When the Answer is Not No.

Anyone who tries to write for publication, unless they have either extraordinary talent, or amazing good luck, has to get used to the response to any petition for publication to be No.

No is sometimes said regretfully.

No is sometimes said impersonally.

No is sometimes indicated by silence.

No is a regular part of a writer's life, even though it is seldom heard without a bit of a pang, we, as writers, know it isn't a reflection on our self-worth (or so we repeatedly remind ourselves) and we move on.

But there are the times the answer is not no.

The first time I got an answer other than No was back in 2008 when The Wild Rose Press accepted When Mike Kissed Emma for publication. I had to read the email several times before it really sunk in that the answer wasn't No. 

After the fact that it wasn't No sank in I pretty much wandered around in a daze for a while. I was so used to No, I wasn't quite sure how to react to something that wasn't no. Obviously I happily took their "not no" and ran with it and in 2009 my first book was published.

There are always more "No's" though. Lots more.

It took two more years before I had another "Not No" in my inbox.

I had pretty much as hard a time believing it that time as the first.

Reality Ali was published by Zumaya Publications and that led to three more books in the series. And it was all good.

But there was one place where the answer kept coming back as a consistent "no" and that was in my attempt to find an agent to represent me.

Then last Monday happened, and an agent who had requested a full manuscript of my latest work, sent me an email. I almost didn't want to open it, assuming it would be another no. I wasn't in the mood for another no just then. But I opened it and boy was I surprised.

It wasn't no.

It wasn't yes, not yet. He wanted to talk to me. But, the important thing is that it wasn't no.

We spoke the next day and he offered me representation.

And I didn't say no.

So, I can officially, very happily announce, that I am now represented by Steven Chudney of The Chudney Agency.

Blogging at YA Authors You've Never Heard Of today.

Today I have a post up at YA Authors You've Never Heard Of. I'm talking about the release of my latest book. Head on over.

Blogging Today over at YA Authors You've Never Heard Of

Talking about reusing old characters in new stories over at YA Authors You've Never Heard Of. Go there o check it out!

Friday the Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day! Happy Friday! Whatever makes you happy I wish it to you. That should cover everyone.

So, let's see how about four things for the Fourth of July.

1) Our nation is 238 years old. Well, the Declaration of Independence was signed 238 years ago. A few things had to happen before we were a cohesive nation with laws and such... like winning a war and writing and ratifying a constitution, but those are just details. Today we celebrate our nation's birthday. I remember the bicentennial. I was in fourth grade and everything was centered around Colonial times. We even learned the Virginia Reel in gym class. Good times, those.

2) Hurricane Arthur is making it's way up the coast. Where we are, we shouldn't feel too much impact - some rain and wind today and that is it, but further south of us may be in for a wild ride. As you celebrate your holiday, remember the people who are dealing with the impact of the storm. And if you are somewhere with perfect summer weather today - enjoy and know that I am jealous of you.

3) For a literary take, one of my favorite novels about the Revolutionary War is Liberty Tavern by Thomas Fleming. The best I can tell it's been reissued as a e-book under the name The Heart of Liberty. It deals with the complicated truth that not everyone living here (specifically New Jersey) was all gung ho for liberty from Britain. Some people liked the way things were just fine and the war divided families and neighborhoods. It's important to remember, when things today seem divided, that even times in the past when it looks like everyone agreed - not everyone did (history is written by the winners, after all).

4) On a personal note I started running this week. I'm using the Couch to 5K plan. Not that I'm planning on running a 5K, but I do couch all too well, and need to get in shape. I've run three times so far this week. Yesterday, with 95% humidity and shin splints, I took a rest. Today may be another rest day, since the weather is fairly unsettled right now. I figure if I tell people, it will help keep me accountable.

Have a great Independence Day everyone!

Friday Five

I see a lot of people do this - a quick five things on a Friday.

Let's see what I can come up with.

1) Busily working on revisions that are morphing into a rewrite for Always, Ali the fourth Ali book.

2) It's summer vacation, which means that as a family we are pretty much as busy as during the school year - except the weather is nicer and we can hang out in our secret garden, which maybe isn't so much of a secret, but is a nice little garden.

3) I've been re-reading some old books on my Nook. I love finding digitized copies of public domain works. I've discovered some great unknown (to me) stories this way and read some classics. Including Les Miserables, which pretty every body knows about and Queed, which no one remembers anymore.

4) It's harder than I thought to come up with five things.

5) Okay, that was cheating, I admit it. In reference to number one, I find it more difficult to get into a writing routine when the kids are not in school, but at least, as the week is drawing to a close, I seem to be making some progress, which is good. In the meantime, it seems that all the bookish people I know are headed to Las Vegas this weekend for ALA. I'm not. So, I have no excuse not to continue revising.

Happy Summer.

World Travel in Books

When I was in high school my friend and I used to make plans to backpack through Europe when we graduated. I think pretty much everyone made these kind of plans. The closest we got to doing that was a few years after we were out of college we spent a week in Belgium and Holland, armed with only carry-on luggage.

My daughter is in high school now and she and her friends are making similar plans. They have the added bonus of a German exchange student/best friend who is heading home and who they want to visit.

It seems to be the perennial dream of young people to travel and to see the world.

And the dream is nothing new.

