Mary Pearson: Hey, we're early.

Mary Pearson: Hi, Holly.

Holly: Hi, Mary.

Mary Pearson: Are you a YA reader? Writer?

Holly: Reader.

Mary Pearson: Hi, ladybug, lulu, and Melissa!

Craig_P: Hey!

Mary Pearson: Hi, Craig. I didn't see you. :) Were you hiding?

Holly: Hi, Craig.

Holly: Anybody going to ALA? I can't wait!

Mary Pearson: No. I wish I was going though, Holly!

MelissaW: Hey, everybody.

MelissaW: I wish I was going, too. Might get to Midwinter in Boston, though.

ladybug: Are all of you writers or readers? How does this work?

Aubry: How does what work, Molly? The chat topic?

Mar Pearson: We're a mixed bag, ladybug---a little of everything. I'm a writer. This is an open chat which means there is no moderator.

teresab: Hi, everyone!

ladybug: Ooooh, I see. Thanks. I'm attempting to be a writer. Just heard about this site today.

teresab: So we're here to talk about secondary characters, right?

Mary Pearson: The chat topic is: Best supporting roles/Favorite secondary characters.

Craig_P: What have you written Mary?

Craig_P: Is that rude?

Mary Pearson: Not rude at all, Craig. I write YA. Two books out are David v. God and Scribbler of Dreams, and I have another one coming out next spring called A Room On Lorelei Street.

cplguy: Do we want to discuss recent YA titles and characters?

MelissaW: cplguy, I don't think they necessarily have to be recent. Who do you like? Who is your nomination for the best supporting character in a YA novel?

Aubry: Does anyone here like Kit, a secondary character from the Young Wizards series? The 2nd most current book was on YA vote, A Wizard Alone.

cplguy: I was thinking I liked Teri on Laurie Halse Anderson's Catalyst.

cplguy: Her situation and attitude steals the show from the main character.

teresab: I normally forget names, but has anyone read A Corner of the Universe by Ann Martin?

teresab: The main character's cousin---who loves I love Lucy.

MelissaW: Oo, good character, cplguy. In spite of her situation, I think the author challenged you to understand and sympathize with her.

MelissaW: Aubry, I don't know the Young Wizards series.

cplguy: I think the whole book turned when we found out Teri's secret.

Holly: I agree, cplguy. I wanted a book just about Teri.

Mary Pearson: (ack, folks, I have to leave--darn!--but for recent titles let me just throw out, Amber in Alt Ed, Viv in Double Helix, Debatz in Raising the Griffin, Kirsten in Nothing to Lose, Rosaleen in The Secret Life of Bees---oh gawd, I could go on and on--gotta run though--can't wait to read the transcript and see your favorites.)

cplguy: Her anger was so powerful and rightfully so...

blu: I am reading Catalyst right now and I LOVE TERI. She's moving the book along and fleshing the character out by herself.

ladybug: I haven't read that book...could there be a sequel about Teri?

MelissaW: What's the YA Vote, Aubry?

cpiguy: Teens who have read the book are riveted when she destroys the house.

blu: Yikes?!! Her house!?

Craig_P: My kids are all raving about Speak, too. I haven't read any Anderson yet, though.

sammy: I agree, cplguy, and even before that I wondered about her, wanted to know more of her story.

ladybug: speak is good.

teresab: Craig_P, speak is amazing.

Aubry: Melissa, Where they set out like 12 books at the library to be read by the nation and then us at the library get online and vote. This book came out 4th on the group vote and 8th on the pop vote.

Holly: I can't keep enough copies of Speak on my shelves.

cplguy: I thought Catalyst was less of a book than Speak, but Teri brings it right up to the level of Speak.

teresab: A hard topic dealt with in a great way.

Holly: My thoughts exactly, cplguy.

Aubry: Melissa, the vote is held by the ALA. I luv the Young Wizards novels.

cplguy: But I don't recall a strong secondary character i Speak...Teri adds tons to Catalyst.

blu: The Secret Life of Bees---right, Melissa? Anyone love that too? Rosaleen August and Mae.

Aubry: I like Speak, too.

Aubry: blu, is that book good?

ladybug: Is Secret Life of Bees a YA? We read that for book club. I loved ALL the characters. Liked Rosaleen and also the sister with the crying wall.

