nglock: Hello, have we started yet
ShirleyH: Hi! No, we haven't.
kate: so what are you reading?
ShirleyH: Saving Francesca
ShirleyH: And also looking for alaska
kate: I loved that one. How far are you? Do you like it?
kate: What is Looking for Alaska?(i liked Francesca)
ShirleyH: I'm only on about p 50. Like it so far
ShirleyH: Alaska is a ya about a boy going to boarding school. I am only about 20 pages into it.
ShirleyH: Hi Cathy
kate: Who wrote Looking for Alaska? I ve never heard of it.
Cathy: Hi, Shirley
ShirleyH: John Green. I don't think it's out yet. This is an arc
Cathy: Hi, Debby
ShirleyH: Hi Debby
kate: Has he written other YAs or is this his first?
DebbyG: Hi
DebbyG: I just ordered Saving Francesca on Amazon. I'm excited to read it. Heard great things about it.
nglock: Is Jonathan coming on tonight?
ShirleyH: This is his first
DebbyG: Also I ordered Tom Perotta's Little Children. Anyone read it?
kate: What is Little Children about?
Cathy: I read it, Debby--liked the first part but it didn't hold up for me.
DebbyG: suburban angst
DebbyG: uh oh, Cathy
Cathy: Hey, you might like it...
DebbyG: Seems like Looking for Alaska is getting a lot of buzz (she says jealously)
Cathy: When is your book due out, Debby?
DebbyG: April
DebbyG: Hi, Mary
Cathy: Hi, Mary
DebbyG: Is this Cathy A?
Cathy: Yep, Cathy A.
DebbyG: Do you have another book coming out?
Cathy: I'm almost ready to send a third draft to New York--after critique. I'm looking the draft over--nine more chapters to see to.
MaryP: Hi Debby! Hi Cathy!
DebbyG: Good!
MaryP: oh, I loved Saving Francesca. I'd put it in my top 5 YA books ever.
DebbyG: Wow!
kate: I agree. Saving Francesca is amazing.
kate: It started a bit slowly though
DebbyG: I've heard nothing but good things about that
Cathy: Say why, Mary.
kate: Have you read Looking for Alibrandi by the same author?
ShirleyH: I'm having a hard time getting into it
ShirleyH: I like it but I keep putting it down
MaryP: Yes, Kate, started a bit slowly for me too--actually the description didn't appeal to me at all--but it rose way above its "synopsis."
DebbyG: I'm reading Friday Night Lights (you know, the book the movie was based on). Very interesting. Remind me never to live in Odessa, TX
kate: Yes, it became so much more than i thought it would be
Cathy: I found it a quiet book that crept up on me. Not a page-turner, but something I enjoyed working at--with an overall satisfying effect.
Cathy: Francesca, that is.
DebbyG: Why did she take so long between books? Anyone know?
MaryP: No, I haven't read Alibrandi yet--but I sure plan to now. Cathy, one thing that was amazing to me was the dialogue. Very sharp--very revealing about relationships.
kate: I don't know, but I wish she didn't.
Cathy: Yes, in Francesca the people seemed absolutely real. I liked best the way the relationships between the boys and girls at school evolved.
MaryP: hmm, Debby, maybe "life" just got in the way.
MaryP: yes, very slow and organic. It felt so real.
kate: I liked that she slowly and believably became a person that she liked.
kate: I also liked her friends.
kate: I liked that they weren't what I expected.
Cathy: I appreciated that the teachers were so realistic--not saints or monsters. Flawed--seemed real.
MaryP: yes, Kate, and how she started out not liking them but they built their relationships
piece by piece.
Cathy: Debby, are you working on a second book--may I ask?
kate: and it was possible to understand where they(the parents) were coming from and still be frustrated with them
MaryP: Yes, Cathy! And I liked the mother relationship too. At first troubled but when her mother was down she became concerned and caring.
DebbyG: I'm sending the revision of my second book to my agent tomorrow. Thank G-d!
DebbyG: Also, I have a third one half drafted.
Cathy: Congrats! A moment I'm looking forward to.
MaryP: Fingers crossed that it's the last revision Debby! Congrats on finishing it!
DebbyG: A load off! This may be my sit-in-a-drawer book.
DebbyG: thank you.
DebbyG: Hi, Mar
Cathy: Hi, Mar
MarPerez: Hi, all!
