I'll be on readergirlz blog for live author chat and online book party for STEALING DEATH

Wednesday night September 30th at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern!

Special thanks to the readergirlz divas for hosting the party and to diva Holly Cupala for the beautiful blog posters!

Come join the fun!!

We're getting ready for the big book launch party!




Check out the recent interview about Stealing Death in the Chinook Update.

Filling food platters
YAAMBA Marimba band is rehearsing
Dance rehearsal
Can't wait to see friends and celebrate!!

A special THANKS to the amazing Holly Cupala, YA Author and all around talent for the new Blog Banner, this pop-in poster, and the whole face lift for Dreamwalks!!! Thanks, Holly!

Good News!

Sacramento Public Libraries' One Book Sacramento has chosen THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN as a companion read to Steve Lopez's book, THE SOLOIST.



This September I'll be flying to Sacramento CA for speaking engagements set up by One Book Sacramento. It's an honor to be a companion read to THE SOLOIST a second time. Earlier this year Philadelphia Public Libraries listed THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN as a teen companion read to THE SOLOIST for One Book Philadelphia.

THE SOLOIST is a deeply moving book. I read it before watching the movie (also a must see!) Steve Lopez describes Nathaniel Ayers' turbulent life on the street, his heroic struggle with fragile mental health, and his musical gifts with a rare and powerful honesty. I have my own first hand experience with the devastation of brain disorders, illnesses that we, as yet, barely understand. I recognized Steve Lopez's true portrayal of illness in the unflinchingly accurate dialogue and in the complex yet hopeful description of a rare friendship.

THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN shares the theme of homelessness. Not that of a single person as in THE SOLOIST, but of a young family secretly living in an old Chevy van struggling to find a home. Zoe Flynn is fiercely guarding her secret from everyone at school. No one is to know they are homeless, that they bathe at the community pool and hang around at the laundromat to stay warm (courtesy of the heat coming from the driers).

The new face of homelessness is not presented on the street, it is lost in the invisible world of children and families couch surfing, living in cars and vans, people who are "between" apartments or homes for weeks or months or years. The year THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN came out I presented at schools across the U.S. sharing the book and raising awareness about homelessness. Many schools got ready for my visit by collection scads of food for local food banks. One school delivered a truck load the day after my assembly! More poignant than that, I discovered most schools had at least one homeless student. (I was usually told this privately before or after the presentation.) Those children were honored that day as I spoke of Zoe's heroic adventures in THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN.

The book's longevity is a testament to heroic children everywhere who are searching for a home.

P.S. Friend and colleague, Holly Cupala just sent me this link to the NY Times Article: Surge In Homeless Pupils Strains Schools. Very timely. Thanks Holly!

Until next time,

Be well

I just flew home from ALA Chicago


A most magnificent experience meeting nation wide librarians (according to ALA roughly 25,000 library leaders and supporters)touring publishing houses with their newest offerings (like wending through a gold mine), meeting the indomitable Egmont USA team: Douglas Pocock, Elizabeth Law, Regina Griffin, Mary Albi, and Ellen Greene. Chatting and checking the exhibits with my beloved Dial editor, Kathy Dawson, Meeting fellow Egmont authors Julia Keller, Walter Dean Myers, Christopher Myers, Mary Amato, and Kay Cassidy and chumming about with author buddy Lorie Ann Grover who was smart enough to bring a camera!Luckily Lorie Ann said I could pop some of her shots into the blog. Phew!



Lorie Ann Grover, Elizabeth Law, Moi

Chicago weather was perfect. On my first evening we gathered at the Art Institute of Chicago for the Egmont Cocktail Reception where we all nibbled dainties, sipped wine and talking Books Books Books. Doug Pocock, Executive V.P of Egmont USA had us all raise our glasses to toast Egmont. He had us all grinning. If you are a writer, this was why your ears were burning on Saturday evening. Somebody out here loves you.

