If you’ve seen the movie Freaky Friday, you know that its premise is about change and growth through role reversal. For my Friday Blog entry I thought it would be interesting to interview aspiring writers; the same writers who spend lots of time reading the interviews of published authors and dreaming of the day when they might get their book on the shelves…
This week’s interview is close to my heart. Linda Hanlon is one of the first friends I made when I started attending local SCBWI events and she is a member of my local writing group C’RAP (Children’s ‘Riters Always Procrastinate). I’m going to jump right in because she has so much to offer.
OK Linda, I know you’re a little shy, so I’m going to jump right in. We first met through our local SCBWI local Shop Talk and then gravitated towards each other to form our writing group C’RAP. Once a month Shop Talk meets at Barnes and Noble. You have a little bit of insider information about the location. Can you fill us in?
I’ve worked at B & N for a LONG time, haha! The SCBWI ShopTalk group had been meeting there for some time before I got involved in SCBWI. It meets on the last Saturday of each month at 10am, but it goes on hiatus in Nov. & Dec. for the store’s holiday season. I worked on the book floor, near the meeting area and I couldn’t help but overhear bits of the meetings as I worked. I was always tempted to put down the stack of books I was shelving and sit in. Everyone involved seemed so creative & committed to writing for children and teens. I was just starting to get interested in writing for teens again myself. But it wasn’t until 2004 that I got involved with SCBWI, when I went to my first Upstate NY conference.
I learned about the conference in a roundabout way – everything seems to happen to me in a roundabout kind of way, almost never in a direct way! I was also working in an art supply store in ’04 and one of the regular customers was James Ransome, an award-winning childrens’ picture book illustrator. We would talk about his work & about my writing whenever he came in and he was the one who told me about SCBWI and the conference – he and his wife/collaborator, writer Lesa Cline-Ransome, were speaking there. He even brought in the info and application brochure for me. I was especially interested in the manuscript critiques because I hadn’t had my fiction critiqued by a professional in several years. I asked my close friend and then-coworker, Michelle Mead, if she wanted to go too, because she worked in the childrens’ department and I knew she was also interested in childrens writing. (You will find out more about Michelle when you interview her for Freaky Friday!) So we went to the conference, got inspired by all the breakout lecture sessions and met some great people. Writer Ellen Yeomans, who was also the Upstate NY Regional Advisor at the time, gave me a positive & constructive critique on my manuscript for a teen novel (that I’ve backburnered since then) and that helped me believe in myself as a writer for teens.
After the conference, Michelle and I went to our first ShopTalk meeting and since then, I’ve made sure to set aside the last Saturday of each month exclusively for writing. It sometimes seems weird to be sitting with the group with all the activity of the store going on, as if I’m neglecting the store, even though I’m not scheduled to work. Yeah, working at B & N has given me some “issues” – haha! But it’s worth it, to be able to have the time to share with fellow ShopTalk/SCBWI writers, & to give my writing the commitment that it needs. And I’ve met some great people who are talented writers at the meetings, including you, Kim! 🙂
This is fantastic BTW! Now I don’t want you giving up any trade secrets that will get you in trouble at work, but I know the handful of people who actually read this blog would love to know some of the insider information that you have stock piled from your experiences at B&N. I’m also curious if there is a disconnect between what corporate thinks about YA and what the people who are perusing the shelves in the YA department think.
You want more info about working at B & N – OK, I’ll do my best.
I guess working in a bookstore is probably a fitting “day job” for a book-addict and writer like me. It’s kind of an extension of the school libraries, where I spent most of my free time as a student growing up. I wasn’t athletic, so while the other kids were playing kickball during recess, I hid out in the library – reading, writing stories, and drawing pictures. I knew I wanted to write books since even before school, when I realized that people had created the stories my mom read to me at bedtime. I could read by Kindergarten and started writing stories in first grade. The library was my training-ground, and the authors of my favorite books were my role models.
