A Moravian Moment

Congratulations to Heather! I'm so excited to celebrate the RITA nomination for The Clearing this week with another post about inspiring elders (and another chance to with the fabulous farmhouse prize pack Heather is giving away).

When I was in graduate school (studying Historic Preservation at Columbia University) one of our first year required classes as called Basic Principles of Traditional Construction. We studied things like brick recipes, house framing, and roofing techniques. The professor was a distinguished old (like 85-years-old old) Czech-born architect named Jan Pokorny. He wore a blazer and a bow tie every day and always showed up early for class.

I have a special connection to the Czech and Slovak people because my dad's theatre design mentor was also Czech. Actually, he was also Moravian, the area between the Czech republic and Slovakia. He once told my father that, when the country was still Czechoslovakia and they would play the national anthems at events, Moravia was the space between the two.

I really enjoyed that class because I love learning how things are built. I loved learning about the different kinds of siding used in Colonial housing and how to make different colored bricks by adding certain things to the recipe. The class also happened to be right after lunchtime, so I often got there early to eat lunch in my seat before the other students started showing up.

One day, Jan came in and started making notes on the board. Feeling a little awkward, I tried to make some small talk and asked him about being Moravian. When he saw that I knew what Moravia was, his eyes lit up. He asked if I was Moravian. I told him no, but that we had close family friends who were.

From that moment on I was his favorite student (well, it did help that I scored highest on the midterm test). He eventually made me T.A. for the class and was the faculty sponsor of our class trip to Prague before graduation.

Jan is no longer with us, but I can still picture his smiling round face, his quirky bow ties, and the neat and precise architectural drawings he used to make on the board. At 85 he still swam laps every day, still taught every semester, still designed and sat on committees and made a significant contribution to the world of historic preservation and the world in general. I am inspired to be as active as possible for as long as possible.

Okay, to enter today, comment with a favorite or inspiring teacher and why. Be sure to comment on all the other posts this week for more entries and check back on Sunday to find out if you've won!

Hugs,
TLC

teralynnchilds.com
@teralynnchilds

Confessions of a Confession Writer

In honor of its RITA® nomination, we are celebrating The Clearing by our own Heather Davis this week, with stories of elders who inspired us, with The Clearly Farmhouse Prize Pack (details listed in yesterday’s post) going to one lucky commenter!

I am delighted to talk about my maternal grandmother. She lived all of her 71 years in Moline, Illinois, and was lucky in love twice, first marrying a railroad worker (with whom she had two daughters--my aunt and my mother), and years later, following his death, a grocery store owner, a widower with four sons. Here she is around the time of her second wedding:


In her last years, she visited us in New York several times, bringing with her a stack of her favorite magazines. By 12 years-old, I was already reading my mother’s magazines like McCall’s and Ladies Home Journal. My eyes always went to the fiction, especially anything to do with romance, so when I got a look at what my grandmother was reading, I knew I'd hit pay dirt.

They were called Confession magazines, and while the titles were often sensational, the actual stories were mostly about love and self-discovery. Here’s a photo of a cover from back-when:


My mother did not approve of me reading these magazines, but my grandmother, bless her heart, slipped them to me secretly. I remember reading one issue in a walk-in closet with a flashlight!

Some years later, sadly, my grandmother passed away, and I went to Moline to help with the closing of her house. There I found a mountain of Confession magazines, which I poured over during the visit, and crammed into every available space in our suitcases. By then, my mother had given up keeping me from reading them. I was older, and I think she rather liked that her mother and her daughter had had this common obsession.

Little did any of us know that this would just be the beginning for me and Confession magazines. Because after college, looking to break into publishing, I decided to try my hand at writing them. I sold the second one I submitted, and at last count, I had about 80 publications to my name, many about first teen loves. Here’s a cover that features two stories I wrote: “Secret Love at a Summer Carnival” and “I Saved My Kisses for My Boyfriend’s Roommate.”


I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my grandmother for a) passing on the romance reading gene, and b) bypassing her daughter’s disapproval to feed my romance need and set me on track for the lifetime career that I love!