Holly: Secret Life of Bees was a wonderful book. It had a couple of great secondary characters.

cplguy: <---has not read Secret Life of Bees.

Craig_P: Me neither.

Aubrey: Me neither.

Craig_P: Tried to for a book club. But....didn't.

MarleneP: I had a serious crush on deBatz frim Raising the Griffin.

cplguy: Has anyone read Last Chance Texaco?

Holly: I just finished Raising the Griffin over the weekend. Stayed up waaay late Saturday night.

blu: The Secret Life of Bees was amazing. Really. Talk about voice and each secondary character was special, but august was my favorite.

ladybug: I read Geography Club...Is Last Chance Texaco good?

teresab: cplguy, no, but I read Geography Club.

MarleneP: I just read Last Chance Texaco.

cplguy: Last Chance Texaco is very good.

cplguy: I like the counselor Leon in Last Chance Texaco as a strong secondary character.

MelissaW: I guess I should out myself here. I wrote Raising the Griffin.

sarah: I'm about to start Raising the Griffin. Need a break after reading Target.

MelissaW: Oo. Target was an intense book.

cplguy: Very intense, I agree.

ladybug: Anybody read Aimee?

blu: Have any of you written a book and loved your secondary character? I am loving one of mine and think he may need a book of his own.

MarleneP: Holly, who was your favorite secondary character in Raising the Griffin? And cplguy, I liked Leon a lot in Last Chance Texaco.

sarah: Very intense. Like Speak, a main character who is an observer. Loved Jess.

cplguy: I have, ladybug.

Holly: Melissa, I loved your book!

sammy: Does The Secret Life of Bees have teen characters as its main characters?

ladybug: Aimee is one of my favorites. So dark and well dealt with.

MelissaW: Thank you, Holly!

teresab: Did anyone read Hard Love? Loved Marisol!

ladybug: Blu, I am writing my first novel, but my secondary character gets her own seque1.

cplguy: Aimee is a bit too lengthy but a very good book.

Holly: deBatz was a great secondary character. I would love to hear more of his story.

MelissaW: blu, I am going to fight Marlene over deBatz, my secondary character. I'd love to go back and write his early history that he refers to in Griffin.

ladybug: Aimee does go on a bit, I agree. But I love how it spirals inward and more inward until the whole story is revealed.

cplguy: yep....could have easily been a shockbook but became more psychological.

MarleneP: Holly, YES!! I've been campaiging hard for Melissa to feature deBatz.

blu: I'm not published--yet. I have developed a few characters that I need to give a book to. They're stealing the show!

ladybug: I love the psycho stuff!

MelissaW: Holly, Marlene, I will give you my editor's email address and you can pelt her with requests! Ha ha!

Craig_P: I've got one. It's from a recent book. Cat from Coraline.

Craig_P: Anyone love this character?

cplguy: I'm more of an action reader, but I did like Aimee...great hook about assisted suicide.

ladybug: yeah....my book is suicide also, hard to write about...and read about.

blu: Bees has a main character who is a teen. You'll love her and root for her and cry and laugh and be in awe of Sue Monk Kidd's writing.

ladybug: Bees is awesome...never struck me as a ya book though. Guess it has teen interest.

teresab: the book Song Reader by Lisa Tucker also had a great secondary character.

cplguy: Bees is in our adult section at the library I work at.

teresab: Mary Beth I think was her name.

blu: Maybe bees is a ttansition book. I like the blurry lines though.

cplguy: and is always checked out!

Aubry: cplguy what library do you work at?

blu: Listen to bees on tape read by Karen White. AWESOME!

cplguy: Cleveland Public Library

MarleneP: What makes a secondary character stand out for you?

Aubry: well kit for the yw novels is always ready to get nita out of a grind.

cplguy: The secondary character is better if he/she contrasts the main character.

Holly: ohh, I have to go close the library now. Can't wait to read the transcipts. Goodnight everyone.

blu: Secondary characters have the job of making the main character do their job. Figuring out how to deal...or not.

Aubry: ...they both have tempers, but Kit's persistance and Nita's stubborn and grudgy though a good character.

MarleneP: Are you talking about the Diane Duane series? So you want to be a wizard, etc.

Aubry: YES! yay!

Aubry: Marlene, those are my favorite books!

MarleneP: I've read all of them except Wizard's Holiday.

