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Meet Michelle Ray, debut author of Falling For Hamlet. Her YA novel is a modern re-telling of Hamlet and will be arriving in bookstores in July. Michelle is great to talk to and was forthcoming about her book and writing process. Check out Michelle’s website and facebook page for writing tips, speaking events, and more news about her upcoming books.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Ray-writer/103487896377304
Michelle's headshot and book cover
QUTESSY: What is Falling For Hamlet about?
MICHELLE RAY: It’s a modern retelling of Hamlet told from Ophelia’s POV. From page one you know she doesn’t die because she’s being interviewed by both an Oprah-like character and the police, who want to know what happened to everyone else. The bulk of the story, however, is told in the first person. It’s follows the main plot of Hamlet, but explores Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet and his family, the perils of celebrity, and the challenges of growing up. Of course, it’s also about betrayal, intrigue, and murder.
Q: What was your inspiration for this book? How long did it take you to write it?
MR: My inspiration was a production of Hamlet done by the Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC. It was done in modern dress, but not to prove a point. It simply showed how timeless the story was. I was completely taken by the show, but was dissatisfied with Ophelia’s madness in this context. I walked out of the show wondering what would make a modern Ophelia betray the guy she loves, and why she’d go crazy.
The first draft took about three or four months, but then I revised for a long time. I spent at least six months working with feedback from friends, then a couple of months with my agent, and then I did about five significant rounds of revision with my editor. We added scenes, deleted scenes, reworked and reworded characters and chunks of text. Start to finish, I guess you could say it was three years, but I wasn’t working on it constantly.
Q: What is the most exciting sequence in Falling For Hamlet? At what point when you were writing this book did you get so giddy with excitement that you couldn’t get the words out fast enough?
MR: Wow, that would be so cool if it had happened, but it didn’t. My best stuff often comes when I’m thinking about a scene while lying in bed or sitting in my car. Both are places where I can’t write the words down, so, to my irritation, I lose a lot. Once I have the keyboard in front of me, I’m slower and the experience is more restricted. When I’m just imagining, it flows.
There were a few parts while working on Falling for Hamlet when I closed my eyes and just wrote, and funny enough, those seem to be the most memorable for people who have read the manuscript. My favorite comes at the very end. My friend, Kim, read an early draft and wrote a note on the last page asking, “Okay, so what did she learn from all this?” I thought, “What do I want readers to know about her? What do I want to say to young women who might be thinking about the impact boys could have on their lives, as well as the consequences of bad decisions?” I closed my eyes and typed as fast as I could. The final pages move me, and they move readers.
Q: What character did you fall in love with the most? What character kept you up at night?
MR: I love the boys: Hamlet, Horatio, and Sebastian (who’s not in the original, but seemed to be needed for the story I was trying to tell). Horatio’s one of Ophelia’s best friends, and someone who never lets her down. I have guy friends like that and it’s a tribute to their fantastic friendship that I can write a character like Horatio. Hamlet and Sebastian are, to me, awesome and detestable at the same time and I’m drawn to them for different reasons. Hamlet can be amazingly good to Ophelia, and then, when things go wrong, they go really, really wrong. But I don’t want anyone to hate him because he’s confused and angry, and completely manipulated by everyone, including, to a degree, Ophelia. Sebastian likes Ophelia very much for who, not what, she is, and he knows her in a context outside of the castle, which is important. But he’s jealous, and this complicates things for Ophelia. Most fun for me is that Sebastian is really quite hot, so it was fun to imagine him. The beauty of writing is that I get to be someone else for a bit, especially if I’m writing from that character’s POV. See, I’m an average, happily married woman in my thirties, so it’s exciting to spend time as a beautiful, famous teenager who gets kissed by handsome boys. Anyway, what I love is that all three boys bring out different sides of Ophelia. Good sides and bad.
Q: What about this story is compelling?
MR: I think it’s close enough to the original that readers who love Hamlet will enjoy seeing how the story translates to a modern context, while at the same time, there are enough deviations to keep the audience guessing. People who don’t know Hamlet will get a great story of intrigue, love, and violence.
Q: What is your preferred genre? Why do you write for YA readers?
