Why Should I Trust You? a guest post by Tilia Klebenov Jacobs

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: You have a middle-grade kid in your life, and you want to give them a terrific book for the holidays. They're your grandchild, or a nibling (I love that neologism!) or a friend's child or your neighbor's delightful fifth-grader. I got you, fam. Tilia Klebenov Jacobs, author of STEALING TIME, has a new adventure out with her co-writer, Norman Birnbach. WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU? is rooted in the 2020 pandemic--

Wait, come back!

Along with hoarding TP and washing groceries, the pandemic shut down inspired a LOT of creative work.  Tilia is here today to tell us about how it affected her life - and her writing.

 

 

   

         Why Should I Trust You?, my most recent book (co-authored with Norman Birnbach), is the tale of an unlikely friendship that leads to creative problem-solving, set against the backdrop of a pandemic or two. 

            So is the story behind the story.

            In February 2020, I had just started working on a new novel.  My wont was to leave the house to write; my favorite spots were coffee shops and/or public libraries. (Cue uproarious laughter.  That book is still unfinished.)  The following month, of course, the Covid-19 virus pounced upon an unsuspecting and unprepared world, altering it in ways we will doubtless feel for generations to come.  My family and I were among the fortunate, in that we had a safe and loving home to retreat to, complete with a dog, a backyard, and an internet connection—none of which was conducive to my completing my work-in-progress.  Those early pandemic days were suffused with fear and bewilderment as we confronted the unavailability of masks and sanitizer; the breakdown of supply chains in ways modern Americans had not had to consider before; and graphs showing local and national death tolls spiking ever upward, impervious to our best efforts to flatten the curve.  Samuel Taylor Coleridge famously said, “When a man is unhappy he writes damned bad poetry.”  Similarly, I found that when a novelist is consumed by existential dread, she writes poorly and little.

            Then two friends who didn’t know each other combined to get me back to the keyboard.

Illustrations by Robert Thibeault

            First there was Elaine, who was a year behind me in high school.  In 2020 she was teaching fifth grade, and even after her school shut down due to the pandemic she contrived to keep in touch with her students, emailing assignments and asking volunteers to post videos of themselves reading aloud from age-appropriate books so the kids could watch them and feel safer.  It happened that a few years previously Elaine had shared my middle-grade fantasy book, Casper and Jasper and the Terrible Tyrant, with another of her classes, and this gave me an idea.  I wrote to her, saying, “I just had a thought.  Since your kids liked Casperand Jasper, might they enjoy it if I wrote something new for them?  ...You could solicit ideas, and I could weave them together.”  Elaine and her students jumped on this proposal, and soon I had a spreadsheet of their suggestions:

            “An enchanted sword.”

            An evil, terrifying person named Jeff—and “nobody even knows his name is Jeff.”

            “A quest.”

            A “demon creature [with] giant wings...and her name is Rose.”

            “The main setting is at Bridgeway High School where it’s old and rusty.”

            A “very talented and smart man named Mr. Timothy but he is a greedy, forty-year-old man...and he has a pet roach living in the school’s janitor room.”

Illustrations by Robert Thibeault

            This was all great stuff, no question, but I struggled to find a throughline.  The demons and the secret identities seemed to lend themselves to fantasy, and it seemed likely I could set all or most of it at the decrepit Bridgeway High; but beyond that I was stuck.  Any plot lurking in this crowd of fantastical notions had a serious case of stage fright and simply refused to come out and chat.

            Cut to another corner of New England, where Norman and his family had holed up to ride out the pandemic.  Norman was a successful writer, having published over a hundred op-ed pieces and articles in newspapers and magazines, but he had never penned a book.  Now that Covid had hit, he determined to use his free time productively:  he and his wife adopted their first dog, and he settled down to write a novel. 

