"When I was a teacher I would tell my students stories off the top of my head (no, I didn't stand on my head and tell a story -- it's figurative language, something I told my students made for good writing; like if you're "so hungry you'd eat a horse", you wouldn't really eat a horse, it just means you're really hungry. Or, "It's raining cats and dogs" -- that would hurt, wouldn't it?).

"Marjorie, a girl in one of my 6th grade classes, was always brushing her hair (and the hair of other kids in class. I wonder if she became a hairdresser?). I told her one day that if she didn't stop I would write a story about her. She gave me this look that said I wouldn't and I shot her a look, telling her yes I would. She kept brushing her hair. A week later, I gave the class a story called "Lice" to read. It was about Marjorie and what happened when she played a practical joke on her brother. He got back at her by putting lice in her hair one night when she was sleeping. Marjorie liked the story (being the center of attention), even if she met with a pretty gross end.

"So here's an offer: If you give me a title and first line of a story I'll write a short tale (a paragraph or so) off the top of my head and post it on the website, and also send it to you.

"And if you write a review of Curse of the Shamra, I'll send you a signed copy of the short story "Glimmer." The review doesn't have to be long, but when I used the book in schools as part of an Author-in-Residence program, I found out that a lot of kids, even in the 5th grade and above, didn't know how to write a review. "I liked the book. It was good. I liked the characters. They were good." That's not a review. If you need help writing a review, just ask and I'll give you some pointers.

"One more thing you can do, if you want, is ask me questions about Curse of the Shamra. In all books, characters make decisions which have consequences. If they made different decisions, the consequences would be different. When you read about Dara and Pilla, you might have a question about why something occurred. I had to make some choices. You might not like them, or you might want to know why I made the choice. If you ask me, I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

"Happy reading and writing!"

Barry Hoffman
BarryHoffman@gauntletpress.com

Exclusive Interview with Barry Hoffman
by Creature Feature's J.L. Comeau

TK: Why in the world are you giving books away for free?

BH: The 10,000 Curse of the Shamra giveaway was inspired by President Obama’s call to give back to the community. I was an inner-city teacher for thirty years and teacher’s are one of the most underappreciated and undervalued people in this country. For a paltry income (with school days and years becoming longer, benefit cuts and salaries almost impossible for a family to live on) teachers spend more actual time with children than their parents. And, while like in every profession there are rotten apples, most teachers do so because they want to work with kids (it’s certainly not the salary!!!). Teachers work on their craft many hours at home and pay hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars of their own money each year to better the education of their students. And, what do they get? They are blamed when students do poorly on standardized tests. When students do well, the glory goes to principals and other bureaucrats who don’t come into daily contact with the students.

In any event, since I’ve started the giveaway I’ve heard from teachers in 35 states who tell me about cutbacks and the inability to purchase new materials, including books. When I considered how I would give back to the community (having just published Curse of the Shamra), it just seemed right to give copies away to those who need them most – schools and students in underprivileged areas. I didn’t do this on a whim. I’ve used the book in a number of classrooms (an author’s edition, not the finished published book). Each student received a copy of the book (for free) and I came into the class once a week for six weeks to discuss plot, character, debate choices made by characters in the book and their consequences and to listen to what the kids had to say. As a result I made changes in the book before it was actually published. And, in a short story collection to come out in November (Curse of the Shamra: Crystal Cave Stories) I included one story that deals with a character who was a favorite of the students, who dies in the book (or does she?).

I am not just giving 10,000 copies of Curse of the Shamra away. I hope teachers will involve me in their use of the book (though as a former teacher I know no teacher likes outside interference). The books are being away with no strings attached. That said, when the books go out I let the teachers know they or their students can contact me via email and I will respond to each and every email. If I can convince schools in Colorado Springs (where I now reside) to accept copies of the book I will make myself available to go to each area school once after the book has been read to sign copies of the book and answer any questions students may have. I’m also going to initiate a newsletter in which there will be contests and prizes awarded (bandanas play an important role in the book and I’ve had Curse of the Shamra bandanas printed. I’m having t-shirts printed up, as well, which will be given away as prizes). And, those students who write to me will also get a free copy of the short story collection.

So, I’m not just giving the books away and saying “I’ve given back. It’s now time to move on.” I am considering giving away copies of the next two books of the trilogy (Shamra Divided [2010] and Chaos Unleashed [2011]. And, I’ve just completed a short story collection based on Shamra Divided. While I’m not wealthy (I live off of a teacher’s pension and Gauntlet Press doesn’t make a lot of money) I’m committed to this project hook, line and sinker.

TK: You ran into major bureaucratic resistance to your offer to donate books to schools, didn't you? That seems utterly ridiculous!