Early Sunday we scrambled to the wild YALSA Coffee klatch where we had four minutes (yes that's four minutes) per table to speed date YALSA librarians and create "book love" for our upcoming titles. Not easy to breeze through a description of STEALING DEATH in one minute with three left to answer questions. I brought along an "ice breaker" but YALSA librarians were NOT icy in the least and no ice needed breaking. Still we blew our rose petals across the table with drinking straws (a challenging game if there ever was one!)



Christopher Myers and Moi at YALSA coffee klatch. I stood on a chair to reach his 6ft 5? or 7? height!



Jacqueline Woodson, Libba Bray, Moi

After the coffee klatch I raced with Elizabeth Law back to the convention center for my author signing at the Egmont USA booth. A nice long line was waiting with readers clutching STEALING DEATH galleys (yes!)

Two buddies Justina Chen and Kirby Larson signing (I didn't take a pic of myself signing. Again no camera. Doh!)






Famished from book signing, Regina Griffin and I taxied to a cozy luncheon with friends. After lunch I raced back to the convention to meet with my Dial editor, Kathy Dawson.

The day ended with the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet.



Lorie Ann too this one -- Moi dressed for the Banquet!

Thank you Egmont for the cold Heineken I was ready for it by that point). Good food but the speeches were delicious from Beth Krommes Caldecott speech where she quoted a friend saying, "Beth Krommes has finally scratched herself to the top." to Neil Gaiman's memorable speech, "the Newbery can actually make you look cool to your children,", and Ashley Bryan's closing speech wherein we were "made to sing."

When words were with us
in our minds and
on our tongues
we sang our way
outside ourselves
to a place
where all can meet

In this sparse economy
we still remember
ideas are free

We just returned from Maui where I swam in the sea and went on a 5 day Sacred Maui Pilgrimage Retreat with Ram Dass. The first day there we visited a sacred Hawaiian site by special invitation.




Lei'ohu Ryder invited us into the Kukuipuka Heiau a place of profound healing and inspiration. Lei'ohu Ryder shared stories of the power of the land and the sea -- of the healing earth. She also talked about "letting go of our stories" the stories that tie us down and keep us in the past and do not allow us to grow into our true power. This was only the first day of our pilgrimage, but my husband and I were greatly blessed by land and sea and Kukuipuka Heiau under the guidance of Lei'ohu Ryder and Ram Dass. There is great healing in the land -- the ground we walk on every day of our lives.

Janet

It has been forever since I blogged. Why?? I have been juggling many projects and am in the air all day tossing and tossing.

I was recently asked juggling advice and did I recommend it. Hum . . .
The answer depends on your best way of working. Jane Yolen always juggles many projects at once and seems to thrive on it! I visit the blog on her website often to peek into her life and work. If you thrive on juggling as she does, go for it.

I actually prefer to be married to my work. That is to say I work on one story at a time to nearest deadline, then switch to another. I find the transition difficult -- moving from a fantasy set in a fictional Africa with the spare voice of a male protagonist (Kipp in Stealing Death) to the medieval world of Wilde Island with a female protagonist disguised as a leper and on the run with her three friends from the witch hunter (Tess in Bound By Three).

It's dizzying for me going between these worlds let alone trying to live in the real one. Sheesh!

So pick the tale that's calling to you and go deeply in, or juggle many happily as Jane Yolen seems to do.

Whatever you do, be in love with your characters and their world.

Happy (if frantic) Writing everyone and Keep the balls in the air.

Happy World Water Day!



Image thanks to PlayPumps

Join me in celebrating clean drinking water with PlayPumps! For World Water Day PlayPumps is focusing on communities in Malawi Africa where only 57% of the rural population has access to clean drinking water.

Do you want to pitch in and Help? Check out PlayPumps!

Clean drinking water is of particular interest to me. Ever since I researched drought-ridden countries for my upcoming YA novel Stealing Death, I've wanted to put my hand in and make a difference.

