Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Dread Pirate Christmas

Posted on December 12, 2013
© Ben Faubion - Pirate vs Bird

© Ben Faubion – Pirate vs Bird

This year, my dear writer buddy Stephen Bramucci is offering an audio-telling of his poem “Dread Pirate Christmas” for sale as a fundraiser for SEEDS Arts & Education (501c-3).

SEEDS Funds all sorts of cool programing for kids (including writing programs) and he and I want to support their efforts. If you’re so inclined, follow the link below, donate $5 to them via Paypal, and POOF! the MP3 of Dread Pirate Christmas will show up in your inbox (or someone else’s if you put that email under “special instructions”).

Happy Holidays from him and his motley crew of freebooters, sea devils, and scalawags!

http://seedsed.org/dread-pirate-christmas-mp3/

(Art by the amazing Ben Faubion)

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Children's books

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Daily Prompt: Tattoo….You?

Posted on December 1, 2013

Permanent in Ink

Screen Shot 2013-12-01 at 6.37.41 PMMy breath hitches when the sleeve of his hoodie sags and gives me a clear look at his inked hand and wrist. Or what seems left of them. A snake’s black and blue, forked tongue licks his middle finger and wraps around it to his black painted nail. The head of the viper is tattooed over and around his hand, the mouth wide open, fangs curved over the knuckles of his index and ring finger. A rush of adrenaline tingles through my body. I lower my voice to a hushed, awed whisper. “What the hell is that?”

He blinks and gives me a slight and confused shake of his head. Then his eyes light up. He unzips the hoodie. “The ink?” He sheds the sweatshirt and reveals his arm. “A family thing.”

A deep inhale quiets my racing heartbeat, but only a little. I gape at what doesn’t even look like an arm anymore, at what looks like a fucking rattle snake growing out of his shoulder. A rattler that ate his arm.

He flexes his biceps, the viper slithering along with the movement of his muscles.

© 2013 Mina Witteman

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Thrillers, YA books

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De wraak van Deedee on iTunes

Posted on October 20, 2013

De wraak van Deedee on iTunes

De wraak van Deedee, the Dutch e-version of Deedee’s Revenge is now available in the iTunes store.

Boekomslag de wraak van Deedee

Categories: A Bit of Everything

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Deedee’s Revenge

Posted on September 22, 2013

Happy to announce the Dutch e-version of my debut ‘De wraak van Deedee’.

Boekomslag de wraak van Deedee

Now available at Smashwords

$ 4.99

Soon available at iTunes – Kobo – Amazon and more, too!

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Children's books

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I Am a Rock – The Twin Warriors

Posted on September 4, 2013
Tobadzischini and Nayenezgani, the Twin Warriors

Tobadzischini and Nayenezgani, the Twin Warriors

 

Without this rock there would be no first book in the Warriors of the Sun series.

We so often base our knowledge on the journeys of Odysseus, we pull strength from the adventures of Thor and wisdom from the musings of Vishnu, but we rarely quench our thirst with the wealth of stories that spring from the first peoples of North America. When I searched  Dutch libraries, I couldn’t find a single book that showed Dutch children the true cultures of the United States and Canada. It urged me to write the Warrior Of the Sun series.

Research for the series brought me to the lands and tribes of North America. I wandered the desert and the mountains in search of Thunderbird and Coyote. My Diné guide in the Navajo Nation took me to sacred places like Tséyi, the Canyon De Chelly. We were hiking down into the canyon when out of nowhere the darkest shadow fell over us, as if Thunderbird blackened the skies with his gigantic wings. With each wingbeat a thunderclap roared through the canyon, ricocheting off the cliff walls. A heavy rain flash flooded the canyon and chased us to higher grounds. Seeking shelter in a narrow cave, my guide told me the story of the Twin Warriors and their quest for their father, the Sun Spirit.
Only days later, I found myself sitting on a dusty red rock near Bluff in Utah, staring at the Twin Warriors. I knew then the first book had to be about their quest.

The Warrior of the Sun series is only loosely based on original myths and legends. I have not tried to accurately retell them, just like sand paintings that are sold to the public do not depict the entire sand painting to protect the sacredness of the original. I leave that precious task to the tribes storytellers.

I started the first book with the quest of the Twin Warriors, because coming-of-age stories speak to all children and occur in all cultures. To make the myths more accessible, I have chosen to pour them into adventure survival stories; a form that also emphasizes the essential role nature plays in the original myths and legends. The Warriors Of the Sun series is written to entice non-Native American children to further explore the ways of the ancient and the rich history of the first peoples North America. I hope that one day they too will feel the presence of Thunderbird.

Daily Prompt: I Am a Rock

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Children's books, Views Abroad, YA books

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Sea

Posted on September 2, 2013

The Weekly Photo Challenge: Sea. I love the water and the wind. For me the sea offers endless options, like the endlessness of that vast mass of water that spreads out at your feet. Anything is possible.

My dad was an avid yachtsman and spent as much time at sea as he could. He taught us to sail before we could even ride a bike (that’s a big thing in the Netherlands!). He retired early, sold his home and his business, bought a bigger boat and took my mother on a 12-year trip, roaming the world’s seas. Every now and again, we would hop over wherever they were and sail with them for a couple of weeks.

I am currently working on an adventure novel for kids, an adventure inspired by the sea, inspired by the years of sailing, and inspired by the RTW trip my son just returned from. My protagonist is a 12-years-old boy and he sails the seven seas with his parents. Imagine what can happen. Imagine he meets the Sun Spirit. Oh no, that was another book of mine, set in another sea, a sea of sand…

Yes, the sea offers endless possibilities.

Bali Sea - Gili Islands - The Sun Spirit

Bali Sea – Gili Islands – The Sun Spirit

Categories: The Views, Views Abroad

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Writing Young Adult Fiction – an advanced writing course

Posted on August 18, 2013

Young Adult is a genre that spans a number of subgenres, including coming-of-age realism, fantasy, and supernatural novels. Young Adult readers are typically between 12 and 18 years old.

In this creative writing course we will focus on writing your own YA novel. In eight sessions we will explore techniques on developing story structure and plot, scenes and dialogue, as well as on establishing believable characters. We will dive into famous and less famous YA novels to find out what works in YA fiction.

The course will be taught in English with the occasional Dutch words thrown in. Course materials will be available in both English and Dutch. Students may write in English or Dutch.

Session 1 – September 22, 2013: Identifying Conflict and Inciting Incidents
Session 2 – October 13, 2013: Plotting and Structuring the YA Novel
Session 3 – November 10, 2013: Establishing Memorable YA Characters
Session 4 – November 24, 2013: World Building
Session 5 – December 8, 2013: Narrative Voice
Session 6 – December 22, 2013: Keeping Up the Tension
Session 7 – January 12, 2014: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and Emotions
Session 8 – January 26, 2014: Details that Make your Story Come to Life

Details:
What: Writing Young Adult Fiction – an advanced creative writing course
Where: The English Bookshop in Amsterdam (Jordaan)
When: Sundays from 14:00 – 16:00
Costs: € 325 for SCBWI members / € 375 for non-members
Registration: nlscbwi [at] gmail.com (registration closes September 7)

The teacher:
Mina Witteman is a Dutch published writer of adventurous novels for Middle Graders and Young Adults and 35 short stories for the young. Her debut De wraak van Deedee (Deedee’s Revenge) was published in 2005. She writes in Dutch and English.
She is a certified teacher creative writing (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences), a freelance editor, ghostwriter, translator and mentor of budding writers.
She is the Regional Advisor of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and the Chairman of the Working Group Children’s Books of the Dutch Authors Guild.

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, YA books