Announcements

UTAH CHILDREN'S WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS

Announcement List--October 1, 2003

This month's author interview is with Rick Walton.


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CONGRATULATIONS

to Dean Hughes, whose book SOLDIER BOYS has been nominated for state awards for Young Adult books in Nebraska, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

to Chris Crowe, whose book MISSISSIPPI TRIAL, 1955 was named to the NY Public Library's 2003 Best Books for the Teen Age list and as a finalist for the Kansas 2004 Heartland Award. It's also on the Kentucky Bluegrass reading list and was named a Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Reading Association. In November Chris will be in Virginia to give the keynote at the Virginia Library Association annual convention, and will receive the Jefferson Cup Award, for best historical YA book of the year.


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NEW BOOKS

Kimberley Heuston, DANTE'S DAUGHTER, a Young Adult novel, from
Front Street.

Ron Woods, the Dell Yearling paperback edition of THE HERO.

Ron Woods, the large-print edition to THE HERO, from Thorndike
Press.



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COMING SOON

December, 2003
Chris Crowe, the paperback edition of MISSISSIPPI TRIAL, 1955.

March, 2004
Sharlee Glenn, KEEPING UP WITH ROO, a picture book, from Putnam.
Mark and Cara Buehner, SUPERDOG: THE HEART OF A HERO, a picture book, from HarperCollins.
Randall Wright, HUNCHBACK, a YA novel, from Henry Holt.

April, 2004
Kimberley Heuston, the paperback edition of THE SHAKERESS.

Spring, 2004
Dana Kessimakis Smith, A WILD COWBOY, a picture book, from Hyperion.
Gloria Skurzynski, ARE WE ALONE? SCIENTISTS SEARCH FOR LIFE IN THE MILKY WAY, National Geographic Books.
Gloria Skurzynski, VIRTUAL WAR, paperback edition.
Rick Walton, MINI-MYSTERIES, American Girl.

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

August, 2004
Shannon Hale, ENNA BURNING, a YA, from Bloomsbury.

Fall, 2004
Rick Walton, SUDDENLY, ALLIGATOR, a picture book, from Gibbs
Smith.
Rick Walton, BUNNY CHRISTMAS, a picture book, from
HarperCollins.
Rick Walton, MRS. MCMURPHY'S PUMPKIN, a picture book, from
HarperCollins.

Fall, 2005
Sharlee Glenn, JUST WHAT MAMA NEEDS, a picture book, from
Putnam.


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NEW SALES

Dean Hughes, a YA novel on Vietnam, to Atheneum.


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APPEARANCES AND EVENTS

October 1, 2003--Ron Woods will be speaking at Robert Stuart Junior
High, in Twin Falls, Idaho, and at Jerome Middle School, in Jerome,
Idaho.

October 2, 2003--Ron Woods will be speaking at the Idaho Council of
Teachers of English.

October 3, 2003--Carol Williams, Kim Williams-Justesen, and Trudy Harris will be presenting in Boise to the Idaho Council of Teachers of English, and to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

October 3, 2003--Ron Woods will be speaking at Hillside Junior High in Boise, Idaho.

October 3-4, 2003--Shannon Hale will be at the Mountains and Plains booksellers conference in Denver.

October 10, 2003--Gloria Skurzynski will be presenting at a conference on kids' books in Springfield, Missouri.

October 13, 2003--Becky Hall will read and discuss her book A IS FOR ARCHES: A UTAH ALPHABET at the Read Leaf Bookstore in Springville, at 7:00 pm.

October 16--Shannon Hale will be signing at the Books of Wonder bookstore in New York City.

October 18, 2003--Most of the Utah authors and illustrators of books for young readers will be presenting at the UCTE convention.

October 19, 2003--Gloria Skurzynski will begin a week of appearances in Wyoming schools.

October 24, 2003--Wendelin VanDraanen, author of the Sammy Keyes mystery books, will be speaking at the BYU Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium at 10 am. For information on Wendelin and her books, go to www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec01/vandraanen.htm, or www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen. For more information about the event, contact Janice Card at janice_card@byu.edu.

October 25, 2003--Rick Walton will be discussing picture book writing, from 10-11 am, at the Salt Lake Public Library, Conference Room B.

October 25, 2003--Kim Williams-Justesen will be teaching a one-day workshop on Writing for Children in Park City through Life Long Learning at the University of Utah. You can find information on www.utah.edu. Click on the Continuing Ed. link to find Life Long Learning.

November 1, 2003--Carol Williams, Randall Wright, Mette Harrison, Ron Woods, Julie Olson, Rick Walton, and other Utah authors and illustrators will be speaking at the Association of Mormon Letters conference at the Provo Library.

November 4, 2003--Several Utah authors and illustrators will be speaking at the BYU HBLL Auditorium, at noon. For more information contact Gabi Kupitz, BYU HBLL 6746, (801) 422-6735, gabriele_kupitz@byu.edu.

November 10, 2003--The Children's Literature Review Group will have its annual Christmas Booktalk at 4 p.m. in the BYU HBLL Auditorium (Lvl 1).

November 15, 2003--Ron Woods will be speaking at the Utah Council of the International Reading Association.

