#TSOLG Paperback Palooza: Five Random Questions with Charlotte Bennardo

Charlotte Bennardo kicks up some Summer...

We're getting closer and closer to the THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO paperback release Author Palooza on April 19th at the Huntington Public Library!!!

Several amazing MG and young adult authors will be joining me to help celebrate, first in a 90-Second Read Aloud Event, and then for a hands-on writers workshop. I thought it would be nice to get to know them -- and me -- a little bit in the weeks leading up to the event. 

You may read all about the event HERE on the facebook event page, and even if you can't come to the event live, please join the event page and follow along in the fun.

So, on to the getting-to-know-them part of the festivities... 

I've asked the guest authors to share their favorite piece of writing advice (or quotes that have helped or inspired them) as well as to answer five random questions from a big list I provided. Many of their answers are quite entertaining! You'll see! 

Over the past weeks, I've been sharing their answers (and may even chime in with my own answer to the occasional question in pink ...).

Add caption

Up today, guest author Charlotte Bennardo,

co-author of the SIRENZ series and BLONDE OPS, which Publisher's Weekly called,  "...a light mystery with entertaining dialogue, an energized pace, ever shifting suspects and a glimpse into the benefits and drawbacks of art and fame..."

You can read more about Charlotte HERE and HERE.

Okay, before we get started with Charlotte's five questions, here's a clear bit of writing advice from her: 

“Be persistent and consistent!"

Voila! Only Nike's motto is shorter and more concise. 

Now on to Five Random Questions with Charlotte... 

1. What's the cruelest/funniest thing you ever did to a sibling? 

*giggles. I held my sister for ransom - 2 Ring Dings. I actually tied her up, gagged her, put her in my toy box, then locked the closet door where the toybox was. Man did I get in trouble for that! (But I got my Ring Dings....)

  

              

2.  Do you appear in any of your own books?

Part of me appears in the Sirenz series - Sharisse is blonde and tall like me, and can be snarky (ok, bitchy) like me, but I don't have her fashion sense.

3. What's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?

Sitting in the front row during a comedy show. When the comedian found out I was part Swedish, he asked me if I wore Viking breastplates. And proceeded to embarrass me all night long...

4. What unique skill do you possess?

I can talk like Elmo. And Carol Kane (from Scrooged). I can audition for the right price.

5. Tell us about your first kiss?

Ahh. I was 16, had a mouthful of braces, and it was a boy down the street. Holy smokes, I never knew a kiss could be like that...

So, there you have it. . . some advice and a few random things about author Charlotte Bennardo. Hope you'll check out all of her books, and if you're anywhere local, that you'll join us at the Huntington Public Library on April 19th for the reading, book signing and, if you're a tween or teen writer, the hands-on writers workshop with all these fabulous authors! 

Registration begins April 6th! 

And don't forget to order a paperback copy of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO.  You can watch the new trailer HERE. 

xox gae

Friday Feedback: How to Keep Going When Your Inner Critic Chimes In, A Few Words About Querying, and a Standing Offer.

my kids hate these sunglasses.

Whoa! Hold on one minute!!!

No one, but NO one, said summer could go this fast.

NO ONE.

I mean, seriously, like mind-blowingly fast.

Alas, it has, and, thus, it is somehow our last official day -- and our last official Friday Feedback -- of the 2014 Teachers Write! summer.

*cue tears* Because, trust me, we are all as sad as you are.

Yet, all we can do is make the most of it. Go out with a bang! So, this modgepodge post will contain:

1. some hopefully valuable information on how to keep going when your inner critic chimes in, from Sarah Darer Littman (& a few others);

2. my now-usual parting gift (you'll see in a moment if you're new here...);

3. the name of the winner of the belated-but-not-forgotten drawing for an Advance Review Copy of Amy Fellner Dominy's A MATTER OF HEART which comes out next spring!

and, of course,

4. Some last-gasp Friday Feedback sharing of any excerpt of your choosing!

It's a long, long post, so apologies, but there's lots I wanted to cover. So, without further ado, here's Sarah, with:

#1. How to keep going when your inner critic chimes in...

Sarah is the author of the forthcoming BACKLASH,
WANT TO GO PRIVATE? and several other amazing
YA novels. Click the link and read all about her!

The Inner Crazy Lady:

After reading some campers' feedback to Gae’s question on the Teachers Write Facebook page the other day about how we might improve consistent participation in Teacher’s Write throughout the summer,  I started to recognize a familiar friend – or, more accurately, a familiar “Frenemy" -- showing up in your comments.

I call mine, “The Inner Crazy Lady.” You might call yours “The Inner Crazy Guy” or “The internalized voice of my hyper critical parents/friends/relatives” or, simply, "Bob."

What this particular "friend" does is sabotage your writing process – inhibiting the free flow of creativity, making you afraid to put another word on the page, preventing you from finishing what you started.

