caroline hickey

Chatting with Kristin Levine

2012-01-30T10:03:00.004-05:00

I recently met the lovely Kristin Levine at a DC Children's Book Guild meeting and had the pleasure of reading her terrific new book, THE LIONS OF LITTLE ROCK. It takes place in 1958 Little Rock, AR, and deals with the relationship of main character Marlee and her friend Liz, a black girl "passing" for a white one at school, until the day Liz must withdraw, because she's been found out.

Where did you get the idea for your new book, TLOLR?

My mother grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. I started asking her about her childhood, and in our very first conversation about Little Rock, my mother told me about listening to the lions roar at night. Something about that detail stuck with me. In addition, I attended very diverse public schools growing up, so the Little Rock Nine and school integration is something I've always been interested in.

What was the most difficult part of writing TLOLR?

It took me a long time to really understand the character of Marlee - which wasn't so great, since she was my main character! Once I did, the story finally started to flow. I also struggled with trying to figure out how to make my main characters, Marlee and Liz, as active as possible in the plot. I didn't want them to just observe the historical events going on around them; I wanted them to actively take part in making things change.

What was your favorite part of writing it?

I really enjoyed the research, interviewing people and gathering information. I also enjoyed doing the final draft, once I had the characters and conflicts down and was just deepening and changing things. It was the middle when I was muddling through, not even sure if the story was going to work, that was the hardest for me.

Did your process change at all from writing your first book?

Yes! My first book, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, started as a screenplay. I did lots of outlining, note cards, and actually had a complete story by the time I sat down to turn in into a novel. This time, I decided to just "start writing" because I was a writer, right? I knew how to do this. Ah, no. Turns out, I am not a "seat-of-your pants" kind of a writer. (I totally admire those of you who are!) I guess it was a good thing to learn about myself, but it was painful to realize I needed to go back and plot things out when I was already 170+ pages into the story.

As a busy mom with two small children, how do you find time to write?

This is the issue I struggle with the most. My mother babysits once or twice a week for a few hours, my husband helps out on the weekends, I try to make use of school and nap time, I've traded kids with friends, and there is always our collection of Disney movies if I get desperate and have a deadline. I had to work a lot at night after my kids were asleep when I was writing LIONS, which I did not really enjoy, but it was necessary.

On the other hand, kids can be a motivating factor too. It's awfully fun when my kids decide they want to play "book launch" or ask to look for my book on the shelf when we go to the library. They aren't old enough to read my books yet, but I really look forward to sharing my work with them in a few years.

Ultimately, I think that finding time to write is going to be an ongoing struggle while my kids are small. So instead of trying to totally solve this problem, I'm now just trying to accept it.

What do you do when writer's block hits?

I give myself permission to write something really, really bad. Basically, I have so little time to write, I can't afford to get writer's block. I force myself to write something, even if it is terrible, and usually after a while of terrible writing, something okay starts to come out. But if after an hour nothing good is coming, I'll stop and try again another day.

What's your favorite snack/drink when writing?

We have the most wonderful coffee shop near our house, so I love to hang out there. My favorite drink is probably tea - green or black with rice milk. They have the most delicious croissants and homemade pastries too.

Thanks, Kristin!

Great Quote

2011-12-21T11:05:00.002-05:00

I found this great quote from Susan Isaacs this morning. Don't you love when you find just the right inspirational words, exactly when you need them?

Writing is a job. You have to go to work regularly or the work simply will not get done. If you're working full-time, set aside a couple of weeknights and part of the weekend in which to work. Otherwise, you should be working at least five days a week for at least two to three hours. Remember this: if you didn't show up for work, you'd be fired. If you don't show up for your writing work, you lose, too. You won't be a writer.

Right now, I'm only finding about 3 or maybe 6 hours a week to work. This reminds me I have to do better, even when the wee ones aren't cooperating.

BIC

2011-11-02T10:29:00.002-04:00

Still creeping slowly back into work mode. My baby is 5 months now, and still not on a schedule (I've tried and tried, but she's resistant in her charming, drooly way) so finding time to work is hard. I do have a sitter once or twice a week for a few hours, but it's amazing how fast that time goes, especially when it's often filled up with dentist appointments, teacher conferences at my toddler's school, and the occasional kid-free errand.

