Teen Writers Bloc

The Writing for Children MFA experience at The New School — gulp, I can’t believe it’s over — was one of the most enriching educational experiences of my life. Here’s my attempt at capturing it in an ABCDErium with pros, cons and random essentials.

Authors. Meet them, read them, learn from them, learn with them, learn how to be one.

Amazing classmates. I really lucked out with this batch. Cheers class of 2012, you rocked!

ABCDErium. (ABBA-SEE-DA-REE-YUM) An A to Z perspective on a topic that you write after you meditate on it for a while and then just let it free-flow as you unleash your thoughts. An assignment for class I taught was to write an ABCDErium on Miles Davis’ album Bitches Brew. See Juggling.

Books. The MFA was a great way to learn things I never knew and needed to know about the business of books. I saw many of my classmates land book deals during the program. I also read more books in the last two years than I ever had—sometimes more than three books a week. At any point of the program my desk was covered in more than 15 books. Bliss!

Craft. Gathered immense respect for the craft of writing and the gazillion things that make it what it is: Thoughts. Plots. Words. Story arc. Character sketches. Voice. First person. Second person. Third person. Sub plots. Themes. Motifs. Summaries. Outlines. Revisions. Chapters. Buttons. Grammar. Edits. Rewrites. Writing is a beautiful complex organic stimulating scientific thing. As Andrea Davis Pinkney says: Writers Write.

Community of writers. Perhaps the best part of the MFA (at least for me) was the opportunity to share and learn with many inspiring and talented writers and build life-long associations with them.

Deadlines. The four scariest words for a writer — “I have a deadline.” And the only ones that get the job done. I doubt I’d be able to churn out my writing without deadlines — a journalism that trait stuck on. But as the MFA progressed, I feel like I coped with managing deadlines better. (I confess, this post was turned in late, but hey, I’m working on getting better at TWB deadlines.)

David Levithan. Taught us a seminar on teen lit in the first semester. Knows the YA and teen lit genre like the back of his hand and teaches a mad inspiring class about it. He is also very funny.

Expensive. Unless you have benefits, be prepared to be over $60K in debt. A part scholarship doesn’t even begin to count.

Focus. A writing degree with a focus on Writing for Children. As of now, few universities around the world  (seven to be precise) offer such a niche master’s creative writing program.

Feed. A dystopian novel by MT Anderson, one of my favorites from the reading list in the first semester. I loved the fact that the books on our syllabus were contemporary and uber cool.

Go For It. If you can afford it and are even thinking about a creative writing MFA, Go For It. It’s a great way to get started on writing projects that you’ve imagined for years but never gotten around to completing. Who knows, you might finally write that winning manuscript—or at least get started on it.

Harry Potter was not on our syllabus. Nor The Hunger Games. A lot of books you’d expect to see on a syllabus for a Writing for Children program weren’t on ours. In fact, the reading list for the Writing for Children concentration, with David Levithan and Susan Van Metre’s class (the only two classes that focus on children’s literature and were both fantastic) put together didn’t go beyond 30 books in the genre. Sure, we studied a LOT of excellent books, and yes, I definitely read tons outside of the syllabus as my own self-study. But I do feel like the program could use a more comprehensive and extensive reading list, and certainly one with more cultural diversity. Besides Sherman Alexie, Coe Booth and Grace Lin, I found the reading list dominated by white American authors. I don’t recall reading anything by a single Indian author. Perhaps the only Indian character I encountered was Bibi, a Bengali nanny from Julie Sternberg’s Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie.

Immersed. I feel like someone drowned me in a bottomless, delicious tub of kidlit.

Juggling. You could choose to focus solely on your writing, like some of my classmates. Or you could be adventurous and juggle real life (a time-consuming job) and write when no one’s looking, like others. Either way, writing requires some serious juggling skills that an MFA is sure to hone. In the first year I juggled with adjusting to life in a new country, as well as coping with a new system of education. I’d never left home before, so that was all pretty overwhelming, along with learning how to write academic papers, something I hadn’t formally learnt during my schooling in India. In the second year I was offered a Teaching Assistant position with New School’s Riggio Honors Program in Writing & Democracy, which was a fantastic opportunity for personal growth and learning. In Fall 2011 I assisted the amazing Tom Healy with his class The Writer’s Playlist, a close-listening and reading seminar that explores links between music and literature, both of which I’m passionate about. (That’s also where I discovered what an ABCDErium is). In Spring 2012 I joined the editorial team at 12^th Street, New School’s award-winning literary journal, where I had the opportunity to work with a dedicated team of student editors and contributors as we assembled the fifth issue of the magazine, from editing to production, publicity and beyond. Both my TA experiences invaluably broadened my reading range and literary network. Word.

Knowledge. It’s the foundation of the MFA, isn’t it?

Kevin Joinville. My buddy and the only boy in our class. The Writing for Children concentration usually has just the token male. This is not a pro or a con, just a mere observation.

Lang Café. Spent a lot of time inside it with peer group. Or by myself in the courtyard next to it staring into trees for inspiration and, yes, eavesdropping on conversations.

Manuscript. What a beautiful word! Say it with me: MAA-NUU-SCRIPT. By the time you graduate with an MFA, you might have one. Or two. Or three! Or you might have the semblance of a manuscript. Whatever the case, it’s a great feeling (I want to say accomplishment) to see a word document grow page by page into a large body of work. I wrote a little over ten pages of a story in the third semester that eventually became the major chunk of my creative thesis. And towards the end of thesis semester, my MAA-NUU-SCRIPT looked like this:

New York. Concrete jungle where dreams are made, yo.

