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| Thanksgiving in Vermont 2024 |
Very best wishes from all of us at GROG
for a holiday season filled with joy and rejuvenation.
We'll be back on January 8, 2025
with an exciting post from Lydia Lukidis.
Meanwhile, if you missed our Nov. 27
interview with Alex Thayer
amid the Thanksgiving hustle and bustle ...
it's not to late to read it (here).
See you next year!
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| Alex Thayer |
Happy & Sad & Everything True (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, Nov. 12, 2024) involves middle grade issues of family, new friends and old ones, true friends and fake ones. The protagonist, Dee, is devastated when she and her best friend Juniper are assigned to separate classes for sixth grade, and she is lonely and increasingly confused about Juniper's odd new behavior. She's also embarrassed about her eccentric single mother and has questions about why her dad left.
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Dee starts hiding in the girls' restroom each day to avoid the dreaded "Snack & Stretch." She discovers that a grate in the wall communicates with the boy's restroom, and before long she is dispensing advice and support through the grate to students with all kinds of worries. Word of Dee's good counsel spreads and more students approach her for advice. Dee enjoys listening and helping people, but meanwhile, her attempts to make a new friend seem to result only in more embarrassment.
Hurtful discoveries, academic failures, mysterious secret notes, and unexpected treachery all come to a head in a satisfying series of resolutions. Dee realizes her own strengths and gains pride in being herself. I devoured this book (in ARC form) straight through in a day and a half, and Dee and the other characters have taken up residence in my brain. Nicely done, Alex! This is a beautifully engaging novel. I highly recommend it.
Below, Alex answers some questions I had about her book and her writing (and other) life. So read on!
GROG: When you began writing, did you know you wanted to write for the middle school crew?
Alex: I love the middle school crew. It’s a time when so many things might be changing. Schools, teachers, friendships, families, bodies, ideas, beliefs… The list of possibly changing things is endless. Which makes it an interesting age to write about.
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| Alex and friends at the Acadia Retreat last month |
GROG: Exactly! An age group that presents rich dramatic possibilities, right? And speaking of drama, your first career was acting, for TV and movies. I happen to know you have some juicy stories from those days. Does that dramatic background affect your writing?
Alex: Great question! Absolutely! There’s something in acting called “Method Acting” when an actor stays in character on set. Even when the camera is not rolling, the actor doesn’t break character. I think I might do this as a writer. “Method Writing,” if you will! Sometimes I’ll dress up like my character to get myself going. Sometimes I’ll bake something that my character would love to eat. Sometimes I’ll write in my journal as if my character were writing in her journal. Sometimes I’ll pretend I’m on stage and I’ll speak as if my character’s giving a monologue to the audience. I think the element of play is very important in writing. Play takes the pressure off! Acting is a great way to play around as a writer.
GROG: I love that! Method writing! It seems to have worked for you. Dee comes across as genuine and real.
I'm wondering about the delightfully original premise of Happy & Sad & Everything True. Where did you get the initial idea?
Alex: Thank you! I’m glad you like the premise. I wish I could say it was my great idea, but really, the premise came from my main character, Dee. I thought about Dee for a long time before I started writing this book. I knew what she looked like, her personality, what people in her life would say about her. I also knew the things she would never tell anyone. I knew Dee very well, but I felt overwhelmed about writing a whole book. So, I started small. I put Dee in a place, a bathroom, and I listened. I realized other kids come into the bathroom and speak to Dee. I knew Dee would want to help them. Voila! My premise was born.
GROG: Beautiful -- I guess this is how your "method writing" works.
I also love how in the book you gradually reveal the depth of the relationship between Dee and her mother, with Dee's impatience/annoyance/embarrassment gradually giving way to understanding and appreciation of their mutual love. Was that always a main focus of the book?
Alex: The mom character really surprised me. When I first started writing this book, I thought the mom was humorous and quirky. But, as the novel moved along, I realized the mom cared deeply about her daughter. I think Dee realized this, too. The arc that Dee and her mom were able to make together was very satisfying to write.
GROG: Which character in Happy & Sad is most like you?
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| Alex reading at her launch, shortly after publication |
GROG: Wonderful! One last question for today:
What did you do on your book’s birthday?
Alex: I woke up early and I wrote in my journal. (I do this every morning.) I took my kids to school. I came home and made myself a big bowl of Hot Brown Rice Cereal and topped it with milk and berries. Delightful!
Congratulations and thanks again, Alex, and very best wishes with your beautiful new book.
~Christy
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| I confess: this is possibly my favorite spread! |
Last week I interviewed the illustrator of The Other Side of Tomorrow, Deb JJ Lee. If you missed it, you can find it here.
