Suzanne Williams, Author of the Month: Writing the “Take-Off” Story

When I was an elementary school librarian many years ago – after I’d begun to get published but wasn’t yet writing full-time – I did a lot of writing with intermediate grade classes. Plotting a story can be a difficult task for young writers (and old!) so one of my favorite ways to involve kids in fiction writing was to take plot at least partly out of the equation by having students rewrite familiar non-copyrighted, public domain stories. (Think folk and fairy tales, myths, and legends, and even songs, nursery rhymes and jump rope rhymes.)

Typically, after reading aloud several published picture books that were good examples of “take-off” stories (ask your librarian to recommend his/her favorites as there are dozens of them), I would ask students to choose a familiar fairy tale and then rewrite it while changing *one element of the story. I’d remind them that they’d need to vary the events and characters some to stay in keeping with their original big change. The resulting stories were always a lot of fun, and kids had a blast writing and sharing them. (For samples of three student fairy tale “take-offs” click here.)

*Elements to change (pick one):

1. Point of view change:  Switch the good guys/bad guys.  (Examples: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas.)
2. Setting change: Change the setting of the story. (Examples:  The Three Little Hawaiian Pigs and the Magic Shark by Donijee Laird, The Three Little Cajun Pigs by Berthe Amoss. My Old MacDonald in the City)

3. “After the end” change:  Tell what happened after the story ended.  (Examples:  The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka, Rumpelstilskin’s Daughter by Diane Stanley)

Fast forward many, many years, and I find that the take-off story describes the bulk of my writing career!  My picture book, Old MacDonald in the City, is a take-off on the familiar song, but with the setting changed to the city. Another of my picture books, Ten Naughty Little Monkeys, is a take-off on the jump rope rhyme and also involves setting changes.  And though not strictly a take-off, I wrote my Halloween story, The Witch Casts a Spell, to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell.”

For the last seven years my co-author Joan Holub and I have written three take-off series together. Two are based on Greek mythology: Goddess Girls  (Aladdin, ages 8-12) and Heroes in Training (Aladdin ages 6 – 9), and one is based on fairy tales:  Grimmtastic Girls (Scholastic ages 8-12).  Though the plots are more complex, each of the books has as its center an existing myth or fairy tale rewritten in a new and fun way.

In fact, Joan and I have loved doing take-off series so much that we’ve recently signed on for our fourth. The new series will be based on Norse mythology. The first two books of Thunder Girls (tentative title) will debut in the spring of 2018.

Happy reading and writing!

Suzanne

http://www.suzanne-williams.com

P.S. I’m giving away one autographed copy of the newest book in the Goddess Girls series: Calliope the Muse. Comment to enter for a chance to win. (USA only.) One winner chosen Monday, September 19.

***UPDATE: Congratulations to the contest winner, Lacey L — thanks for reading and commenting on the blog, and enjoy your new book!***

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Erik Brooks happily welcomed his newest picture book, Later, Gator! (Sterling) into the world on July 19th. He was also excited to participate in the recent International Literacy Association Conference in Boston, MA, both as an exhibitor for the Alaska Wilderness League (continuing to share his Polar Bear Post Card Project with teachers and librarians around the country!) and as a presenter for the Children’s Book Council’s “Humor in Children’s Literature” discussion. Erik and fellow Children’s Choices selection recipient Paul Czajak, both talked about the role of humor in their work in advance of the Council’s official presentation of the 2016 Children’s Choices list. More specifically, Erik’s artwork in The Runaway Tortilla (Graphic Arts), by Eric Kimmel was the subject of his talk.

♥ ♥ ♥

The Hide & Seek Ghost, which is book 8 in Dori Hillestad Butler‘s Haunted Library series,  releases on August 16. Book 8 was originally supposed to be the end of the series, but Dori is happy to report there will be a book 9 (The Ghost at the Movie Theater, which will be out February, 2017) and a Haunted Library Super Special (The Underground Ghosts, which will be out July 2017)

♥ ♥ ♥

Laurie Ann Thompson traveled to Orlando last month for the ALA Annual Conference, where she was presented with the Schneider Family Book Award for Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah.

She was also the keynote speaker, via Skype, at the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies, a one-week summer camp program held in West Seneca, NY, dedicated to providing in-depth human rights education for local high school students and teachers. This summer’s theme was “What You Do Matters—Be a Changemaker.”

