Banned Books Month: When Rape Becomes a Bad Word

In addition to being a YA author, I’m also a librarian in a public high school. In that role I have carefully taped back together multiple much-loved copies of SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. When a copy is so tattered that it can’t remain in circulation anymore, I toss it out on our plentiful Free Books table, and it quickly, quietly disappears despite its ragged condition. In my tiny high school that graduates under 100 students each year, we have 10 copies of SPEAK. Yet we can’t keep it on the shelves.

This is not only because it circulates widely, but also because I unfailingly have a few “walk away” from the library without being checked out. And I don’t mind. If a kid needs to read a book about rape but is too embarrassed to come up to the desk with it, I understand. I’ll buy another one.

But the fact that they don’t feel like they should be reading it, or even worse – that they’re ashamed to be reading it – bothers me greatly. In a sense, it’s directly in opposition to what the book is about. These girls (and boys!) shouldn’t feel awkward about wanting or needing to read an important book about a social condition. If it were about starvation, shop-lifting, or drinking, they wouldn’t respond in this way.

Katherine Tegan Books, September 2013.

Sadly, they’ve been taught that rape is a bad word. When they come up to the desk asking for books on the topic, they drop their voices, blush, whisper, or even talk around the word because it’s too difficult for them to pronounce the one simple syllable. SPEAK is about exactly the opposite – they should be able to say it, loudly and confidently, accusingly or sobbing, in whatever way they can squeeze it past their throats. It needs to be said.

Despite being banned in some places, SPEAK continues to be a cornerstone in my library, and many others. I always take the opportunity to tell the kid on the other side of the desk when they’re stumbling through their request that it’s OK – you can say it.

And if that means something to them on multiple levels, SPEAK just opened up the conversation.

Authors Are Rockstars

Mindy McGinnis didn't hold back in her YA Debut novel, Not A Drop To Drink. She didn't shy away from the cruelty her characters' faced and I LOVED that about her book! She wasn't afraid to "go there."  Mindy is a fearless ROCKSTAR.

We are so excited to have Mindy on the blog today as part of the Authors ARE Rock Stars blog tour!! She was gracious enough to answer a few of our questions =) Take a look!

Favorite book when you were a child:

That's a tough one. I'm going to go with A WRINKLE IN TIME. Although, if I may fudge the question a little, my favorite book from that *series* is A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET.  I think I read those books at least four times apiece.

What do you like to do when you’re not working/writing?

I'm an outdoorsy girl, and an athlete. So if the weather is good you can find me in the woods, the garden, the softball diamond or the pool. If the weather is bad I'll be reading.

Do you have any unique hobbies or talents?

I'm a knitter. And because of this I've learned that I have really acidic sweat and / or skin. Whenever I use a crochet needle, a stitching needle, or a knitting needle I rub the enamel off in fairly short order and am down to the actual metal. I don't really know that this is useful information, or even considered a talent. Also I have very fat thumb pads.

Your top five authors:

      1.Stephen King

      2.Diana Gabaldon

      3. George RR Martin

      4. Chuck Palahniuk

      5. Donald Ray Pollock

Favorite line/quote from a book:

"Wild nights are my glory." - A Wrinkle in Time

What was the hardest part of writing Not A Drop To Drink?

Honestly the book pretty much fell out of my head, which I realize is an attractive visual. It was a breeze to write. I really can't complain on this one!

What was your favorite chapter to write and why?

Any time the character of Stebbs has a monologue or trades barbs with Lynn was fun to write. He was the easiest character in the world, because he produced natural dialogue all by himself and the other characters *wanted* to interact with him. 

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don't be so confident. Do your homework. Realize you're not done when you type THE END.

What can we expect from you in the future? 

I'm calling for a nervous breakdown in 5 to 10 years.

Amaterasu Reads: Interview with Mindy McGinnis

Where did you get the idea for writing Not a Drop to Drink? I've read in your bio that you have a pond in your backyard. Was it because of that?

The inspiration for NOT A DROP TO DRINK actually came from a dream I had, although the pond played a part. I watched a documentary called Blue Gold, which is about the shortage of water on our planet. That night I dreamt I was teaching a small child to operate a rifle, so that she could help me defend the pond. When I woke up I thought, OK - I just wrote a book in my head.

Of all the elements to remove for a post apocalyptic setting, why the absence of fresh water?

Again, the documentary played a big part. It's really a horribly frightening premise. Water is something we all need to survive - every single one of us. And we can't make it. Sure, we can desalinate, but that takes a lot of energy and money. And what about people nowhere near the sea? Rain can only go so far...

Lynn sounds like a fierce character, one who can survive on her own without anyone's help. Was her character patterned from/molded to resemble/influenced by a real person?

No, not really. She's just a prototype of one way you could choose to live in order to survive. Killing is all she knows. The idea of mercy is not in her worldview at the beginning of the book. While I can say that the character isn't based on any person, she is in some ways patterned after the little girl I dreamt about. I had to ask - what kind of adult would this child grow up to be if she's killing so young in order to survive? The answer I came up with was Lynn.

If you were Lynn and you have one of the few ponds left with freshwater, how would you defend it? Would you rather share it or save it for yourself?

Tough question. Let's go ahead and assume I'm willing to kill to survive. Deep down I think we all are perfectly capable of killing someone else in order to ensure our own survival. If it came down to it, are we moral people or are we base animals? I'm not sure, and a lot of DRINK is about trying to figure that out. 

Are there any particular challenges you encountered while writing Not a Drop to Drink? How did you tackle that?

Not really. This book completely fell out of my head. I honestly wasn't writing so much as just dictating what my brain had to say.

Why dystopia? What is it about dystopia that you like? 

Technically, DRINK is not dystopian. There is not over-arching society or rage against the machine involved here. DRINK is survival at its most basic. You need water. You have water. What will you do to keep it?

What I like about it is how it cuts right to the chase. There's no questions about who likes who, or what to wear, or how your hair looks today. The question is - will you kill someone in order to live through the day? That tells you a lot more about someone's character than what label they're wearing.

A short message for the readers, please?

It's perfectly acceptable to read DRINK for a romp, an adventure about living one more day just to face hardship the next. But it's also a novel about the human condition, who we all truly are when it comes down to it. So I'd like people to read it with that in mind.

On the Trail with Author Mindy McGinnis

BC:  Hi Mindy! Before we jump into yipping about your shiny new book with the stunningly beautiful cover, can you give us the skinny on where we’d be hiking if I actually had the cashola to fly out and conduct this interview in person?

MM: We’d be going for a walk in my parents’ woods in Ohio. I pretty much grew up under the canopy there. The second I was off the school bus I headed for the woods and stayed until Mom called me for supper. I built a little shelter, played “survival games” and everything. My little makeshift home is completely gone now, but I returned to the spot to film some of the footage for the trailer of NOT A DROP TO DRINK (coming soon), so there was a nice full circle thing going on there.

