Helen Landalf's paperback release

Here's the good news Helen Landalf shared at the Professional Series Meeting last week, which everyone should know about.

Helen's debut YA novel, Flyaway, has just released in a paperback edition from Graphia, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, with a beautiful new cover.

 

 We agree, it's gorgeous! Congratulations, Helen!

The rest of November: Events worth your while

For the rest of this month, here's a sampling of author/illustrator events. Please not that from this point onward, I will need to receive your event/appearance by the middle of the month BEFORE you're scheduled. That way I can be more efficient and timely, and you'll get the most comprehensive, up-to-date schedule. For those pesky, last-minute events, of course send them my way and I will try to fit them into a weekly post highlighting goings-on and newsy tidbits.


TODAY, Tuesday, November 13, is Inside Story, featuring amazing book releases from our very own chapter! The lineup is extraordinary, and if you can get yourself up to the Mill Creek University Book Store by 7pm, you will be rewarded for your effort. Really.

Saturday, November 17: Teen Book Brunch
Featuring Helen Landalf (Flyaway), Martha Brockenbrough (Devine Intervention), J. Anderson Coates (The Wicked and the Just), Megan Bostic (Never Eighteen).
University Book Store, Mill Creek, 11am

Wednesday, November 28: Graphic Artists Guild Workshop
"The Secret to Happy Clients," with Patricia Belyea. Winning clients is hard enough, but how do you keep them coming back for more? Learn about client profiling, the dynamics of securing and retaining clients, and tips on making your clients delighted with your services.
Seattle Design Center, noon-1:30pm (doors open at 11:30am)
Pre-register for discount price. Further details at www.seattleguild.org.

 
Because this month began with such a bang at Weekend on the Water, with special guests Jordan Brown and Anne Ursu, it wouldn't be right to keep it under wraps. The latest writeup about this dynamic duo's take on revision and craft left many brains spinning, and here's Janel Kolby's post. Hopefully some of the nuggets of wisdom will make you sit up and have that long-awaited creative epiphany!


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Welcome to the holiday season! 

Helen Landalf – Keeping it Real: Bringing Authenticity to Fiction

Helen Landalf (Flyaway, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) identified three elements of authenticity in fiction and illustrated each with examples from regional author’s published books.

“Most of us can just feel when a story is authentic – it’s like a punch in the gut.”
“If a story feels authentic the reader has the reader firmly in the dream of the story.”



Elements of authenticity
• Factual accuracy – dates, locations, technical details
• Sensory Realism – specific sensory details that evoke experience for readers.
• Emotional Truth – enables readers to feel story’s emotions on a gut level.

Helen walked us through methods of factual research, as well as approaches to accessing emotional truths from our own lives and using them in the creation of our characters. She walked us through several writing exercises that allowed us to think about and process authenticity in our own. She closed by asking the question: How authentic is authentic enough?

Her answers:
• This is fiction, remember?
• Don’t show off your research.
• Let authenticity serve your story – don’t sacrifice your story to serve the truth.
“If we ground our stories in accurate facts and emotional experiences we can create stories that will be authentic and connect to the reader.”

The session was thoughtful and generous in spirit, reminded of the importance of getting both the facts and emotional details right, and gave the participants some takeaway tools of inquiry for use in their own writing.

(Notes by Tina Hoggatt)

YA Authors Event

Please join Helen Landalf, Jennifer Shaw Wolf, Stasia Ward Kehoe, Megan Bostic, Kiki Hamilton, and a number of other local YA authors for a Teen Author Showcase at the Tumwater Timberland Library, Saturday April 28, from 2-3:30 p.m. The event will include an author panel, audience Q & A, and a book signing.

New Children's Writer's Resource Featuring Helen Landalf and Kirby Larson

Check out the new Children's Book Insider website, called CBI Clubhouse, which both fellow SCBWI WWA members Kirby Larson and Helen Landalf are writing for.

The popular newsletter for children's writers, Children's Book Insider, has just updated their companion website, CBI Clubhouse. The site, which is a great resource for writers of all levels, focuses on both traditional and self-publishing of material for children and teens. Kirby Larson and Helen Landalf will be acting as MG/YA guides on the site, contributing monthly posts and answering questions in the online forum. Check it out here.

Come Meet the New Kids on the YA Block!

