Teen Writers Bloc

I discovered the first Herbert’s Wormhole by accident last year, and I immediately fell in love. The book had everything an immature child at heart like myself could want: time travel, aliens, absurd humor, video games, and silly wigs. I loved the book so much that I immediately had to get on Teen Writers Bloc and sing its praises. So when I heard that there was going to be a sequel, I immediately pre-ordered it. Well, it finally arrived and did not disappoint! Without giving too much away, at the end of the first book, our heroes Alex, Herbert, and Sammi had saved the future through an elaborate scheme involving video games and the earth’s amiable conquerors, the Australian accented G’daliens. As Herbert’s Wormhole: The Rise and Fall of El Solo Libre opens, the kids are living the good life, being lauded as heroes by humans and G’daliens alike. But the evil yet pathetic no-good G’dalien Gor-don is still out to get them. Gor-don’s plot involves stuffing his tentacles into high heels and pretending to be a human woman, a disguise which everyone takes at face value, much like that episode of Pinky and the Brain where Brain pretends to be Cher by wearing stilts and a wig. Anyway, the plot isn’t actually all that important. What’s important is that we get more absurd, childish humor involving silly wigs, alien nonsense, and bad puns. In fact, the whole book is worth reading just for the fact that the evil alien bullies are after some valuable substance called LUNN-CHMUNNY. The back of the book says it’s for ages 8–12. But I say, read it, laugh, and feel young again!

Cover image courtesy Harper Collins

Popularity: 6%

Hello Teen Writers Bloc readers! I’ve plugged it at every opportunity, to the point where you are probably thinking, yes, Mary, we know about the stupid book. But for realz, y’all, it’s almost here!

To celebrate the release of Wuftoom on May 8, I’m having a public book release party at the fantastic McNally Jackson Books, here in Manhattan. Please come and bring your friends, family, children, and any random people you meet. Subterranean monsters are also welcome, though if they stink up the place, we’ll charge a special cleaning fee.

• What: Wuftoom Book Release Party
• Where: McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince St. New York, NY
• When: Sunday, May 13, 2012, 4:00 p.m.
• Details: I will be reading from the book and having a conversation with The Boneshaker and The Broken Lands author (and friend of Teen Writers Bloc!) Kate Milford. Then we will be eating fun and gross worm-themed desserts, drinking wine/soda, and generally having a good time.

If that’s not enough for you, I’m also reading THIS SUNDAY, MAY 6 at Books of Wonder along with several fantastic teen sci-fi/fantasy authors.

• What: Teen Sci Fi/Fantasy/Dystopian/Supernatural Event with me, Paolo Bacigalupi, David MacInnis Gill, Alethea Kontis, Galaxy Craze, Kate Klimo, and Elizabeth Norris
• Where: Books of Wonder, 18 W 18th St., New York, NY
• When: Sunday, May 6, 2012, 1:00 p.m.
• Details: Come meet some fabulous teen sci-fi and fantasy authors, including Hugo and Nebula award winner and National Book Award finalist Paolo Bacigalupi.

Finally, I’m running a giveaway on Goodreads from now until May 15^th. Enter to win a signed copy of Wuftoom!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Enter to win

Cover Image courtesy Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Popularity: 10%

If you asked me today whether I would do The New School’s Writing for Children program over again, my answer would be an unequivocal yes. Thanks to the program, I’m now part of an amazing community of writers that I know I’ll be part of for the rest of my life. I’ve completed four novels, and my writing has improved immensely. Though I had already sold my first book by the time I started the program, I think that my MFA experience has greatly enhanced my lifetime career prospects.

So if you asked me whether you should do the New School MFA, I’d say yes, right? Well, not so fast. You see, the reason that my experience here has been so fantastic is my peer group — the twelve fantastic writers I’ve had the honor of working with over the last two years. Over the last two years, we’ve pushed each other and supported each other so that each of us has reached greater heights than we ever would have without the group. Though we had three talented writers for workshop instructors, it was the comments of our peers that we most trusted, and it was our peers’ writing that we most learned from. The New School provided the structure for the thirteen of us to come together. But what else did The New School provide? What would the program have been like if it were just the program, and my classmates had been different? This question has left me wondering whether the program will be as amazing for others as it was for me.

