Q&Q Writer Series featuring Linda Granfield

I first met Linda Granfield through email when we were discussing the "Mash-up" planned for the launch of the Anthology,  Piece by Piece: Stories About Fitting Into Canada edited by Teresa Toten and published by Penguin. Her wit and humour won me over as we wondered just how this mash-up was going to mesh out. She was even more wonderful in person!

Linda loves writing historical non-fiction and she has a really cool website. She lives by the motto:
"Every Day Is Remembrance Day/Veterans Day." Linda is best known for her book: In Flanders Fields: The Story of The Poem by John Mccrae. The entire list of books can be found here.

And here's a peek at make Linda who she is... 

1) In one word, how would you describe your personality?

Curious
 

2) What is your deepest desire?

I want to see my now-adult children (2) remain healthy and happy.

3) Your greatest fear?

Snakes, even pictures of the real things.

4) Your favourite colour?

Blue

5) A song you can't help singing along with, every time you hear it?

Any Beatles or Dusty Springfield song.

6) A movie that made you cry?

Field of Dreams (every time!)

7) A book you have read more than five times? Or a book that influenced you the most?

"Little Women" made me want to be a writer.

8) From your own oeuvre: your favorite child?

No favourite child--but "In Flanders Fields: the Story of the Poem by John McCrae" changed my writing-life.

9) One thing you hate about being a writer?

The paper "mess"--from research, drafts, letters, edits. After recycling, I'm still running out of places to put it! And I can't write and file at the same time, so the paper piles grow.....and grow....

10) One thing no one knows about you (and now will)?

I collect "perfume cards" from the fragrance counters in stores. Well-designed, free, mini-art made of paper, wood, ribbon, silk, etc. I have nearly 500 different perfumes represented, from stores in a few countries. (See what I mean about "paper"!)

Thanks, Linda!

And the Final Day at SCBWI: Sunday, Jan 29, 2012

Having stayed up way past my bedtime the night before, I looked like a sleepy raccoon on Sunday morning. Thank God for the coffee and cake in the morning. The sugar rush helped as we headed back into the huge ballroom for some final doses of advice, panel discussions and information.

It started out with the announcement of the Tomie dePaola Awards and Art Showcase winners. All the entried were shown and they were beautiful. The judges must have had a tough choice.

Lin Oliver kept us laughing (and awake!) with entries from the Joke Contest: Pick a character from a children's book and create a campaign slogan for him/her/it. Here's one I remember: Captain Underpants - You can't get more transparent than this :)

Jane Yolen came on stage with a lovely announcement: she had started a grant to help midlist authors and had nominated a couple of writers already. It was heartwarming to hear of such a lovely gesture!

The illustrators were not left out in the cold and we had a chance to see the Bookmakers Dozen Panel comprising artists and illustrators in the Brooklyn area. This was moderated by Laurent Linn of Simon and Schuster. Amazing and talented panel which included: Selina Alko, Sophie Blackall, Peter Brown, Brian Floca, David Gordon, Brett Helquist, Aileen Leitjen, John Bemelmans Marciano, Sean Qualls, John Rocco, Sergio Ruzzier and Dan Yaccarino.

The last panel was about The Current Market for your Work: Four Agents' Views and comprised Ginger Knowlton (Curtis Brown), Regina Brooks (Serendipity Literary Agency), Chris Richman (Upstart Crow Literary) and Ken Wright (Writers House). A great discussion moderated by Lin Oliver.
The Good News: The market is still robust and there's always a place for a good story. But this is a "bestseller business" and the competition is fierce so your manuscript really has to stand out for it to get published.

What are they looking for?

• A great hook
• A classic story that is timeless rather than following a trend.
• Do not follow trends (they were all unanimous about this)
• Good, clean writing.
• Universally identifiable theme with a global reach.
• A twist on a known theme or an unusual POV. EG: A baseball story told from the POV of the Umpire.

And finally, a warm and inspiring talk from Katherine Erskine who told us to FOCUS on our work.

