Kekla Magoon

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-11-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

On Mondays I post at CHICKS ROCK!, the blog of The Women's Mosaic. Check out my posts there, too!
The Women's Mosaic is a New York City-based non-profit organization that provides education, inspiration, and motivation for women to rise up and rock the world! The Women's Mosaic unites and empowers women through programs that promote intercultural understanding and personal growth. We are a community of diverse, dynamic women interested in expanding our horizons by creating positive change that can individually and collectively enrich the world.

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-11-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-11-14T13:00:00.000-05:00

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-11-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

The ARCs are here!

2011-11-03T10:22:00.002-04:00

I just got my Advanced Reader Copies for 37 Things I Love, due out from Henry Holt in May 2012.

People sometimes ask if things like this get old after you've done a few books. Well, NOT FOR ME!!! It's differently exciting for each book, but still very exciting to see a project that was years in the making finally coming to fruition.

Happy day.

Find out more about the book, or pre-order it, at IndieBound.

Camo Girl Chat

2011-11-03T06:39:00.001-04:00

In the spirit of posting video links, here is a short video of me talking about Camo Girl. There are a lot of random clips of me talking about The Rock and the River; I figured Camo Girl was due its turn in the spotlight.

Oh, and if you're wondering why the still image at the opening looks the way it does, I have no idea. Kind of cool, kind of weird. Not on purpose. That is how these things go. I'm new to online video.

Camo Girl from Kekla Magoon on Vimeo.

Author Kekla Magoon discusses her inspirations for her middle grade novel Camo Girl (Aladdin 2011).

On Violence and Racism, Then and Now

2011-11-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

I've just been reminded of this video interview that I did for Zetta Elliott more than a year ago, after a panel at the New York Public Library. This is one of my favorite videos to date of me talking about the motivations behind writing The Rock and the River.

Plus, after my part, Zetta filmed Rita Williams-Garcia and Tonya Cherie Hegamin. Never hurts to share billing with fabulous ladies like them. This was a great panel! I have a feeling that one day soon it's going to be time for us to take our show on the road....

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-10-31T17:00:00.000-04:00

The Author's Life Cycle

2011-10-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

There’s a talk that I give about my experience as a debut author (I call it “My Journey with The Rock and the River”), which is all about the phenomenon I’ve dubbed The Author’s Life Cycle.

The evolution of this presentation was pretty unusual, because the topic they had asked me to present on was “My Journey to the NAACP Image Awards,” which initially gave me the eemy-squeamy feeling of tooting my own horn a little too hard. But as I thought more about it, I realized there actually was an important journey I could speak about. A journey that wasn’t about the award itself (such things are windfall, entirely beyond our personal control), but about my transformation from being a person who wrote a novel once to being a person whose book was out in the world, rapidly gaining attention and reaching new readers every day.

The Author’s Life Cycle is an ongoing process, one that renews itself with each and every book. It’s not singular, or static, or a thing that you move through in a linear fashion, graduating from one stage to the next, never to return. It is practically a living entity that exists alongside you, grows with you and changes with you, always keeping you on your toes. If you’re lucky. If you’re not, it can just as easily spin you into despair or dissolution.

Here’s what I’m talking about:

I. Alone in my room: The exciting, independent creative process of developing your manuscript.
II. Publish me, pretty please: The long road to publication; the queries, rejections, hope and despair.
III. My baby, all grown up: The publication experience; the transition from manuscript to actual book.
IV. Feedback: Receiving reviews, meeting your readers, releasing ownership of your material to your audience.
V. Interfacing and Inspiration: Drawing on new activities and interactions for renewed inspiration.

I have a LOT to say about this journey and its stages (hence the decision to blog), but for now I leave you with this:

Once I began to understand this cycle, it explained so much about the roller coaster of emotions I experienced along with The Rock and the River. The overwhelming, preoccupying joy at one end of the spectrum, down to the deep, unsettling anxiety of feeling overexposed and vulnerable.

It was so hard to talk about all those emotions, especially because I couldn’t figure out who to talk about them to. Friends and family care about my well-being, but they just don’t fully get it. (“You’re published. You’ve arrived. What’s the problem?”) Writer friends got some of it, but because I was one of the first among my inner circle to publish, it was hard sometimes to talk about the ups and downs without feeling like I was bragging about what I’d achieved. (“You’re nervous about talking to your new editor? You mean the editor for your soon-to-be-published novel? Boo, hoo.”) So, I ended up shouldering this mostly alone.

I suspect that says more about me and my own little hang-ups than it does about the people in my life, who have been unfailingly supportive and sympathetic. It’s simply my way of speaking about some of the isolating aspects of authorhood. We start out in our private little worlds, writing up a storm, but there comes a point (somewhere around your first book birthday) where it’s time to step out of our heads and into the world. And it’s so much scarier than putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Turns out, that was the easy part.

That Eeemy-Squeamy Feeling

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you’ve been around literary networking events at all, you’ve probably met those authors who feel it is their mission in life to get everyone to buy their book. Personally. Right here. Why wait? They have copies for sale. They can sign one for you. Personalize it. Give you a plastic bag, and a bookmark, and sign you up on their mailing list, for which you’ll receive an additional bag and bookmark once you’ve recommended their book to someone else or written a compelling blog post extolling its virtues. You know you want one. Come on. Please?

Arrrgh. The only thing worse than having to dodge a persistent self-promoter is dealing with the fear that you, too, come across as an aggressive, egotistical maniac whose book can’t possibly be any good if she’s having to push it so hard.

So, where is the line between assertiveness and aggression when it comes to promoting your own work? It’s so easy to see when other people cross it—why is it so difficult to see this line in relation to yourself?

The bad news is, you can never really see it. The line moves, depending on so many factors—the setting, what your intentions are, the mood of your conversation partner, their perception of you. (Notice—the list includes things that are wholly out of your control.) But do not lose faith, my dears, because here’s the good news: if you feel slightly embarrassed by self-promotion, you definitely have the self-regulatory instincts that keep you from coming across as a crazy. Whew.

