I’ll tell you how dedicated I am, and if you know me at all, you’re going to say, “Wow! Now that’s one dedicated writer!”

This cat, which we will call Grinder, since that’s his official name, although today I called him a few choice other names, believes that the very best places to sleep are the places he is not allowed to go. For example, the top of my computer desk. Another favorite is the keyboard of my laptop. Another is the screen of my laptop.All I can say is that he is alive today because of Control + Z, in other words, “Undo”.

Yes, it’s true folks, despite the number of times he’s walked across my keyboard, I am a sucker for cute. When I came back from my shower and saw that he had managed to gain access to my office and was crashed out on top of the computer desk, I said, “Oh, ain’t he sweet?” and let him stay. And then…a few minutes ago, after many, many hours of revising my manuscript, I got up to go tell my husband something and when I came back, he had flattened my laptop (the cat, not my husband) and was pawing at the screen. Naturally, I got rid of him fast, but the damage was done.

Why is it, that in order for me to use my new Office Word 2007, I had to get a book called Word 2007 for Dummies, but with one fell swoop of his paw, he was able to completely erase my entire manuscript, type a new document, and save it under the name ‘j! Yes, my revision was gone, but I’m the proud owner of a document called ‘j. I wonder if my agent would like to read it. It’s stunning prose…it goes like this, “hlmmll kkllj ksls …lske”

But here is where I am smarter than the average pea-brain cat (we already know why I’m NOT as smart as the average pea-brain cat). I never get up from my desk without hitting Control+S (save). I was able to hit numerous Ctrl+Zs and back from hlmmll kkllj ksls …lske to a blank document to the first fifteen pages of my revision and once more to the get the whole thing back.

So…all’s well that ends well, and just so you know, Grinder’s time in my office has certainly come to an end. No matter how high he pegs the cute-ometer!

Can I just say that Sara Zarr is the coolest name ever? Okay, now I’ve got that off my chest, let’s talk about the book. This is a really good book, but you knew that because I’m blogging about it and I wouldn’t if I didn’t like it. This is one of those books that goes straight to your heart. I think that if you live a life similar to the main character, then it speaks to you and maybe gives you some hope. And if your life is/was totally different, then you just want to jump into the book and maybe shake the characters a little… You know, grab them by the shoulders and say, “It doesn’t HAVE to be this way!” That sort of thing. Or maybe I’m just an enthusiastic reader. Either way, my only regret is that I read this book really fast. I didn’t set out to do that, I just couldn’t help myself. The reason I regret this is because I keep thinking, Okay, as soon as I’m done working for the day, I can get back to reading that great book, STORY OF A GIRL, and then I remember that I finished it this morning with my wake-me-up tea. Luckily for me, Sara has a new book out called Sweethearts.

  Oh, and I also zipped through the new Meg Cabot Heather Wells mystery yesterday, BIG BONED…really funny, as usual, and about the only adult chick lit I like. Also not as gross and disturbing as #2.

I am sad to say that I once again fell for the “Who me? I’m totally innocent” act. Click here to read the full story of my knucklehead cat who wants to be a writer.

I know that Iain Lawrence is an award winning writer, but for some reason I had never come across his books until I moved to the small town where we live now. And why did he suddenly end up on my reading list? Because he lives here too. All I can say is lucky me because I hate the idea that I might’ve missed out on his books. B For Buster is set in England during WWII and believe it or not, I have read a lot of books set during this time period. Well, okay, a lot more than you might expect from me, being that I mostly read contemporary YA. First off there’s Jill Paton Walsh’s exciting and thrilling Dolphin Crossing. And there’s a childhood favorite, The Upstairs room. And of course, Anne Frank. But most of my WWII reading comes from the late, great storyteller, Nevil Shute. Probably my favorite is Pastoral. So anyway…now I have another wonderful book to add to my list of WWII favorites, and also just favorites in general. This book is stunning in its eloquence and pacing. The war seen from a sixteen year old’s point of view is simply amazing, believable, and riveting. This is a real page turner. Although, it did send me to my dictionary more than once, and a lot of the pieces would’ve been lost on me except that I was able to put it together through either context or things I learned from Mr. Shute. It’s not the easiest, breeziest YA you’re ever going to read, but it’s worth stopping now and again to look something up. I haven’t read the author’s note yet because I’m letting the book sink in, but I’m sure I’ll learn something else there too. Yeah, I know I always say this, but put it on your list to read!

