Humming Room Blog Tour: Interview with Ellen Potter

In celebration of the release of The Humming Room written by the amazing, Ellen Potter, MacMillian is running a blog tour and giveaway.  Ellen was kind enough to stop by the blog to answer some questions.  Also, one lucky winner will receive a copy of The Humming Room - see details below.

The Secret Garden was one of my absolute favorite books as a child. When I found out that The Humming Room was similar, I was so excited to read it. Did you worry that people will overlook Roo's story because they would be looking for comparisons with The Secret Garden? 

Oh, I was full of worries when I wrote this book, but then I’m a natural-born worrier. The idea of reinventing a classic was as exciting as it was nerve-jangling. The fact that The Secret Garden was one of my favorite books of all time really amped up the pressure. Still, out of this miasma of anxiety, the character of Roo emerged so powerfully that I knew her story could stand on its own.

 When I finished reading The Humming Room, I immediately had to go look up the islands. What was your favorite part of doing the research for the book? 

All of it! Researching The Humming Room was bliss. The Thousand Islands region of New York is paradise—in the summer, at least. I wandered around islands, spied on osprey nests, and found out from a wildlife rehabilitator how to feed a baby bird (with a paintbrush). I guess my favorite piece of research was when I accompanied the island mail carrier on his rounds. We zipped through the St. Lawrence River on his little green boat, stopping to deliver the mail to the islanders. That boat went so fast I thought I might throw up. In a good way, I mean.

Your books are all set in present day. Do you ever see yourself writing a book in a different time period? If so, what one? 

I have this lingering fantasy that I’ll write a book set in England in the mid 1800’s. The thing is, though, I can’t even remember the combination to my gym locker, much less retain the tiniest details of everyday life in the Victorian Era. I suspect my brain would erupt in flames if I even tried.

With all of your books, I have come to love your characters. What is the secret to writing characters that readers will connect with? 

If I were at a party, my characters are the sort of people I would gravitate toward—for better or for worse. I write about people who fascinate me, so it’s possible that my obsession with them transfers to my readers.

I know I have mentioned this before to you, but your writing is truly lovely. What is your editing and revision process like? And have you worked with the same editor on a number of books or do you have a different editor each time? 

Like most writers, I revise A LOT. The first draft often resembles a puzzle that has been put together by someone who hasn’t had their morning coffee yet. I have to go back in many times to make sure all the pieces are snug and in the right place. I’ve been very fortunate with my editors. Jean Feiwel at Feiwel & Friends edited both The Kneebone Boy and The Humming Room, with a light, but magical, touch. She always seems to understand what I am shooting for in each scene, and with gentle nudges she aligns me with my intention.

When I interviewed you last, I commented about the wonderful cover for The Kneebone Boy. You seem to have some great cover karma. Now looking at the cover for The Humming Room - did you work with the same designer? A different one? And did you get any input on the cover? 

Cover karma! I like that. Yes, I must have done something really nice for an artist in a past life, because I am one lucky gal when it comes to my book covers. The Humming Room cover was done by the mind-blowingly gifted Jason Chan. He also did the stunning cover for The Kneebone Boy. Before Jason Chan came along, I used to worry about my covers (I told you I’m a worrier). Writers generally have very little control over what their covers will look like. But Jason is such a visionary that I would literally write a book based on one of his covers.

When I think about my favorite books as a child, I think of the ones that I took out from the school library or classroom library over and over again. It seems that everyone has at least one book that may have never made it back to the library because it was so well loved. Do you have one? 

Mine would have been A Wrinkle in Time. For the longest time, I would squeeze my eyes shut and try to “tesseract” to another plant. It never worked, incidentally.

If you could spend the day with a book character (doesn't have to be one of your characters), who would it be and what would you do?

Hands down, I’d spent the day with Roald Dahl’s The BFG, drinking frobscottle and making whizzpoppers.

Thanks Ellen for doing this interview....and I can't wait to get the book into the hands of students.

You can find out more about Ellen Potter at her website: www.ellenpotter.com

You can follow her on twitter: @ellenpotter

To find out where all the stop are on The Humming Room Blog Tour, click here.



Giveaway Rules:

1. Though comments are very much appreciated, please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (including your email, website, etc.).  If you do enter personal information, you comment will not be posted.

2.  You must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.

3.  The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 2, 2012 to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on March 9, 2012.

4.  You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.

5.  If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail.  If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.

6.  US and Canadian residents are welcome to enter the contest.

BREADCRUMBS Blog Tour: Author Interview & Giveaway

Kellie from Walden Pond Press has organized a wonderful blog tour to celebrate the release of Anne Ursu's new book BREADCRUMBS.   To check out all of the different guest posts, interviews, giveaways and more, click here.   Today Anne answers some questions for the readers here at Kid Lit Frenzy. 

