Three For Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, my pretties. Getting back into the swing of fall and blogging and writing (well, that never stops, but somehow fall coming makes it feel like I'm revving up again) and all the other things.

And on to the three:

1. Reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Saenz and it is a wonderful, lyrical masterpiece. Shamefully, I have had an arc of this book since I went to BEA in 2011 but never got to it. Now I can't put it down. A coming of age story, a story of manhood, a story of what it means to be different but not marginalized, a story of love and courage and a million other wonderful things. And oh the voice!

2. Excited to be teaching a workshop later this fall on Finding an Agent at Writespace Houston. More on that soon. And so thrilled for so many upcoming events! To name some that I can name: I'll be presenting panels at AWP again this year in April. (more on that soon too!) And in February, I'll be down in Corpus Christie at the first annual Teen Book Fest By the Bay! Of course Comic Con Austin is coming in October and Houston Book Rave in November and more stuff to be revealed soon.

3. So excited to show you arcs of FINDING PARIS soon! Oh the cover! Oh the jacket design!
And thus my last of the three today is that two of my writing crushes -- two fabulous authors whose work I admire SOOOO much-- have read and blurbed FINDING PARIS (which will be out 4/2/15 from Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins) !!

The first is Jennifer Mathieu, whose debut THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE (Roaring Brook) is one of those break out books that everyone needs to read.  It's about truth and lies and what it means to stay strong when everything falls apart. Great things are coming from her and if she's not on your list, put her there. And the second is Adele Griffin, whose writing simply blows me away every time. She is a master of craft and psychological drama and character study and I can't express the thrill of having her say kind things about PARIS. Adele Griffin's latest book is a tour de force-- THE UNFINISHED LIFE OF ADDISON STONE, which is not like anything else you're seeing in YA these days. It's a faux biography and a mystery and the kind of addictive prose that makes me want to read it over and over. It's out now from Soho Press. You need to read this book.

Here's what they both had to say:

“A compelling page turner—the perfect mix of heart-stopping plot and memorable characters—fully formed, flawed, and worth cheering for. A road trip story, a mystery, and a romance, along with Preble’s pitch perfect descriptions of place and you’ve got a real winner. I couldn’t put it down.” (Jennifer Mathieu, author of The Truth About Alice)

“Joy Preble’s signature style-breakneck pace, whip-sharp dialogue and sly humor—is the perfect fit for this ride-or-die novel of Leonora and Max. An inspiring story of lost souls, and the hope and compassion that must piece together a family long exiled and devastated by secrets.” (Adele Griffin, author of The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone)

Five for Friday and #icebucketchallenge for peace

So much going on: Waiting for arcs of FINDING PARIS! Working on IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS! Working on new book ideas. Enjoying the dog days of summer -- particularly because I am also plotting out events straight through next spring and beyond, as one does in publishing. But you know summer is waning when the family has already begun our "Who's hosting Thanksgiving" discussion. Yikes!!

Also keeping the world's craziness firmly on my mind. I wish there was an #icebucketchallenge for peace, you know? Wouldn't that be great and simple? Putin would dump ice on himself and stop invading. Every leader in the Middle East would do the same. And here, too, in Ferguson. Put down the guns and pick up the ice bucket. Done. Then everyone would eat a Klondike bar and just breathe.

But for now I've got my measly five for Friday.

1. So excited that our proposals for AWP have been accepted! Minneapolis here I come! 10,000 writers and writing teachers all in one conference. That's wonderful crazy. And I get to present academic-ish panels with amazing authors: Janet Fox, Geoff Herbach, Nova Ren Suma, Nikki Loftin, Kari Anne Holt, and Laura Ruby! How grand is that?

2. Taking a break from Outlander. 6 books this summer. That is a LOT of Jamie and Claire. But you can't get enough of Jamie, you know? You really can't. Still, the series has jumped the shark more times than I can count and the plot threads whip here and there and sometimes I feel that things are thrown in just to throw them in: Meningitis! Murder! Incest! Adultery! More adultery! Illegitimate children! Rape! More rape! Explosions! More Explosions! Kidnapping! More Kidnapping! Time Travel! Pirates! Executions! Witches! More witches! Sexy Times! Hangings! Missing Limbs! More Missing Limbs! And look! it's John Hancock! And on like that. Still. I will finish the series this year. Just not right this second.