Please join Northwest debut YA authors Helen Landalf (FLYAWAY), Kendare Blake (ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD), Kiki Hamilton (THE FAIRIE RING), Megan Bostic (NEVER EIGHTEEN), Carole Estby Dagg (THE YEAR WE WERE FAMOUS), and special guest Kathy McCullough (DON'T EXPECT MAGIC) for an evening at Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, on Wednesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. Activities include an author panel, a Speed Reed, prizes, and goodies. We'd love to see you there!

New Kids on the YA Block will also be appearing at Timberland Library in Olympia on Thursday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. and Garfield Books in Tacoma on Friday, March 16 at 7 p.m.

Helen Landalf Book Signing

Next stop on Helen Landalf's FLYAWAY tour: Moonraker Books in Langley, Whidbey Island, Sunday, February 12 from 1 - 3 p.m.

This will be a joint signing with Amber Kizer, author of the Meridian saga. Pre-Valentine's-Day ferry trip, anyone? For more information on Helen, and her work, you can visit her website.

Helen Landalf Book Reading and Signing

Please join Helen Landalf for a reading and signing of her debut YA novel, FLYAWAY, at Village Books in Bellingham on Saturday, January 28 at 2 p.m.

Learn more about Helen, and FLYAWAY, on her website.

Helen Landalf Book Launch

Please join Helen Landalf in celebrating the launch of her debut YA novel, FLYAWAY.

Where: Secret Garden Books in Ballard

When: Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m.

What: Refreshments, music, prizes, reading, book-signing

Helen hopes to see you all there! For more information on Helen, and her work, visit her website.

Liz Gallagher's MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE on shelves

Our own Liz Gallagher celebrated the release of her second novel Saturday afternoon at Secret Garden Books.

The book, MY NOT-SO-STILL life, is about an artsy teen named Vanessa who dyes her hair to express her individuality (hence Liz's vivid pink wig).

Liz read from her book, which is set in Seattle, served us outrageously good cupcakes from Bake It in a Cake, and held an art contest for her many fans. You can pick up a signed copy of the book at Secret Garden. Sorry, but there are no cupcakes left. Helen Landalf ate like forty of them (kidding, Helen, kidding!)

From left: Kim Baker, Jaime Temairik, Martha Brockenbrough, Helen Landalf,
Megan the baker, and Liz Gallagher. Photo by novelist Heather Davis.

Also from left: pretzels, napkins, lemon bar cupcakes,
nerd-flavored cupcakes (the candy, not the human form), hot chocolate cupcakes,
and Liz's hand holding pink lemonade.

Great Blog Post on Writing Prompts

It's so wonderful to be part of SCBWI! We have so many great members nationally & of course in our own fabulous region! Fellow SCBWI WWA member Helen Landalf just wrote a great blog post on "The Joy of...Writing Prompts". It's a fantastic post to check out (and she mentions one of my favorite writing prompts "Monday Moments" from Jolie Steckly's blog, Cuppa Jolie). You can find out more about Helen, and her work (including her blog) on her website. I found Helen's blog post through following her on Twitter (another great way to connect with members).

Book Feast (hosted by the Elevensies)

The Elevensies are hosting Book Feast, a giveaway for libraries and readers. Each publication season this year, The Elevensies will put out a poster featuring that season's debut YA and MG novels. Take a picture of the poster in your local library, and you and the library will be entered in a drawing for signed copies of the books of your choice. See this post on their blog for giveaway details. (Helen Landalf's debut YA, FLYAWAY, which launches from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on December 19, 2001, will be featured on the Fall 2011 Book Feast menu).

Good News for Helen Landalf

A big yahoo for Helen Landalf! Her debut novel, BROKEN WINGS, had made Goodreads list of YA/MG novels debuting in 2011. The list is a reference for those participating in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge. You can add 2011 debut novels, vote for the titles that have made your list, or ones that you are looking forward to reading the most! Go to this link for more information. If you'd like to learn more about Helen, you can check out her blog.

Good news for Helen Landalf

Helen's agent sold her first novel, BROKEN WINGS, to Samantha McFerrin at Harcourt.

It's great news for Helen, a seasoned picture book author. It also gives me particular delight because I got to read an early draft of the book and loved it. Helen revised and revised--pouring years worth of love and talent into this book. Persistence really does matter. I can't wait to hold the finished version in my hands.

Congratulations, Helen!