Because we fear being perceived badly, most writers actually fall into the category of not being assertive enough when it comes to self-promotion. I can’t count the number of times I’ve thought to myself, “I really want to tell Person X about my book. Is that going to seem weird? Is it too forward of me?” Never mind how much we love our work, we don’t feel socially permitted to say so. (More on this later.) Thus, the anxiety of worrying about how we’ll come across collides with the anxiety of desperately wanting to talk about our work, which drives us toward a deeper existential anxiety, and the vicious cycle continues.

There’s no perfect formula. You have to feel it out. But I do have some thoughts on different levels of self-promotion, and where each might be appropriate. For example, you can be much more forward with an industry professional in a networking setting (like at a conference) than you can if you meet at a mutual friend’s wedding.

The bottom line is this: in order to be an effective self-promoter, you have to get comfortable with confronting the eeemy-squeamy feeling of Am I making this too much about me?

And then you’ve gotta just go out and do it.

Book Trailer Discoveries

2011-10-25T08:50:00.003-04:00

Excuse me while I take a moment to extoll the wonder that is YouTube:

"YouTube is awesome!" (Okay, I'm done.)

I never used to go on there, and in retrospect I don't understand how it eluded me for so long, but recently I've become much more proficient at surfing for videos. As a result, I have found the following:

I LOVE book trailers. I've always wanted to create one for The Rock and the River, but I never quite got the hang of gathering photos and setting it to music and such. I am now inspired to try one for Camo Girl or Fire in the Streets, the ROCK sequel that is coming out in 2012.

Thanks very much to the person who made this. I couldn't tell his/her name (apparently I'm not that YouTube-proficient yet) but I really enjoyed the end product here and I appreciate the time and effort someone took to create this for the book.

And then I found another one, by Robyn Young:

Thanks, Robyn! It looks great.

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-10-24T17:00:00.000-04:00

Starting the Journey

2011-10-21T10:00:00.004-04:00

The genesis for my new blog focus is somewhat sprawling. It’s taken me a long time to figure out what I want to say about the real world (fiction comes easy). But I like to think that when a course of action is the right fit, there will be multiple paths leading you to it. Even if you make some strange choices along the way, if you’re paying close attention those paths will wind you right back to where you’re supposed to be going.

I started thinking about “the author’s journey” about a year ago, during a period of time when I found myself answering lots of questions from debut authors. Questions like:

How do I prepare for a school visit? How much do I need to self-promote? How do you deal with a bad review? How important is a blog, and do I have to get on Twitter? How do I explain to my friends that writing is a real job, not just a hobby? What kinds of questions are my readers likely to ask? Where can I order cheap bookmarks? I’m dying to see my book on a bookstore shelf--how do I get bookstores to carry it? Will it ever stop being really cool to see my book on a bookstore shelf?

I could never purport myself to be a true authority on any of these things, but I found that I had answers to the questions, and a perspective to share based on my experiences. It seemed to be helpful to people. And I wanted to continue talking, because it felt reassuring to know that the years of struggle since my debut novel sold might actually be relevant to someone other than me. In other words, I’m starting to feel a lot less alone in the world, and the best thing I can think to do with that feeling is to share it.

I found this video of myself at an SCBWI conference almost two years ago, and it pretty much sums up my feelings…

…even though I didn’t immediately recognize the full meaning of what I was trying to express. At the time, it was one of my first video appearances, and I was just happy that I didn’t come across looking or sounding like a total idiot!

Many paths, same destination.

Cynsational Me

2011-10-20T10:14:00.000-04:00

My guest post was featured yesterday on Cynsations, author Cynthia Leitich Smith's awesome all-things-kidlit blog.

I blogged about my inspirations for writing Camo Girl, my novel about friendship and fitting in in middle school.

Camo Girl deals with some hot-button issues of the day, like bullying, but mainly it is about learning to recognize real friendship and accepting yourself even when you are different from everyone around you.

Here's a teaser from my guest post.:

What’s your inspiration?” is a question that most authors I know get asked a lot—by friends, by child readers, by fellow writers.

Like most authors (I suspect), I’ve developed semi-canned answers to this question—answers which are based on truth, but which always leave me feeling a bit squirmy. I never can get to the bottom of something as unwieldy as my inspiration in a sound bite...."

...which is why I had to write an entire article about it. Read the rest here.

New Year, New Directions

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it isn't the new year yet, but I can't believe how fast the summer disappeared, and how quickly the fall seems to be getting chomped up, too. It's already mid-October (eek!) and I'm sure I'll be dragging out my snowboots and singing Auld Lang Syne much sooner than I can possibly imagine.

So, I just wanted to share a quick update about some changes that I'm planning and some new ideas that I'm forming about my online presence. In short: I need to step it up a notch! I started this blog when my first book was published, believing that it would be a good way to keep people informed of my activities. It is, but I've felt for a while now that I can't be an effective blogger until I find a focus and direction for my posts that is larger than myself and more content-rich than simple self-promotion.

Happy news: After only three years, I finally figured out what I want to blog about! Hooray!

The new focus for my blog (as yet untitled) is going to be the author's journey. I'll share my reflections on the experience of transitioning from being a person who aspires to publish, to a person with a book contract in hand, to a person who is a published author, especially focusing on all the steps along the journey from being a debut novelist to being an established and successful author. Writers view publication as the epitome of success, but there's also a profound personal and professional journey that begins when you get your first contract. Sometimes it feels like you've been thrust into no-man's-land, and we don't talk enough about how to negotiate the "after." I hope this blog can become a gathering place for authors to share their experiences and struggles (personal and professional) as well as a place to welcome debut writers into the fold with resources, advice and support that will help them get off to a great start.

I'm updating my website design now, and it will all launch in January, so I'll do some cross-posting at that time and try to drum up new traffic and start a broader conversation. In the meantime, for the benefit of my few but faithful followers, I'm going to be posting some initial material on these topics so that when the brand new blog (yay!) goes live, I'll already have some things posted for people to look at.

Basically, this is a warning to my existing fans (you are few, but you are loyal!): Don't freak out when I start posting more than once a week! I truly hope you'll join me when I move to the new and improved keklamagoon.com, and that you'll add your insights to the conversation there.

