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I'm Doing a Terrible Job Updating This Site
Here's a better place to keep up with me, if you're so inclined.
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When Someone Asks for Writing Advice in 2013
I'm going to send them this link. It really is all about showing up and not just criticizing from the stands. Getting in the arena = everything. Thank you, Dr. Brene' Brown--and Teddy Roosevelt, too--for this reminder.
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Best Email of the Week
Hi Miss Klise,
I'm Italian; I'm 14 and I' ve readed your love story "Colazione a Parigi" (Italian version). I would known what do you want pass with this fantastic story at your readers. Sorry, but I don't speak English so good!
(Note to Erica: Your English is fine. In fact, I love it! It's impossible to read an email like this without affecting an Italian accent. -kk)
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When Libraries Close
I love love love Caitlin Moran. Here she is writing about libraries and the utter stupidity of closing them:
"A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life raft and a festival . . . A library is such a potent symbol of a town's values: each one closed down might as well be six thousand stickers plastered over every available surface, reading 'WE CHOSE TO BECOME MORE STUPID AND DULL . . . ' Libraries that stayed open during the Blitz will be closed by budgets."
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School Visits
"Hmm, how do I draw a pig?"
I lead a lot of writing workshops in schools and libraries. Here's a pic of me with a great group of fourth and fifth graders at Americana Elementary, just north of Chicago.
I've found that we all tend to make the same mistake when we start writing books. Most of us write our first stories in a very linear way: beginning, middle, end. I like to show kids (and adults) a better way to craft a story. It takes me 50 minutes to share what I've learned in 20 years of professional writing. Holler my way if you want more information about my writing workshops. If your budget allows, my sister/illustrator Sarah Klise can join us and share her tips on art and design.
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I've found that we all tend to make the same mistake when we start writing books. Most of us write our first stories in a very linear way: beginning, middle, end. I like to show kids (and adults) a better way to craft a story. It takes me 50 minutes to share what I've learned in 20 years of professional writing. Holler my way if you want more information about my writing workshops. If your budget allows, my sister/illustrator Sarah Klise can join us and share her tips on art and design.
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My Declaration of Independents (booksellers, that is)
The King's English Bookshop looks weirdly a lot like my house.
There are two groups of people in this country who still read a lot: librarians and independent booksellers. (Wait, I forgot a group: Kids. They read a ton, too.) I love kids and librarians. I just wrote a little shout-out to Missouri librarians on my other site. But now let me declare my deep and abiding love for independent booksellers. The best books I've read in the last year were almost all recommended to me by indie booksellers. Why are they so dang smart? Because it's their business to know. And I try to support them as much as I can. Not just for their sake but for mine, too. I like when someone smart says, "Read this. You'll love it!" I almost always do. I also, of course, love when an indie bookseller says something nice about one of my books. Here's what Margaret Brennan Neville at The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City had to say about my new middle-grade novel Homesick:
"The clever title of this book is just the beginning of another great read from Klise. Benny's mom has left him, his difficult dad, and all the clutter in their house. When a local teacher enters their town in a 'most charming small town contest,' the pressure is on to get the family home cleaned up. With a cast of quirky small-town characters and a natural disaster that no one knew was coming, Klise once again creates a place you would like to visit and characters you would like to meet."
I'd like to visit Margaret at her cool-looking shop.
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"The clever title of this book is just the beginning of another great read from Klise. Benny's mom has left him, his difficult dad, and all the clutter in their house. When a local teacher enters their town in a 'most charming small town contest,' the pressure is on to get the family home cleaned up. With a cast of quirky small-town characters and a natural disaster that no one knew was coming, Klise once again creates a place you would like to visit and characters you would like to meet."
I'd like to visit Margaret at her cool-looking shop.
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Start with a Transcript
Here's a link to a blog post I contributed to the International Reading Association's terrific site for educators looking for fun writing exercises. I'm a big believer in using whatever trick you need to help you find a way into your story. For me, it's often starting with a transcript.
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Show Me a Library Prettier Than This
The lovely Hannibal Free Public Library
Found out on Friday that I'll be receiving the 2012 MLA Literary Award from the Missouri Library Association. According to the email: "This award recognizes a Missouri writer or an individual who has written an outstanding book on some aspect of Missouri life." How nice. I'm not sure if this is related to Stand Straight, Ella Kate, a book about the 8' 4"-tall Ella Kate Ewing from northern Missouri, or Grounded, a coming-of-age novel set in the fictional town of Digginsville, Mo. Or maybe they mean the Regarding series, set in Dry Creek, er, I mean, Geyser Creek, Mo. I guess I'll find out on October 4th at the MLA awards dinner. I received this nice news while in Hannibal last week, researching a new book. If there is a library on this planet more beautiful than the Hannibal Free Public Library, I would like to know where it is.
