PLAYING HURT & A BLUE SO DARK - NEW VIDS

I'm gearing up to add a bunch of new videos to both my main author site and my site for young readers for THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY...what better way to warm up to the process than with some new video content for my previously-released work?

PLAYING HURT - BEING A PLOTTER AND LISTENING TO MY CHARACTERS:

A BLUE SO DARK - THE CREATIVE PROCESS

CRISSA-JEAN CHAPPELL'S NARC

Crissa-Jean Chappell is no stranger to this blog.  She was the first author ever to blurb A BLUE SO DARK ("Schindler's lyrical debut explores the nightmare of mental illness in a voice that is sharp and funny and all her own.  This is as real as teen fiction gets.  A must read."), and her words were so sweet, I swear, they brought a tear to the eye...

Crissa-Jean's own Flux book, NARC, is about to release this summer...and her trailer is absolutely stunning:
NARC book trailer from crissachappell on Vimeo.

A HOLIDAY GIFT: A BLUE SO DARK FOR 99 CENTS!

I'm so excited about this: right now, for just .99, you can grab yourselves a Kindle copy of A BLUE SO DARK! And, to accompany this fantastic offer, I will sign your Kindle copy through Kindlegraph!

Spread the word, my lovely bloggers...

MY FIRST RADIO INTERVIEW

My first radio interview went live yesterday morning! I really loved getting a chance to discuss PLAYING HURT on air...the questions were fabulous, and I swear it was the fastest twenty minutes on record.

The interview, in which I talk about the revision process, how I got started writing YA, and the inspiration behind PLAYING HURT, is available for download. You can grab 'er here.

ME & MY IPPY!

Seriously—does anyone else have a dog who just has to get in on picture taking? I swear, every single time we grab the camera (video or still), Jake comes running. Sometimes, I think he really does know he's getting his photo snapped...what a camera hog...





Anyway, the reason for getting the old camera out is that my gold medal from the IPPYs arrived! (And it absolutely made me feel like some sort of Olympic athlete...)


Here's the medal (and A BLUE SO DARK, which won the award) at the Flux booth at BEA:

GUEST POST, INTERVIEW, REVIEW (ON THE EVE OF A BIRTHDAY)

I've got another book birthday coming up...tomorrow, in fact! Yep, March 8, PLAYING HURT will be officially "born."

Of course, this means that I spent the weekend sending out 200 mailers (and more emails), while organizing distribution of author copies of PLAYING HURT, putting together posts for my own PLAYING HURT Blog Tour, and juggling revisions of a yet-to-be-acquired novel.

I’m telling you, in all seriousness, anyone who thinks writing is a leisurely occupation is (as we say here in the Ozarks), a stark-raving idgit.

…But you know who makes it all worth it? You guys. My incredible bloggers. I just want to give you all enormous bear hugs.

…Speaking of: A guest post went live today at Reclusive Bibliophile, in which I comment on how hard it is to write a publishable novel before you’ve gone through the development process yourself.

Flux, my publisher, also put up a hot-off-my-computer interview.

And—just so my first baby doesn’t get too jealous of all the attention my newborn is soaking up, a review of A BLUE SO DARK can be found at The Serpentine Library.

...See you guys tomorrow: On PLAYING HURT's birthday!

BREAKING IN: IS AN AGENT A MUST?

Truth time: I did permanent damage to my right foot trying to squeeze my toe into the tiny crack in the door of the publishing world. Took seven and a half years of full-time effort to get to that first publishing contract, after all.

…But how did I snag that deal? How did I manage to see my book on store shelves? Was it through the tireless efforts of an agent? Do you have to have an agent to get that toe in the door?

Okay—here’s the deal. When I got my master’s, in the spring of ’01, I decided to throw myself into my writing full-bore. I had no other job than to write and submit (thanks to financial support from my family). And write and submit I did…

Back then, the advice I was reading was that you really didn’t need to try for an agent until you’d published a novel…so my initial submissions were to editors only.

Over time, my rejections stopped being form letters and became long-winded explanations as to why my submitted novel was not quite ready to be published. Editors were inviting me to resubmit after revisions took place.