            Writing is far more collaborative than people give it credit for, so on the advice of a mutual friend Norman reached out to me to ask if I could recommend any critique groups for his project.  (Short answer:  no.)  At this point I should mention that Norman and I had known each other but glancingly in college, where he was an editor for the campus newspaper for which I wrote one article before deciding journalism was not for me.  The fact that either of us even remembered the other is surprising, but we did; and were soon chatting about writing, kids (his and mine are about the same ages), dogs, and more.  Eventually I had a duh moment and asked him if he’d like to work together on something—say, a story for a fifth-grade class?  Happily, he said yes.  Here’s how aggressively 2020 our first collaboration was:

            We only ever met by Zoom.

            We were joined every day by Norman’s pandemic puppy, Taxi, whom we decided was our muse.

            We wrote a story about two kids suffering through two pandemics, separated by a hundred years but united by friendship forged in terrible danger. 

            Maybe it’s all in the timing, but Elaine and her students really enjoyed it.  We do, too.  Despite its grim ingredients, or perhaps because of them, Why Should I Trust You? is a sparkling tale about good versus evil, and friendship overcoming all kinds of odds.  It is, in short, the kind of story that kids like reading, and, happily, that lucky authors enjoy writing. 

 

Tilia Klebenov Jacobs is the author of two crime novels, a middle-grade fantasy book, and, with Norman Birnbach, the Silver Falchion finalist YA novel Stealing Time.  Their current book, Why Should I Trust You?, is available wherever books are sold.  Tilia is vice president of Mystery Writers of America-New England. You can find her on Facebook and Goodreads.

Children's Books We Hate

RHYS BOWEN:  Catching my breath after nearly two weeks of book events, one flight per day, lots of hotel meals and different beds. But one of the things I do is catch up on movies on longer flights. And one of those was DUMBO.  Have you see it? I HATED IT. It was dark and scary and if I’d been a child I would have demanded to be taken out of the theater immediately
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Which made me think of which children’s books I’ve always hated. Of course when I was growing up none of the books was too scary or violent. I remember talking to my grandson when he was about eight and asking him what books he liked. He said, “We’re listening to this great book in the car on the way to school”
“What’s it about?”  I asked.
“These children are brought to the city and they have to fight each other to the death.”
“I leaped to my daughter. “You’re letting him hear something like this?” I demanded. She said, “It’s a YA book and it’s very well written and they love it.” It was THE HUNGER GAMES.  I would have hated it. I hated, and still do, anything too dark, anything too sad.
Surprisingly, however, I adored the Harry Potters. Of course I was grown up at the time but I would have done so as a child. I certainly adored the Lord of the Rings. Maybe because in both the good guys won!

So other children’s books I’ve hated? The Wizard of Oz. Marking poor Dorothy go through all that and then finding she just had to click her heels to go home? Not fair! I don't like most of Roald Dahl. So many unkind characters and abused children.  And above all, THE GIVING TREE. That horrible little boy took and took from the tree and gave nothing in return and the tree was kind and forgiving until the last.
So, dear Reds, what were your least favorite children’s books?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ha. I hated The Little Princess. How sad and depressing! No reason for it. But I do love Matilda, Rhys, and Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I read it as an adult. But I SO agree. WORST BOOK EVER  is The Giving Tree. I mean--what on earth is that supposed to teach? Browbeat your parents, selfishly, until they kill themselves?  Our  darling little neighbor girl, Georgia, read it, and cried for literally days. And her mother warned me, "Don't even say the word "tree." It will set her off again.

LUCY BURDETTE: That's an easy one Rhys: any of the Grimm Brothers fairy tales that scared me to death! I also am bitter about all the horrible stepmother figures in these tales. Cinderella? Wicked stepmother won't let her go to the ball and makes her work like a scullery maid. Snow White? Poisoned by her stepmother for being too beautiful. Hansel and Gretel? taken to a witch and abandoned by their wicked stepmother.

I also have a hard time with books that are too sad, like Old Yeller and Bambi. And yes on the YA books--they are so violent and depressing these days!

