The 13th Sign by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb

It’s finally here! Today is the day The 13^th Sign by my fabulous critique partner, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, is out in the world. Kristin is an award-winning author of historical Middle Grade novels, but today her first Middle Grade fantasy is released. And if you like Middle Grade fantasy, stories set in New Orleans, or just really good books, I hope you’ll give The 13^th Sign a try.

Here’s the blurb for The 13^th Sign published by Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan):

ONE SMALL SHIFT CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING - AND EVERYONE

What if there was a thirteenth zodiac sign?

You’re no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus the healer, the thirteenth sign.

Your personality has changed. So has your mom’s and your best friend’s.

What about the rest of the world?

What if you were the one who accidentally unlocked the thirteenth sign, causing this world-altering change - and infuriating the other twelve signs?

Jalen did it, and now she must use every ounce of her strength and cunning to send the signs back where they belong. Lives, including her own, depend on it.

                                      Kristin with The 13th Sign

Selling Hope & the Wednesday Writers

Three years ago, something wonderful happened. I got stuck in line. Actually I was stuck in line for the ladies’ restroom at a writers’ conference (a common occurrence). I spoke to the woman in front of me and told her I was new to the Nashville area. Her name was Jennifer Lambe. I asked if she might be interested in getting together for coffee and maybe a little manuscript critiquing. She said yes! When we returned to the auditorium, she introduced me to another writer, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb. Kristin said she would be interested in the coffee and the manuscript critiques, too. I met another writer, Hannah Dills, at an RWA chapter meeting and she wasn’t interested in coffee, but she was definitely interested in manuscript critiques. So the Wednesday Writers started meeting for coffee (and tea) and we started critiquing manuscripts.

One of the first manuscripts we critiqued is in bookstores today! It’s Selling Hope by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb. Here’s the blurb:

It’s May 1910, and Halley’s Comet is due to pass thru the Earth’s atmosphere. And thirteen-year-old Hope McDaniels and her father are due to pass through their hometown of Chicago with their ragtag vaudeville troupe. Hope wants out of vaudeville, and longs for a “normal” life—or as normal as life can be without her mother, who died five years before. Hope sees an opportunity: She invents “anti-comet” pills to sell to the working-class customers desperate for protection. Soon, she’s joined by a fellow troupe member, young Buster Keaton, and the two of them start to make good money. And just when Hope thinks she has all the answers, she has to decide: What is family? Where is home?

Congratulations Kristin!

A Visit with Debut Author Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

It is my pleasure to have Kristin O’Donnell Tubb on the blog today. Kristin’s debut middle grade novel, Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different was released last week. About the book: Autumn Winifred Oliver has charmed a hive of bees, wrangled a flock of geese, and filched a stick of dynamite from the United States government. But it’ll take a whole new kind of gumption to save her Cades Cove home.

Welcome Kristin!

Thanks for having me, Rae Ann! I’m delighted to be here.

In the book world, book titles are often condensed to three words max, so the title of your book is a treat in itself. Did you choose the title? [if not, did you provide suggestions, etc?]

I’m glad you find the title a treat! I did choose the title for Autumn; in fact, they were the first seven words of the manuscript I typed. I had the idea for a book set in Cades Cove back in 2002, and I started researching the text shortly thereafter. I started writing a year later, and I knew by that point that the protagonist would be named Autumn Winifred Oliver, and that she’d be a funny, feisty prankster. The title popped onto the page, and then I knew I had to write a character to live up to it!

Side note: The title is grammatically incorrect, and whenever those ever-so-practical legal eagles were involved (like, on the contract), they inevitably changed it to read “differently.” It was such fun to point out, “yes, that mistake is supposed to be there!”

You are fabulous at research. What types of research did you do for Autumn and how do you know when to stop researching and start writing?

Ah, research – my first love! As for the types of research I did for Autumn, I read seven or eight books about the history of Cades Cove and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and took extensive notes the old-fashioned way, on 3 x 5 notecards. (Makes outlining so easy!) I also traveled to Cades Cove (I had many times before, but this was specifically for research) and took notes on everything – the tiny size of the cabins, the gentle swish of the wheat fields, the chilling spray of the waterfalls, the feeling of protection that the ring of mountains provides. And the best resource of all was the library housed in the basement of the Sugarlands Visitor Center at the National Park. The library was created by park volunteers who realized that the unique Appalachian culture that had evolved in the Smokies would disappear once tourists arrived. Soon after the Park was formed, they roamed the area, taking pictures and conducting interviews. They cataloged everything: clothing, farm equipment, songs, stories, church sermons – so much of what makes a community unique. It was a goldmine. Still is.

And now, since we all love stories of The Call and yours is especially unique, would you please share your story?

Oh, lawsy, I think my Call story might go down in the annals of publishing history as one of the most embarrassing things a new writer could possibly do! But hey, it makes for a great story! (A good writer uses everything, after all!)

The scene: Early February, 2007. My editor calls my cell phone. I am nine months pregnant. I am AT THE OB/GYN.
Wendy: "Hello, Kristin? It's Wendy Loggia from Random House."
Me: "Oh my gosh! It's so good to hear from you! I'm at my gynecologist’s office right now."
Wendy: silence
Me: "Oh, um - I should say, I'm not in the office right now - I mean, I am, but I'm checking out. I'm done." Shut up Kristin. "I mean - I'm scheduling my induction for my new baby. I was newly pregnant when we met, remember?" Shut UP, Kristin. "Everything's great! Healthy baby! I'm scheduling his arrival right now. That's why I'm at...my...OB's office..."
Wendy: laughing "I think this is a first for me."
Me: unbelievably mortified "Uh, me too?"
Wendy: "So I wanted to talk to you more about this wonderful revision you sent me..."
And that was that! There, in my OB/GYN's office, I was offered my first book deal. Two weeks later, my son was born. It was one heckuva month.

Thank you, Kristin, for visiting!

Click here to view the book trailer for Autumn. Click here to visit Kristin’s website.

Southern Festival of Books

I attended the 20th annual Southern Festival of Books in Nashville last weekend for the first time, but definitely not the last. The three-day event is held at the War Memorial Plaza in downtown Nashville.

As I waited in the lobby of the auditorium for the previous sessions’ attendees to exit, a steady stream of people walked up to the ushers at the door asking, “Is this where Sherman Alexie is speaking?” As the ushers pleasantly answered yes over and over, I thought how awesome it was to see that type of excitement over hearing an author talk. Once I heard Sherman Alexie speak, I understood. He is the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the 2007 National Book award for Young People’s Literature. He was funny and inspiring.

Another treat was a panel of three debut middle-grade authors from the Class of 2k8, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, Laurel Snyder, and Jenny Meyerhoff. They talked about group promotion and how a writer’s role expands upon becoming a published author.

When I told the moderator for the panel that this was my first time to attend the festival, she insisted that I come back next year. I’ll just have to do that.