Interview with Rachel Coker, author of Interrupted: A Life Beyond Words

Rachel Coker's first novel, Interrupted: A Life Beyond Words, which is a historical novel for young adults set during World War II, was recently published. What makes this remarkable is that Rachel is fifteen years old. I was very impressed to see such a young writer publishing a book, and I am excited to post this interview with Rachel.

How did you get started writing at such a young age? Have you always loved to write?

It all started as a school assignment, actually. When I was in sixth grade, my mom had me write a short story about a girl living during the Reformation. It turned out pretty well and I’ve been writing ever since! I don’t remember writing much before that, unless you count a few short poems and lame stories I made up in second grade as writing.

What was the hardest part of publishing a novel at your age?

Probably getting people to take me seriously. It was really hard to convince people that I really did have a contract and that my book really was coming out and would be available at places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I think a lot of people thought at first that I was self-publishing or that it was something minor.

Why did you decide to write historical fiction?

Because I love it! History is seriously my favorite thing to study. It’s so much fun to learn about what life would have been like for someone growing up in the 40’s, or 60’s, or even 1800’s, and then try to interpret that into a book. If you can write a story about someone who grew up a hundred years ago and it still speaks to the person reading it today, then you have accomplished something. I believe that, in the end, people are still the same today as they were then, despite the changes in culture.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is my absolute favorite book. It is one of the few works I have read that has completely captivated me and connected me to that time period. I had a whole new respect and understanding of the people who lived through the Civil War after reading that book. I also really love Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, because it was the first book I read that inspired me to use my imagination.

When you aren't writing, how do you enjoy spending your time?

I run a blog that takes up a lot of my time, talking about my life and offering encouragement other teens. I also teach piano and spend a lot of time doing portrait photography for families in our area. But I am a junior in high school, so school is definitely my first priority!


I definitely agree with Rachel about historical fiction, which is my favorite too! I plan to review Interrupted soon, but in the meantime, here is the cover and summary:

Can love really heal all things? If Sam Carroll hadn't shown up, she might have been able to get to her mother in time. Instead, Allie Everly finds herself at a funeral, mourning the loss of her beloved mother. She is dealt another blow when, a few hours later, she is sent from Tennessee to Maine to become the daughter of Miss Beatrice Lovell, a prim woman with a faith Allie cannot accept. Poetry and letters written to her mother become the only things keeping Allie's heart from hardening completely. But then Sam arrives for the summer, and with him comes many confusing emotions, both toward him and the people around her. As World War II looms, Allie will be forced to decide whether hanging on to the past is worth losing her chance to be loved.

Eye of the Sword Blog Tour - Guest post from author Karyn Henley

I really enjoyed reading Breath of Angel, the first book in Karyn Henley's Angelaeon Circle series (reviewed here), so I am very excited to be the first stop for the blog tour for book two, Eye of the Sword. I will also be posting for the blog tour tomorrow, February 28, with my review of Eye of the Sword. So to start off the tour, here is a guest post from Karyn about the mythology of the angels from the series:

A Window into the World of Angels

I love windows. I love to hear and watch the world go by. Maybe that’s why I like to write. My mind is a window into other worlds where the rules are different, where mysteries wait, where characters welcome me into their lives.

The Angelaeon books originated when, through the window of my mind, I saw a fantasy universe of dozens of inhabited planets, each connected to the central realm of Avellan by a lightbridge, known to some as the stairway to heaven. Angels travel these lightbridges, or stairways, taking gifts (skills, arts, virtues), aid, and messages into each world, then escorting the souls of the dying back “across the veil” to Avellan.

But in one of these worlds, the stairway was destroyed, so the angels in that world (the Angelaeon) can’t return to the heavens. What’s more, without the stairway of light, the world itself has become blighted. The world is slowly dying.

Through my mind’s window, I see that most of the angels in that dying world have blended in with humanity. Most don’t have wings. That’s probably because I grew up reading the Bible. In biblical accounts, humans often mistake angels for ordinary people. Sometimes the angels glow or wear shining garments, but they’re never described as having wings. The only exceptions are cherubim and seraphim, but they’re not technically “angels.” The word “angel” means simply “messenger.” Cherubim and seraphim attend God’s throne and are not the angels who encounter humans.

Angel mythology, constructed over several centuries, offers several different hierarchies (or rankings) of angels. Cherubim, seraphim, and ophanim rank highest in most accounts, including St. Aquinas’s hierarchy based on an ancient list of angels. I tweaked Aquinas’s ranks to fit my fantasy world, where “angel” (messenger) is one of the lowest ranks and the only one with wings. I call the winged angels Erielyon.

My angels are sentient forms of light energy, so they have auras, which only they can see or sense. The color of each angel’s aura depends on the angel’s personality. Angelaeon (the good angels) emit pure auras. Malevolents (rebel angels) bear tainted auras, rusty or moldy or stained.

The Archae, angels who guard my world’s elements, never took on flesh, so they exist in spirit form, while other angels are trapped in human form. Angels, both spirit and flesh, can bear children who are angels. Half-angels (Nephili – “shadowed ones”) may inherit characteristics of their angel parent, such as extended lifespans and the ability to sense auras. Other giftings or sensitivities manifest as Nephili mature.

One of my joys as a writer is taking readers to the window and showing them my world. Through the window of a book, you can view a new world. Or view the old world in a new way. You want to see angels? I think I know just the window for you.


To learn more about Karyn Henley and the Angelaeon Circle series, you can visit her website. Also, be sure to check out this list of the other blog tour stops.

Princess of the Wild Swans blog tour: Interview with Diane Zahler

Diane Zahler is the author of the new novel Princess of the Wild Swans, as well as two other fairy tale retellings, The Thirteenth Princess and A True Princess.

Why did you decide to become a writer of fairy tale retellings? Have you always loved fairy tales?

I’ve loved fairy tales since before I was old enough to read myself. I even wrote my own versions in elementary school! Fairy tales are great to retell because they have such a universal appeal. Many of them started as oral tales that helped to explain or elaborate on people's most basic fears and desires. Readers recognize their own feelings when they read, even hundreds of years after the original stories were written down, and even in their retold forms. (And, of course, I love magic.)

Do you plan to write more fairy tale retellings? What is your own favorite fairy tale of all time?

My fourth book, which will be published in September 2013, has a fairy tale at its center, but it uses the story as a springboard. It's more of an original tale than a retelling. As for a favorite fairy tale -- well, I love "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," which I retold as The Thirteenth Princess. And "Rapunzel" has always been a favorite, despite Shannon Hale's comical rant against it. "Why didn't the prince just bring a ROPE?" she asks. It's a great question -- but you could ask a similar question about almost any fairy tale. Why did Snow White eat that apple, given what she knew? Why didn't Sleeping Beauty just stay away from sharp objects? Why did Little Red Riding Hood wear such bright colors when there were wolves around? Any fairy tale requires a certain suspension of disbelief.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

There are so many! I worked in the children’s room of a public library through high school and college, so I kept reading children’s books long after I grew up. Fantasy books I loved include the Narnia series, all the books by Edward Eager and E. Nesbit, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster, The Wonderful O by James Thurber, The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall, Ursula Leguin's Wizard of Earthsea books, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Realistic fiction I read and reread include All-of-a-Kind Family by Theodore Taylor, The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsberg, the Henry Huggins and Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, and Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I’m probably leaving out dozens.

When you are not writing, how do you enjoy spending your time?

Reading. And I love to travel -- in fact, right now I'm in Belgium and will be here for five months. I plan to go all over Europe -- as much as I can afford to! -- and maybe even make it to Morocco. And I love to eat whatever they're serving where I travel (within reason).

