EVOLUTION REVOLUTION: SIMPLE LESSONS by Charlotte Bennardo (review by Michael Gettel-Gilmartin)

Back in October 2016, I came across book one in author Charlotte Bennardo's Evolution Revolution trilogy. Simple Machines introduced me to the intrepid and fiendishly clever squirrel, Jack, who won my heart by leading a band of woodland critters to defend and preserve their natural habitat from development.

Book 2, Simple Plans, came out in early 2017, and now we have the culmination of the story in Simple Lessons. This is a bitter-sweet tale because, although Jack once again triumphs, it is not without cost. (I won't spoil it for you. Suffice it to say that, in victory, Jack suffers a couple of grievous losses.) Here's the plot from the back cover:

Even though his woods are safe from the construction machines, Jack, the squirrel can't go back. The scientists who captured Rat, and his sister's mate Jerk, are searching for him and show up at his human friend Collin's house. To save Jack, Collin and his mother take him to an animal sanctuary. There, Jack meets Addy and other rescued squirrels, along with Horse and a group of barnyard animals. Collin visits, bringing Mina the talking bird and teaches Jack the last simple machines: the pulley, the lever, and the gear. Jack shares what he learns with Addy, but Hawk and the scientists are hot after him. One final battle between humans and animals erupts. If Jack wins, he'll have to run away from everything he knows. If he loses, he'll never be free.

 All the strengths of the first two books are in evidence in the culmination of the series. Jack is a winning character who shows great leadership. The supporting cast is full of lively personalities--my new favorite is the loquacious Mina, the talking bird, who is a mimic of great skill. (I would love to do her voices in a classroom read-aloud!) There is danger from all corners--but also tender moments when Jack says goodbye to characters that are dear to him. The choice is stark: he could live caged, either by the scientists or, to a lesser extent, at the sanctuary. Or he could roam free. The reader will be delighted by the ending, with Jack at his defiant best.

As always, the illustrations by Cathleen Daniels are top notch!

Now that all three books have been published we readers don't have to wait: we can read them (again!) in one sitting! Yippee!!!

Once again, I invite you to visit Charlotte Bennardo's blog, Author on the Loose, for insights into the writing life.

Charlotte Bennardo's Goodreads author photo

Survivor Diaries by Terry Lynn Johnson and More! (posted by Paul Greci)

Terry Lynn Johnson, award winning author of the middle grade adventure, ICE DOGS, has a new adventure series called Survivor Diaries. The series draws on Terry’s vast life experiences in survival situations. She lives and works in the wilds of Northern Ontario, Canada.

The four books, geared for ages seven to ten, are short (112 pages), fast-paced, high action stories.

The first in the series, which came out in July, is Overboard (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Hardcover, July 2017, ISBN: 9780544970106):

Eleven-year-old Travis and his family are on a whale watch off the coast of Washington when their boat capsizes, throwing everyone into the ice-cold water. Will Travis and twelve-year-old passenger Marina have the grit and the know-how to survive?

The other three books in the series will be released over the next year and a half: Avalanche (January 2018), Lost (July 2018), and Dust Storm (January 2019).

In addition to the Survivor Diaries, Terry has two stand-alone middle grade novels coming out this fall, both of which are Junior Library Guild Selections!! Congrats, Terry!!

FalconWild (Charlesbridge, hardcover, September 2017, ISBN: 978-1580897884)

Thirteen-year-old Karma is lost in the backcountry of Montana with her falcon, Stark, and a troubled runaway boy named Cooper. She's desperate to find help for her dad and brother after they find themselves in a terrible accident on a back road.

Then, a month later, Sled Dog School (HMH Books for Young Readers, hardcover, October 2017, ISBN: 978-0544873315) comes out.

Eleven-year-old Matthew Misco just wants to fly—or should we say sled—under the radar. Things are hard enough at school with kids making fun of him for his parents' off-the-grid life-style, but life gets much worse when he is assigned a long-term math project: to start his own business. He has to ace this assignment to save his failing grade. But what is he even good at? The only thing he truly loves doing is running his team of dogs.

Having read and loved ICE DOGS, I am looking forward to devouring all six of the above mentioned books!!

To learn more about Terry, you can visit her website. Also, Terry was recently interviewed at Cracking the Cover.

Keep writing those adventure stories, Terry!!!

Paul Greci is the author of Surviving Bear Island, a 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2016 Scholastic Reading Club Selection.

