If you go to my editor’s Publisher’s Marketplace page , she’s added me to it.

So, it’s just been brought to my attention that it’s Banned Book Week. I immediately dug out my “I read banned books” button, even though I’m home for the evening. Since I don’t want to get in trouble for posting someone else’s list, go here http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm to view the most frequently banned books.

Here are some of my favorites:

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (huh? really?)
Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Anastasia Krupnik series by Lois Lowery (you’re kidding, right?)
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden (I just reread this and wrote about it)

There were quite a few more books on that list that I’ve read too. Do you know what’s really weird? There are a bunch of sex education books that are challenged because they have SEX in them!!! Can you believe it? What depraved mind thought of including information on sex in a sex education book? Sorry…don’t get me started. 

Happy reading everyone. 

Joelle
P.S. What I find particularly hilarious is that I live in a small, conservative town in the South and our library subscribes to a book leasing service for their YAs and MG. That means, they get whatever’s sent to them. If anyone besides me were reading some of the stuff, there’d be RIOTS in this town! Ever heard of Chris Crutcher (yeah, I know you have)…well, he’s featured prominently. And a few other novels many adults in this town would have heart attacks over are on the shelves too. I love it.
Also go here for more info:

American Book Sellers http://www.abffe.org/banned.htm

One of the books my editor sent me was called MOUSE NOSES ON TOAST. She sent it because I mentioned that I liked the name. It is a chapter book. I read it one evening, thoroughly enjoyed it, and then passed it on to my niece for her eighth birthday (it wasn’t her only pressie from me, but I think she liked it best!). My dad said she read it all the way home in the car. Here she is, deeply involved from the very beginning. Ain’t she cute?

This is a cool shirt that you can get at ALA. So I just wrote this very awe inspiring and informative post about BBW and it disappeared. You’ll just have to use your imagination about the funny and interesting things I wrote. You can get all the info on BBW here, at my friend Eileen’s site.

I’ll be wearing my button that says, “I Read Banned Books” all week, and since I just spent two months reading the Harry Potter series again, I won’t be lying! What banned books are you reading this week?

Check out what I have to say on Need To Read about:

Long time no post here at Need To Read. Mostly because I’ve been reading Harry Potter. I just finished the whole series, I think it took me about two months, and I really enjoyed the time. I still am dreaming about being magical myself, even though I finished several days ago (I always dream I’m a witch when I read HP and then I’m disappointed when I wake up and I’m not).

In between HP #4 & #5, I read Meg Cabot’s ALLIE FINKLE’S RULE FOR GIRLS – MOVING DAY (I think this picture is for the sequel, but I’m too lazy to go find the right one). It’s MG, and I loved it. I thought it was traditional Cabot in the style, tense, and humour, but very much for MG readers, which is not always an easy thing to do. Meg Cabot is a real pro at keeping her audience in mind when she writes, whether it’s tweens, teens, or adults. I was impressed all the way around and I am looking forward to the sequel (and when I read it, I’ll post the cover to this one instead).

I also read an ARC that my editor sent me (can I just tell you how much I love saying “my editor”?) called MOUSE NOSES ON TOAST. It is a chapter book and quite frankly, I don’t really read chapter books very often (or at all), but this was really fun. I had mentioned that I loved the title and she included it in my welcome package of books she sent me. I passed it on to my 7 year old neice and I bet she’ll love it.

I then started reading a book that I really, really wanted to like, but after 88 pages I finally gave myself permission to give up. It was a bit of a mystery (not like a mystery-mystery, but like one of those things where something happens in the prologue that is supposed to intrigue you to the point where you have to find out what’s going on) and yet I still didn’t care. This author, who shall remain nameless, has several books out. One I’ve read and loved, one I read and was a bit indifferent to, and then this one…EVERYONE loves this author’s books though, so that’s why I gave it more than 50 pages. Alas…it goes on the “lost interest” card.

Lastly, and I think this really should have its own post, but I don’t feel like doing two, I read MEMORIES OF A TEENAGE AMNESIAC by Gabrielle Zevin. This was the most fantastic book. I fully expect it to be on the Fave Fifteen of ‘08. I loved her other book ELSEWHERE and so even though this was due at the library yesterday, I decided to just pay the fine and give it a quick read. By page one I was totally hooked. Zevin not only writes about unusual topics/premises, but she is just a brilliant, beautiful, poetic, and very funny writer. She writes in ways I can only dream of writing. When I read her books, I’m overwhelmed by a mixture of feelings - admiration, envy, a sense of how lucky I am to read her writing, envy, sheer elegance of the prose, did I mention envy? It’s kind of like watching Judi Dench act. On one hand I love it and it fills me up with such beauty and on the other I feel like, “Well, I might as well never act again when Judi’s out there and can act like that!”

