The Gathering Authors in Taos New Mexico! Weekend Recap

The Gathering Authors First Annual Retreat by our organizer, Carolee Dean! 

(I'm on the left in the pink top in the back.) 

  (Kersten Hamilton, Carolee Dean, Kimberley Griffiths Little, Lauren Bjorkman, and Sheralyn Pratt)

I'm sharing this recap because Carolee hit all the high points of the weekend, of which there were many - actually the entire weekend was a total high. Not exaggerating here. It was beautiful in Taos, New Mexico, the company was fabulous and smart and funny, the writing time great, the brainstorming superb and enormously helpful, and both the deep publishing discussions and personal talk very rewarding, too.

We also got totally silly at the local indie bookstore, Moby Dickens, and created an upcoming video (being edited now . . . ) with props and hilarity that will be at #createyourownapocalyse - so find us there.

Please also find us at #TheGatheringAuthors on Twitter.

Take it away, Carolee!

I have just returned from the First Annual Gathering Authors Retreat in Taos, New Mexico and am already looking forward to next year's event. The Gathering is a LOOSELY organized group of traditionally published New Mexico children's authors who meet to offer each other encouragement, support, and industry tips. In the photo above we are about to enjoy lunch at Lambert's. If you aren't used to New Mexico chile, beware. Left side - front to back (Kersten Hamilton, Me-Carolee Dean, Kimberley Griffiths Little). Right side - back to front (Lauren Bjorkman and Sheralyn Pratt - joining us from Utah). Not pictured (Sheralyn's border collie, Sebi).

Our retreat, also LOOSELY organized, was held at the Sagebrush Inn. The only cost was travel and hotel expenses. We made a list of topics we wanted to cover and that was the extent of our planning.

 

Topics included: 

1. The Changing Face-Book of Social Media

2. Wacky Marketing Ideas

3. Effective Marketing Plans

4. Publishing Woes/Joys

5. How to Hit the NY Times Best Seller List

 

GO HERE TO READ THE REST AT CAROLEE DEAN'S BLOG - and "follow" her: Carolee Dean Books Blogspot 

xo,

Kimberley

FREE + LUNCH = GIVEAWAYS! Please take our very fun survey!

May 14  , 2013

FREE + LUNCH = GIVEAWAYS   The Spellbinders met at Jason's Deli to discuss our plans for Year 5. There are some exciting things on the horizon including a real life Spellbinders Tour Across Texas in  April 2014 in conjunction with TLA (The Texas Library Association Annual Conference). Watch for details in next October's issue. We are also changing from Constant Contact to Mail Chimp, so be sure to let your IT administrators know. We will send more information next fall in Constant Contact. As we contemplate how to best serve our readers, we would really appreciate it if you would take a brief survey to assist us. This is your opportunity to tell us what you love, what you want, and what we could make even better. Go here for the Spellbinders Survey Your input is so important to us that we're having a drawing for free BOOKS, so after completing the survey, please sign up at the Spellbinders Blog.    or at RAFFLECOPTER Winners will be contacted by email and announced on our blog Tuesday, May 20, 2013. Giveaways include these Spellbinders books:           And before we head off to summer vacations, sipping cold sodas on a lovely beach with a good book, here is the winner from our giveaway two weeks ago: Kimberley's Book Launch of WHEN THE BUTTERFLIES CAME.   The Winner is: KKC or Kelly Karsner Clarke!! Congratulations!   Please send your address to Kimberley at kglittle@msn.com!   Thank you, everyone, for entering the giveaway and posting a lovely comment on the blog. Thank you as well for reading SPELLBINDERS this year - and filling out our survey, too!   Have a great summer!! See you next fall. Join Our Mailing List! Meet the Spellbinders Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a master's degree in communicative disorders, and has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. Take Me There is a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Her paranormal verse novel, Forget Me Not, was published by Simon Pulse in October of 2012.    She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Act of Haiku."             Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in NewMexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.   To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website    Kimberley Griffiths Little has won the  Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs   She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing workshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides.          Upcoming Author Events   Caroline Starr Rose  July 27 19th Annual Norfolk Public Library Literature Festival, Norfolk, NE

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The Reader/Author Connection - Part 2!