MelissaW: I'm with ladybug in liking intensity, how the character reacts off of/against/with the main character.

ladybug: yep, it's all about interplay, I feel.

MelissaW: One of my favorites is Heather in A.M. Jenkins' Damage.

cplguy: Was Heather the guy's girlfriend in Damage?

MelissaW: Yes, cplguy! I love the delicate way the author shows you how and why Heather needs to manipulate her relationship with Austin.

cplguy: And Heather has some psychological problems of her own.

MelissaW: Yeah! Oo boy. My favorite scene in the book is where Austin watches her put up her hair. Just watching her putting it up and taking it down tells a lot about her.

teresab: It's been fun everyone, but I have to go and work on my own YA book...can't wait to check out the log.

MarleneP: Melissa, I was just thinking about Grace and Corrine in A.M. Jenkins Out Of Order.

cplguy: That book hits home with a lot of guys...confused by girls and confused by their own feelings.

MarleneP: Aubry, lucky you!

cplguy: you know...the baseball on the cover puts them off...they are expecting a sports story...it is falling under the radar a bit.

Aubry: I am sooo excited. I just applied as a writer for the teenstar!

MelissaW: That's too bad. Colt's voice is dead-on.

cplguy: I agree...but guy readers are tough to reach...many I think would see themselves in Colt.

Aubry: Yah. It was very hard to find guys to pick up a book at my old school, just one who is a close friend, now that I'm in middle school I've found a few more! :(

MelissaW: Aubry, I feel so out of it, but what's teenstar?

Aubry: Teen section of the Kansas City Star.

Melissa: Excellent! Good luck!

MarleneP: Congratulations, Aubry.

sammy: Fingers crossed, Aubry!

Aubry: Thanks

ladybug: fun! What will you write about?

Aubry: book and theater and concert reviews!

ladybug: oh very cool!

MelissaW: That sounds fabulous, Aubry.

Aubry: I like Kit from YW. (I know I've said that about a billion times! sorry)

MarleneP: I like Kit, too. You're inspiring me to re-read them.

MelissaW: I have to admit I'm not a big fantasy reader. I think I'm mostly tone deaf to it.

MarleneP: I'm a hugh fantasy reader, but I don't write it much.

sammy: Do you feel the secondary character always has to be friends with the main character?

Aubry: I'm a girl by the way. No, sammy, villains can be cool secondary characters.

MelissaW: sammy, good question. Because villains can be great secondary characters. Or even just the person who gets under the main character's skin in some way.

Aubry: Anyone who has read Harry Potter can't deny that Voldermort is interesting.

Lara Zeises: Melissa - you're going to ALA in Boston?

MelissaW: I'm hoping to. It's just a bit distant to say for sure. Have to see how things are going then. But I was at Philadelphia and just had such a blast. I could become an ALA junkie, easy.

ladybug: Melissa, where in the country are you, if you don't mind me asking.

MelissaW: I'm in Pennsylvania. (I meant the Boston conference is distant in time, not so much in distance.)

Lara Zeises: I'm going to Boston for Midwinter - I'm probably staying longer than you would but if you wanted to carpool up one way we might be able to work something out...

ladybug: ahh...LOL, I'm in Seattle....I was hoping to find another writer to gab with! <grin>

MelissaW: I'm saving the coupons off my breakfast cereal, hoping to be able to fly.

MelissaW: Too bad, ladybug! I'm always on the lookout, too. Not much in a literary way going on here.

ladybug: The author of Aimee lives in Penn...not sure where. What's hr name? Mary Beth Miller?

ladybug: Do you have an active SCBWI chapter in PA?

MelissaW: Yes, Mary Beth Miller lives pretty far from me, though, probably a three hour drive.

Lara Zeises: Here's a question: why do you think it's "okay" for secondary characters to do "bad" things - drink, take drugs, have casual sex - but if primary characters do those things, the book runs the risk of getting slammed? (It's like this on TV, too - at least I think so.)

MelissaW: There are actually two SCBWI chapters for PA.

ladybug: oooh...a long drive. Bummer. She responded to an email I sent her, cold-calling.

Aubry: hmmmmm. I haven't read many books like this, as long as there's balance and it doesn't get gross I can deal.

sammy: Lara, great question! Not to sound gushing, but that's one of the things I loved about your book...not that she does all those things, but she's so raw. I loved it.

