bookshelves of doom

Rick Yancey, on the Monstrumology situation.

Although he's probably been swamped with similar requests, Rick Yancey took the time to answer a few questions for me (and you!). So, without further ado:

Here's the situation as I understand it: You had a three-book contract with Simon & Schuster for the Monstrumologist series. All three books have received consistently strong reviews--reviews that, in fact, have just gotten stronger and stronger--and Book One received a Printz Honor. Despite those accolades, now that the third book is about to come to press, S&S has declined to re-up the contract, citing low sales. Is there anything that you'd like to add or correct there?

That's pretty much it. The manuscript for the third book was late - due January 1st, 2011, and I didn't get the draft in until March. It was an embarrassing situation - S&S already had Isle of Blood in its fall catalogue and I think (okay, I know) there was genuine concern that we weren't going to make it. There was a lot going on in my life at the time - which is no excuse; we all have stuff to deal with - and I simply couldn't allow myself to rush it. For some reason, with these damn books in particular, everything had to be perfect. I wouldn't say my editor was angry about it, just deeply concerned. In February, a very fortunate thing happened: The second book, Curse of the Wendigo, was named a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize. Whew! I thought. This might buy me some time, restore a little confidence in the obsessive-compulsive writer who agonizes over a sentence like, "And then he walked to the door."

I was very relieved (and encouraged), a month later when my editor wrote to say he thought Isle was the best book so far. But he went on to say, "of the trilogy." Trilogy? I thought, my throat closing up. But I clearly say in the epilogue that there are more notebooks of Will Henry's - there's more to the story!

I called my agent. He'd seen the note. "What's he talking about?" I asked. "Why does he say 'trilogy?' I've got at least one more book to finish Will's story." My agent couldn't speak for Simon & Schuster (I actually pay him to speak for me), but he promised to find out.

A couple millinia later (i.e., about a week), my agent called to tell me that S&S would not be offering a contract for any more books in the series. I was surprised. I won't say shocked. Times had changed since S&S had acquired the series in '07. The whole damn world had changed. I understood - even expected - a much lower advance. But no more books? Really? What was the reasoning? My agent quoted them as saying, "We think we've spent too much on these books already. We're not prepared to spend any more."

(As a rather odd tidbit, I've recently learned that the very same month they told me no, they said yes to a multi-book deal with Hilary Duff, who, I think, is an actress or a singer, or both. I don't know; I haven't had time to Google her.)

That should have been the end of it. I've been writing professionally for eight years now and have had two series cancelled, and I moved on. You have to. You gotta be able to shrug it off. Oh, well, it didn't fly, something wasn't right, fix that and make the next one better, etc., etc. That's what a pro is supposed to do. Because if you don't, you're dead. The bloated corpse of your dead story will drag you into the grave with it.

And yet . . . I did not account for the BIGGEST mistake I made with this series. Maybe the biggest mistake a creative writer (or any creative person) can make: I fell in love with my creation. I mean, fell HARD, like Romeo for Juliet, like Bella for Edward, like Nick Cage's character in that movie, City of Angels, for Meg Ryan. Not in the romantic sense, but in the oh-god-this-is-all-I-can-think-about sense.

A beloved writing teacher once paraphrased Joyce, saying, "A writer should be as indifferent as the gods toward his characters' suffering." Oops. Got THAT wrong. Somehow (and I can't exactly pinpoint when) during the course of the three books, I had bonded myself with Warthrop and Will Henry. I vividly remember the night I wrote the final scene between them in The Isle of Blood, and I burst into extremely unmanly tears. I think I knew then this was it; my time with them was coming rapidly to an end - and I remember asking myself if that had something to do with the lateness of the manuscript - in other words, I was drawing the thing out, not wanting it to end because after it ended there would be a huge part of me that would have to end too - and I wasn't ready for that.

Apparently, I'm not alone in my un-readiness. I posted the somber news on my FB fan page, and now a mini-storm has come up over it, and I am deeply humbled by the response. Writing is such a solitary profession; you live so much inside your own head; you don't really grasp how your work affects others, or even if it affects them at all. Since Stephanie started her campaign, I've received an incredible amount of support from the reading community, from librarians, teachers, teens, and, yes, even critics. Even in the age of YouTube and Facebook and instant gratification of the slightest whim or desire, books still matter to some people. Books matter. I am reminded why I dared to become a writer. Books do matter.

Have you heard from S&S since the news broke and the fan-based campaign to save the series started?

I haven't heard from them directly, but I do know they are not pleased. An anonymous source informed me today that they are, and I quote, "pissed." They would like the write-in campaign to stop. I'm unclear about what I'm supposed to do about that.

My friend went on to say he didn't think it made sense to "turn S&S against you" right before publication of the third book. I wasn't sure what that meant. Turn it against me . . . how? Refuse to ship orders? Cancel the whole book? I understood they weren't going to offer another contract for more books in the series. Did he mean turn them against me in the sense I would be blackballed? They would never buy another project from me because . . . why? Because an ardent fan started a write-in campaign? Don't publishers WANT ardent fans?

My friend also made the obvious point that sales - not write in campaigns - drive publishers' decisions. Perhaps, he suggested, I should order my loyal minions to go out and buy books and stop with the useless emails.

Well, that I will not do. I can't imagine anything more cynical and few things more manipulative. Of course I would LOVE for this series to be at the top of every list. What moron wouldn't? But to suggest I now "call off the dogs" and tell everyone to buy my book, it just comes off as the worst kind of cheap marketing gimmick - a kind of bait-and-switch that would deeply offend me if I one of those who stepped forward to voice their dismay at the series' demise.

