TV series like Dr. Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have episodes written by different authors. The characters and the world is the same, but a different person is in charge of the world for awhile. For instance, Neil Gaiman wrote a Dr. Who episode, The Doctor’s Wife, which aired this time last year.

This doesn’t seem entirely unusual when you think of Franklin W. Dixon of the Hardy Boys series and Carolyn Keene of the Nancy Drew mysteries, both publishing house pen names for the multiple authors writing the middle grade books. But, it’s not collaboration via pen name that’s peaked my interest.

In September 2008, the first 39 Clues book was published, written by Rick Riordan.  Three months later the second in the series was published, written by Gordon Korman. And that pattern went on. Every few months, another book in the series was released, written by another author. The authors of the middle grade series were getting credited for their work on the cover.

That’s what was different. Readers weren’t being fooled. And like a blurb on a book, the fans of one author were being enticed into reading the books of the other authors in the series. Granted most, if not all, of the authors were famous and/or award winning. But, still. It was like a big game of One Sentence Story that the readers were in on. And they didn’t have to wait a year in between each turn.

I would love to see this in YA. Not just a single book born out of a collaboration, but a series evolving from the influences of all the authors who touch it.

How. Freaking. Cool.

Come on in.

By now you know the gate is open, welcoming

everyone into the realm of children’s literature!

It’s not magic.

Everyone can…

Crash The Gate!

Click the pics for awesome writerly links!

Okay, so sometimes you feel like the Grim Reaper is sitting beside you, silently insinuating that your WIP should just RIP and the sooner the better.

And you bang your head against your keyboard and the resulting gibberish seems better than everything you spent your day writing. You think you’re never going to get it right, but your WRONG and the LUCKY 13ers are proof!

Sure, it seems crazy, but it’s true. Publishing a book is not impossible. You know you can do it. Just like the Lucky 13er’s who’ve paved the way, you too can pull a sward from a stone! (Get it? The impossible can really be done! Seriously if Arthur and Link can do it…) You need some tools, for sure! Confidence, Persistence, Dedication and A Little Bit Of Luck!

Ignore that Grim Reaper, take heart, and learn what the

Lucky 13ers already know…

Brandy Colbert

A POINT SO DELICATE

 1. When did you realize the story in your head was meant to be a book?

I realized my story was meant to be a book when I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters and imagining all the ways I would tackle the “what-if.” That’s usually what drives me to write a story, the what-if. I don’t outline on paper, so I’ve found it’s the best way to plan out the story in my head before I start writing. The abduction plot came first, then the ballet. I have a not-so-secret fascination with dance books and abduction books, so I guess it only makes sense that I finally combined the two themes to write the type of novel I’d want to read.

2. Advice to aspiring writers.

Don’t quit. Seriously, don’t. You’re going to have some really bad days and face multiple rejections. We all do. Even after the agent and after the book deal. But you never know who will be intrigued by your pitch or pluck your query out of the slush pile. Keep reading, keep writing, keep getting better.

3. The hardest thing about your journey to publication?

Besides the rejections and the waiting? (Oh, the waiting – it never stops.) I think sharing my work with other people was one of the most difficult things I had to do. I’ve been writing since childhood, but even then, I would only show my stories to one close friend. I finally realized that I couldn’t improve if I didn’t show my writing to other people. And I wanted to make my books as good as they could possibly be. So I sucked it up and found critique partners. My CPs have changed over the years, but they remain one of the most invaluable parts of the process.

 4. The most fun thing?

The most fun part for me has been meeting so many new people, from connecting with an agent and editor (both of whom I absolutely adore) to becoming friends with other writers in various stages of their journey. I feel quite fortunate to know so many people who feel the way I do about books, reading, and writing, and none of this would be nearly as fun without them.

Kristin Halbrook

 NOBODY BUT US

 1. When did you realize the story in your head was meant to be a book?

I knew it was meant to be a story when these fictional characters, this fictional journey, this fictional story . . . set against a backdrop of the real world, of real struggles, broke my heart. And I had only jotted down a blurb for the story at that point.