RHYS: Lucy, I suppose, to be fair, that Grimm's fairy tales were not really written for children but assembled from folk history, stories to teach a moral, right? But I so agree with Old Yeller.

HALLIE EPHRON: Of course I loved Loved LOVED The Little Princess. Also the Wizard of Oz. Most of Roald Dahl, though Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, not so much. Loved the Grimm's fairy tales, the grimmer the better.

I made the mistake of trying to read some of the more recent Berenstain Bears books to my grandkids--the early ones were funny and irreverent. The new ones are preachy, too good for their own good. The first Olivia book was sublime, but it's been downhill ever since. And though I loved the first Eloise, the later books are disappointing. Ditto the later Madelines. Ditto Babar. And while the illustrations are great, do not try to read one of the Disney storybooks... the texts are execrable.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Lucy, you beat me to Old Yeller. What a horrible book! I'm still traumatized how many ever years later, just thinking about it. Add to that The Red Pony--gah! And The Yearling. I suppose they are all life lessons, but most of us learn them soon enough on our own. I didn't mind the Grimms, or Andersen, although The Little Match Girl always struck me as unbearably sad. And why would they make a movie of that story? Why are so many of these books about orphaned or abused children?

I made the mistake of trying to read the updated Bobbsey Twins and the updated Nancy Drew's with my daughter and they were absolutely dreadful.

HANK: Oh, SO RIGHT! The Red Pony, and Old Yeller. WHY? And Match Girl. I ask you!  What was that supposed to teach? And the matches went out, one by one? NOOOO.  How about Ring of Bright Water? I have a pal whose mother read that to her, and left out the ending. When she grew up and went to college, she went to the movie. She called her mother afterward, sobbing. RING DIES! She wailed.They wrecked it. And her mom had to confess she'd changed the ending to protect her.

JENN McKINLAY: Oh, wow, great topic. I have NEVER forgiven my brother for insisting I read WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS. Dan and Ann, my heart. Much like the
Hooligans haven't forgiven me for reading THE RED PONY to them when they were young. Oops! I am not an angst reader. In fact, I think I was the only kid in middle school who wasn't into Judy Blume's DEENIE or V.C. Andrews's FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC. Comedy, people, it's all about the comedy. If I wanted to be sad and scared and angry, I'd live my own life. LOL!

RHYS: So which were YOUR UNFAVORITE children's books?
And now our new Monday feature.
 Monday shout out! Good news? Giveaways?

JENN: My publisher is having a back to school sweepstakes! Up for grabs are five library based novels, including WORD TO THE WISE! So fun!
https://sweeps.penguinrandomhouse.com/enter/back-to-school-library-sweepstakes

DEBS: My publisher is giving away 50 copies of A BITTER FEAST on Goodreads! The offer ends in 4 days, so don't miss out! (US residents only.)
https://tinyurl.com/yyvzrdhe

And, TO DWELL IN DARKNESS  is on sale in e-book format for $1.99 through the end of the month. Check it out on Amazon
https://tinyurl.com/y2979o6w
or your favorite e-book provider, and catch up with Duncan and Gemma before the new book.

HANK:  THE MURDER LIST is a CNN Ultimate Beach Read! 
PRE-ORDER The Murder List! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250197214
AND here's a free snippet of the fab Angela Dawe reading the audio book! https://read.macmillan.com/lp/the-murder-list-audiobook/

HANK's LAUNCH PARTY!  For The Murder List
Tuesday, August 20 at 7 pm at  Brookline Booksmith
Wednesday Aug 21  7 pm RJ Julia . Madison CT (With editor Kristin Sevick)
Thursday Aug 22 7 pm An Unlikely Story, Plainville MA
Saturday  Aug 23  2pm . Poisoned Pen Bookstore Scottsdale AZ (ticketed event with true crime writer Billy Jensen)
MORE HERE : http://hankphillippiryan.com/events.php

