Authors in the Corner: Jessica Burkhart

Today's author feature spotlights Jessica Burkhart, an upcoming debut author. Her novel, Take the Reins (a Canterwood Crest Novel), will be released in January of 2009.

(I know I usually do the author feature on Wednesdays, but you'll see why I didn't tomorrow.)

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The awesome Megan was kind enough to offer to let me guest blog today! Woo hoo!

So, I wanted to talk a bit about what’s coming up on my Websites and blog. :) There are going to be lots of things going on that will gear up for the release of Take the Reins and future Canterwood Crest books.

The Blog

When the Canterwood Crest site goes live, my blog will have a brand-new look. It will be THE place for the latest Canterwood Crest news including giveaways, contests, vlogs and more. I’ll be taking my camera everywhere I go, so look for brand new Diary of a Debut Author videos and follow me as I count down the days till January 27.

JessicaBurkhart.com

The events calendar is going to fill up! I’ve got events scheduled from Florida to the mid-West starting early next year. I’ll be hitting Florida book fairs over the fall and you’ll find the complete list on my Website in September. If you’re hitting the Florida circuit, maybe I’ll see you around!

CanterwoodCrest.com

This is an ALL new Website coming in September that’s just for my Canterwood Crest series from Aladdin M!X. What will you find on the site? A quiz, downloads, never before seen photos of the Canterwood Crest models and much more. The site is being designed right now and OMG, it’s going to be great. You’ll find announcements on my blog and personal Website when the site goes live.

So, there are lots of ways to keep in touch and my journey as a soon-to-be debut author is just beginning!

If you’re a writer, what’s one thing YOU most look forward to when your first book is published? Share! :)

Thanks so much, Jessica!

Until her websites are up, you can visit and chat with Jessica at her blog, http://jessicaburkhart.blogspot.com/.

Quote of the Day:

To be amused by what you read -- that is the great spring of happy quotations.
-- C. E. Montague

Authors in the Corner: Daphne Grab

Today, we have with us Daphne Grab.

Daphne Grab grew up in a small town in upstate New York. She has worked a number of jobs including teaching high school history, building houses for Habitat for Humanity and teaching ESL in China. She also earned an MFA in Creative Writing at the New School. In 1998 she moved to New York City where she discovered that she has always been a city girl at heart. She lives there now with her husband and children. Her first teen novel, Alive and Well in Prague, New York, was released this year.

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I think a lot of book people were read to a ton when they were little. My mom was an English teacher and my dad was a literature professor, so our house had books everywhere you looked. And I got read to all the time. Even after I learned to read my mom still read to me at night, stories we both enjoyed, and I think she did that until I was eleven and needed those last minutes before bed to be on the phone with friends talking about all the events in our junior high lives (which were considerable so we needed a lot of phone time!).

The first book I remember being read to me was SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE. Do any of you guys know that one? It’s this great story about a donkey who finds a magic pebble and turns himself into a rock with it by mistake- great premise for a story, right? It’s William Steig so the illustrations are as good as the story. I remember my dad really loved the book and would get a little choked up at the end when Sylvester’s parents unknowingly helped him become a donkey again and they all danced around together.

Which reminds me of my mom’s favorite book to read to me: CHARLOTTE’S WEB. I loved this one though I never got why my mom cried at the end when Charlotte knows she’s going to die but she’s saved Wilbur. I mean, it was sad but my mom really sobbed. When I got older I realized it made her think about one day passing away and leaving me and my sister. I think really great books like this make you think about your own life and maybe make meanings of things in new ways. I cry at the end now too.

Now that I have my own kids I get to revisit books I loved from when I was little, and I’ve already started a library of things to read to them as they grow (they are three now.) It’s going to be really fun to be on the other end of this tradition!

So what are some of the books that you were read as a kid?

Thanks Daphne!

Authors in the Corner: Sara Hantz

Today we have a guest blog from Sara Hantz

Sara Hantz started writing when she ran out of degrees to study and decided it was much more fun to make things up than to comment on dry academics. Born in England, she moved to New Zealand a few years ago with her husband and two children. The Second Virginity of Suzy Green is Sara's first novel.

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School....... the best days of our lives????

When Megan asked me to blog, at first I couldn’t think of what to blog about. Then I thought, why not talk about school, as The Second Virginity of Suzy Green, is all about Suzy trying to change from being a girl always in trouble to the perfect student.

I don’t know about you, but I was told repeatedly that school days are the best days of your life. But, I didn't get it. How could they be? I was always in trouble for disrupting lessons, dying my hair non-regulation colors (well, as school shirts were blue, I fail to see how having a blue flash at the front of my hair was a problem - it matched), having a small radio in my purse and balancing it on my shoulder so I could listen to it (this was before iPods).... the list goes on and on.

