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Review of Tankborn, a young adult novel by Karen Sandler

By on September 18, 2012 in writing

Kayla is a GEN, a genetically engineered non-human. She was born in a tank, made from a DNA mix of animals and humans that was chosen to ensure she can fulfill a specific role in society. On the planet Loka, GENs are servants without the choice of where they serve, forced to wear gloves if they touch a human and forbidden to look into the eyes of a Trueborn.

We meet Kayla on the eve of her 15th birthday when she will receive her first assignment. But something about Kayla’s first job is odd, and the circumstances surrounding it are not quite what Kayla had been taught to expect. Kayla’s employer is a very old man with many secrets, and his secrets have the power to overthrow Kayla’s well-ordered view of her world.

Tankborn is a thrilling adventure and a romantic love story, but it also echoes (without being annoying) with political, religious and social undertones. It shows the difficulties of being at the top of the social ladder as well as the injustices suffered by those at the bottom, and how religion can be used to control an entire class of people.

The novel has an intricate plot that brings together many details and threads into a tightly-woven world. The planet Loka is complete with wildlife, geography, and climate, and the human impact — whether through technology, social norms, or the exploitation of natural resources — on it is already jarring. The higher class uses holograms to beautify homes and gardens. The low class no longer needs to fill low-rung positions like cleaning, mining, caregiving, because GENs are genetically engineered to fulfill these roles. The people of Tankborn are trapped in their positions in society, with only a few who are willing to fight to change the rules.

Karen Sandler’s Tankborn transported me so far out of my own life that, for the few hours which it took me to devour it, I lived right there on the planet Loka with Kayla and watched her adventures unfold as through a camera lens. I am so glad I got to read it — I don’t often pick up sci-fi novels — and to know Karen who has been so kind as to answer a few questions about this wonderful novel.

Hi Karen! You’ve said in one of your videos that you would prefer to be Lowborn than Trueborn so as not to have to worry about losing your status. Do you think teens would relate to the idea that it’s not that easy to be popular?


I don’t know if I consciously thought of it like that, but yes, being a high-status trueborn is very like being one of the very popular kids in high school. Life can often look easier for other people if we’re watching them from the outside, but we all go through tough emotions in high school (and beyond). As bad as the humiliation was that I sometimes experienced as one of the very unpopular kids, it might have been much worse for a popular girl. She would have so much farther to fall in the eyes of others in her clique.

The world of Tankborn is extremely detailed. Can you tell us what it was like to imagine everything about Loka from scratch?

The world building happened in layers. I got the bare bones of the plot down, then handed it off to my son (a voracious SF/F reader) for a beta read. His feedback led to another layer of world building, then the same with my agents and eventually my editor, Stacy Whitman at Tu Books. Stacy’s feedback led me to fleshing out the most complex elements of the planet Loka and Tankborn’s society. In fact, on my hard drive, there are files full of details that never made it into the book, although they inform the structure of Loka’s society. Stacy would ask questions, which led me to creating a particular aspect of Loka’s backstory, which I would send to her to answer her questions, which would lead to more questions and further answers. There’s some pretty interesting stuff about Loka on my hard drive. Some of it (artists concepts of the flora and fauna, for instance) can be found at the Tankborn website and some will be up on my website soon.


What are you working on now?

I recently turned in to my editor a major re-write of Awakening, the second book of the Tankborn trilogy. I’m just starting the synopsis of Revolution, which will be the third and final book of the trilogy.

I will be looking forward to more of Kayla’s story when it is published!

Please join me tomorrow in a full interview with Karen about her cats, the space program, and why sci-fi is such a great genre to read and write.

To learn more about Karen Sandler and Tankborn you can go to:
Tankborn website
First four chapters of Tankborn
Karen Sandler’s website
Tankborn on Goodreads

Interview with Author and Scientist Danna Staaf

By on September 11, 2012 in writing
One of the reasons why I love going to SCBWI conferences is that I meet the most marvelous and interesting people. This last conference in August was no exception, but little did I expect to meet a young woman, no taller than me, who introduced herself as a writer of fantasy and a Cephalopodiatrist. I am so glad to host Danna Staaf on my blog today!

Hi Danna! Can you tell us how the world of your novels was influenced by your interest in cephalopods (and while you’re at it, explain to people what cephalopods are)?