To be entered in the contest for The Clearing Farmhouse Prize Pack, please tell me the name of a magazine from around your house--or a friend’s or neighbor’s house--when you were a kid! And remember to check back on Sunday, June 19th to learn the winner!

Tina

Tina Ferraro
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
How to Hook a Hottie
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys
www.tinaferraro.com

The Clearing Giveaway Week!

So, you may have heard that my book The Clearing is nominated for the RITA award for Best YA Romance this year.  I couldn't be happier to see this little book get recognition from an organization I've been a part of for nearly a decade.  The ceremony will be in NYC on July 1st, and I'm already getting a little nervous. 

This week on BooksBoysBuzz, we're celebrating the nomination with stories about special elder people in our lives.  In The Clearing, Amy has moved in with her Aunt Mae in the country.  Aunt Mae's home is anything but glamorous -- it's a double-wide trailer.  The special part of Amy living there is the kindness that Aunt Mae shows her.  She tells Amy that she doesn't need a boy to tell her how special she is, that she should know that she is special already.   And then, of course, Amy meets Henry Briggs, the one boy who realizes how beautiful and amazing Amy really is.  The only problem is, of course, that he's living in the endless summer of 1944.

How did the character of Aunt Mae come to life?  I've always been close to the older people in my family.  From my grandmas to my great aunts, there were always elders who offered my father advice on raising us kids and shared their perspectives on life with us.  To date, all of my books have an older secondary character in them.  There's no way that's a coincidence!

 For those of you who haven't seen the field that inspired The Clearing, here it is in this photo from my old hometown in the North Cascades.  That's Rinker Ridge in the background, and the red barn belongs to my old neighbors, The Dellingers.  When the bad weather would come in, the barn would disappear in a curtain of mist.  One day I began to wonder if it was still there, if it really still existed when I couldn't see it, and what might be in its place if it didn't.  Pretty deep thoughts for me, right?  I imagined a family, trapped in the 1940's living behind that curtain of mist -- and Henry Briggs was born.  The Clearing ended up being the book of my heart.  It's so gratifying to get letters from readers who connected with Amy and her journey and wished for a Henry Briggs of their own. 

So, how about the giveaway?

Comment each day to be entered to win The Clearing Farmhouse Prize Pack:

Signed Copy of The Clearing
Assorted Fine Teas
Briggs Family Biscuit Recipe
Biscuit Cutters
Cool Fortune-Tellers Tea Cup

We'll draw a winner on Sunday, June 19th from all the daily comments.  US and Canada winners only.  No purchase necessary to win, of course!

Today's question:

Who has been the most influential older person in your life so far?

 Good luck!

Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
The Clearing - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Wherever You Go - Harcourt (Nov. 2011)
Sometimes by Moonlight: A Novella - eBook
Never Cry Werewolf - HarperTeen

YA Romances, How We Adore Thee

You might have already heard but if not, it's my great pleasure to announce that our own Buzz Girl Heather Davis's The Clearing has been nominated for the prestigious RITA award which is given by the Romance Writers of America at their national conference each summer. (Read Donna's post below for more info.) This is an epic accomplishment and we'll be celebrating all week long right here.

Since The Clearing is a YA romance (and if you haven't read it yet, you're in for a treat once you do) I thought I'd talk about what we all love about YA romances, whether realistic or paranoramal or sci fi or whatever you like to read.

Here's what my agent, Christina Hogrebe, has to say about what makes YA romance so fun to read: "[It captures the] intense feelings of awkwardness that surround all of the firsts. ... It's messy and embarrassing and scary and irrisistible."

I couldn't have said it better myself. I adore a story where awkwardness reigns, and where there's an exciting mystique to the beautiful ordeal of falling in love. Where the ending of the emotional trip isn't necessarily a wedding or even a desire to get married (as it oftentimes is in "adult" romances), but a new level of understanding and self-acceptance--a golden piece of the puzzle of life.

