Karen Sandler

Category: Uncategorized

  • It’s My Birthday, and I’ll Blog if I Want To

    Phone 12-12-12I have the coolest birthday in the world, most especially today’s. I’m lucky enough to have a birthday in December when all the Christmas festivities are in full swing (and Chanukah, since I married my Jewish hubby 30+ years ago). I like that my natal day is early enough in the month that I always got plenty of presents both for my birthday and for Christmas.

    Last night, I jolted out of a light doze at an auspicious time. I looked at the clock, and it read 12:12am. How perfect is that to open my eyes on my birthday and see it was 12:12am on 12-12-12?

    Yes, I can hear you saying, “That was really 00:12. It wasn’t 12:12 yet.” Well, I just so happened to look up from my work (okay, I was Christmas shopping online) and I saw the above on my desk phone. I caught a quick shot of it, then also took a picture of my computer clock below.

    Computer 12-12-12This picture has the extra bonus of a few tantalizing words from my current work-in-progress–Revolution, book 3 of the Tankborn trilogy. You’ll want to click the photo to get the larger size.

    I hope you enjoy the run-up to the holidays, whichever end-of-year festivities you celebrate. As for me, I’m going to party tonight with a few good friends. Because this date is special.

  • New Book Sale (the cat is out of the bag)

    About a month ago, I wrote a blog post in response to a YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday prompt that asked, What do you hope to be writing in one year? Three? Five? In that post I was very cagey about a new project that I couldn’t yet discuss. Since a notice has gone out today in the UK’s magazine The Bookseller, and also in PublishersMarketplace, I feel free to announce it here.

    Angry Robot’s new mystery imprint, Exhibit A, has acquired World English Rights to my mystery novel, Clean Burn, as well as to a second book in the series. Janelle Watkins, the heroine of Clean Burn, is a hard-edged abuse survivor who gets caught up in an arson investigation in her hometown while reluctantly searching there for two missing kids. She ends up facing the childhood demons she thought she’d left behind and has to confront again the former lover whose marriage she helped destroy.

    I’m very excited about the sale. Exhibit A will be releasing Clean Burn simultaneously in the UK and US in September 2013 (via Random House in the US). Since Lee and Low/Tu Books will be releasing Awakening, the second book of the Tankborn trilogy in Spring 2013 (hopefully late March 2013), that means I’ll have two books out next year. Woohoo!

  • RTW – Creative Inspiration

    This week’s blog prompt at YA Highway is When you need creative inspiration, where do you go? My first, off the top of my head response, the shower, is a little too cliche, so I’ll offer up some other options.

    First of all, I don’t so much pursue that creative spark as find ways to leave myself open to it. That’s why the shower, cliche as it is, really does work to get me past a creative logjam. For me, writing is a problem-solving exercise and for some of those problems, I need to be away from the manuscript for clarity.

    Some favorite ways to spark my creativity:

    • meditation
    • driving
    • riding my horse
    • brainstorming
    • conference workshops

    With the first three, I can’t just grab a piece of paper to jot down notes (well, I suppose I could when I meditate, but that would defeat the purpose of meditation). I don’t have a phenomenal memory, so instead I’ll work through the solution in my mind enough times to ingrain it (I hope) well enough that I’ll remember it later.

    I often end up brainstorming with my husband when I’m driving, which leaves him to take the notes. At a conference, I’ll have either a notepad or notebook computer to jot ideas down.

    There’s a theme here: I need to put my brilliant ideas in writing as much as possible. Often once I’ve written them down I don’t need to refer back (the act of writing sets it in my brain), but if I don’t inscribe them somehow, they dissolves like mist. Frustration ensues.

    Regarding the last item on my creative inspiration list–conference workshops–I should mention that I don’t find inspiration in workshops about inspiration. Oddly when I’m sitting listening to an agent speak about the publishing market or a bestselling author talking about their career, solutions to my current writing problems start popping up in my brain. I guess just being in the milieu helps me be creative.

    So my secret to creative inspiration–walk away from the problem, give your brain time to clear. And the answer will flow right in.

  • 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.

  • Transitions

    We lost my father-in-law in June. My mother-in-law passed just two weeks ago. Now my dad, who’s been suffering from Alzheimer’s for five years, is in his last days.

    Please go hug the ones you love.