So, I have to choose carefully what my next project will be. I have a revision I'd really like to work on, for a book that I love and know is special but needs some reshaping. And I also have an idea for a great new series for younger readers. But something new requires so much brainpower and I'm still cruising at around 50%. What to do, what to do...

The answer is simple of course. Put my Butt In Chair (as Jane Yolen says) and WRITE.

Butt in chair now.

BIC. BIC. BIC.

Back to work

2011-09-28T19:48:00.004-04:00

I'm slowly getting back to work now that my youngest is 4 months old. Sloooooowly.

I have some school visits on the calendar, and I'm teaching two classes in Baltimore at Roland Park Country School's evening program for adults. One is called Making Time to Write in a Busy Life on 10/26, and the other is The ABCs of Writing Children's Books on 11/9. I'm excited about these classes, not only because I got to pick the topics to discuss, but because Roland Park is my alma mater, and I'm thrilled to be going back there to teach.

You can find out more about the classes here. Sign up and come and see me!

So I haven't posted in a while...

2011-07-27T14:02:00.003-04:00

But I have a very good reason.

The stork delivered this little package in late May and I've been, uh, a little busy ever since.

I'm taking the summer to spend time playing, cuddling, and hanging at the pool with my toddler and infant, and then I'll be back to work in the fall.

It's been the loveliest summer I can remember.

Putting the Octopus to Bed

2011-03-14T12:38:00.003-04:00

So I've gotten my feedback (all helpful -- yay!) and now I've got to start putting this octopus to bed. Meaning, when tackling a revision, you usually have about eight (or a billion) things you need to focus on, which means every time you manage to put a few of them to bed, the other ones get loose and shoot out all over the place.

It's a tricky thing, revision. In my experience, my work ALWAYS gets better when I do a large rewrite. Always. But in the days leading up to plunging back into a manuscript, I'm overcome by fear that I won't be able to do it. I won't be able to manage all those octopus legs, and I'll just end up with a big, fat, mess.

A lot of writing is just shutting up your fear and getting your fingers moving. Because nothing will get finished if you just sit there and worry.

Okay, enough blogging. I've got a date with an octopus.

Waiting for Feedback (and Considering Dentistry)

2011-03-02T09:51:00.003-05:00

Being a writer is full of hurry up-and-wait. You hurry-hurry to get through a first draft (for me, the most painful part of the entire writing process). Then you hurry-hurry to read and revise it because you're so anxious to fix the millions of things that are wrong with it. Then you hurry to make it somewhat presentable so you can push it out of your own hands, by sending it out somewhere -- either to an agent, editor, or trusted critique partner(s).

Right now I'm waiting for feedback on something brand new. In the mean time, I'm looking critically at some old and half-finished projects, trying to see if there's a spark anywhere I should ignite and work on.

But mostly just waiting and wondering. Sometimes I think I should have been a dentist instead. Or any less emotional profession.

Weenies

2011-02-21T14:53:00.003-05:00

I had a writing date yesterday with the lovely Pam Bachorz and we got to talking about what makes a book a must-read. What makes it marketable? What makes it punchy? In short, what makes it work?

She told me a great story about Walt Disney and how he used to carry a hot dog in his pocket, which made his dog follow him around everywhere. Walt used that idea of the dog and weenie and applied it to his theme parks and franchises. When anything at Disney was being developed, he'd ask "Where's the weenie?," meaning, What's going to make people WANT it?

I was looking over a draft of something I wrote awhile ago that never quite came together and I realized instantly there was no weenie. There was a toasty bun, generous amounts of ketchup and mustard, and even some relish, but NO WEENIE.

I'm planning my revision now, with a full-size ballpark weenie in mind.

Writing Events

2011-01-20T17:44:00.002-05:00

When I was getting my MFA in Writing for Children from the New School in New York, we had to attend a minimum of eight writing/publishing "events" per year (or was it per semester?). They believed this helped us to embrace the "writer's life," and it was one of my favorite parts of the program.

Now that I'm in DC, I still try to attend as much stuff as I can. Local conferences, book signings, etc. And I'm lucky to have my monthly DC Kidlit Book Club meetings, as well as my DC Children's Book Guild meetings. The Guild had a wonderful midwinter party last weekend where we all got a chance to eat, mingle, and discuss our writing, and today we had a luncheon with editor Namrata Tripathi (of S&S's Atheneum) as the speaker.

