Category: Middle Grade (Page 14 of 17)

The Process of Serial Writing and Chapter Two of The Great CT Caper

January 19, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

THE GREAT CT CAPER, a serialized mystery for young readers about Gillette Castle gone missing, launched at the beginning of the month. I’m thrilled to announce Chapter two is out! And I wrote it! If you haven’t read chapter one yet, I highly recommend you do that before heading on over to my chapter.

I’m avoiding any major spoilers in this blog post about writing chapter two, but you might want to read the chapters first, just so you’re not unduly influenced during your reading. So far it’s been great fun creating a chapter and finally getting to see both the illustration by a Connecticut artist and the curriculum guide for my chapter. Here’s my journey of being a part of this adventure.

Getting the Assignment

When I heard that the CT Humanities was looking for authors and illustrators from CT to create a serialized story based on a missing state landmark, it sounded like a fun project, so I sent out my writing sample, personal statement, and resume. I was super excited to get a phone call informing me I was selected as one of the twelve authors and that I would soon find out what chapter I would be writing.

A sneak peek at Gillette Castle as we approached it from the grounds.

We were told the public has chosen Gillette Castle as the missing landmark (the landmark I voted for in the poll!) and that the target audience was kids ages 9-12. We would be provided with some facts about the castle and William Gillette, the man who designed the castle and lived there, and the previous chapters. Then the authors would be given free rein to be creative, fun, informative, whatever we wanted to be in our chapters. The only hitch was that we would each have just one week to write the chapter and then a follow-up week to edit it. Phew!

I originally thought I’d be writing one of the middle chapters in early 2015, but then I got an email that asked me if I’d be able to write chapter two in late September (which was only a few weeks away). I was nervous about getting it done (with The Prince only being a few months old and a family vacation planned for early October), but excited. Chapter two seemed like the perfect chapter to write in this kind of serialized storytelling with multiple authors.

I wouldn’t have the responsibility of laying the groundwork of a whole story like the chapter one author (read about Yelizaveta P. Renfro’s approach to chapter one here), but I also wouldn’t have too much story to keep track of like authors of later chapters. And I figured I’d have lots of leeway to put my mark on the story since I was assigned such an early chapter. All in all, a pretty good deal.

A view of the Connecticut River from Gillette Castle.

Doing the Research

As part of being involved with the Caper, all the authors and illustrators were offered a free visit to Gillette Castle. Now I had seen the castle from the Connecticut River while on a boat tour, but I had never been up close to it or inside. After reading some information about it on the Internet, I decided I just had to try and get there before writing my chapter. With the crazy, brilliant mind of William Gillette behind the design of it, I wanted to see the spying mirrors, secret passages, and medieval design in person.

The boys and I hanging out on one of the balconies.

So the hubby took a day off from work; we packed the boys, lunch, diaper bags, and supplies into the car; and took a drive to East Haddam, CT to check out Gillette Castle State Park. Boy was it worth the trip! It was rainy that morning, so we didn’t get to explore the grounds much (there are acres of hiking trails in the park), but we got full run of the castle and the tour guides because there was hardly anyone else there on a random, rainy weekday in early September.

William Gillette posing as Sherlock Holmes.

With The Prince strapped to me in a baby wrap and my phone camera and notebook in hand, I was ready to explore. I asked the gracious tour guide lots of question (he even had questions for me about the Caper…he had heard of it but didn’t know much about it), took a ton of pictures, and really just took it all in. The castle is small, as castles go, but there are so many little details to it and lots of information about William Gillette, who was a fascinating person. Most notably, he was the actor who created the character of Sherlock Holmes as we know it today with the deerstalker cap and curved pipe.

Seeing the castle and learning about William Gillette really got my imagination going. On the ride home, I jotted down some key ideas and images that popped into my head and hoped that I’d be able to include even a little of what had inspired me.

Writing the Chapter

Before I knew it, I had received my email with chapter one and the plot and character cheat sheet (pretty short given there was only one chapter before mine). Then it was time to get my creative juices on! As I read through chapter one, little bubbles of excitement percolated in my belly as I met the characters and got a feel for the voice of the story. There was a lot to work with, and so many places I could take the story. Then I read the first chapter again and I continued to look back at it as I began writing my own.

One of the many doors, not two of which are exactly alike, in the castle. This particular one plays a role in my chapter.

One of the many doors, no two of which are exactly alike, in the castle. This particular one plays a role in my chapter.

I saw lots of opportunities to use some of the ideas and notes from my visit, but I knew I would have to be selective. I had only 650 words to work with and lots I wanted to do. First, I had to make sure to move the story forward and I wanted lots of action in my chapter. I also wanted to continue to develop the already established characters and maybe add in a few new ones. I wanted to add some magic, because that’s what I love to read and write about, and it made sense that magic would be involved in the disappearance of a castle!