Team YOU--Who's On Your Team? by Yamile Saied Mendez

The original A-Team

With back-to-school, it's also back to sports! It's not only [American] Football taking over your weekend, but the beautiful game (AKA Fútbol, or soccer if you must) is also back in full force. I'm thrilled that FC Barcelona and Rosario Central are back to the pitch, and I have such high expectations for these two teams. Too bad all I can do to help my teams is cheer for them while I watch on TV (except for the one blessed time I went to Barcelona, and that one time twenty years ago when I was back in Rosario for a game). 

Maybe because I love team sports so much, I've always been conscious of the people around me, my team.

I hated group projects in school, but I'm not talking about this. 

In my mind, the people that help me in my writing journey are more like the characters of the A-Team show I loved watching as a child. I don't remember much of the show other than each character had their specific role in the group, and they were all equally important. 

So what are the roles of the people that should be part of your A-Team? 

They are alpha readers, beta readers, accountability partners, critique partners (group), writing coach. 

Alpha Readers

I wrote my first manuscript during NaNoWriMo, and after tying The End I was ready for a reader (I know, I know. I shiver at the thought now too). One of my best friends is an avid reader, and she volunteered. After she was done, she didn't cut all communications or move to another state/country (shocking. I know. She's a true friend). She offered me great feedback, from a reader's perspective. 

When I was ready to type my second story, she wanted to read as I wrote. She then became my alpha reader. This has forever been one of the best experiences of my writing life. Every morning, I'd send her what I had written the night before. She's text me her reactions as she read. Or sometimes a few days would go by between my sending her new material. She wasn't a writer, so she didn't expect me to read any of her material. She asked all the right questions about my story and characters, helping me notice plot holes, inconsistencies, etc. It was so helpful that the first draft of that book wasn't as terrible as my NaNoWriMo draft had been.  She expected me to send her new pages at least a few times a week, and she was extremely positive and encouraging. During a first draft, you want to know if the story is working, and she was the perfect person for this. 

Beta Reader 

A Beta Reader is someone who reads a partial or full manuscript and offers you feedback on it. The feedback may vary from structural comments, line edits, cultural/ethnic representation. Usually beta readers swap manuscripts, or in the case of sensitivity readers or editors, they need to be compensated for their time. 

Accountability Partners

Accountability partners don't always read each other's pages. They mainly hold each other accountable to goals they tell each other at the beginning of the week. A friend and I would text our goals every Sunday night, and then each day at the end of the day, we'd report our what we'd done to accomplish that goal. Knowing that my friend was waiting for my text pushed me to get to work instead of making excuses. 

In  Done and Done: The Power of Accountability Partnering for Reaching Your Goals, Anette Lyon and Luisa Perkins (accountability partners themselves) explain how this kind of partnership can be one of the best strategies for your team. 

Critic Partners/Groups

Critique Partners and Groups dynamics vary from relationship to relationship. Some meet online. Some meet in person every week at the same time, once a month, every other month, etc. They'll read a full manuscript at a time, read everyone's ten pages ahead and come to the meeting prepared to discuss (like a workshop), or read right there on the spot and offer feedback. Some people belong to more than one writing group and love it. Others can't commit to the workload of reading so much material every week/month. 

Writing Coach

A writing coach could be a mentor or an instructor. You can hire someone to both hold you accountable to your goals, and who'll give you feedback on your manuscript and walk you through your writing problems. 

 You could also find this amazing kind of mentor through contests such as Pitchwars, in which aspiring writers are paired up with a mentor, and for two months they work on revising a manuscript for an agents' showcase. 

The We Need Diverse Books organization also offers a mentorship program. Check it here. 

But the most important quality in any of your team members is that they'll be cheering for you. Yes, sometimes there will be some harsh love involved, but mostly, there will be a lot of encouragement and cheering. 

What kind of members do you have in your team? Share in the comments!

Serial Fiction Podcasting: the New Frontier? by Joanna Roddy

Some of the great literature of the past came to readers through serials. Charles Dickens published most of his novels as newspaper serials, and nearly all of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries were published one by one in the The Strand.

Media today is vastly different, and where once a small handful of editors held the reins to popular culture, now with blogs, podcasts, and self-publishing, it's a big wide world of creative output. But it seems we're moving back toward old ways of publishing as creatives write serialized fiction. 

Lots of now big name authors have published their novels serially by blog before wider publication, including Andy Weir's The Martian and E.L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey. And In the podcast world, NPR's Serial, which followed a murder case in its first season, became a cultural phenomenon as listeners reached over 80 million. Fans channeled their inner detective and developed their own pet theories about whether or not the man convicted was actually guilty. 