For anyone considering whether to do the MFA, this is what The New School Writing for Children program consists of: Two literature seminars taught by fantastic New York editors, three peer-driven workshop classes led by talented authors, and a thesis advisor. That sounds good, but it doesn’t exactly add up to two full years of instruction, worth two full years of tuition. The school offers three semesters during which MFA students take classes. For one of those semesters, Writing for Children students (but not Fiction or Poetry students) must take a literature seminar outside their genre. When some of us complained about the lack of a third Writing for Children seminar, the administration presented it as both an issue of lack of funding for the missing class and as a good thing for us, because Writing for Children students need exposure to other genres to become well-rounded writers. If the out-of-genre requirement had applied to all genres, I would have been okay with this and possibly even supportive, but as it was, I found it insulting. The insult was compounded by the fact that not one of the fiction seminars we ended up taking included a single YA book on the reading list. I’m guessing that everyone reading this blog agrees that YA literature is, in fact, real literature and that YA writers are, in fact, real writers. Plus, I’ve already ranted on this blog about how unhelpful I found my literature seminar to be. Suffice to say that I didn’t feel that our tuition money was wisely spent on our out-of-genre requirement.

And now we come to the fourth semester. During the fourth semester, MFA students take no classes whatsoever. We meet with peer groups and work with a thesis advisor on a creative thesis. The New School requires a “literature project,” but Writing for Children students typically use a paper that we write in David Levithan’s first semester literature seminar to fulfill that requirement. So the school demands full tuition simply for advising on the creative thesis. Don’t get me wrong, I loved working with my fabulous thesis advisor, Susan Van Metre! But I know the school isn’t paying her my full tuition. So I think the fourth semester is a rip-off.

Finally, there’s the problem of low expectations. If you wanted to, you could graduate from the program without ever having completed a novel. The thesis requirement is only fifty pages. You could literally write only fifty pages in the entire program and still graduate.

What does this mean? Basically, I think the program is a crap shoot. If you get lucky and end up with a fantastic class, then the program will be well worth it. But if you get unlucky, and you end up in a class that’s less cohesive and motivated, then the program may not be worth the money. Personally, I chose to come to the program because I wanted to make being a children’s author my lifelong career. But if I hadn’t been able to attend the program for whatever reason, I would still be writing. I would even still be celebrating the release of my first book (Wuftoom, on shelves May 8!) I suspect that many of my classmates would also still be writing and still have achieved at least some of their successes. The program enhanced our careers, but it didn’t write our books for us. Success in the program requires a fire from within, something no amount of money can buy you.

Image credit: The Fabulous Riddhi Parekh!

Popularity: 11%

Okay, this month we’re supposed to write about bad writing habits or problems. What, me problems? Because I’m a subscriber to Scientific American Mind, I know I’m not unique in bearing this psychological trait: I’m sure that none of my problems are really my problems. Which is to say, they’re not my fault. Which is to say:

I’m not lazy, I’m just tired.

I’m not procrastinating, I’m percolating.

I’m not surfing the Internet, I’m researching.

I’m not sleeping, I’m active dreaming.

I’m not reading, I’m learning my craft.

I get headaches, so sue me.

Do you have any Excedrin? I’m out.

I said, do you have any Excedrin?

I SAID, DO YOU HAVE ANY EXCEDRIN???

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

It’s not my fault you didn’t give me any Excedrin. I really can’t be held responsible for my actions. For example, why has my nice book about some kids prancing around in a fantasy world suddenly turned into a senseless bloodbath involving body parts and spurting guts? Possibly it has something to do with the way THIS COMPUTER SCREEN IS GIVING OFF SO MUCH *&(#*& LIGHT!

[Four hours later.] In all seriousness folks, I could work more. I know that some people think I already work a lot, but it’s not good enough. I still spend way too much time being tired, percolating, researching, active dreaming, and of course, learning my craft. I could blame the headaches, insomnia, distractions, work-work, or my stuffed pink pig. But the truth is, I should just try to buck up and work more. Probably that means I’m going to have to start getting up earlier. Also, I should actually do the things on today’s to-do list instead of just moving them to tomorrow over and over again. Finally, I should work more. There aren’t really any gnomes inside my head making me forget what I’m doing and play ping-pong with them. That’s just a story I made up to avoid writing another 1000 words today. But now that you mention it, I think I will play another game.

