What YA Novel Should Our Book Group Read?
One of my friends recently asked me to suggest a YA novel for our book group, and I relished the chance. The women in our group are avid readers with thoughtful, perceptive observations, and they help me discover new books—fiction and nonfiction—that I’d never find on my own. Of different generations and backgrounds, they bring unique, nuanced perspectives, and I appreciate the moments we disagree in our interpretations of a novel as much as I do the times when we agree.
I came up with… Continue reading
The Questions
View of the Pacific from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, CA, March 2016
Though I still have a long way to go with revising the third book in the Vault of Dreamers series, I’m starting to think about ideas for what might come afterward. I’m facing a wide-open horizon, with potential everywhere I look. It’s unnerving to have so much uncertainty before me. Part of me is tempted to lock onto an idea just so I can have something solid and sure.
I’m resisting that urge, though, because when I… Continue reading
Good Times at WonderCon
WonderCon Building Worlds with Words Panel, March 25, 2016. L to r: Cecil Castellucci, Aditi Khorana, Margaret Stohl, Victoria Schwab, Lisa Yee, Gretchen McNeil, and Caragh O’Brien. Photo: Julia Hart
Approaching the Games area
WonderCon was a blast, as expected. I arrived at the L.A. Convention Center last Friday with ample time to sit in on a couple of other presentations and wander the floor. I liked how the visitors in costume totally owned the conference, like when a couple of Spidermans encountered a J. Jonah Jameson (Peter Parker’s boss)… Continue reading
The Tucson Festival of Books: A Recap
Tucson Festival of Books 2016
The Tucson Festival of Books was fabulous this past weekend, with 350 authors, countless performers and volunteers, and over 130,000 attendees occupying the University of Arizona’s sunny campus. The children’s and YA authors were highlighted in six tracks of panels at the College of Education, so the big challenge was deciding which event to attend.
Lacy Farris, Tiffany Appell, Kristy Landavazo and Caragh O’Brien
Saturday, I began with a podcast interview in a small, enclosed tent. It was cool and shady inside compared… Continue reading
Up Next: Tucson Festival of Books!
March 12-13, 2016
I’m heading to Arizona for the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend, and I’m excited to meet many of the writers, readers, and volunteers involved with the event. I’m speaking on a couple of panels with Margaret Peterson Haddix, Rae Carson, Zac Brewer, Carol Goodman, and Sara Raasch, which promises to be very fun, and I’m also hoping to connect up with my friend Cammie McGovern, whom I know from our Brookline days.
The only snag so far is… Continue reading
Dedicated to Alvina, My Sister
Alvina
When we were girls, my sister Alvina and I shared a bedroom with six mirrors, one over the vanity dresser, and five full-length mirrors on the closets that lined one wall of our room. This wall of mirrors created a huge, perpetual reflection of our daily lives, and I both loved the mirrors and took them for granted. On the opposite wall, we made shadow patterns by the light that shone in from our brothers’ room. In between, we had matching twin beds, islands for jumping.
The Mirrors
Pink… Continue reading