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Meet Stephanie Powell Watts,
ALA Book Club’s Inaugural Pick

Wednesday, August 16th, 2017

Cuyahoga Public Library hosted Stephanie Powell Watts in a Facebook Live chat on Wednesday. If you missed it, you can watch the video here (be sure to follow Cuyahoga County Public Library on Facebook first).

More on the book and author, below:

Reviews (rated an overall RAVE from BookMarks)

NPR interview with the author

Posted in Events, Fiction | Comments Off on Meet Stephanie Powell Watts,
ALA Book Club’s Inaugural Pick

LiveChat with Author Camille Perri

Wednesday, January 27th, 2016

The chat has now ended — read the transcript below.

To join First Flight and receive advance galleys of titles from debut authors, sign up here.

Posted in 2016 -- Summer, EarlyWord Sponsor, Events, Fiction | 1 Comment »

Live Author Chat with Mona Awad

Wednesday, December 16th, 2015

Posted in EarlyWord Sponsor, Events | Comments Off on Live Author Chat with Mona Awad

Live Chat Today with the Author of BRIGHT LINES

Wednesday, August 26th, 2015

Chat begins at 4 p.m., Eastern

To ask a question or make a comment click on the box below, enter your name, then hit “Set”

Remember, this is a moderated chat, so your comment will not appear instantly.

Posted in EarlyWord Sponsor, Events | Comments Off on Live Chat Today with the Author of BRIGHT LINES

Live Chat with J. Ryan Stradal

Wednesday, July 15th, 2015

Our chat has ended, you can read the transcript below.

For information on our upcoming chats, as well as an archive of previous chats, link here.

Posted in EarlyWord, Events | Comments Off on Live Chat with J. Ryan Stradal

Chat with Ellen Airgood

Wednesday, May 6th, 2015

Live Chat with Ellen Airgood - THE EDUCATION OF IVY BLAKE

(05/06/2015)

4:53

Nora, EarlyWord:

Welcome, everyone.

In a few minutes, we will begin our chat with Ellen Airgood, the author of The Education of Ivy Blake, which will be published by Nancy Paulsen Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers on June 9.

The Education of Ivy Blake is a companion to her previous title, Prairie Evers. In that book, Prairie moves from North Carolina to New Paltz, in upstate New York. Her accent, her name, and the fact that she was previously home schooled make her feel like an outsider. Happily she meets another outsider, Ivy Blake and they become fast friends.

Prairie comes from a loving family and Ivy does not. When Ivy's single mom decides to move to another town, Prairie’s family convinces her to let Ivy finish out the school year with them.

The Education of Ivy Blake shifts focus to Ivy and picks up when she rejoins her mother.

In a starred review, School Library Journal says. “Like Anne of Green Gables and many other neglected creative girls before her, Ivy is irresistible, and readers will be rooting for her all the way.”

This is Ellen’s third book. Her first, a novel for adults, South of Superior, was published in 2011.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 4:53 Nora, EarlyWord

4:55

Nora, EarlyWord:

Hey, great to see you, Ellen. We'll start in a few minutes!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 4:55 Nora, EarlyWord

4:55

Ellen Airgood:

Great to be here, Nora!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 4:55 Ellen Airgood

4:57

Nora, EarlyWord:

Unfortunately, Lisa Von Drasek isn’t be able to moderate today’s chat, so I am sitting in for her.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 4:57 Nora, EarlyWord

5:00

Nora, EarlyWord:

We've already got some greeting for you from participants, Ellen, so I will start posting them. First of all, Lisa is out there and says

Hello! Thank you Ellen for being here,

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:00 Nora, EarlyWord

5:00

[Comment From JoAnn from NMJoAnn from NM: ]

Hi Ellen!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:00 JoAnn from NM

5:00

Ellen Airgood:

Hello, Lisa! It's lovely to meet you in this way. Thanks for the wonderful questions you sent.

And Hello to JoAnn as well!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:00 Ellen Airgood

5:01

[Comment From PamelaPamela: ]

Love both books.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:01 Pamela

5:01

[Comment From JaniceJanice: ]

Thanks for this, Ellen and even more so, the BOOKS!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:01 Janice

5:01

[Comment From School LibrarianSchool Librarian: ]

Can’t wait to share the book with my kids. I know they will love it

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:01 School Librarian

5:01

[Comment From BobBob: ]

Loved the book, Ellen. Glad I could join the chat.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:01 Bob

5:01

[Comment From JackieJackie: ]

Looking forward to getting to know you, Ellen.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:01 Jackie

5:01

[Comment From Jenny BJenny B: ]

Thanks for chatting. Love both books.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:01 Jenny B

5:01

[Comment From Pam PPam P: ]

Hi from Ohio!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:01 Pam P

5:02

Ellen Airgood:

Hello, everyone. Thank you for your kind words about the books, and for being here to chat. I'm excited about it.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:02 Ellen Airgood

5:02

Nora, EarlyWord:

Lisa sent me some questions in advance, so I’ll let her do the honors of beginning --

Question from Lisa:

The education of Ivy Stands alone…

If you read that one first… you want to know more about the Evers…

If you read Prairie first…

You want to know what happens to Ivy…

Did you plan the books this way?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:02 Nora, EarlyWord

5:03

Ellen Airgood:

I didn’t plan it that way, but I’m so happy that’s the way it works out. I’m always trying to make characters palpable, truly human. Faceted. I hope readers always wants to know more, as they might want to know more about any person who piqued their interest.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:03 Ellen Airgood

5:04

[Comment From PamelaPamela: ]

Do you think people need to read both the books?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:04 Pamela

5:05

Ellen Airgood:

Pamela, I'd love it if people do read both books, of course...
But I really think they can each stand on their own very well. Both my editor and I tried to make sure that was the case....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:05 Ellen Airgood

5:06

Ellen Airgood:

I feel that Prairie and Ivy are themselves, actual spirits out in the world, and not 'mine,' really. And I want them to be able to stand on their own feet out in that world....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:06 Ellen Airgood

5:06

Ellen Airgood:

They are wonderful friends, but at the same time, they are very much individuals, and I wanted the books to reflect that. For them each to be strong in their own right.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:06 Ellen Airgood

5:07

[Comment From PamelaPamela: ]

What did you have to do in the writing to make each stand alone?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:07 Pamela

5:07

Ellen Airgood:

Pamela, that's a great question, about what I had to do as a writer to make them stand alone. I think, in a way, I had to forget about P. EVERS as I wrote IVY....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:07 Ellen Airgood

5:08

Ellen Airgood:

It was a bit like starting completely new. Here was Ivy, in a situation. She had this great friend, and lovely family she'd lived with for a while, but the book is about NOW, and what will she do next...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:08 Ellen Airgood

5:09

Ellen Airgood:

I wasn't sure as I began how much Prairie and the Evers would show up in Ivy's book. I had to let that play out. And in a way, Prairie is such a strong character, a force of nature, with such a bouyant voice, I was a little concerned about her taking over if she was too much present.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:09 Ellen Airgood

5:09

[Comment From Pam PPam P: ]

The cover of IVY is darker than PRAIRIE, which fits with the books in my mind. Also, it seems to indicate they are two quite different. I assume that was deliberate?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:09 Pam P

5:10

Nora, EarlyWord:

Since you've mentioned the covers, I will post them for people to look at.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:10 Nora, EarlyWord

5:10	Nora, EarlyWord Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:10

5:10	Nora, EarlyWord Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:10

5:10

Ellen Airgood:

Pam, covers are so important, and I'm so happy with what the art dept. at Penguin has done. I love both the covers. Today the UPS man brought a finished hard cover of IVY, and I love it. LOVE it. The hardbacks are bright yellow beneath the dust jacket...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:10 Ellen Airgood

5:11

Ellen Airgood:

And that brightness beneath the somewhat somber cover is perfect for Ivy. It makes my skin prickly, actually. That is Ivy's beautiful golden heart beneath the sober realities of her life.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:11 Ellen Airgood

5:12

Nora, EarlyWord:

-- I hear you run a diner in Marais, Michigan -- is this the one?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:12 Nora, EarlyWord

5:12	Nora, EarlyWord Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:12

5:13

Ellen Airgood:

Yes! That's our diner. I'm currently sitting just behind the window on the second floor. I can see Lake Superior and some boats out on the water.

We have a little gift shop on the second floor, and one table in the window for people to drink coffee and use the internet without being on the main floor using tables we need for diners. Also it’s quieter up here! ...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:13 Ellen Airgood

5:13	Nora, EarlyWord Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:13

5:13

Nora, EarlyWord:

You also sent me a great shot of the diner in winter.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:13 Nora, EarlyWord

5:14	Nora, EarlyWord Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:14

5:14

Ellen Airgood:

And just to add a little more about the covers, I loved Prairie's cover too, the brightness was perfect for her, and I can't count how many diners asked if those were my legs. They weren't, but could've been.
Ah, and there is my window, the view I am seeing right now...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:14 Ellen Airgood

5:14

Ellen Airgood:

Winters are quite dramatic here!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:14 Ellen Airgood

5:15

Nora, EarlyWord:

Running a diner is time-consuming. HOW do you fit in writing?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:15 Nora, EarlyWord

5:15	Nora, EarlyWord Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:15

5:15

Ellen Airgood:

Nora, I have been asked that question about time so many times. I'm stubborn and I have worked very hard, I will admit. I've been dogged in my pursuit of this dream. And hard as it is...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:15 Ellen Airgood

5:16

Ellen Airgood:

I have to say that running a diner feeds some fundamental core of me. I'm a high energy person, and the diner is a high energy place in the season...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:16 Ellen Airgood

5:16

Ellen Airgood:

And the people. That's the real payoff in work like this. The people, the people. The friendships I've made. The things I've learned, both joyfully and not so joyfully. This place has grown me up.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:16 Ellen Airgood

5:17

Nora, EarlyWord:

Michigan seems like a great setting. Why did you pick New Paltz for Ivy and Prairie?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:17 Nora, EarlyWord

5:17

Ellen Airgood:

New Paltz seemed to pick me. Prairie arrived in my head, already talking, one rainy April day many years ago. (the far-gone year 2000!) …

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:17 Ellen Airgood

5:17

Ellen Airgood:

I literally sat up in bed and started taking notes of what she was 'telling' me, grabbing sheets of scrap paper, the back sides of drafts of a different novel I’d worked on all winter. I hadn’t been looking to start another just then, but all this knowledge sprang seemingly from nowhere and I had to get it down...
Prairie’s first words to me were, "Folks said it could not be done but I did it." That line didn't end up in the book, but the words perfectly convey her resolute attitude that shines through …

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:17 Ellen Airgood

5:18

Ellen Airgood:

One of the things she let me know is that her family had moved from North Carolina to New York State, and she did not like it one bit. I had lived in New Paltz for a year after graduating from University of Michigan--I was a writer for Scenic Hudson, an intern--and so that's probably why Prairie's images of New York State were images of New Paltz. A great town in so many ways. Great pizza! And The Bakery... Mmmm.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:18 Ellen Airgood

5:18

Nora, EarlyWord:

Lisa just asked if she can buy a coffee mug from your diner!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:18 Nora, EarlyWord

5:18

Ellen Airgood:

Yes, Lisa, absolutely! We have those old fashioned thick ceramic mugs...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:18 Ellen Airgood

5:19

Ellen Airgood:

I will happily mail you one...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:19 Ellen Airgood

5:19

Ellen Airgood:

And totally off-topic but fun, I love stories of where those mugs show up...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:19 Ellen Airgood

5:19

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Thank you for posting the covers! The differences are powerful!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:19 Deborah Baldwin

5:19

[Comment From School LibrarianSchool Librarian: ]

You live in a small town. How do people react to your being a writer?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:19 School Librarian

5:19

Ellen Airgood:

One of my favorites: on the table of a monastery in North Dakota. how random is that?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:19 Ellen Airgood

5:20

Nora, EarlyWord:

Prairie meets Ivy when she changes schools and has to try to learn to fit in. You write about that experience so well – it’s like everyone in the diner stopping and staring when a stranger walks in Did you experience that yourself?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:20 Nora, EarlyWord

5:20

Ellen Airgood:

Deborah, It's really interesting and great to hear that about the covers. And about changing schools...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:20 Ellen Airgood

5:21

Ellen Airgood:

I never did that, but there are endless situations where kids feel like outsiders, and I think I experienced most of them.

I was a bookish kid and somewhat shy in grade school, though I was also cheerful and sure of myself. In middle school I began to flounder. Oh, those wars girls have. Maybe boys, too, but girls seem more guilty to me of mean campaigns. ..

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:21 Ellen Airgood

5:21

Ellen Airgood:

The machinations of cliques made me miserable, but I was part of them at least once, out of desperation, and I remember feeling ill afterward...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:21 Ellen Airgood

5:21

Ellen Airgood:

The awkwardness grew in junior high, and by high school I was a band nerd with excellent grades, a horrible haircut and worse clothes, huge eyeglasses, and no idea of how to talk to people...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:21 Ellen Airgood

5:21

Ellen Airgood:

But as awkward as I often felt, I always had friends, good friends. I always had fun things going on. I loved to be outside, ride our horses, to read and play clarinet and piano, all kinds of things. I was close to my family, I had things I knew I was good at. I had joys...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:21 Ellen Airgood

5:21

Ellen Airgood:

I remember what a refuge and delight friendship was--and is. That’s what I wanted to write about.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:21 Ellen Airgood

5:21

[Comment From JoAnn from NMJoAnn from NM: ]

Were you a reader as a child?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:21 JoAnn from NM

5:22

Ellen Airgood:

JoAnn, I was a VORACIOUS reader, always. My parents and siblings also. We did not have a TV in our home until I was 12. I lied about this at school...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:22 Ellen Airgood

5:23

Ellen Airgood:

I pretended I had seen whatever everyone else had seen. usually this didn't work out, because I'd get it wrong. Oh, the humiliation of that.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:23 Ellen Airgood

5:23

[Comment From Lisa from MnLisa from Mn: ]

In Prairie Evers- Prairie is home schooled and KNOWS that she will hate school because she is an excellent reader. I loved that both your books portray a nuance of school experiences… was this deliberate choice?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:23 Lisa from Mn

5:24

Ellen Airgood:

Lisa, I so wanted to give a balanced portrait of the pros and cons of both homeschooling and public school. School is such a huge part of kids' lives, and I have such vivid memories, both of the joys and the terrors...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:24 Ellen Airgood

5:25

Ellen Airgood:

But as far as thinking ahead of how book one would be more a homeschool bias, a little, and book 2 a public school slant, Nope. I really did not know I would ever write a companion book to Prairie until I did it...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:25 Ellen Airgood

5:25

Ellen Airgood:

Honestly, it seemed quite impossible to me in the two years between them that I would do that. Prairie seemed to have said all she had to, to me anyway, and quiet Ivy took a while to warm up to me and tell me what she had to.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:25 Ellen Airgood

5:26

Nora, EarlyWord:

I think this earlier question from Lisa fits in here:

Librarians are talking a lot about diversity in books . Finding stories that express economic disparity this vividly are rare…can you say a few words about your choices.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:26 Nora, EarlyWord

5:27

Ellen Airgood:

One writes what one knows, I suppose. What one knows and loves....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:27 Ellen Airgood

5:27

Ellen Airgood:

I have a wonderful life here on Lake Superior. It has not been an easy road, however. It’s not for most people who make a life here while they’re young, as I’ve been blessed to do. The economy is tough. It’s a great life, and this place develops some amazing people, stoic, funny, understated...and rugged...and I’m a part of it all....

