Category: Middle Grade (Page 13 of 17)

Playing Catch Up Jessica McCadden Author of Chapter 8 of THE GREAT CT CAPER

April 13, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Chapter 8 of THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER is here! The adventure is really shaking and moving, and with only four chapters left, I can’t wait to see what happens next. While we all wait for find out what exactly is going on with Gillette Castle, let’s give a big welcome to chapter 8 author Jessica McCadden!

Playing Catch Up

by Jessica McCadden

From the moment my wonderful mentor, Sarah Darer Littman, brought this project to my attention I wanted to be a part of it.

As a graduate student pursuing my MFA in Creative Writing, I spend a lot of time reading, writing papers, and working on my young adult novel and though I work with wonderful writers and teachers, I’m always the sole author of my projects. One of the reasons the CT Caper was so intriguing to me was because I was excited about the prospect of creating a story that would be part of a larger work. The really cool thing was that the story would be a mystery not only to the readers, but to me—one of the authors! Participating in this process meant relinquishing some creative control, but was also freeing. I didn’t have to come up with a beginning or end—I just got to focus on my one small part of the story.

Since I was writing Chapter 8, I received the first seven chapters before writing my section. The main characters had been fleshed out, and the basic themes and plot already constructed. I will admit, before even starting to think about my chapter I had to map out what was going on. There were a lot of little details to keep track of, and the most important thing was to make sure I knew where each character was at the end of chapter 7 so that my chapter would be consistent with the events that took place before. This was very different from my solo projects because instead of planning the story from beginning to end, I was playing catch up. Once I was clear on what was going on, I wrote an outline for my chapter and figured out what Connecticut landmark I wanted to include, as well as which facts about William Gillette and Gillette Castle would fit into my story.

I was happy that I could include magic into my chapter because this fantasy world had already been established. My own novel and short stories are usually in the dystopian, science fiction, or fantasy genres, so it was fun to incorporate some of the elements I love to write in Chapter 8. I also wanted to add a landmark from the part of the state where I’ve spent most of my life (southwestern CT), so I did some research and found a historical mansion just a few miles from my old home that I included in the story.

As some of the other writers have mentioned, it was really difficult to stick to the word count! I think my first draft was over 900 words long, and I’d thought I was being frugal! Cutting the chapter down to 650 words took longer than writing the original draft. After some help from the project’s wonderful editor I made revisions and was very happy with the final draft—especially the cliffhanger at the end of my chapter!

Now that my part is finished I’m concentrating on school (pursuing my MFA in Creative and Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University) and finishing my young adult novel. My goal is to finish the final draft by early next year and after that I will be seeking representation. In the meantime, I teach college English courses and lead creative writing workshops at Writopia Lab, which gives me the opportunity to help amazing and talented kids write their own stories.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to be a part of a unique, history-mystery for children that is educational and fun to read. I’m ready to write another chapter… sequel anyone?

About the Author:

Jessica McCadden is a freelance writer who received her B.S. from Boston University and has worked as a writer and producer at NBC, Nickelodeon, and TV Land. In addition, Jessica is in the process of earning her MFA in Creative & Professional Writing with an emphasis on Young Adult fiction from Western Connecticut State University.

Jessica teaches English Literature as a graduate assistant, has led creative writing workshops for kids at Writopia Lab, worked as an editorial intern at Talcott Notch Literary Services, and is one of the authors of The Great CT Caper, a serialized mystery story for young people.

One of her goals as a writer is to increase diversity in children’s literature. She currently resides in Connecticut and is writing her first YA novel.

Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn, her website, and Twitter (@JessicaMcCadden).

Meet J Monkeys THE GREAT CT CAPER Chapter 7 Author

March 30, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Chapter 7 of The Great Connecticut Caper is here! We’re past the halfway mark and the story really took an interesting turn at the end of the previous chapter. It’s so hard waiting two weeks to see what happens next. J Monkeys, the author of chapter 7, stops by today to share a little about what it was like creating it. Welcome!

What was your approach to writing chapter 7 of the Great CT Caper? Did it differ any from your approach when creating a piece written solely by you?

It wasn’t much of a deviation for me; I’m a huge planner. I can’t “pants” my way through the day, let alone through a story. The biggest difference was the scale. I’ve written short stories before, but I was able to plan the whole thing, beginning, middle and end. That wasn’t the case for the Great CT Caper. So, I read the previous six chapters, thought about where we were in terms of the overall story then sketched a high level outline of what I wanted to do. I assigned a word count “budget” for each section, which I completely blew past. I’m a novelist by nature, so sticking to 650 words was really, very, impossibly hard for me.

What were your expectations coming into writing a collaborative, serialized story for young readers? Had you written anything like this before?

I’ve done collaborative writing before, with kids, but we do it together. This was very different because they didn’t want us to taint the creative process by hatching a plan from the start. We each just had to react to the stuff that came before us and go forward. It was neat.