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just this – I hope your readers love Princess of the Wild Swans! And thank you so much for hosting me on your blog.

To learn more about Diane Zahler and Princess of the Wild Swans you can visit her website (where you can also see a list of the other stops for the blog tour). You can also read my review of Princess of the Wild Swans here.

Interview with Melanie Dickerson, author of The Merchant's Daughter

Melanie Dickerson is the author of two fairy tale retellings for young adults, The Healer's Apprentice (a retelling of Sleeping Beauty) and The Merchant's Daughter (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast). I reviewed both books and you can read my review of The Healer's Apprentice here and my review of The Merchant's Daughter here. To learn more about Melanie and her books, and to see the book trailers for both novels, you can visit her website.

Why did you decide to become a writer of historical fiction? Have you always loved history?

I always liked history, but there were always certain time periods that I liked more than others, and some that I loved. The Medieval time period I loved.

Why did you decide to set your fairy tale retellings in the Medieval era?

There were a lot of reasons. Many of the stories probably originated in the Medieval period, and they fit in well with the way life was in that period. Also, I love that time period, so it just seemed natural to set my stories in that time.

What kind of research did you do to bring to life the historical settings for The Healer's Apprentice and The Merchant's Daughter?

I read some books on life in the middle ages, especially in Germany, while I was writing The Healer’s Apprentice, and I did a lot of searching on the internet for information. I read a lot of books on England in the 1300’s before I started writing The Merchant’s Daughter, and did a lot more research while I was writing the story. I try to check everything, to make sure I’m getting my facts straight. I consider that a big part of my job as a writer, and even though I know a lot about the period, I try not to assume that I know something, but double check to make sure.

Do you plan to write more fairy tale retellings? What is your own favorite fairy tale of all time?

I do have more fairy tale retellings in the works. So keep an eye out on my blog, website, and facebook page for announcements in the near future. :) And I think my favorite fairy tale has to be Beauty and the Beast. I love the theme of “love is blind” and character being more important than outward physical beauty.

What are some of your favorite books and authors?

I love all of Jane Austen’s books, and Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is another favorite, and I loved Rafael Sabatini’s books when I was a teen, especially The Sea Hawk. My favorite contemporary authors are Mary Connealy, Julie Lessman, Linore Burkard, Kate DiCamillo, and Ruth Axtell.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for having me on your blog, Rebecca! I am excited about 2012 is bringing as far as my writing and future books. I hope you have a wonderful year, too! Happy reading!

Interview with Tracy Barrett, author of Dark of the Moon

Tracy Barrett is the author of Dark of the Moon, a retelling of the myth of the minotaur. I previously reviewed the book and you can read my review here. To learn more about Tracy and her books, you can also visit her website.

What inspired you to write a more "realistic" version of the myth of the minotaur?

The minotaur myth as we know it is a garbled retelling by Greek travelers (traders, sailors, whatever) of the religion of ancient Crete, an island that is now part of Greece but that in the Bronze Age was a foreign country to the mainland Greeks. The Cretans worshipped the moon, perhaps as a cow, and the sun in the form of a bull-god. The Greek travelers must have seen a ritual where a shaman or priest wearing a bull's-head mask ritually wed a priestess of the moon, and came back with a strange story of a half-man, half-bull that ate people (the Cretans might have practiced human sacrifice, but even if they didn't, it was in the best interests of the Greeks to cast their rivals, the Cretans, in the worst possible light).

The story we have is full of inconsistencies.

Why would you keep a man-eating monster in a labyrinth? The minotaur wasn't too bright but surely after years and years of confinement, he'd find his way out.
Why would Theseus sail home with a black sail on his ship, after telling his father that a black sail would mean that he had died? Would you really forget to hang a white sail?
Why would his father commit suicide upon seeing the black sail, when he had sent his son (whom he hadn't bothered to meet until he was a teenager) to certain death? Could he possibly have been surprised that he had supposedly died?

Why did Theseus take Ariadne, the minotaur's sister, away with him, and then dump her on the island of Naxos? If he didn't want her, why not just leave her on Crete?

And also, there are no motivations given for the actions of any of the characters in the story, except Theseus, whose motivation in killing the minotaur is to avoid getting eaten.

So I wanted to straighten out those inconsistencies, try to imagine a religion that could have given rise to the rituals that the Greeks so badly misunderstood, and make the characters in the drama more human by figuring out why they acted the way they did.

What kind of research did you do to try and make the characters and setting as accurate/realistic as possible?

I did lots and lots and lots of research! It helps that my major in college was Classics and that I've spent time on Crete. But I still had to look up a lot of things, and many facts that I found gave me ideas, and then I had to research those ideas.

I started with The White Goddess by Robert Graves. I checked out the six mammoth volumes of The Palace of Minos by Sir Arthur Evans, the archaeologist who did the first real excavations there, and studied them intensively. I mostly used books, but I also did a lot of on-line research, including Google Earth to see the places where the story takes place.

I loved how the novel was told from the alternating viewpoints of Theseus and Ariadne. Do you have a favorite of the two main characters, or did you like them both equally? Was it difficult to make their voices sound different from each other?

I originally planned to have the whole story told in Ariadne's voice, but I soon figured out that she had led such a sheltered life that she couldn't really comment on it; she knew nothing different so it wouldn't occur to her to discuss the palace, her brother, her religion. I needed a narrator who was clueless about Crete so someone could explain things to him, and thus to the reader. So I brought in Theseus.

I like them both, but I think I like Ariadne more. She's so courageous and loving, aware of her duty but also aware that the world is changing and that she'll have to change along with it.

It seemed natural for Ariadne, who is mired in the past, to use the past tense in her narration, and Theseus, who's eager for the future, to use the present tense. I noticed after I had finished the first draft that Ariadne is always questioning herself, her mother, her life, and Theseus rarely does. So I went through and took out the few times that Theseus questions himself, to make the contrast between the two of them even stronger.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

I'll limit myself to just a few: Linda Sue Park, M. T. Anderson, Philip Pullman, Katherine Paterson.

When you are not writing, how do you enjoy spending your time?

I don't have much time! I'm also a college professor, but I'm quitting in May (see my blog, Goodbye, Day Job!). Maybe I'll be able to answer this question better after that, but at this point I can list reading, reading, reading, and knitting. I used to be a skydiver, but that was long ago, and I don't plan to pick it up again after I retire!

Interview with Jaclyn Dolamore, author of Between the Sea and Sky

Jaclyn Dolamore is the author of Between the Sea and Sky (which I really loved and reviewed here). She is also the author of Magic Under Glass and the upcoming sequel, Magic Under Stone.

The story of Between the Sea and Sky is very unique. What was your inspiration for it?

The romance between a mermaid and a winged boy was one I tried to write some years ago, but the way I interpreted the idea was inspired largely by Jane Austen novels and the films of Studio Ghibli (Hayao Miyazaki). I wanted to write a cozy sort of fantasy, where there is no villain or world to be saved, but conflicts coming from within the situation. And I wanted an Austen-esque touch of social humor. The Mediterranean-esque 19th century setting and the flying scene are definitely typical of Miyazaki movies like Howl's Moving Castle.

The setting has a very historical feel to it, was it inspired by any particular place or time?

Specifically, the setting is supposed to evoke Italy around 1800.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

The Emily books and diaries of L. M. Montgomery, the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (I actually have a biography of Rose Wilder Lane to read right now), A True and Faithful Narrative by Katherine Sturtevant, Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate and In Pursuit of Love, Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell.

When you are not writing, how do you enjoy spending your time?

