Day 2 of blog tour redux

On the second day of the blog tour, my bloggers gave to me:  a review by the kind Corrine!

Reposted here by permission of Corrine at Lost for Words, where she is currently hosting another blog tour for Julia Karr's new release, Truth.

I love this review!  The word that jumps out at me most today is the word "intense" because, as I learned last week, that is the word used most often by my students to describe me.  While I honestly believe that there is a pretty significant difference between authors and their characters, I guess some defining traits will always come through.

Well, of course, I don't *mind* the final line of the review either.

Split - Swati Avasthi - Blog Tour Review

4:50 PM | Posted by Corrine

Sixteen-Year-Old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father’s fist), $3.84, and a secret.

He tries to move on, going for new friends, a new school, and a new job, but all his changes can’t make him forget what he left behind—his mother, who is still trapped with his dad, and his ex-girlfriend, who is keeping his secret.

At least so far.

Worst of all, Jace realizes that if he really wants to move forward, he may first have to do what scares him most: He may have to go back. First-time novelist Swati Avasthi has created a riveting and remarkably nuanced portrait of what happens after. After you’ve said enough, after you’ve run, after you’ve made the split—how do you begin to live again? Readers won’t be able to put this intense page-turner down.

(Synopsis taken from goodreads.)

Title: Split

Author: Swati Avasthi

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Publication Date: March 9, 2010

Source: ARC given to me by Kari. Thanks Kari! This review is part of theTeen Book Scene blog tour.

My rating: 5/5

Split follows the story of two brothers after they have broken away from their abusive home. Christian escaped several years earlier, and now Jace is landing on his doorstep, having just left as well. Jace has finally had enough, and is hoping that he will be welcomed in by his brother, knowing that they both have survived a tumultuous and horrific upbringing. 

Jace is a character that I immediately felt sympathy for. He is a three dimensional character, well rounded, yet broken. He gets good grades, is an excellent soccer player, but he's had a hard life, and is hoping to break the cycle of abuse. He's had his fair share of regrets, but is hoping to learn how to live without fear, pain, or knowing that he could be more like his father than he would like. 
Christian was an intense character as well. It is so hard to define him as he left relatively early on in Jace's life. He is, again, another broken character, picking up the pieces trying to learn how to live a "normal" life, when everything is so far from normal. He does gather favour in my book, when he takes Jace in and tries to establish a home life for Jace. 
Avasthi writes a mesmerizing tale of destructive tendencies, and how one person's actions can and will reverberate through those around them. Splittakes a raw, no holds barred approach to domestic violence, and allows us a glimpse into a world that unfortunately is all too real. The view she gives to us, of Jace, Christian, and their parents, is a haunting and gripping one. We see that things are not necessarily black or white, and it truly is an eye opening experience to realize that for those stuck in the cycle, the unknown could be worse than the reality. 
All in all, a disturbing, but eloquent look at the severity, and secrecy of domestic violence in a person's home. You truly do not know the circumstances of those around you, and to escape from that cycle, and to have to learn to adapt and break the cycle is truly amazing. Statistics dictate that most cannot break the cycle, but it is heartening to realize that above all, people have choices. You define who and what you are, or will become. No one else can take that from you. With that said, everyone should read Split.

Blog Tour Kick Off Redux

SPLIT -- in paperback, with a brand new, beautiful cover. (Thank you, Knopf marketers!)  I'll confess:  I LOVE IT!

And to celebrate its release and to honor the upcoming National Teen Dating Violence Month, I'm going to re-post the 2010 October Blog Tour for SPLIT in paperback ... uh... electronic... uh... a different (?) format.  Which is to say, it will all be here on my website, instead of elsewhere in the world.

Note: I'm skipping the first post because it was all about October and the attached fundraiser / auction.

Hope you enjoy.

A Place Called Character

by Swati Avasthi

See, there are these things called issues and there are these things called novels and, according to

plenty of people, the two should never go together. Otherwise you are treading into after-school-

special zone. No one wants preaching disguised as fiction.

That was drilled into me. If not through conversations and lessons, then through my own

experiences while I winced, embarrassed for writers who would blatantly hammer in the moral

of the story. And the morals were always so self-evident: If Ugh hit wife, then Ugh baaad. No

hit wife, Ugh.

And yet, both as a writer and as a reader, I found myself drawn to issue narratives, pulled to the

serious and heavy one-word title books: Speak, Godless, Twisted. They would jump out at me

and I’d devour them. Plenty, plenty, plenty of writers have written great issue novels. Look at

Chris Crutcher or Jay Asher or Laurie Halse Anderson.