Usually, for me, it’s that passionate emotional response to some or all parts of a potential story that keep me invested in it, that keep me needing to write to see what happens.

 2. Advice to aspiring writers.

First, determine if you want to write because you love to write or if you want to write because you want to be published. The journeys for either option are quite different.

If publishing is your goal, begin writing with knowing that writing, like all crafts, demands an apprenticeship. There is a learning curve, different for everyone, and climbing that mountain, combined with talent garnered through both nature and nuture, is what will help you succeed in publishing. Paying your dues should be rewarding, as you develop your style and voice, grow your vocabulary, read more in your genre, rather than frustrating. You’re doing good work here!

 3. The hardest thing about your journey to publication?

Learning how much time I need to take away from my manuscripts before I’m ready to revise. Ultimately, it’s a gut feeling to know how much time, but almost always it’s more time than my brain thinks it “should” be.

 4. The most fun thing?

The most fun things about this journey are building friendships with those in the community, celebrating their successes and my own, starting new projects and the feeling of satisfaction that comes with having met several life goals.

Chelsey Flood

INFINITE SKY

1. When did you realize the story in your head was meant to be a book?

Good question. ‘Infinite Sky’ started off as a sort of memoir really, I was just writing episodes from my childhood, trying to make them funny or sad, but in the voice of a character I’d had for a while: Iris. The story came worryingly late to the party, after about 50,000 words, I think… And I discovered it at the time I wrote it. I didn’t have a story worthy of a book for aaaages. Oh, how I worried.

 2. Advice to aspiring writers.

My advice is don’t worry if you can’t write sometimes. Go and do something else: walk, read, run, get drunk, have fun, dance, catch up with friends and family. Pay attention while you’re doing these things too so you can refill the mysterious pit of creation. Most important: don’t let writing ruin your life!

3. The hardest thing about your journey to publication?

Hardest were all those years where I felt foolish/delusional calling myself a writer, when I’d just had a couple of stories published and was working full time as a waitress. All my friends seemed to be getting somewhere in their careers and I didn’t even have one. I used to really dread being asked what I did. I even stopped asking other people. I went straight from name to hobbies or books or whatever. It didn’t catch on.

 4. The most fun thing?

There have been lots of fun things. When my book went to auction I was pretty happy, but the research was the best. I went to Appleby Horse Fair last year, as it’s a really exciting event date for Irish Travellers. I had my fortune told, and the lady said I would be a writer. She had this incredible fast patter, and was really intense. She’d put cardboard on the floor of her caravan to save the carpet from the mud, and there was all this immaculate china on the windowsill and sides. I wanted to stay for dinner! Actually, she said I would get money without having to work for it. Now that would be fun.

 

Elsie Chapman

DUALED

1. When did you realize the story in your head was meant to be a book?

 An innocent question from my son about doppelgangers. It got me thinking about how it would make a good premise for a book. So I decided to try writing it.

 2. Advice to aspiring writers.

Keep writing. Finish what you start. Make time for it. And read widely when you’re not writing, just to stay immersed in words in another way. Publishing is an awesome goal, but the writing comes first.

 3. The hardest thing about your journey to publication?

The rejections, the coming-this close-but-not-quite, the waiting. The days you felt like your writing was absolute crap and then struggling to put those days behind you.

 4. The most fun thing?

The publication journey really does give the best of both worlds—I get my alone time to write, and when I need to get out of my own head for a while, I can always find support from other kidlit authors I’ve met online this past year. Also, the idea of seeing my book in a bookstore still pretty much blows my mind.

Emma Pass

ACID

 1. When did you realize the story in your head was meant to be a book?

ACID is based on a story I wrote when I was 14, after a friend and I challenged each other to write a story set in a prison. I didn’t get much of it done, but the idea stayed with me, and over the years, I had a couple of attempts at writing it as an adult novel. Somewhere along the line, I discovered I was actually a YA writer. After snagging my fabulous agent with a contemporary YA that didn’t sell, I went back to my prison story, and this time, it was ready to be written.

