INTERVIEW WITH MEMBER COREY ROSEN SCHWARTZ

womenwhowriteorg — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 21:16:30 +0000

Corey debuted as a picture book writer in 2006 with the fabulous Hop! Plop! (Walker Books). Of her latest book, The Three Ninja Pigs (G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2012), The New York Times writes, “A fractured fairy tale to outcharm the original, ‘The Three Ninja Pigs’ manages to one-up the well-worn story by setting it in Japan, sprinkling it with the language and discipline of martial arts. All in hilarious, impeccable rhyme.” Her upcoming books, Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears and Ninja Red (G.P. Putnam’s Sons), offer further twists on the traditional fairy tale genre and more ninjas. Corey has been a member of Women Who Write since 2007 and has participated in critique groups as well as served on the board. She lives with her family in Warren, NJ, where she is an excellent Scrabble player.

What inspired you to write picture books?

Picture books always felt like the right fit for me…a genre that plays to my strengths. Then one year at the Rutgers’ conference (hosted by the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature), our group leader asked us to go around the table and state two things: (1) our name (2) the age we felt inside.

I said, “I’m a four year old.” I didn’t even have to think about it. Some of us were 8-9. Others were 11-12. But for most of us it was easy to answer.

The leader then said, “THAT is the age you should be writing for!”

So, I guess my instincts were right all along!

Have your own children helped you in the process of writing for young children?

Yes! A ton! In fact, THE THREE NINJA PIGS would probably never have been written if it weren’t for them. When my daughter was four and my son was three, we went to a restaurant and started talking to a waitress from Peru. Jordan said, “I can speak a little Spanish.” The waitress asked Josh if he could speak Spanish, too. He said, “No, but I speak a little karate.”

And I knew immediately…there’s a picture idea here somewhere!

How was your experience co-leading a workshop at NJ Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in June 2012?

It was a lot of fun! I presented on meter and rhyme, a topic I am very passionate about. My friend Tiffany Strelitz Haber and I refer to ourselves as the Meter Maids and we call people out on the crimes of rhyme!

I highly recommend the NJ SCBWI conference for anyone who writes for children or teens.

How have you balanced your writing with the other aspects of your life?

Um, I haven’t. There are piles of laundry everywhere! I have completely given up on ever getting back to the gym and the last time I went shoe shopping for myself, there was a Bush in the White House. I’m fortunate though to have an extremely supportive husband who likes to joke that we were living in our new house for six whole months when I asked him, “Honey, how do you turn this oven on?”

How much marketing are you expected to do as an author?

A lot of marketing responsibility falls on the author. Authors are expected to create a website and swag for their book. I have printed and distributed over 10,000 Ninja Pigs bookmarks! We are also encouraged to do as many events as possible. I’ve done programs at schools, libraries, and bookstores. I’ve also tried to think outside the box. Since my book is about martial arts, I have arranged readings at many local dojos where I have a built-in target audience!

Have the social media networking tools you’ve employed (your blog, twitter, Facebook, etc.) been valuable resources?

It’s hard to measure the effects, but I would venture to say that they have helped enormously! I have not only used social networks to communicate with my own friends and followers, but I have also used Facebook and Twitter to reach out to martial arts schools to ask if they would kindly post my book trailer for their fans to view.

Do you start writing new books during the marketing phase?

I’m supposed to, but I haven’t been able to focus at all on writing. See question # 3 on my inability to multi-task

How involved are you in the illustrating process?

This may come as a surprise, but the answer is… NOT AT ALL. I would love for the process to be more collaborative, but that is not how it is generally done. The publishing house chooses the illustrator and the writer often does not see any art until the dummy is pretty much finished (at which point it is too late to provide any input!)

What advice would you give to picture book writers and writers in general looking to be published?

I would say network, network, network! Attend conferences, join critique groups, and reach out to agents, editors, and other writers online. You never know who will give you that one critical piece of feedback that helps you fix your manuscript or who will give you that referral that leads to a contract. So, get out there and interact with people in your industry as much as possible!

What’s next?