But I was still afraid to write them, especially afraid because I came to Split with a history of

working with survivors of domestic violence. (I coordinated a domestic violence legal clinic for

three years and spoke to thousands of survivors.) I came to Split after giving lectures about the

cycle of abuse; I came to Split with statistics that clattered around in my head, and stories that I

couldn’t shake loose from my brain. So, I was worried that if I wrote about domestic violence, I

would pull out the soapbox that kills a good story.

But, to get onto a soapbox, you must have answers. And I only had questions: what would it

be like to grow up watching your dad hit your mom? What if you loved your dad anyway and

looked up to him the way that every kid does?

I had left the clinic almost ten years before I sat down with a cup of coffee and my computer and

a 16-year-old boy in my head. The deeper I dug the more muddled I became, uncovering more

questions. But somehow, I didn’t feel like I was the one asking the questions anymore. My

narrator, Jace, was. And the nature of the questions were slightly altered and the stakes much

higher. Instead of “What would happen if you loved your dad anyway?” my questions became

more specific and were asked in Jace’s voice: “Why, in the name of all that is holy, do I still

admire my creep-of-a-father? WTF is wrong with me?”

I had no more worries about my soapbox. All I worried about was whether I could get my story

right and what would happen to Jace. The challenge became not to flinch when the story got

hard, how to be honest now matter what. The story stole the soapbox’s spot.

Much later, after the ARC came out but before the novel was printed and we were deep into

copyedits, a friend read the book and commented that she was upset with something I’d written

– something minor, but valid – about culture. And I suddenly was so tempted to use Jace as a

mouthpiece. I struggled for two days, trying to find a way to make the idea work. My friend

was astonished and wondered why I could “make Jace” argue with Mirriam about issues, but

couldn’t find a way to “make him say this.” I told her I could never “make Jace say” anything.

About a year after I wrote Split, a colleague of mine was working on an issue novel. In her fear

that she would preach, her novel ended up saying nothing and she asked, “how do you write an

issue novel without preaching?”

So, I could tell her: See, there are things called issues and these things called novels. And they

should go together right through the juncture of a place called character.

This was originally posted at:  Karen's For What It's Worth blog.  Which is a spectacular blog, run by a spectacular lady.  After drumming up comments and donations for the October fundraiser for SPLIT, she did another great push for Doctors without Borders.  Subscribe and find her on twitter @teamsheltie.  

An Avenue for Relief

Since news of the Japanese earthquake and the ensuing tsunami, I've been fairly paralyzed, listening to death tolls and watching stunning footage.

Author Maureen Johnson had a very different and admirable response.  She put together a drive through Shelterbox to help.  As she describes it, Shelterbox is an organization that goes into areas of the world affected by disaster with large green boxes that contain shelters and the materials needed for people to restart their lives on some level. The boxes always include a top-quality tent, and they usually include stoves, blankets, water purification systems, and tools. This is true, life-saving stuff, hand-delivered by volunteers trained in survival techniques.

If you have been like me -- stuck and stunned -- or if you are looking for an avenue for relief, hop over to her blog and donate.  She is offering some great prizes, including six signed first editions of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and many more.  Prizes are still pouring in and I just donated a hardback, signed copy of Split, too.

Thanks, Maureen, for moving me from horrified to mobilized.

CYBILS? CYBILS? CYBILS!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, I tweeted that I've never been a big fan of Valentine's day, in spite of the fact that I've had someone to celebrate it with for more than 20 years.  But this year, I'm definitely feeling the Valentine's Day Love.

In other words...

Holy mother!

SPLIT won a CYBILS award!


I suddenly feel completely inadequate to express how thrilled and grateful am I.  Which is, of course, ironic.  Sweetly ironic.  (Everything is sweet today!)

Here's my best and completely unedited shot at it while I explore the contours of the word grateful:

1) I've been on award committees before and I know it is a lot of work.  Really, wonderfully, fabulously fun work, but work all the same.  Work that is usually done by busy people who carve out the time from their lives because of their dedication to the written word. And of course, in the case of the CYBILS, two rounds of judges.  To have gained the attention of these judges is particularly pleasing.  Thank you, Judges!!

