Our correspondent Sue Dittmer attended an event with the three authors who write young adult books (see posting below for their interview). Sue says they really encouraged some of the kids to keep writing and gave them some tips. Thanks so much, Sue, for writing about this for us:
By Sue Dittmer
On Friday, May 16, I attended Teen Meet The Authors Night at the Kisker Road Branch Library here in St. Charles. In a panel format, three authors talked about their books and took questions from the audience. Jody Feldman (”The Gollywhopper Games”), Marissa Doyle (”Bewitching Season”), and Heather Brewer (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series) talked about what lead them to write and what their writing futures might hold.
As a relative newcomer to the area of young adult novels, I was very interested to hear what they had to say. Each author related how their story evolved from an idea to a published book. For example Jody Feldman had a young boy ask what is next after “Charles and the Chocolate Factory”? Well, that started her thinking and with the help of GAMES magazine Gollywhoppers took shape.According to Heather Brewer, she always had an interest in vampires but no one was writing about them. All the authors agreed that writing is a very personal experience and it isn’t easy to tell young writers how to start or even what to write. Ideas on how to start and keep going were given to the audience:
* If you are having trouble finding a beginning, write the ending. If you know the ending, write the middle and the beginning will seem easier to find.
* Sometimes your thoughts seem to come so fast and furious that it is
difficult to get onto paper. The aspiring writer might want to write every
third word or just the main ideas just to get as much as possible on paper.
* A voice recorder might be a good investment.
The audience of about 50 people had a lot of questions. A good one was what type of jobs are available for someone who wants to write but knows money might be tight. A list was compiled with the help of the audience: advertising, librarian, bookseller, journalist, grant writing/fundraising or even taking a job in the field you are interesting in writing about.
A suggestion of becoming a policeman if interesting in writing detective
mysteries. Also the advice of keep going no matter what people say. Don’t give up. It takes courage to write. A lot of the audience seemed happy to have their dreams cherished. I enjoyed hearing their questions and seeing their creativity encouraged. I think the authors enjoyed hearing from the audience as well.
On Monday, May 19, I led a discussion on “The Brief History of the Dead” by Kevin Brockmeier. I have to say it was the cover that got me interested in this book. You see an open coat with no body in it. There are hands at the sides but no other parts. What an eye-catcher. The first chapter of the novel had appeared in The New Yorker magazine before the book was published in 2006. That chapter describes a world where the recently dead people live as long as they remain in the memories of the living. I had been thinking about Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” but this book has a completely different take on the afterlife. The group discussed what is meant to be dead within the novel. The person just seemed to pick up where they left off. No worries about money, food or clothing. That was confusing to us.
Also we talked about the parallel story of Lucy Byrd, who is trapped in the Antarctic. She had been sent there as a part of an under-prepared expedition for the Coca-Cola company. They wanted to use the melting water for their product. Laura seemed to be the only human left alive after a virulent plague swept the world in a matter of weeks. As Lucy ponders her fate, the people she remembers are trying to figure out just why they are still around. The book is full of memories and their power. I will admit to ‘not getting’ the ending. I feel as if I missed great meaning in the last chapter. Several of my members said they had come to the meeting in the hopes they would find answers also. I feel ambivalent about this novel. I had great hopes for it but I think great potential was lost in the middle and the ending.
Till the next author….
Sue Dittmar