Did you come across any particular challenges in writing your chapter?

Did I ever! The word count was rough. I decided to write out my chapter, then go back and edit it down to the appropriate size. Unfortunately, the first draft of chapter seven was 1400 words long, more than double what I was supposed to turn in. I edited it down to 700ish, but realized that I was breaking the most important rule of writing: “Show, don’t tell.” I was telling all over the place! The idea behind “show, don’t tell” is to allow the reader to experience the story with the characters instead of just telling them what happened. It takes a lot more words to “show” a conversation happening through dialogue, for example, than it does to “tell” a recap.

Did you do any research for the project?

Yup. Since my part was the middle of the story, I wanted to include some backstory on our villain. Who was Lady Hallow, why was she doing this and how? So I wanted to tie William Gillette back to Scotland and to the settling of Connecticut. I read up on Thomas Hooker, the Fundamental Orders, the Connecticut Charter and the history of the Charter Oak. I wanted to tie it all together more tightly than I did, but that durned word count got me again.

The Great CT Caper’s target audience is children in grades four through seven. What were some of your favorite books when you were that age?

Nancy Drew, for sure. I LOVED the Nancy Drew mysteries. I still have them on my shelf. I devoured the CS Lewis stories about Narnia, too. Little Women was a favorite of mine. Plus, I was a pretty advanced reader with a fairly permissive Mom. By the time seventh grade came along, I was reading adult historical romances. Certainly that wouldn’t be every parent’s decision, but I loved them. The stories, the swashbuckly-ness, the history. I still do love them.

What writers do you find inspire your own work?

I love adventure stories. Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson stories, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books, Suzanne Collins’ Gregor stories, The 39 Clues and The Infinity Ring series are all books that I go back to again and again. And CS Lewis’ world building was amazing.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring two books and one movie, what would you bring?

Well, for books, I’d bring two humongous blank books with pencils smuggled inside them to write my own stories. And for a movie? Hmmmm. Tough call. I love history, so something really, really long, with lots of history to inspire ideas for my stories.

Where else can readers find your writings? What’s up next for your writing career?

All of my books are available on Amazon, and my website, of course. I expect to start book three of the Livingston-Wexford Adventures early this summer. I left my characters, 15-year olds Kayla and Quinn, in a bit of a tangle at the end of The Peacock Tale, so it’s time to move that story forward. And I wrote a tragedy as part of the “research” on my fictional pirate, Captain Peacock. I’m planning to revise that and release it as a companion piece. It’s really more of a Young Adult story than it is a Middle Grade adventure.

And I’m super excited about some work I’ve been doing this year. I’ve been working with kids, guiding them through a real-life writing adventure. We create, write, illustrate and edit a book, then publish it through Amazon. I’ve been working with schools and after-school programs, kids from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. It’s been really fun and rewarding. When I get a minute, I need to update my website (www.jmonkeys.com) with links to their books. I’m starting to book programs for the 2015-16 school year now. There’s a link on my website, if anybody’s interested.

And finally, what is something funny/weird/exceptional about yourself that you don’t normally share with others in an interview?

Something funny. Hmmm. Well, it’s not so much funny “ha-ha” as it is funny “odd.” I have a pretty great vocabulary, but I’m a terrible speller. I mean awful. Like, spell-check can’t figure out what I’m trying to spell. Sometimes I don’t even know where to look in the dictionary to figure it out. And my handwriting is worse than my spelling. I sometimes take a break from the computer and go write by hand somewhere away from my house. Usually, when I get back and type it into the story document, there are at least two words that I can’t figure out, either because I butchered the spelling so badly or they’re simply illegible.

Visit J Monkeys here:

Author website

The Cordovan Vault

The Peacock Tale

Dixie and Taco go to Grandmother’s House

Meet Melissa Crandall Author of Chapter 6 of THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER

March 16, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

We’ve reached the halfway mark of THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER! So much has happened since that opening chapter on the Connecticut River when we first learned Gillette Castle had gone missing. Check out chapter 6 and then read about the making of as author Melissa Crandall graciously answers some questions about the making of it and her writing life. Welcome, Melissa!

What was your approach to writing chapter 6 of the Great CT Caper? Did it differ any from your approach when creating a piece written solely by you?

The big difference, of course, was that there were five other writers ahead of me, so my preparation involved reading those five chapters, seeing how they meshed together, and then working to make my chapter fit as another piece to the puzzle. I’ve had a lot of experience doing that sort of thing – I’ve been writing collaborative pieces since high school – so I was familiar with the drill. Whether I’m working solo or in collaboration, my chief goal is to write the very best I can.

What were your expectations coming into writing a collaborative, serialized story for young readers? Had you written anything like this before?