Buzz-wise, the Monstrumologist series seems to have steadily gained momentum with each successive title, rather than starting explosively and growing exponentially, like The Hunger Games or Twilight. Obviously, no publisher could expect every series to do what those two did—especially a series that is so unapologetically smart—but, do you think, as many have suggested, that the midlist is dying? That, in general, publishers are forgoing high-quality, consistent sales over a long period for books that are meant to make a one-time big splash and then disappear... like, for instance, the Snooki book?

Times are tough. Publishers, like a lot of us, are scared as hell. It is true, I think, that in bad times any risk with an untested or unproven writer seems just foolish. Like Hollywood, publishers look for the "sure thing." Why are there so many Twilight knock-offs? Why are we drowning in dystopia right now? As recently as when I started, publishers were willing to stick with a writer they believed in, even if it meant a commitment of several books before the series took off. There's little patience for that now. "Damnit - BORDERS WENT BANKRUPT! AND EBOOKS! THE EBOOKS ARE COMING!! - Quick, what's Hilary Duff's number?"

If S&S stands firm, do you have any plans for the future? Shopping the series around to other publishers—like, for instance, Candlewick, who seem to proudly publish unusual critical darlings—or self-publishing?

I will do everything within my power to publish the conclusion to The Monstrumologist. The last three folios will be released. At this point, I don't know when (I gotta make a living!) or know if that will be through another publisher, self-published, or posted somewhere on the internet. As I told a friend who thought I was being a little too "oh-woe-is-me," it really isn't about me. If it was about me, I wouldn't have burst into tears at the final scene in Isle. I wouldn't have been gobsmacked when the publisher nixed the possibility for more books.

It isn't about me. The people who are writing to Simon and Schuster don't know me; they know the books. They don't love me; they love the books. They don't care about me; they care about Will Henry and Warthrop and Lilly and von Helrung and that dastardly Jack Kearns. They love the world of the monstrumologist, not the world of Rick Yancey.

Do you have an arc in mind for the series as a whole? (Feel free to elaborate!)

Yes, I do. I'm very concerned about Will Henry. Something not very good is happening to him. Warthrop sees it, and even Warthrop is afraid. The fourth book explores this - and, of course, will answer the riddle of the notebooks and who Will Henry really is. I think readers will be shocked.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

I'm not telling people to write to Simon and Schuster. Do I encourage it? Well, I thank people when they tell me they did, but I thank them for supporting the books - the emails are just how they've decided to support them. The vehicles for their angst, if you will. I don't blame S&S. I met some wonderful people there, folks who love books and who love authors and who work very hard and are very good at what they do. It's a huge corporation and I used to work for one, so I understand. The poop, if you will, flows downhill. I harbor no animosity towards them. It's just business. It's my fault I fell in love with my characters and their world.

Thanks again for your time!

Thank you for the opportunity. Long live monstrumology!

Winter Blast Blog Tour, Day #5: SDQ Interview with A. S. King

A. S. King is the author of the upcoming (February 2009) Dust of 100 Dogs, a book about piracy, reincarnation, true love and dog psychology.  Over the past month, we've corresponded so much that if she ever comes up to Maine and doesn't stop by, I'll probably cry myself to sleep.  Due to our conversation, I've been thinking Deep Thoughts about YA, how I see the world and how I react to literature.  Also, I now know her astrological sign and her college nickname.  I also know that her book is pretty darn super and that you'd probably like for me to just get on with the actual interview. 

Not only does the main character in your upcoming book spend 100 lives (and 300 years) as a dog, but the story is interspersed with Dog Fact chapters that deal with canine behavior and psychology.  Does your dog knowledge come from having dogs, watching lots of The Dog Whisperer, reading up on them or from your own prodigious imagination?

My dog knowledge comes from having dogs and from reading up on them. It started with a fascinating article I read in National Geographic in early 2002, when I began writing the book. But the Dog Facts cover a little human psychology too, about which I know squat, except for what I see with my own eyes. Short version: Humans are pretty messed up. Dogs are totally awesome.
 
In response to my review of Dust of 100 Dogs, you said that YA is a "genre that's getting harder and harder to box".  Care to elaborate a bit?

I know YA has to be boxed, because it has to be shelved. But in the case of YA novels - does the age range of intended audience really make an entire genre? Imagine I said to you that I wanted to discuss YA art. What would that mean? Certain colors or styles? Nothing too challenging or suggestive? No nudes? Thumbs up for the wacky Cubism, thumbs down for those depressing German Expressionists? With art, as long as we stay within reasonable boundaries, the notion of an age-defined audience past adolescence is absurd. (Where is the elderly fiction section? Excuse me, can you point me to the mid-life crisis fiction?)

So let us consider audience for a minute. Certainly there are people of all ages who like to read about coming of age, because it is an exciting and gut wrenching time in life. And just as there are people of all ages who prefer to read cleaner fiction - less swearing or violence or little sex, there are also people of all ages who like dark fiction. Of course there are fantasy fans or horror fiends, or those people who love a good mystery or romance. Some readers want an easy read, some want a challenge. YA has all of these things. So, the only similarity, then, is the age of the protagonist and the types of stories and situations coming of age can explore. But of course, not all young adults go through the same things. And not all books with young adult or child protagonists are shelved in YA. What is To Kill a Mockingbird? Something Wicked this Way Comes? Deadeye Dick? What is The Catcher in the Rye? Which brings me back to the notion of a shelf - a device that is a logical necessity, and yet, impossible to perfect. Bookstores and libraries have many many books that are enjoyable for young adults. Not all of them are on the YA shelf. That is what I meant by hard to box.