So…definitely add this to your reading list, and if you haven’t read ELSEWHERE, get that too!

I’ll leave you with this one question…If you could have one power (or be able to do one spell or charm) from Harry Potter,  what would it be?

I would definitely choose the ability to disapparate.

  I received the new SCBWI bulletin in the mail today and was pleased to see an article of mine in it. Usually they have one or two of my pieces sitting around, already purchased, but I never know when they’ll end up in a bulletin, so it’s always a surprise. Anyway, the article is called Learning From Other Genres and is, as the title suggests, all about how studying other genres, like playwriting and screenwriting can help your fiction writing.

When I first submitted this piece, it was really, really long and the editor told me they’d like it if I could cut it in half. So I did and they did and all was well. What made me laugh today is that the article is a two-page spread, with a very cute illustration and a very large headline/title. The reason this made me laugh is because prior to cutting over 16k words from my novel, I might have thought when I saw this, “Well, they could’ve taken it as written since they had room for a two-page spread.” but the new me, the one who has learned that extra words drag things down, was simply grateful that the editor at SCBWI made me trim it because now it is tight, to the point, and hopefully readers will stick with it, rather than give up half way through!

When I told my agent that I have a tendency towards repetition, he kindly said, “you just like words”. Maybe so, but I’m starting to like them more when there are fewer of them. Hmmm…maybe there’s another SCBWI article in this post!

I'd like to send out congratulations to my wonderful agent for being promoted to VP at Dystel & Goderich!

Here's the announcement from PM: At Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, agent Michael Bourret has been named vice president and Lauren Abramo has been promoted to subsidiary rights director (both started their careers at the agency). Agent Jessica Papin is rejoining the agency after a three-year stint in international rights sales for the American University in Cairo.

Time to celebrate! Congratulations!

1. I am going to make my Monday deadline.

2. On Monday, when my revised manuscript is due, it will be there.

3.My printer is spitting out the revised pages as I type this.

4. All I have to do is read my manuscript and see if it still makes sense after cutting 16,103 words in twelve days.

5. Did I mention that I’m going to make my deadline?

Maybe I’m just a softie – okay, I am – but Meg Cabot is the coolest person ever and this is why. It literally made me tear up…not like, you know, the end of that movie Beaches, or anything, but like a Hallmark commercial. RANSOM MY HEART is one book I will definitely buy.

On Sunday, I had to take the day off from editing. Not because it is a day of rest, but because I did a play. Twice actually – a matinee and an evening performance. As you may know, I was trained as an actress and worked professionally for a while, but I haven’t done a play in more than six years.

Anyway, this play, Waking Up by Dario Fo, is a hilarious one-woman show, about twenty-five minutes long. This was not a full-blown production, but a staged reading. I had limited costuming, no real set, and no props. Plus, because it was a reading, I had my script.

Interstingly enough, at the beginning, I was convinced I would just go ahead and memorize it. Usually actors try and get rid of the script as soon as possible so they can get on with the “acting bit”. I thought that it would be too hard to use the script too because of all the objects I had to create out of space (kind of like mime) -a baby, clothing, a sink, diapers, refrigerator, stove, etc., but once I started rehearsing, I realized how handy it was to have the script! It wasn’t a hinderance at all. And having the words there let me relax and really get into the character.

I also like working at a professional level (No Bells & Whistles is a pro company), but not having it be about a career, or the next job, or who might see the play and help me make a connection. It was suddenly fun to be an actor again!

The other thing I learned is that while I hope to do more of these staged readings, I really am a writer. And not just because my book is sold and I have an editor now, but because that is who I’ve evolved into. It’s what makes me happy. And on that note…I better get back to cutting because I’m just over half way there and I only have until Monday to finish!

A fellow writer, Karmen Kooyers, sent me this quote (she didn’t say where she got it, but if anyone knows, please feel free to add it in the comments).

When revising, “Cut down to the bones, but leave the heart.”

I have to admit that cutting is way more fun than writing. I know that might sound like sacrilege, but so far it’s true. All you need is a certain amount of ruthlessness, and I guess I’ve spent my whole life preparing for this because I don’t like clutter. I throw out, give away, or recycle anything that I don’t have a need for and I always have. Now I’m just doing it with extra words!

P.S. If my editor or agent is reading this, I’d just like to say, Thanks for seeing the forest for the trees, because there sure are a lot of extra trees in this manuscript!

