Laura Manivong

Countdown to Tiger

2009-09-06T14:03:02Z

Escaping The Tiger 1st (and now 2nd) Review

2009-08-24T16:07:33Z

I've been hanging out here lately (http://bit.ly/9Irpd), but thought I'd drop in . And if you're not on Twitter, Facebook, or Verla Kay's blueboards, then you might not have heard me breathe a huge sigh of relief. So just in case, here's ESCAPING THE TIGER's first review from Uma Krishnaswami. It's wonderful to share this with other book lovers, so thank you!
http://bit.ly/9Irpd

This debut novel for upper elementary and middle school-aged readers tells the story of Vonlai Sirivong who is twelve at its opening and sixteen at its conclusion. In between we witness his first frantic escape with his family from their native Laos, then in the hands of the dreaded Pathet Lao. We follow them to refugee camps in Thailand before they finally gain admittance to the United States. Escaping the Tiger is a deeply felt story, simply told. Vonlai’s relationship with his older sister Dalah, and his shifting role relative to his parents, constitute the heart of this story. As he forges a place for himself despite the gritty conditions of the camp, playing soccer and waiting for an endless series of papers that bring in turn food, education, and finally freedom, he comes to understand what really matters in life. Manivong has created a believable protagonist, and she does not shy away from depicting the difficult living conditions in the Na Pho refugee camp. There are many threats to Vonlai’s family, including the near-rape of his sister. Nor does the story default to an undilutedly happy ending—instead we come to care about characters who make unexpected decisions, or who are left behind. Based on the author’s husband’s own experiences, this is a vivid and lovingly drawn tale of people caught in the crossroads of history and struggling to retain both dignity and hope.

BIBLIO: 2010, HarperCollins, Ages 10 to 14, $15.99.
REVIEWER: Uma Krishnaswami
FORMAT: Middle Grade
ISBN: 978-0-06-166177-8

Edited to add:
And now this from Linda Sue Park!
http://lsparkreader.livejournal.com/61626.html

How will I ever top this day?

Book Trailer: Escaping The Tiger

2009-06-17T04:09:04Z

For more info, visit me here: http://lauramanivong.wordpress.com

Finally! A Respectable Office

2009-06-14T23:40:52Z

My brain has been jumbled for months, and so has my office, but NO MORE. It's painted. It's organized. And it's conducive to writing (I hope!) http://tinyurl.com/n8ah9f

Now three more big things on my list before Escaping The Tiger comes out:
1. Launch website
2. Debut book trailer
3. Write another book (that really should be #1, but procrastinating is my favorite pastime)

P.S. The novel's up at AMAZON*, but there's no picture yet.

*relevant because Harper bought this book in Dec. 07, and I can now officially say things are moving along! ~golf clap~

I'm here now: http://lauramanivong.wordpress.com

2009-06-02T22:03:37Z

Drop in and say hi.

http://lauramanivong.wordpress.com

Evolution of an author's website

2009-05-30T22:23:57Z

...that author being me.

here:

LauraManivong.wordpress.com

: )

Prep for "Escaping The Tiger" book trailer shoot

2009-05-27T20:24:33Z

here:
http://lauramanivong.wordpress.com

The Query That Got Me An Agent

2009-05-21T14:41:39Z

Here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/rcbzg4

Target Submissions, Find an Agent

2009-05-18T14:50:29Z

Looking for a literary agent can feel like a full time job. Here's how I did it.
Blog by Laura Manivong

Hope it helps!

WordPress

2009-05-14T04:45:11Z

So I'm trying to be hip, trying to be cool. Can you go peek here, please?
http://lauramanivong.wordpress.com

There's not much to look but if someone could throw a comment my way at the wordpress site, I'd like to experiment with categorizing stuff.

I'm extremely proud that I was able to get my tweets to show in the sidebar. You gotta understand...I've worked in TV for 20 years and I can't even hook up a VCR (guess I should be saying DVD Player these days).

Thanks!!

I give you...the cover art!