Check out my PlayPumps fundraising page Stealing Death water for Life Challenge

CLEAN WATER SAVES LIVES

The terrible drought in Africa puts children and families at risk every day. It is predicted that the global dimming brought on by the developed worlds air pollution will continue to create these severe droughts year after year. I began to study what water shortage does to communities while working to create a realistic drought-ridden landscape for my fantasy novel Stealing Death. Profoundly moved by the suffering I saw, I made a commitment to take action and raise awareness. I hunted for an organization that is making a significant difference and was thrilled to find PlayPumps.

Hope Education Joy
PlayPumps puts hope into the hands of people.
PlayPumps frees girls to attend school regularly
PlayPumps empowers change through children at play

How PlayPumps Works

Watch a PlayPumps Video!!

I just finished many present-day trips to India in the pages of Indu Sundaresan's brilliant new short story collection: IN THE CONVENT OF LITTLE FLOWERS (Atria Books).

The fabric of these stories is silken, the flow of language itself transports the reader. Though the stories vary in time and place, all of the striking stories take unflinching looks at human relationships. All explore the question of human value.

In "Shelter of Rain" A young doctor, Padmini Marrick, receives a mysterious letter from The Convent of Little Flowers -- the orphanage she left after her adoption at the age of six to come to America. Now her long lost mother is finally contacting her. Why?

In "The Faithful Wife" a reporter tries to stop a town from committing Sati, the ritual burning of a widow -- the widow is twelve years old.

In "The Key Club" wives are highly valued, but there's a catch.

There are too many stories to name here but the tale entitled "Three and a Half Seconds" has to be mentioned. It is riveting and terrifying, all the more so because it is based on a real story of a son's escalating parental abuse.

IN THE CONVENT OF LITTLE FLOWERS is a book to own, cherish, and reread for its beauty and its unflinching look at humanity. Pick up a copy as soon as you can.

Janet

Look forward to hidden treasure when you read Justina Chen Headley’s new book NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL
February 09 (Little Brown)

This gorgeous novel has already earned a Publisher's Weekly starred review, and I expect that's just the beginning of the praise it's bound to receive. It's rare to find such a perfectly balanced novel. Award-winning author, Justina Chen Headley writes with wry humor and unfailing honesty. Terra feels set apart by her troubled family, and the prominent port-wine stain birthmark on her right cheek. She is lost in a family of mapmakers and can't see a way out. Enter Jacob, a Goth guy who sees Terra's hidden beauty, and challenges her to move beyond her old confining self-image. Leaving their small town behind, Terra and her mother adventure with Jacob's family in China. On this unforgetable journey with Jacob Terra slowly learns to find her way out of her life-long isolation. This book is a treasury of laughter and tears that leads unfailingly to the heart.

EXCALIBUR PEN

Driving along the Big Sur coast in California, we stopped to climb down to a deserted beach, then scaled rocks to a waterfall.

Guess what I found embedded in the mud below the enchanted falls?

Pictures tell the story . . .

~the Wart walked up to the great sword for the third time. He put out his right hand softly and drew it out as gently as from a scabbard ~ T. H. White The Sword in the Stone

The Excalibur pen still works.

Shall I save it and use it at my next book signing?

Till next time fellow dreamwalkers

walk well

Janet

ZOOM ZOOM






photo share

October's been a travel month. First stop Oregon SCBWI Retreat at Silver Falls State Park where I taught Story CPR, met fellow writers, Chronicle books editor, Julie Romeis, and Holiday House editor, Leanna Petronella. Leanna gave a stomping good session on writing YA novels.


Five words for this retreat= Terrific!! Watch out for Bears!





Photo Keven Law



Next I flew to Georgia to keynote the librarian luncheon at the Georgia Council of Media Organizations conference. Saw as we rose out of cloudy Seattle, the morning moon full in the pale blue sky. Flying toward the sun on my right, snowy Mount Rainer down below between the two. All this beauty spread out on the vast canvas of the sky.


Five words for the Librarian Lunch = Laughter, salad, book love, serendipity.