What were the books that made a huge impression on you as a teen?

As a younger teen, all of Paul Zindel's books, especially The Pigman, Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball and Confessions of a Teenage Baboon. Golding's Lord of the Flies and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. As an older teen, and in my very early twenties, I fell in love with the novels of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Tom Robbins. 
 
And now for the standard prompts:
 
Books Currently Reading: Rabbit Redux, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, The Patron Saint of Butterflies, Chains, and a bunch of non fiction war books.

Music Currently in Rotation:  In car: Burnin' by The Wailers, The Pretenders, and Fishbone's Truth and Soul. In the office: OK Go's Oh No and lots of Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath. Always in both car and office: Axis Bold as Love & Electric Ladyland, The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Last Movie Viewed:  The Big Lebowski

Literary Crush:  It's a toss up between Hank Rearden from Atlas Shrugged and Elliot Rosewater from God Bless You Mr. Rosewater. (I have weird taste in fictional men.)

Pet Peeve:  Misplaced apostrophes.

Current Obsession:  My work-in-progress is always my current obsession.

Guilty Pleasures:  Utz cheeseballs. They are so wrong. Also, long, super-hot baths, which I miss, now that I am in the land of very short bathtubs.

Irrational Fear:  Bottled propane could explode and kill us all! Something's on fire! Explosions! Fire!

Favorite Piece of Trivia:  If you breed two Blue Orpington chickens, you will get an even mix of black, white, white speckled and black speckled Orpington chicks. But to get more Blue Orpington chicks, you have to breed one of the white speckled hens with a blue rooster. (Runner up - humans lose 50,000 tiny flakes of skin every minute. That's three million an hour.) [BoD:  EWWWWW!!]

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Other Friday WBBT interviews at/with:

Mayra Lazara Dole at Chasing Ray
Francis O'Roark Dowell at Fuse Number 8
J Patrick Lewis at Writing and Ruminating
Wendy Mass at Hip Writer Mama
Lisa Ann Sandell at Bildungsroman
Caroline Hickey/Sara Lewis Holmes at Mother Reader
Emily Wing Smith at Interactive Reader

Winter Blast Blog Tour, Day Two: SDQ Interview with Kathleen Duey.

I decided that I really loved Facebook when I discovered that Kathleen Duey had a page.  And that love tripled when I read this update on October 25th:

Kathleen :: Sacred Scars is off to the copyeditor. So..? A few days of real-world catch-up, then back to work.

Since finishing Skin Hunger (last December!), I've been anxiously awaiting the sequel -- and through the magic of Facebook, I've been able to track Kathleen's progress. 

Before I asked Kathleen to participate in the WBBT, I read up about her a bit -- and seriously, you should go and, at the very least, read the bio at her website.  (And take note of who took the pictures!)  She makes some great connections between historical fiction and fantasy, and there's some info about her many years living without electricity.  From that page:

...she knows how to carry a candle so it won’t go out, how to sew by hand and with a treadle machine, to knit and crochet, how to make bread, milk a goat, weave baskets, make yogurt and cheese, and dry fruits and vegetables using only the sun. She once canned 400 quarts of food using a wood stove and used to make bread three times a week, grinding the flour by hand.  She knows how to judge baking-heat by sticking her hand inside a wood stove’s oven.  She can make pickles, turn a chicken into chicken soup, make tofu—and much more.  These skills are of little use in a modern world unless you write historical novels or build fantasy cultures in your mind. 

Amazing stuff.  The kind of thing that lots of us daydream about, but never have the wherewithal to actually DO.

Back when we first became Facebook friends (hee hee!), you asked me who I cared about most in Skin Hunger.  Judging from your blog, you feel very strongly about both Sadima and Hahp -- but I'm tossing your question back at you anyway.  Do you connect more with one of them than the other? 

I connect with the characters differently, but not more strongly to one than the other. That was the reason for the structure of the book—a way to tell two interlocking stories, following two equally-weighted protagonists. I constantly gauge my own level of involvement as I write. I try to make sure readers won’t be too uneven in their response to the characters.

I noticed a September entry at your blog that says:  "The ending(s) of Sacred Scarsare coming together. Sadima's story is nearly finished. Hahp's has a little farther to go. He is still alive and I am hoping... "  That blog entry, as well as something you said in an interview at Cynsations made me think that your storyline isn't all plotted out...  So OF COURSE that made me wonder about your process.  Could you tell us a bit about it?   

I don’t outline. I never have. Outlining, writing character dossiers, all of those exercises just remind me that it isn’t real, that I am writing it. That kills something for me—clogs something.  I do keep notes on stray papers and in files on the machine. Most are things that inform or have sparked ideas. There are over 100 files in the Sacred Scars folder with labels like “Long term effects of fasting and starvation, UCLA study”,  “Pick mining and airflow management 1889”, “Terra Cotta Warriors, mercury lake” and so on. I also use a digital recorder, with separate files for separate projects. I had 185 breathless little messages from me to me by the time I finished the first draft. As silly as it sounds, hearing my own voice, excited by some idea, a clever plot-dot-connector, or whatever, takes me right back to the spark. Jotted notes are much stiffer, less juicy.

Who are your favorite current YA authors and what were the life-changing books you read as a teen?

I tried to try to answer this and have given up. I have stacks of books I need to read, and my fancy shifts frequently. Just now I am inundated with research reading for an upcoming atypical historical collaboration project.  I can’t even keep up with close friends’ books.  Having said that: the two most recent reads are Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chains and Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why. I loved them both.

