Interview with Gigi Amateau

First, I want to congratulate Gigi because her latest book, COME AUGUST, COME FREEDOM, is a finalist in the Library of Virginia’s People’s Choice Awards!  Hooray!  (Voting is open until June 30th.)  It’s a particularly important book for Virginia, documenting — in novel form — what it must have been like for the enslaved Gabriel and his compatriots to try organize a rebellion in 1800 and attempt to gain their freedom.  Gigi researched and uncovered fascinating documents pertaining to his life and the times.  I think it should be required reading in every Virginia school, at least.

Gigi has written a variety of acclaimed books all dealing with different, and tough, issues:  CLAIMING GEORGIA TATE, A CERTAIN STRAIN OF PECULIAR, CHANCEY OF THE MAURY RIVER, and its sequel coming this summer, MACADOO OF THE MAURY RIVER!

To get to know the lovely Gigi better, I asked her to answer some questions for us — enjoy!

Favorite season?

Summertime and the living’s easy. I love summer!

Cat or dog?

A redbone coonhound named Biscuit and two horses: Albert and Latte.

Favorite sport or form of exercise?

Yoga and horseback riding. Or, yoga on horseback! My favorite sport to watch is VCU Men’s Basketball.

Language in which you’d most like to be fluent.

I studied Russian in college, and wish I had made the time to really immerse in the language. But, I really wish I had studied Latin. It seems like people who know Latin know their way around words and language very well.

Country you’d most like to visit.

Wales. I’d like to go listen to some storytellers and ride horses in the mountains.

What / who gives you spiritual guidance and inspiration?

The Bible, nature, my horse, and my grandparents inspire and guide me.

What’s an important “nugget” that you’d like readers to take away from your book?

Come August, Come Freedom is based on the historic events surrounding Gabriel’s Rebellion, one of the largest slave rebellions ever organized in U.S. History. The leader of the rebellion, an enslaved blacksmith named Gabriel, was born in 1776 and was executed for the conspiracy in 1800. I hope readers will take away the nugget that our history is full of heroes and sheroes who we may not read about in textbooks.

Why did you write this book / choose this topic?

The historical record on Gabriel’s Rebellion is so fascinating. His is a story about power, politics, military strategy, the early republic, and the insistence of enslaved Americans to determine their own lives.

When do you write?

I work full-time, so I write when I can. Early in the mornings, late at night, and all day on Saturdays and Sundays!

Where do you write?

All sorts of places! In the winter, I sit in the big wing chair in our living room with a fire burning in the fireplace. During spring and summer, when the river is low I like to write on a big rock in the James. I LOVE to revise during half-time at basketball games. And, I get some writing done in my office, too.

What helps you write?

My dog, a composition notebook, and a Ticonderoga #2 pencil.

How do your ideas come to you?

Often ideas come while I’m walking or practicing yoga. Lots of ideas occur during research, too.

Is there a sequel?

No, there’s no sequel to Come August, Come Freedom, but I might write about a different man who was involved in the rebellion.

What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m working on the third book in the Horses of the Maury River series. The second book, Macadoo of the Maury River, comes out this August. And, also this summer, I’ll release a mobile app based on the first book, Chancey of the Maury River for the iPad, Nook, and Kindle.

Why should kids read books when there are so many other things to do?

Because readers are leaders. If you look back over history, those who determine their own lives and those who change the world can read, including the blacksmith Gabriel.

I love that, Gigi!  Thanks for the interview!  To learn more about Gigi, please visit her website.  Happy reading!

Little Free Library — Brilliant Idea!

I love this idea.  A tiny library in your own neighborhood.  Most of us have books we don’t mind donating and it’s kind of fun to see what’s in there that you might enjoy reading — like a little treasure box.  You can find a Little Free Library all over the world.  This is our local little free library.  It was low on kids’ books so I donated a copy of Mockingbird.  Do you have one in your town?

Mother’s Day Meander

Just photos.  It was such a gorgeous day I couldn’t help taking photos along the way:

 

A Poet?

Several times recently I’ve been told I’m a poet.  I’m flattered although I don’t believe it for a second.  What I might be willing to accept is that my writing can sometimes have a poetic quality, occasionally even being like poetry.  I so respect real poets.  To be able to convey an idea, feeling or emotion in just a few words is something I haven’t mastered.  It’s HARD to find just the right word or short sequence of words, especially when you can use 10 or 20 to say the same thing, like I tend to do.   My poor husband has been dealing with this for years:

Me:  ”That tool with the removable ball on the end that you flip around and it goes reeh-er, reeh-er, reeh-er and you screw things in or unscrew things depending on what you want.”