 2. Advice to aspiring writers.

Never give up! It might be the next book that gets you that publishing deal, or the next one… but if you don’t write them, you’ll never know. And you’ll learn a huge amount from every book you write, even if it doesn’t go anywhere but your bottom drawer.

Also, don’t throw any of your early stuff away! It might come in useful one day (like the story that became ACID did for me!).

3. The hardest thing about your journey to publication?

The self doubt that crept in after each rejection, or when I knew my writing wasn’t working but couldn’t figure out why. What kept me going was my love for writing – even if ACID hadn’t sold, I’d still be doing it. I’m also lucky enough to have a very patient and supportive husband, who refused to let my insecurities get the better of me even when I was on the verge of giving up!

4. The most fun thing?

For me, it has to be what’s happened since ACID sold – namely, getting online and connecting with writers, bloggers, reviewers and everyone else out there who loves books and reading. I was even asked to join my wonderful group blog, the Lucky 13s, via Twitter! I never expected to enjoy social networking and blogging as much as I do – in fact, before I got my book deal, I avoided it, and as a result often felt quite isolated. I didn’t feel like I could tell many people about my writing, so I didn’t know anyone else who was doing what I was trying to do. There’s an amazing community of people out there and I feel privileged to be part of it.

Jessica Corra

AFTER YOU

1. When did you realize the story in your head was meant to be a book?

I’ve never been good at having ideas for short stories or novellas. I tend to assume all my ideas are novels-length, or will be once they grow a bit. As far as when I knew AFTER YOU was something special, I’ll be honest: I gave myself shivers when I jotted down the one sentence idea that sparked the book on scrap paper at my desk at work way back in September 2009.

2. Advice to aspiring writers.

Read, write, breathe. Remember to live. You won’t have anything worth writing if you become a black hole of bookishness, fun though it is to be a black hole of bookishness. But do keep the creative well filled. Practice, and just keep going. There is no race.

3. The hardest thing about your journey to publication?

This is two-fold: I would say I struggle with the endless revision loop, but what that ultimately boils down to is my own impatience.

4. The most fun thing?

I get to work in sun-drenched cafes sipping Italian sodas and coming up with that rejoinder I can never make in the moment, envisioning the romantic scenarios and sweeping adventures I will probably never have, and bring it all to life. I get to dig deep into characters and stories and push them to their edges and then over, until everything sings with a resonance that makes me ache. I get paid to do this. I have the best job ever.

Justina Ireland

VENGEANCE BOUND

1. When did you realize the story in your head was meant to be a book?

 Not until after the third or fourth draft, unfortunately!  I wanted it to be a book, but it wasn’t until later drafts that the story really started to gel.  I generally write without an outline, so my method of writing is a little chaotic.

I start by asking “What if?”  With Vengeance Bound (the tentative title of my forthcoming book from Simon and Schuster) I started with an idea of “What if there was a teen girl version of Dexter (the serial killer from the Jeff Lindsay books)?  What would she be like?  And what would motivate her?”  I really liked this idea of a girl who spent her days worrying about typical high school things, like boys and lip gloss, but spent her evenings killing people guilty of these terrible crimes.

But the first few chapters weren’t really working.  My main character was very unsympathetic, and very cold. So then I began to play around with the idea of some sort of paranormal element motivating her, compelling her to seek out these targets.  While researching mythology I stumbled upon the Furies, and everything kind of came together.  And my main character, Amelie, was born!

 2. Advice to aspiring writers.

 First, read, read, and read some more!  Everything that gets published ends up there for a reason.  Figure out what worked in that story, and think about how you can apply that same principle to your writing.  I’m not saying to plagiarize another author, because that’s just wrong, but look and they things they do to move the story along.  Take Suzanne Collins, for example.  She writes great action scenes, and a lot of it is her use of these short, choppy sentences that move your eyes across and down the page very quickly.  Patrick Ness, who wrote the Chaos Walking Trilogy, does the same thing.  So if you’re struggling with an action scene, if it drags or just doesn’t have enough tension, you may want to try breaking up your longer sentences with a few shorter, choppier ones.  By reading how successful writers apply the craft, you can figure out your own style.

