Times are tough for lots of folks today and it’s a really good time to give.
Not money, books! My daughter is a senior in high school and her World of Children class is sponsoring many less fortune children who are in the Head Start program for a holiday event. Families in Head Start fall below Federal poverty levels. Last year, the students in World of Children served over 160 children, providing gifts, books, stickers, and holiday necklaces. The high school kids spend time reading to the young ones and help make holiday wishes come true.

I spoke to my daughter’s teacher and asked if I could put a call out to some of my writing and publishing friends and colleagues and she was so excited about it. If you’d like to participate in this, lots of little ones would sure appreciate it.

For the event, they’re collecting books aimed at children ages 4 to 8, so picture books and early readers would be great. They do NOT have to be new books, gently loved are fine, too. It’s not necessary for you to be the author either, but if you are, that’s great too! Any book(s) you’d like to pass on to these kids will brighten their holiday.

In return, for your book donation, time, effort, and care, I’m going to put all the donors’ names in a stocking and draw the recipient of a copy of my latest book, Stephenie Meyer: Author of the Twilight Saga. It’s just my way of saying thank you for paying-it-forward! Please spread the word! Blog it, Tweet it, rap it, mime it, whatever you'd like! I know it'll be a success!!

If you’re interested in donating a book, please email me at Writes4kids (@) wi.rr.com and I'll send you the address to ship to.

To be sure the books arrive in time, they’ll need to be shipped to me on or before December 4^th. Media mail takes a bit longer but it is less expensive, usually under $3.00.I’ll be taking photos of the stacks we get in and will blog about the event afterward. Because of student confidentiality, I may not be able to post pics of the actual event.

Thank you so much in advance!

Lisa and Alex (aka ReaderTeen)

This is a difficult entry to write but it’s so important, I hope you read on. Ten years ago today, I lost my mom. She was vibrant, nurturing, funny, down-to-earth, and a realist. She read some of my early writings and always supported me.

For a year or so prior to losing her, my dog was very ill and I had been struggling with the idea of putting her down. I know, I know, this isn’t the cheeriest post I’ve written, but please read on...

During the three days I’d spent with my mom in the hospital, my dog went downhill fast, and I ended up having her euthanized two days after my mom passed. Mom passing put it all into perspective and easing my dog’s suffering at that point became an easier choice and I knew it was the right thing to do.

After months and months went by, the day came when I finally got the courage to open a vein and let a story pour out. It’s not mom’s story. It’s not my dog’s story. It’s not my story. But there are definitely nuggets and elements of all three in the novel. MERCY LILY, is the story of Lily, a veterinary assistant who is faced with her mom’s request for assisted suicide.

Now, my mom did not pass that way, however, she and I had had long conversations about assisted suicide and Jack Kevorkian when he was in the news. I’m sure we would’ve had great discussions about the recent news of a famous conductor and his wife choosing to die together in a clinic, and the story of a woman with MS fighting for the right to end her life when she sees fit.

Opening a vein like this, and having my personal life experience as the genesis for my YA, has been the most difficult and rewarding writing I’ve done to date. There have been times that I’ve thought that people would think I’ve “used” my losses to my advantage and it’s icky. But my hope is that the thought-provoking story will speak for itself and readers will come away wanting to discuss what they would do. If and when someone has to deal with these issues, I can only hope my words help them understand or make a choice.

Today, when you see a lily, give a nod to Sylvia, my mom.

You are invited to Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks for Reluctant Readers

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Convention Center Room W181
10:30 am to 12:00 pm
ALA Annual Conference, Chicago
wiki at http://nfbookblast.pbworks.com/

Track: Children & Young Adults; Literature & Collection Development

Despite the emphasis on fiction for leisure reading in schools, many
reluctant readers are often more drawn to reading nonfiction. Expand
your nonfiction repertoire as 17 authors booktalk their latest work.