Lara Zeises: Well, I was even thinking of books like Megan McCafferty's SLOPPY FIRSTS and SECOND HELPINGS - all of the girls Jessica hangs out with are sexually active and have eating disorders and drink and are generally bitchy. But she's virginal, and gets sick when she drinks for the first time, and we love her - she's a heroine.

Lara Zeises: Thanks, Sammy!

Aubry: Lara, I am sooo sorry, but I'm new and I was wondering what book you wrote.

Lara Zeises: No problem! I'm the author of CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE (my latest) and BRINING UP THE BONES. (2002)

ladybug: I can't answer your question, Lara, but I have to say I like the trend. I just saw Win a date with Tad Hamilton last night and it was sooo refreshing how innocent the girl was, and stayed.

MelissaW: Oo, great question. I think sometimes secondary characters are sometimes set up to highlight the good--and sometimes the bad---in the main character, act as signposts on her "journey" through the story.

MelissaW: Wow, how many times did I say "sometimes?" Ack.

sammy: Melissa...three. :-)

MelissaW: Ha ha! thank you, sammy. Wanna copyedit my next ms?

sammy: Lara, you're welcome. Truly, your book blew me away.

Aubry: wow, I'd love to be published, and I am but only articles. I want to write a book, but I have a block it's hard to get pub. at 13.

pj: Lara - Contents is a "perfect ten" in the new issue of VOYA, FYI.

ladybug: I'm not familiar with your books, Lara...they sound serious. Any advice for a novice with a serious topic?

Lara Zeises: Melissa - I totally agree that secondary characters are there to "bounce" off main characters - relationships are all about context - but I guess I'm confused by the morality expectation of protagonists. Does the protagonist have to be virtuous to be likable?

sammy: Melissa, no problem. Send it on! With chocolate.

MelissaW: Yay, Lara! Did you know? Congratulations! That's equivalent to a star isn't it?

Lara Zeises: BONES is serious; CONTENTS is more humorous. Hey, P.J - I saw that and I was *floored.* I've been nervous about the VOYA review because they were the hardest on BONES. Imagine my surprise!

ladybug: I'll pick up a copy of bones....thanks!

MelissaW: I personally don't think the protagonist has to be virtuous. I think s/he just has to be human and let you in on what s/he's thinking and feeling.

Lara Zeises: Oh my gosh, it's like a little lovefest in here. :) LADYBUG - my best advice for dealing with a serious topic is not to be afraid to inject some humor (when appropriate) into it. Even if it's wry or sarcastic, it provides some release from the darkness.

pj: why did you decide to "lighten up"?

Lara Zeises: Melissa, that's what I loved about Alexi. He wasn't perfect. He was a good kid who got sucked into an overwhelming situation. He made mistakes, he pouted, he grew up. Perfect.

sammy: Lara, I hope not.

Aubry: Bringing Up the Bones sounds good. I'll pick up a copy. I want to write a book (instead of just articles) at 13. Any advice?

Lara Zeises: sammy - hope not what?

Lara Zeises: Aubry - my advice is to read, read, read. And then write, write, write. And then rewrite. It's not impossible to get to get published at young age - look at Christopher Paolini or Zoe Trope - but you have to have the dedication to get your project to get to where they got.

sammy: I was saying that I hope they don't always have to be virtuous.

Aubry: Thanks.

Lara Zeises: Ahhh. Yes, I hope that too. I'm eager to read DOING IT for just this reason.

MarleneP: sammy, I agree. Too much virtue makes me want to slap 'em. I like my characters to be riddled with doubt and make mistakes (just like me).

MelissaW: Thank you, Lara.

sammy: That one certainly brings out STRONG reactions from people, wouldn't you say?

Lara Zeises: But it's funny - even the GOSSIP GIRLS characters are pretty tame. And they're supposed to be "trashy"!

MelissaW: Aubry, I agree with Lara and would say to take advantage of the time you have now, write for yourself, don't worry about trying to please anyone else, write what you are passionate about. What moves YOU.

sammy: Exactly, Marlene. I like the virtuous ones, but I like reality, also.

Lara Zeises: Marlene, have you read THE A-LIST?

MelissaW: Aubry, Sorry, can't type tonight.

MarleneP: Lara, not yet. It's the "Hollywood" version of GG, right?

Lara Zeises: That's what it's billed as.

MarleneP: did you? thumbs up or down?