Sarah's ICL probably tried to stop Backlash
from being written. I'll say Beyotch!
*meanwhile, if you're reading captions,
write "I read captions" in your comment to
be entered to win an ARC of Sarah's Backlash!
Winner announced next week
on the TW! facebook page! 

How does The Inner Crazy Lady (or Bob) do this?  By telling you it sucks. That this is THE WORST THING EVER WRITTEN IN THE HISTORY OF EVER. By saying that you’re not a writer, you’re a fraud. My ICL still says tells me this even though my fifth book comes out next March, I’ve written many other work-for-hire books, and I have been paid to write political opinion columns since 2003. Put simply, she is a total beyotch.

As soon as I hear one of my students apologizing for their work before they’ve even read it, I give them “The Inner Crazy Lady” talk. I tell them how I’ve learned to trick the ICL by writing my first drafts as fast as I can, so that hopefully I’m finished by the time she wakes up and starts harassing me. If she does start up, thanks to Anne Lamott I have an answer for her: “Girl, this is just a sh*tty first draft. I’m just getting words on the page. I CAN FIX IT (“it” being whatever her complaint is at the moment) IN REVISION.”

Why do I call her a frenemy rather than simply an enemy? Because the Inner Crazy Lady is also responsible for my driven almost to the point of insanity work ethic, and for how I try to learn from the experience of writing each book (including the criticism) so that I can do better on the next one.  It’s okay that she hangs around -just not while I’m writing the first draft.

Find the strategies you need to keep your Inner Crazy Lady (or Bob) in check. And don’t think you’re alone! Every author has one.

-Sarah  

Amy Fellner Dominy, author of OyMG, Audition & Subtraction,
and the forthcoming A Matter of Heart on her inner critic...

and, Charlotte Bennardo, co-author of the Sirenz Series & Blonde Ops

and, me, author of The Pull of Gravity & The Summer of Letting Go

#2. a parting gift... So last year, and maybe the year before, I made a so-far standing offer to any TW! camper who regularly participated on Friday Feedback to review your query letter for any of your WIP's when ready. This summer, I hereby extend this offer. I know this gift only really helps those of you who are working on your own fiction, but, hey, camp is free, and at least it's a little something. BEFORE you send my your queries, I beg of you, please do your research on how to write a query letter and read this post: Friday Feedback: KISS those Queries! While the advice in there is harsh and limiting, I stand by it. Though I have seen the rare query that violates these rules and still gets requests, you'd better believe it was because the manuscript described was exactly what that agent was looking (or, hoping) for. If you find yourself ready to query, feel free to contact me at my email g.polisner@gmail.com or through my facebook author page;

#3. The winner of an ARC of Amy's Fellner Dominy's of A MATTER OF HEART,

as determined in a purely random drawing involving only me, your names on folded paper, and my son's green golf hat, 

but carefully supervised by the accounting firm of My Son's Dog, Charlie. . . 

is Linda Mitchell!!!! Linda, email me at g.polisner@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with Amy for mailing information!

and, last, but not least, 

4. Friday Feedback. You know the RULES! Since it's just you and me today, I'll share a passage from the very middle of my WIP I'm turning in to my agent as we speak! Wish me luck! The story takes place near NYC on the day of, and in the few immediate days after, 9/11. The MC Kyle brings home a girl who has amnesia (and some other weird things) and he hasn't exactly figured out how to tell his cop dad, whose been busy down at the site, that he's brought her there... fyi, we don't know the girl's name, and Kerri is Kyle's sister. . .  So, what works for you? What doesn't? Does it compel you to keep on reading? 

See you in the comments!

Kerri’s door is still shut.

            I knock as quietly as I can, then open it a crack without waiting. So she doesn't call out, to tell me it’s okay to come in.

            Except I don’t need to worry about that.

Because she’s not in the room anymore.

            Kerri’s bed is empty. Made up. My plaid pajama pants folded neatly on the pillow.

            I run down the hall to the bathroom even though it’s clear she’s not there. The door is wide open, the toothbrush I gave her gone from the sink.

            My heart races. Why did she leave without telling me?

            I close the door and sit on the toilet to think, then figure, screw it. If she’s gone, she’s gone. What am I going to do about it? 

            It’s her problem, right? Not mine.

            Still.

I close my eyes and lean back against the cold tank, shake my head against the thoughts that creep in.

The girl on the bridge in those wings.

At the edge.

Leaning way out over the water. . .

            I try to think back to my sister’s room. Did she take the wings with her? I don't remember seeing them on the chair.

I look helplessly around the bathroom wondering if I said something to bother or upset her? Wondering if she left me some clue.

My eyes pause on the magazine basket. It’s out of place a little, maybe. Rifled through. Jutting from the base of the cabinet.