Image: Pixomar / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-10-17T17:35:00.004-04:00

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-04-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

On Mondays I post at CHICKS ROCK!, the blog of The Women's Mosaic. Check out my posts there, too!

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2011-04-11T10:43:00.001-04:00

On Mondays I post at CHICKS ROCK!, the blog of The Women's Mosaic. Check out my posts there, too!

Sunny San Francisco

2011-04-05T06:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, so it wasn't all that sunny in reality, but my recent visit to Northern California certainly left me with a nice sunny feeling inside.

I spent a week on the west coast, mostly in San Francisco with a few days spent up in Chico, California. Soon, I'll post about the actual work I did, which was the central purpose for my travels (four events during the course of the week!), but in between, I managed to find some time to just be a tourist.

I did some research on the Black Panther Party while I was in the vicinity of the area where the group was founded, and it turns out the legacy is alive in a lot of different ways throughout the city. The tastiest homage I ran across was Black Panther fudge at Z Cioccolato. It's their best seller. Yum!

I rode the cable cars everywhere they went! I didn't really know how cable cars worked until I went to the Cable Car Museum, and boy, did I learn a lot about cables. However, the cable cars do not go down this road, the "crookedest" street. This cracked me up. I've never seen anything like it.

Sunset on the Golden Gate Bridge. Turns out, the middle of the bridge (there's a pedestrian path) is as good a place as any to be inspired to scrawl an epic poem in your notebook, and stand there awkwardly, looking bizarre and gathering suspicious looks from passersby. Ah, the embarrasments we suffer to pursue creative arts.

Camo Girl on the Radio

2011-04-01T10:00:00.000-04:00

I was recently invited to speak on NPR's Michael Eric Dyson show, interviewed by (you guessed it) Michael Eric Dyson, bestselling author, educator and radio personality. It's always fun and exciting to be interviewed, but it's even more so to be interviewed by someone whose books have been in my collection probably since before I really started writing. When I learned about this opportunity, it was pretty awesome for me to realize that not only had I heard of Mr. Dyson, but I could point out several volumes of his work on my own bookshelves!

I recorded the interview earlier this week in NPR's Midtown studio here in New York. Mr. Dyson was speaking to me from the D.C. studio. Now, I know radio is a relatively old technology, but it's still neat to think about having half a conversation in one room, in one city, when the other half is happening with someone hundreds of miles away, and have the capability to air that conversation nationally at the same time! (This wasn't a live broadcast, but still....I'm easily impressed by and in awe of technology at all levels.)

My interview airs today in selected markets across the country, but unfortunately I don't think it airs in New York! The good news is, a podcast of the show is available at the Dyson Show website.

It's an hour long show; my interview segment begins at 23:00, and lasts just shy of nine minutes. Check it out!

A Capitol Adventure

2011-03-21T06:00:00.003-04:00

This weekend I traveled to Washington, D.C., and Charlottesville, Virginia, for a series of book events! First, I spoke to a cool group of middle schoolers at Politics & Prose Bookstore in D.C. And followed it up with a fun, rowdy auditorium full of sixth graders at nearby Deal Middle School. I got to share my Camo Girl slideshow for the first time--it was exciting to discuss new content in a school visit. Much as I love talking about The Rock and the River, it's really neat to have a second book out there that kids are reading, too!

Next, I traveled with friend and fellow author Tami Lewis Brown down to Charlottesville for the Virginia Festival of the Book. It's always great to spend time in the company of other authors, and it was an extra special treat to get to see my dear friend Ashley Bryan, an award-winning author and illustrator. I was invited to introduce him at the Sweet Reads book fair, where he received an honor for his work!

At the festival itself, I sat on a panel called Spinning Lives into Story, along with Tami Lewis Brown, Maha Addasi, moderated by librarian Louise Simone. We spoke about historical fiction, non-fiction, and multicultural fiction: all kinds of stories based on real lives and experiences that we as children's authors have a responsibility to make as true as possible. But what is TRUTH, when it comes to fiction? How much can authors make up, and how much should we keep perfectly true to life? What damage does it do to kids' understanding of history if authors falsify or embellish details in a biography? The discussion was lively and really drew people in. We could have talked for days!

It was particularly exciting to be able to speak briefly about my new non-fiction release, Today the World is Watching You (Lerner 2011), about the Little Rock Nine and the fight for school integration in the late 1950s, after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board decision. Here's the cover!

Kirkus Review of CAMO GIRL

2010-12-03T11:39:00.002-05:00

...and it's STARRED! I'm so excited to share this blurb from Kirkus on Camo Girl: "This elegantly crafted story features strong writing and solid characterizations of both main and secondary characters. Ella and Bailey’s racial identity is one element in a full and richly textured narrative." To read the full review, CLICK HERE.

Hunger Mountain Fall Issue!

2010-09-13T10:55:00.004-04:00

The Fall issue of Hunger Mountain is now LIVE and online!

Here's our Letter from the Editors, which previews the contents of the YA and Children's Literature Section:

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Hunger Mountain! Our theme for this issue is Exploring Options, Stretching Boundaries…as we strive to challenge ourselves to tell authentic stories, write from the heart and turn personal pain into powerful prose.

For our Features this issue, we asked GLBTQ authors and authors whose work touches on teen sexuality to shed some light on the many possible meanings of that exploration both on and off the page. Alex Sanchez tackles controversy, catharsis and writing alongside his own inner, angsty teen. Cheryl Rainfield shows us what to do when scars are more than skin deep. Sara Ryan reminds us of the importance of Q (for questioning). And Malinda Lo shares what her last book, Ash, taught her about her work and about herself. Their work spans genres, but these authors each use writing to explore, to question, to challenge, and ultimately, to heal.
Lee Wind, a writer of two minds, tackles The Flip Side, offering an imaginary dialogue about GLBTQ teen readers’ need for coming out stories vs. novels where being gay is not “the problem.”

