Authors celebrating All Hallows Eve 2013

Even authors get a little twitchy on Halloween. I challenged a few to come to a party on The Hub dressed in character and prepared to tell a little about that character. I had no idea how creative some of them would be with the assignment. The result is four different authors with four different YA stories, from the spooky to the romantic to the downright fun.



Christine Verstraete in
costume as girl Z

Take a look at Rebecca, the heroine of Girl Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie by by C.A. (Christine) Verstraete, and read while Rebecca, that is, Girl Z, tells her story in her own words.

Think you know zombies? You know, the bitey, icky, smelly kind? Well… you can be a zombie and not-be-that-way, right? My name's Rebecca Herrera Hayes—Becca to my friends—and I found something almost worse when I woke up in the hospital…

My cousin Spence came home one day and through an accidental scratch, he infected me with the Z-virus. I wanted to go to prom and go on dates and see my friends at school… You know, normal stuff any 16-year-old wants to do.

No mas. I went back to school. Can you say awfullll?

The principal thought he had a good idea, segregating us part Zs into our own section, but it made me feel really bad, you know? And then I heard the whispers, and saw the stares… When you have a strange diet (no, not that!), and weird quirks like a "twirly" eye and walk sometimes almost like a female Wolfman, some adults—and even some kids—just don't understand.

I'm coping. Kind of. It's hard sometimes, but I can't think of myself so much and I have to take care of Carm. She gets pretty freaked out. My mom's out there with Carm's mom, too, trying to get back home from Chicago after they went to find Spence.

I didn't ask for this! I'm not even as bad off as some of the others (wow, the z-virus really did a trick on some of the guys!) But I still knew it was school's out for me and my other cousin, Carm. At least she and mi familia are there for me.

Oh, no! Vigilantes! I didn't want to leave home, but it's better so my Tia Imelda is safe. Me and Carm'll go help my mom's friend in Lake Geneva who's having a hard time fighting off the full Zs by himself.

Carm's friend Jesse and his brother, Gabe, said they'd meet us there. But I don't know… Gabe's a part Z like me, which Carm says makes us perfect together. But he doesn't have all these quirks like I do… Will he like me? I guess I should give him a chance… right?


Recipe for summoning the Fae: (from Hold Tight by Cherie Colyer and published by Omnific Publishing in 2013)

Author Cherie Colyer as
teen witch Madison Riley

• bowl, preferable ceramic but your kid brother’s plastic Cars cereal bowl will do in a pinch
• water from nature’s spring
• three rose petals (I prefer pink myself)
• three acorns
• spell from the Book of Fae

Please cast with extreme caution as these faeries are nothing like those in a Disney cartoon.

Hold Tight is the second book in the Embrace series. Sixteen year-old Madison, portrayed here by the author, is still getting a hold of her powers, and ...I'll let her tell the story.

Hi! I’m Madison. Although I don’t wear a witch’s hat or brew potions in a cauldron, I do possess magical powers and I have been known to cast a spell or three when my dad isn’t looking. He still thinks witches are the stuff of fairytales and spell is something I learned in grade school, and I have no intentions of correcting him anytime soon.

It’s just me, Dad, and my pesky kid brother, Chase. This time of year, you’ll find me with a pumpkin spice latte in one hand and Raisinets in the other. And, even though I know there are things that go bump in the night, I still love Halloween.

I recently embraced my magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. Until I can do that, by boyfriend and I can’t enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked by our powers colliding. Instead of mastering my new skills, though, I’m stuck watching Chase and doing chores.

But being a witch has its benefits. With a simple spell, I can conjure some help around the house. Or so I thought. My idea of “help” invited trouble of its own, and it’s not just the faeries I have to worry about. I should have heeded that warning and cast this spell with caution, because this one isn’t easily undone.

Author Kym Brunner as 17-year-old
Monroe Baker, dressed for work at her
dad’s 1920s style restaurant

In Wanted: Dead or in Love by Kym Brunner, coming from Merit Press in 2014, Monroe has the ghost of the legendary Bonnie Parker inhabiting her body, fighting her for control. Because whoever inhabits the bodies at the deadline . . .survives.

