Sheela Chari's Blog

This is a test of the the blogging system.

Happy World Read Aloud Day! I'm children's author, Sheela Chari, and welcome to my blog!

This is a day when we celebrate the power of the spoken word through stories and other works that we read ALOUD to each other.

With that spirit in mind, some of you are here because you taking part in Bon Bon's World Read Aloud Scavenger Hunt!

I have a clue for you, and to find out what it is, you will need to watch the short video below!


Watch my video to find your Bon Bon clue


If you want to know more about VANISHED:



visit my web site at www.sheelachari.com.And if you figured out my clue,
continue to Bon Bon by clicking this button:

THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG! HAPPY WORLD READ ALOUD DAY AND GOOD LUCK ON THE HUNT!

Over the summer, an announcement was made that Vanished has been selected as the next Al Roker Book Pick on NBC's TODAY Show. This October 4,  I will be on TODAY to talk about Vanished with Al and his book club.


For those of you who aren't familiar with Al Roker's Book Club for Kids, it's a segment where a group of kids get to interview an invited children's author on his or her book. These kids are part of a "young critics" club, and after each of them asks the author a question, they give the book a final rating. Al mediates the discussion and usually starts the segment with a question or two as well. Past children's authors have included Rebecca Stead, Kate DiCamillo, Brian Selznick, and others. 

Several people have asked me - how did it happen? How did Vanished get picked? So I thought I would share some my experience so far. First of all, I knew NOTHING - absolutely nothing until just a few days before the announcement. I had just got back from ALA, it had been close to a year since VANISHED was published, and so I thought, Okay...it's been a good year, VANISHED is out there in the world, lots of great things have happened, but's it's time to say good-bye and move onto the next project. Then out of the blue, I received a mysterious request from my editor at Disney-Hyperion: marketing wanted some video footage from me. Did I possibly have anything from the Edgars Awards or such?

I had absolutely no footage. At the Edgars, I was too busy gawking at the crowd of writers to even think about shooting a video of myself. The only video I did have was one I made recently with a certain young assistant to demonstrate my progress on the veena. It was cute and short, but homemade. Still, I went ahead and sent it. I asked if I could know what the video would be used for -- I was curious! -- but I was told I would know later only if "something worked out."

Then a few days later I got an email from marketing:

Hi Sheela,

I can now officially reveal the reason for my “mysterious request” for video footage last week: Vanished has been selected as the next Al’s Book Club for Kids pick on NBC’s Today Show! Al will officially announce the news on Wednesday, July 18th at the end of this month’s book club segment.

I was checking email in the basement, and when I saw this, I started screaming. Literally screaming. I couldn't quite get the words out, so everyone upstairs thought something really bad had happened, like I was hurt, or there was a fire, or possibly an earthquake (in the basement). But soon I was able to share what was actually really, really good news. And then of course, I had to wait about two or three days before the announcement was officially made on the TODAY Show, after which I could "go public."

That's basically how it happened on my end. As for what went on behind-the-scenes, I largely don't know. But what I pieced together from my marketing contact and from googling online (heh heh) is that marketing pitched the book to the show several months ago. Al has a team of producers who go through a list and then pick titles for the segment. They pick typically 6-8 titles a year, and they chose mine for the next pick. The feature has been running for about 5 years.

As for the video, the team wanted to see if I would be comfortable on camera. Which goes to show that even if you think it's silly and a waste of time, it never hurts to do a few videos here and there, as a way to explore the medium, practice speaking on it, and to be able to showcase yourself and your work in a different way. Because you never know who is going to be watching it, and for what reason.

The funny thing is that I never did that video with this idea in mind. I really did it as a fun way to share my experience of learning a new musical instrument as an adult. And that was probably a good thing, because at least I was relaxed when I was doing it.

So...that is the low down on VANISHED becoming an Al Roker Book Pick.



If you would like to see the segment, you can see it live on television, Thursday, October 4, some time between 9:45 - 10:00 am EST. If you miss it, you can also watch a recorded version later on the TODAY web site after the segment airs.

And of course, I will definitely blog more about my experience after the show, too! :)

I'm not really sure I can top an ALA post. Especially when it is one about the dog days of summer. And isn't that a cliche? But I'm tapped out and have to resort to pre-made phrases.

I'm in between projects, which means starting anything new seems right now infinitely daunting, confusing, and strangely unappealing. Every idea leads me finally to say to myself...meh.

I guess it is all about filling the well. This is an expression I first remember hearing from Laurie Halse Anderson when I heard her speak at a Rutgers One-On-One Conference. Activities like going out, visiting museums, talking to people are all ways to "fill the well." At the time, I thought this was what people who were stuck, who had writer's block, who didn't feel inspired, needed to do.

