Street Kids Teaching a Writer

Check Edith's blog today for my post on my main character's mom, Ardyth the Witch.

* * * Here's Edith Parzefall! * * *

http://edith-parzefall.de/
http://blog.edith-parzefall.de/

While Strays of Rio (MuseItUp) isn't a teen book, one of the main characters is fourteen-year-old Luiz, a street kid in Rio de Janeiro. He and his gang are the true heroes of this novel, surviving and enjoying life against all odds.

As part of my research, I visited Grupo Ruas e Pracas, a street kids project in Receife, Brazil. Their German partner organization RUA e.V., which I've been supporting for several years now, got me in contact with the social workers there.

We couldn't have timed our visit better. While we were there, Grupo Ruas e Pracas attended a community event in a nearby park and ran a drumming workshop for street kids in the walled-in backyard of their premises. Ear-deafening but intoxicating rhythms.

The kids were well-behaved and excited to have foreign visitors. The social workers happily answered my many questions. I'd done plenty of research on the situation of street kids in Brazil, knew the worst case scenarios, and sometimes found it hard to reconcile these with the happy kids fooling around and laughing. They'd already been with Grupo Ruas e Pracas for some time, no longer having to fend for themselves on the streets.


When a ten-year-old wants to bum a cigarette, it's certainly a powerful reminder of their background. Or a social worker telling me not to let one of their young charges take photos with my camera. I wanted to slap my forehead for doing that. Did I think him a potential thief? Yes, very likely stealing once was a way for him to get food.

When I watched the boy excitedly snapping pictures and scrutinizing the results on the little display, I couldn't wrench the camera from him. When more of the kids wanted to take photos, the social worker intervened and rescued my camera. Comparing the photos later, I realized that while I'd been hunting for faces, my young fellow photographer aimed for objects that intrigued him, for example the drums lined up without kids and teachers getting in the way.

These kids and the social workers at Grupo Ruas e Pracas taught me a lot. Without them, Strays of Rio would have become a weaker book. The novel started out as a thriller focused on drug gangs, death squads, corrupt police, impunity of the rich, but after my visit with Grupo Ruas e Pracas, the street kids became the true heroes of the novel while the war for money and power rages around them.

Watch for Edith's novel, Strays of Rio, to be released from MuseItUp Publishing this September.

Co-Writing a Series

From Edith Parzefall's blog on the Higher Ground Series:

While the mothers slept, their first baby was born:

Canada-based Double Dragon Publishing released the first book in the Higher Ground series: Wind Over Troubled Waters, on April 24th, at night in Europe.

Francene Stanley lives in England, Edith Parzefall in Germany. Edith claims she woke with cramps around two in the morning and feels sure that must have been the time when Wind Over Troubled Waters went online on Double Dragon's website [http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-55404-959-8] and amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com/ebook/dp/B007X57XMS/].

Wind Over Troubled Waters
by Edith Parzefall and Francene Stanley
from Double Dragon Press

Corn World. Britland. After the great flood, only memories, debris and derelict buildings speak of a past civilization. Visions of these disturbing times haunt Cerridwen's dreams. When her dying mother sends Cerridwen to find a mural in Saint Eyes and lead Britland into a better future, the young healer has little choice but to set out on a life-changing quest. Her ability to perceive auras convinces her to accept nature-attuned Trevly's offer of protection.

Bent on adventure and enthralled by the promise of treasure, beautiful Sasha, cunning Aron and uncut Boris join forces to get the most out of life. Their selfish plans collide with Cerridwen's when they learn about a powerful ring and a mural pointing the way to its location.


Note: Edith is hosting me in May for my MG/YA fantasy book. Her books don't fit into the MG/YA category, so I asked her to send me information about her latest release. It happens to be from Double Dragon Press and is hot off the presses.