Cephalopods are the group of animals that includes octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus. I’ve been nuts about these critters since I was a little kid, and in high school my friends jokingly coined the word “Cephalopodiatrist” to describe me. Cephalopods don’t show up in all of my stories—but I do find them to be endless sources of inspiration. My novel Heart Set Free focuses on their speed, turning squid into underwater racehorses, while my short story Talk to Us (to be published in the anthology Suction Cup Dreams) takes a look at their intelligence, wondering how octopuses might eventually evolve sentience.

Does the mystery of the ocean enter into your novels?

Constantly. As a scientist, I’m fascinated by how much of the sea is still unexplored, how many marine species have yet to be discovered. As a writer, I love the symbolism of the sea as the subconscious mind, the source of our fears but also the strength to overcome them. It’s fun to weave these two perspectives together.

You finished the first draft of both your novels during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Do you have any advice for writers who would like to enter?

Do it! NaNoWriMo is a great way to kick yourself into getting that first draft out. And it’s a wonderful community—after my first NaNo in 2010, I ended up in a writing group that meets year round.

You work from home. Do you work in your pajamas?

Danna’s cats

I’m not actually a huge fan of pajamas—I like to get dressed in the morning—but I do appreciate being able to wear whatever I want. It’s a pleasant continuation of my previous life in academia. In other possibly surprising news, I LOVE being alone all day. I’m an introvert, and being around other people—even my favorite people—takes energy. If I lived by myself, I might feel differently, but I get to see my husband every morning and evening, and my two cats sometimes hang out with me when they’re not busy sleeping.

Which writers influenced you to become a writer?

I’ve been writing since about the same age I went crazy about cephalopods, so it probably started with the authors of my childhood classics: Madeline L’Engle, C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, Roald Dahl, Louis Sachar, Sid Fleischman, Patricia C. Wrede, Robin McKinley, Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling . . . I could go on. I was a pretty voracious reader.


Do you read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy?

Why yes. Yes I do. I could probably fill up this whole interview with a list of my favorite books, but I’ll restrain myself. First, the classics: for fantasy, I never get tired of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. World-building, plot and character development, beautiful writing, even humor—LotR has it all. For sci-fi, Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination is fierce, meaningful, brilliant. Next, a couple of books that I read over and over again as a kid: Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, the story of a bored kid learning to use his imagination, and Robert Siegel’s Whalesong, the mystical coming-of-age of a humpback whale. The worlds of these books are so wonderfully creative. I also love graphic novels; the two series that hooked me in high school were the Pinis’ Elfquest and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Elfquest is fine high fantasy; Sandman is simply spectacular.

I love Tolkien too, but you mentioned some I’m going to have to add to my to-read list. Can you talk a bit about how you handle rejection/critiques?

I queried an agent about Heart Set Free for the first time in February and was promptly rejected. Of course I’d have preferred not to be, but I was so excited to have my first rejection letter that I printed it out and taped it to my office door. Then I went to the Big Sur Children’s Writing Workshop and got some excellent feedback to work on, so I didn’t send out another query until the end of May.

As for critiques, the most valuable thing for me to remember is that the reader’s reaction is always valid. Readers are telling me their own legitimate reactions to my work, so my goal is to accept those reactions, think about them for a while, and then decide if and how I want to change the work. I don’t always agree with my readers’ comments or make the changes that they suggest, but I know the manuscript has improved drastically as a result of their taking the time to give me feedback. I’m incredibly grateful for that.

Thank you Danna for interviewing on my blog and good luck in getting your novels published!
Danna on the web:
Danna Staaf’s science writing

Is there anything else you’d like to know about Danna? We’re always happy to answer your questions and comments!

Review of Superstitions by Susan Oloier

By on September 10, 2012 in book review, writing

Fifteen-year old Ellie Blackwood is having a bad day. Over ice cream, her father reveals that he and girlfriend Greta are getting married, though how can he be getting married when he hadn’t even divorced Ellie’s mother yet? Then, Ellie’s best friend Kyle decides that he’s too old to spend time with her anymore. The babies’ catalogs with Greta’s name on the address label that Ellie finds in the kitchen are really the last straw.

