SugarBuzz | SugarBlog | Steven Lee Climer

Priority Time!

2011-08-13T16:27:00.001-04:00

Hello Everyone!

It has been awhile since I have updated this site. I have been crazy busy with all personal things, but now I can fully focus on growing this writing career. Thank you for being on my blog and stay tuned for wonderful things.

New Sitcom: I'm God's Favorite

2010-08-27T12:36:00.001-04:00

I'm God's Favorite. Sarah Priest owns God's Favorite bookstore in a northern conservative town. Riot ensues as she, her cast of zany church members, and her employees take on the ills of the city and the world.

Saints Linebacker Fujita Tackles Gay Marriage | Sports | Advocate.com

2010-02-05T09:01:00.000-05:00

Saints Linebacker Fujita Tackles Gay Marriage | Sports | Advocate.com

New Publication: Don't Read This! Chilling, Thrilling, Fantastic Tales for the Young and Young at Heart

2010-01-25T09:28:00.001-05:00

I am proud to announce that our latest book (and our most ambitious project yet) is now available at amazon and through all the traditional outlets such as Baker & Taylor. If you are a reviewer and wish to check it out please let me know.

http://www.amazon.com/Chilling-Thrilling-Fantastic-Tales-Young/dp/1615398201/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

Don't Read This! Chilling, Thrilling, Fantastic Tales for the Young and Young at Heart

With contributions from Jane Yolen, Terri Windling, Nancy Etchemendy, Del Howison, Brian Freeman, and many, many more - they explain in their own words what role reading classic speculative fiction played in their formative years and how it influenced their own writing. Some of the great stories include Anton Chekov's "In the Graveyard," Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappiccini's Daughter," Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" tales from the Brothers Grimm, H.G. Welles, and of course Edgar Allan Poe. Don't Read This! Chilling, Thrilling, Fantastic Tales for the Young and Young at Heart is a must for any collector, fan, or teacher of speculative fiction for children.

Don't Read This! If you're squeamish of ghosts or squirmy monsters! Don't Read This! If you scare easily or need your mother! Don't Read This! If you have to leave the lights on all night! No one is safe! Don't Read This! Chilling, Thrilling, Fantastic Tales for the Young and Young at Heart is a unique collection/anthology that fills a missing space on many bookshelves. It is designed to collect together influential short fiction in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror that popular authors in those genres can point to as important in their formative years. It also serves as a great entry point for young people just discovering these fabulous genres of the imagination. With contributions from Jane Yolen, Terri Windling, Nancy Etchemendy, Del Howison, Brian Freeman, and many, many more - they explain in their own words what role reading classic speculative fiction played in their formative years and how it influenced their own writing. Some of the great stories include Anton Chekov's "In the Graveyard," Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappiccini's Daughter," Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" tales from the Brothers Grimm, H.G. Welles, and of course Edgar Allan Poe. Don't Read This! Chilling, Thrilling, Fantastic Tales for the Young and Young at Heart is a must for any collector, fan, or teacher of speculative fiction for children.

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Hardcover: 344 pages
Publisher: SugarBuzzBooks (January 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1615398201
ISBN-13: 978-1615398201

http://www.amazon.com/Chilling-Thrilling-Fantastic-Tales-Young/dp/1615398201/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

Too Funny!

2009-10-21T10:09:00.000-04:00

Edutopia.org Blogs | Edutopia

2009-09-18T21:41:00.001-04:00

Edutopia.org Blogs | Edutopia

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Baby born at 9:09 on 9/9/09 weighs 9 lbs, 9 ounces

2009-09-11T08:17:00.002-04:00

This is too cool: From LaCrosse, WI

No doubt. The nines have it. Chuck Berendes of La Crosse said he will never forget the birthday of this third child, born Wednesday on the ninth day of the nine month in the year 2009. Nor will Berendes and his wife, Polly, forget Henry Michael's arrival time _ at 9:09 a.m. by Cesarean section at Franciscan Skemp Medical Center in La Crosse.

But they got the biggest laugh when the newborn was placed on the delivery room scale following his birth. Berendes said it was metric scale so the doctor did the math in his head, but to make sure, he had the nurse also do the conversion. Berendes said they broke into laughter when the nurse told them Henry weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces.