P.S. They don’t call me Ole Slow Joe for nothing…there’s a glossary of Royal Air Force terms in the back of the book. Oh, well…

But you could pay me to write about living here. Heck, I’m writing about living here for free right now (but hopefully someone will pay me eventually). One of the notes my agent gave me was that I needed to work on my descriptions. Seems like they’re all clear in my head, but not so much on the page. Today, while I was writing about the house that my character visits, I realized that the images in my head weren’t actually as well defined as I would’ve claimed before (thus explaining my lack of being able to transfer that onto the page), so I went house shopping online. Now, not only do I have this clear picture of the house, I have a floor plan for each floor, square footage, and it gave me some good ideas for things I hadn’t thought of before. Cool, eh?

Here’s a little about Elana Roth:
Elana is graduate of Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary, and is nearly at her 10 year mark in New York City. She started her career at Nickelodeon Magazine, researching wacky and even gross stories. Most recently, she just finished a 5 year stint as an editor at Parachute Publishing, where she worked on R.L. Stine’s Rotten School and many other series for kids of all ages. She has recently joined Firebrand Literary and if you’re interested in querying her, please follow their guidelines.

And now for the Q&A!!!!

From Wanda- What are some titles or types of YA books that you admire as a reader and would love to deal with as an agent?

Oh, how many can I name? First, Sarah Dessen. The Truth About Forever had me so hooked, I couldn’t put it down. Then, Markus Zusak. The Book Thief affected me really deeply, and I hope I could have caught it in spite of its serious setting. Otherwise, I love Carolyn Mackler’s humor and voice, and Gabrielle Zevin’s clever concepts. I’d love to work with clients with talents like that.

Jenny asks- Hi! Asking on behalf of a VERY frustrated friend on a loop whose agent told her to give up the ghost on her MS after 13 rejections–she said either go to major rewrites or start something else. Of course we all advised her to start something else, but how many rejections do you consider reasonable before giving up on shopping a novel?
I know of an author on another writing online site whose agent stuck it out with her book for over 30 rejections before landing a publisher for her (and the book ultimately was nominated for a Quill Award).
Thanks!

The number of rejections it takes before giving up is a very relative answer. It all depends on the genre and age level. For a children’s book, it’s a much more limited field—especially if you write for a sub-set of that. There just aren’t as many publishers to send things to, so theoretically you can exhaust your options in 15 submissions depending on the book. But for an adult book, you have more choices. I know of books, both at our agency and others, that have been rejected 20 times and the agent is still coming up with another round of 10 people to send it to. But in terms of your friend, it almost sounds like a question of trusting her agent. If she does trust her agent, and the agent really doesn’t have anywhere else to send it…yeah, it’s probably time to move on to the next project.

Lisa wants to know:

What is the secret identity of Miss Snark?

Me! Kidding. I have no idea. Sadly, it doesn’t come with the information packet you receive when you become an agent. I’ve heard rumblings online, but your guess is as good as mine.

Should a writer send the revised story to the agent, after it had been rejected, even if the agent didn’t ask for the re-written article?
Thanks. Meera

No. People try to come up with conditions where this might be okay: there’s a new agent at the agency who hasn’t seen it…it’s so completely different from the last time it was submitted…and on and on. But agents reject books for myriad reasons—everything from the basic concept itself to the writing style to poor execution. Most of the time you don’t get to find out why yours was rejected. But a rejection isn’t an invitation to send the same project again—unless the agent specifically tells you it is. If I think something could be better with more work, I’ll write the author a personal note to say they are welcome to resubmit if they revise. But barring that, I don’t want to be re-queried on projects I haven’t asked for. This is just one of those areas where unless you’ve gotten personal feedback, it’s best to accept the rejection for what it is.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Emily says- Here’s my question: what, in your opinion, is the best way to begin a novel: dialogue, description of setting or character etc, or description of an action?

Also a really subjective answer! The truth is that it doesn’t matter. A good first sentence will both grab a reader and set the tone for the entire book all at once. Personally, I prefer a description or an action rather than dialogue, but I’m not too picky.