And growing up on a small farm in the thumb of Michigan, equally wonderful, also let me be comfortable with writing about economic disparities.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:27 Ellen Airgood

5:27

Nora, EarlyWord:

You said you were a "band nerd." That's more acceptable now -- do you think kids have a wider range of ways to be accepted today, or do they still deal with the same age-old problems, just in new forms?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:27 Nora, EarlyWord

5:28

Ellen Airgood:

Band nerd is a more acceptable thing now?! That’s cool. Even so I would suspect, human nature being what it is, that lots of kids face problems similar to Prairie’s and Ivy’s, and to the ones I faced in school...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:28 Ellen Airgood

5:28

Ellen Airgood:

And anyone at any age needs to be able to walk that line between fitting in and not being vulnerable to the agendas of folks who might not be at the kindest part of their walk in life.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:28 Ellen Airgood

5:28

Nora, EarlyWord:

I like what you said about it being important to have a community of friends, but also to be able to stand on your own. Tell me more about that theme.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:28 Nora, EarlyWord

5:29

Ellen Airgood:

Friendships for kids--for adults too?--seem both easy and difficult to me. Natural and forced. But they become weird when the power play of school cliques comes in. …

I guess really, PRAIRIE EVERS, is about Ivy. About how sheltered Prairie has been from the kind of hardships Ivy knows, and how once they know each other, they complete each other in certain ways....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:29 Ellen Airgood

5:29

Ellen Airgood:

I did not set out to write the story of one of my own friendships in school, but I'm sure it was a big part of the novel's origin. I had a wonderful childhood, but a close friend did not, and I was so sheltered that all I knew was, something was off, something was sad...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:29 Ellen Airgood

5:29

Ellen Airgood:

I always wanted to help that friend. I had a special tenderness toward her. But it was not at all one way. She was lively and creative and FUN. She was more outgoing, more of a go-getter, much more daring. We helped each other.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:29 Ellen Airgood

5:30

[Comment From Judy DJudy D: ]

Can you say who you like better? Ivy or Prairie?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:30 Judy D

5:31

Ellen Airgood:

Judy, I love them both. I really do. I absolutely could never choose between them. They both have such wonderful and unique personalities. And I say this with that feeling that they are their own people. I helped them tell their stories, but those stories seemed to be already out there, waiting to be told.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:31 Ellen Airgood

5:31

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

I appreciate the authentic voice you write with and how your stories deal with differences; economic, family, setting...yet show a community... a family (not necessarily the family you're born with).

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:31 Deborah Baldwin

5:31

[Comment From Lisa from MnLisa from Mn: ]

The adults are all fully realized from the hardware man to the waitresses to the teachers…I was in awe of Beryl

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:31 Lisa from Mn

5:31

Ellen Airgood:

Thank you, Deborah. That's a wonderful compliment. And thank you Lisa, as well...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:31 Ellen Airgood

5:32

Ellen Airgood:

I’m so glad the characters seem so vivid and real to you. I am a very serious writer, and that kind of veracity is what I want more than anything.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:32 Ellen Airgood

5:32

[Comment From Lisa from MnLisa from Mn: ]

You perfectly captured the ambivalence of the child who yearns for her mother but the mother is incapable of that role even with repeated ample evidence… …how do you know exactly how this feels?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:32 Lisa from Mn

5:33

Ellen Airgood:

Lisa, Thank you. I am not sure how I knew that. My own mother was fantastic. Much more like Prairie's mom....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:33 Ellen Airgood

5:33

Ellen Airgood:

I have a good friend who had a mom more like Ivy's...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:33 Ellen Airgood

5:33

Ellen Airgood:

She said, when she read the draft, "Did you KNOW my mother?"
...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:33 Ellen Airgood

5:34

Ellen Airgood:

Good for me, not so good for her. I did not know her mother, and she doesn't talk about her much, so that's not how I knew. I pay attention, I suppose. I meet a lot of people. I see a lot of things....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:34 Ellen Airgood

5:34

Ellen Airgood:

And to be very frank, for some aspects of Tracy, I took a long hard look at mistakes I have made....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:34 Ellen Airgood

5:35

Ellen Airgood:

Not that I am her at all, but I think we can all relate to mistakes and missteps and times when we have been lost or confused, when we haven't been or best selves... and I tried to amplify that. And, as I said, I observe.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:35 Ellen Airgood

5:35

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Could you share a little bit about your writing process?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:35 Deborah Baldwin

5:36

Ellen Airgood:

Deborah, I could go on and on about that, and will try not to...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:36 Ellen Airgood

5:36

[Comment From Lisa from MNLisa from MN: ]

ohh, I like that phrase "best selves"

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:36 Lisa from MN

5:36

Ellen Airgood:

As far as process, I often find myself leaned forward with my eyes narrowed when I’m working on early drafts and names and the core actions of scenes. The tough stuff makes me feel ill sometimes. When Ivy’s mom lets her down badly in this new book, I had to leave the desk and the room as soon as I’d drafted the scene....

I felt nauseous and had chills and headed for the diner, where the reassuring hum of ‘real life’ was going on...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:36 Ellen Airgood

5:37

Ellen Airgood:

Thanks Lisa! I think we do contain multitudes, as Whitman said, and so selves seems apt to me...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:37 Ellen Airgood

5:39

[Comment From BethannyBethanny: ]

Did you study writing anywhere?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:39 Bethanny

5:39

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

I think the intensity you feel while writing the action, helps us as readers connect with the story. You keep it real for us.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:39 Deborah Baldwin

5:40

Ellen Airgood:

Thanks, Deborah! And Bethanny, I didn't study writing formally. I have a Bachelor's of Science from U of M. But I knew I wanted to be a writer from the time I was in the fourth grade...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:40 Ellen Airgood

5:40

Ellen Airgood:

My fourth grade teacher gave lots of creative writing assignments.

The Halloween assignment, the first, was a huge Ah-ha moment for me. Those books I loved to read--somebody, some PERSON, wrote those books! I wanted to be that person. The first book I wrote....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:40 Ellen Airgood

5:41

Ellen Airgood:

Was not at all good. PRAIRIE EVERS was probably the fourth. How I started--I just started. I decided there was no time like the present. My adult novel, SOUTH OF SUPERIOR, was the first to come out, in 2011, but I had written the first draft of Prairie Evers many years before that. It did need lots of work, but Prairie's voice was already there, and the main themes of the story.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:41 Ellen Airgood

5:41

Ellen Airgood:

I was writing all along, of course. My first readers were my family. Not long out of college I wrote a short story I wanted to share with my siblings. I made them sit on the couch with afghans over their heads while I read it out loud to them. No kidding! (They said it was good.)...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:41 Ellen Airgood

5:42

Nora, EarlyWord:

You studied SCIENCES st the University of Michigan, NOT writing?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:42 Nora, EarlyWord

5:42

[Comment From Suzanne (from Tennessee)Suzanne (from Tennessee): ]

(I was a bookish band nerd with thick glasses and y best friend from those years is still my bestie, Her kids call me "Aunt Suzanne." )I think you did a great job of showing that sort of strong friendship.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:42 Suzanne (from Tennessee)

5:42

Ellen Airgood:

Yep, Nora, science! I wanted to be an ecologist. Work outside by day, write novels by...night?... and now run a diner and write. Inside most of the time.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:42 Ellen Airgood

5:43

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

What advice would you offer for young writers?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:43 Deborah Baldwin

5:43

Ellen Airgood:

Suzanne, cheers to another b.b.n. Several of my good friends from then are still good friends as well. And advice for young writers... oh, I love that question...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:43 Ellen Airgood

5:44

Ellen Airgood:

I've had a lot of good advice, but a piece I always come back to I read in Janet Burroway's book about writing fiction...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:44 Ellen Airgood

5:44

Ellen Airgood:

Write about what troubles you, especially if it seems to trouble no one else.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:44 Ellen Airgood

5:44

[Comment From Lisa from MnLisa from Mn: ]

was it hard to get Prairie published?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:44 Lisa from Mn

5:45

Ellen Airgood:

Lisa, that's a great question about publishing.... It's kind of complicated. Short version: my adult novel came out first, and PE followed along easily.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:45 Ellen Airgood

5:45

Ellen Airgood:

BUT....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:45 Ellen Airgood

5:45

Ellen Airgood:

I had written PE and worked on it for years and finally put it away and then turned to the adult novel...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:45 Ellen Airgood

5:46

Ellen Airgood:

I worked on that over the course of seven years between beginning and pub. date....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:46 Ellen Airgood

5:46

Ellen Airgood:

until at last...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:46 Ellen Airgood

5:46

Ellen Airgood:

I had an agent!...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:46 Ellen Airgood

5:46

Ellen Airgood:

The phone rang at the diner one spring day and the woman on the other end said, “Hello, Ellen, this is Joy.” I said, brightly, “Hi, Joy!” while I scrambled to think who that was. I wasn’t expecting my agent to phone me so soon after approving the mss as a go. I was in the middle of serving an order. Then it hit me: Oh my god. Joy! My agent!...

She had a book deal for me. I sank down onto the diner stool nearest the phone and put my head on the counter. “I think I might faint” I told her. She laughed. “Don’t do that,” she said. A moment later I served the breakfasts that were up. They were identical, to a couple from Wisconsin: two cheese omelettes with bacon and pumpernickel toast.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:46 Ellen Airgood

5:47

Ellen Airgood:

For Prairie, it was different...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:47 Ellen Airgood

5:47

Ellen Airgood:

I had worked on revisions with my agent’s assistant at the time, but I wasn’t aware that she and my agent were shopping the manuscript around. Sarah, Joy’s assistant, called me out of the blue one August night and gave me the news that PRAIRIE had been taken on by Nancy Paulsen. It was crazy busy and I remember that I had pizzas in the oven, and I gaped at the phone again....

This is not a pizza order, is it? It was a wonderful surprise.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:47 Ellen Airgood

5:48

Nora, EarlyWord:

That diner does keep you real, doesn't it?

What was the process with your editor like for PRAIRIE?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:48 Nora, EarlyWord

5:48

Ellen Airgood:

Nora, the diner does do that. Keep me real. And I'm really very thankful for that. (Mostly.) The process with Nancy Paulsen was great. She would put questions in the margins, leading me to think through some of the scenes more thoroughly, to go beyond where I’d stopped.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:48 Ellen Airgood

5:49

Nora, EarlyWord:

Did you ever hit a wall in the writing process?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:49 Nora, EarlyWord

5:49

Ellen Airgood:

Hit a wall? Oh, yes. A number of times. But I’m stubborn. I hit the wall and slump against it for a while, but then I get mad and climb over or around or whatever. Now and then I have been known to sledgehammer a wall down.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:49 Ellen Airgood

5:50

Nora, EarlyWord:

I'm going to show the photo you sent me of the journal you kept about Prairie and Grammy …

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:50 Nora, EarlyWord

5:50	Nora, EarlyWord Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:50

5:50

Nora, EarlyWord:

Please tell us about that.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:50 Nora, EarlyWord

5:51

Ellen Airgood:

Nora, That journal is another of those things that makes me smile and makes my skin prickle a little at the same time. When Prairie was 'talking' to me I was keeping a journal and also cutting out photos from magazines that reminded me of Prairie and Grammy. The second photo, another journal page, involves the origin of character names...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:51 Ellen Airgood

5:51	Nora, EarlyWord Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:51

5:52

Ellen Airgood:

There it is. Probably impossible for you to read, but I'm writing there about a walk I took, trying to 'hear' more of what the character was telling me. Her name.... It was as if I was listening closely to a far-off voice. I talk about that in the journal I was keeping at the time. I spelled Prairie wrong and my punctuation was terrible, but almost everything essential about the story was clear to me from the first. It’s scary, in a way. What if in a future book the ideas don’t come zinging along the metaphysical story wires so clearly? Will it work out?....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:52 Ellen Airgood

5:53

Ellen Airgood:

Mostly the names and the core facts just come. I have to listen for a while, and make sure I’ve understood correctly, but then I’ll know....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:53 Ellen Airgood

5:53

Ellen Airgood:

The last line in that photo says something like...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:53 Ellen Airgood

5:53

Ellen Airgood:

Fear is what makes people mean.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:53 Ellen Airgood

5:54

Nora, EarlyWord:

That's a great one -- so true.