Today I interview myself. Giving myself a pep-talk and walk down memory lane, letting Grog Blog readers listen in. Perhaps, you're in a frustrated state with your manuscripts and want to give up. This is for you.
Tina,
You had a great story idea, wanting to share with readers about North Korean children who escape along the Asian Underground Railroad. You did lots of research and even interviewed two North Korean boys and several adults along with a pastor who helped with escapes. Remember, back in 2012 when you thought this could be a picture book story? You put your critique group through the wringer, revising and sending it to them over a two-year span, 16 drafts, until some of them said, it should be something bigger--a chapter book. Listen to your critique partners, especially, if they are wiser than you, in this publishing business!
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| The DMZ between North & South Korea |
But you didn't know how to write a chapter book or middle grade novel. But I'm glad you didn't let that get you down. You sought help. Thankfully, a writing mentor, Nancy I. Sanders, had a self-paced class on writing chapter books & MG novels in one month. While you homeschooled your two children in Korea, you applied what you learned and transformed this picture book story into a middle grade novel. You sent it out to some beta readers and revised 4x accordingly. Then, you were bold to take a chance on sending it to a contest! The Scholastic Asia Book Award at Singapore's Asian Festival of Children's Content. What a surprise when it was shortlisted! At this time, you were teaching at an international school in Uijongbu (S.Korea) & flew to Singapore. Your novel, titled Chasing Freedom: The Asian Underground Railroad won 1st Runner Up (2nd place)! And Leonard Marcus, the American picture book historian, author, & critic, was one of the judges! Scholastic Asia wanted to publish it. But in consulting other professionals, you decided to wait.
In 2016, you signed with an agent. Adria Goetz revised the novel with you, sent it out, and it received 11 rejections. You were wondering if it'd ever be published in the U.S. Listen to the editorial rejection comments. They might give clues how to fix the story. In July 2018, based on an editor's comments, Adria asked you to rewrite it as a novel-in-verse. But once again, you didn't know how to write a novel-in-verse. You were proactive and learned. You didn't let being overseas and not having access to an English library distress you. You took advantage of SCBWI novel-in-verse webinars. When you visited family in the states in summer, you read as many verse novels as you could. And you rewrote. Again. and Again. Adria even asked you to change the title (since there was another book by the former title). So you worked on The Tune Without Words until March 2019 when you hit a brick wall. Or maybe that brick wall should be the Korean mountains. Whatever it was, you got stuck. Afraid. Self-doubt. Who were you to be writing IN VERSE? You weren't even a poet. And you quit. There was silence between you and your agent. You quit revising. Adria heard nothing. And 5000 miles between Seoul and Seattle, she felt something was amiss. So she CALLED you!
.JPG "Tina with agent Adria Goetz") |
| Tina with her agent, Adria Goetz |
You remember sitting on your bed, listening to her pep talk, her encouraging words. And you picked your pen back up and got to work. Everyone needs an encouraging agent! You did 5 revisions as a novel-in-verse. And then...
Five months later you received the contract. More rounds of revisions with your editor. The book was to publish in 2022.
On June 19, 2019, an email arrived from editor Carolina Oritz of Harper Alley, Harper Collins new graphic novel imprint. Would you be interested in turning this into a graphic novel? You were amazed and flabbergasted. You had never read a graphic novel before. Would you be up to it? Carolina had the perfect illustrator, a Korean American, living in CA at the time who drew comics. You were flexible. You considered something outside your comfort zone. You went to the library and checked out Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust. It was lovely! And beautiful! Nothing like comics from the Sunday newspapers you read growing up. After seeing a sample sketch of one of your novel-in-verse poems, you fell in love.
However, illustrating a graphic novel takes a LONG, LONG time. More time was needed. More revisions. How about another title change? So the third and final title is The Other Side of Tomorrow. To publish November 12, 2024, about 12 years from the date you first interviewed those two North Korean boys.
What did you learn? Never give up on your manuscript. You might need to find the right format in telling your story. Listen to your critique partners, agent, editor. Be open to change. Be flexible. When you don't know, find out. Take classes. Go to the library and study books.
Because in the end, you now have a shiny work of art that has garnered 4 starred reviews (Kirkus, SLJ, PW, Booklist) is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, with a French edition coming in March 2025, and many other great things that are still secret...
*Starred review from Kirkus: Told from their alternating perspectives in welcoming, conversational verse, Yunho’s and Myunghee’s suspenseful, harrowing journeys provide readers with a realistic and devastating portrayal of life under one of the most oppressive regimes in the world.
*Starred review from ALA Booklist: Yes, Cho’s graphic novel in verse is an extraordinary dual-voiced narrative, but what makes this title unforgettable is phenomenal, Ignatz-winning artist Lee’s (In Limbo, 2023) breathtaking artwork...masterpiece.
