Announcements

UTAH CHILDREN'S WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS

Announcement List--April 7, 2003


Beginning with this issue, each month we'll be interviewing a Utah author or illustrator. This month's author is Kimberley Heuston. Interviews will appear after the Appearances and Events section.


****************
CONGRATULATIONS!

to Chris Crowe, whose book MISSISSIPPI TRIAL, 1955 is accumulating so many awards that Chris will need to build onto his house just to store them. Besides awards announced in previous issues of the newsletter, his novel has also been named a 2002 Parent's Guide Children's Media Award Honor Book, named to the Children's Literature Choice List for 2003, and won the 2003 Jefferson Cup, an annual award given to the best historical novel, nonfiction, or biography.

to Rick Walton, whose book BERTIE WAS A WATCHDOG was chosen as one of the Chicago Public Library's Best Books of 2002 for Children and Teens, and whose book BUNNY DAY was named by the Scholastic Spring Gift Books catalog as a "Best Ever Read Aloud".


****************
COMING SOON

Spring, 2003
from Michael Tunnell, THE PRYDAIN COMPANION, a guide to Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, Henry Holt.

May
from Chris Crowe, GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER: THE TRUE STORY OF THE EMMETT TILL CASE. It just received a boxed review in BOOKLIST and will be a 2003 Junior Library Guild selection.

Fall, 2003
from Kimberley Heuston, DANTE'S DAUGHTER, a Young Adult novel, from Front Street.
from Ron Woods, the Dell Yearling paperback edition of THE HERO.

Spring, 2004
from Sharlee Glenn, KEEPING UP WITH ROO, a picture book, from Putnam.

Summer, 2004
from Rick Walton, A VERY HAIRY SCARY STORY, a picture book, from Putnam.


****************
NEW SALES

Mette Harrison, MIRROR MIRROR, a young adult fantasy, to Viking.

Sharlee Glenn, JUST WHAT MAMA NEEDS, a picture book, to Putnam.

Laurel Brady, book 14 of the Mary Kate and Ashley Sweet Sixteen series.


********************
APPEARANCES AND EVENTS

April 6-12, Gloria Skurzynski will be visiting Montana schools.

April 8--Rick Walton will be speaking to the Davis School District Librarians at Knowlton Elementary in Farmington, from 4-6 

April 9--Ron Woods will be visiting Ephraim Middle School.

April 10--Sherry Meidell will be speaking to third graders at West Bountiful Elementary

April 10--Ron Woods will be doing a writing workshop at Canyon View Jr. High.

April 12--Ron Woods will be involved in the WalMart Literacy Initiative reading at the Orem store.

April 14-15--Rick Walton will be visiting schools in Winnemucca, Nevada.

April 18--Ken Baker will be visiting Hartley Elementary, in Portland, Oregon.

April 19--Rick Walton will be signing at the University Mall Deseret Book, 2-4 pm.

April 21--Ken Baker will be visiting Scott Elementary, in Portland, Oregon.

April 21--Ron Woods will be visiting a class at Payson Jr. High.

April 29--Ron Woods will be speaking at the Idaho librarians conference.

April 30--Ron Woods will be visiting Lowell Scott Middle School, in Boise.

May 1--Ken Baker will be visiting Oak Canyon Junior High, in Lindon.

May 1-2--Rick Walton will be visiting Bunderson Elementary in Brigham City.

May 4-8, 2003--International Reading Association, Orlando, Florida.

May 23-25, 2003--Conduit 13: Salt Lake's Science Fiction Weekend.

May 30-June 1, 2003--Book Expo America, Los Angeles.

June 9--Carol Williams will be presenting workshops at the Utah Home Education Association conference.

June 10 and 12--Sherry Meidell will be kicking off the summer reading program for the Davis County Libraries at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

June 19-25, 2003--American Library Association annual conference, Toronto, Canada.

July 7-11, 2003--BYU Writing for Young Readers Workshop. Faculty includes Tim Wynne-Jones, Lael Littke, Claudia Mills, Sally Warner, Candice Fleming, Rick Walton, Lisa Wheeler, Ann Edwards Cannon, Richard Hull, editors Judy O'Malley and Nancy Hinkel, and agent Tracey Adams. For more information, go to http://www.ce.byu.edu/cw/writing.

