Press Release – SF/Fantasy Key to Teen Literacy

ByJohn Brown

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IS SF/FANTASY KEY TO TEEN LITERACY?

Findings presented at national American Library Association conference reveal science fiction & fantasy literal gateway drugs to youth literacy

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS |  July 11, 2009 | Utah’s newest author, John Brown, summarized statistics and research at the 2009 national American Library Association (ALA) conference held in Chicago which suggest that science fiction and fantasy are two of the main gateway drugs to literacy for youth. Data provided by Nielsen BookScan, public libraries, and recent studies published by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), suggest that at least 1 in 3 youths read for the effect produced by Science Fiction and Fantasy. “However,” says Brown, “given library circulation statistics, that number may well be 2 out of 3. These are incredible numbers, and have important implications for youth reading programs.”

According to Brown, “the latest research in emotion shows that reading fiction produces a physical response, as real and physical a response as when we take aspirin, alcohol, or crack. The good thing is that while stimulating pleasure centers, it doesn’t change the brain the way hard drugs do. Furthermore, it also carries the powerful and desirable side-effect of improving reading skills. The key is in finding the type of fiction which appeals to the given age group. And for youth it appears that drug of choice is science fiction and fantasy.”

John Brown’s epic fantasy for teens and adults, Servant of a Dark God, will be released in October 2009 by Tor Books, the largest publisher of science fiction and fantasy in the world. For more information see the links below.

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  • Yea! SERVANT wins Whitney Award

    ByJohn Brown

    I’m totally blown away. No way. NO FREAKING WAY. No way.

    Servant of a Dark God just won the Whitney award for speculative fiction. Look who the others were in the category–three New York Times best sellers and a book that had something like 11 or 12 printings in Europe before coming to the US. Holy crap. I’m thrilled the academy voters liked it so much.  

    Servant of a Dark God
    by John Brown    		 The Maze Runner
    by James Dashner    		 Wings
    by Aprilynne Pike    		 Warbreaker
    by Brandon Sanderson    		 I Am Not A Serial Killer
    by Dan Wells

    When I informed the academy president, Robinson Wells, I couldn’t come, he asked if I had a speech should I win. There was no way I was winning. So I was like, yeah, whatever. So I wrote him this:

    Yeah, like that’s going to happen (grin). But should something go wrong with the chads, you can simply say that “John told me if he won, that would mean the events in Revelations were probably upon us, and he’d be headed to his father-in-law’s underground bunker with his wife who was the brains behind the whole operation. He’s thrilled so many of you liked his story enough to vote for it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. But he’s also sad that you’ll all be toast before Fox News airs at 9 PM.”

    Holy, heck. I’d better get to that bunker.

    Here are the other categories and winners:

    • Best Romance: Counting the Cost by Liz Adair 
    • Best Mystery/Suspense: Methods of Madness by Stephanie Black (absolutely love the cover)
    • Best Youth Fiction:  The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
    • Best Speculative Fiction: Servant of a Dark God by John Brown
    • Best Historical: The Last Waltz by G.G. Vandagriff
    • Best General Fiction: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
    • Best Novel by a New Author: I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells and Gravity vs. The Girl by Riley Noehren (it was a tie, obviously)
    • Best Novel of the Year: In The Company of Angels by David Farland

    Of course, you had to have read all the books in a category to vote on them. You can see the finalists in each category here. So while Farland’s book didn’t win in his category (I”m assuming with the hard core historical fans), it did win with those who read every finalist.  Same with Dan Wells. So what this tells me is that depending on the cross-section of voters a lot of us could have been winners. I’m just happy I got the cross-section I did–ye speculative nut jobs 🙂 Hooray for the Whitneys!!

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    Teachers (and writers)! Free Class Next Monday on How to Teach Narrative for the Common Core

    ByJohn Brown

    If you feel a bit lost or anxious about how to teach narrative for the new core, especially stories, I think I can help.

    I’m an educator in the private sector and an award-winning novelist and short story writer. I’ve been teaching authors in various venues how to write for the last five years. I’ve been on writing podcasts with thousands of listeners, taught at a number of writers conventions, and had a series of articles published by the national Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America organization, an organization for professional authors. I’ve also been helping Nellie, my wonderful wife, teach her 7th and 8th grade language arts students the unit on short stories during that same period. We’ve taught it to twenty different classes and picked up a number of important insights along the way.

    This last year I couldn’t help but examine all the materials Nellie brought home during the district’s writing program adoption investigations. Some programs looked very promising; others not so much. Some got some things about writing flat out wrong. Most of the programs had gaps.

    Furthermore, because I work with so many people wanting to write, I know that it’s difficult to teach if you really don’t understand what stories really are and how they work. For lots of people, the subject matter can seem impenetrable. And yet writing stories is such a wonderful way to teach writing, especially because so many kids love it. You won’t find a kid who will spend extra hours writing a business letter or poem analysis, but you will find quite a few who will go crazy writing stories. And the whole time they’re practicing their writing skills.