New School. I’m proud to call it my writing Alma Mater. I had six other schools to pick from, and the New School was always numero uno on my list. I’m pretty convinced I made the right decision. Too many reasons. New School’s history of writers, which I was totally unaware of until recently, all the people I met during my time there, the fact that New York city is the helm of publishing and watering hole for aspiring writers, my amazing classmates. Let’s just say that the New School was an important and exciting chapter in the life of Riddhi Kamal Parekh.

Overwhelming. See New School.

Others. Writers of other genres. Like them Poets. Or writers of Fiction and NonFiction. Writers completely unlike those who Write for Children. There’s really minimal interaction amongst the WFC people and the other streams. My classmates may disagree, but I wish there was more mingling amongst the genres. Because, I mean, in real life, a writer is a writer is a writer, right? Also, how else would we have met the one and only Lenea Grace?

Peer group. In the fourth and final semester you suddenly find yourself rid of weekly classes and seminars. Instead, you meet with a peer group — a small group of classmates who read your work and give you feedback on it, and you do the same for theirs. My peer group felt balanced, committed and extremely inspiring, making the MFA worth every precious dollar. Amy Ewing, Caela Carter, Jess Verdi, Mary G. Thompson. You girls are my supportive upper lip.

Picture books. A largely ignored aspect of the Writing for Children program at The New School. Because of my interest in the genre, for some reason I had imagined there would be a larger focus on picture books. Perhaps the chance to collaborate with students from Parsons or something. But no such luck. My classmates even raised this issue with the faculty and tried to gain access to Children’s Book Illustration taught by Jacquie Hann, offered by The New School’s Continuing Education Program. This class might have been more beneficial than having to take a class outside of the Writing for children concentration (see Mary’s post for this month on this issue), but due to logistics or something, none of us were offered this class. We did, however, have a series of fantastic weekend workshops towards the end of each semester. One of them was in Picture Books, by the lovely Sarah Ketchersid, and I hope she continues conducting them at The New School. Andrea Davis Pinkney’s weekend workshop in Writing Cross-Culturally was also MUCH needed. Hats off to Dhonielle Clayton for arranging that. Like picture books, Cultural Diversity in Children’s and Teen Literature is another scarce aspect of the program. I’m sure everyone who attended these workshops will agree that they need to be further integrated into the overall curriculum of the Writing for Children program.

Questions. There are many swirling in my mind. Like was the MFA worth it? What happens next with my career? Will I find a job in publishing? Is it the MBA equivalent of Writing? What kind of jobs does one look for after an MFA im Creative Writing? Does it qualify you to teach? Will I ever sell my manuscript? Will I get an agent? Will I be the next JK Rowling? Who knows? Keep checking this blog for updates.

Quiet. There’s nothing as inspiring as a humorous ditty about writing a thesis or some ridiculous Hinglish Bollywood song  to get me recharged and get the words flowing again. But really, I do prefer silence when I’m writing—something I discovered through the course of this program. And yes, most people who are not writers, like roommates or friends who do ‘normal’ banking stuff or members of family may imagine that creative writing is a recreational and enjoyable activity where writers get high and turn on music and snap into the creative zone where writing page after page is just so easy. But really, no. Peace and quiet. Very essential to the process. (Oh bite me, you know Q is hard. But X is the hardest!).

Reading your work aloud. Yes, you have to do it in front of everyone at the end of your thesis semester. A few weeks ago, I read from my work at an MFA Student reading at Lang Center at The New School. It was the last student reading of our graduate program, where selected faculty and first and second year MFAers from all streams — Fiction, Poetry, NonFiction and Writing for Children — read from their work for about 3 to 4 minutes. Newly admitted students of Fall 2012 were invited to come and watch. Standing at the lectern, I zipped down nostalgia express to the first time I was in that very space at Lang Center. I was part of the audience — the sea of writers at the MFA orientation. I can still remember that feeling of being lost, as we called out our concentrations, and felt a little hope when I heard others call out the WFC concentration — although most said poetry or fiction. Back then, I never imagined I’d have anything to read to a room full of people, let alone be proud of it. If you chose to avail it, the monthly student readings at the New School great chance to the develop the confidence to read your work and to hear your peers and were a super supportive environment for me.

Submission. See Deadlines.

TWB. Teen Writers Bloc. This blog is a result of the MFA program class of 2012. And isn’t it the best thing ever? Three cheers to TWB! I’m proud to be a part of it.

Thesis semester. See Manuscript, Peer group.

Urban dictionary. A great resource for writing-related research. No, seriously.

Uneconomical. Can you learn the things you learn in an MFA program outside it? Sure you can. But will you take the time out to commit to your writing? And then will it be worth it? It’s a call every aspiring MFA candidate must to take. See Expensive, Overwhelming.

Voice. Very important when writing for children, teens, young adults and first-person narratives. David Levithan’s reading list introduced us to some fantastic voices. See David Levithan.

Vermont College of Fine Arts offers a low-residency MFA Program in Writing for Children & Young Adults. MT Anderson is part of the faculty. I’d love to hear more about it and compare the two programs. See Focus.

Writing for children. Gah. Pretty much the subject of this ABCDErium, no? See Go For It.

