Monday, May 16, 2016

The Minds Series has just been reissued!!

Thrilled to report that The Minds Series is now out in beautiful new covers created by Asa Nodelman, designed by Tara Smilinski and photographed by Robert Wilson. Hopefully, like any good fantasy series, this one will be just as relevant to a new generation of readers as the last iteration. It was so much fun writing this series with my friend and co writer Perry Nodelman. In fact, it all started with Perry playing his usual role of first critic and editor of all my first drafts. Except when he critiqued Of Two Minds he had a much better idea of how to rewrite it than I did and in a rather sarcastic manner I believe I said something like, "If you're so smart why don't you do it."

So he did! At first Perry wrote the male character Coren and I wrote Lenora and we went back and forth like that draft after draft until I started getting annoyed with Coren who I thought was too weak and Perry started getting annoyed with Lenora who he thought was too bossy and at that point we started writing alternative drafts changing both characters and finally finding a happy medium.

The books are about a young woman and young man—one who can make anything she imagines real, and one who lives entirely in his imagination where reality is better than the physical world. The two are misfits in their worlds because neither likes or appreciates their gifts. So naturally their parents arrange for them to marry. Of course! Needless to say all does not go smoothly. Or even well. The two of them find themselves pitted against a particularly dangerous villain in the first book—and they can only survive—together—much to each other's dismay.


Thursday, May 12, 2016

The Hunt for the Best Cover Continues

A cover is so important—so we asked lots of young people and adults which cover they liked best. A big thank you to everyone who participated in our informal survey, including students at The Alfred & Adele Davis Academy #davis5 in Atlanta, Georgia, and at Grant Park High and Laidlaw schools in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A special thank you to Bonnie Brask for her outstanding photos and artwork on our test covers.

It was a fascinating exercise even though there was no consensus. The best part was hearing what young people had to say, why they liked or disliked a particular cover, what they thought the cover was telling them. For example, we were super interested to learn that most students didn't know about the DNA helix, and didn't recognize that it was being used as a motif on several different covers. Because of that new info, I am going to add an afterword about the DNA strand and have my publisher add it as a graphic element in the novel's layout. So a huge help just in those terms for the book itself.

Below are the last six cover choices we presented to the classes. Which cover do you prefer, and why?

I will be posting our final choice any day now...





Sunday, February 7, 2016

Book Covers For "Who am I?"

I am very lucky that Fictive Press has made me a partner vis a vis choosing and even helping to create the cover for my new book Who Am I? We have considered all sorts. Here are a couple:

   

But we have ended up with something else altogether. I will post it soon. It's such an important decision, but I am really happy with the one we have chosen.

Human Cloning!

So just as I am into the edit of my series about the first human clone this article appears. It is so close to what I have written I feel a little scared, vindicated, psychic, and discombobulated.

My updated and revised series has never been published  in the United States so for all you readers it'll be brand new.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Meet Barbara Bietz

Barbara was kind enough to be my third guest ever on my blog! Here's our Q&A:

First of all why a Jewish book blog? http://jewishbooksforkids.com
My first book Like a Maccabee, was a Jewish children's book and when it was published I became aware of the incredible community of parents, teacher, librarians, readers, and more who are interested in books with Jewish content. My idea was to create a blog community that celebrated Jewish books for kids in an accessible way. I love interviewing authors, illustrators, editors, and others who can share back story that makes their work even more interesting! As an author, I also know the challenges of marketing a new book and I am happy to support authors by helping to spread the word about their work. On a more personal level, reading books about Jewish kids was very important to me as a young reader. My childhood and my Jewish identity were partly formed by reading All-of-a-Kind Family books. If the right book lands in a child's hands it can be life changing. To be part of a community that fosters that experience is amazing.

How do you choose the books to read?
I'm always reading! The interviews on my blog tend to happen organically. Sometimes I contact an author and sometimes authors or publishers reach out to me. I also meet many people at writer's conferences and workshops. The children's writing world is a warm and lovely place to be and there are always new people to meet.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Meet my second guest ever - Deborah Kalb!

So I am thrilled to add Deborah to my guest list! She kindly hosted me over at her blog, and now I'd like to return the favour!
Deborah Kalb is a freelance writer, editor, and blogger. She spent about two decades working as a journalist in Washington, D.C., for news organizations including Gannett News Service, Congressional Quarterly, U.S. News & World Report, and The Hill, mostly covering Congress and politics. She is the co-author, with her father, Marvin Kalb, of Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama (Brookings, 2011), and she’s also the co-author or co-editor of two books published by CQ Press (The Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents; and State of the Union: Presidential Rhetoric from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush). She started her blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb (found at deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com), in October 2012, and has interviewed hundreds of authors—including Carol Matas!—about their books.

Here are some questions I ask Deborah- and her answers!

Q: How do you choose your authors?

A: I look through lists of upcoming books, I read book reviews, I ask friends if they know of anyone with a book coming out soon, and I keep an eye out in general for authors and books that seem interesting. Also, authors and their publicists often get in touch with me to ask if I’d like to interview them/their author. It’s a real pleasure to learn about so many great books before they’re published!

Introducing My First Ever Guest- Barbara Krasner

Barbara Krasner has been kind enough to host me on her blog, https://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com and I'd like to host her here so I'm diving in!

First a little bit about Barbara. When I say a little I mean- wow- she's amazing!

Barbara Krasner, http://www.barbarakrasner.com is a writer and historian. She is the author of two picture books and more than 200 articles for adults and young readers. Her literary work has appeared or is forthcoming in Nimrod, Paterson Literary Review, Jewish Women’s Literary Annual, Jewishfiction.net, Lilith, Poetica, and numerous other journals. She teaches expository and creative writing at William Paterson University. She holds a B.A. in German, M.B.A. in Marketing, M.F.A. in Writing for Children, and is now pursuing an M.A. in public history. She often writes about women and on Holocaust themes. She has most recently served on Association of Jewish Libraries’ Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee and is the editor and publisher of The Whole Megillah | The Writer’s Resource for Jewish Story.