In this post, I ask debut author Nikki Loftin sinisterly hard questions

In her debut middle grade book The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy Nikki Lofin has managed to combine all of my favorite things: candy, some dark humor, a great story, lovely writing, a school with a rock climbing wall and did I mention candy?

Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

Lorelei is bowled over by Splendid Academy--Principal Trapp encourages the students to run in the hallways, the classrooms are stocked with candy dishes, and the cafeteria serves lavish meals featuring all Lorelei's favorite foods. But the more time she spends at school, the more suspicious she becomes. Why are her classmates growing so chubby? And why do the teachers seem so sinister?
It's up to Lorelei and her new friend Andrew to figure out what secret this supposedly splendid school is hiding. What they discover chills their bones--and might even pick them clean!
Mix one part magic, one part mystery, and just a dash of Grimm, and you've got the recipe for a cozy-creepy read that kids will gobble up like candy.

Nikki’s book has been called a “mesmerizing read” and an “irresistible contemporary fairy tale.” Sure, it’s been likened to Grimm, and I’ve even heard some comparisons to the great Roald Dahl but this story is pure Nikki. Smart. Witty. And fun.

On her launch day, Nikki is here at Ramble Street so I got to ask her a few questions about her writing process.

Welcome Nikki. Let the questions begin.  

So how'd you find your way into Middle Grade books? 

I took a left at Self-Help and wandered through Romance? Okay, kidding. Although not about the romance part! A few years back, I realized that I’d been deferring my dream of Being a Writer until suddenly, there I was, gray hair and all, with the same unfulfilled dream I’d had when I was young and perky. So I started writing… a romance. A very bad paranormal romance in which the characters were never quite able to, um, take that final step (if you know what I mean) because I couldn’t write that squicky sex stuff! Once I put all 60,000 words of that aside, I found the plots pouring into my head were all middle grade – the kinds of stories I made up for my kids at night. The kinds of stories I’d devoured as a kid. And so far, the middle grade trend has continued! 

Thanks goodness. I wasn’t sure I could write one more heaving bosom or chiseled chest if my life depended on it.

Well, I’m glad you left Romance. Let’s talk about writing. What's your favorite part of the process? You plot, right? I don't. My outline is generally my first draft (which is extremely time-consuming). Do you have any suggestions to help us non-plotters? How do you approach plotting? Do you know the ending of the story right away? Do you start with a what-if scenario? A theme?

Oh, pantsers. We all think the rest of the world plots, don’t we? It’s our deepest insecurity.

No, Nan, I don’t plot, not if I can help it. Plotting is for old fogies, soulless robotic word count monkeys who shun the Muse, etc. (Just kidding! Some of my very best friends are word count monkeys. They can’t help it that they have no souls.)

I love that feeling of a new story, unfolding like a mystery as I work. I usually start with a what if scenario, and build it mentally until the first lines start to come. Then I race to the keyboard!

Of course, I don’t wing it entirely – about 10,000 words into a new novel, I’ll sort of chart out what I think will happen, just to make sure I have enough story there to keep it going for an entire book! But I make sure I don’t plot out what the ending will be, as I firmly believe that if I already know that, then: a. the writing won’t be any fun, and b. the story will be predictable and boring.

My best advice would be to read the screenwriting book SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder, and adapt it to work for your novel. It’s been transformative for many writers lost in their plotlines…including me! As long as I use any structure loosely, I’m good. Gotta leave room for the magic to happen, right? :)

Wait. You don’t plot either? I’ve read your book and a few pages of a first draft of another story you wrote. I was sure you plotted. Are we non-plotters insecure? My stories start with “what if” scenarios and, like you, I wander through my first drafts.

Okay, next question: I'm sure you've had many wonderful things happen since you've gotten "the call". Holding your first book in your hand is a dream come true. But I found that lots of unexpected wonderful things happen along the way too. What has your experience been?