Xenophile. A deadly word I discovered in a desperate attempt to complete this post. Like the remarkable Dhonielle Clayton and myself, a xenophile is an individual who is attracted to foreign peoples, manners, or cultures. (Give me a break, you know X is the hardest!) See Quiet.

YA. I wasn’t as aware how extensive this literary genre was before I embarked to this program. Maybe it’s bigger in America? I’m not sure. Either way, YA rocks. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_adult_literature) See David Levithan.

Zipped by. Whooooosh. It really did. I wish it didn’t pause for three months during the summer.

Photo Credit: Riddhi Parekh

Popularity: 1%

A few of us at Teen Writers Bloc stayed up late to grapple with lines and crowds just to see The Hunger Games at midnight. At the Court Street Theatre in Brooklyn, the line wasn’t too bad when we arrived at 10:00 p.m., but soon thereafter it exploded and wrapped around the block. The crowd was thick with people of all ages and nationalities and racial groups. I didn’t see anyone dressed as characters from the trilogy, but some jackass showed up as a wizard from Harry Potter, complete with a wand!

At 11:10 they let us crowd into the theatre and made us travel all the way up to the 9th floor by escalator. Once at the top, we waited a little more until 11:35 and then they let us pile into the theatre. Everyone (including me) proceeded to run for seats.

In the theatre, every seat was taken and everyone was on their best behavior. I was nervous that there would be talking during the film or general debauchery, but these were dire-hard fans who wanted to see every frame and hear every word. Although my nerves were fried, I was able to settle in and enjoy the film. I thought the world of Panem was captured wonderfully: the crazy costumed people in The Capitol, District 12, the wilderness of the game site, the other tributes (especially Rue). I’m not sure there was a dry eye in the theatre when poor Rue was killed.

I don’t have much to say about the actual film. I was super-impressed and liked the way they let the story unfold. If I had to find a note of criticism, it would be that Gale was a more attractive than Peeta and, thus, it was distracting. I kept thinking, When are we going to see Gale again? I loved Peeta in the books, but he just didn’t look as lovely as Gale on the big screen.

Go see the film. Our New School Lit professor David Levithan was the editor on this series and it’s just a treat. I may never go to a midnight showing again because I have barely recovered from being out until 3:30 a.m., but it was quite the experience!

Photo Credit: Corey Ann Haydu’s wonderful friend Meghan bought her the Katniss ring, which is featured in the picture above.

Popularity: 22%

Earlier this year, I went to visit family in Alabama. During my stay, we went to a bookstore which was part of one of the largest chains in the area. (I’ll call it Store X.) The first thing I like to do is go directly to the YA section and look for certain authors, such as ones that I’ve heard at readings or whose books we read in our seminar classes.

So I searched the shelves and found most of the writers I was looking for. Libba Bray, Judy Blundell, M.T Anderson, Laurie Halse Anderson… they were all there. But some were missing. Julie Anne Peters wasn’t there. Nancy Garden wasn’t under “G.” The books that David Levithan co-wrote with other authors were on the shelves, but I couldn’t find any that he had written on his own. In short, there were no teen books about gay and lesbian characters.

Interestingly enough, there was a bookcase containing the Twilight series and other vampire themed books. Harry Potter and his wizard adventures were prominently displayed underneath a sign proclaiming “Reader Favorites.” And an entire section of the bookstore was dedicated to Bibles and Bible accessories. But I still couldn’t find Boy Meets Boy or Luna.

To be fair, I went to Store X’s website as soon as I got home and I found that they sell these books online. But my guess is that readers who come to this bookseller’s site aren’t aware these books are available, since they have significantly fewer reviews in comparison to other book selling websites.

My concern is that they chose not to put these books on the shelves. Young readers who come into the store would never know about great stories that could expand their points of view, like Brian Katcher’s Almost Perfect or Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez. I know this isn’t outright censorship, but this particular store appears to be controlling what they want people to read. If a teen happens to come across Annie on My Mind while browsing the shelves, let that person decide if they want to read it or not.

Of course, being a private establishment, Store X has every right to put what books they want on their shelves. As much as I loved J.K. Rowling, maybe Store X can remove some copies of the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from the ten that are on display and make room for some Julie Ann Peters titles. If Store X could open up its shelves a little, I’m sure they could open so many minds.

Photo credit ntwowe at http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2043

Popularity: 19%

Since Black History Month I’ve been wanting to catch up with Christopher Grant, the author of one of my favorite 2010 debuts. After a few unanswered emails, I decided to track him down over the summer. David Levithan moderated a Teen Author Reading Night in July at the Jefferson Market Library, and I spied that he would be reading there, so I met my friend J.A. Yang, and decided to bombard him after the presentation. The ambush worked out well and I discovered that my emails had been eaten by his website form, and got to secure an interview with him. We caught up with Christopher about his inspiration, his newest endeavor, and rejections.

Tell us a bit about yourself (bio) and how you became a writer? What did you do before you “officially” became a writer?

I love to tell stories.  If you let my friends speak on it, they’ll say I love to flap my gums.  In jest, one suggested that I should share my stories (they were probably thinking stand up comedy but that’s never going to happen), and I decided to give writing a shot.  That was about eleven years ago, right after I finished grad school.  Around the same time, I began my career as an equities trader, something I continue to do it to this day.

What made you want to be a writer? Do you write full-time now?