…As the years went by, the going advice to writers trying to break in was that you shouldn’t seek an agent unless you’d written a novel—far different advice than I’d read after first graduating.

Still, though, I was getting so close to publication with those editors—I could practically taste it!—that I continued submitting straight to them. And resubmitting. And submitting again.

…Around the beginning of 2008, I decided to take the leap and start submitting to agents as well. (I wondered if a push from an agent wouldn’t be the special-something that finally did seal a deal.)

But I didn’t quit submitting to editors, either. I sold A BLUE SO DARK myself, to Flux, in early 2009 (I also sold PLAYING HURT to Flux shortly thereafter).

And under the heading of, “When Your Luck Changes, Man, Does It Change,” I also signed with an agent in 2009. She sold my first middle grade to Dial (to be released in ’12).

Do I adore my agent? YES. 100%. But my debut novel proves that it’s still absolutely possible to sell a novel on your own. The thing is, the path to publication is as unique as the novel you write. No one can really tell you how to find the right path to publication, because your novel will have its own journey. That’s the gritch and the beauty of it.

…So the worst thing I think a burgeoning writer can do is explore only one avenue, one path to publication. Try anything and everything. The only thing that’s certain when you’re attempting to snag your first deal is that you never know where that first deal will come from.


…Today’s post comes from a question courtesy of Kate Higgins.

COVER ART FOR PLAYING HURT!

Here's my own Tuesday Teaser: Less than a month after the release of my debut YA, I've seen the cover art for my sophomore YA, a romance titled PLAYING HURT!

...And it's so fantastic! (Really...aren't Flux covers amazing?)

Can't wait to show it off!

"INTERVIEW" WITH CHRISTY RAEDEKE

Christy Raedeke's debut novel, PROPHECY OF DAYS, is set to be released by Flux Books on May 1, 2010...the same day A BLUE SO DARK hits store shelves!

As a couple of first-timers, we sat down to discuss our books: the initial spark of inspiration, how we found Flux, and where we're headed next...

Raedeke: Hi Holly, do you remember the very day the idea for A BLUE SO DARK came to you?

Schindler: I remember it coming to me in pieces over a few weeks, actually. When I was young, I imagined that authors would get this fantastic "ah-ha" moment in which their characters, (and their characters' struggles and growths) came to them all at once. Maybe some do...But what happens for me is that I get a sliver of an idea--a kind of what-if. From there, I'll write this really general, broad-strokes outline. And I'll start adding to it...

When I got the biggie pieces jotted down for A BLUE SO DARK (creativity and madness, Aura's mentally ill mother, Aura's fear of allowing art to bring "madness" out in herself), the first draft came super-fast...I'd get twenty-plus pages written in a day. And the next morning, I couldn't wait to get up and get back to it. I had to go through about four manuscript overhauls, and honestly, each one wrote just as quickly.

I love a book that's layered--and I think the way books GET layered is that an author kind of stacks dimensions on top of each other with successive rewrites...every time an author goes back, she (or he) adds a new element to the plot, or maybe a new secondary character who interacts with the protagonist in such a way that it illuminates new dimensions of that protagonist...

How about you? Did you get one of those "ah-ha" moments for PROPHECY OF DAYS? Did everything come to you all at once?

Raedeke: The idea for my book came not long after leaving my child for the first time. My husband and I were meeting friends at a University of Oregon football game (Go Ducks!) and had just dropped off our daughter at my Mom's. I know I should have cried or felt guilty or something, but as we drove away the sense of freedom was overwhelming—close to when I bought my first car and drove it home with the top down and Soft Cell blaring. Disclaimer: it was the eighties.

Anyway, something about knowing I was free for the next 30 hours opened up my imagination. On the three-hour drive to Eugene I told Scott the story and we talked it through. The seed was planted. Because I eventually had to go back and claim that child, it took awhile to write. And agent. And sell. And publish. (That child is now 9!) I'm still convinced that good ideas come when you make space for them.

Schindler: Now I'm going to have "Tainted Love" in my head the rest of the day! So true, though, about how long the entire process takes. A BLUE SO DARK was drafted in late 2006, and the offer from Flux came in 2009...But this was NOT the first manuscript I attempted to sell! (I'd been attempting to publish my novels since I got my master's in '01!) Looking back, what kept you motivated to keep working on PROPHECY OF DAYS? What was the initial submission process like? Did you ever hit a wall, feel like publication was never going to happen?