BC: I love the premise of your book. Talk about high stakes! Just reading the bio makes my throat feel all dry and parchy. Did you get thirsty writing it?

MM: No, because my dirty secret is that I have a backyard pond. I’ve got no worries. 

BC: Let’s talk marketing and promotion – something I haven’t covered before in my author interviews. So much goes into launching a new title, both from the publisher’s perspective and the author’s. The paradigm is shifting, and now so much of the responsibility rests on the author’s shoulders. Can you help us understand what your publisher provides, and what is expected of you, the author?

MM: That’s a tough one because it’s different for everyone. What the publisher provides is different from house to house, sometimes even imprint to imprint. And through talking to my fellow debut authors it’s clear that everyone handles their relationship differently.

In my own case, I’m a go-getter. I started my blog (thanks for the shout-out!) as soon as I was agented by Adriann Ranta, then followed up with a Facebook page and a Twitter account when NOT A DROP TO DRINK was sold. Recently I jumped into Tumblr (although I’m still a noob there). I have a G+ account as well, and participate in Circles there. I actually like G+ a lot and wish more people were active there.

Beyond social media, I printed up my own swag – bookmarks, water bottle stickers – and promotional postcards to send to libraries and bookstores. I also printed up little tent cards with a brief bio of myself on one side and the book on the other, for shelf displays in bookstores and libraries. As a librarian, I know sometimes you want to showcase certain books and you’re like… but what do I DO?!??! Answer: Tent cards.

So that’s my end. On the publisher’s end I’ve been fantastically blessed with an imprint that is backing me tremendously. They’ve implemented a Goodreads giveaway (20 copies of NOT A DROP TO DRINK available) ARC mailings and e-ARC availability for reviewers and librarians, plus I’ll be on the Fall leg of the Dark Days tour (dates and locations to come).

There’s also a lot of what’s called “invisible marketing” at work – title placement in bookstores, word of mouth among the industry and buzz that’s created by people in your publishing house talking up your book. Yes, we as authors are definitely expected to promote ourselves, but my arena of influence is only so big. They still do all the heavy lifting!

BC: Like many writers, you have a blog. I have to say, your blog is one of the best out there. I’m amazed at how you crank out content five days a week, and it’s always entertaining and informative. How do you manage this, plus all of the other responsibilities of life? Not to mention writing your next book! Maybe you’re secretly a mad scientist and have created a Mindy clone in your basement?

MM: Thank you! I’m always so pleased when people compliment Writer, Writer. It truly is a work of the heart. Blogging isn’t something you get an immediate return on. Is every reader of Writer, Writer going to buy a copy of DRINK? Probably not. But, I’m OK with that. I use the blog to promote writing, fellow authors, and literacy in general. I work full time as a YA librarian, so the blog is an outlet for my other passions as well – not just a promotional tool.

I also contribute to the group blogs From the Write Angle, Book Pregnant, Friday the Thirteeners, The Lucky 13s, The Class of 2k13 and The League of Extraordinary Writers. Yes, I’m insane. A lot of these blogs are writing blogs geared towards helping the un-pubbed, or newly pubbed on their path by sharing our own experiences. I’ve had some amazing help from people more than a few rungs ahead of me on the publication ladder, and I believe in paying it forward.

Also, this is where networking comes into play, and how I’ve met some amazing people. For example, The Class of 2k13 has a panel at ALA 2013 moderated by Veronica Roth. Yeah. I would’ve missed out on one hell of a promotional opportunity (plus meeting new author friends in real life and working out with Debra Driza at 6 AM in a hotel) if I weren’t involved with the group blog. Is that payoff worth blogging once a month? Um, yeah.

BC: In addition to the blog, you have an author presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. Does a certain medium work better than others for reaching readers, in your opinion? What advice would you give to aspiring writers regarding the plethora of options out there?

MM: Only do what you like and want to do, and do it often. If you set up a Twitter and never use it, or only hop on sporadically it looks like you’re not very interested in connecting with your readers. I think no presence is better than an absent-minded one when it comes to social media. The same is true of blogging and your site. If you’re not going to be updating (and often) don’t do it.

The other thing is that different avenues attract different crowds. My blog is very writer-centric. I use G+ to promote literacy in general with giveaways and what I call Librarian Book Talks of books that I’ve enjoyed. Twitter is more personal for me – I use that to say something silly about what I’m doing, or eating, or something my pets did. It’s a way to show people that you’re a real person too, not some mysterious writer with a persona that encourages them to keep their distance. Tumblr I use for bite size digestibles – quotes, pictures, random funny crap. I also have an AMA button (Ask Me Anything) on my Tumblr, which I hope will be utilized by fans once DRINK has dropped.

BC: You’ve waited two years for your book to come out. That’s not counting the time it took to write the blasted thing, procure an agent, get a book deal, etc. What will you do in September to celebrate? Can you share what you’re working on now, or is it top sekrit?

MM: I have been waiting a long time- but I was writing and failing for ten years before that, so I’m not complaining. Right now I don’t have any concrete plans for release day. Knowing me, I’ll forget that it’s my release day and be out mowing the yard while my Twitter stream explodes and I’ll come in at 11PM and slap myself in the head.

I’m not actually working on anything right now. I had eye surgery recently (voluntary) and it’s made reading and writing both pretty difficult. So I’m mowing. And mulching. And going to the gym.

BC: Mindy, thanks for the inside scoop. Folks, you can learn more about Mindy and where to buy the book here. Can’t wait for your novel to come out!

Interview with a SLOB: Mindy McGinnis

Most of you probably know about Mindy McGinnis through her fun, informative blog Writer Writer Pants on Fire or because her awesome-looking debut NOT A DROP TO DRINK hits bookstores this September. (Enter to win a copy on Goodreads here) But when she's not writing or blogging, she's a school librarian aide. Once I sold THE BREAK-UP ARTIST, I realized that the library world is totally foreign to me, even though I use libraries all the time. I spend time thinking about selling books, but getting your book into libraries is also important. People check out library books and get recommendations from their librarians every day. But what happens before that?

So today, Mindy is taking off her writer hat and putting on her librarian fedora to answer some questions about how libraries buy books. And in the tradition of her SAT, SHIT, and CRAP series, I'll call this interview with a SLOB (School Librarian on Books).

How do libraries buy books? 
That really depends on the individual libraries. My own library is a public school in a rural area, and we've recently had to go through some serious funding cuts. When I first started, we had three full time librarian aides (one in each building) and one district librarian. Right now I'm the only full time librarian aide, and the District Librarian is also a part-time English teacher. So, our method of buying books has changed. We used to have the time to browse through School Library Journal, Horn Book, the YALSA site, read reviews, and hit up major book blogs. With our time so restricted now we use a service through Junior Library Guild where they send you an age appropriate selection every month.

How far in advance do they order them? 
In my own library we typically don't pre-order unless it's an anticipated big-demand sequel or series addition. Most of the time we rely on JLG [Junior Library Guild] to stock our shelves and then we do buy single titles through word of mouth or titles that our own browsing have led us to.