I always mention how solitary writing can be, especially when one is home with kids and not able to get out and do as much stuff as one would like. But attending a few events each month, making time for writing dates with friends, and just hanging out at the bookstore every once in a while to browse really keeps the juices flowing.

I'm mid-revision right now, so I need to be gunning it every day, but I'm glad I took some time this week to catch up with my fellow writers and get re-inspired. Tank refilled!

Writing Dates

2010-12-29T08:35:00.002-05:00

I'm lucky enough to have friend and fellow teen author Jenny Han in town this week. Right now we're sitting at my dining room table hacking away at our respective manuscripts. We type, we drink tea, we stop and toss an idea or two at each other, and go back to typing.

Sometimes with writing dates progress appears slower than when working alone, but I find that the companionship, the sounding board, and the shared energy of working WITH someone, even if you're not working on the same project, more than makes up for it. One of the few things I miss about having an office job is having colleagues to make the work go a little faster.

So yesterday and today, I have a colleague. And, so far, a bunch of new pages in my manuscript and a clearer idea of what I want the climactic scene to be.

(Also a toddler running around asking for more Elmo's World, but let's ignore that, shall we?)

Something for the Mom-Writers

2010-11-09T11:32:00.003-05:00

When I'm having a week where I can't get enough writing done, or I'm completely distracted by toddler antics, toddler illness, pregnancy insomnia, and broken garbage disposals, among other things, I read this quote from Elizabeth Berg's Escaping Into the Open, and I feel better.

When you have young children, and you are the primary caretaker, I think they must come first. If they don't, I think it will hurt both of you. This is not to say that you should put your writing aside when you have children; rather, it is to encourage you to work around their schedule as much as you can...

In order not to cheat yourself, you have to make writing a high priority... But you have to live the rest of your life, too; you have to allow room for all that makes you you, for all that feeds you. In my mind, being more than a writer, means you're more of a writer.

My hats off to other writers who are also full-time moms to young children and manage to get a little work done everyday. I shoot for four days of writing a week, and usually do it. But sometimes life happens and nothing gets done, and then I feel guilty, when really I shouldn't bother feeling that way. Because I will never make the choice of writing over caring for my sniffly daughter, or taking her to get a balloon on a day that she really, realllllly wants one, or lying on the living room floor while she gives me a pedicure with a crayon.

What I'm reading now

2010-11-02T16:15:00.008-04:00

I always like to have a good stack of books on my bedside table. Here's what I'm reading now:

Sophie Simon Solves Them All by Lisa Graff - Chapter book about an 8-yr-old genius who solves her classmates' problems.

Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes by Lisa Greenwald - MG novel about three best friends and their mission to spread a little community love on a snowy Valentine's Day in NYC.

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson - The sequel to Chains, one of my favorite reads last year!

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly - A new contemporary/historical fiction YA about how a teen in today's Brooklyn finds the diary of a girl living in Paris during the French Revolution, and the effect it has on her.

Mother/Daughter Books & Tea

2010-10-20T15:54:00.006-04:00

Fellow author Jennifer Allison and I hosted a Mother/Daughter Books & Tea event at Politics & Prose bookstore last Sunday and, happily, it was a huge success! The event was sold out, with both daughters and mothers squeezing into the downstairs "Remainder Room" at my local indie, anxious to discuss their favorite tween books, ask Jen and I questions, and get their books signed.

Several of them were aspiring writers, which always makes for

great questions.

The Chevy Chase Patch covered the event here.

If you are a bookseller, librarian or teacher and would like to host a similar event, please email me!

The Highs of Writing

2009-05-06T14:19:00.000-04:00

There's a great interview with Coe over at School Library Journal.

In it Coe states how one of her favorite surreal moments as an author was the day she sat and signed books next to Ann M. Martin. She doesn't even mention winning the LA Times Book Prize, which most people would expect to be the answer. That's because the book lover in her is still more jazzed to meet an author/hero, than to be one.