Our Toolbox contributors challenge us to stretch our boundaries in other ways: Sarah Aronson teaches techniques for thinking like a film director to get a new perspective, and Sarah Sullivan helps us shape and revise picture book texts. Author and illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg shares some INKLINGS about incorporating visual diversity into picture books.

As an Industry Insider, author and publisher Cheryl Willis Hudson of Just Us Books shares insight on the need for and presence of Black and multicultural books within the publishing industry. And Mayra Lazara Dole takes us on a journey toward understanding the need for authentic Latino characters in fiction, in The Writer’s Life.

Our last issue’s Flip Side column also generated dialogue about multicultural books—an ongoing conversation in our industry. In Response, Nikki Grimes offers her thoughts on multicultural books, who isn’t reading them, and why they should.

Finally, be sure to check out our Fiction selections: We’ve gathered a collection of touching, funny, heartfelt and sometimes shocking tales from Jennifer DeMotta, Rachel Furey, Jenny Hubbard, Angelica Jackson and Margaret Nevinski, plus excerpts from a novel in verse by Liz Clift, and a sneak preview of Ellen Potter’s The Kneebone Boy (Feiwel and Friends, 2010).

Enjoy the read!

Best,
Bethany and Kekla

The BIG 3-0!

2010-06-28T10:15:00.001-04:00

I just posted this on Chicks Rock!, but want folks to see it here, too:

Well, as of this weekend I've officially crossed the threshold from 20s into 30s! I always planned to throw a big party for myself on my 30th birthday, but as it happened this year, the American Library Association decided to throw one for me!

Okay, not for me, exactly, but I came to their annual conference determined to get my little piece of the celebration and festivities. On Saturday I signed copies of The Rock and the River in Simon & Schuster's booth at the ALA conference expo. Then I hung out with friends from Vermont College of Fine Arts who surprised me with an Alumni Achievement Award (I cried) followed by a yummy restaurant dinner complete with key lime pie and a pink candle!

Yesterday I attended an awards banquet, where I found myself surrounded by well-known and up-and-coming YA and children's authors. Strangest of all, I began to truly feel that I could count myself among them! Which brings me to the real reason I'm here at the ALA conference: because my book was selected to receive the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent!

Tomorrow morning, at the frightening hour of 7am (!!!! I am such a night person, people. It goes against nature to expect me to function normally before the double digit hours of the morning....but for the CSK Breakfast, I will muster!), I will receive my award, and have my moment to thank the Academy...errr, the CSK selection committee. It's so exciting!

All in all, my 30th weekend did not go as I orginally expected, but I certainly feel the occasion has been extraordinarily well-marked.

NAACP Image Awards

2010-03-01T08:45:00.001-05:00

I attended the NAACP Image Awards this weekend. I've begun posting about it at CHICKS ROCK!, but stay tuned here, too, for future updates!!

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2010-02-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

On Mondays, I blog for The Women's Mosaic:

http://www.chicksrockblog.com/

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2010-02-08T10:55:00.000-05:00

On Mondays, I blog for The Women's Mosaic:

http://www.chicksrockblog.com/

The Brown Bookshelf: 28 Days Later

2010-02-03T20:51:00.005-05:00

I am featured on The Brown Bookshelf today as part of their 28 Days Later campaign, an annual tribute to African American authors and illustrators.

Author Kelly Starling Lyons interviewed me on such compelling topics as The Rock and the River, civil rights, what people are saying about my book, why middle schoolers never fail to make me feel old, my inspirations, and my favorite flavors of ice cream (of which there are several).

Whew! There's a lot in that interview, folks. I'm, frankly, exhausted....

SCBWI Soundbite

2010-02-02T14:53:00.003-05:00

Blogger Lee Wind interviewed me as a first time SCBWI Conference attendee. I talked about my experience. Not too shabby, for a spontaneous "What did you learn this weekend?" on-camera moment. If I do say so myself....

For more videos and a whole recap of events, visit the Official SCBWI Conference Blog.

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2010-02-01T11:49:00.000-05:00

On Mondays, I blog for The Women's Mosaic:

http://www.chicksrockblog.com/

Slipping, Slipping, Slipping...

2010-02-01T10:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've not been great about keeping up with my New Year's Resolution to be a better blogger. It's time to take steps to rectify the situation, once and for all. (She says, knowing that it will be a struggle...)

I attended the SCBWI Winter Conference here in New York City this weekend. Sadly, my cell phone broke on Saturday, so I was not able to take any delightful pictures to share with you all. Perhaps I will try to pilfer a few from someone else's blog later...but in the meantime, I will just tell you about some of the highlights for me:

Recent Printz Award-winner Libba Bray gave the opening keynote, which was awesome. Even better: A group of us grabbed lunch with Libba at the end of the conference, and it was very affirming to see that even the most successful among us can be down-to-earth and willing to just chill with new and aspiring authors from time to time. Libba, you rock!

Jacqueline Woodson spoke about "Shutting the Door" on yourself, and finding time and space to get your work done. Her speaking style is engaging and moving, and hearing her read her work aloud in her own voice is an amazing experience. I got to chat with Jackie later during the book signings, which was fabulous. She has been extremely supportive and lovely toward me and my work this past year. She inspires me to believe and to keep going as I begin to dip my toes in the waters of success. Awesome.

Illustrator-turned-Author Jim Benton (creator of Dear Dumb Diary and Franny K. Stein) dazzled us with images he's created and what life is like for a "Compulsive Creator" such as himself.

An informal panel discussion organized by blogger Lee Wind focused on developing a larger place for LGBTQ characters, issues and themes in children's and YA books. The event brought a diverse group of people together to talk about how our work touches the subject, and what the market is for bringing these characters to life in new ways for teen readers.

Breakout sessions on TV and New Media, Viral Marketing, and NonFiction market were useful and interesting. All it all, the experience was worth the $$$, which I had desperately hoped it would be. Sweeeeet.

Oh, and I shot a video about my school visit presentation, which will later be posted on SCBWI website. I look forward to linking it here, too!

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2010-01-25T11:40:00.002-05:00

On Mondays, I blog for The Women's Mosaic:

http://www.chicksrockblog.com/

Drumroll Please....

