Meet Alison Hart

Alison Hart is the author of over 35 novels, many of them about horses. Her popular mystery Shadow Horse will be re-released in May 2010, along with the sequel, Whirlwind.

Alison - have your books been primarily of a certain genre, or for a certain age group? What draws you to write for that age group?


I like the immediacy and excitement of fiction - early chapter through YA - for young readers. However, in my long career, I have written picture books, nonfiction for educational markets and articles for adults. The variety continually improves my writing.





As a fellow horse and animal lover, I am always on the lookout for new horse books. Tell us about your life with animals, and how it colors your writing.


Having animals all my life has helped me understand and write about the emotional ties that people have with animals, yet keep scenes and situations realistic. I say the realistic part with tongue in cheek because my current early chapter book Bell's Star is written from the point of view of a horse, so realism was obviously stretched. (I've also been a cat detective and an assistance dog!)





How long does it generally take you to finish a novel? Do you find yourself working on more than one project at a time?


The amount of research required often dictates how long a book takes. The Racing to Freedom trilogy (Gabriel's Horses, Gabriel's Journey, and Gabriel's Triumph), which takes place during the Civil War, took two years to research. And even at the revision and last minute editing stages, I was fact-checking. So, yes, I sometimes work on other projects that are shorter and less research-intensive while writing longer novels.


You are a fairly prolific author, Alison, and yet I know that you also have another career - as an adjunct college instructor teaching writing, and earlier as a special education teacher. How do you structure your day to accomplish so much?


I didn't start publishing until I was teaching part time, which helps. I never could have taught full time, raised two kids, managed all the demands of publishing - research, writing, editing, marketing - and kept my sanity. I know some authors who do and I tip my pen to them! Teaching actually helps my writing and keeps me connected with the real world and real issues of literacy.


Any tips for fellow writers?


I just finished critiquing manuscripts for a SCBWI conference. Many of the pages/chapters showed a lack of understanding of not only what makes a good story, but what makes a good story for a middle grade reader, for instance. Make sure you read books for children at all levels and in all genres. Analyze dialogue, complexity of plot, chapter lengths. Then find a story to tell that excites you. Don't try and write the next Twilight unless you are crazy in love with teens and vampires. Write about your passion.


I know that you are interested in promoting literacy in children. Any ideas on how we can get them away from the television/computer/electronic games syndrome and make readers out of them?


Every author and educator needs to read the book Readicide by Kelly Gallagher. He says it all.

Of all the books you've written, do you have a favorite one? And why?

School kids often ask this question, and my answer is "the book I am writing must always be my favorite, so that you, the reader, will be as excited about reading the book as I was writing it." Right now, my favorite book is Emma's River from Peachtree Publishers, which will be out in April 2010. I just finished editing it. It's a suspenseful tale of a plucky girl and her pony surviving a steamboat explosion in 1854 on the Missouri River.

Any new books or projects you'd like to share with us?

I'm thrilled that the sequel to Shadow Horse is coming out in May 2010. Shadow Horse was published in 1999 and was nominated for an Edgar Award in 2000. I always dreamed of a sequel. Ten years later it's finally happening!



To learn more about Alison and her books please visit her website at www.alisonhartbooks.com/

Book Giveaway!

Win a copy of Alison's newest book - Bell's Star.

Book Giveaway!!

This fast-paced historical novel, told in the voice of a young Morgan horse, would be a great gift for any young horse lovers on your Christmas list. To enter, leave a comment on this post, or send me an email (check my profile page) by November 30, 2009. I will randomly draw the winner on December 1st. Okay?

Alison, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us!!

Donkeys and the Publishing Business

Okay, I promised you a post on how owning donkeys prepares you for the publishing business. And if you are just a little bit sharp, you might have guessed that both are SLOW AS MOLASSES!

But wait. There's more. Much more. First, a primer on donkeys.

Donkeys have a bad rap for being stubborn. Slow, stubborn, and some people even say ornery. But as someone who has owned and raised lots of donkeys, I feel compelled to say that donkeys are not mean, and neither are they stubborn.