Ellie has a lot to deal with. Her mother had walked out on them five years before, but Ellie has not given up on finding her mother before her father ties the knot. She is starting her sophomore year at school, and now she needs to make new friends while dealing with the realization that she had fallen in love with Kyle, and that he is not in love with her. Worse, he is now dating the popular Tiffany who doesn’t acknowledge Ellie’s existence.

As so often happens in life, when one door closes, a window opens, and in walks Alexander Coon II. Alexander has a surprising taste for poetry, a mysterious background, and a treasure map. He invites Ellie to join him on a hunt for the legendary Dutchman’s Mine, a hunt which will lead them to learn more about love, hope, dreams, and friendship.

Susan Oloier’s Superstitions deals with difficult situations and emotions: abandonment, communication, trust, and most important, the difference between giving up and letting go. In Ellie’s search for her mother, she is resisting the truth. She has not heard from her mother in five years. Her father is getting married. And yet Ellie refuses to hear what her father has to say. She refuses to accept that her mother might never be coming back.

The teen years are a time of transition from childhood to adulthood, of letting go of the old and accepting the new. The need to let go of expectation, of mistrust, and of anger is apparent in Ellie’s relationship with every character in the novel. She does not have to give up the hope of finding her mother, but she does need to let go her hope that her family will get back together as it was before. She needs to let go of her expectations of her father and allow him to rebuild his life the way that he wants to. So much letting go!

Superstitions is romantic and sad, the story of adventure and everyday life. In between her life at school and at home, Ellie finds danger and excitement hiking and camping in the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. Susan Oloier weaves a story that takes place deep in the heart, in the conflict between the soul and the mind, hope and reality, disappointment and love. And as always in life, no easy answers can be found.

Superstitions on the web:
Susan Oloier interview on Examiner
Superstitions on Goodreads
Superstitions on Amazon
Susan Oloier’s blog

The Creative Zone

By on September 8, 2012 in creativity, Gratitude, parenting, writing
The creative geyser — must release the pressure

The last two weeks have been tough. My days, thoughts, my sleeping hours, were consumed by stress: I wanted an answer for what was bothering me. I wanted it now. And I wanted it to be the best. I found myself bursting into tears whenever anyone offered a kind word. I cannot tell you what my problem was. Perhaps it is enough to say it was related to parenting and to wanting to parent well.

From below the chaos, Perspective would touch my shoulder with its light hand, reminding me: “Be grateful. You are healthy. The children and Dar are healthy. They are happy and they love you. You are all together. Concentrate on what’s good, and more good will come.” In my heart I knew this was true, but then the moment of gratitude would pass, and fears would take over, and the ever-relentless drive to find a solution now.

Lacking peace of mind, my creative zone zoned out. Unable to compete with worries, it became dormant, hiding below layers and layers of protective parts. This time, however, sleeping through the chaos was not enough. The Critic directed my thoughts away from writing by asserting: “You will never be a writer. It’s never going to happen for you. You better give up.”

I’ve been listening to Tolstoy’s War and Peace. “You will never write this well,” said the Critic. “I have no need to write like Tolstoy,” I argued. “Only Tolstoy could write like himself.” The critic scoffed: “You will never be able to create a world like this. You will never be able to create a story of so many characters, so real, so colorful, so simple at the same time.”

The Critic looted every coin of confidence, burnt every standing wall, painted graffiti over my most treasured pavements. Instead of resting till the storm passed over, my creativity found herself engaged in a survival war. “Is it true?” She asked in a timid voice. “Is it really over?” And then, as though disappearing into herself: “Why do I exist at all?”

No matter how often I affirm that I am a writer, still doubts and fears assail me. I turn on the computer, my fingers trembling, eager and yet afraid to pull my document up on the screen. A huge weight settles on me. I am unable to begin. Then I remember. In the beginning was the word. I type a single letter, and then another, and suddenly, without knowing how or why, what or where, I am sitting here and writing again.

Relief.

Blooming into beauty — simply and easily

I still search for the answer to that parenting question I mentioned, but perhaps for now the crisis is over. I can raise my head over the storm and find perspective, allow the Critic to calm down, listen to my Creativity hum as it goes about its business, and let my fingers move over the keyboard, bringing my fairy tale world to life.

