Blind date

I figure this first entry is a little bit like going on a blind date.  Sweaty palms, five hours with the makeup, about a gazillion wardrobe changes and my hair just won’t cooperate and, heck, is that a zit?

You get the picture.

Because here’s the thing: You don’t know me, I don’t know you, what could we possibly have in common and are we going to get along?  Now I trolled a couple dozen sites, trying to figure what people said their first time out, sort of like standing in front of the mirror auditioning different versions of “Hi, I’m Ilsa.”  Smile, no smile, too much of a smile?  Shake hands, just nod my head?

Then I thought, okay, if you’ve stumbled on this site, it’s either because you’ve read something I’ve written, you’re thinking about reading something I’ve written, or you like books.  Or any combination of the three.

You may have noticed that I’ve been writing for a bit.  (Which is always a bit sobering because that first sale seems like only yesterday.  I still remember what I was doing and where I was and what I said . . .)  So you might wonder, well, why now?  Why have this website?

I’m so glad you asked.

Now I’m no kind of expert.  Anything I’ve learned has been through repetition, hard work and listening to other, more experienced writers.   So I won’t give you writing tips.  I can only tell you what I do, and everyone’s different.  What works for me may not work for everybody else–and that’s okay.

Having said that, the best advice has already been given by Robert Heinlein and every successful writer I know follows those rules.  Trust me on this: Google Heinlein and find out for yourself.  Or simply go to Dean Wesley Smith’s blog and plug in a search for Heinlein’s Rules . . . Oh, all right, here’s the link: http://deanwesleysmith.com/index.php/category/on-writing/ There’s no one better than Dean at telling you exactly what you have to do to be a successful writer.  (We can debate what “success” means another time–because there is more than one way to succeed as a writer.)

Mainly, I started this because I’ve just sold two YA novels to Carolrhoda Books and I am thrilled beyond all reason.  The first book, Stalag Winter (or, maybe, just Winter because we’re tossing around titles), is about an unusual young man who discovers a couple things about his small Wisconsin town that everybody else would just as soon let stay forgotten.  That book made it to the semifinals of the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and the reviewer at PW really liked it.  Thankfully, so did my wonderful editor, Andrew Karre, and Winter will be hitting the shelves in fall, 2010.

Ben’s letters in my second book, Sincerely, Any Soldier (yeah, yeah, the title will change), tell what happens when Ben, a senior in high school, befriends a younger boy.  Because rumors start about how Ben and Jimmy might be those kind of people and . . . well . . . we all know nothing good can come of that.

So, telling you about those books is my way of opening the front door and saying hi.  Want to come in?