A2A Chat with Jennifer Bradbury

Tip of the Day: Read SHIFT. It's an incredible YA novel.

It is my pleasure to introduce Jennifer Bradbury, author of the new YA novel, SHIFT.

In this book, two friends, Chris and Win, head out on the adventure of a lifetime. Their mission? To ride coast-to-coast on their bikes. Only it doesn't go exactly as planned. Because just one of them returns home. And no one knows for sure what happened.

Jen's writing is so strong, I felt as if I was on the bike ride with Chris and Win. The places they go and the people they meet along the way make for such an interesting story. The chapters alternate between flashbacks and Chris' present day situation where everyone, including an FBI agent, is pressing him to find out what happened to Win. Except he doesn't know. Or does he?

A great book about cycling, friendship, and loyalty, SHIFT is one of my favorite reads so far of 2008!!




Lisa: Where do you do most of your writing?

Jen: I do most of my writing at home, in our bonus room. Usually I sit in this chair, which is positioned midway between our office space and the playroom area. Kind of fitting for a job that requires equal parts work and play.



Lisa: Are you a plotter or a plunger?

Jen: I'm a plotter, mainly because I have to have some confidence before I jump in that an idea for a story can sustain itself over the long haul. And I do a ton of plotting in my head before anything makes it to paper. Shift rolled around in my mind for close to two years before I started outlining. When I do get to that stage, I tend to outline in detail, adding to it as I go along. Once I actually start composing, I can pound out a draft in about six weeks. The real surprises for me come in the revisions.

Lisa: What do you do when you get discouraged?

Jen: The same things most of us do. Get a little down, maybe whine a bit to those closest to me. I also pray, and then usually end up realizing what a gift it is that I get to write stories, and that I even have stories to tell, and that tends to help me get going again. Often I know I need to take a break. And while there's a lot to be said for writing every day, I know that sometimes the best thing I can do for the writing and for myself is to take a few steps back and leave it all alone for a little while. I don't know why it works for me, but it does.

Lisa: What are you working on next?

Jen: Right now, I'm working on getting Shift out into the world, which means lots of these fun online interviews. I'll also be starting revisions on my next book for Atheneum, tentatively titled APART, as soon as I get my editorial letter. I've got two other projects that are very different (but I think very fun) that I'll be talking with my agent about soon.

Lisa: What's your favorite part of writing?

Jen: Can I have two? The first is that moment in writing a new draft when you begin to realize that despite all the flaws and unanswered questions, I'm working on something that has life and possibility in it. The second is figuring out a sticky way to solve a problem or revise in an unexpected way in response to a comment from my editor, a reader or my husband. I love it when somebody asks exactly the right question and creates an opening for the characters, theme or story to sort of break through.

Thanks for chatting with us, Jen!

~Lisa, Miss Pinch Me I'm Pubbed

Happy New Baby, Miss Soon-to-Pub!

Tip of the Day: Buy board books for all the brand new little readers in your life!

For the past nine months, not only has Kristina been waiting for her book to be publish-ready, she's been waiting for her new baby to be ready ready!

And the day has come!

CONGRATULATIONS to Tina and her fam on the birth of her new little baby boy!!!!

Standing in for Tina,
All the other A2A Misses

Those Who Wish to Police the World (or I Hate Those *Bleep*in' *Bleep*ers!)

Tip of the Day: Get all your political news updates from The Colbert Report. You won't be sorry.

Two weekends ago, I went to a library-sponsored panel talk between Bruce Coville (hilarious and brilliant) , Vivian Vande Velde (edgy and cool), and Cynthia DeFelice (sweet and charming).




They discussed the challenging, censorship, and banning of their books.

Yes, people, you heard me right. These lovely faces above have been CHALLENGED.

Oh, I shouldn't base the book on its author's pretty face?

OK, here is one of the books that just screamed SATANIC to a crazed parent.

Get ready for it....

Brace yourself.....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!



I know, I know, you had to sheild your eyes from the demonic image bc you also agree that the reference to the COLOR SILVER in this book screams DEVIL WORSHIPPER, and the fact that the dragon is fed chicken livers means the author is a satanic himself.

(I just need to add here in case my sarcasm isn't detected that if I heard someone make these arguments about a book, I'd probably have to be held back so as not to remove their tongues with my bare hands.)

I also learned that the three authors above have dealt with the following:
1) Children coming to school book talks, then lying about why they have to sit in the front row so they can secretly tape the story and then give the tape to mommy sho she can cry "Evil!" to the school administration.
2) The word "church" being removed from a picture book story when reprinted.
3) Parents asking why so many people have to die in their books.
4) The presence of witches in their stories get them challenged.
5) The presence of the word "devil" in book titles get them challenged.
6) "The color green is evil!"
7) "The color black is evil!"
8) "The color red is evil!"

If I go on, I will just get more angry at those who want to parent the world.

What I took away from this panel was that (1) these authors rock, and (2) any nut job can find any reason -- ANY reason -- to challenge a book.

I guess that's not too surprising in a day when the most challenged book of the last year is about boy penguins who raise a baby penguin together, and is based on a true story.

*GASP!* Not PENGUINS!!!!

(Cue Psycho knife stabbing scene music here)



In the book my agent is shopping, I think the magical elements would be the first things to be challenged. HARRY POTTER is challenged all the time bc of its "witchcraft" persual.

What would be the first thing to be challenged in YOUR book?

Deena, Miss Recently Repped

Handling multiple projects...um, yeah, maybe not

Tip of the Day: Organic Fruit Leathers are on sale at Target this week. I have no idea if they will be at your Target or if the same sale’s ads are good nation-wide, but I still thought you should know.

