A Novelist's Nightmare

Previously posted on Starbound Lover's Blog:

I wish the following story was fiction. I’d hoped it was no more than a dystopian vision of the future of the United States of America. Then, I wanted it to be a publicity stunt for the author to sell more books. Unfortunately, it was none of those. This is what it’s come to and it paints a terrifying picture for every writer.

On September 1, 2014, The Atlantic published an article titled, “In Maryland, a Soviet-Style Punishment for a Novelist.” For anyone who reads or writes, it’s worth taking a look at, and includes links to the disturbing original reports from local media. For now, let me just give you the highlights.

A twenty-three year old Language Arts teacher has been ‘disappeared’. He was never arrested, no charges have been filed, he’s not allowed to leave, and the police will not reveal his location. Before he was spirited away, he was forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and his home was searched for weapons and explosives – none were found.

Why?

Because he self-published a book depicting the most tragic school shooting to ever happen – 900 years in the future. That’s right, he wrote a sci-fi story someone in the Sherriff’s Department and on the School Board, didn’t like and poof he’s gone. No charges. No trial. No … what was it called? Oh, yeah, that pesky little right guaranteed to every American Citizen – habeas corpus.

If that doesn’t send a shiver through your muse, the spin by the local media will. You see, he used an alias on the cover of his book. Not a pen name, pseudonym or nom de plume: an alias, as in “using a false name with the intent to conceal one’s identity in performance of a criminal act”. In addition, his photo is being circulated around the community, through law enforcement circles, and the throughout the school system to make everyone aware that he is prohibited from being on school grounds.

So basically, because he wrote a book, his life is ruined. When he’s released from wherever he’s being held, he’ll probably have a hard time finding another teaching position, (at this time, he’s been placed on administrative leave). I’m sure his neighbors think he’s a psycho by now. I can only imagine what must be going through the minds of his friends, family, and students. The one bright spot is that the article in The Atlantic includes a link to his book on Amazon, and apparently the news coverage has increased the sale of his books. Good thing: if he ever gets a trial, he’ll probably need those royalties to pay legal expenses.

After reading this, I’m hesitant to publish my newest book, Pangaea. There’s sure to be someone in law enforcement who will take issue with my utopian vision of a world without gods, government, or gold. Will police raid my home, search through my things, and then lock me up in a psych ward for writing it?

I’m hoping there is more to this story. At least, some type of threat or credible reason to detain this man besides the fact that, like most writers,  he has an overactive imagination. Otherwise, this does not bode well for the future of fiction.

I’m also surprised, I’m not seeing this play out more on social media. I posted a link to the story on my Facebook page, but haven’t seen anything else about it. Coverage is also glaringly absent from major news media, and I find that a bit disconcerting.

As writers and readers of sci-fi and fantasy, I think we should all keep a close eye on this story and see how it plays out. Maybe I’m making too much of it? I’d be interested in reading your comments.

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Questerly's Quest

Librarians and teachers, I need your help to stop young readers from being penalized for reading my books.

Let me take a moment to explain.

·         A while ago, I received a copy of a letter written by the mother of one of my young readers. Ms. G. is a Director of Elementary Education for one of Arizona’s school districts. She’d read my book with her nine year old son and they loved it. They were both disappointed to find out her son would receive no AR (Accelerated Reader)point credit for reading The Minstrel’s Tale. Ms. G. wrote to Renaissance Learning Center, the company who makes up the quizzes and assigns AR points to books, and requested they assign points to The Minstrel’s Tale. I was thrilled to learn she’d done that.

·         I checked Renaissance Learning’s website and followed their directions to mail them two copies of each of my books to request a review. Three days after I mailed the package, I learned – as part of the new Common Core Standards – that my book, The Minstrel’s Tale, had been listed along with about nine other books as additional reading for 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade students studying medieval history. Here’s the link: http://www.listenedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Medieval-life-in-Wisconsin-ELA.pdf

Imagine, my book, listed with Beowolf!

And a book by one of my favorite children’s authors, Mary Pope Osborn!

And one of the books I used for my research (which is an excellent way to learn about the time period), The Time Traveler’s Guide to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer.

I am beyond delighted to be listed in the company of each of them.

·         At once, I sent an email to Renaissance Learning Center, along with a link to the site where I found the information, and my contact information.

·         They called me. They’d received my books, but wouldn’t be able to develop a quiz for them. The woman explained that it takes time to produce the quizzes and assign the point value. She went on to tell me, they really need to expend their limited resources on quizzes for books, which are most likely going to be purchased by libraries and bookstores. Therefore, their policy was to provide quizzes for books which have already been reviewed by the School Library Journal.

·         What she explained made sense and I told her I understood, but asked if the recommendation for Common Core might mean The Minstrel’s Tale would be more likely to be read by students. She agreed it might make a difference, but that they wouldn’t be able to do my book unless it was reviewed by the School Library Journal.

