Category: Events (Page 12 of 16)

February Writing Life Update

February 10, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

February has historically been my least favorite month. It’s a low part of the year for me for some reason that I’ve never been able to adequately pinpoint. I think the weather is part of it. Here in southern New England, the days are short and cold and spring feels a long way off. (Although we did have a nice stretch of warmish weather last week.)

This year I think I’m going to be too busy for the late-winter blahs. In addition to reading a lot, I’m deep in querying mode for one project; looking forward to carving out some writing time for a new project that has yet to move out of the “rumination stage,” as I like to call it; and excited (and nervous!) to have a bunch of school visits booked up for the second half of the month. (Not to mention hanging out with the boys!)

The nerves are because I’m feeling a little rusty as I haven’t done any youth writing workshops since last June, and because some of the upcoming workshops are for students that are a little younger than I’ve worked with before, and because it’s a lot of visits in a short amount of time. But I love working with the students, so I know once I practice a few more times and get going with the first one, I’ll be fine.

It’s the change of mentality I think that’s tripping me up. I spent a good deal of the second half of 2015 in writing and then revision mode (very internal acts), so it’s required a brain shift to move into the more external acts of querying and workshop teaching. Both are important parts of my creative life, but as I get older, I feel like the transition from one to the other has gotten harder.

One of these school visits I’ll remember to have someone take a few pictures of me teaching a writing workshop so I can share it here. What’s in store for all of you this month and the rest of winter?

Avon Library YA/Teen Author Night Wrap-Up

July 9, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Had a inspiring evening at the Avon Free Public Library’s Local Author Festival Teen/YA Night where Steven Parlato, Cindy L. Rodriguez, Anissa Zucker, and I dished on the “Reader Experience.”

20150630_204006 - Copy Due to an unfortunate wrong turn, my mother-in-law (who graciously kept me company during the hour-long rive to Avon) and I barely made it in time for the event. Which was important because I was the first one to speak!

I discussed what I like to call the creative gap (something I’ve blogged about before here), in which I confessed that I’m a failure as a writer (I’m not really a failure…read the blog post to see what I mean). Basically, there is a gap that exists between a writer’s creative vision and what ends up on the page, a failure of the medium of the written word, but the reader is there is fill in that gap with their own imaginations. I ended my talk by reading a short excerpt from my YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND.

Then Steven took over with a short excerpt from his YA novel THE NAMESAKE. He shared his thoughts on writing dark material for young readers and the importance of infusing humor into it. He shared “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of what readers have said about his book.

Cindy, who teaches reading to middle schoolers, very eloquently spoke about reluctant readers. She included a passage from her YA novel WHEN REASON BREAKS, in which students are reading and discussing one of Emily Dickinson’s poems. She introduced us to the “Reader’s Bill of Rights” created by Daniel Pennac, which I had never heard of but will definitely be thinking about as I read and write in the future.

Finally, Anissa rounded out the evening by asking 20150630_200344 attendees what their favorite books were growing up. She talked about how THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry what stories had a huge influence on her as a child and also when she started writing as an adult. She read from both her blog and her YA novel THE TRUE STORY OF SANTA CLAUS.

Then we had time to hang out, sign books, and talk with attendees. I caught up with a few new writer friends I connected with at the New England SCBWI Conference in April, and found out that one of them who attended my revision workshop has brought the techniques I taught back to her writing group (yay!). I also sold a few books (another yay!) and talked with a few new readers.

TeenYAAUthors2015

The librarians at the Avon Library were so super organized that all us authors had to concentrate on was our presentations, and I think we nailed it. The librarians said they were going to tell the authors in the other groups that we held the audience captive and were the group to beat. Thanks so much to librarians Tina Panik and Cyndi Larsen and to my fellow authors for an amazing evening!

Anissa Pesce Zucker on The Feed: A Brilliant Satire for the Next Generation

June 19, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve got a great in-person event coming up at the Avon Public Library on June 30 at 7:00 pm. Steven Parlato, Cindy Rodriguez, Anissa Pesce Zucker, and I will be discussing the “Reader Experience” and offering our books for sale at the Teen/YA Author Night. It’s shaping up to be a really fun program. And today, I have Anissa, author of THE TRUE STORY OF SANTA CLAUS, with some thoughts about FEED by M.T. Anderson. Welcome, Anissa!

The Feed : A Brilliant Satire for the Next Generation

by Anissa Pesce Zucker

What if our brains were constantly connected to the internet via a micro-chip implant? This satire depicts the nature of humanity and its ominous connection with technology. Have we become too close? Here is a story that interweaves concepts from Huxley’s “Brave New World”, with coming of age novels like “Star Girl” and “Catcher in the Rye.” The pacing of this novel is quick and engaging. The dumbed down language of the teenagers can be confusing at first, but after the first few chapters, you being to understand all the made up slang words. This novel is STARKINGLY close to a not too distance future. This prophetic story exposes a dark undertone of what society would look like if we become too dependent on the internet and what truths could be exposed by those that rebel against THE FEED…

This book has become a hit at Canton High School. Student’s love reading this book and I believe it should be incorporated into the English Curriculum. It’s a modern day coming of age novel following one boy, Titus, and his attraction to a girl who is fighting THE FEED. Violet, is a smart, sassy, beautiful girl who challenges Titus to try to think for himself. He doesn’t change much throughout the story, which I liked because it made it more believable for the time period, rather than have the cheesy “girl saves boy” kind of ending. The kids enjoy this because the language veers closely to text language and the pacing of the story is engaging and captivates the reader. The satire style along with the prophetic and political undertones make the story exciting to even the most reluctant reader!

