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STACY WHITMAN'S GRIMOIRE


THOUGHTS ON WRITING, EDITING, AND PUBLISHING BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

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A FAMILY HISTORY JOURNEY

August 7, 2020 - Stacy

The more I dig into this particular generation of my family–the immigrants I’d
been chasing for decades to figure out where they’d come from in East
Prussia–the more I’m confused. This has been a nearly 30-year research journey,
so join me on a story.

Here’s what I know:

Henry and Bertha Whitman are the immigrant generation. All we know is that Henry
changed his name and that they’re from East Prussia. He came after her and
stayed with her people in Chicago, so the family story goes.
Bertha and Fern were sister and brother. (We know she had other siblings, but
don’t know who they were.) The story of Henry’s name change we’ll get to in a
sec.

My grandpa, with his parents, visited Fern on his farm during the drought of the
Great Depression at around age 10 in Red Hook, NY, where he also met Fern’s
wife, Ella. Fern and Ella never had kids.


That’s all I’ve known since around 2000, when I interviewed my Grandpa Dale
before he died. I’ve been researching this branch of the family since about
1993, though, and other family members before me have tried and failed to figure
out Henry and Bertha’s origins.

But finding out about the brother from Grandpa was the start of a breakthrough.
I was able to trace Fern’s life backward from NY throughout the US. He
homesteaded for a few years in Colorado and Nebraska, which is where he met
Ella.

On his marriage certificate to Ella, their parents were listed! A miracle!
Parents of Fern: August Halbroeder and Caroline Koenitzer, from East Prussia.

Upper left: record of Ferdinand A. Halbroeder’s to Ella N. Wright

These are, we presume, ALSO the parents of Bertha. Because siblings, right?

So I start probing for Halbroeder/Halbröders in the Chicago area/northern IL
anytime in the neighborhood of the early 1870s, as the family story goes that
Henry was avoiding the draft of Bismarck/William the 1st to get here before the
unification wars. (No idea how accurate that story is, but it’s a starting
point.)

Could I find them on the census in 1870? It’s a stretch, because they may have
come after the census was taken. Nope, no dice.

We know Bertha and Henry’s marriage date, by the way, thanks to the Whitman
Family Bible, in my uncle’s possession (5 Mar 1876).

While there’s no census, I do find them! And I find an August! Two, actually,
who appear to be father and son, maybe? In various city directories, which don’t
give much information, but how many Halbröders who aren’t related can there BE?

I don’t remember if this breakthrough came before or after I found Bertha’s
marriage license in Cook County–which I paid $15 or so for a copy of rather than
rely on records because IT GAVE ME HENRY’S ORIGINAL NAME. Henry Whitman was …
well, I’m not sure if he was born Gottlieb Wittmann, because that might have
been an alias to get him on the boat, but he was using the name Gottlieb
Wittmann at least until the moment he married Bertha, and not much longer,
because every record after this I can find is definitely Henry Whitman. And it’s
definitely them—the ages are spot on and the marriage date, 5 March 1876, is
correct.

Marriage license for Gottlieb Wittmann and Bertha Halbröder in Cook County,
Illinois records

And at that point, Ancestry has coughed up some IMMIGRATION RECORDS, the holy
grail for tracing to source country, yay!


HERE’S WHERE IT GETS WEIRD.


I find Bertha Halbröder entering the country at age 14 in 1869 alone? with a
brother? maybe with an uncle? But she’s clearly with a woman sharing the same
name as the name of Fern’s mother, with a different man who is not named
Halbröder, but who rather shares the last name of the presumed mother’s maiden
name. Maybe Fern didn’t know what a maiden name was and his parents were
divorced and his mother married a guy named Konitzer?

And then Fern (full name: Ferdinand) is NOT on the boat with her. No, she’s
traveling with a guy named Wilhelm Halbröder, from the same area of Prussia:

Departure manifest from Hamburg for Wilhelm and Bertha Halbröder on 5 May 1869
The same people entering the US at the Port of New York
on the Steamer Harmonia on 19 May 1869

I have no idea who Emilie Bischof is–she doesn’t appear in any Whitman/Halbröder
records past this point, so they might have just been village friends who
escorted her to her new life. But Carl and Caroline Konitzer are a MYSTERY.
We’ll get to more on that in a minute.