As I mentioned above, I love to tell stories.  By the grace of God, I’ve been blessed to see and hear a lot crazy things, many of which appear in my book. I am of Caribbean descent and I feel that there isn’t much of a representation of that population in contemporary literature.  My folks, all islanders (Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada) have a unique and colorful way of expressing themselves.  It was great fun attempting to incorporate some of that vivid language into TEENIE.

I have been an equities trader for the past eleven years, and do my best to balance that with my writing career.

Can you give us a quick synopsis of TEENIE? How did you come up with the concept for the book?

Teenie is desperate to be accepted into a prestigious study abroad program in Spain, so that she can see what life is like beyond the streets of Brooklyn.  She wouldn’t mind escaping from her strict (though lovable) West Indian parents for awhile either.  But when the captain of the basketball team starts to pay attention to her and Cherise, her best friend, meets a guy online, Teenie’s mind is on anything but her schoolwork.  Can Teenie save her friendship with Cherise, save her grade point average so that she can study in Spain, and save herself from a potentially dangerous relationship?

TEENIE is like the sister I never had.  Many of the situations in the book are based on things I’ve heard and/or seen.  For instance, Teenie’s father Beresford has an eating utensil called a spife, half spoon, half knife.  One of my uncles used to eat with something very similar to it.

What’s your writing process? What does a typical writing day look like? Where does your inspiration come from?

I do the majority of my writing on the NYC subway.  During my commute to and from work, I get about an hour and a half (forty five minutes each way) to create new material.  More often than not, I keep my headphones off and listen to the banter around me.  There is no place like a crowded subway car to pick up authentic dialogue.

My inspiration comes from my routine.  I try my best to make the most of my time during my commute.  My schedule is so hectic, it’s pretty much the only time I can really get any writing done.

What has your path to publication been like? What’s been the most surprising part of the writing/publishing process for you?

It took a long time to get published.  I worked on TEENIE (on and off) for about nine years.  In the process, I received over a hundred rejection letters from various agencies.  I kept clippings of the rejections and Bible verses pasted to my wardrobe to keep me motivated.

The most surprising part is how much I’ve enjoyed doing TEENIE related readings and events.  I always thought public speaking would be my biggest issue, but thankfully, I’ve gotten pretty good at it.  I have a couple of events coming up in September and October.  Those wishing to hear more can check me out on twitter, @nycsubwaywriter.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever gotten? What advice would you yourself give aspiring authors?

The best writing advice I’ve ever gotten was from an article  I read awhile back.  There was one line in particular that really resonated with me.  “You may not be published if you write, but you’ll never be published if you don’t.”

For the aspiring author, make sure you are as well versed in the process as possible.  Agencies and publishing houses get inundated with material and will look for any reason to send out a form rejection letter.  There are several basic things that a writer can do to help push their MS beyond the initial culling.  The Novel and Short Stories Writers Market is a great resource to make sure that the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed.  Taking a creative writing course is another way to get technique up to snuff.  These are resources that I used during my process.

What was your favorite book when you were a kid/teenager? What are you reading now?

There are too many to name.  I always had a book in my bag.  My mother would get upset because I would take all her paperbacks, read them, and return them with the covers mysteriously missing.  That tends to happen when you put a book in the same bag as football cleats.  As a kid, I liked Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and Archie comics.  As a teen, anything by Marvel Comics, Michael Crichton, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and whatever I could find on my mother’s bookshelf.  I tried to read one of her romance novels but couldn’t figure out what quivering love pudding was.

I just finished the HUNGER GAMES Trilogy, and am currently reading WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE.

7. What’s next for you writing-wise (and otherwise!)?

I am working on a sci-fi/fantasy novel.  It’s exhilarating and nerve-wracking all at once.  There are times when my main character, Genesis, is asking questions that I don’t know the answers to yet.

Genesis lives in Harlem with his grandmother Selva.  She beats the living daylights out of him, but for good reason.  She doesn’t want him getting too excited and giving his location to people that might want to steal his blue blood.  Then there’s the issue of him leaping to different time periods before Selva’s had a chance to teach him everything he needs to know.

Do you believe in being part of a “bloc” of writers? Are critique groups and writing communities helpful to you?

Whether it’s a writing group, or in my case, a focus group, every writer needs honest opinions from people they trust.  There are times when I think I’ve written something so good that the page should be bronzed, only to have someone in my focus group say, “That’s not going to stay in the story is it?”  I have three readers for my new novel and their input and critique, both negative and positive, really help me to get through the story.

Did the race and ethnicity of your characters help or hinder your publication process?

I would hope not.  It’s obvious that people of color are underrepresented in all forms of media, but I was fortunate enough to have the book published by one of the largest publishing houses in the world.  I received a lot of rejections, but only a fool would have been brazen enough to cite race as the reason.

Thanks for catching up with us!

Photo Credit: Tara Holland, Knopf Books for Young Readers

Popularity: 31%

One boring day in the library, I was searching Amazon for books with debut authors coming out in 2011 and I came across the name Anne Heltzel. Huh, I thought, that sound familiar. Upon further inspection I discovered that this debut author was not only a graduate of our fantastic program at New School, but also attended my alma matre, The University of Notre Dame (Go Irish!). It dawned on me that I had actually met Anne Heltzel at ND (through my musical-comedy writing brother, Danny Carter) long before any of us were writers. I caught up with Anne to congratulate her on Circle Nine which is debuting in September, and to catch up with her on life post-ND and post-New School.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became a writer.

