STORIES IN JOYCE'S BACKYARD: A "PICK-YOUR-OWN" GIVEAWAY!

 "This is the house that the Hinkle sisters lived in, and that's the muddy river where Thomas and Jackie fished together." Joyce Hostetter pointed out the car window as we drove around around her hometown, Hickory, NC--the setting for her Bakers Mountain Series. "See that old building? That's the hosiery factory where Junior worked for a few days. Over there is where the car mechanic lived who helped him fix his truck."

The Honeycutt family and their friends, who already had a special place in my heart from reading AIM, BLUE, COMFORT, DRIVE and EQUAL, became even more real as I saw the places where they lived, played, and worked--all within sight of Bakers Mountain. 

Bakers Mountain, photo courtesy Joyce Hostetter

How did Joyce end up writing a series of books that rose up out of what was once a rural community? It all began when Carolyn Yoder, senior editor at Calkins Creek, suggested that Joyce find the story in her own backyard. When Joyce began researching the history of Hickory, NC, she discovered the Miracle of Hickory at her local library.

Mural in downtown Hickory. Do you see Joyce?

She researched, read old papers, interviewed polio patients...and BLUE was born. Read some of Joyce's thoughts on the process of discovering her stories here. 

Part of Joyce's real backyard. Photo courtesy Joyce Hostetter

A few years after BLUE was published, I met Joyce in Birmingham, Alabama at a literacy conference. She was presenting on BLUE, I was presenting on Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8.  

We bonded over reading and writing. We co-presented several times and continue to publish a quarterly newsletter, Talking Story. We are critique partners and good friends. 

I felt Joyce's influence when I began brainstorming my own first novel. I rode my bike, walked, and drove through neighborhoods. What could have happened here? Half-Truths incubated. Ideas hatched. A novel slowly took shape. It changed. Got revised (many times!). Was reborn. 

What did Carolyn mean when she gave Joyce that assignment? Possibly she was not only talking about an actual backyard but was also encouraging Joyce to reach inside of her own experiences to find something she could relate to and authentically show in her writing.  

Let's face it. There might not be a compelling story about polio or pre-civil rights tension in your community, city, or state. Or, maybe you write science fiction or fantasy that's not even rooted in this continent or world--let alone in your neighborhood! How are you going to find that "backyard" story?

At the foot of Bakers Mountain and staring at Joyce's budding trees and the grass turning green I thought--my backyard is bigger than the crazy intersecting streets of Myers Park, NC. where my characters live. 

It's my whole life. 

It's writing what I know with a twist. 

It's taking my grief over losing someone I loved and embedding that in Kate, my protagonist's heart when she leaves home. It's realizing how making choices is not always very linear and conveying it on the page; it's understanding how gut-wrenching it is to feel betrayed--or be the betrayer. 

It's mining my life. 

How about you? What have you used in your life--whether it's a place, person, event, or experiences--that has made it's way into your book? 

What is in your own backyard? 

Some backyards are under construction,
like mine is!

GIVEAWAY

For the first time on my blog, one fortunate blog reader will be able to pick which book in the Bakers Mountain Series they want to win! Leave me a comment by May 11 to enter this giveaway and tell me which book you are interested in. U.S. addresses only. Make sure you leave me your full name and email address if you are new to my blog.

Make sure you check out the other great books on Greg Pattridge's MMGM blog! 

MIGHTY INSIDE: A Middle Grade Historical Novel Review and Giveaway

Although I've never met Sundee Frazier in person, I feel as if I know her. When I first started researching Half-Truths, I read her autobiographical book, Check All That Apply: Finding Wholeness as a Multiracial Person (InterVarsity, 2002. The daughter of a white mother and a Black father, Sundee wrote candidly about her struggles to fit in, to feel accepted as a multiracial person, and how her Christian faith helped her in her journey to wholeness.