Well, I have two more fractured fairy tales coming out with Putnam in 2014: GOLDI ROCKS AND THE THREE BEARS and NINJA RED. I plan to shop a couple of other manuscripts this year and of course I hope to get back to writing sometime soon!

Emily Becker interned for Women Who Write in the summer of 2012. She is a sophomore at Connecticut College majoring in English and hopes to work in publishing one day.

POETRY AND PASTRIES

womenwhowriteorg — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:35:46 +0000

WWW member MARCIA IVANS invites all members and the public to :

Poetry and Pastries

May 14, 2013 at 7 PM at

Cafe Beethoven

262 Main St

Chatham NJ

$10 includes pastries, beverage and wonderful poetry

reservations required: marciaivans@gmail.com

NIGHT OF HOPES AND DREAMS

womenwhowriteorg — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:34:32 +0000

JENNY MILCHMAN, author and speaker at our September Conference, invites all

WWW MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE AND SPEAK AT THIS EVENT:

Save the Date: Private Event on 1/17/13

Topic: A Night of Hopes and Dreams

Time: 7PM

Where: Mendham Books

Mendham Shopping Village

84 E Main St.

Mendham, NJ 07945

Jenny Milchman will be discussing her writing/publishing journey, her debut novel, Cover of Snow, and ”how she clung to her dream for 13 years”. Literary agent and author, Lois Winston, will also be presenting. Members from other writing groups as well as WWW Writers are invited to share their mini dream talk (up to 5 min.) regarding their personal writing progress and goals. There will be Q/A and Jenny will be signing her new book, Cover of Snow.

You will be able to meet the author, agent, guests, and others who might help in nourishing your dream.

(The event is free and some of Jenny’s publishing friends will be there,so there will be networking and socializing as well!) There will be food, drinks, and merriment!

If you are interested in participating or would like more information, contact Jenny at 973-605-2837

INTERVIEW WITH MEMBER KAREN DELLECAVA

womenwhowriteorg — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:58:29 +0000

Karen DelleCava is a member of Women Who Write. Her short stories, games, and crafts have appeared in Highlights for Children magazine. She is also the author of a contemporary young adult novel entitled A Closer Look (WestSide Books 2011), which the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association named a Top 40 Pick for 2011 for Realistic Fiction. Karen’s book is about a high school freshman who struggles with her self-image after being diagnosed with alopecia areata, a condition in which a person’s hair falls out.

Your book has many realistic details about alopecia. Did you know someone with the condition?

In high school, my sister’s friend’s brother had alopecia, although the name of the disease never came up─only the symptoms. (George was one of my early readers whom I acknowledged at the end of the book.) But it wasn’t till my nephew’s grandmother donated her hair 10 years ago, did I really take notice of the fact that there were kids out there with this condition.

So did your nephew’s grandmother’s gesture inspire your novel?

Absolutely. When she explained that she donated her hair to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for children with alopecia, I started imagining what it would be like to cut off all my hair and give it away to a child in need. Having had long hair most of my life, the idea of it simmered for some time and I started writing a middle grade novel about girls who donate their hair.

Of course, things were going to go horribly wrong and only my main character would actually cut her hair. Later, I imagined that main character seeing a girl on the beach and overhearing a conversation about how she was looking forward to her prosthetic wig. When I saw the girl on the beach, I knew Cassie’s story─the girl who is losing/lost her hair was the story I needed to tell. So I scrapped 80 pages of that novel, started researching and started all over.

As writers it is drilled into us that we must throw in a lot of complications into our main character’s life. Yet, you weave all of the threads seamlessly. Was it difficult on the first draft to balance these plotlines?

The first draft showed plenty of uneven seams and messy stitchwork. So now I was faced with a real creative challenge. The beauty and joy of the revision process gave me time to dig deeper into both character and plot development. Tommy didn’t exist in the first draft and adding a first romance increased the tension and was mega fun to write although there was a lot of angst there, too. Mom was the most difficult character for me to write. It took years plus the keen eye of my editor, Evelyn M. Fazio, to get Mom’s whole deal straight and her back story to make sense. Robin was a bully from minute one. Unfortunately, I think we all remember girls like her from school.