Reading is kind of a given... I like to cook, and I also like to eat: total foodie, and I'm particularly passionate about vegetables. They're underappreciated! I just went to an Afghani restaurant the other day and had these amazing turnips. Turnips! Amazing! Who knew? I love to comb thrift stores for vintage clothes although I don't get to do it as often as I'd like because I don't drive. And I spent more time watching TV than I'd like to admit. That's one of those things that just happens

And for a fun question - if you could choose, would you rather be a mermaid, or a winged person?

A winged person. I would love to be able to fly. I seriously get jealous when I watch birds.

Guest post from Janet Fox, author of Forgiven

I loved Janet Fox's new novel Forgiven (reviewed here), so I am excited to start off the blog tour with this guest post from Janet.

One of my favorite aspects of writing historical fiction is the research. I try to find a variety of sources – contemporary, original, fiction, nonfiction – and dive in to immerse myself in the period. When I dove into the research behind Kula’s story I thought I’d find a rich and sparkling San Francisco, a city of glamour and art, of Nob Hill and the opera (almost all destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, but that’s another story.) I had no idea that I’d discover a dark underworld of child exploitation, and how deeply that underworld would affect me.
I made my first discovery of this aspect of life in San Francisco at the turn of the last century when I read Isabel Allende’s Daughter of Fortune, a novel set in the 1800s. One of her main characters is a doctor who treats, and tries to save, the young “sing-song girls” (so called because of the way they enticed their customers from their tiny windows by chanting) locked in their dank cribs. Then I picked up the non-fiction classic The Barbary Coast (Herbert Asbury). Asbury does not shrink from depicting the raw and brief life suffered by these child prisoners, sold or kidnapped into slavery in China and transported across the Pacific in the holds of ships, in which they received their first dose of abuse. Asbury quotes primary sources – newspapers, court documents – with raw facts about the girls. After that I unearthed photographs and newspaper articles about these children (the range of ages was 1 to 18 years) when I searched the online San Francisco archives.
These girls haunted me, they haunted my dreams, and I knew I had to include something of their tragedy in Forgiven. They haunted Kula, too, and made her realize that she was more a child of privilege than she’d ever imagined in comparison to the sing-song girls.
What continues to haunt me is that the kind of exploitation they suffered still goes on, all over the world. This reality has made me want to play a part, however small, in ridding the world of an undeniable evil.
An evil that I uncovered while I was doing research for Forgiven – which I think shows the power of searching the past.


Janet Fox will donate a portion of the proceeds from FORGIVEN to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. To learn more about what you can do to help agencies that actively fight the exploitation and trafficking of children, visit the following websites:

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Unicef

Stop Child Trafficking

Guest post from Jackie Morse Kessler, author of RAGE

THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB
By Jackie Morse Kessler

I heard once that when you don’t get feedback about your work, it’s like being an all-night DJ when no one calls in with requests: you don’t know if anyone’s really listening. Writing can be the same way—if you don’t hear from readers that they’ve read your books, you’re never really sure if, well, anyone is reading them. (Okay, maybe that’s just me. I sort of obsess. You should have seen me in my Duran Duran phase. My bedroom wall was covered with pictures of John Taylor.)

Getting positive feedback from readers is mind-blowingly amazing. There is nothing, nothing like getting an email (or snail mail) from a reader who’s excited about your book. (Negative feedback is slightly less exciting, but it can up the ante in terms of humor. Once I was accused of being a Satanist, which I thought was pretty funny.) But the best thing about this job is getting to talk to readers about my books, and then answering their questions in a live Q&A format.

And this, hands-down, was the bestest of the best for me:

I was doing a reading/signing at my favorite local indie when Rage hit the shelves. A number of my friends were in the audience, which is always nice, but there were also people whom I didn’t know at all sitting there and listening to me talk about the writing process, self-injury, the Riders of the Apocalypse, and why chocolate should be its own food group. (Another perk of doing readings is that you can talk about pretty much anything.) So when it was time for people to have their books signed, two folks I didn’t know came up to me, a girl and a guy. The girl confided that she was a former self-injurer, and that she loved reading Rage. I was thrilled to hear that the character I’d created had really resonated for her. But even better? When it was the guy’s turn, he quietly told me that the girl has been his friend for years, and he’d been trying to understand what self-injuring was, so that he could understand what she had gone through during that period of her life. And now, thanks to reading Rage, he felt like he finally got it.

That made my heart soar. It was like getting a hundred on a major exam, or a top-notch performance review at a job. Or eating Tim Tams from Australia. (I’m telling you: chocolate should be its own food group.)


**************

Riders of the Apocalypse giveaway!

Three lucky winners will receive one copy each of HUNGER and RAGE along with postcards and a mini-poster! To enter, send an e-mail to RageGiveaway@gmail.com. In the body of the e-mail, include your name and e-mail address (if you're under 13, submit a parent's name and e-mail address). One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on 4/30/11. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on 5/1/11 and notified via email.

Jackie's next stop is SciFiGuy at http://www.scifiguy.ca/.

Interview & Giveaway with Carrie Vaughn, author of Steel

Carrie Vaughn is the author of Steel, a time-travel adventure in which a teenage girl named Jill travels back in time and finds herself on a pirate ship. In addition to this interview with her, thanks to HarperCollins I have one copy of Steel to give to a lucky winner. The details for the contest are listed after the interview.

About Steel:

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure. The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain. Time travel, swordplay, and romance combine in an original high-seas adventure from New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn

The story of STEEL is very unique compared to most YA books - what was your inspiration for the story?

I wanted to tell a pirate story -- this is in reaction to some other pirate stories out there, including a certain movie franchise. But I wanted mine to be different -- as historically accurate as I could make it, for one. And I wanted it to be about swords and swordfighting, since I'm a fencer (like Jill, but not nearly as good as Jill). I think every modern fencer wonders how they'd do fighting with "real" swords back in the day, and this story gave me a chance to explore that.

If you could be like Jill and travel back in time, where would you want to go?

A lot of people have been asking me this... The answer is London in 1600, so I could see an original production of Shakespeare's plays.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

Robin McKinley is probably my favorite author, especially her Damar books, The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. I love Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, which is space opera.

When you aren't writing, what do you enjoy doing?

I travel quite a bit. I walk my dog. Watch movies. I'm a bit crafty -- I do some costuming, and I'm learning to knit.

Is there anything else you would like to add? Such as your website, info on yournext book, etc.

My website: http://www.blogger.com/www.carrievaughn.com
My latest book, After the Golden Age, just came out. The next book in my Kitty series, Kitty's Big Trouble, will be out in June.

Contest details:

To enter to win a hardcover copy of Steel, leave a comment with your email address
U.S. mailing addresses only
Must enter by Wedneday, May 4
Extra entries: +1 for linking to this interview & contest on Twitter, +1 for linking to it on your blog

Interview with Kristiana Gregory, author of Dear America: Cannons at Dawn

I am very happy to post this interview with Kristiana Gregory, who for years has been one of my favorite authors from the Dear America series. Her newest book, Cannons at Dawn (which I reviewed here) is the sequel to The Winter of Red Snow, which was originally published in 1996 as one of the first books in the Dear America series and recently rereleased by Scholastic in September 2010. Kristiana has also written several other books in the Dear America and Royal diaries series as well as many other historical novels for middle grade and young adult readers.

Why did you decide to become a writer of historical fiction? Have you always loved history?

When I was a newspaper reporter, I loved digging for facts then writing a story. One day, my editor at the Telegram-Tribune in San Luis Obispo yelled across the newsroom that I needed to start writing fiction because my leads were too flowery! My excuse was that it was painful listening to a city council meeting then having to report the boring details. I wanted a little pzazz, a little something extra that would be FUN. Historical fiction was the next step: I loved history and I loved making things up.