3. Some other grand book events shaping up for next spring which I am very excited about and will tell you about soon. FINDING PARIS is on its way. And soon I can show you the cover. Just a few more weeks…

4. Had an awesome time at Ft. Worth Library Round Up last weekend. Thank you a million times over to Wendy Dunn for inviting me and asking me to moderate the What's Hot in YA panel.

5. And did you know that COVERT AFFAIRS is back for another season? Well it is. Oh Auggie. Oh Annie. Everyone's spying. Everyone's keeping secrets. And I say we need more Eyal Levin. But maybe that's just me.

Robin Williams, Making Art, and Other Tuesday Thoughts

I'm not the only one mulling over the terrible sadness of Robin Williams' death yesterday, seemingly from suicide, most likely from depression/addiction. None of which, I would imagine, even begins to touch on all the true causes of this tragedy. We weren't in his head. Not even his family was, I suppose, or if they were, even they-- the people who loved him most-- were able to stop it from occurring.

Making something out of nothing--making art, be it comedy or drama or music or paintings or sculpture or poetry or novels or whatever--is enormously gratifying. It is also often difficult (even when the work itself comes easily) and painful and draining. The muse doesn't always arrive on schedule. Or the muse arrives too often and can't be turned off and all you can think is some version of 'why am I sitting here making small talk when I should be working.' I won't even begin to know what it is like to be so hugely gifted and so enormously talented and keep up with what you presume and in fact know is everyone's expectations. 

Even I, on the barely anyone knows who I am or what I write end of the spectrum, understand that the expectations can be burdensome. You got a huge book deal and now the book better perform. Your book deal was barely enough to buy everyone a Happy Meal and now you better write a bigger, better book to follow it. Your book was high concept and everyone loved it. Better make the next one even higher concept. Anyone who says they never think about these things is either lying or more well-grounded than the rest of us.

When you make art, you dig into the deepest places of yourself and they're not always the pretty places. The fears and dark stuff and the things about the world that make you cringe. You go to the good stuff as well -- what it means to be loved and to love in return, what it means to be a human being in all its messy craziness. But the best art comes from a place of honesty. And that itself can be daunting. Because to write honestly is to see yourself honestly and often it's not a pretty picture in there. 

I was lucky enough to see Robin Williams perform live (from the 1st row!) when he was still doing stand up tours. He sweat buckets and was amazing. I still remember how hard I laughed. And the movies! Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poet's Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook,  Good Will Hunting, and so many more. Such a huge and varied career! It is a huge loss and a huge shame and I am infinitely sorry to hear such sad news.

In other Tuesday musings, I would like the Middle East to calm down. I would like everyone to hold hands and eat cookies and milk and just stop it, okay?

And on this front, I just turned in my dedication and acknowledgement pages for FINDING PARIS (coming April 21, 2015 from Balzer and Bray) In keeping with this post, let me say that this book is darker than some of what I've written before. I'll be talking about it very soon. For now I shall just say that I am both honored and excited to have you read Leo and Paris and Max's story.

And speaking of stories, watched the first episode of STARZ 's new Outlander mini series and I give it just about 2 thumbs up. I think I will always like the books best (I'm in number 6 of 8 right now), but Jamie and Claire are well-cast and I'm excited to see what comes next! Okay, I'll be fully honest. We had an issue with the cable company not coming out for their appt with us cause the cable wasn't working and when they finally got things all working again, they said, "Hey, would you like free Showtime for awhile?" and I was like "NO! Give me Starz." And they were like, "But that isn't as nice of an upgrade and we want to make you feel better." And I was like, "Give me freaking Starz so I can watch Outlander." And so they did. Okay, I didn't say that at all; I just asked. And said please and thank you. And then did the dance of joy because now I could watch Jamie and Claire. At least for a few weeks.