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Isn't Life Grand?
Yes, it is. And thanks to Meghan Cox Gurdon at the Wall Street Journal for making it grander with this nice shout-out.
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The Greatness of Grandparents . . . and of Independent Booksellers
Cover illustration by M. Sarah Klise
Thanks to the New York Times for this lovely review of Grammy Lamby and the Secret Handshake.
And thanks to independent booksellers for choosing Homesick to be on the Autumn 2012 Kids' Indie Next list, the recommended reading list compiled by indie booksellers.
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They Asked. We Answered.
That's me on the left with sister Sarah.
Publishers Weekly Weighs in on Homesick
Homesick will be out in September.
Kate Klise. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99 (192p) ISBN 978-1-250-00842-8
Klise (Grounded) looks at the effects of hoarding and the struggles and joys of smalltown life in this honest, good-natured coming-of-age story set in the early
1980s. Twelve-year-old Benny’s mother leaves his father, whose hoarding has gotten out of control, heading for New Orleans with a promise to come back for Benny. With Benny’s father increasingly unable to care for himself or his son (he won’t let Benny throw away pizza boxes, convinced they will be valuable in
the future), the boy spends his time with his loving and quirky neighbors, in particular his father’s best friend, Myron. Benny begins work at Myron’s fledgling radio station, transcribing amusing interviews with locals, including schoolteacher Miss Turnipson, who has entered their Missouri town in a contest to find “the most charming small town in America.”
As Benny’s father deteriorates, the neighbors band together. While some things remain open-ended, matters still resolve in a surprising, slightly too-good-to-be-true, yet satisfying way. Klise conjures ample empathy for the residents of Dennis Acres—even Benny’s father who, despite his problems, has a gift for foresight (sometimes). Ages 10–14. (Sept.)
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Klise (Grounded) looks at the effects of hoarding and the struggles and joys of smalltown life in this honest, good-natured coming-of-age story set in the early
1980s. Twelve-year-old Benny’s mother leaves his father, whose hoarding has gotten out of control, heading for New Orleans with a promise to come back for Benny. With Benny’s father increasingly unable to care for himself or his son (he won’t let Benny throw away pizza boxes, convinced they will be valuable in
the future), the boy spends his time with his loving and quirky neighbors, in particular his father’s best friend, Myron. Benny begins work at Myron’s fledgling radio station, transcribing amusing interviews with locals, including schoolteacher Miss Turnipson, who has entered their Missouri town in a contest to find “the most charming small town in America.”
As Benny’s father deteriorates, the neighbors band together. While some things remain open-ended, matters still resolve in a surprising, slightly too-good-to-be-true, yet satisfying way. Klise conjures ample empathy for the residents of Dennis Acres—even Benny’s father who, despite his problems, has a gift for foresight (sometimes). Ages 10–14. (Sept.)
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The News from Italy
Here's the current list of bestsellers from my Italian publisher, Sperling & Kupfer:
Sveva Casati Modignani Léonie
Pierre Dukan La dieta Dukan illustrata The Dukan diet shown
Pierre Dukan La dieta Dukan The Dukan diet
Danielle Steel Happy Birthday Happy Birthday
Kathy Klise Colazione a Parigi Breakfast in Paris
Love stories and diet books. Welcome to planet Earth, right? (Not sure why I'm "Kathy" in Italian, but no complaints here.)
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Next stop? Indonesia
Say you're in Indonesia in a year or two and need a copy of In the Bag. Weirdly enough, it'll be there--thanks to the fabulous rights/translation team at HarperCollins.
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Norwegian Wood
Bzzzzz. What is the likely source of paper for the Norwegian edition of In the Bag?
That's clunky, but you get the idea. Norwegian publisher Cappelen Damm has picked up In the Bag for its fun and feel-good series “Bag of Fun," along with titles by Jennifer Weiner, Carole Matthews, and Belinda Jones.
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The Thing About Writing for Kids . . .
. . . is that they a) read a ton of books, b) write the greatest letters, and c) think it's absolutely hilarious that anyone --like me and millions of others--ever used a typewriter to write school papers or manuscripts. One of my pen pals thought it was so funny, she decided to write me a letter using a typewriter. "It is very hard work typing on an old typewriter," she says in the P.S. "My fingertips hurt a lot. I may end up with strange bruises on the tips of my index fingers." She adds a P.P.S. "Now my ink ribbon is acting up."
Love this kid. Wish I had an old Selectric to send her.
P.S. If you're interested, you can read more about my children's books here.
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Love this kid. Wish I had an old Selectric to send her.
P.S. If you're interested, you can read more about my children's books here.
