Posts Tagged ‘young adult literature’

15
Jan

Kaza Kingsley and Erec Rex

   Posted by: rettstatt    in children's literature, fantasy, writing

Kaza Kingsley Blog Tour Day Nine

Note: I had the pleasure of reading Kaza’s first book, Erec Rex: The Dragon’s Eye, which was a great deal of fun. Fast-paced, lots of action and fantastic elements, and so much humor woven into the story and into the world. And now, without further ado, my interview with Kaza. If you have any questions or comments for Kaza, just post a comment here:

Kaza KingsleyI’d like to thank you, Chris, for hosting me on your blog! It’s a pleasure to meet you, as well. You had some great questions.

Congratulations on your new babies! Below I included a picture of me as a kid for your post. Readers can watch me grow older throughout the blog tour!

Which came first, the characters or the world they live in?

The Dragon's Eye

Before I wrote a word of Book One, I plotted the series for months. Some of the characters were invented right along with their world. The story is loosely based on the Hercules legend – which is set up in Dragon’s Eye and really becomes apparent more in Book Two, Monsters of Otherness. Erec’s name is similar to HERACule, Greek for Hercules.

Who Erec is, who his siblings and his adoptive mother are, and who Bethany is, are crucial to the story. They were very early part in its creation. But with that, at the same time, the world(s) in which they live were just as important, and had to be created alongside, fitting in with the characters.

Do you have a definite plan for Erec’s story?

Very much so. I know exactly where the series is going, how it ends, and what basically happens in each book. I find this necessary, so I can drop hints in early books for things that will happen later.

I will tell you that some of the structure of the series is based on the Hercules legend. Hercules had to do twelve labors – Erec twelve quests. He gets into these in Monsters of Otherness. So part of what will happen in future books is based on these quests.

Of course there are a lot of other things going on as well. Erec (and the reader) learns key things at certain points. I also had fun doing some other structuring. For example: the first contest in Book One is “The MONSTER.” The next book is “Monsters of Otherness.” Contest two was about figuring out the truth. The following book is called “The Search for Truth.” As you can guess, I have ideas about the following book titles…!

Have you had that plan from the beginning?

Mostly. There are actually some things I have changed as I went along. The most important things have stayed the same. But I’ll sometimes get a great idea, then I’ll get into my notebook and rewrite a lot of plot. I think, for me, writing is a process of constant plotting. There are always smaller bits to plot out when the big chunks are done. And I’m always coming up with new ideas to fit in.

How much has changed from concept to publishing?

Lots of unimportant things have changed. My first draft of Dragon’s Eye was over 500 pages long. It was cut down – and is better for it. But the essential, important part is the same.

Which character do you identify most with?

In the very beginning it was Bethany, as she is a girl and was drawn slightly from myself. But then, somewhere along the way, it changed. After spending so much time in Erec’s head I definitely identify more with him, now.

How did you get the idea for “cloudy thoughts”?

The Monsters of Otherness

Cloudy thoughts, to me, would be horrifying to have to deal with. Having some unknown force swoop in and make you do whatever you are told, even when you don’t know why you are doing it would be awful. Erec is afraid his cloudy thoughts may turn on him and make him do something terrible some day. If they did, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. In the beginning of Monsters of Otherness, Erec attacked his own brother because of a cloudy thought, which was very upsetting to him.

I suppose I wanted to give my main character a “gift” that was truly difficult to deal with, yet something he could learn to turn around and make work for him. As the series unfolds, watch for this to happen!

What is your most valuable tip for promoting a book?

I’m still learning! Most of my promotional events have involved traveling, for signings, school visits, and TV and radio interviews (some of the TV ones are posted on the media page of my website at http://www.erecrex.com.) This blog tour is new for me, and it’s awfully nice to do an event from home – especially when I’m writing as well!

I guess my only real tip is keep believing in yourself and never give up. Getting out there is work – but you can make it fun. It’s really just meeting people – and I love that!

How did you feel about math when you growing up?

I wasn’t quite like Bethany in that regard – lol. I was all right at math, not great. I got moved into the advanced class to do algebra in eighth grade, but I didn’t do so well. So I repeated it in ninth grade and got an A.

Young Kaza Kingsley

But I must have some fascination with math, on some level. When I was in third grade I made up an entirely useless form of math that I liked to teach my friends when we played school. And the first story that I wrote (that I can remember) when I was little involved an octopus that made people do math. I still am fascinated by math geniuses, and loved that movie “Pi.” Go figure . . .