Unfortunately, we have less than ten minutes left and some questions piling up. We'll try to run through them quickly.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:54 Nora, EarlyWord

5:54

[Comment From Lisa from MnLisa from Mn: ]

would the grown ups who read your kid books like your grown up novel?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:54 Lisa from Mn

5:55

Ellen Airgood:

Lisa, that's a great question. Yes! It's been so wonderful, a great feeling. My adult readers of SOS have also responded warmly to Prairie, and I hope they will to IVY as well...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:55 Ellen Airgood

5:55

Ellen Airgood:

I am a little nervous for Ivy...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:55 Ellen Airgood

5:56

Ellen Airgood:

Her debut... I'm protective of her. She's been through so much, and is such an inspiration to me. I hope people will respond positively to her brave telling of her story and what she's learned.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:56 Ellen Airgood

5:56

Nora, EarlyWord:

Lisa's been asking the following and I've been holding her off, but she insists! Just give her a "yes" or "no"!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:56 Nora, EarlyWord

5:56

[Comment From Lisa from MnLisa from Mn: ]

I need to know!!!! do you raise chickens? Goats? Do you make your own cheese?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:56 Lisa from Mn

5:56

Ellen Airgood:

No, no, and no. Sadly. Dreams of mine. Diners don't allow that sort of thing...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:56 Ellen Airgood

5:56

Ellen Airgood:

SOMEDAY.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:56 Ellen Airgood

5:57

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Is there a certain place or time of day you like to write? How frequently do you write?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:57 Deborah Baldwin

5:58

Ellen Airgood:

Deborah, I prefer to write in the morning, but I will plow on regardless, as in the diner business I very often don't get my druthers. I try and write every day, pretty much. Try. I often write in bed. Also a great deal of all the books have been written at a long wooden booth in the back part of the dining room of the diner. (there's a whole set of rooms behind the facade.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:58 Ellen Airgood

5:58

[Comment From BobBob: ]

I think boys will enjoy this -- the girls are kind of tom boys anyway and are kids most boys would like to hang our with.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:58 Bob

5:59

Ellen Airgood:

Bob, thank you. I hope boys will like it, and I think so too. I received wonderful comments from boys on P. EVERS, as well as earlier unpublished books I took into the local schools, to reading groups, in order to feel like a 'real' writer long before I was published, and to get real input from kids.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:59 Ellen Airgood

5:59

Nora, EarlyWord:

We might be able to combine the following two questions into one answer …

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:59 Nora, EarlyWord

5:59

[Comment From JoAnn from NMJoAnn from NM: ]

Whose your favorite kids book author? Did you ever meet any authors when you were growing up?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 5:59 JoAnn from NM

6:00

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

What authors and/or books have influenced you as a writer?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:00 Deborah Baldwin

6:00

Ellen Airgood:

Oh, favorite author. Oh gosh. Wait, stop....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:00 Ellen Airgood

6:00

Ellen Airgood:

Favorites is always too hard of a question. Growing up, I loved Elanor Estes, I remember that. And Emily Dickinson's poem I'm nobody, who are you? And a thousand others... I never met any authors growing up...

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:00 Ellen Airgood

6:01

Ellen Airgood:

Though one of the tv shows we watched at my grandparents house, The Waltons, was beloved of me, and when Will Gear came to our school, I was dumbstruck.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:01 Ellen Airgood

6:01

Nora, EarlyWord:

This may have to be our final question …

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:01 Nora, EarlyWord

6:01

[Comment From JaniceJanice: ]

Are there more Ivy/Prairie books in the pipeline?

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:01 Janice

6:01

Ellen Airgood:

As an adult... Steinbeck, Tolstoy, Dickens... are all authors I am inspired by. Again, so many.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:01 Ellen Airgood

6:02

Ellen Airgood:

Janice, I'm not sure if there are more Ivy/Prairie books. I heard a voice in my head the other night, and it was a girl somewhere between 6th and tenth grade... She wasn't Ivy or Prairie. I haven't found out her name yet... I'm working on another adult novel at present....

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:02 Ellen Airgood

6:03

Ellen Airgood:

But the moment I can, I will be leaning forward to listen to that girl who said, It was squash or be squashed, that's what my parents didn't understand.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:03 Ellen Airgood

6:03

Nora, EarlyWord:

Let's sneak in just ONE more … Lisa wants to know if you do school visits and if so how people can reach you.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:03 Nora, EarlyWord

6:04

Ellen Airgood:

Lisa, Yes, I do like to do school visits, although I am so very far from anywhere it's not always easy to arrange. But I LOVE them. They are energizing. Also I can skype and etc. I have a website, EllenAirgood.com, and there's a contact form there that comes directly into my email. And I'm on Facebook, though the email is probably a better way to talk about visits.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:04 Ellen Airgood

6:05

Nora, EarlyWord:

Thanks, so much Ellen. This was a lot of fun.

And thanks to all of you for joining us. What great questions!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:05 Nora, EarlyWord

6:05

[Comment From Judy DJudy D: ]

Thanks, Ellen and thanks Penguin Young Readers for the eGalley. Loved it.

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:05 Judy D

6:05

Ellen Airgood:

Thank you ALL! It was wonderful to talk with you. Cheers!

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:05 Ellen Airgood

6:06

Nora, EarlyWord:

The next title in our program is: The Secrets of Blueberries, Brothers, Moose & Me: A Novel by Sara Nickerson A talented new middle-grade voice tells a story filled with heart about finding something all your own while the world changes around you. Read More »

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:06 Nora, EarlyWord

6:07

Nora, EarlyWord:

The next title in our program is: The Secrets of Blueberries, Brothers, Moose & Me: A Novel by Sara Nickerson A talented new middle-grade voice tells a story filled with heart about finding something all your own while the world changes around you. Read More »

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:07 Nora, EarlyWord

6:08

Nora, EarlyWord:

The next title in our program is:

The Secrets of Blueberries, Brothers, Moose & Me: A Novel

Sara Nickerson

A talented new middle-grade voice tells a story filled with heart about finding something all your own while the world changes around you

Wednesday May 6, 2015 6:08 Nora, EarlyWord

Posted in EarlyWord, Events | Comments Off on Chat with Ellen Airgood

GalleyChat, BEA Edition,
Tues. May 5

Tuesday, May 5th, 2015

This month’s GalleyChat has now ended. Join us for the next one on Tues., June 2, 4 to 5 p.m. EDT (3:30 for virtual cocktails)

Posted in EarlyWord, Events, GalleyChat | Comments Off on GalleyChat, BEA Edition,
Tues. May 5

Live Online Chat with Josh Lieb

Thursday, April 16th, 2015

Live Chat with Josh Lieb, RATSCALIBUR

(04/16/2015)

4:43

Nora, EarlyWord:

We will begin our live online chat with Josh Lieb in about 15 minutes.

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:43 Nora, EarlyWord

4:44

Nora, EarlyWord:

Meanwhile, here’s the cover of Ratscalibur …

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:44 Nora, EarlyWord

4:44	Nora, EarlyWord The Cover! Thursday April 16, 2015 4:44

4:45

Nora, EarlyWord:

RATSCALIBUR will be published in June by Penguin/Razorbill.

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:45 Nora, EarlyWord

4:46

Nora, EarlyWord:

In case you need a refresher on the plot, below is a summary from the publisher:

When Joey is bitten by an elderly rat, he goes from aspiring seventh-grader to three-inch tall rodent. At first, Joey is amazed by his new rat self. The city streets call to him at night. Smells that would have repelled him before are suddenly tantalizing. (A chicken bone? Yes! A squashed cockroach? Like perfume!) And wow, the freedom! But when a bout of hunger leads Joey to pull the spork from the scone, he finds himself at the center of a longtime rat prophecy. Joey has unwittingly unlocked Ratscalibur; and now, it is up to him to protect his new rat friends from the evil crows who seek to destroy their peaceful kingdom. But what does an eleven-year-old know about actual swordplay? And what happens when Joey no longer wants to be a rat?

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:46 Nora, EarlyWord

4:47

Nora, EarlyWord:

Reviews have started coming in:

Publishers Weekly – "…playful retelling of the legend of Excalibur … a charming take on an old favorite about overcoming lifeas twists and finding strength inside oneself."

Kirkus -- "A crowd-pleasing mix of quick action, true valor, clever wordplay, and gross bits"

Booklist -- "Full of clever dialogue and hilarious puns, this is a delightful homage to Brian Jacques' Redwall series, Lord of the Rings, and Arthurian legend."

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:47 Nora, EarlyWord

4:49

Nora, EarlyWord:

Here's a clip of Edoardo Ballerini narrating the audiobook, published by Lisening Library:

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:49 Nora, EarlyWord

4:49

Ratscalibur Audio Play

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:49

4:59

Nora, EarlyWord:

Our moderator is Lisa Von Drasek will join us shortly.

In addition to being EarlyWord’s Kids Correspondent, she is the curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota, one of the world’s largest collections of children’s literature manuscripts and original. Before that, she was the Children's Librarian of the Bank Street College of Education. She’s served on many awards committees including the Newbery, the National Book Awards for Young People's Literature and American Library Association's Notable Children's Books.

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:59 Nora, EarlyWord

4:59

Nora, EarlyWord:

I see chat participants gathering!

You can send your questions through at any time. They'll go into a queue, and we'll submit as many of them as we can to the author before the end of the chat.

Don’t worry about typos – we’ll make them too!

Thursday April 16, 2015 4:59 Nora, EarlyWord

5:00

Nora, EarlyWord:

Say hello, Lisa and introduce our guest!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:00 Nora, EarlyWord

5:01

lisa von drasek:

Hello, Welcome to the Chat.

Say hello Josh!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:01 lisa von drasek

5:01

Josh Lieb:

Hullo!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:01 Josh Lieb

5:01

lisa von drasek:

Nora- I think the rave reviews were a great introduction!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:01 lisa von drasek

5:02

Josh Lieb:

I think there should have been more

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:02 Josh Lieb

5:02

Nora, EarlyWord:

Paricipants -- say hello to Josh!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:02 Nora, EarlyWord

5:02

lisa von drasek:

Josh- can you say a few words about your "day job?"

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:02 lisa von drasek

5:03

Josh Lieb:

I'm the Producer of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:03 Josh Lieb

5:03

Josh Lieb:

So I do a lot of writng and managing...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:03 Josh Lieb

5:03

[Comment From KathyKathy: ]

Gotta love a kids book with a blurb from Jimmy Fallon on the cover!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:03 Kathy

5:03

Josh Lieb:

and stressing out every day

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:03 Josh Lieb

5:04

lisa von drasek:

why did you choose to write for kids?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 lisa von drasek

5:04

[Comment From FrannyFranny: ]

Hi Josh – I am a fan. Thanks for doing this!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 Franny

5:04

[Comment From Kids LiberrianKids Liberrian: ]

Love the cover. So many details for kids to pick over. The R with the rats tail gives me shivers

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 Kids Liberrian

5:04

Josh Lieb:

I never stopped reading these books...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 Josh Lieb

5:04

[Comment From Judy P.Judy P.: ]

Hi! From sunny N.J.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 Judy P.

5:04

Josh Lieb:

I read other things too but...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 Josh Lieb

5:04

[Comment From JoeJoe: ]

Love the main character’s name. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 Joe

5:04

[Comment From KrystenKrysten: ]

This is a thrill – thanks for doing it.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 Krysten

5:04

Josh Lieb:

I've alwasy circled back around to childrens lit

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:04 Josh Lieb

5:05

lisa von drasek:

Do you have a favorite children's book author?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:05 lisa von drasek

5:05

Josh Lieb:

Hi everybody!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:05 Josh Lieb

5:05

[Comment From JaniceJanice: ]

My kids are going to be SO impressed that I chatted with you!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:05 Janice

5:05

[Comment From LispethLispeth: ]

Hi Josh – glad you could do this.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:05 Lispeth

5:05

Josh Lieb:

I have a lot of them but...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:05 Josh Lieb

5:05

Josh Lieb:

My favorite would have to be Daniel Pinkwater

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:05 Josh Lieb

5:06

lisa von drasek:

Do you have a favorite book of his?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:06 lisa von drasek

5:06

Josh Lieb:

I read "The Last Guru" when I was 8 and that...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:06 Josh Lieb

5:06

Josh Lieb:

changed a lot of things

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:06 Josh Lieb

5:06

Josh Lieb:

Revolutionary!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:06 Josh Lieb

5:06

lisa von drasek:

okay...you need to be more specific ..

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:06 lisa von drasek

5:06

lisa von drasek:

was it his brand of humor?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:06 lisa von drasek

5:07

Josh Lieb:

Well, it was surreal of course...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:07 Josh Lieb

5:07

Josh Lieb:

but it was based on real tenets of Tibetan Buddhism and reincarnation...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:07 Josh Lieb

5:07

Josh Lieb:

as strange as it seemed to an 8 year old...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:07 Josh Lieb

5:07

Josh Lieb:

it was more plausible than a lot of stuff I read. And it was hilarious...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:07 Josh Lieb

5:08

Josh Lieb:

amazing whish fulfillment...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:08 Josh Lieb

5:08

Josh Lieb:

I was being given a peek into a bigger, adult world

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:08 Josh Lieb

5:08

[Comment From LispethLispeth: ]

How do you go from producing a late night TV show to writing kids books? Are there any similarities between the two?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:08 Lispeth

5:09

Josh Lieb:

He did the same thing with dada in "Young Adult Novel"

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:09 Josh Lieb

5:09

Josh Lieb:

I am aslo awfully forn for Edward Eager, E Nesbit, Elaine Raskin

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:09 Josh Lieb

5:10

lisa von drasek:

From JoAnn in New Mexico - What inspired you to do this re-telling of Excalibur using the rat-realm?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:10 lisa von drasek

5:10

Josh Lieb:

I love rats...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:10 Josh Lieb

5:10

Josh Lieb:

and I love knights in shining armor...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:10 Josh Lieb

5:11

Josh Lieb:

so it was a perfect combo...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:11 Josh Lieb

5:11

Josh Lieb:

but really, I guess...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:11 Josh Lieb

5:11

Josh Lieb:

I love the idea of hidden realms being just below our eyes...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:11 Josh Lieb

5:11

Josh Lieb:

there if we only notced them...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:11 Josh Lieb

5:11

Josh Lieb:

and I love the common tropes of so many stories...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:11 Josh Lieb

5:12

Josh Lieb:

and fairy tales and songs that last for millenia...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:12 Josh Lieb

5:12

Josh Lieb:

and this felt like acool way to revitalize these stories that we all know, almost without being told them

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:12 Josh Lieb

5:13

[Comment From Judy P.Judy P.: ]

A spork in a scone? HOW did you come up with THAT?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:13 Judy P.