Raedeke: To be honest, curiosity kept me going. This book took a lot of research, which is one of my favorite pastimes. I love following a random thought for an hour or two on the internet; it’s amazing where one fact can lead you. I was also used to working in marketing and business development, so when my kids were little and I was trapped at home during naptime, it felt good to have something to work on. I felt a sense of accomplishment as the page count grew.

My wall came after I got my agent. Fortunately, I only had to endure one query rejection before signing with Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary. I received an email from her late at night saying she had not yet finished the manuscript but she loved it so far and wanted to offer representation. I was ecstatic, of course. The bad news came when she had actually finished reading and thought the ending was week. She was right, of course, so I went through a huge revision process before it even went out. That was Wall One.

Wall Two came at submission time. PROPHECY OF DAYS went out on submission to several big NYC editors, but this was back in late 2007/early 2008 before the whole 2012 thing was really in the mainstream zeitgeist (especially on the East Coast) and they just didn’t get it. The funny thing is, last year one of the editors who rejected the submission announced at an SCBWI conference that she was actively looking for any books on 2012. What a difference a couple of years can make!

Meanwhile, I had read some great Flux books and had followed and respected Editor Andrew Karre’s blog. I just sensed he’d “get” the book so I suggested to Laura that we send it to him. She'd recently signed Maggie Stiefvater as a client and had just negotiated Maggie's second book at Flux, so she knew Andrew was awesome. As I suspected, he got it. I was fortunate to get one great revision letter from him before he left for Lerner, and then the fabulous Brian Farrey took the reins.

How about you—what kept you going between when you first started writing novels on 2001 and when you sold A BLUE SO DARK in 2009? Did you hit many walls? Did they come pre- or post-agent?

Schindler: Writing was this absolute have-to thing with me. I was ALWAYS writing—even when I was a little girl. I remember, I was in, oh, junior high, I think—I was over at a friend’s house when ROMANCING THE STONE came on TV…You know how it starts, right? With Kathleen Turner bawling as she wraps up her latest novel? My friend started laughing, elbowed me and said, “That’s going to be YOU!”

Writing was just all-encompassing. And it got WORSE as I got older. Seriously. My family offered some incredible financial support so that I could devote full-time effort to writing after I got out of grad school. (They probably thought I was going to explode if I didn’t write…)

Can’t lie—I got pretty frustrated at times, but never to the point of wanting to quit. It CONSTANTLY seemed like I was getting closer to an acceptance. I stopped getting form rejections and started getting “good” rejections—you know, where editors will actually give you feedback, encourage you to keep at it.

I actually sold A BLUE SO DARK myself, without the help of an agent, soon after Brian Farrey got the acquisitions gig at Flux…And talk about an editor “getting” it—I remember hanging up the phone after talking to him the first time and going, “Him. I want to work with HIM.” I could hardly eat that Thanksgiving, because I was sort of tied up in knots, hoping that Flux would acquire the book.

Raedeke: I love that you did it on your own! Flux is amazing about finding great new voices, and I agree Brian is great to work with. He’s been very, uh, patient with me and deadlines. Your family sounds amazing—I have always wanted to live at the time when there were “Art Patrons” who would support artists. Looks like I’ll have to time travel back to Renaissance Europe or feudal Japan; the current economy will definitely not support this trend. Sigh.

Have you always written YA or have you written in other genres?

Schindler: Yeah, I’m incredibly lucky…it’s been very ROOM OF ONE’S OWN around here! I didn’t go 100% completely jobless, though—to help with the bills, I taught piano and guitar lessons out of the house in the afternoons. Up until that time, I’d been writing adult work. My students inspired me to try my hand at YA!

My reading is kind of all over the place…the classics, literary fiction, thrillers, romance, clever cereal boxes, catchy billboards…so my WRITING tends to be a little all over the place, too, in terms of genre. Already, I’ve sold a literary novel and a romance to Flux and an adult romantic comedy to Blooming Tree Press. And what I’m working on now is night-and-day different from what I’ve already sold.

