Author of award-winning, adventurous realistic and historical fiction

Adventures in Bloggysitting

What’s Up Wednesday, 11/13

Nov 13, 2013 | , , , ,

 

WUWAutumn

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme that helps readers and writers touch base with blog friends. If you’d like to join in, you can find the link widget on Jaime’s and Erin’s blog posts. I love this idea because it gives a structured, easy way for me to keep up with blogging. Also, the buttons are cute. Thanks for the idea, Jaime and Erin! 

What I’m Reading 
I just finished two great MG reads, Rachel Searles’s The Lost Planet and Jane Kelley’s The Desperate Adventures of Zeno & Alya. Now I’m reading South of Superior–I loved the author’s MG book, Prairie Evers, so I hope I’ll love this, too!

What I’m Writing   
See yesterday’s post about the project I’m kinda sorta NaNoing.

What Inspires Me Right Now   
This post from Natalia Sylvester on revising her approach to NaNo, and this one from Leila Austin at YA Highway about what isn’t failure. They’re great perspective for the craziness that is writing in November.

I was also super excited to read the Kirkus review for my friend Michelle’s debut, I Heart Band. They loved it!

What Else I’ve Been Up To 
Well, mostly writing and working. But I’m excited to head back to the Midwest to meet my new nephew this weekend.

So what have you been up to lately?

 

What’s Up Wednesday 10/16

Oct 16, 2013 | , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

WUWAutumn

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme that helps readers and writers touch base with blog friends. If you’d like to join in, you can find the link widget on Jaime’s and Erin’s blog posts. I love this idea because it gives a structured, easy way for me to keep up with blogging. Also, the buttons are cute. Thanks for the idea, Jaime and Erin!

What I’m Reading 
Last week I read Just One Year in just one day. I loved getting to see the other side of the story; I’ll say nothing else because I don’t want to spoil anything. Then I lucked into an ARC of Nikki Loftin’s Nightingale’s Nest. It’s beautiful and unique and haunting, and I’m savoring every word.

What I’m Writing   
Still doing odds and ends for the business side of writing. When I’m not doing that, I am playing around with a new idea. This is a project I’d maybe like to work on for NaNo in some form. I guess for now I’m treating it more like a writing exercise and less like a WIP, if that makes sense. Sometimes you need space to play with words in order to work with them.

What Inspires Me Right Now   
I had the day off on Monday, so I went up to the Bronx Zoo. A lot of little kids were running around in their adorable Halloween costumes.  Dime-store capes and some face paint are all it takes to let them create adventures for themselves.  It’s always fun to see children being imaginative and playful, and I find the creativity surrounding Halloween really inspiring–that’s probably why it’s one of my favorite holidays. (Also the candy. Mmm, candy. I think I might actually get trick-or-treaters this year, so I have an excuse to stock up.)

What Else I’ve Been Up To
Last Friday I went to Alison Cherry’s launch party for her debut, Red! It was at the lovely BookCourt in Brooklyn, and it was a fabulous time.

And in other news, there’s a Goodreads ARC giveaway for When Audrey Met Alice going on right now. You can sign up here!

So what have you been up to lately?

 

Hello, hello!

Oct 3, 2013 | , , , , , , , , ,


Hi! You made it over here to my blog’s new home.

I figured now would be a great time to mention how wonderful working with Biondo Studio has been. I was pretty scared about leaving my comfortable Blogger home and venturing into the world of WordPress and a static website. For a while, I researched web designers and drooled over other authors’ websites. It didn’t take that long of a while before I realized that my favorite sites were always created by–you guessed it–Biondo Studio. So I sent them an email, and here we are now, at my shiny new website, which I love.

Denise and John at Biondo Studio are awesome. When we first started discussing what I wanted my site to look like, I think it sounded like I was creating some kind of bizarre word-association poem: “Doughnuts. I love the beach. Orange cats are my favorite. I write historical and contemporary fiction. I live in NYC. Did I mention that I love doughnuts?” If had made a homepage from that, it would look like this:

bad art

But Denise and John took that jumble and made something perfect (and coherent) (and really cute). I hadn’t really known how to communicate what I wanted, but it didn’t matter: Biondo Studio has design ESP.

