Interview with Maria V. Snyder

by Jodi Webb

The Black Diamond Writers Network is excited to have New York Times-bestselling author Maria V. Snyder as our keynote speaker at the 2nd Annual Write It Right Conference. Maria is the author of the bestselling Study (Poison Study, Magic Study, and Fire Study) and Glass (Storm Glass, Sea Glass, and Spy Glass) trilogies, as well as Inside Out, a YA sci-fi/fantasy novel. Its sequel, Outside In, is scheduled for release on March 1, 2011. Maria has also contributed to anthologies like The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire, The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance, and The Stories In Between. Here, Maria takes some time out of her busy schedule to talk to our Jodi Webb about writing, research, and what to expect at Write It Right.

BDWN: I just finished the first book in your Study series, Poison Study. You mentioned that you learned about food tasting and the defensive arts as research for this books. For other books you've had hands on experience with horseback riding and glass blowing. I'd like to know which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did you come up with a plot for a book that happened to involve a hobby or skill and then find that you had to learn more about it to write effectively or did you say to yourself, "Glass blowing seems so interesting, I'd like to learn more about it." and then find yourself creating a book based on that newfound interest?

MARIA: I usually come up with an idea/plot for a story first. Then, as I’m writing the book, I’ll encounter something I don’t know, like what indigo plants look like, and I’ll make a list of things I need to research. Occasionally, I’ll know before the book is written. For example, with the Glass books, I knew the main character was going to be a glass artist/magician so I enrolled in a couple glass classes to learn how to work with molten glass before I started those books.

BDWN: Any other hobbies or skills you'd like to weave into a book?

MARIA: I’d like to use photography sometime in the future just so I can take classes and call it research J

BDWN: I was uncertain how to label your books. After reading the Study series I decided they were YA even though I loved them and I'm long past the YA phase of my life! But then I visited your website and saw they were published as both YA and adult...with different book covers. Is this a common practice in the publishing world?

MARIA: I don’t think re-labeling books is all that common in the publishing world. There are a few older titles that have been re-printed with new covers and placed in the YA section of the bookstore recently, mostly because, back then, there wasn’t a YA section in the bookstore to place them! My Study books were written for adults, but I was getting so many emails from YA readers saying how much they enjoyed them that my publisher decided to market the books to YAs as well as adults.

BDWN: Why we're talking about labels, you've written YA fantasy both in a historical world and a modernistic world as well as contributing to some short story anthologies about the paranormal. Any new types of writing you'd like to try? Or are you strictly a fantasy gal?

MARIA: I’m always interested in a challenge and that’s why I contribute to various short story anthologies. I would love to write a mystery/suspense/thriller someday, and I have a mainstream book for middle grade readers I’ve been trying to sell. So, no, I’m not strictly fantasy J

BDWN: You're going to travel your road to publication with attendees of the Write It Right conference. Can you share one of your biggest surprises (good or bad) while working at getting your books published?

MARIA: This might sound stupid, but the biggest surprise was that many of the people who worked at my publisher were reading my book. I had met a bunch of sales staff and PR/Marketing workers about four months before Poison Study was published, and they all gushed about the book. My editor was amused. She said, “What did you think we’d do with it?” I had thought she and maybe the copy editor would actually read the entire book, and everyone else would just read the cover copy. This led to another surprise, that the publishing professionals still get excited about books. I had thought they might be jaded and like, “Yawn, just another book,” but they’re enthusiastic.

BDWN: In addition to a talk on the Road to Publication you have a second workshop. Can you tell us a little about what you'll be sharing with us?

MARIA: My other workshop is titled, Maria’s Nitpicks. I’m going to focus on a bunch of writing…not quite mistakes, but weak, sloppy writing that drives me crazy J I see these in published books all the time. Things like passive voice, vague nouns, floating eye balls, info dumps, and unrealistic fight scenes.

BDWN: And you would know about unrealistic fight scenes since, as part of your research you choreographed the fight scenes in your books! Tell us what you enjoy about participating in appearances such as the Write It Right conference.

MARIA: I do enjoy teaching aspiring writers. It’s fun and I get to hang out with other writers – what’s not to like? Also I had a lot of help when I was learning, and teaching others is one way to thank those who helped me. Mentoring students is extremely rewarding and I love it when they improve or “get” it -- I’m like a proud Mama Bear J One thing I always tell everyone – writing is not something you can master. Writers are always learning, and interacting with students and readers has been both delightful and educational J

BDWN: Any big news or secrets about your next project you'd like to share with us?

