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Squeetus exclusive: Jennifer L. Holm

I am so honored to host today two-time Newbery Honor medalist Jennifer L. Holm. She rocked the Newbery with her very first book, Our Only May Amelia, then drank again from the silver goblet for Penny from Heaven last year. She has a super fun graphic novel series for young readers (I'd say 6-11 year olds) called Babymouse, and if you're a lover of historical fiction, look no farther than her popular Boston Jane series. Her latest, Middle School Is Worse than Meatloaf is subtitled "A Year Told Through Stuff," and indeed there's no actual narrative. The book is about a year in the life of Ginny, a seventh grader, which we learn by reading her school essays, report cards, bills, scribbles on her notebook, post-it notes from mom, the occasional comic strip done by her older brother, etc. Unusual and completely captivating. After I read it, I showed it to my sister, who sat on the couch and ignored everything going on around her until she'd finished it, then she promptly showed it to her husband. Jennifer Holm is made of the very best stuff--an extremely fine writer, who writes with grace, truth, humor, adventure, and fun, and doesn't sacrifice story for quality. Here's our conversation:

SH: I don't know that I've ever read a book in the same format as Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf, and yet the storytelling flowed so easily. I felt like I was Ginny sometimes, and other times like I was a PI piecing together her life from the clues. So fun. What were the challenges in writing this book? Or what is an interesting question you keep wishing someone would ask you about this book that no one has 
yet?

JH: It was such an odd book to write. So much of it came from this "box of stuff" my mom had kept from my childhood. She was a total packrat (you should see her basement.) She kept all this ephemera of mine--from the usual stuff like photos and report cards to plain weird stuff like notes I passed in class
(where did she find these?) and hall passes for when I was sent to the guidance office (apparently I needed a lot of guidance.)

I think the biggest challenge was to make the actual layout feel three-dimensional. I didn't want it to be a diary book. I worked with an awesome illustrator, Elicia Castaldi, and she told me that she lived in fear
of the packages I would mail her. I would literally send her junk from around my house (like plastic easter eggs, and fridge magnets, and Christmas lights!) But she was a terribly forgiving and incorporated much of what I sent her into the book.

I guess the question I wish someone would ask is: why does Ginny's older brother communicate to her in comic strips? Answer: because my brother Matt (illustrator of BABYMOUSE) did this when we were kids. I still have a bunch of comic strips he drew for me.

[AWESOME! I wish I'd thought to ask that.]

So, tell, what's it like to get a second Newbery Honor? Is the silver even shinier? Was it even more exciting than the first or different in an unexpected way?

<Happy sigh.> It's so much shinier. I think because every book I've written since OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA has been so much harder to write. This doesn't make sense, I know, but there it is. What made it really wonderful for me was that my dad was able to attend the Newbery banquet. He was ill during the banquet when I received an honor for OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA.

You've done the Babymouse series and now Meatloaf. I'm a huge fan of visual storytelling, both as a reader of graphic novels myself and as a proponent for those readers who struggle with purely textual books. Do you read graphic novels for fun? What do you find most satisfying about working with visual storytelling?

I'm a huge fan of comic books, from a young age. Matt and I like to say that our dad weaned us on PRINCE VALIANT and FLASH GORDON. I'm fortunate that reading comics is now, ahem, "research". Also, one of my first jobs when I was a recent college grad was working for a visual effects production
company, back in the day when animation was hand-drawn. And then I went on to become a broadcast producer and produced animation, so that experience has come in handy.

I'm really enjoying the new FANTASTIC FOUR lately (who knew, righ?) And I'm a big fan of Grant Morrison who wrote WE-3, the most mind-bending graphic novel evah. Read it with a box of tissues.

I think it's very satisfying to not be confined to just words. Since I work with my brother, I have a lot of involvement in the lay-out, style, etc. So, that's a lot of fun for me.

How is the reality of being a published author different than what you might have imagined when you were young?

I always assumed authors wore beautiful gowns and went to hoity-toity literary events and ate bon-bons. The harsh reality is that it is a pretty lonely career. You're sort of forced to isolate yourself in order to write. I've had to teach myself to be disciplined about writing. On the upside, though, I get to wear my pajamas to work!

How do people in your neighborhood and people you meet outside the business react to learning what your profession is?

Well, the kids in the neighborhood are on to me. They usually show up when my box of author copies shows up so they can get their free books (I need to start asking for more author copies!)

Generally, people are very nice when I tell them what I do for a living. Although, once, an adult author asked me when I was going to write a "real book"? Luckily, it was at a dinner, and my mouth was full, so I couldn't respond.

Let's look at the evidence, Jenni:
1. We both write novels for young adults
2. We've both co-written with our husbands
3. We've both written graphic novels for young readers
4. We've both received a Newbery Honor
5. We both have a toddler boy and a baby girl
6. We're both (objectively) super cute
So...are we the same person? And if not, why aren't we best friends at 
least? And what can I do to solidify that BFF status?

7. You forgot: we are both covered with spit-up.

Thank you, Jenni! You are a gem.

Squeetus exclusive: Linda Sue Park

This week we bring you the always fabulous Linda Sue Park. She most deservedly received a Newbery Medal for her book A Single Shard, the story of a young homeless boy in long ago Korean who watches the skilled potters at work and longs to make pots of his own. Just before interviewing Linda Sue, I read Project Mulberry--set in modern day, a girl and her best friend take on an ambitious school project--raising silk worms in the city. Since the interview, I had the chance to read an advance copy of Keeping Score, to be published this month, and loved it just as much, if not more, than the others, and decided to postpone posting her interview until Keeping Score was coming out. After reading it, I emailed her to say, "I love, love, love it! I love Maggie, and the wonderful exploration of prayer and superstition, sports and god and friendship, obsessions and choices. You write with such lovely simplicity that somehow is rich with complexities and thoughtfulness. I rarely read more than one book by any author because I'm a slow reader and there are so many books I want to read--but this is my third LSP. I'm a huge fan." Linda Sue's writing is flawless. Her storytelling style is so light, so melt-on-your-tongue, that you think you're getting a simple little tale, a quick-and-easy read that flows by in no time, until all of a sudden you realize she's given you a meal on the sly. Powerful, heartwrenching, insightful, funny, intelligent, life-changing stories that read as simply and swiftly as comic strips--no one does it like Linda Sue, and I am in constant awe. And now, here she is, the grand dame herself.

SH: I have to ask you about Project Mulberry. In between each chapter, the main character has a conversation with you, the author. This is so brilliant! I love how you somehow balanced this metafiction moment so that it doesn’t detract from or compromise the story, and yet is a fascinating insight into the writing process. As a writer, I loved it, and I imagine kids must really love it. So…(you can see what a genius I am at this whole asking questions thing…) can you tell us something about this section, how it came about?

LSP: Lots of writers say that their characters talk to them. This hardly ever happens to me. My characters do not talk to me. I used to get really jealous of writers whose characters talked to them. My characters only talked when I was making them talk in the story.