What is your research like for your historical novels? Do you usually visit the places featured in your books?

The only places I was not able to visit were Russia and Egypt [for Catherine the Great and Cleopatra]. Otherwise, I went to France three times for Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine [poor me], and made several visits to Valley Forge, Philadelphia and Morristown for the Dear Americas set during the Revolutionary War. I went to Kansas for the Prairie River series; all my books set in California, Utah, Colorado and Idaho are based on research from when I lived in those states.

If you could go back in time for a day (with guaranteed safety!) where would you visit? Would you choose the setting from one of your books, or somewhere else?

The Holy Land, to hang out with Jesus for the day. I haven't yet written about that era.

How did you decide to write a sequel to The Winter of Red Snow after all these years?

I had always wanted to continue Abigail's story, so when Scholastic invited me to do the sequel I was thrilled.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Theodore Taylor. Favorite book growing up was Island of the Blue Dolphins, because I lived on the beach looking out toward the Channel Islands. I could picture where the real Karana had lived in solitude for 18 years.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

For years teachers, parents and young readers have asked where ideas come from and what it's like to be a writer, so I've started a blog: http://notesfromthesunroom.blogspot.com/
Whenever a book is mentioned there you can click on the title for a direct link to amazon.com

Interview with Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon, authors of The Secrets Journeys of Jack London

Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon are the authors of the new historical paranormal series The Secret Journeys of Jack London. Book one, The Wild, is one sale now. To learn more about The Secret Journeys of Jack London: The Wild, you can view the electronic press kit, and there are links to the other stops for the blog tour here.

How did you get the idea to do a historical paranormal series about the young Jack London? It's quite an unusual concept next to all the modern paranormal YA books out there.

CG: When writers spend time hanging around other writers, crazy ideas come up all the time, and some of them solidify, but rarely do them come together as perfectly as this one. Tim and I were at World Horror Convention in Toronto, out having Thai food and drinks with about a dozen other people. He can tell you where it sprang from (that's his story to tell), but the conversation came around to "vampire polar bears," and I perked up immediately. I insisted that we had to write that, and somehow the two of us decided that it had to be the "true" story of Jack London's adventures in the frozen north. Pretty soon, we had a trilogy of books in mind. I should note that there are no vampire polar bears in the first two books...but we'll get to them. In any case, we walked out of that dinner having made a deal with a publisher who happened to be sitting at the table with us, but his business partner didn't like the terms of the deal, so we had to find another home for it...and the end result is one of the most beautiful books I've ever been involved in.

TL: From little seeds... Chris and I first met up when he asked me to write a short story or his Hellboy anthology Odder Jobs. Soon after that he commissioned an original Hellboy novel from me, Unnatural Selection, for Simon & Schuster. Then, when an editor at S&S was looking for someone to novelise the 30 Days of Night movie, my name came up. Now, back to the meal in this Thai restaurant in Toronto. Plates were being scraped, extra bottles of wine ordered. Chats stretched back and forth across the table, and someone (I can't remember who), asked me if I'd added any significant scenes to the 30 Days of Night novelisation. I told them about the one large scene I'd added which I think would have looked incredible in the movie––when a Polar bear wanders into Barrow, and the vampires stalking the town 'play' with it, like a cat plays with a mouse, before slaughtering it. "So did they kill it?" I was asked. "I guess so," I said. "Otherwise ... vampire Polar bears." And from Chris across the table I heard, "You know what? We can totally do that!" And I said, "Yeah, vampire Polar bears in Alaska, stalking Jack London." The seed was planted.

What kind of research did you do for the historical setting? Are most of the supernatural elements invented by you or did you base them on mythology or legends?

CG: We did a lot of research about Jack London's life and work, as well as about the Yukon territory during that time period. It's fascinating stuff, full of desperation and hope in equal measure. The supernatural elements are variations on existing legends. We took the parts we liked and crafted them into something we hope is unique.

TL: I found the research hugely enjoyable. We had to re-read The Call of the Wild first, of course, and I hadn't read that book since my teens. Still a stunning piece of work. Then we read a couple of Jack London biographies, and I also read some of his short stories and autobiographical work. Researching the period and place was also a lot of fun, and a little traumatic at times. Those were harsh times, and it's incredible learning what trials Jack London went through on his search for gold. And, of course, his search for adventure that would drive him all through his tragically short life. I discovered my favourite quote whilst researching Jack, and we used it in the front of the book: "The function of man is to live, not to exist". You tend to see the same idea quoted all over the place now as, "One life. Live it." But I prefer Jack's ...

What was the process of co-writing the book like? (this is something I've always been interested in learning more about when I read a book by multiple authors!)

CG: Tim and I tend to work differently from my other collaborative experiences. We start with an outline, of course, and we do trade off chapters, each writing one and then sending it off for the other to edit. Then the other author writes the next chapter and so on. But Tim and I also usually write a chapter and then get on the phone and discuss in detail what should come next, not relying on the outline so heavily.

TL: It's a really organic process, as Chris intimated. And while the actual sitting down writing bit is done on our own, we're in almost constant contact about the book, talking most days and making sure we're both on the same page about where we're going. The outline's always there, but we've found that once we start a novel we rarely look at the outline again. The novel takes over and steers itself as we discover more about the story. We're about to start our seventh book together, and it's a very satisfying partnership. Although I do all the hard work, of course.

Do you have plans for more books in the series and if so can you give us any hints about them?

CG: We've already written the second book, THE SECRET JOURNEYS OF JACK LONDON: THE SEA WOLVES, which will be out in 2012. We're just beginning work on the third in the trilogy.

TL: ... which will be called WHITE FANGS. And which will feature those creatures mentioned above.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
TL: Only that we hope you enjoy the book, and keep your eyes on cinema schedules! Fox own the rights, and Chris and I have already delivered our screenplay.

Guest post from Clare B. Dunke, author of By These Ten Bones

This guest post from Clare B. Dunkle is part of the blog tour for the paperback release of her novel By These Ten Bones. I am also hosting a contest to win either By These Ten Bones or another book by Clare, The House of Dead Maids. You can enter here through March 8. Also to see photos of some of the locations from the story you can visit Clare's website. And now for the guest post!



My werewolf story, BY THESE TEN BONES, has just been released in paperback. It’s an old-fashioned girl-meets-monster love story set in medieval Scotland, and the werewolf in it follows classic folklore rules: he changes into a ruthless killing machine at each full moon. When I wrote the book back in 2004, I had just finished writing three other girl-meets-monster stories, The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy, and the heroines of those stories were classic folklore heroines. But for BY THESE TEN BONES, I wanted to write a different kind of female lead.

Picture the typical folklore-based fantasy heroine. What do you see? She’s missing at least one parent, if not two. The family she lives with mistreats her and may even try to kill her; if not, that’s a sign that they’re probably about to die. She’s homeless and in want or else living in the home of strangers, and if she’s working as a servant, it’s probably work beneath her social class. Also, we can lay pretty good odds that she’ll make a critical journey into unfamiliar surroundings before the story is through.

We writers of folklore-based fantasy have a very good reason for creating this kind of heroine: the folklore did it first. Think of a favorite folktale or two in which a female is the focus of the story, and you’ll find that they come pretty close to the heroine you pictured above. Cinderella is motherless, in want, and living as a servant. Cap o’Rushes, my favorite Cinderella-style heroine, is homeless because her father threw her out. Snow White has had to flee into the woods to escape a wicked stepmother, and she’s living with the strangest of little strangers. The bride of the Black Bull of Norroway has to wander far from home and serve a stranger for seven years, and the heroine of the Seven Swans story has the worst setup of them all: she’s motherless, saddled with an evil stepmother, estranged from her brothers, in want, living among strangers, and forced to be mute.