2009-04-27T19:12:32Z

From HarperCollins Children's Books on 2. 17. 10

Me? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big News for Werewolf Lovers

2008-12-12T16:21:32Z

The biggest full moon of the year graces us tonight.
Raise a glass and say cheers to Lon Chaney Jr.

photos courtesy of http://PDPhoto.org

Ooh, Ahh, Pretty, Pretty

2008-12-11T20:22:16Z

image in public domain

On this day in history, year 1719, the US first recorded this marvel.
Marvel more: http://tinyurl.com/5huegt .

Elizabeth C. Bunce: Finalist for William C. Morris YA Debut Award!

2008-12-08T16:39:19Z

The William C. Morris Award honors a book written for young adults by a first-time, previously unpublished author. The winner will be named Jan. 26, 2009 during the Youth Media Awards at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.

A Curse Dark As Gold

Elizabeth C. Bunce

published by Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic

(9780439895767)

This supernatural novel retells the story of Rumpelstiltskin, setting it at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and centering it around the life of Charlotte Miller. When the bank wants to repossess her mortgaged mill, Charlotte strikes a bargain with the mysterious Jack Spinner, (a creature who knows the art of turning straw into gold), but then discovers she must free her loved ones from a generations-old curse.

See more on my pal, my peep, my fellow canine enthsusiast, my neighbor, my CP, my inspiration (yeah, I'm fond of her):
elizabethcbunce.livejournal.com
elizabethcbunce.com

Congratulations to all the finalists:
Graceling
by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Absolute Brightness
by James Lecesne (HarperTeen/Laura Geringer Books)

Madapple
by Christina Meldrum (Knopf, an imprint of Random House)

Me, the Missing, and the Dead
by Jenny Valentine (HarperTeen)

French-Fried Fish

2008-12-08T03:46:32Z

So my little book is in French now. Who would've thunk? Not sure how rhyme translates but come on, French kids are readin' 'bout me fish.

I have no idea what Poison Velour means...sounds itchy, though.

Thanks, Jon Bard!

2008-11-18T19:34:29Z

So I lamented (ever so briefly) yesterday about self-promotion, but hey, I got through it and someone noticed. Jon Bard, managing editor of Children's Book Insider, has taken a liking to the "elevator pitch" for ESCAPING THE TIGER.

www.write4kids.com/blog/2008/11/18/children%e2%80%99s-lit-blog-posts-of-the-day-november-18/

Jon offers a great service to writers of children's literature through:
http://write4kids.com
http://write4kids.com/blog

So this is self promotion...

2008-11-17T16:53:45Z

Okay, admittedly this feels awkward, but if you want a peek inside my head, go here:

http://community.livejournal.com/kidlit_central/37633.html

Thanks to crcook.livejournal.com for her wonderful interview.

Help! I need a website!

2008-10-28T17:30:32Z

So I have a designer. I've kept a list of author websites I like. I'm just over a year away from my novel's publication date so we have time, but what now? For you authors who have already built your website...

What is critical for me to know?
What seems to be readers' favorite part of your websites?
And what do you like about other authors' websites?
What about including an excerpt of work to be published (I'll check with my editor, too.)?

Guess I need to buckle down and write some content, but I'm relying on you pros to help me avoid any disastrous moves.

Thanks for any words of wisdom you can provide.

Curtis Brown Agency Guest Blogger: PB Mistakes

2008-10-22T19:15:37Z

Tracy Marchini ( www.tracymarchini.com ) has worked as a literary agent's assistant at Curtis Brown, Ltd. for over two years, and has spent a significant amount of time answering Laura Manivong’s newbie questions. Before joining Curtis Brown, she worked as a freelance children's book reviewer for BookPage and as a correspondent for the Taconic Press. She’s also well-known for being the only second grader in her class to write a book report on a book she penned herself. So Tracy understands both the authoring side of books, as well as the literary agency side.

Without further ado, here’s Tracy Marchini “On Both Sides Of The Box: The First Picture Book.”

ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BOX: THE FIRST PICTURE BOOK

I'll be honest -- when my desk is covered with paper, and I feel the need to throw out massive amounts of something in one fell swoop -- the answer is unpleasant, but obvious.

It's time to go through the slush pile.

Going through the slush pile can leave you with an enormous feeling of accomplishment and also give you significantly more room in your office -- all in a couple of hours. But it also leaves me with a weird sense of guilt. Perhaps, it's the knowledge that someone, somewhere, could be deliriously ripping open my envelope, quickly reading the letter, and stuffing it back in the SASE. When I high-five my coworker about cleaning out the slush box behind me, I also cringe because part of me really believes that query karma is a bitch and somewhere I've just been high-fived out of someone else's pile.

I'll admit, I am no stranger to the slush. I submitted my first picture book in 1997. I was 14, and the book was truly terrible. It was about a group of anthropomorphic animals who found a hat in a bush. I collected around twenty or so rejections and spent a lot of my parents' money on postage. (Sadly, they may never see the return on that investment.)

As the writer I thought, "this is the best book EVER" and "thank goodness all of my old stuffed animals can pose for the illustrator." (I kid you not -- this story was drawn from real, stuffed-and-furry life. Awesome.) Reading it now, I think, "Thank God this was never picked up!"

I had made some huge but common errors in my first picture book attempt. First, my characters were "furry kids." While they were labeled bear, duck, bunny, etc. they didn't actually exhibit any animalistic behaviors. In this case, they could (and should) just have been three or four kids.

Secondly, I hadn't thought about the book's re-readability. Once my readers had learned what type of hat the characters had found, there was nothing to make the reader read the book again. My favorite picture book growing up was CHATTY CHIPMUNK'S NUTTY DAY by Suzanne Gruber and Doug Cushman, which was also about hiding/finding something. What that book had, that mine didn't, was great line repetition and alliteration of the "ch" sound. (Now, to the dismay of my roommates and coworkers, I 'alliterate' all over the place...)

Another common picture book pitfall is trying to ingratiate a moral lesson into the story. Luckily, I did not lecture in the middle of my pb about the benefits of sharing, though I'm sure I thought about it. As someone that reads the box, though, this is a good time to point out -- you can't beat the reader over the head with your moral -- it is boring. There. I said it.

My first attempt was also full of 'talking heads.' Dialog heavy picture book manuscripts usually make for monotonous illustrations. In this case, my picture book as written would have looked something like this:

First page: Duck finds hat

Second page: Picture of duck talking to rabbit

Third page: Picture of rabbit talking to duck

Fourth page: Picture of duck talking to rabbit

Fifth page: Picture of rabbit talking to duck

Etc., etc., etc. until we bring in the bear.

On the other side of the box, when I read a picture book manuscript, I have to think about how the illustrations will move the story. What is going to keep the reader turning the page? Is there enough variety in the text to lend itself to a 32 page picture book? If a writer is unsure if their book has enough action to carry the story, making a picture book dummy can help. Make a small 32 page booklet, mark off the endpapers, copyright page, title page and acknowledgments (this leaves about 28 pages to work with), write out the text and sketch out the book. If you flip through it and you see a bunch of faces talking to each other or the same picture over and over again, it's time to relook at the text. (Don't submit this dummy, btw. This is just for you.)

The bear-duck-hat-animal-thank-goodness-it-will-never-see-the-light-of-day story also had another fatal flaw, and that is that the main character's problem was not easily identifiable. What did my main character want? Honestly, I guess my duck wanted to keep that hat she found. But in the end, she couldn't, and as written, she wasn't very happy about it. (Maybe this is why I decided against putting in the moral -- afterall, my duck wasn't a very good role model.) What did she do to achieve her goal? She complained about sharing until the bear invoked the power of "that's my dad's" which is the same as saying "I'm going to tell my big, furry dad on you, and he eats ducks for breakfast!" (Hmm... not good. Not. Good.)