My husband:  ”Ratchet screwdriver.”

Right, that.  So I’ll just sit back and read and admire Jeannine Atkins or Kristy Dempsey or Alma Fullerton or Mary Quattlebaum.  And be grateful to Jen Bailey for pointing out some poetic elements (that, honestly, I didn’t even recognize — another reason I’m obviously not a poet) in my novel Quaking.  I’ll try to be more cognizant of poetic language in my writing, which may be challenging given that in my current teen road trip novel the main character’s language is poetic in the style of, say, Al Pacino.  But there’s always room for some poetic language, right?

SEEING RED, Seeing Stars

The first advance review copy of SEEING RED was overnighted to me by my lovely editor and I am seeing stars.  This book has been a long time coming and I’m giddy that it’s finally “born.”  I started this novel  14 years ago, in the previous century . . . I checked my computer and the earliest notes are from 1999.  My apologies for this long, self-indulgent post, but this book is near and dear to me.  Like all stories, it comes from my past.  It comes from my head and my heart and, most of all, from my gut.  And it has a long history . . .

… my first sale, my first publisher merger, my first change of editors, and my first sad pulling of a novel because I didn’t like the way it was ending up.  That was hard to do — I had finally made it to the “big time” and I wasn’t going to see it published.  Sometimes it’s not about the end, it’s about the journey although, I admit, I didn’t feel that way at the time.  But as I tell students at school visits when I’m encouraging them to take the time to revise, this is your name, your stamp, your brand you’re putting on this work.  Is this really what you want it to say?

This book has been through many, many revisions.  The plot has changed.  The  title has changed — here are just a few I remember over the years:   Facing Freedom, Deer Season, Freeman’s Phoenix, Cornerstone, Finding Truth, Finding Hope, etc. — but the heart of the story has remained the same.  And the era.  It’s still 1972, with all the strife of that time — Vietnam, Civil Rights, equality for women.  The characters, too, have stayed steady.  Their spirit has been the same through every revision.  Red is still angry, confused, hurt, loyal, thoughtless, caring, responsible and irresponsible– like all of us.  He’s a mix, which is what makes him not perfect but real.  Beau is sweet and kind and smarter than most give him credit for.  Miss Georgia is strong and tough, given what she has been through, and doesn’t take any guff from anyone.  I love that.  Daddy is still idealized by Red, all the more so since he’s gone, but the rest of us can probably find a few flaws because he was, after all, human.  Still, what a great dad to treat your son like a man and give him responsibilities and give support, by standing by, as he solves his own problems.  Mama is coming out of her shell and awakening to the women’s movement, helped perhaps, by Rosie, who suffers her own pain but has the hope and resiliency of youth.  I could go on because I’ve lived with these characters for a long time, but I’ll leave it to potential readers.

After my non-publication disappointment, I didn’t want to pick up this story again for a long long time.  I’d tried so many iterations and it just wasn’t working.  The manuscript was a complete jumbled mess.  But the characters still spoke to me and people kept asking about it, including my very encouraging editor.  When I, reluctantly, went back to the manuscript I saw it wasn’t such a horrible mess after all.  There was hope.  There is ways hope.  So … more revisions.  More research.  More time.  My editor retired.  I still worked on it.  Enter, stage left, Andrea Davis Pinkney at Scholastic.  She championed it, got the support of the Scholastic book fairs and clubs, and people in house cheered for it.  Like every good editor, mine had some suggestions–give this character more room, go deeper here, face the demons.  So now I’m glad that it didn’t publish ten years ago.  I don’t think I was a mature or brave enough writer then to really write the novel I wanted to.  Now it’s finally there.  And now it’s finally here.  And I’m proud of it.  Thanks to many people along the way, it’s finally where I want it to be.  It’s the story I want to tell.  Thats why I’m seeing stars.

Oh, and a note on why revisions are so important?  Picking up the ARC, seeing it as an actual book and, even as the author, feeling more like a reader, I saw a glaring omission.  At the back of this novel is a list of some of the important characters and their inspirations.  Somehow, I neglected to explain my main character’s name.  Thank goodness for advance review copies!  The rest of the ARC’s will be out soon (although perhaps not with the explanation about Red; that will be in the final version).  Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest.  And to the teachers, librarians, booksellers and  those in the literary world who wanted an ARC, thank you in advance for taking the time to read it.  I appreciate it.

MIKE-apalooza! Thanks, Nelson Middle School!