Fern doesn’t arrive for TWO MORE YEARS, and he arrives with a guy whose name we
know from Fern’s marriage certificate: August Halbröder, who has a whole family
that we’ve never known the names of before.

Departure manifest from Hamburg on the same boat, the Steamer Harmonia, 27 Sept
1871 Arrival manifest for the Steamer Harmonia on 12 Oct 1871


Note that the Hamburg departure manifest gives us a BIG clue on the
German/Prussian side: previous residence! Stettin, now known as a Polish city
Szczecin. It’s likely just the region they were from—August is listed as a
farmer, so it’s likely they’re from a hamlet or village near Stettin—but it
gives us a place to START in German research (once I learn enough German to
parse out the handwriting—I can read English journals from the 1800s like it’s
nothing nowadays, but German is THE WORST for parsing once you go back in time
past a certain point).

Okay, so we’ve got a point of origin, but are the Bertha and Fern in these
manifests the same Bertha and Fern who we know for certain were brother and
sister? I’m pretty sure–the dates match up, as do the circumstances based on
what we know from later census records like the 1900 census, which lists arrival
years for immigrants, and an article about Fern and Ella on their golden wedding
anniversary. Not to mention that the names Bertha Halbröder and Ferdinand A.
Halbröder are SUPER UNIQUE. Maybe not 100% unique, but pretty unique!

While the years aren’t exact, I expect census records to be a bit off—ages get
fudged, spelling is atrocious because it’s an enumerator doing the writing, and
you expect people’s math to be a little off sometimes. (Bertha cannot have been
in the US for 38 years in 1900 and also have arrived in 1868. She would have
been there for 32 years.)

Bertha (Halbröder) Whitman in the 1900 census for Monroe Center, Ogle County,
Illinois Fern and Ella Halbroeder in the 1900 census for Franklin Township,
DeKalb County, Illinois—they didn’t move to New York until a few years later,
according to the article above.
Wm Halbroder in Wisconsin Births and Christenings Index as a parent, married to
Carolina Zenos, and child Emma M I Halbroder. Is this our Wilhelm?

So, I’m presuming that it’s safe to assume that Wilhelm is a likely brother or
other relative (cousin?) of Bertha’s. Only once he arrives in the States, he
disappears. The only mention of a Wilhelm Halbröder (or William Halbroeder, or
any variation on that name) for the rest of the 19th century in any census that
I can find, or any city directory, land record, marriage records, birth records
for children, etc is in ONE record that I don’t have access to in a
pandemic—I’ll have to go to a Family History Center to look at the film and see
the record.

Carl & Caroline Konitzer in the 1880 census for Egg Harbor, Door County,
Wisconsin Children of Carl & Caroline Konitzer on the next page of the 1880
census: 30-year-old William Konitzer, 14-year-old Annie, and 3-year-old Louie
Papillion, the only child born in the US, listed as adopted with parents born in
France. I really want to trace Louie’s life story at some point—there has to be
an interesting story there, too.

However, Carl and Caroline Konitzer show up on the 1880 census in Wisconsin.
Remember how they had no children named Konitzer when they arrived on the ship
with Wilhelm and Bertha? Now they have 3, one of whom is named William Konitzer,
30, who is old enough to have arrived with them on the ship, yet is absent from
that record. Also note they have a 14-year-old daughter named Annie who of
course would have been born after they arrived in 1869, but who is listed as
having been born in Germany.