But Julia was different. I don’t know why, but she started talking to me. And once she started, she wouldn’t stop. She talked to me all the time. She talked to me when I was trying to go to sleep at night, and when I was out driving around, and when I was in the grocery store, and sometimes even when I was in the bathroom! She talked to me so much that she was driving me crazy, and I was very sorry that I’d ever wished for a character to talk to me.

Julia was almost never happy when she talked to me. She didn’t like the way the story was going. She didn’t like her little brother. She thought I was way too hard on her. She also asked a lot of questions—why did that chapter have to go like that? Why couldn’t she have a little sister instead of a little brother? The questions she asked were usually good ones, and they were on my mind a lot as I worked on the story.

Like all writers, I sometimes get stuck when I’m working on a story. ‘Sometimes’ for me means about every other day. I would get stuck and I would sit there and stare at the screen and my fingers weren’t typing anything and the page was staying blank. I needed to get my fingers going.

So I started typing out the questions Julia was asking me, and I started typing out answers to them as well. And more and more often, as I would be typing out these questions and answers, I would get ‘unstuck’—I’d figure out what I needed to do next, and I could continue working on the story.

This started happening regularly: I’d get stuck, I’d type out a conversation between me and Julia, I’d get unstuck, and I’d go on with the story. It happened so often that the typed conversations started to feel like part of the story too. So about a third of the way through the book, I decided to include them. And that’s why there are those sections in between the chapters of the book.

SH: Do the people in your neighborhood know your profession? What kind of reactions do you get from people outside this business on hearing that you’re a children’s writer?

LSP: Most of my neighbors know what I do because there are several families with children on the block, and I've visited their schools. Also there is a retired librarian a few doors down. But we've lived here for fourteen years now, which means that many of them knew me *before* I was published, and I don't think they think of it as a big deal. I think they mostly wonder why my yard always looks so terrible. (I do not have a green thumb. I have a black and shriveled thumb.)

Outside the biz, I usually introduce myself as a writer. Then of course people always ask if I'm published, and I say yes, and then they ask what kind of books I write and I say novels, and then I say that my novels are mostly for young people. I think this fools them momentarily. (I guess most folks don't want to be thought of as old people.)

I kind of enjoy tracking their responses, but when it comes right down to it, I don't really care what they think. I love what I do, and children's writers have the greatest fans in the whole world. As far as I'm concerned, the real question is, how come EVERYONE isn't writing for young people? But I'm glad they're not, because I think only the BEST writers should write for young people. (Like you!)

SH: If you could do something dangerous, impossible, crazy, with no ill consequences for anybody, what would it be?

LSP: Space-walk. Like an astronaut (as opposed to what I often do when I'm pondering a story, which is to walk spacily). But that will probably never happen, so second best would be sky-diving.

(Hmmm...seeing the earth from above, in both cases. I am a very short person. I think this means that I have a Napoleonic complex.)

SH: Is there anything about being a writer that would have surprised you before you were published?

LSP: The talking part. That so many people would invite me to give presentations and come to hear me speak. It makes me very nervous, and I spend hours and hours on my presentations in an effort not to disappoint them, but no matter how much I prepare, I still wonder why in the world anyone would want to hear what I have to say about anything.

SH: The hot rumor I heard at the secret writers deli is that there's a new Linda Sue coming out soon. Tell, tell!

LSP: Oh, I'm so glad you asked! I have a book coming out this spring (in March), called KEEPING SCORE. I've been a baseball fan my whole life, and I've always wanted to write a baseball story. KEEPING SCORE is about a girl named Maggie (YAY for girls named Maggie!), who lives in Brooklyn in the 1950s. She's a huge fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. A family friend named Jim teaches Maggie how to keep score of a baseball game--you use a system of letters, numbers, and symbols to record every play. (It's fascinating if you're interested, and completely mystifying if your'e not.) Then Jim gets drafted into the army and has to go fight in the Korean War. So it's a baseball story that morphs into a war story.

I am SO excited about this book. I have to say that at the moment, it's my favorite of all the books I've written. I can't wait to find out what readers think about it!

Thank you for your generosity in doing this little chat! Another thing you should know about Linda Sue is, she is a complete and total delight. I've had the opportunity to meet her a couple of times and I have a teeny crush on Ms. Park. She just so rocks. And even cooler--I'm going to the ALA annual conference this year and will be doing a Readers Theater with Linda Sue, Norton Juster, and Eric Rohmann. I don't know how I fooled everyone into thinking I belong in that all-star line-up, but don't tell on me! 'Cause I'm psyched.

Squeetus exclusive: Libba Bray

Our first author royal of the new year is of course the drop dead gorgeous Libba Bray! On the eve of our Book Babes Tour 2008, I took a moment out of my glamorous day signing autographs and posing for photos with Johnny Depp (okay, I've been cleaning up vomit and cuddling sick kids) to interview my better half. Libba is the author of the hugely popular, award winning, best selling Gemma Doyle trilogy: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and the just released concluding volume, The Sweet Far Thing. Libba's writing is rich and evocative, her characters complex and fascinating, powerful dark fantasy set in Victorian England, where the mystical and the common mix in thrilling and frightening ways. These books are suggested for older teens. I love Libba's writing, I love falling into her world, and I love never knowing what will happen next. Her stories are anything but predictable (and please remember, no spoilers in your comments please!). And on to our illustrious guest.

Me: Can you describe, in ten words or less, how you felt after sending the final draft of The Sweet Far Thing to your editor?

Libba: Like I wanted to eat, cry, then sleep forever.

You create such a rich, evocative setting, one that I completely fall into and don't want to leave, even when things get creepy and dark. That is not easy to do! Basically, I'm just saying you're fantastic, so let me find a question...um, how do you create your setting?

I load up my cart at Settings R Us. Love it when they have a sale in the "Moody, Atmospheric" aisle. I keep meaning to take a trip down the "Happy-Go-Lucky-Life-Is-a-Shiny-Shiny-Pretty-Pretty" aisle, but my cart, she will not go.

Well, first of all, thanks for the compliment, Miz H. :-) I love setting. Maybe too much. I think it comes from having a theatre background--I want to be the set designer! Sometimes it's as simple as asking, "Hmmm, what would scare the pee-pee out of me?" and conjuring that image. And I use inspiration. For the realms, I thought about Maxfield Parrish and Hieronymous Bosch paintings and English Arcadian landscapes--gardens with hermitages--and elements of Indian folklore. For the Winterlands, I thought about Iceland, also the Black Forest. I'm a really visual person.

What were you like as a teenager?

A royal pain in the ass. Actually, there was no royalty attached.

I was goofy, a class clown who used humor as a shield and as a weapon. I was very into music and going to concerts and theatre and running and the arts in general. I liked to sit alone in my room and draw or sing into a hairbrush and jump around in my underwear and pretend I was Pete Townsend. I was convinced I wasn't pretty; I would examine my face in the mirror for signs of hope. I liked reading and writing but never considered being a writer. Sometimes I slacked off and came up with very charming excuses along the lines of "the dog ate my homework." I wanted to run away and join the circus and travel to exotic places and have far-flung adventures that involved Irish musicians writing songs about our love. I fought with my mom--a lot and with sarcasm and occasional cruelty, then I'd feel horribly guilty about it. I spent lots of time hanging out with my friends and we were somewhat feral. I was a big dreamer. Sometimes I was the good daughter; sometimes the rebellious wild child running for the cliff.