There are three books I've read in the past year or so that deal with teens/young adults traveling to Europe. The thing is that these books are all written or set in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

The oldest one is What Katy did Next, it is the sequel to What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge (pen name for Sarah Chauncey Woolsey) it was written in 1886 and in the story our young heroine, Katy, gets taken on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe by some friends. (This cover appears to set the story in the wrong time period)

The next book is Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad written and set in 1906. It is by Edith Van Dyne (pen name for Frank L. Baum). This is part of the Aunt Jane's Niece's series, a popular series for high school girls at the turn of the century, putting the lie to the idea that books written for teens is somehow a new phenomenon. In this book Aunt Jane's nieces, three girls between the ages of 15 and 17, are brought to Europe by a rich uncle who wants to give them great experiences. They have them, including witnessing the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

The third book is Betsy and the Great World, part of the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. This book was written in 1952 and set in 1914. In this book, Betsy decides not to finish college but to travel around Europe in order to get the experience she needs to be a writer. She has to make a hasty trip home when, after several months, war is declared.

I love each of these books individually. Together they present an interesting look at travel before the age of airplanes. Although the three European trips take place over a period of about 30 years, they are all much more like each other than they would be to any modern trip to Europe.

First of all, they all travel by steamer. Of course. You did not fly to Europe, you took a boat. And the boat was a large part of the voyage. These were not today's cruise ships. Instead of lavish buffets and nightly shows we hear about deck chairs and porters and quiet evenings looking at the sky and immense sea. Getting to Europe was as much a part of the adventure as being there, when you traveled by ship.

The other huge difference was that in each of these cases the trips were expected to take a substantial amount of time. If it takes nearly a week to get someplace, you don't turn around and come home a week later. In What Katy Did Next, she expected to be gone close to a year, but came home sooner. The same was true for Betsy in Betsy and the Great World. Aunt Jane's nieces seemed to have a shorter trip planned, not meaning to be away for more than a couple of months.

I traveled overseas while in high school, spending a summer month with relatives in Germany. I did not travel far from my cousin's house near the alps, but still got to see some of Austria as well as several famous landmarks in Germany. It was a fantastic experience, even if it doesn't come close to nearly a year traveling between different countries. (The picture was taken in Austria by the Bodensee or Lake Constance)

My daughter's school is sponsoring a trip for next year's graduating seniors to go to Europe. It's well-planned and expensive. The trip lasts a nine days and the students will see the best of London, Paris and Rome. About two and a half days per city. They catch all the high lights I'm sure, but she's going to save up instead for the aforementioned trip to see her friend, and travel around Europe with her.

Three cities in nine days, is a pretty quick way to get a taste of Europe, and many people don't expect much more from that from a trip to Europe. The romance of a trip to Europe is lost that way though, the chance to really see a place, to soak in it's atmosphere, can't happen as you bustle from tourist site to tourist site. I don't imagine that the average person got to travel to Europe at the turn of the last century and spend most of a year there, even a hundred years ago most people couldn't afford either the money or the time.

But people could read about it, then and now. I love the insight into overseas travel these three books, especially when read together, give to the subject.

So, this is my writing blog. What does all this have to do with writing? Only that the experiences we have can always be fodder for stories, and that so much can be learned by reading, even reading hundred-year-old "children's" books.

Writing Process Blog Tour

It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything on this blog and when Barb at Franciscan Mom asked if she could tag me in the Writing Process Blog tour I figured it was as good a time as any to jump back in.

What am I working on?

I actually have several projects going right now. I’m waiting for page proofs for the third book in my Ali Caldwell series, Honestly, Ali. Ali is a character I’ve had a lot of fun working with and I have one more book to go in the series. That’s one of my other projects, I am in the middle of revising book four, in the series, tentatively titled Always Ali. This spring I also finished two rough drafts of completely new books, one has to do with bullies and how things are not always as they seem and the other is something completely different, and I’ll keep the details on that one secret for now.

How does my work differ from others of its genre.

That’s a hard question. My YA books have no vampires. It’s easy to say I’m not like this person or that person in my writing, but there are other people out there who write sweet stories that don’t spend a lot of time dwelling in the dark places. That’s what I write. Scary things happen, but the stories overall have a lighter feel than some contemporary YA.

Why do I Write What I Write?

Because I enjoy it. It’s simple really. I feel comfortable with the kinds of stories I write, and when I have teens tell me that they’ve read WHEN MIKE KISSED EMMA multiple times and it’s their favorite book, then I figure I’m doing something right.

How does my writing process work?

When I start a story I like to have some idea where I’m going with it, but I don’t do a detailed outline. Instead I do a fast rough draft, knowing that I will be filling in details later. Then once I’ve gotten to the end, I let the story sit for awhile before moving on to revisions. Often I’ll read it through first to see what I actually am working with and then figure out which aspects could be cut and which need to be expanded on. And then I revise. Often several times. In between revisions I send the story to my critique partners and beta readers in order to get some feedback other than my own. Eventually I have a story that I’m willing to set free in the world.

The next step in this process is that I’m supposed to tag three people. The people I asked to do it, never said yes or no to me and I don’t want to ambush anyone with the responsibility. So, is you want to participate, just answer these same questions yourself next week, leaving me a comment so I know about it and if the people I originally ask get back to me, I’ll add them in here.