Teen Book Con 2013: A Picture is Worth the Power of Closing Speeches

My Teen Book Con book haul. Honestly, I'm surprised I
managed to limit myself to eight. 

[Click here to check out Part 1 of my Teen Book Con coverage]

Continuing on from where we left off on Friday, my group split up for the next panel. My  best friend's brother and I headed to the graphic novelists' room while my best friend and a friend of hers who met us there headed to the "Take Me Away" panel.

We got the better end of the stick. The girls agreed that they enjoyed their panel, but that it wasn't great. (Particularly because one author was claiming she could write a book in one draft and the others were looking at her as if she were insane and then going on to explain how writing works in the real world.)

We met up and went to the rest of the panels together, and all of the ones I attended were fantastic.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words-Faith Erin Hicks, Mark Nasso, M.K. Reed, Bruce Small
Q: What gave you the ideas for your stories?
Faith Erin Hicks answered first, explaining that she found the material for her stories through experiences she had growing up and personal things she's working through. She added that many of the more fantastical elements of her stories come out of things she wonders about or wants to explore. For instance, one of her graphic novels stemmed from her wondering why people in zombie movies seem never to have seen a zombie movie.
Mark Nasso pointed out that the longer you live, the more your experiences feed into the stories you have to tell. The battles you had to fight growing up give you new perspective and new experiences from which to draw.

Q: What made you choose comics as a medium?
Mark Nasso had always been an artist, but as he grew older, realized he had something he wanted to say and new things he was passionate about. He had a story to tell, so he started to speak.

Q: How do you develop an art style that is all your own?
Bruce Small made the argument that you generally have to get over things looking similar. Your art naturally reflects the art you surround yourself with, at least at the beginning. Most artists begin by copying and that's okay. As you develop your art, your style will present itself and will morph into something that is entirely your own.
Faith Erin Hicks added, "You want your style to reflect your voice." Increasing technical skills is important, but you also want what you do to say something about who you are.

Q: Can you give some advice for those who want to create?
Faith Erin Hicks suggested that you simply start creating. She explained that she had literally cranked out over one thousand pages of comic work before she got anywhere. In fact, she suggested that everyone do the same and every one of the other artists agreed wholeheartedly.
M.K. Reed added that there is no set path. Everyone makes their own way toward becoming who they want to be and making their art what they want it to be.
Bruce Small and M.K. Reed agreed that artists need to practice drawing everything, but they should especially work on backgrounds. Backgrounds are intensely important and can be vital in going anywhere in the comics industry.
Faith Erin Hicks finished off the answer by adding that meeting deadlines is also crucial. You can be an extremely talented artist, but if you can't meet deadlines, you won't get the jobs you're looking for. "It's art, but it's also a business."


The Power of Memory- Leigh Bardugo, Jessica Brody, Bethany Frenette, Claudia Gray, Dan Krokos, Lisa McMann

Q: Is it difficult to write a story from the perspective of the opposite gender?
Both Dan Krokos and Lisa McMann agreed that it was extremely difficult and that both constantly had to refer to teens of that gender in order to make sure things were accurate.
On the other hand, Leigh Bardugo and Claudia Gray disagreed somewhat. They suggested it was more a matter of what type of person the character was. In their experience, some men were extremely difficult to write, while others were easy. The specifics of the character made the difference.

Q: What made you decide to be an author?
Leigh Bardugo claimed that she had always known she wanted to be an author. She was always talking to herself as a child and making up stories. She simply had to make the decision that she was going to finish something, even if it killed her.
Bethany Frenette told us that she had been terrified of the dark when she was a child. To remedy that, her mother told her to make up stories until she fell asleep. She did and she's been doing that ever since.
Dan Krokos added that, for most writers, real life just isn't enough. He has always gone off on adventures in his head and wanted to live in a story. His choice to become an author was simply because he wanted more from life than to live just one.