What did you read as a child?

Nonfiction, almost exclusively, if horses weren’t in the cast. I inhaled horse books. I also read anything about Native American culture (I am part Cherokee), ancient Irish history and culture (the part that isn’t Cherokee is mostly Irish) Western US history (I grew up in Colorado)—these all fascinated me.  In my mid to late teens, I discovered The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris, Marshall McLuhan’s work, Neil Postman, Buckminster Fuller, Noam Chomsky—anyone examining society, war, cultural stuff.  And I have always loved poetry. 

Book Currently Reading:  I have just finished an unpublished ms for a friend. It’s gooood!  

Music Currently in Rotation:  Andy McKee, Yo-Yo Ma and friends, Cirque soundtracks, Wayne Krantz—instrumentals I can write with/to.

Last Movie Watched:  War, Inc.  John Cusack’s dark little satire on the here and now.

Pet Peeves:  None.  I have two dogs. That’s enough pets.  

Current Obsessions:  Politics, economics, belief, story structure and weather.

Favorite Piece of Trivia:  That there is still a world gurning championship every year.

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Other WBBT interviews today:

Ellen Dalow at Chasing Ray
Tony DiTerlizzi at Miss Erin
Melissa Walker at Hip Writer Mama
Luisa Plaja at Bildungsroman
DM Cornish at Finding Wonderland
LJ Smith at The YA YA YAs

Summer Blast Blog Tour, Day 5:SDQ Interview with Meg Burden

Meg Burden is the author of Northlander, which was so super-fantastic that it made the 2007 Cybils SF/Fantasy shortlist.  She went to college at age fourteen (which would make for a great teen novel if she ever feels like leaving the Borderlands) and lives in Nebraska (which would also make for a great teen novel -- when was the last time you read a book set in Nebraska?).  Anyway, she's awesome.  And so is her book.  You should read it.

But read this first: 

The first thing on my mind, naturally, is the sequel to Northlander. (Sequel? Companion?) Will Ellin be our narrator again, or will the book be from a different character's perspective? What else can you tell us about it? (Most importantly, when will we get to read it?)

The second Tales of the Borderlands book is indeed a sequel, and it takes place shortly after Northlander ends. The working title is THE KING COMMANDS, and it's told from two points of view: Ellin's again, in first person, and then Finn's, in third person.

As I see it, the happily ever after at the end of Northlander was really only a beginning, or a resolution of the immediate crisis. People don't change overnight, and racism certainly doesn't disappear overnight. More than anything, TKC is my attempt to continue the events of Northlander logically and realistically—to show that actions and decisions have consequences.

There's also some romance in TKC, which is a lot of fun to write.

When will you get to read it? Um...I'm still writing it, actually. To be honest, I've really struggled with this one. I've had a plan for it since I wrote Northlander (and didn't know if it would sell, let alone if it would be the first in a series), but the writing itself...yikes. I've heard that it's not uncommon for writers to freeze up and doubt themselves and freak out after they sell their first book, worrying that the next one won't possibly be any good, and I've definitely had issues with that kind of stuff. But I'm persevering, and I hope to be done with the manuscript within a month.

On your blog recently, you mentioned that you have mixed feelings about writing Northlander in first person present tense -- care to elaborate? You also mentioned that it was sort of a dare to begin with...

Sort of a dare/personal challenge. Several years ago, I was enrolled in the Institute of Children's Literature writing course, and for my second assignment, I was supposed to write a short story. At that point, with the exception of the first assignment (which was a 700 word story for beginning readers), I hadn't written original fiction in ages—just fanfic, and almost all of my fanfiction stories were in third person past tense. That was definitely my comfort zone. So, with my husband egging me on, I decided to challenge myself and write Assignment Two in first person present (which I thought would be painfully, horribly awkward for me), just to see if I could do it. And, for whatever reason, it came very naturally.

When I decided to expand that short story (which is now the first two chapters of Northlander) into a novel, I waffled back and forth a lot about the tense and point of view. I knew first person present would be limiting, but I wanted the sense of immediacy it gives. I wanted the reader's perceptions to change along with Ellin's, since her changing beliefs are so very important to the story.

But. When I started outlining THE KING COMMANDS, I started to regret not using third person for Northlander. TKC is going to be a bigger book, not just the length but the complexity of the plot, and I realized that I desperately needed to tell things that Ellin doesn't know or see. I considered just flat-out switching to third person for the whole thing, then decided that would be too jarring if one read them back-to-back. And the lack of continuity would drive me nuts. So, I flailed for a bit and finally just decided to add another point of view character.

And I have a whole rant about how I've seen people say online that first person is the mark of a beginning writer and that present tense (especially first person present) is gimmicky and trendy, but I think I'll save that for my blog. Suffice it to say that I disagree, but hearing people say it still stings.

And now the standard prompts!

Book(s) Currently Reading:

Claudia and the Great Search, which is #33 of the Baby-Sitters Club series.  I started re-collecting the BSC books a few years ago (after being obsessed as a kid), and they're what I read when I need to de-stress. I'm also privileged to be beta-reading Wayfarer as my friend R.J. Anderson is writing it--it's the sequel to her MG fantasy Knife, the Hunter, which will be out from Harper Collins next summer. Amazing, lovely, fantabulous books! And I recently finished Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay which, like everything of his, is breathtaking.