How do you decide what to buy? 
Our budget is restricted, so we buy what we know will circulate. Sequels and series additions are easy choices when we know the first title circulated well. Also we pay attention to the trends of what our kids are reading - which may not necessarily be what's trending in the industry. Right when zombies were going hard, all our kids wanted to read were contemporary issues books. So hey - we found them.

What do you think makes kids at your school pick out the books that they do? 
Two answers on that:1) The cover2) UsCovers are HUGE for teens. I can't tell you how many great books with bad covers have totally tanked with my kids because they don't want to be seen carrying them around. Our kids have learned to trust us though, and it's such a great compliment when a kid comes up to me and says, "Pick a book out for me. You know what I like."

Do authors ever reach out to you directly to pitch their books? 
In different ways, yes. I do have people approach me as a blogger for help with a signal boost, but also I've had quite a few YA authors (Simone Elkeles, Liz Norris and Lenore Applehans to name a few) donate copies of their books because they know I'm a school librarian. It also never hurts when I pick up a copy of a book and hand it to a kid and breezily say, "Yeah, I know her." ;)

Is there anything content-wise (language, violence, sex) that restricts you from stocking a book in your library? 
Tricky question. I don't enjoy censorship, but I do enjoy having a job. My library currently serves grades 7-12 and next year due to a building closure it will be serving grades 5-12. Obviously there are some content that is perfectly acceptable for seniors that a seventh grader shouldn't be near, let alone a fifth grader. Typically, because it's a small town, we know the kids, and usually we know the parents, too. We know their maturity levels, but we do make sure there's nothing too terribly shocking going home with someone who shouldn't have it. 

I've always said it's possible to have everything from Doctor Seuss to Cory Doctorow to E.L. Doctorow on the same shelf in my library... and that's pretty much the case.

Book Addict 24-7 Welcomes Mindy McGinnis

1. Not A Drop To Drink has a pretty interesting theme that touches on the very real fear modern society has of running out of water. Of all the global issues at hand, what attracted you to the topic of decreasing water resources?

“I actually have the boyfriend to thank for the inspiration. 

He’s an avid documentary watcher, and he happened to have one rolling called Blue Gold when I was at his place one time. It focused on this topic precisely, and it left me thankful for my own backyard pond. 

After seeing the film, I dreamt that night of teaching my little niece how to operate a rifle so she could help me defend our water source. I woke up and told the b/f - 

“Hey, I think I wrote a book in my head just now."”

2. Your debut’s cover is stunning! Can you explain to us the process in which that particular cover made it onto your book? 

“I have the amazingly talented Erin Ferdinand at Harper to thank for my cover. 

It is lovely, and I’m so happy with it. There really wasn’t much of a process. I was asked what ideas I might have, and I gave them a list of things I *didn’t* want - no faces was a big one for me. 

I want my readers to see themselves as the characters. 

I also didn’t want any ball gowns, but given the topic, I didn’t think that was likely. 

My only feedback was that DRINK felt like a very blue / green book, and if we could make that happen it’d be cool. And they came back at me with that, and I said, "Um… good job."”

3. If given the chance, what other global issue would you write about, or feature in a future novel? 

“Not sure, honestly. 

To me I think water is just THE BIGGEST all pervading thing. We ALL need it. We CAN’T create it. It’s insane to me that more people aren’t freaked out about it, to be honest.”

4. Can you tell us the book that turned you into a young adult fan? 

"Ha. No, I honestly can’t. 

I’ve been a YA librarian for about ten years so I can’t even begin to answer that. I will say that when I began working as a YA librarian I made the mistake of being a little dismissive of it as an art form. I still thought of it as easily digestible, watered down forms of "real” books. Then I picked up THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO by Patrick Ness and was thrown onto my ass by it. 

OK, never mind. I guess I *can* answer the question.”

5. Can you tell us how you planned Not A Drop To Drink when you first came up with the idea? 

“I’m a complete pantster. I just start typing. 

I know generally where things are going to go, but I just let the story happen. DRINK totally just fell out of my head. I know that’s really attractive, but that’s pretty much what happened.”

6. There are a lot of fantastic debuts coming out in 2013, how does it feel to be part of such a fun and exciting year? 

“It’s pretty awesome. 

I’m a member of three groups that are all 13 debuts - The Lucky 13s, Friday the Thirteeners, and The Class of 2k13 - and they’re populated by wildly talented (and highly entertaining) people. 

As a lifelong reader and complete book geek, I’ve been having the best time going into book stores and airily declaring, “Yeah, I know her. And her. And him. And her. And oh yeah… that person? We totally tweet."”

7. The publishing world is growing and expanding beyond the conventional forms of publishing (i.e. physical vs digital)–do you have any specific opinions on how this change in publishing might affect your writing career? Do you think it is an exciting change, or do you think that the publishing world has a risky future ahead? 

“Personally I’m a paper person. 

I like holding a book. I do use an iPad to read occasionally, but mostly I like paper. However I know plenty of people that love e-books, and who cares what the medium is? Audiobook, hardcover, paperback, e-book - whatever! It’s still a story being delivered to someone in THEIR preferred manner. So more power to them. I’ll give it to them however they want it.”

8. Can you share three of the most important things a writer needs to remember when sending out query letters and finished manuscripts to agents and/or publishers? 

“1) You’re not perfect. 

You did not just write the best thing ever written. Seriously, if I’d not been so ridiculously self-inflated and refused to look for critique partners, I probably could’ve been published a lot sooner. Instead I was convinced of my genius and stuck in the query trenches for a decade. 

2) Subjectivity. 

It never ends. At every level there will be people that don’t like your book. There will be agents that don’t like your book. There will be editors that don’t like your book. There will also be people that love your book, AN agent that loves your book and AN editor that loves your book. Now, the thing to remember here is that if YOUR MOM doesn’t like your book, you are totally back at square one and need to rethink everything. 

3) Homework. 

Do it. Know your market. Know your agents. Know what you’re doing and be professional.”

9. What are some of your favourite genres and books in the young adult age group, and which genres do you think will gain more popularity in the future? 

"I like a fresh dystopian or post-apoc, I lean towards post-apoc. 

I declare that straight, hard-core SciFi will be the next thing to blow big. At least I hope so. 

Also, I’d love to read some great, non-creature, straight-up ghost stories.”

10. What do you think is the biggest global issue that we, as consumers, should keep an eye on (besides the depleting sources of water)?

“Nope. Water. It is everything. Without it, we are so stinkin’ dead.”

Remembering the Challenger

I was only in kindergarten when the Challenger exploded, but I remember it clearly because it was my first experience of chaos. 

When you're five, you believe that adults know everything, control everything, and can fix anything. I got off the bus on January 28, 1986 to find my mother crying, which was shocking enough on its own. The worst thing my child-brain could conceive of was that one of our pets had died, but she explained what had happened over my snack.