Fast forward several years, and Sundee wrote The Other Half of My Heart (Random House, 2010) about twin girls--one who is "milky white" and the other is "cinnamon brown." Their Black grandmother insists that both girls enter the Black Pearls of America pageant--which produces high drama for both girls! (Click here for my interview with Sundee about this book and how she mined her life to write it.)

Sundee's most recent book, Mighty Inside  (Levine Querido October, 2021) also draws from her own life--this time most specifically about her father's and grandparents' experiences in Spokane, Washington in 1955. After you read my review, please click on the video. Sundee and her family share some of the stories that informed this wonderful middle grade novel.

(Please see Sundee's website for her other children's books.)

REVIEW

Every time he opened his mouth, his words backed away like a kid afraid to jump off the high dive--running to the end and then stopping, over and over--until he could feel the pulsing of an artery in his forehead. His tongue felt as heavy and solid as a brick. (p. 17)

That's how Melvin Robinson describes his "traitor mouth" that trips over "sticky" letters like "T" "P" or "B." It's the Stutter that has been with him ever since he was a little kid; the mouth that prevents him from speaking his mind; the tongue that will embarrass him as he enters high school. 

He makes it through his first day of school with one big accomplishment: he meets Lenny--a talkative, Jewish, white sax player who sticks to Melvin like a burr. But, as Melvin finds out, Lenny ends up being the best friend a kid could have. 

As the book progresses, Sundee skillfully weaves in backstory. Melvin overhears an argument between Melvin's father and his Uncle T.:

"Why you think that boy got that stutter? 'Cause he's surrounded by all these white folks, that's why. You shouldn't be here. You should be on the east side. Or do you think you're too good for that?" 

....

Pops had crossed a line. Was Melvin suffering because of it?" (p. 52)

School is a mixture of pain with some spots of pleasure. Despite faithfully doing his tongue exercises, Melvin messes up frequently--and is teased by several bullies. But, his day is brightened by brief glimpses and interactions with his crush, Millie, a Japanese American. Science (taught by a veteran who lost a hand in WWII) and choir are highlights. When he sings the Stutter never appears. 

But where Melvin really begins to shine, is playing accordion alongside of Lenny. The two become so good that Lenny convinces Melvin that they should try out for a television show featuring local kid performers. Although Melvin is scared, he realizes that his accordion speaks better than he does.  

I don't want to include any spoilers, so I'll just say:

• I really appreciated how Sundee threads Melvin's Christianity--as well as his questions into the novel. During a stressful time, Melvin recites portions of Psalm 23. Although he wonders why God gave him a "broken tongue," his faith helps him conquer his fears. 
• Other plot points about Emmett Till, Lenny's father, and Millie's experience in Japanese internment camps enrich the book.  
• I liked the metaphor of the "walls" of prejudice that Melvin keeps running into.
• And finally, just like Jackie in Joyce Hostetter's latest novel, Equal, Melvin also discovers: 

He knew he would get stuck on some of his words, and it was all right. He had decided the best way to deal with an enemy, if he could, was to make that enemy his friend. The Sutter was a part of what made him him and he was okay. Just the way he was. (p.229)

The Author's Note includes how Sundee's grandparents acquired their home and some of the family stories she drew from. Here's the promised video: 

                                            https://youtu.be/4SOq6Fw0NDk

GIVEAWAY

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment by December 7 at 9 AM. If you decide to follow my blog for the first time or share this on social media, I'll put your name in twice--just let me know what you did. If you are new to my blog, please leave your name and email address.  

Congratulations to Amy Houts, who won Dear. Mr. Dickens from last week's blog.

Double Interviews with Lisa Kline and Joyce Hostetter and Double Giveaways!

When Lisa Kline asked me if she and Joyce Hostetter could interview each other about their recent books, of course, I said yes! Both authors are North Carolina friends, terrific writers, and have been featured on my blog several times. Without further ado, here they are--interviewing one another!

