MG Book Review: A Mango-Shaped Space

A few years ago I decided to dabble in writing for children, and have since completed both a middle-grade and YA novel. While studying the marketplace for the submission process, I’ve discovered numerous new authors and books, and I’m not ashamed to say I often use my 10-year-old daughter Mia as a test subject for books I think look interesting (the girl devours books, so it’s not like I have to twist her arm or anything). I think I can take credit for turning her onto author Wendy Mass. We were browsing the book selection at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore one afternoon and I found a paperback called 11 Birthdays that I thought she might like. My daughter hedged at first because she was sort of in a reading rut and wasn’t interested in checking out a new author, but the book was only 50 cents so she finally agreed.

Can I just say she is now obsessed with all things Wendy Mass? I truly believe that because of this author Mia is now more interested in novels featuring magical realism and fantasy. She’s read the entire Willow Falls series, Rebecca’s Stead’s When You Reach Me,  The Lightning Thief, and she even finished up the classic A Wrinkle inTime a few weeks ago. I am officially one proud writer mama.

Mia first read about A Mango-Shaped Space when researching other Wendy Mass novels and tracked it down at our local library. Once she finished it, she couldn’t stop discussing the main character’s synesthesia (what?) and begged me to read it so we could talk about it.  I finally agreed after she kept leaving it on my desk. 

I’ve been to writing workshops and listened to agents and editors talk about the importance of a compelling hook. Well, let me tell you, this book has all that and more. The fact that the main character's name is Mia probably didn't hurt, either.

A Mango-Shaped Space

Mia Winchell has synesthesia, the mingling of perceptions whereby a person can see sounds, smell colors, or taste shapes. Forced to reveal her condition, she must look to herself to develop an understanding and appreciation of her gift in this coming-of-age novel.

Review:

I had honestly never heard of synesthesia before, and it makes for a great storyline. The reader is hooked from the first paragraph of the prologue, and you feel compassion for the main character, Mia, who feels she has to hide her special gift to avoid being teased and called a freak by her classmates. Not only that, but she has a very special cat, Mango, who also struggles with a physical ailment, which strengthens their bond. Because she is struggling in school, Mia eventually comes clean about the fact that all the letters and numbers she sees are associated with specific colors and is relieved when she learns there is a name behind it. With the help of her parents, she begins working with an expert in the field of synesthesia and joins an online support group.

The book has all the hallmarks of a great middle-grade story—conflict with a best friend, a love interest or two, misunderstood siblings, and sadly, dealing with the loss of a pet. A Mango-Shaped Space really touched me as a parent and caused me to shed a tear or two by the end. I simply could not put it down.

Have you read any worthwhile middle-grade novels recently? I’d love to hear what others are reading!

An Introvert's Look at Interviews

This past weekend, I sat back and thought about my career as a freelance writer up to this point. I started really getting more contract work in 2005, starting with articles and profiles for a local newspaper and then moving on to a national parenting website. Now I write mostly for websites and regional magazines. These articles require me to do a lot of interviews, which is kind of funny when you think about it, because I consider myself a pretty serious introvert. I get nervous anytime I have to pick up the phone and call a source or meet someone in person for an interview. I try to be prepared ahead of time, but it still doesn't erase the "stage fright" I get before each interview.

Luckily, my anxiety (usually) manages to pass and I can honestly say I enjoy meeting the new people I am assigned to write about--because I've met some truly amazing people and shared some really great stories. 

Today I offer a few tips on the art of perfecting the interview at WOW! Women on Writing's blog, The Muffin, where I often get to interview authors like Molly Harper, which is almost like not even working. Almost. I hope you'll stop by and check it out!

Everybody's Talking About Sisterhood and The Moon Sisters

Because I am an only child, sisterhood is something I've always longed for and struggled to find. There are days when I'm struggling and wish I had a sister or even a brother that I could pick up the phone and call. It is only within the past few years that I've realized I have had many "sisters" throughout my lifetime--I just didn't see them for what they were at the time.

The girls who took me under their wings and invited me into their homes every time I moved into a new school as a child were my sisters. Some of my fondest childhood memories are sleepovers with my girlfriends, when we stayed up all night spilling our secrets and gorged ourselves on squirty cheese and saltine crackers, chips and salsa and Cheerwine soda. (And to those girls, I also have to say a big "thank you" for putting up with my need to sing Debbie Gibson songs endlessly. I know there are times you probably wanted to throttle me.)

Girl trip to New York in 2005.

If I've been friends with you for more than 20 years, I consider you a sister.

There's another friend I consider a sister who shares my love of all things 80s, including the movies and music from that time period. I can't see the movie "Say Anything" without instantly imagining us cruising along in her mother's Mustang convertible blasting the soundtrack to that movie. As we grew older, some of us fell out of touch over the years, but thanks to social media, we are now able to keep up with each other's lives and continue to reach out and provide comfort and support to one another. Their love and friendship have meant more to me than they'll ever know, and I'll always be grateful for the surrogate sisters I've had in my lifetime.