I remember what kind of jelly was on my PB&J. I remember what my juice box looked like. I remember that my tiny tummy folded up on itself and refused to eat anything else. 

I suddenly understood that adults could die. Even worse, a teacher - a type of adult I thought of as being super-human - was just as susceptible to a random accident as anyone else. I peeked at the TV while the Challenger exploded over and over, at a complete loss to wrap my thoughts around what had happened. There was nothing to recover, no one to save. Nobody could do anything to help.

For the longest time this is what space meant to me - danger, chaos and helplessness. I couldn't believe that anyone would ever try to go into space again, after seeing the shuttle explode.

But people did... and my perception of space began to change. As I grew older it represented amazing courage and human ingenuity. It meant that there were people brave enough to strap themselves onto a rocket in the name of science, secure in the knowledge that the people who had built it were confident that it was safe.

I'm still never going to get on a shuttle, I admit. Even if that option were open to me, my fear of heights has ruled space travel out. I think the experience of seeing our planet from space would be so surreal that my mind couldn't grasp it in any case, and so I'll settle for subscribing to National Geographic...

... until we use up all our freshwater and have to go find another blue planet.

Inspired Openings: The Truth about Opening a Novel with Life or Death

As writers there’s nothing more terrifying than File>New Document - except maybe that big white space underneath the words “Chapter One.” Filling that space with something meaningful, gripping, and full of voice will be our biggest challenge, much greater than finally being able to type “The End.”

So how do we do that? There is no magic formula or easy route that any writer can point another one to for instant success. But what I can do is tell you what I’ve done wrong in the past, and some of the most common well-intended trip-ups I see.

InstaAction – We’ve all been told that we need to grab the reader’s attention with our first line. That doesn’t mean you squeeze their trachea shut and hold tight. Way too often writers take opening action so seriously that the reader is instantly dropped into a life or death situation. And while that’s definitely action, the question remains – is it compelling? 

Think for a second about flipping through channels. In any given moment you can probably land on a handful of scenes where someone is dying, someone is being killed, or violence is being threatened. Do you care? Do you instantly stop on every single scene just to see if the character is going to make it? Um… probably not, or else you’d still be sitting in front of your TV right now, having wet your pants and died of dehydration.

Now think about your favorite character in your favorite show. Is Dexter on his own table? Does someone have a gun to Daryl’s head in The Walking Dead? Did you just grab the arm of the person next to you and say, “Dear God, go back to that!! I have to know what happens!!” And why is that? Because you care about the characters, you’re invested in them before we get to this point in the narrative.

Opening with a character that nobody cares about yet in a life or death situation doesn’t mean much.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time – Wow! You’ve got a stellar opening that cuts to the chase and grabs your reader right away. It’s snappy! It’s original! It’s… the beginning of Chapter Three. 

I can’t tell you how often a merciless self-edit has shown me that I wrote two chapters worth of not-so-helpful drivel before I got to the point. Sometimes our beginnings are already written, but not located in the right place. Take a hard look at your first 10-20 pages and see if you need them, then look at page 21 and see what it has to offer.

The opening for NOT A DROP TO DRINK worked that way. Even though my opening line remained the same from first draft to copyedits, (Lynn was nine the first time she killed to defend the pond) everything following went through some pretty serious surgery. The final version of my opening has cut and pastes from as far forward as Chapter Four, with bits of Chapters Two and Three sprinkled in, then I passed through with a narrative needle to stitch it all back together.

My favorite opening lines:

I’m sharing three of my favorite openings. They encapsulate voice and grab me. I want to know what the heck is going to happen next. 

The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say. – THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO by Patrick Ness (Candlewick, 2008).

I've buried nearly everyone I love. – DUALED by Elsie Chapman (Random House, February 26, 2013).

Simon Glass was easy to hate. I never knew exactly why, there was too much to pick from. I guess, really, we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn’t realize it until the day we killed him. – SHATTERING GLASS by Gail Giles (Simon Pulse, 2003).

Ruminations of A Non-Psychic Librarian

Being psychic would be so useful. I would know what detours to take when roads are out. I would know without looking if the milk in the fridge expired. I could win the lottery and maybe even talk to animals.

Clearly I’m interpreting “psychic” quite loosely. If I stick to conventional parameters and say that I’d have the ability to know what’s next, then yeah, still useful. Grab the umbrella on a sunny day, make sure the spare tire is along for the ride, and be acutely aware, every moment, of what’s going to pop next in YA literature.

 Oh, man. If only.

 I’ve been doing this librarian thing a little over a decade. We went all vampires, werewolves, zombies dystopian, fairy-tales, classics re-invented, and dystopian. Some think the dystopian ship has sailed. I personally disagree because I think there’s always a market of people who want to read tales of humanity boiled down to it’s essence, but the question is will it always be booming?

 Probably not.

 Hopefully NOT A DROP TO DRINK can slide in with one last big boom.

So what’s next? Wish I knew, ‘cause I’d write it. As it is, I can look at what’s warming up and just on the verge of boiling, and give you my opinion. TWILIGHT was actually out a while before it blew up, as was THE HUNGER GAMES. I read both before either one of them had a movie cover and had spawned legions of vampire and dystop books.

 My opinion? Science Fiction is about to blow up. I spotted it first with THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO by Patrick Ness and ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis, but since then it’s been getting aggressive with titles like CINDER and my own crit partner RC Lewis’ recent success with STITCHING SNOW being sold.

 So yeah, that’s what I think. Look out for aliens and robots, space stations and droids. But don’t go writing that just because of my opinion. If you’re heart isn’t in it it’ll short circuit faster than Wookie vomit on a control panel.

 Write what your heart wants. And if that’s a contemporary romance, so be it.

The Anything Goes Attitude of Post-Apoc

A lot of people wonder where the sudden surge of dystopian and post-apocalyptic literature is coming from. I’ve got a fast and quick answer – our inner psyche. But we don’t have to ruminate on that. There’s a really fun explanation too, and that’s the fact that anything goes in a world we create on our own.

Dystopian and post-apocalyptic literature moves us beyond the “what-if” to the “who-are-we, really?” as individuals, and as a human race. If there weren’t police would we obey traffic laws? If there were no enforcement of a moral code would we kill each other without regret? And even more important – are you scared of heights?

That last one might feel like a left-field question, but it nipped me in my creative bud earlier this spring. My debut NOT A DROP TO DRINK (Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins, Fall 2013) revolves around a teen girl who protects her pond in a world where water is scarce by sniping strangers from her roof. I wanted a few nice aerial shots for what I hope will eventually develop into my trailer, so I looped a camera around my neck, dug out a ladder, and proceeded to freeze up about ten feet off the ground.

Yep. Ten feet. I had another solid ten to go, and then a scramble onto the shingles before I could even pretend to be the feral creature my MC is. And it totally didn’t happen. I meekly crept back down, put the ladder away, and got some nice still shots of the placid surface of my pond.