December 4, 2003--The Children's Literature Review Group will have its annual Christmas Book Bash at 4 p.m. in the BYU HBLL Farnsworth Juvenile Literature Library Review Room (Lvl 4 southwest corner.) 
For more information contact Gabi Kupitz, BYU HBLL 6746, (801) 422- 6735, gabriele_kupitz@byu.edu.

March 18-19, 2004--UVSC/SCBWI Forum on Children and Literature. 
Main speakers will include Newbery award winner Richard Peck, and award winning author/illustrator Debra Frasier. Mark your calendars. For more information as it becomes available, go to www.uvsc.edu/conted/c&w.

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UTAH AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR WEBSITES

Ken Baker -- www.bravemonster.com
Ann Edwards Cannon -- www.aecannon.com
Chris Crowe -- www.chriscrowe.com
Alane Ferguson -- www.alaneferguson.com
Shannon Hale -- www.shannonhale.com
Mette Ivie Harrison -- www.metteivieharrison.com
Sherry Meidell -- www.sherrymeidell.com
Julie Olson -- www.jujubeeillustrations.com
Gloria Skurzynski -- http://gloriabooks.com
Will Terry -- www.willterry.com
Rick Walton -- www.rickwalton.com
Carol Lynch Williams -- www.carollynchwilliams.com
Randall Wright -- www.booksbywright.com


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AUTHOR INTERVIEW--RICK WALTON


Rick Walton was born in Provo, Utah, and has lived in a wide range of exotic places--from Draper, to Sandy, to Kearns, to Springville. He now lives, once again in Provo, with his wife and five kids. He is the author of over fifty books for kids.

1--Why did you decide to become a writer?

I've always loved creating. When I was in junior high I began writing silly things, just for my friends. In high school I grew more serious. My first thoughts of writing for kids came in my high school A.P. English class. I had written a story for the class, and turned it in, and when it came back, my teacher, Joyce Nelson, had written, "This would make a good children's book." I bounced around for a few years, trying out several other career tracks, but writing all the while. Finally I decided that I wanted, more than anything else, to write. So I quit my job (my wife had a good job as a computer programmer), and just wrote.


2--Who is your favorite character that you have written?

Hard to say. The bunnies are adorable (thanks to the illustrator, Paige Miglio). I like Bertie's feistiness. Bull...frog is one of my favorite read-alouds. Mrs. McMurphy, who will show up next year in MRS. MCMURPHY'S PUMPKIN (HarperCollins), has a no nonsense approach to threats, which I quite like. I guess I like all of my characters for different reasons. That's why I created them.


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

I would like the publishing world to use technology better to streamline the submission process. It just takes too long. You send in a story, and then wait months, only to get rejected. If I'm going to get rejected, I want to know fast, so I can move on. 

I'd also like to see more outlets for people's creative works. There's a lot of good writing going unpublished and unnoticed because the economics of publishing makes it unprofitable to publish it all. I think eventually technology will solve this, too. (I put some of my favorite unpublishable stuff on my website.)


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

The earliest creative writing I remember was my contributions to an impromptu class project in a ninth-grade honors English class. We were studying the Donner party, and someone started a sheet of paper going around, where everyone added their own topical contributions. We had cartoons, poems, song parodies, jokes, quotes, all sorts of funny stuff, all on Donner party themes. Gross stuff. Perfect for junior high. My first published work was a quote in Murphy's Laws Book III: "A fool and his money are soon elected."


5--Who are your favorite authors?

Anyone really funny. I like Jon Scieszka, Daniel Pinkwater, Roald
Dahl, Dave Barry, Woody Allen, Monty Python, Robert Sheckley, Lemony Snicket, Robert Benchley. I collect humor. I'm also a huge fan of comic strips, which I also collect.


6--Do you have any specific goals as a writer?

To become as good as I can with the talents I have, to have fun with my writing, to innovate, to push creative (but not moral) boundaries.


7--What was your favorite book as a child?

I read a lot of mysteries and humor. Two of my favorite series were the Oz series and the Freddie the Pig series.


8--What are you working on now?

I'm working on a homonym book for Gibbs Smith, a sequel to Bertie Was a Watchdog, some mini-mysteries (I have a collection coming out next year from American Girl), an upgrade of my website, and several top secret projects that I dare not speak of.


9--Do you ever write about UT?

Not specifically, though I do have Utah settings in mind when I write. When I wrote the American Girl mini-mysteries book, I was thinking of the neighborhood I grew up in Draper.


10--What is the hardest thing about being a writer?

The three R's--risk, rejection, and writing. It's a risky career, where paychecks are not guaranteed. You get rejected all the time, and it's never easy. And sometimes it's just hard to sit down and write--at times like that my house is spotless, as is my computer screen.


11-- What is the easiest thing about being a writer?

The schedule. I love being my own boss, setting my own schedule, working according to my own rhythms. I don't have to work forty hours a week on someone else's schedule. Instead I get to work eighty hours a week, but it's on my schedule.


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

There are no shortcuts. It's hard work. You need to read a lot, study a lot, and most important, write a lot. There are a lot of people willing to help you, but they'll only help you as far as you help yourself.

For more about Rick, check out his website at www.rickwalton.com. 

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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.

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