THE CASTING, a middle grade novel by Joyce Shor Johnson

Joyce Shor Johnson joined me a few weeks ago to talk about the kick off for her new small press, Pugalicious Press. Link here. As one of the first projects, Pugalicious Press will be publishing Joyce’s middle grade novel, THE CASTING. I invited Joyce to come back to talk about her book.

Synopsis for THE CASTING:

In The Casting meet Robyn, a twelve-year–old girl living in 350 A.D. Ireland, who must choose her future path before her coming-of-age ceremony at Samhaim.

In her time, most girls chose the more traditional roles of healing, midwifery or farming. Others less frequently chose to be warriors or go into Brehon law, but none of these choices appeal to her. Instead, Robyn yearns for red-hot crucibles full of molten bronze and the roaring fires of her father's foundry. She seeks the acceptance of the bronze casters, and the traditions of her father.

Unknown to Robyn, making the choice to be a bronze caster is the easy part—becoming a bronze caster will be the greatest challenge of her life. The biggest obstacle is Gilhey, her sister Lianna’s betrothed and her father’s top student. Gilhey convinces Lianna to turn away from Robyn, causing a rift between the sisters. Without the support of her sister, Robyn struggles to find her place among the other apprentices.

Robyn’s life changes forever the day she accidentally sets fire to the foundry, nearly burning it to the ground and causing great injury to her father. Unable to face the consequences, Robyn decides she must leave the community. Before Robyn has the chance to run though, Gilhey has her kidnapped by wandering Roman soldiers. 

When Finn, an unexpected ally, comes to Robyn’s aid, she finds it within herself to face the challenges ahead and survive the fight for her life. At the end of her journey, Robyn learns to accept herself for who and what she is: a bronze caster at heart, a girl learning her trade, a life just beginning.

K: I’m so excited for Joyce’s book, it’s a middle grade historical novel set in a time we don’t usually see for middle grade. You’ve recently decided to publish your Middle Grade novel THE CASTING as one of the first projects for the new small press, Pugalicious Press. Tell us a bit about THE CASTING’s journey to publication.

J: THE CASTING started with a conversation about the Bronze Age with some friends about 10 years ago. Then it became my MFA thesis. I sold it once, but that fell through and now I’m publishing it through Pugalicious Press.

K: I only recently found out about Kickstarter.com—I love the idea of giving people the opportunity to preorder your book while, at the same time, helping you get the project off the ground. Why did you decide to use this venue?

J: Unfortunately, I’m not independently wealthy, so being creative when it came to raising capital to print my book was critical. By offering copies of the book to those who pledge to the project, to me, is really just them preordering a copy. If you research a little, other publishers have done the same thing. Even TU books, now an imprint of Lee and Low began using Kickstarter. 

So if anyone would like to pledge $15 to preorder a softcover copy of The Casting you can do so at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joycejohnson/the-casting-an-ancient-adventure

K: When people support you through Kickstarter, they are also supporting the kick-off of a small business and many other great middle grade books to come. Can you tell us a bit about what else Pugalicious has in store?

J: Well we just signed Kell Andrews and her debut middle grade novel Deadwood. I’m very excited about this deal.

K: Congratulations to Kell and to you! How exciting. What made you start to write seriously?

J: I wasn’t any good at stand up comedy!

      

K: I beg to differ, I think you're very funny. But where do you find your inspiration?

J: They’re everywhere. You just have to be receptive, listen to the whispers, and trust yourself. Liking research helps.

K: Are you a full-time writer? What is your non-writing life like?

J: I’ve been a full-time writer, a part-time write, a sometimes writer, and an oh-my-gosh-I-have-to-find-the-time-to-write writer. I hope that in the next few years, I’ll be full-time four hour a day writer. My non-writing life is mother, wife, Learning Skills teacher, and publisher.

K: I can totally relate to that! There are so many distractions and "life" challenges that get in the way of our writing. What is your biggest challenge with your writing? 

J: Time, there is just never enough.

      

K: What are your favorite books?

J: I’d like to rewrite this question, it should be – what is your favorite book of the moment? I just finished Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, loved it!

K: And lastly, just for fun, do you have a favorite “guilty pleasure” you want to share?

J: A two-hour massage. To die for!

K: What did I miss? Anything else you’d like to share?

J: I just wanted to thank you for supporting me with your pledge for THE CASTING and for this interview. Come on everyone, kick me! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joycejohnson/the-casting-an-ancient-adventure

You're welcome, Joyce! Good luck to you and Pugalicious Press!