Oh my gosh. I think the Big Day that’s coming next weekend – my book launch party at the local indie, Bookpeople, in Austin -- may be the cherry on top of this whole three years of work. I mean, it’s not every day your Life’s Dream comes true, right? And so my family and friends are all coming – some of them flying into the state just for the occasion. It’s humbling and joyful and terrifying… like a wedding and a debutante ball and an inauguration all mixed together. And the friends who can’t be there are celebrating with me like you are, on blogs and Twitter and Facebook! Sharing my joy with all my favorite people? So much to be happy about. (And on a related note, so many cupcakes to bake! Must get started on that…)

Nikki, I’m jumping up and down for you. Having that dream come true is amazing. There are so many great parts, like getting "the call" and working with an editor (which is my favorite part of the process). And speaking of editors, have you noticed that there are tons of writing books on how to get your first book published and just as many about how to market your first book. But when it comes to books about writing, there seems to be a big black hole when it comes to talking about the editorial process. What was that part like?

Strangely smooth! (For the first book, anyway. And I’d love to talk about the subsequent books, but I’m going to need more time to recover. As in, a few years. Someday, they tell me, that second book pain will all be valuable to me. Anyway…)

For some reason, my editor liked my first book pretty much in the form I turned it in, which was a great blessing, as I hate revising like unmedicated dental surgery. The most annoying thing was trying to find better names for the book and my main characters. But I thought all of her revision suggestions made perfect sense, and I was happy to tweak away! Also, I’m a fairly “clean” writer, so there wasn’t a hugely humiliating copyedit phase.

Of course, I’m going to plead the fifth on this question if you ever ask about Book #2.

I don’t think anyone has the same experience twice, so maybe that’s why there’s no book about the editorial process! Or maybe they’re all keeping secrets from us…

I do like the idea that someone is keeping secrets, but I think you’re right about the differences in the editorial process. I've gone through the process twice, and it does seem like each book goes its own way. So are you done with book two? I’ve heard that one is the hardest. As far as writing goes, I’m the opposite. Revision is my favorite thing. That first draft. That blank computer screen.  That’s the scary part for me.

One last question from the candy addict in New Jersey. What’s your favorite candy?

I think my most addictive candy would be peanut M&Ms. But my favorite is Dark Chocolate with Orange Lindt bars. Mmmmm. I ate SO MANY of these in the past year. 

My current favorite candies are those peppermint patties. I promise to eat a bunch of them today in honor of your book launch.

Thanks for stopping by, Nikki. Enjoy your day! Hope you'll come back to Ramble Street soon.

So how's your writing going?

Never ask. And never make eye contact.

It's a question writers get asked all the time. It's kind of like the "how are you?" of the writing world.
My problem is when my friends ask, I answer.
It doesn't matter if I'm deep into a novel or if I have a few wisps of an idea, I like to talk. I tell them about the funny quirks of some minor character or ramble on about a major discovery I've made about the protagonist. I wonder out loud about what my main character really wants and I try to figure out if I'm taking them down the right path.
But not everyone wants the gritty details.
Even with family members and great friends, there are times when they've heard enough. And as difficult as this concept is for me, it seems that they occasionally like to talk about other things.
No matter how casually they say it, if they ask about my story, I will tell them.
Not too long ago at the day job I met an unsuspecting coworker at the copy machine. When she said, "hey, how's the writing going?" it was meant as a polite greeting. And I knew it too. But that didn't stop me. While the photocopy machine chugged along, I shared with her tons of fascinating fun facts that I had learned about the place where my characters lived.
At first, she was polite and nodded. Then after a while, she stared at the copy machine like she was begging it to print faster. Unfortunately for her, it was a huge print job, a slow machine, and I had tons more things to tell her. Even when she shifted back and forth, giving wistful glances at the automatic sprinkler system, I rambled on and on and on.
There are writers who keep their thoughts to themselves. They let their ideas perk and simmer. They write it all down (which really is the point of the whole thing). And when they're ready, they share.
They are wise writers.
I am not wise.
When I'm working on a story, I feel like I'm discovering a whole new world, meeting new people, and encountering new experiences.  I want to introduce all the people I care about in my real life to the people I care about in my imaginary one.
Sometimes, when no one is around, I'll even talk to the dog. And sometimes she gives me a please-can-we-talk-about-something-else glance too.