Here are some quotes I found that nicely portray teen love:

"Once in a while, right in the middle of ordinary life, love gives us a fairytale." ~ Author unknown

"There is a time for risky love. There is a time for extravagant gestures. There is a time to pour out your affections on one you love. And when the time comes, seize it, don't miss it." ~ Max Lucado

What do YOU like most about YA romances in general and the romance in The Clearing in particular?

And the Suddenly Summer Giveaway Winner is...

Thanks to everyone who commented to win a signed copy of my book, The Clearing, this week!

I'm so happy everyone has something to celebrate and touched by the intensity and diversity of all those things that are happening in your lives! Wow - big beginnings and endings..!




Ok.... so the random winner this time around is:



lostinbelieving



I'll be in touch soon, lost, to get your mailing deets. Off to finish revisions on the new book. Hope you're all enjoying the summer!



hugs,



Heather
http://www.heatherdavisbooks.com/

Suddenly Summer Giveaway!

It's suddenly summer! Finally the temperature will be almost 90 in the Seattle area. It's time to get out the flip-flops, slather on sunscreen, and... edit my new book.

Yep, although the weather is great, I've been inside revising my draft of Wherever You Go, my new book for Harcourt for fall 2011.

It's a book packed with characters in transition - a ghost boy, a girl caring for her grandfather with Alzheimer's, a guy who's lost his very best friend on the planet. As I'm writing this book, I've been working with the idea that guys are very emotional; they're just not encouraged to show that side of themselves. The loss and love they feel is no smaller than anything women experience. The hurt and the joy can be just as big as anything we go through.

I'm in the home stretch, which is so great to report. And there was no bigger satisfaction than to write "The End" on the last page of the draft - especially with my awesome bf across from me at the coffee shop during my writing fest.

THE SUDDENLY SUMMER GIVEAWAY!

To celebrate the beginnning of summer and the approaching end of this revising round one - I'd like to giveway a signed copy of The Clearing - my first book for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

To enter, comment about something worth celebrating - an end or a beginning - and I'll choose a winner Sunday 7/11.

Until then, enjoy the sun!

Heather
http://www.heatherdavisbooks.com/
Wherever You Go - Fall 2011 Harcourt
The Clearing - April 2010 HMH
Never Cry Werewolf - 09/2009 Harperteen

The Winners!

We have had a super fun week talking about time travel fantasies in celebration of the release of The Clearing.

Now it is time to announce the winners of a signed copy!

Tetewa
(Please e-mail your contact information to heather@heatherdavisbooks.com.)

Elizabeth Briggs
(Please e-mail your contact information to heather@heatherdavisbooks.com as well as to tlc@teralynnchilds.com to let her know if you want a signed copy of Oh.My.Gods or Goddess Boot Camp).

Jessy
(Please e-mail your contact information to heather@heatherdavisbooks.com as well as to marley_gibson AT yahoo DOT com and let her know if you want a signed copy of Ghost Huntress: The Guidance or Christmas Miracles).

GirlforChrist
(Please e-mail your contact information to heather@heatherdavisbooks.com.)

Samantha R.
(Please e-mail your contact information to heather@heatherdavisbooks.com as well as to stephanie@stephaniehale.com for a signed copy of The Alpha Bet.)

Jessica Rabbit
(Please e-mail your contact information to heather@heatherdavisbooks.com.)

Congrats to the winners...and to those of you who entered my contest two weeks ago called “How to Encourage an Author,” check back tomorrow for two more winners’ names!

Time Travel: Changing History

I just want to say how proud I am of Heather for her new book THE CLEARING. It's on order for me and I can't wait to sink my teeth into it.

Time travel has always fascinated me. I love movies with it (hello...SOMEWHERE IN TIME) and action sequences (STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME) and just the idea of it in general. Particularly...I wonder, if I went back in time and did even the slightest thing...would I alter history? Would I change my own existence?

Like...what if you went back in time and stopped Eve from eating the apple from the snake. What then?



What if you went back in time and warned the Titanic captain not to speed up and that there were iceburgs up ahead?



