Meet our mentors from our
Mentorship Program 2018-2019
Here’s what our Young Adult Mentors – Jillian Anderson Coats, Kelly Jones
and Kevin Emerson have to say.
Tell us a little
bit about what you are working on now and your current projects.
Jillian: My newest book, R is for Rebel, came out in February and
deals with coercion and resistance in a fictional occupied country. Both books
I’m working on now have sold but have not yet been formally announced, so it’s
still hush-hush for the time being. One is middle-grade, one is YA, and both
are historical or historically-flavored secondary worlds.
Kelly: Are You Ready to
Hatch an Unusual Chicken? (the sequel to my middle grade novel Unusual Chickens
for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer) is coming out November 2018 from Knopf
Books for Young Readers (look for the launch at Third Place Books Lake Forest
Park!) I’m getting ready to revise my fourth book, tentatively called
Sauerkraut, about a kid who’s haunted by the ghost of his
great-great-grandmother, who needs his help with a project. And, while I’m
waiting for edits, I’m playing with even more ideas…
Kevin: I am wrapping up
revisions on the third book of the CHRONICLE OF THE DARK STAR trilogy, a middle
grade sci-fi series. The first book, LAST DAY ON MARS, continues to reach more
and more readers. I’m so thrilled with the traction the series is getting, and
I cannot wait to bring this final installment to readers, though it has been
very tricky to wrap up the various character and plot arcs. Also, I’m getting
ready to launch ANY SECOND, a contemporary YA thriller, which comes out in
November. This story stars two teens recovering from an attempted suicide
bombing at their Seattle mall, and uncovering a copycat plot at their school.
It’s a deep dive into a lot of harrowing issues that surround us these days,
like domestic terrorism, intolerance, and school violence, but it’s also a deep
personal dive into living with anxiety and recovering from trauma. That makes
it sound heavy, I know, but so far I’ve been pleased that early readers
describe it as fast-paced and un-put-downable.
How does being a
mentor influence and inform your work and why do you do it?
Jillian: Being a mentor
reminds me how each person brings different strengths to the writing process,
regardless of how many books they have out or how long they’re been writing,
which means we can all learn from each other. Many talented people took the
time to offer me advice, solidarity, and feedback when I was developing my
craft, and I hope I can do the same for someone else.
Kelly: When I was a kid, I
knew I loved writing, but I never met an author, and had no idea how I could
become one. At every stage of my career, I’ve looked for people who might help
me figure things out – not just how to write, but how to live a writing life
that would be both productive and happy, where I could stretch and grow and
imagine, not just worry about proper semicolon usage and live in fear of
dangling participles. People who remind me why I do this, not just how to do
it.
Every time someone helped me
along the way, I promised to pay it forward. And whenever I’m able to help
someone else, that’s what I ask in return.
Kevin: I enjoyed getting to
step into the role of editor, and trying to learn from the editorial that I’ve
received over the years. It has been a valuable and informative exercise to
break down story from the outside. And it’s so fun to brainstorm and problem
solve about plot, character, and craft, and to see a story improve.
What are some
challenges you have encountered in your writing/illustration journey? How did
you manage to survive through them and achieve success?
Jillian: One of my biggest
challenges has been a constant feeling that I’m behind everyone else and
struggling to make up lost ground. In the past, I spent way too much time
comparing myself to other writers, and I’ve put a lot of effort into following
my own path instead of being hard on myself for not having achieved more
sooner.
Kelly: So many challenges!!
So much hiding and licking my wounds, often for years at a time. The easy
answer is that every time I sent my work out into the world, it was met by
challenges. And, every time I met a challenge, it was other writers and readers
that pulled me through to the other side. They knew why it mattered. They’d
been there before. They thought it was worth doing anyway.
One example is my second
book, the young adult historical fantasy Murder, Magic, and What We Wore. I
started that book in 2005, worked on it until 2008, queried widely, received
mostly form rejections. Except for one revision request, from an agent I really
wanted to work with. She loved the world, but thought it would be a much better
plot if I turned it into a romance.
I emailed a writer friend,
practically in tears. I’d put so much work into this book, and I wanted this
next step so badly!
My writer friend wrote back,
and reminded me of all the times I’d told her that the entire reason I’d
written this book was to write a girl spy story that was about work, not love –
that wasn’t a romance. Her reminder of my own words, not her feelings on my
goal, and her perspective gave me the courage to step away and say thank you,
but no.
That book sat in a drawer
until 2014, after my first book had been published, when I needed another idea.