Panelists include award-winning and acclaimed authors April Pulley
Sayre (Vulture View), Kelly Halls (Albino Animals), and Carla
McClafferty (Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium), as
well as many additional prolific or brand new authors. Their
booktalks, plus new ones crafted by audience members, will be yours to
take back home to excite your students about reading nonfiction.

Moderator: Sharon Mitchell, Library Media Specialist

Speakers

Lisa Rondinelli Albert, Stephenie Meyer: Author of the Twilight Saga (Enslow Publishers, May 2009), So You Want to Be a Film or TV Actor (Enslow Publishers, 2008)

Mary Bowman-Kruhm, The Leakeys: A Biography (Prometheus Books, 2009)

Laura Crawford, In Arctic Waters (Sylvan Dell Publishing), The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving From A to Z (Pelican Publishing), Postcards From Chicago (Raven Tree Press)

Jeri Chase Ferris, With Open Hands: The Story of Biddy Mason (Lerner), Arctic Explorer: Matthew Henson (Lerner)

Amy S. Hansen, Bugs and Bugsicles: Insects in the Winter (Boyds Mills Press, 2010), Touch the Earth (NASA and NFB, 2009)

Gwendolyn Hooks, Makers and Takers (Rourke Publishing, 2008)

Katherine L. House, Lighthouses for Kids:History, Science, and Lore with 21 Activities (Chicago Review Press, 2008)

Patricia K. Kummer, The Great Barrier Reef (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009), The Great Lakes (Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009), North Korea and South Korea (two books) (Scholastic/Children's Press, 2008)

Suzanne Lieurance, The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Sweatshop Reform in American History (Enslow Publishers, Inc.)

JoAnn Early Macken, Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move (Holiday House, 2008)

Carla Killough McClafferty, In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008)

Kelly Milner-Halls, Dinosaur Parade (Lark/Sterling Publishers, 2008), Saving the Baghdad Zoo (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2009), Tales of the Cryptids (Darby Creek Publishing, 2006)

Wendie Old, The Halloween Book of Facts and Fun (Albert Whitman), The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun (Albert Whitman)

April Pulley Sayre, Honk, Honk, Goose: Canada Geese Start a Family (Henry Holt, 2009)

Anastasia Suen, Wired (Charlesbridge, 2007), The U.S. Supreme Court (Picture Window Books)

Christine Taylor-Butler, SACRED MOUNTAIN: Everest (Lee and Low Books, 2009)

Rebecca Hogue Wojahn and Donald Wojahn, Follow That Food Chain (Lerner, 2009)

I hope to see you there!

Lisa Rondinelli Albert

www.lisaalbert.com

This review from the Twilight Examiner at Examiner.com has me smiling! :-)
(if the text is small, I've provided a direct link at the bottom. Otherwise, try to enlarge in your browser.)

Stephenie Meyer biography is a comprehensive and enjoyable read for Twilight fans (review)

Please note: if the text appears small and you're using Mozilla, use the View tab to increase the readability. I use IE when blogging and have been told other browsers don't exchange the font size correctly. Thanks for reading and playin'!!!

I read this article with great interest this morning and came away feeling more enthusiastic about my YA novel, MERCY LILY, than ever. I haven’t gone into great detail about my YA here before, but after reading this, I’m inspired to put up a blurb. (First, go on and I’ll wait while you read the Wall Street Journal article.)

Let me be clear, I’m not comparing my novel, my story, myself, to this stellar group of writers and their books. I plan to nab WINTERGIRLS at ALA next month but I have read IF I STAY, HUNGER GAMES, and THIRTEEN REASONS WHY (my review here). I’ve read several other novels that confront death and have the main characters making tough choices. (GRIEF GIRL, LIFE AS WE KNEW IT, etc.).

What I am saying is that I’m glad these books are doing so well because I recognize that my novel does have something in common with them. They’re all thought-provoking novels that leave the reader thinking, “What would I do?” I’m going to be kind of cocky here and say that if you love the types of books listed above, my novel will be on your

to-read pile.

