Timmy and the Golden Lion Tamarin will be released Spring of 2015 with True North Publishing.

The post Timmy and the Golden Lion Tamarin Fan Page appeared first on Be the Cat.

Anyway, yesterday I happened across an already much-maligned article published by Slate by Ruth Graham. The title of the article really says it all: Against YA: Read whatever you want. But you should feel embarrassed when what you’re reading was written for children. Really?? Should I then take a seat in the second-class citizen section because I write for this category? Books which ought not to be read by adults??? Here’s a tip… don’t tell me what I should be embarrassed to read.

At the time I was incensed by the entire article, the fallacious “points” made by the article writer, the tone, and the snobbery and arrogance which bled through every line. But at that moment, I was itching to dive into edits and didn’t have time to express my feelings in a constructive manner, so I flipped the link over to Italia Gandolfo with a few choice words about wanting to bang my head against wall in the face of such stupidity, and dove into edits. Italia then posted the link on Facebook and started a conversation about it. This morning, my agency-mate and fellow cub, Hope Collier, posted the following thought provoking response.

I think a lot of this was written simply as an article to stir up controversy and drive traffic to the site. Not reading YA because you’re an adult makes no more sense than not reading crime fiction because you’re not a detective. Adult, YA, children’s, they all have something unique to offer. IMO, if you can’t enjoy each for its diversity and age-compelled storyline, you lack imagination. Not all YA is fluff and happiness just like not all adult isn’t. Literacy is a gift, and no one should diminish it for you no matter which packaging you prefer.

I don’t know what it was exactly about Hope’s post, but I couldn’t hold the flood back any longer and went off on a rant (okay, so I can rant about most things at the drop of a hat.) Here it is:

I think one of the things the article author was trying to assert was that all YA novels wrap up too cleanly and lack the ragged edges of life. And this is going to get lengthy because I’m going to quote from the article and then go on a mini-rant (with any luck it’ll be mini)

Most importantly, these books consistently indulge in the kind of endings that teenagers want to see, but which adult readers ought to reject as far too simple. YA endings are uniformly satisfying, whether that satisfaction comes through weeping or cheering. These endings are emblematic of the fact that the emotional and moral ambiguity of adult fiction—of the real world—is nowhere in evidence in YA fiction. These endings are for readers who prefer things to be wrapped up neatly, our heroes married or dead or happily grasping hands, looking to the future. But wanting endings like this is no more ambitious than only wanting to read books with “likable” protagonists.

If the article writer thinks all literary fiction needs to end with emotional and moral ambiguity, I’d like to be the first to say HOGWASH!!!! As a reader, I happen to hate reaching the end with a feeling of “but what happened after that?” When it feels like there is no conclusion to the novel — not that it has to be a happy ending, or tied up with a cute little bow — it angers me as a reader. I feel short-changed by the author because they DIDN’T FINISH THE STORY.

Yes, life has ragged edges when we look at it from the perspective from the present, but WE’RE NOT DONE WITH OUR STORY YET. We’re only looking from the perspective of where we are now. And I have news for the article author… we ALL end in death, so if that is one of the ways in which YA “neatly ties up the ending” then that is a DIRECT reflection of life. Should every little thing be tied up in every book? No. And I don’t believe YA books do that anymore than I think adult books do.

I LIKE a satisfying ending (okay, I know we can all debate whether I truly fit into the adult category, but let’s set that aside for a moment). Whether the ending is sad or whether it is happy, I like to have the feeling of conclusion of the story — otherwise it feels like I’ve been ripped unceremoniously out of the world I’ve been immersed in. I don’t think that life is going to continue on for the characters as it has ended. So if it’s a ringing declaration of “I’ll love you forever.”, so what???? We, as adults, should know that life doesn’t freeze in that moment, and we should also not expect for the author to chronicle the life of the character until such time as the character dies. In essence, a book is simply a chapter in the lives of the characters within. And we get to share that world for the time we’re reading the book.

I’m anti-snobbery in reading ALL THE WAY. I don’t care whether you’re reading children’s, comics, YA, mysteries, romance, sci-fi, the back of the cereal box, or what is classed as literary. Reading one category/genre does not make you better than someone else reading another category/genre. What is important to me is that people read. That they are able to immerse themselves in the world of their choice.