5:13

Josh Lieb:

Thanks Judy!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:13 Josh Lieb

5:13

Josh Lieb:

Unless you are being sarcastic...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:13 Josh Lieb

5:13

Josh Lieb:

and have a museum full of sporks in scones...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:13 Josh Lieb

5:14

lisa von drasek:

Librarians aren't a sarcastic bunch!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:14 lisa von drasek

5:14

Josh Lieb:

I might have thought of that joke first!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:14 Josh Lieb

5:14

Josh Lieb:

I don't believe it...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:14 Josh Lieb

5:14

Josh Lieb:

Anyway, when I thought of that joke and that image...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:14 Josh Lieb

5:14

lisa von drasek:

Can we talk about your writing process....

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:14 lisa von drasek

5:14

Josh Lieb:

it committed me to writing the book

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:14 Josh Lieb

5:14

Josh Lieb:

of course

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:14 Josh Lieb

5:14

lisa von drasek:

Can you talk about your writing process? Do you get up at 4:00 am to write?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:14 lisa von drasek

5:15

lisa von drasek:

How do you find the time?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:15 lisa von drasek

5:15

[Comment From Judy P.Judy P.: ]

I wasn't being sarcastic, but love the idea of a museum of scones!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:15 Judy P.

5:15

Josh Lieb:

To Judy: I WAS being sarcastic because I already have a scone museum

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:15 Josh Lieb

5:15

Josh Lieb:

to Lisa: I write whenever I can find the time...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:15 Josh Lieb

5:16

Josh Lieb:

I'm very opportunistic...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:16 Josh Lieb

5:16

[Comment From Judy P.Judy P.: ]

You are TOO much!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:16 Judy P.

5:16

Josh Lieb:

weekends, nights, vacations....

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:16 Josh Lieb

5:16

Josh Lieb:

I have less time to write now than ever before, which is disappointing...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:16 Josh Lieb

5:16

Josh Lieb:

but I do love my job...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:16 Josh Lieb

5:16

Josh Lieb:

ideally I would sit down at 9 and write all day...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:16 Josh Lieb

5:17

Josh Lieb:

I've done that some points in my life...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:17 Josh Lieb

5:17

Josh Lieb:

but for the most part I've always had a job, and then written wherever I could in the corners of my time

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:17 Josh Lieb

5:17

lisa von drasek:

Was there anything that you wanted to put in the book that your editor made you take out?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:17 lisa von drasek

5:17

Josh Lieb:

No!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:17 Josh Lieb

5:18

Josh Lieb:

What have you heard?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:18 Josh Lieb

5:18

lisa von drasek:

Usually something is considered too gross or too violent for the age group

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:18 lisa von drasek

5:18

Josh Lieb:

No, I didn't have anything too gross...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:18 Josh Lieb

5:19

Josh Lieb:

... and it's all pretty firmly based in classi sources...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:19 Josh Lieb

5:19

Josh Lieb:

I keep my audicnce in mind, too...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:19 Josh Lieb

5:19

Josh Lieb:

I have kids. I am not a monster.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:19 Josh Lieb

5:19

[Comment From FrannyFranny: ]

There’s so many references to classic fantasy. Do you think kids will get that?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:19 Franny

5:19

Josh Lieb:

Probably not but...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:19 Josh Lieb

5:20

Josh Lieb:

they don't have to..

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:20 Josh Lieb

5:20

Josh Lieb:

it doesn't change your understanding of the plot of you go..

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:20 Josh Lieb

5:20

Josh Lieb:

"oh, the king's lame like the Fisher King" or...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:20 Josh Lieb

5:21

Josh Lieb:

"that's like TH White"...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:21 Josh Lieb

5:21

Josh Lieb:

but maybe on re-reading or...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:21 Josh Lieb

5:21

Josh Lieb:

when they read thpse boks later, they will make the connectin...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:21 Josh Lieb

5:21

Josh Lieb:

and their experience will be enhanced...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:21 Josh Lieb

5:21

Josh Lieb:

I want to remind them that these are not new stories...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:21 Josh Lieb

5:22

Josh Lieb:

that this is all part of our collective consciousness

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:22 Josh Lieb

5:22

[Comment From FrannyFranny: ]

That's a good point -- those of us who get the references get to enjoy them, but it doesn't mater if it passes over other's heads.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:22 Franny

5:22

[Comment From JoAnnJoAnn: ]

Your humor and use of word play is hilarious (i.e. Spork in the Scone) How do you know what kids will laugh at? Or do you just hope?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:22 JoAnn

5:22

[Comment From JaniceJanice: ]

Love the alliteration!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:22 Janice

5:22

Josh Lieb:

I just hope...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:22 Josh Lieb

5:22

Josh Lieb:

that's all anybody does when they make a joke, right? I think...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:22 Josh Lieb

5:23

Josh Lieb:

parents are much more lilely to laugh at sporks in scone than kids are, actually...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:23 Josh Lieb

5:23

Josh Lieb:

so it's an easter egg for us.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:23 Josh Lieb

5:23

lisa von drasek:

As someone who had read “I am a Genius of Unspeakable Genius” how unlike this book is from that one….did you surprise your publisher?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:23 lisa von drasek

5:24

Josh Lieb:

No as much as you'd think...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:24 Josh Lieb

5:24

lisa von drasek:

well I screwed up that title!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:24 lisa von drasek

5:24

Josh Lieb:

because they know me and knwo that the oter book was not a memoir...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:24 Josh Lieb

5:24

Josh Lieb:

and we'd always talked about other stories that were a little less cyncical...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:24 Josh Lieb

5:25

Josh Lieb:

Both books are very representative of me, I think, but they are very dfferent

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:25 Josh Lieb

5:25

lisa von drasek:

Do you crack up when you are writing ? Do you make yourself laugh?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:25 lisa von drasek

5:25

Josh Lieb:

I make myself laugh all the time...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:25 Josh Lieb

5:25

Josh Lieb:

that's when I know something is really good...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:25 Josh Lieb

5:25

Josh Lieb:

the best thing is to write something, forget it...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:25 Josh Lieb

5:25

Josh Lieb:

then go back to revise it later...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:25 Josh Lieb

5:26

Josh Lieb:

and be amazed at yourself.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:26 Josh Lieb

5:26

lisa von drasek:

As a former New Yorker I was impressed how perfectly you captured NYC and the apt. Joey lived with his mom…. Did you draw on your own experience?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:26 lisa von drasek

5:26

Josh Lieb:

Oh yes...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:26 Josh Lieb

5:26

Josh Lieb:

I've definitely lived in Joey's and Mom's apartment...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:26 Josh Lieb

5:26

Josh Lieb:

I've been in that apratment a hundred times...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:26 Josh Lieb

5:26

Josh Lieb:

and I've MOVED an inifinte number of times...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:26 Josh Lieb

5:27

Josh Lieb:

around the cvity and between both coasts...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:27 Josh Lieb

5:27

Josh Lieb:

so I know that feeling of living out of boxes...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:27 Josh Lieb

5:27

Josh Lieb:

how sunsettled that is

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:27 Josh Lieb

5:28

Josh Lieb:

"sunsttled" that is a weird typo

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:28 Josh Lieb

5:28

[Comment From KrystenKrysten: ]

I want to go back to your saying you like rats. WHAT do you like about them?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:28 Krysten

5:28

Josh Lieb:

They're furry. they're small...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:28 Josh Lieb

5:28

Josh Lieb:

they have teeth...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:28 Josh Lieb

5:28

Josh Lieb:

if you look at them objectively...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:28 Josh Lieb

5:28

Josh Lieb:

they're pretty cute...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:28 Josh Lieb

5:29

Josh Lieb:

as long as they stay of my margarine...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:29 Josh Lieb

5:29

Josh Lieb:

then it's gross

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:29 Josh Lieb

5:29

lisa von drasek:

do you have a pet rat?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:29 lisa von drasek

5:29

[Comment From NMLibrarieanNMLibrariean: ]

I personally find it pretty hard to look at rats objectively, lol.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:29 NMLibrariean

5:29

Josh Lieb:

No. My suster had a gerbil named snowball...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:29 Josh Lieb

5:29

Josh Lieb:

I do have lots of pets though...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:29 Josh Lieb

5:30

Josh Lieb:

A terrier named Birdy, a mystery mutt named Sammy...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:30 Josh Lieb

5:30	Nora, EarlyWord Birdy, the dog Thursday April 16, 2015 5:30

5:30

Josh Lieb:

and a brand new adopted cat named Milan who just moved in last weekend

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:30 Josh Lieb

5:30	Nora, EarlyWord Milan, the cat Thursday April 16, 2015 5:30

5:30	Nora, EarlyWord Sammy, the dog Thursday April 16, 2015 5:30

5:30

lisa von drasek:

We let the four year olds name the hamster at school. The winner after the class vote was Skinball

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:30 lisa von drasek

5:30

Josh Lieb:

Skinbal is good...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:30 Josh Lieb

5:31

lisa von drasek:

okay I am in love with Birdy

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 lisa von drasek

5:31

Josh Lieb:

Skeeball would be a good name for a rodent...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 Josh Lieb

5:31

Josh Lieb:

Birdy is a rat...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 Josh Lieb

5:31

Josh Lieb:

I used to have a dog named Lollipop who...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 Josh Lieb

5:31

Josh Lieb:

was immortalized in the last book

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 Josh Lieb

5:31

[Comment From KathyKathy: ]

SKINBALL? That's TERRIBLE!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 Kathy

5:31

[Comment From NMLibrarieanNMLibrariean: ]

But these rats were the exception to the rule.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 NMLibrariean

5:31

[Comment From KathyKathy: ]

I can go one better on the moving story -- I know a guy who came back home to Brooklyn from college and his parents had MOVED!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 Kathy

5:31

[Comment From Kids LiberrianKids Liberrian: ]

As I said before, I love the R on the cover in the form of a rat tail -- SO realistic. Did you have any input on the cover?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:31 Kids Liberrian

5:32

Josh Lieb:

I did have input on the cover...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:32 Josh Lieb

5:32

Josh Lieb:

I think Tom did an amazing job...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:32 Josh Lieb

5:32

Josh Lieb:

I wanted the cover to show that monet when he has just...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:32 Josh Lieb

5:32

Josh Lieb:

been discovered as the hero...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:32 Josh Lieb

5:32

Josh Lieb:

he's just pulled Ratscalibur form the scone...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:32 Josh Lieb

5:33

Josh Lieb:

he has no idea of the signficance...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:33 Josh Lieb

5:33

Josh Lieb:

just that something has HAPPENED...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:33 Josh Lieb

5:33

Josh Lieb:

I also asked Tom to tone down any magical sparkles on the sword...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:33 Josh Lieb

5:33

Josh Lieb:

you'll see it's significance is cause by beams of light shinging off it...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:33 Josh Lieb

5:34

Josh Lieb:

I didn't want this to look ike a comic book...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:34 Josh Lieb

5:34

[Comment From Kids LiberrianKids Liberrian: ]

I agree on the artist -- my personal favorite bit is the strawberry in the wheelbarrow.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:34 Kids Liberrian

5:34

Josh Lieb:

I was shooting more for Kurt Wiese who did the Freddy the Pig pcitures...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:34 Josh Lieb

5:35

Josh Lieb:

I think he did a fantastic job.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:35 Josh Lieb

5:35

lisa von drasek:

Did you grow up with books in your house?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:35 lisa von drasek

5:35

Josh Lieb:

Oh yes we had books all over the place

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:35 Josh Lieb

5:35

Josh Lieb:

That's the best thing my parents did for me...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:35 Josh Lieb

5:36

[Comment From JaniceJanice: ]

LOVE Freddy the Pig. How did you discover him? Isn't he pretty British?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:36 Janice

5:36

Josh Lieb:

always plenty of books, and I always saw them reading...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:36 Josh Lieb

5:36

Josh Lieb:

No! Freddy is as American as corny syrup...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:36 Josh Lieb

5:36

Josh Lieb:

My father is a big Freddy fan and was always collecting the books for me...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:36 Josh Lieb

5:37

Josh Lieb:

He grew up reading them in Nebraska...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:37 Josh Lieb

5:37

Josh Lieb:

I have a huge long book shelf od them waiting for when my kids get older

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:37 Josh Lieb

5:37

lisa von drasek:

Your dad grew up in Nebraska...where did you grow up.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:37 lisa von drasek

5:37

Josh Lieb:

I was born and raised in Columbia, SC

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:37 Josh Lieb

5:38

lisa von drasek:

was that a big city?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:38 lisa von drasek

5:38

Josh Lieb:

No, bit it wast tiny...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:38 Josh Lieb

5:38

Josh Lieb:

I want to say.. 120k people?...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:38 Josh Lieb

5:38

Josh Lieb:

we were the capital, and the university town...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:38 Josh Lieb

5:39

Josh Lieb:

we evry much felt like we were in the boonies...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:39 Josh Lieb

5:39

Josh Lieb:

I miss it there, but I escaped at the earliest possible opportunity

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:39 Josh Lieb

5:39

lisa von drasek:

Have you had any kid reactions to the book yet?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:39 lisa von drasek

5:40

lisa von drasek:

That was from Joe

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:40 lisa von drasek

5:40

Josh Lieb:

Yes -- the boy across the street likes it...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:40 Josh Lieb

5:40

Josh Lieb:

and he hates EVERYTHING...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:40 Josh Lieb

5:40

lisa von drasek:

Is his name Mikey?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:40 lisa von drasek

5:40

Josh Lieb:

and I saw a really nice review on... Lit Pic I think? from a kid...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:40 Josh Lieb

5:41

Josh Lieb:

His name is Darrow. No one is named Mikey anymore

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:41 Josh Lieb

5:41

Josh Lieb:

It means a lot more when a kid likes it...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:41 Josh Lieb

5:42

Josh Lieb:

than an adutt...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:42 Josh Lieb

5:42

Josh Lieb:

I like that if a kid likes a book...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:42 Josh Lieb

5:42

lisa von drasek:

wow the time is going fast...is there anything you would like to share with the chatters that we haven't talked about?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:42 lisa von drasek

5:42

Josh Lieb:

she'll read it over and over again

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:42 Josh Lieb

5:43

Josh Lieb:

I can't think of anything...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:43 Josh Lieb

5:43

Josh Lieb:

I feel pretty exposed....