When Your Work-In-Progress Stops Talking

Sometimes you don't see eye to eye

I'm having problems with my work-in-progress.  We've stopped talking. 
But before I tell you about all the bad things in the relationship, let me tell you about the beginning. 
Back then, everything was good.
We met in the most unexpected way. I was driving home from a weekend visit with my Mom and Dad when I hit traffic. Lots of traffic.
There I was, sitting in the car, not moving at all, somewhere around exit 105 on the Garden State Parkway, when "blammo!" I heard a voice. I heard a first sentence. I saw a character. She told me her name. There was another character. He told me his. And a place! They showed me where they lived. It was somewhere I'd never been. Then more people came into the story. They talked and talked. 
Fortunately traffic was horrendous. The normal three hour drive took over eight hours so we had lots of time to get to know each other. By the time I got home, I was breathless. After saying a quick hello to my husband and the dog, I raced the to computer.
Over the next few weeks, it was magic.
My w.i.p. told me secrets. There were some turns and twists. There was an ending. It was exactly the type of ending that this story should have.
A few days ago, I went to my computer expecting words to flow, but instead of talking, there was silence.
Not a peep. 
At first I thought it was a blip. I was patient. But the next day, it happened again. And then again.
"What did I do?" I asked. "Did I take you in the wrong direction? Do you want to go someplace else?" 
But there is no answer.  I've tried nice music (We're working on a play list). And chocolate (many many kinds of chocolate). I've talked very sweetly to all the characters.
No matter what I do, I get nothing.
Our time together is stressful. The joy is gone.
Another story whispers. It's just a chapter. But it wants me to write it. I feel like I'm cheating. Yet how long do you stay with your uncommunicative w.i.p.? How do you know when it's time to give up?
For me it comes down to belief. I still have faith in this story. And I think there's something there that wants to be told. 
Now if only I can convince those characters . . .

Shhh. Here's the Secret About Why I Haven't Blogged

I haven't blogged in a long long time. I've been busy writing. Here's the cover for my next book. The amazing art was done by John Hendrix. I truly love this cover. That's the Jersey Devil on the sign up there pouring pancake syrup. Check out all those lovely details.

If you look, you'll see that the boy in the cover is holding a microphone. He's a famous musical prodigy, who froze on stage during a televised talent contest and he's hiding out from the paparazzi in the Pinelands of New Jersey. But it's a small town. And so it's very possible that people will find out.

So here's my question:
If you knew that a famous superstar entertainer was hiding out in your town, would you tell?
Would you whisper it to your best friend?
Shout it out to the cool kids?
Tell your boyfriend?
Your teacher?
Your sister?
Your neighbor?
Or would you help the famous boy hide out?


Statistically, most people would tell someone. While I was writing, I did some research on secrets and here's what I learned. Most of us are not good are keeping them.
One study reported that its participants kept a secret for an average of 72 hours before they spilled the beans.  That's a mere three days. Heck, I can keep a chocolate bar for longer than that.
Another study found that having a secret takes a toll on us physically. Researchers divided the participants into two groups. They asked the first group to recall a big secret. Then they pointed the participants to a hill and asked them how steep they thought it was. They did the same thing to the next group, except they asked that group to remember a smaller secret. The group with the big secrets had big problems. They thought the hill was steeper and harder to climb. That same group also had a harder time judging distance. The researchers concluded that the group with the big secrets were "physically encumbered."
It seems that old adage about feeling burdened with a secret is true.


By the way, thanks to my writing buddy C Lee McKenzie and her RAOK blitz for getting me back into blogging. Sometimes you need a push from your friends.

 
 

If you lose your way...

 I got my notes from my editor regarding my next book, Piney Moon.  They were sent by email and were written on MS Word, but they might as well been written with one of those bright, glowy pens. They were filled with great comments and good, hard questions. As a writer, it's the kind of stuff that lights you up, points you in the right direction and makes you want to dive back into your own story. Before her notes, I was worried about this one. I felt like I was losing my way.

Last night, when my niece Andrea called to fill me in about her wedding plans, I ended up telling her about my editor's notes and about my losing-my-way fears. She reminded me about one of our "special days". When she was growing up, that's what we called the days we spent together. 

When she was 10 and I was in my early twenties, we decided to take a drive from her house in central Jersey to Seaside Heights (aka the Jersey Shore). We were so busy talking and singing and laughing that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.  I'm not from New Jersey and they were country roads  -- and there were no street signs. Of course, we got lost. Since it was before the days of smart phones and Google maps and GPS systems, we had to stop and ask directions many times.