MR: I originally wrote Falling for Hamlet for adults, actually. I wrote a story I liked and planned to share with my friends, not really thinking about anything beyond that. Well, it turned out to have more of a teen vibe, so when I went to find an agent, that’s the direction I went in.
I read a lot of YA books because I teach middle school and want to know what interests my students, and I really like the books. They move fast, they’re fun, and they’re well written, often without being fussy. Plus, they bring up memories for me. 16, 17, 18 – those were heady years. There were so many choices to make — choices that would affect the rest of my life. I think many YA books directly and indirectly deal with the challenges of straddling childhood and adulthood. The expectations. The responsibilities. The desire to move forward and the desire to keep things the same. Navigating these uncharted waters is scary and thrilling. YA books let me relive what I did right and make me glad I never had to make certain choices.
Q: Do you write by the fireplace in your home or on a couch in a hotel lobby? Would you like to show us a picture of your writing zone?
MR: I’m really productive anywhere because I have to be. I’m a mom, so sometimes I write on the front step while my kids are riding bikes. I write while next to the bathtub when my little one’s getting washed up. I write on subways and at coffee shops. But the place I spend most of my time is one corner of a couch in our “fancy” sitting room (which isn’t that fancy). There are glass doors I can close to make my point that I don’t want to be bothered (though they don’t block out enough sound), I can look out the window if my kids are playing in the snow, and it’s the only spot in the house that tends to be free of clutter. It’s not a classic writing space – windows with afternoon light surrounded by books on writing — but that’s okay. It’s part of how I try to balance everything I need to squeeze into my day.
Q: What kinds of books do you like to read?
MR: I like books that move quickly. I don’t like flowery prose or books about shopping or divorces. I love YA books and books that make me laugh. I also love to cry.
Q: What author would you want to meet?
MR: My top three choices would be Geraldine Brooks, Maya Angelou, and JK Rowling. Geraldine Brooks because she writes fascinating books about history and I’d love to ask her about her research and her process. Maya Angelou because I’d love to hear her speak her works. And JK Rowling because I want to know how she sustained that great story over so many thousands of pages.
Q: What book character would you want to meet?
MR: I would love to hang out with Horatio from my book or Jesse from Tuck Everlasting. Jesse is so optimistic, so full of life.
Q: What character from another book would you want a character in your book to spend a day with?
MR: I’d love for Ophelia to hang out with some strong, independent woman who could teach her how to live on her own. Maybe someone in the art world who could get her a job.
Q: What are you working on now?
MR: I’m working on a couple adaptations of classic stories for teens, and a historical fiction book for adults. Some are out with editors (fingers crossed) and some are in their very early stages. In one, I’m toying with a minor character of a classic book because she makes me ask lots of “what if” questions when I think of her, and also I’m working on something completely original set in the late 1960s. I thought the story was headed in one direction, but while teaching the other day, a photo caught my eye and made me think of adding a whole new layer to the story. We shall see.
Q: Is there anything you would to add?
MR: Nope.
Thank you so much for your time.
Filed under Interviews
Mary Amato’s The Naked Mole Rat Letters is an entertaining story of love, friendship, and family…and how a lie can spin out of control and threaten it all. Mary is a talented children’s author whose books have received awards and accolades. She is a writer who truly understands her audience. Her books are filled with lively and funny characters who pop off the pages. Her most recent book is a humorous Middle-Grade novel called Edgar Allan’s Official Crime Investigation Notebook. Buy copies of her books today.
Mary is also a gifted instructor and those fortunate enough to study writing under her tutelage gain from that experience. Her website is a treasure trove of information on her workshops and speaking events. Read her blog for book updates and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Amato/97538213374
Mary Amato headshot
QUTESSY: What is The Naked Mole Rat Letters about?
MARY AMATO: It’s about a girl who discovers that her widowed father is falling in love; she doesn’t want a step-mom, so she sabotages the relationship.
Q: What was your inspiration for this book? How long did it take you to write it?
MA: My mother died when I was ten. When I was a teen, I found love letters addressed to my father from a woman I didn’t know. The thought of having a stepmom terrified me, but I did nothing about it. My father ended up marrying his secret sweetheart. As an adult, I wanted to play out the story with a different character, with a girl who lets her emotions out, rather than keeping them in. It was cathartic for me. The book came quickly–about three months to write a very solid, complete draft.