P.P.S. This post was longer, but I just cut a bunch of it!

This picture is of my friend Sarah Tradewell (taken by Benjamin Madison) and if you click here, you can read a fun story about how we met! She looks just like my character Molly. AND they both play the fiddle too! 

The year is 2041, and for sixteen year old Molly McClure, her life now is pretty much the same as it’s always been. She was only six when The Energy Crash of ’31 happened, ending life as the world’s population had known it. For grown-ups everywhere, the changes in their daily routines since The Crash are a constant source of anxiety and worry. Not to mention bitterness at what they feel they’ve been cheated out of; abundant food and goods, ease of travel and communication, and financial security.

In Molly’s opinion, adults spend way too much time talking about the good old days. Sporadic electricity, bicycles, horses, solar powered tractors, sewing, cooking and farm work are all Molly’s ever really known, so she doesn’t waste a lot of energy worrying about what things used to be like. Life after The Crash is just normal for her. At least until she finds herself forced to leave the comfort of her home and small island in British Columbia to travel down to Oregon.

What starts out as a quick trip to the United States to convince her grandfather to come back to Canada and be the island’s doctor, turns into a rescue mission, a test of Molly’s strengths, ingenuity, and sheer determination. She faces an unknown world where people are hungry, desperate, and sometimes even ruthless. But she also meets many helpful people, makes new friends, and is tested in ways she couldn’t have imagined.

Will a farm girl like Molly survive in this upturned world? Will she be able to keep her promise to her mother? And just how much will she have to compromise to succeed in returning to British Columbia with her grandparents?

Find out in RESTORING HARMONY by Joëlle Anthony, forthcoming from Putnam Books for Young Readers

Thanks to my most wonderful and brilliant agent, I am proud to announce that the publishing door has finally opened for me!

MY AGENT SOLD MY BOOK!!!!!

Here’s the official blurb from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Joelle Anthony’s RESTORING HARMONY, a debut novel about family, courage, and finding oneself set in an all-too-possible near-future of massive oil shortages and a return to a more agrarian way of life, to Stacey Barney atPutnam Children’s, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend too!

I think I mentioned I’m taking a summer splurge and reading all the HP books again. Well..I got through the first three very happily. Then the fourth one loomed, so I got it on audio because I knew I’d never be able to make myself read it. It’s much better on audio, but there sure are a LOT of mistakes in that book. Not mistakes so much as just things that don’t make sense. Like the whole thing about the summoning charm in the beginning is so HUGE and he can do it, but then later when he drops his map on the stairs and is stuck in the trick step, he doesn’t even think of doing the summoning charm. But then he uses is later! And if you’re not allowed to have anything for the tasks except your wand, how can he have Gillyweed in his pocket and not be disqualified? And Cedric has a knife in his pocket for the second task which he uses. And…well, anyway. I don’t think any of the other books have any of these problems, just this one. Luckily, I was so hooked that I read it through really fast the first time and back then, I thought it was pretty good!

However, my “to read” stack from the library is piling up, and my friend has promised me “boxes of new ARCs very soon” so I’m taking a short break from HP and trying to put a dent in my library stack. What are y’all reading?

Note: I’m moving this back up to the top of the blog because I can’t stand for it to disappear into the archives already! I know you’ve all read it, but indulge me!

I met Molly, a character from my book! Click to read about one of the many extremely cool things that have happened to me recently!

Here are the archives of nearly all my posts. I left out the ones that were irrelevant from early on, but for the most part, everything is here. They are from most recent back to the beginning. Enjoy!
Well, duh! A look at cutting myself some slack
Front Page News – my resurrected acting career
My wedding cake story
Sometimes Quitting is good – quitting blogs
Does Plotting While I Walk Count As Writing?
Lucky Me!
Words Matter – Take a Pass
I have a plan