The directions weren't always easy to follow.  "Make a left at the yellow pick-up truck", said one gas station attendant, "but make sure it's the one that's parked underneath the crooked tree..."
I nodded, pretending I understood. Soon I noticed that the gas station attendant wasn't even looking at me. I turned around and saw Andrea holding a purple sparkle pen, writing everything he said in her Hello Kitty notepad.

Thanks to the 10-year old, we found our way to Seaside. It was an afternoon in early spring. The Snookiless boardwalk was crowded just enough to make you think you were someplace special. At the first arcade game, we won a giant basket filled with toys and candy. We moved onto a different game and won again. This time, it was a huge stuffed animal. Our wining streak lasted. Stuffed animals, gift baskets, toys-- that day, we won it all.

On the way back to the car, we stopped at a palm reader (I'm a sucker for psychics). Honestly, I don't remember anything she said to me, but when it was Andrea's turn, I held my breath. Not that I necessarily believe in the veracity of boardwalk palm readers, but still, Andrea was just a kid. What if she was a scam artist? What if she said something bad? This could get uncomfortable.

As soon as she told Andrea that she'd someday have a great job and an excellent education, I exhaled. Then she stared at my niece's palm and made that 'tsk tsk' sound. "Finding your true love will take a long time," she sighed. "Many many blind dates."

Years later, Andrea and I still marvel at our luck at the boardwalk games, and we've laughed at the "many many blind dates" comment over and over again throughout Andrea's dating years.

There probably should be some tie in here between losing your way in writing and losing your way on the road, and I wish I could say something clever about being fearless in both circumstances. But since both of them still make me nervous, I'm not sure I can draw that conclusion. However, if you do manage to get lost in either writing or driving, I have one piece of advice: Travel with someone who knows enough to bring a sparkle pen.

Hurricane Irene, Evacuation and a Reading List

A hundred steps from my house is the Barnegat Bay. There's a lagoon (NJ terminology for a large canal) across the street. On the next street, there's another. I'm surrounded by water and way too close to the bay to ignore the warnings. So I'm leaving my home and heading inland.
It will be my first evacuation. 
I'm taking the necessities-my favorite scented soap, my hair straightener and a giant bag of York Peppermint Patties.
But I'm also thinking about what I'm going to read.
All my life reading has been a way to escape. And I can't think of a better way to get through a difficult weekend than a getting lost in a good story.
Here's my reading list for the storm:
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
I haven't decided on my middle grade books yet. I so wish that Paul Acampora's Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in The Face was out this week. That first chapter I read on his blog tugged at me. It comes out next week so I'll have to wait.
I still need to get some middle grades.
What book would you take with you to read during your evacuation?

Learning Little Hawk's Way of Storytelling: Interview with Frank Cipriani

Frank Cipriani is a writer, an amateur ethnobotanist, primitive survival enthusiast and a professional educator. I met him at the library where I work. He mentioned he was working on a book proposal about one of my favorite things, storytelling. Frank had to opportunity to learn about storytelling from Kenneth Little Hawk, the renowned Mi’Kmaw First Nation storyteller and was collaborating with Little Hawk and his wife, Beverly Miller.

His book Learning Little Hawks Way of Storytelling by Kenneth Little Hawk and Beverly Miller as taught to Frank Domenico Cipriani was released this summer.  

By the way, this book was blurbed by one of my childhood idols, folk singer, Pete Seeger.  Here’s what Pete Seeger said. “What Little Hawk has to teach is exactly what America has to learn.”

Frank stopped by Ramble Street for an interview so let’s meet him.

Welcome Frank. So how’d this book come about? How’d you meet Kenneth Little Hawk and Beverly Miller?

At my local library, I was teaching a survival camp for kids. My friend, Barbara, suggested that we teach storytelling as well. She had seen Little Hawk and suggested I go see him. I did. He's unforgettable. I had seen other storytellers before, but he was astounding.

Little Hawk is a Mi'kmaw/Mohawk storyteller. His Mi’kmaw people still live in Nova Scotia, although his great-grandmother left the tribe to settle in Mohawk country. He was educated in the traditions of both his people by his grandparents, and he was named by them. Little Hawk has traveled the world telling stories in Europe, Africa, Australia and, of course, North America. He’s performed at the White House, Lincoln Center and the Museum of Natural History and was featured in the Ken Burns’ documentaries, The West and Lewis and Clark.