Finally it was time for the autograph party and goodbyes with promises to return. And I shall...soon.

Hope you enjoyed these posts. And hope to run into you someday, at a future conference. Ciao.

SCBWI Continued...

So, where were we? Oh yes, Saturday, post lunch. Started out with Love Triangles and Forbidden Love with NY Times Bestselling author, Cassandra Clare who gave us the deets in a clear concise manner. I will never, ever, write a crappy triangle again. I hope!

And then it was on to our next two breakout sessions. My first was with Arianne Lewin, Executive Editor, G.P. Putnam (Penguin) and she was just fabulous. We studied three excerpts from bestsellers to figure out voice and how to start a good fantasy (well actually, how to start any story well). Ari also gave us some great Do's and Dont's about writing fantasy. My favourite genre and favourite session!

My last session was with Tara Weikum, Executive Editor, Harper Collins, who spoke about YA Fiction. What's hot, what's not and lots of other good tips.

With heads imploding with information, we all headed to the Gala which was personally hosted and prepared by Lin Oliver (Thank you, Lin...the turkey breasts were superb;)). Met the fabulous Jane Yolen, Lee Wind, Emma Dryden, Chris Crutcher, Ellen Hopkins and Cheryl Klein among so many others. Not forgetting my very own peeps, Helaine Becker, Ishta Mercurio-Wentworth, Debbie Ohi, Maureen McGowan and Kari-Lynn Winters. Made lots of new friends and the air was thick with visting cards exchanging hands.

Headed off to the Alvin room for the International Mixer where I met with other authors from around the world and listened to Chris Cheng bring us up to speed. Brains turning to mush by this time but still managed to sit in the bar till midnight sipping lemon-green tea and chatting with friends.

What happened on Sunday?
Next post...and thanks for dropping by :)

Exhausted and Energized...my time at the SCBWI Winter Conference 2012, NY

Wait a minute, exhausted and energized? You're probably wondering if I didn't lose a couple of marbles at the Grand Central station. I assure you, I did not. All seventeen counted and accounted for!

But this is exactly how I feel right now, after four days in New York. Helaine and I landed a day earlier to explore a bit of NY and see the Met. It was fabulous and you can see a few of the pictures in my Facebook album.

The hotel was great, right in the heart of Manhattan. And those boys from my window sure lit up my day in the morning....

Friday was the Writer's Intensive and with much trepidation nine of us sat at a round table to open up our hearts and souls to be critiqued. My group was wonderful and so was the expert on the panel, Jennifer Laughran of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. We all came away a lot better for experience with a lot of honest feedback.
My afternoon session was with Kari Sutherland, Editor at HarperCollins Children's books. Another great session with a very knowledgeable faculty member wgo gave us excellent feedback on how to polish our work even better! I wanted to go back to my room right then, and get started with the polishing but that was when the rest of the Canucks started pouring in. And since the weather was so fabulous, we decided to walk around a bit and get a bite to eat. And that bite of pizza was the best I've ever had.

The above is one of the plaques on the road leading up to the NY Public Library and my favourite.

Saturday started with a hilarious speech from Lin Oliver followed by a powerful and touching keynote from Chris Chrutcher. I was completely blown away by the honesty and humour of his speech. And I was lucky enough to meet him at the Gala in the evening to tell him so.

The keynote which made me want to laugh and cry at the same time (exactly as Chris intended!) was followed by four expert impressions about Children's Books. On the panel were Jean Feiwel (Sr VP and Publishing Director, Feiwel and Friends-MacMillan), Barbara Marcus (Strategic Innovations Adviser), Nancy Paulsen(President and Publisher, Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin) and Rubin Pfeffer (Agent, East West Literary Agency).

After an informative snapshot of the world of children's book publishing, we were off to our breakout sessions. My first one was with Aimee Friedman, Senior Editor, Scholastic, who is also a NY bestseller author. She spoke about Series Fiction, discussuing the popular ones, how to write and pitch a series to an editior. Lots of good information!

