STRANGE ENCOUNTERS with THE SEER
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| Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 | | 1:10 pm |
Editors, agents and amazing writers! Sharing Conference Notes...Enjoy!
SCBWI SPRING SPIRIT CONFERENCE in Rocklin, California 4-21-12I gave a synopsis-template talk with over 80 people signed up to attend, and it went great! Everyone seemed to love my 4-step template for writing a one-page synopsis. I won't post it online as I hope word-of-mouth spreads and other SCBWI groups invite me to give this workshop. One woman came up a few hours later and said she'd written her synopsis in a short time thanks to my template. Another woman asked if I'd come speak to her group later this year. And Lin Oliver suggested my workshop might make a helpful intensive for a future SCBWI International Conference. Afterwards, I went to the main room and went on the stage for introductions (always a thrill to be a speaker!), With my talk over, I relaxed and went to other workshops. Here are some notes I took. I had my iPad and we were encouraged to tweet about the event, so I sent lots of tweets too (under lindajoysinglet). Here are my notes: First speaker was Queen of SCBWI, Lin Oliver and she gave BEST OF BEST ADVICE over 40 YEARSLin Oliver, has new book written with her son and also has Henry Wrinkler series. Was on Beverly Hillbillies as staff writer as a prize for winning a contest in 70's until quit in 3 months. Got children's book writer job via employment office, and was selected to write a series with Steve Mooser. So picked 10 fave authors and invited them to a conference so they could learn how to write for kids. All 10 famous authors replied, including EB White and Judy Blume, only EB and Dr. Suess who wrote a letter in rhyme why he could't come. 55 people attended, most relatives. SCBWI began... now 23,000 internationally Lin Oliver's favorite advice from famous authors and her own advice:1 From Judy Blume - Write the kind of book you want to read. 2 From Bruce Coville - Follow your weirdness 3 From Susan Patron - Begin on the day that's different 4 Sid Fleishman - Write in scenes 5 Richard Peck - Be a listener 6 Lin's own advice: Read your work out loud 7 Be emotional but not sentimental. Don't reminisce 8 It's not a children's book if a child does not solve the problem 9 Read deeply and develop own cannon (books read) 10 Paula Danziger - Create a char you love. Think what they want and decide what's keeping them from getting it. 11 Sid Fleishman Nothing is ever wasted 12 Shorten it up....Cutting is underrated skill. 13 Keep a journal 14 Know yourself and know what you're good at. Write to your strengths. Panel with Andrea Tompa Candlewick, Minju Chang & Kendra agents, Bret Duquet Sterling, Elice Lee Random House. Candlewick pubs about 150 books a year - like Andrea, in suit with purple top she does all genres and likes younger than YA and excited to see younger and contemporary, etc. Minju loves funny, make her laugh-make her cry. Brett Duquette, Sterling is owned by BN, 3 part editorial group and he's in trade books, just started Splinter list last year for YA. 3 titles a year, hoping to expand. Likes wacky, weird and he did a zombie-orgami book. NF and poetry,too. Doesn't want sweet, wants buggers-drool. Need more mg. Agent Kendra Marcus started in 1984. Looking for honest child's voice. Elice Lee, RH - Art director mostly mg and YA trends returning to contemporary books - looking for something that causes a reaction. Q - why so many photo on covers? Following trends of pop culture and tough world developing YA cover, market fickle, and changed some covers several times. Kendra - Don't give art direction in a pb mss unless different things happening in art. Andrea -- Shouldn't need to spell out what's happening. Leave it to illustrations. Can address anything in the cover letter. Don't make your pb in rhyme if you don't consider yourself a poet, and international market is becoming more important and rhyme is more difficult to translate. Will still publish a great rhyming book. Andrea's talk on revising. I gave her something but don't expect it to be used and hope it isn't. Approach your revision like youre a wood carver. Start with obvious things so it's essentially the right shape, start with plot and characters. Need to revise again and again and again. Step 1 Save your draft Step 2 Put finished draft in drawer/file. Step 3 Read your mss with open mind. Fix things that jump out at you. Then real editing begins. Asy yourself these questions during rewrites:Is this the best it can be? Who, what, where, when, how Are my characters well-rounded? Are my characters relatable, too good/too bad? Do my characters change and grow? Can any of the characters be combined? Watch for stereotypes. Tips for writing race www.mitaliblog.com Key questions: What is the situation when the novel opens? What happens to change the situation, and how does that lead to further events? .... How is story resolved? "unexpected and inevitable" And those were the highlights!! It was an amazing conference. SCBWI rocks! | | Sunday, April 8th, 2012 | | 10:47 pm |
Monday Chat
Anyone used to attend Verla Kay's chats? Well one night a week they're coming back. Go thru at www.verlakay.com and look for chat link. Monday nights at 6 Pacific/9 Eastern. If you remember Kia and Lyra, I especially hope you'll stop by. The room is open to all writers. | | Monday, April 2nd, 2012 | | 1:31 pm |
Sharing about Left Coast Crime Conference
Left Coast Crime, a mystery conference for fans and writes, was held in Sacramento this year.