Donkeys are some of the sweetest animals on earth. If you treat them right, using patience and kindness, they will do almost anything for you. (Hopefully like agents and editors).

Donkeys come by the reputation for stubbornness in comparison to their equine cousin, the horse. Horses and donkeys are similar in many ways, but their response to an unknown or uncomfortable situation is different. Horses often have a nervous, skittery flight reaction when they see something new. Donkeys, on the other hand, have a freeze reaction to new things. They stop, think, and process everything before deciding which way to go. Basically, the donkey takes its time and thinks things through. So I ask you, which is smarter, the horse or the donkey? Trust me, it's the latter.

Okay, back to the publication business. How many of you have waited eons for a response, running to the mailbox or frantically checking your email after sending off your manuscript/query/1st three chapters/ proposal to some editor/agent/publishing house? Are you driving your mail person nuts? Have you developed carpal tunnel from pressing the send/receive button every 5 seconds? Here's some advice. Go spend time around some donkeys, and learn to develop PATIENCE.

Yes, dear reader, Patience is the magical trait needed for success in the publishing business. (Well, a modicum of talent and luck help also).

It may take months for your query to be answered, months for a decision to be made by a publishing house, and then if you are lucky enough to finally get something accepted, more months of polishing, waiting on editors, waiting on cover art, waiting on . . . well you get the idea.

And pushing things is just not the answer.

PATIENCE is a good trait to have in life anyway. From standing in line at the grocery store (or waiting to get your swine flu shot) to the behemoth slowness of the publishing industry, it is best not to let it get you down. Breathe. Write something new. Be like a donkey. Realize that everything happens in it's own sweet time.

If you want to know more about donkeys, here are some GREAT donkey sites:

American Donkey and Mule Society

Longears Mall

Lucky Three Ranch

American Council of Spotted Asses

And stay tuned, right here, for a guest blog by author Alison Hart, featuring a giveaway of her latest book - a horse story!

The Amazing Internet

Yes, the Internet is an amazing place, isn't it? And I, who always considered myself Ms. Natural and was never one for techie stuff, now thoroughly enjoy it.

It is my first choice for immediate information: I don't like watching news on television in the morning because it's noisy and it takes up too much time. I turn on my computer and get all the headlines right on one page, in about 10 seconds. If I want to find out exercises for sciatica or treatments for laminitis or the weather in Waikoloa, Hawaii, I can find it online. If I read a great book and want to check out the author and find what else they've written, if I can't remember the words to that song that keeps floating through mind, then it's google time.

I got my agent online. I found her on a site that lists agents accepting new clients http://agentquery.com/ I emailed her my query letter and she emailed back asking for three chapters and a synopsis. Then she phoned and emailed me again, requesting the full manuscript. With just a few clicks of a mouse, my novel flew all the way across the country and right onto her computer screen. (Hint - don't try this unless she requests your ms. She's good with the delete button ;-0)

Because of the Internet, I found the best dog in the world (shelter dogs rule)

and adopted a sweet young cat who had spent half his life in a cage. www.petfinder.com

I know - who could resist this face?

With social networking, I have met new writing friends and new animal-loving buddies, as well as reestablished connections with old friends with whom I've been out of touch. I have found critique partners online, found the perfect new home for a donkey http://critterfarmgirl.blogspot.com/ and made dear friends with people who I might never have rubbed shoulders with if it wasn't for the open walls of the Internet.

And since writers are always on the look-out for new words (especially verbs) who would have known several years ago that we'd all be using "googled, friended, blogged, and facebooked" as verbs? You know, as in, "hey, I'll facebook you?"

Pretty neat, indeed. Yep, I'll admit it. This self-proclaimed nature girl is now an Internet junkie. But now I've got to quit blogging and actually get something done.

So you tell me, what cool things have happened to you on the Internet??