I studied journalism in college, and always thought that working in the bookstore would be a temporary job until I could get into the journalism/media field. For various reasons, I wasn’t able to get work as a journalist, so I’ve stayed at the bookstore. But it’s worked out OK, because my heart is really in fiction writing, so I want to spend all my writing energy on writing my novels, instead of news reporting.
I’ve learned a lot about the retail and marketing end of publishing from working at B & N. I can see the sales numbers of different titles, and know the topics that are trending each season. I can tell the authors who are getting a lot of publishers’ support just by where their books are placed on the sales floor. I can see what books are unsuccessful by the number of returns we do each month. And I can see the long-term success of titles that spend weeks and months on the bestseller list.
And I’ve learned about the readers, too, and how they spend their money. I notice the reading habits of regular customers by the titles they buy. I know what books make the reading lists at different schools, and what titles are chosen for the various book clubs in the area. And the books that people choose as holiday gifts each year. But an aspiring writer can learn a lot about the book industry too, by paying attention to things like displays and the floor layout when they shop in bookstores.
As for YA/Teen books, I think B & N is very supportive of the growing category, as much as the readers are. The best-selling Harry Potter, Eragon and Twilight books have paved the way, with both young readers, teens and adult readers. The location where I work has devoted a lot of floor space to the YA/Teen department, in a very visible spot. Many readers will buy a whole series of books, or several titles by different authors, so I think it’s a moneymaker, for the company and for publishing in general. I can see the trends among YA/Teen books, too – from the wizard and sword & sorcery fantasies spawned by Harry Potter, through the vampire books inspired by Twilight, and now the growing angel and dead kids trend, that you just spoke about in your blog, Kim!
I love your story on how you lurked around Shop Talk until you joined. I never knew that, but I could picture you perfectly. This year you were my AWESOME roommate at the NY SCBWI conference. I was wondering what you thought about the differences between a smaller local (aka-more intimate conference) and a large OMG affair?
Well, the answer to that question can be found in my blog (haha, shameless self-promotion!) at www.write-rite-rightabouttime.blogspot.com. I wrote in long detail about attending both conferences this year.
I’m still so grateful that you encouraged me to attend the NYC conference in February – it was fun to be your roommate and we had a great, productive “pajama party” talking about our projects. I appreciate all the input you gave me about my ending – it helped me to see it much clearer. And it was a blast to meet and hang out with some of your writing friends! And, of course, a highlight was when we met Jay Asher, author of “Thirteen Reasons Why.” And all of the lectures from so many respected authors and editors were informative and inspiring. There was plenty of time and space for it all during the conference’s two days. But I admit, it was a bit intimidating for a first-time attendee like me! I could hardly fathom the number of attendants – SCBWI’s Executive Director Lin Oliver said there were 1,056 people, from 46 states and 15 countries, and about half of them are published. The conference felt like the Big Time to me, and the excitement and sensory overload were nearly overwhelming. But now that I know what to expect, I’m definitely looking forward to next winter’s NYC conference!
This summer’s Mid-Hudson conference was the sixth one I’ve attended, and by now, it feels homey and comfortable, yet still stimutating. We are always fortunate to have notable authors and editors as keynote speakers and breakout session lecturers. It’s great to see the familiar faces of a lot of our writing peers, as well as local authors. And, because it’s been in the same hotel location for the past four years, it’s easy to nagivate around the lobby, dining hall, and conference rooms. I’m so glad we have such a high-quality conference in our hometown!
But, because it’s just one day long, it all seems to go by in a flash. It’s great to meet and catch up with our writing peers, but the amount of time for networking and just chatting seems rushed. For many of us, it’s OK, because we frequently see each other at the Shop Talk meetings. But I would have liked some more time to talk with some of our out-of-town writing friends. It would be great if the Mid-Hudson conference could adopt the NYC conference idea of a cocktail/networking hour at the end of the day. To me, that would be the best of both worlds!