DebbyG: Mar, I read that Steve Kruger book you recommended. I really enjoyed it. And, I cried.
MarPerez: Debby G, I just sent my revision off to my agent, too. Oh, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER (the Steve Kruger book). What's so amazing is it's not "my" kind of book.
Cathy: What is that one about, Mar?
DebbyG: Not really my kind of book either. I'm so NOT a baseball fan. But I really liked it.
DebbyG: It's all told in letters between a kid and a baseball player.
DebbyG: And it takes place in the thirties and forties, mostly in NY.
MarPerez: baseball and WW II. But it's fantastic. And it's about a semi-fatherless boy who develops a relationship with a baseball player. That and so much more. It's one of the few books I've read where I'm laughing & crying within seconds of each other.
Cathy: Hmm. Sounds good.
DebbyG: You should read Jaclyn Moriarty's books. Also epistolary. I love those.
Cathy: I read Feeling Sorry... and didn't get into it much. But I hear her latest is great.
DebbyG: The Year of Secret Assignments and Feeling Sorry for Celia.
MaryP: sounds good, Mar. It sounds like it is more about relationships than baseball.
kate: I liked Secret Assignments, but couldn't really get into Celia
DebbyG: Cathy, Feeling Sorry is one of my very favorite YA books.
kate: so give the new one a chance.
MaryP: I have Secret Assignments in my to be read stack. Just finished Gails book, Playing in Traffic. Wonderful!
Cathy: Really? I'm not sure why it didn't hit for me. I usually like "letter" books. I play to try Secret A.
DebbyG: I loved Shattering Glass
Cathy: Playing in Traffic is such a page-turner. Ouch. So sharp.
MaryP: Well, she's done it again in Traffic. Love the ending!
kate: I just finished HEart on my Sleeve which was a good 'letter' book.
MarPerez: I find that sometimes I have to be in the right mood for a book. And if I find the time to re-read it, I like it better the second time.
kate: I'm still waiting to get Playing in Traffic from my library.
Cathy: Me, too, Mary. So cinematic.
DebbyG: I should try that, Kate
Cathy: I liked Heart on My Sleeve a lot.
kate: I actually didn't like the main character much, but adored her sister.
kate: that's in Heart on My Sleeve.
DebbyG: Mar, so how is it to be a published author? Any surprises? Fan mail?
Cathy: The lead seemed a little snobby---I actually liked the singing would-be boyfriend better. But the form worked so well--page-turning.
MaryP: Is that Ellen W's book? I've heard really good things about it but haven't snagged it yet.
kate: I was skeptical of the email form, but ended up really liking it.
kate: Genevieve and Francesca are my two favorite characters this year.
Cathy: Yes--all in the form of emails and notes.
MaryP: What is Genevieve, Kate?
kate: Sorry, Genevieve is the sister from Heart on My Sleeve.
MaryP: Oh!
Cathy: Mar, have you seen Cynthia L-S's rave for UD? I have to read that book!
kate: I want her(Genevieve) to get her own book.
MaryP: yes, Mar, do tell, what are the surprises?
MaryP: kate, tell, Ellen that, I am sure she would love to hear that!
DebbyG: It's very entertaining, and a great message about female sexuality.
MaryP: Debby, take notes (your book is out in April?)
MarPerez: I was so honored and thrilled that Cynthia liked my book! Cathy, I put you on the arc list, but I think they ran out of arcs.
DebbyG: Yes, Mary. Can't believe it's still a whole 6 months away. (Originally, it was going to be Feb.) I'm so impatient!
Cathy: I will definitely pick up a copy, Mar.
MaryP: yes, 6 months can seem like forever when you've already waited for so long.
Cathy: Mary, is your book out in February?
MaryP: nope--not until June! talk about waiting forever . . .
Cathy: June. Very cool. Can't wait! Do you have a cover yet?
MarPerez: Oh, we're going to have a great spring list to read. Mary's book and Debby G.s! Or Mary, is your's a Spring/Summer?
DebbyG: Did they move yours too?
MaryP: But I have plenty to do to keep me out of trouble--like finishing this #&@! book I'm working on now.
DebbyG: What are you working on now?
MaryP: No, I just never knew until recently. When it's your third child you don't keep up on these things ; )
DebbyG: lol, Mary
DebbyG: another year, another book, whatever... right, Mary?