RHYS: Love and Death Among the Cheetahs is #10 on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller list and #15 on USA Today.
And Kings River Life Magazine is currently holding a contest and giveaway of the book. Here's the link:https://www.krlnews.com/2019/08/love-and-death-among-cheetahs-rhys-bowen.html 

The Best Diet Book Ever

Nancy 3rd from left, Lucy/Roberta 2nd from right

LUCY BURDETTE:  I'm very excited to host today's guests, Nancy Parent and Dr. Joseph Parent, as they are such good old friends. Nan was my absolute best friend in high school. We spent as much time together as possible, including musical theater (she had talent, me not so much) and the yearbook (see picture above.) We also wrote a book of maudlin love poetry together, with a red construction paper cover covered with cut out hearts. (We are both grateful that this artifact has disappeared.) After 20 years as an editor at Disney, she now works a freelance editor.

Joseph in high school

Joseph was Nancy's older brother, adorable and enigmatic. (He was hoping I'd describe him as athletic instead of adorable, but as a teenager, that's not what I noticed. LOL) 

He went on to become a psychologist and become a master instructor in Buddhist meditation and study.

He is best know as one of the top golf psychology experts in the world, and author of the bestselling Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game.

 

But today they are here to talk about applying their talents to a different field in their new book: The Best Diet Book Ever: The Zen of Losing Weight. Welcome Nan and Joseph!

First about the dynamics of co-writing. How did you guys divide the work? And how did that go?

Nancy: We both contributed our personal experiences and insights to the work. I had a lot of anecdotal material that related back to my trials and tribulations with dieting over the years.

Joseph: I wrote about the peak performance principles and methods of awareness, self-acceptance, and habit-change that I present in most of my other books. I also introduced the techniques that worked for my own personal weight-loss program, checking with Nancy to be sure they’d click with the people she knew who were involved in groups doing dieting work.

How did it go? She’s a dream to work with – great instincts for how to put things, what to add, and what to leave out. And great insights about what dieters go through, to which I could apply the Zen principles. 

Lucy: Joseph, could you give us a little blurb about the book and explain how Zen Buddhism is related to dieting in a nutshell?

Joseph: It’s a fresh new perspective on the weight-loss journey: the freedom to make positive, rewarding choices instead of the pain and sacrifice of strict diets. Making such choices and setting small, attainable goals makes you feel more empowered to succeed than the usual negative, self-punishing approach to losing weight.

No recipes or menus—just simple, effective methods that help you shed the pounds and keep them off, without restrictions or struggle. Dieters learn how to enjoy food more, and win 'the battle of the bulge' at the same time!

What does Zen have to do with dieting? Zen means “action with awareness,” being completely in the present moment. Zen methods broaden the mind, engendering confidence, focus, and awareness, as well as energy, stamina, and peaceful equanimity. The more you cultivate the Zen qualities of presence and awareness, the easier it will be to achieve your dieting goals. 

Lucy: interesting that you say you have to feel what it would be like to lose weight rather than just hearing about it and thinking about it. Can you give us an example of an exercise you recommend for this?

Joseph: There are exercises that give you true glimpses of the future, experiences of what it will feel like to weigh less and be slimmer. That’s the best way to reinforce your intention to lose weight, and inspire you to overcome inertia and take action.

Here’s an example:

The Weigh-Less Exercise

This is a vivid way to immediately experience how good you'll feel when you are literally lighter on your feet:

Put ten to fifteen pounds of groceries in a shopping bag. [Note: How heavy a bagful you choose depends on your weight. Please be careful not to use more than 10% of what you weigh, and no more than 20 pounds.]

Sit on the front edge of a stable (not rolling) chair and hold the bag against your stomach. Then stand up and feel how hard you have to work. Repeat three times.

Next, put the bag aside and stand up without the extra weight.

Feel how much easier it is, how good it feels with less weight on your legs and knees. Now you know—maybe your legs aren’t so weak and your knees aren’t so bad. Maybe they’re just overworked!