But there is another type of well to fill. The kind that runs dry after you've completed a project, or maybe two projects, and you feel like you've given it your all, your soul, everything that you've felt deeply about -- I don't know if I've fully done that. I could do more. But what I've done so far has drawn upon everything that I do know from my own range of experience, and from my own heart. To create anything else from now on (or so it seems) will require me not to dig further but to dig elsewhere, in places I don't know. I have to learn stuff, read stuff, research. In a way, I have to become someone else.

This seems so daunting, esp at the end of summer, when it seems easiest to nap away the time, or check twitter, or shop for underwear. 

I'm reading furiously. If that applies to me. My daughter is reading furiously -- she's clocked in about 20+ books this summer. My idea of furious is 4 or 5. But I'm awfully proud of myself. I'm hoping to get in another book or two before the school year starts.

In all the books, I'm looking. The secret answer to that question, what to write next?

For me, it really does start with the person. And I haven't found that person yet.

What can I say about this weekend, except that for a writer, ALA is the best place in the world to be. It's basically heaven.

Never mind it took me 14 hours to get there (thank you, flight delays), and about the same to get back (thank you again, flight delays). But in between, I really soaked it all in, what it means to be an author.

Here are just a few pictures from my trip. I wish I had more, but it's so hard to remember to click the camera when you are in the middle of it. I wish I had taken a picture of Kathy McCullough (Don't Expect Magic), a fellow Elevensie, who I had dinner with Sat evening. I wish I had also taken a picture of Melodye Shore, aka newport2newport , an LJ friend of many years who had lunch with me the next day, and who roamed the convention aisles with me, and was the only reason I snagged any books at all. (She has an eye for detail, I do not!). I also saw Lisa Schroeder, Lindsey Leavitt, and Jessi Kirby, all wonderful YA authors, Lisa being an LJ favorite of mine for years.

And I have yet to remember to take a picture of Steve Malk, my agent, despite the fact that I've seen him a number of times already. And the list goes on.

But here is what I do have and will share:


I found this waiting for me in my room after dinner at the Grand Californian, a Disney hotel where I was staying. The cookies were yummy, and so was the chilled milk! Compliments of the hotel.



A poster as well as the books of all the winners of the Asian/Pacific-American Library Association awards.




Holly Thompson (Orchards) winner of the YA APALA award. She traveled all the way from Japan to attend the ceremony and conference!



me with duo Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham, author and illustrator of Level Up, YA honor APALA award winners.




Wendy Shang (The Great Wall of Lucy Wu) and me. She won the children's literautre APALA award, and I won the honor. Notice our shiny seals. Wendy is also a fellow Mixed-Up Files member with me, and has been lovely to get to know her over the past year.


Fellow Elevensie, Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray), and me. I have been dying to meet Ruta for over a year now. Here she is taking a break from her long signing line to say hi to me.

In my next post, I'll talk about some of the books I saw (and/or snagged at the convention).

That's all for now!

What can I say about this weekend, except that for a writer, ALA is the best place in the world to be. It's basically heaven.

Never mind it took me 14 hours to get there (thank you, flight delays), and about the same to get back (thank you again, flight delays). But in between, I really soaked it all in, what it means to be an author.

Here are just a few pictures from my trip. I wish I had more, but it's so hard to remember to click the camera when you are in the middle of it. I wish I had taken a picture of Kathy McCullough (Don't Expect Magic), a fellow Elevensie, who I had dinner with Sat evening. I wish I had also taken a picture of Melodye Shore, aka newport2newport , an LJ friend of many years who had lunch with me the next day, and who roamed the convention aisles with me, and was the only reason I snagged any books at all. (She has an eye for detail, I do not!). I also saw Lisa Schroeder, Lindsey Leavitt, and Jessi Kirby, all wonderful YA authors, Lisa being an LJ favorite of mine for years.

And I have yet to remember to take a picture of Steve Malk, my agent, despite the fact that I've seen him a number of times already. And the list goes on.

But here is what I do have and will share:


I found this waiting for me in my room after dinner at the Grand Californian, a Disney hotel where I was staying. The cookies were yummy, and so was the chilled milk! Compliments of the hotel.



A poster as well as the books of all the winners of the Asian/Pacific-American Library Association awards.




Holly Thompson (Orchards) winner of the YA APALA award. She traveled all the way from Japan to attend the ceremony and conference!



me with duo Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham, author and illustrator of Level Up, YA honor APALA award winners.




Wendy Shang (The Great Wall of Lucy Wu) and me. She won the children's literautre APALA award, and I won the honor. Notice our shiny seals. Wendy is also a fellow Mixed-Up Files member with me, and has been lovely to get to know her over the past year.