LISA KLINE's INTERVIEW With JOYCE HOSTETTER

I read and loved Joyce Moyer Hostetter’s historical story Blue, which has become a classic, become required reading for many schools, and has even inspired a play. On her website, she says that she writes about tough topics because she is trying to understand the world’s sorrows. I so admire the way she addresses these tough topics in such an authentic and straightforward way. 

LISA: Jackie Honeycutt, your main character in Equal, is an appealing and earnest young man who wants to do the right thing. Tell me a little about how you developed his character. Was he in any of the previous Baker’s Mountain books? 

JOYCE: Jackie shows up at the end of Comfort but the reader doesn’t know much about him until they read Drive, the 4^th book in the series. As the youngest member of the Honeycutt family, he had to wait his turn to be the main character. Once the series was underway, Equal, the 5^th book was always going to be Jackie’s story.

LISA: You drop Jackie, your fictional hero, into a real protest march in Greensboro in 1960. That must have been a fun scene to write. Tell me a little about that decision.

 JOYCE: Ha! It was a necessary decision but my first draft didn’t include it. Since Jackie doesn’t live in Greensboro, I assumed he’d be reporting on the movement as seen through the eyes of his activist sister. But, of course, that doesn’t work! The protagonist has to get in on the action. So, I dug a little deeper and found a way to get him to Greensboro at a critical moment in history. In the end, it all worked well and yes, it was fun to write! Because, as you know, conflict creates the story.

LISA: You’ve said this is the final book in the Bakers Mountain series. Many readers will be sad to hear this. What project is next for you? 

JOYCE: I’m writing another North Carolina story set during WWI when several thousand German “enemy aliens” were interned in the small town of Hot Springs. In more ways than one it is a “friendship with the enemy” story. I am so psyched about this and am close to submitting my editor’s requested revisions.  Maybe I’ll blog about that soon at www.joycemoyerhostetter.blogspot.com

 .      

JOYCE HOSTETTER's INTERVIEW WITH LISA KLINE

Filled with dreams of publication, in the early 2000's I attended a writing session on historical fiction. The presenter, Lisa Williams Kline had recently won the NC Juvenile Literature Award for her historical novel, Eleanor Hill.  I soaked up her wisdom and made it my goal to write as well as she did so I could win that award myself one day. Clearly she set me on the right path because I actually did a few years later! I've been writing historical fiction ever since.  (Carol's note: I attended that session and still have my notes--somewhere. That's before Joyce and I knew each other--and before the three of us became friends.)

JOYCE: I loved reading One Week of the Heart and One Week of You! Both were poignant and funny and written with a lively, authentically teen voice. And they made me wonder, how'd she do that? Which of these stories did you conceive of and write first and where did your idea come from?

LISA I wrote One Week of You first. The idea came from two real-life situations. The first was that both of my daughters had to carry “flour babies” as part of their 8th grade health curriculum. Both boys and girls had to carry five pound bags of flour for a week, ostensibly to show them the meaning of having to be responsible for a baby 24/7. I found this curriculum kind of funny, and I thought it would make a funny story to have my main character forgetting her flour baby all the time, ironically because of a romantic relationship she was considering. 

The second real-life event was when there were three bomb threats in one week at my younger daughter’s high school. It was, needless to say, a chaotic and scary and emotional week, and I wanted to write about it. I wondered, could I combine a humorous story line with a serious one? I decided to try that challenge, and One Week of You was the result. 

After One Week of You came out, my publishers asked me if they could have more of Lizzy, the main character, which really made me feel good, of course! They wanted possibly a series, but said a novella would work also. And so I decided to write One Week of the Heart, a novella, which is actually a prequel to One Week of You. Getting back into Lizzy’s flaky character was a delight. 

JOYCE: Did you know, at the outset, that the whole story would take place in one week? What challenges are involved in fully plotting a story that takes place in a week? 

LISA: I did know that the story would take place in one week, because the students had to carry the flour babies for a week, and the bomb threats also took place in one week. And, of course, many teen-age romances last about a week, haha! I like using compressed time periods for my novels. It can keep the tension high, your reader doesn’t have to wait months or years for a resolution, and you still have freedom to explore the past through flashbacks. 