I think it's neat how the things we expect to be big moments for us as writers are often not the ones that resonate the most. I remember thinking that selling my first book would be huge, but getting an agent was actually more exciting for me, because that was the moment I felt I was On My Way. And seeing my books on the shelves is nice, but not as great as having a kid ask me when I'm going to write a sequel.

One of the happiest moments I've had as a writer was at the ALA conference in 2007, where I was able to sit in on a session with Judy Blume. When she got up to the podium I got teary-eyed, just thinking of the effect her books had on me as a kid, and the many, many times I've read them. I think that in my mind and ego, I will always be a Reader first, and a Writer second.

*caroline hickey

Do Your Research

2009-04-29T12:43:00.000-04:00

My new WIP takes place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where I spent time as a kid. It's a beautiful, rural, somewhat insulated community, and I really want to infuse my book with its atmosphere. I hadn't visited in several years, so last week my husband and I took a two-day trip there and toured a few of the smaller towns.

Just being on location gave me a huge rush of inspiration! I jotted down tons of notes for places my characters should go, little bits of local trivia and details I can add, etc. I want to weave in some of the history of the town without taking the reader out of the story, and since it's told in first person present that will be difficult. But I plan to try it.

I'm still foggy on what the next few major scenes of my book will be, but I feel so in tune with the setting and flavor of the book. I just hope it translates. (And that one day I actually finish this draft!)

*caroline hickey

Calling Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler...

2009-04-22T09:12:00.000-04:00

Anyone read this article in the New York Times about a small wooden crucifix bought by the Italians for $4.2 million because it is thought to have been carved by Michelangelo? Now there's a big debate about whether it is, or isn't.

Where are Claudia and Jamie Kincaid when you need them???

*caroline hickey

Image Boards

2009-04-15T09:42:00.000-04:00

In my ongoing effort to be able to leap instantaneously from the world of dirty diapers and mashed banana to the world I'm creating for my characters in my WIP, this week I'm making an image board.

My hope is that by creating a strong visual representation of my characters, setting, mood, tone, etc., I won't waste so much time "getting into" a scene when I sit down to write. It'll be like putting on gardening gloves and immediately pulling up weeds. I've been ripping pages from summer catalogs, from magazines, and from the newspaper, even putting random words on the board that remind me of key elements to my mc's personality, so that I can put on her voice as soon as I sit down.

Some of you are probably thinking this is a bit of a time-waster, a stall tactic, and you're right! :) But being able to SEE in front of me what I've been seeing in my head for over a year now is really gratifying, and makes me feel that the book is starting to come alive.

When the board is done, I'll post a picture of it. For now, the image here is just a hint of the feel of the book.

*caroline hickey

The Seuss is Loose

2009-04-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

These are from Pottery Barn Kids, and YES, you can order them for a queen-size bed! Do you think my husband would object??

*caroline hickey

A Sharper Eye

2009-04-01T14:30:00.000-04:00

I've started to notice lately how much sharper and more critical my reading and editing "eye" has become.

As I slowly chug-chug along in my WIP, I'm seeing holes and missteps in my writing that I never noticed in my first two books, and not because they weren't there. After B was born, I took five months off from writing. It gave me some space from my WIP, but it also gave me time to read a list of great books I'd been meaning to get around to. I think the combination of reading really great stuff, not being on a deadline, and taking a little time away from typing has given me a new perspective on my own work.

I hope this means my new book will be stronger and tighter and my best yet. But this new sharp eye is also a little paralyzing, because it won't let me move on to a new scene until I've gone over the current one 50 times. And that's not a good way to get through an early draft.

I'm going to speak to my Eye about this, and tell her to just chill out until the next draft. I'm going to tell her over a cappuccino at Starbucks this afternoon, where I'll be writing a scene where my main character embarrasses herself. YAH!

*caroline hickey

Jump to the Middle

2009-03-25T15:34:00.000-04:00

I'm trying something new(!).

After some discussions with Jenny and Siobhan about the progress I am and am not making with my WIP, they both suggested I stop writing sequentially and just pick a scene in the middle that I'm excited about it and write it.

WHAT? I said. How do I write a scene without knowing how my characters got there?

JUST TRY IT, they said. It frees you up. It shows you where you're going, and helps you figure out how to get there. And it keeps you from writing boring little scenes that only serve to get your characters from point A to point B.

