I am happy to announce the winner of my 2nd blogging anniversary contest for a signed copy of A Discovery of Witches. The lucky winner will soon be doing a happy dance.
The winner is: Maxine from Oakdale, Minnesota!
Thanks everyone for entering and for being loyal Booksnob followers and sticking by me for two years. I appreciate your comments and the fact that you read the words I write. Thank You!
If you didn't win you can still order a copy of A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness from Amazon. I hear it has been optioned for a movie and they are writing the script. I also heard that book number two will be available this summer! yay!
In honor of "I Love to Read" month, South High invited several local authors in to speak about their books. The third author to share his story and book is author Jacob Wheeler. He visited South High School on Tuesday, February 23th to talk to Geography and History classes about Guatemala and International Adoption.
Jacob spoke to a crowded auditorium in the morning and then spent the rest of the day in the media center talking with staff at lunch and then working with individual classes. He read from his book, Between Light and Shadow and answered lots of questions. Several students expressed interest in reading his book about Guatemalan adoption. Many students throughout the day had shared their personal stories around adoption. One girl spoke out as an adoptee from Guatemala and another young man told his story of being adopted at age 10 in Minnesota. They were very powerful stories.
Jacob Wheeler is a freelance journalist for The Uptake.org, a local online press, as well as author of Between Light and Shadow. He plans to write another book.
Welcome to March and the start of Spring! Many people are snow weary and ready for sunshine and warm air. I'm totally looking forward to time by the lake and reading outside in the sun on my porch swing.
March's author, Danielle Sosin, wrote a book called The Long-Shining Waters and it is up for the Minnesota Book Award in the Fiction category. The ceremony is next month on April 14th. Good Luck Danielle!
Here is the synopsis on The Long Shining Waters from Goodreads:
Lake Superior, the North Country, the great freshwater expanse. Frigid. Lethal. Wildly beautiful. "The Long-Shining Waters" presents three stories whose characters are separated by centuries and circumstance, yet connected across time by a shared geography.
This month you can expect a book review, a contest, an author interview and if we are lucky a guest post by Danielle. I really love the cover of The Long-Shining Waters, it just reminds me of warm weather. You can also expect Spring, St. Patrick's Day, Spring Break and lots of good book reviews from Booksnob. Enjoy the month of March.
February - Author in the Spotlight Wrap-up + Giveaway
Kara, Lost Giveaway Ends tonight at midnight!
Guess What? It is the end of February already. Can you believe it? It is time for me to wrap-up the month of February book love by highlighting Minnesota author, Susan Niz.
Today is the last day to enter the contest to win a copy of Kara, Lost. The contest ends at midnight tonight. The contest is open to people living in the U.S. and Canada that are current Booksnob followers. Good Luck and as always thanks for following Booksnob!
Please check out my review of Kara, Lost. Kara is a runaway teenager fending for herself on the streets of Minneapolis. The story is based on the author's real life experience as a runaway in the 1990's. It is a gritty, raw look at life on the streets. Kara, Lost Book Review
Be sure to check out the interview with Susan Niz. She talks about how she finds time to write with a young daughter. She also talks about her favorite authors and how she was inspired to write Kara, Lost. She also has some great advice for teenagers going through tough times at home or on the streets. Susan Niz Author Interview
Susan took time out her busy day to write a guest post. It is titled "Finding Your Voice as a Writer" and offers great advice to aspiring writers.
As February comes to a close I would like to thank Susan for being the February Minnesota Author in the Spotlight here on Booksnob. She is a talented writer and I look forward to reading more interesting titles from her and working with her in the near future. Please visit Susan's Niz's blog susannizfiction.blogspot.com and website here. susanniz.comand support her by reading her book, Kara, Lost.
February Update: Where are you Reading Challenge? Challenge 2012
February is "I Love to Read" month and so I was very busy helping to bring authors to the South High to speak and promote life long reading. It was fun and rewarding. Regarding my reading progress, I actually read some books that take place in the United States this month. Yeah!
I've read 5 books this month so far and have traveled far and wide.
Here are my books, review links and locations for February:
1. Tinkers by Paul Harding. Takes place mainly in New England.
2. Entwined by Heather Dixon. This is a fairy tale and takes place in a fictional location. I labeled it Utah because the author lives there.
3. Kara, Lost by Susan Niz. Takes place in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
4. The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy. Takes place in Germany and Texas. I used Germany because I felt the majority of the book focused around the events that take place in Germany.
5. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Goodness this book covers 14 different states and if I could use all 14 of them I would be almost half way done with the challenge. Instead, I chose the state New Hampshire because the Appalachian Trail runs though it and that is where the author lives.
So far I have traveled to four continents, four states and six countries. I can't wait to see where my reading adventures take me in March.
Where are you reading?
At age 44, Bill Bryson decided he wanted to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail spans fourteen states and some 2200 miles. Bill is a first time backpacker who needs to get set up with equipment, check out maps and make a plan. Hiking this distance takes time, preparation and skill. Bryson is inexperienced and has no idea how to survive in the wilderness. He spells out his goals, (to see a rare salamander) and his fears, (getting eaten by a bear) and sets off on the trail in Georgia with his friend Katz.
Katz, is Bill's over weight, out of shape, friend from 20 years ago, who agrees to hike the first part of the trail. This "walk" will be a good way to invigorate their long lost friendship. Georgia happens to be experiencing a record cold Spring as the two walk north to Maine. The two survive by their wits, eating noodles, snickers, and slim jims. They meet some interesting and annoying people along the way as they hike through snow, fog, rain, heat and humidity carrying everything they need on their backs.
A Walk in the Woods is a hilarious romp through the Appalachian wilderness. Bryson details the history and geography of the trail. He talks about landmarks, National Parks, the park service and describes the joys of a bed, warm showers, clean clothes and good food after the stress and hard work of back packing.
I loved this book and could really relate to it as I am a backpacker. I have only backpacked on The Superior Hiking Trail in Northern Minnesota which follows the ridge line of Lake Superior. It is about 286 miles and I personally have backpacked about 60 miles of it. It is so beautiful. Last summer, I turned 44 and I took my 13 year old son and introduced him to the joys of hiking on the trail. He loved it! After reading A Walk in the Woods, I am seriously thinking I need to backpack a part of the Appalachian Trail. It sounds so amazing and beautiful.
A Walk in the Woods is a great way to participate in a journey into nature from your comfy chair. I felt like I was right there with Bill and Katz as they experienced the trail for the first time and then became veteran backpackers. A Walk in the Woods is a journey worth taking and one that will have you laughing all the way to your front porch swing. Happy Hiking and Reading!
Welcome to Susan Niz, February Author in the Spotlight here on Booksnob.
Finding your voice as a writer
Susan Niz
We are often told that drawing from personal experiences is the way to create writing that is authentic and meaningful. “Write what you know.” But many writers successfully create imaginary worlds or write from a point of view that is drastically different from what they have lived. I propose that we should write what our instinct tells us to write, we should write without a preset idea of what we envision for the final product, and we should let the journey of the writing process take us where it may. When developing voice as a writer, the idea of ‘final product’ is secondary to the process itself.
For me personally, writing is, at times, a process driven by underlying psychological forces. I am working through past traumatic experiences, creating ‘scripts’ with different outcomes, or reliving moments that need to be revisited in order to be resolved. When writers talk about ‘the pen taking over,’ I believe this is the subconscious taking control and doing what it feels it needs to do. We can make sense of an outer, interpersonal world as well as the intrapersonal relationship we have with our sense of self and our past. Perhaps this is why writing can be so emotionally painful at times, and also so gratifying. For others, writing may be less personal, a journey of creative spirit not so closely tied to one’s own history.
Whatever drives you to want to write, let the process be natural. Make attempts with different genres, different forms—whether traditional or experimental. We can try to imitate other authors. What comes of this is an appreciation for the voice of another writer as well as the development of our own voice. But when it comes to creating our own, original work, let the voice guiding you be strong. Believe in it. It is yours. Emerson said, “Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” You may be amazed where you can go and what you can create if you release yourself from your own expectations.
Write what you need to write. Create a world you’ve never seen before, transport yourself to a different time period, or just a younger you. Just write and trust yourself. Revision and final product? That’s a different story. Voice is like the melody behind the narrative, the soundtrack we can’t live without.
Thanks Susan!
If you are interested in winning a copy of Susan's book Kara, Lost please click on the link:
Welcome Booksnob followers. Susan Niz is February's Author in the Spotlight and she agreed to answer some questions about her life and her book, Kara, Lost. Welcome Susan!
I was still haunted by my experiences of running away as a teenager. It was a life-changing decision at critical, formative time of my life. I wanted to make sense of that course of events.
3.Can you tell us why or when you decided to become a writer?
I’ve been drawn to writing for as long as I can remember. When I was three, I would staple together scrap paper, scribble on the cover, and call it a book. In school, I loved writing stories. It was in second grade when I declared that I would publish a book someday.