Fellow Elevensie, Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray), and me. I have been dying to meet Ruta for over a year now. Here she is taking a break from her long signing line to say hi to me.

In my next post, I'll talk about some of the books I saw (and/or snagged at the convention).

That's all for now!

Originally I did a very earnest, somewhat boring video about scales and me playing them, and variations of said scales, and yadda yadda, and when I was all done, I was like, meh. Do I really post this?

Then I decided to recruit some helpers - one on camera, one right next to me. And while we are still a little on the earnest side, you can marvel at the musicality of kids .. er, assistants.

Here is my second video with me and my veena. I have been learning now for 3 months! Unbelievable. The original video had a better version of what I've learned so far. But the second video might give you an idea of what I'm up against every time I try to practice (interuptions from the assistant, who wants to help me pluck).

In a few months, you might even get to hear a real, Indian song from me.

Recently I did my first author visit over Skype. I've spoken at events before, and in front of kids, but never in a virtual setting. So I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. Would everything work properly? Would the students be able to hear me? See me? And not get bored in the midst of all that technology?

Well, I have to say that my experience was fairly smooth, and speaking in front of a camera turned out to be easier than I thought. On top of that, the kids had come prepared with questions and predictions, which made everything so much more fun for me, the author. So I have to thank PragmaticMom, a faithful follower of From the Mixed-Up Files, who not only won me in our huge Author Skype giveaway, but set up the event at her school, and then blogged about it afterwards with such great detail. I was in good hands throughout!

I'm sure there are many seasoned Skype authors out there. But I thought I'd share just a few things that I learned from doing this visit, which might help any future author-skypers, as well as teacher/librarian skypers. I know that I turned to some of my friends for a few tips, which went a long way in planning how I would do my visit (thank you, Wendy Shang!).

Tips for authors:

1. Figure out how long your visit will run. Most Skype sessions run between 20 - 30 minutes. This is a great length of time to do a Q&A session. My session ran longer -- 45 minutes, because that was the terms of our giveaway at From the Mixed-Up Files. We really wanted to provide our winners with a lengthier, meatier session.

2. In terms of content, what worked well for me was to have the class read a section of my book ahead of time. In an ideal world, it would be better for them to read your whole book. If you plan your visit well in advance, and you have the teacher on board, you might be able to arrange for this. But if you do something in the spring, chances are, the teacher will be up to his or her eyballs in state testing and end-of-the-year projects. So ask if they can read a chapter or two before the visit. I think it always helps for the students to have some acquaintance with your writing ahead of time.

3. What also worked for me was to build my talk around the first few chapters of my book. I read very brief excerpts and asked them to find the clues that were planted in those sections. The question I asked before I read was, Tell me when you first realize that something is wrong. Is there a word, a detail, something that stands out? This worked quite well because my book was a mystery. But I believe you can focus the kids on a set of simple questions centered on a specific passage they have read. This way, the students have two chances to approach your text, and perhaps see something there that they didn't on the first reading.

4. It helps to have props, even in a cyber setting. You will not be able to walk around and show your items as easily to the students, but you can certainly hold them up to the camera. I had a chance to show the students a miniature veena - so they could see all the parts - and then a real veena (which is huge), but they were ready by then to encounter that hugeness. I also played a very short excerpt of veena music on my iPad so they could all hear what a veena sounds like.

source: PrgamaticMom's blog.

5. I had this bonus stroke of luck that my book happened to be set a few miles from the school, which meant I could talk about the setting, how much I love Boston, and what part of the city figured its way into my book. I think it's great if you can find a way to connect you or your book to their own direct experience. I also knew they were sitting in the library, so I started off talking about the library in the elementary school where I went, and how it was important to me as a kid.

6. My 3rd grade daughter had a genius idea about how to start my talk. I wasn't sure if I could call on people, or ask many questions, because I would be viewing the class through a small window on the screen. So I had them answer 3 questions by raising their hands:

Raise your hand, how many of you like to read? Raise your hand, how many of you like to write? How many of you like to do both?

I thought this worked really great, because it was a very visual way to see them participating on my end, and an easy way for them to communicate on their end. And strangely, I really did feel a connection to them -- so many hands went up each time! I felt like I was talking to kindred spirits! Because I was a kid who liked to do both. And it was a pefect launching point for me.

Tips for teachers/librarians setting up the Skype visit:

1. Make sure to do a test run a few days before. If something isn't working, there is a chance to fix it before the day of the event.

2. If possible, send questions from your students to the author ahead of time, so she can vet for redundant questions as well as get a sense of what the students are interested in discussing.

