Short Story Boot Camp

I'm visiting Zion-Benton Library on Saturday, September 28, 2013, from 1-3 pm. I will be doing a writing workshop for teens and I'm so excited to meet them and to help them with their short story drafts!

I will be discussing what a short story is and how it's different from a book length story, as well how writing short stories helped me to learn my craft. I will share about the process of getting published, especially how I use the critique process to develop my work. 

We will be experimenting with a critique group and learning how it can help each writer to further develop their own short story and their skills. Participating in a critique group is a typical process used by most professional writers. Each writer will gain a sense of where they are strong and where they could further develop a piece.

For more information, check out: www.zbteens.com. 

And for more information about SHATTERED, my debut novel, please visit: www.kathibaron.com.

Can't wait! 

SHATTERED eBook Now Available

Good news! I launched SHATTERED on Kindle on 6/14/13!

To celebrate, I'm doing a Virtual Book Tour with 15 stops along the way. 

Dates/stops of the SHATTERED Tour

June 10
Book Spotlight at Much Loved Books

June 11
Guest Post and Book Spotlight at Moonlight Gleam

June 12Interview and Review at A Diary of a Book Addict

June 13
Book Spotlight at Unputdownable Books 

June 14
Feature and Guest Post at Delphina Reads Too Much

June 15
Review at Hopeless Bibliophile 

June 16
Book Spotlight at Every Free Chance Reading 

June 17
Interview and Giveaway at Word Spelunking

June 18
Book Spotlight at My Fiction Nook 

TBA
Review at Stuck Between the Pages

TBA
Review at Books, Thoughts and a Few Adventures

June 25
Guest Post at Now is Gone

June 27
Review at The Kari Annalysis 

June 28 & 29
Guest Post and Review at Therian

July 1
Review and Interview at J Bronder Book Review 

Happy Announcement

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be presenting at the upcoming National Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in Las Vegas with Young Adult Authors Angela Morrison and Nancy Bo Flood.

Our presentation, "AN AUTHOR'S TOOLKIT: TECHNIQUES FROM THE PROS," will be held on Friday, November 16, 2012 from 12:30 pm-1:45 pm. We will be demonstrating professional techniques adapted for the classroom (K-12) to motivate students to write what they know, fear, believe, love, and dream. 

Anderson's Bookshops will host a signing at their booth in the Exhibition Hall immediately following the session. 

For more information about my young adult novel, SHATTERED, please visit www.kathibaron.com.

Featuring Julia Buckley's New Young Adult Mystery: GINEVRA BOND

Please welcome my friend and critique-mate, Author Julia Buckley!

She (and Simon) are here to help me launch my "Year of Young Adult Literature." In my last post, I mentioned that although I'm not currently in school, I'm creating a kind of new school year for myself. I'm adventuring into the young adult genre and I'm excited to learn more about what's going on in the world of young adult books. AND Julia just published Ginevra Bond, a new young adult suspense novel, so I interviewed her about her intriguing new book:

Kathi: Ginevra Bond is your first mystery for young adults. What was it like to switch from writing mysteries for adults to this genre?

Julia: It was actually very fun. It was nice taking a perspective that put me back in touch with my youth--although Ginevra is a very special young adult, and therefore has qualities that I never had as a teenager.

Kathi: Yes, Ginevra, your protagonist, is such an unusual girl! She knows things about people whom she's never met before and is wise beyond her 16 years, and yet--she has the same worries and insecurities as her teen classmates. What inspired the creation of Ginevra?

Julia: I was watching a documentary about people with inexplicable brains--they knew or understood things that the average person does not, and all because, for one reason or another, parts of their brains were being stimulated that gave them these abilities--areas of the brain that "normal" people are not able to tap into. 

Kathi: So what is something Ginevra knows about you?