Sisterhood in The Moon Sisters

In The Moon Sisters, her second novel, Therese Walsh wanted to write about one sister’s quest to find will-o’-the-wisp light, which was her mother’s unfulfilled dream. Also called “foolish fires”, these lights are sometimes seen over wetlands and are thought to lead those who follow them to treasure. Despite the promise, they are never captured and sometimes lead to injury or even death for adventurers who follow them. The metaphor of that fire – that some dreams and goals are impossible to reach, and that hope itself may not be innately good – eventually rooted its way into deeper meaning as the Moon sisters tried to come to terms with real-world dreams and hopes, and with each other, in their strange new world. 

Olivia and Jazz Moon are polar opposites: one a dreamy synesthete, able to see sounds and smell sights and the other controlling and reality driven. What will happen when they are plunged into 24/7 togetherness and control is not an option? Will they ever be able to see the world through the other’s eyes and confront the things they fear the most? Death. Suicide. The loss of faith and hope. Will they ultimately believe that life is worth living, despite the lack of promise? The writing of The Moon Sisters was a five year journey and at times author Therese Walsh felt like it was her own “foolish fire." But remember, some fires are worth the chase!

You can check out Jodi Webb's review of The Moon Sisters at the WOW! Women on Writing blog. To  learn more about Therese Walsh, visit her website.

Want the chance to win a free book? As a bonus, anyone who comments on this post or any of the other blogs participating in "Everybody's Talking About Sisterhood" will be entered in a drawing for the opportunity to win a copy of The Moon Sisters. A complete list of participating blogs can be found here. You can enter dozens of times if you like!

Immerse Yourself in Inspiration

I am getting more excited as each day passes because I recently completed the latest draft of my contemporary YA novel, and after several years of fits and starts, I feel like I finally may have found my main character's voice. If you're a writer, you know that hearing someone talk about "voice" can make you want to rip your hair out. It's difficult to describe what a great voice in literature would sound like--you just sort of know it when you read it (or hear it).

While writing this latest draft of my book I immersed myself in images and music to help create my story. I have a board on Pinterest that I use when I want to visualize what a character or place might look like. Here's an example of what I have on that board. I also created a playlist in my iTunes Library that I turned on every time I sat down to work on the story.

Renee's Writing Playlist:
The Story by Brandi Carlile
Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson
Comes and Goes (In Waves) by Greg Laswell
Losing My Religion by R.E.M.
Satellite Call by Sara Bareilles
Baker Baker by Tori Amos
Goodbye by Patty Griffin
Pendulum by Pearl Jam
Fear by OneRepublic
Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead

How do you create a writing environment that helps you set the mood for your fiction? Is there specific music you listen to or a certain place you have to go to write?

Book Review: Not the Mother I Remember

I enjoy reading memoirs, but they typically have to grab me within the first few pages to pique my full interest, as I usually have a substantial stack of different types of books in my "to be read" pile. Not the Mother I Remember, by Amber Lea Starfire, passed this test immediately with flying colors.

I worked with Amber a few months ago on the blog tour for Times They Were A-Changing, and was impressed by her writing style in the essay she contributed to the anthology she co-edited, "Altamont." The essay was originally written while she was working on Not the Mother I Remember, but she realized it just didn't fit in with the narrative and instead included it in Times They Were A-Changing, where it had a much better fit.

Review:

I began reading Amber Lea Starfire’s book Not the Mother I Remember on a Saturday afternoon and was already halfway through it before I went to bed that evening. Simply put, I quickly became immersed in the story of Jacqueline “Jackie” Carr, teacher, writer, and mother of six, a woman determined to experience all life had to offer, despite how it affected her relationships with her children.

The memoir begins with a preface describing how Starfire and her brothers make the decision to place their mother, suffering from Alzheimer’s, into an assisted-living facility. During the course of cleaning out her mother’s apartment, Starfire opens a storage closet and discovers boxes and boxes of her mother’s writing and correspondence. While elated at what she has found, she is also scarred from years of battling with her complicated mother and knows she is not yet ready to face the story behind who Jackie Carr really was. Only after her mother’s death in 2007 does she begin the arduous process of sifting through the letters and journal entries.

I found myself conflicted at different points in the book. For example, I was fascinated by the story of how Carr sold all her belongings after divorcing her husband and took two of her children (including the author, who was 10 years old at the time) on a 365-day world tour that included Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Japan and many other places. But that fascination turned to disbelief as I discovered that Jackie also left her children with virtual strangers at different times throughout that year as she went off on separate adventures of her own. I questioned how a single mother during that time period could balance supporting herself and her children and be actively involved in as many things as she was. (The progressive Jackie also earned her pilot’s license at one point, purchased a small plane, and took Starfire and her brother on a whirlwind summer flying tour).

Starfire describes the mixed emotions she felt toward her mother as “the Tar.”

“Sometimes, when she pushed me too hard, it cooled and solidified and shone like brightly polished obsidian, with painfully sharp edges. And during those times we tried to make up with each other, it became watery and brown, weak as tea.”