Second, when you’re revising don’t be afraid to make the big changes.  The general feeling among writers tends to be “I finished a draft!  Now I just need to smooth out a few things and I’ll be all done!”  That doesn’t always work, and writers shouldn’t be afraid of making major overhauls.  Kill a character, delete a few scenes, add new scenes, get rid of weak plotlines.  Big changes can mean big payoffs, and so can small ones.  Don’t feel committed to your plot if it’s just not working out.

And third, and most important, never give up.  It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of rejection and a lot of self doubt to get published.  I think every writer has had that moment where they’ve stopped and asked themselves “Am I wasting my time?”  If you think you’re wasting your time, ask yourself why.  Is it because you aren’t really that committed to writing?  Or because you’re afraid of more rejection?  Everyone gets derailed at some point.  The important thing is to keep working, to keep improving, to keep marching towards that goal, no matter how long it takes to get there.

 3. The hardest thing about your journey to publication?

The waiting.  Nothing travels quickly in the publishing world, and the waiting would try even a very patient person.  First, you wait to hear back from your beta readers and critique partners.  Then, you wait to hear back from agents once you begin to query them.  And when you’ve landed an agent you wait to hear back on revisions.  When you go on submission you wait to see what editors think of your manuscript.  And then there’s waiting on contracts, and edit letters, and copyedits…the waiting never seems to end.  And it’s easy to lose confidence when you’re waiting, so it’s important to have other things to think about while waiting, like new manuscripts in progress.

 4. The most fun thing?

Right now, I’m loving the idea that people are going to finally get to meet my characters.  That’s just amazing.

 

You didn’t really think we were done did you..?

Stay Tuned for the next installment of the Lucky 13ers.

The Lucky 13ers Part Three!

                                                                                                 Wanna chat with other YA writerly folks?

Chicago RWA conference. Cool city. Hot romance. A contingent of kidlit writers from Kansas City. Recipe for disaster?

Or pure fantasticness.

Oh sure, it was a different world (get @jennbailey to tell you the difference between an alpha and a beta male. Go on, I dare you), but the quality of the workshops and the practicality of even the most basic advice was amazing. And free books! Everywhere free books! Not to mention a chocolate reception, compact mirrors, and enough pen/paper swag to keep us supplied for a year. They certainly know how to make a person feel loved.

Plus, PLUS, I got to meet my amazing agent, Ginger Clark—who not only wowed on the agent panel, but gave a great workshop complete with Mad Men clips. -insert much gushing here- She was, in fact, the reason we ventured into the land of swoon & steaminess. I’d said, “Ginger’s going to be in Chicago!” and my fellow kidlit contingent said “Roadtrip!” because they are also purely fantastic.

But the depth and thought of the conference as a whole impressed us all. Free books! Practical advice! Straight up Q&As! A pitch workshop where the speaker, Carrie Lofty, stayed an hour and a half longer then she had to so every audience submitted pitch could be read and critiqued. Barbara Binns gave an excellent presentation on Man Talk (including a later critique), while Lindsay Longford and Margaret Watson teamed up for one of the best workshops on fear, excuses, and myths I’ve ever heard. Yet there was one overarching phrase, three little words, reiterated from authors to agents to editors.

Write the book.

(From left to right: Allison, Kelly, Lisha, Cari, & Jenn.)

Cari’s expert notes

Transmedia Storytelling with Julie Wachowski:

Be able to speak multiple media languages. You should be aware, but not necessarily an expert. Look for the opportunities to connect your story to another platform. Be able to create a playlist, a discussion list, collages, games, or cast actors as your characters.

Network with people in other mediums. Connect that craft/hobby to writing. Experiment with collaboration. (Writing world and outside of writing world.)

How to Write It When You Can’t Be There with Blythe Gifford:

Connect the place to the character. Use the place to best effect. If a story takes place in the big city, readers may expect something like Mad Men or Sex in the City. If it’s in the country they may expect something sweeter.

Lisha’s surprising facts

Don’t wear black clothes when hunting ghosts where infrared cameras are going to be used, because they will see right through your clothes. You will be photographed nekkid-lookin’. This wisdom is from the ghost class by Terese Daly Ramin.