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:43 Josh Lieb

5:43

lisa von drasek:

what book have you read over and over again...for me it was Anne of Green Gables

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:43 lisa von drasek

5:43

Josh Lieb:

All tye necyclopedia Browns...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:43 Josh Lieb

5:43

[Comment From JoAnnJoAnn: ]

Do you see a sequel to this book?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:43 JoAnn

5:44

[Comment From JaniceJanice: ]

Once you're a best selling author (as with your first book), does your publisher essentially let you do whatever you want to do?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:44 Janice

5:44

Josh Lieb:

the Henry Reeds, too many more to mention

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:44 Josh Lieb

5:44

lisa von drasek:

Henry Reeds!!!! I loved them...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:44 lisa von drasek

5:44

Josh Lieb:

to Joann: I wouldlike to write a seque, and I have some ideas, but they are percolating...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:44 Josh Lieb

5:45

Josh Lieb:

to Janice: I don't know how it is for everybody, but Ben Schrank and Razorbill...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:45 Josh Lieb

5:45

Josh Lieb:

were extermely supportive of me...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:45 Josh Lieb

5:45

Josh Lieb:

no real roadblocks...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:45 Josh Lieb

5:45

Josh Lieb:

I realize I'm very lucky.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:45 Josh Lieb

5:46

Josh Lieb:

Other books I read a millions times: Ginger Pye...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:46 Josh Lieb

5:46

Josh Lieb:

"From the Mixed up Files..."

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:46 Josh Lieb

5:46

Josh Lieb:

The Great Brain. Do kids stil read the Great brain books?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:46 Josh Lieb

5:46

lisa von drasek:

Me too, I wanted so bad to run away and live in the metropolitan museum

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:46 lisa von drasek

5:47

Josh Lieb:

you can still do it!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:47 Josh Lieb

5:47

lisa von drasek:

kids do read the Great Brain but they are a bit dense and dated with all sorts of strange references

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:47 lisa von drasek

5:47

lisa von drasek:

not with today's security!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:47 lisa von drasek

5:47

Josh Lieb:

Yes the references were strange...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:47 Josh Lieb

5:47

Josh Lieb:

even when we were kids, but...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:47 Josh Lieb

5:48

Josh Lieb:

that's why they were great!...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:48 Josh Lieb

5:48

lisa von drasek:

I couldn't even pronounce Jesuit in my head!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:48 lisa von drasek

5:48

Josh Lieb:

When the Great Brain goes to the acadmey and makes a killing selling candy bars...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:48 Josh Lieb

5:48

Josh Lieb:

was one of my favorite things ever.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:48 Josh Lieb

5:49

lisa von drasek:

Were there words that you read and heard in your head but found out later how they were really pronounced?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:49 lisa von drasek

5:49

Josh Lieb:

Encyclopedia...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:49 Josh Lieb

5:49

Josh Lieb:

I pronounced it "Enex-plodey."

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:49 Josh Lieb

5:49

lisa von drasek:

!!!!!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:49 lisa von drasek

5:49

[Comment From Kids LiberrianKids Liberrian: ]

I liked the part about making touch choices. Are you conscious of imparting messages when you write for kids?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:49 Kids Liberrian

5:50

Josh Lieb:

I am...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:50 Josh Lieb

5:50

[Comment From Kids LiberrianKids Liberrian: ]

SORRY -- I meant "tough choices"!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:50 Kids Liberrian

5:50

Josh Lieb:

I figure t out!...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:50 Josh Lieb

5:50

Josh Lieb:

I wouldlike to think I am helping kids...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:50 Josh Lieb

5:51

Josh Lieb:

if not MAKE tough choices, come to terms with the fact they wil have to make tough choices...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:51 Josh Lieb

5:51

Josh Lieb:

at some point in their lives...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:51 Josh Lieb

5:51

Josh Lieb:

and that's what makes them heroes

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:51 Josh Lieb

5:52

Josh Lieb:

I am definitely aware that I am writing for an audience that isn't as resistant to change...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:52 Josh Lieb

5:52

Josh Lieb:

and self-evaluation...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:52 Josh Lieb

5:52

Josh Lieb:

... as some adult readers are

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:52 Josh Lieb

5:52

lisa von drasek:

I loved when Joey found his courage was from within and not external...it was an ah ha moment for me.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:52 lisa von drasek

5:53

Josh Lieb:

Tanks!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:53 Josh Lieb

5:53

Josh Lieb:

That was Dumbo's Feather, right?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:53 Josh Lieb

5:53

lisa von drasek:

I loved Joey's mom and really felt her sadness. what happened to Joey's dad?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:53 lisa von drasek

5:53

[Comment From Kids LiberrianKids Liberrian: ]

Great answer -- helping kids deal with the fact that they will have to make those choices is a great thing to aspire to.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:53 Kids Liberrian

5:53

Josh Lieb:

Thanks.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:53 Josh Lieb

5:54

Josh Lieb:

Lisa, I will not tell you hwat happened to Joey's Dad

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:54 Josh Lieb

5:54

lisa von drasek:

okay then

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:54 lisa von drasek

5:54

lisa von drasek:

tell me what happened to that big mean cat!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:54 lisa von drasek

5:54

Josh Lieb:

stop hounding me!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:54 Josh Lieb

5:54

lisa von drasek:

stop that! I can't laugh and type!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:54 lisa von drasek

5:54

Josh Lieb:

Maybe I will reveal Dad's fate later...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:54 Josh Lieb

5:55

Josh Lieb:

but right now it doesn't matter...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:55 Josh Lieb

5:55

Josh Lieb:

and I wanted to show a family in a very common situation...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:55 Josh Lieb

5:55

Josh Lieb:

and let it pass without cmment

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:55 Josh Lieb

5:55

lisa von drasek:

Peanut gallery...last call for questions ...we only have a few minutes left!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:55 lisa von drasek

5:56

lisa von drasek:

What do you eat for breakfast?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:56 lisa von drasek

5:56

[Comment From Kids LiberrianKids Liberrian: ]

I just want to say thanks!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:56 Kids Liberrian

5:56

[Comment From JoAnnJoAnn: ]

What books and ages would you like to write for next?

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:56 JoAnn

5:56

Josh Lieb:

I have coffee for breakfast usually

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:56 Josh Lieb

5:56

[Comment From KathyKathy: ]

Enjoyed the chat. Can't wait to share the book with our kids!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:56 Kathy

5:56

Josh Lieb:

I have an idea for another kids book...

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:56 Josh Lieb

5:57

Josh Lieb:

but I'm kind of deciding what to devote my life to next

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:57 Josh Lieb

5:57

[Comment From Judy P.Judy P.: ]

Always great to be able to share a book with kids that is funny AND meaningful.

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:57 Judy P.

5:57

[Comment From JoeJoe: ]

I smell another best seller!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:57 Joe

5:57

Josh Lieb:

You've all been very kind! I hope your kids like the book! Please let me know

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:57 Josh Lieb

5:58

[Comment From Jo AnnJo Ann: ]

Thanks so much Josh! Really enjoyed this chat as well as the book!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:58 Jo Ann

5:58

Josh Lieb:

This has been very encouraging... thanks so much

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:58 Josh Lieb

5:59

[Comment From JaniceJanice: ]

Great Chat; Thanks~!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:59 Janice

5:59

lisa von drasek:

Thank you everyone for reading and sharing this book with your kids. Josh it has been a pleasure!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:59 lisa von drasek

5:59

Nora, EarlyWord:

Thanks, Josh and Lisa for a great chat. And thanks to all of you for joining us!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:59 Nora, EarlyWord

5:59

Josh Lieb:

Thanks, Lisa!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:59 Josh Lieb

5:59

Josh Lieb:

And thank you, Nora!

Thursday April 16, 2015 5:59 Josh Lieb

6:00

Nora, EarlyWord:

The next title in our program is:

The Education of Ivy Blake by Ellen Airgood

This thoughtful companion to Prairie Evers celebrates the strength it takes to rise above the negativity. Introvert Ivy finds power in her quiet ways and her ability to observe and appreciate life’s small, beautiful moments. Read More »

Thursday April 16, 2015 6:00 Nora, EarlyWord

Posted in EarlyWord, EarlyWord Sponsor, Events | Comments Off on Live Online Chat with Josh Lieb

BEA — First-Timers Guide
for Librarians

Thursday, April 16th, 2015

Book Expo America is just six weeks away — time to start planning so you can get the most out of the show.

Several EarlyWord’s GalleyChatters, veteran BEAers, have created the EarlyWord BEA First-Timers Guide for Librarians to share tips and recommendations.

We’ve set it up as a forum, so you can ask questions, make connections with like-minded librarians before the show (maybe even find a roommate) and enter your own favorite tips.

We like to think of this as a free-flowing pre-BEA cocktail party, so please join in.

Posted in Book Expo, EarlyWord, Events | Comments Off on BEA — First-Timers Guide
for Librarians

Live Online Chat with M.J. Arlidge

Wednesday, April 15th, 2015

The chat has now ended. Please join us for the next one on Wed., June 4

Live Chat with M. J. Arlidge: Eeny Meeny

(04/15/2015)

5:26

Nora:

The next book in the First Flights program is

The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson

Read more about it here

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:26 Nora

5:26

[Comment From kimkim: ]

Thanks - enjoyed as always. With you (in spirit ) at the pub in the rain!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:26 kim

5:25

[Comment From LucyLucy: ]

:-)

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:25 Lucy

5:25

mj:

Pubs close in 30 mins here so I'll have to run. But I'll drink a toast to you all!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:25 mj

5:25

[Comment From LucyLucy: ]

Thanks!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:25 Lucy

5:24

Nora:

I think it's time for you to retreat to the pub (am I being stereotypical?)

Thanks to our First Flight members for joining the chat. You make it fun.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:24 Nora

5:24

mj:

Thanks so much Nora and to everyone who participated. Great fun! Sorry for the late start. A small hiccup in the special relationship. Thanks again!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:24 mj

5:23

Nora:

Thanks M.J. for this great chat and for giving us some extra time with you. We look forward to the next books in the series and to the TV shows.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:23 Nora

5:23

mj:

Hi Elaine. We have just started talking about it and I hope to be in the US in July - in New York and Minneapolis and poss more besides. One of the great joys of this job is travel - I've already been to Oslo, Lyon, Milan and more besides. It's so nice meeting readers all round the world. Their enthusiasm and passion is always so inspiring!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:23 mj

5:21

[Comment From Elaine, N.J.Elaine, N.J.: ]

Are you doing a U.S. book tour?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:21 Elaine, N.J.

5:20

mj:

Ha ha. I love writing in the "u's" just knowing you'll have to take them out! Interestingly, only the US close edits the books, whilst everywhere else just translates. But that's fine by me - every country is different and whatever works best for them is fine by me. I just want as many people to read it as possible.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:20 mj

5:19

[Comment From ElaineElaine: ]

Did much change in the book(s) in the editing process? And, does each country edit the book, or just translate it (or, in our case, take out all those extra u's)?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:19 Elaine

5:18

mj:

I was. Principally because I was in love with the books of Roald Dahl. I think he has a unique and special imagination. James and the Giant Peach was one of the very first books I remember reading. It could only have been written by Dahl – the premise, the wacky characters and the notion that parents can be trampled to death by an escaped rhino!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:18 mj

5:17

[Comment From SuperLibrarianSuperLibrarian: ]

Were you a big reader as a kid?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:17 SuperLibrarian

5:16

mj:

Depends who was standing in front of me! We all like to think we’d do the right thing, but I suspect there is something innate in all of us which would want to survive, no matter what the cost.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:16 mj

5:15

Nora:

What do YOU imagine you would have done in a similar situation?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:15 Nora

5:14

mj:

From watching reality television! We live in a competition culture. Shows like X-Factor, I’m a Celebrity and Big Brother have helped to create a world in which we are constantly judging other people. Who’s hotter? Who’s more talented? Who do we like more? Who’s good, better, best? I thought it would be interesting for a serial killer to pose this question, raising the stakes so it becomes a matter of life and death. From this original notion, Eeny Meeny grew. It’s set not in the world of celebrity but in the world of ordinary people and as such the question posed is a universal one – faced with the ultimate dilemma, could you kill another to save yourself? Most of us would like to say “no”, or at the very least say we might do it because we have a wife and children who needs us etc. But is that true? Or is there just a basic instinct in all of us to survive, to live?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:14 mj

5:13

Nora:

Your characters all respond to a similar situation -- having to decide which of them will live and which will die. How did you come up with that concept?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:13 Nora

5:13

mj:

My background is in TV and in screenplays you are used to changing POV and location every minute or two. It's risky because you can lose your readers/audience if pace overwhelms character, but I love the vigour and speed that intercutting different story lines and characters gives you. All my novels will be written in this fast style I think.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:13 mj

5:10

Nora:

Tell us about changing voices from chapter to chapter -- it requires skill by the author and I also think trust in the reader.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:10 Nora

5:10

mj:

Novels are very manipulative.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:10 mj

5:10

Nora:

Interesting -- I've asked other writers how they decide when a chapter is finished. Most don't really have an answer. Love yours about "maximum tease"!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:10 Nora

5:08

mj:

Thanks, Lucy!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:08 mj

5:08

mj:

I break them when I have achieved the maximum tease. I have never liked long chapters in books. I want each chapter to be an espresso - short and extremely powerful!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:08 mj

5:07

[Comment From LucyLucy: ]

GREAT start with that !

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:07 Lucy

5:07

mj:

Too right, Elaine. Snore!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:07 mj

5:07

Nora:

Tell us about writing such short chapters (117 in all)! How do you decide when to break them?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:07 Nora

5:07

[Comment From ElaineElaine: ]

So true -- no more middle age men with drinking problems!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:07 Elaine

5:06

mj:

Hi Lucy - so glad you could join us! And thank you - it's my mission to put strong female police officers and interesting female serial killers on the map!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:06 mj

5:05

[Comment From LucyLucy: ]

Came in late but have been quickly scrolling through the chat. My questions have already been asked but wanted to say I love an author, especially a male author, who loves to write strong female characters! Thanks for that!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:05 Lucy

5:05

mj:

Hi Elaine - great question. They were very relaxed as EM came out in the slipstream of Fifty Shades and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Helen's sexuality stems from her desire to punish herself, her need to atone. So those scenes, rather than being erotic per se, are more about the controlled use of pain to manage your emotions. It's not something I'd recommend, but it happens and I thought it made her more interesting than, say, a middle age man with a drink problem.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:05 mj

5:03

[Comment From Elaine, N.J.Elaine, N.J.: ]

There's some pretty heavy duty erotic scenes in the book. Why did you want to include them? Were your editors OK with them?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:03 Elaine, N.J.