What do you do to quiet the Critic? How do you keep your creativity free to work its magic?

Interview with Author, Teacher, Mother and Baseball Fan Elisabeth Aikins,

By on August 22, 2012 in writing

Today I am hosting a woman of many talents, Elisabeth Aikins, who is an author, teacher, mother and baseball fan. Elisabeth and I met several years ago at a conference, and both of us have been watching each other’s progress toward publishing our first novel. Elisabeth, thank you for joining me today!

You’re a teacher, a mother, and a baseball fan. How do you find time to write?

During the school year, I work for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours a night. During the weekends I try to get in at least 3 hours. Generally I go to my local Starbucks (and sometimes the Library or another coffee shop), get settled with a coffee, go over what I need to get done and do it. Do I always get solid writing done? No, sometimes I check emails, update my Facebook page, and occasionally my blog. I don’t write on my blog as much as I’d like.

You’re tireless! How did you become a writer?

I wish I could say I was a born writer, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, I hated writing when I was a kid because I was a terrible speller. I did, however, love to read and read everything I could get my hands on. When I went to get my teaching credential in my early 20’s, I ended up in a 1st grade class and rediscovered one of my favorite books, Clifford the Big Red Dog. That’s when I decided I needed to write. I wrote for about 3 years, had the first of my 3 kids and stopped for 8 years. I started writing again about 8 ½ years ago and have been at it ever since.

So is Clifford the one who convinced you that you write for kids?

I never considered writing for adults because the books that have affected me the most were the ones I read as a kid.

How do you handle the inevitable rejections?

Obviously I don’t like them, but I take them for what they are…learning experiences. My favorite one I got from an editor at Viking a few years ago. She didn’t accept the picture book I sent her, but she liked my writing and asked me to send her something else. I sent her one of my novels. Although I just found out from her a couple months ago that she wasn’t interested, she commented again on the strength of my writing. That in itself helps to push me forward to the next editor. I also had a critique last year from an editor that was painful to hear, but amazing to get because not only did she tell me what needed to be worked on, she gave me suggestions and was extremely helpful!  She still wants to see the novel when I’m ready to send it to her.

Other than your novel Cat which you’ve been shopping around, what else are you working on?

I have another Young Adult novel under consideration right now with an editor from Beach Lane Books, in addition to a Picture Book I have with an agent. The novel I’ll be working on after I finish with Cat is one about a 17 year-old piano protégé who is put on a path of self-discovery when she notices her ability to play the piano is starting to deteriorate. It’s more of a suspenseful mystery.

That’s great! Good luck! Which books lie on your nightstand?

Oh man, too many! I just finished Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John which was really good!  The next on my list is The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander. I hope to get to that before the school year starts again.

Do you read a lot?

I don’t read nearly as much as I used to, or should. I love the Shiver series by Maggie Stiefvader, The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt and anything by Sarah Dessen and Carolyn Mackler.

Those are some of my favorite writers too! Which author do you think influenced you most into becoming a writer?

Noel Streatfeild, Judy Blume, Margery Sharp, Madeleine L’Engle, Norman Bridwell and funny enough, Douglas Marland who wrote for the soap opera “As The World Turns” from 1985 until his untimely death in 1993.

Do you have a book inscribed to you that you love?


This summer I finally got my copy of 13 Reasons Why signed by Jay Asher. I also have a copy of I Want My Hat Back! signed by Jon Klassen. My favorite one is a copy of The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash that I had signed by Steven Kellogg nearly 20 years ago. Although my most prized possession is a letter I received from Noel Streatfeild when I was 13 after I wrote to her about my love of her book Dancing Shoes. I found out years later she was in her mid-eighty’s when she sent it and passed away a couple of years afterwards. 

Have you had any stories, articles or poems published in magazines? Any advice to writers who are still on their way to see their words in print?

I’ve had a couple fiction pieces and a non-fiction piece published in magazines that were for the middle grade age range. My advice would be keep at it! Persistence is the key. I could have stopped trying when I got all my rejection notices before I took my break from writing, but instead I took the time to take stock of what I needed to do when I go back at it. My dad has a favorite saying that I recite to myself everyday, “Never Say Die.” So I never will.

Thanks Elisabeth for interviewing with me today!