How did you come to YA? Did you write PROPHECY OF DAYS thinking it was YA, or (as it seems like it often happens with first-time authors) did your agent tell you it was YA?

Raedeke: I was journalism major and had taken lots of writing classes though the years, but had always focused on general fiction and narrative nonfiction. This was my first try at a Young Adult book, and basically I was writing the perfect book for myself at that age. I’ve always been intrigued by esoteric, ancient mysteries, and the idea of a collective consciousness, so it was a natural fit for both research and writing. I finished another manuscript while PROPHECY was on sub, and hopefully someday I’ll go back and polish that one up.

You have so many manuscripts in the pipeline! It must be incredibly exciting to finally realize the dream of having several books out, of being a “real” author. However, you’ll only be a Debut Author once. What are you most looking forward to as we head into May, our release month?

Schindler: Wow…I think just the feeling of knowing that A BLUE SO DARK is on actual SHELVES in actual BOOKSTORES. I got these all-over tingly moments when I saw the novel on Amazon…and again when I found it on the Borders and Barnes and Noble websites. (I think it must be kind of the same feeling musicians get when they hear their songs on the radio for the first time…)

But I’m always looking ahead. I’ve honestly, seriously got a stack of manuscripts that stretches from the floor to the ceiling in the corner of my office. And I have piles of notebooks that are filled with ideas and outlines for novels that I haven’t yet drafted. If I lived to be 150, I’d never have enough time to put every idea on paper…Sometimes, I think the coolest part of selling A BLUE SO DARK is that it kind of opened doors so that I can start selling the REST of my work, too.

How ‘bout you? Are you going to celebrate on May 1st? Have you ALREADY celebrated? (Could you really take the moment in when you signed the contract? Did it seem real? I think for me, in all honesty, things started to get REAL when I held an ARC in my hands.)

Raedeke: The ARC definitely made it real! Seeing my name on the spine was kind of a wow moment! Honestly, I have been so busy trying to finish book two that I haven’t taken the time to really soak in what’s going on. I’m finishing this weekend and sending the full manuscript off to Brian, so I’ll be able to breath and enjoy this week—which is perfect timing since I’ll be signing ARCs in the Flux booth at PLA convention on Thursday!

Holly, it’s been an absolute delight to have this back-and-forth with you. I wish you a lifetime of success with your pillar of manuscripts—if I could be one tenth as productive as you I could die happy! We’re in a unique position, both of us with our debut books releasing from the same house the same week. I’m thrilled to be there with you and I can’t wait to get my hands on A BLUE SO DARK.

Schindler: Same to you, Christy! PROPHECY OF DAYS is on my must-have list…Have an absolutely fantastic time at the PLA convention…Take a deep breath during the signing and let it all soak in. Congratulations on PROPHECY, and on finishing book #2!

...You can find Christy Raedeke on the web at christyraedeke.com and raedeke.blogspot.com.

CATHERINE RYAN HYDE BLURB

Okay, so this falls under the header of Unbelievable Stuff That’s Happened To Me Over The Past Year…

I got a blurb for my debut from Catherine Ryan Hyde. Yup, that Catherine Ryan Hyde. When she sent it, I kept thinking about sitting in the movie theater watching Pay it Forward…If somebody had told me back then that in a few years, Hyde would be reading my book and blurbing it, I probably woulda choked on my Junior Mints.

Anyway, here’s Hyde's blurb (which is now posted along with the A BLUE SO DARK book info on the Flux website):

"A Blue So Dark is one of those rare books: It never shies away from the darkness yet still manages to find the light. A truly real, emotional, and honest read."—Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay it Forward and Love in the Present Tense

REALER AND REALER

…Yeah, realer. Oh, what a vocabulary I have…

Seriously, though, get this: my bio and author photo are up on the Flux website, along with a synopsis, blurbs, etc. for A BLUE SO DARK. Oooh, I swear, this whole published author bit actually does keep getting realer and realer.

(Flux Author Photo, By John Schindler II)

I can only imagine how I’ll respond the first time I walk through a bookstore and see A BLUE SO DARK on the shelves. I hope the store will have nice, cushy, soft carpeting to catch my fall when I pass out…

...And by the way, didn't my brother do a fantastic job with the author photo?