Even though it's close to my home, conferencing is best when you stay at the hotel, too, so I shared a room with my mom, who knows the mystery genre better than I do. I read so many YA, I've been neglecting my mystery reading. So this was a good chance to discover new mystery authors and some old favorites, too.
The first talk was on Thursday. Carol Price went through police citizen academy and has been handcuffs, kidnapped, shot at with paint pellets for researching her mysteries.
Another workshop had a panel with: Lee Goldberg, Rebecca Cantrell, DP Lyle, Gary Phillips and moderator Kirk Russell. They were amusing talking about writing characters who do a twist on normal, like Monk that Goldberg writes.. Ebooks came up and Goldberg had a good ebook promotion giving away a book, increasing his sales, but admits that has slowed now.
Then a reception for the over 600 attendees. The reception was nice and we were up front in line, so got a bite of cheese, fruit and bite-size dessert. Sat with a nice woman, Mary Putnam and her husband David. He's the writer and has been working for 20 years on mystery novels while also being a police officer, doing undercover and writing while on stake-outs. Cool. He was interested when he heard what I wrote because he had started a YA and wanted to know more about my YA experiences.
Later read a J.A. Jance mystery before falling asleep.
FRIDAY
9AM panel about locations *. First speaker Michael Siveling: Sterling Inheritance, St. Martin. He based it on Sacramento but made up a name since he had a horrible thing happened in a theater. * Norma Lehr - told of going to a resort whereher book is set and put toothpaste over something that looked like a camera in the wall. She has tunnels in story based on tunnels performers used to avoid crowds; creepy, dark. She was given a tour. * Susan C. Shea - based on a real museum in SF. Includes fundraiser plot. * Maggie Sefton - quilting & knitting series; Berkley. 2 chapters read. politic books, too. Then Mom went to an entertaining talk abut Men of Mystery with nearly 20 men authors; she went for Lee Goldberg who is always funny. I wanted to hear about mystery publishing so went to agent and editor talk. Not much different than children publishing, with agents wooing editors. One former editor was an editor-4-hire now. Nothing really new except agents are now submitting to epublishers, and one admitting they're even making money there.
Eager for 1:30 talk with Twist Phelan moderating, speakers Rhys Bowen, Jan Burke (love her!), James Rollin, and Jacqueline Winspear. They were entertaining and interesting. Told of research mishaps like Jan driving around a police station and getting asked to come inside and having to explain herself. Or Rhys acting out a scene by wrestling an imagined weapon on the floor with her husband. They got on the topic of how in historicals some of the words really used aren't believable (like Far out, smog and Rocket ship in 1900) but the words were real then. And how Jac had a reader argue that smog was a word from 1950's but actually around 1900 combining smoke and fog in England. Next talks was one of the strangest thanks to Parnell Hall giving his panelists assignments and opening by going on about how he didn't want to be a moderator and tried to refuse and no one would step up, so he gave out assignments, starting with having the panel introduce each other, making up crazy stories like Donna Andrews being raised by prairie dogs and wanting to burrow. Donna made doggie hand gestures and went on to say she didn't have any of her assignments for this talk because her luggage was going around in circles, turned away from the hotel after being lost at airport. She joked about killing a baggage handler in next book. The insanity increased from there, each panelist having to write something out of their genre, and Donna making something up that was weird and funny, ending with the death of baggage handler. Lots of laughter and we learned absolutely nothing--except these authors write funny books.