You know those book/movie/etc. recommendation lists that say, If You Like THIS, Then You’ll Like THIS..., well that’s where I feel like I’ll fit in here. For me, it’s pretty exciting because having what-would-you-do discussions about my novel is something I think teens and adults (the world! ; ) will benefit from. It’s something I really look forward to.

MERCY LILY

As the veterinary assistant on her small farm, dealing with the concepts of quality of life, natural death, and euthanasia have become second nature for Lily. Her duties of caring for animals, and being her mama’s caretaker, become blurred when Mama’s health rapidly declines and the holistic bee venom therapy fails. Lily grapples with the hardest decision not only of her own life, but her mother's, too. As her sophomore year comes to an end she finds herself struggling with isolation, renewed friendships, budding romance, and the concepts of love, loss, and letting go.

Powerfully, yet sensitively written in first person, present tense, this YA is a thought-provoking novel that deals with assisted suicide by subtly comparing it to veterinary euthanasia.

Edited to add: I'm not the greatest blurb writer and forced myself to stop there. I wanted to include subplots about the forbidden love between Lily and Trent, and a bit about how Lily's Dad languished before dying after an accident when she was 12 -- and how Mama just wants to be with him now. All through these subplots are hints of Lily's studies of Romeo & Juliet. It all ties together, of course, and I hope there's a change you will get to read it in the future.

How many of you would read this YA and/or recommend this title?

L~

I’m thankful when my hard work recognized. Very thankful! Enslow is giving my latest book, Stephenie Meyer: Author of the Twilight Saga some additional promotion and I’m very grateful and excited.

I learned that my second book with them, So You Want to Be a Film or TV Actor? was selected for the Books of Note 2009 list by the TriState Young Adult Book Review Committee.

-ms/jr Albert, Lisa Rondinell So You Want to be a Film or TV actor? LMN,LM

Enslow 2008 128p 31.93 978-0-7660-2741-1

Discusses the personality, talent, and training needed to be a successful actor. A solid entry for career classes in middle and high school. Colorful photos and sidebars with definitions of terms new to readers make this book accessible.

Their site also says: For a book to be included in this list it must be read and recommended as a notable book by an individual reader. Then a second evaluator must also agree that the book qualifies for the booklist.... also agree that the book qualifies for the booklist.

Check out the entire list here: http://www.tristatereviews.org/BON2009.pdf

As for my fiction, I’m thankful my YA is making the rounds and have a feeling something good will happen soon. I’m keeping the faith that someone will love it as much as I do.

I’m thankful to have my day job come to a close next week and for the extra time I’ll have to complete the super fun MG (series?) I’m working on. Forgive me for harping about how fun, humorous and commercial this MG is, but it is!

Lastly, I am so thankful that book ideas seem to be coming out of nowhere. I’ve had several in the last week and quickly wrote them down and saved them in my Idea File. J The MG I’m working on now was plucked out of that file. It sat and waited its turn while I finished my NF work.

What’s up with you?

This biography goes beyond a basic examination of the life and success of Stephenie Meyer. Author Lisa Rondinelli Albert’s research led her to fans who provided early e-mail correspondence with Meyer as well as never-been-seen-before photographs, including one of particular interest—Stephenie’s high school prom photo. Meyer herself had not even seen this photo until it was uncovered by Albert, who was able to put the two prom dates back in touch.

Good luck!!

Befriend the Binder System

Confession time: Several years ago, my home office looked more like a landfill full of paper, folders and the occasional (empty) bag of peanut M&M’s.

I had several manuscripts in various stages and all of them had been critiqued by many readers. Overwhelmed and trying to clean and organize, I purged my file cabinets to make room for a fresh drawer full of paper. I dreaded the thought of it, though. The last thing I wanted to do was to fill my cabinet back up just to purge it again in a few years. Plus, I feared that as soon as those critiques were filed away in closed cabinet, it could be years before I’d see them again. (out of sight, out of mind?) I needed my critiques handy, but organized. I opted to invest in binders of various sizes and colors, a good quality three-hole punch and lots of sheet tab dividers. (I love office supplies!)

