Three Books. Two Points-of-View. One Giveaway. (Make that Four.)

Writing a book from two points of view (POV) is not easy. Although I'm following Mary Kate Castellani's advice to write Half-Truths from both Kate and Lillie's POV, there have been times I've wondered if I can successfully pull it off. It's challenging to:

• Write a story with two separate character arcs.
• Write a story that has its own "big picture" arc interweaving the two girls' journeys.
• Create characters with two distinct voices.

Following my own advice as a writing instructor to "Learn from the Masters," I have read several books written from multiple POV to see how other writers successfully accomplish this task. Here are three examples:

Lisa Kline's first book in her middle grade Sisters in All Seasons series is Summer of the Wolves. Soon after their parents marry, step-sisters Diana and Stephanie are thrown together on a family vacation. Their rocky relationship is full of tension, distrust, and misunderstanding.  The two points of view allow readers to climb inside each character's skin thus increasing their empathy for the characters' experiences. When the girls misguidedly attempt to save some caged wolves, they have to face the repercussions of their actions together. Taking responsibility becomes a vehicle by which they each grow and they become more than step-sisters.  

Lisa shared one of her challenges in writing this series: "There is also a special issue with the passage of time that you face in writing for two voices. You always must keep time moving forward, even when you change from one voice to another. This is a trick that one of my teachers taught me a few years ago. If you have a scene that’s told from the point of view of one person, and you want your readers to see that same scene told from the point of view of the other, you first need to move forward, and then tell that scene as though it’s a flashback. You can’t move backwards in time when you make your move between the two voices. Keep your clock always ticking forward."

I met Beth Revis three years ago and purchased Across the Universe. It took me too long to crack the cleverly done reversible cover, but when I did, I was hooked. This young adult science fiction novel tells Amy's story: frozen for the purpose of populating a new planet in three hundred years, she wakes up early on Godspeed, a spaceship controlled by a tyrannical leader bent on creating his own maniacal world. Amy meets Elder, the young man who is being groomed to be the next leader. From different worlds and different times, they are linked by their common goal of finding out the truth about Godspeed.

I was fortunate to win a copy of Under the Never Sky, Veronica Rossi's first book in her young adult dystopian trilogy.  The reader is immediately hooked into Aria's sterile world in which her scientist mother has gone missing. Desperate to find her, Aria leaves the safety of her Pod and goes into Reverie where she is convinced she will die. She meets Perry, an Outsider and a savage who is both frightening and attractive to her, but who can help her return home.  The alternating viewpoints highlight not only the differences in Aria's and Perry's intrinsic natures and world views, but also their contrasting male and female points of view. 

So, what did I learn from studying these books? Writing in two points of view can demonstrate how two individuals--from different backgrounds and/or worlds--unite to overcome a mutual enemy and reach a common goal. A great lesson from three great authors. 

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I am giving away my gently used, autographed copy of Under the Never Sky. If you want to win it, please leave me a comment by March 17.  Every time you share this on social media of your choice, I'll add your name again to the "hat". Follow my blog or tell me you are already a follower and I'll give you another chance to win. If I don't have your email address, make sure you leave that too!

If you want to discover more about books from two points of view and for another opportunity to win Under the Never Sky, as well as a copy of Season of Change by Lisa Kline, Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude by Kevin O' Malley and Cowboy Up! by Nancy Bo Flood--then check out Joyce Hostetter's and my next issue of Talking Story. 

"What Else Do You Have?'" - Part II and a Giveaway

Last week Lisa Kline explained the editorial process behind creating her Sisters in All Seasons series. Today she shares more of that process as well as her own personal adventure writing the books. 

In the past, I have focused on my characters, let their actions and dynamics unfold, and shaped the story as I have gone along. In Write Before Your Eyes, for example, I had the idea of a girl who found a magic journal in which everything she wrote came true, and when I started writing all I knew was that what she wrote would get messed up and cause lots of trouble. I worked out the exact nature of that “trouble” as I wrote. I practically wrote myself into a corner, in fact, and my fearless writing buddies, Chris Woodworth and John J. Bonk, helped me brainstorm my way out of it!

I was not able to work that way on the Sisters in All Seasons series. I simply did not have the luxury of time. Each book had to be written in about seven months, and one I ended up having to write in less than five. I had to write synopses and plan the story ahead of time. I had to know where Stephanie and Diana would be at the end of each book before I started writing. In some series, the characters don’t age, but in mine, they do, so that was a complicating factor. I determined that to finish I would need to write at least two pages a day. On the last book, I wrote three. It was stressful, but also very good training.