Some of those things haven't changed, though now I do put on pants when I pretend to be Pete Townsend.

What is different about being a published author than you might've imagined when you were younger?

I don't wear turtlenecks and stare off meaningfully into the distance.

You've often said, and I quote, "If I had to list the top five most important people in my life, Shannon Hale would be number three, right after Bono and right before my husband." I'm so flattered! Do you care to elaborate?

Oh, Shannon, does our love need elaboration? Or can it bedazzle all on its own? And actually, the list just came in--you've moved up to #2 since Bono got that restraining order. I'll bet you can best my husband just by loaning me your lip gloss on tour.

Squeetus exclusive: Jessica Day George

And presenting...Jessica Day George! Ah, well I remember the fervent young redheaded lass, knitting on the front row when I spoke on a fantasy author panel. And here she is a few years later, kicking booty in the big league. Jessica is a fellow Utahan, Bloomsbury author (I had nothing to do with it), mother of a toddler boy, and a redhead (no, we're not twins). Her first book, Dragon Slippers, came out this year. It's a funny and delightful romp into fairytale fantasy land, the type of book that will please a good eight-year-old reader and still delight the teenagers. And she declares that the author photo she sent is a perfect photographic representation...

ME: You’ve had an adventure getting to this point in your career. Would you sum up for us your writing history?

JDG: Three words: rejection, rejection, rejection!  I got rejected almost 200 times, but I believe it was because I was barking up the wrong tree.  I'd written five novels in nine years and had tried contacting agents and editors and had attended many a writer's conference, with no luck.  None of these books were YA, even though YA fantasy is my true love and comprises 90% of what I read.  When I wrote Dragon Slippers, it was a bolt of inspiration.  I took it to two conferences in the summer of 2005, and both editors I pitched it to were wild about it.  It was a refreshing change, after all the rejection!  When Melanie from Bloomsbury Children's made me an offer, I screamed and danced around for HOURS.  Bloomsbury was my dream publisher (and still is)!  After spending years trying to get published, I did it with a manuscript that I had only finished a few weeks before!

Is being a published writer different than how you had imagined when you were younger?

Where's the glamor?  Where's the servants peeling me grapes?  Why doesn't my toddler nap like a little angel for four hours a day while I write?  Okay, but as far as realistic ideas about being a writer: I did think the turnaround was much faster.  I thought you wrote a book in the spring, you and the editor fiddled with any little problems (there of course were no big flaws) during the summer, and the book came out at Christmas!  And of course you got huge checks in the mail every month!  I had no idea that it would be over a YEAR before my book came out, or that my first check wouldn't allow my husband to quit his job so we could move to Maui.  Sigh.

In Dragon Slippers, your main character embroiders fabulous designs in dresses. I know you’re a fantastic knitter. Do you do embroidery too? Did you sketch out the designs of those dresses?

Ah, it's my dark secret.  I don't do embroidery.  I don't have the slightest clue how it's done.  I'm fascinated by it, though.  I also can't draw, so I just had to use my imagination about the gowns.  Then I described Creel's ball gown to a friend, and she drew it for me.  You can see it on www.dragonslippers.net.  I've got a knitter in my fourth book, though, and it was a relief to not have to guess wildly about how you would hold the needles or what you could actually make with the yarn.

Initially, you were looking to write fantasy for adults, but you ended up in the great world of children’s literature. Were you ever disappointed? What do you think about children’s literature?

I wasn't disappointed at all.  Like I said earlier, I am a children's lit junkie.  It was just that all my early book ideas were about grown ups with grown up problems.  (Some dragon-related, but still, very grown up.)  When I got the idea for Dragon Slippers, I was punching the air and dancing around.  (I do that a lot.)  (I also enjoy using parentheses.)  Everything just clicked, and I knew that I had found the place for me at last.  I think it's harder to write children's lit, though.  I am very conscious of the fact that readers might look up to Creel the way I looked up to Aerin or Harry in Robin McKinley's books.  You also have the pressure to keep it short.  My editor is a big fan of short and sweet, so you have to say what you need to say more efficiently than if you had 800 pages, like some of the adult fantasy authors.  I'm just glad that we have J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer out there to prove that readers will still take on something over 400 pages.  Maybe one day I'll be famous enough to publish something that big.

You’ve got a new book based on East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Any other favorite fairy tales?

Well, East o' the Sun was my big one.  I had a picture book of that story that I would read over and over.  So wonderful.  I'm also a big fan of Twelve Dancing Princesses, which will be my fourth book (the one with the knitter).  Disney's Sleeping Beauty was a childhood favorite, too.  I used to tell people that my middle name was Aurora, and argue with my friends that the blue dress was much better than the pink.  Mostly I wanted a big swishy dress, and a grand ball just for me.  If there were talking polar bears, well, that would just be the icing on the cake.  There also needed to be lots of magic, and mysterious old ladies who may or may not be fairies.  I demand a lot of a fairy tale, you see.  I could go on and on for hours about them, actually, so I'd better stop now.

Thanks, Jessica! And we're all so happy you got rejected off your butt by those inferior adult publishing people so we could have you here in children's lit.

Squeetus exclusive: Tiffany Trent

It's uber-fun for me to host an old friend of mine here. Tiffany and I met nine years ago in grad school in Montana. After discovering a shared passion for fantasy literature, we began trading books and manuscripts. This fall, her first novel came out, In the Serpent's Coils, the first in the Hallowmere series. It's a dark fantasy set just after the Civil War in a world where fairies aren't at all cute. The second book, By Venom's Sweet Sting, comes out in just a month, and the third early next year. (Talk about frenzied writing deadlines!) I think my favorite thing about Tiffany's writing is the lusciousness, those juicy sentences that just pop out and make me say, "Wow." And just because she's my friend, doesn't mean she gets to escape the interview torture.

Me: Can you sum up your writing history for us? (I know, I’m laughing at the “sum up” part)

TT: Hmmm…It definitely is a laugh. ;)  I realized I wanted to write when I was nine, after one of those author school project things.  I wrote my favorite author at the time, Madeleine L’Engle, and she wrote back!  And I thought--‘Hey, maybe real people really do write books!’  (I was under the impression that librarians magically tricked the books onto their shelves out of nowhere, you see).  Then, I wrote.  And wrote.  And wrote.  Went through school.  Decided to go to grad school (twice!) and ended up meeting your fabulous self!  During our summer writing extravaganza (wherein we challenged one another to write a novel which we believed we’d have published by the fall ;)), I wrote a dark epic fantasy.  (And Shannon wrote the first draft of The Goose Girl--‘magine that!) After various long and winding paths through the publishing wilderness, I was contacted by my editor, Stacy Whitman, who had met Shannon at a conference, about possibly doing a young adult dark fantasy for Wizards of the Coast/Mirrorstone.  I proposed a new idea I’d been thinking about, a stand-alone novelization of “The Marsh King’s Daughter” by Hans Christian Andersen.  When Stacy said, “Can you make that ten books?”  I gulped and said, “Sure.”