Music Currently in Rotation:

Right now, I'm obsessed with this band, Eisley, and their songs have been playing practically nonstop on my iPod as writing music for TKC. Thanks to my mom, I've also been into Tears for Fears lately.

Last Movie Viewed:

I don't remember! I wish I could say Iron Man, but my husband and I keep meaning to go and haven't yet.

Literary Crush (fictional or real):

I'm a fangirl! Narrowing my list down is next to impossible! To name a few crushes I've had over the years: Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Foggy Nelson, Aragorn, Peter Pevensie, Dave from Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry, Professor Lupin, Adaon from the Prydain Chronicles...

As for a real literary crush, I have to say Patricia McKillip. The Riddle Master Trilogy made me want to be a writer. I want to be her when I grow up. Or Susan Cooper. Or C.S. Lewis.

Pet Peeves:

Really unnecessary quotation marks, like when you see a sign advertising a "sale" on "cheese." I mean, is it on sale for real, or is it the same price it always is? And, the scarier question, is it cheese or not? Another thing that gets me is when people write "breath" when they mean to use "breathe." It's so common to see Star Wars fanfics in which Darth Vader "can't breath," and my reaction is, "Of course he can't, BECAUSE IT'S A NOUN."

Current Obsessions:

Writing (and freaking out about) TKC. Friday Night Lights. Working in my garden. And, as always, my cats. Lately, I've been doodling a comic about my Sphynx cat, in which she travels to Earth from her home planet and impersonates a few things (a snake, a baby, a rotisserie chicken, etc.) before realizing that she most closely resembles the species Earthlings call a "cat."

Guilty Pleasures:

Starbucks dark chocolate espresso truffles. LUSH soaps and skincare products.  (Not that washing my face is a guilty pleasure, but their stuff smells so good that it feels like one!)  American Idol. My eighties nostalgia obsessions are also guilty pleasures--in addition to my BSC books, I've got a bunch of Sweet Valley High books and a collection of Rainbow Brite dolls. I'm such a nerd.

Irrational Fears:

That I will never find a literary agent is a big one, though I'm not sure that's irrational. I'm terrified of sharks and other Big Underwater Things, to the point that I can't even play--or watch--underwater levels of video games. I'm also freaked out by big inanimate things, like models of mammoths and dinosaurs in museums.

Favorite Piece of Trivia:

Siamese cats are born entirely white. Their coloration is heat-sensitive, and they get darker color only on their "points"--ears, nose, tail, and paws--because those are the coolest areas of the body.

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Other SBBT interviews today:

Varian Johnson at Finding Wonderland
Jincy Willett at Shaken & Stirred
John Grandits at Writing & Ruminating
Gary D. Schmidt at Miss Erin
Javaka Steptoe at Seven Impossible Things
Mary Hooper at Interactive Reader

And, of course, check out the master list at Chasing Ray to make sure you haven't missed anything this week!

SDQ Interview with Elizabeth Scott.

With each new book, more and more readers are discovering Elizabeth Scott.  Invariably, after discovering her, they say, "Omigod!  She's, like, the next Sarah Dessen!"  (Seriously.  Google some blog reviews of her books.  You'll see.)  She's the author of the lovely and fantabulous Bloom, of Perfect You (Vitamins!  Romance!) and of the so-to-be published Stealing Heaven (Thievery!  Romance!).  I only just discovered her, and she's already made my author shortlist -- if she writes it, I will read it.  If you dig realistic teen fiction, she is not to be missed. 

Now I'm just waiting for her to write a book about a girl who has both of her parents for high school teachers...

From your website: "I remember some of the books I read when I was growing up so vividly, not just because they were wonderfully written, but because what was in them really spoke to me." Which ones?

I loved, loved, loved ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME, MARGARET, which I read about a million times, and STARRING SALLY J. FREEDMAN AS HERSELF, which I also read about a million times and still read about once a year. I also vividly remember reading Paula Danziger's THE DIVORCE EXPRESS and being completely enthralled by her descriptions of Phoebe's life, which was amazingly exotic to me (I grew up in the middle of nowhere).

Which current YA authors would you have loved as a teen?

So many! Really, if young adult novels from now had been available when I was a teen--oh, I get all dreamy-eyed just thinking about it.

Are there certain authors (regardless of what age group they write for, etc.) who you love so much that you'll run out and buy their books on the release day? Any upcoming books that you're really looking forward to?

Sarra Manning*. I think she's such an amazing writer. I already buy everything she writes off Amazon.co.uk the second it comes out because I can't wait for it to show up here (and her latest series had better show up here!)

As far as upcoming books--I'll be honest with you. I read a lot of of YA. A LOT. But because I tend to read it when I'm taking a break from writing, I read in short spurts throughout the year, so I don't pay too much attention to release dates. I just buy it when I see it, stockpile it, and then devour it when I have time.

Not only do you have a book out at the end of this month, but you've also got one coming out in September and two due out next year. What can you tell us about them?

STEALING HEAVEN, which comes out at the end of May/beginning of June is about Dani, an eighteen-year-old silver thief (yes, really!) who travels around the country with her mother robbing the wealthy, and what happens when they travel to a small beach town and Dani finds herself making friends, questioning her life, and falling for a guy--who happens to be a cop.

LIVING DEAD GIRL, which comes out in September, is very different than the books I've had released so far. It's about a girl called Alice, who was kidnapped when she was ten--and has spent five years living with her kidnapper.

In 2009, I have two books coming out: SOMETHING, MAYBE will be out in March, and it's about a girl who, because of her infamous parents, has mastered the art of going unnoticed--and what happens when she tries to get the attention of the guy she likes.