Marketing with Kim Castillo: If Amazon has your book info up before you do on your website, you’re doing something wrong.

Sara Megibow: Less than 10% of my time is spent on the slushpile and reading for new clients.

“We are approaching a storytelling model where audience feedback alters the story content”—Transmedia Storytelling with Julie Wachowski

Simone Elkeles of Perfect Chemistry starts her keynote: “99% of you got better grades than I did.”

Tessa’s practicalities:

Barbara Binns on man speak:

Read your work aloud, and switch the guy’s name to a girl’s. If it still works then it’s wrong.

You can tell a lot about a guy from how other characters react to him. For example, sometimes it’s more powerful to reflect his emotions via a supporting character.

Carrie Lofty on pitches: when they [agents/editors] say “not enough conflict,” it means the conflict’s all external, not internal.

Ginger Clark says the two things a writer needs for a career, is a thick skin and a sense of humor.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is adamant your character must be well motivated. Never, NEVER, manipulate character for plot.

Lindsay Longford and Margaret Watson’s charms for the writing life:

Myth: the longer and harder you work on a book, the better it will be.
Fear (what’s really going on): I’ll never be good enough.
Reality: the first book you write will probably suck.
Charm: craft and art—the more you write, the better you get. Write the book.

Myth: Success means Hollywood will come calling and you can retire to Ireland.
Fear: other people define success
Reality: success is the quality of your work.
Charm: celebrate all your successes, big and small, in any way you can.

Hola folks! I hope this Sunday finds you happy and inspired. Here at Ink & Angst we’re pleased to bring you an interview with April Tucholke, a Lucky 13er whose book BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA is slated for publication in August 2013!

From her website: I currently live in Bend, Oregon, at the edge of the Deschutes National Forest. I can see the stars, all of them. The air smells like pine, and I hear coyotes howling at night. I dig classic movies, redheaded bullies, big kitchens, and discussing murder at the dinner table.

And here is the description of her book on Goodreads:

Violet’s grandmother had warned her about the Devil, had talked about him often, as though he were a best friend, or an old lover. But she never told Violet that the Devil could be real. She never told Violet that the Devil could be a dark-haired boy in vintage clothes who takes naps in the sun and likes old movies and has a deep sense of vengeance.

River West is the seventeen-year old stranger renting the guesthouse behind the rotting mansion on the sea, where Violet lives. And as eerie, grim things start happening in Violet’s town, she begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling, coffee-loving liar with rascally eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something else? Something…evil?

Violet’s already so knee-deep in love she can’t see straight.

And that’s just how River likes it.

1. If you had walk-on music (a song that plays when you enter a room), what would it be? Why?

Hmmm…probably something dreamy and calming, like that O Brother Where Art Thou Skip James song, Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues. That song does it for me.

2. How does living near a national forest affect your writing process?

I think it helps the imagination to be near wilderness. My writing seems to improve in direct relation to how detached I am from civilization. Howling coyotes and circling ravens and great horned owls looking down from tall pines—that’s pretty atmospheric.

3. What do you feel is your greatest strength, craft-wise?

I’m concise. I love plot. Plot, plot, plot. I write a good sexy scene. I can get pretty dark.

4. What do you have work harder on to get right?

Initially? It took me a long time to get the rhythm, the cadence, of writing a book. I had to figure what needed to be said, and when, and how long I should take saying it. And then, once I had the melody of writing down, I had to figure out how to change it, and make it my own. I still get bored easily, and want to skip descriptions, etc and just jump from intense bit to scary bit and back again.

5. What draws you to horror and fantasy?

Well, I like a lot of genres—I have a deep soft spot for westerns. Fantasy can be hard to write, because there is so much world building. But that’s the cool thing about, too. Horror—well, Stephen King taught me that if you can scare people, really scare them, they’ll love you forever. So I’m seeking that kind of love, I guess.

6. Your website gives an article from 1954 as the inspiration for BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA. Could you elaborate on how you came upon the article and what about it sparked this story?