Of course, I wasn’t in it alone. I had a lot of help. My editor and I had a great email relationship, and I sent questions to her as I was writing, and she’d always answer promptly. We did quite a bit of brainstorming via email. She was always encouraging and supportive. My agent helped navigate the business part of it. And I was so grateful to have Chris Woodworth, my loyal writing friend, read and comment on each book as I finished it. She came to know my characters really well. I also asked my mentor from Vermont College of Fine Arts, Ellen Howard, to coach me on the last book, and her help was invaluable. Another resource for me was Martha Alderson, who calls herself “The Plot Whisperer.” She has made a series of videos and I watched them over and over as I produced my daily pages.

Working on the series was a real adventure. With each book, I discovered new aspects of my characters – I discovered, for example, more about Stephanie’s difficult relationship with her mother. Stephanie had a telephone conversation with her mother in the first book, but she didn’t appear. She was in only one flashback. However, in a later book, Stephanie’s mother became a more prominent character, and I had a chance to flesh her out more. This was a lot of fun. It was as though I’d had a brief glimpse of her at an earlier time but now had a chance to study her more deeply. It was like walking through a foggy wood and gradually having the fog clear in various places.

While I initially panicked, working on this series ended up being a gift in so many ways. I loved my two characters; each of them was a piece of me, I suppose. I got to send them to my favorite places in North Carolina, and let them have adventures with wildlife that as an animal lover, I’ve always wanted to have. Several young readers have told me how much they love the books, and that has warmed my heart. This series has truly been a labor of love.  

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Lisa is sharing this love by giving away a copy of the fifth book, Season of Change. 

Leave me a comment by Saturday, October 7, and I'll enter your name in this contest. If I don't have your email address, make sure you leave that too!

"What Else Do You Have?" A Conversation with Lisa Kline

In the next two blog posts Lisa Kline, author of the Sisters in All Seasons books shares how this five book series was born. 

I imagine that many series first come into being as a proposal with a synopsis for each book. Mine didn’t come about that way.

Several years ago, I wrote a book about two stepsisters, Stephanie and Diana, on vacation at a mountain ranch with their newly married parents. My publisher wasn’t interested. I sent it to a few more publishers, and they weren’t interested, either. With great sadness, I put those characters behind me, wrote some other books, and a couple of years went by.

After my agent sold Write Before Your Eyes, she said, “What else do you have?” And I told her I had this manuscript about two stepsisters. “Send it to me,” she said. I had a rush of emotion.  I wanted the manuscript to have another chance, but didn’t want to get my hopes too high. But after she read it, she suggested I change it from third person to first. I balked. I had so carefully chosen third when I wrote it. But I decided the change was worth a try. This was a fairly extensive process, much more than just changing pronouns. It involved “revisioning” everything and working to differentiate the girls’ voices better. Making that change brought me closer to both characters. It seemed to open channels of understanding for me. Only a few months later, my agent sold the manuscript to Zondervan. But they didn’t just want Summer of the Wolves. They also wanted three more books about Stephanie and Diana. And their schedule called for me to write each of the books in about seven months.

It was a surreal feeling. I was exhilarated and panicking at the same time. I’d never written a book that fast before. Eleanor Hill, my first book, which was historical fiction, took about three years. The others had taken about two years apiece. But wasn’t this what I’d always dreamed of? And the hardest part, the character development, was already mostly done. No matter how intimidated I was, how could I say “no?”

The pub board immediately asked me for ideas for settings and plotlines. I spent several weeks feverishly brainstorming. I knew that I didn’t have time to actually visit locations for the books, so I decided to write about places I’d already been. There was a wildlife adventure in Summer of the Wolves, so I decided each book should have a wildlife adventure. And somehow the idea that the books might take place in different seasons formed. So my editor and I hit on the title for the series – Sisters in All Seasons.

I bombarded my agent and writers’ group with scenarios and they helped me refine them. After I submitted these ideas to the pub board, they chose their top three. My editor then told me that the covers for all of the books would be shot over a two-day shoot so that the girls they’d chosen as models for Diana and Stephanie wouldn’t age too much between covers. So, the covers were shot before I had written the first words of the books. I’ll be honest, I was freaking out!

Lisa will continue her story next week and will also be giving away a copy of the last book in this series, Seasons of Change. 

If you are attending the SCBWI Carolinas annual conference, Lisa and her good friend Chris Woodworth, are co-presenting a workshop on "Characters we Care About."

Holiday Giveaway #1: Blue Autumn Cruise

I thought I would celebrate this holiday season by giving away four books (and one book on CD) for a young reader in your life. In this post, Lisa Kline gives us the inside scoop on her recently published book, Blue Autumn Cruise and gives away an autographed copy to one fortunate daughter, granddaughter, or niece!