From there, it was smooth sailing. Denise and John were patient when it took me approximately twenty-seven tries to figure out a) who I had registered by domain with, and b) how to access it.  And they didn’t bat an eye when in true production-editor form, I kept finding the tiniest things to tweak, and tweak, and tweak.

So if you find yourself wanting a new website or a blog tuneup, I can’t recommend them highly enough. I’m grateful and happy that they created such a nice home for me online, and that they made the process so easy for someone as scattered and web-designophobic as me!

 

Blog Remodel

Sep 12, 2013 | , , , , ,

Considering I have been kind of lax about blogging lately (revisions! end of summer! lots of work at work! travel! an overwhelming desire to watch television and eat pizza!), I doubt many noticed yesterday that my blog/site had a little change-up.
www.rebeccabehrens.com will soon be my shiny new website, as designed by Biondo Studio. (Expect a really gushing testimonial about how great Denise and John at Biondo are, soon.) In the meantime, my blog is going to be back at its weird old blogspot address, vicariousreader.blogspot.com. Once all the web design stuff is done, and I have figured out how to use WordPress, my blog will be found within my website. I am not smart enough about web design and the Internets to explain more of what we are doing in terms of the domain transfer, existing followers, etc., but the long-short of it is that you can still follow me here for now, and soon I’ll see you at my shiny new site!

In the meantime, how are you?

Around the Web

Sep 2, 2013 | , , , , ,

Happy Labor Day! I’m back from a trip to the Midwest and taking the day *off* before more revising starts tomorrow.

But in the meantime, I have two posts elsewhere online:

A OneFour Kid Lit interview with YA author (and agentmate) Sara Polsky about her debut, THIS IS HOW I FIND HER. It’s out now!

And Mad for Middle Grade’s September group post, on our favorite elements of writing MG. Mine is friendship.

Back to reading SECOND CHANCE SUMMER for me!

Class of 2K14 Launch!

Jul 1, 2013 | , , , , , ,

I’m so excited to announce that I’m part of the Class of 2K14, and we’re launching our website today!

We’re a group of 20 authors debuting in middle grade and young adult fiction in 2014. We’re diverse, with members across the country (and one in the UK!) and novels ranging from historical to sci-fi. Like the other classes before us (2K7 through 2K13), we’re working together to share our books with booksellers, teachers, librarians, and readers.

It’s already been a wonderful experience to get to know the nineteen other authors in the group, and I’m looking forward to sharing the debut experience with the other authors.

To celebrate our shiny new website, we’re giving away a $100 e-gift certificate to the book retailer of the winner’s choice (including indie booksellers!). To enter, head over to the website:

Class of 2K14 Launch Giveaway

MMGM: Every Day After

Jun 10, 2013 | , , , , , , , ,

One of the many fun things about being part of OneFour KidLit is getting to interview debut 2013 authors about their great new books. Tomorrow, my interview with Laura Golden, author of Every Day After, will be up on the OneFour blog. But I couldn’t wait until then to post about this historical MG gem. Here’s a little about the book, from Goodreads:

Trouble has rained down
on Lizzie Hawkins. Her daddy has deserted the family, her mama is
silent with sadness, and the bank is after their house.
Daddy
always said Lizzie was born to succeed, but right now she can’t even
hold on to her top grades or her best friend, Ben. Bratty newcomer Erin
Sawyer has weaseled both away from Lizzie, but Erin won’t be satisfied
until Lizzie is out of her hair for good, packed off straight to the
nearest orphanage.

Still, Lizzie refuses to lose what’s left of
her family. With the bank deadline fast approaching, Erin causing strife
at every turn, and Mama and Ben slipping away from her, Lizzie finds
comfort writing in her journal and looking at Daddy’s face in the
heirloom locket he left her. She’s keeping her head high and holding
onto hope that Daddy returns on her twelfth birthday. Still, she can’t
help wondering: Why did Daddy have to leave? And can I save us if he
doesn’t come home?