In looking at your website, I noticed that you wrote first for adults, and have now written 4 books (including Breadcrumbs) for Middle Graders. What do you like about writing for a younger audience or what is different about writing for a younger audience in your experience? 

I think there’s a lot more freedom in kids books. Kids just don’t have the same expectations about how a book is supposed to work. They happily accept magic, and are unfazed by storytelling methods that break with tradition. It just feels like in middle grade books you have so many more stories to tell, and so many more ways you can tell them.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit several authors' writing spaces. It was fun to see how they set up their space, and what they used as visuals or inspiration on the walls. If we were to come visit your writing space, what would we find? 

I have a small desk in my bedroom that looks out on a gate covered with ivy that is Sleeping Beauty-level thick. I have a lovely antique hurricane lamp that I really need to clean. Next to the desk is a radiator on which can usually be found a manuscript I need to read, mail I need to attend to, and a cat that might be sleeping on top of, knocking over, or chewing on the manuscript/mail. Right now my desk also has a sculpture of Poseidon’s head made out of floral foam that my artist friend made for me this summer. It eyes me disdainfully. I am told it will rot slowly from the inside.

When did you have that "aha" moment that you were going to be a writer or that you really were a writer? Did you come upon it on your own or were you mentored along the way?

I wanted to be a writer from the time I was a kid. I completely lost myself in books and stories. I remember I always wanted to be a writer and something else—a teacher, a lawyer, a professor, a flight attendant (that’s when I was six). And then all the other things fell away, and I just wanted to be a writer. After college I worked at a bookstore, thinking it would give me time to write, not realizing all I would be good for at the end of a day of retail was collapsing on the couch and watching ER reruns. And then one day my parents announced they were going to support me for a year so I could write. Follow your dreams, they said. And I wrote my first book. I am a writer because of them.

Recently, my niece (age 10) shared with me a story she had written. What I noticed most about her writing was her lack of inhibitions with "writing". I realized at that moment that teachers (myself included) can stifle this often by focusing so much on the mechanics of writing. Sometimes we need to just "let them write". What advice would you give to teachers in regards to supporting or developing children as writers?

That’s a great question. I wonder if the answer is to give kids space to work where it’s all about the creativity. Maybe that’s a specific notebook they write in where mechanics just don’t count. Maybe you assign first drafts where nothing else matters but the story, and the polishing comes later—whatever you can do to free them from the idea that it needs to come out perfectly the first time. And maybe it just helps them to hear that most authors revise extensively, and the mechanics are the very last thing they worry about—the whole point is to get the story figured out first.

In writing Breadcrumbs, did you have a story in mind and then looked for a way of integrating it into a fairytale? Or did it start the other way around? 

I was actually directly inspired by the fairy tale of “The Snow Queen.” I was really stuck in my writing, and a woman I teach with gave a lecture on setting in fairy tales and folktales. She said, “If you’re stuck, go read these stories.” I got about a fourth of the way through “The Snow Queen” and the friendship story grabbed me, and I saw a book lay itself out before me.

One of the things that impressed me with Breadcrumbs is how many real life themes you were able to successful weave into this fantastical story. Hazel and Jack are "real" children in that other children will be able to relate to their experiences. What was the most challenging aspect in blending the two (the contemporary story so to speak with the magical)? 

It might sound odd, but it wasn’t something I thought too much about until I was done with the first draft. I realized then that the contemporary section was much longer than they traditionally are in fantasies like this. And in revision it became even longer still. But it had to be; the story required it. And so I had to remind myself that there really aren’t any rules, that what matters is that the story works, and if that meant the book was half contemporary Minneapolis and half weird-fairy-tale-woods world, then that’s what it would be. I teach writing, and sometimes in that environment we all get hung up on rules. I tell my students, “You can do anything you want, as long as it works.” I just had to remind myself that my job was not to follow some self-imposed structure, but to do what the story needed and, in Project Runway terms, to make it work. My real problem was that in the first draft Jack mattered only as he related to Hazel—as the best friend who changes overnight and then disappears and needs to be rescued. But he needed his own story too—there had to be a reason that he needed Hazel, and that he went off with the Snow Queen in the first place. Otherwise the rest of the story simply wouldn’t make sense. Once I figured this out, both worlds of the book had much more depth and the book worked out much better as a whole.

Last question...do you have any favorite snacks or writing routines you must follow when working on a book? 

