Author of award-winning, adventurous realistic and historical fiction

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New Year, Random News

Jan 9, 2015 | , , , , , , , ,

I’m taking a break right now from revising–although one could argue that a break would be better spent not writing in another form, right? After this post, I’ll find something good to watch on my Netflix queue. But first, a two bits of news:

Scholastic Scope published my Jackie Mitchell short story in its January 2015 issue–retitled as”Girls Can’t Play!” If your school or library has a subscription, check it out.

When Audrey Met Alice got a Recommended review in the November/December issue of Library Media Connection! Here’s an excerpt: “Becoming empowered and independent with the help of Alice’s journal, Audrey creates a bit of mischief and mayhem of her own. Featuring Alice Roosevelt’s fictional journal entries throughout the story supplies an interesting comparison of Alice’s historical time period versus Audrey’s. Readers will enjoy Alice’s antics and cheer for Audrey’s transformation.”–Nick Petrosino, District Library Coordinator, Ravenna (Ohio) School District

Next week I’ll be trading revising under blankets for revising on a beach towel: I’m visiting family in Florida for the week. I do think it might help my work on this summer-set book to be in a place above freezing–descriptions of muggy days and trips to the beach are hard to visualize when it’s 9 degrees outside! It’s a working vacation, but I’m factoring in plenty of time for fun.

Hope you are staying warm with hot tea and a good book somewhere!

Panels and Pitchers

Oct 15, 2014 | , , , , , , ,

I’m taking a break from writing next week for a fun panel at The Voracious Reader in Larchmont, NY with author friends Michelle Schusterman, Laura Marx Fitzgerald, Lauren Magaziner, and Tara Dairman!

Larchmont flyer copy

There will be candy. And author dares!

I’m also excited that my historical short story “Thatagirl!” is in this month’s Scholastic Storyworks! If you are a subscriber, you can check it out here: http://storyworks.scholastic.com/issues/11_01_14 Here’s a peek at the art and layout:

photo 12.09.41 PM

It tells about the amazing baseball game in which Jackie Mitchell, a seventeen-year-old girl pitcher, struck out Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Yes, that really happened!

Okay, back to work. Last weekend I worked my way through a plot riddle–hooray!–and now I am happily back to muddling through this draft.

Vegas Bound!

Jun 27, 2014 | , , , , , , , , ,

I’m off for a week of travel: First to Las Vegas for the ALA Annual Conference, then to Wisconsin to relax and spend time with family–and also visit a favorite indie bookstore, Mystery to Me.

If you’re at ALA, please come say hi when I’m signing in the Sourcebooks booth on Sunday, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Here’s more info on that.

AC14_ImAttending

Or check out the Class of 2K14’s super fun trivia event, with Jay Asher and Josephine Angelini. My suitcase is full of prizes! Our Trivia Showdown is on Sunday from 11:00-12:30, and here’s more info on that.

And, finally, a link to the Events page for Mystery to Me. I’ll be there on Wednesday, July 2, from 6:00-7:00 p.m.

I’ll have lots of pictures (and words) about ALA once I’m back. Until then, have a great Fourth of July!

New Book News!

Jun 12, 2014 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So you might have seen this in Publishers Weekly this afternoon (click to make big!):

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That’s right! I* sold my second book! The Summer of Lost and Found will be in bookstores in 2016. It’s full of everything I loved to read about as a middle-grader: history, mystery, beach towns, and ghost stories.

I’m so excited to be working with the uber talented Jordan Hamessley and everyone at Egmont to tell this story.  The way it feels when Jordan shares her editorial vision for your book can only be expressed with a Liz Lemon GIF:

 

Liz Lemon, 30 Rock, self high five gif

 

I’ll leave you with a picture of the beach at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, on Roanoke Island. I was there doing research while this deal was coming together, and while a trip to see such a beautiful and historic place would always be special, this serendipitous timing made it even more so.

 

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*And by “I,” I do mean my fantastic agent, Suzie Townsend. I’m incredibly thankful to her for being such a great advocate for my writing, and to everyone at New Leaf Literary for their amazing support.

ETA: The announcement also ran in the June 13th Publishers Marketplace deal report (you can click to make big). Hooray!

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Hello, Wisconsin!

Feb 27, 2014 | , , , , ,

I’m so excited to head back to my hometown tonight for a few book events.

If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be doing my first two school visits tomorrow. I’ve got my powerpoint and my stickers ready. 🙂

Then, on Saturday at 1:00 pm, I’ll be signing books at the Barnes and Noble at West Towne in Madison. Event details here: B&N Author Events: When Audrey Met Alice

On Sunday at 3:00 pm, I’ll be part of a fun historical MG panel with fellow Class of 2K14 author Gayle Rosengren and Wendy McClure at Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee. More info about that is here: Boswell Book Company: Upcoming Events

Hope to see you there!

Cover Reveal!

Oct 7, 2013 | , , , , , , , , , ,

That’s right, When Audrey Met Alice has a cover!

You can head over to Mundie Kids and check it out. We’re also sharing the ARC cover and details about the process behind creating the perfect cover for Audrey and Alice’s story.

Here’s the link: http://mundiekids.blogspot.com/2013/10/when-audrey-met-alice-by-rebecca.html

Elizabeth Connor, the incredibly talented designer, and the whole Sourcebooks team created what I think is the perfect image for this story. It’s an understatement to say that I’m thrilled with it.

Thanks to Katie at Mundie Kids for her help and enthusiasm with my reveal! It’s so fun to get to share this.

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?

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