On Submission

This post has been a long time coming. About 16 years long. There have been times when I thought I was ready to submit my middle-grade novel, HALF-TRUTHS. But now I KNOW it. 

IN THE BEGINNING

From the beginning, I imagined a story about a white girl and a light-skinned Black girl discovering that they were second cousins. That premise, which consistently elicits a "WOW!" response, has remained the same throughout my book journey.  

Having written dozens of articles and two nonfiction books, (Friendship Counseling, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8)  I had confidence in my writing skills. But I knew nothing about writing fiction. It felt like jumping into deep water without knowing where I'd find the bottom. 

I wanted it to be a pre-civil rights story but Harold Underdown, my mentor at a Highlights Foundation workshop in 2009, informed me that was only the setting. For years I wrestled to answer the question he posed: What does your character want? 

EVERYONE HAS A STORY 

In the summer of 2007, I started thinking about my story and began interviewing "experts." My friend and mentor, Joyce Hostetter, encouraged me to research far and wide. What was happening in the world? In North Carolina? In Charlotte? She suggested that I find people who lived in the area and listen to their histories. Since I was just discovering my story, those initial interviews were broad. It's funny to reread them and see some of the questions I asked. 

Even though I often got off track and wanted to include every story I heard--I absorbed a time and place that was new to me. (In a future post I'll share some of the stories that I wanted to include but didn't.) 

I'm working on my 20+ page bibliography which includes 100 expert interviews. Some interview notes are less than a page. One of my experts is a man who graduated high school the same year my protagonist was in middle school. His notes are over 90 pages. Skimming through these interviews, I found details that made it into my story. I'd forgotten where and how I learned things such as what was served for lunch in the school cafeteria, the Black help's relationship with their employers, what it felt like to sit at the back of the bus, the used books and sports uniforms passed to the Black schools, the discussions about school integration, the peasant dresses worn to dances. You name it. It's one thing to read about these things in history books. It's another thing to have someone tell you how they felt as they experienced Jim Crow and/or chose not to become a debutante. 

Dorothy Counts, one of my experts, walking to Harding High School in 1957.
She was the first Black to attend the school.  
The photo originally appeared in The Charlotte Observer. 

People often wonder how I found these experts. I learned to ask everyone, "Who else should I talk to?". Tom Hanchett, Charlotte's local historian recommended several individuals. Others were patients of my dentist husband who were long-time Charlotteans. Others were parents of friends. These became my experts whose stories were woven together to create Half-Truths.

WHERE DID I FIND THIS STORY?

As the (working) title indicates, this book is about secrets and "white lies." Ben Franklin wrote in the Farmer's Almanac in 1758, "Half a truth is often a great lie." Over the years, I've thought about the secrets that people choose to conceal or at least, not talk about. I've often wondered what effect that has on the following generations.  As a Christian, I'm committed to telling the truth as commanded in the ninth commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false witness." As I wrote this novel, I had to think about my own "little" half-truths that I tell, and the reasons for them.

One elderly woman, a former debutante, suggested that I not pry into Charlotte in the 1950s and instead, write about my own life. (Who would want to read about growing up in South Jersey? Boring!) I was fascinated by my adopted new hometown and walked and biked around South Park and Myers Park thinking, "What is the story that could have happened here?" When I visited the former Rosenwald School in Grier Heights and saw the picture of a light-skinned Black principal, I found a key part of my story.

Billingsville School in Grier Heights. 
Now a community center. 

JOURNEY HIGHLIGHTS 

 In November 2008, following Joyce's advice, I joined NaNoWriMo for the first time. I didn't feel ready, but it helped me create a first draft.

Pretty soon I realized that I didn't know what I didn't know. I attended workshops and webinars, conferences, and classes. I read books and blogs on plotting, conflict, and character; participated in several critique groups, and received critiques from industry professionals. Throughout this time, my best writing buddy, Linda Phillips, and Joyce encouraged me, asked me pointed questions, and provided feedback.

From the left: Joyce Hostetter, myself, and Linda Phillips
 at a writer's retreat in 2011.

But why did it take 16 years? First, I spent a long time trying to figure out where the story began. HALF-TRUTHS takes place in 1950, but at one point I started it with the protagonist's father in WWII. Not even close to the inciting event--which I didn't know a novel needed! 