So I'm trying it. I'm sitting here now writing a scene that's going to happen about 70% of the way through the book and, unbelievably, it's going okay. The writing feels fun and loose, like it does when you start a completely new project and aren't hampered by the hows and whys yet.

Anyone else write this way? I'm diggin' it!

*caroline hickey

The Wisdom of Vizzini

2009-03-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

I've seen and read The Princess Bride about a thousand times. When Inigo botches up killing the Man in Black, he remembers that his boss Vizzini always said that when a job goes wrong, you go back to the beginning (or, in the book, "Fool fool, back to the beginning is the rule!"). Is this good advice for a writer as well?

I'm about a quarter of the way through the second draft of my WIP and I've hit a major snafu. So I've decided to go back to the beginning AGAIN (this is actually the 4th beginning, not the 3rd) and change a few major details to make the drama/tension more intense and more immediate.

In some ways, I fear that is my way of procrastinating writing through the draft. In fact, I would likely advise a friend to just keep pushing through to the end and then go back to fix the intro. But I can't make myself do it!

Eek. What do you think? Am I procrastinating, or since this is such a major change would it be better to get the beginning right?

*caroline hickey

Apps Wanted!

2009-03-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

I love my iPhone and it's quickly become my desk-on-the-go. My home office is in our attic and since I spend most days in the family room or kitchen with Bridget (two floors down!) or out and about, I use my iPhone for email, calendar, surfing, etc.

I'd like to find some apps that might be helpful for my writing. Someone told me about a dictation app, so that if I get an idea for my WIP I can just make a voice memo to myself. Anyone know of that one? Or does anyone have any other apps they can recommend?

Since I'm writing in little fits and spurts these days, I need to make the most of the time I have!

*caroline hickey

Scammers

2009-02-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

I was answering some messages on MySpace yesterday and I saw an ad for a children's lit agency on my page. It caught my eye, as I'm pretty sure real agencies a) don't advertise, and b) wouldn't advertise on myspace!

So I clicked through and checked it out and it's called the Writers Literary Children's Agency and has a long song and dance about how legit they are and blah blah, but no actual bios of who the "agents" are, or their experience, or their authors.

I checked Preditors and Editors and of course they are strongly not recommended and considered a fraud. What I'm wondering, though, is what are they doing? They say they don't charge to read mss, and only make money if they sell something. But they don't seem to have sold anything and yet still pay to advertise.

Anyone know anything about these weird scam agencies? If they don't charge reading fees, why then do they bother?

*caroline hickey

Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood...

2009-02-10T13:31:00.000-05:00

I am really stuck between two mss. One is a fun early middle grade, and the other is an angsty tween. One is zippy and plotty, and one is voicey and moody. I like them both. I think they both have potential. But diddling back and forth between the two of them every week or so is not helping me to make any progress. It's helping me to procrastinate! For me to write well, I need to fully invest myself in one of them, and for the life of me I can't decide which.

So what do I do? Let my writing group decide? My agent? Flip a coin? I've been asking my gut to tell me but it's got commitment issues.

Help me!

*caroline hickey

And the Oscar Goes to...

2009-02-02T13:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the DC Kidlit Book Club met to discuss the ALA winners announced last week. One of our members, Susan Kusel, is a children's librarian and was in Denver at the conference so she shared with us the reactions of the audience as the winners were announced.

Similar to our awards discussion last year, there was a lot of disagreement about whether the "right" books got the big awards or were relegated to the position of Honor books. Particularly in the Caldecott category, where A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever was favored over The House in the Night. In the Printz category, Nation was highly praised as perhaps a smidge more Printz-y than Jellicoe Road. And in the Newbery category, we were (not surprisingly) all in agreement that The Graveyard Book was an excellent choice.

I still haven't read all the of the winners and honor books but that is my mission for the next few weeks. In March, our group meets again to discuss the Cybils winners which will be announced on the 14th. I love awards season!

*caroline hickey

PS- The darling baby in the picture is, sadly, not mine, but Amber Lough's son Henry. He is 10 weeks old. Fabulous, isn't he?