I agree. Now this is a little bit more personal, since you are an illustrious member of C’RAP (Children’s ‘Riters Always Procrastinate) our writing group, I’m privy to the fact that you like to start novels. Now, the buck stops here, the cycle is being broken. Your current WIP is way too good to not finish it, but I wondered if you could speak to that thing that keeps you from finishing. I ask because I think when you are interviewing aspiring authors, you are interviewing a bunch of people who are scared to death that they just aren’t good enough. Some days, when the rejections role in, if feels as if the only reason we are here is that we are flying by the seats of our courage. I think we all self sabatoge in one way or another, but maybe if we support each other, we’ll all be a little bit braver and stronger in a business that challenges on so many levels.
OK Kim-about my work in progress, and my penchant for starting a book, constantly re-writing it, and then moving on to a new project before my first one is finished. I’ve thought long and hard about this, and I’m working toward my goal of actually completing a book. It’s not that I can’t finish a book – I know I can. In fact, I wrote my first full-length novel, as a creative writing assignment when I was in 5th grade. I wrote a chapter each week, until it was finished. The fun I had writing it was as rewarding as the A’s and the encouragement I got from my teacher. If life now could only be as easy as when I was 10! I had lots of time to go into a writing zone, and not emerge until I had a finished story or book chapter. I imagined my grown-up self – a professional writer, with unlimited time to write, and shelves of published books to show for it.
Reality check! As an adult dealing with the publishing world today, I now know that kind of writing career is rare. Or else that level of success is hard-won, over a long time. Like many writers, I have to give up my time to a day job, and write in whatever time is left over after obligations and responsibilities.
I’m always trying to find the time to write, and I never feel like I have enough of it. Sure, I have small bits here and there, but not often enough the large, uninterrupted block of time I need to really get much productive work done. And when I find the time, it’s sometimes hard to focus on just writing, with so many thoughts and distractions in my head. When I do get into a writing zone, it’s great, and I’m usually pretty satisfied with my work. But those times are pretty rare these days. Plus, I think I have undiagnosed ADD or something! It’s hard to truly focus my mind on one thing at a time, especially on one writing project at a time. I’m fortunate that I have no problem coming up with new ideas, but that can be a problem too – so many things can inspire a story idea, that I have all these ideas, and characters, and bits of scenes and dialogue floating around in my head, all wanting to get out and get written down. So I’ll write it down in a notebook, and then I’ll get really interested in developing it into a book. I’ll get into working on the project, and it’s interesting to me… until another idea, character, bit of scene and dialogue pushes up to the front of my mind, demanding attention. So I’ll write that down in a different notebook, and that will capture my interest, and I’ll want to work on developing that into a book, so I’ll start working on that… until yet another idea, etc. pushes its way to my attention, and then I’ll start thinking about that one, and on and on and on… it’s an endless cycle. I actually have about 20 unfinished books, in various stages of development. And whenever I get an idea for a new book, I tell myself – this is the one that I’m going to finish. I do have the intention to finish, I just need to find the focus, and the discipline, and the time to follow up my intention to completion.
Anyway, I’m determined that “What Luck,” my current work-in-progress will be the one I finish. It’s a tween novel, about a 13-year-old girl who’s overwhelmed by all the changes in her life – the pressure of being smart enough to start high school a year early, her father’s job instability and her mother’s high-risk pregnancy. When her eccentric great-grandmother moves in, she says that all problems are due to bad luck, and that luck will improve by following superstitious rituals. The girl starts following the superstitions, and her luck seems to improve, but wonders if they are real or if it’s just all in her head.
I’ve submitted the first chapter of “What Luck” for critique at a couple of SCBWI conferences and at a writing workshop, and have gotten some positive feedback. That’s encouraging, and it keeps me going. I really want to see it to its end, especially since I’ve got several book and character ideas clamoring for attention in my head. I’m trying to hold them back though, and give “What Luck” the concentration and work that it needs. The encouragement I’ve gotten from writing friends like Michelle and you, Kim, really helps a lot!
It also helps that my boyfriend, Ian Wickstead, understands – he’s a photographer, and knows what it’s like to struggle with time constraints and creativity. He’s very good at knowing when I need undisturbed time for writing, and doesn’t get pouty if I’m not paying attention to him. He also is a good listener when I read my work to him, even if he says he doesn’t know much about writing to be able to critique it. But he’s great at being able to tell me if something is working or not. One thing that makes our relationship work is our respect for each other’s creative needs, and our support for each other’s work. (I guess that’s two things!) But I appreciate Ian’s support, and the support of my friends, and any success that I may get from my writing, I will share with them.