Despite the fact that I wrote several outlines, I kept getting off track. Whenever I heard a feasible suggestion, "Someone should die," or, "Write it from the points of view of both girls," or, "Include romance," I spent time incorporating these ideas and going down rabbit holes of research. Combine that with going back and forth on whether or not this was a young adult or middle-grade book, I often strayed from my original vision: two girls--one white, one Black, discovering they are related. 

Enter Rebecca Petruck.  Rebecca critiqued several drafts and offered great insight into character arcs, plot points, and internalization. After I had spent a lot of time writing boyfriends for each main character (when I was thinking HALF-TRUTHS was a young adult book), Rebecca told it to me straight. I had lost the essence of the story--the girls' relationship.  

Rebecca helped me construct a plot chart in October 2013. 
I learned about Save the Cat! for the first time.

Since all of my readers were saying the book sounded more middle-grade, I ditched the boyfriends and the young adult genre. Along the way, I continued to interview folks and read and review middle-grade books. I particularly enjoyed Kathy Weichman's historical novels. Winner of the first Grateful American Book Prize, Kathy used to joke that she is the poster child for perseverance. I think I might be tying her for that distinction. 

Joyce Hostetter and I have swapped manuscripts over the years. Last February she suggested that I hire an editor to bring the book to the next level. I asked several trusted professionals in the Kidlit community for recommendations and found Deborah Halverson. She is a treasure.

In June 2022, I shared one page from Deborah's comprehensive editorial letter. For the next six months, I worked on incorporating her suggestions. I took out Kate's free verse poetry and changed it to journal-type entries in her steno pad. This fits Kate's goal of becoming a journalist. I worked on more youthful language, made Kate the instigator for the major change in her life, tightened the ending, and strengthened the City Girl vs. Country Girl motif as Rebecca had suggested years ago--but I'd forgotten!

In other words, I revised. A few weeks ago I was rewarded with these words from Deborah: 

In this revision, I feel you have accomplished your goals with this project, creating an entertaining, enlightening, compelling, and satisfying story for middle graders. I believe young readers will connect with Katie immediately and root for her throughout. Her growth is inspirational, showing the triumph of a flawed but earnest young person. 

Deborah's words gave me a boost of confidence that finally brought me to the...

of this stage. But it is also the beginning of an exciting time--being on submission!

WHAT'S NEXT?

For my friends and family who are reading this and aren't writers, you may be wondering what happens next. Remember those conferences and webinars I mentioned? At each one, I collected the names of agents and editors who expressed interest in the manuscript. Many said they didn't care how long it took. They just wanted to see it when it was the best I could make it. 

Now I take out that list, organize it through Query Tracker, and start sending out the manuscript.

If you are a writer, how did you feel when you began submitting your work? Please share your experiences in the comments. 

GIVEAWAY

Obviously, I don't have a copy of Half-Truths to give away, but I'm cleaning off my bookshelves to make room for the books I'll need for my next project. Over the last 16 years, I learned that I'm definitely a plotter, rather than a panster. For those of you who abhor outlines, I'm giving away my (slightly marked-up) copy of WRITING INTO THE DARK. Leave me a comment with your email address by February 1 and it could be yours.

Congratulations to Emily Weitz who won MY SCHOOL IN THE RAIN FOREST.

Please take a minute to see views about other middle-grade books on Greg Pattridge's Always in the Middle blog.

BLUE WILLOW: A Book that Lillie and Kate Read-- Part II and Insight into Revision

 Back in 2014, I posted this:

As some of my faithful blog readers know, my story includes Lillie and Kate uncovering a china cup that belongs to both their families. Over the process of writing Half-Truths, I've played with different china patterns. My friend and writing mentor, Joyce Moyer Hostetter, suggested the popular Blue Willow pattern. When I posted this picture on Facebook, several friends commented about their grandmothers' collections. 

Becky Levine and Joyce chimed in that I really needed to read the book, Blue Willow, which they remembered from their own childhoods. After reading it I realized I'd found a book that both girls would have enjoyed and a story that could provide a rich subtext for Half-Truths.