Marriage certificate for Robert Konitzer, listing his parents as William
Konitzer and Anna Kuskie, Wayne County, Michigan, 4 Jan 1932

What fascinates me about this is that a few years later, William shows up in
Wisconsin records married to a woman named Anna, whose maiden name is NOT
Konitzer but Koschkie or Kuskie, according to her son’s marriage certificate,
and whose age matches perfectly with that of Annie. Did Annie emigrate alone or
perhaps with a family who passed on or got separated at some point, and she came
to live with and/or be adopted by the Konitzers (who obviously are a couple who
adopt kids), and she and William eventually ended up married? Or is it just a
coincidence and William happens to have a sister named Annie who never shows up
again (which isn’t unusual for women unless you’re working your way backward—if
they get married, you don’t always know who they married because the parents
aren’t always listed on the records, if you can find them at all) and also
marries an Anna?

And is William Konitzer actually Wilhelm Halbroeder? Who is the Wm. Halbroder
who married Carolina Zenos and had a child named Emma? Are they the same person?

Or is Annie in the Konitzer household in 1880 the same person as Anna Halbröder,
who we haven’t even discussed yet, who was 9 in 1871 when she arrived with Fern
and the other Halbröders, so in 1880 would be closer to 17 or 18 so wouldn’t
have been 14, but censuses can be wrong about ages and so can ship manifests,
and WHERE ARE ALL THESE ANNIE/ANNAS COMING FROM? (Yes, I know it’s a common
name, but why does it have to be THIS common?)

And that brings me back to the beginning of the rabbit hole: Is Caroline
Konitzer the mother of Wilhelm, Bertha, and Ferdinand Halbröder? And also Anna,
given that Anna is 2 years older than Fern?

Did the parents divorce and Anna and Fern, being too young to emigrate in 1869,
or because of some sort of custody arrangement, they emigrated with his father
and stepmother and younger sibling baby Johannes?

Or is it just a coincidence that these names are so similar in both families and
they’re not related at all? Where did Caroline disappear to? Did she die in
Prussia and never emigrate, and the Caroline Konitzer who did emigrate near
Bertha was just an aunt or a distant relative by marriage, and maybe Carl was an
uncle or something related to her mother who died?

These are the questions that remain, and so far the records in Germany aren’t
letting me figure out the answers–either because Ancestry doesn’t have access to
the records (there was that big world war and all, plus the other one), or
because I don’t have enough information to narrow down the potential choices.
All I know is that Friedke is married to an August Halbröder in records from the
same area of Prussia, and that I can’t find any records of any Caroline ever
being married to an August Halbröder in that area of Prussia.

And maybe it’s all moot and Bertha and Fern were never siblings to begin with,
because I have yet to find mention of the two of them in the same written
record!



Posted in publishing



AH, VACATION

September 11, 2017 - Stacy

Ah, vacation time, when I can at last have time to pause and read my submissions
and prepare my presentations!

No, really, I’m going home to farm country later this week, and I’m going to be
out of touch and just hang out with my sister and nephews and maybe a parent or
three. I got an AMAZING deal (like, when was the last time you saw a $127
round-trip fare cross-country? Well, NYC to Chicago, so half-cross-country).
Then my grandma turns 95 on Friday, and I can tell you because she never goes on
the internet—I’m going to surprise her!

But next week, while I’m still on vacation, I’ll be doing some remote work, and
it’s all for writers. Here are the details:

Monday, Sept. 18, 8pm ET #DVPitLive video chat: follow the hashtag on Twitter to
get the link to the live video chat and join in to ask editors, agents, and
writers questions about writing diverse books for children!

Tuesday, Sept 19: I’ll be doing a presentation with SCBWI Carolinas on synopses.
If you’re a chapter member, look at your email list or chapter website for
details. If you’re not in the chapter, I’m happy to share the presentation again
with a different group—let me know!

 

Posted in children's literature, diversity, writing - Tagged middle grade
literature, SCBWI, synopses, writing, young adult literature



#DVPIT, UPDATED SUBMISSION GUIDELINES, AND MY #MSWL

April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 - Stacy

Today is #DVpit on Twitter, which is an event in which writers post pitches for
their books on the hashtag and agents who like those pitches and are requesting
submissions favorite the pitches as a way to say “send that to me!” and editors
who like something either retweet it to say “I like this! send it to me,
agents!” or favorite it if they take unsolicited submissions. To that end, I’m
linking to this post for anyone whose pitch I favorite.