What if you went back in time and told Abraham Lincoln not to go to the theatre that night?



What if you went back in time and killed Hitler before he came to power?



(UGH...hate even putting that man's picture on the block. He still creeps me out!)

What if you went back in time and warned JFK not to ride in an open convertible through downtown Dallas?



Or happier things...like...

What if you went back in time and bet on the 1986 World Series outcome or told poor Bill Buckner to actually field ball?



What if you went back in time and invested all of your money into Microsoft before it took off to be the company it is today?



What if you went back in time and met your own parent in a freak car accident that caused them to not ask your future parent to the school dance? (LOL...I love BACK TO THE FUTURE.)



They say everything happens for a reason and, say, if you killed Hitler, then there would just have been another person like him to come along and maybe cause even worse events in history. It's that whole space/time continuum that the science fiction movies are so good at portraying.

Contest

Now, for your chance to win a copy of Heather's new release, The Clearing, and a copy of GHOST HUNTRESS: THE GUIDANCE or my CHRISTMAS MIRACLES book, and to clock another 50 cent donation from Heather to Teen Feed, then comment with your answer to this question:

If you could time travel to another time and alter an historical event, what would it be and why?

Hugs,
Marley = )

Ghosts don't hang up their sheets on November 1st

GHOST HUNTRESS: THE REASON - on sale now!

Time Travel: Ancient Greece

The celebration of Heather's latest release, The Clearing, continues. Today it's my turn to answer the question: If I could time travel anywhere, when and where would I go?

Now, as a history junkie, this is a tough question. I mean, I'm fascinated by Regency England and Renaissance Italy and Revolutionary France. I want to know what Manhattan looked like before Europeans moved in and how Vikings really lived. To narrow it down to just one place and just one time... that's hard! I'll have to go with one of the places closest to my heart:

Ancient Greece

I have always been fascinated by ancient cultures, and Greek is top of the list. I would love to go back and visit the Parthenon while it was still in pristine original condition. To walk into a temple or an agora or a gymnasium or even a common residential house.

I would love to see the source of the Western theatre tradition, the roots of the all classical drama and production, the plays that are still relevant and still produced today. I would love to attend a play at a Dionysian festival in one of the massive amphiteaters, like this one at Epidaurus.

I would love to see how the people lived, from the very rich to the very poor. To learn, firsthand, how the myths of their religion wove into everyday life. I would love to watch the armies from two opposing city-states clash on the field of battle.

I'm sure that the ancient world had it's downfalls (hygiene, slavery, disease, war, poverty), but if I knew I could return home a the flick of the time travel switch, that's definitely when I would want to visit for a few days.

Contest

Now, for your chance to win a copy of Heather's new release, The Clearing (which is getting fabulous reviews, by the way), and a copy of either Oh. My. Gods. or Goddess Boot Camp, and to clock another 50 cent donation from Heather to Teen Feed, then comment with your answer to this question:

If you could time travel back to the ancient world, which ancient culture would you visit?

(And it doesn't just have to be a western culture, like Greece or Rome. Think globally, like pre-Columbian Mexico, Han dynasty China, or Berber Morocco.)

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS. and GODDESS BOOT CAMP (out now)
FORGIVE MY FINS (coming June 1, 2010)

Time Travel: Where To Go?

The newest release from Heather Davis, The Clearing, hits shelves on April 12, and in celebration, the Buzz Girls are answering the question of where we’d love to time travel!

My (perhaps surprising) answer follows, but first, I want to put on an administrative hat and tell our readers that:

--one signed copy will be given away each day this week, so please keep dropping by and commenting;

--Heather will be making a 50 cent donation to the Teen Feed charity for each unique comment left this week, so not only will comments lead to entering the contest, but helping feed homeless teens;

--I will be posting the 6 winners of her signed books next Sunday, April 19;

and

--I'm postponing announcement of the winner of my "How to Encourage an Author" contest until next Monday, April 20 because I basically I wrote myself into a corner and had to back up and start again. So for those of who have yet to enter, there’s still time.