On top is a June issue of the New York Insider magazine with a photo of Washington Square Park on the cover. Stone archway, pink trees in massive bloom. In an inset, a photo of those three asshole prep school boys who they say raped that exchange student this past summer.

Was that just a few weeks ago?

It was such a huge story back then.

I shove the basket back with my foot, and stand up. Why can’t I be an uncaring asshole like they are?

I mean, really. Why do I care about the girl?

It's great news that she’s gone!

Now, she’s not my problem anymore.

I'm relieved!

I should be relieved.

So why do I feel so crappy?

***

See you all next summer! Or maybe for a few periodic FF's between now and then?! 
xox gae

p.s. please continue to buy, share, tweet and review the titles of all the Friday Feedback guest authors. Word of mouth is everything to most of us! 

Friday Feedback: More on Character: Seeing the Face Before You

Charlotte, looking uber hip and cool..
Dare I say, like a Siren(z). :D 

Today I have the lovely Charlotte Bennardo on Friday Feedback, co-author of BlondeOps and the Sirenz series (Sirenz, and Sirenz Back In Fashion). We're talking some more about character, and "seeing the face before you." As always with my FF guest authors, Charlotte is putting in much time, energy and love here, so please check out her books, buy a few, and tell your friends and students about them. 

I like meeting my characters, face to face. Impossible you say, because that character is only in your mind?  Well, we all have a doppelganger (or two…). So there is someone out there who looks just like (or really close to) your character.

When I set out to write my YA sci fi novel, Lethal Dose, I was doing it during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month- 30 days, 1660 words a day every day in November). I couldn’t waste time daydreaming about my character’s physical appearance. Instead of a text-only trait list, I scoured the internet looking for that picture of my character.

For Sirenz and Sirenz Back in Fashion, (co-authored with Natalie Zaman), we agreed that Hades, Lord of the Underworld would be hot and hunky. We imagined Ian Somerhalder (Vampire Diaries) as Hades. Because we wrote alternating chapters, it helped immensely to see the face, know how the eyebrows quirked, or the mouth tugged up on the left in a grin, etc. so we could be consistent. For Lethal Dose, I chose Nicholas Hoult (Jack The Giant Slayer) because he looked like what I imagined for Dalen Steele. Keeping a publicity shot printed on Dalen’s ‘bio’ helped me feel close to my character.

What didn’t work was a ‘grocery list’ of things like “Hazel eyes. Brown hair. 6’ tall, loves his mother,” etc. It’s too ‘dry’ and flat. “A picture is worth a thousand words…” A cliché that works for me. Some people don’t want a definitive image, and they can work like that.  But if your story has a number of characters, how do you keep straight what they all look like, how do you keep them all from blending in?

Nicholas Hoult,
photo courtesy of fanpop.

Here’s a partial sample of Dalen’s bio:                                                                                                              

-19 yo

-6 ft

-hazel eyes

-poisoner

-adept at biology, chemistry, botany

-Earth gypsy

-cool, detached, precise

-sole support for mother Sarita, sister Jenica, and mentor Myca

-loves gletoid legs (large, prolific insect- tastes like chicken!)

A list requires time to sort through and when I’m in the middle of writing a complex scene, taking time to read several pages can ruin the flow—whereas I can take a quick peek at the face without interrupting my typing. When deadlines and fast flowing thoughts are chasing me, anything that helps me stay in the groove works for me.

So, interesting, Charlotte! I used to be the opposite. For my first several manuscripts, I never made character lists or bios (still don't), and purposefully didn't want to look at a photo, especially of a famous person, and equate them -- fictional and non-fictional -- in my brain. I wanted to "see" the character in my mind and not have them look like anyone else in my head. Much the same reason I still don't like when they put a photograph of a character on the cover... I don't want to tell the reader how the character looks so much as let the character look to them however he or she feels through the writing and story.

THEN, in the early revisions of "Frankie Sky" (now, THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO), I got stuck... I felt like Francesca wasn't coming to life in my brain or on the page. I suddenly felt the need to "see" her externally, to make her feel alive. 

I googled photos for days... typing things like "16-yr old girl, looks young, straight hair, thick eyebrows, plain but pretty," into the search bar. Until I came up with this photo... 

**SPOILER ALERT** for those who have not yet read THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, scroll down fast or cover the screen if you don't want "my" vision of Francesca in your brain.

*** DOUBLE EDITED ALERT*** You snooze, you lose. I'm pulling the photo down to protect the innocent... ;) I warned you earlier...

Anyway, the minute I came across the photo, I knew. It was her, my Francesca, right down to her soulful penetrating eyes.    

Using the photo, I went back and rewrote her. Her dialogue came more clearly. Her relationships came more clearly. Her desires and fears too. I've done the same again for the MC, Kyle, in the WIP I've been working on this year. It really helps me now a lot to let myself find that doppelganger to the character in my story. 