Next, carefully pick up the bag and walk around for a minute or two. (You can climb a few stairs as long as you don’t strain yourself.) That’s what it will feel like if you put on those extra pounds.

So if you’re not sure you’re ready to start losing weight, this might at least inspire you to make the changes that will prevent you from gaining weight.

It’s an important motivator that will inspire you to:

· Start the weight-loss journey without delay,

· Keep going through periods of no-change or discouragement, and

· Maintain your weight once you’ve reached your target.

Lucy: In the book you say "there needs to be time to be aware of what's going on, and space to respond rather than react. Without awareness of a decision point there is no option, you eat. With awareness you have options of eating or saying, "No, thank you."" Tell us about the NINJA system.

Joseph: The NINJA System® stands for Necessary Intention & Non-Judgmental Awareness. To overcome an undesirable habit, it is necessary to establish a strong intention to make a change. You then apply non-judgmental awareness to the targeted habitual behavior.

If your choice is to weigh less, you’ll feel out of sync when your actions don’t match your intention.

Like a flower blossoming naturally, by just noticing, without adding judgments of good or bad, you’ll catch yourself sooner and sooner.

At first you only notice what you did after it happened. Then you realize it while it’s happening. After that you catch it just as it starts. Eventually you become aware of the impulse that drives the habit, and at some point even the impulse no longer appears. The habit is gone. 

Lucy: did writing this book together change the way you two eat?

Nancy: Yes. Definitely for me. I used the NINJA System® to help me deal with a longtime night eating habit. I used the concept of "shrinking the window" (intermittent nighttime fasting) to speed up my weight loss. One of my favorite quotes from a Zen story in the book is "when you're eating, just eat." Don't read or watch TV when you're eating. Focus just on eating. You'll slow down and be much more aware of what you are eating. You will certainly enjoy it more. And it's such a simple concept. Definitely easy to remember!

Joseph: I’ve also taken to heart the “Shrink the Window” technique of intermittent fasting as well. Although I was already practicing mindful eating, I started setting down utensils between bites, and that slowed down momentum eating and helped me enjoy my food more. I’m more aware of how I feel as a meal goes on, so I’m more likely to stop sooner. I really dislike feeling too full. As the teddy bear said when asked if he’d like dessert, “No thanks. I'm stuffed.”
 

Lucy: Nan has started on a new career adventure this year, her own editing business. We'd love to hear more about that process! ​What kinds of projects are you working on, and how does it compare to working for a big corporation?

Nancy: First thing I did in my new freelance career was a line of books featuring new IKEA characters to be sold in their stores. We created a number of different formats under their LATTJO brand which focuses on all kinds of "play." My favorite was a punch-out theater set complete with scripts, backdrops, props, etc. I'm currently working on several projects for Disney Publishing Worldwide. My heart will always have a soft spot for the Disney characters, so it makes me very happy to write and edit for them.

The hard thing about freelancing is looking and asking for work. The advantages are being able to set your own schedules, do errands during the week instead of every weekend, and having the freedom to take on projects like THE BEST DIET BOOK EVER. Loved being able to do lunch and work with Joseph throughout this process. 

(And projects I'm looking for are anything children's book related writing or editing--especially preschool projects. I can help ready picture books manuscripts for publication. Contact: nancyparent at live dot com)

Lucy: Reds, they'll be stopping in all day today. Questions about dieting or editing or ???

Nancy Parent is a 20-year veteran of Disney Publishing Worldwide, editing and writing hundreds of books for the MouseWorks and Disney Press vertical imprints as well as Disney global publishers. In addition, Nancy has written and edited for DreamWorks, Simon and Schuster, Scholastic, Reader’s Digest Children’s Books, Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers, Fox, Suzy’s Zoo, and Lyrick Entertainment. Her picture book, Holly Bloom’s Garden, was co-written with Sarah Ashman and published by Flashlight Press. Her humor book, Meditations for Toddlers Who Do Too Much, was also co-written with Sarah Ashman and published by Andrews & McMeel. Nancy resides in Burbank, CA. She has practiced the "art" of dieting since she was 10, trying every program in existence and concocting a few of her own. She is now using The Best Diet Book Ever to maintain her most recent weight loss of 25 pounds. 