Have I missed any questions you’d like to ask Elisabeth? Like who her favorite baseball team is? Please ask your questions in the comments below. WE LOVE YOUR COMMENTS!

Elisabeth on the web:
Follow Elisabeth on twitter: @elabkwrm
Follow  Elisabeth on her blog elisabethaikins.blogspot.com
Follow Elisabeth on her author’s page on Facebook

Interview with Author Eric Sandler

By on August 17, 2012 in writing

Today I am hosting author Eric Sandler on my blog. Eric and I met at the SCBWI conference where we found ourselves engaged in a discussion of horror writing across the Golden Kite Luncheon table, of all things.

Hi Eric, I’m so glad to have you interviewing on my blog today! I’m curious to know, writers often say that they write because they have to write. Do you see writing as a hobby or a vocation?

Vocation for sure. It certainly started as a hobby back when I was 12-13, writing fanfiction for newsgroups. As the years went on I started developing my own characters and stories and became more serious about getting published. Now my one goal in life is to see my name on a book I wrote. After that’s accomplished…I write the sequel.

Tell us about the world of your fantasy novel.

It’s not so much ‘world’ as ‘worlds.’ One of the main characters has the ability to travel to other universes, and so it’s about as far from Earth as you can get. Many of the worlds they visit are behind modern-day Earth in terms of technology and have entirely new species of animals and some varying laws of physics. Some worlds have magic, but that isn’t used too much, so my apologies to the Harry Potter fans.

Where is your favorite place to write?

Outdoors. I tend to take my netbook and sit outside in the backyard, assuming it’s not too hot (which it has been these last few days, so I’m behind!)

I’m with you on writing outdoors. But what do you do if it rains?

Fortunately, the deck has an awning that covers the whole thing, so I can write rain or shine!

Eric’s outside writing place


What is your writing routine like?

I have two computers, a netbook and a desktop. The desktop is for general use, the netbook for writing. For proper work to get done, I get away from the desktop. Preferably to a place without wireless Internet. I usually play music while I’m writing. Anything with a good beat that helps me think is in my playlist, so I tend to have a mishmash of artists. Overall it’s probably half Japanese music, half American artists.

What kinds of songs would you put on a playlist for your novel?

A mix of Japanese and American artists. Scandal, High and Mighty Color, m.o.v.e., YUI, Hamasaki Ayumi, Paramore, Evanescence, Bon Jovi, and several more scattered amidst individual songs.

You listen to Japanese music and speak Japanese. Have you ever lived in Japan? Do you use the language or culture in your novel?

Yes, I lived in Osaka for almost three years. I attended a language school there to study Japanese, and then taught English after graduating. I don’t use Japanese so much in this novel, but I’m planning to use it in a middle-grade novel I’m currently writing. The main character is Japanese whose grandparents are from–of course–Osaka.

Did you like to read as a child?

I devoured books as a kid. Ender’s Game and The Giver are two I read over and over. The latter I read a few years ago and was startled at certain parts that I could understand more clearly now as an adult. It made the whole thing much creepier. Ender’s Game remains more or less the same, but I still find it entertaining to read.

I love Ender’s Game and The Giver. Do you have other books you feel influenced you as a writer?

Ender’s Game is definitely a book I’ve read over and over. Bruce Coville and R.L. Stine likely are my biggest influences. I loved Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, and I read the Fear Street and Goosebumps series despite getting scared at Night of the Living Dummy. That one book will make me look askance at mannequins for the rest of my life…

Any thoughts about why kids like scary books?

When I was a kid, I read a lot of R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, etc. Despite sometimes scaring me into having nightmares, these books gave me a glimpse into the darkness that is our fears. I think there’s a subconscious attraction to that fear, as it gives us a peek into the unknown.

Have you had any stories, articles or poems published in magazines?

Yes, I’ve had a short story published on welltoldtales.com, and that same story won second place in the West Side Story contest (now defunct) as well as an honorable mention by Writer’s Digest in their Popular Fiction contest. So that one story’s really gotten around.

That’s so fabulous! Do you have advice to other writers who are still on their way to see their words in print?