Recently, Cheryl Klein joined the Lee & Low team as editorial director, and that
means that we’re shifting a few things around. Tu Books continues to be the
middle grade and young adult imprint publishing all genres of fiction for those
age groups, but because Cheryl also is interested in novels, I won’t be the sole
editor acquiring for the imprint anymore. However, Cheryl and I have different
interests and tastes, and she’ll also be acquiring picture books and nonfiction
for the Lee & Low imprints, and older nonfiction for Tu.

Also, I’ve tweeted my #MSWL (if you don’t know, that’s a manuscript wish list)
on both my own Twitter and on @tubooks from time to time—most recently being
yesterday on Tu’s account:





Also:



> On my #MSWL right now: graphic novels. I’m actively looking in my submissions
> pile them in the next few days. Must be diverse, MG or YA.
> 
> — Stacy Whitman (@stacylwhitman) May 18, 2016



So if you’d like a better sense of what I’m looking for, my Twitter and the Tu
Books Twitter are your best resources, as I’m terrible at keeping up my blog
nowadays.

We have new submission guidelines that have not yet gone up on the Lee & Low
website, so for anyone looking for whether to send a MG or YA to me vs. Cheryl,
some guidelines here. Obviously your first sign is whether Cheryl or I favorited
your tweet. But if you’re still not sure, this is what will be put up on the Tu
Books submission guidelines when we update the site:

At TU BOOKS, an imprint of LEE & LOW BOOKS, our focus is on young adult and
middle grade fiction and narrative nonfiction centering people of color. We look
for fantasy set in worlds inspired by non-Western folklore or culture,
contemporary mysteries and fantasy set all over the world starring POC, and
science fiction that centers the possibilities for people of color in the
future. We also selectively publish realism and narrative nonfiction that
explores the contemporary and historical experiences of people of color. We
welcome intersectional narratives that feature LGBTQIA and disabled POC as
heroes in their own stories.

We are looking specifically for stories for both middle grade (ages
8-12) and young adult (ages 12-18) readers. Occasionally a manuscript might fall
between those two categories; if your manuscript does, let us know.

Stacy Whitman and Cheryl Klein both acquire titles for Tu Books, and we ask that
you identify which of them you wish to consider your submission. As loose rules
of thumb, Cheryl has a more literary bent and does not acquire graphic novels,
while Stacy takes a more commercial focus and does not acquire narrative
nonfiction. You can learn more about each of them through their websites, linked
above, and the interviews here.

Novel Manuscript Submissions:

 * Please include a synopsis and first three chapters of the novel. Do not send
   the complete manuscript.
 * Manuscripts should be typed doubled-spaced.
 * Manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter that includes a brief
   biography of the author, including publishing history. The letter should be
   addressed to either Stacy Whitman or Cheryl Klein, and should also state if
   the manuscript is a simultaneous or an exclusive submission.
 * We’re looking for middle grade (ages 8-12) and young adult (ages 12 and up)
   books. We are not looking for chapter books (ages 6 to 9) at this time.
 * Be sure to include full contact information on the cover letter and first
   page of the manuscript. Page numbers and your last name/title of the book
   should appear on subsequent pages.

Graphic Novel Submissions:

 * Please include a synopsis and first three chapters (or equivalent—up to 20
   pages of script) of the graphic novel script. Do not send the complete
   manuscript.
 * If you are also the illustrator, please include art samples with a sample
   storyboard in PDF or JPG format.
 * Do not include illustrations unless you are a professional illustrator.
 * Manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter that includes a brief
   biography of the author, including publishing history. The letter should also
   state if the manuscript is a simultaneous or an exclusive submission.
 * Be sure to include full contact information on the first page of the
   manuscript. Page numbers and your last name/title of the book should appear
   on subsequent pages.

Tu Books accepts submissions electronically. Please go to our Submittable
page to submit your manuscript electronically.