It’s not even eleven and it’s been a LONG day. I’ve spent all morning driving around three cities to correct a stupid-human error I made this weekend. And in the process I managed to do several more stupid-human errors. Now after having been eternally grateful I only left my keys in the car with the doors unlocked instead of locked, I can rest. And problem has hopefully been corrected.

But it’s left me all flustered and I’m afraid this post might be slopped together as a result.

Originally I was going to talk about how this past weekend, I’ve been inspired to work on three of my books (two past ones that I’ve just gotten revision ideas on and a current work-in-progress I just started). And I was going to ask for input on anyone who’s juggled multiple projects at once and how it’s worked out for you.

As a result of so many stupid-human errors made this weekend, I’m beginning to wonder if maybe my idea of juggling three books was a bit too ambitious. The books are actually coming along and I made some changes last night on all three projects that I was happy with. But I’m beginning to worry if putting that much effort into the books has left me carless in other areas of my life.

Or it could just be a fluke.

What do you think? Have you juggled multiple projects before successfully? Do you have tips for us newbies in this area that are trying to figure it out? Do you have a way to bring me some fruit leathers from Target for lunch? I could really use them.

--Emily, Miss Awaiting an Agent

Happy Memorial Day!

Tip of the Day: It's hard to imagine a town without a statue or plaque dedicated to the soldiers from that town. What's unique about the memorial in your town? Is there a story in it?

Happy Memorial Day! I'm feeling incredibly thankful this Memorial Day. I'm very blessed in having a creative, artistic family. I'm blessed in having a decent education. I'm blessed in having time to pursue my writing. When I'm feeling down that there's never enough time to write, I remind myself of my ancestors. Hundreds of years ago in Ireland, those women would've gotten down on their hands and knees and begged for a day's worth of the time I have.

I'm blessed that my parents are readers. No matter how broke we were, they always found a dollar for my school's Scholastic Book Fair. My mother took me to the library once every two weeks, from my preschool years through my high school years. I'm blessed to live in a country with a public library system like ours. So many stressful times in my life, the library was my refuge.

I'm blessed to live in this time and this place, with a free flow of ideas and the intellectual freedom to express them. And I'm blessed to have access to incredible amounts of information, enough to keep me learning and curious my whole life through.

[Comic by xkcd.com]

Today, I'm thankful for all the people who brought me to this time and place, especially the soldiers and their families who sacrificed for our freedoms to read, to write, and to exchange ideas. For those of you with friends and family serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and sacrificing all over the globe, my thanks and prayers are with you.

-- Kate, Miss Apprentice Writer

A2A sightings: Author Chat with Lisa

Tip of the Day: Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

As an extra special treat today, we at A2A would like to direct you to a wonderful interview done with our very own Lisa Schroeder.

Lisa talks about writing, her book I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, and her journey to publication. Check it out on the Cynsations blog, here.

--Author2Author

Marketing Talk

Tip of the Day: Keep a word document entitled “Marketing Ideas” open on your desktop all the time. Then, each time you see a cool idea from another blog, listserve, etc., copy/paste it into your document. Some day you’ll sit down to sort it all out (at least that is what I tell myself) and you’ll have loads of great information.

It’s getting about that time. The time when I need to start obsessing about how I will market my book. Only thing is, I haven’t a clue. Sure, I know some of the basics like have a Web site (though I really should work on a better one), have a MySpace, blog around (that sounds kinda dirty doesn’t it?), and I just recently joined Facebook (still not sure I’m doing that one right). But I haven’t thought of any really great marketing ideas for when my book comes out. Yeah, I have over a year before that time but being a true writer I must obsess about every little thing NOW. Right? It seems like everyone else has super fantastic marketing ideas all the time!

People make lots of cute bookmarks and buttons, postcards and pens, but what is really effective? Or does it all just become stuff that no one really pays attention to? I kinda like the postcards myself—because then I use them as a bookmark for that book when I read it (or other books by the author). But other than that, what kinda swag is really a good investment? (really dear readers, what kinda swag do YOU like?).

I know I should do some coffee related stuff—obviously. Just not sure what. Maybe give away free espresso mugs? Or have a party or some book signings in coffee shops? Drink myself silly on espressos before a reading to give everyone a good laugh? Hmmm…this stuff is hard.

And then, how do you market directly to teens? Maybe magazine ads would be a good idea but are they really memorable? And are they worth the huge cost? I wonder if Red Bull sells ad space on the back of their cans.

I’ve heard some authors say that marketing at all is a big waste of time. That your book is either going to be a bestseller or it isn’t (depending on how many copies your first print run is. And that is entirely decided by your publisher. Apparently you need to sell X number of books to hit the bestseller lists and if your pub hasn’t printed that many then your chance of hitting the list disappears). These authors say you should spend your time writing the next book. Which I do. Since selling Espressologist I’ve written 3 more books. Of course, I’m always revising them but that’s how it goes. I’d really like to do some kind of marketing but not get too crazy. And something fun.

Take YA author Stephanie Kuehnert (whose book comes out in July and I will be interviewing her for A2A in June). She and the author of Frenemies, Alexa Young, are setting up something called ROCK AND READ. They are going to host events combining readings with music. How cool is that?

I know I still have time to come up with something snazzy to do but I do feel a nagging pressure to work on marketing now. Or at least figure out what I’m going to do. What about you other authors? Do you worry a lot about marketing? Or just focus on writing the next book?

Kristina, Miss Soon-to-Pub