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When I started writing the Sisters in All Seasons series, I knew I wanted to have an animal adventure in each book. The first book featured wolves and the second featured wild horses. When we mapped out the locations for the books, my editor and I agreed that a cruise would be a fun setting for the third book. Our family had just taken one for my mother-in-law’s 85^th birthday that I could use as a model. But I quickly ran into a problem: Animals are not allowed on cruise ships.

Well…did people ever sneak animals onto cruise ships? I found out when cruise ships go to exotic ports, sometimes crew members or passengers capture animals and try to take them back to either keep as pets for themselves or to sell. I found a picture of a crew member caught smuggling eight rare parrots, all taped to his legs under his pants! This is, of course, against the law, and people who are caught are fined and sometimes jailed. But enough people get away with it that smuggling animals is something like a six billion dollar business worldwide. People smuggle animals like reptiles, birds, and monkeys when they’re babies.

I decided to have Diana and Stephanie uncover people smuggling on their cruise ship. On the ship, Diana finds one of the rarest iguanas in the world, a blue iguana, and she and Stephanie have to work together to figure out how it got there and how to get it back where it belongs. To help me with my research, I contacted the world’s foremost expert on blue iguanas - a man named Frederick Burton. He is the head of an organization called the Blue Iguana Recovery Program, or BIRP for short, and he’s won major awards for his work in conservation of endangered species. He lives in the Cayman Islands, which is the only place on earth that the blue iguanas live, so I wasn’t able to visit him, but I interviewed him via email.   

I have tried to work with a subject matter expert like Mr. Burton on each of the Sisters in All Seasons books to help with authenticity. I’ve also worked with the herd manager for the wild horses at the Outer Banks, a group of marine biologists, and a wildlife rehabilitator. It has been a blast! 

Thanks, Carol, for giving me the chance to write a little about my research process!

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Here is how you can win a copy of Blue Autumn Cruise:

• If you already follow this blog, please share this contest via social media then post a comment.
• If you aren’t a follower, sign up, and then leave a comment.
• Include your email address so I can contact you.

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HURRY! I'll pick a winner the evening of December 5th!

NEXT GIVEAWAY: Hattie Big Sky. Kirby Larson is generously  giving away a book PLUS a book on CD. 

And the Winners Are....

I had the pleasure of participating in two giveaways today. I brought my almost-10-year-old neighbor, Celie, to Park Road Books so she could meet Lisa Kline and see Lisa's new books, Sisters in All Seasons. 


Lisa called on Celie to pick a name out of the bowl to receive a copy of Summer of the Wolves. No one was more surprised than Celie when she drew her own name!

Celie with Lisa Kline

After signing Celie's book, Lisa drew a name for this giveaway.

Donna Earnhardt- you (and your daughters) are the fortunate winners of Wild Horse Spring. We joked that we could hear you shout "YIPEE!" all the way from Concord!


Thanks to everyone who participated the last two weeks. Don't give up though. When the third book in the Sisters in All Seasons comes out this fall, Lisa and I will be giving away a copy of Blue Autumn Cruise. 


Meanwhile, to whet your appetite, check out this fantastic book trailer:

Guest Blogger: Lisa Kline PLUS A GIVEAWAY - Part II

As promised on last week's blog,  Lisa Kline is giving away her second book in the Sisters in All Seasons series. After she shares her process of writing the series you'll find directions how to win a personally autographed copy of Wild Horse Spring. 

Carol: How did you get the idea for four different locations and four different animals?

Lisa: Zondervan bought my novel Summer of the Wolves and asked me to write three more novels with the same characters. Since the novel takes place when the family takes a vacation, I thought, what if all four novels take place during vacations? And I started toying with ideas about places I’d been, places I had memories I could use for the books. And one of the characters, Diana, has a tremendous affinity for animals, and so I thought, what if some type of animal is featured in each book? My husband is a veterinarian, so I knew I could pick his brain! And then I thought, what if each vacation takes place in a different season of the year? And from there my editor and I brainstormed the Sisters in All Seasons title.

Carol: Can you describe the interaction with Zondervan about creating the series?

Lisa: I wrote up my ideas, sent them to my agent, and we had a couple of interactions before I was ready to send the series synopsis to Zondervan. Caryn Wiseman, my agent, was tremendously helpful.

Carol: What are your thoughts on writing a series? Would you recommend it to other writers?

Lisa: This has been a wonderful experience. To be with your characters for an extended time like this has been such a gift. There is time to get to know them layer by layer, so much more deeply. I am also getting to know them over time as well. When the first book takes place, Stephanie and Diana have just completed 7^th grade. By the 4^th book, they are starting high school.