If you would rather send your submission via snail mail, you may address it to: 

Submissions Editor, Tu Books
LEE & LOW BOOKS
95 Madison Avenue, Suite 1205
New York, NY 10016

ALSO NOTE that for new writers of color, our New Voices Award (for picture
books) and New Visions Award (for MG/YA novels & graphic novels) writing
contests are opening soon for submissions! If you’ve never published a picture
book before, New Voices opens May 1. If you’ve never published a MG or YA novel
or graphic novel, New Visions opens June 1. Information for both contests’
submission guidelines will be updated on the L&L website soon, so check back.

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Posted in children's literature, publishing, Tu, writing - Tagged dvpit, middle
grade literature, submission guidelines, tu books, young adult literature



THE STATE OF MG VS YA WHEN YA IS SO MUCH OLDER NOW

January 12, 2017 - Stacy 5 Comments

Let’s talk about middle grade books, young adult books, and that liminal space
between, that magic spot of readers ages 10-14 who read up. 

There’s a certain kind of voice you expect from a YA book that tells you “this
is about a teenage experience.” It’s different from the exploring/discovery of
the world voice we generally hear in MG—it’s more mature, sometimes more
cynical. It’s not an adult voice, but it is no longer the voice of a child.

YA has been aging up for about 15-18 years now. In the early 2000s, we called
books like Holly Black’s “edgy,” but that sensibility is now par for the course
in YA, and generally the books you see shelved in the YA section of a bookstore
star protagonists who are 15, 16, 17, 18—very few YA novels star 12-14-year-olds
anymore.

This coincided with the vast numbers of YA readers becoming adults, as well—last
we heard, more than 80% of YA readers are over 18, purchasing books for their
own reading, not that of an actual teenager in their life.

Which for me, as someone who publishes books for children and teens BECAUSE I
want to serve the population of children these books are intended for, is VERY
frustrating. When books I publish in the YA market for 12-year-olds get dinged
for actually sounding like a real 15-year-old is talking (“this book sounds
middle grade” to paraphrase one review of one of my books because it didn’t
contain romance), I feel like we have fundamentally lost our way if we aren’t
serving our target market (or when reviewers don’t remember or don’t care about
the books’ target market).

But these are the realities of our current system, so what’s emerging out of it
is that MG seems to be picking up the slack for that forgotten, now-underserved
tween audience who used to be the core readership for YA books.

Where does that leave the publisher of MG and YA books, though? Do I publish
what I’ve always published as YA now as a MG? That doesn’t make sense, either,
because the voice doesn’t sound MG–the voice is that of an emerging teenager,
not an 8- or 10-year-old.

Yes, 12-18 is a very large developmental gap. We do need to allow space for the
older YA—I’m glad it’s finally finding a home. But to then define YA as just
what’s happened in the last 10-15 years is to ignore the huge body of work that
has been YA for decades before that.I’ve seen more bookstores have tiers (8-11,
10-14, 14 and up, etc.), which is great, but publishing only has the two
categories, and B&N only has the “children’s” section (with various subsections)
and the “YA” section (now also broken down by genre, but not age), so it’s a
challenge to communicate to accounts exactly where to shelve the books, and
confusion can arise.

So: if you are a writer for that 10-14 age range, where do your books get
shelved? Editors: what solutions have you come across? Readers/teachers/parents,
where do you look for books for that age group? Librarians, how do you figure
out where to shelve books for that age range?

Posted in children's literature, writing - Tagged age ranges, children's
literature, developmentally appropriate reading material, middle grade, voice,
writing, young adult



HIGHLIGHTS OF 2016 READING

January 2, 2017January 2, 2017 - Stacy

Thanks to audiobooks, I read 144 books in 2016. (If you look at that list, some
are still in progress—the problem with relying on the library; when I can’t
finish an audiobook in the rental period, I have to wait months on hold for it
to come back to me again. I’ve been waiting for The Passion of Dolssa to come
back for something like 3 months.)

OBVIOUSLY, this list doesn’t include the books I’ve edited. OBVIOUSLY, you
should read all my books! Check out the sidebar under Books I Edited, or go here
for more info on Tu Books.

