Tag Archives: kidlit

Book Events: the Good, the Bad, the Awesome

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Book Events- The Good, the Bad, the Awesome

Recently, a tweet from a debut author went viral when she expressed extreme disappointment that only two people went to a bookstore event for her novel. Many authors, debut and veterans, expressed solidarity. We’ve all been there and it sucks. It’s not limited to debut or relatively unknown authors. The first event I went to was for a young adult author that had published close to ten books, some of which won awards. There were six people at the bookstore to hear her speak. SIX. Two of which were my friend and me. When I contact a bookstore and ask them if I can do a signing there and they ask what kind of crowd can I draw I want to tell them that story and then tell them the truth: I’ll try my darndest to get people there but I can’t guarantee anything. NO ONE CAN!

In light of that viral tweet and closing out a year where I was actually able to do some in person events, here’s some thoughts:

THE GOOD:

• I have a book in the world and can talk to people about it!
• Suzy from The Book Cellar
• Bob from the Barnes and Noble in Algonquin
• My fancy purple pen used for signing books.
• Family and friends that came to support me, some on more than one occasion.
• Meeting strangers and talking to them about my book.
• Seeing people I hadn’t seen in a LONG time who had come out to support me and my book (more on that later)

THE BAD:

• Feeling like you letdown a bookstore because they ordered 24 copies of your books and you only sold seven. (I can still see the look on the seller’s face as she lugged the left over copies off the table)
• Reaching out to schools, GSA’s, colleagues, family, and friends and only having two people show up.
• Bookstores rejecting you because you don’t have a following.
• Not even receiving any response from a store when you ask if they would be willing to host an event.
• Feeling like everyone else knows how to do this but you don’t (not a fact but a real feeling)

THE AWESOME:

• My parents, who come to every event just like they did when I played sports all through childhood
• My friend, Carrie, who came to an event from Indiana. I hadn’t seen her in seven years.
• My friend, Malachy, who came to my launch at the Book Cellar and who I met when we were students at Roosevelt. I hadn’t seen him in eight years.
• My friend, Lisa, who came in from Minnesota to help me celebrate at The Book Cellar
• Suzy at the Book Cellar who knew how special this launch was and made a cake to celebrate

Attendance at these things are sporadic and unpredictable. It can leave you feeling elated or defeated. But I’ve got some things lined up for 2023. Maybe I’ll see you there!

What a Way to Spend a Day

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Part of being an author is talking about your work. More specifically, going to an event of sorts to talk about your work. Almost two years after I was supposed to go to my first event as an AUTHOR, I finally got my chance two days ago when I went to Conant High School’s third annual Author Day.

Here are some thoughts:
First of all, what an amazing opportunity for students to engage with an author. I don’t think I met an author until I was out of college. I remember an author (maybe) visited my elementary school for an all-school assembly. She did some Q&A at the end and did not call me on so I never got to ask her how to get a book published.

Secondly, I know not every kid in the auditorium during first period is really excited to hear all about writing, and books, and all that fun stuff. As I went through my presentation and saw some kids on their phones and more than a few snoozing, I began to doubt is anyone was getting anything out of what I was saying.

Thirdly, I need to expand my presentation for the next event. It was not my intention to leave so much time for questions and we all know how high school students love to speak up and ask a question in the company of hundreds of their peers.

Fourthly, I am thankful for the girl who asked the question about writer’s block so I could give her one of the ten copies of MAN UP the school had bought to give away to students. She said she was working on a similar story and told me maybe my book would give her inspiration as she wrote it.

To quote my favorite song from Tick, Tick…Boom: “What a way to spend a day…I’m gonna spend my time this way.”

Another Inspirational Lady

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Last week, I talked about how my mom indirectly provided me with inspiration for a key detail in THE WAR ON ALL FRONTS. This week, I’d like to talk about another lady who has crept into a short story, a whole screenplay I wrote in college, and then found her way in this book too.

My maternal grandma, Lisetta Scaramella, née Alo, (I don’t like the word “grandmother” for some reason. It sounds too formal) was born in southern Italy in 1915 and came to America when she was 17 years old to reunite with her husband, my grandpa, and start a new life across the ocean. She died in 2004 at the age of 89. I wish I could properly imitate how she talked. It wasn’t a stereotypical Italian accent. She cut the consonants off the end of words. My mom told me she liked the name Gregory for my brother, but my grandma couldn’t say it. For those curious, my brother’s name is Chris.

Any time an Italian food is described in something I write, it comes from personal experience and observation. I was fortunate to live around the corner from my grandma. Many Saturday afternoons involved a phone call with my aunt on the other end, telling me, “Gram made sauce.” That was an invitation to come over, fill a bowl, and dip chunks of Italian bread in tomato sauce that had been simmering since the early morning. I am proud to say that on Christmas Eve, in honor and in memory of my grandma, I make sauce and meatballs, and that’s our dinner. It will never be as good as hers but I don’t expect it to be.