I found your book to be very tightly written. Was that achieved in the critiquing process before you reached the submission stage, did Evelyn help you snip things out, or was it a one-two punch from the critique group and your editor? Or, last option─are you able to self-edit?

Thank you, Melissa. My critique group is fantastic plus I had an amazing writing instructor, Margaret Gabel, who brought the work up to the level that caught Evelyn’s eye.

It was Evelyn, though, who was ruthless and I mean that in the best possible way. My husband I had her over for dinner right around the time she’d begun major line editing. She’d warned me not to panic when I saw all the red cross outs. What an eye opener when the manuscript arrived with all those words zapped!

She was very open for discussion and if I needed/wanted something to stay and could justify why, Evelyn kept it. Once or twice there was something I wanted in and she wanted out so she asked me to trust her. I did and I think it worked out beautifully.

Cassie’s attitude about living with alopecia ultimately changes. What do you think she would say, after the book, about what she’s learned and how it has affected her?

I’ve asked Cassie that question, too and she responded by starting her own blog. Check out her first post:

“Okay, queue the intro music to Lady GaGa’s Born This Way!

Cassie here! I’m 14 years old and I have alopecia areata. Over the past six months, I lost all of my long hair. And the truth? It was the WORST, most suckful thing that ever happened to me and I cried-A LOT. I felt like I lost who I was, my entire identity.

But ya know what else? I’m still here and I ROCK! Yeah, I said it. I ROCK! I just want YOU to know that you rock, too, with or without hair. It might take time but I guarantee you’ll figure it out. I’m just as cute wig on as wig off. http://baldteensrock.blogspot is a place for bald teens who rock (like me) and their friends to hang out, have fun and even try to make you feel better if you’re having a particularly sucky day.”

You had an agent who did not sell an earlier draft of A Closer Look. Can you fast-forward us along to the happy ending part, when you received “the call”?

I was at work when I got the call on my cell from Evelyn. She’s so warm and lovely and she started chatting. Then my brain went into hyper drive .Editors only call if they have good news. So I asked her what was up and she said WestSide would like to buy A Closer Look! I let out such a shriek of joy I think the people in the next building heard me. Yeah, and there were tears!

Unfortunately, your publisher, WestSide Books, is no longer in business.

It was very sad when I found out WestSide was closing its doors, especially since A Closer Look hadn’t been released yet. But even worse, an incredible editor was losing her job. Ultimately, I still felt fortunate that a modest print run of my novel would be sent out into the world.

Where can people buy copies of your book?

A Closer Look is available at Well Read New & Used Books, an awesome independent bookstore in Hawthorne, NJ, Amazon.com and B&N.com.

Will more be published?

WestSide recently informed me that my novel (along with 4 others) is OSI (Out of Stock Indefinitely) and no more new copies are being published. SIGH! The publishing gods giveth and the publishing gods taketh away. Of course I’m disappointed but I couldn’t be happier that I’ve reached teen and adult readers who’ve been moved enough to contact me directly via emails or letters or post reviews. Without a doubt that has been the most satisfying part of my publishing experience.

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer who is reluctant to join a critique group?

Force yourself to join one!!! Gosh, the benefits are invaluable─but I’ll add─as long as you can find the right fit. Writing is a solitary business and an awesome critique group will provide you with support and a very necessary second set of eyes and/or ears that will help detect weaknesses in your writing. We all want to submit our best work to editors and too often we become so close to our own work we can’t see what’s wrong with it. And when you critique others’ work, you’ll begin to fine tune your own editorial skills and apply them to your own work. Don’t ever feel though, that you have to revise to comments by your critique group, but try to put your ego aside, step back a bit and decide if their comments will improve your work. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how often they’re right!

Thanks for these great answers, Karen, and good luck with your new novel!

It’s been lovely spending this time with you. Thank you so much!