Winner of the Newbery Honor in 1941, Blue Willow recounts the story of a family shaped by the Great Depression. Ten-year-old Janey Larkin longs for a permanent home for herself and for her most beloved possession, a blue willow china plate that belonged to her great-great-grandmother. Her father is an itinerant farm worker who struggles to support Janey and her stepmother.  When the family moves from one farm to another, the plate goes with them but stays packed away. "…never, Mrs. Larkin had declared long ago, would it be put out as a household ornament until they had a decent home in which to display it. In the meantime, it was kept sadly tucked away, a reminder of happier days before its owners had become wanderers in search of a livelihood." (p. 23)

Because the plate had belonged to Janey's mother, it had become a part of her memories that were mixed up with "Mother Goose rhymes and gay laughter and a home of their own.  And because the willow plate had once been a part of all this, it had seemed actually to become these things to Janey. It was the hub of her universe, a solid rock in the midst of shifting sands." (p.23)

That draft was from both girls' POVs. As I wrote in 2017, I returned to writing from Kate's POV alone.  In the current draft, Blue Willow china is still an important link between the girls. But my young beta readers and Deborah Halverson said that the china did not clearly reveal how the girls were related. If more than one reader has a problem with something in my manuscript--I need to fix it!

So, how to tackle this? I did some brainstorming and side writing. I started a new document and recorded every time I mentioned the china. That helped me to see the gaps where Blue Willow fell off the story radar and where I needed to build more connections between the china and the characters. 

I found several places where I could add internalization and dialogue showing Kate's assumptions and false conclusions. It was like figuring out where the puzzle pieces should fit. By the time I had worked through this brainstorming exercise, Blue Willow had gained more importance in the story. In the end, the girls discover how the china is the clue that solves their ancestry mystery.

This blog took a few hours to write. Inserting more information about the china connection took many more; it is just one of the story threads I am deepening in Half-Truths.

And that my friends, is what re-vision is all about. 

By the way, during a recent visit to Joyce's house, I ate from Blue Willow,

and discovered that the pattern adorns other things besides plates!

Do you have a favorite revision story? Or, maybe you enjoy Blue Willow too. Please share in the comments!

The Next Step: The Editorial Letter

A few weeks ago I posted my You're Almost in Labor! blog. I shared that the next step in my publishing journey was engaging Deborah Halverson to help get my "baby" ready to send to agents and/or publishers. 

As I waited for her feedback and editorial letter, I got nervous. What if she didn't like HALF-TRUTHS? Or worse, what if she liked the concept but suggested a major overhaul? I've been there a few times and didn't want to go back. 

When I told Deborah how I felt, she tried to reassure me. "Don’t feel worried. It’s a great story. My job is to help it to its best incarnation, so readers can get the most enjoyment from it. This is about moving it forward!"

My good friend Linda Phillips tried to reason with me. "You want Deborah to be tough; that’s what you paid her for, and it will only make it better.  And since this is a one-time deal, you want her to give you as many suggestions as possible and then you can spend the time making the corrections." 

I knew Linda was right and I reread Deborah's email a few times. But still, "what if's" plagued me the whole night before I anticipated receiving Deborah's letter. I literally tossed and turned that night in bed.

But guess what? The next day, when I received Deborah's editorial letter, I teared up. Deborah not only deeply understood what I was trying to accomplish, but she also called my characters sweet and said it was easy to root for their dreams and for their friendship! 

As I read through her letter I knew that every single one of her points were what she had promised--editorial suggestions that would move Half-Truths forward. 

That night I couldn't sleep because I was so excited that her suggestions were ones I could implement!!

Some of you are readers and curious about the steps involved in writing and publishing a book. Others of you are also writers. For both groups of blog readers, I thought I'd share some of Deborah's points that resonated with me. 

First point:

• This story is Katie’s first-person POV narration. The narrative sensibility absolutely feels like a thirteen-year-old. That is, her level of wisdom, her manner of viewing the world, the things she cares about, and the way she evaluates others’ needs and motives all feel right for someone her age. My concern is that sometimes the language and phrasing feel a bit too sophisticated, sounding “adulty.” 

