Tag Archive for I scream you scream

Publishers Weekly Reviews First Book in SCARY TALES Series: “Home Sweet Horror”

“Gasp-worthy scenes and chilling twists.”

It’s a long slog, this business of getting published, with many milestones along the way. The concept, the contract, the first draft, the editor’s notes, the first glimpse at the artwork, revision, and more revision, the advance reader’s copy, and so on. It takes a while, the result of contributions from many good people.

Before there’s even a finished book, comes the first review.

Uh-oh.

Well, I guess there’s no turning back now.

May 20, 2013, issue of Publishers Weekly.
Home Sweet Horror
James Preller, illus. by Iacopo Bruno. Feiwel and Friends, $14.99 (112p) ISBN 978-1-250-01887-8
Preller (the Jigsaw Jones mysteries) serves up gasp-worthy scenes and chilling twists in this illustrated chapter book that launches the Scary Tales series. Suspense builds gradually: when eight-year-old Liam, his widowed father, and older sister, Kelly, arrive at their ominous-looking new home, he sees a flicker of light from an upstairs window; the next morning, he hears floorboards groaning, radiators hissing, and someone moaning. Preller raises the stakes as Liam, investigating a clanging noise in the basement, falls through a stair and feels “a thin, skeletal grip” on his dangling leg; later, Kelly and a friend attempt to summon Bloody Mary—a bit too successfully. Sound effects reproduced in large type amplify Liam’s fear, and Bruno’s heavily inked, etching-like pictures intensify the story’s spookiness. In contrast to the scary bits, Preller also gives the story a tender emotional undercurrent: the family is still aching from the death of the siblings’ mother, who may still be looking out for her family. Just enough chills to keep burgeoning readers flipping pages. I Scream, You Scream pubs simultaneously. Ages 7–10. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (July)
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SCARY TALES #2: The Rough Cover Becomes the Final

A few months back I posted the rough cover for SCARY TALES #2: I Scream, You Scream.

Today I received a lo-res file of the final cover.

In cases like this, I’m not just an author, I’m a fan of the process. I enjoy looking at the subtle variations, the minor shifts in design and emphasis, how we get from Point A to Point B. Most of what we see here I imagine as a result of the art director’s tweaks and refinements, combined with a talented illustrator, Italy’s Iacopo Bruno, getting down to the real work.

I’m a kid in 2nd, 3rd, maybe 4th grade? Yes, I’ll check out that book!

I’ve said elsewhere that as an author I’ve come to think of the book cover as “theirs,” meaning: the publisher’s. They want to sell the book just as badly as I do, and have a ton more expertise. I don’t really have much say in it, so don’t take the blame and can’t accept the credit. The primary job of the cover is to get a potential reader to pick up the book. Cut through the clutter. But not to cheat in doing it, not to promise something that the book can’t deliver. A cover should reflect the book’s best qualities and somehow, magically, arouse a reader’s curiosity.

This is a great cover, in my opinion. I just hope the author didn’t screw up the insides.

SCARY TALES SNEAK PREVIEW: Art & Excerpt from Book #2, “I Scream, You Scream”

I just got to see the illustrations for Book #2 in my upcoming SCARY TALES Series: I Scream, You Scream. Actually, what I saw was most of the art placed on the typeset pages, with some pages blank, art still-to-come. It’s exciting to see a book come together, especially one where the illustrations by Iacopo Bruno are such a big part of the overall appeal.

The good news, I’m in a sharing mood.

At about the middle of the story, after all hell has broken loose, two characters, Samantha and Andy, find themselves hiding in a cave. The way out was blocked. They had to explore the cave to find a new means of escape. Which gave me an idea — bats!

Here’s the scene from the manuscript:

The tight passageway opened up to a large cavern, with a ceiling at least fifteen feet high. “Wow,” Sam said. “Look at this place.”

Andy looked, as requested.

“But what’s that disgusting smell?” Sam complained.

She moved the beam to the rock floor. It was covered in some kind of thick, greenish slime. It smelled rank. Sam worked hard not to gag.

A steady trickle of droplets hit the rock floor. Plink, plink, plink. “Do you hear that?” Sam asked. “Could it be water falling from a stalactite?”

“No, not water,” Andy said. “I think it is called ‘guano.'”

“‘Guano’?’

“Bat droppings.”

Sam gulped. Bats. She hated bats.

Sam aimed the flashlight at the ceiling and stepped back in horror. The ceiling was alive. The roof of the cave was writhing, squirming, crawling with hundreds — no, thousands upon thousands — of bats. The bodies of mice, with human faces. Sam felt woozy, on the edge of panic.

This was worse than homework.

Way worse.

Oh, I should say another thing about my writing process here. When I realized that I was going to include bats in the story, I remembered that classic scene when Indiana Jones remarks, “Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?”

Part of the genius behind that scene was the script had previously established Indy’s fear of snakes. We learned it early in the movie and promptly put it away. So when he confronts the snakes, we know this isn’t just another obstacle for our hero. He’s facing one of his deepest fears.

Now, admittedly, my little book is operating on a simpler level. And I want to be careful about how scary to make this for my readers. So I went back to the first chapter and, while talking about Sam’s bravery (in the context of a thrill ride in an adventure park), I planted a seed:

Nothing frightened Sam Carver. Nothing, that is, except for dentists, bats, and homework. The usual things. Dentists, of course, with their fat fingers fumbling in your mouth. But bats creeped Sam out the most, with their leathery wings and tiny teeth and weird human faces.