This formula works well both in folklore and in fiction because it’s when the traditional family unit breaks down that adventures can happen. No one would set out to find his or her fortune if everything were fine at home. But I wanted to do something different with Maddie, the heroine of BY THESE TEN BONES, so Maddie lives in a happy home, and both her parents manage to remain alive, loving, and supportive throughout the story. She isn’t in want, either; she considers herself well off. She’s comfortable in her surroundings and her society and knows the laws of both; the locals know her, like her, and accept her. And as for the journey, Maddie doesn’t go further than an hour’s walk from home during the entire course of the book.

Even more unusual for the fantasy genre is Maddie’s personality. She has no great dreams, she has no astounding talents, and she isn’t full of angst or bitterness. I’ll be the first to admit that angry protagonists are easier and more enjoyable to write because they seem to have more depth and come to life more vividly. But I reveled in Maddie’s sheer normality when I wrote her: she doesn’t have an enemy in the world and sees no reason to make one. Her peaceful relationship with her parents was actually rather tricky to write because good relationships don’t provide an author with exciting episodes to record, and the characters involved can easily come off as saccharine. But again, I enjoyed the chance to create good parents for one of my heroines. We fantasy writers don’t always get to do that.

It’s the male in my story who has all the bad luck. Paul, the young woodcarver Maddie falls in love with, comes into the story on one of those long, unhappy journeys that fantasy characters so often take. He’s the one who’s friendless and in want. Maddie is the character who’s holding all the cards and gets the opportunity to determine the story’s outcome.

I have to admit that this book is a favorite of mine because of Maddie’s cheerful, optimistic nature. Maybe she lacks the sheer drama of a haunted, hunted princess on the run, but in her own way, she’s even more remarkable. Maddie is a normal girl from a normal home, with a set of normal parents. In this genre, that’s the most unusual thing a heroine can be.

Interview with Julie Chibbaro, author of DEADLY, plus contest

As part of the blog tour for her new historical novel, Deadly, I have an interview with author Julie Chibbaro. I also am giving away five bookmarks signed by her, you can find information on the contest after the interview.

What inspired you to write Deadly? Why did you decide to tell the story in a diary format?

I wanted to write something totally out of my comfort zone, and a book that explores a scientific breakthrough in the early 20th century was exactly that challenge. As a teen, I was not the best student. I wondered if I could write a novel that would make subjects that bored me in school interesting. I feel sometimes I learned more about history from good historical novels than from textbooks. Science and history – I prefer them when someone can really tell me a good story, and explain to me why I should care. I wrote Deadly as a diary to give it that much more intimacy.

What kind of historical research did you do?

I love to look at old pictures and read old newspapers. There were about 20 different newspapers at the turn of the 20th century – and you can read them all on microfiche at the NY Public Library. I read the whole paper – the job section, the rentals, the birth, death, and marriage announcements, the ads – not just the articles that pertained to my story. This gave me a rounded picture of what it was like to live then. I also read source materials, articles written by George Soper about his hunt for the cause of the epidemic. A book by Judith Walzer Leavitt called Typhoid Mary helped enormously as well.

What do you hope readers learn from the book?

I’d like to be careful with the word “learn” because I tried very hard not to be pedantic in any way while writing Deadly. I’d like readers to finish it and say to themselves “Wow, I didn’t know any of that!” Just to give them some perspective on an earlier time in our history, and to think about how it relates to their lives today, and it does, in lots of ways. Typhoid is a salmonella bacteria. Typhoid Mary was a “healthy carrier” similar to some disease carriers today (e.g., HIV). How did they deal with these things then? What do we do differently today?

If you could go back in time for a day (with guaranteed safety!) what place and time would you like to visit?

I always love to read about/look at pictures of the 1960s. Not the war or the pain, but for the joy they seemed to have, a profound celebration of life with both their minds and bodies. They seemed much more willing to take wonderfully exciting risks with their lives.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

I am re-reading The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. I loved R.A. Nelson’s Teach Me and Matt Burgess’s Dogfight: A Love Story. One of my favorite books is The Alienist by Caleb Carr – that inspired me to write historical fiction.

Can you tell us anything about your next book?

My next book is about a graffiti artist (though he wouldn’t call himself that) and a poet (though she wouldn’t call herself that) who live in the parks of NYC. That’s about all I can say right now!

Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you, Rebecca, for this chance to talk about myself and my book! I love to hear from readers, who can visit me and download an excerpt of Deadly from my website juliechibbaro.com. I’m also on FB (Deadly by Julie Chibbaro), and twitter (@juliechibbaro).

Contest info:

To enter to win one of five Deadly bookmarks signed by Julie Chibbaro, comment on this post with your email address.
Contest will run for 2 weeks, until March 10, 2011.

Interview with Mary Hooper, author of Fallen Grace

Mary Hooper is the author of Fallen Grace, a young adult historical novel set in Victorian England, which I recently reviewed. She has also written many other historical novels for young adults. To learn more about Mary Hooper and her books and to see the book trailer for Fallen Grace you can visit her website.

Fallen Grace is about a rather unique topic. What inspired you to write a historical novel for young adults about the Victorian funeral industry?

I have always been rather morbidly interested in the whys and wherefores of Victorian funerals; the mourning rites, the wonderful cemeteries and statues, the rituals to be gone through. (I loved the US TV show SIX FEET UNDER!)

What kind of historical research did you do while writing the novel?
I read lots of books, especially Mayhew's LONDON LABOUR AND THE LONDON POOR which deals with real people on the streets speaking in their own words.

Your young adult historical novels have been set in several different historical eras. If you could go back in time for a day (with guaranteed safety, of course!) what place and time would you like to visit?

I would be a favoured courtier of Charles II in one of his magnificent palaces. The Restoration (1660) was a pretty fun time in England - as long as you were rich, of course.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

You can't beat Dickens!

Can you tell us anything about your next book?
VELVET is set in 1900 and is about a poor girl who works in a steam laundry. After a mishap, she loses her job but is asked to go and work for a medium. She soon discovers, however, that there are more to this particular medium's visitations than meet the eye.

Interview with Dori Jones Yang, author of Daughter of Xanadu, plus contest

Dori Jones Yang is the author of the new young adult historical novel Daughter of Xanadu. To learn more about the book, you can visit her website, watch the book trailer, or read my review. Also thanks to Random House I have a contest for a copy of Daughter of Xanadu!

Daughter of Xanadu is a rather unique YA historical. Where did you get the idea for the setting and story?

Dori: I wanted to write a story about Marco Polo because I can relate to him. He went to China and then wrote about it for readers back home; that’s what I did as a foreign correspondent. Once I read his book, I realized that he visited China at a time when it was ruled by the Mongols, as part of the Mongol Empire. I knew a lot about China, but I had to start from scratch learning about the Mongols and Mongolia. Once I started reading about their unique culture and history, I got hooked!

What kind of research did you do? Did you visit any of the real places in the book?

Dori: I read lots of books, including an intriguing one called The Secret History of the Mongols. Then I visited Mongolia, where I rode camels, stayed in a ger (yurt), and explored the Gobi Desert; that was super-fun and gave me a good idea about Mongolian customs. I also visited the ruins of Xanadu and the Khan’s capital of Khanbalik, now known as Beijing, as well as the city of Da-li in southwestern China, which was described by Marco Polo. I felt like an explorer myself, touching history. Like Indiana Jones Yang!