Your references to junk food and healthy food in the book were notable. What is your position on the issue of kids and junk food?

Funny – I don’t tend to think of it as “kids and junk food” as much as “people and junk food.” Our nation’s diet is so horrible (I know, no news here.) I am into the “raw food” thing myself, as much as possible – of course I still eat pizzas, meat and deserts when I feel like it. But I’m aware of how bad most of what we eat is. I think some of that concept sneaks out into my writing.

How much do your stories change between concept or outline stage and complete draft?

The main points don’t change much, and the story line stays pretty intact. But the development between my notes on plot and the actual rough draft is tremendous. That’s where the meat of the story gets formed.

I feel like the outline points, the plot points that I know will happen, are like guideposts for me. I know I am going from point A to B to C, etc. But how will I get there? There is so much left to work out, even page by page, it’s incredible. It feels like writing fiction is one constant decision after the next. How will he get somewhere? What does she say? What time of day is it? Planning the plot / outlining is just a rough start.

I usually don’t end up deviating too much from the basic outline, though, since each book is part of a global series which all fits together as a whole. I have some room to make changes, but it has to be cohesive, too. The books also have a few subtle patterns that I try to stick to as well.

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9
Jan

Fantasy Books and Back Matter #2

   Posted by: rettstatt    in children's literature, fantasy, kaimira

Cloudwatching NotesI mentioned before that I had an opportunity to create some interesting appendix-type materials to put at the end of The Sky Village. There are several items included. Most are in English, but one is written in symbols from the Kaimira Code, which is a fantasy language created for the book series.

The other non-English piece is in Chinese. Half of the story is set in China (or more accurately, in the skies over China). The sky villagers are information traders, and they get their news via notes carried by pigeons. It’s called cloudwatching, and the person assigned to gather, interpret, and share the news is the Cloudwatcher.

I thought it would be fun to show a few of these notes, and even more fun to show them in Chinese.

My Chinese writing is very poor, much worse than my spoken Chinese, so I conscripted my wife to do the hand lettering, using special paper and a fancy pen I borrowed from my office.

She started off doing Chinese cursive, which looks pretty messy (as cursives tend to look), then tried the more careful lettering learned during grammar school, which did the trick.

I let it dry then shipped it off to the publisher, where it was sprinkled with magical publisher pixie dust and whatever else Candlewick does to make such pretty books.

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7
Jan

Kaza Kingsley Blog Tour

   Posted by: rettstatt    in children's literature, fantasy

Kaza KingsleyI’m participating in an author blog tour for fantasy author Kaza Kinglsey. January 15 she’ll be stopping by here for an interview and other fun. An excerpt of the second book in the Erec Rex series, The Monsters of Otherness, can be found here: http://www.erecrex.com/moo-excerpt.htm.

Here are Kaza’s other blog tour stops:

1/7 – A Fort Made of Books

1/8 – Books4Ever

1/9 – Baseballs and Bows

1/10 – Fanatic Space Blog

1/11 – Bibliophile’s Retreat

1/12 – Children’s Literature Book Club

1/13 – Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-A-Holic

1/14 – A Year of Books

1/15 – Author Chris Rettstatt’s blog

1/16 – Deliciously Clean Reads

1/17 – Into the Wardrobe

1/18 – Real Gurlz Magazine

1/19 – Chauceriangirl

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27
Nov

Kaimira: The Sky Village and school feedback sessions

   Posted by: rettstatt    in children's literature, kaimira

While I was writing The Sky Village (the first book in the Kaimira series), I did feedback sessions with some Chicago-area classrooms, sharing an early draft of the story and chatting with them about it. The co-author of the series and I went along with another person from Star Farm, who facilitated the discussion while we (the writers) took notes.

We identified ourselves as writers at Star Farm, but not as the authors of The Sky Village… not until the last session, when we provided pizza and did an author Q&A session.

Note: we encouraged the students to draw/doodle/scribble on the manuscript, and it resulted in some great pictures, some of which I’m including in this post.

I was a bit worried about not disclosing our identities as authors of the series until the last session, but it worked out great. It was a nice surprise for the students, and they understood why we did it.

