Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – Karen Cushman

On Fantasy: Linda Sue Park

Karen Cushman — Tue, 31 May 2016 13:45:01 +0000

For a few weeks, in celebration of my new fantasy novel, Grayling’s Song, this blog is featuring a few of my favorite fantasy authors answering four questions about their own writing. Today, you can read Linda Sue Park’s answers. She’s the author of many fine books, including the Newbery Medal-winning A Single Shard.

Q: What was (is) the hardest aspect of building a fantasy world for you?

A: Making the magic consistent. I love reading fantasy novels, but frankly, in a great many of them I simply have to overlook the holes in the logic of the magic. It takes superb writing and strong characters to carry me over those bumps.

An example: At the very end of the third Lord of the Rings movie, with the terrible mission accomplished, an enormous eagle shows up to carry Frodo and Samwise to safety. Whaaa??? Where were you eleven minutes ago, when we were in far more desperate need of winged transport!?? NO reasonable explanation for why the eagle appears when it does.

It was very important to me that the magic in the Wing & Claw trilogy be logical and consistent. That meant limiting the magic to a very specific set of conditions: There are a few plants with magical capabilities that can only be released when they’re made into concoctions by skilled apothecaries. I believe that this kind of consistency is much fairer to the story and the readers!

Q: What do you feel is different for you, particularly, as a writer about creating a fantasy novel rather than writing a realistic or historical novel?

A: For me, writing fantasy is quite *similar* to historical fiction. With both, the world building is very important because the setting is unfamiliar to the reader: In fantasy, a world that never existed; in historical fiction, a world that no longer exists. You have to spend time and space on the page dealing with the setting. With contemporary realism, you can use a kind of shorthand because of assumptions you share with the reader. For example, if I write “kitchen” in a contemporary novel, I can be reasonably sure that my readers will picture something close to what I have in mind, or close enough, anyway. For both historical fiction and fantasy, I have to describe the kitchen in more detail—I can’t rely on those shared assumptions.

Q: Did you read fantasy novels before you wrote your book? If so, what’s your favorite fantasy novel and why?

I didn’t read fantasy specifically before writing Forest of Wonders; it’s just a natural part of all the reading I do. I have an awful lot of favorites. A short list:

The Bartimaeus Trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud

Dogsbody, by Diana Wynne-Jones

Prophecy, by Ellen Oh

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

The Lie Tree, by Frances Hardinge

Q: Is there a character in one of your fantasy novels that you wish you could invite over for dinner? What would you talk about?

A: Well, of course, I’d love to have Echo the bat visit—even knowing that the conversation would be rather limited. Sometimes that’s exactly what I need!

Thank you, Linda Sue, for sharing your thoughts and your book recommendations. I encourage you to read Linda Sue’s new Wing & Claw series, The Long Walk to Water, Keeping Score, and so many others. (She writes terrific picture books, too.) Learn more about Linda Sue Park on her website.

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Grayling’s Song is available from Clarion Books and your favorite bookseller. This story about Grayling’s quest to save her mother is a selection of the Junior Library Guild.

The fleas! The dirt! The dung!

Karen Cushman — Sat, 31 May 2014 12:00:43 +0000

The first time I read Catherine, Called Birdy wasn’t all that long ago, only about six years ago. But the first time I heard about it was in January of 1995, at ALA Midwinter. This was my first time attending ALA, so I was thrilled just to be there and not sure what to expect. I’ll admit to being a little taken aback by all the buzz about one book—Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman. Whatever committee meeting I went to the librarians couldn’t say enough good things about this book. The fleas! The dirt! The dung! They were agog over the level of detail in the story. And then there was Catherine, called Birdy. She is so strong, independent, intelligent—someone today’s teens can relate to, even if she is living in a 13th century British manor. (“Today” being twenty years ago, of course. But I would bet those librarians would feel the same in regard to today’s—as in right now—teens too.) All this raving about Birdy made me a bit skeptical. (Seriously, it was a lot.) Can one book be that good?

The answer is yes, most definitely yes, indefatigably yes: A book can be that good. The fleas! The dirt! The dung! I, too, was besotted by every detail. I could taste and feel and smell life in medieval times. And Birdy! I wish Karen had been writing when I was fourteen. I would have completely connected to Birdy’s desire to get out from beneath her parents and the life they want for her. My parents never tried to marry me off, but the life they presented for me felt just as burdensome, and I longed to get out from under it. I wanted to be Julia, not my parents’ daughter. In the end, my life turned out okay, just like Birdy’s does. But I could have used her guidance when I was young. My only regret in regards to this book is that I didn’t read it sooner.

I have my own children now, and I’m sure one day they will feel the same way as Birdy: restless and yearning for something different from the life being offered. When that time comes, I will hand them Catherine, Called Birdy and say, read it; may it guide you on your discovery of whom you are and the path you will take. And then I will thank Birdy and Karen for letting me borrow their words of wisdom.

Happy birthday, Birdy!!!

Love,

Julia Richardson
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
Editorial Director, Paperbacks

NCTE in Boston, Day Two

Karen Cushman — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 14:43:35 +0000

I signed books at the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) booth, including one for the students at Millard Fillmore School. You can see Millard himself hanging out behind us.

Afterwards I celebrated with my panel folks: Kirby Larson and Barbara O’Connor and (pictured, left) our panel moderators, Miriam Martinez of UT San Antonio, and Nancy Roser of UT Austin. Miriam and Nancy did an amazing job of turning our vague mutterings about “place” and “world building” from a couple of years ago into Thursday’s multi-media panel. Thank you.

Then followed a dinner given by HMH with a number of teachers, writers, and professors. At right are Dinah Stevenson, who has been my beloved editor for 20 years, and David Wiesner, the picture book king. We were at dinner for 5 (!) hours and enjoyed every minute.