Now, if there had been some kind of motivating favor, like say, a tiger chasing me across my yard, then yes – I probably would’ve scurried on up the ladder. But there was no tiger, and I don’t feel the need to shoot people who take water from my pond, mainly because nobody does. Who the hell drinks pond water when you don’t have to?

But what if you did have to?

What if that pond was the only thing keeping me alive?

What kind of person survives in a world like that?

This is what I like about my little corner of the writing world, and have liked about it since I read THE STAND when I was… well, when I was too young to be reading it. Post-apoc and dystopian give writers the chance to throw our characters into a place that has only the laws we set, and then see how they eek out a life within those parameters.

They’re amazing people, these fictional characters that survive the brutal punishments we put them through. They’re little glimpses of a tougher, leaner human race that are asking the same questions we are, but in a different environment. Who am I? What do I stand for?
And while it may seem that I’ve circled back around to the inner-psyche, the more relevant question in most dystopian is – will I live through tomorrow? That kind of pressure hovering over each minute refines our characters, making every movement inform the reader.

When the difference between making it to the roof is losing a good photo-op or losing your foot to a tiger, minor inconveniences like fear are overlooked. Anything goes in our brave new worlds, and the things that go leave us with a stripped person, who we build back up with the blocks of our own making.

There’s so much creative freedom in dystopian, which is why we see such a glut of titles these days, each of them with it’s own unique world and characters. Enjoy them all, but don’t dismiss any of them as “been-there-done-that.”

Chances are, you haven’t.

Summer Flings with Boobs

Summer Fling...

Even the phrase makes me get goosebumps, but not in a good way. More like when you think of something horrific and just wrong, like a dog walking on its hind legs for a long period of time.

Why? Well, a summer fling implies swimsuits – bikinis even. And right when my fellow female classmates had discovered that they looked pretty cute in them, I was discovering that I had boobs. Again though, not in a good way. Refer back to the dog walking on its hind legs analogy.

My boobs showed up way before anyone else’s. They walked onto center stage and DEMANDED attention, which wasn’t hard to get since I was also taller than everyone else and my nipples were right at their eye level. Boys in their thirties might think that’s kind of awesome, but boys that haven’t hit the actual teens yet are pretty much just terrified.

And their fear of my boobs translated into calling me an Amazon, which now that I’m older I rather take as a compliment. But it’s kind of hard to encapsulate feminine mystique and nobility when you’re head and shoulders above your friends and all the boys automatically assume you’re a lesbian because you can beat them at any sport.

Period.

(Oh yeah, that happened early too. Thanks, Mama Nature).

Wearing a bathing suit in front of my classmates happened approximately once, and ended with someone moo-ing at me and me subsequently attempting to drown them. Fast forward to me in high school and suddenly the boobs aren’t so much a drawback anymore. People kind of like them. I get a lot of, “Hey, I wish I would’ve been nicer to you back in junior high.”

Yeah, I bet you do.

Especially since Amazons have such long memories.

W.O.W. – Writer Odyssey Wednesday – Mindy McGinnis

Today’s featured author in the W.O.W. is Mindy McGinnis.  Mindy is a stunning writer whose debut novel, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, will be released on September 24, 2013.  One of the things I enjoy most about Mindy is her willingness to mentor aspiring authors.  She does this through her work as a moderator on AgentQuery Connect, but also through a feature on her blog called, “The Saturday Slash”.  This weekly series allows writers to provide their queries to Mindy who reviews them, and then gives thoughtful, yet constructive feedback.  I’ve been following this feature for a while and can tell you that many of the featured writers’ queries have improved immensely due to Mindy’s help.

 I think anyone struggling with the writing process will take Mindy’s odyssey to heart.  She is the perfect example of someone who commits themself to the craft, and through hard work and dedication, gets a publishing deal. I also love the fact that she is a YA librarian!

So, without further ado, here is my conversation with Mindy about her writing journey.

Amy:    When did you first begin seriously writing with the intent of wanting to be published?

Mindy: By the time I landed an agent I’d been querying on and off for about ten years. I would get frustrated and quit for long periods of time, and to be fair, my first two manuscripts were horrible and I didn’t have the brain to go find a decent crit partner, so I sunk myself. I decided to get serious about writing and querying about four years ago.

Amy:    When did you complete your first manuscript?

Mindy:  In college. It sucked.

Amy:     How many completed manuscripts did you query before one garnered agent interest?

Mindy:  Depends on what you mean by “interest.” The YA ms I wrote before NOT A DROP TO DRINK had quite a few nibbles, but no offers of representation. By the time I landed Adriann with DRINK I had four finished ms’s under my belt.

 Amy:     How laborious/frustrating was the query process for you?

Mindy: Oh, pretty horrific. I was at it for ten years, so that definitely makes you sit down and take a hard look at your goals and your accomplishments. I would stop for long periods of time (years), but never really with the intention of quitting. I knew publication and a writing career were the end goal, I just needed to make it happen.

Amy:    If one manuscript was continuing to get rejected, how did you know it was time to move on to a new project?

Mindy: Good question. I’m kind of a dumbass, so I had over 130 rejections on the YA urban fantasy I wrote before I decided maybe it was time to drop that particular dumbbell and move on to writing NOT A DROP TO DRINK.

Amy:   If you had bites on previous manuscripts, and then was ultimately turned down by agents, what kept you pressing forward?

 Mindy: Honestly, a rejection. I was at a very low point in my life all around when I got my first full rejection. But it was the kindest, most complimentary rejection a writer could possibly receive, from a well-known agent at an established agency. In so many words, she told me I was going to make it, but not with her, and not with that ms.

 Amy:    How many agents did you query for NOT A DROP TO DRINK?

 Mindy: I think only about ten. I sent out the first round of queries and started getting full requests right away.

Amy:    Did you receive instantaneous response or did you have to wait for the requests/rejections?

 Mindy: Things moved really fast with DRINK. I had eight fulls out at one point, and whenever an agent requested I let them know there were other fulls out, and lots of interest, which inspired them to read a little faster 

 Amy:     Can you give us a short summary of your call with your agent, Adriann Ranta?

 Mindy:  Adriann and I talked for about an hour, and totally clicked. We had the same vision for DRINK. She didn’t want me to lighten the tone or take away any of the harsher aspects. She *liked* the darkness of it, and that worked for me. I also ran a basic synopsis of my other finished projects past her to see if they sounded interesting to her as well, especially because the voice in one of them is so drastically different from DRINK. She seemed like a good fit all around for me, not just for this book.

 Amy:     What parting advice can you give other aspiring writers who may be on the cusp of giving up on their writing dream?

 Mindy:  Be absolutely sure this is what you want, and accept the very real possibility that it may not happen for you from the beginning. I was starry-eyed and convinced I was a genius ten years ago, but I was an idiot sending out badly written queries for a horrific ms. Do your homework, get good crit partners, learn how to take criticism. Develop very thick skin. It is not an easy undertaking, but sometimes it’s the unexpected things (like a kind rejection) that will make you keep going to that end goal.