And then it was lunch and there was still a lot more to look forward to. But for that you'll have to wait for the next post. Do come back :) And for more pictures, please visit me on Facebook.

Q&Q Writer Series featuring Jane Yolen

I do not know Jane Yolen personally and yet I do know her...through her words, her kind advice and her wonderful stories. I sense a kindred spirit who has figured out many struggles that I'm am currently wrestling with. Vist her website, especially the section for writers to see what I mean...

Award-winning author and known as the Hans Christian Andersen of America, Jane has written over 300 books in all genres and for all ages. Mentioning her books here would take too long, but you can find the entire list here.

 My favourite, as well as that of a few millions, is Owl Moon: a story that is calming, magical and timeless.

Jane graciously agreed to answer my questions and here they are:

1) In one word, how would you describe your personality?
Two words: Honestly lying.
2) What is your deepest desire?
To live forever. Or at least have written stories that do that.
3) Your greatest fear?
Snakes. It's always snakes.
4) Your favourite colour?
Wine. Though there are carpers who would point out that in my case "whine" is more like it. 5) A song you can't help singing along with, every time you hear it?
"Amazing Grace" and "Lay, Lady, Lay."

But if Fairport Convention is in town, "The Hiring Fair."
And these days half of the songs that Janis Ian or the Dixie Chicks sing.
6) A movie that made you cry?
"Truly, Madly, Deeply."
7) A book you have read more than five times? Or a book that influenced you the most?
As a child--probably "Ferdinand".
As an adult, probably "Moby Dick."
8) From your own oeuvre: your favorite child?
Possibly "Owl Moon" or "The Devil's Arithmetic" or "Ring of Earth" or "Girl in a Cage" or "Sword of the Rightful King." Ask me tomorrow it it might be a different list.

9) One thing you hate about being a writer?
Long waits.

10) One thing no one knows about you (and now will)?
My father did publicity for double bubble chewing gum, silly putty, and slinkies when I was a child and so I had more of all of them than any child had any right to.

Thank you, Jane! And I look forward to meeting you at SCBWI later this month.

Q&Q Writer Series featuring Deborah Kerbel and Frieda Wishinsky

Whoa...wait a minute...two fabulous authors in one post? What's up with that?

I've spent a lot of time with Deb and Frieda over the past few weeks, since we're all part of the CANSCAIP program committee, and have come to love working with them. What better way to celebrate such great teamwork than by posting their interviews together. I'll start with Deborah (going in alphabetical order...sorry, Frieda!).

I've known Deborah Kerbel since before I was published and with each passing year I consider myself incredibly lucky to have known her. She's generous with her time, a great friend and a fabulous writer to boot. Deborah is the author of the Quizmas Books, Mackenzie, Lost and Found, Girl on the Other Side (Shortlisted by the Canadian Library Association for the 2010 YA Book of the Year’ Award ) and The Lure (Shortlisted for the 2011-2012 Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award)

We've been publishing sibs for a while now and I'm looking forward to her next novel Under The Moon which will be published by Dancing Cat Books in Spring 2012. I know it's going to be FAB!

Without further ado, here's Deborah:

1) In one word, how would you describe your personality?

Optimistic 

2) What is your deepest desire?

To stay happy, fulfilled and surrounded by my family and friends until the end of days.

3) Your greatest fear?

I have three paralyzing fears - all equally great: blood tests, tomatoes, and large dogs.  Don't ask.

4) Your favourite colour?

Pink

5) A song you can't help singing along with, every time you hear it?

Any song by Lady Gaga makes me sing out loud.

6) A movie that made you cry?

Shadowlands.

7) A book you have read more than five times? Or a book that influenced you the most?

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley was a huge influence. And not as much for the story itself -- but more because of the fact that Mary Shelley was just a teenager when she wrote it. Knowing this is what really gave me the courage to try writing my first book.

8) From your own oeuvre: your favorite child?

Oooh - hard one! I'd have to say LURE because it's my baby.