Rhys writes dreams and dragons

RHYS: I always find it fun to read the other 'what we are writing' posts. Mine could be about any number of things: I sent off my latest Royal Spyness book to my editor at Berkley a couple of weeks ago. it's called MALICE AT THE PALACE and is focused on a real royal scandal in the 1930s.

I'm currently working on a Molly Murphy Christmas book, due out next Christmas. It's about two street children in New York, and my working title is NO CRIB FOR A BED.  My editor isn't so sure she loves the title. What do you think? Any other suggestions?

But I'm not going to share that with you today, because I have yet another project that is about to come to fruition. I have written a children's book with my daughter Clare and it's about to make its debut on Amazon, every other e-format, and also as a paperback. It's called DREAMWALKER, and is the first book in the Red Dragon Academy mini-series.

It's a middle-grade fantasy in which California girl Addy finds herself enrolled at a strange boarding school in an old castle in the mountains of Wales where one corridor leads not to another wing of the school but to a mirror world with an evil ruler who can control minds. Addy has always had vivid dreams but now this power makes her a target for the ruler who calls himself The One.

Here is the opening scene:

            I’ve never been so cold in my life! It's freezing up in this tower. The cold from the massive stone walls bites into my back as I sit here hugging my knees to myself. The turret room is pitch black except for a sliver of moonlight coming in through the slits in the wall. Raj would probably tell me their name and that that they are where archers shoot their arrows, but Raj isn’t here. I wish he was. The windows are overgrown with vines and they cast creepy shadows like long tentacles on the round tower wall. I can make out the shape of other kids sleeping on the floor. They are lying as far away as possible from Pippa and me because they’re afraid of us.

A bone-chilling howl comes from the forest. I know what animal made that howl and wish I didn’t. So a Rancur is close by and that must mean that the Fallon Gywn are with it. They’ve come for us. I huddle closer to Pippa. She seems to be sleeping, in spite of the cold. I prod her and whisper, “Are you asleep?” and she only grunts. A boy is whimpering and moaning in his sleep. How can they sleep at a time like this? There is no way I’d allow myself to fall asleep tonight, even if I wasn’t afraid of dreaming. I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow and what horrible thing is going to happen to us. No one will say exactly what it is, but I can tell it’s pretty bad. For once I wish this was a dream, but I know it’s very real.

Was it really only a month ago that I was an ordinary seventh grader in California, surfing and going to the mall with friends? I had nothing more to worry about than getting my homework done. Then my mom died. That messed me up so badly I don't know if I'll ever be OK again, but that wasn't when the danger started. The danger started when I first walked down that dark hallway and found myself in this world that I don't understand. Or maybe earlier. Maybe it started when I arrived at crazy Red Dragon Academy. No -- even that wasn't right. The danger started in my own living room when I saw the two old ladies. The danger started when I climbed onto the back of the red dragon.

So if you have a child who loved Harry Potter, this might make a good holiday gift. (Or if you loved Harry Potter and want to read something with the same feel). Anyway, it should be up and available on Amazon and other sites both as an e-book and a paperback by November 15. Let me know how you like it!

Breaking News:  Since I posted this my design guru has given me the links. You can read a bigger sample and decide if you want to buy the e-book right now. The paperback is available right now on Createspace but will be up in 3 drays on Amazon. Go forth and buy, my children!
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/dreamwalker-14

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dreamwalker-rhys-bowen/1120727006?ean=2940150558113

http://www.amazon.com/Dreamwalker-Red-Dragon-Academy-Book-ebook/dp/B00PHEBLDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415805799&sr=8-1&keywords=dreamwalker+rhys+bowen

Confession: I have always adored fantasy and still re-read Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings and even the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. How about you? Do you read children's books?