Goals

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about - it's a loose organization of crazy people egging each other on to write a 50,000 word novel in one month's time. You'd think they'd have picked a month with 31 days, wouldn't you? You know, like January, March, or May. But no, instead, they up the ante, trying this silly stunt in a period from November 1-30, with a major holiday (Thanksgiving) thrown in right towards the end.

Actually I am so, so jealous of the people who attempt this (including several writing friends and critique buddies - LOL). The idea is to keep your internal editor at bay, and just write lots and lot and lots of words which can later be cut, edited, re-arranged and improved, and maybe even turned into something of value. I only wish I was so motivated.

Instead, I have set my own goal for November. I have a new middle-grade manuscript which I love. It was coming fast and furiously to me last summer, and I hashed out 20,000 words so quickly I almost felt like a real, bona-fide writer. But then I got bogged down in STUFF and stopped writing. Oh. Horrors. Will it lay unfinished on my desk, so that we never find out what happens to David, Olive, and the yellow dog? (Not to mention the peacock and the boys on the raft).

No, I say. No. I will finish this novel (which is good, by the way :-)) I will hash out and complete the dreaded middle third of this novel by November 30, come Hell or High Water. (Trust me, around this neck of the woods, it could definitely be High Water.)

Okay, so here I go. By November 30, I should be past the middle, and ready to write the big, climactic last third of the novel (which is loosely formulated in my mind.) Unless of course, my characters decide to veer off in some unknown direction - which is always a risk. Try and stay with the program, will you, characters?

Okay, wish me luck! Ready, set, write . . .

Snapshots in My Mind

Writers notice things. I often think we'd make good detectives. Whether it's the violet-green swallow colony flocking on a wire before they wing their way south, the exact color a tree glows red just before it drops its leaves in the first wintry blast, or the way a young soldier in the sandwich shop talks bravely about his deployment but won't look anyone directly in the eye. Writers notice things, and make mental snapshots of them, tucked away to use at a later date.

When my uncle found out I'd become a writer he said, "oh yes, that makes sense - you were always the quiet one." Quiet maybe, to the external world, but always watching, always jotting things down for later use in the back of my mind.

Just like photographers enjoy capturing and recording the moment in a photograph, just like artists enjoy portraying colors and feelings in all kinds of various media, writers capture moments, too. We save them in our minds, waiting for a later time when we attempt to describe them in our chosen media - words.

Recently, in the middle of a nice discussion, my mind wandered to a spider crawling on the wall. In a very short period of time the spider crawled up to the ceiling and halfway across. Yuck, some of you might be thinking. Squish him, get that spider out of there! (I almost never squish spiders. Usually I help them crawl onto a towel, walk them quickly to the front door, and then shake them off outside with good wishes for a nice life.)

But I was fascinated by this spider's journey, and my reaction to it, and kept thinking how I could use that in a scene. Perhaps one of my characters is having a nice discussion, a nice moment with someone, when she suddenly gets interested in a spider crawling along the ceiling. Does the person she is with get upset at her for not listening? Do they get in an argument over the importance of the life of a lowly spider? Does one of them stomp off, and everything in their relationship changes from that very moment?

I was not only watching the spider, but making up scenes in my head about it.

My mother bought me a cool sweatshirt that reads: Careful, or you'll end up in my novel. Maybe it should actually read: Careful, creative mind taking notes.

Do you take snapshots in your mind? What kinds of things do you notice?

Spotted Donkey Babies

Because my last post was so long and wordy - here's a short one you will love.

See? I knew you'd like it.

Jasmine and Buttons, donkey babies I raised a few years ago.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post about how owning donkeys prepares you for survival in the publishing business.

In Praise of Critique Groups

I have been part of a fantastic critique group for several years. I cannot sing its praises high enough. We are an eclectic group, and we write all kinds of stuff - from dark science fiction to fluffy cozies, from middle grade to murder mysteries, from young adult to women's literature, with even the occasional picture book thrown in.

Although our membership has been somewhat elastic over the past several years, we have quite a solid base right now of around six to seven people, and usually we have five or six actively participating in each meeting.