March 31, 2012 SATURDAY Left Coast Crime
Up early so could get into the breakfast room. Nice fruit, scone & juice. Sat at a table with Twist Phelan, Teresa Burrell, David and his wife. Twist told a fascinating story of how she was given Match membership and accepted a challenge to date 100 guys in 3 months, and she did it,
I went to the green room until only one other person from my panel there so we went to the room where others were. This was a Magical Mystery Tour with moderator Kris Neri, speakers me, Juliet Blackwell (Hailey Lind) and Margaret Lucke. I spoke of how important it was to get kids reading and got to talk a bit about my books. Went fast. Then down for signing in the bookroom.
Next went to the lawyers in mysteries with Jonnie Jacobs, Teresa Burrell, Susan Goldstein, Twist Phelan and Shelden Siegel. Didn't stay long though because wanted to stop at Hospitality Room (lots of chocolate, etc. there) and then not long after went to the green room for my Start'Em Young workshop with Marilyn Beebe moderating, speakers me, Bonnie Hill, Sophie Littlefield, me and Penny Warner. This went quickly with fast answers and lots of interest from the audience. Marilyn asked me about childhood influences and gave me the chance to tell my story of writing a fan letter at age 14 to Margaret Sutton, which seemed to touch the audience. Later I had people come up to me to say how much they liked the talk. I gave away 3 books at the end, wanting to spread my books out and lighten my suitcase. When I went down to sign, I did at least one more book. Felt good about the talk and comments from people.
1:30 went to an ACTION workshop with Robin Burcell and other "dramatic" writers who acted out scenes while one of them read a scene that seemed to wild to be real but I was told later all the scenes were from real books.
Banquet at night. Good food and a fun table of mostly Sacramento area writers. Awards were announced with Harley Kozsak as MC .
Sunday, April Fools Day -- 2 workshops then we go home. The last workshop was hilarious, called LIAR'S, where the panel is asked a question and the audience has to guess it they were lying (creating fiction) or telling the truth. A great ending to a wonderful conference. Next year it's in Colorado.
| | Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 | | 7:57 am |
From 4 books to a spin-off...
When I finished writing the 4th THE SEER, SWORD PLAY, I was told there wouldn't be a 5th. I got this call on my cell while taking a walk by a lake, and I still remember having walked a mile and being out of breath but feeling really good. Then my phone rang and my hopes soared to the sky. I was sure it was going to be a call asking me to write the 5th THE SEER. But no...it was a "sorry, no." And it was strange how my body raced with an exercise high so the disappointment didn't hit me until I got home. Then I think I cried. But months later my editor changed his mind (maybe had something to do with THE SEER being honored by YALSA as a Quick Pick selection) or that sales were just going well. I was so thrilled to write what I thought would be the final THE SEER book, and I put romance, spying, horses, camping, astral travel, murder and a long lost sister in the story so I could give readers an exciting conclusion. THE SEER #5, FATAL CHARM, came out in 2007. The series really was over now, and I had to keep telling fans when they asked for a 6th book, that it just wasn't going to happen. There was one day when I had several emails asking for another book and I just screamed at my computer because I hate disappointing kids. I kept busy and happy writing the DEAD GIRL trilogy. Read the first chapteron my website. But I missed Sabine from THE SEER and still received emails asking for a 6th THE SEER. Then a miracle happened. A new editor at Flux asked me to write a 6th THE SEER plus a spin-off novel starring THORN. I was sooo happy! And since this really would be the end of THE SEER series, I put in all kinds of excitement and romance. I based MAGICIAN'S MUSE on the memory of visiting a master magician and learning about apprenticeships and the secrecy of the mostly male magician world. I put in some feminism themes and created the ghost of woman magician who literally died on stage. There's also a storyline with Dominic that completes the short story at the end of DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY (large-sized newest edition only has short story). To read first chapters of all 3 of my series check out the FREE short story: DARK LIFER'S REVENGE. Thanks to all of my SEER fans. You're the reason there's a 6th book and now a spin-off with Thorn that could be the beginning of a new series.. The spinoff to THE SEER, BURIED: A GOTH GIRL MYSTERY, has been published. You can see all my books on my website www.LindaJoySingleton.com. | | Monday, March 12th, 2012 | | 2:14 pm |
| | Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 | | 7:05 am |
Waking up at SCBWI writing conference retreat....
