Birthmarked
Tenners Library Giveaway
Librarians! Public and school librarians are invited to enter a giveaway of 55 novels by the Tenners, middle grade and young adult writers whose debuts were published in 2010. The contest is free and open until February 15, 2011. Details are on the Tenners site.
As one of the Tenners, I’m extremely grateful to librarians who have been so supportive of teen reading and new authors. Best of luck!
Books included in the giveaway are:
The Absolute Value of -1 by Steve Brezenoff
All Unquiet Things by… Continue reading
Honors
I am absolutely delighted that Birthmarked has been chosen for the Amelia Bloomer Project 2011 and the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adult 2011 lists.
Alice M. O'Brien, my great aunt, (with her dough-messed hands hidden) served in the Red Cross in France during WWI. A feminist to the core, she would be proud about the Bloomer list.
The Amelia Bloomer Project recommends feminist literature for readers from birth to age 18, and I’m particularly happy that Gaia’s story, where a girl is strong because of her midwifery and her… Continue reading
Tackling the Romance
Oops. Cliche.
Someone asked me recently how far my characters would go. It made me laugh. Gaia’s sixteen, and there are two more books in the trilogy, so theoretically, where she could go romantically and physically is pretty wide open. I was thinking of ninth graders when I first wrote Birthmarked, so I was surprised when it was published for age group 12+ because I knew that meant that avid ten-year-old readers would find their way to my book, and they have. Then again,… Continue reading
Detention: Leon at Twelve
The following is a bit story about a character from the world of Birthmarked.
Rita tapped on the schoolroom window and Leon looked up. She waved to beckon him out, frowning. “Come on,” she was saying clearly.
He shook his head, but a moment later she poked her head in the doorway. Leon was alone at his desk in the back, rewriting the words he’d spelled wrong that morning: Attached, barrel, embarrass, necessary, thorough, tomorrow, wrong.
“You’ll miss the race,” Rita said.
“I can’t come. Not until… Continue reading
Q. How’s Your Book Doing?
A. Now and then I wonder that myself. I can always call up my editor and ask, but the sales numbers don’t mean much to me since I have nothing to compare them to, so I end up calling my agent for an interpretation. He tells me not to worry, the numbers are “strong,” and since I trust his expertise, I find this reassuring. Even so, I suspect I’m not alone in wishing I had a better ball-park understanding of what goes on with young adult debuts, so… Continue reading
Full
Can I just admit I’m still full
from Thanksgiving dinner four days ago?
Maybe eating pie for every meal since
hasn’t helped. So far, my most significant salvo
for attacking the stuffed feeling has been to stop
getting on my scale.
But as of now, as soon as I post this,
I am going to go take a walk.
About a mile from my house, down
a quiet, scenic road with speed bumps,
(lest I move too quickly),
stands my favorite stop sign.
I walk to it most days… Continue reading