By: Melissa Eisen Azarian

Melissa Eisen Azarian is the VP Membership of Women Who Write. She is a member of the New Providence Writing for Children Group, as well as the Peapack Mixed Genre group. In 2009, Enslow Publishers released her first children’s book, The Amistad Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie. It is part of a series that received favorable reviews in School Library Journal. She writes picture books and novels for kids, but is currently focusing on a novel for women.

MORNING MUSE EVENT

womenwhowriteorg — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:11:52 +0000

Back by popular demand…

Members of Morning Muses are both PLEASED and PROUD to present a Reading and Open Microphone event, graciously hosted by Barnes & Noble, Livingston, NJ.

WHAT: Morning Muses Reading & Open Microphone* Event

WHEN: May 19, 2012

1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

WHERE: Barnes & Noble, Livingston Mall

112 Eisenhower Pkwy, Livingston, NJ

*Open to all ages and genders.

Sincerely,

Karen R. Elsman

Morning Muses Reading & Open Microphone Moderator

Morning Muses Coordinator

POETRY WORKSHOP CANCELLED; WILL BE RESCHEDULED

womenwhowriteorg — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:07:45 +0000

THE POETRY WORKSHOP SCHEDULED FOR TODAY, SATURDAY 1/21/12, HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.

WE WILL RE-SCHEDULE THIS EVENT SOON AND WILL ADVISE THOSE WHO’VE REGISTERED FOR IT VIA THEIR PERSONAL EMAIL. THANK YOU.

GOLDFINCH 2012 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

womenwhowriteorg — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:45:02 +0000

GOLDFINCH 2012
Call for Entries
December 1 2011 to February 15, 2012
Print Guidelines
• Only members of Women Who Write Inc. may submit an entry for Goldfinch. To join, contact membership@womenwhowrite.org
• Submissions will be accepted if emailed or postmarked no earlier than December 1, 2011 and no later than February 15, 2012.
• All submissions must be typed 8-1/2 by 11 white paper or submitted electronically.
• Prose submissions must be typed double spaced. Poetry line spacing may be determined by the writer.
• If using the Post Office, please send five (5) copies of each to the address below, with title and page number on each page along with a separate information page.
• Do not put your name on your submissions. All work will be read blindly.
• On a separate page, list your titles, your name, phone number, and e-mail address as well as a brief bio.

If your work is selected, we will ask you for an email copy if we don’t already have it.
Do not send a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope). Submissions will be shredded upon publication. Include a self-addressed stamped postcard if you wish acknowledged receipt of your submission.
Goldfinch retains one-time publication rights for all works accepted. The author retains all other rights. Goldfinch is copyright as a collective work by Women Who Write, Inc. We allow simultaneous submissions but will not consider previously published work. All members of Women Who Write, Inc. will receive a copy of Goldfinch. Those whose work is in Goldfinch will receive an additional copy. Additional copies may be purchased.
Submissions:
Poetry: Maximum of five (5) poems; no poem longer than 50 lines.
Fiction: Maximum of two (2) short stories or self-contained excerpts of longer works. Maximum of 2,000 words.
Prose: Maximum of two (2) memoirs, creative non-fiction, essays or humor pieces. Maximum of 2,000 words.
Artwork/B&W Photograph: If interested in submitting pen & ink artwork or black & white photography, please send name, telephone and e-mail to goldfincheditor@yahoo.com. If the layout allows for drawings, we will contact you during the month of March or April 2012
Submissions should be sent to:
Goldfinch Editor Prose to goldfincheditor@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 652 or email
Madison, NJ 07940 Poetry to goldfincheditor@yahoo.com

And don’t forget…

Women Who Write is proud to announce that two prizes will be awarded this year: The Goldfinch Prize for Prose and The Goldfinch Prize for Poetry. The winner of each of these prizes, chosen by our editorial board, will receive special commemoration in the 2012 edition of Goldfinch as well as a cash award in the amount of $25. Please see our website for more information.

OPEN MIC EVENT

womenwhowriteorg — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:00:24 +0000

Dear Members of WWW,

Another SAVE THE DATE from the Morning Muses!