I pulled it out, saw how terrible the draft was (despite So Many Revisions
before!), and ended up rewriting the idea from scratch. My editor loved the new
version, and was perfectly fine with it not being a romance; it was published
in 2017.
It wasn’t easier to rewrite
an idea than to write a new one. But I’m so proud of myself for staying true to
the heart of that story, even though it added a good five years to my journey
to publication.
Kevin: Over ten years and
eighteen books I think I’ve had nearly every problem you can have: bad covers,
lack of publisher support, wayward drafts that required heavy rewrites and
delayed pub dates, editor changes mid-production, rejections-rejections-rejections,
the whole Goodreads thing, lame events, lame events where I spent a lot of
money to get there, lame events where I was made to feel like a total unknown,
remaindered books, fighting to not get a book cancelled… the biggest cost of
all of these was to my sense of self confidence and self worth. I’ve learned
that self-care is really important. Also, while I was good enough to get
published way back when, one of the reasons my books are doing better now is
that I am writing better books. I had to get better not just at the business
side, but at craft. I hope I’m still getting better. But through everything, I
have been able to keep the whole thing in perspective: no one owes you
anything. Getting a book published is a significant achievement in its own right,
regardless of how the book sells. Any readers who contact you, or good reviews
you get, really are special fortunate things, and need to be weighed just as
heavily as the disappointments, ideally more so. Also, one of the biggest
reasons why I have been able to keep this perspective is my family of author
colleagues and pals. It’s important to seek out community, your tribe of people
who feed your soul and support you, and you do the same for them. It’s not
easy, as writers are mostly reclusive by nature. But when you find those people
who are right for you, you really need to nurture those relationships. It makes
you all better, and happier.
What advice
would you give to your beginner self who is just starting out to make a
creative career?
Jillian: I would encourage
baby writer me to become more involved in the writing community earlier on.
When I was starting out, I had a serious case of imposter syndrome, and I
didn’t feel like I would be welcome around “real” writers or taken seriously
until I had a publishing contract and a book of my own. All I did was deprive
myself of potential mentors, good advice, and solid friendships, as well as a
community of people who faced similar struggles and celebrated similar joys.
Kelly: To find friends who are
also serious about doing creative work. Most of my good friends in the creative
world weren’t published when I met them – we figured it out together, and we
continue to support each other. It isn’t just those further down the path who
can show you the way. And, even introverts like me really need friends and
colleagues who understand why a perfectly nice email can make you jump for joy,
or sob with despair.
Also, to pick at least one
person in your life whose job is only to be your cheerleader, without any
constructive feedback whatsoever. My partner and my mom have strict
instructions not to tell me what they really think. I only want to know that
they believe I can do it, no matter how hard it is. That way, someone else
believes it, even when I don’t.
Kevin: I would advise my
debut-author self to hustle four times as hard at self-promotion, networking,
and making connections with librarians, booksellers, and other authors. I
caught on to that eventually, but in the beginning, I sort of thought that my
publisher would take care of it. By the time I realized that they wouldn’t, it
was too late. Also, like I said above, seek out other writers who you connect
with. Also, most of the authors I know who have actually made writing their
full time career are writing in more than one genre or for more than one age
group. They work on their own ideas but also seek out chances for
collaboration, work for hire, and so on. They pitch and submit on proposal and
usually have more than one thing under contract at once. You can never predict
how a book is going to sell, so it’s important not to bank on the back end. If
that ends up working out, it’s a bonus.
For more details of
the mentorship program check here.
Jillian Anderson Coats is the author of The Wicked and the Just,
one of Kirkus’s Best Teen Books of 2012, a 2013 YALSA Best for Young Adults
(BFYA) winner, and a School Library Journal Best Books of 2012 selection. It
also won the 2013 Washington State Book Award for Young Adults. Her newest book
is R is for Rebel, a middle-grade novel about coercion and
resistance in a reform school in a fictional occupied country. She is also the
author of The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming,
a 2017 Junior Library Guild selection and one of Kirkus’s Best Historical
Middle-Grade Books of 2017.
Kelly Jones worked as a librarian and a bookseller before becoming
an author. Her first book, the middle grade contemporary fantasy Unusual
Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, was an Indies Introduce Pick,
an ALA Notable Book, an SLJ Best Book, and a Kirkus
Reviews Best Book. Her second book, the YA Regency fantasy Murder, Magic,
and What We Wore, made the 2018 Amelia Bloomer List of the best feminist books
for young readers and received a starred review from School Library Journal.
You can find her at her website: www.curiosityjones.net, or on Twitter and
Instagram: @curiosityjones.
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