MARIA: I’m working on book #9 (still amazed by that!). It’s another fantasy novel and it’s about a healer set in a world that is recovering from a deadly plague. Her world has blamed the plague on the healers and has hunted them down. She is finally caught only to be rescued by a group who wants her to heal their Prince. The group's leader, Kerrick, knows the healers aren't to blame for the plague and that she could do some good for a change instead of hiding. Unfortunately, she believes this Prince is the one who started the plague as an attempt at biological warfare so she isn't risking her life for some pampered Prince. As they travel to the Prince's hidden location, they're pursued by others who have realized having a healer around might just be a good thing for them, but not necessarily for her. This book is tentatively set for a January 2012 release in the United States.

BDWN: But don't worry readers, Maria won't be doing experiements in biological weapons as part of her research! No need to buy your own personal gas mask.

Interview with Josh Berk Part II

by Jodi Webb

Today Jodi and Josh pick up on their conversation from Wednesday...

BDWN: Can you give us the 30 second story of your road to publication? Agent? Sending directly to publishers? Winning a contest? Friends in the business?

JOSH: I started out extremely clueless in the business! I sent a manuscript to one agent at a time and waited to hear back. (This was on my previous, unpubbed manuscript.) One of them was kind enough to say "you write well, so even though I'm going to pass on this project, let me know when you write something else." When I finished the ms. that would become HAMBURGER HALPIN, I promptly sent to to her and just waited. It turned out that she wasn't an agent anymore! I felt crushed, but was advised by a writer-friend to send it to a bunch of agents at once. It seems like obvious advice now! So I used agentquery.com to find any agent interested in YA and polished up my query letter. I got a lot of interest, and coincidentally ended up signing with a young, new agent at the agency that sent me that original "let me know when you write something else letter" on the first manuscript. He then submitted it to editors he thought would like it, and found me a good home.

BDWN: So you do have an abandoned manuscripts hidden in your desk drawer?

JOSH: HALPIN was my third attempt at writing for teens. My first, technically, was an adult novel that I tried to morph into a YA book after taking a class on teen lit. (And, after realizing that the part about the young people in the book was the strongest part anyway.) Then I decided to start out writing a teen novel, and it was better, but not really ready for publication. Then HALPIN was my third one. Sometimes I fantasize about digging out those old ones, but they're probably hidden in desk drawers for a reason.

BDWN: Can you tell us the biggest obstacle you faced when trying to get your book published? If you could share one tip about publication what would it be?

JOSH: The biggest obstacle for me was my own internal struggle. I so often felt like a "faker" like I wasn't a "real" writer and that all published authors had some magic something I didn't have. I was afraid to even send things out. Once I bucked up and realized that authors are just people, and once I realized that publishing is more or less like any other field, it became less scary. You just have to be professional, courteous, and even though you might hear "no" a lot of times and feel like crumbling into a pile of tears, you just have to keep that vibe of professionalism while you submit your next one and your next one and your next one...
I'd also say to do your research on agents and make sure you find one who is dependable, reliable, and a good match for you. An offer of representation can be so exciting that you might be tempted to jump at any agent who comes along, but the goal should be to find the "right agent." It's a business partnership as well as a creative partnership and should be treated as such. The business side of it can be very stressful, exciting, etc., but ideally the agent should handle most of that stuff so we as writers can focus on what we're here to focus on: the writing.

BDWN: And our final question...what's next?

JOSH: Thanks for asking! I'm very close to finishing the revisions for my second YA novel. It's another funny/crime/high school story, albeit with totally new characters and setting. It's called GUY LANGMAN: CRIME SCENE PROCRASTINATOR and tells the tale of a guy (named Guy) who joins his high school forensics club and stumbles on a real crime scene. He also crushes on girls, fights with his friends, and comes to terms with the loss of a loved one in his family. So it's crime/comedy/coming of age. All the things I love!

And then I recently sold the first two books in what will (hopefully) be a long series for younger readers (ages 9-12 or so). These books are also mysteries, with a sports focus. Lenny Norbeck and his goofball friends ("Mike" and "Other Mike") solve a series of baseball-related crimes and have a lot of fun along the way. I'm an obsessive Phillies fan, so this is a dream come true.