In more than a year of my outside-of-work reading being mostly on audio, I’ve
found that audiobooks have an even worse diversity problem than print books. I’m
not surprised by this; most of the books I publish haven’t gotten audio versions
made, and that’s likely similar to the audiobook market as a whole. So my
outside-of-work reading isn’t as diverse as I’d like it to be, but I’ve been
able to read a lot more than I would have otherwise, given my aversion to
reading finished books outside of work lately. (I work such long hours that I
need a change-up when I’m off—I was reading maybe five books outside of work
before picking up audiobooks.)

Here are some highlights, in no particular order, of my reading in 2016:

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Adventure, magic, and traveling to alternate worlds and timelines. So much fun.
Looking forward to the sequel this year.

 

The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde

Clever, funny, and just what I needed to escape in November…



The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett

The last volume in the Tiffany Aching series, and Pratchett’s last book. It
moved me. Pratchett had an ability to make you laugh at human foibles and
poignantly appreciate the death of a character—and the author!—in such a unique
way. This is a series I’ll return to again and again in the future, I think.

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee

Historical fiction, set in San Francisco, 1906. If you don’t know why that’s
significant, you need to read the book even more. Beautiful.

I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest

Listening to this hybrid book on audio made me not even realize what I was
missing in the print version–a comic-with-the-book! But Mary Robinette Kowal’s
narration created an audio experience of the comic parts that translated well
from the page—I knew from the change in narration that it was was a
story-within-a-story, and it all came together perfectly.

Better Nate than Ever by Tim Federle

One of the few audiobooks in which the narration by the author enhances the book
rather than detracts from it. Few authors have a good reading voice, I’m sorry
to say. (Few audiobook narrators are good in general, honestly.) So this
excellent story was made even better via Tim Federle’s voice.

 

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina

Speaking of excellent narrators, this narrator sounded like she was a Latina
from Queens. That made this fascinating story about a teen girl in Queens just
trying to make ends meet while worried about the Son of Sam murders even more
fascinating. And man, I felt for Nora in her worries about her brother.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I didn’t realize till MONTHS later that this was narrated by Lin Manuel Miranda.
And it didn’t stand out to me because his voice was seamlessly Aristotle’s. A
beautiful book with top-notch narration.



 

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

This book is HILARIOUS, especially if you know the real history of Lady Jane
Grey. And the audiobook’s narrator REALLY gets this book. She’s great at all the
accents, and growls and emotes and simpers and everything perfectly.

Starflight by Melissa Landers

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen some good space SF in YA. This was an
enjoyable read.

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Posted in children's literature, personal - Tagged audiobooks, fantasy, middle
grade literature, reading, science fiction, young adult literature



WHERE DO I EVEN START?

November 16, 2016November 16, 2016 - Stacy

I often discuss diverse books with people, especially white people, who need the
“101”—parents and other people who love children who want to give them good
diverse books but don’t know where to start. And that’s GREAT! Saying, “I don’t
know what I don’t know” is the perfect place to start when you’re looking to
bring diverse books into your home or classroom, because that means you’re ready
to learn.


This is a general post collecting some of the things I’ve been telling people
lately, so I can point them to it, especially as you start shopping for holiday
gift-giving.

First of all: buy my books! Because that’s what I do: publish diverse middle
grade and YA books.

And next, be aware of older, problematic books that perpetuate racist
stereotypes. (For example, did you know that The Education of Little Tree was
written by a member of the KKK? Stop sharing that book with kids! Study it if
you must with the real history behind it, but too few people actually know the
true history behind it and think it’s a “sweet story.”) Some resources from
children’s literature scholars and reviewers to help you evaluate texts:

 * American Indians in Children’s Literature
 * Rich in Color
 * Diversity in YA
 * Gay YA
 * Disability in Kidlit
 * The Brown Bookshelf
 * Latinx in Kidlit
 * Reading While White
 * De Colores
 * The Open Book (the Lee & Low blog)

These resources also review books that have quality representation and are a
great source to find new books.