I’m eclectic in my reading tastes. I read and enjoy things all over the map and have my entire life. I have also read things in each category/genre that I really don’t care for. It’s why ALL the books are written. To give us a choice, and NO we’re not all going to choose the same books to read. Again, I ask, so what??? If you find someone else doesn’t love the same book you did, somebody else will. And for me, reading is an intensely personal experience. I don’t really care whether someone else enjoyed the book, as long as I did. And perhaps enjoy is not quite the correct word. It’s not that I only read “pleasurable” books, which the article author appears to disdain. I like when a book disturbs me and turns my personal perspective on its ear. Those are important things to read as well, but I want to intersperse my reading with things that have pleasurable elements as well. And even if I didn’t on either side, Who Cares????

Okay, I’m putting the breaks on because I can obviously keep going on forever here. I agree that the title of the article is one that was designed to stir things up and drive traffic to the site. But the snobbery and sheer arrogance that ANYONE has a say in what I should or should not be reading gets me going. (End rant)

As a writer, I’m even pickier about my reading selections while writing than otherwise. I was once ridiculed by another writer because I opted not to review his book because it was more depressing than I wanted to read at that time. I was embroiled in writing part of my young adult series, and didn’t want to read about a suicidal character in a mental hospital. It wasn’t the right thing for me to read because it would have blocked me from getting my own work done. The writer of the book ranted back at me because I had stated it was too dark and depressing, and mocked me for only wanting light happy reads. Other than ensuring I would never read a word he has ever written or ever hoped to write, his rant against my reading habits did nothing. The bottom line is when I’m working with my characters, I have to protect and preserve my environment and OH BY THE WAY—reading and reviewing someone else’s book is a gift, not something that should be expected and we ALL have the right to personal preference.

The bottom line to this is stop the snobbery. Stop the arrogance. Stop the shaming. There is no point in it and it’s a form of bullying. You won’t sway anyone with your arguments (because they are not valid) and it is none of your business who enjoys what for reading material. Now I have to get back to edits.

The post Rant About Reading Shaming appeared first on Be the Cat.

So, of course, on my way to work, what do I think about? The young adult genre and the opinions and perceptions from the outside. Having long been a fan of young adult literature, as well as writing it, I am sometimes taken aback by some of the statements of people who consider the genre to be less than. My thoughts immediately flew back in time to reading Little Women and being completely immersed in the March family triumphs and tragedies. Louisa May Alcott inspired me, through her characterization of Jo March, to want to write my own stories. I know that I am not alone in this. While Little Women is a heartwarming tale, does heartwarming automatically make it less than? Would we have missed out on some of the best writers of today had there been no Little Women to inspire? I could go into example after example of young adult books which are considered classics and a must read. Some of my favorites are Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I understand that Tom Sawyer is a much more light-weight story than Huckleberry Finn, but I happen to enjoy Tom Sawyer more because I identified with Tom a little more, and I like mischief makers in my stories. Another favorite is Dickens’s Oliver Twist.

While I have focused on the early classics of young adult literature, the list doesn’t stop there (and I am very tempted to keep naming titles, but will stop – otherwise I’ll never be done with this post). There is an important gap between children’s books and adult literature, and young adult books fill that gap. Children’s books are highly colorful, with few words and lots of illustrations. This helps capture the attention of the child and assists them in imagining the action, thoughts, and feelings of the characters in the story. The next step is to have stories without all of the colorful illustrations and more words to describe the action, thoughts and feelings of the characters in the story to allow the reader to initiate the imaginative process.

Children usually love books, and smart parents encourage this love as it gives them a basis upon which to build for their education. However, as the pictures start falling away, so do the readers. Young adult books serve the purpose of keeping the young reader hooked and growing their love of reading. Without young adult books to provide characters and story lines with which the reader can identify, will the reader search out books as an adult? Without readers, is any written work important?

There are two reasons people read:

1. To obtain information.
2. To be entertained

As far as point one is concerned, it contains all of the manuals, how to books, news articles, internet blogs on a topic, and so forth. The reading to obtain information is primarily non-fiction in nature. For point two, in addition to some non-fiction, such as memoirs, the bulk of the reading activity is in the fiction realm. Young adult books are simply stories which have a protagonist in the young adult age group. Some of the stories are fairly straightforward, however, some story lines become very complex, the same as you will find in adult fiction.

Since I read to be entertained in my leisure hours (few and far between) and read to help my mind focus at night to help me fall asleep, I will continue to read young adult fiction. I think some very exciting work is coming out of the young adult genre, and enjoy this genre along with many others. I write young adult fiction because those are the characters that keep coming to me with their stories. While not entirely true, I like to say that I don’t think I’ll ever be old enough to write adult fiction. My claim is not that I write great literature (sounds a little stuffy to me), but that I write an entertaining tale, which is something I value pretty highly.

If you’ve made it down this far, listen to what Jackson Pearce has to say. She’s quite entertaining. Enjoy.