I couldn't wait to leave. But once I did, school took on a whole new meaning. I thought going out to work meant no one would be telling me what to do every hour of the day (like in school). Wrong! At school, unless you do something really bad, they can't kick you out for underperforming, unlike work. And school hours being 9-4, with two breaks and an hour and a quarter for lunch, is pretty good when compared with working 8-6 or however long it takes to get the job done. And as for the long school holidays. Try swapping that for 3 weeks a year.

And let’s not forget what they actually teach you at school. I might not have valued it then, but I sure do now. Education gives you choices. So when you come to decide what career you want you're not restricted.

So, best days of my life? Not the best but, with hindsight, better than I thought. And my BFF I have known since school.

What about you, how do you feel about school?

Thanks again, Sara!

You can visit Sara on her website.

And check out my review of Sara's novel, The Second Virginity of Suzy Green, here.

Authors in the Corner: Jody Gehrman

Today's Authors in the Corner features a guest blog from Jody Gehrman.

Jody Gehrman is the author of four novels and numerous plays. Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty is her first Young Adult novel and is published by Penguin's Dial books. Her adult fiction includes Notes from the Backseat, Tart, and Summer in the Land of Skin. Tart was a Booksense notable in 2005, won an RT Bookclub critics' award, and has recently been optioned for film. Her plays have been produced in Ashland, New York, San Francisco and L.A. She and her partner David Wolf recently won the New Generation Playwrights Award for their one-act, Jake Savage, Jungle P.I. She is a professor of English at Mendocino College.

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The Novel: Grappling with the Big Picture

“There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”
~W. Somerset Maugham

“Writing a novel is like driving across country at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole journey that way.”
~E.L. Doctorow

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The biggest challenge in writing a novel is dealing with the scope of it; most writers start in shorter forms (i.e. short stories or poems) so the idea of churning out 300-or-so pages is often daunting. Most of us who attempt the novel find we get lost at some point in the process, feeling aimless and unsure of how to proceed.

The thing to keep in mind is you have a story to tell, and as long as you can keep the heart of that story within your sites, you’ll be fine.

This, of course, is easier said than done.

Here are some tools that may help you navigate the vast wilderness of your story:

Create an Outline: Some writers eschew outlines for a more organic, build-as-you-go technique. I’ve found an outline to be helpful, as long as I’m spontaneous enough to alter it when needed.

Different types of outlines:

§ Try a 3x5 card for each chapter. This way, you can throw out ideas that aren’t working without having to start from scratch.

§ Timelines: I sometimes use one timeline of major events within the novel, and another for events in the main characters’ lives that preceded the novel.

§ One page synopsis: Really forces you to focus in on the essentials. Also a useful tool later when courting agents/publishers.

§ 5-page synopsis: Lets you expand to cover major plot points. Also a useful marketing tool with agents/publishers.

§ Messy notes outline: If bullet points aren’t your style, a useful compromise is to brainstorm freely about your characters, their needs and desires, plot possibilities, etc.

§ Plot Map: For the more visually inclined, try boxes, bubbles, arrows, etc. to create a blueprint of major events.

Use a Logline: Screenwriters are fond of saying, “If you can’t tell your story in a few sentences, you don’t know what it is.” Hence, the birth of the logline, a 1-3 sentence TV-Guide style summary of your story emphasizing the character’s primary conflict.

Try a Collage: Cut out pictures of your characters, the rooms and landscapes they inhabit, their favorite objects, or just images that evoke the mood you’re trying to convey. Place it near where you write for inspiration.

Get Feedback: Have a trusted friend (or writing group) read your latest draft, and don’t give them too many hints beforehand about plot, themes, etc.; listen carefully to their feedback. Then, if they haven’t already volunteered it, ask them what they think your novel is about.

Consider the Dramatic Structure: Aristotle insisted that every story have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Thinking of your novel in these terms can help. What’s the climax of your story? What’s the resolution? How does each event build toward that climax? Another way of asking this: What’s your main character’s problem, how does that problem become increasingly intense, and how does the problem explode, then resolve?

For me, boiling it down to these three steps is extremely helpful:

Beginning (Act I): Set up the conflict
Middle (Act II): Complications ensue, tensions rise
End (Act III): Turn (climax) and resolution

As Somerset Maugham noted, no one knows the three definitive rules for writing a novel. With this in mind, I hope these suggestions will help you in your courageous undertaking.

Thanks so much, Jody!

You can look for Jody at her website and her myspace.

Readers, what are some of your tips to writing a novel?