In Monroe's own words:

Being impulsive, I act first, think later. I don’t recommend it. Now I’m on probation for something stupid I did at school. If I get arrested again, the judge will give me jail time. To keep out of trouble, I work as a waitress at my dad’s Roaring '20s restaurant, dressed like a flapper. Didn’t take long for me to screw up again. Here’s what happened: Dad showed me the spent bullets that they pulled out of famous criminal lovebirds, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow’s dead bodies––items he bought at a gangster memorabilia show. Who would have known that Bonnie and Clyde’s spirits were locked inside that container, waiting to be freed? Not me certainly, or I wouldn’t have done it. Opening the container wasn’t enough to make Bonnie’s spirit search for a new body to inhabit, but given my lousy luck, I cut my finger on the stupid thing, opening the door for the whiny, love-starved Bonnie Parker to enter my body.

Course, at first I didn’t really believe that she was inside of me (who would, right?) so later that night, after I met this cute but dull guy named Jack, I showed him the slugs. Bad move. Turns out Clyde hadn’t lost an ounce of his slyness, easily infecting poor Jack and quickly committing a crime. Luckily, Jack finds a way to get back in charge, but after doing some investigation, we find out we have only 36 hours to ditch these outlaws or we’ll share our bodies with them indefinitely. See what I mean about bad luck?

Take it from me––spontaneity’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.

Amanda and her husband
as The Strangers

1816 Candles by Amanda Brice is a time travel novella in which a chance encounter during a costume ball at a historic tavern sends high school senior Lauren Harper back in time to early Americana. Now she’s experiencing the actual events of the “Legend of the Female Stranger” she’s heard her entire life growing up. Can she solve the mystery of this ghost, find her way back home…and deal with her own emotions when she falls in love with a guy who lived 200 years before her?

Here's what the author had to say about the truth hidden inside her fiction:

In 1816, after docking at the seaport in Alexandria, a man and woman checked into the hotel at Gadsby's and were shown the most extravagant room because their clothes gave the appearance of great wealth. The woman was ill, and her husband called in doctors, but eventually she passed away and was buried in the local graveyard with an elaborate headstone. But what makes this story unusual was that the man made everyone swear never to reveal her name, and then the next day he skipped town without paying his bills. The only trace left of the entire event was the inscription on

the headstone:

To the memory of a
FEMALE STRANGER
whose mortal sufferings terminated
on the 14th day of October 1816
Aged 23 years and 8 months

Local lore claims that the Female Stranger is known to haunt the hotel to this day. She is occasionally seen in the upstairs window of Room 8, holding a lit candle. Docents at the Gadsby’s Tavern Museum say they have heard the sound of someone walking around upstairs, only to find there is no one there.

Some believe she was Theodosia Burr Alston, the distraught daughter of disgraced Vice President Aaron Burr. Others believed that the Female Stranger was a kidnapped European princess or possibly even Napoleon hiding out in drag. Still others believe the entire situation was an elaborate scam devised by con men, and that both the Male and Female Strangers escaped with a large amount of money, laughing all the way to the bank. Or there’s the author's husband’s favorite explanation — aliens.

Or maybe she was a time traveler, as 1816 CANDLES explores.

The Indie Intern - Procrastination

Being in a situation with loose supervision is problematic for me. For more than half of my life I’ve attended classes where I met with teachers several times a week. Beyond that I’ve always had parents and coaches and peers to push me. There was no real reason for me to develop a fool-proof way to self-motivate.

I suddenly have to rely on my own powers of self-discipline and responsibility. There is no one looking over my shoulder every day. This realization has been very important. It might be one of my biggest take-aways from this internship.

That doesn’t mean I’m doomed to middle-management or need to be supervised at all times; I need to be able to motivate myself so that I can have more effective autonomy.

The way I’ve done this is by creating “stations”. My home is where I relax. I have two part-time jobs so that I can earn a little cash while I become an adult, which is expensive nowadays. When I come home, I throw myself on the plushiest piece of furniture and see how long I can go without thinking. Naturally, this is hurdle I need to jump to get work done. 

But instead of making my entire home a place of dreaded work, I went about creating a new space. I realized that I don’t have a problem with working at my other jobs because I have a designated place to go. When I am there, I do my job.