If you want an amazing and different read by one of the most brilliant authors I know, THE UNFINISHED LIFE OF ADDISON STONE is out today, written by Adele Griffin and published by Soho Teen. Adele Griffn's writing has alway simply blown me away. There is just something in her style and word choice and tone that makes me want to hug the pages, that thrills and chills me and consistently makes me aware that I am reading something masterfully constructed. Her command of place and small detail and her exploration of characters who are on the edge, the fringe, the emotional tight wire -- well, yeah. She's freaking brilliant. Truly. And I don't say this lightly. ADDISON STONE is also, like where this post began today, about fragile mental health and art.

More soon, dear readers.

Monday Musings

Last Monday in July and I am not sure how that is even possible! But I think the swift passage of the summer has a lot to do with releasing a book in mid May while editing another, writing another and revising (more than once) a proposal for a future project. Plus life and some travel and various other stuff both good and bad (I'm looking at you, new AC system. But thanks for cooling us off!) Also it is Houston. And it is currently hitting 97 every day. And even walking the dog sometimes feels like more of an effort than it's worth unless I heave us out into the cooler (ha!) 80 degree air at 7AM.

Anyway.

A few observations on this steamy Monday:

1. It's almost time for SCBWI LA! One of my favorite long weekends of the year! I get to see my lovely agent. This year I get to see one of my fabulous editors! I get to hang out with writerly types and friends old and new, and learn some stuff and fan girl authors whose work I adore and if I'm lucky, drink some wine and hopefully breath in some cooler air and see the ocean. (I can see the Gulf here in Galveston, but we're having a huge seaweed issue this summer and no offense to Texas but it's just not the same as dipping my toes in the icy Pacific. )

2. Still forging through the Outlander series. Just began book 6. (maybe that's where the summer went, too!) It has jumped the shark any number of times, (see: Claire and Bree kill a buffalo with a saw and pretty much everything that happens to Roger Mac: kidnapped by pirates; sold to the Indians; hit on the head numerous times; hung… but not killed) but no matter. I am in it to win it, people. A review when I crawl to the finish line some time this fall.

3. Very much enjoyed teaching my first class this weekend -- on POV this time-- at the new start up, Writespace Houston. I do so love talking about artistic choice, among the many other issues we discussed and worked on. Hooray!

4. A little birdie has told me that arcs of FINDING PARIS will be ready some time in September. I can hardly believe it! And did I mention that the book starts in Las Vegas? I'll be talking more about FP very soon.

5. Also, Sharknado 2 is coming! This either thrills you as much as it does me or it doesn't. It the latter, shame on you for not sharing my very lowbrow tastes. In that same vein, let me list some of my current favorite summer TV moments, in no particular order:
 a. the return of Annie Walker  and Covert Affairs. Annie and Auggie. Enough said.
b. the new season of RHONY. More specifically, the final episode. More specifically, Aviva tossing her artificial leg at Le Cirque. Because.. well, do I have to explain it to you?
c. the return of RHONJ. Although the twins aren't doing it for me. But Rino. (or however you spell his name). Yeah. And the return of Dina "nobody's that f-ing zen" Manzo.
d. The Bridge. Dark and sad. But probably a fairly accurate depiction in many regards of life on both sides of the Texas border.

I could keep listing. But then you'd think I never did any work. :)

Til next time...

Chatting Non-Fiction Writing with Author Patricia Newman

Today, I’m chatting with author Patricia Newman about non-fiction. I had the pleasure of getting to know Patricia when we were both invited to participate in Ellen Hopkins’ inaugural Carson City Lit Fest in June.  We were introduced by the equally talented Suzy Morgan Williams (Bull Rider), who was my host for the weekend. And then in that way that often happens, we simply slipped into a conversation that lasted well beyond the weekend.

I find a great satisfaction in talking with people who write in genres that I have yet to tackle. Particularly non-fiction, because at heart, I’m a girl who loves facts and figures and research. When I was a kid, I read reams of biographies and how to books and I’m still a fan today, even though I’ve yet to write one.

So it was with that mutual passion for learning stuff that I sat down with Patricia Newman, virtually speaking, to find out how she writes and what she writes and what inspired her to the field.

 Joy Preble:  How did you get started writing non-fiction? What first drew you to it?