Emily has another question if you have time:
Hi again! oops, sorry, I know I’m not supposed to ask another question but maybe if you get a lot of others like the one I just asked, could you ask this one instead? Thanks a lot!
Ms. Roth: What kind of story/ genres are you just dying to find clients in? Alternatively, what do you think is the hardest sell right now?

Not to crib too much from my own post on Verla Kay, but here’s what I am looking for: “For young adult, I’m looking for high-concept hooks that don’t scrimp on strong characters. Self-aware narrators, biting wit, or a dark or quirky sense of humor are always winners, and a believable male voice would be a bonus. When done right, I love stories set in a dystopian future and anything that has a fresh (and funny) take on family set-ups will catch my eye. Coming-of-age stories are also wonderful, but just note that the bar is set very high.

For middle-grade, I gravitate to similar traits as the YA in terms of voice and hook. I’d love to see a new approach to a middle-grade mystery, and I also like boy-oriented humor and adventure. Again, strong voices and multi-layered storytelling are the key.

I’ll also consider chapter books, picture books, YA paranormal, YA urban fantasy and YA mysteries. But I will be quite selective about the fantasy I do take on, and won’t be making it the bulk of my list, so it will have to be something original with believable characters in unique situations that I can fall in love with. Same goes for vampires.

Additionally, I do a select amount of adult books–mainly high-end commercial fiction, with a literary crossover–so if you write for both audiences that’s not a problem for me. And I’m forever on the lookout for good, modern, honest, not-watered-down Jewish fiction (think Shalom Auslander or Nathan Englander). If you can do it for YA, even better.”

As far as what’s hard to sell…short stories are notoriously hard to sell. Also, picture books are incredibly tough right now. The market is oversaturated. Traditional picture books aren’t all that interesting—there are a million out there. The project has to stand out. The same goes for pretty much everything else right now. The more “done” something is, the harder to sell.

Hi,
I submitted a PB to an editor who responded in 2 short weeks and wrote a kind, personal letter stating that he enjoyed the story, but just couldn’t see it in his line. The publishing company he represented assured authors that their books would be evaluated for every line in the publishing house, yet this editor didn’t indicate whether he’d sent the story on to the other editors (and it’s doubtful he did, because there simply wouldn’t have been time for that in two weeks). Should I resubmit to the same company, but a different editor, or just forget that publishing house? Could I use his encouraging letter to help find an agent, or do agents even represent PB authors? Help!

Rita

Like I said above, picture books are rough territory. Since I’m not familiar with the submissions policies of individual houses, and having also worked on the editorial side myself, I would give the editor the benefit of the doubt that he was thinking about your project for the company. We’re pretty good about sharing things that we think someone else would love. It’s tough for individual authors to submit directly to editors since you’re a step removed. I would suggest trying to find an agent for your book, since they’ll have a better handle on getting it to the person they know is looking for it. But just be aware of what the picture book market looks like right now both for agents and for editors.

Sue wants to know – Your agency lists that they accept picture book submissions, specifically sent to Ted Malawer. What picture books has he sold? That would give us a better idea both what your agency is looking for and what they’ve already got. Do you rep picture books?

We’re on a picture book roll. Yes, Ted and I do represent picture books. As far as Ted’s deals, you’re welcome to check them out for yourself on Publishers Marketplace to see what he’s sold. Just know that we are both being very selective about them, since they are really hard to sell and if they do, they don’t sell for very much. Personally, I’m only taking on picture books that I feel really stand out, and that almost certainly means I’m only considering books that already come illustrated.

Megin asks- Before submitting to an agent, it helps to know what books they love. Can you give us the names of 5 writers you would love to represent?

This is a really similar question to the first one, so let me just give you a list of books I loved (you’ll see this list on Firebrand’s site soon). Some are recent reads, some are long-standing favorites. You may recognize some of these from earlier in the Q&A. Sorry it’s longer than 5:

Kids and YA:

Holes (Louis Sachar)

The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster)

The Missing Piece (Shel Silverstein)

The Truth About Forever (Sarah Dessen)

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (Gabrielle Zevin)

The Saints of Augustine (P.E. Ryan)

The Earth, My Butt and other Big, Round Things (Carolyn Mackler)

Grown-ups:

Beware of God (Shalom Auslander)

A Long Way Down (Nick Hornby)

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (Michael Chabon)

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Mark Haddon)

Then We Came to the End (Joshua Ferris)

The World Without Us (Alan Weisman)

The Brief History of the Dead (Kevin Brockmeier)

The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)

Hi, Ms. Roth,

I’m trying to decide between pursuing an agency that specializes in the juvenile market or going for an agent with broader interests. I’m wondering what the advantages are for a children’s or YA writer at Firebrand when there are agencies out there who specialize in the juvenile market?