MaryP: I'm a third child--I always called myself the spare.
MaryP: ha! Right, Debby! Except it will be FOUR years between books for me.
MaryP: Shirley I read back to the beginning and I see you are working on a new YA!
ShirleyH: I'm in the thinking stages
MaryP: But 20 pages is a great start!
ShirleyH: Oh--that is what I have been reading! I read 20 pages
DebbyG: I've decided I'll never just plunge into writing a book again. I need to have a hook next time.
MaryP: Cathy, did you finish Amber?
MaryP: Why do you say that, Debby?
DebbyG: Because my second doesn't have a hook, and it's been a big problem.
Cathy: Mary, I finished and am now going through making sure the end matches the beginning and all that good stuff. Oh, we love the details.
MarPerez: Shirley, that's terrific! I really enjoyed the draft I read of your manuscript. I was blown away by the voice.
MaryP: Lots of books don't have hooks. I wouldn't say that Saving Francesca has a hook, but it is terrific nonetheless.
kate: I'm curious, what do you mean by a hook?
DebbyG: But if you don't have a hook, I think your writing has to be better than if you do have a hook.
Cathy: It's hard, though, without one--a hook. To focus on something and target everything that way.
ShirleyH: SF has a great first line. (Thanks Marlene!)
Cathy: Francesca does that--seems to be meandering but it all hangs together. That is very hard.
DebbyG: Like Gordon Kormon's Son of the Mob: Hook is that mafia boss's son dates FBI agent's daughter.
MaryP: a hook is a stand out plot or one-liner that easily "hooks" you. Like say House of Scorpion and premise of the clone.
DebbyG: Oh, kinda like your hook, Mary, in your first book
DebbyG: Hatfields and McCoy.
Cathy: A hook is easier on the publisher and agent too--in selling it.
ShirleyH: That was her second!
kate: oh okay
MaryP: Well, I don't see Hatfields and McCoys as a hook as much as an easy way to describe it, but I guess it could be looked at it that way.
DebbyG: My second book is mainly: Girl moves to a new town. Well, a fantastic writer could probably make it work. But if the writing isn't fantastic, who wants to read another girl moves to new town book?
MaryP: gosh, now that I am trying to think of hooks it is hard!
ShirleyH: I love the title--scribbler of dreams--that was a hook I think
DebbyG: Hmm, you may be right, Mary
MaryP: thanks, Shirley ; )
kate: So, the title Doing It would be a hook?
Cathy: Yeah, definitely, Kate.
MaryP: YES! That's perfect Kate!
kate: or not, because the plot is pretty meandering
DebbyG: The hook there is the first YA book with lots of sex
MaryP: I would say that Doing It has a very strong hook.
kate: i don't think it actually has that much more sex in it. It's just a lot louder about it.
DebbyG: My husband's home. More importantly, he brought dinner. Bye!
Cathy: I've read that it's ideal to have an elevator pitch for your book--to sum it up in one or two sentences to sell. Ack. I don't write like that.
kate: Have you seen the UK cover of Doing It? It makes the US cover look very dull.
MaryP: The book I am working on right now has a strong hook, but it doesn't make it any easier to write. And on that note--I am being hooked by my slobbery dogs--gotta run--wlak time! I will try to stop back by. Save the chat for me, Shilrey! Night all!
ShirleyH: I haven't Kate
ShirleyH: Night, Mary
kate: Look on amazon. It is very funny(the paperback one)
Cathy: The cover with the underwear, Kate?
kate: yeah, and the line about, "do you remember your first time" or something
kate: I'm wondering about hooks though.
kate: Do you think that a hook makes the book more likely to be dismissed by awards committees?
Cathy: That's one book I haven't seen around here--Northern CA. not in libraries, either.
kate: just curious
MarPerez: This is a little off-topic, but is anybody watching Veronica Mars? I think Rob Thomas (ya writer, not matchbox 20 singer) is involved. It's turning into my favorite new show. But I'm really liking the hook, plot, etc. The hook there is that she's trying to solve her bf's murder
kate: the one who wrote Rats Saw God?
Cathy: It's so hard to predict awards. I think a hook can help a lot in making the initial sale.
ShirleyH: I don't think so Kate, but I am not n expert at all
kate: but, I was thinking that maybe a hook would make it easier to dismiss...