March 11, 2013 The Secret Language of Stories by Carolee Dean THE READER/AUTHOR CONNECTION - Part Two Last month I discussed a "Letter to the Author" project I conducted with freshman and sophomores at the high school where I work as a speech-language pathologist. Students read the graphic novel Tantalize and then wrote letters to the author, Cynthia Leitich Smith. My article included several tips on how to brainstorm content with students and incorporate goals and objectives into the letter writing process. A copy may be found here. The classroom teacher and I were delighted by the results. Even the most reluctant writers all completed a three paragraph letter. As a follow up to last months letter writing project, I will be discussing additional tips for connecting authors and readers.    1. Connect with authors through books and websites like  Dear Teen Me. While serving on a panel at the Montgomery Book Festival in February, I met co-panelist E. Kristin Anderson and fell in love with the book she edited with Miranda Kenneally entitled Dear Teen Me. The book contains letters by various authors to their teen selves and includes entries by Ellen Hopkins, Lauren Oliver, Carrie Jones and Cynthia Leitich Smith. The various authors cover a wide range of topics including finding true love, discovering the true meaning of friendship, as well as surviving physical abuse, body issues, and bullying. The stories are sometimes funny and sometimes sad, but always close to the heart. I highly recommend this book as well as the website Dear Teen Me for connecting readers and authors. While we anxiously awaited Cynthia's response to our letters, we read her excerpt from Dear Teen Me. Learning about Cynthia's experience of break up, heart break, and the girl bully who tormented, but ultimately admitted that she admired Cynthia, made it that much more meaningful when we received Cynthia's response to our student letters. She answered individual questions within a group letter and I made copies to hand out to all the students so they could follow along as I read the letter aloud in class. 2. Connect with authors through their personal websites and blogs. If you are interested in having students write letters to an author and want to know whether you should send the letters to an email or snail mail address, try finding the author contact information online. Most children's/young adult authors love connecting with young readers and provide a contact page on their website where you may generate an email directly to them. If you contact the author before you have students write the letters, you will also know the odds of the author writing back (before the end of the school year). Let the author know that you are hoping their response can be part of your classroom connection to their book. As an author, I have been in the awkward position of receiving a packet of letters in July that was mailed in March, but didn't reach me until mid-summer because it was sent to my editor who then sent it to my agent who then sent it to me. You might be able to avoid this type of time-lag by contacting the author directly. 3. Arrange a Skype or Classroom Visit. While you're at the author's website, see if they have a page with information about their availability for school visits. Talk to your school librarian to find out if you have the financial resources to invite an author visit your school. This can get expensive if you have to pay travel costs, but many authors are now conducting Skype visits at a greatly reduced price. Some are even free.  4. Give students extra credit for attending author events put on by local bookstores. You may be surprised to learn how many well-known authors are coming through your town. I live in Albuquerque, which is by no means a literary hub, but we are always having authors visit or local bookstores. This fall Lois Lowry gave a free one-hour talk at the University of New Mexico in promotion of her new novel, Son. It was right after the seventh graders at a local Charter School had finished reading The Giver. Unfortunately, the teacher didn't know about the event until after it was over. Imagine what an extraordinary opportunity it would have been to hear Lois Lowry speak! Don't let this happen to you. Get on the mailing lists for your local book stores and keep your students up on authors that might be of interest to them. We've also had such student favorites as Lemony Snicket, John Green, and Alyson Noel come through town. These authors talk about everything from the personal life experiences that inspire their stories to research and the writing process, and most of the events are completely free. 5. Connect with local authors through  organizations such as SCBWI. You may be surprised to discover that you have many local children's and young adult authors living just within miles of your school. Many of these authors offer reduced rates for local school visits and might be willing to come in for an hour or two as opposed to a whole day. You may find out the names of local authors are by talking to book sellers or by contacting your local chapter of the Society of  Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (scbwi.org). If you have an interest in writing for children or young adults, you may want to consider joining this organization yourself. Many chapters have monthly meetings that are open to the public where you could potentially meet some of your local authors. The most important thing to remember is that reading is about forming connections... to other cultures, other ideas, other times, and other people. Some of the most interesting characters you will ever meet, are the authors who created the fascinating worlds we all love to visit. Join Our Mailing List! Meet the Spellbinders Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a master's degree in communicative disorders, and has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. Take Me There is a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Her paranormal verse novel, Forget Me Not, was published by Simon Pulse in October of 2012.    She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Act of Haiku."             Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in NewMexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.      To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website.      Kimberley Griffiths Little has won the  Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs      She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing workshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides.       Upcoming Author Events  Caroline Starr Rose April 19 New Mexico Library Association Youth Luncheon Albuquerque, NM July 27 19th Annual Norfolk Public Library Literature Festival, Norfolk, NE

