All of us at the Mixed-Up Files were saddened to learn of the passing of the author who inspired the name of our group blog, E.L. Konigsburg. The esteemed author died on April 19 at age 83.

Konigsburg was a two-time winner of the Newbery Medal, for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in 1968, and for The View from Saturday in 1997. She was the only writer to have received both the Newbery Medal and a Newbery Honor in the same year.

She was born Elaine Lobl in New York City, the middle of three daughters. She grew up in Western Pennsylvania, then bucked the trends for women at the time she entered college by pursuing a major in chemistry at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. She continued her studies in graduate school, taught science at a private girls’ school, married David Konigsburg, and had three children. As her children began school, Konigsburg rekindled a childhood passion for painting and writing. Her desire to write something that reflected her own children’s growing up experiences, rather than the privileged lives of many characters in the books she had read, is the spark for many of her works.

Why did she choose to use E.L.? She didn’t think it was important for readers to know if she was a man or woman. And, Konigsburg was a great admirer of E.B. White, so she thought it would bring her luck to submit her first manuscript as E.L.

The Mixed-Up Files is perhaps Konigsburg’s best known book. The brilliantly quirky mystery features a spunky brother and sister who run away and hide in New York’s Metropolitan Museum. But during her lifetime, she authored 20 titles for children. Her most recent book was The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World (Atheneum, 2007).

Many of her main characters are age 12. She once explained that this is the age when kids long to be like everyone else, but at the same time, want to establish their own identity. This makes for a compelling question: how does a character reconcile those opposing longings?

And that’s the heart of E.L.’s characters — and her novels — those inner questions every child grapples with as he or she grows up.

Thank you, E.L., for writing such timeless, engaging stories. We will miss you, but know that many generations of children will continue to enjoy your books.

In Lisa Greenwald’s 2009 debut middle grade novel, My Life in Pink & Green, 12-year old Lucy Desberg saves her family’s pharmacy by winning a grant to create an eco-spa. Now Lucy’s back in a sequel, My Summer of Pink & Green, which came out on March 1. The book already has been named to the spring 2013 Kids’ Indie Next List.

A bit about the story: Work has already begun on the eco-spa but things are anything but calm in Lucy’s life. Her older sister is home from college — with a boyfriend — and their investor’s irritating daughter and a bossy spa coordinator are complicating Lucy’s plans. This time, will a good makeover save the day…or not?

Lisa is also the author of Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes, and Reel Life Starring Us. We’re thrilled to have Lisa visiting with us today!

MUF: Hi Lisa, and welcome to the Mixed-Up Files!

LG: Hello! I am so happy to be here!

MUF: Did you always plan to write a sequel to My Life in Pink & Green? Tell us how it came about.

LG: I didn’t always plan on it. I had it in the back of my head and sort of always hoped that I’d write a sequel. I love the characters and feel so close to them, and it felt great to reunite with everyone.

MUF: Was it a challenge to get back into Lucy’s voice and continue the story from where it left off?

LG: It wasn’t really a challenge. To be honest, I had so much fun writing this book. It takes place in the summer, which is my favorite season! I loved writing about beach trips and flip-flops and ice cream. I was also thrilled to be back in Lucy’s world.

MUF: Lucy is such an earnest, positive, optimistic girl. We have to ask, is she anything like yourself?

LG: Hmmm. Well, I guess I can say that I aspire to be more like Lucy. I try to be optimistic and positive, but I can’t say that I’m always that way. I guess Lucy is the kind of friend I wished I had when I was in middle school.

MUF: You work as a school librarian in addition to being an author and the mother of a preschooler. How do you balance everything? When do you find time to write?

LG: It’s not easy! I write during my daughter’s naps during the school year and then I have two writing days a week during the summer. I have to be very strategic about my writing time and I can’t waste it on Facebook or Twitter. It’s hard, but I manage to get it done.

MUF: Can you tell us what your writing process is like?

LG: When I’m in the process of writing a first draft, I try to write ten pages every writing day. I always write a fast first draft. I know as I’m writing it that it will need a great deal of revision, but I power through until I get to the end. I rarely re-read it as I’m going. Then when I’m finished, I share it with my fabulous agent Alyssa Eisner Henkin. She’ll give me notes and I’ll fix it up before I send a draft to my wonderful editor Maggie Lehrman.

MUF: What has been one of your best author moments?

LG: Every time I get an email or a letter from a reader, I am thrilled. I love to know that I’m making a small difference in these kids’ lives.

MUF: What are you working on now?

LG: I don’t want to give too much away, but I’m working on another book that takes place in the summer! And it involves dogs!

MUF: Can you share any advice to aspiring writers? What’s the most important advice you ever received?

LG: You must have a thick skin. It’s the only way to survive. You will receive so much criticism and some of it will be useful and some won’t. Just stay positive and focus on your writing.

Thank you Lisa, for visiting the Mixed-Up Files! Find out more about Lisa and her books at www.lisagreenwald.com. To order My Summer of Pink & Green, click here.