JOYCE: I always wanted to write funny and you do it so naturally. Got any tips for me and others who want to tickle the reader’s funny bone?

LISA: That’s a very nice compliment, thank you! I think the concept of the flour babies is inherently funny, so I had that going for me in this book. I found the irony of Lizzy repeatedly losing her flour baby because of her crush –the very thing the flour baby was supposed to be training her to guard against– to be funny. Also, Lizzy is a very flawed main character – she is forgetful, she is susceptible to flattery, she is overly competitive – and I think flawed characters can lend themselves well to comedy. Some things that I write just come out funny, and I have no idea how it works. I tried studying humor once – I read articles by really hilariously brilliant writers like Tobin Anderson – but found that being analytical about it didn’t work for me. When I try to make something funny it never seems to work. I’ve written several serious novels, but have seemed to have more luck with the ones that just turned out to be humorous. 

Learn some fun tidbits about Lisa at her Website's About Page.  

GIVEAWAY

Joyce, Lisa, and I are giving away a copy of Equal and a copy of One Week of You. In your comment, please let me know if you have a preference. U.S. address only; winner will be selected by 6 PM on November 10. If you share this on social media or join my blog, I'll put your name in twice. Make sure you leave your name and email address if you are new to my blog! I can't enter you in the giveaway without it.

Congratulations to Carrie Schmidt who won Code Breaker, Spy Hunter from last week's blog. 

EQUAL by Joyce Moyer Hostetter: A Review, An Autographed Giveaway, and a Bonus Giveaway!

Congratulations to Danielle Hammelef who won THE SUMMER OF THE TREE ARMY from last week's blog.

                                                        ****

Some people read a book which they really like and rush through it to get to the end. Not me. When I find a book that I love, I stretch it out. I don't want the story to end.

That was doubly true for Joyce Moyer Hostetter's last book in the Bakers Mountain Stories series-- EQUAL (Calkins Creek: 2021). How is it possible that there won't be another story about the Honeycutt family? I'm sorry to say to all her fans--there won't be. 😞 I even knew how the book would turn out AND I still cried at the beautifully crafted ending. But, I'm getting ahead of myself...

REVIEW

                                PROLOGUE

When I went to the river that day in 1959,

I didn't expect to meet a colored boy

who loved birds like I love my cow.

I didn't know what all I'd learn from him

or that a mean old drunk would come along

and force me to see myself as I never had before.

I didn't realize I was face to face with a muddy wide river.

I didn't think when I went into eighth grade

that a teacher would name my strengths

and inspire me to be even stronger.

I didn't know that I'd learn 

to speak up while measuring my words,

to hold back when I wanted revenge,

or to imagine an enemy as my friend.

                                                                            ******

EQUAL is the story of two boys--one white and one Black--becoming friends despite their differences, hard feelings, and an act of senseless prejudice. But that only scratches the surface. 

EQUAL is also about what it was like to live in a small, rural town in North Carolina in 1960 on the eve of civil rights. Segregation was the norm. As 8th-grader Jackie Honeycutt finds out, the atmosphere of prejudice not only dictates what school and church Jackie attends, but it leaves his new Black acquaintance, Thomas Freeman, and his family in constant fear of potential harm to themselves or their property.  

Mrs. Cunningham, Jackie's teacher, begins the school year by writing Abraham Lincoln's quote on the chalkboard: "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them into my friends?" This question haunts Jackie throughout the book and (as you can tell from the cover) is EQUAL's theme. Jackie wrestles with jealousy towards other kids at the 4-H competition; he struggles with anger towards a classmate who constantly mocks him; and he feels irritated towards the woman who leads the local Home Demonstration club and snubs his mother. But most of all, he has to come to resolve that dilemma with Thomas. It is not until he truly empathizes with Thomas and Thomas's family does he realize how he can answer Lincoln's rhetorical question. 