Julia: HaHa. What a great question. It's true, Ginevra can see people's "barriers" and help them to overcome their problems. So Ginevra would know that I'm a very anxious person, and that I tend to worry a lot. She'd tell me I had to stop fretting and concentrate on all that is good in my life. She'd advise me to take deep breaths.  :)

Kathi: I've read lots of your work and your character names are always interesting. Where did the name "Ginevra Bond" come from?

Julia: I've always loved the name Ginevra (which has the same roots as names like Guinevere) ever since I heard that F. Scott Fitzgerald, long before he met Zelda, was briefly infatuated with a girl named Ginevra King. I liked the musicality of the name, so I chose a one-syllable last name for Ginevra. 

Kathi: What is the best writing advice you've ever received?

Julia: Oh, I've received all sorts of practical advice over the years, but I guess the one that stands out for me now is that you have to tell your story before you worry over revising it. I try to power through a story first, and THEN I go back to tweak and change things. It makes it much more likely that I'll finish a novel if I just keep going and follow that. 

Kathi: Where can readers find you online?


Julia: Thank you for asking! My website is www.juliabuckley.com and they can see the Amazon link to Ginevra Bond here:  

http://www.amazon.com/Ginevra-Bond-Adventures-ebook/dp/B008XCU5KC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345905194&sr=1-1&keywords=ginevra+bond

Kathi: Thank you, Julia, for the wonderful "behind the scenes" look at Ginevra Bond!

My Year of Young Adult Literature

The school supply aisles are mobbed and Labor Day is almost here. I'm not returning to school this fall, but I love pretending I'm starting a new year. It's always refreshing to take these last few days of August to dream about having a new life. 

This summer, I read a lot of young adult literature. Between 2002 and 2004, I studied writing for children and young adults at Vermont College; and focused on writing a young adult novel for my master's degree. It's where SHATTERED came to life. While there, I read a lot of children's and young adult books and have continued to do so. Every so often, though, I go through periods where I only read books from the adult shelves.

But this summer, I got really curious about the beginning of literature for young adults. The only way to define this genre is to say that the books are much less baby-ish, with more sophisticated themes, but not as adult as well, adult books. 

I've been feeling this yearning to know more about the genre....how did it start? Looking back from now, 2012, what novels  are considered "classic?" Which one's should I re-read to grow my skills? Who's doing something new? Who's doing something to fall in love with? What work will change me by the last page?

So while all the children and young adults head back to school, I'm launching my new "school year" too. I'm calling it "my year of young adult literature." Join me for learning, new insights, a new world. Isn't that what school is all about anyway? And yes, new friends. I almost forgot the most important thing about school! 

Hats off and a Standing O to Author Chad Harbach

It's been a long time since I've read a book like "The Art of Fielding," by Chad Harbach. He's doing so many things right in this novel, and so many right things all at once, I'm in awe. In fact, I can't keep quiet about it! 


It's sort of a baseball story, but even if I wasn't such a crazy fan of the game, I would love this book. Because the sentences are glorious, making it such a smooth read. But also, it's like being back in MFA school...it's got so many incredible examples of how to show emotion; how to develop character; how to do make a plot; how to create tension; and the setting, the setting is so incredibly alive, I feel like I live in this college town with all of the characters. 


What's striking is how thoughtful Harbach is about each character. That's just so really hard to do! Right now, I'm on page 428 and I don't want it to end. I want to keep going on and on in this lovely existence of beautiful writing. 


Thank you, Chad Harbach for the inspiration, for this beautiful work of art, and especially for giving me that sense of being lost in summer, reading, that pleasure I used to get when I was a kid. 

I'll be signing copies of SHATTERED! 

Printers Row Lit Fest 

Chicago 

Sunday, June 10th, 2012 

noon-2 PM

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Tent S 

(Dearborn, just north of Polk Street)

Also featuring Local Authors:

Barbara Binns

Lori Degman

Eileen Favorite

Patricia Murphy

Terri Murphy

Laura Ripes

Sara Shacter

Karen Schreck

Kristina Springer

Stop by!