So, here we go! Let's share more about our characters (or feel free to post any excerpt you're wanted some feedback on) in the comments!. And, please remember the RULES. And to check out a copy of Blonde Ops! 

And, now, for feedbacking, here's Charlotte's excerpt from her WIP, Lethal Dose:

Dalen tried to stay as unobtrusive as possible; just a slum rat scouring the marketplace looking for a dropped coin, a lost scarf, a discarded piece of junk that might be useful.

            That’s when he saw the Lexian. His white hair, long ears and pupil-less eyes confirmed his species although he was rather short; about six and a half feet by Earthling standards. His blue-tinged skin was less common than Dalen’s golden. Curious, Dalen inched closer to him and the Garans he was talking with, to eavesdrop.

The Lexian was trying to work a deal to sell some gold uranium alloy, one of the rarest elements in the universe. Even at fourteen, Dalen seriously doubted the Lexian had it. Just a whisper of someone having the stuff would bring not only thieves and cutthroats, but Assassins from the Guild. Dalen wondered how the Lexian could be that stupid to be so obvious—and even stupider for trying to deal with the Garans. They were cold-blooded, reptilian, and lethal not only because of their razor sharp claws but because they were smart—and untrustworthy. The greedy little bastards were always trying to haggle every deal that left the other party screwed. Even a nobody Earthling like Dalen knew they were best avoided.

            The Lexian was trying to get one of the Garans to shake on the deal when Dalen saw the other pour something from a liquid nitrogen-cooled container into the Lexian’s drink.

Poison.          

            He kept silent. Wasn’t any of his business.

            Yet.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO- Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman)

As some of you know, THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, my second novel for young adults comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (sorry, you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all be coincidences, but maybe are, “something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than just coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work, or that the soul and/or reincarnation actually exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you, the reader, to answer the question, “Random or something magical at work?” 

- gae

Today, I have the lovely Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman,
co-authors of the Sirenz Series including the forthcoming Blonde Ops,

each with her own intriguing story. . .

Author Charlotte Bennardo

Here's Charlotte's story about a special old tool box:

The battered red metal box was stuffed with the odd assortment of tools; some rusted, others part of a set, its siblings long since lost. All were a testament to my father’s life—a vacuum salesman, a builder of the Lunar Module during the Apollo years, a carpenter—and a one-time race car driver and mechanic. When he died, my father left the tools to my brother, a NASCAR mechanic.

But Bill didn’t want them, he had perfectly matched sets of shiny, well cared for tools. And the drawers were jammed from the screwdrivers, wrenches, and pliers bouncing around as the box was driven to my home. All too young to remember their grandfather before he died, none of his three grandsons wanted them either. So they sat in a corner of my garage, where occasionally I’d borrow one for some project, thinking fondly of times spent watching my father fix cars or stuck doors or plugged drains.

One May, my oldest son announced he wasn’t going back to college; his first year had been a disaster. What he really wanted to do, but had never revealed to us, was be a mechanic, like his uncle—and his grandfather. I like to think that my dad passed on his passion for cars and mechanics, and through my son, a small piece of him is reincarnated.
- Charlotte

Author Natalie Zaman (I want her hair!)

And, here's Natalie's, about a prescient drawing and a visitor in the night. . .

I knew the voice on the other end of the line. There was no mistaking it, despite the years that lay between that moment and the last time I’d heard it.

“Hi, Dad.”

When I hung up the phone, I could barely remember the conversation. I’d talked to someone who’d come back from the dead; I’d not seen the body, but I’d accepted it, and time had sealed that certainty with a tough scar over my heart. I grappled with myself about staying in touch. Dad’s family had always been a mystery, names without faces, some faces like mine—but they were strangers to me, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to open up that old wound.

Then I had a dream—or more accurately, I saw something. I was awoken by a crunching noise, like someone was walking over ice-crusted snow. When I opened my eyes, I found a small figure standing next to my bed. It was a woman, wearing a distinct, double breasted coat, and a hat with a narrow brim and high crown. I couldn’t see her face. It was as if she was made of powder, all chalky white lines. I stared for a second or two. Yes, I was awake. AND SOMEONE WAS STANDING NEXT TO MY BED. I remember gasping—in surprise, not fear—and then it faded. I recalled the shape long enough to draw it badly in my journal:  

I’d never had a visit like that before, where I’d actually saw a solid shape—and I never have since. The visitor strengthened my resolve. I called my Dad again, and eventually his sister, my Aunt Barbara who sent me an email with family photos. When I saw one labeled “Great Aunt Hattie” I almost fell off my chair. 

My drawing next to Aunt Hattie.

Apparently, she wanted me to stay in touch.

-Natalie

Please check out all of Charlotte and Natalie's books, and don't forget to pick up your copy of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO. And if you'd like to, please share your own "karma or coincidence" story in the comments!