 My sincere thanks to Mindy for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions.  You can find more on Mindy at her blog Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire.  She also contributes to the group blogs From the Write Angle, Friday the Thirteeners, and Book Pregnant. She is also a moderator for the writing community at AgentQueryConnect under the screenname bigblackcat97.

 Mindy’s story has inspired me to keep writing and I hope it will do the same for you.

Getting the Call: Mindy McGinnis

As a long-time member and newly minted moderator of the AgentQuery Connect forum, I knew exactly where to get my information to prepare for the call. I had my laptop fired up and my browser on this thread, my questions at the ready. It's as indispensable as oxygen when that moment comes for the aspiring writer.

My palms were sweaty and I think the butterflies in my stomach had butterflies in their stomachs when Adriann answered the phone. She talked first, telling me how much she lovedNOT A DROP TO DRINK, which I lapped up like a kitten in a swimming pool filled with cream. After that, she told me a little about the background of her agency, and what they had to offer me.

Then it was my turn, and I ticked off the questions. What changes, if any, did she foresee for DRINK? What houses did she think it would fit in best, and what was her approach as an agent to them? What was her revision process like, and how heavy-handed or light on the reins was she in it? 

Adriann had all the right answers, and after we'd exchanged the business side of things we had a little side-talk about how great The X Files was in its heydey, and what books we were reading at the moment. Even though I had another offer of representation, I knew right away that Adriann was the one for me.

Hey, she likes the X Files.

Query Series: Mindy McGinnis and Adriann Ranta

In our Query Series, writers share the query letters that helped land an agent—and why the letter worked, from the agent’s point of view. Today we hear from YA librarian and debut author Mindy McGinnis and her agent, Adriann Ranta, of Wolf Literary Services. Mindy’s dystopian novel, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, will be published by Katherine Tegen/Harper Collins in 2013.

From Mindy:

At what point in the process did you write your query letter?

I didn’t write the query until I was finished with the book, which is my usual process. I was incredibly fortunate, though, in that the first line of the novel was an incredible hook that I could use for the query as well. So the hardest part was already done!

Can you describe any research that you did or resources that you used in order to learn how to write a strong query?

By the time I was querying NOT A DROP TO DRINK I was a pro at writing queries, but unfortunately, I was even better at getting form rejections. I used the excellent forum over at AgentQueryConnect, where I also moderate, to help streamline the query. I also used QueryTracker to keep track of what I’d sent to who in regards to queries, partials and fulls.

What was your querying strategy? What was the process like for you on an emotional level?

I typically send out a round of ten queries at a time, pulling from my lists of A and B agents simultaneously so I don’t burn through all the A-listers with a sub-par query on the first round. I was lucky in that the query for DRINK was strong enough to garner four full requests on the first round, so I knew I had a winner.

I was cautiously optimistic though. At one point, on an earlier YA ms, I had 8 fulls out at the same time, none of which ever amounted to anything. The four full requests off the bat for DRINK had me excited, but reality had punched me in the trachea a few too many times at that point, so I knew better than to celebrate.

How did you find Adriann and what made you decide to query her?

I purposely went after newer agents who repped YA. I knew that the newer agents are usually more open to previously unpubbed writers, and are building their client lists. I always try to find candid interviews with agents if possible, to see if our personalities would be a good fit beforehand. Adriann seemed like we would click, so I sent it off.

How did she respond and offer representation?

Adriann had the first 50 (pages) along with the query, then upgraded to a full over email. I let her know that I had other fulls out and she said to keep her in the loop if I got any offers. She read the full in two days and came back requesting a phone call. It was my first agent call, so I was a nervous wreck. Sweaty palms, the whole deal. We ended up talking for an hour and really clicking. At the end of the conversation she offered rep, but as I had other fulls out I told her I needed to let the other agents know before I could accept. I ended up having another offer of representation, but after our personality-meld on the phone, I knew Adriann was the one for me.

And here's the query:

Lynn was nine the first time she killed to defend the pond. Seven years later, violence is her native tongue in a time when an ounce of fresh water is worth more than gold and firewood equals life during bitter rural winters. Death wanders the countryside in many forms: thirst, cholera, coyotes, and the guns of strangers.

Mother and Lynn survive in a lawless land, where their once comfortable home serves as stronghold and lookout. Their basement is a lonely fortress; Father disappeared fighting the Canadians for possession of Lake Erie, the last clean body of water in an overpopulated land. The roof offers a sniper’s view of their precious water source – the pond.  Ever vigilant, they defend against those who stream from the sprawling cities once they can no longer pay the steep prices for water. Mother’s strenuous code of self-sufficiency and survival leaves no room for trust or friendships; those wishing for water from the pond are delivered from their thirst not by a drink, but a bullet. Even their closest neighbor is a stranger who Lynn has only seen through her crosshairs.

Smoke rises from the east, where a starving group of city refugees are encamped by the stream. A matching spire of smoke can be seen in the south, where a band of outlaws are building a dam to manipulate what little water is left.

When Mother dies in a horrific accident, Lynn faces a choice - defend her pond alone or band together with her crippled neighbor, a pregnant woman, a filthy orphan, and a teenage boy who awakens feelings she can't figure out.

NOT A DROP TO DRINK (69,000 words) is dystopian YA. I have been a YA librarian in the public school system for seven years, allowing me to spend forty hours a week with my target audience.

From Adriann:

On the query:

 I love the punchy first sentence, which hooked me immediately. Otherwise, I think this is the perfect query. Succinct, visceral and spare--all characteristics that capture the sense of the novel perfectly. The scene is set, the world the novel occurs in is clear, the main protagonist is obvious, and presents the main conflicts of the novel simply: the innate tension of protecting their water source, Mother's death, a love interest, and antagonists manipulating a main water source.

She also included a short bio paragraph, and I liked that Mindy mentioned that as a YA librarian, she spends 40 hours a week with her target audience. She must know what she's talking about! I'd request this novel all over again!




After reading the first 50 pages that were included with the query, as per our submission guidelines, I requested the full, and read it in something like two days. Once I got Mindy on the phone, I offered representation after gushing rather profusely. We worked on several rounds of revisions before I sent this out on submission, so I'm sure we discussed some of my editorial suggestions, which Mindy was a champ about. She's been a pleasure to work with, and proof that amazing projects are discovered in the slush pile!


What Diversity Means to Me - Featuring Mindy McGinnis

Today I have something a little different for the diversity series. I have my fellow Friday the Thirteener, Mindy McGinnis on the blog today. And it's special because even though she is a YA author debuting in 2013 with Not A Drop to Drink from Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins, she is also a YA librarian. So I asked Mindy if she wouldn't mind talking a little bit about diversity from her perspective as a librarian.

Ellen - Hey Mindy! Thanks so much for being willing to talk about diversity. As a librarian, do you think there is enough diverse books in YA? 

