Karen Sandler

Author: Karen Sandler

  • RTW: A Rose By Any Other Name

    Today YA Highway‘s Road Trip Wednesday asks: If you couldn’t use your own name, what would your pseudonym or pen name be?

    I feel like I’m cheating here, because I already have a couple of pen names. Back when I was writing adult romances exclusively (as Karen Sandler), I decided to write a children’s book so my then-young sons could read at least one of my books. I ended up publishing that book, then titled Time in a Bottle (but soon to be re-released as Timewrecked), under a pseudonym. I thought it would be better if young readers didn’t stumble across my very sexy romances, so Time in a Bottle was published under my pen name, Karen Anzalone. Anzalone was my grandmother’s maiden name.

    Now I’m focused exclusively on writing children’s books (my first being Tankborn). I don’t intend to write any new adult romances. But last year, I got the rights back to several of my older romances and decided to re-release them myself as e-books (as I’m doing with Timewrecked). Since those romances are entirely different books than Tankborn or the other YA books I’m planning to write and hoping to publish, I decided to market my self-published books under a pseudonym.

    So I stole the name of my main character in Tankborn for a first name (Kayla) and appropriated my mother’s maiden name, Russo. I only have two paranormal romances published under the name Kayla Russo so far (Dark Whispers and The In-Between), but there are more in the queue.

    It’s a bit ironic that when I re-publish my middle-grade book, Timewrecked (I’m currently waiting on cover art), I will be using my real name, Karen Sandler. Now I have a bit of a track record in children’s literature under that name, so I want to take advantage of that.

    But maybe I ought to have a few other pen names on the back burner for future books. Like for that mystery novel I haven’t been able to sell, I could be Agatha Agapantha. Or I could pen that dessert cookbook I’ve always dreamed of writing under the name Chocolate LaRue.

    How about you? Have any cool pen names in mind for yourself?

  • RTW – What were your top five favorite books of 2011?

    This week YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday asks, What were your top five favorite books of 2011? I’m not very good at favorites lists, but I’m willing to give it a go. Most of mine aren’t brand new in 2011 because I’m still exploring the children’s literature field. But these are the ones that stuck with me, not in any particular order.

    Rules by Cynthia Lord

    This is one of the few books I read in paperback, because I met the author at an SCBWI conference. Her talk was incredible, heartwarming and heartbreaking. Cynthia had me in tears. So did Rules.

    Unwind by Neal Shusterman

    This is one that I keep recommending whenever the subject of must-read books comes up. It has the most horrifying scene I’ve ever read. It’s also thought-provoking and riveting, with marvelous characters.

    Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

    Another one that had me in tears. I knew Caitlin, the main character. My heart ached for her. The ending was uplifting and joyful without being saccharine.

    Room by Emma Donoghue

    I saw this on a “best” list, then heard the author on NPR. She did a reading from the book and I was hooked. It can be a frightening read at times, and it’s difficult to see a child in peril. But it develops to a wonderful ending.

    Liar by Justine Larbalestier

    I heard about this book via the #racefail controversy. I knew nothing about the story, which was pretty nice because I was unwittingly pulled along as it kept turning and twisting in (for me) unexpected ways. The main character is great, the story fascinating, and the end left me wondering if I’d ever really heard the truth.

    So there you go. Those of you who read widely in children’s literature have probably already read them. But if you haven’t, I highly recommend you check them out.

  • RTW – Where do you buy most of your books?

    Today YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday asks, Where do you buy most of your books? Then the post assures me that “No one is judging!” which is good because…let me screw up my courage…okay, I’ll just blurt it out. I buy most of my books at Amazon!

    Let me follow that confession up with a but…but…but… I do the vast bulk of my reading on a Kindle (okay, maybe that’s another confession…mea culpa in advance), and the only place to get a Kindle book is on Amazon. But look at it this way–every book I buy, I buy new. I’m not doing as a certain member of my household does (husband!) and making all my purchases at the library’s used book sale. Because the ebooks are “new books,” the sales all benefit the author (royalties) and the publisher (whatever they net) as well as Amazon.

    Still, there is one party left out of the equation here–the brick-and-mortar bookseller. I have an answer to that–I have a granddaughter (did you hear the birds singing and the flowers blooming when you read that? No? Surely you saw the glow from my grin?). Anyway, I love buying my granddaughter picture books. While I could order them from Amazon (and have once or twice), I like to see those books close up and in person before I buy. So I much prefer to purchase gifts for my granddaughter at a physical bookstore. Or even better yet, an indie, like Sundance Books in Reno where I bought Nosh, Schlep, Schluff and a couple others.

    (I just realized, it’s a good thing my granddaughter can’t read yet. Because of course she’d read her Nonna’s blog and then she’d know what she was getting for Christmas.)