Panel Organizer: Jackie Parker, Interactive Reader

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Cherylynne W. Bago, View from Above and Beyond
Justina Ireland, The YA 5
Kelly Jensen, Stacked
Ami Jones, Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian
Jackie Parker, Interactive Reader
Amanda Snow, A Patchwork of Books
Melissa Wiley, Here in the Bonny Glen

Round II Judges:

Karen Ballum, Sassy Monkey, BlogHer
Kathy M. Burnette, The Brain Lair
Michelle Franz, Galleysmith
Alice Pope, SCBWI
Tasha Saecker, Kids Lit

2) All seven of the books nominated for the CYBILS award in the YA category are amazing.  I remain honored to be in the company of such authors.  Contrary to how I would have expected to feel, winning is humbling.  These books are important.  They are needed.  They make a difference.  Having Split included among them -- among the hard work, the emotional insights, and the persistence of these authors -- is a privilege.






Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelley




Dirt Road Home by Watt Key





I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan




Stolen by Lucy Christopher






Scrawl by Mark Shulman






Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers





4) Bloggers, everywhere.  I've often said that the best part of being published, hands down, is that other people cared about Jace and Christian -- these two characters who occupied a huge amount of my thoughts, my time, my life.  Bloggers entered into or generated or posted conversations about Jace and Christian made me feel like they were worth caring about.

5) As I wrote in my acknowledgements, it took a village to grow Split.  And it was a large, large, large village. Maybe even a town. Did I mention it is large?  I am particularly grateful to my writer's groups, editor, agent, teachers/mentors, and most significantly to my family.  Without a doubt, Split couldn't have been written without my husband.

This is sounding remarkably like an sloppy acceptance speech so, I must get off my podium and go order myself some gold stickers.

I wonder if I'll glow in the dark, tonight.

Wow. Thanks everyone!

The blog tour and auction are over and we raised just over $4100.00 to help prevent violence.  By "we" I mean everyone who commented during the tour.  By "we" I mean all the blogger who hosted me.  By "we" I mean everyone who donated such fabulous items to the auction.  By "we" I mean everyone who bid.  And by "we" I mean the awesome women at Teen Book Scene who set up this tour for me, as they do for many authors, simply as a labor of love.  That's right, gratis.

We hit our goal of 250 comments so I will double my $1/comment donation, and donate $500 to Family Violence Prevention Fund.  Great fundraising everyone! THANK YOU!!

For highlights of the tour, stop on over to A Good Addiction where I have the closing post.

Did you miss the tour?  Not to worry.  You can catch up right here:

Friday, October 1: Random House Buzzers

Monday, October 4: Karen at For What It's Worth Reviews (Guest Post: Writing an Issues Book)
Tuesday, October 5: Corrine at Lost For Words (Review)
Wednesday, October 6: John at Dreaming in Books (Christian POV Scene)
Thursday, October 7: Jessica at A Fanatic's Book Blog (Cut Scene)
Friday, October 8: Page Turners (Guest Post: Writer's Tips)
Saturday, October 9: Jami at YA Addict (Review)

Monday, October 11: Sandy at Pirate Penguin Reads (Guest Post: Cycle of Abuse)
Tuesday, October 12: Michele Corriel (Revision: Obsess Much? Write a Novel)
Wednesday, October 13: Kelsey at The Book Scout (Cut Scene)
Thursday, October 14: Hattie at DeRaps Reads (Character Interview - Jace)
Friday, October 15: Sammee at I Want To Read That (Guest Post: Letting Your Characters Drive)
Saturday, October 16: Michelle at See Michelle Read (Review)

Monday, October 18: Sarah at Sarah's Random Musings (Guest Post: Interviewing DV Victims/Research
Tuesday, October 19: Taylor at The Library Lurker (Review)
Wednesday, October 20: Teens Read (On Inspiration)
Thursday, October 21: Lea at YA Book Queen (Photo Essay)
Friday, October 22: Linna at 21 Pages (Jace's POV Guest Post)
Saturday, October 23: Kelsey at The Book Scout (Cut Scene)

Monday, October 25: Jami at YA Addict (Cover Post & Create Your Own Cover Contest)
Tuesday, October 26: Arya at Sea of Pages (Review)
Wednesday, October 27: Weronika Janczuk (You're Not Crazy, Your Characters are Talking To You)
Thursday, October 28: Michelle at See Michelle Read (Cut Scene)
Friday, October 29: Stephanie at Steph the Bookworm (Animated Movie Short or Vlog)
Saturday, October 30: Sandy at Pirate Penguin Reads (Review)

Monday, November 1: Kari at A Good Addiction (Playlist + Ipod Giveaway)

Spend my money, please

If you're just coming in on the Split blog tour and charity auction, I have a little news for you:

IT'S NOT TOO LATE!!!