LOVE YOU HATE YOU MISS YOU will be out later in the year, and it's about friendship, loss, facing your fears--and yourself.

So far, your books have been stand-alones.  Have you had requests from your readers for sequels or companion novels?  What do you think -- are you likely to re-visit any of your characters?

I have had requests for sequels to Bloom and Perfect You, and while I don't think I'm likely to revisit Lauren or Kate again, I have to say I've always wondered what happens to Katie (from Bloom)

And now for the regular prompts:

Books Currently Reading:

The Grave Tattoo, Bonk, and Unaccustomed Earth

Music Currently in Rotation:

Hard Candy by Madonna

Last Movie Viewed:

Something New

Literary Crush (real or fictional):

Helen Dunmore. I would love to meet her and thank her for everything she's written.

Pet Peeve:

Toilet paper hung the wrong way. (I know, it's insane! But it really does bug me.)

Current Obsession:

Life in Stalin's Russia

Guilty Pleasure:

Eating a piece of cake for breakfast.

Irrational Fears:

flying. and squirrels.

Favorite Piece of Trivia:

Currently, it's that North Dakota's state fruit is the Chokecherry.  (Best fruit name EVER).

*If this interview goes up a little late, blame Sarra Manning and her O.C. vs. Gossip Girl blog post.  I agree with most of her picks, but while I do see the bizarre charm of Chuck, my love for Ryan Atwood lives on...

_______________________________________________________

Today marks the kick off of the 2008 Summer Blast Blog Tour! 

The full schedule is available over at Chasing Ray, and today's other interviews are:

Adam Rex at Fuse Number 8
David Almond at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast
R.L. Lafevers at Finding Wonderland
Dave Schwartz at Shaken & Stirred
Laurie Halse Anderson at Writing & Ruminating
Susan Beth Pfeffer at Interactive Reader

Robie Harris Blog Tour: Day 5.

This is the last stop on Robie H. Harris' 5-day, five blog book tour to promote her upcoming picture book, Maybe a Bear Ate it.  She was at Fuse #8 on Monday, then at Book Buds, MotherReader, and yesterday, Kids Lit.  While I don't do much in the way of picture book coverage here at Bookshelves of Doom, I do keep my eye on book challenges -- and Robie H. Harris, author of It's Perfectly Normal, It's So Amazing and It's Not the Stork, knows all about the book challenges.

Welcome, Robie H. Harris!  Thanks for taking the time to talk!

Back when it came out (and also when it was revised and re-released), It's Perfectly Normal received starred reviews in practically every journal that gives out stars, great newspaper and magazine write-ups, a thumbs-up from Ann Landers... and it's also landed you on the ALA's Most Challenged Authors list in 2005, 2003, 2001 and #15 on the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 list.  When you were first writing it -- if my math is correct, this would have been in the late '80s, right? -- did you expect such varied reactions? 

RHH:  I only expected one thing — that some individuals and/or organizations whose religious or cultural or personal beliefs are different from mine, and who had a history of opposing books that do not comport to their view, would most likely try to have libraries take my book out of library collections.  And that is what did happen and continues to happen.  Yes, I assumed that certain individuals would object to the ways in which I dealt with some of the topics, and possibly feel that some of the topics I included were not necessary to include.  I also thought that some might object to the values that were evident because of topics I included, and choose to write about and what I said about particular topics such as homosexuality or abortion.  And that was just fine with me because I have never, ever felt that every family, school or library in America should have the books Michael Emberley and I created on sexual health.  But I have always felt that anyone who chooses to read or buy these books should have the right to do so.  And of course, from the start, I hoped that the kids and teens for whom I wrote IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL would find Michael Emberley’s (the illustrator) and my book useful and interesting and I was thrilled when that happened.  But I never took it for-granted that that would happen.

When you and Michael Emberley were revising it, did either of you ever consider removing the sections/illustrations that seem to cause the most controversy? 

RHH:  NO!  A firm NO!  Both Michael and I believe that kids and teens deserve the most honest, up-to-date, accurate and age-appropriate information about sexual health and staying healthy.  If we took things out, just because an individual or an organization objected, then who would lose — the kids.  And if we took these topics out, then we would not be telling the whole story, and would not be giving today’s kids and teens all of the facts they need to stay healthy.  And if we took these topics out, which most kids know something about, but also may have a great deal of misinformation about, then we would not have been honest with kids, and leave our kids and teens ill-prepared to deal with the ups and downs of growing up, and as they become older the real risks of becoming sexually active at too early an age.  And if we the adults in our kids’ lives are not honest with them, then the words we say or write will have NO credibility with them, and they will go elsewhere for the information the may need and/or may seek, and perhaps to sources that are not accurate, and could jeopardize our kids’ health.  I only included information that I felt would be in “the best interests of the child” and if someone disagrees with me, I believe that in a democracy, that is their right.

I've noticed that quite often, challenged books also seem to generate a lot of Thank You letters to the author (an example would be Sarah Dessen's blog entry about the recent challenge to Just Listen).  Has it been the same with your books?   

RHH:  I have received thank you notes from librarians who have defended our books when there has been a library challenge.  But more often, in fact most often, the thank you’s come from people in the audience when I speak. Or when I go to any kind of an event, work or social, I am amazed to find out how many people know about my books on sexual health and come up and thank me.  And of course, I always pass on those thanks to Michael Emberley. And the thanks are for things such as: writing about abuse, and other difficult topics to discuss, for being inclusive and that means writing about all kinds of kids and families, and in the art, creating a book that looks like what America really looks like, and also for being honest both with the words and the pictures in all three of our books that are part of our FAMILY LIBRARY on sexual health: IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL, IT’S SO AMAZING! and IT’S NOT THE STORK!