I’m sure ideas for the cave scenes came from the light research I did on the topic. And, look, “research” is far too strong a word, implying more rigor than I applied. It was more a matter of casting about for inspiration by sorting through source material. I read about cave explorations and the bats of Bracken Cave in Texas, and tried to learn a little about bats in general. I even wandered over to Youtube, which can often be a spectacular research tool. This short, one-minute video really inspired me. BTW, pause on the video at 0:35, then look at the illustration below. I wonder if Bruno watched the same Youtube clip?

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After their first bat discovery, Sam and Andy had to overcome their fears to figure out a way that the bats could help them escape the cave. They wake ’em up. Which led to this short paragraph:

It was amazing. Even beautiful, in a way. The bats flapped and flew to the far end of the cavern and spiraled up, and up, through a shaft of light.


I found another video that I particularly liked, this one a bit longer, which offered more information. I decided that Andy would be the character who knew something about bats. He was an expert, the way many boys his age can reel off facts about baseball, or trains, or most anything that’s captured their imagination. They absorb like sponges. After that, I had what I needed to write those brief scenes in the cave with Sam and Andy lost in the dark . . . with all those bats.

Gosh, I hope readers find these books.

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

SCARY TALES #2: I Scream, You Scream

It’s exciting to see a series come together. It’s this long process that involves a lot of different folks all pulling on the same oar. But, like, we’re on different boats. Or something like that.

I just got my first peek at the rough cover for book #2, I Scream, You Scream. This is not final art; it’s basically a very tight sketch with all the design elements in place. First, let’s look at the covers for the first two books together — that’s a eureka moment right there, when finally you see that it’s a series.

……………….

The art and design are critically important for these books because we made a decision that each book would be completely different. New characters, new setting, and sometimes new genre. Over time, if we are lucky enough to find readers, this series could include not only “horror,” but also science fiction, thrillers, historic fiction, and more. We’re trying to paint on a very large canvas, rather than limit ourselves to a rigid formula. Each book its own unique story. And yet, they are held together by certain qualities: for starters, each book delivers a dependable kind of reading experience, a twist, an elevated heart rate. Some storytelling techniques will be consistent from book to book, the use of the intro and outro, the length, the illustrations. I believe the brilliant work of illustrator Iacopo Bruno truly holds the series together. And it’s awesome, too.

Here’s a larger shot of the rough cover, designed by Rich Deas, where you can really see the unfinished quality. Below you’ll find the one-page introduction. Can you hear that I’m channeling my inner Rod Serling?

Fun, isn’t it?

Enter the world of Samantha Carver. An ordinary kid who loves amusement parks, the smell of popcorn, and the joyful terror of a heart-pounding ride.

Sam’s got a ticket in her pocket for a very special ride. Soon this ticket, ripped in half, will signal the beginning of a most unusual adventure –- and leave Sam, along with a boy named Andy, screaming for their lives.

So, come along. Take a seat. Buckle up, nice and tight. It’s sure to be bumpy ride. And if you need anything –- anything at all — just scream.

The intro page will look something like this:

Status Update: Spinning Plates

As you may know, I’ve been writing a new series for Feiwel & Friends. It my first return to writing a series since”Jigsaw Jones.” These past six years I’ve published exclusively in hardcover: picture books, middle grade fiction, and young adult. But I haven’t written anything for my old core readership, that 3rd-grade audience. I’ve been happy getting back to that age group (grades 2-4 really), and shooting unabashedly for big entertainment, pleasure reading, pure fun.

What’s it like to write a series? The pace is faster, for starters. Most recently I spent a full year writing Before You Go, and a lot of time fussing with it, and then another full year waiting for it to come out. It was slow-going, more about depth than speed, mostly in a good way.

Whereas writing a series feels more like this . . .

Status Update on the SCARY TALES Series:

Book #1: Home Sweet Horror

My work is done, just about. It’s been written, revised, and type-set. The illustrations are in, and the cover is done. Though the book isn’t “final,” exactly, it’s moved off my radar. Due out: July, 2013.

Book #2: I Scream, You Scream

I had forgotten the title for this one, actually had to look it up. That fact alone tells you something about the blur. The story, a thriller, has been written, revised, and copyedited. I have not seen galleys yet — that is, the type set in the exact way it will appear in book form — and that’s an important “last-best chance” to make chances, corrections. Those pages are due to me next week. The illustrations are works in progress, and I’m eager to see them. No cover, either. It’s been so long since I’ve seen this book, I feel like I’ve lost touch. I’m eager to read it again, deal with it one more time. Due out: July, 2013.

Book #3: Night of the Zombies (tentative title)

My first draft got a little too long, and a possibly a touch too old. So in revision I had to do some real cutting — eliminated an entire character! — and now my editors and I are very, very happy with it. I’m awaiting the copyedit (think: grammar, punctuation, clarity, continuity, consistency). Usually when I receive that, I’ll also receive some additional comments from the story editors. “Little things,” I’m told. Due: October, 2013 (I think).

Book #4: Untitled

The general story concept has been approved. I haven’t written a word. Well, not exactly. I have started scribbling on index cards, thinking about characters, plot points, doing some research. The real writing has not yet begun, since I just finished the revision for #3 two weeks ago. I’m shifting gears. After four books, the contract runs out — and ultimately the next move will be up to the purchasing public. I have a lot more ground to cover with this series, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. High hopes! Due: January, 2014 (wild guess).