busy people, so I owe a debt of gratitude to each of the authors (like you!) who graciously volunteered their time to create a scavenger hunt.

What made you take time out of your busy schedule to participate in The Hunt?

I wanted to participate in the Great Scavenger Hunt Contest because I used to be a teacher, and we did things like this with books we read. The only difference was that I asked my students to come up with the questions and answers so they really got to know the book well. I think literary scavenger hunts are a great way to promote comprehension and excitement, as long as the reader is reading the book to "read the book", and not just to find the answers or complete an assignment. In addition, I think the scavenger hunt is a great tool for librarians and teachers to use if they don't have time to create their own questions about a book.

welcome back, Marya!

Marya Jansen-Gruber is my guest blogger today. You may remember that every fifteenth of the month, she'll post her thoughts and experiences of what it's like for her to be a children's writer. To visit her blog, please go to: http://lookingglassreview.blogspot.com/

(Thank you, Marya!)

When I last wrote to you, I was just beginning to get used to my new job as a book writer. Up until just a few weeks ago, I was a reviewer and blogger. Now I am a writer as well, and this new writing work has added a dimension to my life that is both challenging and interesting.

For one thing, I have had to learn how to manage my time better. I cannot write stories and publish an online book review magazine if I footle away my time. It is very easy to footle if you are not careful.

To be able to have time to write, I have had to cut back on the number of books I review. This has been hard because I want to review them all. Now I have to be more selective; I have had numerous sessions on my office floor looking through piles of books, moving books from one pile to another, and reluctantly setting aside a few titles that I just don’t have the time for. At these times, I wish I had a clone. Then I would be able to write as much as I want and review as much as I want. Sigh.

Another thing that I have noticed is that I look for story ideas and character insights all over the place. Something happens to my daughter or one of her friends and I often think “Aha, now that could make a good story.” I also write in my head more than ever before. I plot out scenes and have ‘conversations’ with characters. I even get up in the middle of the night to make notes. It is very all consuming.

Next time: Will my stories be online yet?
-Marya

My first "Reader Tuesday Story"

I have been visting schools lately. As a past elementary school teacher, I look forward to going back to schools and talking to students. It's one of the most enjoyable parts of being an author. Near the end of my talk, I usually start a conversation with students about the real reason the swallows come back each year on March 19 to southern California. Quite simply, it has to do with instinct and the amount of hours and minutes of sunlight in each 24 hour period.

"But what if we thought of some other reason to explain their behavior?", I ask the students. It could be anything we wanted. And if you send me your stories, I'll post one of them on my blog each Tuesday.

So here is the first one. It's from a fifth grader named Max.

The reason the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano each year on March 19 is that the head swallow gets a text message on his cell phone from the lady at the mission who sits in the front booth and sells the tickets. She tells them, "hurry and gather up the flock. It's time to get going. And no dilly-dallying around on the way, either. You need to arrive by March 19!"

I think it's brilliant. Thank you, Max.