2010-01-18T11:42:00.006-05:00

I woke up this morning to a call from my favorite editor (@EditorK) informing me that The Rock and the River and I have won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. This is a huge honor in the world of children's literature and I'm so pleased!

More on this to follow later today as I get it all figured out....and stop randomly shrieking. (The yappy dog that lives next door is not very happy with me for stealing his thunder. He's responded to each of my "woohoos" with a resounding triple yap.)

In the meantime you can check out the list of award recipients here:

2010 ALA YOUTH MEDIA AWARDS

Thanks to the American Library Association and the Coretta Scott King Book Award Committee. Yay!!!

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2010-01-18T11:37:00.002-05:00

On Mondays, I blog over at CHICKS ROCK! for The Women's Mosaic:

http://www.chicksrockblog.com/

Mondays at CHICKS ROCK!

2010-01-11T11:25:00.007-05:00

On Mondays, I blog over at CHICKS ROCK! for The Women's Mosaic:

http://www.chicksrockblog.com/

To link directly to today's post, CLICK HERE.

NAACP Image Awards

2010-01-06T22:00:00.003-05:00

I always get good news when I'm in the library.

When I saw my book cover for the first time, I was in the library. When I heard I was getting a NYTimes Book Review, I had just come from the library. And today, I was sitting oh-so-decorously in the library when I got the news that The Rock and the River was nominated for an NAACP Image Award!!!*

Yeah, baby. I was so excited, and it was not the kind of excitement that's conducive to the library environment, so I quickly checked out all the books I was holding (only two of which I actually needed to check out, I realized later...) and ran out of doors so I could celebrate properly. By running through the streets of New York shrieking with joy. (Few people noticed. Random strange outbursts are the status quo here.)

This is the link to the NOMINEES LIST. I am under Literature. You will have to scroll down, but as you do so, peek at all the other authors. I'm so pleased to be among this group of names. Thanks, NAACP!!!!

What a great first birthday present for my book. Thanks, NAACP!!!!

*You would think this sort of track record would cause me to spend much more time in the library. Hmm.....

Chicks Rock!

2010-01-04T13:26:00.000-05:00

On Mondays, I blog over at CHICKS ROCK! for The Women's Mosaic.

You can find a post from me there today: http://www.chicksrockblog.com/

New Year's Resolution

2010-01-01T17:06:00.002-05:00

If there was an award for worst blogger ever, I think I'd be in the running. It's been, what...six months? since I posted anything. Ugh. Need to get back up on the horse, as they say.

New Year's Resolution: Be a good blogger.

No, scratch that. I will never be a terribly good blogger. Umm.....

New Year's Resolution: Be a better blogger. Be a better blogger than you were last year.

Yeah. That sounds doable.

We'll see! Happy 2010, my dear followers!

ALA Adventures and Free Book Giveaway!!!

2009-07-12T17:25:00.005-04:00

Hello, friends. I'm having a magically fun adventure at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago this week. I've strolled the conference floor for hours, picking up books an information and talking to people. I've met tons of cool librarians, fellow authors and book lovers galore.

I will post pics and tell my tales when I get back home (and I've got some good ones). At that point, I will need to exercise my fingers and rest my weary feet....

Also...the folks over at ColorOnline are doing a summer book giveaway, so pop over there to enter to win a copy of The Rock and the River, or one of several other awesome titles!!!!

What A Girl Wants: Writing Multicultural Characters

2009-07-11T10:34:00.003-04:00

Okay....so I just wrote a long post about why everyone should pop over to Chasing Ray and read the latest "What a Girl Wants" conversation....then Blogger ate it. Grrr.

So, more on the why later, but anyone with an interest in multicutural characters in YA literature should pop over HERE for a peek.

Review at Color Online

2009-07-08T15:54:00.003-04:00

Susan at ColorOnline has posted a discussion of some of her favorite books of the year so far, including The Rock and the River! She gives it a nice review, too. Yay!

Susan also lists and reviews some other great titles, and she talks about why historical fiction is growing on her. See, there are plenty of excellent reasons why you should check it out HERE.

What a Girl Wants: Detective Stories

2009-06-24T17:31:00.002-04:00

The next installment of Colleen Mondor's "What a Girl Wants" panel interview series is up at Chasing Ray. It's an awesome discussion! Today we're talking about the role of the girl detective in YA literature.

So........love Nancy Drew? Agatha Christie? Hermione Granger?

Pop over to the forum and weigh in with your own thoughts.

Missed our introductions? Meet the panelists, and our favorite books, here.

Spicy Reads Review

2009-06-15T15:55:00.003-04:00

An awesome new review of The Rock and the River is up at My Road Trip (SpicyReads.org). The reviewer, Ed Spicer, put in some great reflections about how the book affected him and sparked memories of his own experiences in 1968. Excellent commentary! And it's not just about the book, so even if you already read The Rock and the River, it's totally worth checking out.

Sneak Peek:

"In the late sixties and early seventies the United States saw the rise of the Black Panther Party in Chicago. In my neighborhood, the Black Panther Party was imbued with a certain amount of awe mixed with terror. We saw Blacks on the street and we locked our car doors. We took an exceptionally long time to really look at a Black like Huey Newton and really try to understand what he is saying and why he is saying it."

Sneak Peek 2:

"Magoon’s book is an excellent fictional depiction that captures the fierce debate within the black community about how to end the systematic degradation and humiliation of black people in America. What I like about this book is that it gives readers, even old white readers like me, an insight into the human cost of protesting."

Wanna read the rest? (Yeah, you know you do.) CHECK IT OUT HERE.

What A Girl Wants, What A Girl Reads

2009-06-10T16:56:00.002-04:00

The "What a Girl Wants" interview series has launched over at Chasing Ray.

Today we're talking about what we read as tweens/teens that most impacted us.

Check it out!

And then join the discussion in the comments section. This is really fun. I'm thrilled to be a part of this fabulous group of writer women!

