AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Irene Latham

Irene Latham is the author of LEAVING GEE’S BEND a MG historical novel to be released by G.P. Putnam’s Sons on January 7, 2010.

Ludelphia Bennett, a determined, ten-year-old African American girl in 1932 Gee’s Bend, Alabama, leaves home in an effort to find medical help for her sick mother, and she recounts her ensuing adventures in a quilt she is making.

THE MAGIC 8

 Where authors answer eight of life’s most important (and magical) questions.
Uh huh.

1.      Mindi Scott:  At age eight, what did you want to be when you grew up?  And at age eighteen?  And while you’re at it, what about at age twenty-eight?

Irene Latham:  8:  According to my Dr. Seuss’s MY BOOK ABOUT ME, I wanted to be a mother, veterinarian, writer and farmer.  18:  a social worker specializing in foster care and adoption AND mother, writer, farmer.  28:  a poet and novelist, mother (for the third time!), and I was pretty much over the farmer bit, although I still LOVE fresh vegetables… especially if someone else has done all the backbreaking work. J

 2.      MS:  Which Breakfast-Club-style label would have best fit your teenage self?  (Clever Examples:  The Bad Ass, The Athlete, The Hottie, The Dork, The Genius, The Psycho, The Social Butterfly, The Band Geek, The Drama Queen/King, The I Wish I Were a Vampire, The Entirely Something Else.) 

IL:  The Sweet One

3.      MS:  What are some of your superstitions and/or phobias?

IL:  I’m not a big fan of driving over bridges.  I have this recurring nightmare of being in a car that goes off a bridge into water, and I can’t get out of the car.  Worse, I can’t get my KIDS out of the car.  (This doesn’t mean I don’t go over bridges, but I am certainly hyper-aware of them.)

4.      MS:  Without giving away too much from your book, which character or scene are you the most pleased about having created, and why?

IL:  I love Ludelphia so much – I wish she existed in real life.  She inspires such courage and delight… I would take her with me everywhere.

 
5.      MS:  Was there any certain music that inspired you while you were writing this book, or is there a song that could serve as your protagonist’s theme song? 

 IL:  You know the theme song in the movie FORREST GUMP?  That is so Ludelphia.

 
6.      MS:  What’s up next for you as a writer? 

IL:  I’m working on another historical midgrade in which two girls escape the 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelee and a contemporary midgrade about a boy who lives at a zoo and wants more than anything to escape.

 
7.      MS:  And, now, the most important question of all:  Beatles or Elvis?  Please support your answer.  ;-) 

IL:  Elvis all the way.  Southern boys will always have a very special place in my heart.

 
8.      MS:  Okay, your turn.  Do you have a question you’d like me to ask my Magic 8-Ball on your behalf?  (I’m telling you, this thing is scarily accurate!  Well, except for when it’s lying.) 

 IL:  Do humans ever invent a way to teleport?  Because I really need that.  Like right now.

MS:  Thank you so much, Irene!

IL: Thanks, Mindi, for the Magic 8.  It’s been a lot of fun!   

To learn more about Irene Latham and LEAVING GEE’S BEND, check out http://www.irenelatham.com/

Anniversary Eve.

I talked about how great my agent is on Agent Appreciation Day recently, but today I wanted to write about what happened on January 5th and 6th of last year.  Tomorrow, January 6,  will be the one-year anniversary of me receiving the offer of representation from the agent who I would sign with six days later.  I know I've written about this in some detail before, but I found a note in my email that I thought would be fun to share to show how unexpected it really was for me.

On January 5, 2009, I received a text on my phone from   saying something like:  My agent read your partial and loved it!  He wants to know it it's okay to contact you directly.

I responded with:  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Or possibly something more detailed and/or dignified.)

A few minutes later, I got an email that said: 

Hi Mindi,

Phoebe Kitanidis passed your partial manuscript along right before the holidays, and I had a chance to sneak a peek. I’d love to take a look at the full. If you can send a copy along as an attachment, I’ll review promptly.

Best,

Jim

I turned to my co-worker and said, "Can you wait five minutes for me [before we leave to catch the bus]?  I need to email my manuscript to an agent.  Or maybe I should just wait until after I get home tonight to do it?"

She said, "It's fine if you want to send it now.  I can wait."

I composed a quick email and attached the manuscript.  My note said simply: 

Hi Jim,

 

I am delighted to receive your note, and have attached the full manuscript as you requested.

 

Thank you so much for your interest in my project.