Okay now, back to the fun!

If I could time travel anywhere, would I go?

Well, starting with the fact I’d like to limit my time travel to short vacation, and to shave a bunch of years off my age so that I’d wouldn’t look like somebody’s mom?

It would be Hamburg, Germany, in the early 1960’s, in a club called the Kaiserkeller, when The Beatles were featured performers.


I’ve read several nonfiction accounts of the early Beatles days, of their trials and tribulations and various member changes, and have seen the movie, Backbeat, a couple of times, and just would love to experience the youthful energy and craziness that spurred what is (arguably but commonly) known as the greatest rock band of all times. And how much fun would it be to Twist and Shout with them while they were still trying out their sounds and materials?

So...keeping to the rock and roll theme to my time travel fantasy, is there a time and place--maybe a concert--from one of your favorite bands that you wish you could go experience?

Tina

Tina Ferraro
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, 2010 Rita® Finalist
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita® Finalist
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

Special Announcement: Release Week for The Clearing April 12-17th

Monday, April 12th, 2010 is the actual Release Day for my second novel for teen readers, The Clearing.

This book is a time-travel, paranormal YA romance published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It's the story of Amy, a girl who moves out to the country to recover from an abusive relationship. All she's looking for is some peace at her aunt's farm, but in a misty field at the back of the property, she finds Henry, a boy living in the endless summer of 1944, staving off a tragedy that could rip his family apart. Both teens must gain the courage to face what is meant to be, even if it means losing each other forever.

Here at Booksboysbuzz.com, in celebration of Release Week, from Monday through Saturday we will be posting stories about where we'd would like to travel in time.

You can enter to win a signed copy of The Clearing each day, simply by responding to the post in comments. At the end of the week, we'll draw a winner from each day's commenters!

AND...

Because so many teens don't have a place to go to recover from abuse like Amy, I will also be making a donation to Teen Feed in honor of The Clearing's release. Teen Feed is a wonderful organization in my city that serves homeless teens hot meals and helps them find the resources to get identification and counseling that will lead to employment, housing, and a new life. I will donate 50 cents for each unique commenter during the release week, up to $250.

SO... please spread the word about Release Week for The Clearing and help me support teens who need safety from the streets and a life free of the emotional and physical abuse they've faced at home.

Love & Light,

Heather

www.heatherdavisbooks.com

The Clearing - April 12, 2010 HMH

Never Cry Werewolf - Out now from HarperTeen

It's Almost Here!

^{It's been a busy week as I gear up for the release of The Clearing next Monday.}

^{The funny thing with this book, as opposed to Never Cry Werewolf, is that the publisher shipped the book early – so it’s in stores already and available at Amazon. On release day for Werewolf, I had to persuade the bookseller at B & N to look in the back for the unopened box of books. This release day, my book will already be on shelves.}

It was super excited to see the book for real. Here’s a picture of my mom by my two novels at my local indie store, Queen Anne Books, which is hosting my launch party on April 16th. It was really cool to see The Clearing on the table with Werewolf. I feel so lucky to have two books out there in the world. In fact, I still can’t believe it.

When I first had the idea for The Clearing, I was living in a mountain town of four hundred people. The mist in the field next door to our property was where the book began. Some days the mist was so thick the big red barn at the end of the field would nearly disappear. And then one day, Henry Briggs came walking out, a boy locked in an endless summer. It was several years before I wrote the book, but the genesis was right there in that field.

The official date of the release is Monday, April 12th. So, in honor of the release – we will be having a special giveaway week. Check back in on Sunday for details…

So, I’m wondering if you guys think it makes a difference whether or not a release day is a firm date or not. In some ways I’m glad the book is shipping, but on the other hand, I wonder how it affects the buzz for the book. What do you guys think?

Hugs,

Heather

^{www.heatherdavisbooks.com}

Never Cry Werewolf – HarperTeen

The Clearing – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Wherever You Go – Fall 2011 Harcourt