CCBC Book Discussion - June 24

2009-06-09T09:23:00.002-04:00

For anyone in the Madison, Wisconsin area:

The Rock and the River will be discussed as part of the Cooperative Children's Book Center's June Book Discussion at UW-Madison.

Follow this link for more details. If you're in the area, it sounds like it could be interesting!

http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/disclist.asp

What A Girl Wants

2009-06-08T08:29:00.002-04:00

Colleen Mondor, of Chasing Ray , is hosting a brand new, exciting round table of women authors talking about "What a Girl Wants."

It launches later this week, and I'll be participating!

Here's a sneak peek at Colleen's introduction to the conversation:

"I've been a bit bothered for awhile now about the kind of books being published for teen girls. As anyone who reads YA titles knows, there are a lot more books for girls out there than boys.... But for girls, I can't help but think that while there are a lot of books with female protagonists, there are not a lot of books with diverse female protags.... For every Dewey (courtesy Ellen Klages) or Rose (courtesy Hilary McKay) you have to wade through a lot of mean girls. And don't even get me started on how difficult it is to find minority characters or GBLTQ characters in teen girl fiction. I've written about all of this before but what I'd really like to hear now is what other people think about the current status of books for teen girls and what it says about both what they want to read and what publishers think they want to read."

Curious? Intrigued? Check out the full post on Chasing Ray.

Interview on The Chocolate Pages Show

2009-06-06T15:32:00.005-04:00

Thursday evening I was interviewed on Blog Talk Radio, for Pam Perry's The Chocolate Pages Show.

You can listen to the podcast here. The show's a hour long, and I'm not the only guest, so my part doesn't start until around 28:00, if you care to fast forward. I'm on for about half an hour. The other guest is Larry Jemison, and the topic is how to inspire youth, so if you have the full hour at your disposal, listen to it all!

Someday, if and when my latent technological savvy kicks in, I'll try to post a briefer version that is just the highlights.......

As If BEA Wasn't Enough...

2009-06-02T12:09:00.006-04:00

Last night I got to give a copy of The Rock and the River to Ms. Phylicia Rashad.

I handed her a signed copy, and she looked at it, then asked me to personalize it.

I was over the moon.

Enough said.

More on BEA

2009-06-01T11:27:00.010-04:00

Ok, you've been waiting for the juicy details of my weekend at Book Expo America.....

It was AWESOME! I met tons of cool and interesting people: authors, teachers, librarians, publicists -- lots of industry folk. I told them all about The Rock and the River, and I collected bunches of books and information in exchange. At BEA, publishers give out books and galleys (advanced copies) like candy.

Check out my haul: a whopping 74 books!

Lugging all that home was not a pretty picture. Luckily it was a three-day conference. Luckily, too, it was in my town, so I didn't have to pay for any shipping.

I even got my hands on the highly anticipated, highly coveted galley of Catching Fire, the sequel to Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games. Yum. Cannot wait to dive into that one!

I'll post later to highlight more of the books I managed to snag. The concept of receiving advance galleys may have spoiled me for ever again waiting until the books I want to read actually hit shelves. Sigh.

I met a few writers who I've been reading since I was a teen myself, and picked up copies of their latest books -- Sharon Draper (Sassy), Walter Dean Myers (RIOT), and Katherine Paterson (The Day of the Pelican). I also met some favorites who I've discovered as an adult -- Sara Zarr (Once Was Lost), Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan - a fellow Aladdin author!), Elizabeth Scott, Michelle Knudsen (The Dragon of Trelian) and Elizabeth Bluemle (Dogs on the Bed).

S&S didn't have The Rock and the River on display (so I brought my own promotion materials!), but as I was wandering around the expo, I noticed that the publisher of my non-fiction books had a display up that included some of my titles. Very cool!

My close friend and colleague Bethany Hegedus was signing copies of Between Us Baxters. She looked awesome at the tall signing table where they seated her. Every last book got snagged up. She was in demand!

I blog at CHICKS ROCK! on Mondays, so take a look over there to read about my dazzling encounter with Olivia, star of the picture book OLIVIA, by Ian Falconer. I won't deny it -- it was a highlight of the whole weekend.

All in all, the Book Expo was a wonderful and dynamic event. I was thrilled to be a part of all that book-walking, book-talking action!

BEA, Baby!

2009-05-31T23:01:00.009-04:00

This weekend I attended Book Expo America (BEA) at the Javits Center in New York. It was my first time at BEA, which is a major annual conference for the publishing industry. Publishers, booksellers and other book-related vendors set up booths that together cover the area of a couple of football fields!!

All told, it was a weekend of many book signings, excellent networking and awesome giveaways!! In fact, there was so much going on that it would be hard to fit it all into one post. I'll save the most dramatic details for a few follow-up posts, but in the meantime, here are some of the highlights:

Sharon Draper recognized The Rock and the River when I gave her my flyer!

Meeting Olivia! I was so excited. It was almost ridiculous. But how cute is she?!?!

My new BEA buds. Two writer friends I met at the conference, Latria and Tiffany.

Stay tuned for more on my many BEA adventures!

Summer Blog Blast Tour, Featuring ME!

2009-05-18T16:05:00.003-04:00

Exciting, exciting things today!

First of all, pop over to Elizabeth Bird's blog, A Fuse #8 Production, where you will find an interview with me that is part of the Summer Blog Blast Tour 2009. I talk about The Rock and the River, my inspirations for writing it, people's reactions to it, and lots of other stuff. Fun!

What is the Summer Blog Blast Tour, you ask? Excellent question! It appears that a group of KidLit bloggers have gotten together to do a series of interviews with interesting authors (if I do say so myself!). It'll be going on all week. Colleen Mondor has posted a schedule for the week, plus links and sneak peeks, on Chasing Ray. I'm headed there now to check out the other interviews. For me, it's already been lots of fun to be part of this special week - and it's only just begun!

Okay....when you're done with all that, take a peek at the Best Books for Young Adults nomination list, recently posted by the American Library Association. Guess who's on it?? It's so very exciting that The Rock and the River was chosen to be part of this group.

I'm all smiles today, friends!!!

Studio 4 (aka Video of ME!)