9) One thing you hate about being a writer?

The criticism that is so inherent in this business really harshes my mellow.

10) One thing no one knows about you (and now will)?

I was born in a police station.

And now to introduce a versatile writer, Frieda Wishinsky. I think of her as the Lady with the Red Handbag. And that's no ordinary handbag...it has years worth of ideas and stories and it goes everywhere with her! Frieda has written chapter books and novels, picture books galore and a non-fiction book. Way too many to name here so do visit her website to check them out. Many of her books have received starred reviews in the Quill & Quire and been nominated for numerous awards. Please Louise won the the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award! I personally love You're Mean, Lily Jean and The Queen's Secret.

Frieda introduced me to La Bombache where we've shared many cups of coffee and some memorable conversation. And here are her answers to my quirky questions...

1) In one word, how would you describe your personality?
Upbeat? Curious? (Hard to pick one word, especially about one's self.)

2) What is your deepest desire?
To live a good, healthy life with all the people I love around and to keep writing the best books I can.

3) Your greatest fear?
Being alone in the world without the people I love.

4) Your favourite colour?
Red in almost all it's shades and tones (except orange tones)

5) A song you can't help singing along with, every time you hear it?
Somewhere Over the Rainbow. (First one to pop into my head but there are more, I'm sure)

6) A movie that made you cry?
Brief Encounter

7) A book you have read more than five times? Or a book that influenced you the most? 
Pride and Prejudice, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

8) From your own oeuvre: your favorite child?
Carly in YOU'RE MEAN LILY JEAN. Maybe most like me???

9) One thing you hate about being a writer?
People don't value kids books the way  I believe they should be valued. A good kids book goes to the heart of a story or theme. They are the books that stay with you forever.

10) One thing no one knows about you (and now will)? 
 I actually can't think of a secret (Although I could make one up. Like I hate sardines. Which is true. Even the smell. PU But some people know that about me. Like my husband who loves sardines. I keep a can of room spray handy when he eats them.)

The Tiffin named one of the five best Books of the Year for Young People, 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011, 1:21 pm
Me: Doing my routine day job and wondering when I can get back to my writing...
Blackberry pings!
Email: From my editor, Barry Jowett, telling me that The Tiffin was named as one of the five best books of the year for Young People, by the Quill & Quire.
Me: The rest of the day is shot as I float and text my son to duck out of class and go get a copy of the Q&Q now. Well no, I didn't actually do that. I told him to pick up a copy after school. I'm a good mom!

What makes a book of the year?
This is how Q&Q explains it; There's no formula for deciding. Some are critical darlings, some are word-of-mouth favourites. Some introduce us to important new voices, some represent the best work from established authors. And some are simply exceptional works we think people will be reading and talking about for years to come. Together, these 15 books made the biggest impact in 2011.

There are ten books in the adult category and five in the young people category. The other nominees in the list are:

The Qalupalik by Elisha Kilabuk/Joy Ang
My Name is Elizabeth by Annika Dunklee/Matthew Forsythe
Tilt by Alan Cumyn
This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

This is what they had to say about The Tiffin:

"With her latest tale of courage, determination, and success in overcoming hardship, Mahtab Narsimhan reminds us that, sometimes, all you need to engage young readers is a really good story. The Silver Birch Award-winning author (for her debut novel, The Third Eye) transports readers into the frenetic world of the dabbawallas of her native Mumbai, who deliver lunch to white-collar workers in metal containers called tiffins. Against this backdrop we meet Kunal, who is on a quest to find his birth mother using the tiffins as a tool. It sounds fantastical, but Narsimhan's lush rendering of Mumbai is so vivid the reader can almost hear its sounds, see its sights, and smell its scents. In her starred Q&Q review, Shannon Ozirny wrote that "this world will be just as awe-inspiring to North American young people as any fantasy realm could hope to be."

Thanks Q&Q!

And for those reading this post, have you picked up your copy of The Tiffin, yet? Please do!