Image Credit: Simon Howden

Popularity: 8%

Today we’re proud to announce Teen Writers Bloc’s first ever giveaway EVENT!

I just received my copies of my first novel, Wuftoom, from the UPS man, and I can’t wait to share it with the world. In fact, when I got my box of books, I was so excited about sharing it that I had to take a picture and immediately post it on Facebook. Then I had to mail off copies to my parents and my best friend. Then I had to take a copy of the book with me to peer group to show it to my awesome classmates. I still have the book in my backpack, just in case the slightest opportunity to bust it out arises. I’ll probably carry it around for the next year until my second book comes out. And then I’ll be carrying two books around everywhere. Twenty years from now, if all goes well, I’m going to be dragging around a cart.

But my friends and family aren’t the only people I want to share the book with. So … I’m giving away one brand new, signed, hardcover, hot-off-the-presses copy of Wuftoom. The book won’t be officially released until May 8, so the winner of the contest will see it before it’s available in stores!

Here is the summary from the front cover:

Everyone thinks Evan is sick … Everyone thinks science will find a cure. But Evan knows he is not sick, he is transforming. Evan’s metamorphosis has him confined to his bed, constantly terrified, and completely alone. Alone, except for his visits from the Wuftoom, a wormlike creature that tells him he is becoming one of them.

Clinging to his humanity and desperate to help his overworked single mother, Evan makes a bargain with the Vitflys, the sworn enemies of the Wuftoom. But when the bargain becomes blackmail and the Vitflys prepare for war, whom can Evan trust? Is saving his humanity worth destroying an entire species, and the only family he has left?

Want to win your own, signed, hot-off-the-presses copy of Wuftoom? To enter: Leave a comment on this post, and make sure you include your email address in the appropriate field (don’t worry, we will NOT make your email address public).

Rules:

*Ends April 18, 2012, 11:59 p.m. EDT.

*You must be 13 or older to participate.

*You must have a US mailing address.

*Winner will be chosen at random from those who commented and notified by email.

Photo courtesy Clarion

Popularity: 15%

Major YA publisher Scholastic has just announced that it has acquired the rights to a new YA novel by Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, of Jersey Shore fame. The novel, My Soulful Sigh, will revolve around Torrence, an African-American soul singer who “must endure the hardships of petty small-town racism and the heartbreak of unrequited love while following the twisted, painful path toward stardom.” Here’s a direct quote from today’s press release:

“Scholastic is thrilled to have secured the rights to Mr. Sorrentino’s novel. My Soulful Sigh is truly a masterpiece of literary art. It’s safe to say that no one who knows Mr. Sorrentino solely from Jersey Shore expected this kind of writing to come from him, but we have verified Mr. Sorrentino’s authorship, and we couldn’t have been more excited to learn that underneath the entertaining (and buff) exterior lies an intellectualism that rivals Beckett or Hemingway. And he’s made it all accessible to a teen audience. My Soulful Sigh will hit bookstores in Fall 2013.”

Ever since the news hit, reactions from all over the world have been pouring in, most of them negative. “My Soulful Sigh?” scoffed Sorrentino’s Jersey Shore castmate Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi. “Yeah, you want a reaction?” Ms. Polizzi then farted loudly into the microphone. Internet commentators have been, if possible, even less welcoming. Comments underneath the LA Times report have ranged from “Situeeten a crzy ho!” to “Looser [redacted] mouse turd [redacted] pickle juice [redacted anti-homosexual slur].”

Here at TeenWritersBloc.com, we have to admit that we’re surprised that The Situation has supposedly personally written anything, much less a serious literary novel. We had a hard enough time when we learned that Snooki had “written” a bestseller. BUT it’s totally unfair to pass judgment on something we haven’t read. We know lots of people at Scholastic, and they’re no dummies! So we promise to read the book with an open mind.

How about you? What do you think?