Mindy - They're out there! But you do have to search sometimes. Matt de la Pena writes some excellent books like Mexican White Boy and a fellow Ohioan, Sharon Draper, writes excellent books about minority teens. Angela Johnson is another example. Also the Bluford series, which is written by multiple authors and written for lower level readers is always popular. These are just examples off the top of my head, so yes, the titles are out there - you just need to grab a knowledgeable librarian ;)  

Ellen - How important do you feel diversity is to our youth?

Mindy - It's important. We live in a shrinking world, and while students in many rural areas live in a "white bubble," that won't always be the case. Especially my kids who are going to college, it's important for them to at least be aware of other cultures and have experienced them through reading, if they don't have any other exposure.

Ellen - Do you think kids would read books with diversity if there were more of it or more prominently displayed?

Mindy - Kids go for a good cover, period. Anna Banks new title Of Poseidon is a great example of a gorgeous cover where many readers don't blink at the fact that the MC is black - I'm not sure they even notice.

We do have a wonderful non-fiction title "They Called Themselves The KKK" which has a striking cover. I had a student check it out who makes no bones about his racist leanings. When he returned it, he warned me against giving it to younger readers. He was shocked at the content, and it had an impact on him - no doubt. Unfortunately I think a lot of my male students adopt racist leanings because of their home environment, without realizing what they are embracing. That book opened his eyes about what he was promoting, and his actions have changed. 

 Ellen - So my final question. What does diversity mean to you?

Mindy - Diversity to me isn't just about having choices and options available. Diversity is about actually celebrating the differences, not just accepting them. 

Ellen - Thanks Mindy for stopping by the blog! It's great to get a perspective from the "front lines!"

Interview with Mindy McGinnis YA Writer

So, tell us about your book. 

It's set in the rural Midwest in the not-so-distant future where freshwater is scarce and people kill to defend backyard ponds and hand-dug wells. My main character, Lynn, has never known any other life than killing to survive. Her mother is the only person she's ever spoken to, and she's been raised as a nearly feral human being. When her mother dies in an accident, Lynn must decide between defending her pond alone or banding together with a crippled neighbor, a pregnant woman, a filthy orphan, and a teenage boy who awakens feelings she doesn’t understand.

What motivated you to write this particular story?  

I saw a documentary about the very real possibility of a global freshwater shortage. I do have a pond in my backyard and that night I dreamt about defending it with a high-powered rifle. I woke up and was like, "Hooray! A novel!"

How important is it to have critique partners and beta readers? 

How important is it to have a functioning frontal lobe? Um. Very. I have two excellent partners that I use consistently in all my writing - Skyval and RC Lewis to AQC users. We compliment each other very well in our strengths and weaknesses. I refer to us as the Critecta.

Did you take their advice?  

On overarching themes, yeah. If they see something that needs addressed as far as continuity, motivation, character development, etc., they're probably right. Do I always, unquestionably, take their advice in line edits? No. As RC likes to say, I'm not the boss of her, she's not the boss of me. In the end, it's my story.

Was it hard to read the critiques?  

Ehh... kind of. Even though I trust my crit partners completely, it's still my baby being eviscerated. But in the end, that's a good thing. It makes a stronger, hardier cyborg baby. OK, not really. What I do is read my crits through, then let it set a day or two and return to it. Then I implement what I agree with.

Did you like what your beta readers had to say?  

Without fail, whether I like it or not, they're right.

I know your query letter helped to land your agent, what was it in the letter that worked?  

I'd like to say the whole thing? I do know that my hook is what gets 'em, and I'm fortunate in that my hook is also the first line of the book.

Once you found an agent, and the agent a publisher is the work getting ready to publish harder than writing the book?  

I don't have my editor letter yet, so I can't say. What I can say is that I've made a definite push to get myself "out there" more now that I have a pub date, blogging more often, tweeting, etc.

Did you have to do a lot of rewrites to get ready to publish?  

Not sure yet.

How has blogging helped you with your book?  

Blogging, like query writing, is an entirely different animal from novel writing. I love blogging because it's a great outlet for those little thoughts that I want to toss out there that have no other outlet. And obviously, it's helped build my audience.

Was the fact that you use twitter and blog help with getting the publishing contract?  

The editor who ended up signing me hit my blog and Twitter up before making the offer. Because I had those two avenues of social media in place to broadcast myself, she was able to get a feel for me as a person. If I hadn't participated in either of those activities, the only thing Google would've popped on my name would be some articles on cyclical vomiting disease (which btw, I'm really not sure what's up with that).

What is your source of inspiration?  

In general, my own brain. I know that's a crap answer but those cogs keep turning, and I'm thankful.

What keeps you going?  

My Irish tenacity. Seriously. I. Never. Quit. Moving.

Have you decided on your head shot yet?   

See link here for her video blog entry   Ha! Um... no. Sadly I'm still an #authorphotofail story.

Is your book available for pre-order?  

Not yet. Believe me, you'll know when it happens.

Is the cover art ready yet?  

Nope. You'll know when that happens too ;)

COSCBWI Meeting March 2012: A Chat with Mindy McGinnis

This month's COSCBWI meeting featured author and librarian Mindy McGinnis and a chat about her road to publication.  Mindy's YA debut novel, currently titled, Not A Drop To Drink, is slated for release Fall 2013 and came after ten years of hard work pursuing publication.

Mindy's story was inspiring and very informative, and boy is she funny!  (We were laughing for most of the meeting!)  She told us that she always knew she wanted to be a writer and started her first book in college.  Then she made the newbie mistake of thinking it was publishable right away (who isn't guilty of doing that?) and sent it off to agents, promptly receiving scores of rejections.  After a while, she put that first novel away and wrote a second one, only to earn more rejections.  But she wasn't ready to give up yet!  When she decided to invest her time in online groups and critique partners, she learned what she was doing wrong, figured out how to make her book kick-butt, and finally scored an agent!  (Hooray!)  She was offered representation by Adriann Ranta at Wolf Literary, but her journey wasn't over yet.  After many rounds of submissions to publishing houses, more rejections, and some more revisions, her book earned multiple offers and went to auction on its last-ditch submission round.  (What a relief!)  And if that wasn't awesome enough, she scored a two-book deal with her new publishing house!  

Now, Mindy is eagerly awaiting revision notes from her editor at Katherine Tegan/Harper Collins and will soon begin the oh-so-long process of actual publication.  Her Dystopian novel's premise about a future without plentiful water sounds spectacular and you can read her teaser here.

So how did Mindy escape the slush pile to score an awesome agent and two book deal?  She attributes her success to two things: the reading revolution and her online network.  As a librarian, Mindy saw the massive effect Stephanie Meyer's Twilighthad on today's teens.  Before, only nerdy bookworms (like myself) frequented the school library.  But now, reading is cool and teens gobble up books left and right, including the Homecoming King at her school.  This change has created a big demand for great MG and YA books, and therefore a demand for great writers.  (See?  There is hope for the rest of us!) 