I consume an enormous amount of popcorn when I’m working—last year I moved on from the microwave cancer bags to the hot air popper. I also eat a lot of red grapes, and my veins run with coffee and Diet Dr. Pepper.

Thanks so much Anne for stopping by and answering some questions.  

You can learn more about Anne Ursu and her books on her website: http://www.anneursu.com/
and here http://www.anneursu.com/handbill/

You can follow her on twitter: @anneursu
And she is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anneursuauthor

Don't forget to join Anne Ursu and Laurel Snyder for a Twitter Chat on Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 8 p.m. EST.  Use the hashtag #Magicisreal to join in.  For more information on the chat, click here.

Now for the Giveaway:
Anne has agreed to Skype with a class, book club, group of homeschoolers, etc. for 30-40 minutes about Breadcrumbs.  The Skype visit will include a short reading, and Question & Answer.

Giveaway Rules:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (including your email, website, etc.), you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
2.  The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 1, 2011 to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on October 7, 2011.
3.  You do not need to be a follower of this blog to enter, but if you like what you see, feel free to subscribe.
4.  You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
5.  Comments are not required but always welcome.
6.  If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail.  If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.

Blog Tour Giveaway & Interview with author Helen Stringer

Thanks to Barbara and the folks at Blueslip Media, I have this wonderful opportunity to participate in a Blog Tour Giveaway featuring Helen Stringer and her books Spellbinder and The Midnight Gate. Click here to read my review of Spellbinder.

There is a bit of a twist here. My 10 year old niece, Jackie, loved Spellbinder and she created the questions for the interview. We were thrilled to find out that Helen answered all of our questions.  Hope you enjoy the questions and answers as much as we enjoyed thinking up the questions.

So does Belladonna have a crush on Steve or are they just friends?
No, Belladonna doesn’t have a crush on Steve, he’s a bit too annoying for that at the moment. As to being friends, the only time she ever really talks to him is when it’s something to do with the Dark Spaces. The rest of the time he spends with his other friends talking about football and making trouble.

Has there been any other Spellbinders, and if so how many?

Yes, there have been other Spellbinders. In “Midnight Gate” the Queen of the Abyss tells them a little about the last one and they meet the shade of the last Paladin, whose name is Edmund de Braes. The last time a Spellbinder was needed was in the mid-14th century. In the past, though, Spellbinders were always adults. Belladonna is the first one to be a child, which makes her task much more difficult.

How long did your research take you especially on the Greek language?

The Greek language thing took ages! I don’t speak modern Greek, let alone ancient Greek, and because the Sibyl is from ancient Greece she had to speak the ancient variety. I tried using online translators, but they were all modern Greek. Then I tried to find an ancient Greek dictionary and had the same luck as Belladonna and Steve. I finally found something that translated individual words into ancient Greek and used that, but I’d already discovered that the ancient Greeks had different words or the same thing – for example, the word “door” could be different depending on whether you were opening it or going through it, and whether it was an outside door or an inside door – so I was fairly certain it was wrong. My editor thought so too. She had a Greek friend and asked her, but the friend only knew modern Greek. She then called her local college and managed to speak to someone in the Classics department who knew ancient Greek and gave us the correct translation. Phew! Funnily enough, no one has ever asked if the ancient Sumerian is right, although it really is actual ancient Sumerian, or as close as I can get it using a massive lexicon I found online!

What made you decide to write a ghost story?

I’ve always liked ghost stories and cemeteries. When I was about 12 my family and I went to Scotland on vacation. We stayed in a cottage in a tiny village that had a wonderful old graveyard. The gravestones were huge and had all sorts of details about the person’s life. Many of them had carvings of skulls and crossbones on them, as well as carvings of hourglasses. If the hourglass was lying on its side, it meant that the person had died young – before their time. A lot of the stones went back to the 1600s and were fascinating and sad. On some you could see that entire families had died within days of each other and you knew that some awful disease must have swept through the village. It’s hard not to think about ghosts in places like that, and to wonder if people hang around for a while after they die, and what they might make of our modern world if they do.

Who is your favorite character in the book? (Jackie's response "That's kind of hard. I liked all the characters.")
I’m with Jackie on this one! I like Belladonna because she’s so shy and quiet, yet really brave and smart. Steve is just so much fun to write – he gets to say all those things that you wish you’d said but couldn’t think of at the time. He’s also the kind of kid that everyone thinks they understand because they take him at face value, but he’s so much more than that and only needs the opportunity to be challenged and prove it. I also love Elsie. The Edwardian period was one of great confidence and she embodies that with her gung-ho, can-do spirit. She’s the exact opposite of Belladonna and can be really annoying, but her heart is in the right place. As to the other characters, I’d have to say that I like the Leader of the Wild Hunt and the Queen of the Abyss. They are both mysterious and dark and it isn’t entirely clear whose side they are on.