MelissaW: I read DOING IT after hearing tons about the content and didn't think it was particularly shocking.

Lara Zeises: I was asking because the main narrator, Anna, is a "good girl". But one of those good girls you and I would probably want to smack. :)

Aubry: It's ok. Thanks for the advice. By the way, if anyone has time to go to my site: www.geocities.com/yayalulu@sbcglobal.net. It's full of review I've written and my wonderful computer coding.

Lara Zeises: Marlene - didn't love it. Prefer GOSSIP GIRLS.

sammy: I mean, I loved The Brady Bunch, but truly, didn't you want Greg to take one tiny puff from one of the cigarettes his friend put in his pocket? Or something?

Lara Zeises: *laughing* Don't forget his sleezy lounge lizard days.

MelissaW: I was more of a Partridge Family fan myself. I remember actually thinking it was "edgier" than the Bradys. Ah ha ha ha ha ha!

sammy: Melissa...cracking up.

MarleneP: The one reason I like Jessica Darling in Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings is that she wasn't holier than thou about her virtue. And that wasn't even permanent.

pj: Lara, sorry if you answered this. (I joined late) What are you working on now?

Aubry: These were all before my time. (no offense)

Lara Zeises: Finishing up rewrites on Novel #3. ANYONE BUT YOU, which would be out in Oct. 2005. It's about a blue-haired skateboarding girl named Seattle and her sort-of brother Critter who idolizes Rod Stewart.

MarleneP: Lara, your chat here is in a couple of weeks, right?

MelissaW: (No offense, Aubry, just a moment to muse on what you missed. Poor Aubry. Kidding. :) Lara, Rod Stewart! I love it.

Lara Zeises: Marlene - Jessica was wicked smart and wicked funny. I *love* those books. But I did kind of wish she and Marcus Flutie got in on a little more quickly. Sarah Dressen's characters tend to take their time too.

Lara Zeises: Ooops, yes - my chat is scheduled for 6/15. Sorry, didn't mean to co-opt the discussion. And now I have to run - dogs need to be walked - but this was sooooo fun!

MarleneP: Oh, no! Lara. I just meant that we should tell everybody. Don't run away!

sammy: Marlene....that's how I feel. I don't mind at all the virtuous characters but just don't like the holier-than-thou stuff.

ladybug: lara...on phone, but thanks for talking to me.

MarleneP: Okay, now that I've scared one of our upcoming speakers off, Lara will be a guest speaker on the 15th.

MelissaW: My favorite--er--non-virtuous character goes back always to K.M. Peyton's Pennington novels. Anyone remember those?

sammy: Melissa, no. Haven't read those.

pj: English author, right?

MelissaW: Yes, pj. K.M. Peyton is a British author best known for the Flambards series.

MelissaW: The Pennington books were contemporary, about a sullen working class boy who was a gifted piantist.

sammy: Teen boy?

pj: Just finished a cool YA book "Sky" about a jazz piano playing teen in 1950's NYC.

MelissaW: Sammy, the books star when he is seventeen and follow him into his early twenties.

sammy: They sound very interesting. How many are in the series?

MelissaW: Haven't heard of that, pj. Who wrote it?

pj: Roderick Townley - from Kansas City; reviewed in for Voya; due out in June.

MelissaW: There are three, Sammy. Pennington's Last Term (aka Pennington's Seventeenth Summer), The Beethoven Medal (actually from the POV of the girl who falls for him) and Pennington's Heir (my favorite YA novel.) He also makes an odd appearance in a younger book, Marion's Angels.

sammy: Sound great...I'll have to check them out. When were they published?

MarleneP: Sky sounds like a great book. Adding it to my list.

sammy: pj, it really does. Sounds very original.

MelissaW: Yes, pj. Loved The Great Good Thing.

MelissaW: Sammy, the Pennington books were early to mid seventies. They are OOP and probably mostly purged from libraries now. They pop up on EBay though.

Aubry: Dai'stiho and Go Well everyone. I have to go to dinner. Bye.

sammy: Bye, Aubry.

MelissaW: Bye, Aubry. I must go myself, catch the rebroadcast of the last episodes of Colonial House. Wonderful talking!

sammy: Melissa, are they rebroadcasting those this week?

MelissaW: They show them immediately after they show them :)

sammy: Night everyone!

MarleneP: Good night all!