5:02

mj:

Many people think I'm a woman. Which I take as a compliment.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:02 mj

5:02

[Comment From Ruth R.Ruth R.: ]

I hope you take this as a compliment -- I thought for a while that this WAS written by a woman.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:02 Ruth R.

5:01

mj:

In short, Ruth, yes. The decision to use my initials was a deliberate decision – I wanted to be gender neutral! For me the writer should be as anonymous as possible, so people come to the novel without any preconceptions. Sometimes people baulk at the prospect of a man writing a novel with a female protagonist or vice versa and I wanted to avoid that. But it’s not just about gender. The more elusive or enigmatic the writer is the better, as far as I’m concerned, so you can just lose yourself in their work. To be honest I’m never that interested in whether authors are married, have kids, like dogs – too much information destroys the mystery for me. Less is more!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 5:01 mj

4:59

[Comment From Ruth R.Ruth R.: ]

Thanks for saying that! On the other side -- women writers used to hide their gender behind initials. Are you doing the same by using your initials?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:59 Ruth R.

4:58

mj:

Because women are more interesting than men! And their lives are much harder – which is great for a fictional protagonist. People find strong, uncompromising women challenging. And they find women with unusual emotional and sexual needs even more challenging! Women have to fight battles daily that men never have to face – which makes their eventual triumph all the more satisfying.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:58 mj

4:57

[Comment From Ruth R.Ruth R.: ]

Why did you use a female, rather than a male detective?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:57 Ruth R.

4:57

mj:

Thanks, Ruth. I’m a big fan of Stieg Larsson and you can see his influence in the creation of Helen Grace. I adored Lisbeth Salander as a character – so unconventional, so fearless, so uncompromising – and wanted Helen to have her spirit. They are both complex women – emotionally, sexually, psychologically – and share a dogged determination and sense of social justice that I find very appealing. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was the first crime book I’d read in which the heroine was a more interesting character than the bad guys she was hunting.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:57 mj

4:56

[Comment From Ruth R.Ruth R.: ]

How did you come up with Helen -- she's a fascinating character.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:56 Ruth R.

4:53

mj:

Good question. I always like to research and spent many happy hours in Southampton plotting dark deeds. But in the end it is the flight of your imagination that creates the most memorable and surprising things, so having done my research I just closed my eyes and let my mind wander…

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:53 mj

4:52

mj:

I owe you, Kim. Thanks!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:52 mj

4:52

[Comment From SuperLibrarianSuperLibrarian: ]

Loved that you shot your video intro in front of the British Library. Did you do any research for your book?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:52 SuperLibrarian

4:52

[Comment From kimkim: ]

It seems to be the trend that books starting off in Europe come to us in trade paper. We also will be buying the book - paperback or not.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:52 kim

4:52

mj:

My pleasure. This is fun!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:52 mj

4:51

Nora:

Just to let you know, everyone, M.J. has agreed to stay with us a bit longer, since we had a rocky beginning. Thaks, M.J.!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:51 Nora

4:51

mj:

EM is set in Southampton. Southampton is a fascinating port city on the South Coast of England. The Titanic set sail from Southampton in 1912 on its maiden journey and it has always been a prosperous, vibrant place. It was heavily bombed during WWII and now has a slightly fractured identity as a result, many of its very old buildings having been destroyed by Hitler’s firebombs. Port cities and towns always interest me – they have a certain atmosphere, a sense of threat and simmering criminality that I always find exciting.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:51 mj

4:50

mj:

Me too, Kim.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:50 mj

4:50

mj:

She's been in loads of things, but she specialises in the really dark, highly sexualised films like Antichrist and Nymphomania. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I love them.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:50 mj

4:50

Nora:

Tell us more about the setting of EENY MEENY (you may know that Southampton NY is quite a different place). Why did you choose to set the books there

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:50 Nora

4:50

[Comment From kimkim: ]

I kept seeing a young Helen Miren playing Helen Grace - perfect for the screen

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:50 kim

4:49

Nora:

That DOES sound amazing -- I am a fan as well. She starred in THE SWIMMING POOL, right?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:49 Nora

4:47

mj:

Hi Janet, thanks for you great question. I've sold the film rights and the prod company are busy developing it into a UK "True Detective". They want Charlotte Gainsbourg to play Helen which would be extremely interesting as I am a massive fan of her work with Lars Von Trier. She is French but educated in England so has a good accent!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:47 mj

4:46

[Comment From janet_schneiderjanet_schneider: ]

So great to be able to chat. Are there plans to dramatize the series for television in the UK? Southampton would be a lovely setting.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:46 janet_schneider

4:46

mj:

Thanks so much, Kim. Really glad it captivated you. Most people seem to read EM very quickly. The record is six hours I think.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:46 mj

4:45

Nora:

Just stepping in to explain that TLA is the TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION conference.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:45 Nora

4:44

[Comment From kimkim: ]

Sorry that the day is not going well. I almost missed this because of TLA but I was really glad I made it back. I really enjoyed hiding from the world for a few days so I could finish this book - one of my favorites!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:44 kim

4:44

mj:

Another excellent question. She doesn't like scary books but surprised everyone by saying she actually really enjoyed EM. I got my own back by telling everyone that the S&M elements in the book were all inspired by her.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:44 mj

4:43

[Comment From Jennie, AZJennie, AZ: ]

Speaking of your wife, JENNIE -- what does she think of Helen?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:43 Jennie, AZ

4:43

mj:

You'd have to talk to my publishers! I'm a great fan of paperbacks - they are cheap and democratic, but it's out of my hands. I was amazed when i went to Lyons, France, recently to publicise my book there. It was on sale for 22 euros. Which for a debut author is a huge amount, I think. So i love paperbacks.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:43 mj

4:41

[Comment From Jennie, AZJennie, AZ: ]

My library is delighted that this is a paperback; means we can buy more than if it were hardcover. Are all the books going to be paperback?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:41 Jennie, AZ

4:41

mj:

No. Oddly I only discovered James as I was writing my second novel. Penguin had long harboured ambitions of doing a series of thrillers with child-like titles and Eeny Meeny as a title was their idea.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:41 mj

4:40

Nora:

You mention James Patterson as an influence (and he certainly is an example of someone who has a fast publishing schedule!).

I’m sure you’re aware he also wrote a book titled Pop Goes the Weasel. Is your title an homage?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:40 Nora

4:39

mj:

Good question, Jennie. You share my wife's name and her spelling of it, so I'm predisposed to like you! I don't know how many there will be but loads I hope. I love Helen and want to write her for as long as possible.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:39 mj

4:38

[Comment From Jennie, AZJennie, AZ: ]

Have you decided how many books there will be in the series?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:38 Jennie, AZ

4:38

mj:

Thanks so much Diana. Really thrilled you enjoyed it.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:38 mj

4:38

[Comment From Diana HowellDiana Howell: ]

Enjoyed the book and the characters immensely. Looking forward to the next one coming out in October.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:38 Diana Howell

4:37

mj:

No, I just write quickly. When I first pitched the series to Penguin, I pitched them the first seven Helen Grace novels. They now have me delivering one every six months. Which is hard work!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:37 mj

4:36

Nora:

T

Two other titles in the series have already been released in the U.K.

Pop Goes the Weasel

The Doll's House

And a third is coming in September

Liar Liar.

Your output is prodigious. Do you write quickly, or did you have a group of novels you sold at once?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:36 Nora

4:36

mj:

That was a tense half an hour. So pleased to be joining you at last. I always like to arrive fashionably late.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:36 mj

4:35

Nora:

Hurrah -- feels like you just flew in from London!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:35 Nora

4:35

mj:

Only Romania. They have no kids rhyme that equates to this. Weird.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:35 mj

4:34

Nora:

Are there any countries that didn’t have a cultural equivalent?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:34 Nora

4:33	Nora Polish Cover Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:33

4:33

Nora:

And, here's the Polish cover!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:33 Nora

4:33

Nora:

From M.J. --

Am Stram Gram is the french version. Um Do Li Ta is the Portugese. They are both kids nursery rhymes to decide whose turn it is next. My favourite is the Polish cover which says "Ene Due Smierc". This is a real children's nursery rhyme in Poland and translates as "Eeny Meeny Death". Perfect.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:33 Nora

4:33	Nora Portuguese Cover Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:33

4:32

Nora:

And about the Portugese one:

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:32 Nora

4:31

[Comment From kimkim: ]

I am having trouble getting on. Are you still having technical issues?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:31 kim

Nora:

Hi Kim; We've had to resort to email!

Nora

4:30	Nora French Cover Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:30

4:30

Nora:

I'm curious about this one:

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:30 Nora

4:29

Nora:

M.J. responds:

It has been an amazing experience being published in over 25 countries. Every country has a different take on what the book means and adapt their covers accordingly. The Scandinavians go very dark, the Italians go sexy, the French go sophisticated - its very stereotypical.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:29 Nora

4:29	Nora Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:29

4:28

Nora:

I just asked him about I’m fascinated by the comment he made in is intro video about the covers – that each country’s represents a different take on the book.

Penguin UK posted a range of them in a photo on Twitter:

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:28 Nora

4:25

Nora:

Hold off a moment -- we think we have a solution.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:25 Nora

4:25

[Comment From SuperLibrarianSuperLibrarian: ]

Hi! Thanks for doing this. You scared me SO BAD with this book.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:25 SuperLibrarian

4:25

[Comment From Jennie, AZJennie, AZ: ]

Hi from sunny Arizona!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:25 Jennie, AZ

4:24

[Comment From Elaine, N.J.Elaine, N.J.: ]

Looking forward to the chat!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:24 Elaine, N.J.

4:24

[Comment From Ruth R.Ruth R.: ]

Hi. M.J. -- thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:24 Ruth R.

4:24

[Comment From PennyPenny: ]

Still calming down after reading your book. That book trailer didn't help!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:24 Penny

4:24

[Comment From Judy P.Judy P.: ]

Hi from the midwest. Have you ever been to the "flyover" states?

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:24 Judy P.

4:24

[Comment From janet_schneiderjanet_schneider: ]

Hello M.J. Helen is a brilliant character. I loved the existential themes of the book--how doing the right thing can go so awry.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:24 janet_schneider

4:24

Nora:

Say hi to M.J., everyone!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:24 Nora

4:23

Nora:

M.J. is in London -- just asked him if Spring has arrived. He responds:

Yes, it's been an amazing day here today. Sunshine all day - a rarity for England!

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:23 Nora

4:17

Nora:

While we are trying to solve the connectivity problems, M.J. is going to email me his comments and I will post them.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:17 Nora

4:08

Nora:

While we're waiting, feel free to enter your comments & questions.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:08 Nora

4:04

Nora:

Hang on, everyone, having a few technical issues.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 4:04 Nora

3:57

Nora:

I see chat participants gathering. You can send your questions through at any time. They'll go into a queue, and we'll submit as many of them as we can to M.J. before the end of the chat. Don’t worry about typos – and please forgive ours.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:57 Nora

3:48	NoraNora Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:48

3:48

Nora:

M.J. made a somewhat calmer video to introduce himself to all of you:

Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:48 Nora

3:47

Nora:

But to get a real flavor, watch this book trailer from the U.K.

Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:47 Nora

3:47	NoraNora Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:47

3:47

Nora:

Publishers Weekly reviewed it recently:

"British author Arlidge’s engrossing first novel, a crime thriller, introduces Det. Insp. Helen Grace of the Hampshire police. When a fiend abducts a young woman and her boyfriend and torments them in an ingeniously cruel way that leads to the death of one of them, Helen investigates, but before she can make any headway there is a second similar case, then a third. Helen believes there’s a connection among the victims, but the only link she can see is that they were all acquaintances of hers. Helen is herself a severely damaged woman. Professional stress and a guilty family secret make her withdrawn and defensive in her personal life; her main relief comes from employing a professional dominator to whip her. Plot complications include Helen’s detection of a mole within the department and her complex relationship with an otherwise talented subordinate who’s sinking into debilitating alcoholism. Readers will look forward to seeing more of this strong, intelligent, and courageous lead."

Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:47 Nora

3:46	Nora American cover Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:46

3:46

Nora:

Meanwhile, here is the cover:

Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:46 Nora

3:44

Nora:

We will begin our online chat at 4 pm. with M.J. Arlidge, author of the internationally best selling debut thriller, Eeny Meeny , to be published in the U.S. on June 2^nd, by Penguin/NAL

Wednesday April 15, 2015 3:44 Nora

Posted in EarlyWord Sponsor, Events | Comments Off on Live Online Chat with M.J. Arlidge

GalleyChat, Tues. April 7

Tuesday, April 7th, 2015

This month’s GallyChat has now ended. Join us for the next one to find out which galleys fellow librarians are loving – Tuesday, May 4th,
4 to 5 p.m. EDT (3:30 for virtual cocktails)

Posted in EarlyWord, Events, GalleyChat | Comments Off on GalleyChat, Tues. April 7

LiveChat Today with CIRCUS MIRANDUS Author, Cassie Beasley

Wednesday, March 18th, 2015

Our live chat has now ended. Read the archived version below.

Live Chat with Cassie Beasley: CIRCUS MIRANDUS

(03/18/2015)

4:10	Lisa Von Drasek Wednesday March 18, 2015 4:10

4:45

Lisa Von Drasek:

We will begin our live online chat with Cassie Beasley, author of CIRCUS MIRANDUS, in about 15 minutes.