Why does Belladonna's aunt seem so scared of the Hunt?

She’s not scared. If she was scared, she wouldn’t have gone chasing after them. She has met them before. She knows they are dangerous but there is something that she is hiding. In “Midnight Gate” Belladonna asks the Leader if he has seen Aunt Deirdre and it is clear that he knows who she is too, though he says he hasn’t seen her.

In the book, The Hunt seemed nice to Belladonna but can they be harmful to others? 

The Wild Hunt are very dangerous. They ride the night and can scoop up anyone they want and force them to join the Hunt and ride with them forever. The Wild Hunt are well-known in the mythology of several northern European countries. In Germany they are known as Odin’s Hunt and in France as Arthur’s Hunt. Their legend even crossed the Atlantic and can be seen in songs such as “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” Whatever they are called, the story is the same, a band of mysterious riders that appears out of the night sky to punish the wicked and occasionally even the good. I always liked the idea of these immortal riders who should be avoided at all costs. The Leader has taken a liking to Belladonna, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is any less dangerous.

How come people didn't know the truth about Lady Mary?

It’s not at all unusual for history to forget certain details about people and events. This is even more common when the people and events are only of local importance. And, of course, ghosts are good for business. What old house doesn’t claim to have at least one? The story of Lady Mary and her demise is based on a story that the guides at the real-life Speke Hall in Liverpool tell, but although the lady’s husband did gamble away their fortune there isn’t really any evidence that she killed herself and her baby as a result. (And the windows in Speke Hall really are far too small!)

Speke Hall

Now here are some questions for the main characters:

To Belladonna: What did you like most about our adventure?
Gosh, I don’t know. Finding my mum and dad, I suppose. But…well, it was exciting to be able to do something and not be ordinary. I’d always wanted to be ordinary before, of course, and dreaded someone finding out that I could see ghosts – though they’d say that I thought I could see them and then everyone would laugh and…well, it didn’t bear thinking about, really. It was better once Steve could see them, too. The thing with the Words was really scary at first, but it felt really great to stand my ground and send the Kere back to the Dark Spaces. It’s going to be weird having to go back to school and pretend nothing happened!

To Steve: Has your ruler turned into anything else other than arrows and swords?
Yes! The thing is totally brill! It’s been a shield (twice), a blow-gun and a quarterstaff. I’d only seen a quarterstaff in that Daffy Duck cartoon (the Robin Hood one), but it was great. At first we (that’s me and Belladonna) thought it would only work on the Other Side, but it turns out that I can use it in the real world if there are supernatural creatures about, which is good because otherwise Belladonna would be toast by now.

To Elsie: Did you learn anything else (besides the information about the Night Ravens and the Dog) from Ashe's helper?

Not really. The chap was dashed cagey about things. No idea why he picked me, either. I suppose it could have been because I was at the school, but there are a couple of ghosts of teachers flitting about there, too, and you’d have thought he’d pick them. Mind you, now that I think about it, the ghostly teachers are a rather drippy duo. One’s an old art teacher who spends all her time fretting about the quality of everyone’s work and weeping at the windows. The other was a cook in the kitchens and all she does is follow the canteen staff around yelling that they’re doing it all wrong. I’m not sure that either of them would be much use in a crisis, and my grandfather was at Roarke’s Drift, as I said, so I’ve got proper brave soldier’s blood running through my veins. Anyway, I haven’t had such a ripping good time since my dad’s friend took me up in his flying machine!

Thanks Helen for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy and answering all these questions.  Jackie and I wish you the best of luck with The Midnight Gate and we will post our review after we stop fighting over who gets to read it first. :-)

Spellbinder series giveaway!

Three lucky winners will receive one copy each of THE MIDNIGHT GATE and SPELLBINDER along with some bookmarks!

1. To enter, send an e-mail to SpellbinderSeries@gmail.com.
2. In the body of the e-mail, include your name, mailing address, and e-mail address (if you're under 13, submit a parent's name and e-mail address).
3. One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses.
4. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on 6/17/11. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on 6/18/11 and notified via email.

For excerpts, games, links, and more, visit Helen's website at: http://www.helenstringer.net/
Read Helen's blog: http://helenstringer.net/blog/

To follow her on twitter: @hcstringer

To find her on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1553125309

Tomorrow's stop will be Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books at http://mrripleysenchantedbooks.blogspot.com/.

