Playing by Heart Book Birthday Giveaway

Hello, all!

Tomorrow, Sept. 30, is the release date for my new young-adult historical romance, Playing by Heart (Vinspire Publishing)! We're celebrating here by giving away an autographed copy to one lucky reader! (You'll find the giveaway details at the end of this post.) This post is also the first in a three-part series related to the novel. And since today is Poetry Friday, I'm including below a poem with a connection to the book, too.

If you've been following our blog for some time, you may recall my post over two years ago about a novel I'd put in the proverbial "drawer" because I'd been told it wasn't marketable enough. Well, that novel was Playing by Heart. Fortunately, as I announced in January, I found a small publisher who liked the novel enough to take a chance on it. On Monday, I'll introduce you to Dawn Carrington, the editor who acquired Playing by Heart. She'll share a bit of Vinspire Publishing's history, as well as advice for aspiring authors on how to get published.

The editors and agents who rejected Playing by Heart told me it was because "young-adult historical is a tough sell." After studying the market, I realized that the YA historicals that sell well seem to incorporate fantasy, witches, secret societies, or a murder mystery. Playing by Heart has none of that. I'd thought my sales "hook" was that the novel is inspired by two amazing 18th-century sisters who were far ahead of their time, one a mathematician, the other a composer. (I've talked about those sisters, composer Maria Teresa Agnesi, and her older sister, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, here before.) I'm still hoping that fact will help draw readers to the novel and that once they start reading they won't want to stop. 😊

Here's a brief plot summary:

Emilia Salvini dreams of marrying a man who loves music as she does. But in 18th-century Milan, being the 'second sister' means she'll likely be sent to a convent instead. Emilia's only hope is to prove her musical talents crucial to her father's quest for nobility. First, though, she must win over her music tutor, who disdains her simply for being a girl. Too late, Emilia realizes that her success could threaten not only her dreams for her future but her sister's very life.

At its core, Playing by Heart is the story of two sisters struggling to follow their true callings at a time when women had little autonomy. And even though the novel is set over 200 years ago, the Salvini sisters face issues modern readers can relate to, such as coping with the pressure of parental expectations, living in the shadow of an older sibling, and finding true love.

Any of you who have your own novels or picture books sitting in a drawer can imagine how thrilled I am to see Playing by Heart finally published. (I was so excited when my copies arrived that I had my husband take a picture!) Someone recently asked me how long it took to write the novel. That's hard to answer because I didn't work on it consistently. I started the project in 2008 but I kept getting bogged down by research. Then, in January 2009, I banned together with a group of fellow SCBWI members to create our own version of NaNoWriMo, what we called our New Year/New Novel project, or NYNN, which rhymes with "win." (I blogged about that experience here.) Thanks to the support of the NYNNies, I managed to complete (a pretty horrible) first draft. But I don't think I had a polished manuscript until September 2011. That's when I started submitting it. As the rejections came in, I kept revising and submitting, sending the novel to editors and agents, and entering it writing contests (which I've also blogged about). But I eventually gave up and put Playing by Heart in a drawer sometime in 2014.

As excited as I was to finally sign a contract with Vinspire Publishing last year, I also had some misgivings about going with a small press. In particular, I was worried the trade journals wouldn't review the novel, which meant libraries would be reluctant to purchase it. I'm happy to report that the novel has been reviewed by Kirkus and Booklist. I'm especially pleased with what Booklist had to say. Copyright rules prohibit me from sharing the whole review here, but I can tell you that the reviewer called it a "sweet and pleasurable read," saying also:

"Martino's romantic read features lovable characters

and is vibrant in setting and detail."

                                                                   —Booklist

My publisher liked the Booklist review so much, they featured it in the book trailer they created:

(If you receive this post via email, you can find the video on YouTube here.)

I've got lots of other lovely review excerpts on my website, if you're interested.

Now, it's time for the book-related poem I promised. I've blogged here before about how Playing by Heart grew out of my research for a nonfiction biography of linguist and mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi. At one point I considered telling Agnesi's story as a series of poems. Today, I'll share one of those poems, written in the form of a tetractys. A tetractys is a five-line poem in which the syllables per line form the series 1, 2, 3, 4, 10. Agnesi was known for being fluent in seven languages, some said by age eleven. I haven't been able to verify that, but I wrote the following tribute anyway.

Finally, before I share the Giveaway Instructions, I want to invite you to two upcoming events celebrating the release of Playing by Heart:

• On Tuesday, October 17, the birthday of the amazing female composer who inspired the novel, I'll be hosting a Facebook Launch Party from 7-9 p.m. Central Time. I'll be giving away books and other prizes every 15 minutes, so you needn't attend the entire time to win something. Plus, since it's a virtual party, you can participate from wherever you have Internet access!
• On Saturday, October 28, at 2 p.m. I'll be signing at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville. I hope those of you in the Chicago area will stop by. But if you can't, do check out the other local "Upcoming Events" listed on my website. 

