http://www.examiner.com/review/vampires-for-young-people
Check out a review of my Gappy vampire series for younger readers, by Victoria Wagner Ross:
http://www.examiner.com/review/vampires-for-young-people I write where the mood takes me. I know some authors have a set or favorite place where all their writing takes place, e.g. a cozy corner of their house where their computer is set up and they can take breaks to look out of the window, or get a cup of coffee. They are more disciplined than I am. I don’t have a set place. I actually renovated a room in my house as a library, with built-in wooden bookshelves and a corner nook for my desk and computer in front of a window where I can look out onto the cemetery opposite. The cemetary has a pond in front of a really cool stone-arched chapel my grandkids call “the Castle” because that's what it looks like. See the illustration from Book 4, Gappy and the Thieves. The library was meant to be my writing place. I spent so much money on it, and it’s perfect. It’s even got a fireplace. The problem is, I seldom feel like writing there unless it’s a miserable day outside and the warm reddish wood glowing in the light of my fake gas fireplace is calling to me. Maybe this is the reason I sometimes take my computer to a little artsy coffee shop. Or sunk into a comfy couch at Starbucks or Panera’s, enveloped, I go where the mood takes me. My issue is sunlight, or indeed any bright light. I can’t get enough light, and I write much better with light. In fact one of my favorite writing places is the parking lot of a park called Frear Park, which is just down the road from my house. When I was writing Book 6, Gappy and the Witch's Curse, I found that I really enjoyed coming home from work and parking in the parking lot at Frear Park by the tennis courts. I would write for hours, longhand, looking out onto a wide expanse of green grass peopled with the occasional kids playing a pickup game of softball, or a Dad flying a kite with his young son. I suspect that as I work on Book 7, or, rather, Book 1 of the Teen Vampire Adventures, which I think might be titled Gappy in Disquise, I'll be spending a good part of my after-work hours sitting in Frear Park.
Well, the festival didn't start off too well, but it ended up being great. The night before the festival, the organizers called and told me that there was a problem. They were opening all the boxes of authors' books which had been ordered for the festival, and mine were missing. They asked me I had some books I could bring. Luckily, I did have all the titles on hand, so catastrophe was averted. However, the next morning, when my husband and I were loading the car with books, posters, graveyard dirt and rattlesnake juice, I bent over to get something out of the trunk and bam, my back went out. I immediately straightened before it could get too bad, but it was still pretty bad. I'd hurt my back doing the same kind of bending motion the week before and that had been much worse. I took painkillers, gritted my teeth, and prepared to endure the day. When we got to the Academy for Girls, we met Greg Maguire, the author of Wicked. He was there early to sign books and was giving a presentation before the festival opened. I had bought tickets for hubby and I, which included a continental breakfast, but we were so busy getting our table just right in the next building, putting postits with stickers of prices in the backs of the books, arranging posters and Gappy's snack for people to share, that we didn't have time to attend the presentation. This is what our table looked like. A bit blurry, but not bad for a phone camera. At 10:00 a.m. the doors opened and the festival began. Some kids looked dubiously at the graveyard dirt and rattlesnake juice but all in all, they were a big hit. Luckily no one spilled any on the books. We had our laptop playing the illustration video on a continuous loop and people would stop to look at it. Early in the day, a woman came by our table, saw the Gappy books and said she would buy all six titles. She didn't even read the backs of the books. A total of 1200 people attended the festival and we sold lots of books. I was actually glad that the bookstore had screwed up our book order because we had brought enough books with us, whereas some of the authors, whose books the festival organizers had ordered for the event, ran out of books. Lunch was laid on for the authors in a private room, and afterwards, we had a dessert party, or rather, a cake party, i.e. cup- cakes and slices of cake. The organizers made all the authors feel special and it was a very nice atmosphere. It was fun meeting the other authors and hearing about their books and the other festivals that they attended. There seem to be a few around this area, so I'll be researching those for next year. I did a reading towards the end of the day, reading some paragraphs from books 1, A Surprise for Gappy, and 3, Gappy is Kidnapped. Next time, I would like to do a reading earlier in the day because the crowd was thinning out a bit by then. However, a little group of teenage girls came to listen and asked questions and were interested in hearing about Gappy's adventures. They discussed what power they would choose if they could have a magical power and liked the picture from Book 3, where the camp counselor has his arm stuck in the wall. In the room next door was another author who had written a book called Poopendous. I don't know what it was about, but I would guess it might be about stupendous poop. My apologies if that is not the case. All in all it was a good day, and I look forward to doing it next year.