And I really, really wanted to include Gillette Castle in my chapter. That detail was a bit tricky because the chapter was so early in the story and I couldn’t have them finding the castle and the characters being like, “Okay, mystery solved.” So I used the magic system I had come up with to accomplish being able to have the castle in the story but without solving the mystery. I decided to start the chapter with a bang (literally a boom!) of magic and get right into the action.

One other idea I had toyed around with was including one of my favorite places in CT, a place I had visited many times growing up and continue going to as an adult with my kids. (Want to know which place that is? Well, you’ll have to read the chapter to find that out.) I’ve lived my whole life in CT and I think it’s a special place, so I really wanted to highlight one of the things I love about the state.

On location at the other place in CT I wanted to feature in the story.

The new characters came in the form of villains because I thought it was important to introduce them early on in the story. Chapter one had established the protagonists very well, so I added in a couple of antagonists right at the end of the chapter.

The first chapter had ended with a great cliffhanger, and I had to end the next one like that as well. It’s important to end any chapter in a novel in a way that keeps the reading turning the page, but this element is especially important in a serialized story. I also wanted to conclude in a way that the next author could pretty much take the story in whatever direction they wanted. If they wanted to continue using the magic system I had established, they could, but they could also chose not to use magic in their part as well.

Plus it all had to make sense, it had to feel complete and not rushed, and it had to have a story arc of its own with some semblance of a beginning, middle, and end. All the while, I wanted to move the story forward. I was always conscience of having “stuff” happen and making the most of my words.

In retrospect, looking back at all the things I wanted to accomplish seems like it was a big task, but it kind of all flowed. (Thankfully, because I had to write it all in one week!). The hardest part was paring it all down to fit in the word count. I kept going back and trimming, trimming, trimming. I cut out unnecessary words. I took out all but the most important details and descriptions. I threw out anything that just wasn’t essential to the plot.

And you know what? I had a lot of fun doing it. Before I knew it, I had written my chapter, completed my edits, and just had to wait for the story to come out.

Marketing and Partying and Such

Since completing my chapter, I’ve also had a lot of fun meeting the other authors and illustrators and marketing the story. I invited them to guest post on the blog and I met a bunch of them in person at the launch party in Hartford, CT. It was great to have an evening out with adults (I had to actually change out of my sweatpants!). I also met some really enthusiastic teachers and librarians who are bringing the Caper to their schools. I’m looking forward to the second launch party next week at the Peabody Museum in New Haven, CT (sign up here for the free event).

The CT Humanities brought the idea of a serialized, state centered story to CT and other state organizations have gotten involved too. And all the people involved have been great to work with and meet. It’s really made the whole experience worth it (because, yes, all the authors and illustrators volunteered our time to the project…i.e. we didn’t get paid). I’ve always found trying to market my writing to be really hard and a bit of a drag, but I’ve actually had a lot of fun spreading the word about the Caper. I think having a solid network behind the project has really helped with that. I plan on taking what I’ve learning about marketing to future releases of my own titles.

Like the rest of you, I have not read the rest of the chapters. So I’m really excited about seeing where everyone else has taken the story. I’ve heard some rumors, which I could mention here but then I’d have to track you all down to silence you, so I’m keeping my mouth shut about those! I hope that many kids enjoy following along with the story and the games and activities. I hope, too, that other states see what CT has done with the Caper and do their own versions. Maybe CT will even do another one in the future. There are so many possibilities with this kind of storytelling.

So go read those chapters and share here what you think will happen next in THE GREAT CT CAPER!

Dealing With Gossip from Anna Staniszewski Author of THE GOSSIP FILE

January 15, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Returning guest poster Anna Staniszewski always has such great posts. Today she stops by with her latest release, the humorous MG story THE GOSSIP FILE (see my 5-star Goodreads review here), and a little bit of her own gossip…with advice for kids and teens on how to deal with gossip! Make sure to check out the giveaway at the end. Welcome, Anna!

Dealing With Gossip

by Anna Staniszewski

My mom used to say that you should never say anything about someone that you wouldn’t want said about you. While I think these are wise words, they’re not always easy to stick to. After all, sometimes gossiping about other people can be really fun, which is probably why we do it. But when I think back to my middle school years, when it seemed like everyone was doing nothing but gossiping, I have to admit that most of the things people were saying were hurtful, whether they were meant to be or not.

This is something my main character, Rachel, struggles with in The Gossip File. When the older girls she’s working with hand her a book and ask her to add bits of juicy gossip to it, at first she’s stumped. What makes gossip “juicy,” anyway? But when she starts writing down things that she knows would be hurtful if someone else read them, that’s when she realizes that she’s crossed the line. Before she can get rid of those bits of gossip, they’re discovered, thus creating a mess that she frantically tries to clean up.