Looking for book lists broken down by age group, topic, genre, and more? Check
out the Lee & Low Pinterest board–we’ve got more than 100 boards dedicated to
all sorts of topics, including anti-racism, #WeNeedDiverseBooks, teachers and
educators, getting published, and book lists galore.



But most importantly, what I want my friends to remember when they’re thinking
about buying diverse books for their kids this holiday season: remember that
authors of color are the least represented, and often get the least amount of
publicity for their books. You have to look for them, but they’re well worth
looking for. If you want to introduce your children to authentic voices from
communities different from your own, look at the authors of the books you’re
buying. Are they writing from their own experience? (Inasmuch as that experience
pertains to racism, sexism, ablism, Islamophobia, etc., not to whether or not
they’ve lived in space or used magic…) Look for ways to support authors of
color.

This is not to say to shun white authors, who often do a very good job at
writing about characters of color, but just asking people who are often in
white-centric communities to thoughtfully evaluate the voices getting the most
time and attention in their home or classroom, and look for ways to be more
inclusive. Often for white people that means actively seeking out authors of
color, because we’re rarely going to be running into them naturally in our
often-segregated circles.

This post is a work in progress and I’ll add resources to it as I have time or
discover new resources.

Save

Save

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Posted in children's literature, community, diversity - Tagged book lists,
holiday shopping, reading, resources



GENERAL UPDATE

August 10, 2016 - Stacy

I always swore I wouldn’t be one of those people who let my blog languish while
I moved on to other things, but here I am, blogging after more than a year,
realizing once again that I’m paying for hosting and everything and not even
updating once since I paid so much for hosting the last time!

I am very active on Twitter, somewhat active on Tumblr, very active on Facebook,
but as we’ve learned again and again, without being active on your own site,
it’s easy to lose the content you work so hard to create. (Links to social media
on the sidebar, if you’re not already following me there.)

I do blog about once a month at the Lee & Low blog, so I encourage you to look
for my posts there. But mostly my writing here has languished just as my writing
in my journal and for creative purposes have languished, because social media is
so much better at the social part, and because I work so much on other people’s
books that sometimes I forget to write for myself.

It’s been a tough year so far, with the election and so many other things. But
it’s a great time right now, too, with the Olympics—so many stories of hope
coming out of the Olympics right now. I can only hope that we’ll see the same
kind of hope in other facets of life.

 

Posted in personal - Tagged blogging, general, olympics



CASE CRACKED: EDITING MYSTERY NOVELS

July 22, 2015July 21, 2015 - Stacy

This post was originally posted on the Lee & Low blog.

 

I’ve long been a fan of mysteries. Trixie Belden was my BFF as a third and
fourth grader. Nancy Drew was another favorite. Veronica Mars updated the teen
sleuth idea, bringing the storytelling form to a new generation.

When I got the chance to work on Valynne Maetani’s Ink and Ashes, our new YA
mystery which comes out in June, all of those mysteries and more were going
through my mind. Claire, the main character, has the spunk and curiosity of
Veronica Mars and all of her predecessors, but she’s also a little different.
And to honor those differences in the editing process, I needed to refresh
myself on what’s out there right now in the teen mystery/suspense genre, and the
mystery genre in general.

As I was editing Ink and Ashes over the course of about a year and a half (which
spans two developmental edits and a line edit), between edits I was reading
mystery after mystery. I stocked up on Agatha Christie, I rewatched Miss
Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and read the first book of the series it’s based on
(Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood), I read multiple YA suspense, spy, and murder
mysteries.



Miss Fisher from the TV show “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries”



That reading reminded me that a great mystery read requires the same elements as
any good read: well-paced plotting, characters the reader cares about enough to
want to know what happens next; even world-building, though that’s a term we
generally associate with speculative fiction, is tremendously important in
setting the stage in a mystery. But my rereading of classic and contemporary
mysteries also showed me that more than in any other genre, a sense of suspense
and danger must permeate the mystery book, must drive the reader to breathlessly
wonder what will happen next.