    The question is how DO you write a story?

    What is a story?

    How can you tell if it’s good?

    How do you come up with ideas?

    Where do you start?

    And what the heck is this chart? Do writers really use this? (Not many that I know.)

    Story Diagram plot-mountain-pic

    And does anyone think changing the diagram to look like Aspen, Colorado actually helps?

    Story Diagram Aspen 

    Hey, students—please make your story look like Aspen, Colorado!  (Yeah, that’s going to be effective.)

    And yet it’s not as difficult as it appears. Nellie and I have seen a lot of kids really get into writing stories. We’ve seen kids WILLINGLY going way beyond the assignment to write stories that are eight, twelve, twenty-five plus pages. And as they’re writing, they’re practicing grammar, spelling, structure, vocabulary, etc. without knowing it and having a great time. I know that if you enable your students, many of them will write, write, write. Especially in grade school. But also in the higher grades.

    Stories can be a blast. The assignments can connect to many students. And the results can be wonderful. I’ve laughed out loud at some of the stories coming out of Nellie’s class. Others have been enjoyable on other levels.

    But for this to work in your class, you need to know some key things. You need to understand the core of story and the story development process. You need a lesson plan that details everything step-by-step so your students don’t flounder. And you need to know some fundamental tips (secrets?) about teaching this content.

    So I’m going to hold this day-long class for you. A full eight hours. And share everything Nellie and I have learned. This class will be for teachers at ALL levels (I’ll show you some ways to scale the complexity of what you’re doing). There will be NO cost. The only thing you have to bring is a pencil, paper, whatever program materials you have, and a willingness to have a good time.

    When we finish, you will know how to write a simple story like the ones your students will write because, ta-dum, you will write one! AND you’ll have a step-by-step lesson plan that builds on whatever materials you have—an official program or one of your own. AND you’ll understand story better than 99% of the population. AND you’ll have a bundle of techniques to help your students. AND you’ll solve both world peace and maybe the lost sock conundrum.

    Truly, I think that instead of feeling stress, you’ll actually be looking forward to teaching and writing stories with your students. If not, you may bring tomatoes and huck them at me, but please be aware that I will not stand still; to find satisfaction, you will have to be able to hit a moving target.

    If you’re interested, just click the Contact John link under my photo in the left sidebar and send me an email letting me know.

    Hope to see you in class!

    GET READY FOR A FUN DAY OF LEARNING!

    Topic: Teaching writing (narrative & the common core)

    Who: Teachers (and writers at least 18 years old), seats are limited

    When: Monday, July 29th, 8:15 AM – 5:00 PM

    Where: Rich Middle School, 54 E 100 S  Laketown, UT 84038

    Materials you need to bring:

    • Pencil
    • Paper
    • The writing program you’ll be using this year
    • Kooky socks, for those who cannot resist the urge
    • A lunch or a way to get one

    AGENDA

    8:15 AM Arrive

    8:30 AM – 9:20 AM

    • Can you create a redneck crapper?
    • The 1st secret to teaching writing: Attributes & techniques
    • The 5 parts of story
    • Thieves prosper – using existing patterns
    • A car, a beggar, and an idiot — basic pattern 1

    9:30 AM – 10:20 AM

    • The 2nd secret to teaching writing: Do it with them
    • Technique: Sketch then draft
    • Workshop 1: Zombies and kisses
    • Technique: Zing hunting
    • Workshop 2: Hunt zing

    10:30 – 11:20

    • What makes a story big or small
    • Workshop 3: Select a right-sized THOM and character
    • Workshop 4: Select a Goal
    • Workshop 5: Make character sympathetic
    • Workshop 6: 3 tries
    • Workshop 7: Resolution

    LUNCH

    12:00 – 12:50

    • The 3rd secret to teaching writing: Cognitive modeling and the 6-step process
    • The 4th secret to teaching writing: Our tiny brains
    • Writing is telling: Narrative & description
    • Technique: Yes, SiR
    • Technique: Broad-brush + 1
    • Technique: The Pause

    1:00 – 1:50

    • The 5th secret to teaching writing: Have fun
    • Workshop 8: Write your story

    2:00  – 2:50

    • How the pros revise—concept, line, & copy
    • Workshop 9: Content edit
    • The 6th secret to teaching writing: Our brains are still tiny
    • Workshop 10: Line edit

    3:00 – 3:50

    • The 7th secret to teaching writing: The 3 grunts (responding to a story and grading)
    • Share stories
    • What the heck did we just do?

    4:00 – 4:50

    • How to adjust for grade level
    • Common core
    • Your program and lesson plan
    • Identify black holes
    • Wrap up & next steps
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  • United Authors Association Conference Oct 24th!

    ByJohn Brown

    UAACon1.5

    The United Authors Association is holding a fiction writing conference October 24th in Springville, Utah, and it’s free to the public!