The book will be published by Penguin/Dial in June.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 4:45 Lisa Von Drasek

4:48

Lisa Von Drasek:

A debut middle grade novel, it just received a starred review from Kirkus.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 4:48 Lisa Von Drasek

4:48	Lisa Von Drasek Wednesday March 18, 2015 4:48

4:48

Lisa Von Drasek:

Here's the full review …

Wednesday March 18, 2015 4:48 Lisa Von Drasek

4:48

Lisa Von Drasek:

KIRKUS REVIEW -- starred One strange afternoon, 10-year-old Micah Tuttle finds out that magic is real. Micah always thought Grandpa Ephraim’s wild stories of the centuries-old Circus Mirandus were spun solely for his amusement. But when his dying grandfather writes a letter to the “Lightbender,” hoping to call in the miracle the magician had promised him as a boy, Micah learns the stories were true, and the appearance of Ms. Chintzy, the circus’ cantankerous parrot messenger, clinches the deal. Happily, Micah finds a loyal if somewhat challenging friend to help him track down the elusive light-bending magician: the magic-leery, science-minded Jenny Mendoza. Their budding rapport is nuanced and complex, a refreshing illustration of how absolute like-mindedness is not a prerequisite for friendship. On one level, the book is a fantastical circus romp, with fortunetelling vultures and “a wallaby that could burp the Greek alphabet.” On another, it’s both serious and thick with longing: Micah’s ache for the companionship of his once-vital guardian-grandfather; Grandpa Ephraim’s boyhood yearning for his absent father, as fleshed out in flashbacks; the circus founders’ desire to keep enchantment alive in a world where “faith is such a fragile thing.” A delicious confection and much more: it shows that the human heart is delicate, that it matters, and that it must be handled with care. (Fiction. 9-12)

Wednesday March 18, 2015 4:48 Lisa Von Drasek

4:55

Lisa Von Drasek:

I’m your moderator.

In addition to being EarlyWord’s Kids Correspondent, I am the curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota, one of the world’s largest collections of children’s literature manuscripts and original. Before that, I was the Children's Librarian of the Bank Street College of Education. I’ve served on many awards committees including the Newbery, the National Book Awards for Young People's Literature and American Library Association's Notable Children's Books.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 4:55 Lisa Von Drasek

4:56

Lisa Von Drasek:

You can send your questions through at any time. They'll go into a queue, and we'll submit as many of them as we can to the author before the end of the chat.

Don’t worry about typos – we’re sure to make them too!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 4:56 Lisa Von Drasek

5:00

Lisa Von Drasek:

I see that Cassie has joined us -- we have a crowd gathering. Say hi to them.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:00 Lisa Von Drasek

5:00

Cassie Beasley:

Hi, Lisa! Hi, everyone! So excited about this chat.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:00 Cassie Beasley

5:00

[Comment From M. Circus FanM. Circus Fan: ]

LOVE the book! Thanks for doing this!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:00 M. Circus Fan

5:01

[Comment From Pam D.Pam D.: ]

Been looking forward to this all month!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:01 Pam D.

5:01

[Comment From Sunny, OhioSunny, Ohio: ]

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:01 Sunny, Ohio

5:01

[Comment From FridaFrida: ]

Great to know you're a real person, Cassie.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:01 Frida

5:01

[Comment From Brenda J.Brenda J.: ]

Hi from Florida, land of circuses.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:01 Brenda J.

5:01

[Comment From Frances, INFrances, IN: ]

Thanks, Lisa and thanks, Cassie

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:01 Frances, IN

5:01

[Comment From Book LoverBook Lover: ]

Hi from a fan.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:01 Book Lover

5:01

[Comment From M.G. TeacherM.G. Teacher: ]

Can't wait to share this book with my kids.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:01 M.G. Teacher

5:02

Cassie Beasley:

Hello, hello! I am totally a real person, and I have been looking forward to this at least as much as you guys have!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:02 Cassie Beasley

5:02

Lisa Von Drasek:

I'll start with a few comments.

I know you are excited about that great Kirkus review.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:02 Lisa Von Drasek

5:02

Lisa Von Drasek:

You also got some other pretty great news recently. Film and TV rights were recently sold

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:02 Lisa Von Drasek

5:03

Lisa Von Drasek:

And, for audio fans, there's the announcement that Bronson Pinchot to narrate the audio book …

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:03 Lisa Von Drasek

5:03	Lisa Von Drasek Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:03

5:04

Lisa Von Drasek:

You must be feeling pretty good about all that.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:04 Lisa Von Drasek

5:04

Cassie Beasley:

My head is spinning with all of the good things that have happened for CM lately. The Kirkus review was such a thrill, and the movie news was a big surprise!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:04 Cassie Beasley

5:04

[Comment From Brooklyn librarianBrooklyn librarian: ]

I LOVED this book! I can't wait to share it with my students!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:04 Brooklyn librarian

5:04

Cassie Beasley:

And Bronson is lovely, lovely. He's promised to sneak me a clip of the audio ahead of schedule.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:04 Cassie Beasley

5:05

Cassie Beasley:

Hi, Brooklyn librarian!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:05 Cassie Beasley

5:05

Lisa Von Drasek:

I'll start with a really tough question:

Is there a one sentence “handle” that can describe the book to librarians and teachers?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:05 Lisa Von Drasek

5:06

Cassie Beasley:

Lisa, that is a tough question. I would say that...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:06 Cassie Beasley

5:06

Cassie Beasley:

Circus Mirandus is the story of a boy trying to save his dying grandfather by finding the magical circus that changed his life many years before.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:06 Cassie Beasley

5:07

Cassie Beasley:

Which doesn't cover all of it of course! But one sentence can be tough!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:07 Cassie Beasley

5:07

Lisa Von Drasek:

It works!

What does Mirandus mean?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:07 Lisa Von Drasek

5:08

Cassie Beasley:

It means “wondrous” or “that which is to be marveled at”!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:08 Cassie Beasley

5:08

Cassie Beasley:

It's Latin.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:08 Cassie Beasley

5:08

Cassie Beasley:

I spent a ridiculously long time combing through lists of words to find the perfect name for the circus...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:08 Cassie Beasley

5:08

Cassie Beasley:

so I'm glad you asked!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:08 Cassie Beasley

5:08

Lisa Von Drasek:

Even though I know that Great Aunt Gertrudis (now that sounds Latin) is from Arizona I am not sure where Micah lives- is that a deliberate?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:08 Lisa Von Drasek

5:09

Cassie Beasley:

Yes...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:09 Cassie Beasley

5:09

Cassie Beasley:

I was hoping to give Micah’s hometown an Everytown kind of feel…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:09 Cassie Beasley

5:09

Cassie Beasley:

I wanted readers to feel like the circus might show up where they lived...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:09 Cassie Beasley

5:10

Cassie Beasley:

and of course the settings I’m most familiar with are all Southern settings, so I wanted to avoid giving the impression that this was a specifically “Southern story.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:10 Cassie Beasley

5:10

Lisa Von Drasek:

I think Brooklyn librarian has a one-sentence handle for your CIRCUS MIRANDUS -- one you might enjoy …

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:10 Lisa Von Drasek

5:10

[Comment From Brooklyn librarianBrooklyn librarian: ]

I'd say if you have kids that love Dahl and want a meaty fantasy...this is for them

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:10 Brooklyn librarian

5:11

Cassie Beasley:

Ooo....I love that! "Meaty fantasy."

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:11 Cassie Beasley

5:11

Cassie Beasley:

Can I steal that?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:11 Cassie Beasley

5:11

Lisa Von Drasek:

How about the reference to Dahl -- are you fan of his?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:11 Lisa Von Drasek

5:12

Cassie Beasley:

I have heard that comparison so often lately. I do love Dahl, but it's actually been a very long time since I read his books!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:12 Cassie Beasley

5:12

Cassie Beasley:

Matilda was a favorite of mine growing up.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:12 Cassie Beasley

5:12

[Comment From Brenda J.Brenda J.: ]

Do you like circuses?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:12 Brenda J.

5:13

Cassie Beasley:

You know, I only went to an actual circus once as a child, but…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:13 Cassie Beasley

5:13

Cassie Beasley:

we went to the fairgrounds every year for the traveling fair. I think there’s an element of mystery…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:13 Cassie Beasley

5:14

Cassie Beasley:

and maybe even a kind of darkness to it. It’s all so pretty and bright and exciting, but then…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:14 Cassie Beasley

5:14

Cassie Beasley:

there's the background of it. Just at the corner of your eye. Something that makes the glitz seem like a cover for the otherworldly.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:14 Cassie Beasley

5:14

Cassie Beasley:

I think that's a lot of fun to play with as a writer!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:14 Cassie Beasley

5:15

[Comment From Brooklyn librarianBrooklyn librarian: ]

It's all yours. That and I appreciated the juicy lNguage. I am looking forward to reading this aloud

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:15 Brooklyn librarian

5:15

[Comment From Brooklyn librarianBrooklyn librarian: ]

The Dahl reference is that you are unafraid of showing difficult circumstances with unsympathetic adults as well as giving agency to the kids....also the wordplay and subtle humor

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:15 Brooklyn librarian

5:16

Cassie Beasley:

Yay! Thank you Brooklyn librarian. I'm going to start telling people I write meaty fantasy with juicy language. My books will sound scrumptious.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:16 Cassie Beasley

5:16

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Who were your favorite authors as a child?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:16 Deborah Baldwin

5:17

Cassie Beasley:

As a child? I loved William Goldman -- The Princess Bride, The Silent Gondoliers (which too few people have read). I was also a big fan...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:17 Cassie Beasley

5:17

Cassie Beasley:

of my parents' collection of adult epic fantasy. And Harry Potter. Of course.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:17 Cassie Beasley

5:18

Lisa Von Drasek:

Micah lost his parents at an early age- (this is typical in children’s books as adventure can’t happen if parents are supervising) we don’t really know anything about them…like how his dad and his aunt got along.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:18 Lisa Von Drasek

5:18

Cassie Beasley:

Oh, and Louis Sachar. I loved the Wayside School books and Holes.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:18 Cassie Beasley

5:19

Cassie Beasley:

I know…children’s authors are terrible to parents aren’t we?…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:19 Cassie Beasley

5:19

Cassie Beasley:

In my mind, Aunt Gertrudis has been more or less estranged from the family, happily living her own life apart from all of her brother’s “nonsense” stories…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:19 Cassie Beasley

5:19

Cassie Beasley:

so Micah's dad would have known her but not been close to her.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:19 Cassie Beasley

5:20

Lisa Von Drasek:

Love the name Gertrudis! Names are clearly important to you. How do you come up with them?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:20 Lisa Von Drasek

5:21

Cassie Beasley:

Gertrudis...I just thought it sounded so crotchety and uptight. Perfect for her!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:21 Cassie Beasley

5:21

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Where did you get your ideas for your characters, especially Aunt Gertrudis? ...Any real life inspirations or purely fictional?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:21 Deborah Baldwin

5:21

Cassie Beasley:

I do think a lot about names. I usually just try tons of different ones until one feels right.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:21 Cassie Beasley

5:22

[Comment From Pam D.Pam D.: ]

How did you come up with the great character, the parrot Chintzy-

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:22 Pam D.

5:22

Cassie Beasley:

Deborah, my great aunt is the sweetest lady in the whole entire world! So I'm going to have to be really careful to explain to her that...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:22 Cassie Beasley

5:22

Cassie Beasley:

Great Aunt Gertrudis is not in any way based on her!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:22 Cassie Beasley

5:22

Cassie Beasley:

As for the others--none of them are based on anyone in particular, except...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:22 Cassie Beasley

5:23

Cassie Beasley:

Except for Chintzy, Pam!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:23 Cassie Beasley

5:23

Lisa Von Drasek:

We thought it would be fun to ask people who their favorite characters are. Here comes the poll …

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:23 Lisa Von Drasek

5:23	Cassie Beasley Chintzy is based on this pretty girl! Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:23

5:24

Lisa Von Drasek:

OK, now everyone is totally distracted by Chintzy!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:24 Lisa Von Drasek

5:24

Cassie Beasley:

Oh, it's a contest! I get to see who everyone likes best! :)

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:24 Cassie Beasley

5:24

Lisa Von Drasek:

You mention that you read Harry Potter as a kid- How old were you and can you tell us a little about that experience?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:24 Lisa Von Drasek

5:25

Cassie Beasley:

Yes, that's my African Grey parrot! She's sweet...except for the biting. And very talkative.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:25 Cassie Beasley

5:25

Cassie Beasley:

Harry Potter-- I was in sixth grade!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:25 Cassie Beasley

5:25

Cassie Beasley:

My homeroom teacher read us a few pages after lunch every day.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:25 Cassie Beasley

5:26

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

What a beautiful bird!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:26 Deborah Baldwin

5:26

Cassie Beasley:

The whole class was enthralled, but it was taking her so long to get through it! I made my mom drive all the way to Savannah (an hour) so that I could get my own copy and the second book.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:26 Cassie Beasley

5:26

Lisa Von Drasek:

Have you tried reading CIRCUS MIRANDUS aloud to any kids?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:26 Lisa Von Drasek

5:27

Cassie Beasley:

Oh, she knows, Deborah! She thinks she is hot stuff. :)

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:27 Cassie Beasley

5:28

Cassie Beasley:

That sounds terrifying, Lisa! What if they didn't like it?! Seriously though, I have a friend who is reading a copy to her two boys right now, and I am on pins and needles waiting to find out if they like it or not!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:28 Cassie Beasley

5:29

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

How long did it take you to write Circus Mirandus?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:29 Deborah Baldwin

5:29

Cassie Beasley:

I have heard from a few librarians (Yay librarians!) that their students are really enjoying it, and that is the best feeling.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:29 Cassie Beasley

5:29

Cassie Beasley:

It took me about two years to write the book. Almost all of that spent on various revisions.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:29 Cassie Beasley

5:30

Lisa Von Drasek:

So far, Ms. Chintzy is beating Lightbender in our poll. Come on, Grandpa!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:30 Lisa Von Drasek

5:30

Cassie Beasley:

The writing process never seems to stop though...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:30 Cassie Beasley

5:30

Cassie Beasley:

I just made my very very final tweaks a few days ago, and sent it back to my editor.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:30 Cassie Beasley

5:30

Cassie Beasley:

It's totally out of my hands now!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:30 Cassie Beasley

5:31

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Thank you for sticking with it!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:31 Deborah Baldwin

5:31

Lisa Von Drasek:

Interesting that revisions continue AFTER galleys are sent out.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:31 Lisa Von Drasek

5:32

Cassie Beasley:

I know, isn't it though?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:32 Cassie Beasley

5:32

Lisa Von Drasek:

How did you develop the character of the grandfather?