I’ve wanted to be a writer as long as I can remember, but I always assumed it was unattainable as a career. I’ve always been passionate about books (and in particular, what books do for kids). I wrote for myself, in local contests, and later for undergrad electives. I did it because it brought me all kinds of enjoyment, but there are so many things that seem impossible when you grow up in a small Midwestern community. (Namely: creative/impractical careers.) I imagine it would have been different had I grown up in New York and been exposed to professional writers on a regular basis as a kid. (Not better, just different.)

I didn’t really do anything much post-college before “officially” becoming a writer. Once I decided to work toward my MFA, there was never a moment when becoming a published author was not the final goal. But I did random filler things to make money while in grad school. I had a bizarre experience working for a fitness company (where I was lawsuit-worthy harassed, by a Brazilian jiu jitsu master). I babysat every day after work for two years for a family I am still close to. (They now live in Paris, and I’m visiting them in the fall!). I was an assistant to a literary agent; I was an editorial assistant; I tutored algebra and geometry and writing on the weekends; and I moved to India for a year to travel and write. I also sold old clothes at Beacon’s Closet or on eBay when short of cash, and I came frighteningly close to nude modeling for a painter and, on a separate occasion, a photographer. (In the end I just couldn’t do it. I mean, I was trying to write children’s books, for God’s sake.) Right now, I’m working as an Associate Editor at Penguin.

Can you give us a quick synopsis of Circle Nine? How did you come up with the concept for the book?

Circle Nine is the story of Abby, a girl who loses her entire identity following a traumatic incident. She wakes up near a burning building next to Sam, a guy who says he knows who she is. She trusts him because she has no memories and therefore no choice. They have an intense romantic relationship that, to Abby, seems perfect…until memories of her past slowly begin seeping through the façade of the life she and Sam have built. Then she realizes that the things she thought were perfect have a sort of sinister underbelly. She has to figure out who she is and who Sam is and make some difficult choices about moving forward.

This book was so weird to write. It started as a story about a girl who meets a guitar-playing guy in the subway, and she gets off at his stop and realizes he’s from a totally different world. Aside from the obvious (though not purposeful) Harry Potter-rip-off aspect, it sounds way better than Circle Nine, right? Anyway, I kept writing it and writing it and it just didn’t feel right. Then this random voice popped into my head in the form of a sentence, so I wrote it down. That was the voice that felt right, so I scrapped 100+ pages and started over. Once I had the voice, I wrote the story in two months. I dreamed about it all the time. I was in a very difficult emotional place, and I think that’s where the darkness that permeates the book came from. So then I gave it to my agent (Adams Literary, whom I’d signed based on a different project) just before Christmas in 2009. Josh called me just after Christmas to tell me he’d stayed up all night reading the book, and he took it on submission right away. It sold a couple of weeks later in early 2010 to Hilary van Dusen at Candlewick. The book is coming out in September, so it actually sold a full 20 months prior to publication.

We notice that a lot of the reviews call Circle Nine a “psychological thriller.” Do you agree with this categorization? Did you realize that’s what you were writing while you were writing it?

Yes, I guess it’s a psychological thriller. (Heavy on the psychological, light on the thriller) No, I had no idea what I was writing. I just went with it. The voice had me so tight in its clutches that (this is going to sound insane and melodramatic, sorry!) it felt like Abby was telling me the story and I was just transcribing. It was the weirdest writing experience I’ve ever had, and it has not happened to me again since, alas!

What’s your writing process?

When I was writing full-time, my typical day looked like this:
-Wake up obscenely late. (Say 10 or 11.) Make coffee. Make eggs! Or maybe go to the bakery for a muffin. Read the news. Answer emails (if by some miracle my unreliable Indian internet was working). Dawdle. Open Word Doc. Stare at previous day’s writing. Write furiously for an hour or five, depending on level of inspiration. (Write 5 pages minimum, sometimes up to 20.) Go to gym? Or maybe just watch movie. Read book. Make dinner. Die of boredom. Even though I was in India, I lacked a community of fellow writers (at least for the first six months or so), and I felt lonely and claustrophobic. It was difficult. Amazing, but difficult.

Now I’m working full-time, so writing is relegated to the occasional weekday morning (at Café Regular across the street from my Brooklyn apartment) or weekend afternoon/evening. But I have writer-friends to hang out with, so writing has become a community-oriented experience for me. I usually write in cafes or bars in Brooklyn – anywhere out of the apartment! My inspiration can come from anywhere – any weird detail I notice during the day (like a burned-out jeep I noticed on the street, or a quirky exchange I had with my barista). I use basically anything that moves me emotionally, EXCEPT my personal relationships. Those are sacred, and I never want the people who are close to me to feel exploited. Okay, I broke that rule maybe once in Circle Nine. But never again. And I’m not telling you where.

What has your path to publication been like?

It’s been long and ever-intriguing! I suppose the most surprising part has been dealing with the public aspects of this private craft. Writing is so personal – and then there’s your manuscript in the world, for anyone to comment on. So far, people’s reactions (good and bad) have been much stronger than I anticipated. In terms of The New School: some faculty members were particularly supportive when I was a student there. Tor Seidler was emotionally supportive, because he seemed to believe in my talent. And David Levithan was the first to suggest, via my agent, that I try a YA voice — up to that point I’d been focusing on MG — and that paid off in a big way.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever gotten? What advice would you yourself give aspiring authors?