Q: What is the most exciting sequence in The Naked Mole Rat Letters? At what point when you were writing this book did you get so giddy with excitement that you couldn’t get the words out fast enough?
MA: I often felt as if my fingers were on fire when I was writing this book. I don’t want to give away the book, but I loved writing the scene when Frankie and her father talk honestly with one another. It’s a quiet scene but very powerful for me.
Q: What character did you fall in love with the most? What character kept you up at night?
MA: Fun questions. You really have to love all your characters, even the minor ones, even the misbehaving ones. Every single character in the book seemed real to me.
Q: What about this story is compelling?
MA: Kids who write to me tell me that they are gripped by Frankie’s lies…by the trouble she gets into because of the heaping of one lie on top of the other.
Q: What is your preferred genre?
MA: Realistic fiction.
Q: Why do you write for MG readers?
MA: I love this age. The readers are generous, hungry, and loyal.
Q: Do you write by the fireplace in your home or on a couch in a hotel lobby? Would you like to show us a picture of your writing zone?
MA: I write at a plain wooden table and a very straight-backed wooden chair. I don’t like being cushioned and comfortable when I write. I like being attentive and business-like. Although when I get stuck, I sit on the floor and write on a big tablet with markers.
Mary Amato made the big pencil and her son Max made the big paper. Mary keeps them in her writing studio to remind her to have BIG ideas.
Q: What book or author inspired you to become a writer?
MA: Louise May Alcott’s Little Women and Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy
Q: What kinds of books do you like to read?
MA: I’m all over the library.
Q: What author would you want to meet?
MA: Too numerous to narrow down.
Q: What book character would you want to meet?
MA: I’d take a long walk with Jo March any day.
Q: What are you working on now?
MA: My first thriller.
Q: Is there anything you would to add?
MA: Thank you so much for your time.
The Naked Mole-Rat Letters book cover
Filed under Interviews
Ictuate: to reiterate. Visit savethewords.org to adopt words that are in danger of being forgotten.
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Tim Wendel is the talented author of Red Rain, a historical novel set during the second world war. It is a brilliant novel brimming with espionage, war, love, lies, hope, betrayal, and secrets. Tim conducted extensive research on the Japanese fire balloons before beginning this novel. You don’t have to be a historical buff to enjoy this entertaining tale that spins and winds around history. Pick up a copy of his book today and reserve a spot for it on your shelf because it is a keeper. In the last few pages, Tim discusses the fire balloons, the spy network, and his past experience as a forest fire fighter.
For updates and more about Tim and Red Rain, check out his website and follow him on twitter.
Tim Wendel
Qutessy: What is Red Rain about?
Tim Wendel: It is a novel about the best-kept secret of World War II, the Japanese fire balloons. As with any story about secrets, so much depends upon when they are hidden and when they are revealed.
Q: What was your inspiration for Red Rain? How long did it take you to write it?
TW: I had never heard of the Japanese fire balloons before attending a party in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1990s. I met a guy from Smithsonian, who told me about the weapons. How they were made of paper and flew across the Pacific Ocean, carried by the jet stream. They started forest fires in the western states. I used to be on a fire crew, so it all clicked. For actual footage of the fire balloons, please check out the book trailer on YouTube for Red Rain — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gULjPukGrHc
Q: What is the most exciting sequence in your book? At what point when you were writing this book did you get so giddy with excitement that you couldn’t get the words out fast enough?
TW: I traveled to Japan to research the passages set in that country. When I visited Kyoto, the ancient city of shrines and temples, I felt like I’d been there before. The story began to take off for me then.
Q: What character did you fall in love with the most? What character kept you up at night?
TW: The character Yoshi is a young woman caught between two worlds. She was born in the Bay Area, but her family was sent to the internment camp in Manzanur, Calif., after World War II began because they are of Japanese descent. Despite that displacement, she decides to become a spy for the U.S. and travels to Japan. Yoshi always surprised me by how strong-willed and determined she was.