2009-05-12T20:44:00.001-04:00

So...a few weeks ago, I went into my publisher's headquarters (Simon & Schuster) and did a short video interview for the S&S website. I sat in a little room with a videocamera in my face and a microphone clipped on me while they asked me questions about The Rock and the River and me as a person. I have to say, at the moment it felt very glamorous. But some of the questions were hard!

They said, "Describe yourself in eight words...." I was like, "Umm..." (Can "umm..." be one of my words, please?)

So, why am I bringing this up now? Well. It's getting to be about the time when I can email my editor and ask if I can see it. The video people will have done their editing work, and they'll send me a nice shiny copy. I'm half eager about this, and half not. I always think I look a little funny on camera, so I'm nervous to see it! The camera man said it was good. The interviewer said it was good. My editor said it was good. But I am still nervous.

But I can't wait until I have a video clip... :)

Hunger Mountain Auction: Bid on Critiques with Authors & Agents & More

2009-05-01T11:52:00.003-04:00

The Hunger Mountain Spring Fundraising Auction will feature manuscript critiques with notable authors and literary agents as well as limited edition letterpress broadsides!

All items will be available for bidding at The Hunger Mountain Store, beginning at noon EST May 2. Bidding ends at noon EST on May 9. One-on-one critiques in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, writing for children, writing for young adults, and writing for the stage will be conducted by phone, email, or snail mail.

The auction offers opportunities to work with award-winning children's-YA authors Donna Jo Napoli, Sarah Ellis, Martine Leavitt, and Tim Wynne-Jones. Highly acclaimed picture book author-illustrator Laura McGee Kvasnosky and Newbery Honor author Marion Dane Bauer will also be offering their expertise.

In addition, literary agent Mark McVeigh, founding member of The McVeigh Agency, has donated a full-length children's/YA fiction critique and Tracy Marchini, agent assistant at Curtis Brown, Ltd., has donated a middle grade/YA critique.

Those who write for adults may bid for critiques with such authors as Philip Graham, Jess Row, Thomas Christopher Greene, Natasha Saje, Xu Xi, Michael Martone, David Jauss, and David Wojahn.

Been toiling away on a script or stage production? Bid on a full-length play critique with playwright Gary Moore.

Sue William Silverman is offering a full-length creative nonfiction manuscript critique, complete with a complimentary signed copy of her latest book Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir (University of Georgia Press, 2009).

Also available are signed broadsides from the Stinehour Broadside Award Series including work by authors Alice Hoffman, Neil Shepard, David Rivard, and Lucia Perillo. These letterpress broadsides are all signed and numbered, limited edition, and frame worthy, making them the perfect gift for anyone who appreciates the artistry of literature!

All purchases are charitable in support of Hunger Mountain's non-profit mission to cultivate engagement with and conversation about the arts by publishing high-quality, innovative literary and visual art by both established and emerging artists, and by offering opportunities for interactivity and discourse.

Richie's Picks Review!

2009-04-27T18:01:00.004-04:00

I'm pleased to report that The Rock and the River was reviewed on Richie's Picks today! Richie says of the book...

"In the course of Sam Childs' coming of age story, amidst the American history I thought I knew so well, author Kekla Magoon has radically altered my understanding of the Black Panther Party. In her debut novel, Magoon, who studied history as an undergraduate, does an exceptional job of integrating many sides of very complex racial and political issues into this tense tale of an adolescent who has grown up in the Civil Rights Movement."

Cool, huh? Take a peek at the full review HERE.

Hunger Mountain Presents...The Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children's Writing

2009-04-20T12:06:00.002-04:00

Calling all YA and children’s writers! We are thrilled to present the inaugural Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children’s Writing in Hunger Mountain.

Hunger Mountain, the arts journal of Vermont College of Fine Arts, will launch our new online arts journal early this summer. Our new site will include YA and Children’s Literature; we’ll feature articles on hot topics and trends in YA and children’s literature, interviews with publishing industry insiders, and fiction selections by well-known and up-and-coming YA and children’s authors. Upcoming issues will feature pieces by Katherine Paterson, Carrie Jones, Cynthia Leitich Smith, K.A. Nuzum, Rita Williams-Garcia, Sara Zarr and many others!

Writers of Young Adult Fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, and Picture Books are encouraged to enter the Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children’s Writing for a piece of fiction NOT yet under contract or under consideration by a publisher. Newbery Award-winning author Katherine Paterson will judge. One winner will receive $1,000.00 and publication in Hunger Mountain online, and two honorable mentions will receive $100.00 each.

Entries may include:
Young Adult Fiction (novel excerpt or short story)
Middle Grade Fiction (novel excerpt or short story)
Picture Book (text only)

Submission Fee: $20 per entry

Deadline: Entries must be postmarked by June 30th, 2009

Contest Guidelines:
Your packet should include four items:
1. A one-page cover sheet that includes:
--Your name, address, email and phone number
--The title of your manuscript
--The category of your manuscript (YA, MG, PB)
--A brief (one to two paragraph/200 word) bio of yourself
--A brief (one to two paragraph/250 word) synopsis of your manuscript
2. Your manuscript:
--Up to 5,000 words of middle grade/young adult fiction, or one picture book manuscript (text only)
--Entries must be double-spaced, with margins of at least 1”
--Please number the pages of your entry, and label each page with the title
--Please DO NOT label the manuscript with your name (entries will be judged anonymously)
--Please paperclip (do not staple) your entry
3. Entry Fee:
--Check or money order for $20, payable to Hunger Mountain
4. Self-addressed, stamped envelope for notification of award winners
--Plus, a self-addressed, stamped postcard for us to acknowledge receipt of your entry (optional)

Packets should be mailed to:
Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children’s Writing
Hunger Mountain
Vermont College of Fine Arts
36 College Street
Montpelier, VT 05602

Author Visit: Pontiac Library

2009-04-14T21:46:00.002-04:00

This week I'm in my hometown, Fort Wayne Indiana, for some library visits and book signings.

The first was at Pontiac Library, where I got to speak to kids in the after school program there. It was my first visit to this particular library branch, which had recently been remodeled. A very nice facility, that seemed popular with neighborhood teens.