*Starred review from School Library Journal: Cho’s vibrant, elegant writing style beautifully captures the pain, fear, courage, and resilience of the characters featured in this text. Lee’s illustrations greatly enhance the text’s mood and capture both the courageous adventure of a lifetime and the spirit of a community willing to risk their lives to give those seeking freedom a fighting chance.VERDICT This gut-wrenching story of hope and resilience needs to find its way to all readers’ hands.
*Starred review from Publisher's Weekly: This gripping graphic novel by Cho (God’s Little Astronomer) and Lee (In Limbo) about childhood under dictator Kim Jong Un balances horror and wonder in both its poetic language and vibrant imagery. Lee’s dynamic Procreate illustrations emphasize light and shadow to brilliantly illuminate the tweens’ harrowing situations in this intimate, cohesive collaboration.
Please read The Other Side of Tomorrow, leave a review, and request it at your library. For more information about the story, read this post on Harper Stacks which I wrote! And check out the Educator's Guide I wrote. Thank you!
How did I celebrate the book birthday? At school til 8pm for parent teacher conferences! Thank you, everyone, for cheering this book on!
Today we welcome a new face to the Grog Blog--Deb JJ Lee. Deb is the illustrator for our middle grade graphic novel debuting November 12th from Harper Alley, The Other Side of Tomorrow. Each spread is a work of art! That's why the reviewer from ALA Booklist gave it a star and said, "Yes, Cho’s graphic novel in verse is an extraordinary dual-voiced narrative, but what makes this title unforgettable is phenomenal, Ignatz-winning artist Lee’s (In Limbo, 2023) breathtaking artwork."
This interview is part 1 in sharing about The Other Side of
Tomorrow. This graphic novel is about two North Korean kids who escape
along the Asian Underground Railroad to freedom. I thought it would be fun to
interview Deb.
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| 4 starred reviews so far! |
Hi! I’m Deb. I’m a trans nonbinary Korean-American illustrator based in Brooklyn NY. I’m most well-known for my intricate illustrations and my graphic memoir titled IN LIMBO (2023), which have won and been nominated by multiple awards, including the APALA honor, Eisner (nominated), Harvey (nominated) and Ignatz (winner).
2.
What/who inspired you to be an illustrator? What steps did you take for your
career?
I always wanted to be an
illustrator, but never really took action on it until I was a senior in
undergrad late 2017. I’ve been drawing for about twenty years at this point,
but took a two year hiatus during school. The summer after my junior year I
purchased an iPad with the money I made from my tech internship and haven’t
stopped drawing since. Luckily I had a job lined up post-grad, so I spent my
senior year making my own illustration curriculum. I managed to be in the right
place at the right time when I got a literary agent and an illustration
internship at NPR the spring of my senior year.
3.
What made you want to take on this book project?
North Korea, Korean author, why
wouldn’t I? Harper Collins, I was at the beginning of my career! Ironically the
offer came in while I was in Seoul visiting family.
4.
Please share with readers how you created the illustrations. (tools/medium)
I
worked primarily in Procreate on my iPad!
5.
How long did it take to illustrate The Other Side of Tomorrow?
If we started in 2019, then it would have been five years. But one year was spent promoting and publicizing the book, and another 8-10 months or so was spent being at the ready for the manuscript and/or finishing my own graphic novel (IN LIMBO, 2023). So really, it took about 3 years to finish all the pages.
6.
How long does it take for one spread?
I would say about 20 hours per spread.
Which is crazy to think, because I could only realistically do 1.5 spreads (3
pages) a week to keep up with my other obligations to maintain an income!
Illustrating a comic is so intense, especially when you have to keep it up for
years at a time.
7.
What research did you have to do to illustrate this book?
I had to rely on Google and what I
could find on You Tube!
8. What is your favorite illustration/spread?
Probably the moment they’re escaping
the Chinese prison. I’m really happy with that color palette, as it is me
becoming comfortable working in a more desaturated scheme. Normally I tend to
rely on very bright colors, but here I didn’t even use those as accents. Since
then I’ve been working in those more muted tones even in my freelance
illustration work.
9.
What was most challenging for this book?
Honestly just getting through it. It was the same with IN LIMBO too. Drawing comics takes a while and it’s a commitment–you have to be the director, the character designer, the storyboarder, the renderer!
10. Was there anything surprising that came about during your process?
I was surprised that I can work with colors even in a graphic novel so consistently! A limited palette doesn’t come naturally to me at all, so I was apprehensive about how I can keep work in several colors in a way that is consistent through the book. But turns out, changing the palette throughout the story to depict night and day, calm and turbulence, comes in handy to subconsciously signal to readers what is going on.