Photo courtesy MTV

Popularity: 20%

When I heard that this month’s assignment was to write about our favorite groundbreaking female author, I knew I had to write about Anne McCaffrey, the fantasy pioneer who paved the way for so many of the rest of us female authors. Unfortunately, she passed away last year on November 21 at the age of 85. I don’t know if McCaffrey really considered herself a YA author, but I first discovered her books in my middle school library, and they immediately drew me in. The first book I read was Dragonflight, which was about a plucky woman who was really good at something. That may not sound all that extraordinary to people now who’ve grown up reading fantasy, especially when the The Hunger Games is about the biggest thing going, but at the time, it seemed like a really awesome twist. A woman who was the star of a fantasy book! And her story was about how she was better than the men at something, not about how she could find a man to love her. I ate up a bunch more of the books in the Dragonriders of Pern Series, and then I moved on to Crystal Singer. That series was about a plucky woman, too, someone who had the courage to travel far away from home and work under dangerous conditions.

There was no room for weak and fragile ninnies in Anne McCaffrey’s world! To me, a physically weak and fragile person who was nevertheless determined not to be a ninny, these books were an important validation of the idea that I could be good at something, and that that could matter more than anything else. I haven’t had a chance to go back and read McCaffrey’s books over again to see if I’d still feel the magic today that I felt when I read them back in middle school, but I’m not sure that I want to. I want to remember how I felt back then when I discovered something that I found wonderfully imaginative and inspiring. McCaffrey’s heroines were often born with amazing abilities, but they always had to work hard to achieve their goals, to do something with what they’d been given. That’s a theme that works great for driving an absorbing novel, but also a theme that I can still keep in mind in the context of my real life. So thanks, Ms. McCaffrey, for being a pioneer, thrashing your way over the same ground we young authors humbly attempt to walk on. I would say “you will be missed,” but since your books will be around forever, there’s no need. Let me say this: Thanks, we owe you.

Popularity: 12%

I meant to review this book back in October when it came out, but I got busy reading books for school and didn’t get around to reading it. So now it happens that it’s Black History Month! Score one for procrastination, because this is the perfect book to read this February.

Caleb’s Wars takes place during World War II, an era in African American history that I hadn’t read a lot about. It’s 1944, and fifteen-year-old Caleb lives in rural Georgia with his parents, a devoutly religious mother and a father who whips him. All his life, Caleb’s been taught that you can never say no to a white person. You have to pretend to be stupid, pretend to agree with everything they say, take any abuse, and never question the strict system of segregation and degradation. As summer begins, Caleb expresses his anger with acts of petty vandalism and fistfights. But there’s more going on in Caleb’s town than his own struggles. His brother is in the army and is about to be shipped out to Europe. Meanwhile, German prisoners of war are being kept in a nearby camp. When Caleb’s fights with his father lead him to take a job where he works side by side with a German prisoner, he begins to see that the prisoner may not be one of the Nazis he’s heard about. In fact, the prisoner is the only white person to respect Caleb’s humanity. Over the summer, Caleb grows in his views of the world around him and navigates relationships with his family and the white people who run the town.

Caleb’s Wars is a thoughtful exploration of the social dynamics of a segregated Southern town. It also explores the depths of the kind of racism that would cause white Americans to give more respect to German prisoners than to their own African American soldiers. That Dudley manages to do all this through the eyes of one teenager and without detracting from Caleb’s personal story is something special. I was right there with Caleb the whole time, and I never felt like I was being lectured to or told what to think. In fact, Dudley’s nuanced consideration of these issues was a big plus for me. My only criticism is that the book contains a religion-is-real subplot that detracts from the otherwise stellar historical journey. All in all, I highly recommend Caleb’s Wars for anyone interested in WWII or African American history.