Michele Weber Hurwitz is the author of Calli Be Gold (Wendy Lamb Books 2011), which is a 2014 Bluestem Book Award nominee (the Illinois Children’s Choice Award). Visit her at www.micheleweberhurwitz.com.

Today we welcome Rachel Shulman to the Mixed-Up Files. Rachel is a youth services librarian at the Vernon Area Public Library in Lincolnshire, Illinois. She oversees the library’s creative writing program for young authors, Write Away.

MUF: Welcome, Rachel!

RS: Thank you so much for having me!

MUF: So, what prompted the library to have a young writers’ group?

RS: We had a couple of patrons ask about a writing group, including one patron whose previous library offered a monthly writing group. I was involved in a couple of writing publications in college, so I was excited to foster a love of writing in others, and Write Away was born!

MUF: Tell us about the kids who participate. How often does the group meet?

RS: Write Away meets once a month in the fall and spring. I hold one session for grades 3-4 and one for grades 5-8 each month. It’s not necessary to attend every month. I love it when the kids come back because that means they had fun writing (at least I hope they did!).

MUF: What goes on at a typical meeting?

RS: Each month in Write Away, we explore a different theme ranging from mysteries or fractured fairy tales to creating characters or overcoming writer’s block. We usually start with a warm-up such as MadLibs to get the creative juices flowing. Another popular warm-up is making up creative definitions for some of the weirdest, most obscure words I can find. One of my favorites is kerfuffle which means disorder or agitation. Then there is circumfloribus, meaning flowery or long-winded, which I like because that could describe my own writing at times!

After the warm-up, I introduce the theme with brainstorming or an activity. At this point we usually take a snack break to fuel up before the main writing event begins. The most important part of the session is the 20 minutes of dedicated (and quiet) writing time. This is when the kids can really push the limits of their imaginations. And I just love the sound of pencils on paper as they let their ideas flow onto the page.

Last but not least, anyone who wants to share what they have written so far with the group can do so. It’s not required, and I have to admit that when I was that age, I was way too shy to share my work in public. I’m always impressed by the writers who are brave enough to share and then even more impressed by what they write.

MUF: This program encourages imagination and fun. Do you think it has helped the kids develop their creative writing skills?

RS: Sometimes I have to explain that this is not a class and I won’t be grading anything. My goal is to offer a safe and encouraging environment for young writers to flex their creative muscles. I provide the spark or the prompt for the kids’ ideas and help them develop their creativity with praise and positive feedback. I think their writing improves because I give them the opportunity to practice writing whatever they want.

MUF: Many of the young writers participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this past November. What was that experience like for them?

RS: NaNoWriMo is a daunting task to complete. It takes dedication and a lot of time to write a novel in 30 days, but we had quite a few winners in the Young Writers Program. The participants loved hearing from local authors who presented three programs at the library: how to get started (and keep going); individual feedback and encouragement halfway through the month; and finally our Thank Goodness It’s Over party focused on what it takes to be published. Many of the kids who participated exceeded their word count goals. They took on an intimidating challenge, and I think they surprised themselves most of all with how well they mastered that writing challenge.

MUF: The library printed a literary magazine containing the kids’ stories and poems. How did the kids react to getting “published?”

RS: The first annual Write Away! Literary Magazine was a hit! The library was able to publish a sophisticated book of 50 young authors’ creative writing that is now cataloged in the library’s collection and can be checked out.

 Check out Write Away

My favorite feature, besides the amazing writing, is the ISBN. It makes it look so official. The literary magazine would not have been possible without the library’s Integrated Communications department which designed the book. All the published authors and their parents were impressed, as was I! The kids really loved seeing their writing in print, in a real book. They also enjoyed reading all the other stories and poems by their fellow authors.

MUF: Do any of the young writers aspire to be authors when they grow up?

RS: My Write Away kids are quite an ambitious bunch. There are several who want to become authors before they grow up! After all, when they write their first novel at age 12 during NaNoWriMo, the sky’s the limit. I will be able to say I knew them when!

MUF: What’s planned for this year? How do you see the program evolving in the future?

RS: We’ll be accepting submissions for the second annual Write Away! Literary Magazine starting March 11 until April 8. The Vernon Area Public Library is completing more exciting renovations this spring, so unfortunately that means the monthly Write Away sessions are on hiatus until the fall. Luckily, writers in grades 3-8 can send in their creative pieces to become published authors in just a few weeks time! I will be offering one-on-one editing sessions for any writers who want to polish their work before submitting it for publication. Aspiring authors can click here to find the dates and times on our event calendar.

We plan to offer NaNoWriMo programs again in November and publish an annual literary magazine every spring. Beyond that, I’ll just have to leave you with a quote from Daniel Pinkwater: “Read a lot. Write a lot. Have fun.”

Thank you, Rachel, for visiting the Mixed-Up Files and telling us about the Write Away program. If you have questions for Rachel, feel free to email her at rshulman@vapld.info. The library’s website is: www.vapld.info.

Michele Weber Hurwitz is the author of Calli Be Gold (Wendy Lamb Books 2011) and The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days (Wendy Lamb Books, coming spring 2014).