Hi I'm waking up for my 2nd day at Asilomar, a conference facility by the ocean near Monterey, and I'm looking forward to my second day of SCBWI conferencing. There are editors, agents and lots of wonderful writers here. It's so enjoyable to have "book talk" for an entire weekend; sharing woes and triumphs with people I usually see only once a year as well as new friends I hope to make. While posting to blogs like this is fun, too, I always hold back on specific editor/agent dealings for professional reaasons. So getting together with other writers is the best time to vent, boast and congratulate. It was great to congratule Cyn on her upcoming book, and see Betsy's new book, and admire Sue's great DRESS picture book and many others. I carpooled to Asilomar (over 200 miles one direction) with writer-friends Linda Whalen (we are becoming The Linda's) and Lori Mortenson, who has an amazing pictue book coming out this year with Harper called Cindy Moo. And I got to show off my own new book, BURIED: A GOTH GIRL MYSTERY, which is now out from Flux. Well my makeup in on and my hair curled, so all I have to do is get dressed then meet everyone for breakfast at 7:30. Asilomar has new owners and is completely different. The ocean, though, always in the background remains the same. | | Saturday, February 25th, 2012 | | 5:54 am |
BURIED-A GOTH GIRL MYSTERY Facts
Buried facts: 1. BURIED sold to Flux with the title The Finder, which the publisher didn't feel was strong enough. Ironically a tv series recently came out with that title. I pushed to add the "mystery" title so it's clear this is more Nancy Drew than Twilight. 2. Thorn was based on a kohl-eyed teen in my ballet class. 3. The dedication page thanks a few special librarians who have supported SEER and DEAD GIRL series. Thanks for the YALSA honors. 4. BURIED moves Thorn from Californian to Nevada. 5. Sabine and Manny firm THE SEER offer advice to help solve the mystery. | | Friday, February 24th, 2012 | | 8:31 pm |
| | Sunday, February 12th, 2012 | | 9:27 pm |
Writerly Stuff
SCBWI writer friends are so great to hang out with. During lunch last week we talked about submitting, rejections, agents and we made plans to attend a book event. It's so good to talk with other writers who understand the crazy mix of solitary days, challenges of family life vs. writing schedules, the sting of rejection and the hope of The Call. I'm writing a new book and challenging myself to make a first draft in 2 months. A few days where family came first but I'm close to my goal schedule. A fan on Facebook today posted that she wanted to live in my THE SEER series. Best. Comment. Ever. | | Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 | | 3:47 pm |
A SNEAK PEEK: SPIRITED
Last year I was invited to contribute a short story with a paranormal them to an anthology from Leap Books titled SPIRITED. I was super excited, especially when I found out that some fantastic authors would be joining me. Since my THE SEER has some amazing fans, I wanted to give them a new story with favorite characters Sabine and Dominic. So I wrote PHANTOM OF THE PROM; a ghost, prom, romance. SPIRITED is out now online and in March a paperback comes out, too. This book is split up in three different genres of stories: PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE. My story is in the PRESENT category. I thought it would be fun to share the titles and authors for each story: SPIRITED paranormal Anthology, edited by Kat O'Shea THE PAST1. Strangeways vs. the Wraith by Judith Graves 2. The Senet Box by Jill Williamson 3. Stained by Mark Finnemore 4. Thread of the Past by Dawn Dalton PRESENT5. The Cold One by Candace Havens 6. Death becomes Her by Kitty Keswick 7. Oast House by Carmen Tudor 8. The New Girl by Maria V. Synder 9. Aftermath by Halli Dee Liburn 10.Phantom of the Prom by Linda Joy Singleton FUTURE11. Night Queen by John W. Otte 12. To Hell and Back by Shannon Delany 13. The Story of Late by Heather Kenealy Hope you check out our stories! | | Sunday, January 15th, 2012 | | 5:03 pm |
| | Friday, December 30th, 2011 | | 6:34 am |
The Mystery of the Gift that Never Existed