4.Usually an author puts some of his own life experiences in the book. Did you do that?
My book has many of my own experiences in it, but it is definitely fiction.
5.Do you like to read? What authors or books influence you?
Of course! My favorite books are ones that have a strong, intimate, narrative voice—like when you feel like the story is being whispered in your ear by a friend. Wally Lamb and Frank McCourt are favorites. Earlier, I really enjoyed Tom Robbins and Barbara Kingsolver. I also like Alexander McCall Smith and David Housewright. Recently, I’ve been reading more young adult and Sara Zarr and Julie Schumacher are a couple favorites in that genre.
6.How do carve out time in your day to write? Are you writing another book?
It’s difficult. Before my daughter, I would just write all weekend. But now, I have to do it very early in the morning, late at night, or catch an hour here and there. I am writing another book. It’s a more traditional YA novel about a fifteen-year-old named Chelly who is struggling with her parents’ divorce, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and behind the wheel practice. She gets better through exposure therapy, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy.
7.What is the most important lesson/idea you want readers to take away from your book?
I hope that Kara, Lost is open to multiple interpretations and that it doesn’t aim to teach a lesson. That being said, I really want readers to feel what Kara feels on her journey without judgment of what came before or after. I have come to realize that my book does not fit neatly into the YA genre and therefore needs to be read with an open mind.
8.Do you have any advice you would like to offer teenagers who are struggling at home or on the streets?
Be open to help. Going outside the system and isolating yourself makes life extremely difficult and is also very dangerous. Be brave and find strength within yourself to make decisions that will not be self-destructive.
9.In one sentence tell readers why they should read Kara, Lost?
You should read Kara, Lost because Kara is complex, flawed, human, resourceful, well intentioned, and messes up a lot and you can go along with her on her journey rather than ever having to live it firsthand.
Thanks Susan
If you like to win a copy of Kara, Lost please click the link: Kara, Lost Contest
In honor of "I Love to Read" month, South High invited several local authors in to speak about their books. The second author to share her story and her book is author Ms. Nique. She visited South High School on Monday, February 13th to inspire students and to talk about her biography, If My Past Wasn't So Dark...MY Future Wouldn't Shine So Bright.
Ms. Nique told her personal story to a crowded auditorium. She talked about the fact that she was a survivor of abuse, a young teenage mother and how writing was the way she coped through the pain of her childhood. She inspired the crowd, made us laugh and think about how to be positive and happy.
Ms. Nique is a poet and a spoken word artist. She enjoys acting and inspiring others. She is a positive young author and has published two books. Her poetry book is called The Definition of Me.
Ms. Nique kept it real. She quoted her auntie saying "What you do today, affects tomorrow!" Of course, no one thinks tomorrow as in Saturday but yeah what you do today does affect the day after.
Jacob spoke to a crowded auditorium in the morning and then spent the rest of the day in the media center talking with staff at lunch and then working with individual classes. He read from his book, Between Light and Shadow and answered lots of questions. Several students expressed interest in reading his book about Guatemalan adoption. Many students throughout the day had shared their personal stories around adoption. One girl spoke out as an adoptee from Guatemala and another young man told his story of being adopted at age 10 in Minnesota. They were very powerful stories.
Lake Superior, the North Country, the great freshwater expanse. Frigid. Lethal. Wildly beautiful. "The Long-Shining Waters" presents three stories whose characters are separated by centuries and circumstance, yet connected across time by a shared geography. 
For me personally, writing is, at times, a process driven by underlying psychological forces. I am working through past traumatic experiences, creating ‘scripts’ with different outcomes, or reliving moments that need to be revisited in order to be resolved. When writers talk about ‘the pen taking over,’ I believe this is the subconscious taking control and doing what it feels it needs to do. We can make sense of an outer, interpersonal world as well as the intrapersonal relationship we have with our sense of self and our past. Perhaps this is why writing can be so emotionally painful at times, and also so gratifying. For others, writing may be less personal, a journey of creative spirit not so closely tied to one’s own history.
Susan Niz Author Interview + Giveaway
Of course! My favorite books are ones that have a strong, intimate, narrative voice—like when you feel like the story is being whispered in your ear by a friend. Wally Lamb and Frank McCourt are favorites. Earlier, I really enjoyed Tom Robbins and Barbara Kingsolver. I also like Alexander McCall Smith and David Housewright. Recently, I’ve been reading more young adult and Sara Zarr and Julie Schumacher are a couple favorites in that genre.