Closing Speaker-Sharon Draper

In the closing speech, Sharon Draper talked about being a writer and being a reader. She told us that being able to write is a gift and not everyone has it, but if you do, you ought to hone it.
(Dan Krokos immediately refuted the first part of that by responding on Twitter: "Don't listen to her--anyone can be a writer #TeenBookCon.")
She went on to encourage writers to go into writing because they love it, not because they want to be famous or want to be millionaires. J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer are exceptions, they are not the rule. Many great authors are never appreciated during their lifetime and you have to be prepared for that.
In closing, she reminded the audience that putting a book together should be just as engrossing as reading it. You should enjoy what you write. If you don't, you're doing something wrong. And she finished by reminding us that the things that scare us are often the things that need to be talked about.

Probably my favorite signed book from Saturday. She really
liked my new tattoo (Gates of Moria) and was eager to show
me her own Lord of the Rings inspired tattoo. 

When everything was finished, the authors were split up into the two school gyms so that they could sign peoples' books. It was really fun getting to interact with each of the authors on a one-on-one basis, even if only for a short while. I was able to tell Amy McNamara how beautiful her book was and how I had started reading the poet Philip Larkin after reading it, which she was really excited about. Francisco X. Stork complimented me on my name, which was really cool because he had mentioned in his earlier panel that he gets names for characters through events like this. (Look for a Kirsten in his next novel! I'm joking, though it would admittedly be pretty awesome.)
Maureen Johnson told me she liked my "fancy tattoo" and had a staring contest with my shirt (which happened to be the STARE shirt with her face on it). My best friend told Robin Wasserman that she thought her hair was awesome and Robin complimented her hair in response (both Robin and my best friend have intensely curly hair--think Merida from Brave).

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and one I'm so grateful to have been a part of. I left feeling so inspired and excited about the path I've chosen for myself. (For those of you scratching your heads in confusion, I fully intend to be a published YA author one day.) It was wonderful to see such a diverse and eclectic group of people all having chosen that same path and loving every second of it. It was deeply refreshing and I can't help feeling more inspired than ever to follow my dream.

Teen Book Con 2013: Making the Best of Murder, Mayhem, and Keynote Speeches

Maureen Johnson and I after she signed my book. You'll
notice she's making the same face as the image of herself on
my shirt. 

 Created with the purpose of letting teens interact with their favorite authors and teaching them that reading is both fun and worthwhile, Teen Book Con was a great event that I am so grateful to have received the chance to attend.

I found out about this lovely event through Maureen Johnson's blog. I saw that she, and many other awesome authors I've read, were going to be in Houston and immediately called up some friends so that we could make a road trip out of it. 

Upon our arrival at Alief Taylor High School, we were quickly swept away with the crowd of teens that had turned out for this event. They were everywhere! Now I love teens, but not necessarily when they gather in droves. Then again, being a socially anxious person, I don't do humans gathering en masse. I should mention that there were plenty of adults there as well, including teachers, librarians, booksellers, and the rest of us who were just there to see our favorite authors and promote something we all believe in.

However, I couldn't help loving everything about this event, even as I warded off panic attacks while navigating the hallways. The panels were engaging and fun to be a part of, so many students were eager to ask questions and pick the brains of the very authors who had inspired them, and those authors were extremely personable and willing to share as much as they could in hopes of connecting with their young audience. 

Whenever I attend book events, I tend to take a copious amount of notes on nearly everything the author says. This is partially because I know I'll be writing a blog post on it later and partly because I want to remember everything they say. During this particular event that lasted from 9am to 5pm, I took ten pages of notes, front and back. I won't type all of those little notes here, but I'll give you some of the more interesting details below. Please note that the panels were done entirely in a Q&A format, thus the reason I present it as such below. 

Keynote Speech-Chris Crutcher

To start off Teen Book Con, the event moderators asked Chris Crutcher to give the opening speech. He  was a very entertaining speaker, who kept us laughing and engaged throughout his time onstage. He spoke about how his time working with mental health services and dealing with Child Protective services gave him the drive and the inspiration for many of his stories. Seeing the desperation of teens and the difficult situations they had to navigate in a cruel and unfair world encouraged him to create something that could make a difference. 

