Susan Adrian's Blog

I've been thinking about this decade thing. At first, I saw all the accomplishment lists, and thought "I haven't done that much."

But in 2009, I was still with my first agent. We still had a book on sub, and I was writing a book that would never go anywhere.

In 2019, I've been with my second (perfect-fit-for-me) agent for 7 years (!).

In 2009, I was still dreaming of publication.

In 2019, I have FOUR books published, two YA and two middle grades, with St. Martin's and Random House Children's. Some of those have sold more than 10,000 copies. They're in hundreds of libraries. I've done more than 50 events, all over the country. I am SO amazed by all of this. Honestly, it is still miraculous to hear from a reader, to meet kids at a school visit who know my characters, to see my words in a bookstore.

In 2009, I’d been married for 13 years, and had a precocious 7 year old.

In 2019, we’ve been married for almost a quarter of a century. Our daughter will be 18 in 2 months. She’s already been accepted to two colleges, and we’re waiting on several more. She won the Montana State Poetry Out Loud championship this year, started her own mental health awareness club, is a 4.0 student, and wants to become a clinical psychologist. I couldn’t have dreamed any of that. She makes me so proud every day.

I’ve been promoted at work. I’ve been part of a choir. I’ve joined the Symphony board. I’ve traveled to England, France, the Netherlands, Prince Edward Island.

Yeah, it’s kind of a lot when you look at it that way. Life is good. Thanks for sharing the adventure with me.

It's been a few days since I got back home, and I'm settling back in to non-tour life for a few weeks. I had a wonderful time meeting and seeing y'all in California, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Helena! If you missed me but you'd like signed copies of FOREVER NEVERLAND (and in some cases NUTCRACKED as well), please contact or stop by:

-- Warwick's bookstore in La Jolla
-- Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore in Berkeley
-- The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City
-- Tattered Cover in Denver
-- Montana Book Company in Helena
-- or as always, Books & Books in Butte!!

Next up will be a couple eastern stops in September, Main Point Books in Philadelphia September 15 and Books Of Wonder in NYC September 22!!

Hi all! It’s FIVE DAYS until FOREVER NEVERLAND releases, and I’ve been sharing some sneak peeks of some of my favorite bits about the hardcover. And you should see too! Because it is SO COOL, and I’m so very excited about it.

Here’s the dedication, which is one of my themes in the story:

Here’s the shiny, golden spine:

One of my favorite things ever…a MAP!! I’ve always loved maps in books, and I’m thrilled to have one.

And finally, the Cast of Characters! All my lovelies, including my Lost Boys and Girls. I ❤️ Shoe. And my non-binary pixies!

There’s still time to pre-order, and get your copy on release day, June 25th!! Hope some of you get to read the rest of the story.

It’s getting really close. FOREVER NEVERLAND will be out in just under ONE MONTH.

AND I’m coming to see…some of you!
The tour date list is almost complete. If you’re anywhere near Montana (Butte, Helena, Bozeman), Denver, Berkeley, La Jolla, or New York, I really hope you’ll mark these dates down and come say hi and talk about Neverland, adventures, autistic characters, Fergus and Clover, and Peter Pan!

I’m SO pleased to share the Kirkus review of FOREVER NEVERLAND.

"Adrian does an exemplary job of creating complex and compelling characters out of the sibling protagonists..."

"Fergus’ autism is deftly woven into the narrative and the siblings’ relationship."

"A magical ode to childhood that updates the classic while keeping its flavor."

They GOT IT. Kirkus is generally considered pretty tough to please, so I’m absolutely thrilled!

Read the full review here:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/susan-adrian/forever-neverland/?fbclid=IwAR2Hv9g9ZqzrjTpPDy0Qf_ggcoTT9CZVGvqkXWzoEa9LheFLAgDNAN1cZgc

I’m SO thrilled to share the cover of my next book, FOREVER NEVERLAND!

I am so excited for this book, in a way I’ve never been before. I got teary when I wrote the dedication, then again when I saw this beautiful cover. Again when I saw the map (!) that will be included inside. I so dearly love the characters in Forever Neverland — Fergus and Clover, Peter and Shoe (my favorite Lost “Boy” ever), and even Scylla. I can’t wait for you all to share the adventure.

What if Peter Pan wanted to take you to Neverland? Would you go? 

A contemporary sequel to J. M. Barrie’s timeless classic  Peter Pan , perfect for kids who loved  The Land of Stories  and dream of going to Neverland.

Clover and Fergus are the great-great-grandchildren of Wendy Darling (yes, that Wendy). And now Peter Pan wants to take them to Neverland for the adventure of their lives! But Clover’s a little nervous – she’s supposed to look after her brother. Fergus is autistic, and not everyone makes him feel welcome. What will happen to him in this magical world?