    So yes, I’m aiding and abetting the monolithic overlord that is Amazon with all my ebook purchases. But I’m also supporting my local book stores with grandchild purchases. Hopefully the latter is enough penance for the former (can you tell I was raised a Catholic?).

  • Something Yummy for Those Holiday Potlucks

    Total cheat on my blog today. My schedule is stacked high with “to-do’s” so I haven’t the time for a thoughtful post. So here are a couple of my favorite recipes you might want to make for that upcoming Christmas or New Year’s Eve/Day potlucks. The first is a cobbler recipe that was given to me by my late neighbor, Connie. She was an accomplished cook.

    Fruit Cobbler

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

    filling:
    6 cups berries or pared, cut up fruit such as apples or peaches
    ¾ cup sugar
    1/3 cup flour

    Combine berries or other fruit with sugar and flour. Mix well and pour into 8×8 inch pan. Note: If strawberries are used, add ¼ cup of tapioca. Note: chopped up crystallized ginger goes well with peach cobbler.

    topping:
    1 cup flour
    1 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    ½ teaspoon salt
    1 egg, beaten
    ½ cup butter (1 stick)

    Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix well. Add beaten egg to dry ingredients and stir until mixture is moistened but still crumbly. Spread topping evenly over berries/fruit in baking pan. Melt butter and drizzle over the topping. Bake 40 minutes or until topping is golden and fruit is bubbling.

    This is a Finnish recipe that I got from a fellow student in a chocolate class I took a few years ago. Very unique and marvelously good. She translated it from a Finnish Chocolate book, hence the metric measurements.

    Chocolate Cake with Graham Crackers

    200 g (7.055 oz.) dark or semisweet chocolate
    250 g (8.82 oz.) coconut butter (or regular butter)
    2 eggs (or pasturized egg equivalent)
    3 dl (about 1.5 c.) powdered sugar
    graham crackers
    milk (you can use Kahlua or Creme de Cacao instead)

    Melt chocolate and coconut butter (or plain butter) in double boiler hot water bath. Let cool down. (I melted the butter in microwave and added chocolate into the warm butter which melted the chocolate. Be sure to mix well to a smooth mixture).

    Beat eggs and powdered sugar until light in another bowl. Beat chocolate/coconut butter mix slowly into egg/sugar mix.

    Line a meat loaf pan with parchment cooking paper. Spread about .5 inch layer of chocolate mixture on the bottom. Set a layer of graham crackers (any other type of sweet cracker that you prefer) on the chocolate mix. Brush with milk (or any liquor). Cover with another layer of chocolate mix. Repeat layering 3 to 4 times ending with chocolate layer.

    Chill 2 or more hours. Remove from pan and remove the parchment paper. Dust with cocoa powder. The cake is ready to eat.

    The cake keeps well in the refrigerator and ages well. Because of the raw eggs it is safer to keep the leftovers refrigerated unless you use the pasteurized eggs.

    Enjoy & Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Felicitous Kwanzaa!

  • RTW – A Christmas Gift for My Main Character

    This week, YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday asks, What would be the ideal holiday present for your main character? Since my characters tend to talk to me like real people, walking around in my created world as if they really exist, I guess it makes sense that I’d add them to my Christmas gift list.

    I’ve written dozens of main characters over the years, but none of them mean as much to me as the main character in my YA science fiction novel, Tankborn, Kayla 6982, nurture daughter of Tala. She’s had a difficult life, and I’ve been putting her into one hazardous situation after another, first in Tankborn, and now in the sequel I’m writing, Tankborn Awakening. If anyone deserves a Christmas gift, it’s Kayla.

    Kayla doesn’t celebrate Christmas (no one really does on the planet Loka), but I’m sure she’d appreciate a present. If you asked her what she wanted, she would surely say, Freedom for all GENs, or something equally altruistic. She tends to put the good of the many ahead of her own needs, so it’s unlikely she’d ask for something for herself personally. If you pressed her, she’d probably want something she could give to her best friend, Mishalla, like a gorgeous scarf made of uttama-silk or a pretty piece of metal jewelry. She might ask for a month’s supply of kel-grain for her nurture mother, Tala, or a bleeding-edge gadget for her tech-crazy nurture brother, Jal.

    But if you could dig deeper, maybe download her bare brain (yes, not possible since only a GEN’s annexed brain is accessible via a datapod download), it would be clear what she wants most. The one thing she’s least likely to get–Devak. The high-status trueborn is so out of her reach, she doesn’t even hope for him. But if I could give her that one special gift, it would be at least one night with Devak, just to be with him, to talk, to kiss, to hold his hand, and be close.

    Sigh. That would be Kayla’s best Christmas gift of all.