Why did we do it? We wanted the discussion to be as honest as possible, and we thought the students might not be as critical with the authors in the room. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but the students were honest about what wasn’t working in the story. We were able to go back and do a spit & polish on the manuscript, and the next draft was so much better shinier.

The first couple of classes we did, the students were only given a chapter to read, and they read it during class, and then we had our discussion. This setup didn’t work so well. While some of the kids devoured the chapter and become very engaged in the conversation, others were too distracted to finish or to concentrate on the discussion. But the main reason it didn’t work is that it’s hard to talk about a small part of a story. It’s like trying to have a class discussion about a corner of a painting.

So for the next sessions, we took a different tact. A sixth-grade English teacher we know rounded up about forty volunteers from her classes, half boys and half girls, and they read the entire manuscript and spent their lunch hours with us to talk about it.

Group A read the manuscript in three parts. We met with them after each part to discuss the book. We’d discuss theme, plot, character development, pace, point of view, and a number of other sixth-grade-English topics suggested by the teacher, as well as questions that helped us see how the kids were seeing the story.

The second group read the manuscript in its entirety, and we did a series of discussions afterwards, with mostly the same questions. The exception was that we could ask Group A questions like “what do you think is going to happen next?” which was very enlightening.

This time the formula worked. This series of sessions was some of the most fun I’ve had working on this book. The kids were amazing. They were sharp, and got so deep into the story that I started to see things that were there but I hadn’t even noticed. Their feedback really helped the book become better.

I think the secret to how well it worked was:

  • The kids volunteered to participate.
  • From the beginning, we made it clear we were inviting them to help us make the story better.
  • Though we had a list of question we wanted to cover, we always let the conversation go where it needed to go. Some of the best discussions were the result of tangents.
  • We left our egos at the door and respected the students as equals, with every intention of taking their feedback seriously. That’s not something you can fake, and it really raised the level of the dialogue.
  • We encouraged them to draw and write on the manuscript, which yielded even more valuable notes, as well as some fantastic sketches.

A question that yielded some of the most interesting responses was “What makes The Sky Village different?”

Some of the answers (taken directly from my notes):

  • “The beasts and robots fighting each other makes this book not like any other fantasy story. Reminded me of Avatar and Spirited Away.”
  • “The book is a really interesting idea, unknown world, didn’t know of any stories with the same atmosphere.”
  • “It’s a different idea of fantasy. It doesn’t take place a long time ago, but rather in the future.
  • “There are humans, beasts, and meks, all interacting.”
  • “It falls into the fantasy genre, but it is a different sort of fantasy in that it has less to do ith magic than with new technology.”
  • “It was different than other fantasies. All of the ideas related to each other…there were a lot of different ideas.”
  • “The action starts right away. There’s no long buildup.”
  • “This fantasy has elements of science fiction.”
  • “Most books are in the past or some nameless present, but this book feels more real—and for once, we have something that has nothing to do with swords or wands.”
  • “The story combines the mythical with the futuristic.”

I enjoyed these sessions so much, I’ve been trying to set up more with teachers in the Chicago area, and possibly elsewhere. If any teachers are reading this, I’m interested in suggestions for how to make these sessions as interesting and valuable for the students as possible. I want to make this a regular part of the process while I work on the next four books in the series.

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26
Nov

Cybils: 2007 Fantasy and Science Fiction Nominations

   Posted by: rettstatt    in children's literature, fantasy, kidlitosphere

Yes, I know there are a lot of tags. I want to make it very easy for people whose books were nominated to find out, and tagging is a good way to do it. 

There are 94 nominations in the Fantasy and Science Fiction category. I’m a judge for this category, and I’m looking forward to digging in, once this list has been whittled down a bit by the nominating panel.