Backstory: About 10 years ago I was inspired by my childhood memories of a visit to Peterson's Rock Garden in Bend Oregon, loving the glittering rock art, and started writing a book that would go through many title changes to become MY CASTLE ROCKS. For research, I visited the real rock garden and fell in love with the tiny bridges, buildings and glittery world in quartz, obsidian and other dazzling rocks. I especially loved the pink quartz. Lately ROCKS has been on my mind because I spent the last 2 months revising the manuscript I started so long ago. I had to put it aside while I wrote THE SEER, DEAD GIRL and upcoming BURIED. I had some helpful comments from a few editors who saw the original version and I finally had time to make these rewrites. When I sent it to my agent Weds, she wrote back that she fell in love with it and "it was amazing." So I was thinking of this book and rock art and this morning I woke up early with a startling memory. Hadn't my husband given me a pink quartz chunk for a gift? I could see it in my mind but couldn't remember every having it in this house. We moved here in 2005 and other things had been lost in the move--had this been lost? Put away in a box? I couldn't remember... So I looked in closets and shelves. Nothing. So I looked in the past, by pulling out my journals and skipping to holidays where I would have received a gift. Nothing. So I called my husband, and he reminded me that he and my daughter HAD taken a trip to Oregon and searched for a pink quartz for me but ultimately didn't buy one. Still, he'd told me about this so vividly that I could see the rock in my mind. It's the trick memory can play, altering facts so that unreality seems real. Mystery solved...but I have a feeling I may get that pink quartz someday (g). PS -- My husband and I have an agreement that when ROCKS sells, he'll build me a wishing well out of real rocks from our property, like the rock art my story is based on. | | Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 | | 7:25 am |
Dog Names
When I was a kid, I was wild about everything dog. I collected photos, had a dog-cat club with my best friend, drew dog pictures, and made list of dog names. For a short time I even wanted to be a vet, until I realized needles and blood was involved. So I wrote animal stories instead, like the classic: Termite the Terrible Puppy. So this morning I'm working on rewrites and watching the news (with my dog Lacey curled up beside me) and on the news they have a poll to name a dog. I never click over to news sites but I couldn't resist this. The puppy was so cute, too, all small and curly and white. Some of the names to choose from were Snowball, Bear, Coco, Tater, Dizzy, Sunny, Parker, Rocky, Miles, Cosmo, Coltrane, Oats, etc. I had to vote of course. I was leaning toward Coco until I read it again and saw it was a male puppy. So I picked Cosmo then checked the %'s and found that it wasn't the most popular name. Can you guess which name is leading with 17%? It's up at www.gooddaysacramento.com Linda...very skilled at procastinating instead of working on my book. | | Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 | | 8:20 am |
POPULAR LIKES vs UNPOPULAR LIKES
Doesn't it feel great when you're talking about music-tv-movies-books to someone and find out you have the same taste. "I love it too" -- four words that connect us with each other. Having something common is a unversal Superglue that unites people. Not having anything in common can be interesting, too, and sometimes you can convince a friend to try something new. Or by liking something unique, you feel unique, too. So I thought I'd share my list of things I like that are POPULAR or SHOULD BE. THINGS I LIKE THAT ARE TRENDING IN POPULARITY: BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES: Girl with Dragon Tattoo (Swedish translated to English) plus upcoming movie The Help HUGO TV SHOWS Terra Nova (not sure if this is popular or not!) Glee Two Broke Girls Survivor, Amazing Race, Project Runway MEGA-STAR BOOKS Harry Popular...I mean...Potter Twilight -- yeah, I liked them which is less popular now than last year Hunger Games-soon to be as popular as Twilight once the movie comes out BOOKS THAT ARE GAINING POPULARITY AND IF THEY AREN'T THEY SHOULD BE: Ruby Red Emerald Atlas Liesl and Po Drizzle The Future of Us Terrier trilogy by Tamora Pierce And a picture book called PIRATE NAP by Danna Smith which is so fun to read that kids will beg "Again!" Under the topic of "chocolate"...I love chocolate which is always popular especially at holidays. Cats. Writers and cats, we just understand each other. Music -- I have an odd mx of popular (Katy & GaGa) & Coldplay) and vintage (Beach Boys, Abba) on my Pandora app. And I love musicals -- already have tickets for my family to go to see WICKED in June -- with a great song called "Popular." | | Sunday, December 4th, 2011 | | 10:15 am |
THE CHRISTMAS GIFT THAT KEEPS GIVING....