Times may be tough in Bittersweet, Alabama,
but the unsinkable Lizzie Hawkins will inspire readers with her
resilience and determination.

Laura kindly lent an ARC to me so I could read Every Day After in advance of our interview–although I plan to buy a copy once it hits shelves, because this is one of those marvelous MG books that will be an instant classic. The character development is rich, the setting is so real that you start to feel like you have GooGoo Clusters stuck in your teeth (a candy that Lizzie longs for in the book), and the themes and message are timeless. It really struck me, while reading, how relevant a story about a young girl staying strong in the face of economic troubles is today. Lizzie’s determination and strength are a model to anyone, of any age, who is struggling.
But this is also a great MG story about community, friendship, and finding yourself, one with plenty of sweet humor. I highly recommend that tomorrow, you pick up a copy of Every Day After.

To see what other marvelous middle-grade books readers and writers are blogging about today, check out Shannon Whitney Messenger’s blog for the MMGM links!

Mad for MG: Why Write MG?

Jun 3, 2013 | , , , , , ,

A question I get asked a lot is why I write MG. The shortest answer is: I like it. For a slightly longer but still not comprehensive answer, check out the Mad for MG feature at the OneFour Kid Lit blog today, in which all of us ’14-debut MG writers talk about why we’ve found a home in this category. Also, we have pictures. (Spoiler alert: Mine is not from when I was a middle-grader. I swear that’s not to spare myself from having photographic evidence of my awkward phase on the Internet, but just because I am old enough that all middle-school pictures of me are in albums and not on my computer.)

Go here
for the post:

Mad for Middle Grade: Why MG?

How was your weekend?

You’re (Not) Doing It Wrong

May 28, 2013 | , , , , , , , ,

This rambling post is one I’d been meaning to write for a while, and then I read Katy Upperman’s fabulous post On Insanity last week,* which made me want to post it even more. One of the hardest things about being a writer is quashing the impulse to compare your trajectory with everyone else’s. Or what you think everyone else’s is. And on social media, we typically see mostly the big milestones that people reach: finishing a draft, getting an agent, winning a contest, selling a book. There’s a constant chanting of good news and big news for other people through blogs and Twitter and Tumblr. Well, yay! That is awesome. Good news for one is sort of good news for all, because it means that our industry is thriving and authors are creating and readers are buying. But the steady stream of “NEWS!” also presents an illusion, one that things are happening faster, or easier, or more frequently for other people.

The thing that I’m feeling all compare-y about lately is speed, or the lack thereof (in terms of how quickly I can finish a project). The more I tune into Twitter, the more I start to think that everyone else is writing perfect first drafts in four weeks, and still blogging, tweeting, and tumblring regularly. Meanwhile I am revising . . . and revising . . . and revising the same old WIPs. Which has been driving me slightly nuts. Honestly, I am kind of a slow writer, and I’m not a full-time one. That’s right–I know that the limitations on my writing speed are understandable–it’s not like I’m slow because I keep choosing to binge-watch Nashville instead of revise a chapter.** I get that I should feel good about myself for the solid progress I am making, at a pace that works for me. The fact that I’m steadily working and meeting actual deadlines is what’s important, right? Sure. But when I dip into my Twitter feed and the blogosphere, I kind of lose that perspective. I find myself thinking, You’re doing it wrong, slowpoke.

Writing’s not easy, and everyone’s struggling with something. Comparison is an unnecessary problem, but a difficult one to fix. Is the solution to avoid social media? I don’t think so: It can be a great, beneficial, stimulating, supportive place. If there’s a solution, I think it’s to remind ourselves that there is no right way to do this–write, tell stories, create. Or, if there is a “right” way, it is whichever way is working for you. Slow and steady can win the race. So can fast and frenzied. I love this post from The Kindness Project on making time, and this line stuck with me: “Kindness, like most things, starts with yourself.” Letting go of the need to compare–that’s also an act of kindness toward yourself.

From now on, I’ll ask myself: Are you doing what works for you, right now (while still keeping yourself accountable)?
Great. Then you’re not doing it wrong.

*Uh, at the beginning of May, actually. See? I am slow (and that’s . . . okay).
**Not that there is anything wrong with binge-watching TV once in a while, or specifically watching Nashville, which is a delightful show. Please do not tell me what happened in the finale because I haven’t watched it yet. 🙂

Introducing Mad for MG!

Apr 1, 2013 | , , , , , , ,

First things first: I survived my move, and so did all of my books! Phew. Now if only I could find where I packed my shoes and my chargers in this mess . . .

Anyway, I’m excited that today is the inaugural MG Monday post for mad for Middle Grade, a group of OneFour Kid Lit-ters. On the first Monday of every month, we’re going to be blogging about all things middle grade. Today, we’re introducing ourselves by sharing our favorite MG characters. You probably won’t be surprised about mine, since I’ve posted about the book seventy-billion times before. Go here for the post:

Mad for Middle Grade: It’s All About Character!

How was your weekend?

MMGM: Small Medium at Large

Feb 25, 2013 | , , , , ,

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday is hosted every Monday by Shannon Messenger. Today I want to talk about Joanne Levy’s great MG, Small Medium at Large.

From the publisher (Bloomsbury):
After she’s hit by
lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new
talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her
overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an
approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading
the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through
seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and
possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel.

Possibly my favorite type of middle-grade book blends realistic characters, settings, and experiences with just a touch of something magical–an element beyond suspension of disbelief (like a main character who becomes world-famous for bird calls) but less than true magical realism or fantasy (like a main character who discovers she can fly). Ghosts and light paranormal often hit this imagination sweet spot–or in the case of Small Medium at Large, a lightning-strike-induced ability to hear dead people.

Small Medium at Large is sweetly funny and highly relatable (ghostly voices aside). Who wouldn’t want to imagine a world in which those who have passed surround and support us through–particularly through the trials and tribulations of the seventh grade? From the clever title to poignant interactions with a variety of ghosts to Lilah’s witty voice, this was an absolutely charming book. Now that I’m done with it, I kind of want to dust off my Ouija board. 🙂

What MG have you read lately? 

MMGM: Sway

Feb 4, 2013 | , , , , ,

I’m really excited to join in the Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday fun, hosted every Monday by Shannon Messenger. Today I want to talk about Amber McRee Turner’s fantastic debut, Sway.

From the publisher (Disney*Hyperion):

For four long months,
ten-year-old Cass has been dreaming of the day her mom, Toodi, will come
home. But when Toodi’s welcome back party takes a turn for the
disastrous, Cass finds herself stuck alone with her dull-as-dirt dad,
who insists that they set off for the summer on a mysterious
adventure—just the two of them.


It turns out Cass’s dad has some
big-time surprises up his sleeve. Once they hit the road in an old RV
named The Roast, he introduces her to the amazing power of “Sway,” a
seemingly magical force that can bring inspiration and joy to people in
major need of help.


Adorable cover!
Cass can think of one particular person who could really use some Sway. If only she could track down Toodi, Cass knows
she could convince her mom to come home. But with the help of a little
home-spun magic, Cass realizes that the things she needs most have
always been within her reach.

Way back when I was a middle-grader, I read Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons, and I think part of me has been trying to recapture that reading experience ever since. Reading Sway, I finally did. Like Walk Two Moons, Sway is about a journey, both emotional and literal, in search of a mom and in search of something to believe in.

But I don’t mean to simply gush about Sway in terms of some similarities to one of my favorite books from my childhood. I loved Amber McRee’s limber use of language (reading this book, you’ll want to stop and read lines aloud to fully appreciate the wordplay), her richly drawn characters, and the playful humor that compliments the occasionally heartstrings-tugging plot. As someone who loves to read and write historical fiction, I loved the tidbits about historical figures worked into the story, too.

I can’t pick up a sliver of soap now without smiling and thinking of Cass.

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