Image courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Popularity: 14%

So this is our last semester at The New School. Regular readers of this blog will already know that our sole task this semester is to complete a “thesis,” which according to New School criteria, must consist of “a manuscript of 50 to 70 pages of stories or other fiction or nonfiction, or a completed children’s book in a state appropriate for publication.” As a former attorney, I can’t help but point a few things out. First of all, what do they mean by “children’s book”? I mean, this is a “writing for children” program. All we write are children’s books. Do they mean “picture book”? If so, why don’t they just say that? Okay, let’s assume for the sake of argument (because I have to get to the argument) that by “children’s book” they mean “picture book.” That would mean that the criteria were written by people who had no idea what a children’s book was, but let’s leave that aside. Fine. If I choose to do a picture book for my thesis, I’ll make sure it’s in a state appropriate for publication. But what if I choose to do a manuscript of 50 to 70 pages?

The single comma in the above sentence indicates that there is no requirement of publishable quality for such a manuscript. If they wanted to say that such a manuscript had to be in a state appropriate for publication, they should have said: “a manuscript of 50 to 70 pages of stories or other fiction or nonfiction, or a completed children’s book, in a state appropriate for publication.” Could it be that the nice folks who wrote out the criteria didn’t know where to put their commas, even though they presumably teach writing? I wouldn’t dream of suggesting that. The only rational conclusion is that they meant exactly what they said; that’s the way the judge would see it. Are you getting my drift, readers? That means I can write absolutely anything that takes up 50 to 70 pages and consists of stories, fiction, or nonfiction. There’s nothing about word count. There isn’t even any stated requirement that such manuscript pages consist of writing for children.

Now, if you read this blog, you probably also know that most of us weren’t happy with our literature classes last semester. That was because they made us take classes that consisted solely of adult literature, and not only that, most of it was typical MFA nonsense. It seemed like most of the professors chose their books from a bin marked “Whaaaat?” Assuming that by “stories” and “fiction” they mean the kind of thing we had to read last semester, and incorporating the official thesis criteria, I’d like to share with you the first draft of my thesis project. There’s not enough space in the blog format to get the full effect, but picture one giant word per page.

 

Thunk Weel

We thunk a thunk weel thusly. Under the broad sky

of diamond silver gems and then

the little children, of which I was one

dreamed

in the field next to the weel.

The weel the weel!

I thunk it thusly, thunk I did!

Those dreams of weels and thunking which

therefore THE END IS NEAR REPENT!

 

To any publishers who are desperate to acquire “Thunk Weel”: Please contact my agent, Kate McKean.

Popularity: 17%

When I saw the cover for my first novel, Wuftoom, I immediately fell in love. I had to find out who was responsible for this piece of art that represents my book so perfectly. Recently, I was fortunate enough to get in touch with Neil Swaab, and he graciously agreed to answer a few questions about his creative process. Thank you, Neil!

1. Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you begin doing book covers?

I graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in Illustration. Immediately after, I started illustrating for newspapers and magazines as well as working at HarperCollins as a fulltime book designer, where I got the opportunity to create and art direct many jackets for children’s books and young adult books. Since then, I’ve gone freelance where I act as an illustrator and/or art director for a variety of projects in the publishing and media sphere.

2. As a group of new authors, we’re dying to know how the process of creating a cover works. First of all, do you read the book?

Of course! Not all designers do, but I try to read every book I’m assigned. It’s just so much more helpful. Sometimes, though, the book may not even be written yet when we have to make a cover, so we’ll just have to work off of a synopsis. On the few occasions that I’m just too busy to read an entire manuscript, I’ll at least read several chapters to get a feel for the tone.

Cover creation is a long and drawn out process and my work on it depends on what my role is. If I’m just illustrating, it’s far less work than if I’m art directing, which is far less work than if I’m art directing AND illustrating, which I’ll do from time to time. As an art director, I’ll read the book, talk with the editors about initial things we feel are important to convey on the cover, and then go off on my own for a week or two and mock up concepts and ideas and include any relevant artist or photographer samples. We’ll then try to get everyone onboard in-house and then the author as well. Once that’s all set, we’ll commission the illustration or photography and start designing.

In the case of your book, I was just an illustrator. I was contacted by the art director to create the cover image based on the work in my portfolio that she was responding to. After reading the manuscript, I went to work sketching out various concepts and mocking them up in a way that would show what I was getting at. The art director picked one of the concepts and, with some slight tweaking based on her feedback, I went and created the final art.

3. How much instruction does the publisher typically give you? Do you have free reign to create a cover that fits your interpretation of the story?