I will admit that I was intimidated at first by having to develop and write three novels in a year and a half. I wasn’t sure I could do it. I did have to be disciplined. I kept myself to a schedule of about two to three pages a day, a minimum of ten pages a week.

Carol: I love how your characters grew up as you wrote the series and you got to know them better with each book. Can you give us a sneak peak into the third and fourth books?

Lisa: Sure! In the third book, Blue Autumn Cruise (due out in October, 2012) they go on a cruise for Stephanie’s grandmother’s 75^th birthday. This venue gave me a chance to introduce members of the girls’ extended family. It was tricky to get an animal on a cruise ship, though – and I won’t give that part away!  The fourth book, Winter's Tide, (release February 15, 2013) takes place in one of my most favorite places in the world – near Beaufort, North Carolina, close to where my grandmother grew up. I just visited the Duke Marine Lab there for research.

Carol: Every writer always thinks into the future. So, what’s next for you? Do you plan to stay in the inspirational market or write another series?

Lisa: I don’t know what is next. I was working on another novel when this one sold, and I might get back to work on that. But working on a series has been great fun and I would absolutely love to do it again. I feel tremendously blessed to have had the opportunity. 

Thank you so much, Lisa for sharing your experiences with my readers. Now, here are directions for winning a copy of Wild Horse Spring. Lisa will also be autographing books this Saturday, June 30, at Park Road Books. She'll find time to pick this giveaway winner! Contest closes at noon on Saturday--so start tweeting, following, and Facebooking now!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Follow this blog (if you are not following yet), or:
2. If you are already a follower--thank you!--then just post a link on your favorite social network site and,
3. Leave me a comment with your email address indicating which you did.

4. If you do more than one thing (follow and post to a social network site, or post on two different sites) I'll enter your name TWICE!!

Guest Blogger: Lisa Kline PLUS a Giveway- Part I

 In this post my friend and fellow North Carolina author, Lisa Kline, answers questions about her first two books in her four-book series, Sisters in All Seasons. Although Lisa has published three other middle grade books, these are her first in the inspirational market as well as her first foray into writing a series.

Carol: What was your inspiration for writing Summer of the Wolves?

Lisa: On a trip with a friend to a ranch in western North Carolina, I became fascinated with some hybrid wolf dogs, especially one wolf that was terrified of people. I also saw a family with two daughters, one of whom seemed as shy and miserable as the wolf. My heart went out to her. I decided to make up a story combining the wolves and the family.

Carol: What an interesting premise! What stands out for you as being the most challenging and/or rewarding part of writing inspirational material for kids?

Lisa: When I wrote Summer of the Wolves, I wasn’t trying to be didactic or inspirational. I was just trying to tell a story that interested me. What engages me most as a writer is a character’s inner conflict; that is, what is the right thing to do in this situation? And do I have the courage to do it? Writing about characters’ inner conflicts gives me a chance to explore some of my own questions about how we should live our lives. I think that many writers write, not because they have the answers to life’s big questions, but because they struggle with them. And maybe readers identify because they struggle too.

Carol: I can totally relate to that, Lisa. Sometimes I feel as if writing Half-Truths has raised many life questions for me. How did you use this increased self-awareness in your book?

Lisa: I grew to love my characters and wanted them to find love, either from parents, friends, spouses, or God. I believe that God loves us and that love is the most powerful force in our world. One of the questions I often ask myself is, how can we learn to live together on this earth and love each other?

Carol: Did you have a goal in mind as you wrote?

Lisa: If my writing inspires or uplifts others, I’m very happy to learn that. But I don’t set out to be inspiring or didactic. I just try to tell an engaging story, and explore some of my own questions in the process.

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Sisters in All Seasons, is about Stephanie and Diana, who become stepsisters when Diana’s mother marries Stephanie’s father. The girls possess very different forms of courage, and don’t respect or empathize with each other at first. The series is the story of their journey to learn to trust and love one another. Each book features a different vacation location in North Carolina and a different animal. The first two books, Summer of the Wolves and Wild Horse Spring, which were just released by Zonderkidz, are recommended for ages 8-12. 

If you live in the Charlotte area, please join Lisa at her book launch on June 30 from 2-4 at Charlotte’s favorite independent bookstore, Park Road Books.

Meanwhile, you could be the first one of your friends to own an autographed copy of this book! Leave me a comment with a promise to tweet, Facebook, or use the social media of your choice to share this giveaway and I will enter your name. If I don't have your email address, make sure you leave your name and address so I can contact you if you win. But hurry! I'll pick a winner on the evening of June 23!

If you don’t win, you’ll get another chance to win one of Lisa's books. Next week Lisa will share more about the places she visited while writing these books, as well as her thoughts about writing a series. I’ll be giving away a copy of her second book, Wild Horse Spring.