Thanks. Michael

Some agencies specialize in one market. Some agencies have an agent for every market. There’s no real advantage to being with an agency that has a specialization as long as YOUR agent handles your market. Whether to go with someone specialized or with broader interests should fit with your career goals. If you only want to write for one market, then you’re set. If you want to go beyond that market, you might want someone who supports that. In fact, this is one of the questions you should ask when talking to an agent before signing with them. You should tell them what else you want to write, and make sure it’s a good match overall.

Firebrand happens to be an agency that specializes in the juvenile market. My entire background is in children’s publishing, and both Nadia and Ted have excellent track records on this side of things. But that doesn’t mean it’s all we do. We happen to have broader interests, extending well into the adult market. So, Firebrand can certainly give a children’s and YA writer all the advantages they’d need, since we really understand the market and know the players. But we’re not limited to that.

From Jenna – Do you edit the work of your clients before sending it out? Please describe your views on this process.

Yes! I believe in working with clients to make that book as strong as it can be. It’s the editor in me, what can I say. The stronger a book is going out, the happier everyone will be down the road. The revision process also a really important part in my relationship with a client. I hope my client will trust me to guide them well both editorially and business-wise. I’m there to shed light on things you might not see because you’re too close to it. And at the end of the day, we both want publishers to see the best possible product.

Anonymous asks:

If a writer left their agent and is looking for a new one, at what point should they mention this? The query letter, or when you request a partial or full? How much do you want to know about their past situation?

And if you have time for another question, would you represent a manuscript a writer has already submitted to publishers if it weren’t too many?

I want to know right away. It’s helpful to know that someone found your writing strong enough to sign you the first time around. But also I want to know what caused the break-up. It’s important to learn from mistakes and I would hope that you’d be careful to correct that with a second agent. Honesty is incredibly important between authors and agents.

And as far as representing a book that’s already been submitted, it depends on how widely and what the responses were. I’d need to have that list in order to make a decision. But, I’d probably want to send out a different project first, and take some time to evaluate the already-subbed book to see if it’s worth salvaging.

Joëlle asks – I already have an agent, but I think this is one that comes up a lot and agents often seem to have different opinions on it. Since no one asked it, I will. If a writer submits to publishers and an offer is made on a manuscript, can the writer call you and see if you’re interested in repping them? What happens in this situation?

This happens. And I’d be happy to entertain a query like that. Knowing the book has an offer already is enticing, but I’d only take it on if I love it. The author should do a targeted search for an agent who reps their kind of book, and then write a well-crafted email explaining the situation and also giving the pitch of the book. An agent can then step in and negotiate the deal for the author.

Darcy wrote to ask: At the local fall conference I heard agents were looking for stories with “changlings,” “were-animals of anykind;” I’m working hard on one of those now. Am I a day late and a dollar short?

This is a good opportunity to give an important piece of advice: just write a good book. Trends are always shifting, but a good book will get noticed. So write the book first, and make it the best you can. Worry about the marketing later.

Paula wrote- Question for your agent interview:

Please give your best advice for a writer with a series idea. Query the first book or the whole series? How is a series query different from a manuscript query? Any other words of wisdom?

Different agents have different takes on this. As someone who’s worked on series and loves them, I would be open to a series query. But it’s important for me to see that the concept is solid enough to warrant a series in the first place. I get a lot of queries for trilogies, especially for fantasy. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if a writer actually has a story that needs telling over several books, or if they just can’t edit themselves. I think it’s best to pitch with one book, and only mention that it could be a series. Series work best when you get a great set of characters in a special setting and you can’t wait to see them again in Book 2. But Book 1 has to be amazing since that’s what I’ll be requesting first—not the whole series.

Hi, Everyone. Thanks everyone for participating in the Q&A with Elana Roth. It was fun and informative. And thanks to you too, Elana!

If you missed the Q&A, you can access the “live” portion by clicking on the comments below. Click here to view the Q&A.

