Exciting News: The Dianne K. Salerni Edition

My critique partner, Dianne K. Salerni, got some wondrous news this week.

Barbara Lalicki at HarperCollins has bought, in a pre-empt, three books in a new middle-grade series by Dianne Salerni, author of the YA historical novels We Hear the Dead and the forthcoming The Caged Graves (Clarion, spring 2013). The Eighth Day is about a mysteriously orphaned boy who discovers a secret day hidden between Wednesday and Thursday, and the beautiful girl he finds next door, who only exists on the eighth day. Sara Crowe at Harvery Klinger brokered the deal for world English rights.

And look where Dianne got to visit for research.

The Sun Pyramid at Teotihuacan

See where that arrow is pointing? Some exciting stuff takes place there in Book One. Any guesses as to what that might be?

For more pictures, see these posts on Dianne's blog:

http://diannesalerni.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-writer-looks-at-teotihuacan.html

http://diannesalerni.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-historical-look-at-teotihuacan.html

http://diannesalerni.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-tourist-in-mexico.html

***

Photo courtesy of Dianne K. Salerni

Harbor Seals!

Last week, I went on a trip to San Diego with my family. I had one thing that I desperately wanted to do: go to La Jolla Children's Pool and see seals. Of course, they feature prominantly in Legasea, but I also worked with them when I worked in zoology at Sea World.

On our first morning there, we got up early and headed out to La Jolla. But as soon as we got there, we saw something that sent my heart crashing into my stomach.

Yep, that's right. Fog. Tons and tons of fog. There are actually seals in this picture, but you'd never know it because of the fog.
But, we persevered and followed the sidewalk down to the children's pool, so named because it was created as a safe place for children to play in the ocean. Guess who else discovered it was a safe place?

It was still foggy, but I was able to get some decent pictures.

That's me, gazing gleefully down at the seals. I think I floated on air for the rest of the day.

5 K in 5 Days -- Update

I had this grand idea to jump start my WIP by getting some words down, even if they're tripe. Because I can't edit a blank page, but I can always edit tripe. So here's the update.

Mon - Wed -- I did just over 3,000 words. Yay! And I discovered something that will be very useful in my revisions. See what good comes from tripe?

Thu -- I got bitten by a were cat and spent the morning in the emergency room.  I got a tetanus shot, antibiotics, three swollen fingers, and a virtually useless right hand. Still, I was going to persevere. I can type with one hand. But then, the antibiotics made me sick and I went straight to bed after I got the kiddo in bed.

Fri -- I'm taking a day to whine, and to get work done for my day job since I leave tomorrow for California. And oh, there will be pictures.

Whine #11 -- I'm going to California while on antibiotics that say "Stay out of the sun or you will be incinerated!" Wish me luck.

5,000 Word Challenge

I have just come off of the busiest month in my work year. Because of that, I have produced no writing at all, aside from my short story, Raw. And next week, I head off on my Epic Vacation of Epicness, so I doubt much writing will be done then.

In order to make up for my lack of new words, I am going to challenge myself to do 5,000 words in the next 5 days. 1,000 words a day is quite doable for me, and it will ease some of the guilt from so much time spent not writing. To keep myself on task, I will post my progress here on Wednesday and again on Friday. Anyone else want to join me? Or cheerleaders? I can always use cheerleaders.

Thirteen Years of Disney

September 1st marked my thirteenth year working at Walt Disney World. Tonight, I work my last shift. In honor of this occasion, I'd like to share with you a little of what I did during my time there.

I was a puppeteer,

a harem girl,

an animator,

and a queen,

among many, many other things.



I spent some years as an entertainment coordinator, a Christmas season as a talent coordinator, and did a brief stint in animal programs.

During my time with Disney, I met my husband, I bought my house, I got my degree, and I had Small Child. It's been an eventful thirteen years, and while Disney will always be a part of me, it's time for me to move on.

So long, Disney. I knew you when.

The Caged Graves by Diane K. Salerni

Last week, my critique partner, Dianne K. Salerni, revealed her cover for her newest book, The Caged Graves.

I am in awe of this picture. They actually used a photo of the grave taken by Dianne's husband for the cover. And course, Verity Boone, the main character, is absolutely beautiful.

To celebrate her cover reveal, Dianne has granted me an interview.

The Caged Graves was inspired by two actual graves in Pennsylvania. When did you first learn about the graves and what made you want to write about them?

I was researching ghost stories on a site called Poconos/I-80 Haunts and History (https://sites.google.com/site/hauntsandhistory/poconosi-80east) for a completely different project when I came across mention of a caged grave in Catawissa. The brief paragraph referenced a “Ghastly Ghosts” online article from 2002 which I tracked down. That article has since disappeared from the web, but it had a photograph of the caged grave. Once I’d seen it, I knew I had to visit it in person. My husband tracked down the cemetery using clues in the article and Google Earth and then drove me out to see it. Imagine our shock when we pulled the car up to the cemetery and saw TWO caged graves instead of one! 

What type of research went into writing this book? (ie location, clothing, language)

My starting point was an online article written by the local historical society about the two graves. Little was known about them, although the historian posed several theories about why the graves were caged. Besides making two visits to the actual cemetery, most of my research was done online. I researched the history of the region and the town, purchased books on details of life in the nineteenth century, and used various print and online word references to find and eliminate anachronistic language and details from the story.

You write a lot of historical fiction. What draws you to period pieces?

Believe it or not, I love the freedom and responsibility historical settings give to YA characters. They don’t have to spend 8 hours of the day in high school. They aren’t “teenagers” so much as young adults in the truest sense of the phrase. Verity Boone, the main character of The Caged Graves, is facing an arranged marriage to her father’s neighbor as part of a deal to merge their lands. This isn’t just about a date to the prom – this is the rest of her life!

Recently, you've been working on a contemporary piece. How has that differed from writing historical?

Well, I don’t have to look up words and phrases to find out if they were in use in 1867! (Thank heavens!) However, I do have to make sure the vocabulary I use is realistic for contemporary teens, and I also had to learn more about semi-automatic pistols than I ever wanted to know. But it was a lot of fun to be able to spew out modern references, and I got a trip to the Sun Pyramid of Mexico out of it!

We've discussed what you like to write. What types of books do you like to read?

I like gothic horror and ghost stories, science fiction, and historical fiction – especially with a bit of mystery/steampunk/paranormal to it.

Thank you so much, Dianne! Congratulations on your upcoming release!

Make sure to visit Dianne on her blog at http://diannesalerni.blogspot.com/

Cover Reveal!

I had planned a post all about 90's Krystalyn for today. However, this came in last night.

Yes, that would be the cover for Spirit World, coming April 15, 2013!