 

Best,

 

Mindi Scott

I got home from work after 8pm that night, stayed up for hours Google-stalking Jim, and decided that there was no way he was going to like my book. 

The next morning, I got up, ready to work on writing!  But first, at 9:11am, I sent a "Happy New Year" email to my MB instructor that said this (among other things):

My writing break is officially over as of this morning!  The last two weeks have actually been kind of exciting in regards to Seth's story (which I'm currently calling "Scratching at the 8-Ball.")  I was feeling very discouraged (as you know!), so I spent some time doing revisions that I've been pondering for a few months. (Yes, during my so-called writing break.  But it only took two days.)  Then I sent out a few more queries in a last-ditch effort to get this manuscript out of my mind and to tell myself I did everything I could do with it. 

[Certain Agent's] assistant read the partial within a day, requested the full, got back to me saying she liked it and was passing it on to [Agent].  Days later, she got back to me saying that [Agent] liked it very much -- especially Seth's voice -- and had some revision notes for me if I am amenable.  This is my first ever revision request!  [Agent] is going to be out of town most of January, so she said she'd like to see a revision when she gets back, if possible.  So, I'll be working on that this month!

Also, a writer friend passed on my revised partial to her agent about a week ago.  He wrote to me yesterday requesting the full.  I guess this story isn't dead just yet! 

About four hours after sending that email, I got The Call.

(And, this isn't exactly the point of this story, but about four months after that, I got a different call in which I learned that my former instructor to whom I'd sent the above email was going to be my editor!)

In the movie, LOVE ACTUALLY, there are various stories that all interlock in some way.  My favorite of all of those is that of Jamie and Aurelia.  Without giving too much away for those of you who haven't seen it yet (but who are on your way to get it right this very second, yes?), I'll just say that she's living her life, doing her regular thing when he does something  unexpected.  I tear up every single time I see the surprise on her face.  I think it's because I love the idea that something great and wonderful can happen and change your life when you're just expecting the ordinary.  

That's why getting Jim's call is one of my favorite things that's ever happened to me.  It changed everything, but I hadn't seen it coming.

All right.  I suppose that's enough sappy stories about my agent for a while!  I just didn't want to let this week pass without posting about it.  :-)

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Lindsay Eland

Lindsay Eland is the author of SCONES AND SENSIBILITY, a humorous middle grade novel released by Egmont-USA on December 22, 2009.
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Seek tirelessly and you shall not find a contemporary heroine of middle-grade literature as refined and romantic as Miss Polly Madassa. Still swooning over the romantic conclusions of Pride & Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables, twelve-year-old Polly decides her purpose in life: helping along lonely hearts in search of love. Polly's only task this summer is to make deliveries for her parents' bakery, leaving ample time for this young cupid to find hearts to mend--beginning with the kite-store owner, Mr. Nightquist, who will pair perfectly with Miss Wiskerton (the unfairly labeled town curmudgeon). Polly's best friend Fran Fisk is in desperate need of a mother ever since hers ran off with a man she met on the Internet; Polly must find a match for Mr. Fisk. And while she's at it, it wouldn't hurt to find Clementine, Polly's teenaged sister, a beau worthy of her (so she can shed that brute, Clint). Polly's plans are in full swing, so she definitely cannot be bothered by the advances of classmate Brad Barker.

But maybe Polly should have turned her attention to Miss Austen's Emma next, because she quickly learns the pitfalls of playing matchmaker. How will Polly patch up her own relationships, while ensuring that destined love can take its course?

  THE MAGIC 8

Where authors answer eight of life’s most important (and magical) questions.
Uh huh.

1.     Mindi Scott:  At age eight, what did you want to be when you grew up?  And at age eighteen? 

Lindsay Eland: When I was eight, I actually wanted to be a singer…oh yeah, baby. My sisters and I would put on performances for the neighborhood with our tennis racket guitars, and my best friend and I were often heard writing our own songs and recording them onto a tape.

 Eighteen…hmmm…this was the age that I probably changed what I wanted to be the most. I wanted to be an actress, a singer, a dancer, a nurse, a dental hygenist (my dad’s a dentist), and an elementary teacher all within my senior year of high school.

2.      MS:  Which Breakfast-Club-style label would have best fit your teenage self?  (Clever Examples:  The Bad Ass, The Athlete, The Hottie, The Dork, The Genius, The Psycho, The Social Butterfly, The Band Geek, The Drama Queen/King, The I Wish I Were a Vampire, The Entirely Something Else.)