How is this book different than other books on storytelling?

It’s a book that teaches storytelling by telling stories. I haven't seen another book that does this. Many books tell specific stories, even Native American ones, but I don't know of another how-to book on storytelling that is actually a story in itself.

This book has a very interesting byline. It’s by Kenneth Little Hawk and Beverly Miller as taught to Frank Domenico Cipriani.  Why “as taught to” instead of the usual “as told to”?

‘As told to’ doesn’t make sense for this book. It implies dictation. Look over the book. Much of that sort of language is missing.

Traditionally, native people would not ‘tell’ people to do things. They would “invite” them. So, we needed a word for my role in the collaboration that reflected that invitation to share. My job was to take the lessons I learned from Beverly and Little Hawk over the years and create a story arc consistent with their teaching. The book is my interpretation and research, but all of it is based on their instruction.   

So what was the process like?

Little Hawk and Beverly have this wonderful air about them. You feel transported when you're with them. I would try something, storytelling-wise, and they would tell me stories back. Through that I would learn. I did follow the trail, the life of this story. Little Hawk and Beverly's wonderful place, the stews that Beverly would cook, Little Hawk's home, it all has this feel of being in the world that should be, a world which is harmonious with the ancestors, with nature, with our own true selves.

Sure, we used cars to get to the hut, sure, we had some modern conveniences, but both at our hut site in the woods and at Little Hawk's home, that feeling of respect and reverence was always prevalent. I thought of writing in a more conventional sense, but the story really flowed "through Spirit", as Little Hawk would say.

Wait.  You learned how to tell stories from a world-renowned Native American storyteller in a hut in New Jersey?  Where?

We built a wonderful hut in a park in our town. We made a deal with the town, that if we created programs for kids on the land, they would not sell the land to developers. Over the years, it’s been a site for many interesting native gatherings, storytellings, and even religious services. One day, we had the Chief of the Mountain Band Tsalagi, the Keeper of the Flame for the Lenape, and numerous other dignitaries there. After they spoke, the kids at the hut served them meals prepared at the fire. The Keeper of the Flame told me that ‘For the first time in my life, I feel like I am really home.’ It was a great honor. 

 What an unusual opportunity. Sorry for interruption, Frank. Please tell us more about the experience.

 Grandfather Little Hawk has the ability to carry people with him to that perfect place, where nature is balanced and humans have lived the same way for ten thousand years, in harmony with their surroundings.

So I learned from him, lived a whole life, and wrote down what I observed. I think that it's true that he took me on a spiritual journey to that place. Then Little Hawk and Beverly suggested corrections to the language I used to "translate" the experience. For instance, in an early version of the book, I say that "Dancing Rain told the little children to sit in their older siblings' laps". That may be what I saw, but the truth is that Dancing Rain invited the children to sit. It was simply not a part of the culture to tell people what to do.

Because it is not traditional to tell people what to do, the only way to instruct is by example and storytelling. Instruction is in the first person, or the third person, never in the second. So for instance, Beverly never said to me, "Use props to illustrate this point". Instead, she’d say, "Once, when Little Hawk's audience was a little too quiet, I handed him a conch shell to blow." This is the traditional way to teach, by offering a story of a time when something was learned, or a problem was solved. It implies that the listener has a choice. 

So now that you learned the art of storytelling, have you tried it?

At my first book signing, I was very nervous. Before that, I never told a story in public. It went very well, we sold many books and I got invited back. So, I guess the book really does work.

I’m still in the process of reading this book. I’m learning a lot. Thanks so much for visiting Ramble Street, Frank. Come back again soon.

 By the way, Frank Cipriani is an interesting guy. Here's what I found out about him that he was too modest to mention.  

• He has two published two books in Spanish. 
• Became involved in Primitive Survival, started a nonprofit organization that took children on 200-plus mile walkabouts, planted over 3,000 trees
• Is the official Spanish translator for Little Hawk's stories
• Homeschooled his children for eighteen years Lives near the Jersey shore with his family of ten. 
• Writes a weekly column for a paper in Bangladesh
• Was recognized by the State of New Jersey as the county's volunteer of the year in 2009
• Has won several awards for Childrens' Empowerment.

 Book related websites:

To buy the book

Learning Little Hawk's Way of Storytelling Facebook page 
Kenneth Little Hawk's website