I once read or heard somewhere that 80% of getting published is finishing the manuscript. I think there’s a lot of other stuff that goes into it, but knowing that a large part of writing is sheer work – and that you just have to sit down and do it, much like any other difficult task – has been somehow comforting.

My advice: care about your novel. If you’re emotionally attached to your subject matter, it will automatically seem more authentic and powerful.

What was your favorite book when you were a teenager? What are you reading now?

When I was a teenager, I was in love with This Side of Paradise by Fitzgerald. When I was extremely young, I loved Little Brother and Little Sister by The Brothers Grimm. Now I like to skip around. I’m reading Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. (So far so good! The writing is beautiful.) And I’ve been flipping through Nine Stories (Salinger) and some other short story collections while I’m on the train. I have a lot of reading to do for work, so personal reading is a rare and treasured experience.

What’s next for you writing-wise (and otherwise!)?

I’m writing a dark, grounded YA for Candlewick, and I have a thriller signed up with Penguin under a pseudonym. They’ll both be out in 2013. I think I might like to give fantastical Middle Grade another try after that. Otherwise, who knows? As long as my writing and my relationships continue to grow, I am not averse to adventure and change. Maybe more travel! I just want to live a good story. =)

Do you believe in being part of a “bloc” of writers? Are critique groups and writing communities helpful to you?

I do believe in the wonders of being a part of a supportive writing community. I don’t personally belong to any writing groups, mostly because of my day job – I read and critique manuscripts all day long, and I’m not sure I could take on any extra editorial-esque endeavors right now. Plus, I’m private and don’t like many people to read my writing prior to completion of a semi-respectable draft. But I do have one friend whom I exchange with on occasion, and I frequently write in close proximity to a bunch of amazing, Brooklyn-based writers (many of whom I met through the editing world). Going through the process with a bunch of other like-minded people helps a lot. And then when the successes (and setbacks) come around, it’s great to have people in your life who really get it.

Thanks so much for stopping by TWB, Anne! Readers: be on the lookout for anneheltzel.com coming soon!

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What book has had a “bang” for me as a reader? I had a really hard time with this question. I attempted to answer it by standing in front of my YA/Middle Grade bookshelf, mouth gaping, finger running over the book spines, waiting for the obvious answer to pop out at me. But of course that didn’t happen. That would have been too easy. Eventually, I began to realize that to answer this question, I had to dig deeper.

It all goes back to my love of the show Hoarders. All those crazy people with their possession obsessions make me want to scrub my floors, dust every surface of my house, and get rid of anything I have that I don’t really need. I swear, that show will scare even the most lackadaisical of housekeepers straight.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, I moved recently. And as I was packing (the single most horrid activity on Darwin’s green earth), I got rid of a TON of stuff. I ain’t gonna be no Hoarder, no siree. I donated seven garbage bags filled with clothes, coats, and shoes to Good Will, put two dressers and three rugs out on the street to be collected by frugal neighbors, and handed off over 250 books to my used book-selling mother-in-law. It felt good to purge all that unneeded crap from my life. But here’s the caveat: the one thing all those books had in common was that they were non-fiction. I simply could not bear to part with any of my novels. And I have a LOT of them.

So that brings me back to our question.  Every novel I have ever read has had a “bang” in some way, shape or form for me. They have each had some small part in forming my love for literature, and they have each planted a seed in my brain for the types of stories that I want to tell. And that’s why I’ll never be able to part with any of them.

Here’s a sampling of my Big Bang Books, in no particular order:

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, for its accessibility and whimsical romanticism.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, for its ability to withstand the test of time.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, for its fearlessness and willingness to kill off major characters.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, for being the original romance-bred-from-hostility love story.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith , for making me laugh my ass off.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, for its magical optimism.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, for its seamless melding of fantasy and reality.

 

 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies book cover courtesy of Quirk Books.
Hoarders image courtesy of A&E.

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Disclaimer: The following paragraph is an example of extreme laziness and horrific work ethic and should not be attempted at home by the faithful readers of Teen Writers Bloc.

When I was in high school, summer reading was — prepare to gasp — always a chore for me. The reading lists never really had anything that I wanted to read. Let’s face it, the chosen “Classics” are not always the easiest books to read, let alone the most fun. Usually, I waited until the week before school to cram in a book or three. Oftentimes, I’d be sitting in the hallway on the first day of school between periods skimming through the ends of the books I knew I’d never read. And if all else failed, well, Sparknotes.com always helped a brotha out. My teachers’ penetrating glares when I didn’t know the answers to questions, however, were no fun.*

Moral of this story: Summer reading lists sucked. I was a bad student.

When I was younger I never had enough time during the summer months to read what I wanted to read because I’d be forced to read what I didn’t want to read. I’ve noticed (thanks to my 16-year-old sister) that summer reading lists now have a lot more variety and a lot fewer of the boring “classics.” (They save those for the year-long syllabuses). And what better time to pick up a great book than summertime?