Oh, yes. Back in high school, my friends and I wrote serialized stories where one of us would start, write the plot into a corner, and then gleefully pass it on to the next person to figure out. My first professional novel – Star Trek’s ICE TRAP – was written in collaboration with two other writers under the name L.A. Graf, and for the past several years I’ve participated in The Exquisite Project at Bill Library in Ledyard, CT. In essence, that’s a writer/artist version of the old “Exquisite Corpse” parlor game.

The Great CT Caper’s target audience is children in grades four through seven. What were some of your favorite books when you were that age?

I was (and still am) a voracious reader, so there were many. Some that readily come to mind are: Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie), Misty of Chincoteague and King of the Wind (Marguerite Henry), Black and Blue Magic (Zilpha Keatley Snyder), Andy Buckram’s Tin Men (Carol Ryrie Brink), Steel Magic (Andre Norton), and the Moomintroll books (Tove Jansson).

What writers do you find inspire your own work?

Truthfully, every writer I read affects me in some way. Some teach me ways to be a better writer, and others show me things I don’t ever want to emulate. Some of those who energize me about the craft of writing are J.M. Barrie, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Barbara Hambly, and Jonathan Carroll.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring two books and one movie, what would you bring?

The books would be Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. (And if I could sneak in one more, it would be “Red Ranger Came Calling” by Berke Breathed.) As for movies…that’s hard, because my favorite changes all the time depending upon my mood. Probably JAWS.

Everyone is always trying to sneak in an extra one on that desert island! Where else can readers find your writings? What’s up next for your writing career?

Most of my books are currently out of print, but can be found wherever used books are sold. In the past year, my short story “Centaur” appeared in the online magazine Allegory, and I also sold essays to CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS and the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. They can also check out my website at www.melissacrandall.com and my blog “The Wild Ride – Caretaking Mom Through Alzheimer’s” at https://melissacrandall.wordpress.com/.

Currently, I’m working on a fantasy story and doing research for what I hope will turn into a novel based during the American Civil War.

And finally, what is something funny/weird/exceptional about yourself that you don’t normally share with others in an interview?

I once baby-sat a convalescing elephant.

About the Author:

Melissa Crandall writes “whatever needs writing.” To date, that’s included science fiction novels, fantasy short stories, and non-fiction essays. For several years, she served as fiction judge for the Darien Library Teen Writing Contest. Crandall enjoys hiking with her dog and pursues nature photography as a hobby.

Research – It’s Not Just for School Projects with Author Sarah Darer Littman

March 2, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Chapter 5 of The Great CT Caper is here! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having a blast reading the Caper and seeing where all the authors have taken the story. Today we welcome Sarah Darer Littman, author of chapter 5 of the Caper, who had a week to learn and write about a place she had never visited. Welcome, Sarah!

Research – it’s not just for school projects!

by Sarah Darer Littman

As a young girl living in London, I could see Baker Street Station from my bedroom window, and passed 221B Baker Street, the home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, every time we walked to Regent’s Park.

I was a voracious reader, and the wonderful children’s librarians at the library on Marylebone Road, where my parents took us regularly, put The Hound of the Baskervilles in my hands. I was hooked.

The Great Connecticut Caper audition required authors to write a short piece from a prompt, which set up a detective entering an empty house from which a strange noise was emanating, and pulling aside a curtain. I had him find a cat behind the curtain, and it seemed only logical that the feline should be named Watson.

At this point, despite having lived in Connecticut for many years, I knew nothing about William Gillette and his creation of the screen role of Sherlock Holmes. But it seems like I’ve been on the path to his doorstep at Gillette Castle since I spent all those hours in my bedroom down the street from 221B engrossed in the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes.

When it came time to write my chapter, #5, I had an interesting challenge, because the story line diverged right at the end of the previous chapter, and I had very few words to account for what happened and move the parallel stories along for the next author. I’d visited Gillette Castle to learn more about William Gillette and hopefully get some fun tidbits I might be able to use in my chapter (“Ribbit, Ribbit!” Gillette really did have two pet frogs named Mike and Lena, I learned from my tour guide). But two of the characters in my chapter, Thomas and Norm, end up at Dinosaur State Park, which I’ve never visited. We were only given a week to write our chapter, and I was about to leave on a much needed vacation, so I didn’t have time to go up to Rocky Hill for a research trip. So I went online to learn whatever I could about Dinosaur State Park, and looked up images on Google Image search.

GilletteFrogs1 But here’s the problem with only using online research: it’s not always correct. My original draft of chapter five involved excitement when a dinosaur statue in the field at Dinosaur State Park came to life and started chasing Thomas and Norm. But I was unsure of two things: 1) it’s been a long time since my son, now 21, was obsessed with dinosaurs and I knew every single dinosaur ever, so I wanted to check I was using the correct name and 2) I was worried because there is also a Dinosaur State Park in Texas and some of the same pictures that were tagged as being in CT were also tagged as being in Texas.