Been busy on the computer the past few days, making posters for the 4th Annual Albany Children's Book Festival. Got some tips from my artistic ex-trade show designer, mother. We can take as many posters as we like because the organizers want to dot them around the room to make it look as festive and jolly as possible. (Do people even say "jolly" anymore? Maybe in England.) I decided on two custom made posters, and three book cover posters, plus a banner for my display table. Graveyard dirt and rattlesnake juice will also be on offer at my (Gappy's) table for people to try. Wonder if I'll be the only author offering gross-soundingsnacks - we'll see.
Coming up on Saturday, April 28th, is the Fourth Annual Children's Book Festival at the Albany Academy for Girls Silipigno Athletic Facility, 140 Academy Road, Albany, NY. Directions can be found atwww.albanyacademies.org. The Festival begins at 10:00 a.m., but one can sign up to attend a breakfast panel discussion beforehand. The keynote speaker will be Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked. I'm excited to be one of the authors and illustrators who will be doing readings and presentations throughout the day and manning tables with displays of their books for sale. The Tulip Queen will be there, and there'll be a storybook character parade for the kids. Should be a fun time. oh and with good food too. Even without participating, I'd look forward to a whole day of being immersed in one of my favorite pasttimes - children's literature. Here's a link to the website, so you can read all about it: http://www.albanychildrensbookfestival.com/#!
Here's the video of my bookstore event. My videographer friend, Bob Shenise, did a great job, and it's true - I do write a lot in my car. Used to be longhand in my trusty exercise book, but I got a laptop for Christmas so I'm looking forward to using it . . . in my car. Don't worry, I only write when I'm stationary with the engine turned off. Star Bookstore event went off well yesterday at Good Buy Books. The kids and I had a great time. We read some chapters from book 1, A Surprise for Gappy, and on learning about the secret world of modern-day vampires that co-exist with regular humans - regs - and that children can inherit the vampire gene from their parents, one of the kids turned to his dad and asked him hopefully, "Dad, are you a vampire?" then was disappointed when his dad said no. We also talked about bullies at school, which Gappy faces, and discussed what secret powers we would like to have. My friend, Bob Shenise, came with his video camera and did some filming, interviews, and still shots, which I look forward to posting. Picked up some contacts from the bookstore owner Lynne for the local library and another private bookstore in Stuyvesant Plaza. Very grateful to my choir friend, Doris, for helping bring this author event to fruition. All in all, a good day.
Here's me making pounds of Graveyard Dirt, Gappy's favorite snack, for my bookstore event tomorrow. Good Buy Books, 330 Columbia Turnpike, East Greenbush, NY from 10-11 a.m.
Yours truly will be at Good Buy Books, 330 Columbia Turnpike, East Greenbush, NY on Saturday, March 24th from 10-11 a.m. I'll be reading selections from my first book, A Surprise for Gappy, and chatting about the Young Vampire Adventures. Kids can even try one of Gappy's favorite snacks - graveyard dirt. Yummy!
I just started Book 7. It's either going to be called Gappy Goes Undercover, Gappy the Spy, or Gappy in Disguise. A few days ago, I sat down and wrote the outline. I had a vague idea what it was going to be about, and more ideas began flowing as soon as I started typing. I left it alone overnight and started writing the book the next day. Whenever I start a new book, it can take me hours to write the first few pages, especially if it's been a few months since I last wrote. First of all, it takes me hours of messing about and procrastinating and letting myself get sidetracked before I actually start. I don't stress too much about how it should start. There'll be plenty of time once the book's written to go back and see how it should start, but maybe it's something to do with fear of failure - that I won't be able to write as well this time, or I'm going to have writer's block, or . . . I don't know, but that first day is the worst of the whole book-writing period. Once I've written a few pages, I will start to get on a roll. Then when I leave off, I can just continue on from where I left off, unless something happens, like in Book 3, Gappy is Kidnapped, when the last third was calling to me so strongly, I absolutely had to get it out the way before I could go back and start at the beginning.
|
AuthorStar Donovan, author of the exciting Young Vampire Adventures, a series of books about a normal boy named Gappy, who gets the shock of his life when he learns that he is turning into a vampire and then proceeds to hurtle from one dangerous adventure to another. Gappy makes it to TV!!
Archives
August 2017
Categories
All
|