THE TRUE STORY OF SANTA CLAUS blurb:

Every child has indulged in a fantasy world. It’s part of our human development. But there comes a time in one’s life where we begin to question everything and that fantasy slowly fades away, leaving us with only ripples of confusion between what is real and what is “make believe”. Darlene is getting older and starting to wonder about the mystery behind Santa Claus. She wonders, “How on earth can one man travel around the world on one night and deliver all those presents?” and “do reindeer really fly?” and “do elves really make toys in the north pole?” When she confronts her mother with some of these questions, her mother decides it’s time for her to hear the real story of Santa Claus, passed down from generation to generation. The story of how the “Santa Tree Organization” began fascinates Darlene and her curiosity only grows stronger every night her mother reads to her and she asks more and more questions. As the truth slowly unravels, she feels a sense of pride knowing she now knows the truth and it’s not as grim as what her classmates tried convincing her, which was that there was no Santa Claus. But what will she do with this knowledge? One thing is known for sure, Santa will not leave her alone with her pride. She will be assigned a special mission just like her mother was when she was coming of age. Where will that mission take her and what will she learn along the way? This story within a story captures the innocence of childhood and the magic of Santa, in a way never revealed before! Shh! the secret is out, only to those ready to hear the message. True magic and the spirit of giving come together in the heart of an adolescent girl searching for the meaning of Christmas.

About the Author:

Anissa Pesce Zucker, M.ed. resides in New Hartford, Connecticut with her husband, David, their daughter, Melody Anne, and their coon hound mix, Reece. She holds a master’s degree in Literacy Education and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology / Counseling. She works as a Language Arts Consultant at Canton High School. Her first solo publication was a poetry book titled, “Fearless Expressions: A Time for Us” (2011). Her hobbies include outdoor adventure/traveling, tennis, yoga, knitting, reading, writing poetry & the practice and teachings of the martial arts- Mu-Shin-Do.

The Great Connecticut Caper Wrap-Up at Gillette Castle

June 15, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

The final chapter of THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER, a serialized MG mystery, went live last week! Have you all been reading along? I read it aloud at the breakfast table as soon as I saw it was posted, and I thought it did a perfect job of pulling all the clues together and wrapping up the Caper. Later that day the whole family packed up and took a trip to Gillette Castle (which went missing and was a focal point of the Caper) to celebrate at the Mystery Solved event.

I decided not to participate in any kind of official capacity, so it was great fun just getting to be there and watching The Boy take part in a bunch of the activities. And there was a lot to do there, from painting and coloring to making (and eating) marshmallow castles. Plus there were some really fun read alouds…and ya know, the castle and the gorgeous scenery at Gillette Castle State Park. Plus I got to catch up with many of the Caper contributors and meet a few in person for the first time.

The Caper turned out to be a really fun project to be a part of. It was a nonpaying writing job, but it paid out in a lot of other ways, both financially with some workshop opportunities and in non-monetary ways with networking and some unique, fun opportunities with Caper events. It was cool to work with so many other creators on one story, definitely something I had never done before and would consider doing again.

I have really been cutting back on projects that aren’t my main focus (like my own WIP), particularly ones I do for free, but I’m really happy I took a chance on the Caper (and that they offered me a spot as an author!). I think you have to say no sometimes, but it’s good to try new things and stretch your creative boundaries. It was also great fodder for the blog (you can check out all the Caper related posts here).

Have any of you said yes to something that was an unknown and reaped the benefits? Or maybe you said yes and wished you hadn’t (I’ve had that happen as well)?

Gearing Up for a Noncommittal Summer

May 29, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

This time last year I was preparing for the arrival of The Prince with plans to spend the summer enjoying my two boys and adjusting to life as a mom of two. Now looking forward to this summer, I have that strange feeling of not believing how quickly time has gone but also feeling like it’s been a long year.

In a couple of weeks, we’ll be kicking off summer a little early with The Prince’s first birthday party at my parents’ house. My birthday (a special milestone one if I were a hobbit) falls in the middle of summer, but no big parties scheduled for me. Fast forward to the end of August and we’ll be unofficially ending the summer with The Boy’s fourth birthday party, probably also at my parents’ house.

So what do I plan on sandwiching in between those two big events (besides celebrating/crying over getting another year older)? Hopefully lots of summer fun: beach days, playing in the yard with the boys, grounding myself every day, day trips with the family…that kind of stuff.

The first half of the year has been full of author events (all told I’ve probably done more author events in the last six months than in all my previous years combined) and I’ve got three more planned for June (check out my homepage for details), so I’d like to slow down a bit for the summer. Iced tea in the afternoon, wine in the evening, feet in the sand, and read a book for pleasure kind of slowing down.

I’m so very close to completing a good draft of my WIP, so I’ll be devoting some time to revising once I get my beta feedback and a little break from said WIP post-drafting. Maybe I’ll start drafting a new book…or maybe not. I think I’ll see where the winds take me on that one. I may need a break in order to refill the creative well.

I’d also like to pay attention to one aspect of my life I’ve been woefully neglectful of: namely, getting in shape. I’ve been slowly acclimating my mind to the idea of maybe getting back into running, and I might try working with a personal trainer and seeing if I like it. Not sure about going back to playing soccer. I’ll see how I feel after I’m in better shape.

Overall, I’m in the mood to be very noncommittal about things. Before long those boys of mine will be off running all over the place without me, so I’m trying to be more in the moment and enjoy them while they’re little (even through the hard times of them being little).

I’m thinking of running old posts here for most of the summer, and probably not too many guest posts. Keep things simple…yeah, that sounds real nice. What are your plans for the summer?