If you’ve been around for a while, you might remember that I loved the first two books in this series (even though I read them out of order), Bras & Broomsticks and Frogs & French Kisses. This is another winner! It’s set at sleep away camp and I am a sucker for camp books because I LOVED camp and my dream is to do writing residencies at summer camps (like I read about one author doing in the SCBWI bulletin). This is very funny and perfectly paced so you start to figure it out but aren’t quite sure what’s going on either… I love Mlynowski’s world (or rules) of witchcraft too. If you want my opinion, you should read ‘em all, but do it in the order they go in! I hope there’s another one, lots more would be great, actually.

He wanted me to raise the stakes for my character. So, me being who I am, immediately came up with this brilliant and complicated plot device for raising the stakes. It meant changing a bunch of stuff, introducing family secrets, creating unexpected twists and turns, and I can see now, asking a lot from the reader in the suspension of disbelief area. When I ran it by my wonderful agent, he said something to the effect that it could work without being too encouraging. In his infinite wisdom and experience of working with temperamental writers (I am not!), he asked a simple question that should have deflated the idea entirely . At the time, I said, “Oh, don’t worry about that. I can make it work.” I now imagine him at his desk, smiling and nodding, and thinking, “She’ll figure it out once she sees how much work she’s making for herself.”So this week I started on the revisions. The more I got into them, the more complicated it all became. I’ve been walking around saying, “Oh, the revisions are going great!” but secretly they’ve been nagging at me because I felt like I might be on the wrong path. At one point, the new stuff was getting so convoluted I stuck a post-it note on my desk that says “Keep it simple” and yet, that didn’t really help. So…this morning, I was writing in my journal, which I do for thirty minutes every morning – it’s to me what morning coffee is to my husband, I can’t function without it – and suddenly it struck me that I was going about this all wrong and that there really was a very, very simple way to raise the stakes that made a hundred times more sense than what I was doing. Needless to say, I am elated! And I expect my agent will be relieved.

A good agent is like a good parent. They try to point you in the right direction, but sometimes you have to run into the walls all by yourself before the sense gets knocked into you. So anyway…thanks, Michael!

I finally got a hold of a copy of this book and ended up reading it in two sittings (one day). I “virtually” know Jo Knowles, but so do a lot of people because she runs that write a book in two and a half month thingie which is a spin-off of the write a book in a month. Anyway, I’d been hearing good things about this book all over the web, so I was glad to read it. It’s extremely well written and just a very moving book. It is one of those page turners that we all hope to write too! Just because some of you moms out there asked me to mention this when applicable, I think this falls on the older side of YA (maybe 14 and up?). It would be a good one for the parent to read and then hand off to the kid – you know, read and discuss amongst yourselves.

So a few weeks ago, my agent read my new manuscript and while he was excited, he asked for some changes before it goes out. Click here for the rest of the story….

You may remember that Lisa’s book, THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE was on my Fave Fifteen of 2007 and she’s got another winner here. This book was interesting on so many levels. It really makes the reader feel quite uncomfortable because…well, I don’t really want to say, but I have to say that if I didn’t know Lisa, I might not have trusted her enough to make it all work, and I actually might not have kept going. The thing is, it’s not a bad thing to make your reader squirmy and I know she’s a nice person and a very good writer so I carried on (I’m also kind of a wimp, so I knew that I should keep going). Lisa’s helped me with very insightful questions about my own writing, so I was pretty sure I could count on her to make it all okay. She did a great job. Add this one to your reading pile!

*I also read Diane Mott Davidson’s CATERING TO NOBODY and listened to WHAT HO, JEEVES by PG Wodehouse on audio and did a travel/research trip which is why Need To Read hasn’t been updated recently.

I have never been very interested in audio books. The only time I ever wished I had one to listen to was when I had a headache and I was never prepared with one on hand during those times, so I basically never listened to them. The few times I’d tried them, I’d found that if I were doing something else, my mind wandered and I’d miss crucial parts of the story, and if I didn’t do something else, I fell asleep! Recently I discovered that audio books are excellent options in conjunction with two activities; knitting and cleaning. I’m entertained while I knit, and cleaning goes faster with a story (they’re also good for exercising and painting, but those are two things I generally avoid).