BH: Tell me about it. I could write a book on the frustrations I’ve faced. One reason I left teaching was the bureaucrats I faced daily. When a teacher tires of the classroom (and the best ones never seem to tire of working with kids daily) they climb up the bureaucratic totem pole, so to speak. And, many may be decent teachers, but are totally incompetent in other positions. And, it seems whenever there is a question or a concern rather than address it with teachers, a new position is created – with a bureaucrat in a position of authority. Many have been out of the classroom for ten, twenty or more years. They have no connection to the children themselves. So, you have teachers and parents screaming for additional resources and because of the recession schools being forced to make cuts. With science and math getting the most attention and funding it’s the arts that get squeezed the most. New books for a school? Get in line . . . maybe next year or the year after or never!!!

So, I felt the giveaway would be embraced. I was fully aware (and in agreement) that before a bureaucrat could make a decision about accepting (or promoting the donation) any books, Curse of the Shamra would have to be evaluated to make sure it was appropriate. And, I agree with this totally. At Springs Ranch Elementary School in Colorado Springs I approached the principal last year. She read the book, felt it appropriate and then gave it to a teacher for her evaluation (no demands that the book be used; just a “We have this resource. Are you interested?”). The teacher also approved of the book and my program was on at that school. The icing on the cake is the principal and teacher want me to work with their classes this year. There was no bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, no passing of the buck, no major delays. Two people checked the book out and I was invited to donate a class set and make myself available.

But, that’s not the real world of bureaucrats. I sent a copy of the book (along with my desire to donate 10,000 copies) to President Obama and Michelle Obama. I assumed they would pass it along to whomever was appropriate. I didn’t hear back (even a form letter). And, when I contacted the White House I got the royal runaround. “No we can’t tell you if the book/letter was received.” “No we can’t switch you to someone who can help you.” “No, no, no!!!” As much as I support the President’s initiative I feel he’s created his own bureaucracy with each bureaucrat chasing their own tail around and little getting done. I then contacted the U.S. Department of Education. An email was sent to start a dialogue. Months went by and not a word. I called and was told the email was probably in their spam folder. I wanted to tear my hair out. There had to be someone who checked spam folders to make sure that genuine requests got through. But, I took a deep breath and asked what could be done. “Fax your letter in.” So, I did and more months have gone by with no response (other than I did receive confirmation when I called that it had been received – no fax spam folder I guess). I contacted the Colorado Department of Education and ran into a brick wall. What did I ask of the person I spoke to? That he send an email or include in a newsletter one paragraph stating my desire to donate books to schools and classrooms. I was first told by a spokesman that if I were Stephen King the books could be given away without a problem. Again, we’re talking about an economic climate where the ability to purchase classroom sets of books is almost impossible. He said he would speak to someone and that was it . . . for the moment (I’m nothing if not persistent and his blowing me off just wasn’t acceptable). I had written an article about the role of females in adolescent fiction and it was picked up by (so far) 50 newspapers. At the very bottom there was a one line mention of the giveaway. That one line generated 300+ requests for the book from teachers, librarians, hospitals, religious groups, military support groups, homeless shelters and parents who homeschool their kids (to mention a few). So, I contacted this clown again telling him, I was no Stephen King, but there was a demand for the book. He thought the grassroots support wonderful, but it ended up being a Catch-22. If I had the grassroots support I didn’t need him (Grrrr). I told him that of the 300+ requests just one came from a Colorado School and since I now resided in Colorado it was my desire that more school have the opportunity to request copies. “Can I get just a paragraph that could be sent to principals and teachers?” He had to speak to someone. One final call and he said there was nothing he could do (I wanted to ask him what the hell DID he do?) but he would speak to someone about my request. Needless to say I haven’t heard back from him.

I could go on and on. I’ve contacted teachers' unions (I was a union member for 30 years). I knew these unions were full of bureaucrats (want to get out of the classroom and make MORE money than any teacher? Get a position with the local union. I kid you not), but I was willing to bite the bullet. So far, even after promises were made I haven’t heard one back from them yet (just one paragraph on their website or newsletter stating my desire to donate books to schools and classrooms). I’ve contacted educational groups. One, with an on-line website said they couldn’t help because this year their focus was on “professional development” and there wasn’t the space (for that one paragraph). Now, I’m an author and publisher and I’m no website expert, but unlike a printed newsletter you aren’t confined to say 8-pages on a website. There is no limitation to how much you can put on a website. Was I asking for a full page? A long article? No, just one lousy paragraph – a short one, at that – making teachers aware of a free resource.

This was becoming a Seinfeld episode and it would have been funny if it weren’t for the fact that bureaucrats were denying books to kids. And, instead of writing or working on my publishing company I was spending my days spinning my wheels to . . . GIVE BOOKS AWAY!!!

TK: Why do you feel girls should read CURSE OF THE SHAMRA?