So here’s my first piece of advice: if you’re going to gossip, definitely don’t write the gossip down! If you put it in a book or online, it’s only going to cause more damage. Secondly, consider if it’s really your secret to tell, and if you’d be upset if someone said it about you. No matter how juicy a piece of gossip is, it’s probably not worth ruining a friendship over. And hey, if you’re really desperate for some good dirt, you can always make some up about your pets! (By the way, don’t tell anyone, but I’m pretty sure my dog has a secret cat boyfriend…)

THE GOSSIP FILE blurb:

The Gossip File:

Chandra lets little kids pee in the pool.
Melody stole $ from the café register.
Ava isn’t who she says she is…

Ava is cool. Ava is confident. Ava is really Rachel Lee who is lying her butt off.

Rachel is visiting her dad at a resort in sunny Florida and is ready for two weeks of relaxing poolside, trips to Disney World – and NOT scrubbing toilets. Until her dad’s new girlfriend, Ellie, begs Rachel to help out at her short-staffed café. That’s when Rachel kinda sorta adopts a new identity to impress the cool, older girls who work there. Ava is everything Rachel wishes she could be. But when the girls ask “Ava” to help add juicy resort gossip to their file, Rachel’s not sure what to do…especially when one of the entries is a secret about Ellie.

Buy Links:

About the Author:

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and eating far too much chocolate. She is the author of the My Very UnFairy Tale Life series, the Dirt Diary series, and the forthcoming Switched at First Kiss series, all published by Sourcebooks. Visit her at www.annastan.com.

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Reading Wrap Up 2014 or The Year of Change

January 12, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

This past year marked a big change for me in my reading habits. It was the first year where I read more digital books than print ones. I’ve been reading digital books for years, but 2014 was the year the scales tipped way in favor of digital.

There were several factors for this: one being that I joined NetGalley and started reading digital ARCs, another being digital is a great way for my writer friends to share their books with me for little cost to either of us, and a third being how easy and low-cost it is to acquire digital books. But the overriding factor was definitely my own life. With The Boy having sleep issues earlier in the year and adding The Prince into the mix with all his nursings, I’ve had a lot of time where I’m sitting quietly but where reading a print book would be a bit impractical. So I read on my Nook a lot and on my phone a whole lot.

So much so that early in the year I realized my original goal of reading 67 books (in par with the past several years of reading) was going to be surpassed. I reset my goal to 80 books and exceeded that by 2, for a grand total of (tough math, I know!) 82 books! (You can check out my full 2014 reading list over on Goodreads.) The 82 includes mostly novels and some novellas and short stories. It doesn’t include the many, many, many picture books and board books I read (and reread) to the boys.

It also doesn’t include the quite a few (estimate of about 6 or so) books I did not finish (DNF). Though this may seem like a small number, it’s significant for me because in the past I’ve almost always finished a book once I’ve started it. As in 2014’s DNF list is probably as long as my previous DNF list for many previous years.

Again I think this change has a lot to do with all the digital reading I’ve done. I took a chance on free books and $.99 books, many self-published or with small presses but a significant portion on traditional published book as well. And books across all three publishing models made my DNF list (I don’t actually keep an official list for this, just a mental one). I’ve also found it’s a lot easier to just stop reading a digital book vs. a print one. The reasons behind that could probably be a whole blog post by itself.

Does all my digital reading mean I don’t like print books or that I think print is dead? Absolutely not. In fact, from what I’ve read about book sales in 2014, it seems the digital market has finally flattened out (after years of crazy growth) and the print market surged a little. The market has finally started to settle into a new normal where both print and digital can coexist.

As for my personal tastes in 2014 (again, could be a whole blog post by itself, but I’ll just give you the highlights here), I read lots of really good fantasy. Stand-out titles being THE FALSE PRINCE and the entire Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen, THE KISS OF DECEPTION by Mary E. Pearson, and BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE by Maggie Stiefvater.

I definitely had some serious paranormal fatigue by the end of the year. There are still good titles in the genre, but I found many just didn’t stand out enough and hit too many of the same notes. I’ll probably be less likely to pick up these titles this year.

I read more middle grade than in the past and have been really enjoying it. Middle grade books seem to be taking more chances and doing different things, much like YA was doing right before it blew up and became hugely popular. I’ll probably continue to read more MG this year.

And I’ve read lots of good indie/small press authors, including S.J. Pajonas, Mary Waibel, Kai Strand, and Meradeth Houston. (In an attempt at full disclosure, yes, these authors I would consider writer friends, so I want you to check out their writing first because it’s awesome and second because they are awesome people!) Supporting indie authors has become an important part of my reading practices and will continue to be in 2015.