So here are some questions for you…Do I “count” audio books as books read? They take the same amount of time, or maybe a bit longer, to listen to as to read, so I’m thinking yes. When I’m done, I might as well have read it, right? I mean, I’ve got the story inside me. So do I include them on Need To Read? Do I add them to my yearly total of books read? Do you like audio books?

This is a lovely and delightful middle grade story. A little bit magic and a lot of heart. If you love Jean Ferris’ books, you won’t want to miss TO CATCH A MERMAID because it’s just as wacky and fun, which is unusual and hard to find. It’s also a very exciting story, and from a writer’s point of view, she does an excellent job of ratcheting up the tension and keeping you turning those pages. I read the whole thing this evening. Oh, and if any of you are wondering how I have time to read a book a day, well, I ain’t been writin’ much, but that’s all about to change, so you’ll have plenty of time to catch up over the next month or two! Enjoy! Selfor’s has a new book out too, that I’m anxious to get a hold of, called SAVING JULIET.

Set on a Wisconsin Dairy farm, this book has a truly authentic (or what I imagine to be authentic, since I’ve never been on a Wisconsin Dairy farm) voice and setting. Small town life is depicted in a way that makes sense – some like it, some want out, some aren’t sure. I like that because so often when you read about small town America, the only thing the character wants is to get out of town as soon as possible. This has a nice mix and that’s not the plot anyway, family and communication are the topics of interest. Oh, and did I mention it’s one of the funniest, in the most understated way possible, books I’ve read since…well, since the last time I said that, which really was probably just a few days ago because I’ve been reading a lot of funny stuff, but anyway…it’s very funny. The second book is more of the same good stuff. I read it in one sitting because it was pretty exciting. And the best news is there’s a third book scheduled!

Please join me in welcoming Alan Gratz! We met at a workshop a few years ago when Alan’s first book, Samurai Shortstop had just been released. Samurai Shortstop (Dial, 2006), was named one of YALSA’s Top Ten Best Books of the Year and received starred reviews from Booklist and The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. In addition to Samurai Shortstop, Alan is the author of the forthcoming YA mysteries Something Rotten (Dial, 2007), Something Wicked (Dial, 2008), and Something Foolish (Dial, 2009), and the middle-grade novel The Brooklyn Nine (Dial, 2009). A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, he now lives in the high country of Western North Carolina with his wife Wendi and their daughter Jo.

And now, onto the famous five questions. Click here for Alan’s full interview. And make sure you stop by his website too.

What’s the riskiest thing you ever did, and did it work out for you?

Easily the riskiest thing I ever did was quit my teaching job to be a full time writer. The decision was partially motivated by the birth of my daughter, Jo, and the decisions we were soon going to face over childcare. I had already been trying to write books for children when I quit—I was shopping one finished middle grade novel and writing a new YA novel—and we decided I should be a full-time writer and stay-at-home dad. It was certainly a risky decision. We had to sell one of our cars, cut back on treats like movies and eating out, and set an overall budget for ourselves to keep a handle on our expenses. Trying to find time to write was difficult at first too, but my wife’s flexible schedule allowed us to trade off Jo for large stretches, and during those off times I worked furiously at my writing. I never have sold those earlier two books, but the first book I wrote entirely as a full-time writer was Samurai Shortstop, which I sold. Five years later I’ve gone on to sell five more books and a couple of short stories, and I now thankfully have full days to write with Jo in Montessori pre-school. This year I’ll also make more money annually than I ever did working any of the full-time jobs I’ve ever had, so I think I can safely say it was a risk that has worked out in the long run.

What do you read in the bathroom?

Comic books. I used to have a stack of magazines in the bathroom, but I found that some issues would linger for months, and I wouldn’t work through them in a timely manner. My comics are monthly too, and it’s important to work through those before the next batch comes in, but I often want to pick up whatever novel it is I’m reading instead of a few comics when I have time to read. I still sit on the couch and read comics, but there are some I know I can pick up and take with me to the bathroom and knock off, as they say, in one sitting.

What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

I attended an SCBWI conference one year in New York and heard Linda Sue Park give a luncheon talk that had me taking notes on my napkin. She explained how she wove stories together by making each chapter begin with an echo of something in the previous chapter, then introducing something new in that chapter that will be echoed in the next. It was a marvelously practical strategy that I put to use in the book I had just begun to work on—Samurai Shortstop—which became my first sale. She also said that she never includes something in historical fiction that she can’t use again, which was tremendous advice. When writing historical fiction you’re tempted to throw in everything from your research, but you have to fight that and put in only what is useful to your story.