Simon & Schuster want a piece of the movie pie
Less Reading Is More
Don’t Tell Me What To do – about my article
Music and Writing – Part Two
Music and Writing
Five reasons I don’t mind that I’m writing less…
A surreal conversation about characters in my books
My article is in The Writer!
Tying ends together
Happy Birthday Beatrix Potter
Five Sites I Like
Wildlife Everywhere
Looking for a magic solution when trying to write
Take My Hand and Follow Me
The Weekend..a new experience!
Is it the element of story?
Action! Casting the movie of my book.
Suntan anyone?
I’m guest blogging on my husband’s blog
Five places that books have made me want to visit
The difference a year makes
Age appropriate material, or not?
A wander down memory lane
Five reasons why I prefer YA over adult books
My experience outlining for the first time
Where I live – A week of photos
A long and rambling tale about John Rowe Townsend and other things
Picture This!
Five things that seem easy for everyone else but not so much for me!
My agent loves my revisions…
The price of a good book
Cowboys and Sheriffs (or writers and editors)
When Cats Get Spoiled – an essay
Forty Things I’m Grateful For
Roles in life, roles in writing
Why I don’t buy books
Bookworm on a break
One True Love
Missing Miss Snark
Patience Grasshopper – Let’s hear it for the agents!
Tagged
Friday Five
Magic Hat
Sunday Lunch
First Ever Friday Five
What Next?
The time between & Titles
Animal Humour – What’s that in them thar trees?
Author creativity vs. reader’s annoyance
Vacation and snow in April?
Think and Grow Rich – if I must!
The work before the party
I’m about to surface again
The home stretch
Burning the midnight oil
Red Hair Be Gone! (do check the date of this when you read it though)
How dedicated are you to your writing?
Never ever trust this cat!
You couldn’t pay me to live here
Welcome to a Q&A with Elana Roth
Keep It Simple Sweetie!
An interview with Alan Gratz
Thursday’s animal essay
Because you told me to
Where I guest blog on Eileen Cook’s site
Knitting and writing
Please welcome Carol Culver
The return of the animal essay
Writing the hook
It’s that sort of year
An interview with Eileen Cook
Who says boys don’t read?
Books for boys vs books for girls
The perils of junior high
Irresponsible characters
Choosing character names
Something old? Something new?
First sale of the year
Bridge to success
Patience
Santy’s got nothing on me!
A new kind of censorship
Resting on my laurels
Links to my husband playing with his band at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville
First impressions
$7 haircut
The big blue chair
Gimmicks vs. originality (in writing)
The End!
Circles
If you’re a writer…
Writing without junk food?
Really, really cute picture of Sophie
Writing in the woods
Interview with Wendie Old
Working around a mess
And she’s off!
Fast cat
All screwed up! Assembling a writing desk.
The conference I didn’t go to
Synopsis
Never pick out paint when you’re tired
Don’t whinge, just write
Be careful what you promise
Moving – a popular plot
Story ideas abound
Autumn is my kinda thing
I’ve been packed for shipping
Wedding cake humour
Remodel vs. Writing
Fifteen Things You Didn’t Know About Mosquitoes
A way cool idea for a summer job (for teens)
Thursday Humour
Police in the schools
Writing without a desk
Thursday humour – moonlighting
More about red hair
Teen Topic- Harassment
Red Hair Is Not As Uncommon as You Think (first version)
Mary Katherine Has a Little Lamb
Titles
Animal Thursday – Bird Watching For My Soul
An interview with Kathy Erskine
Humour – Chipmunk Herding
An interview with Arthur Slade
Thursday Humour – Sweet and Innocent? Ha!
Stop! That’s junk!
Teen Topic – Will this be you?
Featured Author – John Rowe Townsend
Eagle Spotting!
The Timer
Reading for Revenge
What I Learned from the Betsy-Tacy Books
Humour – The Gosling
Seasonal Writer
Teen Topic – Scientific America
An interview with Dori Butler
Author interview – Anne Marie Pace
Author interview – Cynthia Cheng
Lower Your Expectations
Teen Topic – Teens Push For Green Power
Author Interview – Me!
Humour – more animals, more laughs!

I know of writers who find photos and use them for inspiration while creating characters. I’ve also heard of people coming across a photo of a person and thinking, “Yeah…that’s how I imagined my MC looking” and clipping it. And I even know a writer who met a reader who looked exactly like the model on the cover of her book (but wasn’t). But the other day, I had the strangest experience!

My friend, Chelsea, and I were in Victoria for the day and we went for a wander down by the harbour front. Chelsea is not part of my critique group, but she is a teen who I trust, and she’s read a lot of my writing. At nearly the same moment we saw “her”. We looked at each other and said, “It’s Molly!”

Molly is the main character in my YA novel (coming from Putnam Summer 2010). Molly is sixteen, on the thin side, but strong and wiry, and she has wild, unmanageable brown curls. Oh, and did I mention she’s from western Canada and plays the fiddle? Here she is!

So I know what you’re thinking. OMG! What did Chelsea and Joelle do? Stalk her? Who do they think they are? Paparazzi? No and no. But this is where the story takes an almost magical turn. Chelsea did snap a photo of the girl from a reasonable distance and then we went and dropped a couple of bucks in her open fiddle case, and went on our way saying, “Wasn’t that cool?”