Start writing. You can’t get published without putting pen to paper (or typing that first word). Follow through. Starting and finishing are the two most important parts of writing, because without that, you can’t move forward. Be prepared to edit, a lot. And I mean A LOT. This is before you even find an agent or editor. Find someone to beta-read your work (not a friend or family member) after you’ve gone through and edited the whole thing 3-4 times. It helps so much to have a fresh, outside perspective. Be prepared to take a lot of criticism. Accept that you can’t write it perfect the first time and will likely have to do several passes before it’s even close to submission-quality. Joining a critique group can also help a lot, but I personally haven’t had that experience.

Thanks Eric for visiting and answering my questions!
You can follow Eric on twitter at @EricSandlerYA

If you have any questions or comments to Eric, please feel free to comment below.

We LOVE your comments.

If you’re a writer and would like to be interviewed on my blog, please comment below, or send an email to stzoore (at) yahoo (dot) com.

The Price of Passion

By on August 16, 2012 in children, creativity, imagination, motherhood, parenting, writing
Uri’s main competition for my love.

Writers often claim that they write because they must. Why else would we write? Riches and fame, after all, are rarely the results. I have struggled with the inexplicable need to write for at least ten years, writing in bursts and sinking into doom and gloom when no writing comes. Having noticed the connection between not writing and my bouts of depression, I’ve made an effort to get some writing time every day. I channel my creativity into the blog when the novel seems too complicated an endeavor, and I’ve come to realize that the feeling I called depression was actually frustration in disguise.

Realizing how important writing is to me was only one tiny step. Ahead loomed a greater obstacle, so great, in fact, that terrified and ashamed, for a long time I preferred not to look it in the face. Even now, it seems to me both a ridiculous and crucial obstacle: my all-important mother-hood. Turns out that after all these years, I still doubt that I can be a mother and a writer at the same time.

My imagination, my creativity press on the dam of fears I’d built, lashing against it, trying to force a way out. When I write, I often don’t hear the children talking to me. I forget to tell them to go to sleep or to make them food. What will happen if I let all the passion of writing out from behind the carefully controlled dam? What if writing and novels and ideas will come rushing out in a great flood, overcoming everything? Will the mother mountain stay intact?

Yesterday my son accused me, “You love your book more than you love me.” I burst out laughing. I spend so much energy on being afraid that the kids will suffer because of my writing, and here he is blaming me for exactly what I fear the most. Except, he wasn’t talking about my novel, the one I am writing. He was talking about the ultra fascinating and unputdownable Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore.

Okay, so I admit that yesterday I was reading Bitterblue instead of playing with him lacrosse. And I was reading Bitterblue instead of paying him attention. And I was reading Bitterblue in the doctor’s office while we waited though he had nothing to do. But in one moment, with those funny and yet truthful words, Uri gave me glimpse of perspective about my great parenting-writing fear. Just a glimpse, mind you.

I have a feeling that if I let the dam loose the mother mountain will still stand safe and sure. I have a feeling that if I stop putting on the break with my writing, I will have more energy to spend both on my writing and the kids. And I have a feeling that it’s good for the kids to know that there’s more to their mother than just being a mother. It’s just a feeling. But I think perhaps it’s true.

Do you have a passion in your life, that makes you oblivious to the rest of the world?

Green Paranormal: Review of Sara Wilson Etienne’s Harbinger

By on August 9, 2012 in book review, writing

Yesterday I finished reading Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne. I don’t usually read paranormal novels — it’s not a genre I am fond of — but for some reason the gorgeous cover of the novel kept calling to me. Have you ever had a cover like that which you just could not resist? The red moon, the sweet-faced heroine with her eyes covered by a red band tied behind her head, her innocent white skin contrasting with her partly-opened, sensual mouth. The stark landscape behind her. I bought the book and immediately started to read.

To my surprise, Harbinger is a green novel, in an eco-friendly, earth stewardship sense. The novel is set in a United states that has depleted its resources, its oceans polluted by oil spills, its animals over the brink of extinction. Suburbs have closed their gates to new residents, and cities have become a center for crime and homelessness. Water is scarce. Food is scarce. And each suburb requires a certain code of behavior from its inhabitants.

Faye, the protagonist, suffers from visions and panic attacks. Her parents send her away to Holbrook Academy, a strange school for misfits where guards walk outside armed with pepper spray and tasers, and where the students are forced to swallow sleeping pills at night. Each night Faye and her friends go to sleep in their beds but wake up on the floor, their hands colored with blood. Faye suspects she is the reason behind the strangeness of Holbrook, and she sets out to discover why.

