D Anne Love

Defying the Diva

admin — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:50:04 +0000

“I’m a bully because I enjoy pushing people around and making them do what I say. It’s my thing. If you mess with me, I will shove you into your locker, and it will hurt.” This unabashed admission from a fifteen year old girl led me to my next novel about a high school student who finds herself the target of a popular and attractive classmate known for pushing people around and getting her own way.

Picture Perfect

admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:49:31 +0000

I have never bought anything from a TV shopping channel, but I think they’re fascinating windows on our culture. The idea that people will sit in front a screen and watch a “spokesmodel” demonstrate hair spray, a set of carving knives or a cleaning product fascinates me. One night as I watched a cosmetics wizard selling concealers and lip gloss, I started thinking about the ways in which we conceal our hurts and struggles in an effort to project a perfect image to the rest of the world. This is especially true in high school as young adults try to figure out who they are and where they fit into the world. So I created high school freshman Phoebe Trask and gave her a mother who sells Bee Beautiful cosmetics, a father embroiled in a controversial court case, a boyfriend who’s hiding a secret, and a next door neighbor all struggling with questions of their own. Then I just stood back, watched, and wrote down what happened. I hope you enjoy their story.

Semiprecious

admin — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:51:34 +0000

Growing up in the turbulent 1960s I saw a parallel between the upheavals over civil rights, the space race, and the Cold War and the upheavals we all must pass through on the journey from childhood to adulthood. I wanted to explore this parallel against a backdrop of a teenaged girl’s struggle to make a home for herself against tough odds in a whole new place. So I gave teen sisters Garnet and Opal a mother determined to become the Next Big Thing in Nashville, leaving the sisters in a small town in Oklahoma to discover for themselves the true meaning of home.

Front Page books

admin — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:47:34 +0000

Coming in March 2008: Defying the Diva

Now Available: Picture Perfect. Read more in Books.

Now Available: Semiprecious. Read more in Books.

What’s New

admin — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:00:02 +0000

Everyone I know has a MySpace page, so I got one, too! Meet my cyber friends and check out my blog where you’ll find the latest information about my books, travels, and other literary happenings at www.myspace.com/dannebooks. I’ve also done two interviews that you can listen to: one is a 30 minute radio interview, the other is a shorter video podcast.

Radio: www.blogtalkradio.com/bookbitesforkids
Video podcast: www.meetmeatthecorner.org

Both teens and adults continue writing to me about SEMIPRECIOUS, which has just gone back to press for a third printing. Reviews are posted on the Books page, and the latest reader mail on the Let’s Talk page. Thanks to all who have written to express your affection for Garnet and Opal and their story.

HYPATIA will soon find new audiences in Eastern Europe and Korea. I’m excited to share the story of this amazing woman with readers around the world.

New Books: PICTURE PERFECT, released in March 2007, is the story of high school freshman Phoebe Trask who finds herself dealing with monumental changes at home and at school. Not to mention figuring out her relationship with her gorgeous science lab partner Nick Harper, who is dealing with problems of his own. Click here to read my new author interview about this book.

If you’ve ever been bullied in school or know someone who has, you’ll identify with Haley Patterson, high school freshman and budding journalist, who finds her life turned upside down after writing an item in her high school newspaper gossip column. For more on this book coming in 2008, click on Inspirations.

The 2008 travel schedule is filling up. Next year I’ll be teaching and speaking in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, at the national SCBWI conference in Los Angeles, at a writers retreat in Iowa, and at a university in Arkansas, as well as several other events yet to be finalized. I hope to meet many more of you next year.

Keep reading, and keep those letters coming to Let’s Talk. I love hearing from you.

All my best, D. Anne

Your Comments and Questions

admin — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:47:24 +0000

One of the things I love best about writing for teens and tweens is the chance to talk to my readers. If you have a question about my books, about writing and publishing in general, or if you just want to tell me what’s on your mind, this is the place. I’ll answer each message as soon as I can, but please remember that I travel quite a lot, and sometimes it may take a while for me to catch up. But I will write you back and you can read it here.

Or, click here if you’d rather send a private message that will not be posted.

The Secret Prince

admin — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:54:22 +0000

Some years ago I read a book by Christopher Vogler called The Writer’s Journey, which is based upon the work of the late Joseph Campbell, a student of the roles that myth and heroes play in our lives. Vogler discussed the idea of a hero who is compelled to leave his ordinary world and embark upon a quest in order to achieve the greater good. During his quest he meets enemies and allies and endures many trials and tests on his way to claiming the “elixir” before returning home, having been changed by his experience. I thought it would be interesting to develop a novel using Vogler’s mythic story pattern. I had great fun creating warriors, wizards, fantastic beasts, a dwarf trickster, a princess hiding in a convent, and the evil Northmen who must be vanquished in pursuit of a lost amulet.

The Puppeteer’s Apprenctice

admin — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:53:03 +0000

Browsing in a library one day I came across an old out of print book called The History of the English Puppet Theater. I thumbed through it idly, reading a paragraph here and there and soon found myself captivated by the true story of itinerant entertainers who made their living by giving puppet plays at fairs and festivals across medieval England. I also read about Charlotte Charke, a real puppeteer in England, a woman noted for her good taste and ambitious performances. It seemed that one good way to tell the story of these clever and brave entertainers would be through the eyes of a young girl who is as captivated by the puppets as I was, and who has nothing to lose by taking up this vagabond lifestyle. I created “Mouse,” an orphaned scullery maid, and sent her on the road with a mysterious puppeteer who is keeping secrets of her own.

Hypatia

admin — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:52:06 +0000

Almost ten years ago, my dearest friend, the writer Leanna Wilson gave me a book called Heroines. As I read the biographies of a number of women whose lives and work were new to me, I came across a brief description of Hypatia of Alexandria who was the foremost female mathematician and astronomer of her time. Intrigued by the story of a woman of such influence whose contributions to scholarship have been virtually lost, I set out to discover as much as I could about her life and work in order to bring her to the attention of modern audiences. My hope is that this book will open yet another new window on the world for young readers.

The Puppeteer’s Apprentice (Simon and Schuster/McElderry)

admin — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:57:20 +0000

Now in its seventh hardcover printing

Mouse works in the scullery at Dunston Manor, peeling onions, stirring the pots, sweeping the floors, and doing her best not to get into trouble with the fractious cook. Alone at night in the dark corner she calls home, she wishes for something wondrous to happen and dreams of a better life. But what chance does she have, a girl born with nothing, not even a proper name?

Then Mouse sees a puppet play and knows at once what she must do. Somehow she must learn to make the puppets dance. Somehow she must become the puppeteer’s apprentice. But the puppeteer is harboring some uncomfortable secrets, and Mouse doesn’t know whether she has the courage it takes to fulfill her dreams.

“A must read in the grand storytelling tradition of Lloyd Alexander and Karen Cushman.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This wonderfully written tale holds mystery, suspense, and the realism that cones with a battle fought and won.” School Library Journal (starred review)

An ALA Amelia Bloomer List Book
An Ira Notable Book in Language Arts
A Book of the Month Club Book
Winner of the 2003 Teddy Children’s Book Award
William Allen White Award Nominee
South Carolina Book Award Nominee
Keystone (Pennsylvania) Young Adult Book Award Nominee
Sasquatch (Washington State) Award Nominee

Simon & Schuster Links:

Hardcover: http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?sid=183&pid=413888
Paperback: http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?sid=183&pid=500482