Yet.

If you want to comment belatedly, please go here:  http://theteenbookscene.weebly.com/split-details.html

Each Monday, Kari at Teen Book Scene, the fabulous coordinator of the tour, updates the link so that all you have to do is click on a post, comment, and repeat, to catch up.

For those uber-procastinators (like me):  I will donate $1/comment toward the $250 comment goal until October 31st.  If we reach the comment goal, I'll double my donation to Family Violence Prevention Fund.  So spend my money please and help prevent abuse.

On November 1st, I hope I have good news to announce.


And, in case you don't know what I'm talking about, you can read it about here.

And introducing at last... Before the Split Blog Tour and Charity Auction

It is October, my favorite month of the year. Paradoxical as it sounds, fall makes me feel like the world is shaking off the thick humidity of summer and starting new.  Maybe it’s because the cool air clears my head, lifts my spirits and hones my energy.  I’ve always associated October with crispness – crisp air, crisp leaves on the ground, and apple crisps.  It was only after working at the domestic violence legal clinic that I started to associate it with something else:  National Domestic Violence Awareness month -- something that actually lifts my spirits as well.

We know that abuse is horrible and the statistics are overwhelming. The CDC estimates that one in four teens are abused by an intimate partner and UC Davis estimates that boys who grew up witnessing abuse are four times more likely to become abusers.  All year long that can make us feel powerless.  But I think that this is the month when we turn our attention to these disturbing statistics with the hope that by increasing awareness, more people will speak out.  More people will get help.  And more people will help in return.

So… the Before the Split Tour Begins.

To honor National Domestic Violence Awareness month, you’ll find me touring Split. The fabulous Kari Olson at Teen Book Scene, who is coordinating the tour, has lined up twenty-six stops.  Through interviews and posts, I’ll give you a look inside the novel-making process, both by talking about writing as a craft and by giving you a peek at cut scenes (those scenes that didn’t make into the novel), draft versus the final product, and even a mini-scene from Christian’s point of view.  Read an interview with Jace (I’m told the questions will be hard), watch a vlog, and enter the Create Your Own Cover contest. You can follow me! 

About Split

My debut novel, Split, is narrated by Jace Witherspoon, a sixteen year old boy, who drives practically non-stop 19 hours from Chicago to Albuquerque on the night he finally hits his father back.  He hasn’t seen or heard from his brother, Christian, in five long years but Jace shows up, unannounced, on Christian’s doorstep with nothing more than a few bucks in his pocket, the latest bruises that dear-old-dad gave him, and a secret. 

Split is about what happens after.  After you’ve said enough, after you’ve run, after you’ve made the split.

I chose “after” because I always wondered what happened to the survivors I worked with after they left the legal clinic, with their orders of protection in hand.  I chose “after” because I believe that leaving is the first step. And I chose “after” because I think that what you do after you are free from abuse helps determine who you become – stronger or weaker, better or worse.

But there’s also the story of “before.”  The Family Violence Prevention Fund’s initiatives focus strongly on the “before” and on preventing abuse.  In addition to many other programs, they have these great campaigns like Coaching Boys into Men that give a good role model or Lessons from Literature and Start Strong to support teens and families.  These initiatives focus on what we really want to achieve – stop the violence before it starts and interrupt the intergenerational pattern of abuse.

About  “Before the Split” Blog Tour & Auction for Family Violence Prevention Fund

After reading Split, some bloggers, teens, and bookclubs I spoke with wanted to do more about domestic violence and I do, too.

You want to help, too?  Well you can. 

Yep, follow the tour and comment on the posts.  Comment because you want to chat.  Comment because you have something to say.  But most of all, comment because I’ll donate $1/ for every comment to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, with a goal and cap of $250. If your comments reach that goal, I’ll double my donation.

But the fundraising effort doesn’t stop there.  Oh, no.  Excess is my middle name.  (Actually, I don’t have a middle name, but that’s not important now.  I’ll take that up that with my parents.  And therapist). 

Over 40 authors, editors and agents have donated fabulous items, including:  personalized, signed copies of books by seriously awesome author, memberships to YALITCHAT.org or to Children’s Literature Network, and even items you can’t buy anywhere:  critiques of your manuscripts and querries. 

Ihe items will be waiting for your bids all month long.  Bidding will close on November 1, the last day of the tour, and then we’ll tally and total. 

Follow the Before the Split tour.  Have fun.  Get stuff you want.  And, while you’re at it, make a difference.