Kurtis Scaletta

Information on my books & events

I am flattered that The Tanglewood Terror is one of four finalists for the 2012 Minnesota Book Awards, in the category of Young People’s Literature, where the Friends of the St. Paul Library include both YA and middle-grade books. Also nominated are Brian Farrey’s Stonewall honor book, With or Without You, Pete Hautman’s The Big Crunch, and Jacqueline West’s The Book of Elsewhere: Spellbound. Other really deserving books included Anne Ursu’s Breadcrumbs, Kelly Barnhill’s The Mostly True Story of Jack, Steve Brezenoff’s Brooklyn, Burning, and Sheila O’Connor’s Sparrow Road. I live in a literary state that’s simply steeped in talent so I don’t envy the committee’s job of picking only a few from such a great lineup. I doubt any state our size can match it.

You’d think, from these updates, I simply didn’t have any. Perhaps you’re thinking of sending out a search team with dogs…. they won’t be needed. I’m here, closing in on the first draft of the robot novel, taking the toddler off of the stereo cabinet, teaching online, taking the toddler off of the end table, working through copyedits of the Topps League chapter books, taking the toddler off of the bookshelf, playing my way into an elite group of Angry Birds addicts, and taking the toddler out of the cat bowl.

I do have exciting things afoot, including The Most Exciting School Visit Ever™ about which I remain mostly mute until later, but suffice to say that me and immortality have plans. At the end of February I’m going to Chicago for AWP, a virtual small city of serious writers that convenes every winter. (If you’re going and want to say Hi, find the Loft Literary Center’s table). I am also going to two more conferences in April, including one here in Minneapolis which I am helping to organize (expect a special appearance from  Topps League illustrator and Frankie Pickle author/illustrator Eric Wight), and one in Missouri with several other authors and several hundred kids. On April 1 the first two chapter books will come out, baseball cards and all. Somewhere in there I’ll finish the robot book, which is, in my expert opinion, a masterfully plotted adventure with both brains and heart. I’ll also teach my class again, which you can sign up for here.

Mudville is now an audiobook — you can get it here. Enjoy!

My story, “Azalea,” is included in this remarkable anthology of “first time” stories by a host of YA authors including Carrie Ryan, Saundra Mitchell, Jon Skovron… all of us were members of an online klatch when our first books debuted in 2009. The antho was edited by Jessica Verday and Rhonda Stapleton.

The theme of the book is “first time” experiences. My story “Azalea,” is about various forms of growing. The rest of the anthology offers a lot of variety to sample from — check it out!

It is only available as an e-book; I think you can buy the Nook version through some independent booksellers but do not know how to do it.

Buy it for Kindle | Buy it for Nook

Once again I’m offering my online class again for writers of middle grade fiction. Click here to register.

Here are the description and details:

Many consider ages 8–12, “the middle grades,” to be a golden age for readers. Their novels include classics like Charlotte’s Web, the Ramona series, and the earliest adventures of Harry Potter. Most Newbery winners also fall into this category. In this class, participants will explore some of the qualities that make a book a hit with young readers, with an emphasis on developing a character-driven story.

And here’s some additional information if you’re interested:

• The class is eight weeks long and is mostly asynchronous, i.e., you complete the activities on your own schedule.
• This is an enrichment course and is not for credit.
• You can expect to spend two hours a week participating in class activities.
• Those activities include short readings & recommended readings, live chats, discussion forums, critiques, and miscellaneous short (and hopefully fun) collaborative activities.
• There is no text but there are lots of recommended titles from the MG canon. Note: we may decide as a class to read and discuss one novel — my current class did this!
• I will also be providing private critiques to each participant, reading and responding to “a partial” with or without a cover letter.

I’m excited to teach this class, and synthesize what I’ve learned from a life time of reading, three books under my belt, and ten years in learning technology.

As the Loft’s online program manager, I’m thrilled that we are also offering three new online classes in children & young adult literature, and a fourth that many middle-grade and young-adult writers would enjoy.

• Revising Your Young Adult Novel with Megan Atwood
• Mars Needs Writers:  Writing Science Fiction/Fantasy for Fun and Profit with Lyda Morehouse
• The Business of Writing for Children with Dara Dokas
• Picture Book Writing with Molly Beth Griffin

Go here to see the complete list of classes.