Mindy's online network was essential in her path to publication, too.  Mindy takes part in a number of online blog groups and sites such as Agent Query Connectand From the Write Angle.  The sites helped her learn about the publishing world, craft a winning query, and put her in contact with the critique partners who ultimately made her book ready for submission.  Mindy encouraged everyone in our group to get out there and network.  There are countless wonderful sites to explore and connections to make all just a mouse click away.  She encourages blogging and Twitter, too, to create an online presence for yourself.  (Just be careful what you post, she warns.  Whatever you say can come back and haunt you...)

Blog Tour: Interview With Mindy McGinnis

Your short story, "First Kiss," in the new Spring Fevers anthology is amazing! What inspired this story? 

Great question. I live in a sprawling old farmhouse situated on five acres. I found no less than four uncovered wells when I first moved in. I was just a kid when the famous Baby Jessica incident happened, but it made a lasting impression. A mix of that, and a random idea I had floating around my head about someone who had a Poison Ivy (Batman character) type ability coalesced into this weirdness.

What are some of the challenges of writing short stories vs. novels? 

Less space, less time. You've really got to punch your reader in the face in a nice way that they'll love you for. They know there are other stories behind yours that might appeal to them more, and flicking a couple pages to move away from your story is a lot easier than putting down a whole book and going to pick your next one.

How do you approach writing a short story vs. a novel?

Impact is of utmost importance, always. I think with a book you need to focus on getting that impact into the first page, or paragraph. In a short story, you've gotta get them with the first line.

Is there anything else you wanted to cover on the topic of short stories vs. novels? 

I love writing shorts. I think they're a wonderful outlet for those stories inside of me that don't have enough meat to them to justify a novel. There are plenty of characters in my head who have *something* to say, just not necessarily a lot. I also think shorts are an important way for a writer to pull readers to them as an author, and sell themselves as a writer as opposed to selling their book, if that makes sense. If I can make you like me, and my style, in a few pages, that's great. A short that draws a reader in to my voice will (hopefully) make them look to see if I have a book. As a reader of short stories myself, I can honestly say I do that all the time, and it's the best avenue I've found to discovering new voices.

Not A Drop to Drink Preview

For my spotlight on upcoming dystopian/post apocalyptic fiction series, I interview authors with novels coming out in the genre in 2012/13. These are exclusive first looks at exciting new works. Enjoy!

Debut author Mindy McGinnis introduces us today to NOT A DROP TO DRINK. It's set to come out Fall 2013 from HarperCollins.

Here's the summary: 

Lynn was nine the first time she killed to defend the pond. Seven years later, violence is her native tongue in a time when an ounce of fresh water is worth more than gold and firewood equals life during bitter rural winters. Death wanders the countryside in many forms: thirst, cholera, coyotes, and the guns of strangers. 

Mother and Lynn survive in a lawless land. Their roof offers a sniper’s view of their precious water source – the pond. Mother’s strenuous code of self-sufficiency and survival leaves no room for trust or friendships; those wishing for water from the pond are delivered from their thirst not by a drink, but a bullet. 

Smoke rises from the east, where a starving group of city refugees are encamped by the stream. A matching spire of smoke can be seen in the south, where a band of outlaws are building a dam to manipulate what little water is left. 

When Mother dies in a horrific accident, Lynn faces a choice - defend her pond alone or band together with her crippled neighbor, a pregnant woman, a filthy orphan, and a teenage boy who awakens feelings she can't figure out.

And the interview:

Why do you think people are drawn to "dark" stories? 

I think everyone has a dark side of their personality, and some of us are more open to exploring it. Fiction offers us the ability to do that without, you know, breaking the law or hurting people. DRINK has a dark voice, but in the end it’s a survival story, and I think that type of fiction can transcend the lines of dark and light preferences in terms of style and voice. Whether we admit it or not, I think a lot of people ask themselves if they could survive in the face of catastrophe. Tales of survival give readers the chance to play with that question.

If NOT A DROP TO DRINK had a theme song, what would it be and why?

Great question! I know a lot of writers have certain playlists they like to listen to while writing. I don’t necessarily do that, but I will often hear a song and think “Yeah, that song and my ms would get along.” Definitely “Thistle & Weeds” by Mumford & Sons, as well as “Waiting For the End” by Linkin’ Park. Both songs have a solitary feel to them, along with a heavy thread of defiance. And that is a lot of where Lynn’s personality comes from – she will survive, no matter what.

What fictional character from another book would your main character choose as his/her best friend and why? 

The idea of having a friend at all would be very alien to Lynn. The only person she’s known her entire life is her mother, so asking her to pick a bestie would be difficult. Though I think she would totally get Cathy from WUTHERING HEIGHTS in the sense that you do what you gotta do, and squash your heart in the process if you must.

What are your top 5 Dystopian lit recs and why?

THE STAND by Stephen King – because this is where I learned to speak dystopian.
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy – I read it right before writing DRINK, and I very much wanted to emulate the isolation and dehumanization that becomes a part of someone in a survival situation.
THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins– because I really can’t tell you how much I wish I would’ve had that idea first!
THE LONG WALK by Stephen King – It’s a short story that pounds the reader’s face into the gravel and makes you like it. Astounding.
THIS PERFECT DAY by Ira Levin – in all of the long lists of dystopian that I see being resurrected here and there in the wake of HUNGER GAMES, Ira Levin’s awesome book is still not getting the credit I think it deserves.

What's on the top of your to-do list before the world ends? 

My blog readers are going to kill me when I admit that I have yet to ride a mechanical bull.

How does your novel stand out from others in the genre?

Again, it’s very much a survival story as much as a dystopian. The dangers that Lynn faces are very real, palpable threats that any reader can identify without having to stretch their imagination. Starvation. Dehydration. Hypothermia. Illness. Accidents. Feral animals. Strangers with guns. In the end, the darkest thing about DRINK is how easy it is to believe.

Showing the Real Mindy

Mindy McGinnis stops by Unedited today. She's fabulous and everyone should know it! She's the owner of the awesome blog Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire. You all know when someone stops by we don’t ask the usual questions. That’s right, because I’m an unusual being (once seen as a negative, now viewed as a positive). So let’s get started on all things random. 

Showing the Real Mindy

What guy’s name do you find sexy? 

Jack. It’s a ROMANCING THE STONE thing.

Do you like that manhole covers are always round? If you were to be more creative what shape would you choose and why? 

A triangle. It’ll add to the whole Illuminati mystique.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, what would be the plot? 

No idea on plot, but I can say genre-wise it would definitely not be a romantic comedy. And it would have be animated. Just cause I say so.

If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you be? 

Ranch. Yum-yum calories!

If you were forced to steal something, what would it be? 

Why would you choose it? A book. A really old one that there was only one copy of or something. Because I’m qualified to care for it much better than whatever museum it’s in.

One-Word Randoms

Elevator or Escalator: Escalator
Black or Striped Cat: BUH-lack
Writer or Reader: Ouch
Dancer or Singer: Neither
Query or Synopsis: Query!