He has many endearing attributes not the least is his faith in Micah. (and the twinkly in his eye)

Who is like that in your life?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:32 Lisa Von Drasek

5:33

Cassie Beasley:

Revisions can happen write up until the moment when they pry it out of the author's fingers and send it to the printer! Which has happened! It's going to be a real book!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:33 Cassie Beasley

5:33

Cassie Beasley:

Grandpa Ephraim has had his own backstory from the very beginning…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:33 Cassie Beasley

5:34

Cassie Beasley:

which I think is so important, because too often grandparent figures in kids’ books are a little one dimensional…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:34 Cassie Beasley

5:34

Cassie Beasley:

Grandpa Ephraim's part of the story--finding Circus Mirandus as a boy and then losing it as an adult--is at the heart of the book...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:34 Cassie Beasley

5:34

Cassie Beasley:

so he grew as a character right alongside Micah.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:34 Cassie Beasley

5:35

Lisa Von Drasek:

There are small humorous moments throughout the story that lighten the sadness and desperation of the plot, Chintzy of course but also in the dialog.

My favorite is when Micah is desperate to speak with Jenny and says it’s an emergency, its about home work and the mom says, “ Oh, okay.”

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:35 Lisa Von Drasek

5:35

Cassie Beasley:

And, I seem to have said that "Revisions can happen 'write up until'"...proof that I am a real person, folks!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:35 Cassie Beasley

5:36

[Comment From Pam D.Pam D.: ]

We agreed to overlook typos!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:36 Pam D.

5:36

Lisa Von Drasek:

Circus Mirandus survives because of faith…can you talk a little about why that is important to you?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:36 Lisa Von Drasek

5:36

Cassie Beasley:

Oh, Jenny! She's so cool. She's a lot like I was at that age. And she and Chintzy both make me laugh!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:36 Cassie Beasley

5:37

Cassie Beasley:

I think that's important in any book...not to have one tone. To have humor and heartache...just like life!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:37 Cassie Beasley

5:37

Cassie Beasley:

I don’t know if this answers the question, but…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:37 Cassie Beasley

5:38

Cassie Beasley:

I think for Micah the circus represents hope, even after he reaches it and finds that things aren’t what he had initially expected…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:38 Cassie Beasley

5:38

Cassie Beasley:

the hope that there is something better out there, and the belief that that something is within his grasp…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:38 Cassie Beasley

5:39

Cassie Beasley:

it keeps him going even when the situation seems unassailable. It makes him stronger. Hope, faith, belief-- I think we need it...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:39 Cassie Beasley

5:39

Cassie Beasley:

I think we lose some of it as we go through life, especially at the moments when we need it most, and I think that’s tragic.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:39 Cassie Beasley

5:41

[Comment From FridaFrida: ]

That is, after all, what life is about. And kids really eat up stories that show both sides.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:41 Frida

5:41

Lisa Von Drasek:

I related to the themes of a child learning how to deal with change and overcoming adversity. Were you conscious of those, or did the story just reveal itself to you?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:41 Lisa Von Drasek

5:42

Cassie Beasley:

I don't think too much about themes/lessons/morals when I'm writing, especially the initial draft. I think the story has to come first...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:42 Cassie Beasley

5:42

Cassie Beasley:

and then once that's done, readers are the ones who can really find all of the potential meanings I didn't even know were there!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:42 Cassie Beasley

5:42

[Comment From Pam D.Pam D.: ]

Well said!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:42 Pam D.

5:43

[Comment From Pam D.Pam D.: ]

Tell us about the art in the book. i loved the second cover!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:43 Pam D.

5:43

Lisa Von Drasek:

Speaking of that cover -- here it is:

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:43 Lisa Von Drasek

5:43

Cassie Beasley:

I love it too, Pam! It's by Diana Sudyka...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:43 Cassie Beasley

5:43	Lisa Von Drasek Interior cover by Diana Sudyka Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:43

5:44

Cassie Beasley:

They didn't give me much say in the art, and I'm glad...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:44 Cassie Beasley

5:44

Cassie Beasley:

because I never could have come up with something so cool!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:44 Cassie Beasley

5:44

Lisa Von Drasek:

There are references to children’s literature embedded throughout this book- Peter Pan…. Can you tell us another?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:44 Lisa Von Drasek

5:45

[Comment From Suzanne (from Tennessee)Suzanne (from Tennessee): ]

Wow! I love that much better than just the circus tent .

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:45 Suzanne (from Tennessee)

5:45

Cassie Beasley:

I love that that art will show through the die-cut hat on the hardcover's dustjacket. And wait until you see the interior art! I just saw it all for the first time last week. Soooo good.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:45 Cassie Beasley

5:45

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Love the new cover!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:45 Deborah Baldwin

5:45

[Comment From Suzanne (from Tennessee)Suzanne (from Tennessee): ]

I was a Latin major in college, so I love the name of the circus!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:45 Suzanne (from Tennessee)

5:45

Cassie Beasley:

Oh yes. The book has two covers basically, which is so neat!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:45 Cassie Beasley

5:46

Cassie Beasley:

Lisa...about other references.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:46 Cassie Beasley

5:47

Cassie Beasley:

Those usually aren't intentional, so I have a hard time picking them out!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:47 Cassie Beasley

5:47

Cassie Beasley:

I think the books we really love stick with us, even if its been years since we've read them,

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:47 Cassie Beasley

5:48

Cassie Beasley:

we all internalize things, often without even realizing it, and then as a writer…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:48 Cassie Beasley

5:48

Lisa Von Drasek:

Tell us what it was like to find out about the TV and film rights.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:48 Lisa Von Drasek

5:48

Cassie Beasley:

hose story elements you’ve internalized and those themes, they keep cropping up whether you know it’s happening or not!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:48 Cassie Beasley

5:48

[Comment From FridaFrida: ]

Which would you prefer, a book or a movie?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:48 Frida

5:49

Cassie Beasley:

I wish I had a picture of myself jumping up and down and squealing, because I did quite a lot of that!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:49 Cassie Beasley

5:49

Cassie Beasley:

And it all happened very very quickly. The producer who pre-empted the rights contacted me, and five days later we had the deal!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:49 Cassie Beasley

5:50

Cassie Beasley:

Well, around five days. I didn't keep perfect track.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:50 Cassie Beasley

5:50

Cassie Beasley:

Frida, books! I am a book girl through and through.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:50 Cassie Beasley

5:50

Cassie Beasley:

Though I do love to go to the movies. I love sitting in the theater in the dark and seeing stories unfold.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:50 Cassie Beasley

5:51

[Comment From FridaFrida: ]

That was a slip -- I actually meant to say -- which would you prefer, a movie or a TV series!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:51 Frida

5:51

Cassie Beasley:

For that to be a possibility with Circus Mirandus--it's hard to fathom and so, so thrilling!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:51 Cassie Beasley

5:51

Cassie Beasley:

Oh! A movie. I think.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:51 Cassie Beasley

5:51

[Comment From Suzanne (from Tennessee)Suzanne (from Tennessee): ]

Who wouldn't be jumping? That's such exciting news.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:51 Suzanne (from Tennessee)

5:52

[Comment From M. Circus FanM. Circus Fan: ]

I've seen comparisons to the adult book, NIGHT CIRCUS. Have you read it? I don't agree -- NIGHT CIRCUS had great atmosphere, but NO plot!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:52 M. Circus Fan

5:52

Cassie Beasley:

Yes, a movie. Only because I'm not sure I can picture how they would string the story out into multiple seasons.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:52 Cassie Beasley

5:52

Lisa Von Drasek:

THIS MIGHT BE A SPOILER perhaps not but….Can you talk about your choice to have Aunt Gertrudis be unredeemed.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:52 Lisa Von Drasek

5:52

Cassie Beasley:

I *have* gotten a lot of comparisons to NIGHT CIRCUS.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:52 Cassie Beasley

5:53

Cassie Beasley:

I waited to read it until after I was basically finished with CM because I was afraid I would pick up elements, and I didn't want to copy!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:53 Cassie Beasley

5:53

Cassie Beasley:

I enjoyed it, by the way. Love her conception of the circus.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:53 Cassie Beasley

5:53

Cassie Beasley:

Lisa, absolutely!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:53 Cassie Beasley

5:54

Cassie Beasley:

I did have a few early readers question whether it was right for Aunt Gertrudis not to have her moment of redemption…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:54 Cassie Beasley

5:54

Cassie Beasley:

but I’ve been pretty adamant from the start that she doesn’t get that. Just because it would feel good to have that tidy bow on the ending…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:54 Cassie Beasley

5:54

Cassie Beasley:

that doesn’t make it the right thing for the story. I want to write characters who are real, and the real Aunt Gertrudis has had decades to build up…

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:54 Cassie Beasley

5:55

Cassie Beasley:

her emotional armor, her resentment, her bitterness. She’s not willing to change. She doesn’t even want it for herself.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:55 Cassie Beasley

5:55

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Are there more "Circus Mirandus" stories in the works?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:55 Deborah Baldwin

5:56

Cassie Beasley:

CM does stand on its own, so it's not the kind of story that has to have a sequel. But, I have written one! It's a work in progress...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:56 Cassie Beasley

5:56

Cassie Beasley:

waiting to see how my editor feels about it. I like it a lot, but that's pretty unsurprising. ;)

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:56 Cassie Beasley

5:56

[Comment From M.G. TeacherM.G. Teacher: ]

Do you do school visits?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:56 M.G. Teacher

5:57

Cassie Beasley:

I haven't done one before, since this is all so new, but I am totally game for school visits!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:57 Cassie Beasley

5:57

[Comment From M.G. TeacherM.G. Teacher: ]

How can we contact you for a visit?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:57 M.G. Teacher

5:57

Cassie Beasley:

The person to contact about that is my publicist at Penguin. Lauren Donovan.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:57 Cassie Beasley

5:58

[Comment From Deborah BaldwinDeborah Baldwin: ]

Looking forward to hearing if there will be more adventures... good luck... hope your editor like it.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:58 Deborah Baldwin

5:58

Lisa Von Drasek:

We're closing in on the last few minutes.

One last question --

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:58 Lisa Von Drasek

5:58

Cassie Beasley:

Or, you can always send requests through my website, and I'll forward them to her to address since I haven't quite got a handle on my own upcoming schedule!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:58 Cassie Beasley

5:59

Cassie Beasley:

It's probably cheating to pick something that involves me reading books all day long isn't it?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:59 Cassie Beasley

5:59

Cassie Beasley:

But I guess I would be either a literature professor or a chef. School, books, food—my loves are simple ones!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:59 Cassie Beasley

5:59

Lisa Von Drasek:

Oops, forgot -- I think you have a pecan recipe to share with us!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:59 Lisa Von Drasek

5:59

Cassie Beasley:

I do!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 5:59 Cassie Beasley

6:00

Cassie Beasley:

http://www.myrecipes.com/re...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:00 Cassie Beasley

6:00

Lisa Von Drasek:

And, WHY do yo love pecans?

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:00 Lisa Von Drasek

6:00

Cassie Beasley:

My favorite way to bribe editors, agents, and everyone in between! It's the best toffee there is. :)

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:00 Cassie Beasley

6:00

Cassie Beasley:

I do!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:00 Cassie Beasley

6:00

Cassie Beasley:

But even if I didn't I would be obligated to say yes, all things considered. Farmer's daughter and all. :)

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:00 Cassie Beasley

6:01

Lisa Von Drasek:

Cassie, thanks so much for doing this. We know we'll be hearing a lot more about CIRCUS MIRANDUS come June and we feel privileged to be amonth the first to talk to you about it.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:01 Lisa Von Drasek

6:01

Cassie Beasley:

Oh...WHY? Because they're delicious. And good for your heart...

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:01 Cassie Beasley

6:02

Cassie Beasley:

Thank you too! Thank you all! This was so much fun.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:02 Cassie Beasley

6:02

[Comment From Frances, INFrances, IN: ]

Thanks, Cassie, good luck.

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:02 Frances, IN

6:02

[Comment From Sunny, OhioSunny, Ohio: ]

Agree! This was great!

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:02 Sunny, Ohio

6:03

Lisa Von Drasek:

Over and out, everyone.

The next title in our program is Ratscalibur by Josh Lieb -- The Tonight Show showrunner reinvents the Excalibur legend—with rats!

More: http://bit.ly/1ByT1wZ

Wednesday March 18, 2015 6:03 Lisa Von Drasek

Posted in EarlyWord, Events | Comments Off on LiveChat Today with CIRCUS MIRANDUS Author, Cassie Beasley

YA (and MG) GalleyChat

Tuesday, March 17th, 2015

This month’s YA & MG GalleyChat has ended. Join us for the next one, Tuesday, April 21, 5 to 6 p.m. EDT (virtual cocktails served at 4:30).

Posted in Childrens and YA, EarlyWord, Events, GalleyChat | Comments Off on YA (and MG) GalleyChat

GalleyChat, Tues. March 3

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015

This month’s GalleyChat has now ended. Join us for the next one, Tuesday, April 7, 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern (3:30 for virtual cocktails). PLEASE NOTE: We will have sprung ahead to DAYLIGHT time by then so make adjustments for your own time zone.

Posted in EarlyWord, Events, GalleyChat | Comments Off on GalleyChat, Tues. March 3

Penguin Young Readers Live Chat

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

Below is the most recent chat from the Penguin Young Readers Author Program. To become a member of the program, sign up here.

Live Chat with Piers Torday, THE LAST WILD

(05/21/2014)

4:38

Nora - EarlyWord:

We will begin our live online chat with Piers Torday, author of THE LAST WILD in about 15 minutes.

Wednesday May 21, 2014 4:38 Nora - EarlyWord

4:39

Nora - EarlyWord:

Meanwhile, here’s the cover of the book…

Wednesday May 21, 2014 4:39 Nora - EarlyWord

4:39	Nora - EarlyWord THE LAST WILD, Cover Wednesday May 21, 2014 4:39

4:42

Nora - EarlyWord:

It's received many admiring reviews. Booklist gives a good summary -- "In a world where there are no more animals (only a few rogue varmints ), Kester Jaynes finds himself in an unusual position: a cockroach is asking him for help. Kester, who hasn't spoken since his mother died, answers the entreaty of the cockroach (and some persuasive pigeons) and escapes to the forbidden wild, where a few animals have been hiding ... an enchanted adventure with a message of empowerment and hope that ought to sweep readers along to the planned s