Gillettearchway This is where being a journalist and understanding the importance of fact-checking helps me as a writer. I emailed Dinosaur State Park and explained my dilemma. I received an incredibly helpful email back from Meg Enkler, the Environmental Education Coordinator at Dinosaur State Park. Meg confirmed that the outside dinosaur statues must be at the Texas park, because the big statue of a Dilophosaurus, is indoors at Rocky Park. That nixed my existing plot line, but Meg helpfully suggested several alternatives, one of which I used. Thank you, Meg!

I often have to do a lot of research for my novels, and getting to ask interesting people questions about the work they do is one of the things that makes my own work so enjoyable – it’s lifelong learning.

About the Author:

Sarah Darer Littman is an award-winning author of books for young people. Littman’s first novel, Confessions of a Closet Catholic, won the 2006 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers. Her novel Life, After was a 2011 Sydney Taylor Honor Book. She is also the author of Purge and Want to Go Private? Her most recent novel Backlash, releases from Scholastic Press on March 31^st. In addition to writing for teens, Sarah is a political columnist for CTNewsJunkie.com, and teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Western CT State College and for WritopiaLab. You can find her online at http://sarahdarerlittman.com/, @sarahdarerlitt, and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Darer-Littman/121109781249612.

Facts in Fiction with THE GREAT CT CAPER Author Laura A. Woollett

February 16, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Have you read chapter 4 of The Great CT Caper yet? If not, you’ll certainly want to after getting an inside look at how chapter 4 author Laura A. Woollett conducted her research for the Caper. Welcome, Laura!

Facts In Fiction

by Laura A. Woollett

I’ve been thinking a lot about how facts figure into the writing of fiction. If your fictional story is set in a real place or has real people in it, how much creative license do you have?

Research is a crucial element to creating historical fiction. The reader must feel as if he or she is IN that time and place. That means getting details such as clothing, cuisine, and architecture correct for the time period. But what about realistic fiction that takes place in the current time period? What about in a story like The Great CT Caper, which is a fictional mystery set in a real location that young readers can visit for themselves?

My first book, Big Top Burning: The True Story of an Arsonist, a Missing Girl, and The Greatest Show On Earth (Chicago Review Press, June 2015) is nonfiction. Every detail was meticulously researched through primary source documents. I’m accustomed to gathering facts and presenting them in an engaging story format. As I wrote my chapter for The Great CT Caper, I wondered how close I had to stick to the facts of the real-life setting.

I began thinking about this project by taking a trip Gillette’s castle. It was a beautiful, sunny September day, and flowers were still blooming. The Connecticut River rushed by far below the castle’s teeth-like walls. Inside, I passed through a secret passage and leaned over the balcony to look down on the great hall. I touched the walls covered in a woven hemp-like material and counted the Gillette_Castle many carved wooden doors, each one unique. Fiction feels its most real when the sensory details are just right. Since our story would take place at this real location, it felt important for me to experience what Li-Ming and Thomas would first hand.

Including details from the castle was important, but I did not want my chapter to sound like a report, so stuffed with facts it would appear I were teaching kids about the castle rather than telling a story that happened to take place there. I had to pretend the castle wasn’t a real place at all, but an imagined one, and like in any well-written fiction, I would only include details that gave the essence of the setting and furthered Gillettes_Bedroom the plot. If the detail was not important to the scene, I cut it, even if it were true. Somewhere in Chapter 4, I took a bit of artistic license. Can you tell where?

Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, writers want their scenes, their characters, and their stories to ring true. Here are my goals for any writing project:

Do your due diligence.

Go online and research reputable sites that have information on the time and place where your story is set. Better still, go to a library and ask a librarian. Best case, if you’re using a real setting you don’t know much about, visit. Take notes and pictures. Talk to the experts or people living there.

Be true to the time and place.

This means no anachronisms. If trolley cars had stopped running through Hartford during the time of your story, you cannot have your characters riding on them. Get the clothing right, the types of food, the music people listened to, and the world events that shaped their lives.

Do your best.

In the past, I’ve wrung my stomach into knots worrying that I’ve messed up some factual detail. And in my experience, if I’m feeling this way, it means I’ve definitely done #1 and 2, so it’s time to let that worry go.

About the Author:

Laura A. Woollett has a Master’s degree in Children’s Literature from Simmons College and is a full-time writer and editor of literacy curriculum for children in kindergarten through grade 12. Her first book for middle-grade readers, Big Top Burning: The True Story of an Arsonist, a Missing Girl, and The Greatest Show On Earth, a nonfiction account of the 1944 Hartford circus fire, will be published by Chicago Review Press in June 2015. Laura is the author of Chapter 4 of The Great Connecticut Caper, a middle-grade serialized whodunit published online through the CT Center for the Book, January–June 2015.