Fergus isn’t nervous at all. To him, Neverland seems like a dream come true! He’s tired of Clover’s constant mothering and wants some independence, like Peter and the Lost Boys have. He wonders, Why can’t the real world be more like Neverland?

Neverland is fun and free, but it’s also dangerous and even scary at times. There are unfamiliar creatures lurking in the shadows and strange sounds coming from the waters. And then the mermaids start to go missing…

In an imaginative and thoughtful continuation of the story of  Peter Pan , Susan Adrian explores Neverland with a fresh perspective and indelible warmth, offering a new adventure based on a beloved classic!

Preorder it now!

Random House Children’s Books ● Goodreads ● Amazon.com ● The Book Depository

Here’s the amazing cover, by George Ermo, first revealed on Pop! Goes the Reader:

Hope you love it as much as I do!

In May 2012, I was waiting for news, and I was anxious. My book was going to an editorial board meeting, which is often the final step when a publisher is deciding if they want to make an offer. This was the second ed board meeting the book had been to--the first was a pass. Those passes are sometimes the hardest, because your hopes are SO high.

At this point, in 2012, I'd been writing for 10 years already. I'd been trying to get published for probably 7. I'd had an agent, gone through two books with her, and stepped away. I'd gotten a new agent, Kate, with this new book, which felt like my last-ditch effort. If this didn't work, I thought, maybe I'd stop for real. But now there was a possibility, and I was waiting.

To distract myself, I opened up Word and wrote myself this note. 

The book didn't sell at that Ed Board meeting--they passed. I was crushed. It didn't sell until almost a year later, in 2013. But it DID sell. It came out in 2015. And then I had more disappointments, but the sequel came out in 2016. Then I sold a book to Random House. And then another, which I just turned in last week.

I'm not a stupendous NYT bestseller or anything, but I will have four books out next year, and hopefully that list will continue to grow. I have readers. No matter what happens from here, I have achieved my dreams.

But I keep that note, and I open it every once in a while, to remember. To remember how very HARD it was to get to that first step. How long I worked. How long I struggled, and doubted so hard I really did quit once. How now that I'm here I need to remember that others are on that path now, and I need to support and help them through the hardest times.

But mostly I remember so I won't take any of this for granted. It wasn't overnight. It wasn't easy. It still isn't, but it won't be quite that hard and hopeless again. I'm in an awesome place right now.

It's all right, 2012 self. It's all right, those currently in the trenches. Hang on. You'll get there.

Hi there! I took a break from these for a little while, so I could work on revisions to FOREVER NEVERLAND. But now that's turned in (yay!), so I'm hoping to post over the next few weeks (before I dive into the next book) about some of the wonderful books I read when I wasn't writing.

First up: I've got to tell you about this marvelous, quirky, dark gem of a book I think has been far too overlooked: ODD & TRUE, by Cat Winters.

Disclaimer: I've been a fan and friend of Cat's for a long time, but that doesn't affect how very cool this book is, so it has no bearing!

ODD & TRUE is, at its heart, a story about two sisters, Odette and Trudchen. Their relationship is complex: loving, a bit worshipful, but also twisted by lies and faith and tragedy. Cat tells the story masterfully, revealing details drip by drip about what Tru thinks happened, what Od told her, and what REALLY happened. 

It's also a wonderful, eerie, atmospheric story about folklore, history, and adventuring women. It takes place in the early 1900s, in Oregon and the eastern US, and a large part of the story is the hunt for the Jersey Devil. (I was fascinated to hear LORE's version of the story after I read the book, here: http://www.lorepodcast.com/episodes/9 It pairs perfectly with ODD & TRUE.)

Both main characters are strong, layered, and deeply sympathetic, even when they're up to strange adventures and telling lies. Other characters are equally well portrayed. I also appreciated the nuanced portrayal of disability--Tru had polio as a young girl, and uses a cane to walk.

It's hard to peg exactly what this book should be classified as--mystery, adventure, historical, a little paranormal, literature--so I'll just say it's a classic. Check it out! I highly recommend!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078791-odd-true

On April 11, I was truly honored to attend a reception at the Bozeman Public Library to celebrate the Montana Book Awards--where NUTCRACKED was named a Montana Book Award Honor Book! 

The winner this year was THE WONDER OF BIRDS by Jim Robbins. Other Honor Books were BRAVE DEEDS by David Abrams, THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAINS by Daniel J. Sharfstein, and WONDERLANDSCAPE by John Clayton. All but one of us authors were able to attend and talk nerdily with each other. :)

Jim Robbins, me, John Clayton, and David Abrams.