BH: I believe adolescent and teenage girls need to read books where there are positive role models they can identify with and that’s what you’ll find in Curse of the Shamra. Look at one of the main female role models in teen literature today – Bella, from the Twilight series. In the first book you have a teenage girl wanting to give up her mortal life because she has a crush on a vampire who appears as if he, too, is a teenager. It’s the male who puts a stop to that, and that’s just a terrible message. Everyone knows that teens (boys and girls) go through crushes that end almost as soon as they begin. If Bella changes her mind a few weeks later and she had become a vampire, well, what a shame she’d be out of luck. The message to teens is that teenage girls lack the common sense to make a good judgment call and it’s the boy who has to come to the rescue. And, it’s also fascinating that in the vampire clan in Twilight it’s the males who are dominant and the females who are submissive. It just fuels the stereotype of men being in charge (whether as president, members of congress or major corporations). While women have been making progress they still make up just a fraction of members of congress and the heads of major companies. Even in the Harry Potter series (written, ironically by a woman), it’s Harry who is the central figure while females are secondary characters.

I didn’t set out to write a book that would appeal to girls or provide a role model for adolescent girls. What makes Dara so unique is while heroic she is also flawed. Adolescents and teens will be able to identify with her. She’s stubborn, hot-tempered, opinionated and says what’s on her mind without thinking about the consequences. She’s no superhero, just a teenage girl who becomes the leader of a resistance movement when nobody else steps up to the challenge. She grows (matures) and deals with her flaws (that’s not to say she eradicates them). She’s someone who figuratively speaking gets knocked down (several times) but each time gets up to fight another day. And, she’s not dependent on her relationship with boys/men. She interacts with males but her feelings towards them don’t determine how she will respond to any given situation.

TK: I read, loved, and posted a rave review of your YA fantasy-adventure novel some years ago. Your protagonist, Dara, is a rebellious and headstrong girl. Isn't that the opposite of what our world cultures encourage?

BH: Most definitely. While we have made progress in this country it’s been slow. In the 17 and 18 hundreds women were supposed to be submissive to their husbands. They took care of the kids, tended the house and took care of the needs of their husbands when they came home from a hard day’s work. Women didn’t even have the right to vote until the 20th century. And look at all the commotion when Hillary Clinton ran for the Democratic nomination for president. She was a woman and there are still many men in the U.S. who don’t feel a woman can run this country (not that men have done such a good job). And elsewhere you have countries where women have to be subservient to men or face even graver consequences. There’s a Muslim girl in this country now who turned to Christianity and then ran away from home because she feared her father would kill her for ruining the family’s reputation. It’s an honor killing and what reprehensible is that we don’t condemn such honor killings in countries we are allied with, yet we condemn human rights violations in countries who we are not allied with. Girls in Afghanistan (and other countries) weren’t allowed to go to school under the Taliban. In these countries you do have women, like Dara, who refuse to accept their submissive place in society, but they risk their lives by speaking out. Thousands of our soldiers have died in Iraq to give the people there the opportunity to continue honor killings which is the worst form of a violation of human rights.

TK: I love Dara. She's bright and resourceful and true to her own nature. What was your inspiration for her character?

BH: Her inspiration was the hundreds upon hundreds of girls I taught. The thing is, girls in 5th and 6th grade (and younger) have a great deal of confidence and self-esteem. Boys that age are more like clay in that they haven’t developed or been molded yet. They mature at a later age. So, I taught these girls with all different personalities and they were my inspiration not only for Dara, but the women of my adult novels. Sad to say, but because of the lack of role models, in part, in YA literature and, in part, due to teachers who stop encouraging girls to think for themselves by 9th grade far too many teens lack that self-esteem they had earlier.

TK: CURSE OF THE SHAMRA is beautifully realized and written, and you managed to marry to text to illustrations that suit the narrative perfectly. Was it difficult to find an appropriate artist?

BH: The version of the book you read is not the one that was published (it’s was an author’s advance copy that I used in schools). Those interior illustrations have been removed. The problem with those interior illustrations (you can seen them in the “gallery” section of the Shamra Chronicles website) is they were one artist’s interpretation and they didn’t mirror how I visualized the characters. On the website, for example, there is the artist’s initial impression of Dara. She’s a sexy pixie. In the book she’s more of a warrior. And, while I agreed to the cover art kids in classes I use the book in tear it apart. All Shamra have white hair. Dara’s hair on the cover is brown. In the Shamra society a males hair doesn’t grow long, but on the cover the male following Dara has long hair. I’ve given away almost the entire first printing (1000 copies) and for the second printing there will be new cover art for the book. I was looking for an artist for the second book and found someone whose work was quite visceral yet beautiful. Her name is Jen West and after she finished the cover for the 2nd book I had her do the cover for the final book in the trilogy. You can tell they’re by the same artist and the art wasn’t at all consistent with the cover art for Curse of the Shamra. So, I asked her to come up with new cover art for the first book and you’ll see that in the second printing.