What’s different about being a published author than what you had imagined when you were younger?

Probably the anxiety.  You get used to being anxious about whether or not you’ll be rejected, whether or not you’ll ever see your book on that shelf.  But going behind the publishing curtain brings an entirely new set of difficulties--sales, promotion, reviews, etc., etc.  Suddenly, you’re a one-person company, in some ways.  (And in some ways not).  It’s a bit frightening. 
But it can also be quite glorious.  I never realized the absolute pleasure of talking to teen readers, answering their questions and feeling their passion for reading and writing so viscerally.  It’s very humbling to hear how much your book or your personal path to publication has inspired someone.

What has been the reaction been to your authordom? Do your co-workers and neighbors know? How do people respond to the “dark fantasy” and “young adult” labels?

The reaction has been interesting to say the least.  For the most part, people have been very supportive, particularly my colleagues.  I don’t think my neighbors know, except they probably wonder why on earth I travel so much!  And why does the Fed Ex man visits me so regularly.
As to the labels, some people seem to think that if it’s YA, it won’t be a fun read for adults.  More often, though, I get folks who are worried that boys won’t enjoy it because the main character and her friends are all female, even though I’ve had many comments from boys who liked it just as much as girls.  Some people are worried by the dark fantasy, but many people prefer it.  I’m just trying to spin a good, creepy yarn by using authentic facts and sources to make the fantasy feel real.  It’s like the difference between light and dark chocolate.  (Dark chocolate’s better for you, of course! ).

How did the Hallowmere series come to be? And if you would, what are your plans for future projects?

Well…there was once this girl named Shannon…Kidding!  I had wanted for a long time to novelize “The Marsh King’s Daughter”, but was never sure how.  I tried it in a modern setting, but it just didn’t work.  I decided trying to pop it into the wayback machine and see what happened.  It turned out that the Reconstruction era worked wonders for the kind of mythic and cultural goodies I had in mind.  So, it stuck.  And then all these Fey Folk started showing up, and I began questioning how Fey Folk could learn to adapt to the Industrial Revolution.  The backstory for Hallowmere just dropped out of nowhere.  Oddly enough, though, the person I thought would be the main character in the series got shoved aside by another one--Corrine--who said, “Me, me, me!  I want to do it!”  So, I did and she did, and here we are.

I’m currently working on Book 7 of the Hallowmere series.  (Some of the books are co-authored after the founding trilogy).  After I finish the final Hallowmere book, I have another proposal I’m working on about…don’t laugh…Charles Darwin the vampire.  Crazy, no?   

What’s the best thing you can imagine coming out of your writing?

The best thing I can imagine is that I get to tell stories that entertain and inspire readers and writers for the rest of my life.  And if I could do that all the time for my livelihood, I would be eternally grateful for the privilege.   

Thanks, amiga! I love your story. I think it's so good for other struggling writers out there to hear that it may be a long process, but ultimately hopeful. Of course, you work your butt off. (Ah, I remember the time your computer ate the only file of your novel...such fun...) Welcome home to the Young Adult market. It's a great place to be!

Squeetus exclusive: Sherwood Smith

Sherwood Smith was a writer I discovered soon after I sold goose girl as a young adult book and wanted to see what else was out there in that genre. I was perusing my library's YA section and was drawn to Crown Duel just by the cover. And loved it. And had to go back to the library immediately (like in a hurry just as it was closing) to get the sequel, Court Duel. These are a fun duet of fantasy novels that you'll rip through and utterly enjoy, and she's written many others including the popular Wren series. Let's meet the lady of the week!

Me: What did you think being a writer would be like when you were younger? How is the reality different?

SS: I never thought that what I was doing (stories and drawings about another world) was the same as "being a writer."  In other words, the books I loved to check out of the library (I was, and am, a voracious reader, beginning a book-a-day habit at age eight, and continuing that all my life--except when Real Life interferes) all came about by god-like grownups, which had nothing to do with my little messes that adults thought a waste of time and worthy only of the trash.  At thirteen I began typing up, and sending out, novels written as a compromise between what I figured "they" would publish, and what I really wanted to read. My motivation was because by then the careers for women--excuse me, ladies--were firmly directed toward housewife, nurse, teacher, or secretary, and I did not want to be ANY of those.  By then I'd discovered that books were written by actual human beings, so, why not me?  I thought published authors had it made in the shade--I could own a big house full of rescue animals, where friends could stay, and I could write and never have to wear shoes again.  As if!

So my mom let me have her old manual typewriter, and I saved my babysitting money (fifty cents an hour!) for postage. There was a lot I didn't know, including how to rewrite, so I didn't actually sell anything until I was in my mid-thirties.  In between i did many things, like live in Europe, work some horrific jobs and some cool ones, get married, have a kid.  We decided I would stay home for our first child's early years, but as soon as she started school I had to get a job.  So I had those five years to try to sell something.  Well, the irony is I did sell something the very year she began kindergarten--but the reality of advances (very modest money paid in increments over very long waits) meant I had to get the full time job anyway, and that meant getting up at four a.m. in order to get those three precious writing hours each day, from four to seven.  The rest of the day I was teacher, wife, and mom.

I read Crown Duel and Court Duel as separate hard covers, and in paperback they're combined. Could you tell us how that came about?

I mentioned above writing what I thought "they" would accept, and what I loved.  How I tried to find a compromise. When I was 17, I got the idea for Wren, and blithely began writing it.  I decided I would make a world, not discover one, like S-d.  When I write an S-d story, it "feels" like I'm a watcher at the window.  I can't change anything that happened any more than I can willfully make myself younger or change our bank account from disagreeable and ongoing debt into comfortable wealth.  It just is, and all I can change is how I write about the events.  This new world would be fun, and it also would not break the "rules" I perceived in children's literature at the time.

See, in those days, you didn't have fantasy stories for kids in which kids from this world could go Over There and stay;.  They always had to come back, grow up, etc.  Or, the ending I loathed with intense passion, they were enchanted to forget all their wonderful adventures, or to think "it was all just a dream."  Bleccch!  The stories also had to be very short (mine tended to be long).

Sooo…anyway, I sent Wren out, it almost sold, thank goodness it didn't, I put it away, tried it again in my mid-thirties when my first child was old enough for school.

I was going to finish the four Wren novels as I'd envisioned them all those years ago, but about the time I was finishing the third Wren book I thought it might be fun to just try one of the S-d stories--see if anyone would possibly like them.  Try one "in disguise." So I picked one out of the main story-line that could stand on its own, typed it up one summer, and changed little details--which was easy, since I'd used S-d for a model for Wren's world, which was kinda "S-d lite."  Like Eidervaen was in Wren's world Erev-li-Erval.  Easy changes.  The Hill Folk existed in both worlds, so no problem there.   Gave it a title (few of the handwritten ones have titles; this one was just "Mel's story in Remalna") and sent it in to my editor.