But then…once I had returned home and told my husband about it, I started thinking, “I wish I knew who that mysterious girl was.” So, not two days later, my husband who has his own daily photo blog, was browsing other City Daily Photo Blogs when he came across these pictures on the Victoria blog! It turns out that this lovely girl’s name is Sarah Tradewell and she lives in Victoria where she studies a multitude of instruments, theatre and other cool stuff. I contacted Sarah through her facebook page, and with her, and her parents’ permission, I am blogging about her here!

The photographer, Benjamin Madison generously allowed me to use his photos, so stop by his blog and read a bit more about Sarah, and also check out his other fantastic pics. Thanks Benjamin!

You can see and hear Sarah playing here!

As my agent said when I told him about finding Molly, “That’s pretty amazing! Isn’t it great to know that she could be real?”

Yes, Michael, it is great…in a very strange and beautiful way!

*Eventually we met and have become friends. There are more pieces to this story here and here and here.

So yesterday I was telling my friend Eileen that maybe I wasn’t writing much this year because I was losing interest. I said it all casual-like, but in a way, it sort of scared me. Because you know, losing interest right now is not exactly a good thing since I have worked so hard for so many years, I have a wonderful agent, and my first book out on submission.

But then today, one day later, I woke up excited to write! And I had a great writing day and did some good work. So the questions that nagged me all day were: If I’m not losing interest in writing, why have I written less this year than ever before? Why have I taken more time off than I’ve actually worked? Why have whole months gone by without writing anything much at all?

And then, tonight, I was emailing another friend and I was talking about it and I wrote the following: I guess I need to cut myself a little slack because we did move to a new country and it took me a year to get used to the South when I moved there from the west coast, so I guess I should give myself a year here too!

It was like the light bulb literally turned on over my head. Ummm…yeah, I did finish painting and decorating my office last October, and I was unpacked by November, but I MOVED TO A NEW COUNTRY! Not just a new town, but a NEW COUNTRY. There is a lot to learn in a new country! There are new people to meet. New habits, new foods, new procedures. Heck, we’re still trying to get our car insurance straightened out, not to mention our taxes that I did wrong (in my favour luckily). Oh, and then there are the words like favour, colour, neighbour, and cheque. No wonder I haven’t written very much this year! I don’t even know what spellings to use anymore.

Whew! You have no idea what a relief this realization is to me. At the end of the month we will be here for one year. I’m sure I’ll be writing up a storm after that! Unless, of course, new countries take two years to get used to! Just kidding, just kidding!

My policy on Need To Read is to only write about books I love. In the past, I have turned down offers of free books because I was afraid an author might send me their book and I would hate it. I’d either have to lie (not an option) or I wouldn’t post about it and then they’d know I didn’t like it, totally defeating the point of Need To Read (to share great books and give authors kudos when they earn them). However, recently, a couple of authors who are veterans in children’s writing, and already quite successful, offered me ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) and I figured, you know…if they sent me their book and I didn’t like it, and didn’t write about it, they could probably take it, so I accepted.

I am happy to say that the first one I received was just fabulous! I just finished Stefan Petrucha’s new book, THE RULE OF WON, and it’s fantastic. Like his other book, TEEN, INC. which I read recently, Petrucha is truly masterful in the way he works in themes and ideas from history, as well as current events, without seeming preachy or teachy. His characters are real, if not a little eerie at times, and there is humour in even the most serious situations. I think Petrucha really hits his mark in that he is excellent at making the reader feel the sheer force of the situation getting totally out of hand. He draws you in and makes you feel the same panic that the main character feels as things spin crazily out of whack. Even books with great climaxes don’t always accomplish the task of making the reader feel like they want to “do something” to stop the madness themselves. Petrucha really gets his readers’ hearts engaged, as well as their minds in his new book, THE RULE OF WON.

Photo: Bruce Mason

While our local newspaper does cover “the issues”, it only comes out once a week, so the articles are usually more along the lines of what’s going on, what’s coming up, and human interest, and “breaking news” is left to the internet and television stations. Today, my husband and I are on the front page! It’s not “us” that warranted the front page…it’s the fact that we’re doing plays with the fabulous and renowned actor, teacher, director, Antony Holland. I am going to do a one woman one-act play and my husband gets the honour of acting WITH Mr. Holland at his theatre! You can read the article here.

And I’m tying this into writing so I don’t have two off-topic blog posts in a row, how? Ummm….yeah, I’ll be rehearsing instead of writing. That’s it!