My designated spaces for internship duties are my local library, coffee shops, and my desk. Instead of continuing to flounder, I identified my problems and found a solution that works for me. Now, when I need to do work but can’t find the motivation to do so at my desk at home, I muster the energy to pack up and leave the house.

Remaining productive is important to me. I want to write and make a comfortable living. These things do not go hand-in-hand. If I can’t write or work on personal projects, I can’t be happy. If I can’t do what is expected of me, I can’t be happy. We’ve all taken a look at what we need to accomplish and instantly felt bone tired, but we have all also felt the creeping depression that accompanies being unsatisfied.

I’m glad I’ve encountered this unexpected problem. Now I know how to better handle myself, and I can use that knowledge to make myself happier by applying it to my personal work in writing as well as my future professional goals.

Chicago International Children's Film Festival

For the last five weeks I have hit the so-called expressway every afternoon and driven into Chicago to spend Wednesday evening viewing films from across the globe as a member of the Chicago International Children's Film Festival adult jury.

I have never read so many subtitled movies in such a short time.

I served on the jury team judging Animated Features, along with Aaron, Alan, Anna, Eleanor, Glenn, Isabelle, Leslye, Lynn and Natasha.

Together we viewed over four hundred minutes of animated films. As a young Adult author I really enjoyed checking out the screenwriting from around the world. There are a few I plan on going to see again during the Chicago International Children's Film Festival in the fall.

As a jury, we looked at a variety of genres. Some movies were meant for kids as young as 2, others for elementary, middle grade and high schoolers. We were charged with the near impossible task of whittling down the list to pick two.  We were called a jury, and jury we were, as we went over the films and deliberated, using various techniques to come up with the top ranked films. While some jurors had to say goodby to their personal favorites, in the end everyone felt pretty satisfied with our final selections.

Which two did we select?

You'll have to wait for the official announcement. And think about attending the 30th annual Chicago International Children's Film Festival October 25 - November 3, 2013, if you are in the Chicago area. Visit http://www.cicff.org/content/fest-faqs/35 in the upcoming weeks for the complete schedule and festival highlights.

Empowering the Voice of the Black Male in Children’s and Teen Lit - NCAAL 2013

I spoke at the 8th National Conference of African American Librarians on August 8, 2013. The topic was Empowering the Voice of the Black Male in Children’s and Teen Lit. [Click here to read the YALSA Hub post about the conference] At one point we had a discussion on the role of non-fiction. One librarian spoke of a young man who only wanted to read about cars. Not fiction about cars or anything else. There was not a lot of time to talk about this issue during the 45 minute session, but I have some additional thoughts here.

First, reading non-fiction, manuals and magazines is reading and all reading will help with vocabulary growth, reading speed and comprehension. The Common Core empahsizes non-fiction for a reason.

However, fiction gives something non-fiction cannot. The right story in the right hands at the right time gives readers the feeling that someone understands them, that they are not alone. 
Here are some ideas that might help that young man, and others, take a second look at reading in general and fiction in particular.

1. Short stories - quick reads that can help the reader regain a feeling of enjoyment in reading and a sense of mastery by finishing something quickly and easy.
2. Books in verse. With most, readers can open it to almost any page and find a new verse, each of which can be considered it's own story about his relationships with parents and peers.
   
3. Audio books. Listening can be a stepping stone. Hearing a story read can help kids return back to the younger days when they loved the idea of a story. Listening to stories read aloud is not just for preschoolers. I love my audio books!
4. Better still, solicit male volunteers, teachers, staff, parents, community members, to read aloud to kids. A surprising number will say yes. With only ten you have a reader/role model each month. Help the boys see that reading is too a masculine activity, not something just for girls.  
5. Poetry slams. I have found many boys interested in their own poetry/lyrics, and those of peers. I recently judged a poetry contest and gave a workshop on the use of  free verse to high school students. One young man in the workshop only because the teacher had the entire class come in perked up as he listened. By the end he came up to me as other students were filing out and told me he understood one of the poems. He also  said that while he hadn't entered the poetry contest this year, he was already planning for next year.
6. Give them a book of their own, to keep. Kids who own a book are more likely to read it.
7. Have them write, whatever they want, their own stories, or song lyrics, or instruction manuals. 
8. My daughter's school not only had the kids write, they had the results bound and put int he school library for anyone to check out.
9. Most of all, learn about the kid's issues, interests, problems and recommend a book to him or her that matches them.