Nelson County Middle School is doing a school wide read (or listen) of THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF MIKE.  It was such FUN talking with these smart, funny, clever young people!  Here are some of their creations:

Signs from the book for various rooms (I like how the front office got to be “Big Dawg,”) and quotes:

A beautiful Lego bridge and map, just like Mike’s, and a cat clock just like Poppy & Moo’s:

In fact, all the clocks in the school were transformed into “Felix the Cat” clocks:

A bulletin board with Lego tile comments folks can leave related to the book’s themes (“Do you remember a time you were lost?”), a skit,  quotes from the book and even, the piece de resistance, Past’s shopping cart complete with laptop, cooler and photo of Misha!  Wow!  And even flowers and a Relay for Life luminaria in my honor!  Yup, this is what makes a writer’s day — no, a writer’s whole year!  Thanks, guys!

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop celebrates what writers are working on or what they have coming up next. Welcome to my stop!

I was tagged by dear friend and wonderfully funny author, Kami Kindard, whose book The Boy Project (Notes and Observations of Kara McAllister) was so popular she’s finishing the sequel as we speak.  Look for The Boy Prediction (Notes and Observations of Tabitha Reddy) soon!

I have two books I’m going to cover — although I’m working on many more — one which publishes this year and one which is still in the revision process but is slated to publish next year.  I’ll do them sequentially …

1.  What is the working title of your book?

Seeing Red

We’ve been through a lot of titles for this books and I’d gotten fond of Facing Freedom but we ended up with Seeing Red.

2.  Where did the idea come from for the book?

My own past and confusion over our country’s incredibly slow march towards civil rights.

3.  What genre does your book come under?

Middle grade historical fiction, with a mystery

4.  Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a move rendition?

Oh, this is fun!

Red:  Garrett Ryan

Rosie:  Madison Pettis

Thomas:  Jaden Smith

5.  What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

After his father dies, twelve year old Red Porter wants to stay rooted in Stony Gap, Virginia, at least until he can solve a mystery for a friend, but as he unravels the mystery he discovers Stony Gap’s terrible past and is determined to make things right.

6.  Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Scholastic, October 2013

Agent:  The wonderful Linda Pratt of Wernick & Pratt!

7.  How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Forever!  I started this draft at least a decade ago and rewrote it completely several times.  In between, I left it for years at a time.  Thanks to the insightful and supportive Andrea Pinkney, my editor, it’s finally where I want it to be.

8.  What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Lions of Little Rock, Kristin Levine

Glory Be, Augusta Scattergood

The Rock and the River, Kekla Magoon

Down Sand Mountain, Steve Watkins

9.  Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The fact that we still have a way to go before approaching real equality in this country.  And my mother, who instilled in me a strong sense of justice.

10.  What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The Flintstones, Mission Impossible, Kung Fu.  Ima butt?  Aspic (sound it out slowly)?  There’s humor, even though the themes are serious … kind of like real life.

And here’s the novel still in progress…

1.  What is the working title of your book?

Adrian’s Turn

2.  Where did the idea come from for the book?

Medieval festivals, walking along Hadrian’s Wall in England, archery, albinism.

3.  What genre does your book come under?

Middle grade historical fiction that includes adventure and humor.

4.  Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a move rendition?

I love this question!

Adrian:  Lucas Melton (or, even better, an actor with albinism)

Hugh:  Dakota Goyo

Bess:  Peyton List

5.  What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

In 1346, thirteen year old Adrian runs away to battle the “pagan” Scots in order to prove he’s worthy of respect even though he’s small, sickly and has albinism.

6.  Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Scholastic, 2014

Agent:  The still wonderful Linda Pratt of Wernick & Pratt!

7.  How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It’s hard to say because I hop around so much from one project to the next, but probably about six months.

8.  What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, Rodman Philbrick

The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander

The Squire’s Tale, Gerald Morris

Swords for Hire, Will Allen

9.  Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Boys — and girls — who wanted a medieval adventure, and my own love of that time period.  Kids who feel different and worry that they need to prove that they’re worthy of respect.  (They don’t; we already love them but often they need to go on a journey to find that out.)

10.  What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s set around an actual series of battles that took place between England and Scotland in 1346 — I found lots of cool research, even a map from that time period!

OK, if that’s too nerdy, I also hope to have a website of fun facts and activities about medieval life tied specifically to the book, from battles and plagues to food and superstitions like the evil, pointy-toothed Red Caps.

Tagging other authors:  Oops, this is the step I missed.  If you’re an author who’d like to be “tagged” about the next book you’re working on, please let me know!