    The conference schedule has some great presentation topics on it by authors who are delighting a lot of readers as well as an editor, agent, and a magician.

    I’m going to be presenting on the fundamental core of story–“Scene and Sequel”–expect we’ll be replacing those two terms right off that bat. Hope to see you there.

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  • The man will not be able to attend LTUE this year, alas

    ByJohn Brown

    As I was walking past the circulation desk of the Logan library last week, a woman, who had been tracking my movements, turned, pointed at me, and made a loud complimentary exclamation. I know you’re thinking she said something about my fabulous looks or the animal magnetism that pours off me sometimes in uncontrollable waves. But no, she was not talking about that. She explained she had been in one of my presentations at LTUE last year and found it very helpful and was going to be at this year’s event. She asked if I was going again. 

    Up until a few days ago I was planning on it and had two new presentations prepared that I think are killer. But that was before I saw my daughter’s school basketball schedule. Life is short, and my time with my kids is even shorter, and so I will not be there to exude my extraordinary fantasy-boy kavorka upon the teeming masses. Alas.

    (What did you say? That wasn’t a kavorka I exuded?)

    Exclaiming Libaray Patron, who made my day, if you’re reading this, please accept my apologies.

    In the meantime, I’m hard at work on the thriller. I’ve finally nailed down the full premise and am moving into sketching out my scenes.

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  • Free audio version of “Bright Waters” available April 7th!

    ByJohn Brown

    Mark your calendars. Just got word from the folks at PodCastle. The audio version of “Bright Waters” is set for release on April 7th! You’ll be able to get it then. Remember: Everything on PodCastle is free.

    Again, this is my story about a fearsome Dutch trapper, a spunky Irish woman stolen as a girl in an Abenaki raid, and a small Iroquois tattoo…

    Just go to the PodCastle site. Enjoy!

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  • Servant cover art

    ByJohn Brown

    The cover illustration for SERVANT is finished!

    (and there was much rejoicing.)

    yea.

    Actually, there was DANCING. Because I think the final piece rocks. The artist is Victor Minguez. Here are two of his pieces that I really enjoy.

    The first is “Angel.” I love the bright contrast, the face, and the fact that there’s so much rich detail.

    The next is “Champagne Havoc.” Again, a wonderful face, but also an awesome idea (a robot carrying a woman in the palm of its hand), and then the lines and chopper give the whole piece a lot of energy.

    Click here to see other works in his portfolio.

    So we kicked the project off by me sharing the goals I had for the cover and tons of reference on everything from color scheme to character costume. I asked Victor to develop some concepts for an ensemble of Hunger, Sugar, and Talen as well as some for the cave scene towards the end of the book. He came back with these sketches.

    Servant Sketch 1 cave Servant Sketch 2 horse ensemble

    Servant Sketch 3 ensemble Servant Sketch 4 cave

    I liked the first because it would allow us to see the figure’s faces more clearly. And there was a lot of interesting detail with the cave. Look at the roots by the entrance. I also liked the structure. I liked the third because it included Hunger, and Victor was taking Hunger in a new direction. I also thought we could do some neat things with the energy of Sugar on the horse and that long sash. The fourth one, however, just felt right. It had so much potential energy. I was immediately drawn to the body language. And so this is the one we decided to develop.  Then one of my beta art viewers suggested moving closer and putting in more strong diagonals. It was a perfect idea. Victor agreed and came back with this.

     

    Servant WIP 1

    I liked the lines of her stance but wondered if she needed something stronger with her legs. Victor adjusted, but my idea just wasn’t an improvement.

    Servant WIP 2

    So we decided to stick with the previous version. However, this was all too dark. Way too much gray. When looking at things in thumbnail, the cover has to pop. I shared more reference images. And Victor went back and delivered this.

    Servant WIP 3

    Boom! That was exactly what I was looking for. Bright, dynamic. However, we needed a more neutral bit at the top for the title and author’s name. And the brightest spot had to be behind Sugar to draw the eye to her. Here was the next version.

    Servant WIP 4

    At this point I started to dance. This was IT! There was a lot going on here. We had the high contrast I wanted. We had the energy. The wind with the hair and leaves and sash and torch all add kinetic energy. As do all the diagonals. Notice as well the cave details–we have hints at previous habitation, runes, and some interesting contrast with the dark foreground. I had shared a number of N.C. Wyeth and Tim and Greg Hildebrandt pieces as reference, and I think this captured elements of those and gave them a new twist. Note as well the sharp projections on Sugar’s behind. Victor put them in there purely for aesthetic reasons. He had no idea what they were. I loved them. He loved them. They worked. We would just have to make them make sense.

    After a few more iterations, he delivered the final.

    Servant Final

    I think it’s gorgeous. And will advertise the book perfectly. In a few days I will reveal the final cover with title etc. Shortly after that, SERVANT will be available again to please English readers worldwide.

     

     

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