I have been involved in other critique groups in which members read their work aloud. Afterwards, we all go around the circle and make comments. Sometimes the writer would hand copies around for everyone to read and make notes on, and sometimes not. This format works well for, say, picture books, which are meant to be read aloud, but for longer work, this doesn't really suit me. For one thing, I'm not so good composing my thoughts out loud, off the cuff. I like to take my time and think about what I want to say. And secondly, my mind is used to reading words, and processing them in that way, not hearing them.

My present critique group works in a different way, which I have found so helpful to my writing. Each week, if we have a manuscript we've been working on, we submit a chapter or two, with copies for everyone. These we take home, read at our leisure, make notes on, and write a short critique for the submitter, to be discussed at the next meeting. When our brain cells are all firing, and we are all actively submitting, this can be a lot of homework!! And indeed, we have inadvertently chased some people away from joining our group, because it is, indeed, for serious writers. But with written critiques to look back on, I can pick up a manuscript I am working on at a later date, and still have all the notes from my fellow critiquers to help me in my next round of edits.

Our group met for several years without a name. Our writing genres were all over the board. How could we come together and pick a name? But at one productive brainstorming session, we realized that we were all working hard because we had one common goal: To Be Authors. Hence, a name popped up- the TBA group. And this name, and goal, has served us well in describing our group to potential members. If a writer has a completed manuscript, and has been actively seeking publication (or indeed has been published) then they might be a good fit.

What do I get from my critique group? Oh, lots and lots and lots . . .

For starters, it's a time when I don't feel crazy. When I can associate with people as nutty as me, who will stop anywhere, anytime, in the middle of the night or day, to somehow find a pen and jot down those perfect, important, beautiful WORDS that just floated across our brains.

Second - knowing that I have to write critiques keeps me writing. Sometimes, the critiques I write for other members are the Only Intelligent Thing I've written all week. So yeah, that's a good thing.

Third - I love our long-winded, over-the-top, brilliant and sometimes even loud discussions about imaginary characters and events we have invented on paper. We get so carried away we are often afraid a librarian might open the door to our meeting room and shush us. Our characters spring to life off our pages, and we are thoroughly engaged in their struggles .


Fourth - we learn so much from reading each other's writing. All writers, brilliant or not, make grammar mistakes, write horrid sentences, often don't say what they really mean the first time around. Watching (and reading) other people struggle with these things allows us to pick out those same mistakes in our own work. It also allows us to feel validated and not alone (as in, hey, I'm not the only one who writes crappy first drafts, hee hee.)


Fifth - it is so helpful to have a variety of people discuss your work. Some of us point out little nit-picking details that need to be changed. Others point out transitions, or chapter endings, or character descriptions that could be better. And some of us can see the bigger picture - like, what was it you were really trying to say in this piece?


Sixth - the other nice thing about having several different people read your work is you realize how subjective this business is. For every scene or description or dialogue passage one of us does or doesn't like, we often have someone else pipe up and say "oh, I loved that part!!" This is such an important lesson to learn, and gives us heart and hope to keep writing in our own voice. Of course, if your entire critique group agrees that something needs to be changed, than perhaps you'd better give it a harder look :-)

Last - but certainly not least (I could think of many more reasons I love my critique group, but this post would be too long) is TRUST. It is not often you can sit down with a group of people you only see twice a month, and trust them with something so personal and precious as a FIRST DRAFT!! Here (you think to yourself, as you hand them the first couple of chapters), here are hours and hours of time spent in front of that blasted computer screen, time trying to compose my thoughts, time pouring words out into the universe, hoping they will mean what I say and say what I mean, hoping these words will somehow, somewhere touch someone, make them laugh, or cry, make them think, or possibly UNDERSTAND. Here, you say, is my precious FIRST DRAFT. Treat it like you would a newborn anywhere, gently and honestly and with great compassion. And you know what? As I let go of those pages and pass them around the table, I TRUST my critique group to do just that.


I wish all of you luck in finding a critique group that meets your needs.

I don't know what I would do without mine.