·         I thanked her for taking the time to call, and then checked on the process of getting my books reviewed by School Library Journal. No dice; they only review books by major publishers, and only review recently published books. My book was already four years old and it was self-published.

·         I called Renaissance Learning back and made my request again. Could they make an exception? She told me there was one other way I could try to get points for my books. Which brings me to why you’re reading this, and why I’m asking for your help.

·         Renaissance Learning will keep my books for two years. If, during that time, enough teachers and librarians from across the country request my books on the AR website, they’ll do the quizzes.

·         I’m asking – no, let’s make that begging – that you’ll share this link with as many teachers and librarians as you know. Please? I realize I’m battling bureaucracy and challenging conformity, but I can’t stand the looks of disappointment on the faces of my young readers when they learn they won’t receive credit for reading my books.

ü  If you are a teacher or librarian, please visit the AR site here:  http://www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx

ü  Click on the upper tab to SUGGEST QUIZZES.

ü  Add The Minstrel’s Tale by Anna Questerly ISBN 0982996705

ü  Add The Minstrel’s Tale II by Anna Questerly ISBN 0982996721

ü  Add The Minstrel’s Tale III by Anna Questerly ISBN 098299673X

·         I wouldn’t expect you to do this without knowing the first thing about me or my books, so if you’ll email me, annaquesterly@gmail.com I’ll send you a free .pdf of my first book for your review. (I know you’re busy and have a ton to read, so feel free to delegate the reading to one of your favorite students.)

·         Judge for yourself if you feel it deserves to be included in the AR points program. 

Will you help me on my quest for AR Points, please? Pretty please?

With heartfelt gratitude in advance,

Anna Questerly

Buried Noses: Getting Your Child to LOVE Reading

I've been curating info from all over the web to make this blog a one-stop-shop for for parents and teachers. The links below are filled with valuable info to help you get your child into storyland. Click on the links to learn more.

Try this from PBS

And this from Aha Parenting

This is from the Huffington Post

From RIF (Reading is Fundamental)

Take a look at archived posts for additional info and resources and be sure to check back for more info and please share your tips, tricks, and success stories in the comments. We'd love to hear what works from real parents and teachers.

Please share if you know a parent struggling to help their child.

Read on, my friends!

Anna Questerly

Follow @AnnaQuesterly   Tweet   Tweet to @AnnaQuesterly

Planet of the Apes

Previous published by Anna Questerly on starboundlovers.blogspot.com

I know this isn’t book related, but I’ve been bothered by something I learned this week. As sci-fi lovers, I thought it might interest you as well.

We don’t get out much, but we did get to see Return to Planet of the Apes last weekend. Great movie! Keep in mind, I’m one of those who always read the book first, and then complains about the movie. Yeah, I know, but I practically live at Dog-Eared Pages bookstore so what do you expect?

Anyway, I didn’t read the book before seeing this movie. I don’t even know if there is a book. What I do know is that I truly enjoyed the film as its own medium, without having to compare it to a book. I guess you could call it a novel experience.

I was amazed at how the ape called Caesar played the main character. His face was so expressive, you knew his thoughts without him saying a word. The scene between he and his son almost had me in tears. How did they do that? These weren’t masks. Masks couldn’t portray emotion so clearly. And I’m almost positive Caesar wasn’t a real ape.

After the movie, my friend Don Gerron, (Don worked on the short film that took first place at this year’s Phoenix Comicon and designs my bookcovers — lucky me!) began to fill me in on some background. They use CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation to create the apes.

Of course, I had no idea what that meant. So Don explained further. The actors have sensors attached to their faces and bodies and then perform their scenes. Their movements are tracked by special software, and then animated for the film.

“Wait, you mean to tell me. That guy produced such meaningful facial expressions with sticky stuff all over his face? Now that’s acting. The only animation I’d ever seen I thought was better, was the scene in Lord of the Rings when Gollum is arguing with himself. I remember being transfixed by that scene.”

Imagine my surprise when Don tells me Caesar and Gollum were played by the same actor; Andy Serkis. I googled Andy, and learned he’d been cast in lots of great movies. This guy is mega-talented. How could I have never heard of him? Granted, I’m not a big movie buff and rarely pay attention to such things. Many of you may already know this, but it was news to me and figured I can’t be the only one in the dark.

According to my friend Don (and IMDB), although Andy Serkis has been critically acclaimed for his performances, he was ruled ineligible for Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Academy Awards because his characters Gollum in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes were computer generated.

What? That’s crazy!

I don’t understand. Can’t the Academy create a new category for CGI (also called Motion Animation) actors? It strikes me that it might take as much talent to do what Andy Serkis does. Seriously, how do you do serious acting with globs of gunk all over you?