Well, it worked.  But the editor wanted it split into two (those rules were still in effect, one of which was "YAs won't read long books") and I left out the Flauvic scene to keep it more G than PG.

Crown Duel turned out to be far more popular than the Wren stories, so for the Firebirds edition of Crown Duel I changed everything back to the way it was supposed to be.   Including putting it together back as one book.

Can you tell us one of the best things you've ever heard from a fan?

Oh, easily the best things are the enthusiasm, the questions about the stories beyond the story.

Do people in your neighborhood know your profession? How do acquaintances react when they learn what you do?

Few know, and most are indifferent, sometimes faintly hostile or derisive.  You have to remember I live in Southern California where it seems that every third person wants to be something in the film industry.  Saying "I'm a writer" in this town probably translates in other towns out to be "I'm a pretentious slacker."  The first  question after is usually "What have you done?" and  following that  I usually hear, "I've never heard of you" or "Ohhhh, Children's stories," in a voice like "There's a worm in my salad."   So I seldom mention writing. The only neighbor who knows, for example, is the one who is an actress.

If you could do something outrageous, dangerous, or crazy without any ill consequences for anyone, what would it be?

I've already done all three, and outrageous, dangerous, or crazy  aren't the same in real life as they are in film!  Though outrageous is still possible.  Someone made the mistake of daring me to do the Chicken Dance once.  of course I did it!  Buck-a-buck squauuuwk!  Squawk!

Thank you, Sherwood! Here's to many more productive years as pretentious slackers!

Megan Whalen Turner, part 3 of 3

Megan:

Back when the internet was a little newer and more spiffy, I used to get the "Prove to me that you can use the Internet" report-doers.  The teachers obviously wanted the kids to brush up on their net researching skills and were killing two birds with one stone.  They had students pick authors and then do research to find out when they were born, where they lived, where they went to elementary school, who their best friend was.  All kinds of esoteric personal information that, as you know, I'm not really comfortable posting for the world to read.  So I would get these pathetic little e-mails from students saying, "I can't find anything and I'm going to faaiiiillllll."

I usually answered what I could and offered to explain to their teachers why I wouldn't answer the rest.  Probably teachers all over the country now introduce this unit by saying, "And you are not allowed to pick Megan Whalen Turner, so don't even think about telling me you couldn't find out anything about your author."

I went to look at your biography and admired your plastic pig.  And I read your blog where everybody has better answers for that question:  what about writing is different than you expected?   I'm totally with Robin Brande:  What She Said.  I really wish my books would grow like mushrooms when I wasn't looking.  Sometimes I look at the text on the screen and I think how nice it would be if it would write itself and all I had to do was read over it.

Also, I never answered the question you asked in your first e-mail, what would I do if I could do anything I wanted without being arrested or causing world-wide destruction:   I would move into the British Museum.  "So sorry, Your Majesty, but the Elgin marbles are mine now.  The Treasure of Sutton Hoo.  Mine.  The Reading Room, the Court.  Mine, all mine."

I love the British Museum.  We're going to London at Christmas-time and I think we will spend the whole week there.  Of course, the Met in New York is nice; I could live there, too…but no, it's the British Museum for me.  They have a Hands On History program where they let you hold stuff:  those little oil lamps from Sparta, Eye icons from Sumer, Flint Hand Axes that are Eight Thousand Years Old.  Have I said that I love…yes, I did.

Shannon:

*cough* You also haven’t answered the question yet about what you’re working on now, if there will be any more books with Gen...

Oh, that.

I am working on the next book in the sequence.  It is going very slowly and I am behind.  Unless my editor is reading this, in which case, I am writing, Virginia! Writing!

Yay!

I wouldn't know anything about being behind...(still working on graphic novel sequel that was due months ago, first draft of fourth Bayern book due this month and only have 75 pages...). Thank goodness for patient editors. Mine has twin three-year-olds and much understanding.

I think that I already gave you my advice, unsolicited, but I am happy to say again that a number of people warned me that I shouldn't expect to get any real work done until my youngest child was in school full time.  But, I didn't find small children any impediment to writing.  I hired a babysitter (several great ones, actually, thank you Trisha Falvey, thank you Nancy Schaffstall!)  and wrote The Thief and The Queen of Attolia.  It wasn't that hard to find someone to feed babies, change babies and take babies to the park. Then they grew up and went to school.  You can't pay someone else to go on field trips for you, or help them with their homework. Never mind that when you hire a babysitter you get to set the schedule and hire them when it is convenient for you.  The elementary school is just not as accommodating.  So write, quick! Quick!

I am sure you've read L'Engle's obits.  Did you see?  She had a cape.

You knew it! You totally called that. See, we need to score ourselves some capes, and maybe some very long dresses so it looks like we're floating. Oh, and have people play some kind of theme music whenever we walk into a room--something mystical maybe. Or perhaps the theme from Shaft.

That Megan is one bad motha--
Shut your mouth!
I'm just talkin' 'bout Megan.
We can dig it!

Nope.  Sorry, but no.  Not a chance.  Hopeless.
Madeleine L'Engle could wear a cape.
Maybe you can wear a cape.  Maybe you would rock in a cape.
Not me.
I am too short.  I'd look like an ewok.
Not even with musical back-up could I bring it off.

Not even with the ewok theme from the end of Return of the Jedi? That might really rock. I'm just sayin', it might be worth considering. Ewoks are cool. (My husband disagrees, but I'm sticking to it--EWOKS ARE COOL.)

I think I'm a sucker for costumes. I wore a Regency dress to the release party for Austenland, and I'll be wearing a traditional dress for my release party for Book of a Thousand Days. Guess it's my theater background. Maybe it helps me feel less like I'm normal old me up there and more like I'm someone else, The Author, a Woman of Note, a Personage Worth Listening To. Or maybe it's just fun. Most authors I know feel like they're playing a part whenever they do public appearances and book tours, and then go home just exhausted.

Yes, I get tired at public appearances, even though I love meeting people who like my book.

This was fun.  I hope to meet you in person soon, and I hope that when I do, you have your cape on.  Work on the wind-speaking thing, okay?  I don’t want to be disappointed!

Thank you, Megan! Holy cow, folks, wasn’t she awesome? How lucky am I to be in a business where I can trick Megan Whalen Turner into thinking I’m cool enough to hold a long email conversation with me? Lu-cky. I hope I didn’t steal too much of her time away from writing, because we need another book, Megan. We need your words. Please. Soon.

Megan Whalen Turner, part 2 of 3

Shannon:

Hooray! Okay, but you have to let me know when you're out of time so I don't take advantage of you.

Yes, yes, and YES! I was terrified of signings and public appearances for my first two years (I've only been doing this gig for four now). I felt sure all the kids especially would be devastatingly disappointed on meeting me. I would be boring, I wouldn't have wind speaking OR fire-speaking, and I don't have a cape (yet...).