___

Information from: La Crosse Tribune, http://www.lacrossetribune.com

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Guy Fieri Visits Blimpy Burger

2009-09-10T14:20:00.003-04:00

This is the show! When in Ann Arbor, this is a must visit!

Caregivers Are Koi Fish Too

2009-09-01T13:41:00.004-04:00

I've made no secret of my disability and how I have been coping, and thriving. But I wanted to share the fact I would never be able to be a Koi without my wife. Karen is incredible. She sees me when I'm having my hard times with Limb-Girdle MD. When no one else is around I have her.

It can't be easy to be a caregiver to someone you love who has such a disease. Often only the person with the disease is thought of as brave, courageous, strong. That would be impossible without the strength of our caregivers. I once wrote a poem for my wife that turned out to be so true. When we were still young, without a care in the world I wrote:

The bend in your back let's me weep,
I wasn't strong enough alone.

How true that is. It must be a challenge for any caregiver to constantly worry, care for, and deal with all that comes with a neuromuscular disease. Some days are good some better, and for my wife she doesn't get the choice. She has to be a koi and adjust to me. I don't tell her often enough, and sometimes I forget, how much I appreciate her. It's easy to get wrapped up in my disease and not realize others are being dragged along whether they want to or not. These are perhaps the most perservering koi fish around.

Thanks to anyone who has ever been, or will be, a caregiver, to something that fluctuates so much. Michael J. Fox's book Always Looking Up really talks honestly about his support system -- especially his wife. They let us be strong. I recommend the book to anyone who is a caregiver or anyone needing a look on the brightside.

2009 NCTE Poetry Award Winner

2009-08-27T13:17:00.000-04:00

2009 NCTE Poetry Award Winner

Perserverence and the Koi Fish

2009-08-25T14:04:00.004-04:00

The legend of the koi fish in China says it is the symbol of perserverence. If you search the web there are numerous sites that tell the tale of the Koi Fish and his drive, to at all costs, swim through the Dragon's Gate on the Yellow River. For if he can perservere against adversity and never give up, to find a way around obstacles, then he will become a dragon once he passes the gate.

I think about koi fish a lot. Over the weekend I decided I would be more like a koi. Before you think I want to nibble bread crumbs or swim in my own toilet, I got back on my bicycle for the first time in a long time. Before Muscular Dystrophy I used to ride 40-50 miles a week on my bike until winter made me stop. When I started losing my strength and balance I stopped biking. When I walk I'm awkward and unsure, but on my bike I can fly. When I walk most of my energy is zapped just trying to stay on a straight line or keep my toes from catching, but on my bike I'm fluid. All my energy can go into pedaling, leaning into and out of turns, and powering down straight-aways. I can't do elevation changes very well, but on a flat surface I really build up a lot of speed.

I thought about the koi fish (as I always do) and I was chatting with my good friend about our tattoos. I told him I wanted to get a big koi on my back. He thought it was unusual that I would put it on my back where I couldn't see it and admire the work. I didn't need to admire the artwork, I needed the koi to inspire me and keep me moving forward.

The koi, I explained, could find a way around anything to make it to the dragon's gate. I was like a koi fish. I was wobbly and off-balance when walking, but I could still ride a bike. I didn't need my hips and legs for balance on my bike, my brain does that. All I need my legs for was horsepower -- and my legs are still strong. Can I ride long-distances any more? I don't know, but I did 5 miles on Saturday and 5 miles on Sunday. And I started to push myself to exercise regularly. Can I get back to where I was when I was younger or before MD, no. But I can be a koi fish and find a way around wobbly legs and waning strength in certain muscle groups. MD may win in some things, but I still have a lot of fight and perserverence like a koi fish. I'm still very strong so I don't mind picking and choosing my battles with MD. I'll always win the important ones.

When I get a new tattoo it will be a koi fish on my back. I want to have the support and drive, the perserverence over adversity of the koi at my back so I can only move forward and not look behind.