The 30-Minute Writer

2009-01-26T14:27:00.000-05:00

I'm currently revising my WIP during Bridget's 30-40 minute nap every morning. It's going all right: I have good ideas about where I want to take the book, and I'm making teeny tiny bites of progress each day. But having only a half an hour or so to write means that I can't sit down at my laptop and diddle around online for awhile to get my brain warmed up (which I used to looooove to do). I've got to get crackin' as soon as my butt hits the seat!

So, here are some tips I've found to warm up for brilliant writing in just five minutes:

*Find a song that captures the mood and tone of the book or main character. Listen to the song as you make your tea and get ready to sit down and type. (For my WIP, I've chosen "Realize" by Colbie Caillat. It's filled with longing. My MC is also filled with longing.)

*Close your eyes and picture your main character. Imagine her doing something, even if it's just brushing her teeth. Imagine her talking to her best friend for a minute. Listen to their voices. Picture them in your setting. Transfer the MC's voice into your head.

*Upon starting up your computer, IMMEDIATELY open your Word doc. Do not check your email, not even for a second. Do not scan the news headlines. Do not check your blog (sorry Longstockings). Open your Word doc and skim the last two pages you wrote. Then put those fingers on the keyboard and TYPE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!

If you have more tips, please send them. I'm hoping to get through this revision before spring. Eeeek.

*caroline hickey

Finally - some good news about reading!

2009-01-15T13:21:00.000-05:00

From Monday's Washington Post:

For the first time since the NEA began surveying American reading habits in 1982 ... the percentage of American adults who report reading "novels, short stories, poems or plays" has risen instead of declining: from 46.7 percent in 2002 to 50.2 percent in 2008.

The gain, it states, came entirely from prose fiction. The article goes on, however, to mitigate this jump by saying that "percentage of American adults who report reading any book not required for work or school during the previous year is still declining. "

Check out the article. It's pretty interesting.

*caroline hickey

Trivia Answers

2008-11-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

It seems I managed to stump everyone with number 4... and reader Sarah is the only one who correctly answered 1! I thought that one was a gimme. Here are the answers:

1. "Love and other indoor sports" STARRING SALLY J FREEDMAN AS HERSELF

2. Sir Puss FIFTEEN

3. The Bobwhites TRIXIE BELDEN

4. "...knowing there will be a hickey there tomorrow to remember him by..." THIS PLACE HAS NO ATMOSPHERE

5. astral projection STRANGER WITH MY FACE

Number 4 is a Paula Danziger book that I was in looooove with when I was about 10 or 11. It's good. Read it.

Thanks for playing!!!

*caroline hickey

Kidlit Trivia!

2008-11-25T08:17:00.000-05:00

Just for fun because it's Thanksgiving week, can any of our readers identify which popular children's books the following quotes/characters/themes come from? (Hint: These are books from our generation!)

1. "Love and other indoor sports"

2. Sir Puss

3. The Bobwhites

4. "...knowing there will be a hickey there tomorrow to remember him by..."

5. astral projection

No Googling! You have to recognize these by sight. Post your answers in the comments, and if you have some trivia questions of your own, please feel free to include them!

*caroline hickey

Let's Hear from the Readers

2008-11-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

Very often the popularity and sales of a children's book is determined by adults -- librarians, reviewers, marketing teams, salespeople, etc. So I really love reading reviews of kids' books that are actually written by kids. There are a few sites that I check out regularly for kids' book reviews, such as Kidsreads.com, Teenreads.com, and Spaghetti Book Club, and I just found this new one from National Geographic Kids.

Reading these reviews remind me of the mindset of my audience, and that very often adult reviewers are just trying to sound important. Here's a line from this new site about a pretty fabulous book called Shug by our own Jenny Han:
The author described things very well so I could see how everything looked.

Sounds trivial, but I remember feeling exactly the same way when I was 10 or 11. I didn't want to have to guess how characters and places and whatnot looked, I wanted to be told!

So the next time you read an adult review that talks about pacing, or secondary characters or this or that, think about what your intended readers think of the book. Because that's what matters.

*caroline hickey

Secret Reads

2008-11-15T09:55:00.000-05:00

There's a great post over on Shannon Hale's blog comparing fine works of literature with mass market paperbacks. Can one call the former "good books," and the latter "bad books"? Do both have a place on our night stand? Is reading meant to be for enlightenment only, or for pleasure as well? And if so, why are we occasionally embarrassed to be seen reading some of our favorite things?

