gitty daneshvari & tami lewis brown @ southern festival of books

The second session we attended on Saturday was Tween Life - Writing Characters With a Sense of Self with Gitty Daneshvari & Tami Lewis Brown.  We were a little late to this session.  Blame it on the Parnassus tent offering up the books of all the participating authors. 

Gitty draws inspiration from Roald Dahl.  She originally imagined her School of Fear series while wondering what it would've been like to go to a school that helped her overcome fears when she was younger.  Outlines are a key part to her writing process & she credits them with helping her become a more focused & stronger writer.  She is also one of the most recent authors to write for the Monster High series.  Gitty's upcoming series, The League of Unexceptional Children, was inspired by a time when almost all the other kids in her class won awards, but not her!

Tami also draws inspiration from Dahl, which we noticed was a theme with several authors!  We loved hearing her share that her book, Soar, Elinor!, was written alongside her students at the time.  She was helping them write biographies and decided to do one with them!  What an inspiration!!  Tami also shared how outlines have helped her grow as a writer.

Both Gitty & Tami shared how book tours help to reset their calibration & keep them in touch with their audience.  Yay for book tours!  We also appreciated the fact that both of these authors steer away from the "sexy non-sex", as Gitty put it.  They are truly writing to entertain these tween readers.

Gitty finished the session with this thought about endings, they don't "have to have a happy ending, but a hopeful ending."

ed young @ southern festival of books

The Southern Festival of Books is a free annual event held in the shadow of the capitol building on War Memorial Plaza in downtown Nashville.  Last year was our first year attending & we immediately knew it would also be an annual event for us.  We've decided to devote a post for each author session we attended, rather than cramming it all in one post.  Up first, Ed Young.

Ed Young's session focused on his newest book, Nighttime Ninja, written by Barbara DaCosta.  While seeking a diversion from his work on The House that Baba Built, Ed was cleaning out drawers.  He came across a small, self-published work by DaCosta.  Taking it upon himself to storyboard the 90 word book, the bumpy road toward publishing began.  The seemingly easy task of publishing the book became complicated due to creative disagreements between Ed & the publisher. He had created all the collages for the book, but was asked to reconsider using the original sketches instead.  "Well," Ed was prompted, "maybe you should just think about it."  His response?  "I'm done thinking.  Maybe you should think..."  Eventually the book was taken to another publisher and more of Ed's creative genius was allowed to shine.

Listening to Ed describe different artistic decisions I couldn't help but be reminded of my Choice Literacy workshop with Franki Sibberson this summer and our discussions about visual literacy.   Ed was extremely intentional about every decision, even down to how the ninjas dropping down the endpages turn into the title page.  At one point the book's designer made the decision to put a spoiler of sorts on the cover flaps.  Again, Ed's response was unwavering.  "Well, why don't you just tell the whole story right there?"  He believes that the pictures tell the story and the words only confirm.  He also shared his belief that certain stories demand certain colors, mood, & tone.

Ed's book dedication stems from his belief that it's all about suspense & that kids like that.  "There's something about mystery that intrigues us all."  Cheryl & I also loved his final thought - "Two minds are better than one if you want to make something great.  More minds are better than two."

23rd Annual Southern Festival of Books

A celebration of the written word - Nashville, TN!

Mandy and Cheryl attended The Southern Festival of Books on a perfect fall weekend...blue skies, music, great food! We met some fabulous authors and talented illustrators. Our first session was with Matthew Reinhart, co-creator of the Encyclopedia Prehistorica and Encyclopedia Mythologica series. He considers himself a paper engineer and has collaborated with Robert Sabuda, Maurice Sendak, and Tomie dePaola. He says he was inspired by Eric Carle's work with paper and layered look.

In our next session, we met with graphic novel artists Eric Powell, creator of Chimichanga, and Eric Wight, creator of the Frankie Pickle series. Powell worked on titles such as, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Weird Tales, and MAD magazine. Prior to his newest graphic novel series, Wight was an animator for Walt Disney, Warner Brothers and Cartoon Network.

Laura Murray presented her debut picture book, Gingerbread Man Loose in the School. This fractured fairy tale is illustrated in comic strip like frames and is told in wonderful, repetitive rhyme. As a former elementary school teacher, she would begin each year by making a gingerbread man and having the students follow the crumbs throughout the school to find the lost man.

Matt Phelan is the author-illustrator of The Storm in the Barn, and illustrator of many books including: Always, I'll Be There, The Higher Power of Lucky, and Spilling Ink.

Author Laurel Snyder has written such titles as: Penny Dreadful, Any Which Wall, Inside the Slidy Diner, and Bigger Than a Breadbox.

Tom Angleburger had everyone's attention with his talk about "The Embarassing Stain" in The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. He enlisted audience participation, and everyone made the "emergency five-fold Yoda."

Other attending authors we met include: Andrea Davis Pinkney, Tracy Barrett, and Ruta Sepetys. Mandy & Cheryl are already making plans to attend next year's festival!