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Author Archives: Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS

Ask an Editor: What Makes a Character Have Agency?

25 Wednesday Jan 2023

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Ask an Editor, Tips and Tools

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

agency, authors, character development, Henry Cole, Jacqueline Woodson, Leo Espinosa, main character, MC, MG, picture book, writing tips, YA

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.

Hi Christine–The feedback I received from an agent on my picture book was that my main character “lacks agency.” What does this mean and how can I fix it?—Michelle, Burbank

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Ask an Editor: All About NaNoWriMo

16 Wednesday Nov 2022

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Ask an Editor, Tips and Tools

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

authors, Chris Baty, MG, middle grade, NaNoWriMo, nonfiction, novels, writing tips

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.

Hi Christine—This time of year it seems so many writers are participating in NaNoWriMo. What exactly is that and is it worthwhile for kid’s book writers? I’m writing a middle-grade novel.—Jo, Encino

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Interview with Author Barbara Bietz

07 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Author's Perspective

≈ 7 Comments

Barbara Bietz, SCBWI Central California’s Assistant Regional Advisor, is here today to talk about her journey writing kid’s books. Her latest picture book, Apples, Apples, All Year Round: A Celebration of Jewish Holidays, is co-authored with June Sobel, and illustrated by Ruth Waters(2022, Apples & Honey).

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Your five books have Jewish themes or characters. Why is this important to your work? Can you please speak to Jewish representation in children’s books today?

BARBARA BIETZ: Thank you so much for having me on Kite Tales. In terms of the books I write, I gravitate toward characters and topics that feel familiar to me. I feel very connected to the Jewish community and I love creating stories that might offer a unique insight for readers of all backgrounds.

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Ask an Editor: How to Write a Graphic Novel

31 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Ask an Editor, Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools

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Andy Narwhal, Comics, Graphic Novels, script writing, writing tips

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.

Hi Andy – I enjoy graphic novels and want to write one but don’t know how to make the jump. (I write YA.) Any suggestions? I’m not an illustrator.

—Will, Los Angeles

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Interview with YA Author Britta Lundin

27 Wednesday Apr 2022

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Author's Perspective

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Britta Lundin, hyperion, Like Other Girls, screenwriting, Ship It, YA

Southern California-based author Britta Lundin’s YA novel, Like Other Girls (2021, Hyperion) has been on several “Best of 2021” lists. Her debut YA was the popular Ship It. She’s also a TV writer for Riverdale, Betty, and The Big Leap.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! In Like Other Girls, Mara’s angry outburst gets her kicked off the high school basketball team. When she’s (briefly) on the girls’ volleyball team, it’s not a good fit so she joins the football team. At first, being the only girl isn’t really a big deal, but it turns into a larger movement when four other girls join too. In your first YA book, Ship It, (about fandom) you said you wrote what you knew; because of your experiences, you’ve been on the inside “seeing how the sausage is made.” (Love that quote!) Your bio says you were a multi-sport athlete so is Girls another “sausage” story?

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Ask an Editor: Revision and Voice

13 Wednesday Apr 2022

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Ask an Editor

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

author voice, character voice, editing, revision grid, voice

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.

Hi Christine – My grammar and mechanics skills helped me get good grades in school but they often cause me trouble when I’m revising fiction. How do I keep from editing the voice out of my manuscript?

—Jade, Los Angeles

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Interview with YA Authors Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

30 Wednesday Mar 2022

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cowriters, cowriting, Faith McClaren, Horror Hotel, paranormal, path to publication, supernatural, Victoria Fulton, YA, YA Horror

Los Angeles writers Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren are an award-winning coauthor duo. In their YA, Horror Hotel, the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark. They expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings (spooky, but harmless) yet soon wonder if they will survive the night.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! I couldn’t put down your new YA, Horror Hotel. What inspired you to write a scary book for a YA audience as opposed to an adult one?

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Ask an Editor: Word Count

19 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Ask an Editor

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

MG, middle grade, PB, picture book, word count, YA, young adult

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.

Hi Christine – What’s the best place to find current word counts for when I write children’s books?

—Mar, Los Angeles

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Interview with Author Tina Athaide

12 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Author's Perspective

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authors, Christine Van Zandt, interview, Lee and Low, middle grade, Page Street Kids, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Tina Athaide

Southern California author Tina Athaide’s middle-grade debut was the critically acclaimed novel Orange for the Sunsets (2019, Katherine Tegen). Her latest publication is picture book Meena’s Mindful Moment (2021, Page Street Kids).

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Your historical fiction, middle-grade book, Orange for the Sunsets, about two friends (an Indian girl and a Ugandan boy) is set in 1972 Uganda when President Idi Amin announced all Indians with British citizenship had 90 days to leave Uganda—a story that is close to your heart. Did the span of decades help give this life-altering event perspective?

TINA ATHAIDE: Time is exactly what this story needed. The decades in between gave me a broader perspective, which allowed for the space to present two alternating points of view. When I first set out to write the story, it was in the late 1990s, and I had a singular vision—telling the story from an Asian Indian POV. Now when I look at the story, I cannot imagine it without Yesofu, the Ugandan boy. Time healed to look past the loss and pain of the Asian Indian experience so I could give a voice to the Ugandan experiences during that time, so the story had balance.

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Interview with YA Cowriters Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz

01 Wednesday Dec 2021

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Author's Perspective

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Alyssa Embree Schwartz, author, character development, cowriting, Fade into the Bright, interview, Jessica Koosed Etting

Jessica Koosed Etting, a Los Angeles native, and Alyssa Embree Schwartz have been BFFs and cowriters for about twenty years. In addition to their TV and film career, their four-book YA series, Georgetown Academy, has over 1.4 million downloads online.

In their recent YA book, Fade into the Bright (2021, Delacorte Press), eighteen-year-old Abby and her older sister Brooke receive a brief letter from their estranged father, telling them he’s tested positive for Huntington’s disease. Both sisters decide to undergo the required six-month pre-testing genetic counseling, then learn whether they have this fatal gene. Abby does; Brooke does not. Trying to process this information, Abby escapes to Catalina Island to spend the summer after high-school graduation with her little-known aunt.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Fade into the Bright is amazing! What made you choose to write about Huntington’s?

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