In the last third of the book Jackie is staring at Bakers Mountain from his front porch and thinks, "One thing I was figuring out was--as long as white people didn't know Negroes personally, we could never understand their viewpoint. Thomas had educated me on things I never even thought about before." (p.206) That is Jackie's moment of truth which leads to actions that surprise him, are character-revealing, and lead to the wonderful conclusion.

I have blogged before about the importance of making secondary characters a vital part of the story; there are many other characters in EQUAL who are strong and well-crafted. Readers will be happy to see Ann Fay get reunited with Imogene, her friend from the polio ward in BLUE and now she and Junior are happily married (finally)! But the other person in EQUAL who I want to mention is Jackie's mother. Her character arc is shown as she goes from being afraid of what her neighbors will think when a Black family spends the night during a snow storm to saying to Jackie, "Your father and I have been wrong. I was wrong for letting Blanche scare me away from doing the right thing. I believed her when she said poeple would think we're communists. And she was always saying integration could bring violence. I was scared, Jackie."

That conversation ends with her encouraging Jackie to invite Thomas over so she can really meet him. Jackie doesn't know it--but his learning to make friends with his enemies--changed not only him--but his parents too.

                                        EPILOGUE

When I went into the new year, 1960,

I didn't expect to be snowed in with a colored family

who deserved freedom as much as I did.

I didn't know what all I'd learn from them

or that a personal enemy would make me care enough

to join their fight.

I still didn't know how to cross that muddy wide river.

When I went to graduation that night

I knew I wasn't happy with my speech.

I didn't know that Maribelle would show up and 

I'd see Thomas in my mind's eye.

I didn't imagine that because of them,

and the two Jackies,

and all the brave people

who sat at lunch counters and marched in the streets,

I'd change my words midsentence

and wade right into that muddy wide river.

But I'm glad I did. 

                                ********

Equal takes place sixty years ago and is equally as relevant today. Read it with your kids, grandkids, and students.  Explore the Author's Note at the end. Talk about it. I want to hear the discussions that happen as a result of this book--and I'm sure Joyce does too.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

I've had the privilege of being Joyce's beta reader and read several drafts. You will read the completed story of how Jackie recognizes his racism and deals with it. But I saw how Joyce built the book. She knew Jackie was someone who talked first and regretted his words later. She knew he was a 4-H kid who loved his cow, Lucy, and would learn big lessons when he showed her at the county fair. She knew that fears of bombs from Russia, Communism, and integration would be part of the setting. She had the characters of course--she's been creating stories about the Honeycutts ever since Ann Fay's father left for WWII in BLUE. 

But Joyce didn't know Jackie's backstory and why Thomas didn't trust him. I was on the sidelines and watched her figure out that BIG piece of the puzzle and then weave it into the book. 

I tell you all this because some of you reading this are writers, like myself, who realize the enormity of pulling together all of the many threads that go into a novel--and I want to encourage you that even a master writer like Joyce works HARD to accomplish this. Others of you are readers. I want you to know that a story as magnificent as Joyce's doesn't just happen. There are hours and hours of drafting, writing, reorganizing, deleting, revising, and tweaking that go on behind the scenes.

If you are new to my blog and haven't heard of the Bakers Mountain Stories, please check out my other posts: AIM, BLUE, COMFORT, and DRIVE. (In this blog and this one, Joyce explains the order in which the first three books were written.)

TWO GIVEAWAYS!!

Thanks to Calkins Creek's generosity, Joyce is giving away one copy of a personally autographed book to one fortunate winner. Please leave me a comment by 6 PM on May 14 to enter. MAKE SURE you include your name and email address if you are new to my blog. 

DRIVE - with a beautiful new cover-- just came out in paperback and I have a copy of of that to give away also. When you leave a comment, please let me know which book you are interested in winning. Only continental United States addresses please. Sorry, you can't win both!