They loved my interactive Readers' Theatre; I had more volunteers than I had speaking parts in the piece! Well, it's something to keep in mind for next time: Create a readers' theatre that involves ten readers instead of six!

We did a raffle to see who got to take home each of the three copies of my book that I signed for them. The winners (and friends) lined up for a picture.

All in all, a fun afternoon!!

Changing Call Signs

2009-03-16T18:35:00.003-04:00

For several years now, I've been able to refer to myself as WRITER. Recently, I upgraded to calling myself AUTHOR. Sometimes, if I'm feeling complicated, I call myself AUTHOR/WRITER. Now that the book is out, and I'm doing school visits, I've amended even that to read AUTHOR/WRITER/SPEAKER. Now, I'm excited to announce that I can also call myself EDITOR.

I have recently been named co-editor of the YA and Children's literature section of Hunger Mountain, the arts journal of Vermont College of Fine Arts. My fellow co-editor is author Bethany Hegedus, already a close friend and colleague of mine. Thus far, Hunger Mountain has been a print publication with adult-market material only. Now, we're launching an online component to the journal, which will include children's and YA. Very cool.

We'll be getting this ball rolling over the next few months, and I'll keep folks updated about any information related to Hunger Mountain. Exciting!

A DIfferent Speaking Gig

2009-03-11T18:18:00.002-04:00

So, I've gotten into the mode of speaking to groups of kids and teens about The Rock and the River, and that is totally fun. But every once in a while, I get the chance to talk to grown-ups, as well. This is hit or miss, as far as actual "fun" is concerned. I find most formal adult gatherings to be boring or downright stuffy. Yawn.

So imagine my surprise when I was invited to speak to a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution about one of my non-fiction books, The Salem Witch Trials. The DAR is soooo not my target demographic. But I agreed to do the speech. I went, and lo and behold - it was fun! The ladies were cool and very interested in my books. I made my presentation and they were very into it. It just goes to show that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, so to speak. Here I am with some of the DAR ladies.

Perhaps what surprised me most about this occasion was that I was totally confident and comfortable going into it. I had done my research and written my book, so I knew what I was talking about. I wasn't even nervous.

Why is this a big deal? Well. I think of myself a quiet person; a listener, not much of a talker. I guess was a chatty little kid, but I had turned fairly shy by the time I was a teenager. Now it seems to be spinning back the other way. Turns out, I like to talk. A lot. Who knew?

Between Us Baxters Release Party!!

2009-03-10T11:15:00.003-04:00

Last night I attended the release party for Between Us Baxters, by my friend and fellow YA author Bethany Hegedus. Yay!!

I'm one of the lucky ones who got to read the book for the first time a few years ago, long before it was published. So it's especially exciting to see it in real book form for all the world to see.

Here we are together with Bethany's book!

School Visits: Boston, Massachusetts

2009-03-01T18:06:00.002-05:00

I spent this weekend at Newton Country Day School in Massachusetts, doing school visit with my friend and fellow YA author Bethany Hegedus. We gave a joint presentation on The Rock and the River and Bethany's novel, Between Us Baxters. Both novels are set in the Civil Rights Movement, hers at the beginning of the era and mine at the end - so they are great books to present and discuss together. Here we are talking to the middle school girls of Newton Country Day!

The next day, Bethany and I spoke at the Associated Independent Schools of New England's annual Middle School Students of Color Conference. We each did small-group writing workshops, and also were the afternoon keynote speakers for the whole conference! Here we are, doing our readers' theatre presentation with all 300 conference attendees!

A Special Valentine

2009-02-14T21:59:00.002-05:00

I participated in Kids - Heart - Authors Day today, at Oblong Books in Millerton, NY. It took me a long commuter train ride to get there, but it was worth it. I signed books alongside fellow children's book author Nancy Castaldo. It was fun to see a new bookstore and meet new people. One person bought ten copies of The Rock and the River! She was a teacher, who wanted to use the book in her classroom. I'm pretty sure that was my biggest single sale so far. Very exciting!

Fuse #8 Blog Review

2009-02-11T17:25:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to report that a new review was posted about The Rock and the River on A Fuse #8 Production, a blog on School Library Journal, in which kidlit blogger/reviewer Elizabeth Bird refers to the book as "a smart, sensible, deeply layered title."

The in-depth review highlights the books strengths and uniqueness in the children's book market.

Click here to read the review in full.

First Encounters of the Child Reader Kind

2009-01-17T17:51:00.000-05:00

Today, I volunteered at a reading program, where I got to read The Rock and the River with kids for the first time. It was fun. The girl I read with was nine years old - a bit young for the novel, I thought at first - but as it turned out, she understood and could even relate to some of the events that occur early in the book. As I read a scene in which my character (Sam) encounters racism, my new friend stopped me from reading on. "Yeah," she said. "That guy's racist." Then she proceded to tell me about how she had seen racism in action in her own community. I was impressed by the way she took the scene and connected it to her own experiences. It was exciting to realize that the book was beginning to have the effect I hoped it'd have - at least on one reader!!

First Bookstore Signing

2009-01-16T22:45:00.000-05:00

My first bookstore signing, at Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe in Harlem, was officially a success!

Book Launch Party

2009-01-15T17:28:00.005-05:00

I had a great time at my book launch party last night. The New York Society Library was hopping with my friends, family and even my first few fans! Here are some photos from what, for me, was truly a night to remember...

Books for sale!

Signing, signing!

Mingling, mingling!

Book Launch and Signings

2009-01-10T17:22:00.000-05:00

I have two upcoming book signings in New York City:

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2009
6-8 PM
The New York Society Library
53 E. 79th St. (@ Madison Ave)

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2009
6 PM
Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe
2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd (bet. 124th-125th Sts)

Come, help celebrate the book release, and get yor copies signed!!

The Rock and the River - in stores today!!!

2009-01-06T05:17:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to announce that my novel, The Rock and the River will be released today! Order copies from your local independent bookstore, major chain, or online retailer. See www.therockandtheriverbook.com for direct links to purchase online!