11. What do you hope readers take away from reading and admiring this book?
Aside from how excruciating it is to escape the country and that everyone is legally bound to be against you, the biggest thing that I would want the audience to walk away with is how there are multiple ways to deal with trauma. Religion and spirituality are two comforting places to feel at home but there are other methods of coming to peace with the humanitarian horrors one would deal with in such a restrictive country.
12.
What advice do you have for writers? For illustrators?
Hmm as someone who’s done both, I always advocate for illustrators to be given as much time and money as they need to complete their projects. Especially through the AI age that we’ve entered, it’s crucial for editors and writers to know that art is hard physical labor! A paragraph that can be written in a few hours might take a whole working week to illustrate. Always communicate early on if time is more needed, and please be patient with us!
13.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on my own
picture books! They’re unannounced for now so you’ll have to keep an eye on
this space :)
Deb JJ Lee (they/them) is a trans nonbinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. They have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, NPR, Google, Radiolab, and more. They are known for their award-winning graphic memoir, In Limbo, about mental illness and difficult relationships with trauma. Their cat, Marlie, has three teeth.
by Fran Hodgkins
Everyone hopes to give their manuscript the best possible chance at being published. We check and doublecheck our grammar and spelling, search bookstores for comps, and scour the internet for agents or editors who might fall in love with our creations. Sometimes it can be stressful, and a lot of the time it can be discouraging. Perhaps you’ve thought, “If only I knew the right way to write.”
If only you had the magic formula. The “open sesame” that would unlock the door to your dreams.
But I will tell you a secret: there’s no one way to write. And because there’s no one way, that means there’s no right way.
Am I dismissing all the books about writing that are out there? Of course not. Not every book’s method will be a good fit for you. Writing is very individual, very personal. No two writers work exactly the same way because no two writers are identical.
What you need is to find what works for you.
For example, your writing environment can be a major factor.
· Some people prefer to work in silence, or as close as they can get to it. For these folks, the library and noise-cancelling headphones are great choices.
· Others prefer music, or just the normal sounds of life around them. Working at home may suit you, or writing in a café or coffee shop.
· Some people prefer to write alone, while others enjoy getting together either in person or online for a quiet group writing session.
How do you find out what works for you? Try them all! You may find that the library is too quiet, and the local coffee shop is a bit too loud. Maybe it’s not the place, but the time. I just Googled my local coffee shop and checked the “popular times” chart. It’s quite busy on Sundays between 10 and noon, but on Monday afternoons, it’s not too bad. So it might be worth checking out on those less-busy days.
For me, writing is best done at home. I’m fortunate enough to have an office (which right at this moment is also occupied by two cats and a dog). I can close the door to cut down interruptions, but everyone in the house is old enough to be busy doing their own thing without Mom to entertain them. And just in case things get noisy, I have noise-cancelling headphones.
“How much should I write every day?” writers ask. We’ve all heard the advice:
You must do morning pages.
You must carry a notebook at all times.
You must stay at the keyboard until you’ve written X number of words.
You must sit in front of your screen until X minutes or hours have passed.
Nonsense.
Each of these rules has those writers who adhere to it. Some swear by morning pages, which is fantastic. But what if you’re a single parent trying to get your kids out the door to school and then get to work? Not everyone’s life accommodates these rules. I used to write on the train, in longhand, going in to work; it was great. But what if I had been driving to work? Not so productive!
If you can write every day, great. If you can’t, don’t beat yourself up. But even if you can’t write five or seven days a week, do your best to make time for your writing. Maybe it will be just a paragraph or two before you fall asleep with a cat in your lap after a long day. Maybe it will be a chapter every time you escape to the library or coffee shop, or when you have a chance to have your home to yourself. (Note: When family members/roommates are absent, please please please don’t spend your time doing laundry or cleaning out the fridge! These opportunities are gifts and they must be seized!)
And guess what? Thinking counts! That time in the shower when you’re puzzling about the best name for your character, or the time standing in line at the DMV thinking about your main character’s favorite color — it all counts. Writing is as much an effort of the mind as it is an effort of the fingers tapping across the keyboard. And as a result, sometimes you may find that 500 or 1000 to 2000 word-goal that you had for your writing that day stays frustratingly out of reach. To me, that means that you need to do more thinking. Shut off the computer or close the notebook. Do something else – take the dog for a walk, dig in the garden, go food shopping. Try different things. Try different tools, environments, genres. Try getting up early or staying up late. You need to give your mind time to lay the groundwork while you explore. When the groundwork is ready, the words will come. And then you can decide on what goal works for you – the number of words, the number of hours. Because you will have found your own right way to write.
And don’t forget – have fun.