What do you hope readers will learn from Emmajin's story?

Dori: My main hope is that readers will find it a fun, fascinating story. But I also hope they’ll watch the way Emmajin’s view of the foreigner Marco changes over time, and how her understanding of her own culture deepens as she learns to see it through the eyes of a foreigner. Maybe next time my readers talk to a foreigner, they will also try to see the world from their foreign friend’s perspective.

If you could go back in time for a day (with guaranteed safety!) what place and time would you like to visit?

Dori: Oh, Xanadu, for sure, in the days of Khubilai Khan! I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Marco Polo first met him. I would observe their clothing, food, gestures, habits, gardens, and palaces, and they’d I’d fly safely home and write it all down! Maybe I should have done that before Daughter of Xanadu was published . . .

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

Dori: I love historical fiction and novels about China, by such authors as Lisa See, Amy Tan, Margaret George, Tracy Chevalier, and Susan Vreeland. I also love historical novels that tell stories through the less well-known perspective of women, such as The Red Tent, The Mists of Avalon, and many of the books by Philippa Gregory, such as The Other Boleyn Girl.

Can you tell us anything about your next book?

Dori: Well, I’ve already figured out what happens next in the story of Emmajin and Marco. Do you think enough readers would be interested for a sequel?

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Dori: I’d like to add a message to you and the many other bloggers out there who read and review books online: How cool is that! In an age when ‘pundits’ want to tell us books are dying, you are proving otherwise – avidly reading books (even before they’re published!) and using the Internet to form a vibrant community of book lovers. Book reviews are no longer the sole privilege of a tiny elite. Kudos to you!

Also, please come visit me at http://www.dorijonesyang.com/.


CONTEST INFO

One lucky winner can win a copy of Daughter of Xanadu!

Rules:

To enter, post a comment with your email address.

For an extra entry, read and comment on my review of Daughter of Xanadu, linked to at the beginning of the interview

US mailing addresses only

Must enter by January 28

Interview with Lisa Klein, author of Cate of the Lost Colony

This interview with Lisa Klein is part of the blog tour for her new novel, Cate of the Lost Colony. I previously reviewed the book on my blog and you can read my review here. To learn more about Cate of the Lost Colony and Lisa Klein's other books you can visit her website.

What inspired you to write a novel for young adults about the Lost Colony of Roanoke?

I was in a bookstore and saw a book about the Roanoke voyages and thought, “I know nothing about this chapter of American history.” So I read the book and thought, “Wow, there’s a great story here.” When I told people about the topic, they would get excited and ask me, “What happened to those colonists?” I said I didn’t exactly know. Which really motivated me to write about it until I had an answer.

The settings of Elizabethan England, the sea journey, and Roanoke really come alive, along with the real historical people featured in the story. What kind of research did you do to bring the place, time, and people to life? Did you visit any of the locations featured in the book?

I read everything I could find about the Roanoke voyages—the primary accounts as well as what scholars have written about what probably happened. I read biographies of Queen Elizabeth and Walter Ralegh. I went to Roanoke Island, the Outer Banks and Manteo , North Carolina , and historic Jamestown , where you can see reconstructed ships and forts and houses of the time. I also relied on what I knew about the Elizabethan period from my years of teaching Shakespeare.

What do you hope readers will learn from Cate’s story?

I didn’t write to teach my readers anything at all. I hope they will enjoy Cate’s story and through her, live the past vicariously, as I did while writing. In the process, it’s great if they happen to learn something they didn’t know before. But it’s not required. And there will not be a test!

Your historical novels are set in some very different places & times. If you could go back in time for a day (with guaranteed safety!) what place and time would you like to visit?

Thanks for the promise of guaranteed safety. That opens up my options a lot. I could go to medieval Europe during the plague, or the Gettysburg battlefield. But I’d probably choose London during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Can’t I stay longer than just one day?

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

I just can’t answer this, because I have so many, and I always feel like I’m being unfair by singling out some and not others. I love any book that tells a good story (fictional or not) in an engaging way.

Can you tell us anything about your next book?

A little. I’m not too far along, but I will say that it is Shakespeare-themed, but more of a romantic comedy, with young Will himself as a character who shares the stage with a cross-dressing heroine.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I love, love, love writing books for you to read! There’s no job I’d rather have than this one.

House of Dead Maids blog tour - interview with Clare B. Dunke & giveaway

I am very excited to include this interview with Clare B. Dunkle on my blog as part of the blog tour for her new novel, The House of Dead Maids. You can read my review of the book, which I really enjoyed, in a separate post. To learn more about Clare B. Dunkle and The House of Dead Maids, and to see a list of the other blog tour stops, you can visit her website for the book.

What inspired you to write a prequel to Wuthering Heights for young adults?

My mother wrote her master’s thesis about Heathcliff, so I grew up immersed in Brontë lore. Wuthering Heights has been important to me since childhood. After I finished The Hollow Kingdom, my editor suggested that I write a tie-in to one of the Brontë classics, but at the time, the idea didn’t appeal to me because I was busy playing with my goblins.
Then, in the summer of 2005, my family life took a horrible turn. Out of the blue, my older daughter began a precipitous slide into serious mental illness. I sat by her bedside after a drug overdose. I sat by her on the plane as we flew to a mental institution in London. And all the happy stories in my head fizzled and went flat.
But Wuthering Heights is made of stronger stuff. It was still standing in the background of my mind. I had stopped returning my friends’ calls, but I was glad to sit down with books about the Brontës and renew my acquaintance with them. I knew that they would have understood what I was going through because they had struggled with brother Branwell’s devastating decline into addiction and early death.
Then I proceeded to pour all my darkness, bitterness, and helplessness over my daughter’s condition into The House of Dead Maids.
Does it show?

The historical setting as well as Tabby’s voice are really authentic - what kind of research did you do to bring the place and time of the story to life?

The research took longer than the writing, and I don’t think I could have done it if I hadn’t been living in Europe. By that time, we were used to seeing old things and living with old traditions, and we had already taken several trips across the United Kingdom. We visited Yorkshire, of course, as soon as I knew I would be writing the book, and you can see my photographs from that research trip here: http://www.claredunkle.com/Design/maidsphotoindex.htm.
To prepare for writing the manuscript, I read books on all kinds of subjects: the weather in Yorkshire, the history of Yorkshire, English superstitions, paganism in the British Isles, Juliet Barker’s monolithic biography of the Brontës, and a number of different works of literary criticism of Wuthering Heights, to name a few that I remember. The research went on for months. But my werewolf book, By These Ten Bones, had also been as accurate to a time and place as I could possibly make it, so I had learned quite a bit already about what to look up and what to remember and how to flesh out a scene from the dusty bones of scholarly research.
It’s all a matter of picturing everything in its proper place in your head, whether it’s a scrap of 18th century cloth or a shelf of pewter dishes. It has to be in there before you sit down to write. Then it’ll look as it should when your character chooses to walk by it and give it a few seconds of attention.

Tabby’s narrative sounds very 18th century - how hard was it, as a modern day American, to write in this style?

It was a tussle! To prepare for it, I read nothing for weeks but Brontë novels, and I read Wuthering Heights over and over. I chose to focus on these books rather than include other Victorian literature because I had noticed how unique the Brontës sounded. Emily’s vocabulary and sentence structure in particular are direct and spare, not at all like the prose of some of the other authors of her day.
As I began to write, Tabby’s voice began to take over my brain, and by Chapter Three, she had definitely developed her own way of telling a story. This interested me and also frustrated me a little because her style isn’t as much like Nelly Dean’s (Emily Brontë’s narrator) as I would have liked. I think it’s closer to Jane Eyre’s. I tried to intervene, but Tabby wouldn’t be thwarted. She went right on telling things in her own way.
I’ve had characters turn on me before: my characters always have minds of their own, and I’ve had them flat-out refuse to do what I’d hoped they would. But up to this point, I had at least had control over my own narration. It was a little humiliating to have to take dictation from my own made-up creature!