I copied this list from the Cybils 2007 blog

100 Cupboards
written by N.D. Wilson
Random House
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Alchemyst, The
written by Michael Scott
Random House/Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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Alfred Kropp: The Seal of Solomon
written by Rick Yancey
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
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Araminta Spookie 3: Frognapped
written by Angie Sage
HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books
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Betrayed: A House of Night Novel
written by PC Cast
St. Martin’s Griffin
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Billy Hooten: Owlboy
written by Tom Sniegoski
Random House/Yearling
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Black Book of Secrets, The
written by F.E. Higgins
Feiwel & Friends
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Book of a Thousand Days
written by Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
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Call to Shakabaz, The
written by Amy Wachspress
Woza Books
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Chaos King, The
written by Laura Ruby
HarperCollins/Eos
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Children of the 23rd Century: The Secret of the Lost Planet
written by Mel Hogan
Athena Press Ltd (UK)
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Choices
written by Deborah Lynn Jacobs
Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press
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City of Bones
written by Cassandra Clare
Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry
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Cobra King Of Kathmandu, The
written by P. B. Kerr
Scholastic/Orchard Books
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Cupid
written by Julius Lester
Harcourt Children’s Books
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Darkwing
written by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins/Eos
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Defect
written by Will Weaver
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Dragon Slippers
written by Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
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Dragonhaven
written by Robin McKinley
Penguin/Putnam Juvenile
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Dragon’s Keep
written by Janet Lee Carey
Harcourt Children’s Books
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Dreamquake
written by Elizabeth Knox
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Eclipse
written by Stephenie Meyer
Little, Brown Young Readers
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Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
written by Lynne Jonell
Henry Holt and Co.
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Erec Rex: The Monsters of Otherness
written by Kaza Kingsley
Firelight Press
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Extras
written by Scott Westerfeld
Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse
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Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
written by Brandon Mull
Shadow Mountain
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Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer
written by Laini Taylor
Penguin/Putnam Juvenile
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Fathom Five: The Unwritten Books
written by James Bow
Dundurn/Boardwalk Books
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First Light
written by Rebecca Stead
Random House/Wendy Lamb Books
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Flora Segunda
written by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Harcourt Children’s Books
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Fred & Anthony’s Escape from the Netherworld
written by Esile Arevamirp
Disney/Hyperion
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Ghost in Allie’s Pool, The
written by Sari Bodi
Brown Barn Books
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Giving Up the Ghost
written by Sheri Sinykin
Peachtree Publishers
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Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio, The
written by Lloyd Alexander
Henry Holt and Co
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Gray/Guardians
written by Kathy Porter
BookSurge Publishing
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
written by J. K. Rowling
Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books
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Hungry Ghosts
written by Sally Heinrich
Lothian Publishing (may be an imprint of Hachette Livre Australia)
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In the Serpent’s Coils (Hallowmere)
written by Tiffany Trent
Mirrorstone
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Incarceron
written by Catherine Fisher
Hachette Livre UK/Hodder Children’s Books (UK)
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Into the Wild
written by Sarah Beth Durst
Penguin/Razorbill
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Ironside: A Modern Faery’s Tale
written by Holly Black
Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry
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Jackie Tempo and the Emperor’s Seal
written by Suzanne M Litrel
iUniverse
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Jinx
written by Meg Cabot
HarperCollins
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Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger
written by Lee E. Fodi
Brown Books Publishing Group
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Lady Friday (The Keys to the Kingdom)
written by Garth Nix
Scholastic Press
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Land of the Silver Apples, The
written by Nancy Farmer
Simon & Schuster/Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
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Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want
written by Obert Skye
Shadow Mountain
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Little (Grrl) Lost
written by Charles de Lint
Penguin/Viking
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Magic and Other Misdemeanors (The Sisters Grimm)
written by Michael Buckley
Abrams/Amulet
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Marigold and the Feather of Hope
written by J. H. Sweet
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
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New Policeman, The
written by Kate Thompson
HarperCollins
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Night Tourist, The
written by Katherine Marsh
Disney/Hyperion
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Nightwalker: The Warlocks of Talverdin
written by K. V. Johansen
Orca Book Publishers
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Northlander (Tales of the Borderlands)
written by Meg Burden
Brown Barn Books
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Once Upon a Crime (The Sisters Grimm)
written by Michael Buckley
Abrams/Amulet
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Penguins of Doom, The (From the Desk of Septina Nash)
written by Greg R. Fishbone
Blooming Tree Press
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Platinum
written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Random House/Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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Powers
written by Ursula K. Le Guin
Harcourt Children’s Books
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Prom Dates from Hell
written by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Random House/Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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Pyre
written by James McCann
Simply Read Books
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Quest for the Elfin Elixir
written by Ami Blackford
Red Cygnet Press
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Red Spikes
written by Margo Lanagan
Random House/Knopf Books for Young Readers
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Repossessed
written by A. M. Jenkins
HarperCollins
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Return to Zandria
written by Christine Norris
LBF Books/Lachesis Publishing
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Secret of Grim Hill, The
written by Linda DeMeulemeester
Lobster Press
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Secret Zoo, The
written by Bryan Chick
Second Wish Press
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Seeing Redd (The Looking Glass Wars)
written by Frank Beddor
Penguin/Dial
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Seems, The: The Glitch in Sleep
written by John Hulme
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
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Senrid
written by Sherwood Smith
YA Angst
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Sensitive
written by Nina Wright
Flux
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Seventh Chair, The
written by Ann Keffer
iUniverse
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Silenced, The
written by James Devita
HarperCollins/Eos
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Silver World
written by Cliff McNish
Lerner Publishing/Carolrhoda Books
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Skin Hunger
written by Kathleen Duey
Simon & Schuster/Atheneum
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Skulduggery Pleasant
written by Derek Landy
HarperCollins
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Standard Hero Behavior
written by John David Anderson
Houghton Mifflin/Clarion Books
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Swan Maiden, The
written by Heather Tomlinson
Henry Holt
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Tantalize
written by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Candlewick
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Tattoo
written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Random House/Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
written by R. L. LaFevers
Houghton Mifflin
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Thief Queen’s Daughter, The
written by Elizabeth Haydon
Tor/Starscape
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Through the Eyes of a Raptor
written by Julie Hahnke
iUniverse
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Titan’s Curse, The
written by Rick Riordan
Disney/Miramax
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To Catch a Mermaid
written by Suzanne Selfors
Little, Brown Young Readers
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True Meaning of Smekday, The
written by Adam Rex
Disney/Hyperion
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Two Moon Princess
written by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
Tanglewood Press
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Un Lun Dun
written by China Mieville
Random House/Del Rey
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Verdigris Deep (Well Witched in the U.S.)
written by Frances Hardinge
Macmillan Children’s Books (UK)
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Warrior’s Daughter, The
written by Holly Bennett
Orca Book Publishers
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What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy
written by Gregory Maguire
Candlewick
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Wicked Lovely
written by Melissa Marr
HarperCollins
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Wildwood Dancing
written by Juliet Marillier
Random House/Knopf Books for Young Readers
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Woolies and Worms
written by Stephen MacNeil
Cobblestone Publishing/Cricket Magazine Group
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Worldweavers: Gift of the Unmage
written by Alma Alexander
HarperCollins/Eos
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21
Nov