For my shorter work, one binder sufficed. But for novel-length projects, two three-inch binders were necessary. Binder #1 holds research articles and notes. Its five sections are divided by tabs, making fact checking less of a chore.

Binder #2 holds critiques from each member of my two critiques groups. Each critiquer has their own tabbed section and as my WIPs grow, so do my critique binders. Say I’ve sent 2 chapters to be critted, as soon as I receive the crits of my work, I three-hole punch it and file it in the binder. Because I often have a dozen critiques per novel, this system has made the revision process much more manageable.

Once my WIP reaches The End, I take a clean copy of my completed manuscript and work alongside my binder filled with critiques. I’m able to methodically flip through all critiques, one by one, and ascertain the needed changes. This system has made what was once a daunting task to me, a fun, exciting, and enjoyable one. (I single space any electronic critiques I receive in order to save paper and binder space.)

I also recommend using the Shrunken Manuscript Method at the revision stage. This is Darcy Pattison’s trick and it helped me immensely with revision.

 Put these two methods together and get revising!

So my YA has been out on submission and to keep from pacing, wondering and having general waiting angst, I’m trying to focus on my WIP. “Get to work on your next book” is good advice and believe you me, I’ve been trying.

I’ve printed the work-in-progress and have organized all of the critiques in a big ‘ol binder. I’m ready to go over it and slap it around before I send it off to Wise Agent.

“So what’s the problem?” you ask.

“Digging in and concentrating,” I say.

Just when I’m in the groove and into my character’s head, she flops down and tells me she can’t go on until we hear back about her big sister manuscript. Okay, it’s really me that flops down, but it feels like my new characters are waiting too.

A couple of the submissions have been out several months and I like to imagine that they’re busy crunching numbers. A few other submissions are only a few weeks old and I like to imagine all of them coming together and arm wrestling over it.

Meanwhile, I’m wrestling with my WIP and won 2 out of 3 matches this week.

Any tips on working while you wait? I’m all ears!

1.      I’m the youngest of eight kids.

2.      I’m Italian, Irish, German and Norwegian.

3.      I make a mean Italian sausage cheese tortellini soup.

4.      I grew up in Milwaukee on a block with lots of kids.

5.      We were allowed to run with scissors on days that the blade sharpening man pushed his cart up our block (I can still hear the sound of the stone wheel, sharpening the blades!).

6.      The blade man was sometimes followed by the fruit cart man.

7.      I had an orange Huffy with a banana seat and high handlebars and an orange skateboard.

8.      My first car was used 1972 Cutlass Supreme. I bought it before I had my driver’s license.

9.      I spend my mornings writing nonfiction, novels, and 25 things about me lists. I work in a school library in the afternoon.

10. The first rejection I ever received was from Helen Gurley Brown at Cosmopolitan Magazine when I was 19.

11. I’m a former dealer of antiques and collectibles.

12. I like real people and fake jewelry.

13. I used to collect vintage purses.

14. I believe there is a fine line between self-promotion and bragging.

15. I love a good cheeseburger and a cold beer.

16. I’m a backyard bird watcher and once saw a pileated woodpecker. Amazing!

17. Our dearly beloved parakeet used to mimic our dog whistle and drive the dog insane.

18. Before kids, hubby and I traveled via motorcycle to Canada, Corpus Christi Texas, Boulder Colorado, Tennessee and more.

19. My office is decorated with my kids’ artwork dating back from when they were 2 & 3 years old.

20. My office window sills display the collection of rocks and fossils that I’ve found.

21. My favorite flower is the Day Lily. I hope to get a lily tattoo this year!

22. I believe in karma (Hear that, used car dealers?).  

23. I love sushi and wasabi.

24. My friend and I were taken from our seats and placed in the front row at a Billy Joel concert.

25. I have a wide taste in music. Old school disco, hip-hop, some rap, rock n roll, some country, and will dance to anything.