Patricia Newman: I was drawn to nonfiction because I like research. Without meaning to sound pompous, learning new things has always appealed to me. I explore topics that pique my curiosity and fire my passion because if I’m not invested in a topic I will not be able to engage readers. I also like to puzzle out how best assemble the cool information I gather into an appealing format for children, but it’s a huge challenge for me. Where do I start? What’s my opening line? How will I hook my readers? What themes do I want to explore? The theme determines which pieces of the puzzle fit.

JP: When you are researching a topic, what's your process?

PN: I wish I could say that I’m organized and that I can lay my hands on the source material for every fact I’ve ever researched, but I cannot. I usually start with whatever prompted the idea—a newspaper article, a radio report, a TV special—then burn up the Internet in search of sources. If my topic is historical, I search the library catalog for nonfiction books for grown-ups. These sources usually contain bibliographies with primary source citations and terrific ideas for next steps. I always, always look for someone to interview. For Jingle the Brass I interviewed a retired Southern Pacific engineer. For Nugget on the Flight Deck, I interviewed a Navy fighter pilot and an Air Force pilot. And for Plastic, Ahoy! I interviewed three scientists who traveled to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Interviews are my favorite form of research because I meet the most fascinating people.

JP: Any interesting or funny stories from the people you've met while researching?

PN: I mentioned above that a retired Southern Pacific engineer named Al provided expert input for Jingle the Brass. When I first made the appointment with Al I wanted to conduct background research for a young adult novel on women working for the railroad during World War II. Al showed me around the old railyard and pointed out where various shops were located. He showed me where the water tower was. And how the transfer table worked to shift locomotives from the yard to the maintenance shop. He talked using the language of railroaders—phrases like bending the iron; ash cat; mud hop; and ticker. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have written Jingle the Brass. (And I’ve never returned to that novel, either!) When Jingle the Brass was released, I asked him what he thought of the illustrator Michael Chesworth’s slim, sprightly engineer character. He said, “There were some skinny engineers, but they were usually the grouchy ones.”

JP: I see from your bio that you have passions in many different subject areas from languages to literature to music to computers and much more. How has your formal education -- and your informal education-- informed and influenced the topics you are drawn to write about?

PN: My formal education gave me the ability to read critically and ask questions. I studied child development at Cornell University and the degree has come in handy with respect to the various developmental stages through which children progress. But my formal education doesn’t determine what I write about. Those topics are the things that make me laugh or ponder--the topics that send me to the Internet and the library to learn more. And I’m never sure where the next book or magazine article idea will come from. Recently my daughter and I have collaborated on animal articles for children. She currently works at the San Diego Safari Park, and I have to say it’s very cool to write with your kid! Our first article for AppleSeeds (Jan. 2013) was about birds’ super powers. Our second is about elephant migrations (Odyssey, Oct. 2014), and we’ve proposed a third to another magazine.

JP: Most authors have fascinating stories about unexpected things they learned while researching a book. What are some of your unexpected lessons?

PN:  a. Nugget on the Flight Deck:  A jet released down the cat stroke (catapult path) goes from 0 to 200 miles per hour in three seconds. During school visits, I show kids a video clip of a jet taking off a carrier. It never gets old.

b.      Plastic, Ahoy!:  On each confetti-sized piece of plastic floating in the ocean you could find approximately 7,000 different kinds of bacteria. The bacteria attract one-celled organisms which attract grazers and predators. So each tiny piece of plastic no bigger than your pinky fingernail has an entire ecosystem living on it.

c.       Dolphins saved the shark attack victim I wrote about in Surviving Animal Attacks.

d.      In Navy SEALs I wrote about the “sugar cookie” treatment:  SEAL candidates who perform too slowly during their training exercises have to dive in the surf and roll around on the beach to cover themselves with sand (like a sugar cookie) before they can rejoin their team.

JP: Is there a topic that you really fell in love with or which spoke to you personally and would love to approach again, perhaps from a different angle?

PN:  Conservation. I’ve just proposed a conservation-themed book to an editor, which reprises a theme in Plastic, Ahoy! Also, many of the animal articles my daughter and I write have a conservation bent to them.