Constructing Fantasy Languages

   Posted by: rettstatt    in fantasy, kaimira

I often refer to myself as a children’s book writer who wishes he was a linguist. It’s mostly a joke, because I wouldn’t likely give up my job to get a PhD in Linguistics. The part that’s true is that there is nothing that triggers my geektitude more than language. Give me a sentence to diagram and I’m a happy guy. Talk to me about the nuances of translation, and you’ve got my attention. Tell me I can create a fantasy language on the job, and not only will it be tolerated, but it will be a valuable addition to the overall project… and you can just put my picture next to the dictionary entry for pleased as punch.

I didn’t get into Klingon or the Middle Earth languages as a teen, but I was obsessed with Nadsat, the futuristic slang used in A Clockwork Orange. It’s basically English with some funkified Russian thrown in, and a bit of King James and cockney rhyming slang for flavor.

For example, charlie refers to a chaplain, from a Charlie Chaplin switcheroo ala rhymy slang.

Droog means friend, taken directly from Russian.

Horrorshow means good/well, from Russian khorosho.

More recently, I was interested in the Unas language used on an episode of Stargate SG1, because of its simplicity and lack of tenses. The episode was a fun example of communication across species.

lolcatAnd even more recently, I was fascinated for a few seconds by the kitty slang used in the lolcats translation of the Bible, partly because it’s an interesting example of a true internet slang, collaborative and decentralized the way a slang should be, and partly because it’s dang funny.

Genesis 1:1: Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.

So yes, I am creating a language for Kaimira. My modus operandi is to do a ton of research and then wing it. I studied linguistics as an undergrad, and I’m fairly familiar with Spanish, Latin, German, and Chinese, and also with how English has evolved from Old English, and a tiny bit familiar with French, Japanese, Portuguese, and Sanskrit.

I’ve found a few useful resources I thought I’d share:

Wikipedia’s list of constructed languages

The Conlang mailing list

Videos from the Language Creation Conference

Essays on Language Design, by Rick Morneu

I’ve done some of the construction already, the basic framework, but I’m just getting started. Wish me luck.

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