LE:  Hmm…I’d say The Social Butterfly, though I could never pop my gum quite as nicely as Molly Ringwald…and I definitely liked the “bad boy.”

3.      MS:  What are some of your superstitions and/or phobias?  

LE:  I actually don’t have any superstitions, though I do have a phobia of spiders, heights, being stranded in the ocean, and I hate complete darkness…so you would never, ever find me on one of those shows where you have to eat spiders, and then bungee jump into the ocean in the complete darkness.

4.      MS:  Without giving away too much from your book, which character or scene are you the most pleased about having created, and why? 

LE:  I really do love my main character Polly. She makes me laugh out loud and is so extreme in every way that I love. I actually wish I could act and talk and dress like she does…so basically, I wish that I was born in the Regency era just like she wishes.

5.     MS:  Was there any certain music that inspired you while you were writing this book, or is there a song that could serve as your protagonist’s theme song?

 LE:  I would say the soundtrack for Polly would be from the new Pride and Prejudice movie. Very elegant, classical, and romantic.

 
6.     MS:   What’s up next for you as a writer?

LE:  I’m continuing to write, write, write, and read as much as I can get my hands on. I always have ideas stirring or waiting in the wings, so when I finish with one manuscript, I jump right into the next.

7.    MS:  And, now, the most important question of all:  Beatles or Elvis?  Please support your answer.  ;-)

LE:  Most definitely The Beatles! My dad is a HUGE fan, so I grew up listening to them in our station wagon crooning to everything from Help! to Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and Norwegian Wood. Elvis is handsome, but the Englishman have my heart!

8.     MS:  Okay, your turn.  Do you have a question you’d like me to ask my Magic 8-Ball on your behalf?  (I’m telling you, this thing is scarily accurate!  Well, except for when it’s lying.)

LE:  Hmm…will I star as Elizabeth Bennet (Robert Pattison being Mr. Darcy, of course) in the next remake of Pride and Prejudice and will he be as romantic as Colin Firth was?

 

(Oops.  Technical difficulties due to my camera being in another state and my phone being the only device available for this purpose.)

MS:  Thank you so much, Lindsay!

 
LE:  Thank you so very much for having me, Mindi!

For more information about Lindsay Eland and SCONES AND SENSIBILITY, check out www.lindsayeland.com

Harry & David has ruined me!

I have to say, I've never quite understood the appeal of Harry & David.  It's food.  And you can have it mailed to people.  And it's just kind of... weird.  Actually, the chocolate and bakery items I can understand.  Those are special treats.  But fruit.  Why?  I mean, sure, it's always nice to have some fresh fruit around.  But don't people just buy that stuff at the grocery store themselves?

In the past few years, I've had a few pieces of fruit from Harry & David gifts that have been mailed to our department in December:  some hard-as-rocks pear that I should have waited a week or more before eating, an orange.  Whatever.  

This year the gift-givers made a mistake and had the fruit sent to the clinic instead of the office.  There was no way to get the fruit downtown in time for anyone in our department to enjoy (everyone's taking off most of this week and next week).  So, I passed some around for our program participants, gave a small box to the custodian lady, and put together larger boxes for the health educator who taught last night and for me.

My hopes were not high, but hey!  Free fruit, right?  

I have to say, though, the Red Delicious apple I ate last night was actually red and delicious.  And the Texas grapefruit I had just now was the best grapefruit I've ever tasted in my life.  I'm not sure how or why this is possible, but wow!  I'm not sure I want to eat another grapefruit ever again because it just won't compare.

Books where X number of things happen in X amount of time.

I'm working on a writing project that I've had set aside for quite a while.  (Thirteen months, actually.)  I have a certain amount of time to get a certain amount done with it. 

Likewise, my character will have a certain amount of time to accomplish a certain number of things.  That's the hook, right there.  Except it is much more specific than all that. 

Coming back to this project now, I've been trying to decide how I want to approach this list thingy moving forward.  Frustration over the hook was part of what led me to set it aside in the first place, you see.  Mostly by coincidence, I just finished reading TWENTY BOY SUMMER by Sarah Ockler and 30 GUYS IN 30 DAYS by Micol Ostow.  It's been interesting observing how a hook of this sort can drive a story without entirely being the story.  Which is exactly what I've always wanted to accomplish with mine.

Can you think of any more examples I can check out for new perspectives?  I get the impression that Lauren Barnholdt's ONE NIGHT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING is along these lines, too, but alas, it isn't out yet!