Q: What about this story is compelling?
TW: The backdrop of World War II can be gripping. But again the theme of Red Rain comes back to secrets, how powerful they can be, which is something any of us understands.
Q: What is your preferred genre?
TW: I don’t really know. I’ve now published eight books, fiction and nonfiction. I just love a good story, a strong narrative, which takes me to a new world. As a result, I’ve written about Cuba, baseball, secrets and Japan.
Q: Do you write by the fireplace in your home or on a couch in a hotel lobby? Would you like to show us a picture of your writing zone?
TW: I wrote my first novel, Castro’s Curveball, on the D.C. Metro. That’s the only time I had to myself back in those days. Today I’m fortunate to have a home office, overlooking our backyard. That’s where I write.
Q: What book or author inspired you to become a writer?
TW: Oh, probably more then I have time to mention. Richard Ford, Michael Ondaatje, Ernest Hemingway, F.Scott Fitzgerald to name a few. Also I’ve lucky to study with some great teachers, including Nick Delbanco, Alan Cheuse, Alice McDermott, Carolyn Doty and Oakley Hall.
Q: What kinds of books do you like to read?
TW: About anything with a strong story and intriguing characters.
Q: What author would you want to meet?
TW: Joyce Carol Oates and I are from the same hometown (Lockport, N.Y.) and I was lucky enough to talk with her a few years ago. It would have been fun to talk with Fitzgerald. Better yet — have a cocktail with him.
Q: What book character would you want to meet?
TW: How about a pair of Nicks? The first would be Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby. But I also really enjoyed Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories when I was younger.
Q: What book character would you want a character in your book to spend a day with?
TW: The Malena Fonseca character from my first novel still haunts me. I wonder what she would think of Nick Carraway?
Q: What are you working on now?
TW: I’m writing a nonfiction book about the year 1968, from a sports point of view. While our nation was falling apart, that year being the time of Martin Luther King’s and Bobby Kennedy’s assassinations, the sports teams were as racially integrated as any organizations in the country.
Q: Is there anything you would to add?
TW: No, just thanks for the time and support.
Q: Thank you so much for your time.
Red Rain Book Cover
Filed under Interviews
Jennifer Trafton has graciously granted Qutessy an interview. She is the delightful author of MG novel The Rise And Fall Of Mount Majestic. Visit her website, follow her on twitter, and check out her Goodreads page for more author news and updates.
http://twitter.com/JenniferTrafton
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3413873.Jennifer_Trafton
Jennifer Trafton
QUTESSY: What is The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic about?
JENNIFER TRAFTON: It’s about an island with a mountain in the middle of it that turns out to be a sleeping giant, and a ten-year old girl named Persimmony Smudge who must keep the giant from waking up. Along the way there are poison-tongued jumping tortoises, walking mangrove trees, a Lyre that tells the truth, a very selfish king, a shrinking worrywart, some big feet, sticky pine needle disguises, pinched noses, poetry, and a lot of pepper.
Q: What was your inspiration for The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic? How long did it take you to write it?
JT: Many years ago I was traveling around England and was impressed by the strange, knobbly, elbowy, stomachy shape of some hills—it seemed like a giant was sleeping underneath the ground. I began to wonder what would happen if there were people living on top when the giant woke up. That idea stuck in my head until finally a story grew around it.
I wrote the first draft in about six months, and then took another three years (off and on) to rewrite and revise it.
Q: What is the most exciting sequence in your book? At what point when you were writing this book did you get so giddy with excitement that you couldn’t get the words out fast enough?
JT: Well, since the most exciting part is the climax, and the people reading this interview have probably not read the book yet, I’m going to have to hide parts of my answer to avoid spoiling the ending.
Persimmony is trapped underground. Worvil is trapped in a cave. The king is trapped in denial. A nasty man is trapped in a pepper mill. The townspeople are trapped in a very messy food fight. Then suddenly the ground quakes and the [spoiler] nearly awakens, causes a [spoiler], unleashes panic and devastation in the [spoiler], and almost [several spoilers in a row] until finally [BIG SPOILER].
That’s the part that was the most fun to write and the part that I think is the most fun to read.
