On meeting Angie Thomas

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, at our local SCBWI LA/MS JambaLAya conference.

As you can see, I was fangirling a little bit, and I hadn't even read her book yet! I still regret not making intelligent conversation at the signing or later, at dinner. Sigh.

Angie and our regional SCBWI coordinator Cheryl Mathis held an inspiring conversation about Angie's incredible road to publication (and subsequent best-selling status and film-in-production).

Though her story sounds like a fairy tale, I was struck by her discussion of the book she'd written before The Hate U Give--which had been rejected 60 (did I write that down correctly?) times. After banging her head against that wall, her mom said, "Why don't you work on that other one?" meaning what became The Hate U Give. Way to go, Mom!

Obviously, Angie was not a neophyte: she'd earned a BFA in writing, submitted drafts of her queries to Query Shark for feedback, and researched her "dream agent," "stalked" him through Twitter, and contacted him through his agency's Q & A with her idea. As a writer, hearing that her success came after hard work, struggle, and disappointment made it seem even more impressive (and, potentially, achievable for the rest of us!).  

In her talk, Angie addressed the trolling she experienced after starting a diversity hashtag. Speaking to a young black writer who had expressed her admiration for Angie, she said, "What helped me was knowing girls like you would have my book in a few months." Angie's humor, strength, and grace in the face of overwhelming success as well as mean-spirited criticism will stay with me a long time.

To her readers, as well as other writers, Angie Thomas offers "light in the darkness." Many thanks for her visit, and blessings for her continued success.

Book Review: The Hate U Give

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JambaLAya Kidlit Festival tomorrow!

Exciting! I'm attending the LA/MS SCBWI children's literature festival here in New Orleans tomorrow!

AND I might get a chance to meet the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Angie Thomas!

Ms. Thomas is a guest author at the conference, offering her insight into writing and publishing her first book. Her story is amazing, and I look forward to hearing more from her--and lots of other exciting editors and authors!--tomorrow.

Yay!

Book review: The Bitch Is Back

Great title, right?

Perfect for on A Day Without a Woman, when women around the country are marching, striking, and celebrating women's work and accomplishments (by showing what happens if we step away, Lysistrata-style).

I'm home with a sick kid today, so I'm celebrating women by wearing red (and my 1 Billion Rising t-shirt) and writing about women's writing. Unpaid labor? Maybe so. But a joy to create and support women creators.

Sequel to The Bitch in the House, which I haven't read yet, this collection of personal essays is the literary equivalent to eavesdropping on 26 juicy conversations, getting the dirt (albeit well-composed and edited) on a variety of women in midlife:

• The university president who hobbles in heels for six months after breaking her foot but before seeing a doctor, scared to admit she's getting older
• A trans woman who comes out after 12 years of "supposedly heterosexual marriage"--and whose wife chooses to stay after her transition
• Two different stories from the "other women" who blew up their lives for a lover...and the sometimes messy, sometimes beautiful aftermath
• A Muslim woman, married at 14, who earned a Ph.D. while raising 8 kids and her thoughts on leaning in...and out

A diverse selection of writers, yet with several common threads: Most are professional authors, editors, or professors, not surprising for a memoir collection. A large contingent are able to jet off to Paris and Hawaii, own second homes, and write $12,000 checks. This lends an odd homogeneous quality to the voices that I can't relate to, though I connect to the emotional core of their stories.

One essay, however, sticks out like a sore thumb. "Dirty Work" is the story of a woman who owns a housecleaning company "as told to" the editor. Her story of surviving abuse and homelessness is authentic and important, yet the essay's structural differences, as well as the narrator's class and age, ostracize her story as if it were something outside the norm. I wish there had been a wider socioeconomic range in this collection to represent a truer range of experiences.

Overall, I was engaged and engrossed in these well-written stories from women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. In our youth-obsessed culture, it's refreshing to know what midlife women think about where they've been and where they're going.

I recommend this book for any woman with a story to tell. C'mon, you know you do.