I'm better now about the public stuff. Things that have worked for me: 1. I never read at "readings." I just chat, tell stories, answer questions. 2. I do my best to have fun (this may include karaoke).

And AMEN to the children's writer thing. I have a hundred stories about this, but here are two.

(This one is second hand so I hope I'm getting it right.) Brian Selznick told me he was at a party when he was writing the brilliant Invention of Hugo Cabret. He was speaking with a smart, accomplished woman (a lawyer, I believe). She asked what he did, and he said he was a children's book writer and illustrator, and told how he was having a really challenging time getting his current novel to work.

She said, "It's a children's book, right? How hard can it be?"

Here's a scenario I had just this week. I went to a local bookstore to see a former creative writing professor read her newest work of literary fiction.

After greeting her and telling her who I was, she (ever gracious--a really kind, lovely woman) turned to the bookseller present.

Professor: Let me introduce you to Shannon Bryner [my maiden name]. She was one of my students.

Bookseller: Actually, we know Shannon. She's kind of famous.

Professor: That's right! I heard you wrote a couple of kids' books?

Me: Yeah, that's right.

I could've mentioned the Newbery Honor but I don't think it would have meant anything to her. I could've mentioned the New York Times best seller list and published in 15 languages and that sort of thing, but that would have been a real neener-neener, wouldn't it? I usually don't offer information about my profession to people I meet. I'm a stay-at home mom and I'm happy for people to assume that's all I do. And the awkwardness of the replies, "Oh! Children's books. Hmm..." is something I like to avoid.

I imagine the only children's writer in the world that doesn't face the ghetto literature reaction is J.K. Rowling.

Do you have any personal stories?  How did you stumble into children's lit or was it always your goal? How has the actuality of being a writer been different than what you expected or even hoped when you were younger? Is it better or worse or both?

Megan:

I suppose that I should be more sympathetic to those who back away slowly.  After all, I was once trapped in an airport lounge with the proud parents of a ghost writer for Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High Books and I couldn't back away fast enough.

That wasn't a ghetto literature reaction, so much as proud parent one.  (We, of course, never brag about our own children, right?) But I did sit next to an MFA student at a dinner party once.  He explained that his *real* writing was going to have to wait while he made some quick cash - - writing a children's book.

I nearly fell off my seat.  I didn't know which was funnier, the idea that he'd whip out a children's book, or that he would make any money doing it.  He had this idea that his premiere picture book ought to net him twenty or thirty thousand dollars.  ???

I didn't so much stumble into writing as I stumbled upon the entire field of children's books.  I went to school at The University of Chicago and was wandering in the library when I found a room tucked into one corner of the building that was entirely filled with children's books.  It was heaven.  Only a clueless freshman wouldn't have recognized it as The Center for Children's Books, source of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, and one of the largest private collections of children's books in the country.  It was a revelation to me that anyone over the age of fourteen paid any attention to kids' books, but here they all were, real, live grown-ups reading and reviewing Susan Cooper and Diana Wynne Jones.

I took several graduate classes with Betsy Hearne, the editor of the Bulletin, and that gave me just enough credentials to get a job running the children's book section of a local bookstore after graduation.  I worked on and off in bookstores for the next seven or eight years, but we moved frequently and I had to keep getting new jobs.  Finally, I decided to put the energy into writing books instead of shelving them, but I doubt that I would have done that if my interest hadn't been validated, years before, by Betsy and the other people at the Center for Children's Books.  I was very disappointed when the entire collection was sold to the University of Illinois.

Oooh,  fifteen languages?  I haven't kept count, but I think mine are in… six, maybe?

I do get very cool fan mail, though.  When I read it, I tend to be very flattered that such neat people like my books.  On the other hand, there are the letters from the oppressed;  I get mail from a lot of children who are forced to read some book from the Newbery lists.  They are usually in the fourth or fifth grade, and their letters often start like this:

My teacher made us pick a book from this list and yours looked like the least bad.

Generally, they go on to say how surprised they were that they actually liked the book, and they want me to write another one.  But, every once in a while, I get letters from fourth graders who didn't make it to the end. 

They are, to put it nicely, bluffing.

I'm never sure what to say.  I don't want to get them in trouble with their teachers by revealing their bluff, but I want to tell them that it's perfectly all right to not like the book.  I'd much rather have an honest letter in which they tell me how far they got and why they stopped, but I can't think of a way to tell them that.

You are on that list.  Do you get those letters?  How do you answer?

(...wait, I'm still laughing about making some quick cash writing a children's book...)

Yes, the school letter. I feel great gobs of guilt about that. I can't answer them anymore. I got behind on my correspondence near the end of my pregnancy and then after I had Maggie, and now I have 650 unanswered emails in my inbox. I do read them, but slowly, and sometimes by the time I get to them they're nine months old. My favorite kinds of school letters are ones like this. (I'm not making this up)

Hi, I have to do a report on you for class. Can you please answer these questions?

1. Describe the author's personal history.

2. What are the author's literary influences?

3. Write a critical review of the author's work.

4. List the books the author has written.

Thanks. I have Princess Academy and it looks really good!

Time right now is a mystery to me. I ache to be writing in earnest again. I get my 15 minutes a day, and then there are usually two opportunities a week to do another two hours, but that's all lately. I'm looking into some part time childcare options. I miss being a writer. I constantly have ideas and yearn to write them. I don't begrudge the time off I've had with my baby, but I'm so ready to dive back in again.

It was simpler with one child--when he napped, I wrote, end of story. Now we get creative. Did you write when your children were little? How do you manage your writing time now?

They don't ask you if you have any pets?  My school report writers always want to know if I have pets.

Yes! You're right, always a pet question. One reason I include information about our "pet plastic pig" in my bio. I guess I get two kinds of school letters:

1. Teacher has student send an email to an author. I love these emails! They are so dear, another reason why I feel so much guilt about not answering.

2. Student has assignment to do a report about an author and emails me, trying to get me to do it for them. These emails tend to have awkward requests such as, "My report is due tomorrow so PLEASE RESPOND ASAP!"

(to be continued)

Squeetus exclusive: Megan Whalen Turner, part 1 of 3

Next stop on the author train: Megan Whalen Turner, of course. I read her three books The Thief (a Newbery Honor Book), The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia back-to-back soon after Maggie was born. I can't remember the last time I had such a wonderful, indulgent, giddy experience reading. These are technically young adult fantasy, I suppose, but I hate to slap a label on them. Really, they read like riveting political historical fiction. If you're a writer, you'll want to re-read these just to figure out how in the heck Megan accomplishes what she does and so gracefully. She is a true storytelling master. When I sent her my interview questions, she said she had just as many questions for me and asked if we could have an email conversation instead. We got carried away, spending the last several weeks telling each other stories and asking more questions, so I'll publish this conversation in installments. And now, the extraordinary Megan Whalen Turner...