All in all, my bread and butter reading was (and has been for some time) YA, often fantasy. That’s just my personal tastes and I think I will always gravitate toward that age group and the fantasy genre. But I do enjoy branching out and hope to do more of that this year. And I will absolutely keep reading authors I know personally or online (and that list grows every year…it’s getting harder and harder not to know the authors I read). Of course with the boys, I’ll continue reading lots of picture books, old favorites and new ones too. Lately, we’ve even started reading small chapter books, which is a fun addition.

What were your reading habits and favorite reads of 2014?

Yelizaveta P. Renfro on Writing Chapter One of the Great CT Caper

January 5, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Writing the First Chapter

by Yelizaveta P. Renfro

The assignment: to write the first chapter of The Great Connecticut Caper, a serialized storybook that would be created by twelve different writers and twelve different illustrators living in Connecticut.

The target audience: children in grades four through seven.

The premise: Gillette Castle is going missing!

The challenge: to create an engaging, fast-paced opening chapter that would introduce sympathetic characters and lay out some basic plot elements. And to do it in under 650 words.

The process: The first step was research. We made a family trip to Gillette Castle in East Haddam where we learned about William Gillette, the eccentric actor who brought Sherlock Holmes to life on the stage and who designed his twenty-four room mansion to resemble the ruin of a medieval castle. We toured the home, looking at hidden passageways and the surveillance system based on strategically placed mirrors, and we wandered the grounds, admiring his personal railroad track as well as his woods and views of the Connecticut River.

But we weren’t done yet. On another weekend, we took a ride on the Essex Steam Train and the Becky Thatcher Riverboat, learning about the Connecticut River, getting a different vantage point of Gillette Castle from the water, and discovering more about William Gillette.

As a writer, I often start projects with research. And as a parent, I often take my kids along. But this assignment was different. I am primarily a writer of books for adults, and this project was writing for children. Luckily, I had my own kids to consult.

So after the research stage, I had a long brainstorming session with my fourth grader (with the first grader listening in and offering occasional advice). We discussed what makes a good story and interesting characters. We talked about mystery books for children. We tossed around ideas for the story and possible character names. The fourth grader taught me how to make a character map, and she created several for possible characters. The first grader made one as well.

We agreed early on that the protagonists should be children, and that there should be two of them—a boy and a girl. (We discussed Ron Roy’s and Mary Pope Osborne’s books as examples.) The names and character traits of the boy and girl kept changing, but we finally settled on Thomas and Li-Ming. And during a long walk through our neighborhood, the fourth grader and I discussed different possible openings. Should the protagonists be touring the castle? Should they be on a riverboat cruise? What other characters should be introduced? What should happen at the end of the chapter?

There would be a cliffhanger, we decided, so readers would want to tune in for the following installment. And we needed to create openings for other writers to build the story—characters who could be further developed, situations that could be interpreted in more than one way.

Finally, once we had hashed out everything, I wrote the chapter. The first draft came in at over 900 words. So then I cut, and I cut some more. And finally, when the chapter was just under 650 words, I read it to my kids. They loved it. But they also had a few suggestions. I revised. I read it again.

It was a process of learning together. I shared what I knew about storytelling with my kids, and they shared what they knew with me.

The outcome: See for yourself at http://ctcaper.cthumanities.org where the first chapter was posted on January 4. And please check back every two weeks as more chapters go live. I am looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here. And so are my kids.

About the Author:

Yelizaveta P. Renfro is the author of a collection of essays, Xylotheque, available from the University of New Mexico Press, and a collection of short stories, A Catalogue of Everything in the World, winner of the St. Lawrence Book Award. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Glimmer Train Stories, North American Review, Orion, Colorado Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, South Dakota Review, Witness, Reader’s Digest, Blue Mesa Review, Parcel, Adanna, Fourth River, Bayou Magazine, Untamed Ink, So to Speak, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in creative writing from George Mason University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska. Currently a resident of Connecticut, she’s also lived in California, Virginia, and Nebraska. To learn more about her work, visit her blog at http://chasingsamaras.blogspot.com/p/writing.html.

The Great Connecticut Caper Starts Today

January 4, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Gillette Castle has gone missing! And after all the hype I’ve been giving it on the blog lately, you can now finally join the young sleuths in solving the mystery in The Great Connecticut Caper. Chapter one goes lives today! (You can see I’m speaking in exclamation points!) Follow along at http://ctcaper.cthumanities.org/ as a new chapter is posted every two weeks and for fun activities as well.

The story has been getting some great local press coverage (see these great stories from the CT Post, which includes quotes from the illustrator of chapter two, the one I wrote; the Middletown Press; and NBC Connecticut), but it’s not just for my CT peeps. Any young or young at heart reader will enjoy the CT Caper. Make sure to regularly check out the blog here, too, as I’ll be hosting some of the other authors and illustrators on the weeks their chapters go live.

And if you are local, there’s still time to sign up to attend the launch party at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT, this Wednesday, January 7 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. There will also be a launch party later in the month in New Haven (details to come).