Thanks, Kim, this was fun!
Ian’s a very good photographer, so make sure to click his link and see his work. You can’t go yet Linda. I need your top 5 books!
Your question about my top 5 books is really hard to answer!! As a longtime book addict & bookseller, I have so many different books and authors who have become my favorites. There are books for every kind of mood, or time period of life. So I could never narrow it all down to just 5!! How about 10? Ha-ha!!
Instead, how about 10 YA/teen authors who have inspired me most in my own writing for teens? That might not be easy, but I’ll give it a try –
1. Madeleine L’Engle – I’ve loved her books since I first read “A Wrinkle in Time” when I was around 10 years old. I was fascinated by the way science and fantasy collided with the real lives of her characters. She writes very strong family themes, too. A great balance of real and fantastical life that I hope to find in my own writing. And I do believe that “there is such a thing as a tesseract.”
2. Lois Duncan – Her suspenseful page-turners were some of my favorite books growing up. And in many of her stories, she works elements of the paranormal and fantasy in with the realistic emotions and situations of teens’ lives. Another inspiration to my writing.
3. Judy Blume – I grew up reading her books, and remember the controversy over her frank and truthful depiction of teens and tweens, and their thoughts, emotions, and sometimes troubled lives. She was one of the first authors to tackle problems like divorce, body issues and self-esteem, first love, and the grief over losing a family member. I connected with her stories during my angsty teen years, and she inspires me to write as honestly as I can about my own characters’ struggles and feelings.
4. Paula Danziger – I’ve always loved her mix of humor, drama, and social issues in her teen/tween characters’ lives. Her writing always showed the heart beneath the humor, and was always hopeful. I have memorized parts of my favorite books of hers – I’ve read them so many times. Her writing reminds me to include a reason for a smile and a feeling of hope, even in the darkest stories.
5. Francesca Lia Block – My favorite modern writer for teens (and adults too). She is truly unique, and her poetic, emotional, artistic writing always blows me away. Her wildly creative, often fanciful words give beautiful expression to some dark and heavy themes, such as abuse, addiction, mental illness, prejudice and other situations that many readers can relate to. Her overall message is love, though. Her writing inspires me to try to write without fear, over the edges of creativity.
6. Laurie Halse Anderson – She is like a modern-day Judy Blume, with her portrayal of teens overcoming rough times and situations, like rape, anorexia, and false criminal accusations. She also writes about teens going through hard times in history. Another author who inspires me to write honestly, no matter how tough the subject matter.
7. K. L. Going – Her books depict her characters with heart and humor, even within hard-hitting situations. Her “anti-heros” – a suicidal fat kid, a troubled street kid, a timid young boy – always find the hero within themselves. Another fearless writer who inspires me to make sure the traits of my characters always ring true, even if – especially if – they are flawed.
8. Jane Yolen – She reworks fantasy and folktales in her own unique way, and her stories seem timeless. She creates real, relatable characters, to draw the reader into the larger themes of her stories. Her work is an inspiration to my own series of modern-day fairy/folktales – to make my own story within the framework of the traditional tale.
9. Stephenie Meyer – I have to mention the writer of the Twilight phenomenon – first, because I’m grateful that her books have given YA/teen publishing a great shot in the arm & have encouraged readership among the most reluctant readers. Her writing also reminds me that the most well-loved books are all about character. Without Edward and Bella, the Twilight books might just as well be another retread of the same-old vampire story.
10. J. K. Rowling – Her Harry Potter series inspires me too, because of the dedication and craft she put into her epic, 7- book story. And I admire how multi-layered it is – not just the story of good vs. evil, but of friendship and loyalty, history and the corruption of power, and the struggle to become the person you’re meant to be. Her series brought YA/teen books back into the forefront of publishing, and I’m grateful to her too!
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