The last word because I ran into YA author Sharon Draper in the lobby of the hotel and we talked for nearly an hour before we identified ourselves as authors. Each of us thought the other was a librarian! We had a laugh about that.


Flew out that afternoon to Missouri for the Children's Literature Festival in Athens MO where I taught "Words on the Wing" to hundreds of students, met thousands of readers and signed books, books, books. Yeah!


Eight words for that leg of the trip: Giant beast fangs don't set off airport scanners!


How did this affect my writing schedule? Have laptop will travel. In the air and on the road, I found free time to daydream about Bound By Three (sequel to Dragon's Keep) and write chapters.


Four words for today = fellow travelers, walk well

Janet

What a surprise to be nominated for the I Love Your Blog award! And to be nominated by my favorite blog Wordlings by Justina, Justina Chen Headley is a true honor!

Here's the To Do nomination list flying round the web for those of you who would like to join in the fun.


1) Add the logo of your award to your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you. (see Justina's link above)

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs. (my list below)

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Blog love . . . pass it on:

Here are the beautiful blogs I visit regularly. And the Nominees are . . . drum roll please:

1) Wordlings by Justina, Justina Chen Headley. I know she nominated mine, but I have to nominate Wordlings because I'm visiting China every week right now vicariously through her blog!

2) Seize the day, Mollymom103. Great writing tips and weekly doodles keep me coming back to Molly.

3) Grow Wings, by Laini Taylor. The art of writing and Art, Art, Art!

4) Opalescent Irritations, Margaret D. Smith. Margaret’s brilliant blog is rich, funny, deep. I go there to be inspired.

5) Bookmark, by O.R. Melling. I like to visit this Irish fantasy author.

6) Brimstone Soup, Holly Cupala. Holly keeps me in the groove.

7) Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast . This is a Wonderland of a book blog!
I could name dozens more (as you can see by my link list) but 7 is the rule and it’s nearly impossible to do this before breakfast!

Until next time

Dream well

Leapin Synchronicity!




Author Julia Cameron talks a lot about how the world joins you in synchronicity when you commit to a project. I've experienced this phenomenon any number of times. The most recent incident had to do with leaping from one novel to another. It was time to leave Stealing Death (after sending it in on deadline -whew) and go back back back to medieval times to continue the sequel of Dragon's Keep. Leaps like that are hard to do but after four full writing days I was in!

The universe, or is it my muse? agreed. I was in the middle of a scene where noisy croaking frogs began a heated argument between Tess and her friends, when I had to run off to critique group. The first thing I saw when I arrived in the backroom of the coffee shop, was an enormous green clay frog in the center of the table.

A bit suspicious I asked, "Who put that there?"
Everyone shrugged.

Hum . . . pretty strange the lengths some muses go to to let a writer know she's on the right track.


Dream well,


Janet

DRAGON'S KEEP is out in Germany







It's always fun to pop open the box when one of my foreign language books arrives in the mail. This week my agent, Irene Kraas, sent me a box with beautiful copies of DRACHENKUSS. The cover art is similar to the US DRAGON'S KEEP except for the hand. The back cover has Lord Faul's yellow-green eyes and the top line reads: Prinzessin Rosalind von Wild Island . . .



A copy is now on the shelf next to the US hardback, and the UK paperback -- same tale titled TALON in England.





Irene has also sold the foreign rights to other countries. Can't wait to see the French cover.

Until next time

dream well

Janet

DIVINERS CELEBRATE HOLLY CUPALA'S BOOK NEWS!

Last week the Diviners were celebrating again. This time we whooped it up for Holly Cupala's amazing news! Holly's agent sold her YA novel A Light That Never Goes Out in a two book deal to HarperCollins.

Hooray for Holly!

As always, Peggy King Anderson wrote a fun cheer and we pulled out the pompoms.

Pictured here, Moi, Holly Cupala, Molly Blaisdell, and Judy Bodmer.

Diviners not pictured, Peggy King Anderson (currently in Germany), Justina Chen Headley (in China this year), and Dawn Knight.