Shannon:

Hello Megan! I am unable to stop adoring you from afar after reading The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. You plot like no one I know. Reading your books is like watching skilled acrobats flinging themselves around but never falling. I would never dare to write like you, and yet you carry off the impossible magnificently and so smoothly it seems effortless. So I guess my question is, how do you plot? Are you a heavy outliner? Do you tackle the tough stuff in first draft or rewrites? That sort of thing.

Megan:

Shannon, I am stymied.  I really don't know how to answer.  If I were to disagree with your gracious compliments I might look suitably humble, but maybe not.  People might not believe me if I said you make me blush.  And if I just take your lovely compliments with a smile, I look like, I dunno, like the Queen of England deigning to be interviewed, and that's not how I feel at all.  I think your books are wonderful, you think mine are wonderful.  How do you plot?

You picked acrobatics as a metaphor.  I feel more like I am putting together a puzzle.  I get the frame first and then fill in the little tiny pieces as I find them.  And when I can't fit any more in, I always have some left over and I don't know what to do with them.  Or I feel as if I am back in 11th grade physics class building a model bridge out of toothpicks, adding another little bit here or there to reinforce weak spots until the whole thing can hold up under the weight of being read by strangers.

Who is your first reader? What do your stories look like the first time you share them with someone?

I know, I know, I asked you an impossible question. I was being interviewed the other day for a newspaper and he asked me something like, "How does it feel to be so famous and adored?" And later, "How do you manage to write perfect books?" I stuttered, I hemmed. No way to answer that well.

My first reader is my husband, which is perfect, because I've trained him over the years to read my stuff well. He knows how to compliment me a billion times before the first criticism, lest I crumple under it all and flee. And he knows how to find specific things that don't work and point me in a better direction. And I know he loves me no matter what, so I can take the hits. Really, my early drafts are pretty bad. Lifeless, detail-less, confusing. I have to have a lot of hope to see possibilities in my first drafts. I think rewriting is where my storytelling really happens. Who is your first reader?

I'm curious how the Newbery Honor changed you or your storytelling, or didn't. Did you feel new pressure? Did it seem real or unreal, or did it affect how you wrote afterward?  Do you think it changed how booksellers or publishers or readers see your books?

My first reader is my husband as well.  I trust him not only to be a good critic, but an honest one.  I never have to wonder if he is shining it on because he doesn't want to hurt my feelings.   

I remember when I showed him a short story and for the first time, he couldn't put his finger on the problem with it.  I knew there was a problem as well, but also couldn't nail it down.  Finally, I decided that the problem was caffeine deprivation.  I started the story while in the no-coffee stage of pregnancy, and the writing was just uninspired.

Caffeine is an essential ingredient in my prose.  We have a phrase now for writing that just isn't coming together:  decaffeinated at its inception.

Aargh.  I was going to answer the question about the Newbery Honor, but I have to get everybody's hair cut.  School starts next week.  I'm sorry that this exchange is going at snail pace.

...

I got the call from the Newbery committee just as I was about to drive from New Jersey to Washington DC.  We were only going to be in New Jersey for a year, so I'd kept my pediatrician in DC and I was driving down to stay with my parents whenever it was time for the boys' check-ups.

The call could not have been more of surprise.  For one thing, I had my dates wrong for the ALA mid-winter conference.  I thought they'd awarded the Newbery the week before. But after the shock and awe, I still had to drive down for the doctor's appointment and the baby had an allergic reaction to the MMR and I spent the next week worrying about him, and really, I still look at the little sticker on the front of the books sometimes and think, "Wow, when did that happen?"

I know what you mean! For the six months between the phone call and when the award was actually given, I kept expecting someone to call and say, "There was a mistake, sorry, you didn't get it after all."

Thank you so much, Megan. You've been so generous with your time. I could keep this going for weeks, but I'm slapping my hands to stop so I won't take advantage of you. If I might dare one last sneaky question...can you tell us what to expect from you next?

No! No! My turn!

I feel so prosaic talking about babies and vaccinations.  Do you ever feel like you should be more glamorous for your fans?  Do you worry about disappointing them by being too ordinary?  I always thought my favorite writers must *glow* or something.  Susan Cooper, I imagined floating through air.  Katherine Patterson especially should have a saint-like aura.  At least, they should wear flowing robes.  Capes maybe.  Authors ought to live in mysterious writerly places like Bali, or in a cabin in the Adirondacks.  I don't know about you but I am in suburbia here and I sometimes feel like I'm letting the side down.

And here's a question. Do they people in your neighborhood know what a great writer you are?  How do you introduce yourself?

As long as no one asks me, I usually don't mention that I write books. When people do ask, I say I write fiction for children, and they almost all say, "Oh, that's nice," and back away slowly.  I am extremely reluctant to say, "Yeah, and I got a Newbery Honor Book award!" so I smile and nod and leave them to their assumptions.  What do you say?  You are -much- more famous than I am.  Perhaps you don't have this problem.

(to be continued...)

Squeetus exclusive: Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor's debut book, Blackbringer, is the first in the Faeries of Dreamdark series, and it's going to win her legions of fervent fans. To quote my own blurb (if I may be so bold), "A tremendous book--a vivid adventure in a place both familiar and new, characters that made me laugh and cheer and a truly frightening villain. I thoroughly enjoyed the read." I'm so pleased to host Laini in our ongoing quest to bring book happiness to the world!

Me: So, you’re a pretty fantastic writer. Characters, setting, plot, language—you’re a master of all the building blocks. I’d love to know something about your writing process.

LT: Geez, thanks!!! Coming from you, that means A LOT! I could go on and on about process  (actually, I just DID go on and on about it: just last week I launched a new website called NOT FOR ROBOTS that goes into embarrassing detail about the strategies I have to use on myself to get my work done! It’s at: www.notforrobots.blogspot.com). My natural tendency is to micro-edit every single sentence as I write it, to happily tinker around with language as if I think I’m writing a poem, not a novel. It would take a very long time to write a novel this way! So, much of my process is about keeping the storytelling going as I make my tortuous way through my first draft, and not letting my persnickitiness take over until I’m ready for it.

My favorite parts of the writing process are the early stage: plotting, and the late stage: revisions. So that leaves the whole middle, the actual writing part, as my not-so-favorite! That said, I have to admit that the days when the writing is flowing and the story is surging forward, those are the absolute best days, far better than the best of all plotting or revising days. It’s like the nursery rhyme: “When they’re good, they’re very very good, and when they’re bad, they’re HORRID!”

Is there anything about publishing your first book that surprised you? Anything about being an author that’s different than you imagined when you were younger?

Hm. I think I once imagined yachts were somehow part of the deal, and vine-draped terraces in Italy, and lots of witty, fascinating friends swinging by in the evenings with violins and absinthe and poetry. Ha ha! I am sure I had some ludicrous daydreams about the life. But seriously, one thing that does really stick in my memory is a scene from the movie “Back to the Future,” in which the main character’s dad, who’s a writer, gets a box of his new book delivered by his publisher. I’ve always remembered that scene, and it’s funny -- my husband has seen that movie more times than me but he doesn’t remember it, but many writers I’ve asked know exactly the scene I’m talking about. I guess we all crave that box of books! And when my first box came, it was just as cool as I had hoped.
One thing that did surprise me about publishing, even though I thought I was prepared for it, was the god-awful byzantine complexity of publishing contracts! What a horror! Also, it was a nice surprise to discover what cool, unscary REAL PEOPLE work in children’s publishing!