For Your Monday Morning Enjoyment

2009-08-24T08:21:00.001-04:00

Writer's Block? Composition Constipation

2009-08-19T08:39:00.003-04:00

Every writer, no matter what the level, experiences writer's block. I prefer to think of it as composition constipation. Procrastination is the main blockage for me. Usually it is because the next idea or plot event hasn't fully formed in my mind.

To get over this, instead of writing through an exciting or faily blockage-free passage, I stop in the height of the action. I put it away. When I go to write again I start by re-reading what I previously wrote. The excitement or flow swoops me up and I pick up where I left off. It's easier to get a running start at the top of a hill than trying to climb out of a valley.

Marathon writing happens rarely for me -- I tend to write in bursts. I've discovered marathon writing produces weaker prose for me; the energy gets burned. I may think what I wrote was awesome, but then I re-read it and say what a bunch of sh*t! Who wrote this? Oops, I did. Okay, well it's still a piece of sh*t.

Sorry about all the bowel metaphors in this. I didn't realize it until I completed the post. Still it's true, gotta keep things moving to have a clean, comfortable, composition colon.

Target is Selling A Lot of Books Through It's Bookmarked Program

2009-08-12T13:07:00.003-04:00

This is a large outlet that publisher's should pay close attention to: especially children/YA publishers. The shopping traffic is an undeniable force and getting a book on a Target shelf could be better than getting it fronted or on a table at Borders.

From the Charlotte Observer: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/books/story/880738.html

Target's book-selling influence growing

When “Sarah's Key,” a novel about an American journalist investigating the 1942 roundup of Jews in Paris, was published in hardcover two years ago, it dropped with a thud.

The book by first-time novelist Tatiana de Rosnay was well on its way to sinking out of sight last fall when Target chose the paperback version of “Sarah's Key” as its Bookmarked Club Pick, a choice for a program that designates titles for prominent display throughout the chain's stores.

Sales exploded.

A special edition of the novel that its publisher, St. Martin's Press, produced exclusively for Target has sold 145,000 copies. The ordinary paperback edition has sold 200,000 copies, and has spent months on the New York Times trade paperback fiction best-seller list.

In publishing circles Target has long been known as a place that can move many copies of discounted best-sellers, as do other mass-merchant retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco. But in the last few years, much in the way it has cultivated its image as a counterintuitive purveyor of Isaac Mizrahi clothes or Michael Graves tea kettles, Target has been building itself into a tastemaker for books.

Through its book club, as well as a program it calls Bookmarked Breakout, both started in 2005, the company has highlighted largely unknown writers.

Compared with a large chain bookstore like Barnes & Noble, which averages about 200,000 titles per location, Target carries about 2,500 titles in each of its 1,700 stores. Offerings include diet books, children's picture books, young-adult novels and series romances. Paperbacks far outnumber hardcovers, and over the last decade Target has focused on the larger trade format as opposed to the smaller mass-market paperbacks. (The other big-box retailers rely mostly on the biggest commercial books of the moment, though Costco does on occasion offer its own special picks of little-known authors.)

Virtually every book at Target is shelved face out. Books in the book club and Breakout program are set apart on so-called endcaps – narrower shelves that stand at the front or end of aisles – with specially designed signs.

Target “can sell hundreds of thousands of copies of a book that is virtually unknown in the rest of the marketplace,” said Jacqueline Updike, director of adult sales at Random House.

By assembling a collection of books by unheralded authors, Target behaves more like an independent bookstore than like a mere retailer of mainstream must-haves (although, of course, Target sells its share of best-seller list regulars, like James Patterson and Janet Evanovich).

Target began its Bookmarked Club Pick and Breakout programs partly to convert “Target core guests into regular Target book shoppers,” said Jana O'Leary, a spokeswoman. O'Leary said that Target's “core” book buyers were women, with a median age of 42 and median annual household income of $60,000. The books for both programs are chosen by a panel of Target employees who meet monthly to review submissions from publishers. Occasionally the panel selects a classic.De Rosnay, the author of “Sarah's Key,” who lives in France, said she knew her paperback had a chance of much bigger sales when a friend sent her an iPhone photo of a shelf full of copies of her book at a Target. “That's when I realized this was big,” de Rosnay said, “really big.”

Manic Writing: Do You Just Go With It?