———————————————————————————————–
LK Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit: Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.
For other e-book formats, visit Smashwords.com
To read book reviews by LK Griffie, visit: The Lulu Book Review

The post Thoughts From the Morning Commute – The Young Adult Genre appeared first on Be the Cat.

Before this turns into a rewrite of my elementary school essay, let me get back to the actual topic of Read Across America. On the NEA website, they give a brief history of the event.

While not being an official participant this year, as I just found out about it, I feel like I am hosting my own Read Across America event with my traveling book project, Where in the World is Misfit McCabe? I have sent eight special edition copies of my young adult novel, Misfit McCabe out into the world where the purpose is for them to be read and passed to the next person. It will be very interesting to see how far they go. My whole reason for starting this project was to promote reading. I loved to read as a child and still do to this day. I firmly believe that children who are motivated to read, not only do better in school, but in their adult life as well.
———————————————————————————————–

LK Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit:
Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe
in an instant.
To read book reviews by LK Griffie, visit: The Lulu Book Review

The post Let’s Read appeared first on Be the Cat.

Today was a day, like so many others, that had some good moments, and some not so good ones, in other words, pretty typical. By far, the highlight of my day was after getting home, fixing dinner, and finally getting a chance to boot up the laptop and check my email, was finding a message from one reader who lives in Canada. Here’s what she had to say:

my name is Kali I am Linda’s neice I have enjoyed reading your book that you so kindly signed for me!!! I can honestly say it is the best book I have ever read!!! That is no suck up! It is so neat that you know my aunt and I am hoping to meet you someday!!! When is your next book coming out I have heard that you are only just finishing the first chapter. Well sorry I dont mean to rush you but ….. i am almost finished the first book already, and i only got it for Christmas!!! Well looking forward to hearing back from you soon hopefully!!! I know you probably get a lot of e-mails in one day, what with your book being so darn good!!!

I happen to know Kali’s aunt because we work for the same company and I used to travel to the Vancouver office a few times a year. What a lift to my day at any rate. I guess I’ll have to put my writing hat on and get the sequel finsihed.

So, when you read something you really like, drop the author a line and let them know. They may not have time to respond to you, but I can guarantee that a message telling them how much you liked their work will definitely brighten their day.

The post Message from a Reader appeared first on Be the Cat.

My reasons are simple, yet many. I really like the aspect of being able to carry an entire library around with you in the size of a single paperback and not even the same weight in most cases. With the Kindle as well, there is the ease of downloading new material pretty quickly. I can shop, preview the material and have it as soon as I need it. No having to wait to get home from the store or if you are the point and click variety of shopper like I am, no waiting for the book to ship. That’s another plus, no shipping costs. Since I have severe dust allergies, an e-book reader removes the factor of dust caused by page decomposition over the years, plus the amount of dust that collects (and so quickly too) on the number of books that I own.  The reduction of the carbon footprint is also a draw; fewer trees will be needed to produce paper, fewer chemicals will be processed to make the ink, warehousing requirements are reduced or eliminated.  Theoretically, that should mean either an increase profit margin to the publishing company who should then share the wealth with the author, or pass the savings along to the customer, or a combination.

Although the e-book concept has not yet caught on as much as some would have hoped, I believe that it is an idea that will continue to grow in popularity until the majority of books which are published will be published in printed and e-book format, and will continue along the spectrum until the e-book is the given publication and the publisher will consider whether or not to go to the expense of the printed book.  Until the e-book reader format has been improved to provide a full color page capability, there will be a segment of books for which the e-book format is not practical.

Once the full color e-book reader has been established, will that then mean the death of the book?  Will it be within our lifetime that printed books become a memory?  While no one can answer that with any degree of accuracy, my bet is that there will be fewer and fewer printed books over time and an increase in e-books.  But, until Fisher Price, or another company of that ilk comes up with a relatively inexpensive, indestructible e-book reader for children, printed books will be alive and well in the Children’s section of your virtual bookstore.

The post Death of the Book – Not Yet appeared first on Be the Cat.

The completion of the production process on this special edition book marks the beginning of the of the companion project that I have been spending a lot of my “spare” time getting off the ground. While it will still be a couple of weeks for the remainder of the books to ship, Book 1 shipping out is a major milestone.

Some of you may be asking yourselves, so what is this big project anyway? “Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?” has been set up to chronicle the travels of 8 special edition copies of Misfit McCabe as they are passed from person to person. For a sneak peek while we are waiting for the remainder of the books to ship, please check out Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
———————————————————————————————–

LK Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.

The post The Book has Launched appeared first on Be the Cat.