Besides Wuthering Heights, of course, what are some of your own favorite books and authors?

The Prydain series will always be first on any list of mine. Those books changed my life. And The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope, and The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. Le Guin, will always mean a lot to me. But my favorite books lately have been by Shirley Jackson. They’ve assumed an importance that has surprised me.
My family loves, rereads, and generally treats Shirley Jackson’s book Life Among the Savages as a family pet, but I knew little else about her when I wrote The House of Dead Maids. Still, I knew that someone was bound to bring up “The Lottery” in connection with my book, and I thought I should be prepared, so I embarked on a tour of her works.
She’s stunning. Shirley Jackson is stunning! The little edge of “eerie” she puts on everything can make you so paranoid that you’ll end up afraid to walk down your own street in broad daylight (which, in fact, happened to Shirley Jackson herself). If I could have written We Have Always Lived in the Castle, I could die happy. “Louisa, Please Come Home” leaves me speechless every time. And there are scenes from The Sundial that have seeped into my bones. It’s as if they were part of me when I was born.

Can you tell us anything about your next book?

My younger daughter Elena and I cowrote a devastating memoir about her battle with anorexia. (Didn’t I say that these last few years have been rough?!) We’re working with an editor on it right now, but it isn’t sold yet. It needs revision. And I’m starting to play around with water folklore and superstition, trying to create something lovely and disturbing. We’ll see what happens with that.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I should probably mention that both of my daughters are now grown up, well, and happy, and that they’re busy living their lives. They stay in close touch with me, and I’m blessed to have children who bring so much love and laughter into my life. But the scars are still there. Some days I wonder if I will ever again be able to write as a book as carefree as The Hollow Kingdom.

Special Brontë-themed giveaway!

One Grand Prize winner will receive The House of Dead Maids, a gorgeous Brontë sisters pocket mirror, and the HarperTeen edition of Wuthering Heights! Two lucky runners-up will receive the two books. To enter, send an email to DeadMaidsBook@gmail.com with your name, email address, and shipping address (if you're under 13, submit a parent's name and email address). One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on October 31. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on November 1 and notified via email.

Interview with Kirby Larson, author of Dear America: The Fences Between Us

I am very excited to post this interview with Kirby Larson, the author of The Fences Between Us, which is the first new Dear America book in several years. The Dear America series was my favorite series when I was younger and the main reason I love historical fiction so much, so I was so excited to have the opportunity to interview the author of the newest book in the series. The Fences Between Us will be published by Scholastic on September 1.

About The Fences Between Us: Thirteen-year-old Piper Davis records in her diary her experiences beginning in December 1941 when her brother joins the Navy, the United States goes to war, she attempts to document her life through photography, and her father--the pastor for a Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle--follows his congregants to an Idaho internment camp, taking her along with him.

The Fences Between Us is the first new Dear America book in years. How did you become involved in writing for the series?

The editor, Lisa Sandell, approached my agent wondering if I'd be interested. One of the topics she was looking for was a World War II story and coincidentally, I felt I had a story that would be a good match for the series. In addition, I felt completely honored to be asked!

Piper's story is based on the life of a real minister and his family who followed his congregration to the Minidoka incarceration camp. How did you learn about this story, and what inspired you to turn it into a novel for young readers?

After thinking I didn't like history at all, writing Hattie Big Sky got me absolutely hooked on the genre. I feel like a real detective as I scour and hunt for facts and details. I had been doing some research about World War II and the Japanese incarceration camps, with the idea that it would be part of another book I was working on. That didn't jell, but I had discovered Pastor Emery Andrews' story -- about moving his family from Seattle to Twin Falls so he could continue to serve his congregation after they were "relocated" to Minidoka -- and really wanted to find a way to tell it in a book for kids. Scholastic's invitation to write for Dear America came at the perfect time! Though I admired Pastor Andrews' courage tremendously, I Iearned that his choices were tough on his family. I thought back to myself as a 12 or 13-year-old, and could easily imagine how upset I would've been to be uprooted from my home and friends. I find many of my stories start with such a what-if question: What if I had been Pastor Andrews' daughter?

What kind of research did you do about the Japanese incarceration and about life during World War II?

It might be easier to talk about the kind of research I didn't do! I read dozens of books on the topic, of course, going over bibliographies with a magnifying glass (sometimes literally!) to make sure I didn't miss any juicy leads. The Densho Project (densho.org) has a fabulous archive of videotaped interviews with incarcerees, as well as other historical information. I spent many hours in the special collections at the University of Washington and the Seattle Public Libraries. The internet makes it so much easier to access information as well; not only is there a wealth of material now online from the Library of Congress, I also discovered sites such as the one devoted to sailors who had served on the USS Enterprise. Finally, I interviewed people connected with the story, including Pastor Andrews' son, Brooks.

How does writing a novel in diary form compare to writing a regular novel?

This was something I really struggled with. My poor editor patiently tried to get me to understand that the book needed to suggest a diary, not literally be one. My first drafts were as holey as an old pair of socks because I was trying too hard to write as if I were a 13-year-old keeping a diary. It finally clicked with me that I needed to fill in more of the blanks for my typical reader who would not have as firm a grasp on World War II history as I did. So entries are more detailed than they would be in a real diary; the trick was to keep them from sounding like excerpts from a history text! I kept Karen Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy, close at hand to study how she revealed historical details and information through Birdy's diary entries. I must say, however, once I found Piper's voice, the writing went much more smoothly.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

Never force a bookworm to name favorite books!!! That being said, I never miss a Karen Cushman title (though I confess that Matilda Bone is my favorite of hers). Other novelists I tremendously admire include Frances O'Roark Dowell, Barbara O'Connor, Dave Patneaude, Karen Hesse, Kate DiCamillo, Trenton Lee Stewart, M.T. Anderson (not the Octavian Nothing books), Ingrid Law, Cynthia Lord, Susan Patron, Jennifer Holm, among others. Picture book authors I read and study include Marie Louise Gay, Ann Whitford Paul, Helen Ketteman, Laura Kvasnosky, Mary Nethery, Bonny Becker and Kathryn Galbraith. Of course, I am leaving tons of favorites out!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I am very grateful to Scholastic for allowing me to tell Piper's story. It's not "sexy" like one set in the war zone of Pearl Harbor or concentration camps of Europe might be, but it is so important because that episode in our past -- our shameful treatment of fellow Americans -- doesn't simply reveal to us our failings as human beings, it also provides inspiration for overcoming those flaws. I hope Piper's story encourages my readers to learn more about this moment in American history.

Interview with Susan Coventry, author of The Queen's Daughter

Susan Coventry is the author of The Queen's Daughter, a young adult historical novel about the life of Joan, the youngest daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her second husband, Henry II, King of England. The book is set during the Middle Ages, one of my favorite historical time periods, so I am especially excited to feature this interview! And if you would like to learn more about Susan Coventry and The Queen's Daughter you can visit her website.

What inspired you to write a novel about Joan? Her parents are quite famous, but it seems not much has been written about Joan herself.