ONE FINAL WORD

Joyce's virtual launch with SCBWI-Carolinas is on May 27 at 7 PM.  She will be giving away another copy of EQUAL at that time--so if you don't win now, you'll have another chance to win later. You don't need to be a member of SCBWI to sign up and attend. Come and find out why Joyce wrote EQUAL and what she hopes readers will take away from it. 

I Finished My Book, Now What? Some ABC's of Being Between Books

Congratulations to Theresa Milstein who won Tomorrow's Bread from last week's blog.

********

One of the television shows my husband and I enjoy is Chopped. Besides watching the incredible creations the cooks come up with out of their mystery baskets, I like the final second when the cooks' time is up. They throw up their hands and step away from the plates. There is nothing more they can do.

That's how I felt last week when I typed "The End" on HALF-TRUTHS, tweaked it a few more times, and pressed SEND.

After over eleven years, my young adult historical novel was on its way to an agent. 

NOW WHAT?

I step back, but I'm not about to throw my hands up in the air.

Instead, here's a peak at what will keep me busy--and keep me from checking my email every minute of the day as I wait for an answer. 

A is for agents. I'll continue to work on my list of agents who I'll query next. I have a folder in my email box in which I've been saving agents I've read about who are interested in YA historical novels; most of them from Kathy Temean's excellent blog, Writing and Illustrating. (If you are serious about writing or illustrating for children or teens, you need to follow this blog.) I'll study each agent's wish list and if I think they're a good fit, I'll move their name and agency information to my list on Query Tracker. For $25.00/a year you get the premium membership with many benefits. 

B is for brochure. Mine is out of date and it'll probably take hours for me to come up with a new design template. Not my favorite thing to do. 

Old brochure.

C is for clean up my computer. I keep running out of room on my hard drive! Time to move photos and files. 

A little old-school, I know. But I still like them!

D is for dentist. Overdue.  

E is for EQUAL.  

Joyce Hostetter sent me the manuscript for her last book in the Baker Mountain Series several months ago. She has given me a tremendous amount of feedback and input into HALF-TRUTHS. Time to return the favor. 

F is for the Federlin files.

One of Henry Federlin's genealogy lists.

I inherited many things from my father, Henry Federlin, including his desire to document his life. I have two folders full of papers that he saved which I promised to copy for my brother and sister.  

I is for Instagram. 

Apparently Instagram (not Facebook!) is the way to connect with teen readers. I have an account, but have only a smidgen of knowledge how to use it. 

L is for lunch with friends.

via GIPHY

 (my friends are less furry but I couldn't resist this!)

M is for Marguerite Higgins.

While researching HALF-TRUTHS, I came across Marguerite Higgins, a journalist who covered WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. She becomes Kate's heroine and perhaps, my subject for a non-fiction picture book biography. 

M is also for Dr. Marie Maynard Daly.

I also discovered Dr. Marie Daly, who becomes Lillian's heroine. I think she would make an excellent subject for a non-fiction picture book biography. 

S is for Scrivener 3.  

See comment on Instagram above about learning something new. Except that I've begun my next book in both Scrivener 2 and 3. First off: figure out how to import one to the other.

T is for Talking Story.  Our fall issue is on Native Americans and First Nations. 

T is also for THREADS. The working title for my sequel to HALF-TRUTHS.  

Charlotte textile industry roots
Image courtesy Bank of America.
https://about.bankofamerica.com/en-us/our-story/charlottes-textile-industry-roots.html#fbid=oK529mgLEX0

The textile mills are as much a part of Charlotte, NC's history as the Jim Crow laws. The story will take place in 1954, involve the textile mills, and revolve around Frank, Kate Dinsmore's younger brother, and Isaac, Lillian Harris's older brother who has just returned from his service in Korea. 

W is for Write2Ignite. Our annual conference is less than two weeks away and I need to finish getting ready. I'm giving three talks for teens and am excited to encourage these burgeoning authors. There's still time to register!

*********

How about you? What do you put off doing until you've completed a project? 

Which item on my "to do" list will I tackle first? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!