There’s a scene with Anthony’s grandma in THE WAR ON ALL FRONTS. Every description and character trait is rooted in fact. I wonder what my grandma would make of the fact that I published two books when she could barely read or write because when and where she was born, that wasn’t something girls really got to do.

She might not have been able to read a book, but she’s in this one.

B/W Photo credit: Tonya Brescia 2001
Other photo: selfie before cell phones 1999? Maybe? Love her expression in this one. Classic Gram!

Tomatoes, Lettuce, and Pickles Only

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Inevitably, an author will get asked if something that happens in a book or if a character is real. In the case of THE WAR ON ALL FRONTS, I can safely say none of it is autobiographical having never been a gay young adult in the late 60’s. However little snippets of my life found their way into the story. Here’s a preview of something pretty special in the book:

Anthony and Sam’s main way of communication is letters but I found out that soldiers were often expected to read their letters aloud to one another.How could these boys express their feelings for one another and how much they miss each other if they couldn’t write that? They would have to use some sort of code. I had to think of a buzz word that had special meaning for them. I made a list of possibilities but don’t remember any of them because they weren’t any good.

Without knowing my secret code, I wrote the first chapter where Sam eats dinner with Anthony’s family (as he often does) right before Anthony leaves for Basic. I read somewhere that soldiers often wanted condiments in care packages because it made their rations taste better. This made me think of my Italian mom who DOES NOT like any condiment. Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, none of them. I always thought this was an Italian thing but learned my aunts did not share in this hatred. I could hear my mom’s shock and disdain for this request and decided Anthony’s Italian mom would also scorn condiments. It was supposed to be something funny to break up the tension of Anthony’s last meal at home.

As a joke, in his first letter to Sam, Anthony tells him to send ketchup. And a lightbulb went off. That’s it! Ketchup! They would declare their feelings for each other through condiments. It was funny. It was original (I think). And it felt natural.

So many times a minor piece of research turned into something that proved vital to the book. Combine condiment care packages with my mom’s hate for them and I had my secret code. Sure, my mom’s hostility towards ketchup made for some intense childhood visits to Burger King but it provided me with such an important thread in this book.

Two Hippies and a Soldier

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I was going to do a longer list of secondary characters and share some fun stuff about them but then I realized that would give away some things that I’d like to stay a surprise, so here’s a few that I can tell you about without spoiling anything:

Suzy

Freshman at the University of Wisconsin
British Literature major
From Ithaca, NY
Sam’s lab partner in Biology
Belongs to Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

Gloria

Suzy’s friend
Gets on Sam’s nerves A LOT
Is on academic probation

Eddie Capstone

From Lexington Kentucky
Twenty years old
Meets Anthony at Basic Training
Called Capper by his fellow soldiers
Has a girlfriend named Lorraine

Sam and Anthony’s Favorite Songs

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Sam and Anthony might love each other but not always one another’s taste in music. If they have some coins burning a hole in their pockets, what songs would they choose to play on the jukebox? Many authors have a playlist that served as background music while writing a book, these are the ones that were on repeat in my head while writing The War on All Fronts.

Sam’s Favorites:

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stoness

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles

“Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane

“Hello, I Love You” by The Doors

“Break on Through (to the Other Side)” by The Doors

Anthony’s Favorites:

“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys

“Sloop John B” by The Beach Boys

“Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds

“Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” by the Beatles

“We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by the Animals

YouTube: Beyond Cat Videos

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I would love to ask a historical fiction writer what researching was like before the internet. For my latest book, The War on All Fronts, I made many a trip to the library, conducted interviews, and became good friends with the people at the University of Wisconsin Madison Archives. But Google was my go to when it came to figuring out what day of the week Christmas was on in 1967 or finding out when the Slurpee was invented. YouTube became my best pal when it came to primary sources.

When reading about personal accounts about enduring boot camp in the 1960’s didn’t give me the details I needed, YouTube came to my rescue with a video made during that time that was over a half hour of drills and life on base. When I found out the Walter Cronkite gave a report about the Tet Offensive in January, 1968 that changed many a perspective about the war, YouTube had footage of the broadcast. It also had clips from a PBS special in which Vietnam veterans discussed PTSD, protesters in Grant Park at the 1968 Democratic National Convention recounted their experience, and of course, songs of the sixties.

It’s still a great place to go for music videos, movie clips, and cat videos but YouTube can be a goldmine of information for the historical fiction writer too. Those poor people who conducted research so long ago had no videos of people tripping to distract them, though. I bet they got a ton of work done.