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Short & Sweet #2: HUNGER GAMES HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

December 10 , 2012 Short and Sweet (#2 in Our Three Part Holiday Series) HUNGER GAMES HOLIDAY TRADITIONS     This was the float Alamosa Books created for Albuquerque's Twinkle Light Parade. See the Christmas tree in the left hand corner? Now check out the close up below...   Sean and Elizabeth, the owners of Alamosa, decorated the tree with books including titles by the Spellbinders.   Here is our second song in the series: HUNGER GAMES HOLIDAY TRADITIONS by Carolee Dean Based on The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. (sung to the tune of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") Rabbits roasting on an open fire. Tributes shooting at your rear. Mockingjays singing songs like a choir. Kids dressed up in combat gear. Everybody knows some arrows and a few berries, are what you need to win this fight. But mutant mutts with their eyes all aglow, make it hard to sleep tonight. You hope that medicine and soup is on its way, and Haymitch didn't drink the sponsors pay. Though probably he's passed out now and sleeping. This happens every time that there's a reaping And so I'm offering this simple tale, about a bunch of kids with bad behavior. Though its been said many time many ways, "May the odds be ever in you favor." Go to the end of this post for a reminder of the steps you may use to create your own spoofs.  The Spellbinders will be at Alamosa Books in Albuquerque, along with several other local authors, on December 11 from 6-8 p.m. In addition to mingling with librarians and conducting a multi-author book signing, we will be collecting books for the Albuquerque Public Schools - Title One Homeless Project. This project has already served over 400 students this year alone. A book is a gift a child may treasure forever. If you are not located in the Albuquerque area, consider donating books to your local homeless shelter, or better yet, partner with a local bookstore and start a book drive of your own. As part of the evening's entertainment, we will be singing Christmas Carol Spoofs. I must give kudos here to the staff at Alamosa (Chris Warner, Megan Herceg, and Corey Bowen) for helping me brainstorm these wacky songs. They were the ones who suggested zombies and brought out a host of Jonathan Maberry books. To check out last week's zombie song or any other articles you may have missed, find past issues at the Spellbinders Blog.  Here is a copy of last week's tips for creating your own book spoofs:  1) Make a list of characters, locations, key phrases, etc. from the novel. 2) Explore a variety of songs and decide which one might lend itself to a spoof of that particular book. 3) Study the song you have selected, line by line, and see if any of the original lines of the song can be retained in part or whole. 4) Look back at your list of characters, locations, and phrases and see if any of them rhyme. 5) Go through the song, line by line, substituting your own lyrics. 6) Sing and Enjoy! Next week we will have the final song in our Three-Part Holiday Series: December 17 - EDWARD THE VAMPIRE or A VERY FROSTY KISS MISS After that we will be taking a break until January 14, 2013! HAPPY HOLIDAYS    Join Our Mailing List! Meet the Spellbinders Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. Take Me There is a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Her upcoming paranormal verse novel, Forget Me Not, will be published by Simon Pulse in October of 2012.   She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Act of Haiku."             Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New Mexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.    To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website.    Kimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well as two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013.    She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing workshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides.                           Upcoming Author Events December 11, 2012 SCBWI Winter Party and multi-author book signing featuring all of the Spellbinders and several other authors February 2, 2013 Montgomery Book Festival Houston, TX  Carolee Dean Kimberley Griffiths Little

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