♥ ♥ ♥

Ta da! It’s a cover reveal for Trudi Trueit‘s new tween novel, MY TOP SECRET DARES & DON’Ts (Aladdin MIX). It’s the story of 12-year-old Kestrel Adams, an American, who heads north of the border to help save her grandmother’s ski lodge from developers. To succeed, she’ll have to battle a pair of evil twins, save a rock star dangling from a ski lift, and hope a little luck hops her way. DARES & DON’TS is set for publication in the spring of 2017 and is Trudi’s third title for Aladdin MIX. To read more about the book or see Trudi’s other MIX and middle grade titles, visit www.truditrueit.com

♥ ♥ ♥

Suzanne Williams and Joan Holub have two new books out in August in their co-written Goddess Girls and Grimmtastic Girls series: Goddess Girls #20: Calliope the Muse and Grimmtastic Girls #8: Gretel Pushes Back.

♥ ♥ ♥

And if you happen to be at the PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association) Writer’s Conference this weekend, come hear Dori Hillestad Butler, Dia Calhoun, Clare Hodgson Meeker, and Lisa L. Owens at noon on Saturday. We’ll be sharing our own personal tales of struggle and triumph on a panel entitled “Warrior Stories: True Tales of Survival in the Writing Biz.”

 

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Here’s a peek at what our members have been up to this month:

OAV authors Erik Brooks, Dori Hillestad Butler, Dana Sullivan, Laurie Thompson, Trudi Trueit and Suzanne Williams recently joined their Northwest colleagues in Seattle for the Inside Story. Educators, booksellers and book lovers of all ages packed the auditorium above Mockingbird Books to hear our authors talk about what inspired their new books. The event is sponsored by the Western Washington Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award to OAV’s own Laurie Thompson for her inspiring book, Be A Changemaker. The Crystal Kite is an award voted on by peers, recognizing outstanding books from 15 SCBWI regional divisions around the world. Congratulations, Laurie!

                                                                         ♥ ♥ ♥
OAV authors Martha Brockenbrough and Janet Lee Carey joined YA authors and hundreds of YA librarians at the YALSA Symposium in Portland, Oregon. Highlights included the Book Blitz–a terrific confluence of energized YA librarians and YA authors coming together at a single Saturday evening book signing. Martha and Janet signed stacks of The Game of Love and Death and In the Time of Dragon Moon for library shelves and lucky teen winners in libraries across the U.S. Generous publishers (Scholastic for Martha B. and Kathy Dawson Books/Penguin Random House for Janet C.) donated books for the YALSA Blitz. Here’s Martha with Mindy Mathis, a Napa library. A good time was had by all!

                                                                       
                                                                        ♥ ♥ ♥

Martha Brockenbrough‘s Game of Love and Death continues to collect awards. It was one of Amazon’s YA Books of the Year and also made Publisher’s Week’s Best of the Year list for YA.
                                                                       
                                                                        ♥ ♥ ♥

The sixth book in Dori Hillestad Butler‘s Haunted Library series, The Ghost at the Fire Station, launched on November 3 and to celebrate her publisher sent her on tour! She visited schools and bookstores in Fort Collins, Chicago and Miami. The highlight of the tour was reconnecting in person with her 6th and 7th grade English teacher, Mr. Hartshorn. When Dori was in 6th grade, she wrote a novel for
Mr. Hartshorn for extra credit. She believes she is an author today in part because of his response to that novel.

Dori’s first Haunted Library book also won the Silver Falchion award for “Best Children’s Chapter Book” at Killer Nashville, a place for thriller, suspense and mystery writers and literature lovers.

If you’re in the Seattle area, visit Dori and the 26 other local authors who are participating in the Seattle 7 Writers Holiday Fest at the Phinney Neighborhood Center on Saturday, November 21 from 3:00 until 5:00.

 ♥ ♥ ♥

November is Picture Book Idea Month and Joan Holub helped kick off PiBoIdMo 2015 with three ways she comes up with ideas. And she’s giving away a wooden castle to celebrate idea #2, which inspired her new picture book, The Knights Before Christmas. Read to the end of her post on ideas for a chance to enter!

                                                                              ♥ ♥ ♥

In addition to the Crystal Kite award, Laurie Ann Thompson has a couple of other new awards to smile about. Emmanuel’s Dream won a Eureka Nonfiction Honor Award from the California Reading Association and Be a Changemaker received a Gold Medal from the Moonbeam Award.

She also recently returned from the AASL annual conference in Columbus, Ohio, where she met many inspiring teacher librarians, signed books, and moderated a panel on “Changemakers in Society: Books that Motivate Kids to Solve Problems and Make the World a Better Place,” featuring fellow nonfiction authors Shana Corey, Loree Griffin Burns, Melissa Steward and Don Tate.