2009-08-10T09:46:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if this has ever happened to other writers, but I think I must be manic-depressive in the sense that some days the words just pour out like Niagara Falls. On other days I'm lucky to get a paragraph -- even though its the same story and I'm really into it.

I tend to let the mania flow and figure it will either be really cool or really crappy. I find myself more manic when writing dialogue because I get so swept up in the conversation. I often find myself saying "Oh no she didn't!" after a character says something I wasn't expecting.

Naming Names: How Do You Name Characters?

2009-07-31T19:23:00.002-04:00

I recall a conversation I had with another writer about naming characters. How do you come up with one? How do you know if it's right or if it's stupid?

One of my best friends for this is a baby names book. A good one can give you good ideas by matching the qualities of your characters to qualities listed for each name. If you character is German, then you can see what names would most likely appear or be used. Still, though, listen to the character. He/She/It will tell you their name if you let them. I often talk about writing as a living thing and I truly believe all of the questions you have about characters and plot will be revealed if you just listen and let the characters do the talking.

Also, when you pick a name -- pick a full name first middle last. Then yell it out like your character is in big trouble like they put the cat in the dishwasher or something. You can tell simply by yelling the name if it is them or not.

One of the best authors in terms of naming names is Neil Gaiman. He names characters that truly reflect the personalities of the characters. For example in Neverwhere there is a girl named Door. She is literally a portal of sorts.

These are the ways I resolve naming issues. This includes fictional towns, villages, companies, products, etc...

2009-07-30T13:49:00.000-04:00

Midwest Book Reviews for Once Upon a Halloween Night -- 5 Stars

2009-07-30T08:42:00.000-04:00

Sure to entice younger readers, April 13, 2009

By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - Curses are rough things to spend eternity with. "Once Upon a Halloween Night" is the story of Vernon Boggs, a man cursed to experience the rest of his existence on his family's land. A young witch named Lucy however, can help break his curse. Lucy isn't free of her own problems, and through the companionship of witch and ghost, the two must face the problems that affect their lives and unlives. "Once Upon a Halloween Night" is a freshly written novel sure to entice younger readers just getting started with chapter books.

Optimistic Optimists -- Living In a Bubble Full of Butterflies

2009-07-30T08:20:00.001-04:00

I've been reading Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox and it's refreshing to see and hear another eternal optimist's views. I am one of those. Like Mike I have a neuromuscular disease. I have Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy and you can't help but be optimistic.

Optimism leads to unpredictability and novelty. I don't think "normal" folks know what to do with us or our ideas. Recently, a professor of mine in graduate school was reading an experimental essay I wrote. He confessed that it defied expectations because people wouldn't know what to do with it. I said, good then it was successful!

I try to understand non-optimists, but it does take a lot of effort and I must use my time for better endeavors. I think Optimists actually live in the present. Having LGMD makes you live in the moment because walking and simple every day things can be a challenge. That's good, though. I makes me into a problem-solver. Sometimes I get the feeling that people want to see some self-pity or something. Seeing you cope very well with a disability, even thrive, defies expectations.

Thanks Mike.

Are you a Writer or an Author? What's the Difference?

2009-07-29T10:51:00.000-04:00

Last year I was asked to be a guest speaker at Eastern Michigan University's publication party/anniversary of their literary magazine Cellar Roots. I had been published in CR when I was an undergrad and it was one of my first short stories to see publication.

I was asked to speak about what it means to be published. I have been thinking about this a lot again lately. What does it mean, really? Back on that snowy winter evening I stood at the podium and looked at the few notes I made. There were only a few points I wanted to emphasize. I usually wing stuff like that.

So here I was addressing all these hopeful young poets and writers. I told them of my wonderful experiences at EMU, and I related to them all the feelings that come with publication. Then came the hammer blow. I told them that isn't the reason you should be writing.

Publication is a perk, a bonus, but it is dangerous to any writer. Think of it this way, you spend months, years possibly, giving birth to this piece of literature. It is like a child, ask any writer. So why would you do 99% of the work and then turn it over to strangers for the final part?