JP: For the prospective writers out there, some advice for the novice non-fiction writer?

PN: I spoke about the steps to writing nonfiction at a New England SCBWI conference and I told the audience that when I began writing nonfiction, I tended to go from the idea stage to what I call the feeding frenzy (research) stage with no thought as to how I would collate and organize the information I gathered. As a result, I ended up searching (sometimes for days) for the correct citation to a particular quote I wanted to use. I implore you to organize your sources and citations very carefully. Nonfiction authors who can’t find the proper source citation for a particular quote or fact are forced to cut it—even if it’s the most spectacular quote/fact ever.

JP:  What are you working on now?

PN: I have four nonfiction novelty board books coming out—two in the fall of 2015 and two in the spring of 2016. My illustrator and I are working on delivering the final text/art to the publisher. I also have a few fiction and nonfiction picture book manuscripts under consideration with editors. My Plastic, Ahoy! photographer Annie Crawley and I are collaborating on a new ocean book. And I’m struggling with a YA novel.

Thanks so much, Patricia, for such a fascinating conversation!

If you want to know more about Patricia Newman and her books, go to:

Website:  www.patriciamnewman.com

Blog: http://www.patricianewmanbooks.blogspot.com/

Twitter @PatriciaNewman

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaNewmanBooks?ref=hl

Keep on Swimming

Read this the other day by Veronica Rossi: http://yamuses.blogspot.com/2014/07/eyes-on-your-own-work.html -- about 'keeping your eyes on your own work.'

Great advice that. It is so incredibly hard some days when you are making your living creatively to keep your eyes on your own work. I think so many of us have had those moments where we are certain that all the good fortune is happening to everyone but us. And the irony is that for every moment I've felt like that, someone else is out there thinking that my own career seems ideal.

The truth is, if you're going to do art, you're in it for the long haul. There will be a few elite souls who hit it big and stay there. But the rest of us, well, we have to keep at it. We have to want it--really want it, all-consuming fire in the belly.

 I just heard Diana Nyad interviewed on NPR and essentially what she said about all those attempts to swim from Cuba to Key West was that each time she stood on the shore ready to begin, she thought about many, many things, but what kept her going most of all was not the fear of sharks or jelly fish or getting hurt but the fear of failure. I think she is absolutely right.

 If one book-- often for reasons that have little to do with me-- has fewer readers or gets less promotional push or whatever, then I have to use that 'failure' to do the one thing I can control: Write another book and work to make it better than the last one. I can keep myself out there and keep swimming, or in this case, writing. Not to get all "So we beat on, boats against the current" Gatsby on you, but I think it's really true.

There is so much I can't control: I can't control book covers or reviews or where a book is sold or how many are stocked or placed on a shelf. I can't control how it is marketed, except for when I am the one doing the marketing, which often I am. When book 2 of the DREAMING ANASTASIA series was somehow placed in historical fiction (which it is absolutely not) while book 1 remained in paranormal, I couldn't even control that, as much as I tried.

So you keep on swimming. You keep your eyes on the lights of the shore. You convince yourself that you will get there. Because NOT getting there is unacceptable. Because you have a gift and it would be a shame to waste it. Because you want it that badly.

Diana Nyad, on her fifth attempt, swam from Cuba to Key West. She was 64 years old. Yes you read that correctly. Talk about age being just a number!

The least we writers can do, is write a bunch more books, each one better than the last.

We won't even have to avoid the jellyfish.

On April 21, 2015, FINDING PARIS arrives from Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins.
In Spring, 2016, IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS arrives from Soho Press.

Mulling over the Point of View

Among other things this month, I've been getting ready to teach a workshop on point of view for the brand new WritespaceHouston.  So I've been pondering and reading craft books like Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King, which I highly recommend. And I've been writing, too, for a variety of deadlines and it's been quite a lesson shifting from the final copy edits of FINDING PARIS, (April 21, 2015, Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins) which is written in 1st person, present tense and my first, still rather exploratory draft of IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS (Spring 2016, Soho Press), which is (at least at present) written in close 3rd person past tense.