What makes this book unique is how Starfire layers her own narrative with excerpts from Jackie’s letters and diary entries, which takes the story to a whole different level. She also includes photos, copies of her mother’s typewritten work history, real estate transactions, publishing history, travel excursions and more. Readers can also get a glimpse of an obituary that Jackie wrote for herself in 1998.

In the words of Jackie Carr:

“I played life as if it were a race with “winning” as the goal. I won: twenty-five years with one man, several mad love affairs, six children and sixteen grandchildren, two advanced degrees, eight books, travel around the world. I wanted to be financially secure. I won that race too. I loved winning just as I loved loving—for the feel of it.”

Not the Mother I Remember is no ordinary memoir, and because of this, I highly recommend it. Starfire’s writing is clear and strong and she tackles this difficult subject matter in a way that is both poignant and cathartic.

To learn more about Amber Starfire, visit her website www.writingthroughlife.com.

Greatest Hits from 2013

I've been mulling over what my writing goals will be for 2014, as I'm well aware that I need accountability in order to do what I actually say I'm going to do. I've read a lot of great posts lately regarding the best way to set up those goals, but while I get organized I thought it might be fun to look back at some of my "greatest hits" from 2013 to get me motivated! Here's a peek at what I was up to:

Magazines

I'm continuing to work as editor of Little Ones, a bi-monthly parenting magazine based in Charlotte, NC. We put out some great issues this past year and I was blessed to make the acquaintance of many  area families and businesses, as well as work on some great human-interest and travel stories. Here's one of my recent articles.

Fiction

I worked on polishing up a flash fiction piece, In the Depths, for the WOW! Women on Writing Fall 2012 Flash Fiction contest and found out my entry placed in the top ten stories in March 2013. I was so excited to actually get recognition for a piece of fiction and it gave me a boost of self confidence that I needed to keep writing. You can read my finalist interview here.

Not long after that, I answered an ad for a blog tour manager with WOW! Women on Writing and got the job! I now work with two other lovely ladies, Jodi and Crystal, helping authors promote their books via virtual blog tours. It is such a joy meeting and working with authors from different genres and learning more about the publishing industry. It's been a win-win situation for me!

I finished writing and editing my middle-grade novel, Camp Big and Bright, and am now querying agents and publishing houses. I also turned the first novel I wrote several years ago into a YA for National Novel Writing Month, and am now ready to begin editing!

Conferences

In April I traveled to Raleigh, NC to attend the Write Now! Conference and had a great time meeting other North Carolina writers and getting new ideas for the non-fiction writing side of my business. At the end of September I was fortunate enough to attend the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference here in Charlotte, where I spent two and half days immersed in everything agents, authors, queries, and writing for children. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go back in 2014.

And a few of my favorite posts from The Muffin, the WOW! Women on Writing blog:

Dear Manuscript: It's Not You, It's Me

A Fictional Finale

What 80s Movies Have Taught Me About Writing

The Hunt for a Great Human-Interest Story

What are some of your "greatest hits" from the past year?

27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness

Isn't it funny how things sometimes land in your inbox just when you need them? I am a firm believer in synchronicity, and I think that is what led me to inquire about Mari L. McCarthy's 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness workbook after seeing a Facebook post describing the course.

In the past year, I've been desperately trying to juggle my freelance writing career, polish up and submit two different children's novels, see to the needs of my family and put in some volunteer hours for various places and organizations where I can. What do you think happened this past fall? I crashed and burned, of course, coming down with a recurring case of strep that left me weakened, resentful and most of all, discouraged.

Mari L. McCarthy founded CreateWriteNow after journaling helped her restore feeling and function to her right side as a result of a damaging Multiple-Sclerosis (MS) flair up. She's gearing up for the 27 Days Life-Changing Journaling Challenge and if you are ready to take on the New Year with gusto, I would highly recommend signing up. The course is free with purchase of the workbook, which you can purchase here. Below is a description of the workbook:

The Peace of Mind & Body: 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness guide takes you on a step-by-step journey to identify exactly what it is you want -- and how to get there. In just 27 days, you'll find yourself on a clear path to achieving the peace of mind, health and happiness you want for your life. Personal growth and development can be hard work, but this workbook makes it easy.
Learn how journaling can help you:

• Identify what it is you really want 
• Work through difficult challenges in your life
• Create a path to achieve the things you want for your life today
• Be a healthier, happier YOU

I received a copy of the workbook and have been flipping through the pages, trying to get myself mentally prepared for what the process will bring. When I saw that several of the exercises included music lyrics, I got pretty excited, as I've always relied on music to get me through the creative process of writing. Other exercises include exploring childhood memories, reflecting upon your dreams, keeping a food log, venting to your journal without censoring yourself, and more.

Are you ready for the challenge? Order your copy of the workbook, head out and buy a special pen and notebook specifically for journaling and sign up for the Jan. 1-27 challenge here.