And she released this new book trailer for My Dog Is the Best.

                                                                     ♥ ♥ ♥

Trudi Trueit is excited to again be in the author line-up for Sno-Isle Regional Library’s AUTHOR NEXT DOOR series. Come meet her, along with seven other Northwest authors, at this relaxed panel format on Saturday, December 5 at the Mountlake Terrace Library from 2:00 to 3:30pm. Don’t miss this fun event! Probing questions will be answered at deep secrets reveals (writing secrets, that is!). Books will be available for purchase following the event.

Trudi had a great time recently skyping with 3rd to 5th grade students at Old Town Elementary School in Maine all the way from her home in Seattle! The students asked some insightful questions, including one she’d never had before: how does writing affect your social life? The answer? Writing is a solitary career, but she gets out as much as she can!
                                                                      
                                                                          ♥ ♥ ♥
Cover Reveal!!! Suzanne Williams reports that she and Joan Holub are thrilled that two more books will be added to their Grimmtastic Girls series in 2016. Book 7: Snowflake Freezes Up releases on April 26. “Snowflake isn’t sure which fairy tale character she is. But with her magical powers causing lots of trouble, she’s definitely on thin ice! So just in case she might be a villain, Snowflake is chilly to her classmates. Can she keep her cool until she knows her whole story or will her social life at Grimm Academy be permanently frozen? 

Around the Web with OAV Authors: October 2015

It’s the fourth Thursday in October, which means it’s time for our monthly roundup of links to a few interesting tidbits featuring Online Author Visits members:

Mother Daughter Book Reviews enjoyed Goldilocks Breaks In, a book in the Grimmtastic Girls series by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams.

Looking to schedule a Skype visit with one of our terrific authors? As always, we encourage you to visit our Author Profiles page to see bios, presentation topics, fee structures, and contact information!

Speaking of virtual visits, a reminder that OAV’s author of the month, Trudi Trueit, is running a contest through October 31 — and one of her prizes is a FREE half-hour Skype visit. You’ll find details about how to enter that giveaway online here.

In this Sounders FC video, Clare Hodgson Meeker discusses her inspiration for the chapter book Soccer Dreams: Playing the Seattle Sounders FC Way.

Registration is still open for Dana Sullivan’s fall graphic novel workshops scheduled at several Seattle-area King County Library System locations.

Ooh, here’s a super-fun find: the trailer for I Remember the Sky, Sony Japan’s film version of Janet Lee Carey’s novel Wenny Has Wings.

And, we’ll close with this wonderful photo of Dori Hillestad Butler and one of her adorable young fans, taken during last weekend’s Humboldt County Children’s Author Festival.

Posted by Humboldt County Children’s Author Festival on Saturday, October 17, 2015

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Here’s a peek at what our members have been up to lately …

Dori Hillestad Butler‘s Haunted Library #5: The Secret Room (Grosset & Dunlap) was released last week. Now that Kaz can finally pass through walls without feeling all “skizzy,” he can explore Beckett’s secret room at the back of the library. What he finds there is a mystery he never expected.

Dori also turned in a manuscript for Haunted Library #8: The Hide and Seek Ghost this week. This will be the final book in the series.

                                          
                                          ♥ ♥ ♥

Joan Holub‘s What Were the Salem Witch Trials? released last week. This is a chapter book about an incredibly tragic, fascinating event about which many questions remain. A memorial was dedicated to the Salem Twenty, 300 years after their unjust deaths in Massachusetts, and all were finally and officially declared innocent. Joan has written other books in the Who Was/What Was series with Grosset & Dunlap, including Who Was Baby Ruth?

                                                                                 ♥ ♥ ♥

Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams celebrated the release of Goddess Girls 17: Amphitrite the Bubbly and Heroes in Training 10: Hephaestus and the Island of Terror this week. 

A fan letter (below) may not have been the deciding factor in convincing Scholastic to continue with their Grimmtastic Girls series (which Scholastic had brought to an end in April 2015 with Book #6: Goldilocks Breaks In), but the letter couldn’t have hurt! Just two months after Joan & Suzanne forwarded a copy of it to our editor, Scholastic asked them for Books 7 & 8. They’ll be out in Summer & Fall of 2016. (Titles are yet to be determined.) 

                                                                          ♥ ♥ ♥


Lisa L. Owens has just signed on to write two titles in a 2016 upper-elementary-age series about world explorers. She’ll share more details as the books approach publication!

