Teen readers and writers across the US have had
such a fun weekend, thanks to Barnes & Noble and its B-FEST celebration of
YA books. Some of the biggest NYT bestselling authors appeared in stores along with many other published authors. They even welcomed soon-to-be-published
authors like me and the other Swanky 17s to join in too, and we were all so proud
to be part of it.
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Dax Varley reads from her latest book,
BLEED |
I appeared at two B&N stores in Houston. On
Saturday, at Barnes & Noble in River Oaks, I led a session alongside the much-published
gothic & horror author, Dax Varley. The teens all took part in a YA
Spelling Bee in which they had to spell words from Harry Potter and Doctor Who,
with the best spellers winning tote bags and t-shirts. And we played Story Ball
– whoever catches the ball when it’s thrown has to provide the next line in the
tale - during which we wrote a collaborative story, which ended up showing more
than a little of Dax’s gothic influence. I promised the group that I would
‘publish’ our story on this blog. Here's the full text of BAPTISM IN BLOOD, which was very ably scribed by B&N’s Michelle Nelson. Why not let us have your feedback in the comments below?
Baptism in Blood
The eyes in the painting follow him down the corridor as the footsteps
echo off the wall. And when he looks back he sees her again, the girl from the
dream!
Her hair is as crimson as the blood on the walls and her eyes are as
blue as the sea. She wears ragged jeans and a t-shirt. She opens her mouth with
a blood curdling scream. “You killed him!”
Slowly walking back, his hands start to shake and a memory flashes in
his mind. He knows now where he knows her from – the haunted art museum in
Aberdeen. He glances around nervously as if looking for an escape, and stammers,
“I. . . I. . . I. . . don’t know what
you are talking about.”
He looks up to meet her stare, but she is gone, like a tear in the
rain. He starts to run, sprinting away as the floor crumbles beneath him.
The painting falls as he stumbles into the canvas, and the world
changes into shifting colors - midnight blue, blazing yellow – and he realizes there
is no way back. Suddenly a gust of wind drops him to the ground with a thud.
But he realizes the ground is now a floor of an artist’s studio. On the wall
around him are paintings just like those in the haunted art gallery.
There is an artist in the corner painting and it is the girl from the
dream. She is painting him. As she finishes, she slashes a red-fueled paintbrush in a huge X across his body in the painting.
When he looks down at himself, he sees blood dripping down from an X
slashed across his own chest.
She turns to him and screams, “He was the only one left!”
Suddenly every painting is slashed with a red X. She turns her head to
stare at him and whispers, “Death.” Then
her voice drops even lower and she says, “One must not kill an artist, for if
you do, his last painting will be forever branded upon your chest.”
Chilling stuff, eh?
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I show off one of the prize books on offer -
Sarah Alexander's THE ART OF NOT BREATHING |
On Sunday, I was at Barnes & Noble Vanderbilt
Square for a Teen Writer’s Workshop and we had so much fun. We came up with some 6-word
stories, we took words from three brand new YA debuts and used them to create
new stories.
We described another person, using non-visual descriptions and we
played “What if…?” – things like: What would have happened if the Sorting Hat
had put Harry into Slytherin, not Gryffindor? What would life have been like for
us right now if America had not won the War of Independence?
All the teens (and
pre-teens!) who took part were so enthusiastic about reading and about writing,
it was an honor to work with each one of them as part of this fantastic
weekend.
I was also delighted to be able to bring along
with me three 2016 debut authors, at least in the form of their books as raffle
prizes. All kindly sent me signatures to put inside their books, so thank
you:
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| Prizewinners at B&N River Oaks |
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| Prizewinners at B&N Vanderbilt |
Heidi Heilig
THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE
Sarah Alexander
THE ART OF
NOT BREATHING
Jeff Zentner
THE SERPENT KING
and also at River Oaks
Dax Varley - BLEED
I’m sure I speak for all the authors and teens who
took part in B-FEST when I say a big thank you to Barnes & Noble for
creating this opportunity for authors and readers to come together. And I’d
also like to say a personal thank you to our local Houston organizers, Michelle
Nelson at B&N River Oaks, and Noella Rismay at B&N Vanderbilt, who were
so welcoming and supportive of this brand new author.
I do hope to see you all for B-FEST 2017!