What’s on your iPod?

This morning I’ve been listening to a band called Barleyjuice, which I guess I would best describe as a Celtic rock band. They’re a lot of fun, and really great musicians. They play Scottish and Irish festivals, and I first heard them play at this year’s Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. I went there to research Something Wicked, which is Macbeth reworked as a contemporary murder mystery set at a Scottish highland festival. One of my other favorite bands is They Might Be Giants, whom I name-check in Something Rotten, the first book in that series.

Do you outline or just let it flow?

I used to just let it flow, and I’d spend hours banging my head on the keyboard waiting for inspiration. Then I got the idea for Samurai Shortstop and realized I couldn’t keep all the research for a historical novel straight without some kind of game plan. I co-opted an outlining method I had used when doing some freelance work for the A&E series City Confidential, and it was as if the heavens parted and I was handed some sacred writing secret. By outlining every chapter in great detail before I ever wrote word one of Samurai Shortstop I was able to sit down in my office, turn to the next page in my notebook, and just go. Suddenly I was worried not about what I was writing, but how I was going to write it. That was a real breakthrough for me as a writer. Thinking about what happens and thinking about how you are going to write it are two very different processes, and it was a mistake for me to try both at the same time. Other people may be able to handle both at one time, but not me. Separating the two has effectively killed my writers block. I still sit around banging my head on the keyboard during the outlining phase trying to figure out what I want to have happen, but at least I don’t leave my office after three hours of that and beat myself up for not getting any pages of the book written. I know there are people out there who swear by the free-form liberty of just sitting and writing, but I’m not that kind of writer. Now that I’ve discovered the outline, I’ll never go back.

When we lived in our old house, the cats roamed free and wild. Around dusk, you might catch one of them chasing the other, but that was about it. Here, they also are free to go, but they’ve turned into a couple of chickens and won’t go outside for more than a few minutes and never leave the porch. We’re okay with that for two reasons. One: We don’t have to worry about them being snatched up by bald eagles or owls. Two: They have become professional cat wrasslers and provide endless hours of entertainment (especially if you happen to be up at the crack of dawn, which I’m finding I am, due to the noise they make!).

Click here for a cat wrasslin photo essay.

In this corner, weighing in at ten pounds two ounces, The Orange Menace!

Known for his extra toes and shortage of wits, this fighter is capable of squishing opponents noses with one smack of his enormous paw. He’s also capable of sustaining injury and fighting on. Many times has he chased a neighbourhood cat out of the yard, only to return a few minutes later, limping and dripping blood. Don’t mess with The Orange Menace!

In this corner, weighing in at an undisclosed amount (because it’s not polite to talk about a lady’s weight), Miss Sophie!

But friends, don’t let her sweet demeanor fool you. Her coach (okay, Victor) refers to her as Bloody Paw,due to the time she was sleeping in his lap and for no apparent reason jumped straight into the air after having dug her claws into his hands for leverage, leaving him with a bloody stump.

ARE YOU READY TO WRASSLE?????

Be ready to meet your match, Orange Menace!

Let me at ‘er! Let me at ‘er! (behind him is Orange Menace’s late, great manager and pal, Mr Fatboy…don’t forget the mister when you’re talking about the Fatboy, or else!)

Bring it on, cheese boy! Show mama what you got!

And the match is on! He’s in with his right hook, she’s got a bite on his tail, but wait, he’s going for the old head licking trick! Yes, folks, he pinned her down and instead of taking a bite out of one ear, he’s giving her a bath…gotta get that spot of dirt between her ears! And then they’re off and running, up and down the hallway, sliding on the area rug like it’s a surfboard. Oh, no, they’re back on the couch and he’s pushed her off. He’s sitting calmly watching her and…and she lunges! Jumping straight into the air, her arms around his neck and this ain’t no bath she’s giving him, but a good old bite to the head! He’s losing his balance, he’s off the couch and the race is on again! But wait, they’re back, leaping onto the cushions for the last round. It’s not looking so good for Miss Soph- er – Bloody Paw, but maybe I’m wrong, because judging from the picture below, it’s very possible that the Orange Menace is about to concentrate so hard that his eyeballs are going to pop out!