The award is put on in coordination with the Montana Library Association's annual meeting, and I don't think I can honestly say enough how MUCH I love librarians. They're fun to hang out with, knowledgeable, and they love books! (Plus they know how to throw a party!)

The wonderful Dale Alger, librarian at Roundup, Montana, presented my award, and then we had the opportunity to talk to the librarians and sign books.

Dale Alger presenting my award. He's awesome.

Also, the prize is an amazing framed lithograph print, which is now on my wall next to the Honor Book Award I won for TUNNEL VISION. I'm a very happy author indeed. Thank you, Montana Book Awards! Thank you librarians everywhere, for all you do!

We're celebrating Women's History month with 31 days of posts focused on improving the climate for social and gender equality in the children’s and teens’ literature community. Join in the conversation on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kidlitwomen or Twitter #kidlitwomen!

 My first published book was a sci-fi thriller from the sole, first-person point of view of an 18-year-old boy.

It was surprisingly easy to slide into that perspective, even as a 40-something woman, particularly in that genre. Most of the thrillers I'd read—and the thriller movies I'd seen—were from a man's point of view. As novelist Sally Koslow was quoted in an article in The Atlantic about authors writing different genders, "By default, women have it easier than men when they attempt to craft characters of the opposite sex, because our whole lives we've been reading vast amounts of literature written by men."

But that discussion, along with the further issues of non-binary gender and perspective, are for another day. Here, I want to talk about how kids' books are so often categorized into two camps—for boys and for girls—and thought about and marketed that way. Or worse, the books with a male main character are targeted for both groups and "girl" books are restricted, intentionally or unintentionally, to girls only.

I've seen it. My third published book was a fantasy about the Nutcracker ballet, from the point of view of a 12-year-old girl.

The books are with different publishers, and I have no complaints about how either book was marketed. But I saw a definite difference in tactics, and response.

My first book was profiled in "The Big Thrill," a magazine for thriller writers. It was on blog tours, and a promotional email from the publisher. It was also featured in Justine magazine, which is targeted at young teen girls, even though it had a male MC. The book was reviewed by men and women, teens of every identity. I went on a 19-city tour, and my audiences were mixed, and all ages.

With my middle-grade book, the marketing was primarily Christmas-themed, and targeted at ballet markets. The cover is green with holly and ivy. The only overt signal that it was about a girl was the image of a female ballet dancer on the front, and the use of the word "she" in the flap copy.

But even among real-life friends, to my knowledge it was only purchased for girls. Every adult who had me inscribe it as a present told me it was for a girl: a niece, a daughter, a granddaughter. I did 12 events: almost all of the attendees were girls and their parents. Sometimes boys would wander by, get interested, and stay to listen…but they didn't buy books, and they didn't come on purpose. When I sat at a table in a bookstore, people would be interested in the plot, but the excuse was "Oh, I would, but I don't have any girls that age to buy for."

But it has football too, I'd say. But her partner-in-adventure is a boy. Why is it only for girls?

Because as Shannon Hale pointed out in an earlier #kidlitwomen post, we have a problem. Boys are not encouraged to read books with female main characters, because it's believed they won't identify with them (even though girls read books about everyone). There are certain triggers that turn adults off giving a book to a boy—ballet is one of them, apparently. Pink and princesses are other obvious triggers. It'll be interesting to see next year how my Neverland middle-grade does, with equal brother and sister points of view.

So we know the problem. What can we do to address it?

The first point is for each of us to make a conscious effort to be aware of our own biases, notice other biases around us, and correct them where possible. I still find myself looking at pink books and thinking "girl." I need to stop that. I need to expand my thinking as to who books are for, and remove labels. What do non-binary kids think when they are faced with these strict categorizations? They shouldn't have to deal with that. We all need to expand our thinking.

When adults ask us for book recommendations for kids, or teens ask us for recommendations for themselves, we need to purposely step outside expectations. Don’t frame books as gender-based. Recommend thrillers, romances, fantasies, mysteries, science fiction to readers without putting labels on them. Make sure to include diverse books in other ways too: books by people of color, books by LGBTQIA authors, books by authors with disabilities. Don't assume that white straight boys only want to read about white straight boys. Don't assume at all. And if gatekeepers give you grief, challenge them about it to the extent you can.

The second point is to look more carefully at marketing plans, and how events are framed. If you as the author have any input, make sure your marketing is not gender-based, that your events are welcoming to all. Take off labels wherever you can.

We need to make a world where kids can read all books without feeling shame or pressure, and be encouraged to do so.