When I’m at the beach, soaking up some color and getting my GTL on, the feel of a book in my hand is wonderful. I can lose myself in the pages and find myself wandering through castles or neighborhoods I’ve never known before. It’s a great excuse to just escape. And since I’m worlds apart from the “bad student” I was in high school, if a kid approached me now asking for advice on what books to dive into during the summer heatwaves, I’d have loads to recommend for kids of all ages:

For the young’uns out there: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (and its accompanying sequels) by Judy Blume. When I was younger, Fudge ruled my world. I was talking to my 10-year-old cousin the other day, and she had no idea who Fudge was. I was flabbergasted. I demand that all 8 to 12-year-olds get to know this series, because it was my life back in the day.

For the ‘tweens: Try out Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan or Totally Joe by James Howe. There needs to be more tolerance and acceptance for kids who are different, and it’s best to start at a young age. I also love Holes by Louis Sachar— it’s a great summer book!

For those who love their classics: Catcher in the Rye is a must. It’s the first book that ever “spoke” to my soul. Dramatic? Yes. Truth? Absolutely. I read it once a year to remind myself to never lose my voice.

For the teens out there who are too cool to read books about teens and would rather read adult books: If you’re into nonfiction, pick up any one of David Sedaris’s creative nonfiction memoirs. Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day are epic. Also, Junot Diaz’s Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are wonderful too. If you’re into fiction, Hunter Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is at the top of my reading list.

For kids of all ages (especially those who are young at heart): Harry Potter, Books 1–7. Let’s face it, come July everyone and their dog will be flocking to movie theaters all over the world to see who wins the ultimate battle between good and evil. Neither can live while the other survives, right? Well, in order to know what the heck that all means, you gotta refresh your memory. And why watch the movies when you can read JK Rowlings’ exquisite and exciting prose? I know that I’m starting from the beginning and going straight through until the very last page of Deathly Hallows before I make my way into my local multi-plex.

And what will I be reading this summer? Well, I’ll definitely be re-reading the Harry Potter series before the last movie is released. That’s a must. Also, I’m determined to pick up Ned Vizzini’s Be More Chill and It’s Kind of a Funny Story. I also want to read Brent Hartinger’s Geography Club and Libba Bray’s Going Bovine.

*Note: No pencils, no books, and no teachers’ dirty looks were harmed in the writing of this article. Oh, and don’t use Sparknotes.com. That’s cheating and cheaters blow.

 

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Warm weather has settled upon New York City and turned my mind into mush. I am not a huge fan of hot weather because it makes me sluggish and distracted, and thus less prolific or focused on school/writing. So this is a great time for the semester to come to an end, because I’m transforming into the biggest slacker of all time (even more than in the fall). As a former teacher with summers off, all I can think about is Mexican food, the beach, wandering New York City after 7 p.m. when it cools off, Shake Shack burgers, and summer reading lists.

I’m both saddened and very relieved that the first year of the MFA program is complete. I am itching for a break from the constant feedback, assessment, and opinions on my writing, just to get some “head space” to be creative and play around with a new project. The first semester was a whirlwind experience between exploring various projects in a workshop with Hettie Jones and a heavy reading load from David Levithan. The second semester got increasingly harder. Workshop became a bumpy road with our new professor, Tor Seidler, and his “intense” style of criticism and feedback, plus having to write on the spot in our middle grade literature class with Susan van Metre. I love middle grade literature, so I found the literature class exciting and interesting. But my creative muscle fatigued from trying to finish my middle grade novel as well as crafting new scenes based on writing prompts. Each Tuesday and Wednesday night, I left class with a migraine, and a desire to have this semester come to an end.

I’m thoroughly exhausted and thought at times: Why the hell did I decide to get an MFA?

But, alas, despite my criticism, the whole year has been successful. We launched a great blog as a class, I finished my MG fantasy novel, I wrote scenes in the MG literature class that may turn into novels, and I’ve gotten some fantastic, life-long critique partners. I achieved my goal for the first year: finish a book.

I am sad that we only have one more year of the program before it’s “show time.” Either I sell a book or get another job. But like I tell my father, I am just not made for “real work” (haha!), and I love the broke-ass life of a writer.

For the summer, I hope to continue the momentum I’ve set up. Here are my goals for the fall:

• Finish another MG fantasy novel
• Get an intern for TWB to help make the blog even better
• Finish a ghost-writing project
• Launch a new author website and update it

In the fall, we must take a class outside of our discipline of children’s literature and join the other MFA students. I am not looking forward to this at all. I don’t want to be forced to read adult texts and would love to take a course on picture books or early readers. Here is where The New School fails its Writing for Children students, whereas programs at Simmons College and Hollins University have the upper-hand on great literature courses in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. But I will get off my soap-box!

My first year in an MFA program has been a rollercoaster, but worth the ride.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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This year has been pretty surprising for me. Last summer, I was just beginning to explore my funny side. My first book, Wuftoom (Clarion, 2012—yup, had to get that plug in), is about a kid who finds himself turning into a disgusting worm-like creature. It does have some humor, but it’s more gross-out than laugh-out-loud. I thought that style would probably stick with me for my career. Yes, I had just finished a sci-fi book with aliens and silly moments, but the lighter style hadn’t sunk into my sense of self yet. And I spent all of fall semester working on a teen sci-fi novel about time travel—a book with both a serious plot and a conspicuous lack of monsters, aliens … well, okay, there’s an alien … my point is, it’s supposed to make you think, not laugh. Then something happened. I don’t know what it was. Maybe my pink pig had a good year. Suddenly, I  was writing in-class exercises that made people laugh—even if they were going “eeew” at the same time. Then I was sitting on the train one day after class, and I came up with an idea for a new book. The idea popped into my head like ideas normally do—out of thin air. I won’t give away what it’s about yet, but let’s just say it involves magic and silly wigs. When my class laughed at my first submission, I knew I was on to something. In fact, the latest discussion we had about my book made me laugh so hard I cried (thanks, Corey!).