July 18-19, 2003--BYU Books for Young Readers Symposium--Guests include Bethanne Anderson, Franny Billingsley, Susan Fletcher, Russell Freedman, David Small, Laurence Yep. For more information, go to http://www.ce.byu.eu/cw/childlit.

End of July--Carol Williams will be doing school visits in Nebraska.


*********************
AUTHOR INTERVIEW--KIMBERLEY HEUSTON

Kimberley was born October 20, 1960 in Provo. Her parents are both
educators. She is the eldest of six children, and grew up in Manhattan. She has a degree from Harvard in History and Science, 1981, four children, and an MFA from Vermont College, 2000. She teaches English and history at Waterford School. Kimberley is working on a novel about two sisters set in Czech republic. 

Her books include
PARENTING, Deseret Book, 1998
SHAKERESS, Front Street Books, 2002
DANTE'S DAUGHTER, Front Street Books, Fall, 2003


1 Why did you decide to become a writer?

I was a very shy little girl (I am still very shy, actually.) We moved around a lot and I was not good at making friends or at playing playground kinds of games, so I read a lot and boy, did I love those books. I didn't ever think I'd be a writer, though. School writing was too hard, and I didn't think I was creative enough to be a creative writer. Two things changed as I got older. First, I became a single mom which meant that I got very busy. It was hard for me to find people who were interested in talking about things I was trying to figure out. Writing was a way for me to do that by myself. Second, I taught English and history, and after a while writing wasn't scary anymore. I finally figured out that if you spend enough time on something, eventually you will figure out what it is you really want to say and then all you have to do is say it.


2 Who is your favorite character that you have written?

Whoever I am writing about at the moment. Right now, it's Antonia 
Alighieri, the main character in DANTE'S DAUGHTER, which is being 
published this fall.


3 If you could change one thing about being a writer, what would it be?

That I had enough money to do it all the time.


4 Do you remember the very first piece of fiction you wrote?

Yes. It was in third grade and it was a story about the planet Gloomz. I did not have a good year in third grade. I wrote
some poetry in seventh and eighth grade, and that was pretty much it until I started my first novel.


5 Who are your favorite authors?

Oh, that's such a hard question! There are so many. Growing up, my favorites were Elizabeth Speare, Elizabeth Enright, and Mary Stewart. I also really love Lois Lowry and An Na. I really like
Meg Cabot. I read a great book last night called PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Leif Enger. I wish I could write like he does. 


6 Do you have any specific goals as a writer?

Just to keep getting better.


7 What was your favorite book as a child?

Witch of Blackbird Pond.


8 What are you working on now?

A story about two sisters who go to live in Czechoslovakia when their Dad dies.


9 Do you ever write about Utah?

Not yet. But I will.


10 What is the hardest thing about being a writer?

Feeling like what you are doing counts as work. About the time that I began to think that I might be a writer, I went to an
English teacher's convention and met Phillip Pullman, a British
children's author. I asked him about writing and he said that he spent the first six months of every book sitting at cafe's staring blankly into space. Karen Cushman said sort of the same thing in her Newbery acceptance speech that she loved having a job that involved hours of daydreaming in bed. I am so glad that I heard those writers say that. It helps me feel a little less guilty when my house is messy.


11 What is the easiest thing about being a writer?

Loving what you do.


12 What good advice do you have for people who want to be writers?

The hardest part is being brave enough to try even when you know that what you write won't be perfect. One of my students wrote about this on an exam "maybe my grandchildren will laugh at my
mistakes." Well, the only way to learn how to do something without mistakes is to make lots of mistakes first. So write a lot, and look for ways to get better, and you will!

*********************

Are you, or do you know an author or illustrator of books for young readers? Are you sponsoring a children's literature related event? Is there something else related to this list that we should announce? Send announcements to rick@rickwalton.com.

Are you interested in writing for kids? If so, you should join the Utah Children's Writers listserv. Get involved with other writers in discussions about writing, reading, and marketing literature for kids. To join, send a blank e-mail to utahchildrenswriters-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Please forward this announcement to anyone you would like.

If you had this message forwarded to you, you can receive news of what Utah authors and illustrators of books for young readers are doing delivered directly to you. To join Utah Writers send a blank e-mail to utahwriters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe, send a blank email to utahwriters-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.