Ask probing questions

One of the biggest challenges in this edit—with any edit, really, especially
with an author you’ve never worked with before—was discovering how to bring the
author’s vision of the characters fully to life. An editor’s job is often to
just ask questions: Why is this happening right now? Why would that character
decide to do this? What is the goal here?

In that way, figuring out the goal allows the editor to ask further probing
questions on what the solution might be—figuring out how current plot points and
character decisions hamper the desired effect.

“The plot thickens” turns out to be true

The biggest thing I learned while editing Ink and Ashes and reading all these
mysteries is the importance of plot escalation. In the original draft, clues did
of course build up into a frenzied final few pages of conflict that were very
enjoyable—that’s one of the reasons the book won our New Visions Award. But
comparing the early manuscript to mysteries I enjoyed the most, I realized that
there were so many ways that the narrative could be complicated. (Valynne was on
the same page. As she waited for the results of the contest, she was also
already thinking of ways to improve the manuscript. That kind of editor-writer
synergy makes a huge difference in any book project like this.)

We looked at the end goal, and discussed the plot points that got Claire and her
friends to that point. In particular, we discussed how the inciting incident—the
moment that gets Claire to veer her course to investigating whether her father
and her stepdad ever knew each other—might be complicated and how those
complications would have a ripple effect that would improve multiple other plot
points, and increase the pacing.

In other words, escalation. If the reader didn’t feel the suspense at every page
turn, we had work to do.

Valynne worked very hard on making that happen, and I’m very happy with the
results! In answer to all my probing questions, Valynne improved on an
already-well written manuscript to bring what was an interesting read to the
level of an exciting page-turner that’s getting readers hooked. That’s the end
goal for any editor and author: Creating a final book that readers can’t put
down. I’m happy to say, we succeeded with Ink and Ashes.

Posted in children's literature, publishing, Tu - Tagged editing, ink and ashes,
mystery, publishing, valynne maetani



SUBMIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO THE NEW VISIONS AWARD

July 21, 2015 - Stacy

In case you missed it, I’m open again for submissions to the New Visions Award.
Details can be found on this blog post.

This is the first year we’re taking only electronic submissions. You can submit
via our Submittable site. There is no charge for any of our submissions,
including the New Visions Award.

Please note that the New Visions Award is open only to authors of color resident
of the United States (including non-citizens, but you must be a resident). This
includes Asian Americans and other people of Asian descent, African Americans
and other people of African descent, Pacific Islanders, South Asians, Native
Americans and other indigenous peoples, Middle Easterners, Latino/as, and mixed
race people.

If you are a white American, or any author who does not reside in the United
States, you are welcome to submit to our regular submissions, guidelines for
which can be found here.

Posted in children's literature, diversity, publishing, writing - Tagged new
visions award, submissions, submittable, writing contest



WHERE I’VE BEEN LATELY

February 19, 2015February 19, 2015 - Stacy

As you can tell, I haven’t really blogged much in the past couple of years. I
even forget to blog when I have a new book, though I’m sharing that news
*everywhere* else. This blog isn’t quite dead, but I would encourage you to
follow the links on the side of the page to my Twitter and Tumblr and to the Tu
Books Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook pages for the most up-to-date information.
Also, I’ve been blogging at least once a month on the Lee & Low blog, which I
recommend you subscribe to.

Most recently, we’ve been talking about the New Visions Award finalists, which
were just announced (winner to be announced in April), my talk at SCBWI NY about
writing for a diverse audience, and revealing the cover of our upcoming spring
book, Ink and Ashes by Valynne Maetani, whose book won our first New Visions
Award in 2013 (and is a spring Junior Library Guild selection!). It’s our first
mystery title, and I’m very proud of it.

Speaking of, I need to get back to editing that book. We’re in the final
proofreading rounds, before the book gets sent off to the printer. More
later—mostly in all those other places. 🙂

Posted in children's literature, diversity - Tagged facebook, ink and ashes, new
visions award, tumblr, twitter, valynne maetani



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