After the cheer we loaded Holly with gifties:

And of course Diviner award, Ms. Nancy Pearl, has to pack her bags yet again for another move. This time from Molly's to Holly's (however as we speak, Molly's hanging on to the coveted Nancy for one more week.) Nancy says "Shhhh."

Well, Brave Molly deserves to hang on to Nancy a wee bit longer. She came to the celebration even though her back was out. Here's Molly on her knees ready to read her latest piece to the critique group. Yes, even though we're celebrating a lot, we still buckle down (or kneel down) and get to work each week.

Until next time

dream well

Janet

Yesterday I taught a fun Mystery Writing workshop in Leavenworth at A Book For All Seasons. Here we are out on the sunny back deck watching one of the campers seek a hidden object.

She's getting warmer!

We worked/played at mystery writing for two hours then the campers went off for lunch and a swim. Later in the afternoon I pulled out my sharpie to sign books in the store. This popular summer writing camp has been going for seven years. This years Poe Camp (Yes I mean Edgar Allan) was indeed mysterious. Run by the effervescent Amy Carlson (in bug eyes below)

Many thanks to Amy, to the campers and to the terrific staff at A Book For All Seasons for a great day, and to Lisa Wells for setting up my live radio interview today on

AM/560 KPQ’s Two O’Clock Show with Ken Johannessen.

Until next time,

dream well

Janet

LEAP DAY

Here I am on the edge of the cliff and stalling. Well who wouldn't stall before taking a leap? The leap I'm referring to is the next writing phase. I finished my rough draft (all 349 pages of it) On Tuesday. That's 240 pages in a little over two months. A new record for me and all because of the looming deadline (Sept. 1st) Now it's just a matter of reading it and marking needed changes on the manuscript and I've stalled out.

This phase of the process always terrifies me. Will the story delight or dismay? How much rewrite I'm I looking at here? How much will I need to cut, change, redo? I won't know until I read it. I have No Time to waste here, so I better stop stalling and take the leap!

Blogging is one of the ways I'm stalling. It's also a public confession to make me accountable. Now that I've confessed I've been holding back, unwilling to dive into the printed page, I have nowhere to go but in. I must have the courage of my craft, count to three, and jump.

Today is leap day.

May you have the courage of your craft.


Until next time

dream well

Janet

(cliff photo by Bruce Denney)

Good Golly, Miss Molly!

Diviners pictured left to right Holly Cupala, Katherine Grace Bond, Moi, Molly Blaisdell, Judy Bodmer, Peggy King Anderson. Diviners not pictured Justina Chen Headley (getting ready to fly to China for a year!) and Dawn Knight.

The Diviners were at it again this week celebrating yet another book publication. This time we did a cheer (note pompoms in our hot little hands) for the publication of Molly's fabulous picture book: Rembrandt and the Boy Who Drew Dogs by Molly Blaisdell, illustrated by Nancy Lane, Barrons Publishers.

Peggy King Anderson (in pink) wrote a cheer we performed with said pompoms. Molly opened cards, and was gifted with flowers and the coveted Nancy Pearl Shushing Librarian Award!

The Diviners give "The Nancy" to a praise worthy member to celebrate her success. The Shushing Librarian has to keep her bags packed these days. She's really been on the move with so much good news!

Congratulations Molly!

Until next time

dream well

You have this way of speaking and it is the way the story is told.
There is no other way to say it. You cannot dam the waters and stop the flow.
You cannot turn back to the old way of saying.
You fall into the abyss of language hoping words will hold you up. They do not. They throw you down.
You have been kicked out of the comfortable nest of “the right way to write”
You are falling.

GOOD NEWS!

THE BEAST OF NOOR
is now in its 4th printing.








This means the Shriker still haunts the forest of Noor. More readers will have to go on the adventure with Miles and Hanna to end the Shriker's curse.

Do not wander in the deeps
where the Shriker's shadow creeps.
When he rises from beneath,
beware the sharpness of his teeth.

Until next time

fellow travelers walk well

Janet