Inspired by his deep love of To Kill a Mockingbird and the way Harper Lee speaks so plainly yet beautifully through the voice of Scout, he set out to become a writer and hasn't looked back since.

Memorable quotes from his speech:

-"Human freedom is about being able to think what you want." 

-"Storytelling is looking around for interesting people and interesting situations."

Murder & Mayhem-Kate Brian, Sharon Draper, Maureen Johnson, Barry Lyga, Robin Wasserman

Q: Do you plot out the murders in advance?

Barry Lyga makes spreadsheets of info about victims because serial killers have signatures and patterns. He needed to capture that and make sure the details were all in order when it came to the specific content of his books.

Q: Where do you draw inspiration?

Here Robin Wasserman and Barry Lyga got into a quick, friendly argument about whether or not TV can be helpful to coming up with good material. He argued that while it can stimulate the desire to create, it also stilts that originality and creativity the author wants to capture. Robin  disagreed, claiming that TV is a great source of narrative art and should be considered as such.

Kate Bryan finds that eavesdropping is a pretty convenient way to tackle writer's block. There are plenty of crazy people and conversations that can inspire your work.

Q: How do you create personalities?

Maureen Johnson: "It's like building Franken-people. You collect little bits of real people and distribute them among your characters."

Sharon Draper emphasized the fact that the writer must make their characters real people. They have to have depth and substance. The author wants the reader to become attached to the character and view them as a friend.

Kate Brian begins by determining what the character wants most in life and then starts throwing obstacles in their way. She also pointed out that a very great way of getting to know your characters is to interview them. It's time consuming, but is amazing at helping to shape and layer them.

Q: Why are mental health issues so prominent in YA and how does it play into writing in that genre?

Maureen Johnson was quite eager to answer this, explaining that she believes mental health disorders are becoming more prominent throughout YA because they are becoming more widely accepted and understood. In fact, there are a great number of people dealing with mental health issues of some sort and it is important to show teens and adults alike that they are not alone. She went on to explain that mental unhealthy is something that fluxes and changes in nearly all people. Most of us deal with it at some point or another. It's natural and it isn't necessarily a fixed diagnosis, but something we have to deal with in order to make it through.

Making the Best of It-Jen Calonita, Chris Crutcher, Amy McNamara, Lauren Morrill, Francisco X. Stork, Kay Honeyman

Q: What keeps you motivated to write?

Kay Honeyman immediately answered with "the story." The desire to make the story that has woven itself within her mind live up to its full potential is what keeps her manically typing away at her keyboard as often as possible. 

Francisco X. Stork added that there is a part of you that hurts when you keep the story inside of you too long. It's simply a relief when the writer is able to get everything out of his system and let the story be told.

Q: Do you ever have trouble writing the story you have in your head?

Amy McNamara pointed out that she often finds that if you have to wrestle the characters into doing something, it's probably not meant to be. You're probably trying to force the character into doing something that doesn't fit with their personality and you need to do something to change that.

Lauren Morrill jumped in to let us know that playacting is very helpful, especially when it comes to figuring out the physical dynamics of a scene.

Q: How do you battle writer's block?

Francisco X. Stork had the most inspiring answer for this question in saying that he asked himself what he was afraid of. Almost any time he truly hit a wall in his writing was when he was afraid of something (ie. not being good enough) and needed to work through that before he could continue on.

Q: Were there people who discouraged you?

Chris Crutcher: "You mean, everyone?"

It appears that my coverage of this event is going to take more than one blog post to present. In order to keep from boring you to tears or giving you way too much to read in one sitting, I'll be posting the second part of this on Monday. Stay tuned and feel free to let me know what you think about this event and everything the authors have had to say!

[Click here to check out Part 2 of my Teen Book Con coverage]