Now for the Giveaway Instructions:
To enter our drawing for a chance to win an autographed copy of Playing by Heart (Vinspire Publishing), use the Rafflecopter widget below. If the widget doesn't appear for some reason, click on the link you'll see in its place.

If you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of the message to access the entry form.

You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.
Please note: our options are slightly different this time. To enter via option 1, you need to use the link provided to subscribe to my creativity newsletter, which I typically send out once a month. The newsletter contains info about my publishing news, class offerings, and creativity tips/inspiration. After subscribing, be sure to watch for an email to confirm your subscription. If you already subscribe to my creativity newsletter, simply enter your subscription email address. You can see a sample of a recent newsletter here.

If you choose option 3, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY'S blog post below or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today! In your comment, tell us why you'd like to win Playing by Heart--is there a particular aspect of the story that interests you?

(If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Note: if you submit your comments via email or Facebook, YOU MUST STILL ENTER THE DRAWING VIA THE WIDGET BELOW.

The giveaway runs through Oct. 16 and is open to U.S. residents only.

P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.

Don't forget Poetry Friday. This week's roundup is hosted by former TeachingAuthor Laura Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids.

Remember, always Write with Joy!

Carmela

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Faith, Courage and the Power of Music: My Favorite YA Books of 2015

     Santa isn't the only making his list and checking it twice. It's Award Season, when everyone and his dog make up "Best of the Year" book lists. This month, Teaching Authors takes a more casual approach; we're talking about the books that were memorable to us.

     I read a lot. So how did I narrow down my "memorable" books? They are the ones I could remember the author, title, story and characters, without consulting my reading journal. My number one choice was a no brainer, since I put my life on hold until I finished the book.  However, two others were a dead tie for second place. Surprise, surprise, all three are young adult. No grand plan on my part.  They are the most outstanding books as far as I am concerned.

   In a tie for second are:

Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert--What made this book memorable is that religion is part of the everyday lives of the characters without it being a book about religion. Religion is not viewed in a cynical way, nor is it presented as the answer to life's questions. In fact, the characters
discover religion generates more questions than it "answers." A messy, complicated story that hops around various points in the past, to the present, but somehow never loses the reader along the way.

                                     


Dime by E.R. Frank.  Frank is known for her fearless approach to tough topics. She took on a big one this time; teen age prostitution.
Dime is a fourteen-year-old, lost in the foster care system. All she wants is a family and someone to love her.  She finds it on the streets of Newark--a "daddy" to "take care of her," along with two other "wifeys" who work for Daddy. Dime will do anything Daddy tells her to because he "loves" her. Gradually, Dime sees the truth about her "family." The voices of Dime, Daddy and the wifeys are distinct, and non-stereotypical. To be honest, this book was so heavy and intense that I wasn't sure I could finish, especially after I thought I knew where the story was heading. Dime herself, compelled me to finish. I'm glad I did.

So what kept me up nights, reading reading reading, even though, I knew how the story ended?" My first choice for personal reading is non-fiction, so it figures that one would be my "most memorable" of the year. My winner is a volume with the intimidating title of Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson. (Disclaimer: Although M.T. Anderson was one of my instructors in the Vermont College MFA program, we haven't been in touch in 15 years.)
I had misgivings. The book is 450+ pages (70 of which turned out to be documentation and indexes.) I already "knew" what happened: Shostakovich writes writes his Seventh Symphony, the "Leningrad" and the Nazis lose the Siege of Leningrad. Reading this book is truly not about the destination, but enjoying the ride. Even with such a potentially heavy subject, Anderson always finds a touch of humor in events. We see young Dmitri, a sheltered piano prodigy in Czarist Russia, evolve into a master composer within the confines of the Soviet system. We also see his career nose-dive when his work falls out of favor with The Party. What struck the deepest chord (sorry for the pun) in me was that while his physical world was in constant turmoil (messy love affairs, unemployment, starvation, Nazis...and a whole lot more) what gave his life meaning was music. He composed the "Leningrad" during the two and a half years the Nazis first tried to bomb, then starve, the city out of existence. Creativity triumphs all. Shostakovich's story (as well as the city of Leningrad's) has everything I love in a book...suspense, adventure, danger, intrigue, love, and most of all music. You don't have to know anything about Shostakovich, music or even Russia, to be sucked into this impeccably research story.

May 2016 be blessed with such terrific books as those of 2015!

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman