New Greta sketch

Still working away on my new project, now titled A Photo for Greta. You can see some of the other sketches here, here, and here.

2010 Acquisitions so far...

This year I thought I'd start posting the acquisitions I've made once they've been announced in Publisher's Marketplace. Last week I had two big acquisitions announced. The first is something that I've been working with the author on since early Fall:

THE ASTONISHING ADVENTURES OF FANBOY AND GOTH GIRL and BOY TOY author Barry Lyga's I HUNT KILLERS, a dark thriller described as DEXTER meets THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS for teens, about a teen boy who uses his killer instinct, inherited from his serial killer father, to help solve a series of gruesome murders, to Alvina Ling at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in a two-book deal, for Spring 2012 publication, by Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management. (World)

See Barry's announcement here.

I'm a huge fan of the TV Show Dexter (not the children's show Dexter's Laboratory, but the show on Showtime about a serial killer. Yes, a serial killer. For years now I've been telling agents that I'd be interested in publishing a "Dexter for teens" and have been met with doubt (really? Could you publish that? How would that work?) or intrigue (Hmmm. That would be interesting.), but either way, it never led to any submissions. I was having drinks with Barry last year--we had been interested in working with one another for a while, and I mentioned the idea to him. He shrugged it off and didn't seem interested. But later inspiration hit, he sent in a proposal, and I loved it. I'm particularly happy with this acquisition, because I'm fascinated by serial killers (who isn't?), am finally getting my "Dexter for teens", Barry Lyga is the absolute perfect author to write this (he deals with tough issues in such a sensitive, thoughtful way), and I finally get to work with Barry! Win-win-win-win.

My second acquisitions also happens to be, like Barry, a GEEKTASTIC: Stories from the Nerd Herd contributor:

Libba Bray, hot off her Printz win for Going Bovine, has landed a major book deal at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Bray's agent-husband, Barry Goldblatt, sold North American rights, in an auction featuring six houses, to a new YA series called The Diviners to LBBYR senior v-p and publisher Megan Tingley, deputy publisher Andrew Smith, and senior editor Alvina Ling. Ling is set to edit the planned four-book series, which will bow in hardcover in fall 2012...

In The Diviners, a supernatural fantasy series set in Manhattan during the 1920s, Bray follows a teen heroine she says is reminiscent of two of the era's most famous literary women—Zelda Fitzgerald and Dorothy Parker. Bray, who admitted to having always been fascinated by the Jazz Age, said she's looking forward "to offering readers a wild new ride full of dames and dapper dons, jazz babies and Prohibition-defying parties, conspiracy and prophecy—and all manner of things that go bump in the neon-drenched night.”

Read more of the announcement here.

As the announcement says, this acquisition was won in a big auction, which is always nerve wracking. The morning we were supposed to find out the results of the auction, I found myself constantly checking the phone. "I feel like I'm a girl waiting for a boy to call," I told my coworkers. And indeed, I was. When the good news finally came, I was on the street with coworkers heading to an all-company, off-site meeting. As soon as I got on my cellphone, all of my coworkers stopped to see/hear my reaction--they were invested in the outcome too. As soon as the agent said, "Congratulations..." I jumped up and down and screamed, and my coworkers screamed and applauded, too. Very fun.

I'm so excited and honored to be working with both Barry Lyga and Libba Bray, two authors I've admired for a long time. So stay tuned for more news--the former should be out in Spring 2012, the latter in Fall 2012. And it's fun to think of the similarities:
1) Both projects feature a serial killer.
2) Libba and Barry inversely share the same initials: L and B. Just like "Little, Brown"!
3) They both live in Brooklyn.
4) And, as I mentioned, they both wrote short stories for GEEKTASTIC.

So, just for fun, because we're all geeks here, I thought I'd give away two copies of GEEKTASTIC to the first two commentors who answer the following question correctly:

What were the names of my D&D characters as a child?

(and yes, the answer can be found somewhere on this blog...)

POETRY FRIDAY: Back Then by Trish Crapo

I love this poem about childhood and innocence.

Back Then
by Trish Crapo

Out in the yard, my sister and I
tore thread from century plants
to braid into bracelets, ate
chalky green bananas,
threw coconuts onto the sidewalk
to crack their hard, hairy skulls.

The world had begun to happen,
but not time. We would live
forever, sunburnt and pricker-stuck,
our promises written in blood.

You can read the rest of the poem here.

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At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original fairy tale poem about Red Riding hood written in the form of a rhyming Q&A.

Mary Ann has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Great Kids Books.

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half full of half empty?

I'm sure you can guess what kind of person I am. I was flipping through the book THE SECRET at work the other day. Anyone heard of it? It was Oprah's big book of the year. That book pisses me off. I won't go into a big tirade but yes, the positive thinking part is good but it doesn't say that you need to do anything else like work hard to make things happen! It also blames sick people for their negative thinking. I guess it's my fault that I'm sic then isn't it? Anyway, what was my point? Ah, yes. Glass half full or half empty. I don't want you all to think that I'm a negative whiney you-know-what all the time because I'm not. I just want people to know what it's really like for authors like me. There are so many out there who are putting on a facade. I could do that too, you know! Here we go.

You meet me for the first time. Let's say you bump into me at BN.

You say: "Oh wow, you're a children's book author?"

"Yes, I am! I've published 9 books and my 10th is coming out this spring! If you buy a copy I'll sign it for you! I'll even personalize it!" (This is what authors usually do).

Then some of them even go further:

"Are your books good for boys or girls?"

"Both! boys and girls love my books. I have won the IRA Children's Choice Award several times. My books have won dozens of other awards including best nonfiction book of the year, ALA best book of the year, and so on. Here, let me sign some books for you!"

So I could do that. I could tell you that everything is great, great, great. I am an award winner. I have spoken to hundreds of school children across the country. Heck, kids have even asked for me to sign their foreheads! I have seen these authors first-hand when they come into the kids' dept. in the bookstore. They act like they're oh-so-special. "Where are my books" they demand. "Why aren't they on display!" It's funny how authors don't even know how the system works! You'd think that they're earning a million dollars and their limo is waiting for them outside. BUT I've spoken to them. It's usually their first book.. they're nervous... they got a low advance... they've got kids to support... and so on. But the face that they display to everyone is not that face.

So if I'm the only one to show you all what it's really like then so be it! I'll take on that challenge.

meghan

Now it's official

Spirit of the Tiger!

PaperTigers has announced an exciting and important new project, Spirit of PaperTigers! This project aims to put a selected set of multicultural books into the hands of children in areas of need in different parts of the world.

This is a wonderful initiative! 100 specially chosen book sets are donated to schools and libraries in need. I am incredible proud that Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has been chosen as part of 2010 book set. PaperTigers is such an amazing organization, with the goal of raising awareness "of our common humanity and to contribute to fuller human community" everyday. Wow. I am honored and humbled that my work is a part of that!

thank goodness for royalty checks!

Hello folks. So, I finally got my W2s back. For 2009 (I don't know if any of you had noticed) I had NO books out. I remember freaking out when I knew this would happen--there were a few reasons--I was sick, I had an editor out with a baby, and so on. I also remember being assured that it wouldn't matter because I'd sell other stuff during that year that would make up for it (didn't happen). So what did this leave me with? One part of a book advance for my book coming out in 2010. ONE PART. THAT'S IT. And trust me, it's not that much money at all. We're talking just a bit over 10,000. Can I possibly live off of that for a year??? Heck no!

So for one thing, I'm sick of people asking me why I need a part time job. This is why. I need a back up when stuff like this happens. And, of course, I need the health insurance. People with autoimmune diseases can't get health insurance these days too easily without working for a large employer. I was having some hope in Obama but I'm thinking that it might not happen... but I'm getting really off track here. Anyway, my point is that ALIENS has sold quite well and some of my other books are starting to as well. You don't know how nice it is to get a surprise check in the mail when you're about to get another one of those zero APR credit cards to pay the rent with. My royalty checks weren't for that much money either but they were for just enough to get me through the rough parts. Hallelujah. (yes, I had to google this word because I'm a terrible speller. Two thumbs up for using google as a spell-check device!)

Still, I don't know how I manage. I really don't. I'm so SICK of being poor. You'd think by now that I wouldn't have to go through this.

Meghan

p.s - my part time job earns me under 10,000 a year. Go me!

Writing for other people, writing for me

Yesterday morning someone I'm writing a book with called at 7.15 to see what I'd done since we last talked. The answer was: nothing--there are reasons (I thought he was going to call me, for one) but I felt incredibly guilty. I ran downstairs (yes! I now have a DOWNSTAIRS), made tea, ran back up to my desk and started working.

I worked until it was all done, concentrating completely, not goofing off, and then emailed it off to him, 6 1/2 hours after he'd called me.

I NEVER do my own work this way. I dawdle and delay -- in a way, that makes sense; my agent has 4 unsold mss. of mine, feeling no one is ever going to read anything I write isn't completely irrational....but what if I approached my own work the way I approach freelance jobs? I'd finish my novel so fast!

So I:

1) sent myself a voicemail, asking me what I'd done since yesterday

2) turned this on when I started writing: silly-looking and sounding, but the state of mind I do want to be in --

3) and, if I start to dawdle, will listen to this

IT WORKS! It's probably like a diet, I'm determined to do it so all I need are the external reminders. What I'm determined to do is finish my novel, working, as Scotty says, "as fast as I can." (But do listen to that oily voice that prompts his comment.)

btw I am NOT a Star Trek fan: one of the kids I babysat for had the toy, and I thought it would make a great motivator: funny but serious. It does make me laugh, but it also makes me remember what I'm supposed to be, and want to be, doing.

SCBWI Annual Winter Conference 2010

This past weekend I spoke at the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York for the first time. I've participated multiple times in the Writer's Workshop the day before the conference, but never spoke at the big event, so was excited to see what it was all about. I was also curious to see how it would compare to the Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles.

So, how did it compare? Well, it was equally wonderful, inspiring, and well organized. The conference was kicked off Saturday morning a keynote speech by the incomparable Libba Bray, who certainly started things off on a humorous, touching, and inspiring note. I especially loved the story about her son: When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said, "I want to be a giraffe!" Wow. Me too. (okay, not really, I wanted to be a dolphin.) She declared this year the "Year of Writing Dangerously."

Then we broke off into workshops. I led one called "The Real Deal about Literary Novels" which I gave twice in the morning and once in the afternoon. I attempted to define "Literary Fiction," (in general, literary novels are more character focused, whereas commercial fiction is more plot focused--but really, it took almost the whole horror hour to just define it!), gave examples (Firegirl by Tony Abbott, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, North of Beatiful by Justina Chen Headley, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, etc.), read some gorgeous descriptions from the latter two novels, read some examples of literary "voice" (including the opening of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which most people recognized right away), and weaved in the different definitions of "literary fiction" that I gathered from my colleagues. One of my favorites compared literary fiction to eating a chocolate truffle: "a little goes a long way, you savor each bite slowly, enjoying the nuances of the different ingredients, the textures and how they work together, the coating, the presentation, etc.” I also read a passage from agent Nathan Bransford's very excellent post giving his definition quite clearly. Thanks, Nathan!

The lunchtime keynote was by Jacqueline Woodson. It was soothing, personal, and powerful. I could listen to her talk all day! I wonder if she reads her own audiobooks...

And the afternoon keynote was by Peter Sis. Peter Sis is one of my heroes. I absolutely love his art. I'd never heard him speak, and had never heard his story (except from reading his books), and wow. What a life.

And then it was over. At least for Saturday. I wasn't speaking on Sunday and needed to get some work work done, so stayed away. But I checked out the fabulous Official SCBWI Conference Blog to catch up on everything I missed. Great stuff. If you're a writer and need a kick in the pants of inspiration, I highly recommend attending an SCBWI conference.

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In case you're interested in learning about the Amazon.com versus Macmillan ebook kerfuffle that happened over the weekend, you can check out the most excellent summary and interpretation of the whole thing as it unfolded over at Scott Westerfeld's blog here. And read the NYTimes article here. This development, combined with the announcement of the new iPad (yes, I want one. But I'll wait), makes me more interested than ever to see how the ebook industry will develop.

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In other news...how is it possible that it's February already?!?! And, I dunno...I have a feeling that this month is going to go by faster than the other months. Just a hunch.