My Interview with Joyce Shor Johnson of Pugalicious Press

Pugalicious Press is one of the newest small presses to come onto the children's literature scene. They make their home in New Hampshire, where there is a rich history of iconic literary voices. Both Joyce Shor Johnson and Jennifer Carson are Acquiring Editors. Together they make up Pugalicious Press.

K: I’m honored to welcome Joyce Shor Johnson to my blog today. Hi Joyce! You've already announced your first book, HAPENNY MAGIC by New Hampshire author, Jennifer Carson, available March 21, 2012. (Note: Jen's one of my crit partners, and I've read HM--it's wonderful! For an interview with Jen today, visit Laura Pauling's blog.) 

K: Can you tell my readers how and why you decided to start your own press?

J: We wanted great books! There are so many wonderful manuscripts that are not being published because they may not fit into the catalogs of the typical big publishing houses. These are the books that we want to make available, the books that large publishers won't take risks on. We started Pugalicious Press in order to reach out to readers: kids, parents, teachers, and librarians, and give them stories full of well-developed characters, adventure, fun and heart. With world turmoil and hard economic times still ahead, we believe that children need to be able to enjoy positive themes that have a positive impact on the world we live in. Not just focusing on death and zombies.  Don't get me wrong, I love zombies, my heart bleeds for their inability to be human.

K: What a great philosophy--I think I'm going to love your books. What has your response been like so far? Any surprises?

J: The most terrifying moment was actually opening up for submissions and dreading that no one would submit to us. Then seeing the time stamp on the first query being 12:02 AM was our oh yeah, this is real moment. So far, we have requested a dozen full manuscripts and have two authors we are extending contracts to just as soon as I hit the send key. As for surprises, initially we received an enormous number of submissions from Australia. I guess they love the pug down under! Ahh... that sounds kind of dirty-minded but I think you know what I mean!

K: LOL--love it! How long did it take to get the press off the ground?

J: Once we made the decision to do this and had the complete backing of our families, it seemed to all fall into place rather quickly. Both Jen and I had been seriously researching and considering launching small presses on our own. When I heard from a mutual writer friend that Jen was thinking about launching a press as well, I called her to see if would be interested in combining our talents. We've been in the dog house together ever since.

K: I think you both made a great decision--knowing you both, I think you're going to do great work together. By the way, where does the name come from?

J: We are both dog lovers. She has big yellow dogs and I have a goofy looking pug. We chose the goofy one because it is fun and everyone remembers the name. It has recognition and that is half the marketing battle.

K: As a MG/YA writer, I love that you're dedicated to MG and YA--are you looking for anything in particular in those genres? Anything you're expressly NOT looking for?

J: Our main focus is on fantasy, high adventure, historical fiction, and (a very small number of) dystopian (but only if it has a fantastical element). We are not accepting picture books, chapter books, poetry or non-fiction submissions.

K: Sounds like a lot of my readers will like your variety! Can you give us a little preview of what's coming up next for Pugalicious?

J: Next up is THE CASTING, A middle grade historical adventure about a girl in 350 AD Ireland who wants to be a bronze caster. We are also planning a historical themed anthology of short stories for young adults. We will be putting out a call for submissions just after the new year. So keep checking the blog for the announcement.

K: We'll be on the lookout! Thanks for the heads up! Anything I've missed that you want to share?

J: We hope that writers continue to submit to us. One of our goals is to give feedback with all correspondence, particularly rejections. Just because we reject a manuscript doesn't mean that it won't someday warrant merit. It might just not be ready and we want the writer to keep working at their craft. With our various levels of involvement with SCBWI, we repeatedly hear writers voice the frustration of not getting feedback on why something was rejected. As writers ourselves we understand this need and hope to be able to give some modest feedback on big issues we may find. There may come a point where we can no longer do this as the volume of submissions increase.

Please understand that we are truly a publishing company, but a small one. So if you are looking for big $$$ upfront, we can't offer you that. What we can offer a solid contract and a truly unique publishing experience where you can be an active participant in the creative process of bringing your book to market.

K: Thanks Joyce! I love that you're so diligent about wanting to give writers feedback. Good luck with everything you're working on--I know you're super busy! And thanks for taking the time to join me today!

If Pugalicious Press sounds like the kind of publisher you want to work with see their submission guidelines at www.pugaliciouspress.com. You can also visit Joyce at her own blog.