                                                                        ♥ ♥ ♥
 
Dana Sullivan reports that his illustrator copies of Digger and Daisy Star in a Play arrived on his doorstep last week. This is the fifth book in the early reader series published by Sleeping Bear Press. Judy Young writes the text and Dana draws the pictures. Books are scheduled to be in stores September 1.

Dana also turned in initial sketches for the sixth book, Digger and Daisy Plant a Garden earlier this week. He’s waiting for publisher feedback before making edits and proceeding to final art.
                                                                                        

                                                                          ♥ ♥ ♥

Laurie Thompson‘s Be a Changemaker won the Coalition of Visionary Resources Book of the Year Award. For more information, check out her blog post. She’s also recently had the opportunity to do two radio interviews. You can listen to those here and here. And she participated in a group panel and signing event at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, IL, signed books at ILA in St. Louis, MO, did several in-person summer camp visits, donates books to both her childhood school library and her hometown public library, and went on a very successful research trip for a nonfiction picture book she’s working on.
 
                                                            
                                   ♥ ♥ ♥

Simon & Schuster is offering the ebook of Trudi Trueit’s middle grade novel, Stealing Popular, for just $1.99! This Back-to-School special is available in all e-book formats but only lasts until the first week of September so don’t wait! Also, pre-order Trudi’s upcoming tween title, The Sister Solution (releases Sept. 29th), and get a bonus gift (while supplies last)! Head to her website for details: www.truditrueit.com.


                                                                        

                                                                          ♥ ♥ ♥

Suzanne Williams, Author of the Month: How to Reform a Villainous Character

Six years ago, when Joan Holub and I began writing Goddess Girls (the first of our three co-authored series), we picked the snakey-haired Medusa (who acquires her snakes in Book 1: Athena the Brain) to play the part of the villain in the series’ initial four books. She antagonizes our four main goddess girls  with the snarky comments she makes, plays nasty tricks on fellow students — such as using her stone gaze to turn Pandora into a statue — and is just downright unpleasant overall.

 

Still, we had to admire her…well…for lack of a better word, spunk. And as the series began to expand (there will be twenty-two books by the end of 2016), we thought it would be fun to let Medusa star in a book of her own, doing our twist on her mythology.

But first we needed to get readers on her side. Otherwise they might not care to read about her!

So first we decided to explore why she behaved badly. In our first book about her, Book 8: Medusa the Mean, we gave her a back story in a brief prologue that showed her six-year-old self being teased by kids who “pinched their noses and said she smelled like a stinky cheese.” (Her last name is Gorgon and the mean kids call her “Gorgonzola Head.”) Little Medusa copes with the teasing by creating a comic strip in which her alter ego, the “Queen of Mean” gets even with her tormentors by bonking them on the head with a big yellow magic cheese.

As the story progresses, we reveal Medusa’s hitherto hidden desires, such as her wish to become immortal. (Unlike her two sisters, she’s mortal, and because of this her parents have always favored her sisters over her.) We show her vulnerabilities — her doomed crush on the godboy, Poseidon, for example, and her humiliation at a school dance. And we show her softer side — her kind treatment of her snakes, which she regards as pets, and her protectiveness toward a kindergarten buddy she ultimately rescues at great cost to herself. In short, we show the more admirable side of her that readers haven’t yet met. The part that makes readers want to root for her.

Our second book starring Medusa, Book 16: Medusa the Rich came out just days ago. This book centers on the King Midas myth. Medusa, who is always short of drachmas since her allowance is much smaller than what her sisters get, needs money to pay the fee to enter a comics contest. She is happy, therefore, to let King Midas transfer his golden touch to her when he regrets having asked for it. She’s easily able to keep her stone gaze in check by wearing “stoneglasses” that prevent her from accidentally turning mortals to stone, so how hard could it be to control a gold finger?  A glove should do the trick. And it does. At least at first. But then the unthinkable happens…which I won’t reveal here…and Medusa must rise from the depths of despair to face challenges that further develop her character.

Joan and I had lots of fun writing a second book starring Medusa. We hope readers will enjoy it as much as the first book. New releases in our other two co-authored series include Grimmtastic Girls #6: Goldilocks Breaks In  and Heroes in Training #9: Crius and the Night of Fright.

 

 

Want to enter a discounted half hour virtual visit and book giveaway contest?  The prize is a half-price ($60) Skype visit with me, plus autographed copies of Medusa the Mean and Medusa the Rich for your school library or classroom. Two winners will be chosen. To enter, just shoot me an email with “OAV contest” in the subject line. The contest will run from May 1–May 15, 2015.  U.S. and Canadian entries only. Winners can schedule a visit during either 2015 or 2016.