Josh Berk photo by Olaf Starorypinski

Interview with Josh Berk

by Jodi Webb

Josh Berk is the author of The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin (Knopf, 2010), a young adult mystery that combines ghosts and murder with teen angst, all set in a high school in the coal region. Berk’s second teen comedy/mystery novel is slated for release in 2012. According to Berk’s website, his past vocations have included journalist, playwright, and a guitarist for a punk band. Currently a librarian, Josh and his family live in Allentown, Pa. At the Write It Right conference, Josh will be giving 2 sessions: Writing for YA Audiences, and Getting Your YA Novel Published. In the first of a 2-part interview, Jodi Webb talked with Josh about writing for teens and 'tweens, developing an audience, and the publishing process.

BDWN: I just finished reading The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin, your first YA book, and it was full of the thing that intimidates me most about writing for a YA audience--teenagers communicating. Did you lurk in dark corners spying on teens talking to one another, hire teens consultants to OK your dialogue?

JOSH: Yes, I lurked in dark corners! Well, not quite. But I was working at a public library frequented by teens. Despite it being a library, they were never very quiet and it was pretty easy to "spy" on them. Also, I managed a crew of teen workers. I must not have exactly projected managerial authority because they soon pretty much talked to me (and emailed me, and texted me) like I was a peer. Some of this definitely influenced the voices of my teen characters. Also, being naturally immature helps.

BDWN: Your book is unusual because Will, who is deaf, and his hearing friend Smiley communicate mainly through the written word...IMing, emailing, writing on paper. Was it easier to write that "dialogue" or the oral dialogue between hearing characters?

JOSH: This is a good question! Dialogue is always my favorite part to write. It tends to flow for me whereas I struggle with other parts of writing at times. I like to get the characters talking and just set them loose. The texting/IM dialogue didn't really feel any different than spoken dialogue to be honest. Will and Devon got into a good flow and the words came fairly naturally.

BDWN: Obviously you're no longer a teenager, but at least you can remember what it was like while writing your characters. But what about your main character, Hamburger Will Halpin who is deaf. I know you aren't deaf but is that something you have life experience with?

JOSH: I started writing the book knowing pretty much nothing about Deafness! I wrote the first draft pretty much just wondering "what if?" and "what would such-and-such be like" for a person who couldn't hear. Then I did research (not sure why I did this backwards) -- reading books by deaf authors, hanging out on Deaf websites, and interviewing some deaf people who I got in touch with. Some of the jokes came from this research and some of it just came from my desire to portray Will as a "regular" adolescent. One deaf reader pointed out that the sort of "earthy" humor Will has is very common in the deaf world, and then gave examples of jokes that I didn't think of as "deaf" jokes but rather plain old teen-boy humor.

BDWN: From my point of view, writing about teenagers is a nightmare simply because they're so trendy. What's in today is totally lame tomorrow. Does anyone still say totally lame? Did you ever worry that by including certain details...IM ing, gold name necklaces, etc, you would date your book? Or did you hope readers would look past details to the great plot?

JOSH: This is a good point. Youth culture moves so fast and publishing moves so slow! I actually wrote the book in 2007 and it didn't come out until 2010. I did worry about things becoming out-of-date and my editor helped pick things that we could alter to be less likely to be outdated. For example, in the first draft everyone in the book had MySpace pages, then I changed it to Facebook, then I just put something vague like "social network page" because I figured that something like that would last, whatever it might be called. And I made up a fictional device ("The Crony") rather than name a type of handheld device that would be replaced by something newer (like, the iPhone, for example, which hardly existed way back when I wrote the book but now is everywhere). My editor also had me pull references to current movie stars and rock bands who she feared might date the book.

So I'd say, yes, it is a concern when writing contemporary YA, but certain things transcend all eras. Youth culture changes, but adolescents are pretty much the same as they've always been. Maybe my book will seem hilariously out-of-date in a few years, but I was just trying to write honestly about a moment in time as I saw it. I think readers will appreciate that. And gold name necklaces will never be lame! (Haha. Maybe they already are?)

Check back on Friday for Part II of Jodi's interview with Josh!

Josh Berk photo by Olaf Starorypinski