Maya, one of the students at Holbrook, is a save-the-world fanatic. “Don’t you know you’re devouring the earth?” she yells during the first dinner at Holbrook. “We’ve squeezed this planet dry. Stomped the hell out of it with our carbon footprint. Sent cow shit and pesticides sludging through our rivers and drinking waters.” A paragraph later, as the guards are closing in on her, Maya keeps on shouting: “Our world is melting, frying, starving, and suffocating, and you just keep on chewing.”

While Maya is the more extreme advocate for saving the world, pounding us with her beliefs as with a sledgehammer, for Faye reclaiming nature is a theme which weaves in and out of her thoughts like a song long-forgotten and now remembered. Trees entrance her and terrify her at the same time, as does the ocean. And where Maya seeks to make a difference by forcing others into her point of view, Faye ultimately understands that saving the world is an intensely personal sacrifice.

I read Harbinger in two days. It is an intelligent, well thought-out novel. Faye is an impressive protagonist, unafraid of challenges, willing to risk herself to uncover the truth. Beneath the dystopian, somewhat post-apocalyptic tones of the novel, hers is the story of a girl who just wants to be loved and belong, and who must, in the end, face a choice between her friends and her destiny.

You can find Harbinger on Goodreads.
Writer NutschellAnne Windsor interviewed Sara Wilson Etienne and reviewed the novel on her blog, The Writing Nut
Sara Wilson Etienne has a website http://www.sarawilsonetienne.com/ and http://www.holbrookacademy.com/

Interview with Writer, Fencer and Teacher Laura Clement

By on August 7, 2012 in rejection, writing

Today I have writer Laura Clement interviewing with me. Laura and I met at an SCBWI conference a few years ago and have stayed in touch through facebook, of all places. SCBWI is a great place to meet new friends and learn more about writing and illustrating for children. I’m very excited to have Laura with us today.

Hi Laura, Thanks for joining me! Can you tell me about the path you followed to become a children’s books writer?


Through my process of writing, something I have been doing since grade school, starting with poetry, I struggled with the lines that are drawn between children’s literature and adult literature. When I have a chance to talk to other writers, some who have published over 300 books (children’s) and a few novels, I hear the same thing over and over again — Just write. One writer told me, “I never change my writing for kids. They are smart and love a challenge.”

I think for me the major difference is subject matter and the depth to which you might take it. One of my books for kids might be about depression, but I won’t tackle it in the same way I do in my novel. But they both have the same heavy topic. I think it is harder to write for kids. The book has to seem so simple and flow with effortless grace, this is HARD work. A great kids’ book is something everyone will enjoy, kids to adults.


That’s so true. You write picture books and middle-grade novels, is that right?

I love writing picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels. I love to try anything. I still visit poetry from time to time. I let the characters find me, and once they start chatting in my head, or images of them fill my unconscious dream world and dance into day, they get placed to the page. I like adventure stories where the reader has to set outside their world.

Do your books have a message for kids?

Yes.  Martin the Mouse (working title) is about finding your inner strength, exploring the world beyond your own eyes and taking chances. Sky and Sparrow (working title) is about the adventure between two characters and the fun they can have in the moment of a day. My polka dot adventure is about seeing the world from a different perspective and maybe incorporating it into your life.



You fence and teach kids fencing. Have you used your fencing knowledge in your books?

Laura fencing with her husband, Martin

I have!  I am currently rewriting a middle grade novel about a fabulous little mouse and her sister who learn to fence. What can I say, one night I was sitting in the salle (club), and I watched a mouse run across the floor. That got me to thinking about how mice see us and what they do when we are not there.



In between work and fencing, how do you find time to write?

I have been really lucky. Until recently I was able to work from home, set up a schedule and pound out ideas and edit… edit…edit. This summer has been very difficult. Between working all day teaching kids, and then family being in town, I haven’t had any time to write. Though I have some fabulous new ideas and new approaches for old projects spinning around in my head for when September rolls around and I can get back to a schedule. A writer needs a schedule. Even if it is only one hour a week, if that time is the same every week, you can totally get work done.