It really depends. Some publishers have no idea what they want and give you free reign while others may have an extremely narrow focus. The more freedom, usually the more fun the project will be. In general, though, publishers will have a particular audience they’re trying to reach and will want the book to be compared to others in the market and that may influence a lot of choices like whether to use photography or an illustration, for instance.

For your book, I’m sure the art director had a lot of those conversations before I came on board. When I was commissioned, I was told very specifically, that they wanted the silhouette style of art I had in my portfolio and that the book was a Kafka-esque middle grade story about a boy who turns into a worm-like creature. Other than that, I wasn’t given any other direction, which is actually pretty rare. More often than not, they’ll tell you exactly what they want on the cover. So, for this book, I just went off on my own and let my imagination work.

4. What medium or computer program do you work in?

Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are my main tools. I also combine those programs with a lot of hand-drawing. For your cover, I drew the entire thing by hand in pen and ink and then scanned it, imported it into Photoshop and then arranged it and added flourishes and textures.

5. Do you typically work alone, or in collaboration with an employee or partner?

I work alone. I share a studio, though, with three other illustrators and always have them to turn to if I need another set of eyes. Sometimes, I even work at the publisher’s office when I’m doing a long-term gig.

6. How long does it typically take you to create a cover?

It really depends. Every cover is different and has its own unique set of challenges. Your cover actually went very easily and only took a week and a half from beginning to end. Most covers, though, tend to live with you for months as you’re going through rounds of sketches, approvals, tweaks, final art, and revisions.

7. For Wuftoom, was the final cover the first idea you came up with?

It wasn’t the first idea, but was in the round of initial concepts I sent off to the art director.

8. Can you share some of your other ideas?

Sure! I’ve attached some in the email. These are all rough mockups of concepts that I would take further based off of the art director’s reaction. [At left, see the final cover and a few of Neil's mockups!]

9. Why did you choose this particular idea to run with? Did you consult with the publisher during this process?

That part of the process is all up to the art director, the publisher, and the sales staff. They let me know which one they responded to best.

10. What other book covers have you done recently?

I just finished up illustrating the cover to Paolo Bacigalupi’s novel THE DROWNED CITIES, a few Lois Duncan novels, and art directed and designed a children’s book by Karma Wilson and Jim McMulllan called HORSEPLAY! (none of those are on sale yet). I’m currently doing some illustration cover concepting work on a middle grade James Patterson book.

11. Aside from book covers, what other projects are you known for? Where else can we find your work?

I animated the first season of the show SUPERJAIL! on Adult Swim and the pilot of UGLY AMERICANS on Comedy Central; I do a weekly alternative comic strip called REHABILITATING MR. WIGGLES that runs in a bunch of newspapers and magazines around the world; and I contribute illustrations for various clients when the opportunity arises. You can see my work at neilswaab.com and my weekly comics at mrwiggleslovesyou.com.

Neil Swaab is a freelance illustrator, art director, cartoonist, animator, writer, and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. As an illustrator, Neil’s work has graced the covers and interiors of magazines, CD’s, newspapers, and books for clients throughout the world including The NY Times, The Utne Reader, The Village Voice, and Little, Brown. As an art director, Neil worked for years at HarperCollins Publishers where he oversaw the design of many bestselling children’s books and young adult novels for Laura Geringer Books and Joanna Cotler Books and continues to freelance art direct for them and other book clients on a regular basis. As a cartoonist, his weekly alternative comic strip, Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles, has been published in newspapers in over six countries and has been collected into books in America, Russia, and Italy. As an animator, Neil served as a character layout artist on the shows Superjail! for Adult Swim and Ugly Americans for Comedy Central where he created and drew many characters and key frame poses for the first season and pilot respectively. Additionally, as a writer, Neil’s first screenplay, Eddie Fantastic!, was a finalist for the prestigious Nicholl Fellowhsip and he’s currently hard at work on its follow-up. Finally, Neil is an adjunct professor at Parsons The New School For Design, where he teaches in the illustration program. Neil’s work has been recognized by The Society of Illustrators, Print Magazine, Communication Arts, American Illustration, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

All images © Neil Swaab

 

 

 

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