TK: The Shamra world has its own website at www.ShamraChronicles.com. What will readers find there?

BH: It will be an ever-expanding universe. There is background as to how I wrote the book (I started it in the early-seventies and only picked it up again when my daughter, Dara – named after the character in the book – was pregnant and wanted her daughter to learn how she got her name). As I typed the book up I totally rewrote it (this was in 2000). And, I kept rewriting it until it was what I truly wanted. I added new characters, including Baubles (sentient worm-like creatures who can communicate and are far wiser than the Shamra). I named the most important Bauble after my granddaughter, Tyler, and now that Tyler is 8 and has read portions of the book she takes great pride in being a Bauble. I’m even having Jen West create a painting that Tyler has mapped out of the Baubles. The “gallery” page is one of the most interesting since it contains all the artwork from the books, a good deal of it deleted in the finished published edition. One of my favorite artists is Harry O. Morris. He does the cover work for all of my adult novels (as well as for authors such as Richard Matheson and F. Paul Wilson). His idea for the cover art is on the website. I liked it, but it just didn’t work, in my opinion for a YA novel. There are also photos of students from classes I worked with and final projects their teachers assigned them. When you go to the site there is a movie-type trailer. My son is an actor in Los Angeles and he also films some comedic shorts. I saw a trailer for another book and asked if he could come up with something for the Shamra series. He did a wonderful job and is also the narrator. There is the “10,000 Book Giveaway” page where teachers can learn how to apply for free copies of the book for their classes. I will also have a newsletter once the second printing is complete (and if the bureaucrats who so tie me down allow me to give away the full 10,000 books). There will be contests with some nice prizes. Dara’s signature apparel, which other Shamra find offensive, is a colorful polka-dot bandana. I’ve had bandanas made. And, Dara also offends others by wearing a necklace (the wearing of jewelry is forbidden by the Shamra clerics who govern the country before it is invaded and the Shamra enslaved). I’ve contacted someone to create a necklace and bracelet which will also be given away as prizes. Jen West also came up with a neat logo. We’ll have t-shirts with the logo. And, there will be a second t-shirt where Jen takes the covers from all three books and combines them in a circular pie. It’s visually stunning. Within a few months we’ll have those as well. So, anyone signing up for the newsletter will be eligible for a lot of great prizes. And, those who sign up for the newsletter become eligible for a free copy of the short story collection due out later this year. There is also a short story on the website that doesn’t appear in Curse of the Shamra (“Glimmer”) that can be downloaded. I also hope to post the writing of some of those who read the book.

TK: The term "chronicles" suggests that Dara's story isn't over yet. Will there be more Shamra books?

BH: As I mentioned above it’s a trilogy and all three books are finished. The second book, Shamra Divided, tells the backstory of Dara’s heritage. She looks different than other Shamra (she has stubby fingers while other Shamra females have long delicate fingers. Most Shamra are born with blue eyes. Dara was born with brown eyes). There is a lot of foreshadowing in Curse of the Shamra to indicate there is something that separates Dara from the rest of the Shamra. In Shamra Divided Dara finally finds out who she really is. And, as important, I came up with a villain in Shamra Divided who is far more dangerous than the Trocs in Curse of the Shamra. My problem was I could find no way to defeat this villain. To tell more would be to spoil it for readers. Chaos Unleashed, the third book, brings the reader back to the present and Dara, along with others, must confront the villain introduced in the second book. And, as I mentioned there will be a short story collection that will be a companion of sorts to Shamra Divided. And, I’m fairly certain I’ll have more tales to tell, so there will be a short story collection for the third book, as well.

TK: Last question. If you could gather all of the world's children--boys and girls--together into one enormous audience, what would you say to them?

BH: Wow, you end with a real tough question. Never become a bureaucrat would be my message. No, seriously (though no one should aspire to become a bureaucrat in my opinion), I would tell them to respect the differences in each of them. I would tell them that their unique personalities is what makes them so fascinating and regardless of peer pressure, teachers, parents, church leaders they should grasp at what makes them unique and never relinquish their individuality. I’d also tell them to be considerate of one another and of all those they meet. There is too much “me” in this world; too many people who are self-absorbed and think only of their own needs. What I love about children is they say what’s on their mind, even if it might offend. And, they’re so damn inquisitive. I’d tell them to always question what they are told rather than just accepting the word of adults because adults are supposed to be wiser. Be inquisitive. Be tolerant. Don’t bend to the demands of others to remain popular or part of a cliché. And, of course, never become a bureaucrat.

TK: Good advice, indeed. Thank you, Barry, for sharing your giveaway plan with us!

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