It also seems rather obvious that we’ll see more of this type animation in the future. I believe great talent should be recognized and to be ineligible for the highest award in your industry seems quite unfair to me.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this in our comments section. If you think I’m making too much of this, I’ll just go back to my books and enjoy Andy’s work whenever it’s playing. If you agree, maybe we could start a #OscarsForMotionAnimationActors campaign on Twitter.


Empathy begets synergy,

Anna Questerly

Don't Just Take My Word For It...

I found a few great articles online to help get kids reading.  Here's what James Patterson, Oprah Winfrey, and Donalyn Miller have to say about it:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/opinion/patterson-kids-reading/

http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/_74

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/11/14/getting-kids-to-read-the-5-key-habits-of-lifelong-readers/

Feel free to comment and tell us any ways you've tried to get your kids to read. My goal for #1000BuriedNoses mission is to have a site parents, grandparents, and teachers can visit for helpful hints, tips, and support.

Immersion

This post was originally written for http://starboundlovers.blogspot.com/ a blog I contribute to. If you like sci-fi/fantasy, check it out! 

Immersion

“Wingardium Leviosa!”

I admit, I tried it. Of course, I didn’t fly, nor did any of the objects around me take wing. But, for a fleeting instance, it might have happened. That magical moment when you place the book down and your eyes are beginning to adjust to distances further than ten inches in front of your face. That split second, between the tick and the tock, when two worlds bump into each other. One, a world created within the pages of the book — a world you’ve been living in for the past few hours. The other, reality.

These worlds make us beg for more when we turn the last page. Not for the characters, but for the place. I wanted to open every door and cabinet at Hogwarts. I wanted to explore on my own — without Harry and friends tagging along and getting into trouble, Just let me snoop around all by myself for a while.

How do these writers create these fictional worlds that, for a time, seem more real than our own. Middle Earth, Hogwarts, and Harry Dresden’s Chicago are such places. It must be magic, right? What other explanation is there?

I have a theory — actually its more of a hypothesis at this point; more testing is needed to confirm it, and that’s where you come in. You, the readers and writers of Sci-fi and Fantasy can help me to validate/repudiate my claim.

Assertion: In order to create a world, in which a reader can fully immerse themselves, the author must be fully immersed during the writing process.

Granted, it sounds simple and makes sense, but in all of the ‘World-Building’ books I’ve studied, not one has mentioned it. They go on and on about charts, timelines, histories, graphs, geography, biology and lots of other things, but never advise the author to just go and live there for a while.

I stumbled across this realization while writing Pangaea, (not yet released). At first, it was brief, like that tick between the tock — I forgot where I was. That same ephemeral bliss, I enjoyed as a reader of other worlds, I was now experiencing as a writer in Pangaea.

Some might call it being In-The-Zone, but it was more than that. I’ve been In-The-Zone before with my characters, where the characters talk to me; making me feel more like a stenographer than an author, as I dutifully take down their story. (In The Minstrel’s Tale, the narrative voice was Patrick Stewart, a voice I enjoyed listening to for many, many hours.) This wasn’t that.

I’m not sure how to explain it so that I don’t come off as insane but, then again, almost every sci-fi/fantasy writer I know is a bit crazy, (and I suspect most readers are, too) so at least I’ll be in good company. Here goes:

There were times as I was writing Pangaea when, out of the corner of my eye, something odd would catch my attention. Something I hadn’t planned into this world. I would wander over to investigate, and immediately recognize that it did belong in this world. Spooky, right? It gets better.

Everything in my ‘real’ life began to be filtered through the lens of Pangaea. The news; this would never happen on Pangaea or how would the Pangaeans have handled this? My friends; how Pangaean were they or how would they fare living on Pangaea? Even history; how would this relate to Pangaea or did the Pangaean’s have anything to do with this? Food; would Pangaeans eat this? How would they prepare it? Even my sex life became merged with this world, but we won’t go there.

In the midst of my first draft, I found it difficult to separate the worlds — and I lived in Pangaea. Crazy, right? I warned you.

Anyway, it remains to be seen whether my readers will enjoy that immersive experience, too and my hypothesis gains credibility. Pangaea won’t be out until next year and I’m impatient to see if my theory is sound. Hence my call for test subjects. I’d love to hear your experiences with immersive reading and/or writing. Do you think I’m on track or off my rocker?

FYI From NPR

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/07/26/334967121/learning-to-read-may-take-longer-than-we-thought

Thought some parents and teachers might find this helpful.

#1000BuriedNoses. You can make a difference. email  your picture of your nose buried in the book that made you fall in love with reading to annaquesterly@gmail.com.  I'll post it on this site. You never know, it may give a mom or dad an idea of what their child may love and create a brand new booklover!