In youth my wings were strong and tireless,
But I did not know the mountains.
In age I knew the mountains
But my weary wings could not follow my vision -
Genius is wisdom and youth.
- Alexander Throckmorton by Edgar Lee Masters
Learn more about Poetry Friday.
Josie Bloss and I have some common interests, such as writing, acting, and playing instruments. While discussing these jobs and hobbies, we discovered that we also have some of the same favorite books, many of which happen to feature characters named after objects and places, like Turtle, Alaska, and Door. The main characters in Josie's debut novel Band Geek Love are immediately likable, but none of them are have noun-names. Josie's own experiences in marching band led her to this novel idea. Please take a listen to today's performance.
While performing in the band, Ellie feels comfortable, happy, and respected. What makes you feel like that?
When I was in high school and college, I was a lot like Ellie. I found refuge in the organized and predictable nature of band amidst the occasional chaos of adolescence and young adulthood. As an alleged grown-up, finding myself without any marching band options, I am most content and comfortable when I'm engrossed in writing. I probably feel most respected playing Wii boxing - I'm kind of awesome at it.
( Read more... )
Read my review of Band Geek Love.
Visit Josie's official website.
Over the past two years, Robin Wasserman has seen several of her original works hit the shelves: Seven Deadly Sins, a seven-book dramatic series for teens, a YA novel entitled Hacking Harvard, and the action-adventure superpower-ed Chasing Yesterday trilogy for younger readers. She has also contributed to short story anthologies. Her next stand-alone book, Callie for President, will appeal to elementary and middle school students, and her next trilogy will attract teens and adults who are sci-fi fans. In other words, she has written for almost all of the genres and age groups I myself intend to write for, so she gets plenty of kudos from me.
How and when did Robin first set foot on the pathway to publishing success? Well, there was an internship, and there was Scooby-Doo...
How did you become an editor?
I interned at Scholastic the summer after my junior year, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Fortunately for me, they took me back after I graduated. I worked there for a few years, and got an incredible education in the business of publishing children's books. I doubt I'd be a YA writer now (and I certainly wouldn't be a published writer) if it weren't for the things I learned as an editor.
When and how did you land your first book deal?
The first book I ever got published was a 32 page Scooby-Doo picture-clue book that I was lucky enough to write as an intern (thanks again, boss!). My first "real" book deal -- for the first four Seven Deadly Sins books -- came when I was 25. I had just quit my job to go to grad school in the history of science, and I thought I'd left children's publishing behind forever . . . but I had this idea for a teen series, and even though I was sure nothing would ever come of it, I decided to put together a proposal and cross my fingers. The whole thing was pretty much a very unexpected dream come true.
I was actually on a break from an intensely boring class on Enlightenment philosophy when the official offer came in -- and, after some silent screaming and fist-pumping in the quad, I had to go back to class for another hour. Apparently I looked so shell-shocked that my professor thought someone had died.
Why do you write?
Well, the truly, madly, deeply honest answer here is probably: I don't know. But -- because I realize that's totally unsatisfying -- my best guess is that I write because when I was growing up, the books I loved really shaped me as a person. They offered an escape from boredom and unhappiness, and the best of them changed the way I understood myself and the world. I want to do that for someone else. That's what inspires me, when I sit down at the computer -- the thought of a younger version of myself out there, looking for a story to sweep her away, a story that means something, a story she'll never forget.
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