What I always like to remind my writing students is that we have a huge amount of choices when we craft a story.  And each choice we make will shape the story in different ways, both obvious and subtle. Working in third person past tense for IWALT is a brand new challenge for me, but my gut said that the main character's voice and the overall fairy tale-like tone of the story couldn't be achieved without it.  Interestingly, when we'd first chatted about the story when he acquired it, my editor said that he saw it as a first person story. It wasn't a mandate, but just his vision, and to an extent probably in keeping with what I've previously written, which has been all in present tense. The DREAMING ANASTASIA series, (Sourcebooks) even with its multiple narrators, is all in first person present tense -- a choice that I stand by, but occasionally produced some rather thorny voice dilemmas because if you're not careful, 1st person present tense, while the most immediate and intimate of POVs, can also produce narration that sounds stilted or self-absorbed. Sometimes it feels tiring to be so constantly in the moment with your narrator. The exception to this was always the witch, Baba Yaga. Because she is such a cryptic character, even in the original Russian fairytales that help form the framework for the series, writing her voice in 1st person always seemed to flow easily-- I think because I found it fascinating to know exactly what she was feeling and thinking in any particular moment, even as other characters in a scene were terrified or mystified by her. So 1st person present tense worked well to establish the juxtaposition between those two things.

When I wrote the SWEET DEAD LIFE and its sequel, THE A-WORD (Soho Press), we decided that the book would be narrated through the journal entries of stoner-turned-teen angel's younger sister, Jenna. So it was first person again, but past tense this time, since ostensibly the events had all occurred by the time she was talking about them. For Jenna, fourteen going on fifteen by the time we get to book two, this was the perfect way to free her sassy, wise but still young voice. The novels are very much Jenna's journey, even though it's Casey who's died and come back as rather dysfunctional heavenly being. So 1st person, past tense allows us the best access to Jenna's experiences as she tells us 'this is what happened to me.'

And FINDING PARIS, (the arcs are almost printed!) with its twists and turns (all I will say for now!) needed to be in first person present tense both to place the reader very intimately inside Leo's head but also so that the reader can be surprised at many things along with Leo, feel what she feels and how she feels exactly in the moment. Distance of any sort would dilute this, I think.

My brilliant friend Jen Mathieu's equally brilliant debut novel THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE (Roaring Brook) does wonderful things with multiple narrators written in 1st person past tense. Again, there is a 'reportage' feel to each character's telling of their version of the truth about Alice, who doesn't actually speak her piece  until the very end of the novel. Its a clever conceit because it's a story about rumors and gossip and slut shaming and about how quickly lies become truth. Fascinatingly, Mathieu points out in a recent interview that much of the most hurtful lies don't come in the form of texts or other social media but simply in sharpie on a bathroom stall, a tried but true method that's been around since, well, there have been writing implements and bathroom stalls.

But back to IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS. So there was my editor, thinking the book would be first person. But there I was, thinking, no. This book is going to have to be very different. It stretches over a long period of time-- 1913 to present-- and the story weaves back and forth over that continuum, but always with the same narrator. (This is not giving away anything; the deal announcement states that this is a story of 'a girl, a boy, a fountain of youth, and what happens when you're stuck at 17.' Of course the story is much larger than that, but that's the basic premise.) Which means my narrator while technically seventeen, evolves and changes emotionally and in terms of what she knows and understands, over that large period of time. So while she is always Emma, she is not exactly the same Emma in the various past scenes as she is in the present. And third person seemed the best way to bring that forth. Because I put your in her head, but I do so from a slight distance that allows you to assess her experiences and subtle changes without being so tightly in her head that you lose that extra frisson of perspective.

That's all I'll say for now except that I am in love with this book and I'm sorry you'll have to wait until 2016 to read it! (In publishing, you never know, though. Anything could happen. So I'll keep you posted.)

Anyway, I've taught newbie writers who refuse to write anything but first person. And those who slip automatically into third person. And readers who express a preference for one or the other. But really, it's about choice. It's about the best way to tell a story, about not only who is telling the story, but how you're having them tell it.

Anyone else have thoughts about point of view? About books you've read that do a particularly good job using their chosen POV?