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In My Bag
Why I love Nordstrom
Here's why I love Nordstrom: After doing some emergency shopping (that's code for "I'm flat out of clean clothes") at the Nashville store, I found the nicest note from the salesgal who had helped me. A handwritten personal note in the bag. Yes, I know I wrote a whole book about the intriguing romantic possibilities inherent in secret notes, but it's also just such a nice gesture. Is it possible handwritten notes slipped in women's bags might be the new black? Hmn. In any case, I'll have clean clothes for the book signing at Left Bank Books in St. Louis on Tuesday, June 26, 7 p.m. I'm also doing an interview on KMOV on Tuesday.
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Memo to Librarians
Nobody makes organizing an author visit easier than Kerri McPhail at Children's Authors' Ally. In fact, I'm renaming her Kerri NeverPhail because she never fails to deliver a successful author and/or illustrator visit.
If you're interested in booking me or anyone else on Kerri's roster, get in touch with her. All the info you need is on her site.
(The picture on the left is the cover image for my September 2012 release, Homesick, which I hope middle-grade readers will read and enjoy. The folks at Junior Library Guild have already picked it up as a new title for their clients.)
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Another Reason I Love Chicago
". . . Klise's cleverly conceived and charming book (In the Bag) is the literary equivalent of an
all-expenses-paid trip to Europe."
—CHICAGO TRIBUNE
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In the Bag Goes to Italy
. . . where the expression "in the bag" doesn't translate exactly, so my Italian publisher (Sperling) opted to go with Colazione a Parigi, which means "breakfast in Paris."
Of course!
(Cute cover, right?)
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Five Things I'd Tell the Teen Me
In the Bag: the Movie?
No, I haven't sold dramatic rights to In the Bag (yet, she added optimistically), but it's
always fun when someone asks a writer how she would cast the movie version of her own book. That's the question posed here by Marshal Zeringue.
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This Is Silly, I Know . . .
But I've never seen any of my books in an airport bookstore. Then today, I saw In the Bag in two airport bookstores. There seems to be a special going on at Hudson's airport bookstores (also Barbara's Bookstore at O'Hare) on contemporary American fiction. What's not to love there?
This is probably illegal, but I couldn't resist jumping up a shelf to be next to Stephen King. His book, On Writing, is one of the best books about writing I've ever read. I bet I've purchased eight or ten copies of that book, along with Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, to give to friends working on first books.
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It's May 1st, the publication date of In the Bag. Let the blog tour begin!
Tuesday, May 1st: Seaside Book Nook
Thursday, May 3rd: 2Kids and Tired Book Reviews
Monday, May 7th: Walking With Nora
Tuesday, May 8th: Book Hooked Blog
Wednesday, May 9th: Book Journey
Thursday, May 10th: A Musing Reviews
Monday, May 14th: A Cozy Reader’s Corner
Tuesday, May 15th: Life In Review
Wednesday, May 16th: Book Reviews by Molly
Thursday, May 17th: Good Girl Gone Redneck
Date TBD: A Bookworm’s World
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If you're looking for a sneak peek of In the Bag, check out this excerpt on Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/88788925
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Will In the Bag will be available in France? Oui, oui! French publisher Albin Michel will be handling the translation and publication.
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It’s always exciting when foreign publishers are interested in publishing my books. So far, In the Bag has been picked up by the Italian publisher Sperling and German publisher Piper. Meanwhile, Dying to Meet You is going strong in Germany, China, France, Italy, and soon the Czech Republic and Korea. And if you’re in Japan and feeling blue, pick up the Japanese edition of Why Do You Cry?
It's May 1st, the publication date of In the Bag. Let the blog tour begin!
Tuesday, May 1st: Seaside Book Nook
Thursday, May 3rd: 2Kids and Tired Book Reviews
Monday, May 7th: Walking With Nora
Tuesday, May 8th: Book Hooked Blog
Wednesday, May 9th: Book Journey
Thursday, May 10th: A Musing Reviews
Monday, May 14th: A Cozy Reader’s Corner
Tuesday, May 15th: Life In Review
Wednesday, May 16th: Book Reviews by Molly
Thursday, May 17th: Good Girl Gone Redneck
Date TBD: A Bookworm’s World
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If you're looking for a sneak peek of In the Bag, check out this excerpt on Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/88788925
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Will In the Bag will be available in France? Oui, oui! French publisher Albin Michel will be handling the translation and publication.
###
It’s always exciting when foreign publishers are interested in publishing my books. So far, In the Bag has been picked up by the Italian publisher Sperling and German publisher Piper. Meanwhile, Dying to Meet You is going strong in Germany, China, France, Italy, and soon the Czech Republic and Korea. And if you’re in Japan and feeling blue, pick up the Japanese edition of Why Do You Cry?