I’ve heard other writers recommend that before. You’ve been on the track to finding a home for your books for some time now sending queries. How do you handle the inevitable rejection letter?
 
I have all of my rejections filed away, mostly electronically, date stamped in a spreadsheet with any comments listed at the end. I am at the point where I am frustrated by rejection letters that don’t say anything useful. But for the most part I just turn my focus back to a current project and try to keep rolling. Sometimes if I get it late in the day I let myself have a nice cocktail or something sweet (hello cupcakes).

That’s fabulous! Which books do you remember the most when growing up?

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, The Fledgling, Lord of the Rings (my godfather read that to me), Anne of Green Gables, The Eyes of the Amaryllis….  The list could go on… Oh!  Wait, The White Dragon (well all of the books from Anne McCaffery), and of course A Wrinkle in Time.



Which author do you think influenced you most into becoming a writer?

All of them- Any writer or book that took me places.

 Do you have advice to other writers?

Advice… Write for you, for your characters, for the laughs you get when one of them says something funny. Write for your friends or family who love to read your adventures. The rest is major work and just needs to be done (research of agents/publishers). Make sure you write more than you do the “work” or as I discovered, you burn out. Keep your love of writing alive and for goodness sake, find a really good critique group (easier said than done I know).




Thank you, Laura, so much for interviewing with me! 

You can find Laura on Facebook as Laura Clement (Seattle) and Clement Creations, on twitter as @clementcreation, and on her blog.

We love your comments! Please feel free to ask Laura (or me) any questions. If you too are a pre-published writer and would like to be interviewed on my blog, please mention it in the comments or send me an email to stzoore (at) yahoo (dot) com.

4TN898KV3Q4G

Running from a Purple Crayon Home

By on August 6, 2012 in adventure, writing

As a child, I took books seriously. Transported into their world, I followed their paths, smelling the smells, seeing the sights, experiencing the fears, hopes, loves, dreams and terrors of the characters without the barriers of pages, words, covers or time. I wandered the roads of England with Isaac the Jew in his cart, Rebecca looking over my shoulder as she tended to Ivanhoe who lay wounded in the back. I strolled from Longbourn to Meryton behind the Bennett sisters, holding my skirts up and stepping daintily if there was too much mud. Like Ender, I felt compassion and determination in the spherical confines of Battle School, breathing the air and drinking the water that had been recycled through the bodies of the other students countless times.

Perhaps because of the total immersion I experience in books, I never liked reading anything frightening or sad. I’ve never read Stephen King, and the Hunger Games, which I read recently, gave me nightmares for two weeks. Even a picture book like Harold and the Purple Crayon scared me. I was terrified by the fact that Harold never really — or so it seemed to me — found his way back home.

Harold has always been a sore spot for me. I know the book is considered timeless, and not being able to appreciate it bothered me. But on Saturday, during Bryan Collier’s speech at the conference, I had a moment of enlightenment, and now I know why I feared the book so much. “When Harold hang the moon in the sky, that was magic,” Collier said. “I’ve been chasing Harold ever since.” And suddenly I understood: that’s the meaning of true adventure — following the lines of the purple crayon through the book.

I had been terrified to follow Harold, because I feared losing sight of home. In my eyes, Harold ventures forth into an unknown world which he creates by himself, moving farther and farther away from his home, and when finally he wants to go back, he doesn’t know how to return. But Harold does not need to go back. He is making magic! He is on the adventure of life. His bed is where it always is, under a window framing the moon, and Harold can sleep there in peace because he trusts in the process. He trusts the adventure. He trusts in the impermanence of life. And mostly, he trusts that his home is in him.

For years, Harold has been calling to me to follow my purple crayon, but instead of following him, I’ve been sitting around moaning my inability to fly. Harold says, you want to fly? Here, take your crayon and draw yourself wings. You want to go home? Here, take your crayon and draw yourself the moon. You want to climb a mountain? Here is your crayon. Climb a mountain. Write a novel. Fly on the wings of dragons. Go on your adventure without any fear because you don’t need to look back. You have everything you need right there in your hand.

Which adventure would you like to follow with your purple crayon?
Do you have a picture book which scared you as a child but you can now see in a new light?

Sigal Tzoore (650) 815-5109