Spellbinder Series Blog Tour Information

Blue Slip Media has arranged for a Blog Tour for author Helen Stringer's The Midnight Gate release.  If you are interested in checking out all of the blog posts and interviews, click on the links below.

May 23, 2011 - Mundie Kids:
http://mundiekids.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-tour-guest-post-by-author-helen.html

May 24, 2011 - Poisoned Rationality:
http://www.prationality.com/2011/05/pr-special-edition-37-helen-stringer.html

May 25, 2011 - Cracking The Cover:
https://www.crackingthecover.com/2148/author-helen-stringers-books-born-from-childhood-love-of-storytelling/

May 26, 2011 - Bookworming In The 21st Century:
http://www.bookworminginthe21stcentury.com/2011/05/guest-post-with-helen-stringer-giveaway.html

May 27, 2011 - The OWL for YA:
http://owlforya.blogspot.com/2011/05/author-interview-helen-stringer.html

May 30, 2011 - Wicked Awesome Books
http://www.wickedawesomebooks.com/2011/05/guest-post-helen-stringer-giveaway.html

May 31, 2011 - TeenReads:
http://blog.teenreads.com/

June 1, 2011 - Kid Lit Frenzy (that's me):
http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/

June 2, 2011 - Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books:
http://mrripleysenchantedbooks.blogspot.com/

June 3, 2011 - The Joys of Reading
http://thejoysofreading.com/

June 6, 2011 - The Bluestocking Guide:
http://web.me.com/Bluestocking_bb/The_Bluestocking_Guide/Welcome.html

Guest Post: The World Outside a Book's Covers

Today, I would like to welcome Debut Author, M.P. Kozlowsky to Kid Lit Frenzy.  As part of the JUNIPER BERRY Blog Tour, M.P. has done several guest posts and interviews.  To check on all of the posts, head on over to Walden Pond Press for more details.

When I set out to build the world of Juniper Berry – or any world for that matter – I knew I had to create something larger than the book itself, something that would exist outside its pages, somewhere in the reader’s peripheral long after the story is over. This is what makes a book rich, fuller. So, when creating the underworld of Juniper Berry, as well as its cast of characters, I tried to establish a backstory that, barring a sequel, may never even be revealed. Where did these characters come from and what are their fates? What is the meaning behind certain markings and all the suggestions and asides sprinkled throughout? Is there more to Mr. Berry’s rants and notes? Details cannot be gratuitous. There has to be a reason for everything – readers can spot inauthenticity. I made sure to insert many details that are not quite necessary to the progress of the story, but hopefully, in the end, broaden the scope of the book. By doing so, I have answers, entire plotlines with which to extend the story if I ever choose. I believe a reader, whether subconsciously or not, picks up on this. They become further invested in the story, creating their own theory for each scenario, their own subplots. This is why, after so many books, we, as readers, always wonder what happens next, perhaps continuing the story ourselves or debating possibilities with friends and family.

As a writer, one should also create a world that came before as well as after, an entire globe of information. Where did Skeksyl come from, how did Theodore get there, what is the origin of the balloons, the doors and Roman numerals? I had to think this all through in order to make it authentic to the reader. A writer should also know the individual world of every character. Where they were and where they’re going. I never mention how the Berrys found the tree, but of course I know, just as I know how Dmitri came to work for them. Every tiny detail should be accounted for. This is world building and the reader demands it, expects it every time they open the cover of a book. Even if such aspects are not in the text, they pick up on it. The work certainly pays off – it is something I would definitely encourage to every aspiring author. If all of this is done correctly, the reader wholeheartedly buys into the world the writer establishes. Juniper Berry is very much set in the real world, but it also delves into the fantastical, which can get tricky, since the reader also has to venture there, along with the characters. If the reader does not feel like the underworld in my book is credible, if they don’t sense the depth of its creation, there will be no suspension of disbelief. In essence, by creating a world, the writer is trying to capture the reader’s imagination in full. I can only hope I have done so.

Thank you M.P. for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy and sharing with readers about how you created your world for JUNIPER BERRY. 

M.P. Kozlowsky was a high school English teacher before becoming a writer.  JUNNIPER BERRY is his first book. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter.  For more information about M.P. Kozlowsky, check out his website: www.mpkozlowsky.com

Juniper Berry Writing Contest: To celebrate the release of M.P. Kozlowsky’s debut novel Juniper Berry, Walden Pond Press is inviting all writers aged 9-14 to write their own tales of terror and temptation in at least 500 words. One grand prize winner will receive an iPad, a library of Walden Pond Press eBook, paperback and hardcover novels, and his or her story published online at walden.com. Author M.P. Kozlowsky will select the winner. To learn more: www.walden.com/win/juniperberry.