August 25, 2017 Hello ,
Occasionally, I depart from my regular newsletter stories to tell you what I've been working on, and give you an inside look at the writer's life.
This week I am so excited to share some wonderful news for Irena's Children, Young Readers Edition. The book is one of three children's/YA books up for a Canadian literary prize for Jewish literature. Totally amazing to see Irena's Children in the company of these books by gifted writers and journalists.
The thirteen are finalists for the 2017 Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature.
According to Open Book, "While the 2017 shortlists are stacked with acclaimed names, some particularly notable nominees include Matti
Friedman, whose Pumpkinflowers was also nominated for the RBC Taylor Prize, the Writers' Trust Hilary Weston Nonfiction Prize, and the BC National Award for Canadian Non-fiction; Governor General's Literary Award winner Peter Behrens; and Trillium Book Award finalist (and past Open Book writer-in-residence!) Danila Botha."
The Vine Awards honor the best Canadian Jewish writers and Canadian authors who deal with Jewish subjects in four categories: fiction, non-fiction, history and young adult/children’s literature; each with a prize of $10,000.
As I am the adapter of Canadian Author Tilar Mazzeo's adult edition of the book, I am most likely not in the money, should Irena's Children win the top prize. Here's a fact of the writer's
life, I was paid a flat fee to adapt the book, and so I own no rights to my work.
This does not diminish my pride in the book, nor my gratitude for the opportunity to write about Irena Sendler. She was a giant of courage in the darkest circumstances of the 20th Century.
Winners of the Vine Awards will be announced in Toronto, October 3rd. Earlier in the summer, I submitted what I expect will be the final revision of my next book, the story of Major Charity Adams (shown at left) and America's WWII black army women.
I heard from my editor today, he expects the manuscript to go to copy-editing in early October. Copy-editing is the final run through of the text of the book to make sure there are no errors before it goes into production. Knowing my weakness in the area of spelling and punctuation, I expect it will come back to me for a few corrections.
Meanwhile, I
will be working on finalizing the photographs for the book. I have submitted more than one hundred! Probably my editor will want to eliminate a few. The book is tentatively scheduled for release in the fall of 2018. I am looking into the possibility of hiring an intern to help with book promotion this time around.
Meanwhile, I have been making progress
on my novel! I haven't published fiction in more than a decade, but I haven't given up on that goal.
I'm writing a contemporary young adult novel about a girl dealing with many of the conflicts that face us in America today. I joined a new writing group, which includes four other fiction writers and they are giving me great feedback, plus holding me accountable to producing
pages. We submit new chapters to the group every two weeks.
I'm enjoying writing fiction a lot! And I am also busy helping organize our local conference of the Inland Northwest Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. That is happening September 16th and I'm very excited about it! You can see details here: Plot Your Course. Some of you wondered if there's a book about American Spy Virginia Hall, who I wrote about last week. To be honest, I planned to mention two in that newsletter, but ran out of time.
Wolves at the Door by Judith L. Pearson is a biography written for adults. Here's what Publishers Weekly said: "Though commendable for
its portrayal of Hall's unflagging courage and energy in dangerous and desperate conditions, the story is told in bland prose that fails to live up to the exceptional times it chronicles."
I got most of my information about Virginia Hall from the children's biography by Nancy Polette.
The Spy with the Wooden Leg is a quick read, and I would definitely recommend it for middle grade readers.
For a quick look at women spies of Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE), check out Norm Haskett's Daily Chronicles of WWII.
I will close with a photo of my version of Margherita pizza. Fresh homegrown pesto and sun gold tomatoes.
The simple pleasures of life bring so much joy. Until next week... Have you read a great book? Tell me about it. Have a burning question? Let me know. If you know someone who might enjoy
my newsletter or books, please forward this e-mail. I will never spam you or sell your email address, you can unsubscribe below anytime with a single mouse click. To find out more about my books, how I help students, teacher and librarians, visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com. My best, Mary
Questions? Comments? Contact me at MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. |
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