Mundie Moms

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Harper Collins' Children's Awesome Adventures

Harper Collins is hosting an AWESOME Adventure in reading for some of their amazing middle school grade books. Come join the adventures! The authors and books featured are:

*Comic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
* A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whelan Turner
* The Shadow Project by Herbie Brennan


*The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood
*Max Cassidy (Escape from Shadow Island) by Paul Adam
*The Hidden Boy by Jon Berkeley
Be sure to visit Harper Collin's links below to:
Enter the weekly Sweepstakes-

Stay tuned to our Children's Book Review Blog for reviews and more information about these great books.

What I've Learned about Myself by Writing for Teens

My YA-Ego

(Like an alter ego. Only younger and hipper)

by Heidi R. Kling

Written as a guest post for my friends, The Mundie Moms

Subtitled: What I’ve learned about myself by writing for teens.


1. My name is Heidi and I write for teens. Not because I want to relive high school. This is a common misconception about YA authors. “Oh, you must have loved high school to be writing about it all the time.” Not really. Nor did I dislike it, either. I had an average high school experience. I wasn’t exceedingly talented or untalented, insanely popular or unpopular. I wasn’t homecoming queen, nor was my named burned into the grass with a not-nice-phrase after it. (That actually happened at my high school. Nice, huh?) But you get the point. What I LIKE about writing for teens is the age. My voice naturally flows from about a sixteen year olds mouth. But you won’t find many scenes set in a literal high school in my novels. There are none in SEA, and with the exception of one, none in my WIP. Lockers, detention, shrilling bells warning of tardy? No thanks. Been there, survived that.


2. I write for teens because I love re-experiencing that AGE. But this time as the puppet master. Bwahah! No I’m kidding. But it’s partially true. The average teen years are a time where the only thing that matters is YOU and your circle. You have no responsibilities other than surviving school, perhaps a part-time job to pay for car insurance, and your home life. (Admittedly, both are HUGE things to survive in the wrong circumstances, and believe me mine wasn’t a slice of coconut cream pie either) but I didn’t have to put food on my kids’ table 3x a day, wasn’t worried about taxes, or the economy…wasn’t up to my ears in dirty diapers or wondering ‘how can I have wrinkles and pimples at the same time?’ I was this angsty why didn’t that jerk ask me to Prom when he told so-in-so he was going to and I’d be holding out waiting for him? It’s all so blissfully self-obsessed. Such a great age to tap and cling onto. Emotions run in extremes and create the perfect spongy window into story arcs and most-importantly, allow for buckets of character development.


3. I’m obsessed with the ocean. I honestly didn’t realize this. Yes, my debut novel is called SEA but its set after the devastating tsunami of 2004 and is therefore appropriately titled. Sienna lives in a beach town and her Mom’s plane crashed into the sea. Just a coincidence for this one book, right? Nope. My second novel JADE is also set in a beach town, the witches and warlocks spent quite a bit of time in and near the sea…and honestly, it’s just like writing for teens, my stories just END UP by the ocean. Sand. Beach. Sun. I didn’t intend this to be a theme when I started writing. My inner self-analyst thinks it may be my subconscious wanting to live near the ocean again. Or maybe it’s the simple fact that I’m a Pisces by sign? What do you think? ;)


4. I like genuinely sweet boys. My male characters and love interests may have rough or cocky edges, but they are all soulful and amazing in their own right. (A lot like my husband and my best guy friends and my son!) I’m not sure if this will change down the road for me. But it is what it is. The soulful boys are my heroes every time.


5. I’m not going to write the same book over and over again. I know this works for a lot of people, but I can’t do it. I’d get too bored. I went from SEA, which is a literary romantic adventure to two different WIPS. One is called Headgear Girl and is a quirky, comedy about censorship and the ridiculous beauty standards we have in America. (It’s actually a lot like Glee, though I wrote it before the show aired. It does have a lot of scenes at school, but they’re all in the theatre so it doesn’t count.) The second was a fantasy about estranged witches and warlocks. JADE won out (because me, my agent and my editor were all equally excited about the fantasy) so Headgear is on hold for now, and yeah, I’m off on a whole new magical adventure! “So what’s up with your mix of italics and bold print and capitalization with these various titles? Are you going to address that neurosis?” Not today, folks, not today.


6. Verdict: I’ve learned so much from writing for teens—things that continue to enrich my real life. To feed me as a human being, a writer, a parent, a partner and a friend. I’m thrilled to be a part of this flourishing and enlightening genre.


So what have YOU learned about yourself from your writing?

Thanks for having me, Mundies! You guys rock.

For more about me and my books please visit: http://heidirkling.com

Twitter Tuesday - Lisa Schroeder


We were so excited when Lisa chatted with us last month and talked about her new book, It's Raining Cupcakes. I can't believe that the book is already, well almost, here.

Here's the synopsis from Lisa's site:

Twelve-year-old Isabel dreams of seeing the world but she’s never left Oregon. When her best friend, Sophie, tells her of a baking contest whose winners travel to New York City, she eagerly enters despite concerns about her mother, who is opening a cupcake bakery. Includes cupcake recipes!

The book is aimed at Middle Grade Readers, ages 9-12, and it comes out next week on March 9th. I'll be picking this one up and not just for the recipes but for Lisa's wonderful storytelling and always beautifully written characters. Oh yes, and my kids ought to enjoy it as well. Once I finish it, first.

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