Q: What character did you fall in love with the most? What character kept you up at night?
JT: I love Worvil, my little worrywart, because he is so much like the ridiculous part of myself that needs a good laughing-at regularly.
Persimmony, my heroine, was actually the character who took the longest time to grow and develop in my mind. She is not quite the same person in the final book as she was in the first draft. I had to get to know her through many rewrites in order to figure out what really made her tick and what she was after.
Q: What about this story is compelling?
JT: It serves the extremely important function of warning people of the perils that lie underneath their feet. You never know—you might be standing on someone else’s giant stomach.
Q: What is your preferred genre? Why do you write for MG readers?
JT: I don’t really sit down and think, “Today I’m writing in this genre for this age reader.” As a writer you have to write the story that is burning inside of you, and you have to tell it in the voice that is yours alone. In my case, so far this has meant that I write “fantasy” that fits generally into the 8-12-year-old reading level. I happen to love this genre and this age because it allows such freedom for my imagination.
Q: Do you write by the fireplace in your home or on a couch in a hotel lobby? Would you like to show us a picture of your writing zone?
JT: I wrote most of The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic in the café of my local bookstore where I was living at that time. These days I alternate between a quiet corner of a coffee shop, a seat by the window in the public library, and an old armchair at home. If I show a picture, will I suddenly be overrun by the children’s book paparazzi?
Q: What book or author inspired you to become a writer?
JT: I’m not sure I can point to one book or author, or even a moment in my life when I suddenly said, “I want to become a writer.” It was something that grew in me naturally. There has never been a time when I have not loved stories—both reading them and making them. But when I look at the particular shape my sense of humor has taken, and my love of quirky language, surely I owe something to being read Dr. Seuss over and over and over again on my parents’ laps.
Q: What kinds of books do you like to read?
JT: I do not like reading self-help books, sushi cookbooks, car repair manuals, tax instructions, and books about football, skin diseases, politics, vampires, gory dismemberment, turnip farming, or how to succeed in business. Most other books are fair game—especially if they offer me characters I fall in love with, new realms for my imagination to play in, and humor that leaves me guffawing on the carpet.
Q: What author would you want to meet?
JT: I’d love to have a good chat over tea with Kate DiCamillo. I think her books are going to be classics fifty years from now. They are brilliant in their simplicity, sadness, beauty, and gentle wit.
Q: What book character would you want to meet?
JT: It would certainly be an adventure to meet Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky, but I’d only attempt it if I had a vorpal sword in hand.
Q: What book character would you want a character in your book to spend a day with?
JT: I think my intrepid protagonist, Persimmony, would stand a much better chance against the Jabberwocky than I would, and after a day of battling it might possibly have satisfied her enormous appetite for heroism.
Q: What are you working on now?
JT: Right now I am working on the daily challenge of putting words on paper rather than rushing away from my desk pulling my hair and grabbing for the cookies. Which means I am writing another book.
Q: Is there anything you want to add?
JT: The first chapter of The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, as well as some of Brett Helquist’s wonderful illustrations, can be found on my website www.jennifertrafton.com.
Book Cover
Filed under Interviews
Filed under Interviews
We are currently lining up entertaining interviews with amazing authors. Also, don’t miss our behind the scenes look at book-centric locations. Many fun surprises are on the way so keep coming back.
Filed under Interviews
Some readers hunch over their books during dinner while their eyes remain glued to the riveting pages even as they slurp down forks of spaghetti. Books with smears of tomato sauce, chocolate stains, and milk splashes are a testament that eating and reading are not mutually exclusive activities. Sandwiches, cookies and popcorn are always yummy options even though oil prints and crumbs might leave behind a trail among the printed words.
Filed under Recipes for Books
Book titles are sometimes the determining factor when determining whether or not to bother reading the summary at the back. Marlene Perez’s Dead Is The New Black, Dead Is A State Of Mind, Dead Is So Last Year, and Dead Is Just A Rumor are books with titles that urge you to begin reading. So does Ally Carter’s I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You, Cross My Heart And Hope To Spy, Don’t Judge A Girl By Her Cover, and Only The Good Spy Young.
Filed under Book Titles
QUTESSY 