Write for the love of writing I told them. Writing because you want to be published will frustrate the hell out of you. A successful writer is not the one with all the publications, that's a fortunate consequence. A successful writer is one who keeps on writing just because it's fun and fulfilling. I have too many worlds to explore, too many people to meet to wait for a publisher. Stephenie Meyer said she wrote Twilight for herself. I write all my books for myself or for gifts to people -- usually my daughters.

Spellbound: A Poem Rediscovered

2009-07-21T21:07:00.000-04:00

I took my college children's lit students on a field trip to the local Barnes & Noble. Upon browsing one of my students found the novel Blue is for Nightmare by Laurie Faria Stolarz (Flux, 2007). I have a poem in the Deluxe Spellbook Edition. I was happy and surprised it was found and here it is in its entirety:

Spellbound

Poison arrows and poison apples,
Darling sweet to boil and bubble.

A curse on the lips,
A pill on the tongue,
An herb, a pox, a poultice rub.

Do you love and hate and lust?
For words and potions are a must.

Cast your salt, call your God,
A watchtower candle.
and guardian blow.

A nightmare in Blue,
a dream in gold,
Pose and pucker before you grow old.

Don't Read This! Chilling, Thrilling, Fantastic Tales for the Young and Young at Heart pre-ordering starts today

2009-07-15T13:17:00.000-04:00

Don't Read This! If you're squeamish of ghosts or squirmy monsters!

Don't Read This! If you scare easily or need your mother!

Don't Read This! If you have to leave the lights on all night!

No one is safe!

Don't Read This! Chilling, Thrilling, Fantastic Tales for the Young and Young at Heart is a unique collection/anthology that fills a missing space on many bookshelves. It is designed to collect together influential short fiction in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror that popular authors in those genres can point to as important in their formative years. It also serves as a great entry point for young people just discovering these fabulous genres of the imagination. With contributions from Jane Yolen, Terri Windling, Nancy Etchemendy, Del Howison, Brian Freeman, and many, many more - they explain in their own words what role reading classic speculative fiction played in their formative years and how it influenced their own writing.

Some of the great stories include Anton Chekov's "In the Graveyard," Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappiccini's Daughter," Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" tales from the Brothers Grimm, H.G. Welles, and of course Edgar Allan Poe. Don't Read This! Chilling, Thrilling, Fantastic Tales for the Young and Young at Heart is a must for any collector, fan, or teacher of speculative fiction for children.

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDERING AT www.sugarbuzzbooks.com beginning at Midnight July 16! Only $24.99

Today's WTF! 1 Billion Bucks for Potter

2009-07-15T10:24:00.001-04:00

Found this on The Leaky Cauldron:

The exceptional popularity and box office draw of the Harry Potter films is never more evident tonight than in a new article from Screen Daily which states that "Warner Bros is on the cusp of crossing the $1billion domestic milestone as it launches Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince around the globe." The piece continues to say that Half-Blood Prince "was set to open in approximately 3,000 midnight screenings across North America on Wednesday. By the end of the weekend it will have launched in roughly 4,300 theatres. The film is expected to dominate the box office for several weeks and conservative estimates have forecast a five-day weekend in the $140m region.

WTF.

Isn't it amazing that a book, a children's book, started all of this. I know there are a lot of critics about HP and all the surrounding tie-ins, but to me that shows how much passion there is for a piece of literature. 1 Billion for just the movies -- with two more still to come -- remarkable.

Our First Post

2009-07-12T08:55:00.000-04:00

It's Sunday July 12, 2009. I'm on vacation at the Kalahari Resort waterpark in Sandusky, Ohio. So why am I blogging on a Sunday morning at 9 a.m.? Well, I was sitting with my morning coffee, everyone was still asleep or doing other things, and I was watching a Sunday news program. There was a story about moms that blog to each other with all sorts of useful "mommy" info. My agent has a blog. Some editors and writers I know have blogs. Even my favorite scholar and teacher Mike Rose has a blog.

I have a publishing company called SugarBuzz Books that publishes science fiction, fantasy, and horror for children and young adults -- so why don't I have a blog? I don't know, but I have emerged from the darkness to bask in the warm glow of my laptop.

The buzz starts today, so catch your SugarBuzz at the SugarBlog.

Kindest Regards,

Steven