From what I've read, authors respond differently to challenges:  some stay out of the fray completely, some comment if asked, while others are very vocal, sometimes offering free books to the community, school/library visits and writing letters to the editor.  What do you usually do, and why?

RHH:  When IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL was first published, my publisher Candlewick Press and I set up a procedure, which we hoped would offer support to those librarians whose professional judgment is questioned in the form or a library challenge. Here’s how we — my publisher and/or I respond — to a book challenge.  Whenever we hear of a challenge, the publisher calls the librarian, asks what has happened, tells the librarian that he or she has our support and if wanted, a kit of materials will be sent out including a letter from my editor on why she published my books on sexual health, along with reviews, awards, and praise, and other relevant materials.  And the librarian is also told that if it helps them, I would also be happy to talk with them to clarify any issues about why I wrote what I wrote, and why Michael Emberley and I included the art that we did in IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL or whatever book in our FAMILY LIBRARY has been challenged.  Then my publisher contacts the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, so that they can also offer their support to librarians as they go through the book challenge.

Then PEN AMERICAN Center’s Children’s Book Committee is notified and they send a letter written by children’s book authors Elizabeth A. Levy and Vera Williams saying that “PEN’s 28,000 members applaud librarians for supporting young reads’ right to choose and have access to the many different voices and images that are part of their world.”  Later on the letter states that the following:  “If young people come upon something in a book they disagree with, they have the right to close the book, or to speak up or write about their opinion.  But they do not have the right to keep someone else from reading a book with a different point of view.” 

Often I am asked to come to give a speech in the city or town where the challenge is still on going.  I am happy to help out in any way I can.  But when a challenge is still not resolved, my mere presence will only inflame the controversy.  I am happy to come and speak after there has been a decision about my belief in the freedom to read and the freedom to write, even for our children and teens, and also about the perils of censorship.

And often I am contacted by the media in the midst of a challenge, and when that happens, I do talk with the press as a way of supporting the librarian.  The bottom line is that I believe that it is the librarian, or in some cases the bookseller, who needs to be supported, not my books.

And in a recent challenge in two cities in Maine, where copies of IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL were taken from the library and the person who had taken these books wrote the two libraries and said she was not going to return the books, my publisher sent along replacement copies, as did citizens around the country who most likely found out about these two cases in Maine on the internet and in blogs on the internet.  My support comes in the form of speaking out across the country about freedom to read and freedom to write issues and the first amendment, and how censorship, keeping information and ideas and stories from kids that they have a right to have, affects our kids and teens and their families.

There was a brief conversation at Bookshelves of Doom recently about the advantages and disadvantages of being an author whose work is regularly challenged.  (Advantages being, for example, free press, and disadvantages being, for example, libraries avoiding controversy by not stocking the book in the first place.)  Any thoughts? 

RHH:  I don’t think there is one single advantage to being an author whose books have been challenged.  Well, maybe there is one advantage, and that is the chance to meet and work with the most dedicated librarians, children’s librarians, who are the real heroes in their communities and our democracy when they stand up and publicly defend a book in their library collection that has been challenged.  Perhaps book sales go up, but I don’t believe publishers have tracked that. And yes, there is media attention, but the time one spends responding to these cases, and in particular, the hours and days librarians spend defending our democracy and the first amendment, keeps all of us from our main jobs —whether it’s writing fiction for young children about the normal ups and downs of childhood, or in terms of the nonfiction I write — getting the most accurate and up-to-date information about sexual health to our kids and teens on how to stay both emotionally and physically healthy.

It seems to me that these topics (sex/sexuality/puberty) can be more difficult for adults to talk about than for kids.  Why is that?  (If you agree, obviously -- if you don't, please feel free to blow me out of the water!)

RHH:  Not to worry!  I agree with you.  In IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL, there is a bird and bee cartoon that goes like this:

THE BIRD: Did you ever notice that some grown-ups — not just kids— have a hard time talking about sex? 

And THE BEE responds:  Yep!  They twist around in their chairs and say, “Well, uh…” about a hundred times and laugh nervously. 

I put that BIRD and BEE exchange in to acknowledge to kids that it IS hard for many, not all, but many parents to talk to their kids about something as personal and private as “bodies and sex.”  And yet, when I wrote that exchange, I hoped that that it could provide an opening for parents to talk with their kids about sexual health and vice-versa.  And of course, I hoped that the book could help foster those conversations. 

Now as to why it is hard for parents to talk with their kids.  First and foremost, today the information about sexual health can be complicated and hard to explain.  Additionally, in our culture, many adults do not like to think about kids having sexual feelings and experiences.  And add to that that many of today’s parents had parents who did not feel comfortable talking about sex with their kids, so todays’ parents had no role models for doing having the “talks.”  However today, I have to say, we must to talk with our kids about not becoming infected and not having a baby before one are old enough to become a parent, and that means talking honestly about sex with them.  Then add to that the recent news that Jamie Lyn Spears, who is only sixteen announced her pregnancy, the top rated TV show for kids nine to fourteen.  So how can we NOT talk with our kids about the issues her early pregnancy brings to the forefront?  This is when our books can help both a child and a parent, as well as teachers, librarians, health professionals, and clergy talk with kids when today’s media brings more news about sex than we may think they may be ready for.