(I totally know that exact scene! It's been in my heart for years.) How did the story of the Faeries of Dreamdark unfold for you?

When I first got started on it I thought I was writing a light-hearted faerie story for young girls, which I planned to illustrate myself. I spent a lot more time on the art part than the writing -- I even made paper dolls of the characters! But once I really got into the writing, the tone began to change very quickly. One thing I’ve learned in writing an adventure book is that it is really the villain, not the protagonist, that determines the plot and the tone. What does the villain want? It’s from that question that the story flows, and once I had my villain, my story became darker than I had originally anticipated -- and those paper dolls went out the window! In retrospect it doesn’t surprise me. I don’t READ light-hearted stories for young children. I like dramatic, sophisticated stories for upper middle-grade and YA, books like The Golden Compass and Sabriel. I just didn’t
immediately realize that’s what I was writing.

What do you read?

I’d say that for the last few years, I’ve read about 80% kidlit, 20% adult fiction, with a smattering of nonfiction thrown in. I mentioned The Golden Compass above -- my favorite. I also love a certain kind of historical fiction -- books like Water for Elephants, A Thread of Grace, Hattie Big Sky, and Anahita’s Woven Riddle, that take a little niche in time and place and make it gloriously real. It’s the next best thing to time travel, and I am humbled by the ability of these authors to blend research and storytelling. Dorothy Dunnett’s Niccolo Rising series is the best of the best. And of course, I love the supernatural. I’ve been a fan of horror since I was a little girl, and I can’t do
without magic. I also confess to needing a little spice and romance, a good intense love story, and even a sob or two! One of the best, most unexpected (and most unknown) books I’ve read in
recent years is The Carpet Makers by the German sci-fi writer Andreas Eschbach. It was discovered by Orson Scott Card at a convention, and he saw to it that it got translated into English.

Please tell me there will be more stories about Magpie (you know that’s what we call our daughter Maggie, right?).

Yes, there are more Dreamdark books coming. I am working on the second one now; it’s called Silksinger, and picks up not long after Blackbringer leaves off. I have five books planned in all. (And I love the name Maggie! I have a friend named Maggie and I’m always accidentally calling her Magpie.)

Thanks, Laini! I love your hair, by the way. So sassy and beautiful too. We'll all be waiting breathlessly for Silksinger.

Squeetus exclusive: Stephenie Meyer

Our author-of-the-week: Stephenie Meyer! If you said, "Who?" then I'm sure the rock you live under has very reasonable rent, but it's time to crawl out and look around. The superstar author of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, three of the most addictive books of our time, Stephenie (note: no "a" in the spelling) is also kind, generous, and hysterical. She's also the busiest author-mom I know, so I tried to keep her interview as brief and painless as possible.

ME: Can you give us 1-3 adjectives describing what you were like in high school?

SM: Geeky, quiet (as in: "She was a quiet girl, kept to herself.  We never would have suspected her of __________."), and book-obsessed.

ME: Word association: I say "mornings," you say...

SM: Ugh!  *shudder*

ME: You've said on many occasions, and I quote, "Shannon Hale is so cool, way cooler than me. I wish we had a National Shannon Hale Day. Next time I'm at the White House I'm going to mention that to the president. And she's also so beautiful. And yet humble too. She's the kind of girl Jacob Black would totally fall head over heels for. And Colin Firth. I really, really hope she'll be my best friend. I made her a friendship bracelet and everything, but I'm so nervous to give it to her. Do you think she'd wear it? She just so rocks!" Interesting thoughts, Stephenie. Care to elaborate? (10 words or less)

SM: There's not much more to say--Shannon rocks my world.
Time to go cook dinner...HA HA HA!  Will it be Taco Bell or Subway tonight??  Oh the suspense!!!!

Thank you, Stephenie, from a legion of geeky, quiet, book-obsessed fans! Thanks for a heart-racing, giggle-and-sigh-inducing, late-night-page-turning, dream-worthy series of books. We'll be waiting for what's next. Oh yes, we'll be waiting, and watching...(but was it Taco Bell or Subway? We may never know!)

Squeetus exclusive: Jeff Kinney

Next up on our Author Interview Express, Jeff Kinney! Jeff's first book Diary of a Wimpy Kid is "a novel told in cartoons," and it's a rip-roaring delight. 7th grader and budding cartoonist, Greg keeps a diary of his year of middle school, sketching cartoons of events on every page. It's a dead on portrait of middle school, hysterical, a quick and extremely fun read. Give this to your reluctant reader and watch them devour it, but I can't imagine any reader, old or young, who won't relate to Greg's experiences and have a hearty laugh. This little gem zoomed onto all the major bestseller lists. Let's meet the man behind the laughter!

ME: I love the theory that children's writers have young internal readers, so we're writing to our internal audience and not to an external audience. Do you believe this? How old is your internal reader?

JK: That’s a very interesting notion, and one that I’d never heard before. When I was writing Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I didn’t have a specific audience in mind. I wanted to write something that I’d find funny if I came across it. When I was a kid, there were certain books that were read again and again (and seemed to never make it out of the bathroom :)) I wanted to write a book that would suffer similar abuse. So in a way, yes, I can see how I was trying to write for myself as a younger person.

Your book is laugh-out-loud hysterical. I think my favorite scene was the haunted house. Or the cheese. There are so many good ones. Do you have a favorite scene?

Thank you! My favorite scenes tend to be those scenes that people tell me they like. So the haunted house scene and the school play scene have become favorites of mine since the book came out. I also like the scene in which Greg and his friends try to design a robot.

What were you like in middle school?

All in all, I was a pretty average kid. I could be kind, but I could be petty as well. Appearance-wise, my class pictures doesn’t paint a pretty picture. I had the worst kind of metal braces, plus feathered hair. I wish somebody had told us in the 70s and 80s that our entire fashion sense was just all wrong.

Is there anything about being an author or publishing your first book that's different than you would've imagined?

Mostly, I’m surprised that someone took a chance and published my book at all. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is not an easy book to categorize, and I’m very surprised that librarians and booksellers embraced it. I’ve been overwhelmed by the whole publishing experience...mostly in a good way. I’m surprised by the work it takes, on everyone’s part, to get a book in front of the public’s eyes.

If you could do something outrageous or dangerous or crazy with no ill consequences for anyone, what would it be?

My threshold for danger is very low, so I’m afraid my answer is going to be lame. I saw that in Costa Rica, there are scuba diving excursions where you can swim amongst hammerhead sharks. Imagine being surrounded be a school of hammerheads… that would be the ultimate thrill for me.

Thanks, Jeff! You're a keeper.