I confess that I love People magazine. And Us Weekly. I don't subscribe, or buy them regularly, but if I'm laying on the beach or getting a pedicure or just need a break from life, I buy a copy and spend a delightful half hour reading drivel. Occasionally someone will see me with a copy and ask why I don't read more highbrow mags, since I'm a writer and all that. Like I should only read The New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly.

I think it's a big wide world and there's room for all kinds of writing, all kinds of books, and all kinds of magazines. Shannon's post reminds me a lot of that interview on WBUR that Siobhan posted where the interviewer attacks Gossip Girls having never read it or bothering to think that while it may not be Newbery or Printz material, it sells hundreds of thousands of copies, which means it has hundreds of thousands of readers.

Read what you want, I say. Potato, Pa-tah-toe.

*caroline hickey

Hello, I'm Debbie Downer

2008-11-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

There's a great quote by Katharine Hepburn that really sums up how I'm feeling about my writing right now:

I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good or there because they're lucky.

I've been doing a decent job of finding an hour each day to work on my manuscript. The problem is, I just can't settle on the right direction to take it. I've been brainstorming ideas, doing little experimental outlines, and typing notes to remind my fingers how to work. But nothing interesting is coming out. I don't know if the problem is that I'm just too tired at the moment to be creative, or if the manuscript is so flawed I need to put it away for awhile, or if I'm psyching myself out because I'm not ready to start writing again.

If you've read Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, you'll know what I mean when I say the radio station KFKD is playing in my head.

(See? I'm a real Debbie Downer today. Maybe it's the weather. Or that I've been up since 5:30am. In any case, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to throw a tomato at me.)

*caroline hickey

Back in the Saddle Again

2008-10-30T13:46:00.000-04:00

I'm officially off maternity leave this week and working again.

I wish I could say I spent the last 12 or 13 weeks since I finished a draft of my WIP coming up with terrific ideas on how to fix it, but I didn't. I read it, and thought about it some, but it was so easy to let my writing brain rest while I concentrated on Baby Management 101 that I really didn't push myself.

Now I feel ready to write again. I've been putting Bridget through some intensive nap training, and I think I can manage to work on the book for an hour a day. It's not a lot, but if I'm focused, I can make it work. What I need to do first is come up with my ATTACK PLAN on how to fix the ms. An outline and detailed bullet points of what needs to change to make this book work, so that when I sit down each day for my brief free hour, I don't need to flounder around wondering what to do.

Do any of you plan revisions this way? Does it work? I normally work all day, every day, until a revision is done, preferring to immerse myself for a short, painful period of time, rather than drag out a revision forever working bit by bit, but that isn't an option now.

Tips, please!

*caroline hickey

Trendspotting

2008-10-21T18:14:00.000-04:00

Just saw this in Publishers Lunch:

UK Children's
Becca Ajoy Fitzpatrick's YA novel HUSH, HUSH, a darkly romantic story of dangerous love between a teenage girl and a fallen angel, plus a sequel, to Venetia Gosling at Simon & Schuster UK, for publication in January 2010, by Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Agency, on behalf of Catherine Drayton at Inkwell Management.

When Harry Potter came out, everyone began writing about witches and wizards. Then fairy books (spelled faery) burst onto the scene. Then several years of nothing but teen vampires. Every single book was about teenage vampires. I've been wondering for awhile what the next big fantasy category would be -- could this be it? Angels?

Let me know if you've spotted anything else. (Personally, I like gnomes. And trolls.)

*caroline hickey

Disturbing

2008-10-16T17:42:00.000-04:00

You may have heard a lot of buzz about a book called Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott that just came out in September. It's the story of a 15-year-old girl who was kidnapped by a pedophile when she was 10, and has been trapped with him ever since. Only he's tired of her (he killed his last girl when she turned 15) and wants her to help him find a new little girl to replace her. She knows he will kill her when she finds the new girl.

Does anyone find this shocking? I did when I heard about it. Could such a book really be intended for teen readers? I checked out my local Barnes and Noble and my favorite indie and neither of them were carrying it. The salesperson at the indie said she'd read the reviews (all of which say it's an amazing and powerful book, which it is) and decided not to stock it.