And then add to that the internet, and whoa, how can we not talk with our kids and help them sort out what is healthy and safe in terms of sexuality and what is not healthy and safe?  Also, we need to start talking to kids at a much younger age, and that’s why I wrote IT’S SO AMAZING! for kids seven and up, and IT’S NOT THE STORK! for kids age 4 and up.  If we answer their questions when they are younger, then when they go through the more difficult times of puberty and adolescence, they will be more likely to talk with us at that point. And I believe that books can help to frame and begin those necessary conversations.

Growing up, what information about sex/sexuality/puberty did you have at your disposal?  Who (if anyone) gave you The Talk, and how did it go?

RHH:  My mother spoke with me at a very young age and named all the parts of my body, and talked to me about how babies were made when I asked, and then about getting my period before I got my period, and about not getting pregnant when I was in my early teens.  She spoke to me about these things in the most-matter-of-fact way, as if this was just a normal part of growing up, which it is!  But most of my friends’ moms did not talk with them, so of course, we all talked with one another.  Sexuality and reproductive health were part of my high school, a girl’s only school, freshman year biology course, and that only amplified what my Mom had told me and added the layer of science and human biology, which is a large part of the book I have written on sexual health.  My father in my teen years stressed how important it was not to get pregnant, and how difficult that could be for someone who was too young to take good care of a baby.  This too runs through my books.  They both loved babies and that too runs through my books.  I was lucky to have the parents I did.

What are you reading right now, and/or have you read any real stand-outs recently?

RHH:  Right now, I am reading Richard Russo’s Bridge of Sighs about the difficult lives of small town America.  I seem not to be able to put it down, and perhaps it is really about many who live in rural America today. I just finished Irene Nemirovsky’s Suite Francaise and I could not put it down, this book about coping with the Nazi occupation in a small town in France.  And then how can I not mention a children’s book, but a book for adults too, Peter Sis’ latest book, The Wall, again having to do with occupation, but this time by the Communists in Prague.  And I also have to mention Leonard Marcus’ Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became an American Icon Along the Way, a book that includes a lot of what went on at Bank Street in the thirties, and forties, and fifties and the creation of picture books, and mentions people I worked with in the late sixties at Bank Street when I co-wrote a segment for the Captain Kangaroo Show and produced a film, Child’s Eye View about disadvantaged children on the west side of New York City, which was selected to be in the Lincoln Center Film Festival.  These writing experiences played a key role in launching my career as a children’s book author of nonfiction and picture books.  And Leonard captured so much of those early Golden picture books for all of us in his wonderful and important new book.

SDQ Interview with Shannon Hale.

Judging from her blog, Shannon Hale might really be one of the busiest people on the planet.  This is from a recent post on juggling writing and mothering:

I use my brain. Whenever I have some space for thought, I've trained my brain to return to the story. Showers are particularly productive.  Driving.  Folding laundry.  I can keep writing even when I don't have time to sit at my computer because my brain keeps working on the story.  This, for me, is absolutely essential. I could not be a writer if I didn't allow (and insist upon) daydreaming about the stories. 

But writing fantabulous books (The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, The Princess Academy, Austenland, and the recent Book of a Thousand Days, -- I've loved every single one) and being a mom isn't all -- lately, she's been posting interviews/conversations with other authors at squeetus.  AND she's working on a sequel to her upcoming graphic novel, Rapunzel's Revenge, AND there's a fourth Bayern book in the works (hooray!) as well as a second adult novel.

How is all of that even possible?

As usual, though, I'm rambling on about things you probably already know.  On to the Super Duper ULTRA Quickie Interview with Shannon Hale:

You have an awesome list of reading recommendations on your website. What were the books that you read over and over again when you were a kid? A teenager?

Hmm, lots of Lloyd Alexander and Joan Aiken, Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, Homecoming and Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voight, The Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip, Jane Austen, Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden… I’m forgetting something important…

Books Currently Reading:

Project Mulberry by the genius Linda Sue Park, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by the grotesquely talented Gary Schmidt

Music Currently in Rotation:

Favorites on the ipod shuffle: David Bowie’s Golden Years and Fat Boy Slim’s Wonderful Night

Last Movie Viewed:

Uh… I don’t get out much… oh, my sister and I rented Marie Antoinette.

Literary Crush (fictional or real):

Colin Firth.  Mr. Darcy. You understand.

Pet Peeve:

People who speed when driving. They think they’re in control, but they’re blithely putting others in danger, such as my precious children. Slow down, jackwads!

Current Obsession:

Veronica Mars

Guilty Pleasures:

Hot chocolate.  Cookies and milk.  Reading in the closet after everyone’s gone to bed.

Irrational Fear:

Catastrophic annihilation of all human life, or that my plane will go down.  But it’s not irrational!  At all!  I swear my husband has a fear of bad milk. He freaks out if I accidentally leave it out on the counter for an hour.  What’s the worst that could happen?  Unintentional buttermilk?  Please, catastrophic annihilation of all human life is much more dreadful. And likely.

Favorite Piece of Trivia:

Buffalo-sized hamsters once roamed the earth. Awesome!

So there you have it.  Another author who has inspired me to introduce a new word into my vocabulary -- jackwads it is!

Today's other WBBT interviews:

Lisa Ann Sandell at Interactive Reader
Christopher Barzak at Chasing Ray
Julie Halpern at The Ya Ya Yas
Micol Ostow at Shaken & Stirred
Rick Yancey at Hip Writer Mama
Jane Yolen at Fuse Number 8
Maureen Johnson at Bildungsroman
David Lubar at Writing & Ruminating
Sherman Alexie at Finding Wonderland