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Ritter from Wikipedia. Mehrdad Afsharian. Lesle-Ann George. Celebrities Born in United States. Nick Sjolinder YouTube Star. Benjamin Benitez Actor. Michelle Izmaylov Novelist. Ruth Kerr Jakoby Lawyer. Tim Hamulack Baseball Player. Jim Neidhart Wrestler. Famous Birthdays October Oussama Chita Association Football Player.
Ana Izaguirre Iribarne Dancer. Reza Rohani Pianist. Sharon Jarvis Equestrian. Itzik Zohar Association Football Player. Kennedy Raye Instagram Star. Report Post « » Your Name:. Your Email:. Tell us why do you think this post is inappropriate and shouldn't be here:. Cancel Report. October 31 , But remember the times. The sixties. And I was a kid who believed in teamwork, in doing what I could to help other people.
So the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War came along and threw all my dreams off track. That's why even going to college lost its worth to me. What happened was, real life and the cruelties I saw being practiced in or by my own country took precedence over my dreams. Now in later years, when it became time to pick subject matter for my coming-of-age stories, baseball leapt at me.
Aside from my love for the game, it also lends itself so easily to literary metaphor. Our whole lexicon is filled with examples. You mention coming-of-age stories, sometimes referred to as "bildungsroman. Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a common example. Both of your novels could be what I call "sportlerroman," a coming-of-age story of an athlete.
Were you ever tempted to make them simple sports novels, stories that focused just on the game? I never intended them to be play-by-play sports novels, which I find boring. I'm more interested in using baseball scenes as metaphor, or for challenges to character, or to advance the story. I could as easily set the stories in the world of ballet, were I as knowledgeable in that arena.
But the thrust would be the same. Kids dealing with hard choices. To me, that's the definition of YA lit. They're stories about that first time in life when one has to stand on one's own two feet, make a life-altering decision, then live with the consequences of that choice.
If it happens on the ball field, fine. But usually it doesn't. It's just that events on the ball field may lead up to that moment and help shape the kid so that one day he can take his stand. I forget who it was, but some children's author once said that the first thing the children's novelist has to do is kill off the parents. That's why YA fiction is filled with orphans and runaways and foster kids.
It's like all bodice-ripping romances need to have certain elements, murder mysteries need a dead body in the first chapter, and all YA novels need to have a kid sans parents. And because of that, I made a conscious effort to keep the parents--or their looming presence--strongly in the story, if not in the scene.
But it's pure plot device. My dad never struck me, was not particularly religious, and was actually quite involved in my life--that is, considering he was the father of six kids. So in both novels I asked, what if this "problem" father is loving and well meaning? What if he only wants the best for his son? Then how does the boy view the father's harsh treatment? In the end, both books are about a boy trying to save his father.
Why would an alienated kid do that? The answer, I think, is what Tyler finds out in Over the Wall. It comes down to discovering what he really believes, then having the courage to act on it.
People say time heals all wounds. I used to think so. Now I know better. Time won't heal anything. Time is nothing but a stack of yesterdays. Nothing but a stack of full moons waiting for a new one. Or a stack of memories waiting for a better one. I've always known there was a pull to the moon. Standing on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, my mom once told me that's how the tides roll in and out. But I never knew how much one or two memories could tug at your brain.
Or that a single yesterday could pull down all of your tomorrows. You see, back when I was four years old, my father did something that shook our family like an earthquake. Like one side of the earth just took and shook loose from the other, shook down California, the mountains, the oak trees and boulders, and rattled every inch of that rickety old ranch house we lived in, too.
I was referring to all of the cultural research that goes into a novel. For Choosing Up Sides , set in Southern Ohio in the s, I did tons of research on religious movements, on characteristics of left-handers, and the Appalachian dialect. But I also had to visit the region and interview people who lived there to get an idea of their culture and customs. Luckily I still had living relatives who could help. I became an anthropologist. I interviewed the shopkeepers, the residents, the ballplayers.
Do I need to say that I found cultures there that were vastly different from my own? And I'm not satisfied with noting obvious differences. What I look for is nuance. Like the social code of the elevator attendants.
Or the constant search for one's own quiet spot. Was having one novel--now two--what you expected it would be? What's it like being an "author"? What failures and frustrations have you encountered along the way?
I really had no expectations. It was like my first trip to New York. No matter what anyone told me it would be like, I didn't listen. I just went ahead and let the experience wash over me. If there are any failures or frustrations, I think it would have to do with the industry itself, starting with the lack of good mentors. I come from a construction background where I served a three-year, union-monitored apprenticeship.
But in this trade, every author who comes along has to reinvent the wheel. There's no journeyman craftsman ready to take you under his wing and tell you what to expect.
I wish there was some sort of "buddy" system where either your publisher or some writers organization teams you up with a veteran who could say, "Hey kid, don't waste your time on such and such. That comes later. Do this first. Build your name rec, build your resume, get the books moving.
And here's what I think is the best way. They've taken the time to show me a few tricks, tutor me on what to do and what to expect. Sure, but can you learn to plumb a house from a book? Or would you rather talk to an old pro and learn first hand?
That's all I'm saying. If the publishers sponsored such a program, I'm sure it would pay off in book sales. It just makes sense. How many good writers do we lose each year because the marketing side of this business is such a mystery that they just give up?
How do you write? Explain your process, such as where do you get your ideas. How do you revise? Do you have an audience in mind? The driving force behind all my stories comes primarily from finding something that really bugs me.
And so far, it tends to be some sort of injustice. But I refuse to write revenge stories. I hate them. I won't even watch a revenge movie. To me, it's the easy response to injustice, and it lacks integrity.
I mean, is it any wonder this world is always at war? Everyone is so hellbent on getting even. So I try to look for an alternative solution. That's what spawns my ideas. Once I have the basic idea, I begin to research the book's general domain extensively.
It might be ancient religious beliefs or earthquakes or Roberto Clemente. I dig up all the facts I can find the weirder and more obscure, the better. Finally I start to write. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Nancy E. Mercado Editor ,. Jerry Spinelli ,. Charles R. Smith Jr. Jerry Weiss Editor ,. Helen S. Weiss Editor ,. Joan Bauer Contributor. Series by John H. Cruz de la Cruz 2 books by John H.
Quotes by John H. It should tie you up, it should work you up, make you think, make you see, make you feel extra happy and sorrowful, extra nervous and bold.
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