3. Make sure your students get to read at least a chapter or two from the book. The more, the better.

4. During the Skype visit, you can really help out by calling on kids to answer a question by the author.

5. If possible, project the author onto a big screen so your students can have a good view. Then have your computer set up so that the author can see your students' faces while she's talking. It really helps to see each other's faces .

6. Be prepared for dropped calls and other technical mishaps. It is all part of the technology. Be confident that it will work itself out, because Internet author visits is an ongoing process which will only keep getting better.

Lastly, for authors, teachers and librarians alike, be sure to check out PragmaticMom's post about my Skype visit. There's a lot of good info there, and you can get a sense of what a Skype visit is like from the student side!

I read the most extradordinary essay this weekend - so perfect, I wish I could cut and paste it right here into my blog, and then I would be done. But because I can't do that, I'll talk about why I think Graham Swift's essay "Words Per Minute" in this week's New York Times Book Review beautifully describes the slowness associated with writing a novel, and how many novelists must "form their personal pacts in some way with the slowness of their craft."

For a long time, I thought I was a fast writer. I have memories of writing short stories for workshops in one sitting: I would start in the late afternoon, then keep writing all the way through the night, until the next morning when I was done. The beauty of writing this way was that you could keep the entire story arc intact and in your head -- you could keep the "flow" going.

Well, two things changed this flow. One, I had a family, and I discovered I could no longer park myself in front of the computer for twenty straight hours. Two, I began writing novels.

Novels cannot be written in one sitting. Or correction. I cannot write novels in one sitting. I don't have the time or the stamina. Nor do I have the whole story in my head. Sometimes I think I do; then when I write, I discover the real story along the way. Often, the final meaning of a scene presents itself after writing it three different ways, after deleting an entire chapter, or after waiting for several months because life's interuptions force you to put away the manuscript. But it's okay because you go back and discover what was lurking in your sub-conscious, or your main character's sub-conscious, and you find a fantastic solution to a section of the book that had been alluding you for so long.

Like in Graham Swift's essay, I also hear of novelists who adhere to a "rate of production" (his quotes). But I don't think I will ever be that kind of writer, who writes a book a year. Sometimes I wish I could write faster, but at the end of the day, I don't really believe I wish I could produce more. For me, each novel is a finite expedition, and the hours I pour into the writing of a book can't be sped up. There are days I can't do the work, and I'm okay with that. Some days I show up for the writing, but it turns out the writing isn't showing up for me. So I stop. Because I think that is the way to respond to art -- as a calling, and not a schedule.

I feel like it's an unpopular thing to say that -- and most likely, some of my fellow writers who are able to produce at a faster rate owe it to their unflagging determination to work under all conditions. I admire them fully, but I could never be like them. And perhaps I have the luxury of being slow, because I have the financial and emotional support of family to give me the gift of time.

For others like me, who are slow writers, who take years to produce a single book, I can only say that we are not truly slow. It's our books, and our art, which demand that amount of time. And instead of devaluing it, we should savor that time spent.

Graham Swift compares the slowness of writing compared with the speed of reading -- how as authors, we might spend days working on a single passage that a reader will read in a matter of seconds. But he says this is not something to despair over because a novel can be a "time-suspending experience that stays with [readers] well afterthey've closed the book."

So hurray for slowness! Hurray for novels and other artistic endeavors that take their time. 

This will be my first year atttending the national ALA - or the American Library Association conference. The conference will be in Anaheim this year, and I'm going so I can attend the APALA awards ceremony to accept the Asian Pacific-American Library Association children's literature honor book. Wendy Shang, my friend, will also be attending - she won the award, and she will also there to accept her award.

I'm super-excited that I will get to be ALA. Ever since I knew Vanished was going to be published, it's been my dream to attend an ALA conference. There are two every year -- the smaller one is in the winter, and it's when they announce the children's awards, including the Newbery, Caledcott, Printz, etc. The larger one meets in the summer, and that's when these awards are presented. But awards aside, both conferences are a chance for librarians to converge together to discuss books, attend workshops, and learn what's coming around the bend. For authors, it's a chance to meet other authors and librarians and bloggers and readers of all persuasions. Because I've never attended, I don't really know what to expect. I know it will be crowded, overwhelming, but full of people I want to meet.

Couple of things. If you are going to be at ALA, please stop by to see me. I will be signing at the Disney-Hyperion booth on Sunday, June 24 4 -4:30. I would love to see a familiar face or anyone I might have met online.

And even if you're not, but if you have in the past, please share with me -- what did you enjoy about ALA? What made it memorable? Any tips on how to make the most of it? I am ALL EARS here. :-) I'll be there for the weekend before I head back home.

Thanks a lot! Hope you all had a marvelous Memorial Day holiday weekend.