ShirleyH: I'm not mar
kate: something like, well, it was a great read, BUT that was because of _____.
MarPerez: kate, Yep, the one and the same Rob Thomas. I'm AWFUL at trying to predict award winners.
kate: I don't know, but I was thinking about some of the award winners and they don't seem to have strong hooks.
kate: on the other hand, I don't necessarily agree with the choices.
Cathy: Not necessarily, I think--depends on how its presented. Like, Monster's hook would be here's a book about a kid in prison written like a script. To me, a hook, but also a very awarded book..
Kate: i agree about monster. I was just thinking that often the hooks that win the awards seem to be format.
Cathy: Mar, i haven't seen V. Mars yet--sounds snobby. I did absolutely love the office finale the other day.
Cathy: Like which ones, Kate?
ShirleyH: Hi Kimmar
kimmar: Hi shirl. hi all!
Cathy: Oop, Mar, I didn't mean the show sounds snobby--that was the start of an unfinished other sentence.
Cathy: Hi, Kimmar.
Kate: These are both Printz honors(i think). Freewill and Angus, Thongs. I think the format probably helped both.
kate: My favorite book is Bronx Masquerade which has an interesting format.
kate: I think it won the CSK(but, maybe not).
MarPerez: ShirleyH, if you get UPN, tune it. I REALLY like this show. Cathy, V. Mars is like a badass Nancy Drew.
Cathy: Mar, I read some good stuff about VM--maybe in Entertainment Weekly.
kimmar: ooh, that sounds like a cool show Mar.
kimmar: I liked Rats Saw god
ShirleyH: ok--I have it on UPN
Cathy: Kate, I liked Bronx Masquerade a lot.
kate: I really liked Rats Saw God. I also liked Slave Day.
kimmar: I haven't read Bronx masquerade
MarPerez: Cathy, I read that VM review in Entertainment Weekly. Does everybody have an all-time favorite ya of the year? I don't this year, but I'm behind in my reading.
Cathy: My favorite verse novel is Sonya Sones second book--What My Mother Doesn't Know. I've used that with students--they love it.
kimmar: I just started an older ya ( meaning it was written a while back) - Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
kate: The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray is my favorite...but, it's disappointing because the UK version is so much better.
Cathy: Hmm, fave ya of year? I've read so many I liked. have to think.
kate: Saving Francesca is my second favorite.
Cathy: I've shared Francesca and Margaux with an X with a co-worker who doesn't read YA. She loved them both. A convert!
kimmar: I liked Margaux
kate: I also really liked Secret Assignments, Realm of Possibility and Airborn
kate: and Sea of Trolls
kate: I haven't read Margaux yet. I'm going to read that after No Shame, No Fear
Cathy: I didn't expect to like it, Kimmar, because that plot--the beauty and the geek--seems so tired. But the writing was so, so good and original. I loved the characters.
kimmar: I liked Realm a lot, though I got annoyed with the way he listed the names at the start of each section, rather than giving each chapter a name.
MarPerez: Saving Francesca is on my list to read and Gail's latest and Kathleen's. Oh wait. I do have a favorite. I thought Bittersweet by Drew Lamm was excellent and it was a book Melissa W. recommended to me.
kate: I labeled each section before I read the book because I had heard that was annoying.
kimmar: what's Bittersweet about?
kimmar: smart thinking Kate :)
kate: I haven't read A Fast and Brutal Wing or Playing in Traffic yet.
Cathy: I liked Realm--oh and can't forget I totally loved A Fast and Brutal Wing. I read it twice because of the shifting perspectives--to try to understand it. The second read blew me away.
kimmar: Playing in Traffic was great
kimmar: I should take notes when I read because the books all start to morph together
kate: Has anyone else read Alaizabel Cray?
ShirleyH: I have it on my to read list
Cathy: I've heard good things but haven't read it.
kimmar: Not me kate, though I like the name
kate: all the characters have really good names, Thaniel, Alaizabel, Cathaline.
kate: If you have the choice get the British version though. It is about sixty pages longer.
kimmar: after this Chris Crutcher book, I also have Son of the Mob. Have you guys read that?
kate: I thought Son of the Mob was quite funny. I haven't read the sequel yet.
ShirleyH: I have to go! Night all. Mar--I have the transcript