2014 Deubt Author Challenge

The challenge?
12 books by 2014 debut authors.

The time frame?
1 year.

Conclusion?
Totally do-able!

Check out the debut list, set up by the fine folks at The Story Siren. You can vote for DREAM BOY there, of course (hint, hint)–but you can also find titles to keep you in stories throughout the year.

I’m personally taking this challenge this year, but with a twist. Not only will I read 12 books by debut authors, but I will read all of the books by my fellow BookYArd writers.

Check out The Story Siren’s 2014 DEBUT AUTHOR CHALLENGE. Maybe you have 12 great debuts in your future too!

2014 — a great year for The BookYArd

I’m so thankful to be part of The BookYArd–a wonderful group of writers with YA books debuting this year. Here’s a video the amazing Christina Farley put together that gives you a peek into some of these debuts:

Witchy Woman – Jen McConnel Tells Us the Secret of Isobel Key

Jen McConnel – author of The Secret of Isobel Key

Today I’m celebrating the release of the new adult novel The Secret of Isobel Key with an interview of the book’s author, Jen McConnel. In this contemporary romance, a recent college grad sets off to discover the secrets of a woman accused of witchcraft in the seventeenth century.

You started out writing poetry. How did you begin to write fiction? What was it like to make that leap?

Jen: When I was young, I wrote everything, but the fiction sort of faded away by the time I got to college. Maybe because I was an English major, analyzing literature on a daily basis, I began to pursue publication with my poetry before I returned to fiction. I still write poetry, but my focus has really shifted, and the shift started when I was teaching middle school. Spending my days trying to get kids excited about reading and writing must have rubbed off, because the summer after my first year of teaching is when I started to seriously write fiction. Continue reading →

In the Event of Cynthia Atkins

Poet Cynthia Atkins (photo by Fancher)

When poet Cynthia Atkins published In the Event of Full Disclosure earlier this year, she tackled topics of mental health, family, and culture at war. I’m talking to her today about her latest work, the public/private boundary in writing, and where her poetry is headed next.

Thanks also to Cynthia for sharing two of her wonderful poems with us here: Family Therapy II and In Plain Sight.

Mary: Tell me a bit about the process you went through to write and publish In The Event of Full Disclosure. Continue reading →

Poetry Hop!

The ever-insightful Madelyn Rosenberg tagged me for the Mortimer Minute Poetry Hop. Bless her for doing so! And I’m not saying that in the southern bless-her-heart kind of way. It’s been too long since I’ve taken the time to ruminate about poetry.

So, my little bunny friend, come with me as I share three questions (and things that take the place of answers but are actually not) about poetry!

How do you feel about rhyme?

Here are 4 things I think about rhyme:

Rhyme is a powerful drug, and as such, should be used with caution. It’s addictive and can lead to dire consequences. But when administered properly, rhyme can be just the right kind of intoxicating.

Sometimes rhyme guides us to the inevitable word in a poem. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
Rhyme is fun. Fun on the run with a cat named Bun-Bun. Fun in the street with the cars that go beep. Fun everywhere, now that cat’s in my hair and I’m chasing a bear with my aunt’s underwear. (For me, the inevitable word always seems to be “underwear.” You can ask my children; I am telling the absolute truth.)

Rhyme makes its own sense, so I don’t have to.

Read Madelyn’s much smarter answer to the same question here.

Can poetry matter?

This is a question poets apparently love to ask themselves, so I’m asking it here. I probably shouldn’t have, because my real question is “Why do poets keep asking themselves if poetry can matter?” I mean, it’s sort of like bakers asking themselves over and over if muffins matter.

Hell yes, poetry can matter. But not the way open heart surgery can matter or firetrucks can matter or group homes for developmentally challenged people can matter. Even so, sure, poetry matters. It matters to me. At least as much as muffins. Unless I’m hungry and there’s nothing but muffins to eat.

Why should people read poetry to children?

When I did a photo search on Flickr for Creative Commons images of muffins, I learned two things: people like taking photos of muffins and there are many cats named Muffin. Take that, Mortimer. Ohh, I think that’s my new idea for PiBoIdMo — Mortimer and Muffin! At any rate, thanks to Elaine Vigneault for sharing this photo.

Because children deserve it. Just by being alive and having spongy brains, children deserve the gift of silly words that will click-clack-rump-pump-wiggle-waggle through their day.

Plus, I’m pretty sure frothy concoctions of playful language (by which I mean poems) make them smarter about how regular old Jane-and-Joe language works.

So do it, people. Read a kid a poem. The world will be a better place for it. And then give a kid a muffin. And give puppy a muffin as well. And then give a kid a puppy. Then give a sea urchin a haircut. The world will be better for all that too.

So now it’s my turn to tag someone. Hillary Ferguson is an excellent poet, fiction writer, and blogger. I look forward to seeing what she asks, and answers too, of course!