Where did my sudden sense of humor come from? I can only surmise that it has something to do with being happier than I’ve been in many years—which has everything to do with the program and the awesome people I’m lucky enough to have in my class. So I’d like to say thanks to (in no particular order) Jess, Amy, Corey, Dhonielle, Kevin, Riddhi, Amber, Jane, Alyson, Caela, Sona, Lenea, Hettie Jones, David Levithan, Tor Seidler, Susan van Metre, and Caron Levis for making this year pretty awesome.

I don’t know whether my next book will be funny or whether I’ll find some horrible new way to end the world. Maybe I’ll write in a style I never imagined I’d ever write in (first person present tense realism book with a climactic prom scene?). I do know I’m looking forward to another year with the same amazingly talented group of writers. Rock on, Teen Writers Bloc!

 

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I tend to go to Barnes and Noble a lot. It’s a great place to think. Finding myself among shelves of books, miles and miles of endless words, it’s easy to find inspiration. Living in Westchester (just north of Manhattan), it’s a lot more convenient than The Strand or Books of Wonder (two of the best bookstores known to mankind), and usually the bookstores up here have a lot of empty floor space for me to spread out and think.

The first thing I do upon entering Barnes and Noble (or any bookstore for that matter), is find the Young Adult/Teen section and glance at the New Releases. And every time I do, I’m hard-pressed to find a book that appeals to guys. There’s an abundance of glossy covers dripping with girly imagery, like bleeding roses, puckering lips, overly made-up tweens behind swirly calligraphic fonts. It’s easy to find books about falling in love with sexy vampire boys or How To’s on dating the unattainable football quarterback. Half the books have the word “Girl” in the title, and the other half have pink covers. These sections might as well be called the “Young Girl Section,” and get rid of the unisex “Adult” all together. I doubt any guys would notice anyway.

Just a few weeks ago I was at the Barnes and Noble in Poughkeepsie, NY, and a mother was browsing the Teen shelves with her son, who was about thirteen or so (if I had to venture a guess). The mother was combing the shelves for something, anything for her son, to no avail. I even heard him say something to the effect of “all these books are for girls.” He wanted something exciting, with action or sports or anything without the word “Girl” in the title. Now, usually I’m a loud person, and I would have jumped right in to recommend something for the poor kid, but I thought about it, and I truly had to wrack my brain for a title that he would enjoy. While I was thinking, the mother asked one of the workers to recommend something. And when I heard the words “Twilight is really popular,” I nearly fainted.

What exactly can be done to get boys to read? Well, for starters, bookstores can start displaying books for boys on their shelves, instead of hiding them in between more popular girlish covers. Now, I know that’s not even half the battle. The biggest hurdle to leap is at the fingertips of the writers out there. Even books like the Hunger Games appeal to male readers, but only to an extent. The themes and ideas of those books are great for a male readers, but I know that I just couldn’t relate to Katniss while she was getting made-over for the Games. There’s something about the female lead character that only appeals to a certain demographic of male readers.

Not too long ego, I finished Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, and even though it follows Lily and straight-boy Dash on an adventure-to-find-love-and-friendship across Manhattan, I couldn’t help but notice the gay-friendly notes of Dashes character. He’s not weirded-out by The Joy of Gay Sex, and his best friends are both gay, and while I personally love David Levithan’s writing (I think he’s a genius), I think his books are (sadly) too idealistic for the average straight male reader (and boy do I hate that I have to separate and even categorize straight versus gay teen literature). Not to mention the obvious heart front and center on the book jacket, and I doubt a guy would just pick up the book, even though they should because it’s a great adventure for any teen.

This is a battle cry to all writers: Boys Need Books!

This is a battle cry to the publishing houses: Boys Need Books!

This is a battle cry to all librarians and book store clerks: Boys Need Books!

Books for the guys out there need to be promoted just as much as the next Twilight series. Librarians and book store clerks need to know the material and what appeals to their male readers so that they can properly and aptly recommend titles. Of course, simply stocking boy-friendly books won’t do any good without that extra bit of promotion. I know that I can’t walk into a store without seeing a poster for Twilight. So why not appeal to boys too? Why not have a separate store display for boys?

But, like I said, that’s only the first battle.

We as writers have to get in there and write for the guys. Right now, the book I’m working on doesn’t entirely fit the criteria for a Boy Book. But my next project certainly does (which, of course, gives me motivation to finish my current novel so that I can start on this next one). I have already planned out attack on Barnes and Noble shelves: writer a killer book with a teenage male target audience in mind.

Why? Guys need the same cutting edge books that girls get. Guys need the same fresh voices that girls are privy to. Guys need relatable books, books to get lost in, books to fantasize about, just as much as the girls out there need to dream about winning the heart of the all-star quarterback. Boys grow up and deal with growing pains too, just as much as girls. Boys have anxieties over school and homework and social lives and girls and first kisses just as much as girls.

So, don’t we deserve a bit of escapism that isn’t in the form of a videogame?

Don’t we deserve a voice that’s strictly our own?

Don’t we deserve to read?

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