This is an awesome question. I stumbled upon this article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8574484.stm) when I lived in Edinburgh, and I just couldn’t get over it. I love it when truth is stranger than fiction. Hundreds of kids stalking a vampire in an old cemetery. How did it begin? Did it trace back to one particularly charismatic liar? Who was that kid? What was he like?

7. Tell us about the genesis of Violet and River.

Yeah, Violet and River. Strange boy comes to town. He’s mysterious. He lies. The MC is a lonely ex-wealthy bookworm missing her grandmother. She’s a goner from the get-go. Violet might be a bit like me. But then, River has some of me in him, too. One or two characters I based on real people, but most are just aspects of myself, I think. Who I want to be, who I don’t want to be, who I actually am.

8. Did you plot out the novel before starting to write or do you like to start without much structure? Or perhaps something in-between?

Other than the kids in the cemetery article, I had nothing. I just jumped in. The WIP I’m working on now has a very basic outline. And that’s working all right, too.

9. Expected publication has listed in August of 2013. At what point in the process are you now?

Just finished my 2nd round of edits. I still have to get copy edits and a cover and ARCs, etc. 2013 feels a million miles away.

10. What was your path to publication like?

Well, I wrote 3 manuscripts in 3 years. Got some editorial attention on the first, none on the second, sold the third. All right ups, deep, deep, downs. I studied writing in college. I never really thought it would go anywhere, though. But it did. So that’s pretty cool.

My dad’s getting old.

I know this, not because his hair is thinning or his beard silvering, but because of his television habits. He watches the news like some people watch football. He sits on the edge of his chair, dinner turning cold at the table while he shouts at a newscaster who can’t hear him and frankly doesn’t care. When he turns it off, he spends most of his meal complaining about the score — unemployment, the crooks on Wall Street, and elected officials texting pics of their man-parts. “The country’s going to hell in a handbasket!” he yells from the backseat, wishing he was behind the wheel of Congress so he could fix it all. At least, I think that’s what he’s saying. I usually have my fingers in my ears because I can’t stand the bitching.

Lately, I’ve been watching my kids’ public school like my dad watches the news. I sit on the edge of my seat, hollering about long school days focused around multiple choice tests. I complain to no one in particular about the deterioration of the Arts in school. My dinner gets cold while I interrogate my children… “What did you do in art today? Did you have music this week? What kinds of creative writing are you doing in school?” And then I grumble to myself about the demise of my children’s education.

I’m passionate and curious, but I’m just bitching from the back seat, trying to turn a bus, even though the no U-turn sign is right in front of me. No amount of screaming at the television is going to reform education for my children.

So instead of grumbling, here’s what I did about it. And if you’re sitting in the backseat losing your voice over the same thing, you can do it too.

I approached my kids’ school as a volunteer and offered to teach a Creative Writing program.

“No time during the school day,” they said. They offered to give me twenty minutes with a computer generated book-making program and lots of clip art. “No thanks. I want this to be something the kids can be proud of. Something they put time and thought into, with real art supplies and real paper.”

I offered to do it after school. To provide the materials. To donate the time. To manage it myself.

They scratched their heads. “We don’t really see kids wanting to spend their free time on something like this,” they said.

“Something like what?”

“You know. Something… artistic.”

Clearly, this bus wasn’t willing to make a U-turn. And no amount of yelling was going to change their opinion of their students or the arts.

No one said changing the system or getting involved was easy. But I was determined to be part of the solution. I took my volunteerism to my local YMCA and my local public library. I told them I wanted to offer a Creative Writing Program for kids.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing. 

This fall, in cooperation with my local YMCA and public library, I am mentoring a group of young authors. We will spend four months learning story elements, brainstorming, writing and illustrating our entries for the Scholastic Kids Are Authors Contest. We’ll have fun and create something these kids can be proud of. Shake off some of that Number 2 pencil dust. Learn something. After school. Because we WANT to.

In addition, we’re starting a Creative Writing program for teens. A place where teen writers can stretch their minds outside the multiple choice bubble.

Are you screaming from the backseat, wondering what happened to the arts in your child’s school?

Then ask yourself, ”What are you gonna do about it?”