I was happy to hear that the way Kate sees the world was consistent for a thirteen-year-old. But when I started looking through the manuscript, I was surprised at the many examples of "adulty" language that Deborah found! Descriptions like "grim eyes" or "his furrowed brow" or an action like, "I inhale a whiff of lavender" all take readers out of a young teen's POV. It'll be fun to track down these words and translate them into more teen-like vocabulary. 

Second point:

One of the things I'd included in the manuscript were Kate's poems. For me, they were exercises in getting more in touch with Kate's thoughts and emotions. They had been my side writing technique, as Mary Jane Nirdlinger wrote about in a recent Carolinas-SCBWI blog. But as Deborah observed, 

• Katie doesn’t read poetry. She doesn’t talk about poetry. She doesn’t talk about the world like a poet, and doesn’t talk about becoming a professional poet. She talks about the world like a reporter, and wants to become a professional reporter. She reads newspapers. The books she does read are novels, not poetry collections. In my estimation, the poetry and journalism elements don’t sync. Simply put, I don’t see the point for the poetry.

When I wailed to Linda that I didn't know how I could take out my beloved poems, Linda (who IS a poet and wasn't impressed with my poems but was too nice to say that) excitedly pointed out ways in which those poems could be recycled as narrative or -- maybe even articles which Kate writes. Stay tuned. 

Third Point:

I was concerned I didn't have enough stakes in the story. In a stroke of genius, Deborah showed me how to empower Kate, give her more skin in the game, and solve a sub-plot point problem. Sorry, I don't have a quote to substantiate this third point. As they say, you'll have to read the book!

Deborah made several other observations which will strengthen the story. By the time you get to hold HALF-TRUTHS in your hand (as so many of you said you wanted to do-thank you!) those changes (and others) will be integrated into the final product. 

I appreciate sharing my story-behind-my story with all of you. As Elliot Kurta said after I sent him the editorial letter, "Writing a book is a complicated business!"

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Congratulations to Janet Sheets who won SOUNDS ALL AROUND. 

"You're Almost in Labor!" A Celebration of Stages

 If you're reading this and have been pregnant for nine long months, or if you've been close to someone during that-seemingly-endless amount of time waiting for a baby, then you know how pregnant mamas look forward to their delivery date.

Many people compare publishing a book to having a baby. So, when I contacted Rebecca Kurta, Elliott Kurta's mom (my frequent middle grade guest blogger) about giving a copy of Half-Truths to Elliott, she made the baby comparison. When I explained that although I'm close, my book is still not ready to be delivered, she wanted to know what else was left for me to do. 

Thanks to Lori Steel, who suggested printing out
a close-to-final draft so it looks and feels like a book.

I told her there are just a few "simple" things that happen next.

• I've hired Deborah Halverson, a free-lance editor (who came  highly recommended from Harold Underdown) to comb through the manuscript and find any issues with the plot, the character's voice, deep point-of-view, tension, stakes, etc. 
• Once Deborah returns the manuscript, she and I will talk.
• I'll incorporate her feedback. I will get my baby as spotless as possible.
• I'll hire a copy editor to make sure it's formatted perfectly.
• THEN...I'll start submitting to agents. Over the years I've assembled a list. Now will be the time to perfect my query letter and polish my synopsis.
• THEN...I'll get busy with my next project and try not to obsessively check my email for agent responses. I have 3 picture books that I'm working on as well as an idea for a nonfiction graphic novel. 
• And THEN...I hope my agent-to-be finds a publishing house who will embrace Half-Truths.
• And THEN...I tell y'all about it! 

After I sent the manuscript to Deborah this week, I felt empty. The next day I felt relieved as I realized just how much Half-Truths has consumed my thinking for umpteen years!

Yesterday I celebrated this step of my writing journey by delivering the manuscript to two teen beta readers.

 

I gave one copy to my granddaughter
Caitlin K.,

and another to Elliott.

On my way out the door, Rebecca said, "You're almost in labor!" Thanks, Rebecca, for that reminder to celebrate every stage of my writing journey.

And today, I'm sharing this milestone with you, my faithful blog readers. 

      

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Congratulations to Lisa Fowler who won EQUAL from the "Pick-Your-Own-Book" post.

Remember! Look for more Middle Grade posts on Greg Pattridge's MMGM blog on Monday!