On the other side of the box, we know that in a picture book, the main character must solve their own problem and meet their initial want/need. Invoking the power of "I'm telling!" just isn't as satisfying to the reader.

Finally, though my first picture book did not break this rule, a lot of the picture book slush I see comes in rhyme that is off meter. Bad rhyme will kill a good story. Writers should ask themselves -- will this story really benefit by being told in rhyme? Is my poetry as strong as what's already in the marketplace? Always read your work out loud, this will help you hear where the rhyme is awkward or offbeat.

Most of the above mentioned mistakes are big 'red flags' and makes going through the slush pile easier (thus increasing the amount of bad slush-karma I have accumulated.) So, don't make my mistakes, and help me earn some good slush-karma.

I'll see you on the slushy side!

Thank you Tracy, for dropping by!

A Banner Day!

2008-10-20T04:20:19Z

Why, you ask, is this day to be described as banner-ish?
Because it's the first day evah that I've felt the need to post TWICE in ONE day.

What, you ask, is the reason for this urgency to post?
Well, I bought a new bottle of mouthwash today. It expires October 2010. October 2010!

How, you ask, is this relevant?
Because by October 2010, my book, Escaping The Tiger, will have been out for the better part of the year!

Can I get a golf clap, please?

So if all you 2010 debut authors want to make your publication date not seem so far away, just take a jaunt down the medicine aisle, or even the canned goods aisle, and see the year of your book debut in print. It's truly exhilarating!

No spoilers, I beg you!

2008-10-20T03:05:32Z

I borrowed a book from the neighbor girl. It's a book that's starting to generate some real buzz, and I don't want anyone ruining it for me, so if you're one of the few people who's already read it, please don't give anything away. I mean it. And if you play nice, when I'm done reading it, I promise to play nice too and not say a word about any characters who might be named Bella or Edward.

Now pardon me while I go snuggle up with this quiet little book.

Get a Critique, Save a Life

2008-10-02T19:18:43Z

Tracy Marchini of Curtis Brown, Ltd. (an extraordinary literary agency, cough, cough) is offering critiques of children's manuscripts to help save a life. Get the scoop here:

www.tracymarchini.com/2008/09/get-critique-help-save-life.html

The Sky Didn't Fall! No More Spook Tactics, Please!

2008-10-01T02:02:05Z

What's the big ding-dang rush with getting this bailout plan passed? Reminds me of anxious writers shooting off manuscripts too soon only to regret it later because they realize it wasn't their best effort.

Yes, the economy needs help, but take a look at the following idea and see if it sounds better than the $700,000,000,000 Bailout (did I get the zeros right?):

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/fed_bailout/index.html

It includes this phrase:
Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages.

If you like the idea, then act quickly with the nifty link to contact your representatives...another vote is coming fast. Again, I'm no math wizard but $50 billion sounds a heckuva lot better than $700 billion...650 billion bucks better.

DANGER: Writer Attempts Wall Street Math!

2008-09-29T22:07:47Z

We witnessed a fair amount of wonkiness on Wall Street today. Biggest drop in history! Run for your lives!

But, but, but, percentage wise, the dow fell 6.98%, also known as not quite 7%, less than 7%, under 7%.

Compare that with Black Monday and the Depression when the dow fell more than 20%, also known as a helluva lot more than today, three times more than today, way, way, way more than today. I'm just sayin'.

Now if this writing gig doesn't work out, does anyone think I have a future as a math teacher?

Disclaimer: the above excerpt is an example of how word choice creates tension in a scene, not a lesson in economics, which I am grossly unqualified to teach.

A Killer New Site

2008-09-26T00:46:02Z

JWKClassic.com

These are my writing peeps! Heck, they're my peeps in general. You'll find all sorts of LJ friends there (elizabeth c. bunce, cr cook, kidlit kim). And the peep who designed the new site is brilliant, patient, talented and thorough. So if anyone needs a website, check out Tessa's company at atdesignskc.com

Let me know what you think of JWKC Classic (Juvenile Writers of Kansas City Classic).