You are invited to join the Morning Muses for a Reading and Open Microphone Event at Barnes & Noble in the Livingston Mall.

WHAT: Morning Muses Reading & Open Mic* Event

WHEN: Saturday, October 22, 2011

1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

WHERE: Barnes & Noble

112 Eisenhower Parkway,

Livingston

(973) 758-1317

Bring a story.

Bring a poem.

Bring a friend (or two).

* Open to all ages and genders

Pictures From Our First Writer’s Conference on Sept. 17th, 2011

womenwhowriteorg — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:39:20 +0000

Women Who Write First Annual Conference

womenwhowriteorg — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:12:54 +0000

Women Who Write First Annual

Writer’s Conference A Success

Pictured from Left to Right:Anastasia Werner, workshop leader and poet, Katherine R. Harrison, editor, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Emily Seife, editor, Scholastic Press, Karen Stober, secretary for Women Who Write, Heather Alexander, editor, Penguin Books and Marietta B. Zacker, agent, Nancy Gallt Literary Agency.

By Deborah Amadei

Women Who Write, Inc., a NJ based writer’s collective with 100 members, held their first writer’s conference Saturday, September 17 at the Madison Community House. Many non-members also came out for this well-attended event.

After Marie Ascolese, the organization’s president, gave the opening remarks, all attendees dispersed to one of three all–day writing tracks on poetry, prose and children’s literature.

Marietta Zacker, an agent at Nancy Gallt Literary Agency gave a talk for the children’s track entitled, “You Had Me at Hola: Looking at Submissions Through the Eyes of an Agent.” Her central theme was making a good impression. She used an anecdote from her own life as an example. Because her mother worked for an airline, she was able to fly for free. However she was expected to dress as a representative of the airline in a blouse with a collar, skirt, and heels. When she tried to fly wearing a t-shirt and jeans, she was barred from flying.

Writers need to be professional too. Their work needs to be ready to go before they submit to her. Query letters need to be brief, no more than three paragraphs.

Two editors conducted the afternoon session: Katherine Harrison of Random House and Emily Seife of Scholastic Publishers. Picture book authors need to be aware that character- driven stories are in demand. Keep up with the current market and if you work in rhyme, it should be impeccable. For middle grade and young adult, language and voice are important. Voice is your manner of speaking, not what you say.

A number of authors participated in critique sessions by the editors, including Heather Alexander of Penguin Books. They gained valuable insights into their manuscripts. The prose track had two sessions that left all participants with new techniques and improved their writing styles. In her presentation, “Writing Effective Dialogue,” Dr. Susan Osborn of Rutgers University focused on enlivening dialogue with the introduction of conflict and flow. All writers were required to revise their work three times, using the revision techniques she gave them.

“Everyone’s product was more powerful and engaging,” said one of the participants.

Novelists Judith Lindbergh and Michelle Cameron led the group in more exercises in their session, “Creating a Character.” The group created fictional characters and assumed their identifies. Then they developed personalities for their characters by giving them personality tributes like dreams and fears and created backgrounds for them.

“Certainly one of the measures of the success of both sessions was that people did not want to leave!” said a participant.

The poet Anastasia Werner led the workshops “The Depth of A Poem” and “Poetry Revision” for the poetry track. Anastasia wanted her poets to play with words and gave them exercises for practice. To give a love poem depth, each participant combined two separate poems she had written; one on love and one on hate. Anastasia gave out a list of revision suggestions.

One was to reverse the order of the lines – start with the last line and see where that leads.

Another was to take a favorite line from the love/hate poem and write a new poem from that. One of the poets tried that and was pleased with the result. Both teenage and adult poets requested that Anastasia return for another session some time in the future.

All attendees were on hand for “Protecting Your Writing in Virtual Environments,” a presentation given by Isabelle Felix, an attorney for New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Writers who put their work on the internet need to be prepared to fight theft of their work. They need to register their on-line articles with the copyright office. And put their copyright information on every page. When writers discover their work on other websites without being given credit, they need to send e-mails to the offending web sites. If the website does not comply contact the host site who will take it down.