I wanted to write about Joan because not much has been written about her. I discovered her in a roundabout way- through her husband Raymond, not through her parents, and was kind-of taken aback. I knew the story of Eleanor and Henry and the rebellious sons. How had I never heard of the daughters?!! I started researching Joan and was amazed by the rich life she must have led. She traveled as much as her mother. She was also married to a king. She nearly married a Saracen! At the same time, I thought: imagine having Eleanor of Aquitaine as a mother. It was difficult enough for the sons, but try being a daughter living up to Eleanor’s expectations. And after all that, she suffers the indignity of being all but forgotten by posterity. It didn’t seem fair. I wanted to tell Joan’s side.

Why did you decide to tell her story as a novel for young adults?

I didn’t actually set out to write a story for young adults, but just to tell Joan’s story. The book is influenced by her age and her voice, and my writing is probably influenced by novels I was reading as I wrote. I read a lot with my own kids, and they’re teens now. In fact, I’m not really sure that if I had sat down and said "I’m going to write a YA book" I could have done it that way.

The Queen's Daughter is a novel that is really rich in historical detail. What kind of research did you do?

I wish I could say I traveled to all the places Joan lived, but I only visited Toulouse/southern France. The bulk of my research was more mundane. I read everything I could find. I made a lot of use of the public library and the university library to scour any medieval sources for references to Joan or her husbands. I borrowed and bought a lot of books. There is more information available on-line now than there was when I started writing the book, but I did use the internet too. Not everything on-line is reliable, but then again, some of the books also contradict each other. There was a lot going on in Joan’s world at the time, so there was plenty of information to absorb. The frustrating thing was how little reference was ever made to Joan.

The Middle Ages is an era that is often highly romanticized but in reality was very different, particularly for women. Were you surprised by what you learned about the lives of Medieval women?

I wasn’t so much surprised as I was impressed by the strength and resilience of these women. Their lives were very physically difficult and in a lot of ways dangerous. Their lifespans (excluding the remarkable Eleanor) were short. Women had so little voice and left so little record. One of Raymond’s wives, for example, was the daughter of an emperor, and her name was never even recorded. (In my book, I called her Theodora.) And yet, of course women played crucial roles– it’s just most of the time they weren’t given credit for what they did except for giving birth. They must have wielded influence in subtle ways. Love is not a modern concept and it is a powerful force. I’m not saying they used love to be manipulative, but I imagine they influenced the men in their lives. Medieval women’s lives were very different from ours but I can’t help thinking that at a basic level, we are very much the same.

If you could go back in time for a day (with guaranteed safety!), what place and time would you visit?

I would visit Southern France just before the crusades against the Cathars-- the early thirteenth century. It was supposed to have been a mini-Renaissance, a time when troubadours flourished and Count Raymond VI tried to maintain a semblance of peace and stability in Occitania. (Maybe I have a romanticized view!) The ruins of some the old castles are still there. It’s a great place to go and imagine the Middle Ages.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

Historical fiction is my passion. I love everything I’ve read by Cecelia Holland, particularly Great Maria. I’m also a fan of Colleen McCullough and Sharon Kay Penman’s meatier historicals and of the Lymond chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett.

In the children’s/young adult realm, I really enjoyed What I Saw and How I Lied. I’ve been a fan of Judy Blundell/Jude Watson since reading her various Star War series with my son. I’ve reread The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander with both my kids, and Watership Down will always be one of my favorites. Gerald Morris’s Squire’s Tales books are also at the top of my list.

When you are not writing, how do you enjoy spending your time?

I love to read, but with a largely sedentary day-job and all the sitting required while I’m writing, what makes me happiest is getting outside and away from home with my kids. It has to be away from all the distractions of home so that we can really focus on family time. I love camping and hiking. My daughter likes the challenge of climbing things-- rock-climbing, tree-climbing. And my son likes canoeing. My husband is in charge of making it all work out!

Interview with Janet Fox, author of Faithful

I am very happy to share with my readers my interview with Janet Fox, author of Faithful, which was published on May 13. Faithful is a young adult historical novel set in the early 1900s in Yellowstone.

About Faithful:

In 1904 Margaret Bennet has it all – money, position, and an elegant family home in Newport, Rhode Island. But just as she is to enter society, her mother ruins everything, first with public displays, and finally by disappearing. Maggie’s confusion and loss are compounded when her father drags her to Yellowstone National Park, where he informs her that they will remain. At first Maggie’s only desire is to return to Newport. But the mystical beauty of the Yellowstone landscape, and the presence of young Tom Rowland, a boy unlike the others she has known, conspire to change Maggie from a spoiled girl willing to be constrained by society to a free-thinking and brave young woman living in a romantic landscape at the threshold of a new century.

Faithful has a rather unique setting for a young adult historical novel. What inspired you to tell this story, and in this place and time?

My family has a cabin in the mountains of Montana and we’d visited Yellowstone a number of times; I’d always thought it would make a fantastic setting for a novel. I had just started writing for children, and was on a search for new ideas. On a hike near the cabin one morning, I said to my husband – who is my first reader – “what if I told a story about a girl in historical times who visited Yellowstone?” And the germ of the idea was born. This was not long after I’d lost my own mom; so I wanted to tell a story about a relationship between a mother and daughter. Once I began writing and researching and learned that the Old Faithful Inn was opened in June 1904, I decided that that time period and place had much to offer: the birth of a new century, women’s rights, a spectacular hotel in a spectacular setting. It all fit together perfectly.

What kind of research did you do for the novel?

Quite a bit. I visited every museum I could in the region. I spent time in the Park gathering information – the rangers were wonderful resources, and there are lectures almost every night. There’s also a new Research Center in Gardiner, and the curators allowed me access to some of the archival material (I was able to read the log book from the Superintendent in 1904, for example.) But the internet, too, is a treasure. You just have to be picky and careful and make sure that the information you gather there can be documented.

What do you hope readers will learn from Maggie's story?

Maggie learns to discover who she is by accepting who she is – and who her mother was. For teens, that’s at the heart of finding yourself, of becoming comfortable in your own skin: you have to accept yourself. And Maggie faced hurdles that girls today don’t have to deal with – enforced marriage, corsets, expectations of behavior. I hope readers realize how lucky we all are not to have those constraints; but also I hope they realize that being different is okay. You don’t have to conform to others’ expectations.

Were any of the characters in Faithful inspired by real people?

Not really. Well, maybe Kitty. I had a girlfriend in high school who snaked my boyfriend. I wonder if she’ll know who she is…

If you could go back in time for a day and be guaranteed safety, what place and time would you like to visit?

I’d love to see my mom again…but if it was an historical time, I think I’d like to see life in Elizabethan England. Just for a day. I’d love to walk around in London and see and hear and smell (well, maybe not smell) the city. I’d especially love to examine the clothing as worn by the upper classes. I bet the clothes of the upper classes were gorgeous.

What will your next book be?

My next book is FORGIVEN, due out in June 2011. It’s set in 1906 in San Francisco, at the time of the great earthquake and fires. And the novel follows a secondary character from FAITHFUL, but if I tell which character, I might give away some secrets.

When you aren't writing, what hobbies do you enjoy?

I love to garden. I’ve grown everything from vegetables to flowers. We’ve been living in Texas for 15 years and that’s been something of a challenge: I’ve learned all about xeriscape and desert plants. I’m looking forward to our next chapter, when we move back north – we want to live in Montana year round – and I can grow real northern flowers again. Oh – I also love to hike. Hiking clears my mind of all the debris and allows me space to imagine.

What is your favorite book/author?

I would have to admit Jane Austin is my favorite, and it’s a toss-up between Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Sure! Please come visit me on my blog, http://www.kidswriterjfox.blogspot.com/