A book, of course. But add a childhood story to the book and it becomes more than a book; it becomes a never-ending story (which was an amazing movie of the same title by the way...but I degress....) The story of this Christmas-theme book begins when I was 13 years old. I was shy, unpopular, insecure and bursting with creativity that often came out in the inventive crafts and games my best friend and I created (but that's another story). When I couldn't hang out with my best friend Lori, I spent time with my other best friend: books. I loved reading so much and had discovered girl mystery books. My favorites were the Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton series (rivals in publishing, but best friends on my bookshelves). So I wrote two fan letters--the first went to Carolyn Keene care of Grosset & Dunlap. I never received a reply (ghosts can't write fan letters after all). So I wrote a letter to my other favorite author, Margaret Sutton, original creator and author of 38 Judy Bolton mystery novels. And Margaret wrote back. I was SO thrilled to have a letter from my favorite author. I showed it off at school the next day and will never forget that thrill, especially when I get the opportunity to give the same thrill to a fan of my books. Well, my relationship with Margaret didn't end there. She recognized something in me, maybe passion for writing, and we kept sharing letters. I met her in person at my high school graduation party (just my family in the kitchen, with Margaret as the celebrity guest). PHOTO: Linda (age 17) Margaret (age 71) As adults Margaret and I kept in touch mostly through holiday cards but when she moved to Berkeley, just an hour away, I visited her. On one visit she gave me the address for a group of her fans who had started a newsletter, The Whispered Watchword. Meeting other Judy Bolton fans was amazing. Even more amazing, through serendipity, one of the other fans has been given the beginning chapters of a new Judy Bolton mystery by Margaret and told she could do whatever she wanted with it. She gave it to me. Now to understand how HUGE this was, imagine your favorite series and how you felt when it ended. I'd read all 38 Judy Bolton mysteries many times and longed for more. Just one more mystery, I wished. And now I had the opportunity to make it happen. But I had no synopsis or outline to go by, only 3 chapters that ended dramatically with a ambulance siren. I knew these books so well, better than I knew my own writing style. And I was thrilled for the chance to finish this book. So I reread Judy's and studied the style. I typed like I was possessed, and in three weeks had finished the book which Margaret titled THE TALKING SNOWMAN. Several months later, I met Margaret along with some of her fans in Pennsylvania at a Judy Bolton reunion. I showed Margaret the manuscript, and while she pointed out things that would need to be edited, she was very positive, even impressed that I came up with solutions to the mystery and also guessed much of what she had planned. Of course, I couldn't include her trademark "something that really happened to the author" so she took the manuscript from me and added this scene herself, making editing marks and returning it to me for completion. And years later, I self-published THE TALKING SNOWMAN, a new Judy Bolton mystery co-written by Margaret Sutton and me. Fans were so thrilled to have this book that I didn't need to advertise. Word spread and they found me. It didn't feel right to profit from a work of love, so I priced the book low; enough to cover my expenses. The first 500 books sold out so next time I printed 1,000. And I continue to sell these books to fans who stumble upon the www.Judybolton.com website and are stunned to find there are more than 38 books. I wrote an introduction to SNOWMAN which begins: THIS BOOK IS A GIFT.  THE TALKING SNOWMAN is a Christmas story that keeps on giving to readers who love Judy Bolton; the girl heroine who wasn't perfect like Nancy Drew which endeared her to readers like me who watched her age from 15 to mid-20's; a teen to a young married woman. And the 38 books of the original series have all been reprinted by Applewood Books so new readers can fall in love with Judy, too. Go online and search for Applewood's reprint of the first Judy Bolton book: THE VANISHING SHADOW, based on a real flood. WIN A BOOK! Make a comment on this blog and I'll randomly pick a winner who can choose one of my books as a prize. I have copies of my SEER, DEAD GIRL, STRANGE ENCOUNTERS series, as well as TALKING SNOWMAN to choose from. | | Monday, November 28th, 2011 | | 12:22 pm |