I finally ordered it on Amazon (extremely high sales ranking) and read it today. Yes, I read the entire book today, even while taking care of my 11-week-old. The book is mesmerizing. Beautifully written. A horrific story that makes me never want to open my front door and go outside again. There are too many sickos out there. And it terrifies me even more now that I have my own daughter.

If I, a grown woman, feel this way about the book, how would a teen reader, one the same age as the protagonist, feel? That's what I've been wondering all day. The book says it's for "16 and up" but it's generating so much buzz it will finds its way into the hands of younger teens. And it's not that the book is graphic -- it manages to have violent sexual scenes without being hideously detailed -- but it's disturbing. I can't stop thinking about it. What must it have been like to be the author who worked on this book for months and possibly years? Such an evil to write about every day. I would think it would have been miserable for her.

I'm against book censorship in all forms. But I do think some books are too frightening for kids to read. And I simply couldn't recommend this to a teenage girl.

*caroline hickey

How To Revise in One Hour a Week (??)

2008-09-09T08:22:00.000-04:00

There's an assumption that writing and publishing get easier as you go. I know I used to think so. Or at least I hoped so.

Right before I had Bridget, I sent off my new WIP to my agent. I'd been working on it for about 8 months, had gotten good critique and positive feedback from my writing group, and even though I knew it needed some work, I thought it might be ready to send out soon.

*Sigh*. No such luck. I must have been all pregnant/hormonal/crazy to even think it was close to ready because my agent sent me back a very long, and, sadly, very correct letter with more than a few substantive changes to be made.

So it's back to the revising board for me. My plan is to start with a few weeks of just rereading the ms and thinking through its problems (that's about all I can manage with a newborn to take care of anyway), and then when I've really figured out a good plan for the revision, to get started on it and take my time.

Revision is my favorite part of writing, and I normally enjoy the beginning of a rewrite. This one will be hugely different though, because I won't be able to work with the same intensity that I normally do. I'll have to grab an hour here and there when I can, which is difficult for me because then I have to put myself back into the story every time and I lose my flow.

Any new mothers/full-time day jobbers out there have advice for making the most of short bursts of time?

*caroline hickey

Have you ever stolen someone else's guy??

2008-09-02T10:06:00.000-04:00

Will 15-year old Taryn succeed in stealing a guy from Isabelle, the most popular girl in school? Will her dog stop getting her in trouble? Will her best friend ever speak to her again?

You can finally find out! ISABELLE'S BOYFRIEND is now in stores and available online!

I'd like to say I have big plans to celebrate today's launch of my second book, but so far the celebration has only included a 5:30am wake up call, being pooped on (2x), peed on (1x) and a bowl of frosted mini wheats. Still, I'm really excited because I LOVE this book and I can't wait for people to read it.

Check it out!

*caroline hickey

From Our Emailbox

2008-08-31T20:18:00.000-04:00

As graduates of a full-time, on-site MFA programme, I was wondering if you have any opinions about low-residency MFA programmes, or if you know anyone who has tried one?

Also, if you had already published a couple of books, would you have found an MFA programme useful, or would you have skipped it, or simply pursued some other educational option?

I have a few friends who have done low-residency MFA programs, mostly through Vermont College, and they have all said wonderful things about it. To my knowledge, none of them were published beforehand, and they have all been published since (not that I'm using that as a measure of success, it's just a piece of info). I liked the on-site program at New School, mainly because I met so many great writers who are now my friends. I also liked all of the events that New School hosted, as it gave me an opportunity to meet authors, editors and agents. Low-res programs do offer these things during their two-week residencies, but it's not the same as two full semesters each year.

As for your second question, it's tricky to answer without knowing why exactly you're considering an MFA. If you've already published several books, then you obviously know a few things about the business and write well enough to publish. However, the MFA may still be useful to you, as it helps you improve your writing by way of real, substantive critique, it gives you deadlines, and you'll have a graduate degree (which you might want if you plan to teach). But it is time consuming and costly. Only you can decide if it's worth it for you.

I was an inexperienced writer and a newbie to children's publishing when I began my MFA, so for me it was a journey worth taking!

*caroline hickey