Whew! Folks in the nick of time, just before anyone got really hurt, time was called.

Not by the ref’s bell, but the dinner bell!

All’s well, that ends well!

Because I think of all this reading as not simply fun, but learning about what I want to write too, I tend to look for YAs mostly in my genre. I choose books with appealing covers, by publishers I like, by authors I’ve read before, fairly recent publication dates, and interesting first sentences. I NEVER read the backs of books. I HATE to know what a book is about. Sometimes this leads me to shocking topics. Other times I end up reading the sequel to a book I haven’t read. While that’s annoying, it’s worth it to me to take the risk because I’ve found that both dust jacket blurbs and author bios often give stuff away. The other day, I did check an author’s bio to see where they were from and in addition to that info it said, “I wanted to write a cancer story with a happier ending than my friend had.” and I was all…ummm….well, so much for being surprised at the end of the book! And actually, I didn’t read the book after that (I’d been debating for other reasons anyway).

So the whole point of this piece is that you may have noticed that I’ve been posting nearly every day about a wonderful book, and you might be wondering how I am having such a great streak of luck? And now, I’m finally going to tell you (if you’re still here). Recommendations and library holds. Now, I like to think that y’all are reading my Need To Read page and instantly going out and getting all the books I recommend, but I’m sort of delusional about my power, so just bear with me. While I like to think that about you, I never used to take recommendations myself. I just stuck with the old scouring the library shelves method, using my tried and true criteria. Until a few weeks ago…

Lately, when I read on someone’s blog about a book they love, I immediately open the library catalogue’s page and if they have it, I put the book on hold. I haven’t had to scour bookshelves in weeks because every couple of days more recommended books come pouring in for me! And they are sooooo good! Exactly half of the last sixteen books I written about on Need To Read were recommendations. Another five were authors I’d read previously and liked.

So really, the point of this whole post is that if you’re not immediately getting the books I recommend to you, then you’re missing out. Get thee to a library! Okay, okay…that’s not really the point. The point is that if you’re finding your library choices less than fulfilling, you might try reading some blogs for inspiration. And if you’re looking for an agent, you should definitely try and get some books of any of the writers the agent represents. It will give you a feel for what the agent likes, and even a little bit of who they are. And if you are a writer with a book(s) out, try and get people to read it and blog about it! If someone sends you an email saying they loved it, encourage them to blog somewhere. Offer to guest blog on other sites too. The internet sells books.

Well, what are you waiting for? I need more recommendations! Post them in the comments so we can all put them on hold at the library!

As you probably know if you stop by here regularly, I read a lot. More when I’m taking a break from writing, but generally I devour around 150+ MG & YA books a year (plus a few nonfiction and adult titles). That’s an average of 2.88 books per week. Sometimes, on Need To Read, you will find long gaps where I don’t post. This is for two reasons. One might be I’m writing, so I don’t read very much. But the other reason is when I run into a string of books I don’t like. It is my policy to only post about the books I like. Good karma and all that…plus, why do you need to know I didn’t like a book you loved?

Read the rest of this here…

Lisa Greenwald on The Longstockings blog, mentioned this book the other day. Read it in one sitting. Found it charming, funny, and chock full of really well drawn characters and just lovely. Add it to your list! I know, I know, I’m giving you so much to read. I plan to blog about why I am reading such good stuff sometime later this week. Stop by for the scoop.

The agent, Janet Reid, recommended this book on her blog a few weeks ago and I read it last night and this morning. It is so great! Very funny, a unique hook, and thought provoking. It also would be great for those reluctant readers or boys who think there’s nothing out there for them but fantasy and science fiction. Enjoy!

This is one of those books that you’ve always heard of but maybe never got around to reading. At least that was true for me. The other day, my librarian friend (who I hope is way too busy to read this or I’ll be caught) was talking about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I thought…hmmm…do I admit I’ve never read it? Instead I said, “A lot of people name that book as their all time favorite.” and then I immediately went home and put a library hold on it via the internet. I made my husband pick it up when it came in. It’s a pretty amazing book. Considering the book is about truth, I guess I better come clean. Thanks, Susan, for reminding me I’d never read it. Now, the rest of you who haven’t, what are you waiting for?