Hopping about has connected me with some fairly amazing writers. Case in point? Marsha Qualey<\/a>. Marsha is the type of YA writer\u00a0who you pray kids discover – and you recommend when they haven’t. She writes realistic teen characters set against social\/political\/religious\/moral (I could keep going) backgrounds in a down-to-earth, this really feels So, since I said I’d hop – let’s get hopping.<\/p>\n What are you working on right now?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n At this very moment I am working on a middle grade novel featuring a talking dog and time travel. It’s new territory for me – a giant leap into sci fi\/fantasy\/historical fiction … what?! But, I must admit, I am loving the research and the characters I’m creating. I am also working a about three How is your current work different than other works in the genre?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n In my mind, I am writing a weird cross between the Magic Tree House<\/em>, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy<\/em>, and Men and Black<\/em> (with a bit of Back to the Future<\/em> thrown in for good measure) for seven to eleven year old kids. It’s early days, folks — so I think it’s too soon to say what this book will become. I’ll keep you posted.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why do you write what you write?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n How long do you have? But, seriously, like most writers – I pick projects that affect me on some level. Most of my picture books come from a place of joy and enthusiasm for the topic, the words, and the eventual readers. I see the kids in my mind as I’m writing – I imagine how certain words\/ideas might make them react – giggles? Smiles? Concern? What might seem very light to an adult can affect a child deeply (and I often find myself laughing or crying as I write). As for my novels – again – I tend to find characters who I know and who I believe have something of worth to share with my readers. Bottomline – if I’m not addicted to writing the book — it’s not going to happen. I can’t force it. I have to love it on some level, or I will end up cleaning my house instead.<\/p>\n What’s the hardest part of writing?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A\u00a0 year ago I would have said, “Just doing it.” Now, with a book out in the world and two more next year – I have to say, “Keeping the marketing out of the current work.” Once you see what it takes for a book to survive – it’s tempting to work only on projects that seem to have a marketing angle built in – books that want to leap off the shelf based only on the cover image or the snazzy title. I don’t want to be that person\/that writer. I want to write books that matter to someone – and that someone had better be me.<\/p>\n Now I invite you to check out the blogs of two amazing writers I hopped into along the way.<\/p>\n I met Lisa Bullard<\/a>\u00a0last October I met Mary Ann Scott<\/a>\u00a0around 2007 (dates are a bit fuzzy) at the Highlights Foundation Workshop in Chautauqua, NY. Mary Ann Happy Hopping, Folks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A week or two ago, Marsha Qualey asked me if I wanted to blog hop with her. I love hopping. In fact, I do it all the time — in storytime, in my writing, during the hectic after-the-school-day\u00a0witching zone of: \u00a0“Can you give so-and-so a ride?” or “Could you bring me XYZ?” Hopping, or so … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[168],"tags":[213,214,209,208,210,211,212],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-revision","tag-ghost-stories","tag-humor-for-children","tag-lisa-bullard","tag-marsha-qualey","tag-mary-ann-scott","tag-writing-life","tag-ya-novels"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3h4TT-5t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"marsha](\"https:\/\/www.jamieaswenson.com\/studious-cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/marsha-qualey.jpg\")
<\/a>I met Marsha when I was hopping around Hamline working on my M.F.A. Marsha somehow or other got me through my critical thesis in one piece — and she promised me a ghost story. I’m waiting.<\/p>\n<\/a>like it happened – sort of way that just blows me away. Plus, the woman writes a darn good mystery. To say I am a big fan of her work would be an understatement. And now, Marsha as turned her talents toward adult fiction. This can only be a good thing. Check out her latest novel: Venom and the River<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a> picture books – two that rhyme, one that doesn’t. I have also been out and about promoting my first picture book:\u00a0Boom! Boom! Boom!<\/em>\u00a0(which has been fantastic and exhausting) … and I’m gearing up for the release of BIG RIG<\/em> (Feb. 2014). So there’s that!<\/p>\n<\/a>– she’s not only a talented writer celebrating a novel release in <\/a>October: Turn Left at the Cow\u00a0<\/em>– but the author of more children’s fiction and NF than I can list here. Lisa supports her professional community in many valuable ways – including as a Mentor for Hire. I met her at a time I really needed a mentor. Her advice was invaluable to me. She’s a writer to watch. So start watching. Plus, she is one of the funniest folks I’ve ever met. Honestly.<\/p>\n<\/a>was working on a historical, paranormal manuscript. I was immediately taken with her – as a writer, as a friend, and as a fellow ghost girl. Her blog is called ‘Haunting the Broken Tree’ – and it’s worth your time to check it out. Mary Ann recently received a work-in-progress grant from SCBWI (and I believe she may be off on another adventure even as I type). Watch for Mary Ann’s ghost stories in the near future.<\/p>\n