| | Friday, November 25th, 2011 | | 8:38 am |
Mystery Lovers list of kid-book recommendations
I have over 5,000 books in my (mostly girl mystery) series collection.You can see some on my YouTube page under my full name. I love to find current books, aside from vintage titles like Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and Judy Bolton. Of course, Judy just came back in print in affordable paperback editions for a new generation of readers (and book collectors). So here are some you may want to check out. 1. The JUDY BOLTON mysteries (38+ extras) are back in print from Applewood. These are the mysteries that inspired my childhood love of books and my ambition to write. Begin with THE VANISHING SHADOW and HAUNTED ATTIC: http://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Shadow-Judy-Bolton-Mysteries/dp/1429090219/ref=sr_1_12_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322238698&sr=1-12I probably should add that I co-wrote another Judy, TALKING SNOWMAN, with Margaret Sutton before she died a decade ago, which I self-published for fans. (No Kindle on this one -- paper books only). 2. Not a series but a gem of a middle grade which I loved: FROZEN IN TIME by Ali Sparkes. Time travel & mystery 3. TOMORROW GIRLS by Eva Gray Paperback series for those who liked Hunger Games but hunger for younger with a cast of girl characters. In this series, US is at war with Canada and girls are shipped off to a secret boarding school. 4. BUDDY FILES by Dori H. Butler Very young chapter book series for starting kids/grandkids off with mystery. For a short book, these are surprisingly well-crafted with building mystery & animal fun. 5. SAMMY KEYES -- This (Trixie Belden-like) series has gone from midgrade to young YA with about a dozen titles. I consider it a must-have for any girl series collection, and I buy them new. Love the "clue-styled" dust jacket. 6. EMERALD ATLAS by John Stephens. Sort of Harry Potter-Narnia mix. One of my favorite books of 2011, and I'm very eager for the next one. 7. RUBY RED by Kierstin Gier-- this one is my favorite of 2011. Time travel with a clever, interesting heroine. 8. WHITE CAT/RED GLOVE by Holly Black - mysterious, magical, intriguing. Feels like a detective novel in style. 9. POISON STUDY/MAGIC STUDY...everything by Maria V. Snyder 10. THE AGENCY, historical girl spy mystery by Y.S. Lee
Linda Joy Singleton www.LindaJoySingleton.com & www.facebook.com/lindajoysingleton#1. DEAD GIRL WALKING/DEAD GIRL DANCING/DEAD GIRL IN LOVE (Flux/) YALSA Popular Paperback
Ghosts Whisper to Psychic Sabine in THE SEER series (Flux)THE SEER #6 MAGICIAN'S MUSE (Flux)
BURIED - A Goth Girl Mystery March 2012 (Flux)Follow me : www.twitter.com/LindaJoySinglet | | Monday, November 14th, 2011 | | 2:58 pm |
Importance of writing friends
Most days are very quiet for me since I live in a rural area and my husband works long hours. I'm lucky to have my daughter living close by and my weekends are usually busy. But most days it's me alone with the dogs and cats and computer. So I schedule in writer-friend time, usually every other week with my critique group and also lunches with two close writer friends. I keep in touch with most author friends via online but talking in person is fun and inspiring. Last week I had lunch with Danna Smith and Linda Whalen to celebrate Danna's recent picture book sale. She had an agent in the past but is currently shopping for a brand new shiny agent who loves pic books. In the meantime, she sold this clever nonfiction book on her own. I'm really excited for her. Sharing someone else's success is always so wonderful. Every writer should surround themselves with supportive friends. Reach out from beyond the keyboard and invite some friends for lunch. | | Sunday, November 6th, 2011 | | 7:14 am |
| | Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 | | 6:08 pm |
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