It's a time of pioneering and groundbreaking in many ways, but it's interesting that we hearken back to old formulas that still work. The serial format can be addictive. How often do you hear the term "Netflix binging" these days? Dumping an entire television program season made of cliff-hanger episodes onto its site at once has made Netflix a must-have for in-home entertainment.

My kids, ages 5 and 7, have recently become addicted to a kids fiction podcast: The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian. Here's the description from the site: 

He can’t sleep, he can’t shake the feeling someone is following him, and he can’t stop the monsters who show up to smash his cake. In other words, it’s turning out to be more exciting than he expected. That’s all in the first few episodes of this serialized, sci-fi podcast for kids. Finn, his friends and their pet robots aboard the Famous Marlowe 280 Interplanetary Exploratory Space Station discover uncharted planets, help aliens in far-off galaxies, and take tips from listeners back on Earth as they try to solve the universe’s great mysteries. 

Now, my kids have never been interested in podcasts or audio books. They love to be read to, but I haven't been able to get them interested in audio media. But with this podcast, they are begging for more, laughing out loud, wanting to go to the website to see artwork and listener contributions, and recording sound effects to send in and hope to hear on a future episode. I feel like we've been plunged back in time to the days of Little Orphan Annie on the wireless. It's awesome.

There are lots of podcasts for kids out there, but I haven't been able to find any others that are serial fiction. I would hope that they do exist, but finding them isn't easy. I'd love to hear of any others that readers or Mayhemmers are aware of. Finn Caspian is targeted at kids 5-10, so lower middle-grade at best for our demographic. Maybe this is a market hole just waiting for the right story to fill it. Maybe the new frontier is really just old-fashioned good story-telling that leaves the reader wanting more--in audio form. 

Have any of you thought of doing a serial podcast? Let us know in the comments!

7 Ways to Make the Most of a Writing Retreat by Caroline Starr Rose

Adorable Boo, my writing companion.

Last year my husband took our boys to the Mountain West Basketball Tournament, giving me four days with the house to myself. I planned to use the time as a stay-at-home writing retreat, just Boo and me and fiendish typing. 

It was spectacular. 

I decided I needed to be prepared but open when it came to this writing time. While I hoped Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine would be back in my possession, I couldn’t plan on that happening (It wasn’t. I worked on it anyway and was thrilled with what I accomplished). My goal was to have a sense of how I wanted to use the four days, but not be so rigid that I missed a creative opportunity. I ended up splitting the time between two projects, one in its very beginnings and the other nearing its end. 

I planned ahead about regular commitments and how I’d handle them. For example, I got up at roughly the same time I would have had my family been home. I kept my Thursday running date and attended church on Sunday. But I made room for flexibility, skipping the gym on Friday and going to a book signing Saturday afternoon. As for meals, I pulled a few things out of the freezer, cooked twice (with leftovers for when my family returned), and even ordered pizza one night. 

Most importantly, I knew I needed to have realistic, relaxed expectations while still committing to hard work. I am not a fast writer and never will be. With four days stretching before me, it would have been very easy to convince myself I’d do super-fantastic, out-of-character things, like write 10,000 words a day. Not happening, ever. Instead I focused on these things:

•  I decided not to serve my ego (those 10,000 words) or my anxiety (worry I wouldn’t accomplish anything), but simply show up and enjoy the work.
•  I told myself it was more important to be productive instead of producing. (In other words, I didn’t have to have loads to show for all the time I put in. Creativity isn’t always something that can be measured. I’m learning to be okay with this.)
• I strongly believe that every writing moment teaches me. That makes it worth it, whether it’s eventually cut or kept, whether it sells or doesn’t.

The view from our retreat house balcony. Isn't it gorgeous?

Every September my critique group meets for a writing retreat. We rent a house in town, plan out who will make dinner what night, do a bit of critiquing in the evenings, watch a movie together, and spend the rest of our time in creative work. 

The years I've been on deadline, I've made quantifiable! Great! Leaps and bounds! with my writing. During the other years, not so much. But here's the thing: those slower retreats were still creatively important, whether I produced much or not. Have I believed that during the retreat itself? Nope. I haven't. I'm still learning to trust in the moment that every writing experience teaches me something.

I have no deadline this time around, but I do have a project underway -- the one mentioned above, in its early beginnings (and honestly not much further along than it was a year and a half ago, during my stay-at-home retreat). It would be easy to head into the week with my ego and anxiety kicked up in high gear. Instead, I hope to apply what I learned while I worked alone: to stay prepared but open, relaxed and willing to work, ready to learn from each moment as it comes.

What words of wisdom can you share about writing retreats?