"That's my life in that book." I have heard teen readers say that. When they see themselves, and their friends and family, they see the world, develop empathy, and come back for more.

These are my ideas. If you have any more, please add a comment and share them with others.

The Indie Intern Returns

Hello, everyone. It’s been a while since my first blog post, so let’s get reacquainted. My name is Sean and I’m working as an intern for B.A. Binns this summer to learn more about the process of writing and publishing.

I’ve been mulling over what I should write about in this post for a while. I spun in my desk chair, I doodled, I stared out my window for inordinate amounts of time, and then I realized what to talk about: Procrastination.

Most of my work revolving around my internship and the class I’m taking to accompany it are both done remotely, meaning that I don’t get much one-on-one time with B.A. or my professor. This is a common position to be in for many jobs in publishing and writing, and it poses a few challenges that I haven’t encountered before.

Procrastinating is nothing new to you. Everyone deals with the feeling. You know that you should do something — you have to — yet you find yourself cleaning the bathtub and watching YouTube videos about how octopus brains function.

Sure, I tried to fight my lack of motivation with organization. I made schedules with allotted times for work and relaxation and there are a half-dozen to-do list themed post-its on the wall above my desk. These tactics did not improve my productivity. Instead they forced me to stare at my anxieties every time I sat down to try and complete something. So I stopped sitting down to try and complete things. Obviously that method doesn’t work very well for me.

I also tried to pep-talk myself. I’m not going to go into much detail because every example starts with me talking to my reflection and ends three hours later with me making another pot of coffee because coffee begets productivity.

Book Review - Buried truth

Buried Truth by Brenda Maxfield

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Hillary is a new girl in school, and Margaret, or Mags as her friends call her, quickly learns that Hillary is her enemy for some unknown reason. Mags is an outwardly cheerful girl who chases causes, like save the whales. She really likes Andrew, even though her best friend warns her away from him because everyone knows he’s a bad boy.
Mags thinks she sees something more in him, something that makes him more than just another cause. She wants to help him, even after he chooses Hillary over her. Hillary does more than just take Andrew. She repeatedly spoils Mags’ work, upstages her, and steals her best friend. In fact, Hillary so easily turns Mags’ friends against her that I was left wondering how close they had ever really been.
Mags doesn’t know how to fight back, because in spite of her cheerful exterior, she has her own inner demons. The story repeatedly goes over this problem of something in her past that is hurting her, without telling us what she had done.

“…my guilt had become an unrelenting monster, tearing at my mind and heart until sometimes I couldn’t breathe.”

By the time the reason for her guilt was revealed, I was expecting a mountain. Instead I found something that happened when she was eight, something that felt very typical of that age group. I didn’t get how it haunted her so badly for almost ten years. The long build-up over the horrible secret act that ended up feeling to minor made the ending fall flat for me.

I will say I found Hillary one of the more interesting characters in the book. She is intelligent, resourceful, a really good villain. I enjoyed waiting for her next move.

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Boy Book Review - Colin Fischer

Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All I can say is I loved Colin, his style, the way he let me inside the life of a kid with Aspergers, and the way he handles crime solving and everyday stress. I sincerely hope this is the first of many books about him, his personal Watson, and the totally sinister Moriarty clone.
Colin can't interpret facial expressions without the aid of a cheat sheet. He's smart, gifted in many ways, but in some areas he understands less than a typical five-year-old.

When a gun goes off in the school cafeteria, he figures out that the shooter could not possibly be the prime suspect, Wayne, a boy who has bullied him since grammar school. Instead of taking the opportunity for revenge, Colin's only thought is to solve the crime and find the truth.

Most of all, I loved Colin's family, its nice to have loving parents who aren't trying to hinder the kid or villains in disguise. But that younger brother of his...he's as realistic as he is trouble.

I loved this enough to make it the star of my story on books featuring protagonists on the autism spectrum on the YALSA blog, http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2013/07/26/books-outside-the-box-different-operating-systems/

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